USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Greenwich > A history of the town of Greenwich, Fairfield County, Conn., with many important statistics > Part 5
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S. That eney Right in common lands in Green- wich mr. bower hath granted to him, or may have granted to him, as large and full * * % * * * * * * common lands be granted to ye minister at Horseneck.
9. & Finally, that it is ye desire & agreement of ye Inhabitants, both on ye east and also on ye west side of Myanos River, that ye Articles be obliging and binding upon themselves and their associates. All ye above articles and primeses were published unto & before ye towne. Ye sub- scribers, Committee of six Inhabitants of sd Green- wich, were appointed & ordered in ye name of ye towne to subscribe theire confirmation of all & every ye above articles.
On ye west side of Myanos,
EBENEZER MEAD, JOSHUA KNAP, TIMOTHY KNAP. On the East sid Myanos River, SAMUEL PECK, JON. RENOLDS, ROBERT LOCKWOOD.
Subscribed in presence of us, JONATH. SELLECK, JOHN DAVENPORT, SAMUEL HAIT, DAVID WATERBURY.
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
In 1702, some farther arrangements had been made respecting Mr. Morgan, which resulted in Mr. Morgan's acceptance of a call to preach for six years more.
Up to 1703, all town meetings had been held in Greenwich "old town ;" but it was now voted that they should be held one half of the time at Horseneck. And about this time there was quite an emigration from the old settlement to the western and northwestern parts of the town.
At a Town meeting bareing Date May ye 3 1704 the town taking into consideration that which hath formerly been Don by ye towne in order to Mr. Nathaniel Bowers setling in the towne hath been ineffectual & considering Mr. bowers hath promised to setel at Horsneck if ye inhabitants did not call him to office on ye East sid Mianus river & being informed mr. bowers Designs to leave ye town these things considered ye towne pr vote see caus & reson to invite Mr. Bower to setle at Greenwich towne plott on ye west side Mianus river which if Mr. Bowers sees cause to except, Then ye town doth promis & Ingage to make suita- ble provesion for himself & for setling him in his ministerial office.
At a town meeting, December ye 19: 1704: The Town per vote grant Liberty unto Corinal hethcut to build tow small sloops sum where about Mianos river.
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Furthermore, moved ye towne put it to vot whether Mr. bowers should have fifty-five pounds, and it passes in the Negative.
Furthermore, ye town pr vot do not Desire Mr. Bowers to continue any longer in ye work of ye ministrye in Greenwich.
Notwithstanding this vote, it appears that Mr. Bowers was here in 1706, and we have been unable to ascertain when he left, or if, indeed, he preached at all after the last men- tioned date.
Furthermore, ye Town per vot grant Liberty, unto ye inhabitants on ye east sid mianus to beuld a mill upon any strem where they shall think con- venient.
Furthermore, the Town per vot do grant Liberty unto the inhabitants of greenwich living on the west side Mianus river, to build a tide mill upon Sticklin brook or Coscob river themselves or to imploy som other parson whom they shall think fitt and likwise Do grant them use of ye streams for that end.
After the town had thus given permission to the inhabitants of Horseneck to build a mill, a meeting was held of which the follow- ing is the record :-
At a meeting of ye Inhabitants of ye town of Greenwich on ye west side of Myanos river
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legally warned & met on ye nineteenth day of June, 1705- Whereas ye sd inhabitants have had a grant from ye town at a town meeting on ye 9th day of January 1704, of ye stream of ye tide or creek of Coscob river to own a grist mill, or imploy whom the see cause therein the sd inhabitants have grant- ed sd stream to Mr. Joseph Morgan, to build a grist mill, and do there in oblige him, his beairs and asines, to grind for ye inhabitants of ye towne of Greenwich for aboute one 12 part of all grain, & do grant that toll, and do oblige him and his heaires & asigns, to grind for said inhabitants what grain they bring to mill on Tuesdays and Fridays forth- with, not to hinder them for strangers, and do oblig him, his heairs and successors, by virtue of ys grant to keep a sufficient hous for to secure ye grain yt is brought to sd mill.
This arrangement continued until 1708, when further action was taken in a similar meeting.
EPISCOPALIANISM.
In the year 1704, Rev. George Muirson (see Hawkin's Hist. No. 1, of Col. Church), having been ordained, was appointed to the mission of Rye. In one of his reports to the Society sustaining him, he says:
I have been lately in the Government of Connec- ticut, where I observe some people well affected to
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
the church, for those that are near come to my parish on Sabbath days; so that I am assured an itinerant missionary might do great service in that province. Some of their ministers have privately told me that, had we a bishop among us they would conform and receive holy orders, from which as well as all on the continent, the necessity of a bishop will plainly appear.
Mr. Muirson was exceedingly zealous and active in attempting to plant a missionary Church of his sect of religion in this vicinity. And he was warmly supported by the assist- ance of Col. Caleb Heathcote, of Westchester county. Col. Heathcote himself also wrote frequently to the Society upon the subject, and in his letters frequently complained that great opposition was encountered, and stating that Mr. Muirson had been forbidden to preach by the justices of Connecticut, who had even threatened to put him and all his hearers in jail.
Col. Heathcote enters, in some of his letters to the Secretary, upon a discussion of the gen- eral affairs of the Church in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In his letter dated Scarsdale Manor, Nov. 9th, 1705 (see Bolton's History of Westchester County, Vol. II. page 106), he says :-
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But bordering on Connecticut there is no part of the continent, from whence the church can have so fair an opportunity to make impressions upon the Dissenters in that government, who are settled by their laws from Rye parish to Boston Colony, which is about 35 leagues, in which there are an abund- ance of people and places. As for Boston Colony, I never was in it, so can say little to it. But for Connecticut, I am and have been pretty conversant ; and always was as much in their good graces as any man.
And now I am upon that subject, I will give you the best account I can of that colony. It contains, in length about 140 miles and has in it about 40 towns, in each of which there is a Presbyterian or Independent minister settled by their law ; to whom the people are obliged to pay, notwithstanding many times they are not ordained; of which I have known several examples. The number of people there, I believe are about 2,400 souls. They have an abundance of odd kind of laws, to prevent any from dissenting from their church, and endeavor to keep the people in as much blindness and unac- quaintedness with any other religion as possible ; but in a more particular manner the church, look- ing upon her as the most dangerous enemy they have to grapple withal. And abundance of pains is taken to make the ignorant think as bad as possi- ble of her. And I really believe that more than half of the people of that government, think our church to be little better than the Papists. And
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they fail not to improve everything against us ; but, and I bless God for it, the Society have robbed them of their best argument, which was the ill lives of the Clergy that came into these parts. And the truth is, I have not seen many good men but of the Society's sending.
And no sooner was that honorable body settled, and those prudent measures taken for carrying on that great work, but the people of Connecticut, doubting of maintaining their ground without some further support, they with great industry went through their colony for subscriptions to build a College at a place called Seabrook. And the min- isters, who are as absolute in their respective par- ishes as the Pope of Rome, argued, prayed, and preached up the necessity of it; and the passive obedience people, who dare not do otherwise than obey gave even beyond their ability. A thing which they call college, was prepared accordingly, wherein I am informed, there was a commencement three or four months ago. But notwithstanding their new college here, and old one in Boston, and that every town in the colony has one, and some two ministers, and have not only heard them say but seen it in their prints, that there was no place in the world where the gospel shone so brightly, nor that people lived so religiously and well as they : yet I dare aver, that there is not a much greater necessity of having the christian religion preached in its true light anywhere than amongst them. Many, if not the greater number of them,
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being little better than in a state of heathenism ; having never been baptised nor admitted to the communion. And that you may be satisfied what I tell you herein is not spoken at random, nor grounded on careless observation, Mr. Muirson's Parish is more than three-fourths of it composed of two towns, viz ; Rye and Bedford, which were first settled under the Colony of Connecticut and of people born and bred under that government, and some time before my coming, had a minister, one Mr. Denham, and had afterward two more. Wood- bridge and Bowers at Rye and one Mr. Jones at Bedford. And the people of Rye only had of this county, the care to provide a parsonage house. And notwithstanding all those great shows of reli- gion, and that at such times as they were destitute of a minister.
Greenwich and Stanford, the bounds of the for- mer of which places join upon theirs and the other is not above ten miles distant, where they were always supplied. But they could not be said to want the opportunity of having the Sacrament ad- ministered to them, yet, I believe, 20 of them have never received the communion, nor half of them been baptized, as Mr. Muirson more fully will inform you. And now I have given you an account of the state of that colony, what will in the next place be naturally expected from me, is to know my opinion of the best and most probable way of doing good amongst them.
There is nothing more certain, than that is the
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most difficult task that the Society have to wade through, for the people are not only not of the church, but have been, and are, trained up with all the care imaginable to be its enemies. That to make an impression under all those disadvantages, is very difficult, though I hope not impossible. And though, at first view, the prospect of doing any good upon them is very little yet no doubt but the most proper measures ought to be taken, leaving the event to Almighty God.
In the remainder of his letter Col. Heath- cote recommends that Rev. Mr. Muirson be sent on a Missionary tour thoughout the colony.
Afterwards, as late as July 15th 1740 (see Bolton's History of Westchester County), Rev. James Wetmore, in acquainting the So- ciety with the success of his Mission, writes, that beside his regular duty at Rye, he offici- ated once a month at Stamford and Green- wich.
No Episcopal Church was built in Green- wich until 1747, when steps were taken for that purpose, under Dr. Ebenezer Dibble, Missionary.
March ye 18, 1708, at a meeting of ye inhabit- ants on the west sid Mianus river, they vote as
..
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followeth, yt Mr. Morgan should go and live by his mill for ye space of six years if he see occation for it, & there keep a lad to tend his mill, and oversee him therein himself, and continue in ye worke of ye ministrye.
Caleb Knap & Jonathan Hobby & Jonathan Renolds, benjamin Clos, henry rich Jo heusted Stephen holmes & Gershom Lockwood, James Ferris, Isaack How, Jonthan Finch : these all do enter there protest against ye above sd act of Mr. Morgan's going to ye mill.
During the same year another meeting was held relative to the same subject, with the following result :
At a meeting of ye inhabitants of Greenwich on ye west sid Mianus River Anno 1708 July ye 2ond ye above sd Inhabitants do vot yt Mr. Morgan shall be settled up in ye place, & whereas there is a difference in ye place concerning ye place of Mr. Morgan's settlement, ye Inhabitants above sd by vot Do Joyntly agree to leave it to ye ministers of this county fully to determine & to say where Mr. Morgan shall be setled, whether down at the mill, or up in ye place amoungst us ; & to sett down contented with their judgment in setlin Mr. Morgan according to gospel order, ye inhabitants above sd by vot Do make choice of Ebenezer Mead and Caleb Knapp to go to ye ministers & give them ye reasons of ye difference abot Mr. Morgan's living at his mills.
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
What the decision given by the Ministers was, we have been unable to ascertain; but we find the following account on record, of another meeting held during the same year :
At a meeting of ye Inhabitants of Greenwich on ye west side of ye river, August ye 27, 1708, vot as followeth, viz. : yt Mr. Ebenezer Mead, Joshua Knap and Caleb Knap shall be there Com- mittee to see if Mr. Morgan provideth himself with a miller, and leaves his mills and betakes himself to ye work of ye ministry, & to take from under Mr. Morgan's hand that he relinquisheth ye thirty acres of land, ye hous, & hom lott, in case he deserts ye towne ; & in case Mr. Morgan faileth in ye premises, then ye place is to be at there Liberty, & above said Committee to take care to provide ye place with another minister by ye last of September.
Oct. ye 17, Mr. Morgan Desired ye above sd Committee to meet & give him a full answer, which accordingly ye above sd Committee met & answered that according to ye above sd towne act he was at his liberty and likewise they was at their liberty to provide ye place with another minister.
From this last record, it would appear that Mr. Morgan chose rather to live at his mills and not preach, than to preach and not live at his mills. Doubtless this was the end of his stated regular preaching, yet we do not
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find that any other minister came here during the succeeding half-dozen years. Possibly and probably, the Horseneck Society had fre- quent preaching by transient ministers ; and no doubt Mr. Morgan preached for them often, in the absence of others.
The materials for an elaborate history are wanting during this period, and we must pass over several years from this time with little notice.
During the year 1713, it would seem that the people freely discussed the question of a re-union of the town in one ecclesiastical society. This idea would doubtless be ridi- culed now ; but it should be remembered that in those days, distance was little thought of by good church-going people, and the prevail- ing fashions did not make so much time requi- site for preparation as they do now. Besides this, economy in society expenses doubtless had its influence with many of the inhabitants. The Second Society was at that time without a regular pastor, and, if we judge properly from the face of the records, the First Society also. Hence, the project was so plausible, as to receive the following attention at a town meeting :-
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At a Town meetting held in greenwich, Anno 1713 October the 5th day the town taking into consideration where might be ye best place for to erect a meeting house for ye unitting of the town together, ye town by vot Do Judge that between Joseph Closes house & Ephraim Palmers hous is ye most suitable place in the bounds of ye town to erect said house.
The house designated in the above extract as Mr. Joseph Close's, was near the present residence of Jonathan A. Close, Esq., and that of Ephraim Palmer was situated where Jose- phus Palmer now resides. The place selected, therefore, was nearly the geographical center of the town. Indeed, it may then have been the point most easily to be reached for the then inhabitants, as previous to this time the portions to the north and west of this had become quite thickly settled. How- ever, no church was ever built there, and the design was entirely abandoned.
Another proof that there was no minister here at that time, is the following: '
At a Towne meeting held in Greenwich Dec. ye 29th day Anno 1715. Town meeting adjourned to meet at minister's house.
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
1715 TO REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
A reliable history of this period could hardly be given. Tradition hands down to us a few facts and ditties, while the record gives us little worth preserving, besides the ordinary annual elections and regular business of the town.
At a Towne meeting held in Greenwich, Anno 1716, June the 15th daye, The Towne by vot Do give & grant unto Mr. Justice Bush of New York the privilege of the stream of horseneck brook below the contry road to build a grist mill or mills upon, & sd Justice Bush is to build said mill within two years time from this date, & to grind for the inhabitants of Greenwich what grain they shall bring to his mill to be ground, & not to put them by for strangers, & he is to have liberty to gett stones & timber upon common lands for buildings and mill, & also to sett up a storehous upon said landing, & said Justice Bush is constantly to main- tain a sufficient grist mill upon sd stream, except said mill should come to some accident by fire or otherwise & said Justice Bush do not rebuild her again within three years time, then the said stream & Privileges to return for there use & benefit as formerly ; & further, Mr. Ebenezer Mead & Angell Husted & John Ferris are chosen to lay out the
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landing and highway on the Northside of horseneck brook.
On the 22ond day of Dec. 1724 the town granted liberty to Daniel Smith to build a wharf at the mouth of Horseneck brook * * * * * for ye use of ye towne.
A protracted lawsuit a few years since was lost by the defendant, because unable to find the above extracts upon the records; and so great is the age and wear of the book, that but few scarches would seriously endanger its existence.
In 1717, the Second Society was provided with another minister, the Rev. Richard Sack- ett. Little seems to be known of him, even by his immediate descendants. He is spoken of as a kind, mild man, and universally be- loved by his people. Mr. Sackett graduated in middle life at Yale College, in the class of seventeen hundred and nine, the largest class that had then graduated in that College. He preached in Greenwich until his death, which occurred in 1727, ten years after his settle- ment.
Upon the decease of Mr. Sackett, the Soci- ety procured the services of Rev. Stephen Munson, who was duly installed as pastor on
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the 29th day of May, A. D. 1728. Mr. Mun- son was also a graduate of Yale College, in the class of seventeen hundred and twenty- five, and came to 'Greenwich immediately after finishing his theological studies. He remained pastor only two years, when he was, like Mr. Sackett, who preceded him, taken from his church by death. This occurred in May, 1730.
The pulpit of this Society was then filled by various ministers until 1732, when the church extended a call to Rev. Abraham Todd, who accepted the call, and during the next year was duly installed. Mr. Todd was then a young man, having just finished his theological studies. He had been graduated at Yale College in the class of seventeen hun- dred and twenty-seven. He remained pastor of the church for forty years, when in the year 1773 he died. Of his character, the du- ration of his ministerial office over a single church is, perhaps, a sufficient indication. He is said to have been of a mild, easy disposition, and many anecdotes are handed down to us by tradition, concerning him. Although a general favorite throughout the whole period
6
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of his ministry, he may, like others, have had some though few enemies.
It is related that during his ministry, many of his hearers were out-spoken men, even ex- pressing themselves publicly during worship, as to the merits or demerits of the doctrines advanced. Among this class of persons was one Palmer, who was present during the ser- vice on an occasion when an Indian Mission- ary preached to Mr. Todd's congregation. He preached fluently, and we presume well; and so great an impression did his logic and elo- quence make upon Palmer, that he exclaimed at the close of the sermon, with great vehe- mence, "Let's swap Todd and buy the Injin, he does a good deal the best." Mr. Todd, him- self, was present; but whether he thought it so much the greater compliment to the Indian, or a low estimate of his own powers, we are not informed.
Some other facts relating to Mr. Todd, may be found upon the succeeding pages of this volume.
In 1735, according to Dr. Trumbull, one Benj. Strong was installed at Stanwich ; but I deem this a mistake, as no society was formed
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there until some thirty or more years after this date. It may be, indeed, that such a minister occasionally performed service there, but we have no record of the fact. Mr. Ben- jamin Strong was graduated at New Haven, in the class of 1734, and probably there may be a mistake in the date given by Dr. Trum- bull.
In 1740, Rev. James Wetmore, a graduate from Yale College, and a convert from the Presbyterian to the Episcopal doctrines, being then settled at Rye, preached once a month at Stamford and Greenwich. In 1747, Rev. Ebenezer Dibble, also a graduate of Yale, be- came a missionary for the parish including both Stamford and Greenwich. He was a member of the class of seventeen hundred and thirty-four. He became Master of Arts in 1793, the title of Doctor of Sacred Theol- ogy was conferred upon him by Columbia College. His death occurred in 1799. After preaching two years at private houses, the communicants of the Episcopal Church built a house of worship, it being the first in town. Some of our oldest residents (Samuel Close, Esq.) remember his preaching at the house
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of Moses Heusted, where William A. Heusted, Esq., now resides. His long flowing white hair, falling gracefully upon his shoulders, gave him a reverential and dignified appear- ance.
In 1745 and 1746, occurred the death of an aged couple, Mr. Samuel Peck, Esq., and his wife Ruth. They were buried in the old burying ground at Old Greenwich, where their tombstones still remain, upon which the following epitaphs are quite legible.
Here lies the Body of Mrs. Ruth
Peck, wife of Samll. Peck, Esqr., who
Died sept. ye 17th,
1745, about 83 years of age.
Here lies the
Body of Samuel
Peck, Esqr., who
Died April ye 23th, AD: 1746.
Aged 90 years.
The name of Samuel Peck, as well as that of his wife, has occurred frequently in the preceding pages of this history, and both are often met with upon our town records. In his day Mr. Peck was probably the most influ- ential man in the settlement. He was the son of Rev. Jeremiah Peck, and was born in
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
1656. He moved into town with his father in 1676. Though not by any means the most wealthy, yet, if we may judge from the im- portant positions he held, he was probably the best educated. He held the office of Jus- tice of the Peace as long as his age permitted. His wife was Miss Ruth Ferris, whose name is frequently to be found upon the records ; and she was a high-minded, influential woman. Contemporary with these, when in the prime of life, was Lieut. Gershom Lockwood; but he died some twenty years before them. He was the principal carpenter and builder in the town, and filled many offices of trust and importance. His grave, a few feet north of Mr. Peck's, is marked by a tombstone with this epitaph :
Here lyes ye Body of Mr. Gershom Lockwood, aged 77 years, dec'd March ye 12th, 1718-19.
In the same grave-yard stands a tombstone of a more recent date, through which is a hole, which has been a matter of considerable
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HISTORY OF GREENWICH.
speculation. As there was a sort of skirmish in the vicinity, a report has gained some cre- dence, that a musket had sent a bullet entirely through the stone ; but upon our making a strict examination, we perceived unmistakable marks of an auger, and we presume the hole, though unused, was bored through for the purpose of mending the stone, which at some time had been broken.
FRENCH WAR.
During the French wars, as well as in the Revolutionary, Connecticut furnished more than her actual quota of men. We shall speak only of the second French war here, as we have no account of any detachment or com- pany from Greenwich in active service during the first war. That commenced by a declara- tion of war on the part of Great Britain against Spain on the 23d day of October, 1739. Great Britain contemplated raising four regiments in America, to be transported to Jamaica, there to effect a junction with a powerful armament from the mother coun- try. The expenses of victualing, transporta- tion, and other necessaries were to be defrayed
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