USA > Connecticut > Windham County > A modern history of Windham county, Connecticut : a Windham county treasure book, Volume I > Part 62
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The fourth is the "Pastor's Window"-placed there through funds con- tributed by all the then-living pastors of the church and by personal friends of Mr. Winslow residing in other towns. The names upon the red tablet are : Dennis Platt, Philo Judson, Andrew Sharpe, Samuel G. Willard, Horace Wins- low. Although Mr. Platt was not settled over the church, he was its first shep- herd and was instrumental in establishing it upon a firm basis.
The fifth window on the east was from Mr. James D. Sawyer, a former member of the church and connected with the Hosmer family. He removed from the town about 1839, but from his generous contributions evidently re- tained a warm regard for his church home of former years.
On the west side, the first window-opposite the children's on the east- was presented by the Men's Bible Class, the teacher at that time being Deacon Henry B. Gates. Mr. Winslow remarked of him many years afterward: "I remember him well; he was a good man."
Next comes the window given by Mr. Hosmer, as a memorial to his daughter Letetia. The Hosmers were all liberal givers to this church. The name "Hosmer Mountain" perpetuates. their memory.
The third window, in memory of brothers and sisters, was a gift of Mrs. A. T. Marcy of Hartford, Conn., a sister of Mr. Jillson. It faces that one pre- sented by him.
The fourth, inscribed with the words "Be not weary in well-doing," was the gift of Mr. Charles L. Bottum, a warm friend and ever loyal supporter of his pastor. He was one of the most generous and frequent givers to the
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church, according to his means. Through all the arduous years of building and of throwing off the debt, he was never found wanting. Mr. Winslow en- joyed on summer evenings driving with some of his family to Mr. Bottum's pleasant home at Conantville, where the door always stood open in hospitality. Mr. Bottum possessed a kindly spirit and cheerful disposition and after losing competence through those who owed him nought but gratitude and affection, he tried to make the best of adversity and to keep a sunny temper. In a letter written to one of Mr. Bottum's family soon after his death in 1884, Mr. Wins- low said of him, "He was not a church member, but when I reach the heavenly home, I expect to greet my dear old friend."
The fifth window was given by Mr. George H. Chase of New York and Stamford, in memory of his father, Mr. Laban S. Chase of Willimantic, who was injured by a fall and passed away soon afterward on Christmas day, 1869.
The two mullion windows in the gallery were the gift of Mrs. John D. Norton of Syracuse, N. Y .; one is a mmeorial to her husband and the other to her sister, Miss Mary D. Hosmer. Mrs. Norton was a sister of Messrs. James D. and William Hosmer, her former home having been in Willimantic and she was pleased to aid in beautifying the church which her brothers were helping to erect.
Thus furnished at one time by one firm and selected by one person, these windows have a unity as well as variety and are harmonious with each other and with the building in which they are placed.
The lot on which the church stands, at the northeast corner of Valley and Walnut streets, was a gift from Mr. Thomas Cunningham. Additional land was bought later. The old frame church standing on the south side of Main Street, after having been sold, was remodeled for business purposes and has since been known as the Melony Block. The new church was built of brick, in Italian Gothic style. It stands 104 feet by 63 feet, in the clear, and seats over nine hundred persons.
Referring again to Mr. Winslow's historical discourse we read: "In July of 1869 the cornerstone of the new edifice was laid with appropriate ceremonies and in one year from that time it was dedicated to the service of God. Rev. Dr. Burton of Hartford preached the sermon; the pastor gave an address and offered the dedicatory prayer. The people' entered with gladness into their new and beautiful house of worship, and the congregation steadily increased. The need of a chapel was soon seriously felt *
* and it was finally de- cided to proceed with the addition of a chapel provided the funds could be secured as the work went on. Several hundred dollars had already been raised by subscription for this object, and the society voted to proceed with the work, so far as means could be secured. The foundation for this addition was laid in the fall of 1870 and on the 7th of May, 1871, the chapel was dedicated. * This addition cost $3,469. Great credit was due to Deacon Cushman, the committee, for the economy with which this work was done. The parlor was soon furnished by the ladies of the society, but the other rooms were pro- vided only with seats taken from the old lecture room.
"Up to this time the whole cost of the enterprise was $47,700. This included land, building, organ, carpets, cushions and furniture. While no debt had been contracted in the addition of a chapel a debt had accumulated upon the society, to the amount of $12,600. * * * To raise this amount seemed hope- less to most of the society. In a few cases there was faith, but the prevailing
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feeling was doubt, and now I think it is due to the glory of God, to recognize His hand in the work. He went before and prepared the hearts of this people, so that they not only gave as He enabled them to do, but they gave cheerfully. * The spirit of the meeting called on the first day of October (1872) to hear the result, testified to the general joy," for the $12,000 had been sub- scribed for and the remaining $600 were raised on the spot.
A praise service was held on the following Sabbath and the pastor writes of it that "joy and gladness filled the house." "The debt removed," he says again, "there was a desire to have the chapel property furnished and decorated, so as fitly to compare with the main audience room. The pastor had liberty to do this if he could secure the funds, and in about a year from that time the whole was handsomely painted, seated and carpeted at an expense of about six hundred dollars."
The work of laying a slate roof on the church was done by Mr. J. F. Poin- dexter, who afterward put the slate on Loomer Opera House and on several other buildings in Willimantic. Mr. Poindexter, who is living at the present time in Simsbury, Conn., states that Mr. Winslow, in the interest of the society, kept the time of the men as they worked on the roof; each night he compared his notes with those of Mr. Poindexter and according to the latter, they always agreed.
Mention should also be made of the excellent work of the builders, Messrs. Chappell and Potter. There could be no complaint for everything was faith- fully carried out according to contract-a lesson to many firms of today. Both members of the firm have ere this passed away, but their work remains.
As in other pastorates where Mr. Winslow had been instrumental in further- ing the building of new church edifices, so in Willimantic he gave the designs and proportions; and all of those churches, including this, were so constructed in regard to hearing, speaking, seeing and ventilation, as to show that he had successfully solved those important problems.
The building of this church has been dwelt upon at some length for several reasons : it was a most important undertaking of Mr. Winslow's pastorate and marked an epoch in the history of the First Congregational Church. It was no light load of responsibility that he carried in respect to the success of it all, as is evidenced by the fact that for the building of the church and the clearing off of the debt, more than $18,000 were raised by his personal efforts alone. He felt that no church could do its best work for a community when in cramped quarters or encumbered by debt; hence he bent all his energies to the accomplishment of that which seemed the most pressing need of the hour.
One of his parishioners remarked to him upon the completion of the church, "If you had never accomplished anything else, this one work would be suffi- cient for a lifetime." Mr. Winslow deeply appreciated the whole-hearted man- ner in which the people responded when he approached them for money, even when called upon again and again. He once stated that no one to whom he applied ever refused him. Mr. Allen Lincoln, of the building committee, was a leading business man of never-failing friendliness and generosity. At the time of removing the debt, Mr. Winslow asked him for the $100 which had been promised by Mr. Lincoln, who promptly replied, "I'll give you three hundred."
Deacon Cushman was another large giver. In a certain conversation which he had with his pastor, Mr. Cushman said that he had given toward the build- ing of the church one-tenth of his property-not one-tenth of his income, but
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of all that he possessed. His liberality is well illustrated by an incident of a few years later, when the good deacon having removed to a neighboring city attended one of the largest and wealthiest churches in that place. It was customary in that church for anyone who had not as much money with him as he desired for any special object to write the sum upon a slip of paper and drop that into the box. One Sunday, a collection for foreign missions being called for, Mr. Cushman dropped into the box a slip representing $100. After the service an official of the church came to him and said: "The slip you put in is a mistake, I suppose; it is marked $100. I presume you intended it for . $1.00." "No," said Mr. Cushman, much amused, "I intended it just as I wrote it,-$100."
Mr. Cushman finally settled in California for his health but lived only a few years afterward. As a proof of the love he bore, to his latest day, for the Willimantic church of which he was for many years a faithful and liberal officer, he left to it in his will a considerable sum of money.
Mrs. Cushman, with other "honorable women," gave years of service in the Sunday school, and the church was the recipient from Mrs. Cushman of the beautiful communion service, presented in 1870.
So, on every side, were evidences of the generosity and cordial responsive- ness of men and women both within and without the circle of the church and congregation. Few churches, perhaps, have been built which were more truly labors of love, love that demanded, in many cases, no doubt, a real self-sacrifice. Thus, wrought into the very structure itself, glowing through the incoming light, heard in the tones of the organ, were the faith, the love, and the good deeds of scores of persons, the majority of whom have probably even now gone to their reward. But sweet and holy influences are still all around to lead those who come after up into the glorious light of the Gospel.
In all this activity above considered, the pastor's mind and heart were not directed from what is usually considered the legitimate business of a Christian minister. During the nineteenth century, revivals were common and some peo- ple looked upon them as rather essential to a well-conducted pastorate. Mr. Winslow was in sympathy with sincere desire for arousing the indifferent and spurring on the slackers. Revivals occurred in all the churches over which he was settled. He believed it important for a church to sustain a healthy re- ligious interest at all times, but also that there were seasons which for one cause or another seemed conducive to a general awakening in religious and spiritual matters.
He advocated union meetings as a means of promoting Christian brother- hood among churches of different denominations, and years before inter-church movements or the like were generally thought of.
For a number of years in Willimantic he conducted a Bible class of young men and was ever deeply anxious for the growth and welfare of the Sunday school. He also founded a Young People's Meeting which before the days of Christian Endeavor had a goodly attendance of the young people of the church and was usually conducted by one of their number. At the close, most of them stayed for the regular evening service, where they formed no inconsiderable portion of the assembly.
In the latter part of his service, he organized at the "New Village" a mis- sion Sunday school, the success of which was made possible by the generous cooperation of the late Hon. Eugene S. Boss, agent of the Willimantic Linen
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Company. This school, whose teachers were men and women of the Congre- gational Church, numbered over one hundred members when Mr. Winslow left town and turned the superintending over to Mr. Benajah Smith.
Mr. Winslow was fond of young people and loved to work among them. Mrs. Winslow, too, was interested in the children and as soon as the chapel was finished, started a primary class which she taught until nearly the close of her husband's pastorate, having at times over sixty children on the membership roll. Before leaving Willimantic she turned over the class to Mrs. Morse, wife of Capt. Stephen Morse. "Eddie" Morse, one of the little ones at that time, is now the head of Morse Business College in Hartford.
During Mr. Winslow's connection with the Willimantic church, a large number of persons joined it by profession and by letter. Outside of the duties to his family, his church was his first care and its calls were paramount. At the time of the trial of Henry Ward Beecher, Mr. Winslow was invited to sit in the council of ministers that was to hear and pass upon the charges that were brought against the famous divine. A great admirer and loyal supporter of Doctor Beecher, he would have been glad to help counteract the effect of what he considered mere calumnious attacks upon a great and good man; but as attendance upon the council would have obliged him for a considerable period to be much away from home between Sundays, he declined the appoint- ment.
At another time he was urged to be a candidate to represent the Town of Windham in the Legislature. Intensely interested in good government and in whatever would make for the welfare of the community and the state, such an opporunity, though unsought, made its appeal to him. That work would also have taken time and effort that he felt in justice belonged to his parish, and again he declined.
Mr. and Mrs. Winslow in after years often recalled with gratitude the al- most universal kindness which their household received at the hands of the people of Willimantic and especially of the Congregational Church. They were located in the midst of pleasant neighbors to whom they were indebted for numberless acts of friendliness.
In 1876 Mr. Winslow suffered a severe accident, his case being considered by his physicians as serious, even critical for a time. At this his church gen- erously gave him a six-mouths vacation which, no doubt, was the means of prolonging his life. Though recovery was rapid, he was never afterward in as firm health as before. At last feeling no longer able to endure the strain of active pastoral labor, he offered his resignation, in March, 1881, and left town two or three months later, removing after a pastorate of twelve years, to the Town of Simsbury, in Hartford County, Conn. Until laid aside by illness in the late '90s, he continued preaching, supplying pulpits in Connecticut and neighboring states.
On January 22, 1903, occurred the seventy-fifth anniversary of the organ- ization of the First Congregational Church of Willimantic, and Mr. Winslow was invited to give an address, but the inclemency of the season and increasing infirmities made it impossible for him to attend that interesting occasion.
Horace Winslow was born in Enfield, Mass., May 18, 1814, and passed away at his residence in Weatogue, Simsbury, Conn., March 6, 1905, at the age of nearly ninety-one years. Funeral services were held in the Simsbury Congre- gational Church and burial was in the ancient Simsbury cemetery.
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He served for a time as chaplain of the Fifth Regiment, Connecticut Volun- teers, in the Civil war, and was long an officer of the Joseph R. Toy Post, Grand Army of the Republic of Simsbury. Comrades of the post bore his body to the grave.
Of strong convictions and with a deep spiritual nature, yet he was progres. sive in thought and possessed a vigorous, inquiring mind. With these and many lovable qualities, he commanded the respect of men in every walk of life. One of his parishioners once remarked to the writer: "Your father was always my ideal of a Christian minister." When eighty-three years old, and not in the best of health, he was in attendance at a conference of ministers and church members, when he was unexpectedly called on to address the company and the brief remarks he made were not surpassed in strength and clarity of thought by those of the other speakers.
He did not cross the "dead line" at fifty, and so far as mental alertness was concerned, he never crossed it.
With a clear eye and a firm step, he retained his erect bearing even to old age.
"Servant of God, well done! Rest from thy loved employ : The battle fought, the victory won, Enter thy Master's joy !"
DIARY AND LETTERS OF A CLERGYMAN-1849-1868
By Abby Gregory Willard
"Early in August, 1849, a week or two before the close of my three years in the Divinity School at New Haven, I received a handsomely written letter dated at Willimantic, and signed by William L. Weaver, stating in behalf of the committee that the church needed a pastor, and asking if I would come and preach three or four Sabbaths. Of Willimantic I knew nothing except that it was on the line of the Railroad over the charter of which such an exciting contest had been waged in the Legislature at New Haven three years earlier. I was an entire stranger to almost every one in that portion of the state, and was at a loss to understand to whom I was indebted for an introduction to the Willimantic Church. However, I accepted the invitation, and promised to preach the Sabbath following Commencement.
"The manner of reaching the place from New Haven was by stage every other day from Hartford. Leaving New Haven by the railroad at eleven A. M., Hartford was reached by one o'clock, and as it was my first visit, I was inter- ested in the somewhat primitive way in which the train was pushed into the station which stood some distance southeast of the present structure. Half an hour later I entered the four-horse stage-coach for Willimantic. Among the passengers was Mr. Samuel Perkins, of Philadelphia, and his son, whom I had known as a student in College; also, Mr. Hill, a native of Norwich, and a grad- uate of Yale four years earlier, '45."
Mr. Willard's first Sunday in Willimantic, as pastor, was November 11, 1849,-and the foregoing account of his introduction to the church and town was written for one of the anniversaries of the church, during his second pas- torate in Colchester, where he spent another period of almost nineteen years,- and died in 1887.
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William Witter, M. D., with William L. Weaver, met Mr. Willard on his arrival by stage, and he was entertained by Mrs. Horace Hall, who proved a life-long friend. She was mother of John M. Hall. Mr. Weaver's son, Thomas S. Weaver, who has been superintendent of the Hartford schools for twenty years, once said, "How often have I heard my father tell of his part in securing him (Mr. Willard), for his first pastorate in Willimantic."
In 1850 Mr. Willard moved-with his bride of the year previous-into the west side of the Kingsley house on Union Street, now known by the name of the owner, as the Chamberlain house-leaving it only in 1866, when the Eagle house on Bridge Street was his home for the last two years of his residence in Willimantic.
Mrs. Willard, Mary Randle of Wilton, lived less than four years; and later, Doctor Witter's death having occurred some time before, her friend, Mrs. Wit- ter, who was Cynthia Barrows, of Mansfield, became the wife of her pastor ; and through her ministries of love in the home and throughout the parish, and by her many church activities, she added greatly to the effectiveness of Mr. Wil- lard's life.
Mr. Willard's father was Dr. David Willard of Wilton, a direct descendant of Maj. Simon Willard, who came to this country in 1634, and was a proprietary landholder in Cambridge and in Concord. He conducted the colony to Con- cord. His mother, Abby Gregory Willard, belonged to one of the oldest fam- ilies in Wilton, whose ancestors were also connected with the making of history in New England. Mr. Willard graduated from the Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven, after a year of study with a former teacher, Dr. Hawley Olmstead ; and from Yale College four years later, in 1846. Before entering college, he was in business for two or three years and he had taught school before going to New Haven, also during his seminary course; and, in 1839, he trained with the militia, in Wilton ; so he was well equipped for his first pastorate.
His first interest in the life-work upon which he had entered centered about the especial duties connected with his own church, and with the Congrega- tional denomination. Mr. Willard's name often appears as scribe, or registrar, treasurer, moderator, or as a member of committees, when not the chairman. At ordinations, or installations, he often had a place on the program; while frequently, at meetings held in nearby towns-both church and otherwise-he was called upon to make addresses. Often he officiated at weddings and funerals in families outside of his congregation and in other parts of the state.
The regular weekly services of the church, as arranged by this pastor, con- sisted of preaching services on Sunday, both morning and afternoon, with a Sunday school session between the two, where Mr. Willard usually taught a Bible class-either of young men or of young women-a 6 o'clock meeting, which was the monthly concert for prayer; a meeting of the Willimantic Tem- perance Society; or a Sabbath school concert, according to the schedule pre- viously prepared. At the mid-week meeting on Wednesday or Thursday eve- ning, the pastor gave a talk upon some Bible selection-usually spoken of as a lecture ; on Saturday evening a church prayer meeting was held, in later years carried on by others than the pastor, but of which he always received a report.
On the 24th day of December, 1842, the class of 1846 at Yale College, of which Mr. Willard was a member, formed a temperance society, whose pledge read as follows: "We, the undersigned, do agree that we will not use intox- icating liquors as a beverage; that we will not provide them as an article of
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entertainment and that in all suitable ways we will discontinue their use through- out the community. To this we pledge ourselves." When Mr. Willard entered upon community work in Willimantic, he brought this same spirit which had led the college class to take a definite stand against the great evil. Fully sixty names were appended to this pledge. The secretary, William B. Capron, after- wards a distinguished missionary in India, interestingly recorded, after stating the acceptance of the constitution, drawn up by Mr. Willard (then the vice president, afterwards president), "All who chose then signed their names to the document, thus scorning one of the (so called) first principles of free- dom."
One of the children of the "manse" (literally, the minister's "own hired house") recalls the year that great efforts were made in Willimantic to secure pledge signers. One copy of the pledge was in the store on South Main Street, below the south end of Union Street. Because of the number of children who added their names to the long list, the child brought great pressure to bear upon the head of the house to be allowed the same privilege.
Mr. Willard believed in educating the public mind and in keeping up the interest as a regular line of approaching the object desired. For a series of years, in addition to the monthly church temperance meetings mentioned, meet- ings were held in other towns, and at the ministers' meeting the subject often received attention. More than people may think who have no access to the facts, the ministers of Connecticut, especially in Eastern Connecticut, were laying broad foundations upon which the following generation might build with a hope of success.
Mr. Willard records that on Wednesday, January 4, 1865, he was in Nor- wich to help organize a state society for the promotion of temperance in the lecture room of the Broadway Church. A second meeting was held with Rev. J. P. Gulliver in Norwich, January 11, 1865, at 11 o'clock. This was the first meeting of the executive committee of the Temperance Society of Con- necticut. Mr. Willard was chosen secretary. The members of the committee present were Messrs. J. P. Gulliver, E. H. Pratt, Manning and Charles Dexter. This society is now known as the Connecticut Temperance Union.
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