USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > A narrative and documentary history of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church (formerly St. James) of Waterbury, Connecticut > Part 2
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Mr. Lyon's successor was the Rev. Richard Mansfield. He was the son of Deacon Jonathan Mansfield of New Haven and was born there, October 1, 1723, and graduated at Yale college in 1741. For five years he was rector of the Hopkins Grammar school, and as during this time he connected himself with the Episcopal church (the Hopkins Grammar school being distinctly a Congregational institution) and still continued for some years to hold the position, it is evident that even at that early age he must have possessed a rare combination of firmness, gentleness and attractive traits of character. In 1748 he was ordained in England and appointed a missionary, on a salary of £20 a year, to the villages of Derby, West Haven, Waterbury and Northbury, and established himself at Derby, that being a convenient point for the care of this extensive charge. On October 10, 1751, he married Anne, daughter of Captain Joseph Hull of Derby. She had reached at that time the mature age of fifteen years and four months .*
* Early marriages were more common then than now and there may have been other extenuating circumstances. I do not know what they were. Perhaps she was very pretty.
. 8
THE MISSION PARISH OF ST. JAMES.
Her elder sister had, the preceding summer, married the Rev. Mark Leavenworth, the Congregational minister of Waterbury. For ten years Mr. Mansfield administered the affairs of this large district with faithfulness and success. After Mr. Scovil took charge of the parishes in this neighborbood, Mr. Mansfield re- stricted his labors to Derby and vicinity, and there he lived, universally beloved and respected, until April 2, 1820, when he died in the ninety-seventh year of his age, and the seventy-second of his ministry: one of the longest, if not absolutely the longest, of pastorates on record. His Alma Mater in 1792 conferred upon him the degree of D. D., he being the first Episcopal clergyman to whom she extended that honor. He was one of the persons proposed to succeed Bishop Seabury, but declined to be a candi- date. In his ninety-sixth year he presided over the convention which elected Bishop Brownell. His life has been fully treated in the History of Derby and elsewhere.
In January, 1740, certain persons "calling themselves Church- men" remonstrated against paying Mr. Southmayd the £100 voted him. Their names fifteen in number, were spread upon . the town record and the list is interesting. Here it is :-
EPHRAIM WARNER, NATHANIEL MERRILL,
CALEB THOMPSON,
DANIEL PORTER,
OBADIAH WARNER,
JAMES WILLIAMS,
ROBERT JOHNSON, .
RICHARD WELTON,
THOMAS BARNES,
JAMES BROWN,
JOSEPH SMITH,
ABRAHAM WARNER,
BENJAMIN WARNER,
EPHRAIM WARNER, JR., SAMUEL BROWN.
(The above list is copied from the manuscripts of the late Bennet Bronson. There is no record of town meetings between December, 1738, and December, 1740. One leaf, perhaps more, of the record book is missing. It may have been lost in binding. The missing portion was in existence some thirty years ago, as proved by the manuscripts referred to.)-H. Bronson's History.
The following vote was passed by the town December 13, 1742:
Upon the request of Dr. Benjamin Warner and others, the town, by vote, gave liberty to set up a church on the highway, North of Edmund Scott's house lot against the apple trees in said Scott's lot by the highway, and appoint the present townsmen
9
HISTORY OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.
with John Southmayd a committee to agree with said Scott to get some of his lot, if they can have it upon reasonable terms that the house may be better accommodated and the highway less incumbered. This is the action referred to by Dr. Tillotson Bronson.
For some reason not now understood, the ground above des- ignated, and which is nearly the same as that on which the present Episcopal church stands, was not obtained or not improved, and
55
No. Willow St
33
44
50
West Main
St.
LOT FOR ST. JAMES' CHURCH, 1743.
a year afterwards the town gave to William Selkrigg the liberty to place a house on it.
At a town meeting held April 10, 1743, several of the denomi- nation of the Church of England declared that they were about to set up a church and petitioned that if they purchased a place to set it upon the town would help them. The town considering their motion did by vote agree that provided they purchased a place of any particular person to set their house upon and set it accordingly they might have liberty to draw twelve pound in money Old tenor bills out of the town treasury to purchase the same. The site had already been selected and preparations for
10
THE MISSION PARISH OF ST. JAMES.
building made. Although the sum of £12 was named in the deed as consideration (perhaps to make the acceptance of the town's gift legal), the lot was really presented to them by John Judd and is described as taken from his house lot. It was on the north- east corner of West Main and Willow Streets, the lot now owned by Mrs. Charles M. Mitchell, and is described as forty-five feet on the south side, twenty-eight feet on the west, fifty feet on the north and thirty-nine feet on the east. March 6, 1784, Judge Joseph Hopkins leased to the committee of the Society a strip five feet wide on the north and east sides of the church lot. Why the lot should have been put in such peculiar shape when the land was open in either direction it is hard to see.
By deed dated November 23, 1797, the whole lot was sold to Jesse Hopkins, son of Judge Hopkins. The church and parish bore the name of St. James. In those days church buildings were not warmed, but it was customary to have a small building in the neighborhood, with fire place, where those who came from a distance could spend the hour between services and be warm and comfortable while they ate their luncheon, and could fill their foot stoves for the afternoon service.
These buildings were called Sabbath-day houses, or, in the language of the time, "Sabbady houses," A building of this sort containing several rooms stood on South Willow Street near where is now the residence of Mrs. William Brown.
In February, 1743-4, the Church-of-England-men determined on a movement to obtain parish privileges. Without such privi- leges they could not lay taxes for building a church. Before going to the Legislature, however, they applied to the town to secure its good will. The town, in a liberal spirit, resolved that it would not oppose them in their application. Their petition, signed by thirty-eight persons, came before the Assembly in October, 1744, and was rejected. Here is the paper:
The Memorial of the subscribers being Professors of the Church of Eng- land and inhabitants of the Town of Waterbury in New Haven County, by their agent Doct. Benj. Warner of sd Waterbury, Humbly shewcth-
That whereas you Honours Memoriallists, being Professors of the Church of England, and bound in Duty to carry on the Worship of God amongst us
11
HISTORY OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.
from which there arises considerable charges that are Necessary in order thereunto, as building a church and Keeping it in Repair with many other things of the Like Importance, Which charges (as we your Humble Memori- alists think) could be Defrayed More conveniently by a Tax upon each per- son accordin to their list, as such charges are in the Parishes established by the Laws of this colony. And there being no Law of this colony Enabling us to Lay and Gather such Taxes, Humbly pray that your Honours, in your Great goodness, would be pleased to Grant us Parrish Previleges in Every perticular (the School only excepted) as the Parrishes have established accord- ing to the Constitution of this Government, and your Memorialists as in Duty bound Shall ever pray.
Waterbury, April 22d, 1744.
JONATHAN SCOTT,
STEPHEN WELTON,
BENJAMIN WARNER,
JOHN BARNS,
ZEBULON SCOTT,
JOHN JUDD,
GERSHOM SCOTT,
ELIAKIM WELTON,
OBADIAH WARNER,
GAMALIEL TERRIL,
JOHN ALCOCK,
JONATHAN PRINDEL,
ROBERT JOHNSON,
JOSEPH BRUNSON,
ISAAC SELKRIGG,
THOMAS WELTON, JR., TIMOTHY PORTER,
JAMES BROWNE, JAMES BROWNE, JR., JOSEPH BROWNE,
NATHANIEL MERRILL,
NATHAN HUBBARD,
BENJAMIN PRITCHARD,
DANIEL How,
RICHARD WELTON, JOSEPH JUDD, RICHARD WELTON, JR.,
THOMAS WELTON,
JOHN BROWNE,
EDMUND SCOTT, JR.,
NATHAN PRINDEL,
THOMAS BARNES,
EBENEZER WARNER,
EBENEZER JUDD,
MOSES BROUNSON,
GEORGE NIKOLS,
DR. EPHRAIM WARNER, DANIEL PORTER,
JOSIAH WARNER.
This catalogue of names may be supposed to represent nearly the entire strength of the new denomination at the date of the petition. I notice, however, the absence of three names which were on the paper of subscriptions for a church, to wit, Nathaniel Gunn, Thomas Osborn and John Southmayd, Jr., and of five names which are on the list of those who protested to the paying of Mr. Southmayd the £100 in 1740, to wit, Joseph Smith, Caleb Thomson, James Williams, Abraham Warner and Samuel Brown. Of these eight, John Southmayd, James Williams and Samuel Brown had died and Caleb Thomson had already, probably, removed to Harwinton. If we add the remaining four, all Church- men (and all of whom were living in Waterbury in 1744, unless Joseph Smith is to be excepted), to the thirty-eight petitioners, we have a total number of forty-two individuals, representing probably over two hundred persons, who were "professors (or
12
THE MISSION PARISH OF ST. JAMES.
adherents) of the Church of England," at this time. (Dr. H. Bronson's History of Waterbury.)
This was an era of prosperity for the parish. It received several valuable gifts of land from the members (See Chapter on Real Estate) and a rectory was built by subscription. This was on land given by Oliver Welton and must have been not far from where the late F. L. Curtiss's house now stands. It was the third lot from Willow street. Oliver inherited it from his grandfather John. He gave it, while yet a minor, with consent of his guardian, the Rev. John Southmayd, and confirmed the deed after he at- tained his majority. (See Chapter on Real Estate).
Oliver Welton, considered as one of the most important benefactors of the Episcopal Church of Waterbury, (the land spoken of being regarded as a donation), was a son of John and a grandson of John, Sen., (an original pro- prietor). He was born December 24, 1724; served through the old French war; held the rank of ensign and afterwards of lieutenant; was in the action at Lake George and (according to the Churchman's Magazine) at "the repulse at Crown Point when the gallant Lord Howe was killed." Of those scenes he would speak, in his old age, with the greatest emotion, till the tears flowed and his utterance was choked. He died November 10, 1809 .- (Henry Bron- sons' History.)
In 1759 Mr. Mansfield gave up the northward end of his large mission field and was succeeded by the Rev. James Scovil, who took charge of Waterbury, Northbury, New Cambridge (now Bristol), and later of Westbury, now Watertown. He fixed his residence at Waterbury, thus becoming the first resident rector. He was the son of Lieutenant William Scovil and grand- son of Sergeant John Scovil, who was one of the original settlers of the town. He was born January 27, 1732-3, and probably in the house on Willow street long known as the "old Johnson House," which was taken down, after being partly destroyed by fire, in 1889, being at that time by far the oldest house in town. This house was built by Sergeant John Scovil for his son William, and left to him by a nuncupative will recorded in Woodbury, to which district Waterbury then belonged, in 1725. About the time of James's birth, William Scovil exchanged places with Abram Utter and removed to that part of Westbury known as Nova Scotia hill. The dates on the record indicate that this
13
HISTORY OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.
removal took place subsequent to the date of James's birth, but there was a tradition in the family that he was born at Nova Scotia hill probably arising simply from the fact that his father lived there. When James Scovil was about ten years old, his mother, who was a daughter of John Richards of Waterbury, having died, his father married Elizabeth, daughter of James Brown, before mentioned as the first Episcopalian in Waterbury.
Whether she brought Episcopacy into the family I cannot say, but it came about that time, as William Scovil's name appears as a member of the Congregational Society in Westbury not long before. When James Scovil was about twenty years of age, an injury which rendered him lame for a time and placed him under the care of Dr. Porter in Waterbury made him turn his attention to study. He lived during this time with the Rev. Mr. South- mayd, who found him so apt a scholar that he urged his parents to give him a college education. This being approved, he at once began his classical studies. He remained with Mr. Southmayd until cured of his lameness, and completed his preparation for college at home, probably under the care of the Rev. Mr. Trum- bull. He graduated at Yale in 1757.
A year afterward the vestry of St. James Parish voted to con- tribute to the expense of his journey to England for ordination and to give him £20, sterling, a year, provided he got nothing at hum, and half of whatever he might get at hum, and the use of the glebe. "Hum" then meant England, although few of those vestrymen, perhaps none, had ever seen it. At the same meeting it was voted that we give him £22. 10s. sterling to carry him hum. On April 1, 1759, he was ordained in Westminister Abbey by the Bishop of Rochester, and returned as a recognized mission- ary under the auspices of the "Ven. S. P. G." He was presented by the society, at his ordination, with a folio Bible and Prayer- book, bound in one volume, for use in the church .*
* After doing duty here for many years, it was by vote of the Society presented to the Episcopal inhabitants of the towns of Columbia and Waterbury in Ohio. Some years since, Isaao Bronson of Medina, O., a son of Dr. Tillotson Bronson, finding that the book was no longer used, made arrangements to have it brought back to this place, where it now remains in the church, in a case with suitable inscription. It has the seal of the "Ven. S. P. G." and bears the imprint of 1737.
14
THE MISSION PARISH OF ST. JAMES.
The following document was found among the papers of St. Peter's, Plymouth, by the Rev. Dr. Gammack; "Northbury in Waterbury, July ye 27, A. D. 1758.
We the Subscribers due promse to pay each one of the sums that we sub- scribe in this paper unto Lieut. Jacob Blakeslee and David Blakeslee by the first day of October next ensuing the date hereof; and we the subscribers do by these presents acknowledge ourselves to be firmly bound to the said Blakes- lees to pay to them the sums that we subscribe by the 1st of October aforesaid, and the money it to be delivered by the said Blakeslee to Mr. Scovill in order to help him to go home to England for ordination for Ordination for Water- bury, Northbury and Cambridge for to be our minister.
£
8. d.qr.
£ 8. d.qr.
Caleb Thompson,
0
11 0.0
Mary Way,
6 5.0
Isaac Castel,
0
16 11.2 David Way,
6 7.3
Asahel Castel,
0
8 5.3 David Blakeslee,
2
1 8.2
Stephen Blakeslee, 0
7 6.3 Jacob Blakeslee,
1
6 1.2
Obediah Scott,
0
5 3.1 Mary Ford, .
0
9 5.0
Ebenezer Ford, 1
5 5.1 Enos Ford,
0
0 11.0
Moses Blakeslee, 0 10 1.0 Ruben Blakeslee, 0
8 8.2
Ebenezer Allin, 0 15 9.3
There is also a memorandum of payments showing that Abel Curtis whose name does not appear as a subscriber, paid 1 shilling; also the following: "Over paid by me, Jacob Blakeslee, to Mr. Scovill, 4.18.5."
Mr. Scovil continued in his mission, ministering with success to his several charges, until the disturbances of the Revolution cut off the assistance of the Society in England .* (For details see copy of records.) Then followed a period of great hardship for Episcopal congregations. They naturally sympathized with the mother country and thus drew upon themselves and especially on the clergy, much suspicion and frequently open hostility. Mr. Scovil, though much respected by his neighbors, did not escape his share. On one occasion, when returning with his cows
*In 1765, a number of the clergy "accidently convened" addressed the venerable society on the tumults growing out of the Stamp Act, and assured their ecclesiastical su- periors that they and their people "will steadily behave themselves as true and faithful subjects" and as "Obedient sons of the Church of England." This is signed by James Scovil and four others. Hawks & Perry's, Vol. II, p. 81
Dr. Johnson, in December, 1775, writing in regard to political troubles, says:
"The Worthy Mr Scovil and the venerable Mr. Beach have had still better success. Scarce a single person is to be found in any of their several congregations but what hath persevered steadfastly in their duty and loyalty " (Hawks and Perry's Com. Ch. Doc. 11 p. 198, 199.
15
HISTORY OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.
from a pasture on the west side of the river, just at night-fall, he discovered a man loading a musket in the borders of a wood, whose conduct awakened his suspicion. He immediately hastened to him and asked him pleasantly if he saw any game. The man replied, rather angrily, "I should have shot you if you had not spoken to me, for I knew you were a tory." He then advised him to leave his cows and take the shortest course home, or he might fall a victim to others who were greatly incensed at him and might not be appeased by being spoken to. Mr. Scovil thought it best to take his advice, and leaving his cows crossed the fields, waded the river and hastened to his home. Party spirit seems, however, to have run very high just then. He did not feel safe in his own house, and leaving it at night he secreted himself in a barn which belonged to him on Long Hill, where he remained hidden for some time, various members of the family supplying him with food. One of his sons, returning on one occasion from this place of concealment, was met by two soldiers, who took his horse from him and compelled him to walk as a prisoner to Stratford (about thirty miles), where he was detained some time in confinement. He had been guilty of no overt act, and naturally resented this treatment. (The Rev. Dr. Clark, in a memorandum in regard to Mr. Scovil, says: "I met this son in New Brunswick in 1844. He was then near eighty years of age, having resided there about sixty years, and every wound seemed as fresh and sensitive as when first inflicted, upon what he termed 'the rebel soil of the States.' He averred that no temptation that earth could present would ever induce him to set his foot on soil where he had received such unprovoked and cruel wrongs." Some of his brothers and sisters, however, did not share his feelings and visited here occasionally as long as they lived.)
At the close of the war the English society and the British government offered liberal inducements to loyalists who should remove to the British colonies. It seemed impossible, in the dis- turbed condition of things, for the parishes here to give Mr. Scovil an adequate support, although they offered to do all that they could. In 1788, after having visited New Brunswick and officiated there for several summers (returning to spend the
16
THE MISSION PARISH OF ST. JAMES.
winters with his people here), he removed there with his family five years after the close of the war-thus terminating a connection of almost thirty years with the parish. He became rector of Kingston in New Brunswick, where he died December 19, 1808, in the fiftieth year of his ministry. He was succeeded by a son and by a grandson in the same parish. His wife, who was a daughter of Captain George Nichols, a prominent citizen of Water- bury, died in 1835, aged ninety-three. All his family went with him except his oldest son James, who married about this time and settled here, and who continued to occupy his father's residence, near the corner of North and East Main streets but fronting on East Main Street. The barn where the Rev. Mr. Scovil was hidden, which stood on almost the highest point of Long hill, was acci- dently destroyed by fire only a few years since. Dr. H. Bronson, in his History (page 302), quoting in part some other authority, says of him:
"Mr. Scovil was known for punctuality and faithfulness in the discharge of his duties. He taught his people from house to house, comforted the aged, instructed the young and made him- self agreeable to children. He had a grave and becoming deport- ment and was sound in doctrine." There is a sermon of his extant and bearing a record of the places where it was preached. It is very much like other sermons of this period.
The following inscription to the memory of father and son appears on the Chancel Window in the old Church, Kingston, N. B.
"The Rev. James Scovil, the first Rector, took charge of this Mission in 1788, and lived to 19th December, 1808, the 76th year of his age, and 50th of his ministry."
"His son, the Rev. Elias Scovil, succeeded him as Rector, and lived to 10th February, 1841, the 70th year of his life, and the 40th of his ministry."
"Each, after he had served his own generation, by the will of God fell-on- sleep and rests here beneath the Chancel."
In the Vestry Room of the same Church may be seen two tablets in memory of these clergymen, with the following inscriptions :
17
3
HISTORY OF ST. JOHN'S CHURCH.
.
(I.)
In memory of REV. JAMES SCOVIL, Born 9th Feb'y, 1733, in Watertown, State of Con., ordained Presbyter By the Bishop of Rochester, 8th April, 1759, employed as a Missionary by the Venerable Society at Waterbury until the year 1788, when he was removed by the said Society to Kingston, Province of New Brunswick, and constituted the first Rector of Trinity Church, over which he presided until the 19th Dec., 1808, when he departed this life in the 76th of his age, and in the 50th of his ministry.
(II.)
In memory of THE REV. ELIAS SCOVIL, who as a missionary of the Ven. Society P. G. F. ministered during 38 years in this Parish, from 1803, as assistant to his father THE REV. JAMES SCOVIL at whose death, in 1808, he succeeded as Rector, and having discharged the Pastoral office with fidelity he died February 10th, 1841, in the 70th year of his age, and the 40th of his ministry.
18
.
THE MISSION PARISH OF ST. JAMES.
After a careful reading of the parish records I am inclined to modify somewhat my views given as above in the History of Water- bury, as to the reasons of Mr. Scovil's leaving this parish and going to New Brunswick. Although the parish undoubtedly felt poor and must have been keenly alive to their loss of the pecuniary aid and moral support of the Ven. S. P. G. (they had during forty years received over $6000. in money and many books) they never- theless met these misfortunes with great courage and voted that if Mr. Scovil would remain with them they would pay him £45 a year for half his time, leaving him to get what he could for the other half from the adjoining parishes which he supplied, and this apparently not having proved acceptable, they voted to unite with Westbury and ask him upon what terms he could remain, which indicated a willingness to pay him any reasonable sum.
After considering all the circumstances I am inclined to believe that Mr. Scovil did not leave the parish for lack of support but from other motives, and, I presume, largely through the influence of his children. The feeling that his son had has already been shown, and doubtless these feelings were shared by other members of the family. He probably felt that the Episcopal Church when deprived of the support of the S. P. G. and of the power of the British government would be greatly handicapped in the States and the offers of the British government to Clergy going to the provinces were quite liberal, and their social position was assured. Nevertheless, before deciding to remove he deemed it best to spend several seasons there and test the condition of things for himself, and at last, probably not without some misgivings, he yielded to what I suspect was the importunity of members of his family and decided to make the change.
Mr. Scovil was a man of influence in the community while he remained here and had the respect of his brother clergy through- out the Diocese. He owned a good deal of land and probably farmed it as was the custom with clergymen of those times. His son James, who remained here took the real estate which he held here. He had one negro man Dick, a native African, who at one time belonged to Deacon Stephen Bronson, who was Mr. Scovil's next door neighbor. Perhaps he was sold to Deacon Bronson on Mr. Scovil's removal. Dick lived to a great age and finally died in the poorhouse but was always looked after and, to some extent, provided for by the Scovil family.
19
.
CHAPTER II.
THE PARISH OF ST. JAMES AND OF ST. JOHN. THE TRANSITION PERIOD.
T HE parish had now become an independent organization. The fostering hand of the Ven. S. P. G. had been provi- dentially withdrawn and hereafter they were to be self sustaining if sustained at all. They accepted the situation. They do not seem to have been troubled by it. They felt that they were able to care for themselves. There may have been regrets but no murmurs come to the surface. All the business matters of the parish moved along as before. They were rather weak in numbers but not weaker than other parishes around them whether of Congregationalists or Episcopalians. There also seems, on the whole, to have existed a condition of pleasant relationship between the two denominations. This is shown by the vote of the town (which at that time practically represented Congregationalism) when the Episcopalians built their church. Social relations were not greatly affected. Inter-marriages were common and although there was doubtless a pretty solid sub-stratum of prejudice on both sides it was not often brought to the surface.
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