USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > An historic record and pictorial description of the town of Meriden, Connecticut and men who have made it > Part 15
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for a committee to fix a place to set a meeting house the court appointed * * a committee for that purpose who pitchd upon a Place which being greivious to your memorialists who are near half of the said
1 Apparently Lyman's highway was the name of present East Main street from the church running east. It extended no farther west until 1782.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
Society and by the Doings of said Court Concluded of the Place for our meeting House to our Greivious Disadvantage, and indeed to ye Disadvan- tage as we suppose to the Society in general and without relieve unless by the Interposition of this Honble Assembly whereupon your memorialists beg leave to observe that the Place set by the said committee is upon ye Revd Mr Theophilus Halls land which renders it impracticable to use the Place for the Purpose pro- jected. 2ª The sd committee acted by mistake supposing the center of said society to be north of the Place where truly it ought to be esteamed by reason of much mountainous and wast land in the northern part of said society and sundry par- cels of Land received in, which ought not to be. 3rd There is another place South of the place set by the said committee much more commodious and to which the People might resort with less Travel and which your memorialists are apprehen- sive the majr part of the society would be better pleased than the Place now stated. Whereupon your Honours memorialists humbly pray this honorable assembly to take ye affair into your consideration and annul set aside and make void the Doings of the said county court and appoint another committee" etc., etc.
In answer to this petition the Assembly summoned Joseph Merriam and Sam- uel Hough and the rest of the inhabitants to appear and make answer. After hearing both sides the Assembly refused to annul the action of the County Court and the committtee.
During the year the house was probably finished, for on December 19, 1752, Mr. Hall deeded a highway across his farm. It was to be four rods wide and to run north and south and to terminate north of the new Meeting House. In other words he deeded a highway already in existence. This was not an unusual circumstance.
On February 16, 1753, Mr. Hall deeded the house to Nathaniel Merriam, Jon- athan Collins, Amos Camp and Timothy Andrews, a committee representing the society. The society records until 1755 are missing. The first entry found relat- ing to the new church is under the date of December II, 1755, when a receipt is entered of £ 150, advanced by Mr. Hall for building. It would appear, therefore, that the church was built by Mr. Hall and that the society gradually repaid to him the money advanced. His salary at that time was £ 50 and firewood annual- ly. The only contemporary record of the size of the church that the writer has been able to find was made by President Ezra Stiles of Yale College. Mr. Stiles was accustomed to preach in Meriden quite often during the ministry of his broth- er-in-law, Rev. John Hubbard. In his diary, under date of September 25, 1772, he says: "Meriden meeting house 64 x 44." This old church was considerably east of the location of the present one. The east end was about where the car tracks are located on Broad street. Back of it ran the highway, four rods wide, continuing on to Liberty street.
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EARLY HISTORY.
After Broad street was opened in 1799 the church stood in a triangle bounded by highways, and so it continued until 1830 when the present church was built and the old highway in the rear was closed. East and north of the church stood at least thirteen Sabbath-day houses, and perhaps more. The first entry on . the land records referring to these houses was made on July 23, 1757, under which date we find Theophilus Hall deeding to "Deacon Benjamin Whiting, Ensign Amos Camp and Bezaleel Ives a spot of land sufficient for 3 Sabbath-day houses with stables adjoining of the dimensions of those now standing on said spot lying nigh and a little east of the meeting-house bounded north by the highway leading to Capt. Lymans and east south and west by my own land." These men lived in the extreme southeast district -- too far away to admit of their going to their homes during the "nooning" on Sundays.
Others who owned houses of this sort were Jonathan Foster, Ephraim Hough, who owned the Hough Mills on Quinnipiac river, near Cheshire street, Joseph Edwards, who owned a farm south of Meriden farm, Reuben Rice, Phineas Hough, owner of what is now Baldwin's pond and dam, John Yale, who owned a portion of the old Meriden farm, Samuel and Dan Johnson, who lived respectively in Milk- ing Yard and on Johnson hill in the west, Ezekiel Rice, the son of Deacon Samuel Rice, and the Cowles family, living on Ox Hill in Rice's farms. Two of these houses were twenty feet square and stood north of the church, and may have been used by two or three families each. The others stood on a tract of land east of the present location of Eli C. Birdsey's dwelling. The church must have presented a singular spectacle with all these small buildings in the vicinity. The only other buildings in the neighborhood were what was afterwards the Central Tavern and the barn near the site of the present Broad street Baptist church. Immediate- ly in front of the church to the east was a parade ground where the local train bands performed their evolutions, and we find one contemporary account of their impression on him in the diary of Ezra Stiles who says under date of Septem- ber 28, 1772 : "Training day at Meriden : Company 93 Rank & file-119 on the List. Not above 3 or 4 above aet. 40." At this time John Couch was captain, Bezaleel Ives, lieutenant, and John Hough, ensign.
From 1755 the records of the society are fairly complete. The first meeting recorded was held December 4, 1755. Aaron Lyman was moderator and Jon- athan Collins, Robert Collins, Abel Yale and Samuel Austin were appointed so- ciety's committee. Rev. Mr. Hall's family was assigned a pew for life. and then, as the question of pastor's salary was brought up, they adjourned and came together again on the IIth and voted to give him £50 and wood. This salary question was frequently bothering the parish and in 1757, after adjourning two or three times, it was finally agreed that the pastor's salary should be £ 54 and firewood. It took a committee of five to settle this momentous question,
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
and even the £ 54 did not decide the matter for it took another arbitrating commit- tee to agree whether to pay the sum in money or in provisions, viz. wheat, rye and Indian corn.1 In 1760 Mr. Hall's salary was made £70 and firewood, and that amount was thereafter annually paid him until his death in 1767. It is certain that it was not the size of his salary that made Mr. Hall a wealthy man. The par- ish in their annual meetings performed the functions of a town meeting, for they appointed school committees and laid a tax to support the schools and mapped out the school districts.2 They appointed a grave digger and a sexton. The names
of Captain Robinson, Esquire Lyman, Samuel and Ezekiel Rice were always con- spicuous in these meetings, and the other names that we have met in describing the farms, occur with differing degrees of frequency. Now and then, a new one appears, as, for instance, that of John Couch who was elected one of the society's committee in 1760. He was afterwards a captain in the Revolutionary war. In 1764 the southwest district, that is Milking Yard or Rice's Farms, was given lib- erty to keep a school.
In 1765 a committee was appointed to buy the land east of the Meeting House as far as Aaron Lyman's Esqr. This was probably for a parade ground. At a meeting held February 23, 1767, we find the first record of the custom of dignify- ing and seating the meeting house. The first notice that the men and women were separated in the church services appears as follows: "Feb 7 1774 voted the society committee advise with those that sit in the fore seat and if they think best take away the bench from the womens side."
From various references in the records there seem to have been doors on the north, east and south sides of the church. That on the north side was, about 1772, closed and bolted and appears to have been used no more.
There were, perhaps, no formal pews until 1767. In that year it was voted "to take up seats in square body3 except the fore seat and make pews" and it also was voted "to choose a committee to see that the work was done and to dig- nify and seat the meeting house." In fact, whenever repairs to the pews were made the members were reseated according to their position in life. New pews were apparently "the first dignity." This question of dignity was always an im- portant one. For instance, on Jan. 29, 1801, Aaron Johnson promised to pay
1 At a meeting held in Dec., 1758, the scarcity of money is mentioned on account of the war and it was voted to pay Mr. Hall's salary in provisions until after the war is over.
2 "Feb 6 1776, Voted ye Society Committee shall call in ye Loan & excise money that belongs to ye Parish for the use of schools next March & let it out with good security upon lawful Interest to be paid yearly to said committee for use of schools only & to let not less than £5 to one man nor let it more than two years at one time."
"Dec 6 1773 voted to lay a Rate of one farthing upon the Pound for ye use of schools and each quarter or school to have their proportion of sd money according to ye list of each quarter." This shows that even at that early date Meriden was divided into school districts.
3 These were undoubtedly the square, high-backed pews so common a century ago and of which a few examples still remain. There were only three of these pews on each side or six altogether, as appears by a later vote.
.
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EARLY HISTORY.
the yearly tax for the support of the Presbyterian religion providing he and his family are given seats according to his standing in life. The "dignity" commit- tee, after duly considering the matter, voted to accept the proposal of Aaron and give him a seat according to his list and age.
In 1767, on March 25, the Rev. Theophilus Hall died. His loss was a great blow to the little parish for he had been the strong man at the helm who always steered a wise course. While there may have been frictions during his pastorate they were all confined to the question of salary. His personality was so strong that he held his flock with a vigorous hand. That there were discordant ele- ments1 is proved by events in the pastorate of his successor, but they manifested themselves very feebly during the life of Mr. Hall. The parish, probably as a token of respect, paid the funeral expenses of the pastor, and then took up the question of choosing his successor. On Nov. 7, 1767, the majority of the parish made choice of the Rev. John Hubbard, of New Haven, but he did not suit the discordant element which has been mentioned and there were numerous confer- ences which were unable to arrange a compromise. Mr. Hubbard was not or- dained until June 22, 1769, and the minor party would take no part in the pro- ceedings but withdrew and formed a separate society and maintained another place of public worship for several years.2
The Rev. John Hubbard was born in New Haven Jan. 24, 1726-27, and grad- uated from Yale in the class of 1744. He studied divinity and was licensed to preach in 1746, but instead of following his profession he went into business in New Haven with Chauncey Whittlesey. He preached occasionally but had no parish until he was invited to Meriden. There was a suspicion that his beliefs were somewhat unorthodox, which accounts for the troubles in Meriden. He married Jan. 25, 1749-50, Rebecca Dickerman of New Haven. President Ezra Stiles, of Yale College, married Mr. Hubbard's sister and to this fact was due Mr. Stiles' frequent visits to Meriden. There are frequent references in his Literary
1 And even in Mr. Hall's pastorate these discordant elements manifested themselves. For instance, on May 24, 1762, Ebenezer Prindle, Gideon Ives, Jr., and Noah Yale entered a complaint to the conso- ciation because Mr. Hall had exchanged pulpits with Rev. Jas. Dana, of Wallingford, whose orthodoxy was suspected by many. The consociation turned a deaf ear to the complaint and hardly dignified it by a formal hearing.
2 That this schism embraced an influential part of the population is proved by the roll of those who withdrew. They were :
Dr Isaac Hall
Levi Yale
Peter Penfield
Stephen Perkins
John Ives Amos Camp, Jr.
Ebenezer Prindle
John Hall
Elijah Scofel Timothy Ives
Amos Camp
Samuel Scovel
Samuel Penfield Abel Yale
Nathaniel Penfield
Daniel Hall
Isaac Hall, 3rd
Edward Collins
Reynolds Beckwith
Elnathan. Ives
Brenton Hall
Elisha Scofel
Noah Yale 4 ba
John Berry
Dan Collins Yale Bishop
Gideon Ives/1
These separates met each Sunday in a house belonging to Joseph Shaylor, which stood on Gravel street a short distance north of the Penfield house on the other side of the street. It long since disappeared. The locality bears the name of Winket.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
Diary to these visits and as he was one of the most distinguished men in New England, the people of Meriden must have congratulated themselves that they had the opportunity to hear this famous man so often.1 Mr. Hubbard bought a farm of some ten or twelve acres and built a house in 1769 which occupied a site somewhere near that of the present residence of Edward Miller, No. 360 Broad street. The house is still in existence ; it was bought in 1795 by Benjamin Cur- tis and by him given to his son, Ivah Curtis, who lived in it until 1800 when he sold it to Cornelius Hull ; he in turn in two or three years sold it to Seth D. Plumb, who maintained a tavern there for many years. Mr. Miller, when he built his present residence in 1866, moved the old house to No. 229 Broad street, and there it still stands.
After Mr. Hubbard was ordained it was voted to give him a salary of £80 lawful money per year, one-half to be paid in wheat, rye and Indian corn, the other half in cash provided he supplies the pulpit in case of his own infirmities.2 Mr. Hubbard was a forceful preacher and a gentleman of tact ; these qualities com- bined with an estimable character and winning manners gradually drew back to the society those who had seceded, and the parish was prosperous and harmon- ious during the latter part of his ministry. In the winter of 1783-4 he was thrown from his sleigh and seriously disabled, which made it necessary to engage a col- league to assist him. At a meeting of the parish held September 6, 1784, a com- mittee was appointed to supply preaching and September 22, 1785, the Rev. John Willard was permanently engaged, but did not become pastor until June, 1786. Rev. Mr. Hubbard died November 18th, the same year, survived by his widow3 and two sons.
About this time there begin to appear on the parish records notices of with- drawals by various persons to unite with the Baptist and Episcopal societies which had been recently formed.
1 In an entry by Mr. Stiles in his diary under date of September 25, 1772, he mentions that there was a congregation of 200 present in meeting on Sunday in Meriden. And in a letter to Mr. Hubbard in June, 1775, Mr. Stiles says : "The gloomy & dangerous Prospect of Things & the events forseen by many as coming upon Newport (tho' I dont so clearly forsee them) have determined me to send Kezia (his daughter) & commit her to your care
. I should like she might be kept to business, Spinning, Milking &c so as to lay a founda of a notable woman. Pray counsel her on the great Things of Religion & Virtue and Sobriety & call upon her daily to read her Bible." During the "British Invasion" of New Haven in 1779 Mr. Stiles sent his daughters, Ruth and Polly, to Meriden to stay with Mr. Hubbard. (From 1755 to 1778 Mr. Stiles was pastor of the 2d Congregational church of Newport, R. I., and from the latter year until his death president of Yale College.)
2 On Dec. 11, 1778, it was voted to pay Mr. Hubbard only in provisions. This was probably due to the hard times caused by the Revolution. The prices were as follows :
Wheat at 6s 8d per bush Rye at 4s 6d per bush
Indian Corn at 3s 6d per bush Oats at 2s 1d per bush Pork at £1 13s Od per cwt
Beef at £1 6s &d per cwt
Wool in the fleece at 2s 8d per 1b
Flax 10d per lb
Butter 1s 0d per 1b
Good cheese Os 7d per lb
3 This widow was his second wife-a Mrs. Frost of Newport, R. I., born Mary Russell : Pres. Ezra Stiles is supposed to have made the match.
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EARLY HISTORY.
Mr. Willard's theological tendencies were not pleasing to many of his par- ishioners and the church grew feeble in numbers and suffered a severe decline. At this time most of those who were alive when the parish was organized were dead and a new generation was in control. One of the last to go was our old friend, Esq. Aaron Lyman. He died in 1801. Others who died about the same time were Widow Ruth Merriam, aged eighty-nine, Captain Bezaleel Ives, aged seventy-two. In the issue of August 24, 1796, of the Conn. Journal, published in New Haven, was the following item :
"On the 12th of August the following persons dined at the house of Doct Hough in Meriden viz. Aaron Lyman Esq 89 years old : his wife 80. Capt John Webb 89 and his wife 84 and have been married 64 years. Phinehas Hough 83 and his wife 82. Noah Yale 82 and his wife 81 have been married 60 years. The widow Sarah Yale age 84.
After spending the afternoon in agreeable conversation on the things of this world and the world to come, they went to their respective homes expecting not to meet again till they meet in Heaven."
Sarah Yale was probably the widow of Abel. They lived in the old house still standing on East Main street a few hundred feet west of Paddock avenue. Noah Yale died in 1803 and John Webb and his wife1 in 1799. Mr. Willard built a house, probably about 1787, at which time he bought a lot. This house is still standing, a square building with a roof fashioned somewhat like those we term Mansard. It is the second house on the southeast corner of Broad and Liberty streets, No. 583. It formerly stood perhaps one hundred feet farther north. In the year 1791 it was voted to divide the parish into seven school districts, pre- sumably for the purpose of having seven separate school houses. There seem to have been two school houses in the center of the parish-one located east of the meeting house beyond the Sabbath day houses, and the other a few hundred feet south near the burying ground. Both these school houses are distinctly men- tioned in deeds of this period. The names of the school districts were southeast, east, northeast, northwest, west, southwest and the center. In 1804 a census of the inhabitants belonging to the society is given on the records and their resi- dences are located in the different school districts. The list follows at the end of the historical portion of this book.
The society appears never to have been satisfied with Mr. Willard. The records for a number of years contain constant references to disputes and disagreements relative to his salary. His theological tendencies were not pleasing to the people and the numbers of those withdrawing to other religious bodies were rapidly in- creasing. He finally left here in 1802 and removed to Vermont, but died in Mer- iden and is buried in Broad street cemetery.
1 Error : Mrs. Webb died in 1806.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
In February, 1803, the Rev. Erastus Ripley was engaged as pastor, and while there was no question as to his orthodoxy, his personality was not pleasing. He was apparently a man of great sincerity but was totally lacking in tact and had no hold on his people. He probably was an ultra conservative person, who did his best to repair the damage caused by his predecessor's long stay in Meriden, but without success, for the desertions to other churches continued even more rapidly, until the society became dismayed and began to wonder if the church would be- come extinct. While here he built and lived in the house just north of Franklin T. Ives, No. 629 Broad street.
To the great relief of the society, he left here in 1822, and the same year Rev. Charles J. Hinsdale was engaged and was ordained on January 15, 1823. Mr. Hinsdale was a man of another stamp. He had life and energy and immediately began a series of revivals which brought numbers into the society. He was a good preacher and had tact and sociability to a large degree and was very successful in his work in Meriden. During his ministry the present Center Congregational church was built. During many years there were references to repairs made to the old church. Much money had been spent in these attempts to save the building, but in 1829 the situation had become so serious that it was deemed wise to appoint a committee to look into the matter thoroughly and report to the society. Although the church had been standing only sev- enty-seven years, the committee, consisting of Silas Rice, Fenner Bush, Nathaniel C. Sanford, Asahel Rice and Benjamin Hart, reported on September 28, 1829, that the front ground sill had been spliced three times, & many other beams were rot- ten, that the beams in the steeple1 were in the same condition, and that the whole building was in a state of general dilapidation, and was not worth repairing. So on October 9, 1829, a subscription paper was drawn up and a committee appointed to circulate it, and soon the erection of the new church was begun, and wonderful to relate! it was voted to place in it two chimneys. The church was apparently finished in 1831 for in that year Mr. Hinsdale was instructed to "make suitable ar- rangements for the dedication of the new meeting house," and at the same time he was given permission to use the basement for a private school. Mr. Perkins states that the cost of the church was $7,000.
It was almost the first building erected in Meriden of any architectural pre- tensions.
Its front is in the form of an ancient Greek temple ; the pediment being sup- ported by six Doric columns of excellent proportions. The spire reminds one of the work of Sir Christopher Wren and doubtless the motive was borrowed from him, although it is not a copy. It resembles very much the spire of the old north church on the green at New Haven. There is reason to believe that the late Sid-
1 The steeple was added to the church in 1802 and bell bought.
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EARLY HISTORY.
ney M. Stone, of New Haven, was the architect of the Center Congregational church. Mr. Henry L. Gay, of Chicago, who was at one time employed in Mr. Stone's office in New Haven, has the impression that the building was designed by Mr. Stone and the drawings made by a Mr. Galway.1 The design is a very pleas-
THIRD CHURCII.
ing one and the color, white, is in complete harmony with the architecture. The congregation is to be congratulated for having never attempted to "improve" the severe classic lines or to change the color.
1 The writer is under obligations to Mr. L. W. Robinson, architect, of New Haven, for these facts relating to Mr. Stone.
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A CENTURY OF MERIDEN.
Dating from the organization of the town government in 1806 the old meeting house had been used for town meetings, and there had finally grown up the senti- ment that it was not a proper thing to do, for in 1823 it was voted that a "com- mittee be appointed to arrange a compromise with the selectmen, so that one-third of the town meetings only would be held in their church, provided the other socie- ties (the Episcopal and Baptist) would open their doors for this purpose the rest of the time." "If such an arrangement could not be made the selectmen were prohibited from holding further meetings in the society's house." This vote cre- ated considerable friction, for the selectmen made the claim that the society did not exclusively own the church and that it was really a part of the town property. Then the society voted to close the doors against the town. This resulted in an examination of titles, with what results we do not know, for the records are si- lent. When the new church was finished an arrangement was made whereby the town was allowed to use the basement for public meetings. In 1831 a stove was bought to warm the church and at the same time it was voted to insure the building, and the next year a second stove was bought. Henceforth, the members could worship in midwinter without danger of freezing.
In March, 1836, Rev. Arthur Granger became the pastor. He was here only two years. His stay was cast in stormy times. It was in the midst of the Aboli- tion agitation when strong feelings were in play and an attempt to give a lecture on the subject in the church by a Mr. Ludlow resulted in a small sized riot. The Rev. Charles Rich officiated during the years 1840-1. On May 19, 1841, Rev. George W. Perkins was engaged as pastor. It is impossible to speak of Mr. Perkins except in words of praise. A genial, cultured, attractive man, he at once won all hearts. He was a strong, forceful preacher, a man of convictions who was not afraid to express them, a leader of public opinion, and a great force in the community. His little history of Meriden is admirable in tone and accurate in its statements and he seems to have been the first individual in Meriden to excite an interest in the past. His portrait in Dr. Davis' History shows a face that must have been an inspiration to all who came in contact with him. The numbers of the society were largely increased during his stay, and in fact, Mr. Perkins' pas- torate may be called the turning point in the history of the Congregational society.
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