USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > An old New England church, established religion in Connecticut; being an historical sketch of the first Church of Christ and the Prime ancient society, Fairfield, commemorating the two hundred and seventieth anniversary of public worship in the town > Part 2
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How striking the contrast between the scene two hundred and sixty years ago and the scene which discloses itself to-day ? A little square Meeting-House on the rough stump-scarred Green in Fairfield, was then the center of community life. Wild
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THE PRIME ANCIENT SOCIETY
beasts, stealthy Indians and adventurous settlers held common possession and often faced each other in stern conflict. What can a handful of men do with such circumstances and conditions? The curtain falls-the curtain lifts again. There are twenty thousand people and more tarrying in peaceful homes scattered through the length and breadth of the original grant, prosperous, intelligent and contented. Religion ministers through numerous churches, schools, beneficent institutions, con- secrated men and women. The dream which Roger Ludlow dreamed-a dream of happy homes, beautiful landscapes, politi- cal and religious liberty, a fair field for the gleaning of life's most precious harvests has come true. The plantation which he founded has yielded the peaceable fruits of righteousness. The History of the Prime Ancient Society is a narrative which forcibly illustrates the normal, harmonious development of a christian community in free America-the growth of a wonder- ful seed, carried across an ocean and planted in the soil of an untamed wilderness.
CHAPTER III.
FIRST ADVENTURERS IN UNCOA.
THE men who shaped the early life of this settlement are well worth a tribute from us. The master spirit was Roger Ludlow, who served Massachusetts and Connecticut twenty-four years in the very prime of his life. His father, a gentleman, Thomas Ludlow, Knight-uncle to Sir Henry Ludlow member of the long Parliament in 1640, and a great-uncle to Sir Edmund Ludlow, a Lieutenant-General and member of Parliament-his father gave him precious heritage of extraordinary natural abil- ities. A student at Balliol College, Oxford in 1610, and in the Inner Temple 1612, Roger Ludlow, was equipped as few con- temporary adventurers in respect to intellectual gifts, thorough training and enriching experience, when at the age of forty, he sailed for America. All that birth, station, education, research, political ferment, and religious exercise could do for the making of a leader, had been done for him when he gave himself to his varied tasks in the land of his adoption. It fell to his lot to serve as a leader on various occasions-a founder of towns, a magis- trate, a commissioner, a legislator, a codifier of laws, a military commander, a new world statesman and churchman-and he discharged these several offices with vigor and knowledge and generally with acceptance, although his hot temper and high- handed ways sometimes involved him in trouble.
It is an honor to be loyally treasured by our town that a man of such distinction and power fathered the original settlement and contributed with such generosity to its primitive lay-out and early features, imparting to it the stamp of his laudable purpose and broad culture. The town of Fairfield and the colony of Con- necticut owe an unforgetable debt to this great man. It was
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THE FIRST ADVENTURERS
Ludlow who yielded to the charm of this landscape and chose Uncoa as the site of his plantation. He purchased the territory from native savages and piloted associate adventurers to the place. He advised and assisted in all the labors incident to founding and developing a wilderness home. Active in church and state, lawyer, farmer, instructor, zealot, he easily turned his hand to each demand. What a pity that his ruffled spirit for- bade him to live out his full measure of days in the town which he had established ! But his last days under Cromwell must have given him a certain precious satisfaction for he stood forth the champion of the same principles in the mother country that had forced him across the sea into this land of anticipated liberty.
There were between thirty and forty of these first settlers who were associated with Roger Ludlow coming from Wethers- field, Windsor and the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
In 1644 the Rev. John Jones with more than twenty men from Concord, increased the little Fairfield settlement and gave new impulse to growth and hopefulness. Religious services had been conducted by one and another godly man during these years of waiting for a shepherd. The first meeting-house, a rude, small log building, was erected before this second band of immigrants arrived, probably in the year following the settle- ment of the town, serving the secular purpose of a town hall interchangeably with that of humble sanctuary in which public worship was enjoyed.
There was further increase in the population of Fairfield prior to 1650 by the advent of some fifty men who made their way from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Agawam. The restriction put upon settlers in the Bay Colony worked to the advantage of the Connecticut settlers. Many of the strong, staunch men tarried only for a brief season in the Boston neigh- borhood. They were eager for the better opportunity afforded by conditions here. It was therefore a notable company of intel- ligent, earnest people which gave fine character to primitive Fair-
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THE FIRST ADVENTURERS
field. Not that all was peace in the town through the formative years, not that great trials and sore were unknown. A commu- nity of independent, well-to-do, aggressive individuals will ex- hibit wide variety of views and plans. Temper will get the bet- ter of opinionated, energetic workers. The saints themselves are not perfect. The art of protest had been practiced through a long course of years in the old country and these men continued like exercise in the new. We must not look for meekness and repose among these anxious brethren who are fighting for life itself.
Andrew Ward was a typical helper in the work of shaping life in the young community. An ambitious, restless man, com- ing of good stock and possessing a fair amount of worldly goods, he served a thorough apprenticeship in founding towns and man- aging affairs before he settled in Fairfield. Watertown, Weth- ersfield and Stamford had profited by his counsels and labors. When he was chosen to represent the last town of his adoption in the General Court at Hartford, he went among old associates and shared tasks with which he had already become familiar. His activity shows that he gained the confidence of people in the several towns. So far as the record reveals the man we judge that he deserved the honors which he carried. As a trusted cit- izen, a loyal friend, a public spirited individual, a tireless con- tributor to the forward movement of his day, he takes high place in the early history of this settlement.
In 1637 Jehue Burr was appointed by the General Court of Connecticut tax gatherer for Agawam, the same year in which Andrew Ward filled the office for Wethersfield. Later these two men were associated in Fairfield. Soon after the removal of Jehue Burr to this place, he was chosen to represent the town at the General Court. This honor indicates the standing of the man. Repeatedly during the later years he held positions of pub- lic trust. His interest in education was shown by the fact that he served as committee-man to co-operate with a commission ap-
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THE FIRST ADVENTURERS
pointed by the New England Colonies for the founding and maintenance of good schools and other places of learning. The faithful discharge of duty seemed to be a characteristic of the man. The records of his activity are meagre but they speak plainly concerning a reliable, worthy citizen, a man whose judg- ment was highly valued, a man heartily sharing the burdens of his day.
The roster of conspicuous 'names is a long one. Men like those already mentioned joined forces in organizing and upbuild- ing the settlement. Their honored descendants have scattered to the four quarters of the country. Hill and Hull, Barlow and Bulkley, Pinkney and Perry, Jennings and Jesup, Sturges and Sherwood, Osborn, Rowland, Pell, Wheeler, Silliman, Wakeman, Read, Bradley, Sanford, Adams, Lockwood, Morehouse, Hoyt and Cable, this is simply the beginning of the catalogue. The high places of the nation have been filled by the representatives of these families. Great work was done in the early, formative years when Fairfield stood shoulder to shoulder with half a doz- en settlements in a fight for good government, lofty ideals, a pure Christianity and a free people. No better, stronger men served their day and generation than the men who planted and upbuilt this settlement. A narrative of life in the church witnesses most forcibly to the fine character and splendid service of these christ- ian patriots.
A typical co-worker appeared in the person of the "Worship- ful" Nathan Gold. This gentleman was one of the nineteen persons "principally interested in our Colony or Plantation of Connecticut in New England " who petitioned King Charles in. 1674 to grant the Charter which gave such extraordinary rights and privileges to Connecticut. He was a man of considerable estate who speedily came to the front in serving with efficiency both state and church. Ensign, Assistant, Magistrate, "Leften- ant," Judge and Major, he filled all these offices with dignity and acceptance, and labored unceasingly upon commissions and
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THE FIRST ADVENTURERS
committees in the development of parish and colony. The MS. sermon now in the possession of the Fairfield Historical Society, which his pastor, the Rev. Joseph Webb, preached in the meet- ing-house on the fourth of March 1694, testifies to the character and standing of the man. It was a tribute, by implication, to the virtues of "The Pious and Worthy Magistrate Major Nathan Gold," although the name of the deceased pioneer is not men- tioned. A brave, thoughtful citizen, representing the best im- pulses of the heart, faithful alike in trivial and important tasks, wise in counsel and energetic in action, devout and spiritual, he made deep impress upon the generations which he served. Such men, says Mr. Webb, are "Pillars and Shields," the "Strength and Defence of a people by their prayers and instructions." As the preacher, using for his text 2nd Kings 15-14, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof," dwelt on the theme, it was most earnestly set forth, "That we are this day under the terrible rebuke of God ; that God hath not only formerly but lately written bitter things against us in this place, I suppose none of us is ignorant." "Such a providence as this I could not by any means silently pass over, but would take such notice of it as to endeavor some spiritual improvement of and benefit by it.' After explaining the text Mr. Webb states as his "first doctrine" that "pious men of public use and place must die as well as others," therefore let us "beware of having too great dependence upon them," let us "pray God He will raise us up and qualify other men to fill their places," et us "work to secure the friendship and presence of an un- changeable God.
The "second doctrine" is "that pious and holy men, espe- cially those in public capacity, are the fathers, the glory and strength of people among whom they live." In the "applica- tion" Mr. Webb declares that the "folly and wretchedness is exceeding great" of those "who are weary of righteous ones." It remains for us to give our worthy leaders the " love, esteem, honor which their being such call for."
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The spirit of this discourse indicates the feeling which pre- vailed among the ministers. Leadership subjects a man to criti- cism and assault. However wise, strong, helpful he may be, any surrounding hedge of worth and usefulness fails to shield him from the hatred and opposition of wicked men. The thriv- ing Fairfield parish seems to have been as free from strife and divisive elements as any in the colony, but the condition of relig- ion here when Mr. Webb paid his tribute to Major Gold, was described by the word " sinking." Worldliness had entered on the flood time of prosperity. The great, good men were not able to breast the oncoming forces. They met opposition at every turn. There was a deep-seated conviction that Satan had much to do with the course of affairs in the new world. Witchcraft was one of the forms in which the Evil One vexed and harrassed people. There were some twenty trials for this reputed crime in the colony, several of them in Fairfield. Roger Ludlow was a firm believer in the black art. The imagination and credulity of people ran riot for nearly two generations in this place. The days of ungodliness, intemperance, immorality and crime drew on apace. The young colony faced perplexing and perilous conditions.
CHAPTER IV.
THINGS FUNDAMENTAL.
THIS first period in the history of our church extends from 1639, the year of Roger Ludlow's advent to 1708, the date when the Legislature called the Synod at Saybrook.
The principles which guided and governed the church dur- ing the early years of its life are stated in Hooker's "Survey." This concise and lucid writing by the ablest minister of his day in New England interpreted the common view and sentiment of the Connecticut planters. A church has God for its "efficient cause," "visible saints" for "its material cause," and the church covenant as its "formal cause." Each congregation, properly constituted, has sufficient power in itself to exercise the power of the keys and all church discipline. Ordination is a solemn installing of an officer into the office unto which he was called by a particular congregation. All children of church members are to be baptized. Consociation of churches is to be used when required-such councils being allowed to counsel and admonish other churches-and disfellowship them if circumstances compel it.
Referring to this "Survey" Hooker writes-" In all these I have leave to profess the joint judgment of all the Elders upon the river ; of New Haven, Guilford, Milford, Stratford, Fairfield. . At a common meeting-that in Cambridge, July Ist, 1645, . "I was desired by them all," continues Hooker, "to publish what now I do."
It becomes evident from this testimony that the church in Fairfield, (the name Uncoa had been dropped the preceding year 1644) had good standing among the sister churches of the colo- nists and was reckoned a constituent member in the larger fel-
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THINGS FUNDAMENTAL
lowship of faith. A letter from the Rev. John Jones to Gover- nor Winthrop, however shows that the church here was still weak-the settlement necessarily cramped-and the future prob- lematical.
FAIRFIELD, Mar. 5, '46 (-7).
Sr. Vors of Feb. 22 I received, being very sorrye yt my absence from home at ye time when yor messenger came hither, hath deprived of soe fit an opportunity of returning an answere. I perceuve by ytletter yt Adam ye Indian hath informed yow how ye case stands with me. And, indeed I, despairing of a convenient passage unto yow before ye spring, did engage my- self to keep a lecture here vntill ye season of ye yeare would per- mit me to remoue, so that my engagements here being ended with the winter, it is my desire and full resolution (if God per- mit) to take ye first opportunity of coming to yow, either by land or water. For other passages in yor letter I hope to answeare them by word of mouth shortly. In ye meantime I desire yor praires for ye guidance of heaven, & with my seruice & respects being duly rendered to yor selfe & Mrs. Winthrope, with love to all yor little one & little Margaret I remaine
Vors in all observance, John Jones."
But Mr. Jones remained in the settlement to which he had been invited and continued his fruitful ministry.
The Puritan planters who settled this town had once been reckoned as members of the Church of England in the Home Country. They had protested vehemently, indignantly against the errors and evils which threatened the life of the Established Religion, but their protests seemed in vain. Immigration was a last resort. The freedom of America pledged them the enjoy- ment of a religion pure in spirit, doctrine and form. It was their thought to transplant into the new territory of the west, religion divested of its unworthy and degrading incumbrances.
The first minister in Fairfield was an ordained clergyman of the English Church, just as the pastors of the other contempo-
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THINGS FUNDAMENTAL
rary churches in this Colony and Massachusetts with few excep- tions were ministers Episcopally ordained. The form which the new churches organized on these shores assumed, was probably the result of circumstances rather than the fruit of pre-medita- tion in many cases. The example of Plymouth influenced Sa- lem. Salem set the example for her neighbors. The practice of Massachusetts Bay helped to determine the course of churches in Connecticut. The Puritan protest begotten in England and transferred to New England, in the Providence of God, shaped itself into the vigorous life and simple forms of what is called Congregationalism.
A study of the New Testament methods convinced Pilgrim and Puritan on these shores that perhaps the best way in which to organize the church and conduct public worship was that which reverted to the plain, matter-of fact procedure of the early disciples. So when the people came down from the settlements on the Connecticut river and founded Fairfield, the church was organized by these people who, reared as members of the Church of England, now covenanted together after the Plymouth fash- ion. Officers were elected-the ruling elder and deacons-and the little congregation met statedly for praise and prayer and instruction. Mr. Hooker of Hartford, set forth distinctly and explicitly in his "Survey " the cardinal principles of the Faith as interpreted by the brethren. Although a clergyman of the Church of England, it had been revealed to him that the church was other than that institutiou alone which had mothered them in religion. The protest of these men respecting abuses and corruptions in the Established Church culminated in complete separation from the National Church and the organization of independent churches-the ministers submitting to a fresh laying on of hands in their settlement over a parish-the laymen shar- ing the management of affairs after a way that had been sug- gested by the example of the Separatists in Scrooby and Ams- terdam.
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THINGS FUNDAMENTAL
When the first pastor was called to this church he found it already organized, carrying forward its work through the activi- ties of the laymen. The minister became the natural leader, a brother among brethren, exercising no priestly functions but simply superintending the religious life of the community, con- ducting worship and instructing the people. Such a thing as voluntary support of the church was unknown. It is true that for a time no tax was laid. But the town built the meeting- house and when the question of settling a minister arose it was the town which voted a tax for his support. A state church was established as the orderly, conventional arrangement. Every town must have its church and minister. The government of the colony assumed the oversight. The Fundamental Orders were enacted. The General Court gave settlers the privilege of organizing towns and churches, and the General Court was ulti- mate authority in matters political and religious.
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CHAPTER V.
ADOPTION OF THE HALF-WAY COVENANT.
TROUBLES in Massachusetts Bay Colony resulted in calling the Cambridge Synod. It had become apparent that conflicting elements in the young churches must test strength and settle dis- quieting questions. The part taken by the Connecticut brethren was not conspicuous, but the results of the several conferences gained acceptance among these churches so that the Cambridge Platform shaped affairs here until another Synod convened and issued its later statement of faith and articles of discipline. Fair- field stood square with the work of Cambridge. The influence of the Synod helped to determine the character and action of this Church through many years.
The change of thought in respect to baptism and covenant privileges was marked in this parish quite as early as in other parts of New England. But discussion conducted with evident decorum and fairness, favored the larger liberty.
The complexion of the plantation was necessarily altered by the influx of men whose ideas and principles did not come up to the first standard of the original Puritan settlers. Time had also modified the views of several early planters. So when a desire was expressed on the part of men who did not walk in full fel- lowship with the church that their children might be baptized, the prevailing sentiment agreed that such a course was to be commended.
The ferment in Connecticut was such that the General Court took action and on May 16th, 1668 requested the reverend pas- tors, James Fitch of Norwich, Gershom Bulkley of Wethersfield, Joseph Eliot of Guilford and Samuel Wakeman of Fairfield to meet at Saybrook or Norwich on June 8th or 9th and "consider
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ADOPTION OF THE HALF-WAY COVENANT
of some expedient for our peace, by searching out the rule and thereby clearing up how farre the churches and people may walke together within themselves and one with another in the fellow- ship and order of the Gospel, notwithstanding some various apprehensions amonge them in matters of discipline respecting membership and baptism."
In accordance with this appointment of the Connecticut Legislature these four picked men met and deliberated, present- ing at the next session of the Court a "returne " -a document probably conciliatory in its tenor, for the assembled law-makers passed a vote which solved, so far as the government was con- cerned, the Half-Way Covenant dispute. "This Court ... doe declare that whereas the Congregational Churches in these parts for the general of their profession and practice haue hitherto been approued, we can do no less than still approue and counte- nance the same to be without disturbance vntil better light in an orderly way doth appeare; but yet forasmuch as sundry per- sons of worth for prudence and piety amongst us are otherwise perswaded . . This Court doth declare that all such persons being allso approued according to lawes as orthodox and sound in the fundamentals of Christian religion may haue allowance of their perswasion and profession in church wayes or assemblies without disturbance."
This was a movement toward toleration-a movement in which Mr. Wakeman generously shared-a movement in which we may rest assured the pastor of this church represented the general drift of life in his parish.
It soon became the common practice for people who had not entered into full covenant relations with this church, to "own the covenant," have their names written in the parish register, take their part in the management of the church's business affairs and present their children for baptism.
This " owning the covenant " was a personal acceptance of Christ on the part of an individual who did not profess conver-
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ADOPTION OF THE HALF-WAY COVENANT
sion-a declaration of purpose to lead a christian life, attend public worship and pay heed to the discipline of the church. It resulted in large numbers identifying themselves with the Estab- lished Religion-in various parishes the majority of adults con- nected with the church being " Half-Way Covenant " christ- ians. It gradually assumed a somewhat formal character, losing its early, solemn import. It became a divisive and unhappy factor in many parishes.
But the practice prevailed in Fairfield during a period of nearly one hundred and fifty years, the accepted and unquestioned convention of our church. Candidates for this pastorate were particularly examined upon this matter in order that harmony might exist between pastor and people respecting the practice. It does not appear to have been abused in this parish. All the good which the practice carried with it seems happily to have been realized and much of the evil which it wrought in other churches was providentially avoided. While the " Half-Way Covenant" was a departure from the primitive methods of the fathers and while its later practice differed from its first uses, it served good purposes in this church and strengthened the parish during crucial days in its history.
At the same time we observe a decline in morals and the spiritual zeal and fervour of the people. This lower tone of life and recurrence to some of the unhappy spiritual conditions prev- alent in the home country gave the ministers great sorrow. When Mr. Wakeman in accordance with the custom of our col- ony preached the election sermon before the General Court at Hartford, May 14, 1683, it was with a deep sense of the perils which threatened the peace of our churches and the proper growth of the colony.
"Sound Repentance the Right Way to escape deserved Ruin " was the chosen theme. The preacher called it " A Solid and awakening Discourse, Exhorting the people of God to com- ply with his Counsel, by a hearty practical turning from Sin to
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