USA > Connecticut > New London County > New London > Annals of St. James's Church, New London : for one hundred and fifty years > Part 4
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ST. JAMES'S, NEW LONDON.
The Rev. Eliphalet Adams, my great, great-grandfather, in a sermon on the death of his wife, which is extant in print, observes : " The Rev. Mr. Graves prayed with us again and again, with much sympathy; " and I have in my possession a little book on sundry practical religious topics, in which is written, in a bold, strong hand, it is supposed by Mr. Adams, " The gift of the Rev. Matthew Graves, to his friend, Pygan Adams, January 24, 1758." Pygan Adams was a son of the Rev. Eliphalet, and a Congregational deacon. It is evident, from these facts, that Mr. Graves' relations to his Congregational neighbors were of the most friendly and cordial character.
New London was then but small, the settlement being chiefly confined to the vicinity of the waters bordering upon it. It stretched in an irregular crescent or segment of a circle, the centre of which was the old meeting-house- in those days it would have been an offence to call it a church-along the shore from the old Winthrop House, where Governor Winthrop had dwelt, along the shore by Water street, as it was then called, Beach street or the Beach, across the foot of State street, and then by Bank street to Truman's Brook and Cape Ann lane, where the second band of colonists, that came from Cape Ann, Mass., had planted themselves, and permanently enstamped their name. The Cove, familiarly called the Down-town Cove, now pretty much filled up and obliterated, crossed this line just above what used to be called the Long Bridge, but which is now fast losing the character of a bridge altogether. Within the horns of this crescent lay the town, its rugged face seamed with granite Jedges and miry morasses, the rudi- ments of streets crossing it here and there with an utter contempt of plan or system. Over this space were scattered the parishioners of Mr. Graves, loyal subjects of King George, and faithful lieges of the Bishop of London, com-
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prising among them much of the élite of the society of the day. Among them went in and out, in his daily walks of duty, the testy but kind-hearted pastor, familiarly known as Parson Graves, for the long period of more than thirty years. Mr. Graves was a short, thick-set man, of an ungainly figure, with a disproportionally large body and very short limbs. One of the stories told of him is that, on one occa- sion, attempting to drive away a large hog that had intruded upon his premises-a creature for which he had a special aversion-the frightened animal ran between his legs, and, lifting him from the ground, carried him off upon its back, to the infinite amusement of the beholders. As he grew older, he became corpulent, and was haunted with the fear of apoplexy. In one of his latest letters he says: "Two disorders besiege my body, and threaten immediate dissolu- tion to mortality,-apoplexy and epilepsy. Oh, 'tis dread- ful to be hurled in a moment into eternity, to be tolerably well, and anon, perhaps, in unquenchable flames, from which Good Lord deliver us." These forebodings, so far at least as the temporal result is concerned, were fulfilled, since tradition reports that he fell dead, during the Revolution, in New York, while officiating in old St. George's, Beekman street, and was buried there.
About the time of Mr. Graves' coming to New London, the name of Winthrop makes its appearance in the records of St. James's, and henceforward the descendants of the leader of the first Puritan colony at New London, residing there or elsewhere, have been Churchmen, so far as I can ascertain, without exception. When or how the transforma- tion took place is not known in the family itself.
Soon John Still Winthrop is a pew owner, has leave to build himself a pew, leave to cut a window in his pew, and continues a vestryman of the parish for many years. So the records testify. He derived his name from John Still,
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Bishop of Bath and Wells, who was an ancestor of his mother. The accession must have added a good deal to the strength and dignity of the parish, for the name of John Winthrop was held in high respect, and the Winthrops had, by universal consent, been allowed a certain social and aristocratic superiority. The truth seems to be that they had never been rigid Puritans, nor participated much in the Puritan hatred of the Church of England. John Winthrop, the elder, the Governor of Massachusetts, came from Gro- ton, Suffolk, in England, where the family had long resided and held a prominent place among the gentry of the vicin- age. His father, Adam Winthrop, was lord of the manor. There they attended the parish church, and many of them were buried within the sacred walls. He was one of the company that came to New England in the "Arbella," in 1630. This company, in a parting address to their brethren in and of the Church of England, says: "We esteem it an honor to call the Church of England, from whence we rise, our dear mother, and cannot part from our native country, where she specially resideth, without much sadness of heart and many tears in our eyes, ever acknowledging that such hope and part as we have obtained in the common salvation, we have received it in her bosom, and sucked it from her breasts. We leave it, therefore, not as loathing that milk wherewith we were nourished there, but blessing God for the parentage and education, as members of the same body, shall always rejoice in her good, and unfeignedly grieve for any sorrow that shall ever betide her; and, while we have breath, sincerely desire and endeavor the continuance and abundance of her welfare, with the enlargement of her bounds in the kingdom of Christ Jesus." In such sentiments there is little of Puritan acerbity and intolerance. Sir Richard Saltonstall was another of this company, and a signer of this document. His son was the Rev. Gurdon
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Saltonstall of New London, afterward Governor Saltonstall of Connecticut. And it is not strange to find that, when Keith and Talbot made their visit to New London, in 1702, Mr. Saltonstall expressed his "good affection toward the Church of England," and Colonel Winthrop courteously invited them to dine with him. The descendant and biog- rapher of Governor Winthrop, the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, says of him : " He had been an humble but faithful worship- per at Groton Church, and had never renounced the com- munion of his fathers. And when Roger Williams, on his arrival in the colony, refused to join with the congregation at Boston, his first ground was that they would not make a public declaration of their repentance for having commun- ion with the Churches of England while they lived there." This kindly feeling toward the mother Church continued in the family ; and when an Episcopal church was built at New London, and a minister established there, they swung back into the old moorings as by a natural and irresistible attrac- tion.
It would be pleasant here to give some account of Samuel Edgecomb, the donor of the parsonage lot, and the earliest benefactor of St. James's Church; but a few facts are all that remain, and a meagre and scanty notice is all, therefore, that can be given. Samuel Edgecomb was the son of John Edgecomb. Sir Richard Edgecomb was the owner of a large tract of land in Maine, on the Saco River and Casco Bay, which he held by a grant from Sir Ferdi- nando Gorges. It is supposed that John Edgecomb of New London was his grandson; but this is little more than con- jecture. Samuel Edgecomb was the owner of a piece of land on the west side of Main street, extending from about the corner of Federal street to the south line of the parson- age lot, through which Church street was afterward laid out, and in which the second Episcopal church was built.
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The tract was familiarly known in the olden time as the Edgecomb lots. Mr. Edgecomb was either a warden or vestryman of the parish for many successive years, and his name deserves to be remembered in its annals with grati- tude and honor.
About the year 1740, a dispute seems to have arisen between the parish and the town about the extent of the church lot toward the east, and the town was thought to have encroached by laying out a highway over ground which the Church claimed as its property. At a meeting held March 30, 1741, it was voted "that said committee," consisting, as appears by a preceding entry, of Thomas Mumford, Matthew Stewart, John Shackmaple, Samuel Edgecomb, and Joseph Power, "treat with the town of New London concerning an equivalent for the land eastward of the church, which said town has laid out as an highway; and if they meet not with satisfaction, to fence said land for a churchyard, and to prosecute the trespass, if any should be committed." Of the farther prosecution of the dispute and its issue we learn nothing from the records. It is pre- sumed that some satisfactory adjustment was reached. It is pretty certain that no churchyard was laid out, and if the parish abandoned its claim to the town, we know not whether it received any equivalent. The records contain no account of any.
In 1741, a petition from the minister and churchwardens of the Episcopal Church in New London was presented " unto the charitably disposed," asking assistance to defray the expenses of having the bell of the church recast and enlarged, "by accident the bell of the church having be- come useless." In response to this petition, a pretty liberal subscription was obtained, not only from Church people, but from others, and, apparently, from some who were not inhabitants of the town. But the work went on slowly, as
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indeed the dilatory character of every movement in the affairs of the parish in those days seems to be a distinctive feature of the times. Probably the scarcity of money and the want of facilities for various kinds of labor sufficiently account for these delays. The records are somewhat ob- scure and disconnected, but it does not appear that the new bell was procured till 1755. It is not easy, with such records as remain, to trace the precise order of events.
In 1754, a subscription was raised "toward the repairing and mending of the Episcopal church in New London." On this subscription John Still Winthrop was much the largest subscriber; and in connection with this work the recasting of the bell is distinctly mentioned. That the bell was recast in the subscription of 1741, and now again in 1754, is possible, but by no means probable. It is more likely that the design had lingered on unfulfilled, till it was again taken up as part of a larger system of repairs, and at last completed. Miss Caulkins says a clock was added at this time; but of this I find no trace in the records, only as, years after, a vote was passed, ordering, in connection with other items of reparation and improvement, a "new case for the clock,"-indicating certainly the prior existence of such an appendage. The same year, 1754, it was also " voted and agreed that a well be dug and made upon land belonging to the parsonage; " but this, too, was but tardily accomplished, for it was not till some years after that the parsonage was provided with that deep well of cool, sweet, and unfailing water, which has ever since been the resource and resort of the neighborhood in seasons of drought, and is in the memory of the last rector that inhabited the premises like " the water of the well of Bethlehem " in the youthful recollections of King David. Along between the years that intervened between Mr. Graves' coming and the breaking out of the Revolution, various votes are recorded, having
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reference to the erection, alteration, and transfer of pews, and changes of one kind and another in the edifice; but, as their general import and purpose was to obtain additional room, they seem to indicate the gradual increase and growth of the congregation, and go to justify somewhat Mr. Graves' hyperbolical statement in his letter of 1761, that his flock grew so, that he knew not whence they came. Some of these entries, with our imperfect knowledge of the building, are difficult to understand. A gallery is spoken of, and pews in it. There is a vote to move the pulpit to a place where it would occupy less room, and another to close the south door, of which no mention is made in the contract with Mr. Hough, in order, it might seem, that the passage from it into the church, which interrupted the line of pews on the south side, might be filled with three pews, and that either end of the communion-pew, by which was doubtless meant the space railed in around the communion-table, might be cut off, so as to be on a line with the columns beyond which it had previously projected, without disturb- ing the rail in front, in order that space for a pew on either side might be gained. John Still Winthrop has leave given him to build one of these pews,-that on the north side; and, later on, to cut a window in his pew, for the advantage, no doubt, of light and air. A fuller account of these trans- actions would convey no valuable information. What is put down exhibits a prosperous and advancing congrega- tion, growing in favor with man, and, we may trust, with God.
Among the names prominent in the parish in this period of its history, is that of Palmes. Guy Palmes and Edward Palmes are frequently mentioned in the transactions of the parish, and were both members of its vestry, and both held, at times, the office of warden. Edward Palmes, the father of Guy, came from New Haven, and married Lucy Win-
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throp, a daughter of the first Governor. He dwelt in "the stone house at the mill," which was the original Winthrop House, and was given by the Governor, who first dwelt in it, to his daughter Lucy. Guy Palmes was the son of Edward Palmes Ist, and Edward Palmes was his grandson, the son of his son Andrew. They were men of character and stand- ing, prominent in the public affairs and in the business of the town, and thus early were adherents and supporters of St. James's Church. The stone house stood on the east side of Winthrop's Cove, near its head.
In 1767, it was voted "that there be a lean-to or addi- tion built to the parsonage house, now possessed by the Rev. Mr. Graves, on the west side of said house, thirty-nine feet long and twelve feet wide, one story high." This reso- lution was carried into effect, we know not with what expe- dition. But the lean-to still remains a part of the house ; and, more recently, rooms have been built over it, which raise it to the height of the body of the building. The same year it was also voted "that the gentlemen proprietors of the fire-engine have liberty to build a lean-to adjoining the north side of the belfry of the said church, to cover, keep, and secure said engine in, they, the proprietors, to build and finish it in a neat and decent manner, and to stand and continue during the pleasure of said society." In 1770, it was voted "that John Morris be appointed clerk of said parish, to sett the Psalms." There is no earlier mention of a clerk, nor of any provision for music; but it is probable that the usage of English parish churches had all along been observed. Afterward, a portion of the gallery was assigned to provide seats for the singers. In 1764, at the same time that Mr. Winthrop has leave to cut a window for himself, there is the vote "to case the clock new " in the steeple,-the proof already alluded to that there was a clock. There seems still to have been some dispute as to the
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extent of the church lot; and, in 1769, a committee was appointed to fix the bounds of the church lands adjoining the church, and to treat with the selectmen on the affair. In 1773, Samuel Powers had leave, "at his own expense, over his pew to make a window, conformable to that in Mr. Winthrop's pew." These extracts bring us down to the verge of those disastrous days, when the Episcopal Church in this country, so intimately interwoven with the institutions of the mother country, and so dependent upon her Established Church, it might seem for her very life, was to encounter the fearful strain of the Revolution, and be saved from utter ruin only through the gracious interpo- sition of Providence, "so as by fire." It could hardly be expected that St. James's, New London, with her English minister, her English origin, and her large indebtedness to English aid, could enjoy an exemption from the full fury of the strife. She did not; and yet to her praise it may be said, without reflecting at all upon good men who thought differently, and acted upon their honest and conscientious convictions, to their temporal loss and sorrow, that out of her arose some of the firmest and most active friends of the national cause in New London. Even now the surface of the placid waters began to be ruffled with those rippling waves which, in their rapidly-quickening circles, were soon to become a whirlpool, in whose hungry vortex many a fair and goodly thing was to be swallowed up and disappear. But, before entering upon those days of dread, it may not be amiss to diversify our narrative with some farther accounts of men and families who had come to hold a prominent and influential place in her affairs.
In this period just preceding the Revolution, the name of Jonathan Starr appears first in the records, destined to become more closely identified with the parish, and more lastingly conspicuous in its affairs than any other in its
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annals; extending through three successive generations, so as to be almost hereditary in its wardenship, and marked always for worth and usefulness. The family is ancient in the town, and the Christian name of Jonathan has been borne by five generations in succession. It has been very remarkable for longevity. Eight of the children of the first Jonathan lived to be eighty, and one of his daughters attained a hundred. In the family of the second Jonathan, the father, mother, and four children averaged ninety-five ; his mother was ninety-nine, and the wife of his father's brother reached a hundred. The second Jonathan, the first in our parish, married Mary Seabury, a sister of the first minister, and an aunt of the bishop. He was warden of the parish before the Revolution, and lived on till 1795, when he died at the age of ninety. The name still survives in the parish, in the fifth generation. The name of Fosdick is of frequent occurrence in the ante-Revolutionary period. Little is known of it, except that the ancestor of the family, Samuel Fosdick, came from Charlestown, Mass., in 1680. His descendants were early connected with St. James's Church, and some of them held office in it. The family name has disappeared, though some of his descendants, bearing other names, remain. Joseph Chew, before the Revolution, had begun to take an active part in the affairs of the congregation. Joseph and Samuel Chew, brothers, came from Virginia. They were of an ancient Virginia family, cousins of Bishop Madison, who was the father of James Madison, President of the United States, and also of Zachary Taylor, the father of General Zachary Taylor. They were men of standing and influence. Joseph Chew built the house since known as the Sistare House,-a house that, in its style and character, was much superior to the ordinary character of New England houses of that day, and which, when faded and gone to decay, still bore traces
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of ancient grandeur. In the unhappy strife of the Revolu- tion, the brothers parted, as was the case with many fami- lies. Joseph sided with the King, went to Canada, and died there. Samuel was a Whig; his family continued here, and the name is not yet lost from among us. In 1768, an event occurred which, though it is not known to have exerted any important influence on the affairs of the Church, must have drawn much attention to it, and, perhaps, might have operated more in its favor, had not the minds of men been becoming absorbed in the mighty political discussions which were beginning to dwarf all others into insignificance. The pastor of the Congrega- tional Church at that time was the Rev. Mather Byles, Jr., son of the celebrated Rev. Mather Byles, D.D., of Boston, of whom so many witticisms have been handed down. He was a brilliant and popular man.
" The people," says Miss Caulkins, "were charmed almost to fascination with his eloquence," and though he seems to have been somewhat grand and lordly in his ways, his people were proud of him, and he dwelt with them in harmony and peace. Suddenly, . much to their amazement and chagrin, in April, 1768, he announced that he had become a convert to "the ritual of the Church of England," and asked a dismission from his charge. He left; and his change was soon an affair of notoriety in New England. Lampoons were written, and songs sung. The steps that led to so remarkable a change are unknown. He was a near neighbor of Mr. Graves, living almost opposite the parsonage, and it is possible there had been communication with him on the subject. But all traces of these remote events have now grown faint. Mr. Byles went to England and got Orders. He exercised his ministry in Boston until the Revolution, when he went away, with many other royalists, to the loyal British provinces, where he was rector of a church in St. John, New Bruns-
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wick, and survived till 1814. Two sisters of his, vener- able maidens, resided in Boston to an advanced age. True to their political faith to the last, they had an arm-chair surmounted by a crown, and were wont to practise the harmless joke of seating their visitors in it, and telling them they were under the crown. A grandson of Mr. Byles, the Rev. William A. Des Brisay, is a presbyter of Connecticut, and rector of the church in New Canaan. It is not known that this change of Mr. Byles had any effect on the interests of St. James's Church. It is not in human nature that such a change should not have been felt and regarded with feel- ings of triumph and exultation. But men were beginning to writhe under British misrule and oppression. The old hatred of the Church of England was sharpened by efforts to obtain a bishop. Episcopacy was becoming more and more unpopular. St. James's went on her way, getting ready for her baptism of fire.
In 1775, the regular parish meeting was holden on Easter Monday, and Thomas Allen and John Deshon chosen churchwardens. There was no choice of officers again till 1779. During the most, if not all, of the interven- ing time, the services seem to have been intermitted.
The history of this period is obscure and imperfect. Mr. Graves remained in New London, and continued to occupy the parsonage, and, doubtless, to discharge such official functions as were needed, but held no public ser- vices. The public odium, the increasing bitterness of political sentiment, and the division of opinion in his own congregation, joined to his own unbending sense of duty, which would not let him yield to solicitations of interest or appeals of affection, led him to the conclusion that retire- ment and silence were for him the path of prudence and of usefulness. An outspoken and impulsive man, restraint must have been hard for him; but we hear of nothing done
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or said by him to exacerbate displeasure or inflame hatred. There is no evidence that the church was closed by any formal action of the parish. It was probably acqui- esced in as the dictate of ordinary prudence and a sort of moral necessity. In the heated atmosphere of the times, religion of any form sunk to a low ebb. "The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace," and, in turmoil and contention about worldly interests, there was little room in men's minds for concern about things unseen. The period of the Revolution was a period of great religious deadness. The parish meeting of August 17, 1775, was adjourned to August 25th; but the adjourned meeting was never held; at least there is no record of it. A meeting was held November 14, 1778. What led to it is not known. We may conjecture that the fact that several of the Episcopal clergy had, by this time, found a way to reconcile their consciences with the omission of the prayer for the king, had awakened a hope that Mr. Graves might be induced to follow their examples, and put an end to the unhappy stoppage.
At that meeting, this resolution was introduced : " Voted, that no persons be permitted to enter the church, and as a pastor to it, unless he openly prays for Congress and the free and independent States of America, and their prosperity by sea and land; if so, he may be admitted to-morrow, being Sunday, 15th November." On putting the resolution to vote, it appeared that there were fourteen in the affirmative and eleven in the negative; and then, as there were four votes challenged and rejected on the one side, and one on the other, it left the vote a tie ; still, the affirm- ative sense of the congregation had been pretty distinctly given. But the meeting went on to "vote that the churchwardens wait on the Rev. Mr. Graves, and let him know of the foregoing vote, and if it be agreeable to
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