USA > Connecticut > New London County > New London > Annals of St. James's Church, New London : for one hundred and fifty years > Part 7
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educated. There were no means of theological education, and young men found few inducements to enter the minis- try of an impoverished and unpopular religious body. A reaction was at hand; but the motives and principles at work in it were not very pure and spiritual. Men, not only within the Church, but numbers outside of it, had grown restive under what was regarded as tyranny of the domi- nant form of religion. Many of these, without an intelli- gent knowledge of the Episcopal Church, or correct appre- ciation of her principles, were quite willing to throw in their lot with her, and sustain her to the accomplishment of their purposes; hence, the Church was filling with numbers of what have been called political Churchmen, whose main interest in her lay in her adaptation to effect the civil and social changes at which they aimed. The full force of these influences had not yet been felt in New London; but they were beginning to operate, and a ministry that belonged to a by-gone day, in its tone and mode of procedure, could not meet its wants. New London had revived from the depression and torpor of the war, in a good degree. The trade of the West Indies had sprung up, and become profit- able. . A great part of her business consisted in carrying horses to the West Indies in vessels, which were hence called "horse-jockeys." There was an increase of wealth, and the town grew in commercial importance. For many years the British Government regarded it a place of suffi- cient importance to keep a consul here. These things brought some people to the Church; but those who were thus brought, were of the people that desired a ministry adapted to the new order of things.
The war with Great Britain broke out in 1812. During a considerable part of the war, a squadron of Commodore Decatur lay up the river, blockaded by the fleet of Sir Thomas Hardy, lying off the harbor.
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In 1812, the British ship "Macedonia " was captured, and her officers and men were brought prisoners into New London. The officers, free upon parole, lived on shore, and kept house by themselves. The commander was Capt. John Carden,-and it is somewhat of a curious coincidence that when the writer, a few years ago, was travelling abroad, he stumbled upon his grave in Ballycastle, a remote town of the north of Ireland, whose rector had married his daugh- ter. These national and foreign officers, being generally Churchmen, were attendants at St. James's Church, and served to enliven its appearance, if they added little to its strength.
Such, so far as the writer can remember, was the posture of affairs when, in 1814, the fourth rectorship ended. Meanwhile, the church had been somewhat improved in appearance. It had been provided with a cupola and bell. As long ago as 1792, it had been voted to apply to the Leg- islature, according to the common usage of the day, for a lottery to accomplish the object, but nothing seems to have come of it; and, two years after, a subscription was raised for the purpose. The cupola and bell were obtained, but when, and in just what manner, the records furnish no information. The bell, as has been heretofore stated, was brought from the West Indies, and had originally hung in some French church or convent. It was small, but its tone was sweet and musical. The cupola which contained it was bell-shaped. The centre of its roof tapered to a point, and was surmounted by a vane. It was open, and rested upon a row of slender pillars, the whole being enclosed by a balustrade. One strange entry of Mr. Seabury's ministry seems worthy of insertion :
Jany. 5, 1800. Married Stephen Smith to Abigail Combs. N.B .- She was married in her shift, to have the benefit of the law in such case enacted.1
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The precise meaning of this remarkable entry the writer has not been able to ascertain. A similar extract from an English register he remembers to have once seen in "Notes and Queries," where it was preserved as a curiosity.
The parish was now vacant; but the people of St. James's saw that it was easier to make a vacancy than to fill one. Perhaps they were not perfectly united. Some were for what was called progress; others were of the more conservative school. Ministers were few, and not all of them such as would be very much desired. The episco- pate was vacant. Bishop Seabury had been succeeded by Bishop Jarvis, who had also died, May 13, 1813. On the question of his successor, the diocese was much divided. There was no one of its presbyters sufficiently prominent to secure an unanimous vote, or even a decided majority. Once Dr. Croes, afterward Bishop of New Jersey, was chosen, but he declined. So the matter lingered until the election of Bishop Brownell, in 1819. In its destitu- tion, the diocese called in the service of Bishop Griswold, of the Eastern Diocese, and of Bishop Hobart, of New York; the latter of whom it invested with full episcopal supervision.
St. James's, New London, in its quest of a rector to suc- ceed Mr. Seabury, wrote Bishop Griswold, asking his coun- sel and assistance. I have before me an autograph letter of that venerated prelate, in which he gives his answer to that letter. It well represents, at once, the difficulty of the times.
As it seems to be a matter determined upon that your Church must be left vacant, it is pleasing, and manifests a laudable zeal and trust in God, that you are not discouraged, but are desirous and active, as soon as pos- sible, to supply your Church with a Clergyman possessed of talents, piety, and godly zeal. Your sentiments on this subject perfectly coincide with mine, and I am fully persuaded that such qualifications in a Christian
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minister as you mention, are those which alone will ordinarily be most useful or much blessed in any Parish. So far, only, as we preach the doctrines of Jesus Christ, and seek the glory of God, can we expect His spirit and blessing with us. But where you will find such a Clergyman as you enquire for, is a question more difficult to answer. . . . With regard to our Church at the present time, it may truly be said that the harvest is great and the laborers are few. Let us not fail to pray the Lord of the harvest that he will send us Pastors according to His own mind. That the loss of your worthy Pastor may speedily be thus supplied, is the devout prayer of
Your sincere friend
And humble servant, ALEXANDER V. GRISWOLD.
This application to Bishop Griswold seemed to have yielded no fruit. For some time the worship of the sanctu- ary was provided for by a lay reader. This duty was per- formed by Mr. Ezekiel Gilbert Gear, then a candidate for Holy Orders, and, as far as his memory will enable the writer to speak, not unacceptably. Mr. Gear was subse- quently in Orders, and served as a chaplain of the army stationed in some of our remote northwestern posts, and is well known as an active and efficient missionary, even to advanced age. For many years before his death, as by far the oldest clergyman in those regions, and an earnest and vigorous pioneer, and a co-worker of Cadle and Kemper, he was familiarly known as Father Gear.
The choice of the parish at length fell upon the Rev. Solomon Blakslee, by a vote, March 27, 1815, who accepted their call, and became rector of St. James's, and, for the next three years, continued as its fifth rector. Mr. Blaks- lee was a native of North Haven, and had a brother Edward, who was also in Orders, but died while yet a young man. He graduated at Yale College in 1785, and, previous to his coming to New London, had ministered at East Haddam. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Sea-
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bury, at Norwalk, June 3, 1789, and priest at Middletown, January 5, 1793. He was a man of peculiarly cheerful, genial, and social temperament, an agreeable companion and associate ; but was thought to be by many, perhaps not without reason, somewhat deficient in the gravity and seri- ousness which became his calling. Hence, not unnaturally, he was not likely to be altogether acceptable to the more staid, stately, and antique school of Churchmen, which was passing away or undergoing modifications, and was liable to be too much swayed by that incoming class spoken of above, which, in their new adhesion to the Church, were not in- fluenced by a deep conviction of her Divine claims, or their personal concern in the interests of spiritual religion. With
the latter class he was a favorite. The coming of Mr. Blakslee awoke new life in the parish. The. attendance increased ; the congregation grew. Nominal parishioners came to church who did not come before; and faces not heretofore seen in Episcopal assemblies were noticeable in them. The salary was increased, and it seemed as if a new era of growth and prosperity had begun. But the stanch old Churchmen of former days did not quite like their new collaborators, and said, in their hearts, if not with their lips, " Non tali auxilio nec defensoribus istis."
During the vacancy of the episcopate, after the death of Bishop Jarvis, the diocese put itself under the charge of Bishop Hobart, of New York, who had visited New Lon- don, August 22, 1817, and administered the rite of Confir- mation to forty-nine persons. The largeness of the number may probably be accounted for by the fact that the rite had seldom, if ever, been administered since the death of Bishop Seabury; at least, it does not appear that Bishop Jarvis made more than one official visitation of the parish during his episcopate. There is no record of a Confirmation by him.
Beyond the general statement already given of Mr.
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Blakslee's ministry, it seems unnecessary to speak. No events of importance occurred in it, and it was too short to produce any important effect on the condition of the parish. About the time of Mr. Blakslee's coming to New London, an effort was made to establish the bishop's fund on a firmer footing, and to collect the sums already subscribed for that purpose. The amount contributed here was $240. It seems to have been the amount apportioned to the parish. Two improvements in the church marked the period of Mr. Blakslee's ministry. In 1816, it was voted to lower the gallery, which was accordingly done. The pulpit had been previously lowered. Before this, it had been of that porten- tous height that was common with the pulpits of the day, which seemed to have been contrived to isolate the preacher as much as possible, and render the task of the hearer diffi- cult and uncomfortable. In 1817, leave was given to certain persons who desired it, to place an organ in the gallery, which, accordingly, was done. The music, hitherto, had been simply vocal. The instrument then procured was of English manufacture, small, but of good quality and tone; and it continued to answer the purposes of the con- gregation till the erection of the present church. It was the first organ introduced into public worship in the town, the Congregationalists not having yet overcome the aversion to the "kist o' whistles" which their ancestors brought from their mother country. .
The personal recollections of the writer, of St. James's as it then was, now begin to become distinct; and he may be indulged in a page or two of reminiscences as the church of his early days rises distinctly to his mind's eye. At the extreme end of the church then stood an octagonal pulpit, entered by a stair on the south side, and over it a sounding-board to match; not, however, suspended by a rod, as was common, but fastened into the
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wall over the rear of the pulpit. On either side, the pulpit was enclosed by a rail that stretched across the front. Di- rectly in front of the pulpit was the reading-desk, and, before that, the holy table, which was of altar form. Some special pains had evidently been taken in its construction, for its front consisted of a single board of extraordinary width. This altar is still in existence, and is in use in the chapel of the Divinity School at Middletown. Within the rail there was also a small table, resting on four supports, which was said to have been used as a credence table in the days of Bishop Seabury; but the writer can only remember it as it was occasionally drawn forward to the rail when baptism was administered, to hold a silver basin, which ยท supplied the place of a font. It is thought that the ar- rangement which has been described can hardly have been the original construction; but no evidence of a change can be found in record or tradition. On either side of the pulpit, stretched along the wall a row of square pews down to the front of the building, while the middle alley was furnished with slips, or long seats, according to the present fashion. The square pews were not furnished with a central table around which to kneel; but the worshippers who knelt at all, knelt upon the floor, their faces toward the seat. Many, however, contented themselves with sitting upright, and a few old men stood during the prayers,-a custom which they had acquired from their Puritan training. In the northeast corner of the church, just outside the pews, stood a small stove, of an obelisk form, in which wood was burned to mitigate the severity of a New England winter,- not very effectual for its purpose, but regarded by outsiders as a needless and profane indulgence, they themselves not having sunk to the low pitch of modern effeminacy. The vestry-room was at the lower end of the church, in the vestibule under the gallery stairs, so that the clergyman
.
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had to walk the whole length of the church in passing from it to the desk; but the custom then was for the clergyman to walk from his house to the church in his gown and bands, and the gown was universally worn. The surplice was worn over the gown, and the stole, looped to the back, was drawn out over the top of the surplice, and hung down before; so that the minister, if he chose, might, at the end of prayers, without the trouble of going to the vestry-room, drop his surplice in the desk, and stand up in his gown and bands, prepared for the pulpit. According to the prevailing cus- tom, the officiating clergyman wore black silk gloves, the thumb and forefinger of the right hand of which were split open, for the greater convenience of turning the leaves of his book. The Ante-Communion Service, according to the liberty given by the rubric, was, on most occasions, read from the desk. The people sat during the singing, and rose only at the " Gloria Patri," which was never omitted. There was no instrumental music, nor any choir of singers. An old gentleman, with a red face and hooked nose, pitched the tunes, and every one who chose sung as he could. From one quarter came a shrill treble ; from another, a harsh, tremulous bass; from still another, the grating sound of one who, without musical ability, believing that singing was praying, deemed it his duty to add his contribution to the offering. There were sometimes among them good and sweet voices; but they were of young and older persons, without training or concert. About this time, chanting began to be introduced,-a novelty and achievement, and as much an advance then as is now the most artistic music of our day. On the whole, there was not much melody to the ear; but it is to be hoped that there was a good deal of sin- cere worship, much "making melody in the heart unto the Lord." Such was the St. James's and its worship of the early part of this century.
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The vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Blakslee was short, and the brief interval was acceptably filled by the services of Mr. John Jacob Robertson acting as lay reader. Mr. Robertson was of New London stock. He was, after taking Orders, one of our first missionaries to Greece, and has now been .for many years rector of the church at Fishkill, in the Diocese of New York. In the fall of 1818, the Rev. Bethel Judd came into the eastern part of the State as an agent of the Christian Knowledge Society, to visit the destitute parishes of the region. In the course of his tour, he came to New London to pass a Sunday. The result was that he received a call to the rectorship, September 14, 1818, which he accepted, and continued in the charge until 1832, a period of fourteen years. Bethel Judd was born in Plymouth, Conn., and was baptized and reared in the Episcopal Church, and graduated at Yale College in 1797. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Jarvis, at Cheshire, June 8, 1800, and priest, subsequently, in the Diocese of New York. He ministered successively in several parishes, and was, for some years, rector of St. Paul's, Norwalk. After this, he went to Fayetteville, N. C., and, while there, was active and influential in the organiza- tion of the diocese. On leaving New London, he became principal of the Cheshire Academy, and was then, for a short time, again rector of St. Paul's, Norwalk. He then removed to the State of New York, and, finally, closed his life with his son, Col. Judd, of the Army, at Wilmington, Del. His remains were brought to New London, and laid by the side of his wife, who had died during his residence there. He received the degree of D.D. from Trinity Col- lege in 1831, and was, for several years, a member of the standing committee of the diocese. Dr. Judd was a good man, and a sound and faithful preacher. He gloried in regarding himself as belonging to the evangelical school;
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but he was a strenuous asserter of the Divine right of Epis- copacy, and the other peculiar principles of the Church. He published a tract in reply to an attack upon the Church by a Congregational minister, under the title of " Presby- terian ordination doubtful." Mr. Judd's work was clear in its reasoning and courteous in its style, and the claims of the threefold ministry were modestly, but firmly, vindicated. At a later period, he published another work, under the title, "Baptism not Regeneration;" but an intelligent reader will soon perceive that he battled against the name rather than the thing, and that little which he contended against would not be obviated by the declaration of the bishops in the late General Convention. Dr. Judd was a kind and attentive pastor, and was long remembered, by many of his parishioners, with respect and affection. But the smallness of his salary compelled him to resort to teach- ing as a means of support, and this, with the care of his family, so engrossed his time and attention, that he was never able to bestow upon the parish the amount of labor which its interests required. Hence, his rectorship can hardly be regarded as a period of growth; but the Church held its own, and was quietly waiting for better times. His son, the Rev. William H. Judd, was ordained deacon by Bishop Brownell, in 1828, a young man of most amiable character and promising ability. Soon after his ordination, he went to Alabama, and died at. Tuscaloosa during the following year, thus suddenly cutting short the fond hopes of his father and of his many friends. Early in the minis- try of Dr. Judd, a Sunday-school was formed in the parish, which has been continued without intermission to the present time, and is believed to have been the source of much good. Sunday-schools were, at that time, novelties and experiments, and regarded by many judicious Christians as of doubtful utility. Dr. Judd prepared a service for the
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Sunday-school of a responsive character. This service, slightly modified by the late Rev. J. M. Willey, was, years after, published by the Sunday-school Society of New York, and has continued to be used in New London until very recently.
It is not necessary to enter into the details of Dr. Judd's ministry. Indeed, there is little to record but routine. There were no important events, no remarkable changes, during its continuance.
August 13, 1820. Michael Omensetter, a German pot- ter, an eccentric man, for many years a resident of New London, but never an attendant of St. James's Church, or connected with any religious organization, died, and, by his will, left one hundred dollars to paint St. James's Church. Whether this was a simple freak, or involved a tacit satire of the neglect which had given occasion to it, is not known.
Time flowed swiftly on, filled up with the ordinary course of parochial duties, discharged as well as they might be by a man in feeble health and advancing years, tried with severe family afflictions and burdened with the care of a school, but in whom all men recognized a courteous Christian gentle- man, and a true-hearted Christian minister. Having been chosen Principal of the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire, July 11, 1832, he resigned the care of the parish, and went to assume the charge of that institution. One incident in the early part of Dr. Judd's rectorship-we have no means by which to fix the date with precision-is worthy of preser- vation, as unique and peculiar in the history of St. James's. There was at the time, we believe, but a single family of Roman Catholics in the town-that of Colonel Walbach, who was commandant at the fort-for many years. He had a pew at St. James's, and himself and family were regular attendants upon its services, joining in the worship of the Church with apparent interest and devotion. A priest of their own pro-
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fession came to visit them occasionally, and give them the rites of their Church. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Bos- ton at that time was Dr. Cheverus, a man whose amiable, pure, and benevolent character secured the respect of men of all creeds and conditions. On one occasion he came to New London to pass a Sunday with the family which has been mentioned. The rector took occasion to invite him to preach at 'St. James's in the afternoon. He accepted the invitation, and at the usual hour of service came to the church in the costume of his office, and after reading some English prayers from the desk, preached a sermon from the pulpit. A crowded congregation assembled to hear him; for in those days a Romish bishop, in his attire of office, was a lion indeed. Fortunately, to secure us against any charge of tendency to popery, our Congregational neighbors invited him to preach for them also, at a later hour. It was a long summer day. A crowd assembled at the appointed hour. The bishop came again in his robes, and after offering an extempore prayer, delivered a sermon upon Martha and Mary from the pulpit of the Congregational Church. Without say- ing that the course of the rector was warrantable or judicious, it must be manifest to all that the state of feeling in the Church of Rome, and toward it, was very different from that which now prevails. Such a thing could not now be. Ultramontanism had not then so nearly obliterated the Catholic element in that communion, and turned it into an engine of temporal power and spiritual despotism. Dr. Cheverus went back to France, and was subsequently, we believe, Archbishop of Bordeaux.
The parish remained without a supply a very short time. The Rev. Isaac W. Hallam, then a deacon from Alexandria Seminary, being at home with his friends at Stonington, was invited to officiate at St. James's, and was soon after called to take charge of it. His ministry here was short, lasting
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but a year and a half. The Rev. Isaac W. Hallam was a native of Stonington. He graduated at Trinity College in 1830. He pursued his theological studies at the Episcopal Seminary at Alexandria, where it is supposed he also received Deacon's Orders. He was ordained priest while in charge of St. James's Church, by Bishop Brownell, Decem- ber 18, 1833. Preferring another, and, to a young man, a more inviting field of labor, he tendered his resignation, June 16, 1834, and soon after removed to Chicago, then just ris- ing into notice. He was the first minister of the Church in that city, and the founder of St. James's Parish, to which he gave that name in compliment to the parish he had left. After a time he returned East, and ministered some years in the Diocese of New Jersey. He is now a presbyter of Con- necticut. Of his short ministry in New London there seems nothing to narrate. Nothing of moment happened while he was here. He was not here sufficiently long to impress him- self strongly upon the parish, but there are those who have always remembered him with affectionate respect.
Mr. Hallam having resigned and gone away, the parish was again vacant. In the autumn following, the present incumbent came to New London on a visit, and this resulted in his receiving a call to the rectorship, which, with much reluctance and many misgivings, he accepted ; more, how- ever, as he frankly avowed, on personal grounds than from any conviction of the wisdom of the choice for himself or for the parish. He little thought that he was entering upon his life work, and beginning a ministry more protracted than that of any of his predecessors; but so it has been ordered, and doubtless it is well.
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