USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Bristol > Bristol, Connecticut : "in the olden time New Cambridge", which includes Forestville > Part 3
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
* See Chart, Page 21.
28
BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
The only present Bristol families which settled here before 1742 are the Barnes, Manross, Gaylord, and Jerome families. Joseph and David Gaylord came here between 1740 and 1742, and both became prominent citizens; David was one of the first deacons of the Congrega- tional church, and Joseph equally prominent in the Episcopal church. David Gaylord's house stood about where Henry A. Pond now lives; Joseph's, southwest of the Brownson house, on the slope of the moun- tain.
William Jerome bought land in the second division in 1741, and his son Zerubbabel moved here. The farm which the family still occupy they bought in 1748, from Caleb Palmer, who had already built a house on the present site of Horace O. Miller's.
The distinctive symbol of New England Puritanism has been said to be a meeting-house fronted by a school-house. Our ancestors very early established both these. institutions. Prior to 1742, they had felt the distance to the Farmington church a heavy burden. In that year they sent a petition to the General Assembly praying for permission to hire a preacher of their own during the winter months. This petition, bearing the signatures of all the residents, is among the legislative archives at Hartford .* 1 It was promptly granted, and the first society meeting . *1.
PETITION FOR WINTER PRIVILEGES, OCTOBER, 1742.
To the Honourble the Gour Councell, and Reprefentatiues, of his Majeftys Colony of Conectticott In New England, In General Court, to be Affembled, the 14th Day of octobr A.D: 1742 - The Humble memorial of us the fubfcribors Inhabitants In ye Townfhip of Farmington In ye County of Hartford, &c., Humbly fheweth, that we are fettled In A Certain place, within ye Bounds of fd Townfhip, Called by the Name of ye 2ª, 3ª, 4th, 5th, & 6th Diuifions of Land In fd Townfhip Weft from the Referued Land, and are fo Remote, from any, meeting Houfe, In any minifterial fociaty In f" Town, as Renders it exceeding Difficult for us to attend the publick Worfhip of God, In any place where it is fett up, and efpecially, In the winter feafon - and allfo that there is fuch a Number of perfons fettled in fd fiue Diuifions of Land as that we are Compitently able to hire 'A minefter, to preach ye Gofpel to us In faid winter feafon - Wee Do therefore Humbly pray this Honble Affembly to Grant unto us who are or fhall be fettled on the fd fiue Diuifions of Land, Begining att ye fouth end of ye faid Diuifions of Land; and from thence to extend North fiue miles Liberty of hireing an Authordox and fuitably Quallifyed perfon to preach ye Gofpel amongft us, for ye fpace of fix months In ye year Annually, viz, Nouembr Decembr Janur feb" march & april more or Less accordings as we Can and Do hire fuch A preacher, with ye powers and priueledges by Law belonging to fuch A fociaty-Hoping that it will not be Long Before we fhall be able to be A fociaty fully Conftituted - and your memorialift as In Duty Bound fhall euer pray, &c -
octobr 6th Day A.D : 1742 :-
, Ebenezer barns, Jofeph gailord, ben'mman brooks, Gid peck, John Brown, ebzer gailord, John hicox, Zerubbabel Jearom, Mofes Lyman, Joel mitchel, edward gailard, John gailard, Stephen Barns, Gerfhum Tuttle, Jofeph benham, Dauid gylord, Nemiah manros, Samuel Gaylord, Jofeph Gaylard, Timothy Brown, bifh (?) manros.
[This petition and the following one were evidently drawn up by a pro- fessional scrivener. The records which follow, were, of course, written by the various clerks of the society. The petitions may be regarded, there- fore, as representing the literary style of a practiced writer, and the records that of an average village clerk of the period. ]
:
29
OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."
was held November eighth, 1742. This is an important date, for then first, did this tract, which we call Bristol, and the settlers living upon it, assume individuality and corporate existence, as "the Southwest winter society."
In December it was voted to hire Mr. Thomas Canfield for the coming winter. This Reverend Thomas Canfield, a young man of twenty-two. our first gospel minister, disappears from our local history at the end of this winter. He went to Roxbury the next year, and preached there till his death in 1795. His epitaph concludes with the following lines:
"O what is man, poor feeble man Whose life is but a narrow span. Here lies intomb'd in earth and dust The Reverend, meek, the mild and just."
The Congregational church at Roxbury have in their possession a record in Mr. Canfield's hand-writing, containing the following state- ment: "I having an Invitation to go & Preach at ye Mountain, now called Cambridge in Farmington, wch I accepting accordingly Preachd yre ye next Sabbath it being ye 6th of Decr & from yt time till the latter end of Octobr 1743."
It is difficult to reconcile this statement as to the length of his ser- vice here either with our society records, or with the powers granted to the society by the Assembly.
The Reverend Ichabod Camp probably preached during the next winter, though no positive record of that fact exists.
The poverty of the settlers, and the hardships which they under- went to support preaching, are shown by the levy of a sixteen pence tax, that is, a tax of six and two-thirds per cent., in 1743. to pay the society expenses, which cannot have been more than a very small sum. But the people were not daunted, and at the same meeting at which this sixteen pence tax was laid they voted to apply to the Assembly for a complete ecclesiastical organization .* 2 The town assented. and in
用e
THE "LOT JEROME PLACE." Since destroyed by fire *2. See page 30.
30
BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
1744 the Assembly again changed the "Southwest winter society" into the "New Cambridge society," with power to lay taxes, and support preaching and schools. The name "Cambridge" appears from the Canfield record to have been already given to this section of the town in popular speech, but the reason is unknown.
This society had hardly begun its record, when the universal contest between orthodoxy and liberalism broke out. One party, made up principally from the settlers on Chippin's Hill, was more inclined to the milder doctrines of the Church of England, while most of the settlers in the valley were rigid Calvinists. During the fall of 1744, Mr. Samuel Newell was invited to preach three months, and his vigorous support of the Westminster theology caused a speedy outbreak of the latent differences. The majority voted to settle Mr. Newell, but seven mem- bers were so pronounced in their opposition that his coming was deemed unwise. Mr. Camp then preached again, and a Mr. Christopher Newton, both of whom, I think, were more acceptable to the minority, and both of whom afterward became Episcopal clergymen. After these futile *2.
PETITION FOR ECCLESIASTICAL INCORPORATION, APRIL, 1744.
To The Honorable General Affembley to Be Holden att Hartford on ye Second Thurfday of May Next The Memorial of us The Subfcribers Hereunto all Inhabi- tants Liveing Within ye Bounds of Farmington & County of Hartford Humbley Showeth yt your Honours Memorialifts Liveth on That Tract of Land in fd farmington Commonly Called ye fecond, 3d 4th 5th & 6th Divifions of Land Lying Weft of ye Referved Lands fo Called & at about feven or Eight Miles Diftants from ye Publick Worfhip of God in farmington firft fociety to ye Which Wee Belong & Wee Haveing Obtained Liberty of ye Honorable Affembly to Hire an OrthoDox Minifter' among Ourfelves fix months in a year for ye Space of two years Which Term of Time is Expired & Wee Having Obtained a Voat of ye faid firft Society in farmington to Be A Diftinct Society, By and With, ye Bounds & Limits of five Miles fquare of ye Divifions aforefaid Begining at ye Northweft Corner of Southington Parifh Bounds at. Waterbury Line from Thence North, With f1 Line five miles & from Thence Eaft- ward five miles & from Thence South ward five miles & from Thence Weftward five. miles to ye firft 'mentioned Bounds Which fd Tract of Land is Generally good & Wee are of Opinion is Sufficient for A Diftinct Society & Wee Being fo Remote from ye Publick Worfhip of. God yt it is Impracticable to attend ye same With our families unlefs it be When Wee Have preaching among ourfelves Wee Therefore Humbly Pray your Honours to Take our Circumftances into your Paternal care & Wife Con- fideration & make us a Diftinct Eclefiaftical Society With ye Limits aforefaid or In sum Other Way Grant Relief unto your Memorialifts & Wee as In Duty Bound fhall Ever Pray
Farmington Aprill ye 1 2 Ano Domini 1744,
ebenezer Barns, beniamin gaylard, Hez : Rew, Dauid Graues, Abel Roys, John Hikcox, Edward gailard, Nehemiah manros, Daniel mix, Ebenezer Barns iuenor,* Jofeph Graues Moses Lyman, Caleb Abernathy, daniel roe, Caleb Palmer, Dauid gaylard, Jofeph Gailard Juner, Jofeph Benham, Stephen Barns, Abner Matthews, Jofeph Gaylord, Nehemiah Manrows iuner,* Simon Tuttel, Zerubbabel 'Jearom, Gershum tuttle, John gailard, William Jearom, Zebulon frif be, Benjamin brooks, Edward -t, ben mix, Daniel mix, Thomas 'Hart. Samuel Gaylord.
* Junior.
+ This name is entirely illegible.
31
OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."
attempts to secure agreement, the majority again voted to hire Mr. Newell, and he was settled accordingly in 1747.
The opposition had now increased to ten, and they, Caleb and Abner Matthews, Stephen and Benjamin Brooks, John Hickox, Caleb Abernathy, Abel and Nehemiah Royce, Daniel Roe, and Simon Tuttle, "publikly declared themselves of the Church of England, and under the bishop of london." The relations of these churchmen, as they were called, to the society, became somewhat peculiar. They at once re- fused to pay their ecclesiastical taxes, and for some time took no part in society affairs. It was finally agreed that they should be entirely relieved of the "meeting-house rate," and should pay one-half of the "minister rate" so long as they had no rector of their own .* 3 After this compromise the churchmen began again to share in such society business as did not directly concern the management of the Congrega- tion church; after an Episcopal rector was located here, separate assess- ment lists were made, a separate collector appointed, and a due share of the tax paid to their rector. The two churches lived in harmony until the Revolution, when the political hostility became much more fierce than the religious had ever been.
Mr. Newell was installed in August, 1747, and it was evidently a great day for the society. Joseph Benton, Nehemiah Manross, Joseph Gaylord, David Rich, Ebenezer Barnes, Jr., and as many more as chose, were instructed by a vote of the society to keep open a public house of entertainment on the day of the ordination.
The society gave Mr. Newell £500 "for his settlement," payable within three years, and a permanent salary of £300, beside building him a house (since known as the Dr. Pardee place) .* 4 These sums were payable, however, in colony bills of credit, which were worth only about one-sixth of their face value. The influence exerted upon the village by this clergyman can hardly be over-estimated. He was a strong-minded, strong-spoken man; holding to the rigid old doctrines of theology, and exerting a great influence even in secular matters. He was pastor for forty years, till his death in 1789. The following epitaph is inscribed upon his tomb in the South grave-yard:
"Here Lyeth Interred the Body of ye Rev. Samuel Newell, A. M., Late Pastor of the Church of Christ in New Cambridge. A gentleman of Good Genius, Solid Judgment, sound in the faith, A fervent and experimental Preacher of unaffected Piety, kindest of Husbands, Tenderest of Fathers, the best of Friends and an Ornament of the Ministry. And having served his generation faithfully by the Will of God with serenity & calmness he fell on sleep February ye 10th 1789, in the 75th year of his Age, And the 42nd of his Ministry.
Death, Great Proprietor of all, 'tis thine To tread out Empires, and to quench ye Stars."
*3.
*4 See Page 32
("Jenewary " 4th, 17gg.)
It was agreed upon and Voted between the prefent Churchmen that are amongft us . that they paying all their miniftearel Rates to us for the year paft and half their minefteare! Rates for the futer untill they haue a lawful minefter acording to the Cannons of the Church of England which may Requir and Recouer their Rates by laws of the gouerment fet ouer them we the fofiaty would forgiue or Relinquifh to them two Rates which was laid the year paft viz a two fhiling Rate and a four fhiling Rate and all other Charge that fhall arife for ye finithing the meeting houfe and mr Newels Wood -
32
BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
In spite of the heavy burden which the support of a pastor had imposed upon the little society, and in spite, too, of the severe loss which the Episcopal schism had caused, they almost at once began to plan for the building of a meeting-house. In December, 1746, the site, which had been chosen by a committee from the General Assembly, was bought of Joseph Benton for £4. They began the work at once, and, I think, began to hold services in the new building early in 1748, though it was not entirely finished till 1753.
The sacrifice which the people made to build this house and support preaching is strikingly shown by the heavy taxation. Before it was begun the society taxes had never been less than five per cent., but in May, 1748, a ten per cent. tax was laid, in December of the same year a twenty per cent. tax, and another ten per cent. tax in December, 1749! It must be remembered, too, that this was for ecclesiastical purposes alone, and did not include town or state taxation. It was against these ten and twenty per cent. taxes that the protest of the Churchmen had been especially directed. This first meeting-house stood a few feet northeast of the present one, and was furnished partly with the old- fashioned pews, and partly with seats. Sittings were assigned accord- ing to the wealth, age, and official rank of the congregation, and this "dignifying the meeting-house" was a most delicate operation. To
*1
(July 20th, 1747.)
At a fofiaty meeting of the Inhabitants of the 4 fofiaty in ye town of farmington Called new Cambridg viz of fuch Inhabitants of fd fofiaty as are leagly Qualifid to Vote in the Choice of a minefter and to make an agreement with them being held by aj rnment in fd fofiety on the 20th day of july Ad 1747
Whereas this fofiaty haue maid Choice of. mr fam !! newil to be our minifter and haue giuen him a call to fettel in the gofpel mineftry amongft us of which call he hath excepted it is therefore Voted and agreed by this fofiaty that if ye fd mr famll newil fhall become our ordaind and fetteld minifter that then we will and fatiffy unto him for his yearly falery befides what hath been allredy Voted him for his fettelment viz for what Remains of this year fixty feuen pound ten fhiling in bills of Credit of this Coleney in old tener on the firft day of next enfewing febury and the firft day is the time at the which we agree and couenant with him the fd mr famIl newil to pay him his falery yearly from year to year
And we agree and Couenant to pay and fatiffie unto him for his falery the firft day of febuary A d 1749 one hundrd and fourty pound and in the 1750 one hundred and fifty pound 1751 one hundred and fixty pound and in the year 1752 one hundred and eighty pound and in the year 1753 two hundred pound and in ye year 1754 two hun- dred and twenty pound and in the year 1755 two hundred and forty pound and in the year 1756 two hundred and fixty pound and in the year 1757 two hundred and eighty pound and in the year 1758 three hundred pound which we covenant and agree to make as good to him then as 3 hundred pound is now for his yearly salery which is to be his ftanding falery and is to be paid and fatiffied to him the fd mr famIl newel for his yearly falery during his continance amongft us in the gofpel miniftry and is to be paid to him in bills of Credit of this Coleney of the. old tener or in good and mar- chantable grain fuch as Wheat Rie and Indian corn which grain is to be Rated and paid to him according to the Curant market prife that fuch grain fhall bair at hartford in the county of hartford yearly on the firft of jenaury deducking Reafonable Carage (They were also to furnish him "a fufifhantcy of firewood for his famely.")
33-
OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE.'
each man's grand list was added fifty shillings for each year of his age, and twenty pounds additional for the rank of Captain, ten for that of Lieutenant, and five for that of Ensign .* 5 All over fifty years of age were seated in front, the young folks in the galleries, the children on benches in the aisle. The children were to be seated in the pews, "men- kind at 16 years old, and female at fourteen." One pew, doubtless the least desirable was assigned to the slaves; for some of the good people held slaves in those days, and the Jerome family still have a bill of sale of "a negro boy, Job," signed by no less reverend a person than Parson Newell himself .* 6 Deacon Gaylord appears to have been the musician of the society, and for fourteen years he was elected to "set the psalm."
Attendance at church, and proper behavior while there, was en- forced with all the rigor of the law, as some light-minded youths of Parson Newell's flock found to their sorrow. In 1758 Nathaniel Mes- senger, "for whispering and laughing between meetings," was fined three shillings and costs, and in 1762 John Bartholomew, "for playing with his hand and fingers at his hair in meeting," paid a like penalty.
This meeting-house was replaced by a larger one in 1771, and that by a third, which is the main part of the present building, in 1831.
*5.
(December, 1771. )
Voted Chufe a Committe to Dignify the New meeting houfe
Voted that but one head fhall be allowed to any mans Lift
Voted that it fhall be allowed in the Lift fifty fhillings a year for age Voted that no Commiffion fhall be allowed in feating any man
Voted that all that are above Sixty years of age thall be Seated at the Diferetion of the Seators
[The rules for dignifying the first meeting house are stated in the text The second line of this record means that only one allowance for age shall be made to a family, and the fourth that military titles shall not be con sidered ]
6.
SLAVE BILL OF SALE.
Know all Men by thefe Prefents That .I Sam !! Newell of Farmington in the County of Hartford & Colloney of Connecticut in New England, for & in Confideration of four Hundred & Seventy pounds Money of the old Tenour by me in hand Received & to me- well Secured by William Jearom of Farmington, in the County of Hartford & Colloney of Connecticut in New England, Do give grant Bargain Sell Convey & Confirm unto the aforefu William Jearom his Heirs & affigns forever, one Certain Negro boy Named Job, of about fourteen year's of Age to have & to hold the fd Negro, forever & Deliver the faid Negro Boy found & well - & further I the fd Sam1 Newell Do by thefe prefents bind myfelf my Heirs Executor's & adminiftra- tor's to Warrant & Defend the abovefd Negro to fa Jearom, his Heirs & affigns, for - ever againft all claims & Demands whatfoever in witnefs whereof I have hereunto Set my hand & Seal this Seventh Day of January A : D : 1755.
Signed & Delivered in prefents of
Sam" Newell [SE.AL. ]
Hezekiah Gridly Juner Abigail Gridly
34
BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
GRAVE OF REV. SAMUEL NEWELL, IN THE SOUTH OR DOWNS' CEMETERY.
Of the early Episcopal church much less can be related. The ten "'churchmen" left the Congregational church in 1747, and three years later they seem to have been under the care of some Episcopal clergy- man. In 1754, they built a small church building, opposite the Con- gregational meeting-house, north or northwest of the present first district school-house. Here occasional services were held by missionaries from another parish, among whom were Messrs. Camp and Newton, who had formerly preached in the Congregational church.
In 1774 the Reverend James Nichols took the care of this parish , probably in connection with others. Soon after his coming, the ec- clesiastical differences, which had separated his people from the rest of the society, began to develop into political differences. The excited and patriotic feelings of the Revolution were largely directed against the Episcopalians, nearly all of whom were supporters of King George. Chippin's Hill, where many of them lived, became quite a Tory centre, and meetings were held there of Tories from all parts of the state. Mr. Nichols is said to have been several times shot at, and the popular in- dignation at the position of his people was so markedly shown that many of them left New Cambridge for more congenial neighborhoods. Mr. Nichols himself stayed in the western part of the state, and his loyal people continued to collect their separate taxes, and send them to him. These were received by him in 177S at Salisbury, and in 1779 and 1780 at Litchfield. The society refused to recognize these payment of taxes to the absent rector as a sufficient discharge, and made some collections by legal process. Of course this intensified the bitter feelings between the two parties, and the Episcopal services were suspended for several years.
After the Revolution Mr. Nichols returned to New Cambridge, and the church in 1784 reorganized with twenty-nine members. Ser- vices were held by several successive rectors until 1790. In that year the parish united with the Episcopalians of Plymouth and Harwinton to build a church mid-way between the three parishes. This is still standing, and is now a mission of the Bristol church, called Plymouth
35
OR "NEW CAMBRIDGE."
East church. The vacated church building was sold to Abel Lewis, was used by him as a barn, and was afterward destroyed by fire. Many stones are still standing, hardly decipherable.
The school-house, the second great institution of New England Puritanism, was not wanting in New Cambridge. Three years after the first incorporation as a winter society in January, 1745, a school committee was chosen "to git in the school mony," and from year to. year it was voted to have a lawful school. This early school was kept during the winter only-probably in some private house. In 1749 it was "voted, that would haue a school kept in this sosiaty six mounths. viz 3 mounths by a master and 3 mounths by a dame."
In 1754 the town gave liberty to build two school-houses, of which one stood east of this green, near the Roman Catholic parsonage, and. the other on Chippin's Hill, thus accommodating the two principal. sections of the town. In 1764 a third school-house was built, in what is now the Stafford district. Within a few years these divisions of the town had grown to five, and in 1768 a formal division and designation of the district lines was made.
These five districts may be roughly described as follows:
The house of Royce Lewis, on Maple street, lately pulled down by W. P. Stedman, was taken as a central point. All the territory north of that constituted three districts; the North, extending from the old road, now King street, a mile and a half to the west, and includ- ing everything north of that line; the Northwest, including Pine Hollow- (so called in the original layout), and Chippin's Hill; and the Northeast,
THE ABEL LEWIS STORE, LATER KNOWN AS THE "STEARNS PLACE." (The windows were formerly used in the old Episcopal Church.)
From Photograph loaned by Miss C. L. Bowman. 1151632
36
BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT
Stafford and North Forestville. The land south of Royce Lewis's was divided into two districts, called South and Southeast, by a line drawn from Maple street. over the hill to the-main mountain road. The Red Stone Hill settlement was excepted from this division, and kept a school in common with Plainville.
The three school-houses already built accommodated three districts, and the South district now built one near the South grave-yard, and the North district one near the Parson Newell house. Thse divisions proved to be only temporary; Chippin's Hill was soon divided into two districts, and constant changes have been made in the number and boundaries of the districts ever since.
These early schools were not free schools in the modern sense of the term. The school-houses were built, and a part of the running expenses were paid, by the society, but each scholar paid a certain sum for tuition in addition .* 7 The instruction included principally reading, spelling, writing, and ciphering, with careful training in the Westminster catechism, which was personally superintended every Saturday by Parson Newell.
The school-houses were all small, and built on the ancient model, with a bench running around three sides of the room, on which the scholars sat facing the wall for study, and which they climbed over, so as to face the centre of the room in recitation.
Our school system now includes twelve districts, emplyoing twenty- eight teachers, and paying for all ordinary expenses nearly $17,000 per annum. The recent adoption of a common course of study, the hold- ing of common graduation exercises, and the establishment of a partial town high-school course, have done much to consolidate and benefit our educational interests.
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