USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > New Canaan > Canaan parish, 1733-1933, being the story of the Congregational church of New Cannan, Connecticut > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
Julian M. Sturtevant, from May 1827, to April, 1828. He afterwards was Professor in, and for many years the President of, Illinois College.
Flavel Bascom, from May, 1828, to October, 1829. He became a mis- sionary and later a pastor in Illinois.
Alfred Newton, from October, 1829, to October, 1831. He was a tutor in Yale College, and was afterwards settled in Norwalk, Ohio.
John C. Hart, from October, 1831, to April, 1832, a teacher in the New Canaan Academy.
97
William B. Lewis, from October, 1832, to April, 1833. He was after- wards settled in the ministry at Providence, R. I., and in Brooklyn, N. Y.
Ebenezer A. Johnson, from May, 1833, to May, 1834. Became a tutor in Yale College, and for over forty-five years was a senior professor in New York Universtiy.
For thirty years or between 1835 and 1864, we find no recorded names of superintendents of the school, but Hezron L. Ayres, a citizen of New Canaan, is remembered by many now living, as having served in that capacity. He was a manufacturer of shoes in this place.
Henry B. Rogers was our Superintendent · from 1864 until 1901, thus serving faithfully for a period of thirty-seven years. He was a manufacturer of men's clothing and occupied the building now owned by Mr. Ferrera.
Frank H. Gleason was the next superintendent. He was a traveling salesman for the firm of H. B. Rogers. He now resides in Texas.
Edward A. Burdett succeeded him. He conducted for many years a dry goods store in New Canaan, and is now living in Stamford, Conn.
Frank N. Horton served from January, 1903, to January, 1907. He was for many years employed in the U. S. Customs House, Port of New York.
Nelson Silliman, from January, 1907, to April, 1932. He was a lineal descendent of Rev. Robert Silliman, the second pastor of this church. For twenty-five years he served as superintendent until his death in 1932. He was a member of the firm of Silliman Hardware Co., now occupying the building at the corner of Main and Forest Streets.
Stanley P. Mead, from April, 1932 to the present time. He is a member of the law firm of Mead & Mead, of Stamford, Conn., and is now a representa- tive from this town in the State legislature.
IN LOVING APPRECIATION OF OUR
CHURCH SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS
1827 - 1864
JULIAN M. STURTEVANT FLAVEL BASCOM
ALFRED NEWTON
JOHN C. HART
WILLIAM B. LEWIS EBENEZER A. JOHNSON
HEZRON L. AYRES
HENRY B. ROGERS
1864 - 1901
FRANK H. GLEASON
1901
EDWARD A.BURDETT
1902
FRANK N. HORTON
1903 - 1907
NELSON SILLIMAN
1907 - 1932
STANLEY P. MEAD
1932 -
1733 . 200TH ANNIVERSARY · 1933
98
COMMUNITY SUNDAY, JULY 9, 1933
Service Honoring the Pastors and Members of other New Canaan Churches, William E. Piper, presiding.
Prelude-"Canzonetta" Armstrong
Processional Hymn-565, "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" (words by Charles Wesley )
Invocation-Rev. Michael Roy Barton, St. Mark's Church
The Scripture Lesson-Rev. E. Foster Piper, the Methodist Episcopal Church Hymn-781 "For All the Saints Who From Their Labors Rest" (words by Bishop William Walsham How)
Introductory Statement and Welcome
Brief Talks-(In order of historical priority )
For St. Mark's Church, by Rev. Mr. Barton.
For the Methodist Episcopal Church, by Mr. Clifford Hall.
For Talmadge Hill Union Chapel, by Rev. Edgar Merrill Brown. For St. Aloysius' Church, by Mr. Edward Kelley.
For the African M. E. Church, Deaconness Cora Scott. (followed by a "Spiritual.")
(A special welcome is extended to the members of the Church of Christ, Scientist, who are present.)
A "Census" of Descendants of Original Families Present.
Hymn-526, "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee" (words by Bernard of Clairvaux)
Address-"Tomorrow's World and the Churches' Task"-Rev. Henry Smith Leiper.
Prayer-(all uniting) "The General Thanksgiving." (See inside cover of Hymnal.)
Hymn-"Rise up, O Men of God." (words by Dr. William P. Merrill) Prayer and Benediction-Rev. Edgar Merrill Brown Postlude-In C Tours
99
FOR ST. MARK'S CHURCH
BY REV. MICHAEL ROY BARTON, ASSOCIATE RECTOR
I count it an honor to be asked to represent St. Mark's Church on this, the occasion of your two hundredth anniversary. My only regret is that it is not possible for the Rector, Mr. Adams to be present for he would know so much more of the history of the Church than I can possibly give you. As you know I have been here but a few months and in this short time I have not been able to delve into history or consult original sources. What I can say, therefore, will be necessarily somewhat sketchy.
I do feel however that the histories of the Congregational Church and the Episcopal Church in Connecticut and especially in Fairfield County are so inextricably bound together that the wonder is that we have been able to get along almost oblivious of the ties that have bound us in these last two hundred years.
Some days ago we saw re-enacted here in your beautiful pageant the scene of the choosing of the site for your Church on this hill. A few years after that scene-some time in the late seventeen thirties-there were enough mem- bers of the Old Church of England to gather themselves together and decide that they needed a burial ground of their own. They chose the spot you now know as Old Church Hill on West Road near Weed Street. They could not then build a Church but some years later a frame for a Church was constructed in Norwalk and remained there several years until it was finally brought out and erected in the Old Church Burying Ground in 1762.
As you know the thirties and forties were a time of stress in your Church as well as ours. It was the time of the Great Awakening, and for many Episcopalians a time of persecution. Those in Canaan were comparatively few in number-there were but twenty Ordained Ministers of the Church of England in Connecticut before the War of Independence and some fourteen after-but this little group here managed to get along with services by a Lay Reader and an occasional Minister to celebrate the Holy Communion until 1761 when the Society was strong enough to separate from Norwalk and become a parish.
In 1833 it was felt that a new Church was needed nearer the grow- ing village and the present building was commenced. I believe the interior has been renovated and improved two or three times and the spire was added later but the Church which was finished and dedicated in 1834 is substantially
100
St. Mark's Church as it now stands. You see therefore that we also shall be celebrating an anniversary next year, not of the founding of the Parish but of the present building.
In those hundred years between 1733 and 1833 the Congregationalists and Episcopalians had gone through much together. No doubt some of you know that the Episcopal Church as a whole is celebrating this year an anniversary, the one hundred and fiftieth of the Consecration of the first American Bishop, Samuel Seabury. But for the Congregational Church we should not have had Bishop Seabury. In the Dark Days of 1722 at Yale, Samuel Seabury's father was a Licentiate of the Congregational Church. He left to be later Ordained by the Bishop of London, and it was his son, Samuel, who followed his father in the Ministry of the Old Church who later became the first Bishop of the Episcopal Church in America. So you see that we are indebted to you in great measure for our first Bishop.
When Mr. Clarke first told me that the hymn "For all the Saints Who From Their Labours Rest" had been selected as representing the Episcopal Church I thought that perhaps he might possess a somewhat piquant sense of humor, but when I glanced at the second line I knew that he was absolved. "Who Thee by faith before the whole world confessed." Surely those old members of both Churches "confessed the faith of Christ crucified" and they did indeed "suffer for the Truth's sake." Surely again today your prayer and ours is that third line, "Thy Name, O Jesus, be for ever blest, Allelujah, Allelujah." It is today both our hymn and yours.
FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
BY CLIFFORD W. HALL
It is my privilege as representative of the Methodist Episcopal Church of New Canaan to convey the heartiest greetings from our members to the mem- bers of your church, who are celebrating your two hundredth anniversary. It is in several respects very fitting that we rejoice together on this occasion. Your church was founded in June, 1733; whereas the first Methodist church was not dedicated until October, 1833. The Congregational church is, therefore, more fittingly the abode of the Blue Bloods, symbolic of aristocracy; while we have to be contented with Red Blood, characteristics of youth. Yet irrespective of color, we believe that the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin.
There are several respects in which comparisons may be made. During the two hundred years of your history, only fourteen pastors have served your membership with an average ministry of fourteen years, whereas there have been forty-seven ministers appointed to the Methodist church with an average service
101
of about two years. Yours has been the better way for it has enabled your clergy to play a larger part in the religious, social and civic life of the community.
Even during the lifetime of many of us present today, changes have oc- curred in our churches. Not so many years ago you were publicly proclaiming Deacon So and So; we were greeting each other about the same time as Sister This and Brother That. Whenever our pastor announced that God is good, some of our devoted members shouted "Amen" or "Hallelujah.' Gradually we are beginning to believe in the goodness of God and are slowly realizing that it is not necessary to get excited every time someone reminds us of it. Insignifi- cant as these changes may seem, they indicate that the churches are serving a new era and are gradually keeping in step with a new social age.
Undoubtedly the closest bond between the two churches was fostered by the cause of temperance. On the evening of Sunday, January 14th, 1877, the Band of Hope was founded by the Congregational Church, at which meeting 135 people signed a pledge of total abstinence. For many years after that monthly meetings were held by the two churches and were usually well at- tended. With the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment a similar work in a different form will be greatly needed to warn the youth of today of the evils of temperence.
No one present today will be living when the next hundredth anniversary is celebrated. Yet we all hope that the churches will grow into a closer union in order that the work of the Master's kingdom may be hastened. Let us labor well that the church of the future may reap the fruit of our efforts.
FOR TALMADGE HILL CHAPEL BY MRS. MARGARET C. MERRITT
Previous to the year 1870 religious services at Talmadge Hill were held at private houses and at the schoolhouse. The attendance, as a rule, was large and these places were found inadequate to accommodate the numbers who gathered at the meetings. The feeling that a proper place should be provided for these services, grew into a determination that resulted in a united effort in that direction. A small plot of ground, at the corner of what is now known as "Chapel Road" and City Road, practically in the center of the community, was given by Minot Kellogg for the building site, with the stipulation that, if at any time the building should cease to be used as a place of worship, the land should revert to Mr. Kellogg.
People contributed funds, labor, timber from the woods, and one man gave the use of his team of oxen. In the fall of 1870 the work began and the attractive little structure known as the Flat Ridge Hill Chapel, so called from the name of the hill leading from Old Stamford Road past the Chapel, completed. Besides Mr. Kellogg, others who were instrumental in the building
102
of the Chapel were Mrs. Laura Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Burtis, Mrs. Martha Whitney, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Nichols, Mr. and Mrs. Justus Meade, Mr. and Mrs. Noah Weed, Mr. and Mrs. Thaddeus Hoyt and family, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Merrill, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Selleck and family, Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Waterbury, Miss Mary Talmadge, Mr. and Mrs. Warren Sammis, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Davenport, Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Jelliff, and others whose names are not known to the writer.
A Sunday School was started with Mr. Minot Kellogg, Superintendent. Later Theodore Merrill became Superintendent and the Sunday School continued to prosper for a long time. Elijah Bartram served as librarian of the Sunday School. During this period prayer meetings and revival services were held; then came a time when the Sunday School was disbanded and the Chapel closed. Later it was opened for evening services by Mr. Merrill, but some years later, through ill health, Mr. Merrill was obliged to cease his labors. A Christian Endeavor Society was formed and meetings held regularly; finally this organiza- tion discontinued its services and once more the Chapel was closed. It was then that Mr. Clarence M. Sammis, a present Trustee of the Chapel, petitioned Mr. Kellogg that he be given the keys to the Chapel and that it be opened for services. Mr. Kellogg asked Mr. Sammis if he were given the keys if the Chapel would be kept open, and Mr. Sammis replied that it should never be closed. Mr. Sammis was given the keys and, although at the beginning at times he found but one or two at the Chapel besides himself, he kept his word.
A Sunday School was finally started and Mr. Frank Shutes, who was then living at Talmadge Hill, became Superintendent. Mr. Thomas Rae, father of Thomas and James Rae, present residents of Talmadge Hill, followed Mr. Shutes as Superintendent. It was in 1904 that Mr. D. S. Bennet, of New York City, bought a house on the City Road for a Summer residence and he at once interested himself in the Chapel. Later he succeeded Mr. Rae as Superintendent with Judge Floyd B. Bartram, then a young law student, as Associate Superin- tendent. Next he interested a number of men in the place with himself to pay a minister for preaching services each Sunday afternoon, the pastors of the Congregational and Methodist Churches of New Canaan supplying the pulpit on alternate Sundays. About five years later the Rev. J. Howard Hoyt, of the Congregational Church, began preaching at the Pound Ridge Church on Sunday afternoons, and the pastor of the Methodist Church only supplied the pulpit of the Chapel at Talmadge Hill.
Many things have been accomplished in the past twenty years. The dis- comfort during the Winter months from a room poorly heated by stove was overcome by excavating for a furnace room under the Chapel and installing a large furnace.
In January, 1925, after a brief illness, Mr. Bennet passed away. Miss Mary A. Nichols, Associate Superintendent, became Superintendent, and in
103
August of that year she, too, passed away. A sister, Mrs. Margaret C. Merritt, succeeded Miss Nichols as Superintendent and has served up to the present time, with Mrs. Chester T. Jones, Associate Superintendent.
Three years ago this fall a friend of the Chapel gave- a $1,000 'for the enlarging of the Sunday School room, which was then enlarged to double its original size. The present Pastor is the Rev. Edgar Merrill Brown. Under his pastorate the Chapel is growing in interest and attendance. There is a church membership of nearly fifty and a Sunday School of fifty with pupils and teachers.
A Church Club known as the Mary A. Nichols Club, now in its seventh year, meets once a month, and is accomplishing much and contributing largely to the work. With the contribution of $25 from a friend it has just paid for beautifully redecorating the interior of the Chapel. It has also sponsored a $1 Endowment Fund, which now amounts to more than $250. A substantial library, largely the gift of Miss Amanda P. Weed and sisters, belongs to the Sunday School, to which generous gifts of books have been added by Mrs. E. A. Burdett and Mrs. John Sterling. Two gifts within the past month have been a fine new bulletin board at the entrance door, placed there by Mr. Clarence M. Sammis, and two new flags, a United States flag and a Church flag, the gift of Mrs. Clarence DeForest, Jr.
In closing this history, it might not be out of place at this time to thank anew the various members of the Congregational Church who have and are by their contributions helping the Chapel to grow into a larger and better history.
FOR ST. ALOYSIUS' CHURCH
MR. EDWARD KELLEY
The Catholics of New Canaan were afforded religious care by the priests from St. Mary's Church in Norwalk. Divine service was first held in the home of Cornelius Burns in Locust Street sometime in the "fifties," later in the Old Town House on Church Hill just west of St. Mark's Church, then for some time in St. John's Hall in Main Street which stood where Scofield's furniture store now stands.
In 1862 Captain Ogden, who then lived in the house on Main Street which is now known as the Cottage on the Town Hall property, donated land on Forest Street for a Church. Father Smith, pastor of St. Mary's in Norwalk, erected the first church on this site. It remained a mission of St. Mary's until 1896.
The first resident pastor of St. Aloysius Parish was Rev. John McMahon, who was appointed in May, 1896. After building the rectory he retired in September, 1896, and was succeeded in October of that year by Rev. Thomas J. Kelley, who remained with us until September, 1898.
104
Father Kelley's successor was the Rev. P. J. Byrne, who was appointed pastor of our church in September, 1898, and served four years to September, 1902. Our religious needs were attended to for eight weeks by Rev. J. G. Murray who is now Archbishop of St. Paul. In November, 1902, the Rev. Patrick McGivney came to us and remained for a year when he was called to a much larger parish. The Rev. P. J. O'Leary was appointed successor to Father McGivney in 1903 and remained with us until 1914. It was under his manage- ment that the ground for the new church on South Avenue was acquired.
The Rev. John H. Stapleton succeeded Father O'Leary in 1914. He be- gan work on the new Church and rectory in 1916. The corner stone of the new Church was laid June 25th of that year. On April 14, 1917, before Church or house was completed, Father Stapleton died. He was much loved and deeply mourned by his flock.
The Rev. John F. Moore, for many years a professor at St. Thomas Sem- inary, came to St. Aloysius in April, 1917. He completed the work which was unfinished at the death of Father Stapleton. The Church was dedicated July 15, 1917. Father Moore, from the opening of his pastorate, received the enthusiastic cooperation of the congregation of St. Aloysius Parish. Father Moore loved New Canaan and New Canaan loved him. We were very sorry to lose him, but we were compensated somewhat by the fact that he was appointed to a fine large parish, the Sacred Heart in Bridgeport, in November, 1928.
The Rev. Pliny F. Cooney was named successor to Father Moore in Novem- ber, 1928. He died shortly after coming to New Canaan, on January 2, 1929.
The Reverend W. J. Fox was appointed to St. Aloysius in January, 1929. Father Fox is a quiet, steady worker. He grows on us as he goes along and we hope he will be left with us and spared to us for many years to come.
FOR THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
BY MRS. CORA SCOTT
New Canaan A. M. E. Mission was organized June 30, 1922, by Rev. E. W. Thompson with seven members, at the residence of Mrs. Lena Davis on Seminary Street. In May, 1923, the Mission was received into the New England Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, by Bishop W. H. Heard. In 1926 Cora Scott and Mary Canter were appointed by the Bishop as Evangelists in charge. For eight years we worshipped in Raymond Hall without payment of rent, through the kindness of the Raymond Estate of the Congregational Church, and this enabled us to save our little mite, with which we later purchased a lot on Baldwin Avenue, 72x140 feet, for $1,400. After paying off this debt. then being incorporated as Bethel A. M. E. Church, we began to struggle for
105
a little church edifice. We drew a note for $2,500 from the New Canaan Savings Bank, through the recommendation of Mrs. M. R. Breuchaud, Mr. George Yuengling, Mr. J. D. Higgins and Mr. John Brotherhood. This was signed by Mr. Higgins and Mr. Brotherhood, the sum of $250 to be payable annually at a rate of six per cent.
On March 1, 1931, ground was broken for a church edifice by the First Selectman, Mr. George T. Smith, and Selectman George R. Stevens. A short service was then conducted by Rev. I. A. McCoy of Stamford, Connecticut. April 13th of that year witnessed the laying of the corner stone by Rev. E. W. Coit of the New York Conference. On May 3rd the Church was completed for services, which were conducted by Rev. S. P. Perry, Presiding Elder of the New England Conference. The building costs were $4,500.
We have met all payments on mortgage and reduced the mortgage to $1,875. We have now 41 members all working for the great Cause. They and the cooperation of our white friends who have given us freely of their time and interest and money have made the fulfillment of this undertaking possible.
Signed: Cora Scott and Mary Canter, Evangelists. PHILIP D. NELSON, Church Clerk.
1
106
THE GUEST CHURCHES OF COMMUNITY SUNDAY
"These all ..... confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth ..... They looked for a city which bath foundations whose builder and maker is God." Hebrews XI 10, 13.
7.88%
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND PARSONAGE
Corner of South Main and Church Streets. Erected in 1853, it replaced the first church which was built in 1833 on land acquired from John Hanford, a, a descendant of Rev. Thomas Hanford the first minister in Norwalk, 1655. The first building was moved to its present site opposite the Birdsall House and became the Town Hall. See page 218.
(NOTE :- The picture of St. Mark's Church appears on page 240 illustrating the Historical Address delivered by the Rt. Rev. Stephen E. Keeler, May 13, 1934).
106a
THE TALMADGE HILL CHAPEL Corner of Talmadge and Chapel Hill Roads. Erected 1870 on land given by Minot Kellogg, descendant of Samuel Kellogg.
THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH Baldwin Avenue .- See page 105.
106b
ST. ALOYSIUS' ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (above) Corner of South Ave- nue and Maple Street. Erected 1916.
Old Catholic Church, now converted into a residence at 96 Forest Street was built in 1862. See page 104.
106c
--
WALTER KIRBY 1935.
From a Sketch by Walter Bradnee Kirby. 1
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE SOCIETY
Has its church edifice at the corner of Railroad Avenue and Park Street. The Society is a branch of The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Mass- achusetts. This building was erected in 1927 by Mrs. Mary Whittredge Katzen- bach for an interior decoration studio. It was acquired by the Christian Science Society in 1934 and has been converted to suit their needs as a church. The Society was founded in New Canaan in about 1922 and as a small group met at members' houses in much the same way as the other denominations did in their early years. The Society first held services in the Playhouse Building-and after about two years moved to the Advertiser Building to have more ample quarters, and recently to the new site for the same reason. It is interesting to note that the land on which this church stands was owned in 1736 by Rev. John Eells, the first Congregational minister in Canaan Parish.
106d
MISS CAROLINE SILLIMAN
A service commemorating her twenty-five years of missionary work in the Near East was held Sunday, September 3rd before the communion service.
S IX men brought up in this church have in past years entered the Christian ministry. Our one missionary, Miss Caroline Silliman, is not of the past, but very much of the present. She has been since 1932 the principal of the American High School for Girls, under the American Board, at Aleppo, Syria.
The daughter of Joseph Fitch Silliman, long the Clerk of the church, and his wife, Caroline Hoyt, Miss Silliman was born in the old homestead (now the Houston house) on Oenoke Avenue. She went to the New Canaan Institute, and later to the State Normal School in New Britain. She taught for -several years in the Model School, New Britain, and then in the New Canaan Grammar School.
107
On Sunday, September 13, 1908, she was commissioned by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions at a service in the church, and sailed for Van, Turkey immediately after. Her work was with Armenian children, at first, and she later started the kindergarten for Turkish children. She returned on furlough in 1915, and during the war she remained at home and taught in the Grammar School and the Community School. In 1920 she sailed again, this time for Russia, under the Near East Relief, being stationed at Laninagin, Causacus. After a brief return home, she went back to this reconstruction work for Armenian war victims (children). In 1927 she went around the world, and later entered again the American Board service (in 1928) at Aleppo. The school of which she is now principal is the only one in North Syria offering high school Protestant education to girls.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.