USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > Middletown > Centennial address and Historical sketches > Part 4
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ADDRESS OF DR. FIELD.
Some measures have been adopted in the Upper Houses for advancing education, which deserve public commendation. I allude especially to what has been done by the " Friendly Association," a literary society, which has been regularly kept up about forty years, which flourishes still, and is accomplishing much good.
The settlers were the friends of Constitutional liberty, and of righteous laws well administered. They came here under the wing of the constitution which went into operation in 1639, allowing them to elect their own offi- cers, and to unite with others in the election of officers for the commonwealth. That Constitution was super- ceded by the charter of Charles the second ; a charter liberal for a monarch to grant, and which showed the adroitness of Governor Winthrop in obtaining it. Thus the people had what they wished, the privilege of man- aging legally their own concerns, whether of town or society, school district or any other corporation with which they were connected, while they took a part with others in elevating ,men to higher stations, and more extensive trusts.
They knew their rights. Though for more than twen- ty years the public laws were in manuscript, copies of them were sent to the towns, publicly read and left for examination by the inhabitants ; and then they were printed and bound in a volume with blank leaves, and every family was required to purchase a copy. The new laws, made from time to time, were sent to the towns, that after being publiely read, they might be copied into the same book with the printed laws. Thus the people had the laws continually before them, and were probably more conversant than the people now are with the existing statutes.
One trait of the carly settlers was, that when they
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ADDRESS OF DR. FIELD.
found public men very faithful, they elected them re- peatedly to office, sometimes for long periods, and to old age. Perhaps there were not among them as many qualified for office as among their posterity, in proportion to the population ; but they did not judge it best to drop tried and good men on slight grounds. It was no part of their policy to throw aside men merely to make way for others; especially such as had become conver- sant with the duties of a high station, for the sake of experimenting on raw hands. Their principles and their circumstances both prompted them to union, and to seek the general welfare in distinction from party ob- jects. A remarkable illustration of this is found in the elections of Mr. Nathaniel White, who resided in the Upper Houses ; a man of high religious character, and sound judgment. He was one of the first magistrates of the town, and held military commissions. From 1659 to 1710 the year before his death, he was chosen repre- sentative to the General Court, the elections being then semi-annual, eighty-five times. Among the men settled in the Lower Houses, whom the people delighted to hon- or were Mr. Giles Hamlin, his son John Hamlin, and his grandson Jabez Hamlin. The first mentioned and Mr. White were appointed commissioners, or justices of the peace in 1669, and in 1684 commissioners for Mid- dletown, Haddam and Meriden. Mr. Hamlin, though "Near fifty years crossing the ocean wide,"*
was elected representative to the General Court twenty- two times ; and in 1685 was elected an assistant, and thus annually until his death, except as the privileges of the freemen were interrupted by the usurpation of Maj. Andros.
* From the epitaph on his Monument.
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John Hamlin was a member of the General Court as a representative seven sessions, and then an assistant twenty-six years.
Jabez Hamlin, besides being advanced in military life to the rank of a Colonel, was put into the commission of the peace as early as 1733 or 4; was a justice of the quorum for Hartford county, from 1745 until 1754, and then judge of that court thirty years. He was elected a representative to the General Assembly forty-three times, and was repeatedly Speaker of the Lower House. He was also for a time a member of the Council of safety. He was judge of probate from the formation of Middle- town district in 1752 till 1789, and mayor of this eity from its incorporation in 1784 until his death.
The excellence of Giles Hamlin may have contributed- to bring forward his son John Hamlin, but the son could not have received and retained the confidence of the peo- ple in those times, had he not been a superior man : and the excellence of John Hamlin, combined with that of his father, may have had more influence in bringing for- ward Jabez Hamlin ; but all three were capital men. Jabez Hamlin was publicly educated and possessed a - well informed and well balanced mind, unusual sweet- ness and uniformity of temper, and courtliness of man- ners. He took an active interest in the welfare of per- sons of every class, exercising a benevolence through & long life, which was seen and felt by all. Thus he de- scended to his grave, rich in the esteem of men, and beloved of his God.
Seth Wetmore was a lawyer in this town, and a jus- tice of the peace sometime before the middle of the last century. He was elected a representative to the Legis- lature forty-eight times, and was a judge of Hartford county court.
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Samuel W. Dana and Asher Miller were long elceted to public offices : and the clerkship held by the late John Fisk Esq., shows that the people have not forgotten alto- gether to continue correct and faithful men in office. Still in recent times, some offices have passed rapidly from one person to another. The court of Probate for this District has existed ninety-eight years. By the first three judges it was held sixty-nine years. Since the death of the last of these, it has been held by eleven judges.
As for Ministers, they were not hastily settled nor hastily dismissed. Mr. Samuel Stow, and the first set- tled pastor, were employed as candidates longer than was common in the early days of Connecticut. But long candidateships were usual, and when ministers were settled, they were considered as settled for life. The first four pastors of this Church died in office, and including the time of their being candidates, they sup- plied the people nearly one hundred and fifty years. The first two pastors in Upper Middletown died in office ; the first in Westfield ; the first three in Portland ; the first in Middle Haddam, and the first three in East Hampton.
It has been said that the carly ministers were superior men, men of talents and learning.
Mr. Collins, the first pastor, was a native of Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, and was educated at the College in that town, as was an elder brother by the name of John, who was a minister in London. Both were famous ministers in their day. The church or people here were united and happy during Mr. Collins' life ; he died in 1684. Cotton Mather says of him, in his Magnalia .- " The church of Midd'town upon Connecticut River, was the golden candlestick, from whence this excellent
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person illuminated more than that whole colony ; and all the qualities of most exemplary picty, extraordinary in- tegrity, obliging affability, joined with the accomplish- ments of an extraordinary preacher, did render him truly excellent." He also wrote an elegy on him, in which he describes his virtues in quaint rhymes :
"I sigh the fate for which our broached eyes Spend floods of brine ; at which a dire surprise Of a soul chilling horror doth invade The soul not stone before ; at which are made In serious minds, as many wounds as were To Cæsar given. Reader, shake to hear ; THE DEATH OF COLLINS, 'tis. He dead, Without a paper sheet to lay him out ! O shame. O that Egyptian odours, and Embalmers too, were now at my command ! I want them. But hyperboles withdraw, Begone licentious poets. What I saw
On this occasion, let some country rhymes That call a spade a spade, tell after times."
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Pity, the Church of Middletown bespeaks Set in the midst of swoons and sobs and shricks. * * * *
The second pastor was Rev. Noadiah Russell. He was one of the founders and trustees of Yale College, and one of the framers of Saybrook Platform, and of course held high rank among his brethren. Two of his sons, William and Daniel, were educated at the semina- ry which he had assisted in founding, and became minis- ters of the gospel. Daniel settled in Stepney in Weth- ersfield, now the town of Rocky Hill.
Rev. William Russell succeeded his father in the min- istry here, and it is a remarkable fact that he labored in
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the work just forty-six years, dying on the same month, and on the same day of the month on which he was or- dained. He preached the election sermon before the Colony Legislature in 1730. The celebrated George Whitfield, being entertained at his house over night in Oct., 1740, says of him : "I think him an Israelite in- deed, and one who has been long mourning over the dead- ness of professors. Oh! that all ministers were like-mind- cd." He also expresses his admiration "of the sim- plicity of his host and the order wherein his children at- tended on family devotion." Mr. Russell was a mem- ber of Hartford South Consociation, when that Consocia- tion was called in 1758, to aet with the Consociation of New Haven County in the " Wallingford case, and he manifested much concern for the peace and union of the church and society in Wallingford, and to effect an ac- commodation of the difficulties which had arisen." "He was a gentleman," says Dr. Trumbull, "of great respec- tability for knowledge, experience, moderation, and for pacifie measures, on all occasions."
Rev. Enoch Huntington was the fourth pastor of the first church in this town. While a member of Yale College, (of which institution he was a trustee many years,) he was distinguished for ripe scholarship, and was a success- ful candidate for the Berkeley prize. When he began to preach he was a popular candidate. A congregation on Long Island sought him for their pastor. The people in Pittsfield, Mass., invited him to settle with them, but he deemed it his duty to settle in this place, where he had a call at the same time. His ministry was more extend- ed than that of his immediate predecessor, and during the greater part of this long period, besides discharging his official duties, he instructed young men while fitting for college, or who without a collegiate course were look-
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ing forward to the learned professions, and to important stations in business. The town being then greatly con- cerned in commerce, and having extensive connections, youths from abroad, as well as from this place and vicini- ty, were placed under his tuition. Had we a full cata- logue of his pupils, which has been much sought for, we should find the names of many literary, distinguished and useful men. President Dwight of Yale College, was one of his early pupils, and had such respect for himn, that some thirty years afterwards he placed a son under his care. The first families in Middletown, of different de- nominations, sent their sons to him. The Rev. Elijah Parsons of East Haddam, and the late Dr. Sheperd of Lenox, Mass., studied theology with him.
It is rare to find four ministers in succession, in any church for so long a time, of such standing and influence as the four now noticed. As the early settlers of the town, and their descendants for generations, had superior men for their ministers, so they had very worthy men for deacons. One of their three first elected and ordain- ed deacons was John Hall, son of the first John Hall, one of the early clerks of the town. He died Jan. 22, 1694, aged 75, and his epitaph declares his virtues.
" Here lyes our Deacon Hall, Who studied peace with all, Was upright in his life, Void of malignant strife ; Gone to his rest, left us in sorrow Doubtless his good works will him follow."
These rhymes are as quaint as Cotton Mather's, and not a whit quainter than some epitaphs found on grave- stones in old England ; but the ideas cannot be mistaken. In the subsequent list of deacons, we find the names of
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ADDRESS OF DR. FIELD.
Jabez Hamlin, Chauncey Whittlesey and Matthew Tal- cot Russell.
We ax assembled to celebrate the Second Centennial Anniversary of the settlement of Middletown. For two hundred years, the worship of God has been celebrated in this congregation, according to the views and forms of the Congregationalists. And here some rather striking coincidences occur. It is very near one hundred and fifty years since Congregational worship was commenced in Upper Middletown, and from these churches went forth colonists, to form the other Congregational churches and societies generally, which have sprung up within the orig- inal limits of the township. This too is the first Cen- tennial Anniversary of christian worship here, according to the rites of the church of England, and with this Episcopal church have been somewhat connected the origin and growth of the same denomination in Port'and and Midd e Haddam. The Baptist church in this city has existed a little more than half a century : the Bap- tist Society in Upper Middletown was formed in Janu- ary, 1861. The Methodist congregation in the city was formed in 1791, but was small until 1800 and after.
The economy and customs of the three denominations now mentioned, provide better for the frequent change of ministers than those of the Congregationalists, and com- paring the whole existence of all the churches, they have actually changed their ministers more frequently. Rev. Abraham Jarvis, one of the carly rectors of the Episco- pal church here, served it many years, and while here, was raised to the highest station in the Episcopal church- es of the commonwealth, which his brethren could give him. Some, among the long list of rectors following, have been much esteemed, several have been raised to eminent stations.
5*
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· Rev. Mr. Miles served the Episcopal congregation in Portland many years. But so many have been the Epis- copal ministers ; so many the Baptist and Methodist ; and so many recently the congregational, that they can- not be even named on this occasion. The trials and the prosperity of their churches cannot be stated, much less can any thing be said about more recent congregations, and this is the less important, because their origin and progress are so well known. . We are assembled to hear old and forgotten things, rather than those which are late and familiar .*
The settlers generally, rich as they were in faith, had little property, and every thing to begin anew. At first their dwellings were wretched, hardly sheltering them from the rage of the elements : they had but little furni- ture, and the articles generally of the plainest forms. They manufactured nearly all their clothing in the fami- ly, and very imperfectly, having no provision for fulling, shearing and pressing their woollens. They were in- experienced in subduing a forest ; were deficient in im- plements for cultivating the ground; had scarcely any teams, horses, cattle or sheep. There were but few me- chanics among them. They anticipated difficulty in pro- curing so necessary a mechanic as a blacksmith, and re- served an hundred pound lot to tempt one to come among them. It was not until Sept., 1661, that one appeared, who pledged himself to do the town's smithing, at least for four years. At a subsequent time they induced a blacksmith to settle among them in a similar way.
Our citizens who go to the West, entertain us by the story of their privations and hardships, and yet these are hardly a tythe of what the Colonists suffered. Besides
* Note C.
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having greater means and resources in the outset, they can almost fly on cars, or steamboats to their destinations ; carry what they wish with them, and at little expense ; can go right on to a prairie, or if they enter a forest, they may have the light which experience has shed dur- ing two centuries, in turning a wilderness into a fruitful field.
The settlers were poor half a century ; and for half a century more, they did not rise much above the condition of comfortable livers. Framed houses they had, but with few rooms and often never finished. Almost all looked to their elcarings and forests for the means of support. From the former, they got their food and a few articles to barter ; from the latter, they got materials for boards, staves and hoops, which were also to barter ; and the bartering was for groceries, and a few finer articles of clothing. In 1680, but one vessel was owned and that only of 70 tons; only one more was owned on the river, and that at Hartford, of 90 tons. The trade was carried on in these vessels, and in a few coming rarely from Boston. Two vessels only were owned here in 1730; both united, rated at 105 tons.
There was probably but one merchant here in 1680, and the merchants in the colony, then 24 in number, are spoken of by Gov. Leet in his report to the Board of Trade and Plantations in England, as doing but little business. There were probably not more than two mer- chants here, in 1730. One of these was James Brown, an excellent Scotchman, from Edinburgh, who used to cross the country to Boston on horse-back, once or more in a year, to make his contracts. Some years after this, there were only three or four merchants. But in the latter half of the last century, a very profitable trade was opened with the West Indies, and some accumulat-
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ed large estates. The most successful in this trade was Richard Alsop, who had been educated a merchant in the store of Philip Livingston in New York. George Phillips, Col. Matthew Talcot and others were engaged in it.
This trade stimulated agriculture ; and by this time the best lands in all the parishes were brought under cul- tivation, and yielded abundant crops of wheat, rye, bar- ley, oats, flax, maize, and English grasses. Great quan- tities of provisions ; and great numbers of cattle and horses were sent to the West Indies ; and great quanti- ties of rum, (an article then believed to be useful as a beverage, and necessary to men engaged in arduous la- bors,) were imported, together with sugar, molasses and salt. Great quantities of provisions were sent from the river to New York, to be consumed there, or re-shipped for forcign markets, and thence various articles of mer- chandize were brought back in return : for by this time most of the trade which had gone castward, and mainly to Boston, had changed its course.
The West India trade, and almost all other trade, the Revolutionary War deranged, or rather suspended. It was resumed, however, and flourished when the war was over. Some of the principal traders at this time, were Elijah and Nehemiah Hubbard, and Col. Lemuel Storrs, George and Thompson Phillips, sons of the George Phil- lips before mentioned, Gen. Comfort Sage, and others, took a part, and some of them an important part in it. Joseph W. Alsop, a younger man, also succeeded in it. Before the close of the last century, however, this trade was annoyed and injured by the principal belligerent pow- ers of Europe; evils which led on to a temporary controver- sy with France, then to the restrictive system, and the more serious war with Great Britain. During that sys-
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tem and war, our seaports presented lines of naked masts. Vessels, old and new, were laid up on the sides of this river, and as another item in the calamities of people on the Connecticut, twenty-two vessels of various descriptions, estimated at a hundred and sixty thousand dollars, were burnt by the enemy at Essex. The sons of the ocean were driven to almost every expedient to get their bread, sold too at an enhanced price.
Since the last war with Great Britain, almost all the commerec from this place is domestie, and this is still limited. Under this change many enterprising men have invested property in factories, and hundreds, who might otherwise have exerted their strength and their skill in following the seas, are now engaged in mechanical and manufacturing operations. In these factories, the culti- vators of the soil too, find a market for their products.
Wars try men's souls. The Pequot war, and King Philip's war, tried the men of Connecticut. Queen Ann's war at the beginning of the last century, tried them, and pressed them with a heavy debt .* 'The
* The fruitless undertaking against Canada, in 1709, says Trumbull, " was a capital loss and expense to the Colonies." One quarter or more of the troops died. Connecticut only sustained the loss of 90 men. The expedition occasioned the first emission of paper money in Connecticut.
Besides the assigned quotas raised by the colonies, independent compa- nies were raised and sent on to the army. The following persons were vol- unteers from Middletown, viz. "Nathaniel Gilbert, Benjamin Cornwell, John Allen, Samuel Doolittle, Nathaniel Hobart [or Hubart, ] Jonathan Gilbert, Waite Cornwell, Edward Bow, John Lane, entered, (but by reason of the death of his father, hired another in his room, ) Charles But- ler, Jacob Conte, and Thomas Stevens," all of whom " served under Capt. Moses Demming." "Jacob Doude, and Jeremiah Leman" who " served under Capt. Andrew Ward."
In May, 1722, the Assembly passed an aet requiring all the arms " re- ceived upon the Canada expeditions," including "those lodged in any
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French war of 1744, and especially that of 1755, con- tinuing for a longer period, tried them. In both, Con- nccticut furnished more than her proportion of men. In the latter, some went to Ticonderoga, some to the Ha- vanna, and some elsewhere, and many never returned. A number from Upper Middletown did not. How many then from all the parishes west of the river ? The only son of the first minister in Chatham fell in battle in this war. How many then in all the parishes east of the river ? But we are accustomed to speak of the Revolu- tionary war as trying men's souls, particularly in 1776. This did try them, in various respects. It was a war with Englishmen, whose blood we shared, and for the re- dress of wrongs, which it was believed, fathers should never have inflicted ; a war with an ancient, rich and powerful nation, that thought at first they could over- awe us, and then that they could subdue us. It was a long, bloody and expensive war, in which hope sometimes rose high, then sunk, but lived on, rose again and again, until in eight years the glorious triumph arrived.
But little can be said on this vast subject now-a few things only, to show how your fathers felt and acted at that time, in conjunction with the people of other towns in our beloved State.
The news of the passage of the Boston Port Bill, and the arrival of Gen. Gage in May, 1774, to enforce it by stopping the trade of that important town, and with it to a great extent, the trade of Massachusetts and New Eng-
town or in the hands of any person in the government" to be brought to and lodged at the State House in Hartford. This appears to have been done-but in May 13, 1725, the volunteers from this place asked the Gen- cral Assembly, to grant liberty for the delivery of the arms to cach of them, which had been taken away by a former order, and the request was grant- ed by both Houses,
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land, excited alarm and indignation in Connecticut. " The House of Representatives, then in session at Hart- ford, passed strong resolutions against the unrighteous act." Many towns did the same, and pledged their co- operation in defense of the rights of the people. On the 15th of June in this year, more than five hundred inhabitants of this town assembled and gave such a pledge. The following are their deliberate and com- preliensive resolves :
1: " That we will heartily concur in any salutary measures, that may or shall be devised and come into, or recommended by a General Congress, from all or most of the Colonies, or by the greater places of trade or com- merce on the continent, or by the inhabitants of this Colony, for the preservation of the rights of British Americans.
2. That Messrs. Matthew Talcott, Richard Alsop, and Titus Hosmer, be our Committee of correspondence, whose duty it shall be to collect all such intelligence, as may be necessary to enable us to act our part presently, and to good effect in the system of America ; to com- municate such intelligence to others, as may be useful to them and the common cause, and in our behalf to cooper- ate with the Committees of other towns, in concerting or executing any general plan of proceeding for the good of the whole."
It is not known that Chatham formally passed such resolves, but there is evidence enough that they cherish- ed the same sentiments, and it is scarcely possible that any towns should have been more faithful than these two were, in sustaining them.
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