USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > Christ church, Hartford, Volume I > Part 6
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The whole number of scholars registered in this school was 141 in 1818; boys 66, girls 75. In 1819, boys 61, girls 81, total 142; new scholars 38. In 1820, boys 44, girls 75, total II9 ; new scholars 8. In 1821, boys 79, girls 102, total 181 ; new scholars 102. In 1822, boys 82, girls 74, total 156 ; new scholars 42.
The year 1817 saw a political revolution in Connecticut, and the way was prepared for the adoption of the Constitu- tion, by which the ancient ecclesiastical establishment of the State was overthrown and all denominations were placed on
* The only survivor in 1879.
Mr. Zephaniah Preston,
Mr. Charles Brainard,
Mr. George Beach,
69
ANNALS OF THE PARISH.
an equal footing. The annual Election Sermon, which had always been preached by a minister of the standing order, was delivered in 1818 by an Episcopalian - Harry Croswell, of New Haven - before the General Assembly, in the Centre Church in this city .*
The Rev. Thomas C. Brownell was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut by the Convention held in New Haven, June 2 and 3, 1819. At a vestry-meeting held June 20th, the rector stated some of the advantages which would result to the parish in having their bishop located here; and, that so desirable an event might be secured, he proposed that the wardens and vestry should consider and determine what they could do in a pecuniary way to effect it. He stated that the Bishop's Fund, as it then stood, would not yield over eleven or twelve hundred dollars a year, and proposed, with the approbation of the vestry, relinquishing in favor of the bishop $400 of his salary, and proposed to remunerate himself by his services in the academy which he contemplated establishing,t or from occasional services in the neighboring parishes. He expected, in case both these failed, that the vestry would pledge themselves to make good the deficiency. The rector was authorized to offer to the bishop-elect, through the committee appointed by the con- vention, a sum equal to the deficiency of the bishop's fund to pay $1,500, for four years, which sum should not exceed $400 a year, on condition of his residing in this place. Dr. Brownell accepted the Episcopate June. 24th ; in Sep- tember the vestry appointed a committee to facilitate the removal of his furniture from New York to this city, and his consecration took place at New Haven, October 27, 1819.
On the 9th of December, 1819, Mr. Wainwright communi-
* Bishop Brownell preached the Election Sermon in 1822, and Mr. Wheaton in 1828. These were all the Episcopal preachers. The custom of having an election sermon was discontinued in 1830.
+ The legislature, at the May session, 1819, incorporated The Hartford Academy. The corporators were John T. Peters, John Morgan, Samuel Tudor, Jr., Charles Sigourney, William H. Imlay, Roswell Bartholomew, Jeremy Hoadley, Jonathan M. Wainwright, Isaac Perkins, Griffin Sted- man - all members of this parish.
70
CHRIST CHURCH, HARTFORD.
cated to the wardens and vestry that he had been invited to become an assistant minister of Trinity Church, New York- the position lately occupied by Bishop Brownell - and had concluded to request the parish to unite with him in procur- ing from the bishop a canonical dissolution of their connec- tion. The parish acquiesced in the request of their rector and, in the event of the expected dissolution, authorized the wardens and vestry to request the Rt. Rev. Bishop of the Diocese to accept the rectorship.
Bishop Brownell accepted the charge, December 18, 1819, on condition that a suitable assistant rector should forthwith be appointed, and that he would himself perform the public services and preach one-fourth part of the time at Hartford, and one other fourth part in an out-parish to be connected with this, and that he should receive for these services from the parish of Hartford $500 per annum, but that, on account of his frequent absences, other ministerial duties must devolve upon the assistant rector. This was agreed to by the parish, January 5, 1820, and the Rev. Nathaniel S. Wheaton was invited to become assistant rector, with a salary of $900 .*
An agreement was entered into to supply the parish of St. John's, Warehouse Point,t with public services and preaching one-half of the time, to wit, with the services of Bishop Brownell, rector of Christ Church, one-quarter of the time, and with the services of the assistant rector one-quarter of the time. Four gentlemen of St. John's guaranteed the payment of $400 to the treasurer of the parish at Hartford as compensation therefor.
About this time the custom of having a clerk, to lead the congregation in their responses, to give out the metrical psalms and hymns, and to read public notices, was discon- tinued. The clerk was accustomed to sit in a little box on one side of the desk.
Bishop Brownell tendered his resignation of the rectorship
* He came March 4, 1820.
+ This was an offshoot of Christ Church, and organized by Mr. Ray- ner in 1801-4.
WEASE OF PEWS. 1822
G.Stedten S2000
Q.E Williams 2000
Kabel Saunders 1)(*)
James Ward 15 00
Jas M.Godwin 1200
VI Elliott 1.500
Suml. Belcher 1.500
Chas Sichals
Crorye Terry
Edward Marsh
Mich! Olcott 1500
Saml. Tuttle.S 1950
42
43 44 45 46
2 3 4
5
Tim Canhold $ 1500 F
C.Sigourney. S 1500
Sum' Ledlie $ 1.590
76
Dan Arnold $ 1200 8
Sol . Porter 1.300
40
49
Juo. Butler 2500
Ar: Wicksted. 21:50
Isaac. Toncey 1000
R. Bartholomew 1250
38 50
Sam! Tuder 2200
Ed. P. Terry .MD.2150
Jna T. Peters 1150
P.B.Goodsell 1050
37 51
(.Nichols 2400
Eli Todil HD. 2.100
10
ChasN. Mills 1200
Ch.Brainard 1.300 36 . Giv Beach 2200
James Rose 1850
Dudley Buck 44400
PelerFort 1/100 35
G.Summer:M.D. 19990
Nathan Morgan 1758
1. Spencer Jr. 14450
6€
L. Humphrey 1390
Parsons Rose 100a
33
55
Ivalia Ravce 1300
.Jun.W.' Bull 1400
68
13 14 H'!".Tlec 12/50
J.Sanford
31 32
56
.1 Andross 11:50
Tin. Ilatch. 1000
67 15
I.Perkins ·1050
Levi Bulkler 1000
16
F. Hitchcock 900
llore Wadsworth 590 30
57 58
Hugh Gourtor 800
Widows
T. Wolcott 900
Her Hatsworth you M.Doming
29
59
WWW. B . Jenssen .550
Richd Flint 800
64 18
Enoch Powers 900
J. F. Hart 70
28
60
V.(. Blackman )(*)
Giro. Prall 500
63
19
Jos: Pratt. 600
Edud Due 100
19
Jas. Church 100
S.Ellsworth Soo
62
Jona Ramsey 500 20
The Names of Persons having Pews in the Galleries are as follows:
21
Chas thinly $400 Abs. Chenevad $ 500 Barrick Bruce 600 Marthe Murray 4400 Chris. Saunders 4400 Asher Newton 500
22
Raiph Goodwin Vio0 Jh. ( lapp 1,000
23
47 48
Thus Lloyd 2200
75
7 .Jos. Church 1000
Chris Saunders 1200 39
8 9
= 11
70 71 12 S.Griswold 1350 John Russ
De Forest Manice 1300
34 54
.Jerrun Hhadis 1650
Widows
65 66 17
24 25 26 27
1000
152 53
72 73 74
S. Halier
Chas Mann
71
ANNALS OF THE PARISH.
in a letter to the wardens and vestry, November 11, 1820, " The establishment of the General Theological Seminary" at New Haven, he wrote, "has called upon me, by the duty which I owe to the church at large, to be near it during its infant state, that I may be the better able to render it such support and assistance as may not be incompatible with my paramount duties to the diocese. As, however, the arrangement made with the parish of East Windsor does not expire till February next, I shall continue my services to both congregations as heretofore (either personally or by a substitute) until that time, unless some other more satisfac- tory arrangement should be made." The treasurer's book shows that his salary was paid to the last day of December, 1820.
At the annual parish meeting, Easter Monday, April 23, 1821, the Rev. Nathaniel S. Wheaton was unanimously invited to accept the rectorship, with a salary of $1,000. He signified his assent on the 5th of June following.
Mr. Wheaton was a native of New Preston in Litchfield county. He had been admitted to the diaconate and priest- hood by Bishop Kemp of Maryland, in which State he had been engaged in teaching after his graduation at Yale Col- lege in 1814.
The parish was now in a prosperous condition. Already in 1819 slips had been substituted for four of the pews ; but now further accommodations were needed, which were ob- tained in 1822, by removing a partition at the entrance of the church, reducing the width of the slips, and bringing those in the nave together - thus making two alleys instead of three - and changing the remaining pews to slips. These alterations gave seventy-six slips on the ground floor .* In the same year the young men of the parish subscribed $100 toward purchasing lamps for the church.
* Plans showing the annual leases of sittings in the church are on file, having been preserved with few exceptions from the beginning to the present time.
72
CHRIST CHURCH, HARTFORD.
The charter of Washington, now Trinity, College was granted by the General Assembly in May, 1823. Episco- palians had long desired an institution of higher education under their control, for Yale College was not then conducted with liberality. Theophilus Yale, for whom the college had been named, was a churchman, and Bishop Berkeley had been one of its greatest benefactors, yet the son of the rector of Trinity in New Haven could not attend his father's church save on communion Sundays. Repeated efforts had been made to obtain the powers of a college for the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire (established in 1796, and incorporated 1801), but without success. At a parish meeting, March 30, 1813, Charles Sigourney, Samuel Tudor, Jr., and Thomas Glover were appointed to confer, advise, or correspond with any other committee or body of persons interested, on the subject of an application which is to be made this spring to the legislature for liberty to establish an Episcopal College in this State -an object which this parish greatly desires to see effected. Vacancy in the Episcopate and, afterwards, the establishment of the General Theological Seminary, which for a brief period was located at New Haven, caused a suspension of efforts for the establishment of a college.
The location of the new institution was not fixed by the charter, but left to be competed for by the larger towns, although the general expectation had been that it would be settled at Hartford. It was finally established here by the trustees, at a meeting held at New Haven, May 6, 1824, when upon a ballot it appeared that there were nine votes for Hartford, five for Middletown, and two for New Haven.
The trustees had requested Mr. Wheaton to go as an agent to Great Britain, to solicit the donation of books and philosophical instruments, and the parish, August 26, 1823, signified its consent. He sailed from New York in Septem- ber, 1823, and returned in November, 1824 .* To supply his
* His Notes on Travel were printed in the Episcopal Watchman, 1827-9. They were afterwards published in a volume by H. & F. J. Huntington. Of this book Trubner, speaking of its mechanical execu- tion, says: " We have in our possession a copy of the Rev. N. S. Whea-
73
ANNALS OF THE PARISH.
place, the parish invited the Rev. Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, who had been educated in Connecticut and was the first whom Bishop Brownell admitted to the diaconate. Mr. Rutledge was unable to come, and the Rev. Henry M. Mason was employed.
But, besides what he accomplished for the college, there was another result from Mr. Wheaton's mission abroad. He had an opportunity of seeing some of the principal churches in England and improving his architectural taste; for there were then but few buildings in the United States worthy of study, and probably the best specimens of Gothic were Trinity Church in New Haven, built in 1815, and St. Stephen's in Philadelphia, consecrated 1823.
On the 4th of April, 1825, the parish appointed the vestry a committee to obtain the refusal of an eligible site for a new church. Upon the report of this committee, a parish meeting appointed another committee to report the ways and means within the power of the parish to purchase a building lot and erect a church thereon, together with the probable expense of the lot and building. The subject was debated at an adjourned meeting October 10th, and again on the 24th of that month, when the expediency of proceed- ing to the erection of a new church as soon as practicable being put to vote, there were thirteen in the affirmative and seven in the negative; but as the statute law required a vote of two-thirds to build, the motion was declared lost.
A year was nearly completed before the subject is again alluded to on the records, though we may well believe it was not absent from the thoughts of the rector, for the church was filled to its utmost capacity. At a vestry-meet- ing, October 17, 1826, the Rev. Mr. Wheaton and Messrs.
ton's Journal of a visit to England, Scotland, and France, printed at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1830, before the general introduction of rollers, which in point of accuracy of composition and beauty of pressmanship is a masterpiece of typography. The color is wonderfully uniform, con- sidering it was put on the type with balls, and yet it does not appear that the book in question was regarded at the time of printing as anything more than an ordinary piece of work."- Bibliographical Guide to American Literature, 1859, page c *.
74
CHRIST CHURCH, HARTFORD.
James M. Goodwin and Samuel Tudor were appointed a committee to procure some proper plan or plans of a church, to be submitted to a future meeting. This committee em- ployed Ithiel Towne of New Haven, and reported to a parish meeting, March 20, 1827. The parish voted to pro- cure a site and build, provided the expense should not ex- ceed $28,000. A committee of nine were appointed to pur- chase, according as they should deem most for the interest of the parish, either one of six locations agreed upon .* Ar- rangements were also made for the issue of stock to supply funds. The committee bought for $8,500 the lot between Temple, Market, and Kingsley streets, now occupied by the old city hall.
It seems strange to us of the present day that the site purchased should have been thought a desirable one for the church, or, afterwards, for the city hall; but in 1827 the population of our city was more homogeneous than now, and lay east of Trumbull street almost entirely.
The site which had been bought did not give general sat- isfaction to the parish, and after several meetings in which the subject was considered, the present location was decided upon, April 16, 1827, by a vote of exactly two-thirds. This vote was confirmed on the 30th by a larger majority, the plans submitted by Mr. Towne were adopted, Messrs. William H. Imlay, Samuel Tudor, and James Ward were appointed a
* These were, with the estimated cost:
I. A lot next east of the Hartford Bank, $11,500.
2. A lot on the west side of Main street, owned in front by Caleb Goodwin and Leonard Bacon, $13,500. Where is now Roberts's block, a few doors south of the church.
3. A lot on the west side of Trumbull street, owned by Norman Smith, $8,000. This was opposite the foot of Pratt street. 4. A lot owned by Spencer and Gilman, $8,500. The lot on Market street, which the committee bought.
5. A lot owned by Ward & Bartholomew, on the west side of Trumbull street, $12,000. The southwest corner of Asylum and Trum- bull streets.
6. A lot owned by Aristarchus Champion, on Main street, $9,500. The site of the present church.
75
ANNALS OF THE PARISH.
building committee, and the land recently purchased was ordered to be sold.
Ground was broken in the summer of 1827, and the work of building was already considerably advanced when, on Tuesday, May 13, 1828, the corner-stone was laid * with appropriate ceremonies by Bishop Brownell. Mr. Wheaton delivered an address on the occasion.t The roof was on be- fore the next winter, and the church was consecrated on Wed- nesday, December 23, 1829, by Bishop Hobart, acting in be- half of Bishop Brownell, then absent on a southwestern tour .¿ A procession was formed from the old church to the new, consisting of the vestry, the wardens, the clergy, and the bishop. Prayers were read by the Rev. Prof. Hector Humphreys, and the lessons by the Rev. Prof. Horatio Potter (late Bishop of New York). The Instrument of Dona- tion was read by the Rev. N. S. Wheaton, Rector of the parish, and the Sentence of Consecration by the Rev. Wil- liam Jarvis, Rector of Trinity Church, Chatham. The ser- mon was preached by Bishop Hobart. His text was Gen. xxviii, 16, "Surely the Lord is in this place."§
* In the cavity prepared for the purpose was deposited, with several coins for the current year, a bottle containing a piece of parchment with this inscription:
In the name of God, Amen. This corner-stone of Christ Church was laid by the Right Rev. T. C. Brownell, May 13th, 1828. The Rev. N. S. Wheaton being Rector, Charles Sigourney and Samuel Tudor, Wardens, M. Olcott, J. Hoadly, N. Morgan, C. Saunders, I. Tou- cey, G. Stedman, A. Farwell, R. Bartholo- mew, and S. H. Huntington, Vestrymen; and,
S. Tudor, W. H. Imlay, and J. Ward, Building Committee.
Mr. Huntington, the latest survivor of the above, attended the cele- bration of the semi-centennial on both parts of the day. He died Febru- ary 4, 1880, in his eighty-seventh year.
+ It is printed in The Episcopal Watchman, Vol. ii, 69.
# The cost of the site, building (so far as it was completed, say July 1, 1830), and organ, was $43,706.19. The building committee made 110 charge for their services, nor did the treasurer.
§ It is printed in the Posthumous Works of Bp. Hobart, ii, 29.
76
CHRIST CHURCH, HARTFORD.
The work of building was brought to a close without any painful incident. While in progress there were frequent comments on its solidity and massiveness. It was superin- tended by Mr. James Chamberlain, a member of the parish, and a builder at least equal to any who has ever lived in our city .* In March, 1830, the parish presented him with $100 and a piece of plate worth $50, with a suitable inscription, " not so much," the record says, "for its value, as a grateful acknowledgment for the unwearied and judicious applica- tion of his talent as an architect and builder, and for his skill- ful and successful superintendence of the new church to its (thus far) completion." Mr. Wheaton gave his attention to every detail, and we are indebted not only to his fine taste but to the skill of his hands, for he fashioned some of the models for the stucco ornaments, and some of the stone faces on the east end of the church were cut by him. Mr. Wheaton also presented a transparency, which formerly cov- ered the chancel window. It was a representation of the Ascension, after Raphael, and painted by W. Bacon, of Lon- don.+
The stained glass in the heads of two western windows was made in Boston, and is one of the earliest specimens of the art in this country. The cost was $62.50.
The land on which the old church stood was sold to Oliver D. Cooke, and the building to the Romanists. The spire was taken down and the building removed to Talcott street. It was reconsecrated by Bishop Fenwick in 1831, by the name of Trinity Church, and was wholly consumed by fire, May 11, 1853.
* A few years afterwards Mr. Chamberlain became deeply involved through erecting a house for a gentleman in this city. Imprisonment for debt had not then been abolished, and to avoid arrest he fled to Michigan. Some of his friends subscribed and bought a two-horse wagon, in which his wife and children went to him. He died not long after.
+ This picture, having been accidentally torn, was some years since given back to Dr. Wheaton, and replaced by a window of stained glass. It was accidentally ruined in transportation to Marbledale.
.
77
ANNALS OF THE PARISH.
Having thus traced the progress of the church from its humble beginnings until it had become one of the leading parishes of the diocese, and having brought down these annals to the event of which we to-day celebrate the fiftieth anniversary, the limit which I had assigned to myself is reached, and here shall be an end.
REPORT OF A COMMITTEE
Concerning the funds
OF THE
PARISH OF CHRIST CHURCH
HARTFORD
1894
At a meeting of the Wardens and Vestry of Christ Church, Hartford, held May 2, 1893, it was
"Voted, That a committee of four members of the Vestry be appointed, with power to employ a competent person to index the Parish Minutes, to extract all the votes of importance, and to make an abstract of the trust funds of the Parish from the records.
"Dr. G. W. Russell, W. L. Matson, J. M. Taylor, and H. H. Hollister were appointed such committee."
H. H. HOLLISTER, Clerk.
REPORT.
To the Wardens and Vestry of Christ Church :
In accordance with the above vote, your committee have undertaken the request to ascertain the Funds which belong to the Parish, and the present condition of the same. It has been a task greater than was expected when the resolution appointing us was passed; but it has been completed with faithfulness, as we believe. It is certainly proper that we should have a full knowledge of all that our honored prede- cessors have done in their interest for the welfare of this Parish. The struggle which the Church had in this town, and its history down to 1828, was graphically told by Mr. Charles J. Hoadly in 1879, at the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the consecration of the Church.
As none of the early members of the Parish and but few of their descendants are now living, and not many of the present members are familiar with what has been done in the past, we have thought it proper to enter with some minuteness into the consideration of the Funds which have been constituted, and which now exist in this Parish.
The first of which we find mention in the records of the Parish is called,
The Episcopal Church Fund.
Mr. John Morgan had secured from his friends in New York city, in aid of the Parish, four hundred and forty-five dollars, and this, with the proceeds of a small piece of land, sold to Dr. Joseph Lynde, was the foundation of the above Fund. It has been said that the subscriptions in New York were made conditionally that the money should not be used for present purposes, bitt that a fund should be established. This seems very probable, for we find that very soon the
6
S2
CHRIST CHURCH, HARTFORD.
Parish took action in the matter, and did establish this Fund and guard it with extraordinary provisions and care. It was increased by the income from the original sum and by some subscriptions, and by the very careful nursing of Mr. Charles Sigourney, until in 1830 it amounted to eighty-five hundred dollars. It was then invested in Church Scrip, issued to pay for the debt incurred in erecting the Church, and was not many years afterwards lost to view, as Mr. Sigourney and many members of the Parish had predicted.
To us, at this day, it seems a singular proceeding, and not quite consistent with the idea of a Fund, which should be held as a distinct and separate sum of money, set aside, as this was, for specific purposes, to be accounted for an- nually, and to be known of all men as a Fund by its generic name, and so to be continued, upon its conditions, into perpetuity.
We are far from saying that a dishonest use was made of this Episcopal Church Fund. The gentlemen who were engaged in the change of its investment were among the oldest and most honored members of the Parish. It would be presumptuous in us to say that their proceedings were not strictly legal; that had been secured by proper enact- ment, and the necessities of the Parish seemed to be their warrant for its use in the payment of its debts. They had builded beyond their immediate ability to pay, as so many other religious societies have done, and will probably con- tinue to do, that they ventured upon an experiment, which may have been legal, but is not to be commended. If the example should be generally followed, it would probably dis- courage many gifts for the establishment of specific funds, gifts made for a certain object and with the expectation of a long continuance.
It may be said in justification that this Fund is not lost; that it still remains in the Church building, and that the pew rents are pledged for the payment of the annual interest. But, then, who knows anything about this Fund? What wardens and vestry keep any account of this Fund? What treasurer has, for many years, made any mention of it in his
83
REPORT ON FUNDS.
report ? It is as a thing of naught, as if it never had an existence ; it has, as was predicted, become so completely absorbed that it is now almost forgotten. It may be the fate of other Funds belonging to this Parish if we do not manage and use them according to the intent of the donors ; and this subject is dwelt on now for the purpose of impress- ing upon all who, in any way, are connected with this Parish, the duty of becoming acquainted with its history and of faithfully maintaining its interests.
To make this history complete and note the very begin- ning of this Fund, we include in our report the following plea, which was made to friends in New York in 1807 for aid to the Parish by Mr. John Morgan, and the action thereon. He was a very prominent merchant here, was one of the wardens of the Parish, and had many friends in that city. Ile was liberal in his support of the Parish, independent in character, and prosecuted with vigor whatever he under- took. Some few of us remember him as he appeared in the latter days of his life, when, in straitened circumstances, he filled the office of inspector of wood for the city. As seen upon the streets, tall and thin, supported by a long, gold- headed cane, he was sure to attract attention by his vener- able appearance, dignified, courteous, and sometimes brusque manner. Authority became him well, and, when irritated, he never failed to assert it. He had that sense of what was becoming to law and order, that led him to believe that he was a good expounder of both. The misfortunes which befell him may have increased some of his peculiarities, and possibly added to that positiveness of manner and opinion which were characteristic of him. He was a good church- man, and Mr. Hoadly well says, "that to his zealous labors and liberal contributions, the Parish was indebted for its temporal prosperity more than those of any other individual." The early records show how much he was interested in every movement for the Church in the city. He gave to it not his money only, but his time, which was exceedingly valuable to him, engaged, as he was, in extensive and diverse mercantile pursuits. He was respected to the end of his life for his
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