USA > Connecticut > Contributions to the ecclesiastical history of Connecticut > Part 28
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This Association is one of the oldest in the state, and has been the battle- field for the discussion of some of the most important questions relating to ecclesiastical order, theological doctrines, ministerial duty and covenant obligations that have ever agitated the churches in the state. Witness the controversies in Branford, New Haven, Wallingford, Cheshire and Guilford.
During the Great Awakening, Rev. Philemon Robbins, of Branford, preached by particular request to a congregation of Baptists at Wallingford, which led to the offering of a complaint against him, embracing several charges of incorrect doctrine and disorderly practice, though he was not accu- sed of the violation of any of the divine commands, or of doing anything contrary to the word of God. The charges were sustained, and he was ex- cluded from the Consociation ; but the majority of his church having full confidence in him as a sound, faithful, godly minister, he was not dismissed, and after a few years the controversy died away, and he was at length invi- ted to sit with the Consociation at an ordination, without objection. Trum- bull's Hist. 2, 196-233.
Of the difficulty in New Haven with regard to the organization of the North Church, see Dr. Dutton's address in this volume, page 120. Similar troubles were experienced in Milford, in the formation of the Second church, as is related concerning it, in its place in the list of churches, infra. Large and respectable minorities were harassed and oppressed for many years by legal exactions, not being allowed liberty of conscience and worship, and being taxed for the support of the ministers of the First church in each of these places. Trumbull's IIist. 2, 335-50.
In 1729, Rev. Thomas Ruggles, Jr., was ordained in Guilford against the wishes of a large minority, who separated from the church and society. The
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New Haven East Association.
Legislature interposed to effect a reconciliation in vain. They refused to comply with resolutions of the Consociation, and hence forty-six members of the church were suspended. Repeated acts of the Assembly, of com- mittees and of councils, all failed to reconcile them. At length, after a con- tention of four or five years, with great irritations and alienations between brethren and neighbors, and great expense of time and money before courts, general assemblies and councils, the wishes of the minority were granted, and they were allowed to have a church and minister of their own. Trum- bull's Hist. 2, 114-134.
Rev. Mr. Humphreys, of Derby, was deprived of his seat in the Associa- tion in 1747, for preaching to a Baptist society. Mr. Timothy Allen was dis- missed from West Haven for an unguarded expression and being active in the revival of 1740, though he offered a confession for his imprudencies. In dis- missing him, his brethren uttered this ill-natured speech in triumph, that they had blown out one "new light," and that they would blow them all out. The Association also suspended Rev. Messrs. Humphreys of Derby, Leav- enworth of Waterbury, and Todd of Plymouth, for assisting in the ordina- tion of Rev. Jonathan Lee, in Salisbury, because he and the church had adopted the Cambridge Platform. Trumbull's Hist. 2, 195-6.
At the ordination of Rev. James Dana, in Wallingford, opposition arose against him on account of his religious sentiments. The Consociation and an ordaining council were assembled at the same time, and he was ordained against the remonstrance of the Consociation. With the advice of Hartford South, they declared Mr. Dana and his church guilty of scandalous con- tempt, and recognized the minority as the church. Rev. Simon Waterman was afterivards ordained their pastor.
Trumbull's Hist. 2, 480-526.
Action preliminary to the division of the Association was taken at Water- bury, September, 1786, and the division effected at Wolcott (Farmingbury) May, 1787. It was then voted to call a meeting of the Consociation before their next meeting to effect a like division in that body. We have in this vote a recognition of the relation between the Association and the Consocia- tion in the county in conformity with the articles agreed upon at Saybrook in 170S. The dividing line fixed upon was the Quinnipiack river.
There was a tradition that one reason why the division of the Association took place at that time was doctrinal, and that the movement for a division came from those who favored the New Divinity, of which Edwards the younger, then a pastor in New Haven, was the champion, who, with him, would fall into the Western District or Association. Some color of truth is given to this tradition by the circumstance that Dr. Trumbull, of North Haven, and one or two others joined each the other Association than that into which they would fall by the territorial division. The records of the Association and Consociation were to remain in the Eastern District.
LICENTIATES.
NAMES. 1734. Samuel Eaton, Eleazar Wheelock,
NAMES. Benajah Case, Noah Merrick, Daniel Bliss.
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New Haven East Association. ".
NAMES. 1735. William Leete, Jr.,
Mr. Eaton,
Solomon Palmer, Andrew Bartholomew,
Daniel Huntington,
William Seward. 1737. Joseph Bellamy,
Nathan Birdseye. 1738. John Bannell,
Mark Leavenworth,
Moses Barr. 1739. John Trumbull,
Timothy Judd,
Gideon Mills,
Samuel Walker,
Jared Harrison,
Stephen White. 1740.
Chester Williams,
Chauncey Whittelsey,
Amos Munson. 1742. Benjamin Woodbridge, Thomas Canfield. 1743. Thomas Darling. 1744.
Edward Dow,
Jonathan Lyman. 1745.
Thomas Arthur,
Stephen Johnson, Israel Bunnell,
Elnathan Chauncey,
Aaron Richards. 1746.
John Hubbard, Ichabod Camp. 1748. John Richards.
1759.
Chandler Robbins,
Noah Williston. 1760. Jesse Ives,
Roger Newton. 1761.
Ebenezer Grosvenor, Stephen Hawley, Ammi Ruhamah Robbins, Mathew Merriam.
NAMES. 1762. Pelatiah Tingley, Albert Hall,
Abner Johnson, Daniel Collins. 1763. William Sonthmayd, John Bliss,
Burrage Merriam. 1764. Jonathan Lyman, Elisha Rexford, Whitman Walsh. 1765. David Rose, Timothy Stone. 1766
Thomas Yale, - John Foot, Samuel Munson. 1769. Isaiah Potter, John Hubbard, renewed. 1770. David Brooks, Caleb Hotchkiss. 1771.
Pundersou Austin,
Seth Sage. 1772. Nathan Strong, John Lewis. 1773.
David Perry, Aaron Hale. 1775. Achilles Mansfield, Noah Merwin, Abraham Baldwin. 1776.
William Robinson, Nehemiah Prudden,
Nathan Fenn. 1777. Noah Atwater, Aaron Hall, renewed. 1778.
John Camp, Rozell Cook, John Avery. 1779. Joseph Vail. 1780.
Joel Barlow, Medad Rogers,
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New Haven East Association.
NAMES.
David Austin, Zebulon Ely. 1781. Levi Lankton, Samuel Nott, John Barnett. 1782.
NAMES. 1803. David D. Field.
1804.
Moses Stuart,
Samuel Merwin,
Erastus Seranton,
William L.Strong,
Andrew Rawson,
Henry Channing. 1783.
Jonathan Maltby,
Stephen William Stebbins,
Ilorace Holley. 1807. Henry Frost, Nathaniel Freeman. 1810.
Noah Coe,
Comfort Williams,
Philander Parmelee. 1811.
G. Garnsey Brown. 1812. Henry Sherman, renewed.
Walter King,
Thomas Holt,
Joseph Badger. 1787.
Timothy Harrison. 1825. Stephen D. Ward. 1826.
William Stone,
David Hale,
Samuel Perkins,
Isaac Clinton,
Aaron Collins.
George Coan. 1827. Milton Badger,
1788.
Sylvester Ilarvey,
Hiram P. Arms,
Caleb Johnson. 1789. Oliver Dudley Cook,
Jason Atwater,
Xenophon Betts,
Sanford Lawton,
Isaac Maltby. 1790. · Hezekiah Goodrich.
Stephen Topliff,
1791.
Martyn Tupper,
Caleb Johnson. 1795. Roger Harrison,
Stiles Hawley, Chester Birge. 1828.
Dyer Ball,
George W. Perkins. 1830.
Dana Goodsell. 1831.
1801.
Ebenezer Grant Marsh.
Romulus Barnes, John F. Brooks, Orin Cooley, Albert Hale,
*Voted, 1773, that for the future the examination of candidates shall be before the Association, and not by committees. The names of some candidates examined by committees are probably not on record.
Jason Atwater,
John Robinson. 1784. David Tomlinson, Samuel Goodrich. 1785. Lemuel Tyler,
Jedediah Morse. 1786.
John D. Fowler. 1814.
Zachariah Mead,
Asher H. Winslow,
Timothy Mather Cooley. 1797. Erastus Ripley. 1798. Jeremiah Atwater, Archibald Bassett. 1799. Timothy Field.
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New Haven East Association.
NAMES.
Lent S. Hongh,
William Kirby,
John B. Lyman, Darius Mead,
Seth Sackett, Alanson Saunders,
Theophilus Smith,
Flavel Bascom,
Frederick W. Chapman,
Erastus Curtiss,
Samuel J. Curtiss,
John H. Eaton,
Solomon W. Edson,
Joseph Eldridge,
Edwin R. Gilbert,
Elisha Jenney,
Edwin Stevens,
Horace Woodruff,
Mason Grosvenor. 1838.
John T. Avery,
Jonathan Braec,
Thomas Bronson,
Amasa Dewey,
Henry Eddy,
Robert B. Hall,
Iliram Holcomb,
Elihu P. Ingersoll,
J. M. McDonald,
Dwight M. Seward, Albert Smith,
Rollin S. Stone,
James L. Wright,
Dorson E. Sykes,
John O. Colton,
Harvey D. Sackett,
James II. Carruth,
John Mattocks,
Ashbel B. Haile. 1840.
Isaac P. Langworthy, James Birney. 1843. Theodore A. Leete,
Lewis Edwards Sykes. 1844. Charles Jerome,
Samuel W. Eaton,
Joseph Chandler. 1848. Nathaniel P. Bailey, W. Edwin Catlin,
NAMES.
Theron G. Colton,
George A. IIoward,
William Mellen,
Samuel G. Willard,
Edward W. Root.
1850. Charles H. Bullard,
Henry Wickes,
William Aitchison,
A. IIenry Barnes,
William W. Chapman,
John Edmands, James B. Cleaveland,
Charles O. Reynolds,
William B. Greene,
Albert A. Sturges,
William C. Scofield. 1851. Andrew T. Pratt. 1852.
Henry A. Russell,
John C. Buel,
William B. Clark,
Elias B. Ilillard,
Cordial Storrs,
Franklin W. Fisk,
Henry Blodget,
William D. Sands,
Jonathan E. Barnes,
Benjamin Talbot,
Samuel Johnson,
James M. B. Dwight,
Charles J. IEntchins,
William C. Shipman. 1853. Nathaniel J. Burton, 1855.
Timothy Dwight, John Elderkin. 1857.
Charles C. Salter,
Charles Brooks,
Ira W. Smith,
James Cruikshanks. 1858.
James R. Bowman,
William A. Bushee, John Edgar,
Jesse Winegar Hough,
Edward A. Smith, Pliny Warner.
NEW HAVEN WEST ASSOCIATION.
The first meeting of this Association was held at the house of Mr Gillet, of Farmingbury, May 31, 1787. Present, Messrs. Leavenworth, Williston, Foot, Edwards, Wales, Gillet, David Fuller, Fowler, Perry, and Martin Fuller. Mr. Leavenworth was moderator, and Dr. Jonathan Edwards was scribe.
1787, Mr. Williston, with the advice of the Association, went to Ver- mont to spend a number of weeks in preaching the Gospel, and in laboring to promote true religion, in such parts of that state as he might judge most to stand in need of his labors. The next year Mr. Fowler was sent on a similar mission ; and the Association prepared and presented to the General Association an address " on the subject of sending missionaries to the new settlements in Vermont and other parts." In May, 1788, the following vote was passed :
" Voted, That the delegates from this Association be instructed to use their influence in the General Association, that a dutiful petition be pre- sented to the General Assembly of this state, praying that more effectual means le adopted to prevent the multiplicity of divorces, to preserve the riglits of marriage, and to punish the violation of the marriage vow. Also, that a petition against the African slave trade be preferred to the General Assembly."
1788, September, voted to recommend to the General Association the adoption of measures for the preaching of a sermon annually at Hartford, at the time of the general election.
1789, May, Mr. Gillet was appointed a missionary into the new settle- ments; Mr. Williston the next year; and in 1796, an address was presented to the General Association on the subject.
1799, "The question, whether deacons are to be ordained, was taken into consideration, and, after mature deliberation, voted unanimously in the negative."
Measures were adopted for forming a Consociation in this district. Voted, to invite Dr. Dwight to join the Association, and also, with the church in Yale College, to come into the proposed Consociation.
Toted, in accordance with the recommendation of the General Association, "to tax ourselves fifty cents for the support of delegates to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church."
The request of the General Association, to the particular Associations, to make annual returns of the number of communicants in their respective churches, together with the annual additions to their communion was negatived.
Voted, That a communication respecting the state of religion in our churches and societies be a part of associational business.
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New Haven West Association.
1805. It was unanimously agreed in the Association that the confessions of church members for public offenses should be before the church and congregation.
Voted, That the discussion of theological questions may be in future a part of associational business.
1806. It was voted that the moderator, scribe, preacher, and all appoint- ments in this Association be by rotation, extraordinaries excepted.
1807. It was voted "that the members of this Association solicit their respective churches, once at least in each month, to meet and unite with them in prayer to God for the effusion of his Holy Spirit, and the revival of religion among our and other churches and congregations."
1808. The Association requested their delegates "to recommend to the General Association the expediency that no foreigner be ordained over any of our churches, until he has preached one year at least in the place where he is to be ordained."
1812. The opinions of the Association were taken on this question, "Is a minister, dismissed without a recommendation, amenable to the church of his former pastoral care?" A majority favored the affirmative.
" Voted, That in all future meetings of this Association, ardent spirits form no part of the entertainment."
The records of this Association from 1814 to 1832 are lost. Consequently no report of its doings or of its licentiates during this period can be given.
1834. The license of John H. Noyes was recalled on account of his views on the subject of Christian perfection.
1836. A special meeting was held in the room of Dr. Taylor, in Yale College, to discuss the subjects of slavery and intemperance.
1840. The Association made and put upon their records a declaration of their doctrinal sentiments in reply to a protest of the Pastoral Union against certain doctrinal errors alleged to be prevalent among the Congregational ministers and churches of this state. The declaration was made after a long and careful consideration, and discussion of the various matters embraced in it, and was unanimous.
1842. " Resolved, That the duty of preaching the gospel to every creature ought to be urged by all the ministers of Christ on all the churches with more zeal and diligence, and with increased expectation of early and great success."
1853. The Association was amicably divided, and the New Haven Central Association was formed.
The meetings are on Tuesday before the first Wednesday of May, and on Tuesday after the annual thanksgiving, at the room of President Woolsey in Yale College.
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New Haven West Association.
LICENTIATES.
1787.
1832.
Levi Lankton,
Simeon North. 1833.
Reuben Hitchcock. 1788.
Henry Durant,
Ebenezer Fitch,
John Gridley,
Daniel Crocker,
Leverett Griggs,
Reuben Morse,
Robert MeEwen,
Payson Williston. 1790.
Seagrove W. Magill,
David H. Williston,
Henry N. Day, Alfred Newton,
Dan Bradley. 1791.
Henry B. Camp,
Oliver Ellsworth Daggett,
Joel Bradley,
Giles Hooker Cowles,
John N. Goodhue,
William Brown. 1792.
Henry A. Homes,
Amos Bassett,
Marcus A. Jones,
Edward D. Griffin,
Jeremiah Miller,
Benjamin Wooster,
John H. Noyes,
Platt Buffett,
Ezekiel Marsh,
Joseph Goffe. 1794.
Thomas N. Wells,
Maltby Gelston. 1795.
Benjamin Lockwood. 1834. John D. Baldwin,
Abraham Alling. 1796.
Lewis Foster,
Benjamin B. Newton,
William B. Lewis,
James R. Davenport,
Ira Hart,
David C. Comstock,
Lyman Beecher,
Lyman H. Atwater,
Edward O. Dunning. 1835.
Samuel Beman,
William W. Backus,
John B. Lyman,
Thomas Dutton,
Daniel H. Emerson,
Charles Atwater,
Lorenzo L. Langstroth,
Thomas Ruggles. 1808.
Julius A. Reed,
H. A. Sackett, Samuel Lamson. 1836.
Jeremiah R. Barnes, Thomas J. Bradstreet,
James A. Clark, Erastus Colton,
Henry B. Eldred,
Zerah K. Hawley, Hezekiah W. Osborn, Edwin J. Sherrill,
43
John Niles. 1800. Jeremiah Day, Jr.,
Timothy Stone. 1801.
Asa King. 1806.
Philetns Montague,
Bela Kellogg. 1809. James W. Tueker. 1810.
Nathaniel W. Taylor. 1811.
Asahel Nettleton. 1812. David A. Sherman. 1813. Nathan S. Read.
William M. MeLain,
Aaron Woodward,
William B. De Forest,
Charles T. Gilbert,
Peter Parker,
John Sherman, Jr.,
Isaac Jones, Jr. 1798.
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New Haven West Association.
1836. George Tomlinson, S. B. Morley. 1837.
William H. Adams,
Oliver B. Bidwell,
William Ives Budington,
Edward A. Cumpston,
S. J. M. Merwin. 1845.
George E. Day,
Samuel W. S. Dutton,
Benjamin W. Dwight,
Joel Grant,
Alfred E. Ives,
Porter Le Conte,
Alexander Me Whorter,
George Richards,
T. N. Benedict,
Aaron Snow,
Birdsey G. Northrop. 1846.
J. Augustus Benton,
Mills B. Gelston,
James H. Dill,
James B. Gibbs,
Burdett Hart,
Jared O. Knapp,
George C. Lueas,
William H. Moore,
John Churchill,
Eli B. Clark.
Dan C. Curtis,
Elbridge G. Cutler,
William D. Ely,
John Avery.
William Burroughs,
Harvey Hyde,
Samuel Moseley,
Charles E. Murdoek,
William L. Kingsley,
William De Loss Love,
J. Addison Saxton,
William B. Weed,
James R. Mershon,
Jolın D. Sands,
George S. F. Savage,
Robert P. Stanton,
Edward Sweet,
Martin K. Whittlesey,
Glen Wood. 1848. !
William S. Huggins,
William J. Jennings,
William T. Reynolds, Daniel S. Rodman.
1849.
George E. Hill.
1850.
Thomas K. Beecher.
William Russell. 1842. Joseph D. Hull.
1843
Loring B. Marsh, Martin Dudley,
Lavalette Perrin,
George Thacher. 1844. Samuel W. Barnum,
William H. Gilbert,
John R. Keep,
James D. Moore,
George A. Oviatt,
Thomas B. Sturges,
Samuel H. Whittelsey,
George I. Wood,
Thomas Wiekes,
William Wright,
D. D. Chesnut,
Charles S. Sherman. 1838.
Aaron C. Beach,
John Wickes,
Lewis Grout. 1847. F. D. Avery,
William H. Goodrich,
Gordon Hall,
George P. Prudden,
Samuel D. Marsh,
Dillon Williams. 1840.
Orlo D. Hine,
L. Smith Hobart. 1841.
Mathew Hale Smith,
Benjamin Griswold,
William S. Curtis,
Samuel HI. Elliot,
Chauncey Goodrich, E. Edwin Ilall,
Oliver W. Mather, Amasa C. Frissell,
Jonathan B. Hubbard,
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New Haven West Association.
1851. Joseph W. Backus, Henry M. Colton, Josiah W. North, David Peck,
1857. Oliver S. Taylor. 1858.
Carrol Cutler,
Horatio W. Brown,
J. Leonard Corning,
William A. Macy,
Silas W. Robbins,
James L. Willard,
D. H. Thayer.
1852.
George Bent.
John Monteith. William Hutchison. 1859. Solomon J. Douglass, Wilder Smith, Fisk P. Brewer, James M. Whiton.
NEW LONDON ASSOCIATION.
BY REV ABEL MC EWEN, D. D., NEW LONDON.
The records of the Association of New London county extend back to the year 1750. An Association was then instituted, or one was remodeled from a previously existing Association. The new institution was called "The Eastern Association of New London County." According to the record, it was established in conformity to the Saybrook Platform and the act of As- sembly. In the year 1789 the epithet "Eastern" was dropped, and a constitu- tion and rules of order were formed and adopted for the Association of the County of New London.
Its territory is large, embracing most of the pastors and resident ministers in the county. Occasionally one living on the borders has, for convenience, attached himself to an adjacent Association ; and one living out of the county has, for the same reason, belonged to this body. At present three pastors in Lyme and one in Westchester find it convenient to belong to Middlesex Association. A few years past the transfer of the town of Lebanon from Windham to New London county, brought the pastors in that town into the Association of their new county. The Association has, within half a cen- tury, increased in the number of its members threefold.
This Association is favored with a pleasant harmony in sentiment and action.
A church in Chesterfield, the one in Long Society, (Preston,) and the Third church in Norwich, have become extinct.
Some Separatist churches were formed in the county seventy or eighty years ago, which have now become extinct, or have been merged in Congre- gational churches.
The time of the stated meeting of the Association is the first Tuesday of June annually.
Every clerical Association in Connecticut, that of New London county ex- cepted, had, since 1708, a CONSOCIATION of churches connected with it. With the exception of two or three churches on the western line of the county, which, many years ago, connected themselves with a Consociation west of them, and two churches in Lebanon, which, until a few years past, belonged to Windham county, the churches in this county were never consociated un- til 1814. The pastors often proposed such a connection, but one pastor who had, covertly, become a Unitarian, and one layman, invariably met the proposition with the monitory cry of " hierarchy ; " not understanding, or not admitting, that the design and effect of Consociations are to raise up a barrier to protect the churches from any hurtful administration of the minis- try over them, and from the incursion of heresy from abroad.
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New London Association.
The two uncompromising conservators of independency passed off the stage, and, in 1814, a convention of pastors and lay delegates from the churches was called, which formed and adopted a constitution for a Consociation of the churches. All the churches, one excepted, then existing within the bounds of the Association, came cordially into the connection. Eleven churches, since that date, have been instituted in the county, six of which have con- sociated themselves with the body ; five of the eleven have not connected themselves with the Consociation, though one of the five has declared its in- tention of doing it. One Separatist church of the straightest sect knocked at the door of the Consociation and was admitted, and afterwards merged itself in another Congregational church which was already consociated.
The territory of the Consociation is large, embracing the whole county, with the exception of three churches in Lyme and the West church in Col- chester, which, for convenience, are attached to Middlesex Consociation. The pastors and churches are so attached to each other that hitherto they have been unwilling to divide.
This Consociation has a special constitution, embracing the substance of the provisions in the Saybrook Platform, with additional and somewhat dif- ferent rules for the introduction of ecclesiastical business. The Consociation is a council for the ordination, installation, and dismission of pastors ; pro- vision being made, if a smaller council be preferred, for calling only the mod- erator and six other pastors, with delegates from their churches, in cases in- volving no complaint of moral delinquency. Within the forty-five years of its existence, the Consociation has acted upon one complaint brought against a pastor, and but one againsta church, which was preferred by a sis- ter church. Four appeals have been tried from the action of churches in matters of discipline, in two of which the results of church action were confirmed, and in the other two annulled. Many years back, one church, then recently instituted, withdrew from the Consociation, and soon became extinct. Since then, three churches have withdrawn: one, because its ac- tion in the excommunicaton of two members was disapproved; one be- cause the Consociation did not, on complaint of the church against a sister church, carry discipline to a satisfactory length ; and one, because it was re- quired to disavow its action as disorderly in the admission of an excommuni- cated person, and, perhaps, because a pastor elect preferred Independency to Consociation.
In the annual meetings of this body, reports on the benevolent enterprises of the country are made, and these topics are canvassed with deep interest and great advantage. Beside the closer union and fellowship of the churches, and the mutual aid which they render each other, which are benefits derived from this Consociation, it has conformed us to the commonwealth of the churches in the state. New London county now comes up and takes her rank among the tribes in the sisterhood of Connecticut.
The mass of the churches in this county prefer an ecclesiastical council made up of pastors and delegates from churches in the vicinity, to one com- posed of members from other places, and a council statedly chosen and or- ganized to one gathered for every occasion ; and, as the resort must some-
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New London Association.
times be, to an ex parte council. A mutual council for the occasion is liable, when difficulty and excitement exist, to be chosen and to act under the influ- ence of a partizan spirit. A council from abroad comes to a result, the pro- visions of which very little affect them, or religion, in their distant homes, and for which they feel little responsibility. A stated council of the vicinity makes a result for themselves, under the provisions of which they and their neighbors must live, and for the good or evil consequences of this result the council is held to a rigid and telling accountability. Consociated churches have a council which they freely and actually choose, and which they can repudiate by withdrawing from the Consociation, and to which abused churches, pastors, and church members can resort for redress, as Independ- ents must to occasional councils. Regulated liberty is preferred to liberty more capricious. Consociated churches confide in their own mutual protec- tion from the sway of metropolitan churches, and from the domination of that one-man power which Independency gives to an aspiring minister.
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