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356
History of the Churches.
several counties in this government shall meet together at their respective county towns, with such messengers as the churches to which they belong shall see cause to send them, on the last Monday in June next ; then to con- sider and argue upon those methods and rules for the management of eccle- siastical discipline, which by them shall be judged agreeable and confor- mable to the word of God ; and shall at the same meeting appoint two of their number to be their delegates, who shall all meet together, at Saybrook, at the next commencement to be held there, when they shall compare the results of the ministers of the several counties, and out of, and from them draw a form of ecclesiastical discipline, which, by two or more persons del- egated by them, shall be offered to this court at their session, at New Haven, in October next, to be considered and confirmed by them.'" The action of the church is thus recorded : " July 27, 1708. Voted, on the Sabbath, that Leverett Bennet or Ensign Sherman, or both, be the messengers of this church at the meeting of the elders, at Fairfield, on ye 28th of ye same month, by the appointment of the General Assembly, at Hartford, in May last, ye end of which meeting of ye elders and messengers, is to cons. the matter of church discipline, &c." The Act of Assembly adopting the Say- brook Platform, was passed in the Oct. following. Thereupon Mr. Chauncey records : "Feb. 16th, 1708-9, I published the Confession of Faith, ye Articles of Union between the United Presbyterians and Congregational men in Eng- land, and also read the regulations for church discipline agreed upon in this colony, and confirmed by authority ; none among the brethren objecting."
Copied in the firm, clear hand of Rev. Samuel Cooke, March 16, 1708-9, is a record of the formation of the old Consociation of Fairfield County, then including the whole territory allotted forty years afterward to the county of Litchfield.
Art. 2, says in part : " That ye pastors met in our Consociation have power, with ye consent of the Messengers of our churches chosen, and at- tending, authoritatively, juridically and decisively to determine ecclesiasti- cal affairs, brought to their cognizance, according to the word of God."
There is a tradition that Rev. George Whitfield visited and preached in this parish, and that considerable religious interest followed.
Subsequent records give account of four revivals of religion which the church has enjoyed in 1815, 1821, 1827, and in 1844, in common with several other churches in the city ; and in the great revival of 1858, it largely shared.
Four houses for public worship have been built by this Society, in 1695, 1717, 1807, and 1850.
The Rev. Charles Chauncey was the eldest son of Rev. Israel Chauncey, of Stratford, and grandson of Rev. Charles Chauncey, second President of Harvard College. Messrs. Cooke and Ross were gentlemen of great dignity, of the old school, elad in the ancient garb of hat, wig, and small clothes, and had a commanding influence over the people. Dr. Blatchford was af- terwards settled in Lansingburg, N. Y. The ministry of Mr. Waterman was attended with large ingatherings to the church. These four issued sev- eral publications.
357
History of the Churches.
MINISTERS RAISED Up .- Henry Blatchford, John Blatchford, Peter Lock- wood, Nathaniel Bouton, Epinetus Platt Benedict, Ransom Hawley (h.), Alanson Benedict, Thomas Tileston Waterman, Nathaniel Wade, Willis Lord, George Alexander Oviatt, Thomas Benedict Sturges, William Walter Woodworth, Bronson B. Beardsley.
* Sp. An. 1. 114. Allen. t Allen. +Sp. An. 4. 158. § Sp. An. 4. 163.
-
THE SECOND CHURCH IN BRIDGEPORT, ORG. JAN. 30, 1830.
MINISTERS. SETTLED. DISMISSED. DIED.
Nathaniel Hewit, D. D. Dec. 1830
Sept. 1853
Asahel L. Brooks, Jan. 1854 March, 1856
Benjamin L. Sıran, May, 1856 Oet. 1858
Alexander R. Thompson, Mar. 1859 March, 1859
Original members, 117, dismissed from the First Church. Religious ser- vices were held temporarily in the High School House, till November, 1830, when their house of worship was opened. The church became con- sociated Oct., 1830. In Oet., 1853, 78 members were dismissed by their own request, to form a Presbyterian Church, of which Dr. Hewit became pastor.
MINISTERS RAISED UP .- Philo Canfield, John R. Freeman, Charles T. Prentice, Willis Lord, D. D., George I. Wood, Talmon C. Perry, Samuel W. Phelps, Nathaniel Hewit (Rom. Cath.)
THE CHURCH IN CANAAN, ORG. MARCH. 1741.
Elisha Webster, Oct. 1740 Oct 1752
Daniel Farrand,* Aug. 1752
March, 1803 May, 1838
Charles Prentice,t Sept. 1804
Edward B. Emerson, April, 1841
May, 1843
Harley Goodwin, Nov. 1845
1854
Jan. 1855
Isaac De Voe, 1855
1856
Henry Snyder, May, 1858 April, 1860
This Church and Society included North Canaan, till a division was ef- fected in December, 1769. About that time the house of worship was moved nearly a mile from the old site. It was occupied till 1804, when the present house was built, which has been twice repaired; the last time in 1859. This church has enjoyed repeated revivals, adding, in six different years, from twenty-one to fifty-two members, and less numbers in several other years. In 1858, the Consociation formed a church at Falls Village of some of its members who had been refused a dismission, whereupon this church felt so aggrieved that it left the Consociation.
MINISTERS RAISED Up .- Charles T. Prentice, Cyrus Prindle, Cyrus G. Prindle, Robert Campbell, Lyman Prindle.
* Sp. An. 1. 490. Allen. Litchfield Centennial, 88. t Allen, Litchfield Centen. 121.
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History of the Churches.
THE FIRST CHURCH IN CANTERBURY, ORG. JUNE 13, 1711.
MINISTERS.
SETTLED.
DISMISSED.
DIED.
Samuel Estabrook,
June, 1711
June, 1727
John Wadsworth,
Sept. 1729
May, 1741 June, 1766
James Cogswell,+
Dec. 1744
Nov. 1771 Jan. 1807
Nathaniel Niles.
Ephraim Judson.
Samuel Hopkins,
Job Swift,
Solomon Morgan, +
Sept. 1783
Mar. 1797
Sept. 1804
Daniel C. Banks.
Thaddeus Fairbank's.
George Leonard,
Feb. 1808
Aug.
1809
June, 1834
Asa Meech,
Oct.
1812
May,
1822
Feb. 1849
Thomas J. Murdock, #
Nov. 1812
Dec.
1826
James R. Wheelock,
Dec. 1827
April,
1829
Nov. 1841
Dennis Platt,
May, 1830
Jan.
1833
Otis C. Whiton,
June, 1833
1837
Charles J. Warren, §
Sept. 1837
April, 1840
Walter Clarke,
May, 1842
May, 1845
Alanson Alvond,
May, 1845-6
Robert C. Learned,
Dec. 1847
Nov. 1858
Charles P. Grosvenor,
Mar. 1859
This church was constituted with seven male mem bers, including the pas- tor, who had preached there some years previous. Mr. Estabrook had sons who were pastors in Mansfield and Willington. Mr. Wadsworth is said to have died in the pulpit. Dr. Cogswell was 32 years pastor in Scot- land, Conn., after leaving Canterbury. Mr. Morgan, from Nazareth Church, Volentown, went to North Canaan. Mr. Meech, first a pastor in North Bridgewater, Mass., went to Hull, in Canada, and was in the ministry nearly fifty years. The more zealous of the church were not pleased with Dr. Cogswell, and the church was rent asunder at the time of his ordination, and a part, claiming to be the majority, continued from this time for many years a separate organization. Cong. Quarterly, Oct. 1859, 352-7.
MINISTERS RAISED UP .- Hobart Estabrook, Ebenezer Fitch, Samuel Phin- ney (Ep.), Moses Bradford, Ebenezer Bradford, Amzi Lewis, William Brad- ford, John Cleaveland, Ebenezer Cleaveland, Daniel Adams, Nathan Waldo, Jr. | Parker Adams (Ep.), John Bacon, T John H. Stevens, ** E. R. Johnson, Luther Clark, Daniel C. Frost, Asa F. Clark, Cornelius Adams, John Hough, J. S. Pattengill, - Pattengill.
*Sp An. 1, 445. Allen. +Sp. An. 2. 526. Allen, # Sp. An. 2. 356. § Mendon Assoc. 182. | Mendon. Assoc. 275. TSp. An. 1. 598. ** Sp. An, 1. 686. Allen.
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History of the Churches.
The North Church in Canterbury, Separated Dec. 1744 .*
MINISTERS. SETTLED.
DISMISSED. DIED.
Solomon Payne, Sept 1746
Oct. 1754
Joseph Marshall, April, 1759 Aug. 1768 Feb. 1813
William Bradford,
Mar. 1808
The opponents of Dr. Cogswell at his settlement over the first church, became the first Separate church in Connecticut. They claimed to be the majority, retained the records and communion service, and always professed themselves the original church. About 1782, this church was re-orga- nized, and its house of worship, which stood a little west of " The Green," was removed and set up in the north part of the town, where it stood till about 1853. The church, under its latter organization, was known as the church in the North Society, and was received into the communion of the regular Congregational churches. It had some other preachers, whose names are not at hand ; but it became virtually extinct before 1831.
* See Canterbury Separate Church, p. 253.
THE CHURCH IN CANTON CENTER, ORG. MAY, 1750.
Evander Morrison,
May, 1750
April, 1751 1772
Gideon Mills,
1759
Seth Sage,
1774
1778
Abraham Fowler,*
1780
1783
1815
Edmund Mills, t
1783
1784
Jeremiah Hallock,
Oct.
1785
June, 1826
Jairus Burt,
Dec. 1826
Jan. 1857
Warren C. Fiske,
Feb. 1858
The first meeting house, built in 1763, was occupied fifty-one years. A second was then erected, which has been remodeled, and is now in use. Af- ter the dismission of Rev. Mr. Sage, the church was in a broken state-the records of the church were lost-there was not even a list of the church members to be found. Soon after Mr. Mills commenced his labors, a revi- val of religion commenced, and progressed with great power, and many were converted. It continued for nearly two years. Before this revival, the church had tried to exist under what was called the "Half-way Cove- nant System." But after the revival commenced, they voted to abandon that, and adopted a covenant purely orthodox, and requiring credible evi- dence of personal piety as requisite for admission to church membership. In 1798, there was a powerful work of the Holy Spirit in this place, and many were added to the church ; also in 1821, 1827, 1831, and 1858.
MINISTERS RAISED UP .- Hector Humphrey, Chester Humphrey, Sidney Mills, Levinette Spencer, Luther H. Barber.
* Sp. An. 2. 230. + Sp. An. 1. 696. # Sp. An. 2. 229. Allen. Memoir, by Rev. Cyrus Yale. Litchfield Centen, 114.
360
History of the Churches.
THE CHURCH IN CENTERBROOK, IN ESSEX (PANTAPANG), ORG. 1725.
MINISTERS.
SETTLED.
DISMISSED.
DIED.
Abraham Nott,*
Nov. 1725
Jan. 1756
Stephen Holmes,
Nov. 1757
Sept. 1773
Benjamin Dunning,
May 1775
May. 1785
Richard Ely,t
Jan. 1786
Aug. 1814
Aaron Hovey, Sept. 1804
Sept. 1843
Joseph D. Hull,
Jan. 1844
Oct. 1848
John H. Pettingill,
April, 1849
Oet. 1852
Joseph W. Sessions,
Dec. 1852
April, 1854
Elijah D. Murphy,
Oct. 1854
Dec. 1855
Henry K. Hoisington,
April, 1857
May, 1858
John G. Baird, June, 1859
The Society was incorporated as the Second Ecclesiastical Society of Saybrook in 1722, and then included the present towns of Saybrook, Essex and Chester. The early records were lost about 1756, by the burning of the house where they were kept. Mr. Ely received to the church 104 ; Mr. Hovey 403. There were revivals in 1791-2, and in several different years since, adding 90, 71, 50, 38, 22, 20, in a year. In 1834, 42 were dismissed to form the church in Deep River. In 1852, 62 were dismissed to form a church in Essex. Besides these offshoots, five churches of other denomina- tions have been formed within the original bounds of the Society. The present is the second house of worship, built in 1789, and remodeled in 1839.
MINISTERS RAISED UP .- Samuel Nott, D. D., Edward Bull, Horace S. Pratt, Nathaniel A. Pratt, Handel G. Nott, (Bap.,) Aaron Snow, Augustus Pratt, Richard B. Bull.
* Allen. + Allen.
THE CHURCH IN CENTRAL VILLAGE (PLAINFIELD,) ORG. APRIL 15, 1846.
Jared O. Knapp, Sept. 1846 Nov. 1850
Nathaniel A. Hyde, Nov. 1852 March, 1853
James Bates, Jan. 1853 July, 1855
Win. Elliott Bassett, Oet. 1856
April, 1859
George Hall, Nov. 1859
This church was organized with forty-six members, in the North part of the township, as the old church in Plainfield was too remote for the people to attend worship in it. One hundred and nine members have since been added. The present number is one hundred and five. There have been two or three seasons of marked religious interest.
THE CHURCH IN CHAPLAIN, ORG. MAY 31, 1810.
David Avery,* June, 1810 1817 Sept. 1818
361
History of the Churches.
MINISTERS.
SETTLED.
DISMISSED.
DIED.
Jared Andrus,
Dec. 1820
May, 1830
Nov. 1832
Lent S. Hough,
Aug. 1831
Dec. 1836
Erastus Dickinson,
Oct. 1837
Jan. 1849
Merrick Knight,
May, 1850 Dec.
1852
John R. Freeman,
April, 1853
May, 1855
Joseph W. Backus,
Jan. 1856
Dec.
1857
Francis Williams,
Feb. 1858
Benjamin Chaplin, Esq, a member of the church in South Mansfield, of- fered a certain amount of property, as a ministerial fund, for a new church and society, to be composed of portions of Mansfield, Ashford, Hampton, and Windham, provided such a church should be formed, and the gospel be preached at or near a given spot, within a limited time. The conditions prescribed by Mr. Chaplin were complied with, and thus the church origi- nated. After a time the town was named Chaplin in honor of their benefac- tor. The church has always been self-supporting, and has enjoyed a good de- gree of prosperity, having been blessed with repeated revivals.
* History Mendon Assoc., p. 124.
THE CHURCH IN CHESHIRE, ORG. DEC. 9TH, 1724.
Samuel Hall, *
Dec. 1724
John Foot, t
Mar. 1767
Humphrey H. Perrine,
June, 1813
April, 1816
Jeremiah Atwater, D. D.,#
April, 1816
July, 1817
July, 1858
M. Kellogg,
Nov. 1818
Nov. 1819
Roger Hitchcock,
Sept. 1820
Jan. 1823
Luke Wood,
Dec. 1824
1826
Joseph Whiting,
Oct. 1827
Dec. 1836
Erastus Colton,
Jan. 1838
July, 1843
Daniel March,
April, 1845
Nov. 1848
Daniel S. Rodman,
Oct. 1849
Dec. 1854
C. W. Clapp
May, 1855
May, 1857
Darid Root,
Oct. 1857
April, 1859
J. S. C. Abbott,
April, 1860
Feb. 1776 Aug. 1813
Cheshire was originally a part of Wallingford. The first settlement took place in 1719. The first meeting house was built in 1724 ; the second in 1738, on the public Green ; the present one in 1826. Mr. Hall received to the church 670, baptized 2013, buried 626; Mr. Foot, received into the church 603, baptized 1767, buried 1109; Mr. Whiting received into the church 241, baptized 165 ; Mr. Colton received into the church 133, baptized 61. Mr. Hitchcock had been a deacon of the church, and stipulated that one-fifth of his salary of $500 should be reserved by the Society annually and put at interest for the future support of the ministry. He was taken sick one year after his settlement, and was never afterwards able to preach. Calls
47
362
History of the Churches.
were extended (not accepted) to Revs. John Marsh, in 1817, Cornelius Tut- hill, in 1818, Handel Nott, in 1826, Judson A. Root, in 1827, Dwight M. Seward, in 1842. There was a continuous revival under Mr. Whiting's ministry. Extensive revivals also in 1838 and 1858, which added 88 and 104 to the church.
MINISTERS RAISED UP .- Reuben Moss, Reuben Hitchcock, Roger Hitch- cock, Sherlock Bristol, Asahel A. Stevens, Abraham Beach, D. D. § (Ep.)
* Sp. An. 287. Allen. + Allen. # Cong. Year Book, 1859, p. 118. § Allen.
THE CHURCHI IN CHESTER, ORG. SEPT. 1742.
MINISTERS.
SETTLED.
DISMISSED.
DIED.
Jared Harrison,
Sept. 1742
1751
Simeon Stoddard,
Oct. 1759
Oct. 1765
Elijah Mason,
May, 1767
Feb. 1770
Robert Silliman,
Jan. 1772
April, 1781
Samuel Mills,
Oct. 1786
Feb. 1814
Nehemiah B. Beardsley,
Jan. 1816
Feb. 1822
William Case,
Sept. 1824
Mar. 1835 1857
Samuel T. Mills,
July, 1835
April, 1838
1853
Edward Peterson,
Sept. 1838
Oct. 1839
1856
Amos S. Chesebrough,
Dec. 1841
Jan. 1853
Edgar J. Doolittle,
April, 1853
April, 1859
William S. Wright,
June, 1859
Chester Parish, formerly called Patequonck, was set off from Petapaug, a parish of Saybrook in 1740. The church, though small and weak in its be- ginning, has (Jan. 1859) a membership of one hundred and fifty, a good church edifice erected in 1846, and a parsonage built in 1854. Its ministry has generally been devoted, able and efficient ; it has enjoyed occasional re- freshings from on high by which it has been enlarged both in number and in graces .- Ev. Mag. 5, 109.
MINISTERS RAISED UP .- Jonathan Silliman, Samuel T. Mills, William Ely, John Mitchell, William Mitchell, William Baldwin,
The Church in Chesterfield, (in Montville,) Org. May 27, 1824. Nathaniel Miner, Oct. 1826 July, 1829
The Society of Chesterfield lies in the towns of Lyme, Salem and Montville. "Soon after 1758, the Chesterfield people made an attempt to found a Con- gregational Church." It cannot now be determined when the society was constituted ; it took the designation of "The Ecclesiastical Presbyterian Es- tablishment of Chesterfield Society." Land for the site of a meeting-house, and for a burial ground adjoining, was given to the society by Jonathan Lat- timer, in 1773, at which time it is probable the meeting-house was built and
363
History of the Churches.
opened for service. Whether there was a church regularly constituted, and connected with this society at so early a date, is now a matter of great un- certainty. Rev. David Austin, Dr. Lyman, and the ministers of Montville occasionally preached here ; but the pulpit was mostly occupied by Meth- odists and Baptists. The old meeting-house being in a shattered condition and hardly fit for public worship, in 1824 the people resolved to take it down, and erect a new one about the time of the organization of the church. Mr. Miner was dismissed solely because of the inability of the people to raise his salary. The church has never been formally disbanded, but is vir- tually extinct. It was aided part of the time, between 1816 and 1833, by the Home Missionary Society .- Rel. Intel. 16, 280.
THE CHURCH IN CLINTON, ORG. 1667.
MINISTERS.
SETTLED.
DISMISSED.
DIED.
John Woodbridge,*
1667
1679
1690
Abraham Pierson, t
1694
Mar. 1707
Jared Elliot, #
Oct. 1709
April, 1763
Eliphalet Huntington,
Jan. 1764
Feb. 1777
Achilles Mansfield, !!
Jan. 1779
July, 1814
Hart Talcott, T
June, 1817
Jan.
1824
Mar. 1836
Peter Crocker,
1826
1830
Luke Wood,
Oct. 1831
Mar. 1834
Aug. 1851
Lewis Foster,
Dec. 1834
Oct. 1839
Orlo D. Hine,
April, 1841
Oct. 1842
Enoch S. Huntington,
May, 1843
Mar. 1850
James D. Moore,
July, 1850
"Approbation and encouragement " to organize the church were given by the " General Assembly" in Hartford, in October, 1667, upon petition of Rev. John Woodbridge and others. The Rev. Abraham Pierson, second pastor of this church was the first Rector of Yale College, and for several years instructed the students in his house in Killingworth, now Clinton. The church in Killingworth that now is, branched from this church early in the last century.
* Allen. +Sp. An. 1, 174. Allen. #Sp. An. 1, 176, 270. Allen. | Sp. An. 2, 321. Allen. T Litchfield Centen. 119.
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THE CHURCH IN COLEBROOK, ORG. 1795.
Jonathan Edwards, D. D.,*
Dec. 1795
1799
Aug. 1801
Chauncey Lee, D. D., t
Feb. 1800
Jan. 1828
Nov. 1842
Azariah Clark,
Mar. 1830
Oct. 1832
Edward R. Tyler,#
Mar. 1833
June, 1836
Sept. 1848
Alfred E. Ives,
Sept. 1838
May, 1848
Archibald Geikie,
1854
364
History of the Churches.
The date of the first settlement of Colebrook is 1762; the date of the incor- poration of the town is 1779. The people constantly assembled on the sab- bath, and as far as they had opportunity and means, had preaching, before the church was formed. In the summer of 1783, God was pleased to visit them with the special influences of the Holy Spirit ; also in 1799 they shared in the blessing which came down so copiously upon all the churches in the state, and twenty-six souls were added to their number. The church enjoyed seasons of refreshing in 1806, in 1813, and most extensively in 1815, when more than one hundred were added to their fellowship; also in 1858. Many circum- stances, however, had tended to weaken the church, especially in later years, when the irregularity of supply, and the absence of a settled pastor, loosen- ed its hold upon the people, and engendered an indifference to gospel ordi- nances.
MINISTERS RAISED UP .- Chauncey G. Lee, Charles Rockwell, Ilenry Cowles, John P. Cowles, Joel Grant, William H. Gilbert, Rufus Babcock, D. D. (Bapt.)
* Sp. An. 1, 653 Allen. Litchfield Centen. 93. + Sp. An. 2. 288, Allen. # New Eng- lander, 6, 603.
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THE CHURCH IN COLCHESTER, ORG. DECEMBER 20, 1703.
MINISTERS.
SETTLED.
DISMISSED. DIED.
John Bulkley,*
Dec. 1703
June, 1731
Ephraim Little, +
Sept. 1732 June, 1787
Salmon Cone, #
Feb. 1792
Aug. 1830
Mar. 1834
Lyman Strong,
Aug. 1830
June, 1835
Joel R. Arnold,
June, 1836 July, 1849
Erastus Dickinson,
Oct. 1851
Sept. 1855
Lucius Curtis, May, 1856
In a paper submitted by the church to Mr. Cone for his assent, as a con- dition of his settlement, it is stated that the half-way covenant, (so called,) had been a standing regulation of the church from the time of its organiza- tion, but during his ministry, it went out of use, without, it would appear, any formal action of the church on the subject. The following anecdote is giv- en on the authority of Mr. Cone: While the society was holding their meeting to vote on the question of his settlement, and the members of the church were assembled by themselves in one of the pews, to act on the same question, a member of the society, casting his eyes toward the little company, enquired whether the same number of persons could not be picked from among them, equal in all respects to those church members ? A venerable member of the society by the name of Wright made the laconic reply, " You need not pick." To so low a state was the church reduced in point of numbers and standing. Between the time of Mr. Little's death, and Mr. Cone's ordination, the pul- pit was supplied by no less than fifteen candidates. There were three revi- vals during Mr. Cone's ministry, the most considerable of which was in the winter of 1823-24. There were considerable additions to the church dur- ing the ministry of Mr. Strong, but the largest number received into the
365
History of the Churches.
church in any one year, was in 1839, during the ministry of Mr. Arnold. There have been three meeting-houses built by this society, the second of which was finished in 1771, at which time it was one of the finest in the state. It stood just seventy years, and then gave place to the present struc- ture, much to the displeasure of some of the old inhabitants.
MINISTERS RAISED UP .- Noah Welles, D. D., Jeremiah Day, Thomas Niles, . James Treadway, Eliphalet Gillett, D. D., Jared Reid, Hubbel Loomis, Calvin Foote, William Henry Foote, D. D., Joel W. Newton, Alfred Newton, Israel T. Otis, Orrin Otis, Ezra Hall Gillett, Dillon Williams, David Trumbull, James T. Hyde, Hobart M. Bartlett, Guy B. Day, Eleazer Avery.
* Sp. An. 1, 53, 235. t Allen. #Sp. An. 2. 204. .
THE CHURCH IN COLLINSVILLE, ORG. JUNE 25, 1832.
MINISTERS,
SETTLED.
DISMISSED.
DIED.
H. N. Brinsmade,
1832
1835
Stephen Mason,
1835
1836
C. C. Vanarsdalen,
1836
1838
F. A. Barton,
Oct. 1838
May, 1843
Charles B. McLean,
Feb. 1844
This church has grown up in the midst of a thriving business community, distinguished for enterprize, prosperity, and the high regard paid to educa- tion, for which they are largely indebted to the proprietor of the manufac- turing establishment, from whom the village is named.
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THE CHURCH IN COLUMBIA, (FORMERLY LEBANON CRANK, ) ORG. 1720.
Samuel Smith,
1720
Dec. 1724 1725
William Gager,*
May, 1725
Sept. 1734
May, 1739
Eleazer Wheelock, D. D, t
June, 1735
1770
April, 1779
Thomas Brockway, #
June, 1772
July, 1807
Thomas Rich,
Mar. 1811
June, 1817
Sept. 1836
William Burton,
Feb. 1818
June, 1819
David Dickinson,
Jan. 1820
July, 1837
Jan. 1857
Charles B. Kittredge,
Mar. 1839
Feb. 1841
James W. Woodward,
Mar. 1842
Oct. 1848
Frederick D. Avery,
June, 1850
This church was the first of four successive offshoots from the first church in Lebanon. The Ecclesiastical society was constituted in 1716, and known as the second society in Lebanon, or Lebanon-Crank, until 1804, when Co- lumbia became a distinct town. Dr. Wheelock began his ministry just at the commencement of the "Great Awakening," and he became an earnest and efficient co-laborer with President Edwards. His own people shared largely in the blessing which everywhere attended his labors. At one time, he said he " had charity to address the body of his own people as Christians."
366
History of the Churches.
The success of his labors outside of his own field is exemplified by the fact, that being called to organize a church remote from his place of residence, it was found, on personal examination, that all who then united in church cov- enant referred to his preaching and efforts as the means of their conversion. While he brought upon himself the severe censure of some good men be- cause he felt at liberty to reach over his parish lines in his labors, he esca- ped not, on the other hand, the denunciations of the Separatists of that day. In 1755 Dr. Wheelock established " Moor's Indian Charity School," which, after a prosperous growth of fifteen years. was transferred, against the ear- nest remonstrances of his people, to Hanover, New Hampshire, and there it became the foundation of Dartmouth College, Dr. Wheelock being its first President. His immediate successor, Rev. Thomas Brockway, in the troub- lous times of war, showed himself not only the faithful, devoted pastor, but the patriotic citizen, offering to relinquish £15 a year of his salary, during the struggle, and £10 until the continental debt should be paid. But this sa- crifice, in the security of his home, was not enough ; no sooner did the news of the burning of New London reach the place, than "he started off with his long gun, and deacons and parishioners, to assist in doing battle with the enemy."
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