USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Newington > Early annals of Newington : comprising the first records of the Newington Ecclesiastical Society, and of the Congregational Church connected therewith : with documents and papers relating to the early history of the parish > Part 14
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And the Committee have assessed the damages in favor of the proprietors of the land on which said road was laid or widened as follows, to wit,
To Wd. Jemima Welles for her land near the meeting honse,
$120.
To Fitch Andrus,
5.
To Elijah Wells, 30.
To Jemima Welles, 25.
To Unni Robbins, 110.
278.
To Martin Kellogg,
To Ezekiel Atwood, 20).
To Benjamin Waters,
$596.
All which is submitted by your honors' mnost obedient servants, July 6th, 1807.
PLINY HILLYER,
SOLOMON COWLES,
Committee under oath.
SAMUEL PITKIN,
The court accept said report of Committee whereupon it is considered by the court that the highways, as by said Committee laid ont or widened, he and the same are established public highways, and that the same be opened by the 20th day of June next, and that said town of Wethersfield pay to the individuals the damages assessed to them by said Committee in said report by the 20th day of June next, and that the Petitioners recover of said town of Wethersfield, Cost taxed at 28 Dollars 13 cents.
Execution granted for said Cost August 22d, 1807."
The above is copied from the Records of the County Court, in the book of records from August, 1803 to December, 1809, in that part of the book containing
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has greater facilities of access to the capital of the state; midway between the two great emporiums Boston and New York, an hour's ride to New Haven, it is an eligible location for speedy egress and ingress and for quiet residence.
There have been four public libraries in Newington, "The Newington Library," "The Charity Library," "The Social Library," and "The Young Men's Library."
1. The Newington Library is the most ancient, and is sup- posed to have been purchased by the Ecclesiastical Society in its early days. There was formerly a small tax levied on those who used the books.
2. The Charity Library was a gift to the Society from Jedediah Deming, as has already appeared. It consisted of religious works almost entirely. It was free to all. The books were usually exchanged on lecture days. Simon Wells was for many years the librarian. Some books of these two libraries still remain.
3. The Social Library was of much later date. It belonged to individuals, and was destroyed by fire with the house of the late Roger Welles in October, 1855.
4. The Young Men's Library was also the fruit of indi- vidual enterprise, instituted by the young men of the genera- tion of Gen. Martin Kellogg and Capt. Daniel Willard. That library is supposed no longer to exist as a library. The books are probably dispersed or lost.
When Dr. Brace was settled there was in Connecticut a union of church and state. Every ecclesiastical society hav- ing territorial limits was considered to be, and was in fact, a municipal and public corporation. And every individual
the record of the doings of the County Court for Hartford County at the August term, 1807, being a little past the middle of the book, there being no paging. It is quite probable that the green taken from Mrs. Jemima Welles' land was to make it conform to the green opened cast of the Burying ground not long before. The following vote which appears to have been passed at a town meeting held December 26, 1798, apparently authorizes the opening this green.
" At this meeting the selectmen who were appointed in April last to view the ground near the meeting house in the society of Newington, Reported, that in their opinion it would be proper to lay out a highway four rods wide across the west end of Unni Robbins's lot adjoining the burying ground,-
Voted, that this meeting do accept the report.
Voted, that the selectmen be directed to view the road to Newington, and to straighten it by crossing the corners of certain lots, which they are hereby authorized to purchase of individuals and so open the road."
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residing within the limits of any such society was considered by the law as much a member of it, as each resident of a town was deemed its inhabitant. When the State Constitu- tion was adopted in 1818, it was ordained in that instrument that every person then belonging to any religious association should remain a member thereof until he should have sepa- rated therefrom by leaving a written notice thereof with the clerk of such society, after which time he should be no longer liable for any future expenses incurred by such society. Our ecclesiastical society was established with local limits more than a hundred years before the adoption of the state consti- tution, and was not by that instrument or by subsequent leg- islation divested of its local character. It still has its local limits the same as in the days of our fathers. Consequently all the residents of Newington, who have not formally sepa- rated themselves from the society, who were residents at the time of the adoption of the constitution in 1818, are now members of the society. The members of this class formerly constituted almost the entire body of the society, but time has thinned their ranks, a few only are left, and soon they too will have passed away forever. The society consists now almost wholly of those who have been voted in as members, whose previous voluntary assent thereto would be implied ; and those also who have accepted office in the society, their assent would be implied, they treat themselves as members and so hold themselves out to the world; probably also those who vote and participate in the meetings of the society, their vol- untary association would be implied. Memberships, being no longer coercive but voluntary, must be determined in the light of these principles.
The school society of Newington was organized as early as 1797; it was continued as an organization during the entire ministry of Dr. Brace, but did not long survive it: in July, 1856, the General Assembly passed an act abolishing school societies, and vesting their property in the towns.
As early as May, 1799, an act was passed providing- " That each school society shall have full power to divide itself into proper and necessary districts, for keeping their schools."
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(Rev. Stat. 1808, p. 581, sec. 1.) Under this authority the school society of Newington, in 1835, passed a vote creating a new district, called the South East School District, as follows :
" Voted, That there be a new district formed from the present South district in Newington, to be called the South- east district. The north line of said district to run an east and west course from the Southwest district, ten rods north of the house in which Reuben Whaples now lives ; thence east to the Wethersfield line, and to include all the inhabi- tants living south of said north line, in Newington school society."
This made the fourth school district in Newington, three having been previously created by authority of the ecclesiasti- cal society, as already related .*
In 1829 an association was formed by twenty-five of the prominent men of the society, called " the Newington Educa- tion Company," for the purpose of building an academy for a
* When the school society was abolished in 1856, the record book disap- peared. This is much to be regretted, as it contained valuable records which can not be replaced. The vote given in the text, however, was fortunately pre- served, as also the following document establishing the lines between the socie- ties of Newington and Worthington :
"We, the school society's committee of Worthington and Newington, with the assistance of Loton Porter, County Surveyor, have run out and cstablished the lines betwixt said societies in the following manner, to wit : Beginning at tlic northwest corner of David Kelsey's farm, on town line betwixt Wethersfield and Berlin, near his dwelling-house, we ran a line on the north side of said Kelsey's farm, north 893º east, to a highway, where we found a stone placed in the ground betwixt Amon Richards and Oliver Richards, thence continuing the same course to the Hartford and New Haven turnpike, where we erected a stone monument betwixt Oliver Richards and Samuel Steelc, thence continuing the same course (to) the highway leading from Newington, and erected a stone mon- ument, marked on one side W. and on the other N .; thence southerly by the said last highway one hundred and forty-one rods to the Berlin corner.
JOSEPH SAVAGE, ? Committee for
HENRY BOOTH, 3 Worthington Society.
WILLIS P. DAVIS, Committee for Newington. DATED AT BERLIN,
this 6th day of Nov., 1849."
At a town meeting held Nov. 4, 1856, the north line of the district was estab- lished as follows :
" Voted, That the north line of the Southeast school district of Newington shall commence on the west, at the northwest corner of Amon Richards' home farm, where it intersects with New Britain town line, and run easterly on the said Richard's north line to a highway, thence in the same direction on the line of the said Amon and Oliver Richards to the present west line of said district, including all the property south of the above described line not included in other districts."
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school of a "higher order " than the district schools. The building was erected, and a school flourished there for a quarter of a century. It was the means of giving a higher education to many who would otherwise have finished their studies at the common schools. Nothing has since taken its place. The enterprise being a wholly private one, and the children of those who started the enterprise having been educated, the school was dropped, and the building has been suffered to go to decay .*
EXTRACTS FROM SOCIETY RECORDS.
At a meeting held Dec. 2, 1805, " Voted, That this society agree to have the burying ground fenced with stone that are at present there, with posts and two boards above nailed on the sides of the posts, with a gate upon the north side."
At a meeting held Feb. 3, 1806, “ Voted, That no vote hereafter taken in the Ecclesiastical Society in Newington after sunset shall be considered as legal unless by a special vote to the contrary."
" Voted, That the society's committee be empowered to appoint a sexton yearly for this society."
At a meeting held Dec. 5, 1808, " Voted, To allow Mr. Brace $100 out of the interest of the public money belonging to this society for one year only, in addition to his stated salary."
" Voted, To allow Mr. Brace $24 in lieu of fetching his wood the ensu- ing year."
At a meeting held Dec. 29, 1808, " Voted, That this society appoint a special committee to confer with Mr. Brace on account of his salary." " Voted, That Dea. James Wells, Col. Levi Lusk, Major Justus Francis,
* The Newington Education Company, at a meeting held January 6, 1829, adopted a constitution, beginning as follows : "We, the subscribers, believing that a school of a higher order will be beneficial to the youth of this place, do agree to associate ourselves into a company for the purpose of erceting a suitable building for this purpose." The sum of five dollars constituted a share, Martin Kellogg, Jeremiah Seymour, and Dosithens Hubbard were appointed a building committee. The annual meeting was held on the first Monday in September. The officers were a chairman, clerk, treasurer, collector, and three trustees. The duty of the trustees was to employ the teacher, and, with the chairman, to con- stitute a visiting committee. The first officers were, Gen. M. Kellogg, chairman ; William Deming, clerk; Dositheus Hubbard, treasurer; Daniel Willard, Joseph Camp, and Roger Welles, trustees. The stockholders, with the amounts of money they subscribed, are as follows : Martin Kellogg. $45; Mary Kellogg, $10; Electa Whittlesey, $10; Laura Whittlesey, $5; Erastus Francis, $10; Lathrop Richardson, $5; Daniel Willard, $22.75; Joseph Camp, $15; Elisha Stoddard, $5; Simeon Stoddard, $5; Allen Stoddard, $13; Jeremialı Seymour, $25; Josiah W. Griswould, $12; Roger Welles, $22.75; Dositheus Hubbard, $11; William Deming, $13; Jedediah Deming, $2.50; Elisha Whaples, Jr., $11; Origin Wells, $5; Catherine Wells, $5; James Churchill, $5; Ralph Wells, $5; Charles Hubbard, $5; David Hunn, $5; Josiah Atwood, $5.
The last meeting recorded was held in November, 1854.
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Dea. Daniel Willard, Timothy Stanley, Hezekiah Belden, Esq., Asaph Whittlesey, Martin Kellogg, Jun., and Capt. Jonathan Stoddard, Jun., be appointed a committee for that purpose."
To the Ecclesiastical Society in Newington :
The committee appointed to confer with the Rev. Mr. Brace upon the subject of his request made to them at their last meeting, beg leave to report. That agreeably to their appointment they have waited upon the Rev. Mr. Brace and conferred with him upon the subject of his request that the society should join with him in the call of a Council to dissolve his relation as pastor over them. That your committee find upon enquiry that Mr. Brace has no other reason operating upon his mind in assigning this except the want of an adequate and decent support, and that he was fearful, (judging from the uneasiness expressed by some with the late vote adding a hundred dollars to his salary for the current year,) that if he should make known the sum which he should think a sufficient salary, although it might be voted, yet that it would cause so much dissatisfaction that it might tend to divide and lessen the Society, which, in its present undivided situation, is not large, that he thought it his duty rather to leave than by asking for an addition to his salary to be the cause of divid- ing the people.
Your committee further report, that they conferred with Mr. Brace re- specting the sum which he should think an adequate and honorable com- pensation for his services, and which if granted as a permanent salary would be satisfactory, and that the sum named by him as such was five hundred dollars, and fifteen cords of wood. Your committee further report, that by an estimate made by them of the expense of maintaining a family in the decent and respectable manner in which a minister of the Gospel is entitled to live, the expense falls very little short of the sum proposed by Mr. Brace, and this without allowing anything for sickness in the family, or for incidental expenses for journeying or for the purchase of books. Your committee grant that this calculation is theory merely, and that a single fact is worth a thousand paper calculations, they there- fore requested Mr. Brace to keep an accurate account of all his expend- itures for the current year, to be exhibited to a committee appointed to examine it at the close of the year ; to this Mr. Brace cheerfully assented. Your committee report further, that Mr. Brace accepts the salary voted him for the current year, but expects if he continues your minister, that the salary above named of five hundred dollars and fifteen cords of wood yearly will be granted him as his permanent salary.
All which is submitted.
Levi Lusk, Justus Francis, Daniel Willard, Timothy Stanley, Jun., Martin Kellogg, Jun., Hezekiah Belden, Jonathan Stoddard, Jun., Asaph Whittlesey-Special Committee.
At a meeting held January 9, 1809, " Voted, That this society accept of the report of the committee appointed to confer with Mr. Brace on account of his salary." .
"Voted, That the society's committee be appointed to receive the ac- count of Mr. Brace's expenses for the current year, and make report to the next annual meeting.'
" To the Prudential Committee of Newington, a parish of Wethersfield, Gentlemen.
You are hereby requested to warn, according to law, the Ecclesiastical Society of Newington to meet forthwith that they may choose one of these two alternatives, viz : either to render permanent the sum stated in the report of their special committee in the last society meeting, as the salary
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of Joab Brace, or to comply with his request made sometime in December last to be dismissed from his pastoral relation to the church and people in said parish, and further to transaet whatever business may be brought be- fore the meeting. Signed, JOAB BRACE, Pastor.
NEWINGTON, March 29th, 1809."
At a meeting held April 4, 1809, " Voted, That this society waive, for the present, the alternative contained in the report of their select commit- tee, (but which may if necessary be taken up afterwards,) and attend to Mr. Brace's third proposal." "Voted, That this society give Mr. Joab Braee five hundred dollars a year as a permanent salary so long as he continues to officiate with us in the Ministry of the Gospel."
"WETHERSFIELD, April 12th, 1809.
" Whereas the Ecclesiastical Society of Newington did in their last meeting, by a very unanimous vote, make an offer to me of five hundred dollars as a permanent salary during my ministerial labors with them, and whereas divers individuals did very generously offer their assistance in the article of wood, these are therefore to show that withdrawing my motion for a dismission, I accept the offer and ratify the stipulation.
JOAB BRACE."
At a meeting held November 7, 1810, " Voted, To appoint a committee to draw a petition to present to the next town meeting for liberty to sell lands belonging to the highways in this society, to raise a fund, the annual interest of which shall be appropriated for the support of the ministry in this society."* " Voted, That Levi Lusk, Hezekiah Belden, and Martin Kellogg, Jr., be a committee for said purpose."
At a meeting held December 3, 1810, " Voted, That the annual meeting of this society shall be held on the first Monday in November instead of the first Monday in December."
At a meeting held December 2, 1811, " Voted, That the trustees of the public moneys belonging to this society be directed to call in the same as soon as convenient, also to dispose of the money in the Loan Office of the United States, and to vest the whole in bank stock in the Hartford Bank."
At a meeting held November 20, 1815, " Voted, That the society do agree to paint the meeting house as far as has been painted before, and that Amos Andrus and Roger Welles be a committee to purchase oil, paints, &c., also engage some suitable person to do the work and superin- tend the painting, " Voted, That this society lay a tax of one cent on the dollar on the list of 1815, for the above purpose, also that the committee be directed to borrow a sum sufficient to complete the painting of the meeting house if the tax should be insufficient. " Voted, That in future when a society meeting is to be warned the Society Committee shall put notifications on the several school houses."
" Voted, That the Society's Committee be directed to purchase a pall for this society."
At a meeting held November 3, 1817, " Voted, That the trustee call in the amount of the notes he now holds against individuals by the first of March next, and deposit the same in the Phoenix Bank, also that he receive and deposit in the same bank the money to be received from the Treasurer of the State of Connecticut on account of the Appropriation act."
*At a town meeting held December 31, 1810, " The petition of the inhabitants of the society of Newington praying for a grant of the highways that may be sold in said society was read, and upon the question whether this meeting will do anything upon the petition, it passed in the negative."
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At a meeting held November 1, 1819, " Voted, That this meeting take measures to sell the pews in the meeting house to pay the expenses of this society the year ensuing, provided a sum of four hundred dollars or more be raised from the sale of the pews, these sales to be valid, if not, to be null and void."
" Voted, That Levi Deming, Origen Wells, Gen. Martin Kellogg, Jr., Elisha Stoddard, Joseph Camp, Gen. Levi Lusk, and Uzziel Lattimer be a committee to obtain information and devise the best method of carrying into effect the above vote respecting the selling of the pews in the meeting house, &c., and report to the next meeting."
At a meeting held November 16, 1819, " Voted, That the report of the committee as amended be accepted."
" REPORT OF COMMITTEE,
To the members of the Ecclesiastical Society of Newington. Gentlemen.
The committee appointed to devise the most probable means of carrying into effect a vote of this meeting (society ?) for a sale of the pews in the meeting house, for the purpose of raising funds for the support of the Gospel in this place respectfully report,
That after having attentively examined the subject, and having taken advantage of such information as they could obtain from other places where similar measures have been pursued for similar purposes, they at an adjourned meeting unanimously adopted the following resolutions. (1) Voted, That the 23d day of November instant be recommended to be appointed for the commencement of the sales, at 9 o'clock A. M., and to be continued by adjournment if necessary until the business be completed, and that the pews be set up by pews and struck off to the highest bidder, and the person or persons who purchase them shall hold them for one year from the 1st day of December next.
(2) Voted, That every such person or persons who shall purchase a pew shall be required to execute his or their note payable to the society's treasurer or his order in 6 months from the first day of February next, with interest after nine months.
(3) Voted, That this Committee recommend to reserve the Northeast and Southeast corner pews and not offer them for sale, also a pew or share of a pew, such as the Rev. Mr. Brace shall choose for the accommodation of his family.
(4) Voted, That it be recommended to appoint an auctioneer and clerk to transact the business respecting the sales, that it shall be the duty of the auctioneer to expose the pews for sale, and when sold he shall inform the Clerk to whom they belong, and the price for which they are sold : that it shall be the duty of the Clerk to provide himself with a suitable number of blank notes which he shall fill up with the amount and require them to be signed by the purchaser.
(5) Voted, That it be recommended to offer two or three pews for sale in the south gallery, and also the high pew in the gallery, on the same terms as those on the lower floor.
Your committee would beg leave further to remark that it is a duty incumbent on every citizen to do something in support of the institutions of religion, that in addition to the weighty concerns of Eternity and the solemnities of an hereafter, the advantages resulting from these institutions are not trifling, for should they be suffered to fall, our respectability as a people would dwindle to insignificance and contempt, that by it the value of property is enhanced, that it contributes to order, peace, and good regulations in society, promotes cleanliness in our persons and apparel, points us to the paths of virtue and morality, restrains the licentious and
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profane, adds weight to parental authority, recommends our youth to the passing stranger and the wayfaring man, and nerves the arm of govern- ment without which our persons and our families would be insccure.
Your committee further believe that the time has come when those who are determined to support the preaching of the Gospel, (whatever means are taken for the purpose,) must make greater exertions than they have hitherto been required to do, that the votes of your last meeting demon- strated the impracticability of raising funds sufficient by a tax, and that they know no other way so likely to succeed as that which you have adopted.
Your committee are aware that some of your most respectable and worthy citizens, fearful of the consequences of innovations, would have preferred the ancient mode of raising their necessary funds by a tax on property, yet, as all communities must be governed by a majority of such community, and when they reflect on the difficulties in the way of taxation, it is believed they will support the measures which the majority have adopted. There are others alike respectable, who conscientiously believe that coercive measures in matters of religion are not warranted by scrip- tural precepts, to such there is now an opportunity for the exercise of that liberality for which they are accountable to none but their conscience and their God.
With regard to the pews, there is undoubtedly a choice, fancy will prefer one seat to that of another, but the liberal contributor will be actu- ated by higher motives, he will doubtless reflect that the primary object is to support the everlasting gospel. All which is respectfully submitted.
By order of your committee
LEVI LUSK, Chairman.
At a meeting held November 6, 1820, " Voted, That the clerk of this society be requested to make an estimate of the sum necessary to raise to complete the Rev. Joab Brace's salary, after deducting the amount arising from the sale of the pews the last year, and make report to this or a future meeting."
" Voted, That a committee be appointed to converse with Mr. Brace, and see if he will be willing to relinquish a part of his salary."
" Voted, That Amos Andrus be a committee to converse with Mr. Bracc as above."
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