USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > Exercises at the unveiling of a tablet recording the names of the ministers in the First Church of Christ, Fairfield, Conn > Part 2
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The Rev. Edward E. Rankin, D.D., a gentleman of the old school-dignified, affable, invariably courteous, the soul of honor- methodical in all his labor, accurate in scholarship, a wise and faithful leader, studious of his people's needs, and abundant in his service among them. His stately presence and free-spent life imparted tone to the community, distributing like leaven, precious, vital influences.
The Rev. George S. Burroughs, D.D., LL.D., a son of the manse, inheritor of lofty impulses, ever breathing the atmosphere of great ideals-slender in body but stalwart in mind-incarnation of true purpose and glad hope-beloved of children, chosen, happy companion of men, sympathetic helper of young or old whether rich or poor-what a flow of life gushed forth into various channels of noteworthy well-doing; what a narrative of large plans, brave wise words, and splendid self-denying labors is told in his life.
The Rev. John E. Bushnell, D.D., eloquent preacher, loyal pas- tor, whose abundant and fruitful ministry continues in his great western parish-shall a successor here attempt the characterization of the man who labors unweariedly to-day in the rich plenitude of his powers? Dr. Bushnell abides in the affectionate remembrance of this people, his earnest labors as a workman fresh and joyous from the school of the prophets held in dear and tenacious memory. Long
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may he contribute to the church of Christ strength, devotion, leadership ! .
These are the portraits which the names upon imperishable bronze set distinctly before the mind's eye. Is it not a praiseworthy and remarkable succession of ministers for a country parish-for any parish ? Does it not provoke a certain beautiful flush of honorable pride that such men serve this ancient, prosperous Zion ?
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We reciprocate their spirit of helpfulness and exalted hope by the giving of ourselves with multiplied enthusiasm to the tasks trans- mitted unto us through faithful and illustrious workmen-workmen who need not to be ashamed of their labors.
It is our happy privilege to join forces with the living spirits of all ages in the assured triumph and eternal sway of the great Head of the Church.
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BIOGRAPHICAL STATISTICS
THE REV. JOHN JONES
The first pastor of the church in Fairfield was of Welsh descent, the date of whose birth is unknown. Educated at Cambridge Uni- versity, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England, but soon cast his lot with the Puritan brethren who emigrated to New Eng- land. In the company of Thomas Shepard and other like-minded brethren he reached America in 1635 and repaired to Concord, where he labored in cooperation with Rev. Peter Bulkley. He accom- panied friends to Fairfield in 1644 and accepted an invitation to become pastor of the church, where he remained in service until his death in 1665.
THE REV. SAMUEL WAKEMAN
The second pastor of this church was the son of John Wakeman. Born in the colony, educated at Harvard, he began his ministry the year of his predecessor's death, 1665. He taught school a portion of the time while attending to the spiritual needs of his people. An excellent business man, he took active part in the town affairs and managed his private estate with rare judgment. He was a large landed proprietor, owning property in several parts of the town. He lived on the main street nearly opposite the present Sherman parson- age. Mr. Wakeman died in 1692.
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THE REV. JOSEPH WEBB
The third pastor of the church, son of Joseph and Grace Webb, was born May 10, 1666, the year of the great London fire. During his childhood and youth he lived in the neighborhood of Boston, graduating from Harvard College in 1684. For ten years he en- gaged in secular pursuits, accepting a call to the Fairfield pastorate in 1694, being ordained and installed here on the 15th of August. He preached the election sermon before the court of the colony in 1701. He was active in laying the foundations of Yale College, feeling the great need of an institution for higher education in Con- necticut. One of the ten ministers who at Branford in 1700 placed an offering upon the table saying, " I give these books for founding a college in this colony," he continued his beneficent and patriotic services to the young institution for thirty years, confident that future generations would appreciate and perpetuate the work. He married Elizabeth Nichols of Stratford in 1691. She died in 1718. Three years later he married Mrs. Elizabeth Cone of Stratford, who survived him. His death occurred September 26, 1732, while visiting Stratford friends.
THE REV. NOAH HOBART
The fourth pastor of this church, born at Hingham, Mass., Jan- uary 12, 1706, was the son of David Hobart and the grandson of Rev. Peter Hobart, first pastor of the church in Hingham. Noah Hobart graduated at Harvard with the class of 1724, but he was not ordained and settled as a minister in the Fairfield parish until February 7, 1733. A long and distinguished pastorate was ended by his death on December 6, 1773. Dr. Sprague writes that " Mr. Hobart lived to bury two wives, eight children, and a thousand and ninety-three parishioners." He was three times married, and the
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wife who survived him was three times a widow, he her third hus- band and she his third wife. One son, John Sloss, became an eminent jurist, one of the judges of the Supreme Court of New York, and was elected United States Senator from the State of New York, but resigned the office and afterwards became District Judge for the Dis- trict of New York. Mr. Hobart published: " A Serious Address to the Members of the Episcopal .Separation in New England," 1748; " An Election Sermon," in 1750; " A Second Address to the Mem- bers of the Episcopal Separation in New England," 175 1 ; " Prin- ciples of the Congregational Churches," 1754; " A Vindication of the Piece, entitled The Principles of Congregational Churches, etc.," 1761; " A Sermon on the Execution of Isaac Frazier," 1768.
THE REV. ANDREW ELIOT
The fifth pastor of the Fairfield Church was a son of the Rev. Andrew Eliot, D.D., an eminent minister and pastor of the New North Church, Boston. He graduated from Harvard College in 1762, and was shortly appointed butler of the institution. Four years later he became tutor, and in 1773 a fellow. His connection with the college was severed when he entered upon his pastorate of this church in 1774. Mr. Eliot's death occurred October 26, 1805, during the thirty-second year of his ministry. His son Andrew was ordained pastor of the church in New Milford and served as a mem- ber of the Yale corporation for eleven years.
THE REV. HEMAN HUMPHREY, D.D., LL.D.
The sixth pastor of this church was born in West Simsbury, Conn., March 26, 1779, and died in Pittsfield, Mass., April 3, 1861. He taught school to help pay his way through Yale College where he graduated in the class of 1805. After studying theology under
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Dr. Timothy Dwight, he was ordained to the ministry in Fairfield. At the conclusion of ten fruitful years in his first pastorate Dr. Hum- phrey accepted a call to Pittsfield; but his eminent fitness for educa- tional work attracted the attention of men interested in Amherst College, and he was elected to the presidency of that institution in 1823, guiding its destinies for twenty-two years. His son, Edward Porter, attained wide fame as preacher and scholar. Two other sons became ministers, and two daughters married ministers. Another son studied law and represented his district twice in the United States House of Representatives. In his eulogy upon Dr. Humphrey, Dr. John Todd said: " I have never known a man who in my estimation came so near being faultless."
THE REV. NATHANIEL HEWIT, D.D.
The seventh pastor in the Prime Ancient Society was born in New London, Conn., August 28, 1788, graduated at Yale in 1808, and first studied law, then entered the Divinity School at Andover and was licensed to preach in 1815, serving in the Presbyterian Church of Plattsburg, N. Y. His pastorate in Fairfield extended over a period of nearly ten years, from 1818 to 1827. His later years were devoted to the work of the American Temperance Society and two pastorates in Bridgeport, Conn., that of the Second Con- gregational Church and that of the Presbyterian Church. He died February 3d, 1867. His wife was a daughter of Senator James Hillhouse of New Haven, Conn. His son Augustus, a graduate of Amherst College, studied law, then theology, and was licensed to preach as a Congregationalist, but a year later entered the ministry of the Episcopal Church and in 1846 was received into the Roman Catholic Church. He joined the Redemptorist order, and when Father Hecker founded the congregation of St. Paul he became one of its prominent members. Later he was elected professor of
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church history in the Catholic University of Washington. He was the author of numerous books and a frequent contributor to the religious press.
THE REV. JOHN HUNTER
The eighth pastor of this church, son of John and Sarah Hunter, was born in New York City May 7, 1807. He entered the junior class of Union College at the age of seventeen and graduated in 1826. Two years later he graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in the class with Henry Rowland, and visited his classmate who lived in Fairfield. The acquaintances which he made at this time resulted in an invitation to preach here after the departure of Dr. Hewit. He was ordained and installed pastor of the church at the early age of twenty-one years. He married Miss Julia M. Jud- son of Stratford the following year. Judge Sherman took a special interest in the young preacher, who was accustomed to spend every Sunday evening with his distinguished parishioner. Mr. Hunter's second pastorate was in West Springfield, Mass., where he remained only eighteen months. In 1839 he began his service of seven years as pastor of the First Congregational Church, Bridgeport. He re- moved to Long Island at the conclusion of his pastorate in Bridge- port and never assumed another pastoral charge. He died in Gal- veston, Texas, February 11, 1872-ending "a life that was full of lights and shadows."
THE REV. LYMAN H. ATWATER, D.D., LL.D.
The ninth pastor of the church was born in New Haven, Conn., February 20, 1813, graduating at Yale College with the class of 1831, and studying for two years longer in the Divinity School. In 1833 he was made a tutor in the college, where he did faithful work
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until called to the pastorate in Fairfield. The nineteen following years were filled to repletion with the fruits of an active typical New England ministry. It was a distinct advance when he became pro- fessor of mental and moral science in Princeton College. Later he succeeded to the chair of logic, remaining in the service of the college until death, which occurred February 17, 1883-making rich the honored institution by nearly thirty years personal invest- ment of his powers in its history and development. In his beautiful tribute to Dr. Atwater, Dr. McCosh, the president of Princeton, remarked : " He has had as much influence as any one man, perhaps more than any other, in forming the character of its numerous alumni."
THE REV. WILLIS LORD, D.D., LL.D.
The tenth pastor of this church was born in Bridgeport, Conn., September 15, 1809. His great-grandfather, Dr. Benjamin Lord, attained eminence as a minister, author, and educator during the eighteenth century. Willis Lord was a graduate of Williams Col- lege, class of 1833. His theological studies took him to Princeton. He became pastor of churches successively in Hartford, Providence, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati before he assumed charge of the church in Fairfield. His poor health forced him to seek a coun- try parish. With returning strength he entered upon the larger task of giving instruction in the Theological Seminary of the North- west at Chicago. He became president of Wooster University, Ohio, in 1870. His health failing he resigned the office in 1874, and afterwards served as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago for a brief period. The later years of his life were given to literary work.
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THE REV. ALEXANDER McLEAN, D.D.
The eleventh pastor of the church, born in Glasgow, Scotland, October 1, 1833, graduated from Hamilton College in the year 1853. After finishing his theological studies, which Mr. McLean pursued at Union Seminary, New York City, from 1853 to 1856, he engaged for a brief time in Bible work. He was ordained and installed pastor of this church January 21, 1857. He married Sophia J. Rowland on November 12, 1862. A call to the Calvary Presbyterian Church in 1866 resulted in his removal to the city of Buffalo, where he remained eight years. Hamilton College con- ferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity the year that he began his work as secretary of the American Bible Society-1874. The remainder of his life was spent in the service of this important Christian organization. During the summer of 1872 Dr. McLean visited his native land and other countries of Europe. On March 16, 1876, he married for his second wife Miss Amelia M. Hatfield, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Hatfield of New York. Dr. McLean's death occurred on March 19, 1898, and his ashes repose in this parish, which he loved with a loyal and changeless affection.
THE REV. EDWARD E. RANKIN, D.D.
The twelfth pastor of the church was born in Newark, N. J., May 15, 1820, and died in his native city July 22, 1889. He grad- uated at Yale College with the class of 1840 and at Union Theo- logical Seminary with the class of 1843. Dr. Rankin first preached in the Presbyterian Church of Springfield, N. J., remaining there six years during which period he traveled, one vacation, in Europe. He married Miss Emily Watkinson, of Hartford, Conn., in 1847. The Lenox Presbyterian Church, New York City, invited him to become pastor in 1850, and he continued there for thirteen years.
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During 1864 he served as a member of the Christian Commission. Called to the church in Fairfield, 1866, he remained at this post until 1879 when he retired from active service, residing first in Hartford and later in Newark, his old home. One son studied for the ministry-the Rev. Isaac O. Rankin-who now belongs to the editorial corps of The Congregationalist.
THE REV. GEO. STOCKTON BURROUGHS, D.D., LL.D.
The thirteenth pastor of the Fairfield Church was born in Water- loo, N. Y., January 5, 1855. He graduated at Princeton College, 1873, and at the Theological Seminary, 1877-his Alma Mater bestowing upon him the honorary degree of Ph.D. in 1884 and that of D.D. in 1887. The degree of LL.D. was given him by Marietta College in 1895. On May 30, 1877, Dr. Burroughs married Miss Emma Frances Plumley, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Plumley. He was pastor of a Presbyterian Church in Slatington, Penn., for three years, and then accepted a call to Fairfield. From this place he went to New Britain and was installed pastor of the First Congrega- tional Church in that city. From 1886 to 1892 he filled the chair of Biblical literature and acted as college pastor in Amherst, Mass. He entered upon the office of president of Wabash College, Indiana, in. 1892. He became professor of Old-Testament languages and literature in Oberlin Theological Seminary, 1899. The early lamented death of Dr. Burroughs occurred October 22, 1901. " The sources of his life," said his colleague, Dr. Bosworth, " were deep down in God."
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THE REV. JOHN E. BUSHNELL, D.D.
The fourteenth pastor of this church was born at Saybrook, Conn. He graduated from Yale College 1880 and the Yale Di-
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vinity School 1883, enjoying an additional year of special study as . a Hooker Fellow. He was made a Doctor of Divinity by New York University in 1898. Dr. Bushnell accepted a call to this church in 1884 and was installed on July 30th. He married Miss Florence Ellsworth, of Brooklyn, N. Y. His four years' labor here -years earnest and joyous with the enthusiasm of young manhood -prepared him for the onerous tasks and responsibilities which came with the later days. Although reared a Congregationalist and trained for the Congregational ministry, a fresh illustration of our denominational generosity was given when he carried with him into the Presbyterian Church at Rye, N. Y., the loyalty and benediction of his people and associates in Connecticut. After a pastorate of six years in Rye, Dr. Bushnell, in 1894, became pastor of the Phillips Presbyterian Church, New York City, continuing his service there until 1900-through the first year after the union of the Phillips Church and the Madison Avenue Church. Installed pastor of the Westminster Church, Minneapolis, March, 1901, he continues to serve one of the strongest and largest Presbyterian churches in the great West.
" The shepherd of his flock ; or as a king Is styled, when most affectionately praised, The father of his people."
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N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA
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