USA > Connecticut > Historic towns of the Connecticut River Valley > Part 3
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That was a bitter winter with intense cold and deep snow, and . in the midst of it, in the first week of December, 1635, a number of families; including in all seventy men, women and children; arrived from up the river in the hope of finding at its mouth the long expected and greatly needed provisions that were to come for them from Boston. The provision ship did not arrive, so the needy families were taken on board a vessel, called " Rebecca ", which managed to work its way out of the ice, and carry them back to Boston.
George Fenwick, an English gentleman who was one of the men composing the company and the agent of the company of noblemen to whom the Earl of Warwick granted the property, was the only member of the company to see Saybrook. Lion Gardiner's son David, born on November 6, 1636, was the first white child born in the territory now the State of Connecticut. Gardiner was discouraged with the conditions, so, in 1639, he moved to an island at the eastern end of Long Island - which he called Isle of Wight - since known as Gardiner's Island.
The idea in the building of Saybrook seems to have been, a
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considerable area inclosed by fortifications which should contain the residences of the titled proprietors, and that the settlement should be outside of the fortifications. This plan was prob- ably as much to draw the line between " gentle" and " simple ", as for the greater safety of the proprietors. Before the twenty men composing the garrison of the fort had been there a year the Pequot war was upon them. Some of them were killed instantly and others were tortured to death by the Indians. The fort was in charge of Lieutenant Lion Gardiner.
Fenwick, the agent of the company, had returned to England
LADY FENWICK'S GRAVE, SAYBROOK.
in the spring of 1636, but was again in Saybrook in July, 1639, bringing his wife with him. Before her marriage to Fenwick, she had been the wife of Sir John Boteler and as his wife she was given the courtesy title of Lady Boteler, and this was con- tinued after her marriage with Mr. Fenwick. There being no Church at that time in Saybrook, Lady Fenwick became a mem- ber of the Church in Hartford. Not long after their arrival in Saybrook, a daughter was born and baptised Elizabeth. As the
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YALE COLLEGE.
only resident member of the Company, Fenwick took upon him- self the rights and authority of governor. Saybrook remained alone and independent till December, 1644, when Mr. Fenwick sold to the Hartford Colony the fort at Saybrook, by agreement . in December, 1644, with the General Court. Fenwick was elected a magistrate. Lady Fenwick died in 1646, after the birth of their daughter Dorothy. Fenwick became discouraged and disheartened in regard to the Colony and believing that assistance was needed from home, he sailed for England. There he was commissioned a colonel in the army of Parliament ; was elected a member of that body but was excluded, as Cromwell was not satisfied with him. George Fenwick's death occurred in 1657.
The fort was destroyed by fire in 1647, and the new one was built nearer the river. How Andross came to this fort, which was in command of Captain Thomas Bull, with a demand that it be delivered to him, and how Captain Bull prevented it, diplo- · matically and without violence, are matters of Colonial politics which really have no place here.
YALE COLLEGE.
The late Noah Porter, president of Yale College, said in an address, delivered at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Saybrook :
The founding of Yale College was not an afterthought to the original colonists, since it may be traced back with a certain degree of confidence to the leaders of the New Haven Colony, among whom John Davenport was conspicuous * * , It is true in fact that a little before the be- ginning of the last century (before 1700) there was a movement in Con- necticut toward the establishment of a college, in which were conspicuous five clergymen whose parishes were all on the coast from New Haven to Stratford. These clergymen counseled freely with certain Massachusetts gentlemen, probably for the purpose of ascertaining what was the best method to secure a trustworthy act of incorporation or organization. Very soon after, as we know, there was a meeting of seven clergymen, as it is supposed, in Branford, each of whom, as the tradition goes, and we trust the tradition in this case, made a gift of books saying: "With these books I lay the foundation of a college in this colony". By their deed of gift these persons invested something in the enterprise, and thereby quali- fied themselves to appear as petitioners for the assurance of certain corporate rights. In response to their petition a charter was obtained, sometimes called the old charter of Yale College, and on the 11th of
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November, 1701, seven of the trustees who were constituted by this act a corporate body, met at Saybrook and the organization took place at Say- brook on the 22d of November, 1701. The fact cannot be questioned that Yale College was founded under its charter in Saybrook * * *. Now, why was Saybrook selected? I think it was in part accidental; and can be, perhaps, more or less satisfactorily explained. In the first place it may be supposed that possibly the pastor of the church in Saybrook may have had some influence in locating the college here. Perhaps it was because the place was thought to be very easy of access. by the river from the north and by the shore from the east and west. Perhaps it was owing to the fact that the future rector had probably been fixed on, who lived near
THE SITE OF THE HOUSE AND LOT GIVEN BY NATHANIEL LYNDE FOR THE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OF SAYBROOK, WHICH BECAME YALE UNIVERSITY,
this .place *
* It may be, also, that some who were active behind the scenes thought that it would not do to designate New Haven as the place lest they might awaken the somewhat sensitive feelings of the people at Weathersfield and Hartford. As between the claims of all these rivals, it is not surprising that Saybrook was selected.
At the time of the founding the college owned no property and had no endowment, but Nathaniel Lynde, of Saybrook, gave to the institution the use of a house and land, so long as the col-
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YALE COLLEGE.
lege remained in Saybrook. After its removal to New Haven the property reverted to him. The Rev. Abraham Pierson. of Killingworth, was chosen as the rector of the new institution.
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The first work of the new college was the granting of degrees and although the college had no students, the first commence -- ment was held in 1702, and degrees were conferred upon five graduates of Harvard College. Thus, Yale at the beginning was an examining body, with right and power to confer degrees in very much the same way the universities of the " Old Country " were doing. Daniel Hooker, son of the Rev. Samuel Hooker, of Farmington, was the I. D. Garden alton! first tutor appointed D. D. FLITCY.ALE. Lonininh. Atougero. and the first graduate was John Hart, also of Farmington, who be- came the minister of the Church in East Guilford. He entered, at what corresponded to the beginning of the junior year, and re- ceived his degree in 1703.
Rector Pierson did not leave his home in FIRST CATALOGUE OF YALE COLLEGE. Killingworth, but gave instruction to the mem- bers of the senior class in his parish, the other undergraduates being instructed by tutors in Saybrook and in other places. The course of instruction was about on a par with that given in the secondary schools of twenty-five years ago. The students recited in Virgil, Cicero and the Greek Testament; were drilled in scholastic logic, but from the extreme youthfulness of many of the graduates it is not reasonable to suppose that the instruction was profound and at the same time there is no reason to doubt that it was thorough, as far as it went.
In 1714, there were large contributions of books sent to Say-
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brook and Jeremiah Dummer, the agent of the Colony in England, secured 700 volumes in England from eminent writers there. The last commencement held in Saybrook was that of 1716, as a result of a desire on the part of the trustees to move the college further west, to be nearer the center of the much larger popu- lation in that direction, which included the settlements, towns and cities in New York and New Jersey. The trustees voted in
THOMAS GRAVESTONE CF REV. THEO. BUCKINGHAM IN SAYBROOK CEMETERY.
He was minister of the Saybrook Church and one of the twelve who drew and accepted the Saybrook Platform on Sept. 20, 1708.
the proportion of five to two, that if the college was moved at all, it should be located in New Haven, but before any definite steps were taken the trustees decided to ascertain which of the three places, wishing to be the home of the college, would give the largest sum of money to it. New Haven raised £2,000; Say- brook, f1.400 and Hartford, notwithstanding its wealth, gave little or nothing. The trustees met in adjourned session in New Haven, on October 17, and argued the matter for a week. The arguments in favor of New Haven were, that it had promised
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the greatest sum of money; that its location was such that it would attract more students and that it was nearer the more populous districts in the west. The final vote resulted in the residents of Wethersfield and Hartford voting against New Haven and the five other trustees voting for New Haven.
Two years were then spent in wire-pulling by representatives of other places which wanted the college, but the trustees re- mained steadfast to their decision. The matter was finally de- termined by the approval of the people at large, a small appro- priation from the State and by the holding of a commencement in New Haven. The trustees then fixed the matter by proceed- ing to the erection of a building.
The Hon. Elihu Yale, the patron and friend of the University bearing his name, was born in New Haven Colony on April 5, 1648. He was descended from an ancient and wealthy Welsh family, which possessed for many generations the Manor of Plas Grannow and considerable other real estate near the city of Wrexham. His father, Thomas Yale, Esq., came to America with the first settlers of the New Haven Colony, in 1638.
At the age of ten, Elihu was sent back to England to be edu- cated in one of the great public schools (Eaton ?) and Oxford University. At the age of thirty he went to the East Indies, where he accumulated a great estate. He was appointed Gov- ernor of St. George and married the wealthy widow of his predecessor, Governor Hinmers. They had three daughters. Katherine married Dudley North, commonly called Lord North ; Ann married Lord James Cavendish, uncle of the Duke of Devon- shire; Ursula died a spinster. After his return to London he was made Governor of the powerful East India Company, when he began his donations to the College, or the Collegiate School, as it was then called.
His particular interest in the Collegiate School was brought about by the son of a cousin. The paternal estate in Wales being entailed by the law of primo geniture, he, having only daughters, sent a request to his counsin John Yale, of New Haven, that he send one of his sons that he, Elihu, might make him his heir. John sent his son David to London and later, when David returned to New Haven, he entered Yale and was gradu- ated in the class of 1724. This occasioned a correspondence
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between Governor Yale, Governor Saltonstall and the Rev. James Pierpont, of New Haven.
Forty of the volumes obtained in England by Mr. Dummer in 1714 were the gift of Governor Yale. This was two years before the School was moved from Saybrook. Forty books do not seem like a very valuable gift in these days, but it must be remembered that in those days, books were very expensive; that books were what the School was greatly in need of and had not the money to purchase. The next donation was of three hundred volumes, which, with the forty, were valued by President Clapp at fioo Sterling. Then followed a gift of goods valued at £200, and the King's picture and arms and three years later more goods were sent, which, with the previous lot, were sold by the College authorities for £400. To quote from President Clapp's history of Yale, published in 1766:
On September 12, 1718, there was a splendid commencement (that im- portant event in undergraduate life being held in the autumn then) held at New Haven, where were present, besides the trustees, the Honorable Gurdon Saltonstall, Esq., Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, the Honorable William Taylor, Esq., representing Governor Yale, the Hon- orable Nathan Gold, Esq., Deputy Governor, sundry of the worshipful assistants, the Judges of the Circuit, a great number of reverend ministers, and a great concourse of spectators. The trustees, in commemoration of Governor Yale's great generosity, called the collegiate school after his name, Yale College; and entered a memorial thereof upon record, which was as follows :
The trustees of the Collegiate School, constituted in the splendid town of New Haven, in Connecticut, being enabled by the most generous dona- tion of the Honorable Elihu Yale, Esq., to finish the college house already begun and erected, gratefully considering the honor due to such and so great a benefactor and patron, and being desirous, in the best manner, to perpetuate to all ages the memory of so great a benefit, conferred chiefly on this colony: We, the trustees, having the honor of being entrusted with an affair of so great importance to the common good of the people, especially of this province, do with one consent agree, determine and ordain, that our college house shall be called by the name of its munificent patron, and shall be named Yale College; that this province may keep and preserve a lasting monument of such a generous gentleman, who by so great a benevolence and generosity, has provided for their greatest good, and the peculiar advantage of the inhabitants, both in the present and future.
(It is a matter for congratulation that this " college house ", Yale's first building, was not standing when the twentieth cen-
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tury began for, had it been, there would have been Vandals who would have torn it down to make room for another architectural excrescence, similar to the one which deprived old Yale-men of one of their happiest memories, by crowding the "Fence " off the face of the earth.)
It does not require an unusually vivid imagination to produce a mental picture of the joyousness of that famous Commencement Day of 187 years ago, which was the birthday of " Old Eli," nor of the devout thankfulness to the Giver of all Good, on the part of the earnest, self-sacrificing trustees and friends of the College, that at last their " college house " could be finished and the Col- lege placed upon a firm financial foundation.
The memorial quoted above was read in Latin and then in English and then the procession left college hall and marched to the meeting-house where the public exercises of the day were to take place. The Rev. John Davenport delivered an oration, which became a panegyric, with Governor Elihu Yale as its subject. He was followed by Governor Saltonstall who delivered an oration in Latin, or, as President Clapp floridly and quaintly said :
And the Honorable Governor Saltonstall was pleased to grace and crown the whole solemnity with an elegant Latin oration, wherein he con- gratulated the present happy state of the College, in being fixed at New Haven, and enriched with so many noble benefactions; and particularly celebrated the great generosity of Governor Yale, with much respect and honor.
It was understood that Governor Yale had drawn a will leav- ing another donation of £500 to the College; that he finally de- cided it would be better to give that sum rather than leave it by will, so he packed goods to the value of £500 to be sent to New Haven, but his death occurring before they were shipped the College was the loser. Although Governor Saltonstall tried all means to have the will probated he was unsuccessful.
Elihu Yale died on July 8, 1721, and was buried in the church yard in Wrexham. The epitaph on his tombstone is as follows:
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Under this tomb lyes interred Elihu Yale, of Plas Gronow, Esq .: born 5th of April, 1648, and dyed the 8th of July, 1721, aged 73 years.
Born in America, in Europe bred,
In Africa travel'd, and in Asia wed,
Where long he liv'd and thriv'd ; at London dead.
Much good, some ill he did; so hope all even,
And that his soul through mercy's gone to heaven.
You that survive and read, take care
For this most certain exit to prepare,
For only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in the dust.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
Up to 1708, the system of Church government in Connecticut was based upon the Cambridge Platform, which was adopted by the Churches of New England at the start, but later the Con- necticut Churches adopted a system of government at Saybrook, known as the Saybrook Platform.
In 1668, the General Court authorized the Revs. James Fitch, of Norwich; Gershom Bulkley, of Wethersfield; Jared Eliot, of Guilford; and Samuel Wakeman, of Fairfield, each of them rep- resenting the four counties of the Colony respectively, to meet in Saybrook to fix upon a general plan of church government and discipline for the Churches of Connecticut. In 1703, the Collegiate School authorities issued a circular requesting the Churches and their ministers to meet. They did so and gave consent to the Westminster and Savoy Confessions and also formulated rules for ecclesiastical union and discipline.
For the third time, on September 20, 1708, a solemn meeting of twelve of the foremost Congregational ministers and four of the most prominent laymen, was held in Saybrook to take action in regard to Church government and other church matters. This meeting was held at a commencement of the Collegiate School, as Yale was then called, at least half of the delegates being trus- tees of that institution. These delegates were :
From New Haven County - the Rev. Samuel Andrew, minister of the Milford Church ; the Rev. James Pierpoint, minister of the First Church of New Haven; and the Rev. Samuel Russell, minister of the Branford Church.
From Hartford County - the Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, min- ister of the First Church in Hartford; the Rev. Noadiah Russell,
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minister of the First Church in Middletown; the Rev. Stephen Mix, minister of the Wethersfield Church; and John Haynes, of Hartford, messenger.
From New London County - the Rev. James Noyes, minister of the Stonington Church; the Rev. Thomas Buckingham, minister of the Saybrook Church; the Rev. Moses Noyes,
ORIGINAL MILL STONE ON THE SITE OF SAYBROOK'S FIRST GRIST MILL ON THE ROAD LEADING TO THE POINT. As there was no water power a windmill was put up.
minister of the First Church of Lyme ; the Rev. John Woodward, minister of the First Church of Norwich; Robert Chapman and Deacon William Parker, of Saybrook, messengers.
From Fairfield County - the Rev. Charles Chauncey, minister of the Stratfield Church (now the First Church of Bridgeport) ; the Rev. John Davenport, minister of the Stamford Church; and Deacon Samuel Hart, of Stamford, messenger.
In 1708, there were no wheeled vehicles for traveling - that was all done on horseback - and these men made the long journey from their homes to Saybrook on horseback through the wilder- 3
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ness, or by canoe from Hartford, Wethersfield and Middletown. Neither this Council, nor the Saybrook Platform, had anything to do with settling points of doctrine, but both had to do with devising a general plan of Church government and discipline. That, in fact, was the Saybrook Platform. There were, in 1708, forty-one Congregational Churches in the Colony of Connecticut, with but two. Churches of any other denomination - a Baptist Church in Groton and an Episcopal Church in Stratford, both of which came into existence in 1707. The next denomination to have a Church was the Presbyterian, in 1723, and the next was the Methodist, in 1789, after the formation of the State. Therefore, the Council represented the sentiment of almost the entire population of the Colony of Connecticut.
That the Congregational Church in Connecticut was in perfect doctrinal harmony with the reformed Churches of Great Britain and the Continent, was shown in the eighth article of agreement. This is :
As to what appertains to soundness of judgment in matters of faith, we esteem it sufficient that a Church acknowledge the Scriptures to be the Word of God, the perfect and only rule of faith and practice, and we own either the doctrinal part of those commonly called the Articles of the Church of England, or the Confession or Catechism, shorter or larger, compiled by the Assembly at Westminster, or the Confession agreed on at Savoy, to be agreeable to this rule.
Each of the four counties represented in the convention drew up a model for the articles of discipline. The model, principally draughted by the Rev. James Pierpoint, of New Haven, was amended and passed. The articles provided for one or more consociations of Churches in each county, which were tribunals with appellate and final jurisdiction. To these individual Churches referred matters considered to be too serious for one Church to decide ; also for associations in each county, composed of teaching elders or ministers, who had the general welfare of the Churches in mind; examined candidates for the ministry ; investigated charges of scandal or heresy ; recommended ministers to Churches without them. The associations met at least twice a year.
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CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
A General association composed of one or more delegates from each county association ; this was an advisory body, whose duties were not fixed by the Platform.
The result of the deliberations of the Convention was reported to the General Court and that body made the Congregational Church, the Established Church of the Colony of Connecticut, all other denominations being considered as dissenters. It is a significant fact of great interest, that the first book ever printed in Connecticut was The Saybrook Platform. This was printed in 1710, in New London, by Thomas Short, on a printing press given to the Colony by Governor Saltonstall. It was significant, in that it showed how closely the first literature of the Colony, as well as the Colonial Government, was interwoven with Congregationalism.
While the Government of the Colony, through its Established Church, did not attempt to dictate to the people of the Colony in what manner they should worship - the law being the same in the New England Colony of Connecticut, as it was in Old England, in regard to Dissenters, under the act of William and Mary in 1689 -it did require all citizens to help support the Established Congregational Church. There was no other punish- ment for not being a Congregationalist than this. In 1727, Episcopalians and in 1729, Baptists, were exempted from being taxed for the support of the Congregational Churches, provided they attended a Church of their own denomination.
The way in which individuals could avoid the Established Church tax was accomplished by what was called, " signing off ".
According to tradition, an influential citizen becoming some- what tired of paying the tax to the Church, went to the proper official to sign the required paper which would release him from further paying the Church tax, but the clerk refused to draw the paper on account of the prominence of the citizen and his value to the Church. So he drew the document himself and being somewhat heated by the refusal, mixed a bit of biting sar- casm in his declaration that :
I hereby renounce the Christian religion that I may join the Episcopal Church.
But even this " signing off " was not permitted to Congrega-
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tionalists and Presbyterians. If members of those churches wished to withdraw and worship by themselves, they were still required to pay the tax for the support of the Church from which they withdrew. Freedom of worship for the Strict Congrega- tionalists, or " Separatists ", as they were also called, was a rather expensive luxury for they were obliged by law to continue to pay the Church tax and, of course, they were obliged to help support their own Churches. Many of the Strict Congregation- alists became Baptists as a result of the law.
While the New World was settled by those who desired " Freedom-of-Worship ", the weakness of human nature was fre- quently shown in those early days, by the persecution of indi- viduals whose freedom of worship was outside of the Congrega- tional Church. A particular case illustrates this.
Two students at Yale College, in 1744, John Cleveland and his brother Ebenezer Cleveland, were charged with the heinous offence of attending another Church than the Congregational, while at home in vacation time. When they returned to College they were suspended till they had confessed. As they refused to do so, they were expelled and their fellow students were for- bidden from associating with them, or even speaking to them, for fear they too should become corrupted.
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