USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Cornwall > Historical records of the town of Cornwall, Litchfield County, Connecticut; > Part 12
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Deacon Rogers died in the winter of 1876, and E. D. Pratt was again elected deacon, his term of office to expire on the first of January, 1881. Deacon Gold's term of office having expired on the 29th of January, 1877, he was again elected for five years, from January 1, 1877.
I would like to speak a word in regard to those who have con- ducted our service of song in the sanctuary, but I will not detain you on this point, further than to recall the faithful, sacrificing service in this department of our deceased brother, H. M. Hart. Neither summer's heat nor winter's cold deterred him from the performance of his work and duty in this line, and when he was taken away we realized more than ever before how great a bless- ing he had been to us.
SUNDAY-SCIIOOLS.
Paul at Athens had his spirit stirred within him when he saw the whole city given to idolatry.
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ECCLESIASTICAL 11ISTORY.
So, in 1781, in Gloucester, England, a warm-hearted christian man had his spirit stirred when he saw the multitudes of children violating God's holy day, and going on in ignorance of the great command to remember and keep it holy.
The great question with him was, what can be done ? The result was the gathering of the children in on the Sabbath day to study the word of God. Thus a Sabbath-school was formed, and Rob- ert Raikes became one of the world's benefactors.
How great a fire that little spark has kindled ! The little hand- ful of corn has become like unto the cedar of Lebanon, that to- day scatters its fragrance over all the civilized world. Sunday- schools were transplanted to this country about 1806, and we first find them in and around Boston.
The first organization of one in our church was in 1820.
Mrs. Smith, the young bride of the pastor, had been connected with a Sunday-school in New York, and soon after coming here she stirred the people up to good works in that direction. A school was formed, with Deacon Nathan Hart for Superintendent. Only those between five and fifteen years of age were invited in as scholars, and of these there were about fifty.
In 1829 there existed in this State an organization known as the State Sunday-school Union. To that this school was an aux- iliary, and about that time new rules and regulations were adopted. Scholars of all ages were invited to come in, and the school in. creased to an average attendance of about eighty.
Deacon Hart continued as superintendent nearly twenty years. He was succeeded by Chalker Pratt, and the others who followed in that office were Eber Cotter, H. M. Hart, T. L. Hart, A. S. Rogers, E. D. Pratt, A. B. Pratt, R. R. Pratt, T. S. Gold, Stephen Foster, N. R. Hart, N. Hart, Jr., E. B. Hart, and E. M. Rogers.
In the oft-recurring revivals with which this church has been blessed, the Sunday-school has largely shared.
In 1858, Samuel Scovill, 2d, then in his theological studies at New Haven, while at home in one of his vacations, was impressed with the necessity that something be done to bring about a better observance of the Sabbath in West Cornwall.
He went to work and secured the organization of a Sunday- school in that part of the parish. From its commencement it has been an active and prosperous institution in connection with this church, and beneficial to the section where it is located.
At the time of its organization Wm. C. Rogers was chosen super.
.
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
intendent. After two or three years Mr. Rogers removed from
the town. R. R. Pratt succeeded him, and from that time on has had charge of that school.
The admissions to this church have been as follows:
From its organization in 1780 to 1805, when Mr. Hawes was set- tled, the number was, -
48
During eight years of Mr. Hawes's ministry, -
62
From 1813, when Mr. Hawes left, to 1819, when Mr. Smith came, 26
Under Mr. Smith's pastorate, of nineteen years,
113
Under Mr. Tracy in 1839, and other intervals,
59
Mr. Maynard, eleven years, -
162
Mr. Clarke, four years,
34
Mr. Wetherby, seven years, -
70
Mr. Brush, six years,
-
ʻ
-
61
Mr. Fitch, three and one-half years, Whole number, 1 1
-
1
-
69
Our present membership is 181.
-
- 704
Were it best, I could describe the footprints I have seen, as I have followed up the lines of family histories. Some of them would remind us that
"We may make our lives sublime,"
while others show that evil words and deeds are
"A blot on human character which justice must wipe out ;"
and all verify the truthfulness of those words uttered by the Lord God amid the thunders and lightnings of Sinai, wherein he declared that the iniquities of the fathers should be visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of those that hated him, while mercy should be shown unto thousands of those that loved him and kept his commandments.
Influence-Who shall measure its height or its depth, its length or its breadth ?
" The smallest bark on life's tempestnous ocean Will leave a track behind for evermore ; The lightest wave of influence, set in motion, Extends and widens to the eternal shore; We should be watchful, then, who go before A myriad yet to be; and we should take Our bearing carefully, where breakers roar, And fearful tempests gather; one mistake May wreck unnumbered barks that follow in our wake."
I have thus brought before you some of the more prominent points of our past history.
119
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
What are its lessons ?
1. " The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children.
2. If pastor and people properly use the means God has placed within their reach for the cultivation of his moral vineyard, a . divine blessing will surely attend and follow their efforts.
3. The religion of the bible made practical in life, exalts, enno- bles, and dignifies human character.
Therefore, in the language of another, I inquire in all earnest- ness,
" Who would not be a Christian ?
And yet we see men shrinking from the term
As though it brought a charge against them.
But it is the loftiest name the language knows,
And all the names in all the languages
Have none sublimer.
It breathes of heaven and of an
Immortal life with God.
We have seen it take the old man,
With evening shadows resting thick upon him ;
Oppressed with years, and wrinkled o'er with cares,
And to his view disclose a vision
Which has made the old man's heart to sing with gladness. We have seen it take those in all the vigor
Of life's noontide hours,
And make them co-workers with Christ, For a world's salvation.
We have seen it take the youth
In the bright morning of their existence,
And train them up in wisdom's ways,
And make them meet
For an inheritance beyond the skies. We have seen it take the child
And kiss away its tears ;
Press it to its bosom,
And send it on its way rejoicing. We have seen it take the outcasts,
Whose names were odious in the streets,
And bring them back to virtue and to God."
And hence it is that "godliness is profitable unto all things having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."
120
HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
MEMORIAL SERMON, OR THE HISTORY OF THE SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF CORNWALL, AT NORTH CORNWALL, CONN., JULY 9, 1876.
BY REV. CHARLES N. FITCH, PASTOR.
Job viii, 8-" For inquire I pray thee of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers."
Rev. iii, 1, 2-"I know thy works. I have not found thy works perfect."
The sources of information for this historical discourse are:
1. Town Records from 1740 to 1800.
2. Societies' Records-1st and 2d.
3. Church Records-1st and 2d.
4. Historical Sketches, by Rev. Timothy Stone, of the Ecclesiastical History of Cornwall.
5. Records of L. N. Consociation, and L. S. previous to 1790.
6. Association Records, L. N.
7. Contributions to Ecel. Hist. of Conn.
8. Genesis of New England Churches-Dr. Bacon.
9. History of North Cornwall Church, by Deacon R. R. Pratt.
10. Rev. B. C. Megie, D. D., Pleasant Grove, New Jersey.
The history of the Second Congregational Church of Cornwall properly begins with the settlement of the town of Cornwall in 1738-40. In that carly day every citizen was considered to be a member of the ecclesiastical society of the town in which he resided. He was taxed to support worship; and the law recognized no churches but Congregational churches. Up to 1784 every citi- zen could be compelled by law to aid in supporting the Congrega- tional church of his town. So it came about, that the church planted in Cornwall was the Congregational church of Christ.
The town was incorporated at the May session of the Legislature, 1740. Some families had moved in two winters before, and had braved the rigors of the hard winters among the hills; but the incorporation was not secured until the spring of 1740.
On the first day of July following-thirty-six years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence-the fathers met to take the requisite steps towards a permanent legal settlement. This was the first town meeting; and how was its business opened ? Undoubtedly by prayer, as was in that day the universal custom. All business pertaining to the worship of God was transacted in town-meeting, and so naturally God was invoked to bless their meeting and their business. The first item of business, according to the records, shows what high value the fathers set upon religious privileges. It was " Voted, that the whole charge of Mr. Harrison's preaching among us, together with the charge of bringing him
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
here, and boarding him, we will pay out of the first tax to be assessed." The next vote of the meeting was of the same tenor, to wit: " Voted, that we will send Mr. Millard to agree with a minister, and bring him to preach among us."
There was one other action of this ancient and honorable body which deserves notice. Before dispersing to their own rude and, in many cases, unfinished homes, they remembered the promise of the Lord: "My tabernacle shall be with them; yea, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." They voted, therefore, "' That we think it necessary and convenient to build a meeting- house:' which vote was unanimous to a man."
Thus early we discover, in their high regard for the worship of God and the services of the christian religion, a marked relation- ship with those earlier fathers who, " as soon as the Mayflower had brought them into a safe harbor, fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet upon the firm and stable earth,- their proper element."*
The population of Cornwall in 1740 was twenty-five families. Among these are the names of Jewell, Spaulding, Barrett, Squires, Allen, Griffin, Fuller, and Roberts. These early settlers main- tained public worship from the first, even though occasionally without a settled pastor. For the first forty years the only church in Cornwall was the Consociated Congregational Church, which was laid at first as the corner-stone upon which the town was built.
Forty years from the time the first corner-stone was laid, the fathers laid another, and called it "The Strict Congregational Church of Cornwall." But although the second stone was laid beside the first, the ceremony lucked the fine feature of harmony. The second church was formed in the early autumn of 1780, by secession from the first. "The Separates," as they were called by their opponents, at first numbered only nine souls, but theirs were unusually large souls, as the sequel will show. The names of the Separates were:
Andrew Young, Phineas Waller,
Elijah Steele, Samuel Butler, Noah Bull,
James Douglass, Marsh Douglass, David Clark,
Hezekiah Clark.
* Bacon's Genesis of The N. E. Churches, p. 310. 16
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
Of this list, two-viz., Phineas Waller and Elijah Steele-had been deacons in the First Church, but were not holding that posi- tion at the time of the separation. It does not appear why Deacon Waller was succeeded, but Deacon Steele became a Quaker in senti- ment, and his successor had been chosen four years before he, with his brethren, withdrew. Samuel Butler and Marsh Douglass never united with the new church. By reference to the Manual we find that within two years six others were added to this little company, viz .:
Beriah Hotchkin,
Jesse Hyatt,
Noah Rogers, 3d,
Mrs. B. Hotchkin,
Ethan Allen,
Mrs. P. Waller.
This made a grand total in 1782 of thirteen members. If this seeins to us a small nucleus for a church, we should be reminded that back of this little handful was a majority of the voters of the township of Cornwall to give it courage and strength. In fact the cause of the secession was the dissatisfaction of the ecclesiastical society of the town with the pastor, Rev. Hezekiah Gold.
Mr. Gold, be it known at the outset, had ministered to the First Church twenty years before the separation, and continued its pastor for six years thereafter. And I am unable to find any sufficient evidence that would lead one to question his purity and integrity of Christian character, or his soundness in Christian faith. On the contrary, Mr. Gold had enjoyed an unusual influence among his own people, as is sufficiently proven by the fact that when the crisis came, and the major part of the town refused to support the pastor, and demanded of the church that they should dismiss him, they refused to comply, but stood by him instead. Then there was presently a great gulf opened, on the one side of which stood the pastor and the majority of his church; behind them were all the consociated churches of this county, together with their min- isters forming the Consociation, and led by the celebrated Dr. Bellamy. On the other side stood only a single rank of "rebels," with that " baker's dozen " of resolute and honest church members in the center, flanked by a majority of the citizens who were out- side the pale of the church.
To comprehend the situation of the "Separates," you must bear in mind the condition of religious toleration in Connecticut at that time. It will be necessary to go back with me to Old Saybrook, where, in 1708, the Saybrook Platform was adopted. The adop- tion of that platform fastened the peculiar system of discipline upon the Connecticut churches known by the name of Consociational;
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
for the platform, when it was adopted by the council at Saybrook, was ratified by the Legislature, and declared binding upon all the churches which voluntarily accepted it.
After 1708, then, there was an "established " church in Con- necticut. "If Congregationalists became disaffected with either their pastor or brethren, and wished to worship by themselves, they were still obliged to pay their taxes for the support of the church from which they had seceded" (Ecc. Hist. of Conn., p. 119). This class was called "Separates," although they preferred the name of " Strict Congregationalists."
The Separates of different churches had different local causes for separating, but the principle underlying the action of every separate church was the same. They fretted against the bars of Consociational authority, and believed in the superiority of the individual church in all matters of discipline. They objected to the system of discipline laid down in the Saybrook platform, and to having that system crowded down their throats by the civil authority. The last court of appeal was not, in their view, the Consociation, but the church itself. In this they were what their name signified, "Strict Congregationalists," and so, in a certain sense, reformers.
" They abhorred the civil enactments which authorized and regulated our associations and consociations, which enactments have long since become obsolete, and have left these institutions to rest, as they should, on the voluntary principle." (Eccl. Hist. of Conn., p. 281.)
So far this church was, at its establishment, a separate church. But one other feature, which characterized the separate churches, I cannot learn that this church ever introduced, viz., that each church should ordain its own pastor.
But with the principles of religious liberty advocated by the Separates, this church was in full and cordial sympathy. Let it be here recorded, and ever remembered, that that little band of " big souls " contended for a principle in their act of separation from the mother church just as truly, if not as heroically, as the same gene- ration of noble men had done, but four years before, in their separation from the mother country !
What was that principle ? It was the principle of "no taxation without representation."
The "tea-chests " that they threw overboard were the planks of the Saybrook platform, which held them in bonds to support a
124
111STORY OF CORNWALL.
minister whom they did not wish to support, but whom the majority of the church decided to stand by, and whom both the consociation and legislature decided they must support; and so by law they were obliged to comply with the decision of conso- ciation.
They rebelled against this decision, and maintained the right to withdraw and support the minister of their choice.
It was not until four years later, or 1784, that the law was enacted permitting persons to choose their own church. There had been, up to this time, no alternative recognized by law to the true Congregationalist in sentiment. If he chose to attend and support a "Strict Congregational " church, he was not relieved of his tax in support of the church of the "standing order." The only exceptions were in favor of Episcopalians, Baptists, and Quakers. These had been, as early as 1729, exempted from the support of Congregational churches. This act of exemption is said to have made many Baptists and Episcopalians.
We see then the situation of the citizens of the town during the period of which we speak. A majority of the town voted, July 26, 1779, to call a council to dismiss the pastor, Rev. Hezekiah Gold; but unless the church would concur in calling the council, the town could be compelled to continue his support. This was virtually taxation without a voice or a vote, and the same spirit that led them four years before to declare war in behalf of civil liberty, inspires now the step they take for religious liberty.
This may serve to explain, in part, why, in their difficulty with their pastor, they were opposed, and Mr. Gold was supported, by the body of the clergy and the neighboring churches.
They declared themselves "Strict Congregationalists," and in sympathy with the Separates, who were exciting great hostility among the churches of the "Standing order," but who numbered at one time over thirty churches in the State. To this class of Separates, however, Connecticut owes more than to any other single influence, for the repeal of the law restricting religious toleration. They aided in cultivating public opinion, which secured the privilege to every man of worshiping God "accord- ing to the dietates of his own conscience."
This was one of the last Separate churches formed in the State, but the difficulty between these two churches being submitted to the legislature, in 1784, was one of the causes in securing the repeal of the law above referred to.
125
ECCLESIASTICAL IIISTORY.
The names of the committee who presented the case to the legislature have a peculiar historic interest. They are Major John Sedgwick, Dr. Timothy Rogers, and Andrew Young.
This was then a "Separate " church, and notwithstanding the occasional displays of unchristian temper during the controversy, it is a cause of great satisfaction to know that the fathers who founded it were impelled to the step by their loyalty to christian conviction, and their truly Puritan regard for religious liberty.
· In behalf of the First church, and of the town in general, it should be said, also, that they never compelled the Separates to pay taxes to support the "standing order," owing partly, perhaps, to the fact that the "Separates " were in the majority; but mainly to the spirit of toleration, which was at work here, and which was preparing the town to pass a vote, 1782, two years subsequent to the separation, but two years before the repeal of the law by the State Legislature, permitting each person taxed to say to which church he preferred to have his tax applied, whether to the First or Second Congregational, or to the support of a missionary of the Church of England, who had been preaching in the town for a few months.
So much by way of setting the actors on this ecclesiastical stage, one hundred years ago, in the midst of the ecclesiastical history of that early day. In no other way should we be able to comprehend their acts, and do justice to their motives.
I pass now to speak of the mysterious local causes of this separation.
A vote was passed at a town meeting held July 26, 1779, call- ing a council to dismiss the pastor of the First church. So much is clear. It is in evidence, also, that the church met six weeks later to consider this question forced upon it by the town, but decided not to join in calling a council .* It is understood that
* Question Ist. Doth this church advise the Rev. Mr. Gold to concur in the vote passed by this town, July 26, 1779, to call a council to dismiss him from the work of the ministry among them ?
Voted, We do not choose so to do.
Question 2d. Is it the duty of a christian people to make a minister's salary good as well as the wages of day laborers; the minister deducting towards the extraordinary cxpense of the present war, a quota equal to the estate which he possesseth ?
Voted, It is their duty !
Test, JOSEPHI BELLAMY, Moď'r.
CORNWALL, Sept. 6, 1779.
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HISTORY OF CORNWALL.
Dr. Bellamy gave his advice against the council. The association was asked also for its advice, and gave it against the council.
The result was, the council was not called; the pastor was not dismissed.
The next action of the town relating to the matter in hand, dates April 10, 1780, when three votes were passed, as follows:
1. "Are the inhabitants of this town willing any longer to be gov- erned by and subjected to the Ecclesiastical Constitution of this State, as set forth in the Saybrook Platform, and established and approved by General Assembly of this State, or with the same with the exceptions or alterations made and agreed to by the Consociation of Litchfield County ? Voted in the Negative ! "
Vote 2d (declares them to be Strict Congregationalists both in doctrine and in discipline ; but as no exception had ever been taken to Congre- gational doctrine, the emphasis was, of course, upon the discipline of the Platform.)
Vote 3d. "That the Rev. Hezekiah Gold be desired not to perform divine service any more in this town."
One month later the vote styling themselves Strict Congrega- tionalists was rescinded, only to be re-passed June 19th, with renewed vigor, as though the vote of May 4th represented only a minority, and the town had rallied again in June, and re-asserted its authority.
The vote as -last passed, remained without change for at least twenty years.
Besides the above action, Mr. Gold was again desired not to preach in the meeting-house.
A committee, with Capt. Edward Rogers as chairman, was appointed "to procure a preacher for the following Sabbath, according to the Congregational mode of worship." And another committee, consisting of Elijah Steele, Ithamar Saunders, and Noah Rogers, were constituted with the rather unlimited powers of "taking care of the meeting-house; " which I take to mean, that if Mr. Gold should attempt to preach in the meeting-house, this committee were to take care of the minister. Tradition says that Saunders was the member who " took care" of the minister, keeping him out of the pulpit by taking up his position on the pulpit stairs, and preventing Mr. Gold's entering to deliver the sermon on Thanksgiving day. For this unlawful proceeding Saunders was fined to a considerable amount.
The record shows that the above votes were ratified June 30th, and that January 22, 1781, the town voted that Mr. Gold should not receive his salary for the previous year. A lawsuit followed
127
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
which ended in a compromise. The separation took place some time during the year 1780, at least before the middle of October .*
The causes which led up to this unfortunate rupture between the men of the town on the one side and the pastor and church on the other, are not very clearly defined in any of the records which I have been able to find. According to Mr. Stone -- whose sketches are the most thorough and satisfactory, impartial, dis- criminating, and candid-in fact, the only consecutive history of Cornwall yet written:
" Embarrassment of business, the confusion of the public mind, and the privations resulting from the condition of the country, made it more difficult to pay a minister's salary.
" All ministers settled as pastors, according to the law of the State, were exempted from all taxes. Mr. Gold was an ardent friend to the revolutionary movements of the country, and he offered to deduct from his annual salary so much as his property would demand, and the exigencies of the times required. How far this proposal was accepted is not now known." (For particulars, see Stone's Sketches, p. 31, seq.)
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