USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Danbury > History of Danbury, Conn., 1684-1896 > Part 29
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The third period in the church's history opened in the year 1840, when they began to worship in a new house, erected by them with much effort and many sacrifices. This new building stood directly opposite the present site of the New England Hotel, about where the electric-light tower now stands. It was a convenient little meeting-house of one room, with a seating capacity of about one hundred and fifty. The property upon which it was erected was leased to them under the name, " The Reformed Christian Baptist Society." At that time the congre- gation numbered less than fifty members. Their larger and more centrally located home inspired them to renewed effort, and their progress was consequently more marked.
Among the leading men of this third period may be mentioned Martin H. Griffing, Sr., who united with the society in 1842.
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Being a devout Christian and a man of means, he was for many years a great spiritual and financial aid to the church. His chil- dren, three of whom are now connected with the society, have contributed in many ways to the prosperity of the work. Through their liberality the beautiful pipe-organ in the present building was presented as a memorial to their beloved father.
Eli H. Mallory, who was not satisfied with the teachings and practices of the church to which he belonged, cast his lot with this church in 1843. Being a man of stern conviction and won- derful logical powers, he was enabled to lead many persons into the church, among whom were his own brothers, who have ever been a spiritual and financial power in the church. Ezra A. Mallory, one of these brothers, is at present an elder in the society. He has erected a memorial window in the church as a tribute to the faithful service of the departed Eli H. Mallory.
In 1848 Charles Reed became a valuable addition to the small struggling band of adherents to this simple faith. His name also may be seen upon a memorial window in the present church. This window was erected by his widow, Mrs. Eveline Reed, who remains to the present as a faithful servant in the cause so dear to the heart of her departed husband.
The Stevens family had been engaged in the work of the church for many years, and in 1849 Lewis B. Stevens became a member, soon being elected an elder. Several members and descendants of his family are now connected with the church. William H. Stevens, a brother of Lewis B., serves as chairman of the present Board of Deacons.
In 1837 they called Dr. Francis Craig, of Kentucky, to preach for them. He was a true Kentucky orator, and a man of exem- plary life. The following year his labors were brought to a sud. den close by his death. His remains were buried in Wooster Cemetery, to be joined two years later by Mr. Levi Osborne, whose death meant a great loss to those whom he had led for thirty-four years. The church erected a plain marble stone to mark the spot where their bodies rest. The vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Craig was at once filled by calling J. I. Lowell to labor as evangelist. Mr. Lowell ministered to them in word and doctrine the greater part of the time for seven years.
The names of the many other faithful members of the church, who were prominent in its early history, must be omitted from
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this sketch, except the mere mention of Dr. E. F. Hendrick, who united at a little later date, about 1861, and whose widow, Mrs. Maria B. Hendrick, is one of the deaconesses of the church at the present time.
In those early days the church had a fame for its strict em- phasis of the duty of caring for the poor and afflicted members, some even insisting that such dependent ones should always be furnished with a home among the families of the church. Of course this was not always possible, and that it was not always done is seen from the following incident : An old sister was blind and almost helpless. After being moved about from fam- ily to family, that all might share in the duty of caring for her, it was decided to secure her a permanent boarding-place. The home of a Catholic lady was selected, where she had the best of care. Being somewhat weak in mind, she at first thought she was in the home of one of her brethren. Later she became sus- picious and questioned her hostess, who, not having any special scruples in regard to the truth, assured her that she also belonged to the White Street church. "Then why," asked the blind invalid, " do not the brethren come oftener to visit us ?" The hostess replied, " They do come, some of them are here every day." And after that she frequently imitated the voices of the members whom she knew, and would go in and shake hands, making kindly inquiries as to her welfare. Thus, it is said, the old lady was made contented and happy in the assurance of Christian fellowship here, and in the hope of an eternal home hereafter.
The fourth marked period of progress began in the year 1853 with the removal of the congregation from White Street to Lib- erty Street, near Main, their present location. At a cost of $2000 the society purchased a house and lot from the Methodist church, which had vacated it for larger quarters. At this time the name " Osbornites" was dropped, the members insisting upon being called simply "The Disciples of Christ." This scriptural name was, with some hesitancy, applied to them by the community, and by it they have been known ever since. Although known as " The Disciples of Christ," the present prop- erty is deeded to the society in the name of "The Church of Christ." Great emphasis has ever been laid upon the name, it being claimed that if the churches of Christendom ever unite, it
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must be under a scriptural name, and not one of the names in- vented by the religious sects. This accounts for the fact that different names, such as "Disciples," "Christians," "The Church of Christ," all of which are in the words of the New Testament, have been in different places and at different times applied to this church. In assuming these individual names- " Disciples," or "Christians," and the collective names, "The Church of Disciples" or "The Church of Christ"-they by no means imply that the Church of Christ is found exclusively within their borders ; but they recognize every consistent believer everywhere as a member of Christ's Church, and plead for a union of all Christians by a return to the principles and prac- tices of the apostolic age, to the end that the world may be evan- gelized. They agree with the great bodies of orthodox Chris- tians in such fundamental subjects as the inspiration and author- ity of the Scriptures, the divinity of Christ, the necessity and efficacy of the atonement, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, the necessity of holy living, and the reality of future rewards and punishments.
The building purchased from the Methodists was remodelled, the basement being fitted up for Sunday-school purposes. The audience-room had a seating capacity of about three hundred. The membership of the church was still below one hundred. This more central location, together with the fact that ministers had begun to be regularly employed, gave them advantages which they had long desired to possess. The membership grew steadily from year to year, and the Sunday-school was pros- perous.
In 1864, near the close of the war period, some slight differences led to a temporal division of the working forces of the church, but in 1870 these differences were amicably adjusted, and all have since worshipped together in harmony with vastly in- creased success. The number of members in 1870 was 233. The records show that since 1870 there have been 560 additions to the church.
The most active period in the history of the church has been during the past six years, in which time 325 members have united with it. For many years the members had discussed the ques- tion of a larger and more modern church building. On Lord's Day morning, October 26th, 1890, an appeal was made to the
STEPHEN BATES.
COL. NATHAN DIBBLE.
UNIVERSALIST CHURCHI.
LEVI OSBORNE.
JOHN ABBOTT.
DISCIPLES' CHURCH.
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congregation, resulting in subscriptions amounting to $7500. This amount was increased by later pledges and donations, until it reached near $12,000. Plans were at once adopted, and work was begun on the new house. The old building was removed to the rear of the lot on Liberty Street, and utilized as a lecture- room, being connected with the new part by large sliding doors. The whole was completed at a cost of $22,000. The building was dedicated on January 31st, 1892, and there was raised, in four-year pledges, a sufficient amount to almost cover the in- debtedness incurred by the building committee.
The building is according to the latest plans of church archi- tecture, and has all modern furnishings and conveniences. It is considered a model church home in every respect. The audi- torium has five hundred sittings, arranged upon a bowled floor in semicircular form, converging toward the pulpit platform. On the rear of the pulpit platform are situated the pipe-organ and the choir gallery. By throwing open the doors to the lecture- room the seating capacity is increased to eight hundred. The building is a frame structure, the outside being modelled after the quaint architecture of the Netherlands during the Middle Ages. Its very oddity makes it an ornament to the city.
This new and larger church home has given renewed life to every branch of the work. The present membership of the church is 540. The Sunday-school enrolls 450 scholars. The Christian Endeavor Society has a membership of 125. The mis- sionary societies and other organizations are in healthful and flourishing condition. Two young men of the church, Charles C. Waite and Charles Darsie, have lately prepared themselves for the ministry, and are now preaching for churches in Ohio. Others are preparing themselves for the ministry and for foreign missionary work.
As nearly as can be ascertained, the following is a list of the ministers who have served the church, and the date when each was called by it : 1837, Porter Thomas ; 1841, A. G. Cummings ; 1842, Matthew S. Clapp and William Tichenor ; 1847, E. A. Smith ; 1848, Dr. Francis M. Craig ; 1849, J. I. Lowell, Edward B. Osborne, J. M. Yearnshaw, and W. A. Belding, for brief periods each ; 1857, W. W. Eaton ; 1859, Theodore Brooks ; 1861, A. N. Gilbert ; 1864, J. A. Headington ; 1866, L. R. Gault ; 1867, W. L. Hayden ; 1871, W. R. Spindler ; 1873, W. B. Craig ;
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1875, J. L. Darsie ; 1880, M. J. Ferguson ; 1882, Levi Marshall and T. D. Butler ; 1883, W. W. Carter ; 1884, S. B. Moore ; 1889, E. Jay Teagarden, the present minister.
The following members have served as elders of the church : Levi Osborne, John Benedict, Edward B. Osborne, Starr Bene- dict, John Abbott, Levi Osborne, Jr., Eli H. Mallory, Abel Foote, Lewis B. Stevens, Ezra A. Mallory, and Edgar S. Morris, the latter two serving in that capacity at present.
The present Board of Deacons consists of the following per- sons : Joseph Benedict, William H. Young, Alexander A. Davis, William H. Stevens, David Hawley, Bennett Turner, James E. Peck, Frank L. Hatch, Samuel A. Davis, Elbridge Gerry, Theo- dore Raymond, and Charles Elwell. The present Superintendent of the Sunday-school is Foster F. Fuller.
It is thought that the Lord's Supper has been observed by this church on every Lord's Day during its seventy-eight years of history.
About eleven hundred persons have been converted by the agency of this church in Danbury, all of whom have held mem- bership with it for a longer or a shorter period of time.
The reformation, in which this church has held such an ad- vanced position and played so important a part, has resulted in about eight hundred thousand communicants in the brotherhood of " The Disciples" throughout the United States alone.
UNIVERSALIST CHURCH .*
In September, 1807, the Rev. Hosea Ballou, before a congre- gation gathered in the Court House, preached the first Univer- salist sermon ever heard in Danbury. For some years after this the Universalists were dependent upon chance ministers for all they heard of their interpretation of the Gospel.
In 1822 a society was organized by twelve men whose names were Ebenezer Nichols, William Patch, Miles Hoyt, Philo R. White, Stephen Ambler, Zadock Stephens, Ira R. Wildman, Thomas P. White, William Peck, Joel Taylor, Andrew Andrews, and Stephen Gregory.
These twelve pioneers of the organization have all passed on
* Contributed by Rev. James Vincent.
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to the larger life, and many others, who in after years joined them in the work, have since joined them also in the other country. Many of these were well-known citizens of Danbury. One of them, known throughout the civilized world as a success- ful business man, and known also as a generous giver of large sums of money to Universalist institutions, made his home in a neighboring city, and was loyal to the faith throughout a busy life. This was Hon. P. T. Barnum, who for several years was clerk of this society.
For more than a year after the organization there was no settled minister, but in 1824 Rev. Thomas F. King, father of the bril- liant and honored T. Starr King, became the pastor.
It will not be necessary to name the pastors who have led the way through the intervening years. A number of them are living, and some are prominent among the thinkers and workers of the denomination. The longest pastorate was that of Rev. D. M. Hodge, who remained here working faithfully for ten years.
Since the resignation of Rev. Mr. Hodge, in 1880, brief pastor- ates have been held by Revs. A. J. Aubrey, Alonzo Chase, W. J. Crosley, and E. A. Horton.
The experience of varying good and ill that has attended the society has not been without good results. It has developed self-reliance and loyalty to an outspoken Christian belief. The old-time persecutions have left no hurt. They were the outcome of intense zeal, and at least a partial eclipse of understanding.
Universalists and all other Christians have advanced since then, and the discoveries of science and the deeper study of the nature of man have prepared all for a better understanding of the kingdom of God in the world.
Attempts at ignoring the Christianity of the Universalist Church there may be in unions for the enlarging of church in- terest, but such attempts are small and will be outgrown when those who make them realize that the hymns they sing, such as "Nearer, my God, to Thee," " Watchman, Tell us of the Night," " One Sweetly Solemn Thought," "In the Cross of Christ I Glory," are each and all the expressions of hearts that were de- voted adherents of the Universalist faith. Such a church can afford to be ignored or persecuted, but the great thinking, seek- ing, waiting world of mankind cannot long afford to have it so.
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Its faith in God and human destiny is spreading in all churches and outside all, and ere long credit will be given to whom credit is due.
The first church edifice which the society erected occupied the corner of Wooster and Main streets, and was dedicated Septem- ber, 1833. This was afterward sold to the Roman Catholic society, and is still in its possession. The church on Liberty Street was then built and dedicated in the spring of 1852.
But once more the circumstances of the time, and the desire of the society for larger opportunities of usefulness, called for another change of location.
The project for a new Universalist church in Danbury had been for some years working in the wishes and hopes of a num- ber of the earnest adherents of that system of Christian belief. The building on Liberty Street, where for years past they had worshipped, was not adapted to the growing needs and oppor- tunities of Universalism in these times, and in this growing city. These people realized that here, as also in every other city and village where the relationship of man to God and the question of human duty and destiny enter into the common thought, there was need of a house of worship that would fitly represent an interpretation of Christianity that is outspoken in advocacy of the fatherhood of God and the rights and obligations of man, and that answers the questions and supplies the religious needs of many who have earnestly sought for satisfaction in other statements of faith, and have found it not.
This project began to take definite shape in the early summer of 1891. Thrilled by the personal presence and enthusiasm of Dr. J. H. Chapin, then President of the Connecticut Universal- ist Convention, the Danbury Universalists resolved to rise and build. The decisive step was taken when Joseph T. Bates, of Danbury, and Mrs. Laura Scott, of Ridgefield, each subscribed $5000. Other pledges followed, and the lot on upper Main Street was purchased for $12,000.
Soon afterward the Rev. James Vincent became pastor of the society. The contract for the building was given to the firm of Foster Brothers, and all departments of the proposed work began that forward movement, the outcome of which is already ap- parent in the new church and the growing society which it represents.
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The dimensions of the building are sixty-four by ninety feet. There is a substantial cellar wall, and numerous brick piers sup- port the floor timbers. The ashler work of the granite founda- tion is excellently done with stone of the best quality. The walls are of North Haven brick, the belts, window-sills and caps, voussoirs of arches, quoins, buttresses, offsets, shafts, bases and caps of columns, all being of brown stone. The tower with spire surmounted by a bronze finial is one hundred and twenty-five feet in height.
There are two ornamental porches, one on the front of the tower, the other on the south side of the building. The columns of these are of turned brown stone. The main entrance is through the tower on the southwest corner. The pulpit is directly opposite in the northeast corner. The floor inclines gently toward the pulpit. The ceiling is finished in ash, while the pews and other furnishings are all of quartered oak. Just back of and a few inches higher than the pulpit platform is the choir loft, in the rear of which is the beautiful new organ con- structed by the Harrisons of New York. The windows give to the interior a mellow amber tint that is pleasing and restful. The large front window, with its simple but beautiful design, is the gift of Cola S. and Miss Carrie B. Peck, as a memorial of their father and mother, who for many years were devoted workers in the church. The pulpit is given by Miss Tomlinson's Sunday-school class as a memorial of A. A. Heath, another faith- ful Universalist, for a long time superintendent of the Sunday- school. The communion-table is the gift of relatives and friends in memory of one well and wide known and loved, Colonel Nathan Dibble. There will also be a memorial to Lucy Scofield, warmly cherished in the memory of many as one of the tried and true.
Directly in the rear of the auditorium is the large Sunday- school room, so connected by sliding doors that at any time it can be made a part of it, thus affording seating capacity for more than five hundred people.
The other entrance through the south porch leads to the Sun- day-school room, to a parlor on the same floor, and also to a broad staircase leading to a second floor, where there is another parlor, a kitchen, and a large and attractive banquet hall fin- ished in cypress wood, and having all the conveniences necessary
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for social gatherings, fairs, suppers, and any work or pleasure that may justly accord with the life of a vigorous Christian church. The entire building is heated by three furnaces, and lighted with gas and electricity.
The Building Committee are Luman L. Hubbell, Cola S. Peck, Miles D. Washburn, Martin W. Foster, Joseph T. Bates, and the Rev. James Vincent, pastor.
On Sunday, September 10th, 1893, with Rev. J. Smith Dodge, D.D., as the preacher, this church was dedicated to the Father- hood of God, the brotherhood of the human race, the genuine life of the Christlike religion, and a confident assurance of its ultimate and complete triumph in the bringing of all mankind to the love of righteousness, thus saving them from ignorance and loss, sin and sorrow, and making the life that now is and that which is to come a blessing to the whole world.
With the completion of the new church the opportunity offered itself and the necessary machinery was at hand for what may be called a new era for Universalism in Danbury.
That opportunity has not been left unused, and the machinery of the new structure has been made operative in developing the social, doctrinal, and devotional life and influence of a church thus dedicated to the worship of God and the welfare of man. As the foundation of its faith is the Fatherhood of God, so the method of its work is home and freedom, and its aim the culti- vation of the thoughtful and reverent Christian mind.
Various departments are organized for special lines of effort, all to concentrate upon the task of making life sacred, helpful, and glad. Among these are the Society, the Church, the Sun- day-school, the Ladies' Social, the Women's Mission Circle, the Young People's Christian Union, and the Thursday Night Con- ference.
One and a half years have passed since the beginning of this new era. There have been no spasms of religious feeling, no sensational methods, but steady, persistent work, the results of which appear in the fact that the Sunday-school has doubled its numbers, the ladies' membership multiplied by three, and the congregation quadrupled in average attendance. The other inter- ests of the church have also increased in value and efficiency, and the outlook for the years to come is full of promise for Universalism and the Universalists of Danbury.
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ST. PETER'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH .*
The first Catholic priest on the records of Danbury was the Rev. Father Ryan, who came here in 1834. He was one of the old-style and austere fathers, and labored indefatigably for the establishment of his church in the town, but he was not destined to see the full fruition of his labors, for he was called away ere their accomplishment. He preached about in the houses, and his parochial limits included New Milford, Bethel, Redding, Ridgefield, Georgetown, and Newtown. He was followed in 1853 by the Rev. Father Smith, who succeeded in securing and establishing a regular place of worship on the corner of Main and Wooster streets, for those days a very comfortable place of worship, and sufficiently ample for all purposes.
Father Smith's pastorate was comparatively short, and he was succeeded by Father Kelly, who does not seem to have advanced the interests of the church in any great degree, and who leaves no record of any particular work. He was succeeded by the Rev. Father Dray. This priest is well remembered by a great major- ity of our Irish citizens, who were at that time young people. He officiated at the marriages of a number of our most thriving and influential citizens of Irish extraction, who have now flour- ishing families in town.
He was followed by the Rev. Ambrose Manahan, a very learned man, who possessed the title of D.D. He bought what has been known as the old Catholic Church from the Second Congrega- tional Society in 1863. Shortly after the purchase he added to the building, and did much to further the interests of the church, but was called to other work, and was succeeded by the well- known Father Sheridan, after whom a street in Danbury is named. Father Sheridan proved to be not only a progressive man, but an energetic, and he commenced the building of the present St. Peter's Church. It was at that time a gigantic under- taking, but it had no fears for him, and after years of hard labor in overcoming difficulties that seemed insurmountable, before his removal from Danbury he had the pleasure of seeing the roof placed on the present handsome structure. But to his suc- cessor, Rev. John Quinn, was reserved the honor of completing the work, and in January, 1876, the late Vicar-General Hughes
* Contributed by Rev. Father Lynch.
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performed the rite of dedication. The remainder of the pastor- ate of Father Quinn is remembered as the time of a great agita- tion of the total abstinence question, for which Father Quinn was an able and earnest advocate. Under his hand the number of members in the local temperance society swelled to hundreds ; nearly all the young boys of the parish were enrolled in a society of temperance cadets, and there was founded the temperance band, afterward St. Peter's Band, out of which evolved the present Danbury Band. After several years of zealous labor Father Quinn was prostrated by a long and tedious sickness, and as his recovery was slow, the bishop thought it prudent to name Rev. M. R. Lawlor as Father Quinn's successor.
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