History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 168

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532

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On the dismission of the first pastor, Rev. John Churchill was, by unanimous call, installed over the church April 22, 1840, and presided over it for a period of twenty-seven and a half years, closing his labors on the last Sabbath in September, 1867. Mr. Churchill was a logical and forcible preacher, and very success-

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ful in his labors. One hundred and ninety-seven were added to the church during his ministry, and at its close almost the entire congregation were members of it.

The church remained without a settled pastor till 1874, when the Rev. W. L. R. Wychorf, of New Jersey, commenced his labors, was settled over it, and still continues his ministrations to the acceptance of his people, and with marked success.

For nearly seventy years after the settlement of the town there were no churches within its limits, except those of the Congregational, or "Standing Order." Our fathers emigrated to this country to enjoy their religion, not only free from persecution, but without interruption from Christians of different sentiments. They were desirous, as all churches had been before them, of maintaining a uniformity of doctrine and worship. Correct views of religious liberty had not then been held in any Christian country, and tolera- tion was not a virtue of that age. But our fathers were far in advance of the rest of the world in learn- ing and adopting that truly Christian virtue. By the very first code of laws ever published in the colony, in 1672, all denominations of Christians were allowed to worship God in their own way, provided they did not commit a breach of the peace. It is true that all were obliged to contribute to the regular minister ; but this was but carrying out a contract on the part of the people, for the only price they paid for their lands consisted in bearing their pro rata share of the amount paid the Indians, the joint expenses of re- moval, the expense of building roads, bridges, school- houses, church buildings, and the support of that mode of worship unanimously established by the first founders of the several towns. New-comers, who, as soon as they arrived, were admitted to all the privi- leges of the original planters, had no right to com- plain of the necessity of bearing the same burdens as the rest. But at a very early day even this provision was changed, so that every one paid his tax to the pastor of his choice.

A short time previous to 1740 some few families in this town adopted the sentiments of the Church of England, and at that date were occasionally supplied by the ministers of the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." Soon after this a church edifice was erected in the town, on the hill between Transylvania and Roxbury Centre. After the erection of the Second Congregational church, in 1747, on the site now occupied by the Soldiers' Mon- ument, the old first church was used by the Episco- palians for public worship till the erection of their present church, in 1785. In 1771, Rev. John R. Mar- shall assumed the charge of the parish, having been ordained by the Bishop of London the same year. The parish flourished under his administration, and by his piety, devotion, address, and perseverance he laid the foundations deep and sure of this now flourishing church.

A most important and interesting event in the his- tory of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Connec- tieut, and indeed of the United States, occurred in Woodbury soon after the declaration of peace in 1783. The priesthood of this church were under an oath of allegiance to the sovereign of Great Britain. But America had been acknowledged as an independ- ent nation. Of course there was no bishop then for the United States. Under the rules of the church this was a matter of prime necessity, and how to ob- tain one, with the proper ecclesiastical consecration and appointment, was the great question which en- gaged the attention of the believers in this form of church government. It was necessary to select, and get the consent of some one to go to Great Britain and seek consecration. Previous to this time all those who desired to enter the Episcopal ministry were obliged to go to the old country for holy orders.

Rev. John Rutgers Marshall, of Woodbury, was the last but one of those candidates who went from Con- necticut on the perilous and expensive voyage across the ocean for holy orders. He had been reared in the .eity of New York. For a time he was a merchant in Stratford; but in the summer of 1770, when he was more than twenty-seven years of age, we find him studying divinity with Dr. Johnson of that town, pre- paring to come to Woodbury to preach the gospel. He was graduated at Kings, now Columbia College, of New York, as Bachelor of Arts, in 1770. His di- ploma, in beautifully written Latin on parchment, is before me as I now write. He received the degree of Master of Arts in regular course two years subse- quent to his ordination, he having returned from England in the autumn of 1771, "licensed and au- thorized," by the Bishop of London, "to perform the office of a minister or priest at Woodbury, or else- where within the province of Connecticut, in North America." He settled here, and preached to the members of his persnasion in all this region.

It was in the last week of March, 1783, just after the publication of the articles of peace, that ten mis- sionaries of the Episcopal Church met in Woodbury, at the house of Rev. Mr. Marshall, far away from the centres of influence and observation, to select some one to proceed to England for consecration as a bishop. The meeting was " kept a profound seerct, even from their most intimate friends of the laity." The meet- ing, of course, was informal, but they nominated Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury for the office, and he was conse- crated at Aberdeen, Nov. 14, 1784.

Mr. Marshall's old house, in which this event, so important to the Episcopal Church of this country, occurred, is still standing in the midst of our village, and in a good state of preservation. The church here should purchase it, and preserve it as a memorial of the important event which occurred in it.

As carly as 1790 services of the Methodist Church were held in Woodbury, at first in the open air, under Lodge Rock, by Samuel Wigdon, and afterwards, for

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about twenty years, in the dwelling-house of " Father" Elijah Sherman, till the erection of a church edifice, which has within a few years been modernized and rendered commodious and convenient. This church has been a prosperous one.

For quite a number of years priests of the Catholic Church from Waterbury, Naugatuck, Ansonia, and New Milford have held services in the Town Hall about once in two weeks. The congregation is now qnite large, and they have bought a site for a church edifice, and are raising a fund to build it.

Thus have we traced our way through the long years of the dim and dusty records of the early fathers, and we cannot leave these communings with the past without regret. We part with the actors as from old friends with whom we have journeyed long. There is an interest lingering about the history, say- ings, and doings of those iron-hearted men which belongs to no later generation. The most trivial de- tails in regard to them seem important, and we gather them up with ever-increasing admiration.

CHAPTER LXXV. WOODBURY (Continued). MILITARY HISTORY.

French and Indian Wars-War of the Revolution-War Convention at Litchfield in 1766-Town-Meetings in 1774-Boston Alarm-Commit- tee of Observation-Capturo of Ticonderoga and Crown Point by Woodbury Men-Woodbury the Birthplace of Col. Ethan Allen, Col. Seth Warner, and Capt. Remember Baker-Tories-Events of 1775- Events of 1776-Events of 1777-Events of 1778-Sbadrach Osborn -- Commissary Supplies-Events of 1779-Events of 1780-Volunteers till New York Should be Taken-Events of 1781 and 1782-Conclu- sion.

ANCIENT Woodbury has ever been a military town from the time of King Philip's war, in 1675, where, as we have seen, it had a larger number of soldiers in the service than any other town in the colony in pro- portion to the number of its inhabitants, through the French and Indian wars, the war of the Revolution, when it sent more than sixteen hundred men to the field, the last war with Great Britain, when it fur- nished more than two hundred men, down to the war of the great Rebellion, when it furnished more than its quota, and more than two hundred and sixty men. In every war, and on every "alarm," the men of Woodbury have been found at the post of duty per- forming feats of valor. For that fruitless and fatal expedition under Gen. Nicholson, for the reduction of Montreal and Quebec, in 1709, Woodbury, still the frontier forest-town, furnished its full quota of men, being nine, two of whom died from exposure at Wood Creek. Among the forces under the American com- mander, who was obliged to execute that most un- righteous and cruel decree for the dispersion of the un- happy inhabitants of Acadia among the New England colonies, tearing the nnoffending and peaceful people

from their loved and beautiful firesides, were soldiers from our old Puritan town, and nine of those sorrow- ful victims of England's gross injustice were sent into exile upon the outskirts of our town, to be kept at la- bor nnder the direction of the selectmen. From 1744 to 1759 our town freely furnished her sturdy sons for all those ill-managed and desolating wars between Great Britain and France. Col. Benjamin Hinman and Capt. Adam Hinman greatly distinguished them- selves in these campaigns, although the regular troops constantly domineered over the provincials. As soon as the drum at the "alarm-posts" in our peaceful shades sounded the note of preparation for the relief of Fort William Henry, near Lake George, that beautiful sheet of water once so peacefully resting between its rampart of highlands, the gallant cap- tains Wait Hinman and Ebenezer Downs, the former at the head of his company of ninety-six men, and the latter leading his company of eighty, marched at a moment's warning, and made their rapid way through many a trackless and weary solitude to snc- cor their English brethren. In Hinman's company marched Hezekiah Thompson, the first regular lawyer in the village, and Dr. Joseph Perry, one of its most distinguished physicians. And in that final, glorious campaign, conducted under the administration and auspices of the energetic, brilliant, and renowned Pitt, in those important victories resulting in the capture of Forts Niagara, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point, and in the more glorious event, the surrender of Quebec to the victorious army under Wolfe, who met his death in the battle-field, and whose "spirit escaped in a blaze of glory," in all these celebrated engagements the men of Woodbury, both officer and soldier, stood in the first rank. Valuable, indeed, was this school of military services, which closed with this campaign, to our fathers, who were so soon to engage in a life-and-death struggle for their own lib- erties. Great was the rejoicing in Woodbury when the news of the last great victory arrived, not un- mingled with sorrow at the loss of the slain, three of whom had gone forth from our hearth-stones. Like demonstrations of joy were everywhere shown. In the eloquent words of Bancroft, "America rang with exultation ; the towns were bright with illumination; Legislatures, the pulpit, the press, echoed the general joy ; provinces and families gave thanks to God."

But in a far more glorious chapter of our country's history the patriotic sons of Woodbury acted a noble and distinguished part. It was the chapter of the war for independence. It had been generally known that at the end of the war with France new regula- tions would be introduced into the government of the American colonies. Connecticut, in particular, was said to be but " little more than a mere democracy, most of them being upon a level, and each man thinking himself an able divine and politician ;" and to make its inhabitants "a good sort of people, it was supposed all that was necessary was to take away its charter

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and crush its energies." The mother-country had forgotten its experience in the Charter Oak affair, by which it should have learned that this would not be so easy a thing as might be desirable. So she, in the magnitude of her towering pride, said, " Let the col- onies be taxed, and let there be no representation." What a world of interests was affected by that stern and unjust decision ! Little dreamed he who spake it that it would inflame a continent, and rend from old England her fairest possession. But the word had heen spoken, the decree gone forth. With a fatal madness, an unaccountable folly, she took her furious course. Her children, driven by her intolerance into the savage wilds of a distant continent, were pursued with a ruthless barbarity. She little knew, and little cared, if far away over the mighty Atlantic her arbi- trary acts were creating "the land of the free and the home of the brave." From this came the war of the Revolution, to blast the dearest hopes of the people of the new world. Yet from its gloomy shades głeamed forth the light of liberty, which to-day shines with such dazzling splendor.

The passage of the Stamp Act aroused the most in- tense excitement, alarm, and indignation throughout the colonies. Absolute resistance to this measure everywhere appeared, and as early as February, 1766, a convention of Litchfield County was held, in which the noble men of Woodbury were leading spirits. This body of men, feeling within them the true spirit of freedom, "Resolved, That the Stamp Act was uncon- stitutional, null, and void, and that business of all kinds should go on as usual." The paramount and immediate cause of the great struggle of the Revolu- tion was the passage of the Boston Port Bill. This outrageous and malicious act excited universal sym- pathy for that town throughout the colonies, but no- where was it shown in a more lively or effective manner than in Connecticut. The universal spirit of resistance broke out in Woodbury, and in September, 1774, a town-meeting was held, at which resolutions of sympathy with the affected people of Boston and Charlestown were passed, and a considerable amount of donations was collected and forwarded to Boston with all possible dispatch. This meeting was held just after the "great Boston alarm," caused by a report that ships of war were cannonading Boston. During this alarm a large number of the patriotic sons of Woodbury had marched in mad haste, and made a part of that glorious twenty thousand from Connecticut, who, completely arined, put themselves on the route to Boston to relieve their brother sufferers. It was soon apparent that war with the mother-coun- try was inevitable, and the great object of our Revo- lutionary sires was to form public opinion in favor of a contest with England. This was best effected in that day of scarcity of newspapers by holding town-meet- ings, in which they could publicly read such news- papers as treated upon the subject of common interest, and discuss their rights and grievances. In this way

the people became excited and exasperated, and pa- triotism glowed in the coldest hearts. The fathers of Woodbury were fully up to the spirit of the times, and held frequent meetings to advise concerning the publie weal. In November, 1774, Woodbury held a town-meeting, and appointed a committee to observe the acts of the inhabitants in relation to the non- importation and non-consumption agreement of the united colonies, with directions to publish in the Gazette the names of all violators of that sacred agree- ment, to the end that all such persons might "be publicly known and universally contemned," agree- ing to break off all dealings with such persons as should be guilty of such violation.

There can be no better way of appreciating the trials, dangers, and difficulties of achieving our inde- pendence than by carefully noting the labors and struggles of a single important town. One furnishes a type of the whole. In that great contest Connecti- eut was one of the foremost, if not the very first, States in the confederacy to resist the tyranny of Great Britain, and to lavish her blood and treasure in sus- taining the conflict with her oppressors. Her soldiers were frequently applauded by the commander-in-chief of the American army for their bravery and fidelity. The honor of the first conquest made by the united colonies during the war belongs chiefly to Connecti- cut, and in a distinguishing manner to the sons of Woodbury. It was the capture of Ticonderoga, May 10, 1775, without the loss of a man or the firing of a gun, one of the most brilliant and daring feats of the war. At least one-half of that little patriotic band of eighty-three men who entered the fort were natives or inhabitants of Woodbury. They were led by Col. Ethan Allen,* Col. Seth Warner, and Capt. Remen- ber Baker, cousins and natives of Woodbury, then re- siding in the "New Hampshire Grants," and on the demand of the former, in the "name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," the com- mander of the fort rubbed his eyes in astonishment and yielded the fortress. Neither the demeanor of the man, the boldness of his message, nor the nature of his authority could be gainsaid for a moment. This post, and that of Crown Point, which was imme-

* In placing the name of Ethan Allen in the list of natires of Wood- bury, the writer is well aware that the honor of having been his birth- place has been claimed by several other towns. Litchfield, Cornwall, und Salisbury have been competitors in this contest. It la vory certain, fram an examination of evory serap of ovhlence that has ever been found, that there can be no competitor with Woodbury, except Litchfield, and Litchfield has only this to show, that on the first page of the first volume of its town records, thirteen years after the birth of General Allen, Its dato is recorded, with other Allen entries. All there is of this consists in the fact that Allon's grandmother, with some children, hud removed front the country to Litchfield, his father, Joseph, Included. Joseph married Mary Bukor, of Woodbury, at Woodbury, March 11, 1730-37, nearly four years after ho bail sold his Inst rud of land in Litchfield ; and Gon. Ethan married Mary Brownson, of Woodbury, at Woodbury, June 23, 1762, and was tho owner of land in Woodbury some years after this For a careful statement of the proof as to Gen. Allen's place of birth, the writer refers to the first volume of his " History of Ancient Woodbury," pages 411 to 416. In view of the facts there stated there can be no doubt that Wood- bury was Allen's birthplace.

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diately taken by Col. Warner, being thus acquired, Connecticut was obliged to garrison, and in 1775 sent one thousand men for this purpose, eight companies of whom were from the limits of this ancient town, containing at least one hundred and fifty men, eighty of whose names are still preserved. The garrisons were placed under the command of Col. Hinman, of Woodbury. Is it then vainglorious in her sons if to- day they claim it to be essentially a Woodbury affair ? Truly to her brave children must be awarded the palm for securing this opening victory to the Ameri- can arms.

Woodbury was noted for the vigilance with which it watched the movements of the Tories within its borders, of whom it had a few, as well as for its active co-operation in everything necessary to carry on the great struggle, which had now begun in good earnest. A committee of inspection and observation of the conduct of the inhabitants of the town was appointed, consisting of thirty of its chief men, and undoubted patriots, which exercised its functions during the whole war, vacancies in the board being filled from time to time by the town. The duties which this committee were obliged to perform were of the most delicate and difficult nature, and constituted such an oversight and interference in men's private affairs as could only be justified by such a case of emergency as was then existing. But they were men in whom all had confidence, and upon whom entire dependence could be placed in times of difficulty and danger.

During the first two years of the war the larger part of the militia, which comprised all the able- bodied men from the age of sixteen to fifty, had been called to serve at various posts and on various expedi- tions a great part of the time. Early in 1777 enlistments for three years or during the war were called for, and the quota for each town was established. It was a severe levy on the already weakened state of the town. But it met the call with a ready zeal and undaunted perseverance. Large bounties were offered to those who would enlist, and heavy taxes were laid on the inhabitants who were not liable to do duty or did not enlist in the army. Another arrangement, besides increased wages, held out by the town to induce men to enlist, was a provision which required it to support their families during their absence in their country's service, and committees were annually appointed to carry this provision into effect. From a report to the General Assembly at the close of the war, in 1783, we learn that nearly three thousand pounds worth of provisions had in this manner been furnished to

soldiers' families during the war. Woodbury was also a prominent point for collecting supplies of pro- visions for the army. The streets of the village from the First Congregational church to the soldiers' mon- ument were often piled high on either side with bar- rels and hogsheads of pork, beef, lard, flour, and other military stores for the use of the army. Nor was the sup- ply of clothing of every kind less profuse in quantity

for the wants of the soldiers of the town. In March, 1778, clothing to the value of more than one thousand dollars was forwarded to them at one time. Besides the provisions thus furnished by the town for the army during the war, large quantities were purchased of the inhabitants by Shadrach Osborn, of Woodbury, who was assistant commissary of purchases, and also issuing commissary. From his accounts and other sources we learn that more than half a million dollars' worth of supplies was furnished by this town towards the grand amount necessary to achieve our country's independence. This is a showing of which any town may be justly proud.

Such was the care of the town to support and de- fend those nearest and dearest to the brave men who were manfully fighting the battles, and consecrating with their blood every battle-field of their country. Such was the anxious care for the soldiers them- selves. Those who went forth to war suffered extreme hardships, in common with their brethren from other parts of the country ; and those who remained at home suffered hardships hardly less severe, in the heavy taxes necessary to pay for the soldiers' bounties, and for the support of their families, while their own busi- ness was crippled and nearly ruined.

All this was accomplished under the pressure of most unparalleled financial difficulties. The Conti- nental money, by means of British counterfeiting and the unavoidable loss of credit, arising from so long and sanguinary a struggle, constantly depreciated, and at last became nearly valueless. So great was the depreciation that, when the soldiers of the Conti- nental army were discharged, after the peace of 1783, many of them were forced to beg their way home, their wages for a service so long and weary being scarcely sufficient to purchase them a dinner.

But Woodbury, in a far more important manner, contributed towards a successful issue of the dispute with Great Britain. This was accomplished by send- ing large numbers of her best sons to the field of bat- tle. In the number and valor of her troops it is believed that few towns of similar territorial and nu- merical strength can vie with her. Their heroic deeds should grace a bright page of our country's history. During the course of the war more than sixteen hun- dred of her patriotic sons went forth to " do battle for their country." At the commencement of the war, Col. Hinman's, or the Thirteenth Regiment of mili- tia, comprised only the three towns of Woodbury, Kent, and New Milford, and all these were within the limits of the original Indian deed. Ancient Woodbury furnished eight out of the twelve com- panies that composed it, and the number of soldiers furnished from them for the Continental army, in 1775, exclusive of the company that marched in the "Lexington alarm," was at least one hundred and fifty, as that was the number whose "poll-taxes" were abated that year by the General Assembly on account of their service. At least an equal number

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between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one must have been in the ranks, who had no poll-taxes to be abated.

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 168

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.) Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1532

Author: J.W. Lewis & Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1532