USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > History of Litchfield county, Connecticut > Part 175
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Dr. Babcock left but two children to survive him, viz., Caroline Vassar Babcock Jones, wife of Horatio Gates Jones, Esq., of Philadelphia, a member of the bar, and a senator in the Pennsylvania Legislature ; the other, Harriet Shepherd Weeks, wife of James H. Weeks, Esq., a member of the Poughkeepsie bar, in Dutchess Co., N. Y.
UNITED STATES SENATORS ELECTED FROM LITCHI- FIELD COUNTY.
Firel chosea.
No. years. 11
Uriah Tracy, Litchfieldl .
1796
Elijah Boardman, New Milford ...
1821*
Perry Smith, New Milford.
1836
6
Truman Smith, Litchfield.
1849
5
MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ELECTED FROM LITCHI- FIELD COUNTY.
First chosen,
No. years. 3
Uriah Tracy, Litchfield ....
1793
Nathaniel Smith, Woodbury
1795
John Allen, Litchfield
1797
John Cotton Smith, Sharon
1800
Benjamin Tallmadge, Litchfield.
1801
16
Uriel Holmes, Litchfield.
1817
Ansel Sterling, Sharon ..
1821
Orange Morwin, New Milford
1825
Jabez W. Huntington, Litchfield.
1820
Phineas Miner, Litchfield.
1834
Lancelot Phelps, Colebrook 1835
Truman Smith, Litchfield.
1839
Origen S. Seymour, Litchfield
1851
William W. Welch, Norfolk
1855
George C. Woodruff, Litchfield ..
1861
John Il. Hubbard, Litchfield
1863
William 11. Barnum, Sallebury
1867
10
Frederick Miles, Sallsbury
1870
4
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, LITCHFIELD.
The matter of erecting a monument to the mem- ory of the patriot dead of Litchfield who fell during
the war of 1861-65 was undertaken by the ladies of the town in 1868, and a committee, consisting of Mrs. L. W. Wessells, Mrs. Rufus Smith, Mrs. H. D. Kilborn, Mrs. E. R. Wadhams, Mrs. H. R. Coit, and Mrs. C. Hinsdale, were appointed to attempt raising the necessary funds. This was done by individual subscriptions of one dollar, and the balance by means of fairs and entertainments of various kinds, and was placed in the East Park, in the centre of the village, in June, 1871. It was made by H. F. & G. E. Bissell, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and cost something more than two thousand dollars.
It is of white marble, about twenty feet high, and of fine workmanship.
Three sides of the base contain the names of those who were killed in action or died in service, and the fourth represents very handsomely a cavalryman and infantryman, with cannon, muskets, flags, etc., and the column is inscribed with the various battles in which the soldiers were engaged.
The following are the inscriptions:+
On the west :
ROLL OF HONOR. KILLEN IN ACTION.
Cold Harbor, Va., June 1, 1864.
Luman Wadhams, Capt., Co. A, 2d C. V. II. A.
Joseph Parke, First Sergt.
Albert E. Jonca, Corp.
George W. Potter.
Charlee Adams, Jr.
Apolloa Moree.
Robert Watt.
Lyman J. Smith, Jr.
Andrew J. Brooker.
John Iflland.
Patrick Ryan.
Almon J. Bradley.
Willard II. Parmalee.
Joseph E. Camp, Co. K.
North Anna, Va., May 26, 1864. Henry W. Wadhams, Lieut., Co. C, 14th C. V. I.
Petersburg, Fa.
George B. Ilempsted, Lt., Co. II, 2d C. V. Il. A., June 22, 186-1 E. Goodwin Osborn, Sergt., 2d C. V. II. A., March 25, 1865.
Fort Harrison, l'u.
Thon. Mckinley, Lieut., Co. B, 29th C. V. I., June 3, 1865. Seth Plumb, Ist Sergt., Co. E, 8th C. V. 1., Sept. 29, 1804.
On the north :
ROLL OF HONOR.
KILLED IN ACTION.
Fisher's Hill, Va., Sept. 22, 1864.
David B. Wooster, Q. M .- Sorgt., 21 C. V. II. A.
Chancellorsville, Y'a.
Walter IInle, Co. C, 20th O. V. I., May 3, 1863.
Winchester, Y'a., Sept. 19, 1864.
Willlam S. Bulkley, Liaut., Co. A, 12th C. V. I. llorace Hubbard, Co. Il, 2d C. V. II. A.
Ilirani T. Cooley, Co. D.
Franklin Bunnell, Co. A, Sept. 26.
t The Nineteenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry and Second Con- necticut Volunteer licavy Artillery are the same, the Nineteenth being transformed into the Second ConnectIcul Volunteer Ileavy Artillery.
· Died In office.
3426614451484224 4 4 1 4 5 1 4 2
.
728
SUPPLEMENT.
Fort Darling, Va., May 16, 1864.
Edward Wadhams, Ist Sergt., 8th C. V. I.
Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862.
George Booth, Corp., Co. E, 8th C. V. I. Morton W. Castle, Co. C.
Thomas Mason, Co. E.
DIED. Alexandria, Va.
Frederick B. Webster, Corp., Co. D, 19th C. V.'I., Nov. 5, 1862. Watson Parmalee, Co. A, Nov. 11, 1862. Albert P. Newberry, Co. A, April 18, 1863.
Henry W. Minor, Co. A, Feb. 14, 1863.
Edwin F. Perkios, Co. A, 2d C. V. H. A., Aug. 25, 1864.
David M. Candee, Andersonville.
On the east side :
DIED.
Harwinton, Conn., Oct. 12, 1863. *
Norman L. Barber, Co. A, 19th C. V. I.
Hatteras Inlet, Jan. 30, 1862.
Francis Barber, Co. E, 8th C. V. I. Newbern.
George W. Baldwin, Co. E, 8th C. V. I., March 22, 1862. Francis A. Newcomb, Co. E, 8th C. V. I., May 14, 1862. Sylvanus M. Clark, Co. E, 8th C. V. I., March 14, 1862.
Georgetown, D. C.
John Tompkins, Co. E, 8th C. V. I., Sept. 7, 1862.
Jerome Nichols, Co. E, 8th C. V. I., Oct. 17, 1863. Charles L. Castle, Co. C, 8th C. V. I., Ang. 4, 1864. New Orleans, La.
Rufus M. Bissell, Co. F, 12th C. V. I., Aug. 31, 1862. Charles Catlin, Co. I, 13th C. V. 1., Sept. 2, 1863. Enos Tompkins, Co. A, Ist C. V. C., July 16, 1862.
James B. Beach, Corp., Co. K, 23d C. V. I., Aug. 22, 1863.
Hunter's Chapel, Va.
Elliot Barse, Co. E, 4th N. Y. C., Jan. 9, 1862. Beaufort. Luman Lampman, Co. I, 30th C. V. I., Aug. 21, 1864.
Bermuda Hundred.
Thomas Dickinson, Co. D, 30th C. V. I., Aug. 22, 1864.
Aiken's Landing.
James Edwards, 30th C. V. I., March 4, 1865. Brownsville, Texas.
Henry H. Bunnell, Sergt., Co. A, 29th C. V. I.
The following were also killed, but their names do not appear on the monument :
Capt. Luman Wadhams, killed June 1, 1864. Lieut. Henry W. Wadhams, killed May 26, 1864.
First Sergt. Edward Wadhams, killed May 16, 1864.
The above were brothers, sons of a widow, and fine soldiers.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, CORNWALL.
Methodism in New England was founded, under God, by the bold evangelist, Jesse Lee, in the year 1789, he being the first preacher appointed to the State of Connecticut by the New York Conference of that year. He arrived at Norwalk on the 11th day of June, 1789, and preached his first sermon on the 17th of that month, by the roadside, under the shade of an apple-tree, to about twenty hearers, from John iii. 7: " Ye must be born again."
" Litchfield Circuit was founded about the begin- ning of the year 1790, and comprehended all the
northwestern portion of Connecticut," says Stephens' " History of Methodism," "and Samuel Wigton and Henry Christie were the first preachers appointed by the Conference to travel this circt it, during the eccle- siastical year of 1790-91. Cornwall was for many years embraced within its boundaries."
So far as we have any authentic information, the first Methodist sermon preached in Cornwall was by Freeborn Garrettson, who "entered the northwestern angle of Connecticut at Sharon, on the 20th of June, 1790," and on the 22d, "after riding fifteen miles, preached in a Presbyterian meeting-honse to some hundreds" from "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinners appear?" The mceting-house referred to was undoubtedly the one which stood on the ground now occupied by the school- house at Corwall Centre. He preached again in Corn- wall on Saturday, July 24, 1790, and found, he says, " that the Lord had begun a blessed work in this town." These were among the first of the sowing of the seeds of Methodism iu Cornwall.
It is said, on good authority, that Elward Rogers, Esq., one of the leading spirits of his ige, and i man greatly respected, invited the first Methodist m ister to preach here, because he preached " a full salva cion," in opposition to the strong Calvinistic doctrines so universally preached at that time, and which were re- pulsive to the Rogerses. His wife and two daughters hecame ardent Methodists ; one of them, Elizabeth W., married Henry Christie, one of the first preachers that traveled the circuit, who afterwards located and lived in Cornwall more than twenty years, much of the time at the place now occupied by William W. Baldwin, where he continued to assis. his "itinerant brethren" as a faithful local preach ;, sharing their trials.
It is related of him "that he was summoned early one morning, before he was out of his ed, with a writ by a sheriff for marrying a couple. and was saved from a lodgment in jail only by the imely bail of a . Christian brother." He removed to Ohio in 1817, " where he continued to preach with increased fre- quency." His health now gave way, and in 1826 he sank into the repose of the grave, joy il in the hope of the first resurrection. On his death-bed, being asked how he was, he replied, " I am rear my Father's house."
It is recorded of him "that his last hours were full of special consolations and triumphs." Another daughter of Edward Rogers, Lucretin, married John Ward, whose son, John R. Ward, lived in Salisbury, Conn., recently deceased, and was so well known as a prominent man in the town, and in the Methodist Church, of which he was an exemplary member.
"The apostolic bishop of Methodism, Fran 'is As- bury, entered Connecticut on the 4th of June, 791,- a man whose ministerial labors have scarcel . been paralleled since the days of St. Paul."
On the 23d day of July, 1791, this great evangelist
729
SUPPLEMENT.
" traveled by a rocky, mountainous way to Cornwall, and preached to about one hundred and fifty hearers." He tarried in the place over the night ; tradition says that he was entertained at the home of Capt. John Peck.
The nucleus of a society thus founded was soon strengthened by the immigration to this place of Capt. John Peck, " who was the first man to join the class founded by the Rev. Jesse Lee in Stratford, Conn. He purchased the farm, and lived on the place now owned by the heirs of B. P. Johnson, at Cornwall Centre. In 1793 his house was opened for preaching, · and until his removal to the West.continned to be the place of meetings, and the itinerants' home. In 1794 further accessions were made in Samuel Agin Judson and family ; and in 1796 he bought the farm now owned by M. Beers and son of Abel Thorp, and by a residence of over fifty years he snstained by precept and example the cause of the church. In 1798 the society was further strengthened by the arrival of Allen Shepherd and his family. He purchased the farm now owned by Mrs. C. Todd, and after the removal of Capt. Peck his house became the place for meeting.
Rev. Gendon Rexford, a Methodist minister, settled on Cream Hill, iu the north part of the town, towards the close of the last century.
A class-paper of date "Cornwall, Feb. 23, 1805," records the names of Zalmon Lyon and Eben Smith as preachers on Litchfield circuit, Henry Christie as local deacon, Samuel A. Judson as class- leader, and Allen Shepherd as class steward, with thirty- one names following : Samuel A. Judson, Abiah Judson, John Peck," Mary Peck,* Holly Reed, Selah Reed, George Dibble, Huldal Hartshorn, Daniel A. Dean, Clarissa Dean, Lois Wickwire, Allen Shepherd, Anna Shepherd, Henry Reed, Sarah A. Reed, Eliza- beth Christie, Enos Northrop, Anna Northrop, Rusha Lewis, Rebekah Bishop, Nancy Wright, Rebekah Shepherd, Lucina Bishop, Jonah Dibble, John Tous- ley, Rachel Hull, Sarah Wadsworth, Saralı Ward, James Wadsworth, Hannah Rogert.
The land on which the first Methodist Episcopal church in Cornwall was built was given to Samuel A. Judson, Allen Shepherd, John Ward, trustees, and to their successors in office, by Edward Rogers and Henry Christie, by deed bearing date May 4, 1808. The building now occupied as a dwelling by Anna Kaler was soon after crected, and served as a meeting-house for about thirty years.
In 1839 the society was reorganized, as expressed in the following declaration of purposes- and desires:
" CORNWALL,, March 19, 1839.
" We, the subscribers, being desirous of forming ourselves into a legal ecclesiastical society, for the purpose of enjoying and promoting the public wor- ship of God, and in pursuance of a statute law of this
State, do hereby nnite and form a society to be known and called 'The First Episcopal Methodist Society in Cornwall,' with all the powers and immunities given to religious societies by the laws of this State.
"Samuel A. Judson, John Kellogg, Holly Reed, John'R. Harrison, Luther Miner, C. B. Crandall, Eli- phalet H. Shepherd, Clark Marvin, Julius Beardsley, John Bradford, Carrington Todd, John Whitcomb."
The present church edifice was erected in 1839. The trustees at that time were Eliphalet H. Shep- herd, Luther Miner, Carrington Todd, Julins Beards- ley, and Samnel A. Judson.
The building committee were Eliphalet H. Shep- herd, Luther Miner, Julius Beardsley, George Whea- ton, and John R. Harrison.
Below are given the names of some of those noble men of God who traversed these hills and valleys to preach the glad tidings of the gospel :
1791-92 .- Mathais Swain, James Cood.
1792-93 .- Philip Wager, James Coleman.
1793-94 .- Lemuel Smith, Daniel Ostrander.
1794-95 .- Fredns Aldridge, James Cood.
1795-96 .- Jesse Stoneman, Joseph Mitchel.
1796-97 .- Daniel Dennis, Wesley Budd.
1797-98 .- Ezekiel Canfield, William Thatcher.
1798-99 .- Ebenezer.Stevens, Frecman Bishop.
1799-1800 .- Augustus Joselyn, Aaron Hunt.
1800 .- Elijah Batchelor.
1801 .- Peter Moriarty, John Sweet.
1802 .- James Campbell, Lennan Andress.
1803 .- Caleb Morris, John Sweet.
1804 .- Zalmon Lyon, Eben Smith.
1805 .- Zalmon Lyon.
1806 .- Nathan Emery, Samuel Cochrane.
1807 .- Aaron Hunt, Jonathan Lyon.
1808 .- Harry Eames, Andrew Prindlc.
1809 .- Laban Clark, Reuben Harris.
1810 .- Laban Clark.
1811 .- James Coleman, Aaron Scolefield.
1812 .- James Coleman, Benjamin Griffin.
1813 .- William Swayze, Gad Smith, J. Reynoldy.
.
Many noble men of deep piety, consecrated to the work of the Master, and filled with the Spirit of God, have preached their one, two, and three years in Cornwall since Methodism became established here, and well and nobly they have performed their self- denying labors. They were men of more than ordi- nary ability, and believed the calling of a Methodist circuit-rider to be the highest on earth. Below will be found the names of some of these men :
P. Cook, Cyrus Culon, Nathan Emery, E. Wash- burn, Seth Cronell, Gad Smith, Henry Hatfield, Ste- phen L. Stillman, Samuel D. Ferguson, Julius Field, Elbert Osborn, Eli Barnett, John Lovejoy, A. Bush- noll, Luther Mead, L. A. Sanford, Laban Clark, A. S. , Hill, David Osborn, R. R. Reynold, Weeks M. Blydenburg, Isaac Sanford, Wmn. McAllister, S. H. Platt, T. C. Youngs, Henry Burton, R. D. Kirdy, David Nash, C. W. Powell, J. D. Bouton, S .- F. John-
Moved away.
739
SUPPLEMENT.
son, Wm. H. Stebbins, Wm. Brown, D. S. Stevens, C. S. Dikeman, F. M. Halloek, James Robinson.
Many of them, with those to whom they preached the word of life, have long since gone to their reward. The deeds and incidents of their lives are to a great extent forgotten.
George Clark came from Woodbury to Cornwall in 1800, and became identified with the first Methodist Episcopal Church; was an exhorter, a great Bible reader, and very zealous in holding meetings and other labors for Christ.
Many unassuming men and women have lived and labored and performed their life-work as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cornwall whose names will never appear, aud whose graces will not be alluded to by the historians of earth, but they are all recorded in the great record book on high.
This church has truly been a vine of the Master's planting. Its influences for good cannot be deter- mined in time. Its children and representatives have gone out into other and various fields of Chris- tian duty, many of these worthily honoring them- selves and their mother-church.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN NEW MILFORD.
.
There must have been Episcopalians in New Mil- ford earlier, but the first allusion to them occurs in " The record of a town-meeting in 1744, just previous to the death of Mr. Boardman : " Voted, That those of us who are of the Church of England shall be free from paying any charge for a minister for one year, if circumstances remain as they now are; but if in the providence of God our reverend pastor should be taken away, then the said churehmen to be under the same regulation as the rest." The Rev. James Beach, of Newtown, visited New Milford occasionally between 1740 aud 1745, and a lay reader read service for some time. The first Episcopal elergyman who resided here was Rev. Solomon Palmer, who came in
1754. This society continued feeble for many years, but uuder the twenty years' pastorate of the Rev. Charles G. Aely it grew strong and healthy. It is now in a flourishing conditiou.
THOMASTON.
There is also a Congregational Church at Reynolds- ville, organized a few years ago, and the present pas- tor is Rev. Mr. Sanford.
Reynolds' Bridge is a hamlet in the southeastern part of the town. Here is located the American Knife Company, a flourishing institution.
ST. JAMES' CHURCH, WINSTED.
The Rev. D. P. Sanford, D.D., took charge of the' parish in May, 1870, and remained nearly four years. Rev. F. S. Jewell, Ph.D., was chosen rector in 1874, and remained in charge nearly four years. .
Rev. F. W. Harriman was his successor, and he re- mained a little over one year, and was succeeded by the Rev. George M. Stanley, the present rector.
JOHN II. HUBBARD, LITCHFIELD.
John H. Hubbard was twice married, first to Miss Julia Dodge, of Salisbury, who died in 1851 (two children of this marriage died in infancy ) ; the second time to Miss Abby J. Wells; of Litchfield, who, with four children, still survives.
ERRATA.
Page 395, line 32, "six feet square"'should read "sixteen feet."
The history of Barkhamsted is copyrighted, and all rights reserved by Capt. Henry R. Jones; and the his- tory of New Hartford is also copyrighted, and all rights reserved by Sarah L. Jones, 1881.
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