History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 32

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

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"'I preached iu the skirts of the town, where I was opposed by -, who made a great disturbance. I told him the enemy had seut him to pick up the good seed, turned my back on him, and went my way, accon- panied by Brothers W. and H. I found another waiting company in another part of the town, to whom I declared, "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." In this town we have given the devil and the wicked much trouble; we have a few good friends.'

"On his return from Boston, Mr. Garretson again preached in Litchfield, Friday, July 13, 1790. So far as I have learned, these were the first Methodist ser- mons ever preached in this town.

"The Litchfield circuit was organized during the spring of 1790, and embraced, according to Mr. Ste- vens, 'the northwestern section of Connecticut.' In May, 1791, the Rev. Messrs. Matthias Swain and James Covel were appointed by the Conference to labor in this circuit. Their immediate successors, previous to the commencement of the present cen- tury, were Rev. Messrs. Lemuel Smith, Samuel Os- trander, Philip Wagner, James Coleman, Enoch Mudge, F. Aldridge, Jesse Stoneman, Joseph Mitchell, Daniel Dennis, Wesley Budd, Ezekiel Can- field, William Thatcher, Ebenezer Stevens, Freeman Bishop, and Augustus Jocelyn.

"On the 21st of July, 1791, the famous Bishop As- bury preached in the Episcopal church in this town. In reference to his visit here he wrote,-

"' I think Morse's account of his countrymen is near the truth ; never have I seen any people who could talk so long, so correctly, and so seri- ously about trifles.'

" There are no records whatever indicating the progress of this denomination in Litchfield for many years subsequent to the last of the dates here given.

135

LITCHFIELD.

The names of the following persons in the grand list for 1805 are put down as 'members of the Methodist Society,' -. viz., Noah Agard, Isaac Baldwin, Ebenezer Clark, Thomas F. Gross, Elisha Horton, Samuel Green, Jonathan Hitchcock, Roswell McNeil, Jona- than Rogers, Daniel Noyes, John Stone, and Arthur Swan."

This church was organized Aug. 23, 1836, and a church edifice erected on Meadow Street. The first board of trustees were William R. Buell, Benjamin Moore, William Scoville, Abiel Barber, and George Bolles.

The pastors have been as follows : Charles C. Keyes, first pastor; among his successors were Wm. Dixon, Wm. B. Hoyt, N. C. Lewis, H. N. Weed, D. Louns- bury, David L. Marks, Wm. Howard, Joseph Vinton, Wm. Lawrence, Joseph Munson, - Chapman, Syl- vester Smith, J. Taylor, Wmn. H. McAllister, Wm. L. Douglass, F. Cromlish, and Thomas J. Watt, present pastor.

The present trustees are Leonard Stone, George W. Thompson, Jacob Morse, David E. Buell, P. H. Cum- mings, and A. B. Shumway. The church edifice was erected in 1837, and a chapel has since been added. Extensive repairs were made in 1866, and others since; the chapel was repaired and furnished in 1879.

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH!, BANTAM FALLS .*

This church is an offshoot from St. Michael's, Litch- field Centre, and, though a separate ecclesiastical or- ganization, is included in the First Episcopal Society of Litchfield. A number of members in the western part of the town determined on withdrawing from the society, and accordingly petitioned to be released from paying taxes, with permission to organize a separate parish. The petition was granted, and on Nov. 14, 1797, an organization was duly effected under the name of the Second Episcopal Society of Litchfield, when officers were appointed consisting of society's committee, clerk, and treasurer. A church edifice was soon afterwards erected, fifty by thirty-six feet, surmounted with tower and steeple, the interior being furnished with deep galleries, a high pulpit, a capa- cious sounding-board, and other ancient appendages. This building was situated on the height directly opposite the burial-ground, and was known as the West Church. Mr. Nathaniel Bosworth contributed one hundred pounds for purchasing a bell, which amount was increased by other contributions. The bell thus purchased bears the inscription, "Fenton & Cochran, New Haven, 1802."+

In June, 1799, the parish applied to reunite with St. Michael's, Litchfield, which application was granted, and articles of union were agreed to on the 10th of the following September. It was agreed that two-

fifths of the clergyman's services should be given to St. Michael's, two-fifths to the West Church, and one- fifth to Milton.

The first edifice had become much ont of repair, and at a meeting of the parish on July 21, 1843, it was voted to take it down and erect a new one, forty-six by thirty-two feet, in its stead. Work immediately began, and the new church was opened for service on Sunday, Dec. 24, 1843. Soon after, at a parish meet- ing, it was voted to call the church St. Paul's, by which name it was consecrated, Nov. 1, 1844, by the Right Rev. T. C. Brownell, D.D., bishop of the diocese. The first edifice seems never to have been consecrated.

In 1826 occurred the first practical separation of the three parishes, when a society's committee was appointed for this parish. In 1832 wardens and vestrymen were first appointed by the First Episco- pal Society, which manner of appointment has been continued annually on Easter Monday for the three parishes. July 20, 1879, Mrs. Mary Ann Wilmot, widow of the late Lucius Wilmot, died, leaving by will her new, commodious, and convenient house as a rectory for St. Paul's Church. This parish shares with St. Michael's, Litchfield, and Trinity, Milton, the proceeds of a fund given by Mr. John Davies about the middle of the last century, as also a later fund donated by Hon. Seth P. Beers. A small income likewise accrues to the parish from a fund left many years since by Mr. Nathan Landon.

The present church edifice has been enlarged by the addition of a chancel, while receiving several improvements in its interior arrangements.

The churches of Bantam and Milton still continue component parts of the First Episcopal Society of Litchfiehl, yet, as independent parishes, they conduct their affairs in their own way.

The following is a list of rectors or officiating min- isters : Revs. Truman Marsh, 1799-1810; Isaac Jones, 1811-26 ; John S. Stone, 1826-31 ; David G. Tomlin- son, 1831-35; Amos Beach, 1836-37 ; Willard Bryant, 1837-40; Emery E. Porter, 1842-43; G. C. V. East- man, 1843-45; J. D. Berry, D.D., 1846-48; F. D. llarriman, 1848-50; G. W. Nichols, 1850-51; Asa Griswold, Jan. 5, to Nov. 8, 1852; Daniel E. Brown, Jan. 5, 1853-57 ; John R. Williams, Jan. 5, 1858-60; J. A. Wainright, Jan. 5, 1860-61 ; J. D. Berry, D.D., Jan. 5, 1862-63; J. D. Berry, D.D., April 24, 1864-66 ; William L. Peck, April 24, 1866-71; F. A. Henry ; Hiram Stone, Nov. 1, 1873, to Sept. 15, 1874; G. M. Wilkins, Sept. 15, 1874, to July 1, 1875; Hiram Stone, July 1, 1875, present rector.

TRINITY CHURCH, MILTON .;

During the early settlement of Litehtichl there were but few churchmen in this part of the town, but event- ually a number of families joined the Episcopal Church. In 1798 an application was made to the First Episcopal Society, which voted that a chapel

* Contributed by Rev. 1Hram Stone.

t An erroneous impression hns somewhat extensively prevalled that this bell was of very ancient dato and enst in a foreign country. Tho abovo Inscription serves to correct the inlapprehension.

# Contributed by Rev. Iliram Stone.

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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

might be built in the village of Milton. A church edifice was accordingly raised June 25, 1802, but, owing to a lack of means, it was only put in condition for use by way of being covered in and furnished with benches, in which incomplete condition it remained until finally completed in 1826. Aug. 18, 1837, it was consecrated by the Right Rev. T. C. Brownell, D.D., bishop of the diocese. The original structure is still standing. The architecture is of the old style, with galleries and large windows rounded at the top. It has been enlarged by the addition of a chancel, and improved by way of new seats, a stained chancel- window, and other internal arrangements. In 1843, Messrs. Garritt P. Welch and Hugh P. Welch pre- sented the bell which now hangs in the tower.

In 1799 the Rev. Truman Marsh commenced his rectorship with St. Michael's Church, Litchfield, when he promised to preach in Milton one-fifth of the time, in accordance with an arrangement made on the oc- casion of reunion of the West Church with the First Episcopal Society. In 1803 the society voted to di- vide its services equally between the parishes of Litch- field, Bantam Falls, and Milton. In 1826 a society's committee was for the first time appointed for this parish, and in 1832 the first appointment of wardens and vestrymen was made. At present, as also during a large part of their existence, the parishes of Bantam Falls and Milton are under the charge of one minister, who officiates in each on alternate Sundays, thus di- viding the services between them, each parish con- tributing an equal amount to his support.

The following is a list of rectors or officiating min- isters : Revs. Truman Marsh, 1799-1810; Isaac Jones, 1811-26; Ezra B. Kellogg, 1827-28; Harry Finch, 1829-31; David G. Tomlinson, 1831-35; Amos B. Beach, 1836-37 ; Hillard Bryant, 1837-40; Emery E. Porter, 1842-43 ; Samuel J. Carpenter, 1844-45 ; Isaac Jones, 1845-47 ; F. D. Harriman, 1848-50; George W. Nichols, 1850-51; Asa Griswold, Jan. 5, 1852, to Nov. 8, 1852; Daniel E. Brown, Jan. 5, 1853-57 ; John R. Williams, Jan. 5, 1858-60 ; J. A. Wainwright, Jan. 5, 1861-62; W. F. B. Jackson, April, 1863, to Sep- tember, 1863; J. D. Berry, D.D., April, 1864-66; Wil- liam L. Peck, 1866-71; F. A. Henry ; Hiram Stone, Nov. 1, 1873, to Sept. 15, 1874; G. M. Wilkins, Sept. 15, 1874, to July 1, 1875; Hiram Stone, July 1, 1875, present rector.

BAPTIST CHURCH, BANTAM FALLS .*

Several years ago an eminent Sunday-school laborer in Connecticut, to facilitate his work, prepared an en- larged map of the State, on which he located every Sunday-school and church in the State, indicating the various denominations by different colored inks, such as red, blue, green, etc. He had exhibited this at a large public meeting, and explained the needs and peculiarities of the different localities, when he said, " Gentlemen, I bid you notice these green spots,

they indicate the Baptists. And you will notice," said he, " that they are thickest along the shore of the Sound and along the principal water-courses, such as the Thames and the Connecticut. Like the grass, by whose color they are represented, you perceive they flourish best in wet places." This may account for the paucity of churches of this denomination in the * county. Although it abounds in hills, it also rejoices in the most extensive sheet of water in the State,- Bantam Lake,-and close around this, in the old town of Litchfield, there have been, at different times, three Baptist churches, all of them small, but large enough to illustrate the truth of the Sunday-school speaker's remark,-that they flourish best in wet places. Some- thing less than a century ago there was a church in Northfield, and about the time that went down an- other was started in Footville, South Farms, now Morris. This was never a flourishing church ; but, if it did no other work than to prepare the way for two grandsons of Deacon Pickett to become most success- ful Baptist ministers, it fulfilled its mission.

From this issued the Bantam Falls Baptist Church, which was constituted Oct. 31, 1850, with the follow- ing members : George Harvey, Mrs. George Harvey, Ephraim K. Bunnell, Cornelia Bunnell, Samuel Bronson, Polly Bronson, Christopher C. Palmer, Re- becca Palmer, Eurana Canfield, and Eunice Stone. The first entry upon the records is this :

" Resolred, To adopt the New Testament for our articles, and to be governed by its directions, precepts, and examples."

The covenant is substantially the same as that of the Cornwall Hollow covenant, here given. In 1852 the present house of worship was erected, and the same year the church was recognized as a regular Baptist church by a convention of sister churches. Its pastors have been Revs. Jackson G. Gakun, 1857- 62; C. N. Potter, April, 1863-67 ; J. Fairman, 1867- 71; D. F. Chapman, July, 1871-75; E. D. Bowers, February, 1876, to May, 1878 ; H. G. Smith, June, 1878, to the present time (1881).

Its present membership is forty-two, being the largest number of active members it has ever enjoyed.

Its pastors have always combined with this pastor- ate the care of the church in East Cornwall, preaching in each place on alternate Sundays until the present year, which was opened by the pastor's preaching in this place in the morning, in East Cornwall in the afternoon, and in Cornwall Hollow in the evening of each Sabbath.

At its organization C. C. Palmer was elected dea- con, and, with the exception of a brief absence in the West, when Enoch Fennell was chosen to the office, he has occupied that station faithfully to the present. The history of this has ever been identified with that of the College Street Baptist Church at East Cornwall. ,

The Roman Catholics also have a church in Litch- field, but have no resident pastor.

* Contributed by Rev. Il. G. Smith.

137

LITCHFIELD.

CHAPTER XIII.

LITCHFIELD (Continued).

BOROUGHI OF LITCHIFIELD.

The Village of Litchfield-Incorporation-First Officers-Presidents and Clerks from 1818 to 1882-Borough Organization-The Press-The Weekly Monitor and American Advertiser-The Witness-The Edi- tors Convicted of Libel -- Imprisoned-Political Excitement throughout Immediate and Distant States- Grand Oration to the Imprisoned Editor-Excitement in the Town-The Litchfield Gazette-The Litch- field Journal -The Litchfield Republican - The Miscellany - The American Eagle-The Litchfield County Post-The Litchfield En- quirer-The Litchfield Democrat-The Litchfield Sun-The Mercury -The Democratic Watchman-The Litchfield Republican-The Litch- field Sentinel-The Litchfield Law-School-The Post-Office-Banks- Savings Society - Insurance Company-"Spring Hill" - St. Paul's Lodge, No. 11, F. and A. M .- Minerals-Temperance in 1789-Slavery in Litchfield-Bantam Falls-Northfield-Milton-Biographical Notes -College Graduates-Physicians-Lawyers.

AT the May session of the Legislature of this State, 1818, the inhabitants of this village presented their memorial praying for a borough charter. In their petition they state that "the houses are as contiguous as they are in many of our cities; that the public schools, which for many years have been established in this village, make a great addition to its ordinary population ; that, on account of their local situation and compact settlement, they are, as they conceive, in an unusual degree exposed to injury from fire," etc. The application was successful, and the petitioners and their associates, residing within the limits pre- scribed, “ were constituted and declared to be forever thereafter a body corporate in fact and in name, by the name of the 'Corporation of the Village* of Liteh- field.'" The powers vested in the corporation were similar to those of the ordinary borough charters of this State,-viz., to levy taxes for the purchase of fire- engines, fire-hooks, ladders, and such other improve- ments as should be deemed necessary to protect the village against fires ; to order and direct in all matters relating to side-walks, shade-trees, and the sinking of public wells and pumps ; to restrain cattle, sheep, and geese from running at large in the public highways; and to pass such by-laws and regulations, with suit- able penalties attached, as might, from time to time, be thought necessary for the attainment of the objects contemplated in the charter. The officers designated in the act of incorporation were a president, treasurer, and clerk (who were in all cases to be chosen by bal- lot), a collector of taxes, and a number of fire-war- dens not to exceed ten, together with such other ofli- cers not enumerated as should be necessary to carry the by-laws and the provisions of the charter into effect. In case the collector should refuse or neglect to collect the tax according to the tenor of the war- rant committed to him, the president must " issue his warrant directed to the sheriff of the county of Litch- field, or his deputy, to distrain the sums or rates ne- glected by such collector to be collected, to be paid

out of the estate of said collector." The assessors were to be appointed by the County Court.

The first meeting of the inhabitants of the borough under the charter was held on the 17th of June, 1818, at which the following officers were elected, viz., Hon. Frederick Wolcott, president; Dr. William Buel, treasurer; and Joseph Adams, clerk. A committee of five was appointed to prepare a code of by-laws for the borough, viz., Seth P. Beers, Julius Deming, Asa Bacon, Phineas Miner, and Ozias Lewis. At an ad- journed meeting holden on the 20th of June, it was voted to choose a bailiff by ballot, and Dr. Abel Cat- lin was elected to that office. Benjamin Tallmadge, Asa Bacon, and Charles L. Webb were appointed a committee of inspection, and Ashbel Marsh was chosen key-keeper.

At the regular annual meeting in September, 1818, Judge Wolcott was re-elected president; Dr. Buel, treasurer ; and Mr. Adams, clerk. Messrs. Roger Cook, Ambrose Norton, Moses Seymour, Jr., Oliver Goodwin, and James Trowbridge were chosen fire- wardens. At an adjourned meeting Asa Bacon, Esq., was chosen bailiff; Charles L. Webb, Leonard Good- win, Jonathan Carrington, and Ambrose Norton as- sistant bailiff's ; and Leonard Goodwin, collector.

The first board of assessors consisted of Erastus Ly- man, Esq., Gen. Morris Woodruff, and John N. Gunn, Esq. The amount of the grand list of the borough, October, 1818, as returned by the assessors, was one hundred and twenty-eight thousand nine hundred and thirteen dollars and sixty-five cents.

In 1820 the llon. Uriel Holmes was elected presi- dent of the borough. In 1824 he was succeeded by Dr. William Bnel, who held the office for twelve years.

THE PRESS.

On Tuesday, Dec. 21, 1784, was issued in this town the first number of The Weekly Monitor and American Advertiser, printed by Collier & Copp, "in the south end of the court-house." It contains only three Litch- field advertisements, viz., (1) that of William Rus- sell, stocking-weaver from (Norwich, England), who announced that he was ready to make " worsted, cotton, and linen Jacket and Breeches Patterns, men's and women's Stockings, Gloves, and Mitts;" (2) that of Zalmon Bedient, barber, who offers cash for human hair, at his barber-shop, "a few rods north of the court-house in Litchfield ;" (3) that of Cornelius Thayer, brazier, who gives notice that he carries on business at the shop of Col. Miles Beach, in North Street, at which shop the jeweler's and silversmith's business " is carried on as usual by said Beach."

The Monitor was continued for a period of twenty- two years, for sixteen years of which it had no rival in the town. It was printed on a sheet nbout one- third the present size of the Litchfield Enquirer, with coarse type and coarse blue paper. A single com- positor might have set the type in a single day for all the new matter which was contained in some of the

* The village of Litchfield was changed to borough of Lichfield by act of Legislature approved March 21, 1879.

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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

weekly issues. Yet it is a most interesting epitome of the olden times. From it we are able to glean very many facts and events in the history of this town and county which are preserved nowhere else. Until after the advent of the present century both the town and county were Federal in their politics, and the Monitor was at once the organ and the oracle of the Federal party in this region.

In August, 1805, two young printers-Messrs. Sel- liek Osborn and Timothy Ashley-came to this town and established The Witness, a violent Democratic newspaper. The Witness was edited by Mr. Osborn, who, though a man of talents and energy, was a most unserupulous partisan and bitter satirist. Though there was a formidable minority of Democrats in the township at this time, Litchfield Hill was the strong- hold of Federalism. Tallmadge, Reeve, Wolcott, Deming, Gould, Traey, Holmes, Allen, Aaron Smith, Rev. Messrs. Champion and Huntington, and indeed nearly all the leading men of the village, were Fed- eralists, and looked upon Jefferson as an infidel and reprobate. Subsequent to the Presidential election of 1800 (which resulted in the choice of Jefferson to the Presidency), the partisan sermons and prayers of Messrs. Champiou and Huntington, of the Congrega- tional Church, had driven several of their church- members (including Deacon Lewis) to Episcopacy. On one occasion, after a political sermon from Parson Huntington, his venerable colleague, Father Cham- pion, prayed first and fervently for "thy servant the President of the United States" (John Adams), and conelnded thus: "And, O Lord! wilt thou bestow upon the Vice-President (Jefferson) a double portion of Thy grace, for Thou knowest he needs it !" The summary withdrawal of so many members caused the First Church no little embarrassment. A formal ex- pulsion was proposed ; but some of them occupied high social positions, and others were nearly allied to re- maining members. The matter was finally adjusted by a simple withdrawal of the "watch and fellow- ship" of the church from the seceders. The feeling of hostility between Federalists and Democrats was such that prominent men living in the same neighbor- hood refused to recognize each other when they met ; Federal ladies refused even to make formal calls at the houses of their Democratic neighbors; and the children of Federalists were forbidden to associate with those of the hated Democrats. Such was the state of feeling on Litchfield Hill when The Witness opened its batteries on the ranks of Federalism. At first its assaults were treated with contempt. Osborn grew bolder, more bitter, and more personal, gather- ing up and parading before the public the foibles or follies (real or manufactured) of the principal men of the village, against whose honor no word of suspicion had before been breathed. Charges and insinuations of hypocrisy and crime were freely blended with the most seathing ridicule. This was " bearding the lion in his den." It was not long before Osborn was in-

dieted, tried, and convicted of a libel on Julius Dem- ing, Esq. Osborn and his partner Ashley were both subjected to a fine, in default of the payment of which both were committed to the county jail. Ashley was soon liberated, and Osborn might have been had he complied with the terms of the court ; but as-as he himself expressed it-"the only alternative offered him was to have either his body or mind imprisoned, of course he remained in confinement." His friends regarded him as a martyr to his political fidelity. It was published far and wide through the columns of the Democratie journals that his health was sinking from confinement "in a damp and loathsome cell ;" that a maniac charged with murder was thrust into the same cell with him, etc. On the 4th of July, 1806, a meeting of the Democrats of Litchfield was held at Phelps' hotel, at which a committee of three was appointed " to repair to the prison and learn the true situation of Mr. Osborn and his treatment since his imprisonment, and to report at an adjourned meeting." At the adjourned meeting, on the 14th, the committee reported in substance that they had visited Mr. Osborn at the jail; that he was confined in the same room with two criminals, both charged with capital offenses ; that his room was formed of damp and ragged stone walls, in which the air was impure, stagnant, and offensive, and so dark that it was diffi- cult to distinguish one's features ; that his friends were generally denied admission to his room, and could only have intercourse with him through the outer grate of the prison ; that his health was failing, etc. From this date the committee visited the prison from time to time, and issued their weekly bulletins through the columns of The Witness. In vain Sheriff Landon denied the truth of the committee's original report. The story of Osborn's perseentions went abroad over the land. The Democracy of distant States held indignation meetings, at which Osborn was extolled, the Connecticut courts denounced, and the Litchfield Federalists execrated. At length it was resolved to have a grand ovation in behalf of Osborn at Litchfield, and the 6th of August was fixed npon for the celebration. The great day finally arrived, and with it came an immense concourse of Democrats from this and other States. Daybreak was greeted with the discharge of one gun at the head of North Street, a responsive discharge on the flag-staff on the publie green, and martial music until sunrise. At sunrise seventeen guns were fired with martial music. At eleven the procession moved in the following order, viz .:

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 32

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