History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 95

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

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We get some insight into the money matters of the little colony from the vote, after still further propo- sals to Mr. Marsh, that "if he accepts the caul, to give him one hundred pounds for his salary for four years, and then advance five pounds a year until it amounts to one hundred and forty pounds ;" also, "To give Mr. Marsh two pounds five shillings for each Lord's day that he shall preach in said town until he serve us, he to board himself." Probably the reverend gentle-

* Town Hill and Hotel Corner, North village.

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man thought that the increase of salary might not keep pace with his increase of family, for soon after a resolution was passed to “ give Mr. Marsh one hun- dred pounds a year for three years, then advance ten ponnds a year until it amounts to one hundred and fifty pounds, then advance according to his necessity and our ability."

In July, 1739, the committee settled the question of a building-spot,* and it was immediately voted to " proceed to build a meeting-house, the length of said house to bee fifty foots and the bredth forty foots." But "by further and betor consideration," it was thonght best to add "five foots" to the length of the building.

Mr. Marsh having accepted terms of settlement, the time for his ordination was fixed for October, 1739 ; an appropriation was made to defray expenses of the or- dination, "to caul ministers and messengers," and a committee appointed to provide "liquer" for the occasion. An old manuscript in Mr. Marsh's own hand, now in Memorial Hall, Hartford, states that he was not ordained until December 5th of the same year, the church at that time numbering twenty-nine members, and the population of the town being about one hundred and fifty souls in all, who were com- prised in twenty-four families, including three fami- lies of Indians. The early records of the church being lost, it is difficult to give the exact date of its forma- tion, but from Rev. Cyrus Yale's MSS. it is known that Mr. Martyn Smith was chosen deacon in the latter part of 1738; probably the church was then organized.t

In February, 1740, it was voted "to hire a earpenter from out of town to frame the meeting-house, and that the timber be got so it may be framed by March." In May came the "raising," for which also "sutabel preparation of liquer" was made. There were not able-bodied men enough in town to raise the massive timbers, and a number of persons came from Hart- ford to assist at the raising.

During the year 1741 some calamity seems to have befallen the settlers; we know not whether they snf- fered from depredations of hostile Indians, or disease, or contentions among themselves, there is only the simple record that they applied to the neighboring ministers for advice, and to appoint a day for humil- -

iation, fasting, and prayer " for deliverance from present circumstances."

Solomon's temple in all its magnificence was only seven years in building, but it was nearly ten years after the much-longed-for meeting-house in New Hart- ford was raised before it was completed. During those ten years the brave settlers worked perseveringly on, never losing sight of the end to be attained. They appointed committee after committee, they levied a tax to purchase laths, and another for glass,-a luxury dearly paid for in those days. They cut, scored, and hewed timber, and here we quote from the records an item as to wages :

"Persons who have worked scoring timber for the meeting-house shall have six shillings a day, those who have hewed shall have seven shil- liogs, and those who have worked at framing, seven shillings."

Dissatisfaction with workmen sometimes arose, as the following record shows :

" If the committee cannot agree with Asn Hopkins about Jahor that he . undertook to do towards the meeting house, we will defend said commit- tee in the law agniust said Asa Ilopkios."

It seems to have been a hard matter to raise ye Rev. Mr. Marsh's salary during this period, and numerous are the records of taxes levied and votes passed con- cerning the expense of the " ministerial charge." There was some discussion on the silver question also, and a committee had to settle the price of silver per ounce with Rev. Mr. Marsh.

In September, 1749, the meeting-house was so nearly completed that Rev. Mr. Marsh was given a choice of pews for his family to sit in on the Lord's day.

Deeember, 1749, the town relnetantly granted "lib- erty for building a pne in the galery for the Indians to sit in, provided it be built on perticuler men's cost," and in 1751 the Indians were allowed to sit in the " pue" numed " only during the town's pleasure."+ These sturdy Puritans, as uncompromising in religion as in politics, classed the real men with the Moabite and Ammonite, who, their Bible declared, "shoukl not come into the congregation of God forever."

In December, 1749, we may safely conclude that the rejoicing congregation were found worshiping under the roof which they had built at such cost of time, labor, and sacrifice; it is then recorded that ten shillings were paid to Joseph Merrill for sweeping the meeting-house, and a sexton's fees would imply that the house was in use at that time.

Mrs. Abijah Loomis, the oldest resident in town (1881), has in her possession a plan of the original meeting-house, drawn for the convenience of the seating committee. This house, the site of which corneretl on that of the present structure, was farther south and west, and, consequently, nearer the angle made by the highways. It was set by the compass, and fronted the south, a door on that side opening directly

* The report of the committeo to fix the spot for building the meeting- house is not In the records of New llurtford, but in 1735 the proprietorsofthe town purchased of Eleazer Goodwin five neres three roods of land, bounded west and south by highwaye on Town Hill, and sequestrod it to the pub- llc veo of tho town. Two acres of this purchase was laid out for a burial- place, which survey Is recorded; and on the same page (189) of the old proprietors' book is the following voto: "That tho piece or parcel of land belonging to the proprietors of New Hartford be sequestred for commons forever," which would seem to fudlente that the ground on which the old meeting-honse stands, with the land adjoining, is a legacy to the town from the fathers, which, with the burial-place, should be cared for and kept from encroachment forever.

t In August, 1737, at the first society's meeting of which there Is any' record, It was votsd to hold meetings at private honses on the Sabbath, one-half the time at Town Ilili, the other half one Sabbath at Jonah Richards', the other at Jonathan Merrill's, these places to be changed at each soclety's meeting.

[ Rev. C'yrus Yale says, In his centennial sermon, that the pews in the galleries were not orade until the house hind bean used about thirty years; ! no the Indian pew was an isolated sitting for that length of time.

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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

into the audience-room. There were three aisles, or alleys then called,-one in the centre and one each side, with a row of narrow pews next the wall. There were also doors,-one on the east and one on the west sides,-which led by short passages into the side-aisles. The high pulpit with its overhanging sounding-board fronted the south door; on the right of the pulpit was the pew for the minister's family, on the left the widows' pew, while the deacons sat just under the droppings of the gospel on the left of the centre aisle. Two immense square front pews, one on each side of the broad aisle, were occupied by prominent citizens and their families, while the rest of the con- gregation were accommodated in pews of various size and shapes. Two inclosed pews near the centre of the house, which could be reached only by narrow passages from the side-aisles, were irreverently called " eel-pots." The galleries were on the east, west, and south sides, the latter being the singers' gallery, and the stairs were in the southeast and southwest corners of the audience-room.

There was not lacking instrumental music to ac- company the singing, for Isaac Kellogg, presumably the chorister, was given "permission to appoint Seth Smith to tune the psalm (probably with a pitch-pipe) when he playeth." The town had previously voted " that we will sing Dr. Watts' psahns on the Lord's day, and that David Ensign read the psalm in time of Deacon Martyn Smith's absence." Books being scarce, the deacon read two lines of the psalm, the choir singing it after him, and so on through all the stanzas. In 1751 appears the first record of a com- mittee to seat the meeting-house, which seems to have been very precious in the eyes of the community, who did not intend that it should be destroyed by fire if precautionary measures could avert that catastrophe. An "inspector of stoves" was appointed among the public functionaries,-perhaps it should be explained that his duties were confined to foot-stoves,-and the following resolution was passed in town-meeting :

" If any person presume to leave any stove in the meeting-house with fire in it, or empty it within twenty feet of the meeting-house, he (or she) shall forfeit the stove to the inspector and pay a fine of 10 shillings."

Strict and punctual attendance on public worship was insisted on, and a fine rigorously enforced upon all delinquents. Some persons, however, appear to have produced sufficient excuse for absence, and the authorities occasionally passed a vote like the fol- Jowing :

"To sbate Sam Douglass' fine for not attending publick worship on Lord's day."

In 1761 liberty was granted "any inhabitant to set up a Sabbath-day house not nearer to the meeting- house than ten rods," and a rough but comfortable building containing two rooms was soon erected by the joint contributions of several families who came from a distance, and needed a warm place to thaw feet and fingers after a long ride, and to spend the in- termission between services. One room was arranged

with conveniences for cooking; here lunch was eaten, tea made, children cared for, and a decorous sort of Sunday picnic held .* In 1762 one hundred pounds were expended on the meeting-house, and soon after fifty pounds more, and it was "voted to do something to secure the meeting-house from racking." The first appropriation for "colouring" the house was made in 1784, and persons who worshiped there some sixty years ago remember the prevailing interior color to have been green, and the outer a " brindle brown."

During the one hundred and twenty years from the ordination of the first minister to the disbanding of the church on Town Hill, it had but four settled pas- tors; these were Rev. Jonathan Marsh, from 1739 until his death, in July, 1794; Rev. Edward D. Grif- fin, DD., from June, 1795, to August, 1801, when, on account of failing health, he resigned the pastorate ; Rev. Amasa Jerome, from August, 1802, to December, 1813, when he also resigned, his health being unequal to the labor of the parish, but continued to reside in New Hartford until his death, in 1832, at the age of fifty-seven. Mr. Jerome lived on the place now known as " Esperanza," the summer home of the authoress, Mrs. Julie P. Smith.

The fourth pastor was Rev. Cyrus Yale, who was settled over the church in October, 1814, and remained until December, 1834, when he resigned and preached in Ware, Mass., until 1837, when he was recalled to the scenes of his early labors, and died in office in May, 1854. During the interim of Mr. Yale's min- istry the pulpit was supplied by different individuals, one by the name of Case remaining with the church a year. Mr. Yale, or " Father Yale," as he was often called, was a tall, portly man, of much dignity of manner and suavity of address. He lived in the house now occupied as a summer residence by his children, Cyrus Yale, of New York, and Mrs. H. Pit- kin and Mrs. E. R. Beadle, of Philadelphia.

There is extant no sketch or memorial of the first minister, whose term of service extended over more than half a century, and the value of whose lifetime influence on the pioneer settlers of this town can never be measured. With gleaning here and there a scattered fragment, the following brief sketch has been woven together, that the fast-fading memory of a good and useful man may not be wholly lost.

Rev. Jonathan Marsh was the son of Rev. Jona- than Marsh, long the honored pastor of the church at Windsor, and of Margaret Whiting, his wife, who came of an eminent colonial family. He was born at Windsor, 1714. He graduated at Yale College in 1735. After completing his theological studies he ac-

* Before the old church was taken down there were no less than three of these structures adjacent to it, one of which was moved to the North cross-road, ou Town Hill, and is occupied as a dwelling-house by Hirsm Harris, having been renovated and somewhat enlarged by its present owner. A chimney was never built in the old church, hut a few years be- fore it was removed two box-stoves were put in to warm the congrega- tion, and the pipes were conducted out of doors in an improvised fashion .

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cepted the call to New Hartford, where he was or- dained, December, 1739, where he spent his life, and where he died, in 1794, aged eighty years. He was twice married, first to Elizabeth Sheldon, of Hart- ford, Feb. 26, 1740-41, who died, after bearing him six children, May 20, 1749. On May 27, 1751, he married Mariana Keith, a young widow with two daughters, sister of John Lawrence, treasurer of the colony, a lady of many accomplishments, whose friends opposed her burying her graces in the wilder- ness of New Hartford. This wife, who survived her husband, was always called " Madame Marsh" by his parishioners ; she also bore him six children. From MSS. of Mr. Marsh, the inference is that he was of an affectionate nature, fond of home, and charitable towards all men. The stricter tenets of the Calvinis- tic theology were too harsh for his gentle soul, and that may be the reason why he mingled no more freely with his ministerial brethren in those times of religious controversy between old and new divinity. The records of Hartford North Consociation during the fifty-five years of his ministry show that he never attended any meetings of that body. The following pen-portrait of him is from Rev. Frederic Marsh's recollections :

" Mr. Marsh was above the medium height and size of men, well pro- portioned, grave and venerable in appearance, of a social turn of mind, and accustomed to wear a large wig. He was settled on the half-wny" plan ; was Arminian in his theological views. In his preaching, as I re- member him when about fourteen years old, was not animated, and, as it seemed to me, never earnest end rousing. I remember to have been seriously affected on seeing and hearing him address the people ou funeral occasions."

Of Mr. Marsh's twelve children, seven daughters and five sons, all but one, Jonathan, lived to attain maturity. The daughters all married, only one of whom, Elizabeth, wife of Jerijah Merrill, settled per- manently in New Hartford. The oldest son, Joseph Whiting Marsh, was the first graduate of Yale Col- lege from New Hartford. He died at the West Indies, aged twenty-one. Daniel settled in New Hartford ; Isaac, at Tyringham, Mass. It is not known to the writer where John Lawrence, the youngest son, located. So far as can be ascertained, none of Mr. Marsh's descendants are now living in New Hartford. In 1761 Mr. Marsh's note-book gives the number of churchi- members as 85, and in 1793 chronicles that 17 were admitted to the church and 52 baptized.

At the commencement of Dr. Griflin's ministry, in 1795, there were 92 members of the church, and in the powerful revivals which attended his carnest la- bors there were 153 additions to the number. Under the pastorates of Mr. Jerome and Mr. Yale there were also, from time to time, seasons of special religious interest ; under the latter, large additions to the mem- bership of the church.

As the facilities for manufacturing began to be de- veloped along the Tunxis, the dwellers in the north-

ern part of the town became more numerous, and felt the need of a place of worship nearer home than the old meeting-house on the hill, and in December, 1828, a colony of 62 members from the mother-church organized the North Congregational Church of New Hartford. The ground for the new building was given by Capt. Sylvester Seymour, and the present brick church was built the same year. This was a se- rious blow to the society on the hill, but, taking heart from Rev. Mr. Yale's encouragement, they laid plans for a new house of worship, which resulted, in 1829, in the building of the church now standing on Town Hill.

The old meeting-house was, at the expense of the town, moved farther back on the green, repaired, and used as a town-house for the transaction of public business until November, 1848, when it was voted in town-meeting to sell it and put the avails in the treas- ury. It was purchased for fifty dollars by John C. Smith and Maj. Sanford Brown. Its massive white- oak timbers, seasoned by the suns and storms of more than a hundred years, were used in the building of looms for the Greenwoods' cotton-mill ; and it is said that portions of its frame-work are still in existence among the outbuildings appertaining to the late resi- dence of Maj. Sanford Brown.

Much dissatisfaction with the location of the new Town Hill church was felt by the members resident at South End, who naturally wished to have it placed midway between the two settlements, waiving all at- tachment for the old site. This discontent gradually increased until, in 1848, the South Congregational Church of New Hartford was organized and the present church edifice built at Nepaug.

A second time depleted in numbers and strength, the old church organization struggled on until the death of Mr. Yale, in 1854, when public worship was suspended, and it disbanded in October, 1859, after an existence of one hundred and twenty-one years.

The deacons of this church were Messrs. Martyn Smith, Noah Kellogg, Joseph Merrill, Aaron Austin, Stephen Pitkin, John Brown, John Marsh, Elijah Goodwin, George Adams, James D. Thorp, James Merrill.

Religious services have been occasionally held in the church since that time. In 1860, Messrs. Cyrus and Richard Yale, sons of the former pastor, pur- chased the building from the surviving members of the old ecclesiastical society, and regard it as a filial duty to keep it in repair,-a fitting monument to their father's faithful and carnest life-work in New Hart- ford

THE NORTH CHURCHI,

organized in 1828 with sixty-two members, has now, in 1881, a membership of one hundred and eighty. The fluctuations of a manufacturing population prevent many who are regular attendants on publie worship from joining themselves to any religions organization, hence, in part, the disproportion of membership to

* Half-way covenant, which allowed baptism to children of non-con- munleanta.

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attendance in all the churches of New Hartford vil- lage. This church has had ten settled pastors, viz. : Revs. Burr Baldwin, 1829-33; Wyllis Lord, D.D., 1834-38 ; J. Woodbridge, D.D., 1839-42; Alexander Leadbetter, 1844-49; J. A. Saxton, 1850-52; F. A. Spencer, 1853-63; J. B. Cleaveland, 1863-67 ; Alpheus Winter, 1868-69; S. S. Martyn, 1870-74; F. H. Adams, 1875, present pastor.

At different times since the building of the church, repairs and renovations have been made at an ex- penditure, in all, of about three thousand dollars. It is now a substantial brick building, with bell-tower, in thorough order, capable of seating four hundred persons. Five deacons have been ordained, as fol- lows: John Brown, 1829; Charles B. Richards, 1833; Roger H. Mills, 1849; Jason C. Keach, 1849; Howell W. Brown, 1859. The semi-centennial was celebrated Dec. 25, 1878, by a memorial sermon by the pastor, Rev. F. H. Adams, addresses, music, and a collation in the portion of the adjoining building known as Academy Hall, now handsomely fitted up by the ladies of the society as lecture-room and church parlors, for religious, social, and literary gathering.

THIE SOUTII CHURCH,

organized in 1848 with fifty-six members, has now on its rolls a membership of one hundred and twenty- one. It has been served by the following pastors: Revs. J. C. Houghton, 1851-54; Edwin Hall, Jr., 1854-69; J. Woodruff, 1870-71 ; Stephen A. Loper, 1872-74; Merrick Knight, 1875-79; Richard Scoles, April 21, 1880. The church edifice is of wood, with a tower and bell. It has a basement containing a lecture-room, where town-meetings have been held on alternate years. During the year 1880 about six hundred dollars were expended on the building, which is now in thorough repair. It will seat about two hundred and fifty persons. The deacons of this church have been Messrs. Selah Woodruff, George Adams, Edmund Watson, Andrew Clark, and James Lyman.

BAPTIST AND METHODIST.

The Baptists organized in the southwestern part of the town, and built the church in Bakerville as early as 1830. It was used by them, with the interior in a rough state, until about 1835, when, with the assist- ance of the Baker brothers, Methodists, and members of the Watson family, Congregationalists, it was neatly finished and called a union church, being open to religious services by clergymen of all de- nominations. Some years after, Mr. Anthony Baker repaired and thoroughly renovated it at his own ex- pense, since which time services have been held with more or less regularity by ministers of the Methodist Conference.

THE NEW HARTFORD (NORTH) BAPTIST CHURCH .

was organized in August, 1859, by twenty-two mem- bers resident in this town, formerly belonging to the Pleasant Valley Church. Until 1862 meetings were

held on the Sabbath in the Greenwoods District school-house, but, ohjections having been made to that arrangement by persons in the district, the society soon after purchased the Baptist meeting-house in Pleasant Valley (then unused), brought it in sections to New Hartford, and rebuilt it on the hill overlook- ing the village, on the east hank of the river. This was done by the efficient aid of the late Rev. William Dennison, Baptist State missionary, himself a prac- tical builder. The house was dedicated Jan. 30, 1867. It is pleasantly furnished in the interior, and has a tower and a bell. The church now numbers about forty members. Of the original membership, one, B. G. Loomis, alone remains; nine have been dismissed to other churches, and twelve are dead. The pastors have been Revs. S. S. Carter, installed August, 1859; N. R. Bennett, August, 1861 ; C. N. Nichols, August, 1862; L. H. Wakeman, January, 1867 ; Joseph Bur- nett, December, 1869; Ralph H. Bowles, May, 1878.

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

In November, 1849, Rev. J. H. Betts was sent by Bishop Brownell to take charge of a Protestant Epis- copal mission in Pine Meadow. For lack of a suit- able place of meeting, services were not held on the Sabbath until June 9, 1850, after which time they were regularly held in Chapin's Hall until the com- pletion of the church. St. John's parish was organ- ized Nov. 20, 1850. The corner-stone of a house of worship was laid the following day, and the finished edifice consecrated as St. John's church, by Bishop Brownell, June 4, 1851. This church, which stood at the southern extremity of Church Street, was de- stroyed by fire Dec. 23, 1859, and with it a valuable pipe-organ, the gift of Herman Chapin, Esq. Services were again held in Chapin's Hall until the present church, which fronts the triangular park at the northern end of Church Street, was completed. Di- vine service was first held in the new edifice Christmas Eve, 1861. The church is of wood, in the Gothic style of architecture, with a bell-tower and spire; the interior is neatly and tastefully furnished. The rec- tors of the church have been Revs. John H. Betts, from Easter, 1851, to July, 1857 ; Enoch Huntington, from April, 1858, to May, 1860; Myron A. Johnson, from November, 1861, to October, 1862; T. S. Judd, from November, 1862, to March, 1863; De Lancy G. Rice, from May, 1863, to April, 1865; J. C. Heald, from 1866 to July, 1868; John H. Betts, recalled April, 1869, to May, 1880; Theodore Porter, ordained December, 1880, now pastor of the church.

ROMAN CATHOLIC.

The Roman Catholic form of worship was first ob- served in New Hartford in March, 1849, when Rev. Luke Daly, of New Britain, was sent by the bishop of this diocese to hold services among the members of that communion. For a period of two years, Rev. Father Daly came once in three months to celebrate mass, after which time he was succeeded by Rev.

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Thomas Quinn, Rev. Fathers Gilleck, Gorman, and Thomas Hendrickon, pastors at Winsted.

The church was then placed under the care of the resident priest at Collinsville, since which time it has been attended by Revs. P. J. O'Dwyer, John Fagan, Lawrence Walsh, and the present pastor, Rev. Ber- nard O'R. Sheridan, who has presided over the parish since 1870, with the following assistants : Revs. Michael O'Brien, John Russell, John Creadon, Thomas Mul- vany, and the present associate, Rev. Luke Fitzsim- mons.

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History of Litchfield county, Connecticut, Part 95

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