USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Farmington > History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. 1640-1889 > Part 8
USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Berlin > History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. 1640-1889 > Part 8
USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > New Britain > History of New Britain, with sketches of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. 1640-1889 > Part 8
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FARMINGTON AND KENSINGTON CHURCHES.
The petition to the General Assembly, after stating that permission had been obtained from Farmington, proceeds :
" The principal and only moving cause of this our humble petition, is the remoteness from any town, whereby we are under great disadvantage for our soul's good by the Ministry of the word, and in that your humble petitioners may be under the better advantage to set up and maintain ye worship & ordinances of Jesus Christ, in that desolate corner of the wil- derness, we humbly request that your honors will please to annex into our bounds, for the only use of said society, all those lands that are be- tween our bounds southward, and Wallingford bounds northward, for the benefit of the Taxes of said lands, for ye support of ye public charge of said society."
The General Assembly made and confirmed the grant, and the new society was incorporated.
The church was not organized until some years later, but church members residing in the vicinity resolved to maintain public worship and engaged Rev. William Burnham for their minister. The town of Farmington, Dec. 23, 1707, passed a vote as follows :
" Voted and agreed that those who inhabit in the limits granted to be a new society at Great Swamp, that their dues to a minister here be abated, from March last, provided the select men certify who those persons are who have there covenanted to each other, to support the present means they have there."
The General Assembly then ordered :
" That all the inhabitants within the bounds and limits of Great Swamp shall pay their ratable proportion for setting up and maintaining a minister there."
A small plain meeting-house was built at Christian Lane on the high ground on the east side of the present highway, a short distance south of the track of the Middletown rail- road. This building stood on land leased by the society of Dr. Joseph Steele. It was covered, the floor laid, and the interior so far completed as to be occupied in the latter part of the year 1712. The General Assembly, in 1711, made the following grant :
"Granted to the inhabitants of 'Farmington Village,' at and near ' Great Swamp,' by and with the approbation of the neighboring elders and
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churches, to gather a church and call a minister to labor among them ac- cording to the rules of the gospel and the order of discipline established by the goverment."
This persevering band having obtained consent of Farm- ington and of the General Assembly, and the approbation of the neighboring elders and churches, now proceed in regular order to the organization of the church and the or- dination of their minister. William Burnham, the first minister, was from the neighboring parish of Wethersfield. He appears to have commenced his regular ministrations at Great Swamp about 1707. In December of that year the town of Farmington voted him the following grant :
"Fifty acres of land to be taken up in our sequestered lands, not prejudicing highways, or former grants, and after Mr. Whitman hath made his pitch for what the town hath granted him, this grant is upon conditions that the said Mr. Burnham shall settle a pastor of church in ye society of ye Great Swamp."
This tract was not set off and described to him until after his ordination, as appears from the following extract from the land records of Farmington :
" The above grant was laid out to the Rev. Mr. William Burnham, Pastor of ye church at ye Great Swamp upon ye plains beyond ye boggy meadow southward, and lyeth in length 8 score rods Butting east on ye highway 160 rods, west on common land, north and south on common land 50 rods. Laid out this 10 day of April A. D. 1713. Signed, Thos. Hart }
Jo'n Wadsworth S Comt. A true copy, John Hooker, Register. Farmington 11 April, A. D. 1713."
After ministering to the parish for some time, Mr. Burn- ham accepted the call to settle as pastor of the church upon the following conditions, which appear to have been drawn up by himself, and are dated "5 June, 1709."
" First, Articles proposed by Wm. Burnham, of Farmington village, as conditions required in order to my continuance in the work of the min- istry in that society ; that the land of John North that hath been dis- coursed of, be made over to me, by a firm conveyance speedily, I paying five pounds in current money to John North for the exchange, as also that on the north end of Nehemiah Porter's lot, as also the society take care
. that the 50 acres of land, that the town of Farmington, as is reported,
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proposed for my encouragement, be in some suitable manner made sure to me and my heirs, &c., upon my settlement.
.Second, That the house begun by sd society be finished in the manner and to the degree that is ordinary in this country for such sort of houses, be finished by them speedily, that is to say the two 'Loer' rooms, at or before the last day of March that shall be in the year 1710, the remainder within twelve months after, I only finding glass and nails.
Third, That for the first four years inclusively of the year past, my salary be 50€ per annum in grain, that is to say Wheat, Indian Corn, or 'Ry,' such as is merchantable, at the prices that the General Court shall annually state them at & from the period of the above-mentioned time 65£ at the same prices, till such time as the society shall see cause to raise it.
Fourthly, That so much labor be done for me by the society as may amount to the value of 5£ per annum for the first four years inclusively of the year past, and that a Comt be from time to time during sd term ap- pointed to see to the accomplishment of sd labor for me on that part of the land that I shall esteem most convenient.
Fifth, That the society from time to time procure me a sufficient sup- ply of fire wood for my family use brought home and made fit for the fire."
At a meeting of the society at Great Swamp, held June 10, 1709, it was voted unanimously :
" Agreed freely and heartily to accept of the above written articles offered by the much esteemed Mr. William Burnham unto the above sd society as conditions required in order to his continuance in the work of the ministry, provided the above sd Mr. Burnham at the confirmation of the lands mentioned, do give sufficient security to sd society."
It appears that in September of the same year, John Hart and Benjamin Judd, a committee chosen by the society for this purpose, entered into an agreement with Mr. Burnham, that if he remained with the society for nine years from November 11, 1707, the house and land mentioned were to remain in his possession, and that of his heirs and assigns forever, without any demand from the society ; but if he did not remain that length of time he was either to relinquish his right and title to them, or pay such sum as arbitrators should decide was sufficient.
Although Mr. Burnham had been regularly called by the society, and had accepted the call in 1709, he was not installed until the 10th of December, 1712, when a church was organized, and the pastor ordained on the same day.
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The seven pillars of the church were Rev. William Burn- ham, the pastor, Stephen Lee, Thomas Hart, Anthony Judd, Samuel Seymour, Thomas North, and Caleb Cowles. These seven, with the wife of Stephen Lee, the wife of Thomas Hart, and the wife of Samuel Seymour, constituted the church, the first within the limits of Berlin or New Britain. To this little company of ten, others were soon added. On March 10, 1713, Anthony Judd was chosen " as probationer for the deacon's office," and arrangements were made for church work aside from the preaching services, as follows : -
" At a meeting of the Church it was agreed that the members of ' the same should hold conference meetings on the first days of every Month in the year, to begin about 2 hours before sunset at the meeting house; the sd meeting shall begin with prayer by one of the brethren, who also shall propose a text of scripture, and a question or questions, on the same, in writing, them to be discoursed on, by his next brother, by House row, by word or by writing if sd Brother shall see cause. And the Pastor of the Church and the sd brother from whom an answer is expected at any meeting, shall at the same meeting lay down the Text of Scripture, and the question or questions thereon arising to be discoursed on at the next meeting, to his neighbor successively, till every brother in the church has taken his turn, then he shall begin again who first pro- posed the question, and so on successively. It was also agreed that none should be present at sd conference, but those in full communion, but by liberty from the Church."
.
When the church was organized, no pulpit or permanent seats had been provided for the meeting-house. In 1713, Benjamin Judd and Stephen Lee, both residing on East Street, New Britain, were chosen a committee "to provide suitable timber for a pulpit, and seats for the meeting- house." At a society meeting held January 11, 1714, it was voted :
"To build a pulpit and seats in number and form as followeth, to say, two pues on each side of the pulpit, and three long seats on each side of the brode alley to be left from the pulpit to the east door of said meet- ing house, leaving convenient allies toward ye north and south dores. The said pulpit and pues to be built battin fashen."
The work was delayed by various causes, and it was not completed until 1716. On Sunday, November 28, 1714,
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Anthony Judd was confirmed and ordained to the deacon's office, to which he was chosen nearly two years before. A few years later, January 27, 1718-19, at the request of Deacon Judd, another deacon was chosen, Thomas Hart, who, after some time of probation, was ordained to the office. Deacon Hart was recorder of the society, and also one of the rate-makers. He collected the earlier records, which were upon loose papers, and transcribed them into a book, for better preservation. At the annual meeting, December 1, 1715, it was voted to give Mr. Burnham £70 in money or grain per annum, provided he would release the society from its former obligation to provide his fire-wood. It appears from the records that the society paid Thomas North ten shillings for sweeping the meeting-house, and Nathaniel Winchell's son ten shillings for beating the drum on the Sabbath for the year.
A portion of the West society of Wethersfield, now New- ington, was so situated as more conveniently to come to the Great Swamp meeting-house for worship than to any other, and was annexed to this society in 1715, and a few families in the town of Farmington were annexed to the Wethersfield West Society. These changes helped to strengthen the Great Swamp Society, and increase its influence.
The records of the society for January 7, 1716, read :
" At the same meeting Insign Isaac Norton was appointed to take care for the obtaining a fashionable and decent cushing for the desk of our meeting house upon the society charge."
For some reason he seems to have failed to obtain it, for in December, 1718, Ebenezer Gilbert was appointed " to provide a convenient cushion for our meeting-house desk," and Nathaniel Knot was to provide " a convenient lock and key for ye meeting-house dore," both "at the charge of ye society."
After the pulpit and seats had been erected, and before all the improvements mentioned had been completed, the society, at a meeting held January 7, 1716-17, finding that " all former methods and acts taken and recorded in order to
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a regular seating our meeting-house " had proved ineffectual, and that there was much disquietness and disorder appear- ing, it was voted to seat the inhabitants of said society as follows :
"In the first 'pue' next the pulpit. Benjn Beckley, Lft Steven Lee, Benjn Judd, Mr. Ebenezer Gilbird, samuel smith, Isaac Norton, Thos Hart.
2d pue, John Woodruff, John North, Thos North, Saml seamer, Hez. Hart.
3d pue, samuel Bronson cooper, Joseph smith, Thos Curtice, Jonath Hurlburt, John Standley, Johnathan Lee.
4 pue east side, Isaac Hart, Samuel Thompson, Joseph Steale, Isaac Lee, Gershom Hollister, Jonathan Seamer, Robert Boothe.
1st seat, in the square body. Thos Hancox sen, Nehemiah Porter, Nathl Winchel sen, Saml Bronson, miller, Thomas Moreton, Richard beckley.
2d seat, saml peeke, saml Hubbard, daniel andrus, stephen Cellsey (Kelsey), Jacob Deming. Caleb cowls (Cowles).
3d seat, Geo. Hubbard, John Morton, John Cellsie (Kelsey), Thos Gridley, Samuel Galpin, Ebenezer Seamer.
4th seat, W. M. Bronson, saml Cowls, John Gridley, John Roote,' John Andrus.
5th seat, daniel beckley, Joseph becly, Joseph Harris, Saml Gridley, Daniel hancox.
In ye pue at the north end east side, John Rue, saml hart, Wm hancox, John Gilbird, samuel Bronson jun.
In the fore seat, widow becly, goodde buck & widow duey, Dea. Judd in the Deacon's seat & his wife in ye fore pue."
This church continued to add to its numbers, and the congregation gradually increased so that it was determined to put galleries in the meeting-house. A contract was made October 18, 1720, with Richard Austin and Moses Bull of Hartford, to build "galleries after the manner of the work in the galleries of the Farmington meeting-house." There were to be four seats in each of the side galleries and eight seats in the front galleries. The contract for the work was carefully drawn, apparently by the pastor, Rev. Wm. Burnham.
When the alterations had been made, and the meeting- house with its pulpit and galleries was completed, the question of seating again arose, and threatened to cause
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some disturbance. At a society meeting held May 23, 1721, the following vote was passed :
" Voted and agreed that the meeting house should be seated on these rules ; viz. age, list, and whatever makes a man honorable."
Two months later, at another meeting of the society, it was,
" Voted and agreed that the fore seats in the square body shall for the time to come be equal in dignity with those seats called the fore pues, and that the pews next to the east door shall be equal in dignity with those called the middle or second pews."
As the number of people in the parish increased, some of the youth became irreverent, and the society, at its annual meeting, in 1724 :
"Voted and agreed that Thos Hart and Saml Bronson Jr. be ap- pointed to oversee the boys on ye Sabbaths in time of exercise to restrain them from irreverent behaviors therein for the year ensuing."
This church now included in its membership most of the families in the settlement at Christian Lane, Beckley Quar- ter, and at Kensington and Blue Hills, and also those living in the southeastern and eastern part of the present town of New Britain. The people in the northeastern part of New Britain attended meeting with the Wethersfield West Society, and most of the families in the central and western portions, still went to Farmington.
The growth of the church and congregation under the ministrations of Mr. Burnham had been such that the meeting-house erected at Christian Lane, with all its im- provements, was found to be too small for the needs of the parish, and its location was not acceptable to many of the parishioners. As the question of a new meeting-house began to be discussed, it was found that there was so great diversity of opinion in regard to its location, that a society meeting held December 2, 1728,
" Voted to call in the assistance of some wise, able and indifferent persons, to hear, consider, and determine the differences there are relating to a meeting house for them."
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January 26, 1729-30, a vote was passed "to build a new mecting-house in some convenient place on Sargt. John . Norton's lot on the north side of the Mill River."
At other meetings, other votes were passed, determining the size of the house, changing the location of the site, and affecting the building in other ways, but there was want of harmony, and no progress was made.
The vote, forty-two in favor of building and a change of location, and thirty-six against it, indicates a nearly equal division of the society in sentiment. This action seems to have been the beginning of difficulties which continued for . many years, and finally resulted in the organization of a new society. The desire to obtain as many votes as possible caused a petition to be presented to the General Assembly, 1729, praying that body to decide whether the persons resid- ing in the limits of Middletown, who had been released from paying rates in that parish, and directed to pay them in Great Swamp, could also vote in this society. The General Assembly resolved the question in the affirmative. The site which had been selected by a vote of a majority of six, in the society meeting, was situated about a quarter of a mile southwest of the present Berlin railway station, and nearly a mile from the location of the first meeting-house. The objection to the new site was so strong on the part of a portion of the society, that various efforts were made to have it changed. After several meetings and conferences had been held, and the vote in regard to a site had been reversed, it was voted to decide the question by lot. The pastor, Rev. Mr. Burnham, was present at the drawing of the lot, but the result, which would have located the house at quite a distance cast of the site first selected, was still unsatisfactory. A commission, consisting of Reverends Nathaniel Chauncey of Durham, Samuel Hull of Cheshire, Jonathan Marsh of Windsor, and Samuel Whittlesey of Wallingford, was called in to consider whether the lot was binding. This commis- sion decided that it was, and recommended that for peace sake the meeting-house " be built where the lot fell."
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FARMINGTON AND KENSINGTON CHURCHES. .
The advice was not followed, and the society, at a meeting held October 19, 1731 :
"Voted & agreed to prefer a Memorial to the General Assembly, now convened at New Haven, praying them to order, appoint & affix the place, whereon our Meeting House shall be erected."
The Assembly complied with the request, and voted :
"To appoint Capt John Rigs, Capt. Isaac Dickerman & Mr. Ebenezer West to repair to said parish, view the circumstances & fix the place for building a Meeting-House."
The committee visited Kensington, examined the sites proposed, heard the statements of the different parties, and made their report recommending a site where they placed a stake. The General Assembly accepted the report, and passed the following order :
" This Assembly do order and appoint that the meeting-house in said society (Kensington) shall be erected in Deacon Thomas Hart's home lot, on the north side of the highway but adjoining thereto, to stand about one rod south of an apple tree which is partly dead, at which place the said West &c. have pitched a stake. And the inhabitants of said society are hereby directed and ordered, with all convenient speed, to proceed to raise and finish the said house at the above described place." *
Nothwithstanding this direct order of the General Assem- bly, the society, at a meeting held soon after the adjournment of the Assembly, voted not to appoint a committee or pro- ceed to build. In consequence of this action, which seemed to have been considered disorderly, the General Assembly, at its October session of the same year, after rehearsing its former action, passed the following act :
" Whereas it has been certified to this court by Mr. Tomas Hart, clerk of said society that at a meeting of the Inhabitants of said society on the 14th day of June last past, it was Resolved by their vote that they would not appoint suitable & meet persons to be a Committee to set up, build & finish, a house proper & suitable for said Society to attend God's publick worship in on the place the General Assembly hath lately appointed for the same.
Be it therefore Enacted by the Governour, Council, and Represent- atives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same,
* Colonial Records of Connecticut. Vol. vii, p. 398.
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HISTORY OF NEW BRITAIN, ETC.
That the Treasurer of this Colony shall, in his warrant for gathering the next country rate direct and command the constable of the town of Farmington to collect with the same of the inhabitants of the society of Kensington, nine pence upon the pound of the polls and ratable estate of said society. And the said constable is hereby ordered, directed and impowered, to assess and gather the same of said inhabitants of said society, and the same, being so gathered, shall deliver to the Treasurer, who is hereby ordered and directed to pay out the same to Capt John Marsh, Captain Thomas Seymour and Mr. James Church all of Hartford, who are hereby appointed and empowered to be a committee or any two of them, to erect and finish a meeting-house at the place aforesaid. And said committee are hereby also ordered and directed, to make all con- venient speed in the business aforesaid, and give an account to the Asscm- bly of their disbursements of the money, and how far they have pro- ceeded therewith in the business aforesaid, that this Assembly may order what money may be further necessary for the finishing said house to be gathered of the inhabitants of said society and to be by said comn.ittee improved for that end."*
The meeting-house was erected by the above committee according to the order of the General Court, on land belonging to Thomas Hart, a short distance southeast of Berlin railway station. The dimensions of the building were sixty feet by forty-five, and it was described as " containing in the whole about 1,500 persons." The society, at a meet- ing held October 25, 1733, fixed a rate of twelve pence on the pound, for the purpose of building a new meeting-house, and in December, 1734, appointed Deacon Anthony Judd, William Burnham, and Isaac Morton to settle the account with the building committee.
In 1736 Deacon Judd and Captain Thomas Curtiss were chosen :
"A committee to agree with Thos Hart about the price of the land on which our new meeting-house stands and to agree about the fence around the meeting-house."
In 1736 a grant of £1 7s. 6d. was made to Joseph Steele for sweeping the old meeting-house for the year past. At the annual meeting of the society the next year, 1737, it was voted :
* Colonial Records, vol. vii., p. 407.
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"That the committee of the society provide a suitable drum and pro- cure some meet person to beat it on Sabbath days, and also provide an hour glass with a suitable frame for it, and put them up on the pulpit, in ye meeting-house."
By the accounts rendered at the next annual meeting it seems that the drum, hour-glass, and frame were duly pro- cured. Nathaniel Winchell was paid 30s. for beating the drum, and Thomas Hart &4 for sweeping the meeting-house the past year. A bier to carry the dead was also provided at a cost of 10s. Arrangements were also made for the care of the burying-ground and seating the meeting-house, as follows :
"Voted & agreed that Elisha Goodrich may take within his own enclosure the burying yard of this society, for five years, provided the said Elisha Goodrich clear & keep the said yard from brush, & keep swine from rooting the same."
" Voted that Dea. Anthony Judd and Dea. Thomas Hart, be a comt, to seat as speedily as may be, the Inhabitants of this society in the Meet- ing house at their discretion."
Rev. Mr. Burnham's salary, which in 1715 was £70, was in 1730 increased to £100, in bills of public credit, or in grain at the market price ; and in 1735 to £140, " to be paid in money, or in wheat at 10s., rye at 6s., and Indian corn at 5s." At the annual meeting in 1740 a vote was passed granting to him a salary of £160, "to be paid in money or grain at the market price for his good service in the ministry the year past."
With a meeting-house completed, which, for the times, may have been considered large and convenient, and pro- vided with the accessories that were then deemed necessary and important ; with the congregation orderly seated ; with a faithful pastor, under whose ministrations the church had largely increased in numbers, and with the friendship of surrounding parishes and ministers, it would, perhaps, seem that this church had entered upon an era of peace and prosperity. But the promise of union and harmony indi- cated by outward circumstances was not realized. The people in the northern and extreme western part of the
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parish had at no time been satisfied with the location of the meeting-house. Though they had acquiesced in the pro- ceedings and rendered obedience to the orders of the General Assembly, and the action of the majority of the society, paying their rates with the others, it was with a feeling that they were submitting to hardships which would sometime be removed. The new meeting-house was nearly a mile further from East Street than the first one in Christian Lane, and inconveniently located for the people in the northern part of the parish. Accordingly, in 1739, the following petition was presented to the General Assembly asking for relief :
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