History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I, Part 47

Author: Rockey, J. L. (John L.)
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: N. Y. : W. W. Preston
Number of Pages: 966

USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 47
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I > Part 47

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The church has had many faithful, devoted members, serving as deacons and in private capacity. A partial list embraces the names of Nathaniel Andrews, Almer Hall, John W. Blakeslee, Chester Cook, Sherlock Avery, Cephas Johnson, Michael Doolittle, Lyman Miller, Alonzo Miller, Ebenezer Dudley, John Dudley, Cephas Johnson, Mer- ritt Hubbard, Henry and Selden Tuttle, Johnson Doolittle, L. S. Allen, Orrin Andrews, Friend Miller, Asahel Andrews, James and Marcus Scarritt, Wooster Martin, Franklin Johnson, William Marks, Samuel and Philander Hopson, Hubbard Fenn, William L. Hood and the deacons in 1889 : Benjamin Sutliff, Clarence H. Brown and Frederick S. Smith.

Caroline Adams became a member of the church in 1827, and in 1840 organized the Ladies' Sewing Society, which has been a valu- able auxiliary to the church. In 1889 she remained the oldest mem- ber of the congregation.

Mention should be here made of the fact that at a call of this church a convention of delegates from nine churches met in the Union Academy, at Wallingford, September 25th, 1825, and formed the New Haven Baptist Association, of which body the church has since been a member.

The ecclesiastical society of the church was organized December 29th, 1822, to manage the business affairs, and has usually fixed the salaries of the pastors, which, since 1832, have been from $300 to $1,500 per year. It also hired the first sexton, in 1843, at a salary of $12 per year.

In the summer of 1821 a plain frame meeting house was built for the church on the lot on which stands the present edifice. This was enlarged by an addition and steeple to the front, in 1847, the changes costing $3,000. With other repairs and renovations it remained a com- fortable place of worship until it was burned, December 4th, 1869.

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Until a new house could be provided, the meetings were held in the town hall. The work of building the present fine brick edifice was at once begun, and it was substantially completed in 1870, at a cost of nearly $36,000. Since its consecration modern improvements havc been added, so that it is now one of the most complete churches in the association. In 1864 a parsonage was purchased on Academy street. which was sold in 1879. In 1885 the present finc parsonage, on Curtiss avenue, was completed. being valued, with the lot. at $5,000. D. E. Morris, Marcus E. Cook and Newton C. Wooding are the trus- tees of the society: C. H. Brown, treasurer; C. G. Hull, clerk; and J. C. Mansfield, the church clerk.

St. Paul's Church (Protestant Episcopal), of Wallingford borough, is a prosperous organization. Doctor Davis, in his exhaustive “ His- tory of Wallingford," says " that the precise time when this church was gathered is unknown." It appears to have been organized pre- vious to 1729, under the auspices of the London "Society for the Prop- agation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," and from a letter to the bishop of London, written in the year named, which was signed by the members at that time, we learn some facts in regard to its history. They said: "We are a church but newly planted," which had the ser- vice of a regular minister but once per quarter, but on every other Lord's day the service was performed, so far as it was proper, by a lay rcader; but the want of sufficient sermon books was deplored, and the difficulty of encouraging the spread of the Gospel, on account of the rates required to support the established church, with the persecution attending those who dissented from the state church, was brought to the attention of the bishop, with the expressed hope that a better con- dition of things would soon prevail, when more laborers in the cause of the church could be supplied. This letter was signed by: "Thomas lves, North Ingham, church wardens; Ebenezer Wainwright, Thomas Dewlittle, John Bellamy, Aaron Tuttle, Waitstill Abinather, Matthew Bellamy, Phineas Ives, Shadrach Seagar, Ebenezer Blakesley, Enos Smith, John Meeky, Thomas Williams, George Fisher."

Only a part of the foregoing lived within the bounds of the present town of Wallingford; the others lived in the adjoining towns.

It appears that there was no further account of this society until 1740, when Reverend Theophilus Morris, missionary of the London society ex- tended his labors to this section, coming from the Naugatuck valley. It is probable that his ministry led to the formation of the so-called "Union Church " parish, which was organized in March, 1741, and was composed of perhaps a dozen families residing in the southern part of old Wallingford and North Haven. A small frame church building was erected near Pond hill, in which the services of the church were now clothed with some of the impressive dignity which attaches to them. Mr. Morris preached at this church every three months, and was assisted by a Mr. Thompson, who officiated more frequently. A

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little later a Mr. J. Lyon was the assistant, and they had also the assist- ance of a lay reader, so that services appear now to have been held regularly; and from this time, 1741, the Episcopal church in Walling- ford has had a continuous history.

This purpose to maintain an organized parish, distinct and separate from the Congregational or State church, aroused the members of the latter body to assert their rights as expressed in the colony laws of that period, and the churchmen were not only obliged to pay their rates to build the regular meeting houses and to support the estab- lished ministry, but some of them, for protesting against these unjust measures, were fined and imprisoned. Such action had a tendency to keep the churchmen poor and distressed. The newly organized churches found it difficult to support a minister or even to contribute much toward his maintenance. Under these circumstances Henry Bates and John Ward, of the Wallingford church, on the 1st of December, 1743, wrote to the secretary of the London society, reciting that, although there were 25 masters of families belonging to the organization, yet owing to the frequent demands upon them by the established church, they were kept poor and needed aid from the venerable society in order to maintain a minister. If such aid could be given they hoped to be able, in the course of a few years, to raise £20 sterling per an- num toward the support of a minister, etc.

The society extended the aid the parish desired, and there was an increase of members under the labors of Reverends Ichabod Camp and Ebenezer Punderson. The former first read lay sermons at Wal- lingford in 1748, and after his ordination divided his time between Wallingford and Middletown, from 1753 to 1760, when he removed to North Carolina. The latter was at Wallingford in 1750, and appears to have made a good impression in favor of his cause. Like Samuel Seabury, he was formerly a Congregational minister at Groton, but was ordained to the priesthood in England in 1734, after which he returned to this country and earnestly labored as a churchman.

Meantime the meetings of the Wallingford church were held in what is now the borough, the church at Pond hill proving to be incon- veniently located. Of this second place of worship but little can be said. It was, most likely, simply a dwelling fitted up for that pur- pose, and stood in the northern part of the village. To provide a more suitable place measures were taken to erect a church at a still more central point. Accordingly, December 20th, 1757, Joseph Rice, Jr., Titus Brockett, David Cook and Abel Thomson petitioned the town for permission to build a new church on the corner diagonally northwest of the present site. Permission being granted, the church was built in 1758, and was also an unassuming frame structure, but larger than the first one, on Pond hill. In it was placed an organ by David Cook, who had brought it from England. Subsequently this

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organ became the property of the North Haven society, and in 1869 it was sold to William P. Gardner, of New Haven.

Some time about 1762, Reverend Samuel Andrews was appointed the missionary of the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," for the parishes of Wallingford, Cheshire and North Haven, and continued that relation, with some interruption, until 1781, when he removed to New Brunswick, where he became the first rector of the parish of St. Andrews. He remained in Nova Scotia until his death at an advanced age. Mr. Andrews was born in what is now the town of Meriden, in 1737, and was the youngest of eight sons. In 1759 he graduated from Yale College. Two years later he went to England to receive holy orders in the Episcopal ministry. After being in the service of the London Society, at Wallingford, several years, he made an extended missionary trip into the northern part of New England, returning to his original field of labor, where his work was crowned with great success, until the troublous times of the revo- lution. In that struggle Mr. Andrews was a tory, and thus incurred the hostility of his patriot neighbors, destroying his usefulness as a minister in this locality. It is said that when he removed, in conse- quence of his opinions, a number of tory families accompanied him to seek new homes in Nova Scotia, as their love and respect for him was very great. He was sincerely consistent in his views and unaffected in his piety, claiming that his vows to the missionary society, in whose employ he was, would prevent him from doing otherwise than the course he pursued. He was the last missionary of the society to the Wallingford church, which in the early years of his ministry was greatly strengthened, so that the parish had, in 1770, 63 families and 69 communicants. In Cheshire there were 47 families and 64 com- municants; and in what is now Meriden there were 6 families and 14 communicants. Much of the accession to the membership was the result of dissensions in the established church, consequent upon the discussion of theological questions. This drove many from the folds of the established church in every parish, which aided to liberalize the old societies after they had passed through a period of contention. " But many, in order to escape the acrimonious controversies of that day, joined the Episcopal church, to find peace and enjoyment in its communion."*

Other missionaries of the London Society sometimes visited Wal- lingford, and aided to establish the church. Among these was Ed- ward Winslow, the missionary at Stratford, who frequently officiated. as often as once every six weeks, in 1760. He was an excellent preacher and a good rector, but died while yet in the prime of man- hood, in 1780.

Of the condition of the Episcopal church at large, in the colony, at this period and later, Doctor Davis says: " The close of the revolution

* Doctor Beardsley's History of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut.

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found it in a state of the deepest depression. Her altars prostrate or deserted, her ministers gone or disheartened, herself the object of political odium and suspicion, without the inherent power of perpetu- ating her own polity, her cause, in the view of men seemed well nigh desperate. So mourned her friends ; so vaunted her enemies."*

The consecration of Doctor Samuel Seabury to the bishopric, in 1783, and the establishment of the Diocese of Connecticut, brought encouragement to the hearts of the churchmen in the colony, as the affairs had now a supervising head. The benefit of this arrangement was soon made manifest in the more perfect organization of the church work, which brought order out of chaos and restored confidence in the future of the church. And yet, for many years, the church at Wallingford felt the depressing effects of the revolutionary period, barely maintaining an existence, after some of its strength was gath- ered to the support of newly organized parishes within the bounds of the old town. ·

In 1788, Reverend Reuben Ives became the rector of the church at Cheshire, his native town, for two-thirds of the time, with privilege to devote the remaining third to missionary duties in the neighboring towns. These ministrations continued about thirty years, and led to the organization of the parishes in Meriden, Southington and Ham- den. He supplied Wallingford and Meriden many years, and Rever- end Tillottson Bronson, the principal of the Cheshire Academy; Rev- erend Charles Seabury, son of the bishop, and others, also preached in this period.

Near the close of 1794 Reverend Seth Hart, who had preached for the Episcopalians of Waterbury, removed to Wallingford and remained about four years. In 1801 Reverend Ammi Rogers took charge of the parishes of Branford, Wallingford and East Haven. Later the Wallingford church was supplied by, among others, the Reverends Joseph Perry and Virgil H. Barber.

In 1822 there was again a regular rector in the person of Reverend James Keeler, but in 1824 he was succeeded by Reverend Ashbel Baldwin, who lived at Wallingford and who officiated several years. In 1832 he became disabled by age for any active duty. He died at Rochester, N. Y., in 1846, nearly 90 years old. Mr. Baldwin was a man of ability and tact and well liked in the community. It was in this period, in 1831, that the " Wells Meeting House " was purchased by the parish and occupied for church purposes.

Since 1832 the parish has had a regular succession of rectors and has prospered accordingly. The ministers since that period have been: Reverends William Curtis, 1832-6; Lemnel Hall, 1836-9; R. M. Chapman, 1839-40; Hillard Bryant, 1841-50; Joseph Brewster, 1850-3; Charles S. Putnam, 1853-8; John Townsend, 1858-64; Edward M. Gushee, 1864-70. Since June, 1870, the rector has been Reverend J.

* History of Wallingford, p. 254.

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F. Wildman, whose ministry has been characterized not only by length of years beyond any of his predecessors, but has also been successful in promoting the material and spiritual interests of the parish. The membership has been largely increased. numbering in December, 1889, 289 communicants and 190 families.

The ministry of Reverend Hillard Bryant was one of the first in which there was a marked change in the affairs of the parish. In 1843 he reported the building of a neat and commodious rectory, at a cost of $1,500; and in 1846 a new Gothic church 40 by 63 feet was erected on the old " Wells " lot at a cost of $5,000, most of which was secured from outside sources. In 1861, under the rectorship of Rev- erend John Townsend, the church was enlarged at an expense of $2,379, and in 1865, while Reverend E. M. Gushee was the rector, it was beautified at an outlay of more than $400. In the ministry of the same reetor the church was burned, October 27th, 1867, the loss being estimated at $15,000. At the same time the "Union Hall," on the lot south was destroyed and its site was afterward included in the church lot.

Upon the Reverend Mr. Gushee devolved the work of having a new church edifice erected, and the present substantial building is evidence of the success of the undertaking. The corner stone was laid by the Right Reverend John Williams, May 26th, 1868, and by him the church was consecrated September 2d, 1869. It is built of Portland sandstone, in the Gothic style of architecture, with a width of 58 feet and a height of 62 feet. A tower on the northwest corner. 91 feet high, is supplied with a bell of 2,500 pounds weight. The length of the building is 124 feet and it is suitably divided for the use of the church. The audience room accommodates 700 people. George E. Harney was the architect. The church cost about $70,000. A very large proportion of this amount was paid by two members of the parish-Samuel Simpson and Ebenezer H. Ives. Since the erection of the new church it has been reasonably repaired and made still more attractive. The ministry of Mr. Gushee was also characterized by the extension of the parish, in the establishment of the mission at Yalesville, which had become strong enough, in 1871, to be organized as an independent parish, and has since gone apace with the parish church.

Of the parish of St. Paul Samuel Simpson has been the senior war- den since 1858, and Henry L. Hall has served as junior warden many years. The present vestrymen are: G. W. Hull, S. N. Edmonds, B. A. Treat, William N. Mix, John Munson, William Hodgkinson, John H. Francis, Street Williams, C. A. Harrison, Benjamin Hall, W. M.Whit- taker. The parish elerk is Charles G. Pomeroy.

The church has several valuable auxiliaries, chief among them being the Sunday school, with nearly 200 members, and William Whit- taker as its superintendent. St. Paul's Guild, a ladies' aid society, has

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for more than twenty years, by its material assistance and moral sup- port, advanced the work of the parish. St. Paul's Chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew is of recent organization, being instituted December 9th, 1889, with 18 charter members. William Whittaker was elected to the office of director: Horace Furniss, secretary; and William N. Mix, treasurer. Its membership is increasing rapidly.

Wallingford Methodists organized a class in the town as early as 1809, which had as members Samuel Smith and wife, Sydney Smith, Stever Beach, Mary Doolittle, Elizabeth Merriam, Lucinda Preston and Nancy Parker. They met for worship in private houses, and what preaching they had was in connection with the appointments in the surrounding towns. In more recent years a Methodist church was fairly established at Wallingford, and a chapel was procured on the " Plains," on Quinnipiac street, in which worship was for some time statedly held, and there were a number of active members. The re- moval of some of these and other causes so weakened the society that no official organization was maintained in 1889, and since 1885 the chapel has only been infrequently used.

The Yalesville Methodist Episcopal church had its origin in revival services held in the old Adventist church, in 1865, the religious awak- ening extending to the entire community. As a result a union house of worship was built by G. I. Mix and others, in which a Sabbath school was established, with Mr. Mix as superintendent, and the chapel was used by various denominations. The Methodist class at Yales- ville, which had among its members George Cook, A. J. Brown, T.W. Jerald, J. Campbell, William Watson and others, being encouraged by the Methodist church of Meriden, purchased for $3,500, in May, 1867, the Union chapel, and made it a church of their own denomination. Im- provements of a more recent period have made the house comfortable, and a parsonage, built in 1889, close at hand, has enhanced the value of the property of Yalesville circuit. Prior to the organization of this, about fifteen years ago, the church had the services of local preachers. In 1889 the minister of the circuit was Reverend George Coburn. The church had 90 members, and the Sabbath school, of which Charles A. Lamb was the superintendent, reported 75 mem- bers.

The Adventist church was built prior to the civil war, and after being occupied many years for religious purposes fell into disuse, and was later turned into a storeroom.

The Yalesville Baptist church was organized in 1877 with 11 mem- bers, and Ephraim Peck, Henry Schwab and Henry H. White were elected deacons. The church has prospered, and in 1889 had 52 mem- bers. Garry I. Mix was the superintendent of the Sabbath school, which had 100 members, and whose affairs were in a prosperous con- dition. The pulpit has been supplied most of the time, having had only one regular occupant, the Reverend Walter B. Vassar, who was

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the pastor one year. The past four years the supply has been Rever- end A. E. Reynolds.

The church edifice was dedicated May 16th, 1880. It stands in a pleasant part of the village, and is substantially built of brick, 38 by 56 feet, with a chapel extension, in the rear, of 26 feet. A small spire adds to the appearance. The property is valued at $5,000.

St. John's Evangelical Church (Protestant Episcopal) is located at Yalesville. The first services of the church at this place were held in the school house, by Reverends Deshon, of the Meriden parish, and Gushee, of Wallingford: but later meetings were held in the Advent chapel. About 1865 the sum of $1,500 was raised, and the building of the above house of worship was begun, on a lot donated by Bennet Jeralds. It is an attractive edifice, in the Gothic style of architec- ture, having dimensions of 35 by 70 feet, and is neatly furnished.

Having the regular services of a Mr. Bush, as a lay reader, the Episcopal membership at this place increased, and in 1870 there were 20 communicants. The following year St. John's became a separate parislı, with Bennet Jeralds and Henry C. Woodin as wardens; Ed- ward H. Tracy, John W. Woodin, John G. Button and Charles E. Yale, vestrymen. Since that time the membership of the parish has varied, there being about 40 communicants in 1889. These were served by Reverend William Wildman, and Reverend J. E. Wildman, of the Wallingford church, was the rector in charge of parish affairs.

Previous ministers were : Reverend Bush, here ordained to dea- con's and priest's orders ; Reverend D. Henry Smith, the rector for four years, after 1880; and his successor, the Reverend J. B. Robinson, rector for about three years. In addition, there have been a number of supplies, lay readers and ministers under deacon's orders, the frequency of change preventing the greater prosperity of the church.

The Second Adventists of Wallingford built a handsome house of worship in 1890-1. 1n 1843, and for a few years following, there was a great interest in Wallingford in the doctrine of the second coming of Christ. The Reverend Mr. Bacheler and many others of the Bap- tist church espoused it, and the cause soon had a large following in the community. Disappointed in the expected appearance of Christ, as foretold by Miller and others, many renounced their new faith, and no permanent Advent organization was maintained. Later a society was formed at North Farms, which had among its members Walter Ives, William Bartholomew and D. Platt. These and others of that locality erected a chapel opposite the Eben Neil corner, in which Advent meetings were held about ten years. The membership, never large, was diminished by removals, so that services were discontinued and the chapel was converted into a residence. Those remaining Adventists now attended the meetings at Yalesville, where an interest in this faith had sprung up, which received support from members of the Platt, Chandler, Marble, Bartholomew and other families. A

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chapel was there built, which was a useful factor in the religions life of the place a score of years, when the Advent meetings were there also given up, in consequence of the absorbtion of most of the mem- bership by the other churches at that place, noted in the foregoing pages.

About 1879, Reverend Homer A. King came to Wallingford bor- ough with a missionary tent and held a series of meetings, which were the means of gathering up a few members, among them being George Hull, James Pierepont, William Hill, Asahel Andrews, S. M. Scranton and D. C. Dudley. No regular organization was attempted, but meetings were held in halls until May, 1881, when the old Main street school house was secured as a regular place of worship, and it was occupied until the completion of the new church.

In 1883 the church settled Reverend D. T. Call as its pastor, who continued in that relation several years. He was followed in that office by Reverend George M. Teeple, who remained until July. 1889, since which time the pulpit has again been supplied. The member- ship has increased gradually, about 50 persons belonging at the pres- ent time. A vigorous Sunday school is maintained.

Holy Trinity Church (Roman Catholic)* is a prosperous and grow- ing organization. Catholic worship in the town was first held in December, 1847, when mass was said at the house of James Hanlon, an Irishman living at the corner of Main and High streets. He had taken up his residence at Wallingford in 1840, at which time there were but two other Irishmen in the village-Michael Mulligan and Mark Daly, the latter being in the employ of Jared P. Whittlesey. At that time the nearest Catholic church was at New Haven, and to that place James Hanlon was accustomed to walk to attend mass, re- turning on foot the same day to do his work as a servant. Soon after 1840 the nucleus of an Irish settlement was formed and as the new- comers all professed the Catholic faith, the services of a priest were desired. As a missionary came Father McGarick, from Waukegan, Ill., and held the first service which gladdened the hearts of this priest- less people, saying the mass on the 22d day of the above month. About twelve persons were in attendance, among the number being members of the Hanlon, Owens, Logan and Leonard families.

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History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume I, Part 47

Author: Rockey, J. L. (John L.) Publication date: 1892 Publisher: N. Y. : W. W. Preston Number of Pages: 966

Author: Rockey, J. L. (John L.)
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: N. Y. : W. W. Preston
Number of Pages: 966