History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II, Part 37

Author: Rockey, J. L. (John L.)
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York : W. W. Preston
Number of Pages: 1138

USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 37
USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II > Part 37

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

CHAPTER VII.

THE TOWN OF BETHANY.

Location and Description .- Civil Organization .- Town Officers .- Business Interests. - Physicians .- Religious and Educational Interests .- Cemeteries .- Revolutionary In- cident .- Biographical Sketches.

B ETHANY was incorporated as a parish in 1762, and became a town in 1832, being up to that time a part of Woodbridge.

The central part is nearly 12 miles from the city of New Haven, which is the market for most of the products of the town. On the north are the towns of Naugatuck and Oxford; on the east is Hamden; on the south Woodbridge; and on the west are the towns of Seymour and Beacon Falls. Bethany is about five miles long, and not quite four miles wide from east to west, but is somewhat irregular in shape. The general surface is elevated, and in parts somewhat broken by high hills, especially along its borders. Hence some sections are rather sterile; but in other parts are pleasantly located and productive lands, being especially adapted for meadows and grazing. The town was noted for its fine timber lands, and small areas still remain, while on the hills may be seen many wood lots of attractive appearance, af- fording a very pleasant landscape, which is dotted with cosy farm im- provements.

The town has no large streams, the drainage being afforded by small brooks, which are tributary to West river, in the southeastern part; Sargent's river, in the southern central part; Bladen's brook, in the southwest, and Beacon Hill brook, in the northwest. The latter flows through a narrow defile, on the north of the hill, into the Nau- gattick, and its mill seats are mainly in the town of Naugatuck. On the other streams the power is very feeble.

Bethany is one of the few towns which has no railroad within its bounds, but for 50 years the Watertown or Straits turnpike afforded comparatively easy communication. It is still one of the main high- ways in the northern and eastern parts, but for many years has been under the care of the town.

The territory in Bethany was included in the purchases made from the Indians in behalf of the towns of New Haven and Milford. The early settlements, also, are a part of the history of these towns and of Woodbridge and are not here reproduced. Some of the principal families, in the different parts of the town, were: the Hotchkiss, Peck

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and Hitchcock, in the interior and southwest; the French and Louns- bury, in the west; the Bradley, Beard and Perkins, in the north; the Tuttle, Beecher and Tolles, in the east; the Clark, Sperry and Hitch- cock, in the south. The population of the town has steadily declined, as will be seen from the official tables.

Bethany was constituted a civil and ecclesiastical district by the gen- eral assembly held at New Haven in October, 1762, which acted upon the memorial of Joel Hotchkiss and others living in the northern part of the parish of Amity. They represented that by reason of the length of the parish, from north to south, they (who lived in the north- ern part) were much inconvenienced to attend public worship, on ac- count of the great distance, and prayed that the old parish be divided by an east and west line, drawn from the south end of the dwelling of the widow Hannah Sperry. This was done, and the northern part was constituted a distinct parish, with all the appertaining privileges, and received the name of Bethany.

Parish relations were sustained with New Haven and Milford until the parishes of Amity and Bethany were incorporated as the town of Woodbridge, in 1784. In May, 1832, the parish of Bethany became a separate town, the limits and name remaining unchanged. In 1844 a part of Bethany was set to Naugatuck, and another part was set off in 1871, to help form Beacon Falls.

The first town meeting of Bethany was held at the Congregational meeting house, June 11th, 1832, and Reuben Judd was the moderator. The officers chosen were: Town clerk, Hezekiah Thomas; selectmen, Reuben Judd, Andrew Beecher, Theophilus Smith, John Russell, Archibald A. Perkins; constables, Burr Perkins, Leverett Thomas; grand jurors, Ebenezer Platt, Jesse Beecher, Libbeus Dickerman, Abel Prince, Abraham Hotchkiss; tythingmen, Leonard Todd, Miles Hitch- cock, Grant Hitchcock, Joel Andrews, Eli Terrell, Ahira Collins, Clark Hotchkiss, Major Lounsbury, Anon Atwater, Lewis Bishop, Leverett Benham, Eden Johnson; fence viewers, Isaac Hine, Timothy Louns- bury, Lysias Beecher, Abel Prince, Elihu Robinson.

In August, 1832, the selectmen of Woodbridge and Bethany ran and described the bounds between the two towns, Elihu Dickerman as county surveyor assisting them. Those first charged with the care of the roads were: Adonijah French, Daniel Russell, Enos Perkins, Abi- jah P. Judd, Nathan Prince, Abijah Chatfield, Benjamin M. Collins, Burr Perkins, David Hotchkiss, Jesse Beecher, Amos Hitchcock, Jr., Ebenezer Platt, Joseph Bradley, Eli Todd, Marshall Baldwin, Oliver S. Chatfield, Sidney Downs and John Wooding.

The highways of the town are fairly well maintained, at a yearly expense of about $1,500. The total expenses of the town approximate $5.000 per year, requiring a tax of thirteen mills on the dollar. The grand list of the town has steadily decreased the past four years, being $280,057.62 in 1889.

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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

Since the incorporation of Bethany the following have been the town clerks: 1832-44, Hezekiah Thomas; 1845, Edwin Lines; 1846-9, Asa C. Woodward; 1850-4, Jason W. Bradley; 1855 -- 79, Nathan Clark; 1880-9, Edwin N. Clark.

In the same period the following, among others, have been the se- leetmen: Andrew Beecher, Harry French, Lewis Lines, Miles French, P. B. Hine, Enos Perkins, Darius Driver, Sidney Sperry, Justus Peck, Marcus W. Bradley, Edwin Buckingham, Henry E. Lounsbury, Samuel G. Davidson, E. O. Pardee, Jason W. Bradley, Theophilus Smith, Ed- win Pardee, Horace Tolles, Anthony H. Stoddart, Abel Prince, Lev- erett Shares, Guy Perkins, Dennis Beecher, Robert Clark, D. N. Clark, Samuel R. Woodward, Charles C. Perkins, David Carrington, Jasper B. Todd. The first selectman for a number of years has been Samuel R. Woodward.

In 1854 the probate district of Bethany was formed, and Jason W. Bradley was the judge. He served until the fall of 1856, when An- drew Beecher succeeded him. Since the fall of 1863 the judge has been Nathan Clark. He is also the commissioner of the superior court.

With but little exception the sole occupation of the people of Beth- any has been agriculture. Since the northwestern part of the town was set off to Naugatuck, which included the best part of Beacon Hill brook, there have remained but few small water powers, some of which have been turned to account in operating small mills. No unusual manufactories have been carried on, except for a few years, about 1845, when Hezekiah Thomas had a pocket-book factory at the center, in which he employed a number of young people. He also had a small store and kept the Bethany post office. Subsequently this was kept by Wales F. Perkins, at his tavern, in the northern part of the town. For ten years, after 1855, the office was kept by Nathan Clark, at his residence in the southern part of the town. Mrs. Mary A. Sperry next was the postmistress, for fourteen years, and was succeeded in 1879 by the present incumbent, Mrs. M. E. Hitchcock. The mail supply is daily from Westville. The office is again kept at the center, which is a small hamlet, consisting of the Congregational and Episcopal churches and half a dozen residences. There is a small green, which will bear better improvement. The former green was on the hill, half a mile south. This was abandoned when the present Congrega- tional meeting house was built.

Along the old county road, which became later the Straitsville turnpike, and which is still the main highway between Naugatuck and New Haven, shops, stores and inns were early opened, and some are still continued. At Straitsville was the Collins tavern, of excel- lent reputation, and the accessories of a country village, all of which have declined or passed away. On the road farther east Archibald Perkins had a tavern, which was kept prior to the revolution. It be-

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came widely known, and at one time was much patronized by trav- elers, but since 1850 its business has greatly declined. After Perkins the landlords were : his son, Guy, his grandson, W. F., Richard War- riss and others. It is still best known as Perkins' inn. Here was once kept the Bethany post office, and usually there was a small store. Mechanic shops are still carried on in this locality. Those of Beecher Hotchkiss at one time employed a number of men.

The old Woodin tavern, nearer New Haven, on the pike, was kept many years by Theophilus Smith, but was converted into a farm house. In this part of the town Hezekiah Hitchcock made nails by hand, working on a small scale.

Among the physicians who were located in the town are remem- bered Doctor Hezekiah Hooker, who was in the parish of Bethany in the times of the revolution and until his death in 1798. He lived on the old green, half a mile south of the present center, and was a neigh- bor of the Reverend Stephen Hawley. Doctor Jehiel Castle was a practitioner in the town many years, also remaining until his death. He is interred in the Episcopal cemetery, and was at the time of his demise an aged man. Doctor Andrew Castle, his son, lived in Wood- bridge, but was buried in Bethany, about twenty years ago. He was a brilliant man, a successful physician, and enjoyed a large practice.

Some time about 1840 Doctor Lucian Spencer became a resident of Bethany, coming from Naugatuck, where he had previously practiced. He was a son-in-law of John Thomas, Esq., and lived on his old home- stead, where is now the farm residence of George Woodward, a mile north of the center. One cold night in February, 1844, the house was destroyed by fire. In it were asleep two sons of Doctor Spencer, John and Henry, aged 12 and 14 years, whom it was vainly endeavored to arouse. In his efforts to save them Doctor Spencer entered a room, where he was caught by the flames, and all three lost their lives. The event cast a sad gloom over the entire surrounding country, as Doctor Spencer was well known and much esteemed.

Doctor Asa C. Woodward succeeded to the practice of Doctor Spen- cer. He had graduated from Yale in January, 1844, and located in Bethany in April the same year. Here he abode until his death, in May, 1881, aged not quite 69 years. He was the last regular practi- tioner permanently located in the town, although Doctor Burton C. Case subsequently lived here a short time. A son of Doctor Wood- ward, Doctor Edward P. Woodward, was in practice in Bethany a few months in 1861, when he located in Bristol.

The first settlers were dependent upon the churches in New Haven and Milford for spiritual instruction, until the parish of Amity was created, in 1739. Over this the Reverend Benjamin Woodbridge was settled as the regular pastor three years later, and these comforts and means could now be more readily enjoyed, although the distance for many was still very great. As the northern part of Amity parish be-

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came more thickly settled, there arose a desire for a place of worship in their own locality, which soon after found expression in petitions for that object. But that end was not attained for a number of years. It was not until October, 1762, that the parish of Bethany was consti- tuted and a new ecclesiastical society ordered. Its organization took place November 13th, 1762, at a meeting over which Deacon Joel Hotchkiss moderated and James Sherman served as clerk. These were sworn to faithfully attend to their offices by Samuel Sherman, Esq. A society committee was then chosen, consisting of Timothy Peck, John White, Isaac Beecher, Daniel Tolles and Joel Hotchkiss. These were prominent, representative men, and well calculated to set on foot a measure in which all were so much interested. They voted to hold meetings from December until April, and that there should be a tax levied of 1} pence on the pound of valuation. Gershom Thomas was appointed collector of this rate. The meetings were held in the school house, which the Amity society had built, in 1750, on the road about a mile south of the present center, and which was used until the first church edifice could be occupied. Apparently these winter meet- ings gave encouragement to the belief that a pastor could be sustained, and in August, 1763, Reverend Stephen Hawley was called to that office. He accepted, and on the 12th of October. 1763, he was prop- erly ordained as the first pastor. At this time, also, the church was organized, but who were the original members cannot, in the absence of proper records, be clearly determined. Joel Hotchkiss and John White were the deacons, and among other early members or adher- ents of the church were James Warren, Caleb Tuttle, Hezekiah Clark, Peter Perkins, Reuben Sperry, Samuel Downs, Jesse Bradley, Nehe- miah Tolles, Thomas Johnson, Ebenezer Bishop, John Perkins, Sam- uel Bisco, John Lines, Eliphalet Johnson, Joseph Hotchkiss, Isaac Sperry, David Thomas and David French.

In 1763 the society agreed to purchase three public lots of Nathan Sanford, and began agitating the propriety of building a meeting house; but several years elapsed before final action was taken. In De- cember, 1767, it was voted to build a meeting house, 40 by 50 feet, and Deacon Joel Hotchkiss, Timothy Peck, Daniel Tolles, Isaac Beecher, Hezekiah Clark, Daniel Beecher, Timothy Ball, Deacon Jolin White, Samuel Bisco and Israel Thomas were appointed " to procure boards, clapboards, shingles, nails and glass to build the meeting house in 1768." A rate of four pence on the pound was laid, and Benajah Peck was to collect it. A delay of another year followed. and we find that, in December, 1768, the society again voted to set up the house the next spring. The work of building was placed in charge of a committee, which was authorized to hire workmen to hew and score timbers, at the rate of 3 shillings 6 pence per day. The deacons were charged with the work of culling the clapboards and shingles, gath-

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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

ered for the meeting house, so that none but good material should be used. In March, 1769, liberty was given to add a belfry.

In the meantime the parish had been enlarged by the annexation, in 1769, of that part of Milford south of the top of Beacon hill and that part of Derby lying between Bethany, as formed, and the Naugatuck river. This made the selection of a site for a meeting house more difficult. On application for this purpose, the committee appointed by the county court set the stake on the lands of Isaac Hotchkiss and En- sign Clark, and Israel Thomas and Isaac Beecher were appointed to purchase the land. But the society demanded a vote on this site, on the hill, half a mile south of the present green, when 29 members ex- pressed themselves in favor of it. and the following ten persons claimed that it was too far south, viz .: Timothy Peck, Titus Peck, Jesse Bradley, Uri Tuttle, Daniel Beecher, Nathaniel Tuttle, Ephraim Turner, Charles Todd, John Lounsbury and Lemuel Ward, all of whom will be recognized as residents of the northern part of the par- ish. The meeting house was so far completed that it was occupied in January. 1770, but was not wholly finished for a number of years. In 1776 the galleries were finished, and the interior made more comfort- able. In 1790 the house was repaired and painted, the committee for this purpose being Jolin Thomas, Nathaniel Tuttle, Hezekiah Thomas, Lazarus Tolles and Reuben Sperry. The following year box pews were placed in the house. In about that condition the meeting house was used for 40 years, when it was found necessary to build a new one. Again the question of a site proved to be a disturbing factor, and several years were spent in a fruitless effort to find one which should please all concerned.

In 1830 a committee was appointed to propose a plan for a new meeting house, whose report was accepted in 1831, and the following appointed a committee to execute the same: John Thomas, Silas Hotchkiss, Elihn Sanford, Lewis Hine and Hiram Hotchkiss. Elihu Robinson, Demas Sperry and Theophilus Smith were empowered to sell the old green. The present edifice was erected in 1832-3. In 1866 it was remodelled at a cost of more than $2,500, the interior being ma- terially changed. This was done under the direction of Jason W. Bradley. William O. White and Justus Peck. In 1885 the meeting house was further beautified, at an outlay of $500, and was, in 1890, a pleasant place of worship. It has a good location, at the center, nearly opposite the Episcopal church.

The Reverend Stephen Hawley was the pastor of the church until his death in the summer of 1804-a period of more than 40 years. Un- der his ministry the church prospered; and if there were any antago- nistic elements he had so well succeeded in harmonizing them that there were no marked discordances. A short time before his decease he was unable fully to attend to his pastoral duties, and June 6th, 1804, the Reverend Isaac Jones, of Woodbridge, was ordained as his

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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

colleague. He appears to have been a young man of ability, progres- sive in his ideas, and possessed many good parts. But he failed to lead the entire congregation, and, it is said, by disregarding the advice of some of the older members, in the choice of a wife* from among the many comely maidens of the parish, incurred their ill-will to such an extent that they became positively opposed to him, and conjured up many things to embarrass his work. The unfortunate feeling which was thus created assumed such proportions that a meeting of the Consociation was called to adjudicate the matter. As a result of its deliberations; on the 18th of November, 1806, that body declared Mr. Jones deposed from the pastoral office. But Mr. Jones and many members of the church were not disposed to accept this interference with what they regarded his private rights, without protesting, as the following record will show: " In the matter of complaint against the Rev. Isaac Jones, some of them preferred by Medad Hotchkiss, not a member of the church, the Consociation of the Western District of New Haven County was called upon to act. Thereupon after sev- eral days meeting, on the 16th of Oct., 1806, a church meeting was called which declared that the church was independent of the associa- tion." This report was signed by Reverend Isaac Jones, moderator and clerk of the meeting; John Woodin, Joseph Collins, Eden John- son, Jesse Beecher, Jesse Terrell, Deacon Phineas Terrell, Deacon Hezekiah Beecher, Daniel Tolles, Moses Clark, Joel Hine, Amos Hotchkiss, Bezaleel Peck and Joel Andrews.

The church being thus divided into two strong factions, practically became disrupted, and for several years religious services were sus- pended. Mr. Jones and many of his adherents became Episcopalians, and the organization of the Congregational society was not legally maintained. Upon complaint to the proper authorities notice was served that the parish privileges would be forfeited unless officers of the society were duly elected. Accordingly a meeting was legally warned, in 1809, and officers were elected anew, namely: Clerk and treasurer, Timothy Hitchcock; committee, John Thomas, Medad Hotchkiss, Isaac Hotchkiss, Jabez Hitchcock and Jesse Atwater; col- lector, Joel Hotchkiss; bank committee, Demas Sperry, John Terrell, Silas Hotchkiss, Jesse Bradley.

A church bank or fund for the support of the gospel was started as early as 1763, and not many years after Deacon Isaac Johnson left a legacy which was placed in its care. Under the quickening influence of the new organization, it was purposed in December, 1809, to raise the fund to $5,000 and place the disposition of it in the hands of the bank committee. John Thomas was the largest subscriber, being pledged for $700; Elihu Sanford for $250, and the subscribers for

* Mr. Jones, like a true lover, preferred to marry the girl of his own choice, and secured a most amiable wife in the person of the Miss Thomas, to whom he was wedded.

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smaller amounts were: Joel Hotchkiss, Isaac Hotchkiss, Jabez Hitch- cock, Jesse Atwater, Demas Sperry, Timothy Hitchcock, Joel Hotch- kiss. William Andrews, Silas Hotchkiss, Amos Hitchcock, Seymour Hotchkiss, Sheldon Hotchkiss, Elam Sperry, Jesse Terrell, Chilson Sperry, Harvey Hotchkiss, Jacob Hotchkiss, John Nettleton, Jolin Terry, Elias Hotchkiss, Isaac Clark, David Perkins, Chauncey Tolles, Joseph Bradley, Eunice Sperry, Richard Stone, Ruth Lines, Eli Hitch- cock, Medad Hotchkiss, Robert Clark, Alvan Sperry, Ebenezer D. Thomas, Zedekiah Hotchkiss, Zacheus Hotchkiss, Timothy Beecher, David Atwater, Amos Wilmot, John Wilmot and Valentine Wilmot. The fund has been augmented from time to time by subscriptions and bequests, until, in 1890, it amounted to about $8,000. The fund com- mittee was last composed of Henry F. Peck, A. C. Rosha and Ransom Hitchcock; James Megin was the clerk of the society, and E. N. Clark the secretary.

The society having been placed upon a more substantial footing by its complete reorganization and the proceeds of the foregoing fund, again secured a regular pastor. August 22d, 1810, the Reverend Nathan G. Huntingdon was installed and continued until 1823. The following year Reverend Abraham Alling became the minister, and was followed by Reverend Ephraim Swift. From November 7th, 1832, until June 17th, 1834, the pastor was Reverend Jairus Wilcox; August, 1834, until June 7th, 1836, John B. Kendall. After this there were many other ministers-stated and irregular supplies-among them being about 1840, Samuel Clark; 1843, D. B. Butts; 1849, F. Har- rison; 1855, E. W. Robinson; and, subsequently, John Churchill, Wil- liam N. Belden, Ira Smith, Augustus Smith, Seth C. Bruce, William S. Woodruff and students from the Divinity School of Yale College. From Bethany have gone as Congregational ministers John Thomas Andrews and Israel Perkins Warren, D.D.

Besides those already named as deacons, Jabez Hitchcock and Jesse Bradley served in that capacity in 1823. Some time about 1829 Clark Hotchkiss was elected, and was still a deacon in 1890, although unfitted by his great age for active service. In 1878 David A. Louns- bury was elected; and in 1883 Thomas Horsfall. The church has about 50 members.

Some of the first records of Christ Church (Protestant Episcopal) are lost or mislaid, which prevents giving a complete account of the early history. From contemporary accounts" it appears that the churchmen in the parish of Bethany desired to build a house of worship as early as 1783, and that in the furtherance of that object Timothy Peck, Timothy Ball and Isaac Beecher were appointed a committee by the parish society " to assist in finding a place to set a church on, and lib- erty is given to said churchimen to have any place near the meeting house they could get on the southwest corner of Dr. Hooker's lot."

*The records of the Congregational church.

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HISTORY OF NEW HAVEN COUNTY.

This place was not selected, but some time thereafter a small and ex- ceedingly plain church was built on a lot a mile east of the present edifice, and a fourth of a mile west of the old turnpike. The place is still called the "church corner," and is the property of D. G. David- son. The organization of a church and the formation of a parish be- fore 1800 followed, and after the difficulty with the Reverend Isaac Jones, in the Congregational church, he and many others of that body became Episcopalians. At that time Christ church received such an impetus that it has, in many respects, been the principal religious body in the town ever since. In consequence it was possible to build a larger church, more centrally located, and to determine the center of the town, regardless of the old green on the hill. This house was built in 1810 by means secured by subscriptions, and by labor donated. An application was also made to the assembly for permission to raise $1,000 by a lottery scheme, but it does not appear that anything was realized by that project, and it is probable that the church was built without that questionable aid. In 1875 the church was thoroughly re- paired inside and outside, at an outlay of $2,000. In 1885 a pipe organ was purchased, costing $1,000, and the building still more repaired. The building is a shapely frame, surmounted by a spire, in which is a good bell. There is also a good rectory.

The Reverend William A. Curtis was a minister of the church in 1813, and after the Reverend Isaac Jones, Jr., became a churchman he was called to minister in spiritual things. He was the minister many years, and the parish under his care contained many families. In 1830 there were 126 families, prominent among them being those of An- drew Beach, Beri E. Beecher, William Burnham, Edward Bucking- ham, Oliver Buckingham, Hezekiah Brown, Doctor Jehiel Castle, Rus- sell Chatfield, Henry A. Carrington, Darius Driver, Jesse A. Doolittle, Charles French, Harry French, Asaph French, Eber Hotchkiss, George Hotchkiss, Harley Hotchkiss, Archibald Perkins, A. A. Perkins, Guy Perkins, Abel Prince, Edwin Pardee, Levi Marks, Ezra S. Sperry, Enos Sperry. Hezekiah Thomas, Seymour Tuttle. Charles S. Tuttle and Henry A. Smith. From the foregoing families and those descended from them much of the present membership is derived. In 1890 there were 61 families, having 190 individuals; and the registered commu- nicants numbered 86. The official members were: Wardens, Noyes Wheeler, Jasper B. Todd; vestrymen, Samuel G. Davidson, Samuel R. Woodward and Theron E. Allen; clerk, George B Hotchkiss; treas- urer, Ernest Hotchkiss.

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History of New Haven County, Connecticut, Volume II, Part 37

Author: Rockey, J. L. (John L.) Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York : W. W. Preston Number of Pages: 1138

Author: Rockey, J. L. (John L.)
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York : W. W. Preston
Number of Pages: 1138