USA > Connecticut > New London County > New London > History of New London, Connecticut, From the First Survey of the Coast in 1612 to 1852 > Part 41
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Mr. Hillhouse preached his first sermons in the west room of Mr. Samuel Allen's tavern. In his church record he says :
" I was installed October the 3d day 1722.
" Mr. Adams preached from Acts 16 : 9. There was Seven that belonged to the Church at my instalment-Capt. [Thomas] Avery, Capt. [Robert] Den- ison, Mr. Nath1. Otis, Mr [Samuel] Allen, Mr. [John] Vibber, Charles Camp- bell, and one Deacon. Mr. Jonathan Copp was chosen deacon of this Church and accepted it, Nov. 19, 1722."
This was the, second Congregational church of New London. The meeting-house was raised July 11th, 1723. While it was build- ing, Mr. Hillhouse made a brief visit to his father-land, but returned before the close of the year. The most commanding point in the parish was usually chosen by our ancestors for the site of a church. In this instance a wide and fair landscape was spread around the sa- cred edifice. To the south, the vision extends to Long Island Sound ; on the east, to heights of land in Voluntown and North Stonington. A legion of lower hills fills all the intervening space ; villages are concealed by foliage, or secreted in the valleys ; only here and there a house upon a hill, a hamlet by a stream, or a spire rising above the trees, breaks the circumference of wood-land scenery. At that period it was literally a church in the wilderness ; a solitary beacon in the center of a mighty forest.
In accordance with the style of architecture then prevalent, this meeting-house had greater breadth than length; the pulpit being placed in one of the sides of greatest extent. It had two tiers of free benches in the middle, a row of pews around the wall, three doors,
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
and gallery-stairs in two corners. The pews were built at the charge of the owners, and not completed till 1727. Those of greatest honor were each side of the pulpit, and each side of the door opposite the pulpit. These four pews were occupied by Mrs. Raymond and her son Joshua, Capt. Robert Denison,1 Capt. John Mason and Madam Livingston, Mr. Joseph Otis and Major John Merritt. Only four- teen pews were built : the other seats were free.
About the year 1730, some unhappy difficulties arose in the parish, which ended in alienating a part of the people from their minister. Of this contest little is now known, except that it was protracted and violent. It is said to have commenced in a controversy between Mr. Hillhouse and his next neighbor, Capt. Denison, in regard to their respective bounds. An ecclesiastical council, convened by a major- ity of the parish, finding it impossible to compose the differences, dis- solved the connection. This act Mr. Hillhouse considered illegal, as he had not concurred in calling the council, and therefore refused to relinquish his office. The congregation was now split into two assemblies, each claiming the house and the pulpit. Other ministers were employed by the majority of the congregation, but Mr. Hill- house continued to exercise his functions after the settlement of a successor-his record of admissions to the church is continued to 1737, and of baptisms to August, 1740. He died December 15th, 1740, aged fifty-three.2 To the registry of his death in the New London town book, the recorder adds this note :
" He was descended from a respectable family in Ireland, being the second son of Mr. John Hillhouse, of Freehall, (in the county of Londonderry.) Good natural abilities, a liberal education, and a well-attempered zeal for the truth, rendered him eminent and useful in the ministry in this place."
Mr. Hillhouse was educated at the University of Glasgow. His father had deceased before he came to America, and the family es- tate had devolved upon his elder brother. He married after his set- tlement, Mary, daughter of Daniel Fitch, one of his parishioners. He left two sons : William, born Aug. 25th, 1728, and James Abra-
1 A special vote gave Capt. Denison liberty to build a pew for himself and heirs forever, in consideration for what he had given toward settling the gospel, viz., ££42 to the meeting-house, ten acres of land to the ministry, and fifty to the minister. His pew was to reach from post to post, and be of the same width as the pulpit and deac- on's seat.
2 His estate was appraised at £6,906. Henry's Annotations, in the inventory, were estimated at £30.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
ham, May 12th, 1730. His relict was subsequently twice married, and being made a widow for the third time, she returned to the North Parish, and dwelt with her children till her death. The inscription on her gravestone is peculiarly comprehensive:
" Here lies one who served near the Altar, having been the virtuous Consort of the Rev. Mr. Hillhouse, Rev. Mr. Owen and Rev. Mr. Dorrance. She died October, 1768. Ætatis 62."
Between his installment in October, 1722, and the first of May, 1737, Mr. Hillhouse admitted to the church 198 new members and eighteen from other churches. Eight others (the seven pillars and deacon) formed the church before his installment. His record of baptisms comprises one hundred and eighty children and forty adults ; marriages, thirty-five.
In 1738, Mr. David Jewett, who had been employed as a mission- ary to the Mohegans and was much in favor with the sachem and the tribe, being also acceptable to the people of the parish, was in- vited to become their minister. He accepted the call, and having been received as a member of the church, by dismission and recom- mendation from the church at Rowley, Mass., he was ordained, Oct. 3d, 1739.
An ordination at that period called forth a great concourse of people, and, what appears strange at the present day, was usually followed by a dance and supper that consumed most of the night. An ordination ball was as common as the ordination itself. Yet it must not be supposed that the clergy or any of the fathers in the church took part in it : it was the congregation ball.
No minister in the country stood higher among his own flock, or in the esteem of his brethren, than Mr. Jewett. He was a man of dignified deportment, rigorous in discipline, but very fervent in preach- ing and uniformly assiduous in his calling.1
In 1750 the meeting-house was entirely out of repair. The build- ings of those days were constructed of the most enduring materials, but the workmanship was clumsy and defective; the frame might last for ages, but the building was a ruin in one generation. "The sacred edifice was again refitted and finished off in the neatest style of those days-" colored on the outside with lamp-black and Spanish
1 The name of Mr. Jewett's wife was Patience Phillips. He married her in Cam- bridge or Boston. Though laboring under the disadvantage of having but one hand, it is said that she could use the needle and the distaff, and perform all other duties of a notable housewife, as well as most women with two.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
lead, and the door and window-trimmings painted white." It was then prepared for a second term of twenty years' service.
In 1756 Mr. Jewett obtained leave of absence for several months, " being called by the providence of God to go into the army as chaplain." This was a service to which he was afterward very often called, not only during the French War, but in that of the Revolution. His animated manner and his energetic language made him very popular as an army chaplain.
Deacons of Mr. Jewett's Church.
Joshua Raymond, chosen May 23d, 1740.
David (son to Deacon Jonathan) Copp, chosen July 4th, 1746. Joshua (son to Deacon Joshua) Raymond, chosen June 3d, 1763. Joseph Otis, successor to Deacon David Copp deceased.
Joseph Chester, successor to Deacon Joseph Otis, who removed.
Jonathan Copp removed to the North Parish from Stonington in 1713, but was originally from Boston and of the family from which Copp's Hill derives its name.
Joseph Otis was from Scituate, Mass. In 1716 he purchased a large quantity of land in the North Parish, above Raymond's, and in Colchester, on which he and his family settled. He died in 1754 at the age of ninety.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Origin of the Fort Hill Baptist Church .- Gorton's ordination and ministry .- Rowe's legacy .- Internal strife and extinction of the church.
THE regular Baptists of New London go back for their origin almost to the dawn of the eighteenth century. The first account we have of their society is derived from a petition to the General Court in 1704, for "the settlement of their meeting." They called themselves "Dissenters ;" stated that their society comprised six brethren and six sisters ; that they had an ordained teacher with them viz., Daniel Pierce; and that they held their meetings at William Stark's.
After 1720 they increased in numbers and influenee. They were joined by Joseph Gilbert and William Roe or Rowe, the latter an emigrant from England, and by Philip Taber from Rhode Island, who in 1726 purchased the farm of Capt. James Rogers on the Neck. On the 28th of November, 1726, Stephen Gorton was or- dained their pastor, by Elder Valentine Wightman, of Groton. This was the third religious society established in the town, It be- came extinct before the end of the century; its history, therefore, will here be briefly pursued to its close.
This society united with their neighbors of the seventh-day per- suasion in building a house of worship. The site was given by Isaac Fox and the title vested by deed of Jan. 9th, 1729-30, in the two societies known as "First and Seventh-day Baptists." The trustees were Samuel Fox, Samuel Wescote, Jonathan Rogers and Philip Taber. This meeting-house very well accommodated both societies, as they met on different days. It stood upon the rocky summit of Fort Hill; the ascent painfully precipitous on one side, but the position beautiful, commanding a fair expanse of the Sound. The edifice was square, small upon the ground, and high beyond a due proportion. This peculiarity obtained for it in later days the
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
familiar appellation of the pepper-box. The shell of the edifice- dismantled of pulpit, gallery, seats and windows; ghostlike and blackened by time-kept possession of the hill until the year 1847, when it was taken down.
Elder Stephen Gorton was born in Rhode Island, March 21st, 1703-4;1 consequently he was but twenty-two years of age when ordained. He married, soon after his settlement, Sarah, relict of Jonathan Haynes and daughter of James Rogers 2d, a woman of piety and considerable estate, who was more than twenty years his senior (born in 1682) and had twelve children by her first husband.2 Mr. Gorton was a man of good capacity and fluent oratory. It has been said that his knowledge was all self-acquired, except reading and writing, which were taught him by his wife. His marriage with Mrs. Haynes gave him respectability and influence. She died in 1766, aged eighty-four ;3 after which he married again and almost immediately fell into disrepute. He is said to have imbibed Socin- ian principles and to have been low and irregular in his habits.
John Starke was the deacon of Elder Gorton's church. Its great- est benefactor was William Rowe, who among other donations gave a piece of land adjoining the meeting-house for a burial-place, vest- ing the title in the First-day Baptists, and providing in case of their extinction, that it should be held by churches of that denomination in Groton and Newport, "until there should be a First-day Baptist church in New London again." Mr. Rowe afterward removed to North Stonington and eventually to Canterbury, where he died. By his will, made in 1749, he left all his books of divinity and three hundred ounces of silver, or paper currency equivalent thereunto, for the use and support of the Fort Hill church and ministry. The money was to be improved and the principal kept good.
This church is understood to have held to open communion and the laying on of hands in immersion.4 The members were scattered over a wide area. Several lived in the town plot; Nehemiah Smith of East Lyme and Jonathan Rathbone of Colchester belonged to this church ; and in 1731 several persons belonging to Wallingford,
1 Recorded in New London at his own request.
2 Trumbull says he married a Connecticut girl; he should have said a Connecticut matron.
3 See her gravestone in the Fort Hill burial-ground.
4 MS. sketch written by Rev. Henry Channing. He says: " The number of mem bers never went over one hundred and fifty, I believe."
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
thirteen miles north of New Haven, united with it.1 Philip Taber, one of the pillars of this church, died Dec. 27th, 1750. His reli- gious views harmonized more particularly with the Six Principle Baptists of North Kingston, R. I., to whom he left a legacy in his will. The doctrines of this sect are based on Hebrews, vi. 1, 2.
During the latter part of Mr. Gorton's ministry, the church very much declined; the moral character of the elder was impeached, and the parties for and against him were fierce and vehement in their dissensions. Mr. Gorton was summoned before a Baptist con- vention in Rhode Island for trial, and though the main charges against him were not proved, his conduct was condemned as un- worthy the office of elder, and the convention recommended his dis- mission. He would not, however, be dismissed, and having still a few followers, kept possession of the pulpit and the Rowe legacy, of which he was a trustee, and excommunicated those who had with- drawn from him-that is to say, more than three-fourths of the whole church. Thus things continued till the year 1772, when the withdrawn members having engaged Mr. David Sprague from Rhode Island for their leader, resolved on obtaining possession of the meet- ing-house and the annuity. On Sunday, June 7th, they collected to- gether and proceeded to the house of worship, where they found Mr. Gorton officiating in the pulpit, with the communion table spread be- fore him. One of the most resolute of the party ascended the pulpit, forcibly expelled its occupant, and drove him and his wife and their whole company from the sacred precincts. It has been said, also, that as he went down the hill, they threw his Bible after him. Of this act, however, the complaint afterward entered by the grand-juror against Mr. Taber as principal in this transaction, says nothing. It accused him of collaring Mr. Gorton, beating him out of the pulpit, and pushing away his wife when she came to his rescue. The indict- ment was for breach of the peace and profanation of the Sabbath. Mr. Taber was fined on both counts.2
Mr. Sprague's party had now possession of the house and Gorton's of the annuity. Actions in law were commenced by each against the other. The struggle issued in the utter extinction of the church as an independent body and the loss of their fund. The period of dissolution could not vary much from 1774. The members were
› 1 Benedict, Hist. Bap.
2 The particulars of this affair and the date of the year are taken from the record of the justice's court held on the occasion.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
dispersed. Some of them united with another Baptist society in the western part of the town, which had originated in a meeting of the separatists about twenty-five years previous, and was then flour- ishing under the ministry of Elder Zadok Darrow.
Elder Gorton removed to the western part of the state and in 1779 was of Southerton (Hartford county.) He left behind him in New London no family, no church records, no faithful flock to lament his loss ; nothing but a dispersed congregation and a tarnished name.
Nehemiah Smith, who resided in the eastern part of Lyme, with- drew at an early period from the Fort Hill church and set up meet- ings in his own house, by which means Baptist principles became disseminated in the neighborhood. It is stated in Benedict's History of the Baptists, that Valentine Wightman preached in Lyme in 1727, and was "challenged by the Rev. Mr. Bulkley of Colchester to a public dispute, which was first maintained in a verbal manner and after- ward kept up in writing." This preaching was probably at Nehe- miah Smith's. A church was soon gathered in the vicinity and Josh- ua Rogers (also from the Fort Hill church) was ordained elder at the house of Mr. Smith, Oct. 11th, 1743. After officiating as pastor for ten or twelve years, he fell into disrepute and died by his own hand in 1756. The members of the church being few in number and scattered in point of residence, joined other Baptist societies as they were formed, and this the most ancient Baptist organization in Lyme, became extinct.
CHAPTER XXV.
Formation of an Episcopal society .- Building of a church .- Family of Sea- bury .- Ministers Seabury and Graves .- The church closed .- Unsuccessful attempts to procure a whig pastor .- The church burnt by the enemy.
REV. JAMES MCSPARRAN resided many years in the Narragan- sett country as an Episcopal missionary, sustained by the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." His ministry there extended from 1721 to 1757. In a sketch of the colonies which he sent home to his patrons and which was published under the title of " America Dissected," in speaking of Connecticut he says : "I myself began one church by occasional visits among them, at a place called New London." The claim which Dr. McSparran thus ad- vances to the honor of having founded the Episcopal church in New London, is undoubtedly valid. He was probably at first invited hither by the English residents of the place, and his zeal and energy soon enlarged the number of adherents to the church. The earliest entry on the parish records is as follows :
" Colony Connecticott, June 6, 1725.
" Wee the subscribers doe oblige ourselves to pay to the Rev. Mr James McSparran, or to his substitute, he being Treasurer, the particular sums an- nexed to our names for the building and erecting a Church for the service of Almighty God, according to the Liturgie of the Church of England as by law established.
John Merritt £50
John Bennett £3
Peter Buor 50
James Tilley 10
John Braddick
25
George Smith 3
John Gridley 10
Nath1 Kay 20
James Sterling 25
James Packer 5
Walter Butler 10
Giles Goddard 5"
Most of these subscribers, but not all, were residents in New Lon- don. Gridley and Kay belonged to Newport. Buor, Tilley1 and
1 James Tilley was from Edford, in Devonshire, England.
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
Smith were all Englishmen who had recently established themselves in the place. Braddick was of English birth-a son of Capt. John Braddick, then of Southold, Long Island, but " late of London.'' John Merritt had been for some years a resident in the North Parish of New London, and had liberally patronized the Congregational church, built there in 1722. He died in 1732, but his widow, Mrs. Janette Merritt, and his grandson Merritt Smith continued in the Episcopal society. Bennett, Packer and Goddard, belonged in Gro- ton ; but the last named, Dr. Giles Goddard, soon removed to New London. Sterling was a sea-captain sailing from the port. Walter Butler is supposed to have been a native of the town,
The next recorded action was the formation of a standing com- mittee, to purchase a site and erect the contemplated church. This consisted of seven persons-Messrs. Merritt, Buor, Sterling and Butler, before-mentioned, together with John Shackmaple, Thomas Mumford and William Norton.
Shackmaple was an officer of the customs, son of the collector Shackmaple, then recently deceased. It is probable that the meet- ings for worship before the erection of the church were held at the house of his mother Mrs. Sarah Shackmaple, in the northern divis- ion of Bradley St. Thomas Mumford was a merchant, trading in New London, but having his residence in Groton, upon the opposite side of the river. Norton is not a name belonging to New London, and is not mentioned after 1726.
The first proposition before the committee was this. The Episco- pal society in Newport being then engaged in erecting a new church, it was proposed to apply for the old one; and if obtained, to take it down, bring it to New London and re-erect the whole edifice in its original proportions. Dr. McSparran went to Newport as agent in this business, but some obstacles arising, the plan was relinquished ; and it was decided that a new church should be built, of smaller di- mensions.
The site chosen for the edifice was a vacant lot on the Parade, which had been relinquished by the town to Amos Richardson, as a part of his original house lot grant. It consisted of about twenty square rods, lying in an angular form, the east end being in a line with the west side of Bradley Street, and the west end tapering to a point. Edward Hallam purchased it in 1725 of Richardson's heirs. It was now bought for £50 by Thomas Lechmere of Boston, who took the deed in his own name and then conveyed it to the commit- tee of the society as a free gift-
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
" To erect thereon a church or decent edifice for the worship of God accord- ing to the liturgy of the Church of England, to be forever devoted to this sacred and pious use, to keep up a church thereon, and bury their dead thereon." Dated June 20th, 1726.
A building fund was raised by subscription. Considerable sums were given in Boston, Newport and Providence. In New York the aggregate sum of £75 was obtained through the agency of Capt. Matthew Norris, and among the donors are the names of Burnet' Bayard, DeLancey, Duer, Morris and Van Rensalaer. Some con- tributions came also from Philadelphia. The whole sum raised was little short of £500.
The contract for building the church was made with Capt. John Hough. It was completed and opened for public worship in the autumn of 1732. The form was square,1 fifty feet each way, " thirty- two feet height of studd and five windows, with two double doors on the west end, the roof half flat and the other half arched on each side." The original number of pews was twenty-two.
In 1741 a subscription of £182, was taken up by the minister and wardens-chiefly as they stated, "for enlarging our bell." In 1755 the edifice was thoroughly repaired, a new steeple built, the bell recast, and a clock added. As the congregation increased, a gallery was built with two tiers of pews, and attics above the gallery ; and yet later, the space around the pulpit was diminished, and the south door shut up, in order to occupy the room with new pews. Repairs and improvements were again made in 1774.
The style used in the records is "The Episcopal Church of New London," until 1741, when it begins to be designated as " St. James' Church, New London."
A traditionary anecdote connected with this ancient church is too interesting to be omitted. The steeple or belfry terminated in a staff, crowned with a gilt ball. In this ball an Indian arrow was fixed, hanging diagonally from one side and remaining there until the destruction of the church. It is said that a delegation of Indians passing through the place were courteously entertained by the elder Nathaniel Shaw. In traversing the town with their host, as they stood looking at the church, the war-chief of the party took an
1 This was in accordance with Dr. McSparran's advice-" if built square, it may in time be lengthened and enlarged." The timber for the frame was furnished by Ma- jor Buor, and probably grew on his Bentworth farm. Among the items of expendi- ture is-Sept. 30th, 1726-" for drink at moving the frame £5."
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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON.
arrow from his quiver, and fixing it in his bow, aimed at this ball. The arrow pierced the wood, and the barb was firmly fixed in the ball. " That," said the chief, turning with a triumphant smile to Capt. Shaw, " make you remember Indian came here, and how he shoot."
Coincident with the establishment of an Episcopal church in New London, Mr. Samuel Seabury, a young minister of Groton, renounced Congregationalism, and embraced the doctrines and liturgy of the Church of England. This has been already mentioned in treating of the North Groton or Ledyard church; but a brief digression will here be made in order to introduce the father of the candidate, Dea- con Seabury, to our history.
John and Samuel Seabury from Duxbury, Mass., appear in Con- necticut, a little before the year 1700. Samuel in 1702 made pur- chases of land in Lebanon, but his name is not found on any early list of inhabitants in that plantation. John settled first in Stonington where the birth of his son David is recorded Jan. 16th, 1699. In 1704 he exchanged his farm in Stonington for one in Groton, to which he immediately removed, and being shortly afterward chosen a deacon in the Congregational church is principally known to our local annals as Deacon John Seabury of Groton. His family was registered by the town-clerk as follows :
John Seabury married Elizabeth Alden Dec. 9th, 1697.
Children.
1. David, born Jan. 16th, 1699. 5. Samuel, born July 8th, 1706.
2. John, " and died in 1700.
6. Mary, Nov. 11th, 1708.
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