USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > History of Norwich, Connecticut: from its possession by the Indians, to the year 1866 > Part 55
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In the course of instruction it forms a link between the college and the common school. But as it receives scholars of either sex from all classes and conditions in life, it is expected to be not only a classical and scien- tific school, but to give attention also to practical principles and polite literature.t
The first President of the Board of Trustees was Russell Hubbard, who retained the office till his death in 1857, (June 7.)
The second President was William P. Greene, who died June 18, 1864.
Third President, William Williams. Ebenezer Learned, Secretary and Treasurer from the beginning.
The Free Academy went into operation under Mr. Elbridge Smith as Principal, who continued in office to the close of the ninth year, July, 1865. Mr. Smith is a native of Wayland, Mass., and a graduate of
* The various donations to the Academy from Wm. P. Greene, and his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Augusta Greene, amounted to $40,000.
t For a more definite and complete history of those educational movements in Nor- wich which led to the present organization of the schools and the establishment of the endowed school or Free Academy, see Address of Rev. J. P. Gulliver at the Dedica- tion of the Academy.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Brown University. He was previously Principal of the High School at Cambridge, Mass.
He was succeeded in September, 1865, by the Rev. William Hutch- ison, formerly Tutor in Yale College, and recently Principal of the Law- rence Academy at Groton, Mass. Mr. Hutchison was ordained as a missionary in 1858, and went to Constantinople with the expectation of establishing a mission in Turkey, but the failing health of his family obliged him to relinquish the design.
Mr. Russell Hubbard was an early and efficient patron of the Free Academy, contributing about $11,000 towards its establishment. He was one of the trustees to manage the funds and erect buildings, and the first president of the board. The Hubbard Rhetorical Society, connected with the Academy, perpetuates his name.
He was a descendant of Capt. Russell Hubbard, a shipping merchant of New London, who removed to Norwich during the Revolutionary war, and died at his residence near the town green in 1785, leaving two sons, Thomas, the well-known proprietor of the Norwich Courier, and Russell, a ship-master, who died at sea in 1800, unmarried .*
Thomas Hubbard, the printer, married Mary, daughter of Amos Hal- lam of New London. While residing in the town-plot, he occupied what was called the Whiting house, (now owned by William Fitch, Esq.,) and here his three sons, Thomas, Russell, and Amos H., were born. He after- wards removed to the Landing, and there died in 1808.
Russell Hubbard, as partner and successor of his father, published the Courier for twenty years. He was afterwards engaged with his brother in the manufacture of paper. Years of diligent attention to business led the way to a handsome fortune, which he dispensed with conscientious liberality.
* The daughters of Capt. Hubbard were, Mary, wife of David Nevins; Martha, who married David Wright, an attorney of New London; and Susannah, who mar- ried Ist, Ebenezer Bushnell, and 2d, Robert Manwaring.
CHAPTER XLV.
THE LARGEST FIRE. CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETIES AND CHURCHES.
Nov. 26, 1793, fifteen buildings were destroyed by fire in Chelsea, viz., the Congregational meeting-house, four dwelling-houses, six stores and shops, and four barns.
This was the largest fire ever known in Norwich. It raged from six to ten o'clock P. M., wind fresh from the north-west. It broke out in a store belonging to Messrs. Hubbard & Greene, of Boston, and was sup- posed to have been communicated through a fissure in the chimney to some paper-rags piled against it. This building stood on Water street, nearly in the range of the present post-office, and the fire swept away every thing combustible from thence to the junction of Main street, and crossing that street, consumed the large store of Levi Huntington, full of goods, the Congregational meeting-house,* and every building on that side from thence to the river, except the old Norman house, now Thames hotel. Even the woods over the river caught fire from the flaming cinders, and added to the splendor of the conflagration. The dwelling-houses of Lynde M'Curdy, Levi Huntington,t and Benadam Denison, and stores occupied by Capt. William Coit, Coit & Lathrop, Andrew & Joseph Perkins, Hez- ekiah Perkins & Co., George Cleveland, and that of Levi Huntington before mentioned, were destroyed. Two persons were badly wounded.
Most of the buildings were old and comparatively of small value, and a large portion of the goods was saved; but there was no insurance on any of the property. There was at this time a fire-engine of small power in Norwich, which was brought out on this occasion, but the hose broke at the first trial, and little could be done to arrest the flames. Loss estima- ted at £8,000,-a small sum compared with the extent of the fire.
Mr. King's congregation being thus deprived of a house for public wor- ship, assembled for three successive months in the Episcopal church, which was tendered to them by the trustees. A room was then fitted up for a
* Rev. Mr. King rushed into the burning church and brought out the pulpit Bible, a folio edition that had been recently purchased.
Mr. Huntington rebuilt his house over the old cellar : it was afterwards known as the Bolles tavern, and is still extant.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
temporary place of worship, and immediate measures were taken to build another meeting-house. Mr. Joseph Howland and Mr. Thomas Fanning, owners of two lots of land on the hill, opposite the dwellings of the Rev. John Tyler and Dr. Lemuel Boswell, offered these lots, together with £17 10s., lawful money, in exchange for the lot on which the old ineeting- house stood. This site was approved by the county court, and has ever since been the seat of the Society church. To defray the expense of building, a lottery to raise £850 was granted by the Legislature .* The Society consisted of 49 members. Joseph Williams, Lynde M'Curdy, Joseph Howland, Joseph Perkins and Thomas Coit constituted the build- ing committee.
The work was completed during the year 1795, and the dedication ser- mon preached by the pastor on Thanksgiving day, Dec. 24th.
The dimensions of this edifice were 42 feet by 62. It was surmounted by a belfry and a short spire, and was painted white outside and green within. The pulpit was partly formed by a recess in the wall,t and the pews were so high that when seated, only tall persons could raise the head and shoulders above the sides. It remained in this style until a con- siderable advance had been made into the present century ; the house was then enlarged, and the pews changed into slips.
Precautions were taken to secure the building against fire, and among other regulations, the sexton was allowed to demand a quarter of a dollar for every foot-stove left in the house after the meetings were ended.
This great fire of 1793 quickened public opinion in regard to the ben- efits to be derived from insurance. Within twenty days after the catas- trophe, the inhabitants were invited by a committee, consisting of Ebene- zer Huntington, Joseph Perkins, Joshua Huntington and Roger Griswold, to meet at the court-house and form an association against future calam- itous losses. A company was organized, chartered, and went into opera- tion in 1795, under the title of the "Mutual Assurance Company," for insuring houses and other buildings from losses by fire : the badge, Mutual Assurance, and the policies to run seven years.
The characteristics of the pastor, Mr. King, were earnest piety and an active, glowing zeal. No personal issues could induce him to deflect a hair's breadth from what he considered duty. In the year 1810, a very serious and unhappy controversy arose in the church respecting marriage with a wife's sister. Were such connections sanctioned or forbidden by Scripture ? The pastor, taking the side of prohibition, disagreed with a
* Donations from individuals were added to this sum. Thomas Shaw of New Lon- don gave $262, and Joseph Williams of Norwich 131, being their shares of prizes in the lottery.
t Called in the accounts, "a scooped-out pulpit." .
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majority of his flock. The subject was discussed and explained, in public and in private, by word of mouth, by pen and by print, till the whole con- gregation shared in the excitement. The harmony and affection that had existed between Mr. King and his people being thus interrupted, a change of relation became desirable.
The next year, the pastor, church and society united in calling a coun- cil which met July 3d, and consisted of the ministers and delegates of nine churches in different parts of the State. This council sat three days, and voted to dissolve the connection between Mr. King and the people of his charge .*
The society vote concurring in his dismission stood 32 to 19. Mr. King's farewell discourse was delivered Aug. 18, 1811, from the text,- " We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ." He was sub- * sequently settled at Williamstown, Mass., and there on the first day of December, 1815, while in the pulpit, engaged in the services of a sacra- mental lecture, the deathi-stroke came, and he was suddenly translated to a higher sphere. He was 57 years of age.
The successor of Mr. King, Rev. Asahel Hooker, was installed Jan. 16, 1812 ; sermon by Dr. Nott of Franklin. He was a descendant of the Rev. Thomas Hooker, the first minister of Hartford, and had been pre- viously settled at Goshen, in Litchfield county, from which place, after eighteen years of service, he had been dismissed on account of the utter prostration of his health. In Norwich he had but a brief pastorate of fif- teen months,-a sufficient period, however, for the hearts of his people to become bound to him by strong ties of personal attachment. He died April 19, 1813, aged 49 years.
Rev. Alfred Mitchell, the fifth minister, was ordained Oct. 27, 1814. He was a son of Hon. Stephen Mix Mitchell, of Wethersfield ; graduated at Yale in 1809, and studied theology at Andover. His pastorate was eminently prosperous. Large accessions were made to the church; 114 being added during the last two years of his ministry, of whom 44 were admitted at one time, March 4, 1830. Mr. Mitchell was a man of reti- cent manners, but as a gospel messenger, faithful and fearless. He died at the age of 41, Dec. 19, 1831, uttering in submissive faith as he departed, " The will of the Lord be done."
The two last-named ministers are interred in the Chelsea burial-ground.
* The week in which this council met was remarkable for the extreme heat of the weather, and the members, especially the more corpulent dignitaries, suffered severely. Among the members were Rev. Azel Backus of Bethlehem, Ct., and his delegate, David Bellamy, both men of such uncommon size that they could not sit side by side in the same vehicle, but each came in his one-horse-chaise, which he entirely filled. Mr. Bellamy was a son of the old divine of Bethlehem, and weighed, it is said, 350 lbs. ; Dr. Backus about the same.
PEN LLVAN BUNDA
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
From the graves where they rest, the eye can survey the scene of their labors, and almost count the homes of that attached people who listened with such deep attention to their instructions, and followed them mourning to their tombs.
Rev. James T. Dickinson, a graduate of Yale College in 1826, was ordained April 4, 1832: sermon by Dr. Taylor of New Haven, under whose professional tuition the candidate had been prepared for the pulpit.
Another large accession was made to the church in 1834, which was regarded as the result of a protracted meeting held by the pastor in con- nection with Rev. Horatio N. Foote, a noted revivalist preacher. The whole number added to the church from 1830 to 1834 inclusive, was 284: 229 by profession,-making, in 1835, the number of resident members, 325; the society consisting at that time of about 130 families, or 600 persons.
After a ministry of little more than two years, Mr. Dickinson requested a dismission in order to prepare himself for a foreign mission, which he considered it his duty to undertake. The church, appreciating his mo- tives, acquiesced in his wishes, and the separation was accomplished with- out any diminution of mutual esteem and affection, May 20, 1834.
His successor at Norwich, after a considerable interval, was Rev. Alvan Bond, previously Professor of Sacred Literature in the Theological Sem- inary at Bangor, Maine, and at an earlier date, pastor of the Congrega- tional Church at Sturbridge, Mass. He was installed May 6, 1835; ser- mon by Rev. Dr. Hawes of Hartford.
Dr. Bond is a native of Sutton, Mass., born April 27, 1793. He grad- uated at Brown University, and has received the degree of D. D. from the same institution. In May, 1860, he preached at Norwich his quarter- centurial sermon, and in July of that year delivered a discourse, historical and commemorative, on the hundredth anniversary of the organization of the church. Near the close of 1864, on account of age and impaired health, he resigned his charge. His pastorate of twenty-nine years is the longest of this church. He still resides in Norwich under the shadow of the vine which has so long been fostered by his care.
Rev. M. G. W. Dana was installed his successor, Dec. 28, 1864. Ser- mon by Prof. Hitchcock of Union Theological Seminary, New York.
This society comprises about 200 families, and the church has upwards of 300 members. Since the installation of Mr. Dana, a parsonage has been built, at an expense of $10,000, which amount was raised by sub- scription in sums of $500 and $1000. Mr. Dana is the eighth minister of the society.
In the spring of 1844, the church (built in 1795) took fire, and though not wholly consumed, was so much injured that the society decided not to attempt a reconstruction. The whole edifice was demolished, and a new
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
church erected upon the same site, which was dedicated Jan. 1, 1846,- fifty years after the dedication of its predecessor. The society had occu- pied the Central Baptist Church, by an amicable arrangement with its proprietors, for twenty-two months.
Two of the clergymen that assisted in the dedication of the new church excited a more than common interest : the Rev. Eli Smith, of the Syrian mission, who was on his last visit home from his important field of labor ; and the Rev. Dr. Nott of Franklin, then in the 92d year of his age.
The material used in this building was dark blue granite from a neigh- boring quarry, worked rough-hewn in tiers, and the style of architecture, Roman ; expense about $14,000. Ten years afterward it was repaired and improved at an additional expense of $6,000. It is the house now occupied by this worshiping assembly, and will accommodate an audience of 800. The organ was the gift of Joseph Otis, Esq.
The Second Church was the pioneer of Sabbath Schools in this part of Connecticut, and has well sustained its reputation by persevering efficiency in this department. The Sabbath School enterprise began in July, 1815, with a class of five African boys, who were collected and taught by Chas. F. Harrington, at his house in Franklin street, and by him induced to attend church. The number gradually increased, and Mr. Harrington's success led others to engage in similar plans.
The next year, in July, a Sabbath School, designed chiefly to benefit the poor, was begun by members of the Congregational and Episcopal societies. The prospect was encouraging, and at a meeting held in the ball-room at Kinney's hotel, Oct. 11, 1816, a Union Sabbath School Society was regularly organized and a constitution adopted. Rev. John Tyler of the Episcopal Church was chosen president; Rev. Messrs. Mitchell, Sterry and Bentley, vice-presidents ; George L. Perkins, secretary.
This organization comprehended the African school. The superintend- ents were Charles F. Harrington, Asa Roath, and Dyar T. Hinckley. The female department was under the supervision of Miss C. M. Marvin .* Three young men, Charles Rockwell, Asa Hosmer, and Leonard Perkins, were efficient assistants both in gathering the scholars and in teaching classes.
In January, 1817, a prosperous condition of the schools was reported : girls, 47 ; boys, 48; Africans, 41. The last-named were of both sexes, between six and fifty-six years of age,-some of them learning to read, and the average attendance from twenty to thirty.
We have no further statistics of this Union organization. It seems to have dropped quietly apart, leaving only the Congregationalists to con-
* This lady was a daughter of Gen. Elihu Marvin. She married Rev. L. F. Dim- moek, D. D., of Newburyport, Mass., who, after her death, published a small memo- rial volume in commemoration of her worth.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
tinue the school, which being taken under the wing of the Second Church, assumed a permanent and definite form. In 1818, William C. Gilman (who had been one of the Union committee) was chosen superintendent, and the school since that period has been continued without interruption, summer and winter.
The late Dea. Horace Colton was an early and efficient supporter of the Sabbath School enterprise. Col. Charles Coit was connected with the school for thirty years, and fourteen years its superintendent. These were men of practical piety, faithfully devoting themselves to the advancement of Christian culture .*
Members of the Second Church have enlisted with commendable zeal in establishing Sabbath Schools in the neighboring districts, where such assistance is timely and important. In a rugged portion of West Chelsea they have erected a neat building for a school-house and mission chapel, (dedicated in December, 1859,) and by their labors and influence have assisted largely in a transformation of the district, which is significantly expressed in the change of name from Hard-scrabble to Mt. Pleasant.
Pastorates of the first century recapitulated.
Church organized July 24, 1760.
Whitaker, 8 yrs. 8 mos.
Mitchell, 17 yrs. 2 mos.
Vacant, 2 " 6 "
Vacant, 32 "
Judson, 7 " 3
Dickinson, 2 " 42 "
Vacant, 8 5
Vacant, 8₺ "
King, 24 3
Bond, 25
Vacant, 5
(to July, 1860.)
Hooker, 1 " 3
Total, 100 years.
Vacant, 1 6
Salaries of Ministers.
Whitaker and Judson, £100 per annum. King, £125, gradually increased to $600. Hooker and Mitchell, $700. Dickinson, $1,000.
Bond, $1,000, gradually increased to $2,000. Dana, $2,000.
Col. Coit died Oct. 26, 1855, aged 62.
Deacon Colton removed from Hartford to Norwich in 1811, and was for fifty years in the cabinet-ware business in the place. He died near the elose of the year 1862.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
Sale of Pews.
The first sale was in 1796. From thence to the year 1800, they brought about $500 per annum.
From 1800 to 1810, the amount ranged between $455 and $688. After this the increase was gradual, and in 1827 it rose to $901. The pews were altered into slips in 1829, and the figures leaped at once over the thousand. In 1838 another thousand was reached, and since the erection of the present church in 1846, the average has been over $3,000.
A third Congregational Church was formed within the limits of Chelsea district, Aug. 29, 1827, with ten members, and a small brick edifice erected for its accommodation, near the Park, on what is now Sachem street. It existed only twelve years, but during that time was a well-sustained, effi- cient church, and received 91 members by profession ; 66 by letter.
It had four ministers :
Rev. Benson C. Baldwin, installed Jan. 31, 1828.
Rev. Charles Hyde,
Jan. 2, 1830.
Rev. Joel W. Newton, 66 Oct. 29, 1834.
Rev. Thos. K. Fessenden, ordained Oct. 16, 1839.
The church was disbanded May 23, 1842, and the members dismissed to other churches. The house of worship was sold to the Methodist society.
The Greeneville Congregational Church was organized Jan. 1, 1833, with sixteen members, and a meeting-house built the next year. It has the following ministerial record :
Rev. Jolin Storrs, installed pastor March 12, 1834; dismissed April 17, 1835.
Rev. Stephen Crosby, clected pastor by unanimous consent early in 1837, and officiated as such until his decease in June, 1838, but not in- stalled.
A. L. Whitman, installed Dec., 1838 ; dismissed March, 1846. Charles P. Bush, " " 1846; Jan., 1856.
Robert P. Stanton, present pastor, installed June 11, 1856.
Mr. Stanton had been previously settled at Cohoes, N. Y., and at Derby, Ct. He is a native of Belchertown, Mass., but in his aneestry connected with Groton, Ct.
In a manufacturing district like this, a church and congregation are peculiarly liable to changes and fluctuations. The Greeneville church,
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
however, has been sustained with great uniformity; the vacancies made by frequent removals being speedily filled by new-comers or by the fruits of revivals. When the whole village contained but 700 inhabitants, the Congregational church, which was then the only one in the place, had 100 members. It has had three deacons : Samuel Mowry, chosen at the first organization of the church, and for several years the only one in office ; Oliver Woodworth, who died Feb. 7, 1865, aged 71; Frederick W. Cary, successor of Mr. Woodworth. Deacon Mowry and William H. Coit are the veterans of this church,-the first on its list of members, and still upholding its ministrations.
A fifth Congregational Church, now ranking as the fourth in the order of time, and formed principally by a colony from the second, was organ- ized June 1, 1842, with 112 members, 98 of whom were from the Second Church. It stood forth at once upon a solid foundation, and has ever since been a strong and prosperous church.
The meetings were held at first in the town-hall ; but a house of wor- ship, erected on Main street, was dedicated Oct. 1, 1845, and the associa- tion took the distinctive title of Main Street Congregational Church.
Rev. Willard Child was installed over the church Aug. 31, 1842, but resigned the office at the close of three years.
Rev. John P. Gulliver was ordained pastor, Oct. 1, 1846, and under his efficient ministry the church has largely increased in numbers and influence.
The meeting-house of this society, constructed of Chatham free-stone, at an expense of $14,000, was destroyed by fire, Sept. 17, 1854, after it had been occupied about nine years. A more eligible site was then cho- sen, at the corner of Broadway and Bath street, and a new church built of far greater capacity and convenience than the former. The founda- tion stone was laid in July, 1855, and the edifice completed and dedicated in October, 1857. A change of title became necessary, and that of Broad- way Congregational Church was adopted.
This church, the most costly and complete of any sacred edifice ever erected in Norwich, is 64 feet by 94, and the spire 200 feet high. It is built of brick, with free-stone dressings, in the Roman style of archi- tecture, and in its admirable system of ventilation is regarded as a model church.
The organ, of great compass and purity of tone, was the gift of Wm. A. Buckingham. The Sabbath School room in the basement will seat 450 persons, and the adjoining lecture-room 120.
This society numbers about 200 families, and the church 300 mem- bers.
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HISTORY OF NORWICH.
After a pastorate of nineteen years, Mr. Gulliver resigned his charge, in order to accept an urgent call from the New England Congregational Church in Chicago, and was dismissed Oct. 24, 1865. He leaves a church prosperous and progressive, attached to his ministry, and reluctantly con- senting to the separation.
Mr. Gulliver is a native of Boston, and graduated at Yale College in 1840.
The year 1845 was noted for church building. Four out of the five Congregational churches in Norwich erected new buildings, or largely repaired the old ones. Christ Church was built by the Episcopal society two years later.
The number of Christian ministers of various denominations that look back to Norwich First Society for their birth-place, or at least for the home of their youth, is so large as to be worthy of special enumeration. The twenty-four following names belong to this class :
William F. Arms.
Edward Hyde, Methodist.
David R. Austin.
Charles Hyde.
Isaac Backus, Baptist.
Simeon Hyde.
Simon Backus, of Newington.
James T. Hyde.
Henry Case.
Daniel W. Lathrop.
Frederick Charlton, Baptist.
Z. H. Mansfield, Episcopal.
Charles Cleveland, of Boston.
William Nevins, D. D.
Richard F. Cleveland.
Charles Porter.
Jabez Fitch, son of Rev. James.
Th. S. Shipman.
Daniel W. Havens.
George Strong, Episcopal.
Henry Strong Huntington.
Erastus Wentworth, D. D., Methodist.
John Huntington, of Salem.
David Wright, Baptist.
CHAPTER XLVI.
WAR, AND AFTER THE WAR.
WAR with Great Britain was declared by the United States June 19, 1812.
In May, 1813, the frigates United States and Macedonian and the sloop-of-war Hornet, in attempting to pass out of the Sound on a cruise, were driven back by an English squadron that was hovering near the outlet, and were forced to take refuge in New London harbor. Here they were blockaded by the British ships, and being still apprehensive of an attack from a force far superior to their own, they retired up the river, and on the 10th of June, passing the bar at Gale's ferry, came within three miles of Norwich. Here they were partially dismantled, and laid up till the conclusion of the war. The seamen were sent to the lakes, and were all so fortunate as to pass in boats, or other small craft, safely through the blockading fleet, and arrive at their destination.
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