USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Wethersfield > History of Saint Mark's Church, New Britain, Conn., and of its predecessor Christ Church, Wethersfield and Berlin : from the first Church of England service in America to nineteen hundred and seven > Part 16
USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Berlin > History of Saint Mark's Church, New Britain, Conn., and of its predecessor Christ Church, Wethersfield and Berlin : from the first Church of England service in America to nineteen hundred and seven > Part 16
USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > New Britain > History of Saint Mark's Church, New Britain, Conn., and of its predecessor Christ Church, Wethersfield and Berlin : from the first Church of England service in America to nineteen hundred and seven > Part 16
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
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men, which office he accepted although he had before refused it. Mr. Kilbourne was a Master Mason in the Lodge at Simsbury, Conn., before he went to Ohio, and in Ohio he was the first Worthy Master of the first Masonic Lodge, first High Priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, and one of the three first officers of the Encampment of Knights in Central Ohio.
Early in September, 1816, Mr. Kilbourne visited the Rev. Dr. Doddridge at the latter's residence in Wellsburg, Va., and there arranged for a Convention of Episcopalians of the Northwest for the purpose of organizing a Diocese preliminary to the elec- tion of a Bishop. The Convention met at Worthington, Ohio, Oct. 21 and 22, in 1816, and issued circulars designed to interest. others in the establishment of a Diocese. Another Convention was held at Windsor, Ohio, April 2, 1817, and petitioned the General Convention of the Church in America, (which met at New York in May, 1817,) to establish a Diocese to include the western country, according to the plan of Messrs. Kilbourne and Doddridge. The General Convention recommended organ- ization according to States, and in conformity thereto another preliminary Convention was held at Columbus, Jan. 5, 1818, which arranged for holding the formal Convention at Worth- ington, Ohio. Early in the spring of 1817, the Rev. Philander Chase of Hartford, Conn., removed to Ohio and was soon set- tled over the Church at Worthington, with Mr. Kilbourne as assistant. At the Worthington Convention, June 3 to 5, 1818, Mr. Chase, by the votes of three clergymen and lay delegates from ten parishes, was elected the first Bishop of Ohio and the first Bishop west of the Alleghany mountains. Mr. Kilbourne and Roger Searle, another former Rector of Christ Church. Worthington, Conn., were two of the three clergymen who voted for Mr. Chase. Bishop Chase remained at Worthington in charge of St. John's Church with Mr. Kilbourne as his assistant. About this time Mrs. Cynthia Kilbourne was elected president of the Female Tract Society of Worthington. In the Journal of the Ohio Convention for 1820, Mr. Kilbourne is reported as residing at Worthington, instead of officiating there as before. In 1821 he addressed a letter to the Bishop in which "he declared his intention no longer to be a minister of the Church of Christ." Thus after more than twenty years of
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faithful service, his offices as clergyman were ended by his voluntary act. He had never been advanced to the priesthood, probably because he did not desire to devote his life work to the ministry. Bishop Perry calls him the "secular clergyman," and for some reason unknown to the writer, Bishop Chase, in his Reminiscences, makes no mention of Mr. Kilbourne, with whom he had been intimately associated in matters of religion and education for several years.
During the war with England 1812 to 1815, Mr. Kilbourne, on account of his knowledge of the clothier business and of his successful business experience, was urged by the President of the United States, Cabinet Officers, members of Congress and others, to engage in the manufacture of woolen goods to aid in clothing the army and navy. Under the expectation of a pro- tective tariff he invested largely in the enterprise and prosecuted the business extensively. Peace came in 1815, but still there was no protection on woolens. He continued the business until 1820, when he lost all that he had, and all hope for a protec- tive tariff. Finding himself at fifty years of age again totally without means except some physical strength and a mind not greatly discomposed, he says, "I took up the compass again and went into the woods." For more than twenty years he was much of the time busily engaged as a surveyor, and no doubt he has surveyed more townships, highways, turnpikes, railroads and boundary lines, than any three other men in Ohio.
On the 25th of August, 1817, Colonel Kilbourne delivered an address at Worthington, Ohio, to James Monroe, the President of the United States. In 1819 a new charter was given to the Worthington Academy under the name of Worthington Col- lege. Mr. Kilbourne was one of the trustees and was elected the first president of the new corporation, as he had been of the old. He held this office as long as he lived and was thus presi- dent of these institutions for forty-three years. In 1820 he was chosen Presidential Elector and cast his vote for James Mon- roe. In 1823-4 he was a member of the General Assembly of Ohio, served on fourteen committees and as a member of the committee on revision of the laws, he personally formed the glossary of the new Revised Code, defining all the Latin, Greek and obsolete English words, and the technical phrases used in
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the code. He was also appointed by the Governor to select the lands given by Congress for the Ohio canals. He acted with the Democratic party up to 1824, when he supported Henry Clay and afterwards became an ardent Whig. In 1825 he was appointed County Assessor by the Court of Common Pleas, which office he filled for many years. Through his efforts the "Reformed Medical College of Ohio" was located at Worthing- ton in 1829, under the name of the "Medical Department" of Worthington College. After the incorporation of Worthington in 1835, Mr. Kilbourne was elected its first mayor. In 1838-9 he was again a member of the General Assembly and distin- guished himself by his constant devotion to matters of State. policy. He voted for the abolition of capital punishment and imprisonment for debt. Among the acts favoring the exten- sion of knowledge and science was the charter for the "Worth- ington Literati," which society was founded by Mr. Kilbourne and of which he was elected the first president under its charter. He also secured the incorporation of the Worthington Female Seminary, the Blendon Young Men's Seminary and The Liter- ary and Botanic College. On arriving at the age of 70 in 1840, he declined nearly all public offices, but he kept on making speeches and delivered more than one hundred public addresses on state and national policy during the seven years preceding his death. Of the many corporations and associations of which he was a member, he was the first president of all but two, and later was president of both of these. He was called to preside at more than half of all the public conventions and meetings he ever attended. He presided over the great State Convention, July 4, 1839, for laying the cornerstone of the Capitol of Ohio and over the immense Whig Convention at Columbus, Feb. 22, 1840. He was somewhat of a poet and several of his poems have been published. In his notes on religious subjects, we find the following put down as words not in the Bible, "Adams Fall, Man's Fall, Fall of Adam, Fall in Adam, Fall with Adam, Fall through Adam, Fallen Man, Fallen Race, Fallen Nature:" He says, "the word fall or fallen is not once used in the whole Bible in reference to Adam's sin, or any effect thereby on his posterity."
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Under Maxims, he wrote "Let the first mild morning rays of the sun shine on your head, and you will not want a hat to defend it from its scorching beams of noon."
"Earn your breakfast before you eat it, and the Sheriff shall not deprive you of your supper."
Living up to such maxims as these, he acquired for himself and family a comfortable independence, bringing up nine of his thirteen children to business, science, virtue and honor. The bare-footed and coatless boy from the dead swamp woods of the Farmington mountain was known in Ohio as a gentleman of the old school, distinguished by the urbanity of his manners and his colonial costume. He had a clean shaven face, long hair tied in a cue, wore a blue coat with brass buttons, buff vest, large watch chain with seals, and carried a cane almost as tall as himself. At home every man was his neighbor, and he was never so engrossed in his own affairs that he could not lend an ear to the troubles of others, and do all in his power to bring relief. The most lengthy notices of him are found in the His- tory of the Kilbourne Family, 1856, and in the "Old North West Genealogical Quarterly," 1903. Other notices appear in Howe's "History of Ohio," Martin's "History of Franklin County, Ohio," Taylor's "Ohio in Congress," Bishop Perry's "History of the American Episcopal Church," the "Calendar" of Hartford, Conn., 1854, Lanman's "Biographical Annals," "The Biographical Congressional Directory," "Connecticut as a Colony and State," Hollister's "History of Conn.," Andrews' "History of the First Church of New Britain," Appleton's "American Cyclopaedia," "Cyclopaedia of American Biog- raphy," the "Encyclopedia Americana," and Lamb's "Bio- graphical Dictionary of the United States." This New Britain boy became "a man of versatile ability," an "eminent pioneer," with unceasing labor and remarkable endurance, "a man of wonderful energy and perseverance, and an earnest friend of education, good order and religion." Andrews truly says that he was "in several respects the most distinguished man New Britain ever raised."
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THE REV. SAMUEL GRISWOLD
Samuel, a child of the first Church in Hartford County, (St. Andrew's, Simsbury,) born Jan. 1, 1780, in that part of Sims- bury which is now Tariffville, to Elisha and Eunice (Viets) Griswold, died at Volney, N. Y., Sept. 3, 1862, aged 82 years, 8 months and 3 days; married (1), Oct. 16, 1803, at Cheshire, Conn., Thetis Gilchrist, born at Woodbury, Conn., Aug. 14, 1780; died Nov. I, 1814, at Great Barrington, Mass. He married (2), Oct. 27, 1817, at Great Barrington, Mass., Maria Riley, born Jan. 20, 1792, at Sharon, Conn., died at Volney, . N. Y., Aug. 31, 1845. Elisha Griswold was from the Windsor branch of a numerous family, the descendants of Matthew Griswold. Eunice, his wife, was the daughter of John and Lois Viets, and granddaughter of Alexander Viets, who was a phy- sician from Germany and whose name has been perpetuated in the person of Bishop Griswold of the Eastern Diocese, an elder brother of Samuel. The mother of Samuel was a sister of the celebrated missionary of the S. P. G., the Rev. Roger Viets. The Bishop was educated by his uncle Roger and by his mother, and no doubt Samuel was largely indebted to this mother for his early education. He was admitted to Yale Col- lege in 1797, and remained until some time in his senior year, but left before it was time for him to graduate in 1801. His first sermon was preached at Granby, Conn., May 2, 1802, at which time he was a candidate for holy orders. By the kind- ness of a granddaughter, Mrs. Clara Beach Chapman, of Mil- waukee, Wis., this primary sermon is now in the archives of the Diocese of Connecticut. He was lay reader, and officiated at Christ Church, Worthington, Conn., for the Rev. James Kil- bourne during his trip to Ohio in the summer of 1802. His engagement here required part of his time only; the rest of his time he probably devoted mainly to Granby, but he preached in several other towns during that summer. On Oct. 5, 1803, the Convocation at Derby, Conn., Voted "That Mr. Samuel Gris- wold be recommended to the Bishop for holy orders." He was ordained deacon at St. Peter's Church, Cheshire, Conn., Nov. 27, 1803, by the Right Rev. Bishop Jarvis. He probably suc-
REV. SAMUEL GRISWOLD.
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ceeded the Rev. James Kilbourne at Christ Church, Worthing- ton, in the spring of 1803, and endorsements on his sermons show that he preached at Berlin, (Worthington,) Feb. 19, and March 18, 1804, whereby we suppose that he was in charge of that Church until the spring of 1804. He preached at Great Barrington, Mass., June 10, 1804, and probably took charge of the Churches at Great Barrington and Lenox, Mass., about that time. He was present at the Convocation in Litchfield, Conn., June 6, 1804, and at Middletown, June 5, 1805. He was ordained priest at Christ Church, Middletown, Conn., June 6, 1805, by the Right Rev. Bishop Jarvis. This was the second day of the Diocesan Convention at Middletown, and Mr. Gris- wold's name appears in the Journal as a member of the Con- vention, from which we infer that he was not permanently settled at Great Barrington before that date. He probably had resided at Great Barrington since some time in 1804, as his family Bible records the birth of his first child as at Great Barrington, Jan. 17, 1805. That he was both honored and remembered in Connecticut by his parishioners is indicated by the fact that Samuel and Fanny Bull of Wethersfield are recorded in the Register of Christ Church, Middletown, as hav- ing a son "Samuel Griswold" baptized July 4, 1805. This son died within a year and the Wethersfield town records show the birth of a second son on whom the parents bestowed the same name; then a third, and finally Oct. 13, 1810, the fourth son was born to them, and then for the fourth time these parents named a son for Samuel Griswold.
Field's "History of Berkshire County," 1829, p. 231, says of the Church at Great Barrington, "About 1805, the Rev. Samuel Griswold from Simsbury, Conn. became their pastor and sus- tained that relation until 1821. He is now residing in Mexico, in the state of New York," but no other record is found of his residence at Mexico.
The Journal of the Massachusetts Convention for 181I reports one hundred and twenty-eight persons confirmed at St. James' Church, Great Barrington, and twenty-four per- sons for 1812. In 1813, Mr. Griswold is reported as Rector of the Churches at Great Barrington and Lenox, and is again so reported in 1816.
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The Rev. Dr. Stone's "Memoir of Bishop Griswold," p. 171, refers to the Bishop's first visit to Berkshire County as follows : "In that of Great Barrington especially, where the Bishop's brother was Rector, and where the present writer was a parish- ioner, the 4th of July 1811 was rendered memorable to Epis- copalians by the fact that 128 of their number knelt around the chancel rails of the quiet little village Church, before the first Bishop that had ever spoken within its walls, and received from him" the rite of confirmation.
In Phelps' "History of Simsbury, Granby and Canton," 1845, p. III, mention is made of the Episcopal church erected at Sal- mon Brook, (Granby,) 1792, but not finished until 1800. The Rev. Ambrose Todd, Asa Cornwall, Samuel Griswold, Nathan- iel Huse, and others are named as those who have officiated there. It also says that they generally united with St. Andrew's Church. The records of St. Andrew's show that the Rev. Samuel Griswold was paid $100 for services there in 1815. He was still the Rector at Great Barrington, although he officiated elsewhere part of the time. There was some friction at Great Barrington which finally caused him to sever his connection with that Church. Bishop Brownell's address to the Diocesan Convention of Connecticut, in June, 1820, says that the associated parishes of Simsbury and Granby "have presented a call to the Rev. Samuel Griswold of Great Barrington." In the Journal of the same Convention, the Rev. missionary Humphrey reports that the Church at Barkhamsted has engaged the ser- vices of the Rev. Mr. Griswold of the Eastern Diocese one- fourth of the time. The Barkhamsted Church was generally taken care of by the minister of St. Andrew's Parish.
Mr. Griswold was succeeded at Great Barrington in the fall of 1821, by the Rev. Solomon Blakesley of East Haddam, Conn. On Nov. 19, 1821, St. Andrew's Parish, Simsbury, voted to hire the Rev. Samuel Griswold. In 1822 he was still offi- ciating at Simsbury and Granby, but the Bishop had not been officially notified of the fact when he made his address to the Convention of 1822. He does not appear to have ever been transferred or dismissed from the Eastern to any other Diocese. Swords' "Almanac" for the years 1822 and 1823 give his resi- dence as at Simsbury, Conn., but he removed, for the second
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time, to Great Barrington, Mass., before Feb. 18, 1823, when his fourth child was born at that place. He was succeeded at Sims- bury and Granby by the Rev. R. Warner, March 29, 1823, "but in consequence of a temporary connection between the Rev. Mr. Griswold of the Eastern Diocese and the parish of Granby," Mr. Warner did not assume full charge at Granby until Dec. I, 1823. On Oct. 29, 1823, the Church at Barkhamsted agreed to pay Rev. Samuel Griswold "for his services for the term of six months coming." In the papers belonging to the Bark- hamsted parish is a receipt from Mr. Griswold, dated Sept. 21, (year not given,) for his services in the parishes of Bark- hamsted, Hartland, & Colebrook. He was officiating in these parishes in the year 1824 and in some of them later. He preached once or more at Hartland as early as 1821, and at Colebrook as late as April 13, 1827. In the Journal of Con- vention for 1825, he is placed in the list of clergy as residing at Barkhamsted; in 1826 and in 1827, as officiating at Bark- hamsted; also as "entitled to a seat or residing in the Diocese but not present." In 1828 and 1829, his name is not in the list of clergy belonging to the Diocese but is in the list of clergy "entitled to a seat, or residing in the Diocese but not present." The Journal for 1829 is the last one that mentions his name, and it is the last publication found that has his name in any clergy list. Swords' "Almanac" for the years 1824 and 1825 changes his residence from Simsbury, Conn., to Great Barring- ton, Mass., and changes it to Barkhamsted in 1826, 1827 and 1828. On Aug. 1, 1826, the Church at Barkhamsted hired him for the season. Although he was generally called as of Barkhamsted, 1825 to 1829, (and that was probably his post office address,) he lived in the northeast corner of the town of Winchester, near the Barkhamsted line, not far from River- ton. One of his kinsmen has reported that he lived at Riverton, but in fact he lived in the town of Winchester. This is shown by the records in his family Bible and has been supplemented by land and other records furnished us by Mr. B. W. Pettibone of Winchester. He bought forty acres of land in Winchester, April 9, 1824, and not long after built a house there. He sold the same number of acres to Aaron Richards of New Hartford, Dec. 21, 1827. In both of these deeds he is described as "of
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Winchester." His fifth child was born at Winchester, Conn., April 4, 1825, and his son Samuel died at Winchester, March 6, 1827, and was buried at Hemlock Cemetery in Colebrook, near Robertsville. He removed from Winchester to Oswego County, N. Y., about 1828, and finally settled at Volney, where he resided until his death. He is described in the Winchester land records as residing at Volney, N. Y., Feb. 13, 1834. He built a brick store with dwelling house attached at Volney and engaged in the business of a country merchant. He also had a farm near there with a tenant on it, but he used to do many hard days work on the farm and was proud of his success in raising crops and fruit. He was also for many years United States Loan Commissioner for that district. He was a very obliging man, selling many goods on credit, loaned considerable money and was considered wealthy. In his old age people imposed upon him and took advantage of his kindly disposition, so that when his estate was settled it was found to contain many worthless notes and accounts. He was postmaster at Volney for many years. There was another general store there, directly opposite Mr. Griswold's and kept by Mr. Horace N. Gaylord, who was an ardent Democrat, while Mr. Griswold was an ardent Whig and a follower of Henry Clay. When the Whigs were in, Mr. Griswold had the post-office, and when the Democrats won, the post-office went to Mr. Gaylord. An old neighbor of Mr. Griswold writes that "His word was law at all times, and the day he died he insisted on making up the mail," although he was so feeble he could hardly write.
After removing to New York he engaged in secular employ- ments only, but he was never deposed or displaced from the ministry, and he never relinquished his interest in the Church. In the parish register of Zion Church, Fulton, N. Y., the first list of communicants, 1828, contains the name of Mrs. Samuel Griswold, and under the heading "Added in 1839," is the name of Samuel Griswold. We are told that Mrs. Griswold "was a most lovable woman and had a great and soothing influence over her husband." Mr. A. G. Comstock of Detroit, Mich., a grandson of Mr. Griswold, writes me as follows :- "My Grand- father was always, as I remember, quite reticent regarding his career as a clergyman. He was always a religious observer and
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a zealous and ardent Churchman. The nearest Episcopal church was at Fulton, N. Y., 372 miles, where he always rented a pew and when his health was good and the weather fine, attended church frequently on Sundays and Holy days, taking me and the rest of the family with him. I also remember of his officiating as clergyman on certain occasions." He ranked "very high as a preacher of great power." "I remember that while I was a mere lad, (born 1840,) he was called upon to officiate in the Episcopal Church at Fulton, during a vacancy in the rectorship there, and I remember distinctly hearing him preach from that pulpit several times." Years ago there was a man living at Volney who had never seen an Episcopal minister in his vest- ments. Mr. Griswold persuaded him to go to Fulton and wit- ness a confirmation service by Bishop DeLancey. That man has since been one of the wardens of Zion Church for a long time. We have this story from the Rector, Rev. A. H. Grant. That warden is now over eighty years old and tells Mr. Grant that Mr. Griswold was "a man of fine personal appearance, of rather florid face with venerable gray or white hair. He had the reputation of a man of ability, and used occasionally to con- duct the service here in Zion Church, when there was no resi- dent minister. There was always a good congregation on hand when the report went out that Mr. Griswold was to officiate. He read the service very distinctly and impressively, to the decided edification of the congregation." Mr. Griswold's venerable appearance, his office as post-master, and his chris- tian name Samuel, or some other reason, caused him to be com- monly known by the name of "Uncle Sam."
Another warden of Zion Church was also well acquainted with Mr. Griswold and has in his possession a sermon by Mr. Griswold, marked on the outside "Great Barrington, June 24, 1807." One remarkable feature, says the Rev. Mr. Grant, "is its clear and vigorous handwriting. The sermon is on the sub- ject of Masonry, and was evidently preached before the Masonic Lodge of the town, in celebration of St. John Baptist's Day. It is very strong and sensible and vigorous and interest- ing." A few of his sermons are now in the possession of a granddaughter, Miss Elsie L. Beach, of Winsted, Conn., and a few others are in the possession of her sister, Mrs. Clara B.
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Chapman of Milwaukee, Wis. The endorsements on these few sermons have been of great assistance in fixing the time of Mr. Griswold's services in the various places hereinbefore named. We are informed that Mr. Griswold was the first to introduce vaccination at Great Barrington and it created great commotion there, "some of the superstitious people in that community even threatening to hang him for it."
Mr. Griswold's descendants now living are all from his daughters. He had two sons, but one of them died at 12 years of age and the other died in 1849, leaving a wife and only one child, a daughter. This was a great blow to Mr. Griswold, and he writes to his daughter Jane, from Volney, Oct. 22, 1849, saying: "This death terminates the name of Griswold, in that branch of the family that proceeds from me, that is, with my last breath soon to be drawn the name ceases and is forever extinct, as no male bearing my name will be left of my progeny. Thus my name is soon to be as though it were not. Those that inherit my blood are hereafter to mix by another name with unborn generations that are to come and go as time shall roll on to eternity's end." Thirteen years later, his funeral was attended in the Presbyterian Church at Bristol Hill, a few miles from Volney, and he was laid to rest by the side of his second wife, in the Volney Center Cemetery.
We have been unable to find the files of the Fulton "Patriot," for the year 1862, (then the only local paper,) but his grand- daughter, Miss Beach, has furnished us a copy of an obituary notice from some unknown publication from which we quote the following :
"His sermons, a large number of which have been preserved, bear testimony alike of his fidelity as a pastor and his great learning and ability as a scholar. They breathe the most sin- cere devotion to the cause of Christianity, are replete with sound and convincing logic, vigorous but not redundant rhetoric, and rise at times to the highest standards of fervid eloquence. While discharging his pastoral duties he devoted a part of his time to the business of teaching. He taught the classics to a large number of young men, preparatory to their collegiate course, who afterward filled most honorable and responsible positions in life. He was in full possession of his sacerdotal
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