USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > History of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church, New Haven, Connecticut, 1848-1941 > Part 3
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The lot was purchased, the lot on Elm Street where the church was soon to be built. On it was the parsonage of the Blue Meeting House, as it was known, which stood at the southeast corner of Church and Elm Streets. It was so called, because it was "blue," presumably having been painted that color originally. John W. Barber makes the statement that lampblack was mixed with the paint to make it durable, and that that produced the blue tinge. But Mr. Blake says that that would not have produced blue. His explanation is that just at that period, that is, when the Meeting House was built in 1748, "gaily-colored meeting houses were a fashionable fad," and that "blue was in fact a very common color for buildings in New Haven at that time."*
Formerly the parsonage was owned and lived in by the Rev. Samuel Bird, pastor of the Separate Society, the Society, that is, which split off from the First Society. When the people of St. Thomas's bought it in 1849 it was owned by Rodolphus E. Northrup, son of Dr. Joel Northrup, who had married Mary Sarah Bird, daughter of the Rev. Samuel Bird. It had, therefore, been in the Bird family just about one hundred years. Dr. Beardsley says that "Mr. Northrop narrowed the dimensions of the original parsonage grounds by selling the garden in the rear to Titus Street-eight feet on the eastern side to Abraham Bradley, and reserving for himself twelve feet on the western, which he added to a strip that he had previously purchased. The lot, therefore, on
* Henry T. Blake, Chronicles of New Haven Green, p. 94.
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Buying a Lot
which the Parsonage of the Blue Meeting House stood, was reduced to eighty feet front by one hundred and fifty feet deep."
The purchase price of the lot was $4,300. The parish was prepared to give $4,500, but the owner did not know that. The old parsonage was sold for $100. It was moved to the west side of Ashmun Street, just beyond the entrance to York Square, where it stood until a few years ago, inhabited, yes, but woefully pathetic in its fast fading glory.
The parish having acquired its lot began at once the erec- tion of a temporary chapel. In less than five months it was ready for occupancy. The first service in it was held August 12th, 1849. It was capable of seating four hundred people. What did that chapel look like? It was a temporary structure, of brick, and in the nature of things would be a plain one. It was put up hurriedly, and not much time could have been given for any ornamentation or elaboration of architecture. And certainly there was no money for it. The cost with appurtenances was $3,841.04. It had blinds, was lighted by gas, and heated by a hot air furnace.
A very good idea of the interior of the chapel may be had from an old chart which shows the arrangement of the pews. There was no center aisle, but two side aisles with wall seats and seats in the center. There were three "Amen" seats, as they were sometimes called, on either side. In all there were ninety-two pews in the chapel.
In the rear there was something called "Orchestra" on the chart, obviously for the choir, but whether it was a gallery, or a space reserved on the floor level, there is nothing to indi- cate. There was an organ somewhere, for, as was previously stated, one was purchased March 3rd, 1850, which had formerly belonged to St. Paul's Church. After the first service in the chapel the rector says :- "The room is one of
* E. E. Beardsley, New Haven Historical Society Papers, Vol. I, p. 114.
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History of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church
the finest in the city for public speaking, and the arrange- ments are simple and Church-like."
Here, then, was the temporary home of this vigorous and growing congregation. If it was named St. Thomas's, because of the doubtfulness of the project, it was not yet showing any signs of running true to those expectations. And it would seem, now that it is approaching the century mark, as if that element of doubt had been quite thoroughly disproved.
On March 30, 1848, the vestry voted that "the Wardens be authorised to procure a suitable Communion service for the use of the Church." Whether or not it was procured the record does not show, presumably it was, but before the end of the next year the parish was gladdened by the gift of a complete and suitable service. The following correspondence explains itself.
"New Haven, Nov. 21, 1849
To the Rector Wardens and Vestrymen
of St. Thomas' Church-
Gentlemen,
It is made our pleasant duty, to present to you, for the use of St. Thomas' Church, the accom- panying service, which has been procured by the voluntary contributions of members of Trinity Church in this city.
It is given in the hope that it will ever be a wit- ness between us of the good will and Christian harmony with which your undertaking was com- menced, and also a pledge of the constant intercom- munion of fellowship of those who are of the same household of faith, & who, we trust, will be ever found laboring together in a common cause, keeping 'the unity of the spirit in the bond of Peace.'
HARRY CROSWELL, Rector THOMAS C. PITKIN, Assistant Rector of Trinity Church"
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Buying a Lot
"New Haven, Nov. 26, 1849
To the Rev. H. Croswell, D.D. Rector
& Rev. T. C. Pitkin, associate Rector of Trinity Church :
Dear Brethren
The warmest thanks of the Rector Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Thomas' Church are due for the very acceptable gift of a silver service for the Holy Communion.
It is valued the more highly as being a witness of the friendship of a great and flourishing congrega- tion to the enterprise and success of a young and feeble Parish, and as a pledge also of the uninter- rupted fellowship of those who are of that one body which is Christ.
That the receivers may be worthy of the gift, and that we and our respective flocks may so take the wine of salvation here as to be privileged to 'drink it new together in our Father's kingdom' is the earnest prayer of
Yours sincerely
E. E. BEARDSLEY, Rector of St. Thomas' Church."
The service consisted of five pieces, a flagon, a paten, a plate and two cups, each inscribed
Trinity Church to St. Thomas's Church New Haven 1849
The entire service is beautiful in its simplicity, rich and chaste, the flagon only being ornamented by a lamb bearing a cross on the top. It is still in use in the parish.
CHAPTER IV
MOVE TO BUILD A LARGER CHURCH : STOCK ISSUED.
Barely five years had passed, when, so steady and sub- stantial had been the growth of the little parish, plans were being formed for the erection of a larger building on the site of the chapel, or elsewhere. To relocate a church is rarely an easy matter. Now and then it does happen that conditions recognized as favorable by all readily decide the matter, but too often honest differences of opinion do make the decision difficult. Fortunately in the case of St. Thomas's the decision was soon and satisfactorily made.
But questions arose which had to be decided. It was thought by some that "our present Chapel and Lot might be sold at such an advance on the cost as to make it an object to change." And then a proposition was made by "gentle- men connected with Trinity Parish offering certain induce- ments for us to move our present organization to the vicinity of Broadway." Had such action been taken it might have had an important effect upon the Church in the city.
The Vestry reported that "the Congregational Society, now worshiping in Court Street are contemplating of erecting a new house of worship for their accommodation and have expressed a desire to purchase the lot now owned by this Parish, so that there is no doubt that it can be disposed of at an advanced price from what was originally paid for it." The Congregational Church in Court Street became after- wards a Jewish Synagogue, later Music Hall, and finally plumbed the depths of useless usefulness and became the site of a parking lot. Having a purchaser for the old site
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Move to Build a Larger Church
made the temptation to move greater, but the temptation was resisted.
In 1853, the rector writes in his diary :- "The subject of erecting a new church on our present lot, or of selling it and buying another, has been agitated pretty thoroughly during the year, but the parish seem finally to have settled down in the belief that no removal can be entertained, but that an edifice must be erected on the lot now occupied by our chapel, and that too at as early a date as practicable."
It could hardly be expected that the parish, having so recently acquired their lot and built on it, would look too kindly to any suggestion to give it up so soon and go else- where. They had not had time to test it out and satisfy themselves that that was not the lot whereon they wished to build their permanent home, or what they thought was to be their permanent home.
In the sermon, which the writer preached on the seventy- fifth anniversary of the parish, occurs this paragraph which may very properly be incorporated here. "The question is frequently asked by those who naturally think of conditions as they are, rather than as they were, why the church in the first place was located in the center in such close proximity to the other two churches, Episcopal churches, that is. The answer is easy. Seventy-five years ago New Haven did not spread over the territory that it does now, and no one had the vision nor the temerity to set the church out in the country and wait for the city to come to it.
As it was, the men who founded the parish, with few exceptions, lived on the George Street side of the original 'nine squares,' and doubtless they thought they were a little venturesome in going as far over to the Grove Street side as this, as far as Elm Street, that is. Above Grove Street, in the sector from State Street to Whalley Avenue, it was practically all open country. There were the three or four mansions on their respective knolls, and that was about all."
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History of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church
And so the decision was made to build a larger church on the site where stood the chapel. The method proposed to finance it was the same as that used to purchase the lot and build the chapel, namely, the issuance of stock. This method had the advantage of enabling the parish to seek subscriptions from those not directly connected with the parish, as a busi- ness proposition. And such subscriptions were obtained in generous numbers.
As a preliminary to "marketing the stock" they were anxious to have their plans, so as to "meet the inquiries which would be asked by those outside, who might be applied to for subscriptions, inquiries such as, what sort of a church do you propose to build? will it be a good one? will it be an attractive one? will it be an ornament to the city?" It required labor and patience to dispose of the stock, for as the report says, "Once six per cent free from taxation was con- sidered a very good investment, but now men want from ten to twenty percent." However, it is interesting to read in the committee's report that "The subscriptions obtained from persons not belonging to the parish have been given from a desire to promote a worthy object rather than to make an investment, and many of them have been accompanied with hearty expressions of good will."
On Sunday, March 12th, 1854, the closing service was held in the chapel, the rector preaching the sermon from the text, I Kings vi, 7 .- "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone, made ready before it was brought thither ; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building."
The very next morning workmen began to tear down the chapel, and others to dig the trenches for the foundations of the new church. The cellar never was fully excavated. So rapidly did the work go forward that on April 24th, only a little over a month later the rector records in his diary :- "The corner stone of our new church was laid with appro-
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Move to Build a Larger Church
priate ceremonies. Bishop Williams and fifteen clergymen present. The day was charming and a very large concourse of people gathered to witness the ceremonies and hear the address. It was an admirable effort of the Bishop and gave great satisfaction. May we bring forth the top stone with shoutings."
It was necessary for the congregation to have a place in which to worship while the church was building. Brewster Hall was selected "as the most central, comfortable and con- venient place, and the best in the city to accommodate the necessities of our parish, the Aisles being carpeted, seats cushioned, and having a fine organ." Brewster Hall was over the Second National Bank, which, at that time, stood on the corner of Chapel and Union Streets. It has long since disappeared, even as Union Street has. That went when the railroad cut came.
It is not possible to speak with certainty as to the exact location of that corner stone. Benjamin C. Lum, a member of the parish, who was present at the service, states that "the corner stone is located on the easterly side corner of the main entrance to the church. There is nothing there to indi- cate it in the way of a cross or otherwise, but such is the fact." That does not do away entirely with the element of uncertainty, though one prospecting in that vicinity might be "hot," probably would be. But wherever that corner stone is it can be truthfully said that the box in it, like the world, "is full of a number of things."
Perhaps it will not be out of place to give here the list as read by the rector. It has a present interest, and certainly would have a larger interest in the future, if in any work of demolition the box were by chance lost. The following then is the list :- Copies of the Bible and Book of Common Prayer, Journal of the last Annual Convention of the Dio- cese of Connecticut, Church Almanac, Catalogues of Trinity and Yale College, copies of the sermon of Rev. T. C. Pitkin
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History of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church
at the consecration of Christ Church in this city, and of the rector of St. Thomas's at the closing ceremonies in the Chapel, Rev. Dr. Fuller's Origin and Uses of the Creeds, Extracts from Bishop Brownell's Address to the Convention at New London in 1850, Bishop Williams' Sermon before the Christian Knowledge Society in 1853-issues of the Calendar, Christian Witness, and of each of the New Haven Daily Papers-names of the founders and first officers of the Parish-autographs of the Assistant Bishop, and of the present officiating Episcopal Clergy in this city-an auto- graph list of the Rector, Wardens and Vestry of St. Thomas's Church for the time being-names of the Build- ing Committee, Architect, Contractor, Mason and Foreman of the Masonry and Stone-Cutting-together with some coins, and several other papers and pamphlets of general interest to the Church.
The church was built from plans furnished by Wills and Dudley of New York, but it was Mr. Dudley who did all the detail work, and who was responsible for the church. The work went on rapidly and successfully, the contract calling for its completion within the year. The contractor was Nicholas Countryman of New Haven, and the contract price was $24,500. It was he who built the old City Hall.
The Building Committee encountered the usual difficulties, but in a report of that committee found in the records of the parish it may be seen how one difficulty was overcome. "With regard to Side Galleries," says the report, "the Committee would take the liberty of expressing an opinion. Some of us in the outset were very strongly in their favor and could not be reconciled to the idea of building a church without put- ting them in, but the more we have enquired into the matter, the less we have thought of their utility. A church without Side Galleries, all will admit, is pleasanter for the Ministers and the Worshippers. ... The plan adopted allows of these being built at any future time. They would add to the cost of
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Move to Build a Larger Church
the church nearly or quite $2,000." Perhaps in this compro- mise, if it was a compromise, may be found the explanation of the rather high side walls.
One untoward accident occurred in the building of the church. The rector in his diary gives this account of it :- "A staging over one of the aisle porches gave way and precip- itated six men, laborers and masons, nearly twenty feet to the earth below, the stones and rubbish falling upon them, and injuring one, a mason, so seriously that he survived the accident but a few hours. The accident was the result of carelessness on the part of the laborers, gathering in a group on the platform, contrary to orders and tumbling the stones heavily thereon."
CHAPTER V
CONSECRATION OF NEW CHURCH.
As the church neared completion, the thoughts of the rector and the people are directed towards its consecration. It was then possible to consecrate a church before it was fully paid for, the present provision coming into the Canons in 1868. It was paid for in that the obligations for material and labor were met, but St. Thomas's was built, as were Trinity and St. Paul's, by the issuance of stock, and so long as any of that stock was outstanding the church could not be said to be free from debt. As a matter of fact it was not cleared up until 1898, when the last twenty-two shares held by the Mansfield Fund were redeemed. However, that was all in the family, so to speak. The par value of the stock was $50, the rate of interest 6%.
Dr. Beardsley referred to this as a "miserable system," but certainly a better case could be made out for it than for a lottery, and that method was employed not infrequently, when the Legislature was amenable. It was even used for the building of bridges. Whatever happened, one did have, at least, his stock certificates as a pleasant souvenir.
In making his arrangements for the consecration of the church the rector wrote to Bishop Williams a letter, which, for its historic interest, may well find a place here.
"New Haven, March 17, 1855.
My dear Bishop,
I now think that we shall not need to wait for our church beyond the third week in April. I hope
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Consecration of New Church
it will be ready for consecration Thursday the 19th prox., though it is impossible to foresee what unex- pected causes of delay may arise.
The Revd Dr Chapin* has stated on the authority of Dwightt that an 'Episcopal Society' was first organized in New Haven in 1755, but looking into the matter carefully, I find evidences of a beginning made some three or four years earlier. It might have been that there was no distinct organization of a Parish with Wardens and Vestry till that time, but Pundersont certainly came to this city from the Eastern part of the State, (Norwich and its vicin- ity) where he had done the church good service as early as the summer of 1751. New Haven was his native place, and he sought an appointment to it, as appears from a letter to the Venerable Society when he found that there was a demand here for the services of the Church of England.
Though the first great outbreak for Episcopacy was made within the walls of Yale College, and was so astounding as to shake them almost to their very foundations, it seemed that the event made scarcely any impression upon the citizens favorable to the claims of the church.
The plant took root and grew elsewhere rather than under the shade of the college. Even John- son,§ who has left a record of his frequent minis- trations in the interior and shore towns of Fair- field and New Haven Counties and along the Sound from Guilford to New London and farther still, even Johnson appears to have been little wanted in
* Rev. Alonzo B. Chapin.
+ Statistical Account of New Haven, p. 43.
¿ Rev. Ebenezer Punderson.
§ Rev. Samuel Johnson.
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History of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church
the spot where he first broke away from the asso- ciations of his academic life. For with the exception of coming here to baptize a child and to bury another from the same household, there is no record of any official act of his for a continuous period of nearly twenty years.
Go back then just a century and imagine yourself to be standing in the midst of the city, then of nar- row limits, you see Punderson walking up and down, to watch and water his little flock, a flock, which in its proportions and in its circumstances might have well led him to ask with the prophet, 'Jacob is small, by whom shall he arise?'
Behold us now! It is no spirit of vain-glory that, we should survey our present position, or con- trast it with the state of the church a century ago. But one cannot help thinking of the joy which Punderson and Palmer* and Hubbard, faithful missionaries of the Venerable Society, must have experienced could they have cast their vision for- ward and seen in the dimmest outlines, the church, as she is this day in the city of their ministrations.
Strange mutations occur in the lapse of time. Our edifice is built in the neighborhood of the princely residences of Eaton and Davenport, the most influ- ential first settlers of the colony. It is within a stone's throw of the cellar where the regicides were concealed when their royal pursuers were passing by. It occupies the very ground whence at a later day rose a dwelling to shelter the Pastor of a Con- gregational, or Separate, Society. That Society after a chequered history of light and shade finally disbanded and disposed of their property. The Bell
* Rev. Solomon Palmer.
7 Rev. Bela Hubbard.
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Consecration of New Church
which rung them together at the hour of prayer hangs in the tower of the Episcopal church at Cheshire, and St. Thomas's covers the site of their old parsonage.
These are curious and interesting facts and I give them to you, because I am at this moment in the vein of the thing. I do not suppose that you can use them, but they may suggest a thought for your Consecration Sermon worth working up into a shape of your own.
Please keep an eye upon Thursday the 19th of April, and reserve it for us if convenient.
I remain very truly yr frd and Bro. in Ct.
E. E. Beardsley"
What use, if any, Bishop Williams made of these sug- gestions is not known. He preached from the text St. John x, 4. "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice." The sermon was not printed.
The Bishop kept his eye on Thursday the 19th of April, and on that day the church was consecrated, the year 1855. It was consecrated by Bishop Brownell, and that was said to be his last official act outside of Hartford where he lived. For the last ten years of his life the infirmities of age nar- rowed his activities, and he seldom went abroad. His Assistant, Dr. John Williams, carried the burden of the work. Bishop Brownell died January 13th, 1865. He was a noble man and a fine example of the true Father in God. . He was held in the highest esteem to the last by the Diocese whose affairs he had watched over and guided for forty-six years. For seventeen years prior to his death he had been the Presiding Bishop of the American Church. In a com- memorative discourse which the rector of St. Thomas's
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History of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church
preached, and which was printed, are these words :- "As the setting sun leaves a trail of light behind upon the sky and earth, so the life and departure of such men gild the history of the Church, and leave along the track of ages a shining radiance of holiness and truth."
To the invitation to the consecration service, the rector received a very gracious letter from the Rev. Samuel Cooke of New York, rector of St. Paul's Church at the time of the organization of St. Thomas's. The letter follows :
"New York April 16th 1855.
Rev & dear Sir-
Your note, inviting me to attend the consecration of your church, was duly received-My engage- ments here will deprive me of the pleasure of being present, but my congratulations will not be on that account any the less earnest or sincere-I know something of church building-its 'pains and penal- ties'-what it is to the Rector in many ways, but the man who succeeds in it, may well feel that he has done something for the world. You will perhaps, remember that I said all that it was proper for me to say to dissuade you from the undertaking, and I imagine that you have since found the difficulties fully equal to my representations-
But you have surmounted them, and, I trust, are now to be rewarded for your zeal, and for the patient energy with which you have pushed forward the work-
That you may long live in the enjoyment of the fruits of your labor, is the earnest wish of your friend and brother,
S. Cooke.
The Rev. E. E. Beardsley, D.D."
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Consecration of New Church
The consecration of an Episcopal church, or of any church for that matter, was no ordinary event in those days, and it is not surprising that that consecration service received its full share of attention in the local papers. In one of them appeared a poem entitled, "Dedication of St. Thomas," from the pen of Virginia F. Townsend. It is given here, not necessarily for its literary value, but simply as an evidence of the interest which the event aroused.
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