USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1854 > Part 27
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 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
"The personal appearance of Dr. Backus was impressive and win- ning. Not tall, but of rotund and well-proportioned figure, a massive head, a face expressive of sensibility, benignity and intelligence. After Dr. John Mason had made his first circuit about New Eng- land, he was asked what he thought of the clergy of that section of country. Ilis answer was, ' I did not see any men of great learning,
256
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
but I saw one man, who had half a bushel of brains.' That was Azel Backus. He was a native of Franklin, in this state; the son of a widow, who married a man distinguished neither for industry, pru- dence nor probity. After Azel had become a man of note, some new acquaintances inquired of him, 'You are the son of Dr. Backus, of Somers ?' 'No,' he replied ; ' he was my uncle. I was the son of Bill -,' mentioning the name of his stepfather-' he married my mother and lived on her farm.' 'How did he educate you?' ' Took me with him to steal hoop-poles,' was the remainder of the colloquy. He was educated at Yale College-graduated 1737-re- ceived the degree of D. D. from Nassau Hall-was removed from his charge in Bethlem to become President of Hamilton College, in 1813, where, three years afterward, of acute disease he died, not an old man. The warmth and humility of his piety appeared, as it pre- viously did, at the last moment of life. When told that he was dying, he could not be prevented from throwing himself from his bed upon his knees, that with his last breath he might commit to God his de- parting spirit."
After the dismission of Dr. Backus in 1812, the church gave invi- tations successively to Rev. Messrs. Zephaniah Swift, Cyrus Yale and Caleb J. Tenney, who did not accept the call made. In Janua- ry, 1816, a call was tendered to Rev. John Langdon, who accepted it and was ordained June 16th, 1816. He was dismissed in June, 1825, at his own request, on account of ill health, and died February 28th, 1830, aged forty years. He graduated at Yale College, in 1809, and was a tutor in that institution from 1811 to 1815. He was characterized by a sound, well-disciplined and well-furnished mind-by love of study, great decision, and pious devotion to his work, amid many infirmities. A residence of five years with his former church, after he had ceased to be their pastor, was marked with many substantial tokens of their love and confidence. "Few churches, if any, ever received from Zion's King, three pastors in succession, so distinguished as Drs. Bellamy and Backus, and Mr. Langdon."1
Rev. Benjamin F. Stanton, the fourth pastor, was installed De- cember, 1825, and dismissed, at his own request, March 4th, 1829. Rev. Paul Couch, a graduate of Dartmouth College, in 1823, the fifth pastor, was installed October, 1829, and dismissed, at his own request, November, 1834. Rev. Fosdick Harrison was ordained sixth pas-
1 Rev. Mr. Yale's Discourse.
257
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
tor, July 22d, 1835; closed his labors with the church March 1st, 1849, and was dismissed, June 4th. 1850. He is now preaching at North Guilford, in this state. In 1815, Yale College conferred on him the honorary degree of master of arts.
In 1850, the present pastor, Aretus G. Loomis, was installed over the church and people.
The following is as correct a list of those who have held the office of deacon in this church, as the records show :
Jabez Whittlesey, 17.10. Jonathan Kelsey, Hezekiah Hooker, -
Ens. Samuel Strong, 25th Dee., 1753.
David Hawley, Ith November, 1756.
Archibald Kasson, 31st March, 1775. Oliver Parmelee, 1st March, 1784.
Richard Garnsey, 10th January, 1792. Benjamin Frisbie, -
Ebenezer Perkins, 25th April, 1799. Myar HE. Bronson, 1815. Jonathan Smith, -
Nehemiah Lambert, 10th July, 182t. Phineas Crane, 20th February, 1525.
Adam C. Kasson, 14th February, 1531. Joshua Bird, 26th December, 1539.
John N. Crane, 26th December, 1839.
As early as September, 1781, the society voted their desire to be set off' as a separate town, and appointed Daniel Everit, Esq., to pre- fer a memorial to the General Assembly for that purpose. At a town meeting, held April 18th, 1782, Woodbury voted to oppose this application, and appointed Col. Increase Moseley and Hezekiah Thompson, Esq., agents to attend the session of the Assembly, for the purpose of opposition. The application failed, and no further movement was made till the May session, 1786, when the society appointed Robert Crane and David Bird, agents for the purpose of pressing an application for a new town on the attention ofthe Assem- bly. The application, which stated the list to be £11,000, and the number of families 250, was continued to the October session, pre- vious to which, they obtained a vote in town meeting, 173 to 153, that the town should not oppose the application, on condition the petitioners should pay their proportion of the debts of the town. The application did not, however, for some reason, succeed at that session, but next year, May, 1787, the society at Bethlehem was duly incorporated into a town of the same name, but by an error in the transcriber, it was written Bethlem, and has been so written ever since.
In 1836, the present Congregational church, the third since the organization of the society, was built, and the church met for the last time in the old edifice, April 10th, 1836, which had now reached the advanced age of sixty-eight years.
258
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
The other incidents connected with the new town having been con- sidered in connection with the history of the "ancient town" as a whole, will not be repeated here.
Bethlem is a small town, its average length being four and a half miles, and its breadth four miles. Its population by the census of 1850, was 815. It is almost wholly an agricultural town, its soil be- ing fertile, with little waste land. It has, however, one woolen man- ufactory, two wagon shops, three saw-mills, one grist-mill, three cider distilleries, one blacksmith's shop, one shoemaker's shop, and three mercantile stores. It also has two churches, a town hall, a flourish- ing lyceum, two ministers and one physician.
CHAPTER XIII.
HISTORY OF JUDEA AND NEW PRESTON ECCLESIASTICAL SOCIE- TIES, AND TOWN OF WASHINGTON.
1739 TO 1853; SOCIETY SETTLED, 1734; WINTER PRIVILEGES GRANTED, 1739; SOCIETY INCORPORATED, 1741 ; REV. REUBEN JUDD SETTLED, AND THE CHURCH GATHERED, 1712; LIST OF FIRST CHURCH MEMBERS; REV. DANIEL BRINS- MADE ORDAINED, 17.19 ; REV. NOAH MERWIN INSTALLED, 17-5; REV. DR. EBENEZER PORTER ORDAINED, 1796; Ils CHARACTER ; FIRST CHURCH, 1742; SECOND CHURCH, 1751-BURNED IN 1500; THIRD CHURCH, 1501 ; ADMIS- SIONS TO THE CHURCH; PUTRID FEVER, 1753; MURDERS AND CASUALTIES ; REV. CYRUS W. GRAY SETTLED, 1513; REV. STEPHEN MASON INSTALLED, 1515; REV. GORDON HAYES SETTLED, 1$29 ; REV. EPHRAIM LYMAN INSTALLED, 1552; REVIVALS ; LIST OF DEACONS: WINTER PRIVILEGES GRANTED TO NEW PRESTON, 1745; SOCIETY INCORPORATED, 1753; FIRST CHURCH BUILT, 1756; SECOND CHURCH, 1769; THIRD CHURCH, 1525; RAUMAUG CHURCH, 1853; CHURCH GATHERED AND REV. NOAH WADHAMS SETTLED, 1757 ; REV. JEREMIAH DAY SETTLED, 1770; REV. SAMUEL WHITTLESEY SETTLED, 1507; REV. CHARLES A. BOARDMAN SETTLED, 1515; REV. ROBERT B. CAMPFIELD, 1821; REV. BEN- JAMIN B. P'ARSONS SETTLED, 1839 ; REV. HOLLIS READ, 1845; REVIVALS; DEACONS ; TOWN OF WASHINGTON INCORPORATED, 1779; CASUALTIES ; PRES- ENT STATE OF THE TOWN.
THE present town of Washington is made up of territory taken from the towns of Woodbury, New Milford, Kent, and Litchfield, and is about six miles square. It contains two ecclesiastical societies, Judea and New Preston, though not the whole of the latter is in- cluded within the town. Judea society embraces all the territory taken from Woodbury and Litchfield, and constitutes about two-thirds of the extent of the town. But a small portion of this is contributed by Litchfield. New Preston embraces all the territory taken from Kent and New Milford. In both of these societies are Episcopal churches, having houses for religious worship. The first settlement in the town was made in Judea society, in 1734, the year this society and Bethlehem were divided among the proprietors of Woodbury. Joseph Hurlbut was the first settler, and the first framed house was built in 1736. The next settlers after Hurlbut were Increase Mose-
260
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
ley, Nathaniel Durkee, John Baker, Friend Weeks, Joseph Gillett and Samuel Pitcher. The first sermon preached in the society was by Isaac Baldwin, of Litchfield, who afterward relinquished his pro- fession, and became the first elerk of the county court for Litchfield county.
Five years later, the inhabitants had become more numerous, and twenty persons preferred a memorial to the General Assembly, at its May session, 1739, representing that they lived "full eight miles from the Meeting House," and that their wives and children had " to tarry at home from the worship of God about half of the year," and therefore they pray for " liberty to have preaching six months in the winter," and to be released from paying taxes for a new school-house just built in the first society, and also from parish taxes, that they may build a school-house of their own. The privilege asked for was granted, to continue two years, and they were released from one-half of the parish taxes, and from taxes to build a new meeting-house, provided they were " in no ways Active in the Affair of Building a new Meeting House in said first Society."' At the October session, 1741, twenty-six individuals petitioned to be incorporated into an ee- clesiastical society, and appointed " Our Trusty and well-beloved friend, Friend Weeks, agent and attorney to prosecute our Petition." The petition was signed by Nathaniel Durkee, John Baker, Joseph Gillett, Joseph Chittenden, Elisha Stone, Samuel Pitcher, Jr., James Piteher, Increase Moseley, Lemuel Baker, Daniel Castle, Samuel Branton, Ezra Terrill, Jr., Ebenezer Allen, Zadock Clark, Elijah Hurd, Joseph Hurd, Joseph Hurlbut, Benjamin Ingraham, Jr., Rob- ert Durkee, Samuel Bell, Jonah Titus, Benjamin Ingraham, John Royce, John Hurd, Jr., Jedediah Hurd, Benjamin Hinman.
Col. Benjamin Hull, John Southimayd, Esq., and Mr. Stephen Hopkins, were at once appointed a committee, to inquire into the reasonableness of the request, who reported at the same session in favor of a new society, with the following boundaries :
" Beginning att Coln Johnson's line at New Milford bounds, and from thence Running Eastward in sd line untill it Comes to the line Dividing Between Beth- lehem, and the West part of the North Purchase, and thence to Extend North to the north line of sd purchase, and thence Westward to New Milford line, and thence Southward to the first mentioned place, at the End of Coll. Johnson's line at New Milford bounds."
1 State Archives, Ecclesiastical, vol. 6, index, et seq.
261
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
The territory thus bounded was immediately, October, 1741, incor- porated into an ecclesiastical society, and named " Judeah."' At the same session, twenty-four persons petitioned for a land tax of 30s. per lot, on the ground that the " inhabitants are few in number, most of the territory is uninhabited, and the non-resident owners will not sell to settlers." Thirteen non-resident owners also sent in a written assent to such a measure, and it was granted for the space of four years.
At the May session, 1742, twenty-six petitioners stated, that they had " Unanymously and Lovingly Agreed upon A Place for to Set a Meeting House," near the center of the parish, and wished to have it confirmed. It was accordingly confirmed without opposition, and the house built that year by eight proprietors.
At the first meeting held in this society, all the inhabitants were present, and were accommodated in a small room of Mr. Hurlbut's dwelling-house. After the organization of the society, Rev. Reuben Judd, a graduate of Yale College in 1741, was the first minister set- tled in it, and was ordained September 1, 1742. The ordination cer- emonies took place in a grove, near Mr. Samuel Pitcher's, who then resided about half a mile south of the dwelling-house of the late Hon. Daniel N. Brinsmade. The church was gathered in the same place on the same day, and consisted of twelve members whose names follow :- Rev. Reuben Judd, Joseph Gillett, Benjamin Hurd, Dea. Increase Moseley, Allen Curtiss, Timothy Hurd, Dea. Joseph Hurd, Joseph Chittenden, John Royee, John Baker, Elijah Hurd, Samuel Bell. On the 5th of November succeeding, the following females were also received into the new church : Deborah Moseley, Ann Hurd, Rachel Weeks, Jerusha Baker, Abigail Hurd, Mary Hurd, Tabitha Hurd, Doreas Royce, Mary Durkee and Esther Durkee. From this time to May, 1746, forty-seven other persons were added to the church, making in the whole the number of seventy received during Mr. Judd's ministry. Eighty-one baptisms are recorded in the same period. Mr. Judd did not remain in the pastoral office over this church quite five years. He was dismissed, May 6, 1747, and from writings that remain, his character and the occasion of his dis- mission do not distinctly appear. The tradition is, that he was not of that good report, that became one in his saered office.
It would be a matter of interest to point out the exact location of the homesteads of the first settlers, did time and space permit. A
1 This is the spelling in the original charter, though it is now always written Judea.
262
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
few must suffice. Joseph Hurlbut, the first settler, lived a little east of where Samuel Frisbie now lives. Increase Moseley, Esq., lived near John Smith's dwelling-house ; Nathaniel Durkee, near Samuel Clark's ; John Baker, near the new house of Benjamin -; Capt. Friend Weeks, near Capt. Smith's ; Joseph Gillett, near Sherman Brinsmade's, and Samnel Pitcher about half a mile from Judge Brins- made's. Before the ordination of Mr. Judd, besides Mr. Baldwin, Rev. Mr. Cowles, of Farmington, Rev. Ebenezer Mills, of Wethers- field, Rev. Mr. Meade, of Horse Neck, and Rev. Mr. Case, of New- town, who afterward settled at New Fairfield, preached in this so- ciety more or less, as they had opportunity.
In September, 1748, Mr. Daniel Brinsmade was invited to preach in this society, as a candidate, and was ordained, March 9, 1749. The ministers officiating at the ordination, were Mr. Beebee, Mr. John Graham, Dr. Bellamy and Mr. Thomas Canfield. IIe died here, forty-four years and nearly two months after his ordination, of pneumonia, April 23, 1793, aged seventy-four years. He gradua- ted at Yale College in 1745. He had a clear and comprehensive mind, and was a pious and able instructor, but was not distinguished for pulpit eloquence, or for laborious preparation for the Sabbath. IIe had a casuistical turn, and was rather argumentative in his sermons. The want of firm union, so common to new societies, and Mr. Brins- made's conscientious and inflexible attachment to the doctrines of pure Christianity, occasioned him some difficulties, early in his min- istry, which increased and abated, by turns, according to circumstan- ces, till the troubles arose which involved the country in the war of the Revolution. The unhappy divisions in this society then arose to a high pitch. Almost the entire people became dissatisfied with their minister, though no heresy nor scandal was alleged against him. This contention finally ceased, after which Mr. Brinsmade was much respected till his death, and is still spoken of as a faithful, pious min- ister. In the year 1784, the Rev. Noah Merwin, who had been dis- missed from Torrington, for want of support, was invited to preach. With a remarkable unanimity he was installed colleague with Mr. Brinsmade, in March, 1785. IIe died of scirrhous disease in the stomach, two years after Mr. Brinsmade, April 12, 1795. Though not accustomed to diligent study, and close investigation of subjects, he was Calvinistic in sentiment, had an easy flow of thought, an en- gaging address, and treated subjects in a manner so familiar, as to please and instruet his hearers. Ilis knowledge of mankind, his af- fable and winning manners, gave him more than an ordinary share
263
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
of the confidence and affection of his people. He graduated at Yale College in 1773.
For about seven months after the death of Mr. Merwin, the church were supplied by the neighboring ministers, and by Mr. Platt Bas- sett and Amasa Porter, candidates for settlement. In December, 1795, Rev. Ebenezer Porter eame here and preached the greater part of the time till his ordination Sept. 7, 1796. At the ceremony of his installation, Rev. Benjamin Wildman offered the introductory prayer, Rev. John Smalley, D. D., preached the ordination sermon, Rev. Noah Benedict made the conseerating prayer, Rev. Judah Cham- pion gave the charge, Rev. Simon Waterman gave the right hand of fellowship, and Rev. Jeremiah Day offered the concluding prayer. In relation to this interesting occasion, and another equally interesting, we find on the ministerial records of the church the following entry, in Dr. Porter's handwriting :
" The assembly was large and serious, the day was pleasant, and was to me the most solemn day of my life, O that the light, and warmth of Divine grace from the infinite Fountain may shine into my heart, and influence all my con- duct, that I may fulfil this ministry faithfully, find this great work a pleasant work, and be ready, when called to my last account.
" On the 14th of May, 1797, I was married to Lucy Pierce Merwin, eldest daughter of my predecessor, my age being twenty-four years on the 5th of Oe- tober, and hers seventeen years the 31st Dec. 1796. The marriage covenant was administered by Rev. Nathaniel Taylor of New Milford, at the close of publie exercises on the Sabbath."
Dr. Porter was dismissed from his pastoral charge, Dec. 18, 1811, having been elected Professor of Andover Theological Seminary. But the sketch of his life and labors ean in no way be better elosed, than by an extract from the Rev. Cyrus Yale's Discourse at the Con- sociation Anniversary at Litchfield in 1852:
" My instructor at Washington-a choice man to head the list of deceased pastors, how rapidly to pass before us-was a native of Cornwall, a graduate at Dartmouth, a student in theology with Dr. Smalley. He was ordained pastor of the church in Washington, 1796. Here, for fifteen years, he labored with much ardor, ability and success, 'in the glorious Gospel of the blessed God,' until invited to a new and broader field of usefulness. At this time of intense interest with Dr. Porter, his ill health seemed to give him more prospect of early rest in heaven, than of longer toil on earth. Pale and feeble, from recent hem- orrhage of lungs, and from low diet by order of anxious physicians, I well re- inember his cadaverons look, his tremulons, tall form, his slow and careful step, his hoarse voice, his irritation of throat, his avoidance of excitement and of company. Yet, he calinly communits his way to the Lord, and the consocia- non is called with the concurrence of his people, to indicate what the mind of
264
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
the Lord is. That body votes unanimously in favor of his removal to Andover. And now, with characteristic courage and resolution, and in firm reliance on his past great Helper, the pale invalid ventures to assume the responsibilities of a professorship, so high in its demands, that recently, some of our theological seminaries have dropped its imposing name, lest it should raise an expectation beyond the ability of any mortal to meet. Nor was the solicitude of the new professor lessened at all, by a frank and friendly visitor about this time. 'Broth- er Porter,' said this honest friend, ' will you step here to the window ?' Point- ing to the top of the church steeple on the adjacent green, 'Do you sce that painter ? He ean go up no higher, and is in some danger of falling. In that man, brother, I see yourself. You are at the top of the ladder, and may fall.' But as the late John Q. Adams, after reaching the dizziest official elevation in the gift of his country, or of the world even, actually went up still higher, and higher, in true fame and solid worth, so this professor, this ultimate president of the Andover Seminary, in the estimate of an admiring Christian public, went up far above the height reached, at the time of his tremulous consent to succeed the splendid Griffin in the chair of Saered Rhetoric, in the pioneer in- stitution of the kind, not far from the so-called ' Athens of America ' And this proud name of New England's metropolis, at the date of Dr. Porter's inaugura- tion, reminds us alike of the learning of ancient Athens, and the inscription on one of its altars-' To the Unknown God.'
" But the highly useful course of the Bartlett professor, for more than twenty years, amid crippling infirmities at every step, shows how much a well-furnish- ed, active, resolute mind, seconded by a large and glowing heart, even in a feo- ble body, may do for God and his church, with Christ to strengthen and give suceess.
"I might mention Dr. Porter's love of intense study-fatally intense-his strong common sense, his great graphie power : also the entire consecration of himself-first to the Christian ministry as a pastor-afterward, to the more dif- ficult labor, under God, of training pions young men for the pastoral office at home, or for missionary toil and usefulness in heathen lands. But the Chris- tian world has his memoir by a competent hand -- a full length portrait -- true to the original : there is now time to give only the epitome of that memoir -- the miniature of that picture on the last page of the book. It is taken from the monument to his memory in the cemetery of his beloved institution.
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF EBENEZER PORTER, D. D., WHO DIED 1834, AGED SIXTY-TWO YEARS, WAS GRADUATED AT DARTMOUTHI COLLEGE, 1792, ORDAINED AS PASTOR AT WASHINGTON, CONN , 1796, INAUGURATED AS PROFESSOR OF SACRED RHETORIC IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT ANDOVER, 1812, APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF THE SAME, 1527. OF CULTIVATED UNDERSTANDING, REFINED TASTE, SOLID
JUDGMENT, SOUND FAITHI, AND ARDENT PIETY ;
DISTINGUISHED FOR STRICT INTEGRITY AND UPRIGHTNESS, KIND AND GENTLE DEPORTMENT, SIMPLICITY AND GODLY SINCERITY.
265
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
A FATHER TO THE INSTITUTION WITH WHICH HE WAS CONNECTED, A HIGHLY USEFUL INSTRUCTOR,
A ZEALOUS PATRON OF THE BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES OF THE TIMES IN WHICH HE LIVED, A TRUE FRIEND TO THE TEMPORAL AND ETERNAL INTERESTS OF HIS FELLOW -BEINGS.
LIVING HIE WAS PECULIARLY LOVED AND REVERED; DYING, HE WAS UNIVERSALLY LAMENTED."
The first settlers of the society usually mnet for public worship in a barn. The first church, built in 1742, was a small edifice ; a second was raised in 1751, and about 1786, a steeple was added to it, and a bell procured. In July, 1800, it was set on fire, by a crazy man, named David Titus, but by an early discovery of the fire, and the exertions of the people in the neighborhood, the night being calm, the flames were extinguished in an hour. On the night of April 30, 1801, the church was again set on fire by this man, previous to which time it had not been discovered that he was guilty of the former mis- chief. The fire was put in the steeple, in the middle of the night, and the flames had made such progress before it was discovered, that no human aid could save it. The witnesses to this sad scene were scarcely able to save the surrounding buildings from the devouring element. As no alarm could be given by the bell, that being the place of the fire, many of the inhabitants, and some within the dis- tance of half a mile, were ignorant of the calamity, until the next morning. The following week, at a meeting of the society, it was unanimously voted to build another church, and with like unanimity they soon agreed on the place of location. With heart and hand, they vigorously commenced the work May, 1801, and within six months from the beginning, the building was so far advanced, that the people assembled in it on Thanksgiving day, in November following ; and within about a year and a half from the first stroke, it was completely finished. Although the expense was about six thousand dollars, and immediate payment was necessary, yet no person was called on by legal process to pay his rate.
During the first seventy years after the establishment of the church, the people of Judea were uniformly prosperous and happy. They were never divided-never split into sects-but deservedly acquired the reputation of being industrious, orderly and harmonious, with but one exception. The exception alluded to, was during the last ten years of Mr. Brinsmade's ministrations, from 1774 to 1784. This was a contention concerning the half-way covenant system, and it is
18
266
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
worthy of notice, that during this whole period of ten years, but three members were added to the church. Thus do contentions, even for just causes, ever diminish the prosperity of the church.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.