USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut : from the first Indian dead in 1659 to 1854 > Part 30
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
tutions depends entirely upon their own consent and voluntary con- tribution. The office of the present law is only to give them the power of providing for their support in such a manner as they may think proper. "Thus the people of this state, in less than two cen- turies, have passed from a religious establishment, through various changes, to perfect freedom ; and it may be added, that these changes have not broken up any of the located societies, but public worship continues to be duly attended in them all."'
Under the law allowing each one to lodge a certificate with the clerks of the several established societies, or as it was usually ex- pressed, " to sign off," considerable scope was allowed for the imagin- ation. Many specimens of wit, of malice, or of sarcasm were, in con- sequence, lodged in the archives of the several societies. Some gave the clerk of the " standing order" "distinctly to understand," that they should attend his "meeting" no more forever. Others gave the notice in a quiet business way. As a specimen of the "mirthful de- parture" from the established order, the following "signing-off" cer- tificate of Zachariah Beers, a poetical genius of whom more will be said hereafter, is inserted. This certificate was lodged with Matthew Minor, Jr., Esq., clerk of the first Congregational society in Wood- bury :
" Matthew Minor, Jun", Esquire, Hear ye the words of Zechariah. Under the Law, the State now orders, In serving God we choose our quarters, And as I never yet have stated, Where long my mind has been located, This information I send (greeting,) Where I expect to go to meeting. I joine the Church Episcopalian, Tho Satan terms it a rebellion ; And to avoid all further evil, Renounce the world, the flesh and Devil.
Zechariah Beers." Woodbury, Jan. 1st, 1811.
A short time previous to 1740, some few families in this town adopted the sentiments of the church of England, and at this date they were occasionally supplied by the missionaries of the "Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts." A church was sub- sequently formed, for the following interesting history of which, the author is indebted to Hon. Charles B. Phelps, a member of that
1 Statutes of Connecticut, revision of 1821.
287
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
communion. Rev. Solomon G. Hitchcock, a former pastor of the church, had very kindly furnished the author with copious minutes in relation to the church, of which use is made in the biographical sketches in a subsequent part of this volume, but it was deemed best to give Judge Phelps' sketch entire, rather than rewrite an article from all the sources of information at hand.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH, WOODBURY
At an early period of the polemie controversy arising from Doctor Johnson's conversion to Episcopacy, divine service, according to the ritual of the English Episcopal Church, was celebrated within the limits of the ancient town of Woodbury, by the missionaries of " The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." In 1732, Doctor Graham, the Congregational minister of Southbury. then a part of Woodbury, published a pamphlet antagonistie to the publication on Episcopacy, by Doctor Johnson and Rev. John Beach. of Newtown. After this controversy, some few families of this town- ship adopted Episcopal opinions ; they were, about 1740, organized into a parish. The names of Masters, Castle, Squire, Warner and Ward, occur in the early annals. About this time, a church edifice was erected within the township, on the hill between the present een- ter of Roxbury and Transylvania, near the old graveyard, now dilapidated and thrown to the commons, where the bones of Col. Seth Warner repose in disgraceful negligence, marked by a broken slab, reproaching the inheritors of that liberty his valiant arm so essen- tially contributed to establish.
The principal portion of the inhabitants of the society, lived in the south section of Roxbury, and Grassy Hill. The cellar of the masters mansion house now remains visible on the lot next north of the present dwelling-house of Wm. N. Shelton, on the west side of the way, and overlooks the Woodbury valley.
For a season, the Episcopal families in the valley, were an ad- junct of the Roxbury church, and for many years, worshiped there more or less. Ashbel Moody lately deceased, was baptized at that church, Dec. 8, 1765, by the Rev. Thomas Davies.
The old town house on the ground now occupied by the carriage house of N. B. Smith, Esq., was, after the erection of the new Con- gregational house in 1747, occupied by the Episcopalians for stated worship until the erection of the present church edifice in 1785.
Within the ancient limits of the township, another Episcopal church was erected at Judea, now Washington, in Davis Hollow, near the present dwelling-house of Capt. Center.
288
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
This was built principally by the Davies family, to whose lineage the Rev. Thomas Davies belonged, a family distinguished during a century for their intellectual superiority and indomitable persever- ance.
The Rev. John R. Marshall assumed the charge of the present parish at Woodbury, in 1771. IIe was a citizen of New York, and educated in the Reformed Dutch faith. During the discussion of apostolical authority, and the imparity of the priesthood, Mr. Mar- shall followed the opinions of Dr. Johnson, Doct. Leming and Mr. Beach, and having graduated at King's (now Columbia) College, and laid the foundation of a theological education, he sailed to England to be episcopally ordained, and was in that year ordained deacon and priest at the chapel of Fulham, by Richard Terrick, D. D., Bishop of London, and returning came to Woodbury to commence his professional life in the same year. A glebe was purchased and conveyed to the society, the place now improved and occupied by Gideon B. Bots- ford, Esq., as his residence. The parish was a plurality, and flour- ished under his ministration until the breaking out of the Revolu- tionary War, when its progress was retarded by the invincible hostil- ity of the public mind to everything English. Without adverting to the inhuman violence inflicted by passion and bigotry on Mr. Marshall, all is to be regarded as the effervescence of the public mind at an excited period, as the error of the age modified by the crisis.
The church was erected by the contributions of seventy persons in sums ranging from three shillings to forty-three pounds. Mr. Marshall gave the glass and nails.
John Clark paid, £43, 8s. 8d.
Mitchell Lamson,
£34, 19s. 1d.
Elijah Sherman, £22, Os. 5d.
Doet. Samuel Orton,
£21,14s. 1d.
Hezekiah Thompson,
£20, Os. 0d.
None of the original subscribers are now living.
Only seven persons, children of the original subscribers, reside in Woodbury. Nathan Preston and John P. Marshall are the only children of the original subscribers who worship in this faith.
The proceeds of the glebe, sold to build a church, added to the other expenses, were only adequate to the inclosure of the church edifice, laying the floors, plastering and building some side pews, and a coarse pulpit temporarily constructed. It was in this condition, at the death of Mr. Marshall, in January, 1789, and so continued until
289
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
1812. About this time a new steeple was erected, the house finish- ed much in its present form, and painted within and withont.
In 1809, by the exertions of Col. Moseley, a bell was obtained, which being broken in 1848, another was supplied.
The society made grants of the floor to individuals to be holden in perpetuity, but no such grants were made after the death of the first rector. It was probably a project. of his derived from similar ownership of pews in New York. His opinions were much regard- ed by his followers.
In finishing the inside of the church, Thomas Prentice fell from the upper wall to the floor, and was killed.
The church was consecrated by Bishop Brownell in October, 1822. The name of this church is " St. Paul's Church, Woodbury."
At the death of Mr. Marshall, the parish enumerated several families living within the present townships of Southbury, Bethlem and Middlebury. The Wheelers. Benham, Osborne of Southbury, Doet. Hull, and Prentices of Bethlem belonged to this parish.
From the extension of the parish during the war, and immediately after its close, embarrassed by the many obstacles that resisted its progress, and the known capacity, devotion, perseverance and apti- tude of Mr. Marshall's mind, it is probable it would have been a strong parish, had his life been spared. In the measures connected with the establishment of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, Mr. Marshall bore a conspicuous and efficient part. In 1784, with a view to the union of this communion into one eccle- siastical body. Mr. Marshall was elected a delegate from Connecticut to the convocation of the Episcopal clergy in the council convened at New York. Connecticut before this time had held a convocation of her clergy, and sent Rev. Mr. Seabury to England for ordination as a bishop.
Before the convocation, Mr. Marshall read a paper, declaring that Mr. Seabury was on his way to Europe, and Connecticut would take no action in the convocation until the result of Mr. Seabury's appli- cation for consecration was known ; and should that prove propitious, Connecticut would lend her whole energies to aid in the consolida- tion of the Episcopal interests of the Union. This measure had its effeet ; and to its adoption, the union and harmony of the subsequent action may, in a good measure, be referred.
This communion by the agency of its articles and ritual being es- sentially conservative in its tendencies and character, this parish has been little agitated by controversy. The Rev. James Sayre, who in
290
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
1791, followed Mr. Marshall in ministering to this flock, was opposed to the adoption of the State Constitution, and gave in the convoca- tion his sole negative vote. When the constitution was subsequently referred to the families for adoption, Mr. Sayre in this parish, com- menced a bitter opposition to its adoption for some year or two. After Mr. Sayre left the parish, they refused to act upon it. The Episcopal convention under the constitution declined exercising any jurisdiction over its interests. This engendered on Mr. Sayre's part violent hostility and imputations upon the bishop and clergy, in which some of the parish, who had become attached to him, more or less, participated. A committee of the convention, consisting of Rev. Messrs. Phillip, Perry, Truman, Marsh and Ives, were appointed ; who conferred with Doet. Orton, John Clark and R. B. Marshall, a committee from the parish. The whole terminated in accepting the constitution Nov. 10, 1794. During this controversy Mr. Sayre left the parish. While in the parish he was eccentric, rash and incon- sistent, probably from the ineipient stages of insanity. Not much was known of him after his departure. He died the tenant of a mad- house. In this agitation, a worthy member of the communion, Eli- jah Sherman, was involved and ultimately abandoned the society.
The principal objection to the constitution as well as can now be ascertained, was that the clergy were invested with too much power, and the parishioners with too little, not having discovered that the real authority resided in those who furnish the means. The king may declare war, but the commons may refuse supplies to sustain it, thus possessing the ultimate power.
The temperament of Mr. Sherman was humble, earnest, and emi- nently conscientious ; firm in his adhesion to what he deemed to be the line of duty. He could not adopt Calvinistic opinions, then ardently pressed upon the public mind, in all the Congregational pul- pits. Swayed by an enthusiastic spiritualism, his sympathies were with those humble heralds of the cross, so efficiently blessed in the morn of Methodism. For twenty years, with some few companions, himself an elder, the worshipers in this faith, assembled in his own house. Ilis religious experiences gave him new developments in Christian duty. Chastened by the death of several children, his faitlı and zeal and knowledge grew deeper, more ardent and expan- ded. Ile became an eminent example of Christian excellence. Un- der that humble roof, from subdued and pure hearts, prayers gushed forth, not surpassed in pathos and piety by a Massillon or a Bonr- daloue. Souls now looking to the great judgment seat with confidence
291
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
and holy hope, recall with devout gratitude his ardent aspirations in that lowly temple. Had he received the advantages of early edn- cation and training, with the compass and melody of his voice, he would probably have made an eloquent and powerful preacher. He lived to see the erection of a Methodist church on his own home- stead, and a numerous and devout company of believers worshiping there. He was gathered to his fathers at the advanced age of ninety, in the month of January, 1814.
None of his descendants worship at the church. Rev. Henry B. Sherman. rector of a church at Bellville, N. JJ., is his grandson.
The glebe house was ereeted in 1837, and by its original limita- tion can not be alienated to any other use. It cost about two thousand dollars, and has been hitherto the residence of the clergymen having families.
Until 1838, the society labored under the enervating influence of the plurality system. Under the anspices of the truly faithful and talented exertions of the Rev. S. G. Hitchcock, a change was effect- ed, and has without interruption been continued to this time. The church now has a minister during the whole time.
After the death of Mr. Marshall, the feud in relation to the consti- tution, the defection of Mr. Sherman, and the death of some promi- nent parishioners, reduced the society to a feeble condition. After the Rev. Dr. Judd left the parish, in August, 1801, the parish was without a minister, until the accession of Rev. Mr. Welton, in 1809. The surrounding clergy occasionally ministered to them. Rev. Mr. Marsh, Dr. Burhans, Rev. Mr. Prindle, Rev. Mr. Wheeler, preserved some watchfulness over their interests. Without a minister, with an untinished church in a state of dilapidation, and a scattered, wander- ing flock, extinction seemed to be its only fate; yet Providence or- dained it otherwise. From 1809, it has gradually risen to a respect- able position and character.
LIST OF CLERGYMEN WHO HAVE OFFICIATED IN ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, WOODBURY. Commencement.
Termination.
November, 1771,
Rev. John Rutgers Marshall,
died January 7th, 1759.
1790,
66 James Sayre, 1791.
1791, 66 Seth Flint, 1793.
1793, 66 Reuben Ives, 1797.
1797, 66 Tillotson Bronson, D. D., 1798.
1799, 66 Bethel Judd, D. D.,
August, 1801.
Easter,
1509, 66 Joseph D. Welton,
June, 1×16.
August, 1516, 66 Sturges Gilbert,
August, 1827.
1527, 66 Bennett Glover,
1827.
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
November, 1827, Rev. Samuel Fuller, Jr , D. D,
April, 1828.
1628, William II. Judd, 1825.
William Lucas, 1629.
November, 1528, 1829, Ulysses M. Wheeler, 1830.
1631,
Daniel Burhans, D. D.,
July,
1931.
July, 1531, 66
Joseph Scott,
April, 1833.
1831,
John Dowdney,
1535.
Easter, 1835,
Edmund C. Bull,
Easter,
1×36.
July, 1836, 66
P. Teller Babbitt,
March,
1537.
May, 1837,
Solomon G. Hitchcock,
August,
1544.
October,
1814,
66
Richard Coxe,
November, 1645.
November, 1515, 66
David P. Sanford,
February,
1847.
Easter, 1817,
66
Charles S. Putnam,
April,
1549.
June, 1849,
66
P. Teller Babbitt,
September, 1850.
May,
1853,
66 F. D. Harriman.
The following persons born in this parish, and receiving their reli- gious impressions and culture in the Episcopal church, have been or- dained priests and officiated as such :
Rev. Phillips Perry,
Rev. William Preston,
Philo Perry,
" "Martin Moody,
66 James Thompson, 66 Thaddens Leavenworth,
66 Rufus Murray, " Henry B. Sherman.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH, ROXBURY.
This is probably the oldest Episcopal parish in the county of Litch- field, dating its organization as far back as the year 1740. a period earlier than that of any other parish of which we have any written records. It was organized by Rev. Mr. Beach, of Newtown, and was for a considerable time the only Episcopal parish within the limits of the town of Woodbury, of which, at that time, Roxbury formed a part. Some account is given by Mr. Davies, of its house of worship, in his correspondence with the society. In a letter dated April 13th, 1762, he speaks of his having received invitations to preach in Hartford and Woodbury, and says, " In each of the above-named places, the people are resolved to erect Churches." "Writing again, June 25th, 1764, he says, " In Roxbury, a parish in Woodbury, there is a pretty Church, neatly finished." This church stood on the hill between Transylvania and the center of Roxbury. During the time that Rev. Mr. Davies preached in Litchfield county, he ocenpied this pulpit one-fifth of the time. At that date, the parish consisted of thirty-four families, out of which were twenty-eight communicants. Since that day the old church has gone to decay, and a new one has
January,
1853.
October,
1550,
Robert C. Rogers,
293
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
been erceted in the center of the present town of Roxbury. By a letter to the author from Rev. George L. Foote, then pastor of the church, dated August 21st, 1848, we learn that the early records of this church are all lost, and therefore the list of ministers, and other interesting particulars of its history can not be given. It has been a " plurality," and for this reason, among others, information in regard to it is obtained with difficulty. The name of this church is " Christ Church, Roxbury."
EPISCOPAL CHURCHES IN JUDEA AND NEW PRESTON, WASHINGTON.
For the account of these churches, the author is indebted wholly to Rev. James L. Scott, their present rector. A full and accurate history of them is impossible, on account of the defective state of their records, and the scanty means of information still left us. Like many other churches, they have labored amid numerous difficulties, and discouragements of various kinds.
The beginning of the parish, the church edifice of which now stands on Washington "green," seems to have been on this wise : About the year A. D. 1762, a few Episcopal families resided in what was then called Judea, now Washington, though not sufficiently nu- merous or wealthy to organize a parish, or to erect for themselves a house of worship. Therefore, the Rev. Thomas Davies, A. M., a missionary of the society in England " For Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts," held occasional services and baptisms in houses, or wherever he could obtain admittance. After the separation of what was called Birch Plains or Davies' Hollow, from the township of Litchfield, the Davies family, one of considerable note, and zeal- ously attached to the church, withdrew from the Litchfield parish, and built a church edifice of their own in Davies' Hollow, where, with assistance from some few families who resided near, they sus- tained religions services according to the liturgy of the church of England, and kept up a distinct parochial organization for some con- siderable period.
The following is a copy of a deed given by John Davies, senior, the father of Rev. Thomas Davies, to the churchmen in Washington. making to them a conveyance of the land upon which this house of worship was erected :
" Know ye that I John Davies, of that part of Washington formerly belong- ing to Litchfield, and known and called by the name of Birch Plain, in the county of Litchfield, for the consideration of an agreement and promise made with, and to, my honored father, John Davies, late of Birch Plain, in said Litchfield, deceased, and for the love and affection I have and bear towards
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HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
the people of the church of England, now in said town of Washington, and securing and settling the service and worship of God among us, according to the usage of our most excellent Episcopal Church, whenever there shall be one legally organized in said Washington, and all times forever hereafter, do there- fore demise," &c.
The measurement of the land, as described in the deed, must have been equal to ninety-six square rods, and it was restricted to being used for a public burying-ground, and for the purpose of having a suitable place of worship erected upon it. The same condition was annexed to it as that which was expressed in the deed given by his father to the church in Litchfield, viz., the requirement of one pepper corn to be paid annually on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, if demanded. The above deed was given on the 22d of January, 1794. Upon the ground, principally at his own expense, an Episco- pal church was subsequently erected. Aged and infirm, and seated in an arm-chair, at the door of his house, he witnessed the raising of the edifice with a feeling similar to that of pious Simeon, when he said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace." He survived about three years, and at the age of eighty-six years, he died on the 19th of May, 1797, and was buried in the family grave- yard in Davies' Hollow.
The first entry of services in Judea, made in the Notitia Parochi- alis of the Rev. Thomas Davis, is this : " 1764, April 11, Judealı, [preached from ] 1 John ii : 12, Jolin iii : 8, the Colony Fast."
The following are the first records of baptisms ; "1764, August 28tlı, Judeah, 1 Peter iv : 18, baptized a daughter of Mrs. Ingram. 1765, April 17th, Colony Fast, Judeah, Miealı, vi : 8, christened a daughter of Abel Mix."
As the number of inhabitants had decreased in Davies' Hollow, and most of the parishioners lived in other parts of the town, it was thought best to move the church edifice to its present site. Finally by consent of the Davies family, now very few, it was removed in the year of our Lord, 1813. It received the name " St. John's." It has gallantly persevered among discouraging circumstances, and because of only occasional services, at one time, not oftener than once in three months, then once in six weeks, it has not enjoyed any large increase. It now has services on every other Sunday. The following is a copy of the rector's report to the Rt. Rev. Bishop, in 1853, for the year last past :
" The Rev. James L. Scott, Rector.
" Familics, 33. Baptisms-infants, 5. Confirmations, 6. Communicants,
3
-
295
HISTORY OF ANCIENT WOODBURY.
added anew, 6. Lost by removal, 1 ; by death, 2. Present number, 35. Bn- rials, 6. Sunday School Teachers, 3; Scholars, 15. Missionary and charita- ble contributions, $24.50," exclusive of the communion offerings.
There is another Episcopal church within the limits of the town of Washington, usually known as " St Andrew's, New Preston." The first church edifice stood in the village called " Waranmaug" or " Upper City." It was built before the Revolution, and during that period was unused, or rarely used, and finally pulled down. In 1796, the Episcopalians of the neighborhood purchased the building former- ly occupied by Jemima Wilkinson and her followers, situated about two miles south, and just within the limits of New Milford.
This parish is also under obligation to the missionary labors of the Rev. Thomas Davies, A. M. In a letter written June 25th, 1764, this indefatigable clergyman writes : " In New Preston, a parish in Kent, they have most of the materials for building a church, which they determine to erect and finish next summer, 45 by 35." This is probably an allusion to the church which was built in Waraumang. New Preston is not a parish in Kent, but as a school society ineludes a part of Kent, New Milford and Washington.
The first record of ministerial acts in New Preston, found in the Notitia Parochialis of Rev. Thomas Davies, A. M., is the following : " 1764, January 4, New Preston, a lecture, Matthew xxii : 14, bapti- zed Ephraim, son of II. Dean, Margaret Ann of Sharp." Same year, "June 2, East Greenwich, Heb. ii: 3, baptized Freelove Reney, a daughter of Zadock Bostwick, a daughter of Stephen Lee, and a child of Morgan's son-in-law."
The meeting-house formerly used by Jemima Wilkinson, was oe- cupied by the churchmen till about A. D. 1822, when the substantial brick building, now standing in Marbledale, was finished and conse- crated by the Rt. Rev. T. C. Brownell, D. D., LL. D. The history of this parish is like that of most other Episcopal parishes in the land, one of severe struggle and hardship. But now it is gaining a strong footing, and will soon, to all appearance, be equal to most country parishes, in numbers and prosperity. A parsonage and grounds have of late, ( Easter Monday, 1853,) been presented to the parish by the Rev. N. S. Wheaton, D. D., who is a native of this town, and owns this as his native parish. The present church edifice will probably be soon enlarged, in order to supply the increased demand for pews. The Rev. David Baldwin preached his first sermon in this parish, probably in the old building once standing in the " Upper City." We find on the records, under date April 4th, 1785, that
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