USA > Connecticut > New London County > Stonington > History of the First Congregational church, Stonington, Conn., 1674-1874. With the report of bi-centennial proceedings, June 3, 1874. With appendix containing statistics of the church > Part 3
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Miss Maria Stanton brought the illuminations which she had previously prepared for the pulpit and front of the galleries.
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The floral decorations were under the supervision of Mrs. Ellen (Phelps) Edwards, Mrs. Mary (Copp) Williams, and Mrs. Susan (Smith) Palmer. Mrs. Eliza (Avery) Brown contributed for the occasion two of the oldest century plants in this section of the country. The gentlemen worked shoulder to shoulder with willing hearts and ready hands raising the tent and building the tables, after which Mrs. Mary (Moss) Mathews and Miss Emma A. Smith, assisted by the boys and girls, and some of older growth, arranged the provision on the tables for the collation.
Wednesday morning, June 3d, dawned bright and beautiful, the weather was pleasantly cool, the orchards were redolent with blossoms, and the air filled with their fragrance, made the earth teem with beauty. In the language of one of our number who is now in the "Spirit Land," -
"' June now laughs out amid her beauteous flowers ; And Nature glad, puts on her fairest dress,
Rich in her glow of sunshine and of showers, In all her fragrance and her loveliness." 1
Thus a smiling Providence lent an added pleasure to the occa- sion and gave inspiring assurances of success.
At an early hour the people began to gather from all directions, availing themselves of every possible mode of conveyance to reach the old Country Church on Historic Agreement Hill, and long before the hour designated for the morning services to commence, the house was filled to its utmost capacity, not more than one third of the multitude being able to gain admittance. A. writer in the " Mystic Press " thus describes the church and its decora- tions : -
" Before reaching the place, the sight of the church, with its large flag, bearing in bold letters the word ' Welcome,' and the immense tent, pro- cured from abroad, with flags floating from the staffs, abundantly testified that the two thousand particular invitations by circular, besides the gen eral invitations to the hospitalities of the church, meant what they said, and on reaching the spot and noticing the surroundings, one was struck with the completeness and magnitude of the preparations.
" The fitting up of the church was almost the perfection of good taste. At the outer entrance stood two century plants, one on each side of the door (two centuries of growth - Bi-centennial). On entering the body of the house the visitor saw the front of the singer's gallery draped with the English and American flags (the church having existed under Brit-
1 Samuel Copp.
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ish as well as American government), and between them and draped in their folds, the motto of Connecticut in English, in maroon and gold, ' He who hath transplanted still sustains.' Underneath the motto was suspended a beautiful oval made of the rarest white flowers, in the centre of which were the words, 'Bi-centennial, June 3d, 1874,' wrought with bright pink flowers, making the effect perfectly beautiful.
"On the front of the east and west galleries were suspended canvas, upon which were the names, in bold green letters, of the ten pastors of the church, with the date and term of their pastorate, which united, covered the entire period of the church's existence. Suspended in the arch in the rear of the pulpit, was a triangular illumination bearing dates 1657, 1674, 1874, the dates of the first religious service ever held in this region of country, the date of organization, and present date. In front of the pul- pit, on the communion table, was a pyramid some three feet high, com- posed of the native wild flowers of the region. On one side of the desk was a floral anchor (hope), and on the other a harp (praise) ; in fact the whole house was ornamented and draped with flowers, blending in har- mony the most beautiful colors."
ANNIVERSARY EXERCISES.
The services commenced in the church at 10 o'clock, A. M., pre- cisely, opening with a voluntary by the choir, "The Lord is in His Holy Temple."
2. INVOCATION, by Rev. Paul Couch, Pastor.
3. READING OF THE SCRIPTURES, by Rev. William Clift. Psalms read, xliv. 1-8; Ixxviii. 1-8.
4. GREETING, by J. Warren Stanton, Esq., President : -
FRIENDS AND BRETHREN, - As Chairman of the Bi-centen- nial Committee, it becomes my duty, as it is a valued privilege, to bid you all a joyous welcome on this occasion, and thus form- ally to greet you with Christian salutation ; and now, in the name of our Society, and of the friends who inducted this celebration, - in the spirit that pervaded this MOTHER OF CHURCHES, and amid the soul-stirring associations that cluster around this hour, - to offer you in our exercises " a feast of fat things, wine well refined upon the lees," a feast of infinite impress ! We have gathered now upon a most holy mission, -
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around us is holy ground, - near us are the ashes of those who, to preserve their faith, fitted here on this spot, for the worship of God, in the " beauty of holiness." In imitation of the great Israelite at the burning bush, let us " put off our shoes from off our feet." You have met with us here to mark this day, and to honor and cherish the memory of our pious ancestors who, two hundred years ago, organized the First Congregational Church of Stonington.
The founders of this ancient organization followed the doc- trines and practices of the Pilgrim Fathers. They drew their spiritual power and permanence from that Puritan fountain of RELIGIOUS LIBERTY and free literature ; that combined power, which enables man to see that ignorance is one of the roots of all evil.
" The church and school-house, side by side, Our country's blessing and her pride, While upward, Lord, they point to Thee, The pilgrim's monument shall be."
This important union was Puritan work: and the planting the church and school-house together, tells the whole story of New England's greatness and glory. Here thought was let free from all fetters, - here knowledge and learning was accessible to all comers, without distinction of riches or poverty, - here lands were first holden in fee, - here was freedom to worship God, and permission to enjoy equal rights. Right action is better than knowledge ; but in order to do what is right, we must know what is right. The old church founded here, like its Plymouth prototype, discarded holy water and ghostly absolution, - de- clined extreme unction and the Eucharist. While in the place of prelacy and priestly genuflections, they adopted holy prin- ciples, - required deep repentance, and justification by faith, with renewed spiritual life.
Two centuries ago, when our old church began, the French king was styled his Christian Majesty, and Spain's monarch was styled his MOST Christian Majesty ! To-day, each of these na- tions are under Republican rule, and the Pope, who has bade emperors kiss his toe, is agonizing in his loneliness, and asking vacancy, " Where shall I go ?" The Reformation is still pro- gressing.
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" From corruption's mists which shrouded Fair Religion's form in night, She is coming forth unclouded, In a blaze of heavenly light."
These centuries, therefore, so marked by Church revolutions, are symbolized by Ezekiel's vision, which, by steadfast working of Providence, will produce the utter prostration of the MAN OF SIN. To us Protestants this is a glad anniversary, and it is good and meet to utter our praises to God with thankful hearts, that we are enlightened by zeal in the cause of Christ. He is an un- speakable gift, the way, the truth, and the life. In contemplat- ing Him, we elevate the mind and the heart to whatever is great and noble, - we inspire a love of truth, beauty, and wisdom. Spiritual beauty and goodness give us the highest form of godli- ness,-of that supreme eternal mind which contains all truth, all wisdom, all beauty and goodness.
The body of Christians now statedly worshipping in this house, have come through a succession of presbyters and deacons from this early church beginning, and some here are direct descend- ants from the Mayflower Puritans. The two centuries thus flown has brought us an epoch in our Church history. But this epoch being local, has not the prominence of a national event in the estimation of men. Nevertheless, it is great in the sight of God ; for greatness in his sight lies not in the sphere filled upon the earthi ; but in the power of virtue in the soul, - in the love and practice of truth, - in the energy and patience with which trials are borne, and goodness cherished and pursued. The Al- mighty, who viewed the widow's mite when offered to Himself, as more than all the possessions of the great and the wealthy, who balances the acts of his elect ones in the scales of eternity, has set the deeds of our ancestors above the stars in his own heavens, there to burnish and brighten after those glorious orbs have been extinguished in the death of time. Their work is in- destructible, because the fiat of the Infinite has linked it with the immortal glories of heaven ! Brave old Church founders ! we turn back in our imagination to your sturdy beginnings, and gaze through the mists of time upon your rough and homely features. Far back in the distance we see the bright track of your Milky Way, and further away in the distant horizon looms up the swelling volume of your doings ; and your august virtues
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and faith shine out as gleams from our own brilliant Northern lights ! But the sainted men and women who founded our old church, have long since passed to their rewards ; and their bodies are mingled with mould in yonder cemetery, to remain until the sounding of the last trump. They still live in our grateful remem- brance, as green as the grass over their graves, and their works of love are with us in bright ministrations, -in the blessed teach- ings of Jesus, which they adopted. Thine it is, dear Saviour, to unveil the glories of the unseen, - to confer upon mortals the distinctions that come from God, where the crown of rejoicing fadeth not away, because it is incorruptible and undefiled. Life, so brief and uncertain here, passing away like the evening cloud or the morning dew, even as a vapor or a shadow, is renewed by its communion with eternity, where the Master stamps it with unspeakable joy, and his own glorious image.
These Puritan Church founders were not the high or noble among men, - they had little of earth's authority, and, like the disciples of the Master, were poor in this world's goods. But they were rich in Faith, and richer in immortal hopes and Christian graces, which end at the throne of God. Like Paul, like John and Peter, our ancestors were missionaries of the Cross ; and like them of old, they were co-workers with Christ in the cause of human salvation. While we are honoring the noble founders, the Church begins a third century ; and this pleasant gathering is a tacit pledge to the great Master, that the present organization will be transmitted to those who shall suc- ceed them : pure in doctrine and strong in the faith once de- livered to the saints. But let the Church remember, that the price of religious liberty, and true progress, is eternal vigilance ; and although truth is eternal and unchanging, and stands as the foundation of the Church, still the Church, in its great move- ment, is not a type of stability. Between the toleration of the Plymouth church and the toleration of to-day, there is a wide chasm ; while the spirit of love, like the rod of Moses, is trans- forming all opposition to itself. The late Christian Alliance, at New York, is a mile stone on the line of progress, making a renovation of the Protestant Church, uttering, "Let us have peace !" Living, however, in an age of especial progress, when the locomotive and telegraph give life to thought, the Church is summoned to act with the spirit of the age.
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" Oh ! beyond that bourne,
In the vast cycle of being which begins
At the broad threshold, with what fairer forms
Shall the great law of change and progress clothe Its workings. Gently, - so hath good men taught, -
Gently, and without grief, the old shall glide
Into the new ; the eternal flow of things,
Like a bright river of the fields of heaven,
Shall journey onward in perpetual peace." 1
So quietly as falls the dew of heaven, comes the mystic power of love, creating by its gentle transformation the God-like spirit of UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD ! Our old beehive church has sent out its swarms to the surrounding villages, and the Method- ist, Baptist, and the unchurching Episcopalian, have the leaven of our healing denominational power working silently in their body politic ; since our teachings fraternize with all' who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth.
We hail this as a momentous period, - a changing from the dry discussions of valiant theologians, to the simple commands of the Master, " Love mercy, do justly, and walk humbly."
Again I tender to this august gathering a hearty welcome, and impressively greet you, as witnesses of an event rendered most solemn and momentous ; because of its connection with greater church councils, where the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, sat in preeverlasting, and issued the fiat of creation, to destroy the works of the devil. How august and solemn that first church court ; and how vigilant and earnest should it make us all did we realize that God makes his saints on the earth, priests and ministers unto himself in heaven !
The eye of Jehovah is now upon this organization, and upon its ministrations ; and the voice of the Lord is ever sounding, " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
5. SINGING .- Hymn 136. Tune, Denmark. (Songs for the Sanctuary. ) " Before Jehovah's awful throne."
6. HISTORICAL ADDRESS, by Hon R. A. Wheeler : -
To produce an impartial history of the First Church of Ston- ington, it will be necessary to go back to the first settlement of the town, and trace the preliminary steps that were taken to 1 Bryant.
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organize the township, as well as to establish and maintain public religious worship, because at the time all such services were pro- vided for by vote of the town.
Soon after the Pequot War of 1637, a controversy arose be- tween the Massachusetts and Connecticut colonies about the jurisdiction of the conquered Pequot territory, which extended from Niantic River on the west, to Wecapaug Brook in Westerly, Rhode Island, on the east.
Both colonies claimed it by conquest, because both furnished men and means to subdue the Pequot Indians. Connecticut also claimed it by virtue of the great patent of New England, granted by James I. to the Council of Plymouth in 1620, and by them conveyed in 1630 to Robert, Earl of Warwick, who transferred it the next year to Lords Say-and-Seal, and Brooke, Colonel Fen- wick and others.
This patent embraced a vast region, much more than the terri- tory now called Connecticut. In 1635 John Winthrop, Jr., acting as agent of the original patentees, built a fort and several dwelling-houses at Saybrook, and kept a garrison there, com- manded by Lyon Gardner until 1639, when Colonel Fenwick and his company arrived ; then a civil government was established, with jurisdiction derived from the Warwick patent. Saybrook owed no allegiance to the government of Connecticut, just before established at Hartford.
Saybrook had her own independent government, which was administered by Colonel Fenwick until 1644, when it fell into the hands of Connecticut.
The next year our Governor Winthrop began the settlement of New London, or Nameaug as the place was then called, which was a part of the Pequot territory ; this revived the old con- troversy between the colonies : and Massachusetts still insisting upon her right to a portion of the same, the whole matter was in 1646 referred to the Commissioners of the United Colonies, who, after a full hearing, decided in favor of Connecticut. Mas- sachusetts, dissatisfied with the decision, brought the matter before the Commissioners again the next year, with like result.
In 1649 William Chesebrough, who came to Boston with Gov- ernor Winthrop's company in 1630, after living for a while in Boston, Braintree, Quincy, and Rehoboth, came here with his fam- ily, and located himself at Wequetequoc. He was the first Eng-
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lishman that ever made this town his permanent place of abode with fireside and family.
The township of Nameaug, or New London, did not at that time embrace this town. It extended east and west only four miles each side of the river Thames, and six miles north and south.
Chesebrough's settlement here was encouraged by Governor Winthrop, who at the time was acting under a commission 1 from Massachusetts, and he supposed that he was under the jurisdiction of that colony ; but in November of that year the General Court of Connecticut asserted jurisdiction, and ordered him to desist from all trade with the Indians, and that he must repair to Captain Mason of Saybrook, or some other magistrate upon Connecticut River, and give an account of himself.
He so far submitted as to obligate himself to attend, and in March, 1651, he presented himself at the General Court at Hart- ford, and stated that his aim was to settle at Pequot Plantation ; but finding it unsuitable to his expectation, and having sold his former abode, he was in a manner necessitated, for the preser- vation of his estate, to make winter provision for his cattle there, whereunto he was encouraged by Governor Winthrop, who pre- tended a commission from the Massachusetts General Court for . the planting of those parts.
But learning that the place belonged to Connecticut, he ad- mitted that his proceedings were unwarrantable, but claimed that he had not withdrawn from public ordinances by his solitary condition, and had good ground to hope that in a short time a
1 At a Generall Corte, at Boston, the 6th 3th mº 1646. Whereas John Winthrope, Junior, & oth's have, by alowance of this Corte, begun a plantation in ye Pequod country, wch apptaines to this jurisdiction as pt of or pportion of ye conquered country, & whereas this Corte is informed yt some Indians, who are now planted upon ye place where this said plantation is begun, are willing to remove from their planting ground for ye more quiet & convenient settleing of ye English there, so that they may have anothr convenient place appointed -
It is therefore ordred, yt ye said Mr. Winthrope may appoint unto such Indians as are willing to remove othr lands on ye othr side, yt is, on ye east side of ye great ryver of the Pequod country, or some other place for their convenient planting & subsistence, wch may be to ye good likeing & due satisfaction of ye said Indians, & likewise to such of ye Pe- quod Indians as shall desire to live there, submiting themselves to ye English governt, (re- serving to ye comissionrs of ye United Colonies what oply belongs to their disposing con- crning Ve said Pequods, ) & also to set out ye place for ye said plantation, & to set out lots for such of ye English as are there already planted, or shall come to them, & to governe ye people according to lawe, as occasion shall require, untill this Corte shall take further ordr therein; & whereas Mr. Thom : Peter is intended to inhabite in ye said plantation, this Corte doth thinke fit to joyne him to assist ye said Mr. Winthrope, for ye better cariing on ye worke of ye said plantation according to this ordr. - Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay, vol. ii., 160, 161.
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competent company of desirable men would join him for the plant- ing of the place. The court accepted of his explanation on condi- tion that he would first give to them the names of such persons for the court's approval, and that they would submit themselves to such rules and ways as would best promote the public good.
In September, 1651, Mr. Chesebrough was again at Hartford, endeavoring to obtain of the General Court a legal title to the land that he occupied at Wequetequoc. Mr. Winthrop, who at the time acknowledged the authority of the Connecticut Colony, with the deputies from Pequot, Hugh Caulkins and Thomas Miner, agreed that, if he would place himself on the footing of an inhabitant of Pequot, he should have his land confirmed to him by the town ; and to this he assented.
But at that time Pequot did not embrace the territory prom- ised to him, so the General Court at the same session extended the boundaries of said town eastward to Pawcatuc River by a line on the north, including the larger part of the present towns of Stonington and Groton.
In November following, a house lot in Pequot was given Mr. Chesebrough, which he never occupied, and the next summer the town of Pequot, as agreed, confirmed to him 300 acres of land at Wequetequoc, which was subsequently increased to 2,299 acres.
Thomas Stanton was the first man that joined Mr. Chese- brough in his new settlement. In February, 1650, he obtained from the General Court a grant for a trading house at Pawca- tuc, with six acres of planting ground and liberty of feed and mowing for his present occasion, and that none within this juris- diction should trade within Pawcatuc River for the space of three years next ensuing. Mr. Stanton erected his trading house at Kitchemaug in the spring following, and occupied it, but did not remove his entire family to Pawcatuc until 1657. In 1652-3-4, Walter Palmer and family came and located himself on the east bank of Wequetequoc Cove ; Thomas Miner and family located themselves at Quiambog and at Tongwonk ; Capt. George Den- ison at Pequotsepos ; Capt. John Gallup and family on the banks of the Mystic, and Robert Park and family at Upper Mystic.
Up to 1654-5 the planters here attended meeting at New London when the weather permitted, and paid their rates for the support of the ministry there ; but the distance was so great,
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with two rivers to pass in going and coming, that they were anxious to have public religious worship established among them- selves ; and in order to do it, they must obtain a grant for a new town from the General Court, for this was long before any relig- ious societies or parishes were established in this State.
The proposition met with the decided opposition of the people living west of Mystic River, and did not meet with much sym- pathy from the General Court, probably on account of an appre- hension on their part that this place might eventually become a part of the Massachusetts Colony. In 1656 the planters here were ordered by the General Court to pay their taxes for the support of the minister at Pequot, which greatly intensified the feeling in favor of a new town.
About this time the Rev. William Thompson of Braintree, Massachusetts (brother-in-law of Capt. George Denison), who at the time was a missionary to the Pequot Indians, came here to reside, and preached to the planters a part of the time, and the rest to the Indians.
His first meeting for the planters was at the dwelling-house of Walter Palmer, March 22, 1657, and he subsequently preached at the dwelling-houses of most of the planters, whose struggles, under the leadership of Captain Denison, to break loose and form a new township, were henceforth unremitted.
In October, 1657, Captain Denison, Mr. Thompson, and several others of the planters here, preferred a memorial to the Massa- chusetts General Court, complaining of the aggressions of Con- necticut.1 The same year the General Court of Connecticut ap- pointed a committee to confer with the planters here, and bring the controversy to an issue if possible, and if not to report how
1 To the Honoured Governour, Deputy Governour & Magistrates, together with the Depu- ties now assembled in the Generall Court, the petition of the Inhabitants of Mistick & Paa- quatuck, humbly sheweth That whereas we have taken severall grants of lands that we are now possessed of from the Gouerment of Coneticot, lying upon the east side of Pequid Riuer, being conquered land from the Pequids: & since understanding, that the Juris- diction their of belongs not unto but is claimed by your selues, & and that as we conceiue iustly, as apeares by the acts of the Commissioners in forty six, & forty seauen, we therfore humbly request the confirmation of those grants from this Honoured Court unto the present inhabitants; & that you would please to accept us under your Gouerment ; & grant unto us the Liberties & priuelledges of a Towneshipp, their being allready setled in this place about twenty families ; And this conquered land being accepted of, & owened by you, we hope may not be unprofitable to this common-wealth, it being sufficient to afford accom- modations for another towne-shipp, which may (if it should seeme good to this Honoured Court so to dispose of it) be sufficient to grattify such persons as haue been deseruing in the conquest of that land ; besides the commodity of one of the most conuenient harbours in the land, And will we hope be a meanes conducing much to our settlement, & com-
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