USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Oxford > History of the town of Oxford, Connecticut > Part 18
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At a church convention which was held July 23, 1776 (only 19 days after the Declaration of Independence), in New Haven, the clergy de- cided to close their churches. From 1775 to 1778, the old Record Book of St. Peter's Church in Oxford contains no word of either parish
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or vestry meetings and it may be that during that period, the church was closed.
From its organization in 1764 to the beginning of the Revolution some of the men prominent in the affairs of that church were,-
Abel Gunn, William Bunnell, Thomas Wooster, Samuel Hawkins, Arthur Wooster, Benjamin Bates, Thomas Osborne, Lt. Jonathan Lum, Capt. John Wooster, Mr. John Twichel, Isaac Nichols and Ezra Foot.
However there has not been found any record indicating that any of these men were loyalists, but if any were, they probably followed the conservative advice and position of Dr. Mansfield, for in 1779, St. Peter's Church seems again to have been fully organized. On April 5th of that year, a meeting was held at which Ebenezer Wooster was elected parish clerk, Messrs. Thomas Osborn, John Twichel, John Wooster and Joseph Twichel a Committee to take care of "the Gleeb and the interest of the church". Messrs Samuel Hawkins and Isaac Nichols were elected Church Wardens, and Messrs. Isaac Nichols, Daniel Johnson and Benjamin Twichel "Coresters".
(The Gleeb or more properly "Glebe" was the real estate owned by the church, and the "interest", that which was paid on funds loaned by the church).
It will be remembered that in February of 1778, the treaty of alli- ance with France had been signed and the British had transferred the war to the South. In general, things looked much brighter for the American cause, and perhaps by that time the bitterness between patriots and loyalists in the locality had died down.
Right through the Revolution, Dr. Mansfield continued in charge of St. Peter's Church, working out of Derby, but by 1800, he had reached the age of 76, and in that year the church made its first attempt to get a settled minister. These efforts were continued for six years without avail, but on Jan 5, 1807, a call was given to the Rev. Chauncey Prindle, which he accepted, and he continued as rector until his resig- nation in December of 1811.
About this time, complaints were voiced by the Episcopalians living in Quaker Farms, as to the difficulty of getting to Oxford every Sunday. After Mr. Prindle had left, in 1811, St. Peter's Church was without a rector until 1814 and during this interim period, an agreement was reached between the Episcopalians of Quaker Farms and those of Oxford that a chapel could be built in Quaker Farms provided that the people of Quaker Farms paid for it and without St. Peter's Church be- ing taxed for its support. It was also agreed that the parent church and the chapel were to remain united, and that the minister was to preach in both buildings, dividing his time in proportion to the number of Episcopalians in each district.
But apparently there were not sufficient Episcopalians in Quaker's Farm to carry all the burden of the erection of the new building, and the building committee consisting of David Tomlinson, Nathaniel
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Wooster, Wells Judson and Russel Nichols, therefore obtained sub- scriptions from other residents in Quaker's Farm who were not Episcopalians, on the basis that the new building should be a sort of community church. There does not seem to be any record whether any ministers other than Episcopalian ever officiated in the new build- ing. It seems as if it would have been an unworkable arrangement, and it may be that the chapel was never so used.
The Committee employed as architect-builder of the new edifice, George Boult of Southford, Conn. who enjoyed the reputation of being "a gentleman of extraordinary skill in the art of building". Another writer says of him, "that he was one of the best builders of his time, and most skillful as a joiner", (a joiner was one who made the wood- work for finishing houses, especially the interior). His wife was Dorcas, daughter of Jeremiah and Eunice (Bronson) Johnson, of Wood- bury.
The design of the tower and of the interior, particularly the galler - ies, show marked originality and in a pamphlet published during the Connecticut Tercentenary, the church is rated as one of the six or eight most interesting in Connecticut.
There is a tradition in Quaker Farms, that David Tomlinson, as chairman of the building committee, promised five gallons of rum to the man who got the first main stick of timber on the ground, and that the very same night saw the timber being hauled to the site. Cyrus Perry wrote in his diary that he drew the first stick of timber 64 ft. long, but he neglected to record whether he got the rum. However, he probably did so, for account books of the building of old houses show rum for the work-men to have been one of the chief items of expense.
After the resignation of Mr. Prindle in 1811, it has been said that he was succeeded by the Rev. Tillotson Bronson D.D., "but there was no official record of his service as rector, but he may have "officiat- ed" from time to time. He was principal of the Episcopal Academy in Cheshire at the time, which would seem to make any extended service in Oxford unlikely.
The next definitely settled minister was the Rev. Aaron Humphrey; he was to receive $500.00 annually and 20 cords of wood. It was agreed that the section of the town in which he made his residence should provide 2/3 of the wood. He came first to the church in Quaker's Farm in the Fall of 1814, apparently when it was just com- pleted, and lived in that district, and it was not until the Spring of 1816 that he took charge of St. Peter's also, and at that time he moved to Oxford. Soon thereafter, on Oct. 1st, 1816, St. Peter's Church (on Governor's Hill) was consecrated by Bishop Hobart of New York, who at that time was temporarily in charge of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.
The next Fall, the Chapel was consecrated, Sep 3, 1817, by Bishop Hobart. The churches had a hard time paying the rector's salary, and a number of members left the church.
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Mr. Humphrey resigned June 1, 1820, and on June 26th of the next year, 1821, was succeeded by the Rev. Beardsley Northrop who con- tinued for two years. Then the Rev. J. M. Garfield of New Haven "officiated" for a year and was followed by the Rev. Ashbel Baldwin, D.D. in a temporary engagement 1824-25. It will be seen later that after some years he returned to Oxford.
Then in 1826, when the churches were again without a rector, a church meeting was held July 26th, at which the church in Quaker Farms, withdrew from the St. Peter's ecclesiastical society and de- cided to form a new, separate society in Quaker Farms. The separa- tion became legally effective in June of 1827, when the Episcopal Diocesan Convention, received Christ Church, Quaker Farms into union with the Diocese of Connecticut.
Notwithstanding the official separation of the two churches a good part of the time, from then to the present day they have had the same minister. Some notable men served as rector in their declining years. One of these was the Rev. Ashbel Baldwin, who was one of the most distinguished clergymen in the Diocese at the time of his call to Ox- ford. He had held nearly every position in the gift of the Diocese, and had been rector of Christ Church, Stratford, one of the most impor- tant charges in the State.
He first came to Oxford in 1824, having just resigned from the charge of the church in Stratford. He stayed in Oxford but one year, resigning to go to Meriden. However, he returned to Oxford in 1831, in charge of both parishes until 1834, when he resigned and retired from active ministry because of advancing years and failing eyesight.
Another prominent clergyman, was the Rev. Daniel Burhans. He was probably one of the most interesting men who served the Episco- pal Churches in Oxford. He came to St. Peter's in 1836 being then about 73 years old. He had been Rector of Trinity Church, Newtown for 31 years, and later Rector of St. Peter's Church, Plymouth, Conn. He had been very active in Diocesan affairs and honored with many offices.
Sometime in 1835 or 1836, Christ Church, Quaker Farms apparent- ly tried to have a full time rector separate from St. Peter's and had made an effort to build a parsonage. They called the Rev. James Sunderland who served 1836-37, but then Christ Church found that it could not support a minister alone, and in 1839, Dr. Burhans took charge of both churches. He is said to have been a man of command- ing personal appearance. But in 1840, he reported "that he had be- come convinced of his inability to discharge the duties of his office, he therefore closed his ministerial labors". Then again, Christ Church tried to go it alone but once more found it impractical.
A succession of short tenures followed until 1868, when the Rev. John T. Pearce, took charge of both parishes, but only served Christ Church from 1863-65. He continued, however, to serve St. Peter's through 1872. Little is known of him.
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Both churches had a hard struggle to keep open for many years, but in 1877, Christ Church, Quaker Farms, began to be served by a re- markable man, the Rev. Sheldon Davis, who continued to "officiate" on into 1882. In his younger life, he had worked as a missionary among the Indians of New York State, and had written an historical volume on the Indians and the work of the Moravians among them. As a boy, he had lived in the old Russel Tomlinson house on Great Hill Road in Seymour. About 1872, he returned to Seymour, and officiated in different parishes. He and the Hon. Stephen Mallett (then living in the house directly opposite to Christ Church, Quaker Farms) set up an endowment fund for Christ Church, still existing, and known as the Davis-Mallett fund.
In 1882, the Rev. S. R. Bailey became rector of both St. Peter's and Christ Church, serving until 1885. Then, after being two years with- out a rector, the Rev. Lewis F. Morris took charge of both churches, St. Peter's in 1887 and Christ Church in 1888, and continued as rector until 1897. He served as Chairman of the Town School Visitors in 1896, and as Chairman of the Board of Education in 1897, rendering forceful reports on the condition of the schools and the status of edu- cation in Oxford, which we quote at some length in the chapter on "Schools".
He was followed at St. Peter's by the Rev. A. R. Balsley, Christ Church being vacant. Then came the Rev. Wm A. Woodford who had charge of both churches, 1899-1900. His post-office address was "Quaker Farms", indicating that he resided there, whereas most of the previous rectors had lived in Oxford Center, although there was no rectory owned by the Episcopal Churches.
Mr. Woodford's successor, the Rev. W. Sturtevant Rafter, rector of both churches 1900-1902, like Mr. Woodford, resided in Quaker Farms, Mr. Rafter giving as a reason for so-doing, that "Christ Church is the more wealthy of the two parishes, and therefore has a greater claim on the minister's services".
Mr. Rafter was followed by the Rev. Theodore M. Peck, rector of both churches, 1902-1905. In 1903, St. Peter's Church bought, for use as a rectory, the old Twitchell house on the north side of Academy Road just west of Jack's Hill Brook.
The Rev. George J. Sutherland, rector of both churches, had one of the longer rectorates, eight years, 1906-1914. He lived at the rectory on Academy Road.
Then came a long period of fourteen years, 1914-1928, when both parishes were without a settled minister, services however being held by several divinity students, acting as "Lay Readers", and occasional services were held by neighboring clergy.
Two of the lay readers who served Christ Church and had notable careers thereafter as clergy, were the Rev. Loyal Y. Graham, 3d in 1917, rector for many years of Christ Church, Stratford, and the Rt.
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Rev. F. Percy Goddard, who became Suffragan Bishop in Texas in 1956. Then, in 1928, both churches united in calling the Rev. James B. Sill who served as rector 1928-1929. He lived in Quaker Farms at the home of Mr. Charles Hawkins on Quaker Farms Road. He was the first rector to possess an automobile.
After Mr. Sill left, the parishes were vacant in 1930, and in 1931 Bishop Acheson persuaded the Rev. Harold Edwards, rector of Trinity Church, Seymour, to act as priest in charge of both churches, with Mr. Henry S. Douglas, as lay reader. The latter was ordained priest in 1933, and became "priest in charge" of both parishes, continuing as such until his resignation in 1948. He lived at first in the rectory on Academy Road, but as it had gotten into disrepair, Mr. Douglas per- suaded St. Peter's Church in 1935 to sell it and purchase the house on the west side of Oxford Road, just south of the church. Mr. Douglas' rectorate was one of devoted service to both churches and the commu- nity.
The recently retired rector, the Rev. Wm E. Soule was priest in charge of both churches, his first service being held September 5th, 1948. He is an accomplished musician, and is chairman of the Epis- copal Commission on Church Music in the Diocese of Connecticut. He is also a member of the Committee on Architecture. One of his other interests is that of education, having been, prior to his coming to Oxford, a teacher in several well-known private schools for boys.
He resigned from the Oxford Churches, Sept. 1, 1959.
On January 1, 1960, the Rev. Hugh L. S. Thompson, was appointed Vicar of both churches.
THE METHODIST CHURCH
The Methodist Church in Oxford is located on Freeman Road, River- side, a short distance north of that road junction with Copper Mine Road, it and its adjoining cemetery having been moved to this location when the Stevenson Dam was built in 1918-1920.
Early in the nineteenth century, probably around 1810 "it occurred to the inhabitants of Punkups, (the name given to the valley on the easterly side of the Housatonic River from Five Mile Brook to some distance above Zoar Bridge) that some kind of a meeting place was desirable, and they therefore built a church, on the "bee" plan. Some gave land, others timber, others labor, and a few money. For years the only regular religious services were held by Methodist ministers, who "riding the circuit," came around once a month or so. Between times, it is said that "anybody occupied the church, Mormon apostles, Quakers, Second Adventists, and in one case, a man who talked in an unknown tongue".
"The only regularly organized religious society in the neighborhood
Old Riverside Church, Methodist.
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came to be that known as the "Pleasant Vale Methodist Society". For many years, pastors have been appointed by the New York East Con- ference for this church in connection with the churches at Great Hill and East Village."
The Methodist Society services, in the course of time became more frequent, increasing from monthly to fortnightly and then to weekly, and this society practically came to be in charge of the property. A vote was taken to give title to the M. E. presiding elder for the district, but the vote was declared invalid, and the building continued as a community affair. When a company was chartered to build a dam on the Housatonic at Stevenson, below the church, the question of legal ownership of the church became a practical one, and in the dilemma, the General Assembly chartered the "Stevenson Union Church Associa- tion", and gave the building to the corporation, in trust, for the benefit of the people in the neighborhood.
It has been known at various periods as "The Pleasant Vale M. E. Church", and "The Stevenson M. E. Church", and is now known as "The Riverside M. E. Church."
Some of the Methodist ministers who served the church at various times were as follows, -
In 1894 the Rev. John Zeiter
In 1919 the Rev. A. J. Smith, D. D. had charge for two years, and a new church was built, at which he made the dedicating address.
Until 1946, the Rev. Cyrus Severance of Derby Methodist Church Until Jan., 1949 the Rev. Matthew Gates
Until May 1949 the Rev. Edwin Towle
Then followed the Rev. Russell Bales, the Rev. Oscar Hartzler, the Rev. Wm Rhodes, the Rev. Wm. Hughes, and the present pastor the Rev. James Trew, who serves also in Newtown.
The Roman Catholic Church of St. Thomas the Apostle
Because of the tradition of almost two hundred years of Puritanism in Connecticut, it is probably true that a Connecticut Yankee never saw a Catholic. The arrival of French troops, helping in our Revolution, gave Connecticut settlers almost their first-hand view of living Catho- lics. This event occurred in the Town of Lebanon, where Rocham- beau's infantry and huzzars were encamped for six months. In Hart- ford, it is reported that the first Mass in Connecticut was said for these soldiers in June, 1781.
After the Revolution, Rev. John Carroll was made the first Bishop of Baltimore in 1789, but there was still but a scattering of Catholic inhabitants here in Connecticut, without a church or priest residing within the limits of the State. But religious liberty became a reality in 1818 with the new State Constitution, which said "no preference shall be given by law to any Christian sect or mode of worship."
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St. Thomas Church R. C. Oxford Rd.
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There were some individual Catholics present in New England dur- ing the entire colonial period. Their presence was never restricted but until after the Revolution, it was not possible for Catholics to or- ganize a church or to practice their religion openly. In addition, Catholics were excluded from the privilege of freeman and office hold- ing because of the oath of supremacy and allegiance which was re- quired. As late as 1835, there were only 730 Catholics in the whole State of Connecticut.
In the neighborhood of Oxford, the first Catholic church to be erected was St. Mary's, in Derby, in 1845. The land for the church was donated to the Catholic population by Anson Phelps, a Protestant. Catholic services had been held in Humphreysville (later called Sey- mour) in 1844 in the "old log House" on the left side of what is now Raymond Street. Six members of that faith were then living there; Nicholas and Daniel Brockway, Nicholas Cass, Patrick and Thomas Gaffney, and James Quinlan. But it was not until 1856 that the first Catholic church of St. Augustine was built in Seymour.
The Catholic church in Oxford has existed only since about 1912. The early Catholics of this district were able to hear Mass, prior to this time in the home of Miss Harriet Frazer on the Oxford-Southbury Road, (the house now occupied by the Joseph Posick family), said by visiting priests.
Then, in 1906, the Rev. George T. Sinnott, at that time pastor of St. Rose's church in Newtown, was given the Oxford Mission assignment, and acting for the new mission, purchased a piece of land on the Oxford Road from Auguste and Virginie Pelletier and the corner stone of the new church was laid in 1911 and called St. Thomas the Apostle.
The church was first known as the "Coman Memorial" after a Mr. Coman who left money in his will to be used for building a Catholic Church, it is said, "in some place where there is none". One of his daughters, Mrs. Courtney, lived in Quaker Farms, (on the west side at "Seven Mile Brook"). Various statues in the church bear placques commemorating the names of members of the Coman family.
The mission continued to be served by Father Sinnott until 1924. Then, when the Rev. J. J. McAuliffe became the first resident pastor of St. Michael's Church, Beacon Falls, he also assumed the church in Oxford as a mission. He was succeeded by Rev. Henry Coleman and later by Rev. Cyrus Higgins, and by Rev. Jerome Cook. In 1948, the Oxford Church had been assigned to St. Augustine's Church in Sey - mour, the pastor of which was and still is The Rev. Albert A. Callahan. It is estimated that now, in 1960 there are about 300 families who are parishoners of the Oxford mission of St. Thomas the Apostle.
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CHAPTER 32
SCHOOLS AND P.T.A.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By the time the section now called Oxford began to be settled, the citizens of Derby had begun to wrestle with the problem of providing a proper education for their children, and strangely enough the first record of their efforts in that direction was a court order requiring every county town to establish a Latin School, and thus give their older children what we would call "higher education". The order reads; "1676 Whare as in the law in scools it is ordered yt in every Counti town shall keep a lattin school ----- that if any county Town shall Neg- lect to keepe a Lattin Scole, according to order There shall Bee paid a fine of ten pounds by ye said county town to ye next Town in there county yt will ingage and keep a Lattin scole in it."
In other words, each County Town was required to provide its own Latin School, and not lean on its neighbors, for the scholars' extended training.
For the first recorded day school for Derby, Abel Gunn notes the following vote passed Sep 29, 1701; "Voted it be left with ye Towns- men off Derby to procure a school Mr for ye Town off Derby; and they agreed with Jno James".
The "Townsmen" were, in to-day's language, the Selectmen of the town. Apparently, Mr. James was the first recorded Derby school teacher. It is doubtful, however, whether he could have had much contact with the boys and girls in the Oxford district, and as the Ox- ford church was not founded until 1741, there was no minister there to help out, and so, probably all the education the children could get in those first days was what their fathers could give them. But in October 1748, the Parish Meeting voted to hire a schoolmaster for three months, "one month at the Sabbath Day House, one month on Quakers Farm Rd., and another in the eastern part of the parish."
The next record of school matters in any part of Oxford which has been found is in 1779, when a number of inhabitants of the 4th and 5th Derby school districts presented, at a Town Meeting held Dec. 13th, a petition for the formation of a new school district in the Western part of what is now Beacon Falls, but which was then part of the parish of Oxford. It was signed by the following as committee:
Joseph Davis, Abraham Basit, Saml Smith Jr., David Person, John
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Davis, John Church, Isaac Beecher, Ebenezer Riigs, John Riggs, and Bradford Steel.
(The school district so formed lay in the Chestnut Hill-Towantic Section. )
After this action in 1779, the only record of school matters is entry Apr. 21, 1837 in the diary of Alfred Harger, "Engaged Louisa Curtiss to teach school".
Then there is a gap, without identifiable records of schools or edu- cational activities, until 1868, when the Oxford map of that date shows the town divided into thirteen school districts.
But the Oxford public schools in the first half of the nineteenth cen- tury were, according to older residents, much the same as those throughout the rest of New England, which one writer described as follows:
"The school had but one room, which at first was heated by an open fire place, but which by about 1820, had a cast iron stove. It was the duty of one of the older boys to see to it that a good supply of firewood was on hand throughout the winter, and each school morning he had to be on hand early to build the fire so as to have the room fairly warm before school opened.
"A continuous desk ran around three sides of the room, leaving an aisle next the wall. It had one long continuous bench, over which the scholars had to step, in order to be seated. In the open space in front was the teacher's table."
Perhaps the only improvement in the latter half of the nineteenth century in the Oxford Schools was that some buildings had two rooms, with a black board and individual desks. It was not until 1918 that the bare bulb electric light appeared in Oxford.
"There were two school terms, winter and summer. For the winter, the teacher in the earlier schools was a man, usually young, who had studied at an "Academy" for a year or two, and who was glad to gain ready money by teaching in the winter when work was slack on his father's farm. His pay was small, but he was at no expense for living, as he "boarded around," that is, he lived with each family of the neighborhood for a number of weeks proportioned to the number of scholars in the school."
That is, if there were 12 scholars and the term consisted of twelve weeks, he would stay at the home of each scholar one week. Presum- ably, the larger families had to carry the heaviest share of this en- tertainment. "The winter term began the week after the Thanksgiving Day and continued twelve to sixteen weeks"; say from Nov. 29th to Feb. 19th, or at latest March 19th. "School kept every day in the week except Sunday."
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THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN 1868
The 1868 map of Oxford shows the town divided into thirteen dis- tricts, as follows:
School Location
District No. 1. Oxford Center
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