USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Wolcott > History of the town of Wolcott (Connecticut) from 1731 to 1874, with an account of the centenary meeting, September 10th and 11th, 1873 and with the genealogies of the families of the town > Part 9
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Signed, JOHN KEYS, Pastor Elect, ISAAC BRONSON and others of the committee, in behalf of the church and Society.
August 37 [27], 1814.
THE COUNCIL.
" The Council convened according to appointment. Several, however, who were invited did not attend, their reasons, after- ward assigned, were deemed satisfactory. At an Ecclesiastical Council convened by letters missive from the church of Wolcott
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on the 20th of Sept., 1814, at the house of Mr. Keys, pastor elect, in said place, for the purpose of installing the Rev. John Keys in the work of the Gospel ministry in said Wolcott-there were pres- ent, Rev. Messrs. Lyman Beecher, Litchfield; Luke Wood, Wat- erbury ; Luther Hart, Plymouth ; Jonathan Cone, Bristol; with Deacons Pomeroy Newell, Southington; Thomas Trowbridge, from the church in Litchfield; Jacob Heminway, from the church in Plymouth ; Lemuel Porter, from the church in Waterbury ; Charles G. Ives, from the church in Bristol.
The Council proceeded to choose the Rev. Luke Wood, Mod- erator, and Rev. Jonathan Cone, Scribe. Prayer was offered by the Moderator. The Council having attended to the call of the church and Society to the Rev. Mr. Keys, to settle with them in the work of the ministry, and likewise to his answer accepting the call, and also to his credentials relative to his ministerial standing, concluded to proceed to his examination. Having obtained full satisfaction as to his doctrinal and experimental knowledge of the gospel,-voted unanimously, that we approve of Mr. Keys, as a minister of the gospel, and that we proceed to install him in the ministry over this people.
The exercises of the installation were then appointed as fol- lows, viz :
The Rev. Jonathan Cone to read the doings of the Council and make the introductory prayer ; Rev. Lyman Beecher to preach the sermon and make the installing prayer ; Rev. Luther Hart to give the charge to the pastor elect, and an exhortation to the church and people; and the Rev. Luke Wood to give the right hand of fellowship, and make the concluding prayer.
Voted to proceed to the exercises to-morrow at eleven o'clock, A. M. Prayer being offered, voted to adjourn till to-morrow at nine o'clock, A. M.
Wednesday, September 21, 1814, the Council met and the meeting was opened with prayer. Voted to accept the minutes of the Council.
LUKE WOOD, Moderator.
JONATHAN CONE, Scribe.
At eleven o'clock, according to the foregoing resolution, the ex - ercises of the installation were performed as above appointed.
Test. JONATHAN CONE, Scribe.
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This installation is memorable because of Dr. Beech- er's sermon on the occasion; for the effects of that ser- .mon have not ceased in Wolcott nor in Connecticut to this day. The subject of the sermon was,*
" THE BUILDING OF WASTE PLACES."
Text : Isaiah, lxi, 4. And they shall build the old wastes ; they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
In the introduction it is stated that : "The waste places of Connecticut, and the duty of building them, will be the subject of consideration in this discourse. The building of these wastes will include the propaga- tion of the truth, the communication of strength to the feeble, and the restoration of fallen Societies to the order of the gospel. In the illustration of the subject it is pro- posed to consider,
"I. The cause of these desolations.
" II. The means of restoring them.
" III. The motives to immediate exertion for that pur- pose.
"I. The immediate causes are, evidently, the difference of religious sentiment and worship which prevail, con- nected with a criminal indifference to the institutions of the Gospel. There is not, in this State, a town or parish unable to support the Gospel constantly, and with ease, provided all the families in the limits of each were of one heart and of one way to serve the Lord. But the prop- erty, in many Societies, is divided between three or four different denominations, besides a part, which the love of money and indifference to the Gospel wholly withdraw from the support of divine institutions.
A remote cause of our present wastes is to be found in a very great declension of vital piety in the churches, which took place many years ago. One
* Only the outline of this sermon is given, from a volume of Dr. Beech- er's sermons.
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effect of this decline was the introduction into the minis- try of men, who probably had never experienced the power of divine grace on their own hearts, and who, of course, would be prepared by native feeling to oppose the doctrines of the gospel." These innovations, the Dr. says, became at length almost universal throughout New England.
" As another cause of debility and desolation, may be noted the defection occasioned by the restoration of evangelical doctrine and discipline. The revivals of 1740 were the commencement of a reformation in this state, which has brought the churches back to the doc- trines and discipline of our fathers.
" Another cause of desolation, more limited in its op- eration, but not less disastrous in its effects where it has operated, has been, the timid policy of forbearing to preach plainly those doctrines which offend, and of shrinking from a vigilant, efficient discipline in the church, lest these things interrupt the peace, and en- danger the stability of the congregation.
" A later cause of decline and desolation has been the insidious influence of infidel philosophy."
Another cause, Dr. Beecher mentions, is "political violence and alienation." Another : "The direct enter- . prise of religious denominations to augment their num- bers." Another : "The change made in the law for the support of the gospel, in order to accommodate it to the changes in religious opinions which had gradually taken place in the State." The last cause he mentions is : " The common policy, to settle a minister upon an in- competent salary, with the expectation that he will sup- port himself in part by his own exertions."
"II. The means by which the wastes, in this State, may be built.
" I. The great utility of the occasional itineration of the stated pastors within the limits of each association."
"2. Another means may be found in the appointment of
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evangelists ; and to these must be added, in some cases, a permanent stated supply, until the work of restoration be consummated." To these he adds : "Special enterprise of ministers in the performance of pastoral duties," and especially " pastoral visits."
" 3. To parochial visits, it will be proper to add an effi- cient system for the instruction of children and young people in the doctrines and duties of religion,"
And last : "Earnest prayer among the churches, for the outporing of the Holy Spirit upon these desolations, and the revival of religion."
"III. The motives to immediate exertion.
" I. Duty of the churches to help sister churches to rise.
"2. Unless these desolations are built, they will be- come more desolate.
"3. If these waste places are not built, they will exert a powerful influence to create other wastes, and extend the scene of desolation.
"4. If these wastes are not built, they will undermine, ultimately, the civil and religious order of the state.
" 5. The time past is more than sufficient to have neg- lected our duty and slept over our dangers."
It was on that part of this sermon concerning the sup- port of evangelists, who might be sent out, that Dr. Beecher made remarks which were suggestive to the ministers of the State, and which resulted in the change of the Missionary Society of the State to the Connecti- cut Home Missionary Society.
The " Missionary Society of Connecticut" was organ- ized in 1798, the objects of which were : " To Christianize the heathen in North America, and to support and pro- mote Christian knowledge in the new settlements of the United States." This did not include home evangeliza- tion. Doctor Beecher in this sermon recommended the formation of a " general society for this special purpose."
In 1815, about six months after the delivery of this sermon, the General Association of Connecticut took up
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the subject and appointed a committee who reported at the next annual meeting. " On their report it was re- solved unanimously to form a Domestic Missionary So- ciety, for Connecticut and its vicinity." This Society is now the " Connecticut Home Missionary Society" and is auxiliary to the American Home Missionary Society. So much for the State of Connecticut.
In this sermon, also, Dr. Beecher refers to the educa- tion of children, in the following words : "To parochial visits, it will be proper to add an efficient system for the instruction of children and young people in the doctrines and duties of religion." "It is almost unspeakably im- portant, that a system of religious instruction adapted to the age and altered feelings of young people be provided, to succeed the shorter catechism." Here we perceive the largeness of the Doctor's plan. "A system of religious instruction, for children and young people." The pres- ent Sabbath-school system of instruction is intended to meet this " unspeakably important" demand.
This part of the sermon resulted in the commencement of Sunday-schools in the parish under Mr. Keys' adminis- tration.
So much for this sermon. It is frequently remarked that Dr. Beecher's thoughts were "Fifty years ahead of his day." It is now fifty-nine years since he delivered this sermon and we are only beginning to realize the systems of church work he planned out for us. Truly some men's works do follow them ; and works of which they, and the world, need not be ashamed. What if there had been a thousand Dr. Beechers, and each with a family as numerous and noted for good as Dr. Lyman Beecher's ! This may be thought no part of Wolcott history, but I assure such that without the Beecher fam- ily a large and very important part of Wolcott history would be wanting .*
* It is said that Capt. Joseph Beecher and his sister who married Capt. Herman Hall, and Capt. Amos Beecher (all of Wolcott) were cousins to Dr. Lyman Beecher.
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It should be remembered that this sermon was preached in Wolcott when Wolcott was not a "waste place" but in its glory and strength. From 1790 to 1820, it was one of the strong Societies of the county. In 1806 it had over two hundred tax payers on the list of the So- ciety, and this continued about the same for twenty years afterward ; and the town had a reputation for agricul . tural products equal to any in the county. Then wheat grew on these hills more abundantly than in the valleys adjoining, and it would have been a disgrace to have im- ported corn into " Puddin' street."
Dr. Beecher did not preach this sermon, alone for Wol- cott, but for all Connecticut, and that, too, for a century of time after he should cease preaching on earth.
Mr. Keys had moved into the parish before he was in- stalled and was ready to move forward in his work when the exercises of installation closed, and he did it right well. The first thing that meets us in his work, is the fulness of the records he made of the doings of the church, a matter which had been almost wholly omitted by the pastors before Mr. Hart. Hence we have the names of all who made application to join the church ; the reports of the examining committees, and the decision of the church on each report during Mr. Keys' pastorate. We discover, also, from these records that Mr. Keys was a man of church discipline, not afraid to try to preserve the honor of the church by attending to those delinquent cases that sometimes occur in regard to individuals of the highest standing in the community.
Mr. Keys was a good preacher, above medium, but not equal to Mr. Woodward ; a good and faithful pastor and public school visitor, and was esteemed, and kindly cared for, by the parish during his stay among them. During his pastorate, forty-one united with the church,- thirty-five of them by profession ; and every interest of the church seems to have been cared for faithfully to the close of his labors, and even after he was dismissed.
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HISTORY OF WOLCOTT.
The following entry in the church book illustrates these statements :
" At a church meeting, July 2d, 1819, opened with prayer. After some conversation on the duty of calling the brethren to account, for neglecting gospel institutions, and on the subject of setting up a Sabbath School, adjourned till our next preparatory lecture - conclude with prayer. .
Attest. JOHN KEYS, Pastor.
In the church meeting of March 2d, 1821, we find the following entry : "After some free conversation and earnest exhortation by several of the members, on the present low state of our church, and on the importance of awaking to activity to some extraordinary exertions to revive our drooping graces and promote the cause of the Redeemer among us -- adjourned."
Mr. Keys had more than an ordinary amount of church discipline to attend to, all of which was prosecuted by church vote in regular form, and it was the fact of these difficulties that led the brethren on this occasion to "earnest exhortations to the importance of awaking to extraordinary exertions to revive drooping graces and promote the cause of the Redeemer."
Also, from the first, Mr. Keys had been a faithful pastor in catechising the children at home and in the public schools ; but now he was on the move towards the Sab- bath-school, which he succeeded in holding two sum- mers. Here he calls this enterprise a " Sabbath-school," and as far as I can learn, it was a "Sabbath-school full grown for those days, and to this Deacon Irad Bronson, now living, adds his testimony. The catechism was re - cited, verses of the Bible were committed to memory, for which the children received credit of so many mills for every ten verses, and at the end of the school a book, in value according to the credit standing to their sev- eral names. Addresses were ยท made by pastor, deacons, and others, which, doubtless, were quite as appropriate
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and valuable as many are in these later days. Mrs. Mark Tuttle has now in her possession a little book given her by Rev. Mr. Keys on account of attendance at Sabbath-school. It is a paper covered book, 16 mo., print- ed in New York in 1810. The subject matter is: "The principles of the Christian Religion, in verse, for the use of children, by P. Doddridge, D. D., arranged for this object by Dr. Doddridge at Northampton, England, Oct. 31, 1743. One of the teachers in this school, Mrs. Hannah Plumb, is now living, and four women, who were then girls in her class,-Mrs. Mark Tuttle, Mrs. Johnson Alcott, Mrs. James Alcott, and Mrs. Isaac Hough,-are still living.
EFFICIENCY OF THE CHURCH.
During Mr. Keys' pastorate the church and Society were diligent and energetic. There was appointed, eve- ry year, a committee like the following, and for the same purposes : 1816, "Voted that Lucius Tuttle, John Pot- ter, and John Frisbie, be a committee to provide seats for persons moving in [into the parish] and others as shall be necessary the coming year." Year after year this was attended to regularly, because then people removed into the community but now they remove out. The tax to provide for the support of the gospel, includ- ing " ministerial and other necessary charges," was four to six cents on a dollar, 'on the tax list ; now the Connecticut Home Missionary Society requires " one per cent" to be paid before they render help to a church ; but the assessment was much lower, on property then than now. In 1815 the tax was 5 cents ; in 1816, 4 cents ; in 1817, 6 cents ; in 1818, 6 cents ; in 1819, they "voted that a tax of 12 cents on the dollar be laid on the assess- ment list of said Society for 1819, payable to the Treas- urer of said Society, immediately, to pay Mr. Keys' sala- ry for 1820, and other necessary expenses."
This twelve per cent. tax, "raised a dust" in Wolcott, that ended in the dismissal of Mr. Keys, and in a vacant
e
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HISTORY OF WOLCOTT.
pastorate for many years. At the next annual meeting in October they voted to try to raise, by subscription, a sum sufficient to defray the necessary expenses of the Society for the year ensuing." During these years Mr. Keys' salary was five hundred dollars a year ; and other Society expenses very little. The Society went through this year on the subscription plan, and at the end of the year voted : "That a tax, payable on demand, be laid on the list of said Society for 1819, sufficient to raise the sum of three hundred dollars, to be applied wholly to the payment of the debts of the Society at that time due, or that were incurred that year." Yet they proceeded to try the subscription plan another year, and appointed "Ira Hough, Jesse Upson, David Frisbie, James Bailey, Ziba Norton, Samuel Plumb, and Josiah Thomas, a com- mittee to solicit subscriptions." These were mostly new men in the business of the Society and doubtless were op- posed to taxation and in favor of a free gospel.
What was the result ? At the next annual meeting, Oct. 14, 1822, they "voted that David Frisbie, James Bailey, and Thomas Upson be a committee to consult with Mr. Keys and obtain from him the lowest terms upon which he is willing to preach for us the year ensu- ing, and whether, if the Society cannot find it possible to raise the stipulated sum, it would be agreeable to his feelings to be amicably dismissed." The committee wait- ed upon Mr. Keys and returned with a written answer, whereupon the meeting adjourned.
This twelve per cent. tax was called for probably, from the fact that the Society had fallen in debt from year to year till something must be done to pay up.
MR. KEYS' COMMUNICATION.
" To the Ecclesiastical Society in Wolcott :
GENTLEMEN : Your committee have waited on me to know what proposition I have to make to the Society, to which I reply : Ist. I will accept for the current year of what sum you shall be able to raise, together with the usual quantity of wood, for which
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REV. MR. KEYS' MINISTRY.
I will supply the desk so many Sabbaths as that compensates for, at the rate of $500 the year. Or, 2d. If a dissolution of our re- lation shall be judged necessary-deeply as I deplore it, yet con- sidering the situation of the Society, I shall consent on condition that they pay me two hundred dollars in money or in things nec- essary for the support of my family at cash prices, old arrearages being paid up. I propose this not as a compensation but as wil- ling to bear a part of the burden which in Providence is fallen upon us ; or, 3d. I am willing to abide the decision of any disin- terested Council. That you may be directed in the path of duty and come to such a result as may be for the glory of God and the best interests of Christ's kingdom, is the prayer of your sin- cere friend and servant in Christ.
JOHN KEYS."
Wolcott, Oct. 14, 1822.
It is often the case that when troubles come in a Soci- ety, the minister is thought worthy of a full share of the responsibility. In 1806 there were over two hundred tax payers in the Society and the largest sum paid by any one man was less than nine dollars a year, and only seven that paid over five dollars a year. The Society was not reduced by emigration as in after years, for the diminishing of numbers in the town began after Mr. Keys left. Quite a number withdrew from the Congregational and joined the Episcopal Society, but apparently near- ly an equal number graduated, by age, into member- ship or removed into the parish. Besides, there was ener- gy and ability in the church for other interests.
In 1815, they voted, "that a stove or stoves may be erected in the meeting house ; if one only, at the west door ; if two, then one at the east door, in the aisles, with pipes to convey the smoke out of the house in a conven- ient and proper manner." This resolution was executed, and one of those stoves is now used in Mr. Dennis Pritchard's saw mill.
The singing was improved at considerable expense. During Mr. Woodward's ministry a tax was laid several
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times for the "encouraging of singing." In 1815 they laid a tax of " six mills on the dollar to procure a teacher of singing ;" and at a special meeting six months later they added 4 mills, making one per cent. "to pay the singing master." In 1816 they voted to accept the offer of Mr. Stephen Harrison, and directed the committee to pay him the sum of ten dollars upon his spending one half day in each week so long as it shall be necessary to initiate young beginners who shall attend, in the first ru- diments of singing, and two evenings in each week for three months in teaching and perfecting the singing." In 1817, " voted that the Society's committee be author- ized and requested to take such measures and expend such sums from the Society treasury as they shall judge proper for the encouragement of singing, the year ensu- ing." In 1817, voted " That the committee be requested to take such measures as they shall judge proper to en- courage and keep up singing."
Notwithstanding this apparent prosperity, the Society had lost so much strength that it could not meet the en- gagements made with Mr. Keys.
In Oct. 28th, they voted that " under existing circum- stances we are willing to dismiss the Rev. Mr. Keys from his service as our pastor and minister."
On November 5th, they appointed a committee to con- fer with the church and Mr. Keys, and if desirable to make arrangements for the Council.
Upon this Mr. Keys wrote the following letter to the church :
BELOVED BRETHREN :
The painful hour seems now arrived, in the sovereign dispensa- tions of Providence, when we must part. The course of your deliberations this day, unpleasant and trying as they are, is plainly marked out. I have judged it best not to be present ; the task would be painful; but I think also, that prudence dic- tates, you should be by yourselves.
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If you shall concur with the propositions of the Society, relative to a dissolution of the pastoral relation between me and this church and congregation, which propositions have already been communicated to me, by their committee, I hereby give consent, and am ready to unite with you in calling a Council to carry them into effect. You will not need my assistance in selecting a Coun- cil. Any of the neighboring churches may be sent to-I should suppose five would be sufficient ; but I cheerfully submit the mat- ter to your discretion.
The condition of each of us -- of the church and Society, and myself,-must necessarily be very unpleasant and trying. A church without the stated ordinances, and the minister without the means of support. We can, therefore, and I trust do, mutually sympathize with each other. Let us remember, brethren, and let us receive the consolation of it : The Lord reigns.
While I have been with you, though one of the least of all saints, if a saint, and unworthy to be called to the pastoral office, yet I have endeavored to be faithful. I have many and strong ties of affection towards this church. I never can forget you, or cease, in my feeble, unworthy manner, to pray for you; and brethren, I hope and trust you never will forget to pray for me.
Our journey in this life is a thorny maze ; every bush we pass inflicts a wound. Truly we may not look for our portion here below. But, blessed be God, our hopes reach beyond the grave. There may we meet, when the storms of life are o'er - free from sin, free from sorrow and pain and perplexity and disquietude, to dwell in the smiles of our God and Sovereign, forever.
That you, brethren, may be kept from falling ; enabled to maintain the good fight of faith, walking in obedience to all God's commands, and be preserved through grace to the final coming of Jesus Christ in his kingdom, is the sincere prayer of your yet affectionate pastor and unworthy brother in Christ.
JOHN KEYS.
Wolcott, Nov. 11th, 1822.
No vote of the church in regard to this is preserved. On the 18th of the same month, the Society voted, "That the only cause or reason which we have for our committee to lay before the Council as a ground of dis-
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missing the Rev. Mr. Keys from his pastoral relation to us, is our being, from the smallness of our numbers, and already embarrassing circumstances, utterly unable to afford him a sufficient support."
There are no records of the session or decision of a Council, yet it is very probable that the Council was called and rendered its decision, and that Mr. Keys was regu- larly dismissed in the first part of Dec., 1822, having served the parish eight years and three months.
He had several children and a family that he could scarcely keep comfortable on five hundred dollars a year, and to be dismissed in December, the beginning of winter, was a sore trial, besides the fact that Mr. Keys was greatly attached to his church and people.
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