USA > Connecticut > New London County > Hadlyme > Manual of the Congregational church and history of the church and parish in Hadlyme, Connecticut, with a list of the principal officers and an entire list of the members from its organization, June 26, 1745; and a list of present officers and members to 1913 > Part 2
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He graduated from Yale College in 1822, and from its Theological Department in 1825.
He taught a select school in the old parsonage during a considerable portion of his residence in Hadlyme.
The present church edifice, largely on account of his efforts, was erected during his ministry.
His pastorate closed February 2d, 1842. In the spring of 1843 he went to Illinois; and, as he was about to be settled in Rushville in that State, died October 31st of the same year, aged 47 years.
Rev. Stephen Alonzo Loper* was born in Guilford, Conn., September 17th, 1800. He was graduated from Bangor Theo- logical Seminary in 1826, and ordained at Hampden, Me., January 3d, 1827. He commenced his pastoral service in February, 1842; was installed May 15th, 1845, and honorably
* "For many years Mr. Crampton was District Secretary of the American and Foreign Christian Union, and also a temperance lecturer. He was a plain, blunt man, conscientious and earnest." From notices of New England pastors by Rev. Emerson Davis.
*"He was a loving and highly valued brother in the ministry. A sound theologian, an instructive preacher, a prudent and efficient pastor, and a godly and lovable man. He ever preserved his Christian equanimity and fidelity under all providential changes." From Rev. A. S. Chesebrough's Anniversary address.
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dismissed January 3d, 1850. He was pastor of the Congrega- tional church in Middle Haddam; was a representative two years in the Connecticut Legislature from the town of Chat- ham. His last charge was at New Hartford, terminating in 1875, after which he resided in Hadlyme. He was the last minister to occupy the old parsonage, built by Mr. Rawson. He died at Hartford, December 12th, 1884.
Rev. William Goodwin, 1850 to 1851. He was born at New Hartford, Conn., January Ist, 1814; he graduated from Williams College in 1842; and from the Theological Seminary, East Windsor, in 1845. At the termination of his pastorate he entered the Baptist denomination. He died at Winsted, Conn., July 18th, 1900.
Rev. James Noyes, * 1851 to 1853. He was born at Wal- lingford, Conn., December 8th, 1798; was the son of Rev. James Noyes, pastor of the Congregational church in Haddam for forty-six years. He entered Yale College in 1815, but owing to serious illness discontinued his studies before the close of the year. In 1819 he entered Union College, Schenec- tady, N. Y., where he graduated in 1821, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1824. He was ordained as an evan- gelist at Boxford, Mass., September 30th, 1824. He died in Haddam, Conn., October 11th, 1869.
Rev. William Drosier Sands, 1853 to 1854, was born at Fakenham, England, May 19th, 1825. He was graduated from Yale Divinity School in 1853, and was ordained January 2d, 1855. Mr. Sands served throughout the Civil War, 1861-'65, in the 6th Illinois Regiment, probably as Chaplain. At the close of the war he resided in Westfield, Mass., where he died October 31st, 1870.
* * His sermons were scriptural in matter, correct in doctrine, method- ical and carefully written, * * * * designed to affect directly the heart and life. * * * He possessed an uncommon facility of rhetorical expres- sion. * * His character was eminently transparent and guileless, be- nevolence was his great comprehensive excellence. His courtesy and politeness were proverbial. He looked upon all with a friendly eye." From the Congregational Quarterly, October, 1870.
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Rev. Elias Brewster Hillard was born at New Preston, Conn., September 6th, 1825. Having prepared at Bacon Academy, Colchester, he was graduated from Yale College in 1848; Yale Theological Seminary, 1850-2; and graduated from Andover Theological Seminary in 1854. Mr. Hillard was ordained and installed March 14th, 1855, and honorably dis- missed April 15th, 1860. On the following May he assumed the pastoral charge of the Congregational church at Kensington.
During the week of April 7th, 1861 he prepared his usual sermon which was destined never to be delivered. On Sunday April the 14th, the day of the evacuation of Fort Sumpter, as he was standing in the door of his Church just before service, the news of the "firing upon " was announced to him by the post- master of the village. His carefully prepared sermon for the day was laid aside and the walls of the old church built in Revolutionary days rang again with the undying message of equality and justice. So impressive was his sermon that many of the men resolved as they left the church, to enlist in the Union cause. The women were inspired with the spirit of energetic action, and within two weeks, a large flag was com- pleted by their hands: This flag hung from the belfry throughout the years of the Civil war.
Many of those who enlisted were early numbered among the slain. In recognition of their faithful service Mr. Hillard advocated the erection of a monument to their memory, which was dedicated on the 28th of July 1863, the first monument for this object in the state. He died March ist, 1895. He was a man of striking personality, a faithful and efficient pastor.
Henry W. Jones assumed the pastorate of the church as a licentiate in 1860 and resigned in 1866. During his residence in Hadlyme he served several months under the Christian Commission in the Civil War. He was ordained and installed by council, at Hingham, Mass., which church he served for nine years.
Henry White Jones was born at Southampton, Mass., October 17th, 1830. Possessing mechanical genius he entered the employ of the Michigan Telegraph Company at an early age. Later he entered Monson Academy, Massachusetts, going from that excellent preparatory school to Amherst Col- lege, where he graduated in 1857; and from the Windsor Theo- logical Seminary, East Windsor, in 1860.
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He was pastor of the Congregational church in St. Johns- bury, Vt., for ten years; and later preacher to the Pomona College Church, Claremont, Cal., for two years.
After nearly forty years of service he died at Claremont in 1904, leaving a character of honor and integrity, gentleness of spirit and richness of utterance long to be remembered.
Rev. Charles Cutting, 1866 to 1867, was born at Stur- bridge, Mass., March 24th, 1840. He fitted for College at Dudley Academy, was graduated from Amherst College in 1863, and from the Hartford Theological Seminary in 1866. He was ordained at Ledyard, Conn., 1868; he died December 24th, 1894.
During the interim 1867-'69, Rev. Mr. Elliot was acting pastor from * October 13th, 1867 until the following spring. During the winter of Mr. Elliot's service exceptionally deep religious interest was manifested in the eastern part of the parish.
Rev. Daniel Webster Teller was born at Yorktown, N. Y., July 26th, 1836. He was a graduate of the Medical Depart- ment of the University of New York in 1865, and of Hartford Theological Seminary, in 1869. Mr. Teller commenced his labors as a licentiate January Ist, 1869, was ordained and installed April 19th, 1870, and was honorably dismissed Janu- ary Ist, 1872. He was afterward pastor of the Congregational church at Ridgefield, Conn., and wrote the "History of Ridgefield," pp, 250, 1878. He died March 23d, 1894.
Rev. Henry Martyn Vaill became acting pastor of the church in 1871, and resigned in 1875; later he resided in Somers, and in 1880, became the second time pastor of the Staffordville church; in 1886 he accepted a call to the Marlboro Congregational church which he resigned in 1889 and retired from active ministerial work. Since 1892 he has resided in Staffordville where he was ordained in 1861, in which com- munity "his presence is a continuing benediction."
* Mr. Elliot's journal states that one hundred and thirty were present at Divine service this Lord's day, October 13th. The following Sunday - one hundred and thirty-eight were present.
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Mr. Vaill was born in Brimfield, Mass., February 6th, 1824, spent a portion of the year 1844 with the class of '48 at Amherst College, being obliged to discontinue his college studies on account of ill health, after devoting some time to teaching in Newburyport, Mass. ; he studied Divinity with his father. He is the only surviving member of three generations of clergymen in the Vaill family .* He died at Staffordville, Conn., Dec. 20th, 1912.
Rev. Michael J. Callan, 1875 to 1878. Mr. Callan was born at Louth, Louth County, Ireland, August 16th, 1837. At fourteen years of age he came to this country and learned the carpenters trade, entered college at the age of nineteen, having prepared himself for the most part without the aid of instructors. He was graduated from Baldwin University in 1862, entering Wesleyan University for one year of special study. Mr. Callan was an interesting instructor, and held a professorship at Kents Hill, Me.
. From 1870 he was interested in the study of the writings of Emmanual Swedenborg, and at the termination of his pastorate in Hadlyme, entered the ministry of the New Church, holding pastorates at Riverhead, L. I. and Lynn, Mass. He was an excellent scholar, a faithful and efficient minister. He died at Nahant, Mass. in the 70th year of his age. His death occurred during the preparation of a sermon which was to be preached in the Boston church the following Sunday from the text, Ps. 121: r. "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help," which was the last sentence he had written.
* Henry M. Vaill is the grandson of Joseph Vaill, the second installed pastor of the Hadlyme church, and a son of The Rev. Joseph Vaill, D. D. who was born in Hadlyme, July 28th, 1790. Joseph Vaill, Jr. prepared for college under the tuition of his father and graduated from Yale in 1811, and studied Theology with his father, was ordained and installed over the church in Brimfield, Mass., February 2d, 1814. He held pastorates with the following churches: The Second Congregational, Portland, Me., Somers, Conn., and Palmer, Mass. He was financial agent for Amherst Col- lege for four years and collected nearly $100,000 for that institution. After his retirement from the active pastorate of the Palmer Congregational church, he was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature. Amherst honor- ed him with the degree of D.D. in 1851. He died in Palmer, February 22d, 1869. His pastorates covered nearly half a century. During his ministry he preached 7,000 times, and wrote 2,000 sermons besides giving many lectures and addresses.
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Rev. Henry Elmer Hart; 1878 to 1881, was born at Southington, Conn., June Ist, 1834. He graduated from Lewis Academy in 1855; from Yale College in 1860, and from the Connecticut Theological Institute, ( now Hartford Semi- nary ) in 1863. He was ordained and installed pastor of the Union Church, East Hampton, Conn., September 19th, 1886. He died at West Hartford, Conn., September 9th, 1905.
Rev. William Clift, 1881 to 1886; was born and brought up in Griswold, Conn., where he worked on the farm and taught school, and fitted for college under the tuition of his pastor. He was graduated from Amherst College in 1839, where he proved his sterling worth, working his way by teach- ing and manual labor; he graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1843. In addition to his pastoral duties he was much interested in Agriculture, and a frequent contributor to farm journals, writing the "Tim Bunker" papers which ap- peared in the American Agriculturist. He was one of the pioneers of advanced agriculture ; was tendered the presidency of Iowa State Agricultural College; assisted in founding the American Fish Culturalists Association, and was its first President. He died at Mystic Bridge, Conn., December 9th, 1890, "full of years and crowned with honors."
Rev. Frank P. Waters, 1886 to 1888. He graduated from Colgate University in 1883. After devoting three years to the study of law, he entered Yale Theological School. Mr. Waters has held pastorates at Wolcott and Waterbury. Rocky Hill was his last pastorate, where he at present resides.
Rev. George H. Burgess became acting pastor of the church in 1890, and discontinued his labors in 1894. He was ordained in Hancock, N. Y., July 22d, 1884. After two years of study at Williams College, he was graduated from the Illinois Wesleyan University with the Masters degree.
For literary attainments and success in the Christian ministry the same Institution conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Mr. Burgess is the present pastor of the Congregational church, Warsaw, N. Y.
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Finis E. Dalzell, 1894 to 1896. Mr. Dalzell began his ministry in the South. He was a special student in Drury College, Mo., and a graduate of the Cumberland University Theological School, 1887. He is the present pastor of the Congregational church, Brentwood, N. H.
Rev. F. C. H. Wendel, 1896 to 1898. Mr. Wendel was a graduate of the College of the City of New York, 1885. Post graduate course at the University of Strasburg, Germany, Ph. D., 1888. Graduated from Union Theological Seminary, 1892. Ordained by the Presbytery at N. Y. City, May 13th, 1892.
Rev. Robert M. French, May Ist, 1898 to June Ist, 1908. Mr. French fitted for college at Sanborn Seminary, Kingston, N. H. He was graduated from Wesleyan University in 1894, and from the Theological Department, Boston University in 1897. Was ordained at Hadlyme, November Ist, 1898.
During his pastorate the interior of the church was reno- vated and valuable improvements made upon the church property.
Mr. French accepted a call to the Congregational church in Tolland, 1908; is the present pastor of the Congregational church of Hollis, N. H.
Rev. Clarence C. Lyon assumed the pastoral charge of the church July Ist, 1908, after pastorates in New Hampshire and Connecticut. He fitted for college at Monson Academy, ( Mass. ) and Mystic Valley Institute; entered Bates College and pursued special studies. After a two years course at Bangor Theological Seminary, graduated from Andover Theo- logical Seminary in 1890, and was ordained at Bartlett, N. H., the following December.
In 1906 he received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, and in 1908 the degree of Master of Arts from Iowa Christian College.
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Dearons.
WHEN CHOSEN. NAME.
DIED OR DISMISSED. AGE. SERVED.
June 8, 1746, SAMUEL DUTTON, *
Probably resigned 1751, 5
June 8, 1746,
SAMUEL CROSBY,
Died Jan. 12, 1756,
IO
Jan. 1751, CHRISTOPHER HOLMES,
Died April 12, 1792, 77 40
March, 1756,
COL. SAMUEL SELDEN,
1776, 52 20
March, 1780, ISRAEL SPENCER,
Excused 1802, died 1813, 82 22
April, 1792,
JABEZ COMSTOCK,
1802,
1807, 84
Oct. 1802,
ISRAEL S. SPENCER,
',
1833,
1837, 74 31
June, 1803,
ISRAEL DEWEY,
1806, 52 3
June,
1815,
ITHAMAR HARVEY,
1847, 82
32
Jan.
1828,
SELDEN WARNER,
1833,
1843, 82
5
March, 1833,
SAMUEL C. SELDEN,
1846,
1852, 65 13
Sept. 1846,
ISAAC CHESTER, JR.,
Dismissed April, 1852,
6
Nov.
1854,
Nov.
1854,
JOSEPH SELDEN,
Dismissed in
1859,
5
Feb.
1866,
WILLIAM C. SPENCER, }
Died May 30,
1884, 65
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May,
1869,
ALMON DAY, .
Dismissed in
1874,
5
Sept. 1874, SIL.AS R. HOLMES,
Died August 22,
1905, 78
3I
July,
1889, JOSEPH W. HUNGERFORD.
Jan.
1907, HENRY C. PARKER.
1846, 1858, 84 13
May,
1833,
ELIJAH COMSTOCK
FREDERICK A. TIFFANY, Left the place in
1868, 14
It has been the custom since the organization of the church to choose the Deacons for life, or during their member- ship in the church. This practice still prevails.
The modern method, in which the highest good of the church is recognized, is the election of deacons from three to five years, subject to re-election.
* Deacon Dutton removed to Millington, was received into Millington Church by letter from Hadlyme Church, July 26, 1751 ; was elected deacon, July 4, 1771 ; resigned February 26, 1778, and died December 30, 1790, aged about 87 years.
t The late Deacon William C. Spencer was the 7th generation from Gerrard Spencer, the father of Samuel Spencer. Gerrard Spencer came to this country about 1630; was baptized April 25, 1614, at St. Mary's Parish, Stotfold Bedfordshire, England. He was among the first settlers of Haddam.
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Historical Notes, Tadlyme Harish.
Much of the history of any place, especially the newly settled communities, gathers about the Church, in fact the town and church records supplement each other.
It has been the design of the compiler to make this pamph- let not only a Church manual, but to insert historical matter which is of interest to the people in general, and is convenient for reference.
The early settlers of Haddam and Lyme, like those in other New England towns, were mindful of their religious duties, and as soon as they were settled in their rude homes, their first cherished desire was to establish and main- tain divine worship. They believed firmly that the practice of religious principles, and the public worship of God, were the foundation of happiness and prosperity and a preparation for the world beyond. Their healthful belief was more than justi- fied. There can be no ·well directed individual life towards the highest purposes without the practice of strictly religious principles, and religious observances.
Part of the region including the societies of which we shall speak was purchased from the Indians in 1662. Soon after the purchase, several families settled in Haddam. Public worship* seems to have been observed on the first Lord's day. As early as 1667, or before, Mr. Willoughby of Haddam minis- tered unto the people; and, during the ministry of his succes- sor, Mr. Noyes, the first meeting house was probably used in an unfinished condition in 1674. The first churcht in Had- dam was organized in 1696. The inhabitants on both sides of the River worshipped together until 1700. In 1704 East Haddam was made a separate ecclesiastical society.
* The early settlers of Middletown worshipped God under the stately trees before they had a house for worship.
+ Cotton Mather says of these early churches, they were the "golden candlesticks," from whence their consecrated preachers shed the illumina- tion of Divine truth.
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Dr. Field says in "History of Haddam and East Haddam" that the first church in East Haddam was built about 1705, was 32 ft. square, and stood in the middle of the street near the dwelling house of Isaac C. Ackley, now occupied by John B. Gelston. From this society and the Lyme Third formed in 1725, the Hadlyme society was set apart in 1742. The first church in East Haddam was centrally located for the early settlers, but when the second meeting house was built in 1728, about 80 rods south of the present meeting house, and the number of the inhabitants afterward greatly increased, permission was given by the mother church, that the people in the vicinity of Hadlyme might worship by themselves during the winter months.
It is difficult to determine with exactness when the first settlement was made within the limits of Hadlyme parish. Beyond question, it followed closely upon the earliest settle- ment in East Haddam. It is equally certain that the first settlement was in the western part of the parish and extended from the southern limits of East Haddam parish along the line of "town street" and the old highway leading from its south- ern extremity (now disused in part,) southerly by the Asa Hungerford place to Lyme bounds. Dr. Field says: "About the year 1685* a settlement was begun in East Haddam at the Creek Row. Thither all the Gates's removed, most of the Cones, and some of the Bates's and Brainerds. The Ackleys settled a little farther East and some of the Spencers in the edge of Hadlyme." Again he says: "Not far from the period in which the settlement began at the Creek Row, Samuel Spencer from Haddam settled in the upper part of Hadlyme." Dr. Field, speaking of the settlement at the Creek Row, further states that "Current tradition declares this to have been the spot first settled and these (the Gates, Cones, Bates and Brainerds ) to have been the first settlers." Samuel Spencer, then, settled in "the edge," "the upper part of Hadlyme" soon after the settlement at the Creek Row. His land was doubtless near the lands of the Ackleys, but further south and
* Dr. Field at a later date was disposed to think that the Creek Row Settlement might have been about 1670, but he was right in fixing the date as the year 1685. The date of the settlement of the Willeys shows this very clearly.
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on the great highway, now Town street. It is probable that when Hadlyme Society was established part of his lands were in East Haddam Society and part in Hadlyme Society. Far- ther south and wholly within the bounds of Hadlyme Society settled, probably at the same time, John Willey, t Abraham Willey and Thomas Hungerford, į kinsfolk by marriage. John Booge, at the time a young unmarried man, may have been one of the party and settled close by Samuel Spencer.
Samuel Spencer was one of the sons of Gerrard ( Jarrad ) Spencer, the senior in years of the original settlers of Haddam. The maiden name of his first wife was Hannah Willey, "the sister of John and Abraham Willey. She married, first, when sixteen years of age, Thomas Hungerford, Sr., as his second wife, and thus became the step-mother of Thomas Hungerford, the Hadlyme settler. Thomas Hungerford, Sr., died in New London in 1663 and his widow, in 1665, married Peter Blach- ford or Blachfield, also of New London. Blachford removed to Haddam in 1668, and died September 1, 1671. His widow, two years later, married Samuel Spencer; he married as his second wife, Miriam (Moore) Willey, widow of John Willey, perhaps in 1689.
+ Isaac Willey, Sr., died in New London in the winter of 1686-7, whether before or after January ist is not certain. He never settled in East Haddam or Hadlyme. Isaac Willey, Jr., died in New London in 1662. John Willey and Abraham Willey, the two remaining sons, settled in Hadlyme probably in the spring after their father's death. John Willey had sons, Isaac, John, Allen and Abel, who lived in Hadlyme. Isaac lived, however, in the town of Lyme.
# Thomas Hungerford had three sons, Thomas, John and Green, and five daughters, all of whom were named in his will. John, the second son, was born in New London, but probably was not more than fourteen years of age when his father removed to Hadlyme. Thomas Hungerford, the father, born 1648, is supposed to have been the first blacksmith in this vicinity. He was early a Selectman and was prominent in town affairs. In those days there were but few mechanics. The early settlers of Middletown anticipating the difficulty in procuring a blacksmith set apart an hundred pound lot to induce a mechanic to settle among them. By contract with the town of Haddam, which then supervised the building of the church property, he made the nails used in the building of the parsonage at Haddam, for which he received twenty acres of land in Machamoodus. The contract bound him "to provyde and deliver so many nailes of such syses as shal be needfull to the compleit finishing" of the house.
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John Willey, as shown by the New London records, was living in New London as late as December, 1685, and Abraham Willey as late as the fall of 1686. Thomas Hungerford was also living in New London as late as 1685. It is fair to assume that these four settlers removed at the same time to East Haddam, or Machamoodus, as the territory east of the Con- necticut river and between Salmon river and Lyme bounds was then called. John Willey died May 2, 1688, and, as the Probate records of Hartford show, then dwelt in Macha- moodus. His estate was the first estate of an inhabitant of East Haddam to be admitted to Probate. Abraham Willey also died there in 1692. Thomas Hungerford was living in East Haddam in the spring of 1688 as the Hartford Probate records prove.
A comparison of the records demonstrates that the Willeys and Hungerford made their settlement between 1686 and 1688 and probably in the year 1687. This agrees with the tradition, stated by Dr. Field, that Samuel Spencer settled in Hadlyme soon after the settlement of the Creek Row, begun in 1685. As to John Booge the evidence is less certain, but the tradition in that family, reduced to writing by Rev. Aaron Jordan Booge, born in 1751, the grandson of the settler, is that John Booge was the fifth settler in East Haddam and that he mar- ried soon after he had cleared his farm for cultivation and built a dwelling. Manifestly, this tradition must be modified to intend that John Booge was the fifth settler in the part of East Haddam (the Hadlyme part,) where his dwelling was erected, for the universally accredited tradition is that the "beginning" of the settlement of East Haddam was in the Creek Row neighborhood, so-called, north of East Haddam Landing, overlooking Salmon River, and in plain view of Haddam street. John Booge did not settle in Hadlyme until about 1690, according to another family tradition, and did not marry until 1692. His wife, Rebecca Walkley, was the step- daughter of Daniel Cone, one of the earliest settlers at the Creek Row.
These settlements were made in the western part of Had- lyme Society as its limits were established in 1742. The house
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