USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > New Britain > Memorial. Genealogy, and ecclesiastical history [of First Church, New Britain, Conn.] To which is added an appendix, with explanatory notes, and a full index > Part 10
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Voted, that this Society, having some acquaintance with Mr. Newton Skinner, and from sufficient experience of his ministerial gifts and qualifi- cations, are satisfied that he is eminently qualified for the work of the gos- pel ministry, we do now call and invite him to settle with, and take the charge of the people of this Society in that important work.
Voted, that this Society do grant to Mr. Newton Skinner, on his accept- ing the call of this Society, as expressed in the foregoing vote, and on his being ordained and set apart to the work of the gospel ministry here, as an annual salary, and compensation for his service in that work, during his continuance.therein amongst us, six hundred dollars, to be on interest in two months after due. Also, as a settlement, the sum of three hundred dollars, one-half to be paid in one, and the other half within six months after ordained.
Voted, that Messrs. Gad Stanley, James North, Levi Andrews, and Andrew Pratt, be appointed a committee to present to Mr. Newton Skin- ner a copy of the votes of this meeting, inviting him to settle here, in the work of the gospel ministry, and request him to take the subject into con- sideration, and give his answer as soon as may be convenient.
Attest, Thomas Lee, Clerk.
Berlin, January 10th, 1810. To the second Church and Society in Berlin :
Fathers and Brethren, With gratitude I now acknowledge the receipt of your call and invitation, which has been communicated to me by your committee, to settle among you in the work of the gospel ministry, and through them desire you to accept my answer.
Having attentively and seriously considered your invitation, and weighed well your proposals, having heard with pleasure of the unanimity which has appeared in this important transaction, and been assured of the pres- ent prospect of future peace and harmony, having consulted friends and asked the counsel of Heaven, I am led to regard your invitation as a call in Providence to settle with you in the gospel ministry.
Sensible, in some measure, of my unworthiness to be inducted into this sacred office, and of my insufficiency to perform its important duties, and at the same time, relying upon God for direction, assistance and success,
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and under him upon your friendship, candor, united efforts and prayers, I now humbly and cordially accept your invitation.
I do also fervently beseech the great Head of the Church, if he shall see fit to honor me by putting me into the ministry, to furnish me more and more to the work, and make me faithful and successful in my labors. I likewise earnestly solicit the prayers of this church and congregation, that if the important relation which is contemplated be formed between us, it may be permanent and happy.
Signed, Newton Skinner.
At an Ecclesiastical Council convened by letters missive from the church and society in this place, at the house of Rev. John Smalley, D. D., February 13th, 1810, for the purpose of ordaining Mr. Newton Skinner as colleague pastor,
Present, Rev. Messrs. John Smalley, D. D.,
Nathan Perkins, D. D., Benoni Upson,
Ebenezer Gay,
Isaac Porter,
Israel B. Woodward,
Joab Brace,
Noah Porter.
Delegates.
Deacon Elijah Hart, New Britain,
Deacon Abijah Colton, West Hartford,
Deacon Noah Cowles, Kensington,
Deacon Gad Taylor, Suffield, Granby,
Deacon Isaac Bronson, Wolcott,
Deacon James Wells, Newington,
Deacon Martin Bull, Farmington,
Deacon Benjamin Dutton, Southington,
Deacon Jedediah Sage, Worthington.
Dr. Smalley, chosen Moderator. Mr. Woodward, Scribe.
The council was opened with prayer by the Moderator.
All necessary documents were then received, expressing the invitation of the church and society to Mr. Skinner to settle among them in the gos- pel ministry, and his acceptance of their invitation. The council then proceeded to a critical and thorough examination of the candidate respect- ing his various qualifications for the sacred office, and being satisfactorily ascertained of his literary talents and experimental acquaintance with the religion of Jesus Christ,
Voted, unanimously, that we proceed to the ordination of Mr. Skinner,-
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that the scribe introduce the public exercises by reading the doings of the council,-that Mr. Isaac Porter make the introductory prayer,-that Mr. Gay preach the sermon,-that Dr. Perkins make the consecrating prayer, and Dr. Smalley, Dr. Perkins, Messrs. Upson and Gay, impose hands,- that Mr. Upson give the charge, and Mr. Brace the right hand of fellow- ship, and Mr. Noah Porter make the concluding prayer.
Voted to adjourn to ten o'clock to-morrow morning.
Wednesday morning, February 14th, the council convened agreeable to the adjournment. The minutes being read, were accepted, and the coun- cil adjourned to the meeting-house.
Test, Israel B. Woodward, Scribe."
(The ordination and installation of Mr. Skinner took place agreeably to the above programme. ED.)
He was born in East Granby, Conn., October 10th, 1782 ; he graduated at Yale, 1804; studied theology with Rev. E. Gay, of Suffield, Conn. Mr. Skinner spent his early days on a farm; had a strong and rugged constitution. . He was son of Mr. Roswell Skinner, of Turkey Hills, and his wife, Mary (Gay.) He had a vigorous and active mind ; was a man of medium height and size, with very penetrating, black eyes. He, like his predecessor, made no pretentions to the graces of oratory, or the flow- ers of rhetoric. His sermons were without much illustration or ornament, but he made strong points, and forcible applications. He was an earnest, business-like man, abounded more in the sterner, rigid virtues, than in the softer and social. He was rather repulsive than attractive, in his manners, and performed the duties of his calling in a business-like way. He bought the farm on the corner of East and Smalley streets, and the house still retains his name. He was a good farmer, and accumulated a snug little property, which he left to his wife, No. (391,) and his three children. In his public prayers he was gifted and comprehensive, and some thought more edifying than in his sermons. But the great revival of 1821 was as rich a blessing to him as to his people. From the commencement of that work of God's power and grace, he became more spiritual-minded, more devoted to his calling, and more affectionate to his people. Having his whole soul enlisted, he did an incredible amount of ministerial labor, broke loose from accustomed shackles of form, and went far beyond himself. He had an interesting field of labor ; there were many young people ; the population had greatly increased; the whole aspect of things was changed; from the staid, farming community of 1800, it had become a busy, thriving, manufacturing village, not indeed like the present, but compared with the past. The congregation was straitened for room in the old meeting house. After the revival had subsided in the fall of 1821, the subject of building new, began to be agitated. The question of a new location was discussed, and a place decided upon after much talk, where the present building
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stands now, 1862, called the Strickland Hall. No. (168) gave the lot to the society, but the ground being exceedingly uneven, it cost a vast deal of labor to prepare it. This, however, was done cheerfully, and the house erected 1822, at a cost of something over $6,000, besides what was saved of the old one. It being built with such harmony, cheerfulness and zeal, it has generally been spoken of as one of the fruits of the revival of the preceding year. Mr. Skinner was very happy in the unanimity and zeal of his people, and dedicated the house with solemn services, and with the only sermon he ever published. We thought it wonderful in the delivery, and requested a copy for the press, but to read it now, without considering the joy and excitement of the hearers at the time, it would probably ap- pear tame.
Mr. Skinner was greatly interested in our common schools, and did much to raise their standard. A Sunday school society, the first in Hart- ford county, was formed in his parish, the spring of 1816, and he was ap- pointed its president. He was a warm advocate of the missionary cause, and labored to instil into the hearts of his people a true spirit of benevo- lence. The literary attainments of Mr. Skinner (if we are permitted to judge,) were respectable, but not of the highest order ; his judgment was sound, and his common sense excellent. The last four years of his minis- try was a culmination of all that is happy and desirable, in the relation of pastor and people. But the tenderest ties are sundered, and the strongest attachments are broken; his last sermon was preached in Middletown, Upper Houses, on an exchange with Rev. Mr. Williams; he was ill when he went, and returned to his home still more so, and the same week, 31st March, 1825, died of a malignant fever, aged forty-two years, five months, twenty-one days, and from his installation fifteen years, one month, seven- teen days. This death was so sudden, and seemed withal so untimely, that both his family and people were for a time overwhelmed with dis- tress. His parishioners awoke as from a dream, to the consciousness of his worth, and their loss, not before being sensible of the strength of their attachment.
The inventory of his estate amounted to about $10,000. Mr. Skinner came to this town without funds ; boarded at first with the family of Mr. Gad Stanley, in Stanley quarter, and afterwards for some four or five years, with Deacon Whittlesey's family, at the home of Dr. Smalley. In- deed he lived there when he married. The second purchase he made of real estate was the Abner Clark place, now, 1862, the house of Charles M. Lewis. This was sold to William B. North, at an advance. Ile first bought at a good rate, the farm now, 1862, belonging to O. B. North, at the corner of East and Smalley streets, where he died. His funeral ser- mon was preached by Rev. Joab Brace, of Newington, who was a class- mate of his in college, and with whom he was very intimate during his
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ministry. They often exchanged pulpits on the Sabbath and "Lecture- days." Although Mr. Skinner was a vigorous, active, strong-minded man, yet his sermons (it is said,) cost him much continued hard study and labor. The Association of Hartford South held Mr. Skinner in high repute, and treated him with marked attention from the first, as is seen by their ap- pointing him scribe and preacher to their own body, and delegate to Gen- eral Association of this and other States. The last year of his life he was appointed delegate to the General Association of Massachusetts, to be held in 1825, but he died too prematurely to attend it.
We come down now in the history of the parish of New Britain to a period when a great step was taken in advance, in the direction of pro- gress. Hitherto the only accommodation for mails was for the manufac- turers each to take his turn in riding to the Berlin post-office once a week, for the New Britain letters; and like means were adopted to fetch the newspapers from Hartford once per week. But the spring of 1825, Thomas Lee, Esq., by his sagacity and political influence obtained the establishment of a post-office in the place, and for post-master his son, L. P. Lee, who hired John Francis to carry the mail from New Britain to Hartford twice a week. The office was granted as a doubtful experiment, and on condition that it should cost the government nothing; nor would the government claim for the time being any revenue. The whole pro- ceeds for the first quarter was about nineteen dollars, a few dollars less than cost of carrying. But this never happened again. The office was kept a few years in the "stone store," but soon after in a small building directly west, and opposite the meeting-house, now, 1862, called “ Strick- land's Hall." Now there are five mails each day to arrive and depart, and the proceeds per quarter ending April, 1864, (being the highest ever taken,) was $1,425.46, an evidence of a great increase of population and business.
We will now introduce to the reader as a candidate for the ministry, Mr. Henry Jones, of Hartford, recommended to our people by Joel Hawes, D. D., of that city.
" August 9th, 1825, at a meeting of the members of the church, legally warned and held this day, it was voted unanimously to give Mr. Henry Jones an invitation and call to settle in the office of a pastor and teacher of this church and people.
Voted, that the following persons be a committee to wait on Mr. Jones . with the above vote, viz :
Elijah Francis, Adna Stanley, Thomas Lee, Seth J. North, Alfred An- drews, and David Whittlesey.
Voted to adjourn without day.
Attest, David Whittlesey, Clerk.
September 27th, at a legal meeting of the church, voted that Elijah
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Francis, Adna Stanley, Thomas Lee, and David Whittlesey, be a commit- tee to transact all business respecting the ordination which is expected.
D. Whittlesey.
Berlin, August 15th, 1825. At a special meeting of the second Eccle- siastical Society in the town of Berlin, legally warned and held this day, Dr. Adna Stanley was chosen moderator.
1st. Voted unanimously, that this society give Mr. Henry Jones a call to settle with us in the work of the gospel ministry.
2d. Voted unanimously, that this society give Mr. Henry Jones as a compensation for his services, if he settle with us, the sum of five hundred dollars annually, the same to be on interest in two months after due.
3d. Voted, that this society give to Mr. Henry Jones as a settlement, if he settle with us, the sum of three hundred dollars, to be paid within one year from the day he is ordained pastor of the church and minister of the people here, conditioned as follows, to wit : if Mr. Jones shall not continue to perform the duties of his office of pastor and teacher more than one year, then he, the said Mr. Jones, is to refund the sum of two hundred dollars; if he continue to perform said duties two years and no more, then he is to refund the sum of one hundred dollars, otherwise to retain and possess the whole of the said sum of three hundred dollars.
4th. Voted to appoint Elijah Francis, Noah Stanley, Adna Stanley, Seth J. North, Thomas Lee, Esq., Alfred Andrews, Ira E. Smith, and David Whittlesey, a committee to wait on Mr. Jones with the above votes, and request his answer as soon as convenient.
5th. Voted that Elijah Francis and David Whittlesey, be a committee to supply the pulpit. Attest, David Whittlesey, Clerk.
Hartford, August 31st, 1825. To the second Church and Ecclesiasti- cal Society in Berlin :
Respected Friends, Your several committees have communicated to me the result of your meetings held on the 9th and 15th of the current month, and permit me here to express my gratitude for your favorable opinion thus publicly manifested. By your concurrent votes you have submitted to my decision a question of no small moment, and under a sense of this I have taken time for the consultation of friends, and for mature delibera- tion. The work of the gospel ministry, always arduous beyond the strength of unassisted man, has appeared to me almost overwhelming in view of my own youth and inexperience. When again I have thought of the wise and devoted servants of Christ, whose labors you have heretofore enjoyed, I have felt that an increased responsibility must rest on him who ventures to succeed them.
On the other hand, there are considerations which have given me much encouragement. Time and experience may, with the blessing of God, in some measure supply these personal deficiencies, which now I can not but
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feel so sensibly, and if your former pastors have by their faithfulness ren- dered the work of their successor in some respects more arduous, yet he will have occasion to thank them, under God, for a congregation at once enlightened and attentive. Above all, I have reflected with the utmost pleasure, on the uncommon degree of unanimity which has characterized - your movements in this affair.
Considerations like these have, I say, given me encouragement. I have been led at length to conclude that it is the will of Providence that I be- come your pastor, and where God directs I may not refuse to follow. I come to this decision, indeed, not without fearfulness and hesitation, when I remember my own weakness. But I find a refuge in the hope of your prayers and Christian candor, and I can ever look forward with confidence when I remember the promised aid of Him whom I call my Master and Lord.
You will please to accept this as an affectionate answer to the call with which you have presented me.
With the strongest wishes for your spiritual prosperity, I subscribe my- self yours in the bonds of Christian love, Henry Jones."
At an Ecclesiastical Council convened in Berlin, October 11th, 1825, by letters missive from the second church and society in that town, for the purpose of ordaining Mr. Henry Jones to the work of the gospel ministry, and of installing him as the pastor of said church,
Present, Rev. Nathan Perkins, D. D.,
Rev. Benoni Upson, D. D.,
Rev. Samuel Goodrich,
Rev. Noah Porter,
Rev. Joab Brace,
Rev. Royal Robbins,
Rev. Joel Hawes,
Rev. Charles A. Goodrich,
Rev. David L. Ogden,
Rev. Leonard Bacon. Delegates. Rev. Roderick Colton,
Deacon Daniel Galpin,
Brother Samuel H. Cowles,
Brother William Deming,
Deacon Samuel Peck,
Brother Joseph Trumbull,
Deacon Phineas Pardee,
Deacon Simeon Butler,
Deacon William Willard.
Dr. Perkins was chosen moderator, and Mr. Brace, scribe.
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The council was opened with prayer by the moderator. Rev. Ebenezer Porter, D. D., and Rev. Isaac Porter, being present, were invited to sit with the council.
Several documents were exhibited to the council by the committee of the church and society, showing that Mr. Henry Jones had been regularly and unanimously invited to take the oversight of this church and people, in the work of the gospel ministry, as pastor and teacher, and that he had accepted the invitation.
Mr. Jones having produced satisfactory testimonials of his good stand- ing in the church of Christ, and of his license as a Christian preacher,
Voted, that the council are ready to enter on an examination of Mr. Jones, with a view of his ordination, and that the moderator take the lead in the examination. After a full examination of the pastor elect, in natu- ral and revealed religion, in Christian experience, and in his motives in desiring the office of a bishop :
Voted unanimously, that the council are satisfied with his qualifications for the Christian ministry, and that the way is prepared to set him over this people in the Lord.
Voted, that the solemnities of the ordination be attended to-morrow, the exercises to commence at eleven A. M., and that the several parts be per- formed by the following members of the council, viz: the record of the council to be read by the scribe, the first prayer to be offered by Mr. Rob- bins, the sermon to be preached by Dr. Porter, the ordaining prayer to be offered by Mr. Goodrich, senior, during which Messrs. Perkins, Goodrich, and Porter, lay on hands, the charge to be delivered by Dr. Perkins, the right hand of fellowship to be given by Mr. Brace, the concluding prayer to be offered by Mr. Hawes.
The council was adjourned to meet again to-morrow at a quarter before ten. Wednesday morning met according to adjournment. Rev. Calvin Chapin, D. D., appeared and took his place in the council.
Voted the foregoing as a true record of council; the ordination was performed accordingly. Attest, Joab Brace, scribe.
At the time of the foregoing transactions the deacons of the church were David Whittlesey and Elijah Francis. The standing committee of the church were Messrs. James North, David Whittlesey, Elijah Francis, Alvin North, William Smith, Amon Stanley, and Alfred Andrews.
Thus far the record in the hand-writing of Rev. Mr. Jones, transcribed from the doings of the council, and from the documents placed before them. He was a good penman, kept a correct record, spelled well, and was an easy and graceful writer, as appears from his answer to the call as above. He was born October 15th, 1801, at Hartford, Conn., to Major Daniel Jones, of that city, and his wife, Rhoda (Mather,) daughter of Dr. Charles Mather ; was baptized in infancy, by Dr. Strong; admitted to the
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first church in Hartford, February 6th, 1814; entered Yale College, 1816; graduated there, 1820, A. B. and 1823, A. M .; studied theology at Andover, Mass., four years, and graduated there, 1824; ordained and installed in New Britain, as above. He married September 5th, 1825, Eliza S., daughter of Noah Webster, LL. D., of New Haven, (see No. 588, for herself and family.) He and family occupied the house of Pro- fessor E. A. Andrews, in Stanley quarter, made vacant by his removal to North Carolina. For about one year and a half the pastoral relation of Mr. Jones seemed prosperous and happy. He introduced the present system of Sunday schools, in the spring of 1826. An interesting revival of religion was enjoyed, and a large number of young people were admitted to the church, February, 1827, and several during the summer, 1826, so that in all, during his ministry of two years, three months, eight days, there were sixty-three additions to the church, fifty-eight of them on pro- fession. During the last half of the second year of his pastorate, his health began to fail; and that kind of prostration and despondency so com- mon to young ministers the second or third year, came upon him; a portion of his people became impatient, and the result was, a mutual council was called, and the connection dissolved, December 19th, 1827. Mr. Jones opened a high school for young ladies, at Greenfield, Mass., October 1st, 1828, and ten years after, viz., December 1st, 1838, opened the Cottage School, on Golden Hill, in Bridgeport, Conn. He accepted, also, the office of deacon in the first Congregational church in the same town, Feb- ruary 26, 1858, thus making himself useful to the church and the rising generation at the same time. It is proper here to observe, that Mr. Jones, with seven others of his successors, are still living, and therefore a just sense of propriety forbids any formal history or criticisms, farther than merely the statistics of their settlement and dismission, together with some brief notice of their origin, families, employment and location.
That a single parish should have so many ex-ministers still living, seems strange, but we consider it more our misfortune than our fault. Circumstances have appeared to demand these results ; some have been called to higher fields of usefulness ; others dismissed for want of health. If the people have differed in opinion on some of these results, or on the precedents that led to them, yet they have invariably returned to their accustomed harmony, when the momentary excitement had passed away. Not a single instance of permanent disaffection or alienation has occurred in the settlement or dismission of ministers (numerous as they have been,) among this people. And this is said just here, partly to their credit, and partly to rebut some calumnies from abroad.
After the dismission of Mr. Jones, the pulpit was supplied by Mr. Jason Atwater, then a member of the Theological Seminary at New Haven. He was a native of Hamden, Mount Carmel Society ; graduated at Yale,
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1825 ; licensed to preach, 1827. During the year 1828, a powerful work of grace was experienced under the joint labors of Mr. Atwater and Rev. Samuel Griswold, of Lyme, Conn., as the fruits of which seventy-one were added to the church, in the early part of 1829. Mr. Atwater settled in Middlebury ; was installed October 31st, 1830, where he labored success- fully some fifteen years. He also spent some ten years in the ministry at Newtown, to the great comfort and edification of that church. He died April 1st, 1860, at West Haven, aged fifty-nine. He had become con- nected by his third marriage, with the Principal of the West Haven Female Seminary, Mrs. S. E. Wright, and removed to that place about one year previous to his death. A funeral sermon was delivered by the pastor of that church, Rev. George A. Bryan, from Proverbs 10, 7. "The memory of the just is blessed." We have felt it but right thus to give one page of this work to the memory of that just man, through whose abundant labors very many of our people have derived such rich blessings in former years. " He that winneth souls is wise, and they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever."
We come now to the call of Rev. Jonathan Cogswell. At an adjourned meeting of the church held in the conference room April 7th, 1829,
Voted, unanimously, to give Rev. Jonathan Cogswell an invitation and a call to settle in the office of a pastor and teacher of this church and people.
Voted, that Messrs. David Whittlesey, Thomas Lee, and Seth J. North, be a committee to wait on Mr. Cogswell with the above vote, and to re- quest his answer.
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