USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Litchfield > Sketches and chronicles of the town of Litchfield, Connecticut : historical, biographical, and statistical : together with a complete official register of the town > Part 15
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Litchfield, Jan. 24, 1791."
A memorial of those days may still be seen about half a mile west of the Court-House, in the highway-a mile-stone bearing the following inscription, viz. :
" 30 Miles to Hartford. 102 Miles to New York.
J. Strong, A. D. 1787."
Forty and fifty years ago, several of these relics, of red sand stone, were scattered along the main route through the town- ship, from east to west; but they have nearly all disappeared. The one above referred to, is of white marble, and was doubt- less erected by the Hon. Jedediah Strong, who, at the date given, resided on the adjacent premises, and who appears to have been unwilling that an ordinary stone should stand so near his dwelling. He was evidently quite satisfied with his achiev- ment, as, in his subsequent advertizements, he designates the locality of his residence as " near the marble mile-stone," etc.
On the 20th of February, 1792, the President of the United States approved and signed the Post Office Bill, by which, on and after the 1st day of June following, a POST ROAD was es- tablished from New York to Hartford, via. White Plains,
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FIRST POST OFFICE IN LITCHFIELD,
Northcastle, Salem, Pound Ridge, Ridgefield, Danbury, New- town, New Milford, Litchfield, Harwinton, and Farmington. A Government Post Office was established in this town during the same year ; and though for a while the only one in the county, it was not very generally patronized, if we are to form our opinion from the following and other similar adver- tizements :
" LIST OF LETTERS at the Post Office in Litchfield last quar- ter : Noble Bostwick, New Milford ; Justus Cook, Northbury ; Da- vid Fancher, Watertown ; Reuben and John Miner, Winchester ; Jon- athan Werden, Salisbury. B. TALLMADGE, P. M.
Litchfield, Nov. 1, 1792."
Within the half-dozen years next succeeding the latter date, commenced what may be characterized as The Era of Turn- pikes and Stage-Coaches-which continued in its glory for something over forty years. During this period, very much was done to improve the routes of travel and to facilitate com- munication of town with town. Turnpike Companies were organized in all parts of the State, and turnpike stock was re- garded by capitalists as a safc, profitable and permanent in- vestment. The Litchfield and New Milford Turnpike Com- pany was incorporated in October, 1797; the Litchfield and Harwinton Company, in October, 1798 ; and the Litchfield and Canaan Company, in May, 1799. Then followed Straits' Turnpike, from Litchfield to New Haven, the Litchfield and Cornwall, the Litchfield and Torrington, and the Litchfield and Plymouth Turnpikes-so that, in due time, it became almost impossible to get into or out of our borough without encountering a toll-gate. Four-horse Stage Coaches gradually came into use from the time that Turnpikes became general; and ultimately Congress cnacted that the U. S. Mails should be thus conveyed on all the principal routes. Litchfield now became an important centre of travel. Daily lines of Mail Stages were established between this village and Hartford, New Haven, Norwalk, Poughkeepsie, and Albany. One after another, Post Offices were established in all the towns and principal villages in the County ; notwithstanding which, the business of the Litchfield Office has been constantly on the 22
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
increase. Staging continued to be an extensive and profitable business in this town, until the opening of the Housatonic Railroad, in 1837, at which time the Poughkeepsie and Alba- ny lines were discontinued. Two-horse Mail Wagons have since run from this village to meet the railroad trains at West Cornwall and New Milford. In 1848, the Naugatuck Railroad was completed from Bridgeport to Winsted-running through the entire length of this township, near its eastern boundary. Since that time, our only four-horse stage is that running from the village to the Litchfield Station on the Naugatuck Road.
There are now six Post Offices in this township, viz., those of Litchfield, South Farms, Milton, Northfield, Bantam Falls, and Campville. In 1851, an office was established at the Litchfield Station, called " East Litchfield"-of which Messrs. William Butler and Charles Carter were successively Post- masters. It has since been discontinued. A Return from the General Post Office, published some half-dozen years since, shows that the yearly receipts at the Litchfield Post Office exceeded those of any other office in the State, except those located in the cities.
The following is believed to be a complete list of Postmasters at the Litchfield Office, from its establishment to the present time, viz., Benjamin Tallmadge, Frederick Wolcott, Moses Seymour, Jr., Charles Seymour, George C. Woodruff, Jason Whiting, Reuben M. Woodruff, Leverett W. Wessells, and George H. Baldwin.
The Postmasters for this town, for the year 1858-'9, are- Litchfield, Geo. H. Baldwin ; South Farms, W. L. Smedley ; Northfield, John Catlin ; Milton, H. Kilbourn ; Bantam Falls, L. Kenney ; Campville, J. M. Camp.
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ECCLESIASTICAL.
CHAPTER X. ECCLESIASTICAL MATTERS.
FIRST SOCIETY.
IN a preceding chapter, I have given with some particular- ity an account of the settlement of the Rev. Timothy Collins, and of the erection of the first meeting-house in this town. The building was clapboarded, but had neither steeple or bell. Mr. Morris informs us that at the " raising," all the adult males residing in the township, sat on the sills at once ! Mr. Collins was ordained as the first pastor of the First Church, June 19, 1723. There is no evidence, either recorded or tra- ditionary, which would lead us to suspect that aught but the most perfect harmony existed between pastor and people, dur- ing the early part of his ministry. The first inference to the contrary may be drawn from the doings of a town meeting held December 25, 1728, when a memorial from Mr. C. was read, and the consideration thereof " postponed till the next meeting"-which, however, was not called until nearly three months afterward. It appears from the records of the meet- ing in March, that the memorial had reference to " the dis- count of money since the agreement was made" between the parties. It was finally resolved to pay him ten pounds per year in addition to the eighty pounds originally agreed upon as his salary-" until the town shall see cause to order otherwise."
On the 14th of April 1731, the first vote was passed for "seating the meeting-house." In the doings of the same meet- ing occurs the following entry : " Voted, after dark, that Mr. Collins have the choice of the pews for himself and family." The peculiar significance of the wording of this vote, will be understood when taken in connection with a previous vote, which provided that " no act of the town should stand in force that was passed after day-light failed to record it."
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
The controversy which began in a dispute concerning the salary of Mr. Collins, was continued through a long series of years, and increased in importance and acrimony. Though a decided majority of the church and society took sides against their pastor, there was still a respectable minority who sus- tained him. In 1744, the town voted " not to make any rate for Mr. Collins under present difficulties." At the same time a committee was appointed to treat with the pastor respecting his salary " and absence from the work of the ministry." In December, 1745, a committee was appointed "to eject Mr. Col- lins from the Parsonage Right." In December, 1750, Mr. C. was desired " to resign his ministerial office." During the succeeding month, a committee was appointed to carry a charge against Mr. C. to the Consociation, " for unfaithfulness in the ministerial office." To this last vote, Serg't. Joseph Mason, Lieut. Moses Stoddard, and Messrs. George Marsh, Archibald McNeile, John Marsh, William Peck, Sylvanus Stone, Asa Hopkins, and Alexander McNcile, " did protest." Two years later, a similar vote to the last was offered in town meeting, and negatived by a decided majority-yeas 13; nays 41.
After a ministry in this town of about thirty years, Mr. Col- lins vacated the pulpit in 1752. Though his pecuniary contest with the town continued for a few years later, he seems to have been not unpopular either as a citizen or civilian. Like many of the clergy of that day, he had received a medical ed- ucation, and he continued here as a practicing physician dur- ing the remainder of his life. He was elected by the voters of this town to the offices of Lister and Selectman, and was ap- pointed by the Legislature a Justice of the Peace for Litchfield County. In 1755, he was appointed a Surgeon of one of the Connecticut Regiments in the Expedition against Crown Point. He is represented to have been a gentleman of good talents and stately demeanor, but with manners by no means concilia- tory or popular. It is worthy of mention, as indicating that he may have been " sinned against" in his controversy with the town, that he was successful in the only lawsuit growing out of it. He died in Litchfield in 1776.
In February, 1753, the town voted a call to the Rev. Judah Champion, of East Haddam, who had graduated at Yale Col-
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SECOND MEETING-HOUSE.
lege in 1751. Two thousand pounds, old tenor currency, was voted as his settlement, and eight hundred pounds, old tenor, was voted as his yearly salary. Mr. Benjamin Webster was appointed to visit Mr. Champion, and deliver to him these votes of the town. Mr. Champion accepted the call, and was ordained as pastor of the First Church, July 4, 1753.
On the 30th of December, 1760, the town voted to build a new meeting-house on the Green ; and Mr. Joseph Vaill, Mr. Alexander McNeile, Deacon Peter Buel, Jacob Woodruff, Esq., and Captain Solomon Buel, were appointed a Building Com- mittee. At the same time, Reynold Marvin, Esq., was desig- nated as the Town's Agent to apply to the County Court for a committee to fix the place for said meeting-house ; and Col. Ebenezer Marsh, Timothy Collins, Esq., and Capt. Elisha Sheldon, were appointed to wait on the Committee of the Court. The edifice was erected near the site of the old one, and was 63 feet long by 42 feet wide, with a steeple and bell. It was completed during the autumn of 1762. The old meet- ing-house was sold at auction in November of that year-Mr. Asa Hopkins, Vendue Master.
Mr. Champion proved to be an able and popular minister, and continued here in the pastoral office until 1798. He died in this town, October 5, 1810, in his 82d year.
From the organization of the town to the year 1768, all bu- siness relating to schools and ecclesiastical affairs was transac- ted in town meeting. The Society of South Farms (or the Second Society of Litchfield) having been incorporated, the First Society met for the first time, May 9th, 1768. Elisha Sheldon, Esq., was chosen Moderator ; Isaac Baldwin, Esq., Clerk ; Mr. Joshua Garrett, Treasurer ; and Mr. Edward Phelps, Jr., Capt. Oliver Wolcott and Capt. William Marsh, Society's Committee. There was little done at these Society's Meetings, from year to year, except to appoint officers, Com- mittees, and Choristers. Now and then we find an entry in the records of a different character. Thus-December, 1772 -measures were taken for " coloring the meeting-house, and putting up Electrical Rods." At the same meeting, the Soci- ety's Committee were directed " not to let the Town's Stock
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
of Powder and Ball to be stored in said house." Two years later it was voted that " the new method of Singing at present taught by Mr. Lyman," should be introduced into the public worship of the congregation ; and the singers taught by Mr. Lyman were granted " the use and privilege of the Front Seats in the Gallery." The subject of the minister's salary still gave the Society much trouble. Mr. Champion complained of the depreciated and fluctuating currency, as Mr. Collins had done before him. To obviate this difficulty, the Society, in 1779, voted to give him as his salary for the then current year, the sum of seventy-five pounds sixteen shillings, money, " to be paid in the following articles at the usual prices affixed, viz., Wheat at four shillings per bushel ; Rye at three shill- ings do. ; Indian Corn at three shillings do. ; Flax at six pence per lb. ; Pork at twenty-five shillings per cwt. ; Beef at twenty shillings do. ; Tried Tallow at six pence per lb. ; Lard at five pence do ; Oats at one shilling per bushel."
Mr. Champion's successor was the Rev. Dan Huntington, who, at the time he received the call to settle here, was a tutor in Yale College. He was ordained in October, 1798. As he was a gentleman of learning and eloquence, the church and society were delighted with their new pastor ; and he ap- pears to have been no less pleased at being settled in such a place and over such a people. He thus wrote concerning them -" A delightful village, on a fruitful hill, richly endowed with its schools, both professional and scientific, and their accomplished teachers ; with its venerable Governors and Judges ; with its learned lawyers, and Senators, and Repre- sentatives, both in the National and State Departments; and with a population enlightened and respectable-Litchfield was now in its glory." During Mr. Huntington's ministry in this place, a remarkable religious awakening overspread this and and the adjacent parishes, resulting in the hopeful conversion of about three hundred persons among the different denomin- ations of Litchfield. " This town," says Mr. Huntington, "was originally among the number of those decidedly opposed to the movements of former revivalists ; and went so far, in a regular church meeting called expressly for the purpose under
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MINISTERS OF LITCHFIELD.
the ministry of the venerable Mr. Collins, as to let them know, by a unanimous vote, that they did not wish so see them. The effect was, they did not come. The report circulated, that Litchfield had " voted Christ out of their borders." It was noticed by some of the older people, that the death of the last person then a member of the church, was a short time before the commencement of our revival."
Previous to the settlement of Mr. Huntington, the society voted him a " settlement" of one thousand dollars, and an annual salary of four hundred dollars ; also, agreeing to con- tinue to Mr. Champion, during life, a salary of one hundred pounds. In December, 1805, a subscription was made of funds to be placed at interest, for the purpose of adding two hundred dollars to the salary of the pastor. It would seem, however, that notwithstanding these efforts to increase his income, Mr. Huntington had resolved upon leaving. The Church and Society, in February, 1807, voted not to concur in his request that a separation should take place between them. A Council, however, was called, and the connection amicably dissolved. In March, 1810, the Society voted a unanimous call to the Rev. Lyman Beecher, which was accepted, and he was installed on the 30th of the succeeding May-President Dwight, of Yale College, preaching the installation sermon. After a successful ministry in this town of about sixteen years, he accepted a call from the Hanover-street Church, Boston, and was dismissed, February 21, 1826. His successor in the ministry here, was the Rev. Daniel Lynn Carroll, who was ordained October 3, 1827 ; and was dismissed, at his own re- quest, March 4, 1829.
In 1827, the Society voted to erect a new church-edifice ; and Messrs. Frederick Wolcott, Stephen Deming, Salmon Buel, William Buel and Leonard Goodwin, were appointed a Build- ing Committee. The House was dedicated on the same day that the installation of Mr. Hickok took place.
The Rev. Laurens P. Hickok, of Kent, was the next pastor, having been installed July 15, 1829. During his ministry here, of about seven years, 214 persons united with the church. Ninety-five of these were added at two communion seasons in
I76
HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
the autumn of 1831-being a part of the fruits of the great revival of that year. In September, 1836, Dr. Hickok having been elected Professor of Theology in the Western Reserve College, Ohio, requested a dismission from his pastoral charge, which was reluctantly granted-and he was dismissed, Novem- ber 15, 1736.
June 12, 1838, the Rev. Jonathan Brace, of Hartford, was ordained as pastor of the church ; and was dismissed, at his own request, February 28, 1844. During his pastorate of about six years, not far from one hundred and fifty persons united with the church.
The Rev. Benjamin L. Swan was installed as the eightlı pastor, October 22, 1846, and closed his labors here, on the 10th of May, 1856-having supplied the pulpit with much ability and acceptance for nearly ten years.
The present pastor, the Rev. Leonard Woolsey Bacon, was ordained, November 16, 1856, on which occasion the ordina tion sermon was preached by his father, the Rev. Leonard Bacon, D. D., of New Haven.
Deacons of the First Church, (from 1723 to 1859.)-John Buel, Nathaniel Baldwin, Benjamin Hosford, Benjamin Kel- logg, Benjamin Webster, Thomas Harrison, Peter Buel, Moses Stoddard, Andrew Adams, William Collins, Ozias Lewis, Thomas Trowbridge, Andrew Benedict, Frederick Buel, Tru- man Kilbourn, Charles Adams, Cyrus Catlin, Henry W. Buel, and Henry B. Bissell.
Clerks of the Society .- Isaac Baldwin, Roger Skinner, Abel Catlin, Luke Lewis, Samuel Buel, Jabez W. Huntington, Joseph Adams, Frederick Deming, Samuel P. Bolles, George C. Woodruff, Sylvester Galpin, Francis Bacon, James G. Bat- terson, Reuben M. Woodauff, Frederick D. McNiel.
Treasurers of the Society. - Joshua Garrett, Abraham Bradley, Isaac Baldwin, William Stanton, Moses Seymour, Samuel Buel, Joseph Adams, Luke Lewis, Frederick Deming, Sylvester Galpin, George C. Woodruff, Charles Adams, Sam'l P. Bolles, Chauncey M. Hooker, Henry W. Buel.
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FIRST EPISCOPAL SOCIETY.
In 1735, Mr. John Davies, of Kinton, Hertfordshire, Eng- land, purchased a tract of land in the south-west corner of this town, and not long after took up his abode in that wild and unfrequented region. He was warmly attached to the doc- trines and forms of the Church of England, [and was for some years the only Episcopalian in Litchfield. The unpopularity of Mr. Collins, of the congregational society, at length induced several of the Icading members of his congregation to with- draw themselves from his ministry, and to look elsewhere for religious instruction. On the 5th of November, 1745, a mect- ing was called at the house of Captain Jacob Griswold, by Messrs. Jacob Griswold, Joseph Kilbourn, John Davies, James Kilbourn, Thomas Lec, Samuel Kilbourn, Abiel Smith, Joseph Smith, Abraham Kilbourn, Elijah Griswold, Isaac Bissell, Wil- liam Emmons and Daniel Landon-at which the First Epis- copal Society of Litchfield was organized. The first service after the English ritual, was performed in this town by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson, President of King's (now Colum- bia) College in the city of New York. At an adjourned Town Mecting, held on the 16th of February, 1747, it was voted, that " those who declared themselves members of the Church of England the last year, shall be discharged from paying their Minister's Rate for the last year-they paying two-thirds of the Rate that was made for them to pay the last year." This was onc short step toward toleration. In that year Mr. John Davies deeded to the Episcopal Society in Litchfield, a tract of land situated about one mile west of the present Court House, containing fifty-two acres. This deed was in the form of a lcase, for the term of nine hundred and ninety-eight years, for the use of the "Society for Propagating the Gospel in For- cign Parts"-for which there was to be paid " one pepper-corn annually, at or upon the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, if lawfully demanded." About the same time, Mr. Danicl Landon deedcd to Capt. Jacob Griswold and Captain Joseph Kilbourn, a tract of fifty acres, " lying westward of the Great Pond, near a mountain called Little Mount Tom," to hold for the use of said Society for Propagating the Gospel, " to be by said Society applied and appropriated for the benefit of the
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
Minister of the Episcopal Church in Litchfield." The first church edifice of the parish was raised upon the first named of these tracts, April 23, 1749. It was covered-seats, pulpit, reading desk and chancel were made-and it was used in this condition for about twenty years before it was finished. It was named St. Michael's, by request of Mr. Davies. It stood (as did also the house of Captain Griswold, in which the society was organized,) nearly opposite the present residence of John E. Sedgwick, Esq., and continued to be occupied as a place of public worship for over sixty years.
In 1749, John Davies, Jr., (the only surviving son of the first benefactor of the parish,) came over from Hertfordshire, with a wife and several young children,* and settled near his father, south-west of Mount Tom, at a place still known as Davies Hollow. As he was a gentleman of good estate, and an ardent Churchman, his arrival was regarded as an important accession to the Episcopal Society. He had previously crossed the ocean two or three times on tours of observation. His wife-whose maiden name was Mary Powell-was very reluc- tant to leave her native land ; and had it not been for the fact that one or more of hier children were already in the family of their grand-parents in Litchfield, it is doubtful if she would have been induced to come. That she should have regarded her new home in the wilderness as cheerless and lonely, com- pared with the scenes she had left, is not to be wondered at. In writing home to her English friends, she is said to have described herself as "entirely alone, having no society, and nothing to associate with but Presbyterians and Wolves." The reader may be interested in the fact, that though the wolves long since disappeared from Davies Hollow, some of the de- scendants of the excellent lady who thus wrote, are now num- bered among the sect of christians which she seems to have regarded with such abhorrence.
* William, Mary, Walter and James, were born in Hertford ; the other children, viz., Catharine, Elizabeth, Ann, James J., David, Rachel, George and Thomas, were born in Litchfield. These were all children of Mr. Davies' second wife, Mary Powell. His first wife, Elizabeth Brown, was the mother of John, Thomas (the Rector of St. Michael's,) and William who died young. The youngest son, Thomas, was born about the time of the death of his elder brother of the same name.
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RECTORS OF ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH.
From the organization of the society in 1745, to 1754, they were without a settled minister. The Rev. Drs. Mansfield, Johnson, Cutler and Beach, occasionally officiated here; and in the absence of a clergyman, prayers were sometimes read by Messrs. Davies, Landon and Cole. The first Rector of St. Michael was the Rev. Solomon Palmer, M. A., who had been pastor of the Congregational Church in Cornwall from 1741 to 1754. In March of the preceding year, to the great surprize and grief of his people, he on the Sabbath publicly announced himself an Episcopalian in sentiment. He soon after sailed for England, where he was ordained Deacon and Priest by the Rt. Rev. Zachary Pierce, Bishop of Bangor; and returned to this country during the same year (1754,) bearing a commission from the Venerable Society as missionary for Litchfield, Cornwall and Great Barrington. His salary from the Society was £60 per annum. With the exception of about three years, (during which time he was Rector of Trinity Church in New Haven,) Mr. Palmer continued to reside in Litchfield, in the exercise of his pastoral duties, until his death, which took place November 1, 1771, at the age of 62 years. He was buried near the old parish church, one mile west of the present edifice-where, Mr. Jones informs us, his tomb- stone was standing in 1812. His epitaph has recently been carved on a handsome modern monument in the West Burying Ground.
His successor in the ministry of St. Michael's, was the Rev. Thomas Davies, M. A., (son of Mr. John Davies, Jr.,) who was born in Hereford, England, January 2, 1737, and was brought to Litchfield by his father in 1745, when but little more than eight years old, and was left here with his grand- parents. This was some four years before his parents became residents of this town. Having graduated at Yale College in 1758, and pursued the usual course of theological studies, Mr. Davies sailed for England, and was there ordained Deacon by the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth, on Sunday, August 23, 1761, and was ordained Priest by the same prelate on the following day. Like Mr. Palmer, he returned hither as a missionary of the English Society " for Litchfield county
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
and the parts adjacent." By a subsequent and more definite appointment, the parishes of New Milford, Roxbury, New Fairfield, New Preston and Sharon, were designated as his field of labor. On the removal of Mr. Palmer to New Haven in 1763, he became the minister of St. Michael's, and remained here in charge of the parish until his decease, May 12, 1766. His Memoirs and Diary, (with a likeness,) were published in New Haven in 1843-edited by the Rev. Mr. Hitchcock. The volume contains the record of a large number of Baptisms and Marriages in Litchfield. As heretofore intimated, Mr. Palmer returned to Litchfield and continued his pastoral duties in this place during the remainder of his life. Mr. Benjamin Farn- ham, a candidate for Holy Orders, officiated in the parish for a few months, until the arrival of the Rev. Richard Moseley, who was sent hither as a missionary of the Society in England. Mr. M. was not welcomed with any degree of cordiality, and was never recognized by the congregation as their pastor. He consequently returned to England, and carried with him such an "ill report" of the parish as to cause a suspension of the annual allowance from the English Society for the year 1773. On a due representation of the facts in the case, the salary was restored in 1774.
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