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 16
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The Rev. James Nichols, a native of Waterbury and a grad- uate of Yale College, became Rector of the parish, April 20th, 1775. Though he is represented to have been a talented and popular preacher, the excitement consequent upon the Revo- lution drove him from the pulpit, and the church was closed until 1780. Mr. Nichols then resumed his ministerial duties, and the society from that time gradually increased in numbers
* The Episcopalians of Litchfield have good cause to remember the Davies family with gratitude. John Davies, Sen., (in addition to the gift of tbe lands referred to,) was perhaps the most liberal contributor towards erecting the first Episcopal church in this town. He died November 22, 1758, and his remains were brought seven miles from his residence and interred in our West Burying Ground, where they rest without a stone to mark the spot. He ordered gifts of mourning apparel to be made to his colleagues in erecting the church. John Davies, Jr., in January, 1794, gave a piece of land near his residence in Davics Hollow, for a church and burying-ground, on which, mainly at his own expense, a place of worship was erccted. Aged and infirm, he sat in the door of his house and wit- nessed the raising of the building. He departed this life, May 19, 1797, in his 84th year. His widow, Mary, died December 15, 1801, in her 76th year.
On the organization of the town of Washington in 1779, Davies Hollow was annexed to that township,
181
PROGRESS OF EPISCOPACY.
and in public favor. On the 26th of October, 1784, it was in- corporated by an Act of the General Assembly of the State, and thereupon it was duly organized according to law.
Episcopacy in Litchfield had thus far been tolerated, and the the members of the society had for the most part been treated by their fellow-townsmen with the ordinary courtesies of life ; but a large majority of the people of the town as well as of the members of the colonial and State governments, seem to have been particularly loth to do anything that might look like en- couraging dissent from what had so long been the established religion of Connecticut. In 1785, an "Address of Thanks" to the Legislature was drawn up by the Rev. Mr. Nichols and signed by Daniel Landon, Jr., in behalf of the society, for the act of incorporation. " Wishing the favor of a Justice of the Peace to adorn our Society," (wrote Mr. Landon,) "they nominated Mr. Seth Landon, with some others, as a fit person to fill that office." Seventeen years after this request was made, Mr. Seth Landon was for the first time appointed to the office for which he was thus nominated ; nor do I find that, in the intermediate time, more than one Episcopalian was appointed to the magistracy for this town! It was not until the Jeffersonian Campaign, when Messrs. Champion and Huntington began to introduce politics into their sermons and prayers, that Episcopacy became sufficiently formidable in the town to demand its full share of civil and political rights.
Mr. Nichols resigned his charge of the parish in May, 1784; and on the 9th of September, 1785, the Rev. Ashbel Baldwin, (a native of Litchfield and a graduate of Yale College,) be- came the Rector of St. Michael's, and continued to occupy the position for about eight years-when he was succeeded by the Rev. David Butler, (afterwards D. D.) His successors have been the Rev. Messrs. Truman Marsh, Isaac Jones, John S. Stone, D. D., William Lucas, Samuel Fuller, D. D., William Payne, John J. Brandagee, Benjamin W. Stone, J. M. Willey, and the present Rector, Rev. H. N. Hudson.
In 1796, during the ministry of Mr. Butler, a large number of Episcopalians residing in the west part of the town seceded from the first Episcopal Society, and erected a new church.
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
The edifice, which stood upon the hill nearly opposite the Burying-Ground at Bantam Falls, was fifty feet long by thirty- six broad, and was surmounted by a tower, bell, and steeple. It was planned and built by Mr. Giles Kilbourn, who died on the 13th of September, 1797, and his funeral was the first attended within its walls .* In October, 1797, the seceders petitioned to be released from paying taxes to the First Epis- copal Society, and for permission to organize themselves into a distinct Society. On the 6th of November following, this petition was granted ; and on the 14th, the " Second Episcopal Society of Litchfield" was duly organized, with the following officers, viz., Messrs. David Kilbourn, John Landon and Syl- vanus Bishop, Society's Committee ; James Kilbourn, Clerk ; and Heber Stone, Treasurer. In 1803, the two Societies were amicably united, and so continue at the present time-though they manage a portion of their affairs independently of each other, and have different Rectors. The Old West Church (as it was called,) was occupied as a place of public worship about forty-six years, and was taken down in the summer of 1843- a smaller edifice having about that time been erected a few rods farther west. Services were held for the first time in the new church-which bears the name of St. Paul's-on Sunday, December 24th, 1843, by the Rev. G. C. V. Eastman, the newly appointed Rector.
At the commencement of Mr. Marsh's ministry in this town, in 1799, he agreed to preach one-fifth of the time in Milton, where there were a few families of Episcopalians ; and in 1802 a neat and convenient church was erected in that section of the town. It was raised on the 25th of June, 1802 ; finished in 1827 ; consecrated by Bishop Brownell in 1837, and is still in use.
There is also a flourishing Episcopal church and society in Northfield, in the south-east part of this town, under the care of the Rev. Frederick Holcomb, D. D., of Watertown.
* Mr. K. was enthusiastically devoted to his business as a Builder, and did much in his generation to improve the architecture of this vicinity. The Tallmadge House, and the present residences of William Deming and Henry R. Coit, Esq's., (all in this village,) were built by him. An obituary notice of him in the Monitor, (which is understood to have been written by the Rev. Dr. Butler,) says-" He was a man of uncommon industry, and a very valuable member of society." His funeral sermon was preached by Dr. Butler.
183
METHODISM IN LITCHFIELD.
In June, 1790, the Rev. Freeborn Garretson, one of the ablest and most earnest Apostles of Methodism in America, visited Litchfield on his way from the Hudson river to Boston. He was at that time Superintendent of the Northern District, and, in his itinerant journeyings, was almost invariably attend- ed by his colored servant, Harry, who was himself a licensed preacher of no mean distinction. They traveled together on horseback, apparently vieing with each other in their zeal for the promotion of the cause of their common Master. On Wednesday, June 23d, (as we learn from Dr. Stevens' Memo- rials of Methodism,) Mr. Garretson "rode seven miles to Litchfield, and was surprized to find the doors of the Episco- pal church open, and a large congregation waiting for him. He discoursed from the words-' Enoch walked with God,' - and believed good was done. He left Harry to preach another sermon, and went on to the centre of the town ; the bell rang, and he preached to a few in the Presbyterian meeting-house, and lodged with a kind churchman." On the same day, Mr. Garretson wrote in his Diary-"I preached in the skirts of the town, where I was opposed by -, who made a great disturbance. I told him the enemy had sent him to pick up the good seed ; turned my back on him, and went my way, accompanied by brothers W. and H. I found another waiting company, in another part of the town, to whom I declared, ' Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish.' In this town we have given the devil and the wicked much trouble; we have a few good friends." On his return from Boston, Mr. Garretson again preached in Litchfield-Friday, July 13, 1790. So far as I have learned, these were the first Methodist ser- mons ever preached in this town.
The Litchfield Circuit was organized during the spring of 1790, and embraced, according to Mr. Stevens, " the north- western section of Connecticut." In May, 1791, the Rev. Messrs. Matthias Swain and James Covel were appointed by the conference to labor in this Circuit. Their immediate suc- cessors, previous to the commencement of the present century, were, Rev. Messrs. Lemuel Smith, Samuel Ostrander, Philip Wagner, James Coleman, Enoch Mudge, F. Aldridge, Jesse
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
Stoneman, Joseph Mitchell, Daniel Dennis, Wesley Budd, Ezekiel Canfield, William Thatcher, Ebenezer Stevens, Free- man Bishop and Augustus Jocelyn.
On the 21st of July, 1791, the famous Bishop Asbury preached in the Episcopal church in this town. In reference to his visit here, he wrote-" I think Morse's account of his countrymen is near the truth ; never have I seen any people who could talk so long, so correctly, and so seriously, about trifles." A hard hit, certainly !- is it not too well deserved ?
I have found no records whatever, indicating the progress of this denomination in Litchfield, for many years subsequent to the last of the dates here given. The names of the follow- ing persons in our Grand List for 1805, are put down as " mem- bers of the Methodist Society," viz., Noah Agard, Isaac Bald- win, Ebenezer Clark, Thomas F. Gross, Elisha Horton, Samuel Green, Jonathan Hitchcock, Roswell McNeil, Jonathan Rogers, Daniel Noyes, John Stone and Arthur Swan.
In 1837, a handsome church edifice was erected by the Methodists, in Meadow street, in this village, which was dedi- cated on the 27th of July of that year. The dedication ser- mon was preached by Professor Holdich, of the Wesleyan University ; and an appropriate discourse was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Washburn. The following clergy men have since been stationed here, generally for two years each-Rev. Messrs. Charles Chittenden, Keyes, Gad Smith, Jason Wells, D. L. Marks, William Dixon, Joseph Henson, William B. Hoyt, N. C. Lewis, H. N. Weed, Lounsbury, and William Howard.
The number of members of this church, as reported to the Conference about a year since, is 113.
In addition to the church in this village, there is a Metho- dist church in Milton and another on Mount Tom.
The late Rev. Horace Agard, and the Rev. Joseph L. Morse, are, so far as I can learn, the only natives of the town who have become Methodist ministers.
There is a flourishing Baptist Church and Society at Ban- tam Falls, under the charge of the Rev. Mr. Ganun. For- merly there was a Baptist Church in Northfield, which flour- ished for several years under the pastoral care of the Rev. Messrs. Seth Higley and Levi Peck.
Julius Deming
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
of Hatives and Residents of the Town of Litchfield. 1
ADAMS, Samuel, a native of Milford and long a resident of Stratford, came to this village to reside a few years previous to his death-which took place here, November 12, 1788, in the 85th year of his age. He had been a prominent lawyer and Judge of the Fair- field County Court. His widow, Mrs. Mary Adams, died in this town, August 29, 1803, in the one hundred and sixth year of her age. " She retained," says the Monitor, " her memory, reason and activity remarkably, until about two years before her death. After she was an hundred years old, she rode on horseback thirty miles in one day." She was a daughter of Mr. Zachariah Fairchild, and was born in Stratford, May 7, 1698; thus having lived in three centuries !
ADAMS, Andrew, LL. D., (son of the preceding,) resided in this town about thirty years, and became Chief Justice of the State. He died in this village, while holding that office, Nov. 27, 1797, aged 62. [See pp. 144 and 145. of this volume.]
ALLEN, John, a native of Great Barrington, Mass., was admitted to the Litchfield Bar in 1786, and continued to reside here as a prac- ticing lawyer until his death, in the year 1812. He was a Repre- sentative at seven sessions ; Clerk of the House in 1796; member of Congress from 1797 to 1799 ; and member of the State Council from 1800 to 1806. He not only possessed great powers of mind, but was remarkable for his imposing presence-having been nearly seven feet in height, and with a proportionably heavy frame. He was buried in our East Graveyard.
ALLEN, John W., (son of the preceding,) was born in Litchifield, but left his native town soon after the death of his father. Having studied law, he settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where he became eminent in his profession. In 1837, he was elected a member of Congress from Ohio, and was re-elected in 1839. He has also been Mayor of Cleveland, Presidential Elector, etc.
ALLEN, General Ethan, the Hero of Ticonderoga, was born in Litchfield, January 10, 1737-'8 ; and died in Burlington, Vermont, February 13, 1789, aged 51 years. [See pp. 135, etc. of this volume.]
24
186
HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
AGARD, Rev. Horace, (son of Mr. Noah Agard,) was born in Litchfield, received a license to preach from the Methodist Confer- ence, and for some time labored successfully in his native town. Re- moving to the State of New York, he was ordained Deacon in Paris, by Bishop George, in 1821, and two years later he was ordained Elder at Westmoreland, N. Y., by the same Bishop. For eleven years out of nineteen of effective service in the ministry, he was Pre- siding Elder of the Susquehanna and Berkshire Districts. He died in the faith, January 8, 1850.
BACON, Asa, a resident of Litchfield from 1803 to 1852, was born in Canterbury, graduated at Yale College in 1793, and died in New Haven in February, 1857, aged 86. He was one of the most eminent lawyers at the Litchfield bar. His widow, (a daughter of the late Hon. Epaphroditus Champion, of East Haddam,) is still living in New Haven.
BACON, Epaphroditus Champion, (eldest son of the preceding,) was born in Litchfield in 1811 ; graduated at Yale College in 1833 ; and settled in his native town as a lawyer. In 1839, he was a Del- egate to, and Secretary of, the National Convention which met at Harrisburg and nominated General Harrison for the Presidency of the United States. Mr. Bacon was elected a Representative from this town in 1840, and again in 1841. He was a diligent antiquarian and genealogist. While traveling in Europe, he died at Seville, Spain, January 11, 1845, aged 34 years.
BACON, Lieutenant Frederick A., (son of Asa Bacon, Esq.,) was born in Litchfield in 1813; entered the Navy in his youth, and was attached to the U. S. Schooner Sea Gull of the Exploring Expe- dition, which foundered off Cape Horn, May 1st, 1839, and all on board perished. He was 26 years of age. Lieut. Bacon was mar- ried, and left one son.
BACON, General Francis, (youngest son of Asa Bacon, Esq.,) was born in Litchfield in January, 1820; graduated at Yale College in 1838: studied law with the Hon. O. S. Seymour, and settled as a lawyer in his native town. With the exception of two or three years, he continued to reside here until his death. In 1847 and 1848, he was First Clerk of the House; and in 1849, he was elected to the Senate of this State. He was also Major General of all the Militia of Connecticut. He died in this town, September 16, 1849, aged 29 years and 8 months. General Bacon married Elizabeth Dutcher, of Canaan, and left one daughter, Kate.
BALDWIN, Isaac, graduated at Yale College in 1735, settled in Litchfield in 1742, and died here, January 15, 1805, aged 95 years. He was a Representative at ten sessions, Clerk of the Probate Court twenty-nine years, Town Clerk thirty-one years, and Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas forty-two years !
BALDWIN, Rev. Ashbel, (son of Isaac Baldwin, Esq.,) was born in Litchfield, March 7, 1757, and graduated at Yale College in 1776.
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187
BIOGRAPHY
He was ordained Deacon at Middletown, by Bishop Seabury, Aug. 3, 1785-being the first Episcopal ordination in the United States. In September following, he was ordained Priest by the same Bishop. From 1785 to 1793, he was Rector of St. Michael's church in this town, and was afterwards for about thirty years Rector of Christ Church, Stratford. He was Secretary of the Diocese of Connecticut, and member of the General Convention. Mr. Baldwin died in Roch- ester, N. Y., February 8, 1846, in his 89th year. From his register it appears that he had preached and performed service about 10,000 times ; baptized 3,010 persons ; married 600 couple; and buried about 3,000 persons !
BALDWIN, William B., (son of Captain Horace and grandson of Isaac Baldwin, Esq.,) was born in Litchfield, January 7, 1803, and has been for more than twenty years past one of the editors and pro- prietors of the New Haven Daily and Weekly Register. He has also been State Printer, member of the Common Council of the City of New Haven, &c.
BARNES, Amos, (son of Mr. Enos Barnes,) was born in Litch- field, and settled in Pittsfield, Mass., where he still resides. He was an officer in actual service in the last war with Great Britain; has since been a Selectman, Magistrate, and Trial Justice of the Police Court ; and in 1837 and again in 1838, he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
BEEBE, Bezaleel, a Colonel in the continental army, was born in Litchfield, April 28, 1741 ; died May 28, 1824. [See p. 145.]
BEECHER, Lyman, D. D., was born in New Haven, October 12, 1775 ; graduated at Yale College in 1797 ; and was ordained pastor of a church in East Hampton, L. I., in December 1798, with a salary of $300 per year. In 1810, at the age of thirty-five years, he was installed pastor of the First Church in Litchfield, and remained here in that capacity for a period of sixteen years. This was, as he him- self states, by far the most active and laborious part of his life. In addition to his ordinary pastoral services, he was probably more con- spicuously identified with the establishment of the great benevolent associations of the day, than any other country pastor in New Eng- land. Returning, full of zeal, from the first meeting of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, in 1812, he called to- gether, in this village, several clergymen and laymen from various parts of the county, who organized the Litchfield County Foreign Mission Society-THE FIRST AUXILIARY OF THE AMERICAN BOARD. He was active in all the reforms of that period. His Six Sermons on Intemperance, which were preached in our old meeting-house in 1826, were widely circulated on both sides of the Atlantic, and were among the earliest and most effective means in arousing the Christian world to the evils of intemperance. In 1826, Dr. Beecher became pastor of the Hanover street Church in Boston; and in 1832, he accepted the Presidency of Lane Theological Seminary in Ohio, in which lat- ter office he continued for some ten years. Subsequently, for a few
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HISTORY OF LITCHFIELD.
years, he was engaged in preparing his Works for the press. He now resides in Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Beecher has been three times married, and has had thirteen children, viz., 1 Catharine E., distinguished as an author; 2 Rev. William H .; 3 Rev. Edward, D. D., ex-President of Illinois College ; 4 Mary Foote, m. the Hon. Thomas C. Perkins, of Hartford; 5 Harriet, died young, on Long Island ; 6 Rev. George, died in Chilicothie, Ohio; 7 Harriet, m. Rev. Dr. Calvin E. Stowe, now of Andover, Mass. ; 8 Rev. Henry Ward ; 9 Rev. Charles, of Georgetown, Mass .; 10 Frederick, died young, in Litchfield ; 11 Isabella Holmes, m. John Hooker, Esq., of Hartford ; 12 Rev. Thomas K., of Elmira, N. Y .; 13 Rev. James C., Seamen's Chaplain in China. Of these, Mrs. Stowe, Henry Ward, Charles, Frederick, Mrs. Hooker, and Thomas K., were born in Litchfield.
BEECHER, Rev. Henry Ward, was born in Litchfield, June 24, 1813 ; graduated at Amherst College in 1834 ; was licensed to preach in April, 1838; and was settled as pastor of a church in Lawrence- burgh, Indiana, in the fall of the same year. From August 1839 to October, 1847, he was pastor of a church in Indianapolis, Indiana ; and since the last named date he has been pastor of the Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. He is a powerful and popular preacher and lecturer, and is said by the New American Cyclopedia to have " the largest uniform congregation in the United States." He is the author of a volume of Lectures to Young Men; The Star Papers ; Views and Experiences; Talks about Fruits, Flowers, and Farming, &c. ; and two volumes of extracts from his extemporaneous discources, noted down, edited, and published, by members of his congregation, have had an extensive circulation. Mr. Beecher was married, Aug. 3, 1837, to Eunice, daughter of Dr. Artemas Ballard, of W. Sutton, Ms.
BEERS, Seth P., was born in Woodbury, July 1, 1781, studied law with the Hon. Ephraim Kirby, and at the Litchfield Law School, and was admitted to the bar on the 20th of March, 1805. He has ever since resided in this village. In November, 1813, he was ap- pointed by President Madison, Collector of the Direct Taxes and Internal Revenue of the United States, for Litchfield county, and held the office until it was abolished in 1820. He was also State's Attor- ney for five years, and a Representative in 1820, 1821, 1822 and 1823. In 1821, he was Clerk of the House, and during the sessions of the two succeeding years he was Speaker. In 1824, he was elected a State Senator, and, while holding that office, the Legislature appoint- ed him Assistant Commissioner of the School Fund. On the resig- nation of the Hon. James Hillhouse, he was appointed sole Commis- sioner, June 1, 1825, and resigned said office to take effect December 1, 1849. The Legislature passed a unanimous vote of thanks to Mr. Beers "for his long, laborious and faithful labors as Commissioner of the School Fund." Mr. B. has also been a candidate for Congress ; and in 1839, he was the regular democratic nominee for Governor. He was a Presidential Elector in 1836, and State Superintendent of Common Schools from 1845 to 1849.
189
BIOGRAPHY.
BIRD, John, (son of Dr. Seth Bird,) was born in Litchfield, Nov. 22, 1768 ; graduated at Yale College in 1786; practiced law for a few years in his native town ; removed to Troy, N. Y., in 1794, and died there in the year 1806, aged 38 years. He had been a member of the Legislature of New York, and a member of Congress from that State. Ex-President Van Buren thus writes to the author of this vol- ume concerning him : "John` Bird I did not know personally, but have always taken much interest in his character and career. He must, according to all accounts, have been one of the very ablest men in the State, though a very eccentric one. There have been but few men among us, who have left behind them so many racy anecdotes illustrative of their peculiarities." His first wife was a daughter of Col. Joshua Porter, of Salisbury ; his second wife was Sally Buel, daughter of Mr. David Buel, of Troy, formerly of this town. He left several children.
BIRGE, Gen. John Ward, was born in Litchfield, January 7, 1803, and in his youth went to reside with an uncle in Cazenovia, N. Y. He received his medical degree at Geneva College, and is a successful practitioner in Utica, where, as a surgeon and occulist, he has a high reputation. He is, however, principally famous for his connection with the Patriot War in Canada in 1837-'8. He had previously been Colonel of the Eightlı Regiment of New York State Cavalry; and, while holding the office of Brigadier General, (an extensive organi- zation being perfected along the lines, having for its object the freedom of the Canadas from British rule,) he was waited upon by a deputation from the executive committee having the matter in charge, who urged upon him the acceptance of a Major General's commission, with the command of the second of the three Divisions. After some hesitation, he accepted the position, and fixed his headquarters at Watertown, N. Y. The confidence and enthusiasm of the people on the subject, for fifty miles on each side of the lines, was so unbounded, that such a thing as failure seems not to have been thought of. The whole plan of operations, however, was frustrated by a rash attempt of Colonel Von Shoultz, a gallant Polander, to land at Prescott with his regiment. Success would have made Heroes and Patriots of the chief actors in the enterprize ; failure made them Rebels and Traitors. Von Shoultz and others were hanged, some were banished, and some (among whom was the subject of this sketch) were tried for a breach of the neutrality laws. General Birge is a son of the late Joseph Birge, Esq., who died in this town in 1854.
BISSELL, George Beckwith, (son of Mr. Jolin Bissell, ) was born in Litchfield, Sept. 12, 1823, entered the United States Navy in his youth .. In August, 1846, he was attached to the U. S. Brig Truxton when she was wrecked on the coast of Mexico, and with others was seized and held as a prisoner of war. On his release, lie made a visit to his native town ; but soon re-joined the Navy, and for eighteen months was attached to the scientific department at Washington. He joined the Frigate Cumberland in New York, as Sailing Master, on the 31st of August, and died at the Naval Hospital in Brooklyn, Sep-
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