USA > Connecticut > Some old time meeting houses of the Connecticut Valley > Part 9
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In 1902 Mr. George G. Williams, then president of the Chemical Bank of New York city and a native of East Haddam, gave the church a large and commo- dious chapel with all the modern improvements.
The present church is the third house of worship used by the society. The first house was made of logs and was built in 1705. It was thirty two feet square. The second edifice was built after a more elaborate fashion in 1728. It was fifty five feet long and forty feet wide, and stood a short distance from the site of the first house. The site of the present house is a considerable distance from that of the first edifice and the change of location was the occasion of a violent church quarrel, resulting in the formation of an Epis- copal church.
The photographs from which the accompanying halftones were made were taken by the daughter of the present pastor of the church, the Rev. Franklin Countryman.
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1
FIRST CHURCH, EAST HARTFORD, CONN. 1835
First Church of East Hartford, Connecticut
"S TANDING sentinel at the main entrance to the town's highway, our church also stands boldly and largely and immovably for the town's righteousness and welfare."
In these words the historian of the First Congre- gational church of East Hartford lovingly referred, in a recent historical address, to his church edifice, and to the place which it holds in the community. Mr. H. S. Pitkin, of East Hartford, in a recent letter to the author writes: "The imposing meeting house, now 75 years old and in excellent condition, is a good ex- ample of its period, especially in its exterior, which remains practically as it was first designed. It stands at the junction of Connecticut Boulevard, that broad, mile-long stretch of road which joins on to the great stone arch bridge across the Connecticut river at Hartford, and the main street of East Hartford, the latter famous for its rows of ancient elms along either side and in its center. The Old White Church,' as it has been called for generations, dominates its locality and lends its name and something of its dignity to 'Church Corner,' which one passes in a trolly ride between Hartford and Springfield."
For half a century after the company under Rev. Thomas Hooker in the summer of 1636 established themselves at Hartford, the people dwelling on the east side of the "Great River" worshiped in meeting houses on the west side of the river. In May, 1694, the east side people petitioned the General Court for the "liberty of a minister" on their side of the river.
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Their petition was granted in 1701, and the church was organized sometime between that date and May 13, 1702. In 1783, when the town was separated from Hartford, the name of the church was changed to the First Congregational Church in East Hartford.
The first meeting house of the society was a long time in the process of construction and was a bare and uninviting structure. Its site is now known as "Meeting House Green" and is marked by a large boulder, bearing an appropriate inscription. The building was erected in the first decade of the eighteenth century.
The second house of worship was built in 1740 on substantially the same site as that of the first structure. It was a plain bare edifice, but much larger than its predecessor. The building was used as a hospital by the French army in 1781-2. It had a high and somewhat ornate pulpit on the west side with a huge and ornamental sounding board over it "like a great extinguisher." It had no steeple and there was no bell to call the people together.
It was torn down in 1835, after having been used as the home of the society for almost a century, and the available material used in the construction of the third house of worship, the stately structure of the present time.
This third house was patterned after the meeting house in New London and was built by Mr. Chauncey Shepard of Suffield. The raising took place in June, 1835. "There was ample provision of crackers and cheese, lemonade and water, but no rum." The edi- fice was dedicated January 20, 1836. The town con- tributed $1,000 toward the erection of the building and was allowed to use the basement room "for the purpose of transacting public business on the days of election and town meetings only." A more suitable
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place for public meetings was finally provided through a bequest made by the late Jonathan T. Wells. In 1876, while the late Dr. T. T. Munger was serving the church as stated supply, the house was badly damaged by fire and underwent extensive alterations on the inside. At this time the old pews were removed, the pulpit platform lowered, and the ceiling altered and frescoed. The time honored broad aisle also disap- peared, a change which was greatly lamented by many.
March 8, 1894, the church was incorporated, and in March, 1895, the ecclesiastical society, which had existed for almost two hundred years, having finished its mission, was dissolved.
That the church in its early history had a good degree of Congregational independence is shown by the fact that March 29, 1748, a formal protest was made against sundry articles of the platform adopted by the synod convened at Saybrook in 1708.
The most notable pastorate in the history of the church is that of Rev. Eliphalet Williams, D. D., in- stalled in 1748 and remaining with the church until his death in 1803, serving fifty three years as pastor and two years as pastor emeritus. He was the son of Rev. Solomon Williams, D. D., of Lebanon, and grandson of Rev. William Williams, of Hatfield, Mass. His brother William Williams, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Dr. Williams was in several respects a great man. At the inaugu- ration of Dr. Stiles as president of Yale College, Dr. Williams delivered an oration in Latin. He preached the sermon at the funeral of Governor William Pitkin, which was held in the East Hartford meeting house. Parson Williams, who was also known as "Priest" Williams, was a strict disciplinarian and a good deal of a tyrant in the administration of the
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affairs of the church. He was devoted to his pipe and loved his flip. The Parson Williams' house stood until recently on Main street, near the site of the first meeting house. It had a famous old doorway, a gambrel roof, and was "a study in architecture" both within and without.
Another notable pastor of the East Hartford church was Dr. Samuel Spring, who was settled in 1833 and continued in active service as pastor twenty nine years. John B. Smith in an address delivered at. the two hundredth anniversary of the church des- cribed Dr. Spring as "the gentleman, the peace lover, the kind neighbor, the thoughtful friend, prompt, self-forgetful, self-depreciating, honored and loved by all who knew him." The church has had in its membership many men of great influence in town and state affairs. In 1763 a board of elders was insti- tuted, corresponding to the present prudential com- mittee, which consisted of Honorable William Pitkin, governor of the colony, Jonathan Hills, John Pitkin, William Cowles, William Pitkin, Jr., Samuel Smith, Isaac Porter and Richard Gilman.
Through the efforts and generosity of Colonel Solomon Olmsted, the famous temperance reformer, John B. Gough, made almost annual visitations to East Hartford and delivered his wonderful lectures to enthusiastic audiences.
The first superintendent of the Sunday school was Major Samuel Pitkin, a foremost citizen of East Hartford.
Rev. William C. Prentiss is the present minister of the church.
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CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, FARMINGTON, CONN. 1771
The Congregational Church in Farmington, Connecticut
C CTOBER 13, 1652, seven men, afterwards called "the seven pillars of the church," entered into an engagement to form a church. The society has had three houses of worship. The first was a rude structure used as a fort as well as a house of worship and its site is unknown. The second house was completed in 1714 and resembled the meeting houses of that period. The date on the foundation stone of the third building, the present well known structure, is 1771. The architect and builder of this house was Captain Judah Woodruff. The design resembles in a general way that of the Old South Church of Boston. The spire of the church, which is one hundred and sixty feet in height, shows the influence of Sir Christopher Wren and is the crowning glory of the church. There are no bolts in the steeple, but simply good oak timber and pins. The tall Gothic roof of the tower was completed below and raised to its place.
The famous Connecticut blacksmith and apostle of peace, Elihu Burritt, in an address describing his first sight of Farmington, says : "I clambered up Sunset Rock and, sitting down on the edge with my feet over the side, looked off upon the scene with a feeling like that of a man first coming in view of Rome and its St. Peter's. I had never before seen a church with a steeple, and measuring this above us with a child's eye it seemed to reach into the very heavens. This steeple crowned all the wonder I saw."
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The interior arrangement of the church was in general the same as at present. The pulpit stood opposite the west door. Along the walls on every side of the gallery was a row of square pews. On the high pulpit and sounding board were ivy vines carved by Captain Woodruff.
In 1836 extensive alterations were made in the interior of the house; the square pews and the high pulpit and sounding board were removed at this time. In 1731 a bell was purchased, and a town clock was placed in the tower in 1738. In 1901 the interior of the church was completely renovated. The pulpit now in use was given by Miss Martha Day Porter and her sister in memory of their grandfather, Dr. Porter. The fine organ was given by Miss Anna Jennings of New York in memory of her beloved teacher, Miss Sarah Porter. In 1902 a beautiful parish house was erected in memory of Miss Porter by her pupils.
Rev. Noah Porter, D. D., born in Farmington December 23, 1781, was ordained as minister of the Farmington church in 1806. He served the church as pastor until his death in 1866. He was the father of Rev. Noah Porter, D. D., LL. D., who was president of Yale College at the time the writer of this book was a student in that institution and from whose hands he received his college diploma in 1882.
September, 1810, nine men appointed by the Gen- eral Association of Massachusetts as members of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Mis- sions met in Dr. Porter's study in Farmington and completed the organization of this first Foreign mis- sionary society in America. Governor Treadwell, a member of the Farmington church was the first presi- dent of the Board.
The following is from "The Hartford Magazine' for July, 1906: "Shakespeare speaks of 'the spire and
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INTERIOR OF THE FARMINGTON CHURCH
top of praise.' The beautiful spire of the Farmington Congregational church for more than a century has gracefully held its position at the top of praise among all church spires of its chaste style of beauty. It is generally conceded to be the daintiest and most ex- quisite lined church spire in rural America."
For most of the facts given in this sketch the writer is indebted to an article written some time ago by Rev. Quincy Blakely, the present minister of the Farmington church.
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CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, WETHERSFIELD, CONN. 1761
The Wethersfield Meeting House
T HE corner stone of the present house of worship was laid in 1761, the builders taking as a model the Old South church of Boston. In outward form the edifice is substantially the same as when built. A small porch was erected over the south door in 1830, which gave place in 1882-3 to the present handsome vestibule and porch. Originally the windows were filled with small panes of glass. Blinds were not used until 1827. In 1868 windows with large panes were substituted for those of small size and when the interior of the church was remodeled in 1882-3 stained glass windows were put in. This is the third meeting house that has stood on or near the site of the present edifice. The first was begun in 1645 and probably completed in 1647. It stood a short distance south of the site of the present house. It has been described as a small square building with a belfry, a north and a south door. It was made of logs. The interior was wainscoted and it was clapboarded with- out. In 1657 a bell was hung in the belfry and galleries were added in 1675.
The second meeting house had carved upon its corner stone the date of 1685, the year probably in which the erection of the building was begun. This house stood near the old site. The old bell was hung in the belfry of the new house and used for about a year, when it was recast and enlarged. This second house was fifty feet square and had dormer windows. There were no galleries until 1701-2. The first pews were built in 1715 and others were added in 1735.
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It was during the history of this structure that a branch of Yale College was established at Wethersfield and seats were assigned in the house of worship to students of that institution. Some of the material of this building was used in the erection of the present edifice. The old bell, which had been recast for the second building, was used in the new house for a quarter of a century. In 1786 a new bell of more than fifteen hundred pounds weight was cast. It was raised to its place in 1787 and the name of John Chester, who superintended without pecuniary compensation the building of the present house, was inscribed upon it. In 1875 this third bell was broken while being rung. In consequence it was taken down, recast and enlarged to a weight of more than two thousand pounds. It was raised to its place November 5, 1875. Some of the material in this bell has been used to call the people of Wethersfield to divine worship for more than two hundred and fifty years.
The tower of the church, like that of the Farming- ton house, is made of oak timber and pins, no iron bolts being used in its construction. The spire is famed for its grace and beauty.
It is believed that the first settlement in Connec- ticut was made at Pyquag, now Wethersfield, in 1634. The settlers came from Watertown, Massachusetts. The first ecclesiastical organization appears to have been effected in 1641. It was from this church that Rev. John Russell and a large company, on account of a religious controversy, removed to Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1659. Mr. Russell was minister of the church from 1650 to 1659. For further account of Mr. Russell the reader is referred to the sketch of the Hadley church, page 61.
Rev. George L. Clark, author of "Notions of a Yankee Parson," a book brimful of common sense and
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sparkling humor, is the pastor of the Wethersfield church. The writer thinks that his readers will be interested in a few quotations from Mr. Clark's book.
The man of seventycannot run as fast as the man of sixteen, but his opinion is worth more when he gets there. We owe a large debt to Dr. Osler for telling us that "the effective, moving, vitalizing work of the world is done between the ages of twenty five and forty," because he stimulated an inquiry which has led us to see that it is not so .- Chapter X. The Later Years.
This is the receipt for a fine day almost four hundred times a year : Equal parts of courage, kindness and patience, preserved in a crystal vial of purity, taken every morning before breakfast whether the sun shines or the clouds frown .- Chapter III. The Weather.
The country parson must know how to harness a horse, milk a cow, plant a garden, paint a room, tinker the clock, and make hens lay .- Chapter XII. Optimism, The Minister's Business.
We are here to play the game to the finish, to find the treasure in every part of life, and to use it, man-fashion .- Chapter IX. The Use of the Remainders.
If there is any time when the country parson is most sorely tempted to indulge in worldly pride and to look down in pity upon his less fortunate though more famous city brothers, it is when he goes out into his garden .- Chapter II. The Parson in his Garden.
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I
THE BEAUTIFUL COLONIAL MEETING HOUSE, OLD LYME, CONN.
Old Lyme, Connecticut
T HE new and beautiful house of worship at Old Lyme, Connecticut, is evidence of the respect of the present generation for the ideals and achievements of the fathers. What could be more appropriate than the preservation in the new house of worship of the main features of the ecclesi- astical architecture characteristic of former genera- tions ! How identical with the traditions of the past is the fashion of the present house of worship! What could be more beautiful or imposing in its historical environment than this house! According to tradition, a house of worship was built on Meeting House Hill
as early as 1668. This is believed to have been a small log building and was used for about a score of years. The second meeting house was erected in 1689, close to or upon the site of the first. The third house of worship was built about 1738 and stood upon Meeting House Hill, like its predecessors. The specifi- cations in the plan for the building of this house called for a structure sixty feet long, forty feet wide and twenty four feet between sill and plate. The General Court was petitioned to appoint a committee to determine the site, as the society could not agree upon one. There is a tradition that in 1780 the roof caught fire from the wad of a musket, which had been fired at marauding wood-peckers, and that a squadron of light horsemen stationed in the town helped to put out the fire. In 1815 the building was struck by lightning and burned. Its successor was the beautiful Colonial structure which became so widely known and admired. It was built in the years 1816-17, on a site about three quarters of a mile from where the former meeting
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houses had stood. It was about the same size as its predecessor. For designs for the new building several of the best houses of worship in the state were studied. According to tradition the work for the most part was done by ship carpenters. How great was the skill of the workmen and how excellent the taste of the designers was plainly shown by much of the woodwork. During the closing years of the past century and the first years of the present century the church became widely known. Paintings were made of it by several artists of distinction and one painting of it was recently shown at the International Exhibition in Venice. This noble structure stood for upwards of a century, the just pride of the inhabitants of the town and much admired by visitors from abroad. It was completely destroyed by a fire of unknown origin, July 3, 1907, the ninety second anniversary of the burning of its predecessor. In a letter to the writer of this book the pastor of the Old Lyme church, Rev. Edward M. Chapman, writes as follows of the present house of worship, an illustration of which appears in connection with this sketch: "The new building is practically a replica of the old; an exact replica as to front, sides, spire, and so forth as far as we could reproduce the old from photographs. The interior is a reproduction of the old, with a simplification of certain decorative features introduced when the apse was built about 25 years ago; and it is very successful."
The architect was Mr. Ernest Greene of New York. The edifice is substantially built of steel, cement- plaster, concrete and wood. The best quality of clap- boards was used to cover the cement, thus protecting the cement from the weather and naturally restoring the old appearance as well as the old lines of the church. The corner stone of the new house was laid November 8, 1908, and the church was dedicated June
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18-19, 1910. It represents an expenditure of about $50,000.
Two facts stand out in this brief historical sketch. First, there has been a house of worship on or near the site of the present building for about two and a half centuries. Secondly, in the building of the suc- cessive meeting houses steady advance was made in architectural effect, resulting in the noble structure described in this sketch and shown in the accompany- ing illustration.
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THE OLD TOWN MEETING HOUSE, ROCKINGHAM, VT. 1787
INTERIOR OF ROCKINGHAM CHURCH SHOWING HIGH PULPIT AND SOUNDING BOARD
The Old Town Meeting House Rockingham, Vermont
E ACH year the people of Rockingham, accom- panied by a large number of visitors, make a pilgrimage to the famous old town meeting house, on which occasion a service is held in the edifice and a sermon preached by some prominent clergyman. During the services some of the most familiar Psalms are read responsively and the old hymns of the church are sung by the congregation. The following beautiful hymn by J. G. Whittier, entitled, "Nature's Worship," was sung at the service held August 1, 1909 :
The harp at Nature's advent strung Has never ceased to play: The song the stars of morning sung Has never died away.
And prayer is made, and praise is given By all things near and far : The ocean looketh up to heaven And mirrors every star ;
The green earth sends her incense up From many a mountain shrine : From folded leaf and dewy cup She pours her sacred wine.
The blue sky is the temple's arch ; Its transept, earth and air ; The music of its starry march, The chorus of a prayer.
So Nature keeps the reverent frame With which her years began ; And all her signs and voices shame The prayerless heart of man.
The following sketch is taken from the admirable "History of Rockingham," by Mr. L. S. Hayes, of Bellows Falls, Vermont :
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"The only church building in Vermont dating back to Colonial days, which retains the original characteristics in its interior, as well as its exterior, is that located in the little hamlet of Rockingham. Leaving the broad valley of the Connecticut near the mouth of Williams river, where, in the winter of 1704, the first Christian sermon was preached in the almost unbroken wilderness of the territory which afterward became the state of Vermont, by the Rev. John Williams, then a captive in the hands of Indians who had taken him, with over a hundred others, in the Deerfield massacre, we proceed up the valley of the river which bears his name. One who looks for the picturesque and the quaint is soon delighted to catch glimpses of a severely dignified, simple, white structure, standing on a consider- able eminence overlooking the valley and seeming to dominate the landscape. As one comes nearer and rounds the foot of the hill itself he finds himself in the quiet little village of Rockingham, familiarly known as 'Old Town.'
It was here that the first settlements in the town were made in 1752, with the expectation that it would be the social and business center of the town, and here that the early settlers, in 1772, voted that "the Meeting house be Set on the hill west of David Pulsipher's house about thirty or forty Rods." It was a quaint and beautiful custom of those days which set the Lord's house always upon a hill, in the midst of the town, a silent and lofty guardian watching over the affairs of men in the valley below. The meeting house of the first church organized in Rockingham, a type in itself of the stern, unyielding dignity of those rugged characters, stands hard by the graves of those who once made the life of the community, overlook- ing the Williams river valley and the peaceful farms below. It is a landmark for many miles and attracts every year many visitors from a distance.
The interior is of severest Puritan outline, the only deviation from the rectangle being an inclosed two-story 'porch' at each end, from which the stairs ascend to the gallery. The windows are many, and contain each forty panes. The pulpit, which was originally reached by a winding stairway, has been lowered a few feet, but otherwise the interior is unchanged since the days when the good people from the farms in the neighborhood laboriously climbed the hill to sit without fires, with freezing feet, and benumbed hands through sermons two hours long, or convened on week days to trans- act the weighty business of the town.
The pews are of the old square, high backed style, the outer or wall row, being raised slightly above those in the corner of the room. The spindles which once ornamented the backs of these seats have
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been ruthlessly removed as curiosities, as have been the hinges which once creaked on Sabbath afternoons as the door of the pew swung back to admit the good man and his family, ---- the children in somber anticipation of long hours of imprisonment on good behavior, to be alleviated only by rare and meagre dolings of fennel and caraway seeds from the capacious depths of maternal pockets.
This building, so interesting and quaint, is an object lesson in itself of the architecture and methods of building in old Colonial days, dating back, as it does, to the years when Vermont was a sovereign state without ties to other states or nations; when all citizens, irrespective of creed or without creed, where taxed by the government for the support of the gospel, as well as for other purposes for which taxes were imposed by the laws of the common- wealth.
It was built by the town itself, the various votes in relation to it being passed in town meeting and the expense paid directly from the town treasury. In addition to its use for church purposes it was used for all town meetings until 1870, after which the town business was transacted in Bellows Falls. It was the only public building owned by the town until 1887, when the present brick structure known as the opera house was erected in Bellows Falls, just one hundred years later than this town church was built. The regular church organization, organized along the broad lines of Congregationalism previous to the building of the church was kept in being until 1839, and until this year sustained a local pastor most of the time. At sundry periods the building has been used by various religious denominations, but since 1839 it has not been regularly occupied by any. The town very appropriately authorizes the selectmen to keep the building in good repair, the out- side being neatly painted, and the roof well shingled, but the inside has had but little expended in keeping it in repair and curiosity seekers have somewhat marred its beauty. Substantially, it remains in the primitive condition of the 18th century, a silent, and yet eloquent, reminder of the days when church and state were one, and when there was a universal interest throughout the community in spiritual things."
The master builder, who directed the erection of the old meeting house described in the sketch by Mr. Hayes, was General Fuller. He lived on a farm in the town of Rockingham. It is said that at the time of the raising of the frame of the edifice "Mr. Fuller quietly
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took his place on the beam and went up with the front broad side."
On the opposite side of the house from that shown in the accompanying picture of the exterior of the building are two interesting entrances with classic embellishments. During the early years of the town, notices of important public meetings were posted on the front door of the old church. Here also were published all matrimonial banns and intentions of marriage. The following unique notice was posted on the door of the meeting house March 15, 1804:
"Notice,-John Parks Finney and Lydia Archer, of Rocking- ham, came to my house, and having been published agreeably to law,-but he being a minor and not having his father's consent, I refused to marry them. They, however, declared that they took each other as husband and wife, meaning to live and do for each other accordingly. Samuel Whiting, Minister."
This appears to have been a kind of free love marriage.
Since Mr. Hayes wrote his sketch of the edifice, parts of the building, which had been removed or had decayed, have been restored. At this time the old pulpit was restored. August 12, 1907, the house was rededicated, a large crowd attending the exercises. Some one, writing of the old church since the work of restoration was completed, says, "It is now a beauty in its quaintness."
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INTERIOR OF ROCKINGHAM CHURCH
APR 75
N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA
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