USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Litchfield > St. Michael's Parish, Litchfield, Connecticut, 1745-1954; a biography of a parish and of many who have served it > Part 7
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the congregation can increase no more until either the present con- tracted and inconvenient building be enlarged and rendered com- fortable, or, what would be far better, a new Church, such as the best interests of the community, and of the cause of Christ in this important place demands, be erected. The present wooden Church, built towards half a century since, and now the poorest in the whole county, has barely sixty-two small and uncomfortable pews, which can conveniently seat only about 250 persons; while a substantial edifice is greatly needed, which would both adequately accommodate the one hundred families attached to the congregation, and also ad- mit any additions which the Head of the Church may hereafter make
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to our numbers. As things are now, several individuals are unable to procure seats, although desirous of paying for them; to say noth- ing of the poor for whom it is the duty of the more highly favored to provide, in order that the blessings of the Gospel may be equally dispensed among all classes. May the Lord of the harvest mercifully open the hearts of those who possess the pecuniary means, to supply these pressing wants which are so effectually stopping the growth of the Parish, and preventing its outward prosperity at least, if not its spiritual.
Before his efforts produced any effect, Dr. Fuller resigned in Sep- tember, again to take the rectorship of Christ Church, Andover, Massachusetts.
This able gentleman was born in Rensselaerville, New York, on St. Mark's Day, April 25, 1802. His father, the rector of the Episcopal Church there, had originally been a Presbyterian min- ister in Rensselaerville, but having been given a Prayer Book, he had studied it and become convinced of the invalidity of his ordi- nation. He became an Episcopalian, was ordained, and established a church in Rensselaerville in which a goodly number of those who had been members of his former congregation joined him. The younger Samuel was graduated from Union College in 1822 and from the General Theological Seminary in 1827. He was or- dered deacon on July 1, 1827 by Bishop Hobart of New York, and ordained priest in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1830 by Bishop Griswold. Before coming to St. Michael's in 1832 he had had charge of St. Paul's, Woodbury, and of Trinity Church, Saco, Maine, had been tutor at Trinity College, and later was editor of the Episcopal Watchman, at the same time having charge of St. Luke's, Glastonbury. Following his rectorate at Christ Church, Andover, he went in October, 1843, to the Theological Seminary in Gambier, Ohio, as Professor of Systematic Divinity and of In- terpretation of the Holy Scriptures, and was rector of Harcourt Parish, Gambier. His degree of Doctor of Divinity was received from Kenyon College in 1842. From April, 1844, to April, 1845, he was acting Professor of Moral Philosophy and President of
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Kenyon College, at Gambier. He was compelled by protracted ill health to leave the West, and was happy to return to St. Mi- chael's, where he stayed for four years. After ten years at Christ Church, Andover, he was Professor of the Literature and Inter- pretation of the Scriptures at Berkeley Divinity School from 1859 to 1883, after which he continued to reside at Middletown until 1895. He died at Middletown on March 8, 1895, aged ninety-two years and ten months, and was buried in the Indian Hill Cemetery, Middletown. Regarding his rectorship at St. Michael's it is inter- esting to read in the report to the Bishop, made in 1849 by the rector who succeeded him,
The present rector has had charge of the Parish only eight months, and the statistics given embrace the record of the preceding four months of the Rev. Dr. Fuller's ministry. To the indefatigable zeal and labors of this Rev. Brother, the Parish of St. Michael's is, under God, greatly indebted for its present strength and prosperity.
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THE THIRD CHURCH . BENJAMIN W. STONE
JOHN J. BRANDEGEE . JUNIUS M. WILLEY
HENRY N. HUDSON . WILLIAM S. SOUTHGATE
DR. FULLER was succeeded immediately by the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Washington Stone, who came to St. Michael's on October 8, 1849.
Early in 1850 the Society received the following communica- tion:
Bantam Falls, Feb. 21, 1850
WE the undersigned members of the First Episcopal Society-some- times called St. Michael's Parish in Litchfield, and of the congrega- tion worshipping in St. Paul's Church, Bantam Falls, feeling our connection with the First Society to be inconvenient and injurious and believing that our separation from the same will work no injury to any part of the said Society, wish to effect an amicable separation and a division of the Society's funds by mutual consent and be able to hold in its own name whatever part of the funds now held in common may be allotted to it. We do therefore hereby form our- selves into an Episcopal Society to be called "St. Paul's Parish," Ban- tam Falls, and we adopt the constitution and canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States and in the Diocese of Con- necticut and promise to be governed by the same.
This instrument is to take effect whenever the said First Society shall have assented to the proposed division of the Society and its Funds and shall have directed its officers to transfer to this Parish St. Paul's Church, Bantam Falls, and all the lands and other buildings
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of the said Society at Bantam Falls and one third of the Glebe Fund and one half of the Landon Fund now held by said Society. If the above division be authorized at the annual meeting of the First So- ciety on the first of April 1850, the subscribers to this paper will meet on the same day at 7 o'clock P.M. to organize the new Parish at the Church at Bantam Falls.
(Signed) David Westover, Abel H. Clemons, Abner Landon, Daniel Keeler, Rollin F. Kilbourn, Frederick S. Stoddard, Lemond D. Hosford, Sherman Landon, John T. Peters, Hiram G. Kilbourn, Lyman Stone, Garry G. Potter, [-] B. Goslee, Charles T. Landon, Putnam Kilbourn, Norman Kilbourn, John Westover, Stephen Rus- sell, Edward Woodruff, Lucius Wilmot, S. Clark Goslee, Willis Stone, Leman Stone, Homer Stoddard, Harmon Stoddard.
Another petition, almost identical with this, was received from Trinity Church, Milton, signed by H. P. Welch, Norman Hall, William Bissell, Almon J. Beach, Truman Guild, Josiah Jennings, Lucius Griswold, Truman Gilbert, Cornelius G. Birge, Everett H. Wright, Charles D. Wheeler, and Samuel Wright. The two petitions were considered at a meeting of the Society held on April I and were referred to a select committee-Origen S. Sey- mour, of St. Michael's, Putnam Kilbourn, of St. Paul's, and Ever- ett H. Wright, of Trinity-to report at an adjourned meeting. One can imagine the delicate situation which faced this committee, on which St. Michael's was represented by one of its ablest mem- bers. Unfortunately nothing is told us of their meetings, nor do we have their report, but at a meeting held on September 2 it was
Voted that the petitioners from St. Paul's (Bantam Falls) have leave to withdraw their petition; Voted that the petitioners from Milton have leave to withdraw their petition.
Once more a breach was healed!
At the meeting last mentioned another important vote was taken, significant especially to members of St. Michael's. It was that "the Society do approve the building of a new Episcopal Church edifice on the site of St. Michael's in conformity to the voluntary subscription raised or to be raised for that purpose."
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The sale of the old church edifice was approved, "the avails" to be used in the erection of the new building. It was also "provided that this Society is not holden to defray any part of the expense of building said new Church." The meeting approved the forma- tion of a parish committee of five persons, besides the rector, to be in charge of the building, and instructed the committee to get plans of churches, to determine what price the present church would bring, and to report at a future meeting. The building com- mittee was composed of Seth P. Beers, Edwin B. Webster, Dr. Josiah G. Beckwith, Dr. George Seymour, David DeForest, and Dr. Stone. So without a great delay Dr. Fuller's emphatic pleas for a new church bore fruit.
Before building had progressed very far, Dr. Stone submitted his resignation to the vestry. Presented to a meeting of the Society held April 21, 1851, he spoke of his reluctance to break the tie which had existed between him and the parish for eighteen months, and said that he did so because of his duty to his family and other important considerations. It was then unanimously re- solved that the wardens and vestry, with three other influential parishioners, wait upon Dr. Stone to ask him to withdraw his resig- nation. This proved to be impossible, however, so at the next meet- ing it was voted to provide for clergymen to fill the several pulpits until a successor could be found.
On the July 15th following, the cornerstone of the new church was laid by the Rev. Nathaniel S. Wheaton, who was temporarily supplying at St. Michael's, assisted by six clergy from neighboring parishes, and Dr. Stone. A fairly complete account of the service and a careful list of the contents of a zinc box placed under the cornerstone are given in the Society's records, with this note by Dr. A. S. Lewis, Clerk:
I have made this entry in the Parish Records that a future generation may know (more certainly that we can ascertain in regard to the Church lately removed) the date of its construction.
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At a special meeting of the Society held on the day of the laying of the cornerstone it was voted to direct the wardens and vestry- men to invite the Rev. John Jacob Brandegee to become rector to succeed Dr. Stone. Mr. Brandegee accepted the call, and en- tered on his duties on August I.
Meanwhile the new church building was raised in five days, be- ginning July 21. Completed on December 10, it was consecrated by Bishop Brownell the following day. The new church was the same width as its predecessor, that is, 40 feet, and was 80 feet long. After the old church was taken down, and before the new build- ing was completed, the congregation worshiped in the Court House. It was during this period that the funeral of Truman Marsh took place in the Congregational Church.
At the first meeting of the Society in 1852, held on April 12, thanks were voted to several persons for gifts to the new church: to the Rev. Mr. Brandegee for a handsome font, to Mr. David C. Bulkley for a Bishop's Chair, made by himself, and to Mrs. Edwin B. Webster for a beautiful altar cloth. In May, Mr. Solomon Marsh formally presented the organ, still in good condition, which he had put in the church thirty years before, but which had never been given to the parish. The Society appointed a commit- tee to express their grateful thanks to Mr. Marsh.
Mr. Brandegee's first report to the Bishop showed a consider- able increase in the number of families connected with St. Mi- chael's, 126 as compared with Dr. Stone's 107. Mr. Brandegee spoke of the new church edifice, "the result of the labors of former pastors," which he said had already added much to the strength and efficiency of the parish.
At the annual meeting of the Society on March 28, 1853, when the matter of treasurer came up for discussion, it was voted here- after to appoint a general treasurer for the three parishes, or the Episcopal Society, and also a treasurer for each parish. Dr. J. G. Beckwith was appointed general treasurer, Dr. A. S. Lewis, treas-
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urer of St. Michael's, Stephen Russell, of St. Paul's, and Truman L. Jennings, of Trinity.
On February 1, 1854, Mr. Brandegee resigned from St. Mi- chael's to accept a call to Utica, New York. Immediately the parish voted to invite the Rev. Benjamin W. Stone to return as rector. As an inducement the salary offered was $700 a year, with such other aid, "by way of wood or house rent," as should be deemed expedient. Apparently this move was unsuccessful, for at a meeting on April 24 it was voted unanimously to call the Rev. Junius Marshall Willey of Stonington. The parish offered him $800 a year, and agreed to pay his moving expenses. Mr. Willey accepted the call, but he did not take charge of the parish until April 8, 1855.
In his first report to the Bishop, though his connection with the parish had been short, Mr. Willey was able to say that there was already need of increased church accommodation, since several families desiring seats were unable to obtain them.
In 1853 St. Michael's Parish had received a communication from Hosea Webster, of Brooklyn, a former member of the par- ish, who felt a deep interest in its permanent prosperity, offering, on certain conditions, to present the parish with $1,000, invested in a railroad bond bearing 7 percent interest, to be held as a per- manent fund, the interest only to be used, as plainly specified: first, as much as necessary for the liberal maintenance of a Sunday school; second, as much as needed of the remainder to be used for the extreme poor and sick of the parish; and third, any not needed for the first two purposes to be used for the support and improve- ment of the music. The committee controlling the expenditure of the money, which would be held by the wardens and vestry, was to be composed of the rector and four ladies, Mrs. B. W. Beers, Miss Caroline Parmelee, Mrs. O. S. Seymour, and Mrs. Har- riet B. Belden, and their successors. The other conditions on which the $1,000 was to be given the parish were that within six months the present debt owed by St. Michael's be discharged in full, and
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that at no future time should any debt exceeding $500 be con- tracted and remain unpaid for one year. This offer must have been the cause of much concern and action. Obviously there had been a large debt of which Mr. Webster knew. The action with refer- ence to treasurers seems to have been the result of Mr. Webster's letter. Another result was a more strict collection of pew rents. Dr. A. S. Lewis was appointed agent and attorney of the Society to carry delinquents with unpaid rents to the courts.
At the end of the report of a meeting held on May 5, 1856, a note is made as follows: "At this meeting the committee appointed four years since to audit Dr. Beckwith's accounts reported ver- bally that the debts were all paid and the Society clear of debt." Accordingly, the vestry of St. Michael's Parish met on the follow- ing May 19th to take action on Mr. Webster's offer. Mr. Webster had long since extended his time limitation, and the fact that all debts were paid had been communicated to him. He had re- sponded by a letter, dated May 13, that he was ready to carry out his offer. The vestry accepted the liberal gift on the conditions Mr. Webster had laid down, and tendered him the hearty thanks of the parish. At the annual meeting of the Episcopal Society on April 13, 1857, the vestry of St. Michael's reported this action to the Society, which confirmed and ratified their action, and also expressed its thanks.
At the same meeting it was voted that a chapel for the use of St. Michael's Church be erected near the southeast corner of the church, provided that it be built without expense to the Society. This was built at a cost of about $1, 100. It was used as a lecture and Sunday school room, and here meetings of the Episcopal So- ciety were hereafter held.
In the spring of 1857 the parish was presented with its present rectory by Mrs. Clarissa Marsh, widow of the Rev. Truman Marsh. This rectory cost Mrs. Marsh $1,500 and was a most wel- come addition to the parish's real property. With a new church, a chapel, and rectory, St. Michael's was in flourishing condition
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physically. There is evidence of spiritual progress also in Mr. Wil- ley's reports to the Bishop, which showed 143 families in the parish in 1856, 147 in 1857, and 150 in 1858. Other statistics spoke in the same encouraging way. A new feature of the diocesan reports was a detailed account of contributions for "objects without the Par- ish" and "objects within the Parish," which in 1857 totaled $4,180. In his report of 1857, Mr. Willey acknowledged assistance he had received in his parochial work from the Rev. C. H. Sey- mour and the Rev. D. G. Wright, young men connected with the Wolcott Institute, a church school recently established in Litch- field.1
Mr. Willey resigned from St. Michael's in the spring of 1858 to become associate rector of St. John's, Waterbury. After a short interval, during which the Rev. Mr. Wright, rector of the Wol- cott Institute, took charge, an invitation, which he accepted, was extended to the Rev. Henry Norman Hudson, of New York, to become rector of St. Michael's. He began his duties on June 27, 1858.
In passing it should be recorded that although the Parish now had a rectory, neither Mr. Willey, the rector when it was pre- sented, nor Mr. Hudson lived in it. Mr. Willey is said to have preferred boarding. When Mr. Hudson came the rectory was rented, and after establishing himself comfortably in another house he did not care to make a change.
There is little to note concerning Mr. Hudson's rectorate. He reported a large Sunday school of 141 scholars and 16 teachers. He also reported that a chancel window was installed at a cost of over $150, and that the Church and Chapel were painted. He re- signed to take effect November 1, 1860, and he was succeeded, without the interruption of a Sunday, by the Rev. William Scott Southgate, of Brattleboro, Vermont.
The Civil War period which followed was reflected in reports of sums of money given for soldiers' Prayer Books, for sick and 1 See p. 148.
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wounded soldiers, for the 19th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers. After Mr. Hudson's departure from Litchfield, he was appointed chaplain in the Army. Once Mr. Southgate resigned to take a chaplaincy, but the parish refused to accept his resignation.
To St. Michael's the most important happening of this period was the death of the Hon. Seth P. Beers on September 9, 1863. A devoted and valuable member of the parish throughout his life- time, he left the bulk of his estate to his parish and to the Society. After certain legacies were paid, the sum received was about $40,000.
Briefly, the provisions of Mr. Beers' will which affected the Episcopal Society are as follows. After bequests to his wife and a friend, he gave $2,500 to be invested by the wardens and vestry of the Episcopal Society and held as a permanent fund, the inter- est of which should be used as follows: The interest or income from $1,000 to be used to pay for the services of the clergyman officiating at St. Michael's Church, the interest or income from $500 to be used in hiring seats in St. Michael's for persons unable to hire them for themselves, the interest or income from the re- maining $1,000 to be paid equally toward the support of the clergy officiating at Trinity Church, Milton, and St. Paul's, Bantam Falls. To the Society he gave all his newspapers printed in Litchfield, and also all newspapers, journals of the Diocesan Conventions, periodicals, and pamphlets relating to the Protestant Episcopal Church,2 to be deposited in a safe and appropriate place for "the careful use of the Clergymen and Parishioners." Finally, he left a third of the residue of his estate, after other bequests, in trust to the first Episcopal Society, and also the other two thirds, left dur- ing their lifetime to his daughter, Miss Julia M. Beers, and to his son, Alfred H. Beers, upon their death if they died without chil- dren.
The warmest expressions of appreciation of Mr. Beers' life and
2 These journals, newspapers and periodicals have been of great value in com- piling this history.
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bequest are found in the Society and Parish records, from which one gains an understanding of his character and his contribution to his Church and to the state. Special meetings were held to pass resolutions on the loss to the legal profession, to the State and to his Church, in his death. Among them it was
RESOLVED, That in commemoration of this important event in the history of our associated Churches we purpose to place in their interior walls a mural tablet with the name of their munificent friend and benefactor in testimony to present and future generations of the appreciation of his services to the cause of religion and as an example to others.
Mr. Beers was born in Woodbury on July 1, 1781, came to Litchfield early in the nineteenth century to attend the Law School, and thereafter made Litchfield his home. Engaged in state affairs for many years, he was not continuously in Litchfield until his retirement from active service. He was, however, a vestryman of St. Michael's almost continuously from 1809 until his death. He was occasionally a delegate from the parish to the Diocesan Con- vention from 1812 to 1842, and every year from 1842 until his death with few exceptions. He served on diocesan committees; he was supplemental deputy to the General Convention several times, and a deputy at least once. Dr. Algernon S. Lewis, for a long time clerk of the Episcopal Society, paid his own private tribute to this distinguished gentleman. In Dr. Lewis's tribute occur these words:
Few men in this State, during the past half century, will stand more prominent in its history than the Hon. Seth P. Beers, and the writer of this, knowing Mr. Beers for forty years and over, always in early life identifying Mr. Beers with the Church and the Church with Mr. Beers, makes this simple record of his own estimation of the great loss we as a Society have sustained in the death of Mr. Beers. On whom will "his mantle fall."
In a church crowded to its utmost capacity, Mr. Beers' funeral service was conducted by his old friend, Dr. Fuller, who delivered an appreciative tribute. In his memory is found in St. Michael's on the north wall of the nave a tablet the inscription of which reads
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SETH PRESTON BEERS/ BORN AT WOODBURY/ JULY 1, 1781/ DIED AT LITCHFIELD SEPT. 9, 1863.
Before passing on to the next period, it may be interesting to know something of the several rectors who had succeeded each other with such frequency.
Dr. Stone was born in Hudson, New York, was graduated from Trinity College in 1838, and from the General Theological Semi- nary in 1840. In 1861 the degree of Doctor of Divinity was con- ferred on him by Trinity College. He came to this Diocese from the Diocese of Western New York in 1849 but remained here only eighteen months, after which he moved to Brooklyn to be- come assistant to Dr. John S. Stone of Christ Church. He returned to Connecticut before long, however, and held several rectorates, was financial secretary and general agent of the Society for the Increase of the Ministry, a chaplain in the U. S. Army, and again removed to the Diocese of Western New York. He was the rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rochester, from 1873 to 1881, when he moved to the diocese of Pennsylvania, where he was in charge of St. Barnabas' Church, Reading, for three years. He died in Reading on February 11, 1884, after an illness of a year. He was highly respected and beloved, not only by his own church people, but by those of other denominations.
Dr. Brandegee was born in New London on July 15, 1823. He was graduated from Yale College in 1843, and entered the General Theological Seminary that year. He was ordered deacon by Bishop Brownell, July 3, 1846, in Christ Church, Hartford. Soon afterwards he went with a younger brother to the West Indies, where he found on the Island of St. Thomas a small body of churchmen organized into a parish, but without minister or church. He was welcomed heartily and had a successful ministry there, during which a handsome stone church was built and con- secrated. He returned to the United States for ordination to the priesthood, which he received from Bishop Henshaw of Rhode Island in St. James' Church, New London, on January 24, 1849,
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after which he returned to St. Thomas where he continued until June, 1850. Greatly loved there, he continued his interest in St. Thomas throughout his life, even remembering his former charge there in his will. On his return from the West Indies he came to St. Michael's, and left here in 1854 when he was called to Grace Church, Utica, New York, where he remained until his death on April 6, 1864. In character Dr. Brandegee was described as being of a rare type, quiet, unostentatious, yet earnest and effective, deeply devout, yet never obtrusive, noisy or pharisaical, rich in culture, thoroughly unselfish. His preaching was clear and instruc- tive, often rising to a solemn and forcible eloquence.
Mr. Willey was born in Ellington, Connecticut, May 27, 182 1, and was brought up as a Congregationalist. After practicing law for two years he was ordered deacon by Bishop Brownell on May 1, 1844, and elevated to the priesthood by the same bishop on June 10, 1845. After rectorates at Old Saybrook and Stonington, Con- necticut, and Bath, Maine, Mr. Willey came to St. Michael's. He left here to become associate minister at St. John's, Waterbury, where he remained until 1862. In that year he went to St. John's, Bridgeport, and died there on April 7, 1866. He had served as Sec- retary of the Diocese for twelve years. In his address to the Di- ocesan Convention of 1866 Bishop Williams said of Mr. Willey:
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