USA > Connecticut > Tolland County > Columbia > The 150th anniversary of the organization of the Congregational Church in Columbia, Conn., October 24th, 1866 : historical papers, addresses, with appendix > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
-
-
53
And within the past year we have had laid down amid the coral and dark depths of ocean one of these wires, and are now holding communication with the "mother country," on the other side of the Atlantic. But I must suppress these thoughts, which seem to come over me unbidden, while I speak of our prosperity as a Society for the last half century and then close.
In 1816, the dwelling houses were mostly in a dilapidated condition, weather-worn and mostly unpainted ; such as were painted were a dingy red. I can recall to mind but two in the town at that time that were painted white. All were warmed by fires in the large old fashioned fire places of the olden time. There were no stoves in town ; no warming of the meeting house whatever ; not more than two or three houses with a carpet upon any of its floors; no one horse wagons, the people riding to church on horseback, very often the man with his wife or daughter on a pillion behind him.
In two or three instances families living remote came in heavy lumbering hacks, as they were then called, and which was considered as rather an aristocratie way of going to church.
I think I am safe in saying that the great mass of the people in town at that time were more or less in debt. Money did not circulate freely, and the business transactions were mostly on credit ; the farmers getting their groceries of the merchant, and in the fall paying the account in beef, pork, and the sur- plus produce of their farms, feeling satisfied if they got money enough to pay taxes.
"To-day, as compared with fifty years ago, we are abundantly blessed. The most of our dwellings have put off their brown, and are painted white; are comfortably furnished, warmed, and carpeted.
The majority have probably been built new or essentially remodeled. The lands are much better cultivated, and the products of our crops per acre are much greater than formerly. Our farmers have, in the main, paid off their debts, and many of them have a small surplus invested in stocks, or at interest. And though we have no rich man in town, in the common
7
54
acceptation of the term, yet the great mass of our people have at their hands enough to satisfy all reasonable wants. The evidence of rural improvement and taste is seen about most . of our dwellings, and I believe a good degree of comfort and hospitality reigns within. The church in which we are now convened, in its plain simplicity, and devoid as it is of archi- tectural beauty, as compared with the old one in which in my boyhood on many a winter's Sabbath day I have sat listening to the creaking of its timbers, the rattling of window panes, and the howling of winter winds, and waiting, not so much " upon the Lord in his sanctuary," as for the lastly of the minister's sermon, which foreshadowed a speedy deliverance from the biting cold within its walls. I say as compared with that, the present house seems to me to be about all we can reasonably desire. But of the thousand thoughts which come up in this connection I can not now speak.
Now in conclusion, let me say to the youth and children present, a few, and but a few of whom will be present when fifty years hence, the people of this Parish shall meet to cele- brate the two hundredth anniversary of this Church and Society, as I trust they will, may you so live that you may not only give to the Lord a good account of your stewardship, but pass over to your children the trusts which we commit to you.
And now I charge you that you guard well the interests of this Church and Society. See to it that you keep the fire burning brightly on this altar; that these seats with each returning Sabbath are filled with devout worshipers; that this desk is filled by a devout and faithful Pastor. Be kind to the aged and bear with their infirmities as they totter down the declivity of life, and when you shall grow old may you be able to commit all these sacred trusts reposed in you to your children, untarnished, unimpaired.
. And finally, may we all so live as to be accounted faithful stewards, and on "the other side Jordan" be permitted to meet in reunion in that " city that hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God dothi lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."
-
-
-
£
55
ADDRESS,
BY REV. CHARLES LITTLE, OF WOODBURY.
Mr. President and Friends :
IT is with peculiar satisfaction that I avail myself of this privilege of addressing you. Returning to this home of my childhood, for many years a wanderer, though not a fugitive, over the face of the earth, to share in the festivities and solemnities of this occasion, I have been in common with you all, most deeply interested.
l'ermit me, sir, to congratulate yourself and the committee of arrangements, on the success of this anniversary. I desire to express my personal obligations to your pastor and others who have labored so successfully to interest and instruct us.
This old town of Columbia, small as it is, and apart from the whirl of business, has an honorable history. Her sons and daughters need not be ashamed of their birth-place. Some may tell us that " it is a good place from which to emigrate," but I have felt to-day that it is a good place in which to live and to die ; that here one may fill up a useful life and exert influences which shall magnify his own and others' happiness throughout eternity.
Thronging memories come up to me of scenes in my child- hood and early youth, upon which I love to dwell.
I remember those gorgeous sunsets witnessed from my father's house, and those severe thunder storms which stirred my youthful blood. It seems to me that I have never beheld any since quite so grand and delightful.
I recall with pleasure those various schools which I attended, common and select, Sabbath and singing. In respect to phys- ical and temporal blessings I have never enjoyed myself so well as then. Those were happy days. But my companions in those scenes-where are they ? Some of them are here, strong in manhood's prime, but the larger part are absent ; many scattered over the land ; many in their graves. Look- ing over this congregation I recognize a few of them, and
-
56
others who were then in active life, now bent and white by reason of age, but the majority here are strangers.
One hundred and fifty years ago ! What mighty changes have occurred during this brief period ! Then the population of this State was probably less than fifty thousand, only a few hundreds more than are now living in the city of New Haven. The settlements were confined to the vicinity of the Sound and rivers, leaving the large part of the State an unbroken forest. The far West was then this side the present city of Utica.
Contrast the changes in the manner of living and in the modes of conveyance ; mark the progress made in the subju- gation of the wilderness, in the growth of cities and villages, in new machinery and manufactures, in increased facilities for business.
Within this time how has the world itself been enlarged and at the same time compressed together! Its vast territories, then unknown, have been opened up to our knowledge; its population has increased from about seven hundred and fifty millions to twelve hundred millions. Yet the ends of the earth were never so near to each other as now. We can travel round the globe in a few weeks,-we can exchange morning and evening salutations with our brothers across the ocean.
This occasion inspires within us thoughts and feelings too precious to be forgotten. We feel our obligation to our fore- fathers and foremothers. To them under God we owe this rich inheritance. Their wisdom, toils and prayers obtained for us this history, so honorable and hallowed. How shall we repay them ? We may do it by honoring their memories, not only to-day but continually. We may do it by training our children to excel ourselves in all that makes the useful citizen, the efficient Christian.
We owe a large debt of gratitude to God for what he has wrought in our town. For this church, for the institutions of the gospel planted and preserved here, for revivals in years long past, for refreshings in recent times, for the present powerful work of grace, we are unspeakably indebted to Him.
57
Oh what fervency of grateful love, what activity of sanctified powers should be presented to Him who has thus wonderfully proved Ilis willingness to bless. From henceforth let us have a stronger confidence in God that He will fulfill His promises, that He will work out the redemption of the world.
We are here taught our duty to work for God. Had not the generations whose deeds have been rehearsed in our hear- ing, labored for God, these blessings would not have been ours. Let us emulate their example; let our consecration as much exceed theirs as our privileges are greater than theirs.
Be encouraged, ye who have been long enrolled in Christ's army. Fear not, faint not. Fight on, fight manfully. Vic- tory, honor, trophies many, and crowns eternal shall be yours.
Ye who have recently entered the service of Christ, whether days many or few remain, be faithful. Important is the work before you. Be faithful and your Master shall reward you with the plaudit-" Well done."
To the youth and children present, one word. We wish you, we expect you to become better men, better women, more useful citizens, more efficient Christians than your fathers and mothers have been. Your privileges are great, your opportunities are vast, your obligations are infinite. I charge you, be true to yourselves, be true to your God.
This is indeed a joyous occasion. It is delightful, this review of the past; this revival of former friendships; this social intercourse ; this interchange of feeling; this hallowed communion with each other, and perchance with the spirits of many whose bodies rest in these cemeteries ; but I must not dwell.
I look forward with confident hope to another re union more blessed than this. There will be families in unbroken suc- cession. There, from many parts of this land, from the red men of the forest, from the idolators of India, will be gathered many witnesses to the fidelity and power of this church.
Here we meet for a few hours and part to see each other no more in the flesh, but there our re-union will continue for- ever. There through cycles endless, we shall progress in the service, the love, the joy of God our Father, and of Ilis Son our Saviour. May we all be there.
58
MOOR'S INDIAN CHARITY SCHOOL, ITS SCHOOLMASTERS AND MISSIONARIES.
BY THE PASTOR.
AMONG the carliest missionary efforts in the country, long before the organization of the " American Board," must be noted the Indian Missionary School of Rev. Eleazar Wheel- ock, pastor of the church in Lebanon Crank, now Columbia. This enterprise deserves notice, particularly because of its early date and worthy intention. It, however, was not with- out some good fruit in its work among the Indian tribes, and is to be regarded as of peculiar interest and importance, as leading to the establishment of Dartmouth College.
In December, 1743, Mr. Wheelock received into his family school, Samson Occom, a Mchegan Indian, whose successful course of education led to the project of training Indian youth to become missionaries to the various accessible tribes. For the encouragement of this enterprise Mr. Joshua Moor, of Mansfield, gave a lot of land near the center of the parish. A school house was soon built, situated on the corner cast of the Hartford, and south of the Willimantic road, opposite which, at the north, was Dr. Wheelock's house. The school was sustained, and the missionaries sent out from it were supported by appropriations from the legislatures of Connec- ticut and Massachusetts, by funds received from England to the amount of seven thousand pounds sterling, of which the King gave two hundred pounds, by funds of the Scotch Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, and by other church and individual contributions .*
This project assumed such importance at the time that it received the hearty commendation of the following neighbor- ing ministers, in a paper drawn up and signed by them, under date of " Chelsea in Norwich, July 10, 1762:"
* Sec Note B, Appendix.
59
Ebenezer Rosseter, pastor of the first church in Stonington. Joseph Fish, second " 66
Nathaniel Whitaker,
66
Chelsea.
Benjamin Pomeroy, 66 first 66 ITebron.
Elijah Lathrop, 66
66 Gilead.
Nathaniel Eells,
a
Stonington.
Mather Byles,
first 66 New London.
Jonathan Barber,
66 Groton.
Matthew Graves, missionary at New London.
Peter Powers, pastor of the church in Newent.
Daniel Kirkland, formerly pastor at Newent.
Asher Rosseter, first church, Preston.
Jabez Wright,
fourth «
Norwich.
David Jewett, 66 second "
a
Norwich.
Samuel Mosely,
66
a
66
Windham. 66
Stephen White,
66
a
66
Mansfield.
Timothy Allen,
66
66 Ashford.
Ephraim Little,
first
Colchester.
Ilobart Estabrook,
66
a
66
Joseph Fowler,
66
66
66
East Haddam. 66 Middletown.
Benjamin Boardman,
66
fourth 66
John Norton,
sixth 66
66
Benjamin Dunning,
a
66 Marlborough.
Besides this we have another paper of commendation, dated New Jersey, September 5, 1765, which, among many other words, bears this testimony :
" We whose names are hereunto subscribed do certify that we have had frequent opportunities of being well-informed of an Indian Charity School which was some years ago instituted in the Colony of Connecticut, and which, by the continued smiles of Heaven, hath remarkably succeeded under the care of the Rev. and worthy Mr. Eleazar Wheelock, &c.
Thomas Gage, Commander-in-chief of His Majesty's forces in America.
Francis Bernard, Governor of Massachusetts.
Benjamin Wentworth, Governor of New Hampshire.
66
Richard Salter,
New London.
Benjamin Throop,
60
William Franklin, Governor of New Jersey.
John Penn, Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.
Thomas Fitch, Governor of Connecticut.
Cadwallader Colden, Lieutenant Governor of New York. William Allen, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.
Frederick Smith, Chief Justice of New Jersey.
Theodore Atkinson, Chief Justice Superior Court of New Hampshire.
Mark H. Wentworth, of His Majesty's Council in New Hamp- shire.
Daniel Warner, Judge of the Common Pleas in New Hamp- shirc.
William Smith, Justice of Superior Court in New York.
Peter Levins, of his Majesty's Council in New Hampshire. Samuel Woodruff, of his Majesty's Council in New Jersey. Joseph Shippen, Secretary of Pennsylvania.
Theodore Atkinson, Jr., Secretary of New Hampshire.
W. P. Smith, Mayor of Elizabethtown, New Jersey.
Andrew Elliott, Collector in New York.
Henry Sherbourn, of the House of Representatives, New Hampshire.
John Goff, of the House of Representatives, New Hampshire. William Smith, Jr., Lawyer in New York.
John Morin Scott, Lawyer in New York.
William Livingston, Lawyer in New York.
Henry Wisner, of the General Assembly in New York. Eleazar Miller, of the General Assembly in New York. John Redman, M. D., in Philadelphia. ·
John Morgan, M. D., in Philadelphia.
William Farquhar, Benjamin Y. Prime, James Smith, Physi- cians in New York.
Abraham Gardner, Col. in East Hampton.
Samuel Smith, Daniel Roberdeau, Merchants in Philadelphia. P. V. B. Livingston, James Jauncey, David Shaw, Garr.
Rapalje, John Smith, John Provost, John Vender Spiegel, William M'Adams, Laurence Read, Dirk Brinkerhoff, Gar- rat Noel, Merchants in New York.
61
Samuel Sebury, Thomas B. Chandler, D. D., Jacob Duche, Ministers and Missionaries of the Church of England, by order of the Presbytery of New York, James Caldwell, Clerk.
John Ewing, Charles Beatty, Richard Treat, John Strain, Ministers in Pennsylvania.
Samuel Finley, D. D., President of the College in N. J.
Lambertus De Ronde, Archibald Laidlie, Joan Ritzema, Jolm
Albert Weygand, Ministers of the Protestant Dutch Church in New York.
Thomas Jackson, Preacher of the gospel in New York.
Ebenezer Prime, Thomas Lewis, Silvanus White, James Brown, Samuel Buel, Ministers on Long Island.
Naphtali Daggett, S. T. P. in Yale College, Connecticut. Jonathan Parsons, Minister in Newbury, Massachusetts. Samuel Haven, Minister in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. John Rogers, Joseph Treat, Ministers in New York.
. The number of scholars ranged from fifteen to twenty-five, about one half Indians, the others being English youth devo- ted chiefly to the work of missions among the Indians. The principal tribes from which these Indian pupils came, and the method of conducting this enterprise will be fairly indicated by this record of a hundred years ago :
"March 12, 1765, the Board of Correspondents met to ex- amine Mr. Titus Smith and Mr. Theophilus Chamberlain, of their qualification for missionaries, and approved them. And also examined and approved David Fowler, a Montauk Indian, and Joseph Woolley and Hezekiah Calvin, Delawares, for schoolmasters among the Indians. They also examined Jacob Fowler, a Montauk, Moses, Johannes, Abraham Primus, Abraham Secundus, and Peter, Mohawks, and approved them as well accomplished for schoolmasters, excepting their want of age, and therefore appointed them to serve in the capacity of ushers, under the direction and conduct of the mission- arics."
Of those who were actually sent out as missionaries only a brief mention can here be made.
Samson Occom, born in 1723, was ordained by the Suffolk
8
62
Presbytery on Long Island, and labored among the Montauk Indians, the Oneidas, and several other tribes, until 1766, when he was sent to England, in company with Rev. Mr. Whitaker, to solicit aid for the school. Being the first Indian preacher that had ever visited that country, he quickly enlisted an interest in himself personally, and in his mission, which proved a very successful one. He gained the reputation, both at home and abroad, of being an able and impressive preacher. His labors among the Indians were attended with the blessing of God. He preached a sermon on the execution of an Indian at New Haven, in 1772, which was published. He wrote an account of the Montauk Indians, which is still in manuscript. .He was the author of that familiar and stirring hymn, "Awaked by Sinai's awful sound." In the latter part of his life he labored at various places in the vicinity of Albany, and a barn is still pointed out in the Mohawk valley by those who heard him preach in it seventy-five or eighty years ago. HIe died in New Stockbridge, New York, July 14, 1792, in the sixty-ninth.year of his age.
It does not appear that any other Indian youth from Dr. Wheelock's school 'became ordained missionaries. Many, however, were sent out as schoolmasters, and schools which promised well for a time were gathered in several of the tribes of the Six Nations. Here is a peep into one of these schools which we take through the eyes of one of the missionaries : "I am every day diverted and pleased with a view of Moses and his school, as I can sit in my study and see him and all his scholars at any time, the school house being nothing but an open barrack ; and I am much pleased to see eight, ten or twelve, and sometimes more scholars sitting round their bark table, some reading, some writing, and others a studying, and all engaged, to appearance, with as much seriousness and attention as you will see in almost any worshiping assembly, and Moses at the head of them with the gravity of a divine of fifty or threescore."
And here are a few words from one of these schoolmasters, David Fowler, of the Montauk tribe, writing to Dr. Wheelock from his station among the Oneidas :
63
"Kanavarohare [Canajoharie, ] June 15, 1765. Honored and Rev. Sir,
This is the twelfth day since I began to keep this school, and I have put eight of my scholars into the third page of their spelling book ; some have got almost down to the bottom of said page. I never saw children exceed these in learning. The number of my scholars are twenty-six, when they are all present, but it is difficult to keep them together. They are often roving about from place to place to get something to live upon. I am also teaching a singing school. They take great pleasure in learning to sing. We can already carry three parts of several tunes. My friends are always looking for the ministers. There is scarce a day passes over but somebody will ask me,-' When will the minister come ?'"'
How many of Dr. Wheelock's Indian students actually be- came schoolmasters we can not tell, but at one time eight are spoken of as thius engaged, with 127 children under their care. Some of these youth gave evidence of true piety, and entered upon this work in the spirit of missionaries. As an illustra- tion of this, take these words of Joseph Wooley, a school- master among the Mohawks: "The language of my heart is, to contribute thie little mite I have to the living God, and be in his service. My soul seems to be more and more upon the perishing pagans in these woods. I long for the conversion of their souls, and that they may come to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved. I wish I was made able to teach and instruct them, and I shall do whatever lies in my power to tell them of Christ as long as I tarry."
Among those who sought instruction at this school was the celebrated Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant. He was born in 1742, and, with other Indian youth, was sent here by Sir William Johnson. Espousing, as was most natural, the cause of the English against the Revolutionists, he became the for- midable enemy of the American forces. Wise in council, brave in action, and a terror to his adversaries, yet he was not without magnanimity as a warrior. In the work of missions among liis people, he rendered very essential service, becom- ing an interpreter to the missionaries, and assisting them in
64
other ways, making his house an asylum for them in the wil- derness. About the year 1772 he united with the church and was very zealous in his efforts to christianize his people. At the close of the Revolutionary struggle he directed his atten- tion particularly to the social and moral elevation of the Indians, in which work he had great obstacles to oppose. Ile endeavored to secure for them systematic religious instruc- tion. He was disposed, at one time, to acquire a knowledge of the Greek language, in order to make a more accurate translation of the New Testament into his native tongue. While in England he published the " Book of Comnion Prayer," and the gospel of Mark, in Mohawk and English, and he there collected funds for the first Episcopal church which was built in Canada West. He died with a triumphant Christian faith, November 24, 1807, at the age of sixty-five.
Of the English students in Dr. Wheelock's school, the first who went out as a missionary to the Indians, was Rev. Charles Jeffrey Smith. He was graduated at Yale College, in 1757, and was ordained as a missionary in Lebanon Crank, in 1763. After a short period of service among the Indians, he went to Virginia, to labor for the instruction of the slaves. He was subject to a disease which caused violent pain in the head, and while on a visit to Long Island he went out with his gun on the morning of August 10, 1770, and was soon found dead, under circumstances indicating that he had shot himself.
Samuel Kirkland, son of Rev. Daniel Kirkland, pastor of the third Congregational Church in Norwich, (now Lisbon,) was born at Norwich, December 1, 1741. At the age of twenty, he entered this school ; was graduated at Princeton College, New Jersey, in 1765, leaving College a few months before graduation to engage in his mission to the Indians ; a work to which he had given himself from very early life. In company with two Seneca Indians, he set out, November 20, 1764, on a missionary expedition to their own tribe, the most remote and the most savage of the Six Nations. The snow was four feet deep, and he traveled on snow-shoes, with his pack of provisions on his back, more than two hundred miles into the wilderness, without paths or houses to lodge in.
1
65
After an absence of about a year and a half, a period of great hardship and peril, yet of some encouragement in his work, he returned to Connecticut, bringing a Seneca chief with him.
On the 19th of June, 1766, he was ordained at Lebanon Crank, and on the same day received a general commission as an Indian Missionary from the Connecticut " Board of Cor- respondents" of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge ; a board which was constituted July 4, 1764, to have the supervision of these Indian missions. In about six weeks he was again at his mission work, taking up his residence among the Oneidas, where he continued to labor, with some interruptions, for more than forty years. A Chris- tian church was soon organized under his ministrations, which, by occasional accessions, showed a good degree of prosperity. Ilis labors were partially suspended during the Revolutionary war, though he continued to hold such an in- fluence as to keep the Oneidas aud part of the Mohawks on friendly terms with the Americans, while nearly all in the other tribes of the Six Nations took the position of active hostility. In 1779 .he was Brigade Chaplain with General Sullivan, having previously been employed in procuring intel- ligence of the designs and movements of the enemy at Niagara. In the spring of 1784 he resumed his missionary work at Oncida. Two years afterwards his labors were attended with a considerable revival of religion, which seemed to have its beginning in the conversion of a strong minded Indian more than seventy years old, who up to that time had been a bigoted pagan.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.