USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Warren > The Congregational church, Warren, Connecticut, l750-1956 > Part 7
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 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10
Evelyn Starr, Scribe"
The ladies of 1859 followed the example of their prede- cessors. "A very interesting instance of true 'Apostolic Suc- cession' in well doing", Mr. Bassett characterized their action. The paper they deposited reads in part: "The ladies of the church, wishing to give expression to their generosity, met at the Town-House for consultation upon the best method of procuring funds for the purchase of carpets, cushions, and pulpit fixtures, Aug. 10th. After much deliberation, Mrs. Jane Carter Starr, Mrs. Miranda Curtiss Strong, Miss Huldah Everett, and Miss Maria Gilbert were chosen solicitors to visit each family who are in the habit of attending our church, and ask of them a gift for the Lord's house. The work was en- tered upon, and to our great surprise the handsome sum of
[80]
----
REV. WILLIAM ELLIOTT BASSETT
REV. WILLIS S. COLTON
$120 was secured, every lady giving of her substance as she felt disposed. - - - - Having completed our work in behalf of the house of God, we would follow the example of our beloved predecessors and deposit a record of our doings, hoping that their example, with ours, may serve as a stimulus to greater effort on the part of those who come after. When these gen- erous hearts and active hands that have contributed so liber- ally of their substance and their labor are mouldering in the dust, may our words be held in grateful remembrance by those who are next called upon to rebuild the house of the Lord."
The ladies also presented a silver communion set, consist- ing of two tankards and four cups. One of the tankards bears the inscription, "Presented to the Cong. Church by the Ladies of Warren, 1858". This set replaced the old pewter set which was made in London in pre-Revolutionary times. Both sets are still in the possession of the church.
Meanwhile, the war was coming ever closer until it broke in all its horror. The following note appears in the record of the Society in 1861: "Mr. Seth Reynolds was unable to be present [to be received into membership] being enlisted in the army and gone to assist in putting down the great Pro-Slavery Rebellion. May God bless and safely guide the balls which he shall fire, and have mercy on the souls of those who are killed by them on the battlefield. In these stirring times it is but just that it be put on record that there are no traitors in this church. We are unanimous in supporting the present national administration in its endeavor to quell rebellion, and sustain the honor of all the States. We are not for war, except when this becomes the less of two evils. This we consider a holy war. May God speed the right and preserve our nation in its integrity." The age-old problem of the Church and War!
Seth Reynolds never came back. And later this revealing note appears: "Twenty-two young men enlisted in the village during the last two weeks, most of them being connected with our congregation and Sabbath School. To leave for camp in Litchfield." Fourteen Civil War veterans lie buried in Warren
[ 81 ]
cemeteries, while many other Warren boys found their last resting places elsewhere.
Mr. Lobdell was outspoken in his sympathy with the war and the church seems to have been united in its feeling, but outside the church there were many who did not agree that this was "a holy war". On the contrary, there appears to have been a strong and noisy pro-slavery group, a group of radical supporters of the Democratic, or anti-Lincoln party. "Copper- heads", these people were dubbed by their opponents-poison- ous snakes, treacherous foes. And bitterness and hatred were rampant. Extracts from old diaries are illuminating :*
March 18, 1863. "Martin and Homer went to New Pres- ton to hear the Secessionists speak."
Oct. 5, 1863. "Martin returns from Town Meeting dis- gusted with 'Copperheadism'."
April 4, 1864. "Election. Town goes 'Copperhead' of course, but the State for the Union by 7000 majority. Well done Old Connecticut !"
Such was the condition, even during the last year of the war, in Warren, a town that had sent many of its finest sons to fight and die for freedom and the Union. Within the church, also, the "perfect unanimity" which Mr. Lobdell had noted with such satisfaction three years before had unfortunately disappeared. Perhaps political tensions were reflected there also; perhaps the minister himself was in part to blame. At all events, after receiving a call to the Second or "South" Congregational Church in Bridgeport, he abruptly submitted his resignation, expressing the hope that the members of the church were now "prepared to act harmoniously", and advis- ing them to select another minister as soon as possible; other- wise, "the result will be dissension and discord".
In his letter Mr. Lobdell neglected to state any reason for his resignation, and when asked to state his reasons, he
*Notes copied by Agnes Strong from the diary of her grandmother, Mrs. Martin Strong, whose son Miner was in the army.
[ 82]
refused. The Society accordingly declined to present his letter to the Consociation. Mr. Lobdell's final action, moreover, was not calculated to improve existing relations. When he came to Warren, he purchased as a parsonage, for $1750, the house that Mr. Howard had previously owned, with an understand- ing that when he left he would sell it to the Society for the same sum. Instead, in a transaction the details of which are not entirely clear, he sold it for less than the agreed sum to a private purchaser. When this became known, on the very eve of his departure, there was naturally great indignation; never- theless, the Society, acting it seems with much forbearance, sent a committee to bid him a courteous farewell. Mr. Lobdell later wrote a long letter to the Society in which he apologized most humbly for "this besetting sin of mine, impulsive thought and action", and thanked the members of the Society for their "Christian feeling" and their words "of love and kindness". The following year (1864) the Society bought the parsonage from its new owner for $1800, the money being raised by the usual method of subscription.
After two years in Bridgeport, Mr. Lobdell entered the Episcopal denomination, finally becoming rector of St. Paul's Church in New Haven.
[ 83]
CHAPTER VI.
THE END OF AN ERA
REV. WILLIAM ELLIOTT BASSETT, 1864 - 1875 REV. WILLIS S. COLTON, 1876 - 1888 REV. AUSTIN GARDNER, 1889 - 1897
T - HE war, with its tragedies and tensions, was over at last and life gradually resumed its normal aspects. The church, like the nation, had been sorely torn and its great need now was for a period of harmony and peaceful de- velopment. That need would be met, however, only if the new pastor was a man of ability, character, and understanding. Fortunately, such a man was the Rev. William E. Bassett. Perhaps it was well for both minister and people that time should be allowed for deliberation; at any rate, for a year fol- lowing Mr. Lobdell's resignation, Mr. Bassett supplied the pul- pit as "stated preacher". He was then installed, at a salary of $800 and use of the parsonage; and for eleven years he con- tinued his gracious ministry until failing health forced his resignation.
Mr. Bassett, a native of Derby, graduated from Yale in the class of 1850 and completed his training at Union Theologi- cal Seminary and Yale Divinity School. In 1856 he was or- dained in the Congregational Church in Central Village, Con- necticut, and the same year he married Mary Dowd of Norfolk, a woman who was to prove herself in every way a perfect helpmate. After four years in Central Village he became act- ing pastor in North Manchester, and from there he came to Warren. They had one son, John; and a daughter, Rebecca, was born in Warren.
[ 84 ]
Mr. Bassett was eminently a man of scholarship. That he was also a man of humility and deep consecration is shown by his comment regarding the service of installation : "I have an unfeigned shrinking from the responsibilities connected with the pastoral office - - - - The solemnities of installation, if they are not meaningless ceremonies (therefore to be abandoned) give a pecular sacredness and significance to this relation. Certainly no man ought to invite these solemnities without thought and prayer."
The membership of the church when Mr. Bassett assumed office had fallen to 109, and it was decided to undertake an evangelistic campaign. Mr. Bassett was not the man, however, to enter upon such a campaign without thorough preparation, or to encourage spectacular methods. First came a carefully organized house-to-house visitation, of which Deacon William Hopkins was superintendent. A series of meetings followed, some in the church and some in the schoolhouse, under the leadership of the Rev. J. I. Potter, who had conducted similar services in neighboring towns. Then came another carefully planned and prayerfully conducted house-to-house visitation, with Dr. J. B. Derrickson superintendent and Deacon Clark Swift and Mr. Franklin Curtiss assistants.
Evidently many of the men who had been criticized dur- ing the preceding pastorate for being more interested in corn planting than in prayer meetings were willing, under the new leadership, to contribute generously of both time and effort. "The families of the congregation," according to the official record, "with very few exceptions, gave up all business which was not itself necessary and gave themselves up to - - - co- operating with the meetings, and this while the farmers were especially pressed for time."
Such earnest and prayerful efforts were bound to produce results. It is recorded that on one Sunday about one hundred persons, some of them from out of town, accepted the invita- tion to take seats for "inquirers", though there were some among this number who did not "express hope". During his
[ 85]
ministry Mr. Bassett received into membership sixty-seven persons, many of whom had doubtless been drawn in through the influences of this campaign.
Like many another earnest and conscientious man, Mr. Bassett had overtaxed his strength, and the time came all too soon when he felt that he must lay aside the heavy responsi- bilities of his pastorate. His congregation would willingly have listened to one sermon on Sunday instead of two, or heard an old one repeated; but he felt that either course would be "de- moralizing". He could not be induced to remain when he felt that his health would not permit him to carry out what he conceived to be the full task of a minister.
His resignation, in 1875, was presented with sincere re- gret. "My ministry among you", he wrote, "has indeed been a labor of love; ties binding me to these good people have been very strong and it would have been very difficult for me to sunder them save at the call of necessity."
It was accepted with equal regret, and the loss was felt not only by the Warren church but throughout the entire area. A fellow minister wrote of him*, "He was a man of medium height, homely in feature and awkward in gesture. He was possessed of a wide range of information, and thought deeply on many things, but his interest in life was intensely practical-he was indefatigable - - - in making things work, and cheerfully kept himself out of sight behind others, so far as practicable. Many churches and ministers were greatly indebted to him, and some of us found him ex- ceedingly lovable." The official notation of the Litchfield Asso- ciation reads : "We commend him as an eminently faithful and successful minister of Christ-a leader in Christian fellowship and work, and a brother whose praise is in all our churches."
Mr. Bassett moved to New Haven, where he lived for three years. He returned to Warren, however, to take part in the centennial celebration of 1876, which was widely observed
*Rev. Arthur Goodenough: "The Clergy of Litchfield County," 1909.
[86]
by the churches of the state. The one hundredth birthday of the nation was also the one hundred twentieth anniversary of the local church, and among the decorations the dates 1756 and 1876 were prominently displayed in greens and flowers. Fortunately the historical address which Mr. Bassett wrote for this occasion was printed and has been preserved, and it has been freely used by the present writer.
Although Mr. Bassett had given up his active pastorate, he continued to preach occasionally, and for a short time he was acting pastor in Bethlehem. He was once heard to re- mark that if in a new place, he had thought he could use some of his old sermons, but somehow he couldn't get himself inter- ested in an old sermon. He died in Norfolk in 1881, at the age of fifty-two.
Mrs. Bassett continued to live in Norfolk until her death four years later at the age of fifty. The writer of her obituary paid her the following tribute: "From all the parishes came the same good words, 'She was a model minister's wife'. She endeared herself to the people so that their love and friendship were unending, and today they mourn their loss as we do ours. She was always found as a leader in little bands of Christian workers, and was both active and efficient in the formation of mission circles, as a teacher in Sunday Schools, and as a helper to the young in every way."
For many years the church had been beset with difficul- ties within and without. Never, in all of its long history, had it stood in greater need of wise and sympathetic leadership. By their love and understanding, their sincerity and deep con- secration, Mr. and Mrs. Bassett brought a ministry of heal- ing and strengthening, the results of which can never be measured.
REV. WILLIS STRONG COLTON, 1876 - 1888
Mr. Bassett was succeeded by a man of strong personality but of quite different temperament, the Rev. Willis Colton,
[87]
who had been his classmate in Yale a quarter of a century earlier. Born in Royalton, New York, in the year 1828, the young Willis came from a background of pioneers, with a family tradition that practically predestined him for Yale and the ministry. An ancestor, George, was one of the first set- tlers of Longmeadow, Massachusetts; he doubtless knew another pioneer family, the Keeps, and sympathized with them in the loss of their infant son in the Indian massacre. Willis's great grandfather, the Rev. Benjamin Colton, gradu- ated from Yale in 1710 and became the first pastor of the West Hartford church. His father, the Rev. George, after gradu- ating from Yale in 1804, carried the pioneer torch into regions more remote. "Rev. George did, according to family legend*, pack his bride and Bible in an open sleigh in November, circa 1805, and head out of Connecticut for western New York, arriving in that frontier territory the following March. Out of necessity came the reliance on Providence to provide bridges over streams in the form of sheets of ice. There, an itinerant preacher, he roamed an area of unnumbered settle- ments and Indian villages to 'marry 'em and bury 'em' and bring light unto the heathen. This he continued to do for forty years or more. He it was who, on request from Albany, took first census throughout his territory and, ridding the vil- lages of their unpronounceable Indian names, substituted good Christian designations. Having no sources on which to draw other than his Bible and the mythologies of Greece and Rome, it is not strange that we should have today such towns and cities as Rome, Ithaca, Ilium, Seneca, and Troy."
At the age of sixteen Willis headed East to attend Phil- lips-Exeter Academy and prepare, inevitably, for Yale. (Inci- dentally, the Yale tradition has been continued in the Colton family through sons, grandsons, and great grandsons, even down to infants now in the cradle!) In college he was distin-
*Most of the information and all of the quotations are taken from a let- ter written by Mr. George Colton of New Haven, grandson of the Rev. Willis Colton.
[ 88]
guished for his literary and linguistic ability, graduating, in 1850, as valedictorian of his class.
After two years of teaching in a boys' school, he returned to Yale for theological training. Here he met and married Lucy Parsons Gibson, who, like him, could lay claim to an hon- orable New England ancestry, being a descendant of the Rev. Thomas Hooker. Lucy, ten years his junior, had come to New Haven from Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, to be "finished" at Miss Dutton's Female Seminary, which stood on the site of the present law school library. "He courted her too," writes his grandson, "very soberly, I must believe, sitting as was their wont on the tombstones behind the cloistering walls of the old Grove Street cemetery." By a strange coincidence, Mary Dowd of Norfolk, later Mrs. William Bassett' was "fin- ished" at the same school, and the two girls may well have been there together and exchanged girlish confidences, sitting on neighboring tombstones !
After pastorates in Wethersfield and Washington, during which time seven children were born to them, of whom one had died at the age of five, Mr. and Mrs. Colton, with their six living children, came to Warren.
Intellectually, the promise of student days was completely fulfilled in Mr. Colton's mature life. Theologically, he was exceedingly modern for his Victorian generation, being un- afraid of the scientific thinking that was proving so alarming to many of his ministerial contemporaries. But in some of the practical aspects of life there were notable shortcomings. Let his grandson be the witness. "My grandfather was, dur- ing his active ministry, undoubtedly more successful as a minister in the parish than he was as a preacher within the church. He was too much the scholar and should have re- mained at Yale to become a professor of Sanscrit. For years, in Washington, Warren, and Wayne, he wrote his sermons in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin for translation from the pulpit. His linguistic faculties were so great that, certainly, there was never hesitation in delivery. However, unfaltering though his
[89]
sermons were, they were also uninspiring and likely to be over the heads of his listeners.
"His want of earthy 'horse sense' was conspicuous on many occasions. One such was during the Washington pas- torate. His hen coop stood in need of reshingling. The par- son's need became known quickly with the result that was normal for the time. A parishioner drove into the yard one day with a wagon full of shingles and an offer to put them on. The former was accepted gratefully as an act of Provi- dence. The latter was refused, with brief thanks, I suspect, it being alloyed with the implication that possibly a man could have brains enough to interpret God's Word and still be too stupid to shingle a hen coop. So the worthy man shingled his coop-and came the rains! Came morning, too, to reveal a half drowned flock of hens showing a most unoptimistic view of future prospects. Instead of laying his shingles thin end up, starting from the eaves, grandpa had worked from the ridgepole down, placing the shingles thick end up. Many, many years later my father told me that he was sure that grandpa was never able to comprehend how so temporal a consideration as the manner of laying a shingle could have any bearing on its heaven-sent ability to shed water."
But what her somewhat impractical husband lacked, Mrs. Colton amply supplied, and she was long remembered for her graciousness, her interest in people and their problems, and her numerous activities in church and community. On Sun- days she played the pipe organ and taught a class of boys in Sunday School, boys who never outgrew their respect and affection for their former teacher. She developed a libary with an accumulation of five hundred or more books, the fore- runner of the present town library. She started a young people's meeting and organized the boys into a "U.K. Society", encouraging them to draw the books for a ten-cent contribu- tion.
Nor did she confine her interest to the boys. "The prob- lems of juvenile delinquency", writes her grandson, "wayward
[ 90]
girls, which we discuss so openly today, were just as preva- lent in Washington and Warren seventy-five years ago, but people talked little and did less about them. In those days one's piety and propriety were measured by the extent to which one appeared outraged and scandalized. Not grandma Colton, however; she dealt with such problems in the parish with a compassionate earthiness that would be worthy of a modern social worker. Few of the straight laced ladies sym- pathized with her, but she was too strong to buck. With her the thought 'to err is human, to forgive divine', was to be ex- pressed in deeds rather than words. She did-and continued to do so till the day she took to her bed for the last time."
After eleven years in Warren, Mr. Colton accepted a call to Wayne, Michigan, his last regular pastorate. During his ministry he had received seventy-five persons into the church. The building, too, had been extensively repaired, the rear gallery being lowered, the organ space enlarged, and the walls kalsomined and frescoed. On the western wall, back of the pulpit desk, was painted a large arch, so beautifully shaded that it was difficult to believe that it was painted rather than carved.
In 1878 the Society voted to drop the old "Consociational" organization, which dated back to the late eighteenth century and included most of the towns in the county, and instead to become a part of "The Litchfield Northwest Conference", an organization embracing twelve churches.
March 12, 1888, was a black letter day in the weather- man's calendar-the date of the blizzard that out-blizzarded all other known blizzards. For three days it snowed continu- ously, and furious winds packed the snow into drifts which reached often to the rooftops. For days and even weeks fami- lies were marooned, and it was late spring before the last vestiges of the huge drifts had disappeared.
Retiring that year from active ministry, the Coltons moved to Toledo, Ohio, where two of their children were al-
[ 91 ]
ready living. Mr. Colton still preached frequently, and to him were brought problems of church management because of his recognized authority in matters ecclesiastical. He died in 1908, in his eightieth year, after an agonizing illness during which he steadfastly refused to take sedatives, believing that if the Lord willed him to bear pain, He would also give him the fortitude to endure it. Mrs. Colton survived him for about ten years, living during the latter part of her life with a daughter in Washington. Throughout these closing years she led an adult class in the Washington church. A woman of rare ability, of gracious manner, and of unflagging devotion, she had endeared herself to all who had the privilege of knowing her, and her memory and influence long endured in every com- munity in which she lived.
REV. AUSTIN GARDNER, 1889 - 1897
"Having been dismissed from the church in Buckingham, where I labored 133 years, I removed to Warren. I began my regular work Oct. 20th on a pleasant Sunday with a good at- tendance." By this terse note in the official record the Rev. Austin Gardner announced his arrival in his new parish. He had preached as a candidate on the first Sunday in August, had attended the Moody Bible Conference in Northfield, and returned to preach on the following Sunday; the invitation to become pastor followed immediately.
Disaster struck at 2:20 on October 20, 1891, when a bolt of lightning hit the church, "destroying the steeple down to the bell deck, entering the audience room, knocking the pipe organ to pieces, filling the house with smoke and then expend- ing its force by bursting out seven hundred lights of glass, removing plaster, shattering blinds, etc. It was a sorry look- ing building one minute after the bolt struck." Thus simply but vividly did Mr. Gardner describe the tragic scene.
It was indeed fortunate that fire did not destroy the his- toric old building, but the situation was discouraging and the
[ 92 ]
cost of restoration seemed almost prohibitive. As always, however, the parishioners rallied loyally to meet the challenge and the task was accomplished. Unfortunately, in the re- building of the steeple unwise counsels prevailed and, though still imposing, the present spire lacks something of the grace and symmetry of the original.
One event of these years which has been of significant value in the life of the town was the organization of Wichita Grange. The first meeting was held in April, 1892, at the home of Edward Lyman, and Mr. Austin R. Humphrey was elected Master. In 1913 the old Methodist church, which had long been unused, was purchased and remodeled, and this served as a Grange hall until the new community building provided more adequate quarters.
In the same year occurred the death of Dr. John B. Der- rickson, at the age of sixty-five. Born on Trinicum Island in the Delaware River, the youngest of nine children, he had come to Warren in 1855, and for thirty-seven years he had been the beloved and trusted physician of the entire region. During more than twenty of those years he had also served as town clerk and treasurer. Of him Dr. Orlando Brown of Wash- ington wrote: "Dr. Derrickson devoted himself to his work with great patience, fidelity, and skill, and received in an un- usual degree the compensations which make up such a large percentage of the country doctor's fees, the love and affection of his patients."
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.