The Norwich jubilee. A report of the celebration at Norwich, Connecticut, on the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town, September 7th and 8th, 1859. With an appendix, containing historical documents of local interest, Part 22

Author: Stedman, John W comp
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Norwich, Conn.
Number of Pages: 346


USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > The Norwich jubilee. A report of the celebration at Norwich, Connecticut, on the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town, September 7th and 8th, 1859. With an appendix, containing historical documents of local interest > Part 22


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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27


Of Mr. Fitch's ministry we have but a meager record. There is evidence, however, that he was one of the leading men of the day. He was competent to lay the foundations of a structure which should continue for ages to come. We have testimony that he was distinguished for the penetration of his mind, the en- ergy of his preaching, and the sanctity of his life. Cotton Mather characterizes him as "the acute and holy Mr. Fitch." Many of the younger ministers studied theology with him, one of the last of whom was reverend Samuel Whiting, the first minister of Windham. The esteem in which he was held by the public is shown in the fact that after the death of his venerable teacher, Mr. Hooker, of Hartford, he was invited to take his place. His laconic reply was, " With whom shall I leave these few sheep in the wil- derness?" He was also appointed by the legislature to preach an election sermon, which was published.


He preached to the Mohegans in their native tongue, and gave them of his own lands to induce them to adopt the habits of civil- ized life, but with little success. Uncas, their chief, though friendly to the whites as a matter of policy, was an enemy to their religion, and opposed its introduction among his people. A sermon which Mr. Fitch preached on the death of major John


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Mason's wife, his own mother-in-law, was published in 1672, and it is still preserved in our pastoral library. He also published letters concerning his labors among the Indians.


An important little volume has recently been discovered by the indefatigable labors of our townsman, Daniel C. Gilman, which throws light upon the character of the man and history of his times. It contains three treatises, with an introductory note by the celebrated Increase Mather. The first is entitled, " An ex- planation of the solemn advice, recommended by the council in Connecticut colony, to the inhabitants of that jurisdiction, respect- ing the reformation of evils which have been the procuring cause of the late judgments upon New England. By Mr. James Fitch, pastor of the church in Norwich. Printed at Boston, by S. Green, in 1683." The third is a discourse on the Christian Sab- bath, printed the same year. The second, and the one of most in- terest to us, is entitled, "The covenant which was solemnly re- newed by the church in Norwich, in Connecticut colony, in New England, March 22, 1675,"-"this calamitous year, 1675, the year of Jacob's trouble in the wilderness, in which the Lord doth scourge New England by the outrage of the heathen; a year never to be forgotten."


This was the most bloody year of Philip's war. It was during this year that many of the towns and villages of the colony were destroyed by the savages, and their inhabitants massacred.


These calamities our fathers regarded as chastisements sent upon them by the hand of their heavenly Father. The civil rulers issued a proclamation to the churches, in which they specify the sins "for which the fierce wrath of the Holy One of Israel was poured out upon New England," and call upon the people to humble themselves by fasting and prayer to Almighty God, that he would avert his judgments. But in the midst of abounding wickedness, it would seem that Norwich was not chargeable with the vices specified in the proclamation. Nor did the judgments come upon this place as upon others, for the writer goes on to say, " Although to wonderment we have been hitherto preserved in the midst of the heathen-yea, somewhat by means of some heathen, (referring probably to the kind offices of the Mohegans,) but we, feeling in this day of the Lord's searching our Jerusalem, as with a candle, we cannot clear ourselves, though, through his


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grace, both we and ours have been preserved from many gross acts of profaneness and drunkenness, uncleanness and such like scan- dals, specified in that writing, (viz. the proclamation of the rulers,) and do desire humbly to be thankful for some progress of converting work in some of the rising generation among us." It tells well for this church in its infancy that, while the whole prov- ince was agitated by fear of the murderous savages, and many of the inhabitants had given themselves up to vicious indulgences, the youth of this place, so far from going with the multitude to do evil, were some of them at least seeking the salvation of their souls. Still, in view of their shortcomings in duty, and proneness to err, they say : 'We do see cause to judge and cast down ourselves at the footstool of the Lord, being covered with shame." Then they proceed to take upon themselves the solemn covenant in six specifications, covenanting with God :-


" First, That our Children shall be broughtup in the Admonition of the Lord, as in our families, so in publick; that all the males who are eight or nine years of age, shall be presented before the Lord in his Congregation every Lord's Day to be Catechised, until they be about thirteen years in age.


" Secondly, That those who are about thirteen years in age, both Males and Females, shall frequent the meeting appointed in private for their instruction, and to accustom them timely for the exercise of Church Discipline, and these to continue belonging to this meet- ing, so long as they abide under Family Government of Parents or others, or until they are come to the enjoyment of full Communion with the Church.


" Thirdly, That those who are grown up so as that they are in that respect, left to be at their own dispose, shall be required to take hold of the Covenant of their Fathers holding forth qualifica- tions suitable to that solemn duty, or at least that they hold forth a conscious endeavor in the use of means to prepare for the same; and if they be negligent they shall be admonished of their sin, and if obstinate they shall be cut off from the Congregation of the Lord by that dreadful ordinance of Excommunication.


" Fourthly, Whereas the indulgence of Parents in bearing with the evil Behaviours of their children, their disobedience, unman- nerly gestures, prodigality, and vain and unseemly Fashions, or other things not becoming those who are given to the Lord, is too


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manifest, and we are prone through fear or favour, or not observ- ance, to neglect admonishing such, the Church doth appoint some Brethren to take notice of such children, and timely, meekly, wise- ly, and faithfully to admonish them, and their Parents, as the mat- ter shall require, and if private means doth not prevail, then to manage the complaint orderly in other steps.


" Fifthly, Whereas the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, the Seal of Communion, ought often to be celebrated ; for the prevention of neglect, we do determine (God granting opportunity), that we will be in the use of that ordinance once in every six weeks.


" Sixthly, Whereas it is too often seen, that many through fear, or favour, or sense of inability, do behave themselves to their Brethren, as if they were not concerned in that great duty of ad- monishing their brother for offensive behavior, unless it be in cases wherein they themselves suffer wrong, and hence love decayeth and offenses abound, and Christ's government in works denied, we do solemnly promise that we will in any wise rebuke and not suf- fer sin to rest upon our brother, but deal faithfully according to Christ's order. And seeing we feel by woful experience how prone we are soon to forget the works of the Lord and our own vows, we do agree and determine that this writing or contents of it shall be once in every year read in a day of fasting and prayer before the Lord and his congregation, and shall leave it with our children, that they do the same in their solemn days of mourning before the Lord, that they may never forget how their fathers, ready to perish in a strange land, and with sore grief and trembling of heart, and yet with hope in the tender mercy and good will of him who dwelt in the burning bush, did thus solemnly renew their covenant with God, and that our children after us may not provoke the Lord and be cast off as a degenerate offspring; but may tremble at the com- mandment of God, and learn to place their hope in him, who altho' he hath given us a cup of astonishment to drink, yet will display his banner over them who fear him."


This is not the language of mere form. It comes warm and gush- ing from the heart. The men of that day recognized fully and practically the presence and government of God.


Mr. Fitch, after a faithful and successful ministry of almost fifty years here and at Saybrook, was disabled by a stroke of the palsy. For some years the town continued to vote him a portion of his


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salary, not because he was dependent upon that for a support, for he was a large landholder both here and in Lebanon, and also in Windham, but as a testimonial of their regard for his long and faithful services. In 1702 he retired to Lebanon to spend the even- ing of his life with his children. After a few months he was released from his earthly labors, and entered upon his rest at the ripe age of eighty years. He left a numerous family, whose descendants are found in all the eastern section of the state. His remains are .de- posited in the public burying ground in Lebanon. His grave is marked by a plain stone, with a suitable inscription.


Where are the remains of his associates, the men who shared with him the toil and the honor of laying the foundations of all our cherished institutions? The monument erected by the free will offerings of the daughters of Norwich to the memory of the Indian chief who befriended the fathers in their early struggles, occupies a conspicuous place in our borders. His grave is carefully enclosed and sacredly preserved. His name is perpetuated by being inscribed upon various institutions, and the name of the street which passes his grave indicates the resting place of the friendly sachem.


Even the hostile chief who fell by the hands of Uncas is honored with a monument ; and yet, strange to tell, the whole generation of noble men who planted the town, with the brave captain who led them forth to battle, all who lived and died here during the first forty years, are suffered to lie in unhonored graves. Not a stone, not even a stake, indicates the place of their burial. Even the rude stones which once marked their graves have been removed and built into a wall; the plow has turned up the soil, and obliterated every vestige of a mound over the ashes of the men to whom we owe this fair inheritance, and the cattle feed quietly over their sacred relics.


I had hoped that the commemoration of the two hundredth birth- day of the town would result in doing some little justice, however late, to Mason and his worthy coadjutors. Let this ancient burying place, where repose the ashes of Mason and all who died here dur- ing the first forty years, be redeemed from its desecration. Let it be enclosed and a suitable monument be erected to all the men of that generation who lie buried here. Nothing short of this can meet their just demand upon us. Till we do this we must bear the


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odium of filial impiety. Till we do this, were they permitted to return to these shores of mortality, we might expect their troubled spirits would come to haunt our steps, and reproach us for our neg- lect and ingratitude. I am the more encouraged to hope this from the expression of sentiment uttered on every side. A beginning has already been made. An efficient committee have the matter in hand. Persons favoring the enterprise and willing to help it, are requested to communicate with that committee without delay.


When Mr. Fitch retired from the pulpit, it was occupied for a year by his son, Jabez Fitch, at that time a member of Cambridge college. He was invited to settle, but declined the call.


In 1696, Mr. Henry Flint was invited to preach six months, on an allowance of "twenty shillings a week, with his board and horse meat."


In 1698, Mr. Joseph Coit supplied the pulpit for a time, and was invited to settle, but declined the invitation on the ground of dis- agreement with the church in matters of church polity. There was not enough of presbyterianism in our polity to meet the views of many of the ministers of that day. The people of the colony at that time are described as " some of them strict congregational men, others more large congregational men, and some moderate presbyterians." This church, from the first, consisted of the strict congregational men, who chose to walk in the old paths in which the fathers walked.


In 1699, near the close of the year, Mr. John Woodward, of Dedham, Massachusetts, accepted a call, and was ordained in Decem- ber. During his ministry of sixteen years, the church was con- stantly agitated by controversies respecting " the order and exer- cise of church discipline." The pastor, who was one of the scribes of the convention which, in 1708, framed the Saybrook platform, urged its adoption by the church. The church insisted on adher- ence to the Cambridge platform of earlier date.


This dissension resulted in the dismission of Mr. Woodward, in 1716. He removed to East Haven, where he died in 1746.


The third pastor, whose ministry occupies a prominent position in the history of the parish, was the Rev. Benjamin Lord. His pastorate extended from 1717 to 1784, a period of sixty-seven years. He died at the advanced age of 91.


At his ordination the church, by a formal vote, renounced the


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Saybrook platform, and adopted " that form of church government called congregational, as formerly practiced by the generality of churches in New England, and according to the agreement of the synod at Cambridge in 1648." The church still adheres to the same form of church government.


Dr. Lord was much annoyed by the separates, who arose in his day. His ministry was, on the whole, successful. He lived to see eight religious societies grow out of the one of which he had charge, exclusive of an episcopal and some half a dozen separate societies.


He was a man of engaging manners and venerable appearance, of respectable talents and accurate scholarship, a sound theologian, and an able expounder of Scripture. His discourses were plain, pungent and edifying.


In the year 1770, owing to the age and infirmity of Dr. Lord, he being then seventy-seven years old, the society voted to settle a colleague pastor, " provided such colleague can be supported by free donations without a society tax or expense during the con- tinuance of Mr. Lord in the ministry of said society." It would seem that the free donations were not forthcoming, and seven years elapsed before any further action was had on the subject. At that time their pastor was so far superannuated, being eighty-four years old, that they were compelled to provide assistance for him. They called unanimously Mr. Joseph Strong, of Coventry. He was the fourth pastor, and was ordained in 1778. His ministry was so re- cent, and he is so well remembered by some of the older members of the congregation, that there is less occasion to speak of him in detail. His pastorate extended over a period of fifty-six years, which added to the sixty-seven years of Dr. Lord's ministry, con- stitutes one hundred and twenty-three years, a most remarkable instance of longevity in the ministry. During the ministry of Dr. Strong, two of the seceding congregations became extinct, and a considerable portion of their members returned to the church. Near the close of his ministry, the church was blessed with one of the most extensive revivals it has ever enjoyed, as the fruits of which nearly one hundred were added to the church.


Dr. Strong is described by one whose youth was passed under his ministry, and who is competent to testify, as in person of more than middle size and stature, with a calm dignity in his move-


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ments, appearance and address, blended with gentleness and courtesy of manner. In the pulpit he was grave and reverent; in prayer impressive and solemn. His sermons were short, explanatory, natural in arrangement, and abounding in quotations from Scrip- ture. His ministrations in general were distinguished rather for the mild and the soothing than the fervent and awakening. In all the social and domestic relations of life, he was most exemplary. His conversation was genial, enriched and illustrated from the results of his long experience. His old age was beautiful, like a soft twilight after a serene day. He died in 1834, aged eighty years.


Five years before his death, in 1829, the Rev. Cornelius B. Ever- est was installed colleague pastor, and was dismissed in 1836. Mr. Everest is still living. He has retired from the ministry, and is re- siding with his children.


The present pastorate began in 1836. Its events are too recent to be yet made matters of history.


Such is a brief summary of the two hundred years which have elapsed since the settlement of the town, so far as the first parish is concerned.


The first house of worship in this society is supposed to have been erected in the fall of 1659, and was located on the eastern side of the green near the present residence of Mr. Peter Lanman.


In 1668 it was repaired and enlarged. In 1673 a contract was made for a new meeting house, which was completed in 1675. In 1689 it was enlarged. A few years later it was again enlarged by the addition of a lean to. In 1698 twelve persons were permitted to build seats on the lean to beams. In 1708 a bell was presented to the town by a Frenchman, named Rene Grignon. This house was on the hill behind the present meeting house.


In 1710 a vote was passed to build a new meeting house. This was built, after some delay, on the site of the present house. In 1750 another house was built on the same site, but was not finish- ed for some years. This was burnt in 1801. The present house was built in 1802. The building committee were Elisha Hyde, John Backus, Christopher Leffingwell, Zachariah Huntington, Thomas Lathrop, and John Turner. , In 1846 the interior of the house was entirely rebuilt. The dome, the arches, the pillars, the pews, the pulpit, even the walls, were all removed, to make place for a more modern structure.


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REV. BENJAMIN H. PADDOCK gave a brief history of Trinity church and parish, of which he is rector. It was founded in April, 1850, and the Rev. E. O. Flagg was its first rector. In August, 1853, the present rector, the Rev. Benj. H. Paddock succeeded him, finding sixty communicants in the church. It now numbers one hundred and thirty. During its brief history it has raised, for various purposes, exclusive of its pew rents, upwards of seven thousand dollars.


The losses by removals from the city had, it was stated, been quite remarkable. It had lost in ten years, chiefly in this way, seventy-three families, and many single persons ; in all about three hundred individuals. It had lost, by death and removal, upwards of seventy communicants. One hundred and sixty-six had been baptized, seven of whom were adults; one hundred and six have confessed Christ in confirmation ; and during the past six years, eighty-six had been admitted to the communion, and fifty-six add- ed by removal, making a total addition of one hundred and forty- two souls. Allusion was made to the present movement in favor of purchasing a parsonage, and the project was strongly com- mended.


REV. JOHN P. GULLIVER, pastor of the Broadway congrega- tional church, noticed very briefly the history of the church of which he is pastor. It is the grandchild of the original church which met on " Meeting House Rock," having been formed by a colony from the second church. It was organized June 1, 1842, under the title of the fifth congregational church, the churches on the plain and at Greeneville having preceded it in the date of their organization. The congregation occupied the town hall as a place of worship from January, 1842, till October, 1845, when the house of worship on Main street was completed and dedicated. From August, 1842, to August, 1845, the church was under the pastoral care of the Rev. Willard Child. The present pastor was settled October 1, 1846. The original number of the church was one hun- dred and twelve. Though the nearly three years of sojourn in an uncomfortable and nearly inaccessible hall was very unfavorable to the growth of the church, it had increased, at the time of the occu- pancy of the church, to about one hundred and seventy. Since that time it has enjoyed four powerful revivals of religion, together


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with other seasons of interest less marked. The present number of members is three hundred and forty, of whom seventy-seven have been added within three months.


REV. BENJAMIN WHITTEMORE, of the universalist church, preached a historical sermon before his congregation.


He said that in the autumn of 1772, John Murray, a universalist preacher, first visited the town, and delivered his message to the people. He had been in America about.two years, and had preach- ed in several places south of New York, from which city he started with the intention of visiting Newport, Rhode Island. On his journey through our state he stopped with a friend in Guilford. Here he was persuaded to preach. Some Norwich gentlemen, and among them a Mr. Samuel Post, heard him, made his acquaintance, and urged him to come to Norwich. He came. A small house of worship was procured for him. It was probably the house occu- pied by the separatists. It not being sufficiently large, the doors of the great meeting house, occupied by Dr. Lord, were opened for his accommodation, and he says they " never afterwards were shut against him." Here he preached universalism to a large and attentive audience, from these words, "The scepter shall not de- part from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be. Gen. xlix, 10." He tarried but a short time, and continued his journey to Newport. The first sermon preached in Norwich in open advocacy of universalism was delivered by John Murray, eighty-seven years ago, in Dr. Lord's meeting house. For several years afterwards Murray visited the town annually, and sometimes oftener, and at every coming the number and attachment of his friends were increased, and the influence of his sentiments was ex- tended in the community.


A society was formed, probably about the year 1791. A few leaves of the records of such were found several years ago in an old building which had been owned by a Mr. Thomas Hubbard, who was for some time the publisher of the Norwich Courier. He was much interested in the doctrine, and was probably the secretary of the society. Those records are now destroyed, and no particular account can be given of the society. It was prospering when Elhanan Winchester, an eloquent preacher of the doctrine, visited


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Norwich in 1794. He visited this town several times during the two or three years preceding his death. He was warmly received by many admirers. Rev. John Tyler, of the episcopal church, rendered him marked attention, and allowed him, as he had Mur- ray, to preach in his church. In 1775, Winchester delivered a ser- mon, which was greatly admired by all classes, before the masons, on the occasion of the St. John's festival. He died in Hartford in 1797.


Near the close of the year 1820, the present universalist society was organized, under the name, " Society of United Christian Friends in the towns of Norwich, Preston, and Groton." The first meeting was held at Paul Harvey's, in Preston. David Tracy was moderator, and Gurdon Bill was clerk. A committee, consisting of David Tracy, Gurdon Bill and H. K. Park, were chosen to draft a constitution. The meeting adjourned to Poquetanoc, at which place the constitution was adopted, and the society fully or- ganized by the choice of the proper officers.


In 1821, the Rev. Charles Hudson, since a member of congress for Massachusetts, came into the neighborhood, and preached one- fourth of the time in this society. During this year the first meet- ing house of the society was built. It was dedicated July 21st. Rev. Edward Mitchell preached the dedicatory sermon.


The site of the church was the one which this occupies, and it was bought by David Tracy, George Moore and Daniel Carew, of Nancy and Ebenezer Carew, of Norwich, and Simeon Carew, of Stonington, for $60. The site has been enlarged by a more recent purchase.


In 1822, through Mr. Hudson's influence, a Sabbath school was organized, the first, probably, in our denomination. Its number was small, and very likely it continued as long as Mr. Hudson was connected with the society, whose labors were judicious, and gave to the society a healthy character. His farewell sermon, which abounded with affection and Christian advice, was preached in April, 1823.


Zephaniah Crossman was the next preacher in the society, who was neither mentally nor morally qualified for his profession. He preached about a year and suddenly renounced his faith.




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