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 With an appendix, containing historical documents of local interest 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 23
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In 1825, Zelotes Fuller became their preacher, and continued
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
his labors till July, 1827. He possessed some talents, but his moral deportment was questionable, and he soon abandoned the ministry.
From 1827 to 1834, the society had no settled minister. In 1834, Rev. Asher Moore, then of New London, was engaged to preach for them once a month. In 1835, Rev. John H. Gihon took the pastoral charge of the society. He organized the Sabbath school, which continues to this day.
On the 6th of February, 1838, the present church organization was commenced, with eighteen members.
In July of 1838, Rev. Henry Lyon became the pastor of the so- ciety, and continued with it until April, 1840.
In 1840, Rev. J. V. Wilson succeeded Mr. Lyon. He encour- aged, by advice and material aid, the erection of the church in which the society now worship, which was completed and dedi- cated in the autumn of 1841. His connection with the society was dissolved in the early part of 1842.
In May, of the same year, Rev. R. O. Williams commenced his labors here, and continued till the autumn of 1844.
Rev. L. C. Brown was the next pastor. He was installed Nov. 5, 1845. He resigned his pastoral charge in September, 1848.
Rev. Elhanan Winchester Reynolds, his successor, commenced his labors in the October following, and was installed as pastor of the society, November 15, 1848, at which time this house, as then enlarged, was dedicated. His resignation occurred in September, 1850.
Rev. A. L. Loveland immediately succeeded him. He left Octo- ber, 1853.
The present pastor commenced his labors in April, 1854. The society was originally called the "Society of United Christian Friends in the towns of Norwich, Preston, and Groton." The name did not express the belief of the society, and in 1836, during Mr. Gihon's ministry, it was changed, and it was called, " The First Universalist Society in Norwich." It was legalized by an act of the legislature in 1842. Within the past year twenty-five mem- bers have been added to the church.
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26+1(a)
SERMONS.
Extracts from a Sermon, preached in Christ church, on the Sun- day after the celebration, by REV. J. TREADWELL WALDEN, the Rector.
" The Lord God be with us, as He was with our fathers. Let Him not leave us nor forsake us." I Kings viii, 57.
The site of this church is an ancient graveyard; the church walls are the graveyard's walls. Below our feet the forefathers of this parish sleep. They are dead, cold, unconscious, mouldering men and women ; but their memory still lives; their memory, du- ring the past weck, has risen from the dead ; the spirit of the days in which they lived, now a century and more gone by, has been revived, and is yet abroad. Let us adjure it, ere it disappears.
It has been our fortune to have celebrated one of those occasions, which no one of us may hope to see again; none of the children, hardly the grandchildren of this generation. We have gone back, as a city, two hundred years. Forgotten ancestors have been re- membered, forgotten names have been brought to light, from brown and musty records, forgotten annals have been related anew, for- gotten customs, forgotten costumes, forgotten interests, forgotten scenes, have all been restored to our eyes, as it were, like the ideal pictures of primitive structures, formed out of the vestiges and ruins, lingering still in our midst.
Both as the posterity of the men of that olden period, and as citizens, with more or less penetration of lineage or residence into it, we have seen this beautiful city excited, as never before, by the gala days just over, opening wide its hospitable doors to the return- ing sons and daughters, who came knocking, as at the homestead gate, the original birthplace of their generations.
While this spirit of retrospection lasts, and the old, and the gray, and the gone by, linger in our eyes, it is, perhaps, an aus- picious time, to look back as a parish, and to remember as a parish, and to start awake as a parish, and to enjoy our ancestry as a parish, and to feel a noble interest in ourselves as a parish. We are not new. We are old. We can count many years : twice the years sufficient to confer the crown of wisdom, the gray head, upon us all, as individuals: enough, at least, to suggest both the glory and the conduct of wisdom, as a church.
But do not misunderstand me. I do not intend to preach a Cen- tennial sermon. I have had neither time, nor opportunity to pre-
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
pare one. Besides, it has been done before. All that I propose, is to furnish you with such facts, and such reflections, as have occurred to me in the interim between the now finished celebration and this Sunday morning. As to the facts, I have found them in the parish record, and in the centenary discourse of my predecessor. As to the reflections, they are the long waiting and matured thoughts of my own heart, to have been let loose, at any rate, some day not distant, and now only, given forth, because furnished with a be- fitting time.
The fathers of this parish sleep beneath. Here, perhaps, is its Adam, the first Episcopalian who came forward, and proposed to build a House of God, and contributed both labor and money to effect it. Here, perhaps, are some of the Churchmen, who met and deliberated, and, at last, built the church. Here, beyond doubt, lie their sons and daughters, "young men, and maidens, old men, and children," who, in their lifetime, went to church in this very spot, and who, now, in their deathtime, are inclosed by the deep buried foundation walls of this new edifice, a congregation, still waiting, in the sanctuary, for the coming day.
"Son of man! Can these bones live ?"
We shall see-first in a retrospect-next in a prospect.
Norwich was settled in the year 1659, by Puritan pioneers. Puritanism grew and flourished, without stint or abatement, eighty years, when Episcopacy came, shot into its midst by the English "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts." A missionary named Punderson, an earnest, indefatigable man, duly ordained in the Church of England, arrived in this region, sent and sustained by the missionary spirit over the sea, and established here the beginnings of a parish, almost exactly as, at the present time, our own Missionary Society sends forth, and sustains a minis- try, in the populous wilds, beyond the prairie ocean of the West.
The familiar modern experience of every new parish was duly gone through by this ancient one. It was nearly three years before the church was finished and opened, small, plain and unplastered as it was. It stood on this very spot, with no city or sumptuous residences about it, but between two primitive New England vil- lages, the Landing and the Town.
Its services, like all missionary stations, were only occasional, and shared in rotation with places, in the circuit of many miles, and which have since, also, grown to greatness and maturity.
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SERMONS.
Twenty-one years passed by. The little edifice had yet no steeple and no bell. An effort shortly produced both. Twenty- one years without steeple or bell ! We have gone ten years with- out tower and chimes. It happens well; eleven years grace, be- fore we can reverse the course of nature, and fall behind our fore- fathers !
1747-1791-forty-four years. Slow progress, but sure. There occurs a great change. The people, evidently, cannot come to the church; so the church comes to the people. It is removed south- ward, to the outskirts of the settlement at the Landing, nearly op- posite to the spot now occupied by Trinity church. Bishop Sea- bury arrives, and consecrates it to the service of Almighty God. The deserted site is not, however, given up, but becomes a grave- yard. The bell tolled no longer to the church here, but to the tomb ; the living no longer resorted hither, only the dead.
1752-1763-eleven years of suspense. No minister all that time. An utter blank as to a pastor, but no blank as to the people. They did not forsake the church, although it had no pulpit. They still held their meetings, still looked abroad for some angel to ap- pear. Meantime a lay-reader furnished the old, familiar, much loved prayers. The Church spark proved unquenchable. Souls accustomed to a Church, visible in the forms of a Liturgy, visible in the symbols of Sacraments, visible in the robes of a Priesthood, lovable in all these warm characteristics, could not exist without them. A visible, lovable Church, or no Church, they felt, doubt- less they said, certainly they acted, for eleven years. It shows the power couched in prayers patent to the senses, and ready furnish- ed to the spirit. It shows the necessity for a Church, both tangible to the affections, and fascinating to them. It shows the inextinguish- able fire, which lies and smoulders in what is claimed to be the establishment of the Saviour, and the posterity of the Apostles. Episcopacy, panoplied in its liturgy, can never die out, nor be driven out. It.holds its own, always, and is sure, sooner or later, to assemble an army.
After 1763, a temporary missionary, named Beardslie, appears on the record, and shortly disappears. Not long after, the perma- nent career of the parish commenced. Like a realm, its history is henceforth marked by the reigns of its Rectors.
A young man, named John Tyler, by arrangement and contri-
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
bution of eighty-six male members of the parish, went to England for orders, and returned duly ordained, and, also, an accredited missionary from the English Society, already mentioned. Under his pastorate, the parish took new life, and prospered abundantly. In a single year-1769-the record stands, 111 families-23 com- municants. But an untimely frost despoiled this fresh success of its bloom. First, a spirit of emigration set in, and nearly half of the people disappeared. Shortly after, the Revolution broke out. Episcopacy was English, therefore no tolerance nor patience was had with it. And so the church gates were closed for two years. Yet was the liturgy still heard, whispered low, in private dwell- ings, here and there, and at the fireside of the loyal and earnest pastor, with doors barricaded, to keep in peace, and to keep out persecution. Then was it uttered publicly again, but it was mute where King and Parliament were prayed for. The Church had to live down a rampant prejudice, (strange enough, too, when Wash- ington, and many of the leaders of the time, belonged to it,) and that long Rectorship, of fifty-four years, was consumed, before these days of misapprehension were ended.
* * *
With his successor, it was an easier career. The Rev. Seth B. Paddock held the Rectorship, twenty-one years, and saw great changes, and a large success, before it ended, just fifteen years ago. The congregation, under him, moved across the street, from their wooden edifice, into the substantial stone structure, now known, and to endure, as Trinity church. It was the indication of a sure prosperity, that expenditure of thirteen thousand dollars, by a parish just emerging from a cloud !
But it proved to be only the beginning of another movement, and a greater outlay. Three or four years after the termination of this most earnest and faithful pastorate, the church overflowed its boundaries, and, in the height and abundance of its prosperity, rebuilt itself, again, on the old site, deserted nearly a century be- fore. Hitherto, and far beyond, had the city spread, and hitherto the people of this ancient parish now resort. The credit.of this noble building, as a scheme, energetically urged, and laboriously carried out, belongs to the Rev. Dr. Morgan, my predecessor. The credit of the liberality, which reared it, stone by stone, and arch by arch, and paid for it, to the extent of forty or fifty thou-
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SERMONS.
sand dollars, belongs to persons, most of whom are living, and many of whom are now present. The credit of appreciating it, of loving it, of loving the Church in it, of sustaining it, year by year, belongs to every one who lifts even a dollar, or even a finger, but especially a whole arm, or a full purse, or a whole-hearted prayer, for its success.
*
A little more than a century has passed, and the names of the parish forefathers still exist, in faded ink, with the various amounts of their contributions, affixed to their names. It would seem as if an emblematic parallel of the Books in Heaven, had been kept on earth; a double record, of works and gifts, thrown into the treasury of God. How will it be a hundred years from now, when the inevitable century-plant will bloom once more, and the elm-embowered streets of this city, be filled with our pos- terity, and be decorated, again, with arches, and garlands, and ban- ners, and, another night be made resplendent with illuminated windows-all, symbolic fingers, pointing back to us ?
Some Rector of this parish will eagerly search the ponderous volume, which records its history. Close upon the deep browned pages of our past, will we come, as his past. We shall all be dead and gone. There will be your names, and various sums affixed, your names, and various deeds affixed, making up the annals of this church, as it now is, and shall be, for many a year. No one present will hear that sermon, nor listen to the commentaries of the centennial Rector. And yet, there shall we all appear, as at a judgment bar, arraigned before our posterity, and turn out, much or little, as we have done much or little. Whether correctly, or not, in small things, it will then be told what we have done, on the whole, toward the great result; and, so far, it will be a minia- ture and image, of that awful, ultimate Day, when "the Books shall be opened," and a dread retrospect ensue, and an infallible judgment, discern, what every man, on earth, has done, and what he has left undone.
*
*
We leave then the past. What are we at the present ? Our sermon now changes from the history, to something like the news- print-the mirror of the time. It is as well for a parish to reflect, that is, to review itself, as for a person. The profitableness of self-
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examination is not confined to individuals. A parish has its in- firmities, its faults, its sins, its backslidings ; also its virtues, its im- provements, its excellences, its standard of perfection. It is noth- ing more nor less, than a grand individual, and, as such, must try and examine itself, repent itself, and lead a better life.
Now what are we ?
*
%
There ! the parish has made a clean breast of it. Such are its virtues, such are its sins, such are its present prosperities, such, also, are its future duties.
* * *
But we must bear in mind one thing. The past is not the only security for the future. What if we can look back into the early part of the last century, and see our beginning in a Puritan settle- ment, and see, too, a progress, since, equal to, and abreast with the growth of this beautiful city ; what if we have an edifice, now, spa- cious enough to cover the whole church-yard of that olden time, and stately enough to befit the noble residences, and ornamental grounds, which have taken the place of primitive dwellings, and the acres of former farms; what if the aggregate of wealth, among us now, would utterly bewilder any one of these fathers, below, if he could rise again ; what if the times have changed, and the day of persecution has passed by, and we stand, in the community, prominent, establish- ed and flourishing, almost as if no Revolutionary day had con- founded Church with State; what if the Church has descended in our veins, like an inheritance of Anglo-Saxon blood, and that, while it has filled us full of our own individuality, it has given us also a generous spirit, a liberal mind, a genial hand to clasp, in Christian brotherhood, any other form of the Christian work, and a voice to cheer it on ; what if we perceive not only the inextinguishability of the Church, but also those latent resources, and provisions for its growth, by virtue of which, it comes, not merely like John the Baptist, to proclaim, but like Christ, to guide and teach, and like the Holy Spirit, to conserve and keep; what if we find so much to love, so much to believe in, so much to work for ; what if we feel the responsibility, which has come upon our hands from our fathers, this momentum, which has been gathering so long, and which we must sustain and accelerate; what if we, each, feel our share of the responsibility, and wish to do our duty-for, after all-
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SERMONS.
pleasant, as our retrospection is, and speaking, as our antecedents are, and plain, as our opportunities appear, and great, as our object is, there is one thing, beside which they count as nothing, without which they shall effect nothing. They are but auxiliary toit. And what is that ?
It is Personal Religion. There is the ultimate, the fundamental. ·Down to that, does the base of the church extend, through every other soil. On that, as on primeval rock, is it founded. To be Christians: that is the end before us. All real unity of spirit, all efficient unity of action, is impossible, unless that secret fact is the common bond. Our pedestal of a century would be but a hollow shell, were it not for that ; all that we hope to be, depends, first and finally, upon that. If we would show the world who Christ was, we must be personally Christian; if we would show the world what the Gospel is, we must be personally devotional and pure; if we would show the world what the Church is, we must be personally earnest, anxious, and self-sacrificing, for others' good.
The work on this Temple is endless, and it can never stand still. The workmen must cover the walls, and be seen clustering and busy on every part. It should grow, visibly, day by day. The scaffolding ought never to be taken down, nor the sounds of the ham- mer cease, nor the materials be cleared away, so long as the world endures, as a rest for its foundations, and the great Master Builder superintends the work. But the workmen must be in sympathy with their Master, dependent on Him, before the structure can rise, and the bustle and life, of something doing, fill the congrega- tion. There is the secret of zeal, and unity, and labor :- Christ in every soul-every soul in the pay of Christ-every soul personally interested in Him, and in His cause.
To make this known, and felt, is the end of my ministry; and to know it, and feel it, would be the beginning, not only, of your salvation, but of your prosperity as a parish. You wish your own salvation, in order that you, yourself, should be saved. You wish your Church, prosperity, in order that the world, round about, may be saved ; and yet, both these are incidental to one nearer wish and one nearer attainment, viz. personal righteousness-spir- itual culture, newness of heart, reform of life-as it may be given you, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
GALLERY OF CURIOSITIES, PAINTINGS, &c.
A very interesting feature of the celebration was the Gallery of Curiosities, Paintings, &c., opened in the old academy building, near the little plain, under the superintendence of Charles A. Converse, chairman of the committee on that subject.
The gallery contained a large number of portraits of our distinguished citizens, now deceased, painted by Trumbull, Fisher, Emmons, and other distinguished artists ; landscapes by Crocker and others; ancient embroidery and needle work ; ancient letters and books; files of old Norwich newspapers; ancient wearing apparel and furniture ; Indian relics, consisting of arrow heads, pipes, &c .; also a variety of powder horns, muskets and swords used by Norwich men in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars.
The only relics of the original proprietors of the town were
A silver headed cane, owned by Thomas Leffingwell, a native of Croxhall, England, and one of the earliest planters of Saybrook; a staunch friend of the Mohegans, and brought supplies to Uncas when his fort was besieged by the Narragansetts. Now in the possession of a lineal descendant, Rev. Thomas Leffingwell Shipman, of Jewett City.
A silver cup and pocket book, also owned by Leffingwell, now in possession of Mrs. Brewer.
And last, but not least,
Major John Mason's sword, which he carried through the Pequot war. Now in the possession of J. N. Gallup, of Stonington.
TOWN CLERKS OF NORWICH.
Names.
Appointed.
Expiration of service.
Christopher Huntington.
December 30th, 1678 .... December 15th, 1702.
Richard Bushnell ..
December 15th, 1702.
. December 6th, 1726.
Isaac Huntington.
December 6th, 1726. March 5th, 1764.
Benjamin Huntington.
March
5th,
1764 December 9th, 1765.
Benjamin Huntington, jr.
December 9th,
1765 December 21st, 1778.
Samuel Tracy
December 21st,
1778. December 13th, 1779.
Benjamin Huntington, jr.
December 13th, 1779.
. December 14th, 1801.
Philip Huntington.
December 14th, 1801
February
14th, 1825.
Benjamin Huntington.
February
14th, 1825.
October
6th, 1828.
William L'Hommedieu.
October
6th,
1828.
. October
5th, 1829.
Benjamin Huntington
October
5th,
1829. . October
·4th, 1830.
Alexander Lathrop
October
4th,
+1830.
October
3d, 1836.
John H. Grace.
October
3d,
1836. October
2d, 1837.
Simeon Thomas.
October
2d,
1837 .. . October
7th, 1839.
Othniel Gager.
October
7th,
1839. . present incumbent.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
CIRCULARS.
The following circulars were forwarded to 1,372 natives and descendants of the town of Norwich, residing in other states and countries, and other towns in this state, viz. Maine, 5; New Hampshire, 8; Vermont, 18; Massachusetts, 107; Rhode Island, 21; Connecticut, 304; New York, 472; New Jersey, 27; Pennsylvania, 45; Maryland, 21 ; Virginia, 3; North Carolina, 2; South Caro- lina, 2; Georgia, 21 ; Ohio, 114; Kentucky, 5; Illinois, 52; Indiana, 6; Tennes- see, 1; Mississippi, 4; Missouri, 9; Louisiana, 11; Alabama, 10; Michigan, 29 ; Texas, 10; Iowa, 18; Wisconsin, 19; California, 14; Florida, 1; Minnesota, 4; District of Columbia, 2; Canada, 1; West Indies, 1; South America, 1 ; England, 1; France, 2; and Germany, 1.
BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
NORWICH, Conn., June, 1859.
DEAR SIR :- The citizens of Norwich have determined to commemorate the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town. The celebration will be in Norwich, on Wednesday and Thursday, the 7th and 8th days of September next.
The original limits of the town included the territory now constituting not only the present town of Norwich, but the towns of Bozrah, Franklin and Lisbon, and portions of the towns of Lebanon, Griswold and Preston.
It is desired, as far as possible, to secure on this occasion the attendance and co-operation of all native inhabitants of the town, the descendants of such in- habitants, either in its original or present limits, and the wives or husbands of such natives or descendants.
Arrangements have been made for historical and other addresses, a dinner, processions, &c., (of the detail of which early notice will be given,) which will fully, and we hope agreeably, occupy the two days allotted to the celebration.
Your attendance is earnestly invited, and you are respectfully requested to notify colonel George .L. Perkins, chairman of the committee of reception, that you will be present. Should you, however, be unable to attend, will you favor us
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THE NORWICH JUBILEE.
with a letter containing any facts of interest in your possession in relation to the town or its inhabitants. We are,
Very respectfully, yours,
JOHN A. ROCKWELL,
JEDEDIAH HUNTINGTON,
L. F. S. FOSTER,
WOLCOTT HUNTINGTON,
JOHN BREED,
WILLIAM P. EATON,
WM. A. BUCKINGHAM,
ASHBEL WOODWARD,
JOSEPH WILLIAMS,
AMOS H. HUBBARD,
F. A. PERKINS,
HENRY B. NORTON,
DANIEL W. COIT,
JAMES S. CAREW.
WM. P. GREENE,
Committee on Invitation.
BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
NORWICH, Conn., Aug. 1, 1859.
DEAR SIR :- In consequence of indisposition, gentlemen with whom I am associated, have kindly consented, at my request, to excuse me from acting as chairman of the committee of reception for the celebration, on the 7th and 8th proximo, of the two hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town of Norwich.
Under other circumstances, it would have afforded me much pleasure to have welcomed you to the joyous re-union of the sons and daughters of our ancient and beautiful town. His honor Amos W. Prentice, mayor of the city of Nor- wich, is my successor, and will take pleasure in attending to the duties of the chairman of the committee of reception.
I trust you will be present, having the feelings and purposes of an apostle : second John, 12th .*
I am, dear sir, very respectfully, Your ob'dt serv't, GEO. L. PERKINS.
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