USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > East Hampton > The One hundred and fiftieth anniversary, 1748-1898, of the Congregational Church of East Hampton (Chatham), Conn. : November 30, 1898 > Part 4
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 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13
and after their arrival at Quebec, Mr. Norton ministered to the spiritual needs of his fellow-prisoners and improved every opportunity that presented itself to advise and cheer them as best he could under the unfavorable circumstances in which
38
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
they were placed. On the 20th of May, 1747, he was taken severely ill and was, he writes, given over to die by all who saw him, that during this period his reason departed from him and returned not again until the 14th of June, when he began to recover and speedily regained his health, so that on the 27th of July he set sail for Boston under a flag of truce, where he arrived on the 16th day of August, which was he writes a day of great joy and gladness to him, he having been in captivity a year lacking four days.
Shortly after his release from captivity he presented a peti- tion to the General Assembly of Connecticut at its October session in 1747, showing that he was taken and carried into captivity, and had suffered great loss and damage, and at present was much deprived of the means of living. In consid- eration of this petition the Assembly voted him the sum of £100 in bills of credit, old tenor, worth at the current rates of the time perhaps {20 in silver. In January, 1748, he appears to be living in Springfield, Mass., as he presented a memorial to the General Court of Massachusetts at that time, dating front that place, "showing that he entered into the service of that province as a chaplain to the line of forts on the western fron- tier, was captivated and carried into Canada by the enemy, where he was detained a prisoner for the space of twelve months, during which time he constantly officiated as a chaplain among his fellow-prisoners, in the manner he was able under the great difficulties and suffering of his imprisonment, and besides the great difficulties and hardships that he endured, his family were reduced to great straight and difficulties at home." He prayed that they would take his distressed circumstances in consideration and grant him such help and relief as they should deem meet. In consideration of this petition the General Court of Massachusetts ordered that the sum of £37 10s. be allowed him for services as chaplain to the prisoners whilst in captivity at Canada.
The records of the church and society of North Guilford, in this State, show that on the Ist of December, 1747, they voted to treat with him as a probationer, and on the Ist of March, 1748, gave him a call to settle with them in the work of the ministry, but for some reason not recorded he did not accept the call. In June, 1748, a committee from this parish applied
39
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
to the Hartford South Association of Ministers to recommend them a suitable candidate to supply their pulpit, and that body advised an application to Mr. Norton. At the October session of the General Assembly following, a committee consisting of Ebenezer Clark and Ezra Andrews represented that the inhab- itants of this parish being now about to settle him, asked and obtained liberty to be embodied into church estate, which was granted provided they obtained consent of the neighboring churches. It seems that there was no difficulty in obtaining this consent, as upon the 30th day of November, 1748, one hundred and fifty years ago to-day, this church was organized and Mr. Norton duly installed as its first pastor. The names of those who officiated at his installation here have not been recor- ered, but without doubt they were the regular settled pastors of the neighboring churches. His salary voted at a society meeting held on the 9th of August, 1748, was one hundred ounces of silver, or public bills of credit equivalent thereto, for the three years next after his settlement, and after that to add to his salary annually in the same proportion as we shall advance in our lists until it shall amount to one hundred and thirty ounces of silver, and that to be his standing salary. This salary, one hundred and thirty ounces in silver, was equivalent to forty-three pounds, six shillings and eight pence in 1759, and in the present currency $166.663. It was also voted to the Rev. Mr. Norton his firewood, to be brought to his house. The amount given him as a settlement, as it was called, is stated in Fields' Statistical Account of Middlesex County, published in 1819, as equivalent to $666.663, but there are 110 votes upon record that tell how or when it was to be paid. The last ine11- tion made of it upon the records is at an adjourned annual meeting of the society held December IS, "Anno Domini " 1752, when it was voted "to the Rev'd. Mr. Norton fifty pounds old tenor, which is in full of his settlement."
After being installed, Mr. Norton took up his residence among this people and ministered unto them in spiritual things until his death, with the exception of a few months in 1755-56, during which time he was chaplain of the government forces raised by the colony to go to Crown Point. During his absence the members of the Hartford South Association supplied his pulpit, the appointments according to their records covering
ot
CONGREGATIONAL, CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
the time from October 12, 1755, to February 2, 1756. In 1760 he served as chaplain of the third regiment raised for the expe- dition against Canada, taking the place of the Rev. James Beebee of that parish in Stratford, which is now the town of Trumbull, who received the appointment, but for some reason failed to serve. The length of this term of service is unknown, but was probably only for a short period. Mr. Norton died March 24, 1778, of the small-pox, and was buried in the field east of the present residence of Mr. Charles H. Strong, doubt- less as was the custom of the time in such cases, at the solemn hour of midnight. Seven persons victims of the same dread disease are interred in the same locality. The terror inspired by the presence of that disease in a community at that period can hardly be realized or understood at the present time when vaccination has been substituted for the original disease. Then its subjects were banished as far as possible from the abodes of men while living and from the public burial places when dead. Mr. Norton it is believed contracted this disease while return- ing from a business trip to Middletown from some parties who made inquiries of him respecting the locality, one of the number being in the first stages of the disease at the time. The records of the First Church in Chatham ( now Portland) also show that a number of persons of that parish died about that time of the same dread disease.
A red sandstone slab, ornamented after the manner of the times, marked his grave at the place of his interment for one hundred and twenty years, when it was removed to the Lake- view Cemetery and set up by the side of that of his wife. It bears the following inscription :
In Memory of THE REV. JOHN NORTON, Pastor of the 3d Church in Chatham, who died with the Small Pox, March 24, A. D. 1778, In the 63d year of his age.
His remains are still at their original resting place, it not being thought best at this time to have them disinterred, but it is much to be regretted that his dust could not be permitted to mingle with that of his kindred and the parishioners among whom he mingled in the daily walks of life and to whom he ministered in holy things for nearly thirty years. But while
41
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
in the course of events his last resting place may be forgotten by men, and the hallowed spot where his remains lie be dese- crated and given over to other purposes, it cannot be forgotten by Him whose watchful eye never slumbers, and in due time his being shall hear the voice of the "Son of Man" and come forth to everlasting life. Until then, may the wild flowers ever shed their sweetest perfume and the birds of the air carol their sweetest songs above the hallowed place where they rest undis- turbed by the din and turmoil of the busy world.
The inventory of his estate amounted to £494 and included a library of twenty-nine volumes and ninety-six pamphlets.
Mr. Norton's residence was on Miller's Hill, his house stand- ing near the present residence of William I. Brooks. This property containing twenty-two acres, three roods and four rods of land, with houses and barns standing thereon, he purchased in 1752 of Elisha Cornwell and Ann, his wife, for £800, old tenor. This was a part of lot No. 147 in what was known as the three-mile division, a tract of land granted to the proprie- tors of Middletown in 1683 by the General Assembly. He married Eunice, daughter of Luke and Elizabeth (Walker) Hitchcock, of Springfield, Mass., who was born March 2, 1712-13. She died May 27, 1796, in the eighty-fourth year of her age, and was interred in Lakeview Cemetery by the side of a son who died in infancy. She is said to have been a woman "that looked well to the ways of her household," and in every sense of the word was a helpmeet for her husband.
They were the parents of nine children, the oldest a daugli- ter, Asenath, who was born in Springfield, October 13, 1738, and who married, July 13, 1758, James, son of Lieut. James and Kesiah (French) Bill, who was born in Lebanon, Conn., February 20, 1736. He settled on some land near the north- west corner of the lake, given him by his father in 1763. He was very prominently associated with the affairs of the town and society, and held many offices of profit and trust in the gift of his townsmen. He was elected representative to the General Assembly in the years 1782, '83, '84, '87, '89, '90, '92, '95, and '98. He was one of the deacons of this church, having been appointed to that office February 5, 1795, and for several years was a Justice of the Peace. He served as a soldier in the French and Indian war, and during the Revolution
42
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
served the town upon committees to enlist soldiers for the Continental service and furnish supplies for soldiers' families during that trying period. She died January 2, 1810, and he July 25, 1823. Their family consisted of five sons and six daugliters, all but one of whom reached the years of maturity and their descendants settled in various parts of the Union.
James Bill, Jr., their eldest son, settled in the State of New York, and at one time represented Albany in the State Legisla- ture, and later was a judge in the County of Oswego. Norton Bill, their third son, studied medicine with Dr. John Rich- mond, and is said to have been a physician of great promise, but fell a victim to consumption in the twenty-eighth year of his age .*
Elizabeth, the second child and daughter of the Rev. Jolin Norton, was born in Springfield, December 19, 1740, and mar- ried November 6, 1766, Nathaniel, son of Jabez and Sarah (Judd) Clark, born August 7, 1743. She died May 18, 1770, aged twenty-nine years and five months, leaving a daughter, Eunice, who married May 3, 1787, Sparrow, son of Deacon Isaac and Mary (Sparrow ) Smith, whose son, John W. B. Smith, is the oldest living member of this church.
John Norton, Jr., third child and first son, was born in 1743, probably in Fall Town. He married September 19, 1765, Ede, daughter of Jabez and Sarah (Judd) Clark, born August 29, 1745, sister of Nathaniel Clark, Elizabeth Norton's husband. He resided near the Samuel B. Child place on Bevin Hill, and for many years was the teacher of the public school and is reported to have been a very strict disciplinarian. In 1771 he was appointed by the General Assembly a surveyor of land for the County of Hartford. He was also a member of Captain
* Family Record of Deacon James and Asenath ( Norton ) Bill:
Asenatlı, born Nov. 18, 1759; married Oct. 18, 1781, Jonathan Bill. Lucy, born Dec. 31, 1761; married April 12, 1784, Apollas Arnold. James, born Feb. 4, 1764; married Aug. 31, 1783, Hannah Goodrich. Elvira, born Feb. 22, 1766; married Jan. 17, 1793, Elizur Skinner, of Cambridge. N. V.
Erastus, born July 6, 1768; married Nov. 27, 1788, Sarah Hall.
Norton, born July 14, 1770; married May 1, 1791, Sally Bnell.
Clarissa, born Aug. 18, 1772; married Nov. 16, 1797, Oliver Bill. Achsah, born Nov. 1, 1774: died July 8, 1775. Achsah, born -, 1777; died May 3, 1812. Amos, born June 9, 1779.
Abner, born Aug. 11, 1781.
43
CONGREGATIONAL, CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
Silas Dunham's company that responded to the Lexington Aların, as it was called in 1775. He died May 11, 1808, of the gout, aged sixty-five years, and his widow married April 11, 1809, Deacon Moses Cook, whom she also survived, dying February 18, 1827, in the eighty-second year of her age.
His family consisted of nine children, three sons and six daughters. John, the eldest son, died in infancy, and a second son of that name, born April 7, 1775, married March 7, 1798, Lucy, daughter of John and Lois (Brainerd ) Johnson, born May 13, 1775, and removed to Otsego County, N. Y., where they resided together for more than seventy years before death did them part, he dying in 1868 in his ninety-fourth year, she dying in 1873 in her ninety-ninth year.
Jabez Clark Norton, third son of John, Jr., and Ede Norton, followed the sea, and was swept from the deck of the vessel of which he was in command during the September gale of 1819, and was never seen again. His grandsons, Jabez Clark Norton, of Willimantic, Lieut .- Commanding U. S. Ship Pompey, and James Phillips Norton, commercial traveler for the Whitney Paper Co., are the only living male representatives of the Rev. John's family that bear the family name .*
Sarah Norton, the fourth child and third daughter of John, Jr., and Ede Norton, married Elizur Andrews, of Glastonbury, and removed to Stratford and was the grandmother of the Rev. William Russell, who was pastor of this church from 1846 10 1855. Mr. Russell graduated from Yale College in the cele- brated class of 1837, just one hundred years later than his illustrious predecessor and ancestor.
Anna Norton, the third daughter and fourth child of the Rev. John, was born at Fall Town, September 22, 1745, and died in Fort Shirley, August 26, 1747. A rough stone upon
* Family Record of John Norton, Jr., and Ede ( Clark ) Norton:
Dorinda, born Nov. 19, 1766; married (1) May 17, 1795, Jesse Penfield, (2) Andrew Shepard.
Lucinda, born Feb. 11, 1769; died it is said with yellow fever.
John, born March 3, 1771; died Mar. 17, 1771.
Sarah, born Feb. 2, 1773; married -
, 1793, Elizur Andrews.
John, born April 7, 1775; married Mar. 7, 1798. Lucy Johnson.
Belinda, born April 12, 1779; married (1) Nov. 1, 1797, Hezekialı Smith, (2) Thomas Child.
Jabez Clark, born June 26, 1781; married Oct. 24, 1804, Sarah Pelton.
Celinda, born July IS, 1785; married Nov. 25, 1807, Erastus Carrier, of Colchester.
Florinda, born Jan. 3, 1789; married (1) Mar. 28, 1808, Jesse Hubbard, (2) - Islam.
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
which was chiseled, probably by some soldier of the garrison, the following inscription:
Hear lys ye body of Anna D. of ye Rev Mr. John Norton. She died Aug ye aged 1747
was set up at the head of her grave, and for one hundred and thirty-seven years withstood the wars of the elements until the day in August on which she died and the number of years that she had lived became entirely obliterated. In 1884 this stone was placed in the museum of Williams College, where with other relics of the old fort it still remains. Professor Perry, of Williams College, writes that the tradition is still lively in Heath that there used to come up from Connecticut on all occasional pilgrimage to the site of Fort Shirley, and particu- larly to the grave of Anna Norton, some of her relatives, probably her mother. This, he says, is very likely and may well pass into an historical fact.
Jacob Norton, the second son and fifth child of the Rev. John, was born December 15, 1748, and died in a prison ship in New York during the Revolution.
Elias Norton, the third son and sixth child of the Rev. John, was born October 21, 1750, and died November 5, of the same year.
Anne, the fourth daughter and seventh child of the Rev. John, was born March 29, 1752, but of her we have no further record, unless she is the person of that name who was received into full communion in this church August 12, 1769.
Eunice, the fifth daughter and eighth child of the Rev. John, was born October 23, 1754, and died unmarried October 12, 1845, leaving her property, which amounted to about $100, to this ecclesiastical society. After the death of her mother Aunt Eunice, as she was usually called, resided alone in a house that formerly stood near the residence of the late Matthew Haling, and which with its contents was destroyed by fire during her temporary absence. It was this fire that is supposed to have destroyed the early records of the church and also important papers that belonged to the family, which would be valuable and interesting had they been preserved until to-day. A new house was erected for her by subscription upon the site where
45
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
now stands the house of Thomas O'Connell, in which she lived until it was deemed imprudent for her to remain alone any longer and she was removed to the house of tlie late Amos Clark, where she died.
Elias Norton, ninth child and fourth son of the Rev. John Norton, was born October 23, 1754, twin brother to Eunice. He studied medicine with Dr. Thomas Mosely, of East Haddam, and January 29, 1776, was appointed surgeon's mate to Dr. Robert Usher, surgeon to Colonel Wadsworth's Regiment of the Connecticut Line. He eventually, however, cast in his lot with the Loyalist party, and before the close of the war sought refuge in the provinces. Soon after the beginning of the present cell- tury he returned to Addison, Me., where he married an English lady and was granted a pension of ninety-six dollars a year by the government. The granting of this pension was considered an unjust proceeding at that time by many persons, but it is evident that the government considered the service that he rendered to his country more than offset his disloyalty. He died in Addison, Me., about 1846, leaving a widow who died shortly afterward. I have not learned that he left any family.
There are but few records extant from which any opinion of Mr. Norton's literary ability can be formed. His published narrative, though a work full of valuable and interesting facts, is written in the dryest manner possible. The few manuscript sermons from his pen that have been preserved show that he was well versed iu the doctrinal views of the church of his time and compare well in a literary point of view with the average preacher of those days. The few records of the church kept by hin, that are known to be in existence, show him to be a careful, painstaking and methodical inan, giving as they do the dates of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths that occurred in the parish. It is a source of profound regret that the greater portion of them are irrecoverably lost, as their aid would be of inestimable value at this time, when there are so many search- ing among the records of the past for the story of their ancestry. Upon the records of Vale College his name appears as the nine- teenth in a class of twenty-four, but prior to the year 1767 the names of the scholars in that institution are entered upon the catalogue in the order of their family rank and give no indica- tion of their rank in scholarship. The few traditions that have
46
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
been handed down to us relating to his pastorate here, show that he allowed no seeming lapse from duty on the part of any of his parishioners to pass unnoticed. The absence of any of the heads of families from the regular Sabbath services were investigated at the earliest possible moment, and the offender was sure to be severely reprimanded unless a valid excuse could be found for his neglect of duty. The impression is that he was a man of sterling, substantial qualities, and that he con- sidered himself as settled over this parish in every sense of the word.
Thus briefly have we summarized the principal incidents and events that we have been able to collect, that relate to the life and labors of him who was the first to "tend these few sheep in the wilderness," and by whom doubtless he was looked upon as a man "sent from God." Lapse of time and the destruction of early records of both the church and family have rendered the task extremely difficult, but with the material that has been at my command I can only say that I have done what I could, the best that I could, and certainly there can be no person who regrets more than myself that in some important details it is so unsatisfactory and incomplete.
And now, in closing, let me again express my sincere and heartfelt thanks to all who have kindly aided me in the prepa- ration of this paper, and also to fervently hope that the efforts of some future historian may be crowned with success in search- ing for "the hidden things that remain."
REV. CHRISTOPHER W. COLLIER, Acting Pastor, 1893-1897.
47
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
ADDRESS REPRESENTING THE FORMER PASTORS.
2019 EAR FRIENDS :- I do not see how I am to keep out the personal in what I am expected to say to-day, for, as I understand it, I am to represent the former pastors of this church. Of course, if one is to represent theni one must be like them, in some respects at least; in more than one sense he must be one of them. Now I am going to assume not so much that I think and feel as they do, but that they think and feel as I do. So I shall speak pretty freely the feelings of my own heart and from my own experience.
Speaking in that way, I am sure it will have to be largely in the vein of congratulation; it will consist in telling you of some things that have greatly cheered and helped your former pastors.
For one thing: they have taken great satisfaction in the substantial character of this church. That is the reputation this church has in all the surrounding country. I used to hear it at the Ministers' Association; at the conferences, and when talking with individuals. Let us keep in mind that by the "church" I mean the membership, not the building in which we worship. Unless we keep this point clear we shall run into difficulties, as did one of my friends from whom I heard the other day. He had just been called to beconie pastor of a church in this State, and he was describing the church in some detail; at one point he overlooked this distinction between the church building and the membership of the church, and went on to say that there were 168 members in his church, built of granite! That must be a very substantial church! But I am glad to say that the membership of this church, though substantial, is not built of granite. This church is substantial in the character of the men and women who constitute it; in the number of its membership; in the general stability of its character, and in the steadiness of its financial concerns. And this last is no mean thing. I myself can testify, so far as the
48
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF EAST HAMPTON.
minister's salary is concerned, that during my pastorate with you it was ready when it was due, and sometimes it was paid before. Now that is as it should be, though it is not so com- 1non as it should be. The community has a right to expect the minister to be an example as regards money matters, and it has the right to expect as much of the church. There should be no institution in town more jealous of its good reputation for promptness and reliability in financial affairs than the church. Often the minister finds it impossible to do as he would like in such affairs because of the dilatoriness of the church; but I am glad to say such is not the case here, and I trust this church will always be found at the farthest remove therefrom.
This substantial character of the church has been supple- mented by the fine quality of its spirituality, and this too has been a great comfort to its pastors. There are as earnest Christians here as anywhere. I shall never forget some of the prayer meetings we have held together in the basement of this church. Yet the spirituality of this church has come out in other ways than in the prayer meeting, as goes without saying, for a spirituality that shows itself there, but only there, is not worthy of the name. I felt all this the first Sabbath I was with you, and it drew me to you.
Yet this spirituality has existed along with a broad and generous tolerance. I do not see how a preacher has the right to expect or indeed needs a greater freedom of utterance than you have granted here. Personally I do not know how many heresies I may have broached here, but you listened and waited with a patience and kindliness that as much as said, "Oh, it is all right; we know what he is driving at, and he will come out all right by and by!" Certainly I have said some things that I would not say now. Yet I believe still in the freedom you grant. The Kingdom of God is not much hurt by mistakes conscientiously, reverently made, no more than the oak is hurt by some unusual blast. The minister is to be trusted in the realm of spiritual things; if in the main he cannot be trusted, then by that very fact he is shown to be unfit for the Christian ministry. To be sure he will make mistakes in theology and religious matters, but if in the main he is the right kind of a man, trust him, give him liberty, and he will work out all right in the end. Now this is what this church has done; it has not
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.