USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Woodbury > The birthplace of the American episcopacy : a history of St. Paul's Church and the Glefe House, 1740-1940 > Part 2
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Samuel Seabury, First Bishop of Connecticut and of the American Church. Elected March 25, 1783 in the Glebe House, Woodbury. Consecrated November 14, 1784 in Aberdeen, Scotland.
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This is the very important Convention of the "Immortal Ten" which determined most important issues in the coming organiza- tion of the Protestant Episcopal Church of America. It brought about the certainty of an American Episcopate in regular Apostolic Succession, and, thru Bishop Seabury's influence, very largely, the organization embraced the House of Bishops which some latitu- dinarians had hoped to eliminate and gave the bishops only less power in the General Conventions than the Laity. William White soon withdrew his suggestion, which had not been to abolish bishops, but only to organize without waiting to secure them.
It has been frequently stated that this was a secret meeting held at the call of John Marshall. It was not secret and the Rev. Abra- ham Jarvis, who was its secretary calls it a "voluntary convention". That John Marshall was a force in the matter must be assumed. From the time of his assuming the charge at St. Paul's he was very active in all matters pertaining to the Church in Connecticut and his name appears in the roll of the various conventions more regu- larly than any other. He also took a lively interest in the organiza- tion of the national Church; but, apparently each of the ten felt inspired for the meeting. The result of the conference is well known : how they determined to send a candidate for Episcopal Consecra- tion to England and empowered Abraham Jarvis to go to New York and persuade Jeremiah Leaming, then Rector of Christ Church, Stratford, or, in case he should refuse, Samuel Seabury, to sail immediately for the purpose of securing that consecration. Leaming refused; Seabury sailed on May 24, 1783. At this time there happened to be congregated in New York City clergymen from New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. These clergymen assembled and gave Seabury their hearty recommendations so that he sailed bear- ing, not only the request of the "Immortal Ten" of Connecticut, but with concurring recommendations from other states. William White, however was not in New York at the time and he was not told of the matter until later.
However the Glebe House Convocation did send a letter to the Rev. William White entering their protest against his proposal to organize without Bishops in which letter they asked, "Can we plead necessity with any propriety, till we have tried to obtain an Episcopate, and have been rejected?"
Samuel Seabury, son of Samuel Seabury, S.P.G. Missionary at New London, was a Tory. He was also a Missionary of the Vener- able Society and stationed at Westchester, N.Y. At one time during
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the Revolution he had been imprisoned for advocating loyalty to King George, but he had stayed in the country and at the close of war he declared his loyalty to the new government. His devotion to the Church and to its traditional organization was well known. His scholarship was of a high grade and he was considered by all who knew of his election as entirely worthy and a most suitable choice. The difficulties of his mission were great. Up till now the Church of England had recognized no possibility of extending its Episcopate beyond the jurisdiction of the King of England and Parliament. All S.P.G. Missionaries had taken the oath of allegi- ance to the temporal powers of England. Seabury, however had been authorized to go to Scotland if he failed in England and after spending more than a year in fruitless effort in England he went to Scotland. The Scottish Bishops were called "Non-Jurors". At the time of the revolution in England which deposed James II, in 1688, the Scottish Church had remained loyal to the Stuarts and had, since then carried on independently. Their succession was perfect, however, and thither Seabury went and there in Aberdeen he was received most cordially. On Sunday, November 14, 1784 he was consecrated Bishop of Connecticut in the private chapel of Bishop Skinner, by three Scottish Bishops, Robert Kilgour, Bishop of Aberdeen and "Primus Scotiae Episcopus", Arthur Petrie, Bishop of Ross and Moray and John Skinner, Bp. Coadjutor of Aberdeen.
Bishop Skinner preached the sermon on this occasion and from it I quote, "As long as there are nations to be instructed in the principles of the Gospel, or a Church to be formed in any part of the inhabited world, the successors of the Apostles are obliged by the commission which they hold, to contribute, as far as they can, or may be required of them, to the propagation of those principles, and to the formation of every church upon the most pure and pri- mitive model. No fear of worldly censure ought to keep them back from so good a work; no connection with any State, nor dependence upon any government whatever, should tie their hands from com- municating the means of that 'Kingdom which is not of this world' and diffusing the means of salvation, by a valid and regular mini- stry, wherever they may be wanted."
Dr. Horne, Dean of Canterbury wrote to Seabury after his con- secration, "I am truly sorry that our Cabinet here would not save you the trouble of going to Scotland for it." Bishop Seabury, returning to his See, arrived at New London in June, 1785 and immediately wrote to the Rev. Mr. Jarvis concerning the best place and time for a Convention of the Clergy of Connecticut.
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This was arranged for August 3rd following at Middletown. Great was the joy of Churchmen in the state over this happy issue and to welcome their long desired head, a Bishop of Connecticut; but they could not refrain from expressing their disappointment in the un- willingness of the English Church to grant their request. To this expression Bishop Seabury replied, "But where the ecclesiastical and civil constitutions are so closely woven together as they are in that country, the first characters in the Church for station and merit may find their dispositions rendered ineffectual by the inter- vention of the civil authority."
At this convention Bishop Seabury held his first ordination, admitting four candidates to the Deaconate and also he delivered his first charge to the Connecticut Clergy. The Rev. Mr. Leaming, Rector of Christ Church, Stratford, delivered the sermon of the Convention acclaiming the great good news that, "There is a Bishop here, to act as a true Father toward his clergy."
The Scottish Bishops had made with Bishop Seabury a Concor- dat, mutually pledging the Church of Scotland and the Church of Connecticut to be at one as members "in the mystical Body of Christ of which He alone is Head and supreme Governour, and that under him, the chief ministers or Managers of the affairs of this spiritual Society, are those called Bishops, whose Exercise of their sacred Office being independent on all Lay powers, it follows of consequence that their spiritual Authority and Jurisdiction can- not be affected by any Lay-Deprivation."
This is from the second article in the Concordat and is important in its repercussions later in the organization of the American Church. Of, perhaps, nearly equal importance and certainly of sufficient interest to be noted, is the section dealing with the cele- bration of the Holy Eucharist. It should be remembered that the Book of Common Prayer in use in England at this time was not identical with the earlier one of the Reign of Edward VI. Many of the English Clergy regretted the changes which had been made but were unable to do anything about it. The Scottish Church had restored this form. Article V of the Concordat deals thus with this matter, "As the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, or the Admin- istration of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, is the principal Bond of Union among Christians, as well as the most. solemn Act of Worship in the Christian Church, the Bishops afore- said agree in desiring that there may be as little variance here as possible . .. In this capital Article therefore of the Eucharistic Service ... Bishop Seabury also agrees to take a serious View of the
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Communion office recommended by them, and if found agreeable to the general standards of Antiquity, to give his Sanction to it, and by gentle methods of Argument and Persuasion, to endeavor, as they have done, to introduce it by degrees into practice without Compulsion of Authority on the one side, or the prejudice of former Custom on the other." Both of these items came into the discus- sions of the conventions whose work was the organization of the American Church.
On October 6, 1784 a meeting was held in New York City at which nine States were represented. John Rutgers Marshall was sent to represent Connecticut; but his sole mission was to make known to the assembled clergy that Connecticut had already sent a candidate for Episcopal Consecration and until the result of that move should be known, Connecticut could take no part in discus- sions for the organization of the American Church. When their bishop should have returned they would then do all in their power to further that movement. Following this assurance, upon the return of Bishop Seabury, they invited the clergy of the other States to attend the Convocation at Middletown. Apparently this invitation received no notice.
Various State and inter-state conventions were held from the end of the war up till the final organization of the Church in the con- vention of 1789. Most of these conventions had as chief objective the organization of the Episcopal Church in America. From time to time there was correspondence between the men most interested and Churchmen of England. The final recognition of the United States by the British Government and the very earnest endeavors of American Church men to organize and to go forward, opened the way for Consecration of American Bishops in England; and in February, 1787 William White was consecrated Bishop of Penn- sylvania and Samuel Provoost, Bishop of New York by the two Archbishops assisted by the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Bishop of Peterborough. The discussions in the conventions con- sisted largely of the constitution and there were various views. All, or nearly all agreed that there should be one United Church free from any political power, but there were other questions upon which it seemed hard for the representatives to agree. One was the recognition of the Consecration of Bishop Seabury by the Non- juring Bishops: one was the part and powers of the Bishops in the Church Government and Conventions, and one was the part and power of the Laity.
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Samuel Provoost was greatly opposed to recognizing Bishop Seabury's Consecration; and he was so determined about it that, had he not been too ill to attend the September (adjourned) session of the 1789 convention, there might have been a permanent schism. As it was, owing largely to the moderation and harmonizing influ- ence of three men, William White, Samuel Parker, of Boston, and Samuel Seabury, this adjourned meeting was able to adjust all difficulties, Non-Juring Consecration, Superior House of Bishops, the place of the Clergy and of representation of the Laity. Also, all differences as to the Book of Common Prayer were adjusted and Bishop Seabury had the great satisfaction of keeping faith with the Scottish Bishops in every essential of the Concordat, not only for Connecticut but for the United States.
At the adjournment of this Convention the American Episcopal Church was one, with a Constitution and Liturgy finally approved and accepted. One must mention, however, the next General Con- vention which met in New York City in 1792. This was the first Triennial. At this meeting occurred the first consecration of an American Bishop on American soil. There were now four bishops, Seabury, White, Provoost and James Madison, Bishop of Virginia. These four bishops joined in the consecration of the Rev. Thomas John Claggett, Bishop elect of Maryland. This was a great occasion not only because Bishop Claggett was the first to receive his Con- secration on American Soil but also because in this consecration, the two Successions, the Scottish and the English, were united in the American Church.
لسنة ١٨٠١٠
....
The Glebe House of St. Paul's Parish, Woodbury Wherein Bishop Seabury was elected
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The Study of the Glebe House. The first Bishop of the Church in America, Samuel Seabury, was elected in this room.
CHAPTER IV
THE GLEBE HOUSE
ONLY a short distance southwest of St. Paul's Church, on what was originally the main business street of Old Woodbury, stands the "Glebe House". It lies in a wide expanse of low, fertile fields where at one time the Pomperaug River must have pursued its course.
Today, this venerable mansion is one of the outstanding historic shrines of the United States. Although its earliest years are shroud- ed in more or less obscurity, its recorded life commenced on May 27, 1747. At that time the land was deeded by Zadok Hurd to Cap- tain Wait Hinman.
According to the estimation of architects who specialize in restorations, the Glebe House was erected during the town's early settlement. At first - around 1690 - the house consisted of two rooms and a large field-stone chimney. The present parlor and upstairs pine-paneled bedroom were the original rooms. It then
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corresponded closely to what Norman Isham terms 'the one-room house' in his book, "Early Connecticut Houses".
About sixty years later, in 1750, the structure was evidently completed and enlarged. On February 11, 1765 the records reveal that the property was sold to Captain Richard Brownson by Nathan Hurd who had acquired it from Captain Hinman on June 6, 1748. Dwelling house and barn were included with the land. By this time two more large chambers had been added on the other side of the chimney. The older roof was replaced with a more suitable one. A lean-to, or kitchen, finished off the rear in typical Connecticut Valley style. Both parlor and kitchen boasted paneled doors lead- ing to the outside. At completion the building was without doubt one of the finest residences of its day in this particular section of Connecticut.
The date of completion coincides roughly with the founding of St. Paul's parish, but it was not until some years hence, in 1771, that John Rutgers Marshall, first resident rector, employed the house as a glebe. James Masters, a parishioner, purchased it on October 12th of that same year from Marcy Bennit, daughter of Captain Brownson. The house passed into the hands of John Rut- gers Marshall, John Clark, Adam Lum, and Mitchell Lamson on April 22, 1783.
Three years after the election of Bishop Seabury, the Glebe House was sold on August 9, 1786 to John Clark for the purpose of assisting the struggling parish in erecting a church.
For a period of sixty-four years or so, the house went through an industrial era under the ownership of Gideon B. Botsford, a silver smith. During this period, there were erected a hatter's shop, a silver smith's shop, and other smaller buildings.
Next date of importance in its life was April 9, 1866, when the house and its additional buildings again changed hands. The suc- ceeding owner, Daniel Curtiss, rented it to a great variety of ten- ants, until finally three clergymen, the Reverend J. H. George, Reverend J. F. Nichols, and Reverend J. C. Linsley purchased the ancient edifice from Horace D. Curtiss the son of Daniel Curtiss. They presented the house to Bishop John Williams of Connecticut as a Christmas gift, the deed being dated December 29, 1892.
Bishop Williams wrote them three touching letters of thanks in which he exclaims, "What a Xmas gift you send me! All the better that it is for others and not for myself." In another note to the com- mittee of three he asserts, "It will be my effort to ensure that this
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property shall be used for the good of the Church, and therefore for the work of the Master."
It was first used officially, after ceasing to be a Rectory, when the commemorative service for Bishop Seabury's election was held, March 27, 1883. Several committees were formed thereafter in vain attempts to preserve or use the mansion as a home for aged clergymen. Only one clergyman is known, however, to have lived there. All efforts to preserve the structure failed miserably, and it was decided to tear it down, substituting in its place a memorial tablet.
The Right Reverend E. Campion Acheson, then suffragan bishop of Connecticut, protested. In November 1922 he appointed a new committee in a last attempt to save the shrine from decay and oblivion. Faithfully restored to the period in which the first rector was its tenant, the ancient mansion was opened to the public and a custodian installed in 1925. In that year the Seabury Society for the Preservation of the Glebe House came into being.
As it stands today, the house embodies the regulation seven- teenth-century type in its interior scheme while the exterior features are of the middle eighteenth century. Furniture of both periods is included in its valuable collection.
The roof has the curb or gambrel, while in back is a curving pitch sweeping downward over the old buttery in the far rear. Inside, a "porch" or hall contains a staircase running from left to right. On the left is the beautifully-paneled parlor in which the historic meeting was held. In the rear is the long kitchen with its huge fireplace, measuring eight feet in length by five feet in heighth, in back of which yawns an early type of baking oven.
In the paneled room to the right of the front hall is the hidden panel at the bottom of the wood-closet. Through this the Reverend John Rutgers Marshall disappeared when the Patriots searched the house for him. There has always been a tradition in the Mar- shall family that a secret passage ran underground from the Glebe House to the home of Tory neighbors.
A most interesting piece of woodwork is the pine board matched paneling covering the inner walls of the bedroom over the parlor. Pine trees from which these were hewn are said to be a practically extinct species of Connecticut's primeval forest.
The Old Glebe House is visited, annually, by thousands of per- sons interested in early Colonial buildings and ways of life, or in the history of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut.
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H. Thompson.
Rev J.R.Marshall.
Christopher Prentice
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Pews marked by dotted lined were built after ar Marshalls death
Early seating arrangement in St. Paul's Church.
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Or Orton
P Sechniet & Clarke
9 + 2 Shelling
CHAPTER V THE CHURCH EDIFICE
FOR some years prior to the building of the present church in 1785, the Episcopal services were held in the "Old Town House", which had been built for a meeting house by the First Congrega- tional Society in 1681, near the present site of the Soldier's Monu- ment. After the building of the second meeting house by the Congregational Society in 1747, this building was used as a town hall for many years and afterwards as a slaughter house by a Mr. Tallman.
The Altar used prior to the completion of the present church was saved by a member of the society, who was also a Mason, and later placed in King Solomon's Lodge, where it is still in use.
While holding their meetings in "The Old Woodbury Town House", the desire of the members for a church of their own con- tinued to grow until, after the peace following the Revolutionary war had made labor more plentiful, they took action at a meeting held at the "Town House" on January 10, 1785, when it was voted: - "That on consideration of the present state of the society the most likely means and ways that can at present be expected to affect the purpose of building a house of Divine service will be to solicit contributions and subscriptions from the generous and well disposed as may affect the desire, and that so soon as the committee shall have received ... in money or necessary materials ... to the amount of three hundred pounds to be valued in lawful money, the committee shall give notice . .. that further measures may be. taken ... ". The location selected was "in the cross highway near Sherwood's shop and as nigh to the northeast corner of the burying ground as may be with Conveniency." Samuel Orton, Mitchel Lamson and John Clark were appointed a committee to solicit subscriptions.
The committee seem to have been successful in their efforts as on February 23, 1785 it was voted: - "To go on and build a church 48 feet long and 32 feet wide without an arch". Samuel Orton, John Clark and Mitchel Lamson were appointed a building committee.
It was necessary to obtain the consent of the First Society before the work could be begun. This was given on May 9, 1785 when it was voted: - "That the Episcopal Society in this town have the liberty to build a church in the northeast corner of the burying yard." This consent must have been taken for granted because in
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an old account book owned by Dan'l Huntington we find this nota- tion, "April 1, 1785. A fine hard crust this morning, about 10 o'clock two loads of timber brought for the church on sleds which ran very easy."
The cutting and drawing of logs continued for some time. Every timber and all boards used in the building, except those placed in very recent years, are of native oak, cut in the forests of what at that time constituted the town of Woodbury, hewn or sawed by Woodbury workmen, hand planed and finished. In July the church was raised and Dan'l Huntington's book states; "August 5, 1785. This day being Friday the steeple to the church was finished rais- ing. But the body of the house and the steeple up to the eighth square was raised about three weeks ago. Nobody much hurt". The gallery timbers must have been put in at this time because a list of lumber dated August 1785 included "Gallery girts and steeple timbers".
The church building at that time was a simple rectangle with the tower extending its full depth from the front of the main build- ing, with a door in the front of the tower and another door in the south side, a small arched window in the front of the tower just above the door, (this window has since been replaced with a stained glass window), two small round windows, one above the other, near the top of the tower, as at present, and two large arched win- dows in the front of the main building, one above the other, on either side of and equally distant from the tower. The money ori- ginally collected was apparently exhausted at this time and the building left entirely enclosed, but the interior in a rough unfinished condition.
Contributions to the original fund were based on the pounds, shillings and pence in use at that time and were for the most part not in cash but in services, materials for the church building, pay- ment for the labor of others, payment of accounts owed by the workmen to various merchants and individuals about the town, and goods furnished to the workmen which, among other things, included "12 Barril of Pork 2-10-0, one felt hat 7 shillings, and ten gallons, three quarts and 1 pint of rum". This last entry may seem strange to those who have not seen the raising of a building in the old days, when no one expected to be paid for his labor but did expect and usually received a satisfactory amount of food and drink.
The Rev. John Rutgers Marshall furnished the small window panes which were brought from England and most of which still
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remain, also the nails, and he collected for the fund four pounds ten shillings in cash in the town of Newtown. Nails used in later work on the church were furnished by Samuel Woodman and Asahel Bacon. Mr. Bacon also furnished the cash for the Vane which cost one pound ten shillings and was brought from New Haven by Mr. Backus who received twelve shillings for expenses and six shillings for his time and who, for the trip, used a horse owned by Stephen Galpin, for which Mr. Galpin received five shillings.
Additional subscriptions in cash or work were made by eighty- one individuals. Their names and amounts contributed can be found in the Clerk's records, the originals of which are at the State Library, Hartford, Connecticut.
The zeal of the Rev. Mr. Marshall and his parishoners for a church of their own could not be overcome and at a meeting held at the "Town House" on June 15, 1786 they voted to "lay a tax of 1 shilling six pence on the pound on the list of 1786, the proceeds to be applied toward the finishing of the church in Woodbury". Samuel Orton, John Clark and Mitchel Lamson were continued as a committee to "lay out the money on the church". On August 9, 1786 Rev. John R. Marshall, Adam Lum and Mitchel Lamson, who had been members of the committee which held title to the Glebe House for the society, sold the Glebe House to John Clark, who had also been a member of the committee, and the proceeds of the sale were added to the funds for building the church. The money thus raised was used for work on the interior of the church which, while not a matter of record, was probably the laying of the floor and the building of a coarse, temporary, wooden pulpit against the center of the back wall of the church, as the Clerk's records state that on November 28, 1787 the first meeting was held in the church.
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