USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Washington > The church on the green; the first two centuries of the First Congregational church at Washington, Connecticut, 1741-1941 > Part 3
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At a society meeting in the house of Joseph Gillette on the 29th of June, 1742, a special committee was chosen to confer with Mr. Reuben Judd who had received the call to be pastor of the church. The wording of the call is as follows: "We ye subscribers pursuant to ye vote of ye inhabitants of Judea as thereunto appointed, do earnestly entreat and be- seech ye worthy Mr. Reuben Judd to settle with us in ye work of ye gospel ministry and take ye pastoral charge of ye souls of us and ours."
Mr. Judd accepted the call and was ordained in an outdoor service near the home of Samuel Pitcher on September 1st, 1742. That was the date for the official organization of the church, consisting of thirteen men and ten women. With one exception, their names are recorded, as follows : Deacon In- crease Moseley, Deacon Joseph Hurd, John Baker, Joseph Gillette, Allen Curtis, Joseph Chittendon, Elijah Hurd, Ben- jamin Hurd, James Hurd, John Royce, Samuel Broughton, Samuel Bell, Deborah Moseley, Ann Hurd, Rachel Weeks, Jerusha Baker, Abigail Hurd, Tabitha Hurd, Dorcas Royce, Mary Durkee, Esther Durkee.
In less than four years, forty-seven additional members were added to the church, making a total membership of seventy, received during the ministry of Mr. Judd. Eighty-
EBENEZER PORTER MINISTER 1795-1811
STEPHEN MASON MINISTER 1818-1828
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one baptisms were recorded in the same period of approxi- mately five years.
Considering the times, the settlement arrangement for Mr. Judd was of a generous nature. In those days two pro- visions were made for a minister. There was the question of salary and there was the matter of a dwelling place. It was the usual practice for a minister to be given a parcel of land and to have a house built for his use by the members of the church and society. Such a settlement was not only for the use of the minister while performing his duties as pastor but it became his private property. Naturally the minister became attached to his own house and land. Nor would the members of a church feel able to finance a minister's settle- ment every few years. The cost was prohibitive. It is not sur- prising, therefore, that there were long pastorates in the early days of the New England churches.
The society made the following arrangement with Mr. Judd. They voted him three hundred and eighty pounds to be paid in land or in money as follows : One hundred pounds to be paid in 1743, one hundred pounds to be paid in 1744, and one hundred pounds to be paid in 1745, and eighty pounds in 1746. In regard to the salary the following resolu- tion was passed: "We will give to ye worthy Mr. Reuben Judd one hundred pounds by ye year the first four years from 1742, and the next five years following to add ten pounds a year." One notes in passing that this arrangement with Mr. Judd was of such a nature that it may have handi- capped their efforts to secure a meeting-house. Mr. Turner says that Mr. Judd's salary exceeded that of any of his suc- cessors for a hundred years.
According to the Ecclesiastical Society records, the Judea Society met once a month. A moderator was chosen for each
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meeting. There was also a collector who had charge of the funds, and a committee of three who were authorized to act on behalf of the society in any emergency.
No sooner had the Ecclesiastical Society become organ- ized than there arose a persistent effort to construct a suit- able building where the people might gather for divine wor- ship. On April 14th, 1742, it was unanimously voted "that there was want of a meeting-house in Judea." The meeting was held at the house of Joseph Gillette and from there the people went to inspect the place agreed upon as the best site for the meeting-house. Deacon Samuel Miner was chosen as the one to arrange all the details in regard to the place chosen. Captain Knowles was chosen as the one to establish the boundary between Bethlehem and Judea. Then there came a vote to build a log meeting-house, twenty-five feet long and twenty feet wide. Nothing came of it. Several months later, September 22, 1742, it was voted "to build a frame meeting-house, thirty feet long, twenty-six feet wide, and an eighteen foot post, to be raised by the 25th of Novem- ber next." Nathaniel Durkee, Friend Weeks and Joseph Gil- lette were appointed to oversee the work of building. This vote also was followed by inaction.
At a subsequent meeting the following minute was made : "At said meeting there was much discourse about the build- ing of a meeting-house, but none to purpose as to the building of it by the society. Then several men subscribed to build a house upon their own charge that might answer for the present in the place of a meeting-house, and it was voted by the society that the men who subscribed should have lib- erty to set said house on ye plot of land that was laid out to set a meeting-house on." The place chosen was a little north- west of the present location of the church on the Green.
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The work on this new building was brought to a success- ful conclusion as attested by the following resolution : "Voted to accept of ye Eight Partners house to use as a Meeting-House so long as it will comfortably hold ye inhabi- tants." Nathaniel Durkee was commissioned to finish the interior of the building, such as the making of the seats, the doors and the pulpit. Another resolution called for a blue plush cushion, presumably for the minister's use. It was also voted that "the Society's Treasurer take care of ye sweeping of ye Meeting-House for ye ensuing year." Apparently the order of service was of a very simple nature as it is recorded that "ye worthy Mr. Reuben Judd shall order ye singing of hymns at any time when he thinks it convenient and proper."
The ministers' arrangements were not the only responsi- bility of the youthful settlement. There were roads to be built, surveys to be made, taxes to be levied, local militia to be organized, schools to be established and similar measures to be put into effect. It was voted to build a bridge over the Shepaug River and all were taxed for the project, some pay- ing their share in work on the bridge. The militia was proba- bly established in 1744, as the records begin to use military titles at that time, such as Lieutenant John Baker, Sergeant Nathaniel Durkee and Corporal Robert Durkee. From 1744 on, there are references to annual appointments on the school committee although there is little information given about the schools. In her excellent historical summary of the Soci- ety of Judea, Mrs. A. C. Titus speaks of two ancient school records now kept for safe keeping in the Town Hall. One record is "The First School Society's Meetings of Washing- ton" and the other is a notebook kept by the various clerks in the Church Hill district. In the records there is a refer- ence to the recovery of lost cattle by the erection of a pound
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on the highway near Sergeant Gillette's house. In the year 1746 there are also references to the parsonage grounds and to the laying out of highways.
Apparently all was not smooth sailing between the pastor and the people. Money was scarce and it was not easy to meet all their obligations in terms of cash. Two years after the settlement it was therefore voted that "ye worthy Mr. Reuben Judd's salary for the future shall be paid in grain by those that see cause to pay in grain. In wheat at 12 shillings per bushel, Indian corn at six shillings per bushel, oats at four shillings per bushel."
Just what the misunderstanding was between Mr. Judd and the members of the church is not clear. In 1744 a com- mittee of four was appointed to confer with Mr. Judd con- cerning his desire to terminate his ministry in Judea. After the committee brought back their report, another committee of three was elected to confer with neighboring ministers as to the best course for the society to take. The Rev. Ebenezer Porter has left the following comment: "The Rev. Reuben Judd continued in the pastorate here about five years. From writings that remain, his character and the occasion of his dismission do not distinctly appear." It is recorded that the society paid Mr. Judd over seven hundred pounds for his house and farm.
Mr. Judd was followed by Rev. John Searl who only re- mained a year. It is stated in the meeting of July, 1747, that the inhabitants by a unanimous vote signified their desire to have the worthy Mr. John Searl continue to preach the Gospel in Judea. Two months later the society voted to send Captain Friend Weeks to the General Assembly Meeting in New Haven with the request that they be released from pay- ing country rates for a time. At a meeting in December,
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1747, a unanimous call was given to Mr. John Searl to settle as their minister. They also voted to give him five pounds old tenor money for each Sabbath he preached. It was voted to give him seven hundred pounds old tenor money for a settle- ment and to pay it in five years, namely : one hundred and fifty pounds a year for the four following years and one hundred pounds the last year.
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One incident concerning Mr. Searl's pastorate is given in Mr. Porter's notebook as follows: "while Mr. Searl was preaching against vain recreations, a man rose from his seat contemptuously and walked out of the meeting-house. After a moment's pause, and while he was still in the house the preacher spoke to this effect, 'Perhaps you may not have another opportunity to come to the sanctuary, but I leave it with the Great God.' The man went home, sickened in a few days and died."
In the society records, there is the following interesting item: "April the 7th, A. D. 1747; this may certify that Mr. Joseph Hurlbut professes himself of the Church of England and puts himself under my pastoral care, signed, John Beach, missionary." This would indicate that an Epis- copal missionary had been traveling through the country settlements, carrying on a work of ministering to the sick and preaching the Gospel and adding converts to the Church of England.
Mr. Searl only remained about a year and probably left because of a misunderstanding concerning the settlement, as one resolution states : "Voted to try whether the worthy Mr. John Searl will abate in his settlement and salary." For that purpose a special committee was appointed but the com- mittee was evidently unsuccessful. In August of 1748 there was a resolution "granting to Capt. Weeks fifteen pounds
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old tenor money for boarding Mr. Searl and keeping his horse." At the same meeting it was voted "that all our vot- ing in society meeting for the future shall be done by holding up the hand or dividing the house." In December of 1748 the pulpit was again vacant and a special committee was chosen to arrange for the preaching services.
The people who established the Judea Ecclesiastical Soci- ety and church were a hardy folk. They were willing and ready to cope with the hardships that were their daily lot. They loved their freedom and, above all, their freedom of conscience. They were a people of keen intelligence, insistent that their children should be sent to school. And they were a people who had qualities of leadership and of statesmanship. They were entirely capable of setting out for themselves and creating a self-governing community.
One name, for example, that frequently appears in the early records is that of Increase Moseley. He was a member of various committees and early established a place of natu- ral leadership. With his family, he settled in the Judea Set- tlement about 1740, coming from Norwich. They were thus charter members of both the society and the church. Increase Moseley must have been recognized from the beginning as a man of more than ordinary character and ability. Although only thirty years of age, he was chosen the first deacon of the church. He was also the first Captain of Militia. He became a justice of the peace and as early as 1751 was chosen by the town of Woodbury as one of its two represent- atives in the General Assembly. He was re-elected many times to this office, serving in upwards of thirty sessions, including the Revolutionary War period.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Colonial Era
N SEPTEMBER, 1748, the following resolution was passed : "Voted by a clear vote to hire ye worthy Mr. Daniel Brinsmade to preach ye gospel among us till ye first Tues- day in December next." This was quickly followed by an- other resolution : "Voted to give ye worthy Mr. Daniel Brins- made a call to ye work of ye gospel ministry in Judea." A generous settlement of eight hundred pounds was provided. There was one stipulation made, however, concerning the settlement. If he should forsake his faith or the work of the gospel ministry he must return the amount of the settlement to the society. Otherwise he was at liberty to sell or deed away his home in case he left the pastorate of the church. This arrangement was put in the form of a covenant.
It was expressed as follows: "Daniel Brinsmade being applied to by the Society's Committee of Judea that they might know upon what considerations he will return back part or ye whole settlement voted for him by ye inhabitants of ye said Judea, in case he should forsake the work of ye gospel ministry in Presbyterian orders among them, his an- swer is as follows : If he change his principles from ye Pres-
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byterian to Episcopalian, or in any other way in which him- self alone shall be the blamable cause of forfeiting ye work of ye gospel ministry in ye above said Judea, and shall finally desist therefrom, he will oblige himself to return ye above settlement to ye above society when he has deducted out of the said settlement the salary due. But if Providence removes him from ye work of ye ministry in Judea, none of the above reasons being the cause of his remove, then the above said settlement to remain his and his heirs forever, he living and dying in ye ministry and in ye above said Judea in Woodbury." The document was signed by Mr. Brinsmade and on behalf of the society by Jonathan Smith, Lemuel Baker and Elijah Hurd.
It may not be amiss to say a word here about the back- ground of Mr. Brinsmade. He was born in Stratford, July 31, 1718. We know little of his early life save that he was graduated from Yale in 1745. His great-grandfather, John Brinsmade, with his wife Mary, had settled in Stratford about 1642, having come there via Charlestown, Massachu- setts. Both the grandfather and the father bore the name Daniel so that Mr. Brinsmade was the third to bear that name in a direct succession.
No sooner had the settlement been made between Mr. Brinsmade and the church than it "voted that ye 9th of February, 1749, shall be a day of fasting, preparatory to ye ordination of ye worthy Mr. Daniel Brinsmade." It was also voted "that Wednesday, March 1st, 1749 be the day for his ordination for ye work of ye ministry in Judea. And Cap- tain Friend Weeks, Lieutenant John Baker, Sargeant Abra- ham Hurd, were chosen a committee to call a council of elders and messengers to ordain ye worthy Mr. Daniel Brinsmade."
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THE COLONIAL ERA
Mr. Brinsmade proposed the following confession of faith and it was adopted by the church : "Do you believe the Scrip- tures, both of the Old and New Testaments, to be the Word of God, and the only rule of faith and manners? Do you judge the Catechism of the Assembly of Divines that is in common use among us, as far as you understand it, as agree- able to the Word of God?" Then follows the Apostles' Creed.
It was not long before Mr. Brinsmade and the church determined to build a permanent meeting-house in place of the temporary building. There were many resolutions passed in society meetings covering the securing of material and plans for the work. For example, we find resolutions like the following: "Voted that Captain Friend Weeks, David Jud- son, John Baker and Sargeant Samuel Baker be a commit- tee to take care and procure roof-boards, and short shin- gles and clapboards for covering the meeting-house we have voted to build." "Voted to choose a committee to go to Kent to procure white pine timbers and shingles to cover meeting- house. David Foote and Elnathan Mitchell were chosen com- mittee for that end." Later on it was voted to frame and erect the meeting-house. It was also decided that "all the in- habitants of said Judea shall have liberty at ye framing the said meeting-house, and each man's wages per day to be 15 shillings old tenor, in case that each day they work they appear at the frame and begin their work by sun half an hour high in ye morning."
The work must have progressed rather slowly as the soci- ety and the pastor together were given the authority to employ Mr. Stiles of Southbury or any other good workman to frame the meeting-house. It was voted that a committee should make arrangements for the raising of the meeting- house, adding, "said committee shall have their pay in money
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of ye said society, ye first day after ye said raising and for all ye strong drink that they provide for said raising."
In the year 1754 the building was ready for use, though not fully completed. A sexton was provided for in the fol- lowing resolution : "that the sum of three pounds five shil- lings be paid to George for sweeping the meeting-house in said Judea and keeping the keys; seasonably locking the doors and shutting the windows of said house during the ensuing year." Evidently George was not on the job for he was soon supplanted and another resolution passed "to grant the money to David Royce to engage him to sweep ye meeting-house and shut ye doors thereof sufficiently the ensuing year."
Mr. Brinsmade kept a faithful record of his duties in connection with the church. During his ministry a hundred and thirty persons were admitted into membership. Three hundred and six persons received baptism. He performed a good many marriages, sometimes as many as fifteen in a single year. Ethan Allen of Revolutionary fame came to him to be married, the entry reading: "Ethan Allen of Cornwall and Mary Brownson of Roxbury were married June 23, 1762 -four shillings." It was Mr. Brinsmade's habit to enter the fee he received from each marriage. On marrying the son of a deacon of his church, Abisha Moseley, to Lois Dutton, he remarked : "I did not accept a fee from him because his father was a deacon."
The baptismal records give us information about Mr. Brinsmade's family. Together with his will, they are our chief source of first hand information. We know that about the time he came to Judea he married Rhoda Sherman of New Haven and that he had two sons and two daughters. The baptism of these children is entered in the church regis-
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THE COLONIAL ERA
ter. For example, there is this entry : "January 19th. Then baptized my own son Daniel, who was born November 16th, 1751, on Saturday at just about ten o'clock in ye morning." This entry is followed by a line of characters to indicate the stars active at that particular date. This would imply that Mr. Brinsmade had an active interest in astrology. In the baptismal record of each of his children, he cast the horo- scope and entered the appropriate symbols. At the birth of his second son, he entered the following record : "Then bap- tized my own son, Daniel Sherman Brinsmade, who was born January 11th, 1755, Saturday, about 12 o'clock in the day. On ye same day there was a tedious storm of rain and snow."
Mr. Brinsmade had rather unique ideas concerning the names of children and did not hesitate to use a good name more than once. Each son received the family name of Daniel while the two daughters were named respectively Rebeka Rhoda and Rhoda Rebeka. Both daughters died at a tender age, one at the age of seven months and the other at the age of four years. In those days there was the quaint custom of calling little girls by the title of "Mistress." An inscription on a tombstone in the old cemetery on Plum Hill is as follows : "Here lyes ye body of Mistress Rhoda Rebecca, daughter of ye Revd. Mr. Daniel and Mrs. Rhoda Brinsmade, who died Dec. ye 30th, 1762 in ye 7th month of her age."
The members of the church took their church life seri- ously. It was not a frivolous era. In case of conduct unbecom- ing a church member, they were not averse to meting out discipline. At a church meeting on May 17, 1751, it was voted "that if any member of ye church of Christ in Judea shall tolerate frolicing in his own house, or shall assist to carry on a frolic in any place; ye same persons shall be deemed offenders by this church and shall be subject to be
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THE CHURCH ON THE GREEN
dealt with by this church as offenders in a gospel way." The above vote was reviewed at a later meeting and the pastor made the following proposals to the church: "First, whether they are not of ye mind that to act as I now shall point out is contrary to scripture. For men especially in their own societies to spend their time at ye tavern in drinking, laugh- ing, jesting, joking, bantering, venturing of wagers, run- ning out against one another, speaking evil of others, gos- siping and the like and for persons when together to spend their time in singing and dancing and things of ye like nature. Whether these things are not contrary to scripture which forbids living after the flesh, Romans 8: 13, and which condemns chambering and wantonness, Romans 13:13, and exhorts young people to be sober minded."
"And to shun all appearance of evil, 1 Thess. 5:23, and teaches us to pray that we be not led into temptation, Mtt. 6:13, and requires us to give up ourselves wholly to God and to his service, Rom. 12: 1. And to do all things whatso- ever we do to ye glory of God, 1 Cor. 10: 31, and urges us to be spiritually minded and condemns ye carnal mind to death, Rom. 8: 6. And teaches us to lay up our treasures in heaven, Mtt. 6:20. And to set our affections on things above and not on things on ye earth, Col. 3:2. Foolish talking and jesting let it not be once named among you, Eph. 5: 3-4, and speak not evil one of another, James 4: 11."
These admonitions were not a dead letter. They were to be acted upon, as will be seen in the following incident. On Aug. 9, 1752, information was brought to the church by two mem- bers to the effect that a third member of the church "was complained of as being guilty of the violation of the fifth commandment and also as having said that he looked upon
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THE COLONIAL ERA
ye pastor of this church as no minister of Christ and that this church was no church of Christ."
On the 10th of August the individual in question was asked to appear on the 19th to answer the charges. He did not appear on the 19th. Whereupon a committee of two was appointed to interview him and inquire as to why he had not come. Another meeting took place on August 26th, also without the attendance of the offending brother. The charges against him were publicly read, the evidence in sup- port of the charges were also read and examined and the following resolution was adopted : "Brethren, if it be in your minds that ., a member of this church, by the evidence given in, be proved guilty according to the charge of scandalous breach of the fifth commandment, by a con- temptuous carriage toward your reverend pastor and op- posing him in the execution of his office as a public reprover, and that continuing impenitent he ought to be laid under suspension and admonition and in case of continued obsti- nacy in him and after a suitable exercise of patience in this church toward him, he ought to be laid under the last and highest censure, a proper means of divine appointment for his recovery by repentance."
The offending brother not being repentant, the following admonition was adopted at a church meeting on Feb. 8, 1753, at the conclusion of the afternoon preaching service : “Forasmuch as , a member of this church, has sometime since been complained of as guilty of a scandalous breach of ye fifth commandment, and at a meeting of this church the evidence was examined and he was voted guilty according to the charge of a breach of ye fifth commandment and of contemptuous behavior toward our pastor in opposing him in ye execution of his office. Foras-
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much as has all along showed a stub- bornness of spirit in refusing to appear, and has, since the charge was first exhibited against him, pretended to take refuge in another communion, and so renounced ours, all of which we look upon as evidence of continued impenitence, and ye Lord Jesus Christ having appointed in his church censures for the unruly, yet making it our duty to restore with ye spirit of meekness, we would therefore with obedi- ence to Christ, yet with Christian compassion, solemnly ad- monish our brother to consider his conduct which has been so scandalous and to repent of the evil and return to his duty, lest by his obstinacy he oblige the church to pronounce the last and greatest censure, but above all, lest a just and Holy God shut him eternally out of the Kingdom of Heaven."
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