USA > Connecticut > New London County > New London > The early history of the First church of Christ, New London, Conn. > Part 6
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In 1661, a little over three years after the depart- ure of Mr. Blinman, the town entered into contract with Mr. Gershom Bulkeley, of Concord, in the Col- ony of Massachusetts, to be their minister. He was a notable man, of notable parentage. He was not, like his predecessor, driven out of England, because of his Puritan principles. But his father was, and
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he himself was a Puritan. He was a son of Rev. Peter Bulkeley, the first minister of Concord, Massa- chusetts. His mother was Grace, the daughter of Sir Richard Chitwood. The story is told that she apparently died on her passage to this country. Her husband, thinking that land was near, was not will- ing to bury her at sea. His wishes were respected. On the third day symptoms of vitality appeared. She recovered, and lived to a good old age. Gershom Bulkeley was born soon after the arrival of his par- ents in this country.
Peter Bulkeley, his father, was son of Rev Edward Bulkeley, D. D., of Odell, Bedfordshire, England ; was born January 31, 1583 ; was educated at Saint John's College, Cambridge; received there the de- gree of A. M. in 1608, and was chosen a fellow of his Alma Mater. He seems to have inherited a con- siderable estate from his father, and therefore to have been a man of some wealth. For the History of Con- cord, Mass., says " many of the first settlers were men of acknowledged wealth, enterprise, talents and education in their native country. Several were of noble families. The Rev. Peter Bulkeley brought more than 6,000 pounds sterling." He succeeded his father in the parish of Odell in 1619-20, and though his non-conformist principles. were well known, he was allowed, through the favor of the
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bishop of Lincoln, who was his diocesan, to remain unmolested in his parish for fifteen years. But when Laud became Primate of England he was silenced and ejected from his living. He sold his property and came to this country in 1635. He was settled at Concord, Mass., April 6, 1637, and died there March 9, 1658, aged 76 years.
This father of Gershom Bulkeley was a great man. The history of Concord says that he "became an author of distinguished celebrity." In 1637 he, to- gether with Thomas Hooker, was chosen moderator of the Synod, held at Cambridge, which condemned Antinomianism, and probably inaugurated those deal- ings with the persons holding these views, which resulted in the banishment of Ann Hutchinson and her brother-in-law, Rev. John Wheelwright, and the fining of a number of prominent citizens who sympa- thized with her. "In its result the council stated and condemned eighty-two erroneous opinions and nine unwholesome expressions, besides specifying many texts of Scripture which had been abused." [Congregationalists in America, p. 134.] Of the two men, Peter Bulkeley and Thomas Hooker, who pre- sided over this council it was said, " two as able and judicious divines as any country affords, by whom the disputes were managed with all liberty and fidelity to be desired." President Stiles said of
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Peter Bulkeley that he " was a masterful reasoner in theology." He added, "I consider him and Presi- dent Chauncey, Mr. Hooker, Mr. Norton and Mr. Davenport as the greatest divines among the first ministers of New England, and equal to the first characters in theology in all Christendom and in all ages." The following estimate of Peter Bulkeley is expressed in verse :
Riches and honors Buckley layes aside
To please his Christ, for whom he now doth war ; Why, Buckley ! thou hast riches that will bide, And honors that exceed earth's honors far.
Of such truly noble parentage was Mr. Gershom Bulkeley born December 26, 1635.
He graduated from Harvard College in 1655, when but twenty years of age. October 26, 1659, he was married to Sarah Chauncey, only daughter of the president of Harvard College. When he came to New London in 1661, his widowed mother followed him and dwelt here till she died. The house in which she lived was bought of William Hough, and stood "hard below the meeting house that now is." The lot originally belonged to Mr. Obadiah Bruen. Mr. Bradstreet, in a notice of her death recorded in his diary, pays her the following worthy tribute : "April 21 (1669) Mrs. Grace Bulkley, ye widow of Mr. Peter Bulkley, sometime pastour of ye chh in Con- cord, deceased. She was a woman of great piety
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and wisdome, and dyed in a good old Age. Her sick- ness was long and very afflictive. She was sick near 3 months before she dyed. * April 25, 69 (being Sabbath day), she was interred, her soul 3 days before was entered upon an everlasting Sabbath of rest. She dyed and was buried in N. London. Blessed are those who dye in ye Lord, &c." She is buried in an unmarked grave in our ancient cemetery.
Soon after Mr. Bulkeley came to New London, an item acted on in town meeting relates to repairs on the Blinman meeting house. It is as follows : "Dec. 1, 1661. The towne have agreed with Goodman Elderkin and Goodman Waller to repare the turret of the meeting house, and to pay them what they shall demand in reason."
The contract with Mr. Bulkeley was entered into after he had preached here several months, with a view to permanence. No reference was made, at the time, to ordination. He was hired for a term of years. He was never ordained as pastor of the Church, although this was the wish of the town. For "January 15, 1663-4, James Rogers, Levt. Smith, Cary Latham and William Hough are ap- poynted to goe to Mr. Bulkeley for the settling him amongst us ;" that is, to urge his consent to ordina- tion. And Thomas Miner records in his diary, Au- gust 16, 1663, "goodman Cheeseboro desired the in-
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habitants to meet for the settling of the ministrie and other things." This effort to make permanent a ministry which had hitherto been but temporary, was not successful.
The salary pledged to Mr. Bulkeley was £80 a year for three years, and after that more if they were able, and inclined, to give more. . The amount of increase, if any sum were added to the stipulated sal- ary, was left to the state of the hearts of the town's people at the time. For the agreement read, " or as much more as God shall move their hearts to give, and they do find it needful to be paid." This was a perfectly safe agreement for the town to make, for they seem to have had their hearts so well in hand that they were not moved to give more than the £80. The salary promised " was to be reckoned in provi- sions or English goods." In addition it was provided that Mr. Bulkeley, for the first three years, should have "all such silver as is weekly contributed by strangers, to help towards the buying of books ;"' so that the new pastor need not be bookless. Further than this, the town agreed to defray the expenses of moving from Concord-an undertaking of no small magnitude, and attended with considerable difficulty and expense in those days. Still further the town bound itself to " provide him with a dwelling house, orchard, garden and pasture, and with upland and
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meadow for a small farm." Thus the first two min- isters of the first Church were agriculturists in their way, though Mr. Bulkeley never became so large a land owner as Richard Blinman. Besides, the town promised to supply Mr. Bulkeley with fire wood yearly for the use of his family, and to "do their endeavor to suit him with a servant-man or youth, and maid, he paying for their time." Finally it was agreed that, if he should die during his ministry, his wife and children should receive from the town "the full and just sum of £60 sterling."
There seems to have been some difficulty about providing a dwelling house. To obviate. it Mr. Bulk- eley proposed to release the town from this obliga- tion, and to provide a house for himself. He also proposed to release the town from their promise to pay to his family £60 in case of his death, if they would pay him in hand £80. To this the town agreed on condition that he remain as their minister seven years. But "in case he remove before the 7 yeere he is to return the 80 1. agen, but if he stay the 7 yeere out, the 80 1. is wholly given him, or if God take him away before this tyme of 7 yeeres, the whole is given his wife and children." Evidently this did not contemplate any other taking away than death. For in 1666 a committee, consisting of Mr. William Douglass and goodman Hough, was appoint-
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ed " to demand the 80 pound of Mr. Buckley which he stands ingaged to pay to ye towne." This demand was pressed till it was paid. To meet this obligation Mr. Bulkeley gave back to the town £30 which were voted him in 1666 for preaching after his ministry . had ended, and in 1668 he mortgaged his house and lot to Samuel Shrimpton, of Boston, to secure the remaining £50.
Having freed the town from their agreement to provide a parsonage for him, Mr. Bulkeley purchased the home of Samuel Lathrop, who was about to remove to Norwich. The house stood beyond the mill brook on the east side of what is now known as North Main street. It still stands [1897], and forms the more ancient part of the dwelling of the late Abraham Bragaw, No. 11 North Main street. In it are many of the original timbers of which it was con- structed by Mr. Lathrop. Here Mr. Bulkeley lived during his residence in New London.
As we have seen, efforts were made by the town to get his consent to ordination. But for reasons which do not appear he refused. He continued to minister to the Church till June 1665, when, by his own act, his relation to the town was brought to an end. That his ministry was acceptable to the people is evi- dent from the fact already stated, that a committee of the town were appointed to wait on him with refer-
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ence to his ordination and permanent settlement in the pastorate.
He was a preacher of more than local celebrity. For Mr. Hoadly says that at sometime during his ministry, " though in what year has not been ascer- tained, it seems that he preached the annual election sermon, of which the text was Romans xiii : 7." Further, he was several times appointed by the Gen- eral Court upon important committees respecting ecclesiastical affairs. So that his widely recognized abilities were likely to give him a strong hold upon the people to whom he ministered.
Not only did the town attempt to have him ordained as their permanent pastor, but also they signified their desire to have him continue among them in the minis- terial office by passing the following vote, February 25, 1663-4 ; " Mr. Buckley for enlarging maintenance yt he may keep a man and also take the getting of wood into his owne hands-if not let 101. more be aded to our town rate for wood cutting and carting." It will be remembered that, by the original contract, the town was to furnish his yearly supply of wood. Under the same date the following vote was passed ; "it is agreed by the towne that henceforward Mr. Buckley shall have six score pound a yeere, in pro- vision pay, good and marchandable, he freeing the towne from all other ingagements."
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These votes show that the relations between Mr. Bulkeley and his people were harmonious. No sign of uneasiness appears till a vote of the town, February 25, 1664-5, to the following effect. " The towne being desired to declare there myndes concerning Mr. Bulk- ley, it was propounded whether they were willing to leave Mr. Bulkley to the libertye of his conscience without any compelling him, or enforcing him to any- thing in the execution of his place and office contrarre to his light according to the lawes of the common- wealth. Voated to be their myndes." To what this liberty of conscience referred we are not told. We may presume that it had somewhat to do with his de- parture a few months later. Evidently he had been speaking his mind freely upon some topic, and his sentiments were not acceptable to all his people. He was a man of very decided convictions, and had the courage of them. He was no brawler, but a man of peace. So, rather than live in contention, actual or possible, he withdrew from his pastorate here. He was evidently not a man easily moved from his pur- pose, when once it was taken. Although the town voted him the fullest liberty of conscience to speak and act, yet the fact that the question was raised at all, betrayed a disposition on the part of some, from which an independent mind would shrink, and may have revealed to him a difference between him and
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some of his people likely to widen, and convinced him that the way of separation was the way of peace. At any rate he withdrew from his ministry here after somewhat more than three years.
Strenuous efforts were made to retain him, and to shake him in his purpose to withdraw. For not only did the town vote him liberty to speak and act as his conscience should dictate, but also, June 10, 1665 the following vote was passed : "The Towne under- standing Mr. Buckleys intention to goe into the Bay have sent James Morgan and Mr. Douglas to desire him to stay untill seacond day com seventnight which day the Towne have agreed to ask againe Mr. Fitch to speake with him in order to know Mr. Buckleys mynde fullye whether he will continue with us or no to preach the gospell." This Mr. Fitch, whose good offices were sought by the town, was probably the pastor of the First Church in Norwich, who had emi- grated with his people from Saybrook in 1660. As steps were taken at once to secure his successor, it is evident that Mr. Fitch's persuasions did not shake Mr. Bulkeley's purpose to retire from his ministry over this Church.
The reasons for this step on his part can only be surmised from certain facts gathered here and there. It is certain that the separation was not due to any lack of ability in his pulpit ministrations. For he is
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spoken of as having rare abilities, and excellent learn- ing, and as being "a truly great man." It is also certain that he did not leave because any feelings of bitterness had sprung up between him and the people. For besides their efforts to retain him as their settled . pastor, we may note the fact that he continued to reside . in town nearly two years, and frequently to supply the pulpit, until Mr. Bradstreet came. In recognition of his services, as occasional supply, the town "voated and agreed that Mr. Buckley for his time and paines taken in preaching the word of God to us since the time of his yeere was expired shall have thirty pounds to be gathered by rate." This was a proceeding not unmixed with shrewdness on the part of the town, for thereby they gained thirty of the eighty pounds which they demanded Mr. Bulkeley to return, because he departed before the expiration of seven years.
The firmness with which he refused to reconsider his decision to leave, in spite of such demonstrations of regard, suggests that there were some reasons for taking the step which, in his mind, outweighed every other consideration.
The weakness of his voice, because of which, says Judge Adams, "he practically ceased preaching" altogether a few years later, may have had some influence in bringing him to this decision. Trumbull
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says, " by reason of infirmity he resigned the minis- try many years before his death."
J. H. Trumbull, and Palfrey both state personal qualities of Mr. Bulkeley, from their point of view, which may help further to account for his leaving New London against the evidently unanimous desire · of the people. Mr. Trumbull says ".over-weening self-importance, obstinate adherence to his own opin- ions or predjudices, a litigious spirit, and the pecu- liarities of his political creed, detracted from his use- fulness, and kept him almost constantly at strife with his parish, his neighbors, or the government of the Colony."' Palfrey says, "he was always a discon- tented and troublesome person, and what he has writ- ten respecting these times is to be taken with large allowance for his being a bigoted partisan of Andros."' These qualities may have developed to a certain degree in later life. But other testimony as to his noble personal qualities will set him before us in quite a different light. What Trumbull calls obstinacy, and Palfrey discontent, was doubtless a quality of char- acter in him, but not deserving so obnoxious names. Gurdon Russell, M. D., of Hartford, in a paper read May 25, 1892, speaking of his leaving New London, said, "it might have been due to restlessness or inde- pendence of character which was occasionally mani- fested in after life." Against the charge that he was
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"constantly at strife with his parish"' it may be urged that the people of New London made every effort to prevent his leaving them, and that the Church in Wethersfield, after he had been its pastor for ten years, attempted to retain him by voting to provide him an assistant, on account of his infirmities and the weakness of his voice. While the statements of Trumbull and Palfrey do injustice to Mr. Bulkeley, he doubtless had a certain positive force and decision of character, which made him a difficult man to manage, and which they interpreted as obstinacy and discontent. This positive force of character, resent- ing the questioning of his authority expressed in the vote of the town February 25, 1664-5, may shed some light upon his refusal to remain as minister of the Church, in spite of the earnest solicitation of the people.
A final possible reason for his leaving New London and a possible explanation of the town's vote "to leave Mr. Bulkeley libertye of conscience," may be found in the new way, known as the "Parish " or "Presbyterian " way, which had crept into the prac- tice of some of the Churches in the Colony. Mr. Bulkeley favored the new, as opposed to the old, or Congregational way, as appears from this entry in the diary of Thomas Miner: "The 23d of March (1663-4) I was informed by H. g. that
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Mr. Buckley would be at the fast at R. h. his house, and would be helpful to gather a H. After the pr's beteriall way; 24 day March." Mr. Hoadly says [Prefaceto Will and Doom ]: " In his opinions respect- ing ecclesiastical polity he was inclined to Presby- terianism, rather than Congregationalism; the polit- ical sentiments which he avows in the preface of this book would hardly be compatible with the latter." Presbyterianism is a system of centralized eccle- siastical authority. Against this it may be that the Church rebelled. For, Dr. Chapin, in an ad- dress at the centennial of Glastonbury, said of Mr. Bulkeley, "he was a man of peace, but at the same time was one who expected unqualified obedi- ence to authority. A slight questioning of this kind led to his resignation of the parish of New London." It is quite true that "he was a man of peace," but not one of the peace-at-any-cost sort. If he would not stay in a controversy, neither would he seek to purchase peace by compromising his convictions. He took the other course, and withdrew. It must be, therefore, that all estimates of his character, which present him as a contentious man, do him injustice.
What the questioning, to which Dr. Chapin refers, was about does not appear. But the vote of the town granting him full liberty of conscience in speaking
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his mind in the exercise of his office, justifies the view that his pulpit utterances had been challenged. Besides, the Douglass Genealogy [p. 57] says that "in 1664-5 the Church began to feel some uneasiness in regard to their minister's views," and it seems probable that it was because of this uneasiness that the vote granting bim liberty of conscience was taken.
The opinions which encountered the opposition of his people could not at the time have been political, as Mr. J. H. Trumbull implies. For as late as 1675, nine years after he left New London, he took a prominent part in defending the autonomy of the Colony against the efforts of Sir Edmund Andros to enlarge the dominions of the Duke of York within Connecticut. Mr. Bulkeley's preference for a cen- tralized form of government, as it appears in Will and Doom, and in other of his writings, brought him into sympathy with those methods of Church administration which involved all the points in dis- pute under the Half-way Covenant touching baptism and Church membership. The temper of the Church, which flatly refused to adopt the Saybrook Platform ninety years later, indicates that it did not take kindly to the new way. It seems almost certain, therefore, that his leaving New London had reference to some of these ecclesiastical questions which were beginning to disturb the Churches.
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But be that as it may, in June, 1665, he stepped down and out of his first pulpit, of his own accord. He remained in town till some time in the early part of 1667, when he went to Wethersfield to assume charge of the Church in that town. The date of his ordination and installation as pastor of that Church is given in an entry in the journal of his successor in New London, Rev. Simon Bradstreet, which is as follows: "Oct. 27 [1669] Mr. Gershom Bulkeley was ordained at Wethersfield by Mr. Joseph Row- landson and Mr. Samuel Willard." He held that office till his health obliged him to relinquish it in 1677. On retiring from the ministry he removed to Glastonbury and gave himself to the practice of med- icine and to politics. Rev. A. C. Adams, pastor in Wethersfield from 1868 to 1879, in an historical sketch of that Church, says of Mr. Bulkeley, he "was evi- dently a man of genuine goodness, and large ability. He broke down in health, however, early, and after ten years exchanged the ministry for the practice of medicine, in which, as also in the service of the State, he was much distinguished. One entry in the town records I like the tone of: 'The town, being informed by their honored pastor that it was too hard for him, and beyond his power, by reason of weak- ness of voice, to carry on the whole work of the min- istry, they declare themselves ready to provide an-
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other minister to assist him in his work, and to be a help and comfort to him; and they desire that their honored pastor would afford them his advice and direction respecting a meet process for that work, for which they will be thankful to him, and will take the same into serious consideration.'" But the state of his health was such that he retired from the public ministrations of the gospel to practice the healing art.
It is testimony to his surgical and medical abilities that the General Court, in 1675, while he was yet in the ministry, appointed him "surgeon to the army that had been raised against the Indians, and Mr. Stone was directed to supply the place of Mr. B. in his absence. After his return from King Philip's war, he asked a dismission from the Church at Weth- ersfield, on account of the state of his health, re- moved to the east side of the river, and commenced practice as a physician, which he continued over thirty years." [Manual of the Church in Wethersfield. ] In the Colonial Records I find the following vote of the General Court, October, 1686: "This court being well acquainted with the ability, skill and knowledge of Mr. Gershom Bulckly, in the arts of phissick and chirurgery, doe grant him full and free liberty and license to practice in the administration of phissick and chirurgery as there shall be occasion and he shall be capeable to atend." His medical skill was so great,
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and he was so widely known, that he was summoned from far and near to attend upon severe cases of dis- ease. One of his descendants [Mrs. Caroline Bulkley Stuart] has a large box full of his medical writings, which bear witness to his remarkable industry. Mr. Trumbull says of him : "Mr. Bulkley was viewed as one of the greatest physicians and surgeons; "' and Dr. Chauncey says, "I have heard him mentioned as a truly great man, and eminent for his skill in chemistry." His medical opinion secured the re- prieve of one Abigal Thompson, who was under sen- tence of death for the crime of murder. In the Glastonbury centennial it is said of him, " as a minis- ter Mr. Bulkeley was of the first class, while as a physician he stood at the head of his profession." " He was famous as a surgeon, prominent as a chem- ist, and highly respected as a magistrate."
In 1679 he represented the town of Wethersfield in the General Court. Mr. Hoadley says that there are still " among our State archives some of his legal opinions and briefs." The same authority says that "the letters addressed to the General Assembly on this subject (Andros' attempt to take territory away from Connecticut) are in Bulkeley's handwriting, and suggest that he was magna pars of the affair, which was very adroitly managed." It may be added that the schemes of Andros were at that time
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