USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > East Haven > The evolution of an old New England Church, being the history of the Old stone church in East Haven, Connecticut > Part 4
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At the next village meeting it was "agreed to look out some other meet person, to carry on the worke of the ministry here. They directed their committee to renew their application to Mr. Alling, and if unsuccessful, then go to Mr. Harriman, and treat with him, and desire his help in the Ministry amongst us, and further, to give him an invitation to a settlement in the worke of the Ministry amongst us. It was also ordered that Mathew Moulthrop, and John Potter doe set out five acres of the land upon the Green, formerly granted, the one half for the Ministry, and one half for the first Minister what shall settle with us, and they are to leave the spring clear, for a watering place for cattle. It is also agreed that the 95 acres to the Ministry, and the Minister that shall settle with us, the one half of it shall be laid as near home as may be, and the other half upon Stony River."15
14 Reverend James Alling was the youngest son of Roger Alling and Mary Nash. He was born June 24, 1657. After leaving East Haven he went to Salisbury, where he probably preached his first sermon on December 17, 1682. He was ordained on May 4, 1687, and was the third minister in the church in Salisbury. In 1688, he married Elizabeth Cotton, daughter of the Reverend John Cotton. He died in Salisbury, March 3, 1696. See J. L. Sibley, Harvard Graduates, Vol. III, p. 173; also Descendents of Roger Alling and John Alling, p. 18.
15 The following account in the village records shows how the land was laid out : "Five acres on the South-east corner of the Green, on which Mr. Hemingway's house was built. 121/2 acres beyond the bridge swamp. 31 acres lying at the Solitary Cove-this lot lies between the paths that goe to
36
THE EVOLUTION OF AN OLD NEW ENGLAND CHURCH.
A formal call was extended to the Reverend John Harriman in November, 1683, the little parish having been without a minister for eleven months. A tax was levied by the village for his support, netting fifty pounds, and subscriptions were taken for the purpose of building him a house, the same to be finished within a year. "The house is to be 36 feet long and two stories high. And to be set on the side of the Green, west of Matthew Moulthrop's."16 "A catalogue of the persons, together with the several sums they (this day) promise freely to contribute towards building the minister's house and fencing the home lot, which are as follows :
£
S
d
James Denison
20
00
00
John. Thompson
20
00
00
Samuel Hemingway
20
00
00
Nathaniel Hitchcock
IO
00
00
Thomas Smith
IO
00
00
Eliakim Hitchcock
6
00
00
George Pardee
5
00
00
William Luddington
5
00
00
Thomas Pinion
2
10
00
James Tailor
I
10
00
William Roberts
I
10
00
Robert Dawson
2
00
00
Isaac Bradley
I
00
00
-
-
104
10
00
Matthew Moulthrop will do what he can. John Potter also. Joseph Abbot, 25 rods of rail fence about the home lot."17
The Reverend Mr. Harriman had prepared for college in New Haven, where he lived with his parents, who were active members of the church there. In 1667 he graduated from Harvard College and returned home to teach in the Hop- kins Grammar School. During his leisure time he prepared himself for the ministry, and on several occasions was sum-
the Cove Meadow. 12 acres near John Luddington's home lot,-16 acres by the road leading to Southend-48 acres under Indian Grave hill. And a 100 rods in breadth from the path that leads from Foxon's to Capt. Alling Ball's -and 30 acres on the half mile when that was divided."
16 Village Records. The house was not built. S. Dodd, p. 61.
17 Ibid.
37
AN INDEPENDENT CHURCH AND ITS FIRST PASTOR.
moned to occupy temporarily neighboring pulpits. As soon as he felt able to enter definitely upon parish work he resigned from teaching and removed to Southampton, New York, where he served as colleague pastor with the Reverend Robert Ford- ham. In 1674 Mr. Fordham died and Mr. Harriman became pastor of the church. His ordination took place the following year, but within twelve months he returned to New Haven where he engaged in pulpit supply work.
The coming of the new pastor to East Haven in 1683 was cause for great rejoicing. Every one was ready to give his time and energy to the work and contribute of his means to the support of the ministry. There was no meeting house for the congregation to worship in, so the religious services were held in the small schoolhouse or in private dwellings. The homes were large enough to accommodate the meagre gatherings without difficulty; in the commodious kitchens twenty or thirty people could easily be seated. Nevertheless, the need for a house of worship was keenly felt, and an agitation to build one was soon started. Efforts were made to raise the necessary money, and considerable progress had been made when the iron industry closed down, resulting in a decrease in population. The good work so well initiated by the pastor had to terminate; for now the people were unable to meet the stipulated salary of £50. After Mr. Harriman's departure18
18 Reverend John Harriman, son of John and Elizabeth Harriman, was born in 1647. After leaving East Haven he was employed to survey the boundary line between New York and Connecticut; and it is reported that he was very capable in that work. On September 30, 1687, he was installed pastor of the church in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. In 1673 he was married to Hannah, daughter of Richard Bryon, of Milford, Connecticut; to this union nine children were born. Mr. Harriman was a deputy in the New Jersey legislature, having been elected in 1693, 94, 95, and 98. In addition to his work in the ministry and in the legislature, he farmed his own land, operated a flour mill and cider press, held the agency for furnishing glass to the people in the community, frequently surveyed lands, and conducted a boarding school. He was considered a very good business man, and his accounts were kept with absolute accuracy. His death occurred on August 20, 1705. See Center Church, New Haven, Records; G. R. Howell, History of Southampton, pp. 102-105; also J. L. Sibley, Harvard Graduates, Vol. II, pp. 216-22I.
38
THE EVOLUTION OF AN OLD NEW ENGLAND CHURCH.
in 1685, the villagers, being unable to find a minister to succeed him, gave up hope, abandoned the undertaking, and reverted to their original ecclesiastical relationship with New Haven.
For eighteen years this resumption of the old arrangement continued, but it could not go on indefinitely ; the pious folks were determined to have their own minister and place of divine worship, and from this resolution they could not be dissuaded. Although thwarted by reverses for a time and compelled to submit to apparent defeat, they cherished the hope that their fortunes would improve and they could again set up their own worship. On the 23d of December, 1703, they voted to take up their village grant and make another effort to establish themselves in ecclesiastical autonomy. A committee was appointed "to manage the concerns of the Village" and New Haven was duly notified. The next year a petition was pre- sented to the General Assembly, meeting at Hartford, the results of which were entirely favorable to the villagers. "This assembly having considered the petition of Capt. Alling Ball and John Potter, inhabitants on the east side of the East River in the Township of New Haven, moving that whereas this Assembly did formerly grant that they should be a distinct society and have liberty to call and settle a Minister amongst them when they should find themselves able to maintain the ordinances of God in a suitable manner, and that they doe apprehend that they are able so to doe, that therefore this Assembly would please to grant them certain privileges and other matters and things for their encouragement and enabling them to goe forward with that worke: This Assembly for divers weighty reasons doe see cause to referre the further considerations of their petition to their General Assembly in Oct. next, And if the inhabitants of New Haven doe not appear at the said General Assembly and there make their pleas, then the petition shall be granted with this restriction that the propriety of lands shall not be concerned with."19
At the meeting of the General Assembly at New Haven in
19 Connecticut Colony Records, Vol. IV, p. 471.
39
AN INDEPENDENT CHURCH AND ITS FIRST PASTOR.
October, 1705, the petition was granted, and full authority was given for the establishment of a society, "the maintenance of their minister," and the building of a meeting house.20 The difficulties that confronted them in 1685, when the Reverend John Harriman resigned, they believed were minimized: the community was better able to raise the necessary funds and a young minister was available. As soon as they felt assured of favorable action by the General Assembly they turned their attention to one of their own sons, Jacob Hemingway, whose father, Samuel, was one of the wealthy and most influential men of the village.
The young man had been the first student in Yale College, then known as the Collegiate School of Connecticut, but he was not the first to graduate. In less than a year after he began to study under Rector Pierson other students more advanced in their studies were admitted. Five of them had graduated from Harvard; and one had been privately tutored, so that when examination time came in 1702, his work being of such a high caliber, it was voted by the officers of the college to confer upon him the Master of Arts degree, it being the same as was conferred upon the other five.21 Jacob Heming-
20 At the General Assembly, meeting in New Haven, October II, 1705, "Samuel Hemingway, Thomas Goodsell, Alling Ball, John Potter Jun., John Moulthrop, Samuel Thompson, and Abraham Hemingway, presenting a petition on behalf of the inhabitants or Village on the East side of New Haven East River, wherein they pray for the reestablishment of a former grant made by the General Court to them in May, 1680, with such other privileges as this Court shall see meet : This Court having considered their petition, do see cause to reestablish the said former grant (excepting their freedom from country rates for three years, which privilege they have for- merly enjoyed) and also empower them from time to time to make rates upon the inhabitants within the bounds of the said Village as exprest and stated in the grant of New Haven November 29, 1679, for the maintenance of their minister and building a meeting house, and to choose collectors for collecting said rates, and a Constable, and Societie Recorder to record the orders of the said Village respecting the ministrie and meeting house." See Connecticut Colony Records, Vol. IV, p. 527.
21 Stephen Buckingham, Salmon Treat, Joseph Coit, Joseph Moses, and Joseph Morgan had graduated from Harvard College. Nathaniel Chauncy, later pastor at Durham, had been privately tutored.
40
THE EVOLUTION OF AN OLD NEW ENGLAND CHURCH.
way, when only eighteen years of age, began his college course at the home of Reverend Abraham Pierson in Killingworth, and for the first half year was the only student enrolled in the Collegiate School.22 The small college library, consisting of about forty books, was under the direction of the Reverend Henry Russell, who lived in Branford and kept the books in his home. If young Hemingway did not have access to these invaluable sources of knowledge, and he probably did not, he was free to go to the shelves of Rector Pierson at his will. The curriculum extended over a period of three years, although it was possible to complete the work in less time. Apparently this was done by the first student in the college ; for in Septem- ber, 1704, he was quietly and privately graduated in a class with two others.23 The commencements were held without ostentation in the home of the Reverend Thomas Buckingham in Saybrook until the college was moved to New Haven in 1716.
So confident were the villagers of success that on November 20, 1704, eleven months before they were granted full permis- sion by the General Assembly to form a distinct ecclesiastical society, they "Voted to look out for a minister to carry on the publick worship of God amongst us; and it was voted-
"I. To seek Sir Hemingway that he would give them a taste of his gifts in order to a settlement in the worke of the ministry, and-
"2. Voted to desire John Potter, Sen. Caleb Chedsey, and Ebenezer Chedsey, to treat with Sir Hemingway, to get him,
22 Jacob Hemingway was born December 6, 1683, in East Haven. His twin brother, Isaac, died shortly after. They were the youngest sons of Samuel Hemingway who was from Roxbury, Mass., and was an early settler in East Haven, where he married Sarah, daughter of John Cooper. See F. B. Dexter, Yale Biographies and Annals, Vol. I, pp. 22-6; Thomas Clapp, Annals of Yale College, pp. 4-6; also E. S. Wells, Jacob Hemingway, the First Student of Yale, in The Connecticut Quarterly, Vol. II, pp. 178-81. 23 Phineas Fiske and John Russell.
41
AN INDEPENDENT CHURCH AND ITS FIRST PASTOR.
if they could, to give them a taste of his gifts in preaching the Word."24
Having heard the youthful preacher, and being so delighted with the taste of his abilities, they desired to fare regularly on the diet which he could give them. A meeting was held on the 19th of December and it was voted to invite Sir Heming- way to become their minister "at the rate of £40 per year in pay." A committee consisting of George Pardee and Caleb Chedsey was instructed to wait on him and report his answer. This was done immediately and the report made at the same meeting, "That Sir Hemingway does comply with their motion, God's grace assisting, and does accept the proposition, and desires some consideration with respect to wood." A month later his salary was settled at £50 per year.
There was still no meeting house. The practice of holding services in the different homes, as was the case during the brief pastorates of the Reverend James Alling and the Reverend John Harriman, had to be repeated until such a time as the people were financially able to erect some sort of building. At a village meeting on June 10, 1706, it was voted to build a meeting house "20 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 17 feet between joints, and set it across the east end of the School House." William Luddington and John Russell were placed in charge of its construction. In a short time it was completed, although somewhat altered in minor details from what was originally planned, and the people of East Haven had their first church in their midst.
In December of the same year, difficulties having been over- come by gaining the full consent of the General Assembly,
24 "They having had some taste of Sir Hemingway in preaching the Word, did declare their desire to have him go on in the worke of the Ministry amongst us, in order to settlement; and towards his encouragement they engage to allow him after the rate of £40 by the year in pay. And, voted that George Pardee and Caleb Chedsey signify our desires and propositions to Sir Hemingway, and take his answer and make returne." See Village Records; S. Dodd, p. 63.
42
THE EVOLUTION OF AN OLD NEW ENGLAND CHURCH.
the securing of a minister, and the erection of a meeting house, the village appointed "William Luddington and John Potter to treat with Sir Jacob Hemingway, to see whether he will go on in the worke of the Ministry amongst us." His answer was reported the same day.
"Gentlemen, Whereas you have given me notice by two men, that you desire me to carry on the work of the Ministry in order to settlement among you, I do, therefore, hereby give you notice that so far as God shall enable me thereunto, I am heartily ready and willing to gratify these your desires upon these conditions-I. That you give me £50 yearly, and my wood. 2. That you build me a good convenient dwelling house, within 2 years time, or give me money sufficient to do the same, one half this year ensuing, and one half the next. 3. That when it is in your power, you give me a good and sufficient portion of land.
From my study, 2d Decr. 1706.
Yours to serve,
JACOB HEMINGWAY."
The conditions were accepted and a tax of four-pence farthing was levied in order to meet them. "We do promise Mr. Hemingway, if he will carry on the work of the Ministry in said Village, to build him a house if we can, in two years after this date (December 26, 1706), and give him £50 pay, and his wood. And in the meantime, if he wants a house, to hire him one."25 In 1707 a house forty feet long and twenty
25 Village Records. See S. Dodd, pp. 63-4. "The terms proposed were adjusted and ratified in 1708. They gave him (Mr. Hemingway) the house and lot it stood on-also twelve acres on the cove road, twelve acres in the bridge swamp, thirty acres in the half mile, 50 per annum and sufficient wood, 'if he performs the worke of the Ministry so long as he is able; or if it be our fault that he is forced to leave us, it shall be his. But if it be his fault, or he leaves the place, or is hindered in the worke, then the property is to return to the village. And he is to have the use of the Parsonage land.'"
43
AN INDEPENDENT CHURCH AND ITS FIRST PASTOR.
feet wide was built by the village for their minister, the same being situated on a five acre lot, on the southeast corner of the Green (where the new cemetery now is). This was the first manse built; our first fathers, it would appear, were not unwilling to recognize that "the laborer is worthy of his hire," for, the times considered, it is not unlikely that £50, a par- sonage, fuel, and a few fertile acres provided for a reasonably comfortable living.
On the 3d of May, 1709, the village petitioned the General Assembly for authority to "embody in Church state." And on May 12, "This assembly do grant their consent and full liberty to the inhabitants of the village of East Haven in the colony to embody themselves into a Church state, with the approbation of their neighboring churches."26 The church, however, was not officially organized until October 8, 17II; and on the same day Mr. Hemingway was ordained its pastor, the ordination charge being given by the Reverend Samuel Andrew of Milford.
The work in the infant church began to prosper; fresh enthusiasm was injected into the people by the victory they had won after forty-four years of effort. Like one who has just established a home of his own, his interest being quickened by the consciousness of ownership, so the villagers experienced a personal concern which they could not have felt toward the mother church three miles away. Within a few years the small edifice became too cramped for the growing congrega- tion. In 1714 it was "voted to build a meeting house 30 by 40 feet, 20 feet high, and jutted one foot at each end, with a strait roof." Three years later a six penny rate was voted for the new structure. In 1718 they began to build the house on the hill, or "Nole," on the northwest corner of the Green, through which the Branford road now runs. The building committee consisted of Captain John Russell, Nathanial Hitch-
26 Connecticut Colony Records, Vol. V, p. 96; Village Records; S. Dodd, p. 64.
44
THE EVOLUTION OF AN OLD NEW ENGLAND CHURCH.
cock, Abraham Hemingway, and Samuel Hotchkiss. On the 19th of October of the following year the new sanctuary was occupied for the first time.27
Within seven months of Mr. Hemingway's ordination he was united in marriage with Miss Lydia, daughter of Captain Alling Ball, Jr., of East Haven, the wedding taking place on May 3, 1712. In all probability it was in anticipation of this event that he requested of the village in 1706 that a good and substantial house be built for him within two years' time.
A part of the minister's pastoral duties was the care of the village school.28 Complete control of elementary education was in the hands of the Congregational society; the schools were essentially parochial, and the minister considered educa- tion to be under his special direction. He catechized his pupils in the principles of the Westminster Confession, commending them to God "by prayer morning and evening." Religion was the purpose and aim of all education, and the "Parson," being a man of learning, had to direct the moral, spiritual, and intel- lectual development of the children in the parish. They were taught to read their Catechism and the Bible in order to know the will of God. Every Sunday they were required to attend church and report on the sermon at school the next day. The
27 "Voted that the new Meeting House should be seated :- that the first short seat should be reckoned equal with the second long seat and so on :- that Mr. Shepard, Mr. Tuttle, and William Luddington, should sit on the first short seat. And old Mrs. Hemingway, Mrs. Bradley, Mrs. Denison and Mrs. Smith, shall sit in the first seat of the square body. Mr. Pardee, Mr. Morris, Capt. Russell, Sergt. John Thompson, Samuel Russell and Samuel Clark, shall sit in the fore seat of the square body. And these six men are chosen to seat the rest of the meeting house, or the major part of them to do it, according to their rates in 1717, and that by Monday next ensuing." Village Records; S. Dodd, p. 65.
28 S. Dodd, p. 71. "13th Jan. 1707, a Committee was appointed at a Village meeting, 'to see after the schools, and agree with a man to keep school in East Haven, to teach children to read and write.' The committee accord- ingly agreed with Mr. Hemingway to take charge of the school." See Village Records.
X
45
AN INDEPENDENT CHURCH AND ITS FIRST PASTOR.
text book from which they learned to read was The New Eng- land Primer, published for the first time in 1690, and univer- sally used in all the schools in the Puritan colonies for a century and a quarter. It contained, in the first part, the alphabet, lists of short syllables, followed by words of pro- gressive difficulty ; then the Lord's Prayer, Apostles Creed. Dr. Isaac Watts' Cradle Hymn, a picture of John Rogers burn- ing at the stake while his wife and children looked on, and religious poems and prayers, including
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."
The second part was made up of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and the Catechism of the Reverend John Cotton, entitled, "Spiritual Milk for American Babes, Drawn out of the Breasts of both Testaments for their Soul's Nourishment."
The alphabet in the first part was printed with a rhymed couplet beside a small picture for each letter. A few examples of the couplets will illustrate.
A. In Adam's Fall We sinned all.
D. The Deluge drown'd The Earth around.
J. Job feels the Rod- Yet blesses God.
L. Lot fled to Zoar Saw firey Shower On Sodom pour.
O. Young Obadias, David, Josias, All were pious.
Z. Zaccheus he Did climb the Tree Our Lord to see.
A short catechism shows the type of questions that were asked the smaller children :
Who was the first Man? Adam. Who was the first Woman? Eve. Who was the first Murderer? Cain. Who was the first Martyr? Abel. Who was the first Translated? Enoch. Who was the oldest Man? Methuselah.
46
THE EVOLUTION OF AN OLD NEW ENGLAND CHURCH.
Who built the Ark? Noah.
Who was the Patientest Man? Job.
Who was the Meekest Man? Moses. Who led Israel into Canaan? Joshua.
Who was the Strongest Man ? Samson.
Who killed Goliath? David.
Who was the Wisest Man? Solomon.
Who was in the Whale's Belly? Jonah.
Who saves lost Men? Jesus Christ.
Who is Jesus Christ? The Son of God.
Who was the Mother of Christ? Mary.
Who betrayed his Master? Judas.
Who denied his Master? Peter.
Who was the first Christian Martyr? Stephen.
Who was the Chief Apostle of the Gentiles? Paul.
Mr. Hemingway, like his brethren in the Congregational ministry, considered it a privilege to instruct the children in the tenets of religion; it gave him the opportunity to mould their lives and characters from infancy and prepare them for the exacting burdens of citizenship in a Christian community which they would some day be called upon to bear. He well knew that such an arrangement was for the good of the church and the cause which the church represented. However, it must be remembered that the task of teaching in the village school was perhaps his most diminutive occupation. The entire spiritual, moral, intellectual, social, and even political life of the village was in his charge. He had to preach the Word every Sabbath, perform pastoral duties of every description, and attend to matters of church organization, so that the insti- tution of which he was the head would not be without its influence among its neighbors.
He also took an important part in the religious life of the State. The East Haven Church had been admitted to mem- bership in the Consociation of New Haven County in 17II, that body having been formed two years earlier under the pro- visions of the Saybrook Platform. Both church and pastor entered into the work of the consociation with a profound
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