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 9
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16 Father of Noah Porter, President of Yale College.
17 D. Havens, p. 4I.
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lessly expelled the forces of sin.18 He was the transition minister from the old to the new, a pioneer paving the way for decades of constructive work; but like all others who are called upon to waken people from their indifference, uproot evils of long growth, and blaze a trail for light and truth, he had to endure persecution and humiliation. Living on a salary insufficient to support his family, he saved the church from degradation and death, but he offered himself a sacrifice in so doing. The evils removed, the transition made, his work was completed and he knew that it was time for another who had made no enemies in the parish to begin the process of rebuilding.
In a letter to the Ecclesiastical Society, dated April 29, 1817, he asked that a council be called to dissolve his pastoral relationship with the church.
"Dear Brethren:
After having seriously and prayerfully considered my situa- tion as your Minister, and having also consulted a large circle of friends on whose judgment I rely, I am convinced of the expediency of having my Pastoral relation to you dissolved. There are many things that have weight in leading to this conclusion, but especially the fact that my salary does not afford a support for my family. This is therefore to request you to unite with me in calling a council for my dismission.
I subscribe myself your Friend and Pastor,
SAUL CLARK."
On May 19, the council met and granted his prayer, declaring at the same time "that nothing has been alleged or has appeared against the conduct and ministerial character of Mr. Clark and we do most cordially and unanimously recommend him to the churches as a useful minister of the Gospel and an experienced and approved servant of Christ."19
18 Ibid., pp. 42-3.
19 Church Records, Vol. I, p. 4; also Ecclesiastical Records, Vol. II, pp. 167-70.
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For almost two years after Mr. Clark's retirement from East Haven he labored in his calling as a travelling evangelist, but in 1819 he settled in the pastorate at Barkhamsted, Con- necticut, where he ministered until 1829. He then became pastor of the church in Chester, Massachusetts, removing in 1834 to South Egremont in the same state, where he served for the five ensuing years. While in Chester he published a sermon entitled, The Perseverance of the Saints. After his retirement from South Egremont he settled in Meriden, Con- necticut, where he purchased a farm and engaged in agriculture, occasionally preaching in neighboring pulpits. His death occurred on December 12, 1849, while in the seventieth year of his age; the funeral was held from the home of his daughter, Mrs. Lester Keep, in East Haven, and he was laid away in the Old Cemetery by the side of his wife.20
The next minister to labor in the Old Stone Church was the Reverend Stephen Dodd, who had been graduated from Union College in 1799, and had been ordained on September 28, 1803, in the Presbyterian Church at Carmel, New Jersey, shortly after he had entered upon his work in the parish.21 Seven years later he accepted a call to the Congregational Church in Waterbury, Connecticut, where he ministered until coming to East Haven.
On September 8, 1817, the Church voted "that a committee be appointed to confer with Mr. Dodd to know whether he is willing to receive a call to settle with us in the Gospel Ministry, and also in regard to his principles in relation to Church gov-
20 Williams College Records; also William Wallace Lee, Barkhamsted, Connecticut, and its Centennial, 1879, p. 56.
21 Rev. Stephen Dodd, son of Moses and Lois Crane Dodd, was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, March 8, 1777. He was married to Phebe Pierson on November 29, 1799. Her death occurred on February 27, 1815. Mr. Dodd was married to Abigail Ann Law in February, 1816. There were no children by either marriage. See S. Dodd, Family Record of Daniel Dodd, p. 15; also B. L. Dodd and J. R. Burnett, Dodd Genealogy, p. 53; also Newe England Genealogical Register, Vol. X, p. 193.
REV. STEPHEN DODD
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ernment."22 The committee waited on Mr. Dodd as they were instructed "and were satisfied in regard to his principles and ideas of church government." The next meeting was on Sep- tember II, when it was "voted that we do invite Rev. Stephen Dodd to settle in the Gospel Ministry over this Church."23 Two months later the people were notified by letter that their call had been accepted.
"To the Committee of the Presbyterian Church in East Haven:
Brethren, The vote of the church passed Sept. 11, 1817, inviting me to the Pastoral charge of this church I have had under serious consideration; and have sought such advice and direction as would enable me to give a suitable answer. After much serious reflection and alternate hopes and fears respecting the weighty charge, and considering all the circumstances which have providentially led to these votes, and the apparent unanimity of the Church in this call, the will of the Lord seems to be clearly manifested and that it has become my duty to comply with the vote of the Church; and accordingly do agree to settle with you in the Gospel Ministry. And may the great Head of our Church our Lord Jesus Christ sanctify and bless this union for the benefit of His Church, the salvation of souls, and the honor of His great Name.
Your brother in Christ,
November 10, 1817.
STEPHEN DODD."24
A council of the Consociation was called to meet at the home of Mr. Edmond Bradley on December 10, 1817, to examine and, if deemed expedient, install the new minister. "After full and careful examination into his (Mr. Dodd's) doctrinal and experimental knowledge of Divinity, he received the unani- mous approbation of the Consociation." It was then voted
22 Church Records, Vol. I, p. 7. The committee consisted of Dr. Bela Farnham, Deacon Enos Hemingway, Deacon Amos Morris, Nicholas Street, and William Woodward.
23 Ibid.
24 Church Records, Vol. I, p. 8.
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"to proceed to the installation tomorrow morning at half past ten o'clock," and adjourn the meeting until "sunrise tomorrow morning, Dec. II."25
The program of service was as follows: Introductory Prayer by Reverend John Ely, Sermon by Reverend John Elliot, Installing Prayer by Reverend Matthew Noyes, Charge to the Pastor by Reverend David Smith, and Right Hand of Fellowship by Reverend Timothy Gillet.
It was the beginning of a calm and consistently peaceful pastorate, extending over three decades. The church grew, discipline was rigidly enforced, and the people were contented. Mr. Dodd was a kindly man, yet stern and dogmatic in his thinking and somewhat dictatorial in his manners. He was highly respected and admired, many people going so far as to say, "Whatever Mr. Dodd thinks is what I think," but he was also feared, the children mistaking his rigid adherence to principle as evidence of ferocity.26 Visiting the schools at regular intervals, he saw to it that the very highest moral and intellectual atmosphere pervaded the class rooms and play grounds. Every Sabbath the boys at Joseph Rogers' private school on Townsend Avenue marched in body to the Old Stone Church to attend the services, and upon their return they were held accountable for their conduct and their attention to the sermon. But there was really very little misbehavior, for the "Parson" was an unusually capable disciplinarian.
Before Mr. Dodd had been very long in the East Haven pastorate a new theological conflict began which was destined to make New Haven famous as the seat of particular doctrines regarding the nature of sin, man's dependence on the will of God, and the individual's responsibility for his own salvation. It was a dispute between two sections of the "New Lights" or Edwardeans, the conservative element being known as the Hopkinsians, and the liberal element being the disciples of
25 Ecclesiastical Society Records, Vol. II, p. 177.
26 Unpublished letters, Church Records, Vol. II, Appendix.
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Timothy Dwight. In 1822 the Yale Divinity School was established as a separate department of the college, with the Reverend Eleazar T. Fitch as Professor of Sacred Literature and the Reverend Nathaniel W. Taylor as Professor of Sys- tematic Theology, both of whom were of the Dwight party. Professor Taylor, a native of New Milford, Connecticut, had been graduated from Yale in 1807. He was an adroit debater and controversialist, thoroughly capable of taking the lead in a conflict which involved original thinking. Declaring his views in the class room and pulpit, he stirred up a storm of opposition from the conservative Hopkinsians, who were just as reluctant to modify their theories as the "Old Lights" had been to accept Edwardeanism.
The controversy began in 1828 when Professor Taylor preached a sermon on moral depravity, entitled Concio ad Clerum, in which he postulated that moral depravity is "man's own act, consisting in a free choice of some object rather than God, as his chief good ;- or a free preference of the world and of worldly good, to the will and glory of God."27 Man was a free moral agent to choose good or evil as he would, and sin was certainly not the necessary means to the highest good. The highest good is holiness, and the necessary means to holiness is good.
Immediate replies came forth from the Reverend Joseph Harvey, of Colchester, Connecticut, and Professor Leonard Woods, of Andover Theological Seminary. Numerous other publications appeared, some expressing approval and some quite determined in their adverse criticism. In December of the following year the first attack of Professor Taylor's most capable adversary, the Reverend Bennet Tyler,28 was published. Dr. Tyler, also a native of Connecticut and a graduate of Yale in the class of 1804, was pastor of the church in Portland, Maine. Disagreeing with the faculty of the Yale Divinity
27 Concio ad Clerum, p. 8.
26 Rev. Nahum Gale, Memoir of Rev. Bennet Tyler.
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School and the New Haven clergymen, but not feeling certain that he understood the issue in its entirety, he came to Con- necticut to review all the literature on the subject. After a careful study he was convinced of the soundness of his own opinions, so he began at once a most vigorous attack on Professor Taylor's doctrines, which had become known as the "New Haven Theology." For three years a pamphlet warfare was carried on resulting in the establishment of two distinct theological parties. So warm was the feeling and so loyal were the disciples to their respective leaders that the altercation became known as the "Taylor-Tyler Controversy." Although Professor Taylor had the support of the officials and students of Yale College, as well as the New Haven ministers, Dr. Tyler's opposition became formidable in other parts of the state. On September 10, 1833, thirty-six conservative "Tyler- ites" met in a little schoolhouse in East (now South) Windsor, "for the purpose of consultation and taking such measures as may be deemed expedient for the defense and promotion of evangelical principles." At this meeting the Connecticut Pastoral Union was formed and the initial steps taken toward organizing a new seminary where conservative doctrines would be taught in opposition to the liberal doctrines promulgated by Professor Taylor and the Yale Divinity School. On May 13, 1834, the Theological Institute of Connecticut was opened at East Windsor, with Dr. Tyler as President. Though the controversy continued for more than twenty years, adherents on either side being popularly known as "Taylorites" or "Tylerites," it gradually lost its zest and faded out. Never- theless, it gave the two theological institutions of Connecticut their respective attitudes, the Yale Divinity School being liberal, and the East Windsor Institute conservative. In 1865 the latter was moved to Hartford and its name changed to Hartford Theological Seminary, but it has always remained the conservative institution.
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OLD STONE CHURCH, 1797-1850
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As in former theological wranglings, while the country was agog with numerous conflicting doctrines and religious prac- tices, the East Haven Church remained oblivious of turmoil. Mr. Dodd was of the conservative school, but insomuch as his congregation was not bothered with the dispute he did not feel obliged to take up the issue.
A very important change in regard to habits of temperance began during this period, although occasional warnings had been uttered years before. When Mr. Dodd became pastor of the Old Stone Church spirituous drinks were in general use among the most religious and spiritually-minded people. Nearly everybody drank intoxicating liquor of some kind, and no one thought anything about it. The doctor in calling upon the sick and the minister in making his frequent pastoral calls were invited to drink of the contents of the bottle on the cupboard. At ordinations and installations of ministers, weddings, christenings, funerals, and all public assemblies, alcoholic drinks were always served.
The first protest against the intemperate use of ardent spirits, like the voice crying in the wilderness, was uttered by Anthony Benezet, whose pamphlet, The Mighty Destroyer Displayed, published in 1774, was the first warning against the universal use of liquor. Benezet died in 1784, but his work was taken up and carried on by Dr. Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia, a graduate of Princeton College and the University of Edin- burgh, member of the Continental Congress of 1776, signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Constitu- tional Convention of 1787, and for fourteen years treasurer of the United States Mint. In 1785 he published An Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits on the Human Body and Mind, which started the crusade against intemperance. Call- ing on the "Ministers of the Gospel, of every denomination in the United States to aid me with all the weight you possess in society, from the dignity and usefulness of your sacred office, to save our fellowmen from being destroyed by the great
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destroyer of their lives and souls,"29 he brought the issue before the church. Four years later the farmers in Litchfield County, Connecticut, agreed that they would not furnish the customary drinks at harvest time, indicating that Dr. Rush's appeal had started to bring results.30
The Reverend Ebenezer Porter, pastor of the Congrega- tional Church in Washington, Connecticut, preached a forceful sermon against intemperance during the winter of 1805-6, it being occasioned by the finding of the lifeless body of a man lying in the snow with a bottle of liquor in his pocket. At Moreau, Saratoga County, New York, the first temperance society was formed in 1808, largely through the persistent efforts of Dr. Billy J. Clark and the Congregational minister, Reverend Lebbeus Armstrong.31 Two years later Reverend Herman Humphrey, of Fairfield, Connecticut, preached a series of six sermons against the intemperate use of liquor-the first series of sermons preached on the subject. The next year Reverend Roswell Swan, of Norwalk, and Reverend Calvin Chapin, of Rocky Hill, Connecticut, went a step further and preached in behalf of total abstinence from all spirituous drinks.
Preëminently the commanding personality in the early tem- perance movement was the Reverend Lyman Beecher, a grad- uate of Yale in the class of 1796. Observing the selfish and abusive practices of a grogseller who "would go down with his barrel of whiskey in a wagon to the (Montauk) Indians and get them tipsy and bring them in debt," taking away their grain so that in the winter "they must come up twenty miles and buy back their own corn, and pack it home on their shoulders," he resolved that something drastic must be done. About this time he read Dr. Rush's pamphlet and was greatly
2ª Benjamin Rush, An Inquiry into the Effects of Ardent Spirits on the Human Body and Mind, p. 23.
30 A. F. Fehlandt, A Century of Drink Reform in the United States, p. 34.
31 L. Armstrong, The Temperance Reformation, pp. 18-22.
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impressed. When the Congregational General Association of Connecticut met at Sharon in 1812, he had but recently located at Litchfield. The committee which had been working with the Presbyterians reported that they did not believe any steps against the universal use of ardent spirits would be practicable. Such a report aroused the indignation of Mr. Beecher, who jumped to his feet and moved that the committee be discharged and another appointed "to report at this meeting the ways and means of arresting the tide of intemperance." Beecher him- self was made chairman, and his report revealed his earnest determination to get the churches aggressively behind the reform movement.32
Although the Unitarian dispute continued to take the atten- tion of the Congregational ministers and theologians, marked progress was consistently made in the temperance crusade. In 1825. Beecher preached six sermons at Litchfield, repeating them the following year in the Hanover Street Church, Boston. In these sermons he manifested keen foresight, declaring that national prohibition was the only remedy for the deep-seated disease.33
The Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemper- ance had been organized in February, 1813. In the same month thirteen years later the American Society for the Pro- motion of Temperance was born, its aim being total abstinence. Within a few months the Massachusetts Society adopted the new ideal and began to advocate it.
During the early years of the reform movement many col- lege presidents34 interested themselves in the cause, among them, and perhaps the most active, being Wilbur Fisk, the
32 L. Beecher, Autobiography and Correspondence, Vol. I, p. 247.
33 L. Beecher, Six Sermons on the Nature, Occasions, Signs, Evils and Remedy of Intemperance, p. 64.
34 Francis Wayland, of Brown University; Jeremiah Day, of Yale Univer- sity ; Eliphalet Nott, of Union College; Herman Humphrey, of Amherst; Mark Hopkins, of Williams; Jesse Appleton, of Bowdoin, and Nathan Lord, of Dartmouth.
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first President of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Con- necticut. With the founding of the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance, total abstinence became the goal sought after. Great progress was made from 1831 onward : sermons were preached from every pulpit, either advocating temperance or total abstinence, and many of them were pub- lished. Magazines were advocating reform,35 and lecturers were going about speaking at mass meetings, arousing intense excitement everywhere. Chief among the itinerant lecturers were Dr. Charles Jewett, William Lloyd Garrison, General Ashbel Riley, John B. Gough, and Father Theobald Mathew.
During the incipiency of the temperance campaign Mr. Dodd heartily concurred with the leaders of the church and began to preach on the subject, urging his parishioners to be moderate in their use of spirituous drinks. He readily saw the evils of intemperance and in all sincerity attempted to dissuade his people from becoming addicted to habits of excess. However, when the aim changed from temperance to total abstinence he was not so sympathetic with the cause. Throughout his min- istry he found considerable comfort in an occasional glass of spirits, as he went about making his pastoral calls.36 Since his time, however, all the ministers of the Old Stone Church have been ardent champions of prohibition. In 1888 a W. C. T. U.37 was formed in the church, and it continues to take an active part in the religious life of the parish.
During the twenty-nine years of Mr. Dodd's pastorate harmony and tranquility reigned in the parish. People
35 Rev. George B. Cheever's, Deacon Amos Giles' Distillery, was probably the most conspicuous example.
36 Unpublished letters, Church Records, Vol. II, Appendix.
37 Church Records, Vol. I, p. 149. The national W. C. T. U. came into existence in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874, with Mrs. Annie Wittenmyer as Presi- dent. In 1879 Frances E. Willard succeeded to the Presidency, remaining in office until her death, February 18, 1898. A tireless worker in the cause of prohibition, she well earned the honor and respect of future generations. The Anti-Saloon League was organized in Oberlin, Ohio, in September, 1893, and on December 18, 1895, was made a national organization.
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centered their interest in the church and the religious doctrines for which it stood. In 1822 the interior of the meeting house was remodeled; the old square pews in the main body and on the north side were removed, and slips were substituted. A few years later the first fence was built around the church yard. The current expenses of the Ecclesiastical Society had been met by taxation, but the system had grown exceedingly unpopular, and a change had to be made. In the same year that the meeting house was remodeled a new plan providing for the permanent sale of pews, the proceeds of which were to be used for the establishment of a fund for the perpetual support of the ministry, was adopted. "Voted, that the interest of said fund be appropriated for the support of a regular Calvin- istic minister, on the Saybrook Platform, especially as to doc- trine, and to be appropriated to no other purpose." The pews were sold, netting about $8,000. For a time this arrangement worked well, but in less than thirty years it had to be aban- doned.38 In its place was substituted the plan of renting the pews each year, the amount of rental being determined accord- ing to the prominence and favorable location of each pew. Those in the main body brought more than those to either side, and the ones in front were considered preferable to the ones in the rear. This method of raising the money to meet the current expenses continued in operation until 1914, when it was abolished, and the seats were made free to any one who cared to occupy them. The budget system was adopted, whereby the current expenses were carefully estimated and a house to house canvass made by men of the church to secure voluntary pledges from the parishioners.39
In 1830 a number of parishioners who resided near the Quinnipiac River withdrew from the church and uniting with a few others organized the First Church of Fair Haven, or what is now the Grand Avenue Church. Such an exodus of
28 D. W. Havens, p. 44.
Ecclesiastical Society Records, Vol. III, pp. 123-127.
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subscribers greatly weakened the resources of the Ecclesiastical Society, and were it not for the reserve fund which had been established when the pews were sold great difficulties in paying the minister might have followed.
Mr. Dodd was quite interested in historical and genealogical study, and spent many hours verifying traditions that had sur- vived from earliest times. In 1824 he published the East Haven Register, a small book of two hundred pages consisting of a brief history of the town, the names, marriages, births, and deaths in families, the period covered being from 1640 to 1800. In 1839 he compiled the genealogical account of his own ancestors, which he called the Family Record of the Daniel Dodd Family. Later in life he collected materials for a similar publication on the Crane family, who were his mother's people, but failing eyesight prevented him from completing it. Shortly after his retirement from the active duties of the pastorate he compiled and edited the Poems of Rev. Wheeler Case, which he gave to the public in book form in 1851.
As the shadows of life began to lengthen and advancing years made the physical body too infirm for the responsibilities of active service, the faithful minister felt the necessity of being relieved from the exacting duties of his pastoral calling. On September 27, 1846, he announced to the congregation his earnest desire to be free from the burden of directing and leading the spiritual life in the parish, and on December 3, 1846, he read his letter of resignation.
"After suitable consideration" the resignation was accepted, and it was "voted that the thanks of this Church be presented to the Reverend Mr. Dodd for his long and faithful services with us." The retiring pastor, at the request of the people, consented to supply the pulpit until a new minister was called and entered upon his duties. At a meeting of the Consocia- tion, held in Durham on April 20, 1847, the unanimous vote was that the pastoral relation between "Rev. Stephen Dodd and the church be, and hereby is, dissolved." For almost ten
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years the aged minister continued to reside in East Haven and attend the Old Stone Church, his death occurring on February 5, 1856, at the age of seventy-nine.40
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