USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church of Hartford, Connecticut, March 21 to 28, 1915 > Part 3
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"On March 23, 1865," our first Manual says, "the church was organized in the ancient New England method by formally accepting a creed and covenant which had been previously prepared. Of the whole number, 114, which constituted the church at its organization, 40 were from the Center Church, 33 from the North, 25 from the Pearl
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Street, 4 from the Fourth, 2 from the South, and the remaining 10 from churches out of the city."
The committee on the choice of a pastor seem to have had their attention early called to a young man recently a chaplain of the 71st New York Regiment, Joseph Hopkins Twichell by name. We learn of no others being considered, and it is probably true that with this young army chap- lain in view no search was made for another. Mr. Twichell's home had been in Southington, his col- lege days were passed at New Haven, and it was natural that a man who made friends wherever he went should have many such in Hartford, where he was a frequent visitor in college and seminary days. He had already become a friend of Dr. Bushnell, and it is probable that the suggestion of the name came from this authoritative source, since a daughter of Dr. Bushnell recalls that Mr. Twichell in his seminary days, while visiting at the Austin Dunham home, took part in the mid- week service at the old North Church, and since a member of our church recalls that Dr. Bushnell stated to her father that he knew no young man of greater promise as a preacher than Mr. Twichell.
On report of the committee, a call was extended to Mr. Twichell, and this is his reply:
"HON. FRANCIS GILLETTE,
Chairman of Committee, etc.,
DEAR SIR :
It gives me great pleasure to notify you that after long and prayerful deliberation, aided by the counsels of godly and com- petent men, I have become persuaded that it is my duty toward God, toward the people whom you represent, and toward my- self, to accept the call you have extended to me to the pastorate [ 39 ]
of the Asylum Hill Congregational Church. Hoping that the Great Head of the Church has guided me to this decision and that the fruits of my ministry among you (if I shall be spared to enter upon it) will show that we all have the mind of Christ in this transaction, I remain,
Yours in Christian Fellowship,
Hartford, Conn., JOSEPH HOPKINS TWICHELL.
Aug. 8, 1865."
In the conventional language for such occasions, letters missive were issued calling a council "to examine the candidate and, if deemed expedient, to install him as pastor of the church." Pastors of the five Congregational churches of Hartford, of his own church in Southington, also from New Haven, Farmington and Franklin, were present. Conspicuous among them all were Dr. Horace Bushnell and Dr. Joel Hawes. This was on De- cember 13, 1865, the service being held in the chapel. After the examination was satisfactorily concluded, the service of installation was begun. Dr. Bacon of New Haven made the installing prayer and Dr. Bushnell gave the charge to the people. The latter took occasion to congratulate the church on having a young pastor with whom they could grow up.
The day of dedication was June 15, 1866. It is of interest to know how the church appeared on that occasion to the impartial observer, and a quo- tation is made from the Courant of the next day:
"The audience-room of the Asylum Hill Church is very pleas- ant, and in all respects very beautifully arranged. It is not gaudy, but exceedingly neat and modest. The windows are the only flashy adornments which strike the eye, being of colored glass, and there is nothing particularly out of taste in them, though a little less color would, perhaps, be more in keeping with the plain finish surrounding."
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The day dawned bright-a typical New Eng- land June day. Dr. Bushnell, dear to the heart of our pastor as long as the former lived, offered the dedicatory prayer. Professor Park of Andover preached the sermon, long, interesting and thought- ful, and worthy of the occasion. As one who listened understandingly writes, "It almost marked an era in one's life to hear Dr. Park preach. His sermons were invariably long, but had a wonderful holding power on his audience."
The limit of this recital is reached with the dedi- cation of the church edifice. It only remains to recall a few of the individuals of those early times never to be forgotten by those who knew them.
Chaplain Henry Clay Trumbull was a frequent visitor in the Sunday School. Those who heard him speak will never forget his original person- ality, his enthusiastic devotion to his religion and to his country.
Major Henry W. Camp, "The Knightly Soldier" of his friend's (Henry Clay Trumbull) biography, was a member of our first Sunday School, a high school boy, and a graduate of the Yale class of 1860. He was distinguished for manly beauty, physical and intellectual vigor, no- bility and strength of character. He was killed October 13, 1864, on the Darbytown Road near Richmond, Virginia, while leading a charge of his regiment.
Of those prominent in the church in those days might be mentioned the brothers William L. and Erastus Collins. Of the latter another writes (for [ 4] ]
the historian is disqualified by reason of his near relationship) : "It would hardly seem as if the church could have been established without Eras- tus Collins."
With them was James S. Tryon, whose genial and earnest nature endeared him to all. Rev. John R. Keep, A. G. Hammond, J. M. Allen were, with the others named, men who were personally at- tractive, high-minded and spiritual. E. K. Root and David E. Bartlett lengthen but do not com- plete a list of men who would adorn any com- munity, but to whom our own is under special obligation.
In this mention of some to whom we owe espe- cial gratitude, the ladies are not to be forgotten. Mrs. Metcalf's work in forming the Sunday School deserves our grateful remembrance. Mrs. Bart- lett, who went in and out among us for so many years, will be remembered for the part that she took in opening her house for the first neighborhood prayer meeting, as well as for her saintly face and character. Mrs. Charles P. Howard, Mrs. Maria E. C. Strong and Miss Mary F. Collins, Mrs. James Hammond Trumbull, were all helpful in Sunday School and church activities in those pioneer days.
To them and to all who had a share in this enter- prise the dedication of the church on that June day in 1866 was a blessed fruition of their hopes and a reward for their labors.
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THE EARLY DAYS OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
MRS. MARY BARTLETT MACDONALD
In 1860 "The Hill" was but the western fringe of the little town of Hartford, and most of its few houses stood in their roomy grounds along the two main roads into the country, Asylum and Farm- ington Avenues.
Beyond Sumner Street, Asylum Avenue ran straight out, on its northern side past almost un- broken fields, which extended nearly to Willard Street; on its south side there were a few houses beyond Sumner Street, and then fields, past which a lane wandered off to Sigourney Street, leaving an irregularly triangular patch in the middle of the avenue. This was covered with trees and bushes-a no man's land beloved of the children. Where the Sigourney Street block now is there was a chain of ponds, shallow, but covering a good deal of ground. If you did not mind patches of grass sticking up here and there, it was the best possible place for skating, and especially for playing "shinney," a place never objected to by even those timid folk, our fathers and mothers. If we did break through the ice, we could hardly even get wet. On summer evenings the frogs used to give us fine orchestral open-air concerts-the only ones we had in those days-and the picture of Dr. Cal- vin Stowe, with his flowing white hair and beard, as he often stood in rapt enjoyment of the deep [ 43 ]
diapason of the double-bass viols of that orchestra, comes to mind at the recollection of these concerts. Beyond the ponds there were fields again, as far as Willard Street, then a few large places on both sides of the avenue. Woodland Street was the real jumping-off place into the country, and from there we used to take long walks that were veritable voyages of discovery into the great world. In winter, Prospect Hill was a great place for coast- ing. We might meet an infrequent sleigh, but it was sure to turn out for us, and we were not at all afraid that we would meet an automobile. Some of the boys used to draw some of the girls up the hill on their sleds.
There were a few houses on Spring, Garden and Collins Streets; but beyond the reservoir the latter was just a country lane bordered by brooks, which were lined with ferns and bushes and trees. An- other lane led from it out into the fields and ended at the Almshouse, over towards Albany Avenue. On Farmington Avenue, also, there were large places. On the corner of Flower Street a bit of forest had been left, extending to Queen Street; beyond that, toward the railroad, were operatives' houses. From the Asylum grounds a little brook started and rollicked down the hill-a brook with ferns and flowering water-plants growing in it, quite deep enough to sail chip boats upon, espe- cially if you picked out the pebbles at obstructive turns, and you could get delightfully wet playing with it.
From Day's Point, as we called it then, and still
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do, there were toward the west four houses in grounds which reached from one avenue to the other. Then came the West Middle District - schoolhouse, a bare, barn-like structure with staring windows and absolutely no features that could be called architectural. A long, straight walk ran from Asylum to Farmington Avenue past the girls' door on the east side, and one precisely like it past the boys' door on the west side. Tucked away in the southwest corner of the schoolyard and facing towards Farmington Avenue stood the Primary School building, quite as guiltless of architectural embellishment as the larger one.
In this little schoolhouse was the first meeting of our Sunday School, and the story of how it came to be held we shall hear from the lady who brought it about. She was Mrs. George Metcalf, who lived in the wilds of Broad Street, then a region of partially reclaimed clay-banks, where the rail- road had been cut. Years after, in 1900, Mrs. Metcalf wrote a letter to Mrs. Bartlett, in which she tells of the beginnings of the school as follows :
"Father Hawley, in one of his reports to the Hartford City Missionary Society held [in 1860] in the Pearl Street Church, said : 'Dear friends, don't leave me to do all the missionary work in this city. We can all be missionaries.' And as I heard I remembered how I had been pained, on the Sabbath Day, by seeing idle and noisy boys playing in a grove on Broad Street, where I lived, and I was impressed with a sense of the destitu- tion of our neighborhood, in that no place was open in our lo- cality where such children could be taught a better way of life. I bowed my head and heard but little more; but I thought and prayed to our Heavenly Father to strengthen me that I might do some missionary work; and that night I formed my plan of action. . Within a week I had visited every family west of [ 45 ]
the railway station, to the city line, and obtained the promise of about ninety children of all classes to attend the first meet- ing of the Sunday School, which would be held on the succeed- ing Sunday in the smaller of the two schoolhouses of the West Middle District. . I made a personal appeal to nearly fifty of the business men of Hartford for funds to defray the expenses of the school, and most generous was the response-indeed, we never lacked funds for our current expenses. The school flourished and grew until your lovely church was built, when it became the school of your church."
Thus was the school started and maintained upon the basis of subscriptions by heads of fam- ilies then living upon the Hill. The list includes practically all of them, besides some other prom- inent men of the down-town churches. Of all those who helped in the foundation of the school, and later of the church, to Mr. Erastus Collins, more than to any one else, our gratitude is due for his immediate and generous response to the suggestion that a school should be started and for his hearty co-operation and unfailing interest in its work and welfare. His share later in the expense of the building and maintenance of the church, as well as in the outreach of its benevolences, so long as he remained with us, was the lion's share. The whole story of his generosity and manifold usefulness could be recorded only by the angels, for there were few who knew how much he did to help not only our church, but also the needy in our com- munity; he was one of those who silently go about doing good. The kindly spirit which shone in the faces of Mr. Collins and of that sweet and gracious lady, his wife, dear to all who knew her, will always be held in grateful remembrance.
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The earliest record of the school reads as follows :
November 4, 1860. "This was the first meeting of the friends of the school, called together on the personal invitation of Mrs. Maria C. Metcalf to inaugurate the new school. Mr. A. G. Hammond conducted the exercises. There were forty- nine children of both sexes present, and nineteen adults, most of whom volunteered their services as permanent teachers. Short addresses were made by Mr. Hammond, Mr. Francis Gillette, Mr. Kingsbury, Mr. Bissell and others. Hymns were sung and prayer was made. There was no classification of the chil- dren this Sabbath, but the hour was passed in the above general exercises, which were all of a dedicatory character."
A meeting was held on Wednesday of the fol- lowing week to adopt a constitution and elect officers. The elections resulted as follows: Mr. James S. Tryon, Superintendent; Mrs. George Metcalf, Assistant; Mr. J. G. Baldwin, Librarian; Mr. George Metcalf, Treasurer. Mr. Tryon con- tinued to hold the office of Superintendent until the school became that of the church and for many years after. Mrs. Metcalf was his assistant until 1865, except for a long absence, during which she was doing hospital work in the war. Her place was filled for a time by Miss Lathrop and later by Miss Lily Gillette, afterward Mrs. George War- ner.
The earliest teachers were Mrs. E. C. Bacon, Miss Lucy Brainard, Miss M. A. Hulls, Miss Mary Frances Collins, Miss Mary Lyman Collins, Miss Frances Collins, now Mrs. Palmer, Miss Sophia Cowan, afterwards Mrs. Elisha Carpenter, Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Hammond, Dr. and Mrs. James Hammond Trumbull, Miss M. C. Green- [ 47 ]
law, Mrs. David E. Bartlett, Mrs. William N. Matson, Mrs. G. W. Curtiss, Mrs. S. N. Hart, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kellogg, Mr. Cheney, Miss Annie Richmond, afterwards Mrs. William Fletcher, Mrs. William L. Squire. Others who came soon after the beginning were Miss Lathrop, Miss Annie Trumbull, afterwards Mrs. Slosson, Miss Lily Gillette, afterwards Mrs. George War- ner, Mrs. Maria C. Strong, Miss Cornelia Camp, Mr. David Bartlett.
Of the very first teachers Miss Frances Collins, now Mrs. Palmer, is the only one still among us. She must have been a very young teacher! Others who came later and are still living are Miss Cor- nelia Camp and Mr. and Mrs. Burnell, who taught for many years. Mr. Burnell has held various offices in the course of his long connection with the school. He has been secretary and treasurer many times; was Assistant Superintendent, both with Mr. Tryon and with Mr. Twichell; and has been untiring in his work as head of the Home Depart- ment, which he founded in 1900. He is still among us, and his long and faithful devotion claims our gratitude. In a reminiscent paper, read to the church in 1891, Mr. Tryon said of his first helpers in the school, "We cannot reproduce to the church the glow, the enthusiasm, the interest, the absolute unselfishness and loyalty of the teachers of that little school ... The feeling of absorbing interest in the welfare of the school was felt by every teacher." He spoke especially of Mrs. Joseph Kellogg and Miss Lathrop as "really marvellous
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women." And "really marvellous" could be said of all that little band of workers. The character which stood behind their teachings was of a con- vincing, personal quality which drew us by our great respect as well as love, and made us wish to be like them. There was time, in those days, for a fine, leisurely development of thought and feel- ing which, especially in the range of the spiritual life, found expression in a fervor as well as grace in look and in speech that is rare in these bustling days of ours.
Of the earliest scholars, those who are still living in Hartford are Atwood Collins, Albert B. Gil- lette, John M. Holcombe, Sarah L. Gillette (Mrs. Loomis), Carrie L. Pierson (Mrs. H. H. Keep), Alice Collins (Mrs. S. G. Dunham), Nettie Col- lins (Mrs. D. R. Howe), Carrie Collins (Mrs. C. W. Page), Nellie C. Spencer (Mrs. C. E. Gross), Ella Hurlburt (Mrs. George Fisher), Alice Bunce, Mary Bartlett (Mrs. D. B. Mac- donald). Those still living who have moved away from Hartford are James Seymour Tryon, Henry T. Terry, Edward and Lyman Wiley, Jennie Terry, Arnold Kellogg, Carrie Kellogg and Mag- gie Bartlett. I have given the names as they ap- pear upon the record. If I have made any omis- sions I would be grateful for correction.
Mrs. Metcalf's idea in starting the school was evidently that it should be largely a mission school, to include families living near the railroad and beyond, and this was carried out. Such names as Bena, Profit, McCanna, Roustan, Porteus and [ 49 ]
others not now upon our roll show that many from outside our immediate neighborhood were in the school. When we moved into our new building, no doubt many stopped coming because our church was in a neighborhood quite apart from their own. In later years missions were established in the region bordering upon the railroad; but it has always been difficult to persuade people living there to come to our church and Sunday School.
On November 11, 1860, was held the first session of the school after its organization, with an attend- ance of 14 teachers and 74 scholars. The record says, "The people of the neighborhood testified their interest in the good work to-day. There were twelve visitors present." After this fine beginning it must have been disappointing to have a decided falling off in numbers at the second meeting, when only 60 children came. This is accounted for by unpleasant weather. The record adds, "But one colored boy came through the rain and cold with- out a coat, a thin apron being substituted for it."
On December 2d the school moved into the larger building. The upper story was already occupied by the Sunday School of Trinity Church parish, whose church on Sigourney Street was being built. It was completed soon after, and our school then had the whole house to itself. It soon occupied every available space, even the passages leading to the stairways.
The school exercises were conducted with abun- dant time for everything; we had no other en- gagements for Sunday afternoon. We did a great [ 50 ]
deal of singing under the leadership of Mr. Joseph Kellogg, our chorister ; our song-book was "The Sunday School Bell," and we knew it by heart before another one was selected. We had four periodicals, which were distributed in rota- tion, one each Sunday. They were "The Golden Chain," "The Child at Home," "The Wellspring" and "Early Dawn." Later, others are mentioned, "The Child's Paper," "The Youth's Sunday School Banner" and "The Child's World." We started with about fifty books in the library, which were in great demand. We were not flooded with peri- odicals and books, instructive or otherwise, writ- ten down to the childish mind. Many of us were not allowed to read novels for grown-ups, always excepting Sir Walter Scott's and a very few others, and our Sunday School library was most carefully selected.
What contributed, perhaps, more than anything else, to the harmony and well-being of the school was the weekly teachers' meeting, which was kept up from its very beginning and during the greater part of its whole history. At first it was held im- mediately after each school session, then for a long time at Mr. J. M. Allen's apartment at the Asylum, and later at the houses of some of the teachers. This was not a very formal meeting; they studied the lessons together and talked freely about the problems of their work, and thus kept closely in touch.
There are on the record references to "the prayer meeting," and the scholars were invited to [5] ]
attend it. Many years later, in a sketch made by the request of Mr. Atwood Collins, who was pre- paring a review of the early history of the church, Mrs. Bartlett wrote that in 1861, soon after Mr. Calkins came to Hartford to preach at the Centre Church, he suggested to her that there should be a neighborhood prayer meeting on the Hill. His sug- gestion was followed, and Mrs. Bartlett went about to her neighbors, and invited them to meet at her house and start such a meeting, to be held once a week, as it was difficult for many to attend the mid- week meetings at the down-town churches. This project was cordially received, and the first meeting was held at Mr. Bartlett's house (February 10th?), being led by Rev. Dr. Robbins-a near neighbor. From that time on the meetings were regularly and fully attended at the different houses on the Hill, until they and the Sabbath School were merged into the Asylum Hill Congregational Church and its Sunday School.
On April 14, 1861, was recorded the great event which had come like a bolt from the blue, the news of the firing upon Fort Sumter. From that time, through the troubled years which followed, the war with its anxieties and sadness touched us at many points, though mostly through its effects upon our elders. Mr. Metcalf went to the war, Mrs. Metcalf also, as a nurse ; and the Rev. Henry Clay Trumbull, and Henry Camp, "The Knightly Soldier" of later fame, said good-by to us to go to the front. They always came, on their flying visits home, and talked to us about their experi-
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ences in the war. None of us, I am sure, can forget the day when Chaplain Trumbull told us of the splendid sacrifice of Henry Camp's young life, of the good he had done among the soldiers and of his loyalty unto death. Even those too young to have known him well were touched by the tears of those who did, and we all wept together.
During the first year the attendance ranged from 140 to 26. This low number was accounted for by bad weather; but a picnic which had taken place the day before appears to have been too ex- hausting, as the school had walked in procession the whole distance out into the country, to "Gil- lette's Grove," on the corner of Farmington Ave- nue and Forest Street! It was our first picnic, and the Sunday School of the old North Church had joined us in our march under "The Flag," singing as we marched. The record says, "Everything was done for happy pleasure, and all were satisfied." Truly, a wonderful picnic!
Our first "Sabbath School Concert" was on July 28, 1861. This was not, as the name may suggest, primarily a musical entertainment. It was a general exercise, and its distinctive feature was the reciting of Scripture verses and of hymns by the school. To quote the record, "The room was full of teachers, scholars and their friends. Nearly every boy and girl repeated a verse. Then singing; then Mr. Brigham gave us a message of love from 'The Union Sabbath School.' Father Hawley and Mr. Hammond spoke also, and all three told anecdotes about children in connection [ 53]
with their work. Mr. Tryon spoke of 'Voices.' The concert closed with singing 'America.' " After this the Concert came once a month. The exer- cises were varied from time to time; but always a word was given out on the previous Sunday, and the recitations were chosen to contain that word. Such words as "prayer," "salvation," "tongue," "son" and "father" were among those selected. Sometimes the whole school recited in unison, or certain classes would be prepared to do it by them- selves. Sometimes a few boys and girls were ap- pointed to recite from the platform-a fearful ordeal!
Visitors and their talks to the children were always a large element in our services, especially in these Sabbath School Concerts. It was as if the dwellers on the Hill had planted a new garden and loved to watch its growth and flowering. Father Hawley, of blessed memory, Mr. E. P. Hammond, the evangelist, Rev. Henry Clay Trumbull, Mr. Francis Gillette, Mr. Erastus Col- lins, Mr. William Collins, Mr. J. M. Allen, Mr. Nelson Kingsbury, Mr. Charles Bunce and Mr. David Bartlett were among those most frequently mentioned as addressing the school in these early days. Many anecdotes, amusing sometimes and always edifying, were told, and from these friends there was always an earnest appeal to us to love God and live by the teachings of Christ. We re- ceived also from these talks an outreaching sense of the great world outside of our limited experi- ence, especially when missionaries came and told
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