USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Fairfield > The history of Fairfield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, from the settlement of the town in 1639 to 1818, Vol. II > Part 8
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CONTINUATION OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
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changeably one year at Wethersfield, & one year at New Haven till it be further settled to the satisfaction of this Assembly." " This was passed by 35 voices against 21." *
In 1718 the General Assembly ordered the students to repair to New Haven ; but there appears to have been a considerable opposition to this order on the part of some of the students, who had placed themselves under the tuition of Mr. Elisha Williams of Wethersfield. The concilia- tory acts of the legislature, however, united with the wisdom and pru- dence of Mr. Webb and some others of the trustees, overcame much of the opposition. The building of the college now rapidly progressed, and the hall and library were finished by commencement time. " The build- ing was 170 feet in length & 22 feet in breadth. It was three stories in height, with a convenient & spacious hall, a library, about fifty studies in large chambers, & a kitchen." It was altogether a very fine and elegant building for those days. Mr. Henry Caner of Stratford was the builder of the college, and its cost was about one thousand pounds sterling.
Only a few days before Commencement, to the great delight of the rector, tutors and students, there arrived at Boston, from England, " a large box of books, the picture & arms of King George, & two hundred pounds sterling worth of English goods, all to the value of eight hun- dred pounds in our money, from Governor Yale of London."
Governor Saltonstall and his lady, the Hon. Colonel Taylor of Bos- ton, Mr. Joseph Webb, Lieutenant-Governor Nathan Gold. Judge Peter Burr, Major John Burr, Richard Hubbell, Esq., and the whole Superior Court were present at the Commencement, which took place September 10, 1718, when, in the presence of all assembled in the new hall upon this happy occasion, the Collegiate School was named Yale College. to perpetuate the memory of its liberal and bountiful donor, Governor Elihu Yale. Colonel Taylor represented Governor Yale in an appropriate speech, after which the audience proceeded to the church, where the Commencement exercises took place. " In which office, in the first place. after prayer an oration was had by the saluting orator. James Pierpont. & then the disputations follow as usual: which concluded, the Rev. Mr. Davenport (one of the trustees & ministers of Stamford) offered an ex- cellent oration in Latin, expressing their thanks to Almighty God & Mr. Yale under Him, for so public a favor, & so great regard to our lan- guishing school. After which were graduated ten young men ; where- upon the Hon. Gov. Saltonstall, in a Latin speech, congratulated the
* Journals L. II., 1717-1718.
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Trustees on their success & in the comfortable appearance of things with relation to their school. All which ended, the gentlemen returned to the College Hall, where they were entertained with a splendid dinner, & the ladies, at the same time were also entertained in the Library ; after which they sang the four first verses in the 65th Psalm, & so the day ended."*
Strange to relate, the disaffected trustees and students at the same time held a Commencement at Wethersfield, upon which occasion Mr. Woodbridge and Mr. Buckingham gave degrees to those whom they graduated.
Party feeling ran high for some time about having the college at New Haven, which was eventually happily settled. The Rev. Mr. Tim- othy Cutler was chosen rector of the college.t Several grants of land were made by the Assembly to be sold for its benefit, and there was every prospect of its becoming a flourishing institution.
The General Assembly met at Hartford, May 14th. Hon Nathan Gold was elected Deputy Governor, Judge Peter Burr an Assistant, and Major John Burr and Captain Joseph Wakeman representatives from Fairfield.
A law was passed entitled, " An act for the better Ordering of Idle & Poor Persons in the towns of the colony," by which all such persons were placed under the care of the selectmen of each town and their es- tates improved for their benefit and their families. No one in health was allowed to be idle.
Taxes having been levied from time to time for the repayment of the bills of credit issued in May and June, 1711, and October of 1713, as they should be drawn in, a further tax was levied of twopence on all tax- able estates in the colony.
Judge Peter Burr was made one of a committee to examine the re- turned bills of credit and to burn such as were of no value.
A further act for issuing bills of credit was passed. Mr. Timothy Green of New London was instructed to procure the best paper from Boston to print them on. It was also resolved that the engraved plates, then in the possession of William Dummer, Esq., son of Jeremiah Dun- mer, deceased, in whose care they had been left, should be safely con- veyed to New London for the use of the government. Mr. Timothy
* Trumbull's Hist. Conn., Vol. II, pp. 22-33. Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. 1716-1725, pp. 30-83. + Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. 1716-1725, pp. 101, 159.
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Green was placed under oath for the faithful discharge of printing the new bills of credit for the colony .*
The Hon. Nathan Gold was appointed Chief Judge of the Superior Court and Judge of the Fairfield County Court, Judge Peter Burr of the County Courts, and Mr. Richard Osborn was made a Justice of the Peace for Fairfield County.
A committee was appointed by the town of Fairfield to renew the bounds of the parsonage lands within the township.
The Rev. Samuel Cook, having been chosen to succeed the late Rev. Charles Chauncey of Stratfield, the town granted him, " for his encour- agement in the ministry, the whole right of the herbage of Golden Hill, both meadow & upland, during the town's pleasure."+
A long and vexed question-since 1709-in regard to land and islands at Maxumus on Green's Farms, was settled at this time by Joseph Bishop of Stamford, David Sherman of Stratfield and Edmund Lewis of Strat- ford. with the Couch claimants, by which the Couches gained meadow lands, " & all the islands of marsh in Compo Creek," dated September 17. 1719.4
The General Assembly met at New Haven October 8th, when Fair- field was fully represented.
The election sermon preached before the Assembly by Rev. Timothy Cutler. Rector of Yale College, from the 92d Psalm, verse 5th, " his thoughts being very deep." was ordered to be printed. §
The taxable estates at Fairfield were valued at £21,084 2s. od.
Wednesday, April 13, of 1720, was appointed a public fast day throughout the colony.
* Col. Rec. Conn., 1717-1725, p. 133. # Fairfield Town Records.
t Fairfield Town Votes.
§ Col. Rec. Conn., 1717-1725, p. 148.
CHAPTER IX
1720-1730
CHURCH AND STATE
Green's Farms Church .- Court House .- General Assembly officers .- Upper and Lower Houses of Assembly .- Trouble with Indians .- Increased taxes on liquor .- Fast day .- Fairfield school land patent .- Contribution to Yale College .- Beliefs and customs of the Established Church of the Colony .- A summary of their persecutions .- Church of England vigorously maintained. -Opposition of the Established Church .- Laws against the Rogerenes .- Tithingmen .- Punishment for non-observance of the ecclesiastical colony laws .- Superior Courts .- Trouble with the eastern Indians .- County troops .- Fast Day .- Yale College converts to the Church of England .- Rev. George Pigot .- His letters to England .- Persecution of Church of Eng- land members .- Rev. Joseph Webb's letter .- Rev. Mr. Pigot's and Dr. Laborie's letters .- Duties of upper and lower houses of Assembly .- School money .- Judge Peter Burr elected Chief Justice .- Death of Justice Nathan Gold .- Public tax .- Land grant to heirs of Justice Nathan Gold .- Value of Fairfield estates .- Rev. Samuel Johnson .- His letters .- State and military officers .- Parliament oath taken .- Sheriff of Fairfield .- Laws for Indians .- Military sent against eastern Indians .- Signal of friendly Indians .- Massachusetts calls for military assistance .- Death of Justice Peter Burr .- Troops sent against eastern Indians .- Greenfield petitions for parish privileges .- Rev. Noah Hobart an assistant to Rev. Mr. Webb .- Captain Samuel Couch's land patent .- Thanksgiving Day .- Opening of the Church of England and location .- Laws against swearing .- Official fees .- Admission of strangers .- Northwest parish (Greenfield) embody in church and state .- Covenant .- Rev. John Goodsell .- Church officers. -How to warn new societies .- Value of Fairfield estates .- Greenfield meeting-house .- Growth of the Church of England .- Taxation without representation .- Rev. Dr. Johnson's letters .- Petition of Church of England officers .- Petition granted .- Northwest parish named Greenfield .- Death of George I .- Accession of George II. celebrated at New Haven .- House of Correction .- Earthquake and its effects .- Lottery evils .- Churchmen persecuted .- Mr. Caner's letters .- Public notifications .- Probate Court of Stamford. - Lotteries forbidden .- Viciousness of the Indians .- Reading petitions to be made a parish .- Fairfield County enlarged .- Requisites of a freeholder .- Reading made a parish .- Official fees .- Freeman's rights.
1720. THE inhabitants of Green's Farms, or the west parish, had the satisfaction this year of seeing their meeting-house finished. It had pre- viously been a rude structure, but now it was finished with galleries and seats. Ensign Rumsey was invited "to sit under the desk, where he used to sit & that Capt. Samuel Couch, John Lockwood & Lieutenants Nash & Andrews should sit under the desk on the west side."
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CHURCH AND STAHL.
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A commodious court-house was also erected on the Fairfield Military Green and situated behind the present Town House.
At a meeting of the General Assembly at Hartford, May 12th, Judge Nathan Gold was again elected Deputy Governor and Chief Judge of the Superior Courts in Fairfield County, and Major John Burr and Captam Samuel Couch representatives from Fairfield.
Major John Burr was made one of the public treasury auditors. Judge Peter Burr was chosen Judge of the County Court.
Major John Burr, with four others, was appointed to receive and destroy the old bills of credit which had been returned to the treasury
An act was passed for forming the lower house or house of represen- tatives to the General Assembly, that when the new State House was finished at Hartford they should meet at eight o'clock in the morning on election day in the chamber set apart for them, and choose a speaker and clerk for the session.
It appears that since the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, there had ex- isted more or less ill-will between the French of Canada and their Indian allies, which caused frequent alarms along the frontier towns of the New England colonies. The English attributed the existing troubles to the influence of one Father Sebastian Ralle and the French Jesuits, while the French Canadians laid all the blame to the ever encroaching spirit of the English in acquiring territory by unlawful means.# The Indian dep- redations became at this time more and more alarming, so that the inhabitants of Danbury made an appeal to the Governor and Council for protection. They represented that Chicken, living in Fairfield County near Danbury, had received two belts of wampum from Indians west of the Hudson, and asking for permission to come and live within the Con- necticut colony. Major John Burr, with three other gentlemen, were forthwith ordered to visit " the Potatuck & Wiantinuck & Poquannuck Indians, & cause the said Chicken, to whom the belts & message were sent, to disclose all he & his tribe had learned of the design of their Indit visitors, & to order them to attend the next meeting of the General _Is sembly." Major Burr was requested " to return home by way of Dan- bury, & to quiet the inhabitants there & those near them, of their appre- hensions of danger from the Indians."+
The General Court met October 13th at New Haven, when Deputy
* Hollister's History of Connecticut, Vol. I., pp. 382-359.
+ Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. 1716-1725, p. 203.
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Governor Gold, Peter Burr as Assistant, and Captain Joseph Wakeman and Captain Samuel Couch were present.
The alarming increase of intemperance in the colony led to renewed effort to suppress it, and at this time a tax of fifteen pounds was levied on every hogshead of rum imported into the colony, one-tenth part of which should be paid to the naval officers and the remainder to the colony treasurer. Any evasion of this law led to the confiscation of the liquor.
Wednesday. April 19th, was ordered by proclamation to be set apart as a day of public fasting throughout the colony.
At the sitting of this court the Fairfield members were so fortunate as to obtain a patent for their school lands; which land was " to be im- proved for the use & behoof of a Grammar School to be kept in said town, & for no other use whatsoever." As no particular persons were named to whom the patent should be granted, the Court ordered " that a patent be granted to the Hon. Nathan Gold Esqr., Peter Burr Esqr., Major John Burr, Capt. Joseph Wakeman, Capt. Moses Dimon, & Lieut. Jon- athan Sturges, all of Fairfield, & their heirs at the common law, to hold the said six hundred acres of land for the use aforesaid."*
It was voted that as a suitable dwelling-house was needed for the use of the rector of Yale College, a collection should be made in July in all the towns in the colony for this purpose, of which Fairfield paid her share.
In order to comprehend the history of the ecclesiastical affairs of Fairfield at this time, we must turn to the earliest records of the colony. One of the first steps taken by a colony in beginning a settlement was to enter into a mutual covenant " in the presence of God, to walk to- gether in all His ways, according as He was pleased to reveal Himself in His blessed word of truth."
Before a company was allowed to enter upon the work of a new set- tlement, the General Court required that they should prove themselves capable of colonizing a town and maintaining a clergyman. The neces- sary number to form a church, it was thought, " should be of no greater number than may ordinarily meet together conveniently in one place, nor ordinarily fewer than may conveniently carry on church work." Those who entered into covenant for the maintenance of a church were not admitted as church members, nor allowed the privilege of partaking of the Lord's Supper, or to present their children in baptism until they
* Col. Rec. Conn., Vol. 1716-1725, p. 243.
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CHURCH AND STATE
had made a public profession of a change of heart. Each parish was com posed of a body of members independent and separate from all other parishes, which elected and ordained its own officers. The duties of the officers were to admit, govern, censure and expel its members, as well as to make such laws as should be for the benefit of the church. They acknowledged the necessity of synods or general councils in weighty matters, but regarded the discipline of every church to be vested " in the church alone," and not subject to any outside influence. For these reasons they were called Congregationalists.
The carliest parishes generally supported two ministers, one called a pastor and the other a teacher. There were one or more ruling elders. as well as deacons, who shared with the pastor and teacher the govern- ment and discipline of the church. " The office of the pastor was to work upon the wills and affections of his people, that his hearers might be led to love & praise the truth: while that of the teacher was to expound the doctrines of christianity, & particularly to explain the scriptures." The office of the latter was at an early date merged into that of the pastor.
Their ministers were men of education, many of whom were gradu- ates of Oxford and Cambridge in England. Some of them were men of distinction, who were wealthy and gave largely of their means towards the support of their congregations. Voluntary contributions, however. were taken up every Sabbath for some years for the maintenance of ministers. In 1644 the commissioners of the United Colonies met at Hartford and passed a law: " That those who were taught in the word in the several plantations should be called together, that every man vol untarily set down what he is willing to allow to that end, &c .. & if any man refuse to pay a meet proportion, that then he be rated by authority in some just & equal way, & if after this any man withhold or delay due payment the civil power is to be exercised as in other just debts."
The ministers were not at first ordained by other ministers, accord- ing to the custom of the present day, but by the officers of the congre- gations by whom they were elected; and when without officers, by pri- vate members laying on of hands. Each minister was a layman to all the world but to his congregation. They were not regarded as ministers before their election over a congregation or after their resignation.
The office of the ruling elder was to maintain the discipline of the church, to watch the walk and conversation of its members, to admin-
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ister to the spiritual and temporal needs of the sick, and in the absence of the pastor to expound the scriptures, and to exhort and pray with the congregation. The deacons conducted the prudential affairs of the church and provided for the poor. All the officers of the church were set apart to their trusts with the most solemn services.
In religious views our ancestors were Calvinists. The doctrines of original sin, total depravity, election and predestination, particular re- demption, effectual calling and perseverance of saints, formed the basis of many lengthy and most earnest sermons. They aimed to control society by the discipline of the Mosaic law.
Finding, as they concluded, no scriptural ground for calling a house of worship a church, they adopted the name of Meeting-House instead. And as only church members were allowed to hold civil offices, that they might be controlled by true wisdom and righteousness in all their acts, their public meetings and elections were held in the Meeting- House. It was the custom for many years in Fairfield to hold a town meeting immediately after the week-day prayer meeting, which was regularly appointed on Wednesday evening by a vote of the town.
The first churches were necessarily of a rude and simple style of architecture, and for many years were stiff and bare of ornament of any kind. In the place of the high altar of the Romanist overshadowed with cherubims, rose a pulpit which elevated the head of the preacher almost to the ceiling. When in the course of time the Meeting House required more room than the members could conveniently find within its walls, galleries were introduced. And many undoubtedly remember the two boxes in each corner over the main entrance above the galleries, which were set apart for the sons and daughters of Africa. Pews or slips and square sittings with high backs took the place of the first long benches without backs .*
It was the custom of Puritan ministers to explain passages in the Bible as they read them to the people. Not to do so was to bring re- proach upon their calling, it being regarded as conforming to the old usages of the churches they had forsaken. Their desire was to make plain the word of God to all men. To read a chapter or psalm from the Bible without explanation was called dumb-reading.
The act of exhorting the people was called prophecy. Officers and private members of churches were called upon to prophesy. It was the * Palfrey, History of New England.
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custom when a neighboring clergyman officiated, after the singing of a psalm, for the ruling eller of the congregation to say : " If this present brother hath any word of exhortation, let him say on." And the ex- hortation was called prophecy.
Our forefathers believed in early infant baptism. They were not wholly able to shake off the customs of the religion in which they had been trained, consequently they were much more strict than the Con- gregationalists of the present day. Palfrey says: "Their children were baptized in the meeting-house but a few days after their birth, & some- times the very day following. If a child was born on the Sabbath it was baptized on that day." Great care was taken of the children of their slaves. The church records in Fairfield, Green's Farms and the neigh- boring towns offer many interesting proofs of the above statements.
During the communion service the fashion of sitting while receiving the elements was observed. This was thought to be the most fitting posture, and the idea seems to have originated from the custom of the Jews at the Passover feast, and because our Saviour is represented as sitting while he instituted the Sacrament. Another reason for this pos- ture was to do away with eucharistical adoration.
Of forms our ancestors had a real horror. A surplice was to them but the invention of the Evil One. The cross, which but reminds us of the sufferings of the Redeemer of the World, was allowed no place within or without their houses of worship, lest some ignorant soul break the second commandment by bowing down to it, and thus commit the sin of idolatry.
The Lord's Day, or Sabbath, was a day of great solemnity among our ancestors. Their Sabbath commenced at six o'clock on Saturday evening and continued until six o'clock on Sunday evening. The big oven in the kitchen was opened for an array of bread, meats, cakes and pies on Saturday morning to be baked, for no cooking was allowed on the Sabbath until the services of the day were over. A cold lunch was served in the place of a dinner. But upon their return home from the afternoon service they made up for any deficit in that respect by a boun- tiful hot supper. Those who came from Stratfield. Greenfield and Green's Farms, before those places were incorporated as separate parishes, rode to church on horseback, and carried their lunches in their saddle-bags. The children were taught their Sunday-school lessons on Saturday after- noon. The little ones used the short Assembly Catechism and the older
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children the long Westminster Assembly Catechism. They were also required to commit to memory one or more passages of scripture, be- sides a hymn or psalm, as well as to remember the texts on the Sabbath and learn them by heart after church was over.
One of the most pleasing recollections of their Sabbath was the noon gatherings in the summer of neighbors and friends who lived long dis- tances apart, under the shade trees of the Meeting-House Green, where in groups scattered here and there friendly greetings were exchanged and the repose of the Sabbath enjoyed until the roll of the drum called them into the church for the afternoon service. In the winter they gathered in the Sabbath Day house and in the houses of hospitable relatives and friends .*
The young men were not allowed to stand at the entrance of the meeting-house to comment on those who came to church, and to make public their want of reverence for the place and for those who entered within. The delinquent, who so far forgot the honor due to the house of God and to his betters, was ordered into church by the sentinels on duty, and if he forgot himself in church he was melted into propriety by the fixed gaze of the minister, the ruling elders and the deacons, as well as the constables, the grand jurors and tithing men, whose duty it was to watch for such offenders.
The effort made by the Church of England in the reign of Edward the Sixth to restore the simple ritual of her ancient church, which her bishops and clergy declared to St. Augustine in the fifth century they had received through Lyons from the Apostle St. John, was the first glimmer of light which preceded the Reformation in England. To re- store the old ritual, not to destroy, was the aim of those good men who sacrificed life and fortune in order to throw off the power and errors of the Church of Rome.
The name of Protestant, which originated at the diet of Spires in Germany, when a protest was raised against further innovations on the part of Rome until the convocation of an Ecumenical council could be
* Many comments in both religious and secular publications are made now-a-days about the solemnity of the Puritan Sabbath ; but the worldings of to-day, who know nothing of the peace and happiness of a New England Sabbath are incapable of forming any idea of the happiness of keeping a hallowed Lord's Day, with its sweet communion with God, nature and loved friends. It "hal- lowed all the week to come," and made life's burdens lighter. There was nothing lost in keeping God's commandment " Thou shalt keep the Sabbath Day holy," but a peace and joy was gained, which comes only in obeying this holy will .- AUTHOR.
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