USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Redding > The history of Redding, Conn., from its first settlement to the present time : with notes on the Adams, Banks Stow families > Part 6
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" BEDFORD, May 31st, 1779.
"The troops of Gen. Parson's Brigade to have two Days . .. per man from Capt. Townsend . . . refresh themselves, and be ready to march in two hours to Parade near the Meeting house."
" FISHKILL, June 2, 1779.
" Gen. Parsons orders that Com'sr Sturm deliver one gill of Rum per man, and two Days provision to the troops of his Brigade, this Day .- The Qr. mas- ter to make return for the same."
" HD. QUARTERS, HIGHLANDS, June 6, 1779.
" General McDougal Orders a Detachment of 150 Men Properly Officered from Gen. Parson's and Huntington's Brigades to parade at 12 o clock, with arms, ammunition, accouterments, Blankets and three days Provisions in front of Gen. Hn. Bd." (Huntington's Brigade).
"HD. QR. June. 7th, 1779.
" The Grand Parade in front of Gen. Hn. Bd. 100 men properly Officered from Hn. Bd. will parade for piquet at 3 o'clock for the future. The Relief will parade at 8 o'clock in the morning. No person will pass the piquet who cannot give a Good Ac'ct. of himself."
" The Signal of Alarm will be three cannon fired Distinctly by the Artillery in the front line."
The following orders show the route taken by the army in the fall of 1778 from the Highlands to Redding :
HISTORY OF REDDING.
" HEAD QUARTERS, FREDERICKSBURG, Oct. 16, 1778.
"To morrow being the Anniversary of the Sur- render of Gen'l Burgoynes and his Troops to the Arms of America under the Command of Major Gen'l Gates, it will be Commemorated by the firing of thirteen cannon from the Park of Artillery at 12 0 : Clock."
"HEAD QUARTERS, Oct. 22, 1778.
"Nixon's, Parson's and Huntington's Brigades are to march to morrow morning at 7 'o'clock from the Line under the command of Major Gen'l Mc- Dougall-Orders of March-Gen'l Nixon's Brigade leads, Huntington's follows, Parson's brings up the Rear, Commanding Officers of Corps will be an- swerable for the conduct of their men while on the March. Artillery to March in Centre of each Bri- gade-the Baggage of Gen'l Officers to March in Rear of the Troops, the other Baggage will march in the same order. Forage and Commissary Wag- gons in the rear of the Whole."
"NEW MILFORD, Nov. 5, 1778.
" The Honorable, the Continental Congress hav- ing on the 12th of October passed a Resolution to discourage prophaneness in the Army it is inserted in this Division for the information of Officers, and Gen. McDougall hopes for their aid and Counte- nance in Discouraging and Suppressing a Vice so Dis- honorable to human Nature, to the commission of which there is no Temptation enough."
" CAMP, NEW MILFORD, Oct. 26, 1778.
" His Excellency the Commander in Chief has Directed the troops to remain here till further or- ders -- and be in Readiness to March at the shortest Notice as Circumstances shall require. While the Division is Reposéd, two days bread will be on store Continually, Baked."
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IIISTORY OF REDDING.
These interesting extracts might fitly conclude the story of the army's encampment in Redding ; there are, however, some entries in the parish records, proving that amid the horrors of war sly Cupid found a chance to inflict his wounds, that are worthy of insertion. They are given as entered by the Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett :
"Feb. 7, 1779. I Joined together in marriage James Gibbins a soldier in the army and Ann Sul- livan."
" March 18th, 1779. I joined together in marriage John Lines, a soldier in the army, and Mary Hen- drick."
" March 30, 1779. I joined in marriage Daniel Evarts a soldier, and Mary Rowland."
" Apr. 15, 1779. I joined in marriage Isaac Olm- sted a soldier, and Mary Parsons."
" Apr. 28, 1779. I joined in marriage Jesse Belk- nap an artificer in the army, and Eunice Hall."
" May 4, 1779. I joined in marriage William Little, Steward to Gen. Parsons, and Phebe Mer- chant."
" May 23, 1779. I joined in marriage Giles Gilbert an artificer in the army, and Deborah Hall."
" March 9, 1780. I joined in marriage William Darrow a soldier, and Ruth Bartram."
In the month of June, 1781, Count de Rochambeau and the Duke de Lauzun marched a column of French troops across Connecticut and took post in Ridgefield, within supporting distance of Washing- ton's army on the Hudson.
They passed through Redding on the march, and encamped over night, it is said, on the old parade- ground.
Their supply-train numbered 810 wagons, most of
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them drawn by two yoke of oxen and a horse. The column attracted much attention as it moved with flashing arms and soldierly precision over the hills and through the valleys on its way to Ridgefield.
No complete list of the soldiers furnished by Redding to the Continental army can be prepared. The following names appear on the town list of Revolutionary pensioners : Colonel Asahel Salmons, Captain Zalmon Read, Captain John Davis, Joel Merchant, Ezra Bates, Calvin Jenkins, Ezra Hull, Stephen Batterson, Jacob Patchen, and Abraham Parsons ; and in the town records those whose families were aided were Nathan Coley, Stephen Meeker, Elias Bixby, Jeremiah Ryan, and Samuel Remong.
CHAPTER V.
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, 1729-1879.
THE Congregational church was the first religious body organized in the town. Deeply impressed as were our Puritan forefathers with the value of relig- ion to the soul, they were equally impressed with its value to the state, and were careful to rear, side by side with their civil structure, the church, in which, as they believed, the pure Gospel of Christ was preached, and the soundest principles of moral- ity inculcated. Proof of their pious care in this re- spect is to be found in the history of Redding, as in that of almost every New England town. As
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
early as August, 1729, but three months after they had wrung a reluctant consent from the mother town to assume parish privileges, we find them providing for the settlement of a minister among them in the following manner :
" At a Society Meeting held in the Society of Red- ding, Deacon George Hull chosen Moderator. It was voited that s'd Society would give for the settlement of a minister in s'd society the sum of seventy pounds, and a house, and his wood, and bring it up, and the next year eighty pounds, and raise five pounds a year till it comes to one hundred pounds a year. It was voted, that Edmond Luis, esquire, shall decide the matter as to seting the meeting hous, it was voited that s'd Mr. Luis should come the first week in October to decide the matter afore- s'd."
No minister was settled, however, until 1733 ; the first church edifice was erected early in 1732. It stood a few yards west of the present Methodist church, and nearly in the centre of the public square or common .* A photograph or rough sketch even, of this the first church in Redding, would be inval- uable to men of the present day : we are certain, however, that it was a much more elegant and fin- ished edifice than was common in the new settle- ments. It was two stories high, as we shall see, and of quite respectable dimensions. It was also lathed and plastered, and furnished with galleries, and win- dows of imported glass, but further details are lack- ing. All that is to be found in the church records
* The corner-stone of the old church may still be seen on the com- mon, a little south of a line drawn from Deacon Abbott's to the store lately occupied by Mr. Mandeville.
HISTORY OF REDDING.
concerning the building is contained in the follow- ing extracts :
November 12th, 1730 .- It was voted " that we will build a meting-hous in said society for the worship of God in the Presbyterian way. Voted that the me- ting-hous shall be thirty feet long, twenty eight feet wide, and two stories high, voted, that Lemuel San- ford, Thomas Williams, and Daniel Lion, (be) chosen committee for (building) s'd meting hous."
Feb. 23d, 1730-1 .- " You that are of the minds that all those persons that do, or hereafter may in- habit in this parish, which profess themselfs to be of the Church of England, shall have free liberty to come into this meting hous that is now in building, and attend the Publick worship of God there, ac- cording to the articles of faith agreed upon by the assembly of Divines at Seabrook, and established by the laws of this Government, and be seated in s'd hous according to their estats."
November 3d, 1732 .- " Stephen Burr hath under- taken to cart stones and clay for the underpinning the meting hous for 1 lb. 10s. 00d. Daniel Lion hath undertaken to underpin the meting hous and tend himself for 2 lbs. 4s. Od. Daniel Lion hath under- taken to get the lath and lay them on for 3 lbs. Os. Od. Stephen Burr and Theophilus Hull are chosen committee to take care of the parsonage" (probably to secure a parsonage for the expected preacher, as it is not likely that one was then built).
It was as yet, however, a church without a pastor. Mr. Elisha Kent had been called in October, 1730, but had declined, as we infer from the silence of the records on the subject. A Society meeting held May 8th, 1732, extended a similar call to the Rev. Timothy Mix, and deputed Deacon George Hull " to go to the association at Stanford to ask advice con-
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cerning the settlement of Mr. Mix ;" but this call, as in the case of Mr. Kent, seems to have been de- clined. At length a unanimous call was made to the Rev. Nathaniel Hun, as follows :
Jan. 31, 1732-3 .- " At a society meeting held in the parish (of) Reading, George Hull chosen Mode- rator for s'd meting, Mr. Nathaniel Hunn by a voit nemine contradicente was made chois of for the minister of s'd parish, furthermore it was voited at s'd meting to settle upon the s'd Mr. Hunn's yearly sallery as followeth, that is, for the first year of his administration, seventy pounds current money or bills of Public Credit in New England, the second year, seventy-five pounds, for the third year, eighty pounds, for the fourth year, eighty five pounds, the fifth year ninety pounds, the sixth year, ninety five pounds, the seventh year, a hundred pounds, all in currant money as afores'd, and so on a hundred pounds a year during the term of his continuance in the ministry in s'd parish, and also to give the s'd Mr. Hunn the whole and sole priviledge of all the parsonage land belonging to s'd parish, and to provide him his firewood, during the term aboves'd, also to find him a convenient dwelling hous for the first five years, also to give the s'd Mr. Hunn, a hundred acres of land on or before the day of his ordination."
Feb. 20th, 1732-3 .- " It was voited that the ordina- tion of Mr. Hunn shall be on the 21st day of March next," and John Read and George Hull were cho- sen a committee " to represent the parish concern- ing the ordination of Mr. Hunn." From this point we have for a guide the church records in the hand- writing of Mr. Hunn, its settled pastor. It is called " A Book of Records Wherein is an account, 1st of the transactions of the church, 2d of persons l'e-
-
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ceived to communion, 3rd of persons baptized, 4th of marriages, 5th of deaths, 6th of persons who re- new the covenant."
The Rev. Sidney G. Law, in his Centennial Ser- mon, delivered at Redding, July 6th, 1876, thus speaks of Mr. Hunn's pastorate :
" His first record is very brief for so important a matter, viz .: 'March 21st, 1733, I was separated to the work of the ministry by prayer and fasting, and the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery.' The next record gives the choice of deacons, viz .: 'At a church meeting March 29, 1733, we made choice of Stephen Burr for a deacon, and some time after we chose Theo. Hull to the same service. The next records relate to the adoption of Tate and Brady's version of the Psalms, first for one month, and then for the indefinite future. The first mem- bers of the church enumerated by Mr. Hun were as follows : Col. John Read and wife, Theophilus Hull and wife, George Hull and wife, Peter Burr and wife, Daniel Lion and wife, Daniel Bradley and wife, Stephen Burr and wife, Ebenezer Hull and wife, John Griffen, Nathaniel Sanford, Thomas Fair- child, Lemuel Sanford, Benjamin Lion and wife, Mary wife of Richard Lion, Isaac Hull, Esther wife of Thomas Williams, Esther wife of Benjamin Ham- ilton. Thus it appears that the church was organ- ized with twenty-six members, including the two deacons, about the time that Mr. Hun was ordained. viz., the 21st of March, 1733. Mr. Hunn married Ruth, a sister of Col. Read." He was pastor of the church sixteen years. During this time he received
She was a daughter of the Hon. John Read, who settled at Lons- town in 1714. Both Mr. Law and Mr. Barber are in error in suppos- ing that the original John Read lived and died in Redding. Here- moved to Boston in 1722, and his son John succeeded to his title, and to the manor at Lonetown. The latter is the one mentioned in these records.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
about ninety-two members into the church, the most of them by letter of recommendation from neighboring churches. He performed thirty-five marriages and one hundred and ninety-two bap- tisms. He died while on a journey, and was buried in Boston in 1749. His widow, Ruth Hunn, died in 1766, and was buried near her brother, Col. John Read, in the cemetery west of the parsonage."
Mr. Hunn's administration seems to have been a happy and prosperous one, and few events of im- portance occurred during its continuance. The rec- ords are taken up with cases of church discipline, with additions to his salary, providing his firewood, and with repairs to the meeting-house.
In 1738 it was voted " to finish glassing the met- ing hous, and to finish seating the meting hous as is begun, and do something to the pulpit." In 1739, " voted, that Sergt. Joseph Lee shall get Mr. Hun's wood, and have seven pounds for it." "Voted that the place for putting up warnings for society meet- ings be changed from Umpawaug to the mill door." In 1740, "voted to rectifie the meting hous in the following articles, viz. to put in new glass where it is wanting, and to mend the old. To lay some beams in the gallery and double floor. To fasten the meting hous doors ; to make stairs up the gal- lery ; to put a rail on the foreside of the gallery,"' and " that the place for parish meeting shall be at the school house, by the meting hous for the future." In 1741, " voted, to seat the meting hous in the lower part with plain strong seats." In 1742, " voted to impower the parish committee to agree with a person to beat the drum as a signal to
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
call the people together on the sabbath." Again Feb. 15, 1743-4, " It was voted that the timber and boards provided for seating the meeting house, shall be improved to that end for the use of the Parish." These entries though unimportant in themselves give us pleasant glimpses of the healthy and active life of the church. Mr. Hunn died in the summer or fall of 1749, and for the four following years the church was without a pastor. A call was extended to Mr. Solomon Mead in March, 1751, without suc- cess, and in November of the same year to the Rev. Izrahiah Wetmore, with a like result. The interim was improved by the people, however, in building a . new church, which stood nearly on the site of the present edifice.
The first action in this important matter was taken at a Society meeting held Feb. 9,1748, when it was put to vote " whether it be necessary to build a new meting hous in s'd Parish," and passed in the af- firmative ; whereupon " Left. Joseph Sanford" was appointed agent for the Society to prefer a memo- rial to the next General Assembly, "to affix the place whereon the meeting house should be built." The successive stages by which the building grew to completion are defined in a very interesting manner in the records." Dec. 29th, 1799, " It was voted that Deacon Burr and others be a committee to see that there is timber got, and sawmill logs for a meeting house in this Parish, s'd timber to be 37 ft in width and 46 ft in length." Jan. 17th, 1750, the County Court in session at Fairfield, on the memorial of Redding, appointed Thomas Benedict, Esq., and Capt. Josiah Starr, of Danbury, and Samuel 7
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
Olmsted, Esq., of Ridgefield, a committee to affix the place whereon the meeting-house should be built ; to act with these, the Society appointed a committee composed of John Read, Stephen Burr, Joseph Sanford and Ephraim Jackson. Jan. 29th, 1751, a committee was appointed "to agree with some persons to build the new meting hous." It would appear that ground had not been broken for it as early as April 25th, 1751, for at that date a committee was appointed to meet the County Court's committee " to find a place for the meeting house."
It was probably completed and ready for use early in the summer of 1752, as on the 22d of June of that year a call was extended to the Rev. Mr. Tammage to be their preacher, and the old meet- ing house was sold to Jehu Burr for £34. The manner in which this meeting-house was " seated" (which did not occur until 1763) is an interesting commentary on the manners and customs of the day, and has the further merit of novelty, it being doubtful if another record can be found in New England detailing so minutely the method of assign- ing pews in the early Puritan churches. We copy from the records of a Society meeting held at Widow Sanford's, June 23d, 1763 :
"Put to vote whether the meeting house of s'd society shall be seated in ye form following viz. a com'te being appointed to Dignify ye pews and other seats in s'd Meeting House the Respective members of s'd society shall sit in s'd pews and seats accord- ing to their Rank and Degree to be computed by their several lists and age, viz. upon ye two last years lists, and to allow three pound per year to be added to a person's List for his advancement in a
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
seat, and all at ye discresion of s'd com'te who shall be appointed to Dignify s'd pews and seats, and to inspect the Respective lists and ages of s'd mem- bers."
The committee appointed was Joseph Sanford, Ebenezer Couch, and Stephen Burr ; but Messrs. San- ford and Burr declining to act, Ephraim Jackson and Joseph Banks were chosen in their place." This committee was unable to settle the question satisfactorily, and a meeting was held August 11th, 1763, at which the following action was taken :
"It was put to vote whether the Dignity of ye pews and seats in ye meeting house should be in the following manner viz. ye pew adjoining ye pulpit stairs first in Dignity : ye Pew adjoining ye grait doors, west side, second in Dignity : the fore seat third in Dignity, the second pew west of ye pulpit. fourth, the second seat, fifth : the second pew north from the west door, sixth : the fifth pew north of ye west door seventh : the third pew north of the west door, eighth : the second pew west of ye grait doors ninth : the first pew south of ye west dcor, tenth : the third seat, eleventh : the second pew south of the west door twelfth : the fourth seat, thirteent !! the front seat in ye gallery, fourteenth : the fore seat on ye side of the gallery, fifteenth : the pews and seats upon ye east end of ye meeting house of Equal Dignity with those upon the west side in the same manner and order as they are above men- tioned. Passed in the negative."
Three months later another meeting was called, and adopted the following plan :
" The respective members of the society shall sit in ye pews and seats of the meeting house of s'd Society according to their rank or degree, to be com-
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
puted by their respective lists and ages, viz. upon the lists given in upon the years 1751 and 1761 and 1762, and to allow three pounds per year to be added to a person's list for his advancement in a seat or pew the Respective lists and ages of s'd members are to be inspected, also to give the committee chosen at this meeting power to seat those that are new comers, and have not . . in s'd society, to seat them at s'd committee's discresion.
" Likewise to seat ye Widows in s'd Society at the best of ye Committee's judgment, which method of seating s'd meeting house shall continue until s'd Society at their meeting shall order otherwise.
" Also voted that s'd com'te shall seat those women whose husbands belong to the Church of England at their discresion."
The Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett, the second pastor of the church, was ordained May 23d, 1753, the next year after the church was built. From the record in his own handwriting, we learn that the ministers who assisted at his ordination were as follows :
" The Rev. Mr. White of Danbury made the first prayer. The Rev. Mr. Todd of East Guilford preached the sermon. Rev. Mr. Kent made the ordaining prayer. Rev. Mr. Mills of Ripston gave the charge, Rev. Mr. Judson, of Newtown gave the right hand of fellowship, and Rev. Mr. Ingersoll of Ridgefield made the concluding prayer."
Mr. Bartlett came to Redding when a young man fresh from his collegiate studies, and continued pas- tor of the church over which he was ordained for fifty-seven years-the longest pastorate, it is said, known to the New England churches. He is de- scribed as a gentleman of the old school, kind and considerate, of an equable temper, a just man, a fine
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
scholar, and an eloquent preacher. During his term of service the crude settlement in the wilderness assumed the dignity of a town. The church grew from infancy to manhood and the country passed from the position of dependent colonies to that of free and sovereign states. In the War of Independ- ence Mr. Bartlett's sympathies were entirely with the patriot cause ; two of his sons entered the army, munitions of war were stored in his house, and he himself frequently officiated as chaplain during the encampment of Putnam's division in the town in the winter of 1779. Like many of the New England clergymen of that day, he was the teacher of such youths in his charge as might desire a liberal educa- tion, and among the many whom he thus fitted for usefulness was the celebrated poet and statesman, Joel Barlow. Mr. Bartlett died Jan. 11, 1810, and was buried in the old cemetery west of the church. The simple inscription upon his tombstone reads as follows :
THE REV. NATHANIEL BARTLETT. Died, January 11, 1810, aged 83 years.
"I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."-JESUS CHRIST.
During the entire period of Mr. Bartlett's ministry we have in the church records but one entry of im- portance, and that is of interest as marking the or- ganization of the Episcopal Society in the town. This entry is as follows :
"To Seth S. Smith of Redding, in Fairfield Co. Greeting, Whereas by law the Episcopal Church in said Redding is become a distinct society whereby
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the members of the Presbyterian church in said Red- ding have become the first society in said town. These are therefore by authority of the State of Con- necticut to command you to warn and give notice to all the members of said first society, and all others who by law are obliged to contribute toward the support, and the worship, and the ministry with the same, to meet at the meeting house in said Redding on Monday the 20th of December at 12 in order to choose a moderator and necessary officers.
" REDDING, December 14, 1785."
The Rev. Jonathan Bartlett, third minister of the church, was ordained as colleague with his father, Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett, in 1796. The first of the church records in his handwriting is as follows :
"Feb. 3, 1796. I was separated to the work of the ministry and ordained as colleague with my father Nathaniel Bartlett over the Congregational church in Redding in Gospel order and form. The minis- ters who performed the work were as follows viz. the Rev. Israhiel Wetmore chosen Moderator, Rob- ert Ross made the ordaining prayer, Elisha Rexford made the introductory prayer, David Ely preached the sermon. Imposition of hands by N. Bartlett, R. Ross and Rexford. John Ely gave the right hand of fellowship, Samuel W. Stebbins made the concluding prayer."
Of the life and ministry of this most excellent man, one who knew him intimately, the Rev. Thomas F. Davies, thus wrote :
"In February, 1796, Mr. Bartlett was ordained colleague with his father, and after a faithful minis- try of thirteen years, greatly esteemed and beloved by his people, was dismissed on account of ill-health, and by his own request. His heart was gladdened
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IIISTORY OF REDDING.
near the close of his pastoral life by a powerful and general revival of religion among the people of his charge. After his dismission, and when his health had been in a degree restored, he preached from time to time to destitute congregations in the vicin- ity, and at different periods, as occasion required, to the church of which he had been pastor, with great acceptation and usefulness. As a preacher he was eminently distinguished, for he was a man 'mighty in the Scriptures.' Large portions of the Word of God, entire epistles even, dwelling in his memory, and when an impaired vision rendered the perusal of a book difficult or painful, he reviewed in his own mind, and often rehearsed to others, portions of the Scriptures with comments which rendered his society delightful and instructive. He was a man of native eloquence, and great skill in the examination and exhibition of the subjects which came before him. He was a scribe, 'well instructed in the things of the kingdom, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.' While aiding other societies, he was eminently a ben- efactor to the church and society of which he had been a pastor, for in addition to the ministerial ser- vices gratuitously rendered, he gave in money in his various benefactions more to the society than the entire amount received from it during the whole period of his ministry, and has also left it a legacy of three thousand dollars. Useful, honored, and be- loved he lived in his native town, inhabiting for nearly a century the same residence. for he was born in the house in which he died. With a calm and humble trust in God, in the entire possession of his mental powers, and with little apparent suffering, he fell asleep in Jesus."
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