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 9
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their native forest. A gallery extended around three sides. At the extreme end of the left gallery was a small room partitioned off for class meetings. The pulpit was elevated about six feet above the floor, and in form resembled a large dry goods box, the breastworks so high as almost to conceal the preacher if small of stature from view. From the pulpit extended a staircase conducting to the class- room in the gallery, to which the preacher and the members repaired at the close of the public ser- vices."*
None of the incidents in the history of the old church are so vividly remembered and described as the quarterly meetings which were held there. The quarterly meeting to the early Methodist was the most important of all the institutions of the church, and those held in Redding were especially note- worthy ; it was a sort of home-coming to the mother church, and at such times all the Methodist homes in town were open to the brethren from abroad. The presiding elder and the two preachers on the "Cir- cuit"' were always present on these occasions, and the membership was gathered from Danbury, Ridge- field, Easton, and Newtown, as well as from places more remote. The exercises on these occasions be- gan at 9 o'clock on Sabbath morning with the "love- feast"' and the passing of bread and water, of which all partook, as a token of their brotherhood in Christ. At 10.30 a sermon was preached by the elder. At 12 M. the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administered. At 1 p.M. another sermon was preached, generally by one of the preachers in
* Sermon of Rev. J. L. Gilder, before the N. Y. East Conference.
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charge. At the conclusion of this discourse the genial elder would proceed to designate to the guests their respective places of entertainment. The day was usually concluded by a series of prayer- meetings held in the different districts, and con- ducted with great warmth and fervor.
The old church seems to have been intended for a temporary structure, and was succeeded in 1837 by the present neat and commodious edifice. A brief account of the erection of the present building will be interesting and probably new to many, though little more than forty years have elapsed since its timbers were standing in the forest.
We find on the society records the following en- tries :
" The members of the Methodist Episcopal Society of Redding are hereby notified and warned, that a society's meeting for said society will be held on Tuesday the 26th day of instant January at one o'clock P.M. at the Methodist Church in said Red- ding for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of building a new church in said society, and locating the same near the intersection of the roads near the Town House, appointing a building committee to superintend and carry said object into effect, make arrangements to dispose of the old house if thought proper, and to do any other business proper to be done at said meeting.
" SHERLOCK TODD, JESSE BANKS, 1 Trustees. AARON MALLETT, 1
"REDDING, Jan. 20, 1836."
A society meeting was held at the appointed time-Rev. H. Humphreys being chairman, and
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Thomas B. Fanton clerk. It was then voted "To approve of the proposed plan in the caption of the subscription paper to raise subscriptions and build a new house.
It was also further provided "that the said House shall be located somewhere near the four cor- ners that intersect at Redding Town House, But the said object not to take effect, unless the sum of Two thousand Five hundred Dollars be subscribed, and the said House be built within eighteen months from the date hereof."
Voted : " To build a House agreeable to the above `caption, provided a place be obtained that is approved by the committee appointed for that purpose."
Voted : "To appoint a Building Committee of three persons to superintend, and take charge, and contract for the same House, viz. : Thomas B. Fan- ton, John R. Hill, and Gershom Sherwood."
Voted : "To add two more to the building Com- mittee-Jesse Banks and David Duncomb."
Voted : "To adjourn the meeting two weeks from this day at one P.M."
THOMAS B. FANTON, Clerk.
No account of the adjourned meeting is to be found in the society records. The twenty-five hun- dred dollars needed was speedily subscribed, and the building was erected in the summer of 1837 and ded- icated in December of the same year, Rev. C. K. True preaching the dedication sermon.
In 1868, during the pastorate of Rev. William T. Hill, the church was thoroughly remodelled and re- furnished. The pulpit was cut down, and the an- tique pews exchanged for the present neat and com- fortable ones. The rededication service at this time
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
was perhaps the most interesting occasion in the his- tory of the church. Bishop Janes was present, and preached the dedication sermon to an audience that filled every nook and corner of the building, and many old pastors and friends of the church added by their presence to the interest of the occasion.
In September, 1870, Rev. Aaron Sanford Hill gave to the church some ten acres of land lying in the. northerly part of the town, the income from which was to be appropriated to the use of the church. This gift Mr. Sanford supplemented by another of $4000 in 1871, of which the interest only was to be used in meeting the expenses of the church. This . fund is known as the Sanford Hill Fund. In 1877 another benefaction of $500 was given by William A. Sanford, Esq., to be applied in the same manner as the preceding.
Revivals in the church have been frequent, and attended with gratifying results : notably in 1815 under the preaching of Rev. Reuben Harris, in 1822 during the pastorate of Aaron Hunt, in 1838 under that of Rev. John Crawford, in 1855 under Rev. E. S. Hebbard, and in 1867 under Rev. Wil- liam T. Hill.
According to the minutes of the Annual Confer- ences the following ministers were appointed to Fairfield Circuit (which included Redding), begin- ning with its organization in 1790 :
1790 John Bloodgood.
1791 Nathaniel B. Mills, Aaron Hunt.
1792 Joshua Taylor, Smith Weeks.
1793 James Coleman, Aaron Hunt.
1794 Zebulon Kankey, Nicholas Snethen.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
Those appointed to Redding Circuit were :
1795 Daniel Dennis, Timothy Dewey.
1796 Elijah Woolsey, Robert Leeds.
1797 David Buck, Augustus Jocelyn.
1798 William Thatcher.
1799 David Brown.
1800 Augustus Jocelyn.
1801 Samuel Merwin, Isaac Candee.
1802 James Coleman, Isaac Candee.
1803 James Campbell, N. U. Tompkins.
1804 Peter Moriarty, Sylvester Foster.
1805 Peter Moriarty, Samuel Merwin.
1806 Nathan Felch, Oliver Sykes.
1807 James M. Smith, Zalmon Lyon.
1808 Noble W. Thomas, Jonathan Lyon.
1809 Billy Hibbard, Isaac Candee.
1810 Nathan Emory, John Russell.
1811 Aaron Hunt, Oliver Sykes, and John Rey- nolds.
1812 Seth Crowel, Gilbert Lyon, S. Beach.
1813 Aaron Hunt, Henry Eames.
1814 Ebenezer Washburne, Reuben Harris.
1815 Elijah Woolsey, Reuben Harris.
1816 Samuel Bushnell, John Boyd.
1817 Samuel Bushnell, Theodocius Clarke.
1818 James M. Smith, Theodocius Clarke. 1819 J. S. Smith, Phineas Cook.
1820 Laban Clark, Phineas Cook.
1821 . Laban Clark, Aaron Hunt.
1822 Samuel Cochrane, Aaron Hunt.
1823 Samuel Cochrane, John Reynolds.
1824 Elijah Woolsey, John Reynolds.
To Redding and Bridgeport Circuit :
1825 Marvin Richardson, H. Humphreys, Frederic W. Siger. 1826 Marvin Richardson, H. Humphreys. 1827 Henry Stead, John Lovejoy, J. C. Bontecue.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
To Redding Circuit :
1828 Henry Stead, Gershom Pearce.
1829 Ebenezer Washburn, Gershom Pearce.
1830 Ebenezer Washburn, Oliver V. Ammerman. 1831 James Young, Josiah Bowen.
1832 Nicholas White, Jesse Hunt.
1833 Jesse Hunt, John B. Beach.
1834 Josiah Bowen, John B. Beach.
To Redding and Newtown Circuit :
1835 Humphrey Humphries, Josiah L. Dickerson, John Davies. 1836 Humphrey Humphries.
March 28th, 1837, the society, "after due delib- eration, existing circumstances being considered, voted to try a station the ensuing year ;" which was accordingly done, and the Rev. Humphrey Humph- ries became the first stated pastor.
Since then the church has enjoyed the undivided care of its pastors, and has been generally prosper- ous and aggressive.
The list of pastors since 1837 comprises many well- known names and will be read with interest. They are as follows :
1838 John Crawford, 2d; Morris Hill.
1839-40 Paul R. Brown.
1841-2 Daniel Smith.
1843 Phillip L. Hovt.
1844-5 William F. Collins.
1846-7 Joseph D. Marshall.
1848-9 Jacob Shaw.
1850-1 John L. Gilder.
1852-3 Friend W. Smith.
1854-5 E. S. Hibbard.
1856-7 Hart F. Pease.
.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
1858
George C. Crevey.
1859 William H. Gilder.
1860-1 John W. Horne.
1862-3 George Hollis.
1864-6 David Nash.
1867-8
William T. Hill.
1869 Alexander Graham.
1870-2
Theodore C. Beach.
1873
William R. Webster.
1874-6 Joseph Smith.
1877-8 John Dickinson.
1879 John Haugh.
Of the above list, but one, Rev. Jacob Shaw, died and was buried in Redding. Of the laymen who nobly aided these clergymen in their ministry many will be held in grateful remembrance by the church.
The names most familiar to the early membership perhaps were those of the lay preachers, Aaron San- ford, Hawley Sanford, Rory Starr, and Walter San- ford ; the class leaders, John R. Hill, Abraham Couch, Urrai Meade, Sherlock Todd, and Bradley Burr ; and the official members, Thomas B. Fanton, David S. Duncomb, Aaron Sanford, Jr., Charles Gorham, Eben Treadwell, and John Edmonds.
The present membership of the church is 149. Males, 57 ; females, 92.
II.
THIE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHI AT LONG RIDGE.
The origin of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Long Ridge, as narrated by Rev. Paul R. Brown, pastor of the church in 1842, was as follows :
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IIISTORY OF REDDING.
" One evening as Father Coleman (a Methodist preacher) was passing through Starr's Plain, on his way to Danbury, he saw a man sitting on the fence by the wayside, and inquired the distance to town. The man told him, and added : 'Are you a Doctor ?' 'No, sir.' 'Are you a Lawyer ?' 'No, sir.' 'Then,' said the man, following up the question, 'what are you ?' Father Coleman answered, 'I am a Meth- odist preacher.' 'Methodist preacher ! What's that ?' replied. the man. 'If you will open your house, and invite in your neighbors, I will let you hear a Methodist preacher, the next time I come this way,' was the reply. The offer was accepted, and Father Coleman preached to them on his next visit ; ; he soon organized a class, and among the members of that class was the man who sat upon the fence and questioned the preacher. After that the class grew into a society, and in due time a small church was built in Long Ridge, which gave way to a larger edifice, in the course of a few years."
The first church was built when the society con- sisted of but eleven members, under the following circumstances. They were assembled for the weekly class-meeting at the house of one of their number, and were speaking of their need of a church, when Uriah Griffin remarked, that if he had a hundred dollars in hand he would build them a church. David Osborne, the youngest member pres- ent, at once agreed to furnish the required sum, and the church was built the same year. This was in 1820-1, during the pastorate of Rev. Laban Clark. The little society at once became connected with Redding Station as an auxiliary, the preacher in charge there having the careof its temporal con- cerns, and filling its pulpit once in four weeks. In
12:
HISTORY OF REDDING.
the interim the pulpit was supplied by the lay preachers, Aaron Sanford, Morris Hill, Aaron, S. Hill, of Redding, Rory Starr, of Danbury, and others. The society's connection with Redding ceased in 1848, and the same relation was formed with the church in Bethel. For several years past it has been a separate station. The pastors of the church from 1820 to 1848 were the same as those of Redding, and are given in the history of the Red- ding Church. The pastors since 1848 have been as follows :
1848-9 Morris Hill.
1850 Elias Gilbert.
1851-2 Charles Bartlett.
1853-4 George Stillman.
1855-6 Samuel H. Smith.
1857-8 John Crawford.
1859 David Osborn.
1860-1 Sherman D. Barnes, local preacher.
1862-3 Elias Gilbert.
1864 William H. Adams.
1865 J. W. Bramblee.
1866-7 G. W. Polley, local.
1868 Stephen J. Stebbins.
1869
James H. Crofut, local.
1870
Frank F. Jorden, local.
1871
William P. Armstrong, local.
1872 Frank F. Jorden, local.
1873 Joseph W. Pattison, local.
1874-5 William Cogswell, local.
1876 Joseph W. Pattison, local.
1877-8 Charles A. Wilson, local.
1879 Henry A. Van Dalsem.
The membership at present is sixty .*
" The present church edifice is situated in Danbury, a few yards from the Redding line, but as the church was so long identified with Redding, it was thought proper to preserve its history here.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
III.
A few yards from Redding Station, on the banks of the Saugatuck River, is situated the old camp- ground, noted for being the place where the first camp-meeting of the Methodists in New England was held. Just when this event occurred we are un- able to state, but it was about 1810, probably under the leadership of Nathan Bangs. The tents of this first assemblage were of the most primitive kind, many of them being constructed of the branches of trees, and others of blankets stretched over a frame- work of poles. Meetings continued to be held in this grove every year for over sixty years.
About 1860, owing to some difficulty in leasing the grounds, and from other causes, the meetings here were discontinued, and another camp-ground opened at Milford, Conn., on the line of the Naug- atuck Railroad.
This grove was, however, soon abandoned, never having been popular with the Methodist public. In 1878, after the lapse of nearly twenty years, the old camp-ground at Redding was reopened, and that year a very successful and well-attended meeting was held there.
It was supposed, then, that the grove would be purchased and continue to be used for camp-meet- ing purposes, but this desirable consummation was not effected.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH IN GEORGETOWN (NOW EX- TINCT).
THAT there was a society of Baptists in Redding as early as 1785, appears from an entry in the rec- ords of the First Society, dated December 9th, 1785, wherein Michael Wood has a certificate given him by John Lee, Deacon, as a member of the Baptist church in Redding.
Similar certificates were given to John Couch, Micayah Starr, and Jabez Wakeman ; but we have no evidence of the existence of a church here until 1833. On the 28th of January of that year an eccle- siastical council was held at the house of Timothy Wakeman, in Redding, and a church formally organ- ized. The record of the proceedings of this meeting constitutes the first entry in the Church Book of Records, and is as follows :
" Chose Elder Thomas Lascombe Moderator, and Elder Nathan Wildman, Clerk. Invited Brethren present to a seat with the Council. Proceeded to hear the Articles and Covenant, also reasons why they wished to be constituted into a Church. The Council unanimously voted to proceed to the con- stitution. Repaired to the meeting house. Intro- ductory prayer and sermon by Elder Nathan Wild- man. Right hand of fellowship in behalf of the Council, and closing prayer by Elder Thomas Las- combe. "NATHAN WILDMAN, Clerk."
There were but 18 original members-4 males and 14 females. For some years there was no settled pas-
10
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tor, and the pulpit was supplied alternately, once in four weeks, by Elders S. Ambler, of Danbury, and Stephen B. Bray, a licentiate from Southbury, Conn. Elders N. Wildman, of Weston ; Erastus Doty, of Colebrook, Conn., and Chandler Curtis also preached occasionally. June 3d, 1837, the church extended a unanimous call to Rev. William Bowen, of Mansfield, Conn., which was accepted, and he be- came the first pastor of the church. He continued to sustain this relation to the church until Novem- ber, 1838, when he was dismissed, owing to the ina- bility of the society to meet his salary. The same month the church edifice was nearly destroyed by mob violence-the only instance of the kind that ever occurred in this staid and conservative town.
It was 1838, the period of the slavery excitement, when abolitionist and pro-slavery man engaged in almost daily conflict, and men thought to stifle with shot-gun and bludgeon the first faint stirrings of the national conscience. A few pithy entries in the church records thus refer to the affair :
"Nov. 26th. Rev. Nathaniel Colver lectured on slavery in our meeting house-was disturbed by un- ruly persons."
"27th. Another lecture on Slavery molested as night before."
28th. Meeting house blown up by a mob, but not entirely destroyed."
This is all the information the church records give us on the subject, but from the files of the Nor- walk Gazette for that year we glean a full account of the affair. This article is interesting, as showing
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the manner in which even the Whigs handled the question of slavery at that time.
"HIGH-HANDED OUTRAGE .- We learn that Judge Lynch has been exercising his summary proceedings in this vicinity within the week past. Colver, the abolitionist lecturer, has been holding forth, as we understand, for a number of evenings, on the subject of immediate emancipation, in the Baptist church in Redding, and in the course of his lectures had taken occasion to exhibit before his audience the practi- cal amalgamationism of the Vice-President of the United States, the Hon. Richard M. Johnson. We are informed that he accused this distinguished per- sonage of making merchandise of the offspring of his own loins, of selling his own sons and daughters into slavery. This so enraged some of his political partisans, that they determined to abolish the walls which had echoed the nefarious libel upon 'Dick, the Tecumseh Killer.' So, after the lecture was con- cluded, a keg of gunpowder was deposited under the church which had been profaned by these abo- lition orgies-and about two o'clock on the morning of the 29th ult. the church was blown 'sky-high,' as John Randolph used to say. It was a small build- ing of one story, and not worth more than $500. But notwithstanding the provocation, and notwith- standing the comparatively trifling amount of damage occasioned by this wanton outrage, we most sin- cerely deprecate the prevalence of a spirit which does violence to the dearest rights of every freeman in the land-the freedom of speech and of opinion. We are no apologists for the intemperate and fanatic zeal of the abolitionists ; but we deem it the duty of every press in the land to cry out against such violations of the Constitution and laws. And though we would denounce in the severest terms the exas- perating conduct of the abolitionists, we would at the same time do our utmost to bring the trespassers
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
upon the rights which the Constitution guarantees to every citizen and the violators of the public peace, to condign punishment."*
This action of the mob, with the dissensions en- gendered by it, proved a sad blow to the church, and from which it never fully recovered, although it con- tinued in existence for several years. Elder John HE. Waterbury served the church as pastor for some months in 1839, and was succeeded in 1841 by Elder John Noyes, of North Haven.
Mr. Noyes' letter of dismission from the Baptist church in North Haven is as follows :
"' The Baptist Church in North Haven to the Baptist Church in Reading.
" DEAR BRETHREN, This certifies that Rev. John Noyes and his wife Ann are members of this church in good standing, and as such we commend them to your Christian affection and fellowship. We have voted that when they are received by you, we shall consider their connection with us dissolved.
" In behalf of the church in North Haven.
"M. F. ROBINSON, Clerk. " May 1, 1841."
April 2d, 1842, Mr. Noyes was dismissed to Phil- lipstown, N. Y. Rev. George Crocker, of Danbury, supplied the pulpit for the succeeding twelve
* A resident of Georgetown at the time gives the following addi- tional particulars : About two o'clock on the morning following Mr. Colver's lecture, the inhabitants of Georgetown were startled by a tremendous report and rumbling noise, which jarred the houses and broke the windows in the immediate neighborhood. In the morn- ing, this unusual disturbance was found to have been caused by the explosion of a keg of powder which had been placed directly under the pulpit, a portion of the underpinning of the church having been removed for that purpose. The pulpit was demolished, the front of the building displaced several feet, the windows broken out, and the walls destroyed.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
months. Elder David Pease was the next preacher, he being called February 11th, 1844. His connection with the church was short and uneventful. There is no record of any other preacher being called ; in fact, the society was becoming too weak to support an organization, and shortly after, in October, 1847, was dissolved by the unanimous vote of its mem- bers.
CHAPTER IX.
THE METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH IN GEORGE- TOWN (NOW THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH).
THIE Methodist Protestant Church in Georgetown had its origin in a small schism in the Methodist Episcopal Church, commencing about 1818, in the New York Conference.
Among the ministers who seceded from the church at this time was the Rev. William M. Stillwell, who, in 1820, organized a small class of persons in George- town, sharers in his peculiar ideas of church polity, but who still retained the name of Methodist, though called by their opponents Stillwellites. In 1829 a convention was held and adopted the name of Meth- odist Protestant, and in 1839 the church at George- town was formally organized as the Methodist Prot- estant Church and Society, of Wilton Circuit. The first members of the class, so far as can be ascer- tained, were Ebenezer Hill, Banks Sherwood, David Nichols, Isaac Osborne, and Benjamin Gilbert and wife. The first minister was Rev. William M. Still-
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well. The first entry in the church records is as fol- lows :
" The first Methodist Protestant church in Red- ding was organized in the year of our Lord 1839, on the 15th of the 9th month, at a regular warned meet- ing held at the house of Sturges Bennett. The fol- lowing officers were chosen. David Nichols chair- man, John O. St. John, secretary. John O. St. John was duly elected clerk of said society, and the oath was administered by Walker Bates, Esq. John O. St. John was also elected Treasurer of said so- ciety."
Aaron Osborne was the first sexton. (He was to open the church thirty minutes before service, sweep the house, make the fires, and attend to the lights, for a yearly salary of $6.00.)
The present house of worship had been built in 1839, prior to the organization of the church, by John O. St. John and Charles Scribner. For a nun- ber of years the church records show only the ordi- nary routine of business. In 1851, March 10th, a society's meeting passed the following resolutions :
" Resolved, 1st : That we take into consideration the amount of Damage sustained by the society, by the Danbury and Norwalk R. R. crossing the so- ciety's grounds near this house of worship. 2nd : That the assessment of damages by crossing the so- ciety's grounds be left to three men-one chosen by the trustees, one by the Rail Road contractors, and those two to choose a third. 3rd : That the trustees be instructed to hold the contractors or Rail Road Company responsible for all damage to the society's house of worship."
To these resolutions a meeting held December 27th, 1851, added the following :
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
" Resolved, by vote of this meeting that the so- ciety's committee be authorized to give by deed to the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad Company a right of way across said Society's ground, for the consideration of one hundred and fifty Dollars." At a meeting held February 19th, 1853: " On motion S. M. Main and Hiram St. John, were appointed a committee to circulate a subscription to raise money to build a parsonage house." A meeting held No- vember 17th, 1853, voted : " that the society's com- mittee be authorized to circulate a subscription paper, to raise money to the amount of six hundred dollars for the purpose of purchasing Mr. Weed's house for a parsonage ; and at a subsequent meeting held November 26th, the committee were authorized to purchase Mr. Weed's house so soon as six hun- dred dollars is pledged for that purpose." It was also voted that the "horse sheds be located 40 feet south of the butternut tree in the yard, provided the ground can be obtained for one dollar."
At a meeting held December 7th, 1867, Messrs. John R. Sturges, J. O. St. John, and Sturges Ben- nett were appointed a committee to ascertain the de- nominational preferences of all the members of the church, "with a view to a change of name to that of Congregational, or that of letting it be the Method- ist Protestant Meeting."
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