USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Redding > The history of Redding, Connecticut : from its first settlement to the present time > Part 13
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We find on the society records the following entries :
"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.
*Sermon of Rev. J. L. Gilder, before the N. Y. East Conference.
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at the Methodist Church in said Redding 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, AARON MALLETT,
Trustees. "REDDING, Jan. 20, 1836."
A society meeting was held at the appointed time-Rev. H. Hum- phreys being chairman, and 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 corners 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 super- intend, and take charge, and contract for the same House, viz .: Thomas B. Fanton, John R. Hill, and Gershom Sherwood."
Voted: "To add two more to the building Committee-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 hundred dollars needed were speedily sub- scribed, and the building was erected in the summer of 1837 and dedi- cated in December of the same year, Rev. C. K. True preaching the ded- ication sermon.
In 1868, during the pastorate of Rev. William T. Hill, the church was thoroughly remodelled and refurnished. The pulpit was cut down, and the antique pew. exchanged for the present neat and comfortable ones. The rededication . ervice at this time was perhaps the most interesting occasion in the history of the church. Bishop Janes was present, and
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
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 $4,000 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 gratify- ing 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. William T. Hill.
According to the minutes of the Annual Conferences the following ministers were appointed to Fairfield Circuit (which included Redding), beginning 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.
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.
180I 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.
18IO Nathan Emory, John Russell.
18II Aaron Hunt, Oliver Sykes, and John Reynolds.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
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.
To Redding Circuit :
1828 Henry Stead, Gershom Pearce.
I829 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 deliberation, existing cir- cumstances being considered, voted to try a station the ensuing year"; which was accordingly done, and the Rev. Humphrey Humphries be- came the first stated pastor.
Since then the church has enjoyed the undivided care of its pastors, and has been generally prosperous 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.
1839-1840 Paul R. Brown. 1841-1842 Daniel Smith.
1843 Phillip L. Hoyt.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
1844-1845 William F. Collins.
1846-1847
Joseph D. Marshall.
1848-1849 Jacob Shaw.
1850-1851 John L. Gilder.
1852-1853 Friend W. Smith.
1854-1855 E. S. Hibbard.
1856-1857
Hart F. Pease.
1858-1859
George C. Creevy.
1859-1860
Wm. H. Gilder.
1860-1862
J. W. Horne.
$
1862-1864
George Hollis.
1864-1867
David Nash.
1867-1870
Wm. T. Hill.
1870-1872
T. C. Beach.
1872-1874
W. R. Webster.
1874-1877
Joseph Smith.
1877-1879
John Dickinson.
1879-1881
J. S. Haugh.
1881-1884
J. O. Munson.
1884-1885
Henry Aston.
1885-1888
L. P. Perry.
1888-1889
Nelson L. Porter.
1889-1892
David Taylor.
1892-1894
E. L. Bray.
1894-1899
B. C. Pilsbury.
1899-190I
F. M. Moody.
1901-1903 G. A. Veits.
1903-1905 Jabez Scott.
1905-1907
H. Q. Judd.
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 Sanford, Hawley Sanford, Rory Starr and Wal- ter Sanford; the class leaders: John R. Hill, Abraham Couch, Urrai Mead, 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 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT LONG RIDGE.
The origin of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Long Ridge, as narrated by the Rev. Paul R. Brown, pastor of the church in 1842, was as follows :
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
"One evening as Father Coleman (a Methodist preacher) was pass- ing 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 ques- tion, "What are you"? Father Coleman answered, "I am a Methodist 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 at Long Ridge, which gave way to a larger edifice in the course of a few years."
The first church was built when the society consisted 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 on speaking of their need of a church, Uriah Griffin remarked that if he had a hundred dollars in hand he would build them a church. David Osborne, the youngest member present, at once agreed to furnish the re- quired sum, and the church was built the same year. This was in 1820-I, during the pastorate of the Rev. Laban Clark. The little society at once became connected with Redding Station as an auxiliary, the preacher in charge there having the care of its temporal concerns, and filling its pul- pit once in four weeks .* In 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 Red- ding 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 Red- ding, and are given in the history of the Redding Church. The pastors since 1848 have been as follows :
1848-1849 Morris Hill. 1850 Elias Gilbert.
1851-1852
Charles Bartlett.
1853-1854 George Stillman.
1855-1856 Samuel H. Smith.
1857-1858 John Crawford.
*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.
1859
David Osborn.
1860-1861 Sherman D. Barnes, local preacher.
1862-1863
Elias Gilbert.
1864 1865
J. W. Bramblee.
1866-1867
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 J. Jorden, local.
1873 1874-1875 1876
Joseph W. Pattison, local. William Cogswell, local.
Joseph W. Pattison, local.
1877-1878
Charles A. Wilson, local.
1879-1881
Henry A. Van Dalsem.
1881-1882
George W. Peterson.
1882-1883 1883-1884 1888
Henry Wheeler.
Joseph D. Munson.
Nelson L. Porter.
1894-1896
Robert J. Beach.
1896-1897
F. H. Sawyer.
1897-1898
George W. Osmun.
1898-1901
D. Carl Yoder.
1901-1903
A. J. Amery.
1903-1904 John L. Clymer.
1904-1905 William S. Reed.
1905-1906 Floyd W. Foster.
1906 John W. Mace.
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 unable 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 Naugatuck Railroad.
William H. Adams.
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
This grove was, however, soon abandoned, never having been popu- lar 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 con- tinue to be used for camp-meeting purposes, but this desirable consumma- tion was not effected.
CHAPTER XII. The Baptist Church in Georgetown (now extinct.)
THAT there was a society of Baptists in Redding as early as 1785, appears from an entry in the records of the First Society, dated Decem- ber 9th, 1785, where 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 ecclesiastical council was held at the house of Timothy Wakeman, in Redding, and a church formally organized. The record of the proceedings of this meet- ing constitutes the first entry in the Church Book of Records, and is as follows :
"Chose Elder Thomas Lascombe Moderator, and Elder Nathan Wild- man, Clerk. Invited Brethren present to a seat with the Council. Pro- ceeded 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 constitution. Repaired to the meeting house. Intro- ductory prayer and sermon by Elder Nathan Wildman. Right hand of fellowship in behalf of the Council, and closing prayer by Elder Thomas Lascombe.
"NATHAN WILDMAN, Clerk."
There were but 18 original members-4 males and 14 females. For some years there was no settled pastor, and the pulpit was supplied al- ternately, once in four weeks, by Elders S. Ambler, of Danbury, and Stephen B. Bray, a licentiate from Southbury, Conn. Elders N. Wild- man, of Weston ; Erastus Doty, of Colebrook, Conn., and Chandler Cur- tis also preached occasionally. June 3d, 1837, the church extended a unanimous call to Rev. William Bowen, of Mansfield, Conn., which was accepted, and he became the first pastor of the church. He continued
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
to sustain this relation to the church until November, 1838, when he was dismissed, owing to the inability 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 con- servative town.
It was 1838, the period of the slavery excitement, when abolitionist and pro-slavery men engaged in almost daily conflict, and men thought to stifle with shot-gun and bludgeon the first faint stirrings of the na- tional 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 unruly persons."
"27th. Another lecture on Slavery molested as night before."
"28th. Meeting house blown up by a mob, but not entirely destroy- ed."
This is all the information the church records give us on the subject, but from the files of the Norwalk Gazette for that year we glean a full account of the affair. This article is interesting, as showing the man- ner in which even the Whigs handled the question of slavery at that time.
"HIGH-HANDED OUTRAGE .- We learn that Judge Lynch has been ex- ercising 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 practical amalgamationism of the Vice-President of the United States, the Hon. Richard M. Johnson. We are informed that he accused this distinguished personage of mak- ing 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 concluded, a keg of gunpowder was deposited under the church which had been profaned by these abolition 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 building of one story, and not worth more than $500. But notwithstanding the provocation, and notwithstanding the comparatively trifling amount of damage oc- casioned by this wanton outrage, we most sincerely deprecate the pre- valence 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
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
violations of the Constitution and laws. And though we would denounce in the severest terms the exasperating conduct of the abolitionists, we would at the same time do our utmost to bring the trespassers upon the rights which the Constitution guarantees to every citizen and the viola- tors of the public peace, to condign punishment."
This action of the mob, with the dissensions engendered by it, proved a sad blow to the church, and from which it never fully recovered, al- though it continued in existence for several years. Elder John H. Water- bury served the church as pastor for some months in 1839, and was suc- ceeded 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 com- mend 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 Phillipstown, N. Y. Rev. George Crocker, of Danbury, supplied the pulpit for the succeed- ing twelve months. Elder David Pease was the next preacher, he being called February IIth, 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 members.
*A resident of Georgetown at the time gives the following additional par- ticulars : 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 neighbor- hood. In the morning, 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.
CHAPTER XIII. The Methodist Protestant Church in Georgetown. (Now the Congregational Church.)
THE 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 Georgetown, sharers in his peculiar ideas of church polity, but who still retained the name of Methodist, though called by their op- ponents Stillwellites. In 1829 a convention was held and adopted the name of Methodist Protestant, and in 1839 the church at Georgetown was formally organized as the Methodist Protestant 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 Os- borne, and Benjamin Gilbert and wife. The first minister was Rev. William M. Stillwell. The first entry in the church records is as fol- lows :
"The first Methodist Protestant church in Redding was organized in the year of our Lord 1839, on the 15th of the 9th month, at a regular warned meeting held at the house of Sturges Bennett. The following officers were chosen. David Nichols, chairman, John O. St. John, sec- retary. 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 society."
Aaron Osborne was the first sexton. (He was to open the church thirty minutes before service, sweep the house, make the fires, and at- tend to the lights, for a yearly salary of $6.00. )
A 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 num- ber of years the church records show only the ordinary routine of busi- ness. In 1851, March Ioth, a society's meeting passed the following resolutions :
"Resolved, Ist: That we take into consideration the amount of Dam- age sustained by the society, by the Danbury and Norwalk R. R. crossing the society's grounds near this house of worship. 2nd: That the assess- ment of damages by crossing the society's grounds be left to three men -one chosen by the trustees, one by the Rail Road contractors, and these two to choose a third. 3rd : That the trustees be instructed to hold
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
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 :
"Resolved, by vote of this meeting that the society's committee be au- thorized to give by deed to the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad Com- pany 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 parson- age house." A meeting held November 17th, 1853, voted: "that the society's committee be authorized to circulate a subscription paper, to raise money to the amount of six hundred dollars for the purpose of pur- chasing 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 hundred 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 Bennett were appointed a committee to ascer- tain the denominational 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 Methodist Protestant Meeting."
This committee reported to an adjourned meeting, held December 14th, in favor of a change of name, and by a unanimous vote the name of the church was changed from Methodist Protestant to Congregational. It was also voted to petition the next legislature to change the name of the society in accordance with the above vote, and to secure to the Con- gregational Society the property now held by the Methodist Protestant Society. The committee appointed for this purpose were Messrs. David E. Smith, Hiram St. John, and E. G. Bennett. From October, 1865, to May, 1875, the church was supplied by Rev. Samuel St. John, of George- town. He was succeeded by Rev. Albert H. Thompson, of Yale Theo- logical Seminary, who supplied the pulpit until November, 1876. Mr. Thompson's successor was Rev. C. B. Strong, of Hartford Seminary, who remained until the close of 1877. The present pastor, the Rev. C. A. Northrop, began his labors with the church January 6th, 1878, and was ordained and installed as pastor October 2d, 1878.
The records of the Methodist Protestant Church give no data of the settlement or dismissal of pastors. From old members of the church, however, I gain the following names of those who served the church in
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HISTORY OF REDDING.
this capacity. The list is probably complete,* though the names are not. given in the order of succession. They were: William M. Stillwell, Stephen Treadwell, Abram Glasgow, Stephen Remington, - -- Sheme- all, - Vredenburgh, James Summerbell, Aaron G. Brewer, Richard K. Diossy, James Rolliston, William McCutchen, William H. Bosely, William Cliff, Samuel M. Henderson, Jacob Timberman, - Wade, Elizur W. Griswold, Merwin Lent, William H. Johnson, John L. Am- bler, Joseph J. Smith, Joshua Hudson, Thomas K. Witsel, John H. Painter, M. E. Rude, William C. Clarke.
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