USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The history of Waterbury, Connecticut; the original township embracing present Watertown and Plymouth, and parts of Oxford, Wolcott, Middlebury, Prospect and Naugatuck. With an appendix of biography, genealogy and statistics > Part 31
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Soon after the organization of the church, several of the members raised among themselves £100 as the foundation for a church fund. This sum was invested in land and deeded as follows :
I Barnabas Ford, [&c.] in consideration of one hundred pounds money con- tributed to me by my neighbors, members of the Church of England, by and with their advice, [&c.] for the first glebe lands to endow the said church in North- bury, [&c.] do give, grant, convey and confirm unto the Society for the Propagation
* Was he not the son of James Nichols, (of Waterbury,) who was born in December, 1748, and graduated at Yale College, in 1771 ?
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of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,* one piece of land containing forty acres being and lying in said Northbury eastward from the church, it being the west end of the farm that belonged to Thomas Clark of Waterbury-to have and to hold [&c.], but in trust and for this special purpose, that is to say, as soon as there shall be a rector instituted and inducted, [&c. ] the premises shall then be and inure to such rector incumbent and to his successors for his and their use as the glebe lands of the said church for ever, [&c.]
This deed is dated Nov. 21, 1745, and witnessed by Thomas Blakeslee, Samnel Cole and Ebenezer Ford.
After the war, in October, 1784, a movement was made by the church to organize themselves into a society "according to an act of the General Assembly." A warrant was is- sned by a justice of the peace, calling a meeting and di- recting that all the legal voters of the society be warned to meet at " the church house " on the eighteenth of the month, and to choose a moderator, &c. The roll of voting members at this time is recorded. They numbered 57, showing a strength hardly to be expected so soon after the war. At this first formal meeting of the parish, Lient. Eliphalet Hartshorn was chosen moderator, Jude Blakeslee elerk and treasurer, and Mr. Asher Blakeslee, Capt. Amos Bronson and Mr. Isaac Fenn, prudential committee, with power to employ Mr. Baldwin or some other minister as a candidate for settlement. At this time, 15 persons living in the town of Litchfield attend- ed the Northbury church.
At a subsequent meeting in December, a tax of two pence' on the pound was laid, (Jacob Potter, collector,) which was re- newed from year to year. Unwearied endeavors were put forth to obtain a rector, for a time without success. The Rev. Ashbel Baldwin, the Rev. Philo Shelton, and the Rev. Tillot- son Bronson, officiated occasionally. After his ordination as a deacon, in June, 1787, the Rev. Chauncey Prindle officiated regularly for a time. He was afterwards settled, the articles of agreement bearing date Feb. 12, 1788, twelve days before his admission to the order of the priesthood. By the articles, the parish agreed to give him £37, 10s. lawful money for half
* The reason for conveying the land to the English society may probably be found in the fact that the Episcopal churches of Connecticut were not at that time legally constituted bodies, and could not hold property in a corporate capacity. The lands conveyed in this manner to the society, appear never to have been reconveyed to the parishes. At any rate, I can find no such reconveyances on the Waterbury records. After the Revolution, the English society, be- ing alien, could not, I suppose, give a title. A title was at last probably obained by possession.
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of the time, " to be paid in produce, such as beef, pork, butter, tallow, sheep's wool, flax or any sort of grain, with a suitable proportion of each kind." A rate of three pence on the pound was imposed in December to pay the minister's salary, which the next year was raised to four pence.
About four years after Mr. Prindle's settlement, the parish was much weakened by the formation of St. Matthew's church, on the eastern border of Northbury, and by certain persons joining themselves to the church in Northfield, (Litchfield.) These movements originated, not in a want of harmony, but in a desire to promote personal convenience.
The old "church house " had become rickety and uncom- fortable, particularly in wet weather, and in December, 1789, a vote was taken to make some repairs. In January, 1790, however, it was resolved to build a new church. But there were much embarrassment and delay in consequence of a difference of opinion as to the location and the manner of rais- ing the necessary funds. Some wanted the new edifice in the hollow, others on the hill. By the persevering efforts of Mr. Prindle and others, the obstacles at length were all removed. It was agreed that the house should be placed on the hill " near the north east corner of the green or place of parade," and be adorned with a steeple. It seems to have been com- menced early in 1794, under the superintendence of Messrs. Da- vid Shelton, Noah M. Bronson, Selah Seymour, Samuel Potter and Adna Blakeslee, building committee. After the frame had been erected and covered, another committee, consisting of Noah M. Bronson, David M. Shelton and Amos Ford, was chosen to complete the building. Eli Barnes was at the next meeting placed on the committee in the place of Amos Ford. The church was to be finished "in a decent and elegant man- ner." It was so far completed by the 14th day of November, 1796, that a vote was taken to seat it ; and on the 24th of the same month the people assembled in it for the first time for public worship. The taxes levied to defray the expenses of building, amounted, it is said, to thirty-five cents on a dollar, to say nothing of voluntary contributions. The church was consecrated Nov. 2, 1797, by Bishop Jarvis, by the name of St. Peter's church, the Rev. Philo Shelton preaching the sermon.
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On Easter Monday, 1806, Mr. Prindle proposed to resign his charge, in order to afford the society an opportunity to strengthen itself by an union with a neighboring church. His proposal was acceded to, and a connection was formed be- tween St. Peter's and St. Matthew's churches.
After Mr. Prindle retired from the parish, the Rev. Nathan B. Burgess and the Rev. Joseph D. Welton officiated for a time, the latter as lay reader; but no permanent rector was secured till 1809, when an arrangement was made with the Rev. Roger Searle. The articles of settlement bear date Nov. 15th. Mr. Searle was settled over the parishes of St. Peter's and St. Matthew's, and was to receive $450 and 30 cords of good fire wood per annum. In consideration of the rector's residence being in St. Peter's parish, that parish was to supply all the wood, and retain the use of its glebe lands. The remainder of the salary was paid in the proportion of services received.
An addition was made to the funds of the society, in 1813, by subscription of one thousand dollars, Mr. Searle to have the benefit of it during his rectorship. The subscribers' names are entered upon the record, twenty-nine in number. Elijah Warner gave one quarter of the sum. A few years later, (1821,) the same individual gave to the parish four acres of land, valued at about $400, on which he and others erected a dwelling for the rector.
In consequence, chiefly, of a large emigration to the West and the weakening of the parisli, Mr. Searle resigned his charge in 1817, the connection being dissolved Sept. 16th.
The Rev. Rodney Rossiter succeeded to the rectorship in 1818, the Rev. Dr. Burhans in 1832, and the Rev. William Watson in 1837. The Rev. S. K. Miller is the present rector .*
* In the preparation of the preceding account of Episcopacy in Northbury, I have consulted, besides the parish records, An Account of St. Peter's Church, Plymouth, printed in the Episco- pal Watchman, October, 1827 ; the Rev. Mr. Prindle's MSS. published in the Chronicle of the Church, 1839, and a Centennial Sermon, by the Rev. Mr. Watson, delivered Jan. 1, 1843, and published.
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CHAPTER XX.
CHURCH AND STATE: SLAVERY: OLD FRENCH WAR.
CONGREGATIONALISM was established by law in the Colony of Connecticut. In opposition to this there could be " no minis- try or church administration entertained or attended by the inhabitants of any town or plantation [&c.] upon penalty of the forfeiture of five pounds for every breach of this act." Against some species of dissent, the laws were very stringent. " Quakers, Ranters, Adamites, or such like," were to be com- mitted to prison or sent out of the Colony. No individual could " unnecessarily entertain " "or speak more or less with " such persons on penalty of five pounds, and the town that al- lowed entertainment to be given them must also pay five pounds per week. Quaker books were ordered to be seized by the constable, and the persons in whose possession they were found were to be fined ten shillings each. Every person in the Colony was obliged to pay taxes for the support of the es- tablished religion. If a town saw fit to go withont a minister for a time, a statute (which was continued till after the Revo- lution) provided that a tax should, notwithstanding, be levied, "as if there were a minister there," the avails to be reserved " for the support of the ministry of that town " in the future, according to the discretion of the County Court."
The ministers of religion were the especial favorites of the colonial government. Their polls and estates were exempted from taxation, and stringent laws were made to secure them the advantages of their position and the respect of their flocks. It was provided that "if any Christian, so called, should con-
* As an example of the almost absolute power which the Assembly exercised over the towns and individuals in matters of religion, I may refer to a case, one of a class .- After the death of Mr. Hooker in 1697, Farmington, owing to discordant sentiments, was for a season without a minister. On application, the Court, in 1702, ordered the people to seek counsel and help of Rev. Mr. Abram Pierson and five others, and " to entertain " and pay for one year the minister which they, " the reverend elders," should nominate and appoint. At this period the town offi- cers of Farmington were appointed by the Assembly .- [Historical Discourse by Rev. Noah Porter, Jr., 1841.]
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temptuously behave himself towards the word preached or the messengers thereof," he should, for the first offense, be re- proved openly, in some publie assembly, by the magistrate ; and for the second, should pay a fine of five pounds, "or else stand two hours openly upon a block or stool four foot high, on a public meeting day, with a paper fixed on his breast written with capital letters :- AN OPEN AND OBSTINATE CON- TEMNER OF GOD'S HOLY ORDINANCES : that others may fear and be ashamed."
At an early period, almost all the educated men entered the ministry. Lawyers were not wanted, and doctors were self- taught or, oftener, untaught. Clergymen trained the youth. They were universally deferred to as a superior order of men whose displeasure it would not be safe to incur. On Sundays they were treated with special reverence. " When the minister passed from the threshold to the pulpit, the people rose; and if he formally addressed them in any part of the sermon, those in the galleries, in obedience to parental injunetion and usage, in many places, stood and continued standing till the address"was concluded."*
In 1706, the law against the Quakers was repealed; and in 1708, by " An Act for the case of such as soberly dissent," persons were permitted, on certain conditions, to worship "in a way separate from that which is by law established," without molestation ; but nobody was excused from paying taxes to the "established church."
When Episcopal churches began to be established in Con- nectient, the colonists saw the difficulties in which their laws respecting dissenters would be likely to involve them. The mother country, it was probably thought, would not willingly see its own established religion proscribed and those who wor- shiped according to its forms subjected to disabilities. (Pro- scription loses all its beauties when its authors become the subjects of it.) The General Assembly, doubtless, considered these things and determined to modify its laws, so far as they bore harshly on the Church of England. In 1727, in answer to a petition from certain Churchmen in Fairfield, it was en-
* Rev. Luther Hart, in The Quarterly Christian Spectator, Vol. V, p. 227.
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acted that all taxes levied on the professors of the English church, in places where there was a minister of that church in orders, should be paid over to such minister. These taxes on Churchmen were gathered by a special collector from their own denomination, chosen at the town or society meetings. When the moneys thus raised were not sufficient for the support of their own clergymen, they could levy additional taxes on their own members. In addition to these privileges, Churchmen were expressly exempted from the burden of building "meeting houses." These indulgences, however, were granted more from policy and necessity than preference.
The Episcopal churches or parishes were merely voluntary associations They had no corporate or legal existence except for the single purpose above mentioned. They could not im- pose rates for building or repairing their own churches, or for any purpose but the maintenance of their ministers. Congrega- tionalism was the established religion-the religion of the state. Congregational societies were the only societies known to law, and these were territorial and exclusive.
In 1729, in an " Act for the Ease of such as Soberly Dis- sent," the Quakers and Baptists having divine worship of their own, and attending the same, were excused from Congrega- tional taxation ; but they had no other privileges.
Thus matters continued till after the Revolution; but in 1784, a law "for securing the Rights of Conscience " was passed, which permitted a man to join any denomination of Christians he pleased, and, if a dissenter and an attendant on public worship and a contributor to the support of the same, exempted him from taxes for the maintenance of the ministry and religion " by law established." By the same aet, the dis- senting churches and congregations had " liberty and authority to exercise the same powers and privileges for maintaining their respective ministers and building and repairing meeting houses, as the ecclesiastical societies constituted by law have and do exercise and enjoy." It was under this law, I suppose, that the Episcopal church of Northbury was organized in 1784. Thus, all Christian sects were put on a footing of essential equality.
Our fathers were rigid in their notions of moral and reli-
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gious duty. They discarded the forms of the English church and endeavored to seize the essence. Still, they were unable to get rid entirely of forms, for men cannot do this, however strenuous their endeavors. Those which they did observe, they adhered to with singular pertinacity. In so doing, they jeoparded and sometimes lost sight of the substance. They were particularly exaet in the observance of the sabbath, and this observance was enforced by pains and penalties. The people were required by statute to "carefully apply themselves to the duties of religion and piety, publicly and privately," on the Lord's day. They were required, on that day and also on "fast dayes and dayes of thanksgiving," to go to meeting, and they were not permitted to go anywhere else, the fine for transgressing the law being, in each case, five shillings. "Sin- gle persons being boarders and sojourners," and young per- sons " under the government of parents or masters," were not allowed to "meet together in company or companies," in the street or elsewhere, on the evening of the sabbath, or of fast day or lecture day, the fine being five shillings. It was made the duty of constables and grand jurors " to walk the streets and duly search all suspected places," and to bring the viola- tors of this law to justice. These are the statutes our fathers lived under, till after the Revolution, and which assisted to mould their characters and opinions.
In illustration of what was considered "servile labour " on the sabbath, no longer ago than 1737, I would refer to a jus- tice trial in which Isaae Bronson, a leading man of Water- bury, was arraigned before Timothy Hopkins, a justice of the peace. A conviction followed, and a fine of five shillings with the costs of court was imposed. The criminal party, not being satisfied with the decision, petitioned (ineffectually) the General Court for relief, and at the same time explained the nature and extent of his " crime," as follows :
To the Honourable generall Court [&c.] siting att Newhaven second Thurs- day of october 1737-the memorial of Isaac Brounson of waterbury humbly show- eth that one mr justice Timothy Hopkins of sd waterbury, [&c.] by his speisall writ caused your memorialist to apear before him on the 24th day of august Last to answer for being gilty of doing servil Labour on the sabbath or Lords day, in the site of said justice, and gane judgment against your memorialest in the follow-
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ing words viz [Here follows a copy of the execution and sentence of the court, from which it appears that the crime was committed on the 7th day of August, and that the culprit was sentenced to pay 5s. fine, and 5s. 6d. costs, "and stand committed till he comply," &c.] so that your memoriallest was forced to pay the money or go to prison, which money was paid down to the justice and your memorialest stands Recorded gilty of the breach of the sabbath but thinks him- self wholy innocent of any such crime: and can not help himself so without Remedy except this Honourable assembly giue Releafe, and he is under great dis- advantage to Lay the whole matter before your Honours, nir justice utterly Refus- ing to give him a copy of the writ by which he was brought before him : therefore is obliged to Declare the facts, by sd justice judged to be creminall, which was his sister had lived sometime att his Hous about four miles out of Town but by reason of seuere ilness went Home to her mother and stayed with her, but she amended, and on the sabbath day night after meeting was ended asked your memorialist if he would Let her Ride behind him home to his house which he did: this is the whole that lie is charged with and it was no harme as he thought; how euer he stands Recorded as aboue and hath been already put of from Recieuing the sacrament on that account, and there upon prays this Honourable assembly to make void the sd judgment if they in their wisdom can think it just, or grant him Liberty of a hear- ing of the whole matter before the County Court to be holden att Newhaven in ovember next, and order the sd justice to furnish him with a copy of his pro- ceedings in the case in order to his having afair Tryall at the sd Court, or any other way grant Releaf [&c.]
ISAAC BROUNSON.
If any man convicted of "prophaning the sabbath " refused to pay his fine, he might be publicly whipped. This was the law in 1784 and afterwards.
By an old statute, (in existence after the Revolution,) each householder was required to have at least one Bible. Nu- merous families were to have "a considerable number of bibles," besides suitable orthodox catechisms and other books of practical godliness. It was the duty of the selectmen to "make diligent inquiry " after these things, and constables, jurymen and tything men were to make diligent search after and presentment make of all breaches, &c.
The legislation of our ancestors was harsh, sometimes vin- dictive. It attempted too much. Its ends were often unjnsti- fiable, frequently trivial. It interfered unwarrantably with personal rights. It took it for granted that a desirable object, in every case, was to be secured by some special law. That an evil existed was a sufficient reason why a statute should be enacted. The truth was not recognized, and is not yet fully understood, that there are many irreguralities in the moral
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world (sin, in the language of theology) which legislation can- not reach. Man, it was conceived, was utterly depraved by nature, always inclining to go astray. He was treated as thoughi conscience, truth, justice, honor, were no part of his moral constitution. His whole conduct and his entire busi- ness, to their minutest details, must be regulated by laws. These laws assumed a perfect uniformity of religious views, of moral principles and of opinions generally. A strict con- formity was expected from all. Those who entertained pecu- liar sentiments, particularly on religious subjects-who pre- sumed to differ from the ruling classes-had a hard time of it. They felt that by coming to America they had not escaped tyranny in aggravated forms.
As an illustration of the trivial, not to say ridiculous, legisla- tion of our fathers, I may refer to the anti-tobacco laws. The use of tobacco was regarded (correctly) as demoralizing, par- ticularly to the young. Therefore, the General Court order- ed that no person under 20 years of age should use it. No other person (not accustomed to it!) could employ it without a certificate from a physician and a license from the Court. He who was addicted to its use was forbidden to indulge his appetite in company, or publicly in the streets, or when at labor or on a journey, unless ten miles from home, and then not but once a day. The penalty for each offense was six pence, to be paid without gainsaying !
It is well known that slavery was formerly an " institution " of Connecticut. Our ancestors, whom we are accustomed to revere for their virtues and religion, were " trafficers in human flesh !" Southmayd, Leavenworth, Trumbull, Scovill, Dea. Clark and Dea. Garnsey, those holy men and others like them, held their fellows in bondage! For their guilt in this regard, their decendants do not apply to them the same epithets, pre- cisely, that they sometimes bestow on cotemporary sinners of the same class. Does this lenity of judgment come from the conscious obligation of the "higher law"-Honor thy father and thy mother ?
The first settlers of Waterbury had not many slaves. It is not certain they had any ; though it is probable some three or four (perhaps more) were slave owners, possibly from the first.
Greenhendrick
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The truth is, the great proportion of them were too poor to own that kind of property. Luxuries of all kinds were be- yond their reach. They lived in the plainest manner and did their own work. Owing to a lack of tools, machinery, roads and productive lands prepared for tillage, or in other words, capital, the surplus products of labor were small. ' Compara- tively, a man could do but little more than maintain himself. Hence the necessity that all should work, young and old, male and female. If the addition of a negro to a family increased production, it also increased consumption ; and if a support in infancy and old age is taken into the account, almost in an equal ratio. Hence the inducement with the early planters of Waterbury, to own slaves could not have been great, even could they have found the means to purchase them. The prof- its of slavery in Connecticut were never large, and the sacri- fice, when it was finally got rid of, was not serious.
The first slave in Waterbury, of which I have certain knowl- edge, was Mingo, who was the property of Dea. Thomas Clark, about 1730. He was then a boy. His master used to let him for hire by the day, first to drive plow, then to work with the team. At Dea. Clark's death in 1764, Mingo was allowed to choose which of the sons he would live with. He preferred to remain at the old homestead with Thomas ; but after the latter commenced keeping tavern, he did not like his occupation and went to reside with Timothy on Town Plot. He had a family, owned considerable property, and died in 1800.
Parson Southmayd owned two slaves at the time of his death, Sampson and Phillis. Parson Leavenworth owned two, Peg and Phillis; Parson Trumbull of Westbury, two or more ; Parson Scovill, two, Phillis and Dick. Dick died so late as 1835, aged 90. He used to tell the story of his cap- ture on the shores of Africa when a boy, as he was playing in the sand. He was sold several times, always with the un- derstanding that he might return when he chose. He was at one time the property of Dea. Stephen Bronson. After his old master removed to New Brunswick, he usually worked for Dea. Bronson or Mr. James Scovill, and was always re- garded as a member of the family. He was a faithful negro. The writer remembers with affection his kind offices, in child.
21
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hood. Poor man ! He became blind in his old age, and the wicked boys sometimes played tricks with him. He had a wife and children and some property. Peace to his memory ! -- Capt William Hickox died in Westbury, in 1737, possessed of two slaves, Lewis and Phillis. Capt. George Nichols had one; Lieut. Tho. Richards one, Jack; Dea. Jonathan Garnsey one or more; Esq. Joseph Hopkins, one, Silence; Dr. Preserved Porter, two, Fortune and Dinah, &c. I. Woodruff, of Westbury, owned an "Indian woman," who died in 1774. Indian slaves appear to have been common in the earlier periods of the Colony.
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