USA > Connecticut > The history of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, Vol. II > Part 27
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The celebration was observed by other dioceses of our country ; and towards the end of the year of Jubilee, a second letter came from his Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by resolu- tions of the Society, acknowledging the cordiality with which the original invitation had been received and acted on by the bishops and clergy of the Ameri- can Church, and asking the House of Bishops to depute two or more of their number to join in the concluding services. These were to be held on the 15th of June, in the same glorious temple where, a year before, the celebration had been commenced, and two American prelates,1 designated by their brethren
1 Bishop De Lancey, of Western New York, and Bishop McCoskry, of Michigan.
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for this purpose, and several American clergymen were present to share in the interest and joy of the occasion. The whole movement was one which served, not only to manifest the essential unity of the churches of England and America, but to " promote a spirit of Christian good-will and harmony among the members of our Communion, in all parts of the world."
Connecticut was benefited by the missionary spirit thus excited among her clergy and laity, and Eng- land felt the influence of the special efforts made to increase the funds, and extend the operations of " the oldest purely missionary institution" in the realm. Dr. Wilberforce, the Bishop of Oxford, in his eloquent sermon at the closing services in Westminister Abbey, said : -
"The earth, which is girdled by our colonies, is beginning to be gemmed by our colonial sees. This year of Jubilee has brought its own blessing; our work has been more supported, and aided largely by parishes as parishes. For this, too, let us this day bless God, and that not so much for the £1000 a week of added resources, which He has poured into our coffers, as that, by means of this increase, we have, we trust, already been enabled to add three new sees to our colonial Episcopate, and to aid in founding various colleges from whence may issue forth through all lands that only true means of converting nations, a native clergy to minister amongst their brethren." 1
Thirty years had elapsed since the Annual Conven- tion met in Waterbury. It was then a village of few inhabitants and little enterprise, but now it had
1 Sermon, p. 12.
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become a place of extensive business, large wealth, and increasing population. The Convention which assembled in it, and took action upon the Jubilee celebration, was composed of ninety clergymen, and upwards of one hundred lay delegates, - about three times as many of each order as formed the body which convened in the same place in 1821, and heard the primary charge of Bishop Brownell. The attend- ance was, no doubt, larger from the fact that an im- portant movement was expected to be made in this Convention. Every year it was becoming more mani- fest that the infirmities of the Bishop were lessening his ability to perform his Episcopal duties, and that the best interests of the Diocese would suffer if some relief was not soon provided. For a long time he had not attempted to preach, and it was rare that he even addressed the candidates presented to him for confirma- tion. He was, himself, conscious of his weakness and decline, and a few weeks before the assembling of the Convention in Waterbury, he "addressed a cir- cular letter to all his brethren of the clergy, in regard to the election of an assistant bishop," and requested them to communicate the same to their lay delegates. The substance of this letter was recapitulated at the close of his annual address as follows : -
" It will be remembered that, owing to bodily in- firmities, which disabled me from preaching, and which were a hindrance in the performance of other Episcopal duties, I brought this subject to the con- sideration of the Convention six years ago. Difficul- ties were felt at that time in regard to the selection of a candidate for the office, as well as in regard to his support ; and, after due deliberation, it was decided
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to defer the further consideration of the matter. Be- lieving that the difficulties which then existed may now, in some good degree, be obviated ; feeling that the weight of six additional years has been accumu- lated upon the infirmities which then beset me, and being now in the seventy-second year of my age, I feel myself justified in bringing this subject once more to the consideration of the Convention of the Diocese. Before coming to this conclusion, I have thought it right to consult extensively the views of my brethren with whom I have had the opportunity of conferring; and the great unanimity of sentiment which I have found to prevail, encourages me to believe that the proposition will be received with gen- eral favor by the Convention. To this brief statement, I feel impelled to add the expression of my humble gratitude to the great Head of the Church, for his unmerited blessing on my poor labors in his service. Nor may I withhold my grateful acknowledgments from my brethren of the clergy, for the indulgence they have shown to my infirmities, and for the uni- form kindness which they have bestowed on me. From not one of them have I ever received an un- kind word, or been conscious of an unfriendly act. May the blessing of Almighty God rest upon them, and upon the people of their charge."
The subject of choosing an assistant bishop was referred to a judicious committee, with instructions to confer with the venerable Diocesan, and report to the Convention at nine o'clock the next morning. Their unanimous report in favor of the proposed measure was readily acquiesced in, and the two orders having separated for the purpose of an election according to
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the terms of the Constitution, the clergy proceeded with due solemnity to cast their ballots. The number in the Diocese entitled to vote for a bishop, was ninety-seven, of whom nine were absent. Upon counting the votes after the first balloting, seventy- three were found to be in favor of the Rev. John Williams, D. D., President of Trinity College, and a graduate from it in the class of 1835, and fifteen were scattered among half a dozen candidates. This happy result was communicated to the House of Lay Delegates, who immediately confirmed the nomination of the clergy by a vote of eighty-seven yeas, and fourteen nays. Those in the negative did not raise any objection to the candidate himself, but their opposition lay rather to the uncertain or indefinite provision for his support, and to the combined rela- tions which he was expected to sustain to the College and to the Diocese. The unanimity of both orders was very remarkable, and Dr. Williams, in signifying his acceptance of the office which had been conferred upon him, said : -
"To be associated with the clergy of Connecticut, and with her laity, is an honor which I feel most deeply. I am most willing, too, to devote my life to the service of a Diocese in which I was confirmed, and received both my orders; in whose principles I was educated ; to which I am warmly attached ; and whose spotless history I reverence and love. The unanimity and good-will which, you assure me, marked the proceedings of the Convention, afford other and strong encouragements. May it be a pledge for the future, that by no fault of mine the harmony and peace which have ever made this Diocese 'a city at unity in itself,' shall be disturbed."
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The requisite testimonial in behalf of the Assistant Bishop elect, was signed by eighty-seven clerical mem- bers of the Convention, and ninety-three lay dele- gates. Of the lay delegates, twenty-nine were from New Haven County, twenty-five from Fairfield County, twenty from Litchfield County, eight from Hartford County, five from each of the Counties of Middlesex and New London, and one from Tolland County.
The consecration of Dr. Williams took place in St. John's Church, Hartford, on Wednesday, the 29th day of October, 1851. It was upon the same day of the week, thirty-two years before, that Bishop Brownell had been consecrated in Trinity Church, New Haven. Now he presided at the consecration of one chosen to be his own assistant, and he was aided in the impres- sive services by the bishops from all the New England States, and by Dr. De Lancey, the Bishop of Western New York. The sermon was preached by Dr. Bur- gess, the Bishop of Maine, in which he drew an ad- mirable portraiture of the character of a man, filling the highest office in the ministry of our Church. Of the eighty-six clergymen, most of them in surplices,1 gathered within the nave and around the chancel, and of the vast crowd which thronged the edifice, not one could have gone away without a feeling of thankful- ness for being permitted to witness and share in the solemnities of so great an occasion.
1 The vestment in general use by the clergy of the Diocese at the time of the consecration of Bishop Brownell, was a gown. This was worn on funeral and other public occasions, and a surplice was rarely, if ever, seen in any service outside of a church. In 1825, the Annual Convention by a formal resolution, recommended to the wardens and vestrymen of the several parishes in the Diocese, " to provide a suitable gown for the use of the officiating clergyman."
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The Assistant Bishop and the Diocesan set out im- mediately on a visitation, beginning the next Sunday at Seymour, and passing into Fairfield County, and spending a week in some of its oldest parishes. On this visitation, the senior Bishop confirmed the candi- dates, and his Assistant addressed them and preached the sermons. They were everywhere warmly wel- comed, and the ability of the junior prelate, and the favorable impression made by him upon churchmen with whom he was brought in contact, were cheering indications of his success under God in the future ad- ministration of the Diocese.
Gratuitous instruction had been given for some time at Trinity College, to a few candidates for Holy Orders, without attracting much notice beyond the precincts of Hartford. "The work was begun in no narrow spirit of localism, but simply under a strong feeling of the growing necessities of the Church in reference to the sacred ministry, and an earnest wish to do something towards meeting those necessities." It increased upon the hands of those who commenced it, and in the autumn of 1851 a full course of theo- logical studies was regularly organized, and afterwards " adopted by the Trustees as an integral department in the College." The appointment of a professor in Ecclesiastical History was, in part, the origin of this scheme, and the subsequent action of the trustees gave shape to it, and warranted the presumption that it was to be more than a mere experiment.
Bishop Brownell, in his annual address to the Con- vention of 1852, called attention to the establishment of the theological department in the College; and the Convention approved of it, and adopted a sentiment
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that the training of our candidates for Orders in this way, so that the Bishop might have them under his immediate direction and superintendence, was “in accordance with the early practice of the Diocese, and the universal practice of the primitive Church." As the cares of the Episcopate multiplied with every revolving year, and demanded more of the time and attention of the Assistant, Dr. Williams resigned the Presidency of Trinity College at the Commencement in 1853, and soon after this, propositions were made to place the theological department on a new basis, and with a liberal endowment, provided it was re- moved to Middletown, and established in that city. One generous layman,1 and one presbyter2 of the Dio- cese offered such inducements, that subscriptions to fill up the endowment were readily obtained, and the removal having been effected, Bishop Williams trans- ferred his residence to Middletown, and assumed the oversight of students in their theological course. The institution was incorporated by the Legislature in 1854, under the name of the " Berkeley Divinity School," and with a provision in the charter, which gave to the Convention of the Diocese the future election of the trustees. The Convention readily accepted the charter and the trust, and thus it became a Diocesan institution.
A commodious building for the use of the students - the contribution of five friends of the School - was added, in 1860, to the large edifice originally purchased ; and three resident professors besides the
1 Edward S. Hall, Esq., of Millville, Mass., subscribed twenty thousand dollars.
2 Rev. Win. Jarvis, ten thousand dollars.
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Bishop, occupied themselves, as from the first, in dis- pensing a thorough course of theological instruction. About the same time, a memorial chapel (St. Luke's) built of stone, was presented to the institution, - " the munificent benefaction of a single individual," 1 whose husband, from its foundation, had been in- terested in its success, and in other undertakings for the glory of God and the advancement of the Church.
It is not easy to estimate the good results to our communion from the establishment of Trinity Col- lege, and the Berkeley Divinity School. How much more, or whether any more would have been accom- plished by keeping them together under one cor- porate name, and giving to the College somewhat of the character of a University, is not a question for the historian to decide or examine. They have both been highly useful, and the College has done a work far beyond that of educating young men with a view to the Christian ministry. Among its graduates scattered over our land, are those who adorn the professions of law and medicine, and the higher walks of learning and science. Bishop Brownell said, in 1852, “ Nearly one third of the clergy in our Diocese, and nearly one tenth of all the clergy of our Church have been educated at this institution, while a much larger number of its graduates occupy important stations in other learned professions, or in the various occupa- tions of society. Its influence would be greatly ex- tended by more ample endowments; and by a fuller appreciation of its advantages by such members of our Church as would seek a safe and healthful col- legiate education for their sons."
1 Widow of the late Thomas Dent Mütter, M. D.
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The "more ample endowments" were afterwards received, - a special effort being made to add to its funds one hundred thousand dollars. One fourth of this amount was immediately subscribed by four lay- men1 of Waterbury, who thus founded a new profes- sorship, and contributed a handsome sum for the use of the library. The effort was not completed before a general financial embarrassment led to its suspen- sion. When it was renewed, the original sum, exclu- sive of the contributions from Waterbury, was sought, and ultimately obtained. It was a timely replenish- ment of the treasury of the College, and, with the exception of a few thousand dollars, the whole amount was subscribed by churchmen in the Diocese of Con- necticut.
1 J. L. M. Scovill gave ten thousand dollars, and his brother Wm. H. Scovill, both since deceased, seven thousand, and Scovill M. Buckingham, three thousand to endow the " Scovill Professorship of Chemistry and Natural Science." The late John P. Elton gave five thousand dollars for the Library.
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CHAPTER XXVII.
NEW PARISHES AND NEW CHURCHES ; GENERAL CONVENTION ; FUND FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE EPISCOPATE; AND SALARIES OF THE CLERGY.
A. D. 1853 - 1857.
NOTHING appeared now to stand in the way of the more rapid advancement of the Church in Connecti- cut. With institutions to educate candidates for Holy Orders, and with a youthful and vigorous element introduced into the Episcopate, the spiritual life of the Diocese was quickened, and parishes put forth efforts which, with the divine blessing, were greatly conducive to their prosperity. The total number of communicants already exceeded ten thousand, the candidates for the ministry reported in 1853 were twenty-one, and the contributions for missionary and charitable objects nearly twenty-two thousand dol- lars - an amount more than twice as large as had been contributed for like purposes five years before.
Besides an increase in the strength and liberality of the existing parishes, the organization of new ones was effected not so much on the principle of aggres- sion as to meet the calls for the services of the Epis- copal Church in populous places, where they had been only occasionally performed, or where more room was needed to supply the wants of our growing com- munion. A week previous to the meeting of the Annual Convention in 1851, a new church was conse-
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crated for the new parish at Pine Meadow, in the town of New Hartford. The inhabitants of that vil- lage, none of whom were then Episcopalians, erected it with the aid of a few friends in the Diocese, and contributed liberally in the outset to provide for the support of a resident clergyman. A month later, "a very perfect edifice, built of Portland stone " in the early English style, but with too much chancel for the size of the structure, was consecrated at Milford, to take the place of the old church begun there before the Revolutionary War. The ancient parishes at Litchfield and Branford found it necessary to enlarge the accommodations for their people, and hence a new church of wood was completed and con- secrated in each of them, during the ensuing winter. From that time to 1857 only three new edifices - two of wood, and one of stone - were erected for parishes with a colonial origin. The two of wood, were for Christ Church, Watertown, and Trinity Church, Southport, a borough in Fairfield, where the church consecrated in 1835 had been accidentally burned; and the other, of " rubble stone, with Caen trimmings," was for the parish at Greenwich.
But much was accomplished during the same pe- riod, in the way of improving and enlarging the old edifices - the alterations, in some instances, being almost equivalent to rebuilding. Chancels and towers were added to them, organs were introduced, and par- sonages provided for the comfort and convenience of the rectors and their families. In the first six years succeeding the consecration of Bishop Wil- liams, the churches at Salisbury, Naugatuck, Fair Ha- ven, Stamford (St. John's), Woodbury, Middletown,
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Bethel, Norwich (Trinity), Warehouse Point, Marble- dale, and Middle Haddam, all underwent alteration and enlargement, and were reopened with dedicatory services.
Within the same period, the ground was broken for seven churches in as many new parishes - three of these being in the city of New Haven. The tem- porary chapel erected by St. Thomas's parish in 1849 was insufficient for the wants of the increased congre- gation, and a complete edifice in the early English style of architecture, with the walls and tower of Port- land stone, and capable of seating nine hundred per- sons, was built to take its place, and consecrated by Bishop Brownell, amid the joys of the Easter season in 1855. This was his last official act in New Haven, and, though he lived on for nearly ten years, yet he performed only once again the same service else- where.1 Two mission churches, both of wood, and small at first, arose in New Haven, not long before the date of this consecration, - one under the auspices and patronage of St. Paul's Church, and the other under those of Trinity. They soon developed into in- dependent parishes, and took the names, respectively, of St. John's Church, and Christ Church. The evi- dence of their prosperity appeared in the immediate rebuilding and enlargement of their edifices. Through the renewed efforts of St. Paul's Church, another mis- sion chapel of wood was erected in an outskirt of the city, and consecrated early in December, 1857. It was established upon the free principle, like the other two, and the poor and men of low estate in the neigh-
1 About three months afterwards, he consecrated St. Paul's Church, Hartford.
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borhood were invited to enter it, and learn the way of salvation. It has not yet acquired complete in- dependency ; for though recently organized as a par- ish, it still derives aid in the support of its minister from the mother church.
On the eve of the Advent season in 1850, Bishop Brownell called together, at his residence in Hart- ford, the clergy of the city and several influential laymen, for the purpose of consulting about the estab- lishment of a free Episcopal Church, and City Mission. Out of this movement grew what is now St. Paul's Church, Hartford, a substantial stone edifice, provided for those who had no settled place of worship, as well as for those who might find inconvenience or embar- rassment in the workings of the pew system.
The rectors in Hartford and some of the clergy attached to the College, with a few zealous church- men from that city, commenced services at earlier dates in Windsor,1 Manchester, and West Hartford, which subsequently led to the formation of parishes, and the building of churches in all those places. The church in West Hartford, constructed of brick, was completed in the spring of 1855.
In midsummer, 1856, a new church, built of wood, was opened at Central Village, in the town of Plain- field, the fruit chiefly of missionary efforts by the
1 The first Episcopal Church in Windsor - a small wooden edifice - was consecrated January, 1845.
A larger and more attractive church, built of stone in the early English style, and on a different site, was consecrated by Bishop Williams, Septem- ber, 1865. Its cost was over twenty-five thousand dollars - a portion of which was contributed by friends outside of the parish. The land on which it stands was the gift of Mr. H. Sidney Hayden, who, in addition to this and his original subscription, paid a debt of some five thousand dol- lars, to free the church from all incumbrance and allow it to be conse- crated.
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clergy in Eastern Connecticut. A movement was made, about the same time, to establish the services of our Church in Yantic, a manufacturing village within the limits of Norwich, and the movement was attended with success.
Steps towards the organization of a second parish in the city of Bridgeport, by the name of Christ Church, were taken in the latter part of the year 1850. A building was procured and fitted up, in which to hold religious services, but in less than ten months it was destroyed by fire, and the loss occa- sioned thereby was supplied by the erection of a costly and substantial edifice of brown stone, with sittings for about eight hundred persons. This was consecrated in April, 1853. A new parish formed in the adjoining town of Fairfield, was admitted into union with the Convention in 1856, and its projectors purchased an unfurnished brick building in a central location, which, with some changes and additions, was made, architecturally, one of the most beautiful and church-like structures in the Diocese.
All the parishes in the shore towns, from New Haven towards New York, were beginning to feel the impulse of an increase in the number of their inhabi- tants, and more room and better edifices were needed to meet the wants and suit the wishes of wealthy resi- dents. The work of Church extension was visible, too, in every part of the Diocese, and the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge made the most earnest appeals for larger contributions to enable it to extend its operations. The Assistant Bishop preached a sermon in its behalf during the Annual Convention of 1853, and showed by what he emphati-
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cally styled " the rhetoric of facts, and the logic of statistics," how important it was to be more zealous in the cause of Diocesan Missions. The Convention indorsed his sentiments, and recommended to the several parishes to contribute, on an average, to the funds of the Society, not less than fifty cents for each communicant, and the amount received into the treas- ury during the ensuing year, rose from one thousand to more than three thousand dollars. The interest thus excited in Diocesan Missions continued, and no backward steps have since been taken.
The General Convention held its triennial session in October, 1853, in the city of New York. The House of Clerical and Lay Deputies was composed of exactly two hundred persons, and the whole number of the clergy of our church in the United States was then sixteen hundred and sixty-three, including thirty- one bishops. By the death of Bishop Philander Chase, of Illinois, in September of the preceding year, Dr. Brownell had become the senior and presiding prelate, and he was present at the opening services of the Convention, and took an active part in its pro- ceedings. The session was marked by the visit of a deputation 1 from the venerable Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts to the Board of Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. This was a suitable return of kind sympathy for the interest shown by the American bishops, in sending two of their number to represent them, and to participate in the concluding exercises
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