USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Derby > The history of the old town of Derby, Connecticut, 1642-1880. With biographies and genealogies > Part 33
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283
RECEPTION OF CHURCH MEMBERS.
phreys the church was a dissenting church, or opposed to the Half-way Covenant, yet after 1756 that method of receiving members was practiced until the enactment of the following decision :
"March 12, 1783. The church voted that they would not go on in the practice of the half-way owning the Covenant, as it was called, and that the two forms used in owning the Covenant and joining with the church being essentially one, should be brought into one confession of faith-and voted, that Deacon Hotchkiss and Deacon Holbrook, Esq. Beard and Capt. Tomlinson and Mr. Yale should join with me to draw a confession of faith, and we accordingly made a draft and chiefly taken out of the words of the two former confessions of faith above mentioned, and soon after at a church meeting, that confession of faith was read and approved by the church, and it was voted that for the future that form should be used in admitting members to this church.
" And it was the advice of the church that such persons as had owned the covenant (as it was called) should come to the minister and con- senting to the confession of faith as it now stands, which for substance is the same as before altered, and resolving to live the Christian life, should be admitted by the church to full communion as it had been wont to be called."
The following records show the difference in the forms or methods of receiving members :
' February 8, 1736, then was admitted to the state of full commun- ion with the church : John Lumm, John Bowers and his wife, Daniel Smith and his wife, Solomon Chatfield and his wife, Samuel Twitchell, Arthur Wooster, Elizabeth Wooster, Elizabeth the wife of Joseph Smith, Abigail the wife of Ebenezer Chatfield, Mary the wife of Josiah Smith, jun., Rachel Davis, Betty Davis, Mabel Johnson, and Abigail Tom- linson, who at the same time was baptized."
Thus they continued some years to receive members to full communion only, but afterwards they changed as indicated by the records :
" April 11, 1756, then Samuel Tucker and Sarah his wife renewed the Covenant, and Samuel their son was baptized."
" April 25, 1756, Philo Mills and Elizabeth his wife owned the Cov- enant, and their daughter Abigail Elizabeth Ann was baptized."
" June 12, 1757, then admitted to full communion Sibyl the wife of Daniel Todd. At the same time were baptized Mary, Daniel and Cath- arine, children of Daniel Todd and Sibyl his wife."
284
HISTORY OF DERBY.
The second book is entitled " CHURCH RECORDS for the First Church of Christ in Derby," and was commenced by Rev. Mr. Tullar, an account of his ordination being the first entry.
The council "was convened by letters missive, at the house of Charles French, Esq., in Derby, July 1, 1783, with a view to the ordination of Mr. Martin Tullar to the work of the gos- pel ministry. Present, the Rev. Messrs. Daniel Humphreys, Mark Leavenworth, Benjamin Trumbull, Benjamin Wildman, David Brownson, Jonathan Edwards, John Keep, David Ely. Delegates : Mr. Isaac Brownson from the First church in Wa- terbury, Dea. Jonathan Mitchell from the church in Southbury, Dea. Thomas Clark from Oxford, Dea. Daniel Lyman from White Haven, Capt. Stephen Dewey from Sheffield and Dea. Timothy Peck from Bethany. The Rev. Mark Leavenworth was chosen moderator, and Benjamin Trumbull scribe." In the services on the next day, the sermon was preached by the Rev. John Keep, and " the imposition of hands was performed by Messrs. Humphreys, Leavenworth, Trumbull and Brownson."
From the date of this ordination it may be seen that the change in the method of receiving church members was made only four months previous, and was probably effected at Mr. Tullar's suggestion, while he was preaching as a candidate.
In 1788 a case of church discipline of more than ordinary dig- nity, and in it His Honor, Oliver Wolcott, sen., then governor, was a witness. James Beard, Esq., of Derby, a man of high and honorable standing many years, while a member of the Legislature in the spring of that year, applied to Governor Wolcott, "as one of the committee of Pay Table, to adjust an account between him and the state, relative to the avails of a number of confiscated estates." Governor Wolcott says fur- ther : "That in the course of the business it appeared to be the claim of the said James Beard that the balance which was found to be due to the state should be received by the treasurer in continental bills of the old emission at the nominal sum. To support which claim, the said James Beard repeatedly al- leged that a part of said balance had been used in the public service during the war, for the purpose of supplying officers' and soldiers' families, and that the remainder, which I understood to be the most considerable part, was there in his hands in the iden-
285
EXCOMMUNICATION.
tical bills in which he had received the same, which allegations the said Beard offered to confirm by his oath in the customary way. That upon examination of the bills which were tendered it appeared that the sum which was offered greatly exceeded the balance due to the state, and also that a large proportion of the same appeared to have been emitted after the time when the said Beard had received the moneys for which he was ac- countable."
Upon this discovery the committee of Pay Table refused to settle, and in the autumn of the same year Capt. Joseph Riggs, sen., presented charges against Mr. Beard before the church. In the prosecution of the case the above testimony of Governor Wolcott and that of several other high officers of the state was received, given by deposition under oath before a magistrate. Upon the vote of the church, one month after the commence- ment of the proceedings, three of the four charges were sus- tained, implicating the accused in false representation in three particulars. A form of confession was then prepared, and a committee appointed by the church to present it to Mr. Beard to sign, if he felt so disposed. This he "entirely refused to do," and we find the following record :
" Lord's day. January 25, 1789. The doings of the church were then publicly read. It was then proposed to the church by their pastor whether he should deliver sentence of excommunication against said James Beard ? Voted in the affirmative. Sentence was pronounced in the following manner : 'In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the concurrence of this Church, I now publicly declare that James Beard is rejected from our number, fellowship and communion ; that he is delivered unto Satan, and is unto us as an heathen man and a publican ; that henceforth we shall exercise no watch over, nor treat him with any respect as a brother until he come to repentance.'"
Such were the ideas concerning church discipline one hun- dred years ago. How greatly changed is the sentiment of the church ; the very form of that sentence is at the present time regarded as highly presumptuous, in that an carthly subject as- sumes the authority of the Infinite, to judge and condemn his fellow creature. There is seen also the arbitrary authority claimed by Congregational ministers, as well as those of other denominations. He does not say that the sentence is given in
286
HISTORY OF DERBY.
behalf, or by the authority of the church, but the sentence is declared by the minister, "with the concurrence of the church." The minister was also the judge of the fitness of persons to be- come members of the church, and upon his recommendation they were to be received by the church, as appears by the vote in 1783. The conditions, however, required in the candidate for membership were not severe: namely, " owning the cove- nant and resolving to live the Christian life."
Rev. Mr. Tullar's administration continued until 1795, when he was probably regularly dismissed, although no record of the fact is preserved, for a vote of the society was passed, bearing date, December 29, 1795, making provision for raising money to pay a candidate for supplying the pulpit. He died in 1813.
The next pastor was Mr. Amasa Porter, who was ordained by a council, June 21, 1797. He was dismissed by a council, on Wednesday the 20th of March, 1805.
In November, 1808, the church voted to call Mr. Joshua Wil- liams as a gospel minister, but the society not uniting in the call, the church one month later sent an urgent request to the society to unite in such a call, but that body did not so decide. The next March, the church gave a call to Mr. Thomas Rug- gles, and to this the society seems to have consented. Mr. Ruggles's letter of acceptance is recorded, and is a lengthy one ; rehearsing somewhat the circumstances, and revealing the fact that the advice of the association had been given, to the effect that it would be well for him to wait six months before accept- ing the call. The letter indicates good scholarship, discrimi- nating judgment, and a faithful purpose of devotion to the gos- pel ministry. It is reported that during Mr. Ruggles's ministry the spirit of strife and division which had existed in the con- gregation sometime before he came to it, continued, and that there existed somewhere a purpose to make trouble if opportu- nity afforded, and that had the minister been ever so faithful and perfect, harmony could not have been restored.
On April 9, 1812, a council was convened at the house of Levi Smith, for the purpose of dissolving the pastoral rela- tion between Mr. Ruggles and the church and society. The records declare that sundry communications were made to the council, from which it appeared that Mr. Ruggles had some-
287
INSTALLATION OF MR. SWIFT.
time since requested, and still continues to request, a dissolution of the pastoral relation, on account of inability to discharge the ministerial office by reason of ill health, and that the church and society had consented that the connection should be dis- solved." The finding of the council was that it was expedient that the relation should be dissolved, and so pronounced the decision. Sympathy is then expressed for the church and so- ciety in the following manner : "We deeply feel and deplore these repeated trials with which God has been pleased to visit you. Once and again have you been left as sheep without a shep- herd." After rather special deliverance of this kind, the coun- cil, in the same spirit of kindness, directed their attention to the pastor dismissed. "We recommend Mr. Ruggles to the grace of God, and invite him to review with seriousness and solem- nity the manner in which he hath discharged his ministry, as also the various dealings of God toward him, that he may de- rive profit from divine chastening and be excited thereby to live near to God and not be driven from him; and that as he is now dismissed from his ministerial charge, he may enjoy in his retirement the consolations of a well grounded hope ; that when life shall be done, he may be able to give up his ac- count with joy and meet the approbation of his judge." He was, therefore, only dismissed from the pastoral relation, not deposed from the ministry, and it is singular that such a deliv- erance should have been rendered if there were any evidences of gross immorality on the part of this minister, as is spoken of in the community.
A little over one year elapsed from the dismissal of Mr. Ruggles, when a council was called on the 16th of November, 1813, for the purpose of installing the Rev. Zephaniah Swift as pastor of this church and society. After the usual proceed- ings, the council adjourned, and met on the following day and "proceeded to the house of God and installed Mr. Swift," the Rev. Dr. Ely preaching the sermon.
Mr. Swift entered upon his work in the midst of many diffi- culties and discouragements. He had preached in Roxbury, Conn., about fifteen years, and from that experience was con- siderably prepared to take a steady, onward and dignified min- isterial course, by which he led the people from their perplexing
288
HISTORY OF DERBY.
difficulties and unkindly feelings, into a larger field of active and consistent Christian life. The following account of the church and his labors with it are given by the Rev. J. H. Vorce, in a centennial, historical discourse delivered in the Derby Congregational church, on Sunday, July 9, 1876.
" Mr. Swift was settled in Derby in 1813 and never dismissed. His pastorate was long and successful. Revivals were frequent and numbers were added to the church during his ministry, which was on some accounts the most eventful in the history of the church. We have found some decided peculiarities in regard to the salaries of other pas- tors, and there was one in regard to Mr. Swift's, it being apparently about what it happened to be, varying with the times and with the ne- cessities of the people. He sometimes relinquished a large part of it, and at others, would take the notes of the society's committee, or pinch along almost any way to help through the difficulties that often sur- rounded them.
"In the same year in which Mr. Swift was settled, what is known as the Increase Fund was started. By the conditions of the gift, no part of the principal could ever be used for any other purpose what- ever, and no part of the interest could be used until the fund had ac- cumulated so that the income would be sufficient to support a gospel minister in this society. The minister must be of the Presbyterian or Congregational order, and must profess and teach the 'doctrines of the gospel as expressed in the shorter catechism of the assembly of divines at Westminster. or the creed inserted in the statute of the theological seminary at Andover.'
"In 1814, the church adopted by a series of votes, the rule laid down in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, as a rule of discipline ; also that public offenses require a public confession, and thenceforward the disci- pline of the church was kept up remarkably well. If a person deserved the attention of the church in this respect, he was labored with accord- ing to the rule, and if he did not heed the admonition he was dealt with. The cases of discipline were numerous.
" In December, 1816, the society voted that Mr. Swift preach a part of the ensuing year at Humphreysville, in proportion to the money raised there, but not to exceed one-fourth of the time.
"We have now arrived at a time in the history of the church when it was tossed more by storms than at any period in its history. Darker skies it may have seen, but never when the waters were more troubled. The old meeting-house had become much dilapidated and was nearly unfit for use as a place of worship. It became necessary to build a
289
SITE FOR A MEETING-HOUSE.
new one, and the question of its location divided the society in senti- ment and to a considerable extent, permanently. Quite a number with- drew from it and never returned. A majority, with the pastor, favored the place where the present house stands, but a minority favored the old site ; while the controversy ran high and threatened serious conse- quences. Dr. Leonard Bacon's remark in regard to a Guilford trouble, would be thoroughly applicable to the state of affairs here : 'Both parties were conscientious as well as willful ; perhaps more conscientious for being willful, certainly the more willful for being conscientious.'
"On the 30th of March, 1820, a vote was passed that 'all former votes respecting the location of a house of worship be rescinded.' It was then voted, two-thirds concurring, that the house should stand on its present site, and a committee was appointed to wait upon the County Court, to procure its approbation of the location selected. The decree of the Court 'appointing, ordering and fixing the said place,' was given at the March term of 1820. Specifications were drawn and the new house contracted for, on the 18th of July, 1820. These specifications were very definite, and left nothing to be taken for granted and disa- greed about afterward, and as a sample it may be mentioned that it was provided that there should be 'furnished suitable and wholesome board and washing for the workmen while employed in said work, and a reasonable quantity of liquor for said workmen, to be drank in the yard where said work is done.'
" A paper on file, proposing to convey the house and land to the in- habitants of the First Ecclesiastical society of Derby, contains some pro- visions which are a novelty, and without which the history of this church building would be incomplete.
"'First, that the said society shall annually, on the first Monday in January, rent the slips on the lower floor of said house, and those in the gallery wherever by them deemed best, excepting the four easterly front slips, and excepting on the lower floor one slip for the use of the family of the clergyman settled over said society for the time being, and two for poor widows, and excepting said slips on the lower floor, shall be rented to white persons only; the same to be set up in classes as follows : the first ten slips at a sum not less than ten dollars, the second ten slips at a sum not less than eight dollars, the third ten slips at a sum not less than seven dollars, the fourth eight slips at a sum not less than five dollars, the fifth six slips at a sum not less than four dollars, the sixth five slips at a sum not less than three dollars.'
" These conditions were accepted by the society, Jan. 1, 1822. The expense of building the house so seriously crippled the resources of the society, that in 1823 they voted that the income from the fund must
37
290
HISTORY OF DERBY.
supply the pulpit for the ensuing year, as they could not think of in- curring any additional debt for the supply of the pulpit. The pastor, always ready to help his people in bearing burdens, declared his will- ingness to conform to the straitened circumstances of the society for that year provided they would pay up arrears so as to come to the next year unencumbered.
" In the year 1824, a subscription was started to purchase a bell. In the appeal to the public for contributions, the society pledged that the bell might be 'used for all meetings of religious societies and all lawful meetings of the inhabitants of the town, and tolled at funerals of all denominations of Christians when requested by the friends of the deceased, except that no person shall at any time be permitted to ring or toll said bell, except such as is appointed to that business by said standing committee.'
" There was previously an old bell on the school-house, Up Town, which was used both by this society and by the Episcopal society, as well as for town and school purposes. This bell was stolen, and, at the time the Congregational society was proposing to raise money for a new bell, could not be found. At the time of the vote above alluded to, it was agreed that, provided the old bell could be found, the com- mittee should take possession of it, and pay any one a fair price who could prove ownership. About a month later the committee reported that they ' had found the old bell ; that the same had been claimed by the proprietors near the old meeting-house and by the committee of the Episcopal society, on the ground that said society were entitled to the one-half thereof, and that it had been demanded by said proprietors, and that in the opinion of the committee, this society have as good a right to said bell as any one.' Thereupon the society voted that ' since they had always had control of it from the time it was first hung, they presumably had an equal right with others, the committee were directed to cause said bell to be appraised by disinterested persons, add to it as much as would make a bell of seven hundred pounds, and the society would pay over whatever should be judged not lawfully to belong to said society.' Thus much of the bell story must be reliable for it is too late to make headway against these records of the society.
" Owing to the financial embarrassment of the society, a committee was appointed in January, 1824, to apply to the domestic missionary society of Connecticut for aid. At the meeting held to take action as to the bell, this committee reported that the missionary society had granted to the church, the sum of eight dollars per Sunday for six Sun- days. There is no record of any additional grant having been made.
"These appear to have been the end of the society troubles in re-
291
COLLEAGUES OF MR. SWIFT.
gard to a new meeting-house. It is a curious commentary on the Con- gregational form of government, that while the society records are filled with details of disagreement or severe conflicts, no sign of diffi- culty appears upon the record of the church. All through these troub- les the church, under the lead of its devoted pastor, was faithful to its trust, and held its government with a kind but firm hand apparently in the profoundest peace.
"The next date of importance is the year 1833, in which the ‘articles of Christian faith and practice' were added to the manual. One of these rules makes the neglect of family prayer an offense liable to dis- ciplinary action, and another declares 'the making, vending or using ardent spirits as a drink, inconsistent with Christian character.' One of the most admirable of these articles, makes it the duty of the church ' to secure a religious education to such children of the church as may in the providence of God be left orphans.'
"The pastorate of Mr. Swift closed only at his death, which occurred February 7, 1848, but during the latter part of his life he had col- leagues in his office. These were Rev. Lewis D Howell, Rev. Hollis Read and R v. George Thatcher. The last of these was laboring here at the time of Mr. Swift's decease. The remains of four pastors were buried in the oldest grave-yard of the town ; those of Rev. John Bow- ers, probably, although there is no grave-stone to mark his resting- place, Rev. Joseph Moss, Rev. Daniel Humphreys and Rev. Zephaniah Swift.
" Rev. Lewis D. Howell, the first colleague of Rev. Mr. Swift, was probably settled as pastor in 1836, and upon his request was dismissed Nov. 20, 1838, and given the usual testimony, and of him we hear nothing more The Rev. Hollis Read, the second colleague of Rev. Mr. Swift, was called by the church December 24, 1838, and he con- tinued to preach here until 1843 when he was dismissed. but the influ- ence of the differences of feeling on that occasion is not all gone to this day. The Rev. George Thatcher, was by vote of the society, bear- ing date June 14, 1843, hired as a supply until the end of the year, but before that time expired he received a call to settle, which he accepted on the 7th of December. During his pastorate, the Derby church was prosperous and peaceful. Mr. Thatcher was dismissed in 1848."
From 1848 to the present time there have been several min- isters employed by the society.
The Rev. Jesse Guernsey, was settled over the Derby church on the 7th of November, 1849, and dismissed in 1852. During his pastorate the Congregational church in Ansonia was formed.
292
HISTORY OF DERBY.
The next April, four members of this church were dismissed and recommended to an ecclesiastical council, to be convened for the purpose of organizing a church in Ansonia. Mr. Guern- sey was a native of Watertown, Conn., and after leaving Derby he preached a little more than a year in Woodbridge, when he removed to Iowa, where he died.
The Rev. Robert P. Stanton, was settled here in May, 1853, and dismissed in January, 1856. He was a native of Franklin, Conn., and was licensed by the New Haven West association in 1847. After leaving Derby, he was settled over the church in Greenville, in the town of Norwich, Conn., where he still re- mains, making a pastorate there of more than twenty-three years.
The Rev. C. C. Tiffany was called in 1857, and dismissed in 1864. He was licensed by the New Haven Central association in 1857, and was called from Derby to Longwood, Mass., in 1864; from which place he went to the rectorship of an Epis- copal church in New York city.
The Rev. William E. Brooks, was engaged as supply in 1865, and remained until 1867, when he removed to Clinton, Conn., where he remained until 1874; removing thence to West Ha- ven, Conn., where he still remains a settled pastor.
Rev. Thomas M. Gray, was installed pastor of the Derby church in December, 1867, and dismissed in 1871. He after- wards settled as pastor of a Presbyterian church in South Sa- lem, Mass., where he remained a number of years.
The Rev. Cyrus B. Whitcomb, was engaged in January, 1872, to supply this church, and remained one year from the first of the next April. (See Biog.)
The Rev. Henry T. Staats, was engaged sometime in 1873, to supply the pulpit for the remainder of the year, at the ex- piration of which time he was re-engaged and remained with the church until the autumn of 1874, when he was settled over the Congregational church of Bristol, Conn. During his labors here, a lecture-room was built and the church was re-modeled and re-furnished.
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