USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. I > Part 39
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Gestionwacher .
288
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
THE SECOND CHURCH.
BY THE REV. E. P. PARKER, D.D.
THE Second Church of Christ in Hartford was organized on the 12th of February, 1669-70 (O.S.), or on the 22d of February, 1670 (N.S.). Its founders were very worthy men and women who, with their fami- lies, withdrew from the First Church in Hartford. The reasons for their withdrawal grew out of certain dissensions that for a long time profoundly agitated and finally divided the mother church.
For eleven years or more the original Hartford Church was peaceful and prosperous under the able and judicious ministry of Mr. Thomas Hooker, who, with Mr. Samuel Stone, led a flock of people through the wilderness from Newtown to the banks of the Connecticut.
Not many years after Mr. Hooker's death (1647) a controversy arose in the church, the origin of which was obscure two hundred years ago, but the effects of which were wide-spread and baneful. This con- troversy was rooted in diversities of opinion on certain ecclesiastical questions, but was doubtless intensified and complicated by local jeal- ousies and personal antagonisms. For many years the minority stood in an attitude of remonstrance and dissent, asking, but in vain, for permission of the General Court to form themselves into a distinct church, and also asking in vain to be allowed to unite with the churches in Farmington and Wethersfield. Councils, and conferences, and syn- ods, and courts strove in vain to effeet a permanent reconciliation.
In 1660 John Whiting was ordained as colleague of Mr. Stone, and on the death of Mr. Stone, in 1663, Joseph Haynes became Mr. Whiting's colleague. These young men were both sons of gentlemen who were eminent among the first settlers of Hartford. Mr. Whiting held to the old ways of Congregationalism, and represented the views of the minority in the church. Mr. Haynes accepted the doctrines of the Synod of 1662, and was attached to the "Presbyterian " ways. The old disputes broke out anew. Again councils and synods were held with little profit. Finally the General Court in 1669 directed the Hartford Church to take some effectual course, that Mr. Whiting and his party " might practise the Congregational way without disturbance either from preaching or practice, . .. or else to grant their loving consent to these brethren, to walk distinct, according to such their Con- gregational principles." " This winter," says Bradstreet's Journal, " Hartford Church divided, Mr. Whiting and his party refusing to hold communion with Mr. Haynes, ... Mr. Haynes and those with him being looked upon as Presbyterians." No other town in New England except Boston had as yet more than one church.
John Sthitmy
On the 22d of February, 1670 (N.S.),
Mr. John Whiting, the senior pastor, with thirty-one members of the Hartford Church and their families, formed the Second Church in Hartford. The names of all these persons are
289
THE SECOND CHURCH.
known, and the paper which was laid before the ecclesiastical council on that occasion has been preserved. It shows that the withdrawers were true and pure Congregationalists, and its historical value will readily be perceived. It is now admitted on all sides that the principles it enunciates are thoroughly sound, and that the party identified with it were in the main right in their positions and endeavors throughout the long controversy.
" Having had the consent and countenance of the General Court and the advice of an ecclesiastical council to encourage us in embodying as a church by ourselves, accordingly, upon the day of completing our distinct state (namely, Feb. 12, 1669), this paper was read before the messengers of the churches, and consented to by ourselves, namely :
" The holy providence of the Most High so disposing, that public opposition and disturbance hath of late years been given both by preaching and practice to the Congregational way of church order, by all manner of orderly establishments settled, and for a long time unanimously approved and peaceably practiced in this place ; all endeavors also (both among ourselves and from abroad), with due patience therein, proving fruitless and unsuccessful to the removing of that dis- turbance ; we whose names are after mentioned, being advised by a council of the neighbor churches, and allowed also by the Honored General Court, to dispose ourselves into a capacity of distinct walking in order to a peaceable and edifying enjoyment of all God's holy ordinances ; we do declare, that according to the light we have hitherto received, the forementioned Congregational way (for the substance of it) as formerly settled, professed and practiced, under the guidance of the first leaders of this church of Hartford, is the way of Christ ; and that as such we are bound in duty carefully to observe and attend it until such further light (about any particular points of it) shall appear to us from the Scripture as may lead us with joint or general satisfaction to be otherwise persuaded. Some main heads or principles of which Congregational way of church order are those that follow ; namely :
" First, That visible saints are the only fit matter, and confederation the form, of a visible church.
" Second, That a competent number of visible saints (with their seed) embodied by a particular covenant, are a true, distinct, and entire church of Christ.
" Third, That such a particular church being organized, or having furnished itself with those officers that Christ hath appointed, hath all the power and privi- leges of a church belonging to it ; in special - first, to admit or receive members ; second, to deal with, and, if need be, reject offenders ; third, to administer and enjoy all other ecclesiastical ordinances within itself.
" Fourth, That the power of guidance, or leading, belongs only to the Elder- ship, and the power of judgment, consent, or privilege, belongs to the fraternity or brethren in full communion.
" Fifth, That communion is carefully to be maintained between all the churches of Christ, according to his order.
" Sixth, That counsel in cases of difficulty is to be sought and submitted to according to God."
The covenant read and consented to on the same day - an admira- ble paper, written, doubtless, by John Whiting -is still in use by the church.
Mr. John Whiting was immediately chosen and re-ordained as pas- tor of the new church. He was the second son of Major William Whiting, who was a man of wealth and influence, a magistrate, and
VOL. I .- 19.
290
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
treasurer of the colony. Mr. Whiting was an able and godly man, and continued as pastor in the Second Church until his death in 1689. The first meeting-house of this church was a small and unsightly building, which was used, however, until the year 1754.
The second pastor of the church was the Rev. Thomas Buckingham, a graduate of Harvard in 1690. He was settled in 1694, and remained in this pastorate till his death, in 1731. He was one of the most emi- nent ministers in Connecticut, a gentleman of engaging manners, superior abilities, and exemplary character.
His successor was the Rev. Elnathan Whitman, son of Samuel Whitman, minister of the church at Farmington. His pastorate in the Second Church of Hartford covered the period between the years 1732 and 1777, and in the successive and powerful revivals which followed upon the preaching of Jonathan Edwards and Whitefield, the church was greatly increased in numbers and power. It was during his pastorate that a new meeting-house was built (1754), and a large bequest of land was made to the society by the mother of Mr. Buckingham, the late pas- tor. In 1767 the Rev. William Patten was settled as colleague of Mr. Whitman, but was dismissed in 1773 and died in Roxbury in 1775.
During the Revolutionary War, or from 1777 till 1784, the church was without a settled pastor, although several attempts were made to procure one. In 1784 the Rev. Benjamin Boardman was settled over the church. Besides the use of the parsonage and grounds, he was to receive one hundred and twenty pounds of lawful money annually. The fol- lowing " bill " will show with what good cheer the godly men of those days comforted themselves on solemn occasions. On the back of the bill is written, " Ordination ; eight pounds allowed and order given on treasurer in full."
" 1784. The South Society in Hartford, to Israel Seymour, Dr.
May 4th, to keeping ministers, etc.
" 2 mugs tody
£. s. d. 0 0 2 4 5 10
66 " 5 segars
" 1 pint of wine
0 3 0
0
0 9
May 5th, " 3 bitters " 3 breakfasts
6 66 " 15 boles punch
0
3
10 0
66 24 dinners
1 16 0
66 " 11 bottles wine
3
6
0
66 5 mugs flip
0 5 10 66
" 3 boles punch
0
6 0
.6 " 3 boles tody
0
3
6
" Received by me,
" ISRAEL SEYMOUR."
In the same year of Mr. Boardman's ordination the city of Hart- ford was incorporated. In 1786 Mr. William Stanley made a bequest of much value to the society.
In 1790 Mr. Boardman was retired from the pastorate, and a year later the Rev. Abel Flint was ordained. The items of the bill for his ordination expenses show that good liquor in abundance was still
" 3 lodgings
0
0 9
291
THE SECOND CHURCH.
enjoyed by holy men. Gallons of wine and of rum, quarts of brandy, pipes and tobacco, were thought to be necessary on the occasion. A pound of tea then cost eight shillings, and a pound of best beef cost but fourpence.
The catalogue of members of the church, and also the records of the church, are complete from the date of Mr. Flint's ordination, in 1791. The records of the society are complete from the year 1767. When Dr. Flint took charge of the church the population of the city was about four thousand. There were but twenty-seven members of the church, three less than at its organization in 1670; but during liis distinguished ministry the church grew rapidly. Even- ing meetings and Sunday schools were established, which were very successful. It was during his ministry, in 1822, that a bold attempt was made by certain Univer- salists in the parish to cap- ture the entire church and society ; but their plans were foiled, and they withdrew, to form a church of their own.
After thirty-three years of service, Dr. Flint retired from the pastorate. He was every inch a gentleman, of imposing appearance and ad- dress, affable, eloquent, and scholarly.
In 1825 the Rev. Joel H. Linsley was settled over the THE SECOND (CONG'L) CHURCH. church, - a man of burning (Erected in 1827.) zeal and godly life, under whose ministry the church NOW CALLED THE SOUTH CHURCH. was greatly blessed in spir- itual things. In 1827 the present meeting-house was dedicated, and was thought to be as fine a sanctuary as any in the land.
Dr. Linsley was dismissed in 1832, and was succeeded by the Rev. Cornelius Vanarsdalen, who, after an uneventful ministry of four years, was dismissed in 1836, and in 1837 the Rev. Oliver E. Daggett was settled as pastor ; and although he retired in 1843, he left his perma- nent mark upon the parish. In the year 1838 no less than one hundred and fifty persons were received into the church on profession of faith.
The Rev. Walter Clarke was pastor from 1845 until 1859, during which period the city rapidly increased in population and the church was much enlarged. In 1860 the present pastor, the Rev. Edwin Pond Parker, was ordained and installed.
In 1853 extensive alterations were made in the sanctuary, by which it was enlarged and improved. In the summer of 1884 the building
292
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
was seriously damaged by fire, and has since been thoroughly and beau- tifully restored. In 1870 the church and society celebrated their two hundredth anniversary with appropriate services.
Not counting one colleague pastorate, there have been ten pastors of the church in two hundred and fifteen years, making the average pastorate twenty-one years and a half in duration.
Édine R. Parker
293
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN.
SECTION IV.
GENERAL HISTORY TO THE REVOLUTION.
BY MISS MARY K. TALCOTT.
THE INDIANS. - FERRY, BRIDGES, AND ROADS. - THE TOWN COMMONS. - THE SQUARE, AND ITS HISTORIC ASSOCIATIONS. - THE POST-OFFICE. - HARTFORD IN THE REV- OLUTION.
THE change of rulers in England in 1688 involved the American colonies in another French and Indian war, and the records of that and the succeeding years show what strenuous efforts the colonists made to protect themselves from the roving bands of Indians sent out by Count Frontenac, or instigated by his agents. In Hartford the people lived in a state of expectation of attack, and Feb. 28, 1689, preparations were made for defence, by voting to fortify the houses of Mr. Samuel Wyllys, and Mr. James Steele, on the south side of the river, and those of Mr. John Olcott, and Mr. Bartholomew Barnard, on the north side, so that the people might repair to them in case of an Indian foray. These places were in different quarters of the town, the first being the well-known Wyllys mansion on Charter Oak Hill ; James Steele's house stood near the present corner of Washington Street and Capitol Avenue ; John Olcott lived " Up Neck,"-that is, on the Wind- sor road ; and Bartholomew Barnard dwelt on Centinel Hill, opposite the head of the present Morgan Street. The state of constant uneasi- ness in which the inhabitants of Hartford then lived is shown by the following passage from the court records, under date July 31, 1690 :
"John Stocking fined five pounds for discharging his Gun or pistol in the Midle of the Towne, against the express command of Joseph Mygatt, the cor- poral of the watch, which caused an alarm, to the great disturbance of the Town."
In all the towns in the colony the soldiers were ordered to take their arms and ammunition to meeting on Sabbath days, whenever so directed by the county major or chief military officer, upon penalty of five shillings for neglect thereof.
There were many Indians in the community, a large part of them being slaves, taken prisoners in war, and they were kept under very strict control. No liquor was allowed to be sold to them, and there are many entries on the court records of fines imposed for selling strong drink to the Indians, eider being also under the ban. The fines were some- times very large, Edward Burlinson being mulcted £60 for selling liquor to a Farmington Indian, June 29, 1693. Probably these precau- tions were caused not by anxiety for the morals of the Indians, but by apprehensions of what their conduct might be when excited by the " firewater." In the case of Edward Burlinson, above mentioned, John Kelly and his wife, who were accessory to the fact, were fined ten
294
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
shillings each for that, and for taking some of the liquor out of the Indian's bottle and filling it up with water; so that there appears to have been a desire that the "noble red man " should have fair play, and obtain all that he had paid for.
The burning of Deerfield, in 1704, caused great alarm throughout the colonies, and in all the towns preparations were made for defence. Here in Hartford four houses on the west side of the great river were ordered to be fortified; namely, Mr. Samuel Wyllys's, Mr. John Olcott's, Lieutenant Sanford's, and Mr. Bidwell's; and a committee were appointed to "proportion each man's share that he is to do of such fortification." Two of the places were the same as those fortified in 1689; Bidwell's house was on what is now the west Park, and Sanford's residence was, I think, situated on what is now Albany Avenue. Also the "Great Guns" were ordered to be put upon carriages at the town charge. This is the last time we hear of the fortification of houses in Hartford. As the outlying settlements increased, the danger from the attacks of Indians lessened; but the "Great Guns" were still kept in order, and Dec. 6, 1718, Mr. John Austin was appointed to take care of them, and to be gunner when there was occasion to use them.
In the year 1691 an epidemic appears to have prevailed, as the townsmen of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor were freed from cutting brush on the Town Commons, by reason of the sickness ; and, according to Governor Roger Wolcott, the year 1697 was also a season of great scarcity and mortality. In 1702 a county fast was observed, by order of the County Court, for " prevalence of epidemicall and mortal diseases," and for the " continuance of the drought." 1
In April, 1691, complaint was made of the great disorder at the ferry on the Lord's Day, so large a number then crowding on to be carried over to attend public worship. Three years after, in 1694, the inhabitants on the east side of the river petitioned to have " the liberty of a minister" among them, and it was granted in the same year. The people were called upon, in 1709, to consider another proposed separa- tion. On the 8th of December, David Ensign, Sr., Samuel Sedgwick, Sr., and John Watson, Sr., in behalf of the inhabitants of the West Division, desired liberty to settle a minister, and the town voted that they did not see cause to grant the petition. The West Division farmers, how- ever, were persistent, and applied to the General Assembly in October, 1710, and that body appointed a committee to treat with the inhabitants of Hartford on the matter. The report of the committee was favorable to the West Division, and in 1711 the Assembly granted the desired privilege, this being the fourth society in Hartford; and no further change was made in these ecclesiastical divisions of the town until many years after this time. In 1719, £9 out of the rent paid for the ferry was granted to the people of the West Farms, for the purchase of a burying-yard ; and Dec. 14, 1725, a suitable " cloth for funeralls " was ordered to be purchased for the West Division.
The town records contain many references to the ferry, this being the chief mode of communication with the towns on the east side of the Connecticut. The fares were regulated by the votes of the town, and
1 County Court Records, vol. vi. p. 207.
295
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN.
were the same as in 1681, with the addition "that those that go with grist for the mill were to pay 4d. in money, or 6d. in pay."
In 1712 liberty was granted by the General Assembly to Richard Keeny, of Hartford, to keep a ferry near the bounds between Hartford and Wethersfield. Benoni and Timothy Smith, living in the same neighborhood, petitioned the Assembly for liberty to keep a ferry, in 1722. Permission was granted, with the conditions that they keep good vessels and provide sufficient attendance. The fares over this ferry were raised by the Assembly in 1745: For a man, horse, and load, 9d .; for a man, 4d .; for neat cattle, 7d. per head ; sheep, 2d. per head. In 1748 the money accruing from the rent of the ferry was divided among the schools to procure firewood, and in 1756 the rent was appropriated to the repairing, etc., of the great bridge over the Rivulet. The town voted in 1758 that two boats be employed in at- tending on the ferry between Hartford and East Hartford, John Jones and Benjamin Bigelow being the ferrymen. Two years later it was voted that in the future one of the ferrymen live on the east side of the river, for the greater convenience of passengers.
Hardly second in importance to the ferry as a means of communi- cation between different parts of the town comes the town bridge over Mill River or Little River, the Rivulet or Riveret, as it was differently named. March 9, 1691, Colonel Allyn, Mr. Nathaniel Stanly, Mr. Cyprian Nichols, Deacon Hosmer, and Lieutenant Wadsworth were appointed a committee "to provide a passage over Mill River, and to rebuild the bridge over said river with all possible expedition." This structure could not have been very strong, for it was voted that any person who " shall drive a Team with either Cart or Sledd over it either Laden or Empty," shall be fined five shillings. A new bridge was built in 1728, which cost the town £140, and Dec. 21, 1731, Captain Nathaniel Stanly was appointed to take care of it and keep it in repair. This bridge, too, did not last long, and in De- cember, 1742, the committee reported that the structure was defective and unsafe, and £300 was voted towards the building of a good, strong cart-bridge. That there were other bridges in the town is shown by a vote, Dec. 15, 1746, that the surveyor of highways have liberty to cut timber on the town Commons, for the purpose of repairing the several bridges over the Little River, "and over such brooks as have been damnified by the late Flood." After 1750 the Great Bridge, as it was called, on the main street, appears to have been one of the centres of trade, and many shops were built in its immediate neighborhood. There were also shops or stalls on the bridge itself, which were very popular. Thomas Green, the printer, had his office near the Great Bridge. Dec. 6, 1753, both Captain Thomas Seymour and John Austin petition for liberty to erect buildings, -one "westward from the arm of the bridge," and the other "on the northeast arm of the bridge." Another cart-bridge replaced the former structure in 1756, and Colonel Samuel Talcott, Captain Jonathan Seymour, and Captain Stephen Hosmer were appointed to have the care of the same. Feb. 28, 1780, Colonel Thomas Seymour, Colonel Hezekiah Wyllys, Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, and Mr. Barzillai Hudson were appointed a committee to estimate the cost of a stone bridge over the Rivulet. On the 10th of April following, the same persons were appointed to request of the
296
MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
General Assembly liberty to have a lottery for the purpose of raising money for the stone bridge ; but as we hear nothing more of the pro- ject, probably the poverty, and lack of money caused by the Revolu- tionary War, gave the plan a quietus until some fifty years later, when the present stone bridge was built.
After 1736 many applications were made to the town for permission to erect shops on the banks of the Little River, there being then high- ways along both shores of the stream. Numerous cessions were made, which afterward gave the town some trouble; and in 1759 Daniel Ed- wards, Esq., Colonel Samuel Talcott, and Captain Jonathan Seymour were appointed a committee to consider what improvements may be made, for the advantage of the town, on the banks of the Rivulet ; and Dec. 30, 1760, the committee were empowered to sell and dispose of the banks on either side ; the money received from the sales to be used for maintaining the Great Bridge. The town, however, retained an interest in some portion of the banks, and many leases were made to different individuals during the next fifty years. April 12, 1779, liberty was granted Thomas Seymour to build a grist-mill and saw-mill between the town bridge and the front of his own home-lot, on the payment of twenty dollars. It was in front of this house, and near this saw-mill, that John Ledyard, the fu- ture celebrated traveller, moored his craft, at the close of his long and ad- venturous voyage down the Connecticut, from Hano- ver, New Hampshire ; and near this spot he planted the elm now known as " Ledyard's elm," on Arch Street.
Although our fore- fathers had surveyors of highways to provide for the needs of the travelling THE LEDYARD ELM. public, it does not appear that they did much more than keep the roads clear for teams, even on the main street of the town. Dec. 14, 1758, the matter was taken up in town-meeting ; it was declared that the streets and roads on the west side of the Great River "are very miry, and uncomfortable for walking on ffoot" at certain seasons ; and "divers persons having made foot-walks to go dry on in miry weather," all " people were forbidden to injure or demolish these walks in any way, on pain of forfeiting twenty shillings to the com- plainant." A lottery was permitted by the General Assembly, May, 1760, for the purpose of raising £300 to be used in repairing the main streets in Hartford, west side of the river.1
The Town Commons occupy a prominent place among the subjects voted upon at the town-meetings. The right to all the unoccupied land
1 Colonial Records, vol. ix. pp. 292, 293.
297
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE TOWN.
was vested in the proprietors, that is, the first settlers, or their descend- ants, and also those persons who bought the home-lots of original pro- prietors, and with those their rights in the undivided lands; but the area of the Commons was gradually diminished by successive divisions and grants, either to some of their own number or to new inhabitants. Encroachments were occasionally made by individuals ; and to guard against this danger Mr. Nichols and Mr. Mygatt were appointed in 1697 to "see that no person or persons do get back upon the Town Common."
The use made of the Commons was also regulated by vote. A cer- tain number of pine-trees were reserved for the making of turpentine, and April 26, 1709, all persons were prohibited from boxing any trees, or drawing any turpentine except from those trees already designated. The townspeople had the right of cutting firewood on the Commons ; and Dec. 5, 1702, each householder was granted liberty to cut and carry away one tree in each week until the 1st of March ; but white oaks and chestnuts were not to be touched. Dec. 15, 1746, Charles Burnham's house having been destroyed by fire, he was permitted to cut wood enough on the Commons to build a new dwelling. Notwith- standing the abundance of timber, the consumption of it was closely watched. Jan. 8, 1748, complaint was made that there had been much waste and destruction ; and the people were from that time only allowed to cut certain sorts of trees, above certain dimensions, so as to prevent the young growth from being destroyed. For a number of years birch, alder, witch-hazel, boxwood, and hardbeam were the only kinds allowed to be felled.
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