USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. II > Part 13
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The new parish was organized in 1752, and its first pastor, the Rev. Thomas Potwine, ordained and placed in office, as we have seen, May 1, 1754. In the antique and stately language of that day he stands on the records as Sir Thomas Potwine, the Sir not being intended as a Those Fortune title of nobility, but having much the same significance in the popu- lar mind as had the title Mr. in the earliest New England generations. In those days a man must be of considerable character and standing to be addressed as Mr. This title was at that time given chiefly to minis- ters and magistrates. Mr. Potwine is said to have been of Huguenot extraction. It is likely that his ancestors came to this country by the way of England, and not directly from France. A large Huguenot population had planted itself in England before that time, and there are many persons in this country of Huguenot origin whose earliest American ancestors came from England.
In the action of the parish calling Mr. Potwine he is spoken of as from Coventry ; that is, Coventry, Conn.
"Voted, To give Mr. Thomas Potwine, of Coventry, a call to preach with us on probation, in order to settle with us, with the advice of the association."
Yet Mr. Potwine was a native of Boston. Turning to the Boston record of birthis a hundred and fifty years ago, we find the following entries : -
" Ann, daughter of John and Mary Potwine, born Dec. 20, 1729.
Thomas, son of 66 66 Mary, daughter of “
Oct. 3, 1731.
March 26, 1734."
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EAST WINDSOR.
Until very recently it has been supposed that John Potwine, the father of the East Windsor pastor, was the earliest American ancestor of this name; but a more careful examination of the Boston records shows that this John Potwine was himself born in Boston, and was the son of a John Potwine, physician, who died in Boston in the year 1700, soon after coming to this country, leaving his wife and this one child. His will bears date July 17, 1700. His wife was a native of this country. The fact that Thomas Potwine was educated at Yale College rather than Harvard would seem to imply that in 1747, when young Potwine entered college, being then sixteen years old, the family had already removed from Boston to Coventry. Mr. Potwine remained in office till his death, Nov. 15, 1802, leaving behind him an honorable record of service and a substantial family.
The Rev. Shubael Bartlett, the second minister of the Scantic par- ish, was born in the town of Lebanon, April 2, 1778. His father was John Bartlett, one of the deacons of the church. He was graduated at Yale College in the year 1800. His college life was cast in that period of the Yale College history when the in- hulael BarHent .. stitution was reli- giously at its lowest cbb. He was or- dained to the pastoral office in this parish Feb. 15, 1804, and remained here fifty years, till his death, June 6, 1854. A year or two before his ordination he had been united in marriage with Miss Fanny Leffing- well, of Hartford. The two ministries of Mr. Potwine and Mr. Bartlett filled out almost exactly a century. The ministry of Mr. Bartlett was an exceedingly fruitful one ; not by reason of great intellectual powers or high pulpit eloquence, but from his faithfulness and patience, his truly Christian walk and conversation. He was thoroughly acquainted with every household of his widely scattered flock. The little children knew him and were not afraid of him. His home was an open and hospitable one, and his gentle-hearted wife was a thorough helpmeet in her kind and winning words and ways. Together they lived, and labored to draw the people of their charge to walk in the ways of wisdom and in the paths of peace.
The third pastor of this church was the Rev. Samuel J. Andrews, D.D. He was a son of the Rev. William Andrews, and was born in Dan- bury, where from 1813 to 1827 his father was pastor of the First Congregational Church. Mr. Andrews was a graduate of Williams College in the class of 1839. He was settled as colleague pastor with Mr. Bartlett, Sept. 20, 1848, and remained sole pastor about one year after Mr. Bartlett's death.
He was dismissed May 9, 1855.
The fourth pastor was the Rev. Frederick Munson, a native of Bethle- hem, born April 25, 1818. He was graduated at Yale College in 1843, and remained pastor at East Windsor from Sept. 3, 1856, to July 19, 1865.
The fifth pastor was the Rev. David Haven Thayer, who was born at Nunda, New York, and was graduated at Union College in the class of 1849. He was pastor from May 22, 1866, to Dec. 20, 1878.
The sixth pastor was the Rev. Austin S. Chase. He was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1869, was installed here April 23, 1879, and dismissed Dec. 31, 1880, because of failing health.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
The present pastor of this church is the Rev. Howard Billman, who was installed April 26, 1882.
The Rev. Edward Goodridge, formerly rector of St. John's Church, Warehouse Point, has kindly compiled the following brief history of it, with its succession of rectors : -
" For a few years previous to the present century occasional services were held by clergymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the town of East Windsor. On the 25th day of September, 1802, seventy persons, residents of the towns of East Wind- sor, Windsor, dengues Raynes. Enfield, and Ellington, signed an
agreement to ask the pasto- ral care of the Rev. Menzies Rayner, rector of Christ Church, Hartford. At a meeting held Sept. 27, 1802, it was voted to summon a meeting two weeks later, - Oct. 11, 1802, - to organize a parish of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; which was accordingly done. James Chamberlain and Solomon Ellsworth were elected wardens.
" The frame of the present and only church edifice was raised Jan. 6, 1809, on the public 'green,' or common, where the building remained until May, 1844, when it was removed to its present site on the east side of the Main Street. The building was consecrated by Bishop Brownell, Oct. 10, 1832. The q. w. Doque first organ was purchased in 1835 ; it was replaced by a larger one in 1859.
The rectors have been as follows : Rev's Menzies Rayner, 1802-1809 ; B. Judd, 1819-1821; N. B. Burgess, 1822- 1823 ; I. Bulkeley, 1823-1825 : George W. Doane, D.D., 1825-1827; Horatio Mr. Viles Potter, D.D., 1827-1828 ; Ransom War- ner, 1835-1838 ; Z. Mansfield, 1838- 1841; Joseph Scott, 1843-1844 ; Henry H. Bates, 1844-1852; Charles S. Put- nam, 1852-1853; William K. Douglass, 1853-1855 ; H. MeClory, 1855-1860 ; C. R. Fisher, 1861-1862 : Henry Olmstead, D.D., 1862-1867 ; William W. Niles, D.D., 1867-1870 ; Edward Goodridge, 1871-1882.
" There are at present one hundred and thirty communicants. The Rev. Albert U. Stanley is the present acting rector of the church."
The Rev. E. S. Fletcher, pastor in 1882 of the Methodist Church at Warehouse Point, sends the following outline of its history : -
" The first Methodist preaching services in this place were held in private houses by the Rev. Mr. Fifield, in 1822. They were held afterward in a citi- zens' meeting-house, controlled by the Episcopalians, and now occupied exclu- sively by them. The Methodists began to increase, and quite an interest was felt in the community in their behalf. Soon they were compelled to leave the meeting-house, and quietly resorted to the school-house. Again they worshipped for a time in private houses. Afterward they rented a hall, which they occu- pied for a considerable time. After this they again secured the meeting-house, which they continued to occupy on alternate Sabbaths until 1831. In the
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latter part of that year they resolved to erect a meeting-house for themselves. It was built and dedicated in 1833.
" The full list of preachers contains thirty-eight names of those who have been assigned to this church, and who have successively ministered here, some for a period of three years, a larger Eliakina hanfick number for two years, and a few for only one year.
" The Rev. William H. Turkington is the present minister."
Afbel Gillet
The Rev. William H. Turkington, who occupied the pulpit of the Methodist Church at Windsorville in 1882, has kindly furnished the fol- lowing brief record of its history : -
"The following sketch concerning the church in this place is taken from the minutes of the Methodist Episcopal Conference. The church was built in 1829 ; the name of East Windsor first appears in 1829 ; the name of Ketch Mills in 1839 ; the name of Windsorville, in 1850. In 1876 the church was destroyed by fire. In 1878 the present church edifice was dedicated."
A complete list of the men who in rotation have filled the pulpit of this church since its foundation in 1829 includes more than forty names. The present pastor is the Rev. H. M. Cole.
The Rev. Edward Goodridge, formerly rector of St. John's Church, Warehouse Point, has furnished the following record of Grace Church, at Broad Brook : -
" This parish was duly organized April 13, 1847. The church building, a substantial edifice of brown freestone, was finished and consecrated in the same year. The following is a list of its rectors : Rev's Francis J. Clerc, D.D., 1847- 1849 ; Henry Fitch, 1849-1850 ; Abel Nichols, 1850-1852 ; Enoch Huntington, 1852-1857 ; John F. Mines, 1857-1859 ; Thomas V. Finch, 1859-1861 ; David H. Short, D.D., 1861-1866 ; J. E. Pratt, 1866-1867 ; B. F. Cooley, 1869- 1871; Clayton Eddy, 1871-1872 ; David P. Sanford, D.D., 1879-1882. The present number of communicants is fifty-three."
The Congregational Church in Broad Brook was organized May 4, 1851. The Rev. Charles N. Seymour served as acting pastor from the time of the organization until May, 1853. The first house of public wor- ship was dedicated in December, 1853. The Rev. William M. Birchard was pastor from September, 1854, to December, 1858. His successors have been : Rev's Timothy Hazen, acting pastor, 1859-1863 ; Merrick Knight, acting pastor, 1863-1868 ; Edward Trumbull Hooker, pastor, 1868-1869 ; Lysander Tower Spaulding, acting pastor, 1869-1877 ; Joseph A. Freeman, acting pastor, 1877-1881 ; and Robert C. Bell, who began his labors here Aug. 11, 1881.
The first mention of a school supported by public money on the cast side of the river belongs to the year 1698. On the west side of the river schools had been kept for almost half a century before one was established upon the east side. In April, 1698, the town agreed to hire a schoolmaster who was to teach nine months of the year upon the
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
west side and three months upon the east side. At that time Samuel Wolcott, great-grandson of Henry Wolcott, the American founder of the Samt Wolcott Wolcott family, was in Harvard College, and was to be graduated in the coming summer. He was hired to begin upon this work of instruction as soon as he had received his degree at Cambridge. By the agreement of the town with Mr. Wolcott he was "to keep a read- ing, writing, and cyphering and grammar school," and he was " to take none but such as are entered in spelling." This last clause seems to imply that either in private schools or in families the children should be so far brought forward as to be masters of the earliest elements of educa- tion before they were admitted to this school kept and supported by the town. By the laws of Connecticut, from an carly date every town con- taining seventy families was obliged to keep a school eleven months of the year. In the year 1717 the same requirement was made of an eccle- siastical parish as had before been made of a town. This was a very important law ; for in the large towns of Connecticut there were some- times two, three, four, or more separate ecclesiastical parishes. In that part of the town of Windsor lying upon the east side of the river there were, as we have seen, four parishes before the town was divided into Windsor and East Windsor.
Though the above law relating to parishes did not go into operation until 1717, yet from the time when Mr. Edwards's church and parish had become fully established (that is, about 1700), the work of educa- tion on the east side of the river passed by a kind of natural law to the care of this parish. Mr. Edwards was a man by all his habits of mind among the foremost of that generation in promoting public edu- cation. His own house was a kind of seminary for the promotion of the higher education. His own children were thoroughly instructed by him, and young men from the families of his own parish, and from neighboring parishes, were constantly resorting to him for classical edu- cation. It is difficult to determine exactly how many young men Mr. Edwards fitted for Yale College during his long ministry, but not less, probably, than thirty or forty. His house was a kind of educational workshop. In December, 1712, it was determined that the money raised for schools should be divided into three parts, one part to main- tain a school above Scantic River, another part to cover the region reaching from Scantic River down to Sergeant Newberry's Brook, and the third from there to the Hartford line. The size of this northern school district may be understood by remembering that it included more than all the territory now embraced in the present towns of East Windsor and Ellington. The population, however, above Scantic at that time was chiefly along the one road, near the meadows, up and down the river.
For a number of years the rule would alternate between two and three schools ; and later, as population increased, and was more widely spread over the broad territory of the town, four, five, and six schools came to be needed, and provision was made for them. In 1724 there were schools in six places : one below Podunk, one at a "place called Bissell's Farms," one at the Great Marsh, which is Ellington now, and the other three to be on territories equally divided, measuring from
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Podunk Brook north to the upper limits of the town. In 1740 it was voted to "employ masters in the winter and school-dames in the summer."
After the North or Scantic Parish was organized, in 1752, the care of education specially devolved upon this parish throughout the terri- tory embraced in it. In 1753 twenty pounds were appropriated by the parish for education. It was in 1766 that this territory was divided systematically and made into four school districts. In 1768, two years later, East Windsor was constituted a separate township, but the care of education in the north part of the town was still vested in the par- ish. In 1781 the territory of the North Parish was divided into six districts. So matters went on, the parish taking care of the schools, until 1795, when this business passed to the jurisdiction of the town.
There has never been an incorporated academy either in East Wind- sor or South Windsor. Within the limits of these towns there have, however, been unincorporated academies which have done much for education. Such an institution existed at East Windsor Hill for many years, where the higher English branches were taught and where young men were fitted for college. Dr. Samuel Wolcott, now of Long- meadow, was fitted for college in this school, having for his teacher no less a man than William Strong, LL.D., until lately one of the hon- ored judges of the Supreme Court at Washington. This school lived on until the founding of the Connecticut Theological Institute at East Windsor Hill, which by its varied instructions absorbed the academy into itself ; and since the removal of the institute to Hartford the academy has not been revived.
There was a still humbler academy which existed for many years in the Scantic Parish near the meeting-house. It provided education during the winter in the higher English studies, and also to some extent in the classics. Students from Yale College were usually em- ployed as teachers. In this school not a few (the writer among thie number) obtained the rudiments of classical instruction. It has now for many years been discontinued.
The chief business of East Windsor has always been agricultural. This town, occupying the fertile lands lying along the Connecticut River, is pointed out by Nature as agricultural rather than manufactur- ing. The style of agriculture, however, has passed through many changes since the early days. From fifty to seventy-five years ago, rye, corn, and hay were the staple crops raised upon these lands. Now, for many years, the chief crop in East Windsor, and in most of the towns far up and down the river, is tobacco. When rye was one of the pre- vailing crops in East Windsor, fifty years ago, and before the temper- ance cause had well begun, there were several large gin-distilleries within the limits of the town, which made an easy market for this product of the farms. Osborn's mill, in Scantie, and other grist-mills were kept busy in preparing this rye for distillation.
At present there are within the limits of East Windsor the follow- ing manufacturing establishments : At Broad Brook there is the Broad Brook Company, engaged in the manufacture of cassimeres. At Wind- sorville there is a woollen manufactory. At Warehouse Point there is the Leonard Silk Manufacturing Company.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
Through all the years from 1765 on to the actual outbreak of war in 1775, society throughout New England, and especially in the older and more advanced portions, was thoroughly agitated. Upon the East Windsor soil, during the Revolutionary struggle, there were few persons of Tory proclivities. We are not aware that there was more than one, and he will be spoken of elsewhere. In general, the hearts of the people were as the heart of one man in the strong and deter- mined purpose to resist British aggression. Nowhere in the land did the fires of patriotism burn more brightly than among the towns of Connecticut ; and when the great day of decision came, nowhere did men go forth more freely, and even eagerly, to join the patriotic army, than from the rough hills and rich valleys of the little Commonwealth. Jonathan Trumbull was her governor, the man of her own choice, the only governor in the thirteen colonies heartily on the side of the peo- ple. His name was a tower of confidence and strength through all those trying years.
Six years after the incorporation of East Windsor the spirit of her people began to make itself distinctly manifest upon the public records of the town. At a meeting held on the first Monday of August, 1774, a long, able, and specific paper was prepared and recorded, showing the wrongs which the nation was suffering at the hands of England, and the firm purpose of the people to resist these wrongs.
There can be no doubt that East Windsor acted a large and noble part in the War of the Revolution. It would be very easy to give many names of officers and soldiers that went into the army from that town; but it would be almost impossible at this late day, and with such sources of information as we have, to give a complete list of these men. With such data as are afforded, it is evident that three hundred or four hundred men were furnished by the town during the eight years of the war. The country was then so sparsely settled, and the war continued so long, that a very large part of all the men in New England of military age and condition were drawn into the army for longer or shorter periods. From returns made from the various towns during the Revo- lution, we have the means of giving the exact condition of the popula- tion of East Windsor in 1782. There were then in the town 197 white males over fifty years of age, 626 males between sixteen and fifty, and 737 males under sixteen; of females, there were 1,650 ; of blacks, 27 : total, 3,237. In wealth and population East Windsor stood among the prominent towns of Hartford County. Of the twenty towns of the county in 1778 there were only six having more wealth ; the valuation at that time was £28,332 18s. The total population of the State of Connecticut in 1782 was 208,870.
We will omit all detailed reference to the War of 1812; for though that war sorely taxed New England, and created great suffering in all business circles, yet the interest now centring about it is greatly over- shadowed by that of the Revolutionary struggle which preceded, and the War of the Rebellion so near our own times.
In this recent war East Windsor acted her part faithfully and well. To go over her whole record step by step would make the narrative tedious. In respect to the giving of bounties she followed the general course of the New England towns, beginning with small sums, and rising as the exigencies increased, up to $300.
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From the "Catalogue of Connecticut Volunteers," a bulky volume published by the State, we count the names of two hundred and thirty- six men, officers and privates, furnished by the town of East Windsor for the War of the Rebellion.
That part of the old territory of East Windsor which is now South Windsor has produced more eminent men than the other part of the territory ; and yet men who were in active life while East Windsor was still an unbroken town, whether they originated in one part of the territory or the other, seem naturally to come under the head of East Windsor.
Captain Ebenezer Grant was for many years one of the principal citizens of East Windsor. He was the son of Samuel and Hannah (Filley) Grant, and was born Oct. 3, 1706. He was graduated at Yale College in 1726. He came back to his native place and established himself as a merchant. He was also a ship-owner, and a builder of vessels Obsa Grant of small size. In his day the month of Scantie River was a ship-yard. Captain Grant took a large share in the interests of the town, civil, social, and military. As selectman, moderator in town-meetings, representative to the General Court, his time was largely occupied in public affairs. He was in the full vigor of life when the town of East Windsor was organized, in 1768. He lived to great age, dying in 1797 at the age of ninety-one. He was the grand- father of the present Major Frederick W. Grant, of South Windsor.
Matthew Rockwell was the son of Deacon Samnel and Elizabeth (Gaylord) Rockwell, and was born Jan. 30, 1707. He was doubtless one of the boys that the Rev. Timothy Edwards fitted for Yale College, where he was graduated in the year 1728. He studied for the ministry, and bore in after-life the threefold title of "physician, clergyman, and deacon." Mr. Rockwell seems never to have been a settled min- ister, but was from time to time called to preach. In 1741, when there was some difficulty in Mr. Edwards's church, and when Mr. Edwards himself seems to have been ill, there stands upon the parish books the following entry : "To Mr. Matthew Rockwell £8 for preaching 4 Sab- baths to this Society in Mr. Edwards confinement." He was for many years one of the deacons of the church, and served also as one of the physicians of the place. He married, Jan. 19, 1743, Jemima Cook. He died in 1782, at the age of seventy-five.
Doctor Primus was, in his way, one of the East Windsor celebrities. Stiles, in his " History of Windsor," gives us the substance of the story that follows. Primus was an African slave, the property of Dr. Alexander Wolcott, son of Governor Roger, who was a distinguished physician on the west side of the river. Primus was a large and fine- looking negro, and was employed by Dr. Wolcott to prepare and mix his medicines, and to attend him on his journeys day by day. Primus proved himself able, faithful, and trustworthy, and in grateful remem- brance of his services Dr. Wolcott gave him his liberty. Primus had been so long among drugs, and had journeyed so much with Dr. Wolcott, that he had amassed considerable medical knowledge and experience. So, after he had his liberty he went over upon the east
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
side of the river and set up in medical practice for himself. He was respected and trusted, and obtained considerable business. One day he was sent for to go and see a sick child in Poquonnock, which was on the west side of the river, and some way beyond where his old master lived. He made the visit, and on his return thought he would call on Dr. Wolcott. He was graciously received, and the Doctor inquired what business brought him across the river. " Oh," said Primus, "I was sent for to see the child of our old neighbor at Poquonnock ; but I told the mother that there was nothing very serious the matter, and that she did not need to send so far for a physician, - that you would have answered just as well."
Erastus Wolcott, Esq., son of Roger and Sarah (Drake) Wolcott, was born Sept. 21, 1722. He was married, Feb. 10, 1746, to Jerusha, daughter of John Wolcott. Though he did not have a collegiate educa- tion, as did several of his brothers, yet he became a man of great dis- tinction, not only in the affairs of his native town, but in matters State
Traiter Wolcott Bry" Bul
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