USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884, Vol. II > Part 20
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
are hereby ordered to receive him and to pay him as formerly until this court do order otherwise, or until they agree among themselves." In 1705 messengers were sent to Nantascot, near Boston, to confer with Mr. Samuel Whitman. So great was the zeal of the people, that they proposed to pay to any one who would lend money to bear the expenses of their messengers, two shillings for one shilling lent, till the time of Same Whitman, the next minister's rate. Their offers of salary were very liberal : first, £90 a year, with the use of the parsonage in the Pequabuck mead- ows, as also forty acres of land in fee, and a house, he finding glass and nails. The year after, £200 were voted as a settlement, a salary of £100, and his firewood. Wheat at that time was five shillings and threepence per bushel. Mr. Whitman was settled in 1706. In 1708, as he proposed to visit his friends at Boston, the town by their vote provided for the payment of the service and expenses of a "waighting man " to attend their minister. He was a graduate of Harvard College in 1696, and, in the words of Mr. Pitkin, " was a gentleman of strong mind and sound judgment ; his sermons correct, accurate, and instruc- tive ; his delivery and public address calm and moderate ; he was highly esteemed and greatly improved in ecclesiastical councils, and was esteemed a truly learned man." He died in 1751.
The following resolution, adopted in the second year of Mr. Whit- man's ministry, is of some interest. At a church-meeting in Farmington in the year 1708, " Agreed that such persons as own the covenant per- sonally shall be accounted under the watch and discipline of the church though not admitted to full communion."
At a meeting, Nov. 26, 1730, the rule was adopted that those bap- tized persons who proposed to own the covenant, and had previously fallen into gross or scandalous sin, should publicly profess repentance for that sin by its name, and then make the following covenant with the church : -
" You do solemnly avouch the Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in whose name you have been baptized, to be your God ; and professing a serious belief of the Holy Scriptures to be His word, do take them to be the only rule of your faith and manners, renouncing whatever you know to be contrary to them. You take the Lord Jesus Christ to be your only Saviour and Redeemer, depend- ing on Him for righteousness and strength, that you may be pardoned and ac- cepted of God, and walk in all sincere obedience to His commandments. You do also submit yourself to the discipline and government of Christ in his church and to the regular administrations of it in this church of His while Providence shall continue you here ; promising not to rest in present attainments but to be laborious after a preparation for the enjoyment of God in all his ordinances."
During Mr. Whitman's ministry the second meeting-house was begun in 1709 and completed in 1714. This second church was fifty feet square, with height proportional, and furnished with a cupola or turret, which tradition has always placed in the centre, from which the bell-rope was suspended so soon as a bell was provided. How hard it was to build the church of 1709-1772, and how rude it was when built, is obvious from the fact that the first tax of a penny in a pound was spent in procuring the nails. Another vote respected the glass and lead. Another directs that "it be ceiled with good sawn boards
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FARMINGTON.
on the within side up to the railings and filled with mortar up to the girts." Later, thoughtfulness of the fierce northwesters suggested the vote that the mortar should be continued along the second story. Two tiers of new seats were ordered, one on each side the aisle which extended to the east door. It follows from this and other notices, that the house stood along the street to the northwest of the site of the present edifice, that the pulpit was on the west side, and the entrances were from the north and south and east. The seats from the first house were probably removed to the second, and were placed facing the pulpit, except the two new ones, which, it may be conjectured, filled the space not covered by the old seats, now transferred to a larger house. Mrs. Whitman, the pastor's wife, sat in a pew at the south, that is, the right hand of the pulpit, but this pew was built at Mr. Whitman's expense, and after his decease it was purchased by the society. In 1731 the purchase of a bell was ordered, and in 1738 a town clock. Before the bell was provided, the beat of drum called the people together on Sundays and public days at a cost of £1 10s. the year. New seats were next ordered for the gallery ; now and then a pew was erected at the expense of its occupants. In 1759 the society ordered all the seats except those in front to be pulled down and replaced by pews. In 1746 a committee was appointed to repair the house and see " what can be done to prevent its spreading." From that time onward it was doomed to destruction.
The most serious ecclesiastical disturbance which occurred during the ministry of Mr. Whitman was occasioned by the "new way of singing." It would appear from the records of several meetings of the church that the result for a time was doubtful. The following reso- lution, passed by the parish, March, 1726-7, decided for the old way : -
" This meeting taking into consideration the unhappy controversy that hath been among us respecting singing of Psalms in our public assemblies upon the Sabbath, and forasmuch as the church in this place hath several times in their meetings manifested their dislike of singing psalms according to the method not long since endeavored to be introduced among us, being the same way of singing of psalms which is recommended by the reverend ministers of Boston, with other ministers to the number in all of twenty or thereabouts ; therefore that the con- troversy may be ended, and peace gained for this society, this meeting by their major vote do declare their full satisfaction with the former way of singing of psalms in this society and do earnestly desire to continue therein, and do with the church manifest their dislike of singing according to the said method endeavored to be introduced aforesaid."
In 1757 the tables were turned, for the society voted and agreed that they would introduce Mr. Watts's Version of the Psalms to be sung on the Sabbath and other solemn meetings in the room of the version that hath been previously used. At the same meeting Elijah Cowles was requested to tune the Psalm, and that he shall sit in the fifth pew. In 1762 Mr. Fisher Gay was chosen to assist Elijah Cowles in setting the psalm, and he should sit in the ninth pew on the north side the alley, and Stephen Dorchester was chosen to assist the choris- ters in reading the psalm. In April, 1773, the spring after the present house was first occupied, a choir was allowed by the following vote :
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
" Voted, That the people who have learned the rule of singing, have liberty to sit near together in the same position as they sat this day at their singing meeting and they have liberty to assist in carrying on that part of divine worship."
In 1752 the Rev. Timothy Pitkin was installed the fourth pastor of the church. He was graduated at Yale College in 1747, was the son of William Pitkin, Governor of the State, was a member of the cor- poration of Yale College from 1777 till 1804, was dismissed at his own request, and died June 8, 1811, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. He mar- ried the daughter of President Clap, and by his own re- sources and those of his wife did much for the refinement of his parish. How rude was its condition in some particulars at least may be judged by this oft-repeated story. When he brought home his wife, they rode in an open four-wheeled carriage. The older and more respectable men of the town went out to meet their pastor and his lady, and escort them home. They were of course eagerly on the lookout for the first glimpse of the expected company. When the phaeton came in sight, one of the older men cried out, "I see the cart, I see the cart!"
Of the impression which he made upon children, the late Professor Olmsted testifies by this apostrophe : -
" Friends and companions of my childhood ! Do you not see him coming in at yonder door, habited in his flowing blue cloak with his snow-white wig and tri-cornered hat of the olden time? Do you not see him wending his way through the aisle to the pulpit, bowing on either side with the dignity and grace of the old nobility of Connecticut ? Do you not still follow him as he ascends the pul- pit stairs, clinging to the railing to maintain with seeming ambition the wonted vivacity of his step, now enfeebled by age ?"
Mr. Pitkin was more than a courtly gentleman and a kindly friend. He was a man of fervent piety and earnest spirit, who sympathized with Whitefield and his movements, and invited him to his pulpit. During his ministry the practice of owning the covenant was abandoned by a decisive vote of the church. Of this event Dr. Porter writes thus : -
" Late in life he is remembered to have said to a friend with deep emotion, ' The breaking up of that halfway covenant nearly cost me my ministerial life.' In this remark he is supposed to have had reference to an incident which my father mentioned to me, and which explains the final action of the church on that subject. The question was put, 'Shall the practice of admitting persons to own the covenant without coming to the Lord's Supper be from this time discon- tinued ?' A majority of this church were in the negative. Whereupon Mr. Pitkin said, "Then I can no longer be your pastor ;' at which the motion was made and carried 'to leave the whole affair with the pastor, and the meeting was dismissed.'"
THE REV. TIMOTHY PITKIN
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FARMINGTON.
The final action of the church was taken April 18, 1781. The fol- lowing sketch of his pastoral life and estimate of his usefulness was made by the late Governor Treadwell : -
" Mr. Pitkin was a good classic scholar, and had acquired by reading and extensive acquaintance with gentlemen of information and science a general knowledge of men and things ; particularly of passing events both at home and abroad. He was a gentleman of polished manners and of a communicative dis- position, which assemblage of qualities, together with a sprightly air and manner, made him very engaging and instructive in conversation ; so that but few persons of taste ever left his company without having been entertained, and, if not owing to their own fault, improved. Besides being eminently pious, and knowing how to accommodate himself to the character and attainments of those with whom he conversed, he was able to speak a word in season that would please, and either edify or reprove, and he was very happy in so shaping his remarks as to leave a savor of religion, or at least a serious impression, on the mind.
" A popular address was his province. In this he delighted and in this he excelled. Hence there was want of variety in his sermons, which his many excel- lent qualities could not fully compensate. The reverse which took place some years before he resigned his ministry was painful to him and his people. An- other generation had arisen which knew not Joseph. They regarded him indeed with affection ; still Mr. Pitkin saw, or thought he saw, a wide difference between that affection and the admiration of the former generation. For a time he gave up his salary and continued his labors. The voluntary contributions made him by the people were small. This confirmed him in opinion that a coldness had taken place, and that his usefulness among them was at an end. A council was called ; he urged before them his want of health and that he had no further pros- pect of being useful here, and requested to be dismissed from his people. The society opposed, but the council complied with his request, and dismissed him. Since that time Mr. Pitkin has preached occasionally in various places, but for the most part has lived retired. He has, however, been very useful in praying with the congregation in the absence of a minister, in visiting and praying with the sick, in attending funerals, in praying and expounding the Scriptures at con- ferences, in conversing with and assisting and counselling such as were under religious concern, and in other pious endeavors to promote the interests of relig- ion among us. On the whole, his life was dignified and useful, his death was peaceful, and his memory will be blessed."
It was during Mr. Pitkin's pastorate that the present spacious meeting-house was erected. The first recorded movement toward the erection of this building was on Feb. 2, 1767. On the 30th of December three builders, probably residing in the neighboring parishes, were selected as a committee. They reported in April, 1768, that the old meeting-house was not worth repairing. It was not, however, until Feb. 6, 1769, that the decisive vote was taken (fifty-three against twelve) to build a new edifice. In December, 1770, the movements became earnest and decisive. In November, 1772, it was voted to meet in it for regular worship. The two persons who deserve to be named as active in its construction are Colonel Fisher Gay and Captain Judah Woodruff. Mr. Gay was one of the two or three leading merchants of the village, and a public-spirited and intelligent man. In obedience to the vote of 1769 lie and Captain Woodruff went to Boston for the timber, which was brought from the then Province of Maine, and was of the choicest quality. Captain Woodruff was the architect and master-builder, and the tools with which he wrought are many of them preserved to this
VOL. II .- 12.
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
day. The interior of this house was divided on the ground floor by aisles as at present, except that a row of square pews was placed along the walls on every side, a pew in each corner, with one or two benches by the north and the south doors. An aisle extended from the west door to the pulpit, as at present, another aisle from the south to the north door, the two dividing the body of the house into four blocks, each con- taining six pews. All these remained unpainted until they were removed in 1836, and in them all not a defect or knot was to be seen. Looking down upon the middle aisle was the formidable pulpit, with a window behind it. It was reached by a staircase on the north side, and was overhung by a wondrous canopy of wood, rounded somewhat like the
THE PRESENT MEETING-HOUSE.
dome of a Turkish mosque, and attached to the wall behind by some hidden mechanical mystery, which stimulated the speculative inquiries of the boys long before they could comprehend the graver mysteries to which it was supposed to give resonant emphasis. Along the front of the pulpit was the deacons' seat, in which sat two worthies whose saintly dignity shone with added lustre and solemnity on the days of holy communion. The gallery was surrounded by a row of pews with three rows of long benches in front, rising, as is usual, above one another. In the winter of 1825-1826 the pews and the long seats in the gallery were demolished, and slips with doors were substituted for them, for more private and special occupation. In 1836 the pews were removed from the floor, the old pulpit and sounding-board dis- appeared, new windows were made with blinds, etc., at a cost of some $2,186.70. It was not until 1824 that stoves were introduced. Pre- vious to this period foot-stoves were the sole substitute, for the filling
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FARMINGTON.
of which the people from a distance were dependent on the liberal fires which were kept burning at the hospitable houses in the vicinity. The place where this house was erected was known as the Meeting- House Green as early as 1718, and a new school-house was directed to be built upon the place with this designation, " near where the old chestnut-tree stood," which was doubtless one of the noble remnants of the original forest. As early as 1743 a general permission was granted to such farmers as lived at a distance to erect small houses along the fences on either side of this green for their comfort on the Sabbath, or, as it was phrased, for "their duds and horses." Two such houses stood on the east line, near the town pound, within the memory of many, as late as 1818 or 1820. The cost of the building was £1750 12s. 101d., of which Mr. Pitkin contributed £20.
Mr. Pitkin was dismissed at his own request, June 15, 1785, and died in 1812.
Mr. Pitkin was succeeded by the Rev. Allen Olcott, who was or- dained January, 1787, and dismissed August, 1791. He was an able but rather unattractive man, and his ministry was attended with sharp and continued divisions, although neither his Christian nor general character was called in question. He died in Orford, New Hampshire, August, 1806.
Four years afterward the divisions were still more threatening, for they were aggravated by a sharp and positive hostility on the part of many influential men against the new light, or Hopkinsian preaching. Mr. Edward Dorr Griffin, afterward so distinguished and so well known, preached as a candidate in the fervor of his youth, with the glow of his soaring imagination and the brilliancy of his imposing rhetoric. His preaching was attractive and powerful, and it made a strong impression on the young and the old. Many were awakened to new convictions, and began, as they thought, a new life. Many were vexed and disturbed, and conceived a determined hostility to the fear- less and defiant preacher. The old strifes were reawakened and became more bitter than ever. A decided majority gave Mr. Griffin a call ; but a large minority opposed him, -twenty-four to seventy-three. He accepted the call after a delay of nearly five months. A council was convened which declined to install him against so strong an opposition, but advised the calling of another council, to which the society con- sented by a small majority, - the vote standing sixty-two to forty-one. Meanwhile some reports were circulated unfavorable to the character of Mr. Griffin, and his opponents made use of them before the council. When this body convened, the house was packed as never before or since, with an excited auditory. The spokesman for his opponents was arrayed in full professional attire, and made showy denunciations against The council acquitted the candidate of the Mr. Griffin's reputation. charges, but advised that he should withdraw his Joseph Washburn letter of acceptance, which he did, and the storm was allayed. In a few months after, in the same year, the Rev. Joseph Washburn came among this people, a messenger of peace and of blessing, a man of quiet dignity and winning ways, who united all hearts, exorcised the spirit of bitter-
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MEMORIAL HISTORY OF HARTFORD COUNTY.
ness and dissension, and brought peace to the parish. Mr. Washburn was ordained May 7, 1795, and died at sea on his way to Charleston, South Carolina, Dec. 25, 1805. From 1795 to 1799 there were special revivals of religion, which are narrated in the first volume of the Connecticut " Evangelical Magazine." A volume of his sermons was published after his death.
Up to the War of Independence, the town steadily increased in wealth and population. It was divided into several parishes, but it was not until 1779 that Southington was incorporated as a separate town, the first of many others. The whole of the town took an earnest and excited interest in the Revolutionary movements, and furnished men enough to make a regiment. How spirited was its zeal and noble its sacrifices will appear from the following resolutions, which were passed at different town-meetings, when the spacious new church was crowded at times by more than a thousand men : -
" At a very full meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Farmington, Legally warned and held in said Farmington, the 15th day of June, 1774, Colonel John Strong, Moderator : -
" Voted, That the act of Parliament for blocking up the Port of Boston is an Invasion of the Rights and Privileges of every American, and as such we are De- termined to oppose the same, with all other such arbitrary and tyrannical acts in every suitable Way and Manner, that may be adopted in General Congress : to the Intent we may be instrumental in Securing and Transmitting our Rights and Privileges Inviolate, to the Latest Posterity.
" That the fate of American freedom Greatly Depends upon the Conduct of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston in the Present Alarming Crisis of Public affairs : We therefore entreat them by Every thing that is Dear and Sacred, to Persevere with Unremitted Vigilence and Resolution, till their Labour shall be crowned with the desired Success.
"That as many of the inhabitants of the town of Boston, must, in a short time be reduced to the Utmost Distress, in Consequence of their Port Bill, we deem it our indispensable Duty, by every Effectual and Proper Method, to assist in affording them specdy Relief.
" In pursuance of which Fisher Gay, Selah Hart, Stephen Hotchkiss, Esqs., and Messrs. Samuel Smith, Noadiah Hooker, Amos Wadsworth, Simcon Strong, James Percival, Elijah Hooker, Mathew Cole, Jonathan Root, Josiah Cowles, Daniel Lankton, Jonathan Andrews, Jonathan Woodruff, Aaron Day, Timothy Clark, Josiah Lewis, Hezekiah Gridley, Jr., Asa Upson, Amos Barnes, Stephen Barnes, Jr., Ichabod Norton, Joseph Miller, William Woodford, Jedidiah Nor- ton, Jr., Gad Stanley, John Lankton, Elnathan Smith, Thos. Upson, Elisha Booth, Samuel North, Jr., Theo. Hart, and Resen Gridley be a committee, with all convenient speed, to take in subscriptions : Wheat, Rye, Indian corn, and other provisions of the Inhabitants of this Town, and to Collect and Transport the same to the Town of Boston, there to be delivered to the Select Men of the Town of Boston, to be by them Distributed at their Discretion, to those who arc incapacitated to procure a necessary subsistence in consequence of the late oppressive Measures of Administration.
" That William Judd, Fisher Gay, Selah Hart, and Stephen Hotchkiss, Esqs., Messrs. John Treadwell, Asahel Wadsworth, Jonathan Root, Sam. Smith, Ichabod Norton, Noadiah Hooker, and Gad Stanley, be, and they are hereby appointed a Committee to keep up a Correspondence with the Towns of this and the neighboring Colonies, and that they forthwith transmit a copy of the votes of this Meeting to the Committee of Correspondence for the Town of Boston, and also cause the same to be made public.
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FARMINGTON.
"Sept. 20, Tuesday, 1774, it was voted that the Selectmen be directed to purchase Thirty Hundred weight of Lead to be added to the Town stock for the use of the Town.
" At the same meeting, voted, that the Selectmen be directed to procure Ten Thousand French flints to be added to the Town Stock for the use of the Town.
" Voted, That the Selectmen be Directed to purchase thirty six barrels of Powder, with what is already provided, to be added to the Town Stock for the use of the Town.
" In 1775 special encouragement was given to John Treadwell and Martin Bull, in the manufacture of Saltpetre.
" Sept. 16, 1777, the first record is made of the administration of the Oath of Fidelity to the State of Connecticut, and the oath provided for freemen to a large number of persons.
" A similar record is made Dec. 1, 1777, and others at subsequent dates.
" The inhabitants of the town of Farmington in legal town meeting convened. To Isaac Lee, Jr., and John Treadwell, Esqs., Representatives for said town in the General Assembly of this State : Gentlemen, having in pursuance of the rec- ommendation of the Governor of this State taken into serious consideration the articles of confederation and perpetual union proposed by the Honorable Con- gress of the United States to the consideration and approbation of said States, we are of the opinion that there is much wisdom conspicuous in many of said articles which in many respects are highly calculated to promote the welfare and emolument of the United States and promise the most extensive blessings to us and posterity, it is therefore with the utmost pain that we find there is discover- able in some of said articles which bear an unfavorable aspect to the New England States, and this in particular, the similarity of customs, manners, and sentiments of the nine Western States, and their opposition to the New England States in these respects, especially as the power of transacting the most important business is vested in nine States, gives us great apprehension that evil conse- quences may flow to the prejudice of the New England States -the method of appointing courts for the deciding controversies between two or more States which will, as the case may be, entirely exclude every person that may be nominated in the New England States ; the rule of stating the quota of men for the Conti- nental Service in war and mode of apportioning of the public expense, we are constrained to say are in our opinion very exceptionable though we are unwilling to believe that they were designed for the prejudice of this and the other New England States ; you are therefore directed to use your influence in the General Assembly of this State by proper ways and means that the articles of confedera- tion may be amended and altered in the several particulars above mentioned by Congress, if such emendations can be made without manifestly endangering the independence and liberties of the United States. The emoluments, however, of the United States are to govern you in all your deliberations upon this interesting and important subject.
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