USA > Connecticut > The records of convocation, 1790-1848 > Part 15
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Prayer for all conditions of men.
O God the Creator and Preserver of all mankind etc :
General Thanksgiving.
Almighty God, Father of all mercies etc : 2 Cor. xiii. 14. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ etc : Amen."
I certify that I have compared the foregoing copy with the original manuscript in my possession, and that the same is in all respects a true copy of the said original and of the whole thereof, except that the words "Occasional Prayers" have been in one case omitted (as the heading of a page in the original not needed in the copy), and except that the character "&" has been sometimes written out as "and."
Dated New York, November 27th, 1903.
WM. J. SEABURY.
13
Note XVIII
Oyster River was a part of the boundary between New Haven and Orange, in which the ancient parish of Christ Church, West Haven, was situated. It also gave its name to a locality where were many church- men, prominent among them the descendants of Thomas Clark, one of the founders of the parish in 1732. Thaddeus Clark afterwards removed to Genesee County, N. Y., where he continued to do a good work for the Church in a pioneer community.
Note XIX
The Hon. John Adams, President of the United States, was at this time making a tour through New England on his way to the seat of Government at Philadelphia. It was the custom for all public bodies and towns to present to the President a formal address. No publication of that period contains that from the Convocation, Mr. Adams does not refer to it in his "Diary," nor does his biographer allude to any address from religious organizations.
Note XX
The need of such an office had been long felt. The comparative insecurity of the tenure of office by the clergy, it was thought, would be taken away if such a solemn service of induction was used. The com- piler was the Rev. Dr. William Smith, then Rector of St. Paul's Church, Norwalk, a native of Scotland, a man of varied accomplishments and a liturgical scholar at a period when few knew much of such an abtruse subject as liturgics. The Office, after its adoption, was used in the Diocese. It formed the basis of the New York Office of 1802, and with a few changes was set forth for general use by the General Convention of 1804. In 1868 its title was changed to "An Office of Institution." Its use was compulsory by Canon until 1832.
Note XXI
The early history of the Church in Hartford, the organization of Christ Church and some particulars of the consecration will be found in the carefully compiled volume of the present senior warden of Christ Church, Dr. Gurdon W. Russell, entitled Contributions to the History of Christ Church, Hartford.1
The first church edifice was erected on land which had been originally purchased for the newly organized parish in 1762, and comprehended the northeast corner of the lot on which the present church building stands. The French and Indian War, soon followed by the Revolution, made it impossible to build as originally intended. After the Revolution the land, which had passed out of the possession of the churchmen of Hartford, was reclaimed. On November 28, 1786, a subscription paper was issued and a little more than three hundred pounds obtained. In March, 1792, a contract was entered into with Ebenezer Clark, joiner, to build the frame of the church, which was raised in June, 1792. It was ninety feet by forty-four in breadth. It was incomplete in 1795, when five hundred and seventy-five dollars were secured to finish it. Mr. Calvin Whiting, of Needham, Massachusetts, served as lay reader from July to October, 1795. There seems to have been no settled clergyman in the parish until July 1801, when the Rev. Menzies Rayner of Elizabeth Town, New Jersey, took charge. The parish had previously sought to obtain the services of the Rev. Ashbel Baldwin, and the Rev. Ammi Rogers.
The formal organization as a parish under the charge of the Bishop was on September 15, 1796, when thirty-four gentlemen signed the articles of incorporation. Among them were Mr. John Morgan, Mr. Wm. Imlay, Mr. Wm. Burr, Mr. Thomas Sanford, Jr., Horace Church, John Bull, John McCracken.2
The day of the consecration was very rainy. Dr. Russell gives the contemporary account of the service from the Courant and a fac simile of the sentence of consecration. The Instrument of Donation was read by Mr. John Morgan, the Senior Warden.3
1 Hartford : Belknap & Warfield. 1898. 8vo, pp. 787.
2 P. 54. Contributions.
3 Pp. 55, 56, Contributions.
Note XXII
This is the first formal mention of this erratic and pestilent man, the disturber of the peace of the Church in Connecticut.
Ammi Rogers, a native of Branford, had studied theology with the Rev. Mr. Jarvis, of Middletown. Detected in a flagrant act of immor- ality, he was sent from the home of the Rector. For a short time he studied with the Rev. Dr. Mansfield and the Rev. Edward Blakeslee at Derby. He then went into the recently settled region about Saratoga, locating at Ballston. His work seems remarkable, and much of it was permanent. When he sought Holy Orders in New York in the summer of 1792 rumors of his misconduct had reached Dr. Beach, an influential member of the Standing Committee, and he demanded a certificate of good moral character from the Bishop and clergy of Connecticut. This Mr. Rogers did not obtain, but he did secure from a friend who was visiting the Rev. Philo Perry, Secretary of the Standing Committee, a certificate in the name of Mr. Perry that no proceedings had ever been taken against him. Made deacon on June 24, 1792, by Bishop Provoost in Trinity Church, New York City, he remained at Ballston for nine years longer and then returned to Branford in August, 1801. He took charge of Trinity, Branford, St. John's, Northford, St. Paul's, Wallingford, and East Haven.
Mr. Rogers attributes the hostility and suspicion of the Bishop and clergy to politics. "Although I have never interfered in politics, yet I now thought it best for the Bishop and all the clergy, to join with the republicans and vote for Colonel Ephraim Kirby to be Governor of Con- necticut, that he was a worthy man, a well informed Churchman, and would without doubt use his best endeavors to have those offensive laws repealed which gave to one sect or party a superiority. At this the Bishop and some of the clergy were very much displeased; and this has been the cause of persecution, slander and abuse, of civil prosecution, of distress, of imprisonment, of disgrace and ruin to myself, to my chil- dren and friends."1
Mr. Rogers claimed that he was a clergyman in good standing and had presented in his behalf to the Convocation at Danbury in June, 1803, a petition from the churches in Branford, East Haven, Northford, Wal- lingford, Durham, and also one from Dr. Mansfield, Mr. Tyler, Mr. Blakeslee, Mr. Todd, Mr. Mills and Mr. Warren, stating their knowledge of Mr. Rogers, his character and standing in the Church, of the union and uncommon prosperity of the churches under his care, "and prayed the Bishop and clergy to be reconciled to him, or to bring forward their
1 Pp. 37, 38, Memoirs of the Rev. Ammi Rogers . . . Composed, compiled and written by the Rev. Ammi Rogers. 12mo. Published for subscribers by the Author. 1824.
-185-
accusations, if any they had. In answer to which the Bishop arose and standing within the rails of the altar, and near the communion table in the church in Danbury, and as president of the Convention in 1803, declared and said, We (meaning the Bishop and clergy) have nothing against Mr. Rogers. We acknowledge his character and authority to be good, and on receiving a single line from the Bishop of New York we would receive him with open arms.'"1
Mr. Rogers's statements are not corroborated by any member of the Convention or Convocation.
Note XXIII
This is the first periodical publication of the American Church. It was issued with the cordial approval and aid of Bishop Jarvis. Its articles were clear and direct and their teaching was sound and practical. The first number appeared in January, 1804, with a well written address stating its objects. Several of the clergy of literary ability, including Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Rayner, Mr. Burhans, Dr. Mansfield and others, con- tributed to its pages. The first editor was the Rev. Dr. William Smith, then the Principal of the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire, Commenced as a private enterprise, its promoters felt the need of the support of the whole Church in Connecticut, and knew that through the Convocation this could be obtained.
Its original title was The Churchman's Magazine or Treasury of Divine and Useful Knowledge, edited by a Committee of the Convocation of Connecticut A. D. 1804. Its publishers were Oliver Steele & Co., New Haven.
1 P. 39, Memoir.
Note XXIV
The action of Bishop Jarvis was based upon the decision of the House of Bishops in September, 1804, to which Mr. Rogers had appealed. There was a full hearing of both the representatives of Mr. Rogers and the Church in Connecticut. Finally the conduct of Mr. Rogers was declared during his residence in Connecticut to have been "insulting, refractory, and schismatical in the highest degree." The action of the Church in Connecticut was approved and the Bishops were of opinion "that he deserves a severe ecclesiastical censure-that of degradation from the ministry.
Upon the question as to what authority Mr. Rogers was amenable, they were unanimous in declaring that, as there was no Canon regulating clerical removals until that Convention, he was amenable to the authority of that diocese exclusively."1
Note XXV
No action seems to have been taken under this appointment, nor does it appear that the same committee prepared a history of the action relating to Mr. Rogers.
Note XXVa
After 1808 the Churchman's Magazine was published in Connecticut, but with the cooperation and financial aid of Dr. Hobart and others in the City of New York. Dr. Hobart had been anxious for its removal to that city. The publication had never commanded the support, literary and pecuniary, which it deserved. This action was only preliminary to the transfer of the publication, which took place early in 1808, when the Rev. Dr. Hobart became its editor.
1 The full decision is in Bioren's Reprint Journals of the General Convention ; also pp, 34-36 Dr. Beardsley's History.
Note XXVI
THE REVEREND DAVID BALDWIN.
David, a son of William Baldwin, was born in Litchfield on February 4, 1780. While carefully educated, he did not enjoy the advantages of a college course. He was a student in theology with his cousin, Dr. Ashbel Baldwin, and is known to have been officiating as lay reader in Guilford and North Guilford in November, 1806. In March, 1807, he was called to be the minister of Christ Church, Guilford, but was not made deacon until September I, 1807.1 Mr. Baldwin served with great fidelity and unwearied patience the three parishes of Guilford, North Guilford and North Killingworth, sometimes called North Bristol. There are still living those who remember him with gratitude and affection. At Easter 1834 he resigned the charge of Guilford, but retained the other parishes and added Branford until 1838. In 1851 he resigned North Guilford. He continued to serve Zion Church, North Branford, and Union Church, Killingworth, until 1858, when his age and infirmities made his retire- ment from all active service necessary. Bishop Williams said of him then, that he was "the senior presbyter of the Diocese and carried with him into his retirement the affectionate veneration of his brethren, and the blessing of those to whom he had so long and faithfully ministered." He died at Guilford on August 2, 1862, in the eighty-third year of his age and the fifty-sixth of his ministry.
The present Rector of Christ Church, in his history of the parish, says of him that "he was to all men a model of Christian fidelity, and the members of his widely scattered flock, whom he never neglected in heat or cold, in sunshine or storm, though often exposed as he went to and fro on horseback, to severe hardship, and to whom his house was open for unstinted hospitality, found in him a noble example of that unswerving devotion to pastoral duty which distinguished the early representatives of Connecticut Churchmanship."2
1 Registry of Ordinations.
2 P. 70, History of Christ Episcopal Church.
Note XXVII
The condition which led to this appointment was the controversy aroused in May, 1811, by the publication of the Rev. Cave Jones, an assist- ant minister of Trinity Church, New York City, of "A Solemn Appeal to the Church." In it he arraigned Dr. Hobart, his colleague, for over- bearing and insulting conduct; he accuses him of love of power and with a desire to make the whole diocese yield to his will. This aroused a fierce controversy and pamphlet war, which was continued for nearly two years and divided the Church in New York City and throughout the State.
The overtures of this Committee of the Convocation were received with coldness by the authorities in New York and no conference was ever held. Connecticut was even accused of "officious meddling." But, as Dr. Beardsley well says, "It was not officious meddling in them to wish that the parties involved might correct their misunderstandings, sacrifice their worldly resentments, if they had any, at the foot of the Master's Cross, and henceforth proceed hand in hand, as champions of the faith, to build up the Kingdom, whose sublime watchword was 'Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace, good will towards men.' "1
Note XXVIII
This was one of several unsuccessful attempts to obtain a charter for Seabury College, a cherished plan of our spiritual ancestors.
Note XXIX
The origin of this Library is obscure. It is claimed that the intention was to form a collection for the benefit of the clergy of Christ Church, Stratford, and for others in Fairfield County. There is no tradition remaining concerning it in Stratford, and nothing appears upon the records of Christ Church in regard to it. None of the books are now in the library of the Episcopal Academy.
1 P. 78, Dr. Beardsley's History, II ; see also Case of Cave Jones. New York, 1813.
Note XXX
The question of the propriety of allowing deacons who had not been instituted into any parish to vote in Convention and take part in the election of a Bishop had been very widely and acrimoniously discussed.
The Rev. Philander Chase of Hartford had written upon the subject to Bishop Claggett of Maryland. He evidently led the opposition to the practice.
Note XXXI
Article 3 of the Constitution of the Diocese as adopted on June 6, 1792, by the first Convention of the clergy and laity of the Diocese reads :
When the Episcopate of this Church shall become vacant by death or otherwise, the Presbyters, Deacons, and Lay Deputies from the several Churches in the Diocese, shall meet within three months of the time when said vacancy shall happen, either at New Haven or Middletown, in order to elect a person to fill the Episcopal Chair, and the time and place of such meeting shall be notified by a Standing Committee annually to be appointed for that and other purposes, by publishing the same in two or more Newspapers in this State, at least four weeks successively, previous to said Meeting. And whosoever shall be elected by a majority of the votes of the clergy then present, shall be considered as duly elected, provided the person chosen shall be approved by a majority of the Lay Deputies.1
The Constitution was evidently quoted from memory by the mover of this resolution. The new paragraph would follow in the original con- stitution the words: "by death, or otherwise." It was intended to exclude unemployed deacons.
1 P. 4, Reprint of the Journals, 1792-1820.
Note XXXII
The career of defiance to constituted authority pursued by Mr. Ammi Rogers can be followed in the pages of Dr. Beardsley's admirable "History."1
This attempt to force recognition of his claims upon the clergy is the last made by him. He thought that when the Diocese came under the charge of Bishop Hobart that his case could be reopened. In this he was mistaken and the Convocation took the only proper and consistent course. Mr. Rogers' Memoirs contain letters written at this time by the Rev. Solomon Blakeslee and the Rev. John Tyler pleading for the degraded priest. There is also one from Mr. Rogers to Bishop Hobart, plausible and full of pious and fervent expressions.2
Note XXXIII
The needs of the poorer clergymen in their old age had been much considered in private. The deaths of several whose families had been left destitute brought the matter before the clergy at this time.
But no method suggested seemed feasible, and even the fuller and more acceptable plan presented in 1823 met with little favor. In 1845 the necessities of the aged clergy were brought before the Convention again and a fund was created by Canon to be disbursed by the Bishop and Standing Committee. There was such an accumulation of money that in 1855 a separate board called "The Trustees of the Aged and Infirm Clergy and Widows Fund" was incorporated. The management and increase of that fund is still under their wise and prudent care.
1 See pp. 47-53, 54-89, 154-159, History, II. 2 Pp. 54-63, Memoirs. .
Note XXXIV
The successive steps taken to establish a second college in the State of Connecticut, one which should be under the exclusive control of the Church, are well detailed by Dr. Beardsley in his historical address on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Trinity College.1
To all petitions and memorials presented on behalf of the Episcopal Academy to confer upon it collegiate privileges and rights the full negative of the Senate, then called Council, defeated the large majority in its favor in the Assembly. With the consecration of Dr. Brownell as Bishop the opportunity came. The more liberal Constitution of the State adopted in 1818 made it possible to urge the plan, which was well matured. The members of the Committee of the Convocation and a general committee selected by Bishop Brownell and Dr. Wheaton were men of much sagacity and knew what could be accomplished. A memorial to the General Assembly was drawn up and copies widely circulated throughout the parishes of the Diocese. It was largely signed and presented on May 13, 1823. The charter applied for was granted in the lower house on May 16, and soon after approved by the Senate and signed by the Governor. It incorporated a body politic to be known as the "Trustees of Washington College."
Bishop Brownell was chosen President of the College, and with him were associated as professors the Rev. George W. Doane, Belles Lettres and Oratory; Mr. Frederick Hall, Chemistry and Mineralogy; Mr. Horatio Hickok, Agriculture and Political Economy; the Rev. Hector Humphrey, Greek and Latin.
The Trustees named in the Charter were: Thomas C. Brownell, Harry Croswell, Elijah Boardman, Samuel W. Johnson, Birdsey G. Noble, Samuel Merwin, Nathaniel S. Wheaton, Elisha Cushman, Charles Sigourney, Thomas Macdonough, Richard Adams, David Watkinson, Ebenezer Young, Jonathan Starr, Jr., Nathan Smith, John Thompson Peters, Asa Chapman, Elias Perkins, John S. Peters, Luther Loomis.
The College was located upon an elevated plateau in the City of Hart- ford, the people of that city having made the largest subscription.
The grounds were carefully laid out and ornamented under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Wheaton, who succeeded Bishop Brownell in the presidency. To both of these founders the Church in this Diocese owes a debt of gratitude.
In 1848 the name was changed to Trinity College.
The original site of the college is now occupied by the Capitol of the State.
1 An Historical Address pronounced before the House of Convocation of Trinity Col- lege, Christ Church, Hartford, July 30th, 1851, on the occasion of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Commencement of that Institution, by the Rev. E. E. Beardsley, M.A. Hartford : Han- mer & Co., Calendar Press, 1851. 8vo, pp. 30.
Note XXXV
The first series of the Churchman's Magazine ended with December 18II. The second series commenced in 1813, with the Rev. John C. Rudd of Elizabeth Town as editor. It ended in 1816. Bishop Hobart established in 1817 in New York City The Christian Journal to be his official organ. It contained much general church news and original and valuable articles, and obtained a wide circulation. This periodical con- tinued until 1831, when The Churchman, a weekly paper, was established by Bishop Onderdonk.
Connecticut churchmen had always regretted the necessity which com- pelled them to consent to the transfer of the Magazine to New York.
In 1821 Bishop Brownell and other clergymen of literary talent com- menced the publication of a new series of The Churchman's Magazine after the Convention of 1820 had formally requested them. All loss or deficiency was to fall upon the publishers, without any direct or indirect obligation on the part of the Convention to make up losses or deficiencies. This third series was issued until 1823, when for lack of support the publication was suspended.
The final series, under the editorship of Dr. Bronson, became a source of strength to the Diocese. Its articles were eminently readable and its comments on Church events fresh and entertaining. It was continued until the close of 1826.
Note XXXVI
Mr. Barlow's plan, which he carefully worked out and presented in an attractive manner, was for an American society similar to the well- known Christian Knowledge Society in England. Its chief function was to be the publication of books of information upon the Church, brief and popular tracts and sometimes reprint standard English Church classics. He had received much encouragement from Bishops and other clergymen. The plan was presented to the General Convention of 1826 and referred to a committee to report, but no practical action was taken.
Its chief features were used in the establishment three years later of the Protestant Episcopal Press in New York City. Mr. Barlow's printed scheme is a plain and practical document. It is entitled
"Consideration on the Employment of the Press as a means of dif- fusing the Principles of the Church, with the Plan of a Society and the draft of a proposed Constitution adapted to that object," by the Rev. William Barlow, Rector of Claremont.1
1 New York : T. & J. Swords, 1826. 8vo, pp. 24.
Note XXXVII
So far as can now be known the Committee never carried out this plan.
Note XXXVIII
The remainder of this letter cannot be found.
Note XXXIX
This tour was the outcome of Bishop Brownell's sermon before the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society in Philadelphia in August, 1829. It was upon "Christian Zeal" and referred feelingly to "the vast territory of our Union, spreading to the west and south," not then under the jurisdiction of any Protestant Bishop.
The needs of the southwest, while not urged as frequently and ably as those of the west, were nevertheless pressing. Many opportunities were lost because no Bishop has visited them.
The proposal was to send Bishop Brownell to make a thorough exploration. The Directors requested him to take the journey, perform Episcopal functions and inquire into the condition of the few missions there.
After some deliberation he accepted the duty laid upon him. He left Hartford on November 5, 1829, went by boat to New York, and was joined by the Rev. William Richmond, a man of intense zeal and missionary energy. Their route was from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. On their way they visited all the churches. The Bishop ordained some, confirmed others and blessed all.
In the course of his journey of six thousand miles he consecrated six churches, ordained one priest, confirmed one hundred and forty-two persons, preached or assisted in the services seventy-four times, bap- tized twenty-two children and twelve adults.
It was a journey of great extent, free from any serious illness or accident, and set forward the Church in that region. The Bishop pre- sided at the organization of the dioceses of Louisiana and Alabama. He returned to his home in Hartford on March 14, 1830. A detailed account from his Journal was published in The Spirit of Missions in 1830.
Note XL
Mr. Phoebus was the organist of Trinity Church, New Haven. He had acquired much celebrity as a musician. His small publication of chants was long used both in New Haven and elsewhere.
Its title page is :
Chants adapted to the Service of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States Compiled by John H. Phoebus New Haven Pub- lished by Durrie and Peck 1831
I2mo pp 24 Baldwin and Treadway print
In his preface he says :
"The following compilation is offered to the public in compliance with a wish expressed by many Episcopalians of this city, that the chants commonly used in the Church, might be published in such form, and on such terms as would induce the members of the parish generally to procure them.
Considering it also as better the whole congregation should join in the chants, no less than in the responses of our services, the compiler endeavored to select such pieces as may be easily learned; admitting only those which are calculated to give expression force & solemnity to the language of devotion."
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