USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Waterbury > The town and city of Waterbury, Connecticut, from the aboriginal period to the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five. Volume III > Part 16
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The financial burdens up to 1846 were heavy, but were bravely borne, Timothy Ball being the chief burden-bearer. In 1846 and 1847, to gain relief from debt, the services of a stationed preacher were dispensed with. There had come to the society two young and able local preachers, Joseph Smith, an Englishman, and Larmon W. Abbott. These brethren consented to preach free of charge, Mr. Smith two Sundays in each month, and Mr. Abbott one Sunday, and a circuit preacher came once a month. The debt was wiped out, the meeting-house was repaired and re-painted, and the society was ready to receive again a stationed pastor with renewed courage and zeal.
During the occupancy of the first house of worship the preachers in charge of the society, including the circuit preachers of 1846 and 1847, were as follows:
1833, Davis Stocking, 1838, Loren Clark, 1839-40, Charles Chittenden,
1834, W. S. Smith, 1835, Sanford Washburn,
1841-42, William C. Hoyt,
J843, Aaron S. Hill,
1836, H. D. Gossling, 1837, W. McKendree Bangs,
1844, William Gay,
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1845, Moses Blydenburg, 1847, Elias Gilbert,
1846, Ebenezer O. Beers,
1848, Seneca Howland,
1846, Elias Gilbert,
1849-50, Ira Abbott,
I847, F. W. Sizer,
1851-52, Nathaniel Mead.
The population of the town having increased in 1852 to over 5000, and the membership of the Methodist church to nearly 250, a necessity was felt for larger and more central accommodations. There was no longer difficulty in obtaining an eligible site, and a purchase was made from William H. Scovill of a part of his garden on East Main street at what is now the corner of Phoenix avenue. The cost, after selling part of the lot, was $2925. A brick church was erected thereon, measuring fifty-five by eighty-five feet, at a cost, including furnishings and bell and sheds, of $16,867. The edifice was plain in style, its chief architectural feature being two square towers on the front, one rising from each corner. There were class-rooms and a lecture room in the basement, and the auditorium had a choir gallery over the en- trance and side galleries. It had sittings, including those in the galleries, for about 500 persons .*
In this second house of worship the church enjoyed twenty-four years of prosperity. Talented and faithful pastors proclaimed the word of life, and there were frequent rejoicings THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN 1857. FROM A DRAWING BY C. U. C. BURTON (NATIONAL MAGAZINE). over souls converted. In common with the other churches of Waterbury this church shared in the general revival of 1857-58, and it has shared in the inter- denominational fellowship which since that time has so fully pre- vailed. In 1868 came accessions from a revival which had its chief centre in the Baptist church. Revivals centring in its own meet-
* This edifice stood until 1887, and its site is now occupied by the Platt building (see p. 186).
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ings also increased the number of its members nearly every year, especially from 1873 to 1876. Its Sunday school meanwhile grew steadily and attained a high rank among the Sunday schools of the state. The church moreover reached out beyond its own walls, and sent forth its local preachers and its laymen, singly and in "praying bands," to plant or aid churches in neighboring towns, and to carry evangelizing influences to outlying districts.
In 1874 a chapel was built on Leonard street, in the Brooklyn district, and a Sunday school and devotional meetings were estab- lished, with Edward T. Abbott as superintendent. This mission was continued until 1883, but few were drawn to it except those who attended the churches at the centre, and it was at length reluctantly abandoned. The property was sold and the proceeds were applied to the extinguishment of a debt incurred in behalf of that mission and the mission at Waterville. In "temperance work" during this period the Waterbury church rose to a leading position in activity and influence. Its pastors have ever been zealous and outspoken in this cause, and its laymen and lay women have con- stituted a large element in the anti-saloon forces of the city. As regards its finances, the church, although prosperous, was never out of debt. In 1860 the debt was increased by the purchase of a parsonage property on North Main street, in place of the house on Franklin street. It was also somewhat increased by chapel build- ing, but in 1876 had been reduced to about $6000.
The preachers in charge of the society during this period were as follows:
1853-54, Benjamin Pillsbury. 1863-64, Moses L. Scudder.
1855-56, Thomas G. Osborn. 1865-67, George Stillman.
1857-58, James H. Perry. 1868-70, William H. Wardell.
1859, George A. Hubbell. 1871-73, Daniel O. Ferris.
1860-61, John B. Merwin. 1874-76, Christopher S. Williams.
1862, George W. Woodruff. 1877, John Pegg, Jr.
Under the ministry of these men the number of members in full connection steadily increased. In 1865 there were 295, and in 1877 there were 533. The Sunday school grew from 221 in 1855 to 436 in 1877.
The increase of membership and the rapid growth of the popu- lation soon impressed upon the society the necessity of again increasing its church accommodations. In May, 1870, the trus- tees purchased the Whittal property on North Main street. It was considered a very desirable site for a church edifice; but, finding it impossible to raise funds to carry it, much less to build suitably thereon, they sold it the next year to Dr. Alfred North.
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Plans were made for enlarging the East Main street edifice; a divi- sion of the society into two organizations was also considered, but neither project found sufficient favor to secure adoption. In 1876,
THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 1889.
the offer of a lot measuring 70 by 160 feet, on the corner of North Main street and Abbott avenue, as a free gift, and the occurrence of an opportunity to sell the East Main street property for $25,000,
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seemed to open the way for going boldly forward. The lot was conveyed, September 20, 1876, by Anson F. Abbott, to George Gilbert, Orrin H. Bronson, Charles Bronson, Horace B. Wooster, William Davis, Jr., Anson F. Abbott, Chauncey P. Goss, William P. Thomas and James M. Abbott, trustees of the society. The East Main street property was sold to the parish of the Immac- ulate Conception, subscriptions were secured, the parsonage was removed from its site adjoining the new lot in order to secure ample room for a large edifice, plans were made and accepted, and a contract for the new church was signed. In January, 1878, the chapel was ready for occupancy, and on Sunday, January 27, ser- vices were held in it. On Wednesday, May 22, the church was formally dedicated. Its total cost, including the organ and all the furnishings, was about $54,000.
From 1856 to 1883 the Sunday school of the First Methodist church was under the superintendence of Anson F. Abbott. Declin- ing further election he was made honorary superintendent, and was succeeded in the active superintendency by Charles S. Chapman. The total membership of the school at the last named date was 539. From 1880 to 1891, Mrs. Imri A. Spencer was associate superin- tendent.
The pastors in charge of the society since the occupancy of the present church edifice are as follows:
1878-79, John Pegg, Jr. 1886-87, Wellesley W. Bowdish.
1880-82, Calvin B. Ford. 1888-91, Asahel C. Eggleston.
1883, George P. Mains. 1892-93, William H. Barton.
1884-85, John L. Peck. 1894-95, Gardner S. Eldridge.
A sketch of the life and work of each of the pastors of the Waterbury church might well be given in connection with this his- tory, were not the list, under the itinerant system, so long as to ren- der this impracticable .*
The membership of the First Methodist Episcopal church which in 1878 was 500, numbers now 604, about 200 of its members having in the meantime been set off to new societies. Adding the member- ship of St. Paul's, which numbers 184, of the Waterville church, 49, and the Chapel street church, 105, we have a present total member- ship of 942, where in 1815 the church began its organized existence with its first obscure enrollment of five names. Including those who died or removed prior to 1851, whose names were enrolled on records which have been lost, there have been probably not less
* Much can be learned respecting these preachers by consulting the annual " Minutes of the New York East Conference," a set of which, nearly complete, may be found in the Bronson library.
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THE STORY OF METHODISM.
than 2500 souls that have found sheltering membership in the fold of the Methodist Episcopal church in Waterbury. Besides these, there have been gathered in by other churches many who were awakened and quickened under Methodist influences, these churches being thus repaid tenfold, perhaps a hundred fold, for the good material they so unwillingly loaned to Methodism in its earlier years .*
SAMUEL R. HICKCOX.
Samuel Reynolds Hickcox, who more than any other man may be considered the father of the First Methodist church, was at the time of its organization a young man of twenty-five years, having been born in 1790. He came here from Wolcottville, where he had joined the Methodists three years before, under the ministry of William Swazee, a Frenchman on the circuit. He and his wife, Sarah Osborn, were born in Watertown, and were married there in 1808. He was a brother of Randall Hickcox, a noted fiddler at balls and dances. Samuel was a miller, and after removing from Wol- cottville ran a grist mill that stood not far from the Oakville pin factory, and lived in a house near by. Both he and his wife were energetic Methodists and were of great service in the young society which they helped to organize at Pine Hole. For a time he lived at the centre, and ran the old grist mill at the Scovill factory. He was a good miller, and grists were brought from long distances to his mill.
In 1821 he was licensed as a local preacher. He is said to have preached the first Methodist sermon ever heard in Waterbury centre to a large audience in a ball room. After this he held ser- vices frequently, and a goodly number were converted under his preaching. In 1825 he removed to Southbury. In 1826 he was ordained a local deacon, at the same time with Daniel Wooster of Middlebury, by Bishop Hedding in the old John street church in New York. He stood in the front rank of local preachers. He had a good mind and a good presence, was a fluent speaker and a good singer.
In 1828 Mr. Hickcox removed to Humphreysville, where he had charge of a first class mill, and afterwards engaged in clock making. After leaving Waterbury he frequently returned to visit the little society here and preach to the people. He is remembered as resembling Dr. Wilbur Fisk and as being very impressive in his
* On Sunday, June 30, 1889, at the First Methodist church, a paper was read by A. F. Abbott, on the "Origin and Growth of Methodism in Waterbury." The occasion was the centennial of the introduction of Methodism into New England. The history of Methodism here given has been condensed from the manu- script prepared at that time. An abstract of the same was published in the Waterbury American (weekly), July 5, 1889.
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manner. In his later years he suffered from mental depression produced by bodily infirmities, but was much aided by the resolute spirit of his healthy, outspoken wife, who was through life a worthy helpmate. He died in Seymour, March 14, 1861, and his wife on January 28, 1868. Their graves are close beside the Methodist church in that place. Their portraits are preserved in the parlors of the Waterbury church.
MRS. MARY PECK.
Mrs. Mary Peck is entitled to be called the Mother of the Meth- odist Episcopal church in Waterbury. She belonged to one of the well-known Atwater families of New Haven, and at thirty-six years of age became the sec- ond wife of Roger Peck, a man of Puritan line- age, and of prominence in the town of Wood- bridge. They came to Waterbury from Beth- any in 1802, and bought and occupied a farm on the west side of the Naugatuck, opposite " Pine Hole." Here Roger Peck died, Sep- tember 17, 1809. Be- fore removing .to Waterbury Mr. Peck, with some others who had become disaffected, had abandoned Con- gregationalism and at- Mary Peck tended the Episcopal church. At the time the Methodist society was organized at Pine Hole his widow had probably just removed to Waterbury centre, having bought, in 1814, a little place on East Main street. Under what influences Mrs. Peck was led to cast in her lot with the Metho- dists we are not informed, but that she united with them "heart and soul" is evident from her subsequent life. She was among the
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first ten members of the class formed at Pine Hole. She is remem- bered as a woman of superior intelligence and independent spirit, one who commanded general respect among those who knew her. Her little red house on East Main street became (as is shown in the sketch of Methodism) the cradle of the church at the centre. She sold that house in 1849 and bought the larger one across the way, at the corner of School street, where she died, November 4, 1853, in her ninety-fourth year.
MARY PHILENA PECK, whose memory is inseparable from that of her mother, was born in 1798. She was a bright, witty girl of eighteen at the time her mother joined the Methodist society. She used jokingly to tell her companions how some day she too would be a Methodist, with a meek face, plain dress and drab bonnet, and say : "amen" in the meetings. While visiting her half sister, Mrs. Edward Perkins, at Pine Hole, she attended some of the meet- ings at David Wheeler's house, near by, and there "came under conviction of sin " and into a bright, living Christian experience. She was associated with her mother in all the history of the church while it centred in their little red house, and for twenty years thereafter supported the aged saint 'AUNT PHILA" PECK. in her glad attendance at the first meeting-house on Union square. Then for thirty years longer " Aunt Phila" herself continued a central and devout figure among the worshippers in the two suc- ceeding sanctuaries. Like her mother, she died of old age, March 8, 1887. Up to within one Sunday of her decease she continued to draw her feeble steps to the place of worship. It was her "meat and drink " to listen to the preaching of the word and share in the fellowship of her Methodist brethren and sisters, whom she held in most loving regard. "Aunt Phila" never married. She left by will a legacy of about $3000 to the Missionary society of the Methodist Episcopal church. The portraits of the mother and daughter, the former copied from a dim daguerreotype taken in her old age, are upon the parlor walls of the First Methodist church.
WILLIAM EAVES.
William Eaves was born in Birmingham, England, in May, 1792. He came to this country in 1829, to take an important position in
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the button factory of J. M. L. & W. H. Scovill. Respecting his emigration his daughter says in a letter:
My father had an old friend who came to America and entered into the button business with the Scovills. He, knowing my father's skill as a die-sinker and button maker told them of it. They wrote to him a number of times, request- ing him to come, and finally fearing they would not succeed in obtaining him they sent Mr. Israel Holmes over to secure him and escort the family here. At the Scovills' my father had the whole charge of the button business from the time the metal came into the building until the buttons were in New York.
Mr. Eaves remained with the Scovills until 1842, when he removed to Wolcottville, to pursue a similar business.
Although brought up among the Wesleyans and respectful to religion, Mr. Eaves did not at first attend the Methodist meetings; but in the spring of 1831 he was induced by his wife to accompany her to a quarterly meeting at Middlebury, and there in the "love- feast" he was deeply awakened. In relating his experience after- wards he used to say, "I shook like Belshazzar." The moment the love-feast closed he hastened out and sought to hide himself, but was brought back and, under the sermon of the Rev. Heman Bangs which followed, was converted. Soon afterwards, his son William, a youth of seventeen, accompanied his mother to a quarterly meet- ing at Humphreysville (now Seymour) and was there converted under the preaching of Mr. Bangs. After this, he and his family were of great service in the Methodist church, and in Wolcott- ville also he assisted by his means and influence in building up the small Methodist society, and in the erection of their first house of worship. In 1845 he removed to New York, where for several years he was active as a local preacher. In 1852 he was ordained a local deacon at the request of his pastor, the Rev. R. S. Foster, D. D. Bishop Foster says of him: "I esteemed him very highly as a local preacher of rare good sense and excellency of character. He was among the very few men I have known whom I deemed deserving of sacred orders in the local ministry." In 1860 he removed to Jersey City and united with the Hedding Methodist Episcopal church, of which he remained a member until his death, February 5, 1879. His wife died two years previously, aged eighty-four. They are buried in Riverside cemetery, which is also the burial place of several of their children. Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Eaves have an honored place in the parlors of the First Methodist church.
TIMOTHY BALL.
Timothy Ball, one of the early and prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, was a Buck's Hill farmer. He and his
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wife came from Bethany about 1815. He was an Episcopalian, and in so good standing that he was urged to act as a lay reader in the church. When Mrs. Ball became interested in the Methodists, her husband strongly opposed her attending their meetings at Pine Hole, but afterwards, about four years after its organization, was led with her to unite with the Methodist society. Their home at Buck's Hill became a favorite stopping place for the preachers and one of the meeting-places of the society. Mr. Ball removed to Waterbury centre in 1852, and lived and died in a small house on Bank street. As already stated, he was the chief burden-bearer in the building of the First Methodist meeting-house, and during the remainder of his life he was the senior trustee of the church. His sterling character, his liberality and his care of the church finances during the days of the severest financial struggle, entitle him to a prominent place among the fathers of the Methodist church. He died February 9, 1869, aged eighty-six years. His son, Bennett Ball, resides at Oakville. The first wife of Edward J. Porter was his daughter.
THE REV. JOSEPH SMITH.
Joseph Smith was born in Birmingham, England, March 26, 1818, and came to this country in 1844. He was an expert die- sinker, and was employed in Haydenville, Mass., in that capacity until 1845, at which time he came to Waterbury. For thirteen years he was in the employ of the Benedict & Burnham Manufac- turing company. In 1853 he was sent to the legislature and aided in securing the city charter.
Mr. Smith was most widely known as a local preacher. Nearly every Sunday for thirteen years he supplied churches in Waterbury and the surrounding towns and villages, entirely without compen- -sation. He preached for eight years at Plymouth Hollow (now Thomaston), stopping on his return, each Sunday, to preach at the Waterville school-house in the evening. He also served at Nauga- tuck, where the first Methodist meetings were held in Goodwin's furniture store, and continued to preach there until sometime after their first house of worship was erected. He lived to see his son, the Rev. Arthur J. Smith, pastor in 1886-88 of the now flourishing church in that place, and the completion under the young man's pastorate of their new church edifice. He gave valuable aid, in 1853 to 1858, in establishing the Methodist society at Watertown. In 1857 he accepted an invitation to supply the pulpit of the Congregational church in Wolcott. Under his ministry there between sixty and seventy were converted, and the church was refreshed and strengthened.
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The services thus described embrace a period of thirteen years, during which Mr. Smith was constantly engaged in secular toil. In the spring of 1858 he became convinced that duty called him to the regular ministry. He was recommended by the Waterbury church to the New York East conference, and was admitted to the "travel- ling connection," where he served continuously until the time of his death. He died at Bloomfield, January 28, 1891, and was buried at Stratford.
COL. JAMES H. PERRY, D. D.
James H. Perry was born in Ulster county, N. Y., in 1811. He entered the Military Academy at West Point, but resigned his posi- tion in the third year and accepted an appointment as colonel in the service of Texas. He participated in the battle of San Jacinto, which re- sulted in the establishment of Texan independence. He afterwards settled with his family in Newburgh, N. Y., and in 1838 joined the New York conference and was appointed to the Burlington and Bristol cir- cuit in this state. His Waterbury pastorate (1857- 58) is referred to on page 708. He was in the min- istry for twenty-four years. Shortly after the break- ing out of the war, Dr. Perry accepted the com- mand of the Forty-eighth CH Perry regiment of New York vol- unteers, and was ordered to Annapolis. During his period of service he displayed high qualities as a commander. He was placed in command of Fort Pulaski, and held that position at the time of his death. He died June 18, 1862.
THE REV. L. W. ABBOTT.
Larmon Wooster Abbott, the eldest son of Alvin and Fanny (Wooster) Abbott, was born in Middlebury January 11, 1818. He came to Waterbury from New Haven in 1844, and in 1850 joined
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with John M. Wardwell and others in organizing the Abbott and Wardwell Manufacturing company (see page 435), which gave place to the Cotton Gin Manufacturing company (page 436). In the inter- ests of this concern he spent the winter of 1854 and 1855 at the south, endeavoring to introduce the Parkhurst cotton gin. The new gin did not meet with success and the company went into liquidation in 1856.
From the time of his arrival in Waterbury Mr. Abbott was active in the Young Men's institute and in the debating societies of those days. In 1849 he was sent to the legislature. But he has been best known in connection with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he became a member before removing from Middlebury. For thirteen years, while engaged in the exacting duties of his daily occupation, he went out Sunday after Sunday, to preach to weak churches without pastors, or in neighborhoods where no Methodist church had been established. In this way, in connection with Joseph Smith, James R. Ayres, his brother Alvin V. R. Abbott and others, he greatly aided in sustaining and establishing the churches in Middlebury, Southbury, Prospect, Naugatuck, Beacon Falls, Thomaston, North Watertown, Harwinton, Bristol and Southford. He was largely instrumental in organizing the Methodist church at Watertown centre. He preached the first sermon in General Merrit Heminway's old ball-chamber, on May 29, 1853. Aided by Joseph Smith he served the society for six years, and in 1858 became its regular pastor under conference appointment. At the end of that year he left it with 112 full members, twenty-two probationers, 130 scholars in the Sunday school, and a church and parsonage very nearly free from debt. He was succeeded in the Watertown pas- torate by his brother, Alvin, who was licensed to preach while con- nected with the church in Waterbury.
The failure of the cotton gin business left Mr. Abbott free to follow the conviction that he should give himself wholly to the ministry. After leaving Watertown he continued in active service as a member of the New York East conference until 1878, when, having served thirteen years as a local preacher and twenty years in the regular itinerancy, he retired to a home in Ridgefield which he called "Pilgrim's Rest." In 1881 he was elected as the repre- sentative of Ridgefield in the state legislature. He has served also for ten years as school visitor.
Mr. Abbott has married three times. By the first marriage he had two sons: Edward T., now residing in Bridgeport, and Larmon Roellas, deceased, and a daughter, Florence; and by the second two daughters, the elder of whom, Arletta M. Abbott, is a member of the faculty of Oberlin college.
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LARMON ROELLAS ABBOTT, second son of the Rev. L. W. Abbott, was born March 18, 1844. He was educated in the schools of Water- bury, graduated with honor at the Wesleyan university, and be- came professor of natural sciences in the Wyoming Conference seminary, Kingston, Penn. "He was an able scholar, a talented musician, a warm-hearted friend, a symmetrical and earnest Chris- tian." He died in Winsted, July 12, 1872, leaving a widow and two children.
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