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 7
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613
THE FIRST CHURCH SINCE 1865.
tions in the parish and in part to the pastor's temperament and methods, as indicated in the sketch given further on of his life and character. The people were accustomed to conservative measures, and the minister was didactic and deliberate rather than emotional and aggressive. As a natural consequence the visible growth of the church has been slow, compared with that of some of the other churches of the city. In regard to methods of increasing the mem- bership the policy of the pastor and the standing committee has been uniformly conservative and cautious. They have avoided loading down the church with a miscellaneous aggregation of irre- sponsible persons. At the same time, as the following table shows, the annual increase during the past thirty years has fallen but little below the average for those pastorates which culminated in "exten- sive revivals," with the exception of the Rev. David Root's. The earliest extant records of the church are dated November 18, 1795. At that time the number of members was ninety-three. The addi- tions in each pastorate since then, and in the intervals between pastorates, have been as follows:
PERIOD.
PASTOR.
ACCESSIONS.
AVERAGE.
1796-1798,
Edward Porter,
15
5
1799-1806,
Holland Weeks, .
54
9
1806-1808,
Temporary supplies,
00
O
1808-1817,
Luke Wood, .
16I
IS
1818-1821,
Temporary supplies,
21
7
1821-1825,
Daniel Crane,
28
5
1825-1830,
Temporary supplies,
38
6
1831-1836,
J. R. Arnold, .
96
16
1836-1840,
H. N. Day,
96
24
1841-1844,
David Root,
119
40
1844-1845,
Temporary supplies,
20
15
1846-1851,
H. B. Elliot,
157
29
1851-1852,
Temporary supplies,
15
10
1852-1857,
W. W. Woodworth,.
155
29
1858-1864,
George Bushnell, .
90
15
1865-1894,
Joseph Anderson,
622
21
In attempting to estimate correctly the rate of growth of the First church, account must be made of the fact that it has diverged considerably from the ordinary Congregational type and like a good many of the "old First" churches of New England represents the liberal and scholarly reaction against that modern phase of religion which is emotional and impulsive rather than intellectually progressive. There have been various movements and enter- prises into which it has not thrown itself, but it has worked on diligently in its own chosen way and has identified itself at as many points as possible with the active Christian life of the community. In such organizations as the Waterbury Industrial
614
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
school, the Young Men's Christian association and its auxiliary, the Boys' club, the Young Women's Friendly league, the Hospital Aid society, the King's Daughters and the Directors of Christian
HOLLAND WEEKS.
LUKE WOOD.
.
DANIEL CRANE.
J. R ARNOLD.
-
JOSEPH ANDERSON.
H. N. DAY.
DAVID ROOT.
----
H. B. ELLIOT.
W. W. WOODWORTH.
GEORGE BUSHNELL.
NINETEENTH CENTURY PASTORS OF THE FIRST CHURCH.
[As most of these men are represented here as somewhat advanced in years, their respective ages at the time of their settlement in Waterbury are given: Holland Weeks, 31; Luke Wood, 31; Daniel Crane, 43; J. R, Arnold, 37; H. N. Day, 28; David Root, 50; H. B. Elliot, 23; W. W. Woodworth, 39; George Bushnell, 40; Joseph Anderson, 28.]
615
THE FIRST CHURCH SINCE 1865.
Visitation and Charity, where action rather than emotion is called for, its members have always been found at the front and its benefactions have been as large as any. Its house of worship has been thrown open to all legitimate public uses more frequently than any other, and the people of the parish in their parlor enter- tainments and in the work done by their benevolent and mis- sionary circles have sought to illustrate the close connection that may be established between religion on the one hand and the artistic and social life on the other. How much it has done in the meantime toward making the people more righteous and life more beautiful within, is a question which cannot be decided at any tribunal of men.
THE REV. JOSEPH ANDERSON, D. D.
Joseph Anderson, son of William and Mary (Rose) Anderson, was born in the Highlands of Scotland, at Broomton, Easter Ross, December 16, 1836. He was the only child of his parents, and came with them to America in 1842. He lived for a few years in Delaware county, N. Y., afterward in Astoria, L. I., and later in New York city. His school days began in Scotland. While residing in Astoria he attended one of the New York public schools, and was admitted from that into the College of the City of New York, known at first as the Free Academy. He graduated in 1854 (the valedictorian of his class) and immediately entered the Union Theological seminary. Completing the regular course of study there, he was soon after engaged as tutor in Latin and Greek in his Alma Mater, having previously been "licensed" by the Third Presbytery of New York. In September, 1858, he began preaching in the First Congregational church in Stamford, and accepted a call to the pastorate on December 23. He resigned his position there in April, 1861, to accept a call from the First church in Norwalk, where he succeeded the Rev. William B. Weed, one of the ablest and most eccentric men of the Connecticut ministry. This new pastorate began on the first Sunday of the civil war. The preacher was young and radical, and some of his prominent parishioners were lukewarm in their patriotism. Under the two fold burden thrown upon him-of hard work and anxiety-his health became seriously affected. In 1863 the parish gave him a leave of absence for five months, during which he visited his native land; but his health was not restored, and in September, 1864, he surprised his people by a resignation.
Mr. Anderson cherished the intention of resting for a year or two. but the ability and consecration of the young preacher began to make him known thus early in his ministry, and in February, 1865.
616
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
he came on from Maine to supply the pulpit of the First church in Waterbury. The temporary engagement then made ripened into such loving friendship between pastor and people that for thirty years the relationship has been perpetuated. Declining installa- tion, he has served his people as "pastor elect " with a conspicuous fidelity which could not have been enhanced by conformity to the traditional usage of the Congregational churches.
Almost from the beginning of his ministry the breadth of Dr. Anderson's culture has been manifested in many directions, with a corresponding reward in the recognition extended to him by learned societies whose honors are as a rule parsimoniously bestowed. As clergyman, antiquary, historian, philologist and man of letters, he has acquired a reputation which quite exceeds the limits of the vicinage in which his strictly ministerial labors have been expended. His part in the life of the Congregational body in Connecticut has been large and useful. He has been twice mod- erator of the General Association and once moderator of the Gen- eral Conference (being the only clergyman who has ever held the latter office), and in these positions his judicial mind and his exact- ness in matters of detail have been most helpful in expediting the conduct of affairs. In 1878 he received the degree of S. T. D. from Yale College, and in 1884 was elected a member of the Yale corpo- ration, and is the only graduate of another college who has a place in that honorable body. He has been for several years a director of the Missionary society of Connecticut and president of the Con- necticut Bible society. Among the learned bodies of which he is a member are the American Antiquarian society (whose membership is limited to seventy) and the American Philological, Historical and Social Science associations. For years he made a special study of the North American Indians, their antiquities and history, and as a collaborator of the Bureau of Ethnology at Washington took for his field of research the Algonkin family of languages,-accu- mulating meanwhile not only a valuable library of books and pam- phlets relating to his specialty, but also a large collection of stone implements. He has been a frequent contributor to the newspaper press and has published much, chiefly on matters of local interest. For more than a year, in 1872 and '73, he was the active editor of the Waterbury American. Occasional pamphlets and addresses, many in the aggregate, attest the literary industry of a life in which clas- sical culture tends continually to establish safeguards against over- statement and undue rhetorical embellishment. In 1874 he declined a tempting invitation to the chair of English literature in Michi- gan university and he has since discouraged overtures in relation to other collegiate positions.
1
617
THE FIRST CHURCH SINCE 1865.
A representative of the broadest scholarship in the Christian ministry and a believer in the widest liberty of thought consistent with the maintainance of the truth, Dr. Anderson has given stren- uous efforts with voice and pen to the promotion of fellowship between alien bodies and to their union in "reasonable service." In the endeavor to realize this result, he organized, with a few others like minded, and brought to a successful consummation a scheme for an American Congress of churches-an annual gather- ing of representatives of various Christian denominations whose unreserved discussions should throw light upon vexed questions of work and polity and pave the way for closer union and a more vig- orous resistance of the common foes of the church. As chairman of the executive committee of the Congress he conducted two annual meetings with much success at important centres, and but for the temporary failure of his health results still more important would have been accomplished. Dr. Anderson was one of the dele- gates to the international Council of Congregational churches held in London in the summer of 1891. His address on Christian union before that body is reported in full in the official record of its proceedings.
It is only just to say that a ministry thus richly endowed and continuous in one field for a period of more than thirty years deserves to be characterized as unique. There are but three or four pastorates in the 300 Congregational churches of Connecticut of equal or greater duration, and in these days of uncertain minis- terial tenure, when the restlessness of our time " unknits the tran - quil strength " fostered by perpetuity in relationships, this fact speaks volumes for Dr. Anderson's wisdom in the management of parish affairs. A distinguishing trait of his character is thorough- ness. His method leaves no opportunity for the slurring of details. During a summer vacation of his seminary days he labored as a missionary of the American Sunday school Union in northern Illinois, and in the conduct of this pioneer work travelled on foot more than a thousand miles. The fact, slight as it may appear, is indicative of that close attention on his part to minute particulars which is the secret of solid achievement. It was Arthur Helps who said that of all work which produces results three-fourths must be drudgery. The lavish overflow into showy generalities which many substitute for this drudgery of detail, is altogether foreign to Dr. Anderson's conception of work, whether parochial or lite- rary. This History of Waterbury which he has so laboriously edited affords convincing proof of his large endowment of thor- oughness in method. Very few persons are cognizant of the trouble and toil involved in the accumulation of accurate historie
618
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
data and their orderly and systematic arrangement. The writer of this sketch is in a position to know something of the extent of Dr. Anderson's editorial labors upon this work,-the care bestowed on the verification of minute details and the painstaking literary skill expended upon the construction or revision of the narrative. It will be readily perceived that this element of character carried over into pulpit preparation, especially when supplemented by a strong esthetic sense, must contribute largely to the perpetuity of the pastoral tenure, for after all has been said in regard to execu- tive and organizing ability on the part of the preacher, it remains true that no man maintains his place for thirty years unless he brings "beaten oil" to the sanctuary. The position of the First church in Waterbury as the church home of thoughtful and culti- vated people could not have been preserved for over a quarter of a century had not the preacher established a high ideal of scholar- ship in the interpretation of the word of God and in " the appeal to life," while at the same time recognized by all as a vigorous and polished speaker.
A ministry thus equipped and honored does not belong to any one church. It has been remarked more than once, outside of Waterbury, that Dr. Anderson's pastorate is bound up with the development of the municipality, and in a certain sense is the pos- session of Connecticut. Any long and useful ministry in a city widely and favorably known offers rare opportunity for serving the commonwealth. Such service he has rendered continuously and through many channels. His ministry, although not noisy or aggressive, has been in the full meaning of the phrase a "public spirited " ministry. In 1864 during the dark days of the war, he received an urgent call, signed by ninety officers and soldiers, to the chaplaincy of the Seventeenth regiment of Connecticut volun- teers. After travelling from Maine to New York city for the pur- pose of accepting it, he found himself compelled to decline it on account of unexpected and insuperable obstacles. But the incident illustrates the man. From the beginning he has been identified with movements having for their object the promotion of the public welfare. His early labors as a member of the Board of Education and an active school visitor in Waterbury are too well known to require recapitulation here.
Probably one of the secrets of Dr. Anderson's success is the evenness and calmness-not to say philosophical equipoise-of his temperament. He has borne sorrows which, in the words of Theo- dore Parker, "bow men together," has surmounted difficulties, steered safely through dangerous currents and sustained pro- tracted labors with notable steadiness and tranquillity of soul, when
619
THE FIRST CHURCH SINCE 1865.
the failure of these qualities would have brought disaster. Endowed with sympathies that are tender and true and with a large capacity for friendship, his nature flows out in tides of per- sonal kindliness and considerateness. This, joined with catholicity of spirit, makes him quick to discover human need and longing, and thus crowns his ministry with rejoicing.
In 1874, at the suggestion of a member of his parish, Mr. Ander- son selected a spot on the Connecticut shore (the easternmost point of the town of Milford) on which to build a cottage for use in vacations. He thus became the pioneer of Woodmont, which is now so widely known as a summer settlement. For more than twenty years he has spent his vacations there, and the nearness of the place to Waterbury enables him to keep in close contact with his parish and to respond to any imperative call in midsummer no less than at other seasons.
On the thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of his pastorate the citizens of Waterbury, without distinction of church or creed, assembled by hundreds in the new parsonage to emphasize by con- gratulatory word their grateful recognition of Dr. Anderson's work. A man of vigorous physique, of a winning personality and a ripened wisdom which continually finds expression in attractive literary forms, his friends who then gathered about him could see no reason why he should not look forward to years of beneficent toil in his chosen calling.
On January 24, 1859, he married Anna Sands, daughter of Thomas Jefferson Gildersleeve of New York city. They have had five children, only two of whom are living. William was born at Norwalk, October 26, 1861, spent two years at Yale college (1880- 1882), and died after a brief illness, May 28, 1884. Mary Rose was born December 19, 1865, was married to Dr. Carl E. Munger, Octo- ber 18, 1888, and died November 25, 1889. Joseph was born July o. 1871, and is a graduate of Yale university and the Yale Law school. Anna Sands and Isabel Hoyt were twins, the latter of whom lived but a few months.
WILLIAM ANDERSON, the father of Dr. Joseph Anderson, was born at Monteagle, Ross-shire, Scotland, in June, ISto. He was the son of Joseph and Jane (Clark) Anderson, and was one of a family of ten, all of whom attained maturity. On February 8, 1836, he married Mary, daughter of John and Ann (MeBain) Rose. In 1842 he followed an older brother to America and settled in Delaware county, N. Y. Four years later he removed to Astoria, Long Island. and engaged in the manufacture of fine paints. In 1850, largely with reference to his son's education, he took up his residence in New York city, where his business steadily extended, and the firm
620
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
of Anderson, Pierce & Co. was formed. For a number of years he resided in Brooklyn, and he and Mrs. Anderson were devoted mem- bers of the Church of the Pilgrims.
He retired from active business in 1877, and removed to Water- bury. His wife died in May, 1880, while returning from a visit in northern Illinois, but Mr. Anderson continued in his son's home for seven years longer. A man of leisure, and fond of out-door life, he became " a familiar figure on the streets of Waterbury," and formed pleasant friendships with men of his own age and older, such as Israel Coe, C. D. Kingsbury, Simeon Curtiss and George Lamb. The visible comradeship of these "ancients" was to the busy world around them a constant reminder of the fact that there was a better life of rest and tranquillity even here on earth than most of them were living.
Mr. Anderson was a gentleman of more than average intelli- gence and cultivation, and possessed the courtly manners of the olden time. He was not only well informed concerning the topics of the day, but was a diligent reader of history and philosophy. He was an interesting letter-writer, and during the later years of his life carried on a correspondence with relatives and other friends in nearly every quarter of the globe.
On the night of February 17, 1887, after a walk of several miles, he retired to his room in his usual condition of health. In the morning he was found asleep in death. "He was not, for God took him."
MINISTERS RAISED UP IN THE FIRST CHURCH.
If we should enumerate the ministers raised up in the various parishes originally included in the parish of the First church, the list would be a long one. We give here the names and years of ministerial service of ministers who have actually been members of the First church during their preparatory course or have by birth or in some important way been connected with it. Biograph- ical sketches of some of them are contained in Volume I, or in preceding chapters of this volume ; others follow here.
Samuel Hopkins, 1720-1755. Samuel Hopkins, D. D., 1743-1803. Jonathan Judd, 1743-1803. John Richards, 1748-1814. Daniel Hopkins, D. D., 1759-1814.
Benoni Upson, D. D., 1779-1826. Benjamin Wooster, 1797-1843. Abner J. Leavenworth, 1829-1869. Thomas Bronson,* 1835-1851.
Eli B. Clark, 1839-1889. Frederick G. Clark, D. D., 1845-1886.
Ira H. Smith, 1846-1848.
George A. Bryan, 1849 -. Frederic E. Snow, 1880 -. Frank G. Woodworth, 1880 -.
Isaac Jennings, 1880 -. Franklin Carter,* 1881 -.
* A licentiate, but not ordained.
621
THE FIRST CHURCH SINCE 1865.
ABNER JOHNSON LEAVENWORTH, a son of Dr. Frederick Leaven- worth, was born in Waterbury July 2, 1803. He graduated at Amherst in 1825, with the first class that went forth from that college. He studied theology at Andover, and in 1830 became pastor of the Congregational church at Bristol. He resigned the pastorate of that church in 1833, removed to Charlotte, N. C., and took charge of the Young Ladies' seminary at that place. He was principal of the seminary and pastor of the Presbyterian church until about 1840, when he removed to Warrenton, Va. After two or three years he was called to the High street church in Petersburg. While there, he established the Leavenworth Academic and Collegiate seminary for young ladies, a school which became favorably known throughout the southern states. He continued at the head of it until the commencement of the war. He then changed it to a school for young men, and continued in charge of it until failing health compelled him to retire.
As a minister Mr. Leavenworth was popular and successful. During his pastorates at Charlotte and Petersburg great numbers were added to the church, and he endeared himself to his people to an unusual degree. His qualifications as a teacher were excep- tional. He made his impress on all who came under his instruc- tion, and young ladies who graduated at his seminary were distinguished for their scholarship and their womanly deportment. He was himself an accomplished scholar and occupied a prominent position among the literary men of the South.
Mr. Leavenworth died at Petersburg, February 12, 1869.
ELI BENEDICT CLARK, son of Eli and Rebecca (Benedict) Clark, was born in Waterbury, February 22, 1808. He graduated at Yale college in 1836 and was licensed to preach by the New Haven West association in 1838. He finished his course at the Yale Divinity school in 1839, and was ordained the same year and installed as pastor of the First Congregational church in Chicopee, Mass.,-a position which he retained until 1875.
On December 23, 1839, Mr. Clark married Cornelia DeWitt of New Haven. They had two children, (1) the Rev. De Witt Scovill Clark, who was born September 11, 1841, was ordained to the min- istry in 1868, and has been since 1879 pastor of the Tabernacle church in Salem, Mass., and (2) Cornelia DeWitt, who was born January 26, 1845, and died March 28, 1883. On November 18. 1553. Mr. Clark married Rosetta R. Willcox of New York. He removed from Chicopee to Springfield in 1888, and died there April 23. 1559. Mr. Clark published in 1852 a centennial discourse delivered before the First Congregational society of Chicopee.
622
HISTORY OF WATERBURY.
THOMAS BRONSON, son of Bennet and Anna (Smith) Bronson, was born in Waterbury, June 4, 1808. He was fitted for college partly by his father and partly in Farmington, and graduated at Yale in 1829. On leaving college he took charge of a school in East Wind- sor, but was soon obliged to leave it in consequence of a severe attack of rheumatic fever. In the spring of 1830 he began the study of law with Truman Smith of Litchfield, and continued it at the New Haven Law school; but abandoning this he studied theol- ogy at New Haven and Andover. "According to my memoranda," says his brother, Dr. Henry Bronson, "he began to preach in the autumn of 1835, but according to the 'Contributions to the Ecclesi- astical History of Connecticut,' he was licensed in 1838." He was never ordained, but he preached in several places in Connecticut and New York. Near the close of 1843 he abandoned the ministry and removed to the South, where he taught in a school in Smith- field, Va. Later he removed to Quincy, Ill., and kept a school there until after the death of his father. He returned to Waterbury in 1851, and after a few weeks died of a rheumatic affection of the heart.
On February 13, 1839, he married Cynthia E., daughter of Cyrus M. Bartlett of Hartford. Their children were Harriet Anna, who became the wife of the Rev. Peter V. Finch; Julius Hobart (for whom see page 370), and Edward Bennet Bronson, M. D.
IRA HARVEY SMITH, son of Ira and Rachel (Riggs) Smith, was born at Humphreysville (now Seymour) August 20, 1815. He came to Waterbury to work in one of the factories, and became a member of the First church. Some of the leading men of the church, such as Deacon P. W. Carter and Edward Scovill, recognized the young man as possessing qualities which fitted him for the ministry, and assisted him in getting an education. He graduated from Yale college in 1842 and was licensed to preach by the Litchfield South association in 1844. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in North Haven in February, 1846, but being of a delicate constitution his health failed, and he was dismissed from his charge in March, 1848. Although a "very acceptable preacher," he was compelled to relinquish the ministry and turn his attention to out- door occupations.
From the spring of 1853 until the summer of 1854 Mr. Smith resided in California, and in the autumn of 1854 joined in the tide of free emigration to Kansas, where he remained for the rest of his life. He was at first engaged in the public surveys of the territory, and also took up the business of land agent. He was a member of the first state legislature, and in the summer of 1861 was appointed
623
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