USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > Two hundred fifty years, the story of the United Congregational Church of Bridgeport, 1695-1945 > Part 6
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Meanwhile the Second, or South Church, as it was fa- miliarly called, had completed its organization. Shortly be- fore the service of dedication the members had elected as deacons William DeForest, Stephen Hawley, and Josiah Baldwin, all of whom had been deacons in the old church. For their first pastor they called Dr. Nathaniel Hewitt, who for ten years had been serving acceptably in the Con- gregational Church of Fairfield. Dr. Hewitt was an elo- quent preacher-and eloquent preachers must have been appreciated in the days when parishioners covenanted to
1 FIRST METHODIST CHURCH
1 NORTH CHURCH
1 ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
1
SOUTH CHURCH
THE CHURCHES ON BROAD STREET CIRCA 1830
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attend Sabbath day services morning, afternoon, and eve- ning; the Tuesday evening prayer meeting which met at private homes; the Thursday evening lecture; the "monthly concert for prayer" on the first Monday evening of each month, when missionary information was given and a collection was taken; as well as such other prayer meetings and missionary meetings as might be appointed. It is no wonder that these lusty churchgoers were con- cerned about the theology of their ministers.
Dr. Hewitt, however, was much more than an eloquent preacher. He vigorously denounced vice and immorality and was keenly interested in all movements for moral re- form. Like Mr. Blatchford of the North Church, he was especially active in the temperance movement. In fact, he had been elected general secretary of the American Tem- perance Society in 1827, a year after its organization, and had lectured in many cities of the East. Concern over the evils of intemperance was not limited to America; it was strong also in England and Ireland, and a friend offered to pay Dr. Hewitt's expenses if he would go to England and lecture there upon the subject. The church gave its ap- proval, and on four days' notice he set out on a trip that lasted several months and took him to various parts of Eng- land and the continent. He participated in the formation of the British and Foreign Temperance Society, the influ- ence of which extended far beyond the shores of Great Britain.
The interest of the church in the various missionary and philanthropic movements was shown by the very tangible means of money gifts. At the close of his pastorate Dr. Hewitt reported that during the twenty-three years of his ministry the church had contributed to charitable objects about $24,000, a large part of the sum going to the Ameri- can Board, the Connecticut Missionary Society, and the American Seaman's Friend Society.
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Active though he was in promoting good causes, Dr. Hewitt bore unmistakably the stamp of Andover ortho- doxy. For a long time he refused to permit the installation of an organ, although he allowed Captain John Brooks to play the violin. Violin playing, by the way, was merely an avocation of Captain Brooks, his vocation being that of shipmaster; and a good shipmaster he must have been, for Cornelius Vanderbilt engaged him to sail one of his boats and retained him in spite of the captain's steadfast refusal to sail on Sunday. Before Dr. Hewitt's pastorate expired, the demand for an organ became insistent, increased per- haps by the fact that one had been installed in the North Church; and in 1850 the Society authorized the purchase at a cost not to exceed four hundred dollars.
The struggle between liberalism and conservatism which had culminated in the formation of the Second Church continued within that church, and in 1853 it re- sulted in still another division. Seventy-eight members withdrew and formed the Presbyterian Church. They then called upon their "Old, revered and beloved pastor, whose ministrations they could not consent to forego" to become their pastor. Congregationalism, even in its orthodox form, was too liberal for Dr. Hewitt. Reverend Dr. Hall of Nor- walk sympathized with him and sighed that he was "not loose" so that he could accompany his friend in his revolt. "I do not blame you," he wrote to Dr. Hewitt, "nor won- der that your thoughts are turned toward the Presbyterian Church. I feel that Congregationalism has abandoned not only you, but me also, in that it has departed from its stand- ards, both of doctrine and polity. We have a disjointed, capricious, irresponsible independency, which holds alike in its embrace the vilest errors and the most precious truth." Henry Ward Beecher took up the cudgels in The Independent, and with exquisite irony lauded the "Noah"
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who stretched forth the right hand of fellowship and drew the Dove of Bridgeport into the Ark of Presbyterianism."
At his own request Dr. Hewitt was therefore dismissed from the Congregational Church and installed over the new Presbyterian Church, the service of installation being held in the South Church. Five years later he tendered his resignation as pastor, but the church refused to accept it and he continued, more or less actively, until he was nearly eighty. Finally, one Sabbath morning in 1867 he "fell on sleep."
Dr. Blatchford and Dr. Hewitt, pastors respectively of the North and the South Churches, though totally unlike in personality and in point of view, were both men of con- viction and of influence, men loved and revered by their parishioners. At the close of their ministries, however, there followed in both churches a series of brief and often ineffective pastorates. Sometimes a resignation was due to ill health or the desire to accept another call; sometimes to lack of fitness for the position; sometimes to the theological differences that still loomed so large.
During the middle nineteenth century there was an alarming scarcity of able men in the ministry, a condition that was the result of many factors. In earlier days only young men of strong character and earnest purpose went to college, and most college students were preparing for the ministry. After graduation they studied theology with some minister of wide repute, like Dr. Dwight of Green- field Hill, often living in the minister's home. But as time went on, other opportunities opened before college men, and a smaller proportion of them entered the ministry. For those who desired theological training, Divinity Schools replaced study with individual ministers, and this more systematic method increased the time of preparation and added to the expense. Educational societies were formed to
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help promising young men of limited means. Female Cent Societies or charitable associations were asked to find ways of providing for "the education of indigent and pious youth for the gospel ministry," or urged "to supply the place of maternal care and kindness over them in regard to their wants of clothing."
In the churches of Bridgeport, therefore, as in those of other communities, it was difficult to secure and retain men of ability and vision. In the First Church Dr. Blatch- ford was succeeded by the Reverend John Woodbridge, who was called in 1837 but remained less than two years. A man of unyielding theological opinions, he apparently cre- ated dissension in various churches and shifted frequently from one to another.
The Reverend John Hunter occupied the pulpit for six years, from 1839 to 1845, coming here from a five-year pas- torate in Fairfield. Mr. Hunter was a brilliant but eccen- tric man, a preacher with originality rather than spiritu- ality, and after a time his eccentricities developed into er- ratic actions which made his dismissal necessary. After leaving this church he went West and led a wandering ex- istence as preacher, teacher, and land trader.
But in spite of unsatisfactory leadership, the work of the church moved forward. For example, there was a signifi- cant development in music. In 1837 a committee had been authorized "to employ a teacher of sacred music for the benefit of the choir." Two years later fifty dollars was ap- propriated for a "Double Bass Viol." In 1840 an organ was installed, although without universal enthusiasm if one can judge from the cautious wording of the vote: "That in- dividuals of this Society have permission to place an organ in the gallery of this church provided it be done without any draft on the treasury of the Society." Obviously in spite of inertia the music lovers were making progress.
The blowing of the organ, which was done by a hand
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lever, was apparently the prerogative of the Spinning family. At first it was a labor of love, with no assurance of compensation, for in 1843 it was voted "to pay Master Spinning $6.50 for blowing our organ for one year past." "Master" Theodore A. Spinning continued to blow for four years, after which John B. Spinning blew for two years, and later George Spinning took up the family avocation. Theodore Spinning was also organist and choir director, finally retiring after a total service of twenty- seven years.
Mr. Hunter was followed by the Reverend St. John Page, who remained a little more than five years, from 1847 to 1853, at a salary of eight hundred dollars. Mr. Page was not particularly successful either as preacher or as pastor; and yet his pastorate marked another significant milestone in the history of the First Church, namely the erection of a new edifice to succeed the building of 1807.
In 1848 a stockholder's association was organized, with shares of twenty-five dollars each, to raise funds for the project. Subscriptions ranged from one share to sixty, the total number of shares sold being six hundred seventy- four. The cost of the church, complete with furnishings, organ, and bell, was about $25,000. Stockholders were en- titled to a dividend of "six percentum," but many relin- quished their dividends or gave the original stock to the Society. In 1857 the following circular was issued to share- holders regarding the painting of the exterior, "which is suffering for the want of it": "This is to request that you will allow the Society to draw for the above purpose the single Dividend that may be declared about the first of June, 1857, on the Stock you hold, with the understanding that it shall be in lieu of any other subscription from you for that object.
"We make the request the more freely as so large a por- tion of our Society have given not only the Dividend above
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alluded to, but their entire stock forever to the Society, and many of them will also be called upon for a further sub- scription for this object." In 1866 the Society bought in all outstanding stock.
In reading the annals of the Congregational Church one cannot fail to notice that the words "Church" and "So- ciety" are both used frequently but that they are not inter- changeable. Originally the church and the society were distinct organizations, the church being composed of members, male and female, who signed the covenant; the society being made up of men of affairs who, though usu- ally members of the church, were not necessarily so. The society, not the church, was an incorporated body, able to transact business. This double-headed organization con- tinued even after the First and Second Churches had joined to form The United Church. Many people remem- ber how Dr. Day, the first pastor of the United Church, with a good-humored tolerance that may have covered a trace of irritation, used to repeat at each business meeting the formula: "The meeting of the First Congregational Society will now come to order. The meeting of the Second Congregational Society will now come to order. The meet- ing of the United Congregational Society will now come to order. The meeting of the United Church will now come to order." And adjournment followed the same formula. It required much patience and the best legal talent that the church afforded to unwind the accumulated red tape of centuries and secure an incorporated church legally able to handle its own affairs.
The new church was of brick, Gothic in type, and in comparison with its predecessors it must have seemed lux- urious indeed. At first it was lighted by lamps, but in 1852 gas was introduced. Heat was still supplied by stoves, a furnace not being used until 1870. The tall spire, which was justly admired for its grace and beauty, eventually be-
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came unsafe and had to be removed. However, the base which remained formed a not unattractive tower.
A new bell was purchased, at a cost of $821.80, less a small allowance for the old one; but a few years later it was broken by "the hammer of the fire alarm telegraph of the city," and a new and still heavier bell was acquired.
The society must have been converted by this time to the use of the organ, for it willingly appropriated $2200 for a new instrument, purchased from Mr. McCullum, or- gan builder of Hartford, the old organ being turned in as part payment. It was installed, of course, in the gallery at the rear of the church according to the old Congregational custom. This organ was used until 1910, when it was re- placed by a new one.
"Dignifying the meeting house" was an outmoded cus- tom, but it was still true that the house was seated, if not by "dignity, age, and estate," at least by estate. After a com- mittee had assessed the value of the pews, a public auction was held and each pew went to the highest bidder, except that none might be sold for less than the assessed value. The following is a copy of a notice that has been preserved among the church records:
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY
THE ANNUAL SALE OF PEWS in this church will be held on Tuesday, April 4, 1893, at 7:30 o'clock, P.M.
As usual, the sale will be at auction, to the highest bidder.
The accompanying chart, indicating the location of each pew, will be found convenient for reference. A card naming the assessed value, will be found in each pew at the time of sale.
A large attendance is desirable.
At the time of the erection of the new building it was pro- vided that, after an amount not to exceed twelve hundred dollars for church expenses and the annual dividend of six per cent had been deducted, the balance of the money de- rived from the sale of the pews should be distributed pro-
.
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portionately among the stockholders. In the church of 1807 there had been but forty-four pews, which had been sold for $206.70; in the new church there were ninety-one which sold in the peak year of 1877 for $5,761.27.
The sale of pews continued until the union when it was abandoned because of the growing feeling that the social and property distinctions involved had no place in a Chris- tian church. There was opposition to the change, both from those who feared that expenses would not be met by vol- untary giving, and from those who, accustomed to occupy- ing pews to which they had a purchased right, were reluc- tant to surrender that right and felt ill at ease in strange seats. The development of a new spirit and the education of the congregation in the principles of systematic giving were among the important early achievements of the United Church.
Before construction of the new edifice was begun, the old building was moved a short distance to the north and continued to serve as a place of meeting. It was later sold to Christ Church and moved to a location on John Street west of Broad; after it had been in use about a year it was acci- dentally burned.
The new building was indicative in its size, the beauty of its Gothic architecture, the comfort and convenience of its furnishings, of the changes that had come with the years. It was more than a century and a half since the dedication, in 1695, of the Church of Christ in Stratfield. In 1717, when the second building was erected, Stratfield was still a small village and Newfield little more than a name. By 1807, when the third building was completed, Bridgeport had become a borough; and in 1850, when the new church was dedicated, it was a city fourteen years old with a popula- tion of 7,558 according to the census of that year. The char- acter of the population, too, had changed; no longer did it comprise a homogeneous group, for of the 7,558 inhabit-
First Congregational Church Fourth Edifice Dedicated 1850
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ants, 286 were colored, and one-fifth, or 1,493 persons were foreign born-Irish, English, German, and a few of other nationalities. The new church faced the problems of a growing industrial city.
In the ten months following the departure of Mr. Page the pulpit was supplied by thirty-four different min- isters. In 1854 the Reverend Joseph Hardy Towne was in- stalled, at a salary of $1,500 which was later increased to $2,000. Mr. Towne was a man of scholarship and attractive personality, a gifted preacher and a sympathetic pastor. Of his experience here he wrote, "After my installation I found myself the pastor of a united, affectionate and gen- erous people. The years of my pastorate in Bridgeport are a sunny spot in the landscape of my ministerial life." How- ever, at the end of four years he left to accept a call to a Presbyterian church in Rochester, New York.
The Reverend Matson Meier Smith served the First Church from 1859 to 1865. His father was an American of Puritan ancestry, but his maternal grandmother was a na- tive of Bremen, Germany. The Civil War with its tensions, its political excitement, its sharp clashes of opinion was a difficult time for any minister, and Mr. Meier Smith was perhaps too outspoken to be successful in such a time. Nevertheless he received a hundred seventy-six new mem- bers into the church, and made many warm friends. Per- haps Mr. Smith was never quite comfortable in the Con- gregational fellowship; or perhaps he, like others, sought refuge from controversy and dissension; at all events, upon his dismissal he at once entered the Episcopal Church, a de- cision which he said was the result of ten years of earnest thought and painful perplexity. He later became rector of St. John's parish in Hartford and then professor of homi- letics in a divinity school in Philadelphia. He was later awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Columbia, his Alma Mater.
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Mr. Smith was succeeded by the Reverend George Rich- ards, who came to Bridgeport in 1866 from Litchfield. He was a man of unusual personality and a gifted preacher, but because of illness his ministry lasted only four years and he died a few months after his retirement.
When the two churches separated in 1830, ominous clouds were appearing over the national horizon, and the rumblings of the approaching storm were growing ever more threatening. It was a time when a strong, spiritually minded church was desperately needed. That the spirit of religion was still vital, in spite of controversy and dissen- sion, was proved by the frequent periods of revival, during which large numbers were added to each church. There were strong leaders, who guided their people wisely. Un- fortunately, there were others who were less strong and less wise, or who held their pastorates for too short a time to make their influence vitally felt. The church reflected the conditions of the times. It failed to give outstanding leader- ship in a period of national crisis; nevertheless, it kept the light of Christian faith burning in the hour of gathering darkness.
In the South Church, after the close of Dr. Hewitt's serv- ice in 1853, the Reverend Asahel Brooks was the minister for two years, resigning, to the regret of his parishioners, to accept a call to another church. The Reverend Benjamin Swan followed, remaining for about the same length of time.
During Mr. Brooks' pastorate an organization was formed which was to hold an important place in the life of the church; this was the Women's Benevolent Society, which was organized in 1854 with Mrs. Brooks as the first president. Any woman who contributed not less than twenty-five cents was eligible for membership, and men might become active members upon the annual payment
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of fifty cents, or honorary members upon payment of one dollar. There were about a hundred thirty-five charter members, one-third of whom were men. The object of the society was "to assist the families of Home Missionaries and our own Ecclesiastical Society, one-half of the funds to be appropriated to each." Provision was also made for so- cial enjoyment over a cup of tea, but it was stipulated that such indulgence should not interrupt the progress of the work.
During the first year a barrel of clothing was sent to a home missionary family in Illinois and another to Wiscon- sin, with a combined value of a hundred twenty dollars. In succeeding years many other barrels were sent out, con- taining supplies which must have been greatly appreciated by missionary families that were living remote from towns and existing, with heroic self-sacrifice, upon the pitifully small salaries that the Home Missionary Board was able to allot them. Among the articles enumerated in the lists for various years were dresses and dress materials, coats, shawls, bosom shirts, and other articles of clothing, blan- kets, comfortables, books, dolls and other toys, and one year a saddle, probably at the request of some hard-riding missionary.
In 1859 the Reverend Alexander R. Thompson was in- stalled. He was an able man, and though he served only three years, resigning in 1862, he led the church through the first months of the Civil War and superintended the erection of a new edifice. The correspondence regarding Mr. Thompson's coming to Bridgeport indicates that he felt considerable reluctance to accept the invitation, but he finally agreed to serve for one year. At the end of ten months, feeling that he was not receiving full cooperation, he announced his determination to withdraw but was per- suaded to remain another year. At the close of the second year he again offered his resignation and the church made
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no further effort to retain him. It was now the very eve of the Civil War. Throughout the preceding period the pul- pit had sedulously avoided controversial issues, emphasiz- ing doctrinal teachings rather than fundamental moral truths; but after Fort Sumter, Dr. Thompson, like many another pastor who had been treading softly, spoke out boldly in support of the Northern cause. A member of the church wrote of him in later years, "Mr. Thompson's able and earnest preaching filled the old house and the new with attentive listeners, and his many labors of love in the church and in the whole community are still fresh in the recollections of the people."*
Following Dr. Thompson, the Reverend Francis Lob- dell was pastor for two years and, in association with Mr. Smith of the First Church, was active in evangelistic work. He was succeeded by the Reverend Danield Lord, a man of cultivation and scholarship, a deeply spiritual preacher, whose resignation after four years of service was genuinely regretted.
It requires little imagination to look behind the brief record of successive pastorates in the two churches, preced- ing and during the Civil War, and sense the conflict of in- terests, the battle of opposing convictions, and the clashing of personalities that were probably inevitable in such a great civil upheaval. There was little difference of opinion in the North regarding the evil of slavery, but there were violent differences regarding the method of abolishing it. Moreover, industrial cities like Bridgeport were deeply in- volved in trade with the southern states, and too vigorous opposition to slavery affected that trade. As always, men were tempted to allow their business interests to influence their moral standards. Besides, the problems seemed too vast to admit of solution, and honest judgments varied
* Edmund S. Hawley, Historical Sketch, prepared for the fiftieth an- niversary of the South Church.
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widely. So, while people debated, events moved inexorably toward the catastrophe, and the church spoke with no clear voice concerning the great moral issues involved.
Slaves, both Indian and negro, had been held in early days in Bridgeport as in many other sections of the North, most people accepting slavery as they accepted other dis- tinctions of class and rank, distinctions apparently inher- ent in the nature of things. The Reverend Robert Ross is known to have had an African slave, Pedro, and he prob- ably felt that he was doing a pious act in rescuing Pedro from heathenism. However, it is recorded that Mr. Ross owned no slaves after the Revolution; possibly he recog- nized the inconsistency between his vigorous activities in the cause of freedom and his possession of a negro slave. John Nichols, proprietor of the tavern on King's Highway, had a slave, Tom, who ran away and was never recovered. Aaron Hawley and his wife Griswold owned Nero, who fought with Washington at Valley Forge and thereby earned his freedom. Enoch Gregory was a prosperous farmer and slave owner; at least one of his slaves, Neptune, had been born in Africa. It is not improbable that ship- masters, on their return from the West Indies, had occa- sionally brought back Negro slaves; but the slave trade was looked upon with disfavor in Connecticut coastal towns and it formed no important part of their commerce. In 1848 slavery was made illegal in Connecticut, although it had actually been a dead issue long before.
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