USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Kensington > Two hundredth anniversary, Kensington Congregational Church : organized December 12, 1712. Kensington, Connecticut, June 29th, 30th, July 1st, 1912 > Part 3
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Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever .
and ever. Amen .- Ephesians 3:20, 21.
On the tenth day of December 1712 "the Second Church of Farmington was gathered, consisting of ten members, seven males and three females." On the same day William Burnham was ordained. It is an accepted tradition that the first meet- ing house was occupied at that time, still unfinished, but at least covered and floored.
Naturally we look back to find what had preceded this organization. The settlement in "The Great Swamp" was made in 1686 by several families from Farmington, under the leadership of Captain Richard Seymour. A fort enclosed with palisades for protection from the Indians was built at the cen- ter of the settlement, some distance north of the site of the Christian Lane cemetery. For some twenty years the people were accustomed to travel to Farmington, a distance of eight miles, on foot or horseback, for Sabbath worship. For several years after the death of the Farmington minister, Samuel Hooker, in 1697, there was a controversy in the town concerning the choice of his successor. It was during these years, and probably influenced by the controversy, that the movement for a distinct religious society in the Great Swamp was carried out.
The General Court, March 15, 1704, upon the application of several of the principal persons in Farmington, directed that the elders and messengers of the churches of the towns of Wind- sor, Hartford and Wethersfield should "hear, consider and re- solve, whether the town of Farmington under their present cir- cumstances ought to be divided into two ministerial societies."
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The next year the town took action as follows:
"At a town meeting in Farmington, Septem'r 28:1705, Att the same meetinge the town by voat did manifest theyer consent that soe many of theyer inhabitants that doe or shall personally inhabit att the place called the great swamp,-soe many of them as see cause (none to be compell'd) that they become a ministerial society when they doe gain a capable minis- ter amonge them and continue soe to be soe longe as they shall in a com- petently constant way retain such a minister amonge them, and when and soe long as they shall soe doe themselves and what estate they have there shall be free from the charge of the ministry elsewhear, allways provided that they shall for their own proportion of labour in the high- ways make and maintain the passages and highways they have ocation for there amongst themselves without involvinge the town in general therewith, etc."
In accordance with this "liberty" granted by the town, a petition, dated October 16, 1705, signed by twenty-nine men, headed by John Hart, Sen. and Richard Seymour, requested the General Assembly to "grant unto your humble petitioners a Settlement and Confirmation of a Society at a place Called the Great Swamp within farmington bounds." This petition was granted and the new society appears to have actually had its beginning as an organization in March 1707; for in that year the town of Farmington voted "that their dues to the support of a minister here be abated from March last, provided the selectmen certify who those persons are who have there cove- nanted to each other to support the present means they have."
According to an agreement between Mr. Burnham and the society, dated 1709, his ministry was to continue -for the space of nine years, dating from November 11, 1707, in order to confirm his title to the house and lands granted by the society for his settlement; and we infer that his ministry commenced at that date. The articles of settlement proposed by Mr. Burn- ham and accepted by the society refer to the house for the minister as already begun, and specify that "the two Loer rooms are to be finished at or before the last day of March 1710," the remainder within twelve months thereafter. It is supposed that the first meeting house was begun at about the same time, but the record is not preserved.
Instead of missionary aid, which new enterprises of more recent times are wont to receive, the General Court granted release from the payment of "countrie rates" for four years from May 1708. Also in 1709 the voluntary feature of the society was changed by the Assembly, with the consent of the town, making all the inhabitants within the limits of the Great Swamp and all improved lands taxable for "setting up and
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maintaining the publick worship of God there." Still further assistance was rendered by an act of October 1710, making the unimproved lands taxable at the rate of half a penny for each acre in each year for and during the term of four years, "for the promoting and enabling them to settle a minister of the gospel amongst them, and to build a meeting house and min- ister's house." A petition for such aid, signed by three min- isters, T. Woodbridge, T. Buckingham and Stephen Micks, gives an interesting estimate of the difficulty of the situation:
"The respect which we owe to religion & the low state of the Inhabi- tants of the Southern part of farmington (whereby the support of the publick worship of God among them in a decent & becoming manner seems very heavy to them) .... the Court will direct for their lightening [a tax upon unimproved lands], a testimony of their care to prevent irreligion & heathen- ism growing up in the familys of such hamlets, .... for we cannot but think if their removal so far into the wilderness were necessary for the temporal subsistence of themselves and theirs, it should be much more necessary that God's worship be supported for their eternal salvation."
The next step was an act of October 1711, authorizing the organization of a church:
"This assembly grants liberty to the inhabitants of Farmingtown Vil- lage" (so the settlement was often called in early days) "at and near the Great Swamp, by and with the approbation of their neighboring elders and churches, to gather a church and call a minister to office among them, according to the rules of the gospel and the order of discipline established by this government."
This was only three years after the "order of discipline" known as the "Saybrook Platform" was established. The action forming the church and ordaining the minister was taken, as already stated, a little more than a year later, December 10, 1712. At that time there were between forty and fifty churches in Connecticut. With the exception of Wallingford this is the oldest church in the Central Association. [Wallingford was transferred to the New Haven Association a few months after the anniversary.] Four churches were represented at the organization. "The Reverend ministers assisting were Timothy Woodbridge of Hartford, Thomas Buckingham of Hartford, Stephen Mix of Weathersfield, Samuel Whitman of Farming- ton." There were "seven pillars," as the first male members were customarily designated in many churches, and the wives of three of them. These were William Burnham-Pastor, Stephen Lee and his wife, Anthony Judd, Samuel Seamore and his wife, Thomas North, Thomas Hart and his wife and Caleb Cowles, a total of ten members. Anthony Judd was first
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"chosen to do the work of a Deacon and to stand as a proba- tioner for the Deacon's office," March 10, 1713. He was "Confirmed in and ordained to the office" November 28, 1714, with the following charge:
"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I ordain thee, Anthony, a Dea- con in this Church, and I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall Judge both the Quick and the Dead at his appearing and King- dom, that thou be faithful to the trust that is committed unto thee. Thou art made a steward of ye external good things of this Church and it is required of all such that they be found faithful .- See that thou art grave, not double tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy Lucre, hold the Mistery of ye faith in a Pure Conscience, Rule well thine own house and if thou shalt use the office of a Deacon well thou shalt purchase to thyself a good degree and great boldness in the Faith which is in Christ Jesus."
The second deacon was Thomas Hart, who was chosen January 27, 1719, and after some time of probation was or- dained to the office. There is no record of other deacons until 1756, shortly after the ordination of the second minister, Mr. Clark. That John Hart, sometime deacon in the Farmington church, and his brother Isaac Hart, were both deacons in this church, as stated in the Hart Genealogy, has not been verified by original evidence. The only evidence discovered is that the latter is referred to in the Middletown Probate records as "Deacon Isaac Hart." The oldest records of the church are in Mr. Clark's hand, and were described by him as "very imper- fect and broken." Four new members are recorded in 1713 and eight in 1719, and these are the only records of additions until 1756. Thus it is impossible to determine how rapidly the membership increased during the early years. Thomas Hart was for many years the clerk of the society. He copied the records of the earlier years from loose papers in 1721, the earliest meeting so recorded bearing date December 8, 1713, since which time there is a continuous record to the present. From these early fragmentary records it appears that a pulpit and seats were not provided for the meeting house until 1714, and galleries were not built until 1720-21, and a tax for payment for finishing the building was voted as late as 1721. This first meeting house was located on the elevation southward from the old cemetery and east of the highway and doubtless accounts for the name "Christian Lane." The society voted in 1719 "to give to Joseph Steele the sum of fiveteene shillings .... for ye privilege & use of one roode of land where our metting hous now stands during ye time it shall be improved for ye worship of
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God." The specifications for the seats afford a glimpse of the arrangement:
"18 Jan. 1713-14 It was voted and agreed to build as fast as may be with convenience in our meeting hous a pulpit of convenient forme; and allso seats in number and form as followeth: to say two pews on each side of ye pullpit and three long seats before the pullpit on each side of ye brode ally to be left from the pullpit to ye east dore of said meeting hous: leaveing convenient allies towards ye north and south dores: the said pullpit and pews to be built battin fashen."
A later vote granted to Mr. Burnham "the space of roome that is oposit to ye pullpit staires of ye same masure for his own privilege." The seating of the meeting house was a deli- cate matter. The following rules were adopted for the guidance of the committee:
. "They shall observe thease things, namely: the Lists of perticular persons in ye years in which the Reverant Mr. William Burnham's hous and our meting hous weare built; as allso to have reference to what any persons did vollontaryly contry bute in thease years to ye sosiati for those eands, as allso the lists for this year now taken; as allso to have a du refer- ence to the age of persons."
A few years later this specification is made: "age and the list or granlavi, and what so ever els tends to make a man honorable." Frequently the seating had to be re-arranged. From time to time also the meeting house was "dignified" by specifying the order of rank or dignity of the seats. In 1721 "it was votted and agreed that the fore seats in ye square body in ye meeting house of this sosiatie shall for the time to com be equal in dignity with those seats called ye fore pewes, and that ye pewes next to the east dore shall be equal in dignity with those called the hind or second pewes." The names of men assigned seats in 1717 numbered about sixty. We can notice only the place of "Decon Judd in ye decon's seat & his wife in ye fore pue." The galleries were doubtless needed for the younger portion of the increasing congregations. In 1722 Jonathan Lee was chosen "titheingman for ye year ensuing." Two years later Thomas Hart and Samuel Brownson were chosen to "over see ye youth on ye Sabbaths in ye time of exercise to restraine them from unreverant behaviors therein for ye year insuing." The congregation was summoned to the meeting house by the beating of the drum. Sartt. Nathaniel Winchell was granted "ten shillings for his sons beatting the drum for ye year past," in 1716. A drum and "a oure glass with a suitable frame for it" were voted in 1737.
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The second page of the church record, without date, out- lines a plan for "conference meetings on the first days of every month in ye year to begin about 2 hours before sunset at ye meeting house, the s'd meeting shall begin with prayer, by one of the Brethren, who also shall propose a Text of Scripture and a question or questions on ye same, in writing, then to be discoursed on by his next Brother by House-row." The pastor and the "next brother" were to lay down the text and questions for the following meeting, and so on, "till every brother in the Church hath taken his turn." Stephen Lee was designated to begin the first meeting with prayer and text and question.
Another interesting diversion from the dreary records of church discipline in this early period describes a meeting in 1729, when it was agreed:
"That the Psalm should be sung. ... half ye Time in what is Called the old way of Singing, and half in ye New interchangeably, for the space of a year .... and so far beyond that time till the Pastor shall think there are five more voters for one way than ye other .- And they chose Capt. Isaac Heart to set it when to be sung in ye New way and Mr. Nathaniel Heart to set it when it is to be sung ye old way."
These two men were brothers. Somewhat more than a year later, "The Church signifyed their Minds by vote, that the Psalm for the Time to come should be set in ye Publick Assem- bly only by Rule or what is Commonly Called ye new way."
The manner of singing was still unsettled as late as 1772, when the church voted, "That for the Future Singing in our Publick Worship shall be Carried on amongst us according to Rule as many amongst us have in general practised." Four choristers were "chosen to lead in the Publick Worship" and "two persons were chosen to Read the Psalm." A majority of the choristers and readers were to choose the tunes. It was "also voted yt if the Choristers modestly use what they call the Pitch Pipe it shall give them no offence." The society gave expression to its views concerning the singing in 1776, in a vote, "That the singers in this society have a wright to sing on the Sabbath without having the Psalm read line by line."
There were early attempts to establish a distinct town. In 1708 there was a petition to that end, and in 1710 the Lower House passed a resolution, in which the Upper House did not concur, as follows :-
"Farmington Village, commonly called the Great Swamp, are by this house allowed the priviledges of a Town (viz.) to choose a Constable, Recorder, Selectmen &c. And that the name of the village shall be called Kensington."
REV. BENONI UPSON, D.D.
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This is the earliest discovered record of the name Kensington. The name was officially given to the society by the General Assembly in May 1722, and from that time society meetings are recorded "at Kensington in Farmington." We are unable to discover the link which would connect this Kensington with the place of the same name in England, which was the seat of Queen Anne's Court at about that time. Some of the functions of a town were exercised by the society from the first, such as the care of highways and maintenance of schools. The fly leaf of the record book shows an early division of the society into five districts named "squaddorns," evidently "squadrons" mis- spelled, which has frequently been wrongly transliterated "squaddams." The word appears correctly spelled in 1742.
Christian Lane is said to have been only twenty-two rods from the Wethersfield line; and in 1715 a portion of the Wethers- field West Society (Newington) was annexed to the Great Swamp Society, including what is known as Beckley Quarter. Again in 1818 a portion of Middletown a mile and a half square was annexed, including what is now called Berlin Street and East Berlin. The records in 1718 read: "Att a meeting of the second sociatie in Farmington, consisting part of Farm- ington and part of Wethersfield and part of Middletown." This led to not a little confusion and difficulty in levying and collecting rates in three different towns, and accounts for some of the conflicting elements which rendered it difficult to deter- mine the centers for worship and the bounds of the parishes, three in number, into which the large territory was eventually partitioned. The record for a longer period than the forty years of the Israelites in the wilderness, when there was no lasting peace, is pathetic, if not unparalleled. We may believe that all this confusion arose rather from the natural situation than from any peculiar contentiousness of the early inhabitants of Kensington.
The trouble is apparent early in 1730, when the growth of the society made a new and more commodious meeting house desirable, and it was voted to build on Sergeant John Norton's lot on the north side of the Mill river, which would have been a few rods west of the Peck Memorial Library. There were forty-two affirmative votes and thirty-six negative. But al- though part of the framework was actually prepared, so large a minority brought about reconsideration, and another proposal was to build an addition to the old house. An attempt next
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was made to determine a new site by lot, by which a place was designated on John Root's lot, opposite the house of Mr. Burnham. But even the advice of two councils failed to per- suade the people to abide by the decision of the lot. At length when the society could reach no agreement, a site was chosen by a committee appointed by the General Assembly; and upon the refusal of the society to build upon the site designated, the Assembly appointed a committee to erect a meeting house and directed that a tax be levied upon the inhabitants of Kensington to pay for it. This committee reported to the Assembly in October 1733 that the house had been built at a cost of £394: 15s:6d. The plot of land, 104 feet front and 78 feet deep, not far from the corner diagonally opposite the present grounds of the Connecticut State Agricultural Society, was purchased from Dea. Thomas Hart. It was about a mile south from the first meeting house. The building was sixty by forty-five feet. The mention of "the dome" in a petition is a hint that it may have been built with a pyramidal roof, and perhaps the earlier meeting house likewise, after the plan of the Farmington meeting house erected in 1709. It is said that a law enacted in 1831, concerning the building of new houses of worship under direction of the County Court, originated in this Ken- sington case.
Even before the erection of the second meeting house the possibility of having more than one place of worship by division of the society was considered but negatived by the General Assembly. The case was still further complicated by Mr. Burnham's infirmity, (about 1744-6) on account of which there was a proposal to settle a new minister, and the trouble con- tinued after the death of Mr. Burnham in 1750. In all the votes of this period there was a minority that was too large to be disregarded. The outcome of the agitation was the division of the society by the General Assembly, May 1754, creating another society, to be known by the name of New Britain. About a month later the new society began its separate exist- ence, and provided for preaching; but not until April 19, 1758, after a meeting house had been built and John Smalley secured as the first pastor, was the church organized, in which fifty members from Kensington united with seventeen from New- ington. The list of members as given by Mr. Clark in 1756, excepting those who belonged to the New Britain Society, taking account of some errors, shows that there remained about
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one hundred and seventy-four members in, the Kensington Church. Some of the reasons for division are given in a peti- tion of 1753:
"The present meeting house is full & much crowded in ye summer time, so yt people are forst to shift from seat to seat to find a place to sit down, & often move from ye Galiry down below to find room; & also ye dome is so impaired yt it must be covered anew in a short time :.... and their is 60 or 70 children born in a year in said society which maks so large an increase yt it is impossible that we should meet long in said house, unless some sweeping sickness should Depresheate ye people; which tho we have reason to fear, we pray may be averted. And ye Meeting Hows stands on an island, whear there is but nine houses on it and rivers all round the same which often flood in some places in ye roads :. .. . and ye roads near half of ye year are so miry & broken for a mile or two Round said meeting hows yt make it very difficult traviling & som times Dangerous and many have been plunged into them to ye Japerding their Helthe & many of us live so remote from said meeting Hows yt it is impossible for many of us to git to meeting & yt some of us have lived in said Sosiety above forty year and Groned under ye burden. For people live thicker on either part of said Sosiety than near ye Present meeting hows, & besides we are Destitute of a settled minister amongst us, & it seems likely so to be for we believe no likely candidate will settel among us."
Even before the setting off of New Britain, a plan for mak- ing three societies instead of two was considered and favorably reported by a committee of the General Assembly; but it was negatived. Nearly twenty years of agitation passed before the third society was secured. In 1765 there were forty-five votes for building a new meeting house and thirty-two negative; and the minority made it impossible to proceed. In 1768 there were only eleven votes to continue in one society at a new center. But no satisfactory division could be made: for a divid- ing line running east and west there were seventy-seven affirma- tive and ninety-one negative votes; for a north and south line there were ninety affirmative and eighty negative votes. This was nearly the total poll of the parish; for a report to the Assem- bly a year later states that there were one hundred and seventy families; it continues, "The most of the inhabitants are opulent farmers .... ,and they are so divided into parties that every- method of division will be attended with difficulty." The pro- posed east and west line would have formed one parish of the Blue Hills region. The State records preserve a grand list of this district under the name "Great Nottingham," containing thirty-eight names. A winter and school parish was granted in 1761, which continued until 1764. Apparently some attempted to precipitate matters by damaging the meeting house so as to make a new building more necessary, and others made unauthorized repairs: so that in 1770 a large committee
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was appointed, to prevent such meddling with the building and to prosecute offenders. In June 1771 an agreement was signed by one hundred and thirty-seven men, to refer the case to a committee from the province of Massachusetts Bay, and this proposal was acted on by the society with only ten or eleven negative votes. This committee reported in favor of a division by a north and south line, which was adopted by the society and ordered by the General Assembly. The preamble of the act of October, 1772, reads as follows:
"Upon the memorial of the Society of Kensington in the Town of Farmington by their agent, showing to this Assembly that it is best and absolutely necessary for their mutual peace and real happiness, as well from their limits, situation, extent and wealth and other respects, that said society should be divided into two distinct Ecclesiastical Societies by a north and south line, which they have a long time labored to effect, etc."
By the line of division the East society included those portions that were within the bounds of Wethersfield and Middletown and also the Christian Lane; the second meeting house was also east of the main course of the line, but on land from the farm of Deacon Hart, which was assigned to the West society. Another provision was that "the West Society shall retain and be called by the name of Kensington, and that the East Society shall be called by the name of Worthington" (after a member of the committee of arbitration). The minister was to continue with either society, as he might choose. The two societies at that time were nearly equal in numerical and financial strength. In the settlement of a total indebtedness of £18-9s-8d auditors decided that Worthington should pay £9-2s-6d, slightly less than half. Statements are current, the original sources of which are unknown, that Worthington had ninety-five mem- bers and Kensington eighty-nine (probably members of the societies rather than of the churches), the two together slightly exceeding the number of families noted three years before.
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