S-i^

"V

YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

THE CLERGY
OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

THE CLERGY

OF

LITCHFIELD COUNTY

BY
ARTHUR GOODENOUGH 1 1>

LITCHFIELD COUNTY
UNIVERSITY CLUB
MCMIX

Copyright, 1909, by
Arthur Goodenough

PAR AVANCE
This volume is one of a series published under
the auspices of the Litchfield County University
Club, and in accordance with a proposition
made to the club by one of its members,
Mr. Carl Stoeclcel, of Norfolk, Connecticut.
Howard Williston Carter,
Secretary.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I FOUNDATIONS  3
II THE PIONEERS  10
III MANNERS AND CUSTOMS  18
IV AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SERMON  29
V BIOGRAPHIES  39
Rev. Joseph Bellamy  40
Rev. Azel Backus, D.D  43
Rev. John Trumbull  43
Father Mills  45
Rev. Daniel Farrand  48
Rev. Ammi Ruhamah Robbins  50
Extract from the Autobiography of a Blind Minister,
Timothy Woodbridge  S3
Rev. Peter Starr  55
Rev. Nathaniel Roberts  56
Rev. Cotton Mather Smith  58
Rev. Jeremiah Day, D.D  61
VI SECOND PERIOD— TRANSITION  65
VII PERSONAL SKETCHES  74
Rev. Stanley Griswold  74
Rev. Alexander Gillett  77
vii

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
Rev. Asahel Hooker  80
Rev. Luther Hart  81
Rev. Samuel R. Andrew  82
Rev. James Beach  83
Rev. Chauncey Lee, D.D  85
Rev. Frederick Marsh  88
VIII THIRD PERIOD— MODERNISM  95
IX MORE PERSONAL SKETCHES  99
Rev. Joseph Eldridge, D.D  99
Rev. Adam Reid, D.D  loi
Rev. Lavalette Perrin, D.D  103
Rev. William Elliott Bassett  105
Rev. Hiram Eddy, D.D  107
X THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH  no
Bethlehem  115
Bridgewater  116
Canaan  ny
East Plymouth  n8
Harwinton  119
Kent  120
Lime Rock  121
Litchfield  121
Marbledale  130
New Milford  131
Nortbfield  136
Pine Meadow  ... 137
Plymouth  ... 138
Riverton  . j.q
viii

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
Roxbury  141
Salisbury  142
Sharon  144
Thoraaston ...  145
Torrington  145
Washington  146
Watertown  147
Winsted  148
Woodbury  149
XI BAPTISTS  154
XII THE METHODISTS  160
Preachers  166
Stationed Preachers  167
Presiding Elders  16S
XIII THE CLERGY AS CITIZENS  170
XIV THE CLERGY IN LITERATURE  177
XV WIT AND HUMOR  186
XVI MINISTERS' CHILDREN  i9S
APPENDIX  203

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Church of Christ, Norfolk  Frontispiece
Congregational Church, New Milford . . . facing page 12

Lyman Beecher 
Congregational Church, Town Hill, New Hartford
Ammi Ruhamah Robbins 
Horace Bushnell 
Congregational Church, Goshen 
Frederick Marsh 
Joseph Eldridge 
Lavalette Perrin 
Congregational Church, Salisbury ....
St. Michael's, Litchfield 
St. Peter's, Plymouth 
Trinity, Torrington 
Episcopal Church, Plymouth 
Methodist Episcopal Church, Winsted . . .
Congregational Church, East Canaan . . .
Charles G. Finney 
Austin Isham  ....

18
30 5066 7488
100 104116 128
138146 152
160170180 192

FOREWORD

I AM chiefly to blame for this book, though a committee
of good men whose judgment I respected asked me to
write it. I ought to have known better, and have often
wished that somebody might express his opinion of the
enormity of my crime in a way to do justice to my own
sense of guilt. The things I have omitted— some of
them through ignorance, others for lack of space-
trouble me more than what I have done.
The inadequacy is more obvious when I write of
ministers in other denominations than my own, and it
was greatly to my relief that Dr. Storrs O. Seymour
kindly consented to prepare a chapter on the Episcopal
clergy. No doubt all readers of the work will share my
gratitude to him.
From my own point of view I excuse myself in part
for the lack of proportion in treatment by assuming

FOREWORD
that the Congregational ministry was a part of the in
digenous element which made Litchfield County to differ
from the rest of the world, and so to be worthy of
special mention, while those of other name represent
the invasion of a cosmic influence that is making us like
other people. I have received help and encouragement
from so many friends that I dare not undertake to name
them here, though they have my sincere gratitude.
Arthur Goodenough.
Winchester, Conn., March 5, 1909.

THE CLERGY
OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

CHAPTER I

FOUNDATIONS

o write of one county among the many
counties of this great country may seem
a little thing. To give special attention
to one class of men in a single county
' may seem a matter of still less impor
tance. When that county is the county of Litchfield, in
Connecticut, and the class of men selected comprises
those who for more than a hundred and fifty years have
been the pastors of its churches, the question has a new
significance. Men of large information who have lived outside its
boundaries have expressed the opinion that in propor
tion to its years of history and population this county
n33

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
has produced more great men than any other part of
the world. Some who live in it are ready to acknow
ledge the truth of this statement. Among these great
men the clergy have always been leaders, and may
safely be regarded as an important factor in the produc
tion or development of greatness in others.
The causative elements in the distinction of Litchfield
County may be regarded as threefold — its physical
geography, its race stock, and its time and place in the
history of New England.
It is the "mountain county" of Connecticut. The
scenery furnished by its hills and valleys, its lakes and
streams, is not easily surpassed. Its air is health-giving,
and the physical energy called out by struggling with its
difficulties for the means of living has been naturally
correlated with the development of a corresponding
mental and moral force in its inhabitants.
It is said that three kingdoms were sifted to furnish
their choicest and best for the beginnings of New Eng
land. There was still another sifting before the young
est and most vigorous descendants of the settlers in
Connecticut and New Haven colonies took possession
of Litchfield County.
It was comparatively infertile and inaccessible and
was the last part of the State to be occupied.
Those who came brought with them the Puritan tra
ditions and customs, modified by some generations of
1^1

FOUNDATIONS
experience. The clergy had an authority and leadership
accepted without question in secular as well as religious
affairs. The Congregational ministers and churches
were as essential a part of the beginnings of New Eng
land as were the towns and the town meetings. In New
Haven Colony, church membership was essential to a
vote or voice in town affairs, and the town governments
were practically organized by the churches under direc
tion of the ministers. The southern part of Litchfield
County was settled earliest, and its people were from
the New Haven Colony. Woodbury, the oldest of
the Litchfield towns, was settled by a church already
organized in Stratford, which brought its pastor along.
Congregational principles involve democracy, and
lead to the recognition of equal rights for all men alike
in religious, political, industrial, and social relations.
This fact was not seen nor accepted by the Puritans
generally, and they were for the most part thorough
aristocrats in belief and practice. They belonged to the
English middle class, and there were many among them
descended from royalty or nobility.
In the mother-country pastors and people alike had
been members of the English Church, and they brought
with them their parish customs and ideals. Their minis
ters were scholars trained at the English universities and
belonging to the best English families. The New
England people were accustomed to look up to their

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
ministers socially as men of hereditary rank, and of a
scholarship beyond the common understanding, as well
as dignified by a sacred calling and a position of recog
nized official authority.
The pastors of the churches were practically town
officials. They were supported by a town tax, held a
life tenure of office, and had a special authority within
town or parish boundaries on which others were for
bidden to infringe. They superintended the schools,
looked after the religious Instruction of the pupils, and
took charge of neighborhood or family morals in a
commanding way now hard to appreciate. It was fre
quently the case that a town employed its minister be
fore a church was organized, and it continued to pay
his salary when he had been ordained as pastor of the
church. When once the church had been organized
and its pastor ordained, the town could not even by Its
own vote avoid the continued payment of his salary by
a tax levied on all Its property-holders. In the case of
Stephen Heaton, first pastor in Goshen, the town
brought charges against him before the Consociation,
and the trial lasted six years before he was dismissed
from his ofl^lce for cause, and the town relieved of his
support. It Is pleasant Incidentally to know that as a
lay member of the church and community he was for the
rest of his life prosperous and respected.
When we are told that the Puritans came to this
1^1

FOUNDATIONS
country to secure the free exercise of their religion, we
might naturally infer that the whole population would
be alike religious, and free to carry on their religion
according to personal taste, but in both respects the
inference would be wrong.
The leaders were religious— most of them church
members — and strenuous in maintaining the Christian
life as they understood it, but they were not zealous for
the liberties of irreligious people, and from the begin
ning there were many such among them.
They were accompanied by many servants and re
tainers of a different class from that of which history
is accustomed to take account. "Lewd fellows of the
baser sort" are occasionally mentioned. They gave
tone to the court records and sometimes to the church
records of the early days.
Helen Evertson Smith, in "Colonial Days and
Ways," tells us that the company which settled Water-
town, Massachusetts, brought with them one hundred
and eighty servants, whose passage cost the company
an average of something over eighty-three dollars each.
Of course after the settlements were established the way
was open for adventurers of all sorts, who In any way
could find the means for crossing the ocean, and they
would crowd Into every new settlement.
We have no reason to think that in the days when
Litchfield County was settled there was ever a time

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
when as large a proportion of the population were
church members as in our own days.
There was in every community a large number of
"outsiders." Some of them were Intelligent, respect
able, orderly, and well-to-do people, whose sympathies
were with the pastors and the churches. There were
many others who were profane and disorderly and not
lovers of the dominance maintained by the churches and
their ministers.
Church attendance was compulsory on all the people,
as school attendance is now on children of school age.
Profanity and Sabbath-breaking were severely punished
by law. If the squire and the parson were In accord,
they looked after the affairs of the community with com
bined authority, and ruled, if so disposed, with a heavy
hand. If the squire differed with the parson In politics and
in social ideals, there was more liberty for the people,
but bitter strife between parties, and probably biting
and somewhat personal sermons from the pulpit.
It was natural that in the older communities there
should be some relaxation of religious Interest and of
vigor in religious observance after the strenuous life of
the first generations had gone by. The Saybrook Plat
form In 1708 had fixed the creed of the churches for
all time, and established permanent courts for church

FOUNDATIONS
government. The position and authority of the pastor
in every parish was settled beyond all question.
There gradually came about a reversion to the
old customs of the English people, and In many com
munities church membership came to be regarded as a
hereditary privilege, or a right to which decent people
had a natural claim. Right belief and orderly conduct
were often emphasized rather than experiential evidence
of conversion or regeneration, and some ministers were
Inclined to go back to the English Church for ordination
and authority.
From 1735 onward there was a somewhat violent
awakening from this condition of things under the great
revival in which Jonathan Edwards, and afterward
younger men like Joseph Bellamy and others, had a
prominent part. It was In the time of the great stress
and Impulse due to this awakening that many towns in
Litchfield County were settled and many of its older
churches organized. The influence of the time empha
sized the religious motive, quickened and directed the
religious interests of these pioneers.

1:93

CHAPTER II

eight.

THE PIONEERS
N 1 75 1, when Litchfield County was or
ganized, there were In its boundaries fif
teen churches with pastors. Woodbury
was more than eighty years old, New Mil
ford thirty-four, and Litchfield twenty-
The other churches and towns were new. The
pastors were all young men except in the one church of
Woodbury. The churches and towns were newly organ
ized, the inhabitants mainly young people led by young
pastors. Pioneering tests old customs and traditional
ways of thinking. The French and Indian wars soon
followed, and these settlements were on the danger line.
Later came the American Revolution, in which many
from these towns were actively engaged and several of
the ministers served as army chaplains.
It was inevitable that these strenuous days of out-

THE PIONEERS
ward activity and excitement should greatly Influence
the character of ministers and churches. Personal
initiative and responsibility made strong men and com
pelled original thinking.
In the beginning there was general agreement in
theological belief among the accepted religious teachers,
and in the first days of religious innovation the credal
statements were for a time left for the most part undis
puted. Yet the great awakening had brought about a
condition of religious ferment in all New England, and
the men of Litchfield County took an active part In the
readjustments which followed. Whitefield and other
traveling evangelists passed through and were followed
by departures from old customs and more or less of con
fusion and excitement. Established methods of parish
work were In some cases rudely broken in upon. There
were many conversions and additions to the churches
from the classes least identified with previous church
membership and church control, and religious expres
sion took on new forms.
Under the new impulse young men frequently were
impelled to take an active and original part in religious
meetings. Even uneducated people felt called upon to
give a public expression of their faith and experience.
As nothing corresponding to our prayer-meetings or
Sunday-schools was then in existence, it; was difficult for
a general and strong religious feeling to find vent with-
DO

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
out some outburst that would seem disorderly and
awaken alarm or prejudice.
The General Association of Connecticut in 1745
passed the following resolutions: "Whereas there has of
late years been many errors In doctrine, and disorders in
practice, prevailing in the churches of this land, which
seem to have a threatening aspect upon these churches;
and whereas Mr. George Whitefield has been the pro
moter, or at least the faulty occasion of many of these
errors and disorders, this Association think It needful
for them to declare that If the said Mr. Whitefield
should make his progress through this government, it
would by no means be advisable for any of our ministers
to admit him Into their pulpits, or for any of our people
to attend upon his preaching and administrations."
Notwithstanding this good advice, the Rev. Cotton
Mather Smith's pulpit in Sharon was open to Whitefield,
and he was probably welcomed in other parishes of the
county. Among the disorders enumerated by the Association
with disapproval are: "Intruding Into other ministers'
parishes, and laymen taking it upon them in an unwar
rantable manner publicly to teach and exhort."
These untoward acts of laymen were not only felt to
be an intrusion upon the rights of ministers and elders,
but as opening the door to false doctrines by permitting
unsafe and crude thinkers to teach. Jonathan Edwards,

Congregational Church, New Milford

THE PIONEERS
who was held in great degree responsible for the new
order of things, strenuously rebuked the innovations
which grew out of the new religious impulse. Even
wise men often think to make old bottles hold the new
wine. Though no theological change was immediately ap
parent, the germs of new thinking were being planted
and taking root. Joseph Bellamy, pastor at Bethlehem,
had taken part in the new movement, but was much
disturbed by some of its results. He preached strongly
against the incoming disorder, and published books of
wide circulation intended to promote an orderly adjust
ment of the new life to the old forms of belief and
practice. He was the great man of his day, and consti
tuted In himself the first theological seminary in our land.
It was largely through Bellamy that Litchfield
County became at once the center of the strongest Cal
vinistic thinking of that age, If not of all the ages. In
his plan this thinking was systematically coordinated
with evangelistic work and an earnest belief in revivals
and revival methods. It was this fact that brought the
philosophy of medieval times face to face with the
deep practical problems of life, in a way that led to
some inward conflicts, such as the world has never seen
exceeded. New England theology for the next hundred
years was to be a war of giants, and the men of Litch
field County were to be largely the accepted leaders.
1:13]

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Many, though not all, of the churches and pastors in
this county were in sympathy with the greater strenu-
ousness of religious life which had come In. They
insisted on more rigid rules for the acceptance and con
duct of church members, and so became involved in
church trials and divisions. Frequent dissatisfaction
and opposition was aroused in men who wished church
privileges on easy terms.
When the pastor and majority of the church held to
the more lax and conservative methods of the earlier
time, there was denunciation on the part of the new
converts, who were no longer willing to sit under the
preaching of "unconverted ministers," and sought for
relief when possible In some new organization.
The difficulty in organizing a new Congregational
Church was especially great. The law of the State al
ready permitted Episcopalians and Baptists to maintain
churches of their own, and escape taxation for support
of the Standing Order. Those who wished to establish
a separate Congregational Church had still to pay their
taxes to the older organization until they could be re
lieved by special act of the Legislature, which could not
easily be obtained. A separate church was organized
in Canaan, which for a time had more than one hundred
members, and which moved as a whole to Stillwater,
New York.
Some relief could be found where neighboring
1:143

THE PIONEERS
parishes adopted different methods. As, for instance,
Torrington followed the Half-way Covenant, while
Winchester, a contiguous parish, held to the most
rigorous requirements of church membership, and only
the children of those in full connection were baptized.
In such case trouble was liable to arise because the
stricter church would not receive members by letter
from the other without a personal examination in regard
to the religious experience.
The first pastor In Salisbury, the Rev. Jonathan Lee,
was ordained on the basis of the Cambridge Platform,
and ministers who took part in the ordination were cen
sured by the association to which they belonged.
Though all were supposed to hold by the same orthodox
creed, there was a good deal in those days to prevent
pastors from settling down into a monotonous condition
of quiet and undisputed authority.
Circumstances were favorable to the invasion of
religious organizations opposed by the Standing Order.
Episcopal and Baptist missionaries entered the field,
socially and religiously speaking, from opposite sides.
As we before observed, the drift of conservative men
in the older communities had been naturally toward the
ways of the English churches. Some ministers of stand
ing and Influence felt that safety lay in that direction,
and that It would be wise to secure ordination from
English bishops and return to a full connection with the

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
churches of the mother-country. The churches gener
ally resented this movement with energetic decision as
soon as they comprehended the meaning of it, but there
continued to be men of prominence who sought relief
from the rigid Calvinism of the preaching to which they
were compelled to listen, and what seemed to them the
inroads of a dangerous fanaticism, by turning back to
the English communion.
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
Foreign Parts sent Its missionaries Into New England,
and under the auspices of this society parishes were
established In Woodbury, New Milford, Litchfield,
Plymouth, and other places in Litchfield County. The
War of the Revolution was unfavorable to their pro
gress, as they were supposed to stand for England
politically as well as religiously, and the patriotism of
the vast majority was Intense.
On the other hand, the Baptists met the wants of the
new converts who wished to introduce and maintain a
more emotional type of piety and to protest against the
dominance of the governing class in the churches, and
what was supposed to be their respectable worldllness.
The Baptist missionaries of the eighteenth century
were uneducated men of large enthusiasms, who traveled
through the towns gathering congregations In private
homes and urging men to a new life by unconventional
methods. When in 1798 Stephen Smith Nelson was

THE PIONEERS
ordained as the first pastor of the First Baptist Church
in Hartford, we are told in Sprague's "Annals" that he
was the only Baptist minister in Connecticut with a col
legiate education.
Many small Baptist churches were organized in
Litchfield County near the close of the eighteenth cen
tury or in the beginning of the nineteenth, which In the
next generation gave way to the Methodists. We occa
sionally stumble on the foundations where were for
merly their houses of worship. They had a mission of
importance In their time, and their influence lives on in
other churches, or, it may be, in far-off communities.
There are still churches of other names which might
well die for the good of the cause which they represent,
and which yet have done good work for God in their
place and time. A few of these early Baptist churches,
like the two in Colebrook, have continued until this day.
The theology of the preachers of this denomination
was Calvinistic and did not for the most part contradict
that preached In the Congregational churches. They
were contending rather for the rights of the common
people to a larger participation in worship, and to a
kind of preaching and teaching more on a level with
their tastes and practical needs. The preaching of the
old-time Congregationalist demanded study and think
ing, and sometimes put a strain on the minds of hearers
that could not be patiently borne.

CHAPTER III

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
WOULD like, SO far as my own limited
knowledge and descriptive powers per
mit, to bring before my readers in some
detail the customary life and work of a
Litchfield County pastor of the eigh
teenth century. Of course the distinctive work of every
minister was preaching. Congregations were accus
tomed to expect and require two sermons on each Sun
day. They were preached forenoon and afternoon,
with a recess at the noon hour for visiting and luncheon.
As there were no fires in the churches in winter, a recess
at that season was also desirable to permit women and
children to warm themselves at a neighbor's or in the
Sabbath Day House near by.
There were no evening meetings, no prayer-meetings,
no Sunday-schools, except that, we are told. Dr. Bellamy

Lyman Beecher

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
had a Bible class in Bethlehem. There were sermons on
Fast and Thanksgiving days, and a lecture on the Fri
day afternoon before the Communion. Near the begin
ning of the nineteenth century some ministers took to
holding weekly lectures on Friday afternoon, at which
neighboring pastors were frequently called to partici
pate. In times of revival more frequent week-day ser
vices were held. At the beginning of the nineteenth
century we find Dr. Lyman Beecher holding evening
meetings each week in different parts of his large parish
in Litchfield. About the same time there were neigh
borhood prayer-meetings started in Winchester, which
the Rev. Thomas Robbins, preaching In that parish in
1806, speaks of attending. There may have been other
cases of neighborhood preaching or prayer-meetings
still earlier, but I have found no evidence of them.
The Rev. Ammi Ruhamah Robbins of Norfolk had
a record of about sixty-five hundred sermons In a pas
torate of fifty-two years, which Implies more than an
average of two sermons a week; but as he had been
chaplain in the army, and missionary at different times
In the new settlements where preaching came in every
day, and would have frequent occasions at ordinations
and meetings of consociation outside, more than the two
sermons a week may not be Implied in ordinary service.
There have come down to us reports as to the length
of these sermons which I have no doubt are exaggerated.
1:193

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Statements are sometimes made that sermons were two
hours long, and the long prayer an hour. I think the
people who tell these things did not carry watches, and
clocks were not then used in the churches. Undoubt
edly much less time in those days was given to other
parts of public service than is customary for us, and
more time was left for prayers and sermons.
In making our estimate I think It fair to suppose that
sermons preached on great occasions and important
enough to be published would be longer than the
average. Dr. Bellamy preached a sermon before the
Consociation of Litchfield County, at Goshen, May 30,
1753, which contains about fourteen thousand words
and would very likely require more than an hour and
a half in the delivery, but It was an exceptional sermon,
showing that he felt It to be a great occasion and had
a great respect for his audience. It was probably a
similar appreciation of what was required that led the
late Dr. Adam Reld of Salisbury to decline an invitation
to preach before the Litchfield North Association on
the ground that he "felt unable to prepare anything
worthy the attention of that august body." Dr. Bel
lamy's other published sermons do not usually exceed
eight thousand or nine thousand words, and would come
inside the hour.
Published sermons from popular preachers like Dr.-
Asahel Hooker, Father Mills of Torrlngford, or Jere-
n2o3

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
miah Day of New Preston, would have been delivered
in from thirty to forty-five minutes. I suppose the
usual method of preaching was from quite elaborate
skeleton outlines, and In extempore expression would
take more time for delivery than if fully written out
and read, but I do not believe any preacher was accus
tomed to preach more than an hour at any time before
his usual congregation.
As to the matter and form of sermons there is a
good deal of sameness among those which have been
handed down to us, but of course they were the show
sermons, and I take for granted that there were others
presenting more variety and originality both in theme
and construction.
There was usually an exposition of the text, a logical
and In some cases a quite ingenious departure from it to
prove one or all of the five points of Calvinism, fol
lowed by a review and a personal application to the
different classes of hearers. Whatever the beginning,
it usually led up to the terrors of hell and closed with a
solemn warning.
We have reason to believe that, besides these elab
orate discourses, there were actually many of a lighter
and more practical character, dealing with the affairs of
common life in an effective way. We know that ser
mons were frequently preached handling public affairs
in the style of the Old Testament prophets, giving

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
political advice or rebuking disorder and immorality In
the community.
In the War of the Revolution the progress of events
gave tone to the praying and preaching in many pulpits.
The Rev. Stanley Griswold, a native of Torrlngford,
and pastor In New Milford from 1790 to 1802, not
only made a specialty of politics, but led the way in a
general secularizing of religion, which brought not only
himself but his church into trouble. The writer has a
sermon preached by him March 11, 1801, after the
election of Thomas Jefferson to the Presidency and
Aaron Burr to the Vice-Presidency of the United States.
He had voted for the successful candidates and urged
others In his party not to take undue advantage of their
victory, but to work for peace, and only revenge them
selves by kindness for the unmerited abuse which had
been heaped upon them in New England. He was dis
missed from his pastorate the following year, and soon
gave himself wholly to a political life, becoming a
United States Senator from Ohio. The trouble with
him was not that he meddled with politics, but that he
was on the wrong side of politics and opposed to the
party to which ministers and leading church members
were expected to belong.
From the earliest times ministers considered sermons
on all public and social questions to be in the line of their
plain duty, and no apologies were needed for instruct-
i:"3

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
ing their people in all matters relating to government
and good order. Not only was obedience to law and
authority inculcated, with due reverence to superiors,
but the duties of legislators and officers of the law were
proclaimed on the basis of an authority above that of
kings and governors. Sermons were preached before
the Governor and Legislature laying down the right
principles for their guidance.
In Mrs. Stowe's book on "Poganuc People," she men
tions the sermons in the parsonage garret, prominent
among which was "An Appeal on the Unlawfulness of
a Man's Marrying his Wife's Sister." "Then there
were Thanksgiving sermons; Fast Day sermons; ser
mons that discoursed on the battle of Culloden ; on the
character of Frederick the Great ; a sermon on the death
of George the Second." This might only Indicate that
Dr. Lyman Beecher was the leader in a new order of
preaching and thinking, which was no doubt true, but
we have reason to think that the earlier preachers also
dealt with a similar range of subjects in a more re
stricted way.
Besides preaching, pastoral visiting in case of sickness
or special need was expected, but general or systematic
visiting of all the parish was not regarded as essential
as it came to be in later times in some parishes.
The oversight of the schools and a frequent examina
tion of the pupils on Saturday afternoons in regard to
[:^33

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
their knowledge of the catechism was recognized as the
duty of every pastor. Ministers at their ordination
were usually given what was called a settlement, a lump
sum paid In advance to enable the pastor to own a
house and farm. Hence he was expected to be a farmer,
whose land was tilled mainly by servants under his over
sight, or that of his wife if she were better fitted for the
management of worldly affairs than her husband, as
was sometimes the case. The ideal pastor might, like
Jonathan Edwards, be so wholly absorbed in heavenly
contemplation or theological study that he hardly took
note of what was going on in the world about him, and
might forget to recognize his own children, not to say
his own cows. In that case it was well for "the madam"
to be a person of good business capacity who would see
that the temporal affairs were wisely looked after, for
the most spiritual of men needs to eat sometimes.
It was not, however, unusual for the pastor himself to
be a man of common sense who walked on the ground
and was able to do business with other men. Slaves or
hired servants were usually a part of the minister's
family and were used with profit.
Many of the early ministers in Litchfield County
were teachers of young men preparing for college or a
professional life. Frequently there would be several
students boarding in the family. Those were days of
large houses and large families. 1:243

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
A sketch of the household of the Rev. Cotton Mather
Smith, pastor in Sharon, implies that the mistress of the
manse was habitually responsible for more than twenty
persons. Similar conditions are suggested in regard to
Dr. Bellamy In Bethlehem, Dr. Asahel Hooker of
Goshen, Robbins of Norfolk, Farrand of Canaan, Par
ker of Ellsworth, and others. Not all pastors lived on
so large a scale, but being for the most part the man of
largest education and Influence in the community, he
was expected to live as an example to other men of high
standing. Business abilities of a high order were needed, and a
good deal besides books and theology came in the way
of the eighteenth-century clergy. The first pastor in
Roxbury, the Rev. Thomas Canfield, left an estate in
ventoried at more than three thousand pounds, while the
total amount received from his parish as settlement and
salary for a pastorate of fifty-one years was only about
two thousand pounds. His property was accumulated
by good business management of household and farm.
He was a successful dealer in real estate, and left several
good farms to his children. Small salaries were every
where a necessity in those days, but there are sometimes
other ways of getting on.
I suppose ministers In those days had, as now, their
individual methods of studying and preparing sermons,
and preached according to their gifts and habits. I find

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
a statement of the method of Jacob Catlin, born in
Harwinton, and pastor in New Marlboro, Massachu
setts, which I think was regarded by the ministers in
this vicinity as Ideal. In the noon recess on Sunday he
talked with his people and gathered from them themes
and texts which they would like to have preached upon.
On Monday morning he went into his study, folded
paper for two sermons, and wrote a text at the head of
each. He then attended to his farm forenoons, and
gave his afternoons to visiting the sick, looking after the
schools, giving lectures, or doing other outside work,
allowing the sermon themes to simmer in his mind.
On Friday morning he went Into his study and wrote
all day on his first sermon, finishing it up at a white heat.
On Saturday he did the same thing with the second
sermon. Ministers' libraries were not large In those days. A
few books, thoroughly read and re-read, furnished mate
rial for a good deal of thinking, even If It were neces
sarily within a narrow range. Probably as wholesome
thinking can be done in the field or on horseback as in
the study. The few books needed for a working library
would vary, then as now, according to taste. When,
after the death of Dr. Bellamy, his library was offered
for sale, and some came from a great distance to pur
chase, they were surprised to find it consist mainly of a
collection of Infidel works, which he owned for the sake
1:263

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
of controverting them. I once felt a similar surprise
when, supplying for a popular minister In this same
Litchfield County, I found in his library no theological
works but the Bible and Hodge on Romans, by the side
of Hoyle's "Games" and some works on hunting and
fishing. The aforesaid minister was not very long a
Litchfield County pastor, but while reading does help
one's thinking in various ways, the amount or kind of
reading we do by no means furnishes a measure of our
thinking. Some individual pastors may in this later time have
found out the way to indulge in lazy habits. Some were
accused of It even In those good old days, but I don't
think laziness could have become very general among
them. The Rev. Ralph Emerson, D.D., when he be
came pastor at Norfolk in 1 8 1 6, did not expect an easy
life. He said: "The preacher has before him a life of
ceaseless toil, and that of the most exhausting kind. . . .
The composition and delivery of sermons Is what wears
out the life of a minister. The strong tone of feeling
requisite for this purpose, joined with the attendant
anxiety and effort of mind, shatters the nerves and ruins
the health. His labor Is not only more exhausting, but
Is of longer continuance, than the employment of other
men. The toils of the body end with the setting sun.
It Is not so with the mental effort of the preacher.
While his parishioners are relaxing from their labors,
[:273

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
his mind Is at Its work; and often, while they are reclin
ing in soft slumbers of midnight, he is at the lamp, with
pained head and aching heart, pondering what truths
may rouse them from the slumbers of spiritual death.
... In fact, his spirit knows neither rest nor end In its
labors. . . . The Sabbath, ordained by heaven as a day
of rest to man and beast, is a day of painful and haz
ardous exertion to the preacher. It calls him to an effort
which has cost many a life." However true this was to
Dr. Emerson, I do not believe It has been true of all or
most ministers. The Christian faith has enabled many
of them to throw off anxiety and rest .at the end of a
day's work, and the average life of the clergy has been
longer than that of their parishioners. They have had
plenty of work and great responsibilities, but have not
needed pity.

C^O

CHAPTER IV

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SERMON
E could hardly get an adequate concep
tion of the ministers of the first half-
century in Litchfield County without a
sermon of their times. To print one of
their sermons verbatim would be easy,
but It has occurred to me that It would be better if a
shorter sermon could be made to suggest all the doc
trines most emphasized and universally accepted by
them. I have ventured to condense and combine two
sermons, one by Dr. Bellamy, the other by Asahel
Hooker of Goshen, putting the introduction in my own
language, but holding to their thought. In this way
some violence Is done to the unity of the discourse, but
I hope that the most usual subject-matter of the preach
ing is fairly presented in one third the space required
for a complete sermon in those days.
1:293

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Dr. Hooker was a disciple of Dr. Bellamy and the
leading teacher of theology in this county and perhaps
In New England after Dr. Bellamy had ceased from his
labors. I think he believed himself to agree thoroughly
with what the older man had taught, but he sought
newer methods of presentation, and opened the way for
the controversy between the New Haven theology and
the East Windsor theology, which followed in the next
generation between men who had been under his teach
ing. Text, Romans ix. i6: "So then It Is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy."
We, looking at things great or small from the stand
point of our own narrow lives, may seem to have some
great efficiency or Importance in ourselves or in our cir
cumstances. In fact, there is just one great reality, God.
All else Is but the fringe of his seamless garment. The
kingdom and the power and the glory are his alone.
In the unmeasured ages before the worlds were made
he alone had being. He was absolutely perfect and suffi
cient in himself. He had no need of the worlds or of
companionship. It seemed good to him to create worlds,
and to bring Into being spiritual and personal existences
with whom he could have fellowship. He did this with
perfect knowledge In minutest detail of all that should
follow as his worlds rolled onward and the experience of
[:3o3

Congregational Church, Town Hill, New Hartford

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SERMON
his living beings became history. In perfect righteous
ness and wisdom he planned and executed. His universe
has been, is, and ever shall be the best possible expres
sion to finite intelligence of his infinite perfection. In
our time and place we get but a passing glimpse of the
dust of his chariot-wheels, yet this is sufficient to bring
us face to face with what Is to us a great problem, the
fact of sin and its consequences.
We are taught by God himself that every sin is
detestable, utterly and forever to be condemned, the
abominable thing which he hates. Holy angels in
heaven sinned and were hurled forever from their seats
of power and privilege, cast into chains of darkness and
everlasting torment. Man, created holy, was seduced
Into sin, and rests under a like eternal condemnation, but
not without hope. Why sin was permitted In the world
we do not know. We may be sure that God could have
prevented it, and could have preserved all beings in a
state of perfect holiness and happiness with perfect
ease if he had seen it best. He chose a world with
sin in it and had an absolute unquestionable right to do
so. None the less he Is in no wise to blame for the sin.
It Is the free act of his free and responsible creatures,
and they alone are rightly condemned and eternally
punished for It, punished by helpless and endless tor
ment, beyond all our present conception of misery.
"All the sin and misery that has or ever will take
C313

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
place in the system through eternal ages, even the whole,
lay open full and plain to the divine view, before God
created the world; and he had as full, perfect, and lively
apprehension of it, before he began to create, as he ever
will have to eternal ages." "If God had pleased, he
could have hindered the existence of sin, and caused
misery to have been forever unknown In his dominions
with as much ease as to have suffered things to take their
present course." "God . . . did deliberately forbear
to Interpose effectually to hinder the introduction of sin
Into his world, when he could have hindered it as easily
as not." "Angels and men were under the greatest
obligation to love and obey God, and were left to their
own free choice; and God was not obliged. In point of
justice, to do any more for them than he did. The
whole blame lies at the creature's door, and God is right
eous In punishing his sin In creatures, according to the
declaration of his Word." (B.)
The condemnation of mankind as a whole for the sin
of the first man made the foreshadowing of a general
redemption through another chosen representative of
the race. "As In Adam all die, so In Christ shall all be
made alive." All, in the latter case, meaning all who by
the election of God and their own acceptance of his grace
are joined to Christ as their representative. "Fallen
men are capable, if disposed, of accepting the great sal
vation." "The gospel makes a free offer of eternal
n323

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SERMON
mercy to all who hear It— addressed to beings fully
capable, if well disposed, of accepting It." Not one
man who has ever lived, or ever will live, has been or
ever will be disposed to accept, except by the special act
of God. "Unless he who hath mercy compel them to
come in, they will neither be guests at the wedding, nor
taste of his supper. Hence the necessity of a merciful
divine influence to apply the Christian redemption to
the souls of men." "The salvation of men Is of God,
from the origin to the consummation." "Wicked men
are free and accountable in all their evil deeds. . . .
That believers are saved by the distinguishing grace of
God does in no measure infringe their liberty of moral
action. Nor does it lessen in any degree the propriety
of their being punished for every deviation from moral
rectitude." "Its being of God, that some of mankind
were from the beginning predestinated unto the adop
tion of children by Jesus Christ, and In due time are
called by his grace, is no Infringement of other men's
liberty of doing as they choose ; nor hence can it dimin
ish the fitness of their being strictly accountable. Ac
cordingly, they are justly condemned already because
they will not come to Christ for life, nor have him to
reign over them as their Prince and Saviour."
"The moral liberty of some men cannot be Infringed,
or at all lessened, by the grace which, without affecting
them directly or indirectly, captivates others to the
D33

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
obedience of Christ. Their case is just what it would
have been had those who are now saved been left to
perish." "God may be sincerely benevolent in offering that to
men which It would not be for his glory and the happi
ness of his kingdom, and consequently not consistent
with infinite rectitude, to Impose on them, making them
willing to receive it if otherwise unwilling. Punishing
them would evidently be doing them personal justice."
"It is In every view consistent and most desirable that
God should distinguish such number and persons of
mankind by his saving mercy as he pleases rather than
that all should be lost, as they would have been other
wise notwithstanding the coming of Christ and the offer
of salvation. Hence It Is equally so that the whole
should have been rendered certain and Inevitable by
divine decree before the world began. Thus the doc
trine of election as maintained by the Holy Scriptures
is most benevolent, consistent, and free from reasonable
objection." (H.) REMARKS
I. "How amazing Is the patience of God toward a
rebellious, guilty world! And how astonishing the
divine goodness, which sends rain and fruitful seasons,
[:343

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SERMON
filling their hearts with food and gladness ; when hell is
their proper place, and the pains of the damned their
just desert ! God looks down from heaven upon the
children of men and beholds the work of his hands
combined In rebellion against him, their rightful sover
eign ; contemning his nature and will, despising his law
and authority, and of a temper bad enough to dethrone
him and overturn his universal government had they
sufficient power on their side." "He has an adequate
idea of the infinite vlleness, yet he stays his hand and
feeds and clothes the wretches that affront him to his
face." "It is In Scripture attributed to the greatness of God's
power that he is able to contain himself and to keep
back his hand from destroying the God-provoking
sinner immediately. And had he not a strength and
fortitude of mind infinitely great. It would doubtless be
beyond him to bear with mankind a minute longer.
Such infinite provocations would be too much for any
but an Infinite patience."
II. "How dreadful will the day of wrath be and
how miserable the state of the obstinate sinner when
God's patience shall be at an end and his hand shall
take hold on vengeance and render a recompense to the
wicked equal to the infinite evil of their sins I" "Now
Is the time for patience, but when the day of wrath
C3S3

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
comes God will let all the world see and know how
infinitely vile it is for worms to rise in rebellion against
the Most High."

APPLICATION
"Every Impenitent sinner will at the day of judgment
be sentenced to depart to everlasting burnings. Now
does It appear reasonable that sin should be so severely
punished? In heaven they cry 'Hallelujah! Just and
righteous are thy judgments. Lord God Almighty !' But
what is the language of your heart? Say, do you ap
prove God's judgment or are you an enemy to it?"
"Is it become natural to you to look upon hell as your
proper due, in such sort as that everything in your cir
cumstance, wherein you are better off than the damned,
appears a mere pure mercy? Do you appear so in your
own eyes as In the sight of God? and go up and down
the world wo'ndering at the goodness and patience of
God?" "Is It become natural to you to be afraid of sin?
If you know not the great evil of sin, you know nothing
yet as you ought to know. You are a stranger to God,
Ignorant of your own heart and of the deplorable condi
tion you are in, and to this day are unhumbled, impeni
tent, and unpardoned. Wherefore consider these things,
answer these questions, and say what is your state."
1:363

AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SERMON
"Oh, how doleful Is the state of secure Christless
sinners ! At enmity against God-, "^bels against the
majesty of heaven, their frame of heart and manner of
life a continual despising the Lord! Constant provo
cation! And yet, alas, they know it not! They little
think what Is just before them. The day of account
drawing nigh ; a day of darkness, of gloominess, and of
thick darkness, and of great wrath!"
A CONSIDERABLE time spent with the preachers of a
century and more ago gives me a deep respect and even
reverence for the men. The calm sincerity and courage
with which they faced the most awful problems ever
dealt with in our human thinking awakens our admira
tion, but does not compel our imitation. The greatness
of their thought of God It would be well for us to
study. Their logical and mathematical way of settling
theological questions we cannot use, for we have taken
to examining the premises before we make our deduc
tion. We believe In a different God and a different man,
in a different world. None the less our life has grown
out of theirs, and our thinking was prepared for by
their thinking. We have reason to be thankful for the
honesty with which they sought to justify the ways of
God to men. It is not strange that their sermons con
stantly refer to the unbelievers and opposers of the
truth. The wonder Is that the preachers themselves
n373

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
were mainly agreed In their doctrinal viewpoint and
teaching. Some felt that the problems were too great
for them to deal with, and devoted themselves to the
practical guidance of their parishes. The leading think
ers threw their whole might Into finding a solution of
the problems that would satisfy their own thinking and
that of their congregations. The theological variety
and controversies of the next century grew out of these
same problems. They have gone by, and we in our
thinking and our preaching are dealing with matters
wholly different, but they are problems liable to return
and ask for a new solution in a new age. Yet one can
not but think that there was sometimes an unreality and
artificiality, growing out of their other-worldly point of
view, which, while it weakened the effect of their preach
ing, gave a needed relief from the strain of their terrible
doctrines.

D83

CHAPTER V

BIOGRAPHIES
TAKE It for granted that a book on the
clergy must be biographical to a consid
erable extent. In undertaking a few
personal sketches of the eighteenth-cen
tury pastors, I find myself confronted by
two difficulties. The best-known men have already been
well written about In books or pamphlets accessible to
those most interested, and my work will be only a
repetition. In regard to those less known only meager
information, not likely to be of great interest, is within
my reach.
The best sketches I have found are those given by the
Rev. Abel McEwen, D.D., of New London, In his
discourses at Litchfield in 1852, at the centennial of the
Litchfield County Consociation, and published In the
1:393

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
record of their proceedings. I suppose the publication
Is now rare and shall take the liberty of quoting from
It more extensively on that account. Dr. McEwen
was the son of a deacon In Winchester, and gave his
sketches largely from his personal recollections of the
men. Matter found in many other books is largely
quoted from him, often without acknowledgement.

REV. JOSEPH BELLAMY
The Rev. Joseph Bellamy, D.D., was recognized as
the great man of his time. He was born In Cheshire,
Connecticut, February 20, 1719, and was graduated at
Yale College In 1735, when sixteen years of age. He
commenced preaching at eighteen years, and took part
with Jonathan Edwards in the great revivals of that
period, preaching in many places with great fervor and
success. He was ordained In Bethlehem in 1738, and
had a pastorate there of over fifty years, where he died
March 6, 1790.
In the first three years of his pastorate he went about
a great deal in revival work, but the revolution In his
home parish was one of wonderful power. "He was a
man of commanding presence and great power In the
pulpit." He established and maintained In his own
1:403

BIOGRAPHIES
house the first great theological training-school in the
United States, many of the students boarding In his
family. It was customary before his time for the young
theologue to spend a year or two with some pastor, who
directed his studies and used him for service in his
parish, but Dr. Bellamy had a large school and regular
courses of study. "He received the degree of D.D.
from the University of Aberdeen in 1768." "At the
age of thirty he published what was regarded as his
greatest work, 'True Religion Delineated,' " the pur
pose of which was to correct errors growing out of the
revivals In which he himself had so largely partici
pated. "The great body of the fathers in this profession who
adorned the closing part of the eighteenth century were
his pupils. . . . He reigned as a sovereign in his school,
still the members of it venerated and loved him. His
criticisms were characterized by sarcasm and severity.
. . . Dr. Bellamy was in person manly, of tall stature,
in the latter part of his life well clothed with flesh.
Pious people and those without religion, the learned
and the unlearned, the orthodox and the heterodox,
united In pronouncing him an eloquent preacher. He
had a voice of great power and compass. So well was
he acquainted with the things, operations, and business
of nature and of common life, on any and every occasion
for his imagery he had a storehouse to draw from with
1:413

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
which both his cultivated and his rude hearers were well
acquainted." REV. AZEL BACKUS, D.D.
The Rev. Azel Backus, D.D., succeeded Dr. Bellamy
as pastor at Bethlehem In 1791 and was a man hardly
less renowned. He was born in Norwich, Connecticut,
November 5, 1765, and was graduated at Yale In 1787.
He maintained at Bethlehem a classical rather than a
theological school until he became president of Hamil
ton College in 1 8 1 2. He was distinguished as a scholar
and as a humorist, but his sermons were not an en
couragement to' easy thinking and living.
"Soon after his settlement he preached one of his
poignant, awful sermons in a neighboring parish. A
hearer, alarmed for the young preacher, asked him, 'Mr.
Backus, dare you preach such sermons as this at home
in Bethlehem?' 'Yes,' he replied, 'I am obliged to
preach them in this style; the people have been so long
kicked and spurned by Dr. Bellamy that they will not
feel gentler preaching at all. This sermon which you
have heard Is a mere hazel switch ; when I am at home
I use a sled stake.' His wit nor even his drollery could
be kept out of the pulpit. His preaching was of the
most popular kind. . . . Almost every occasion re
minded him of human depravity and the peril of the
n423

BIOGRAPHIES
soul, of divine grace, its mercy and richness ; and lo, his
head was waters and his eyes were a fountain of tears.
. . . He excelled In repartee and In the delineation of
character. When he portrayed the demagogue from the
words of Absalom, 'Oh, that I were made judge in the
land,' his classmate, Gideon Granger, said to him as he
came from the pulpit, 'Backus, had I known what was
coming I would have stood up.' . . . The personal ap
pearance of Dr. Backus was Impressive and winning:
not tall, but of rotund and well-proportioned figure, a
massive head, and a face expressive of sensibility, dig
nity, and Intelligence. He received his D.D. from
Princeton." (Quotations from Dr. McEwen.)

REV. JOHN TRUMBULL
The first pastor in Watertown was the Rev. John
Trumbull. He was born in Suffield, Connecticut, in
17 1 5, was graduated at Yale In 1735, was ordained
pastor at Watertown (then called Westbury) in 1737.
"He was a respectable scholar, but acquired and main
tained an influence over the people of his charge by his
hospitality, generosity, and friendly intercourse with
them, perhaps more than by distinguished preaching.
For a clergyman of those times he was wealthy. If any
parishioner had lost his cow, or any similar calamity,
1:433

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Mr. Trumbull headed a subscription and made the
affluent among his people follow his example. A saying
was prevalent that if any one of his parishioners turned
Episcopalian, Mr. Trumbull bought his farm." (Dr.
McEwen.) He was a large landowner and a good judge of
horses. His son was Judge John Trumbull, the author
of "McFIngal," a poem exceedingly popular in its day.
In 1772 Mr. Trumbull was elected a fellow of Yale
College, and continued in that trust until his death in
1787. This occurred after a pastorate of fifty years.
It Is said of him In Bronson's "History of Water
bury" that he was not a tall but a stoutj athletic man.
He was sound, shrewd, and humorous. Athletic
contests were frequent between the Waterbury and West
bury young men. "In several of these contests Water
bury had proven too much for Westbury. On occasion
of the next contest Mr. Trumbull disguised himself and
went down to give material aid if necessary. The
wrestlers were called in one after another till Westbury
was again thrown out, the Waterbury champion having
grounded the last of the rival party. When the signs
of exultation on one side and chagrin on the other were
becoming manifest, a stranger was dragged in from the
outer circle of the crowd to contend for the Westbury
boys. The parties placed themselves In position and
began playing around to find each other's quality. After
C443

BIOGRAPHIES
a little time the stranger, watching his opportunity,
caught his antagonist first and threw him upon the out
door fire which was the center of the evening gathering.
Shouts filled the air, and the victor disappeared."
When the secret leaked out "it reached the ears of Mr.
Leavenworth, pastor at Waterbury, and the next time
he met his brother Trumbull he rebuked him for his
levity, and censured him particularly for throwing his
rival on the fire. Trumbull agreed that he had been
guilty of levity, but as for the scorching said he thought
it his duty to give Mr. Leavenworth's parishioners a
foretaste of what they might expect after sitting under
his preaching."
In his will he bequeathed to his widow his negro
wench Lemmon; to his son Judge Trumbull, his negro
girl Mabel; to his daughter Sarah, wife of Dr. Caleb
Perkins of Hartford, his negro girl Peg; and to his
daughter Lucy, wife of the Rev. Mr. Langdon of Dan
bury, a negro girl that was already in her possession.

FATHER MILLS
There was one Litchfield County pastor of the old
time who was generally conceded to be in a class by
himself. Samuel John Mills was pastor of the church
t:45 3

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
in Torrlngford from 1769 to 1833, sixty-four years,
though with a colleague for the last eleven years. He
Is remembered for his peculiarities, especially for his
humor, and in these later times known as the father of
the Samuel John Mills to whom the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions owes Its organiza
tion. There is plenty of evidence that there was a solid
foundation of character and worth beneath the peculiari
ties of Father Mills. He was a wise and successful
pastor, popular with his own congregation and liked by
his brother ministers. I wish he could have left at least
a volume of published sermons. I have no doubt both
thought and language would have amply repaid the
study of later times. His usual preaching was extem
pore, and we have but two printed sermons In a book
of selections (dating, I think, from 1797, but the title-
page is lacking In the book I have) . These sermons are
a study of the sentiments of Jesus Christ, planned more
nearly in accordance with the present historic method
than any other writing of his time with which I am
acquainted. The style is remarkably lucid, and the
amount of thought packed into two sermons is very
unusual In any age. Of course the five points of Cal
vinism are all there— they had to be— but they do not
occupy the foreground in the way usual at that time, and
are presented In the most practical and least offensive
way imaginable.
1:463

BIOGRAPHIES
I have been told, by a man who spent his boyhood
under the pastorate of Father Mills, that it was his
custom, when in the middle of the sermon he lost his
grip on his congregation or they grew sleepy, to stop
abruptly and introduce a story or some irrelevant re
marks until all were thoroughly awake, then to resume
the thread of his discourse and go on as If there had
been no interruption. Many of his stories are current.
I do not need to repeat them. Other ministers of his
time found a place for humor In their social life, and
sometimes apologized for It as If it were a sin. So far
as I have been able to learn. Father Mills was the only
man who dared to use It in his preaching, as an intended
relief to his congregation. His personal human Influ
ence laid a deep hold for good upon many lives.
Mrs. Stowe, In her sketch of Father Morris, has de
scribed him, and many anecdotes have found their way
into print. I recall one that I have not seen in any
publication. Near the close of a hard winter he was returning
from an exchange on Monday morning, when the road
was walled on each side by the depths of snow and new
drifts, making It very difficult for teams to pass each
other. If any teams turned out of the beaten track, a
good deal of floundering and perhaps shoveling might
be required. He saw men with a span of horses advanc
ing to meet him, when, rising to his full height, he
1:473

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
shouted, with his magnificent voice, "Turn out. Get
out of my road, or I will serve you as I did the man in
the last town." They proceeded promptly to get out of
his way. When, after thanking them courteously, he
passed by, one of them asked what he had done to that
other man. "Oh," said he, "he was contrary and
would n't turn out for me, so I turned out for him."

REV. DANIEL FARRAND
According to his biographer in the Connecticut Evan
gelical Magazine for August, 1803 : "Mr. Farrand was
born of reputable and hopefully pious parents, January,
1720, in Milford, Connecticut." His parents moved
to New Milford. "He there continued In the business
of agriculture during his youthful days. . . . He was
uncommonly attached to books, and discovered a great
thirst for knowledge." He received the degree of M.A.
from Princeton In 1750, and was ordained in South
Canaan In 1752, where he continued In his pastorate
more than fifty years. He had a family of four sons
and five daughters, and, his salary being small In pro
portion to his need, he was for a long course of years
In the habit of preparing young men and boys for col
lege. It Is said In Sprague's "Annals" that "as a scholar
1:483

BIOGRAPHIES
in the dead languages Mr. Farrand In his day had few
equals," and that "he frequently read his chapter before
family prayers from the Greek Testament, without It
being observed that his eye was not upon an English
one" ; which might imply that he approved thoroughly
of the Authorized Version. "His manners were simple
and plain almost to bluntness; and yet such was the
dignity of his appearance as to Inspire a degree of awe
which precluded any attempt at undue familiarity." He
was regarded as a sound theologian and a preacher of
high rank, but had a holy tone in his delivery that de
tracted from the effect of his preaching. He was
one of the wittiest men of his day, and his humor
was unpremeditated and uncontrollable. Dr. Mc
Ewen relates that at a public dinner a brother min
ister asked Mr. Farrand "whether Mr. Sherman (then
pastor at Goshen) would be able, by a book which he
had recently published, to reconcile the Calvlnlsts and
Armlnlans? The reply was: 'A wolf once saw two
rams, retreating from him in opposite directions, and he
exclaimed: "Both of you I can catch; one of you I will
have; if you will both turn and come to me, I will spare
the life of him who first gets to me." They turned, they
rushed, and between the heads of the two butting rams
the wolf was mashed.' " (Mr. Sherman was soon in
difficulty in his parish, and was paid fifty pounds by the
town for his resignation. He was a brother of the Hon.
1:493

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Roger Sherman and a man of popular gifts, but Goshen
would not stand the slightest tendency to heterodoxy.)
It is said that Ethan Allen published an infidel book
entitled "The Oracle of Reason," and gave Mr. Far
rand a copy to read. When afterward he asked his
opinion, Mr. Farrand said that the paper of the book
was of rather poor quality, otherwise he would have
thought It a pity that so much of It had been unneces
sarily spoiled. He was much valued as a peacemaker
and an adviser among the neighboring churches.

REV. AMMI RUHAMAH ROBBINS
The Rev. Ammi Ruhamah Robbins was the son of
the Rev. Philemon Robbins, pastor at Branford, Con
necticut, who successfully maintained his right to be
liberal In an Intolerant age. He was born in Branford
In 1740, was graduated at Yale in 1760, began service
in Norfolk In January, 1761, after studying theology
with Dr. Bellamy, and was ordained the first pastor at
Norfolk, October 28, 1761, which office he held for
fifty-two years, until his death, October 31, 18 13. May
16, 1762, he married Miss Elizabeth LeBaron, daugh
ter of Dr. LeBaron of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and
granddaughter of Governor Bradford, a lady of splen
did gifts, who became the mother of thirteen children.
150-2

Ammi Ruhamah Robbins

BIOGRAPHIES
A young man of twenty-one years, he began his service
with the church when it had but twenty-three members.
When he preached his half-century sermon, the whole
number of members received had been five hundred and
forty-nine. He kept a diary and careful records of his
work, and had preached In the fifty years at home and
abroad more than sixty-five hundred sermons — an
average of one hundred and thirty a year. In his earlier
ministry he made five tours of home missionary work
in the new settlements of from two to four months each.
In these tours he preached one hundred and forty-five
sermons and organized three churches. This was the
way for pastors in Litchfield County to take their vaca
tion a hundred years ago, before modern methods were
discovered. Mr. Robbins was chaplain In the Revolutionary army
in 1776, but after a few months his health was so im
paired that he was compelled to return home. Besides
these periods of absence, in 1783 and in 18 10 he was
laid aside from public service for about five months In
each year.
He was a talented scholar and prepared a large num
ber of young men for college. Dr. Abel McEwen, born
In Winchester, and for more than fifty years pastor In
New London, Connecticut, was one of his pupils.
James Watson, a native of Goshen and afterward
United States Senator from New York, was another.
DO

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Dr. McEwen says of his former teacher: "It would be
difficult to select a minister in Connecticut who has been
more popular with the people in his charge, or who
exercised over them a more complete and useful control.
Bland and courteous In his manners, with a comely
figure, a winning face, and constitutional agility, he
ruled the old men, being at once their counselor and their
boon companion. The young men were his children : the
great majority of them were under his ministry born
into the kingdom of God. . . . His sermons generally
were not elaborated. His preaching was an easy flow
of sound doctrine, natural method, warm affection, and
simple but playful elucidation. In his sermons and
prayers, especially in the reading of psalms, his voice
was a charm. The common and the uncommon people
said he was by nature a pulpit orator. He might be
criticized; he was inevitably admired."
In his later years he was a member of the Corporation
of Williams College, and It was through his Influence
that the young men from towns in his vicinity, who
under the leadership of Samuel J. Mills, Jr., started the
missionary Impulse that led to the organization of
modern missions in this country, were at Williams In
stead of at Yale. Three of his own sons had a college
course, two of whom were ministers; the other, James
Watson, preached for a time, but lacked health to con
tinue. He tells us that he had preached from passages
1:523

BIOGRAPHIES
In all the books of the Bible except the Epistle to Phile
mon and the Second Epistle of John, showing that he
sought a wide range and variety of themes. His ortho
doxy was not questioned. He seems to have been faith
ful to the doctrines emphasized by Bellamy and other
theorists of his day, but had a taste for the more cheer
ing suggestions of the New Testament, to which many
were afraid to call attention. It was said that he had
preached in every town In the State of Connecticut but
three, and in a large number of settlements in northern
New York and Vermont.

EXTRACT from THE
autobiography of a blind minister,
timothy WOODBRIDGE
In my fourteenth year I was placed in the classical
school of the Rev. Mr. Robbins, pastor of the church
and congregation in Norfolk, Connecticut. My new
teacher was a hale, fine, spirited old man; was full of
vivacity and the pliancy and facility of manner which
we often observe In Frenchmen. He had been the
pastor of his church from Its organization. His con
gregation had been so intensely engrossed for many
years In felling the forests and exterminating the wild
beasts that they had found but little time for Intellectual
culture ; and It Is probable that their pastor was tolerably
[:533

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
satisfied with the demands of the community in the
matter of Intellectual Improvement.
He was a man of genius, and had the natural qualities
of an orator. My teacher was greatly respected by his
congregation, and was In that region a sort of oracle.
He had a loud voice, great fluency, and preached almost
extemporaneously. He carried with him into the pulpit
a brief manuscript outline of his sermon; and If the
next idea In the method of his discourse did not occur
to him In the proper order, he seized upon some collat
eral thought or illustration, and glowed upon it to the
sui-prlse and delight of his audience. But, whether
erudite or not, he kept up his familiarity with Greek and
Latin, and was a good classical scholar. His school had
a great reputation as a theater for training boys for
college. I was the hundred and thirteenth boy whom
he had fitted and entered at some collegiate institution.
When I joined his school, I had a great desire to go to
Yale, because Dr. Dwight, my cousin, was president.
But Mr. Robbins, though educated at Yale, was one of
the trustees of Williams, and was enthusiastic in his
preference for this latter institution. He employed all
his persuasions to Induce me to go to Williams. This
influence, joined to the fact that Williams was near my
home, determined me to fix on the Berkshire college.
Mr. Robbins was an animated and pleasing teacher.
Immediately after morning prayers, he went up into our
[:543

BIOGRAPHIES
school-room with his pipe, and spent an hour with us In
hearing our recitations of the evening lessons, and In
imparting to us his earnest Instructions. He entered
into the business con amore. When he left us in the
morning, we were in a fine glow for study; and at
eleven o'clock he returned to examine the results of our
forenoon's work, and was faithful, cheerful, and ami
able. He was, "take him for all in all," a delightful
man. His piety was free, joyous, practical, and gen
erous. He cultivated in me an earnest desire for literary
excellence. He had no touch of the Puritan habit of never prais
ing a boy when he did well, but commended me warmly,
and I was grateful for it. It fell upon my heart like the
dew of Hermon, and I never abused his kindness, but
studied the harder for it.

REV. PETER STARR
The Rev. Peter Starr was born in Danbury, Con
necticut, September, 1744, and was graduated at Yale In
1764. He studied theology with the Rev. Mr. Brins
made in Washington and with Dr. Bellamy in Bethle
hem, and was ordained pastor in Warren, March 18,
1772, where he died July 17, 1829, after a pastorate
of more than fifty-seven years. His first wife was Sarah
n553

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Robbins, sister of the pastor in Norfolk. He was a
member of the Corporation of Yale College from 1813
to September 8, 18 18.
Dr. McEwen says of him : "He was of moderate size
and active habits; well educated, studious, and intelli
gent, distinguished for judgment and discretion. In
theology he harmonized with his brethren in the country
who were contemporary with him. His sermons were
short, methodical, lucid, and instructive. A very intelli
gent man bred under his ministry testifies that he never
knew him to deliver a discourse extempore, even in a
school-house or private dwelling. More of confidence,
respect, and affection than Mr. Starr enjoyed, no pastor
has occasion to require from the people of his charge. He
was cheerful and diffused cheerfulness around him. . . .
Two of his sons were educated at Williams College and
went Into the profession of the law."

REV. NATHANIEL ROBERTS
The Rev. Nathaniel Roberts was born In Simsbury
in 1704, and graduated at Yale In 1732. His wife was
a daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Marsh of Windsor,
and a sister of the Rev. John Marsh of New Hartford.
He was ordained the first pastor In Torrington, October
21, 1 74 1, and continued until his death in 1776.
c:563

BIOGRAPHIES
He was an easy man in his theology and church dis
cipline, and followed the Half-way Covenant in church
administration. The first pastor in Winchester refused
to receive members on Mr. Roberts's letter of recom
mendation without further examination. He was a
somewhat eccentric man, characterized by humor
peculiar to himself. He was a successful pastor and
built up a strong church by his practical wisdom and
uprightness. Not given to much theology, as compared
with other pastors of his time, he is said to have be
lieved very strongly in the devil, and to have directed
his life and preaching quite earnestly to escaping from
the evil one and combating his work. It is said that his
emphasis on the devil was the occasion of some amuse
ment among the young people, and that one young man
in particular took to counting the number of times the
devil was mentioned In a sermon and reporting It. This
having come to the hearing of Mr. Roberts, he took
particular pains to guard himself against his peculiarity.
After finishing his second sermon he turned to the young
man and said, "I hope no dissatisfaction will be felt with
what I have said, for I have mentioned your master's
name but three times to-day."
The story is told in Orcutt's "History of Torrington"
that one spring Mr. Roberts had tapped his maple-trees,
but for several days the sap had not run. On Sunday
the favorable weather came on, and the sap filled his

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
troughs to overflowing. "On Monday morning Mr.
Roberts was seen going from tree to tree, turning the
sap out on the ground with great vigor and decision, and
when a neighbor Inquired, 'Parson Roberts, what are
you doing? Why do you throw away your sap so?'
'Ah! I '11 have nothing to do with the works of the
devil,' said he; 'sap, sap, all day Sunday! I '11 have
nothing to do with the works of the devil.' "
"There was a very dry season during Mr. Roberts's
pastorate, a day of fasting was appointed, and the peo
ple were to assemble at the church to pray for rain. At
the appointed time the pastor took his overcoat on his
arm and started for the church. Some one asked him
why he took his coat. 'I tell you I shall fetch her. I
tell you I shall fetch her.' And It is said that It did rain
before he went home. Like the other ministers of his
day, he was intensely patriotic at the beginning of the
Revolutionary War, and is reported to have prayed at
his public service, 'Great God, we pray thee to remove
that Lord North from office, by death or otherwise.' "

REV. COTTON MATHER SMITH
The Rev. Cotton Mather Smith was born in Suf
field, October i6, 1731, and graduated at Yale College
D83

BIOGRAPHIES
in 1751. He was a year with Jonathan Edwards, shar
ing his work among the Indians. In 1754 he began his
service with the church at Sharon, and about a year
later was ordained pastor, holding the position until his
death in 1806.
Dr. McEwen says of Mr. Smith: "He was distin
guished for amiable temper, bodily activity, graceful
manners. Industry, and elegant literature. . . . Bland
and courteous in manner, sound in religious inculcations,
uncompromising in moral habits and requirements, much
in his study, and often in the families of his people, he
harmonized their faith and social habits, and gained
such hold of their hearts that they retained his ministry
and gave deference to his counsels to the close of his
life. Somewhat acquainted with medicine, but more
because he had the heart of the Good Samaritan, he
was sure to be with his parishioners when sick, and never
by the sick was the presence of a minister more cordially
welcomed. ... A very distressing prevalence of small
pox at one season put all his benevolence, contrivance,
activity, and fortitude in requisition. It was winter;
houses for the sick could not be obtained ; seven hundred
persons were subject to the disease within two months.
For nineteen successive days and nights he took not off
his clothes for rest. Here was something in addition to
good preaching to make a minister popular among his
own parishioners. . . . Into the memorable campaign
1:593

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
of 1775 he entered as chaplain to a regiment in the
Northern army. His Influence In producing order and
good morals in the camp. In consoling the sick, and
inspiriting the army with firmness and Intrepidity, at
tracted the attention of General Schuyler, the Com
mander-in-Chief, and secured from this worthy officer
a respectful friendship for Mr. Smith the residue of his
life. ... A polish of style and a sweetness of affection
gave Interest to his preaching, while fidelity to the con
science of his hearers gave it power."
In his half-century sermon he stated that he had
preached more than four thousand public discourses, be
sides more than fifteen hundred at funerals and other spe
cial occasions. Dr. Thomas Robbins says of him : "Mr.
Smith was a man of middle size, rather tall than other
wise, and united great benignity and intelligence in the
expression of his countenance. His manners were re
markably polished, so that he might have appeared to
advantage even at a court : they were a delightful com
pound of simplicity, gracefulness, and dignity. ... In
his intercourse with his people and with society at large,
he was distinguished for his prudence. He never per
formed an act or uttered a word that was fitted need
lessly to wound others, or to impair the dignity or lessen
the influence of his own character. . . . He had a good
deal of unction in the pulpit, but his manner was simple,
natural, and graceful. His views of divine truth were
[:6o3

BIOGRAPHIES
substantially those held by Dr. Bellamy, but his gentle
and urbane manner prevented him from ever giving
needless offense."

REV. JEREMIAH DAY, D.D.
The Rev. Jeremiah Day was born in Colchester, Con
necticut, January 25, 1737. He was brought up on a
farm, walked three miles to school, developed a great
love for books, and was graduated from Yale College
in 1756. After some time spent in teaching, he studied
theology with Dr. Bellamy, but, having come to doubt
his fitness for the ministry, he went back to teaching. In
1763 he became a farmer in the town of Sharon, and
married Miss Sarah Mills of Kent, a sister of the Rev.
Samuel J. Mills of Torrlngford. He was made a select
man In Sharon, and represented the town in the Legis
lature. After the death of his wife in 1767, he again took up
the study of theology with the Rev. Cotton Mather
Smith of Sharon. He began to preach at New Preston
in 1769, and continued In that pastorate until his death,
September 12, 1806. October 7, 1772, he married
Abigail, widow of the Rev. Sylvanus Osborn of Warren,
by whom he had five children — a daughter, who died in
infancy, and four sons, three of whom were graduates
1:613

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
of Yale, and one of them Its honored president. He
purchased a farm in New Preston, which he worked
largely with his own hands, but also took his salary,
part in work, and another part In produce. His salary
was to be seventy pounds a year, but, at the beginning
of the Revolutionary War, he gave up five pounds of It,
and also himself paid the tax of honest dissenters, so
far as it was levied for his salary.
His letter resigning this portloh of his salary Is worth
quoting. He says: "Considering the greatness of the nec
essary expenses of the country at the present day, and the
difficulty of the times, and being willing to contribute my
proportion toward the public expenses, to encourage the
glorious cause In which we are engaged, I am induced
to give five pounds lawful money the present year to
this society, to be deducted out of my salary for the year
1776, which Is more than two shillings on the pound
of all my rateable estate. And I furthermore make
declaration and promise that all those who are bound
by law to pay rate to me, but profess to be of any other
religious denomination from us, if they will produce
good and credible certificate that they have paid for
the support of the Gospel to the amount of their rates to
me, for preaching which they have enjoyed within the
compass of the year, i.e., from February i, 1776, to
February i, 1777, shall In consequence of application
made to me for the above-mentioned year receive a full
[623

BIOGRAPHIES
discharge of their ministerial taxes. That they should
be required to pay something for the support of the
Gospel Is reasonable, inasmuch as a preached Gospel Is
a benefit to civil society, as well as to the souls of men."
This rebate he continued for the remaining thirty
years of his life. He was a man of solid goodness and
sound sense, whose influence reached far. I will quote
regarding him from the Connecticut Evangelical Maga
zine for December, 1806:
"In private life, in the domestic relations, Mr. Day
afforded as perfect an example as nature has produced
since families were formed. To his wife he was all that
her fondest wishes could claim or ask; to his children
he was the best of fathers."
"In all his intercourse with his people he was grave,
serious, and instructive. Wise as a serpent and harmless
as a dove, he was one of the most Illustrious examples of
ministerial prudence. As a divine he had a sound under
standing, capable of deep research. . . . With a clear
and luminous method, he loved chiefly to dwell on the
great doctrines of divine grace and the distinguishing
truths of the Gospel. To his brethren In the ministry he
was a tried friend and an able counselor. His advice
was much sought and improved. Indeed, In this im
portant branch of ministerial duty he may not have left
a parallel. Always upright In his views, remarkable for
punctuality in attendance on all appointments, and able
1:633

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
at once to seize the right point in every question, able to
disentangle the most embarrassed subject, clear and con
clusive in his reasonings, fellow-members in council
always felt themselves honored when they found his
opinion coincide with theirs."
He lived to see his youngest son licensed to preach
the Gospel and was ready, like the aged Simeon, to de
part In peace, feeling that this life had reached Its
culmination of blessedness. "He frequently remarked
that death had no terrors for him and that, If It was
the will of God, he did not wish to live beyond his use
fulness." His desire was granted, and he passed away
in his seventieth year, able to participate in affairs to
the last.

n643

CHAPTER VI

py

^^m

VKSj/wt

BJiin^
M# 1^11
SECOND PERIOD— transition
HERE was little manifest change in the
position and work of the clergy of Litch
field County until about 1800, and until
that time there was a general agreement
in theological belief, a large proportion
of the pastors having been students with Dr. Bellamy,'
or readily conforming to the accepted standard. For
the next sixty years many Influences combined to work
great and continuous changes. First of all was the read
justment of the Calvinistic theology. Calvinism had
long been an accepted theory, but it had probably never
been used as the staple in preaching as constantly and
thoroughly as in the eighteenth-century preaching of
this county. It naturally aroused much opposition and
unbelief among men outside the church, but in the
Congregational churches it had its own way. Con-
1:653
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
troversy with the Episcopal Church was not mainly on
doctrinal lines, and the early Baptists were in their way
as thoroughly Calvinistic as the Congregationallsts. The
Methodists were now coming In and were aggressively
Arminian. The Wesleyan theology was preached with
the exaggerated zeal of men not theologically educated
and Intensely In earnest. New adjustments were sought
for by the new thinkers in the Congregationalist minis
try, and there were among them many able and energetic
men. The Rev. Asahel Hooker of Goshen took up the work
of training theological students, which had been laid
down by Dr. Bellamy, and Dr. Backus of Somers. He
was supposed to be thoroughly loyal to the older theol
ogy, but was ready to enforce it by new statements. Dr.
Jonathan Edwards of Colebrook, Dr. Ebenezer Porter
of Washington, and Dr. Lyman Beecher of Litchfield,
were ready, with Dr. Timothy Dwight of New Haven,
to make the essentials clearer by new statements; and
their new statements or improvements were regarded
with suspicion by many of their brethren. Dr. Beecher
had so much confidence in the power of logic to settle
everything that he was very tolerant of efforts to re
consider all questions.
Exciting controversies grew and continued, preparing
the way for a sharp division which took place over the
New Haven theology, as It was promulgated by Dr.
[:663

Horace Bushnell

SECOND PERIOD-TRANSITION
Nathaniel W. Taylor. It is difficult in these days to
appreciate the differences which were held to be of such
tremendous Importance for a generation. The center
of Dr. Taylor's improvement seems to have been In
emphasizing the distinction between certainty and neces
sity. It was certain that some people would be damned,
but they did n't have to be damned. There was always
with them a power of contrary choice, which they were
capable of exercising, and they failed, not because of
having made a single wrong choice, but because of a
permanent wilful refusal of the right. The leader of
opposition to this "dangerous" man was the Rev. Ben
nett Tyler, D.D., who became the founder of the East
Windsor theology. Both men were from Litchfield
County. Dr. Taylor was from New Milford, the grand
son bf the pastor there. Dr. Tyler was born In Wood
bury and was pastor for a time of the church in South
Britain, then, but not now, in Litchfield County. This
controversy of old and riew school, attended by the
Methodist aggression all along the line, reached every
parish and made life more exciting to all ministers, but
it only prepared the way for a still deeper revolution in
theological thinking, led by Dr. Horace Bushnell in the
next generation.
Besides the theological movements there was political
upheaval which separated church and state and deprived
the minister of his secular authority. After 1818 no
C673

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
man could be taxed for the support of a church or pastor
without his consent. In some towns or parishes the
system of taxation continued by general consent for a
time, but democracy In church affairs had made an ad
vance, and, while the pastor might still exercise a com
manding inffuence by virtue of his character, he was no
longer an autocrat by virtue of his office.
The world outside had grown larger, and means of
communication were continually Increasing. Railroads
were built, and manufacturing towns grew up in connec
tion with the new means of transportation. There was
an Influx of a new and heterogeneous population, with
a demand for new churches and with new demands on
the ministers.
About 1800, prayer-meetings began to be organized
among the people, and a new activity was aroused in
the lay element, which formerly had for the most part
been silent. In a few years church prayer-meetings on
Friday afternoons became customary. Dr. Ebenezer
Porter of Washington, and afterward Dr. Lyman
Beecher of Litchfield, preached on temperance. Tem
perance societies were organized in which ministers were
leaders, and ministers' meetings adopted habits of absti
nence. Societies for moral reform were started. The
great missionary movement began with young men from
this county as leaders, and the clergy gave it their best
thought and effort. About 18 17, Sunday-schools were
1:683

SECOND PERIOD-TRANSITION
generally established. A few churches had them earlier.
It is evident that the first half of the nineteenth century
was fermenting with religious forces. New wine was
bursting the old bottles. New leaders and new methods
were called for, and pastors were aroused to their ut
most endeavor. Even the consecrated men who sought
to hold by the old things were carried off their feet by
the inrush of new forces.
The times were of necessity characterized by insta
bility in the pastoral office. Litchfield County abounded
in pastors of large ability fitted to lead in a large way.
The outside demand for such men was great, and they
could not be retained in their parishes. Dr. Bellamy,
though the greatest preacher of his day, had been able
to stay In his pastorate at Bethlehem for a lifetime. In
the new age such men were called to a work in larger
communities with an urgency they could not resist.
His successor. Dr. Azel Backus, accepted in 1813 the
presidency of Hamilton College. Dr. Edward Dorr
Griffin, born at East Haddam in 1770, graduated at
Yale In 1790, pastor in New Hartford from 1795 to
1 801, was called to Newark, New Jersey, and afterward
became president of Williams College. Ebenezer Por
ter, D.D., was born at Cornwall, Connecticut, October
5, 1772, and graduated at Dartmouth in 1792. He
was pastor at Washington, Connecticut, from 1796 to
18 1 2, and was called to the professorship of sacred
1:693

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
rhetoric In Andover Theological Seminary. He was a
man of great Intellectual strength and ability, who exer
cised a wide Influence. Dr. Lyman Beecher, after his
sixteen years in Litchfield, was called to Boston. He
was afterward professor and president of Lane Theo
logical Seminary, Cincinnati. Noah Porter, D.D.,
LL.D., was pastor at New Milford from 1836 to 1843,
afterward professor and president of Yale College.
George Pierce, pastor at Harwinton from 1822 to 1834,
was called to the presidency of Western Reserve Col
lege. Jonathan Edwards, D.D., pastor at Colebrook from
1796 to 1799, became president of Union College.
Ralph Emerson, D.D., the second pastor at Norfolk,
and ministering there from 1815 to 1829, was called to
a professorship In the theological seminary at Andover,
where he filled the chair of history and pastoral theology
for twenty-five years with great power and usefulness.
He had previously been Invited to the presidency of
Western Reserve College, but had declined.
The Rev. Harvey D. KitcheU, pastor at Thomaston
from 1838 to 1848, after pastorates In Detroit and
Chicago became president of Middlebury College.
These names selected from many Indicate that while
Litchfield County in this period had no lack of great
men. It had become more difficult to retain them for a
life service. It had become easier for both ministers
D03

SECOND PERIOD-TRANSITION
and people to come and go, and If there were induce
ments for young ministers to come, there were still
greater Inducements for ministers of established repu
tations to enter larger fields of work elsewhere. Thus
pastors in Litchfield County were called to a much more
strenuous and varied work than in the earlier time, were
compelled to be leaders in the teaching of new thought
and the organizing of new methods, and their time for
impressing themselves on the community was short.
They became great quickeners of thinking and insti
gators of change rather than builders of the permanent
elements of parish life. It seems to me that they did
their work on the whole remarkably well. Rolling
stones are not good at gathering moss nor building
foundations, but they may accomplish something in
other ways. Certainly the ministers of short pastorate
and great activity, who, amid controversies, disintegra
tions, and reorganizations, had charge of the churches
in this county from 1800 to i860, were many of them
exceedingly capable men and did well the work given
them to do. They developed latent forces In the
churches and set their people at work. A sense of
responsibility for things was pressed home upon men,
women, and children. The separateness and dignity and
official authority of the clergy for the most part passed
away, but they became leaders In the things that concern
the daily life of men.
DO

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
They ceased to begin their preaching from God as
a Being wholly known, deducing by logical Inference the
duty and destiny of men. They began with men in
human affairs living under earthly conditions, and tried
to lead their people step by step toward God as the great
consummation of our human life. Leveling influences
were everywhere at work, and as the ministers them
selves came down from their high pulpits to the plat
form nearer their congregation, they taught their fellow-
Christians also to become a leaven in human society,
even at the risk of soiling their white robes by contact
with the dirty work of the world. There was a new
world coming rapidly Into existence, and with more or
less clearness of vision the spiritual guides and teachers
recognized the fact, and sought so to make Christianity
the center of every movement that It might be the new
world wherein shall dwell righteousness. After the
storm of theological and ecclesiastical controversy the
air became clearer and the essentials of Christian love and
brotherly cooperation became apparent to most minds.
The equal rights of men of all opinions and all de
nominations to a part in the common service of the one
Master and Saviour in every community were practically
established, though the principles and methods of ad
justment, and the achievement of mutual confidence and
brotherly confederation, had yet to be thought out. Ex
cept In the separation of church and state, which was
C723

SECOND PERIOD-TRANSITION
taken In hand largely by the outside people, the clergy
were leaders In every change and readjustment, and the
general wisdom shown by them was only emphasized
by the exceptional action or adverse criticisms of a few.
There were mistakes that wrought injury and left the
scars of battle, but, on the whole, the record of ministers
and their work was one to be admired and approved by
every close and clear-eyed student of this historic period.

1:733

CHAPTER VII
personal sketches

REV. STANLEY GRISWOLD
eretics are usually interesting, and in
these later days heresy often seems a
ground of popularity in a minister. It
was a less comfortable thing to differ
from one's brethren a century ago. The
Rev. Stanley Griswold was an early example of such dif
ference In this county. He was born in Torringford,
November 14, 1763, and was graduated from Yale in
1786. He was ordained as pastor in New Milford
January 20, 1790, and dismissed In 1802.
Early In his ministry It began to be suspected that he
was unsound and unsafe in his theology, but evidently
he had no Intention of controverting the essentials of
the generally accepted belief. I have seen a letter writ-
D43

Congregational Church, Goshen

PERSONAL SKETCHES
ten to his father in which he resented the suspicion that
he was departing from the faith of the fathers. He was
only trying to make that faith workable by using com
mon sense in its application.
From two published sermons on the death of his
predecessor, the Rev. Nathaniel Taylor, in 1800, It is
easy to see that the standpoint of his thinking and teach
ing was different from that generally prevalent in his
time. He evidently believed that goodness was some
thing to be achieved by human choice and effort, and
that it gave one a clear title to heaven. He says: "The
art, my hearers, of turning death Into a pleasing scene,
IS the most important art ever learned by mortals. Such
-an art does really exist. We are dull Indeed to learn it.
Yet it Is the most simple art; It consists only in being
¦good. And to be good is far easier than to be evil;
for the way of transgressors Is hard, whereas the yoke
of Christ is easy and his burden light."
Almost any minister of his time would have explained
that no hope could be founded on human choice and
human goodness, only on the election and grace of God,
which must give to our lives their value.
In the second sermon he makes a statement almost
¦equally startling In regard to the nature of rewards and
punishments: "Happiness belongs only to the good
-mind ; malice is a hell to Its possessor. . . . Sin murders
the soul Itself, and in the future world anguish and tor-
n753

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
ment assail the foul spirit to a degree inconceivable and
unspeakable. Our Saviour speaks of it under the figure
of torment occasioned by fire and brimstone, and char
acterizes it by weeping, walling, and gnashing of teeth."
Mr. Griswold was a speaker of marked ability, and
his church sympathized with him when neighboring
ministers objected to his course. He was evidently a
man whose character and personal qualities commanded
admiration and respect. How far the teaching of his
predecessor, Mr. Taylor, prepared the way for his influ
ence, I have no means of knowing, but apparently the
old pastor was on the best of terms with the new. In
the funeral discourse, Mr. Taylor is said to have held
metaphysics "as very unprofitable to be introduced into
public discourses," also to have believed some of the
heathen might be saved, and to have baptized children
"on their own account." The question arises, but can
not be answered by any knowledge in my possession, con
cerning the influence both of the grandfather and of
Mr. Griswold on the career of the young Nathaniel W.
Taylor, who was afterward the great exponent of the
New Haven theology.
Perhaps Mr. Griswold might have continued in his
pastorate but for his prominence In political matters, in
which, unlike his brother ministers, he took the side of
Jefferson, whose election was regarded by religious lead
ers in Connecticut as a horrible calamity and a triumph
n763

PERSONAL SKETCHES
of infidelity. In 1803 Mr. Griswold acknowledged
such a change of belief that he retired from the minis
try. He was afterward United States Senator from
Ohio, and Chief Judge of the Northwest Territory.
He continued to be a man of religious faith and Influ
ence outside the ministry.

REV. ALEXANDER GILLETT
The Rev. Alexander Gillett was born August 14,
1749, in Granby, Connecticut, "and was the son of
pious parents." He was graduated at Yale in 1770, and
studied theology under the direction of the Rev. Timo
thy Pitkin of Farmington. He was pastor at Wolcott,
Connecticut, from 1773 to 1791, and of the First
Church in Torrington from 1792 until his death in
1826. He frequently aided other pastors in revival ser
vices, and had several revivals in his own parish. He
made missionary tours in the new settlements of Ver
mont, leaving his own pulpit for a time to be supplied,
and was zealous in holding neighborhood services in the
school-houses or in pastoral visiting. His surviving
parishioners remembered him with great affection and
respect and no unpleasant recollections. It is said by
Mr. Orcutt in his "History of Torrington": "He was
n773

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
always seen on Sunday morning coming to church ore
foot with umbrella and overcoat, the latter on his arm;
in all weathers, no matter how high the thermometer.
Having preached the morning sermon, he frequently
closed with the remark, 'Having thus attended to the
doctrines of the text, we will consider the applications.
this afternoon,' and the morning and afternoon sermons
were nearly always connected. . . . He was a com
poser of poetry and music as well as sermons."
His neighbor, the Rev. Frederick Marsh, says of
Mr. Gillett : "He was rather above the medium stature
and size, of a full habit, broad shoulders, short neck,
and large head. . . . His face was broad and unusually-
square and full, illuminated by large, prominent eyes,
the whole indicating more of intellect than of vivacity.
He was courteous and kind, swift to hear and slow to-
speak. ... As a man of intellectual ability he held a
decidedly high rank. He had an aversion to everything
superficial. He was an admirable linguist, and above
all excelled in the knowledge of the Bible, not merely in
his own language but in the original. I have heard an;
eminent minister, who fitted for college under his in
structions, say that he never found any tutor so accurate-
and thorough In the languages as Mr. Gillett. He was
also very familiar and extensively acquainted with his
tory; and he studied history especially as an expositiom
D83

PERSONAL SKETCHES
of prophecy. . . . During seventeen years of familiar
intercourse with him, my mind became constantly more
Impressed with the depth of his piety, his unreserved-
consecration to God, his self-sacrificing devotion to the
cause of Christ and the highest Interests of his fellow-
men. . . . He presented truth with great clearness and
point, hence his preaching took strong hold on congre
gations in the time of revivals. . . . His delivery was
rendered laborious and difficult by an impediment in his
speech. He could not be called a popular preacher, but
he was a skilful and faithful guide to souls, and his
labors were abundantly blessed."
Dr. McEwen tells us: "Whatever of management
and labor pertained to the farm, he gave exclusively to-
the family. One large chamber he made his sanctum.
It was accommodated with a large old-fashioned fire
place. In this every morning, even through dog days,,
he made a blazing fire, raising the windows when neces
sary. His philosophy was that in hot weather a fire in
the morning purified the air and by increasing the circu
lation made It cooler. Few ministers spent more hours
in their study than Mr. Gillett." In that room he
studied, wrote sermons, poetry, and music, played on
the bass viol, and practised for diversion the art of a
bookbinder. He is said to have taken up the study of
Hebrew and made himself proficient in It after he was
1:793

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
forty. Perhaps his friends were not the best judges as
to what constituted proficiency in Hebrew. One son,
Timothy P. Gillett, was a minister and pastor for fifty-
one years of the church in Branford, Connecticut.

REV. ASAHEL HOOKER
The Rev. Asahel Hooker was born In Bethlehem,
Connecticut, August 29, 1762, in the fifth generation
from the Rev. Thomas Hooker, first pastor of Hart
ford. He was graduated at Yale in 1789, studied theol
ogy under the Rev. William Robinson of Southlngton,
Connecticut, and was ordained pastor at Goshen in
1 79 1. Under his ministry the church, which had, been
in a distracted and divided condition, soon became
united and strong.
He took up for a time the work of training theological
students, in which he was very successful. He was dis
missed in 18 10, on account of the failure of his health.
He preached afterward with acceptance In New Haven,
New York, and Charleston, South CaroHna, but did not
recover his health fully and died in 18 13. His son,
Edward W. Hooker, D.D., was a professor at the East
Windsor Theological Seminary, and he had grandsons
in the ministry. President Heman Humphrey, one of
his students, says of him: "He was a good man, of ex-
D03

PERSONAL SKETCHES
cellent talent and high professional acquirements, a
devoted pastor, an edifying and a searching preacher, a
wise counselor, an earnest defender of the faith once
delivered to the saints, an Elisha among the young
prophets, a revered and beloved teacher who will ever
live in the grateful memory of his pupils as long as any
of them survive."
He had lived under the preaching of Dr. Bellamy,
with whose doctrinal position he considered himself in
essential agreement. I have used one of his sermons,
with one of Dr. Bellamy's, in preparing a sample
eighteenth-century sermon. He was for several years
registrar of both the North Consociation and the Asso
ciation of Litchfield County, and his records show that
ex-President Roosevelt was not the Inventor of simplified
spelling. We are frequently informed that certain votes
were past, or that the ecclesiastical body concerned past
a given vote.
REV. LUTHER HART
The Rev. Luther Hart was born In Goshen, July 27,
1783, and graduated at Yale in 1807. He studied the
ology with Dr. Porter of Washington and Mr. Hooker
of Goshen. He was ordained pastor in Plymouth, Con
necticut, in 1 8 10, and continued In office until he died,
April 25, 1834. He was a man greatly beloved by his
n8i3

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
people and highly honored among his brethren In the
ministry. "There was no resisting his candor and
manly sincerity, which gave evidence not only of his
Christian principle, but of the frankness and honesty of
his heart." He was a lover of poetry and music, a
writer of poetry, and a musician, of high order.
The Rev. Lauren P. Hickok, D.D., says of Mr.
Hart: "One of his marked characteristics was an Inde
scribable expression of cheerfulness and hearty good
will, diffusing Its sweet savor wherever he was, so that
his presence and society were always sought. His inter
course with his church and people was very frank and
familiar, yet with a large amount of reserved dignity
and seriousness. His sermons were serious, pungent,
and discriminating, and abounded less In long-drawn
argument than in condensed, sententious thoughts and
concise declarations. His voice was full and melo
dious." He had a high reputation for eloquence In the
pulpit.

REV. SAMUEL R. ANDREW
The Rev. Samuel R. Andrew was born at Milford,
Connecticut, in 1787, and was graduated from Yale In
1807. He was the grandson of the Rev. Samuel An
drew of Milford, Connecticut, who was one of the
DO

PERSONAL SKETCHES
founders of Yale College, and pastor at Milford for
fifty years. Mr. Andrew was ordained pastor at Wood
bury In 1 8 17 and continued In his pastorate until 1846.
He was chosen a member of the Yale Corporation In
1837. "Mr. Andrew's intellect was strong, clear, com
prehensive, and discriminating. His judgment was pre
eminently sound and wise. His taste was pure and
classical. His sensibilities were exquisitely susceptible
to beauty in nature, in literature, and In character. His
thoughts were always just, often rich and original. He
was a laborious student, a close, independent, and com
prehensive thinker In theology. His sympathies were
as tender as his Intellect was strong. . . . His piety
was the very beauty of holiness, it was so unaffected, so
symmetrical, so honest, and so tender. . . . He was
strong in faith, giving glory to God; when dreadful
waves of sorrow broke over him, he cast himself upon
the promises of his covenant God with the simplicity and
confidence of a child." ^ His death was sudden and
quiet, and he passed away as one greatly loved and
lamented. REV. JAMES BEACH
The Rev. James Beach was born in Winchester, June
10, 1780, was graduated at Williams College, studied
''New York Observer, quoted in Cothren's "History of Woodbury.''
D33

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
theology with the Rev. Asahel Hooker of Goshen, was
ordained pastor of the First Church In Winsted, Janu
ary I, 1806, and dismissed January 26, 1842, after a
pastorate of thirty-six years. The Rev. Cyrus Yale says
of him: "He held a high position among his clerical
brethren, was one whom they delighted to honor, and
this the more the older he grew and the better they
knew him. His great weight of character and rare influ
ence seemed to result very much from a happy combina
tion of deep piety, cultivated and vigorous intellect,
sterling sense, uniform judiciousness, joined to his
marked sobriety, his brotherly kindness, and his dignified
manner, his steady manifestation of strong love to God
and of God's truths as he saw them on the sacred page In
lines of light and glory. How all desired to have him
lead In devotional exercises on all occasions as one pre
eminently endowed with the gift and the grace of prayer !
. . . The person of Mr. Beach, though not tall, was
commanding, his eyes deep set beneath heavy brows. . . .
He was singularly well formed for strength of body and
of mind, gravity and goodness had about equal posses
sion of his countenance, while reason was more strongly
developed than imagination."
Dr. Joseph Eldridge says of Mr. Beach: "His dis
position was social and genial. He was a pleasant man
to meet. He had a considerate regard for his minis
terial brethren in respect to their feelings and reputa-
n843

PERSONAL SKETCHES
tions, rejoiced in their successes and their usefulness.
I never saw him out of temper, never heard him utter
a harsh or censorious remark. He never thrust himself
forward, but was more disposed to stand back and make
room for others. His sermons were full of truth clearly
and plainly expressed. In their delivery he was earnest
but never impassioned; perhaps more animation would
have improved them. His prayers in public, especially
those on special occasions, were very remarkable for
their ease, their felicitous adaptations in all respects to
the circumstances of the case, and the happy introduc
tion of scriptural quotations, and at the same time re
markable for their exemption from everything in the
nature of effort and display, and for their simple tone
and humble contrition." He died in Winsted on his
birthday, June lo, 1850, seventy years of age.

REV. CHAUNCEY LEE, D.D.
The Rev. Chauncey Lee, D.D., a son of the Rev.
Jonathan Lee, was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, in
1763, and was graduated at Yale in 1784. He was
pastor at Sunderland, Vermont, from 1790 to 1797. He
became pastor in Colebrook, Connecticut, in February,
1800, and continued in office there until January, 1828.
He died in Hartwick, New York, in 1 842. His son, the
D53

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Rev. Chauncey G. Lee, was pastor at Monroe, Con
necticut, from 1 82 1 to 1826, and afterward in other
Connecticut churches. His grandson, the Rev. Clarence
Beebe, was a missionary in Turkey. I used to hear
Deacon Abel S. Wetmore of Winchester speak of Dr.
Lee from personal remembrance, while his published
books and local traditions show him to be a man of too
much Importance to pass by without notice.
He began authorship with a new decimal arithmetic
which Thomas Robbins, in the mature judgment of
eighteen years, pronounces "pedantic." I do not know
of any copy now In use. In 1806 he published a transla
tion of the Book of Job In the form of an epic poem
entitled "The Trial of Virtue." The Influence of Mil
ton is manifest in his style. The book had considerable
popularity, and is creditable both for Its scholarship and
its poetic expression. He was an evangelist of marked
success, and in 1824 published a volume of sermons
forming a system of preaching for revival purposes.
This series of sermons was accompanied by a collection
of hymns, composed by Dr. Lee himself, to reinforce
the impression of the preaching. Sermons and hymns
alike seem to have been well adapted to this purpose.
Deacon Wetmore, whose own religious experience had
been vitally affected by Dr. Lee's preaching, used to
repeat to me sentence after sentence from a sermon
which he had heard as a young man. The language was
1:863

PERSONAL SKETCHES
remarkably clear and impressive and could hardly have
failed to be clearly understood by any congregation.
Outside the pulpit Dr. Lee was Irrepresslbly humorous,
but the sermons gave no indication of it. His wife was
said to have made the remark that when she saw him
outside the pulpit she often thought he ought never to
go into it, and that when she listened to him In the
pulpit. It seemed as if he ought to stay there always.
We read in Sprague's "Annals" : "On one public occa
sion, at the dinner-table, where there was a large com
pany, he Indulged his passion for humor to such extent
as to produce long-continued and convulsive laughter.
When Mr. Lathrop of Salisbury said afterward. In a
tone of solemnity, 'I think we have been Indebted to you
for much amusement,' his countenance fell, and he said,
'Well, my dear brother, I am sorry, I am sorry; if I
have done wrong I hope God will forgive me.' "
I will venture on a quotation from "The Trial of
Virtue" :
My friends, deceitful as th' inconstant brook.
With smiling fortune smil'd : with it forsook
The limpid stream, by winter's frost congealed,
Spread to the eye a smooth delightful field ;
Firm to the foot, not rocks more firm and fast,
And dreaming fancy thought the scene would last.
But short th' illusion,— ere one summer's day.
The charm Is fled, the ice dissolves away,
D73

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
The waters swiftly glide, the dream is o'er.
The rivulet dries, and friendship is no more.
Hope, fair deceiver, downward to the deep.
Floats with the tide and leaves the wretch to weep.

REV. FREDERICK MARSH
The Rev. Frederick Marsh was born in New Hart
ford, September i8, 1780. He prepared for college
with Mr. Robbins of Norfolk, graduated at Yale In
1805, studied theology under Dr. Hooker of Goshen,
preached in Winchester from the beginning of 1808,
where he was ordained pastor February i, 1809, and
continued in active service until February i, 1846. He
continued to live in Winchester until his death in Febru
ary, 1873, preaching occasionally in near-by places.
His early manhood, spent under the pastorate of Dr.
Edward Dorr Griffin, determined his religious expe
rience and his theological belief. Dr. Griffin was al
ways his Ideal. What Dr. Griffin had preached was to
him the eternal and unchangeable truth of God. He
was modest, cautious, painfully conscientious, a pastor
of firm and enduring faithfulness ; he took life seriously,
and, according to tradition, was never known but once
to make a facetious remark accompanied by a smile. In
the revivals under his ministry his one fear was that he
should encourage some inquirer to indulge in a false
n883

Frederick Marsh

PERSONAL SKETCHES
hope and think himself a Christian without becoming
such In reality.
Knowing that the whole matter was in the hands of
God and had been settled from before the foundation
of the world, it would seem a little inconsistent, not to
say cruel, that the deluded person might not be per
mitted a little comfort here before facing the eternal
reahty. But Mr. Marsh did not look at it in that
way. It is said that the death of a child in early infancy
was the cause of a long period of deep melancholy, as he
could find no solid evidence of the child's salvation, and
was greatly burdened at the possibility that he was
responsible for the coming into being of one who was
to be the heir of endless torment, without even the
opportunity of a personal choice in the matter. The
question was discussed at length before a ministers' club
of that day of which Mr. Marsh was a member : "Will
those who die in infancy be saved?" "After a full dis
cussion the meeting was agreed that probably some who
die in Infancy are saved." The meeting was held in
Plymouth, May 31, 18 14. The careful conclusion of
these good men does not seem to have brought the com
fort to his burdened heart that we might think it ought
to have done.
Mr. Marsh was an expert penman, and usually had
charge of the records of Association or Consociation In
his day. It is a pleasure to read any records made by
D93

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
his hand. His tastes were historic and he furnished
valuable manuscript material to the Connecticut His
torical Society, which has been preserved In their library
at Hartford. In the beginning of my ministry in Win
chester, Mr. Marsh was usually present in the Sunday
congregation. His appearance was saintly beyond that
of any other person in my memory. His presence was
of Itself a sermon and a benediction. Dr. Eldridge of
Norfolk once said of him : "His Influence over his breth
ren was silent, modest, not obtrusive ; not so much that
of great intellectual power as of sincerity, truth, self-
sacrifice, and unfeigned devotion. No jealousy in his
mind of his brethren, if they had gifts; no jealousy of
their reputation. If they acquired It; no jealousy of their
influence, but delighted by It wherever It was manifest
ing Itself."
When he passed away In his ninety-third year he left
behind him an influence that will not perish through the
ages. It is worth while for any community to secure the
lifelong presence of such a man. Though his theology
may pass away, his Christian manhood is a triumph of
faith, the value of which will endure through all
changes. As the new pastor, I was always treated by Mr.
Marsh with the utmost kindness and confidence. Judg
ing by his countenance, my preaching was often a puzzle
to him, but never except on a single occasion did I meet
1:903

PERSONAL SKETCHES
with the slightest expression of dissent or reproof on
his part. Knowing that he had passed through several
great revivals, I once asked him what he thought the
best time of year to plan for evangelistic work in the
parish. A look of pain came upon his face as if he had
been listening to blasphemy, and he replied solemnly,
"When God sends a revival. Is the time for a revival."
He believed In revivals, and by his own report six
sevenths of those whom he received to the church came
into the Christian life through revivals, but he neither
planned for revivals nor undertook to produce them.
They came in answer to prayer and long waiting upon
God. It was his part to apply careful tests that the
genuineness of God's working might be assured; to be
careful to suppress tendencies to excitement or disorder ;
and to prevent too easy or careless acceptance of the
Christian hope on the part of the converts. In 1821,
after several months of deep feeling and anxiety among
his young people, he organized with much hesitation a
young people's meeting for their help and guidance,
which on the whole he regarded as having beneficial
results. Judging from the characteristics of his descendants,
connected with occasional Incidents related of himself,
I cannot regard him as having been destitute of humor.
The one joke remembered of him was that, once going
into a room where the ladies of the parish were gathered
DO

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
and evidently enjoying themselves, he told them of an
ancient scholar who had discovered Scripture proof that
there were no women in heaven, quoting from the eighth
chapter of the Revelation: "There was silence in
heaven for about the space of half an hour." His re
straint was largely due to his Interpretation of the say
ing of Jesus, "For every idle word that men shall speak
they shall give account in the day of judgment." He
evidently regarded It as a condemnation of careless
talking, while we of this day only read It as a statement
of the completeness and minuteness of the judgment of
God, which misses no detail of our lives.
As an Illustration of his method with converts, and of
the type of religious experience looked for in those days,
I will quote in condensed form an account of the conver
sion of his son, a deaf-and-dumb boy of seventeen years,
as it was written by Mr. Marsh, and published In the
Connecticut Evangelical Magazine for October, 1832.
This son, Jonathan, had learned to read and write and
use the sign-language, and was remarkably intelligent,
but the father found it hard to be sure that he under
stood things of a spiritual order. There was a revival
in the fall of 1831, and for a week or two he had
shown deep anxiety.
"On Sabbath evening, October 2d, when he was more
particularly conversed with, and urged to Immediate
repentance, he became deeply impressed. He wept for
1:90

PERSONAL SKETCHES
his sins and prayed to God. On Monday morning he
retired to a grove for an hour or two, and then to the
barn, where he spent the day fasting; and It was near
night before he could be persuaded to come Into the
house. 'Tuesday' (he says) 'I felt very sorry, for my
hard heart was hard to repent.' He spent four days In
retirement with his Bible. Often would he come with
his slate with questions like these: 'How shall I repent?
My heart Is hard. It will not repent. I am wretched
and unhappy. I wish to repent sincerely. How shall
I?' Deep solemnity and distress were settled upon his
countenance, and we hardly dared say anything to him
lest we should make some wrong Impression upon his
mind." About noon on Friday "he came to me with the ques
tions, 'Will God do no more? Is it easy to repent?'
He was told that none but God could help him. As It
stood upon his slate, this remark arrested his attention
remarkably, and with his mind intensely fixed upon it,
he retired to his room. I feared to say one word. In
the distant part of the house his groans were heard.
On opening the door, I found him walking the room,
his face suffused with tears. He took little notice of
any one, and asked no more questions, but seemed to
feel that the controversy was between God and his own
soul. At evening he appeared calm and apparently
cheerful. On being asked how he felt, he replied,
1:933

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
'Happy a little.' From answers to various questions
that were put to him the next day, we began to cherish
a trembling hope that through riches of infinite mercy
he had been brought to the foot of the cross, and that
the Holy Spirit had taken away the stony heart and
given a heart of flesh. Nothing was said about
hope, or that would lead him to think we supposed
there was any saving change. Saturday evening his
countenance beamed the peace that dwelt In his soul.
To the question, 'Do you feel more careless about re
ligion than you did yesterday?' he replied, 'I feel more
proper, and think that it is a precious religion.' He
seemed almost In ecstasies while reading the stanza be
ginning with 'How sweet the name of Jesus sounds.'
He looked about with tears in his eyes, and expressed
his surprise that he had not loved God before, it was so
easy and God was so good. Yet he often said, 'I think
I love God all, but I fear my heart is deceitful.' "
This trembling hope seems to have been about as
far as Mr. Marsh thought It safe to go in religious ex
perience. It was about the utmost that he dared to go
In the expression of his own personal faith, until a few
weeks before his death.

D43

CHAPTER VIII

third period— modernism
ROM about i860 the churches and minis
ters in Litchfield County entered upon
a third period of development. They
could no longer keep to themselves, for
the great current of the world's life swept
over and about them with ever-increasing force. The
growth of villages along the railroads brought an influx
of new inhabitants from many lands. Foreign-born
people occupied the farms left behind by men of the old
New England stock. Dwellers in the cities were drawn
by the purity of the air and the beauty of the landscape
to find a summer home among the hills. All these
people brought with them their own religious, or irre
ligious, ideals and customs. The earlier war between
Calvlnlsts and Armlnlans, or old school and new school,
was outworn and only remembered or understood by a
D53

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
few veterans. It was no longer a question of Congre
gationalist, Episcopalian, Baptist, or Methodist. The
Roman Catholics were present In multitudes. Preach
ing was called for in French, German, Swedish, and
Italian. The negro population insisted on churches of
their own.
The utmost freedom of theological thinking, and the
largest variety in ritual and method of worship, came
to be conceded as an unquestioned right. The whole
trend of preaching and pastoral service was toward
cooperation, with the thought of federation becoming
ever more prominent. The habit and training of the
older churches still called for men of ability and capacity
for leadership in their pulpits. The newer churches of
all denominations could not choose but make the same
demand. I do not plan to speak of living men, but I am aware
of no deterioration in the character and standing of the
Litchfield County pulpit. There were men of the past
who stood out with a prominence to which we can fur
nish no parallel to-day. There Is a closeness of asso
ciation with the outside world which often promotes a
more rapid change of pastorate. There is an inter
change of persons and of Influence which prevents
Litchfield County from standing out with the separate
ness of identity which characterized much of her past
history. Her children are In other places, leavening the
D63

THIRD PERIOD-MODERNISM
life and thought of the nation, but we are not prepared
to admit any signs of decadence in her churches, nor in
the men who occupy her pulpits.
Changes have been great in methods of preparing
sermons, in the multiplicity of themes selected for
preaching, and in the freedom of Biblical Interpreta
tion, or the following out of personal tastes in the
presentation of the Gospel. Differences of belief, and
liberty in the expression of those differences, are ac
cepted without rancor or bitterness. The minister is
recognized as a leader If he Is fitted to lead, and his
message is listened to with respect, but his old-time
official authority is no longer recognized. The people
have come Into their inheritance and exercise a right of
thinking and acting for themselves, whoever may be
chosen as their teacher and guide.
There is a kind of difference in the churches un
known to the earlier times. When all communities
consisted of a homogeneous farming population, with
here and there a man conspicuous for wealth or social
rank, each parish might have Its local pride and might
develop peculiarities, but the churches were on a prac
tical equality in financial standing and In their provision
for support of their ministers. In these later days
many rural parishes have fallen off greatly in popula
tion and In financial ability; besides, heterogeneous
and unasslmllated elements prevent the social unity of
D73

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
other days. Salaries of the clergy have In many cases
been greatly, sometimes painfully, reduced.
Over against this fact, wealth has greatly increased
in neighboring villages, and their churches are able to
offer comparatively large salaries. The financial gain
combined with the larger opportunity offers to minis
ters of ability an inducement which may clearly mean
duty. Hence the clergy no longer stand on an equal
footing in regard to the development and maintenance
of either personal or official influence. None the less
It is my firm conviction that even under the least favor
able conditions the clergy of this county still have an
opportunity for the higher manhood that no worldly
wealth can measure.

C983

CHAPTER IX
MORE personal SKETCHES

REV. JOSEPH ELDRIDGE, D.D.
HE great man of my early ministry was
Dr. Joseph Eldridge of Norfolk, and
the many years that have since passed by
have taken away nothing from my belief
In his greatness. He was not the only
great man or great minister in the history of Norfolk,
but the beneficent impress of his influence in that town
and in Litchfield County is something we cannot afford
to forget.
The Rev. Joseph Eldridge, D.D., was born in Yar
mouth, Massachusetts, July 8, 1804, graduated at Yale
in 1829, was installed pastor at Norfolk April 25,
1832, resigned his pastorate November i, 1874, and
died March 31, 1875. 1:993

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
He did not impress one as a student of the academic
sort, intrenched in learned subtleties, nor did he prepare
orations which displayed eloquence or grandeur of dic
tion. He was a man of large mind and extensive in
formation, but his greatness seemed most of all due to
his large-heartedness. He had a ready grasp of practi
cal questions because of his deep interest in everything
that affected the welfare of men and women. He loved
his kind and studied humanity, not as a scientific prob
lem, but as a means of understanding and helping the
living, concrete persons whom he saw on every side in
need of personal sympathy. It was a matter of course
that the younger ministers went to him for advice and
assistance In their difficulties. They knew he loved
them and understood them, and that he had a compre
hensive grasp of the problems that perplexed them.
The utter simplicity and sincerity of the man went
straight to the root of all practical questions. He saw
at once the thing that was just and kind, and insisted
that only that should be done, and done at once. Any
thing oppressive or unfair or lacking in brotherly kind
ness aroused his indignation, and he had an intense
power of indignation. Flippancy and irreverence
brought Instant reproof, but the common frailties and
failures of his brethren met with his ready forbearance,
and his sympathy was available in every trouble. He
seldom failed to be present at meetings of the ministers
D003

Joseph Eldridge

MORE PERSONAL SKETCHES
or churches, and was easily first in every gathering,
though seemingly the only person unconscious of the
fact. Many of the younger pastors learned from him
ministerial secrets of great value.
I will mention but one nugget of advice which has
many times recurred to my memory. It was that if
ever I felt called upon to preach the wrath of God, I
should do It conscientiously and thoroughly, but ten
derly, not mixing any of my own wrath with It ; to feel
sure in such case that "the wrath of man worketh not
the righteousness of God."
The commemoration sermon by Dr. Noah Porter,
President of Yale, gives a fuller outline of the man
and his work than could have place in these sketches,
but I feel It necessary to express my own sense of his
great worth. All who knew him had a high ideal of
Christian manhood put before them.

REV. ADAM REID, D.D.
The Rev. Adam Reid, D.D., was born In Wishaw,
Lanarkshire, Scotland, January 4, 1808. He was grad
uated at Glasgow University in 1827, was Trustee of
Williams College from 1847 to 1869, and received the
degree of D.D. from Union College in 1854.
DoO

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
He began preaching In Salisbury, Connecticut, No
vember, 1836, was ordained pastor In September, 1837,
resigned his work in September, 1877, after forty-one
years of service, and died of apoplexy November 2,
1878, at the age of nearly seventy-one years.
He was renowned for ability and eloquence, and quite
early in his pastorate received calls to Rochester, Balti
more, Providence, New York, Hartford, and Boston.
His work was mainly in his study and in his pulpit.
It has been said that he never repeated sermons, and
always had new sermons written ahead for future
emergencies, so that at the time of his resignation he
had about forty manuscript sermons on hand which had
never been used, and that he continued writing new
ones from habit up to the time of his death. In his
later years, at least, he seemed exceedingly shy, and
seldom attended gatherings of ministers or churches
outside his parish, although great effort was made to
secure his presence. He Invariably declined to preach
at ordination or installation services, or at meetings of
the association to which he belonged. Dr. Eldridge
could sometimes get him to a meeting at Norfolk, when
at the dinner-table he shone with brilliancy, but it was
impossible to draw him out in the public meetings where
free discussion was going on.
I have sat by his side on such occasions, when his
interest in everything said was intense. He overflowed
DoO

MORE PERSONAL SKETCHES
in private suggestions with regard to questions he
wanted asked or points to be urged, but would not per
sonally enter the debate. It was said of him by a friend
of his earlier days: "He spake as one overmastered by
the truth he was setting forth, and thinking not of
himself, but of the message he was bearing. He had
the power of clothing the simplest truths In forms of
beauty and majesty, and his delivery was singularly
impressive from the deep earnestness which charac
terized it. His whole frame quivered with emotion,
and the tones of his voice stirred and thrilled the very
depths of the heart. His whispers were audible to the
farthest parts of the house, and touched and subdued
the spirit beyond the loudest declamation." In his fare
well sermon he expressed his belief that no pastorate
had ever been more peaceful than his, absolutely no
jars, quarrels, or difficulties, but perfect sympathy be
tween pastor and people.

REV. LAVALETTE PERRIN, D.D.
The Rev. Lavalette Perrin, D.D., was born in
Vernon, Connecticut, May 15, 18 16, and graduated at
Yale In 1840. He was ordained pastor at Goshen, Con
necticut, in 1843, and dismissed September 4, 1857.
After a pastorate of twelve years In New Britain, he
D033

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
returned to Litchfield County, and was pastor of the
Third Church in Torrington from July i, 1872, until
his death in 1889.
Yale gave him the degree of D.D. In 1869, and he
was a member of the Corporation from 1882. He was
Treasurer of the National Council from 1880, and
Annalist of the Connecticut Conference from 1 876. He
was a man of fine personal appearance and impressive
manner, with conservative tastes and a great liking for
systematic and orderly methods. Given to large en
thusiasms, his culture and training kept his powers
under perfect control ; while he gained his ends by
patience and persistence, his action was always marked
by due caution and judicious balance. It was largely
through his Influence that the General Conference of
the Congregational Churches of Connecticut was organ
ized in 1867. His zeal for the closer and more effective
union of the churches led him also to secure the
establishment at Hartford of a Memorial Hall to be
a recognized center for the official life and activity of
Congregationalism In the State. He was instrumental
in raising the fund for this purpose. His desire to give
the same churches an organ for promoting closer ac
quaintance and fellowship led him to become editor of
the Religions Herald from 1876 to 1881.
In every way he was a power for good, not only in
the churches of which he was pastor, but widely in the
1:1043

Lavalette Perrin

MORE PERSONAL SKETCHES
State and country. His work was always constructive
and eminently judicious. He planted no seeds of
trouble or division. He was a model In the drawing up
of statements or resolutions for the action of councils in
cases where there were elements of faction or ill feeling.
He could fittingly call attention to everything that was
good or pleasant on either side, and give the utmost
credit that honesty would allow, while quietly minimiz
ing the unpleasant things by suggesting a larger point
of view. He will long be remembered with affection
and gratitude by many in the churches of Litchfield
County, and by some with ardent admiration and en
thusiasm as representing just what a pastor should be.
He and his wife died together In the Park Hotel disas
ter at Hartford. One son who survived him is a pro
fessor in Yale University.

REV. WILLIAM ELLIOTT BASSETT
One of the most Interesting and useful men whom it
has ever been my privilege to know was the Rev. Wil
liam E. Bassett, a man for the last eighteen years of
his short life Intimately connected with the churches of
Litchfield County. He was born in Derby, Connecticut,
May 24, 1829, graduated from Yale College In 1850,
and from Yale Theological Seminary in 1854. After
D053

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
pastorates in Central Village and North Manchester,
Connecticut, he was acting pastor and pastor In Warren,
Connecticut, from 1863 to 1875, and in Bethlehem,
Connecticut, from 1879 to 1881. He preached . in
North Canaan In 1881, and died at Norfolk November
6, 1 88 1. He was a slender man of medium height,
homely in features and awkward In gestures. He was
possessed of a wide range of information, and thought
deeply on many things, but his interest In life was in
tensely practical. His sermons were thought out In
every detail, were original, fresh, and had a definite
practical aim in every part.
After preaching two sermons a week in Warren for
twelve years, he resigned because he thought less than
two sermons on Sunday demoralizing to the congrega
tion, and he could not repeat his old sermons, each of
which had so distinctive a purpose that he felt It would
be recognized by former hearers and discounted accord
ingly. His people were willing to do with one sermon
a week, or to hear the old ones over, but he could not be
induced to stay when his health seemed insufficient to
fulfil his own ideals. He was Registrar of the Litch
field North Association, and a leader in all special work
of the churches. When local conferences of the
churches were organized to carry out the purpose of the
General Conference of Connecticut, Mr. Bassett drew
up the constitution. When the Inspiration for any new
D063

MORE PERSONAL SKETCHES
thing came from Dr. Joseph Eldridge or Dr. Lavalette
Perrin, Mr. Bassett was always depended on to furnish
the criticism, draw up the details of the plan, and make
it workable. He was indefatigable in making things
work, and cheerfully kept himself out of sight behind
others, so far as practicable. Many churches and min
isters were greatly indebted to him, and some of us
found him exceedingly lovable.

REV. HIRAM EDDY, D.D.
Hiram Eddy was born in PIttsfield, Vermont, March
17, 1 8 13. He attended both Hamilton and Oberlin
colleges, and was ordained at Sherman, New York,
June II, 1839. After various pastorates In New York
State, he began service at East Canaan, Connecticut, In
1853. He went from his pastorate there to Winsted,
Connecticut, where he was installed January 9, 1861,
and dismissed October 16, 1865. After pastorates in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Jersey City, New Jersey,
he returned In 1881 to Canaan, Connecticut, where he
died November 30, 1893.
I quote the following description from an address of
the Rev. John Calvin Goddard: "As a preacher. Dr.
Eddy held a commanding place. He riveted attention
D073

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
from the moment of his appearance. His voice was
wide of compass and deep of volume. He could upon
occasion roar as a lion robbed of its prey, and again the
tones would sink to the power that Is not of the whirl
wind, nor of the thunder, but of a still small voice. His
tread was martial. He could not, like Ahab, go softly
before the Lord. He tramped the platform like an
armed man. ... I liked to see him charge the plat
form from the aisle, his jaw set, his eye fixed, his man
ner confident, as when Jonathan said to his armor-
bearer, 'Come up after me; for the Lord hath delivered
them Into our hands' ; and it was he who left behind him
for the men of the pulpit that Inspiring utterance, 'It is
worth while to have lived, if only for the joy of preach
ing one true sermon.' "
During his Winsted pastorate, the outbreak of the
CivU War led him to go to the front as chaplain of the
Second Connecticut Volunteers. He was taken prisoner
at the battle of Bull Run, and spent a year in rebel
prisons. It is said that his prison experience changed
his hair from deep black to white. In the years when
I knew him, his gigantic figure, crowned with a halo of
bushy hair, pure white, made an Impression of personal
grandeur and majesty seldom equaled. He was a man
of heavenly visions, priest and prophet by temperament
and experience.
I wish to quote here from one of his own sermons,
D083

MORE PERSONAL SKETCHES
both as a sample of his style, and as suggestive of the
lesson taught by his own closing years :
"The leaf bursts forth Into singing when the frost
begins to settle on it and the cold winds to shake it.
It causes the frost to contribute to its beauty. It uses
frosts and storms in the same way and to the same end
that It does the sunshine and the summer shower.
What a lesson ! If you will hold still, the frost will
beautify you, the frost of age, the frost of adversity.
. . . Wouldst thou have more beauty grow out In thy
character? Then let the pinching frosts of affliction
and adversity do their work. Wait until the forces are
strong enough, and the beauties of grace will show them
selves all over thy soul, when through these afflictions
the love of Jesus comes, glowing and shining, warming
and softening, like the morning flood-lights of heaven.
Wait, and the white lilies of purity will bloom in thy
heart, and the morning-glories of joy and thankfulness
will climb along the corridors of thy soul, and the plants
of righteousness shall bloom there In ever-increasing
profusion; but, like some natural fruits and beauties,
the frost is necessary to this result — patiently wait."
A vision of Jesus Christ dominated and glorified his
life.

D093

CHAPTER X

the episcopal church

HE introduction of the Episcopal Church,
or, as it was called at first, the Church
of England, Into what Is now the county
of Litchfield preceded the organization
 of the county In 1751. This Introduc
tion was especially due to three causes: First, there
were many persons coming Into this part of the country
from England who "at home," as they were accustomed
to say, were members of the Church of England, whose
love for its services, its customs, its principles, had suf
fered no diminution from their change of residence.
Whatever reasons had moved them to come to this
country, they did not come to escape from ecclesiastical
burdens, nor with the idea of finding a freedom which
had been denied to them in their earlier abode. That
which they remembered was not religious tyranny and

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
forms of worship as a burden to their conscience, creeds
demanding too great an exercise of faith. Their
thoughts went back to religious homes where they had
been at peace. They felt as the Psalmist did when he
cried, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand
forget her cunning." It was natural, then, that as soon
as they had settled down to their work of reclaiming the
wilderness and had become acquainted with their neigh
bors, they should seek out those whose sentiments ac
corded with their own; also that little circles should
meet on Sunday morning, in which one of their numbers
should read the familiar words of Morning Prayer and
Litany, and probably read a printed sermon drawn from
the rich treasury of English theology, which treasury
has never been lacking in words full of grave wisdom
and of comfort for the soul burdened with its sense of
weakness and sin, and so the next step was to secure the
occasional visit of some clergyman of that church to
conduct Its services and to administer the sacraments
held In such high esteem.
It was in 1740, in the town of Plymouth, that the
services of the Church of England were first brought
Into this county. Three years before, in 1737, nineteen
petitioners living In Plymouth, who were accustomed to
attend the Congregational Church in Waterbury,
desired for themselves the privilege of holding services
during three winter months in their own town.
D^O

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
The second of the three causes to which the growth
of the English Church in this country could be attributed
had now begun to be felt. By the middle of the eigh
teenth century there had been built in the limits of Con
necticut fourteen Episcopal churches, and there were
perhaps five thousand persons, young and old, who were
connected with them. These people felt that the law
of the State compelling them to pay taxes for building
houses of worship and supporting the clergy of the
State religion was a burden. Accordingly, they sought
relief from the General Assembly. When, after con
siderable discussion and delay, they were relieved from
this burden, it was found that persons not very strong
in their attachment to the Congregational order sought
to join the Episcopalians, not out of regard for the
principles of that church, but because they were not
taxed so heavily. From this probably arose the cus
tom of "certificating off" from the Established Church.
Many of these certificates are still in existence and are
variously expressed, one reading: "I hereby certify that
I have left the Church of God and joined the Episco
palians." It Is to be hoped that this man, as was the
case with many who thus became identified with the
Episcopal Church, found that he was not left In such
alienation from the "Mother of us all" as his words
might lead us to suppose that he expected to be.
The third cause which may be assigned for the
D^O

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
growth of the Episcopal Church was the feeling, which
widely prevailed, that the preaching of the Rev. Mr.
Whitefield, and the excitement created by it, was lead
ing to dangerous extremes. The Rev. George White-
field, who had been admitted to deacon's orders in the
twenty-second year of his age, came to this country,
landing at Savannah, in the year 1738. He Is said to
have drawn multitudes to hear his eloquent sermons.
After about four months he returned to England, and
although a report had been made that he had fpUowed
a somewhat erratic course while in America, and not
conformed very closely to the doctrine, discipline, and
worship of the church which had given to him his
commission, he was admitted to priest's orders. On
his second visit to this country, and especially In New
England, he put aside all regard for the authority and
teaching of the Church of England. At first his elo
quence and the spiritual doctrines set forth by him won
him a cordial welcome, and it is said that the sermon
preached by him when leaving Boston was listened to by
twenty thousand people, but under the enthusiasm
aroused many adopted his methods and practices who
had not his ability. Under their preaching, which soon
outran all efforts of civil and ecclesiastical authority to
restrain them, much strife and discord were created.
There were cases where societies were split and became
hostile camps. When Whitefield, two or three years
D133

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
later, proposed to revisit New England, his plan was
not well received. A meeting of the Consociation of
Congregational Ministers of New Haven County, held
in 1745, published a pamphlet disapproving of White-
field's itineracy, his doctrines— his whole course, in fact.
The General Association of Connecticut said It was
"needful to declare that If he should make his progress
through this Government, it would by no means be ad
visable for any of their ministers to admit him into their
pulpits, or for any of their people to attend his min
istrations." During these disturbances members of the Church of
England were strengthened in their attachment to their
own church, and found that her sober and spiritual wor
ship was attracting new attention, and a very large num
ber of Congregationallsts, distrusting the extravagances
and disorders of their day, found In the reverential wor
ship of the Church of England and in the Scriptural
character of her doctrines that comfort which seemed
to be denied to them elsewhere. By their accession to
this church, a new impulse was given to her growth.
Indeed, Dr. Johnson of Stratford, writing to a friend
in London describing the effect which had been wrought
among the people of the State by the disturbances and
division to which reference has been made, said: "It has
occasioned such a growth of the Church in this town,
as well as in many other places, that the church will
D143

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
not hold us, and we are obliged to rebuild or else en
large" (Beardsley's "History of the Episcopal Church
In Connecticut," page 133).

BETHLEHEM
The parish of Christ Church, Bethlehem, was organ
ized In the year 1 806, through the agency of the Rev.
Dr. Daniel Burhans of Newtown. Services were first
held in the Center School-house, but in 1829 a church
was built which is still In use. The following clergymen
were at different times In charge of the parish : from
1807 to 1 8 14, the Rev. Russell Wheeler; from 18 14 to
1816, the Rev. Joseph D. Welton; from 1822 to 1827,
the Rev. Sturges Gilbert; in 1828, the Rev. Isaac Jones;
in 1830, the Rev. Russell Wheeler; in 1832, the Rev.
Joseph Scott; In 1834, the Rev. John Dowdney; from
1835 to 1837, the Rev. William Watson; from 1837
to 1839, the Rev. T. W. Snow; from August, 1839, to
Easter, 1844, the Rev. Isaac H. Tuttle; from 1844 to
1847, the Rev. Jonathan Coe; from 1847 to 1848, the
Rev. William H. Frisbie; from 1848 to 1851, the Rev.
J. S. Covell; in 1852, the Rev. Dr. J. D. Berry; in
1853, the Rev. N. W. Monroe; from 1854 to April,
1855, the Rev. James R. Coe; in 1857, the Rev. Dr.
J. D. Berry and the Rev. Edward P. Gray; from 1858
D153

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
to 1 86 1, the Rev. John N. Marvin; from 1861 to
August, 1865, the Rev. Dr. Frederick Holcomb; from
September, 1865, as lay reader until his ordination in
April, 1 8 66, and then until February, 1870, the Rev.
A. N. Lewis. The journals of Convention show that
no rector was In charge In the years 1870, 1871, and
1872. From 1873 to 1874, the Rev. X. Alanson Wel
ton; from 1878 to 1883, the Rev. James B. Robinson;
from 1884 to April, 1890, the Rev. Ralph H. Bowles;
from 1890 to July, 1895, the Rev. J. Chauncey LInsley;
from 1895 to 1897, the Rev. J. T. Hargrave; from
1898 to 1899, the Rev. Edward M. Skagen; from 1900
to 1903, the Rev. L. Robert Sheffield; from 1903 as
lay reader until his ordination in 1906, and then until
July, 1907, the Rev. Sidney H. Dixon. At present the
parish Is without a rector, the Rev. Alexander Hamilton
officiating on Sundays.

BRIDGEWATER
The organization of St. Mark's Church, Bridgewater,
dates from April 23, 18 10. No church edifice was
built before 1835. The church services were held up
to that date in private houses by visiting clergymen.
Since 1839 the following named persons have served
as rectors: from 1839 to 1840, the Rev. Joseph S.
ni^6n

Congregational Church, Salisbury

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Covell; from 1840 to 1841, the Rev. Abel Nichols;
from 1 841 to 1842, the Rev. Joseph H. Nichols; from
1842 to 1844, the Rev. George S. Gordon; from 1844
to 1846, the Rev. WiUiam Atwill; from 1847 to 1850,
the Rev. Abel Ogden; from 1852 to 1853, the Rev.
Abel Nichols; from 1854 to 1856, the Rev. Merritt H.
Wellman; from 1857 to 1859, the Rev. William H.
Cook; from i860 to 1864, the Rev. James Morton;
from 1865 to 1868, the Rev. Dr. H. D. Noble; from
i869toi87i, the Rev. X. Alanson Welton ; from 1 8 7 2 to
1879, the Rev. Dr. W. B. Colburn; from 1880 to 1882,
the Rev. Dr. G. V. C. Eastman; from 1885 to 1888, the
Rev. William E. Hooker; from 1889 to 1895, the Rev.
George Henry Smith; from 1897 to 1898, the Rev.
H. L. Everest; from 1898 to 1899, the Rev. A. T. De
Learsay; from 1899 to 1902, the Rev. Wilfrid H.
Dean; from November 23, 1902, the present rector, the
Rev. Gideon D. Pond.

CANAAN
The parish of Christ Church was organized in the year
1846, and a church building was erected that same year.
The Rev. Mr. Fash had charge of the parish at that
time. The Rev. George L. Foote, the Rev. William
Atwill, the Rev. Mr. Reynolds, the Rev. A. H. Nichols
D173

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
of Salisbury held services in Canaan from the year 1846
to 1850, although none of them was in charge as rector.
In 1854 the Rev. H. V. Gardner was rector from
Easter, 1854, to Easter, 1855. Then for two years,
from 1856 to 1858, the Rev. H. S. Atwater was in
charge, officiating every other Sunday. He died
December 28, 1879, aged eighty-two years. After him
came the Rev. Clayton Eddy, from i860 to r86i ; the
Rev. William Williams, 1863; the Rev. H. C. Stowell,
1865. The Rev. Elisha Whittlesey, who for two years
was pastor of the Congregational Church, became rector
of Christ Church June 25, 1871, and resigned July 15,
1877. The Rev. H. I. Bodley, from July 15, 1877,
to March, 1882; the Rev. Francis Barnett, from 1882
to 1899; the Rev. Milton H. Mill, from September 7,
1899, to February 28, 1905. The present rector took
charge September 17, 1905.

EAST PLYMOUTH
The parish known as St. Matthew's, East Plymouth,
was first started in 1787. Very little is known of its
early history. From 1795 until 1805 it was In the care
of the Rev. Alexander Viets Griswold, who afterward
became the first bishop of the "Eastern Diocese," which
comprised the whole of New England, Connecticut ex-
1:118]

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
cepted. From 1812 to 1817 the Rev. Roger Searle
exercised his office here in connection with Plymouth.
From 1818 to 1828 the Rev. Rodney Rossiter was in
charge; in 1841, the Rev. F. B. Woodward; from 1846
to 1847, the Rev. H. V. Gardner; at Easter, 1848,
Colhs I. Potter, as lay reader, was In charge until 1850;
in 1851-52, the Rev. Dr. Frederick Holcomb; from
1858 to 1859, the Rev. James Morton; in 1862, the
Rev. Lewis Green; from 1865 to 1867, the Rev. F. B.
Woodward; from 1872 to 1877, the Rev. CoUIs I.
Potter; from 1883 to 1886, the Rev. William E. John
son; from 1886 to 1888, the Rev. J. D. Gilliland; from
1888 to 1892, the Rev. William E. Hooker; from 1893
to 1895, the Rev. James Gammack, LL.D.; from 1896
to 1899, the Rev. George Henry Smith; from 1901 to
1907, the Rev. J. D. Gilliland.

HARWINTON
This parish was organized probably about 1787. For
ten years it shared with St. Matthew's Church, East
Plymouth, the labors of the Rev. Alexander V. Gris
wold, from 1795 till 1805. From that time for several
years services were doubtless held here, and the presence
of Its lay delegates in the Convention of the diocese
Is noted in its Journal, but it does not give the names of
D193

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
the rectors. The Rev. G. C. V. Eastman was there
in 1834; In 1843 ^"d 1844, the Rev. William
ZeU; In 1846 and 1847, the Rev. H. V. Gardner;
from 1 85 1 to April, 1856, the Rev. Origen P. Hol
comb; In 1857 and 1858, the Rev. James Morton; In
1862, the Rev. Lewis Green; in 1866, the Rev. H. C.
Stowell; from 1868 to 1870, the Rev. Dr. Frederick
Holcomb. For several years the Rev. J. Chauncey
LInsley of Torrington has given the people a service
occasionally during the summer.

KENT
St Andrew's Parish was organized February 22,
1808, but services of the Episcopal Church had been
held there before that date and a church edifice had
been erected. This is evident from the fact that the
meeting to organize as a parish was warned to assemble
at the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Sturges Gilbert
was in charge from 1808 to 18 16, the Rev. George B.
Andrews from 18 19 to 1832. The absence of full
records for many years makes It impossible to give the
names of the clergy who officiated In St. Andrew's from
this time until 1854, when the Rev. H. S. Atwater
became rector. He resigned in 1863. The Rev. X.
Alanson Welton from 1866 to 1869; from 1871 to
[;i2o]

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
1875, the Rev. Elisha Whittlesey; from 1876 to 1885,
the Rev. Isaac C. Sturges; from 1885 to 1886, the Rev.
Alban Richey; from 1886 to 1888, the Rev. George
W-. Griffith; from 1888 to 1895, the Rev. William F.
Blelby; from 1895 to 1899, the Rev. Howard Mc-
Dougal ; from 1 900, the present rector, the Rev. George
Henry Smith.

LIME ROCK
The parish of Trinity Church, Lime Rock, separated
from St. John's Church, Salisbury, and organized as
Trinity Church May 3, 1875. The first rector was the
Rev. Millidge Walker, who assumed the charge of the
parish February 27, 1876, remaining till 1884. From
1885 to 1895, the Rev. Richard F. Putnam; from 1895
to 1898, the Rev. Henry Tarrant; from 1900 to 1905,
the Rev. Richmond H. Gesner; from 1905, the present
rector, the Rev. George W. Griffith.

LITCHFIELD
The introduction of the services of the Church of Eng
land into the town of Litchfield was due to Mr. John
Davies, who came to this country from Kinton in
C^^O

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Devonshire, England. He himself and his family were
all strongly attached to the mother church. Mr. Davies,
finding that a number of persons, offended by the dis
turbances caused by Mr. Whitefield's course, were well
disposed toward the services of the English Church,
gathered them together to consult with them in regard
to introducing it into Litchfield. Dr. Johnson of Strat
ford, Dr. Cutler of West Haven, and Dr. Beach of
Newtown, on invitation, came to Litchfield, held the
Prayer-Book services, and administered the sacraments.
Through the liberality of Mr. Davies especially, al
though assisted by others, a church was built in 1748.
Probably the first clergyman who officiated In Litchfield
with any regularity was the Rev. Solomon Palmer. He
was a native of Branford and was graduated at Yale
College in 1729. He was called to take charge of the
Congregational Church In Cornwall in 1741. In addi
tion to the salary voted to him, Mr. Palmer, as minis
ter, was entitled to "a right of land"— about one fifty-
third share of the town, probably about six hundred
acres. Without doubt he derived from the cultivation
of this land a large part of his maintenance — certainly
a full supply of fuel; although then, as now, this could
not be done without much hard labor. For over twelve
years he ministered to this flock to their satisfaction,
and It was a great surprise to them when. In 1754, Mr.
-Palmer gave up his ministry in Cornwall on the ground
1:1223

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
that he had come to the conclusion that in order to give
validity to his ministry he must receive episcopal ordina
tion. Soon after this he went to England, and
having been ordained by the Bishop of Bangor, he
returned to this country. He was appointed missionary
for this county by the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Mr. Palmer, supposing
that the grant of land made to him in Cornwall when
he became its first minister was his personal property,
attempted on his return to exercise his right in it. This
right, however, was disputed by the town of Cornwall,
which claimed that he had forfeited his right by re
nouncing the Congregational ministry. A lawsuit was
brought against him to recover the land, the claim being
that he had broken a covenant made with the town.
He was summoned "to appear before the county court
to be held at Litchfield In and for the county of
Litchfield on the fourth Tuesday of April next,
then and there to answer ... in a plea of a
broken covenant." His answer was that by settling
among the people as a teacher he, "by an act of the
Assembly, became a proprietor, and the patent was and
is absolute and unconditional." When Mr. Palmer
expressed a willingness to relinquish some of his de
mands, a compromise was made. Among the papers
of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel are
found letters which he later sent to its secretary, giving
D233

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
the amount of his expenses in the matter. These
amounted to twenty-six pounds fourteen shillings and
one penny. His letter also contains a request to the
society to send to the mission at Litchfield "a Folio
Bible and Common Prayer Book." Mr. Palmer gave
most of his time to Litchfield, but In the year 1763 he
went to New Haven to take charge of Trinity Church.
He remained In New Haven for three years, and in
1766 came back to Litchfield, where he officiated until
the time of his death In the year 1771 — one of the three
clergymen who have passed from their earthly ministry
to the joys of Paradise while connected with this parish.
During the three years which Mr. Palmer spent in
New Haven, the Litchfield Mission was served by the
Rev. Thomas Davies. He was a grandson of Mr. John
Davies, through whose active interests services of the
Church of England were first held in Litchfield.
Thomas was born in Herefordshire, England, on the
2 ist of December, 1736, O. S. When his father,
John Davies, Jr., came to this country, he lived in
what is now a part of the town of Washington, near
Romford Station. The neighborhood Is still known as
"Davies' Hollow," and some members of the family
were buried in the cemetery a few rods from Romford
Station. Thomas remained at home, getting such in
struction as he could, until he entered Yale College In
1754. He pursued the usual college course and received
D243

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
his degree as Bachelor of Arts September, 1758. He
spent three years In a course of study as a candidate for
orders. Of course he went to England for his ordina
tion. He was made deacon on Sunday, August 23,
1 76 1, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and admitted
to priest's orders the next day. In the abstract of the
proceedings of the Propagation Society for the year
1761, mention Is made of the "Rev. Mr. Davies, Itin
erant Missionary In Litchfield County and parts adja
cent." He Is spoken of as "a hopeful young man,
strongly recommended by Dr. Johnson, Mr. Palmer
and others as truly worthy of the society's notice and
encouragement." He received his appointment from
the society in the following words: "Agreed the i8th
September, 1761, that Mr. Davies be appointed Mis
sionary to the Churches of New Milford, Roxbury,
Sharon, New Preston and New Fairfield in Litchfield
County, Connecticut." In this commission the mission
at Litchfield is not mentioned, but that it was very
soon after included by formal appointment or by Mr.
Davies's zeal appears from the fact that a letter sent to
him by the Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel Informs him that two quarto Bibles and two
folio Common Prayer Books had been sent to him, one
for the church In Sharon, and the other for the church
in Litchfield. Mr. Davies took up his residence In New
Milford. He probably never lived in Litchfield, though
D253

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
he was the missionary in charge, and it was where he
most earnestly and successfully labored. This Is evident
from the fact that in 1763 he reported that there were
sixty-one families under his care and in these families
were fifty-seven communicants. His private diary also
records the names of many persons baptized there dur
ing his ministry. Two or three times this diary records
his officiating on "St. Pompion's Day," by which title
he facetiously named the annual Thanksgiving Day,
for a reason of which all dwellers In Litchfield County
will recognize the appropriateness. Mr. Davies's
earthly ministry was all too short. His frequent jour
neys, mostly on horseback, through winter storms and
summer heat, executing the duties of his office whenever
opportunity offered, told too fatally on a constitution
not over-strong. On the 12th of May, 1766, in less
than six years after his ordination. In the thirtieth year
of his life, he passed from earth and was buried In
New Milford. A monument erected to his memory In
the New Milford cemetery bears an inscription ending
thus: "Vita bene acta jucundlssima est recordatio." It
was the opinion of the Rev. Truman Marsh, who later
was rector at New Milford and also at Litchfield, that
Mr. Davies's ability as a preacher and organizer, with
his affable and winning manners, would have secured
for him, had he lived, the honor of being the first
American bishop.
ni26]

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
After the death of Mr. Davies, the Rev. Solomon
Palmer returned to Litchfield, where he preached until
the time of his death in 1771.
At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War the mis
sion at Litchfield was In charge of the Rev. James
Nichols, a native of Waterbury. He was graduated
from Yale College In 1771. He was the last man who
went from Connecticut to England to secure ordination.
It is not known that he resided in Litchfield during the
war, probably not, for the church records show that for
the greater part of that time services were rendered by
lay readers. However, after peace was declared, Mr.
Nichols was in Litchfield and renewed the services of
the church. A little later he presented an address to
the General Assembly asking for the appointment of a
prominent churchman, Mr. Daniel Landon, as justice
of the peace, "wishing," as the petition reads, "the
favor of a justice of the peace to adorn the Society."
After peace was declared the connection of the mis
sion at Litchfield with the society In England, which
had so long contributed to Its support, came to an end.
On the 26th of October, 1784, "The First Episcopal
Society of Litchfield" was organized and secured the
services as lay reader of Mr. Ashbel Baldwin, a candi
date for holy orders. Mr. Baldwin was graduated
from Yale College in 1776, and for a part of the time
during the war was stationed at Litchfield as a quarter-
D273

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
master in charge of army supplies. He was made
deacon at the first ordination held by Bishop Seabury
after his return from Scotland, where he had been
consecrated bishop. This ordination was held at Mid
dletown, August 3, 1785. Mr. Baldwin remained In
Litchfield until 1793. He was Secretary of the Con
vention of the Diocese of Connecticut for thirty years,
and of the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies of the
General Convention for twelve years. He died In 1846,
In his eighty-ninth year.
This parish had an uneventful history during the
nineteenth century. About the beginning of It the work
In the three villages of Litchfield, Bantam, and Milton,
which up to this time had been in the charge of one
man, was divided. St. Michael's, at the center, de
manded the time and energy of one man, and the work
at Bantam and Milton required the services of another.
But the three parishes are still one ecclesiastical society,
and they have an equal share In the Income of Invested
funds. In St. Michael's, Litchfield, the succession has
been as follows : the Rev. Mr. Baldwin, in charge from
1785 to 1793; the Rev. Dr. David Butler, 1794 to
1799; the Rev. Truman Marsh, from 1799 to 1829;
the Rev. Isaac Jones (associate rector), from 18 12 to
1826; the Rev. Dr. John S. Stone (associate rector),
from 1826 to 1829; the Rev. William Lucas, 1829 to
1832; the Rev. Dr. Samuel Fuller, from 1832 to 1837
[^283

f'ti&iu

Congregational Church, Litchfield

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
and from 1845 to 1849; the Rev. Dr. William Payne,
from 1838 to 1845 ; the Rev. Dr. Benjamin W. Stone,
from 1849 to 1 851; the Rev. Dr. John J. Bran-
dagee, from 1851 to 1854; the Rev. Junius M. Willey,
from 1855 to 1858; the Rev. H. N. Hudson, from
1858 to i860; the Rev. William S. Southgate, from
i860 to 1864; the Rev. William Stevens Perry,
from 1864 to 1869 (afterward Bishop of Iowa) ; the
Rev. Dr. C. S. Henry, from 1870 to 1873; the Rev.
G. M. Wilkins, from 1874 to 1879; the Rev. Dr. S. O.
Seymour, from 1879 to 188 1 ; the Rev. Dr. L. P. Bissell,
from 1882 to 1893. In 1893 Dr. Seymour again took
charge and is still the rector.
The following clergymen have held the two parishes
of Bantam and Milton as one charge: the Rev. David
G. Tomlinson, from 1831 to 1835; the Rev. Amos
Beach, from 1836 to 1837; the Rev. Hilliard Bryant,
from 1837 to 1840; the Rev. Emery M. Porter, from
September, 1842, to 1843; the Rev. Frederick D. Har-
riman, from 1848 to 1850; the Rev. George W. Nich
ols, from 1850 to 1851; the Rev. Asa Griswold, from
January, 1852, to November, 1852; the Rev. Daniel E.
Brown, from 1853 to 1857 ; the Rev. John R. Williams,
from 1858 to i860; the Rev. J. A. Wainwright, from
i860 to 1861 ; the Rev. Dr. J. D. Berry, from 1864 to
1866; the Rev. WiUiam L. Peck, from 1866 to 1871 ;
the Rev. Hiram Stone, from 1873 to 1903; the Rev.
1:1293

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
J. H. Jackson, from 1904 to 1905; the Rev. John O.
Ferris, from 1905 to 1908 ; the Rev. Clarence H. Beers,
the present rector, from March 29, 1908.

MARBLEDALE
This parish was organized In 1784. It was called at
that time and untU 1857 New Preston. The first notice
which our printed journals give is in 1793, where it is
recorded that the parish of New Preston had not
adopted in full the Constitution of the Diocese of
Connecticut. Evidently they soon acceded to the re
mainder, for their delegates were present at the Conven
tion held In 1797, and later in 1801, 1802, 1803, and
in 1807, when It reported as Its grand levy $8300, there
being at that time only six other parishes In the diocese
reporting a larger "grand list." In 1809 and 18 10 the
Rev. Benjamin Benham had charge of the parish; from
1813 to 181 6, the Rev. Sturges Gilbert; from 1820 to
1826, the Rev. George B. Andrews; in 1827, the Rev.
Ezra KeUogg; In 1829, the Rev. Harry Finch; In 1832,
the Rev. H. S. Atwater; in 1836 and 1837, the Rev.
Enoch Huntington, rector of St. John's, New MUford;
from August, 1839, to 1843, the Rev. George S. Gor
don; from August, 1846, to 1848, the Rev. WUliam
1:1303

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Long; from 1849 to June, 1853, the Rev. James L.
Scott, and, after an interval of a year, from July, 1854,
to 1867; from August, 1868, to November, 1869, the
Rev. Henry C. Randall; from Easter, 1870, to Septem
ber, 1872, the Rev. Charles Husband; in 1873, the Rev.
J. N. Marvin; from 1875 to 1882, the Rev. William L.
Peck; from 1883 to 1885, the Rev. Robert L. Mathi-
son; in 1889, the Rev. J. D. GlUUand; from 1890 to
1893, the Rev. George A. Alcott; in 1894, the Rev.
Reuben B. Whipple; In 1895, the Rev. Edward T.
Mathlson; from July, 1896, to 1906, the Rev. Thomas
S. Ockford; from December, 1906, the present rector,
the Rev. William E. Hooker.

NEW MILFORD
The Rev. Stanley Griswold, pastor of the Congre
gational Church in New Milford, states in his "Century
Sermon" that there were churchmen in the town from
its settlement in 1707. There is, however, no record of
any separate congregation or regular services for many
years. After the Rev. John Beach had established the
services of the Church of England in Newtown, fifteen
miles distant, in 1732, many of the church families in
New Milford used to journey to Newtown on Saturdays
to attend Sunday services. To accommodate these fami-
1:130

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
lies the Rev. Mr. Beach began services in New MUford
in 1742, sending Mr. Barzilla Dean as a lay reader.
The services were held in a private house.
The first church edifice was buUt in 1744, and the
congregation remained under the care of the Rev. Mr.
Beach untU 1754, when a resident minister was secured,
the Rev. Solomon Palmer. After five years Mr. Palmer
removed to Litchfield and was succeeded in 1762 by the
Rev. Thomas Davies. The ministry of Mr. Davies
was a brief one, the span of his life being but thirty
years. In four years of his ministry in New Milford,
however, he seems to have accomplished much, for the
congregation outgrew the church building, and work
was begun upon a new and larger one. Mr. Davies
was succeeded by the Rev. Richard (or Richard
Samuel) Clarke, who remained in charge for twenty
years. The new church building was so far completed
that services were held in it; but the stormy days pre
ceding the Revolutionary War and of the war itself
were not propitious for the Church of England in the
colony, and the church building was not finally com
pleted until 1793. Mr. Clarke was a Tory in political
conviction, and after struggling against many discour
agements resigned in 1787 and went to Nova Scotia.
For a time the church was closed.
In 1790 regular services were again maintained under
the rectorship of the Rev. Truman Marsh. The ten
1:1323

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
years of his ministry were years of quiet growth and
strengthening. The church was completed and conse
crated by Bishop Seabury in 1793.
In 1799, to the great regret of his congregation, Mr.
Marsh relinquished his labors in New Milford and re
moved to Litchfield.
The parish was now to experience a test even more
severe than that of the days of the Revolution. The
colonies, having become independent of Great Britain,
could no longer look to the great English missionary
society of the English Church, as they had done, to find
and help maintain their clergy, and so few were the
clergy at this time that in spite of great effort the parish
could not secure a minister for many years. The fact
that it survived shows how great was its latent strength.
At last, on Easter Day, March 29, 1807, Mr. Benjamin
Benham, a candidate for holy orders, was secured. Mr.
Benham was ordained priest In August, 1808, and con
tinued in charge of the parish for nearly twenty years.
Mr. Benham was followed by the Rev. Enoch Hunt
ington, who bears the honorable record of having been
rector of St. John's Parish longer than any other clergy
man. During his rectorship, which lasted until 1848,
a new church was built in 1837, which still stands,
though used now for commercial purposes. To Mr.
Huntington's long and devoted services the parish of
to-day owes much of its strength.
1:1333

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
For a few years at this period of its history the parish
experienced frequent changes of rectors.
The Rev. Cyrus Munson took charge in June, 1848,
and died the following August. He was buried on the
day that had been set for his wedding-day.
The Rev. W. H. Rees began his work here January
II, 1849, ^"d resigned April 2, 1850, to accept work
in Branford, Connecticut.
The Rev. G. B. Hayden supplied the parish for a
year, but declined to take permanent charge.
The Rev. D. P. Sanford began his rectorship In
August, 1 85 1, and resigned in 1853 to accept a parish
in Brooklyn, New York.
The Rev. John W. Hoffman became rector February
I, 1854, and resigned at Easter, 1856.
After this trying period of eight years, in which five
different men had ministered to the parish, there suc
ceeded another long period of rest and growth under the
faithful ministry of the Rev. C. G. Acly, whose rector
ship dated from August, 1856, to March, 1876. Dur
ing this time many improvements were made and the
number of communicants greatly Increased.
After the resignation of Mr. Acly, the parish was not
long in securing another minister, for on May i, 1876,
the Rev. A. S. Clark took charge and remained as rector
until October 27, 1879.
In less than a month after the resignation of Mr.
1:1343

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Clark, another rector was called, the Rev. Edward L.
Wells, D.D. By him was started the project of building
a new stone church. Plans were drawn and accepted,
but before work was begun Dr. Wells died in 1880,
having been rector less than one year.
The Rev. Edward R. Brown succeeded him and en
tered with great vigor upon the work of building a new
church. Owing largely to his enthusiasm and deter
mination, a beautiful granite church was built on Gothic
lines, seating over five hundred people. It was com
pleted and paid for by the congregation within two
years, and was consecrated March 15, 1883. In 1890,
after nine years of indefatigable parish work, Mr.
Brown's health broke down, and he resigned the rector
ship. The Rev. E. P. Sanford succeeded Mr. Brown, and
took charge of the parish in 1891. He was greatly be
loved by his congregation, who mourned his early death
in 1895.
The present rector Is the Rev. John F. Plumb, who
took charge April 28, 1895.
In thus tracing the history of the parish from the
early days to the present, giving little more than names
and dates of rectorships, one feels that one would like
to write a real history of the parish and speak of the
devoted lives of laymen and women, who constituted
the true life and strength of the parish through all
1:1353

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
vicissitudes, but that would constitute a volume in itself,
and must be omitted here. With more than a century
and a half of vigorous life behind it, the parish to-day
stands ready to meet the problems of the present and
the future, confident that God, who has led it hitherto,
will lead It ever forward to greater usefulness in making
known to men his righteousness and his kingdom.
In November, 1885, a congregation under the name of
All Saints was organized, a stone church having been
built, largely as a memorial of Judge David C. Sanford.
In December, 1885, the Rev. John A. Crockett became
minister In charge, and remained until October, 1888.
At Easter, 1889, the Rev. Frank B. Draper took the
charge. In 1891 the congregation of All Saints became
an organized parish in union with the Diocese of Con
necticut, the Rev. Frank B. Draper rector, which posi
tion he held untU June 2, 1901. From 1901 to 1906,
the Rev. Cranston Brenton; from 1906 to 1907, the
Rev. Marmaduke Hare, M.D.; for a few months In
1908, the Rev. Jacob A. Biddle, when the Rev. Frank
B. Draper, the present rector, was again elected.
NORTHFIELD
This parish was organized as early as 1793 ; still, little
of Its early history Is on record. At different times,
C1363

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
namely, in 1816, 1817, 1824, 1825, 1831, and 1832,
the Rev. Frederick Holcomb officiated here; in 1834,
the Rev. James Keeler. In 1835-36 the Rev. William
Watson was In charge; from 1837 to 1839, the Rev.
T. W. Snow; from 1839 to 1844, the Rev. Isaac H.
Tuttle; from 1844 to 1846, the Rev. Frederick Hol
comb; in 1847-48, the Rev. Dr. J. D. Berry; in
1848-49, the Rev. George W. Nichols; from AprU,
1 85 1, to January, 1852, the Rev. Asa Griswold; from
1853 to Easter, 1861, the Rev. Frederick Holcomb;
from 1862 to 1863, the Rev. Lewis Green; from 1864
to 1867, the Rev. H. C. Stowell; from Easter, 1868, to
Easter, 1869, the Rev. C. C. Adams; from 1872 to
1876, the Rev. WiUiam L. Bostwick. From 1880
to 1883 the Rev. S. O. Seymour, rector at Litchfield,
had the oversight of the parish, a lay reader having the
Sunday services. From 1885 to 1889, the Rev. D. L.
Sanford; In 1890-91, the Rev. WiUiam E. Hooker.
From 1892 to 1900 the Rev. A. T. Parsons of
Thomaston was in charge; from 1900 to 1901, the
Rev. George Buck; from Easter, 1902, the present
rector, the Rev. Adelbert P. Chapman.
PINE MEADOW
St. John's Parish, Pine Meadow, in the town of New
Hartford, was organized November 20, 1850. The
D373

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
first church edifice was burned December 23, 1859. A
new church was built, and the first service was held in
it on Christmas Eve, 1861. The rectors have been:
from Easter, 1851, to July, 1857, the Rev. John H.
Betts; from April, 1858, to May, i860, the Rev. Enoch
Huntington; from November, 1861, to October, 1862,
the Rev. Myron A. Johnson; from November, 1862, to
March, 1863, the Rev. I. S. Judd; from May, 1863,
to April, 1865, the Rev. DeLancy G. Rice; from 1866
to 1868, the Rev. Jesse C. Heald; from AprU, 1869, to
May, 1880, the Rev. John H. Betts; from 1880 to
1882, the Rev. Thomas A. Porter; from 1882 to 1887,
the Rev. C. W. Colton; from 1887 to 1890, the Rev.
T. D. Martin, Jr.; from 1890 to 1893, the Rev. R. B.
Whipple; from 1895 to 1898, the Rev. Herbert M.
Smith; from 1899 to 1904, the Rev. Henry Tarrant;
from 1904, the Rev. Henry M. Stanley, the present
rector.

PLYMOUTH
It was In 1740 that the services of the Church of Eng
land were first brought Into this town. Three years be
fore, in 1737, nineteen petitioners living In Plymouth,
who were accustomed to attend the Congregational
Church In Waterbury, desired for themselves the privi-
D383

St. Michael's, Litchfield

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
lege of holding services during three winter months In
their own town. So, in 1739, they were incorporated
into a parish by the name of Northbury. They formed
an ecclesiastical society and erected a building in which
services were held on Sunday, while on week-days, in a
room on the second story, a school was kept. The min
ister, the Rev. Samuel Todd, was not altogether accept
able, and finally eleven out of the nineteen proprietors
of the building declared for the Church of England.
They also took possession of the building, and by a vote
excluded the services of Mr. Todd. The ejected pro
prietors received a promise of aid in building another
house, and when they did so this promise is said to have
been redeemed in a manner entirely satisfactory to them.
The first church edifice was built in "The Hollow,"
as Thomaston was then called. The mission before the
Revolution was served by the Rev. Messrs. Theophilus
Morris, James Lyon, Richard Mansfield, James Scovell,
and James Nichols. All of these were missionaries
under appointment from the English Society for Propa
gating the Gospel. After the Revolutionary War was
ended fifty-seven men organized a parish and called it
St. Peter's. In 1796-97 a new church, the present one,
was built. The following clergymen served the parish
in this order, though exact dates cannot be given, namely,
Nathan B. Burgess, Roger Searle (who afterward went
as a home missionary to Ohio), and Rodney Rossiter.
D393

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
FoUowing these, the Rev. Robert W. Harris, the Rev,
Joseph T. Clark, the Rev. Gurdon S. Colt, the Rev.
Norman Pinney, and the Rev. AUen C. Morgan offi
ciated a few months each. From 1831 to 1837 the
Rev. Dr. D. Burham was rector; from 1837 to 1851^
the Rev. WUliam Watson; from 1851 to 1854, the Rev.
S. D. Denison; from 1854 to 1855, the Rev. A. B. Good
rich; from 1856 to 1858, the Rev. S. K- MiUer; from
1859 to 1861, the Rev. Dr. J. D. Berry; from 1862 to
1863, the Rev. David F. Lumsden; from 1864 to 1868,
the Rev. Benjamin Eastwood; from 1869 to 1873, the
Rev. Porter Thomas; from 1873 to 1874, the Rev.
Lester M. Dorman; from 1874 to 1876, the Rev. S.
Brainerd Duffield; from 1876 to 1878, the Rev. John
M. Bates; from October, 1878, to October, 1888, the
Rev. J. D. GUliland; from October, 1888, to October,
1892, the Rev. William E. Hooker; from November,
1892, to October, 1895, the Rev. A. T. Gammack,
LL.D.; from November, 1895, to March, 1900, the
Rev. George Henry Smith; from July, 1900, to June,
1908, the Rev. J. D. GUliland; from September, 1908,
the present rector, the Rev. Herbert L. Mitchell.
RIVERTON
Services were held in Riverton, then caUed Hitchcocks-
vlUe, about 1830. Delegates were present from this
D403

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
vUlage at the Diocesan Convention of 1830, who re
ported that a church building was nearly ready for use.
The parish has never been a strong one. The Rev.
Isaac Jones, rector in 1837, reported in 1838 forty-six
families connected with the parish, but adds, "This
vicinity is in all respects missionary ground." From
1 839 to 1 840 the Rev. Silas Blaisdale was rector. From
June, 1842, to Easter, 1843, the Rev. Henry Zell re
ports that he had temporary charge. From 1843 to
1846 the Rev. W. H. Frisbie had charge; from 1847
to 1849, the Rev. Jonathan Coe, 2d. From 1878 to
1879 the Rev. Carlos S. LInsley resided in Riverton.
Since that time the rectors of Pine Meadow have given
more or less of their time to this mission.

ROXBURY
The Episcopal Church In Roxbury had its beginning as
early as 1740, the Rev. Mr. Beach of Newtown holding
the first services there. The first church edifice was built
In 1763, near by the old cemetery. The Rev. Thomas
Davies gave some part of his time to the care of this
parish. Later a new church building was erected in the
center of Roxbury, which, with improvements made In
1 8 61, still stands. Who succeeded Mr. Davies In his
labors cannot be told. The following names and dates,
D40

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
with many intervals, tell the story: In 1794 Roswell
Ransom was present at the Convention of the Connecti
cut Clergy and Laymen as a lay delegate. Amos Squires
is reported as present In 1798. No clerical names ap
pear in the Journal until 18 16, when the Rev. Joseph D.
Welton was in charge for about a year. Then for ten
years, from 18 17 to 1827, the Rev. Sturges Gilbert was
rector; for one year, 1825, the Rev. Edward C. Bull
officiated. In 1829-30 the Rev. William Lucas held
the rectorship; from 1841 to 1847, the Rev. George L.
Foote; from Easter, 1 851, to 1852, the Rev. H. T. M.
Whitesldes; from 1852 to 1853, the Rev. Abel Nichols;
from November, 1854, to 1856, the Rev. Merritt H.
Wellman; from 1859 to i860, the Rev. W. H. Cook;
from Easter, i860, to June, 1870, the Rev. CoUis I.
Potter; from 1873 to 1874, the Rev. Sheldon Davis;
from 1875 to 1892, the Rev. William C. Cooley; from
1892, the present rector, the Rev. Walter Downs
Humphrey.

SALISBURY
It Is probable that services of the Episcopal Church
were held in Salisbury before the middle of the eigh
teenth century, but it was not until the coming of the
Rev. Thomas Davies, who seems to have taken the
D423

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
whole county as his parish, that services were held here
regularly. For a time, at least, Mr. Davies officiated
here as often as once a month, but after his death only
occasional services were held till long after the Revo
lutionary War. In 1809 the Rev. Sturges Gilbert was
assigned to the care of the parish in connection with
Sharon and Kent. In 1822 the Rev. George B. An
drews was in charge, and during his rectorship a new
brick church was built. He was followed by the Rev.
Stephen Beach in 1824, who remained rector until 1833.
From 1833 to May, 1837, the Rev. Lucius M. Purdy
was in charge. Beginning with 1837, four clergymen,
namely, the Rev. Charles W. Bradley, the Rev. S. T.
Carpenter, the Rev. David N. Devins, and the Rev.
William Warland, followed In quick succession. From
AprU, 1846, to Easter, 1854, the Rev. George H.
Nichols was in charge; from 1854 to 1858, the Rev.
Ruel H. Tuttle; from 1858 to 1862, the Rev. Dr.
Samuel F. Jarvis; from March 29, 1863, to September,
1 87 1, the Rev. Jonathan A. Wainwright; from 1871
to 1882, the Rev. William Allen Johnson; from Feb
ruary I, 1883, to 1902, the Rev. James H. George;
from 1902 to 1903, the Rev. Henry S. Habersham;
from November 8, 1903, to 1908, the Rev. Henry H.
Davies; from 1908, the present rector, the Rev. David
N. KIrkby. C1433

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

SHARON
On the 14th of April, 1755, the town of Sharon gave
to the Episcopalians leave to erect a church at the head
of the street, near to Captain King's. This buUding
stood for nearly forty years. Services were held in it
by the Rev. Ebenezer Dibble, the Rev. Solomon Palmer,
and the Rev. Thomas Davies, missionaries of the Propa
gation Society. During the Revolutionary War the
building was deserted and never again used for public
worship. At a meeting duly warned and held at the
Academy, May 18, 1809, a parish was organized. The
Rev. Sturges Gilbert held service In the Academy every
other Sunday. In 181 2 steps were taken to build a
church, and early in 18 14 it was so far finished that
service was held in it. It was not finished on the inside
nor furnished until 18 19. The foUowing clergymen
have served as rectors: In 18 18, the Rev. George B.
Andrews; in 1833, the Rev. Lucius M. Purdy; in 1837,
the Rev. Charles W. Bradley; in 1839, the Rev. S. T.
Carpenter; in 1844, the Rev. Martin Moody; in 1849,
the Rev. Alonzo G. Shears; in 1852, the Rev. Ezra
Jones; in 1856, the Rev. Louis French; in 1858, the
Rev. John V. Stryker; from 1866 to May, 1869, the
Rev. Henry R. Howard; from September, 1869, to
1 87 1, the Rev. Dr. David MacDonald; from 1871
D443

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
to 1873, the Rev. Joseph W. Hyde; from 1873 to 1876,
the Rev. Edwin J. K. Lessell; from 1877 to 1882, the
Rev. Percival H. Whaley; from 1882 to 1883, the Rev.
Charles Ferris; from 1885 to 1893, the Rev. George
Rumney; from 1894 to 1900, the Rev. George C. Gris
wold; from 1 901 to June, 1905, the Rev. H. W. Hutch-
eson; from 1905 to November, 1907, the Rev. James
Buchanan Nies, Ph.D.; from 1907 to September, 1908,
the Rev. Lawrence H. Schwab. The Rev. Dr. D. P.
Morgan is now in charge of the parish.
THOMASTON
Services of the Episcopal Church were first regularly
held In Thomaston by the Rev. Benjamin Eastwood in
1866. In the next year the building formerly occupied
by the Methodists was bought, and a parish organized
January 2, 1869. The Rev. David Bishop was rector
from 1869 to February i, 1874; the Rev. Thomas Ock
ford from February 10, 1874, to 1883 ; the Rev. David
L. Sanford from 1883 to 1890. The Rev. Arthur T.
Parsons, the present rector, assumed charge in the winter
of 1890.
TORRINGTON
The parish of Trinity Church was organized February
21, 1843, worshiping at first In the Brick Academy. In
1:1453

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
the next year a church was built on the corner of Water
and Prospect streets. The first rector, the Rev. Henry
Zell, was elected January 6, 1845, and remained untU
Easter, 1848. The Rev. David P. Sanford was rector
from April 8, 1849, to 1850; the Rev. J. S. Covell from
August, 1 8 5 1 , to October, 1855. The parish was vacant
until October, 1858, when the Rev. Mr. Covell was
recalled and remained till 1863. In April, 1864, the
Rev. Mr. Sanford was recalled, who remained untU
September 13, 1868. Soon after, the Rev. Benjamin
Eastwood was elected, and continued in charge until
1874. In June, 1874, the Rev. Henry B. Ensworth
became rector, but remained only until December, 1874.
September i, 1876, the Rev. Henry M. Sherman be
came rector, and remained in charge until 1890. From
1 89 1 to 1895 the Rev. MelviUe K. BaUey was rector.
On the 1st of July, 1895, the present rector, the Rev.
J. Chauncey LInsley, took charge. During his rector
ship the new stone church and the parish house have
been erected.

WASHINGTON
The Rev. Thomas Davies held services in Washing
ton as early as 1762. His father, Mr. John Davies,
deeded land in the neighborhood of Davies Hollow, on
which a church was built about three years before his
D463

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
death in 1758. In 18 13 this church was moved to
Washington Green, where it still stands. At this time
It was named St. John's Church. No complete list of
the clergy who have had charge of It can be given, for
the early records were lost. Beginning with the year
1840, the Rev. George S. Gordon was In charge for one
year. From 1842 to 1846 the Rev. George L. Foote
held services once each month; from 1847 to 1848, the
Rev. William Long; from 1849 to 1853, the Rev.
James L. Scott. The parish was vacant in 1854, but
Mr. Scott was again In charge from 1855 to 1867. In
1868, 1869, and 1870 the parish was vacant. In 1871
the Rev. John D. Gilliland was in charge; In 1872, the
Rev. A. L. Rice (Royce) ; from 1875 to 1882, the Rev.
William L. Peck; from 1884 to 1888, the Rev. Charles
Doupe; from 1888 to 1896, the Rev. William G. Spen
cer; from May, 1896, to Easter, 1899, the Rev. E. A.
AngeU; from 1899 to 1905, the Rev. Percy G. H. Rob
inson; from October i, 1905, the present rector, the
Rev. Theodore M. Peck, a son of a former rector,
the Rev. William L. Peck.
WATERTOWN
In 1764 the first steps were taken which resulted in
estabUshing the services of the Episcopal Church In
Watertown. (Dr. Beardsley's History, p. 238.) The
1:1473

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
next year the first church building was erected.
Twenty-nine years later. In 1794, another took Its place,
which was consecrated by Bishop Seabury November 18.
This was used until October 28, 1855, when the con
gregation entered upon the use of the third building,
which is still standing. From 1759 to 1785 the Rev.
James Scovill was in charge. He was foUowed by the
Rev. Chauncey Prindle, who remained until 1804. The
Rev. Russell Wheeler was rector from 1805 to 18 14;
the Rev. Frederick Holcomb, D.D., from 18 14 to
1839; the Rev. Dr. N. S. Richardson from 1839 to
1845; Dr. Holcomb again from 1845 to 1849; the
Rev. Horace H. Reid from 1850 to 1856; the Rev.
Dr. Benjamin W. Stone from 1856 to 1859; the Rev.
Dr. H. Lewis, from i860 to 1874, having as his
assistant the Rev. WiUiam L. Peck from 187*1 to
1874; the Rev. Dr. S. D. McConneU from 1874 to
1876; the Rev. James Stoddard from 1876 to 1886.
The present rector, the Rev. H. N. Cunningham, came
in 1886, with an interval of four years, 1890 to 1894,
which was occupied by the Rev. John L. Nichols.
WINSTED
Church services were held in Winsted In the year
1847, but it was not until 1848 that a parish was
organized and a church built. In 1849 the Rev. Jona-
1:1483

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
than Coe, 2d, was in charge and remained untU 1852.
In 1854 the Rev. James Wells Coe was rector; from
1855 to 1859, the Rev. James R. Coe; in i860, the Rev.
Dr. D. H. Short; in 1865, the Rev. John H. AnketeU;
from 1866 to 1867, the Rev. WiUiam H. WiUiams;
from 1868 to May, 1870, the Rev. WiUiam H. Lewis,
Jr.; from July, 1870, to 1873, the Rev. David P. San
ford; from 1875 to 1878, the Rev. Frederick S. Jewell,
Ph.D.; from 1879 to 1880, the Rev. F. W. Harriman;
from 1 88 1 to 1901, the Rev. G. M. Stanley; from
1902, the present rector, the Rev. Seth Wolcott LInsley.

WOODBURY
At an early date, some time before the year 1740, there
were in Woodbury a few people attached to the Church
of England. The clergyman who ministered to them
occasionally was the Rev. Dr. John Beach of Newtown.
The first church edifice was erected on the hill between
Roxbury and a district called Transylvania, but when
in 1747 the Congregationallsts built a new church, the
old First Church was used by the Episcopalians for
public worship until the erection of the present church
in 1785. In 1 77 1 the Rev. John Rutgers Marshall, a
native of New York and a graduate of King's College,
returned from England, whither he had gone to secure
[149 3

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
holy orders. He was appointed by the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel In Foreign Parts missionary
to Woodbury, and for eighteen years so wisely admin
istered the affairs of the parish that it has always been
a strong and vigorous one, retaining and Illustrating the
principles upon which it was founded. In connection
with this parish, it is well to anticipate a little, for here
occurred an event which the Episcopal Church in this
country considers the most momentous in Its history:
As soon as the Revolutionary War was ended, the
Church of England felt that her connection with the
church In this country had come to an end, especially
in the matter of supplying funds for the support of the
clergymen to whom she had given her orders. The
missionary society, which had so liberally contributed
to the welfare of the church, was by Its charter limited
to the support of colonies of the kingdom of Great
Britain. Consequently the recognition of the inde
pendence of those colonies closed this source of supply.
At the end of the war there were thirteen clergymen
still in charge of parishes In Connecticut. When peace
was declared, the question of securing a bishop for the
church became a pressing one. At the suggestion of
the Rev. Mr. Marshall, or because Woodbury was a
quiet place in which important business might be trans
acted without attracting public notice, ten of the clergy
of Connecticut met there on the 25th of March, 1783,
1:1503

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
to consult about securing a bishop for Connecticut. As
the result of this council, one of the number, the Rev.
Mr. Jarvis of Middletown, was sent to New York on
this business. First, he tried to prevail upon the Rev.
Dr. Leaming of New York to undertake this duty, and
when he, for good reasons, declined, Mr. Jarvis, ac
cording to instructions given, prevailed upon the Rev.
Samuel Seabury to go to England to secure, If possible,
consecration as Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Con
necticut. The English bishops, for political reasons,
felt unable to comply with the urgent request which Dr.
Seabury presented from the Connecticut clergy. So,
after a year of unavailing effort, he went to Scotland,
and there, in Aberdeen, November 14, 1784, Dr. Sea
bury was consecrated by three Scottish bishops, the
Scottish Church being independent of the English Gov
ernment. The house in Woodbury in which the ten
clergymen met and chose Dr. Seabury is still standing
as a memorial of this event, the property of the Diocese
of Connecticut.
The Rev. John Marshall died on January 21, 1789.
Soon after this the Rev. Mr. Sayre influenced the people
of St. Paul's Church to object to adopting the Consti
tution under which, at New Haven, in June, 1792, the
bishop, clergy, and laity organized as the Diocese of
Connecticut. Believing in the sincerity of Mr. Sayre's
course, they refused to accept this Constitution; but
D50

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
afterward better counsels prevailed, and having coun
seled with a committee appointed by the Convention,
the parish with unanimity acceded to it and came into
union with the Convention. The names of those who
served this parish at the beginning of the nineteenth
century are not known to the writer. In 1810 the Rev.
Joseph D. Welton was ordained and took charge of
the parish until 18 17. He was succeeded by the Rev.
Sturges Gilbert in 18 17, who remained in charge untU
1827; the Rev. WiUiam Lucas from 1828 to 1830. In
1830 the Rev. Ulysses M. Wheeler officiated for a few
months; from 1834 to 1835, the Rev. J. Dowdney;
from 1839 to May, 1845, the Rev. Solomon G. Hitch
cock; from October, 1845, to 1846, the Rev. Richard
Cox; from 1846 to 1847, the Rev. David P. Sanford;
from 1847 to Easter, 1848, the Rev. Charles Putnam;
from 1848 to 1849, the Rev. Pierre T. Babbitt; from
October, 1849, to February, 1853, the Rev. Robert C.
Rogers; from 1853 to 1855, the Rev. Frederick D.
Harriman; from 1855 to 1859, the Rev. Curtis T.
Woodruff; from March, i860, to 1862, the Rev.
George Rumney; from Easter, 1863, to Easter, 1872,
the Rev. John Purvis; from 1874 to 1877, the Rev. J.
G. Jacocks; from 1878 to 1879, the Rev. E. T. San
ford; from 1880 to 1883, the Rev. J. Francis George;
from 1883 to 1886, the Rev. Dr. R. Nelson; from 1887
to 1889, the Rev. W. H. Dean; from 1890 to July,
D523

Episcopal Church, Plymouth

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
1895, the Rev. J. Chauncey LInsley; from 1896 to
1898, the Rev. J. T. Hargraves; from AprU, 1898,
to 1905, the Rev. Leander R. Sheffield; from 1906 to
1908, the Rev. J. H. Barnard. The parish is now
vacant.

1:1533

CHAPTER XI

baptists
HE ways of schism were not easy in the
early history of Litchfield County. The
poverty and hardships of the pioneers
made it sufficiently difficult to support
the parish church In each community,
without dividing their resources. There were in the
eighteenth century only two competing sects, Episcopal
and Baptist. The Church of England ministers were
missionaries, sustained by an English society, and when
they gained an entrance could hold their position by a
systematic and organized plan.
The Baptists, without organization or money, had
to make up by zeal and sacrifice for the lack of other
advantages. Their ministers were usually young men
without education, who could travel from parish
D543

BAPTISTS
to parish appealing to disaffected or unorganized
people in the districts more remote from the regu
lar meeting-places. I am able to find but little rec
ord of these men, though indications of their iriflu-
ence remain In many towns, where traditional sites
of Baptist churches are found, or old graveyards bear
witness to the former lives of ministers and members.
The Baptist Church in Litchfield at Bantam Falls Is
the successor of two earlier Baptist churches, one in
Nortbfield and the other In Morris. These churches
of course had ministers, but I know not their names.
The present church was organized in 1852, and is
usually associated with similar churches in East Corn
wall and Cornwall Hollow. An early Baptist church in
Barkhamsted was afterward merged in the one at New
Hartford. Baptist churches in Bridgewater and Rox
bury became long ago extinct.
In the town of New Milford three Baptist churches
were organized in the first half of the nineteenth cen
tury, at NorthvIUe, Merryall, and GaylordsvIUe. I
think two of them are still existent. The early Baptist
ministers were, as I have said, mainly young men with
zeal and without education. Their names do not mean
much to history, but they achieved some results of con
siderable importance, mainly perhaps as a counter-irri
tant in developing the energies and modifying the
activities of the established Congregational churches.
D553

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
It Is said that when Stephen Smith Nelson was ordained
in 1798 as the first pastor of the first Baptist church in
Hartford, he was up to that time the only Baptist
minister in Connecticut with a college education.
The Rev. Daniel Wildman, who preached as a licen
tiate at Plymouth, Connecticut, from 1791 to 1796, and
afterward gained a larger reputation in work outside
the county, was the earliest preacher of his denomina
tion in this county to achieve mention In Sprague's
"Annals." The Rev. Rufus Babcock was a man whose name has
a commanding place in our history. He was a soldier
in the War of the Revolution, and belonged to the
Separate Congregational Church in Canaan. He be
came a Baptist preacher and gathered a church In Cole
brook, Connecticut, where he was ordained in 1794, the
first minister of any denomination settled in that town.
He later organized a church in another part of the
town, also one In Winsted, and one in the Newfield
parish of Torrington. He continued to serve his first
parish, with excursions outside, until seventy-three years
of age. He baptized more than five hundred members,
some say a thousand. He supported his family mainly
by farming, and sent two sons to Brown University.
One of these sons, the Rev. Rufus Babcock, D.D., was
recognized as a leading man in his denomination.
Rufus Babcock, Jr., was born In Colebrook, Septem-
1:1563

BAPTISTS
ber 19, 1798, was brought up on his father's farm, and
graduated from Brown University in 1821. In the
same year he became tutor in the Columbian CoUege at
Washington, D. C. In 1823 he was ordained pastor of
the Baptist Church in Poughkeepsie, New York. In
1826 he became pastor in Salem, Massachusetts, and
in 1833 President of WatervIUe College in Maine.
While in that position he was given the degree of D.D.
by Bowdoin College. He was afterward offered the
presidency of three other colleges or universities, but
declined. He was for many years President of the
American Baptist Publication Society, and the Corre
sponding Secretary of the American and Foreign Bible
Society. He, as friend and pastor of Matthew Vassar,
was consulted about the plans for Vassar College and
assisted in its organization. He was the author of sev
eral volumes, and a frequent contributor to the press.
Toward the close of his life, when he had retired from
his larger work, he returned to Colebrook and took up
the pastorate of the Baptist church which his father had
founded, and which had become weak. He died at
Salem, Massachusetts, May 4, 1875, in the seventy-
seventh year of his age. He left two daughters.
The following estimate of his character is from the
Rev. F. B. Wheeler of Poughkeepsie: "Affectionate and
sunny In his disposition, all were won to him ; courteous
and gentlemanly in his bearing, all respected him ; a man
D573

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
of warm Christian spirit, all revered him. His memory
is precious in many hearts. He was preeminently a
peacemaker, always ready to conciliate and turn away
wrath. ... As a preacher he was a positive power in
his denomination, persuasive in oratory and thoroughly
evangelical in his doctrine. While he was warmly at
tached to the principles and faith of the Baptist Church,
there was no narrowness in his spirit, but a catholicity
of feeling and action that was delightfully refreshing to
all with whom he came in contact. Honored by his
brethren and his church, he has entered Into rest, like a
shock of corn fully ripe into the garner."
Another Baptist minister who belonged especially to
Colebrook, the Rev. Amos Benedict, seems to me
worthy of special mention. He looked temporarily
after the interests of several of the smaller churches of
his denomination in this county, but was more widely
known as a lecturer, especially on temperance. He was
a man of briUiant parts, of catholic spirit, and possessed
a large fund of miscellaneous knowledge. He has
rested from labor but a little while and Is remembered
by many with affection and reverence.
In the last generation Baptist churches have been
established in most of our large viUages. They are
cared for by pastors of college training and splendid
abilities, some of them making history for the future,
and who would demand mention here If we were deal-
D583

BAPTISTS
ing with living men rather than seeking to preserve
memories of the past.
I have no doubt that the earlier men, whose names
and lives I have not been able to set forth adequately,
were In fact a very essential and valuable factor in the
religious development of the county. Criticism of the
established churches was constantly needed, and was a
stimulus to their activities. A zealous class of workers
among the least educated or poorer people brings to
pass a new and more emotional as well as less conven
tional range of religious experience, that in itself is a
genuine testimony to the reality of the divine inworking
in all men. These earlier Baptist evangelists were in
large measure superseded by the Methodist itinerants,
working with the same methods but more systematically ;
as they In turn, after a period of education and culture,
were followed by the Adventists, and more recently by
the Salvation Army. The great work is one, but the
workers need to be of varied gifts, and a large range of
thinking as well as of working helps bring the victorious
establishment of the great kingdom of truth and right
eousness.

1593

CHAPTER XII
THE METHODISTS
HE latest attack in great force on the old
order of things came from the Method
ists. Their work in Litchfield County
practically began with the nineteenth cen
tury, and when once begun, it brought to
pass great and rapid changes. The Methodist move
ment had energy, an effective system of organization,
and an aggressiveness that seized on every point of
vantage. The Baptists had accepted the old theology,
and made their contests on the one matter of baptism.
Their work In the outside districts made converts, but
the disaffected Congregationallsts were not always at
tracted to Immersion and often did wish their children
baptized. The Methodist preacher had all the gifts
that appealed to the uneducated, allowed liberty in the
1:1603

THE METHODISTS
matter of baptism, opposed the method of supporting
the clergy by taxes, and attacked Calvinism itself with
a zeal that never flagged. In a little time they largely
superseded the earlier Baptist churches, though the first
Methodism was a matter of ministers rather than of
churches. Classes were formed wherever converts were
made, which met in private houses, and the organization
of churches could wait.
In 1789 Jesse Lee took charge of all New England,
which up to that time had no Methodist church or min
ister. He soon had seven men traveling and preaching
from Maine to New York.
In 1793 Daniel Ostrander was sent to the Litchfield
circuit and preached far and wide from Litchfield as a
center. He continued to preach for about fifty years
and became a presiding elder, but I think his work in
this county was limited to a few months in the beginning
of his ministry, when he was about twenty-one years of
age. In 1 794 Enoch Mudge preached once around the Litch
field circuit. He was afterward prominent In Maine
and Massachusetts. Billy Hibbard took the circuit in
1798 and again in 1815. At the first appointment he
had already been preaching a year and was about
twenty-six years old. In his second turn he was contem
porary with Dr. Lyman Beecher, with whom he was on
most friendly terms. He was a chaplain in the army in
1:1613

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
1 8 14, and in his later years lived in Canaan, Connecti
cut. He was a man of Influence and power.
Freeborn Garretson seems to have been the man who
gav^e special impetus to early Methodism in this section
of the country. He was presiding elder in the New
York Conference in 1 79 1, 1797, 1 800-1803, and 181 1-
18 14. In this office he looked after the interests of
western Connecticut and eastern New York. He was a
large-minded man who aimed in a statesmanlike way at
the establishment of Christianity rather than the success
of a denomination, but none the less was loyal and suc
cessful In his denominational work. He tried to build
up his churches from the elements not already gathered
Into organized churches, rather than to make division
or weaken the forces already at work for the salvation
of men. It was hardly possible, however, in those days
for a Methodist minister to preach a sermon without
directly controverting doctrines taught in the estab
lished churches, and it was a matter of conscience to do
It thoroughly. From his day the Methodist churches
were a permanent factor In the religious development of
Litchfield County. The preachers began their work at
an earlier age than the pastors of Congregational
churches, and usually without a college education or
special theological training. They learned to preach
by preaching, and learned their theology while they
were preaching it. They appealed to the neglected
D623

THE METHODISTS
classes, and called into action an emotional type of
religion, which made up in energy for lack of scholar
ship. The kind of work which conditions forced upon
them broke the trammels of conventionality, and pro
moted genuineness In thinking and religious experience
untU a new type of conventionality was formed. The
emphasis they laid on free will and human activity went
to an extreme beyond the teaching of their own greatest
theologians, and was a constant challenge to the old
theology, which ascribed all possibility or actual attain
ment of goodness wholly to the immediate act and
eternal plan of God himself. In this way controversy
for the first half of the nineteenth century came to hold
a chief interest in the preaching alike in the old church
and in the new. The itinerant system prevented the
identification of individual ministers for the most part
with anything so small as a county. Under supervision
from a central authority, men were constantly changing
their field of work and so enlarging their experience and
interests that the church as a whole rather than the
demands of separate localities occupied their minds.
Each year brought a new minister, continuing without
break the plan of his predecessors, and preparing the
way for another to follow. Hence, while the impact of
Methodist preaching was with power and wrought great
changes, and many of their preachers were men of mark,
their work was more productive of conformity to the
D633

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
outside world than of the distinctive characteristics
which connotate the development of local history.
Great men there were and long remembered, preach
ing for a year in a dozen places, perhaps wholly in the
county, probably some of them outside, and then for
forty or fifty years devoting themselves to similar work
elsewhere. Great as were the names they made, and
effective as the team-work might be in which they had
a part, it is difficult to find out and put on record the part
which as individuals they had In the history of Litchfield
County. The Rev. Daniel Smith was born in Salisbury, Con
necticut, In 1806. He began to preach on the Goshen
circuit In 1830, and was stationed In Winsted in 1834
and 1835. He was a writer of Sunday-school books and
a lecturer of some ability.
• The influence of the Methodist preachers in changing
the prevalent Calvinistic theology was wrought not only
by their own direct teaching, but by the change of atti
tude necessitated in the Congregational pastors who
preached In defense of their own doctrines. A wise man
with a position to defend may change the position alto
gether In making It defensible. Dr. Lyman Beecher,
Dr. Nathaniel Taylor, and others of their time used to
insist that they held loyally to all the essentials of the
older New England theology. They only improved the
statement of It to guard against misapprehensions and
C1643

THE METHODISTS
misrepresentations. None the less, when they got
through, we had entered a new world of religious
thought and activity. How much the Methodist preach
ers had to do with the newer thinking, we do not know,
and it is not necessary to know, but they had their part,
and many factors cooperated. The coming of railroads,
telegraphs, and telephones has done away with the sepa
rateness of the Litchfield County people.
New people and new races are here. Not only the
older churches have been modified in character and
belief; Methodism itself has equally changed. Her
churches also demand ministers of liberal education, and
their members adopt the ways of the world. Adventism
took up for a time the work among the uneducated, and
has been followed by the Salvation Army. Individual
and local peculiarities still have their occasional distinc
tion, and old prejudices or opinions are sometimes ap
pealed to and momentarily revived, but In the main we
are swept by the current of movements that are world
wide. The attempt has been made in these papers to
recall as fairly as possible some of the special phases of
a past time that may be worth remembering. It Is too
much for the present writer to presume to measure the
present or to prophesy concerning the future. The
shortcomings in these studies are evident, but the labor
has been one of love, and the reader's forgiveness is
hoped for.
[1653.

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
preachers
Following is a list of the preachers who have labored
in Winsted and vicinity from 1790 to 1903 :
LITCHFIELD CIRCUIT
1 790 Samuel Wigton and Henry Christie.
1 79 1 Mathias Swain and James Covel.
1792 Philip Wager and James Coleman.
1793 Samuel Smith and Daniel Ostrander.
1 794 Fredus Aldridge and James Covel.
1795 Jesse Stoneman and Joseph Mitchell.
1796 Daniel Dennis and Wesley Budd.
1797 Ezekiel Canfield and William Thatcher.
1 798 Ebenezer Stevens and Truman Bishop.
1 799 Augustus Jocelyn.
1800 Aaron Hunt and Elijah Batchelor.
1 801 Peter Morlarty and John Sweet.
1802 James Campbell and Luman Andrus.
1803 Caleb Morris and John Sweet.
1804 Zaimon Lyon and Ebben Smith.
1805 Zaimon Lyon.
1806 Nathan Emory and Samuel Corcoran.
1807 Aaron Hunt and Jonathan Lyon.
1808 Henry Fames and Andrew Prindle.
1809—10 Laban Clark and Reuben Harris.
181 1 James Covel and Arnold Scofield.
1 8 12 James Coleman and Benjamin Griffin.
18 13 William Swazey, Gad Smith, and Jonathan Reynolds.
18 14 William Swazey, Thomas Thorp, and Jonathan Reynolds.
181 5 Samuel Corcoran, Billy Hibbard, and Smith Dayton.
ni663

THE METHODISTS

BURLINGTON CIRCUIT

1816 Phineas Cook and Aaron Pierce.
1818 Phineas Cook and Cyrus Culver.
1818-19 Nathaniel Emory and Cyrus SiUiman.
1820 Datus Ensign and Nathan Ruggles.
1 82 1 Datus Ensign and Julius Field.
1822 Cyrus SiUiman and John Luckey.
1823 Henry Hatfield and Stephen L. Stillman.
1824 Samuel D. Ferguson and Julius Field.
1825 Samuel D. Ferguson and Elbert Osborn.
1826 Joseph McRerey and Elbert Osborn.
1827 Gershom Pierce and Wells Wolcott.
1828 Aaron Pierce and L. Baldwin.
1829 Aaron Pierce and L. Mead.
1830 Quartus Stewart and L. Mead.
1 83 1 Quartus Stewart and Philo Ferris.
1832 Charles Sherman and C. W. Turner.
1833 Charles Sherman and John Nixon.

stationed preachers

1834 Daniel Smith, first 1845 W. H. Ferris ... 2
stationed preacher . 2 1847 Seymour Landon . . I
1836 Thomas Bainbrldge . 2 1848 Harvey Husted . . 2
1838 Joseph Law . . . i 1850 Albert Nash ... 2
1839 Davis Stocking . . 2 1852 George W.Woodruff. 2
1 841 Ebenezer Washburn . 2 1854 John Crawford . . i
1843 D. W. Clark ... 2 1855 S. A. Seaman ... 2
ni67 3

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

stationed preachers— Continued

1857 Otis Saxton. .
1859 W. T. Hill . .
1 86 1 Reuben Loomis
1863 L. W. Abbott .
1865 S. H. Platt . .
1868 B. Plllisbury .
1869 W. H. SImonson
1872 A. Graves . .
1874 B. T. Abbott .

YEARS
. . 2

1877 W. H. Thomas .

2

1879 Joseph Pullman .

2

1882 L E. Smith. . .

2

1885 T. C. Beach . .

3
1888 J. Rippers . . .
I
1892 A. H. Wyatt . .
3
1893 D. A. Jordan . .
2
1894 E. S. Ferry . . .
3
1 899-1 909 B. F. Kidder
2 3
334 I
I
5
II
presiding elders
1790 Freeborn Garretson
1821-
1 79 1 Jesse Lee
1824-
1792 Jacob Brush
1827
1793 George Roberts
1828-
1794 Jesse Lee
1832
1795 Freeborn Garretson
1833-
1796 Sylvester Hutchinson
1837-
1797 Freeborn Garretson
I84I-
1798-9 Sylvester Hutchinson
1843-
1800-2 Freeborn Garretson
1848-
1803-S Daniel Ostrander
T852-
1806-7 Peter Morlarty
1855
1808-10 Aaron Hunt
1811 William Anson
1856-
1 8 12 Elijah Woolsey
1862-
1813-16 Nathan Bangs
1864
1817-20 Ebenezer Washburn
1865
C'
683
-23 Samuel Merwin
-26 Samuel Luckey
Arnold Scofield
-31 Laban Clark
Heman Bangs
-36 Stephen Martindale
-40 Laban Clark
-42 Samuel D. Ferguson
-47 Bartholomew Creagh
-51 Seymour Landon
-54 John B. Stratton
D. Miller (died)
L. C. Cheney
-61 E. C. Griswold
-63 W. C. Hoyt
Thomas G. Osborn
-68 Nathaniel Mead
THE METHODISTS
PRESIDING ELDERS— Continued
1869-71 T. C. Osborn 1884-87 W. H. Wardell
1872-75 M. L. Scudder 1888-92 John W. Beach
1876 G. A. Hubbell 1893-98 Crandall J. North
1877-79 W. T. Hill 1899-1902 John E. Adams
1880-83 G. A. Hubbell 1903 W. A. Richard

D693

CHAPTER XIII

THE CLERGY AS CITIZENS
IGH and holy as the minister was once held
in popular esteem, he was not shut out
by his sanctity from participation In all
that concerned the common life and com
mon interests of the people. He was
usually regarded as the first citizen In the community.
He gave advice either in his private capacity or formally
from the pulpit in regard to the conduct of affairs in
town or State. This grew out of the fact that New Eng
land was settled with the religious motive dominant. In
the hope of establishing a Christian nation, governed in
accordance with Christian principles.
This leadership of the clergy was promotive of good
order and high Ideals. As two political parties grew up
for organized conflict, there also came to pass, naturally,
1:^03

Congregational Church, East Canaan

THE CLERGY AS CITIZENS
a division In which the ministers and leading church
members were massed on one side, and all irreligious
elements on the other. This had its unfortunate bearing
on the development of society, creating with some a
political bias against religious influences, and also some
times tending to commit the ministers and churches to
judgment in favor of class interests rather than to an
equal regard for all the people. That is, ministers deal
ing with the affairs of the public were constantly liable
to look at measures from the side of a privileged class,
and so with the best of intentions failed to do equal
justice to all.
Notwithstanding mistakes and difficulties the leading
of the clergy, or their criticism of public affairs, has
been greatly helpful to public progress In right direc
tions. Litchfield County ministers have, as a matter of
course, been leaders in education. They have been first
in establishing schools of all grades. From the begin
ning they selected and examined teachers and superin
tended their work. They either organized academies or
themselves prepared young people for college, and were
influential In inspiring them to seek a college course.
Their preaching in itself has been educational. They
have helped in forming libraries and promoting a read
ing habit and social methods of literary culture. In
patriotism they have never been lacking. Before the
[:i7i3

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
War of the Revolution sermons were preached in most
of the churches, and resolutions were passed by minis
terial associations, asserting the rights of the people and
arousing them to maintain their liberties.
The Rev. Judah Champion of Litchfield, the Rev.
Cotton Mather Smith of Sharon, and the Rev. Ammi
Ruhamah Robbins of Norfolk, in addition to their
patriotic preaching, went as chaplains in the Revolu
tionary army. As I have referred to this in other chap
ters, I will not enlarge upon It here, except to quote
from Mr. Champion's sermon of May, 1776, from
Gal. V. I : "Methinks we may this day well-nigh see the
ghosts of our departed progenitors, and hear those
blessed worthies, in solemn accents, through the vast of
heaven, addressing us, saying, 'Stand fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made you free.' At the ines
timable price of his blood, the glorious Redeemer pur
chased these blessings for his people. Through rivers of
blood and tribulation we have been made the Instruments
of handing them down to you. Nor can you wantonly
throw them away without incurring Jehovah's indigna
tion and curse. Trust in God and firmly defy every
danger. Heaven demands your most vigorous exer
tions." These accounts are preserved in "Centennial
Papers of the General Conference of Connecticut," pub
lished in Hartford in 1877, and may be found quoted in
various periodicals. 1:1723

THE CLERGY AS CITIZENS
The Rev. Publius Vergilius Bogue, pastor at Win
chester from 1790 to 1800, served In the war as a
soldier, as did the Rev. Rufus Babcock, founder of the
Baptist churches in Colebrook, and others who were
afterward ministers in our churches.
The War of 1 8 1 2 and the war with Mexico were not
much favored by the ministers and churches of New
England, and I do not know of any patriotic enthusiasm
shown in regard to these wars by the Congregational
clergy of Litchfield County. But Billy Hibbard was chap
lain in the War of 18 12-14. In the Civil War of 1861-
1865, the Rev. Hiram Eddy, D.D., pastor at Winsted,
went as chaplain, as did the Rev. Henry Upson of New
Preston, and the Rev. John B. Doollttle, afterward pas
tor at Bridgewater. The Rev. Isaac P. Powell, later
pastor at North Canaan, was an officer in the army, and
by his experience in a rebel prison was much broken in
health. The Rev. John F. Gleason served in the army
and was afterward pastor at Norfolk.
The temperance reformation at the beginning of the
nineteenth century owed much to the ministers of Litch
field County. A sermon by the Rev. Ebenezer Porter,
D.D., when pastor at Washington, Connecticut, in 1806,
was marked in Its influence and was used for many years
as a temperance tract. The beginning of an organized
campaign against Intemperance got its impetus from Dr.
Lyman Beecher at Litchfield. His account of the drink-
D73 3

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
ing customs of the day as he found them in use at the
meetings of ministers and churches of his time gives us
a view of the situation which aroused him to action.
In his Autobiography, page 245, we read: "September
6, 1 8 10. Well, at the ordination at Plymouth, the
preparation for our creature comforts, beside food, was
a broad sideboard covered with decanters and bottles
and sugar and pitchers of water. There we found all
the kinds of liquor then in vogue. The drinking was
apparently universal. . . . When the consociation ar
rived, they always took something to drink around ; also
before public services, and always on their return.
There was a decanter of spirits also on the dinner-table,
and gentlemen partook of it during the afternoon and
evening if they felt the need; and the sideboard looked
and smelled like the bar of a very active grog-shop.
When they had all done drinking, and had taken pipes
and tobacco, in less than fifteen minutes there was such
a smoke you could n't see. And the noise I cannot de
scribe; it was the maximum of hilarity. They told their
stories and were at the height of jocose talk. . . . The
next ordination was of Mr. Harvey in Goshen (October,
1 8 10), and there was the same preparation, the same
scenes, and then afterward still louder murmurs from
the society at the quantity and expense of liquors con
sumed. . . . The two meetings were near together, and
in both, my alarm, shame, and indignation were Intense.
D743

THE CLERGY AS CITIZENS
. . . And sUently I took an oath before God that I
would never attend another ordination of that kind."
The next year, 1 8 1 1 , the General Association ap
pointed a committee to make inquiries. At their report
In Sharon in 1812, the committee stated that an alarm
ing condition existed, but they could see no way out of It.
Dr. Beecher at once moved that a committee of three
be appointed Immediately to report at the same meeting
something to be done. He was made chairman of the
committee, and the report was in part as follows :
"The General Association of Connecticut, taking into
consideration the undue consumption of ardent spirits,
the enormous sacrifice of property resulting, the alarm
ing Increase of intemperance, the deadly effect on health,
intellect, the family, society, civil and religious Institu
tions, and especially in nullifying the means of grace and
destroying souls, recommend :
"i. Appropriate discourses on the subject by all
ministers of the Association.
"2. That district associations abstain from the use
of ardent spirits at ecclesiastical meetings.
"3. That members of churches abstain from the un
lawful vending, or purchase and use of ardent spirits,
where unlawfully sold; exercise vigilant discipline, and
cease to consider the production of ardent spirits a part
of hospitable entertainment In social visits."
Similar action was urged upon the various district
D753

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
associations throughout the State and was generally
adopted by them. Dr. Beecher also worked successfully
for laws restricting saloons. In 1826 he preached a
series of six sermons on the nature, signs, evils, and
remedies of intemperance, which were published and
widely circulated. Most of the Congregational minis
ters in the State soon became total abstainers. The
work thus begun took on a wider range than abstaining
from intoxicating liquors. The Connecticut Society for
the Reformation of Morals also opposed gambling, lot
tery-dealing, and Sabbath-breaking. Dr. Beecher and
others in the county were also vigorous preachers against
slavery and its political aggressions In the nation.
The late Benjamin Mead Wright, when pastor in
Kent, was successful in rousing the public opinion of
several towns in the Housatonic Valley against bribery
in elections, and was the means of Introducing a Cor
rupt Practices BiU into the Connecticut Legislature,
which prepared the way for our present law. Our min
isters have not been politicians in the usual sense of the
term, but they have kept a diligent outlook toward all
questions affecting the common interests and the public
morals, and have been quick to respond to all wise at
tempts for promoting the cause of righteousness or the
luplifting of men.

D763

CHAPTER XIV

THE CLERGY IN LITERATURE
EN In the strenuous life, struggling either
for their own existence or for some greater
purpose, are not likely to make great
achievements In art or culture. Litchfield
County Is justly proud of her great men
and women and of the work they have done for the
world. She has given worthy contributions to literature,
but In this does not claim a special eminence. The min
isters of her earlier history had, as we have seen, a pre
dominant influence along the lines of their own work.
They were thorough in their preaching and teaching,
and their published writings mainly extended and em
phasized the power of their pulpits.
Dr. Joseph Bellamy was known throughout the Eng
lish-speaking world by the most popular religious work
of his day, "True Religion Delineated," which had a
large sale on both sides of the Atlantic. In his later life
ni773

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
he published several controversial pamphlets. These,
with a few sermons preached on special occasions, were
collected and edited by a former pupil, the Rev. Noah
Benedict of Woodbury, and published, with a sketch of
his life. In three good-sized volumes, which are still ac
cessible to students. His successor In Bethlehem, the
Rev. Azel Backus, D.D., has left us a volume of ser
mons. The Rev. Nathaniel William Taylor, D.D., of New
Milford and New Haven, has given us several volumes
in theology: "Practical Sermons," "Lectures on Moral
Government," "Essays," "Lectures on Selected Topics
of Revealed Theology." His son-in-law, the Rev. Noah
Porter, D.D., LL.D., pastor at New MUford and Presi
dent of Yale College, was the author of many valuable
works which had a place both in science and literature.
The Rev. Ebenezer Porter, D.D., pastor in Washing
ton, Connecticut, from 1796 to 1812, and born in Corn
wall, Connecticut, October 5, 1772, published among
other books: "Letters on Religious Revivals," "Lectures
on Eloquence and Style," "The Rhetorical Reader" (a
book much used in higher schools), and "Sermons."
The Rev. Leonard E. Lathrop, pastor In Salisbury
from 1825 to 1836, published a volume of sermons on
"The Nature and Influence of Evangelical Faith."
The Rev. Jonathan Edwards, D.D., first pastor at Cole
brook, was the author of volumes of sermons and theo-
ni783

THE CLERGY IN LITERATURE
logical treatises which were an essential part of the
theological development of New England. His suc
cessor, the Rev. Chauncey Lee, D.D., pastor at Cole
brook from 1800 to 1828, published a volume of
sermons, accompanied by one of original hymns written
for use with the sermons. He was also the author of a
metrical translation of the Book of Job, as an epic poem
entitled "The Trial of Virtue," which in its day was
popular and had a wide circulation. The Rev. Thomas
Robbins, D.D., who was a pretty good authority on
books, says of It in his diary, "I think it one of the best
poems ever published in this country."
A third Colebrook pastor, the Rev. Edward Royal
Tyler, was afterward for a time editor of the Connecticut
Observer at Hartford. Later he became the first editor
and part proprietor of the New Englander. He wrote
many valuable articles for this review. He published a
book on Future Punishment, and a Congregational
Handbook or Catechism. His work was carried on
under continual burdens of 111 health and shortened by
early death.
Dr. Lyman Beecher of Litchfield, as well as nearly all
his children, were large contributors to the literature of
the nation. Their work Is too well known to call for
enumeration. Dr. Charles G. Finney, of Warren and
Oberlin, has enriched theological literature by his Auto
biography and his published sermons. Dr. Edward
D793

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Dorr Griffin, pastor at New Hartford and President of
Williams College, has given us several volumes of ser
mons and lectures.
Perhaps the most distinguished in poetry and lighter
literature of the Litchfield County clergy was the Rev.
John Pierpont. He was born in Litchfield South Farms,
now Morris, April 6, 1785, studied in Morris Academy,
was graduated at Yale In 1804, and studied law at the
Litchfield Law School. He was variously lawyer, busi
ness man, clergyman, statistician, poet, mechanical in
ventor, and popular lecturer. As a clergyman he was
Unitarian, Orthodox, and Spiritualist. He died at
Medford, Massachusetts, August 27, 1866. In 18 16 he
published a volume of poetry under the title "Airs of
Palestine," which was republished with his other poems
in 1840. His name Is not often mentioned among the
literary celebrities of New England, but he had a wide
reputation in his own generation, and left behind poems
which are worth remembering. One, commemorating a
son that died. Is among the best of its kind, and is, I
suppose, well known, beginning :
I cannot make him dead :
His fair sunshiny head
Is ever bounding round my study chair ;
Yet, when my eyes, now dim
With tears, I turn to him,
The vision vanishes — he Is not there.
D803

Charles G. Finnef

THE CLERGY IN LITERATURE
His ode on the Pilgrim Fathers, written for a celebra
tion at Plymouth, December 22, 1824, was worthy of
the occasion. A poem called "Passing Away" seems to
me beautiful. The present writer remembers him as a
speaker at a Yale alumni meeting, giving some personal
reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln. The following de
scription is taken from an article by John Neal in the
Atlantic Monthly for December, 1866: "He was tall,
straight, and spare, six feet I should say, and rather
ungraceful in fact, though called by the women of his
parish not only the most graceful, but the most finished
of gentlemen. That he was dignified, courteous, and
prepossessing, very pleasant in conversation, a capital
story-teller, I am ready to acknowledge, but he wanted
ease of manner. . . . His tall figure, his erect, positive
bearing, and somewhat uncompromising, severe expres
sion of countenance, when much in earnest, with black
heavy eyebrows, clear blue eyes which passed for black,
and stiff black hair, were all of the Huguenot Southern
type. ... I was constantly reminded of John C. Cal
houn, a fellow-student with him at Yale."
Dr. Horace Bushnell not only wrought a great change
in the theological world by his thinking, but was master
in the use of language. In sermons, theological and
philosophical treatises, he took a commanding place in
literature. Samuel J. Andrews, D.D., son of the Rev. WUliam
D813

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Andrews of Cornwall, and licensed by the Litchfield
North Association, was the author of a "Life of Christ"
that has been highly valued by scholars for a generation.
The Rev. Lavalette Perrin, D.D., was for several years
editor of the Religious Herald of Hartford, and main
tained it In a high degree of excellence. The Rev. D. D.
T. McLaughlin, of Sharon, Litchfield, and Morris, was
a man of literary tastes, and devoted his leisure for many
years to a new lyrical translation of the Psalms, intended
to preserve the special qualities of their Hebrew style.
Sorrow at the loss of his son prevented him from secur
ing their publication In book form before his own
death. Two volumes of selected sermons were published by
a committee of ministers in this vicinity, one in 1798, the
other In 18 10. They are of special historic interest to
the people of Litchfield County. Many sermons and
religious articles from the ministers of this county found
their way Into the National Preacher, the Connecticut
Evangelical Magazine, and the Christian Spectator. It
Is unfortunate that writers for the last two magazines
were accustomed to use pseudonyms, so that it Is difficult
in many cases to identify them.
The Rev. Thomas Robbins, D.D., a son of the Nor
folk pastor, and preacher for a year and three months in
Winchester, besides having much to do with our churches
In many ways, collected a series of his articles from the
D823

THE CLERGY IN LITERATURE
Evangelical Magazine, and published them in 1 8 1 5 in a
book entitled "Historic View of the Early Planters of
New England." His greatest contribution to literature
was in his diary, which was published after his death by
his nephew, the Hon. Robbins Battell.
The ministers of the present generation are somewhat
given to authorship ; in fact, one is hardly considered in
good standing until he has published a book. To the
prevalence of such a custom may be attributed the ambi
tion of the present writer to attempt an invasion into
literature. It has been the purpose of this book to avoid
speaking of living men, but simply to enumerate some of
the literary work done by men of our time can hardly be
objectionable. Some of our ministers have contributed works on local
history. The late Rev. Samuel Wolcott Orcutt pub
lished, among other books, a "History of Torrington,"
having been for a time pastor of the First Church In that
town. The Rev. Augustine G. Hibbard gave us an ex
cellent history of Goshen. The Rev. Giles F. Goode
nough is the author of "Gossip about a Country Parish,
being a History of Ellsworth Parish in the Town of
Sharon." The Rev. Wesley E. Page for Milton, and
the Rev. Gerald Stanley Lee for Sharon, have contrib
uted pamphlets.
Perhaps because problems of morals and theology are
not so urgently demanding solution as In the earlier
[1833

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
times, our clergy take a wider range In their literary
work, give more attention to lighter themes, and aim at
a more artistic finish. The Rev. Gerald Stanley Lee,
formerly pastor at Sharon, besides books like "The
Shadow-Christ," containing word-pictures of spiritual
visions, has written many essays of a critical character.
The Rev. John Sheridan Zelie, In younger days pastor
in Plymouth, is a contributor to periodical literature In
similar ways. The Rev. John Calvin Goddard of Salis
bury has published "Leaves of Absence, and Other
Leaves," and Is constantly bringing the public under new
obligations. The Rev. Edward O. Dyer, pastor at
Sharon from 1893 to 1906, Is the author of "Gnad-
ensee." The Rev. Herbert K. Job, pastor in Kent, is
the author of several well-known books about birds.
The Rev. Myron M. Munson, lately of Warren, has a
book on the genealogy of the Munson family. The
Rev. Thomas C. Richards, of Winsted and Torrington,
now pastor in Warren, Massachusetts, Is the author of
one of the leading missionary biographies of the present
day, "Samuel J. MiUs, Missionary Pathfinder." The
Rev. NeweU M. Calhoun, born In Bethlehem, pastor for
ten years In Winsted, FeUow of Yale University, has
two books to his credit, "Litchfield County Sketches"
and "Picturesque Litchfield County." The Rev. A. W.
Ackerman, D.D., of the Center Church, Torrington,
has written a story of Old Testament times, entitled
D843

THE CLERGY IN LITERATURE
"The Price of Peace, or A Story of the Times of Ahab,
King of Israel."
That this list Is not longer is probably due more to
lack of information than to lack of material, and will call
out testimony from others to make good the deficiency.

D853

CHAPTER XV

WIT AND HUMOR
ersonal peculiarities and eccentricities
have sometimes characterized men who
find their way Into the pulpit, as well as
those in more secular occupations. In
such cases the conception of solemnity
and dignity associated with the ministry has given special
emphasis to that which was peculiar and personal.
Flashes of light from a dark cloud attract attention.
I shall not attempt to make a careful distinction be
tween wit and humor, but assume that there Is a recog
nized difference, passing through many gradations, be
tween the sharpness of mind which Is a ready weapon In
controversy or repartee, and the large-hearted good
nature which lives In the sunshine and consciously or
unconsciously reflects warmth and glory on all around.
The narrow and Ignorant may possess the power of ridi-
D863

WIT AND HUMOR
cule and stinging retort ; only the larger-minded who see
men and things from more than one side have the
capacity for humor as well as wit, and the ability to use
both effectively for the best service of mankind instead
of merely for triumph in a personal argument.
There have been many of the ministers In Litchfield
County eminent in the use of wit and humor. It would
not be wise to enter into extensive detail with regard to
the pastors who in almost every community have left be
hind them traditions of characteristic peculiarity or
smartness in retort or repartee. Most of the jokes
handed down have been sufficiently repeated to be pretty
well known or easily accessible, and some of them are
fickle and have the habit of attaching themselves to dif
ferent persons.
In reading some of the old sermons or studying the
accepted belief of the early preachers, it might seem Im
possible that men who felt the responsibility of such be
lief and such preaching could ever have smiled, but God
has so constituted our human nature that It seeks relief
and finds it. If this relief comes through Inconsistencies
and incongruities, it makes a happy excuse for the incon
sistencies. The custom of sharp contests of wit in social
Intercourse seems to have been cultivated by our fore
fathers, and If It was often the cause of coarseness and
buffoonery among the common people, among the better
educated It rose into the higher atmosphere of brilliancy,
ni873

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
though sometimes of a rather stiff or stilted character.
John Trumbull of Watertown, Dr. Bellamy of Bethle
hem, and still more his successor. Dr. Azel Backus, were
remembered for their sharp sayings. It became so natu
ral to Dr. Backus to give witty turns to his speech that
he was unable wholly to repress It In his preaching.
Of course this, from the professional point of view,
was greatly to be regretted. Great as was the personal
dignity and authority of the minister among the people,
the pulpit itself and the clergyman in the pulpit had an
added sacredness. If the minister's human nature might
be allowed some relief at an appropriate time and place,
there was great danger in permitting the people to relax
from the solemnity of the Lord's house and the responsi
bility of divine service.
Even Dr. Chauncey Lee of Colebrook, renowned for
his wit and merriment on social occasions, was, I think,
never accused of carrying his humor into the pulpit.
There were, however, men in those days who, in a
way natural to themselves, carried not only wit but
humor into their pulpit ministrations without detriment
to the deep spiritual force of their influence. Such men
were the Rev. Ammi Robbins of Norfolk, Samuel J.
Mills of Torrlngford, and Lemuel Haynes of Torring
ton. I have been told that it was the usual custom of
Father Mills to introduce a pleasant story or witticism
when the people showed signs of weariness or inattention
D883

WIT AND HUMOR
in the middle of a sermon, for the express purpose of
giving his congregation a needed rest and so securing
better attention to what he wished to say further. The
sketch of his life given earlier In this book sufficiently
illustrates his habit and its success.
Dr. Farrand's wit was of that sarcastic kind which
would naturally give an added sting and force to many
things in his preaching, and could probably have been
brought Into service many times when his sense of what
the pulpit required kept him under restraint. The story
is told of him. In the memoir of the Rev. Lemuel Haynes,
that he was walking with a rich neighbor, who with con
siderable pride called his attention to the richness of the
farm he owned, and the value of a beautiful brook
flowing through it. Mr. Farrand replied by quoting at
once the following verse of a hymn :
Though a broad stream, with golden sands,
Through all his meadows roll,
Yet he 's a wretch, with all his lands,
Who wears a narrow soul.
"While riding with a young clergyman, he beheld, at a
little distance from the highway, two or three Indians
at their work; and turning, rode up and gave them an
affectionate salutation. After overtaking his fellow-
traveler, he received a sharp rebuke for his attention
to the Indians. He replied, 'They always treat me with
D893

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
good manners when I meet them, and I should be
ashamed to have It said that the minister of the parish
has n't as good manners as an Indian.' "
One of the most marked examples of eccentricity and
wit was the Rev. Lemuel Haynes. He was a mulatto
and was abandoned by his parents when an Infant. He
was born at West Hartford, Connecticut, July i8, 1753.
At the age of five months he was bound out to Deacon
David Rose of GranviUe, Massachusetts. Having been
sent to school long enough to learn to read, he studied
evenings In the chimney-corner such books as he could
get. In this way he learned by heart large portions of
the Scripture, Watts' Hymns and Psalms, Young's
"Night Thoughts," and Doddridge's Works. One of
his sayings was, "I make It my rule to know something
more every night than I knew In the morning." After
reaching manhood he studied Latin with Dr. Farrand
in Canaan, working on the farm to pay his way. He
then learned Greek in a similar way, and began to
preach at the age of twenty-seven. He first served as
a soldier In the Revolutionary War.
He preached successfully in Torrington from 1786 to
1789. He drew large congregations, notwithstanding
his color. It Is said of one man that he refused to attend
for some time until curiosity prevailed over prejudice.
He took his seat In the crowded church, but purposely
kept his hat on. "The preacher had not gone far in his
D903

WIT AND HUMOR
sermon," said the man, "before I thought him the
whitest man I ever saw. My hat was taken off and
thrown under the seat, and I found myself listening with
the most profound attention." He became a man of
prayer and piety.
Mr. Haynes had a vivid and terse way of putting his
statements. I have never seen the usual argument for
an accepted doctrine of Calvinism more plausibly stated
than In one of his sermons : "Does God give a sinner a
new heart to-day? All say that he is good for this act.
If God formed the design of saving that sinner one day
beforehand, he was good during a whole day for such a
design. What if God determined from eternity to
sanctify that sinner? Then he was eternally good for
such a determination. This is God's decree of election;
therefore, his eternally electing love, instead of proving
that he Is a hard Master, proves his eternal, unchange
able goodness."
Some of his students went to him to complain of hav
ing been slandered, expecting sympathy. He merely
repUed, "I knew all this before." "Why, then," said
one, "did you not inform us?" "Because," said he, "it
was not worth telling; and I now tell you plainly and
once for all, it is best to let the devil carry his own mail
and bear its expenses."
"Mr. Haynes was a strong advocate for an educated
ministry, and often expressed his regret at his own lack.
[1913

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
A young clergyman remarked on one occasion that min
isters without learning succeeded well, and that often
ignorant ones did best. 'Won't you tell me then,' said Mr.
Haynes, 'how much ignorance is necessary to make an
eminent preacher?' "
A physician of loose principles whom he had sometimes
employed called to take leave of him as he was about to
move away. Mr. Haynes said, "I was not aware that
you expected to leave this part of the country so soon. I
am owing you a small amount, which ought to have been
canceled before. I have not the money, but will go and
borrow it immediately." The doctor handed him a
receipt in full, saying, "Here, Mr. Haynes, is a dis
charge of your account. You have been a faithful
servant here for a long time, and receive but small sup
port; I give you the debt— but, Mr. Haynes, you must
pray for me and make me a good man." Mr. Haynes
quickly replied, "Why, doctor, I think I had much better
pay the debt."
The pastor of a neighboring parish was a confirmed
bachelor, and, at the request of some of his people, Mr.
Haynes tried to convince him that it would be better to
marry. "The clergyman replied that he felt the force
of his remarks, and was disposed to think of the subject
seriously, adding very emphatically, 'I understand, Mr.
Haynes, that you have some very fine daughters.' Mr.
Haynes instantly replied, 'I have sympathy for you and
D923

Austin Isham

WIT AND HUMOR
your parishioners ; but, really, I have taken great pains
to educate my daughters, and much care to prepare them
for usefulness, and I hate to throw them away.' "
Dr. Lyman Beecher and his sons had a saving sense
of humor, and a ready wit which was often made to
serve a useful purpose. It is said that the doctor was
making a call in a neighboring parish, when the lady of
the house made some sorrowful criticism of her young
pastor, because, while thoroughly good In intention, he
lacked the dignity suited to his profession, and among
other things was inclined to go fishing, "which," she
remarked, "is hardly a respectable thing for a minister."
Mr. Beecher jumped up, and addressing a small boy,
said, "Bub, go and dig me some worms, and I will make
it respectable." In later times the Rev. Herman L. Vaill, of Litch
field, Milton, and Torringford, the Rev. Austin Isham
of Roxbury, and the Rev. Timothy A. Hazen of
Goshen, were accustomed to enliven companionship by
a flow of witty speech. That any of them purposely
introduced humor into the pulpit I do not know. There
are living men who are, or have been, pastors in Litch
field County, who are humorists of a high order, and
have increased their influence for good by the use of wit
even in sermons.
A sense of humor has sustained many a man in trying
circumstances and furnished a welcome relief from the
1:1933

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
continued strain of burdens hard to be borne. Under
wise guidance it may give rest to a tired congregation,
or awaken their interest In important truth without de
flecting their minds from serious thought or high spir
itual purpose. It is a valuable gift, but, like all power,
has its dangers and needs to be used with caution and
restraint. The present writer recalls six instances in which as
many different ministers of this county seriously offended
one or more parishioners by attempting a facetious re
mark. In some cases I have no doubt it shortened the
pastorate. "A brother offended is harder to be won
than a strong city." If only ministers were to read this
book, I should like, for their warning, to recount the
six jokes and their effect, but for fear of rekindling old
fires I refrain. Ministers of these days, with less of
dignity and authority to maintain, have a larger free
dom, than of old, to be themselves and to use all their
gifts, in the pulpit or out of it ; but the very enlargement
of liberty carries with it a responsibility for wise caution
as well as wise action.
It may show a lack of the humorous sense to turn this
chapter into a sermon, but the writer was a preacher
before he tried to be a historian.

D943

CHAPTER XVI
ministers' children
HERE Is an old saying In disparagement of
ministers' sons and deacons' daughters,
which malicious people like to quote, but
the answer is obvious that the children of
the clergy usually gain a standing in the
world much above the average. One reason for this is
probably the fact that Providence furnishes ministers
with wives who are usually the best of womankind, and
attaches a responsibUity to their position specially fitted
for the development of sainthood. It seems to me
inevitable that some notice should here be given to a
few of the best-known men and women who had their
birth and upbringing in the families of Litchfield
County pastors.
A son of the Rev. John TrumbuU of Watertown was
ni953

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
the Hon. John Trumbull, LL.D., distinguished both as
a learned jurist and as a popular poet. He was born in
Watertown, April 24, 1750, and died In Detroit, Michi
gan, May 12, 1 83 1. At seven years of age he passed
the examination for admission to Yale College, but
waited six years before entering, graduated at seventeen,
and became a tutor at twenty-one. He studied law In
the office of John Adams at Boston. He lived for
several years in Hartford, was a member of the State
Legislature, and from 1801 to 1819 a judge of the
Superior Court of Connecticut. His poetical works
were published in two volumes. His satirical poem
"McFIngal" was exceedingly popular and one of the
"best sellers" of the time. More than thirty editions
were called for. It was written in the style of "Hudi
bras," and gives a burlesque of the American Revolu
tion, with sketches of particular individuals and charac
teristic manners, illustrated by humorous incidents.
The Rev. Noah Benedict was ordained pastor in
Woodbury, October 22, 1760, and died in the fifty-third
year of his pastorate. His son, the Hon. Noah B.
Benedict, graduated at Yale in 1788. He was a promi
nent lawyer in Litchfield County for nearly forty years.
He was at various times a member of the upper or lower
house of the State Legislature, and for many years a
judge of probate in his native town.
The Rev. Daniel Boardman, first pastor at New Mil-
ni963

MINISTERS' CHILDREN
ford, has been followed by a long procession of distin
guished and useful citizens among his descendants. His
son, Colonel Sherman Boardman, was a man of large
activity and Influence. A grandson, the Hon. Elijah
Boardman, was a United States Senator. Another
grandson, David L. Boardman, was a lawyer of promi
nence in the county.
The Rev. Nathaniel Taylor, the second pastor, was
equally fortunate in his posterity. The Rev. Nathaniel
W. Taylor, D.D., LL.D., was his grandson. He was
the leader in the development of the New Haven
theology, a theology not well remembered by thinkers
of the present day, but in its time a terror to conserva
tive minds and greatly loved by advanced preachers.
Other members of the family have been citizens of
distinction, whose reputation has reached far beyond the
borders of their native town.
The Hon. John Cotton Smith, a son of the Rev.
Cotton Mather Smith, was born in Sharon, February 12,
1765. He was graduated at Yale College In 1783, and
was admitted to the bar In 1786. He was elected to the
State Legislature in 1793, and to the United States Con
gress in 1800. In 1809 he became a judge of the
Supreme Court of Connecticut, was elected Lieutenant
Governor in 18 11, and Governor in 18 13, holding this
office until 1 8 1 7. He was for several years President of
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
1:1973

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
Missions and of the American Bible Society. He died
December 7, 1845, at nearly eighty-one years of age.
Helen Evertson Smith, author of "Colonial Days and
Ways" and other valuable works, is a living descendant
of the Sharon pastor.
Daniel Parker, first pastor at Ellsworth, a parish In
Sharon, was the father of the Hon. Amasa J. Parker,
LL.D. Born in Ellsworth, Connecticut, in 1807, he
was graduated at Union College in 1825. He was
elected to the Legislature of New York in 1833, and
two years later was made a regent of the State Univer
sity. In 1837 he was elected to Congress. In 1844 he
became a circuit judge and vice-chancellor of the Court
of Equity, and soon afterward judge of the Supreme
Court. The Rev. John W. Beecher, pastor in EUsworth from
1 841 to 1847, had three sons in the Presbyterian minis
try, one of whom Is the Rev. Willis Judson Beecher,
D.D., LL.D., of Auburn Theological Seminary, recog
nized as one of the leading Biblical exegetes of our
time. The Rev. D. D. T. McLaughlin, pastor in Sharon
from 1859 to 1865, and afterward in Litchfield and
Morris, had a son of great promise, Edward T. Mc
Laughlin, who was Assistant Professor of English in
Yale College, and the author of "Literary Criticism for
Students," published by Henry Holt & Co., 1893. His
D983

MINISTERS' CHILDREN
early death was felt as a great loss to literature and
scholarship. The Rev. James Russell Bourne, pastor in Sharon
from 1880 to 1890, had two sons, both of whom were
prominent in educational work, Edward G. Bourne, late
Professor of History at Yale University, and Henry E.
Bourne, Professor in Western Reserve University,
Cleveland, Ohio. The recent death of Professor E. G.
Bourne, while this manuscript was in preparation, was
felt as a blow to the cause of historical research.
The Rev. Jeremiah Day, pastor of the church In New
Preston from 1769 to 1806, had four sons. The Rev.
Jeremiah Day, D.D., LL.D., was Professor of Mathe
matics and Natural Philosophy at Yale and afterward
President of Yale College from 18 17 to 1846. The
Hon. Thomas Day, LL.D., of Hartford, was Secretary'
of the State of Connecticut for nearly thirty years. The
Rev. Mills Day was tutor at Yale, and Colonel Noble
Day was a merchant in New Preston, and father of the
Rev. Henry Noble Day, D.D., LL.D., pastor at Water
bury, Connecticut, from 1836 to 1840, Professor of
Sacred Rhetoric for eighteen years in Western Reserve
College, and afterward President of the Ohio Female
College. He was the author of several books of an
educational or philosophical character.
Professor Bernadotte Perrin, Ph.D., LL.D., of Yale
University, is a son of the Rev. Lavalette Perrin, D.D.,
D993

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
pastor In Goshen from 1843 to 1857, and afterward in
Torrington. The Rev. Cornelius L. Kitchel, pastor for several
years in Salisbury, and since professor at Yale Univer
sity, Is a son of the Rev. Harvey Kitchel, D.D., pastor
In Thomaston from 1839 to 1848, and afterward Presi
dent of Middlebury College.
The Rev. Ammi Ruhamah Robbins gave three of his
thirteen children to the ministry. One of them was the
Rev. Thomas Robbins, D.D., well known as pioneer
home missionary, author, book-collector, and librarian
at Hartford. Daniel Farrand, pastor in Canaan for fifty-one years,
had a son and a son-in-law who were judges of the
Supreme Court in Vermont.
The Rev. Nathaniel Lee, first pastor in Salisbury, the
Rev. Samuel J. Mills of Torringford, and the Rev.
Publius Vergilius Bogue of Winchester have had three
generations of descendants In the ministry. That the
ministry is constantly recruited from the families of
ministers proves that those best acquainted with the
trials and difficulties of a pastor's life believe It to be
worth the cost.
When ministers' children are spoken of, the family of
Dr. Lyman Beecher, pastor in Litchfield from 18 10 to
1826, naturaUy takes the place of acknowledged pre
eminence. The story is too well known to call for a long
Doo 3

MINISTERS' CHILDREN
recital here. Six sons were all ministers, and all men of
marked ability. Edward Beecher, D.D., commanded
high respect for his attainments in scholarship, and car
ried on his preaching and pastoral services to an un
usually great age. Thomas K. Beecher, D.D., was for
forty-six years pastor at Elmira, New York, and built
up a strong church by original methods. He was
a pioneer In the institutional church work which has
gained such prestige In our day. Henry Ward Beecher
easily has the first place among preachers of the
nineteenth century. Harriet Beecher Stowe takes first
rank among American novelists. Catherine Beecher
was a pioneer in the higher education of women, and an
author of educational works which had a wide Influence.
Isabella Beecher Hooker was Connecticut's most promi
nent woman's suffragist.
If my Information in regard to the families of Litch
field County ministers were as extensive as my ignorance,
it would be very easy to enlarge this chapter to a book.
It would be difficult to find a community in which many
of the leading and most Influential citizens are not de
scended from the families of ministers. I have no doubt
that if all the facts could be properly collected and pre
sented, so that all might know what the world owes to
the children of ministers, the public would be glad to
pay the life salaries of country ministers for the sake of
this product alone, and that great philanthropists would
1:2013

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
be eager to provide the means for educating the children
of all country pastors. It is possible, however, that in
this way clerical life would be made so much easier and
more luxurious that the family fiber would be weakened,
and deteriorate in quality. On the whole, it may be that
greater publicity in this matter would not be desirable.

n202 3

APPENDIX

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED
Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of Connecticut.
Minutes of the General Association and General Conference of
Connecticut.
Records of the Litchfield County Associations, Consociations,
and Monthly Conventions.
Centennial Papers, published by the General Conference of
Connecticut, 1876.
Congregational Year Books.
Catalogues of Yale University.
Diary of Thomas Robbins, D.D. (Boston, 1886).
History of Litchfield County (J. W. Lewis & Co., Philadelphia,
i88i).
Annals of Winchester (John Boyd, 1876).
History of Torrington (Samuel Orcutt, 1878).
History of Goshen (A. G. Hibbard, 1897).
Cothren's History of Ancient Woodbury.
History of Sharon (C. S. Sedgwick).
History of Cornwall (T. S. Gold).
[2033

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
History of Ellsworth (G. F. Goodenough, 1900).
History of Connecticut (Trumbull).
History of Norfolk (Crissey).
Connecticut Evangelical Magazine.
Christian Spectator.
The New Englander.
Bellamy's Works (3 vols., edited by the Rev. Noah Benedict).
Sermons by Backus, by Griffin, by Lathrop.
Autobiographies of Lyman Beecher and Charles G. Finney.
Concise Cyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (Ellas B. Sanford,
D.D., LL.D.).
Poganuc People and Old Town Folks (Harriet Beecher
Stowe).
Sketches of Church Life in Colonial Connecticut (Lucy C.
Jarvis).
Colonial Days and Ways (Helen Evertson Smith, Century Co.,
1900).
Sermons, and Trial of Virtue (Chauncey Lee, D.D.).
Volumes of Selected Sermons (1798 and 1812).
Sermons in National Preacher.
Works of Horace Bushnell, and Biography.
Proceedings at the Litchfield County Centennial.
Addresses at the Centennial, and the One Hundred and Fiftieth
Anniversary of the Consociations of Litchfield County.
Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit.
Samuel J. Mills, Missionary Pathfinder (Thomas C. Richards,
1906).
Reports of Anniversaries and Other Items from the Litchfield
Enquirer, Winsted Herald, New Milford Gazette, Newtown
Bee, Connecticut Western News, Hartford Courant, Tor
rington Register.
D043

APPENDIX
Sermons or Addresses on Special Occasions by Cotton Mather
Smith, Ammi R. Robbins, Ebenezer Porter, D.D., Stanley
Griswold, Ralph Emerson, D.D., Joseph Eldridge, D.D.,
Frederick Marsh, Adam Reid, D.D., Lavalette Perrin, D.D.,
James H. Dill, William E. Bassett, Hiram Eddy, D.D., C.
L. Kitchel, William H. Moore, John C. Goddard, Edward
C. Starr, and others.

LISTS OF CONGREGATIONAL MINISTERS
The plan of the following lists Is to arrange under each town
the pastors of each church, in chronological order, with dates as
far as known, followed by names of ministers who by birth or
training may be considered as belonging to the town. It is not
probable that accuracy or completeness has been attained.
BARKHAMSTED
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Ozias Eells  1787 1813
Elihu Mason  1814 1817
Saul Clark  1819 1829
William R. Gould .... 1832 1838
Reuben S. Hazen  1843 1849
William Goodwin  1849 1850
Aaron Gates  1850 1850
Hugh Gibson  1850 1852
A. B. Collins  1852 1853
Platt T. Holley  1853 1855
1874 1876
n205 3

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
BARKHAMSTED— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
F. Norwood  1855 1857
T. E. Roberts  1858 1859
John Elliott  1861 1863
H. N. Gait  1863 1866
John R. Freeman  1868 1871
R. Henry GIdman  1871 1873
Aaron B. Peffers  1877 1880
Joseph B. Clarke  1881 1888
Ursinus Olevlanus Mohr . . 1890 1892
Augustus Alvord . ... 1892 1903
W. L. Linaberry  1903 1905
Henry F. Burdon  1905 1907
Jacob L. Hartsell  1909

BARKHAMSTED (RIVERTON)
Luther H. Barber  1843 1861 1908
Winthrop H. Phelps .... 186 1 1863
Platt T. Holley  1863 1868
1872 1874
Joseph W. Hartshorne . . . 1869 1871
Frank C. Potter 
M. C. Wood 
W. W. Leete, D.D 
David J. Ogden ...
Rolla S. Bugbee  1879 1880
Francis H. Viets  1882 1887
Frank J. Nute  1887 i{
D063

APPENDIX

BARKHAMSTED (RIVERTON)— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed

Died

Frank P. Waters . .

1888

1891

Clay Dent Chunn . .

1891
1892
George E. Lincoln .
1892
1894
W. W. Davidson . .
1895
1896
George S. Richards .
1896
BETHLEHEM
Joseph Bellamy, D.D. . . . 1738
1789
Azel Backus, D.D. .
1791
1813
1816
John Langdon . . .
1816
1825
1830
Benjamin F. Stanton
1825
1829
1843
Paul Couch ....
1829
1834
Fosdick Harrison . .
1835
1850
1858
Aretas G. Loomis . .
1850
i860
Ephraim M. Wright .
1861
1865
George Wallace Banks
1866
1874
S. Fielder Palmer . .
1875
1878
William E. Bassett .
1879
1885
Cornelius W. Morrow
1885
1886
John P. Trowbridge .
1888
1892
Reginald B. Bury . .
1893
1894
Edward P. Ayer . .
1894
1898
Adam R. Lutz . . .
1899
1902
Roy M. Houghton
1903
1905
Charles M. Good . .
1906
[207 3
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Robert Crane
Charles Prentice
Homer Prentice
Dwight C. Stone
David Brown
Benjamin C. Meigs

Frederick Munson
Winfred C. Rhodes
Moses Raymond
Julius Steele
Newell M. Calhoun

BRIDGEV7ATER
Pastors Called Dismissed
Reuben Taylor  1810 1815
Fosdick Harrison  1824 1829
1854 1858
Maltby Gelston  183 1 1832
Samuel Hume  1832 1833
Albert B. Camp  1834 1843
James Kilbourne  1843 1850
Dillon Williams  1850 1853
Lemuel S. Potwin  i860 1863
Henry G. Hunt  1863 1866
William T. Dean  1866 1871
John Birge Doollttle .... 1872 1878
S. Fielder Palmer  1879 1880
Eugene F. Atwood . . . . 1881 1883
John E. Elliott  1884 1886
Louis F. Burgess  1888 1891
Frank B. Doane  1893 1894
John Owen Jones  1894 1896
D083

Died

APPENDIX

BRIDGEWATER— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed
William W. Wallace .... 1896
1897

Warren Morse . .
Fred W. Raymond
Dempster D. Gorton
Harry Davenport .

1901 19021907

1897190019021906

Died

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Joseph Treat
Isaac C. Beach
Albert E. Dunning, D.D.
William A. Hawley

Julius O. Beardsley
Levi Smith
Philo R. Hurd

CANAAN
Pastors Called
Elisha Webster  1740
Daniel Farrand  1752
Charles Prentice  1804
Edward B. Emerson .... 1841
Harley Goodwin  1845
Isaac DeVoe  1855
Henry Snyder  1858
E. Frank Howe  1862
Edwin N. Andrews .... 1865
William H. Teel  1867
1 Joseph E. Swallow .... 1870
Edwin Hull  1873
"^ Simultaneous.
D093

Dismissed 1752

18431854
1856i86018651867
18691873
1874

Died
1803
18381855

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

CANAAN— Continued

Pastors
^ Nathaniel G. Bonney
1 Joseph A. Tomlinson
1 Daniel M. Moore .
1 Charles Wesley Hanna
ijohn Lewis Evans
1 Arthur F. Hertell .
ij. Eraser Evans .
1 Park A. Bradford .

Called

Dismissed

1874

1876

1876

1877

1878

1888

1889

19OI

19OI

1903

1904

1905

1907

1908

1908

Died

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Charles F. Prentice
Lyman Prindle
Cyrus Prindle

Robert Campbell
Cyrus G. Prindle

CANAAN (FALLS VILLAGE)

Pastors
Henry A. Russell . .
John Edgar ....
Henry B. Mead . .
1 Joseph E. Swallow .
1 Nathaniel G. Bonney
1 Joseph A. Tomlinson
F. J. Grimes
1 Daniel M. Moore
^ Charles W. Hanna .

Called 18581859 1869187018731876187718781889
1 Simultaneous.
1:2103

Dismissed 1859 1866
18701873 18761877
1878 18881 901

Died

APPENDIX

CANAAN (FALLS VILLAGE)— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed

Died

^J. Lewis Ji^vans .

19OI

1903

1 Arthur F Hertell . . .
• 1904
1906
ij. Eraser Evans ....
1907
1908
1 Park A. Bradford . . .
1908
COLEBROOK
Jonathan Edwards, D.D.
1795
1799
1 801
Chauncey Lee, D.D. .
1800
1828
1842
Azariah Clark . .
1830
1832
Edward R. Tyler .
1833
1836
1848
Alfred E. Ives . .
1838
1848
James R. Mershon
1850
1852
Archibald Gelkie .
1854
1863
Joel Grant .
1867
1868
Henry A. Russell .
1868
1877
Joseph B. Clarke .
1878
1884
J. W. Hartshorne .
1884
1887
Daniel M. Moore .
1888
1894
Benjamin A. Dean
1895
1 901
William Hedges .
19OI
MINISTERS
RAISED UP
Chauncey G. Lee
Joel Grant
John P. Cowles
Joel S. Ives
Gilbert Stocking
Henry Cow
es, D.D.
Charles Rockwell
William H.
Gilbert
" Simul)
aneous.
[
'2
ti3
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

CORNWALL (FIRST)
Pastors Called
Solomon Palmer  1741
Hezekiah Gold, Jr  1755
Hercules Weston  1792
Timothy Stone  1803
William Andrews  1827
Nathaniel M. Urmston . . . 1838
Hiram Day  1844
Ralph Smith  1851
Ira Pettibone  1854
Stephen Fenn  1859
Ellas B. Sanford, D.D., LL.D. 1869
Newell A. Prince  1872
Samuel G. White, D.D. . . . 1875
Henry B. Mead  1885
Oscar J. Mclntire  1886
Edward Comfort Starr ... i{

Dismissed

Died

1754

1790

1803

183I

1827

1852

1838

1840

1848
1854
1857
1867
1871
1874
1884
1886
1887
CORNWALL (SECOND)
Samuel Bird 
John Cornwall 
Israel Holley  1795 1801
Josiah Hawes  1805 1813
Grove L. Brownell . . . . 181 7 1818
Walter Smith  1819 1838
S. J. Nacy .  1838 1839
Joshua L. Maynard .... 1841 1852
William B. Clarke .... 1855 1859
D123
APPENDIX
CORNWALL (SECOND)— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Charles Wetherby  1859 1866
Jesse Brush  1867 1873
Charles N. Fitch  1873 1882
1905
Wayland Spalding .... 1882 1883
William H. McDougal . . . 1884 1887
John Pierpont  1888 1897
Chester A. Ferris . ... 1897 1901
Carl Stackman  1902 1905

MINISTERS RAISED UP

First Church

William Bonney

E. B. Andrews

William Watson Andrews Cornelius B. Everitt

E. Warren Andrews

Lucius C. Rouse

William Jackson, D.D.

Samuel J. Andrews, D.D.

Thomas R. Gold

T. D. P. Stone

Second Church

John C. Hart

Samuel Scovllle

Henry G. Pendleton

Henry Wadsworth

Almon B. Pratt

Dwight M. Pratt, D.D.

GOSHEN

Pastors

Called Dismissed Died

Stenhen Heaton

. . . 1740 1753 1788

Abel Newell . . .

. . , 1755 1781 1813

D133
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
GOSHEN— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Josiah Sherman  1783 1789
Asahel Hooker  1791 1810 1813
Joseph Harvey  1810 1825
Francis H. Case  1826 1828
Grant Powers  1829 1841
Lavalette Perrin, D.D. . . . 1845 1857
Joel T. Bingham  1859 i860
William T. Doubleday ... 1864 1871
Timothy A. Hazen .... 1872 1882
Daniel B. Lord  1883 1888
Augustine G. Hibbard . . . 1890 1896
Harry E. Small  1897

GOSHEN (NORTH GOSHEN)
Allen McLean  1807
George Carrington .... 1829 1833
Guy C. Sampson  1836 1837
C. G. Tracy  1837 1839
Chester Colton  1839 1846
Fred Marsh  1846 1847

MINISTERS RAISED UP
Noah Wadhams William Thompson, D.D.
Edward W. Hooker, D.D. James Beach
Darius O. Griswold Abraham Baldwin, D.D.
Dh3

APPENDIX

MINISTERS RAISED UP — CONTINUED

Reuben Parmalee
Orlo Bartholomew
Luther Hart
Augustus Thompson, D.D.
A. T. Norton
Theron Baldwin, D.D.

Elisha Parmalee
Ephraim Lyman
Mark Ives
Luther H. Beecher, D.D.
John F. Norton

HARWINTON

Pastors Called

Dismissed

Died

Timothy Woodbridge . . . 1735

1737

1776

Andrew Bartholomew

1738
1774
1817
David Perry ....
1774
1783
Joshua Williams .
1790
1822
1835
George E. Pierce, D.D
1822
1834
R. M. Chipman
1835
1839
Charles Bentley
1839
1850
Warren G. Jester .
1850
1853
Jacob G. Miller .
1854
1857
John A McKInstry
1857
1863
Robert T. Searle .
1864
1865
Charles H. Bissell .
1865
1866
George Curtis, D.D.
1866
1876
William N. Meserve
1878
1880
Thomas Douglass .
1880
1883
Alexander Hall
1883
1885
Eugene F. Atwood
1886
1887
Frederick E. Snow
1888
1890
Willis M. Cleaveland
1891
1892
[
'^
153
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
HARWINTON— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
William Hedges  1894 1899
Charles B. Strong  1900 1905
J. G. W. Herold  1905 1907
Benjamin P. Capshaw . . . 1907

MINISTERS RAISED UP
Norris Buell, D.D. Rodney Rossiter
Jacob Catlin, D.D. Richard Chester
David Perry Simeon Catlin
Abner Wilcox Clement Merrlam
David Butler, D.D. H. C. Abernethy
Russell Catlin Richard C. Bristol

KENT
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Cyrus Marsh  1741 1755
Joel Bordwell  1758 1811
Asa Blair  1813 1823
Laurens P. Hickok, D.D. . . 1823 1829
William W. Andrews . . . 1834 1849
William W. Page  1853 1854
Elisha Whittlesey  1856 1858
Evarts Scudder  1859 1866
Edward P. Payson  1867 1871
Arthur Crosby  1872 1873
C2163

APPENDIX

KENT— Continued

Pastors

Thomas D. Barclay .
Juba Howe Vorce .
Elbert S. Porter . .
Benjamin Mead Wright
Herbert K. Job . . .
George Curtis, D.D. .
Clarence H. Perry

Called 187318791883
1889 1898
1909

Dismissed 187818831888
1896 1908

Died

Samuel J. Mills
Edmund Mills
Seth Swift

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Blrdsey G. Northrup
Walter Smith

Pastors
Timothy Collins
Judah Champion . .
Dan Huntington .
Lyman Beecher, D.D.
Daniel L. Carroll, D.D.
Laurens P. Hickok, D.D
Jonathan Brace, D.D.
Benjamin L. Swan . .
Leonard W. Bacon, D.D
George Richards .
William B. Clarke .
Henry M. Elliott . .

LITCHFIELD Called

C^i

17231753
1798I8I018271829
18381846
1856I86I
18661870
73

Dismissed 17521809
182618291836
18441856
185918651869
1874

Died
17761810

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
LITCHFIELD— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Allen B. McLean  1875 1881
Charles Symington .... 1883 1893
John Hutchins  1895

LITCHFIELD (NORTHFIELD)
Joseph Eleazer Camp .... 1795 1837
J. S. Dickinson  1844 1851
Lewis Jessup  1851 1854
Noah Coe  1854 1856
Stephen Rogers  1856 1859
James Richards, D.D. . . . 1859 i860
Erastus Colton  1861 1864
Hiram N. Gates  1866 1871
Ellas B. Sanford, D.D., LL.D. .1871 1873
William Howard  1875 1876
H. Augustus Ottmann . . . 1877 1881
Edward Comfort Starr ... 188 1 1888
Joseph Kyte  1888 1893
Fred Louis Grant  1895 1905
Giles Frederic Goodenough . . 1907

LITCHFIELD (MILTON)
Benjamin Judd  1802 1804
Abraham Fowler  1807 181 3
Asahel Nettleton, D.D. . . . 1813
Levi Smith  1825
D183

APPENDIX
LITCHFIELD (MILTON) -Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed
Ralph Smith  1841 1844
John F. Norton  1844 1849
Herman L. Vaill  1849 1851
Francis Williams  1851 1853
James Noyes  1853 1854
George J. Harrison .... 1854 1893
Aurelian Post  1894 1895
Wesley E. Page  1896 1903
Joseph D. Prigmore .... 1904 1906
Pearl E. Mathias  1906 1907
Thomas Abner Williams . . . 1908

Died

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Charles Wadsworth, D.D.
Ethan Osborn
George Beecher
Thomas K. Beecher, D.D.
Oscar Bissell
Almon B. Pratt
Benjamin Osborn
Charles L. Bunce
Holland Weeks
J. Newton Woodruff
Wallace Warner
Lewis Munger
William J. Peck
David L. Parmalee
Edward P. Abbe

Charles Beecher
James Beecher
Ambrose Collins
James Kilbourne
Fred R. Abbe
John Churchill
Jeremiah Woodruff
George C. Woodruff
William H. Guernsey
Isaac Warner
 McNeil
Edward Beecher, D.D.
Henry Ward Beecher, D.D.
Edward Nolan
Stephen Mason
D193

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

MINISTERS RAISED UP — CONTINUED

Herman L. Vaill

Noah Bishop

Horace Bushnell, D.D. Lewis Smith

Hezekiah B. Pierpont Albert B.

Camp

Lewis H. Woodruff

MORRIS

Pastors Called
Dismissed
George Beckwith  1772
1781
Amos Chase ....
. 1787
1814
William R. Weeks, D.D.
. 1815
1816
Amos Pettingill . .
. 1816
1822
Henry Robinson . .
. 1823
1829
Vernon D. Taylor . .
1831
1833
James F. Warner . .
1833
1834
Ralph S. Crampton
1834
1836
Stephen Hubbell . .
1836
1837
B. Y. Messenger . .
1837
1838
Richard Woodruff
1838
184I
David L. Parmalee
1841
1859
H. H. McFarland . .
1859
1861
Cyrus W. Pickett . .
1864
1866
D. D. T. McLaughlin .
1867
1871
Richard GIdman . . .
1872
1875
Edwin Leonard . . .
1875
1892
Charles C. Redgrave . .
1895
1898
F. A. Holden ....
1898
1902
Francis W. Fletcher . .
1903
Died
D203
APPENDIX
MINISTERS RAISED UP
Samuel Whittlesey John W. Peck, D.D.
Simeon Woodruff John Pierpont
Samuel G. Orton NEPAUG
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Augustus Smith  1849 1851
James Clay Houghton . . . 1851 1854
Edwin Hall  1854 1869
Brown Emerson  1869 1870
J. N. Woodruff  1870 1871
Stephen A. Loper  1872 1874
Merrick Knight  1875 1880
Richard Scoles  1880 1883
E. C. Haynes  1884 1885
Vergil W. Blackman .... 1885 1887
William Miller  1887 1890
J. Lewis Evans  1891 1892
Charles H. Stevens .... 1892 1895
William H. Gay  1895 1896
G. F. Goodenough  1896 1898
Malan H. Wright  1898 1903
Grace Edwards  1903

MINISTERS RAISED UP
Peter A. Brinsmade Frederick Marsh
Horace Tracy Pitkin John B. Lyman

Solomon J. Douglas

1:2213

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

NEW HARTFORD
Pastors Called
Jonathan Marsh  1739
Edward Dorr Griffin, D.D. . . 1795
Amasa Jerome  1802
Cyrus Yale  1814

Dismissed

Died

1794

1 801

1837

1813

1854

NEW HARTFORD (NORTH CHURCH)

Burr Baldwin .
Willis Lord ....
John Woodbridge, D.D.
Hiram Day ....
Alexander Leadbetter .
Joseph A. Saxton . .
Franklin A. Spencer .
James B. Cleaveland .
Alpheus Winter . .
Sanford S. Martyn
Fred H. Adams . .
John P. Hawley . .
Frank S. Brewer
Edward O. Grisbrook

1829

1833

1834

1838

1839

1842

1842

1844

1844

1849

1850

1852

1853

1863

1863

1867

1868

1870

1870

1874

1875

1887

1888

1898

1898

1906

1907

NEW MILFORD
Daniel Boardman  17 16
Nathanael Taylor  1748
Stanley Griswold  I790
1:2223
1802
1744 1800
APPENDIX
NEW MILFORD— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Andrew Eliot  1808 1829
Heman Rood ...... 1830 1835
Noah Porter, D.D., LL.D. . . 1836 1842
John Greenwood  1844 1849
David Murdock, D.D. . . . 1850 1869
James Bonar  1870 1883
George S. Thrall  1884 1885
Timothy J. Lee  1885 1888
Frank A. Johnson  1889 1907
George H. Johnson .... 1908

MINISTERS RAISED UP
John Treat Baldwin Orlo D. Hine
John Stephens Charles Boardman
Benjamin Wildman George Ladd
Nathanael W. Taylor, D.D. David Sanford
Daniel Marsh David Baldwin
Gideon Bostwick Joseph Treat
Elizur Beecher Merritt S. Platt
Asahel Bronson David Bostwick
Whitman Welch George Sterling
David Bronson

NORFOLK
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Ammi Ruhamah Robbins . . 1761 1813
Ralph Emerson, D.D. . . . 1815 1829
D233

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

NORFOLK— Continued

Pastors

Called Dismissed

Died

Joseph Eldridge, D.D. .

. 1832

1874

1875

John Wickliffe Beach . .

. 1874

1876

John F. Gleason . . .

. 1876

1885

John DePeu 
. 1885
1897
William F. Stearns . .
. 1897
MINISTERS RAISED UP
Thomas Robbins, D.D.
Sheridan Guiteau
Nathan Turner
Reuben Gaylord
Joseph L. Mills
Francis LeBaron Robbins
Asahel Gaylord
Isaac Knapp
Frederick T. Persons
Ira Pettibone
James W. Robbins
Joseph F. Gaylord
Eleazur Holt
NORTH CANAAN (EAST CANAAN)
Pastors Called Dismissed
Asahel Hart  1770
Amos Thompson  1782 1788
Joshua Knapp  1791 1795
Solomon Morgan  1798
Pitkin Cowles  1805
Henry H. Woodbridge . . . 1833 1842
Daniel D. Francis  1844 1850
Elisha Whittlesey  1851 1853
Hiram Eddy, D.D  1856 i860
Henry M. Grant  1863 1866
D243
Died 1775
1804
1833
NORTH CANAAN (EAST CANAAN)

— Continu

Pastors

Called

Dismissed

Isaac p. Powell 

1868

1874

Lewis G. Reid 

1874

1879

William Thompson

1882

1884

Eugene F. Atwood . . .

1884

1886

Horace G. Hoadley . . .

1886

1891

Henry Utterwick ....

1891

1900

Charles Wesley Hanna . .

1 901

Died

NORTH CANAAN (PILGRIM)
Dwight C. Stone  1888
Charles D. Mllllken .... 1892
Sidney A. Burnaby .... 1897
Edwin C. Gillette  1902

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Grove L. Brownell
Zaimon Tobey
Linus Fellowes

Timothy Benedict
Aaron Peale
Calvin Peale

PLYMOUTH
Pastors Called
Samuel Todd  I740
Andrew Storrs  1765
Joseph Badger  1786
D253

Dismissed

Died

1764

1789

1785

1787

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
PLYMO UTH — Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Simon Waterman  1787 1809 1813
Luther Hart  1810 1834
Ephraim Lyman  1835 1851
Israel P. Warren, D.D. ... 185 1 1856
Erskine J. Hawes  1858 i860
Robert C. Learned . . . . 186 1 1865
Henry E. Cooley  1866 1869
Ellas B. Hillard  1869 1889
John Sheridan Zelie, D.D. . . 1890 1894
Charles H. Smith  1895 1903
Edwin J. Lewis  1904 1907
Theodore B. Lathrop .... 1908

PLYMOUTH (TERRYVILLE)

Nathaniel Richardson . .

. . 1838

1840

Merrill Richardson

. . 1841

1846

1849

1858

Judson A. Root . . . .

. . 1846

1847

John Monteith . . . .

. . 1858

i860

A. Hastings Ross . . .

Edwin R. Dimock . . .

. . 1861

1862

Franklin A. Spencer . .

. . 1863

1865

E. M. Wright . . . .

. . 1866

1870

Henry B. Mead . . .

. . 1871

1874

Leverett S. Griggs . . .

. . 1874

1887

William F. Arms . . .

. . 1888

1893

William A. Gay . . .

. . 1893

1902

Spencer E. Evans . . .

. . 1902
D263

APPENDIX

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Edwin Johnson

Moseley H. Williams

Linus Blakeslee Horace R.

Williams

ROXBURY
Pastors Called
Dismissed
Died
Thomas Canfield  1774
1795
Zephaniah Swift . .
1795
1812
1848
Fosdic Harrison . .
1813
1835
1858
Austin Isham . .
1839
1863
Oliver S. Dean, D.D. .
1864
1867
Arthur Goodenough .
1869
1870
David E. Jones . . .
1871
1887
H. H. Morse . . .
1887
1888
George H. Burgess
1888
1889
Mosheim R. Fishburn
1890
1891
J. Jones Vaughan . .
1893
1895
George A. Bushee . .
1896
1900
Alfred E. Thistleton .
1901
1903
Clay Dent Chunn . .
1 90s
1908
MINISTERS RAISED UP
David B. Davidson
SALISBURY
Pastors Called
Jonathan Lee  i743
William F. Miller  1790
1:2273
Dismissed
Died
1788
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

SALISBURY— Continued

Pastors

Called

Dismissed

John Eliot 

1791

James Glossbrook ....

1792

1793

Ebenezer Porter, D.D. . .

1795

Timothy M. Cauley, D.D. .

1795

Joseph W. Crossman . . .

1796

John B. Whittlesey . . .
1812
1813
William R. Weeks, D.D. .
1814
1815
Chauncey A. Goodrich, D.D.
1815
Federal Burt . .
1816
Lavius Hyde 
1817
1822
William C. Fowler . . .
1823
L. E. Lathrop, D.D. . . .
1825
183.6
Adam Reid, D.D 
1836
1877
Cornelius L. Kitchel . . .
1877
1883
John Calvin Goddard .
1884
MINISTERS
RAISED UP
James Hutchinson
William L
. Strong
Chauncey Lee, D.D.
Josiah Turner
Henry P. Strong
Henry Pratt
Edmund Janes
Isaac Bird
Joseph Pettee
George A.
Calhoun, D.D
Eliphalet Whittlesey
Edward Hollister
Samuel Camp
Edwin Holmes
Horace Holley, D.D.
Elisha Whittlesey
Died
I8I2
1848
1857
1:2283
APPENDIX

SHARON

Pastors
Peter Pratt . . .
John Searl
Cotton Mather Smith
David L. Perry . .
Mason Grosvenor .
Grove L. Brownell
Charles Rockwell .
Thomas G. Corner
Leonard E. Lathrop, D.D
D. D. T. McLaughlin
A. B. Bullions, D.D.
James R. Bourne . .
Gerald Stanley Lee
Edward O. Dyer .
Allyn K. Foster .
Gilbert L. Forte .

Called 1740
17491755 18041836
184018501851
18541859 1868
1880188918931906
1907

Dismissed 17471754

18371848
1851 1853
1886 1878
1889 189319061907

Died
1780178718061835

1857

SHARON (ELLSWORTH)
Daniel Parker  1802
Orange Lyman  1813
Frederick Gridley  1820
John W. Beecher  1841
William W. Baldwin . . . . 1 849
William J. Alger  1852
Porter B. Parry  1853
Robert D. Gardner . . . . 1858
1:2293

I8I2

1832

I8I6

I85I

1836

1847

1858

I85I

1853

1857

1865
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY
SHARON (ELLSWORTH)— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Arthur Goodenough .... 1865 1869
Oscar Bissell  1869 1870
Andrew Montgomery . . . . 1870 1872
William Terrett  1872 1873
John O. Stevenson, D.D. . . 1874 1879
E. C. Hull  1880 1885
John H. Miiller  1886 1889
E. C. Haynes  1889 1890
Idrys Jones  1891 1893
Evore Evans  1894 1897
G. F. Goodenough .... 1898 1903
Wesley E. Page  1903

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Jeremiah Day
William Jewell
Daniel Smith
David C. Perry
George I. Keach
Jacob Chamberlain
Charles Y. Chase
Gad Smith
Gad Smith, 2d
Vinson Gould
John M. S. Perry
David R. Gould
Charles H. Read
Jesse W. Guernsey

Walter Chamberlain
Alvln Somers
Willis J. Beecher, D.D.
Elisha Frink
Edwin Bailey
James B. Cleaveland
Gilbert L. Smith
Hiram White
William Terrett
Seymour Landon
Thomas Beebe
Milo North Miles
W. Alanson Beecher
AVIllIam Baldwin
D303

APPENDIX

THOMASTON
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Harvey D. KitcheU, D.D. . . 1839 1848
Joseph D. Hull  1849 1851
James Averill  1852 1862
J. B. Pearson 
R. P. Searl 
Joseph W. Backus, D.D. . . . 1867 1878
H. C. Hitchcock  1879 1880
S. M. Freeland  1881 1887
Rolla S. Bugbee ... .1888 i8gi
Robert W. Sharpe ... . 1892 1896
Austin Hazen  1897

THOMASTON (EAGLE ROCK)
Elias B. Sanford, D.D., LL.D. . 1878 1884
Dighton Moses  1888 1889
Lydia Hartig  1905

THOMASTON (SWEDISH)
Andrew O. Petersen .... 1892 1893
Henry Soderholm ..... 1893 1895
Ferdinand Scholander .... 1896 1905
Adolph F. Hogberg . . . 1905
D313

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

torrington

Pastors Called

Dismissed

Died

Nathaniel Roberts  1741

1776

Noah Merwin . . .

1776
1783
1795
Lemuel Haynes
1787
1789
1834
Alexander Gillette . .
1792
1826
William R. Gould . .
1827
1832
Milton Huxley . . .
1832
1842
John A. McKInstry .
1842
1857
Charles B. Dye . . .
1859
i860
Sylvanus P. Marvin .
i860
1865
Jacob A. Strong . .
1865
1869
Michael J. Callan . .
1870
1872
Samuel Orcutt . . .
1873
1875
Charles P. Croft . .
1876
1879
Frank F. Jorden . .
1881
1884
William F. Hutchins .
1884
1886
Ursinus Olevlanus Mohr
1887
1889
Charles D. Crawford .
1889
1891
E. Chalmers Haynes .
1891
1892
Andrew W. Gerrle
1892
1899
Thomas C. Richards .
1899
1906
Charles M. Bryant
1906
TORRINGTON (TORRINGFORD)
Stephen Heaton  1761
Ebenezer Davenport .... 1764
Samuel J. Mills  1769
1:2323
1767
1833
APPENDIX

TORRINGTON
Pastors
Epaphras Goodman
Herman L. Vaill
Brown Emerson
John D. Baldwin
William H. Moore
Stephen Fenn
Charles Newman
Spencer O. Dyer
Franklin Noble .
Joseph F. Gaylord
Dana M. Walcott
Merrick Knight
George R. Ferguson
Chester Bridgeman
Clarence H. Barber
Henry C. Robinson
Austin H. Norris .
G. F. Goodenough .
John H. Davis . .

(TORRINGFORD) -
Called 1822183718411844184618541858186318641866186918721875187818801888189219031908

-Continued Dismissed 18361839184418451854185718621864186618681871187418771879188718911907

Died

1903

TORRINGTON (THIRD, CENTER)
Henry P. Arms, D.D. . . . 1833 1836
Stephen Hubbell  1837 1839
Samuel Day  1840 1845
Samuel T. Seelye, D.D. . . 1846 1855
Ralph Smith ... . 1856 1857
E.L.Clarke  1857 1859
1:2333

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

TORRINGTON (THIRD, CENTER)
Pastors
George B. Newcomb .
Edward W. Bacon . .
Lavalette Perrin, D.D.
Charles E. Andrews .
Henry B. Roberts . .
James A. Chamberlin, D.D
Alvin F. Sherrill, D.D. .

Arthur W. Ackerman, D.D.

:enter

) —Continued

Called

Dismissed

1869

1871

1872

1887

1887

1889

1890

1898

1899

1 901

I901

1902

Died

1902

TORRINGTON (FRENCH)
Joseph Provost  1897

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Timothy Phelps Gillette

Samuel J. Mills, Jr.

Miles Grant

Lucius Quintus Curtis

Stanley Griswold

Jacob Catlin, D.D.

Orange Lyman

David B. Lyman

Abel Knapp Hinsdale
Harvey Loomis
David Miller
E. D. Moore
Jonathan Miller
WARREN
Pastors
Called Dismissed
Died
Silvanus Osborn
17S7
1771 1829
Peter Starr ....
^ 1 -} 1
1772
X ViLV-i. kj LtVJ. A • • • •
-. / / ^
C2343
APPENDIX
WARREN— Continued
Pastors Called
Hart Talcott  1825
Harley Goodwin  1838
John R. Keep  1844
M. M. Wakeman  1853
Francis LobdeU  1859
William E. Bassett .... 1863
Willis F. Colton  1876
Austin Gardner . . ... 1889
Myron A. Munson .... 1898
William E. Brooks, D.D. . . 1904
Charles A. Pickett  1907

lismissed

Died

1836

1843

1855

1852

1856

1863

1875
1888
1897
1903
1906
MINISTERS RAISED UP
Reuben Taylor
Josiah Hawes
Prince Hawes
Nathaniel Swift
Julian M. Sturtevant,
D.D. Urban Palmer
Myron N. Marvin
John L. Taylor, D.D.
Charles Everitt
Lucius C. Rouse
Alanson Sanders
Seth Sackett
Charles G. Finney, D.D. Tertius Reynolds
John S. Griffin
WASHINGTON
Pastors
Called Dismissed
Died
Reuben Judd . .
• • • 1742 1747
Daniel Brinsmade .
¦ • • 1749
1793
Noah Merwin . .
. . 1785
D353
1795
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

WASHINGTON-CONTINUED

Pastors

Called

Dismissed

Ebenezer Porter, D.D. .

¦ 1796

1811

Cyrus W. Gray . . .

. 1813

1815

Stephen Mason ....

. 1818

1828

Gordon Hayes .

1829

1851

Ephraim Lyman . . .

1852

1863

W. H. H. Murray . .

. 1864

1865

Willis S. Colton . . .

. 1866

1876

George L. Thrall . .

1877

1881

William Crawford

. 1882

1883

Herbert B. Turner, D.D.

1884

1893

Robert E. Carter .

• 1894

Died

WASHINGTON (NEW PRESTON)

Noah Wadhams
Jeremiah Day .
Samuel Whittlesey .
Charles A. Boardman
Robert B. Campfield
Columbus Shumway
Merritt S. Platt
Benjamin B. Parsons
Hollis Read . . .
Samuel F. Bacon
Charles S. Smith
Joseph A. Saxton .
Jacob A. Strong
Henry Upson . .

¦ 1757
• 17701807
. . 18181831 18341836
. 1839
. . 1845
. . 18511853
. . 18561857
. . 1863
D363

1768 18171830183418351837184218511853 1855
1857 1872

1806

APPENDIX
WASHINGTON (NEW PRESTON)— Continued
Pastors Called Dismissed Died
Dighton Moses 
Henry Lancashire  1877 1882
Frank S. Childs, D.D. . . . 1884 1888
George W. Davis  1890 1891
Evan Evans  1894 1898
Nicholas S. Becker  1900 1901
Aurelian H. Post  1902 1907
J. Edward Hermann .... 1907

WASHINGTON (NEW PRESTON HILL)
Levi S. Beebe  1854 1855
John A. Hemstead  1855 1856
Noah Coe  1856 1857
William H. Whittemore . . . 1859 i860
George W. Coleman .... 1862 1863
Lewis Williams  1867 1869
John A. WoodhuU  1869 1872
Henry Upson  1873 1877
Austin Isham  1878 1888
George W. Davis  1890 1891
Evan Evans  1894 1898
1907
MINISTERS RAISED UP
John Clarke William Sidney Smith
Bennett B. Burgess Gideon H. Pond
Thomas Knapp George Tomlinson
1:2373

THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

MINISTERS

RAISED UP — CONTINUED

George Bushnell, D.D. Elisha Mitchell

Daniel Parker Lewis Gunn

Samuel Pond Henry Calhoun

George A. Calhoun, D.D. Levi Smith
Augustus Smith Henry N.
Day, D.D.
Jeremiah Day, D.D., LL.D. Benjamin
B. Smith
Charles W. Camp Joseph Whittlesey
Johnson L. Tomlinson Samuel L
Whittlesey
WATERTOWN
Pastors Called
Dismissed
Died
John Trumbull .... . 1739
1787
Uriel Gridley
¦ 1784
1820
Horace Hooker .
. 1822
1824
Darius O. Griswold
1825
1835
1841
William B. DeForest
1835
1837
Philo R. Hurd . .
1840
1849
Chauncey Goodrich
1849
1856
George P. Prudden
1856
1861
Samuel M. Freeland
1802
1864
Benjamin Pearson .
1865
1867
Stephen Fenn
1868
1872
G. A. P. Oilman .
1872
1876
Franklin Tuxbury .
1877
1879
Charles P. Croft .
1880
Benjamin D. Conklinc
1881
1884
George N. Pelton .
1886
1889
Robert Pegrum . .
1889
1900
William T. Holmes ,
1:
2'
1901
!83
APPENDIX

MINISTERS RAISED UP
Aaron Dutton Stephen Fenn
Israel Beard Woodward Jesse Guernsey
John L. Seymour Anson S. Atwood
Frederick Gridley Henry DeForest
Matthew Rice Dutton

WINCHESTER
Pastors Called
Joshua Knapp  1772
Publius Vergilius Bogue . . . 1 790
Archibald Bassett  1801
Thomas Robbins, D.D. . . . 1806
Frederick Marsh  1808
James H. Dill  1846
John Cunningham  1852
Ira Pettibone  1857
William M. Gay  1866
Arthur Goodenough .... 1870

WINCHESTER (WINSTED, FIRST)
Ezra Woodworth  1792 I799
Aaron Kinney  1799 1804
James Beach  1806 1842 1850
T. M. Dwight  1842 1844
Augustus Pomeroy  1844 1845
Ira Pettibone  1846 1854
Henry A. Russell  1854 1858
1:2393

Dismissed

Died

1789

1816

1800

1836

1806

1807

1851

1873

1852

1854

1865
1869
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

WINCHESTER (WINSTED, FIRST)— Continued

Pastors
James B. Pierson . .
Malcolm McG. Dana
J. B. R. Walker
Henry E. Cooley
Thomas M. Miles
Timothy J. Lee
Henry N. Kinney
George F. Prentiss
George W. Judson

Called

Dismissed

1859

1862

1862

1865

1867

1869

1869

1870

1870

1879

1879

1884

1884

1894

1894

1898

1898

Died

1908

WINCHESTER (WINSTED, SECOND)

C. H. A. Buckley .
Arthur T. Pierson, D.D.
Hiram Eddy, D.D. .
Charles Wetherby . .
M. B. Angler . . .
Leavitt H. Hallock, D.D
Henry H. Kelsey . .
Henry P. Peck . . .
J. Spencer Voorhees .
Newell M. Calhoun .
Everard W. Snow . .

1854185918611866
187118731884 1889
189218971908

1859i860
186518711873
188318881891
18961907

MINISTERS RAISED UP

Noble Everitt
Abel McEwen, D.D.
Samuel Rockwell

Willard Burr
Frederick L. Grant
Daniel E. Goodwin
1:2403

APPENDIX

MINISTERS RAISED

UP — CONTINUED

Henry B. Blake

Eliphaz Platt

John W. Alvord
Charles Rockwell
Arthur C. Dill
Leuman H
Pease
Giles Frederic Goodenough
Thomas C.
Richards
WOODBURY
Pastors
Called
Dismissed
Died
Zachariah Walker ....
1668
1700
Anthony Stoddard . .
1702
1760
Noah Benedict . . .
1760
1813
Worthington Wright
1811
1813
Henry P. Strong . .
1814
1816
Samuel R. Andrews .
1817
1846
1858
Lucius Q. Curtis . .
1846
1854
Robert G Williams .
1855
1859
Charles E. Robinson .
1861
1864
Charles Little . . .
1865
1867
Horace Winslow . .
1868
1869
Gurdon Noyes . . .
1869
1879
Joseph A. Freeman .
1881
1905
1906
Stanley F. Blomfield .
1905
1908
Howard A. Seckerson
1909
WOODBURY (NORTH CHURCH)
Grove L. Brownell . . . . 1817 1840
John Churchill  1840 1869
James L. R. Wyckoff .... 187 1 1908
Charles E. Underwood . . . 1909
1:2413
THE CLERGY OF LITCHFIELD COUNTY

MINISTERS RAISED UP
Ephraim Judson WiUiam P. Curtis
Adoniram Judson, D.D. Judson A. Root
Thomas Miner Euston Judson
Justus Mitchell Gould C. Judson
Philo Judson William T. Bacon
Samuel Judson

[2423

* *

|l>ir

p't-

w

i* ' '

k\

,t

^

?* \

Mr: '"
I V