History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

On Jan. I'L 1785, thirty-tive inisiois. all of whom .,,,,1 .„ ., s.'parate organization it bc.-aine extinct in were males, lodged a certificate with the clerk of the ls(;.'i nv at aliout that ilate. Congregational parish, declaring thcmsidves " to be- long to the Episco|)al ('hnrcli." and it is presiunabic .j.|,j. j'tK^f ii\]e|-|<|' cni laii that at about this time separate worship as a regular ... . , „., I, ■ , . , ,, 1 „ .• , • , <»n Sept. ■2:',. 1X40, the I'.aptist mcetinii-housc, so weekly ap])onitment began, thonuli the hrst parish ' , , , ,.' , ■ ,' „.„ ,. ,, 1 ,• 1 • 1 1 ' I I calli'd, was oijcncd for pnlilic wor.-hiii bv exercises meeting, tile records lA which haye lieeii preserved. . ' '. , ,,',,,■ „.,,. ,1,1 ,., ,-or. appropriate to the occasion, and on the Izth i.lay of wa-s not held until 1(S9. 111 ... , ,,. , . , ,' . . . , 1 . • ■ -1 e Novembi'r (ollowing the " !• irst Baptist Cluircii ot A movement was made — so. at Ica-t. it i- said — tor , , '^ . , .' „ u . I- 1 • r 1 1 ■ e 1 e r>rooktiidd was constituted, a society id amliated a nimse ot worshiii for the accommodation of those of ... .' - r.,,; 1 .• ,. 1 e 1 sentiments bavin;; been 111 existence since 1X4M. flu -t-piscopal i>references some four years before the , , , . , , , , , , , p.„.,i,.j- , ., ,. ,. , .,■,. ^ ,, the L'd dav ot Decemlier dclcLratcs lidiii other ehurclies Keyoliition, and the frame of a biiihling was actually , ,,. '. , .. . , _„.,„ 1 T> i. •.. 1 ■ 1 li 11 !■' were present for the iiiiblic formal rccou'iiition of the reareil. But it was neyer covered in. and hnally dis- ' . . ', ■..,,, „,„ , .. 1 ■ • 1 ,■ . , ^1 • \ new oriraiiizatioii, and at a " covemint-meeting held apjicared, tlie war bringing defeat to this, as to so ■ ^ ,,, ,, ,, , Deccinber oth Elder \\ illiain Biddle was called to be many other cnteriinses. . e, ,1 ^1 1^1, 1 1 -i ■ the first pastor of the churcii, which oflice he ludd After the war, though at what precise dati> it is , ' , , , ■ , ,,„„i, ,. |.jj. 1. , , . ■ ,.^ until September, 1X;)4, wdien, at his own request, he perlia|is now difhcult to determine, an cdihce was , , ■ ,• • , , , Ki.in f . I' • 1 ii . ■ 1 i • I was released from Ins onicial connectioii. tiioii;;h even DUilt for Episcopal use upon the triangular spot mid- , . . , ., ..',., ,.-o,. 1,,. TT T V- .1 . -1 1 t'l the end o ife he wa~ intimalclv iilcntitied with way tiefween Mrs. Lucy Xorfhrop's residence and , . . , , , , ' , • tl,.it ..(■ At ^1 T^ \ 1 • 1,1 tiK' interests of the clinrch, and was eonstanl in his tnat ot Jlr. Sherman 1- note, where seryiees were held ■ , , ,■ until mo- I n • 1 ,. 1 il labors on its behalf. until IS.-!, , when the iiarish entered the more eomnio- ,, . , . ,,,,.,,, Hw.iil,,,,,. t:ir ■ 1 il I ■ .1 .• .\dditional to services remlercd bv him the church niou,. lumsc still occupied, fhoiigh 111 the mean time enlarged and otherwise greatly improved. 'ri, , . : • , .• .. il !■ • I I ■ 1 * Tlie above list is jriven !us funiisiied to tlie writer, hut, fur Uie aeeii- . ,' " '"■ "^t'-" - ■'» the Episcopal pnlp.t and par- ,,,,, „f ,,„„,,,,, shonhl he stated that the two nrst.nan.ed i, hll.als Ish hiive been conducted as follows: By the rector. were reet..rs at Newtown during th.' same or nearly the same peaods. 174 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. lias been under the pastoral supervision of Elders Ganung, Shove, Wilson, and Chapman. THE KEFOnMKI) CIIUUCIl. The Kefornied Chureh began its organie life in 18(59 as a ini.ssion enterprise un(h'r the auspiees of the Classis of New York. Rev. S. W. Roe, Rev. Ransford Wells, D.I)., Rev. F. E. Allen, and Rev. F. M. Bogardus liave served the church in the ministry. SCHOOLS. By a kind of law of association, in New England at least, the mention of schools is closely connected with that of churches, and a sketch of Brookfield would be incomplete without some mention of this kind. The fathers were not inditlerent to the need of facilities for a higher grade of education than that furnished by the common or district school, and, accordingly, not unfrequently in the town records there is statement of special ajjpropriations from the treasury for the support of ".select schools" or to facil- itate in some way higher grade instruction. Thus, under date of April 4, ITiMt, the selectmen of the town were empowered to pay forty-five dollars for finishing the ujiper room in the town-house "for the p\irpose of keeping a school in the same," and it was also voted "that a committee of two persons from each school district in the town be appointed as a joint committee to hire a teacher to teach school in the upper room of the town-house, and to regulate such .school." Private enterprise has also engaged in the same laudable i)urpose. In 1840, Mr. Edward Robbing opened a school at the "Centre" which ii-^sumed flour- ishing proi)ortions, and was continuously kept u|) for about ten yeai-s. In 1858, Rev. Henry D. Noble, being measurably disqualified for the services of rector of the parish, conceived the idea of establishing a high-class board- ing-school for boys, and entered with his accustomed energy upon the accomplishment of the plan. "St. Paul's School for Boys" was the result, and was car- ried on with growing jirosperity until interru|)ted by his sudden death, which occurred Sept. 14, 18G8. Shortly after this Madame Booraem opened a pri- vate school forbids and misses, which continued, with varying ])atriinage, until 1878. It should be mentioned in this connection that, in 179.5, Widow Mary Northrop, at her decease, left for the benefit of the town an estate of which one hun- dred and forty -seven pounds four shillings sixpence was in the form of jiroinissory notes, and the proceeds of this e-state have been regularly devoted to the in- terests of educaticm, for a portion of the time being e.xpeniled in the maintenance of select schoids, and at other times being diviiled among the several dis- tricts as partial supiitrt of the di.striet schools. .\t tlie present time the interest of this fund — known as the "Molly Money" — is ccmnted in as jiart of the public-school money, and is divided among the dis- tricts. BURrAL-l'L.\Ci;S. It will not be inappropriate that sonic reference shall be made here to the burial-places to which the departed have been borne as the six generations dwelling here since the first settlement of the town have lived and died. The Newbury fathers, wiiile united for ccclesia-stical purposes, seem to have maintained, not unnaturally, something of the town feeling, and hence the ceme- tery on "the plain" for the New Milford portion of the society, that by the railroad-track, below Mr. David Northrop's, for the Danbury jiortion, and that near Hawleyvillc for tlie Newtown portion, while a spot marked by a few remaining stones by the side of Hop Brook, on the left of the road to " Obtuse," was a resort for those having no preferences, but looking only to convenience as to distance. The cemeterv' near Mr. Beman Fairchild's, that known as the "Central," west of Still River, and the one at the "Iron-Works" were of later beginning. In the burial-place referred to by Hoji Brook there stands a slab erected "To the memory of Mr. Henry Baldwin, drowned April 4, 1798," with this somewhat singular poetic inscription: " Huro Hi's interred a blooming youlli; Ho lived in Inve and died in tniOi. ,1 Call, and liehold, as yon paw* Iiy, Afl you are now, bo once was I ; .\h I am now, ho you must bo ; I Pi-L'pare to die and follow me." For the benefit of such as arc always looking into the past for the golden, and upon tiie present with disparagement, in this connection it may be stated that within the memory of some now living, on fu- neral occasions within the town, liquors were |)rovidcd for the " bearers," and as the procession moved, here and there on the route, when the " bier" was changed from the shoulders of one set of men to those of another, the bottle, carried by an attendant, w;u< passed around to strengthen the men helping in car- rying the dead. Surely, there is some progress ! The history of a place is inclusive of its outgoing influences, as well as of event* which transpire within its boundaries. Emigrant sons and daughters are important factors, therefore, which must not be left out of the account, an<l of these the following shouUl be enrolled: Rev. William \. llawley, Kev. William Dibble, Rev. Bennct F. Northroii, Kev. Bcebe Ste- vens, Rev. Oliver Taylor, Rev. Oliver St John, and Rev. Frank Lobdell. Mr. Samuel Ruggles and Mrs. Lucia Holmaii, missionaries of the American Board, were also natives of the place. Besides tliese. a long list might be adiieil of non-professional persons who in various secular relations and pursuits have "ob- tained a good report." a.e './i-?<^ BllOOKFIELD. 175 MILITARY RECORD. Thoiijrli no (:listinf;uishe(l names or exploits adorn the war reoDrd oF Brooktield. yet this departineiit of its history is not altogether harreii <<( iiiridriit, and there are names which oiiirlit not to die out of mem- ory, hecaiise they who hure them were willini;- to hazard life for their eountry's safety. When the Revolutionary war liroke nut it fnund here a eomjiany of militia already orj.rii,iized, wliieh did service under Maj.-( ien. Woosti'r, and ))rol)a]ily was present when he received his death-wnund al Bidgefield.