History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Winona, Minn., three years at Milwaulcee, Wis., and seven years at Tarrytown, X. Y. He is nnw pastor of the Asylum Avenue Cluireli, Harttijnl. F<ir a jieriod of fifteen niontlis folldwiiii; his resignatinri Ihr church was without a ]iast(>r. Minor R. I)einin>r became a mcmluT in ^larch. 1S()1, anil afterwards became l)astor nf the liajitist Churcli in Marll)oro', Mass. June l(i, ISii.s, Vict(ir W. Benedict was licensed by the church to jiri^aeh, and has since preached for the Kinjr Street and ]\Iill Plain churches, and is nnw pastor of the church at Crotou Falls, Js. Y'. At a covenant-meetiuL'- held Oct. 1, ISC.X, it was unanimously voted to extend a call to Rev. A. ( '. Hubbard, then pastor of the First Raptist t'hnrcb of Cincinnati, Ohio. The invitation was acee|ited, and he entered upon his lal)0rs Nov. 1">. 1S(;.S. The pastorate of Rev. A. C. Hubbard bas bmi (nie of frreat success. From the time lie tn.ik cluirice of tile eluirch U]i tn the present the nieinliership has steadily increased, tlie financial alfairs have been manajced with ability, and all thinifs have, in the main, been prosperous. Mr. Hubbard is a Imrn min- ister. He has tlie talent for ciinductin,^; the work; he ha.s ability, h-aniiMj;, and. above all, tiiat cpialily which attracts and attaches to him all with whom he comes in contact. Jle is popular outside of his own church, and all people honor him for his upritclit car- riage, his integrity, and his straightforwardness. The tenth anniversary of his ])astorate was cele- brated on the 17th of Xovember, 1.S7S. In his sermon that morning he gave a few statistics which will serve for closing the history of the church. The additions to the church during the ten years were 272, of which 179 were by baptism. These numbers may now lie given, up to to-day, as about 300 and 200 respectively. There have been dismis.sed by letter in tliat ten years at least one-third more than were ri'ceived liy that agency. The smallest number U[ion the roll in the pa-st eleven and a half years was li'.lS: the largest, 40lj. The present nmiilier is 4(10. Of tlie financial condition of ilic church Mr. Hub- bard spoke in liis sermon on the above occasion as follows: When he assumed the jiastorate there was a debt upon the church of .§4000. This was after- wards increased by over .$1000 more. This has been cleared oft" by the most earnest etiiirt. He estimated that at least SoOOO more had been raised and ex- pended on improvements. The average annual cur- rent expenses in the ten years was J5270S ; the debt and improvements, $10,000; benevolent ni.erations, in- cluding those of the 8unday-seliool. .•:;o700, making a grand total of §43,:«to. The Sunday-school of the church has been eciually prospercjus. The present superintendent, Mr. J. Ams- bury, with his able co-workers, have the proud satis- faction of knowing that no school in the village has had a more prosperous time. The records of the .school up to 1871 are missing. Since that time they have been faithfully kept, and they show the largest attendance at one time to have been 327, in IS70; the largest average attendance was, in 18.S0, 2.S7. The number of scholars on the roll is 47.'i. The collec- tions ill the school have aggregated nearly ?;1300. The library of the school now numbers si.\ hundred volumes. This has grown from a few books pur- chased iVir $().3"), whiidi money was raised by Rev. E. 0. Aml>ler, who started the first Sunday-school of the church in 1M7. MIIJ. PLAIX B.U'TIST CIIfKCll. The Baptist ('liurcli at Mill Plain was constituted during Mr. Perkins' past<n-ate. Members living in that vicinity had long desired a church at Mill Plain. A meeting was held in the church at Danbury, Sept. 11, IS.'il, witii special reference to the subject. It was then voted expedient for the brethren residing in Mill Plain and vicinity to i-all a council for the purpose of organizing a eliurih at that phu'e. At a subsequent ehurcli-mc\'ting nineteen persons were granted letters to tbrni the new interest, which was duly recognized, under the iiano' of the " Bajitist Church of Mill Plain," by a council which convened Sept. 24, 18.31. MKTIIiiMI.sT El'ISCdPAL CIUIU'II. In the month of June, IJS'J, the Rev. Jesse Lee, known as the pioneer of Methodism in New England, visiteil Danbury. His sojourn was but for a day. He improved his time, however, by preaching two sermons in the court-house. ( hily a few were willing to hear him, and most of them out ot curiosity. He was jirobably the first Methodist to set foot in Dan- bury. Subsequently other Methodist itinerants occa- sionally found their way to the village, usually preach- ing a sermon in the court-house and then passing on to other fields. It was not an easy matter for them to find enter- tainment in Danbury. l>r. .labez Starr is supposed to have been the first who would allow a Methodist lireaeher to sit at his table or sleep in his house. Some of the surrounding towns were more willing to open their homes to tliese men of "strange doctrine," and thither they were <ibliged to go for food and shelter. Some time in the year ISOX a society was formed in the ccntri' of the town. Hitherto there had been a " class" in the southwest jjart of the town, now known as Starr's Plain. This society was organized under the' jiastoral charge of Rev. Noble W. Thomas and Rev. .lonathan Lyon, whose large circuit em- liraced this region of country. During the following year, under the earnest labors of Levi Bronson, a local preacher and class-leader, together with the preacliers of the circuit, the little society succeeded in building a small and plain house of worslii]!. The deed of this property locates the church oM laiiil boumleii as follows: " Xortherly by Joseph Robertson and Daniel Scofield, including the 216 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUXTV. CONNECTICUT. lane running from the highway to the meeting-house ; easterly by William Tweedy and Justice Barnum ; southerly by said Tweedy ; and westerly by Joseph P. Cook, Jr." The "highway" spoken of is now called Franklin Street, and the " lane" is the road leading to the Tweedy factories on Rose Street. Among the trustees of the society were Jabez Starr, Peter Hack, Charles Houghton, Levi Rronson, and Caleb Benedict. For nearly thirty years the little church on the liill was the centre of Methodism. Some are still living who speak with enthusiasm of the good times enjoyed in the humble house of the days gone by. Those •were certainly noble men and women who stood as the representatives of Methodism wlien she was de- spised by the nuisses. Among those who bore the burden and heat of the ■day may be mentioned Revs. Rory Starr and John Nickerson, local preachers connected with the church from its early history. By their upright living in the ■comnuinity, by i)rudence and zeal in the church, they gave character to the denomination they rei)resented. Many are the pastors who came and went during that period of Danbury Methodism ; but the rule of the denomination demanding a change every two years nuide it imjjossible for any of them to become identified with the general interests of the town. Their names linger in many households as precious memories. In the year 1835 a new site was i)urchased on Lib- erty Street, and soon the church now owned by the Disciples was erected thereon. At the Conference of 1836 Danlmiy Methodism •ceased to foim a circuit and became a station. Hith- erto her ministers had given only a part of their ser- vice here, l)Ut the Rev. Jacob Sluiw was api)ointed to Danbury with the intent that he should live here and work, and he did this with great success. At the be- ginning of his pastorate the whole membership num- bered one hundred and fifty-eight. At the close of Lis first year he reported over three hundred. The revival of 1837, just referred to, was probably the most effective and abiding ever experienced by the society. The current of religious thought and feeling ran deeply ; men and women were strangely awakened, and were brought out into a positive re- ligious life. Miicli of the fruit abides to this day, and many more have gone U]i higher. At this time the othcers of the church were as fol- lows: Local preachers, John Nickerson and Rory St^irr; cxhorters, Alvin Hurd, Stephen H. Barnum, John Comes ; leaders, George Andrews, William Hill, George Starr ; stewards, Wm. T. Scofield, Jonathan Couch, Unilerhill Nelson, Joel Sanford. Among the trustees were John Nickerson, Rory Starr, Jesse Cro- fut, Pliilo Wildman, Underhill Nelson, and Thomas Stocker. Rory Starr departed from the church militant to the church triumphanton Thursday morning, Feb. 27, 1845. John Nickerson ceased his labors on earth and entered into rest on the 20th of March, 1848. As was fitting, the records of the church make special men- tion of these two worthies : " Being dead they yet speak." The pastors who served the society during its stay in Liberty Street were Rev. Jacob Shaw, two years ; Rev. H. Wing, who after a few months sickened and Wiis obliged to resign; Rev. J. Crawford, who sup- plied the ])ulpit tlie remainder of the Conference year ; 1840-42, Rev. Sylvester H. Clark; 1842-43, Rev. James Floy; 1844-45, Rev. Fitch Reed; 1846-47, Rev. John Crawford; 1848-49, Rev. Robert Jessup; 18.50-51, Rev. John B. Merwin; 1852-53, Rev. \V. C. Hoyt. During the pastorate of Kcv. Mr. Hoyt the building now occupied by the society was erected, and the old building sold to the Disciples. At a meeting of the trustees of the Methodist Epis- copal church held Wednesday, April 27, 1853, to act upon ])roposals for building tlie new Methodist E])is- copal church of Danbury station, there were present Sturges Selleck, Samuel Stebbins, William T. Scofield, Allen McDonald, AVilliam W. Stevens, George Hull, Thomas S. Barnum, and James W. Nichols, Joel B. Sanford being absent.