History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

" In 1808 an attempt was made to build a new Congregational church edifice, and in order to raise funds a public lottery wius held, authorized, as was the custom of the day, by the I^egislature. As might have been expected, this ill-advised course did more harm than good, and during the war of 1812 the church was so deeply involved in debt that a tax of seventeen cents on the dollar was a.ssessed to meet expenses. The church edifice was only partially fin- ished, and for want of support Mr. Clarke resigned in 181(i; he died in 1839. "Several candidates .supplieil the pul])it from 181G to 182o, among them Kev. Lauren P. Jlickok, D.D., since president of Union College, and Kev. Mr. Bur- ritt, whose labors were blessed in the conversion of at leiLst sixteen persons who united with the church and greatly strengthened it; but still the membership was comparatively small, and many recorded as mem- bers were absent from the place." r.\ST0K.\TE OK UEV. WII,r,I.\M MITCHELL. " Rev. William Mitchell Wiis elected pastor and installed Jan. 14, 1825. Mr. Mitchell was a faithful and laborious pastor, — one of the best, I .should judge, the church has had. During his ministry there was a powerful revival, chiefly in Taunton, which resulted in many conversions and twenty ad- ditions to this church. A ' Ladies' and Gentlemen's Missionary Society' was successfully established, also a temperance society. The church and society, how- ever, unfortunately lost about one-half of the fund (which had accumulated during successive pastorates) by the failure of the Eagle Hank in New Haven. Although crippled by the loss, five hundred dollars were spent in repairing the church edifice and eighty- five dollars in procuring the communion-set now in use. Mr. Mitchell resigned and Wivs dismi.ssed May 31, 1831. He moved to Vermont and then to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he died of yellow fever, Aug. 1, 18G7." PASTORATE OF REV. S. 51. URMSTOX. " Bcv. N. M. Urm-ston's |)astorale began Dec. ."), 1832, and ended Ai)ril 1, 1838. He, as well as Mr. Mitchell, lived at the head of the street where Mrs. Bennett Fairchild now resides. Nothing of special interest occurred during his pastorate. The church records abound in accounts of trials and excommuni- cations ; it is to be regretted, I think, that names and facts were not suppressed. It is better to hide a brother's fault than to nnike it the subject of a lengthy record. It is well that the church should be purified and cleansed, but not at all ueces,sary to pre- serve the filth and the rubbish. 'Let the past, then, bury its dead from our sight.' " Mr. Urmston, after leaving Newtown, preached in Cornwall and Sherman, in this State, and then went to Ohio. I received a card from him recently ; he is very feeble and infirm, and may not be living now. He was succeeded by several temporary supplies — Rev. Mr. Leadbetter, Rev. Mr. Ambler, and others — until 184o, when Rev. Jason Atwater became stated sup- ply." PASTORATE OF REV. JASON ATWATER. " Mr. Atwater, like Mr. Mitchell, was a conscien- tious and faithful psistor. He resided where Mrs. Booth Tcrrill now lives; indeed, there is scarcely a building in Main Street that does not .seem at some time to have been occupied by a minister of this or some other church. The interests of the churches in general, and of this church in particular, were dear to Mr. Atwater, and he labored hard and successfully in this his chosen field. At first there was a decided adr vance under his leadershi]); the broken walls of Zion were literally and figuratively re])aire(l, for after a three years' eflbrt twelve hundred dollars were rai.sed, and the church edifice, which had again become some- what dilapidated, was renovated, \nit in good repair, and dedicated anew Jan. 7, 1847. The congregation increased in numbers, and a new life seemed infused into the church. But a decline or a reaction set in, and the question of abandoning the ground and re- moving the church to Sandy Hook wiis seriously agi- tated. A council, however, advised against it, and God set his seal of approval upon the decision by graciously reviving his work and adding to His church thirty-five mendiers, many of whom have been, and are now, the most valued and useful of our number. " In 1802 the basement was fitted up and new .seats and a new pulpit provided for the audience-room of the church, at an expense of five hundred dollars. There seems, however, to have been another reaction. Some of the strong arms ujjon which the pastor leaned were taken away by death or removal, and, .somewhat discouraged, Mr. Atwater accepted a call to South- bury. He showed his continued love for and interest in this church by leaving it a legacy of one hundred and fifty dollars at his death, which occurred in ISGO." RECENT PASTORATfS. " The remaining pa.stors of this church until the year 1874— Rev. W. H. Moore, Rev. W. F. Arms, Rev. D. W. J"ox, Rev. H. B. Smith — are yet among the living ; their work is not yet done, and of them and their work, therefore, we will not sjjcak at length. Mr. Moore's jjastorate lasted from 18,56 to 1862, when he was dismissed to be a bishop over our Connecticut churches. He still fills the responsible position of State secretary. Mr. Arms' pastorate was very short, only about a year, from May, 1S63, to September, 1864. He went from here to CJreenwich, Conn., then re- moved to Pennsvlvania, and is now in Sunderland, x\EWTUWN. 467 Mass., pastor of a cIuutIi of more than three liuudreil iiiemliers. Mr. Fox was the first ininister wlio occu- jiieil your pleasant ami ediiniKMliuus |iarsi>iiaire, which eost aliout two thiiiisanil ilojlars hut is now wiirth more than twice that aiiiinint. piuviiiir our Saviour's words, '(.4ive, and it sluiU he iriven.' No society or individual loses hy a generous act. .Mr. Fox. like his predecessor, Mr. Moore, was the registrar of this Con- sociation ; his liealth unfortunately soon failed and he was dismissed; he is now pastor of a clinrch in New .fcrscy. "This church, therefore, had time pastors dining;' the late civil war, in striking contrast with the Uevo- liitionary i)eriod, when it had one pastor for a third of a century and until he ilied. " Rev. Henry V>. Smith was the next pastcjr, from 18(17 to isy:!. From here he removed to (ircen- tield Hill, thence to Statrordville, f'onn., and is now living in South Amherst, Ma.ss. He was a faithfid pastor and an earnest worker, es]iceially in the Sah- hath-sehool." THE PRESENT PAST0R.\TE, '' The present pastorate has heen the longest this church has had in more than one hundred years (with two exceptions). Your minister* iireached liis first sermon in this iduLrch .Tan. 11, 1874. The previous year the interior of tlie church had been remodeled and beautified, as you see it to-day, at an exi)euse of two thousand five hun<lred dollars. Since then seventy have l)een added to the ehureh and fourteen hundred dollars to the fund (five hundred dollars being donated hy Miss Sarah Blackman, of New Haven, a descendant of the first pastor, Rev. Thomas Tonsey). The debt resting on the .soeiety has been ]iaid ; we aii' at peace among ourselves; this church, I am assured, numeri- cally and financially, is now more prosperous than at any time for a century |)ast. And yet it never needed the help of all its members and friends more than now. H" tills help is. given, this church nuiy recover wdiat it has lo.st and be in generations to come what it was in colonial times, before the war for our liberty draine<l it of its resources and members. If so, we will be thankful ; if not, wu will be hopeful and still do our work. For this church has a work to do; it is a ' free union ehurcdi,' where all who hive our Lord and cherish a hope of immortality and heaven may have a home ; where an evangelical gospel shall be preached, but each one be j)ermitted and expected to think for himself 'We preach as those who must give an account,' but we 'judge not, that we be not judged.' God is the Judge of all. < hir motto is, 'In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.' Brethren and friends, if all you who are, or ought to be, interested in the- welfare of this church do your wdiole duty its future is assured. Such is the past and |iresent of this church ; the past has told its story. * Rov. J. P. Hoyt. "One hundred years from now the pastor of this church (who will he be'?| will doubtless )ir<'pare a centennial sermon similar to this, ami to him we will commit the recoid. What will that record be? What will be the future (jf this nation, this town, and of this church '.' AVill the changes of the future be as great as those of the past'? Who will com]irise this audience oiu' hundreil years hence'? When the con- gregation is disnussed on that day and the people go to their homes, how will this street ami village look to tliem ? What will be the religious sentiment of the place and day '? Will the immortal soul then be estimated at its true value? We cannot answer these questions ; they belong to the future, ami to the future we leave thcMii. We have performed our task; we have las directed in the text I asked iiuestions only of the ' days that are past,' and we have recordeil the answers. .\nd now, />//t«v W /o the jmst. We break the connection again; we busy ourselves with the present; we leave the future with God, praying that he will bless this ancient church, this loved town, with its churches, and schools, ami interests, thi.s il- lustrious commonwealth, this great tuition, and trust- ing that when another century has rolled by, and we for many years have slept witli our fathers, church and town and State and nation may be stronger and purer and better than now." THINITY CHURCH.t The first church building was erected in 17:1:!, ami stood in the road nearly opposite the present brick town-house. Eev. Dr. Beardsley, in his " History of the Church in Connecticut," remarks, —