History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

There is a certain pathos in the entry in which he excuses his failure to attend to the church records for a long period: "Whoever shall succeed me in the ministry here, let him not neglect the records of bap- tism, etc., as thnmgh multiplied troubles and sorrows I have done for many yeai-s past, of which I can only say that I suppose all the white children belonging to this place, born from the beginning of the year 1719 to July, 1731, were baptized, excepting David Jack- son's. A particular account I ho]>c will follow after- wards." Mr. Cooke in his later years sutt'ered also from the depreciation of the currency in which his salary was paid, old-tenor bills, worth hardly one-fifth of their face. His executors brought suit against the ])arish and recovered heavy damages, which the Legislature confirmed. His successor in the ministry here was Rev. Lyman Hall, some account of whom will W found in the next chapter. Mr. Hall was in turn followed by the Kev. Robert Ross, who became jiastor of the Stratfield Church Nov. 28, 1753, and remained over it for more than forty-two years. A remarkable occurrence took ])lace during his ministry. The people had a.ssenibled for worship on the morning of Sunday, July 28, 1771. A thunder-shower wius gathering, but the services went on lus usual, until the congregation rose and re- mained standing while the minister led them in prayer. The room grew darker ami darker as the heavy clouds rolled up, while the distant muttering • This lioll, after having beiii nxast, was bn.iight t.i Bridgeport in 1808, and placed In the steeple of the old North Cliurch, where It re- mained until dcwttvyed by Bro In luSl. BRIDGEPORT. 75 of the thunder showed that a t'eMii'uI sti»nn was im- jiciidiiii;. Till' i'onu of lln' |iastiir at h'lijitli liccamo ahiiost invisilih' in the dee|)enin.ir {.doom, luit still he jirayed on. Sudilenly a dazzliuj; {flare oi' lii.rlit filled the room, revealing in its swift passage the ]iale faees of the startled worshipers. The erashini;- ]ieal of thunder wliieli followeil drownnl the vnici' ol' the speaker, and he ]iaused lireathli'ss. Whrn the last echo of the thunder had dii'il away, and the jieople were auain left in darkness, there was an interval of awful ex[)eetaney. At leiiirth a solemn voice Irom the pulpit hroke the stillne.ss with the words. ■■.(/■< we all hnr f" For a nionu'ut no one eould answer, hut as the congregation moved out and lett the church, it was found that two of the most respected citizens had heen taken in an instant from the house of (iod below, into the nobler house not made with hands, above. They were two of the hest men in the little congregation, — Lieut. David Sherman and Capt. .John I5urr, — both of them in full health and in the prime cd' life. The former lived on Park ,\venue, half a mile above North Avenue; the latter upon the corner of North and Clinton Avenues. TIh' so- ciety v'jted to repair the damage done to the steeple by the lightning, and to ]iut uji a lightning-rod, then a new invention. No particulars res]ieetiug the first school-house or its tc Lcliers have lieen preserved. A second one was built in 17(1.3, as shown by the following vote: S.-pl, JO. ITm:1; " Pr. tlie inlial'it.-ints of Stratetil"! thea votc'd tliat Striittii-Itl wold bee at tlie Cliarge of buildindg a Sclioollious sixteen foot Wide iitut 21 feet Long. Voted tliat tlie SclKwlehouB should bee sett neear tlie whit oaelc tiuundre, between that and tlio rnn of water tliat comes out of Capt. Sliarwod's Jiaster." Where (/apt. Sherwood's pasture was. the present writer does not know. The white-oak tree ri'lerred to was on the bonndary-liiic between Stratford and Fair- field, and was used as a puVilic sign-post. I'roliahly the sehoidhouse stood near the junction of I'ark Avenue and Peipionnock Street, not far from the site of the i)resent one in " (.)ld South" district. In 1710, William Rogers was the schoolmaster, and his agreement with the schoid committee. Samuel Hubbell and lienjamin Fayerweatlier, is still extant: *'Tbe said W'illiam Itofrers, Schoolmaster of tlie said l'laiil;iti is to keep a Reading and writing School in the said riaiitation, to leadi tlie children & Youth to Read, write, & cypher, the ternie ami time of Six months, commencing on the first day of the Instant .fan'? (1710). And if said Rogers shall be wanting in said six months, he is to ki'e|i a ni;^')it school,— viz., five ni^hta every week (unto) tlie Tenth day of March next, and the said Plantation is to pay to (said) Koi;ers the sum of Mncteeii pounds as Provition pay, and the remaynder as liatli been payd to other Schoolma-sters, tu be judged by tlie Treasurer of the place, at or before the first day of .\i)ril next." .John Wheeler, born .M.-ireh, 17(i;i-l(l, died Si'pt. 2(1, 1790, taught school for many yetirs. His compensa- tion for teaching a summer school, in the year \1'M\, was sixty-three pounds, but the currency was then depreciated. " Master" Wheeler, as he was always called, was held in universal esteem. He was the son of Dr. .rohn Wheeler, the village physician, and mar- ried Dorothy, one of the nine daughters of Deacon D:i\id Shirman, and after the death of his father-in- law resided in the bouse built by the latter U[iou the top of Toilsome Hill. This was " a large two-story edifice built in the best style of the dav, with long sloping roof, high porch in front, and windows of diamond glass set in lead sashes. The children of Master Wheeler were three, :ill daughters. — viz., Dolly, Jjiinicc, ami Drusilla, the latter the wife of .Miijah IJeardsley, a Revolutionary soldier." The time when the seliool in Toilsome District was established, is fixed by an entry on the society's record-book dated Dee. lid, 17:;S: •■ Vot.d that lliis .Society will have two schools: one wlierc it lias been lOiiiicily kept and the other at Tilcsome hill." A third school was estalilished in 17.")4 "at or near the upper end of Sport Hill, so called ;" but this must liavi' lieeij diseoiitiniied, for in 17(1(1 the following votes were passed. The spelling would seem to indi- Ciite tlnit additional school privileges were not un- necesstiry : ITUi'i. Dec. 12: " Voted tliat the S"ciety will have a tliuid .Scl 1 in the Society this year. Voted that the tliurd ScliM(d Shall he Keejit at the Little house in the first Croass highway, neer Nathaniel Seeley's." 17('.fi, Dec. 20: "Voted that the Society will llivid themselves in to proper and necessary Distreets for Keejiing tlieire Sclmols. V.ded that Sam" Sherwood, Beiijai Wheler, and Sam" Sherwood the ;td, be a com**'' for that purpus." The committee re]iorted a fortnight later, advising the formation of three districts, the boundary between the lower and middle ones to be " the highway south- ward of Elmithan Shernuin's house," — perhaps the one now known as Lincoln Avenue, a little above Picacb's Woods. All the territory below this line was to lie the South District, — a fact which exphiins the re;ison why the district in our present city limits ex- tending farthest northward is known by the name of "Old South." The boundaries of these districts were :dterwards slightly changed. .\s early as the year 1707 services according to the form of the Protestant Episcopal Church were held in the ]i:irish ot' Stratfield. They were conducted liy Rev. Ceorge Muirson, an agent of the English "So- ciety for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign I'arts," stationed ;it Rye, N. Y., but at this time U|ion a mis- sionary toiu' through western (."oniiectieut. These ser- vices were held in a private house, as there was at that time no Episcopal chnreb edifice in the colony. A few persons, mostly adults, were baptized. The first missionary of this .society settled in Fair- field County was the Uev. (ieorgc Pigot, who in \li'^ became stated pastor of the churches in Fairfield and Stratford, but in 17:^7 was transferred to I'rovidence, K. I. He was succeeded by the Rev. Henry < 'aner, who was graduated tit Yttle College in 1724; studied theology with Dr. Samuel .lohnsou at Stratford; was ordained in iMigland. and in 1727 tippointed mis- sionary at J'airfield. ^Ir. (.'aner preached in most of the towns in I'lnrfieid ('ouiity and founded the Epis- 70 HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. copal Churches in Norwalk and Stamford. He also read the service occa-^ionally in i^tratfiokl in a ])rivate house. Tlic University of Oxford conferred the de- gree of M.A. u|)on him in 1735, and in 1766 the addi- tional title of D.D. After twenty years of faithful service in Fairfield and vicinity he wa-s appointed, in 1747, rector of King's Chapel, Boston. Mr. Caner's successor in Fairfield was the Rev. Jo.sci>h Lanison, a native of f^tratfortl and a graduate of Yale College, wlio in 1744 sailed for Europe for ordination, but was taken prisoner by the French. His ministry in this vicinity la.sted from 1747 until his dentil, in 177-3. He usually preached in Stratfield every fourth Sunday. In 174S a churcii was erected here Ijy his advice, the principal subscribci-s towards building it being Col. .lohn Burr, John Holburton, Timothy Wheeler, Joseiih Sceley, John Nichols, Richard Hall, and Sam- uel Bcardslcy. It was called St. John's church, and was located upon a common of about half an acre in extent upon the east side of " Church Lane," a little north of the old " King's Highway," and about a quarter of a mile west of the Congregational church, or, as we should now say, upon Wood Avenue, just above North Avenue. It is described as being a small wooden structure without a steeple or bell. " It had a pulpit, but no reading-desk ; it was furnished with' high-backed pews on either side, the body of the church being filled with slips. Seats were also pro- vided for the colored people apart by themselves." Another account speaks of a steeple surmounted by a gilt weathercock, perhaps added afterwards. This church continued to be used until 1801, when it was torn down, and tlie congregation removed to a more commodious edifice on the site now occupied by the First Baptist church of Bridgeport.