Norwalk After Two Hundred & Fifty Years

I am requested to address myself especially to a his- tory of this church and parish which begins chronologi- cally with the history of the separate town of Westport. But the men and women who formed this parish were children of old St. Paul's, whose training was received there and in the Christian homes of its parishioners and also in the public deliberations of the town and church affairs. I think that the general and careful, although not always calm, discussion and examination of the rea- sons for and against any measure that took place in earl- ier times in town and parish councils had a larger influ- ence than is usually credited in the staunchness and in- dependence of character of the sturdy men and women who have left us, both townwise and churchwise, such 76 noble standards of sterling excellence of character and achievement. I desire to emphasize the fact that the founding of our parish and the first generation of its life were the fruit of Norwalk life. It came from thence and thither should go the honor and praise in God's name and from thence comes the noblesse-obiige that we, now no longer of Xorwalk but of Westport, should be true to a noble lineage and preserve in our day and transmit to the generations yet to come an integrity unyielding, a re- ligion pure unci undefiled and the noble worship and liturgy of our fathers unimpaired. In the former days it was customary for many even to walk to and fro for divine service. Those were church going days and distance proved no obstacle. Is it not a subject for solicitude when we ponder on the paucity of good church people who to-day, eliminating the question of a pedestrial journey and considering the convenience of the trolley, would be found in their places each Lord's Day with the regularity that marked the church attendance of their hardy, pioneer ancestors, if the distance of three miles stretched between their abodes and the House of God? Yet this question of dis- tance determined the beginnings of the Church life in Saugatuck. As the population increased, the question of training the increasing number of children came up for a solution. It was a natural result that the rector of St. Paul's. Dr. Sherwood, who had organized the first Sunday school in that parish, should inaugurate a simil- ar work in Saugatuck. The interest and enthusiasm manifested were in inverse proportion to the size of the school. This led to occasional services which with the sessions of the Sunday school were sometimes held in private houses but mostly in Shercrow school house that then stood, I am told, on "The Plain," as it was called between the present dwellings of Mr. Theodore Taylor and Mr. Wm. H. Marvin. A small itinerant parish and Sunday school library was inaugurated, housed in a large market basket and composed mostly of theological books of a controversial nature. (Some of these old books are still in the possession of the parish.) Such was the situation when the apostolic Kemper succeeded to the rectorship of St. Paul's in 183 1. The Congregationalists directly across the river in the town of Fairfield as early as 183 1, began measures to separate from the Greens Farms Society and to organize "the Saugatuck Congregational Society of Westport," which 77 was accomplished in May, 1835. Possibly the mission services and Sunday school held by the Rector of St. Paul's may have been instrumental in this action of the Congregational brethren. Certainly all such move- ments are infectious and we find, following the Congre- gationalists' move, the record of a meeting of Episco- palians at the house of Mr. William Nash, now the resi- dence of Mr. George A. Darrow, March nth, 1833, "to take into consideration the propriety of building an Epis- copal House of Public worship to be located on the west side of the Saugatuck river." As a result of the deliberations of this meeting "it was deemed necessary that said house should be built and that a meeting be holden at this place on Monday the 18th of March to draw up a subscription for building the church which subscription to be binding provided the sum of $2,000 shall be subscribed." Several meetings followed but nothing much was done until May 13, when at a meet- ing held in the school house, Mr. Taylor Hurlbutt was appointed treasurer to receive the money subscribed and Messrs. Taylor Hurlbutt,, Daniel Nash, Jabez Adams, Isaac Adams, Dennis Nash, Edwin Wheeler, William Nash, Noah Nash and Philo W. Jones were elected a building committee. The plan and size of the building were left entirely to this committee. Of this meeting Mr. Taylor Hurlbutt was chairman and Mr. Robert Ray- mond, clerk. At a subsequent meeting Mr. Daniel Nash was made trustee to sign all necessary papers for the con- veyance of the land chosen whereon to build this new church. Most of the history of Christ church has been so thor- oughly exploited that little has been left to be said. But there is one matter in which there seems to be a misun- derstanding and, if so, a great wrong done to the mem- ory of Taylor Hurlbutt. I have been informed by the Rev. James E. Coley, grandson of Taylor Hurlbutt, and by others who were alive at the time of the building and conversant with the affairs of the building commit tee and who should know that the land on which the church was built was a free gift from Mr. Taylor Hurl butt. That the land was purchased by the society has several times of late been stated in print. One fact much in favor of the free gift is that in the minutes of the various meetings there is no discussion of a site or pur- chase price. Also at the meeting on June 10, a deed was presented and rejected; the minutes read "as no par- 78 ticular time was specified in the deed when the trustee, Daniel Nash, should quit-claim the land to the church" and that a new deed be procured to that effect. Mr. Coley has that rejected deed in his possession. It reads, '•[, Taylor Hurlbutt of the town of Norwalk, etc., in consideration of love, good will and affection, I hold and have towards the Protestant Episcopal church, to my full satisfaction, I do freely give, grant and convey unto Daniel Nash of said Norwalk to hold in trust for said Protestant Episcopal church, a certain piece of land ly- ing in Norwalk situate on the west side of the Saugatuck river, being a piece of land selected to build an Episcopal church thereon" — etc. A new deed was drawn up, the indenture made and agreed between Taylor Hurlbutt and Daniel Nash as trustee, June 13, and recorded in Norwalk in Book 25, page 169 on June 23d. This sec- ond deed reads, "I, Taylor Hurlbutt for the considera- tion of four hundred dollars received do give, bargain and convey, etc." This deed was accepted at a meeting held June 17th at the house of Mr. Philo W. Jones. It contains, however, a condition that if "within the term of two years a House suitable for the public worship of God agreeable to the Protestant Episcopal Faith" be not built and if " within six months after a society has been legally formed for the purpose of supporting the Protestant Episcopal worship in said house that said Nash, his heirs and assigns and without any other or further consideration than what he has already received by a proper and sufficient deed" do not "grant and con- vey to such society" said land the deed and conveyance shall be void. If after a lapse of over sixty years the re- corded deed gives a wrong impression by placing the value of the land thus in the deed, the facts should be fully brought out and clearly understood in order that Taylor Hurlbutt should receive the due credit for his generosity. There was an effort made to increase the amount already subscribed thar"t"rre""ediftce might be of stone which was unsuccessful. The subscribers were 122 in number. Among the larger subscribers were: Isaac Adams $ 32 . 00 Jabez Adams 50.00 Matthew Camp 30.00 Samuel M. Coley 35 .00 Taylor Hurlbutt 200.00 Freelove Hurlbutt 75-0° 78 Philo W. Jones 30-0° Jackson Kemper 50.00 Daniel Nash 1,000.00 Dennish Nash 125 .00 Cash 100 . 00 Labor George Nash 80.00 Noah Nash 100.00 William Nash 100.00 Keeler Nash 50 . 00 Charles Nash 50.00 Henry Nash 30 . 00 Lewis Partrick 50.00 Lewis Raymond 65 .00 Robert Raymond 35 .00 Horace Staples 30.00 Edwin Wheeler 40.00 Joseph Wood 45-00 Among the smaller gifts is one of $10 from E. H. Nash, who later became the generous benefactor that made this present commodious and beautiful plant a possibility. I cannot resist this opportunity to repeat the story of Daniel Naslrs subscription, which I have heard Mr. E. H. Nash tell many times with great relish, although Mr. Selleck has recorded it in his book on the centenary of St. Pauls Church. It appears that after the first burst of generosity that the subscriptions came with less rapidity. But Dr. Kemper had no idea that his plans should fail. So as Daniel Nash warmed himself at the stove in old St. Paul's one chilly Sunday in the latter part of March, the good Doctor approached him, spoke of the pressing need of more money for the Saugatuck building fund and said: "Uncle Daniel, if you will double your subscription, I will double mine." The faithful churchman followed the lead of his trusted and trust- worthy pastor, and so it came about that while Dr. Kemper gave $50, Daniel Nash gave the munificent amount for that time of $1,000. The corner stone was laid May 9th, 1834, by Bishop Brownell, assisted by Dr. Kemper, and the church con- secrated by the Bishop Nov. 2nd, 1835, in the 17th year of his consecration. The parish was legally organized in October, 1835. The church was furnished by the women of the parish at a cost of $133.45. I subjoin a description of the old church, given me by the Rev. Mr. Coley: 80