Title: New Milford. A memorial discourse, delivered in the Congregational church, New Milford, Conn., Sunday, July 9, 1876
Author: Bonar, James B.
Language: English
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DELIVERED IN THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, NEW MILFORD, CONN., SUNDAY, JULY 9,
1876 ***



NEW MILFORD.

A MEMORIAL DISCOURSE.

1876.



                              NEW MILFORD.

                                    A
                           Memorial Discourse,

                            DELIVERED IN THE
                         CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,
                           NEW MILFORD, CONN.,

                          Sunday, July 9, 1876.

                                   BY
                         JAMES B. BONAR, PASTOR.

                        PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.

                                  1876.
                         M. L. DELAVAN, PRINTER.
                            NEW MILFORD, CT.



HISTORY

Town and Church of New Milford, Conn.

MEMORIAL SERMON.

    “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall
    declare thy mighty acts.”—Ps. 145: 4.


The past is full of interest and instruction, so that all concede the
value of history. Its importance is manifest from the fact that about
two-thirds of God’s Holy Word is historical.

The history of any and every part of the earth is interesting; but our
own Country and State, the town in which we reside, the Church to which
we belong, and the family whose name we bear, are to us of the greatest
interest. To-day, therefore, we turn our attention to the history of this
Church, Society and town.

The sources of information on these subjects, though bulky, are meagre
and imperfect. We have

1. Minutes of the Proprietor’s Meetings from 1706 to 1801.

2. Records of Town Meetings from 1713.

3. Minutes of the meetings of the First Ecclesiastical Society, from
December, 1753.

4. Ecclesiastical Society’s Treasurer’s books from 1802.

5. Church Records from December 27th, 1727. These are not complete; the
book kept by Mr. Rood is missing.

6. MSS. Notes of Rev. W. H. Moore.

7. Records of Baptist and Methodist Churches.

8. Memoir of Mrs. Mary A. Boardman, by Rev. Dr. Schroeder.

9. And the memory of persons still living.

In 1703, Col. Robert Treat and others representing 111 persons, all
of Milford, obtained a patent to a certain tract of land in New Haven
County, formerly called Weantinogue. This tract contained 84 square
miles, embracing what is now known as the towns of New Milford, and
Bridgewater, with parts of Brookfield and New Preston. It cost the
Proprietors about 8 mills an acre. The first settler, though not a
Proprietor, was John Noble, who came here from Massachusetts, in 1707.
The Indians were then and long afterwards numerous, but seem always to
have been on friendly terms with the settlers. The Proprietors held their
meetings at Milford until 1715. The first Town Meeting seems to have been
held in 1713. The town was first represented in the Legislature in 1725.
The first record of freemen was made in 1744. The town belonged to New
Haven Colony until the incorporation of Litchfield County, in 1751. The
first bridge over the Housatonic, between the sea and its source, was
built here in 1737. The first school in the town was opened in 1721, and
was taught 4 months in the year, the town paying half the expense.

In 1707 two persons came into New Milford.

In 1712 there were here 12 families or between 60 and 70 persons. A
census, taken in 1756, reports 1137 in the town; another taken in 1774,
reported 2776, while in 1800, after parts of the town had been ceded
to Brookfield and Washington, the population was 3198. The census of
1870, gives the population of the present New Milford, as 3586, while
Bridgewater, formerly a part of this town, has 877 inhabitants.

New Milford has always been loyal to the cause of freedom. In 1779 the
town voted 4 bushels of wheat a month to every man who volunteered for
six months, and three bushels a month to the militia men who marched when
ordered; but, if they failed to report within eight days after marching
orders, they forfeited this premium. The town also supported the families
of men while absent in the Continental army. In 1778 the Articles of
Confederacy proposed by Congress, styled “The United States of North
America,” were adopted in town meeting, except part of the 5th article,
which respects the mode of choosing Delegates to Congress. It was “Voted
that the Freemen will always hold the prerogative and sole power of
choosing our Delegates in Congress by vote.” Subsequently, “said Articles
of Confederacy were adopted in full by the meeting without a dissenting
voice.” In 1783 it was voted, and a Committee was appointed to enforce
the resolution, that all refugees, or “skedaddlers,” as they would now
be termed, as well as all who had voluntarily gone over to the enemy
during the war, should be prohibited from returning and settling in the
town. The Adjutant-General of Connecticut, reports the names of 222 men
from the town of New Milford as having served in the armies of the United
States during the Civil War of 1861-65. This does not include the 37 who
deserted nor the _one_ who was _dishonorably_ discharged.

The town, as such, has always upheld the cause of morality and good
order. In 1787 certain persons were fined “for bringing into the town
and entertaining unwholesome inhabitants.” So early as 1729 it was voted
in town meeting that “James Hine have oversight of the female sex during
exercises” in Church. And so late as 1821 a certain person was fined
$1.67 for “breach of the Sabbath,” but this fine was remitted.

The way in which they cared for the poor and guarded the interests of the
town, appears from the vote of 1771—“That a black bonnet, a red woman’s
cloak, and a worsted gown be kept for the daughter of Hannah Beeman; if
she die under age, the town to have them.”

The first sermon was preached here by Col. John Reid, who had studied for
the ministry in his youth. Mr. Daniel Boardman, a preacher of the Gospel,
came here in 1712. The next year it was voted that the inhabitants should
pay all the expense that had been incurred in obtaining a minister, also
to lay out a pastor’s lot, to dig and stone up a well for Mr. Daniel
Boardman, if he became a settled minister in New Milford. Meanwhile,
the town allowed 5s. 6d. a week for the minister’s board. In 1715 the
town agreed to petition the General Court to “attain liberty for the
settlement of the worship and ordinances of God among us.” This was the
subject that then came up at every meeting of the inhabitants. It was not
until 1716 that they made arrangements for laying out a burying ground
of two acres; but for four years before that they had been contriving
and planning for the religious instruction of themselves and families.
The poverty of the people appears in the resolution adopted as to Mr.
Boardman’s salary, one third of which was to be paid in grain, two-thirds
in labor, linen, or pork; the established price of wheat was then 4s. a
bushel, rye, 2s. 8d., corn 2s. and oats 1s.; part of the agreement being
that Mr. Boardman should sell the grain which he had to spare at the same
prices to the inhabitants. In accordance with a vote of the town, Mr.
Boardman was ordained November 21st, 1716.

So far as the records show, there was then entire unanimity of religious
belief and opinion among the people. The Ecclesiastical Society and the
Town were practically one and the same. Everything regarding the building
and finances of the Society was determined in Town Meeting. The first
division occurred in 1731-2, when 20 persons withdrew to form a Quaker
Society. They built a house in 1742 and have continued their worship from
that time until the present, though at this date there is but one family
of them residing in the town.

In 1743 the inhabitants of “Newbury” were set off for a separate
religious Society, and in the division of the Parsonage lands in 1755,
£98 3s. 6½d., was given to this Society, £13 14s. 6½d. to Newbury, and £5
12s. 7½d. to New Preston. Newbury was the ancient name of Brookfield, and
was formed into a town in 1788, from parts of New Milford, Danbury, and
Newtown. The Church at Brookfield was therefore organized, not in 1757,
as heretofore reported, but in 1743-4. The inhabitants of the “Neck,” as
Bridgewater, was originally called, early made representations to this
Society of the inconvenience of attending worship here during Winter
months. Part of their tax was remitted on condition that they provided
preaching for themselves during the Winter; and for a number of years Mr.
Taylor and Mr. Griswold spent one Sabbath in each of the three Winter
months at the Neck. The Church at Bridgewater was organized in 1809.
Bridgewater was set off as a town in 1856.

There must have been Episcopalians in town earlier, but the first
allusion to them occurs in the record of a town Meeting in 1744, just
previous to the death of Mr. Boardman: “Voted, That those of us who are
of the Church of England shall be free from paying any charge for a
minister for one year, if circumstances remain as they now are; but, if
in the providence of God our Reverend Pastor should be taken away, then
the said Church men to be under the same regulation as the rest.” The
Rev. James Beach, of Newtown, visited New Milford occasionally between
1740 and 1745, and a lay reader read service for some time. The first
Episcopal clergyman who resided here was Rev. Solomon Palmer, who came
in 1754. This Society continued feeble for many years; but under the 20
years pastorate of the Rev. Charles G. Acly, just closed, it has grown
strong and healthy. It has now 132 families and 265 communicants.

The Separatists, or Strict Congregationalists as they were called,
built a meeting house, in what is now the old cemetery, in 1761. They
disbanded in 1812, uniting some with this Society and some with the
Episcopalians.

Between 1780 and 1785 the followers of Jemima Wilkenson, who is described
as a remarkably comely woman, with dark hair and sparkling black eyes,
built a house in what is now the old cemetery, on the hill on the road
towards New Preston. They soon sold this building to the Episcopalians
and moved to Genesee, New York, where Jemima resided.

The Baptists formed a small Church and erected a house of worship in the
lower end of the town called the Neck (Bridgewater) in 1788-90, “but
never had a pastor, and soon moved elsewhere.”

The Baptist Church at Northville was organized February 9th, 1814, with 7
males and 16 female members, most of whom had previously been connected
with a Baptist Church in Roxbury. Its present membership is 46. The
Baptist Church at Gaylordsville was formed about 1830 and has always been
small. Its present membership is 33. Somewhere about 1830 a Union Church
was built at Merryall, which was used chiefly, but not wholly, by the
Baptists. No Society was ever formed, and no service has been held in the
house for 20 years.

The Rev. Elijah Hebard, from Stratford circuit, seems to have been the
first Methodist Episcopal minister who visited New Milford. In 1815 he
preached at John Warner’s in Pleasant Valley. Others followed, and in
1825 a Society was formed in Gaylordsville; that Society still exists
and has now 66 members. In 1826 the Methodists erected a Church at
Northville; and in 1828-9 they erected another on the Plains at a cost of
$3,000. It is to be regretted that these organizations at Northville and
on the Plains are both extinct and have been so for twenty-five years.
The Methodist Church in the Village was erected in 1849 and dedicated
by Bishop Janes in May, 1850—the Rev. Wm. M’Allister, then being the
Preacher in charge. Its present membership is 130.

The Roman Catholics opened a place for worship in 1860-61, but had no
resident priest until 1872. They have now a large congregation, composed
almost exclusively of persons of foreign birth.

These are all the Religious Societies that have existed in the town. Out
of a population of 3,586 there is to-day a Church membership, exclusive
of the Roman Catholics of 807.

In 1871-2, this Church thoroughly canvassed the town, exclusive of New
Preston Society, distributing Bibles and Tracts, and carefully reporting
the Church attendance and preferences of the people by families. Of the
707 _families_ reported, there were Congregational, 218; Episcopal, 156;
Methodists, 88; Roman Catholics, 46; 2d Advent, (colored) 18; Baptists,
15; Jews, 3; Lutherans, 2; Friends, 2; Reformed Dutch, 1; and not
attending any Church, 158.

With this general review of the Ecclesiastical history of the town, we
turn now to consider more minutely the history of this, the oldest and
always largest Church and Society—the oldest but one and the largest in
the County.

There was no Ecclesiastical Society until after 1750. Until then, the
town was the Society. It was the town that provided for the supply of
the pulpit, for the installation of ministers, the erection and care of
buildings, and all expenses connected with public worship. The Church
held meetings for the election of Deacons, the discipline of members, and
the spiritual interests of the people. But the town managed everything
that now belongs to the Society. It was the town that invited Mr. Daniel
Boardman to labor here, and that settled him as a pastor, making all the
arrangements for his installation. The town did the same in the case
of Mr. Taylor. So far as the records show, the Church took no separate
action in calling its pastors until the invitation to Mr. Griswold, in
1790, when it formally voted, as has been the custom ever since, to
concur in the Society’s action. From 1713 to 1750 a large part of the
business in Town Meeting was in regard to Ecclesiastical affairs.

The first Meeting House, “40 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 24 feet between
“gists,” with suitable proportions,” was built in 1718-19, but not opened
for worship until 1720, and then it was in a very unfinished condition.
In 1720 it was voted to wall up the gists before Winter and fill in
between the lathe and studs with timber and mortar. The floor was not
laid until 1723. This building stood on the highway on Town Hill, a few
rods North of the present residence of Mrs. J. P. Treadwell. The second
house of worship, “64 feet long, 44 feet wide, and 27 fee posts,” nearly
twice the size of the first, was erected in 1754, the town applying to
the General Assembly for power to sell the old Meeting House, and to
tax non-resident land holders for building the new one. This building
stood on the Village Green, nearly opposite the present residence of Mr.
Solomon E. Bostwick. The present edifice was erected in 1833, and though
much larger than the former, for several years persons wishing slips have
been unable to obtain them. It would be a good Centennial work to enlarge
the building.

The Sabbath Day House was an institution that is unknown to the present
generation. In 1745 the town voted “that any farmers, inhabitants, have
leave to build a small house to repair to on Sabbath day on the common
land, provided the public is not damnified thereby.” This building was
located “North of the Meeting House on the side of the hill.” After the
erection of the Church on the Green, the Sabbath Day House was built on
the spot where now stands the house so long occupied by the Rev. Mr.
Acly. It is described to me by a lady still with us (Mrs. Eli Mygatt) who
went through it more than 70 years ago, as a long, low building, with
four large rooms, regarding which frightful stories were told of the
ghosts that inhabited it. In this building, farmers, whose homes were
distant, stored loads of wood, and barrels of cider, and here they warmed
their bean soup, replenished their foot-stoves and regaled themselves in
the hour between services. Until 1870 the services were held morning and
afternoon; since 1870, the second service has been held in the evening.

The Chapel was built by individuals, with permission of the Society in
1838-9. The Meeting Houses were not heated until 1823-5, when two box
stoves were put into the second Meeting House. In November, 1833, the
Society voted to obtain “2 of Dr. Nott’s stoves and one ton of anthracite
coal for the Winter.” Furnaces were put in in 1860, when the Church was
improved at a cost of $5,225, and land for sheds was bought. The organ
was obtained in 1860, at a cost of $1,200.

The Parsonage was bought in August, 1870, at a cost of $6,000, paid for
by subscription, and presented, with certain conditions attached, to the
Society. Originally, the people were called to worship, as to all public
meetings, by the beat of a drum, for which an appropriation was made in
1716. For many years after the first Church building was occupied, the
town annually appointed a person to beat the drum and voted him pay for
his services. I have been unable to discover when the first bell was
obtained. A Church clock which hung in the steeple of the second Meeting
House must have been bought about a century ago. In 1780 the liabilities
of the Society are thus stated: “Arrears yet due on account of clock £7
3s. 5d. and due Widow Prudence Collins, for sweeping the Meeting House £1
10s. 0d.”

Until 1745 this was the only Society and every person in town was taxed
for its support. From 1750 to 1790 persons who aided in supporting other
Societies were by vote, relieved from the tax for the support of this
Society. There is no instance on record in which a request for relief on
this plea was refused. From 1800, though this Society had the legal right
up to 1819, to tax all, only the members of the Society were, in fact,
taxed for its benefit. The proposal to meet necessary expenses by the
sale of slips was first made in 1851 and rejected by a large majority.
This plan was adopted in 1854 and has continued until the present.
Previous to that, committees had from time to time “seated and dignified
the Meeting House.” The resolutions of 1756, were, that “all persons of
the age of 56 years and upwards should be seated in the first rank of
seats, and all other persons according to the rates and taxes they have
paid towards building said Meeting House.” But for special reasons of
honor or infirmity, persons were often, by vote, placed in the highest
rank. In subsequent seatings, it was usually voted that “no person should
be placed lower than he had previously been.”

This Society does not seem ever to have received pecuniary aid from
sister Churches, or from individuals outside of its own membership.
In 1719 an agent was sent to Milford “to see what they would do for
the support of the Gospel here.” That application was probably to the
Proprietors, and there is no record of its result. The Proprietors set
apart what were called “Donation” or “Parsonage Lands for the support
of the Gospel according to the Presbyterian Congregational order, in
the town.” From these lands a 24s. lot was given to Mr. Boardman as
part of his settlement, and probably a similar lot to Mr. Taylor at his
ordination. The remainder of this land was sold at different times before
1790, and the proceeds given to the various Societies within the town in
proportion to the “List” of their members. And in 1790 the Proprietors
appointed a Committee to examine the roads belonging to them, to narrow
them and sell the land thus obtained. This Committee completed its work
in 1810. Part of the proceeds of the land thus sold from the highways,
was donated to this Society, and carefully invested in Hartford Bank
Stock, which it holds to this day.

In 1792 Col. Josiah Starr, who had long been Treasurer, purchased some
Hartford Bank Stock, for the Society, and to complete the payment
advanced out of his own funds $192 24. Mr. Comstock, a later Treasurer,
has recorded that this was never repaid. Col. Starr, doubtless, intended
this as a gift to the Society.

September 13th, 1860, a vote of thanks was passed to John P. Treadwell,
Esq., then of New York, for the gift of $500 toward the purchase of an
organ.

September 19th, 1834, a vote of thinks to Miss Gratia M. Merwin for the
donation of $100.

March 3d, 1870, a vote of thanks to Royal I. Canfield, for $500, given
for a permanent fund, the avails to be used for the support of the
Gospel. Mr. Canfield had previously (1861) given additional land for
sheds, which cost him $100.

Mr. Homer Beard, who died February, 1871, bequeathed to the Society land
which was sold for $1,030.

And Mrs. Phebe Beard, his widow, who died September, 1874, left to the
Society property which netted $832.

This Society has always shown a characteristic New England thrift and
prudence in regard to its finances. So early as 1755, it appointed
a committee to “take care of the money, coming from the sale of the
Parsonage lands, to loan out said money on good and sufficient security.”
From that time to this, the Society has always had money loaned, invested
in Government securities or in Bank stock. And in 1787, it was voted
that only the interest over _six_ per cent., should be used for current
expenses. But this rule has not been observed or the Society would now be
rich.

From 1752 until 1796, all the educational and religious affairs of the
town were under the control of this Society. It located the Schools,
fixed the tax, collected it, and superintended the Schools through
committees annually appointed. It was, in fact, the School Society for
the Town, and as such received Benoni Stebbins’ legacy. It fixed and
collected the tax for the salary of the ministers, “for the sweeping out
of the Meeting House.” It also, in some measure, managed the financial
affairs of the Episcopal Society; for in 1771, after appointing Ichabod
Bostwick to gather the minister’s rate, it appointed “Solomon Hodkiss
to gather a rate for Mr. Clark.” And in 1772 this Society issued a
notice “to warn all the Church people to meet together on Monday, the
13th day of instant, April, at St. John’s Church at 8 of the clock in
the morning, then and there to consult such measures as they shall
think proper to procure a Glebe house for the Rev. Mr. Clark, and to
do such other business as shall be thought proper.” The minutes of the
meeting thus warned are recorded as “a meeting of the inhabitants of the
1st Ecclesiastical Society—holden by the Church of England.” This was
doubtless done, in a fraternal spirit, to give legal efficacy to the
action of the Episcopal Society in disposing of one Glebe and purchasing
another. This shows the kindly feeling that then, as now and always, has
governed the members of this Society. The Church Review (vol. ii, p.
317,—See Hollister’s Hist. of Conn. vol. ii, p. 545—Note) states that
“certain Churchmen in New Milford were fined for refusing to attend the
meetings of the established Church. These fines were, by recommendation
of Mr. Beach, paid, and copies of the proceedings taken to be forwarded
to the King and council. The fact becoming known, the authorities
refunded the money and granted permission to build a church, which before
had been refused.” I do not know the authority of the Church Review for
this statement; but I do know that there is no warrant for it in Town or
Society’s books. There is no record of any refusal to permit Churchmen
to build, nor of the remittance of a fine upon any person for being
absent from the worship of this Church; yet the books contain records of
scores of votes remitting fines for breach of the Sabbath and other minor
offences. From 1752 to 1819 this Society had all the legal rights in its
own hand. But, in all the records there is no instance of anything like
intolerance, or a disposition to throw obstacles in the way of others;
while there are numerous instances of its generosity, and readiness to
aid those who entertained a faith different from its own.

This Society has uniformly treated its ministers honorably and kindly.
It has always acted with a good degree of unanimity. In every instance,
except the first, the Society has found it difficult to unite in the
calling of a pastor. At such times feeling has often run high, and when
a call was voted, there has often been a few votes in the negative But
the call once given and the pastor settled, parties have disappeared
and all united in treating the man with the respect due to his office.
Of the 8 pastors who have preceded the present, 3—Boardman, Taylor, and
Elliot—died in office. Mr. Griswold left voluntarily, without any action
on the part of the Church or Society. Mr. Porter resigned because of
his “physical inability to perform the duties belonging to so large and
scattered a parish.” Mr. Murdoch resigned to accept the invitation of the
Third Church in New Haven. In regard to Mr. Rood, the Church and Society
both voted unanimously that a change was needful for their well being;
but even then, it voted him a gift of $400 and borrowed the money to give
it to him. In the only other instance in which a change was desired, it
was solely because of the physical infirmity of the pastor, who was as
universally admired for his talents, as he was revered for his character.
On his resignation, the Society voted him a donation of $500. The Society
has always cared for the comfort of its pastors and been faithful to its
promises to them. In the times of Messrs. Boardman and Taylor it was very
poor and did not always pay promptly; but then it allowed interest on
all arrearages. It gave Mr. Boardman a settlement in land and increased
his salary from £50 and 40 cords of wood, “good and suitable for the
fire,” to £125. It gave Mr. Taylor a settlement of £1,000, payable in
installments within three years, and increased his salary from time to
time at his request. But in 1779—“the time that tried men’s souls”—Mr.
Taylor, “trusting to the generosity of the members of the Society,”
relinquished his salary of £150, lawful money, from May 1st, 1778, to May
1st, 1779. And in 1782, Mr. Taylor, “taking into consideration the great
burden and heavy taxes now lying on the people by reason of the present
war, and he, being free and willing to bear a proportionate part of the
cost and burden with others of the Society,” did “abate and discharge to
said Society, the sum of £30, lawful money” from what was then due to
him. And the Society, in its vote of thanks, “allowed that £30 was his
full equal part, according to his interest or estate.” On the ordination
of Mr. Griswold the Society voted Mr. Taylor “a gratuity of £80, in
addition to all arrears then due to him.” Mr. Griswold’s settlement was
£200, with a salary of £100, “payable in gold or silver, or produce at
such prices as he would accept, with interest on all arrears.” £15 was
afterwards added to his salary “because he did not receive so much wood
as he expected.” And from 1794 to 1801 the Society annually voted him,
usually £30 “in view of the high price of provisions the current year.”
Mr. Elliot’s salary was $550: but from 1819 to his death $50 additional
was annually voted to him except in 1826. Mr. Rood’s salary was $600,
while Messrs. Porter and Greenwood had $700; Mr. Murdoch accepted the
call of the Church and Society at a salary of $800, which, on his
application, was gradually increased to $2,000. And in 1868 members of
the Society presented him $1,750.

This statement of facts shows that this Society has aimed to do well by
its pastors, and that these pastors were men who were worthy of good
treatment.

These pastors were:—

1. Daniel Boardman—Graduated at Yale College, 1709, was ordained here
November 21st, 1716, and died August, 25th, 1744.

2. Nathaniel Taylor was born in Danbury, August 27th, 1722; graduated at
Yale College, in 1745; was ordained pastor here June 29th, 1748, and died
here December 9th, 1800. He fitted many boys for College and married the
daughter of his predecessor.

3. Stanley Griswold was born in Torringford, November 14th, 1763;
graduated at Yale College, in 1786; was ordained pastor here June 20th,
1790; became a Unitarian, threw open the sacraments to all, and was
censured by Consociation. He left town in 1802, and edited a political
paper in New Hampshire. In 1805 he was appointed Secretary of Michigan
Territory. In 1809 he was sent to the U. S. Senate, was afterwards Chief
Judge of the N. W. Territory, and died at Shawneetown, Ill., August 25th,
1815, aged 52.

This Church and Society united in forming the Litchfield South
Consociation, on July 7th, 1752. But feeling aggrieved by the action
of the Association and Consociation in relation to Mr. Griswold,
the Society, September 1805, by a unanimous vote withdrew from said
Consociation, for intermeddling in the private affairs of this Society
and excommunicating the pastor unheard in his own defence. It stood
unconsociated until the installation of Mr. Elliot, when dropping the
half-way covenant, which was adopted here in 1769, it was received
into the Fairfield Consociation, February 24th, 1808. It returned to
Litchfield South Consociation, April 27th, 1836.

4. Andrew Elliot, son of Rev. Andrew Elliot, of Fairfield; graduated at
Yale College, in 1790; was ordained pastor here February 24th, 1808, and
labored most successfully until his death, May 9th, 1829. No pastor of
this Church has exerted a more powerful and healthy influence upon the
town than Mr. Elliot. The most extensive and genuine revival that ever
blessed this community, was under his ministry.

5. Heman Rood was born in Vermont; graduated at Middlebury College in
1819, and Seminary in 1825; was ordained pastor at Gilmanton, N. H., June
12th, 1826-30; was pastor in New Milford from 1830 to 1835. Mr. Rood’s
pastorate was the briefest this Church has ever had. He was afterwards
professor in the Theological Seminary, at Gilmanton, N. H., 7 years.

6. Noah Porter, son of Rev. Noah Porter, D. D., of Farmington, was
born December 14th, 1811; graduated at Yale College, in 1831; at
Yale Seminary, in 1836; was ordained pastor here April 27th, 1836,
and resigned December 31st, 1842; after serving the South Church,
Springfield, Mass., 4 years, he then became a professor in Yale
University of which institution he was elected President, and inaugurated
October 11th, 1871.

7. John Greenwood was born in Berwick, Yorkshire, England, June
5th, 1794, and was ordained pastor at Royston, Cambridgeshire, June
20th, 1822-July 17th, 1836; installed pastor at Bethel, April 18th,
1838-February 1842; after serving this Church as settled pastor for one
year, he was installed pastor April 24th, 1844, and resigned May 19th,
1849. In 1843 he received the honorable degree of A. M. from Yale College.

8. David Murdoch, was born in Glasgow, Scotland; graduated at Union
College, in 1845; Union Theological Seminary, 1848; ordained pastor here
September 18th, 1850, and remained until September 28th, 1869. He was
installed pastor of the New Haven Third Church, October 1st, 1869, and
remained until May 15th, 1874.

9. James B. Bonar graduated at Wabash College, 1853; at Union Theological
Seminary, New York, 1856; ordained —— by the Third Presbyterian Church,
New York, March 18th, 1857; installed pastor American Presbyterian
Church, Montreal, Canada, June 6th, 1857, and left in 1869. He was
installed pastor at New Milford, June 30th, 1870.

The Church connected with this Society was organized November 21st,
1716, with 8 male and 5 female members. During the first pastorate 225
more were added by profession and letter. During Mr. Taylor’s ministry
of 42 years, 301 names were added to the roll. Mr. Griswold kept a full
record of Baptisms, Marriages, and Deaths during his entire ministry.
His list of admissions to the Church is only to January 1st, 1797. From
that date he seems to have invited all persons to the Sacraments. Under
his ministry only 34 persons united with the Church. At his ordination
Mr. Elliott found only 43 members—showing how the Church had been
broken up in the 8 years preceding. Nine years later, after the Church
at Bridgewater had been formed, Mr. Elliott reports a membership of
118; but this was before the revival that moved the town. Three hundred
and nineteen members were added to the Church during Mr. Elliot’s
ministry—most of them on profession of faith. There were added to the
Church under Mr. Rood, 153, Mr. Porter, 116, and Mr. Greenwood, 46. After
the retirement of Mr. Greenwood, Rev. E. W. Andrews was acting pastor
for 6 or 8 months, and received 63 persons to Church fellowship. In
the 19 years of Mr. Murdoch’s ministry there were added to the Church,
243 persons; and under the present pastorate of 6 years 80 have been
received. The number of names on the Church roll up to this date is 1593.
In 1861 there was a reported membership of 476; but the roll had not been
revised and corrected since 1836. A careful sifting of the list in the
Fall of 1870, showed a Church membership of 310 at the beginning of the
present pastorate. The actual membership to-day is 332—27 of them over
75 years of age, and one of them over 100 years. At the head of the list
is Mrs. Polly Canfield who united in 1812. Two persons are said to have
died in this town over 100 years of age—Harry Carpenter, a colored man,
and Noah Nodine, who was born in the 17th century and died in the 19th.
Miss Sally Northrop, who celebrated the anniversary of her 100th birthday
on the 29th of June is still living.

During the last century, the Church was sensitive as to the character
of its Deacons. Instead of electing brethren at once to the office,
it choose them to serve during the Church’s pleasure. If acceptable
after one or two years trial, they were, by vote, “established as
Deacons.” And in 1750 the Church voted that one brother, who had thus
been on trial for two years, “should not be established in the office
of Deacon.” Twenty-one persons have so far served the Church in this
office, viz:—Samuel Brownson, James Prime, John Bostwick, Job Terrill,
Samuel Canfield, Bushnell Bostwick, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Gaylord,
John Hitchcock, Sherman Boardman, Elizur Warner, Joseph Merwin, Dobson
W. M’Mahon, John Beecher, Nicanor Stilson, Geo. W. Whittelsey, Geradus
Roberts, Seymour B. Green, William Hine, John J. Conklin, and Ethiel S.
Green. From 1716 to 1803, the Lord’s Supper was administered 4 times a
year; since 1808, every two months.

Nineteen men from this Church have entered the Gospel ministry, viz:—

1. David Bostwick, born here January 8th, 1721; was ordained pastor at
Jamaica, L. I., October 9th, 1745, where he stayed until 1746. He was
installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, in New York City, in
1756, and died in 1763. His work on Infant Baptism was published here and
in England, and republished in 1837.

2. Joseph Treat; graduated at Princeton College, in 1757. He was ordained
pastor colleague of Rev. Dr. Bostwick, First Presbyterian Church, N. Y.
City, in 1762, where he remained until 1784.

3. David Brownson; graduated at Yale College, in 1762, and was ordained
pastor at Oxford in 1764, staying until 1779. He died in 1806.

4. Benjamin Wildman; graduated at Yale College, in 1758; was ordained
pastor at Southbury, in 1766 and died in 1812.

5. Whitmon Welch; graduated at Yale College in 1762, and died in 1776.

6. Gideon Bostwick was born here in 1742; graduated at Yale College in
1762. He was a teacher of the Classical School established in Great
Barrington, Mass., by Dr. Whiting, Col. Dwight and other members of the
Episcopal Church, in 1766. Invited to act as Lay reader, he went to
England and received orders from the Bishop of London, and was Rector at
Great Barrington, from 1767 to 1793. He died here while on a visit to
Mrs. Boardman, who was Dr. Whiting’s daughter. [See Schroeder’s Memorial
of Mrs. M. A. Boardman.]

7. David Sandford was born in Milford, December 11th, 1737; graduated at
Yale College in 1755; was ordained pastor at Medway, Mass., April 14th,
1763, and continued there until April 7th, 1810.

8. John Stevens; graduated at Yale College, in 1779; was licensed by
Litchfield South Association, 1780, and died in 1799.

9. David Baldwin.

10. Daniel Marsh was born in 1762; graduated at Williams College; was
pastor of Bennington, Vt., from 1806 to 1820; died at Janesville, New
York, in 1843.

11. Nathaniel W. Taylor, grandson of the second pastor of this Church,
was born here, June 13, 1786; graduated at Yale College, in 1807;
converted in College; was ordained pastor at New Haven, on the first of
April, 1812, and retained the position until December 1822. He was then
Professor in Yale College Theological Seminary, and died in 1858. He
trained nearly 700 young men for the ministry.

12. Charles A. Boardman; was pastor at New Preston from June 1818, until
March 1830; was installed pastor at New Haven, on the third of March,
1830, remaining until September 1832. He was also installed pastor at
Westport, February 1833, and stayed until December 1836. He died in 1860.

13. Orlo D. Hine was born here, October 28, 1815; graduated at Yale
College, in 1837; was ordained pastor at Clinton, April 14th, 1841,
laboring there until October 25th, 1842. He was also acting pastor at
Fair Haven, Vt., from 1843 to 1845; acting pastor at Pontiac, Mich., from
1846 to 1851; installed pastor at North Woodstock, January 6th, 1852, and
stayed until November 5th, 1855; and was installed pastor at Lebanon the
first of May 1856.

14. Merrit S. Platt was born in 1805; graduated at Hamilton College; was
ordained pastor at Madison, N.Y., September 1837, remaining until 1855;
was acting pastor at Hamilton, N. Y., 1855, staying until 1864; was also
acting pastor at Glassboro, New Field, Franklin, New Jersey, in 1864. He
is still living.

15. Eliezur Beecher, ordained by the Baptists about 1814; was never
settled; preached mainly in this town.

16. Asahel Bronson was ordained about 1820 or 1825; supposed to be dead.

17. John Treat Baldwin; graduated at Princeton College; was ordained
about 1820. He is still living.

18. George Todd; graduated at Yale College about 1820 or 1825; supposed
to be living.

19. George Sterling was ordained pastor at Wayland, Mich., December, 1874.

At least four men in this town have been active in National affairs. The
most distinguished was Roger Sherman, a native of Mass., who came here
in 1743. He was clerk to this Ecclesiastical Society, from 1753 to 1761,
and established in the office of Deacon in 1757. Here he wrought as a
shoemaker, aided his brother in the store, and in 1745 was appointed
land surveyor for the County. Removing to New Haven in 1761, he became
judge of the court of Common Pleas, a member of the upper House in the
Legislature, and judge of the Superior Court. In 1774 he was appointed
a member of the first Congress, in which he continued until his death,
at which time he was in the Senate, to which he was elected in 1791.
He was a member of the Governor’s Council of safety, and Mayor of New
Haven from 1784 to his death, July 23d, 1793. In the Congress of 1776
he was a member of the Committee appointed to draft the Declaration of
Independence, as well as of many of the other most important Committees,
and he was also a member of the board of war, and of the board of
treasury. His services to the Country were invaluable, and few of his
contemporaries left their impress more clearly upon American institutions.

Elijah Boardman, third son of Deacon Sherman Boardman, and grandson of
the first pastor of this Church, was born March 7, 1760. In 1821 he was
elected to the U. S. Senate; he died August 18th, 1823. Mr. Boardman’s
earlier years were in connection with this Society; but having married
a daughter of the aforementioned Dr. Whiting, a zealous Episcopalian
who engaged in a pamphlet controversy with Dr. Billamy, he afterwards
identified himself with the Episcopal Church and died in its communion.

Perry Smith, who died in 1852, was elected to the United States Senate in
1836, and served one term. He was connected with the Episcopal Society.

Orange Merwin, born here July 3, 1776, was in Congress in 1826-7, during
the administration of John Quincy Adams. He died September 5th, 1854. He
was a member of this Society.

The Sabbath School was begun in 1812 or 14 by Rev. Mr. Elliott, who for
some time was the only teacher. The first appropriation of money for its
benefit by the Church was in 1821. The present membership of the Sabbath
School is 300. The Infant Class in the Chapel was begun, under its
present teacher, Miss Isabella Wilson, in 1872.

Under Mr. Elliott’s ministry, prayer meetings became common in the town.
They were held on Sundays between services, in the Town House and in the
school houses of the outlying districts. In times of religious interest
many week day meetings were held in various places. A Saturday evening
prayer meeting was held for years in the parlors of Mr. and Mrs. Eli
Mygatt, when they lived on the spot now occupied by the residence of Mrs.
Sanford and afterwards in the Town house. But no regular mid-week Church
afternoon service was established until during Mr. Rood’s pastorate, when
the Friday afternoon meeting was begun. The Tuesday evening meeting was
commenced in 1865 or 66. The Mother’s Monthly Prayer Meeting began in
1869.

The gifts to the Church, so far, are these: July 14th, 1815, Deacon
Dobson, and W. M’Mahon gave the Church $100, the interest to be used for
relief of poor members, or for books. February 20th, 1820, Deacon M’Mahon
gave $400 to be used for the same purposes.

In 1844 Miss Lois Wells gave the Church $200 for the relief of the poor,
sick and destitute female members.

Mrs. Anna Hine, widow of Stephen, who died in 1851 or 2 bequeathed $200
to the Church.

And in January 6th, 1860, Miss Sully Northrop, who completed her 100th
year a few days ago, gave $200 to be added to the Church Fund.

The Benevolent Library originated in the gifts of Deacon M’Mahon, Col.
Samuel Canfield and Philo N. Heacock, who took great interest in it. No
additions have been made to it for some years. It consists of about 600
volumes of standard works, and merits more attention than it has lately
received.

It is impossible to form any estimate of the amount of money contributed
by this Church and Society, to religious and benevolent objects. Until
after the installation of Mr. Porter there was no system or regularity
in its charities. Collections were taken up as the town was visited
by agents, or as necessity seemed to require. It is thought that
contributions have been made regularly to the A. B. C. F. M., and the
Am. H. M. S., ever since these societies were formed. The oldest record
of any contribution by this Congregation is the receipt of the County
Treasurer for £94 16s. 0d. which this Society gave “for the suffering and
distressed inhabitants of the towns of New Haven, Fairfield and Norwalk.”
This receipt is dated September 1779, three months after the towns named
had been sacked by Major General Tryon.

From 1836 to 1871 the Congregation contributed regularly to the Am. Ed.,
the Bible, the A. H. M., the Seamen’s F. & S. S. Union, the A. B. C. F.
M., and the A. Tract Societies. Since 1871 we have contributed annually
to the Bible S., Congregational Union, A. H. M. S., Fund for Disabled
Ministers and their widows, the A. B. C. F. M., and the A. M. Association.

The Rev. W. H. Moore states that, in the 17 years from 1859 to 1875, this
Congregation contributed $18,876.53. Dividing this into two periods, he
finds that in the first nine years you gave $3,765.90, and in the last
eight years $11,810.63, a gratifying increase, which, it is hoped we
shall fully maintain.

The Ladies’ Mite Society was formed in 1817 as a Dorcas Society. For 50
years it has annually contributed about $75, divided between A. H. M. S.,
Seamen’s F. and A. Ed. Societies.

The Auxiliary to the Woman’s B. of Missions was formed in May 1872, “The
Golden Links,” and “Star Circle” a year later. These organizations last
year, together, contributed $389.

Such, in brief, brethren, is the story of your Church, Society and town.
It is one of which you need not be ashamed. A careful study of these
old records has increased my respect and reverence for the men of the
past. Their courage in facing difficulties, their heroic endurance of
privation, their sturdy independence, their delight in the ordinances of
the Gospel, their readiness to assist each other, and their generosity
towards those who differed from them in opinion, are worthy not only of
warm praise, but of careful imitation.

And yet these men of the past were not all saints and patriots. In 1776
there were some bitter tories here: One of these was compelled by a
company of riflemen to walk before them from New Milford to Litchfield
carrying one of his own geese the entire distance At Litchfield they
tarred him, made him pluck his own goose, bestowed the feathers upon him,
and drummed him out of the place, after obliging him to kneel down and
thank them for their leniency. And in 1757 David Ferriss was paid 11s.
out of the Society’s treasury, to reimburse him for counterfeit money
which he had received as Collector. This nest of counterfeiters was not
broken up until 1768, when a dozen of them were arrested. The old Church
books show that immorality was not unknown among Church members. The
pastoral letter which was issued to the Churches by the Litchfield South
Consociation in 1752, reveals a state of things in these Churches worse
than any known to-day. Sixty years ago (1816) there was a distillery in
every town—169 in Litchfield County,—26 of them in New Milford. To-day
there are three distilleries in town, and soon it is hoped these will
disappear and the nine places licensed to sell liquors.

There is abundant cause for gratitude. There has been progress in every
direction. In our beautiful village—than which there is not now a
lovelier or a healthier in New England—with our system of concrete walks,
lamps and water works, our substantial Town Hall and enlarged school
privileges—we may here spend life as pleasantly and profitably, doing
the will of God from the heart—as was could anywhere on the face of the
globe. With all these blessings and privileges there is, of course, an
increased responsibility. It becomes us to conserve and improve all that
the fathers have left us, and hand down an unimpaired inheritance to the
generations that are to follow.



*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "New Milford. A memorial discourse, delivered in the Congregational church, New Milford, Conn., Sunday, July 9, 1876" ***

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