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CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION 
 1775-1818 
 
To this Essay was awarded the 
 
 Justin Winsor Pkize 
 
 in American History 
 
 for 1916 
 
Connecticut 
 in Transition 
 
 1775-1818 
 
 B¥ 
 
 RICHARD J. PURCELL, Ph.D. 
 
 WASHINGTON: AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 
 
 LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD 
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 1918 
 

 A Limited Edition of This Essay Has Been Printed and the 
 Type Distributed 
 
 Copyright, 1918 
 
 By The American Historical Association 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 ;: 
 
 
 COMPOSED and printed at the 
 
 WAVERLY PRESS 
 
 By the Williams & Wilkins Company 
 
 Baltimore, Md. , U. S. A. 
 
 'CLA51.2506 
 
y 
 
 In Memory 
 
 of 
 My Father 
 
PREFACE 
 
 HP HIS study of an epoch in the history of Con- 
 -*• necticut was begun at the suggestion of 
 Professor Max Farrand. Under his scholarly guid- 
 ance it gradually took the form of a doctoral dis- 
 sertation and was submitted to the faculty of the 
 Graduate School of Yale University. At the Yale 
 Commencement of 1916 it was awarded the John 
 Addison Porter prize. Since the award to the 
 writer of the Justin Winsor prize, the essay has 
 been revised and somewhat abridged, especially 
 with reference to charts and notes. Among those 
 who have read the manuscript, I desire to express 
 my appreciation for suggestions to Mr. Anson 
 Phelps Stokes, the secretary of Yale University, 
 and to Professor Carl Russell Fish of the University 
 of Wisconsin. 
 
 Richard J. Purcell. 
 College of St. Thomas, 
 St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 Introduction 1 
 
 I. 1. The Rise of Infidelity to 1801 5 
 
 2. The Religious Life of Yale College 22 
 
 3. The Religious Revival after 1801 30 
 
 4. The Liberalizing of Calvinism 39 
 
 II. 1. The Protestant Episcopal Church 46 
 
 2. The Strict Congregationalists 65 
 
 3. The Baptist Church 66 
 
 4. The Methodist-Episcopal Church. 81 
 
 5. The Smaller Religious Bodies 89 
 
 6. Common Grievances of Dissenters 92 
 
 III. 1. Banks and the Increase of Capital 98 
 
 2. Shipping and Carrying Trade 113 
 
 3. Manufactures 119 
 
 IV. 1. Emigration and Western Lands 139 
 
 2. Agriculture and Sheep Raising 158 
 
 V. The Working Government 174 
 
 VI. Rise of the Democratic-Republican Party 227 
 
 VII. Federal Party Organization 299 
 
 VIII. Success of the Reform Party 332 
 
x CONTENTS 
 
 IX. Completion of the Revolution 373 
 
 Appendix 420 
 
 Bibliography 421 
 
 Index 457 
 
 MAPS 
 
 Ecclesiastical Map (1818) facing 97 
 
 Vote for Governor, April, 1817 349 
 
 Vote on Constitution by Towns (1818) 412 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 fl^HE Revolutionary generation and its sons 
 -■■ witnessed a remarkable revolution in the 
 character of the old commonwealth of Connecticut ; 
 they lived through an era of transition from 1775 
 to 1 81 8. Connecticut passed from a colonial de- 
 pendency into a sovereign state. This all men 
 realized. They did not recognize, however, that 
 this was only the beginning and that at best it was 
 a change in form rather than in spirit, in theory 
 rather than in practice. Contemporaries were quite 
 unaware of the gradual growth from an aristo- 
 cratic, paternalistic into a modern democratic state. 
 That they overlooked this is not surprising, for the 
 famed "steady habits" were bettered or under- 
 mined, as you will, by a natural movement of 
 forces imperceptibly gradual in action. 
 
 Other colonies had internal revolutionary strug- 
 gles which have been aptly compared with the 
 national revolt from the mother-land. Massachu- 
 setts, Vermont, the Carolinas, Virginia and Penn- 
 sylvania had seen alinements of the frontier de- 
 mocracy over against the governing aristocracy of 
 the settled tide-water regions. There had been vir- 
 tual Declarations of Independence on the part of 
 the West and threatened or actual resort to force, 
 before the East acceded to their demands for ade- 
 quate representation and protection against the In- 
 dians. In Connecticut such was not the case ; for 
 
 1 
 
2 INTRODUCTION 
 
 there was no real frontier, no essentially frontier 
 grievances, and no racial lines. If anything, re- 
 cently settled, sparsely populated districts were 
 over-represented in comparison to the larger and 
 older towns. Hence, as there was no occcasion for 
 an outbreak to force the hand of the ruling element, 
 the transition was left to the quiet, but irresistably 
 levelling evolution of time. This evolution will be 
 considered in its three broad phases : religious, eco- 
 nomic, and political or constitutional. 
 
 These years marked a vast change in the religious 
 life of the state. The rigorous Puritanism of the 
 past lost much of its dogmatic intolerance and re- 
 pelling harshness. Irreligion, deism and dissent of 
 every brand gained strength among those who re- 
 volted from Calvinistic teachings. The religious 
 constitution of the state was modified, so that at 
 least legal toleration was granted to all honest 
 Christians. This was not enough to satisfy the 
 demands of the unorthodox, schismatic, and heretic. 
 Joining their suffrages at the polls, they won re- 
 ligious liberty as a right, not a boon. In their strug- 
 gle for this religious freedom which nearly all the 
 other states guaranteed, they effected the overthrow 
 of Calvinism as an establishment and burst the 
 bonds linking Congregationalism to the state. 
 
 Great was the economic awakening of this period 
 with its shift in the industrial life of the community. 
 Agriculture was giving way to manufacturing. 
 Newly established banks were displacing the coun- 
 try merchant as a money loaner and broker. Insur- 
 ance companies were founded. Money became 
 
INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 available as wealth rapidly increased. Western emi- 
 gration increased to such dangerous proportions 
 that to induce men to remain at home, it was found 
 necessary to stimulate domestic industry, improve 
 agriculture, and build roads. Schools were bet- 
 tered; libraries were established; agricultural and 
 scientific organizations were incorporated. As pop- 
 ulation turned from the country to the cities, a 
 laboring class was being developed. Only through 
 an understanding of these changes can one interpret 
 the long struggle for democracy and reforms, gov- 
 ernmental and social. 
 
 The religious and economic changes in the conv 
 munity life afford an explanation of the political 
 contest. Men called for religious and social equal- 
 ity, practical democracy and popular sovereignty. 
 Their demands were but the expression of the 
 ideas of the American and French revolutions. 
 They would emancipate themselves from the rule 
 of an aristocratic, clerical class. They were the 
 more insistent, for they knew of the freedom of the 
 West through reading letters from emigrants and 
 from the omnipresent Yankee peddler. For the 
 fulfillment of their desires they soon realized the 
 need of a reorganization in the structure of the 
 government. Hence through an opposition party, 
 the Democratic-Republican and later Toleration 
 party, they sought the adoption of a constitution, 
 with a bill of rights guaranteeing the natural privi- 
 leges of republican citizens instead of the royal 
 charter. This was done by waging a generation-long 
 campaign by which the people were convinced of the 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 justice of the demands and the safety with which 
 they could be granted. The result was the blood- 
 less Revolution of 1818, which gave the state a 
 constitution as democratic as any then in existence. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 i. The Rise of Infidelity to 1801 
 
 rpHIS era, 1775-1818, of the breaking down of 
 ^ the old religious life of Connecticut was 
 marked by the inception and rapid spread of infi- 
 delity. Irreligion finally permeated all ranks of 
 society. Gaining strength, it took the offensive, 
 becoming aggressive in thought and radical in 
 politics. Hence, aside from the academic interest 
 in the history of liberalism, there is a practical 
 one in computing the numerical strength of those 
 whom their fellow freemen termed infidels. 
 
 Connecticut Congregationalism was at a low 
 ebb in the second half of the eighteenth century. 
 Revivals were as rare as great divines. The moral 
 rigor of seventeenth-century Puritanism had dis- 
 appeared. It is to this fact that the inflow of 
 deistic thought must be ascribed. The Great 
 Awakening of 1 740 accomplished wonders for a time 
 in invigorating the religious life, yet its results from 
 the viewpoint of the Standing Order were not en- 
 tirely advantageous. It caused the schism of the 
 Separates or, as they styled themselves, the strict 
 Congregationalists and paved the way for those 
 enthusiastic exhorters who were to win over so 
 many moribund Congregationalists to the infant 
 Baptist and Methodist organizations. A decided 
 impetus was given to the Church of England. In 
 
 5 
 
6 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 a word, while the revival stimulated religious inter- 
 ests and instilled a passing vitalizing force into the 
 established church, there came in its wake sectari- 
 anism and dissent. Excesses to be deprecated 
 rather than overlooked aroused skepticism and 
 furthered the introduction of infidelity. 
 
 While the French and Indian War was generally 
 regarded as the first milestone in the progress of 
 infidelity in the staid and steady old common- 
 wealth, deism was known in America much earlier. 1 
 Men like Dean Berkeley and Samuel Johnson were 
 affected by a sort of idealism, at times dangerously 
 deistic. Ezra Stiles as student and tutor, having 
 read the thirty or so deistic books included in the 
 Berkeley donation to the Yale Library, had passed 
 through a painful skepticism. 2 Rector Thomas Clap 
 was said to have depended largely on Woolaston's 
 Religion of Nature for his philosophy. There may 
 have been considerable skepticism among the lit- 
 erati, in the form of a rational protest against the 
 harshness and determinism of Calvinism, though 
 this was not true among the people at large, many 
 of whom might have been unreligious without being 
 irreligious. 
 
 Writing in 1759 relative to the probable effect of 
 the war on religion and morals, Stiles noted : 
 
 I imagine the American Morals & Religion were never in 
 so much danger as from our concern with the Europeans in 
 
 1 I. Woodbridge Riley, The Founder of Mormonism, p. 151 ; in the same 
 author's American Thought from Puritanism to Pragmatism there is a 
 discussion of infidelity during this period. 
 
 3 Rev. Abiel Holmes, The Life of Ezra Stiles, pp. 42, 43-63. 
 
THE RISE GF INFIDELITY TO 1801 7 
 
 the present War. They put on indeed in their public Con- 
 duct the Mark of public Virtue — and the Officers endeavor to 
 restrain the vices of the private Soldiery while on duty. 
 But I take it the Religion of the Army is Infidelity & Grati- 
 fication of the appetites .... They propagate in a 
 genteel & insensible Manner the most corrupting and de- 
 bauching Principles of Behavior. It is doubted by many 
 Officers if in fact the Soul survives the Body — but if it does, 
 they ridicule the notion of moral accountableness, Rewards 
 and Punishments in another life .... I look upon it 
 that our Officers are in danger of being corrupted with vicious 
 principles, and many of them I doubt not will in the End of 
 the War come home minute philosophers initiated in the 
 polite Mysteries and vitiated morals of Deism. And this 
 will have an unhappy Effect on a sudden to spread Deism or 
 at least Skepticism thro' these Colonies. And I make no 
 doubt, instead of the Controversies of Orthodoxy and Her- 
 esy, we shall soon be called to the defence of the Gospel itself. 
 . . . . The Bellamys &c. of New England will stand no 
 chance with the corruptions of Deism, which, I take it are 
 spreading apace in this Country. 3 
 
 Stiles was right. The British regular from the 
 barracks, where loose morals and looser free think- 
 ing prevailed, proved a dangerous associate for the 
 colonial militiaman. The rank and file were fa- 
 miliar with the Anglican Church of the Georges 
 and the officers were frequently imbued with the 
 prevalent continental philosophy or its echoed 
 English rationalism. Their unorthodox thinking 
 impressed men, and their philosophy was assidu- 
 ously copied as having a foreign style. Thus the 
 militiaman on returning from the campaign intro- 
 duced his newly acquired habits of thinking and 
 of life among the humble people of his town or 
 
 3 Stiles Mss., letter dated Newport, Sept. 24, 1759, quoted in Riley 5 
 American Thought, p. 215. 
 
8 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 wayside hamlet. Judging from the reported change 
 in the religious tone of such a town as New Britain, 
 no society was too secluded to escape the baneful 
 contagion. 4 Thus the infidel philosophy of the old 
 world gained a foothold in the new. 
 
 The trying years of the Revolution were critical 
 for New England orthodoxy. It was an unsettled 
 period filled with demoralizing tendencies. The 
 use of intoxicants was well-nigh universal, Sab- 
 bath violations were winked at by the authorities ; 
 swearing, profanity, and night-walking passed all 
 but unnoticed. Depreciated money encouraged 
 speculation and avarice. Hard times broke into 
 patriotism. Unmoral business ethics was too ap- 
 parent, if one may judge from the acts and their 
 supplementary re-enactments, to prevent engross- 
 ing and exporting goods out of the colony, and to 
 establish a minimum wage and a maximum price 
 for articles of consumption. 5 Men were becoming 
 materialistic. The minister was fast losing his au- 
 tocratic sway in the parish. Congregationalism 
 was seriously weakened. The Church of England 
 was all but destroyed, for as a religious body it was 
 discredited as being Tory at heart. Its churches 
 were closed and its ministers silenced. Hence one 
 is not surprised at the inroads " nothingarianism" 6 
 made into the established order. A reader of the 
 records finds no difficulty in accounting for Presi- 
 
 4 David N. Camp, History of New Britain, p. 56. 
 6 Conn. Col. Records, XV, index; State Records, I, 6,9, 62, 65, 97, 230. 
 413, 524, 528. II, 13, 103, 132, 164, 174, 222, 266, 272, 483. 
 
 6 James Dana, Two Discourses, p. 65, made use of this apt term. 
 
THE RISE OF INFIDELITY TO 1801 9 
 
 dent Dwight's observation that war is fatal to 
 morals. 
 
 Dwight wrote a few years later of the revolution- 
 ary days as follows : 
 
 At this period Infidelity began to obtain, in this country, 
 an extensive currency and reception. As this subject con- 
 stitutes far the most interesting and prominent characteristic 
 of the past Century, it would not be amiss to exhibit it with 
 some degree of minuteness and to trace through several 
 particulars the steps of its progress. 7 
 
 The positive responsibility was placed again 
 on the intercourse with "corrupted foreigners." 
 French free-thinking proved dangerously contagi- 
 ous. In the first place, the French brothers-in- 
 arms, as America's brave allies, commanded both 
 our gratitude and respect. In the second place, 
 denying where the English doubted, their thought 
 was aggressively destructive rather than apologetic. 
 As men of some learning and of an insinuating, 
 polished address, they were skillful proselytizers, 
 answering arguments with a sneering smile or 
 effective shrug. Thus, American officers imbibed 
 the ideas of the continental philosophers without 
 necessarily intimately knowing at first hand their 
 writings. 
 
 Stiles had declared that cries of orthodoxy would 
 not suffice, but that Scripture must be explained 
 on logical, rational grounds so as to appeal to 
 critical minds. In his Election Sermon of 1783, 
 driven by fear of deism, he emphasized the depend- 
 ence of Luther and Calvin on the Church Fathers 
 
 7 Discourse (1801), p. 19; cf. Travels, IV, 355 ff. 
 
10 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 and predicted evolutionary changes in the "fash- 
 ions in religion." "We despise the fathers and the 
 pious and learned divines of the middle ages," he 
 wrote. "Pious posterity will do the same by us; 
 and twirl over our most favorite authors with the 
 same ignorant pity and neglect: happy they, if 
 their favorite authors contain the same blessed 
 truths. ' ' 8 This was dangerously toleran t. Congre- 
 gationalism had to turn away and await a differ- 
 ent type of Yale president to defend her from the 
 onslaughts of deism and its disciples. 
 
 The religious status of most towns after the 
 Revolution was that of Windham, whose historian 
 writes : 
 
 Her secular affairs were most flourishing. It was a tran- 
 sition period — a day of upheaval, over-turning, uprootal. 
 Infidelity and Universalism had come in with the Revolu- 
 tion and drawn multitudes from the religious faith of their 
 fathers. Free-thinking and free-drinking were alike in 
 vogue. Great looseness of manners and morals had re- 
 placed the ancient Puritanic strictness .... Now, 
 sons of those honored fathers and the great majority of those 
 in active life, were sceptics and scoffers, and men were placed 
 in office who never entered the House of God except for town 
 meetings and secular occasions. 9 
 
 Without doubt, growing irreligion had much to 
 do with the prevalence of vice. The increasing in- 
 fidelity in weakening the awful grip with which 
 the Calvinists' 'hereafter' once held their minds, 
 removed the greatest influence enforcing the stern 
 old Puritan morality. 
 
 8 Stiles, Sermon, May, 1783, p. 96. 
 
 9 Ellen D. Lamed, History of Windham County, II, 220. 
 
THE RISE OF INFIDELITY TO 1801 11 
 
 The years of peace wrought little in the way of 
 restraining the irreligious propensities. Some 
 were constrained to believe that men were more re- 
 ligious during the war than in the period immedi- 
 ately following, when, with trials removed, they be- 
 came even more worldly. 10 It was pointed out 
 that "infidelity assumed an air of importance." It 
 was half feared that the augury of an American 
 philosopher who had predicted some years before 
 to David Hume that another century would see 
 the extermination of religion in America, was pro- 
 phetic. 11 Yet considered retrospectively President 
 Stiles's survey of the nation's future religious life 
 struck nearer the mark: 
 
 As to nominal Christianity, I have no doubt but that it 
 will be upheld for ages in these states. Through the liberty 
 enjoyed here, all religious sects will grow up into large and 
 respectable bodies. 12 
 
 Yet Stiles feared the headway deism was making 
 and took advantage of this Election Sermon to 
 trumpet aloud its dangers. His attack was too 
 scholarly to be effective outside the cloister. The 
 average man could not follow his refutation of 
 Hume, Voltaire, Tindal, or Shaftesbury, the last of 
 whom he termed the "amiable Confucius of Deism," 
 and condemnation of their usual glorification of 
 other systems above Christianity. 
 
 Some caution is necessary, as these are contem- 
 porary accounts by severe moralists to whom the 
 
 10 Two Brothers, pp. 6 ff.; Samuel Wales, Sermon, May, 1785. 
 
 11 Dwight, Address, July 4, 1798, p. 18. 
 
 12 Stiles, Sermon, May, 1783, pp. 73, 78-86. 
 
12 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 present is ever likely to appear hopeless and dark, 
 and the past alone bright. With the vantage of 
 several years perspective the same men may see 
 much that was light in the once gloomy vista. 
 Such was the case with President D wight, who 
 wrote from memory some thirty years later that 
 infidelity decreasing after 1783 gave way to the an- 
 cient virtues of New England, and became only a 
 by- word for immorality while at the same time 
 business standards reached a higher plane. 13 To a 
 certain extent this may have been true, and the 
 desperate conditions which Dwight painted after 
 1795 in his contemporary sermons may have been 
 due to the baneful influences of the French Revolu- 
 tion, which counteracted the work of the reformers. 
 Such a theory is not untenable in the light of facts. 
 If, however, Dwight was correct in defining the 
 beginning of the reform movement, he was mis- 
 taken in not stating or, more likely, in not perceiv- 
 ing its cause. 
 
 In 1784 Connecticut passed a general toleration 
 act which revealed the tolerant spirit seen in the 
 Virginia act of the same year and the clauses in the 
 new state constitutions. As this act made dissent 
 halfway respectable by freeing a dissenter, who 
 presented a certificate declaring himself a member 
 of some regular society recognized by law, from the 
 payment of a Congregational tithe, it no doubt 
 served to increase the adherents of non-Congrega- 
 tional churches. Still it must also have decreased 
 the irreligious propaganda; for the legal dis-estab- 
 
 13 Dwight, Travels, IV, 355-361. 
 
THE RISE OF INFIDELITY TO 1801 13 
 
 lishment of Congregationalism of the Saybrook 
 Platform broke the point of the ' 'infidels' " strongest 
 weapon of attack. Men, dissatisfied with the es- 
 tablished order, could join one of the dissenting so- 
 cieties by complying with the certificate technicality. 
 It acted as a safety-valve, for men were less apt 
 to give up the church altogether. Furthermore, 
 Congregationalism itself was morally strengthened. 
 President D wight would never have agreed with 
 such reasoning, for a little later he was inveighing 
 uncompromisingly against the so-called "modern 
 liberality." 14 
 
 Ethan Allen in 1784 printed his Oracles of Reason, 
 which President Jared Sparks of Harvard at a later 
 time assailed most vigorously and which Dwight of 
 Yale noticed as the first formal publication in the 
 United States against Christianity. 15 Allen in his 
 preface wrote that he was called a deist, though he 
 himself did not know what he was, save that he as- 
 suredly was not a Calvinist, or hopeful of immunity 
 from clerical attack. The book might best be char- 
 acterized as an assault on Puritanism and its preach- 
 ers. How widely the treatise was circulated, cannot 
 be determined, but, judging from Allen's popularity 
 in Vermont, his Revolutionary services, his Litch- 
 field birth, it is likely that it was read throughout 
 New England. Its publication alone would in- 
 cline one to doubt that there was the genuine, gen- 
 
 14 Discourse (1801), p. 16; Zephaniah Swift, A System of the Laws of 
 the State of Connecticut, I, 145. 
 
 16 Riley, American Thought, pp. 12-17, 56-58; Riley, American 
 Philosophy, The Early Schools, pp. 48 ff . ; Proceedings of Vermont Histori- 
 cal Society (1902), p. 6. 
 
14 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 eral aversion to deism which too great dependence 
 on D wight or Judge Swift might lead one to believe. 
 
 President Dwight learned that as early as 1786 
 there were in America several branches of the II- 
 luminati, that professedly higher branch of Free 
 Masonry founded (to his regret, later on) by Pro- 
 fessor Weishaupt of Ingolstadt. His auditors were 
 not informed as to whether Connecticut had a chap- 
 ter, but were told that this society propagated doc- 
 trines striking at the very root of human happiness, 
 virtue, society and government. 16 If its purpose 
 was to weaken the hold of religion on men, the time 
 was propitious. 
 
 The years before the French Revolution and the 
 establishment of a strong national government were 
 lean, unstable years, when change was in the air. 
 The critical period was one of discontent, a search- 
 ing after a panacea. Is it surprising if many saw 
 in deism a hope; in the church, a tyranny; and in 
 the clergyman, an enemy? Hard times, commer- 
 cial depression, slack shipping, depreciated cur- 
 rency, national, state and private debts in great 
 volume, speculation, avaricious longing for wealth, 
 inter-state land disputes caused general dissatisfac- 
 tion. Then came the party or class struggle for 
 and against a strong centralized government, with 
 the people of property, social standing and ortho- 
 dox religion on one side and the debtor and man of 
 doubtful or no religion on the other. Once the 
 national constitution was adopted, one would expect 
 that religious discontent would cease, as did politi- 
 cal and economic dissatisfaction. An adjustment 
 
 16 Dwight, Address, July 4, 1798, pp. 13-14. 
 
THE RISE OF INFIDELITY TO 1801 15 
 
 of religious differences in broader toleration, if not 
 a turning from philosophic thought to the more 
 practical concerns of every-day life, might have re- 
 sulted if the French Revolution had not broken forth. 
 The importance of the French Revolution on the 
 religious thought of Connecticut can hardly be over- 
 estimated, yet it must not be held responsible for all 
 the ungodliness of those years of Connecticut's 
 darkness. As we have seen, the roots of irreligion 
 and moral shortcomings went far behind the days of 
 the French Revolution. That Revolution merely 
 gave a powerful stimulus to deism and to all that 
 was generally connoted by the term " Jacobinism." 
 On the other hand it aroused the clergy to a united 
 opposition to the enemies of religion. As evidence 
 that the French Revolution was not the cause of 
 the religious decline, consider the fiftieth anniver- 
 sary sermon of Rev. Mr. White of Windham, deliv- 
 ered in 1790, before the effects of the Revolution 
 could possibly have been felt: 
 
 In those days there were scarce any that were not profes- 
 sors of religion, and but few infants not baptized. No 
 families that were prayerless. Profane swearing was but 
 little known, and open violations of the Sabbath not prac- 
 ticed as is common now. And there were no Deists among 
 us. The people as a body were fearers of the Lord and 
 observers of the Sabbath and its duties. But the pres- 
 ent day is peculiar, for men's throwing off the fear of the 
 Lord. Declensions in religion have been increasing for 
 about thirty years past, such as profaneness, disregard of the 
 Sabbath, neglect of family religion, unrighteousness, intem- 
 perance, imbibing of modern errors and heresies and the 
 crying prevalence of infidelity against the clearest light. 17 
 
 17 Quoted in Rev. Elijah Waterman, Sermon, Dec. 10, 1800, p. 33, 
 and in Lamed, Windham County, II, 221. 
 
16 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Jesse Lee, the pioneer Methodist exhorter, on his 
 tour of 1789 found religion at a low ebb, though his 
 testimony must be closely scrutinized. However, 
 he seems to be borne out by other witnesses to 
 whom the same declension of morals and religion 
 was plainly, if painfully, visible. 18 This condition 
 was not confined to particular sections of the state, 
 for, if it had been, these early Methodist and Bap- 
 tist itinerant evangelists would not have been so 
 generally successful. Such was the religious life of 
 Connecticut when the French Constituent Assem- 
 bly was drafting the Constitution of the Clergy. 
 
 The French Revolution in its early years was as 
 generally approved in Connecticut as elsewhere in 
 America. 19 The attack on the church was ap- 
 plauded in a short-sighted, if not bigoted, manner, 
 as the fulfillment of their long-predicted overthrow 
 of Anti-Christ, of Babylon. 20 For the sake of con- 
 sistency, it would have been well if the Congrega- 
 tional ministers had realized that Jacobinism was 
 essentially an attack on Christianity. This would 
 have relieved them in ensuing years from the biting 
 ridicule of bitter democratic pens when they fav- 
 ored the coalition to such an extent that they could 
 
 18 Nathan Bangs, History of the Methodist-Episcopal Church, I, 288- 
 290; Bishop Francis Asbury, Journal, II, 102; Sketch of R. M. Sherman, 
 pp. 20-22. 
 
 19 Ezra Stiles, Diary, III, 391, 432, 467; Noah Webster, Ten Letters; 
 The Revolution in France; James Gould, July 4th Address (1798), 
 pp. 21 £E.; James Dana, Two Discourses, pp. 54 ff.; Dwight, Travels, IV, 
 371-375; Charles D. Hazen, Contemporary American Opinion of the French 
 Revolution. 
 
 20 Anson Ely Morse, The Federalist Party in Massachusetts to the 
 Year 1800, pp. 88 ff. 
 
THE RISE OF INFIDELITY TO 1801 17 
 
 rejoice in the Concordat and even in the ultimate 
 re-establishment of the Bourbons and the church. 
 This complete turn of sympathy on the part of 
 the ministry and in general of the upper social class 
 can be accounted for by England's declaration that 
 bhe stood as the bulwark of religion as well as by the 
 unbridled excesses of the revolutionists. America 
 could not condone the execution of Louis XVI and 
 Marie Antoinette, the worship of the Supreme Be- 
 ing, the full Terror, and the blood of Toulon and 
 La Vendee. Then the fear aroused by the close 
 association of Jacobinism with the Revolutionary 
 Societies of England and with the beginnings of the 
 Republican movement at home brought many to 
 the other extreme of not being able to see any good 
 in the whole convulsion. 
 
 At length the Connecticut ministry concluded 
 that Jacobinism was not only anti-clerical, but 
 positively anti-Christian. Dwight stood foremost 
 among his brethren when, in 1798, he pointed out 
 that the persecution to which the Catholic church 
 was subjected, was contrary to his desires. How- 
 ever, he carefully explained that he was no friend 
 to its system. 21 In 1801 he set forth his opinion — 
 somewhat dictatorially — in answer to certain ex- 
 cuses for French infidelity, as follows: 
 
 It is true, that the persecution of modern Infidels has 
 fallen principally on Catholics, and not on Protestants, and 
 
 21 Address, July 4, 1798, p. 9; Rev. Nathan Strong exhibited the 
 same views in his Thanksgiving Sermons of 1798 and 1800. Strong's 
 toleration was evidenced in his invitation to Abb6 Matignon to use his 
 pulpit when on a visit to Hartford in 1813. Catholic Historical Review, 
 I, 151. 
 
18 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 it is equally true, that they have not persecuted them at all as 
 Catholics, but merely as Christians. They themselves have 
 often told us their real design. They have ridiculed, denied, 
 and decried Religion as such; and not as the Catholic system; 
 and have fought and butchered the Catholic soldiers, and 
 the people, as the Armies and adherents of Jesus, by name. 
 . . . . The religion, the piety of these men constituted 
 the crime, for which they died; not the character of Catholics. 
 Accordingly the persecution has fallen indiscriminately on 
 Protestants as well as Catholics; not so often; because there 
 were not so many of them; but never the less, because they 
 were Protestants. This distinction was invented here, and 
 by us; and was not so much as thought of by themselves. 22 
 
 Furthermore, D wight painfully maintained that 
 he was equally unfriendly to Rome and such infi- 
 dels as refused to differentiate between true and 
 false religion, while he admitted, on the other hand, 
 that there were pious Catholics. In thinking other- 
 wise he felt that one would be guilty of the bigotry 
 with which they are charged. What wonder is it, 
 then, that the Republican of 1801 ridiculed the 
 political inconsistency of the federalist ministry? 23 
 
 During the closing years of the century Dwight 
 assumed undoubted leadership. His study of the 
 deistic movement and literature was more thorough 
 than that of any Connecticut man since President 
 Stiles. As scholarly as Stiles, he was a more ag- 
 gressive character, a stouter debater as well as a 
 more popular preacher. He was a born leader. 
 His orthodoxy was unquestioned. As Yale's head, 
 he was the chief of the clerical faction which was 
 
 22 Discourse (1801), pp. 54-56; cf. Dwight, Travels, IV, 367. 
 
 23 Constitutional Telegraph quoted in American Mercury, June 12, 
 19, 1800; April 22, July 8, 1802. 
 
THE RISE OF INFIDELITY TO 1801 19 
 
 fast forming in answer to Jacobinical attacks on 
 the clergy and their interests. His sermons dem- 
 onstrated not only that he knew his subject, but 
 that he had closely studied the writings of Lord 
 Herbert of Cherbury, of Hobbes, Shaftesbury, 
 Hume, Bolingbroke, Gibbon, d'Alembert, Vol- 
 taire, Rousseau and a host of minor philosophers, 
 as well as the leading English works refuting them. 
 He was able to trace the rise of the Illuminati. 
 He had even looked into the " loose moral princi- 
 ples" of Kant and other German writers. The 
 immature thinker of 1788 who had written the 
 Triumph of Infidelity, 24 was now ready to lead and 
 able to convince men of his inherent right of leader- 
 ship in the crusade against irreligion. 
 
 The Congregational clergy, seeing the necessity 
 of concerted action, were thankful to have a D wight 
 for their leader. Scarcely one failed to take his 
 place in the line of battle in defense of church and 
 state. That they might wage a more effective 
 campaign, was their chief plea for a general entrance 
 into politics. In so doing, they made themselves 
 the mark for virulent Republican attacks, with the 
 result that Republicanism represented to them all 
 that was blackest in Jacobinism. Between the two, 
 they would not differentiate. The increasingly 
 numerous sectarians also strove against infidelity 
 by preaching and revivals, with rather more suc- 
 cess, for they did not assail Republicanism as part 
 of the deistic movement. Methodist and Baptist 
 exhorters even as Republicans contended against 
 
 * Stiles, Diary, III, 326. 
 
20 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 irreligion. As the excesses of the French Revolution 
 had cured of their revolutionary ardor all but the 
 violent partisans, Republicans themselves realized 
 that the popular association of deism, infidelity and 
 Republicanism would endanger their cause. This 
 concerted action on the part of the settled ministry, 
 supplemented by the telling labors of churchmen 
 and despised sectarians, preserved religion in Con- 
 necticut 25 during this period of crisis. 
 
 French books of philosophy were coming rapidly 
 into vogue with translations and popularized pam- 
 phlet abridgments. 26 The Age of Reason by 
 Thomas Paine was read with avidity and by all 
 classes, as editions were cheap and frequently dis- 
 tributed gratis. Rev. William Bentley noted that 
 Paine was universally read in Connecticut, and as- 
 sumed importance, because of the diatribes or 
 eulogies heaped upon him by the respective parties. 27 
 He might be labeled a genius without morals, a 
 "strolling preacher of Jacobinism;" but men had not 
 forgotten that, like Ethan Allen, he deserved well 
 of America and evil of England. Moreover, he 
 reached the masses by popularizing the philoso- 
 phers whose thoughts were too obscured in their 
 rhetoric and diction to be comprehended by the un- 
 educated. In this way the simple-minded frontiers- 
 
 25 Cf . M. Louise Greene, The Development of Religious Liberty in Con- 
 necticut, pp. 410-412. 
 
 26 Dwight, Travels, IV, 368; Dana, Two Discourses, p. 33; Abraham 
 Bishop, Oration (1801), pp. 87-88; Dwight, Discourse (1801), p. 50; 
 Rev. Moses Welsh, Sermon (1807), p. 17; Riley, American Thought, 
 pp. 87, 162, 305; Bangs, Methodist Church, II, 21. 
 
 27 Diary, III, 42. 
 
THE RISE OF INFIDELITY TO 1801 21 
 
 man was often contaminated before the evangelistic 
 exhorter arrived. While Paine's influence was 
 greater outside of New England and especially Con- 
 necticut than within, it may be considered a chief 
 factor in the rise of infidelity in the commonwealth. 28 
 
 Another influential emigrant was the deist, Dr. 
 Joseph Priestley, discoverer of oxygen and member 
 of the constitutional reform societies of England 
 who sought a haven in America from the Birming- 
 ham mob who burned his laboratory and library. 
 As a naturalized citizen and a Republican he came 
 to have considerable influence. He was frequently 
 quoted by Republican editors. The American 
 Mercury of Hartford made his name so familiar 
 that the church-goers sometimes dubbed the unre- 
 ligious as "Priestleians." 29 His Corruptions of 
 Christianity influenced Jefferson who in 1803 wrote 
 a moderately deistic Syllabus of an Estimate of the 
 Doctrines of Jesus, compared with those of others. 30 
 
 Abraham Bishop, a prominent local Republican, 
 while denying charges of being an atheist himself 
 and declaring his doubts as to the likelihood of 
 there being an atheist in all America, bitterly at- 
 tacked the clergy and advised them to steer clear 
 of politics and stop teaching the people to label 
 men infidels. He further suggested that they refrain 
 from calling to mind Bolingbroke, Hume and Vol- 
 taire, who could not be refuted by being called 
 
 28 Morse, Federalist Party, pp. 217 fif.; Swift, System of Laws, II, 323. 
 
 29 Stiles, Diary, III, 525; Dana, Two Discourses, p. 65; Rev. William 
 W. Andrews, The Correspondence of John Cotton Smith, p. 67. 
 
 30 Riley, American Thought, pp. 77 ff. 
 
22 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 fools. If Bishop's addresses encouraged infidelity, 
 they served the further purpose of unsettling the 
 church members and spurring them to action. The 
 versatile Joel Barlow, poet, scholar, diplomat, cos- 
 mopolitan, and deist, likewise must have drawn the 
 attention of his fellow-citizens toward France and 
 her literature. At any rate, the French philoso- 
 phers were widely read. Their high abstractions 
 and their beguiling style made them more popular 
 and hence difficult to combat. The clergy found 
 an advantage in associating infidelity with immor- 
 ality and faction, thereby demonstrating the danger 
 to state as well as church. 
 
 2. The Religious Life of Yale College 
 
 To appreciate the labors of President Dwight and 
 the widespread influence of deistic thought, one 
 must consider the religious life of Yale College dur- 
 ing this era. By noting the hold of infidelity on 
 both faculty and students, a better idea is obtained 
 of the diffusion of irreligious philosophy throughout 
 the state. As the center of learning, with a divinity 
 school where practically all of the Congregational 
 clergy were trained, the position of Yale was one 
 of obvious importance. 31 If its students could be 
 impressed with orthodox Calvinism as well as 
 with conservatism in politics, the "Old Order" 
 would remain supreme throughout the state ; for the 
 influence of Yale men in the pulpit, at the bar, in 
 
 31 Stiles calculated in 1774 that of the 158 Congregational ministers 
 in the state 131 were Yale men. Diary, II, 415. 
 
RELIGIOUS LIFE OF YALE COLLEGE 23 
 
 medicine and in civil office cannot easily be over- 
 estimated. On the other hand, if unorthodox think- 
 ing and political liberalism were to saturate the 
 student body, a new regime in the life of the com- 
 monwealth would soon follow. There was, then, a 
 political struggle to gain the College, against which 
 the reform or opposition party were quick to level 
 their shafts, In part the reformers were successful 
 in forcing a compromise by which the Legislature 
 granted $40,000 to the College only in consideration 
 that the governor and lieutenant governor and six 
 assistants be admitted to the governing board. 32 
 
 Liberalism in Yale might be traced back even as 
 far as 1722 when Rector Cutler and Samuel Johnson 
 left the Congregational fold to identify themselves 
 with the infant Anglican organization. While this 
 was an interesting revolt against the severe Cal- 
 vinism of the College which had been founded be- 
 cause of Harvard's weakening orthodoxy, a liberal 
 spirit was hardly evident until the time of the Great 
 Awakening. 
 
 Then Whitfield reported that, while he found 
 little religion in Yale, there was considerable inter- 
 est in his teaching. In 1745 Yale followed Har- 
 vard by formally denouncing Whitfield, and pre- 
 venting the students from hearing his sermons. As 
 
 82 May, 1792; William L. Kingsley, Yale College, A Sketch of its His- 
 tory, I, 108-109; Stiles, Diary, III, 8; Franklin B. Dexter, Biographical 
 Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College, I, 1. Material of value is to be 
 found in two pamphlets by Dr. Benjamin Gale, A Calm and Full Vindi- 
 cation and A Reply to a Pamphlet; a Letter to a Member of the House, by 
 John Graham, and a Letter to An Honourable Gentleman of the Council- 
 Board by Benjamin Trumbull. 
 
24 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 the First Church of New Haven, then the com- 
 mon meeting-place of the students and townsmen, 
 was closed to him, he was compelled to speak on the 
 Green. Yet his teaching influenced the student 
 body, for a few became Separates despite the dis- 
 ciplinary attempts of President Clap, an extreme 
 anti-revivalist. 33 Illustrative of this inquisitorial 
 policy, an attempt had been made in 1743 to 
 suppress a reprint of Locke's Letters on Toleration 
 which the senior class had printed at their own ex- 
 pense. 34 In answer to a petition of certain parents 
 that their sons be allowed to attend an outside 
 church, if necessary under proctors, President Clap 
 pointed out that it was impracticable, for proctors 
 could not be relied upon, as only the governors of 
 the College could supervise and enforce discipline. 
 To clinch his argument, he asked if the college au- 
 thorities could be expected to punish students for 
 their failure to attend a Jewish synagogue, if there 
 were one in the vicinity, or an Arian church, when 
 they considered such service worse than none. 
 To avoid this difficulty and increase religious fervor, 
 the college church was established in 1756. 35 
 
 President Clap did his best to stay the inflow of 
 deistic thought by guarding against the entrance of 
 
 33 Dexter, Biographical Sketches, I, 771. II, 29, 149. Williston Walker, 
 Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism, p. 497; H. B. Wright et al., 
 Two Centuries of Christian Activity in Yale, pp. 19 ff.; Kinglsey, Yale 
 College, I, 77 ff.; George P. Fisher, Church of Christ in Yale, pp. 
 54 ff. 
 
 34 Greene, Religions Liberty, pp. 260 ff. 
 
 35 Thomas Clap, The Religious Constitution of Colleges, pp. 12 ff.; Dex- 
 ter, Biographical Sketches, II, 354. 
 
RELIGIOUS LIFE OF YALE COLLEGE 25 
 
 heretical books into the library. This seems 
 strange in view of the Berkeley donation which the 
 president had himself once catalogued. However, 
 he refused a library from a Newport merchant in 
 schismatic Rhode Island, though Ezra Stiles remon- 
 strated with him: 
 
 It is true with this Liberty Error may be introduced; but 
 turn the Tables, the propagation of Truth may be extin- 
 guished. Deism has got such Head in the Age of Licentious 
 Liberty, that it would be in vain to try to stop it by hiding 
 the Deistical Writings: and the only Way left to conquer 
 and demolish it, is to come forth into the Field and Dispute 
 this matter on even Footing — the Evidences of Revelation 
 in my opinion are nearly as demonstrative as Newton's Prin- 
 cipia, and these are the Weapons to be used. Deism propa- 
 gates itself in America very fast, and on this Found, strange as 
 it may seem, is the Chh. of Engld built up in polite life. A 
 man may be an excellent chhman and yet a profound Deist. 
 While public popular Delusion is kept up by Deistical Priests, 
 sensible Laymen despise the whole, and yet, strange Contra- 
 diction joyn it and entice others to joyn it also, .... 
 and they say all priests are alike, we all try to deceive Man- 
 kind, there is no Trust to be put in us. Truth and this alone 
 being our Aim in fact, open, frank, and generous we shall 
 avoid the very appearance of Evil. 36 
 
 Stiles, as has been noticed, could cite his own 
 religious experiences in proof of the efficiency of 
 open, rational refutation. 
 
 As the succeeding president, Stiles followed this 
 plan. He met with failure, the religious life of 
 the College becoming worse and worse; for he 
 seems to have been too much the scholar success- 
 
 36 Stiles Mss., letter, Aug. 6, 1779, quoted in Riley, American Phi- 
 losophy, p. 216; Holmes, Stiles, p. 79. 
 
26 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 fully to reach the student body. 37 Some of the 
 subjects for the senior debates, noted in his Diary, 
 suggest the thought of the College and the method 
 of refutation. Quite a list of these could be com- 
 piled, but a very few will serve our purpose: 
 "Whether the Immortality of the Soul can be 
 proved by reason," "Whether the historical parts 
 of the Bible are of Divine Inspiration," "Whether 
 there be anything contradictory to Reason in 
 Scripture," "Whether an unconverted man ought 
 to enter into the ministry," "Whether religion has 
 on the whole been of a benefit to mankind." Other 
 debates dealt with the granting of civil rights to 
 Catholics, to deists in religion and to libertines in 
 morals. 38 Now the mere fact that these subjects 
 were considered debatable is enough to show an 
 interest in toleration for all men. Furthermore, 
 they suggest that in some minds deism had reached 
 the point of a menace to the state. 
 
 On Dwight's accession to the presidency in 1795, 
 infidelity was rife, in spite of its rigorous punish- 
 ment. Denial of the Scriptures and propagation 
 of heresy were listed before blasphemy, robbery, 
 fornication, theft, forgery and duelling. 39 While 
 the fear of expulsion must have prevented too 
 open a display of heresy, yet Lyman Beecher, writ- 
 ing of his undergraduate days, emphasized above 
 
 37 Wright, Two Centuries, pp. 45 ff.; Stiles, Diary, III, 30, 439, 504; 
 Anson P. Stokes, Memorials of Eminent Yale Men, I, 53. Conditions 
 at King's College and Harvard were no better. William E. Channing, 
 Memoirs, I, 70. 
 
 38 Stiles, Diary, II, 512. Ill, 76, 123, 149, 167, '257, 267, 359. 
 
 39 Statutes of Yale College, 1795, 1808. 
 
RELIGIOUS LIFE OF YALE COLLEGE 27 
 
 all else the prevalence of infidelity and the bravado 
 with which students used such names as Voltaire 
 and Rousseau. 40 Nor were the faculty all religious 
 men, even if they did not parade unorthodox 
 views. Exemplary Tutor Silliman was regarded as 
 a deist, not professing Christianity until a revival in 
 1803 which Dr. Dwight's vigorous sermons and 
 crusading zeal had inspired. Roger M. Sherman, 
 shaken by Hume, was another who later waxed 
 enthusiastic on reading Edwards and hearing 
 Dwight. Uniting with the college church, he lived 
 ever afterward a Calvinist of the Edwardian type 
 and became a pillar of the Norwalk society. 41 
 Joel Barlow, a former army chaplain and candidate 
 for the ministry, whose beliefs were a matter of no 
 doubt, described the unreasoning attitude of the 
 authorities when, on meeting Silliman in London 
 shortly after Austerlitz, he expressed his satisfac- 
 tion on learning that chemistry had been added to 
 the curriculum, declaring that: 
 
 He would have sent out a chemical apparatus and prepa- 
 rations had he not supposed that, coming from him, the 
 college authorities would make a bonfire of them in the college 
 yard. 42 
 
 Dwight waged an aggressive campaign against in- 
 fidelity. 43 In his sermons he recounted the danger 
 
 40 Autobiography, I, 43. 
 
 41 George P. Fisher, Life of Benjamin Silliman, I, 49, 52, 84-86; 
 Sketch of Sherman, pp. 6, 17; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, V, 41-45. 
 
 42 Fisher, Silliman, I, 22, 150. Cf. Dexter, Biographical Sketches, 
 IV, 4; Sixth of August Festival, p. 8. 
 
 43 Fisher, Church of Christ, p. 25; Benjamin Silliman, Eulogium, p. 
 19; Wright, Two Centuries, p. 53; Dwight, Decisions of Questions, pp. 
 Ill ff.; Beecher, Autobiography, I, 43; Stokes, Memorials, I, 214-227. 
 
28 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 to church, state, and morals, of the popular philoso- 
 phy, and in debate he encouraged free and open 
 discussion of religious doubts and perplexities, 
 thereby gaining an opportunity to refute points 
 raised by doubters. It was the same method that 
 Dr. Joseph Bellamy had pursued with his divinity 
 students. Prospective purchasers of his library had 
 been astounded on finding that most of his books 
 were of an irreligious character, until they learned 
 that he purchased and critically read them in 
 order to controvert their tenets. 44 
 
 The efforts of president and faculty were telling. 
 As early as 1797 the students organized a Moral 
 Society to curtail swearing and gaming, and to 
 stimulate religion by earnest debate. The univer- 
 sal descent of man from Adam, necessity of divine 
 revelation, nature of miracles, truth of Scripture 
 proved frequent subjects for discussion. 
 
 Yet the democratic year 1 800-1 801 has been 
 generally considered the low mark, almost the 
 dead line, of Yale's Christianity. However this 
 may be, it was immediately followed by a revival, 
 with Yale and New Haven heading a religious 
 movement destined to sweep Connecticut and the 
 greater part of New England. 45 With great satis- 
 faction Dwight witnessed the formal conversion of 
 
 44 Greene, Religious Liberty, pp. 410-412; Dexter, Biographical 
 Sketches, I, 523-529; Arthur Goodenough, The Clergy of Litchfield 
 County, p. 26. 
 
 46 Goodrich, "Revivals of Religion in Yale College" in Quarterly 
 Review, February, 1838; F. H. Foster, A Genetic History of New England 
 Theology, p. 279; Fisher, Church of Christ, pp. 33 fL, appendix, p. 82; 
 Wright, Two Centuries, pp. 5.5 ff. 
 
RELIGIOUS LIFE OF YALE COLLEGE 29 
 
 eighty men out of the total enrollment of one hun- 
 dred and sixty students. Silliman wrote to his 
 mother: 
 
 Yale College is a little temple, prayer and praise seem to 
 be the delight of the greater part of the students, while 
 those who are still unfeeling are awed into respectful silence. 46 
 
 The Linonian and Brothers debating clubs were 
 transformed into centers of religious exhortation 
 and prayer. It was even said that the graduating 
 class, on separating, signed an agreement to pray 
 for one another on a certain hour of the day. Even 
 the unfriendly Bishop Asbury testified to a spirit of 
 religious enquiry among the students who, he 
 said, came "like other very genteel people" to 
 mock and deride, but were in the end affected. 47 
 Henceforth there was no danger of a pagan Yale, 
 though Congregationalism within Yale, as through- 
 out the state, remained militant during Dwight's 
 whole administration, with revivals in 1808, 18 13, 
 and 181 5. In 18 18, shortly after the election of 
 President Day, John M. Duncan of Glasgow, a 
 shrewd observer and Presbyterian of no uncertain 
 hue, found flourishing Moral, Missionary and 
 Bible Societies, and heard a professor hammering 
 away at Hume. 48 
 
 In stamping out irreligion, a partial critic would 
 incline to the view that President Dwight inciden- 
 
 46 Fisher, Silliman, p. 83; ibid,, p. 33, for corroborative testimony 
 by Dr. Noah Porter. Cf. Payne H. Kilbourne, Sketches and Chronicles 
 of Litchfield, pp. 144-145. 
 
 47 Journal, III, 66. 
 
 48 Travels, I, 120, 148. 
 
30 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 tally propagated the federalist system of politics, 
 which was only natural with federalism the politics 
 of the godly, and of the Standing Order in church 
 and state; and he was its clerical prophet. To a 
 rigid Congregationalist, a Democrat and a deist 
 were inseparable. Republicans were inclined to be 
 less charitable, charging Yale with being a "labora- 
 tory of church and state," a " Presbyterian manu- 
 factory," and an engine capable of much good, yet 
 busied in teaching boys that liberty is license, and 
 toleration is deism. "Pope" Dwight, as the presi- 
 dent was universally known by the Republicans, 
 was arraigned not, as Federalists declared, because 
 he preached Christianity, but because, an ardent 
 partisan, he preached politics. 49 Dwight's mission 
 in the College had been a success. Its seeds bore 
 greater fruit, his influence extending beyond the 
 academic walks to the most distant confines of the 
 state. The year 1801 marked a turning-point in 
 the religious tone of the community. 
 
 3. The Religious Revival after 1801 
 
 The year 1801 witnessed the beginning of Jeffer- 
 son's administration, which soon dispelled the 
 worst forebodings of the orthodox Federalist party 
 of Connecticut. Meeting houses still stood, the 
 Bible was secure, and religion was no worse off, 
 even though an "atheist" sat in the presidential 
 
 49 Republican address, Mercury, Apr. 2, 1816; Abraham Bishop, 
 Proofs of a Conspiracy, p. 48; Fisher, Silliman, I, 95. From a few com- 
 municants he brought the number up to 200 out of an enrollment of 
 283. Catalogue for 1817 \ Silliman, Eulogium, p. 19. 
 
RELIGIOUS REVIVAL AFTER 1801 31 
 
 chair. Republicanism in office became so cau- 
 tiously conservative that one wonders if the genu- 
 ine "Jacobin" was not somewhat disappointed. 
 While the clergy decried Republicanism to the end, 
 it was not with their former violence or success, for 
 no one could longer be deluded with the idea that 
 Republicanism and evil were synonymous, es- 
 pecially as God-fearing Methodists and Baptists 
 were entering the Republican party. They then 
 proceeded to attack irreligion and its associated 
 sins directly rather than by belaboring the Repub- 
 lican party. In this they were more successful, 
 for the dissenters generally worked harmoniously 
 toward the same end. 
 
 One must qualify this harmony of action, for in 
 the strife for converts Baptists and Methodists not 
 infrequently attacked the Standing Order on the 
 grounds that as an undemocratic state church, sup- 
 ported by the forced contributions of the poor, it 
 gave rise to scandal leading to infidelity. 50 The set- 
 tled ministers cringed, but retaliated. Accordingly, 
 while sectarian strife was never cast aside, all par- 
 ties realized that their most dangerous foes were 
 infidelity and irreligion. 
 
 The period after 1801 witnessed a gradual rise in 
 the religious and moral life of the state. It was 
 then thoroughly appreciated that the two could 
 never be separated, and that irreligion and lack of 
 morality were concomitant. 51 With this axiom in 
 
 50 John Leland, Sermon (1801); Stanley Griswold, Oration, Sept. 13, 
 1803. 
 
 61 Article on "Public Worship," Courant, Jan. 17, 1810; Beecher, 
 
32 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 mind men set to work to establish religious socie- 
 ties, to encourage revivals and to preach vigorously. 
 The foe became less open in its attack, for infidel- 
 ity was becoming dishonorable and hence less bold. 
 Deistic literature still flowed in the old channels, 
 but not unchallenged. Joel Barlow's sudden death 
 in 1 8 12 eliminated the leading native exponent of 
 French philosophy; and poor Tom Paine had died 
 in 1809 in disgrace and poverty with only a 
 few humble friends to follow his corpse to the 
 grave. Paine's end afforded comment for Federalist 
 newspaper paragraphs and texts for many a Sunday 
 sermon. With Paine passed away his already 
 dwindling influence. 
 
 During these years there were established four 
 societies which were destined to accomplish much in 
 the coming revival. The Connecticut Bible So- 
 ciety, among whose directors were the leaders of 
 the clergy and of the Federalist party, sent Bibles 
 to the western emigrants and frontiersmen. 52 The 
 Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Good 
 Morals furthered the preaching of "moral" sermons 
 (enforced where possible by the regulatory laws) and 
 campaigned against intemperance. 53 The Domes- 
 tic Missionary Society for Connecticut and Vicin- 
 ity was chartered in 18 16 for the avowed purpose of 
 
 Sermon (1804), p. 17; Rev. Azel Backups, Sermon (1797), p. 9; Rev. 
 Elijah Waterman, Sermon (1800), p. 36; Dwight, Sermon (1797), p. 
 18; Dana, Two Discourses, p. 54; Swift, System of the Laws, II, 323. 
 
 ^Courant, May 15, 1811, and annual issues thereafter; Green's 
 Almanack and Register also gives the list of directors for the different 
 years. 
 
 " Courant, May 28, 1816. 
 
RELIGIOUS REVIVAL AFTER 1801 33 
 
 building up the waste places. 54 The New England 
 Tract Society established a branch about the same 
 time. In accordance with this same charitable in- 
 terest in their fellowmen there was founded a Deaf 
 and Dumb School in Hartford, the first of its kind 
 in the United States. 55 In all these endeavors 
 Federalist leaders were closely associated with the 
 prominent ecclesiastics. The names of Governor 
 John Cotton Smith, Governor John Treadwell, 
 Henry Hudson, General Jedidiah Huntington, 
 Samuel Pitkin, Daniel Wadsworth, Tapping Reeve, 
 Roger Sherman, and many others of the same class 
 and sympathies recur on their lists of trustees. 
 This resulted in strong support for the clergy by 
 throwing the political, social, financial and bureau- 
 cratic forces on the side of the church. Needless to 
 say the alinement was unkindly criticized. 
 
 Revivals were encouraged, the Congregational 
 clergy cautiously following the lead of the Baptist 
 and Methodist enthusiasts, 56 with the result that 
 there was a series of revivals, beginning with the 
 year 1801. While chiefly of a local character, those 
 of 1808 and 1 8 13 were of state-wide importance. 
 
 u Courant, July 2, 1816. Hon. John Treadwell published under 
 their auspices A Summary of Christian Doctrine and Practice, designed 
 especially for the use of the people in the New Settlements (Hartford, 1804). 
 
 86 Courant, Oct. 22, Dec. 24, 1816, Mar. 25, May 20, 1817; The Port- 
 folio, III, 85, 122. Laurent Clerc, an instructor who had been trained 
 under Abbe Sicard, described the institution, North American Review, 
 VII, 127-136. Material can be found in the sketch of Thomas H. Gal- 
 laudet, in Henry Barnard, Memoirs of Teachers, Educators, etc., pp. 97-1 19. 
 
 66 It is impossible to give full credit to the itinerant preachers, for 
 their sermons rarely found their way into print. On the other hand, 
 the printed sermons of Congregational ministers are legion. 
 
34 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Besides, there was the preaching of solemn, sober 
 and sound sermons by prominent divines. These 
 sermons fall into five classes: apologetic sermons, 
 direct onslaughts on infidelity, negative up-building 
 of sectarian orthodoxy by attacks on Rome, ser- 
 mons corrective of morals and sermons of the old 
 Calvinist type, long, orthodox and somber. Rev. 
 Abijah Wines discoursed on Human Depravity, 
 Rev. Ralph Emerson exhorted ministers to beware 
 of social life, to make everything secondary to the 
 pulpit and to teach, not worldly affairs but the 
 Gospel's lessons. 57 Rev. Asahel Hooker's sermon 
 on the Use and Importance of Preaching the Distin- 
 guishing Doctrines of the Gospel is typical of the 
 last group. Among the apologetical preachers and 
 writers Dwight stood out foremost, with such dis- 
 courses as The Dignity and Excellence of the Gospel, 
 The Genuineness and Authenticity of the New Testa- 
 ment, A Dissertation on the History, Eloquence, and 
 Poetry of the Bible, and The True Means of Establish- 
 ing Public Happiness. Lyman Beecher preached his 
 well-known sermon, The Government of God Desir- 
 able. Rev. James Dana of Center Church, New 
 Haven, preached on Christianity the Wisdom of 
 God, and There is no reason to be ashamed of the 
 Gospel. Rev. Ebenezer Marsh delivered an ora- 
 tion on the Truth of the Mosaic History of the Crea- 
 tion. The lexicographer, Noah Webster, wrote 
 eruditely on The Peculiar Doctrines of the Gospel 
 Explained and Defended. Bishop John Henry 
 Hobart of New York preached in Trinity Episcopal 
 
 87 Sermon, May, 1816. 
 
RELIGIOUS REVIVAL AFTER 1801 35 
 
 Church, New Haven, on The Moral and Positive 
 Benefits of the Ordinances of the Gospel. This list 
 might be indefinitely extended, so voluminous 
 was the apologetic literature. Such sermons, one 
 should bear in mind, are indicative of religion on 
 the defensive. Ministers were forced to appeal to 
 reason, not fear, as in the past. It is unnecessary 
 to enumerate sermons illustrative of the primitive 
 Puritan's hatred of Rome, though even an 
 occasional address by men of the type of Timothy 
 Dwight and Nathan Strong might be cited. 58 
 
 Under Dwight's leadership the foremost preach- 
 ers expatiated on the dangerous fallacy of disbe- 
 lief. Rev. James Dana preached: The Folly of 
 Practical Atheism, and The Character of Scoffers; 
 Rev. John Griswold, The Triumph of the Wicked 
 and the Reign of Infidelity, and Rev. Noah Porter, 
 Deism in America. While Rev. William Ellery 
 Channing's sermons on Infidelity were delivered in 
 Boston, they were printed and widely circulated 
 in Connecticut. Azel and Charles Backus both 
 preached in like tenor. Others of less prominence 
 aided. They met with such successs that Chan- 
 ning could confidently declare in 1813 that irre- 
 ligion was on the decline. 59 
 
 Among the most noteworthy sermons were those 
 delivered under the auspices of the Moral Society. 
 Rev. Lyman Beecher probably achieved the largest 
 distinction. In a sermon delivered in 1803, The 
 
 68 Dwight, in a mildly patriotic Sermon, July 23, 1812; Strong, Ser- 
 mon, July 23, 1812. 
 
 59 Two Sermons, Oct. 24, 1813, p. 7. 
 
36 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Practicability of Suppressing Vice, by Means of 
 Societies instituted for that Purpose, he described 
 organizations in England and in parts of Massachu- 
 setts, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and enlarged 
 upon the need of improvement in Connecticut, giv- 
 ing the following gloomy, but rather overdrawn 
 sketch : 
 
 The vices which have destroyed other nations are alarm- 
 ingly prevalent in our own. From a variety of causes, irre- 
 ligion hath become in all parts of our land, alarmingly 
 prevalent. The name of God is blasphemed; the bible is 
 denounced; the sabbath is profaned; the worship of God is 
 neglected; intemperance hath destroyed its thousands, and 
 is preparing the destruction of its thousands more; while 
 luxury, with its diversified evils, with a rapidity unparalleled, 
 is spreading in every direction, and through every class. 10 
 
 This was supplemented by his discourse on The 
 Government of God Desirable, his best known ser- 
 mon, A Reformation of Morals Practicable and In- 
 dispensable, and another of constructive rather than 
 destructive criticism, The Building of Waste Places, 
 which led to the establishment of the Domestic 
 Missionary Society. In every one of them he pre- 
 sented too dark an outlook, emphasizing the dan- 
 gers of irreligion, Sabbath-breaking, intemperance, 
 and other moral shortcomings. His point of view 
 was necessary to arouse a new conscience. 
 
 Rev. Noah Porter hewed along the same path, 
 beseeching a return to Sabbath observance and to 
 the morality, industry, sobriety and peace of the 
 past. His sermon, Perjury Prevalent and Danger- 
 ous, must have shocked his auditors. Primarily 
 
 80 Beecher, Sermon (1804), p. 19. 
 
RELIGIOUS REVIVAL AFTER 1801 37 
 
 its purpose was to demonstrate the inefficiency of 
 the oaths of atheists, deists, and universalists ; it 
 indicated that there was among some people an 
 easy attitude toward oath-taking. Rev. Dr. Philip 
 Doddridge printed an old-fashioned dissertation, a 
 Plain and Serious Address to the Master of a Family 
 on the Important Subject of Family Religion. Rev. 
 James Beach was heard on the Immoral and Per- 
 nicious Tendency of Error, in which he decried 
 those who countenanced the most invidious at- 
 tacks upon religion and morality in the way of 
 Sabbath violations. 
 
 Some pastors thundered against the all too prev- 
 alent intemperance, with drinking nearly univer- 
 sal and dram shops everywhere. 61 The temperance 
 societies were organized about 1815. Others fu- 
 tilely called upon the officers and electors of the 
 state to enforce the long-neglected moral laws. 
 Dwight and Beecher condemned duelling, a prac- 
 tice to which Alexander Hamilton's death in 1804 
 had drawn national attention. 62 
 
 61 An "Address to the Churches and Congregations of the Western 
 district of Fairfield" gave statistics showing a national consumption 
 of seven and a third gallons of ardent spirits for persons over six years 
 of age. Samuel Orcutt, History of Torrington, p. 204; David D. Field, 
 History of Haddam, p. 10; Sarah E. Hughes, History of East Haven, p. 
 100; Lamed, Windham County, II, 414; Loomis and Calhoun, The 
 Judicial and Civil History of Connecticut, p. 55; Theodore Dwight, 
 History of Connecticut, pp. 440-441; Duncan, Travels, II, 322-323; 
 cf. Charles Francis Adams, Three Episodes of Massachusetts History, 
 II, 783-794. One is astounded at the number of distilleries and re- 
 tailers of liquors. Samuel Church, Address at Litchfield (1851), p. 68; 
 Pease and Niles, Connecticut Gazetteer, pp. 36, 37, 43, 101, 143. 
 
 62 Rev. Aaron Dutton, Sermon (1815); Rev. Simon Backus, Sermon 
 (1804); Rev. William Lyman, Sermon (1806); Swift, System of the Laws, 
 
38 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The efforts of the ministry were not unavailing, 
 though often misdirected, for they were not intui- 
 tively aware of the changes going on about them. 
 This was well illustrated in their antagonistic atti- 
 tude toward the so-called fashionable pleasures, 
 such as balls, dancing, the drama, theatrical pre- 
 sentations, wax shows, or travelling lions. They 
 were inclined to look backward to the Puritan 
 fathers around whom a legend had grown, only to 
 canonize them by comparison with their descend- 
 ants, who saw less sin in enjoying themselves and 
 in ignoring various Sabbatical laws. Clerical in- 
 terests and training were too localized to give them 
 a broad visionary view of the future; yet in hold- 
 ing up the "ideal Puritan," these clergymen set 
 a standard of ethics and religion which offered 
 a stimulating corrective to their people. The 
 competition of the dissenting sects and fear of 
 infidelity aroused the Congregationalist and revived 
 the religious spirit. 
 
 Such was the condition when complete toleration 
 was guaranteed in 1818. At the time it was 
 feared that this would be injurious to religion, or 
 rather to Congregationalism, but the future deter- 
 mined otherwise. Rev. Lyman Beech er spoke orac- 
 ularly: "But truly we do not stand on the con- 
 fines of destruction. The mass is changing. We 
 are becoming another people." 63 
 
 II, 325-327. Others felt that the "blue laws" were not relaxed. Dun- 
 can, Travels, II, 118; Lamed, Windham County, II, 225. 
 63 Autobiography, I, 261. 
 
THE LIBERALIZING OF CALVINISM 39 
 
 4. The Liberalizing of Calvinism 
 
 Contemporary with the growth of infidelity there 
 was a liberalizing movement which looked toward 
 the development of a sort of modernist "nominal 
 Christianity." It came as a result of the increasing 
 spirit of toleration and as a protest against the 
 severe Calvinism of the fathers. Many were living 
 up to a self-imposed Christian standard without 
 identifying themselves with any of the diverse 
 sects. Beecher described them as men who ac- 
 cepted "moral sincerity" as the counterpart of 
 grace; and Stiles, whose own toleration allowed 
 him to meet as friends men of any or no creed, 
 characterized these disinterested, passive Chris- 
 tians as "stay-at-home Protestants." 64 They were 
 men who agreed with the Anglican Bishop War- 
 burton that "Orthodoxy is my doxy, and hetero- 
 doxy is another man's doxy." 
 
 This building of a bulwark of nominal Chris- 
 tianity outside church walls was one result of the 
 dread of atheism to which Zephaniah Swift gave 
 utterance in that first American law text, A System 
 of the Laws of the State of Connecticut (1795) : 
 
 The being of a God is so universally imposed on the 
 human mind, that it seems unnecessary to guard against a 
 denial of it by human laws. Atheism is too cold and comfort- 
 less, to be a subject of popular belief. 
 
 In another chapter he succinctly expressed the 
 new tendency: 
 
 Men begin to entertain an idea, that religion was net in- 
 stituted for the purpose of rendering them miserable, but 
 
 M Diary. III. 67. 
 
40 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 happy, and that the innocent enjoyments of life are not 
 repugnant to the will of a benevolent God. They believe 
 there is more merit in acting right than in thinking right; 
 and that the condition of men in a future state will not be 
 dependent on the speculative opinions they may have 
 adopted in the present. 85 
 
 This was carrying to its logical conclusion the 
 doctrine of private judgment with which the most 
 orthodox would have concurred. Thus Rev. 
 James Dana wrote: 
 
 Well informed protestants are at length generally agreed in 
 allowing to all the right of private judgement, which is the 
 basis of the reformation, and the only principle upon which 
 Christianity can be defended. 86 
 
 It was a logical conclusion, but one to which a 
 Congregationalist of the old stamp could not be 
 expected to subscribe. Rev. Elijah Waterman 
 grieved that: 
 
 The stern virtues, the resolute and sober system of con- 
 duct which marked the progress of our Fathers, are now 
 softening down and wearing into a mechanical smoothness 
 of behaviour, and what is infinitely more pernicious, a de- 
 bilitated and unresisting pliancy of principle and morals. 67 
 
 Rev. James Beach feared the dangerous compro- 
 mise between the friends of error and irreligion who 
 baited others with the saying: "It is no matter 
 what men believe; if they are but sincere in their 
 belief." 68 Judge Samuel Church would hesitate to 
 
 65 System of the Laws, I, 145. II, 322. 
 86 Two Discourses, p. 12. 
 
 67 Sermon (1800), p. 37. 
 
 68 Sermon (1806), p. 16. 
 
THE LIBERALIZING OF CALVINISM 41 
 
 credit the oath of a man who habitually absented 
 himself from the public worship of God. 69 
 
 Rev. Dr. Holmes of Cambridge wrote in 1811 to 
 John Cotton Smith : 
 
 A religion under the flattering yet imposing name of ra- 
 tional is substituted for the religion of the cross. Mysteries 
 are exploded. Christianity, it is conceded, ought to be be- 
 lieved in general; while it would seem, nothing need be 
 believed in particular. As a whole it is worthy of all ac- 
 ceptation; but the several parts which compose it may be 
 rejected ad libitum. Religious opinions are different; and it 
 is no matter what a man believes, provided he acted right. 
 . . . . While it tolerates with the utmost benignity all 
 the innovations of the Priestleian school, it brands with op- 
 probrium the tenets of the Puritans. 70 
 
 Such was the half-way point where many found 
 themselves as a result of the conflict between infi- 
 delity and Calvinism, and to which a near-sighted 
 but well-meaning minister might point in refuting 
 infidelity by emphasizing only the essentials of 
 Christianity. The sermon, An Enquiry into the 
 State of the Churches, by Rev. Samuel P. Williams, 
 illustrates this to perfection : 
 
 Good men may differ about the best form and place of 
 religious conference ; but / am bold in Christ to say, good men 
 cannot soberly differ about the utility and pleasure of re- 
 ligious conference of some form. 71 
 
 Such a throwing-down of the sectarian bars nat- 
 urally resulted in un-churching many people. The 
 old-fashioned doctrines were being relegated to the 
 
 69 Rev. Jonathan A. Wainwright, Discourse (1867), pp. 25-26. 
 
 70 Andrews, John Cotton Smith, pp. 67-68. 
 
 71 P. 13. 
 
42 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 background. The preachers of such doctrines 
 were unpopular. This was the condition which 
 caused the Rev. Mr. Andrews of Windham to select 
 the text, " I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed 
 on you labor in vain," for his retirement sermon, 
 which overflowed with the tragic discouragement of 
 the helpless, but blameless old man. 72 It was this 
 tendency to cater to the popular desire, to shade 
 over the harsh doctrines of the fathers and to 
 preach a " moderate Calvinism" that Jonathan 
 Edwards, Jr. thundered against in his calls for a 
 converted ministry, the plain preaching of the 
 Gospel, and less practical and more religious ser- 
 mons. 73 Edwards fought a life-long losing battle; 
 for time and the new spirit were opponents too 
 powerful even for his steel. Nor was Lyman 
 Beecher to be more successful in his demand that 
 ministers be not timid in preaching doctrines 
 which offend or in enforcing church discipline for 
 fear of parish stability lest they further the cause 
 of infidelity. 
 
 Congregationalism was becoming less rigid and 
 harsh and more humanistic. The names of Jona- 
 than Edwards the elder, Samuel Hopkins, Joseph 
 Bellamy, Edwards the younger, Stiles, Dwight 
 and Beecher mark the milestones of this evolution. 74 
 
 72 Rev. J. E. Tyler, Historical Discourse, pp. 24-26. 
 
 73 Sermon (1795). 
 
 74 Foster, Genetic History, ch. xii, and Williston Walker, Creeds and 
 Platforms of Congregationalism have been of assistance. 
 
congregational church membership 43 
 
 5. An Estimate of the Congregational Church 
 Membership 
 
 It is impossible to estimate the number of deists 
 or of non-church goers. This is not strange when 
 one takes into consideration that atheists and 
 deists were classed with felons who, on conviction 
 of denying God, the Scriptures, or the Trinity, were 
 disabled from holding any office, civil, ecclesiastical 
 or military and, if convicted a second time, were 
 deprived of their judicial rights. 75 As there do not 
 seem to have been any convictions, although there 
 were numbers who might easily have been appre- 
 hended through informers, the law probably re- 
 mained a dead-letter. In accordance with the 
 statute of 1784, all residents who did not deposit 
 a certificate of their dissent with the clerk of the 
 ecclesiastical society in which they dwelt were Con- 
 gregationalists, though at heart they might be 
 deists, Unitarians, or atheists. This situation is, 
 of course, characteristic of any community with a 
 state-church. 
 
 President Stiles estimated in 1794 that, of the 
 eighty-five nominees for Assistants, one-third were 
 Revelationists, one- third doubtful and the last 
 third deists. Of the eighty-five, only about thirty- 
 six were religious characters, the rest being Gallios, 
 as some maliciously noted. Certainly, he added, 
 too many were of doubtful religion and virtue, 
 while some were of flagitious morals. 76 Occa- 
 
 75 Statutes of Conn. (1808), p. 296; Swift, System of the Laws, II, 
 320. 
 
 76 Diary, III, 546. 
 
44 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 sionally one runs across estimates in pastors' ser- 
 mons of the number of active parishioners and con- 
 versions, from which one may arrive at superficial 
 estimates by comparison with the known popula- 
 tion of the town. These may or may not be repre- 
 sentative towns, or representative years. New 
 Haven in 1787 had three Congregational societies 
 and one Episcopal church, with an enrollment of 
 about thirty-one per cent of the population or 
 about twenty-six per cent for Congregationalists 
 alone. 77 Salisbury, a town of 2,266 people in 1800, 
 had no organized churches for Methodists, Bap- 
 tists or Universalists ; and from 1812 to 1818 there 
 was no settled Congregationalist minister, so that 
 the religious life must have fallen to a low level. 
 In 1800 its pastor counted twenty-eight males and 
 fifty-two females, giving a total church membership 
 of about nine per cent. 78 In 1800 only about sixteen 
 per cent of Windham's population of 2,644 were 
 active Congregationalists. 79 Rev. Noah Porter of 
 Farmington, in a sermon in 1821, spoke of the in- 
 difference of that society for the past twenty years, 
 with no revival since 1800 and with the lamentably 
 small average of ten persons joining the society each 
 year by profession or letter out of a population of 
 2,000. 80 In this connection one should recall the 
 
 "Stiles, Sermon, July 24, 1787. 
 
 78 Church, Historical Address (1841), p. 29; Rev. Joseph Cro.ssman, 
 Sermon (1803), pp. 17-18. 
 
 79 Waterman, Sermon (1800), p. 38. 
 
 80 Discourse (1821), p. 6. These records are good compared 
 with the figures Stiles gave in 1769 for Plainfield, Stonington, New 
 London, Norwich, Preston, and Lyman, where only from y 1 ^ to 
 
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP 45 
 
 condition of Congregationalism in Yale which, 
 while to some extent national in scope, was pretty 
 representative of the Connecticut Valley. 
 
 These figures are incomplete, but accurate enough 
 to speak volumes. They sketch too dark a picture 
 of Congregationalism as measured by results, but 
 are indicative of the inroads of nothingarianism and 
 of dissent. They seem to bear out an estimate, that 
 hardly one-third of Connecticut was more than 
 Presbyterian-Congregational in name; for, as we 
 shall see, the dissenters were quite one-third of the 
 total population. These ratios explain why the 
 Old Order was doomed to defeat in spite of its 
 splendid political organization, once dissenter joined 
 forces with this large neutral body of nominal Con- 
 gregationalists. It was this group of independent 
 voters, if one may use present-day nomenclature, 
 which carried the day for broad toleration. 
 
 \ were church members of any kind. F. B. Dexter, Extracts from 
 the Itineraries of Ezra Stiles, pp. 298 ff. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 i. The Protestant Episcopal Church 
 
 f I THIS period which we have just been consider- 
 ^ ing was also marked by an astonishing 
 growth of dissent. While there may have been an 
 occasional Quaker or Church of England man in 
 the commonwealth from the beginning, and while 
 dissent dated from the establishment of the Angli- 
 can church in Stratford, dissent did not become 
 widespread until after the Revolution. Connecti- 
 cut as characterized by one form of church govern- 
 ment, that of the Congregationalists alone, was to 
 be no more. State and church were no longer 
 to be composed of the same persons, citizens and 
 church members. The Anglican was followed by 
 the schismatic Strict Congregationalist, by the 
 Baptist, and finally by the Methodist. Quakers 
 remained in small numbers; Universalists entered 
 the field; regular Presbyterians were represented; 
 Unitarians existed outside the law; and in fact 
 every English Protestant sect found place within 
 the state. Naturally, their entrance was opposed 
 by the religious body so long possessed of exclusive 
 control of religion within the colony. As Judge 
 Samuel Church wrote: "A history of intermingling 
 sects has generally been little else than a history 
 of unchristian contentions." 1 Connecticut, as he 
 was well aware, proved no exception to this rule. 
 
 1 Church, Historical Address, p. 37. 
 
 46 
 
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 47 
 
 On the part of the dissenters it was a fight first 
 for existence, then for toleration, and finally for 
 complete religious liberty. 
 
 Equal rights were not granted until the dis- 
 senter united with the non-believer and the mal- 
 content Republican to control a working majority 
 of the popular vote. Therefore, it is essential to 
 sketch briefly the various dissenting groups in order 
 to gain an idea of their grievances and numerical 
 strength. The Anglican church may be consid- 
 ered first because of its position of greatest respect- 
 ability in the eyes of the Standing Order and 
 because of its priority in point of time. I shall 
 then take up in order the Separatists, Baptists, 
 Methodists, and the smaller religious bodies. 
 
 The Church of England in Connecticut was in- 
 augurated by the conversion of Rector Timothy 
 Cutler of Yale College and that of his tutors, Rev. 
 Samuel Johnson and Rev. Daniel Browne in 1722. 
 They were all excused from further college service, 
 for their "apostacy" stirred the colony to its depths 
 and resulted in intensely bitter criticism. 2 In 1724 
 the first Anglican church was opened at Stratford 
 with Dr. Johnson as its pastor. Insignificant as 
 were these Anglican beginnings, they aroused an- 
 tagonism and bitter persecution extending over 
 several years. Churchmen were compelled to pay 
 a tithe to the Congregational parish in which they 
 
 2 Rev. E. Edwards Beardsley, The History of the Episcopal Church in 
 Connecticut, I, 32, 42, 63; Sanford H. Cobb, The Rise of Religious Liberty 
 in America, p. 268; Stokes, Memorials, I, 13-15; Dexter, Biographical 
 Sketches , I. 
 
48 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 dwelt on penalty of imprisonment or distraint of 
 goods. 3 Connecticut must indeed have seemed a 
 strange place to the Anglican who found himself 
 the dissenter, the persecuted and the payer of a 
 tithe to an unfriendly establishment. There is 
 pathos as well as humor in the early complaints 
 against a legal system, which prevented any re- 
 ligious assembly not conformable to the establish- 
 ment or the Act of Toleration and which fined 
 persons neglecting public worship and meeting in 
 private houses twenty shillings, and unlawful 
 ministers twenty pounds. 4 
 
 The Anglicans were in an excellent position to 
 force the issue by an appeal to the crown if neces- 
 sary, especially as the home government was then 
 hostile to charter colonies. The Legislature, aware 
 of this, answered a petition of the Fairfield County 
 Episcopalians with remedial legislation. 5 This act 
 of 1727 gave Anglicans who had an organized 
 society within a reasonable distance, even if in 
 another state, the privilege of declaring themselves 
 members and of taxing their membership for the 
 support of their own minister and church. Thus 
 they were freed from further attendance at the 
 services of the established church, and from pay- 
 ing a tithe for the maintenance of its ministry. If, 
 however, there was no Anglican society within a 
 
 3 Beardsley, Episcopal Church, I, 52, 59-61. 
 
 4 Conn. Col. Records, VI, 248 ; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 140 ; Paul 
 E. Laurer, Church and State in New England, pp. 85-87. 
 
 6 Conn. Col. Records, VII, 106-108; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 140; 
 Laurer, Church and State, pp. 85-87; Henry Bronson, History of Water- 
 bury, p. 316; Alexander Johnston, Connecticut, p. 236. 
 
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 49 
 
 reasonable distance, a churchman was legally rated 
 as a Congregationalist ; in other words he was 
 reckoned a tithe payer and church attendant. The 
 illiberal interpretation of a reasonable distance such 
 as two miles, meant that too few Anglicans were 
 actually benefited. The law defeated the pur- 
 pose of its framers, for it stimulated Anglican growth. 
 He would be a lukewarm churchman who, taxed 
 for religion, would not prefer to support his own 
 rather than the dissenter's church. This act was 
 the first step toward toleration, even though enacted 
 for the sake of "fear and policy." Judge Swift 
 realized this when he wrote: 
 
 This accidental circumstance produced this exemption, 
 at a much earlier period, than it would have happened, 
 if the same religious sect had governed in England and 
 Connecticut. 6 
 
 The years following 1727 saw a rapid advance, 7 
 preachers like Samuel Seabury, Sr., and John Beach 
 going over to Episcopacy. Ezra Stiles was es- 
 pecially uncharitable to the latter whom he de- 
 scribed as a "high Churchman and a high Tory" 
 whose sole aim in life was the conversion of 
 " Heathen Presbyterians." The revival of the dec- 
 ade of 1740 and the schism in Congregationalism 
 encouraged Anglican growth and lessened the oppo- 
 1 sition, much of which was being directed toward 
 
 6 System of the Laws, I, 140. 
 
 7 Stiles, Diary, III, 12; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, I, 239-244; 
 Beardsley, Episcopal Church, I, chs. 7, 8, 9; Bronson, Waterbury, pp. 
 294-310; Rev. John Avery, History of the Town of Ledyard, pp. 46-48; 
 Rev. J. W. Alvord, Historical Address (1842), p. 24; Ralph D. Smith, 
 The History of Guilford, p. 103. 
 
50 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 the schismatics. Churches were established in 
 Stamford, in Guilford where later a number of Con- 
 gregationalists resided, in Litchfield, in Middletown, 
 and finally in Waterbury where at first the Legis- 
 lature blindly rejected a petition for parish privi- 
 leges even after the construction of the church 
 building. 
 
 This advance was not viewed complacently by 
 the Standing Order, who opposed it with a mean- 
 spirited, petty persecution, social and political when 
 not legal. The town of Cornwall in 1752 actually 
 sued one of its citizens "for damages for breaking 
 the covenant, and conforming to the Church 
 of England," and was awarded a judgment for 
 fifteen pounds. 8 The tithe system administered 
 by the "vestry" of the established society in the 
 interest of that body was bound to work hard- 
 ship. When a man severed connections with his 
 society, he was an apostate to the creed of his 
 fathers and a dodger of the support of the Gospel. 
 Obstinate refusal to pay a tithe meant distraint of 
 property or even hard labor enforced by corporal 
 punishment or imprisonment. 9 Such treatment 
 gave rise to charges of persecution, more often no 
 doubt than circumstances warranted. 
 
 The Church of England grew steadily until the 
 days of the Revolution, aided as it was by the 
 active support of the Society for the Propagation 
 
 8 Wain wright, Historical Discourse, p. 12; Beardsley, Ecclesiastical 
 History of Connecticut, I, 200. 
 
 9 Joseph P. Beach, History of Cheshire, p. 120; Albert C. Bates, 
 Records of Rev. Roger Viets, p. 5; Beecher, Autobiography, I, 342; George 
 Barstow, The History of Neiv Hampshire, p. 425. 
 
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 51 
 
 of the Gospel and the London Missionary Soci- 
 ety. The Missionary Society, employing " In- 
 trigue and vigorous exertion to get a Footing," 
 supported missionaries, and an occasional school- 
 master. It made donations to the small churches 
 scattered throughout Connecticut, the greater 
 part of them being unable to support a min- 
 istry if left unaided, especially those of Litchfield 
 County. In 1773 Stiles noted that there were fif- 
 teen ministers and thirty-one churches, whereas 
 in 1752 there had been but eight clergymen and six- 
 teen churches. 10 He considered this only a natural 
 increase which augured no prospect of "Episcopiz- 
 ing" Connecticut. -Outside support was naturally 
 frowned upon, for it was felt that there might be a 
 political motive hidden behind the religious. 
 
 New Haven became the seat of an Episcopal 
 society about 1755. Although a clergyman was 
 early established, there were only ninety-one mem- 
 bers some seven years later. New Haven proved 
 as barren soil for Anglican growth as for the Bap- 
 tist and Methodist propaganda of later years, re- 
 fusing to donate or sell a church site to Dr. Samuel 
 Johnson. 11 Aside from the erection of a church 
 in Bristol about 1760, the establishment of a small 
 society in Middle Haddam and another at Pomfret, 
 there was no advance until after the Revolution. 12 
 
 Of the beginning of the Pomfret congregation, 
 
 10 Goodenough, Clergy of Litchfield, p. 154; Stiles, Diary, I, 359-393. 
 
 11 Dwight, Statistical Account, p. 43; Duncan, Travels, I, 113; Beards- 
 ley, Episcopal Church, I, 65, 172, 198. 
 
 12 Field, Statistical Account, p. 62; Rev. Noah Porter, Discourse (1821), 
 p. 70. 
 
52 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Stiles has left an interesting account which is valu- 
 able in illustrating the method of proselytizing. 
 Colonel Godfrey Marlbone, an Oxford graduate, 
 owned five thousand acres of land in the town of 
 Brooklyn and, as his father before him had done, 
 paid a heavy tithe to the settled society. At 
 length he refused to pay his fourth of an assess- 
 ment for a new church and, supported by the 
 Bishop of London, he determined to build an 
 Anglican chapel. Among his tenants and neigh- 
 bors some ninety families (of whom a third had 
 been Congregationalists) were glad to enroll in a 
 society so well endowed. One can not but query 
 if such conversions were not due to economic rather 
 than to religious discontent. 13 
 
 In 1760 there were sixteen churches with es- 
 tablished clergymen and ten vacancies, while in 
 1773 there were only fifteen ministers and thirty- 
 one societies. In Fairfield County, where the 
 Episcopalians were strongest, it was estimated that 
 in 1773 they made up a third of the population. 
 In Newtown, for instance, the Episcopalians 
 equaled the Congregationalists in number. Rev. 
 Elizur Goodrich, the Congregational minister at 
 Durham, after a careful survey estimated the 
 Anglicans in 1774 at one- thirteenth of the state's 
 population. 14 
 
 18 Diary, I, 30-31, 93-94. Cf. Charles F. Sedgwick, History of 
 . . . Sharon, p. 98, and Rev. Herman R. Timlow, Ecclesiastical and 
 other sketches of Southington, pp. 190-191. 
 
 14 Stiles, Discourse (1761), pp. 135-138; Beardsley, Episcopal Church, 
 pp. 286-288; Ezra Stiles, Itineraries, pp. 110 ff. 
 
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 53 
 
 The position of the Anglican church during the 
 war could not be more precarious. 15 Its desire 
 for a bishop and its connection with the Missionary 
 Society were pretexts rather than valid reasons 
 for a renewed attack by those who still lived in fear 
 of a Laud. As British support was withdrawn, 
 missionary endeavors ceased. The missionaries 
 were quite English in sympathy ; the interests of 
 the permanent clergy, if not of their parishioners, 
 were more closely related to the crown than to 
 the colony. It is hard to conceive of a true church- 
 man other than a loyalist. The Declaration of 
 Independence found him again at Nottingham. 
 
 Ezra Stiles was certain that all Anglicans shared 
 the royalist views of the Rev. Mr. Peters, "The 
 infamous Chh. Parson of Hebron," only differing 
 in degree. 16 Some of the clergy emigrated by way 
 ( , of New York, while others obeyed the wiser counsel 
 of men like William Samuel Johnson, patriot and 
 churchman, and remained quiet while their people 
 followed a course of unoffending neutrality. 17 
 Rev. Samuel Seabury, an avowed loyalist and at one 
 time chaplain of the loyalist regiment under Colonel 
 Edmund Fanning, was seized at Westchester, New 
 York, by Connecticut raiders and imprisoned for 
 
 15 Beardsley, Episcopal Church, 1, 301 ff.; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, 
 III, 264; Conn. Historical Society, Collections, I, 213; Major Christopher 
 French, Journal, July, 1776; Charles H. Davis, History of Wallingford, 
 pp.301 ff.; Church, Historical Address, p. 32; Charles B. Todd, History 
 of Redding, p. 105; Bronson, Waterbury, pp. 301, 330; Rev. Joseph 
 Anderson, The Town of Waterbury, I, 654-656; Stiles, Diary, II, 5-6. 
 
 16 Peters of Blue-Law fame. Diary, II, 128. 
 
 17 Beardsley, Episcopal Church, I, 301, 311. 
 
54 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 a time in New Haven. 18 Missionaries were sub- 
 jected to scrupulous surveillance and hard treat- 
 ment. Some churches were closed by parsons who 
 could not reconcile the forced omission of the 
 prayer for royalty with their canonical oath. 
 Rector Abraham Jarvis was compelled by threats 
 to suspend services, while other ministers, not dar- 
 ing to read the service nor to appear in their sacer- 
 dotal vestments, contented themselves with read- 
 ing from the Bible on Sundays. In Salisbury all 
 teaching was silenced and the church was turned 
 into a military prison, while the Sharon church 
 was converted into a barracks, even as the 
 Roundheads had once converted "Paul's Church," 
 London. The royal prerogative removed, Angli- 
 cans learned that legal toleration meant little 
 unless enforced by public sentiment and the police 
 power. Later Episcopalian writers have been in- 
 clined to minimize the Tory sympathies of their 
 church during the crisis, and accuse the Puritans 
 of allowing sectarianism and pent-up hatred free 
 play under the guise of patriotism. In a word the 
 Church of England barely lived through these 
 days. 19 
 
 At the close of the Revolution the Church of 
 England was quite discredited. The Congrega- 
 tionalist patriot saw in it only Toryism of the 
 
 18 Stokes, Memorials, I, 46-47; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, II, 
 179 flf. 
 
 19 Bates, Rev. Roger Viets, p. 6; Todd, Redding, p. 105; Stiles, Diary, 
 II, 45-46; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, II, 701 fL; Sedgwick, Sharon, 
 pp. 61-63; Wainwright, Historical Discourse, pp. 18-20; Beardsley, 
 Episcopal Church, I, 317 ff. 
 
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 55 
 
 deepest hue as his fear of Episcopacy seemed to grow 
 with his jealousy for America's newly won liberties. 
 If a man of the breadth of Stiles regarded Episco- 
 pacy with abhorrence and its ritual as a system of 
 worship which deists and immoral men might 
 conscientiously follow, what were the views of the 
 ordinary layman? 20 
 
 The reorganization of the Anglican church as 
 the Protestant Episcopal church of America did 
 much to lessen popular hostility. This severance 
 of institutional dependence upon England was man- 
 ifest because of the difficulty which the first Amer- 
 ican bishop, Samuel Seabury, found in obtaining 
 consecration. He was finally forced to seek orders 
 from a non-juring Scottish bishop. 21 Then the di- 
 vorce from the London Missionary Society, which 
 cared only for the conversion of his Majesty's sub- 
 jects, removed another popular grievance. How- 
 ever, enough annoyance was kept up to encourage 
 the church's growth and inspire its members. 
 
 In 1 79 1 the Legislature passed a supplementary 
 "Act to enforce the observance of days of public 
 fasting and Thanksgiving." Labor of a servile 
 character and all forms of recreation were forbidden 
 on such days designated by the governor, under the 
 penalty of a fine of from one to two dollars. Con- 
 sidering this statute in the light of the habit of 
 naming feasts on Episcopal fast days and vice 
 versa, the cry of persecution does not seem a fancy. 
 
 20 Diary, II, 113. Ill, 235; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, IV, 375. 
 11 Beardsley, Life and Correspondence of the Rt. Rev. Samuel Seabury; 
 Bronson, Waterbury, p. 301. 
 
56 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 This grievance was of short duration ; for Governor 
 Huntington, a personal friend of the bishop, named 
 Good Friday as the annual fast day in 1795. This 
 tactful precedent was followed again in 1797, giv- 
 ing the custom permanent establishment. 22 Bishop 
 Seabury himself was at fault inasmuch as his 
 affected signature of ' 'Samuel, Bishop of Connecti- 
 cut," seemed to give point to the old imputation 
 of episcopal aggressive and autocratic manners. 23 
 Then his church in New London aroused suspicions 
 of its good Americanism by refusing to celebrate 
 Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1795 
 because it fell in the Lenten season. To men of 
 Puritan traditions this refusal appeared to be a 
 quibbling pretext. 
 
 From the time of the reorganization of the Prot- 
 estant Episcopal church to the War of 18 12 num- 
 bers increased; churches were built; new societies 
 were organized ; and the Churchman 1 s Monthly Mag- 
 azine was founded. 24 The Standing Order was 
 brought to the point of recognizing the Episcopal as 
 the second church in the state. Its ministers were 
 men of education. Yale recognized this for the first 
 time when, in 1793, a Doctor of Divinity degree was 
 conferred upon an Episcopal clergyman. Their 
 second bishop, Rev. Abraham Jarvis, like the first, 
 was a Yale man, and sent his son to Yale. Episco- 
 
 22 Statutes (1808), p. 285; Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 378; William 
 De Loss Love, Fasts and Thanksgivings of New England, pp. 346-361. 
 
 23 Address of Episcopal Clergy to Bishop Seabury and his answer, in 
 Yale Miscellaneous Sermons, IV, Nos. 11, 12. 
 
 24 Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 
 
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 57 
 
 palians were becoming influential in the business 
 life of the state. 25 
 
 By 1 791 the number of clergymen had increased 
 from ten to twenty. Ten years later the number 
 of ministers was thought to be about twenty, with 
 sixteen pluralities and seventeen vacancies as a 
 record of churches. In 1810 Dwight estimated the 
 number of churches or societies at sixty-one. This 
 is the more remarkable when we remember that 
 this strength was centered in six of the eight 
 counties. Litchfield early heard Anglican preach- 
 ing, but not until 1 784 was there a legally organized 
 society in its midst, and then the growth was slow 
 enough. Windham County, in 1807, could only 
 count one Episcopal church among its forty-one 
 societies though the Baptists had thirteen and 
 the Methodists four. 26 
 
 Brookfield established an Episcopal society in 
 1785, fifty-five men having seceded from the estab- 
 lished church. Three years later came the first 
 rupture in the East Haven church when a number 
 certified themselves Episcopalians rather than share 
 the burden of a twenty pounds' increase in the 
 minister's salary. By 181 1 a church and school 
 were built. In 1790 churches were organized in 
 Hamden, Burlington, and Southington; and a score 
 
 26 New Haven Historical Society, Papers, III, 423; Mercury, Dec. 
 26, 1805; Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 27; Dexter, Biographical 
 Sketches, II, 701-706. 
 
 26 Stiles, Diary, III, 151; Leland, Dissenters' Strong Box, p. 14; 
 Trumbull, Sermon (1801), p. 16; Dwight, Travels, IV, 444 ff.; George C. 
 Woodruff, History of the Town of Litchfield, p. 27; Larned, Windham 
 County, II, 391. 
 
58 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 of Congregationalists of Hadclam were "converted" 
 because of a momentous dispute over the location 
 of a new church building. After 1800 strong 
 parishes were formed at Killingworth, Kent, and 
 Norwich. New Haven, though far from a favor- 
 able center, offers a good example of this growth. 
 With only ninety-five Episcopalians to four hundred 
 and fifty-nine Congregationalists on the official tax 
 lists in 1787, it was estimated by the minister of 
 Center Church in 1800 that there were two hundred 
 and twenty-six Episcopal as compared with four 
 hundred and seventy-one Congregational is t families. 
 This was a decidedly favorable advance. 27 
 
 The Episcopal church suffered again in the War 
 of 1 81 2 because of its alleged English sympathy, 
 strange as this may seem in view of the dubious 
 patriotism of the state. This bigotry in the guise 
 of patriotism was particularly odious. 
 
 With 1 81 5 a new period of progress began. The 
 building of Trinity Church, New Haven, marked 
 an epoch, for it was regarded as the most imposing 
 church edifice in New England, and as such won the 
 applause of all but the most orthodox. 28 Churches 
 were erected here and there, where previously strug- 
 gling societies had to be content with a temporary 
 
 27 Sarah" E. Hughes, History of East Haven, under 1788; Pierce, History 
 of Brookfield, p. 20; William P. Blake, History of . . . . Hamden, 
 p. 192; Porter, Historical Address, pp. 68 ff.; Field, Haddam and East 
 Haddam, p. 39; Field, Statistical Account, p. 113; Francis Atwater, 
 History of Kent, p. 68; Frances M. Caulkins, History of Norwich, p. 
 322; Stiles, Sermon, July 24, 1787; Dana, Two Discourses, pp. 65 ff. 
 
 28 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 103; Beardsley, Episcopal Church, 
 II, 110, 124. 
 
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 59 
 
 meeting house or some private dwelling. Yet 
 John Crewse chosen as bishop by the convention 
 of 1815, apparently refused the honor because of 
 the uncertainty of an adequate "living" ; and not 
 until 1 819 was Bishop Brownell consecrated. 29 In 
 1 81 7 an older society was reorganized as the Protes- 
 tant Episcopal Society for the Promotion of 
 Christian Knowledge. 30 
 
 The Congregational revival of 1816 caused an 
 anti-Episcopal outburst. An illustration is to be 
 found in the fact that Center Church, New Haven, 
 tried to put the odium of expulsion on a member 
 who joined the Episcopal fold. 31 Episcopacy was 
 attacked for the sake of re-awakening Congrega- 
 tional enthusiasm. Ultimately the net result was 
 an increase in the number of churchmen. These 
 attacks are accounted for by the more aggressive 
 stand which the churchmen were taking, and 
 because of their leaning toward the Republican 
 party. Here again the church-state adherents 
 were short-sighted, for they were only driving the 
 discontented Episcopalians to ally themselves defi- 
 nitely with that party. 
 
 Episcopalians, while unable to gain legislative 
 sanction for an Episcopalian college, believed that 
 they were discriminated against by Yale. They 
 might be eligible, but the fact remains that no 
 Episcopalian could be pointed out as a member 
 
 29 Courant, June 21, 1815; Rev. Samuel Hart, The Episcopal Bank 
 and the Bishops' Fund, pp. 8-9. 
 
 30 Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 151. 
 
 31 Ibid., pp. 139 ft*.; Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 471. 
 
60 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 of the teaching force. 32 Episcopalian students were 
 compelled to attend chapel exercises, though they 
 were given permission under some circumstances 
 to attend their own service. The government of 
 the college even under the new constitution was 
 chiefly in the hands of the ministry. Congrega- 
 tional doctrine was taught. Law, divinity, and 
 medicine were completely under the control of one 
 denomination, though all were forced to support 
 the college. 33 Hence Episcopalians were desirous 
 of obtaining an act of incorporation for their 
 academy at Cheshire, which had been founded in 
 1801, and after some difficulty had been given a 
 lottery privilege, which netted about $i2,ooo. 34 
 This small concession encouraged the Episcopalians 
 to continue their struggle for educational freedom. 
 Without a college the Episcopalians felt that 
 their ministry must suffer; that their boys would 
 be alienated from the faith of their fathers ; and that 
 their parishes must continue without rectors. It 
 was something which their wealth and numbers 
 demanded. They were not complaining of being 
 
 32 John H. Jacocks, Bishop's Bonus, p. 56, declared that in over a 
 hundred years there had been only two Episcopalian tutors, one of whom 
 apostated, though President Clap estimated that one in ten graduates 
 were of that persuasion. The defenders could only cite Tutor Denison, 
 later Speaker of the House, whom Professor Dexter describes as a 
 "devout but not a bigoted member of the Episcopal Church." Bio- 
 graphical Sketches, V, 192. See article by Theodore Dwight, from 
 Albany Advertiser, in Courant, June 18, 1816. 
 
 33 Courant, June 18, 1816; Rev. B. Judd, Sermon, OcX.1, 1812. 
 
 34 Bernard Steiner, History of Education in Connecticut, pp. 55 ff.; 
 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 115; Davis, Walling ford, pp. 444 ff.; Mer- 
 cury, Nov. 11, 1805. 
 
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 61 
 
 taxed to support Yale, they said, but were merely 
 urging that they be granted equal rights. They 
 maintained that the Cheshire Academy with an en- 
 rollment of from fifty to seventy students was 
 worthy of incorporation ; but to this the Congrega- 
 tionalists offered a united opposition. The latter 
 fearing the competition of a rival college contended 
 that Yale was liberal enough. Nor could they see 
 why each sect should have schools or how tutors 
 in languages or chemistry could hurt Episcopalian 
 susceptibilities. In 1804 an application for a 
 charter was refused, and again in 18 10: while 
 the Lower House approved, the Council rejected 
 the proposal, which had been drawn up in the 
 Cheshire convention and fathered by Jonathan 
 Ingersoll, a leading churchman. The refusal was 
 so discouraging that no further steps were taken 
 until 1 8 12, when another petition remained un- 
 answered. Episcopalians ascribed all to bigotry. 
 Despite the increasing importance of the academy 
 it was never chartered, nor were the Episcopalians 
 to have their own college until Washington, later 
 called Trinity, was founded at Hartford in 1823. 35 
 Their failure emphasized the truth of the Re- 
 publican assertion that loyal as Episcopalians and 
 their bishop had been to the Federalist party, neither 
 their interests nor those of their adherents had been 
 advanced. Men like Samuel Johnson, Jonathan 
 
 36 Davis, Walling ford, pp. 444 ff.; Greene, Religious Liberty, pp. 463- 
 467; Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 66 ff.; Steiner, Education in Con- 
 necticut, pp. 237 ff. Jacocks, Bishop's Bonus, Judd, Sermon, Oct. 7, 1812, 
 and Mercury, July 19, 1810, afford valuable material. 
 
62 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Ingersoll, Mr. Beers of New Haven, had been 
 awarded prominent positions, partly because of 
 their native worth and partly as a political bid for 
 the support of their order. Usually an Episcopalian 
 found his way into the Council, generally because his 
 co-religionists concentrated their votes. It was 
 complained that they were over-represented in the 
 Lower House. This may be doubted. It could be 
 demonstrated, however, that Episcopalians were 
 selected only in dissenting strongholds. Scarcely 
 were they ever granted appointive positions. 36 
 
 Episcopalians were further aroused by the re- 
 fusal of ordinary justice in the case of the Phoenix 
 Bank bonus. 37 In the spring of 1814 the backers 
 of this Episcopalian bank petitioned the Legis- 
 lature for articles of incorporation, offering a bonus 
 of $60,000, which should be appropriated for the use 
 of Yale for the newly established Medical School, 
 the Bishop's fund, or for whatever the legislators 
 deemed expedient. After considerable opposition 
 and a liberal distribution of shares, a million-dollar 
 charter was finally procured and $50,000 was 
 donated as a bonus. The Assembly immediately 
 passed bills granting $20,000 to the Medical School 
 and an equal amount to the Bishop's fund, but in 
 the latter grant the Council failed to concur, only 
 
 36 Mercury, Nov. 19, 1801; Feb. 10, 1803; Sept. 26, Dec. 26, 1805; 
 Courant, Aug. 30, 1816; Rev. William J. Bentley, Diary, III, 208. 
 
 ™Conn. Public Laws (1808-1819), pp. 43-46, 148 fL; Jacocks, 
 Bishop's Bonus; defense of Legislature by Theodore Dwight, a member, 
 Courant, June 18, 1816; Columbian Register, June 17, 1820; Hart, Episco- 
 pal Bank; Samuel Church, Mss. History of Convention; Beardsley, 
 Episcopal Church, II, 120-124; Greene, Religious Liberty, pp. 443-444. 
 
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 63 
 
 the Episcopalian William Samuel Johnson favor- 
 ing it. The excuse offered was that the state 
 needed money because of the war. During the 
 following year petitions for their share again failed. 
 While, in accordance with the act of incorporation, 
 the General Assembly was legally a free agent, 
 yet it was not living up to the spirit of the act. 
 The largess to the Medical School seemed a prece- 
 dent for the Bishop's fund in which they were so 
 keenly interested. 
 
 Believing that the Legislature's action was due 
 to Federalist intolerance and Puritan hatred of a 
 bishop, they turned toward the sympathetic oppo- 
 sition party, which was actively bidding for their 
 support. Thus it was that "The Phoenix Bank, the 
 child of Intrigue and the mother of Discord," caused, 
 as Theodore Dwight bitterly noted, the Episcopalian 
 to break from his party for the sake of his church. 
 
 The number of Episcopalians in 1817 can only 
 be roughly determined, so incomplete were paro- 
 chial reports to the general convention. One author- 
 ity estimated seventy-four Episcopal churches as 
 compared to two hundred and thirteen Congrega- 
 tional societies. The Connecticut Gazetteer gives 
 practically the same figures, save that it enumer- 
 ates three Congregational societies less. As there 
 were only thirty-five Episcopal clergy, about one- 
 half of the churches were vacancies, and probably 
 were small as compared with the legal Congrega- 
 tional enrollment. 38 In Middlesex County the 
 
 38 Courant, June 17, Sept. 23, 1817; Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 
 76 ff.; Morse and Morse, The Travellers' Guide, p. 91; Pease and Niles, 
 
64 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 church figures for 1815 are available and sufficiently 
 accurate for a comparison. Out of 3,688 families, 
 2,330 were legally classed as Congregationalists, 
 and 421 as Episcopalian, or about eleven per cent 
 of the total or nineteen per cent of the legal Con- 
 gregational population. 39 It should be remembered 
 too that Fairfield County, not Middlesex, was the 
 stronghold. Miss Greene credits them with from 
 one-eleventh to one-thirteenth of the population 
 of the state in 18 16. This is rather low, for in 
 1 81 7, when it was desired to placate the Episco- 
 palians, the General Assembly allotted one-seventh 
 of the national refund of the state war expenses 
 to the Bishop's fund as the Episcopalian share. 
 This semi-official estimate of their numbers was 
 probably fairly accurate, though none too liberal. 40 
 At any rate the Episcopalian vote was so im- 
 portant numerically that its loss to the Federalists 
 marked the end of their control. The Episco- 
 palians used their strength to gain concessions which 
 chanced to be liberal in character, rather than to 
 bring about reform for principle's sake, thus dif- 
 fering from the Baptists and Methodists who had 
 labored through the heat of the whole day with the 
 Republican for the overthrow of the state-favored 
 church. Against an establishment as such the Epis- 
 copalian could not logically declare, but only against 
 a Congregational establishment. 
 
 Gazetteer, p. 32. D. B. Warden, Statistical and Historical Account of 
 the U. S., estimates 218 Congregational, 64 Episcopal and 67 Baptist 
 societies. The Christian Messenger, quoted in Courant, Aug. 19, 1817. 
 
 89 Field, Statistical Account. 
 
 40 Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 444. 
 
THE STRICT CONGREGATION ALISTS 65 
 
 2. The Strict Congregationalists 
 
 The religious re-awakening of 1740 resulted in 
 the first schism in Congregationalism. The revolters 
 from the Saybrook platform were known as 
 Separatists or New Lights, though they preferred 
 the term Strict Congregationalists. As some twenty 
 ministers were affected, the New Lights imme- 
 diately became a thorn in the side of orthodoxy. 
 
 The Legislature enacted a measure, excepting 
 Separatists from the privileges of the Toleration 
 Act. In 1742 a grand council of ministers at 
 Killingworth condemned itinerant preaching in no 
 uncertain terms. In answer to their petition the 
 Legislature passed a statute directed against ir- 
 regular ministers and exhorters, which fully met 
 the approval of the general association. New 
 Light preachers were subject to the law as un- 
 settled exhorters, for they could not establish legal 
 societies. Neither legislation nor persecution pre- 
 vented the growth of the sect. 41 Finally it was nec- 
 essary to exempt the ' 'commonly styled Separates" 
 from paying taxes for the support of the regular 
 ministry under the rules holding for Episcopalians. 42 
 
 Fines and imprisonment for conscience sake only 
 increased Separatist zeal. Social persecution on 
 the part of those who believed that the Separates' 
 conscience was mirrored in avarice and factious- 
 ness had no more effect. Large societies were 
 
 41 Conn. Col. Records, VIII, 569; Caulkins, New London, p. 451; 
 Rev. Albert H. Newman, History of the Baptist Churches in the United 
 States, p. 244. 
 
 42 Conn. State Records, I, 232; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 146. 
 
66 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 founded before 1790 in Mansfield, Middletown, Led- 
 yard, Norwich, New Milford, Cheshire and Cornwall, 
 in addition to which there were nearly thirty small 
 organizations. Secessions were often due to dif- 
 ferences over the minister's election or salary or 
 over meeting-house repairs, though at times to the 
 more important though minute questions of church 
 government and of doctrinal variations. 43 
 
 This revolt within the church clearly demon- 
 strated widespread discontent. Today it is in- 
 teresting not so much for the counter movement 
 in Congregationalism, but because it pried open 
 the door of toleration just a bit wider. Inciden- 
 tally the Separates were to increase the number of 
 Baptists with whose doctrines and ideas of govern- 
 ment they were closely in accord, for they found 
 the support of a separate organization burden- 
 some. Nevertheless about seven societies 44 lived 
 to reap the benefits of the full religious freedom. 
 At all events, while few in number, their members 
 were early supporters of the reform party. 
 
 3. The Baptist Church 
 
 The Baptist denomination was represented in 
 Connecticut by a society established at Groton as 
 early as 1705, thus really antedating the Anglican 
 church, although generally regarded as occupy- 
 
 43 Newman, Baptist Churches, pp. 244-252; Larned, Windham 
 County, II, 233-234; Avery, Ledyard, pp. 50-52; Field, Centennial 
 Address, p. 168; Timlow, Southington, pp. 297 ff.; Beach, Cheshire, p. 
 265; Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 236; Stiles, Diary, III, 380. 
 
 44 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 32. 
 
THE BAPTIST CHURCH 67 
 
 ing second place among dissenting sects. Alarmed 
 by its growth, the Legislature passed a statute in 
 1723 forbidding private meetings and baptisms 
 save by a regular minister of an approved congre- 
 gation. As early as 1729, however, the Baptists 
 together with Quakers were guaranteed the same 
 legal privileges as the Anglicans. The agitation 
 of 1742 against the exhorters and unlicensed 
 preachers of the Great Revival resulted in the 
 temporary repeal of the toleration acts. This 
 greatly injured the four societies then in existence. 45 
 
 When toleration was again granted in 1760, 
 Ezra Stiles enumerated three societies, one in the 
 county of New Haven and the other two in New 
 London. 46 He probably referred only to settled 
 societies because of his dislike of itinerant preachers 
 and their evanescent congregations. While it must 
 be remembered that Baptists on the border wor- 
 shipped in Rhode Island meeting-houses, still their 
 number was small throughout the colonial period. 
 
 Their early history was one of contention, 47 but, as 
 in the case of the other dissenting sects, this seemed 
 merely to advance their cause. The chief difficulty 
 centered around the obtaining of certificates, which 
 freed those professing themselves Baptists from 
 all tithes and obviously cut down the fund of the 
 
 46 Conn. Col. Records, VII, 237; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 140- 
 141; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 54-55; Newman, Baptist 
 Churches, p. 271; Field, Statistical Account, p. 99; Porter, Historical 
 Address, p. 68. 
 
 46 Discourse (1761), pp. 135-138. 
 
 47 Lamed, Windham County, II, 246, 373; Newman, Baptist Churches, 
 p. 364; Henry R. Stiles, History of Ancient Windsor, p. 439. 
 
68 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 standing minister and raised the per capita tithes 
 of the remaining parishioners. Thus one can easily 
 explain this persecution as often due only to the 
 local administration of the law. At times exhort- 
 ers found it difficult to obtain a hearing, Stiles 
 noting that an itinerant Baptist was met with 
 such a disturbance in New Haven that the meeting 
 was broken up. Here again it was not the law, 
 but the spirit of its enforcement. 
 
 The characterization of Stiles is suggestive: 
 "The Baptists are a religious people and do not 
 cover Scandal." He criticized them, and some- 
 what justly, as caring more about re-baptizing 
 Christians than for anything else. 48 Rev. Thomas 
 Robbins, regarding them fairly dispassionately, felt 
 that: "The disorganizing principles of the Bap- 
 tists do considerable damage." 49 
 
 The Baptists early opposed clerical taxation 
 without representation. While the Massachusetts 
 and Connecticut colonials were raising this con- 
 stitutional question, it is of moment to remember 
 that a similar struggle was going on within their 
 own ranks. The dissenter, who did not live in 
 the vicinity of his own chapel or society, was 
 legally a member of the Congregational parish of 
 his residence and constrained to pay a tithe in 
 support of its maintenance. These rates being 
 voted upon only by enrolled members of the society, 
 the dissenter was taxed by a local body in which 
 he conscientiously could not be represented. As 
 
 "Diary, I, 18. II, 114. 
 49 Diary, I, 90. 
 
THE BAPTIST CHURCH 69 
 
 early as 1770 the comparatively few Baptists were 
 threatening an appeal to the crown. The patriots 
 in 1774 charged that Rev. Isaac Backus was sent 
 to England with imaginary grievances, in order 
 to prevent united action by the colonies. Backus 
 pointed out in a letter to the Massachusetts As- 
 sembly how much more grievous were the Baptist 
 burdens than the three-penny tax on tea, the pay- 
 ment of which could be evaded by simply abstain- 
 ing from tea-drinking. This attitude and their 
 dubious stand on the ethics of war gave the Baptists 
 a set-back during the Revolution. 50 
 
 This was but temporary, for the law of 1784, 
 removing all disabilities save that of the certifi- 
 cate, resulted in an astonishing Baptist revival. 
 Old societies becoming stronger were building 
 meeting-houses. New societies were instituted be- 
 i fore the century's close in Chatham, Burlington, 
 Middle and East Haddam, Hampton, Woodstock, 
 Southington, Middletown, East Hartford, Bristol, 
 * Cornwall, and Norwich; and before 181 5 others 
 \ were established in Cromwell, Waterbury, New 
 London, Killingworth, Guilford, New Haven, Pom- 
 fret, Stonington and elsewhere. Between 1760 
 and 1790 the number of churches increased from 
 three to fifty-five with at least 3,200 communi- 
 cants. In 1800 it was estimated that there were 
 fifty-nine societies with 4,663 members. Windham 
 County alone had thirteen Baptist societies in 
 
 50 Newman, Baptist Churches, pp. 349 ff., quoting Backus's letter 
 of Nov. 22, 1774, p. 358; Stiles, Diary, I, 491, 581. II, 29; Alvord, 
 Stamford, p. 22. 
 
70 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 1806 as compared with only twenty Congrega- 
 tional churches, though the latter were larger 
 and more stable. Rev. John Leland testified 
 that at this time there were forty- two regis- 
 tered preachers in the state and 4,200 communi- 
 cants, not counting the numerous visitors. By 
 1 812 the number of societies was estimated at 
 from sixty-one to sixty-five with about 5,500 mem- 
 bers, aside from a few Six- Principle and Seventh - 
 Day Baptists. 51 
 
 This was indeed a remarkable record. Yet it 
 was a slow growth as compared to the rapid strides 
 made in the frontier sections of New England, where 
 it was readily admitted that the Baptists made 
 even greater headway than the Methodists. 52 To 
 explain their success was not difficult. 
 
 In the first place the Baptist tenets appealed with 
 particular force to men inclined toward strict Con- 
 gregationalism. Both sects preached against an 
 unregenerate membership and had similar rules of 
 church government. No doubt many individual 
 Separatists joined the Baptist societies. At all 
 events the practical difficulty of supporting a 
 
 51 This paragraph is based on the following sources: Newman, Baptist 
 Churches, pp. 64, 271; Henry S. Burrage, A History of the Baptists in 
 New England, p. 235; Leland, Broadside (1806), p. 4; Larned, Windham 
 County, II, 246, 373, 391; Porter, Historical Address, pp. 72 ff.; Field, 
 Statistical Account, pp. 47, 62, 80, 113; Field, Centennial Address, p. 178; 
 Timlow, Southington, p. 297; Joseph Goodwin, East Hartford, p. 145; 
 Theodore Gold, Historical Records of Cornwall, p. 176; Caulkins, Norwich, 
 p. 321; Rev. M. S. Dudley, History of Cromwell, p. 20; Caulkins, New 
 London, p. 598; Anderson, Waterbury, III, 670; Ralph D. Smith, History 
 of Guilford, p. 110; Richard A. Wheeler, History of Stonington, p. 90. 
 
 52 Tudor, Letters, p. 68; Bentley, Diary, III, 192. 
 
THE BAPTIST CHURCH 71 
 
 preacher and a church compelled a number of weak 
 societies to fuse with infant Baptist bodies. This 
 was true of the Separatist organizations of Haddam, 
 East Haddam, Westfield, Southington, West Haven, 
 and New Milford. This not only augmented 
 the number of Baptists, but gave them a more 
 respectable standing than was granted to the 
 Methodists. 53 
 
 The illiteracy of the Baptist preachers afforded 
 an opportunity for severe criticism by the clergy 
 of the Standing Order. In the eyes of the educated 
 minister such a preacher seemed dangerously un- 
 professional, whereas the ordinary Baptist ex- 
 horter despised an educated, trained ministry as 
 ungodly in being too far removed from primitive 
 times. Here we have one reason why the Baptists 
 were rated lower than the Anglicans whose clergy 
 were educated. The itinerant evangelist was a man 
 of the street, the shop or the field who "got" re- 
 ligion and a call to preach. 54 A scholar of the type 
 of Stiles had very little charity for such a teacher 
 of the Gospel. He jotted down in his diary the 
 fact that a New-Light Baptist minister ordained 
 an immoral man "in a boisterous if not blasphe- 
 mous manner," and that "he preached or raved 
 from 'feed my Lambs.' " In various passages 
 Stiles wrote censoriously of the coarseness, of the 
 
 53 Larned, Windham County, II, 391; Field, Haddam, p. 39; Field, 
 Centennial Address, p. 194; Sheldon Thorpe, North Haven Annals, p. 
 326; Minot S. Giddings, Two Centuries of New Milford, p. 12; Timlow, 
 Southington, pp. 297 ff.; Dwight, Travels, IV, 444 ff.; Laurer, Church 
 and State, p. 88; Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 236. 
 
 54 Cf. Rev. David Benedict, Fifty Years among the Baptists, p. 211. 
 
72 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 noisy, turbulent manners and of the doubtful 
 morality of the itinerant preachers. 55 To a man of 
 Dwight's aristocratic bent, their gross ignorance, 
 lack of a stipulated salary and their status as 
 farmers and mechanics of volubility made them 
 an abomination. 56 
 
 The Baptists themselves began to see the need 
 of a learned ministry, at least in long settled 
 communities. This explains their eagerness to 
 found a college in Rhode Island. Stiles, then a 
 Newport minister, denied any connection with the 
 college although his name had been used in petition- 
 ing the Legislature for its charter, but declared 
 that he wished the venture well, "as it is the only 
 means of introducing Learning among our protes- 
 tant Brethren, the Baptists, I mean among the 
 Ministers." 57 
 
 Yet this very lack of academic culture and aristo- 
 cratic bearing endeared the itinerant preacher to 
 the ignorant and lowly of the town and to the 
 frontier-like farmers in the confines of the state. 
 In contrast to the average Yale graduate in the 
 Congregational pulpit he was democratic and 
 boasted of the fact. He associated on equal terms 
 with the discontented underlings of society, where- 
 as the settled minister fraternized, condescended, 
 or ruled his flock as occasion demanded. They be- 
 longed to two different social classes as well as to 
 two opposing political parties. The exhorter be- 
 
 65 Diary, I, 18, 163. Ill, 388. 
 56 Travels, I, 147. 
 67 Diary, I, 22. 
 
THE BAPTIST CHURCH 73 
 
 came a stanch Republican, an agitator for reform, 
 while the Congregational minister was settling 
 into a Bourbon-like conservatism. 
 
 The democracy of the Baptist and, for that 
 matter, all dissenting churches as opposed to the 
 recognition of caste in the Congregational churches, 
 was illustrated by the method of church seating. 58 
 In most Congregational societies it was customary 
 to dignify seats, assigning them according to the 
 age, family, or wealth of the occupant. At times 
 this was carried down to the seating of boys and 
 girls. In some societies men were seated according 
 to age, with the modification that a defined amount 
 of property should count as a year. According to 
 this rule a wealthy young man would be seated 
 among the hoary-haired fathers of the church. 
 A loss of property meant a change of seat. Such 
 an aristocratic custom was out of tune with the 
 times. Yale realized this when, about 1765, her 
 students were for the first time catalogued alpha- 
 betically instead of according to their social stand- 
 ing. The question of seating was in itself unim- 
 portant save in so far as it was typical of a system 
 which drove men into the ranks of infidelity or sec- 
 tarianism. Attacked on all sides by religious men 
 and politicians this sensitive barometer of social 
 ranking was declared to be unchristian as well as 
 undemocratic. 
 
 Democracy within the Baptist organization was 
 
 68 Beach, Cheshire, pp. 111-112; Camp, New Britain, p. 95; Timlow, 
 Southington, pp. 181 ff.; Rev. Chacles S. Sherman, Memorial Discourse, 
 July 9, 1876; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, III, 168, 233. 
 
74 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 another reason for rapid growth. To the Con- 
 necticut mind long trained in hatred of Episcopacy, 
 both the Methodist-Episcopal and Episcopal 
 churches with their bishops appeared undemo- 
 cratic, whereas the Baptist church was decidedly 
 opposed to the episcopal office. Their exhorters, 
 unlike the leading Congregational divines, could 
 not be described as bishops in power and wealth, 
 without the onus of the name. Aside from the 
 simplicity of the ministry there was a sense of 
 equality among the congregation. Business mat- 
 ters in the Congregational society such as the levy- 
 ing of church rates were determined in a meeting of 
 the covenanted members, a much smaller group 
 than the legally recognized nominal members, or 
 even by a still smaller number known as pillars of 
 the church. 59 In the Baptist societies, although 
 only the "certified" people would desire the vote, 
 the suffrage seems to have been wider. Stiles was 
 surprised that it included even the sisters of the 
 church, a thing unheard of in a Congregational 
 church in which women might remain only as silent 
 auditors. 60 These democratic characteristics ap- 
 pealed to the men of that day, who like to "feel 
 sovereignty flowing through their veins." 
 
 The Baptists were a discontented element from 
 the beginning. Other dissenters might oppose the 
 establishment for practical reasons and be molli- 
 fied by concessions, but not so the Baptist. To 
 
 69 For a discussion of this point, see Albert E. McKinley, The Suffrage 
 Franchise in the Thirteen English Colonies in America, pp. 424-425. 
 60 Diary, I, 147. 
 
THE BAPTIST CHURCH 75 
 
 him the separation of church and state had the 
 force of dogma. Only its root and branch destruc- 
 tion and a Gospel supported by voluntary con- 
 tributions alone would satisfy him. An act of 
 toleration, granted by a beneficent legislature, 
 conveyed to his troubled conscience the idea of 
 tyranny and persecution in the very usage of the 
 words toleration and dissenter. He would not be 
 appeased. 
 
 During the Revolution Connecticut Baptists 
 read such pamphlets as Isaac Backus's An Appeal 
 to the Public for Religious Liberty, The Exact Limits 
 between Civil and Ecclesiastical Government, and Israel 
 Holly's An Appeal to the Impartial. Backus, as a 
 leading American Baptist, exerted a wide influence. 
 The logic of the Baptist contention appealed to 
 thinking men, for it was indeed strange that Puri- 
 tans who once fled in terror from a royal church, 
 should themselves set up what was to all practical 
 purposes a persecuting establishment. Then at- 
 tention could not be diverted from the inconsist- 
 ency of New England refusing religious freedom 
 to dissenters who were assisting in the struggle for 
 political independence. 
 
 The general Act of Toleration in 1784 in no re- 
 spect met Baptist demands for a free church within 
 a free state. They were quite wrought up over 
 the various projects to sell the Western Reserve 
 and use the proceeds as a fund for the support of 
 the Congregational ministry and the schools. 61 
 This opposition was one of the reasons why it was 
 
 61 Greene, Religious Liberty, pp. 380 ff. 
 
76 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 found advisable to use the lands only as a school 
 endowment. 
 
 In 1794 Rev. John Leland addressed a crowd of 
 angered Baptists from the capitol steps, urging 
 them to join in bringing about reform, freedom of 
 conscience, and a complete disestablishment. 
 Leland, though his pastorate was in Cheshire, 
 Massachusetts, became a spokesman for the Con- 
 necticut Baptists. He had recently removed from 
 Virginia where he had energetically supported the 
 reform movement which resulted in 1786 in the 
 separation of church and state. 62 This gave him a 
 crusader's zeal for the combat with New England 
 reaction. In 1801 he delivered a telling criticism 
 of the Congregational system in his sermon, A 
 Blow at the Root. The following year he pub- 
 lished The Connecticut Dissenters' Strong Box, con- 
 taining one of his earlier productions, The high-fly- 
 ing Churchman stript of his legal Robe appears a 
 Yoho, besides the dissenters' petition, Connecticut's 
 ecclesiastical laws, and extracts from the various 
 state constitutions, showing that sixteen states 
 recognized the rights of conscience and three of 
 these the doctrine of church and state. In 1806 
 he appeared in print with a tract, Van Tromp 
 lowering with his peak with a Broadside, containing 
 a plea for the Baptists of Connecticut. He severely 
 indicted the Standing Order with its tithed, worldly 
 ministry; and pleaded for a pure ministry and 
 voluntary Gospel support. No single man did more 
 
 82 Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 374. 
 
THE BAPTIST CHURCH 77 
 
 to educate his people and the general public to 
 demand religious freedom. 63 
 
 Lei and was one of the first to realize the need of 
 a written constitution as a safeguard against legis- 
 lative infringements, and as the only means of per- 
 petuating the blessing of religious liberty. He 
 furthermore maintained that, as the interests of 
 New England Federalism and the state religions 
 were mutual, those opposed to state churches must 
 cast their lot with the Republican opposition. Nor 
 d ; d he fear a coalition with ungodly Republicans. 
 He agreed with the anonymous writer who said: 
 
 You now, perhaps, may feel yourselves authorized to 
 repeat the charge that we are acting in concert with infidels ; 
 and why should we not be, so far as infidels make use of right 
 reasons? I have attempted to make appear that so far 
 they are nearer to revelation than any kind of a State church, 
 as such whatever. 64 
 
 His arguments led the Baptists, and incidently 
 other dissenters, to join the party of their interests 
 and principles. To the charge that in making 
 onslaughts on legislation supporting the Gospel 
 he furthered deism, he advised his opponents: 
 
 If you wish to prevent the spread of deism and infidelity, 
 renounce State aid and convince the world that religion can 
 stand alone; let it never be said that a cow, or a dollar, or a 
 cent is taken from any widow or man, by the constable, to 
 complete your salaries or pay for your temples. 65 
 
 The work of Leland encouraged the Baptists 
 persistently to petition the Legislature for redress. 
 
 63 About this time the Windham Herald press published a "Review 
 of the Ecclesiastical Establishments of Europe," by R. Huntington. 
 
 64 The Age of Inquiry (1804), by a True Baptist, p. 16. 
 
 65 Leland, Sermon, Apr. 9, 1801. 
 
78 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 In these petitions it was argued that a legally sup- 
 ported ministry was contrary to God's law, and 
 that the certificate law wounded the conscience 
 even when it occasioned no real persecution. If, 
 as the Congregationalists held, it was a mere trifle, 
 let the state give it up. The three pence on tea, 
 it was recalled, was only a trifle. Then the certifi- 
 cate law left unchurched Baptists at the mercy 
 of the tithe-reeve, as well as dissenting non-resi- 
 dent land owners. Why not tax your actual en- 
 rolled membership, it was asked. Here they struck 
 to the quick, for it was generally feared that such a 
 plan would leave an unsupported ministry and put 
 a premium on non-affiliation. The petitioners 
 expatiated on the evil of established churches, 
 which, they argued, had always stimulated infi- 
 delity. Attacks on the Anglican church probably 
 alienated the Episcopalians. If so, their methods 
 were more honest than politic. Some of the 
 petitions urged that there was no constitutional 
 basis for the establishment, for King Charles 
 would not have granted such a privilege to dis- 
 senters. Hence they humbly prayed that their 
 sufferings be alleviated. Their arguments against 
 the ungodliness of a compulsory church tax were 
 not unlike those of Abraham Bishop. Nor is 
 it improbable that there may have been some 
 collaboration. John Leland at any rate sub- 
 scribed to the views advanced by his brethren 
 petitioning against "fettered religion." 66 
 
 66 Bishop, Address (1802), pp. 84 ff.; "Old Hundred," in Mercury, 
 Apr. 22, 1802; David Daggett, Broadside (1803); Bentley, Diary, III, 
 
THE BAPTIST CHURCH 79 
 
 These memorials offer a close parallel to the later 
 abolitionist petitions which tormented and puz- 
 zled Congress. The 1802 petition died in the 
 Lower House committee. That of 1803 gained 
 a hearing, only to be lost by the strictly party vote 
 of 131 to 45. At. this time the Baptists vainly 
 appealed for Methodist support, for Bishop Asbury 
 saw no reason why Methodists should further the 
 interests and liberties of a sect which railed against 
 Episcopacy in whatever form. 67 In 1804 another 
 petition was lost by 106 votes to 77. 68 Every 
 session was favored with a petition until 181 8, 
 though the Council did not so much as take them 
 under consideration until 181 5. These petitions, 
 subscribed to by thousands, it was said, were wide- 
 ly circulated. Advertised by Republican papers, 
 they were fathered in the Assembly by Republican 
 leaders and supported by a solid phalanx of the 
 Republican votes. In this way the alliance be- 
 tween Republican and Baptist was tightly cemented. 
 
 The Baptists became an important element in 
 the Republican party as early as 1802 when Bishop 
 appealed to them and all other humbler dissenters 
 against "the sultanlike professors" of the estab- 
 lished order. A Baptist pamphleteer thus urged 
 Republican claims: 
 
 192. There is good material in the following issues of The American 
 Mercury, June 4, 1801, July 7, 1803, Oct. 4, 11, 1804. 
 
 67 Journal, III, 404. 
 
 68 For votes, Mercury, July 14, 1803, May 31, 1804. See Emily 
 Ford, Notes on the Life of Noah Webster, I, 527-528. Webster along 
 with Oliver Ellsworth acted on the committee which rejected the 1802 
 petition. 
 
80 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Republicanism, as the source of civil liberty and happi- 
 ness, dictated by reason in the state — would never be affected 
 with licentiousness and disorder, were it not for the opposi- 
 tion of its enemies, and the principles which lead to monarchy 
 and aristocracy — its parallel in the church, as the source 
 of religious liberty and spiritual happiness, dictated by 
 revelation. 69 
 
 Such appeals were timely; for they removed any 
 conscientious scruples against acting with a party 
 whose members were so generally held up for 
 execration. Baptist elders did not hesitate to offer 
 prayer at Republican celebrations or occupy posi- 
 tions of honor at Republican banquets. 
 
 While actual figures showing Baptist strength 
 are not available, enough statistical material is at 
 hand to make clear the importance of the sect as 
 an element in the opposition party. Dr. David 
 Field, a Congregational minister, estimated the 
 number of Baptist families in Middlesex County 
 at 489 out of a total of 3,688, or about thirteen 
 per cent. 70 There is no reason to believe that this 
 county was more of a Baptist stronghold than 
 any of the other counties save Litchfield. In 1818 
 an impartial statistician reckoned that the Baptists 
 had ninety-seven societies plus four insignificant un- 
 organized groups. The annual Almanack and Reg- 
 ister listed about eighty-six societies, whereas Morse 
 and Morse in their usually very accurate Guide 
 estimated that there were ninety Baptist societies 
 or sixteen more than the number granted to the 
 Episcopalians. In 1820 a Baptist historian thought 
 
 69 The Age of Inquiry (1804), p. 11. 
 
 70 Statistical Account. 
 
THE METHODIST-EPISCOPAL CHURCH 81 
 
 that there were about seventy-three societies with 
 7,503 communicants. 71 While these figures do not 
 square, it is easy to explain away the inconsisten- 
 cies, as the number of societies fluctuated and as 
 some authorities counted unorganized groups. At 
 any rate, their number stiffened the Baptist de- 
 mands and vastly aided in the Toleration-Republi- 
 can triumph. 
 
 4. The Methodist-Episcopal Church 
 
 Connecticut Methodism had a short history at 
 the time under consideration. Jesse Lee, that 
 successful itinerant exhorter, may accurately be 
 said first to have thrust its belief on the attention 
 of the state in his "iter" of 1789. 72 While its early 
 growth was discouragingly slow, time attested that 
 Connecticut was a fallow field for Methodist 
 endeavors. 
 
 The introduction of Methodism was made com- 
 paratively easy by the statute of 1784 which 
 guaranteed to Methodists the right of dissent, 
 if properly certified to some organized society. 
 A supplementary act of 1791 gave this privilege 
 to all Christians, but compelled the filing of a cer- 
 tificate with the clerk of the Congregational society 
 as proof that they were 'supporting a near-by 
 
 71 These figures are computed from the town statistics given in the 
 Pease and Niles Gazetteer, and the Almanack and Register for that year. 
 See Guide, p. 91; Burrage, Baptists in New England, p. 235. 
 
 72 Nathan Bangs, History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, I, 288- 
 290. Ill, 365 ff. As to the possibility of earlier Methodists, see Gold, 
 Cornwall, p. 175; Alvord, Historical Address, pp. 24-26; Anderson, 
 Waterbury, pp. 693 ff. 
 
82 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 society of their own persuasion. 73 While the enact- 
 ment did not prove as liberal in the working as in 
 theory, it was more tolerant than the system in 
 vogue in frontier Vermont until 1801 or Massachu- 
 setts until 1814. 74 
 
 Hence it was possible for a small group of Metho- 
 dists to deposit certificates of dissent with the clerk 
 of the Congregational society and maintain a station 
 on the circuit of some exhorter. This much the 
 Methodists owed to the strivings of fifty years on 
 the part of the earlier dissenters. 
 
 Furthermore, early Methodism was advanced on 
 account of the low tone of religious life and the 
 weakening hold of Congregationalism on the people, 
 as evidenced by their ' 'certificating themselves" 
 on grounds other than those of conscience. The 
 materialistic reaction after the Great Awakening, 
 along with the increasing discontent among the poor 
 and lowly, with the political, social, and religious 
 organization of the state also aided the new sect. 
 But finally its astounding growth must be accredited 
 to the frantic enthusiasm of the early adherents and 
 to the tireless work of the zealous circuit rider. 
 
 The following short sketch of the growth of 
 Methodism will bring out fully enough the methods 
 employed by the circuit preachers, the reasons for 
 their success and the petty persecution to which 
 its adherents were subjected. On the other hand, 
 it will be seen that the conservative Standing Order 
 
 ™ Conn. Statutes, p. 575; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 146; Loomis 
 and Calhoun, Judicial History, p. 55. 
 74 Laurer, Church and State, pp. 98-99. 
 
THE METHODIST-EPISCOPAL CHURCH 83 
 
 was not without grounds for their opposition to 
 and fear of what they honestly regarded as over- 
 turning, revolutionary practises in the garb of re- 
 ligion. By chronicling their advance in this and 
 that locality the reader will gain some idea of their 
 numerical strength. 
 
 Stratford has the honor of being the seat of the 
 first legally established Methodist society in the 
 state. Consisting in 1789 of only three charter 
 members, even its founder, Jesse Lee, could hardly 
 have waxed exultant over the future. However, its 
 membership was increased by those of little faith, 
 who preferred to support voluntarily the Metho- 
 dist church, rather than the establishment. 75 
 This was a period, it might be suggested, when all 
 taxes were a grievance to the more contentious of 
 the Connecticut Yankees. Later in that same year 
 Jesse Lee enrolled two or three persons in a society 
 at Redding. As great as was the opposition of the 
 town officials, their money-making propensities in- 
 veigled them into renting the town house to the 
 Methodist elders. By 181 1 this humble society 
 was in a position to build a plain, unpainted, steeple- 
 less church. In the next few years small groups 
 were organized at Norwalk, Fairfield, Milford, Dan- 
 bury, Canaan, Windsor, Haddam, Middle Haddam, 
 East Hartford, Cornwall, Waterbury, and Gales 
 Ferry. 76 A society was established in New London 
 by a converted Congregationalist minister, despite 
 
 75 Bangs, Methodist Church, I, 291. Cf. Lamed, Windham County, 
 II, 233-234. 
 
 76 Todd, Redding, pp. 113 ff.; Field, Haddam and East Haddam, p. 
 39; Stiles, Windsor, p. 440; Field, Statistical Account, p. 62; Avery, 
 
84 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 the vexatious persecution to which he, an apostate, 
 was subjected. Yet it only offers another instance 
 of a religious society thriving under persecution, 
 for in a couple of years a church was built, and by 
 1 819 there were about three hundred and twenty 
 members. Even New Haven was invaded in 
 
 I795. 77 
 
 During the decade of 1790 Bishop Asbury made 
 several tours through Connecticut to stimulate 
 members and missionaries and to consolidate the 
 scattered societies. Incidentally his own enthu- 
 siasm, sermons, and exhortations resulted in more 
 conversions. His Journal affords the best source 
 of information regarding Methodist efforts and 
 the discouraging obstacles everywhere to be sur- 
 mounted. 78 Sometimes consciously, then unin- 
 tentionally he tells of the petty persecutions and 
 the unchristian tone of his reception. In some 
 towns he was confronted with an openly hostile, 
 mob-like gathering; town halls and meeting places 
 presented locked doors ; and at times his ardor met 
 only a chilling coldness. New Haven's frigid treat- 
 ment he could only describe as a "curious recep- 
 tion." President Stiles heard him at this time, but, 
 contrary to his usual custom, made no observa- 
 tion of moment in his diary. 79 
 
 Ledyard, p. 54; Stiles, Diary, III, 417; Asbury, Journal, III, 255, 291; 
 Bangs, Methodist Church, II, 353. 
 
 77 Caulkins, New London, p. 595; Barber and Punderson, History 
 and Antiquities of New Haven, pp. 29-30. 
 
 78 Journal, II, 102-106, 137, 198,227,231. Ill, 242. Supplement 
 with Moses L. Scudder, American Methodism, pp. 465 ff. 
 
 79 Diary, III, 420. 
 
THE METHODIST-EPISCOPAL CHURCH 85 
 
 Asbury carefully noted the few kindnesses which 
 he received, such as the use of a townhall or when 
 thriving Baptist organizations honored him with 
 the use of their pulpits. Apparently Baptists and 
 Methodists, in the face of opposition of the Con- 
 gregational order, worked in more than usual har- 
 mony, even though appealing to the same social 
 class. 80 
 
 At times to the man in the saddle Connecticut 
 seemed an unpropitious field for evangelical labors. 
 Still, by 1800, the foundations had been laid. The 
 revivals of that year, with their renewal of interest 
 in spiritual affairs, helped to increase the Metho- 
 dist following. 81 Then too, like the Baptists, they 
 found an advantage in the association between 
 dissent and Republicanism. Dissent came to be 
 political as well as religious. Logically the Metho- 
 dist could be but democratic in feeling and Re- 
 publican in party, for he was invariably one of the 
 submerged group, if the term can be used in con- 
 nection with the social life of the commonwealth. 
 At all events the period of political troubles and 
 bitter partisan rivalry tinged with religious persecu- 
 tion proved conducive to the growth of Methodism. 
 
 East Hartford organized a society in 1800. 
 Sharon, a few years later, witnessed in the entrance 
 of dissent the first breach in the town church. 
 
 80 For evidence forcing a modification of this statement, Asbury, 
 Journal, III, 104. 
 
 81 By 1801 there were about 1,600 Methodists in the state. Greene, 
 Religious Liberty, p. 407; Abel Stevens, History of the Methodist-Episcopal 
 Church, IV, 63; Bangs, Methodist Church, II, 101; Scudder, American 
 Methodism, pp. 264-265. 
 
86 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Vainly, but bitterly, did they attempt to stifle the 
 schismatic revolt. The New Haven society was 
 large enough by 1807 to warrant a building and 
 later to be taken off the circuit. Cornwall, Norwich, 
 Hamden, Waterbury, Burlington, Saybrook, Sey- 
 mour — all organized churches in the next decade. 
 In Granby it was said that the Methodists out- 
 numbered the more respectably rated Episcopal- 
 ians. Middletown, destined to become the seat of 
 a Methodist college, was taken off the circuit by 
 1 81 6, so strong had its society become. All Con- 
 necticut, not excepting Litchfield County, which 
 longest remained immune from infectious dissent 
 and Republicanism, felt the effects of Methodism 
 as a rival religious movement and as a quickener 
 of the Congregational pulse. 82 
 
 Congregational opposition to the Methodist 
 movement has been noticed, though it is a phase 
 of the religious struggle which merits oblivion, for 
 its bickerings and sectarian jealousies were quite 
 unworthy. However, one can readily appreciate 
 the fear of staid, conservative leaders. Methodism 
 even more than other sectarianism seemed a menace 
 as a revolutionary movement closely associated 
 with a political party, suspected and accused of 
 
 82 The paragraph is written chiefly from the following: Goodwin, 
 East Hartford, p. 145; Church, Address, p. 36; Dwight, Statistical Ac- 
 count, p. 43; Barbour, New Haven, pp. 29-30; New Haven Historical 
 Society, Papers, III, 163; Gold, Cornwall, p. 175; Caulkins, Norwich, 
 p. 322; Field, Statistical Account, pp. 47-49; Anderson, Waterbury, 
 pp. 693 ff.; Rev. Hollis Campbell, Seymour, p. 37; Noah A. Phelps, 
 History of Simsbury, Granby, and Canton, p. 112; Goodenough, Clergy 
 of Litchfield, p. 160. 
 
THE METHODIST-EPISCOPAL CHURCH 87 
 
 plotting the destruction of both religion and the 
 state. 83 To the minister of the Standing Order the 
 untutored exhorter fresh from the shop or field 
 was a demagogue ranting the Word of God. The 
 Methodist ministry, if possible, was even more 
 primitive than that in which the Baptist gloried. 84 
 Their large, often unauthorized camp meetings 
 were the source of much annoyance; for Connecti- 
 cut was not in favor of anything but the most 
 orderly, godly revival; and many a minister ques- 
 tioned the propriety of any revival. That there 
 were irregularities in connection with these camp 
 meetings is not to be doubted, nor on the other 
 hand is all the gossip to be credited. 85 Some of 
 the criticism can be accounted for in that such 
 meetings were an innovation and hence unwel- 
 come. Robbins wrote: "The Methodists go great 
 lengths in fanaticism. They hurt their own cause." 
 Again he noted a "Methodist camp meeting — which 
 was most outrageous" 86 The novelty finally wore 
 off, for one finds the good old orthodox Hartford 
 Courant advertising a camp meeting for Ellington 
 in 1810. 87 Fearon in his travels noticed that the 
 Methodists were generally despised as fanatics. 88 
 
 83 Cf. Larned, Windham County, II, 282-284; and Barstow, New 
 Hampshire, pp. 425, 443. 
 
 84 Scudder, American Methodism, ch. rv; cf. North American Review, 
 IX, 240-260. 
 
 85 Dwight, Sermon (1801), p. 17; Gold, Cornwall, p. 72; Larned, 
 Windham County, II, 333-334:; Church, Salisbury, p. 36; Scudder, 
 American Methodism, pp. 465 ff. 
 
 86 Diary, I, 90, 450. 
 
 87 Aug. 15, 1810. 
 
 88 Henry B. Fearon, Sketches of America, pp. 161 ff. 
 
88 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 William Tudor in his letter on religion considered 
 their lack of respectability as due to their wan- 
 dering, whining preachers with their calls for en- 
 thusiasm so unsuited to the climate or likings of 
 New England. 89 
 
 In estimating the number of Methodists there 
 is valuable material in the published minutes of 
 the annual conferences of 1813 to 181 8, with re- 
 ports from the various circuits. 90 The individual 
 figures for the towns appear fairly trustworthy, 
 though sectarian loyalty may have condoned the 
 lack of scrupulous accuracy in the desire to demon- 
 strate progress. The reports were neglectfully in- 
 complete, for, all told, they accounted for only fifteen 
 towns when there were certainly fifty-three socie- 
 ties, large or small, within the state, or one to 
 every four Congregational societies. 91 Even so, 
 these figures enumerate something like 5,532 
 white and 114 negro communicants. The inclusion 
 of the negro is interesting as indicating the class 
 in society to which an appeal was made. That 
 these figures do not represent more than one-half 
 of the Methodist total seems probable, for one 
 must consider that dissenters could legally attend 
 and support a church of their creed even if across 
 the state line. This being the case, many Metho- 
 dists no doubt worshipped in the chapels of the 
 bordering states. 
 
 As Methodists increased in numbers their oppo- 
 
 89 Letters, p. 69. 
 
 90 Yale Pamphlets, Vol. 1233. 
 
 91 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 32; Morse and Morse, Guide, p. 91. 
 
 
THE SMALLER RELIGIOUS BODIES 89 
 
 sition to the Congregational order became more 
 determined . Realizing that their hopes were bound 
 up in the success of the reform party, they early 
 followed their Baptist brethren into its ranks. 
 
 5. The Smaller Religious Bodies 
 
 Universalism appeared about 1792 when South- 
 ington was said to be infected. The Universalists 
 then organized a society. Canterbury was dis- 
 turbed by a Universalist revolt when a small group 
 organized themselves into the Independent Catholic 
 Christian Society with a short tenure of life. Nor- 
 wich was said to have a society in 1820. President 
 D wight knew of only one Universalist body in 
 1 8 10; and in 181 8 the Connecticut Gazetteer enum- 
 erated but two bodies, one in Newtown and another 
 in Somers. 92 
 
 There were probably more Universalists, for 
 towns like Middletown and Killingworth together 
 had at least seventy families. In Windham County 
 there were known to be twenty families, but no 
 societies. 93 The settled clergy asked : Why should 
 a Universalist be dependent upon a ministry? 
 Naturally as tithe payers every Universalist was 
 opposed to the religious constitution. As they 
 were known to be democrats to a man, 94 no sec- 
 tarian was more disliked by the Congregationalist 
 
 92 Timlow, Southington, p. 311; Rev. Andrew Hetrick, Historical 
 Address, p. 19; Caulkins, Norwich, p. 323; D wight, Travels, IV, 444; Pease 
 and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 32. 
 
 93 Field, Statistical Account; Lamed, Windham County, II, 391. 
 
 94 Mercury, Jan. 21, 1817. 
 
90 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 who felt that, like the atheist, deist and Unitarian, 
 a Universalist's oath should not be accepted, for 
 it lacked the restraining fear of a future life. 
 
 Unitarianism as a religious system first attracted 
 notice about the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, when two clergymen were removed from their 
 parishes for this heresy. 95 Rev. John Sherman, 
 one of the men expelled, wrote in 1805 an apology 
 in defense of his creed. In 1806 the Rev. Henry 
 Channing, a believer in Unitarian doctrines, was 
 dismissed at his own request from the pulpit of the 
 New London society. As Unitarians were classed 
 as deists and held guilty of a felony, their history 
 was shrouded in darkness. 96 The orthodox esti- 
 mate of the Unitarian was well summed up in the 
 following: "The professed Deist gives Christianity 
 fair play. If she cannot defend herself, let her 
 fall. But the Unitarian Christian assassinates her 
 in the dark." 97 Writers tabulating religious sta- 
 tistics excluded Unitarians as of no importance. 
 While the local Episcopalian historian may be 
 justified in his belief that the Episcopalian fold 
 proved the haven for those in Connecticut who 
 sought escape from rigid Puritanism, just as the 
 Massachusetts "intellectuals" found solace in Uni- 
 tarianism, 98 yet the fact that Unitarianism never 
 thrived in the state explains the united Congre- 
 gationalism which stood so long against the reform 
 
 95 Foster, Genetic History, p. 278; Caulkins, New London, p. 589; for 
 sketch of Channing, Dexter, Biographical Sketches, IV, 183-186. 
 
 96 Statutes, p. 296; see George H. Richards, Politics of Conn., p. 20. 
 
 97 Rev. John Gardiner, Sermon (1811), p. 112. 
 
 98 Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 98. 
 
THE SMALLER RELIGIOUS BODIES 91 
 
 party." Unitarians like Universalists were ardent 
 Tolerationists, Channing, one of their leaders, 
 being active among the reformers. 
 
 The Friends always remained few in numbers. 
 After 1706, when the statutory laws against Quakers 
 were repealed, they were no longer in bodily danger, 
 yet this did not mean relief from persecution. In 
 1729 they were granted toleration. 100 While it is 
 probable that they generally met in private homes, 
 there was a thriving society in New Milford as 
 early as 1742. Groton in 1770 released some thirty- 
 five Rogerene Quakers from the Congregational 
 rates. Pomfret was the seat of a fairly large society. 
 In 1818 there appear to have been some seven 
 societies of Friends, one society of Rogerene 
 Quakers and two small societies of Sandemanians, 
 and one of Shakers. 101 
 
 The Catholic church was not represented in 
 Connecticut by either priest or chapel until late 
 in the decade of 1820. 102 Its future strength was 
 not even dimly foreshadowed. In 1816 the con- 
 version of the Waterbury Congregational pastor, 
 
 99 1 believe that the Republican party in Massachusetts was aided 
 by the Unitarian revolt against Congregationalism. Unitarians with- 
 out the pale of the law were necessarily ardent reformers, and while it 
 is generally recognized that they deserve much credit for the dis- 
 establishment of 1833-1834, their connection with early Republicanism 
 and its success does not seem to be duly emphasized. 
 
 100 Conn. Col. Records, IV, 546. VII, 237. 
 
 101 Giddings, New Milford, p. 12; Caulkins, New London, p. 421; 
 Lamed, Windham County, II, 284; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 32. 
 
 102 Dwight, Travels, IV, 444; Tudor, Letters, p. 69; Dr. James A. 
 Rooney, "Early Times in the Diocese of Hartford, 1829-1874," in Cath. 
 Hist. Review, July, 1915. 
 
92 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Rev. Virgil Horace Barber and family, offered a 
 decidedly close parallel to the beginnings of the 
 Anglican church a century earlier. An Episco- 
 palian minister from Middletown and also one from 
 Derby found their way toward Rome. However 
 none of them appears to have remained within the 
 state. 103 Still there were a few Catholics here and 
 there, for the Rev. James Dana counted seven 
 families in New Haven in 1800. 104 
 
 The Jews of Connecticut had no formal organi- 
 zation, nor is it probable that there were more than 
 a few families. 105 At any rate none of the acts of 
 toleration would have offered them relief. 
 
 6. Common Grievances of Dissenters 
 
 The common grievance of all dissenters and the 
 great bond of union between them was the certifi- 
 cate law. Around these certificates considerable 
 persecution lurked. This was bound to be the 
 case while the administration of the law and the 
 granting of the licenses remained in the hands of 
 justices who were invariably stanch upholders of 
 the Standing Order. Being known as a certificate 
 man placed one in a lower social category and in 
 practice under a political disability The dissenter 
 felt this and keenly resented the method of certi- 
 fying as well as the narrow interpretation of the 
 
 103 See Anderson, Waterbury, I, 660; E. S. Thomas, Reminiscences of 
 Last Sixty-five Years, I, 23; Stiles, Diary, III, 416; Beardsley, Episcopal 
 Church, II, 99-105. 
 
 104 Dana, Two Discourses (1801), pp. 65 ff. Noah Webster mentions 
 C in his diary hearing mass in ihe room of his class-mate, Father Thayer. 
 
 Ford, Webster, I, 343. 
 
 105 Dexter, New Haven in 1784, p. 55. 
 
GRIEVANCES OF DISSENTERS 93 
 
 law, which so largely counteracted the legal toler- 
 ance. In the case of a foreigner or citizen from 
 another state, Leland thought the choice of com- 
 pulsory certification or tithe-paying especially morti- 
 fying. This matter of certificates occasioned in- 
 cessant agitation embittered by a petty persecu- 
 tion which united all dissenters in adherence to a 
 sympathetic party which held out hopes of reform. 106 
 The Standing Order must have found it difficult 
 to understand the agitation over Congregational 
 intolerance on seeing so many certificates issued 
 on the most flimsy pretexts. For of the state's 
 tolerance they continually boasted. Beecher wrote : 
 
 There never was a more noble regard to the rights of con- 
 science than was shown in Connecticut. Never was there a 
 body of men that held the whole power that yielded to the 
 rights of conscience more honorably. 107 
 
 Taking exception to an observation of the Duke 
 de la Rochefoucauld that Connecticut Presby- 
 terianism was intolerant, Dwight maintained that 
 even the irreligious were left in perfect harmony 
 and that the Congregationalists had voluntarily 
 placed all denominations on a footing with them- 
 selves. 108 Certainly they were in advance of 
 Massachusetts, but hardly of any other state, 109 
 
 106 Swift, System of the Laws, I, 143 ff.; Greene, Religious Liberty, 
 pp. 372-373. 
 
 107 Autobiography, I, 342. 
 
 108 Dwight, Travels, IV, 235; Rev. Benjamin Trumbull, Sermon 
 (1801), p. 20; Governor Tread well, Address to the Assembly, C our ant, 
 May 16, 1810. 
 
 109 Vermont separated church and state in 1807, but New Hamp- 
 shire had what amounted to an establishment until 1819. Laurer, 
 Church and State, pp. 97 ff. ; Barstow, New Hampshire, p. 426. 
 
94 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 though it would be difficult to convince the dis- 
 senter that toleration had been willingly conceded 
 on purely Christian grounds. 
 
 Dissenters found a strong motive for opposition 
 in the religious bias of the whole school system. 110 
 Education was completely dominated by the Con- 
 gregationalist order. 
 
 A decided cry for reform in the Yale corporation 
 had resulted in a slight loosening of ministerial 
 control without making it less sectarian; for the 
 ex-officio state officers were closely connected by 
 blood and social ties to the leading ministers. The 
 Legislature's donation of forty thousand dollars in 
 no way placated dissenters. As even Episcopalians 
 were not desired on the faculty, one need not be 
 surprised that less respectable dissenters were not 
 so honored. Abraham Bishop drilled this point 
 into the dissenter, as did other Republican leaders 
 in their exhortations to their following. 111 George 
 Richards in 1817 declared that there was a rigid 
 Saybrook-Congregational test for college officers. 112 
 This is well outlined by Ezra Stiles in 1782 in an 
 account of the examination to which a prospective 
 instructor submitted. 113 It is scarcely likely that 
 
 110 There is a sketch of the school system in Swift, System of the Lam, 
 I, 148 ff. Bernard C. Steiner, The History of Education in Connecticut 
 is the standard authority on the state's schools. 
 
 111 Bishop, Address (1802), p. 48; Mercury, Aug. 1, 1805; Apr. 2, 
 1816. 
 
 112 Richards, Politics of Conn., p. 24. See Niles' Register, XIII, 194. 
 Governor Baldwin is inclined to overlook this. New Haven Hist. Soc. 
 Papers, III, 425. 
 
 111 Diary, III, 21. 
 
GRIEVANCES OF DISSENTERS 95 
 
 the practical bar had been in any way removed at 
 a time when all efforts of the Standing Order were 
 bent toward strengthening their redoubts. This 
 test was abrogated in 1823 on the very eve of the 
 chartering of the Episcopalian college. 114 Even 
 the Yale course of studies together with certain 
 compulsory religious services was likely to deprive 
 the conscientious dissenter of an education. 
 
 The lower schools were essentially Congrega- 
 tional parochial schools. 115 Prior to a law of 1798, 
 which delegated school affairs to a board of local 
 officers and ministers, complete control of the 
 town schools was vested in the Congregational 
 society. The minister was apt to consider edu- 
 cation as under his special care, examining teachers 
 in their behavior, morals, and religious tenets. 
 Exciting local collisions resulted at times in dis- 
 senting strongholds because the board of over- 
 seers exerted an ' 'unwarranted interference with 
 the religious opinions of teachers." 116 Apparently 
 more attention was paid to the ''moral" side of 
 the teacher than to his preparation ; for it is hardly 
 conceivable that men who taught during the three 
 winter months at a wage of from seven to twelve 
 dollars a month, or women teachers during the 
 summer months at a dollar a week, could be per- 
 
 114 New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, III, 435; Steiner, Education in Conn., 
 p. 239; but see Andrew D. White, Autobiography, II, 557. 
 
 115 Bates, Records of . . School District of Granby, pp. 6, 7, 11; 
 Hughes, East Haven, p. 52; Atwater, Plymouth, p. 125; Roys, Norfolk, 
 p. 12; Timlow, Southington, p. 433; Robbins, Diary, I, 647. See Mer- 
 cury, Mar. 5, 1816. 
 
 ns Church, Salisbury, p. 39. 
 
96 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 sons possessing other than the most elementary 
 training. 
 
 Republicans were not far wrong in their con- 
 tention that teachers must be orthodox in religion 
 and politics. Primary schools opened with prayer 
 and the reading of Scripture. Saturday after- 
 noon was devoted to teaching the Congregational 
 catechism, which was included in the New Eng- 
 land primer. Sometimes dissenting children were 
 freed from attendance, but not without consider- 
 able formality. In at least a couple of instances 
 dissenting bodies were even given their quota of 
 the school funds for parochial schools or given an 
 opportunity to teach their own doctrines to their 
 children attendant at the "Congregational, public 
 school." 117 Not until 1818 did the Congregational- 
 ists find it necessary to establish Sunday schools, 
 and then only because it was necessary to modify 
 the teaching of the catechism and morals in the 
 common schools to satisfy the dissenters and to 
 accord with the new order. 
 
 Thus did schismatic and dissenter increase. 
 The rigors of Calvinism drove some to take refuge 
 in the emotional religions, others in the mystic, 
 and still others in the liturgical church. Re- 
 ligion and church-going could not be maintained 
 by inquisitional means or by the tithe-gatherer. 
 Yet from the viewpoint of the orthodox there was 
 something saddening in the bickerings and the 
 factiousness which resulted when the town church 
 was disturbed by the opposing denominations, 
 
 117 Atwater, Plymouth, p. 125; Allen, Enfield, I, 476. 
 
Ecclesiastical Map- 1818 
 
 Numbe" of Churches or Societies in Towns indicated 
 
 o 
 
 <* ~ j 
 
 r> (* < 
 
 Baptist o 
 
 Mjthodist • 
 
 Ep sco pal i an t 
 
 Iruependent, Separatist X 
 
 Quakers, Shakers © 
 
 v L)nversalists , Sandemanians and all others .A. 
 
 Number of Congregational Churches or Societies indicated by figures 
 
J 
 
GRIEVANCES OF DISSENTERS 97 
 
 and when the town meeting-house had given place 
 to a cluster of rival meeting-houses. 
 
 The ecclesiastical map of Connecticut in 1818 
 speaks volumes. It shows that every section of 
 the commonwealth was invaded, that there was 
 scarcely a town without its diverse denominational 
 societies. Dissent could not be said to be sectional, 
 though the river towns and those bordering New 
 York and Rhode Island might be described as 
 centers. The chief value of such a chart is in dem- 
 onstrating that dissent was politically Republican. 
 By closely comparing this chart with those showing 
 the political strength of the Republican party by 
 towns, it will be seen that in those towns in which 
 dissent flourished, Republicanism advanced until 
 it became the dominant political factor. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 i. Banks and the Increase of Capital 
 
 HP HE industrial life of the state was transformed 
 * during the period covered by this study. 
 Banks were established, introducing a new system 
 of credit. Monetary capital increased as a result of 
 high prices, large exports, and a thriving carry- 
 ing trade. Capital seeking investment found rich 
 opportunities in the manufacturing concerns which 
 were building factories in every section. As manu- 
 facturing became important, there developed town 
 and city life, with their characteristic laboring 
 class and problems. These changes are to be 
 considered in this chapter. 
 
 Money throughout the colonial days and the 
 early years of the new state was scarce. Payment 
 for imports so drained the market of specie that 
 barter remained a usual form of business even in 
 large towns. Salaries such as those of ministers 
 were paid, frequently partly in cash and partly 
 in goods. Wages were paid in kind or in bills of 
 credit on the country store. As the state was 
 agricultural and its farmers were small free-holders, 
 there were few men of wealth. Only rarely was 
 there a man like Richard Alsop who amassed a 
 fortune in the coast or West- India trade. 1 On 
 the whole the country merchant was the financier 
 
 1 Field, Centennial Address, p. 153; see Edward B. Eaton, "Hartford, 
 the Stronghold of Insurance," Conn. Mag., EX, 617. 
 
 98 
 
BANKS AND THE INCREASE OF CAPITAL 99 
 
 of his locality, acting in the capacity of a broker 
 either by extending credit in the way of time or 
 by direct loans. This phase of his business was 
 as important as, and probably morep^emunerative 
 than his more obvious work of exchanging West- 
 India and foreign goods for the farmers' grain, 
 meat, and vegetables. 2 As banking houses were 
 unknown, there was no one to whom a man de- 
 sirous of undertaking a shipping or manufactur- 
 ing business could apply. It was this lack of 
 available capital, quite as much as the restrictive 
 measures, which hindered the industrial growth of 
 the colony. Otherwise, factories should have fol- 
 lowed political independence instead of coming 
 a generation later in the wake of banks and modern 
 methods of credit. 
 
 In 1 79 1 the enactment of Hamilton's financial 
 plan secured the national rating on foreign ex- 
 changes and centralized American banking around 
 the National Bank. Then the outbreak of the 
 European wars cut off foreign loans. Imports 
 I were less and the drain on specie was correspond- 
 ingly light. Exports finding a ready foreign market 
 balanced the import debt or brought in specie. 
 The carrying and West- India trade became sources 
 of great wealth. As a result, the stock of ready 
 money was tremendously increased. Banks were 
 established and utilized conveniently as agents 
 between creditor and undertaker. The commu- 
 nity was benefited industrially; the banks became 
 
 2 Church, Address, pp. 44-45. 
 
100 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 prosperous and hence more numerous. Thus the 
 endless chain worked. 
 
 Banks were essentially democratic in character, 
 making it possible for poor men to concentrate their 
 capital in such a way that it became productive. 
 This was exactly what a people like those of Con- 
 necticut required: some way in which their scat- 
 tered small stocks might be effectively massed so 
 as to be available for industry. 
 
 The state was first aroused to the importance of 
 banking in May, 1792, when the Hartford Bank 
 and the Union Bank at New London were in- 
 corporated. The Hartford Bank was originally 
 capitalized at $100,000; but a supplementary act 
 in 1807 provided that its capitalization could be 
 increased by an open annual subscription of $50,000, 
 until a limit of $500,000 was reached. By 181 8 
 its capital had mounted to the million mark. s 
 The Union Bank was chartered at fom $50,000 to 
 $100,000, standing at the latter figure in 1818. 4 
 The New Haven Bank followed in October, 1795, 
 with a charter allowing a minimum capital of $50,- 
 000 with the $400,000 provision. The doors opened 
 for public business in 1796 with a paid in sub- 
 scription of $80,000; and by 181 8, its capital had 
 increased to $300,ooo. 5 In October, 1795, the 
 
 3 Statutes, pp. 73 ff.; Courant, Jan. 23, Mar. 11, 1792; Ford, Webster, 
 I, 342, 354, 356, 526; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 50; P. H. Woodward, 
 One Hundred Years of the Hartford Bank, the first six chapters, but 
 especially pp. 15-20, 79-89. 
 
 * Statutes, pp. 93-95; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 114. 
 
 6 Statutes, pp. 82-86; Barber, New Haven, p. 55; Pease and Niles, 
 Gazetteer, p. 107. 
 
BANKS AND THE INCREASE OF CAPITAL 101 
 
 Middletown Bank was incorporated with a capital 
 of $100,000. It was granted the privilege of in- 
 creasing its stock to $400,000, though apparently 
 it did not open until 1801. By 18 12 its success 
 warranted the increase of its capitalization to 
 $500, 000. 6 
 
 The General Assembly in May, 1796, chartered 
 the Norwich Bank with a capitalization of from 
 $75,000 to $200,000, the latter figure being reached 
 about 18 1 2. 7 In October, 1806, the Bridgeport 
 Bank was incorporated with a capital of from 
 $50,000 to $200,ooo. 8 By an act of May, 1807, 
 the New London Bank was authorized with a 
 capitalization of from $200,000 to $500,000. 9 In 
 October, 1809, the Derby Bank was chartered at 
 $100,000 with the privilege of an increase up to 
 $200,000. Apparently, in order to avoid too ob- 
 \ vious an interlocking directorate, it was enjoined 
 I that none of its directors be from the board of the 
 J Derby Fishing Company, though that company 
 y was afterward allowed to hold a small limited 
 ; amount of stock. 10 In January, 1812, the Eagle 
 I Bank of New Haven, incorporated the previous 
 1 fall at from $500,000 to $750,000, inaugurated its 
 I ill-fated, irresponsible business career. 11 In 18 14 
 
 6 Statutes, pp. 79-82; Brainerd, Middletown, p. 6; Field, Statistical 
 Account, p. 41. 
 
 ''Statutes, pp. 90-92; Caulkins, Norwich, p. 331; Pease and Niles, 
 Gazetteer, p. 148. 
 
 8 Statutes, pp. 70-73; Orcutt, Stratford, I, 597. 
 
 9 Statutes, pp. 86-89; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 144. 
 
 10 Public Laws, pp. 17-21, 109; Mercury, Nov. 9, 1809. 
 
 11 Public Laws, pp. 65-69; Pease and Nibs, Gazetteer, p. 107; Barber, 
 \ New Haven, p. 55; New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, III, 176; Courant, 
 ' Nov. 6, 13, Dec. 25, 1811; Woodward, Hartford Bank, p. 129. 
 
102 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 the Episcopalians founded the million-dollar Phoenix 
 Bank, with headquarters at Hartford and a semi- 
 independent branch at Litchfield. 12 When the 
 Second United States Bank was established, it 
 was decided to locate one of its twelve branches 
 at Middletown. To such an out-of-the-way lo- 
 cation there was considerable opposition, espe- 
 cially on the part of New Haven. 13 The deter- 
 mining factor with the administration was prob- 
 ably Middletown's Republican vote. 
 
 To summarize: in the beginning of the year, 
 1792, a Connecticut bank was unknown; in 181 8 
 there were ten state banks, besides the branch 
 of the National Bank, with a capitalization of 
 from $3,000,000 to $3,500,ooo. 14 This was an 
 astonishing transformation. Here was plenty of 
 money for investment in internal trade, in turn- 
 pike companies, factories, and in western lands. 
 
 The bank charters had all the appearances of 
 being democratic in character and essentially 
 public-serving in purpose. This was to be ex- 
 pected, for banking petitions had to be sanctioned 
 by the Legislature. In time, certainly after 1800, 
 the banking acts became less democratic. 15 Shares 
 of stock fluctuated from $100 to $400; and there 
 was no longer a limitation to the number of 
 
 12 Public Laws, pp. 148-153; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 50; Hart, 
 Episcopal Bank, pp. 104 ff. 
 
 13 Field, Statistical Account, p. 41; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 274; 
 Courant, Nov. 21, 1816; Aug. 12, 1817; New Haven Resolutions (1816). 
 
 14 Warden, Statistical Account, II, 30, accurately gave the number 
 of banks as eleven with a capital of $3,500,000. 
 
 15 Statutes, pp. 74, 78, 82, 85-86. 
 
BANKS AND THE INCREASE OF CAPITAL 103 
 
 shares a person or a corporation could hold. This 
 provision had also been struck out of the old 
 charters on their revision. No longer was six 
 per-cent interest on loans defined as the maximum. 
 Clauses giving an advantage in the corporation 
 management to small over against large share- 
 holders were modified so that voting strength de- 
 pended on the number of shares. Subscriptions 
 were open to all investors. As, however, the 
 managers of the lists were selected by the Legislature 
 from the promoters, and as bank stock was re- 
 garded as gilt-edged and a rising investment, 16 
 there was no doubt favoritism. 
 
 This charge was well substantiated in the case 
 of the Phoenix Bank, in which friendly members 
 of the General Assembly were fortunate in drawing 
 shares, while others were said to be invariably 
 unsuccessful. The defenders pointed out that, as 
 there were seven applicants for every one of the 
 10,000 shares, all could not be served. Further- 
 more, they argued that the opposition came from 
 the banking interests, which were afraid of com- 
 petition. 17 Bank stock was rapidly becoming a 
 choice investment for men of money rather than 
 an advantageous pool for the savings of farmer 
 and mechanic. This was the more true inasmuch 
 as bank stock was not even listed for taxation 
 
 16 Bank stock paid 7 or 8% after 1804, and 9±% by 1813, though 
 United States Bank stock was bearing only 3 to 6%. Henry F. Wal- 
 radt, Financial History of Connecticut, pp. 34-35. 
 
 17 For an account of the Phoenix scandal, see Courant, Sept. 13, 
 1814; Six Numbers on Banking, p. 15; Hart, Episcopal Bank. 
 
104 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 until 1805; and stock owned by non-residents 
 was not taxed for another eight years. 18 Is it 
 to be wondered at that men questioned this 
 partiality? 
 
 If one may draw a conclusion from the recrimi- 
 nations in the Phoenix Bank episode, stock seldom 
 found its way into the hands of what came to be 
 the wealthy banking circle, save those shares which 
 were used to gain legislative favor. From the 
 beginning, it might be pointed out, the directors 
 and promoters were men of large property. They 
 either were or soon became political leaders or 
 bosses, though the latter term may be objectionable. 
 
 Among the leaders of the Hartford Bank were 
 Oliver Ellsworth, Oliver Phelps, Colonel Jeremiah 
 Wadsworth, John Morgan, John Caldwell, Ephraim 
 Root, Nathaniel Terry, and Andrew Kingsbury. 
 Ellsworth was a framer of the Constitution, long 
 a judge of the state superior court, later Chief 
 Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 
 Minister to France in 1799, and an associate of 
 Robert Morris and Alexander Hamilton. 19 Phelps 
 was a millionaire land speculator. Colonel Wads- 
 worth, a commissary -general during the Revolu- 
 tion, at its close was estimated to be worth from 
 60,000 to 80,000 pounds sterling. He was the 
 largest subscriber to the Bank of North America, 
 and in 1785 was elected president of the Bank of 
 
 18 Walradt, Financial History, pp. 28-29. 
 
 19 Mercury, Sept. 5, 1805; Conn. Mag., IX, 891 ff.; Pease and Niles, 
 Gazetteer, p. 92; Woodward, Hartford Bank, pp. 40-42. For Phelps, 
 see ibid., pp. 47, 71 Q. 
 
BANKS AND THE INCREASE OF CAPITAL 105 
 
 New York, and later a director of the National 
 Bank and a silent partner in a large shipping 
 business. For several years he was a member of 
 Congress and long a member of the Council. 20 
 Morgan, Caldwell, and Terry, the latter a son-in- 
 law of Wadsworth, were men of means, munici- 
 pal office-holders and for years Hartford's repre- 
 sentatives in the General Assembly. 21 Root was a 
 prominent lawyer, and Kingsbury was known as 
 state treasurer and for his prominence in church 
 missions. 22 Jedediah Huntington, president of the 
 Union Bank, was of a prominent family in church 
 and state. Joseph Alsop was a controlling figure 
 in the Middletown Bank. The New Haven Bank 
 was fathered by men like David Austin, Elias 
 Shipman, and Isaac Beers, Federalist leaders of 
 New Haven, though later Abraham Bishop, the 
 wealthy Republican boss, was included in its 
 directorate. The Derby Bank had among its 
 leading spirits William Leffingwell, David Daggett, 
 and a stand-pat Federalist Assistant, Charles 
 Sherman of the well-known family. David Tomlin- 
 son, the Tolerationist, was added when he became 
 influential enough to win a place in the Council. 
 
 20 Conn. Mag., IX, 891; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, pp. 51-52; Wood- 
 ward, Hartford Bank, pp. 31-34. 
 
 21 Woodward, op. cit., pp. 34-35; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, IV, 
 514. 
 
 22 Dexter, Biographical Sketches, IV, 234; Woodward, Hartford Bank, 
 pp. 40, 65. Lists of directors are available in the incorporation acts 
 and in the annual Almanack and Register, which gives lists of office 
 holders, of clergy, of church and fraternal societies. A comparison 
 of these lists gives a clear insight into the control by the ruling class. 
 
106 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The Eagle Bank had a select directorate: Senator 
 James Hillhouse, Theodore Dwight, Simeon Bald- 
 win, Frederick Wolcott, Speaker Sylvanus Backus, 
 Roger M. Sherman, President Timothy Dwight, 
 Abraham Bradley and the Episcopalian politician, 
 Charles Denison. 
 
 A stronger combination in church and state or a 
 group of more confirmed office-holders would be 
 difficult to pick. The New London Bank nearly 
 did so, when it could point out Elisha Denison, 
 Edward Chappell, Zephaniah Swift, Roger Good- 
 rich, Elias Perkins, a Republican leader, and Calvin 
 Goddard, all of whom had graced the Council 
 chamber or were represented in that body by their 
 immediate family. Ebenezer Huntington and Asa 
 Fitch of the Norwich Bank were men of wealth 
 and prestige. As the Phoenix Bank was essentially 
 a Republican and Episcopalian bank, its directors 
 were chiefly from among the wealthy members of 
 the Toleration party. Its stockholders were headed 
 by such men as Jonathan Edwards, who invested 
 $90,000, no mean sum for a man of his lineage; 
 Samuel Pitkin, $20,000; S. Griswold, $20,000; Eli 
 Haskell, $30,000; and Roswell Moor, $20,ooo. 2a 
 Even these amounts demonstrated growing wealth, 
 for $6,000 had been the largest subscription to the 
 Hartford Bank. 
 
 This is quite enough to make clear that an in- 
 fluential moneyed class was evolving, with its 
 stronghold in the banking interests of the com- 
 
 23 Courant, Sept. 13, 1814. 
 
BANKS AND THE INCREASE OF CAPITAL 107 
 
 munity and in the Federal-Congregational party. 
 Yet neither the party nor the sect was the all-control- 
 ling element, for an Episcopalian or Republican, 
 who came into political power, was given place 
 on a bank's directorate. The essential Federalist- 
 Congregational character of the "bank crowd" 
 was well evidenced by the opposition to the in- 
 corporation of the Episcopal Bank, as a rival of 
 the Hartford Bank which, like the Hartford 
 Courant, breathed an orthodoxy of the olden day. 
 In spite of all opposition the Phoenix Bank was 
 established; and an entering wedge was driven 
 in between the banking business and the Standing 
 Order. 
 
 The connection between the state and the banks 
 was made closer by an act of 1803, which pro- 
 vided for the investment of state funds in the 
 New Haven, Hartford, and Middletown banks. On 
 subscribing $5,000 or more, the state was given 
 the privilege of naming a director. In 1803 
 $42,525 was so invested and by 1816, $146,800. 
 In 1815 the treasurer was authorized to buy 
 United States stock and invest the surplus in the 
 stock of any state bank. Thereupon the state 
 became a stockholder in the Eagle and Phoenix 
 banks. In 1817 a surplus of $250,000 was in- 
 vested in the five banks. 24 This must be borne 
 in mind, for the association of the administration 
 and the money interests gave the office-holding 
 party a powerful lever. 
 
 24 Statutes, pp. 70, 77, 96; Walradt, Financial History, pp. 33-34; 
 Woodward, Hartford Bank, pp. 81-82. 
 
108 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The later banking acts gave certain decided 
 advantages to the ecclesiastical societies. The 
 trustees of school funds, ecclesiastical funds and 
 charitable institutions within the state were given 
 privileges equal to those accorded the state; such 
 privileges involved the right to buy stock at par 
 value, to withdraw on six months' notice and to 
 name a director if owning a certain amount of 
 stock. This stock could not be transferred and 
 was also of an issue above the bank's maximum 
 capitalization. In addition such organizations 
 could buy common, transferable stock. The ec- 
 clesiastical funds, aside from the Bishop's Fund, 
 were those of Congregational societies, for the 
 dissenting societies had little money to invest. 
 Like the schools, the educational funds were con- 
 trolled by the Congregational order. Remember- 
 ing that incorporation acts were based on petition 
 and sanctioned with modifications rather than 
 drafted by the Assembly, one may ask: why should 
 banking promoters grant so much in the way of 
 privileges to the standing church? Friends might 
 explain it on grounds of philanthropy; more im- 
 partial critics as a means of obtaining the valuable 
 asset of its political influence. 
 
 The years after the second war were marked by 
 intense financial distress. Specie was being hoarded 
 or exported to pay for foreign goods. There was 
 a return to barter, if one may judge from news- 
 paper advertisements. Money, it was said, was 
 becoming a circulating medium in name only. 
 Some blamed the banks for the financial panic, 
 
BANKS AND THE INCREASE OF CAPITAL 109 
 
 saying that banks were synonymous with bank- 
 ruptcy. New York banks were failing or refus- 
 ing to loan or discount, thereby aggravating 
 the banking difficulties of Connecticut. Of the 
 four banks in the vicinity of New Haven, the 
 Derby Bank had dissolved with little regard for 
 its clients; a second practically halted business; a 
 third diminished its loans by one-half; and the 
 fourth greatly reduced its discounts. In all a 
 million dollars was thought to have been with- 
 drawn from circulation, either because of fear or 
 speculation. 25 Farmers and mechanics found them- 
 selves in sore straits and all business was at a 
 standstill. 
 
 Small wonder was it that banks and their direc- 
 tors were subjected to bitter attack. 26 Even an 
 occasional Federalist writer deprecated the growth 
 of a moneyed class as the most unfeeling and 
 oppressive of all aristocracies. 27 Only lawyers and 
 bankers grew rich, it was argued, while the poor 
 were made poorer. Banks were accused of mak- 
 ing money plentiful or scarce as best suited their 
 purpose. The money lender or "note-shaver" was 
 described as preying on society in distress and en- 
 riching himself by buying at a heavy discount 
 farms, manufacturing plants, and merchandise. By 
 
 26 Six Numbers on Banking, pp. 4 ff . 
 
 ™Ibid; Mercury, June 18, 1816; Feb. 11, 17, 1817. 
 
 27 Courant, Aug. 12, 1817. The editor was inclined to view the de- 
 pression as due to drinking, the failure to honor honest labor, a specu- 
 lating mania, a departure from the old habit of living within income, 
 and the weakening of the evangelical virtues. Series of articles, Mar. 
 4, 1817, ff. 
 
110 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 their manoeuvers, first flooding the market with 
 paper then contracting the currency, they were 
 thought to work their purpose. In the past men 
 of wealth had ready money to loan and, if a man 
 hoarded, it made little difference. Now, it was 
 added, the man of wealth has his money invested 
 in bank stock or on deposit. To get a loan, the 
 borrower must solicit the "rigidly surly, vehemently 
 authoritative, and fretfully great" bank director. 28 
 If one bank hoards, all refuse to discount. Pains 
 were taken to impress on readers that bank charters 
 were often dishonestly obtained; that directors 
 were frequently borrowers from their own banks 
 to the extent of from $15,000 to $50,000; that the 
 Eagle Bank had forced its stock down to 90 in 
 order to buy it in; and that there had been corrupt 
 bank failures. 29 Banks were not original creators 
 of wealth, but only creatures of business and com- 
 merce. Hence they were not to be rated too 
 highly, nor were their lawyer-directors to be re- 
 garded as essentially men of honor. Banks were 
 especially attacked for buying up the Second 
 National Bank stock, a speculation pure and sim- 
 ple, for bank stock paid more than the customary 
 six per cent. Money was, it was felt, drawn from 
 local circulation, while the people were silenced 
 by the bankers' pretense of patriotic motives. 
 The criticism was not surprising, with United 
 States bonds rising, and bank shares increasing 
 
 28 Six Numbers on Banking, p, 15. 
 "Ibid., pp. 5-8, 15-17. 
 
BASKS AND THE INCREASE OF CAPITAL 
 
 in value, and bankers apparently suffering leas than 
 the business community at large. 30 
 
 This depression was turned by local Republicans 
 
 into a political asset. In 1816 they condemned 
 the governor's neutral speech as not what the 
 people anticipated with a six months' winter fac- 
 ing them,' 1 and they attacked the purchase by 
 state banks of National Bank stock. Their char 
 lost weight when, in the fall of 18 18, Governor 
 Wolcott was able to point toward coming prosperity 
 ushered in by the more substantial national bank- 
 ing system. Politically the depression benefited the 
 Republicans. 
 
 Closely associated with the banks both in p 
 of time and in the personnel of their governing 
 boards were the insurance companies. Sanford 
 and Wads worth opened an insurance office in Hart- 
 ford in 1794.' 2 A firm known as the Hartford and 
 New Haven Insurance Company, with a life of 
 three years, started to insure on ships and no 
 chandise the following year. John Caldwell. John 
 Morgan, Wadsworth, Shipman. and Sanford were 
 its leaders. In 1795 the Mutual Assuranc. 
 
 « : ,',., Papers, III, 201 fir. 
 
 « Mercury, Oct. 22, IS 16. 
 
 * This sketch of Hartford insurance companies down to the 
 1 fishment of the Aetna in 181 :he following: Statutes, pp. 
 
 1 407, 410, 416, 419; Public Lavs, pp. 25, 113, 131; Pease and I 
 Gazetteer, p. 30; Caulkir. ■>., p. 331; Field, Statistical Account, 
 
 p. 41; George L. Clark, History of Connecticut, pp. ':. -rest 
 
 i-an, Connectictu :ny and State, IV. 2: " 
 
 Betts. "Development of Connecticut Insurance," Conn. Afag., VII, 
 4 ft.; Woodward, ff« -nd Woodward. I 
 
 in Connecticut. 
 
112 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 pany of Norwich was founded. Two years later 
 the New Haven Marine Insurance Company was 
 incorporated with a capital of $50,000. The 
 Norwich Marine Insurance Company was char- 
 tered in May, 1803, with a capital of $50,000 and 
 the privilege of increasing to $100,000. In 1803 
 John Caldwell, Jonathan Brace and Ephraim Root 
 founded the Middletown Marine Insurance Com- 
 pany with $60,000 capital, to be increased to a 
 maximum of $150,000. At the same time the 
 Middletown Marine Insurance Company was es- 
 tablished with a capital of from $60,000 to $100,000. 
 In 1805 the Union Insurance Company of New 
 London was given a charter with a capitalization 
 of from $100,000 to $150,000. These were fol- 
 lowed by the fire insurance companies, the Hartford 
 Company being chartered in 18 10 with a capital 
 of $150,000, with the $250,000 limit. Among its 
 directors were men like Nathaniel Terry, Nathaniel 
 Patten, Thomas K. Brace, Henry Hudson and 
 Daniel Wadsworth. The New Haven Company 
 followed in 1813, with a capital of $200,000. Isaac 
 Tomlinson, Titus Street and John Nicoll were among 
 its trustees. Ebenezer and Jonathan Huntington, 
 Elijah Hubbard, Joseph Alsop, and John R. Wat- 
 kinson also procured a charter in this session for 
 the Middletown Company with a capital of from 
 $150,000 to $300,000. 
 
 This array of names and figures is appalling. 
 It is, however, the only way to impress the reader 
 with the vast change in Connecticut's financial life 
 in this brief period and with the growth of a rather 
 
SHIPPING AND CARRYING TRADE 113 
 
 limited capitalist class. It is not too much to say 
 that the banking, marine and fire insurance com- 
 panies were controlled by the same men. Nor 
 is it a bold generalization to add that the status 
 quo eminently satisfied this group. 
 
 2. Shipping and Carrying Trade 
 
 The impetus given the shipping business by the 
 foreign wars and the opening of the West Indies to 
 neutrals accounted in large part for the increase 
 in wealth after 1789. Prior to this there had been 
 little gain in shipping or commerce because of the 
 inability to cope with foreign competition. 33 Con- 
 necticut thrived under this stimulus; the Con- 
 necticut Valley and Sound towns became the centers 
 of a prosperous trade. Tonnage increased; agri- 
 culture was encouraged ; and money became plenti- 
 ful, for profits were large despite seizures and ad- 
 miralty decisions. Men were convinced that the 
 state's future wealth lay bound up in shipping, 
 the sister industry of agriculture. 
 
 Connecticut schooners carried cider, butter, 
 cheese, spirits, tinware, clocks, plows, and wagons 
 to the South, especially to the port of Charleston. 
 A few ships cleared direct for Europe from New 
 London or New Haven with cargoes of grain, 
 though this export business was generally done 
 through New York. Numerous small vessels plied 
 their trade with the West Indies, bringing cargoes 
 
 38 William B. Weeden, Economic and Social History of New England, 
 II, 757, 772, 828, 833. 
 
114 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 of grain, butter, meat, vegetables, tobacco, cattle, 
 horses and lumber from the northern states and 
 returning with sugar and molasses to be made into 
 rum. Never in the commonwealth's history had 
 there been such a lucrative trade. 34 An occasional 
 ship found its way to the East Indies in the wake of 
 John Morgan's Empress of China which in 1785 
 inaugurated American trade in Chinese waters. 35 
 New Haven before the century's end had a South 
 Sea fleet of twenty vessels, one of which, the 
 Neptune, had circumnavigated the globe in a three- 
 year cruise and brought back a cargo of tea, silk, 
 and chinaware which netted profits of $24.o,ooo. 36 
 
 In 1800 ship-builders from the Kennebec to the 
 Hudson were laying more keels, it was reported, 
 than ever before in a season. New Haven's three 
 yards had built so rapidly that by this date the 
 town had fully eleven thousand tons of shipping. 
 Farmers were urged to increase their acreage and 
 plant larger crops and raise more stock. As Gov- 
 ernor Trumbull cautioned, the peace of Amiens 
 caused a marked decline, but, fortunately for Con- 
 necticut shipping, it proved but a time-serving 
 truce. 37 
 
 In 1807 the Derby Fishing Company was or- 
 ganized with a capitalization of $200,000, held by 
 
 34 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 13; Field, Haddam, p. 9; Caulkins, 
 Norwich, pp. 307-308; Morse, Geography, p. 156; Courant, Jan. 28, 1817; 
 Warden, Statistical Account, II, 29; Woodward, Hartford Bank, p. 26; 
 Woodward, Insurance, pp. 3-5. 
 
 ,5 Woodward, Hartford Bank, p. 26. 
 
 86 Levermore, Government of New Haven, p. 24. 
 
 "Ibid.; Mercury, Mar. 20, 1800; May 26, 1803. 
 
SHIPPING AND CARRYING TRADE 115 
 
 Derby and New Haven people. This company 
 owned several good ships which engaged in the 
 Newfoundland fisheries and in carrying to Europe 
 and the West Indies. For a time its success was 
 astounding, but it soon floundered under the spell of 
 evil days. 38 New Haven, on the eve of the Non- 
 Intercourse acts, was a busy shipping center, as 
 many as a hundred foreign bound vessels annually 
 leaving its wharves. Duties on imports averaged 
 about $150,000. Its Long Wharf was lined by ship- 
 ping offices, rope- walks and commercial houses. 
 Few were its citizens not directly or indirectly 
 dependent on commerce. New London did a busi- 
 ness not less important. 39 
 
 Non- Intercourse and Embargo dealt hard blows 
 to Connecticut shipping. Republicans suffered 
 silently and patriotically, or loyally condoned the 
 measures taken by the national administration. 
 The Federalists, however, continually became more 
 bitter in their opposition, and vigorous in their 
 protests. Some saw a studied attempt to ruin New 
 England's maritime wealth, with the intention 
 of developing Republican sections of the coun- 
 try; others feared that in encouraging manufac- 
 ture there would arise a capitalist class. The 
 Connecticut Courant saw no need for the "dam- 
 bargo," the avowed purpose of which was the pre- 
 vention of a foreign power's impressing ' 'foreign 
 subjects, deserters, and renegades — Men who are 
 
 88 New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, III, 175 ff. 
 
 "Ibid., I, 97 ff. Ill, 162 ff.; Dwight, Statistical Account, pp. 54 ff.; 
 Starr, New London, p. 70. 
 
116 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 never wanted on board American vessels; and 
 who are taking the bread from the mouths of the 
 native American seamen." The Declaration of 
 Independence, it was recalled, had complained 
 of the cutting off of our trade with the rest of the 
 world. Yet the embargo was far worse — "the 
 little finger of Thomas Jefferson is heavier than 
 the loins of George the Third." 40 
 
 Shipping was detained in the harbors, for even the 
 coasting trade was stringently regulated. Where- 
 as England blockaded France with squadrons and 
 France blockaded England by decrees, America's 
 plan of embargoing itself was regarded as the most 
 ludicrous as well as the most effective. New 
 Haven alone had seventy-eight vessels embargoed 
 in 1808. 41 State exports fell from $1,625,000 in 
 1807 to $414,000 in 1808, rising to $769,000 in 
 1 8 10. Duties in the four collection districts fell 
 off similarly: New London, in 1807, paid into the 
 national treasury about $203,000, in 1808, $98,000 
 and in 18 10 only $23,000; New Haven fell from 
 $158,000 in 1807 to $56,000 in 1809; Middletown 
 from $85,000 in 1807 to $49,000 in 18 10; and Fair- 
 field from $21,000 in 1807 to only $2,000 in 1809. 42 
 
 Naturally there was distress and widespread 
 complaint. Farmers saw their markets cut off; 
 merchants were in despair ; sailors and shipwrights 
 
 *° See articles, "Farewell to the Ocean," "The Times," Courant, 
 Apr. 27, May 11, 1808; Jan. 13, May 4, 1808. 
 
 41 Levermore, Government of New Haven, p. 26; New Haven Hist. 
 Soc, Papers, III, 167. 
 
 42 New Haven Address to the President of the Bank of the U. S., pp. 
 12-16, 43, 44. 
 
SHIPPING AND CARRYING TRADE 117 
 
 were idle; rope-walks were for sale. Grass was 
 growing on the wharves, honest sailors were driven 
 to clam-digging, sea-faring men were emigrating 
 to Canada. Canada, some feared, was being sent 
 a half-century ahead. Yet it is doubtful if the 
 situation was as depressing as Federalist memorial- 
 ists would have the President believe. 43 At any 
 rate the New Haven Manifesto, which was sent 
 around to the various towns, found responsive 
 accord only in Derby, Danbury and Lyme, and 
 a less hearty support in Meriden. 44 Obviously 
 the state could not have been on the verge of ruin. 
 The Embargo and Non- Intercourse acts were 
 hardly raised when war was declared. Ships fell 
 prey to British privateers. Carrying trade gave 
 way to the hazardous, but more profitable priva- 
 teering. Peace came, but brought no relief. Only 
 
 i the coast trader could face British competition. 
 Europe no longer depended on neutral carriers. 
 The West- India trade was lost to America for a 
 
 t considerable period. No state suffered greater 
 injury than Connecticut. New Haven's Long 
 Wharf, which best represented the state's com- 
 mercial greatness, followed the Union Wharf into 
 a speedy decline. Marine insurance concerns failed. 
 The Derby Fishing Company, the largest shipping 
 concern, went bankrupt because of losses at sea by 
 seizures, and because of the decline of business. 45 
 
 43 Courant, Jan. 13, Aug. 31, Dec. 28, 1808; May 9, 1810. For a 
 less sombre, more patriotic view, see Mercury, May 26, Sept. 8, 15, 1808. 
 
 "Infra, p. 000. 
 
 45 Caulkins, Norwich, pp. 309, 330; Starr, New London, p. 70; Field, 
 Haddam, p. 9; Woodward, Hartford Bank, pp. 34-35; New Haven Hist. 
 j Soc, Papers, I, 97-99. Ill, 175. 
 
118 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 These failures ushered in the hard times which 
 were aggravated by speculative ship-building in 
 1815. 46 Governor Smith in 1816 sorrowfully re- 
 ported that foreign ships were driving Connecticut 
 vessels into dry-dock even when it came to carry- 
 ing domestic products. 47 
 
 Governor Smith blamed the convention with 
 England, by which duties imposed on domestic 
 and foreign tonnage were equalized. He would 
 return to the earlier discriminating duties which 
 so benefited American interests, arguing that the 
 extension of the merchant marine should ever be 
 a favorite national policy. 48 He clearly repre- 
 sented the old interests and old capital of the state ; 
 but no number of Federalist memorials to Con- 
 gress could prevent the change. A new era was 
 ushering in manufactures as the chief pillar of the 
 state's wealth. 
 
 46 While tonnage statistics are unreliable, the following will show 
 the obstinacy with which shipping men clung to their belief in the state's 
 future on the sea. Middlesex County alone launched 7,500 tons in 
 1815. Figures for the state follow: 
 
 tons 
 
 1800 32,867 
 
 1811 45,000 
 
 1815 50,358 
 
 1816 60,104 
 
 1818 60,000 
 
 Field, Statistical Account, pp. 17, 128; Morse and Morse, Guide, p. 
 91; Morse, Geography, p. 166; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 14; Warden, 
 Statistical Account, II, 29; Caulkins, Norwich, p. 309; New Haven Ad- 
 dress (1816), pp. 12, 38. 
 
 47 Courant, Oct. 15, 1816. 
 
 48 Ibid., May 14, 1816 
 
I 
 
 manufactures 119 
 
 3. Manufactures 
 
 The development of extensive manufacturing 
 interests characterized the state's economic history 
 from 1800 to the end of our period. Manufac- 
 tures were encouraged by the Non- Intercourse 
 acts, the war and blockade, the tariff and, to a 
 considerable extent, by national patriotism. Yan- 
 kee resourcefulness, adaptability and inventive 
 genius assisted materially. The character of the 
 country, affording cheap power and easy access to 
 markets, proved advantageous. Again, the time 
 was propitious. With commerce destroyed, capital 
 invested in shipping turned to new ventures. 
 There was a considerable accumulation of money 
 which the banking system made available. Con- 
 ditions were so favorable that manufactures were 
 given a start by 181 8 which foretold their future 
 greatness. 
 
 The colonial period of manufacturing lasted until 
 the turn of the nineteenth century. 49 Political 
 independence had but little effect, though possibly 
 more than is generally suspected. The removal 
 of the restrictive measures gave some stimulus. 
 The absence of a manufacturing boom can be 
 accounted for by the lack of capital, the impossi- 
 bility of launching infant factories in the face of 
 English competition, and scarcity of labor, a situa- 
 tion which was in no way neutralized by the inven- 
 tion of labor-saving devices. 
 
 A% J. Leander Bishop ended his first volume of the History of Ameri- 
 can Manufactures from 1608 to 1860 with the year 1800. 
 
120 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 While the state continued to be essentially agri- 
 cultural, there was an increasing output of domestic 
 manufactures. 50 Tench Coxe reported a surplus 
 of "Yankee notions" for export. Every village 
 had its sawmill and gristmill operated by men, 
 whose time was shared in farming. Unsuccessful 
 attempts to raise silk had been fathered by men 
 like Ezra Stiles. Paper mills were established in 
 Norwich, East Hartford, Westville and Danbury. 
 These mills produced annually by 1787 about 
 $9,000 worth of paper. There were stocking looms 
 at Colchester, Meriden and Norwich. A type- 
 foundry at New Haven employed several men and 
 boys. Colonel Wadswortn, encouraged by the As- 
 embly, built a woolen factory at Hartford which 
 furnished Washington the domestic woolens he is 
 reputed to have worn on the occasion of his first 
 address to Congress. 51 Its annual output amounted 
 to 5,000 yards at five dollars a yard. Norwich, 
 Westville and East Hartford had cotton mills. 
 Clocks were made at East Windsor, Bristol, and 
 
 50 Weeden, Economic History, II, 855; Bishop, American Manufac- 
 tures, I, 103, 131, 200, 205, 207, 213, 250, 360, 413, 417, 516, 520. II, 
 ch. 1, 45, 75-76; Statutes, p. 421; Woodward, Hartford Bank, p. 27; 
 Thorpe, North Haven, p. 164; Atkins, Middlefield, pp. 21-25; Gillespie, 
 Meriden, pp. 214 ff.; Hall, Marlborough, p. 29; Goodwin, East Hartford, 
 pp. 155-162; Barber, New Haven, p. 58; Timlow, Southington, pp. 
 119, 422; Gilman, Norwich, p. 221; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, pp. 56- 
 57; Allen, Enfield, I, 492; Jennings, Bristol, pp. 47-49; Baker, Mont- 
 ville, pp. 621 ff.; Hughes, East Haven, pp. 115 ff.; Church, Address, 
 pp. 46-48; Atwater, Kent, p. 81; W. H. Pynchon, "Iron Mining in 
 Connecticut," Conn. Mag., V, 22 ff. 
 
 61 Bishop, American Manufactures, I, 418; Chester W. Wright, Wool- 
 Growing and the Tariff, p. 12. 
 
MANUFACTURES 121 
 
 Norwich. An Irish tinsmith established the first 
 American tinware factory at Berlin. The iron in- 
 dustry, known since the earliest days of the colony, 
 was centered in Salisbury, Enfield, and Canaan. 
 Slitting mills, iron-rod and nail machines, and 
 forges were set up in increasing numbers. Powder 
 mills were not unknown; and in 1798 Eli Whitney, 
 defrauded of the profits of his cotton-gin, had con- 
 tracted with the government to manufacture fire- 
 arms. Nor must the state's most thriving business 
 be forgotten, that of distilling rum. 
 
 These concerns were all small, employing a few 
 men who were apt to give part of their time to 
 agricultural work. There was no class of factory 
 labor. Rural rather than town life was stimu- 
 lated. The cities, imbued only with the impor- 
 tance of commerce, were not affected. 52 In short 
 it was but the first step from the domestic to the 
 factory system. 
 
 The introduction of merino sheep inaugurated 
 the new epoch in Connecticut manufactures as 
 well as in the woolen industry. 53 Coarse cloths 
 for local consumption continued to be made in 
 the homes. Carding machines were installed at 
 every crossroads to card the housewife's wool on 
 shares or for seven or eight cents a pound. Domes- 
 tic manufacture of woolens increased as it was en- 
 couraged by the conditions which gave rise to the 
 
 52 Swift, System of the Laws, II, 155. 
 
 53 Letter from Robert Livingston to a Southerner, Mercury, Aug. 
 15, 1811. 
 
 Jl 
 
122 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 woolen factories, these conditions being the scarcity 
 and high price of woolens. 
 
 The Non- Intercourse acts and the Embargo 
 prevented the importation of fine English cloths. 
 Prices of woolens rose at the very time America 
 was in the high pitch of the merino mania. Full- 
 blooded sheep were becoming numerous; old flocks 
 were improved and increased. Early attempts 
 by merino enthusiasts to weave cloth of English 
 quality were regarded as highly successful. Labor 
 was unusually plentiful owing to the depression in 
 shipping and agriculture. Money was freer, with the 
 opportunities for investment in shipping and agri- 
 culture lessened. Such were the conditions which 
 gave rise to the Connecticut woolens industry. 
 
 By 1 8 10 the woolen industry was fairly well es- 
 tablished. 54 The Republican party called for its 
 support on the patriotic grounds that American 
 manhood should be freed from the necessity of 
 wearing a "foreign livery." The oncoming war 
 clinched the point. All imports were embargoed, 
 this time by the enemy country. Prices of fine 
 cloths rose to nine and ten dollars a yard, and the 
 demand for merino wool maintained a high price 
 despite the great increase of the sheep-herds. 
 Woolen factories sprang up under the encourage- 
 ment of such favorable conditions, without ap- 
 parently injuring household manufactures. Rather 
 more intense was the zest with which the spinning 
 wheels of the hearth were turned. 
 
 M See Note 1, p. 137. 
 
MANUFACTURES 123 
 
 General Humphreys, the prime promoter of 
 agriculture and merinos, was among the first in 
 the country to manufacture high-grade woolens. 
 His interest was purely experimental, and his dis- 
 play of cloths at fairs of agricultural and domestic 
 manufactures was intended to demonstrate the 
 value of improved sheep. The success of these 
 endeavors caused Humphreys to establish a 
 clothier's works. Jefferson wrote that he under- 
 stood that the best cloth in America was made by 
 Humphreys, and that, as "Homespun is become 
 the spirit of the times, I think it an useful one and 
 therefore that it is a duty to encourage it by 
 example." 55 This he did by purchasing a suiting 
 through the agency of Abraham Bishop. Madison 
 at his inaugural is said to have worn a suit cut 
 from the Humphreys cloth. 56 In 1810 the Hum- 
 
 1 phreysville Manufacturing Company was chartered 
 with a maximum capital of $500,000 in $400 
 shares. 57 While David Humphreys, Oliver Wol- 
 
 i cott and Thomas Vose were the incorporators, 
 others were probably associated with them. They 
 agreed to employ a teacher for three months to 
 instruct the child employees in the elements of 
 learning, religion, morals, and manners, probably 
 for the purpose of placating the domestic manu- 
 
 56 New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, I, 143-146. 
 
 56 Johnston, Connecticut, p. 343; Baker, Montville, pp. 621 ff. 
 
 67 Public Laws, pp. 28-31. For an account of the Humphreys ville 
 industry, see Courant, May 31, 1809; Atwater, Plymouth, p. 144; Camp- 
 bell, Seymour, p. 233; Sharpe, Seymour, p. 68; Warden, Statistical Ac- 
 count, II, 26; Bishop, American Manufactures, II, 167; Dwight, Travels, 
 IH, 375 ff.; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 117. 
 
124 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 facturers, who opposed factories on the grounds 
 of morality. 58 Then, too, this instruction bespoke 
 the mind of Connecticut regarding the elements 
 of schooling for all children. At any rate, condi- 
 tions were regarded as ideal and a proof that 
 American factories need not bring in the evils of 
 English factory life. 59 
 
 This was immediately followed by the Middle- 
 town Manufacturing Company, with a capital of 
 $200,000 in $1,000 shares, and a similar charter. 
 By 1 8 15 this company, housed in a five-story 
 building, employed from sixty to eighty hands and 
 manufactured annually $70,000 worth of cloth. 60 
 During the next four years a good-sized clothier's 
 / works and another woolen mill were established 
 / in Middletown, employing over forty people and 
 disposing of 25,000 pounds of wool a year. In 
 18 1 3 a broadcloth factory was built at Wolcott- 
 ville in which Oliver Wolcott was interested. Two 
 woolen factories of considerable capacity were 
 operating in Goshen. The Mystic Manufacturing 
 Company commenced business in 18 14 with a 
 capital of $200,000. Its manufacturing, however, 
 
 58 See article in Portfolio (1817), IV, 317. 
 
 59 In May, 1813, at the instance of Humphreys, the old laws of 
 master and servant were revised to meet the new conditions; and a 
 board of visitors was appointed to oversee the education and moral 
 training of child employees. It is said that in New London, for in- 
 stance, factories wrought an improvement in living conditions. Public 
 Laws, p. 117; Sharpe, Seymour, p. 61; Niks' Register, VIII, 291; Mer- 
 cury, Nov. 10, 1818. 
 
 60 Public Laws, p. 41; Field, Middlesex, p. 42; Bishop, American 
 Manufactures, II, 180. 
 
MANUFACTURES 125 
 
 was of a general nature, including brass, iron, 
 engines, as well as cotton and woolen goods. 61 
 
 New London County had in 1815 fourteen 
 woolen factories; Litchfield County counted at 
 least eight, besides some forty-six cloth-dressing 
 establishments. Hartford County in 18 18 re- 
 ported nine woolen factories in addition to about 
 thirty-seven fulling mills; New Haven County, 
 five woolen mills and thirty-three fulling mills; 
 Fairfield County, nine woolen mills besides twenty- 
 nine fulling mills and clothiers' works; Windham, 
 the cotton manufacturing county, ten small woolen 
 works with thirty-seven fulling mills; Middlesex 
 County, five woolen factories and seventeen fulling 
 mills; and Tolland County had eleven fulling mills 
 and a good number of carding machines, even 
 though there was no woolen factory. Throughout 
 the state there were about sixty woolen factories, 
 although in 18 19 only five had a capacity of over 
 10,000 pounds of raw wool a year. 62 
 
 The decade of the Embargo and War witnessed 
 not the birth, but the real beginning of the Con- 
 necticut cotton industry. 63 Cotton manufactur- 
 ing had attained importance in Providence, Rhode 
 Island, because of the early endeavors of Samuel 
 Slater and the Browns. Favorable trade condi- 
 
 61 See Field, Middlesex, pp. 42-43; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 272; 
 Orcutt, Torrington, pp. 92 ff.; Wheeler, Stonington, p. 141; Bishop, Amer- 
 ican Manufactures, II, 194-195. 
 
 62 See Warden, Statistical Account, II, 26; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, 
 pp. 37, 95, 141, 170, 204, 230, 271, 289; Niles' Register, VIII, 291; 
 Bishop, American Manufactures, II, 195; Wright, W ool-Gr owing; p. 43. 
 
 63 Stiles, Diary, III, 525; Dwight, Connecticut, p. 414. 
 
126 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 tions such as low-priced cotton and extravagant 
 prices for cloth, caused such a rapid extension of 
 the business into Connecticut that the Windham 
 Herald in 181 1 was justified in asking: "Are not the 
 people running cotton mill mad?" 64 Cotton cloths 
 were woven in factories built by stock companies, 
 whose subscribers were small investors of the 
 farming class or local capitalists, 65 rather than 
 in the homes. Probably this was due to the fact 
 that cotton became known in the factory age, 
 whereas centuries-long was the association between 
 the home and homespuns. However, according 
 to Tench Coxe, flaxen goods to the value of about 
 $800,000 were woven in the home in 1810. 66 
 
 Windham County, because of its proximity to 
 Rhode Island, early became the center of the in- 
 dustry. In 1806 the Pomfret Manufacturing Com- 
 pany bought 1,000 acres of land and built a factory 
 involving a capital of $60,000. The size of their 
 holding made it possible to exclude taverns from 
 the vicinity of the factory and to offer farm-work 
 to the parents of child employees. A school and 
 church were built, attracting attention as a favor- 
 able contrast to the English system. Work was 
 given to the townspeople, some of whom were 
 able to save from $50 to $200 a year from their 
 earnings. 67 In Sterling there were three cotton 
 
 M Larned, Windham County, II, 402. 
 
 65 Junius in Norwich Courier, quoted in Mercury, Nov. 3, 1818. 
 
 66 Tables, p. 28; Niles' Register, II, 323 ff. 
 
 67 Bishop, American Manufactures, II, 113; Larned, Windham County, 
 II, 400; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 219. 
 
MANUFACTURES 127 
 
 factories in 1818, one with 1,600 spindles. Thomp- 
 son had three plants which by 1818 were turning 
 5,000 spindles. Plainfield built four cotton fac- 
 tories between 1809 and 1818. Killingly's four 
 mills with 5,000 spindles employed a large number 
 of hands, and represented an outlay of $300,000. 
 Woodstock had a large cotton factory and a com- 
 bination cotton and woolen mill. In 18 18 this 
 county had twenty-two cotton mills, about one- 
 third the number in the whole state — an in- 
 crease of eighteen in eight years. The industry 
 from the point of numbers engaged and the value 
 of the product was second only to agriculture, and 
 served to check emigration by giving employment 
 to the surplus population. 68 
 
 Hartford County had five cotton mills in 18 10, 
 and thirteen in 1818; only the Hartford Manu- 
 facturing Company, the Marlborough Manufactur- 
 ing Company, and one at Glastonbury were 
 important. The Marlborough factory, capitalized 
 at $42,000 in 1 81 5, made a specialty of blue cotton 
 slave-clothes. New Haven County had only two 
 mills in 1818, the one at Humphreysville and 
 another in New Haven. During these years New 
 London County built nine small mills. The town 
 of Norwich had a factory with 1,200 spindles; and 
 in Groton there were woven, but chiefly in the 
 domestic way, 500,000 yards a year. Altogether 
 the counties of Fairfield, Middlesex and Litchfield 
 had only twelve small cotton factories in 1818. 
 
 68 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, pp. 17, 213, 217, 222, 224; Lamed, 
 j Windham County, II, 402, 438; Coxe, Tables, p. 28. 
 
128 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Nine cotton mills were scattered throughout the 
 towns of Tolland County, but the two in the town 
 of Hebron, with 2,000 spindles, were alone worthy 
 of note. 69 
 
 These manufacturing concerns each represented 
 an outlay of from $30,000 to $300,000 in lands, 
 buildings, and machinery, according to the con- 
 tention of a firm supporter in 18 18. This, he 
 argued, the state should consider by conserving 
 their welfare. He saw in the growth of manu- 
 factures a cessation of the population's "continual 
 surges to the West." "In the three eastern dis- 
 tricts of Connecticut," he continued, "the travel- 
 ler's eye is charmed with the view of delightful 
 villages, suddenly rising as it were by magic, along 
 the banks of some meandering rivulet ; flourishing 
 by the influence and fostered by the protecting 
 arm of manufactures." 70 His was a sanguine, but 
 not an untrue picture. 
 
 While the rise of cloth factories was the most 
 noticeable feature in the transition from agricul- 
 ture to manufacturing, other industries grew rap- 
 idly apace. By 18 10 there were twenty-four flax- 
 seed oil mills, with a productivity of $65,000. 
 Five hundred distilleries produced 1,374,404 gal- 
 lons of spirits, valued at $800,000. Buttons valued 
 at $100,000 were annually turned out. Four 
 hundred tanneries did a three-quarter million- 
 
 69 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, pp. 37, 43, 75, 82, 101, 117, 147, 154, 170, 
 230, 270, 289, 292, 296, 302; Niles' Register, VIII, 291; Hull, Marlborough, 
 p. 29; Coxe, Tables, p. 28. 
 
 70 Junius in Norwich Courier quoted in Mercury, Nov. 3, 1818. 
 
MANUFACTURES 129 
 
 dollar leather and shoe business. Eighteen rope- 
 walks were worth about $250,000. Fourteen houses 
 produced yearly $60,000 worth of glass and pottery. 
 Three rolling mills and eighteen naileries did a 
 $30,000 business. Gun factories had a capacity 
 of 4,400 guns per year. The tinware industry 
 amounted to $139,670, with brass goods at $50,000. 
 Eight blast furnaces and forty-eight forges pro- 
 duced $184,000 worth of bar iron. Thirty- two 
 trip hammers added nearly $100,000 to the iron 
 products. Seven mills manufactured gunpowder. 
 Combs to the annual value of about $125,000, 
 paper products from nineteen mills at over $80,000, 
 hats and bonnets at $560,000, and silk, stock- 
 ings, and suspenders at nearly $140,000 reveal the 
 variety of manufactures already established. 71 
 The grand total of manufactured goods returned 
 1 by the census marshals amounted to $5,900,560, 
 in 1 8 10, leaving only Massachusetts, New York, 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia in the lead. 
 Tench Coxe, however, estimated the total out- 
 put at $7, 771, 928. 72 In 1810 an actual survey 
 map, published by Hudson and Goodwin of the 
 Connecticut Courant, shows the location of all 
 factories, mills, distilleries, and furnaces. Their 
 number is surprising and must have astonished 
 even the best-informed men of the state. While 
 no attempt was made to differentiate between small 
 and large factories, forges and the like, the signifi- 
 cance of the mere compilation must not be under- 
 
 71 Coxe, Tables, pp. 28-30. 
 
 78 Coxe, Tables; Bishop, American Manufactures, II, 163. 
 
130 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 estimated. One is impressed with the fact that 
 Connecticut's fairly extensive manufacturing did 
 not mean the concentration of industries in cities 
 or in sections. 
 
 During the following decade (18 10-1820) these 
 industries increased in number, size and output. 73 
 Powder mills increased from seven in 18 10 to 
 thirteen in 18 18; paper mills from nineteen to 
 twenty-four; and glass works from two to four, to 
 cite random examples. Forges, furnaces, naileries, 
 oil mills, gun shops, and tin works all enlarged 
 their capacity and output. Litchfield County re- 
 ported thirty-nine forges for every conceivable kind 
 of iron goods. New Haven, Hamden, Berlin, Mid- 
 dletown and Hartford manufactured guns, swords 
 and pistols. Two of the Middletown munitions 
 factories alone employed one hundred men. The 
 twenty-four paper mills of the state had as centers 
 Norwich and East Hartford. Carts journeying 
 from town to town with the products of the tin- 
 plate factories became usual sights on distant turn- 
 pike roads. The manufacture of clocks became in- 
 creasingly important. Button factories profited 
 along with the clothing industry. Their employ- 
 ees numbered many women and children who were 
 thus enabled to assist in the family support. 
 
 73 Coxe, Tables, p. 28; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, county tabulations, 
 also pp. 14 ff., 95, 170; Conn. Mag., V, 278 ff. VII, 628; Church, Ad- 
 dress, p. 46; W. W. Lee, Barkhamstead, pp. 37, 47; Field, Middlesex, 
 p. 43; Jennings, Bristol, pp. 47-49; Gillespie, Meriden, pp. 352-355; 
 D wight, Connecticut, p. 413; D wight, Travels, II, 43, 45; Bronson, 
 Waterbury, pp. 559 ff.; Anderson, Waterbury, 1, 502; Timlow, Southington, 
 p. 422; Courant, Jan. 29, 1812. 
 
MANUFACTURES 131 
 
 Danbury in 1810 had some fifty-six hat shops, 
 but none employed over four men. By the 
 end of the decade they had grown considerably 
 because of improved machinery and the cessation 
 of foreign competition. The leather trade of 
 Hartford, Bridgeport, New Haven and Norwich 
 flourished. Plows, wagons and carriages were 
 made in New Haven, Burlington and Enfield 
 for local and southern trade. The distilling in- 
 dustry, while well represented throughout the 
 various towns, centered in Hartford County. As 
 a business, it proved especially profitable as the 
 waste could be utilized to fatten export-swine and 
 cattle. It was regarded highly, as it stimulated the 
 local grain production. 74 
 
 The manufacturing spirit was fast gaining sway. 
 Men were turning from languishing commerce to 
 manufacturing. There was a shifting of popula- 
 tion within the state from the country to the cities. 
 Hartford, New London, New Haven, and the 
 borough of Bridgeport were gaining in population, 
 while the smaller towns were at a standstill, or 
 actually being depopulated. A city laboring-class 
 was forming, as the census tables of 1820 amply 
 demonstrate. 75 No state save Rhode Island could 
 show so large a percentage of its population en- 
 gaged in manufacturing. 76 
 
 Patriotism played an important part in stimu- 
 lating manufactures, being appealed to during and 
 
 74 See Note II, p. 138. 
 
 75 See Note III, p. 138. 
 
 76 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 14; Morse and Morse, Guide, p. 91. 
 
 // 
 
132 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 after the War by writers, advertisers, and Republi- 
 can orators. 77 Republicans, playing the patriotic 
 tune, charged their opponents, who rather favored 
 household manufactures, 78 with lack of genuine 
 Americanism. They argued that "it must be 
 truly gratifying to every true American to wit- 
 ness the rapid introduction and progress of manu- 
 facturing establishments in the various parts of 
 the United States." 79 The Federalist, a man of the 
 past, gloried in agriculture and shipping, while the 
 Republican, with more perspicacity, read the future 
 and approved manufactures and independence. 
 
 This Republican attitude was in part oppor- 
 tunist, for local Republicans were bound to defend 
 the whole Jeffersonian policy, which incidentally 
 stimulated many industries. The Federalists, on 
 the other hand, attacked the Embargo on all 
 occasions and from every angle. It was ruining 
 the state's wealth, destroying agriculture and 
 commerce to the advantage of manufactures, 
 building up an aristocracy, corrupting the moral 
 life, driving men to smuggling, and depriving 
 working men of labor. 80 Senator Hillhouse saw 
 a betrayed New England, its commerce over- 
 thrown by visionary men. He deprecated the 
 state's diminishing importance in national affairs, 
 
 77 Mercury, Apr. 5, 1810; July 11, 1811; Kentucky Reporter article 
 in Mercury, Dec. 16, 1817; Chronicle article in Mercury, Feb. 20, 1816; 
 article from the Aurora in Mercury, Oct. 24, 1811. 
 
 78 Trumbull's "Addresses to the Legislature" in Mercury, May 26, 
 1803; Courant, May 14, 1806; Mercury, May 28, 1807. 
 
 79 From The Democrat quoted in Mercury, Oct. 24, 1811. 
 
 80 See hostile editorials, Courant, Mar. 30, Apr. 6, 1808. 
 
MANUFACTURES 133 
 
 making it helpless to prevent a policy which drove 
 marines into factories. 81 Governor Treadwell's 
 speech of May, 1810, was bitterly assailed by 
 Republicans because they "read not a word of 
 manufactures, although they are more formidable 
 to Britain than a navy of 100 ships of the line." 82 
 Governor John Cotton Smith, in 18 14, believed that 
 legislative encouragement had fostered manufac- 
 tures quite enough. Indeed, he feared that they 
 had been unduly increased, in the light of return- 
 ing commercial activities. Domestic manufac- 
 tures, he heartily advocated. 83 This party division 
 became more noticeable during the War and the 
 hard years of the panic. 
 
 Peace in 181 5 marked prosperity's wane. This 
 
 the manufacturers learned as much to their sur- 
 
 ] prise as to their cost. England's attention was 
 
 wholly given to commerce and manufactures, and 
 
 1 her labor was never cheaper, for the discharged 
 
 soldier was returning to field and shop. Spanish 
 
 I and German wool forced downward the price of 
 
 j raw wool, as Russian hemp did in the case of that 
 
 ( commodity. The war-devastated continent offered 
 
 j a poor market, but in America England saw an 
 
 opportunity if the competing industries could be 
 
 J destroyed. 
 
 i This could be done with ultimate profit by under- 
 selling them in their home market. Lord Brougham, 
 in a speech in Parliament, declared: 
 
 M Letter to Noah Webster, Courant, Apr. 6, 1808. 
 
 82 M ercury, May 24, 1810. 
 
 88 "Address" in Courant, May 17. 
 
134 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 It was even worth while to incur a loss upon the first 
 exportations, in order by the glut to stifle in the cradle these 
 rising manufactures in the United States, which the war 
 had forced into existence, contrary to the natural course of 
 things. 84 
 
 This was the policy followed. America bought 
 unwisely on credit, thus playing into rival hands. 85 
 The result was the financial and commercial de- 
 pression of the years 1815-1818. 
 
 The banks, hard pressed, were unable to redeem 
 their own notes or to make loans. Factories 
 and mills closed, as English goods forced prices 
 below the cost of production. Retailers were 
 deluged; imported goods were sold at auction. 
 Patriotism could not withstand sacrifice prices, 
 especially when English woolens were regarded 
 as the acme of perfection. The effect on the woolen 
 industry was appalling, nurtured, as it had been, 
 by monopoly prices. Unable to negotiate loans, 
 manufacturers failed or shut down; only a few 
 operated their factories. The whole industry bid 
 fair to be destroyed. 86 
 
 Cotton manufacturing suffered almost as severe- 
 ly. 87 Raw cotton rose in price because of the 
 foreign demand from thirteen cents in 18 14 to 
 twenty cents in 181 5, twenty-seven cents in 18 16, 
 and finally thirty-four cents in 1818. At the 
 
 84 Bishop, American Manufactures, II, 212. 
 
 85 Humphreys, Discourse (1816), p. 13. 
 
 86 Wright, Wool-Growing, p. 41; Field, Middlesex, p. 42; Pease and 
 Niles, Gazetteer, pp. 17, 43; Bishop, American Manufactures, III, 194; 
 Larned, Windham County, II, 424, 427, 437; P. Perkins, Historical 
 Sketches, p. 58; John Cotton Smith's address to the Legislature, 
 Courant, May 14, 1816. 
 
 87 Bishop, American Manufactures, II, 212 ff., 244. 
 
MANUFACTURES 135 
 
 same time cotton goods were falling in value. 
 In this way the hope of a closer economic union be- 
 tween North and South through cotton and inter- 
 nal trade was doomed to disappointment. Yankee 
 ingenuity in cutting the cost of production by im- 
 proving power spindles alone saved the industry. 
 While woolen and cotton manufacturers suffered 
 most severely, all manufacturing was greatly hin- 
 dered by competition and the panicky conditions. 
 
 Economic depression meant general discontent. 
 Housewives found domestic spinning less profitable ; 
 factory operatives were idle; and men were forced 
 to emigrate. The party in favor of manufactur- 
 ing was in a position to make an effectual appeal. 
 Factory owners and stockholders desired favorable 
 legislation; and they recognized the interests of 
 the old order when commerce and shipping thrived. 
 Naturally, they turned toward the party which 
 supported manufactures. New capital and new 
 labor joined the new party, while old capital re- 
 mained Federalist in sympathy. 
 
 The tariff of 1816 assisted manufactures, but 
 did not satisfy the New England cotton and woolen 
 manufacturers who convened to draw up memorials, 
 beseeching Congress for more protection. 88 There 
 was established a Connecticut Society for the En- 
 couragement of Manufactures whose purpose was 
 to advance manufactures in every legitimate way. 89 
 Even John Cotton Smith in 181 6 declared that, while 
 
 88 Bishop, American Manufactures, II, 213, 214, 235. 
 
 89 Among its leaders were "Boss" Alexander Wolcott, Commodore 
 McDonough, and the Federalists, Judge Titus Hosmer and Asher 
 Miller of the Council. Constitution and Address (1817). 
 
136 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 the enterprise of citizens had carried them too far, so 
 much capital had been invested that the state would 
 suffer if relief were not given. He inclined toward 
 a policy of bounties and exemptions by the state, 
 especially in the case of household manufactures, 
 or those allied with agriculture. 90 The Assembly 
 of May, 1817, four-fifths of whose members were 
 clothed in domestic woolens, exempted cotton and 
 woolen factories from taxation for four years, and 
 their employees from a poll tax or militia service. 91 
 A resolution was passed, urging citizens to buy 
 American manufactures that business might be 
 revived. Federalists condemned this as partial 
 legislation, maintaining that all industry as well 
 as this particular branch had suffered a set-back. 92 
 Democratic papers begged citizens to drive out 
 the "foreign gew-gaws and finery," so unsuited to 
 Christians and Republicans, and to cease "sup- 
 porting tyranny in England by taking British 
 manufactures." They further exercised them- 
 selves to disprove the Federalist contention that 
 immorality, vicious poverty and factories were 
 concomitant. Federalist writers, pointing to the 
 current Spa- Fields riots, remarked that England as 
 the workshop of nations was not to be envied. 
 Manufacturing made the few rich. Pauperism in- 
 creased pauperism fifty-fold. Republicans argued 
 that, deprived of commerce, Connecticut must 
 look to manufactures to retain her people. As a 
 
 90 Address to the Legislature in Courant, May 14, 1816. 
 
 91 Conn. Laws; Atwater, Plymouth, p. 144; Niks' Register, XII, 
 360; Mercury, July 1, 1817. 
 
 92 Courant, July 3, 8, 1817. 
 
MANUFACTURES 
 
 137 
 
 further incentive they predicted that manufac- 
 tures would more closely cement the union of states, 
 build up a coast shipping, and possibly even a 
 South- American trade rivalling that of England. 
 Party lines were drawn, for manufactures could 
 not be viewed nationally, but must be made 
 political capital. 93 
 
 NOTES 
 I. Woolen Statistics for 1810 
 
 COUNTIES 
 
 YARDS WOOLEN 
 GOODS IN FAMI- 
 LIES 
 
 VALUE 
 
 WOOLEN 
 
 FAC- 
 TORIES 
 
 LOOMS FOR 
 
 COTTON AND 
 
 WOOLENS 
 
 Hartford 
 
 188,663 
 131,054 
 114,760 
 139,572 
 109,852 
 281,184 
 67,062 
 86,998 
 
 $193,311.45 
 141,676.75 
 
 83,683.04 
 157,229.74 
 
 86,688.50 
 278,496.68 
 
 85,406.76 
 
 71,749.00 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 5 
 2 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 
 
 2,372 
 1,566 
 2,240 
 
 New Haven 
 
 New London 
 
 Fairfield 
 
 1,897 
 2,435 
 3,279 
 1,101 
 1,242 
 
 Windham 
 
 Litchfield 
 
 Middlesex 
 
 1 Tolland 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 | 
 
 1,119,145 
 
 $1,098,241.92 
 
 15 
 
 16,132 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
 CARDING 
 
 MACHINES 
 
 POUNDS CARDED 
 
 FULLING 
 MACHINES 
 
 >< Hartford 
 
 35 
 28 
 19 
 36 
 17 
 30 
 10 
 9 
 
 73,419 
 
 776,500 
 
 79,999 
 
 101,200 
 
 64,470 
 
 85,000 
 
 20,000 
 
 3,500 
 
 
 39 
 
 New Haven 
 
 33 
 
 New London 
 
 19 
 
 Fairfield 
 
 35 
 
 Windham 
 
 21 
 
 Litchfield 
 
 45 
 
 Middlesex 
 
 14 
 
 Tolland 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 184 
 
 504,088 
 
 218 
 
 Taken from Tench Coxe, Series of Tables, p. 28. 
 
 93 New York Columbian quoted in Mercury, Apr. 25, 1817; Mercury, 
 Jan. 21, 1817; Mar. 10, Nov. 17, 1818; Courant, Jan. 11, 1814; Feb. 25, 
 1817; Dwight, Decisions, p. 281. 
 
138 
 
 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 II. Manufacturing by Counties 
 
 Hartford County had 13 cotton factories; 9 woolen mills; 37 fulling 
 mills; 38 wool-carding machines; 11 powder mills; 8 paper mills; 5 oil 
 mills; 83 grain mills; 2 forges; a furnace; 2 glass works; besides con- 
 siderable manufacturing of buttons, spoons, combs, and plows (for the 
 South). Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 37. 
 
 New Haven: 2 cotton factories; 5 woolen mills; 33 fulling mills; 30 
 wool-carding machines; a powder mill; 4 paper mills; 3 oil mills; 54 
 grain mills; a forge; a furnace; a great gun factory; and a considerable 
 output of tinware, buttons, clocks. Ibid., p. 95. 
 
 New London: 9 cotton factories; 16 woolen; 15 fulling mills; 18 wool 
 carders; 3 paper mills; 2 oil mills; 70 grain mills; 2 forges. Ibid., p. 141. 
 
 Fairfield: 5 cotton factories; 9 woolen; 29 fulling mills; 40 carders; 2 
 paper mills; 80 grain mills; a forge, a rolling and a slitting mill; Danbury 
 hats and leather goods a leading industry. Ibid., p. 170. 
 
 Windham: 22 cotton mills; 10 woolen; 37 fulling; 23 carders; 2 paper 
 mills; 2 oil mills; 85 grain mills; considerable iron, some silk, and combs. 
 Ibid., p. 204. 
 
 Litchfield: 4 cotton factories; 8 woolen; 46 fulling; 50 carders; 1 paper 
 mill; 2 oil mills; 62 grain mills; 39 forges; 5 furnaces; 8 anchor shops; 
 2 slitting mills. Ibid., p. 230. 
 
 Middlesex: 3 cotton factories; 5 woolen; 17 fulling; 16 carders; a 
 powder mill; a paper mill; 1 oil mill; 43 grain mills; 1 forge; 6 furnaces; 
 manufactures respectable; considerable commerce (about 100 vessels) 
 and shad fishing. Ibid., pp. 270-271. 
 
 Tolland: 9 cotton factories; 4 woolen mills; 11 fulling; 20 carders; 3 
 paper mills; 2 oil mills; 36 grain mills; 3 glass works; 2 forges; 3 furnaces; 
 manufactures, both domestic and commercial. Ibid., p. 289. 
 
 III. Figures for 1820 
 
 COUNTIES 
 
 Hartford. . . . 
 Hew Haven. 
 New London 
 
 Fairfield 
 
 Windham 
 
 Litchfield. . . . 
 Middlesex. . . 
 Tolland 
 
 POPULA- 
 
 AGRICUL- 
 
 
 TION 
 
 TURE 
 
 
 47,264 
 
 7,919 
 
 626 
 
 39,615 
 
 6,673 
 
 617 
 
 34,248 
 
 7,681 
 
 975 
 
 41,353 
 
 6,157 
 
 472 
 
 30,871 
 
 6,317 
 
 156 
 
 40,288 
 
 8,347 
 
 251 
 
 21,895 
 
 3,457 
 
 424 
 
 14,080 
 
 3,967 
 
 60 
 
 MANUFAC- 
 TURERS 
 
 3,315 
 
 2,648 
 1,847 
 3,083 
 1,851 
 2,682 
 1,582 
 533 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 i . Emigration and Western Lands 
 
 IMMIGRATION, western lands, and the im- 
 -"-^ provement of agricultural methods became 
 questions of vital importance after 1800. They 
 were so interdependent that the discussion of one 
 involves the consideration of all. Emigration was 
 caused partly by the knowledge that lands, cheap, 
 fertile and abundant, were available on the frontier. 
 To prevent emigration, which was draining popu- 
 lation and increasing the cost of labor, agriculture 
 was encouraged. Something must be done, it was 
 reasoned, to enable the high-priced Connecticut 
 farm to compete with the enticing new lands of 
 the West. Because of their close association, the 
 three subjects will be treated in a single chapter. 
 
 "Emigration is a wholesome drain on a redun- 
 dant population," said Edmund Burke. The word 
 "wholesome" was used advisedly, for emigrants 
 as a rule are from the discontented class. Presi- 
 dent Dwight believed and even rejoiced that the 
 New Englanders who were going westward were 
 shiftless, ne'er-do-weel persons. 1 One might differ 
 from Dwight by arguing that the emigrants, while 
 poor, were men of energy and force, with the 
 courage to venture on a new life in the wilderness. 
 At all events, they were dissatisfied with condi- 
 
 1 Travels, III, 509-510. 
 
 139 
 
140 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 tions. They felt oppressed and desired change 
 They might not have been knowingly reformers 
 or radical in politics, but there was within them 
 a consuming fire which made of them potential 
 revolutionists. Emigration offered a panacea to 
 them, and to the state a safety-valve. To the 
 Standing Order it was a Godsend; for otherwise 
 this discontented mass must have broken down 
 restraints and forced an earlier reform, if not a 
 thorough upheaval. 
 
 The population of Connecticut could hardly be 
 described as redundant, even though at first the 
 economic life was agricultural, and intensive farm- 
 ing was unknown. From the time of the Revo- 
 lution there had been a heavy emigration which 
 continually increased until, by 1815, it became al- 
 most a migratory furor. In 181 7 a western travel- 
 ler could write: "Old America seems to be break- 
 ing up and moving westward." 2 
 
 For such a movement there must have been an 
 occasion. The reasons are not far to seek, though 
 their ramifications strike deep into the vitals of 
 the state's life. Men were actuated by various 
 considerations, some vital, others secondary. Some 
 were discontented with the narrow religious sys- 
 tem of a state church, the close scrutiny over morals 
 and pleasures, the forced payment of tithes, and 
 the oppressive ministerial influence which per- 
 meated the whole atmosphere. These were likely 
 
 2 Morris Birkbeck, Notes on a Journey in America, p. 32. See also 
 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 11; Niks' Register, X, 398. 
 
EMIGRATION AND WESTERN LANDS 141 
 
 to be men of no religion or dissenters. 3 Others, 
 harassed by the social intrenchment, were at- 
 tracted by the frontier, with its liberality and 
 equality. Others were men of political ambition 
 who saw no hope of advancement under the Federal 
 Congregationalist regime. Still others were on 
 the underside of the economic scale with small, 
 worn-out and mortgaged farms. They might have 
 been farm laborers or men displaced by the failure 
 of the shipping business. To them the West offered 
 land and dreams of a future. Finally, due to their 
 enterprising character, Connecticut people, like all 
 New Englanders, were supposed to have a natural 
 touch of wanderlust quite in accord with the term 
 " wandering Yankee." 4 
 
 Prior to the Revolution there was a decided in- 
 terest in the West. The Delaware Company, 
 which as early as 1760 undertook settlements, was 
 a Connecticut company. The incorporators of 
 the Susquehanna Company were for the most part 
 from Connecticut, and chiefly from Windham 
 County. In 1 774-1 776 the Susquehanna district, 
 the ill-fated Wyoming Valley, was settled by Con- 
 necticut people and incorporated as a town at- 
 tached first to Litchfield County and later as a 
 separate county. 5 Phineas Lyman, the hero of 
 Lake George in the French and Indian War, 
 
 3 The emigration of dissenters was noteworthy. See Bronson, 
 Waterbury, p. 314; Atwater, Plymouth, p. 429; Goodenough, Clergy of 
 Litchfield, p. 14; Kilbourne, Sketches, pp. 303 ff. 
 
 4 See Duncan, Travels, I, 106. 
 
 6 Lois K. Mathews, The Expansion of New England, p. 119; John- 
 ston, Connecticut, p. 275. 
 
142 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 migrated to West Florida, settling near Natchez. 6 
 Litchfield County becoming fairly thickly popu- 
 lated, the Connecticut emigrant turned toward 
 more distant frontiers. He made his way up the 
 Connecticut River into the river counties of New 
 Hampshire, settled in the Berkshires, or pushed 
 into Duchess or Columbia counties, New York. 7 
 The war stimulated emigration by making men 
 familiar with new lands. It inaugurated the policy 
 of paying off soldiers in land-script. By way of 
 illustration the town of Salisbury found that of 
 its war veterans few ever returned, preferring to 
 settle in the new countries. 8 Evidently the type 
 of man who fought the war was represented in the 
 intrepid, stirring emigrant. There was a steady 
 increase in emigration, especially to western New 
 Hampshire and Vermont. 9 So great was the exo- 
 dus to the latter state, that it was colloquially often 
 spoken of as "New Connecticut." Vermont might 
 be considered the child of Litchfield County, 
 whence came so many of its colonists and early 
 leaders in political life, at the bar and in the pulpit. 
 For instance, the town of Middlebury was settled 
 by people from Salisbury, Connecticut. The ros- 
 
 6 Johnston, Connecticut, pp. 262, 277; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, 
 III, 36. 
 
 7 Mathews, Expansion of New England, map opposite p. 124; Field, 
 Middlesex, p. 17; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 11. 
 
 8 Church, Address, p. 50. 
 
 9 Gov. Wolcott's Address to the Assembly, Conrant, May 16, 1796; 
 Field, Middlesex, p. 17; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 11; J. F. Mc- 
 Laughlin, Matthew Lyon, pp. 79 ff.; Mathews, Expansion of New England, 
 pp. 142 ff. 
 
EMIGRATION AND WESTERN LANDS 143 
 
 ter of Dartmouth graduates emphasized the same 
 story, the trend toward the North. Of the two 
 hundred and eighty-four men who had taken 
 degrees up to 1790, one hundred and twenty-one 
 came from Connecticut, besides those who were 
 sons of emigrants. 10 
 
 There was a rush before 1800 for New York. 
 Enterprising young men with their families were 
 entering what was then termed the Genessee 
 Country, now Ontario and Steuben counties. It 
 was a Suffield man, the bank promoter, Oliver 
 Phelps, who was a partner in the purchase of this 
 huge tract of two and one-fifth million acres. 
 Naturally, he exerted himself to the utmost to sell 
 farms in this region. Through his efforts and 
 influence the Genessee became characteristically 
 Connecticut. 11 Judge Hugh White of Middle- 
 town founded Whites town, which rapidly increased 
 in wealth and population. Along with the neigh- 
 boring settlements of Binghamton and Durham, 
 it was an outpost of old Connecticut. 12 Then 
 there was a considerable movement of popula- 
 tion into the Western Reserve, which Connecti- 
 cut had sold in 1795 to the land speculators, chief 
 of whom were Oliver Phelps and William Hart. 13 
 
 No figures are available for emigration, but the 
 movement was sufficient to arouse misgivings. 
 
 10 Mathews, Expansion of New England, p. 133. 
 
 11 Ibid., pp. 153 ff.; Woodward, Hartford Bank, pp. 47-49; Field, 
 Middlesex, p. 39; Church, Litchfield Centennial, p. 48. 
 
 12 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, pp. 88, 275; Dexter, Biographical 
 Sketches, V, 121. 
 
 13 Woodward, Hartford Bank, pp. 47, 70 ff. 
 
144 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Population was kept at a standstill. 14 States- 
 men were questioning if it were good policy to 
 encourage this western movement, and if the land 
 speculator, by arousing the migratory spirit, was 
 doing a patriotic service. 
 
 From 1800 to the Second War emigration con- 
 tinued. New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine 
 lands appealed to the few 15 while Pennsylvania 
 and western New York attracted large num- 
 bers. Kirby and Law's settlement in Pennsyl- 
 vania was described as rapidly enlarging, with 
 schools and churches already flourishing. The 
 lands of Wayne, Tioga, Northampton, and Luzerne 
 counties were advertised in all newspapers by the 
 agents who toured the East. These counties, 
 especially Luzerne, became Connecticut centers. 16 
 New York lands were boomed quite as much. 
 Genessee, Oswego, Greene, Delaware, Chenango, 
 Steuben, Tioga, Onondaga counties became famil- 
 iar to every one. Connecticut towns were pouring 
 out their "surplus" population. Yet, great as was 
 the movement into these states, the distant Ohio 
 country was attracting even more emigrants. 
 
 The Western Reserve drew with magnetic force 
 the emigrant. He knew that he was merely going 
 
 14 Boyd, Winchester, p. 84; Lamed, Windham County, II, 294; Porter, 
 Historical Address, p. 88; Stiles, Diary, III, 311. 
 
 15 A million acres were offered in Lincoln County, Maine, with the 
 suggestion that this region was more suitable for Connecticut men than 
 the pestilential lands of the West. Courant, Aug. 13, 1806; see also 
 Courant, Sept. 20, 1809; July 31, 1811. 
 
 16 The agent printed lists of Connecticut purchasers, Courant, July 
 31, Aug. 7, 1811. All these newspaper references are simply illus- 
 trative, for land advertisements appeared in all issues. 
 
EMIGRATION AND WESTERN LANDS 145 
 
 to New Connecticut where the advantages of the 
 old state in the way of people, schools and churches, 
 were to be found in conjunction with cheap lands 
 and western freedom. Then, too, the Ohio Land 
 companies were closely connected with Connecti- 
 cut through officers or incorporators who were 
 natives. 17 Rev. Manasseh Cutler, whose son lived 
 in Killingly, had for his surveyor a Connecticut 
 man, Jonathan Meigs. James Kilbourne of Granby 
 was prominent in the Scioto Company ; and General 
 Cleveland of Canterbury was associated with all 
 these ventures. Harrison and Randolph counties 
 were said to be in Connecticut hands. Five hun- 
 dred thousand acres were offered on the Lake Erie 
 turnpike road and four hundred thousand in Trum- 
 bull County by a Hartford dealer. Uriel Holmes, 
 Lemuel Storrs, Ephraim Root, John Caldwell, 
 Jonathan Brace, Enoch Perkins and Thomas Bull 
 were among the leading local land agents. Busi- 
 ness was done on a large scale, every inducement 
 was offered, and words were not spared in the 
 portrayal of rosy vistas for the prospective emi- 
 grant. Rivalry only stimulated their activity, 
 their business shrewdness, and their descriptive 
 vocabularies. The land agent was serving his 
 purpose. 
 
 The extent of this migration can be seen in the 
 rapid growth of the Western Reserve. As early 
 as 1809 it was said to contain 15,000 to 20,000 
 
 17 Mathews, Expansion of New England, pp. 175, 179; Larned, 
 Windham County, II, 316; Dexter, Biographical Sketches, III, 664-666; 
 Courant, June 11, Nov. 12, 1806; May 20, July 22, 1807. 
 
146 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 persons, with four counties, courts, eighty mills, 
 a furnace, ten stores, schools and a college. 18 Rev. 
 Thomas Robbins, while a missionary, met many 
 Connecticut people and numerous personal ac- 
 quaintances. Closely scrutinizing the newspapers, 
 one is surprised at the number of exiles whose 
 names appear in the obituary columns. Margaret 
 Dwight, travelling from Old to New Connecticut 
 in 1810, was so impressed by the westward move- 
 ment that she wrote: "From what I have seen 
 and heard, I think the state of Ohio will be filled 
 before Winter." 19 
 
 The War of 1812 brought a lull in emigration 
 and a slump in land sales. With peace declared, 
 the rush westward gained ever greater momentum. 
 Emigration in 181 5 had become a mania. 20 The 
 state was in the throes of what was aptly termed 
 the "Ohio fever." Newspapers were again filled 
 with land advertisements by the New York and 
 Ohio land agents. Western correspondents' let- 
 ters were published along with articles descriptive 
 of the West, in order to further encourage emi- 
 gration. Widely circulated guides, gazetteers, and 
 books of travel played their share in this general 
 education. The omnipresent agent was nowhere 
 inactive. Young men who built roads in New 
 York or worked farther west during the dull season 
 
 18 See Uriel Holmes's land advertisement, Courant, Mar. 22, 1809. 
 Description of Reserve, ibid., Jan. 21, 1807. See G. Van R. Wickham, 
 The Pioneer Families of Cleveland, 1796-1840. 
 
 18 Diary, p. 47. 
 
 20 Mathews, Expansion of New England, p. 183; Boyd, Winchester, 
 p. 223; Duncan, Travels, I, 106. 
 
EMIGRATION AND WESTERN LANDS i47 
 
 returned, praising the soil and climate. The New 
 England peddler brought back his usual store of 
 information concerning the new country and its 
 opportunities. All classes were interested. The 
 Yale Commencement oration in 1816, for instance, 
 was on the "Spirit of Emigration from Eastern 
 to Western States." 21 
 
 The Ohio emigrant had generally been of the 
 laboring class, but by 181 5 many an emigrant was 
 a man of some means in his native state. 22 No 
 longer were western lands an experiment; men of 
 capital were becoming interested, as the safety of 
 investment was assured. No longer need there 
 be that dread of Indians at which the most coura- 
 geous quailed, for the whole region by test of arms 
 was American and the frontier had been moved 
 another stage westward. The depression and hard 
 times which so injured shipping and manufacturing 
 found the demand for agricultural products steady 
 and prices high. The hopes of internal trade were 
 being pointed out by far-seeing individuals and 
 fostered by land speculators. Men were instinc- 
 tively recognizing the West's future. Eastern cap- 
 ital was being invested in western roads and canals. 
 
 As early as 1806 a Maine land advertisement 
 called attention to the importation of western 
 wheat into Massachusetts and Connecticut. 23 The 
 
 21 Courani, Sept. 24, 1816. 
 
 22 Cf. Birkbeck, Notes, p. 144. 
 
 23 Courant, Aug. 13, 1806. About 1810 flour from New York and 
 Philadelphia came into general use, though before 1800 all flour was 
 locally milled. Allen, Enfield, I, 51. 
 
148 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Embargo days demonstrated the certainty of agri 
 culture as compared with commerce. In 1817 tfc 
 Courant noticed the driving of hogs from Kentucky 
 to Georgetown, and from Ohio to New York, witk 
 the observation that they were in as good selling 
 condition as if locally raised. 24 Market prices were 
 announced for grain, only to be followed in another 
 column with accounts of the bumper wheat anc 
 rye crops of the Lake countries. A Windsor dealer 
 read the spirit of the inquiries after a market, when 
 he lauded the Western Reserve because of the 
 Philadelphia cattle market and the "newly dis- 
 covered Lake market of Montreal." With markets 
 available, men of means could afford to invest in 
 the new lands and emigrate themselves. Only the 
 "frontier farmer" class with its self-sufficient mode 
 of life could go beyond the markets. 25 The moving 
 westward* of the frontier was a question of market- 
 stages quite as much as of classes of men. 
 
 Labor after the war received a low net wage, for 
 the cost of living was relatively high, and work was 
 scarce. Hence laboring men turned toward the 
 West where labor was held in respect, as it was in 
 demand. Wages were good and the necessities 
 of life cheap. The Cincinnati Liberty Bell ad- 
 vised Yankee, job-hunting, street-walking me- 
 chanics to come to a rapidly settling locality which 
 
 M Courant, Jan. 14, June 24, 1817. 
 
 26 Courant, Nov. 7, 1810; Aug. 5, 1817; Richmond Enquirer extract, 
 Courant, July 22, 1817. There is a valuable article on internal navi- 
 gation in The Portfolio (1817), IV, 165, also one on the progress of in- 
 tercourse, Mercury, Oct. 6, 1808. See Charles W. Brewster, Rambles 
 about Portsmouth, II, 363-376. 
 
EMIGRATION AND WESTERN LANDS 149 
 
 is self-supporting and democratic. The American 
 Mercury encouraged out-of-work mechanics to take 
 advantage of the attractive opportunities of Ohio. 
 Such appeals were not made in vain to debtors and 
 men who were willing to work with a future com- 
 petency as their goal. 26 
 
 The democracy of the West was widely heralded. 
 Travellers from* abroad or the East noted that in 
 the new country all citizens had a vital part in the 
 government. 27 Republicans of political aspira- 
 tions saw a future in this promised land where there 
 were no Tories, few lawyers or doctors, no tithe 
 gatherers, and where ministers were only ciphers. 
 To the West they looked for the preservation of 
 Republican principles as a counter balance for the 
 growing aristocracy of the East. Men knew that 
 the life led on the frontier could but breed 
 equality and social democracy. 28 It was this 
 knowledge which proved one of the strongest in- 
 centives to emigrate. 
 
 Western lands, so easy of acquisition, were the 
 main cause of the exodus. While these lands were 
 not all the imaginative land agents portrayed 
 in their prospectuses, yet they were far more 
 fertile and productive than the worn-out farms of 
 Connecticut. Western lands required little care, 
 while home farms needed painful attention. Con- 
 necticut farms were relatively small, though there 
 
 26 Mercury, Aug. 30, 1815; Sept. 10, 1816; Courant, Aug. 5, 1817. 
 See Perkins, Historical Sketches, p. 59. 
 
 27 Birkbeck, Notes, p. 29. 
 
 28 New York Journal article in Mercury, Sept. 6, 1810; Mercury, 
 Aug. 30, 1815. Note I, p. 172. 
 
150 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 was a tendency toward consolidation and enclosure 
 — arrangements only possible' for the wealthy farmer. 
 For the poor man the purchase of local lands was 
 out of the question, for prices ranged from about 
 fourteen to fifty dollars an acre, and taxes were 
 high. 29 Better lands could be purchased for three 
 dollars an acre in western New York, Pennsyl- 
 vania or Ohio where taxes were at a minimum, and 
 transportation was becoming easier every year. 80 
 No lands were sold for taxes in Ohio, while every 
 year saw hundreds of small Connecticut lots sold 
 under the auctioneer's hammer. 31 
 
 The purchase of western lands was made easier 
 by the terms, often seven years, which the agent 
 allowed. 32 He would trade large tracts for small 
 Connecticut plots; he would give special induce- 
 ments to men of standing who were already free- 
 holders; and to actual settlers he would sell lands 
 cheaper. In this the agent anticipated the later 
 national policy of selling lands at a low rate in 
 order to further settlement. The agent took care 
 of the poor man, selling farms as small as fifty 
 acres at a slightly increased price, when the govern- 
 ment would only sell to large purchasers. Here 
 again Congress was to learn. 
 
 29 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 214; Dwight, Connecticut, p. 440; 
 A Hartford farm was offered at $14 an acre. Courant, Mar. 22, 1809. 
 at Granville for $22 and at Winchester for $14. Ibid., June 3, 1807; 
 Mar. 27, 1811. 
 
 30 Courant, Apr. 10, 1811; Feb. 27, 1816. 
 
 31 John Kilboume, Ohio Gazetteer, p. 176. In Connecticut great 
 lists Oi such lands were advertised every year. 
 
 33 For instance, James Burr's notice in Courant, Mar. 19, 1816. 
 See Courant, May 24, 1809; Apr. 15, 1817. 
 
EMIGRATION AND WESTERN LANDS 151 
 
 The number of emigrants cannot be estimated 
 even in the roughest way. Were such data avail- 
 able, the result would be astounding. The census 
 figures for the various towns picture the desertion 
 of Connecticut. Many towns were as large or 
 larger in 1790 than in 1820. 33 Other towns were 
 more populous in 1800 than in 1820. 34 The greatest 
 losses appear to fall between 1790 and 18 10. 
 While there was a distinct loss of population in a 
 number of towns from 18 10 to 1820, others re- 
 mained about stationary, with a few, where manu- 
 factures were developing city life, actually making 
 material increases. 35 This is not surprising, for 
 there are instances when enough emigrants left a 
 town in a body to perpetuate its town life in the 
 new country. 36 Other towns long bore visible 
 marks of their losses in the ruins of deserted houses 
 
 13 Chatham, East Haddam, Bolton, Coventry, Hebron, Branford. 
 Cheshire, Derby, Southbury, Wallingford, Waterbury, Woodbridge, 
 Windham, Brooklyn, Lebanon, Voluntown, New Fairfield and Hartford. 
 
 34 Ellington, Somers, Union, Voluntown, Franklin, Lisbon, Lyme, 
 Preston, Stonington, Kent, New Hartford, Norfolk, Plymouth, Roxbury, 
 Warren, Wolcott, Hampton, Sumeld, Tolland and Colchester. 
 
 35 Middletown, New London, New Haven and Hartford made large 
 additions to their population, no doubt from the entrance of laborers 
 from the smaller towns. Hartford real estate, for instance, increased 
 in value 400% from 1801 to 1818. Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 44. 
 East Haddam, Bolton, Hebron, Union, Franklin, Stonington, Cole- 
 brook, Cornwall, Sharon, Derby, East Haven, North Haven, Water- 
 bury, Windham, Hampton, New Fairfield, Newtown, Norwalk, Sherman, 
 Sumeld — all remained practically at a standstill during the decade. 
 
 36 Danbury, Connecticut, to Danbury, Ohio. Plymouth to Plymouth, 
 Ohio. New Canaan founded Stillwater, New York. Pease and Niles, 
 Gazetteer, p. 53; Atwater, Plymouth, p. 429; Goodenough, Clergy of Litch- 
 field, p. 14. 
 
152 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 and shops, or a standing chimney in a solitary 
 field. 37 Looking at the total population of the 
 state, the percentages of increase from 1790 to 
 1800 are found to be five and four- tenths, from 
 1800 to 1 8 10, four and three-tenths, and from 18 10 
 to 1820, five as compared with thirty-five and one- 
 tenth, thirty-six and four- tenths, and thirty- three 
 and one-tenth for the United States. 
 
 Not only the number, but the quality of the 
 emigrants must be considered, in order to under- 
 stand the state's loss and the nation's gain. 
 
 Generally the emigrant was of the farming and 
 laboring class, with a sprinkling of artisans and 
 an occasional merchant of financial backing. Still, 
 there were many professional men who sought 
 relief from too keen competition. A number were 
 Yale graduates. They were apt to be young 
 lawyers who hoped for political preferment and 
 wealth in the newer states. Some among them 
 rose to high positions in their new homes, thereby 
 demonstrating what their native state had lost 
 in not being able to retain them by offering equal 
 opportunities. This drain of the best blood dated 
 back of the Revolutionary War, but became more 
 noticeable as the call of western democracy echoed 
 louder. 
 
 Vermont was indebted to Litchfield County 
 alone for her first governor, Thomas Chittenden, 
 Ira and Ethan Allen, Governor Richard Skinner, 
 Senator Samuel Phelps, Senator Horatio Seymour 
 
 37 See Boyd, Winchester, p. 223; Roys, Norfolk, p. 22; Allen, Enfield, 
 I, 51; Morris, Statistical Account, p. 17; Courant, Jan. 21, 1817. 
 
EMIGRATION AND WESTERN LANDS . 153 
 
 and many others less widely known. 38 Into 
 New Hampshire filtered many emigrants who 
 rose to distinction in politics, in the college and 
 the pulpit. Gideon Granger, later Postmaster- 
 General, emigrated to New York. Martin Welles, 
 the son of a Revolutionary general, Judge Hugh 
 White, Thomas P. Grosvenor, Governor Daniel 
 Dickinson, Philo Ruggles, Oliver Phelps, one of the 
 largest land speculators of his age, Chief Justice 
 Ambrose Spencer, General Peter iBuel Porter, Judge 
 Frederick Whittlesey, Charles Perkins, Amos Bene- 
 dict, and Isaac Baldwin were all leaders in New 
 York at the bar, on the bench and in politics. 39 
 Governor Samuel Huntington emigrated to the 
 shore of Lake Erie. Stanley Griswold, the un- 
 frocked Republican minister, first edited a Repub- 
 lican paper at Walpole, New Hampshire, and 
 later was appointed governor of Michigan Terri- 
 tory. Horace Holley was called to the presi- 
 dency of Transylvania College. Even Theodore 
 D wight, the partisan Federalist, found greater 
 prosperity as editor of an Albany paper. Rev. 
 Azel Backus became president of Hamilton College, 
 Georgia. This list 40 might be increased. Statis- 
 
 38 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 123; Kilbourne, Sketches, pp. 89, 
 91, 117, 161, 277, 303-307; Church, Address, p. 50; G. H. Hollister, 
 Connecticut, III, 598. 
 
 39 Winslow Watson, Memoirs of Elkanah Watson, p. 414; Pease and 
 Niles Gazetteer, pp. 88, 220, 275; Kilbourne, Sketches, pp. 187, 203, 
 208, 273; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 240, 252, 492, 
 524, 528, 536, 561. 
 
 40 Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, pp. 53, 240, 262, 294; Atkins, Middle- 
 field, p. 21; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, p. 237. 
 
154 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-18 18 
 
 tics enough have been given to show the calibre of 
 the men lost to the state and, incidentally, to the 
 reform party. 
 
 The state was highly wrought up over the emi- 
 gration problem by 1817. Every influence was 
 exerted to stem the ever-growing outward tide of 
 fortune seekers. Editors and news-writers waged 
 a mighty conflict. 41 The glowing descriptions of 
 land speculators were exposed, though the effective- 
 ness was often minimized, because of the obvious 
 purpose in mind. Many were the accounts of 
 floods and storms, and of unhealthy regions where 
 men worked themselves into untimely graves. 
 Stories were recounted of men broken down in 
 spirit and fortune who pined for their forsaken 
 hearths. Emphasis was placed on the burden- 
 some privations of a land without churches, schools 
 and roads. It was "a deplorable species of mad- 
 ness," this going simply into the "West," with 
 no idea of the particular section. Helpless, it was 
 said, they were before avaricious speculators who, 
 without a moral scruple, sold the untamed wilder- 
 ness. Is the West an Eden for which the rest of the 
 
 41 Humphreys, Discourse (1814), p. 15. For a few characteristic 
 accounts, including an exposure of the Western Emigrant Society of 
 Cincinnati, see Courant, Aug. 26, Sept. 30, Oct. 7, 21, 1817; Mercury, 
 Sept. 30, 1817. The Farmer's Song from Portland Gazette in Courant, 
 Dec. 9, 1817, expressed their views: 
 
 Let the idle complain, 
 
 And ramble in vain, 
 
 An Eden to find in the West, 
 
 They're grossly deceiv'd 
 
 Their hearts sorely griev'd 
 
 They'll sigh to return to the East. 
 
EMIGRATION AND WESTERN LANDS 155 
 
 country should be deserted? This was the question 
 for the prudent farmer and mechanic to consider. 
 Men were advised not to be seduced from happi- 
 ness by a log hut, but to ponder before the wild 
 spirit of this epidemic. Better "tarry at Jericho," 
 some counselled, than chance the so-called "prom- 
 ised land." One newspaper strove to abate the 
 delirium with the argument that: 
 
 When the civil, social, literary and religious institutions 
 of New England are taken into account, it seems the height 
 of madness for men, who have no extraordinary reasons for 
 removal, to leave their homes for the wild lands of the west, 
 and their still wilder state of society. 42 
 
 The editor of the New York Columbian, com- 
 menting on the anxiety of Connecticut papers over 
 the emigration furor, believed that the New Eng- 
 lander was not inclined to migrate and hazard the 
 unknown, but rather to bear ills. He observed 
 that: 
 
 Political disaffection and religious intolerance has, no 
 doubt, been one considerable cause of emigrations from 
 those states. By rendering it the interest and happiness 
 of our population to stay at home, is the only way to check 
 the rage. 43 
 
 The economic causes which the neighboring editor 
 overlooked were difficult to counteract. Those 
 who urged argicultural [improvement and the en- 
 couragement of manufactures were working along 
 the right lines. In this way alone could prosperity 
 be revived and population be kept at home. 
 
 4 « Dedham Gazette in Courant, Sept. 30, 1817. 
 42 Quoted in Mercury, Oct. 21, 1817. 
 
156 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Immigrants, on the other hand, seldom turned 
 toward Connecticut. This could hardly be ex- 
 pected, for a foreigner was not apt to choose a state 
 whose own citizens were largely emigrating. Then, 
 too, the immigrant, who rather feared the Puritan, 
 heard the call of the West. Furthermore, the 
 emigrant was welcomed in the new countries, 
 whereas in Connecticut he was received with cold 
 disfavor, not being able to hold land 'without 
 a special legislative license. 44 President Dwight, 
 who had a strange dread of the French spy system, 
 looked with fear on the immigrant, even though he 
 were headed for other states. 45 His misgivings in- 
 dicate the general attitude, and explain the reason, 
 as a traveller remarked, why "Foreign emigrants 
 seem never to think of New England." 46 Stiles, as 
 the exception, was always interested in immigration, 
 and far-seeing enough to realize the important part 
 it would play in American history: 
 
 Manufactures and artizans, and men of every description, 
 may perhaps come and settle among us. They will be few 
 indeed in comparison with the annual thousands of our 
 natural increase, and will be incorporated with the pre- 
 vailing hereditary complexion of the first settlers; — We 
 shall not be assimilated to them, but they to us, especially 
 in the second and third generations. This fermentation 
 
 44 Statutes, p. 350. A Republican bill introduced in Oct. 1817, to 
 allow foreigners to hold land, was withdrawn because of the opposition 
 lest all the rogues of Europe take advantage of it. Courant, Oct. 28. 
 
 45 Decisions, Dispute 2. Cf. Morris, Statistical Account, p. 95: 
 "Only two European families have settled in Litchfield [town]; they 
 came from Ireland, and were respectable." See also Webster, Ten 
 Letters, p. 25. 
 
 46 Henry B. Fearon, Sketches of America, p. 99. 
 
EMIGRATION AND WESTERN LANDS 157 
 
 and communion of nations will doubtless produce something 
 very new, singular and glorious. 47 
 
 The inhabitants were almost entirely of English 
 descent, with a few French, Scottish or Irish people 
 among them. David Field in his Statistical Ac- 
 count of the County of Middlesex unconsciously 
 emphasizes this point when he described the pauper 
 class as universally natives, "as foreigners rarely 
 reside with us long enough to become inhabi- 
 tants." 48 Due to the lack of racial mixtures, 
 there was a pride in the purity of their native blood, 
 which in part accounted for the Connecticut atti- 
 tude toward the foreigner and the feeling of su- 
 periority to the cosmopolitan, frontier communi- 
 ties. This offers an additional reason for the new- 
 comer turning toward the states where all races 
 intermingled. 
 
 Yet a noticeable change appeared about 1815 
 in the attitude toward immigration, even though 
 not toward the individual immigrant. As emi- 
 gration increased, as the population of towns 
 dwindled, as labor became scarce and higher-priced, 
 and as factories required more hands, an interest 
 in immigration was aroused. There were jealous 
 eyes cast on the new states, with their increasing 
 population, greater wealth and political power. 
 
 The Connecticut Courant lead the way by print- 
 ing extracts from other papers dealing with immi- 
 
 47 Sermon (1783), p. 50. In his diary and miscellanies he fre- 
 quently noted the ship-loads from Ireland to America. 
 
 48 P. 23. The Aurora commented on the paucity of foreigners, 
 quoted in Mercury, Jan. 6, 1803. See Morse, Geography, p. 158; Web- 
 ster, Ten Letters, p. 25; New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, III, 176. 
 
158 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-181* 
 
 gration. 49 Articles appeared, commenting in a 
 hopeful tone on the enrichment of the country, 
 through the labor, brawn, and ideals which the 
 foreigner bartered for protection and freedom. 
 Republican writers, seemingly, were winning over 
 their opponents in this one respect at least. 
 Governor Wolcott expressed a growing feeling 
 when, in his address to the Legislature, he half 
 lamented Connecticut's failure to win her quota 
 of foreigners. 50 Another decade was destined to 
 bring the immigrant when factories created a de- 
 mand for his labor. 51 
 
 2. Agriculture and Sheep Raising 
 
 American agriculture in the beginning of the 
 nineteenth century was generally admitted to be 
 inferior to that of England. This must have been 
 dismayingly apparent, to compel American recog- 
 nition of the justice of foreign criticism. The 
 conditions in Connecticut were no improvement 
 on those prevailing elsewhere. 52 If anything, agri- 
 culture was at a lower level. The characteristic 
 conservatism of a rural community was here in- 
 tensified by the constitutional conservatism of a 
 Connecticut countryman. 
 
 In England agricultural methods and implements 
 had been improved by the experimental work and 
 
 49 Courant, May 21, Sept. 9, 23, 24, 1816; Mercury, May 21, 1816. 
 
 60 Mercury, Oct. 14, 1817. 
 
 61 Article on Irish immigration, New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers; 
 Allen, Enfield, 1, 51-52. The census of 1820 reported only 568 naturalized 
 foreigners. 
 
 52 Dwight, Travels, I, 81-82. 
 
AGRICULTURE AND SHEEP RAISING 159 
 
 treatises of a number of scientific agriculturalists 
 of whom Arthur Young is best known. The Tory 
 land-holders could afford to experiment and hire 
 the additional labor which intensified farming de- 
 manded. They were endowed with enough enter- 
 prise to try out the new ideas. The slow-moving 
 squires were impressed with the results and followed 
 the lead of the great landlords. Exceptionally good 
 local and foreign markets during the Napoleonic 
 Wars stimulated this interest in more scientific 
 farming. 
 
 In Connecticut the knowledge of the improve- 
 ments in English farming had no effect. There 
 was no class of large gentlemen-farmers to lead the 
 way ; indeed there were few cultivators of large farms. 
 The small freeholder, with his farm of 50 to 150 
 acres, could not afford to be progressive. Afraid 
 of a surplus, he preferred to continue in the way of 
 his fathers, harvest a tolerable crop to meet the 
 local demand rather than speculate on a wider 
 market. The Napoleonic Wars created the mar- 
 ket, but the Connecticut farmer failed to take full 
 advantage of it, because of his neglect to improve 
 his farm so as to meet western competition. To 
 increase the output for a rather dubious sale, 
 would have meant an outlay for labor, better 
 implements, stock, seed, and fertilization. Care- 
 ful rotation of crops would be necessary, as well 
 as the introduction of new roots and grasses. 63 
 
 53 Warden, in his Statistical Account, II, 27, estimated farms at 
 from 50 to 200 acres, held in fee simple by men comfortably well to do, 
 but not rich. In his Geographical Description, John Melish estimates 
 
160 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Rather than do this, he continue.^. % to scratch 
 the top of an exhausted soil with an antiquated 
 plow, sow home-grown seed on unharrowed fields 
 and await the harvest. Indian corn, the staple 
 crop, was cultivated as the aborigines had taught 
 the first settlers, fertilized by white fish or sea 
 weed. Potatoes, onions, and pumpkins for fodder 
 were the standard vegetables. Crops of bar- 
 ley, rye, oats and especially wheat were poor 
 because of the poverty of the soil. Small apple 
 orchards furnished apples for cider-brandy. Cattle 
 were of the mixed "native" variety, neither beefers 
 nor milkers. Still, in the aggregate the production 
 of butter and cheese was large. Sheep were of a 
 mongrel type, producing little wool. The "Narra- 
 gansett" horse being too small, oxen were used 
 for the heavy work of the farm, and horses chiefly 
 for driving. Swine alone were considered up to 
 the standard by foreign observers. This was the 
 condition of farming in the early years of the 
 nineteenth century, 54 when the era of improvement 
 was inaugurated. 
 
 from 50 to 500 acres, p. 166. Pease and Niles agree with the former 
 in their Gazetteer, p. 214. The Cow ant, Dec. 16, 1817, in a list of farms 
 for sale, has one of 1,170 acres. 
 
 54 Material on this subject is available in the accounts of travellers 
 like Dwight, Melish and Harriott; Webster, Farmers' Catechism (1790); 
 Gen. James Warren's comparison of English and American farming in The 
 American Museum (1787), II, No. 2; Rev. Jared Eliot of Killingworth 
 wrote (1760) Essays on Field Husbandry in New England; and of great 
 value is H. Newberry, Address before the Hartford County Agricultural 
 Society, Oct. 1820. An excellent monograph is that of Percy Wells 
 Bidwell, Rural Economy in New England at the Beginning of the Nine- 
 teenth Century. 
 
AGRICULTURE AND SHEEP RAISING 161 
 
 American leaders, with the turn of the century, 
 became thoroughly imbued with the necessity of 
 agricultural reform. Connecticut fell into line. 
 Her statesmen encouraged the movement, on the 
 patriotic grounds of cutting off all European lead- 
 ing strings. Others saw new markets and hoped 
 to compete for the domestic and foreign trade. 
 Politicians displayed an interest in the farmer. 
 Shippers saw an increase in the carrying trade. 
 Provincially inclined men hoped to curtail western 
 emigration, which was destined to weaken New 
 England's power in the nation. 55 The Embargo and 
 the War intensified the patriotic grounds. High 
 prices and the extension of internal and coast trade 
 lent force to argument. The siren-call of western 
 lands and the damaging emigration only stimulated 
 the movement, for it was rightly appreciated that 
 by scientific working alone could Connecticut land 
 compete with the fertile western fields. 56 Both 
 parties, all newspapers, in fact every element in 
 the community aided in bringing about what might 
 be called an agricultural revolution. 
 
 Agricultural societies were founded in order to 
 educate the farmer. As these societies became 
 the promoters of agricultural colleges a couple of 
 generations later, it is interesting to record a Yale 
 debate of 1789 on the question: "Whether it would 
 be best to introduce agriculture into Colleges as a 
 
 55 Courant, editorial, June 9, 1811, feared that the newer states in 
 the Louisiana Purchase would render the North and East of as little 
 weight in Congress as the Irish delegation in the Commons. 
 
 56 Note II, p. 172. 
 
162 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 classical study." 57 Whatever the outcome of this 
 particular debate, it is instructive in pointing out 
 a current interest. The work of the Philadelphia 
 Agricultural Society (1785) and the Massachusetts 
 Society for the Promotion of Agriculture (1792) 
 was followed closely by Connecticut readers. The 
 New Haven County Agricultural Society was or- 
 ganized about 1803. 58 The Berkshire Agricultural 
 Society (181 1) and its president, Elkanah Watson, 
 had as great influence as the later Connecticut 
 societies of which it was the direct antecedent. 
 The importance of its work for the New England 
 farmer is not to be lightly estimated. 59 
 
 Watson was an intimate correspondent of General 
 Humphreys, who probably did more than any 
 other for the industrial development of Connecti- 
 cut during this period. In a splendid Address 
 (1816) on the Agriculture of the State of Connecti- 
 cut and the Means of Making it more Beneficial to 
 the State, he pointed out that, while it was un- 
 fortunate that the state had no staple product, 
 yet with agriculture improving it would again 
 prosper as "a commonwealth of farmers." To- 
 ward this end, he gave the farmers a wealth of 
 advice, saying: 
 
 Those who remove, leave their farms behind them. Those 
 who will occupy them, must endeavor to make these landed 
 estates more productive by good husbandry. The best 
 means to prevent emigration, will be to convince our 
 
 57 Stiles, Diary, III, 355. 
 
 58 The Mss. of its proceedings are preserved in the Yale Library. 
 
 59 Watson, Memoirs, pp. 371-372; J. G. Holland, History of Western 
 Massachusetts, I, 393-398. Elkanah Watson, A History of Agricul- 
 tural Societies on the Modern Berkshire System. 
 
AGRICULTURE AND SHEEP RAISING 163 
 
 citizens that old and worn out land can be renovated and 
 enriched by labour and manure, so as to bear as good crops 
 as land just cleared of its forests; and that at as little 
 expense as the clearing would cost. . . . Our merchants 
 and ship owners have done their duty. They have been 
 in the number of our most enterprising and valuable citizens. 
 Much praise is due them. But their occupation, like 
 Othello's, is gone. Commerce is fled; manufactures lan- 
 guish. The one may be brought back again, the other re- 
 animated. Perseverance in agricultural improvements will 
 contribute more than anything besides toward their happy 
 re-establishment. 60 
 
 In 1817, under the guidance of General Hum- 
 phreys, the Connecticut Agricultural Society was 
 incorporated. Governor Wolcott gave it his full 
 support, having recommended such an organiza- 
 tion in his address to the Legislature. This society 
 published a model almanac of useful information 
 to further the success of its educational campaign. 61 
 The first issue contained an inspiring article by 
 Humphreys on the dire necessity of encouraging 
 agriculture. In 181 8 the Hartford County Agri- 
 cultural Society was chartered with a system of 
 town committees to bring the work down to 
 the farm. Andrew Kingsbury and Henry Ells- 
 worth were its leading officers. As indicative of 
 the bitter partisan spirit of the town, this was 
 largely a Federalist society laboring to disseminate 
 agricultural information and incidentally to dem- 
 onstrate to the farmer the advantages of the Feder- 
 alist party. 62 Shortly afterward there followed the 
 
 60 Pp. 15-17. 
 
 61 Mercury, Oct. 14, Nov. 4, 1817; North American Review, II, 136. 
 
 62 Courant, Sept. 30, Oct. 14, 1817; Mercury, Sept. 23, 1817; Mar. 
 10, 31, 1818. 
 
164 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Litchfield County Agricultural Society under the 
 presidency of the governor. The success of these 
 societies is best attested by the establishment of 
 similar organizations throughout the various states. 
 Agricultural fairs were inaugurated by the agri- 
 cultural societies, as one phase of their work. 63 
 They were widely noticed in the newspapers and 
 served to stimulate interest and rivalry in farm- 
 ing communities. One of the first fairs in the 
 country was called independently by a group of 
 Berkshire farmers. This example was afterwards 
 followed by the Berkshire Agricultural Society, 
 which held a notable agricultural and domestic 
 manufactures show at Pittsfield in 1811. Another 
 in 1 816, known as the Pittsfield Cattle Show and 
 Domestic Manufactures, created even a wider 
 interest. The Brighton Cattle Show, which had 
 for its purpose the improvement of stock breed- 
 ing, was held in 1816 and annually thereafter under 
 the patronage of the Massachusetts Agricultural 
 Society. In 1818 the Hartford County Agri- 
 cultural Society held its first annual celebration. 
 There were prizes for the best cultivated farms, 
 for bulls, milch cows, oxen, swine, for plowing, 
 and for the products of domestic manufacture. 
 General Humphreys's farm, with its private fairs, 
 served as an experimental farm. Here he tried 
 out new methods and, if successful, they were 
 adopted by the neighboring farmers, and made 
 
 63 Holland, Western Massachusetts, I, 393 ff.; North American Review, 
 II, 136, 434; Mercury, Aug. 29, 1811; Oct. 20, 1818; Courant, Oct. 21, 
 28, 1817. 
 
AGRICULTURE AND SHEEP RAISING 165 
 
 known to the general public through his lectures 
 and writings. 
 
 Everyone contributed his share, for it was gener- 
 ally desired to decrease emigration by the develop- 
 ment of agriculture and domestic manufactures. 64 
 If, as it was charged, "the sainted pilgrims call 
 the men of industry and innocence, tag rag," it 
 was an attitude about to be modified. Governor 
 Trumbull's request in 1807 was heeded by the 
 passage of an act putting a bounty of ten dollars 
 a ton on hemp and flax. 65 Governor Wolcott was 
 even more anxious for agricultural interests than 
 his Federalist predecessors, urging the importance 
 of facilitating agriculture in every possible way. 66 
 Then, too, after the war shipping fell and forced 
 the recognition of agriculture as the real basis of 
 wealth. 
 
 Newspapers printed columns of hints to farmers. 
 Minister Adams at St. Petersburg wrote a treatise 
 on the "Russian Method of Cultivating and Pre- 
 paring Hemp," which the Connecticut Courant 
 printed at length. A suggestive article on the 
 conservation of timber sought to impress farmers 
 with the advantages to be gained by husbanding 
 the resources of the forests. The Courant also 
 published a series of notes on the restoration of 
 worn-out soils. 67 No stone was left unturned in 
 
 6 * Mercury, Jan. 21, Oct. 7, 21, 1817; Mar. 10, 1818; Courant, Oct. 7, 
 1817. See Ethan Andrews, Remarks on Agriculture (1819); Newberry, 
 Address (1820), p. 7. , 
 
 65 Statutes, p. 374; Mercury, May 28, 1807. 
 
 66 Courant, Oct. 14, 1817. 
 
 67 Courant, Apr. 10, 1811; Apr. 22, Sept. 9, 30, 1817, etc. 
 
166 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 order to instruct the farmer that with proper care 
 his lands could be made quite as productive as the 
 distant lands which called so enticingly. 
 
 Interest in agriculture gave a zest to the con- 
 struction of good roads which would shorten the 
 distance to market. Capital was provided by the 
 banks, whose directors were interested in the con- 
 struction companies. Country roads were for the 
 most part bad, being built by men desirous only 
 of working out their poll tax. The year, 1800, 
 ushered in turnpike companies whose business it 
 was to build and maintain roads by the collection of 
 tolls from their patrons. 68 While there were charges 
 of corruption and favoritism, the companies served 
 a useful purpose. Substantial roads were built in 
 all sections of the state; stages made better time 
 from New York via New Haven and Hartford to 
 Boston. New London and Middletown were 
 brought nearer to New Haven. Mail travelled 
 more speedily. Farmers marketed their products 
 with greater ease and less expenditure of time. 
 The distant districts of Litchfield and Windham 
 were especially improved, their lands rising in value. 
 
 With the agricultural revolution there entered 
 an interest in sheep-breeding. 69 Connecticut flocks 
 
 68 For material on the roads, turnpike companies, and the steamboat 
 lines to New York after 1815, see: Barber, New Haven, pp. 47-48; 
 Caulkins, New London, p. 654; Orcutt, Stratford, I, 610; Weeden, Eco- 
 nomic History, II, 693, 857; Church, Litchfield Centennial, p. 45; Larned, 
 Windham County, II, 295; Bishop, American Manufactures, II, 127; 
 Kendall, Travels, I, 97; Albert Gallatin, Report on Roads and Canals, 
 p. 55; Beach, Cheshire, p. 256; Blake, Hamden, p. 94; Woodward, 
 Hartford Bank, pp. 95-98; Giddings, New Milford, p. 110. 
 
 69 Importation of blooded cattle came later. Courant, June 2, 1818. 
 
AGRICULTURE AND SHEEP RAISING 167 
 
 were as they had been a century earlier, with no 
 attempt at improvements such as English drovers 
 had long been making. 70 As all weaving had been 
 done at the hearth, only coarse cloths were woven, 
 all of the finer fabrics being imported. Hence 
 there was little demand for wool, which the farmer 
 regarded as only an incidental by-product of the 
 farm. 
 
 Spanish merino sheep were practically unknown 
 in America until 1802. Few were exported save 
 by royal favor, so determined were the Spanish 
 authorities to maintain their monopoly of the fine 
 wool market. The few sheep which had been 
 presented to foreign favorites had so improved 
 foreign stock that France, Saxony, and Hesse 
 Cassel were becoming dangerous competitors. 
 Hence, Spanish precautions against smuggling be- 
 came more painstaking. The American minister 
 at Paris, Robert Livingston, becoming interested 
 in the improvement of native sheep, sent to his 
 estates at Clermont, New York, a few Spanish 
 merinos from a French flock. In this same year 
 General Humphreys shipped to his Derby farm a 
 flock of seventy-five ewes and twenty- five rams. 71 
 A friend of Washington and Jefferson, he had served 
 as minister to Portugal from 1791 until 1797, when 
 he was transferred to Madrid. While at the latter 
 capital, he became a social figure among the Spanish 
 
 70 Watson, Memoirs, p. 364; Wright, Wool-Growing, pp. 11-12. 
 
 71 Sheep Industry, pp. 133, 154 ff.; Sharpe, Seymour, p. 49; Wright, 
 Wool-Growing, p. 14. See Humphreys, Discourse on Agriculture (1816), 
 and Livingston's classic Essay on Sheep (1810). 
 
168 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 grandees, from whom he acquired a deep knowledge 
 and interest in Spanish sheep. Retiring at the 
 end of the Adams administration, American custom 
 would not allow him to accept the usual Spanish 
 gift to a departing minister. At his suggestion he 
 was tacitly permitted to send this flock of pure- 
 blooded merinos to his Connecticut estate. This 
 flock became the source of most of the early blooded 
 sheep in the country; Humphreys one of two or 
 three authorities on sheep culture; and his Con- 
 necticut farm the center of the wool growers' 
 interest as well as the seat of a model woolen 
 factory. Humphreys was early awarded a gold 
 medal for this importation by the Massachusetts 
 Society for Promoting Agriculture, and somewhat 
 later Connecticut gave him a testimonial in recog- 
 nition of his public service. 
 
 From 1802 to about 1807 the merinos were re- 
 garded by the American farmer as a curiosity. 
 In Connecticut the farmers could not be interested, 
 do what Humphreys would. His influence caused 
 the Legislature to protect the purity of the breed 
 and encourage its extension. 72 Yet little could be 
 done until the demand compelled wool-growing. 
 
 With America shut off from foreign supply, 
 there was created a demand for domestic wool. 
 As Spanish wool could no longer be bought by 
 England, the market price of wool rose. A sense 
 of nationality was gradually awakening in men, and 
 with it a patriotic impulse to support American 
 industry and to wear home-spun. The farmer was 
 
 72 Sheep Industry, p. 163; Statutes, pp. 597-598. 
 
AGRICULTURE AND SHEEP RAISING 169 
 
 encouraged to grow wool, and the capitalist to 
 weave cloth. Agricultural societies took up the 
 propaganda. Interest in sheep grew during the 
 years 1807 to 1812, until it seized the people in a 
 sort of contagious mania. 73 Carding machines for 
 this fine wool were soon to be found in every 
 hamlet. Congress did its share by increasing the 
 ad valorem duties on raw wool from 5 per cent in 
 1789 to 35 per cent in 18 12. Patriotism combined 
 with protection put sheep raising on a commercial 
 basis. 
 
 The demand for pure bloods could not be satisfied. 
 As no more sheep could be imported, there was a 
 jump in prices which enriched dealers and growers. 
 In 1806 Humphreys was glad to get $300 for a 
 ram and two ewes; in 1808 he sold a ram for $1,000. 
 In 1 810 he sold four rams and ewes at $1,500 apiece 
 to a stock farmer in Kentucky, though full-blooded 
 rams were usually rated at $1,000. Livingston 
 at a shearing at his Clermont farm in 1810 sold 
 full-blooded lambs at that figure. He refused $500 
 for fifteen-sixteenth bloods. He would not take 
 less than $250 for seven-eighths. In 1806, $100 
 and $40 and $50 were the figures quoted. 74 In 
 1809 Rev. Thomas Robbins commented on his 
 brother's offer of $300 for a yearling lamb: "The 
 demand for these sheep is astonishing." 75 
 
 73 Courant, May 9, 1810; Mercury, Oct. 24, 1811; Wright, Wool- 
 Growing, pp. 21 ff.; Watson, Memoirs, p. 364; Larned, Windham County, 
 II, 399; Sheep Industry, pp. 161 ff. 
 
 74 Sheep Industry, pp. 139, 143, 166 ff.; Wright, Wool-Growing, p. 23; 
 H. S. Randall, Fine Wool Sheep Husbandry, p. 45; Sharpe, Seymour, 
 p. 59; Courant, July 11, 1810. 
 
 75 Diary, I, 414. 
 
170 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 One is not so surprised at these fabulous prices, 
 when the price of common wool at thirty-seven 
 and a half cents is compared with that of the 
 merino at seventy-five cents to two dollars a pound. 
 There was another advantage, for it was found 
 that crossing merino with common sheep would 
 double the shearing of wool. These facts became 
 widely known through the educative efforts of 
 agricultural societies and fairs, such as the Phila- 
 delphia Cattle Show, at which Humphreys was a 
 competitor. Then there were articles on merino 
 culture and descriptions of the shearings on the 
 estates of Humphreys, Livingston, and other grow- 
 ers. 76 Hence the great demand and the high 
 prices are not difficult to understand. 
 
 Connecticut was a center of the mania. Merino 
 advertisements were in every newspaper. Auc- 
 tions were announced and larger rewards were 
 offered for the return of lost sheep than for run- 
 away negroes. Some felt that in wool New 
 England had at last found her staple, that in 
 Connecticut wool would play the part cotton did 
 in the South. At a Clermont shearing this idea 
 was expressed in the toast: "Merino wool as 
 common in the North as cotton in the South." 77 
 This was not incomprehensible when there were 
 estimated to be 400,000 sheep in the state in 1813. 78 
 
 76 Courant, May 31, July 11, 1810; Mercury, June 28, 1810; Bishop, 
 American Manufactures, II, 135; Sheep Industry, p. 166. 
 
 77 Mercury, June 28, 1810. 
 
 78 Courant, May 25, 1813; North American Review, I, 169; Coxe, 
 Tables, pp. 22, 31; Mercury, July 4, 1811. 
 
AGRICULTURE AND SHEEP RAISING 171 
 
 In 1810-1811, while Spain was sacrificing all 
 in a crusading uprising against Napoleon, her 
 cabanas were broken up. Thousands of sheep were 
 eaten by the ravaging armies, flocks were stolen 
 by the French, and thousands were exported or 
 smuggled via Portugal into England. To obtain 
 a war fund, the Junta commenced to sell the choicest 
 stock. During that year it is estimated that 
 nearly 20,000 full-blooded sheep were introduced 
 into America. 79 Prices fell from $1,000 to $300 
 and finally to $100. Rams and ewes from the 
 famed flocks of the Carthusian friars were scat- 
 tered throughout New England. Spain's difficulty 
 became America's opportunity. While war cut 
 off the supply in 1812, there were plenty of 
 sheep in the country for stock purposes, so the 
 only result of importance was in steadying the 
 price and increasing the woolen market. Patriot- 
 ism and nationalism encouraged American wool- 
 raising until it outgrew the infant stage. 
 
 Peace brought English competition which easily 
 beat down patriotism — a fact which the people 
 found somewhat hard to reconcile with the high 
 war prices. Politically it is not likely that sheep 
 growing had much of an effect. As Connecticut 
 farms were generally cultivated by their owners, 
 there was no class of agricultural laborers to be 
 displaced by sheep-enclosures, as had been the 
 case elsewhere. On the other hand, sheep grow- 
 
 79 Courant, Nov. 14, 1810; Mar. 27, 1811; Mercury, Sept. 27, 1810; 
 Wright, Wool-Growing, pp. 23 ff. For lower prices, see advertisements, 
 Courant, Feb. 18, Sept. 7, 1813. 
 
172 
 
 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 ing introduced woolen factories and thus assisted 
 in creating a city laboring class which was destined 
 to become a political factor. 
 
 NOTES 
 I. The Ohio Frontier 
 
 That men knew Ohio is not to be doubted. Yet one is surprised 
 at the perspicacity of a Vermont boy quoted as having written home 
 in 1817: "As to the people, the first settlers were a mixed multitude 
 from all the other American States and of the most of the European 
 Kingdoms, composed of adventurers, knaves, fools, unfortunates, and 
 some honest and enterprising men. There are many who have always 
 lived on the frontiers, and form a connecting link between savage and 
 civilized life. The offspring of all have had their education from chance. 
 Sojourners from every nation and climate under heaven, with all their 
 jarring ideas of civil policy which their different forms of government 
 could suggest, have been their teachers. People of wealth and cultiva- 
 tion are flocking in from every quarter." Courant, January 14, 1817. 
 
 II. Table Showing Rising Prices 
 
 Rev. Heman Humphrey, in the appendix of one of his sermons 
 printed in 1816, undertook to prove to the prosperous farmers that 
 
 Wheat 
 
 Rye 
 
 Corn 
 
 Pork 
 
 Beef 
 
 Butter 
 
 Sugar, loaf 
 
 Sugar, best brown 
 
 Molasses, gal 
 
 Salt, bushel 
 
 Hay 
 
 Wood, cord 
 
 Labor, day 
 
 1774 
 
 1798 
 
 $ -71 
 
 $ 1.42 
 
 .46 
 
 .67 
 
 .35 
 
 .50 
 
 3.36 
 
 6.00 
 
 3.00 
 
 4.17 
 
 .11 
 
 .17 
 
 .17 
 
 .33 
 
 9.00 
 
 16.00 
 
 .33 
 
 .75 
 
 .42 
 
 1.00 
 
 6.67 
 
 10.00 
 
 1.50 
 
 3.00 
 
 .42 
 
 .67 
 
 1811-1816 
 
 $ 2.00 
 
 1.00 
 
 .83 
 
 8.00 
 
 5.00 
 
 .17 
 
 .17 
 
 13.00 
 
 .67 
 
 1.00 
 
 10.00 
 
 5.00 
 
 .75 
 
 to 2.50 
 to 1.25 
 to 1.00 
 to 10.00 
 to 7.00 
 to .25 
 to .50 
 to 22.00 
 to 1.00 
 to 1.17 
 to 20.00 
 to 6.00 
 to 1.00 
 
AGRICULTURE AND SHEEP RAISING 173 
 
 high prices had increased the minister's cost of living and lowered his 
 net salary. His figures bear the earmarks of accuracy, part of them 
 being collected by a committee of his society. They show the vast in- 
 crease in the value of farm products, which resulted in the encourage- 
 ment of agriculture. Other accounts notice the great fall in value of 
 agricultural products about 1816, probably a little later than the date 
 of his information, some going so far as to say that the products of the 
 farm were hardly worth the garnering. Dwight, Connecticut, p. 440; 
 Mercury, Oct. 22, 1816; see also New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, III, 
 201-202. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 The Working Government 
 
 HPHE government of Connecticut prior to 1776 
 -■" was based upon the royal Charter of 1662. 
 This Charter in substance was similar to the eleven 
 Fundamental Orders of 1639, which had been 
 drafted by the representatives of the river towns 
 as their rule of government. This similarity has 
 enabled certain writers to maintain that the Char- 
 ter was royal only in form, but otherwise a re- 
 statement of republican principles. Furthermore, 
 it has been said that the Charter was in force by 
 virtue not of the prerogative, but of its acceptance 
 by the General Assembly. However this may be, 
 the Charter was regarded as the bulwark of the 
 commonwealth's liberties, if the Charter-Oak 
 episode had real significance. Yet the simple 
 governmental machinery provided in that instru- 
 ment was never regarded as fundamental, but sub- 
 ject to modification by the General Assembly. 
 Distance and lack of interest in the colony on the 
 part of the home government made the bond of 
 union between the two so loose that, aside from an 
 extremely rare case of a disallowance, the colony 
 was left to follow its own course. The common- 
 wealth was virtually a self-governing dependency, 
 with the dependence overlooked by the republican 
 subjects, and the independence unrealized by the 
 inefficient and corrupt colonial administration. 
 
 174 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 175 
 
 The change wrought by the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence and severance of nominal allegiance was 
 almost unnoticed. Statehood with full indepen- 
 dence and sovereignty was entered into so natu- 
 rally that there was no commotion or the slightest 
 impediment in the civil administration. As has 
 often been pointed out, a change in the govern- 
 ment was unnecessary, for Connecticut had always 
 been republican in form. As a result of the Revo- 
 lution and the appeal of the revolutionary Congress, 
 the General Assembly formally approved the 
 Declaration of Independence, declaring that "this 
 Colony is and of a right ought to be a free and 
 independent State, and the inhabitants thereof 
 are absolved from all allegiance to the British 
 Crown." The resolution continued: 
 
 And be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Representa- 
 tives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the 
 same, That the form of civil government in this State 
 shall continue to be as established by Charter received 
 from Charles the second, King of England, so far as an 
 adherence to the same will be consistent with an absolute 
 independence of this State on the Crown of Great Britain; 
 and that all officers, civil and military, heretofore ap- 
 pointed by this State continue in the execution of their 
 several offices, and the laws of this State shall continue in 
 force untill otherwise ordered: And that for the future all 
 writs and processes in law or equity shall issue in the name 
 of the Governor and Company of the State of Connecticut; 
 and that in all summonses, attachments, and other processes 
 before any assistant or justice of the peace, the words One 
 of his Majesty's justices of peace be omitted, and that in- 
 stead thereof be inserted justice of the peace; and that no 
 writ or process shall have or bear any date save the year of 
 our Lord Christ only; any law usage or custom to the con- 
 trary notwithstanding. 
 
176 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Oaths of loyalty to the state were substituted for 
 those of allegiance and supremacy. Otherwise there 
 was no break with the past; the same policies con- 
 trolled, the same class ruled. 1 
 
 All the states save Rhode Island drafted con- 
 stitutions, often in conventions selected for that 
 purpose, and submitted them for ratification to 
 the people or their representatives. Connecti- 
 cut's unusual procedure attracted little attention 
 and aroused no opposition. This was probably 
 due to general recognition of the step as a mere 
 formality, which did not essentially change the 
 working government, based as it was on precedent 
 and legislative enactments rather than on the 
 Charter. 
 
 Interest in the proceedings remained purely 
 academic until later, when they were made a party 
 issue. Men of all shades of opinion were free to 
 question whether or not there was a constitution 
 in the approved sense of the word. Dr. Benjamin 
 Gale, in an able pamphlet published in 1782, argued 
 that the state in making war had abrogated the 
 Charter and that the General Assembly's unau- 
 thorized declaration re-establishing the Charter- 
 government was expedient, but extra-legal, and 
 regarded by thinking men as only temporary. 
 He believed that the time had come when a civil 
 government should be established by a convention, 
 holding that: 
 
 1 Conn. State Records, I, 3-4; Revised Statutes, p. 1. See Stiles, 
 Diary, II, 285; Morse, Geography, p. 165; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, 
 p. 75; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 40-43; Kendall, Travels, I, ch. 7. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 177 
 
 It ought to be a work of time, and composed of men well 
 versed in government, well acquainted with the laws of 
 nature and nations, men who well understand, not only the 
 civil, but the natural, the religious, the unalienable rights 
 of men and of Christians .... Our charter carefully 
 examined .... everything retained, the advantage of 
 which we have experienced — Everything expurged we have 
 found on experience disadvantageous; the several constitu- 
 tions of our sister states carefully inspected, and every- 
 thing worthy of our imitation selected. 
 
 The constitutional question was first officially 
 considered in the Assembly in the fall and spring 
 sessions of 1786-1787. 2 A bill restricting the repre- 
 sentation to one member from every town had been 
 introduced. Thereupon Representative Hopkins 
 of Waterbury questioned their authority: "It is a 
 constitutional question. The people are the foun- 
 tain of power, and must agree if the mode is altered. 
 The Assembly cannot do it. It is a native right 
 of the people." Against this James Davenport of 
 Stamford argued that there was no constitution, 
 only the laws of the state, for as the Revolution 
 abrogated the Charter, its subsequent sanction by 
 the General Assembly had only the force of an 
 ordinary statute. Colonel Wadsworth agreed: "I 
 am in favor of the Bill . . . The same body 
 who made the Constitution can alter it at pleasure." 
 Wadsworth was historically correct, for in the 
 Revised Statutes of 1784 a statutory Declaration 
 of Rights reaffirmed the act of 1776. 
 
 Dr. Gale in 1787 wrote confidentially to General 
 Erastus Wolcott, a member of Congress, that the 
 
 2 Connecticut Magazine, quoted in Mercury, Aug. 15, 1805. 
 
178 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 state had no constitution; for, as "you know 
 . . . . a civil constitution is a charter, a bill of 
 rights, or a compact made between the rulers and the 
 ruled." This, he said, was not true in the case of 
 the Charter, which had never been submitted to 
 the freemen. 3 In 1791 a pamphlet by "a citizen 
 of New Haven" demanded that a convention be 
 summoned to draw up a constitution which would 
 be above criticism. 4 
 
 A writer in the Middlesex Gazette pointed out in 
 1792 the absurdity of a government establishing 
 its own constitution, and asked that steps be taken 
 to establish a constitution or to improve the Char- 
 ter. He exclaimed: 
 
 Why has Connecticut discovered less political wisdom 
 than her sister states? Why has its government been left 
 the sport of chance, or to the partial corrections of the legis- 
 lature; and to remain, until this time, in a state so loose, in 
 a form so shapeless and distorted? Why have ten years 
 of peace, so favorable to political improvement, been suf- 
 fered to pass away, without any amelioration of the system 
 of government? Can the people be forever lulled into 
 this calm indifference, this listless security, by the emp- 
 ty and groundless declaration, that they have derived 
 from their ancestors a free and excellent Constitution of 
 Government. 5 
 
 The Litchfield Monitor in 1793 printed an address 
 attacking the royal principles and language of the 
 Charter and the unwarranted assumption of the 
 Legislature in saddling it on the people. It criti- 
 cized the insecurity of a government semi-annually 
 
 3 J. Hammond Trumbull, Historical Notes, pp. 16-17. 
 
 4 Ibid., pp. 17-18. 
 
 6 Quoted in Mercury, Apr. 4, 1805. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 179 
 
 subject to change at the hands of men as absolute 
 as any "Grand Signior": 
 
 You profess republican principles, but tacitly submit 
 to the ordinances of despotism. You hold to the rights of 
 men, but have not established the enjoyment of them. 
 You hold that the people are the origin of power, but have 
 never attempted to exercise that power .... You 
 have now enjoyed a number of years of profound peace; 
 but never set yourselves to form a Constitution. A time 
 more favorable can never be expected; a business of greater 
 utility can never be attempted. Such is your present 
 Constitution, that some affirm it is no Constitution at all; 
 but a public Ordinance or an Edict; while others affect 
 to consider it as a very good Constitution. But look about 
 you my countrymen; take it up and view it in all its parts 
 and properties, and see if it breathes the genuine spirit of 
 republicanism. You will doubtless find it a conglomerated 
 mass of heterogeneous principles .... A repub- 
 lican Constitution is a voluntary compact of the people 
 establishing certain fundamental principles by which they 
 will be governed. 6 
 
 Only a few, however, doubted the legality of the 
 constitution. Judge Swift in 1795 set forth the 
 orthodox view that in 1776 the people might have 
 called a convention, but did not deem it necessary, 
 for, back of the Charter, their government was 
 grounded on the will of the people. Since 1776 
 the tacit consent of the people in obeying the laws 
 and following the old forms of civil procedure had 
 amounted to sanctioning the act of the General 
 Assembly, even though the legality of its power 
 might be disputed. Swift wrote: 
 
 The constitution of this state is a representative republic. 
 Some visionary theorists have pretended that we have no 
 
 6 May 23, quoted in Mercury, Oct. 24, 1805. 
 
180 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 constitution, because it has not been reduced to writing, 
 and ratified by the people. It is, therefore, necessary to 
 trace the constitution of our government to its origin, for 
 the purpose of showing its existence, that it has been ac- 
 cepted and approved of by the people, and is well known 
 and precisely bounded. 7 
 
 The constitutionality of the government was 
 generally regarded by Swift as proven. When 
 party strife became bitter, to argue that there was 
 no constitution in the modern sense branded one 
 a Jacobin. 
 
 Such were the current constitutional theories. 
 It is now necessary to consider the working govern- 
 ment of the state, which was far removed from the 
 written Charter-constitution. 
 
 The chief executive was the governor, with the 
 title of "His Excellency." 8 The position was one of 
 great respectability and honor, having wide in- 
 fluence, but little actual power. The governor 
 was elected annually by the freemen of the state 
 voting secretly in town meeting. The votes were 
 forwarded to the secretary of state and counted 
 on the general election day by a committee of the 
 General Assembly. If a candidate received a 
 majority he was declared elected, otherwise the 
 General Assembly named the governor. While 
 the term of office was nominally a year, in practice it 
 
 7 System of the Laws, I, 55, 56 ff. 
 
 8 For a discussion of the governorship, see: Conn. State Records, 
 I, 52, 229. II, 86; Statutes, pp. 201, 257, 258, 296, 423, 504; Swift, 
 System of the Laws, I, 60, 63, 65, 85-87; Kendall, Travels, I, 20; Dwight, 
 Travels, I, 228, 237, 248, 257; Nelson P. Mead, Connecticut as a Cor- 
 porate Colony, pp. 21-24; New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, III, 65. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 181 
 
 was for life or during good behavior, for throughout 
 the whole history of the state from John Winthrop to 
 Oliver Wolcott, there had been but seventeen occu- 
 pants of the office, and during the eighteenth century 
 only three governors had failed of re-election. 9 While 
 there was no religious test, the steady habit of the 
 state had been to elect no ungodly man or dissenter, 
 but a representative of one of the old families and 
 occasionally the son of a former governor. 
 
 During the colonial period Connecticut had a 
 wholesome fear of too powerful an executive. 
 The lesson of an Andros had been well taught and 
 the difficulties of sister colonies with royal gover- 
 nors had not passed unnoticed. Hence in 1776 
 the executive was allowed to remain weak in com- 
 parison with the legislature. 
 
 The Connecticut governor was not, as in many 
 states, a separate branch of the government. He 
 had no veto power, being but an ex officio pre- 
 siding member of the Upper Chamber or Council. 
 Aside from calling extra sessions on fourteen days' 
 notice, he had no power to adjourn or prorogue the 
 General Assembly. The governor assisted in the 
 formalities of Election Day, opening the Assembly 
 with an address, which advised certain policies and 
 gave an account of the state's progress since the 
 last meeting. Thanksgiving Day and the annual 
 fast, being determined upon by the Assembly, were 
 formally announced by the governor. As com- 
 mander-in-chief of the state militia, he appointed 
 
 9 Wolcott for misrepresentation; Fitch because of the Stamp Act; 
 Griswold because of advanced age. Dana, Two Discourses, pp. 43-44. 
 
182 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 an adjutant- general and a couple of aides, signed 
 the commissions of officers approved by the General 
 Assembly, and possessed ill-defined powers of dis- 
 missal. He signed the commissions of justices of 
 the peace, and was himself an honorary ex officio 
 justice throughout the state. From 1793 to 1808 
 the governor sat twice a year as president of the 
 court of errors. He had no pardoning power 
 save the right to reprieve a criminal until the 
 next General Court or Assembly. His patronage 
 amounted to nothing but the right to name ad 
 interim turnpike commissioners and the petty 
 notary publics. Hence it would be impossible for 
 an ambitious man to build up a personal following 
 through his appointive power, as could be done in 
 some states. 
 
 In brief, the governor's powers were restricted to 
 the lowest working minimum, just enough to per- 
 mit the smooth administration of business and to 
 allow him to serve as the communicating medium 
 between the state, the central government and the 
 other states. It was pointed out that the executive 
 need not be powerful, for Connecticut was a mem- 
 ber of a federation of states, with many delegated 
 powers in the hands of the federal government. 
 There would then be less danger of a conflict with 
 the central government. 
 
 The chief criticism was that certain towns 
 monopolized the office: for instance, Hartford had 
 furnished seven out of a total of twenty-three 
 governors. This localization was due to the ad- 
 vantage which influential men, who were apt to 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 183 
 
 be from the chief towns, had under the system of 
 election. The dissenter was grieved that none of 
 his class could achieve the distinction. The Re- 
 publican disliked the undemocratic idea of repeated 
 re-elections, but the most penurious could not 
 object to the salary of $1,000, which was con- 
 sidered small enough to guard against the cupidity 
 of an office-seeker. 10 
 
 Some executive power was lodged in the hands 
 of governor and Council, but here the governor's 
 identity was completely submerged in the Council. 11 
 Together, they appointed a sheriff for everyone of 
 the eight counties, and a quartermaster-general 
 of the militia. They could lay temporary embargoes 
 on the export of goods, enforce sanitary rules in 
 case of contagious diseases, and grant briefs for 
 charitable collections. 
 
 The lieutenant governor, 12 addressed as "His 
 Honor" and having a salary of $600, was an ex- 
 officio member of the Council and a justice of the 
 peace throughout the state. In the absence of the 
 governor he acted in his place. From 1741 to 
 1785 the lieutenant governor had the added honor 
 of being chief judge of the superior court. From 
 the time of Governor Joseph Talcott (1741) to 
 
 10 " Connecticut's governmental expenses are brought within the 
 narrowest point of parsimony, salaries are provident to a proverb." 
 Mercury, Aug. 5, 1802. 
 
 11 Statutes, p. 201, index; Kendall, Travels, I, 22; Dwight, Travels, 
 I, 248; Mead, Corporate Colony, pp. 24-27. 
 
 12 Conn. State Records, I, 52. II, 86; Statutes, pp. 201, 296, 493, 
 504; Dwight, Travels, I, 229, 237; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 63, 83; 
 Johnston, Connecticut, pp. 80-81. 
 
184 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 1818, he succeeded the governor, so faithfully did 
 the electorate reward their officials. 
 
 The state treasurer 13 was also annually elected, 
 although in practice his tenure was for life. The 
 treasurer was under a $5,000 bond to preserve 
 scrupulously the state's revenues in the way of 
 taxes, duties on writs, fines, and forfeitures, and to 
 present his accounts on demand for auditing. 
 An auxiliary officer, called a comptroller, was 
 created by the General Assembly in 1788 to super- 
 intend the finances. 14 Apparently this was an 
 attempt on the part of the Legislature to obtain 
 more direct control over the budget, for the 
 annually appointed comptroller was merely an 
 agent of the General Assembly. 
 
 The secretary of state 15 completes the list of 
 central executive officers. Here was another an- 
 nually elected official whose administration was 
 longer than the average reign of a sovereign. In- 
 deed the tenure smacked strongly of heredity. 
 Hezekiah Wyllys was succeeded by his son and 
 grandson, the three covering a period of years from 
 1712 to 181 o. Thomas Day, succeeding, served 
 from 1 810 to 1835. To consider such an office as 
 elective is difficult. It is not surprising that its 
 occupants regarded the secretaryship as a personal 
 
 13 Statutes, index; Conn. State Records, II, 86; Swift, System of the 
 Laws, I, 60, 89. Joseph Whiting and son served 1679-1749, Andrew 
 Kingsbury, 1794-1818, and Isaac Spencer, 1818-1835. 
 
 14 Statutes, pp. 188-190; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 90; Loomis 
 and Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 121-123. 
 
 15 Statutes, pp. 30, 589; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 88; Loomis and 
 Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 199 ff. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 185 
 
 possession. The secretary acted as clerk of the 
 Council, custodian of the state records and papers, 
 keeper of the seals, and supervised the printing of 
 the laws. The position was one of honor with a 
 considerable degree of influence. 
 
 The appointment of sheriffs was the chief admin- 
 istrative function of the governor and Council. 
 To the Council alone was the sheriff responsible. 
 As the connecting link between the central and 
 local government, he was a power in the locality. 
 He was invariably a stanch adherent of the rul- 
 ing order. His duties were defined by statute 
 rather than by English precedents, and did not in- 
 clude the judicial work of his English counterpart. 
 Bonded at $1,000, he had custody of jails and 
 prisoners, and was empowered to appoint deputy 
 sheriffs, summon a posse comitatus, call out the 
 militia on request of members of the Council, and 
 exercise the duties of a water-bailiff. 16 
 
 The General Assembly was composed of an 
 upper and a lower chamber, a Council and the 
 Assembly. 17 With a weak executive and a depen- 
 dent judiciary, the legislative branch became 
 supreme. Its powers were not limited by a written 
 constitution, nor in any way except by statutes, 
 which it might revise or repeal at will. The Revolu- 
 tion had freed the General Assembly of the royal dis- 
 
 16 Statutes, index; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 60, 90-93; D wight, 
 Travels, I, 248; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, p. 167. 
 
 17 The division, which had existed since 1698, was regarded as con- 
 trary to the Charter and was not placed on the statutes until 1776. 
 Baldwin in Amer. Hist. Assoc, Report (1890), p. 91. 
 
186 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 allowance, its sole check, so that it closely approxi- 
 mated the British Parliament, save that the latter 
 body had to be guided by an ill-defined royal pre- 
 rogative and century-long creations of precedent 
 and custom. The federal constitution limited the 
 state sovereignty, but not that of the Legislature 
 in state affairs. 
 
 The General Assembly 18 made and repealed all 
 laws. It defined the powers of the executive or 
 judiciary. It determined by statute the method 
 of election and the suffrage qualifications. Legis- 
 lative statutes defined the relation of church and 
 state, and the status of dissenter. Toleration 
 was its gift, not a human right. Liberty of the 
 press and of speech were subject to its laws. 
 Statutes which might revolutionize the state could 
 be enacted in the same way as a private act 
 of no importance. There was no appeal to the 
 people and no responsibility to the electors, save 
 in the desire of the representative to be re-elected. 
 Money bills originated in either House; taxes and 
 duties were levied; public lands disposed of; new 
 towns incorporated; and banking, manufacturing 
 and turnpike companies chartered. The General 
 Assembly occasionally named the governor and 
 lieutenant governor, a power which gave undue 
 influence over the executive. 19 A joint committee 
 counted the votes of state officers, save represen- 
 
 18 For its powers, see: Statutes, index; Swift, System of the Laws, 
 I, 71-76, 80, 86; Kendall, Travels, I, 25; Dwight, Travels, I, 237 ff. 
 
 19 Stiles, Diary, III, 21, 218; Ford, Webster, I, 76; Courant, May 
 14, 1798. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 187 
 
 tatives. The General Assembly, of course, selected 
 the United States Senators. It exerted a control- 
 ling influence over nominations by means of its 
 caucuses, and in case of a vacancy appointed a coun- 
 cilor. Any court, magistrate, or officer might be 
 called to account by the Legislature for a misdemea- 
 nor or for maladministration. It granted pardons 
 and reprieves in capital or criminal cases, bills of di- 
 vorce, passed special bankruptcy acts, and con- 
 sidered equity cases over $5,334. In a judicial 
 capacity it acted as the superior court of last resort. 
 In this way justice might be defeated and sover- 
 eignty substituted for law. It had complete con- 
 trol of the militia. Its patronage was dangerously 
 extensive, including military officers who had been 
 nominated by the militia and all judicial officers. 
 
 Legislative powers were in short limited only by 
 the honesty of members, by certain vague customs, 
 and the frequency of elections. Students of govern- 
 ment feared this outrageous combination of execu- 
 tive, legislative, and judicial powers, as only 
 disciples of Montesquieu could fear. This con- 
 centration of power in the General Assembly was 
 bitterly criticized and was a prime argument for a 
 written constitution. 
 
 Dwight recognized the inclusiveness of these 
 powers when he wrote: "The power of the legisla- 
 ture is considered unlimited, except with respect 
 to the rights of election, and the substance of the 
 form of government." 20 He felt, however, that 
 the altering of the Charter would be regarded as a 
 
 20 Travels, I, 236. 
 
188 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 violation of something sacred and as a hazardous 
 move. He believed that a civil law contrary to 
 the law of God would be null and void. Judge 
 Swift, the deepest student of Connecticut polity, 
 defined the position of the Legislature: 
 
 By nature of the constitution, they possess the power of 
 doing and directing whatever they shall think to be for the 
 good of the community. It is difficult to define or limit its 
 extent. It can be bounded only by the wants, the necessi- 
 ties, and the welfare of society. 21 
 
 Kendall agreed with the local commentators 
 on the powers of the General Assembly, which he 
 described as a body — 
 
 from which, indeed, all other authority proceeds, and by 
 which, at any moment, it may be reclaimed. Nothing 
 exists but at its pleasure. It makes laws, and it repeals 
 them; and in the laws is the sole foundation of the political 
 fabric; the constitution of government is to be found only 
 in the statutes. In a word, the General Assembly is truly 
 the single depository of power; of power at once governmen- 
 tal, legislative, and judiciary; at once civil, military, and 
 ecclesiastical. 22 
 
 Kendall struck the mark. This inclusive power 
 which so impressed him, caused men to demand 
 its curtailment. 
 
 The Assembly represented the towns, every town 
 having one or two representatives. They were 
 elected semi-annually in the April and September 
 freemen's meetings, by a majority of the qualified 
 electors. The frequency of election caused no 
 inconvenience because of the small areas of the 
 
 21 System of the Laws, I, 59, 73. 
 
 22 Travels, I, 23. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 189 
 
 constituencies, but made changes in the representa- 
 tion easy and lessened intrigue. Terms of service 
 were exceedingly long because of "the disposition 
 to re-elect men of merit." In many cases a family 
 represented its town for two or three decades. 23 
 
 Despite the "almost absolutely democratic" 
 scheme of election, Republicans were to learn that 
 to displace the old representatives of a town re- 
 quired considerable exertion. Yet this could be 
 done. It was by revolutionizing the Assembly and 
 electing a Republican here and there, that the state 
 was ultimately revolutionized. Had there been a 
 universal secret ballot, thus removing the influence 
 of family, office-holders, and ministers, the state 
 would have experienced more changes in its repre- 
 sentation, and the Republicans less difficulty in 
 | gaining control. 
 
 The Assembly 24 was composed of two hundred 
 
 members, with a legal quorum of forty. Any free- 
 
 i man was eligible to serve as a representative, unless 
 
 'he was a federal office-holder, or a judge of the 
 
 (Superior court. As the statutes stood, the most 
 
 infamous freeman was not excluded from a seat, 
 
 ; nor could a duly elected representative be expelled, 
 
 i unless for treason or felony. The Assembly elected 
 
 ' ts own speaker who had a casting vote, and the 
 
 j clerks who kept the official journal. The Chamber 
 
 ] adjudged the qualifications and credentials of its 
 
 members; administered their oaths; and deter- 
 
 23 Johnston, Connecticut, pp. 81-82; Bouton, Norwalk, pp. 55-56; 
 Kilbourne, Sketches, pp. 375 S. 
 
 24 Best accounts are: D wight, Travels, I, 236-238; Swift, System of 
 the Laws, I, 64-65, 70, 85. 
 
190 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 mined its own procedure. Its members were 
 guaranteed the usual privileges of freedom of 
 speech and freedom from arrest. 
 
 In connection with the May session Connecti- 
 cut had her one "great festival" — General Election 
 Day, 25 when the votes were formally counted. At 
 sunset of the previous day the governor was re- 
 ceived by the blue, uniformed horse-guards and 
 escorted to his lodgings. About 9 a.m. the Assem- 
 ably met and organized. Toward 11 a.m. an 
 escort of the foot and horse-guards followed by 
 the sheriffs, led the executive officers, councilors, 
 representatives, a large body of ministers and 
 citizens to the First Church. The religious services 
 were conducted by four ministers, one minister 
 giving the opening prayer, another the sermon, a 
 third the concluding prayer, and the fourth the 
 benediction. The sermon touched on matters of 
 government, setting forth the glories of the state, 
 lauding its steady habits, and praising its God- 
 fearing officials. The Hartford Courant com- 
 mented on the sermon in what seems to have been 
 a set form, "sensible, solemn, and evangelical," 
 while the American Mercury was apt to describe 
 it as in "the usual style of obsequiousness to the 
 dominant party." Abraham Bishop cynically but 
 aptly characterized them as political sermons — 
 
 in which there is a little of governor, a little of congress, 
 much of politics and a very little of religion — a strange 
 
 25 Kendall, Travels, I, ch. 1; Dwight, Travels, I, 233 ff.; Courant' 
 May 18, 1813; Asbury, Journal, III, 197; Stiles, Diary, II, 533. Ill, 
 218; Morse, Geography, p. 165. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 191 
 
 compost, like a carrot pye, having so little ingredients of 
 the vegetable, that the cook must christen it. 26 
 
 The procession then returned to the state house 
 where the militia presented arms to the governor. 
 There followed a public dinner, at which the 
 governor and Council sat at the first, the clergy 
 at the second, and the representatives at the third 
 table, in an order suggestive of the three estates. 
 The dining of the assembled clergy, often a hundred 
 in number, was objected to by the Republicans as 
 a burden to the tax payer and an indication of the 
 dangerous coalition of magistrate and minister. 
 This criticism would have failed, if dissenting 
 preachers had been welcomed at the festive board. 
 After the banquet the votes were counted, and the 
 oaths of office administered to governor, lieutenant 
 governor and councilors. The result was pro- 
 claimed with a military salute. In the evening 
 there was an election ball, and the following eve- 
 ning a more select, formal ball. Thousands flocked 
 to Hartford from the near-by towns to witness the 
 ceremonies. Even those unable to be present 
 played at ball and enjoyed themselves that day on 
 the town greens. 
 
 Aside from the opening formalities, the session 
 was marked by simplicity. Meetings were held 
 during both forenoon and afternoon, and there were 
 few absentees. While the " wages" of two dollars 
 a day were small, election to the Assembly was 
 an honor, appealing to men of considerable ability. 
 
 26 Bishop, Oration (1801), pp. 45-46. 
 
192 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 An English traveller was so impressed with the 
 debates that he described them as comparing 
 favorably with those of Parliament. 27 
 
 The Assembly was criticized as too large a body 
 for efficient work. As early as 1782 it was sug- 
 gested that the representation should be cut down 
 to one for every town. New York, with seventy 
 men in her Lower House, had lower taxes. In 
 1786 the desirability of a reduction in number was 
 considered in the Assembly. Those in its favor were 
 advised that this measure would be unconstitutional 
 unless approved by the people. Some ridiculed the 
 need of two sessions to carry on the small amount 
 of business, which could be easily handled in a 
 single session, with a saving to the tax payer. 28 
 
 The Council consisted of the ex officio governor 
 and lieutenant governor and twelve elected assis- 
 tants, representing the state at large. The governor, 
 or in his absence the lieutenant governor or senior 
 assistant presided, but voted only in case of a tie. 
 The presiding officer and six assistants made a 
 
 27 Wansey observed: "There are some good orators among them: 
 Mr. Granger, member from Suffield; Mr. Stanley; Mr. Phelps; Gen. 
 Hart, member from Saybrook, made as good speeches as any I have 
 heard in our own House of Commons." Journal, p. 58. Kendall 
 believed that men of superior qualifications were not lacking. Travels, 
 I, 171. But Tudor thought otherwise of Connecticut: "There was a 
 sort of habitual, pervading police, made up of Calvinistic inquisition 
 and village scrutiny, that required a very deleterious subserviency 
 from all candidates for public life. A very conceited intolerance held 
 opinion in subjection." Letters, p. 47. 
 
 28 Gale, Brief Remarks (1782), pp. 28, 34-36; Stiles, Diary, III, 
 124; Constitution of Conn. (1901), State Series, p. 105; Republican Watch 
 Tower article in Mercury, Jan. 29, 1801. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 193 
 
 quorum. Sessions were secret. No minutes were 
 kept. A seat in the Council was one of honor and 
 power. An assistant was an ex officio justice of 
 the peace and could serve in the place of a judge 
 of the superior court. With two of his fellows he 
 could reprieve a criminal until the next session; 
 on urgent need he could call out the militia; and 
 could preside at freemen's meetings. As all bills 
 had to pass both Houses, seven members of the 
 Council could veto a measure. Then, because of 
 their social and economic position, long terms and 
 experience, the assistants were a powerful group. 
 In practice, this small body governed the state, for 
 without its concurrence nothing could be done, 
 no law passed, or official appointed. 29 
 
 The assistants were nominated and elected by 
 the people. 30 Up to about 1697 this function had 
 fallen to the General Assembly, but a revolt made 
 the introduction of democratic forms necessary. 
 The scheme of electing the Council was shrewdly 
 arranged to satisfy the democratic demands, yet 
 to leave it under control of the aristocratic govern- 
 ing class. In the September town meeting, every 
 freeman wrote the names of twenty men, whom 
 he nominated for assistant. These papers were 
 
 29 Swift, System of the Laws, I, 63, 84, 88; Kendall, Travels, I, 22-23; 
 Dwight, Travels, I, 236-238. The Assembly was said to be as obse- 
 quious to the Council as the members of Parliament whom Queen 
 Elizabeth cuffed. Mercury, Mar. 17, 1803; Aug. 27, 1816. 
 
 30 Statutes (1750), p. 46; ibid. (1796), p. 152; ibid. (1808), p. 244; 
 Dwight, Travels, I, 223-228; William Beers, Address (1791); Baldwin 
 in Amer. Hist. Assoc, Report (1890), pp. 87, 92; Mead, Corporate 
 Colony, p. 12. 
 
194 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 then collected by the constable, justice, or assist- 
 ant in charge, and sent by the town clerk to 
 the General Assembly, whose committee counted 
 them and listed the highest twenty as nominees. 
 About 1801 the revised election law called for oral 
 nominations and an open standing vote by the 
 freemen. This permitted the control of the meet- 
 ing by the upper class, for only a freeman of bold 
 independence could nominate his honest choice. 
 The list of twenty nominees was then submitted 
 to the freemen in April, but so arranged that the 
 present assistants or ex-assistants stood first on the 
 list regardless of the number of votes which they 
 had polled the previous fall. The freemen were 
 given twelve slips of paper. The list was read off, 
 and the vote taken. In order to vote for one of the 
 last eight, the freeman would have to preserve one 
 of his twelve papers. To do this was virtually to 
 proclaim oneself in open revolt. The only recourse 
 by way of protest was the casting of a blank ballot. 
 This meant a dearly purchased secrecy, for the 
 twelve slips would be used up before the moderator 
 commenced to read the names of the new candi- 
 dates. However, the casting of blank votes became 
 general and could not be prevented by an act 
 passed for that purpose. To be sure, a freeman 
 of strong character, economically and socially inde- 
 pendent, could vote as he pleased. Few, however, 
 could vote for an ' 'atheistical" Republican with the 
 minister present, under the eyes of local officers, 
 and men of wealth, whose good will might be vitally 
 necessary. The vote became mechanical, most 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 195 
 
 freemen voting for the first twelve nominees or re- 
 tiring through lack of interest in recognition of the 
 futility of their opposition. Dwight rejoiced that 
 the assistants were balloted on late in the day, when 
 party zeal had been spent in the contest over the 
 representatives and the poll was left in control 
 of the townsmen of wisdom and wealth, "the 
 ignorant, idle, and light minded citizens" having 
 retired. The votes from the various towns were 
 again forwarded to the General Assembly, counted 
 on Election Day by the joint committee, and the 
 names of the assistants were formally proclaimed. 
 
 This elaborate plan guaranteed the stability of 
 the government. Their long tenure which became 
 so characteristic is clearly shown in a final appendix 
 [infra, p. 420]. Generally a councilor held office 
 until he resigned, was promoted to the governorship, 
 or sent to Congress. From 1783 to 1801 it was 
 said that there was only one assistant who failed 
 at the polls for re-election. 31 
 
 The Council represented the aristocracy of the 
 state, the leaders in the ruling caste. Its members 
 were men of family, of wealth, of talents, of educa- 
 tion, and of wide political experience. Dema- 
 gogues might break into the Lower House, but the 
 Council was secured against their intrusion. 32 An 
 obvious evil was the control which the large towns 
 possessed, thus prejudicing the Council's repre- 
 sentative character. 33 The high average of ability 
 
 31 Theodore Dwight, Oration (1801). 
 
 32 Dwight, Travels, I, 226; Gale, Brief Remarks (1782), pp. 31, 34-36. 
 
 33 From 1639 to 1818 there were only 185 councilors, giving an 
 
196 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 in the Council was an advantage to the state as 
 well as a check upon the popular House. The 
 conservative element gloried in the Council as the 
 bulwark of the church, the state, and of law and 
 order. To the method of election all was due. 
 Believing this, the Standing Order took pains to 
 provide for the election of Congressmen in the same 
 way, a fact which affords better evidence than their 
 eulogies of the regard in which they held the nomi- 
 nation system. 
 
 This method of election was later attacked by 
 the Republicans as an unfair means of thwarting 
 the popular will. They argued that the candi- 
 dates, who received the highest vote on the nomi- 
 nation, should head the list. This would give new 
 men the very advantage which the system had 
 always given to candidates for re-election. Judge 
 Swift saw no logic in such reasoning nor any un- 
 fairness in letting this mechanical advantage oper- 
 ate in favor of the permanency in ofhce of tried 
 men. It was this very advantage, however, which 
 made the Council the last stronghold of Federalism 
 and Congregationalism. 34 Men with the highest 
 vote at the nomination might fall in one of the 
 eight last places on the list and stand no chance of 
 being elected. Several years might elapse before 
 a man reached a place at the head of the list and 
 
 average service of twelve years. Only forty-five towns had been rep- 
 resented, of which ten accounted for 128 assistants; that is: Hartford, 
 27; Windsor, 17; Fairfield, 15; New Haven, 14; New London, 11; Nor- 
 wich, 8; Wethersfield, 8; Litchfield, 8; etc. Kingsbury in New Haven 
 Hist. Soc, Papers, III, 65-66. 
 
 34 Baldwin, Amer. Hist. Assoc, Report (1890), p. 93. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 197 
 
 the goal of election. This period of expectancy- 
 las ted from four to ten years, a measure of the 
 Council's distance behind public opinion. Abra- 
 ham Bishop pointed out in a striking arraignment 
 of this Federalist safety device, that, although in 
 1790 Jonathan Ingersoll led the poll, William 
 Williams, the senior assistant, falling to twentieth 
 place on the nomination, was placed at the head 
 of the ticket and elected, while Ingersoll waited 
 another year. 35 Williams, a signer of the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, had opposed the ratification 
 of the constitution; but he was a Congregationalist, 
 while Ingersoll was merely an Episcopalian. Such 
 a citation convinced the Standing Order of the effi- 
 ciency, not the injustice, of the system. 
 
 A later writer, lamenting the good old days, 
 naively described the election of assistants: 
 
 In illustration of the scrupulous regard which was had 
 to actual merit in the popular election of senators, we have 
 often heard Mr. Sherman say, that of the whole number 
 nominated, there was one man who at each election for 
 several years was almost but not quite elected; and this 
 exactly represented his actual merit in comparison with 
 his rival candidates. 36 
 
 Even in the counting of votes favoritism was 
 shown. If a freeman threw in a blank vote against 
 one of the first twelve, he merely lost the vote, 
 without prejudicing the candidate, who might 
 possibly receive more blank than affirmative votes, 
 which alone counted. 37 Republicans asked why 
 
 35 Bishop, Oration (1801), pp. 16, 76; Mercury, Mar. 24, 1803. 
 
 36 Sketch of Sherman (1846), p. 8. 
 
 37 J. C. Welling, "Connecticut Federalism" in Addresses, Lectures and 
 Other Papers, p. 306. 
 
198 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 a double election should be necessary for assistants 
 and not for the governor, if it was not "an ingenious 
 and complicated piece of mechanism designed by 
 the multiplicity of its wheels and springs, of its 
 clogs and checks, to divert from the instrument of 
 government, a direct application of the popular 
 power." 38 
 
 Kendall in his discussion of the Council has 
 afforded us the valuable criticism of an impartial 
 foreigner : 
 
 Credit is undoubtedly due to this scheme or system for 
 its ingenuity, and its practical effects in Connecticut may 
 be completely beneficial; but I venture to express an opinion, 
 that it is undistinguished by any feature of that wisdom 
 which is contended for, and that it is altogether unfit for 
 imitation. In Connecticut, its effect is to keep in power 
 the party which has from the first possessed it. That 
 party, from the accuracy of the principles upon which it 
 acts, or the virtues of those who espouse it, may be the 
 proper depository of power; but, were it not so, the effect 
 would be the same. 39 
 
 In more populous states he felt that it would leave 
 all to intrigue, calumny and violence, and in Eng- 
 land would enable an administration to maintain 
 itself forever in defiance of crown and electors. 
 
 The Council was assailed for its secrecy. Its 
 doors were only open to receive petitions. Divi- 
 sions of leaders, minutes, arguments, and votes 
 were never disclosed to the public. The Council 
 stood as a body; its proceedings were veiled in a 
 cabinet-like secrecy. Kendall wrote: 
 
 38 Richards, Politics of Connecticut. 
 
 39 Kendall, Travels, I, 43-44. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 199 
 
 The Council is impenetrable; it is one; it has no weak 
 part, by which it may be entered and subdued. All its 
 acts are the acts of the party; the individual never appears 
 . . . . Nothing is shown us but unanimity, and whence 
 that unanimity arises we have no means of discovery. 40 
 
 Assistants were thereby freed from individual criti- 
 cism and responsibility, under which they might 
 have labored hard on election day. 
 
 The Council was taxed with an influence which 
 prevented the independence or impartiality of 
 the judiciary. Its appointing power enabled the 
 Council to control every judge and justice of the 
 peace, for without its concurrence the Assembly 
 was powerless. As the major part of the assistants 
 were lawyers of extensive practice, they sometimes 
 acted as advocates before judges whose tenure 
 depended upon them. This only made them more 
 successful practitioners and increased their clientele. 
 Up to 1807 the Council acted as the supreme 
 court of errors, reviewing cases in which as indi- 
 viduals they might have been professionally in- 
 terested. This obvious unfairness was finally reme- 
 died by the creation of a special court of errors. 41 
 Up to 1804 assistants were not forbidden to plead 
 before the Legislature in its highest appeal capacity, 
 nor before their fellow- members of the court of 
 errors. The necessity of this self-denying ordi- 
 nance was apparent when David Daggett and 
 Nathaniel Smith resigned from the Council. As 
 two of the foremost attorneys they were reputed 
 
 40 Travels, I, 171-173; cf. Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 402; Mercury, 
 June 18, 1816. 
 "Infra, p. 202. 
 
200 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 to have a lucrative practice which they would not 
 give up for the honors of the Council-board. 42 
 
 Some of the assistants held pluralities in the 
 judicial administration. For instance, David Dag- 
 gett, while in the Council, also served as state's 
 attorney for New Haven. Jonathan Brace was a 
 member of the Council from 1802 to 18 18, a judge 
 of the county court (1 809-1821), judge of the pro- 
 bate court ( 1 809-1 824), state's attorney for Hart- 
 ford ( 1 807-1 809), mayor of Hartford, judge of 
 the city court (1799-18 15), and an ex officio justice 
 of the peace. Elizur Goodrich, while an assistant, 
 was also mayor of New Haven and judge of the 
 county court (1805-1818). 43 Such cases gave force 
 to Republican attacks on the Council. Assistants 
 were virtually procuring for themselves remuner- 
 ative judgeships. Small wonder that even Federal- 
 ists admitted that the judiciary was not inde- 
 pendent. 
 
 Lack of patriotism was another count against 
 the Council. The Council took a lead in the oppo- 
 sition to the Embargo and to the War of 181 2. 
 Governor Griswold's refusal to accede to General 
 Dearborn's call for the militia was made on the 
 advice of the Council. He was really only the 
 mouth-piece of their policy. Chauncey Goodrich 
 and Samuel Sherwood were members of the Com- 
 
 42 See Mercury, June 14, 21, July 5, 1804. 
 
 43 For biographical data, see: Dexter, Biographical Sketches, IV, 
 101-103, 114-117, 260-264; Thomas Day, Appendix to 13th. RepL, pp. 
 6, 12; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 199, 266; Kilbourne, 
 Sketches, pp. 121-125. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 201 
 
 mittee of Safety of 1814. Ever}; representative 
 of the state at the Hartford Convention, including 
 its secretary, were members or ex-members of the 
 Council. Such was the record of the recognized 
 leaders in the desperate time when America faced 
 foreign invasion. 44 The worst feature was that 
 this small group were in a position to determine 
 the state's policies. 
 
 Abraham Bishop's assault on the Council fo- 
 cussed attention on the "septem viri," as he de- 
 scribed David Daggett, Nathaniel Smith, Jona- 
 than Brace, J. Allen, William Edmond, Elizur and 
 Chauncey Goodrich. The reason for his exclu- 
 sion of Aaron Austin, who sat in the Council from 
 1794 to 1 8 18, and his inclusion of Allen are not ap- 
 parent. Republican writers, following Bishop, en- 
 larged upon the evils of an oligarchy, greatly ex- 
 aggerating the dangers which the state faced. 
 As seven men could control the Council, such an 
 inner group would be able to govern the state or 
 at least neutralize the power of the Lower House. 
 Republican agitators liked to emphasize their 
 association with banking, insurance and turn- 
 pike interests, their activity in the Congregational 
 missionary and Bible societies,, their position on 
 the board of governors of Yale, and consequent 
 opposition to an Episcopalian college. Their selec- 
 tion of intimates for state appointive officers and 
 for senators and presidential electors was not over- 
 looked. They were charged with being under 
 
 "Mercury, Nov. 8, 1814; Aug. 27, 1816; Courant, Nov. 8, 1814; 
 Jan. 31, 1815. 
 
202 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 clerical domination, being either the sons of 
 Congregational ministers or closely allied to them 
 by blood or marriage. They were compared to the 
 French Directory as the main-spring of the state on 
 whom all men depended. 
 
 The judiciary existed only in the statutes enacted 
 from time to time by the General Assembly. While 
 the powers and duties of the various courts were 
 fairly well defined, the whole system was extremely 
 complicated. To Judge Swift's System of the Laws 
 both bench and bar were deeply indebted for a 
 succinct statement, describing the various courts, 
 their jurisdiction and personnel. 
 
 The supreme judicial power lay in the hands of 
 the General Assembly. Until 1818 it remained 
 the highest court of appeal, not unlike Parliament, 
 retaining in addition equity jurisdiction in cases 
 of over $5,000 and in special divorce cases. The 
 other courts were established by the General 
 Assembly, only to relieve itself of pressure, while 
 business increased as the commonwealth grew 
 more populous and life became more complex. 46 
 This explains the dependence on the Legislature of 
 the supreme court of errors, the superior court, 
 the county or common pleas courts, the probate 
 courts, the justices of the peace, and the courts 
 of incorporated cities. 
 
 The supreme court of errors 46 was established 
 in 1784, in order to relieve the General Assembly 
 
 ^Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, p. 125; Swift, System of 
 the Laws, I, 60. 
 
 "Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, p. 133; Statutes, pp. 204, 
 205, 218. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 203 
 
 of the bulk of its judicial work. This court under 
 the presidency of the governor was made up of 
 the lieutenant governor and the assistants. A 
 session was held every June alternately at Hartford 
 and New Haven. Decisions were in writing and 
 were filed away by the clerk, so that the court was 
 bound by precedent. As the court of final appeal, 
 all matters of law or equity could be brought to 
 it for review from the supreme court. 
 
 The supreme court was subjected to considerable 
 criticism because of the method of its creation and 
 its personnel. Assistants who acted in lower 
 courts were virtually reviewing their own decisions. 
 They were judging cases in which their political 
 friends and even brother- judges were interested 
 personally or professionally. Its members were 
 elected to make laws, not to adjudicate, and if un- 
 trained in the law they were not fitted to render 
 decisions. At length, criticism forced in 1806 
 the discontinuance of the supreme court of errors 
 as then constituted. 47 The judges of the superior 
 court were increased to nine, any five to be a 
 quorum with the secretary of state as their clerk. 
 In 1 819 the supreme court fell before the new order. 
 
 The superior court 48 dated back to 171 1, its 
 five justices being increased in 1806 to a chief justice 
 and eight assistant justices. Until 1818 they were 
 annually appointed by the General Assembly. 
 
 47 Statutes, pp. 218-221. 
 
 48 Ibid., pp. 205, 218-220; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 93 ff.; Loomie 
 and Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 132 ff., 180. In 1806 it was provided 
 that a circuit judge who sat on the case should not act on an appeal 
 unless a quorum demanded his presence. 
 
204 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Judge Swift would have had them appointed for life 
 or during good behavior, that they might be more 
 independent, especially in cases where an influential 
 character, say a member of the Legislature, hap- 
 pened to be opposed to a poor man without in- 
 fluence or friends. The state was divided into 
 three circuits, on which these judges were sent, 
 appearing twice a year in every county. Cases 
 might come on appeal to the superior court from 
 the decision of its own circuit judge. 
 
 As a regular court, it adjudged all crimes, the 
 punishment of which related to life, limb or banish- 
 ment. Blasphemy, atheism, and Unitarianism came 
 within its jurisdiction, as did statutory divorces, 
 perjury, burglary, horse-stealing, forgery and the 
 like. This court, by virtue of one of its own deci- 
 sions, had the power to issue writs of mandamus to 
 inferior courts, restraining or compelling them to 
 execute justice or force a town clerk to record a 
 deed. It granted writs of habeas corpus. On 
 complaint the court might disfranchise a freeman 
 for walking scandalously, and on his reformation, 
 restore his electoral privileges. The superior court 
 considered cases in equity up to about $5,000. 
 Its appellate jurisdiction included all criminal 
 cases from the lower courts, and civil cases from 
 the county and probate courts of more than twenty 
 dollars value. 
 
 The county or common pleas courts were 49 es- 
 
 49 Statutes, pp. 197, 207; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 80, 101-104; 
 D wight, Travels, I, 238; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 
 129-131. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 205 
 
 tablished about 1666, when county lines were first 
 traced. These courts were composed of a chief 
 justice and four assistants, with a clerk of their 
 own choice. As the judges were annually depen- 
 dent on the General Assembly for re-appointment, 
 their disinterested impartiality was subject to sus- 
 picion. Any three judges made a quorum, and 
 if necessary any assistant or justice of the peace 
 could be called in to act. Its original jurisdiction 
 in criminal matters included all crimes save those 
 punishable by life, limb, banishment or Newgate 
 penalties; and in civil cases anything beyond the 
 consideration of the justices of the peace. In civil 
 matters it exercised an appellate jurisdiction from 
 the justice in disputes regarding bonds of more than 
 seven dollars; and in chancery, jurisdiction up to 
 $335- Among its essentially administrative duties 
 were the superintendence of the estates of incompe- 
 tents, appointment of guardians, levying the judi- 
 cial tax on counties, admission of attorneys to 
 practice and penalizing them for faulty pleading, 
 and laying out highways. 
 
 The state was divided into about thirty probate 
 districts, every one under a judge annually ap- 
 pointed by the Legislature. 50 Their duties con- 
 sisted in probating wills, appointing guardians, all 
 of which prior to 1716 had fallen to the General 
 Assembly or to the county courts. When an ap- 
 peal was taken from the probate to the superior 
 
 60 Statutes, pp. 209-213; Dwight, Travels, I, 240; Swift, System of 
 the Laws, I, 104; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 151-153. 
 
206 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 court, the latter only denned the law, leaving the 
 probate judge to carry out its administration. 
 
 The justices of the peace, 51 averaging about 
 seven to a town, were annually appointed by the 
 Legislature and hence, like the sheriff, represented 
 the state in the locality. As such, they advised 
 in the executive affairs of the community. The 
 senior justice had charge of the local elections. 
 With the selectmen and constables, they named 
 the tavern keepers; bound men to keep the peace; 
 and apprehended suspects. Their jurisdiction was 
 confined within the town, but their warrants only 
 by the state. Their jurisdiction was not unlike 
 that of the English justice of the peace. In 
 criminal matters the town justices could act 
 in cases where the fine was not more than seven 
 dollars, and could condemn to the stocks or whip- 
 ping-post negroes or those unable to pay a fine. 
 A single justice could not sentence a criminal to 
 prison. In civil matters their jurisdiction was 
 limited to $15, save in special actions. Cases of 
 drunkenness, swearing, Sabbath-breaking, debts, 
 unlicensed taverns, unlawful lottery tickets were 
 brought to their attention. Appeals could be 
 taken in all cases save those of swearing or 
 Sabbath -breaking. 
 
 The justices came to be regarded by the Republi- 
 cans as the Council's minions in the locality, as 
 efficient workers in the Federalist political system. 
 They were invariably Federalist in politics or, if 
 not, were politically silenced. This explains the 
 
 51 Statutes, index; Public Laws, index; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 
 60, 92, 107-109; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, p. 155. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 207 
 
 Republican antagonism to the justices, even if, 
 as the Hartford Courant noted, they only received 
 "the squire and half a dozen six-pences a year." 52 
 As justices were frequently representatives, sheriffs, 
 mayors, or town officers, there was something in 
 the charge that too much power was centered in 
 their hands. 53 
 
 The judiciary was described as smooth- working, 
 just, calculated to avoid expense and delay, and 
 administering a penal code far different from the 
 atrocious one of England. The most orthodox 
 Federalist admitted the judiciary to be the weak 
 spot in the government. Dwight lamented the de- 
 pendence of judges in intriguing for annual re- 
 appointments. 54 In practice their terms were long, 
 probably because the Legislature reviewed their de- 
 cisions with satisfaction. Dwight, with a Biblical 
 vision, would have judges responsible to God alone. 
 Swift demanded an independent judiciary, es- 
 pecially objecting to the legislative prerogative 
 which allowed them on petition to review a case 
 from the lower courts. Such appellate jurisdiction 
 seemed to him a menace, for the Legislature con- 
 sidered a case chiefly with an idea to its political 
 expediency. In this reasoning, Colonel Kirby 
 as a jurist and a Republican agreed. 55 
 
 52 Mercury, Apr. 2, June 4, 1816; Courant, Aug. 19, 1817. 
 
 53 Forbidden by an act of 1812. Public Laws, p. 84. 
 
 54 Dwight, Travels, I, 243 ff.; Dwight, Decisions, pp. 269 ff. See 
 Dwight, Connecticut, p. 442; Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 428. Thomas 
 Seymour, Chief Justice of Hartford County for twenty years, became 
 a Republican and was dismissed. Mercury, May 24, 1804. 
 
 55 Swift, Vindication of Superior Court (1816); Conn. Reports, I. 
 428; Baldwin in New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, V, 208. 
 
208 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Alexander Hamilton was quoted by Republican 
 writers, to indicate the dangers of judicial com- 
 plaisance, if judges' commissions were temporary. 
 The judiciary should be a separate branch of the 
 government in order to exert a restraining influence 
 upon the Legislature and executive, and to afford 
 a free people security against a tyrannical exercise 
 of power. This could not be true, when every 
 judicial office existed only by virtue of a statute, 
 subject to repeal at the pleasure of the Legislature. 
 Judges and justices were not only appointed by 
 the Legislature, but often were themselves represen- 
 tatives. As such they were subject to accusations 
 of bargaining to win judicial preferment. Being 
 dependent, they were apt to be politically partial. 
 
 Judge Samuel Church of the supreme court of 
 errors and a framer of the constitution of 1818 
 wrote : 
 
 The Courts of law were most complained of as being 
 partisan in the discharge of their duties. The Judges were 
 annually appointed and an independent judiciary was 
 loudly and earnestly demanded. Prosecutions by States 
 Attorneys against Republican editors were frequent; Demo- 
 cratic lawyers were discountenanced and frowned upon. 56 
 
 The county courts and superior courts con- 
 trolled the admission of lawyers to the bar and, 
 as judges were Federalists to a man, their attitude 
 toward Republican candidates can be imagined. 
 Republicans rightly complained that judges could 
 not spend the morning writing inflammatory politi- 
 
 66 Church Mss.; cf. Barstow, New Hampshire, p. 424, for similar con- 
 ditions in that state. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 209 
 
 cal strictures, and then coolly decide the legal dif- 
 ferences between two opposing partisans, with 
 one of whom the judge might have had a rankling 
 newspaper controversy. Certainly, Republican 
 editors tried for libel were given scant justice by 
 judge or jury. 57 Impartial, not "Irish juries," were 
 demanded by a writer in the Litchfield Witness 
 who asked: 
 
 Is there to be no sanctuary left against the rage of party? 
 Is it not enough that our social circles and our very meeting 
 houses are pervaded by its influence? 58 
 
 Friend and foe, reactionary and reformer alike, 
 saw the necessity for judicial reform. Republi- 
 cans cried out, as the years went by, for a written 
 constitution which would plainly define the juris- 
 diction of the various courts, which would make 
 the judiciary a co-equal branch of the government 
 dependent on the organic, not statutory, law, and 
 free it from all dependence on the Legislature or 
 politics. Here they had one of their soundest, 
 practical arguments for a written constitution. 
 
 Long tenure in all offices might be said to have 
 been the Connecticut rule. Governors, lieutenant 
 governors, secretaries, treasurers, and councilors 
 held office year in and year out. Congressmen 
 served many terms; representatives, elected semi- 
 annually, often sat for their towns from twenty 
 to thirty sessions. Even the annually appointive 
 officers, judges, sheriffs, school commissioners, gen- 
 
 67 Infra, p. 331. 
 
 58 Quoted in Mercury, Nov. 14, 1805. 
 
210 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 erally had a good-behavior tenure. Mayors, town 
 clerks, selectmen, and constables were likewise 
 rewarded by numerous re-elections. 59 
 
 Strangers remarked this stability in a govern- 
 ment so apparently Republican. Later writers 
 have noted enthusiastically the long terms as evi- 
 dence of a grateful people. 60 Republican reformers 
 accounted for this permanence in office because 
 of the splendid political organization, the election 
 system, suffrage qualifications, and use of patron- 
 age. Today one sees in this bureaucracy a flaw 
 in the state's democracy, and wonders if there 
 might not have been a ruling class, which governed 
 while the people voted and boasted of their pure 
 democracy. No less a Federalist than David 
 Daggett, in describing the government before the 
 Revolution, said: 
 
 This state, and many others, were under a most perfect 
 aristocracy — The name truly we disowned, yet quietly 
 submitted to a government essentially autocratic. 61 
 
 59 Space does not permit a consideration of the impressive number 
 of town officials who were annually elected, but who often served un- 
 usually long periods. One can not overlook the frequency with which 
 certain names appear. It would not be difficult to compile a list of the 
 influential governing families by towns. 
 
 60 Cf. Baldwin in Amer. Hist. Assoc, Report (1890), p. 94. 
 
 61 Daggett, Oration (1787), pp. 5-6. Cf. "But Connecticut was 
 federalist to the backbone, Roger Sherman in New Haven, the Wolcotts 
 in Litchfield, the Champions in Colchester, William Samuel Johnson 
 in Fairfield, Ellsworth in Hartford, the Trumbulls and Huntingtons in 
 Norwich — the state was under an oligarchy indeed; and so it continued 
 until the alliance of toleration and the democrats overthrew it." Ora- 
 tion by Arthur L. Shipman, in Gilman, Norwich, p. 113. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 211 
 
 Certainly there was no change in the ruling per- 
 sonnel in church or state in 1776, nor until the 
 political revolution of 1817-1818. 
 
 Federalist writers lauded the long periods of 
 official service as the basis of the state's stability 
 and excellent administration. Dr. Gale in 1782 
 argued in its favor, as experience made men expert 
 in the duties of their office, attacking the clause 
 in the Articles of Confederation which prevented 
 a member from sitting in Congress more than three 
 1 out of six years. 62 Judge Swift wrote: 
 
 A sentiment has for a long time been impressed on the 
 
 minds of the people, that it is best for the community to 
 
 continue in office all persons who have once been honoured 
 
 I by their suffrages in case they continue to merit their con- 
 
 ■ fidence This noble sentiment seems to be inter- 
 
 woven in the character of the people, and has a powerful 
 , tendency to render public offices secure and permanent. 68 
 
 1 Noah Webster assured his readers that rotation 
 
 1 in office did not protect a state from the cupidity 
 
 I of public servants if the experiences of other states 
 
 1 served as a guide. 64 
 
 Men came to regard their civil offices in the light 
 
 I of freeholds. Those who opposed their re-election 
 were dangerous innovators, trying to subvert the 
 
 I constitution, law and order. True, their rule was 
 beneficent. The state was honestly governed, at 
 least there was said to be relatively little legislative 
 
 ! corruption. Administration expenses were small, 
 
 62 Brief Remarks, p. 30. 
 
 53 System of the Laws, I, 83. 
 
 64 Oration, July 4, 1802, pp. 20 ff. 
 
212 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 salaries being at a minimum. Republicans hardly 
 denied these advantages, yet in the name of democ- 
 racy demanded reforms which would result in more 
 frequent changes in office. 
 
 Closely associated with the government, and in 
 part explaining the long tenure of offices, was the 
 system of nomination and election. To the foreign 
 observer, this system appeared to represent the 
 very acme of democracy. Kendall noticed that 
 town officers were elected by the freemen; minis- 
 ters by their congregations; schoolmasters by the 
 school committees; inferior militia officers by the 
 privates; and state officers, town representatives, 
 assistants, and Congressmen by the freemen in 
 town meeting. He concluded enthusiastically: 
 "Every public trust and office in Connecticut is 
 elective." 65 
 
 Kendall had neither time nor the desire to look 
 behind the forms of democracy, or he might have 
 discovered a ruling aristocracy. Abraham Bishop 
 overshot the mark, but still came close to the truth, 
 when he declared: "We have lived in a State which, 
 exhibiting to the world a democratic exterior, has 
 actually practiced within itself all the arts of an 
 organized aristocracy, under the management of 
 the old firm of Moses and Aaron." 66 
 
 One learns of the existence of this aristocratic 
 feature by a discerning reading of newspapers, ser- 
 mons, and political pamphlets ; certainly not by read- 
 ing the Federalist accounts of the government's sta- 
 
 65 Kendall, Travels, I, 27. 
 
 66 Bishop, Oration (1804), p. 20. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 213 
 
 bility, the permanence of officers, and the freeman's 
 delicate feelings regarding the sacredness of nomi- 
 nation and election, and his determination to reward 
 only men of inherent, proven worth. The Puritan 
 might hate king and bishop, but in Connecticut he 
 allowed a rule of the educated, well-born, and 
 respectably wealthy. Their rule was benevolent 
 and probably half unconscious, even to themselves. 
 Yet it was not the less real, as was clearly demon- 
 strated, when they were forced to defend their 
 privileges in the name of the Federalist party against 
 an inflood of democracy which came with the dif- 
 fusion of political education. Reformers were to 
 learn that this class was intrenched behind an im- 
 pregnable barrier of statutes, patronage, and elec- 
 tion devices, which laughed to scorn D wight's 
 
 I and Swift's platitudes regarding a government 
 
 , popularly controlled. 
 
 On the third Monday of September the freemen 
 
 | met in town meeting to select their representa- 
 
 \ tives and to nominate twenty assistants and four- 
 teen (later sixteen) Congressmen. 67 On the Monday 
 after the first Tuesday in April the freemen voted 
 for the state officers: representatives, twelve as- 
 sistants from the list of twenty, and seven Con- 
 gressmen from their nomination list. The free- 
 men's meeting was presided over by an assistant, 
 a justice, or constable. Rarely would a town be 
 without a justice, so generally did this nominee of 
 the Legislature preside rather than the elective con- 
 stable. Usually the meeting was opened with 
 
 67 For election laws Statutes, pp. 244-251; Public Laws, pp. 48, 78. 
 
214 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 prayer by a Congregational minister. This was 
 the invariable rule before 1800; but when certain 
 towns became "Jacobean strongholds," this bit of 
 formality was not deemed essential. In other towns 
 to proceed without prayer would almost invalidate 
 the proceedings. 68 Some of the praying was, no 
 doubt, as the Republicans claimed, political. It 
 might be vague or as plain as that of the Hartford 
 cleric: "If you choose such men to rule over you, 
 the Lord have mercy on you." Robbins, who so 
 honestly feared Republicanism, must have found 
 it difficult to pray neutrally, for, after noting in his 
 diary that he had offered prayers at the election, 
 he concluded : "I think this last effort of Democracy, 
 through the mercy of our fathers' God, will meet 
 with a great defeat." 69 While Republicans did not 
 deny the clergyman the right to vote, they sug- 
 gested that it would be tactful in him to absent 
 himself, for his vote would rarely turn the result 
 and he would thereby free himself of the allegation 
 that he was influencing the vote. 
 
 Voting for representatives and state officers was 
 by secret ballot, though the secrecy was impaired 
 by the moderator's right to inspect folded ballots 
 to prevent stuffing. 70 Nominations of assistants 
 and Congressmen were made in open meeting by 
 
 68 Sharpe, Oxford, p. 168; Robbins, Diary, I, 354; Courant, Sept. 29, 
 1808; Mercury, Sept. 25, Oct. 2, 1801. 
 
 69 Diary, I, 472. 
 
 70 While election by ballot was provided for in 1639, it was not used 
 in practice. A law of 1670 allowed choice by acclamation, and not until 
 1814 was it definitely provided that election must be by ballot. Public 
 Laws, p. 162; Baldwin in Amer. Hist. Assoc, Report (1890), p. 89. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 215 
 
 any freeman. Republican charges of control by 
 minister, deacon and justices, described it as a 
 "deacon's seat" nomination. At any rate to openly 
 name an undesirable candidate required a boldness 
 only possible in men politically and financially inde- 
 pendent. According to Bishop, numbers of free- 
 men ceased to attend the elections, feeling that the 
 method of nomination defeated the purpose of 
 election. The vote for assistants and Congressmen 
 could be made secret only at the expense of casting 
 as a blank ballot one of his twelve votes. Another 
 cause of complaint was that these important offices 
 were balloted for late in the afternoon when many 
 of the freemen, tired of the long day, had gone 
 home. 71 Hence the Republican poll for representa- 
 tives was much larger than the vote for councilors. 
 Plaintively did Republican leaders request their 
 adherents to remain to the last. Election results 
 were certified by the clerk and sent to the Legis- 
 lature, thus, as Republicans complained, keeping 
 the people ignorant of the result for weeks. 
 
 The elections were conducted with decorum. 72 
 They were not disgraced with riots, bribery, and 
 open corruption, as were the English elections. 
 Drinking, however, was common, especially as in 
 some places it was customary to treat the select- 
 men. Corruption in the way of illegal voters, 
 crooked voting, proxy voting, printed tickets, 
 bribery, undue influence, receiving of bribes, and 
 
 71 Bishop, Address (1800), p. 67; Mercury, June 11, 1801; Apr. 1, 1802. 
 
 72 Swift, System of the Laws, I, 67, 153; Dwight, Travels, I, 225, 231; 
 Mercury, Oct. 28, 1802. Corrupt-practices act, Statutes, pp. 244-246. 
 
216 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 the dispensing of spirituous liquors to voters were 
 all guarded against by corrupt-practices clauses, 
 which provided penalties as high as a fine of thirty- 
 four dollars. The majority with their own justices 
 to enforce the law could easily prevent Republi- 
 can corruption. The danger lay in the interpre- 
 tation; undue influence might mean one thing for 
 a deacon and quite another for a Republican 
 demagogue. The chief barriers to actual corrup- 
 tion lay in the frequency of elections, small salaries, 
 and the law-abiding nature of the people. 
 
 Republican local successes so worried the major 
 party by 1801 that extra precautions were taken 
 to prevent the political defection of the towns. A 
 new election law, the "Stand-up Law," was framed 
 by the Council and with some difficulty forced 
 through the Assembly. 73 This law provided that 
 the freemen's meeting should be presided over by 
 an assistant, a justice or the senior constable, or 
 by a person selected by a majority of the justices 
 and constables present. In this way there was 
 not the slightest danger of a Republican moderator. 
 A dangerous control over the meeting was given 
 this chairman, backed by justices ready to enforce 
 his decisions by fines, or binding over a "tumultuous 
 freeman." The new method of nomination was 
 considered especially infamous. Any freeman 
 could theoretically nominate a man, but voters 
 must stand or raise their hands to be counted. 
 To enable a freeman to keep track of his votes, he 
 was given twenty slips of paper for counters, 
 
 73 Statutes, pp. 251-253. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 217 
 
 one of which he was supposed to drop at every 
 vote. Tellers appointed by the moderator counted 
 the votes aloud and reported to the moderator, 
 who audibly repeated the number while recording 
 it on the minutes. 
 
 No Federalist measure created more of an up- 
 roar. As leading Republicans like Gideon Granger, 
 Elisha Hyde and Joseph Wilcox pointed out in 
 debate, complete supervision of elections was in 
 the hands of deeply interested justices. Every- 
 thing depended upon tellers who were independent 
 of the freemen and strongly Federalist. Aside from 
 intentional errors, it was easy to err in the frequent 
 counting of a crowded room or gathering on the 
 green. 74 Whether a freeman voted more than 
 twenty times could not be readily known, nor was 
 it as easy as under the old way to detect illegal 
 voters. All secrecy was destroyed; squire, min- 
 ister and candidate knew how every individual 
 voted. Federalists contended that the law saved 
 time in that election hours were cut in half; then, 
 too, that a man not independent enough to vote 
 openly, without fear or favor, was unworthy the 
 suffrage. They refused to believe that banker, 
 manufacturer or general merchant could control 
 a farmer's or laborer's vote, or that social or re- 
 ligious fears would prevent a free vote. Con- 
 
 74 Errors were notoriously frequent, votes of whole towns being 
 thrown out on a technicality. Moderators even refused to put the 
 Republican list, and through their power, it was charged, Republican 
 towns went Federalist. Mercury, Sept. 27, Oct. 25, Nov. 1, 1804; 
 Oct. 10, 1805; May 25, 1809; Courant, June 4, 1806; May 20, 1807. 
 These are but typical examples. 
 
218 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 necticut, it was said, had no overgrown estates 
 or landlords ambitious to lead. In part this was 
 true, but the economic development of the state 
 resulted in a fairly wealthy class which, allied 
 with the social and religious order, could exert 
 a pressure which many freemen could not over- 
 look. Republican newspapers ridiculed the so- 
 called freedom of election as guaranteed by an 
 act of the aristocratic Council. 
 
 Judge Baldwin justly characterized the act as 
 an undermining of the venerable system of election, 
 "in vain hope to uphold the declining fortunes of 
 the Federalist party." 75 It was a piece of sharp 
 practice impossible to defend, and doomed to defeat 
 its own end by arousing the minority bitterly to 
 fight on to victory. It lent color to all charges of 
 unfairness in elections. It assured the country 
 that the majority had the will and the power to 
 perpetuate themselves. The most ardent Feder- 
 alist supporter of church and state could justify 
 the measure only by the pernicious theory that a 
 good end justifies a bad means. 
 
 Colonel Ephraim Kirby proposed an election bill 
 in the fall session of 1802 which was defeated by 
 120 to 59 votes. Yet only a written ballot was 
 asked, which would mean deliberation, secrecy, 
 and more celerity. 76 Another attempt to purify 
 the election system was made by the Republicans 
 in the spring of 1808. They were quoted on the 
 
 75 Bishop, Oration (1804), pp. 13-15. 
 
 78 National I ntelligemer and Pittsfield Sun, articles quoted in Mercury 
 Nov. 11, 22, Dec. 23, 1802. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 219 
 
 necessity of secrecy in elections, and gave the Feder- 
 alist arguments against vicious innovation with 
 the query why the election law of the fathers had 
 been changed. 77 Again in the spring of 1 8 1 7 another 
 attempt at repeal was made, only to be followed 
 by success in the next session. 78 
 
 Suffrage qualifications were defined by statutes and 
 hence subject to legislative change at any session. 79 
 Any man of twenty-one years could be made a voter 
 if he was possessed of "a free-hold estate to the value 
 of seven dollars per annum, or one hundred and 
 thirty-four dollars personal estate in the general 
 list . . or .... of estates by law 
 
 excused from putting into the list; and [was] of 
 a quiet and peaceable behavior and civil conver- 
 sation." The property qualifications were simply 
 the old forty-shilling freehold and forty-pound 
 personal clauses translated into the new monetary 
 system. No attempt was made, as in Rhode 
 Island, to adapt the property qualification to the 
 fluctuating value of money. Hence the qualifi- 
 cations became more liberal and the number of 
 potential voters larger, as real and personal proper- 
 ty increased in value. The Federalist majority 
 by supplementary acts further restricted the num- 
 ber of freemen and made admission more difficult. 
 In 181 it was enacted that the real estate must 
 be free of mortgage, and the one hundred and 
 
 77 Mercury, June 9, 1808. 
 
 78 Public Laws, p. 297; Courant, Nov. 4, 1817. 
 
 79 Statutes, pp. 185, 357, 650; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 69; Dwight, 
 Travels, I, 223; Bronson in New Haven Hist. Soc., Papers, I, 50; Mc- 
 Kinley, Suffrage, p. 414. 
 
220 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 thirty-four dollars on the list must be exclusive of 
 the sixty-dollar poll or assessments. A year later 
 it was provided that a freeman must be a free, 
 white male. Another law punished with a heavy 
 fine illegal voting or dishonesty in qualifying for 
 a freeman. 80 
 
 Suffrage was a gift, not a right. Every man had 
 to be approved before he was made a voter, other- 
 wise he was legally only an inhabitant. Before 
 any meeting of freemen the selectmen sat to con- 
 sider the petitions of potential freemen. On certifi- 
 cation by a majority of the selectmen, the candi- 
 date was enrolled by the town clerk in open free- 
 men's meeting, and took the oath from an assistant 
 or justice. 81 As the selectmen were elected by the 
 voters of the town, they were apt to be under 
 Republican influence, if that party had a majority 
 in the town. Hence the Federalists sought to take 
 this power out of the hands of elective officers. 
 
 In 1 80 1 the law was so revised that a man must 
 have the written approval of a majority of the civil 
 authorities and selectmen. 82 This virtually placed 
 the making of freemen in the hands of the Federalist 
 justices. As a precaution, it was provided, that 
 the deed of the freehold must be executed and 
 registered four months before the new voter could 
 be approved. A freeman known to be "walking 
 scandalously" or guilty of a scandalous offense 
 
 80 Public Laws, pp. 113, 162, 209. In 1810 there were 6,453 blacks 
 and in 1820, 7,844. 
 
 81 Statutes, p. 357; D wight, Travels, I, 223; Conn. State Records, I, 
 226. 
 
 82 Statutes, p. 358; Public Laws, p. 256. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 221 
 
 could be disfranchised by the superior court. 
 Here again a Federalist justice proved a valuable 
 Paul Pry. Swift believed that a man would not be 
 stricken from the list, though reduced in property. 
 Republicans, however, disagreed, citing cases where 
 men had been disfranchised on the depreciation 
 of their wealth. 83 There was nothing to prevent 
 the suffrage from falling a prey to party intrigue. 
 Indeed the whole arrangement benefited the party 
 in power; and the law could be so administered as 
 to practically disfranchise prospective freemen of 
 Republican tendencies. In the suffrage abuses, 
 Republicans found another argument for a written 
 constitution. 
 
 Extension of the suffrage became a chief plank in 
 Connecticut Republicanism and made an appeal- 
 ing campaign cry. That men were vitally de- 
 sirous of the vote is not half as certain as the deter- 
 mination of Republican leaders to impress upon 
 them that with the suffrage they could right their 
 wrongs. Men were sure to be interested in the 
 party which so cherished their welfare. Feder- 
 alists thrown on the defensive, were driven to un- 
 democratic arguments against an open suffrage. 
 The politicians struck a popular idea; they had 
 read the people's mind. 
 
 The right of suffrage as the best privilege of man 
 became the usual toast at Republican celebra- 
 
 83 System of the Laws, I, 69. For case of a veteran of the French 
 and Indian and Revolutionary wars, admitted as a freeman in 1769, 
 but disfranchised under the new law, see Mercury, Apr. 3, 1806. 
 
222 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION; 1775-1818 
 
 tions. 84 On such occasions the old theme of no 
 taxation without representation again commanded 
 attention. All men were taxed; but all men did 
 not vote. Rhetorical questions were propounded 
 as to the success of a revolution which left many 
 inhabitants not citizens, but "white slaves." On 
 all occasions the "poor porpoises," as Noah Web- 
 ster was accused of calling the non-freemen citi- 
 zens, 85 were told that they were liable to military 
 service. They had little to defend, but in case of 
 war would be drafted to die for their masters. 
 Their privilege was to fight, to pay taxes, but 
 never to select their rulers. There were even 
 Revolutionary veterans without the vote. Of the 
 48,000 men in the state in 181 5, about twenty 
 thousand, it was argued, were in the militia, while 
 the rest were in the excepted classes. Yet it was 
 these latter classes which made up the bulk of the 
 freemen and owned five-sixths of the property. 86 
 The laboring man, and the son of the small farmer 
 and mechanic were not voters, yet were forced to 
 
 84 See, for instance, accounts of Fourth of July celebrations in Mer- 
 cury, July 21, 1803; July 14, 19, 1804. 
 
 86 Noah Webster, attacking the suffrage bill in the Assembly (1802), 
 told the following story: " While Commodore Truxton and his crew 
 lay at Philadelphia, the crew were all invited up to Freemen's Meeting, 
 their votes were handed them, and they voted according to the wishes 
 of a party. Not long afterward, when they were returning up the 
 Delaware from a cruise, they saw a school of Porpoises making toward 
 Philadelphia. One of them asked the other, where are those Porpoises 
 going; why, damn it, replied the other, to a freeman's meeting to 
 
 vote for ." Mercury, Dec. 2, 1802. Republicans immediately 
 
 accepted the term, which, it was predicted, would be as honorable as 
 sansculottes. Mercury, Feb. 3. 1803. 
 
 86 Mercury, Jan. 24, 1815. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 223 
 
 serve in the militia. Republicans held no brief for 
 universal suffrage, but for all men who served in 
 the militia or paid taxes. A property qualification 87 
 they decried, as unmoral and dangerous, for 
 through it the brave yeomanry of the state were 
 deprived of their only weapon against wealth's 
 oppression. Col. Kirby argued with moderation in 
 the Assembly of 1802, in favor of a bill extending 
 the suffrage to all men of certified peaceful and 
 moral character. There could be no danger, for 
 there was no intention to include dissolute persons 
 or the few aliens within the state. He felt that 
 the majority of freeholders would not object to 
 this simple justice to their neighbors, and that the 
 justices and selectmen would exercise sufficient 
 care. Another Republican member suggested that 
 a property qualification was not deemed necessary 
 for witnesses in the law courts, where the danger 
 of bribery was far greater. Their arguments were 
 vain, as they were to be taught by another defeat 
 in 1804. 88 Under the system in force even a man 
 of means might be disfranchised, if all his wealth 
 was invested in trade or business, rather than in 
 land, houses, or listed personal property. This 
 injustice loomed larger as more men turned from 
 agriculture to business. 89 It was urged that the 
 property basis did not prevent corruption, for there 
 are "our manufactured voters." Wealthy men 
 
 87 Mercury, Aug. 25, 1808. 
 
 88 Ibid., Dec. 2, 1802; May 31, June 7, 1804. 
 
 89 An industrious artisan might be better off than a freeman farmer. 
 It was said men with from $1,000 to $4,000 were disfranchised. Mer- 
 cury, Jan. 9, 1816. 
 
224 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 could present their sons with seven dollars a year 
 in land, thus gaining freemen's rights for them. 
 Again, favoritism was charged, in that a Yale 
 diploma gave the professional man a vote. 90 Re- 
 publicans made capital of every argument, some 
 of them strikingly modern arguments in their 
 socialistic leanings. 91 
 
 Federalist leaders were aroused to the defense 
 of the property qualification, well aware that its 
 removal would mean a Republican victory. Swift 
 in 1795 was inclined to question if character would 
 not be a better safeguard against corruption than 
 the possession of property, yet he saw no hardship 
 because of the small amount of property required. 9 * 
 By 1 801 these Federalist doubts had disappared. 
 Noah Webster in 1802 argued against moral 
 qualifications as the sole standard, recalling the 
 fact that Rome fell only when she extended her 
 suffrage. 93 He indignantly denied that sovereignty 
 was derived from the people, that officers were 
 servants of the people, or that legislators were re- 
 sponsible to their constituents. These were fal- 
 lacies intended to degrade the magistracy, bring 
 law and government into contempt, and stimulate 
 
 90 Mercury, Apr. 14, 1803; July 24, 1806. 
 
 91 "The great alarm about this [universal suffrage] is, lest the poor 
 should gain the advantage of the rich; but all the laws in the world 
 were never able to give the poor one-tenth of their rights." Mercury- 
 Jan. 16, 1806. "Aristocracies dare not rely for support on the plough 
 and the hammer. Federalists have a radical contempt for stone cutters 
 and saddlers." Mercury, Jan. 9, 1806. 
 
 92 System of the Laws, I, 69. 
 
 93 Mercury (debates), Dec. 2, 1802; Oration, Fourth of July, 1802, 
 especially pp. 17-20. 
 
THE WORKING GOVERNMENT 225 
 
 factious discontent. He grieved that some dis- 
 tinction was not possible, in English as in Latin, 
 between populus and plebs. He continued: 
 
 Equally absurd is the doctrine that the universal enjoy- 
 ment of the right of suffrage, is the best security for free 
 elections and a pure administration. The reverse is proved 
 by all experience to be the fact; that a liberal extension of 
 the right of suffrage accelerates the growth of corruption, 
 by multiplying the number of corruptible electors, and 
 reducing the price of venal suffrages. 
 
 He agreed that all men should have equal pro- 
 tection before the law, whether they possessed 
 a single cow or a thousand acres, but not equal 
 power to make that law. Every man is not 
 | worthy of a magistracy or college professorship, 
 I nor is every man capable of sharing in govern- 
 I ment through the exercise of the suffrage. It 
 would be an injustice and a danger to allow the 
 • class who hold but a twentieth of the wealth to rule. 
 This was his viewpoint: 
 
 The very principle of admitting everybody to the right 
 of suffrage, prostrates the wealth of individuals to the 
 rapaciousness of a merciless gang, who have nothing to lose 
 and will delight in plundering their neighbors. 94 
 
 David Daggett in a pamphlet, Count the Cost, 
 decried the clamor for the vote, arguing that govern- 
 mental stability meant nothing to the penniless 
 man who exhausted his earnings in the grog shop, 
 "to the mere bird of passage," or the merchant 
 whose wealth was in movable goods. But to the 
 landed man stability was everything. Unlike 
 
 94 Mercury, Apr. 28, 1803. 
 
226 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Webster, he did not demand a plural vote as the 
 alternative if every man was given one vote. 
 
 George W. Stanley contended that property 
 demanded more protection than life or liberty, 
 which were safe under ordinary circumstances. 95 
 As nine-tenths of the work of Legislature and courts 
 consisted of protecting property, the making of 
 laws should be left to property owners. Universal 
 suffrage would give an electorate controlled by 
 demagogues. It would dethrone the middle class 
 which, according to the Connecticut Courant, could 
 alone check the ambition of the upper class and 
 the licentiousness of the populace. Such were 
 the Federalist views on the suffrage question. 
 
 96 Oration, Aug. 8, 1805, pp. 12 ff. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Rise of the Democratic-Republican Party 
 
 /CONNECTICUT'S opposition party was of late 
 ^-^ birth. There had been a loyalist minority 
 during the Revolution, and afterwards a strong 
 faction which favored a weakly centralized gov- 
 ernment and sympathized with the Shays insur- 
 ; rection. The Federalists controlled the Legislature. 
 Oliver Ellsworth, Roger Sherman, and William 
 Samuel Johnson, three of the ablest men in the 
 state, were sent to the Federal Convention. 1 When 
 I the constitution was submitted for ratification, 
 I there was at no time a dangerous opposition. 
 » Defended by the three framers, as well as by Gov. 
 i Huntington, David Daggett, Jeremiah Wadsworth, 
 \ Pierrepont Edwards, Joel Barlow, Noah Webster, 
 1 Richard Law, and most of the clergy, the con- 
 I stitution was easily ratified by 128 to 40 votes. 
 ( Yet among the opposition were several respectable 
 I patriot officers under the leadership of Gen. James 
 ! Wadsworth. William Williams, the senior coun- 
 cilor, at first an opponent because the instrument 
 I had no religious test, finally gave a half-hearted 
 support. The victory won, the factions were 
 J merged, for they were not at odds over questions 
 j of local import. Nor did the Anti-Federalists 
 completely lose political prestige. 
 
 1 Bernard Steiner, Connecticut 's Ratification of the Federal Consti- 
 tution, gives a good discussion of this subject. 
 
 227 
 
228 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Anti-Federalism cannot be described as the 
 forerunner of Republicanism. Some of the Anti- 
 Federalists continued to be stout supporters of the 
 Standing Order, while, as the above names indicate, 
 some of the strongest supporters of the consti- 
 tution were to lead the Jeffersonian party. As 
 parties there was no binding link between them. 
 Divergent views upon foreign affairs provided 
 the issue, though a cleavage was bound to come. 
 { All Connecticut supported the French Revolution 
 while it retained Anglo-Saxon characteristics of 
 moderation, but only radicals could acquiesce in 
 its later phases. This extreme element were 
 dubbed Jacobins; and their clubs, few indeed in 
 Connecticut, were with horror believed to be of 
 French model. They proudly viewed the career of 
 Joel Barlow, an active Girondist and an ardent 
 revolutionist, and approved of the Anti-Federalist, 
 Abraham Bishop, who, like his master, Jefferson, 
 was an interested spectator. 2 This personal equa- 
 tion made the connection between local and French 
 Jacobins seem to their neighbors dangerously close A 
 Reaction made of others "Anglo-men," who saw' 
 no evil in the kings of the coalition. They were 
 blamed for so soon forgetting the villainies of 
 George III. As both wings became more moder- 
 ate, the vast majority were able to join one side 
 or the other. Finally the foreign bias gave way 
 
 2 Stiles, Diary, III, 339; Daggett, Three Letters (1800), pp. 5-6. Bar- 
 low, in 1791-1792, wrote Advice to Privileged Orders and The Con- 
 spiracy of Kings. He also translated C. F. Volney, Ruins or Meditations 
 on the Revolutions of Empires. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 229 
 
 to differences of opinion on local and national 
 policies, thereby assuring the permanence of the 
 factions. 3 
 
 .During the decade, 1 790-1 800, there was prac- 
 tically no political life in the modern sense. 4 Elec- 
 tions were not contested. The only reasons for a 
 scattering vote on the nominations of governor, 
 lieutenant governor, assistants and Congressmen 
 or local officers, were personal. Even then the 
 votes were sufficiently concentrated on certain 
 tried, professioal leaders, as hardly to warrant the 
 description of being scattered. The poll was ex- 
 ceedingly small, for there was no interest which 
 would bring out the electorate. Hardly two per- 
 cent of the population voted. 5 The addresses of 
 the governor to the Legislature were concerned 
 with suggestions as to desirable local legislation. 
 Men, who later became the most bitter political 
 enemies, were during these years acting harmoni- 
 ously as brother officers in the Cincinnati and 
 Masonic lodges. 
 As late as 1796 Gideon Granger and Ephraim 
 
 3 Cf. Sketch of Connecticut politics in Mercury, Aug. 28, Sept. 14, 
 1800. 
 
 4 In March, 1794, Democracy, an Epic Poem was published in the 
 Courant, and in August, 1795, "The Echo" — both picturing the fright- 
 fulness of mob rule. Bishop prefaced his " 1800" oration with a com- 
 plaint of the bastings which Republicans got, and Daggett in turn ac- 
 cused him of a ten-years hostility to government and clergy. Webster, 
 in 1800, described the British and Jacobin factions and encouraged 
 Oliver Wolcott to support Adams whom he was opposing. Ford, 
 Webster, I, 504-506. Cf. W. A. Robinson, Jefersonian Democracy hi 
 New England, pp. 2 ff. 
 
 6 Note, p. 297. 
 
230 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Kirby as independent candidates for the assist- 
 ants' nomination, but probably supported by the 
 Jacobin element, could only poll a few hundred 
 votes. Even so, Governor Wolcott in 1797 took 
 occasion to deprecate the efforts of French par- 
 tisans and agents to cause American intervention. 6 
 Thomas Day, the state treasurer, delivered in the 
 following year a Fourth of July oration on "Party 
 Spirit," in which he arraigned men like Jefferson 
 who would make American interests subservient 
 to those of France by stirring up party rancor. 
 Noah Webster, the New Haven orator, on the 
 same day exhorted his fellow citizens with a true 
 Federalist ring: "Never .... let us exchange 
 our civil and religious institutions for the wild 
 theories of crazy projectors; or the sober, indus- 
 trious moral habits of our country, for experi- 
 ments in atheism and lawless democracy. Experi- 
 ence is a safe pilot; but experiment is a dangerous 
 ocean, full of rocks and shoals." 7 He then asked: 
 Why let foreign politics divide us and make us 
 party-men ? 
 
 In 1799 an occasional town was said to be con- 
 
 *Courant, May 15, 1797. Of Wolcott, Azel Backus said in his 
 funeral sermon: "That he never stooped to court the suffrage of any 
 man is a beauty not a blemish of his character. He blushed at the 
 thought of being a man of the People in the modern sense." P. 19. 
 
 7 P. 15. Webster wrote (May 12, 1798) to Pickering describing the 
 election :" There never was so full an election. The citizens . . . . 
 have no wish to be involved in political disputes .... the usual 
 vote for governor and council has risen from 3,000 to 7,000 .... 
 The number of votes mustered by the clubs will not rise above 590." 
 Pickering Mss., XXII, 156, from Robinson, Jeffersonian Democracy, 
 p. 18 n. See also Robbins, Diary, I, 54. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 231 
 
 trolled by the local Jacobin Club, which would 
 
 send representatives to the Assembly. In all 
 
 about fifteen or sixteen "Jacobins" were counted. 8 
 
 Senator Uriah Tracy wrote from Litchfield, April 
 
 8, 1799: 
 
 Kirby is, to the disgrace of this town again chosen deputy, 
 but he has no cause of triumph .... all the solid, re- 
 spectable part of the town, without any preconcern or in- 
 trigue, voted against him, and the third time going round 
 he just obtained, by the aid of every tag-rag who could 
 be mustered, and a whole winter of intrigue and very ex- 
 pensive intrigue too .... his triumph is short lived, 
 for we shall soon show the ugly whelp his face in the glass. 
 Connecticut is substantially right and so is Litchfield. 9 
 
 In the Assembly the silence of the " Jacobins' ' 
 was noted, as was their factious support of the 
 Anglican petition. Their highest vote, given to 
 General Hart for assistant, amounted to i,ooo. 10 
 The American Mercury at Hartford and the New 
 , London Bee became the organs of the emerging 
 opposition party. A press was what was needed, 
 I as Matthew Lyon recognized, when he threatened 
 \ to revolutionize the state by establishing a Repub- 
 ! lican paper similar to his Vermont organ. 11 } Yet 
 in 1799 Federalist fears were slight, despite Gov- 
 ernor Trumbull's suggestion to the Legislature in 
 submitting the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, 
 that there were appearances of "unreasonable 
 jealousy" or "unguarded passion." 12 
 
 8 Courant, Feb. 25, Apr. 22, June 3, 1799. 
 
 9 Gibbs, Administrations of Washington and Adams, II, 232. 
 
 10 Courant, Oct. 28, 1799. 
 
 11 New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, VI, 291; Courant, Dec. 1, 1800. 
 
 12 Courant, May 13, 20, June 3, 1799. There is some suggestive 
 material in Tutor Zechariah Lewis, Oration, July 4, 1799. 
 
232 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 In 1800 the Republicans formally organized for 
 the Jeffersonian campaign, in a meeting called at 
 the home of Pierrepont Edwards of New Haven. 13 
 Edwards was a federal district judge and probably 
 the leading lawyer in his vicinity. A brother of 
 Jonathan Edwards, Jr., long pastor of North 
 Church, New Haven, an uncle of President D wight 
 and of that notorious Republican, Aaron Burr, re- 
 lated to Tapping Reeve by marriage, he was a rep- 
 resentative of the state aristocracy. His position 
 was of value to the nascent party in a community 
 bound by local family prestige. Burr probably 
 lent his organizing ability, for later he made an 
 electioneering tour into the state. Among the 
 leaders interested were General William Hart, Col- 
 onel Ephraim Kirby, Alexander Wolcott, Gideon 
 Granger, Abraham Bishop, and Asa Spalding. 
 
 Abraham Bishop inaugurated the partisan strug- 
 gle, with his Commencement Address on "The 
 Extent and Power of Political Delusions." It 
 will suffice to remark here that, through its 
 cynical attack on the Standing Order, the church, 
 the clergy, and the college, it gave the tone 
 of bitterness characterizing the generation-long 
 campaign of the opposition party. Bishop's 
 attack recoiled on himself. He was described as 
 an atheistical Jacobin, seeking to arouse the 
 latent passions of class and sectarian hatred, in an 
 endeavor to overturn religion and law. He was 
 the unworthy son of a fine family whose glory was 
 
 13 Greene, Religious Liberty, pp. 416-418, 474; Daggett, Essay 
 (1803), p. 19. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 233 
 
 the well-being of the Christian commonwealth. 
 He was embroiling families and neighborhoods in 
 factious struggles, hitherto unknown in the state. 
 His reputation was torn to shreds. 
 
 The Republican principles were not yet clearly 
 enunciated. Aside from the religious questions, 
 which gave Republicanism an anticlerical char- 
 acter, the issues were those of the national Jeffer- 
 sonian party. Republicans demanded more de- 
 mocracy in opposition to the Anglo-men, whom 
 they described as desirous of waging war upon 
 France in support of old-world aristocracies and 
 their beloved English constitution. If the Federal- 
 ists arrogated to themselves the title of "friends 
 of religion and order," Republicans would be 
 known as the successors of the patriots, "friends 
 of liberty and the constitution." They called for 
 the districting of the state, in order that the mem- 
 bership in Congress be representative. Presi- 
 dential electors, made up of the governor, lieuten- 
 ant governor, and the five judges of the superior 
 court, were described as hostile to the spirit of 
 free government. 
 
 The new party waged a vigorous spring cam- 
 paign in 1800. The Federalists were taken by 
 surprise, so that their vote was somewhat scat- 
 tered; while the Democrats massed their vote 
 with unusual success. In this way General Wil- 
 liam Hart with 1,587 votes attained fourteenth 
 and Gideon Granger with 1,052 votes the eight- 
 teenth place on the congressional nomination. 14 
 
 14 Mercury, May 22, 1800. 
 
234 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 While the electoral mechanism made success im- 
 possible, winning places on the list was encourag- 
 ing in that it aroused high hopes. Federalist vigi- 
 lance prevented a like happening for a long time, 
 for a surprise could succeed but once. 
 
 The Presidential campaign commenced early. 18 
 Jefferson's character and religious views were 
 castigated by Federalists, lay and clerical. To 
 counteract these injurious calumnies the Repub- 
 licans printed a free pamphlet, giving extracts 
 from Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia" to prove him 
 a God-fearing man. Federalist leaders and papers 
 urged the freemen to look to New York and Penn- 
 sylvania for the results wrought by a revolution- 
 ary party. Republicans were accused of counter- 
 feiting assistants' nominations, in order to scatter 
 the votes of unsuspecting freemen; of meeting in 
 private cabals ; of sending missionaries to harangue 
 people in clubs and taverns; and of actually nomi- 
 nating themselves. The touring of the eastern 
 counties by the Republican candidate for Congress 
 was used as proof of the brazen affrontery of 
 demagogues. It was indeed a revolutionary 
 manoeuver, for nominations had always been 
 clothed with a popular character and open elec- 
 tioneering was unknown. 16 Every effort was 
 
 15 Chauncey Goodrich wrote from Hartford, Aug. 26, 1800: "The 
 Democrats have taken courage to come out into the open day, and are 
 very busy. A few active recruits have joined them .... As 
 yet, it is not known that any character of worth has gone over to their 
 side." Gibbs, op. cit., II, 411. Welling, Connecticut Federalism, pp. 
 296 ff.; H. S. Randall, Life of Jefferson, II, 642 ff.; Adams, History of 
 U. S., I, 312 ff.; Courant, July 7, Sept. 1, 29, 1800. 
 
 u Courant, Aug 4, Sept. 1; Mercury, Sept. 11, 1800. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 235 
 
 made to prevent Republican success by beseeching 
 electors to attend the fall meeting and vote for 
 known Federalists. A newspaper reign of terror 
 appears to have been inaugurated to intimidate 
 Republican editors. 17 The result of the freemen's 
 meetings was anxiously awaited. In the assist- 
 ants' nomination Hart won the eighteenth place. 
 For Congress the seven elected were Federalists, 
 but Hart received the eighth and Granger the 
 ninth place. The Assembly again had " demo- 
 cratic" members, though not as many as in the 
 spring. Governor Trumbull made his first politi- 
 cal speech, calling upon Providence to preserve 
 the state from the dangerous innovations of the 
 time. 18 
 
 17 Robbins, Diary, I, 124, reported from Danbury: "The Democratic 
 editor in this town has blown out and moved to Norwalk. The boys 
 attended him out of town with bells, quills, etc." Charles Holt of the 
 New London Bee was fined $200 and sentenced to three months im- 
 prisonment by the circuit court. There was a movement to establish 
 the Republican Optic at Litchfield. Mercury, Sept. 25, 1800; Courant, 
 Apr. 21, Dec. 1, 1800. 
 
 18 Hart received 3,892 votes to 9,625 for William Hillhouse. For 
 Congress Hart polled 3,250 votes to Samuel Dana's 6,273. Courant, 
 Oct. 13, 20, 27; Mercury, Oct. 23; Robbins, Diary, I, 123. Webster 
 to Wolcott, Sept. 17, 1800: "We have had the warmest election in 
 Connecticut that I ever saw. We have defeated the Jacobins in this 
 town [New Haven]; in others the victory is upon their side. Their 
 astonishing exertions, secrecy, and discipline have effected much — their 
 lies and misrepresentations exceed all credibility. They will not, I 
 believe, carry any important point this time — but the principles of 
 corruption are spreading fast in Connecticut — and the last stronghold 
 of republicanism is so violently assaulted that its fate is uncertain. I 
 have long believed that no government in which the right of suffrage 
 is founded on population can be durable — and the cheapness of that 
 right will greatly accelerate the destruction of ours." Ford, Webster, 
 II, 506 
 
236 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Federalists congratulated themselves on their 
 success. With the Republican poll well over 
 3,000, they were thankful that an unusual Federal- 
 ist vote was cast. Otherwise, the party of disorder 
 would have saddled itself in power, displacing the 
 tried men of the old order. 
 
 Republicans, it was said, were so organized and 
 drilled blindly to vote for designated characters, 
 that their chances of success were vastly increased. 
 In Connecticut, as elsewhere, the Jeffersonian 
 party was educating the people to use the ballot 
 and not to leave the business of governing to a 
 professional class. To counteract Republican ap- 
 peals, Federalist leaders were forced to bring out 
 their whole voting strength. The ballot was to 
 become an instrument of value, as more than 
 a nominal rule of the people was about to be 
 developed through party life. The poll became 
 larger ; and more stress was laid upon the privilege 
 of suffrage. The national election of 1800 encour- 
 aged Republicans to "revolutionize" Connecticut. 
 
 The campaign of 1801 was inaugurated by a 
 state gathering of a thousand Republicans, at 
 Wallingford on March 11, to celebrate the Jeffer- 
 son-Burr victory. 19 This was the first of a series 
 of party jubilees which aroused popular interest, 
 much as did the Methodist camp-meeting, from 
 which they probably originated. To the sober 
 Federalist it was a contemptible pandering to the 
 multitude. Gideon Granger read the Declaration 
 of Independence; Rev. Stanley Griswold preached 
 
 19 Mercury, Mar. 19, 26, Apr. 1, June 11; Courant, Mar. 9, 23, 1801. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 237 
 
 the sermon; and after Pierrepont Edwards had 
 read Jefferson's inaugural address, Abraham Bishop 
 delivered an oration, taking as his motto, "Our 
 Statesmen to the Constitution and our Clergy to 
 the Bible." Anticlerical as it was in bias, its 
 tone was more destructive, with its insistence that 
 the state was without a constitution. The rally 
 ended with a banquet at which toasts were given 
 to the Republican leaders in nation and state, to 
 true religion, and to the destruction of a political 
 ministry and a state church. J 
 
 • v The anticlerical plank was made emphatic. 
 The union of church and state was becoming the 
 crucial issue, as the clergy were condemned as 
 "political parsons." 20 Fisher Ames, who was 
 desirous of making tne Boston Palladium a Lon- 
 don Gazette, wrote to Theodore Dwight, asking 
 that the clergy and good men assist its circulation, 
 as they were doing in Massachusetts. He con- 
 tinued: "An active spirit must be aroused in 
 every town to check the incessant proselytizing 
 acts of the Jacobins, who will soon or late subvert 
 Connecticut, as surely as other States unless 
 resisted with a spirit as ardent as their own." 21 
 
 20 "Those states which are most under the hierarchical yoke, will be 
 last .... The favorite theme of uniting church and state, has 
 been more cherished in New England than in any other part of the 
 United States, and more in Connecticut than any other state. The 
 numerous advocates of this system will not yield, 'till the influence of 
 truth, and the voice of the people become too powerful for further 
 resistance." Mercury, May 11, 1801. 
 
 21 He said this paper " should whip Jacobins as a gentleman would a 
 chimney-sweeper, at arm's length, and keeping aloof from his soot." 
 Fisher Ames, I, 292-295, 315. 
 
238 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Federalists did not deny the deep-rooted influence 
 of the clergy, but defended it as something de- 
 sirable. 22 They defined the issue as one between 
 "Religion and Infidelity, Morality and Debauch- 
 ery, legal Government and total Disorganization." 
 Resenting what they termed an infidelic attack 
 on the church and its ministry, they questioned 
 the Christian motives of the Baptists and Metho- 
 dists who were in accord. Their stand was honest, 
 for they had convinced themselves that only under 
 the ancient system could the commonwealth's wel- 
 fare be assured. Theirs was the conservatism of 
 an intrenched interest. 
 
 In the spring election of 1801 Republican can- 
 didates first appeared for governor and lieutenant 
 governor, Judge Richard Law and Colonel Eph- 
 riam Kirby. 23 Against neither of them could a 
 reasonable objection be raised. Law was an 
 excellent justice, but a political apostate. That 
 was enough! Than Kirby, no contemporary did 
 more to raise the Connecticut bar and legal educa- 
 tion to a higher level. Upon counting the vote 
 
 22 Courant, Jan. 12, Feb. 2, 1801; D wight, Travels, IV, 404 ff.; Robbins, 
 Diary, I, 135. Theodore Dwight's frequently quoted Oration of 
 1801, after describing the lowering tone of religion and morals, broken 
 family ties, asked: "The outlaws of Europe, the fugitives from the 
 pillory, and the gallows, have undertaken to assist our own abandoned 
 
 citizens, in the pleasing work of destroying Connecticut 
 
 Can imagination paint anything more dreadful on this side of hell?" 
 Pp. 15-17, 28-31. 
 
 23 Courant, Apr. 6, May 18, 25, 1801. For biographical notices of 
 Kirby, see: Kilbourne, Sketches, pp. 103-107; Orcutt, Torrington, p. 
 207; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 236; Mercury, Dec. 13, 1804; May 
 16, 1805. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 239 
 
 it was found that Governor Trumbull and Lieu- 
 tenant Governor Treadwell had received 11,156 
 and 9,066 against 1,056 and 2,038 votes for their 
 opponents. Calvin Goddard for Congress re- 
 ceived 7,397 votes as against 3,256 for Granger. 
 The Republicans had at least forced out the 
 Federalist vote, for such a poll for governor had 
 never been recorded. In the Assembly the new 
 party won thirty-three seats, or about a sixth. 
 Certain towns were becoming Republican strong- 
 holds, whereas other doubtful towns were inclining 
 toward Republicanism. A study of the situation 
 will show Republican strength throughout the state. 
 
 Jefferson's election materially benefited the local 
 organization, in furnishing "deserving democrats" f 
 with paying federal offices. They were thus 
 enabled to carry on their political propaganda and 
 build a Republican machine. It was excusable, 
 for the minority party received no state or local 
 appointments, and without patronage the opposi- 
 tion could not have maintained itself so many 
 years. This explained the persistence which 
 astounded the Federalists, who expected that each 
 of their overpowering victories would cause oppo- 
 sition to die of sheer desperation. 
 
 Nothing excited Connecticut as much as Jeffer- 
 sbn's removal of Elizur Goodrich from the col- 
 lectorship of New Haven, and the appointment 
 ol the aged mayor, Samuel Bishop. 24 Goodrich, 
 
 24 Courant, Mar. 2, 30, June 15, July 30, 1801; Mercury, June 11, 18, 
 July 23, 1801; Ford, Webster, I, 515-522; Greene, Religious Liberty 
 pp. 421-423; Charles Burr Todd, Life of Col. Aaron Burr, p. 93; C. R 
 Fish, Civil Service and the Patronage, pp. 33-38. 
 
240 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 named by Adams and approved by the Senate, 
 February 19, 1801, resigned his seat in Congress 
 to accept the sinecure. The reason for the 
 removal, besides that of place-making, was Good- 
 rich's unbecoming activity in advancing the inter- 
 ests of Aaron Burr before Congress. The mer- 
 chants of New Haven drew up a memorial to the 
 President, criticizing the appointment of a man 
 nearly eighty years of age who could only perform 
 his duties through clerks and who was already 
 overburdened with state and local offices. Their 
 real complaint was that his "notorious" son would 
 be the actual collector. Jefferson in reply de- 
 fended the appointment because of the noble 
 career of Bishop and the advantage of his judg- 
 ment, if not his clerical labor, in the office. Criti- 
 cism was not checked, nor was there a lessening of 
 assaults on Abraham Bishop and patronage evils. 
 Goodrich as a Federalist martyr was made professor 
 of law at Yale, elevated to the Council, and on the. 
 elder Bishop's death elected mayor of New Haven. 25 J 
 The case was doubly important, as the first breach 
 in Connecticut Federalism, as the first glimpse 
 of democracy triumphant. 
 
 ' Abraham Bishop, the " first consul," succeeded 
 his father as collector with fees of about $3,6oo. 26 
 The " steady, firm and unshaken Republican," 
 Gideon Granger, was made Postmaster-General 
 with a $3,000 salary, but his duties at the capital 
 
 25 Courant, Sept. 21, 1803. 
 
 26 Bentley, Diary, III, 257; Courant, Sept. 7, Oct. 12, 1803; Mercury, 
 Oct. 13, 1803. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 241 
 
 did not prevent a tour of his native state about 
 election time. 27 Alexander Wolcot t was given 
 the Middletown collectorship, worth close to $3,000 
 a year, in the place of "a violent, irritable, priest- 
 ridden, implacable, ferocious federalist," whose 
 removal Pierrepont Edwards advised. Madison in 
 181 1 nominated Wolcott for the Supreme Court, 
 but the Senate failed to confirm him. 28 Granger 
 remembered some of his friends with postmaster- 
 ships, among them Bishop's brother-in-law, Jona- 
 than Law of Hartford. 29 Barlow was honored 
 with a French mission. Ephraim Kirby, a revenue 
 supervisor, was appointed a judge for Louisiana 
 territory, just prior to his death. 30 Commissioner- 
 ships of bankruptcy furnished positions for twelve 
 men. Others were awarded government con- 
 tracts. 31 In all, a fairly extensive list could be 
 compiled. 
 
 Federalists found in the patronage a vulnerable 
 point, to be continually assaulted. The high 
 salaries of collectorships had a sinister look to a 
 
 "Courant, Nov. 16, 1801; June 28, 1802; Dexter, Biographical 
 Sketches, IV, 546 ff. 
 
 28 Fish, Civil Service, pp. 33-34; Mercury, Aug. 20, 1801; Sept. 
 11, 18, 1806; Feb. 14, 1811; Courant, Feb. 13, 1811; Dexter, Biographical 
 Sketches, IV, 80-82. 
 
 29 New Haven, Litchfield, Durham, for instance. Granger was an 
 ardent spoilsman, being removed in 1814 for this reason. Courant, 
 Feb. 22, Nov. 22, 1802; Jan. 12, June 5, 1803; Adams, History of U. S., 
 VII, 399; Andrews, John Cotton Smith, p. 61. 
 
 30 Mercury, July 16, 1801; Dec. 13, 1804. 
 
 31 Courant, July 19, 1802; June 11, 1806; Mar. 16, 1808. The Con- 
 necticut Gazette counted nineteen men who were rewarded for "useful 
 labors." Then it must be remembered the extension of business meant 
 additional Republican postmasters, revenue offices, etc. 
 
242 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 people whose governor and college president did 
 not receive a third as much. Parallel columns 
 of fees paid federal and local officials gave weight 
 to charges of federal corruption and extravagance. 
 Republican leaders were described as "a set of 
 office-holders and office-seekers, under the National 
 Government .... using every possible ex- 
 ertion to destroy this State." 32 They were rich 
 demagogues receiving fabulous salaries out of the 
 public treasury, riding in carriages, stirring up 
 class strife by wickedly deceiving the populace 
 in an attempt to gain control of the state. As 
 these attacks were not without effect, it would 
 seem that patronage was morally injurious to 
 Republican growth, even though it furnished the 
 sinews of party patriotism. 
 
 In the fall of 1801 a Republican list for assistants 
 was issued. An excuse was deemed necessary, so 
 it was suggested that President Dwight's clique 
 had secretly fathered a Federal-Republican list. 33 
 The Republican list included certain Federalists 
 of broad type, Williams, Samuel Johnson, and 
 Zephaniah Swift, an augury of the later Tolera- 
 tion party. While the Republican nomination was 
 bitterly assailed, it was eminently respectable, 
 some five being Revolutionary officers, another a 
 
 32 Courant, Mar. 12, 1806. See: Courant, June 4, 11, 1806; July 3, 
 1811; Apr. 6, 1813. In 1809 Webster wrote to Madison that he would 
 do well by appointing religious men in Connecticut. Ford, Webster, 
 I, 529. II, 60 ff. 
 
 33 Mercury, Sept. 17, 1801. The Middlesex Gazette had already 
 printed the Republican list. Courant, Sept. 14. For the votes see: 
 Courant, Sept. 28, 1801; Mercury, Oct. 22, 1801. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 243 
 
 physician, and others lawyers. At the polls their 
 highest man, Granger, received a vote of 3,936 
 against 10,583 for Hillhouse. For Congress, 
 Granger polled 4,187 votes to 7,021 for Congress- 
 man Benjamin Tallmadge. In the Assembly forty 
 Republican representatives answered the roll. 
 Every office of importance was contested, so men 
 were bound to regard Republicanism as a party, 
 not a faction. . 
 
 I/The year, 1802, gave to the opposition a platform 
 of local issues about which a determined fight could 
 be waged. Pointing to the Federalist stand-up 
 law, which was intended to strengthen the hold of 
 the Standing Order, Republicans were able to 
 set forth as their first principles the purity and 
 secrecy of elections and an extension of the suffrage. ) 
 This made an appeal to the sectarian, the farmer, 
 and mechanic, whose near ones were often "por- 
 poises," as well as to the non-voters whose in- 
 fluence might be of value. This tinkering with 
 the electoral machinery vitalized interest in the 
 question of whether or not the state had a con- 
 stitution. To Bishop belongs the credit of mak- 
 ing the lack of a written constitution a political 
 issue. Federalists were thrown on the defensive, 
 a political disadvantage of no mean importance. 
 Theodore Dwight in an oration before the Society 
 of Cincinnati, a supposedly non-partisan, patriotic 
 order, undertook a defense. He described the 
 constitution as unwritten, but resting its claims 
 on the permanence of a hundred and fifty years, 
 during which it had withstood every assault of 
 
244 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 royal prerogative, revolution and faction. It was 
 a government based on the Charter of 1662, which 
 was "little more than a re-establishment of the 
 first constitution, with somewhat more explic- 
 itness," tested by long usage and experience. 
 Dwight's oration was inspired. Henceforth be- 
 lief in the constitution was one of the "steady 
 habits," a political dogma to which every friend of 
 religion and morals must unquestioningly subscribe.) 
 
 Elder John Leland in his sermons of 1801 and 
 1802 called for the abolition of the ecclesiastical 
 constitutions, and of compulsory religious sup- 
 port. 34 He described the people of Connecticut as 
 politically ignorant, for "they have been trained 
 too much in the habit of trusting the concerns of 
 religion and policy to their rulers." , He suggested 
 a constitutional convention, which he computed 
 would not cost more than five cents a head. Then 
 a printed constitution could be presented t6 every 
 freeman for a like sum. Hence for an expenditure 
 of ten cents per man, the state could have a con- 
 stitution and every freeman would be able to judge 
 whether this or that law was constitutional. 
 He exclaimed: What a saving in lawyer's fees! 
 
 If ever there should be a constitution, he hoped 
 that, "despite the deep rooted modes and habits," 
 religious liberty would be granted. Yet he was 
 not sanguine, "considering the long accustomed 
 habits of Connecticut, the prejudices of the people, 
 and the present connection that exists between 
 religion and property — religion and honor — re- 
 
 34 Sermon (1801), pp. 1-28; Dissenters' Strong Box, pp. 30-36. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 245 
 
 ligion and education." With regard to the Federal- 
 ist contention that a constitution then existed, 
 he wrote: 
 
 The people of Connecticut have never been asked, by 
 those in authority, what form of government they would 
 choose; nor in fact, whether they would have any form at 
 all. For want of a specific constitution, the rulers run 
 without bridle or bit, or anything to draw them up to the 
 ring-bolt. Should the legislature make a law, to perpetuate 
 themselves in office for life; this law would immediately 
 become part of their constitution; and who would call them 
 to account therefor? 
 
 Leland thus brought the constitutional question 
 before the Baptist voters, who were led to see in 
 a written constitution the only hope of disestab- 
 
 I lishment. Hence Republican success became a reli- 
 
 | gious hope with them and with the Methodists who 
 
 j were soon to fall into line. ' 
 (^ " Hancock" in an appeal to the Republican voters, 
 
 ! April, 1802, put the question squarely: 
 
 You exhibit to the world the rare and perhaps unprece- 
 dented example, of a people peaceably and quietly consent- 
 ing to be governed, without any compact which secures 
 rights to yourselves, or delegates powers to your rulers . 
 . . . I am ready to admit that you have been influenced 
 by a sacred regard for order and government, otherwise 
 you would not, ever since the American Revolution, have 
 consented to be governed by a charter given your ancestors 
 ! by a British King, and which since your independence has 
 separated you from Britain, has been imposed on you by 
 an act of a legislature not authorized to make the imposition. 35 
 
 He argued: Your legislators have been honest 
 in the past, but history teaches the story of aspir- 
 
 35 Mercury, Apr. 8, 1802. 
 
246 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 ing men, intoxicated with power. You have re- 
 elected them from force of habit, not because of 
 their proven worth, for there is no criterion of 
 their worth. There will be imperceptible increases 
 of power and gradual encroachments on the part 
 of your rulers, who will brand inquiry as licentious- 
 ness, innovation, or infidelity.' He continued: 
 
 Let me ask you if a legislative majority of judges and 
 justices, has not by law provided that the poor man, who 
 trudged on foot his weary pilgrimage through life, should 
 do the same quantity of labour in the public roads as the 
 rich man; while the Justice or Judge, the Clergyman and 
 Physician who encumbered the highways with his Waggon's 
 six cattle team and pleasure Carriage, should bear no part 
 of the burden. 
 
 Why should not officials serve in the militia and 
 defend the state, of whose wealth they are the 
 chief holders? They have deprived you of an 
 independent judiciary and a free vote. He closed 
 warningly : 
 
 You cannot be insensible that the work of a Connecticut 
 Legislator is an arduous, a weighty task. He has not only 
 to guard the people against themselves, but has also the 
 more difficult — the herculean labour of guarding the people 
 against himself. Having no Constitution to limit him, he 
 finds it necessary to be constantly on his guard against the 
 delusions of power and Ambition. He has to contend against 
 his most favorite wishes; his fondest hopes. When he finds 
 it in his power to gratify these hopes — when he finds no 
 check but in the elective voice of the people; and when he 
 finds this elective voice almost confined by law, to those 
 who have similar interests with himself — prudence deserts 
 her helm — ambition seizes it — and the rights cf the people 
 are lost in the usurpation of the statesman. 
 
 The Republicans published their nomination 
 list, which they described as differing from the 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 247 
 
 Federalist list, in that it included men of various 
 classes, professions and creeds. 36 It was not a 
 Congregational lawyer's list nor restricted to the 
 Connecticut valley towns. Farmers as lovers of 
 economy were asked for support. Federalists 
 aroused, frantically called forth their non-active 
 freemen. The campaign, like its successors, 
 abounded in bitter recriminations, personal at- 
 tacks, and in newspaper controversies between pug- 
 naciously partisan editors. 37 
 
 ■The April, 1802, vote was large. The city of 
 Hartford was said to have cast its heaviest vote, 
 amounting to 8.2 per cent of the population. 
 Other towns did equally well. The total vote for 
 governor amounted to 15,891, with a majority for 
 Governor Trumbull of 6,875 over Ephraim Kirby. 38 
 About fifty-five Republican members were sent to 
 the Legislature, in spite of the new election law and 
 the failure of New Haven's Republican papery 
 Not a man were the Republicans able to name on 
 
 36 Mercury, Apr. 8. After this printed lists were usual. Issued 
 at first apologetically by the newspapers, they were soon made out in 
 party caucus and issued under the signature of the chairman, with an 
 appeal to the voters. 
 
 37 An interesting controversy was that between Alexander Wolcott 
 and Senator Uriah Tracy, life-long friends made rabid enemies by poli- 
 tics. To Senator Hillhouse, who joined in proclaiming Wolcott's 
 profligacy, the latter wrote: "If I am a profligate man, to prove it will 
 not be difficult, nor to you an unpleasant task." Mercury, Feb. 28, 
 Mar. 25 and Aug, 19, 1802. The editor of the Mercury deprecated 
 attacks on Kirby, a man long honored by editors like the one in 
 Middle town, who excused libels on Republicans as "strokes of wit." 
 See Courant, Aug. 16. 
 
 38 Courant, Apr. 9; Mercury, May 20. 
 
248 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 the assistants' list, despite their concentration of 
 votes. New London County, which had gone 
 Republican by a small majority in October, 1801, 
 was again Federalist. Small wonder that the 
 General Election was a gala day, and that Federalist 
 leaders and visiting clergy rejoiced in the failure 
 of the "disorganizes." 
 
 The fall election resulted in another contest, even 
 Hartford becoming so doubtful that the old order 
 confessedly were obliged to recruit voters. It was 
 estimated that between seventy and eighty Re- 
 publican representatives were elected, but the 
 number was exaggerated, for only fifty- three votes 
 were cast for Kirby for Senator against one hundred 
 and seventeen for James Hillhouse. The vote on 
 the assistants' nomination showed a marked Re- 
 publican increase, but a much larger Federalist 
 decrease. 39 The Federalist problem was to hold 
 their voters to the polls lest, caught unawares, they 
 be defeated by a better directed minority. 
 
 On March 9, 1803, another Republican festival 
 was held at New Haven. 40 Apparently the Walling- 
 ford gathering was regarded as a success in propa- 
 gating Republican principles and in winning votes. 
 Two dissenting elders conducted the religious ob- 
 servances. Pierrepont Edwards, chairman of the 
 Republican state committee, was the orator of 
 the day. At the banquet the usual toasts were 
 
 z 'Courant, Sept. 27, Nov. 8; Mercury, Sept. 23, Nov. 4, 1802. 
 40 Mercury, Mar. 3, 17, 24, 1803; Courant, Feb. 9, Mar. 16, Apr. 6, 
 1803. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 249 
 
 heard. 41 The Courant admitted that about fifteen 
 hundred persons attended, but no fine ladies and 
 few men of worth, for the gathering was held in 
 contempt by merchants, sea captains, and re- 
 spectable mechanics. The bishop of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church refused to attend, possibly, the 
 editor assured his readers, because he remembered 
 a prayer of his church: "From privy conspiracy 
 and sedition — Good Lord deliver us." The mere 
 fact that Bishop Jarvis was invited was in itself a 
 significant bid for Episcopalian support. It was to 
 be a forlorn hope for several years, partly because 
 of the aristocratic tendencies of this very bishop., 
 In answer to its rival's description of the assem'- 
 blage as a ragged throng, the American Mercury 
 declared that those who sat on the stage alone 
 were worth more "than Dwight's whole corpora- 
 tion," by a hundred thousand dollars. This the 
 Courant agreed might well be; for the corporation 
 was made up of ministers of small means and mem- 
 bers of the Council who were elevated by the 
 people because of assured merit. The festival was 
 well advertised, thereby giving prominence to 
 democratic principles and occasioning more con- 
 troversial and personal attacks 
 
 The New Haven celebration opened the April 
 campaign. The extenson of the suffrage, which 
 had been defeated in the last session, the necessity 
 
 41 "The State of Connecticut— May its civil rights soon have con 
 stitutional bounds — its professional men be confined within their limits 
 and its courts be reduced from annual dependence on Suitors and 
 Advocates." Mercury, Mar. 17. 
 
250 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 of a constitution, the position of lawyers and 
 clergy, the extravagance of the local government, 
 and the unfair system of taxation were brought 
 before the people. Rev. Jonathan Bird denounced 
 things Republican in a sermon, only to find him- 
 self and his kind valiantly attacked by General 
 Hart. The author of the " Porpoises" articles, 
 supposedly Bishop, argued that taxation which 
 was in no way based on valuation, but upon the 
 century-old plan of dividing all property into 
 classes and did not include the newer forms of 
 wealth, was grossly unfair to the poor man. Yet 
 all attempts to revise the faulty system, such as 
 had been accomplished in Massachusetts, were 
 defeated by the special interests. That, he con- 
 tended, was bound to be the case while the state 
 contented itself with "the unauthorized farce" 
 of a constitution under which perfect beings, but 
 not the frail men of the work-a-day world, might 
 live. His attack on lawyers must have lost force 
 in view of the published list of leading Republi- 
 cans who were bred to the law. 42 
 
 Both parties were determined to muster their 
 full strength. With a "stand-pat" program Fed- 
 eralists found it doubly hard. Yet they were able 
 to impress unthinking voters with the dangers 
 ahead. An anonymous address, probably by Noah 
 Webster, appealed for the re-election of the old 
 officers: "Citizens of Connecticut! Will you also 
 add to the long list of republics basely ungrateful?" 
 Republicans urged the defeat of the enemies of 
 
 42 Mercury, Mar. 3, 31; C our ant, Apr. 6, 1803. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 251 
 
 the national government, 43 the friends of Alien 
 and Sedition laws, of armies and navies. It was 
 pointed out that Republican economy had already 
 saved the voter enough so that he could afford the 
 monetary loss of attendance at the polls. 
 
 Party activity was attested by a record vote of 
 22,446 for governor, Trumbull receiving 14,375. 
 Yet, as it represented only a trifle less than nine 
 per cent of the population, the Republican con- 
 tention that a goodly proportion of residents were 
 non-freemen rather than inactive freemen, seems 
 close to the truth. About three-quarters of the 
 Legislature were Federalist and nearly four-fifths 
 of the towns. Only forty Republican representa- 
 tives were elected, and in every county save Tolland 
 their vote showed a decrease. 44 Apparently the 
 Republican plan of districting the state and ap- 
 pointing district and town committees had failed. 
 They denied despondency, consoling themselves 
 with the reflection that they had forced the Federal- 
 ists to bring out in carriages their reserves of aged 
 men and invalids, and that they had driven parsons 
 to preach pulpit politics. Party life was indeed 
 bringing out the vote, Federalists exhorting men 
 by pointing out the hardships Washington used 
 
 43 Daggett vigorously denied this in a review of the states' relations 
 with the national government since 1776. Address (1803). Cf. J. Q. 
 Adams's charge that Senator Tracy and other ardent New England 
 Federalists looked toward separation; and denials in 1829 by James 
 Gould, James Hillhouse, John Cotton Smith, S. Baldwin, Col. Tallmadge 
 and Calvin Goddard. Henry Adams, Documents Relating to New Eng- 
 land Federalism, pp. 93 ff., 342, 354 ff. 
 
 44 Courant, Apr. 20, May 18; Mercury, May 12, 19, 1803. 
 
252 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 to undergo to attend an election. As Fisher Ames 
 wrote to Theodore Dwight: "The best men among 
 the Federalists are forced out in self-defence, — 
 the immortals of the Persian army or sacred band 
 of Pelopidas." 45 General Election was a glorious 
 Federalist celebration, ministers even from the 
 neighboring states gathering to rejoice in the con- 
 stancy of Connecticut. 46 
 
 The September campaign was less spirited. 47 
 A celebration in honor of the acquisition of Louisiana 
 had been held in August in Litchfield to instil 
 Republicanism into that county. The purchase, 
 from the financial rather than constitutional side, 
 was attacked by the Federalists, who saw corruption 
 in a vast expenditure for bogs, mountains and 
 Indians, which would cost Connecticut alone 
 $750, ooo. 48 Republicans were taxed with inject- 
 ing the religious issue because they had supported 
 the Baptist petition, which sought a religious dis- 
 establishment. Senator Uriah Tracy issued a 
 manifesto in defense of the Council as the state's 
 true anchorage to Washingtonian principles, and in 
 condemnation of the Republican list as irrespon- 
 sible men secretly advanced. 
 
 A large vote was polled in September, 1803, the 
 assistants' nomination being lead by Goodrich, 
 
 45 Fisher Ames, I, 335-336. 
 
 46 They were forced to admit that this cost the state $117.50, in the 
 face of Democratic charges. Courant, May 18, June 22, 1803. 
 
 47 Alexander Wolcott's address to the freemen, and Burr's visit to 
 confer with Generals Hart and Wilcox, were the noteworthy features. 
 Courant, Sept. 14, 1803. 
 
 48 Courant, June 1, Aug. 10, Sept. 11, 1803. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 253 
 
 with 11,438 votes to Asa Spalding's 6,815. For 
 the Assembly, Republicans claimed sixty-three 
 men, out of a total of two hundred and three. 49 
 At any rate the opposition party had no reason 
 to be downhearted. 
 
 The spring elections of 1804 proved most un- 
 satisfactory to the Federalists. A dropping off 
 of a fifth in the vote struck the Federalists es- 
 pecially hard, so that Trumbull's majority was 
 less by about twenty-three hundred. Seventy- 
 eight Republican representatives were elected, 
 from forty-seven towns. Apparently the Federalist 
 appeal against the Virginian rule supported by 
 discontented persons and foreigners had lost force. 
 Jefferson's administration, by its moderation and 
 prosperity, made absurd the old fears with which 
 Federalism inspired its adherents. As the Inde- 
 pendent Chronicle reviewed the situation: "In Con- 
 necticut truth and reason are pervading the mass 
 of the people. A hallowed jealousy is shaking 
 their bigoted assemblies and the pontifical chair 
 of the clergy totters beneath them." 50 
 
 In honor of the Louisiana purchase, a Republican 
 celebration was held at Hartford, May 11, i8o4. B1 
 All of the leaders were present at the banquet to 
 hear Abraham Bishop discuss the state's constitu- 
 
 49 Spalding was a graduate of Yale and the Litchfield Law School, 
 and a prominent lawyer of Norwich. At the time of his death, 1811, 
 he was about the wealthiest man in the eastern counties. Pease and 
 Niles, Gazetteer, p. 149; Mercury, Aug. 22, 29, Oct. 20, 1811. 
 
 50 In Courant, Mar. 15. See Conn. Herald, June 12; Mercury, Apr. 
 19, 26, May 7, 24; Courant, Apr. 4, May 16, 1804. 
 
 51 Mercury, Apr. 12, May 17, 1804; Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 25. 
 
254 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 tional history. He contended that in practice the 
 lack of a popularly constituted government had 
 resulted in the concentration of all power in the 
 hands of the Council, or rather in the hands of 
 seven lawyers, who made up a working majority 
 of that body. He dwelt upon the dependence of 
 the courts and impressed his audience with the 
 view that Federalism and reaction could not pre- 
 vail under the changes which a constitution would 
 bring about. Bishop suggested: "That the people 
 be convened to form a constitution which shall 
 separate the legislative, executive and judicial powers, 
 — shall define the qualifications of freemen, so that 
 legislators shall not tamper with election laws, and 
 shall district the state so that freemen may judge of 
 the candidates for their suffrages.'' 
 
 This idea met with such immediate favor, that 
 the general committee published his speech as a 
 campaign document. Connecticut was described 
 as an "elective despotism or rather elective aris- 
 tocracy." 52 Bishop did not originate the idea of 
 calling a convention, but he realized its political 
 value. While not of a creative mind, he was an 
 astute politician. As a matter of state welfare 
 it was regrettable that the constitutional question 
 had become political ; but from the purely Republi- 
 can standpoint, the merger was a master's stroke. 
 
 The New Haven meeting, August 29, 1804, 
 marked a milestone in Republican affairs. 63 A 
 
 52 Mercury, Aug. 16, 1804. 
 
 53 For an account of the convention: Mercury, Aug. 9, Sept. 6; 
 Courant, Aug. 22; Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 27; Lamed, Windham 
 County, II, 223; Church Ms.; Judd's Address. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 255 
 
 call had been sent out by a general committee of 
 Republicans, headed by Pierrepont Edwards, which 
 declared that the state was without a constitution 
 and that obviously change would not originate 
 with those in power, for rulers will not willingly 
 diminish their own powers. There need be no 
 alarm, it was said, for the intention was simply 
 to advance the movement for a written constitu- 
 tion, setting forth principles of right government, 
 favoring no class or party, guaranteeing equal 
 privileges to all, and preventing the present con- 
 centration of power. Delegates chosen by demo- 
 cratic caucuses in ninety-seven towns took seats 
 in this somewhat irregular convention. This body 
 affords an excellent example of a political convention 
 drawing up a platform. William Judd was named 
 chairman of this secretly conducted gathering. 
 Resolutions were passed that, as the state was 
 without a constitution, an address should be 
 drafted and widely published, advising "that it is 
 expedient to take measures preparatory to the for- 
 mation of a constitution." Henceforth the calling 
 of a convention became the cardinal Republican 
 plank. ' 
 
 The address to the freemen commenced with the 
 usual platitudes, that all men are created equal, 
 that certain natural rights are inalienable, and that 
 government should be grounded in the consent 
 of the governed. 54 Since 1776, when the Legisla- 
 ture usurped the people's sovereignty, there was 
 
 54 Mercury, Sept. 6. It was printed as a handbill for free distribu- 
 tion. Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 28. 
 
256 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 no law that any legislature could not revoke. All 
 the other states, save Rhode Island, had drawn up 
 constitutions, and the four new states had done like- 
 wise. Evidently it was not a question of party poli- 
 tics, but a universal desire to secure in a written 
 contract the results of the Revolution. These con- 
 stitutions did not violate existing privileges, but 
 defined civil and religious rights, separated the 
 powers of government, limited the departments, 
 and established in the people the power of amend- 
 ment. To allow a legislature to rule, bound only 
 by its own pleasure, was dangerous folly. With 
 a constitution, one religious denomination could not 
 bind another, nor the legislative branch of govern- 
 ment make dependent the judiciary; nor could 
 suffrage privileges be curtailed. If everything 
 has gone well and all is secure, then let the voice 
 of the people maintain the present establishment. 
 To Republicans, the majority party in the nation, 
 it seemed "that the government appeared to favor 
 the ruling class, to tend toward aristocracy and 
 the embarrassment of democracy, to oppose the 
 central government, support a prejudiced judiciary, 
 and to concentrate all powers in the face of warn- 
 ing precedents." In times of party strife a con- 
 stitution is invaluable, for whichever party is in 
 control will use its position to hinder the opposition. 
 Nor was there any danger of a party constitution, 
 even though parties were not actually balanced, 
 for reliance can be placed in the good sense of the 
 people. They will see that: "It will not be an in- 
 strument full of innovations, nor will it be a de- 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 257 
 
 parture from what the experience of other states 
 and of our own has proved to be useful. You 
 will have no new experiments to try; all this busi- 
 ness has been made intelligible in our country as 
 the art of ship-building." Let all men consider 
 the question and vote accordingly. Let the people 
 assert themselves and provide a constitutional 
 government based on their needs and the experience 
 of sister states or at least themselves re-establish 
 the charter of Charles II. 
 
 The New Haven Address surcharged the air 
 with the constitutional question. Newspapers 
 prior to the freemen's meeting emphasized the 
 arguments for or against the constitution, almost 
 to the exclusion of other news. Federalists pic- 
 tured the danger of change: to repeal the age- 
 sanctified institutions of the fathers would be dis- 
 graceful. Connecticut was the oldest republic. 
 Its foundation lay in popular election. Innova- 
 tion was but a plan of the Virginians to overthrow 
 a last obstacle to their universal sway. The con- 
 stitution was the people's, for through their elected 
 Legislature they had sanctioned the Charter, which 
 was royal only in name. Even the judiciary 
 found supporters. In practice it was not so de- 
 pendent and after all it was a dependence upon 
 the people. 
 
 On the eve of the September election, 1804, 
 David Daggett anonymously replied to this Ad- 
 dress in a pamphlet entitled Count the Cost.™ 
 
 56 Address (1804), pp. 1-5, 9-13, 17-21; Trumbull, Historical Notes. 
 p. 2S. 
 
258 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 He knew the spirit of his people, and selected his 
 title and arguments accordingly. Will the change 
 of government be worth the cost? The writer 
 claimed that he had no desire for office, but only 
 for good government, intimating that such was 
 not the case with those whom he challenged. He 
 dwelt at length upon the diffusion of knowledge, 
 the support of religion, schools, colleges and libraries, 
 the mild laws, the beneficent influence of the 
 clergy, anything but the issue at hand. All of 
 these would fall before the violence of party, before 
 office-seeking demagogues, the dethroners of re- 
 ligion and morals. This "mischievous and alarm- 
 ing project" of a new constitution was a Jacobinical 
 plot. Eloquently he pictured the French Revo- 
 lution at its worst, suggesting that human nature 
 was everywhere alike. ' 'Jacobinism" in sister states 
 should cause wise men and property owners to 
 hesitate. His was a strong plea to a conservative 
 people. The small farmer, whose knowledge and 
 outlook on life were bounded by his own stone 
 fences, cowered before the warning cry of "Count 
 the Cost." 
 
 The appeal was effective. Still its tone was un- 
 fortunate and hardly excusable even when judged 
 according to the blindly partisan standards of the 
 time. Bishop's charges were similarly over-em- 
 phasized and often unkindly personal, but they 
 were at least over his own signature. In palliation 
 it must be recalled that the Republicans had a 
 positive platform with real abuses to remedy and 
 reforms to initiate, while the Federalist leaders 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 259 
 
 were maintaining a difficult defensive. In this 
 form the question was submitted to the voters. 
 The party lines were so sharply drawn that when 
 a freeman cast a Republican ballot he knew that 
 he was voting for a written constitution and vice 
 versa. 
 
 The autumn election was interesting as a de- 
 risive test of strength. The hardest fight was 
 made to elect representatives, for in them lay vic- 
 tory or defeat for the constitution. With a secret 
 ballot, it would have been a true referendum. 
 The vote was large: Hillhouse headed the Federal 
 list of assistants with 12,348, and J. Bull the Re- 
 publican, with 7,920. In the Assembly the ' 'Vir- 
 ginians," as the Republicans were derisively termed, 
 had sixty-three members, a falling-off of fifteen. 
 Fairfield County, which in the spring had been 
 Democratic by a fair majority, was only saved to 
 the party by thirty-seven votes. New Haven 
 County slipped into the Federalist column with 
 Dnly a hundred and sixty-five votes to spare. 
 The freemen had decided at the polls on their 
 "coronation day." 56 That the Federalists were 
 willing to accept the fruits of victory, was shown 
 in their treatment of the five justices. ) 
 { The justices' case came as an aftermath of the 
 convention at New Haven. Among those who 
 joined in the declaration, that Connecticut had 
 no constitution, were five justices of the peace, of 
 whom Attorney William Judd was the only man 
 
 56 For votes, Mercury, Sept. 13, Nov. 1; Coicrant, Sept. 26, Oct. 1, 
 1804. 
 
260 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 of importance. 57 His case was aggravated, in that 
 he had acted as chairman of the meeting. A 
 veteran of the Revolution, he was long a magis- 
 trate, and for years represented Farmington. That 
 Connecticut had a constitution, was part of the 
 Federalist Bible. Hence the General Assembly, 
 seeing its prestige attacked, determined to punish 
 the justices who alone could be reached. The 
 Council declared that for justices to subscribe to 
 the view that the constitution of the state was 
 null and void and continue in office was highly 
 improper. The matter was then taken up by the 
 Assembly, which ordered them before its bar by 
 a strictly partisan vote of 125 to 43. David 
 Daggett and Asher Miller were instructed to look 
 up the precedents. 
 
 Daggett led in the prosecution, arraigning as a 
 trumpet-call of sedition the New Haven appeal ad- 
 dressed to the people instead of to the legitimate au- 
 thorities. 58 The Charter of Connecticut was above 
 the king and independent of England's existence. 
 The Federal government simply took the crown's 
 place. The General Assembly in 1776 was com- 
 posed of men versed in the laws and customs, who 
 were intent on perpetuating the constitution by 
 passing a formal declaration to that effect. Re- 
 publicans have deduced no proof that in the 
 Assembly of 1786 the existence of a constitution 
 
 57 Jabez Tomlinson and Agur Judson of Stratford, Hezekiah Good- 
 rich of Chatham, and Nathaniel Wanning of Windham. 
 
 68 Based on Church Ms.; Mercury, Nov. 15, 22, Dec. 6; C our ant, 
 Dec. 19, 1804. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 261 
 
 was questioned; yet if such was the case, it was 
 done in a legal, not a seditious manner. Dag- 
 gett here was guilty of cunning reasoning, even if 
 he did not consciously warp the truth. He de- 
 manded that the commissions of the justices should 
 be revoked and committed to men who acknowl- 
 edged and cherished the government of Connecticut. 
 
 Pierrepont Edwards while conducting the defense 
 was interrupted by General Hart, who observed 
 that argument would be unavailing, as the majority 
 had the will and power to pass the measure. On 
 being called to order by Daggett, Hart intimated 
 that he trusted that men might talk or at least 
 think freely in the House. His mention of parties 
 need cause no stir, he added, for party lines are as 
 distinctly marked as county boundaries. There- 
 upon, Daggett and Holmes called for his reprimand, 
 which was given, the sense of the House being taken. 
 The Hart affair attracted considerable attention 
 as proof of Federalist tyranny and its strangle-hold 
 upon the state. 
 
 The commissions were finally revoked by a 
 partisan vote of 123 to 56. A minority protest 
 signed by twenty-four of the bolder Republicans 
 sustained the justices, pointing out that they knew 
 of no constitution, nor do thousands of our citi- 
 zens. The records have been examined in vain, 
 if the term means the same as in other states. A 
 constitution can only be formed by the people. 
 That the government was legal they did not deny. 
 If the compact of 1639, the royal Charter, and the 
 provisional revolutionary government, all sub- 
 
262 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 ject to legislative changes, were to be considered 
 the constitution, then the justices were wrong. 
 This would be preposterous in a republic, though 
 it holds in England or on the continent.; 
 
 Judd died shortly afterward, leaving a manu- 
 script defense, which some of his friends saw 
 through the press. 59 He wrote that they — 
 
 Did not mean to declare, as has been unjustly charged 
 upon us, that this state is without a government, or that 
 the government of this State is an usurped government; for 
 we hold that a constitution and a government are two 
 distinct things. 
 
 All states have governments, he declared, but 
 few have constitutions. Blackstone might describe 
 the English government as a constitution, but he 
 believed with Washington that in America a con- 
 stitution emanated from the people and "that no 
 act or instrument deserves the name of a constitu- 
 tion, unless it be adopted by this supreme power 
 . . . . vested in the people." As a constitu- 
 tion should define and limit the powers of govern- 
 ment, it should be as far above the statutory laws 
 as the laws are above the people. For years it 
 
 59 Mercury, Nov. 29, 1804; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, pp. 73-74. 
 Ten thousand copies were printed for circulation. Simeon Baldwin 
 wrote from Washington, Nov. 26, 1804, to Daggett: "You may 
 depend upon it much is calculated here from that event and that ad- 
 dress .... it is considered as an artful thing and we do not 
 know to whom to impute it .... we know it was not Judd's 
 . . . . some of it we impute to Bishop, but we do not own him 
 the author of the whole, we think it more artfully and guardedly done 
 than his writings usually are. Our friends here are alarmed for the 
 steady habits of Connecticut. Do relieve our anxiety and let us know 
 the effect." Ms. Letter, Yale University Library. 
 
 / 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 263 
 
 has been doubted even by legislators whether 
 Connecticut had a constitution. Recently Feder- 
 alists have dug up the compact of 1639, on seeing 
 that the regal Charter and statutory law would 
 not satisfy the people, but overlooked the fact 
 that New Haven had no share in that instrument. 
 We have no constitution, he argued, as Federal- 
 ists well know, with their artful cant about pious 
 ancestors, the destruction of land titles, marriage 
 contracts, and French Jacobinism. He then cited 
 Hamilton and Montesquieu as witnesses of the 
 danger of a tyranny where all powers of govern- 
 ment are alike centered in one body. The Coun- 
 cil's negative gave it full control over all judges 
 and justices, who, to make matters worse, were 
 often representatives, thus giving the Council a 
 powerful influence over the Assembly. He gave 
 statistics to prove that three quarters of the late 
 representatives came under the Council's patron- 
 age list. The election law originated in the Coun- 
 cil and was enforced in town meeting by the 
 magistrate. Even the Lower House, he thought, 
 needed a constitution to guarantee its own rights. 
 Again, if the supreme power lay in the people in 
 1639, why not at the present time? There never 
 could be a better time to discuss the question, 
 for all was in a state of peace and prosperity. 
 As a last stroke, he appealed to the sovereign 
 people, if their servants should be impeached for 
 addressing them upon a matter of vital, public 
 interest. His arguments were telling, appealing 
 in moderate language to the common sense of 
 
264 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 the electorate. Their effectiveness was increased 
 by an appended sketch which recounted his patri- 
 otic service, honest loyalty to the people and the 
 harsh treatment of a malicious majority, which 
 drove him sorrowing to the grave. 
 
 Judd became a Republican martyr. His mem- 
 ory was toasted and his courage extolled, along 
 with the living justices. Their trial was contrasted 
 with the fairness of that of Judge Chase, who was 
 not prosecuted and tried by the same men. Here 
 was the weightiest proof that a constitution was 
 needed as a safeguard against a party bent only 
 on perpetuating its power, by keeping the people 
 under the yoke of a royal charter. Judd had 
 fought in vain a seven-years' war against tyranny, 
 it was remarked, only to succumb, still fighting 
 the people's battle against the laws of the king's 
 charter. The partisan character of the courts was 
 demonstrated. Republicans were not wanted as 
 Connecticut's magistrates. 60 
 
 The four justices were happily vindicated by 
 their constituencies, all being elected to the next 
 Legislature. Federalists unable to defend their 
 course laughed at the distinction between a govern- 
 ment and a constitution, and cast doubts on the 
 authorship of the Judd defense. They required 
 no justification, for they were a governing majority. 
 
 60 Church Ms.; National Intelligencer, articles in Mercury, Nov. 15, 
 Dec. 27. The Courant, Nov. 14, found it necessary to take the National 
 Intelligencer to task for its interfering interest. Cases of justices 
 guilty of heinous offenses, but yet in office, were cited. Mercury, Nov. 
 15, 1804. See also Mercury, May 23, 1805. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 265 
 
 The constitutional agitation was not allowed to 
 die down. "Numa," in a series of about fifteen 
 articles printed in the American Mercury through 
 the fall of 1804 and the following spring, thoroughly 
 treated the whole question. 61 The compact of 1639 
 had been pressed into service as the necessity of 
 grounding the ancient government in the people 
 was recognized. The limitation of this pact with 
 its exclusion of New Haven, Numa demonstrated, 
 even making use of Trumbull's History. He then 
 sketched the history of New Haven, the blue laws 
 (which Republicans liked to recall), and the grant- 
 ing of the Charter by Charles II. 
 
 In answer to his own query as to where one would 
 find the constitution, the pamphleteer noted that 
 there were many differences between the govern- 
 ing institutions and those provided for in the 
 Charter. If the Charter had been modified, the 
 constitution must be a combination of Charter, 
 usages and law. What is a constitution and how 
 does it differ from a law? In this country it has 
 a well-known signification. It is not a govern- 
 ment, for countries like Turkey, Algiers and Russia 
 have government enough, but no constitution. 
 The mere fact that men, in order to become citizens, 
 took an oath to support the constitution, he con- 
 sidered no proof of their acquiescence or belief 
 in the "constitution." Let the people see the 
 constitution in print or make clear the mystical 
 means by which the constitutional laws, customs 
 
 61 Series commences in Mercury, Oct. 18, 1804. 
 
266 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 and usages may be known. Citizens sustaining such 
 a reputation for intelligence must soon learn that 
 there is no constitution like those of other states 
 or that of the national government. A constitu- 
 tion, he wrote: 
 
 Is an instrument framed and adopted by the supreme 
 power of the State (which in all popular States is the people 
 themselves), defining the great principles on which society 
 is formed, and in conformity to which it is to be governed, 
 establishing the various departments of government and 
 circumscribing by well denned and distinct limits the powers 
 and functions of those departments respectively. 62 
 
 A despotism, he stated, would evolve unless 
 rulers were limited by a written constitution, 
 which would enable a vigilant and intelligent 
 people to know when their liberties were being 
 infringed upon. Otherwise they could not guard 
 against encroachments any more than a farmer 
 without landmarks. The erection of courts and 
 defining of suffrage qualifications he described as 
 a legislative usurpation. Yet without a constitu- 
 tion there could be no legal check save revolution 
 as a last resort. 
 
 The chief obstacle in the way of a constitutional 
 convention, he wrote, came from the propagation 
 of falsehoods by ministers, magistrates, and law- 
 yers. 63 They argued that, if it is admitted that 
 no constitution exists, then the government will 
 be a usurpation and all deeds, contracts, writs and 
 marriages since the Revolution would be illegal. 
 Such was not the case in the other states which 
 
 62 Mercury, Feb. 21, 1805. 
 
 63 Ibid., Mar. 21, 1805. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 267 
 
 were all temporarily without constitutions. Only 
 the ignorant could be so imposed upon. If true, 
 no better arguments for expediting the creation 
 of a legal government could be adduced. The 
 root of the whole difficulty, he diagnosed, as the 
 popular, slavish awe for clergy and magistrates, 
 founded not on their moral or mental superiority, 
 but on the steady habits of bigotry and credulity. 
 Their objection to the framing of a constitution 
 in the midst of violent political factiousness, he 
 swept aside, with the logical answer that the dis- 
 turbance was chiefly over this very issue and could 
 thus be quieted. 
 
 The Democratic appeal to voters was skilfully 
 framed. After demonstrating the weakness of 
 the present system of government, it was charged 
 that those who cry out against innovation were 
 the first slyly to change the institutions of the 
 fathers. They had limited the freedom of suffrage 
 and imperiled the purity of elections. Freemen 
 were warned to remember that "The Legislator 
 and the Minister of Justice may be as fatal to 
 liberty, as have been the Conquerors of the world; 
 and the doors to the temple of freedom, as strongly 
 barricaded by commissions of peace officers, as 
 by the bayonets of Soldiers." 64 
 
 A Democratic investigator found an essay by 
 "Hambden" in the Middlesex Gazette, September, 
 1792, which argued that Connecticut was without 
 a constitution. 65 This was reprinted in the Ameri- 
 
 **Ibid., Mar. 21, 1805. 
 "Ibid., Apr. 4, 1805. 
 
268 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 can Mercury as proof that one was not always 
 regarded as a heresiarch, who believed with Judd 
 that there was no constitution. Connecticut Re- 
 publicans were on the whole moderate, and less 
 impassioned than one would expect. Few would 
 attempt to develop the thesis that, while in struc- 
 ture Connecticut was the most republican of states, 
 in practice it was as little republican as Turkey. 
 Yet such was the view of a neighboring journal. 66 
 A pamphlet, Steady Habits Vindicated, sup- 
 posedly by Daggett, appeared just prior to the 
 April election. Attention was called to the ex- 
 cellence of the present government. It was ancient, 
 and as free a system as "can exist among fallen 
 men," for the elective principle made the Assembly 
 responsible. It was as plainly understood as if the 
 forms were committed to writing. He feared that 
 "If a long constitution, on paper, were adopted, 
 many years and even an age or two might pass 
 away before the common people would under- 
 stand all its niceties, as well as they understand 
 the plain old form under which they and their 
 fathers lived." It was an economical system; 
 official salaries were hardly enough for decent 
 support. Daggett commented: 
 
 It is an alarming circumstance that the men who are fore- 
 most in attempts to overthrow this government are hold- 
 ing offices from the executive of the United States, and are 
 receiving from thence, each of them, a yearly emolument 
 more than twice as great as you allow your governor. Is 
 there a secret understanding between them and their em- 
 
 **Mercury, Oct. 18, 1804. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 269 
 
 ployers at the City of Washington? Has the destruction 
 of your state government, by private agreement, been made 
 a part of their offices? Why are the officers and servants 
 of another government engaged, with a furious zeal, to 
 subvert the institutions of this state? Why have your 
 civil officers and your government been reviled and de- 
 nounced in the official newspaper at the seat of the national 
 government? Why has it been threatened that Connecti- 
 cut shall have a constitution imposed on her by the power 
 of the union? There is no wish to excite groundless sus- 
 picions; but when the dearest interests of the public are 
 at stake, a degree of jealousy is a virtue and should be 
 awake, especially when there is an appearance of foreign 
 
 interference and influence The class of men like 
 
 Bishop and Alexander Wolcott, who strive to destroy the 
 state, are unworthy of any trust or respect. They question 
 the legality of our government comparing the people under 
 it to the slaves of the South. 
 
 Beware of men [he warned] whose desperate circum- 
 stances, whose profligacy of character, whose hatred of 
 the christian religion and whose inordinate ambition, render 
 them turbulent, under the disguise of a flaming zeal for 
 the public interest. Have all men until Bishop been too ig- 
 norant not to realize that there was no constitution? .... 
 You have not indeed a fine spun constitution, spread over 
 abundance of paper, and consisting of divers chapters and 
 sections and of numerous articles and nice definitions. 
 But you have a plain simple constitution, consisting of a 
 few most important articles or principles, and these are 
 known to the great community as well as a farmer knows 
 
 his land marks It was originally framed and 
 
 adopted by the people .... more than almost any 
 other government upon earth, it is the legitimate child of the 
 people, who have hitherto constantly nursed it and cleaved 
 to it with affectionate attachment ; and whenever the people 
 (far off be the day) shall cease to give it their voluntary assent 
 and support, it must instantly fall .... How foolish 
 is it then to expect that your government, which by long 
 use and by reason of the remarkable simplicity of its nature 
 is now plain to common understanding, would become 
 plainer by a new constitution, spun out into scores of nice 
 articles, which even learned and honest men might under- 
 
270 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 stand differently, and which cunning knaves would in- 
 terpret as might best suit their own ambitious purposes. 
 
 Connecticut, he counseled, not the central govern- 
 ment, protected you during the Revolution. A 
 new government would seem strange; would be 
 more expensive, with higher salaries and more 
 offices ; would be less responsible to the people ; and 
 would inevitably mean a change in the habits, 
 manners and customs of the people. Daggett was 
 begging the question. If this was his honest 
 opinion, it was in conflict with his later views. 
 For as Chief Justice he admitted that the old con- 
 stitution "gave very extensive powers to the legis- 
 lature, and left too much (for it left everything al- 
 most) to their will." 67 
 
 The April election of 1805 was again fought over 
 the question of a constitution. The Republicans 
 made telling use of the figures 162 to 14, laughing 
 at the alliance of little Delaware and Connecti- 
 cut, and advising freemen to stand with the major- 
 ity of the nation. The Federalists appealed to 
 all friends of the state government. Trumbull 
 received 12,700 to Hart's 7,810 votes. Of the 
 representatives, in whom was seen the true political 
 barometer, one hundred and twenty-four were 
 Federalists and sixty-eight Republicans. 68 The 
 eastern counties were fairly evenly divided; Fair- 
 field was overwhelmingly Republican; andithe Con- 
 
 87 Stair vs. Pease, 8th Conn. RepL, p. 548; Trumbull, Historical 
 Notes, p. 30. 
 
 68 Mercury, Dec. 11, 1804; May 16, 1805; Courant, Apr. 17, May 
 15, 1805. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 271 
 
 necticut Valley counties and Litchfield were pre- 
 ponderatingly conservative. Towns of wealth were 
 Federalist, while the liberal towns were those in 
 which dissent was a force. 
 
 Political agitation continued during the summer. 69 
 The Norwich True Republican saw an engine of 
 Federalism in the banks and turnpike companies. 
 The Hartford Courant hotly took issue with asser- 
 tions that "the power had never been with the 
 people," or that there was a union of church and 
 state. Federalist praise of the unwritten British 
 constitution aroused the minority almost as much 
 as the recent defeat, by 126 to 66, of the Stoning- 
 ton representative's resolution calling for a con- 
 stitutional convention. Fourth-of-July celebra- 
 tions afforded splendid opportunities for partisan 
 orators. A Republican, expatiating upon the need 
 of a constitution, defined organic and statutory 
 law: "The one is made by the people, and for the 
 government and control of the legislature, and the 
 other is the off-spring of the legislature itself." 70 
 
 89 Courant, June 19, July 17; Mercury, June 20, 1805. 
 
 70 Yale Collection of Fourth of July Orations, III, 3. Typical 
 toasts: "State of Connecticut — May she, like her sister States, form 
 constitutional barriers against the exercise of inordinate power." Mer- 
 cury, June 6. "The Charter of Connecticut — The gift of a king, sup- 
 ported by the same cloth." Ibid., Aug. 29. "Constitution — None in 
 Connecticut, may her honest citizens ere long, be strangers to a 
 legislature that acts without control." Ibid., Sept. 5. "Consti- 
 tution of Connecticut — Anything or nothing;" "the mere creature of 
 the Legislature, — May it soon be exchanged for something which will 
 secure the rights of the people." Ibid., Mar. 7. "The State of Con- 
 necticut — May she soon acquire a Constitution of too much health 
 and vigor to be shaken by the fevers of ambition, or the agues of 
 
272 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 George Stanley, in a well thought-out address, 
 contributed some new ideas: "The constitution of 
 this state, and her citizens have grown together. 
 Each seems fitted for the other. Speculative men 
 may in their closets form constitutions nicely 
 balanced and proportioned; but the experience of 
 others affords reason to fear, that like many curious 
 inventions of modern times, they will not go." 71 
 Another writer attempted to demonstrate that 
 Connecticut was more democratic than other 
 states, because of the frequency of elections, short 
 terms of office, "the mediocrity in wealth," and a 
 suffrage as liberal as that of Virginia. 72 
 
 The September election duplicated the spring 
 figures. Elizur Goodrich stood at the head of the 
 list with 11,162 votes, while the Republican, Elisha 
 Hyde, polled 7,852 votes. About sixty-one Re- 
 publicans were elected to the Assembly. 73 ; The 
 fight for and against the constitution was con- 
 tinued, but less was written, and that merely a 
 repetition of old arguments. Federalists accused 
 the Republicans of trying through the national 
 administration to silence inquiry by throttling 
 the press. 
 
 ignorance." Ibid., Sept. 15. "The State of Connecticut— By the 
 united exertions of the sons of freedom, she will soon emerge from the 
 darkness of Federalism, leaving the old Charter of King Charles 2nd, 
 and shine forth in the light of Republicanism, with a written consti- 
 tution of civil government, formed by the people." Ibid., July 25. 
 "Floating to and fro on the tempestuous sea of passion, without Rud- 
 der or Compass — May we soon hear of her safe arrival at Port Consti- 
 tution." Ibid., July 11. 
 
 71 Address, Aug. 8, 1805, pp. 16-17. 
 
 ™Courant, July 31, 1805. 
 
 73 Ibid., Oct. 23; Mercury, Oct. 31, 1805. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 273 
 
 I A political scandal was created by a letter from 
 Alexander Wolcott to his appointee in Middlesex 
 County. 74 It was observed: "The Federalists have 
 priests and deacons, judges and justices, sheriffs 
 and surveyors, with a host of corporations and 
 privileged orders, to aid their elections. Let it 
 be shown that plain men, without titles or hope of 
 Dmces, can do better than the mercenary troops 
 d( Federalism." The object was to centralize the 
 party. Under the state manager there were to 
 be county leaders directly responsible to and re- 
 movable by the state manager. Likewise there 
 were to be town, city, and district managers sub- 
 ject to the county leader. A canvass was to be 
 made of the various towns, so that the exact number 
 Df freemen, of tax payers, of Federalists, of Republi- 
 cans, and of neutrals would be known. Reports 
 were to be submitted to the central leader of all 
 tiinderances and undue influence at the polls, of 
 political sermons, false returns and other question- 
 able Federalist tricks. "A majority," the letter 
 continued, "can relax its exertions occasionally 
 without hazard: a minority must exercise its full 
 strength constantly." Local leaders were to aid 
 Republicans through the intricate process of be- 
 coming freemen to scrutinize all objections, urge 
 their men to the polls, note the absent and those 
 not voting. A modern reader is only surprised at 
 the perfection of the plan, but Federalists were 
 shocked. 
 
 7i Courant, Mar. 12, 1806. 
 
274 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 It was "a conspiracy, active, daring and wicked, 
 in the midst of the State for the destruction of our 
 Government;" it was a " Papal Bull." Wolcott, 
 Bishop and General Wilcox were arrogating to 
 themselves a despotic power over the freemen and 
 their electoral rights. They were national office- 
 holders, organizing like Jacobins to destroy their 
 native commonwealth. 75 The Republican mani- 
 festoes to town managers advised open electioneer- 
 ing, for secrecy would only mean the temporary 
 success of a stolen march. 76 Their organization 
 was defended as necessary to contend against an 
 organized aristocracy by which the party of nine- 
 tenths of the union has long been slandered. 
 
 The April election (1806) saw the heaviest vote 
 ever cast and one not to be duplicated for some 
 time. Trumbull received 13,413 votes and General 
 Hart 9,460 — by far the greatest Republican poll. 
 The Republicans were fortunate to have in Hart for 
 the head of their ticket a military hero hallowed, 
 like Kirby, by the Revolutionary legend. Wolcott's 
 organization had worked efficiently. His estimate 
 of the relative strength of the parties as eight to 
 eleven had almost exactly anticipated the actual 
 figures. No better demonstration of his ability 
 as a "boss" could be demanded. The Federalists, 
 on the other hand, greatly overestimated their 
 strength of 20,000. Seventy-two Republicans were 
 elected as representatives, six short of their high 
 
 75 Middlesex Gazette in Courant, Mar. 19; Courant, Mar. 26, Apr. 2, 
 May 26, 1806. 
 
 76 Mercury, Mar. 20, 1806. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 275 
 
 level of 1804. Even the city of Hartford elected 
 Republican officials. 77 / 
 
 (Republicans grieved at their failure to reach 
 the farmer. They accounted for the apathy of this 
 class by the observation that the farmers had little 
 time for reading papers and saw few persons save 
 Federalist clerics and justices, who imposed on 
 their religious credulity. Recognizing their lament- 
 able weakness in Litchfield County, they planned 
 to carry their principles into this citadel of con- 
 servatism by holding in the town of Litchfield 
 what came to be known as the Sixth-of-August 
 Festival. 78 
 
 Litchfield had a riotous day. The great con- 
 course of Republicans listened to a short prayer 
 and a spirited address by Jonathan Law. In pro- 
 cession they visited the jail where editor Selleck 
 Osborne of the Litchfield Witness was incarcer- 
 ated. On conviction of libel, he refused to pay 
 a fine, preferring to assume the role of a martyr 
 to free speech and the Jeffreys-like justice of a 
 
 77 Election statistics in Courant, Apr. 2, 16; Mercury, Apr. 3, 1806. 
 In May of this year Noah Webster received a letter from his wife in 
 New Haven: "Democracy has increased sadly in this state. I fear 
 Dr. Dwight was right in despairing as he did the other evening he 
 passed with you." Ford, Webster, II, 3-4. Rev. William Lyman in 
 the election sermon preached: "Against the wisest measures and most 
 salutary laws, the enemies of order and government may .... 
 unite and clamor. Such combinations of infuriated men must have 
 their seasons and their cause. Though success attend their exertions 
 they will not long enjoy the triumph." 
 
 78 Mercury, Aug. 14, 21, Sept. 11, 18, 1806. A bitterly distorted 
 account was printed anonymously as "The Sixth of August." Yale 
 Pamphlets, Vol. 1554, No. 10. 
 
276 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Federalist judge and packed jury. 79 To Feder- 
 alists this was a "most signal exhibition of the 
 rage of democracy." An incident which resulted 
 in a newspaper controversy unfortunately marred 
 the celebration and hurt Democratic prospects. 
 The aged Congregational minister, being of a pry- 
 ing disposition, sought entrance into the hall and 
 apparently was roughly jostled. Robbins described 
 the whole affair as in the interests of revolution. 80 
 
 Federalist bitterness at this invasion turned 
 to exultation when, at the September election, 
 Litchfield, the greatly over-represented county, 
 returned thirty -nine Federalists and not a solitary 
 Democrat. In the remainder of the state sixty- 
 one Republicans were chosen. Jabez Fitch polled 
 a few over 10,000 votes for assistant, while Matthew 
 Griswold, the leading Federalist, received 13,421 
 votes. A writer who styled himself "Seventy-six" 
 called on all men to rejoice at the success of the 
 godly party of the fathers, be they Baptists, Epis- 
 copalians, Methodists, Republicans or Democrats. 81 
 
 The year 1807 was quiet. N The vote for governor 
 fell off by about four thousand, the loss being 
 equally divided between both parties. In the Legis- 
 lature their relative strength remained the same. 82 
 Fourth of July was celebrated with unusual cor- 
 diality because of the Chesapeake crisis. Strife 
 
 79 Judge Church saw in this conviction and that of Phelps at Hart- 
 ford and Lawyer Ball of Danbury, the English method of crushing 
 out a revolt. 
 
 80 Diary, I, 296. 
 
 81 Courant, Sept. 24, Oct. 8, 29, 1806; Mercury, Oct. 30, 1806. 
 
 82 Courant, Apr. 8; Mercrtry, Apr. 2, 9, 1807. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 277 
 
 was again aroused by the federal prosecution of 
 Rev. Azel Backus for a libelous attack upon Jef- 
 ferson. As Pierrepont Edwards was the federal 
 district judge and Alexander Wolcott the prosecu- 
 tor, charges of partiality, did not lack color. 83 
 Federalists exerted themselves in the fall lest the 
 apathy of their voters might mean an opposition 
 surprise. Connecticut's constancy was their glory, 
 for she alone of the New England states had never 
 fallen. It was recalled that Samson was lost when 
 he slept. Nevertheless little enthusiasm was aroused, 
 the assistants' list showing a decrease of five thous- 
 and votes and the Republicans electing seventy- 
 five representatives. 84 
 /'The Embargo was the real issue in 1808. 85 In 
 
 83 Courant, Sept. 30, 1807. "A Letter to the President .... 
 touching the Prosecutions under his patronage before the Circuit Court" 
 by Chatham (1808), supposedly Webster, charged that the marshal, 
 Gen. Joseph Wilcox, packed the jury. Bills had been returned against 
 Judge Reeve and Thaddeus Osgood, and Thomas Collier, a Litchfield 
 printer, in 1805, and against Hudson and Goodwin of the Courant in 
 1807. About this time Rev. David McClure confided to his diary: 
 "Democracy in Connecticut is more of an immoral and disorganizing 
 character than in other States." Dexter, Diary of Dr. David McClure, 
 p. 178. 
 
 84 Chauncey Goodrich and Jabez Fitch headed the respective lists 
 with 10,185 and 7,524 votes. The Republican candidate for the Senate 
 received 75 votes in the Lower House. Courant, Oct. 21; Mercury, 
 Oct. 25, Nov. 5, 1807. 
 
 85 Senator Hillhouse wrote to Webster, Mar. 22, 1808, that the Con- 
 necticut delegation, united in their opposition, did not care to address 
 formally their state, nor did they believe it effective. Even his letter 
 was not to be made public unless that course was approved by Dwight, 
 Goodrich, Baldwin and Daggett, a suggestive list. Ford, Webster, II, 
 50. Letter of Timothy Pickering (Dec. 12, 1808) castigating Jefferson. 
 Ibid., II, 56. Cf. Elizabeth Donnan, Papers of James A. Bayard, p. 
 174, in Amer. Hist. Assoc, Report (1913), II. 
 
278 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 January the Courant only mildly questioned its 
 efficacy, but by the April proxies its attitude had 
 become rabidly antagonistic. It was the work of 
 Virginians, who would destroy old New England 
 and build up, at the expense of farmer and shipper, 
 a manufacturing aristocracy. It would redound 
 to the benefit of Canada. Men were advised to 
 bury party distinctions and determine to live and 
 die freemen, in order that their voice be heard at 
 the ''presidential palace." Federalists appealed 
 to the freemen to vote for "the Friends of Free 
 Trade and the Opposers of Fatal Embargoes." 
 "The doctrine of passive obedience and non-resist- 
 ence" was said to have happily passed. Laborers 
 out of employment, mechanics walking the streets, 
 seamen lounging on the wharves and farmers 
 without markets were urged to support the "Free 
 Trade or Federal Ticket." 86 No logic of Bishop 
 and Wolcott should deceive them, when the failure 
 of business and industry was apparent on all sides. 
 The Republicans were indeed hard put to defend 
 the administration. 87 They granted that it was a 
 harsh measure, but necessary because of the failure 
 
 86 Courant, Jan. 6, Feb. 3, Apr. 6, May 4, 1808. Republicans charged 
 that thousands of pamphlets attacking the measures were being dis- 
 tributed. Mercury, Apr. 7, 1808. Webster in May wrote to Oliver 
 Wolcott: "Is there no way to unite the northern or commercial interest 
 of the United States against a non-commercial administration?" Ford, 
 Webster, II, 36-37, 50. In August he was drafting a memorial to Jeffer- 
 son. See Forrest Morgan, Connecticut as a Colony and as a State, III, 
 50 ff. 
 
 87 Mercury, Feb. 25, 1808, and following issues. The editor (July 
 28) rejoiced that Connecticut was a state of farmers, not of marines and 
 dippers who cannot live out of water. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 279 
 
 of the Non- Intercourse act as the only means of 
 injuring England. As such it should be borne with 
 patriotic resignation. 
 
 The April, 1808, vote was rather better than the 
 Republicans expected. Trumbull received 12,146 
 votes to General Hart's 7,566, the highest vote 
 Republicans were to register for some time. In 
 the Assembly, their number fell to sixty-one. 88 
 Federalists gloried in Connecticut's stability in the 
 face of seven years of revolutionary effort. Con- 
 necticut was toasted as "the tight ship that lives 
 out every storm;" as "Noah's ark in the deluge 
 of Democracy." 89 
 
 In the fall the general Federalist committee 
 urged freemen to stand true, as presidential elec- 
 tors were to be chosen and as all New England was 
 returning to its first love. They cried out: 
 
 Connecticut has a character to maintain 
 
 While the waves of faction have roared around us, while 
 the billows of democracy have beat upon us — while State 
 after State has fallen, and all New England has yielded to 
 the torrent, .... Connecticut alone has main- 
 tained her station — unmoved alike by the numbers and 
 sophisms of her enemies, she has walked on in the path 
 opened by Washington and never for a moment turned 
 aside to the right nor to the left. 90 
 
 Republicans called for the support of the national 
 government. Their appeal against a village majority 
 was without avail. Everything went Federalist. 
 
 **Courant, Apr. 20, May 18; Mercury, May 19, 1800. Some 1,744 
 votes were cast out for an unknown reason. 
 
 89 Courant, July 13, 29, 1808. 
 
 90 Ibid., Sept. 14. 
 
280 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The minority in the Assembly sank to fifty members. 
 General Hart withdrew from the gubernatorial can- 
 didacy; "resigned," as the opposition had it. New 
 Haven and Meriden addressed the President on the 
 Embargo, and the Legislature, by 145 to 49 votes, 
 passed a resolution against it. The simple truth 
 is that this vote makes clear how Jefferson's 
 policy was curing the state of its Republicanism. 
 Of the forty-nine, only thirty representatives were 
 bold enough to subscribe to the minority report. 91 
 Governor Trumbull called an extra session of 
 the Legislature in February, 1809, to consider the 
 Embargo, which he did not hesitate to declare 
 unconstitutional. In this the Federalist majority 
 agreed, for they empowered him to communicate 
 with the governor of Massachusetts, stating their 
 willingness to join for certain constitutional amend- 
 ments. It was resolved "That to preserve the 
 Union, and support the Constitution of the United 
 States, it becomes the duty of the Legislatures of 
 the States, in such a crisis of affairs, vigilantly to 
 watch over and vigorously to maintain the powers 
 not delegated to the United States, but reserved to 
 the States, respectively, or to the people; and that 
 a due regard to this duty will not permit this 
 Assembly to assist or concur in giving effect to 
 the aforesaid unconstitutional act, passed to en- 
 force the Embargo." Addressing the people, the 
 Legislature declared: "We forbear to express the 
 imminent danger, to which we fear, not only our 
 
 91 Mercury, Sept. 8, 22, 29, Nov. 10; Courant, Sept. 28, Oct 13, 
 1808. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 281 
 
 constitutional rights, but those of all the people 
 of the United States are exposed from within and 
 without. May Heaven avert the danger and pre- 
 serve to us our privileges, civil and religious." 92 
 A Republican protest, signed by thirty-seven repre- 
 sentatives and headed by Dr. Jabez Fitch, had no 
 effect save in bringing ridicule upon themselves. 
 
 Connecticut was entering the darkest period of 
 her history — one which deserves a thorough study 
 as affording an early nullification precedent. 
 Federalist writers were asking what steps should be 
 taken, when the national government oversteps 
 the constitution, and were urging state allegiance 
 before national. They wondered if it was less 
 criminal for Republicans, who were shocked at the 
 action of the Legislature, to rise up in open oppo- 
 sition and declare that the state, to which they 
 had sworn allegiance, was without a constitution. 
 They charged that the return from the Embargo 
 to Non-Intercourse was a change from folly to 
 cowardice, due to the administration's fear of 
 Connecticut and Massachusetts. 93 
 
 A Democratic meeting declared Trumbull's 
 action "an enormous stride toward treason and 
 civil war." To Republicans it was an invasion 
 of law by "self-stiled friends of Washington, order 
 government, and religion." Republicans in mass 
 meetings, in dissenting churches, and in town meet- 
 ings, when in a majority, hurried to pass resolu- 
 
 92 Yale Pamphlets, Vol. 1626; Com ant, Mar. 1, 1809. 
 n Courant, January and March, 1809. Lamed, Windham County, 
 II, 404. 
 
282 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 tions pledging Madison their support. 94 William 
 Bristol, a prominent Republican, wrote an essay 
 severely condemning the attempt of the special 
 session to distress the administration. He com- 
 plained: "While foreign nations are aiming their 
 destructive weapons at the vitals of our coun- 
 try, instead of rallying around the Constitution 
 and constituted authorities, party animosity has 
 usurped the place of national feeling; the citizens 
 are inflamed from one degree of animosity to 
 another; and too many seem determined to push 
 every measure which can distress their opponents, 
 though it may at the same time pierce the vitals of 
 
 their own country The Government 
 
 of the United States contains, within itself, a salu- 
 tary and peaceable remedy against the abuse of 
 power. An Independent Judiciary, under the 
 Constitution of the United States, may declare 
 laws unconstitutional and void. But the chief 
 resort, contrived by human wisdom to guard the 
 people against their rulers, consists in freely and 
 peaceably recurring to the Elective franchise. 
 To the judiciary let those resort who feel the opera- 
 tion of the law in question, and think it unconsti- 
 tutional; but let not the citizens be seduced by 
 syren songs into forcible opposition." Thus he 
 sustained his thesis that the United States, not 
 Connecticut, was the paramount power. 95 
 
 Federalist success in April was regarded as 
 unequivocal approval of the session. Trumbull 
 
 94 Mercury, March, April, and May. 
 K Address (1809), pp. 3, 17. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 283 
 
 was re-elected by an unusually large majority, 
 14,650 votes to 8,159, carrying Spalding's own 
 town, a Democratic stronghold. Hartford, a deli- 
 cate measure of Republicanism, returned Feder- 
 alist representatives by the largest majority in 
 years. The Republican representatives fell to 
 forty-five. Rev. Samuel Nott in the election 
 sermon prayed that religion would prevail and 
 party spirit die down, while he predicted that the 
 governor and General Assembly united would be 
 able to protect the state from its enemies. Small 
 wonder that Robbins wrote: "Democracy in this 
 State appears hopeless;" or that Pierrepont Ed- 
 wards had once exclaimed: "As well attempt to 
 revolutionize the kingdom of heaven as the State 
 of Connecticut." 96 
 
 The September election brought more joy to 
 Federalists. The highest Republican on the assist- 
 ants' list had only 5,593 votes, a little over half 
 the Federalist vote, but not a great deal more than 
 half the Republican vote of three years earlier. 
 It seemed that at last Jacobinism had spent its 
 force. Lieutenant-Governor Treadwell felt that 
 he was addressing his own, when he said, in the 
 Assembly: "The Public maintenance of religion 
 has ever been deemed by the most enlightened 
 nations as intimately connected with the interests 
 of the civil state." He was announcing the result 
 of the long struggle against the state-church — 
 apparently Republican failure and the triumph of 
 the sound principles of Federalism. 97 
 
 96 Diary, I, 415; Beecher, Autobiography, I, 343; Courant, May 17. 
 
 97 Mercury, Oct. 26; Courant, Sept. 27, Oct. 18, 1809. 
 
284 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The year 1810 witnessed a further decline of 
 Republicanism. In vain did its orators make 
 national, patriotic appeals and call their "ten 
 thousand" to follow the lead of Massachusetts 
 and New Hampshire. 98 National arguments failed 
 where men could look upon America as "our con- 
 federacy of republics." 99 Connecticut men were 
 too provincial, too parochial-minded. 
 
 In the April election Governor Tread well, who suc- 
 ceeded on Trumbull's death, received 10,265 votes; 
 Spalding, 7,185; and Griswold, 3,110. As no can- 
 didate had a majority the choice of a governor 
 devolved upon the Legislature, which named 
 Treadwell. 100 Griswold and his following had 
 bolted. It was a foreboding of what the following 
 year was to bring forth. In the Assembly only 
 forty-two Republicans could be relied upon in a 
 crisis. The September results were more dis- 
 couraging to Republicans. Their representatives 
 increased to a doubtful sixty-four, but their high 
 man on the assistants' list sank to 4,242 votes, 
 
 98 Mercury, April issues, 1810. Robbins wrote: "It appears the 
 people in Massachusetts are again to have the trial of a Democratic 
 governor [Gerry]. The anger of Heaven is very heavy towards us in 
 the infatuation of the people." Diary, I, 433. 
 
 99 Courant, July 18, 25, 1810. Tudor, in his Letters, continually 
 harps on Connecticut's provincialism. He believed that "Among 
 all their public men, there is hardly one, with the exception of 
 those who have been transplanted, who has shown a mind capable of 
 extensive range, or that was not bigoted to, or fettered by local con- 
 siderations." Pp. 47, 128. 
 
 100 Courant, May 10, 16, 1810. In the Assembly Treadwell received 
 121 votes; Spalding, 42; and Griswold, 29. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 285 
 
 only slightly above the 1801 level. 101 The opposi- 
 tion could not eternally keep up hope. Utterly 
 discouraged, they named no official list for the 
 Council until 18 15. 
 
 The first break in the ministerial party came in 
 181 1. 102 It was a fortunate schism, for an ever- 
 lastingly solid Federalism must have proven a 
 menace to the state. The rupture was partly 
 occasioned by the anti-national, factious opposi- 
 tion of Tread well. Then the long-suffering Epis- 
 copalians gave up hope of gaining a position of 
 equality with the Congregationalists. A vic- 
 torious, national Republicanism had become esti- 
 mable, hence the Episcopalians could no longer be 
 constrained from entering the Republican party 
 because of its lack of respectability. Their vote, 
 estimated at four thousand, deserved the atten- 
 tion of good politicians and won Republican 
 pledges. 103 
 
 Asa Spalding having declined the nomination, 
 the Republican party declared in favor of naming 
 no man, but of allowing public opinion to formu- 
 late on a candidate. Governor Treadwell and Roger 
 Griswold were the Federalist candidates. After 
 some little delay the Republican organization de- 
 termined to name Griswold, and the wealthy Epis- 
 
 101 Courant, Sept. 28; Mercury, Oct. 18, 1810. 
 
 102 It must have been expected, for on Trumbull's demise the As- 
 sembly vote for governor stood: Treadwell, 107; Spalding, 45; and 
 Griswold, 34. Seven councilors voted for Treadwell and five for 
 Griswold. Mercury, Oct. 26, 1809. 
 
 103 Mercury, May 9, 1811. 
 
286 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 copalian, Elijah Boardman, for lieutenant gov- 
 ernor. 104 Griswold was the son of Governor Mat- 
 thew Griswold and a grandson of Governor Roger 
 Wolcott. He was a classical scholar, a lawyer and a 
 life-long Federalist office-holder, as judge and Con- 
 gressman. However, he was not a professor of 
 religion, a fact which accounted for his popular- 
 ity with the anticlerical element. On this ground 
 alone did he stand less high with the Congre- 
 gationalists than Tread well. Tread well on the 
 other hand was aggressively religious. 105 Board- 
 man's nomination pleased and won over the Epis- 
 copalians. Republicans featured Griswold as no 
 friend to the clergy and as hostile to a combina- 
 tion of church and state, while Treadwell was 
 described as the father of the 1801 election law, a 
 Puritan of theocratic stamp, and a traitor to the 
 national government. 
 
 At the polls the ungodly element was successful. 
 As Beecher phrased it: "They slung us like a 
 
 104 Dexter, Biographical Sketches, IV, 146-149; F. C. Norton, The 
 Governors of Connecticut, p. 137; D wight, Travels, IV, 143-145; death 
 notice, Courant, Oct. 27, Nov. 3, 1812; Orville Piatt in New Haven 
 Hist. Soc, Papers, VI, 299 ff. Boardman (1760-1823), private in 
 Revolution; heavy speculator in Connecticut Land Co. and Western 
 Reserve; director of Bridgeport bank; several terms in Assembly. 
 Kilbourne, Sketches, pp. 237 ff.; Orcutt, Stratford, pp. 605-608. 
 
 105 Bentley (Diary, TV, 20) described it as "rank rebellion against 
 the ministerial candidate," but Treadwell, a "stiff man" and enforcer 
 of the Sabbath laws, was disliked. Beecher wrote that, under the 
 leadership of Daggett who controlled the Fairfield bar, the lawyers 
 revolted, saying: "We have served the clergy long enough; we must 
 take another man, and let them take care of themselves." Autobi- 
 ography, I, 260-261. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 287 
 
 stone from a sling." 106 Griswold, easily elected, was 
 the twenty-second governor, and the first who was 
 not even a man of religion, let alone being a pillar 
 of church and state. 107 At first Treadwell's 
 friends had hoped that Griswold would not accept 
 the election at such hands. For lieutenant gov- 
 ernor, none of the candidates had a majority, 
 though of the two minority candidates Boardman 
 had three times as many votes as John Cotton Smith. 
 Yet the General Assembly selected Smith, over- 
 riding the will of voters. 108 In the Assembly Re- 
 publican strength remained stationary. 
 
 Griswold 's address to the Legislature was anx- 
 iously awaited. It proved, however, to be of 
 studied conservatism and impartiality. He an- 
 nounced his belief that, while the states through 
 the amending power are in a way conservators of 
 the constitution and have a right occasionally to 
 examine acts of the central government, this 
 should be done cautiously and with a view to 
 
 106 "But throwing Treadwell over in 1811 broke the chain and 
 divided the party; persons of third-rate ability, on our side, who wanted 
 to be somebody, deserted; all the infidels in the state had long been 
 leading on that side; the minor sects had swollen, and complained of 
 having to get a certificate to pay their tax where they liked; our efforts 
 to enforce reformation of morals by law made us unpopular; they at- 
 tacked the clergy unceasingly and myself in particular, in season and 
 out of season, with all sorts of misrepresentation, ridicule and abuse; 
 and, finally the Episcopalians who had always been staunch Federalists 
 were disappointed of an appropriation for the Bishop's fund, which they 
 asked for, and went over to the Democrats. That overset us. They 
 slung us like a stone from a sling." Autobiography, II, 343. 
 
 lu7 Olmstead, Treadwell, p. 26. 
 
 108 Based on Courant and Mercury, May- June, 1811, passim. 
 
288 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 national interests; and that in general state legis- 
 latures should confine themselves to local matters. 
 While the speech was too conservative to win 
 unrestrained Democratic applause, it in no way 
 augured his stand of the following year. 
 
 There was something sad about this break with 
 the past. Men felt that the old order was giving 
 way; that Puritanism was loosening its hold; and 
 that a new era had dawned. There was little 
 rejoicing. Republicans might have been jubilant 
 if they had been more confident of their man, 
 but they recognized that it was Griswold's per- 
 sonal victory. Griswold himself displayed no ela- 
 tion over his success, nor over the break in the 
 customs of his fathers. 
 
 Local questions and political activities were for- 
 gotten in 1812-1813. All interest centered in the 
 War. Republicans called upon the people to lay 
 aside party differences and present a united front 
 to the enemy. The appeal remained unanswered, 
 for sympathy with England carried the Federalists 
 to treasonable extremes. 109 They celebrated allied 
 victories over Napoleon, although England was 
 at war with their own country, and gloried in 
 the difficulties of the administration. 110 They 
 officially refused the service of the state militia, as 
 did their brethren in Massachusetts, for "Mr. 
 
 109 "Count the Cost" article, Courant, Sept. 15; "Steps tending to 
 the dissolution of the Union," ibid., Sept. 23; "War received with disgust 
 north of Delaware," ibid., June 23, July 7, 28, 1812. Robbins, Diary, 
 I, 518. 
 
 10 Courant, June 14, 1814; Robbins, Diary, I, 578. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 289 
 
 Madison's War." The central administration was 
 compared to Nero, fiddling away while surveying 
 the destruction it had brought upon the country. 
 The War was said to be an electioneering move to 
 perpetuate the Virginia dynasty, supported by the 
 Pennsylvania United Irish because of hatred for 
 England, by the West for Indian lands and army 
 supplies, and by the South because of designs on 
 Florida and Mexico. They saw New England under 
 a western yoke — that is, the substitution of a " Clay 
 and a Grundy for a Grenville and a North." 111 
 
 Not content with refusing the President's "un- 
 constitutional" call on the militia, everything 
 possible was done to prevent enlistments in the 
 national army. The clergy not only did nothing 
 to inculcate patriotism, but expressed an anti- 
 nationalism, which further embittered Republicans 
 against their class. Connecticut Federalism was 
 fast sinking to its Hartford Convention depths. 
 It had truly become a party of "settled disaffec- 
 tion." 112 
 
 The Republicans, on finding Governor Gris- 
 wold opposed to the War, attempted to remedy 
 
 111 Morgan, Connecticut, III, 69 ff.; N lies' Register, III, 4,24; Mercury 
 and Courant, Aug.-Sept., passim. 
 
 112 Capt. Elijah Boardman was imprisoned, while under marching 
 orders, because of the fife and drum noise. He was convicted and fined 
 months after the war. Mercury, Nov. 8, 1814; Dec. 17, 31, 1816. Hart- 
 ford, by a small majority, prohibited federal recruiting. Ibid., Feb. 
 7, 1815. Under Capt. Nathaniel Terry the First Company of Gover- 
 nor's Foot-Guards was decidedly hostile to the War, almost to the point 
 of open conflict with a recruiting company. L. E. Hunt, Proceedings 
 at Centennial of ... . Company, pp. 12, 37: Tudor, Letters, 
 pp. 42-43. 
 
290 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 their mistake by turning to Captain Elijah 
 Boardman for their gubernatorial candidate. 
 Boardman, though an Episcopalian, was an ardent 
 supporter of the War. His selection offered prac- 
 tical evidence of the religious toleration of the 
 minority party. Griswold, who stood as a Federal- 
 ist, received 11,725 votes to Boardman's 1,487, 
 hardly one of which came from Middlesex or Litch- 
 field counties. Only thirty-six Republicans were 
 elected as representatives. Republicans were 
 wholly disheartened and not without cause. 
 
 Republican disappointment in- Griswold was 
 keen, for it had never been suspected that his 
 nationalism was as colorless as that of Trumbull's. 
 They had no way of supporting the administra- 
 tion, save in town mass meetings at which war 
 petitions were circulated. 113 The September elec- 
 tion proved even more discouraging. Griswold 
 being ill, both sessions were addressed by John 
 Cotton Smith, the lieutenant governor; but there 
 were only thirty-six Republican members to be 
 annoyed by his survey of the War. 
 
 The Federalist party felt the disuniting effects 
 of this lawyers' bolt from the reactionary, clerical 
 wing, in support of their man, Griswold. In 
 order to heal the wounds, a meeting of the leading 
 lawyers such as Daggett and Roger M. Sherman, 
 and leading representatives of the clergy, like 
 Beecher, was convened at the New Haven law 
 chambers of Judge Baldwin to discuss the situa- 
 
 113 For lists of loyal towns and meetings, Mercury, Aug. 26 et seq. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 291 
 
 tion. Beecher stanchly supported the claims of 
 John Cotton Smith, a rigid old Puritan, for governor, 
 as this succession was one of the steady habits. 114 
 The fact that he had been elevated by the Legisla- 
 ture, not by the freemen's votes, does not appear 
 to have entered into Beecher's calculations. The 
 success of this caucus was seen in the united sup- 
 port given John Cotton Smith. It was this forced 
 harmony which enabled Federalism to maintain its 
 hold some years longer, though it prevented a 
 progressive movement within the party. 
 
 John Cotton Smith was elected in 1813, with 
 practically the full Federalist vote (11,893). The 
 Republicans were proud of Boardman's 7,201 
 votes, for it presaged a rebirth. The Federalist 
 vote for lieutenant governor was divided between 
 Chauncey Goodrich and Calvin Goddard, so the 
 Republican, Isaac Spencer, received a plurality. 
 The decision lay with the Legislature, which 
 without hesitation named Goodrich, who resigned 
 his seat in the Senate. In the Assembly the 
 
 114 Beecher wrote to Rev. Asabel Hooker (November 24, 1812): 
 "I am persuaded the time has come when it becomes every friend of 
 this State to wake up and exert his whole influence to save it from 
 innovation and democracy healed of its deadly wound .... If 
 we stand idle we lose our habits and institutions piecemeal, as fast as 
 innovation and ambition shall dare to urge on the work. If we meet 
 with strenuous opposition [anti-Smith element] in this thing we can 
 but perish, and we may — I trust if we look up to God we shall — save 
 the state." He advised counseling with Theodore Dwight, complain- 
 ing "Why should this little state be sacrificed? Why should she at 
 such a day as this, standing alone amid surrounding ruins, be torn 
 herself by internal discord? What a wanton effort of ambition." Au- 
 tobiography, I, 257, 259. 
 
292 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 " Peace men," as the Federalists liked to label 
 themselves, had a majority of 133 votes. The 
 September vote was small, though the Republicans 
 gained a few seats. 115 
 
 The year 18 14 was of similar political tone. 
 Opposition to the war was becoming more violent. 
 Appeals to patriotism fell short, in view of the 
 depressed condition of agriculture and the English 
 blockade of the Sound. Federalist views so 
 alarmed the freeman, that he seems to have 
 shunned the war party, the "Embargaroons." 
 The April vote was very light, Boardman dropping 
 to 2,619 against John Cotton Smith's 9,415 votes. 
 For the congressional list, the highest vote was only 
 6,289 and the leading Democrat had but 104 votes. 
 Still, the Federalists were worried; for with the 
 freemen remaining away from the polls, a sudden 
 turn might bring Republican majorities. "The 
 thirteenth year of the reign of democracy" was 
 indeed discouraging. 116 
 
 The autumn campaign offered no consolation to 
 nationalists, the one issue being that of hostility 
 to the War. "Chatham" in The Crisis depicted 
 the dangers from invasion and the failure of the 
 central government. He advised the united action 
 of New England, and the appointment of commis- 
 sioners to arrange for some plan of defense. Let 
 these states raise an army and win peace by say- 
 ing to England: we will not invade your terri- 
 
 m Courant, Apr. 27, May 18, Sept. 28, Oct. 19, 1813; Mercury, 
 May 19; Niks' Register, V, 121. 
 
 116 Courant, February-May, 1814, passim. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 293 
 
 tory and you shall not invade ours. He suggested 
 that Connecticut set an example to the traitors 
 who had brought on the War, and urged the free- 
 men to choose honest legislators, unless they 
 desired to become slaves. Democratic appeals 
 on behalf of the Union were bootless, only about 
 thirty-six of their men being chosen to the Lower 
 House. Disunion was the order of the day. 
 
 Governor Smith referred to the General As- 
 sembly a letter from the governor of Massachu- 
 setts, inviting Connecticut to join in sending 
 delegates to consider measures of safety "not 
 repugnant to our obligations as members of the 
 Union." The request was referred to a joint com- 
 mittee. On advice of the committee, it was voted 
 ( x 53 to 36) to send delegates to the Hartford 
 Convention. 117 Chauncey Goodrich, James Hill- 
 house, John Treadwell, Zephaniah Swift, Nathaniel 
 Smith, Calvin Goddard, and Roger M. Sherman 
 were selected. Theodore Dwight acted as the 
 Convention's secretary and later as its historian. 
 Connecticut was deeply committed. Her repre- 
 sentatives were among the state leaders, Federal- 
 ists of deep hue, men of undoubted integrity, but 
 aristocrats and rulers. 
 
 The Convention's session of three weeks was 
 clouded in secrecy. New England's attitude of hos- 
 tility to the central administration, her early doubts 
 as to the permanence of the Union, hatred of the 
 West, and the Federalist whisperings of disunion, 
 
 117 Courant, Sept., Nov., 1814; Niks' Register, VII, 144 ff. 
 
294 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 gave this New England Convention a more trai- 
 torous aspect than it deserved. Republican pa- 
 pers minced no words in proclaiming its treason, 
 made doubly obnoxious by the presence of a 
 foreign foe on American soil. Federalist writers 
 did not hide their true sentiments in answering 
 their opponents 118 The Connecticut Courant, aroused 
 by the taunts of Matthew Carey, a naturalized 
 Irishman, declared: 
 
 We have no idea of any contest; we shall not invite it, 
 we deprecate any collision with our sister states, but we 
 are too well acquainted with our resources, our spirit and 
 our rights to be deterred from asserting, and maintaining 
 them, because some people chose to ridicule the one and 
 and make light of and assail the other. 
 
 If we only defend our rights and do not en- 
 croach, the editor asked, how can there be civil 
 war? 
 
 The printed resolves of the Convention and its 
 brief journal displayed a deadly hostility to the 
 administration. It was admitted that there was 
 difficulty in "devising means of defense against 
 dangers, and of relief from oppressions proceed- 
 ing from the act of their own government, without 
 violating constitutional principles or disappoint- 
 ing the hopes of a suffering and injured people." 
 They declared in favor of some means to protect 
 themselves against a national draft of their cit- 
 
 118 Cyrus King, speech in Congress, Oct. 22, 1814, gives a good 
 account of New England's attitude. Willard Phillips, "An Appeal 
 to the Good Sense of Democrats and the Public Spirit of Federalists" 
 (1814). Henry Adams, Hist, of U. S., IX, 287 ff. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 295 
 
 izens, to use their militia as a state or New Eng- 
 land force, and to appropriate a reasonable share 
 of the national tax for the maintenance of this 
 force. Amendments were suggested, requiring a 
 two-thirds vote of Congress to declare war, lay 
 embargoes or admit new states; asking that the 
 President be limited to a single term; that succes- 
 sive Presidents come from different states; that no 
 foreign-born citizen be eligible to office; and that 
 the South's representation be cut down by not 
 counting blacks. In case of no action by the 
 national government, another convention was to 
 be called in the summer to consider future meas- 
 ures. The commissioners sent to Washington, 
 of whom Calvin Goddard and Nathaniel Terry 
 represented Connecticut, wisely neglected to de- 
 liver a message so discordant with the popular 
 rejoicing over the peace just proclaimed. 
 
 The Hartford Convention could not shake off 
 suspicion, not even when in defense Theodore 
 Dwight published its journal in 1833. 119 Con- 
 necticut Federalism had been given a fatal blow, 
 though its death was not immediate. John 
 Quincy Adams could only account for the refrac- 
 tdry conduct of Massachusetts and Connecticut 
 in "the depraving and stupefying influence of 
 
 119 Greene, Religious Liberty, pp. 452-458; Church Ms. Webster, an 
 
 l active supporter, took a notion to study the Convention in 1835, and 
 
 , wrote to some of the survivors, but saw the hopelessness of a defense, 
 
 I for men would not credit its members. Ford, Webster, II, 123, 497- 
 
 499. John Cotton Smith defended it to the end, feeling that the good 
 
 name of its members alone should attest its character. Andrews, 
 
 Smith, pp. 89, 95, 107; Tudor, Letters, p. 39. 
 
296 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 faction." 120 As a Republican pamphleteer wrote, 
 it was "the foulest stain on our [Connecticut's] 
 escutcheon." 121 
 
 Republican hopes rose with peace, for it was 
 expected that shipping and agriculture would 
 flourish, thus freeing the war party from responsi- 
 bility for the economic depression. Federalism was 
 falling before national pride. It was arraigned 
 by the Union at large for its provincialism, and 
 charged by ardent Republicans with rampant 
 treason. The Hartford Convention was so con- 
 temptibly regarded that even among former sup- 
 porters it was " considered synonymous with treach- 
 ery and treason. 1 ' 122 Republican papers printed 
 in heavy type the names of its members on every 
 anniversary. The American Mercury would have 
 their names inscribed on every mile-stone "with 
 the finger of scorn pointing to them." Hartford, 
 as "the metropolitan see of Federalism," even en- 
 tertained Admiral Hotham and his officers in 
 March, 1815. 123 Yet with the people at large 
 "treason" was no longer popular. Republicans 
 realized this and made splendid political capital 
 of the fact. 
 
 John Cotton Smith was re-elected in the spring of 
 1815 by a vote of 8,176 to Boardman's 4,876; 
 that is, by the lightest poll since Federalists faced 
 
 ™ Memoirs (Oct., 1819), IV, 422. 
 
 121 Richards, Politics of Connecticut, p. 26. 
 
 122 American Watchman in Mercury, Oct. 25, 1815. 
 
 123 Welling, Connecticut Federalism, p. 266. See Mercury, Mar. 22, 
 1817; Providence Patriot, Mar. 11, 1817. 
 
RISE OF THE DEMOCRA TIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY 297 
 
 an opposition. His victory was really due to 
 Boardman's Episcopacy, so it aroused premoni- 
 tions of coming danger. In his address he stub- 
 bornly supported past policies and painfully 
 reverted to the War as precipitous and pregnant 
 with evil. In September the Republicans named 
 their first assistants' list since 1810. Their high 
 vote of 4,493 amounted to nearly half that of the 
 leading Federalist. In the Assembly they won 
 fifty-seven seats. Republican organizers were 
 becoming hopeful, for they believed this to be the 
 full Federalist strength, and recalled that it was 
 about the old maximum Republican vote of past 
 years. Their problem was to reach the neutral, the 
 former Republican and the fallen-away Federalist. 124 
 
 NOTE 
 
 Increase in the Vote and Party Life 
 
 The vote had never been large during the whole colonial periods. 
 One of the bitterest elections, that of 1767, only resulted in 8,258 votes 
 for governor. Stiles, Itineraries, pp. 462-465. McKinley figures out 
 that about one-twelfth of the adult males voted. Col. Records, XIV, 
 491; XV, 173; McKinley, The Suffrage Franchise, p. 419. A town 
 like Hamden, with 1,400 people, cast 78 votes on the ratification of 
 the constitution, or 5.2 per cent. Blake, Hamden, p. 211. In New 
 Haven's first city election, 1784, out of 600 men, 343 were freemen and 
 only 70 per cent of them voted. Stiles, Diary, III, 120. The highest 
 votes for assistants (from the Almanack and Register): 1775, 4,325; 
 1794, 4,604; 1795, 2,756; 1796, 4,087; 1798, 5,513; 1799, 3,899; and 
 1800, 9,625. The state's population in 1790 was 237,946, and in 1800, 
 251,034. In 1784, 6,853 votes were cast for governor. Stiles, Diary, 
 III, 120. In 1796 there were 7,773 votes (Courant, May 16) or 3.2 
 
 124 Based on accounts in Courant and Mercury, Apr., May, Sept., 
 •Oct., 1815, passim. 
 
298 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 per cent on the 1800 census. In 1798, 7,075 votes were cast or 2.8 per 
 cent. In Massachusetts, Weeden figured that from 1780 to 1789 only 
 about 3 per cent of the people exercised the suffrage. Economic His- 
 tory, II, 865. Voting statistics are generally not obtainable, for, on 
 the secret counting of the vote ballots were destroyed, and only the 
 result announced. 
 
 Party life brought out the vote. Indeed it was not long until men 
 were afraid that the freemen were becoming dangerously subservient 
 to party ties and appeals. As early as 1802, the American Mercury 
 charged that "The Federalists appear to act from no principle but that 
 of implicit obedience to their sect." Apr. 8, 1802. The National 
 Intelligencer warned: "Stick to your party at all events, is a maxim 
 erroneous in theory, and mischievous in practice." Feb. 3, 1803. The 
 Courant took up the strain: "We must stick to our party. This senti- 
 ment of false honor, or rather of blind obstinacy, has a prodigious and 
 most baneful influence at the present day." Aug. 3, 1810. Dwight, 
 Decisions, p. 135, pointed out to the students the dangerous tendency 
 of emphasizing the party's rather than the nation's good. The North 
 American Review (1817), IV, 193, in a philosophic article on the "Abuses 
 of Political Discussion," said: "We have the resolute partizan, bound 
 hand and foot to his old friends, and a few favorite measures monopoliz- 
 ing truth, and yet shaming her spirit." This was the service political 
 parties did for the early nation. Nowhere was this bringing out of 
 the electorate as necessary as in Connecticut. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Federal Party Organization 
 
 | 
 
 ^TTHHE question arises: Why was the growth of 
 * Republicanism so slow? How was it that 
 Connecticut alone remained immune to Demo- 
 cratic attacks? The only reasonable explanation 
 of Federalism's continued success was the strength 
 of its organization. 
 
 It was only necessary to perfect the working 
 methods of the organized body of office-holders 
 who made up the nucleus of the party. 1 There 
 were the state officers, the assistants, and a large 
 majority of the Assembly. In every county there 
 was a sheriff with his deputies. All of the state, 
 county, and town judges were potential and gener- 
 ally active workers. Every town had several 
 justices of the peace, school directors and, in 
 Federalist towns, all the town officers who were 
 ready to carry on the party's work. Every parish 
 had a "standing agent," whose anathemas were 
 said to convince at least ten voting deacons. 
 Militia officers, state's attorneys, lawyers, pro- 
 fessors and school teachers were in the van of this 
 "conscript army." In all, about a thousand or 
 eleven hundred dependent officer-holders were 
 described as the inner ring which could always be 
 depended upon for their own and enough more 
 
 1 Cf. Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 436. 
 
 299 
 
300 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 votes within their control to decide an election. 2 
 This was the Federalist machine. 
 
 Such an organization was bound to be victorious. 
 The early Republicans were helpless. Only when 
 a similar Republican organization had been created, 
 were they able to lead an effectual attack. State 
 caucuses of leading Federalists were held. As time 
 went on, the old custom of no printed nomination 
 lists was broken. The names of assistants were 
 semi-officially brought to the attention of the voters 
 by newspaper ballots, signed by the chairmen of 
 the state caucus. 3 This suggested list of candi- 
 dates was then nominated by the Federalist voters 
 without change or slip. Nominations for Congress 
 came to be made in exactly the same way. Town 
 caucuses were held in inns or coffee-houses just 
 prior to the freemen's meetings. Here the town 
 leader carried on the work assigned by the state 
 chairman. His duty was to inspire the voters 
 with such a dread of the outcome, if the enemy 
 gained the day, that all might turn out at the polls. 
 A dozen Federalist newspapers lent untold assist- 
 ance by advertising the "good men," maligning 
 their contumacious opponents and publishing 
 blacker and ever gloomier accounts of a future 
 imder triumphant Republicanism. 
 
 In any consideration of the Federalist machine, 
 
 2 There is especially good material in the following issues of the 
 Mercury, Jan. 29, 1801, Apr. 8, 1802, Feb. 20, Mar. 20, 1806, July 4, 
 Aug. 4, 1808. 
 
 3 Elijah Hubbard and Eliphalet Terry served as state chairmen. 
 Courant, Oct. 29, 1806; Mar. 23, 30, 1808; Aug. 20, 1809. Mercury, 
 June 2, 1803. 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 301 
 
 the Federalist complexion of Yale and the school 
 system must not be overlooked. At greater 
 length, the position of the lawyers and clergy will 
 be discussed, for these two professions formed a 
 powerful section of the party. Their influence 
 was far reaching and used without hesitation. 
 
 Yale College was recognized by Republicans as 
 an important mechanism in the Federalist machine. 4 
 With Dr. Dwight at its head stamping out heresy, 
 religious and political, it is not surprising that this 
 view gained currency. Professor Josiah Meigs 
 as a Republican was no longer capable of teaching 
 mathematics and philosophy. 5 Abraham Bishop 
 pictured his alma mater as a pernicious "labora- 
 tory of church and state," in which the students 
 were taught by men who despised liberalism be- 
 cause of their training, nature and interests. The 
 intensely Federalist governing body, it was urged, 
 did its utmost to injure a party in no way hostile 
 to learning. Yale commencements were social 
 occasions at which the ministers and aristocrats 
 of the state met in New Haven. 6 An oration, 
 naturally orthodox and Federalist in tone, was de- 
 livered. It was said that a United States Senator 
 and a member of the Cabinet at one time had re- 
 fused to be present lest they and the national 
 administration be insulted from the rostrum 7 
 
 4 Bishop, Oration (1804), p. 22. Bishop, Proofs of a Conspiracy 
 (1802), p. 48. 
 
 5 Mercury, Aug. 1, 1805. 
 
 6 Stiles, Diary, III, 402, 430; Mercury, Oct. 6, 1803; Sept. 23, 1807; 
 Sept. 27, 1809; Sept. 12, 1811. 
 
 7 Mercury, May 22, 1800; Oct. 6, 1803. 
 
302 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Yet, in spite of the stifling attempts of "the Pope 
 and the holy order," Republicans rejoiced that a 
 few students saw the light and daringly asserted 
 themselves in a party banquet. 8 That the Re- 
 publican party was opposed to the college in itself, 
 was in no way apparent. Too many Republican 
 leaders were themselves graduates for this to be 
 the case. 
 
 Republicans, not without cause, complained of 
 the Federalist bias given to all Connecticut school- 
 ing. 9 Schoolmasters were as orthodox in politics 
 as in religion, or orthodox boards of examiners 
 would not have passed favorably on them. Even 
 the text-books were Federalist in tone, D wight's 
 Geography, Webster's readers, spellers, grammars 
 and dictionaries, Rev. Ezra Sampson's The 
 Beauties of the Bible, and Morse's Geography; 
 all incidently parried the dangers of democracy. 
 Republicanism may have benefited in the end by 
 many a boy's reaction from this teaching, when he 
 entered upon his life work. 
 
 Yet, after all, Republicanism could be diffused 
 more readily because of the literate character of 
 the electorate than might otherwise have been 
 the case. Practically every native-born resident 
 could write and read. 10 Social and mechanics' 
 
 8 Mercury, July 26, 1804; Sept. 7, 1809. 
 
 9 N iles' Register, XIII, 194; Mercury, Nov. 24, 1808. Ellen Peck, 
 "Early Text-Books in Connecticut," Conn. Mag., IV, 61-72. 
 
 10 Noah Webster grieved at the paucity of books and scholars, but 
 believed that knowledge was well diffused through the laboring class. 
 Ten Letters, pp. 22-26. Judge Reeve in his legal career only knew of 
 one native witness who could not read. Women were generally illiter- 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 303 
 
 libraries served as reading centers in many towns. 
 Newspapers were plentiful, generally read and 
 handed on to non-subscribers. This meant much 
 to a new party. Hence the primary schooling, 
 despite its objectionable characteristics, proved 
 advantageous to Republican propaganda. 
 
 As stanch upholders of the Standing Order, 
 the legal profession was assailed on all sides by 
 Republicans. 11 As a class, they were second only 
 to the Congregational clergy in arousing hos- 
 tility. Republican lawyers were few, even in- 
 cluding the several individuals who might justly 
 be classed as office-seekers. The vast majority 
 of them were active Federalist workers, making 
 for the undeniable efficiency of that party. It is 
 not difficult to account for their political persuasion. 
 Their reputation was that of selfish men seeking 
 their own interests, which assuredly were bound 
 up with the success of Federalism. Their ad- 
 mission to the bar depended upon Federalist 
 county courts. Then, to rise in his profession, a 
 young lawyer found it advisable to be a friend of 
 the clergy and a stanch supporter of the state's 
 rulers, who were generally lawyers of family, of 
 distinction or wealth. 
 
 The averge attorney was apt to be a Yale 
 
 ate, even those of social standing often making their "mark." Pease 
 and Niles, Gazetteer, pp. 30-32; sTudor, Letters, p. 47; Swift, System of 
 the Laws, I, 4; Church, Litchfield Centennial, p. 49; Benjamin Stark, 
 "Schools of New London," New London County Historical Society, 
 Proceedings, II, 123. 
 
 11 Mercury, Feb. 27, 1806; Aug. 22, 1811. Bishop, Address (1801), 
 pp. 84 ff.; Story, Life and Letters of Joseph Story, I, 95-98. 
 
304 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 graduate, then a student in a law office or a graduate 
 of the famous Litchfield Law School, presided over 
 by Judges Tapping Reeve and James Gould. 12 
 In any case during the formative years of his life 
 he was trained in an intensely Federalist atmosphere. 
 Tapping Reeve, summoned in 1806 for seditious 
 utterances, and the Law School, were as much a 
 part of Connecticut Federalism as Dwight and 
 Yale College. Legal interpretation was partisan, 
 for case-lore was lodged in the memory or notes of 
 Federalist judges. There were no American text- 
 books until, to fill the need, Swift, in 1795, wrote 
 A System of the Laws of the State of Connecticut, 
 which incidently offered an elaborate defense of 
 the government and past policies of the state. 
 Ephraim Kirby, the Republican leader, com- 
 menced the private publication of legal reports 
 in 1789. Aside from these, Blackstone and Montes- 
 quieu were the chief sources in English. 13 This 
 left the young law student dependent upon auri- 
 cular law, with the result that he was confirmed in 
 Federalist principles and convinced that only as 
 
 12 For an account of the school and its faculty, see: Hollister, 
 Connecticut, II, 597 ff.; David Boardman, Sketches of Litchfield Bar, 
 pp. 7-10; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 233; Loomis and Calhoun, 
 Judicial History, pp. 460, 537; Stokes, Memorials, II, 255-260. 
 
 13 Kirby's volume, covering about 200 cases from 1785 to 1788, is con- 
 sidered the first of its kind issued in America, though Alexander Dallas 
 followed the next year with one for Pennsylvania. The reports were 
 continued by Jesse Root and later by Thomas Day who in 1814 became 
 the first official reporter. Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 
 143-145; Hollister, Connecticut, II, 609; Dwight Kilbourne, The 
 Bench and Bar of Litchfield County, pp. 103 ff. For lack of texts, see: 
 Stiles, Diary, II, 420; Swift, System of the Laws, I, 1-5. 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 305 
 
 a member of that party could he anticipate success. 
 In brief, he imbibed Federalism in learning law. 
 To attack the lawyer was good political capital. 
 This the Republican leaders realized and this the 
 student of the time must not overlook as one of the 
 reasons for that party's attitude. Never had the 
 lawyer been popular in Connecticut. Rev. Noah 
 Atwater's advice to his son expressed the general 
 opinion: "I should not wish you to study law. 
 Many of the lawyers are reputable and worthy 
 men and very useful in the community. But 
 many temptations attend their profession." 14 That 
 these temptations were not avoided was the usual 
 belief. Lawyers were subject to a special tax, 
 by being put in the list at fifty pounds. In 1730 
 their number in the colony was limited to eleven, 
 but thirty years later Stiles counted six in New 
 Haven County. After the Revolution their num- 
 ber increased until by 1800 nearly every town had 
 at least one attorney, with a total of about two 
 hundred in the state. 15 Republicans condemned 
 this increase as due to the loaves and fishes rather 
 than to business. They charged them with stirring 
 up strife in quiet neighborhoods, in order to aug- 
 ment business among a people already notorious 
 for their fondness for litigation. 16 The cost, it was 
 
 14 Yale Pamphlets (1802), Vol. 59, No. 7. 
 
 16 Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, pp. 184 n\; Dwight, Deci- 
 sions; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, and The Almanack and Register, give the 
 number for each town; Dwight, Travels, I, 250; subscription list for 
 Swift's work. The Mercury estimated the number of lawyers at 191 
 in 1803, and 299 in 1807, issues of Mar. 31, 1803; Mar. 26, 1807. 
 
 16 Dwight, Travels, I, 250; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 13; Stiles, 
 Diary, III, 221; Robbins, Diary, I, 349; Morse, Geography, p. 158. 
 
306 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 pointed out, fell chiefly upon necessitous persons 
 who were frequently reduced to poverty. Thus 
 the poor rates were said to be indirectly raised by 
 the questionable practices of the profession. 
 
 Farmers were advised by Republicans to vote 
 for men who lived by their labor rather than by 
 their lungs. Until the hardy, sunburnt sons of 
 industry, the equivalent of our ' 'plain people," 
 stood firm against the lawyers' monopoly, taxes 
 and emoluments of ofhce would continue to 
 be the prey of this lawyer class. Editorials 
 pointed out that the two United States Senators 
 were lawyers, likewise the six Congressmen, eight 
 of those in nomination for Congress, fifteen of the 
 annual aspirants to the Council, the speaker and 
 clerks of the Legislature, and numerous representa- 
 tives. Lawyers were decried as the allies of the 
 clergy, with whose assistance they were able to 
 rule the General Assembly, advance their own 
 interests and incidentally tighten their grip on the 
 state. Federalists dodged the issue whenever pos- 
 sible, for they were well aware of its strength with 
 farmer and mechanic. Occasionally they retaliated 
 with articles, showing that Jefferson's appointees 
 were often attorneys, and that lawyers played quite 
 as prominent a part under the Republican regime 
 in other states. The suffrage qualification alone 
 prevented the laboring element from registering 
 in a decisive way their approval of the Republican 
 contention. 
 
 Dwight severely criticised these Republican 
 tactics, as not merely a popular appeal, but as an 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 307 
 
 attempt to win the younger unsettled lawyers. 
 Ultimately the policy was successful, aided by a 
 liberal use of federal patronage. At any rate the 
 Toleration- Republican party was not to prove 
 unkind to legal men of Republican sympathies. 
 
 Above all other men subject to the virulence of 
 Republican scribes and orators were the Congrega- 
 tional clergy. To undersand the occasion for this, 
 it is necessary to consider the status of the ministry. 
 
 The Congregational clergy of Connecticut was 
 the favored, privileged class of the colonial period. 17 
 Their polls and estates were exempt from taxation. 
 Stringent laws secured the advantages of their 
 position, and assisted in augmenting the respect 
 shown by their charges. They were the established 
 ministers; other clergymen were but dissenting 
 preachers tolerated in part, but never respected. 
 It was the Congregational clergyman who controlled 
 the parish school, who instructed the children of all 
 faiths in religion and morals, who acted as school 
 visitor and examined the fitness and morals of the 
 teacher. It was the Congregational clergyman who 
 prayed at the freemen's meeting and who often aided 
 in conducting the vote. The Congregational clergy, 
 not dissenting ministers, occupied positions of 
 honor at the General Elections. Every town had 
 at least one clergyman who often was the only 
 college man in the vicinity, aside from a possible 
 lawyer and a medical man of doubtful education. 
 
 17 Cf. Anderson, Waterbury, I, 525; Bronson, Waterbury, pp. 315 
 ff.; Porter, Historical Address (1840), p. 45. Stiles, Sermon (1783), p. 
 73, and Diary, I, 54, minimize this power. 
 
308 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 No other professions were recognized. The greatest 
 of these was the minister who might act as phy- 
 sician or be called in to settle legal disputes. His 
 social position was secure. He stood with the 
 magistrate, the squire, and the opulent general 
 merchant. To magistrate and minister was the 
 hat doffed. 
 
 The minister was called by the leading members 
 of the congregation. With them he stood on the 
 best of terms, thereby making his living permanent 
 for all practical purposes. Long tenure increased 
 his influence and power so that he often became 
 a pope in his parish, his power depending upon 
 his calling rather than upon his personality. He 
 preached a severe Calvinism which appealed to the 
 fear rather than to the reason of his hearers. He 
 encouraged church-going by demanding the en- 
 forcement of the Sabbath laws, and mended morals 
 by an inquisitorial scrutiny. In the poorest 
 parishes and in the frontier districts he was obliged 
 to farm in order to eke out a living, and to practise 
 also a judicious economy. Yet, generally speaking, 
 his salary was relatively fair, when compared with 
 the incomes of those about him, the physician, the 
 magistrate, or the school teacher. His clerical 
 duties consisted of two forty-five minute Sunday 
 sermons, catechising the young, visiting the sick, 
 attending funerals and convocations, and enter- 
 taining passing company. His most arduous work 
 was in connection with the collection of the dis- 
 senters' tithes. Generally speaking, he did noth- 
 ing for literature. President Dwight excused this 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 309 
 
 on the grounds of small libraries and poor livings. 18 
 On the whole his work was not onerous. In large 
 towns the Congregational ministers stood in the 
 first rank as social leaders, and in the small towns 
 the solitary clergyman brooked no equal. 
 
 Congregational clergymen were patriots during 
 the Revolution. As such they did not dis- 
 courage the persecution of the Anglican church- 
 men of Tory sympathies. Hence their power was 
 not weakened after the War, any more than was 
 that of the aristocratic element. They stood again 
 with the ruling class in a demand for the Constitu- 
 tion and a strong, stable, central government. 
 Later, Republicans honestly believed that the 
 clergy had only aided in overthrowing the king in 
 order to usurp his power. 19 
 
 The years following the Revolution lessened the 
 autocratic sway of the clergy and challenged the 
 forces of reaction, in so far that there was granted a 
 nominal toleration to all sects, a lay representation 
 on Yale's board of directors, and a theoretical belief 
 in religious freedom engendered by the Constitu- 
 tion. Again, as the economic and political life 
 developed, the local clergyman's influence di- 
 minished. Other men were becoming educated; 
 the college was becoming something more than a 
 mere divinity school. Lawyers were gaining in 
 influence. Yet the change in the minister's position 
 was too gradual for the opponents of these steady 
 habits, whose eyes could scarcely detect the prog- 
 ress of the movement. 
 
 18 Travels, IV, 309 ff. 
 
 19 Mercury, June 27, 1805. 
 
310 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 David Daggett, disclosing more frankness than 
 cleverness, called attention to the waning light of 
 the minister in 1787: 
 
 The minister, with two or three principal characters, 
 was supreme in each town. Hence the body of the clergy, 
 with a few families of distinction, between whom there was 
 ever a most intimate connection, ruled the whole State. 
 The loss of this happy influence of the clergy, in this coun- 
 try, is deeply to be regretted, and is to be ascribed to two 
 causes — the increase of knowledge, and the growth of oppo- 
 sition to religion. Knowledge has induced the laity to 
 think and to act for themselves, and an opposition to relig- 
 ion has curtailed the power of its supporters. 20 
 
 By the time of John Adams's election, the Con- 
 gregationalist clergy had become Federalist almost 
 to a man. Scarcely a deacon could be found to 
 profess openly Republican sentiments. 21 This was 
 a situation to be expected when it was impressed 
 upon the minds of the religious that only atheists, 
 immoral men, and an occasional deluded dissenter 
 of no respectability could possibly be a Republican. 
 To be a JefTersonian-Republican and a preacher of 
 Calvinism was a unique position which gained wide 
 notoriety for men who had that unusual distinction. 
 
 Rev. Stanley Griswold, a popular preacher of 
 Milford, was reported to be a follower of Jefferson. 
 Of this there was no doubt when he preached at 
 the Wallingford Democratic Jubilee in 1801, against 
 the advice of friends who read the spirit of the 
 
 20 Fourth of July Oration, p. 6. 
 
 21 The case of Anson Phelps of Suffield, an ardent Republican and 
 believer in the separation of church and state, was unique enough to 
 deserve a notice in the obituary column. Mercury, July 12, 1804. 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 311 
 
 times well enough to fear for his future. The 
 sermon was widely printed and created a stir. 
 Griswold was thereupon tested as to his orthodoxy 
 by an inquisitorial board. In 1802 he resigned his 
 pastorate, to the sorrow of many of his parishioners 
 who failed to sympathize with his "persecution." 
 The difficulty, it was urged, was not that he had 
 meddled in politics, but that his politics were of a 
 brand condemned by the clerical party. By his 
 brother Republicans he was beloved as "the most 
 eminent victim to clerical intolerance." His case 
 was cited on all occasions. Exiled at Walpole, 
 New Hampshire, he established a Democratic 
 paper, The Political Observatory. He later became 
 a national figure, first, as secretary of Michigan 
 Territory and then as Senator from Ohio. 22 
 
 Rev. Whitfield Cowles of Granby was dismissed 
 for his Republicanism and never re-admitted by the 
 Association. 23 Later he entered the Universalist 
 ministry and frequently honored Republican Fourth - 
 of-July celebrations as orator or preacher. A 
 Reverend Mr. M'Knight, for the sake of peace, left 
 Greenfield to settle in free New York. 24 It was 
 
 22 Kilbourne, Sketches, pp. 82 ff.; Goodenough, Clergy of Litchfield 
 County, pp. 22, 74; Mercury, Aug. 4, 1803; Jan. 9, 1806; June 6, 1808. 
 See "Statement of the Proceedings of the Association of Litchfield 
 County vs. Rev. Stanley Griswold." 
 
 23 Mercury, July 9, 1801; Aug. 4, 1803; Robbins, Diary, I, 355, 426. 
 
 24 Mercury, Aug. 4, 1803. Rev. Mr. Trumbull of North Haven was 
 quoted as having said that he would prefer to cut off his arm than or- 
 dain a Republican. A preacher named Gemmil of New Haven was 
 said to have been driven from his pastorate on political grounds. Mer- 
 cury, Jan. 9, 1806. Republican clergy were spoken of as that "fellow" 
 or "rascal" rather than by title. 
 
312 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 reported that a certain divinity student had been 
 refused a license because of the suspected Republi- 
 canism of his father. Federalist clergy refused to 
 exchange pulpits with ministers of whose orthodoxy 
 they were not assured. Republican newspapers 
 championed the "persecuted" and heralded their 
 names, while using their cases to strike home tell- 
 ing criticisms ot the politico-religious intolerance 
 and bigotry of the tithed ministry. 
 
 The election of 1800 saw the Connecticut clergy 
 drawn up in solid order to prevent the election 
 of Jefferson. They beat what the Republicans 
 called "the political tattoo." Politics of no nega- 
 tive type were openly preached from the pulpit. 
 Religion was in danger: "To its rescue," became 
 the cry of these crusaders. The safety of the 
 Bible was jeopardized by American Jacobins. 
 Prayers and sermons became phillipics against 
 Frenchmen, and against Republicans who were 
 known to dissent from the opinion that all French- 
 men were atheists, murderers, and cannibals. 
 They refused to disassociate Republicanism from 
 Jacobinism. They felt that it was "as much a 
 matter of conscience to avow their political as 
 their theological tenets." In so doing they inter- 
 mingled prayer and imprecation, religion and poli- 
 tics. Jefferson now became the "man of sin," 
 despite his honorary degree from Yale. He was 
 described as a fanatical atheist, bent on ruining 
 the church and on destroying pulpit and Bible. 25 
 
 25 Mercury, Aug. 28, 1800; Sept. 24, 1801; Henry Adams, Hist, of 
 the United States, I, 79 ff.; J. T. Austin, Life of Elbridge Gerry, II, 335 
 ff.; Robinson, Jefersonian Democracy, pp. 130 ff. 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 313 
 
 Chauncey Goodrich wrote: "Among all the good 
 people of the State there is a horrid idea of Mr. 
 Jefferson. The clergy abominate him on account 
 of his atheistical creed." 26 Robbins jotted down 
 in his diary a thought relative to the possibility of 
 Jefferson's election: "blessed be God that all 
 things are in his hands, and may he avert such an 
 evil from this country, for His name's sake. I do 
 not believe that the Most High will permit a howl- 
 ing atheist to sit at the head of this nation." 27 
 His was a representative honest fear that Jeffer- 
 son's election would be an unmitigated evil. It 
 explains in part the boldness of the political pulpit. 
 Bentley wrote in his diary that "the political con- 
 duct of the clergy is no where so insolent as in 
 Connecticut." He was quite annoyed to learn 
 that a Southington minister in a Thanksgiving 
 sermon "Scrupled not to call the President a de- 
 bauchee, an infidel and a liar." 28 Furthermore, 
 this was after the election, when discretion checked 
 many utterances. 
 
 A sermon which attracted much attention was 
 that of the Rev. Jonathan Bird, delivered first in 
 1803. The Rev. Mr. Bird noted in an advertise- 
 ment to the printed sermon that no names were 
 mentioned, though, if the Democrats desired to 
 fit themselves to the coat he had cut out, he would 
 raise no objection. He preached as follows: 
 
 26 George Gibbs, Memoirs of Washington and John Adams, II, 411. 
 
 27 Diary, I, 114, 145. 
 
 28 Diary, III, 208. See account of federal prosecution of Rev. Thad- 
 deus Osgood, Mercury, Dec. 26, 1805; Apr. 23, 1806. 
 
314 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 When we see the restless pursuit of the world ; good order 
 disregarded; laws, human and divine, trampled on; religion 
 derided; and its professors made the scoff of the profane — 
 When vice of every kind is rampant, its votaries applauded, 
 and advantaged to lucrative and honorable station, then 
 we justly fear for the safety of our civil and religious 
 liberty. 29 
 
 The veiled description touched the mark, if one 
 may judge from the heated controversy which it 
 aroused. Like many other sermons its Biblical 
 quotations were easily interpreted. Yet the most 
 ardent Federalist, if instinctively religious, must 
 have revolted at the use of Scriptural quotations 
 for profane purposes. 
 
 The hostility of the Congregational clergy to- 
 ward Republicans became more and more bitter. 
 They saw only ruin for the country in the factional 
 struggles, an attempt to bring in Jacobinism 
 and French atheism, and to subvert morals. Their 
 fears were no doubt honest. All Europe was suffi- 
 ciently imbued with the dangers of the French 
 system to enthrone reaction. The Anglican church 
 feared reform for at least a generation. Is it 
 strange that the Connecticut clergyman, always 
 steady, became a deep reactionary? He saw his 
 powerful position weakened by deism and dissent, 
 and noted that deists and dissenters were as a rule 
 Republicans. He noticed that respectable dis- 
 senters, the Episcopalians, held aloof from Re- 
 publicanism and voted for religious men. This 
 
 29 Discourse, Apr. 11, 1803. Controversy between Rev. Richard 
 Ely, from whose pulpit it was delivered, and Gen. Hart. Mercury, 
 June 9, July 21, Aug. 4, 18, 1803 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 315 
 
 only convinced him of the correctness of his position. 
 He felt that his interest lay with the Federalist 
 party, which represented the wealth, the well-born 
 and the educated, and guaranteed the stability of 
 the existing order, the relationship of church and 
 state, the ecclesiastical tithe, the sacredness of the 
 clergyman's position, the existing school system, 
 and all that looked toward the security of his class. 
 Under a Republican regime this favored position 
 must fall before the theory of equal rights for all 
 men. Yale might suffer, for an Episcopalian 
 college would be chartered. 
 
 No wonder the Congregational clergyman be- 
 came an ardent partisan, with conscience and in- 
 terest leading in the same direction. That con- 
 scientious reasons played a part, must not be over- 
 looked. Nor must the courage of the reactionary 
 be deprecated, any more than the sobering in- 
 fluence of conservatism. According to the Re- 
 publican idea, the standing clergy saw with worldly 
 eyes merely their own interests, and feared inno- 
 vation for personal reasons. 
 
 The partisan zeal of the clergy was stimulated 
 by Abraham Bishop whose scholarly attainments 
 the Yale authorities recognized, when they in- 
 vited him to deliver the Phi Beta Kappa oration 
 at the commencement of 1800. Not being in- 
 terested in the planets or in classic lore, he sub- 
 mitted an essay on commercial and banking sys- 
 tems which, on the advice of the clergy, was re- 
 fused at the last moment. A change of speakers 
 was announced. Bishop thereupon delivered a 
 
316 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 rival address in one of the churches, which drew 
 fifteen hundred auditors, including women and a 
 few clergy. The erudite, official lecturer proved, 
 by way of comparison, a poor drawing-card. The 
 subject of Bishop's oration, 'The Extent and 
 Power of Political Delusion," gave him an excel- 
 lent opportunity to make a stirring political appeal 
 and a vigorous attack on Federalism, the union 
 of church and state, and clerical domination. 
 Steady habits, he pointed out, covered oppression 
 and imposture, and enabled the clergy to prevent 
 the diffusion of truth and a dissolution of the estab- 
 lishment. Of the three classes embarrassing reform, 
 lawyers, Anglo-sympathizers, and clergy, the last 
 were most blameworthy. Their cries that morals, 
 science and religion were in danger, along with their 
 libels on Republicans, and the "calling' 'of atheists 
 in political preaching, made men irreligious. 30 The 
 clergy answered with bitter recriminations. His 
 course was an affront to their order, to the church, 
 to the college and all that was venerated. The 
 more grievous their attacks and those of Noah 
 Webster and the Federalist papers, the greater 
 Bishop's popularity in Republican circles became. 
 Invited to deliver the oration at the Wallingford 
 celebration, he attacked the clerical party with 
 even more virulence. 
 
 30 Greene, Religious Liberty, pp. 419 ff. As Bishop prided himself 
 on his audience, Daggett wrote that an ourang-outang will always draw 
 more spectators than a human being. Three Letters to Abraham Bishop. 
 Robbins noted that he heard Bishop deliver "a very foolish and inflam- 
 matory Democratic oration two hours long." Diary, I, 122. 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 317 
 
 That the clergy exerted a great political influence, 
 the honest Federalist did not deny. He considered 
 their labors in maintaining the stability of the old 
 parties as a righteous part of their calling. 31 Dr. 
 Morse in his famous Geography described the clergy 
 as an autocratic balance against democracy. Theo- 
 dore Dwight defended the occasional preaching of 
 politics as a bounden duty to thwart partisans who 
 discredit ministers, decry religion, and destroy pub- 
 lic worship. President Dwight admitted that there 
 was such a thing as "clerical consequence," but that 
 it was due to their divinely instituted office and 
 their own inherent worth, for they had no power, 
 only "an influence, which every sober man must 
 regard as desirable in any community." 32 In a 
 bitter attack on the administration and the Louis- 
 iana Purchase, George W. Stanley described the 
 status of Connecticut's clergy: "They hold no 
 offices, they are poor, they are not active political 
 
 31 Dwight inconsistently declared that a government by the clergy 
 must be bad, but that the influence of good clergy must be good. Trav- 
 els, IV, 242. The C our ant, edited by Rev. E. Sampson, "one who has 
 issumed the cross, but professionally deserted his master" {Mercury, 
 Sept. 13, 1804), commented: "The democratic newspapers abound 
 with attacks upon the clergy — they, it seems, are to be driven from the 
 exercise of a right not denied to any other citizen. , . . . Their 
 :haracters entitle them to different treatment, — good men will not 
 rail to resist this spirit of persecution, against a body of men so justly 
 respectable for their learning, their love of genuine liberty, their virtue 
 ind their extensive influence in the promotion of the best interests of 
 jociety." October 29, 1806. The Middlesex Gazette grieved that the 
 :lergy had suffered themselves to be driven from their duty by the im- 
 pudent clamor of Bishop and Wolcott. Courant, Mar. 26, 1806. Theo- 
 dore Dwight, Oration (1801), pp. 18 ff. 
 
 32 Travels, IV, 406. 
 
318 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-181$ 
 
 intriguers or electioneers. They only exert a 
 quiet suffrage. They have preached against dan- 
 gerous philosophy and infectious infidelity, and if, 
 as the opposition maintained, this is hostile to 
 republican principles, the clergy are not to be 
 blamed." 33 
 
 With the Republican national success, the clergy 
 were more secret and careful in exerting their 
 political influence. Democratic orators and writers, 
 recalling their fears, answered that the Bible, the 
 pulpit and the meeting-house still stood, and that 
 true religion was as secure as under an Adams. 
 The Mercury reported that "Pope Dwight" had 
 issued a bill prohibiting the preaching of politics 
 for the time being, as his clergy were more zealous 
 than discreet: "Hereafter the political part of 
 the sacerdotal functions will be performed in a less 
 public but more insidious form." 34 
 
 Republican writers remarked that political 
 preaching was a thing of the past in Republican 
 towns like North Haven, Stamford, Wallingford 
 and Suffield. If Republicans were hostile to the 
 clergy or demanded preachers of their own party, 
 it was said that clergymen of Republican towns 
 would have been dismissed by their congrega- 
 tions. That this was not done, was evidence that 
 the Republicans were willing to allow them politi- 
 cal freedom. They merely asked a minister to 
 obey Christian teachings, rendering to Caesar the 
 things that are Caesar's and to God the things 
 
 33 Oration (1804), p. 13. 
 
 34 July 15, 1803. 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 319 
 
 that are God's, and to confine himself to preach- 
 ing the Word. This at least the men contributing 
 to the clergyman's support had the right to de- 
 mand. It was cynically added that, if God's 
 kingdom was of this world, they should cite chap- 
 ter and verse in order that men might be aware 
 of the short-comings of the Episcopalians and more 
 humble dissenters who failed in the full perform- 
 ance of their religious duty. 35 
 
 Partisans were partisans. Personalities were 
 not spared in attacking the clerical order. "Pope 
 D wight," as head of what was termed the "pres- 
 byterian manufactory," was generally described 
 as the head of the clerical party. 36 Ministers like 
 Trumbull, Ely, Beecher and Huntington were re- 
 garded as his lieutenants, to lead the well-trained 
 cohorts to the election. "Eschines" wrote in 1801 : 
 "in the ecclesiatical carcase of Connecticut, the 
 President of Yale is the grand pabulum, and foun- 
 tain head of political and religious orthodoxy." 37 
 Another writer would declare him a Jesuit, if that 
 order had not been suppressed. Another wrote: 
 "Let the Tope' take the field at the head of the 
 Black Hussars, and victory must declare on his 
 
 35 See issues of Mercury for June 4, July 25, 1801; Apr. 22, 1802; 
 Aug. 4, 1803. Cf. Governor Sullivan's advice to the historian, Bel- 
 knap, an ardent Federalist. T. C. Amory, Life of James Sullivan, 
 II, 56-57. 
 
 36 Address to Fairfield Electors, printed in Mercury, Apr. 2, 1816. 
 
 37 Mercury, Apr. 30, 1801. James Cary, in a view of the New Eng- 
 land Illuminati, described D wight: "active, persevering, and un- 
 daunted, he proceeds to direct all political, civil and ecclesiastical 
 affairs." P. 17. See "Luther's" attack on Pope Dwight, Mercury, 
 Sept. 12, 1805; July 26, Sept. 13, 1804; Aug. 1, 1805. 
 
320 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 side." D wight was an able politician and an ardent 
 Federalist, yet charges of his indiscreet activities 
 might easily have been exaggerated. Certainly 
 both he and the college were innocent of the 
 Toryism with which they were charged, because 
 Colonel Edward Fanning, a British governor and 
 Tory raider under Tryon, happened to have been 
 awarded a degree. Yet this charge was reiter- 
 ated. 38 To Republicans Dwight's salary of $2,000 a 
 year, twice that of the governor, was in itself a scan- 
 dal. Then D wight was essentially an aristocrat, 
 caring little for the poor and lowly. This gave the 
 demagogue an excellent opportunity. Dwight's 
 aversion to universal suffrage gained for him the 
 dislike of the disfranchised. On the whole, he left 
 himself rather vulnerable to attack. 
 
 The Federalist answered, in defense of the clergy, 
 that those who would overthrow the institutions 
 of the state knew that they must first destroy 
 religion and undermine the popular reverence for 
 the ministry ere they could work their ends. Aside 
 from open attacks, frequent use was made of such 
 expressions as "the chains of clericalism which bind 
 the listless citizen;" "the drum ecclesiastical;" 
 "the clergy always hand in hand with the rich and 
 honorable and well-born;" "abject submission;" 
 "clerical denomination;" "a fanatical veneration for 
 a pampered deluding and anti-Christian priesthood 
 renders the people the dupes of their cunning and 
 
 38 M ercury, July 26, 1804, and afterwards in nearly every a' tack 
 upon the college. Henry P. Johnston, Yale . ... in the 
 American Revolution, p. 109. 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 321 
 
 subservient to their power;" a people "enveloped 
 in superstition;" aristocratic clergy and long-faced 
 preachers with a holier-than-thou air. The state 
 was said to be priest-ridden, with every minister 
 lording it over the commoner who had decided to 
 make his living other than by preaching. It was 
 pointed out how they controlled the college, which 
 was administered by clerical or lay Congregational- 
 ists, and taught by a faculty chosen from the faith- 
 ful. Ministers made of commencement their gather- 
 ing, banqueting at the scholars' expense. The 
 clerical control of the school system, with Senator 
 Hillhouse supervising the school fund, was not 
 overlooked. Men questioned why the clergy should 
 be active at the polls or assemble on General Elec- 
 tion Day from all parts of the state, to take a leading 
 part in the ceremonies. 39 
 
 While the excessive number of clergy was inti- 
 mated, this fact was not emphasized to the extent 
 that one would expect. Statistics could have been 
 used to advantage in strengthening the contention 
 that nowhere was the actual ratio of ministers to 
 communicants higher. 40 This is not to be won- 
 dered at with the ministry so revered, compara- 
 tively prosperous, and with few rival professional 
 opportunities. 41 
 
 39 Note, p. 331. 
 
 40 Rev. Eliphalet Pearson, in a sermon at Boston, Oct. 26, 1815, 
 estimated one minister to every thousand of population as ideal, happy 
 in his oblivion of dissenters. Courant, Mar. 5, 1816. The Mercury 
 (Mar. 26, 1807) felt that 228 Congregational clergy were quite enough. 
 
 41 Dwight denied that the clergy were forced to farm, save in the 
 new settlements. Travels, IV, 436. With the disposal of parish glebe 
 
322 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The political power of the clergy was contested, 
 for some were charged with providing for their 
 sons and sons-in-law, while supposed to be at the 
 Lord's work. It was said that men could not rise 
 without their support and favor, to gain which men 
 must be their followers or hypocrites. Bishop 
 thought that nowhere was religious hypocrisy so 
 certain a stepping-stone to political position. 42 It 
 was carefully noted that those in high places were 
 closely associated with the ministry. Gov. John 
 Cotton Smith was the son of a clergyman. Senator 
 S. W. Dana was a clergyman's son, as were Chaun- 
 cey Goodrich, Elizur Goodrich, Tapping Reeve, 
 Thomas Day, John Trumbull and innumerable 
 others. Calvin Goddard married a clergyman's 
 daughter. Samuel Pitkin was a deacon. Gov. 
 John Treadwell wrote tracts. Theodore Dwight, 
 Enoch Perkins and Walter Edwards were described 
 as under clerical control. Such a list could easily 
 be extended by the local genealogist, but for cam- 
 paign purposes the Republicans felt that they had 
 sufficient material without extending their re- 
 searches. The opposition would have found a 
 much harder task in listing men of political im- 
 
 lands after 1810, their lot became harder. Beecher feared that Gospel- 
 preaching was secondary to farming in many cases. "The man," he 
 said, "has become a thriving farmer, an able schoolmaster, a sagacious 
 speculator, but has long since ceased to be a faithful minister of Jesus 
 Christ." Sermon (1814), pp. 12 ff. Salaries averaged $500 in 1817. 
 Courant, Nov. 11, 1817. Dwight knew of few under $250, and be- 
 lieved $400 usual. Travels, IV, 403. Rev. Ralph Emerson received 
 $700. Crissey, Norfolk, p. 157. 
 42 Address (1801), p. 68. 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 323 
 
 portance who were not immediate relatives of 
 clergymen. They could only contend that the Re- 
 publicans were new men, of little character and 
 no family, but with decided official aspirations. For, 
 while the Republican argument was over-stressed, 
 there was sufficient basis for every charge. 
 ^ Rev. Lyman Beecher frankly disclosed clerical 
 politics in describing the meeting in Judge Bald- 
 win's office to establish a society for "the Suppres- 
 sion of Vice and Promotion of Good Morals." He 
 wrote : 
 
 That was a new thing in that day for the clergy and lay- 
 man to meet on the same level and co-operate .... 
 The ministers had always managed things themselves, for 
 in those days the ministers were all politicians. They had 
 always been used to it from the beginning. On election 
 day they had a festival. All the clergy used to go, walk in 
 procession, smoke pipes, and drink. And, fact is when 
 they got together, they would talk over who should be gov- 
 ernor, and who lieutenant-governor and who in the upper 
 house, and their counsels would prevail. 
 
 He saw the failure of Federalism in the way 
 David Daggett "wire-worked "Roger Griswold over 
 the clerical, favorite, straight-laced Puritan, Tread- 
 well. It was "rank rebellion against the minis- 
 terial candidate." The lawyers said, he went on: 
 "We have served the clergy long enough; we 
 must take another man, and let them take care of 
 themselves." 43 A better description of the clerical 
 
 43 Autobiography, I, 259-261; see also p. 257, a letter to Rev. Asabel 
 Hooker (Nov. 24, 1812), urging that all friends aid before our privi- 
 leges are lost piece-meal, and that Theodore Dwight be seen. Cf. 
 Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 160. Miss Greene well describes their 
 
324 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 caucus could not be demanded, nor from one who 
 knew the situation better. 
 
 Judge Samuel Church, a member of the Tolera- 
 tion party, in a well-considered statement of judicial 
 tone written about 1850, gave his view of the 
 position of the clergy of the Standing Order prior 
 to 1818: 
 
 The whole influence of the State from the beginning had 
 been confined to the Clergy of the Congregational Churches 
 and their adherents. Their influence controlled the elections. 
 Their annual meetings at the election season at Hartford 
 were holden for this and for no other purpose. Appoint- 
 ments to office were not suggested by Caucuses as at pres- 
 ent, but by a mutual consultation between the Clergy and 
 the party [Federalist] politicians. 44 
 
 Beecher's Autobiography makes obvious the politi- 
 cal activity of the Moral Society. This, it may be 
 added, was the case with the Missionary Society, 
 the Connecticut Bible Society, the New England 
 Tract Society, the Domestic Missionary Society 
 for Connecticut and vicinity, the Ministers' Annuity 
 Society and the Charitable Society. All were "re- 
 ligious institutions," but were charged with being 
 politico-religious in their purposes. 45 The con- 
 influence over voting: "The clergy of the establishment would get 
 together and talk matters over before the elections, and the parish 
 minister would endeavor to direct his people's vote according to his 
 opinion of what was best for the commonwealth." Religious Liberty, 
 p. 402; cf. ibid., pp. 435 ff. 
 
 44 Church Ms. 
 
 45 Propagation of Federalism rather than the Gospel was said to be 
 their object. Mercury, July 2, 1801; Apr. 10, 1806. The Vermont 
 Gazette reported: "The wolves in sheeps' clothing thrust fiorth by his 
 holiness, Pope Dwight .... get few hearts and less thanks in 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 325 
 
 nection between church and state was evidenced 
 by every one of them. The Bible Society and 
 Ministers' Annuity Society met annually at 
 Hartford on Election Day. As the clergy were 
 there, it proved an excellent opportunity to trans- 
 act religious as well as civil business. The leaders 
 in these societies were the ruling men of the state. 
 Their lay trustees were Federalist bosses. No 
 Republican appeared on their boards, hence Re- 
 publicans must logically have been irreligious. 
 Calvin Chapin and Samuel Goodrich were leading 
 members of the correspondence committee of the 
 Bible Society, of which John Cotton Smith, General 
 Jedidiah Huntington, Henry Hudson of the Courant, 
 Daniel Wadsworth, Samuel Pitkin, Chauncey Good- 
 rich, Theodore D wight and John Davenport were 
 among the lay directors. The Domestic Mission- 
 ary Society, besides clergymen like Lyman Beecher, 
 had as trustees and officers Daniel Wadsworth, 
 Timothy Dwight, Jedidiah Huntington, Henry 
 Hudson, Samuel Pitkin, Enoch Perkins, Andrew 
 Kingsbury, Jonathan Brace and Aaron Austin. 
 
 Vermont." "The leaders of Democracy have for a long time railed 
 at our rulers, our clergy, & our college, but we did not suppose that 
 they would venture publicly to denounce an institution whose object 
 it is to suppress vice and immorality, or a society whose only object 
 it is, without regard to sect, or nation, to place the pure work of truth 
 and light into every hand within reach. Yet such is the deadly hos- 
 tility of these professed friends of toleration to the religion of their 
 fathers that they cannot even tolerate a society who would endeavor 
 to discountenance vice and immorality much less an institution which 
 would disseminate the mild principles of the Gospel of peace; and these 
 seem to be the principal benefits they expect will result from a change 
 of rulers in Connecticut." Courant, Mar. 19, 1816. 
 
326 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The Connecticut branch of the New England Tract 
 Society had a corresponding committee composed of 
 Jedidiah Huntington, John Treadwell and Calvin 
 Chapin. The Moral Society was under a chosen 
 few: John Treadwell, ex-president; Simeon Bald- 
 win, president; Tapping Reeve, Roger Sherman, 
 Thomas Day, General Jedidiah Huntington, Speaker 
 Sylvanus Backus, William Perkins, John Caldwell, 
 and Ezra Brainerd, leaders. 46 
 
 A glance at these names is enough. They repre- 
 sented Connecticut's patricians, governors, repre- 
 sentatives, councilors, and commercial leaders. 
 Associated with them were powerful clergymen. 
 While they worked together, as they did until 
 Treadwell's fall, the party of church and state was 
 supreme. A more complete interlocking of leaders 
 and families would be hard to picture. This the 
 Republicans recognized, and struggled against, 
 long but successfully. Such an alinement could 
 not last for ever. 
 
 Up to 1815 one might write with a greater de- 
 gree of truth than epigrams generally bear, that 
 Connecticut's preachers were politicians, and her 
 politicians preachers. With the failure of the 
 Hartford Convention which Dr. Strong of Hart- 
 ford opened with prayer, and the waning hopes 
 of Federalism, they became more careful not to an- 
 tagonize the nationalist party destined sooner or 
 later to rule the state. 47 
 
 46 Lists in Almanack and Register. 
 
 47 Their connection with the Hartford Convention cast a deep 
 cloud over the Congregational clergy. A day of prayer had been 
 set aside for the success of the convention. Courant, Dec. 20, 1814. 
 Baptists denied tolling their bell on that day. Ibid., Nov. 22, 1814 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 327 
 
 Aside from its perfect organization, the Federalist 
 party had an immense advantage in its eminent 
 respectability. This indeed offered a contrast to 
 the ill-repute of the opposition party. In charac- 
 terizing Republicanism as immoral, irreligious, and 
 lowly, they took the shrewdest way of hindering 
 its success among a people so bound by convention. 
 Had the Republican party been considered respect- 
 able, there is reason to believe that the Episcopalians 
 would not have hesitated in joining much earlier. 
 Nor would the luke-warm, non-covenanted member 
 of a Congregational society have been so timorous 
 in adhering to the reform party. 
 
 The charge that irreligious men were Republi- 
 cans was well founded. That all Republicans were 
 opposed to religion in their hostility to an establish- 
 ment was false. 48 All dissenters, save Episcopalians, 
 could be described as Republicans by 1803. Hence 
 Republicanism was regarded as political dissent. 
 Half-truths fired at high velocity had their effect. 
 For the tenets of individual members rather than 
 for its principles, the organization was held respon- 
 sible. Calvinists were religious men who followed 
 in the steps of their fathers. Hence Federalists 
 who were largely Calvinists were "godly men, of 
 sober, solid, and steady habits." In their number 
 were to be found practically every Congregational 
 minister, nearly every lawyer of repute, most phy- 
 sicians, every member of the Yale faculty, and all 
 leaders in business. Republicanism appealed only 
 
 18 Note, p. 331 
 
328 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 to the laboring element, the lower or lower-middle 
 classes, as they would be termed in the semi-En- 
 glish social life of the time. Its members might 
 or might not be unsteady men ; but they were poor 
 and unorthodox. Dissent is seldom respectable, 
 and poverty and labor were only theoretically 
 honorable. 
 
 Judge Church well described the orthodox at- 
 titude toward the Democratic party: 
 
 The real truth was as I know from my own observation 
 that the Republican party in this State, from the election 
 of Mr. Jefferson to the Revolution of 1817, was treated as 
 a degraded party and this extended to all individuals of the 
 party however worthy or respectable in fact, as the Saxons 
 were treated and considered by the Normans. As the Irish 
 were treated by the English Government. This was seen 
 and felt by many good men among the federalists and created 
 a sympathy bye and bye which operated with other causes. 49 
 
 Republican politicians, with exceptions, were men 
 of little standing in the community. They were 
 described, and not without some tinge of justice, 
 as lawyers of uncertain practice and dubious 
 morality; as holders of federal patronage; as "mush- 
 room candidates" and self-seeking demagogues 
 who were deluding the ignorant vote. They were 
 not of the elect, old ruling families, but new men 
 rising up from the people under improving oppor- 
 tunities. This too was at first disadvantageous 
 to the party, because of the hereditary, bred-in-the- 
 bone British feeling that leaders must be of a class 
 apart and above the rank and file. Like Crom- 
 
 " Church Ms. 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 329 
 
 well's Puritan Ironsides, they desired to be led 
 only by gentlemen. Republican leaders were re- 
 garded as anything but gentlemen, until national 
 success and the Episcopalian adhesion forced the 
 admission. The stigma removed, their success was 
 assured. Respectability could no longer be re- 
 garded as Federalist. 
 
 Some of the typical descriptions of Republicans 
 are worthy of note. Bishop cynically depicted 
 them as "poor ragged democrats" who should pray 
 forgiveness from "ye well-fed, well-dressed, chariot- 
 lolling, caucus-keeping, levee-revelling federalists." 50 
 Lyman Beecher observed that "democracy as it 
 rose, included nearly all the minor sects, besides 
 the Sabbath-breakers, rum-selling, tippling folk, 
 infidels, and ruff-scuff generally, and made a deadly 
 set at us of the Standing Order." Jonathan Bird, 
 in his sermon, drew upon St. Paul's epistle to 
 Timothy in order, by inference, to picture his 
 Republican fellow-citizens as selfish men, boasters, 
 proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, in- 
 continent men, and truce breakers. 51 Democracy 
 and debasement of manners were pleasantly linked 
 together. Like a whirlwind, spinning on its little 
 end and drawing all leaves, chaff, rotten wood and 
 light trumpery was Jacobinical democracy. The 
 Tammany tribes could only be paralleled with the 
 Terrorists at their worst. One writer asked: "Are 
 Connecticut Democrats better, or more virtuous 
 than those in New York? If they are, the Lord 
 
 50 Bishop, Oration (1800), pp. 45-16. 
 
 51 Discourse, Apr. 11, 1803, especially p. 13. 
 
330 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 have mercy on New York." On learning that 
 Virginia had retired five or six Republican Con- 
 gressmen, the editor declared: "Ignorance and vice 
 are losing ground." 52 Ames spoke for every parti- 
 san Federalist when he wrote to Thomas Dwight, 
 saying: " Democracy is a troubled spirit, fated 
 never to rest, and whose dreams, if it sleeps, present 
 only visions of hell." 53 Robbins could write : "This 
 town is very little infested with Democrats." 54 
 Disparaging remarks, personalities, insulting in- 
 ferences were the order of the day. 55 It is hard to 
 account for the rancor of the attacks on the part 
 of sober, conservative men, even though the attitude 
 of the time toward party as a faction is appreciated. 
 Nor is it possible to believe leader or follower en- 
 tirely honest. Both were carried away by a parti- 
 san zeal which saw any course justified in striking 
 down evil. 
 
 52 Courant, Apr. 1, 1807; Nov. 14, 1810; May 15, 1811. 
 
 53 Fisher Ames, I, 337, 
 64 Diary, I, 141. 
 
 55 A stanza from Theodore Dwight's hymn "Ye ragged throng of 
 Democrats" expresses the depths to which prime Federalists would 
 descend. 
 
 "Behold a motley crew 
 
 Comes crowding o'er the green, 
 Of every shape and hue 
 
 Complexion, form and mien, 
 With deaf'ning noise, 
 Drunkards and whores 
 And rogues in scores 
 They all rejoice." 
 
FEDERAL PARTY ORGANIZATION 331 
 
 NOTE 
 Republican Hostility to the Clergy 
 
 Anticlericalism became a chief Republican plank. Every party 
 organ echoed it, but none so loudly as the Mercury whose editor was 
 forced to pay a $1,000 libel judgment to Rev. Dan Huntington. See 
 Jan. 7, 1808; Feb. 7, 1814. Republican papers outside the state 
 like the Watch Tower, Cobbett's Register, the Baltimore Sun, vied with 
 the Connecticut papers in heaping abuse on the ministers of the Stand- 
 ding Order. There is especially valuable material in Morse, Federalist 
 Party, pp. 116-139, 220, and in Robinson, Jejjersonian Democracy, pp. 
 129 ff. 
 
 There is no better way of arriving at the Republican attitude than 
 by noticing a few characteristic toasts given at their celebrations: 
 "The virtuous clergy of all Christian denominations;" "The Clergy — 
 May they be taught to rely on the Olive Branch of the Cross; not on 
 the Sword of the Crescent;" "Those who preach for the flock, not 
 for the fleece;" "Our brethren in Tripoli and Connecticut — May the 
 former be freed from Pirates and the latter from Priest-craft;" "The 
 Clergy of all Denominations — the Bible their constitution, their politics 
 religion;" "Give the people more Bibles, and let them buy their own 
 pamphlets;" "The Pulpit for the priest not for the politician." Mer- 
 cury, July 9, 1801; July 15, 22, 1802; July 25, Sept. 5, 1805; July 30, 
 1807; Mar. 16, 1809. 
 
 Republicans invariably denied the charge of atheism while boasting 
 their hatred of an establishment. The following are typical toasts 
 expressive of this attitude : " Religion — May the noble institution never 
 be debased to the vile purpose of enslaving mankind;" "Genuine 
 Christianity — May its ministers remember that their kingdom is not 
 of this world;" "Religion — We love it in its purity, but not as an engine 
 of political delusion;" "Federal Religion and Peter Pindar's Razors — 
 All cheap, made to sell;" "Religion — That which inculcates virtue and 
 morality; not the political religion, which inculcates sedition against 
 the Government of our Country;" "Federal Religion — May it soon 
 become Christian;" "Church and State united — The corner stone on 
 which Satan builds his fabric of infidelity." With this they guaran- 
 teed the clergy their support as soon as religious men divorced them- 
 selves from politics. Mercury, July 9, Aug. 27, 1801; July 4, 1802; 
 July 4, Aug. 4, 1803; July 19, 1804; Mar. 4, 1805, etc. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 Success of the Reform Party 
 
 A REPUBLICAN-EPISCOPALIAN meeting of 
 *~* citizens from various parts of the state was 
 held at New Haven on February 21, 1816. 1 The 
 intention was to establish the party of opposition 
 on a basis which would conciliate the various fac- 
 tions, and bridge over denominational intolerance. 
 Elijah Boardman withdrew his name in favor of 
 Oliver Wolcott and Jonathan Ingersoll, who were 
 unanimously selected to run respectively for gover- 
 nor and lieutenant governor. The ticket soon was 
 labeled the American Ticket or the American 
 Toleration and Reform Ticket. 2 American in this 
 instance signified no nativist bigotry, but was used 
 to describe the national spirit of the party. 
 
 The choice of Oliver Wolcott was a surprise. 
 Yet it was proof that Republicanism had fused 
 into the broader American party. As the son and 
 grandson of a governor, and brother-in-law of 
 Chauncey Goodrich, he represented the "best 
 blood" of the state. After graduating from Yale 
 in 1778, he prepared for the bar at the Litchfield 
 Law School. During the Revolution he served 
 as a minute-man, but refused a continental com- 
 mission. A firm Federalist, friend of Washington, 
 Jay, Ellsworth, Cabot and others high in that 
 
 1 Mercury, Feb. 27; Hartford Times, Feb. 25; Courant, Apr. 2, 1816. 
 
 2 Mercury, Mar. 5; Courant, Mar. 26, 1816. 
 
 332 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 333 
 
 party, he was appointed Comptroller of the Cur- 
 rency at the suggestion of Hamilton. While Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury he was subjected to furious 
 Republican attacks, even being charged with burn- 
 ing the Treasury Building to conceal his misappro- 
 priation of the public moneys. A House committee 
 of investigation reported their inability to obtain 
 evidence. Democrats failed to credit Wolcott's de- 
 fense pamphlet. The political charges were prob- 
 ably unfounded, for on returning from office in 
 1800 he was said to be poor. 3 Wolcott was be- 
 lieved to have refused the presidency of the United 
 States Bank. John Adams, whose renomination 
 he had opposed, named him Judge of the United 
 States Circuit Court for Connecticut, Vermont 
 and New York. On the repeal of the Judiciary 
 Act, he engaged in a mercantile business in New 
 York. In 1803 he became president of the new 
 Merchants' Bank. In 18 12 he put his whole 
 capital into the newly established Bank of America, 
 of which he was elected president. Two years later 
 he resigned because of his political differences with 
 the directorate. His next venture was as an in- 
 corporator, with his brother Frederick, 4 of the 
 Wolcottville manufacturing concern. In 181 5 he 
 returned to make his home in Litchfield. From 
 then until the time of his nomination for governor, 
 
 3 Mercury, Feb. 5, 25, 1801; Sept. 9, 1802; Aurora, Feb. 13, 1801 5 
 Kilbourne, Sketches, pp. 35-36. See Wolcott, "An Address to the 
 People of the United States" (1802). 
 
 4 Graduate of Yale, 1786; judge of probate in Litchfield County; 
 councilor, 1810-1819; then in state senate. Kilbourne, Sketches, pp. 
 132-135. 
 
334 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 he gave his whole attention to fostering manu- 
 factures and agriculture. 
 
 His enthusiastic support of the war caused a 
 breach with his former political associates, 5 and 
 won Republican praise. At the time of his nomi- 
 nation, the American Mercury, once foremost among 
 his detractors, lauded him as a man of honor and 
 integrity whose whole career would bear the 
 keenest scrutiny. 6 In matters religious he was 
 tolerant, for experience had counteracted the 
 effects of his early training. His orthodoxy was 
 dubious, happily so for his political hopes. As a 
 manufacturer he appealed to the class whose 
 capital was invested in industry. As a gentleman 
 agriculturist he gained the farmers' good-will. 
 He was a scholar of a poetic turn and a friend of 
 Yale. Wolcott might be a political apostate, 7 
 yet he was moderately conservative. He was a 
 compromise between the old order and the new; 
 an ideal man to work out the state's transition. 8 
 
 Judge Jonathan Ingersoll, a New Haven lawyer 
 of lucrative practice, was a fortunate choice for 
 second place. 9 Not a word could be breathed 
 
 5 His support had been active, addressing war meetings and the like. 
 Mercury, Aug. 23, 1814; Mar. 26, 1816. 
 
 6 Ibid., Mar. 19, July 9, 1816; Feb. 11, Mar. 25, 1817; New Haven 
 Register, Feb. 11, 1817. 
 
 7 Courani, Apr. 2, 1816. 
 
 8 Additional biographical data may be found in Dexter, Biographical 
 Sketches, IV, 82 ff.; Stokes, Memorials, II, 189 ff.; Kilbourne, Sketches, 
 pp. 24 ff.; Norton, Governors, pp. 149-157; campaign sketches, Mercury, 
 Mar. 26, 1816, and Courant, Mar. 18, Apr. 1, 1817; Fisher, Silliman, 
 I, 197; Gibbs, Memoirs, I, 11. 
 
 9 Biographical material in Trumbull, Historical Notes, pp. 37-38; 
 campaign sketches in Mercury, Mar. 26, Apr. 2, 16, 1816. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 335 
 
 against his character; Federalists did not even 
 attempt it. They regarded him as one of them- 
 selves, who could not be endorsed lest it shatter 
 the party organization. They pointed to his pre- 
 vious offices as evidence of their tolerance. How- 
 ever, his selection for assistant Stiles assigned to 
 a combination of deists, sectaries and Episco- 
 palians. 10 Republicans claimed their vote had 
 elected him over Griswold 11 to the supreme court. 
 A prominent Episcopalian, senior trustee of the 
 Bishop's Fund, he was expected to bring the dis- 
 satisfied Episcopalians into the reorganized party. 
 Republicans charged the Federalists with opposi- 
 tion to him because of his creed, but the Courant edi- 
 torially asserted that surely this could have no 
 effect on the freemen's decision. 12 
 
 Smith, by virtue of the steady habit of renomi- 
 nation, was again candidate for governor. In a 
 coquettish way, the Courant half guiltily offered 
 for second place the name of Calvin Goddard. 
 It was still hard for Federalists candidly to an- 
 nounce a ballot, because of the old steady pretense 
 that only the freemen should nominate. 13 
 
 Like Smith, Goddard was of the old school. 14 
 A graduate of Dartmouth, he studied law and prac- 
 ticed at Plainfield and Norwich. From 1795 to 
 1 80 1 he represented Plainfield in the Legislature at 
 least eight times. Twice he served as speaker. 
 
 10 Diary, III, 546. 
 
 11 Mercury, Apr. 16, 1816. 
 
 12 Courant, Mar. 26, Apr. 2 1816. 
 
 13 Ibid., Mar. 4, 1816. 
 
 14 Gilman, Norwich, pp. 116-117; Mercury, Mar. 12, 19, 26, 1816. 
 
336 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 From 1801 to 1805 he served his district in Con- 
 gress. Later he won a place on the Council, which 
 he resigned in 181 5 to become a judge of the su- 
 preme court and superior court of errors. While 
 an assistant he also acted as state's attorney for 
 New London County, and as mayor of Norwich. 
 Membership in the Hartford Convention was his 
 only vulnerable spot. However, he represented the 
 office-holding class, serving as a personal illustration 
 of plural office-holding, the correlation of the de- 
 partments and of a dependent judiciary. A wealthy 
 manufacturer, he was regarded as one who could 
 appeal to the shipping and manufacturing interests 
 just as John Cotton Smith would to the agricultural. 
 
 Party principles were fairly definitely stated in 
 1 81 6. They were essentially local rather than 
 national. The issues were determined by the 
 opposition with a view to draw together the vari- 
 ous factions making up the Toleration party. 15 
 
 Their cry was for ecclesiastical reform. The 
 national administration did not need Connecticut's 
 support, hence its merits were not stressed. Men 
 were advised to look toward their own hearths 
 and altars. Let them inquire if all denominations 
 were equal ; or if one denomination had not usurped 
 control over others, questioned their ministry and 
 oppressed their members. Were equal advantages 
 given in the college and schools? Whose minis- 
 ters preached election sermons and received all 
 honors? Episcopal clergymen, and once even a 
 Baptist elder, had been invited to pray with the 
 
 16 Mercury, Mar. 5, 12, 19, 26, Apr. 2, 1816. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 337 
 
 Assembly, but never to preach. Are Episcopalians 
 to be placated by merely making Good Friday the 
 fast day? Are not the Charitable, Bible and 
 Moral Societies, under the protection of Judge 
 Reeve, John Cotton Smith, and Treadwell, politi- 
 cal supporters of the establishment? The present 
 laws "have a strong tendency to produce an un- 
 natural and adulterous connection between church 
 and state." Their change will be deplored, as in 
 the case of the Ephesians, by those financially 
 interested. Yet it was observed that this "would 
 tend to remove that puritanic cant in our con- 
 versation, and that hypocritical deceit in our con- 
 duct, which render us a bye-word in our neighbor- 
 ing states, and which are said to give us a resem- 
 blance to the soldiers of Oliver Cromwell . . . 
 would destroy that violent struggle between the 
 desire to appear pious and the desire to obtain a 
 good bargain." 16 
 
 Tolerationists denied any hostility to religion or 
 any desire to interfere with the rights of conscience. 
 In their opposition tn an establishment lay the 
 chief difference between them and the Federalists, 
 who made this a cardinal principle. The Toleration 
 party did not allow the force of their position to be 
 lost in statement, though on the whole it was a 
 fair summary of actual grievances. Federalists 
 could not refute the charge. Their denial was 
 ineffective, for, in the words of the Connecticut 
 
 16 Mercury, Mar. 5, 1816. The New Haven Register said : "If episco- 
 pacy was the road to power, the episcopal churches would be crowded." 
 In Mercury, Mar. 26. 
 
338 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 countryman, the majority " 'lowed there must be 
 some fire where there was so much smoke/' 
 
 The question of a new constitution was not 
 overlooked. A list of governmental reforms was 
 advocated. Among those stressed were: the 
 method of electing councilors and congressmen; 
 the non-representative character of presidential 
 electors; an antiquated system of taxation which 
 weighed heavily on the poor; militia exceptions; 
 the expediency of creating money corporations; 
 and especially the suffrage requirements. The 
 secrecy of the Legislature, with its debates un- 
 published, save occasionally in abstract, was com- 
 plained of because it made investigation so diffi- 
 cult. This listing of reforms was found to be less 
 terrifying to the freeman than a call for a con- 
 vention. Charges of corruption were made. At 
 the last moment, as an electioneering move, an 
 account of Federalist maladministration to the 
 extent of $50,000 was widely published. 
 
 The Federalist platform was negative. Federal- 
 ist writers were busy with denials. They were 
 chagrined at the defection of the Episcopalians, 
 who were being deceived by Republican promises 
 to combine with men irreligious at heart. They 
 pointed to the extravagance of the national admin- 
 istration — war, loans, taxes, debts and high sal- 
 aries — asking if Democrats would conserve the 
 school-fund. All men were counseled to uphold 
 the holy institutions of their fathers by voting the 
 "Connecticut Ticket." 17 
 
 17 Courant, Mar. 26, Apr. 2, 1816. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 339 
 
 The campaign was aggressively waged. The 
 Tolerationists made use of town committees to 
 enroll freemen and bring them to the polls. Rich 
 and poor, townsmen and countrymen were asked 
 to try "the Long Pull, the Strong Pull and the 
 Pull Together" for Wolcott and Ingersoll and 
 Toleration. Federalists depended upon their 
 secret, invisible machine of office-holders and 
 settled ministers. 
 
 Smith was elected, with 11,386 votes as com- 
 pared to Wolcott's 10,170. Goddard ran behind 
 his party with only 8,635 votes to Ingersoll's 
 10, 494. 18 The Hartford Convention had proven 
 his downfall, as it did that of other delegates in 
 their states. 19 Otherwise, Ingersoll's creed would 
 have meant his defeat. Sundry circumstances af- 
 ord an interesting study Close scrutiny of the 
 eight counties of Connecticut will demonstrate 
 beyond peradventure that sectarian towns were 
 Tolerationist strongholds. Fairfield County voted 
 for Toleration by over two to one. New Lon- 
 don did about as well. Even in Litchfield 
 the minority was a large one. New Haven and 
 Middlesex, while giving Smith majorities, turned 
 in favor of Ingersoll. Tolland was fairly evenly 
 divided, while Windham remained Federalist by 
 
 18 Ibid., May 14, 1816; Niks' Register, X, 128, 195. 
 
 19 "New York Federalists used as an argument for the election of 
 Rufus King, that he was not a member of the Hartford Convention." 
 Mercury, May 28, 1816. The Vermont American, in connection with 
 the defeat of the "Conventionists," asked: "Where is the blustering, 
 menacing, the insolent, and ultimately the creeping and recreant Hart- 
 ford Convention?" In Mercury, May 21, 1816. 
 
340 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 a heavy majority. The large towns and the ship- 
 ping centers were with the new party. The Epis- 
 copalians, as Rev. Thomas Robbins feared, had 
 indeed made "trouble in the state." 20 
 
 In the Legislature the Tolerationists made a 
 good showing, electing about eighty-five represen- 
 tatives, seven more than the Republican maxi- 
 mum. 21 The city of Hartford for the first time 
 failed to return Federalists. This proved true 
 after it had been predicted that Jeffersonian 
 Democracy, the legitimate daughter of French 
 Democracy, might linger a few years, but — 
 fatally sick — would follow its mother to an early 
 grave. Federalists accounted for the result only 
 in sectarian, factious bigotry and the slavish dis- 
 cipline of Democrats to their political hierarchy. 
 Rev. Abel Flint begged the legislators to rise 
 above party and consider themselves God's agents 
 to restrain the wicked and preserve unimpaired 
 "those civil and religious institutions for which 
 the state is so long and justly celebrated." 22 
 
 The campaign charge of legislative corruption 
 resulted in a minor reform. The Council blocked 
 the publication of semi-annual financial reports, 
 by means of which Tolerationists hoped to show 
 financial deficits, despite the fiscal talent of the 
 Treasurer, Kingsbury. However, transcripts were 
 
 20 Diary, I, 664. See Courant, Apr. 2, 1816; Rev. Dr. Shelton, Mem- 
 oir of Rev. Philo Shelton of Fairfield, in Sprague, Annals of American 
 Pulpit, V, 351. 
 
 21 Mercury, Apr. 16; Courant, Jan. 23, Apr. 16, 1816; Robbins, 
 Diary, I, 664. 
 
 22 Courant, Apr. 30. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 341 
 
 allowed to be made and printed under certain 
 regulations. 23 Apparently in the past the budget 
 had been kept " a profound secret from the public." 
 Thus a wedge was driven into the autocratic 
 secrecy with which the people's money was handled. 
 
 An organized campaign against the Council was 
 inaugurated in the summer of 1816. The Tolera- 
 tion party, assured of success in the state offices 
 and in the Legislature, made a determined assault 
 on the Council, which had long been regarded as 
 the keystone of the Federalist system and the bul- 
 wark of reaction. It was in especially bad grace 
 because of the refusal in May to publish the 
 comptroller's accounts and the veto of a bill pro- 
 viding for a two-year issue of bank paper, to the 
 amount of one-third the bank's capital, in order to 
 relieve the lack of circulating medium. 24 
 
 A series of articles by "Cato" reviewed the 
 Council's history. 25 He proposed to consider if 
 seven superannuated men should rule the state, 
 negativing the bills of the people's representatives. 
 Yet he felt: 
 
 That for years past, and more especially at the present 
 time| the will of the Council has been and is the supreme 
 law of the state, [and] no one, who has the least acquaint- 
 ance with that species of ministerial policy and management 
 by which the state is governed, will pretend to deny. 
 
 The difficulty of investigating the source of its 
 powers was insuperable, for they were based not 
 
 23 Mercury, May 28, June 4, 1816. 
 
 24 Mercury, June 18, 1816. 
 
 25 Ibid., July 30, Aug. 6, 13, 20, 1816. 
 
342 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 upon the Charter, but upon the implied assent of 
 the people. Custom gave no preference to either 
 House, even in money bills. Yet their powers 
 were by no means co-equal. Like the British 
 Lords, the assistants were best suited to a royal 
 foundation. They were restrained only by pru- 
 dential considerations. Their tenure was secure; 
 unlike judges, they could not even be impeached. 
 They were responsible for the militia controversy 
 and largely for the Hartford Convention. Cato 
 recalled the half -forgotten desire for a written con- 
 stitution as the only means of denning the Coun- 
 cil's position. He saw no difficulty in drafting a 
 constitution in a country having no legally recog- 
 nized classes. 
 
 The question of religious toleration still re- 
 mained the central issue. The opposition party 
 described itself as a union of all parties and all 
 sects, who detested political Congregationalism 
 and who believed that even dissenters should 
 receive equal privileges and a fair share of offices. 26 
 Federalists described Republican-Episcopalians 
 as certificate-Episcopalians of no influence. Again, 
 they appealed to the friends of Washington to 
 protect the legacies of the fathers. 
 
 Toleration politicians played a shrewd game in 
 the September elections. 27 In order to break the 
 
 26 New Haven Register, quoted in Mercury, Aug. 27, 1816. See 
 Courant, Aug. 20. "The government is and has been for a long time 
 a combination of men of one sect in politics and one sect in religion, 
 firmly bent on their own promotion and relying on the union of Church 
 and State to bear down all opposition." Mercury, Sept. 10, 1816. 
 
 27 Albany Advertiser, quoted in Courant, June 18, 1816; Mercury, 
 Sept. 10, Oct. 22, 1816. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 343 
 
 Federalist hold on Congress, they supported the 
 last candidates on the Federalist list, one of whom 
 at least, Charles Denison, was an Episcopalian. 
 In this way five new men were elected to Congress, 
 only two being returned. As the newly elected men 
 were only nominal Federalists, it meant really a 
 Toleration victory. In the case of the assistants, 
 both parties had official lists, with the Episcopalians, 
 Asa Chapman and Dr. Johnson, on both lists. 
 That they drew the churchmen's vote was attested 
 by their leading the list with 12,498 and 13,149 
 votes respectively, whereas Sherman received only 
 9,377, and the Republican, Tomlinson, won the 
 twentieth place with 7,686 votes. Tolerationists 
 could claim that three of their men were nominated. 
 
 The contest for representatives was keen. Hart- 
 ford cast 804 votes, by rounding up over a hun- 
 dred new freemen or negligent voters through the 
 efforts of ward leaders. Federalists were returned as 
 of old. This rounding-up of voters was so success- 
 ful that similar steps were taken by both parties 
 in other towns. 28 In the Assembly Tolerationists 
 numbered about eighty-seven to one hundred and 
 fourteen Federalists. This session selected presi- 
 dential electors, Ingersoll being successful, but 
 Wolcott failing with only eighty-eight votes. His 
 vote offered a practical test of the party's strength. 29 
 
 That the Federalists were worried, their con- 
 ciliatory policy in the October session amply 
 demonstrated. In no other way can one account 
 
 ™Courant, Sept. 17, Dec. 17, 1816; Mercury, Sept. 24, 1816. 
 29 Mercury, Nov. 5, 1816. 
 
344 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 for the passage of the Bonus Act than as a political 
 move to conciliate the disgruntled dissenter. This 
 was "An Act for the support of Literature and 
 Religion," appropriating the sum of $14,500 due 
 from the national government for disbursements 
 made for military defense in the late war. 30 It 
 provided that one-third should be distributed 
 among the Congregational societies in proportion 
 to their tax lists ; one-seventh to the trustees of the 
 Bishop's Fund ; an eighth to the Baptists, through 
 a committee of trustees named by the Legislature; 
 a twelfth to Methodist trustees similarly appointed ; 
 a seventh to Yale College; and the remainder, of 
 about a sixth, to remain in the treasury. It was 
 a compromise act in the guise of religious philan- 
 thropy. Federalist leaders hoped to win back 
 the Episcopalians with this donation to the Bish- 
 op's Fund in lieu of their share of the Phoenix 
 Bank bonus, out of which they believed themselves 
 defrauded. The college could not fail to be satis- 
 fied, after having received the largess of $20,000 
 from the Phoenix fund. The donation to the 
 minor sects could not have been expected to do 
 more than placate them and incidentally to dem- 
 onstrate the fairness and broad toleration of the 
 rulers. Compromises seldom satisfy, and the 
 Bonus Act proved no exception. 
 
 No group was pleased. Even the Congre- 
 
 30 Public Laws (1808-1819), p. 279; Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 36; 
 Hollister, Connecticut, II, 515; Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 123, 
 161; Courant, Apr. 1, 1817. It was described as "An act to encourage 
 Episcopalians to vote for us — to increase the salaries of the faculties 
 of Yale College, etc." Mercury, Mar. 4, 1817. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 345 
 
 gationalists felt that they had not received their 
 full share. To be officially rated, as if they 
 amounted to only a third of the population, was 
 not flattering. The Episcopalians were not to be 
 so easily conciliated, for they did not regard this 
 grant as fairly apportioned or as a restitution for 
 the failure of their bonus. Federalism could not 
 satisfy them, for the new party was too willing to 
 further their interests. Yet they did not fail to 
 accept their share, which was invested in gilt-edged 
 bank stock. 31 Baptists and Methodists voiced 
 dissatisfaction in harsh protests. 32 They believed 
 that the Legislature had violated decorum in 
 appointing their trustees, some of whom refused 
 to serve. They rated themselves as more numer- 
 ous than the Episcopalians, who shared largely 
 in Federalist good-will. To accept their quotas 
 would be inconsistent with professions of no state 
 aid for religion, no forced contributions for Gospel 
 support. The Baptists, Methodists and Episco- 
 palians of Andover united in protest against the 
 political trickery of the act. The Goshen Metho- 
 dists resolved that they desired no state aid from 
 those who considered them wandering lunatics. 
 Burlington Methodists refused it as an insulting 
 bribe; the Baptists of Groton and New Haven 
 objected to such aid. Preston and Danbury pro- 
 tested in town meetings. 
 
 At first both Methodists and Baptists disdain- 
 fully refused the donation, but the conflict between 
 
 31 Hart, Episcopal Bank, pp. 4, 5, 11. 
 
 32 Courant, Jan. 21, 1817; Mercury, Nov. 12, 19, Dec. 24, 1816; Jan. 
 7, 21, Mar. 11, 25, 1817; Greene, Religious Liberty, pp. 468 ff. 
 
346 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 principle and interest was of short duration. In 
 February, 1818, the Methodist trustees, protest- 
 ing against the amount, agreed to accept the 
 money rather than allow it to remain in the treas- 
 ury. Their action was censured by many of the 
 denomination. The New Haven and Granby soci- 
 eties went so far as to petition the Legislature 
 to be allowed to return their share to the treasury, 
 which was readily granted. The Baptist trustees 
 did not accept their share until June, 1820. 33 In 
 defense of the humbler sectaries, it can be said 
 that they did not benefit by the grant until after 
 the severance of the church and state connection. 
 
 The result of the act was an increase in sectarian 
 bickerings. As a political bribe it brought dis- 
 grace upon the party offering it and served Repub- 
 licans to prove Federalist corruption. The attempt 
 failed in everything save in convincing the opposi- 
 tion that Federalism was fearful of its downfall. 
 
 Oliver Wolcott and Jonathan Ingersoll were 
 again the Toleration candidates. The Federalists 
 named Smith and Ingersoll, hoping thereby to 
 prevent a definitive Episcopalian break, to blur 
 past memories, and to win back the substantial 
 Episcopalian. The April, 181 7, campaign was 
 vigorously conducted, for it was generally felt that 
 the political crisis had been reached. Toleration- 
 ists were hopeful; Federalists were depressed, yet 
 fighting hard. 34 
 
 33 Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 36; Mercury, Feb. 17, Mar. 3, June 
 16, 1818. 
 
 n C our ant, Mar. 4, 11, Apr. 1; Mercury, Mar. 11, 1817; Robbins, 
 Diary, I, 699. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 347 
 
 The Toleration party again featured its policies 
 of church separation and no "religious test" for 
 office. 35 Reform, they warned, would not be dan- 
 gerous. They announced: " Sovereignty belonged 
 to the people and offices were not held in fee sim- 
 ple." The secret handling of the state's finances 
 was again attacked. Appropriations and disburse- 
 ments were made in a way to puzzle a lawyer, as 
 the recently issued reports were so artfully specious 
 as to be worthless. The whole system of taxation 
 was reviewed. No state, it was said, suffered from 
 higher or more unequal taxes. Land still remained 
 the chief source of taxation; newer forms of wealth, 
 capital, stock, and bank shares were not listed, 
 or if so, at a low rate. In this way, the farmer 
 paid about three times his rightful share, for a 
 twenty-dollar cow was taxed as much as $233 
 worth of bank stock and a two- thousand dollar 
 farm as high as $50,000 in money or stock. Argu- 
 ments of this nature were listened to by the farm- 
 ers, already discontented with their lot. As a 
 parting campaign shot the story was printed that 
 the state, being deeply in debt, would levy an 
 assessment of ten cents on the dollar. This cam- 
 paign lie was not without results despite Treasurer 
 Kingsbury's sharp denial. Men were not allowed 
 to forget the Hartford Convention or the aristo- 
 cratic rule of the Council. 36 
 
 35 The New Haven Register saw Federalists "feeling their way to 
 office through the broad alleys of their meeting houses." Quoted in 
 Mercury, Feb. 25, 1817. 
 
 36 Mercury and Courant, March-April, passim. 
 
348 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Chairman Hillhouse issued the Federalist state- 
 ment, emphasizing the two-century old constitu- 
 tion of the fathers, which had withstood every 
 tempest. Religion must be supported, if only for 
 the welfare of the state. No portion of the globe 
 experienced greater tolerance. Then followed the 
 usual commendation of the college and schools ; and 
 misrepresentation of the principles and intentions 
 of the "revolutionary faction." 37 An "Old Free- 
 man" pathetically feared that "this state so long 
 the nursery of morals, science and literature, so 
 long the abode of peace, regularity and piety, will 
 become the scene of discord, confusion, and every 
 evil work — and her offices of government, cages of 
 unclean and hateful birds Shall Con- 
 necticut be revolutionized, now, after having 
 triumphantly withstood every attack for twenty 
 years — after the rest of the world has become sick 
 of revolutions, and are coming back as fast as they 
 can to the good old way?" 38 
 
 Connecticut cast by far its heaviest vote, Wol- 
 cott receiving 13,655 votes to Smith's 13,119, or, 
 when corrections were made, a majority of about 
 600 votes. It is probable that nearly every free- 
 man voted. Yet only ten per cent of the white in- 
 habitants were represented. This would suggest 
 the number of free residents who, under the exist- 
 ing laws, were disfranchised. Ingersoll was not op- 
 posed, nor were the offices of Treasurer Kingsbury 
 
 37 Courant, Mar. 4, 1817. 
 
 38 Ibid., Mar. 25, 1817. 
 
Vote for Governor -April 1817 
 
 Republican Towns i^^ 
 
 Federalist Towns H^^l 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 349 
 
 and Secretary Day contested. In the Assembly 
 the Tolerationists had a heavy majority. 39 
 
 The political map, based on the vote for gov- 
 ernor, shows the Toleration strength in dissenting 
 towns, in shipping centers; and the party's inroads 
 into the conservative country towns. Even Litch- 
 field and Windham counties were affected. If the 
 map brought out the large Toleration minorities 
 in Federalist towns, the result would be more 
 marked. 
 
 The election of Wolcott signified the entrance of 
 a new era, new men and new ideas. Yet there 
 lingers half a feeling of regret that the old order 
 had to give way. John Cotton Smith was the last of 
 the Puritan governors. His eulogist said: "It was 
 the honour of Governor Smith to close worthily 
 the long line of chief magistrates in whom the 
 principles of the former era were represented, and 
 to shed around the last days of the old Common- 
 wealth, the lustre it had in the times of Haynes, 
 Winthrop and Saltonstall." 40 To ardent Federal- 
 ists his retirement to his estate in Sharon marked 
 the end of Connecticut's golden age. Smith, of the 
 blood of John Cotton, was unable to breast the 
 new times. He was happier in his religious seclu- 
 sion from which he was to witness during the next 
 thirty years the complete transformation of Con- 
 necticut into a modern state. 
 
 39 Mercury, May 13, 1817; Niks' Register, XII, 128, 144; Robbins, 
 Diary, I, 702. 
 
 40 Andrews, John Cotton Smith, pp. 40-41. See Hollister, Connecticut, 
 II, 517. Smith lived -intil 1845 on his thousand-acre estate, engaging 
 in religious work. 
 
350 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The Courant observed: "The retirement of 
 Governor Smith from office may have produced 
 regret; but it is a regret accompanied by the re- 
 deeming recollection that faction and falsehood 
 are his only enemies." 41 The Connecticut Mirror 
 concurred with similar expressions. The Beechers 
 thought only of God's Church. Happily for him- 
 self, Dr. Dwight had not lived to see his defeat. 42 
 The brilliant Dr. Nathan Strong who had none of 
 the "mad and shameful spirit of proselytism," 
 died the year before. 43 Robbins fatalistically con- 
 soled himself: "We deserve the divine judgments 
 and are now called to bear them." 44 General 
 Humphreys was about to pass away. Noah Web- 
 ster had already removed to Amherst and had 
 seemingly lost his former interest in politics. 
 The old generation was passing away. It is an 
 interesting historical speculation to wonder if only 
 with its death and the rise of the new generation 
 could reform and new measures come to pass. 45 
 
 "The Democrats are on tiptoe," wrote an obser- 
 ver. "What they will attempt when the legislature 
 meets no one can tell. I think in Governor Wolcott 
 they have got a Tartar and will not find him 
 exactly the man they wish." 46 While the Fourth 
 was somewhat non-partisan, a few toasts expressed 
 
 41 Courant, May 13, 1817. 
 
 42 Autobiography, I, 344. 
 
 43 Funeral Sermon by Rev. Nathan Perkins. 
 
 44 Diary, I, 700. 
 
 45 Cf. Arthur T. Hadley, Undercurrents in American Politics, p. 13. 
 
 46 Gilman, Norwich, p. 113; Robbins, Diary, I, 709; Mercury, July 
 15, 23, 1817. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 351 
 
 the views of Tolerationists : " Oliver Wolcott — 
 Governor of the State, not of a Party;" " Connec- 
 ticut — Emerging from the fogs of political delu- 
 sion." Naturally, Republicans rejoiced, but prob- 
 ably not to the same extent as if it had been less 
 of a conservative victory. There was little ex- 
 pression of a discreditable glee, which would 
 lacerate Federalist feelings. 
 
 Outside Republican opinion was decidedly jubi- 
 lant. The Boston Yankee wrote of Connecticut: 
 "This old and constant sinner in the walks of fed- 
 eralism has renounced her political heresy, and 
 returned to the bosom of the American family." 
 The Baltimore Patriot declared: "The sweet and 
 pacific voice of toleration, so worthy the name of 
 republicanism, is now heard where before nought 
 but the hoarse and hateful accents of persecution 
 and illiberality resounded." The Boston Patriot 
 saw in Wolcott's election the destruction of the 
 sheet anchor of Federalism's last hope. 47 
 
 Governor Wolcott's address to the General 
 Assembly evidenced a breadth and depth of under- 
 standing of which the late governors were quite 
 incapable. 48 Wolcott expressed moderate views, 
 
 47 Quoted in Mercury, Apr. 25, 1817. 
 
 "Courant, May 20, 1817; Niles' Register, XII, 201 ff.; Greene, 
 Religious Liberty, pp. 472 ff. National Intelligencer, May 22, said: 
 "The speech is evidently the production of a master of the pen, and a 
 man who knows the world .... Tho' a certain bigotry has 
 characterised the councils of the state of Connecticut, heretofore, and 
 a cool indifference to the national interests, which required the agency 
 of reform, we should have been sorry to see it too rudely employed; 
 for there are some institutions and habits, almost peculiar to Connecti- 
 cut which, so far from disturbing we should be glad to see imitated and 
 emulated in other sections of our country." 
 
352 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 encouraging cooperation and compromise. To the 
 surprise of his opponents, there was "nothing of 
 that frothy, bombastic jargon" which they narrowly 
 ascribed to Republicans, so that they wondered if 
 after all he was not a Federalist. They convinced 
 themselves of Republican dissatisfaction. But the 
 future, with its Wolcott administration of ten years, 
 was destined to prove them in the wrong. He 
 was the people's rather than a party governor. 
 
 His view of the rights of conscience are worthy 
 of quotation: 
 
 It is the right and duty of every man, to worship and 
 adore the Supreme Creator and Preserver of the Universe, 
 in the manner most agreeable to the dictates of his own con- 
 science; and no man or body of men have, or can acquire, 
 by acts of licentiousness, impiety, or usurpation, any right 
 to disturb the public peace, or control others in the exercise 
 of their religious opinions or worship. 
 
 . . . . There are no subjects respecting which the 
 sensibility of freemen is more liable to be excited to im- 
 patience, than in regard to the rights of conscience, and the 
 freedom of suffrage. So highly do the people prize these 
 privileges that they have sometimes ascribed to unfriendly 
 motives towards particular sects and denominations what 
 was sincerely intended to secure an equality of rights to 
 every portion of the community. 
 
 When people are so wrought up, he advised, pru- 
 dence will cause the Legislature to investigate the 
 grievances. This was indeed a moderate state- 
 ment. 
 
 A review of the election laws, he commended 
 to the Assembly, with the observation that the 
 purity of the ballot had been guaranteed by our 
 fathers. As evidence of this, every freeman was 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 353 
 
 oathbound to give his suffrage in conscience, with 
 only the commonwealth in mind. Even to solicit 
 votes or hand a freeman a ballot was a penal 
 offense. He would have the Legislature see if, 
 under the present system of voting, this ancient 
 sacred character of the franchise was maintained, 
 and act according to their findings. He pleaded 
 for an independent judiciary, in which supreme 
 judges should hold for life or good behavior. This 
 was a reform which every honest Federalist favored. 
 In no place was Wolcott's conservatism better 
 attested, for he advised that the change be made 
 immediately, and justice raised above partisan- 
 ship at a time when the judges were of such a high 
 type. 
 
 The problem of emigration received his close 
 attention : 
 
 An investigation of the causes which produce the numer- 
 ous emigrations of our industrious and enterprising young 
 men is by far the most important subject which can engage 
 our attention. We cannot justly repine at any improve- 
 ment of their condition. They are our relatives and friends 
 who in the honourable pursuit of comfort and independence, 
 encounter voluntary toils and privations, and the success of 
 their efforts affords a most exhilarating subject for contem- 
 plation. Still it is certain that the ardour for emigration 
 may be excessive, and perhaps the time has arrived, when 
 it will be wise in those who meditate removals, to compare 
 the value of what they must relinquish, with what they 
 expect to acquire. On our part it is important to consider 
 whether everything has been done which is practicable, to 
 render the people contented, industrious, and frugal, and if 
 causes are operating to reduce any class of citizens to a 
 situation which leaves them no alternative but poverty or 
 emigration, in that case to afford the most speedy relief. 
 
354 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 This, "fortunately for the people," could only 
 be attained by making it to their interest to remain. 
 Free circulation of capital and credit and the re- 
 moval of taxes upon skill and industry were sug- 
 gested measures. 
 
 His intimate knowledge gave added weight to 
 his views on manufacturing. Manufacturers were 
 becoming non-partisan if the unanimity of their 
 support signified anything. He predicted that 
 the interest of state and nation was bound up in 
 their development. Wealth had declined, agricul- 
 ture languished, commerce was falling off, and 
 factories, which employ many men, are suffering 
 from depression. Hence it was urgent that the 
 state second the efforts of the central government 
 in giving relief to industry. 
 
 In the matter of taxation he had long been 
 professionally interested. 49 He prefaced his rec- 
 ommendations with the remark that his views 
 were the same as when he presented his report to 
 Congress on the exhausting effects of unequal 
 forms of taxation with particular reference to New 
 England. His suggestion had been approved 
 and enforced by Congress, and its value had been 
 tested by time. He advised a systematic revision 
 which should be based on ample data derived 
 from a thorough study of conditions. The mode 
 in vogue was more unequal and far more in- 
 jurious than was generally recognized. The capi- 
 tation tax worked a hardship on the day laborer, 
 who without property paid a sixteenth of his 
 
 49 Ford, Webster, I, 335. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 355 
 
 income in taxes. Heavy assessments on horses 
 and oxen, which were only aids in the crea- 
 tion of wealth, injured the farmer. Taxes on 
 necessities were burdensome to the poor. The 
 fire-place tax while small was unfair, for often the 
 humble cottager paid as much as his wealthy 
 neighbor in a splendid old mansion. Assessments 
 on mills, machinery, manufactures, commercial in- 
 vestments, profits of trades, and professions, were 
 liable to serious objections unless the tax was 
 nominal for the sake of statistics. Otherwise, it 
 would cause a depression of industry and tend to 
 drive men of skill and talents outside the state. 
 
 Wolcott's address, outlining the Toleration pro- 
 gram, was immediately taken under considera- 
 tion by the Assembly. Every subject was referred 
 to a committee of the Lower House, though custom 
 had always favored joint committees. The Lower 
 House took this occasion to show its antagonism 
 to the Federalist Council. This antagonism was 
 embittered by the Council's veto of a bill repeal- 
 ing the infamous "stand-up law" and guaranteeing 
 the secrecy of the ballot in its old-time purity. 50 
 
 Little change was made in the certificate laws, 
 save that certificates were to be lodged with the 
 town clerk rather than the clerk of the settled 
 society. All denominations were given equal 
 privileges in taxing their members for Gospel sup- 
 port, though in the case of the Congregationalists 
 the state was a party to its collection. A clause 
 
 50 For a review of the session, see Courani and Mercury, May- June, 
 1817. 
 
356 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 allowing a person to certificate from one society 
 to another of the same denomination was defeated, 
 lest it result in the demoralization of societies. 
 This act had an Episcopalian impress, for Repub- 
 licans, Baptists and Methodists would never have 
 retained the tithe. 
 
 An act was passed, defining the office of comp- 
 troller, who was instructed to render a report of 
 expenditures and receipts every May, or oftener 
 on demand. The current report, printed on the 
 motion of a Federalist, disproved the Republican 
 pre-election stories that the finances were in a bad 
 way. A committee of investigation was appointed 
 to make a complete study of the system of taxa- 
 tion and report in the fall. Both parties were 
 anxious to encourage manufacturing and thereby 
 assist in lessening emigration. Jonathan Edwards, 
 Jr., a Federalist, agreed that, as the state was 
 already importing food stuffs and exporting little 
 but beef and pork, its future wealth would be 
 in manufactures. A law was enacted exempting 
 workmen in cotton and woolen mills from a poll 
 tax or militia service for a period of four years, 
 and freeing factories with their machinery and 
 five acres of land from taxation for a similar 
 period. 51 
 
 With regard to the judiciary, differences of opin- 
 ion arose. All Tolerationists were not as willing as 
 Wolcott to perpetuate the present judges in power. 
 A bill was suggested, postponing action for a year, 
 
 51 Public Laws (1808-1819), pp. 285, 287. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 357 
 
 with the expectation that then the Council would 
 be revolutionized. As finally agreed, the matter 
 was postponed six months. In the appointment 
 of the superior court justices only Calvin God- 
 dard was omitted from the list. This was not 
 entirely due to a recognition of their worth, but to 
 the assurance that the Council would not concur 
 in their displacement. Over the other judicial 
 appointments considerable party discord was dis- 
 played. Federalists were bound to intrench them- 
 selves in the judiciary, actually trying to name 
 Federalist justices for strong Toleration towns. 
 The caucus lists from New London and Fair- 
 field counties were defeated in the Lower House, 
 which saw its list thrown out by the Council. 
 At length matters were compromised by adding 
 Republican justices to the usual quota, so the 
 number of justices, already too large, was increased 
 by about one hundred. The Council's opposition 
 resulted in a bitter determination to overthrow 
 the aristocratic Upper House. 
 
 The summer witnessed a weakening of party 
 tension. This was observable in the character of 
 the Fourth-of-July celebrations and in the recep- 
 tion given Monroe on his tour of inspection of 
 public defenses and munition plants. At New 
 Haven the President was escorted by leaders of 
 both parties, and even the clergy joined the citi- 
 zens in doing him honor. In other towns it was 
 the same. It was noted by Federalists that the 
 President's "affable, unaffected and dignified 
 deportment" impressed everyone. It was further 
 
358 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 believed that partisan spirit was losing its past 
 frenzy. 62 
 
 The September campaign found the Federalists, 
 the opposition party, attacking the Wolcott pro- 
 gram. They asked: What were the Demo- 
 cratic designs on the judiciary, that they failed to 
 be ruled by their chief's wish? The state funds, 
 amounting to nearly two million dollars, had been 
 well husbanded. Would the office-seekers be as 
 trustworthy? If there was intolerance, why was 
 it not discovered by the saintly Johnson rather 
 than by the skeptical Abraham Bishop? Tolera- 
 tion was a "mere stalking horse to power," used 
 by federal office-holders grown rich and haughty. 
 It was a cry to exclude from office Federalists of 
 the Washington type. A direct tax on land would 
 fall heavily on the farmer and ease the burden of 
 lawyer, doctor, and manufacturer. Instead of 
 discouraging emigration, it would drive farmers 
 west. Their demand for a constitution would 
 not be well received until the constitution-making 
 activities of the French had been forgotten. Free- 
 men were advised to hesitate, for "A new consti- 
 tution will put all things afloat on the ocean of 
 visionary experiment." Let voters remember that 
 democracy and its leaders were the same, whether 
 under the name of Toleration, whether abroad, 
 in the sister states, or at home. 
 
 Tolerationists centered their whole attention 
 upon the crying need of breaking the vicious 
 
 62 Contemporary newspapers, June- August, 1817. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 359 
 
 aristocratic control of the Council. 53 It was the 
 only barrier, but an impassable one, in the way of 
 reform. A struggle would result in a deadlock. 
 Judges, justices, administrative officials, militia 
 officers and the like could not be commissioned. 
 To force the hand of the Council, would inevitably 
 bring anarchy. Hence the determination of the 
 new party to elect Toleration men to the Council. 
 Otherwise, a constitutional convention could not 
 be even thought of. All the old charges against 
 the Council were aired: its opposition to the war; 
 support of the Hartford Convention; authorship 
 of the election law; militia appointments; secret 
 sessions and factious control of justices. Federal- 
 ists defended the Council by saying that if the 
 militia stand was wrong, it had been taken with 
 the people's welfare in mind and was later endorsed 
 by the voters. If it was treasonable, why did the 
 new party accept Jonathan Brace and Frederick 
 Wolcott, while condemning their fellow-council- 
 ors, Roger M. Sherman, Griswold and Goodrich? 
 
 Party activities knew no bounds. Robbins, 
 noting the great efforts of the reformers, prayed 
 that "the Lord be our helper." 54 The Tolera- 
 
 53 The Hartford Times observed: "Every bill which passed the 
 House, intended either to remove popular complaints or redress public 
 grievances, was neglected by the Council." Quoted in Niles' Register, 
 XII, 240. Mercury, Aug. 26, Sept. 2, 9, 1817. 
 
 54 Diary, I, 714. For Hartford activities, Mercury, Aug. 26, Sept. 
 3, 1817. Judge Trumbull's characterization of the Tolerationist is 
 interesting: "It is now more than three years since a combination was 
 formed among the restless, ambitious, and dissolute part of the com- 
 munity, to seize upon all the public offices in the state and apportion 
 
360 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 tionists shrewdly placed on their list five Federal- 
 ists: Frederick Wolcott, the governor's brother 
 and partner, Asa Chapman, Elias Perkins, Nathan 
 Smith and the senior councilor, Jonathan Brace, 
 now that Aaron Austin had withdrawn his name. 55 
 For some reason Dr. Johnson was not included 
 this time. Federalists ridiculed this compromise 
 ticket whose members were guilty of long service 
 and hostility to the late administration. 
 
 The official vote gave the men endorsed by both 
 tickets from 19,341 to 20,237 votes, while the 
 highest Tolerationist had 12,647 and the highest 
 Federalist a little over 10,000. The Tolerationists 
 carried their full list. Reform could only be 
 delayed six months at the most. In the Lower 
 House the new party had at least 121 men out of 
 201, besides a few neutral Federalists 56 — "a hetero- 
 geneous combination of sects, sectarians and adven- 
 
 them among themselves. If this combination was in some measure 
 tacit It was nevertheless real and practical. To promote its views, 
 a standard was raised, called Toleration, and offices were unblushingly 
 offered to all who would resort to it. But lawyers without talents, 
 integrity or business, quack doctors, broken merchants, idle farmers 
 and idle mechanics, tavern hunters and gamblers, can afford to spend 
 days, weeks, months, and years in low intrigues, in inculcating false- 
 hoods, in preaching politics in bar-rooms, and at the corners of streets 
 and highways, for the sake of an office with a small income; and that 
 for this plain reason, that the time which they devote to the public use 
 is worth nothing to themselves." Address (1819), pp. 4,13-14. 
 
 55 The Connecticut Journal asked: "Can three or four drops of wine 
 render a portion of arsenic less dangerous?" Quoted in Courant, Sept. 9. 
 
 56 Courant, Oct. 14, Nov. 4, 1817; Niks' Register, XIII, 120. Towns 
 like Southbury, Montville, New Canaan and Redding sent anti-Federal- 
 ist representatives, though in those very places Republicans had long 
 been classed with rattlesnakes. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 361 
 
 turers." Robbins expressed the sentiments of the 
 ruling cast: 
 
 Our God frowns upon us in his holy and terrible judg- 
 ments. I hope and pray that we may not long be given 
 up to the rage of the wicked. I consider it the success of 
 iniquity against righteousness. 57 
 
 Connecticut had at last capitulated after a seven- 
 teen years' siege. 
 
 Wolcott addressed the General Assembly in a 
 speech so conciliatory and moderate that the 
 Federalists hopefully believed that he was one 
 of their own. 58 Republicans were not disheart- 
 ened, but took occasion to inquire if the Bible 
 had been destroyed or the meeting-houses over- 
 turned. Wolcott spoke eulogistically of the old 
 republican government, cautioning lest it be too 
 radically changed: 
 
 "It is natural and just that institutions which 
 have produced so much honor and advantage, 
 should be objects of veneration and attachment; 
 and if, as may be admitted, some changes are 
 expedient to adapt our government to the prin- 
 ciples of a more enlightened age than that in which 
 it was formed, and to reconcile it with the institu- 
 tions which surround us, and by which our inter- 
 ests are necessarily affected, still we are bound to 
 recollect, that whatever is of common concern, 
 ought to be adjusted by mutual consultations, and 
 
 57 Diary, I, 716. 
 
 58 Printed in Courant, Oct. 14. The Connecticut Journal wrote: 
 "The Spirit of Reform has received a severe Rebuke, we hope it will 
 flee from his presence." 
 
362 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 friendly advice; that party spirit and sinister in- 
 terests ought to be wholly excluded from influence ; 
 that it is the duty of reformers to repair and 
 improve, not to subvert and destroy; that passion 
 is a dangerous Counsellor; and that by the wise 
 constitution of our nature nothing which is violent 
 or unjust can be permanent." 
 
 The governor suggested an inquest of the prison 
 at Newgate where the conditions of imprisonment 
 were notoriously bad and inhuman. An act 
 slightly ameliorative was the result. In this way 
 he was a precursor of the prison reformers. 59 
 
 The legislative session was characterized by a 
 struggle between the two Houses. 60 The Council 
 was black Federalist, save the three assistants who 
 were jointly supported by both parties; the As- 
 sembly was preponderatingly Tolerationist, with 
 a speaker and two clerks of that complexion. 
 The orthodox Council had no respect for a Lower 
 House composed of Democrats, apostate Federal- 
 ists, office-seeking lawyers and designing church- 
 men, with an Episcopalian minister and a Metho- 
 dist elder among its five chaplains. The opposi- 
 tion resulted in a deadlock. The Lower House 
 was so bitter that it defeated all measures coming 
 from the Council in its desire to postpone business 
 a six-month, when new councilors would be elected. 
 Again, the Lower House refused to appoint the 
 usual joint committees to consider the governor's 
 
 69 Public Laws (1808-1819), for this session. See Noah A. Phelps, 
 A History of the Copper Mines and Newgate Prison. 
 
 M Courant and Mercury, October-November, 1817, passim. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 363 
 
 recommendations. In retaliation, the Council tried 
 with a degree of success to force Federalist justices 
 on Republican towns. This was the real crux of 
 the difficulty. 
 
 The committee on taxation presented an excel- 
 lent report. 61 Their data, prepared by the select- 
 men of seventy-six towns, showed an average 
 town expense of eight cents on the listed dollar, 
 outside of highway, bridge and society rates. 
 Poll taxes amounting to three-tenths of the total 
 tax were levied on rich and poor alike. Farmers' 
 neat cattle, which paid another three-tenths, were 
 rated at thirty per cent; while silver plate was 
 rated at five per cent, capital at six per cent, bank 
 stock three per cent, carriages twenty per cent and 
 watches forty per cent. The land tax depended on 
 whether the land was classed as meadow, plow or 
 pasture, without regard to valuation. Thus cheap, 
 unproductive lands far from a market were rated 
 as high as, or possibly higher than lands far more 
 valuable. A single- taxer would be driven to 
 despair at its inequalities. The tax upon young 
 merchants and professional men was found to be 
 unjust, deterrent to industry and forcing progres- 
 sive youths to emigrate. Equalization was en- 
 tirely unknown. The committee recommended 
 an entire change, urging that bills be framed with 
 the school-fund in view, that real estate be assessed 
 according to valuation, and that the capitation 
 tax be greatly reduced. 
 
 The Assembly forced the repeal of the "stand- 
 
 61 Printed Oct. 28. 
 
364 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 up" election law, which had served its Federalist 
 authors well in long retarding Republicanism. 62 
 The question of suffrage was discussed. A revi- 
 sion of rules was considered. A humanitarian act 
 was passed, freeing a family man's limited personal 
 possessions in the way of necessaries of life, and a 
 physician's horse from seizure by distraint. Sena- 
 tor Hillhouse's salary was reduced, on the plea 
 that the commissioner's duties were lighter. Lit- 
 tle could be done in the way of constructive legis- 
 lation. 
 
 At the close of the session the majority party 
 addressed the friends of Toleration, suggesting a 
 constitutional convention. 63 As the framing of a 
 constitution was a weighty matter, it was advised 
 that careful study be made of the various govern- 
 mental forms. The Toleration party had become 
 the "Constitution and Reform" party, with their 
 platform for the following year clearly stated. 
 Regret was expressed that, while the questions of 
 taxation, militia and suffrage had been considered, 
 little had been accomplished. However, reform, to 
 be lasting, must be slow. With this explanation 
 they returned safe to the people "the palladium" 
 of authority. 
 
 In accordance with the desires of the memorial- 
 ists, Cheshire in its November town meeting 
 instructed its representatives "to use their in- 
 fluence and procure a recommendation to the people 
 
 62 Minutes in Courant, Oct. 28; Niks' Register, XIII, 127, 131, 193; 
 Public Laws, p. 292. 
 
 63 Printed in Mercury, Nov. 4, 1817. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 365 
 
 of this state, to choose delegates to form a Con- 
 stitution of Civil Government, to be submitted to 
 the People for their consideration and adoption." 64 
 New Haven followed in December with similar 
 instructions to her representatives. There the 
 best and most candid Federalists were said to have 
 favored the resolution. In January Wallingford 
 declared "that the Charter of King Charles II 
 contains principles obnoxious to a Republican 
 government; that its powers wert annulled by the 
 declaration of Independence ; that it never has 
 been adopted by the people of this state as their 
 Constitution of Civil Government; and that the 
 Legislature have not regarded it as such, but have 
 I repeatedly modified and changed the government 
 i without any reference to that Instrument." 65 Dan- 
 i bury in town meeting resolved that, in view of the 
 dangers of an uncontrolled government, steps 
 1 should be taken to draft a constitution precisely 
 1 defining all powers. No time was more propitious 
 | than the present when all was quiet. This same 
 | month witnessed similar action on the part of New 
 ] London, Hamden, Windsor and Woodbury. In 
 ( February meetings, Middletown, Suffield, Groton, 
 Lyme, Stonington and Newtown issued similar in- 
 |structions. Hartford issued a call in March; Red- 
 j ding, Stafford and Greenwich in April. Other 
 I towns rapidly fell into line. 
 
 All the resolutions were somewhat similar in 
 tone, calling for a written constitution accurately 
 
 54 Beach, Cheshire, p. 260. 
 96 Mercury, Jan. 27, 1818. 
 
366 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 defining and separating the powers of government, 
 and plainly guaranteeing the rights of citizens. 
 Here we have republican purity of government 
 illustrated in the town meeting as the original 
 source of authority. While all Federalists were 
 not opposed to the proposed convention, the party 
 as an organization voted against the constitution- 
 resolutions. Federalist towns naturally voted down 
 such revolutionary resolves. 
 
 Newspaper articles and widely circulated pam- 
 phlet literature continued to mold public opinion. 
 A splendid series of essays, moderate in tone, 
 appeared to quiet Federalist fears with the motto: 
 "It is the duty of Reformers to repair and improve, 
 not to subvert and destroy." While it was taken 
 for granted that there was no legal constitution, it 
 was agreed that a writing down of the old and es- 
 tablished principles was advisable. The ardor of 
 reformers was checked by recalling Cromwell's 
 career and the French Revolution. The written 
 portions of the British constitution were then con- 
 sidered to demonstrate the need of certain funda- 
 mental, permanent principles, even where the con- 
 stitution was unwritten. The writer defined as 
 essential: A bill of rights; barriers against cor- 
 ruption or the abridgment of the franchise; ample 
 protection of the public money; and a provision 
 preventing a repetition of the late hostility to the 
 national goverment. His dispassionate, clear pres- 
 entation of the subject won for him a wide hearing, 
 and indubitably impressed thoughtful freemen. 
 
 "An Address to the people of Litchfield County" 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 367 
 
 by "Solyman Brown" was earnestly recommended 
 by reformers to the people of. that " benighted sec- 
 tion." 66 George H. Richards, a Federal-Republi- 
 can of New London, published an essay, "The 
 Politics of Connecticut," containing a plain state- 
 ment of the arguments for a written constitution, 
 which would establish religious and political 
 equality. 
 
 Constitution and reform men were puzzled at 
 the Federalist failure to nominate men for gover- 
 nor and lieutenant governor. A few of the deepest 
 Federalists cast ballots for Timothy Pitkin as a 
 protest. Wolcott received 16,432 votes and In- 
 gersoll a couple of thousand less. Reform assist- 
 ants were elected by a wide margin. For the 
 j first time there was a real contest for the office of 
 ! treasurer, the Republican, Isaac Spencer, Jr., re- 
 ceiving 8,383 votes to 7,673 for Kingsbury. As 
 I neither had a majority, Spencer's appointment 
 : depended upon the General Assembly. Thomas 
 I Day was re-elected secretary without opposition, 
 i The real interest centered in the representatives, 
 for in their choice the freemen spoke for or against 
 j the constitution. One hundred and thirty- two 
 I Tolerationists were seated to sixty-nine Federal- 
 ists. The issue was decided; Federalism was 
 j broken; the state was revolutionized. 67 
 
 General Election Day (May 14, 1818) marked 
 
 : an epoch. President Day declining to preach, 
 
 his alternate, the Episcopalian rector of New 
 
 66 Mercury, Jan. 27, 1818. 
 
 "Mercury, Apr. 7, 21, May 19, 26, 1818; Robbins, Diary, I, 738. 
 
368 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Haven, Rev. Harry Croswell, officiated. As an 
 Episcopalian historian writes, this was a bold de- 
 parture to those "who fondly imagined, that they 
 had a monopoly of all the religious and civil 
 power in the state." 68 The sermon rang out with 
 the text: Render unto Caesar the things that are 
 Caesar's, and to God the things of God. It was a 
 powerful plea for Christian toleration, spiritual 
 ministers, and a vigorous assault on political 
 preachers. Less than a hundred ministers ap- 
 peared at the banquet. Fewer came each year 
 until finally the day lost its religious character in 
 the routine of vote-counting. 
 
 The May session of the Legislature was of vital 
 importance in the history of the state. The ex- 
 pectations of the reformer must be satisfied, but 
 in a way to quiet Federalist fears. I Wolcott's 
 address cautioned moderation at every turn: 
 
 I presume that it will not be proposed by any one to 
 impair our institutions, or to abridge any of the rights or 
 privileges of the people. The State of Connecticut, as at 
 present constituted, is, in my opinion, the most venerable 
 and precious monument of republican government, existing 
 
 among men The Governors and counsellors 
 
 have been elected annually, and the representatives semi- 
 annually elected by the freemen, who have always consti- 
 tuted the great body of the people. Nor has the manifes- 
 tation of the powers of the freemen been confined to the 
 elections. They have ever been accustomed to public con- 
 sultations and deliberations of intricacy and importance. 
 
 68 Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 164. Robbins observed: "Mr. 
 Croswell the churchman .... preached and read service. It 
 was pretty barren. None but a Congregational minister ever preached 
 before and never ought again." Diary, I, 742. The Courant, Nov. 11, 
 1817, noticed the "novelty.'' 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 369 
 
 Their meetings have been conducted with the same order 
 
 and decorum as those of this assembly The 
 
 support of religion, elementary schools, paupers, public 
 roads and bridges — comprising about eight-tenths of the 
 public expenses — has been constantly derived from taxes 
 imposed by the votes of the people; and the most interest- 
 ing regulations of our police have been and still are enforced 
 by officers deriving their powers from annual appointments. 
 
 The Charter had always been regarded as "the 
 palladium of the liberties" of Connecticut, and 
 justly so, he felt, for by it the king's claims to the 
 territory were surrendered to the people. He 
 continued : 
 
 Considered merely as an instrument denning the powers 
 and duties of magistrates and rulers, the Charter may justly 
 be considered as provisional and imperfect; yet it ought to 
 be recollected that what is now its greatest defect was for- 
 merly a pre-eminent advantage, it being then highly impor- 
 tant to the people to acquire the greatest latitude of au- 
 thority, with an exemption from British interference and 
 
 control If I correctly comprehend the wishes 
 
 which have been expressed by a portion of our fellow citi- 
 zens, they are now desirous, as the sources of apprehension 
 From external causes are at present happily closed, that the 
 Legislative, Executive, and Judicial authorities of their own 
 government may be more precisely defined and limited, and 
 the rights of the people declared and acknowledged. It is 
 your province to dispose of this important subject in such 
 manner as will best promote general satisfaction and 
 tranquillity. 69 
 
 This portion of the governor's address was re- 
 ferred to a select committee of five from the 
 Assembly. Although the Council had been re- 
 formed, the Republicans displayed a sensitiveness 
 in maintaining the dignity of the House. Their 
 
 "Mercury, May 19, 1818; Trumbull, Historical Notes, pp. 44-45. 
 
370 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 committee reported a general desire, which should 
 be granted, "for a revision and reformation of the 
 structure of our civil government and the estab- 
 lishment of a Constitutional Compact." The politi- 
 cal happiness, the committee considered to be due 
 to other causes rather than "to any peculiar in- 
 trinsic excellence in the form and character of the 
 government itself." Barriers must be raised 
 against legislative encroachment stouter than those 
 provided by the frequency of elections, which 
 might be abolished by an arbitrary power. It was 
 advised that "the organization of the different 
 branches of government, the separation of their 
 powers, the tenure of office, the elective franchise, 
 liberty of speech and of the press, freedom of con- 
 science, trial by jury — rights which relate to these 
 deeply interesting subjects ought not to be suf- 
 fered to rest on the frail foundation of legislative 
 will or discretion." Concluding, the committee ob- 
 served that the time was auspicious and that the 
 experience of other states would guide them. 
 
 This report aroused an interesting debate. 70 
 The Federalists, while few in number, were among 
 the ablest and most aggressive members. Aaron 
 Austin saw no necessity for change because the 
 people had long lived happily under the present 
 government. He refused to admit that there was 
 no constitution — part was written and part un- 
 written. Connecticut had the best of the Ameri- 
 can constitutions, just as that of England was 
 
 70 See Mercury and Courant, June 9, 1818; cf. Trumbull, Hist. Notes, 
 p. 49. 
 
SUCCESS OF THE REFORM PARTY 371 
 
 the most excellent in the old world. Jonathan 
 Edwards, Jr., considered the present constitution 
 framed by the people in 1639, merely ratified by 
 Charles and indirectly assented to by the people, as 
 the best in the world. A written constitution was 
 valuable only to define privileges extorted from 
 a tyrant, or as a compact between sovereign states. 
 While the majority must rule, a revision of the 
 oldest and purest constitution would not be ad- 
 vantageous to the people. Others felt that there 
 had not been sufficient demand or that the busy 
 season should be given to agriculture, not constitu- 
 tion-making. At any rate, there could be no 
 danger, one advanced, for did not the federal 
 constitution guarantee a republican government? 
 
 Among the Republican members, Enoch Bur- 
 rows, James Stevens, G. Hubbard, S. A. Foote and 
 H. W. Edwards rehearsed the trite old arguments. 
 However, the majority wasted little time in debate. 
 They simply forced through the resolution calling 
 for a constituent convention. 71 
 
 Freemen were ordered to meet on July 4, to 
 elect in town meeting the usual number of repre- 
 sentatives to the convention, which was to con- 
 vene at Hartford on the fourth Wednesday in 
 
 71 Trumbull, Historical Notes, pp. 46-47. Objection to the day was 
 silenced by Col. John McClellan who said: "He knew the fourth of 
 July was a merry day, but he thought if the people began early in the 
 morning they would be able to get through before they were disqualified 
 to vote." Minutes in Courant, June 9. See Anderson, Waterbury, I, 
 509. There was considerable town rivalry, New Haven losing by 71 
 to 81, and Middle town by 61 to 87. A Republican suggested Hart- 
 ford in order that the disgrace of the last convention be obliterated. 
 Mercury, June 16. 
 
372 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 August. When the constitution, framed by this 
 body, received the approval of such a majority of 
 voters as the convention should decide upon, it 
 was resolved that it should be the supreme law of 
 the state. 72 
 
 This session also identified itself with certain 
 reform measures. 73 Acts were passed for the aid 
 of paupers, for relief of bail, freeing Quakers from 
 militia service and fines, and rating bonds and 
 bank stock as personal property. A resolution 
 provided for galleries in the Council Chamber, thus 
 removing the veil of impenetrable secrecy. A 
 suffrage act, based on similar ones in ten states, 
 was passed, giving the vote to free males of twenty- 
 one years who paid taxes or served in the militia, 
 were of moral character, and residents of the town 
 for four months. 
 
 72 It was well that none of the ratios suggested were accepted, or the 
 constitution would have failed. Col. John Alsop proposed ratification 
 by two-thirds of the towns; Calvin Butler by four-fifths; and James 
 Stevens three-fifths. Jonathan Edwards desired a three-fifths vote of 
 the electors. Courant, June 9; Mercury, June 16, 23, 1817. 
 
 73 Public Laws, pp. 298 £f. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 Completion of the Revolution 
 
 T N accordance with the resolution of the General 
 A Assembly the freemen of the various towns 
 met on July 4, 181 8, to elect delegates to the con- 
 vention. The preliminary campaign evidenced 
 party activity, but less bitterness than might be 
 expected. 1 Ultra-Federalism did not control the 
 party's counsels. Federalist leaders accepted the 
 revolution as an accomplished fact. Instead of 
 offering a bootless opposition, they decided to use 
 their strength as a check on reformists, and to pre- 
 serve as far as possible the spirit of the old govern- 
 ment. The Connecticut man was generally too 
 practical to care to die in the last ditch. Federalist 
 voters were urged not to refrain from voting, but 
 to co-operate with honest Republicans in electing 
 men of proven integrity. It was argued that the 
 framing of a constitution was a non-partisan affair 
 of such importance that it behooved every town 
 to name its best man. 
 
 The election was marked by the presence of many 
 newly enfranchised freemen, whose votes were an 
 important factor in doubtful towns. Naturally, 
 they were won by the Tolerationist appeals to 
 
 1 Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 51; Courant, June 21; Connecticut 
 Mirror, June 29, 1818. 
 
 373 
 
374 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 remember the party which effected their emanci- 
 pation. 2 The result was a heavy poll. 
 
 In Hartford, where both parties were well or- 
 ganized, a vote of 796 was registered, amounting to 
 fourteen and one-tenth per cent of the total popu- 
 lation, whereas the vote of New Haven amounted 
 to only seven per cent. Hartford's vote was so 
 unusual that it gave credit to the charges of cor- 
 ruption, bribery, ballot stuffing, illegal voting, and 
 the rude, tumultuous conduct of both the chal- 
 lenged voters and the young Federalist watchers. 
 The result was that each party elected one repre- 
 sentative. Tolerationists were selected in New 
 Haven without disagreeable party strife. 3 Feder- 
 alists foresaw their worst fears realized ; conditions 
 would henceforth be as in New York or Phila- 
 delphia. No longer could elections be carried out in 
 quiet and decorum with such liberal suffrage quali- 
 fications. Rev. Thomas Robbins, who preached at 
 Scan tick, noted: "The Universal suffrage law is 
 horrible." 4 
 
 While the vote resulted in returning a Tolera- 
 tion majority, there was a reduction in the number, 
 which that party controlled in the last session. 
 It was a doubtful majority, estimated at first by 
 different editors at nine, twelve, twenty-one, and 
 
 2 In Hartford there were some 85 new freemen; in New Haven, 15; 
 in a town like Scantick, 60. These only represent what was true all 
 over the state. Conn. Mirror, June 29, July 13; Conn. Journal, Oct. 
 16; Conn. Herald, June 30, 1818; Robbins, Diary, I, 748. 
 
 3 Material on the election from the Conn. Journal, Conn. Herald, 
 Courant and Mercury, issues of July 7, 14, 21, 1818. 
 
 4 Diary, I, 748. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 375 
 
 thirty, out of a total of two-hundred and one dele- 
 gates. This discrepancy was probably due to the 
 selection of a number of Episcopalians of un- 
 settled political views. Federalist writers rejoiced 
 in this falling off, while Republicans explained it 
 as a non-partisan election in which some towns 
 selected a delegate from each party. In other 
 towns, the minority concentrated on one man. 
 For instance, in Hartford, Nathaniel Terry, and in 
 New Haven, Simeon Baldwin were the only active 
 Federalist candidates. 5 A strong minority at the 
 polls and in the convention was a distinct advan- 
 tage as a moderating influence. In this, as in the 
 character of the delegates, the people had chosen 
 wisely. 
 
 Among the delegates were men of all classes and 
 shades of political and religious tenets. 6 There 
 were men like Governor Treadwell, Jesse Root, 
 Col. John McClellan and Aaron Austin, who 
 epitomized in themselves the old order and re- 
 ligious fear of innovation. Timothy Pitkin and 
 Nathaniel Terry represented the moderate Feder- 
 alists. Among the original Democrats were men 
 
 5 In New Haven, while James Hillhouse was a candidate, all efforts 
 were centered on the election of S. Baldwin. The New Haven Register 
 wrote of Hillhouse, referring to his removal of the graveyard from the 
 green "As a most desperate and ferocious prosecutor of the most des- 
 perate and ferocious deeds. God forbid that the destroyers of the 
 sepulchres of our fathers should ever receive the suffrages of our sons." 
 See Conn. Journal, June 30, July 7, 1818. 
 
 6 Trumbull, Historical Notes, pp. 52-53; Morgan, Connecticut, III, 
 111 ff.; Robbins, Diary, I, 749. Dexter's Biographical Sketches is valu- 
 able in tracing the careers of members who were Yale graduates. 
 
376 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 like " Boss" Alexander Wolcott, Pierrepont Edwards, 
 Joshua Stow, James Stevens, David Tomlinson, 
 Christopher Man waring. Nathan Smith and Gover- 
 nor Wolcott stood as the foremost Tolerationists. 
 Congregationalists of the Saybrook type sat with 
 dissenters and infidels and in proximity to a Bap- 
 tist and Methodist elder or two. Lawyers and 
 ex- judges predominated, yet there were at least 
 a dozen physicians. Seated with plain farmers 
 were men of wealth like Tread well, Wolcott, Mit- 
 chell, Tomlinson, Peter Webb, Pierrepont Edwards, 
 Oliver Burnham, and Patrick Clark. A few were 
 federal office-holders. Some forty were recipients 
 of Yale degrees, with here and there a graduate from 
 Princeton, Brown or elsewhere. Seven members 
 had served in the convention which ratified the 
 United States Constitution. A few had seen service 
 in the unreformed Council, and nine were members 
 of the Toleration Council. Several had served 
 in Congress, two were governors. A few were 
 high in militia circles or were distinguished as 
 veterans of the Revolution. Others were to win 
 high places in state and national life. 
 
 It was a representative gathering. In many 
 cases its members were widely known and inti- 
 mately acquainted with the state's needs. They 
 understood and appreciated its past history, and 
 foresaw something of its future. The majority 
 were inspired with toleration. Such a body was 
 well prepared to draft a constitution which would 
 be acceptable to their people and able to stand the 
 test of time. It would be a constitution in which 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 377 
 
 reform was touched with justice, moderation and 
 toleration. 
 
 On August 26, 1 81 8, the convention assembled 
 at the State House in Hartford. 7 As the required 
 two-thirds of the delegates were present, the 
 meeting was called to order by Jesse Root of 
 Coventry, who was distinguished as the oldest 
 man present. James Lanman, a Republican law- 
 yer from Norwich, was elected clerk on the third 
 ballot. Governor Wolcott, representing Litchfield, 
 was honored with the presidency. The officers 
 sworn, the next business was the examination and 
 attestation of the members' election certificates. 8 
 
 A resolution was then adopted, inviting the 
 various ministers of the city to serve as chaplains, 
 for all sessions were to be commenced with prayer. 
 The sheriff was instructed to act as the officer of 
 the convention. A committee of five — Judge 
 Nathaniel Terry, Hon. Timothy Pitkin, historian 
 and statistician, Senator Stephen Mix Mitchell, 
 Federalists, and Hon. Amasa Larned and James Stev- 
 ens, Tolerationists — was named to consider the rules 
 which should govern the debates. Their report 
 was accepted without objection, save by Treadwell 
 who would increase the quorum to more than a 
 majority. A compromise spirit was seen in the 
 unanimity with which this report was reviewed, 
 
 7 Federalists trusted that the motives of the second Hartford Con- 
 vention would be as pure as the first. Toast in Conn. Journal, July 
 7. Robbins felt concerned about their proceedings, but hoped that 
 "God will guide them and preserve them from evil." Diary, I, 755. 
 
 8 Journal, pp. 10-11; Minutes in Mercury, and Conn. Journal, Sept. 
 1, 1818. 
 
378 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 although the committee was Federalist in point of 
 majority and weight. 
 
 James Stevens introduced this resolution: "That 
 this convention do deem it expedient to proceed at 
 this time to form a Constitution of Civil Govern- 
 ment for the people of this State." A desultory 
 debate followed. Jesse Root and Governor Tread- 
 well, leaders of the "extreme right," argued earnest- 
 ly against proceeding on the assumption that the 
 state was without a constitution, as a presumptuous 
 sinning against the fathers. Timothy Pitkin, wav- 
 ing aside sentiment, supported the motion which 
 was shortly adopted. This inaugurated the real 
 work. 
 
 On the following morning the question was dis- 
 cussed as to whether the constitution should be 
 drafted in committee of the whole or by a select 
 committee. It was agreed that twenty-four mem- 
 bers, three from every county, be delegated to 
 frame and report a constitution. Dr. Sylvester 
 Wells, a Universalist, Timothy Pitkin and Elisha 
 Phelps, the latter a Republican attorney, repre- 
 sented Hartford County; Nathan Smith, Tolera- 
 tionist attorney and brother of the member of the 
 Hartford Convention, William Bristol, a wealthy 
 Republican attorney, and William Todd, an ardent 
 young Congregationalist lawyer, New Haven; 
 Moses Warren, Amasa Larned and state's attor- 
 ney James Lanman, New London; Judge Pierrepont 
 Edwards, James Stevens and Gideon Tomlinson, 
 a young Republican, Fairfield; Peter Webb, an 
 early Republican merchant, George Learned and 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 379 
 
 Edmund Freeman, both graduates of Brown and 
 Baptists, Windham; John Welsh, a Republican 
 of means, Judge Augustus Pettibone and Orange 
 Merwin, Litchfield; Joshua Stowe, William Hunger- 
 ford, a Republican recently out of college, and 
 Thomas Lyman, Middlesex; Daniel Burrows, an 
 illiterate Democrat, Asa Wiley, a stout Federalist, 
 and Dr. John S. Peters, a Republican, Tolland. 
 
 This committee was fairly representative, though 
 the minority was only awarded five places. 9 Chair- 
 man Edwards was easily first among the Tolera- 
 tionists, just as Timothy Pitkin stood out as the 
 recognized leader of the Federalists. Twenty-two 
 towns were represented, only New Haven and 
 Hebron winning two places. Judging from the 
 number of men of political and professional promi- 
 nence or on the threshold of splendid careers, care 
 had been taken to select men of worth. 
 
 Among the twenty-four were twelve Yale gradu- 
 ates, one from Princeton and two from Brown. 
 This is noteworthy in view of the Republican 
 attacks on Yale and its favored position. The 
 interests of the college were amply secured. At 
 least fourteen were lawyers, three of whom were 
 leaders at the bar besides those holding judicial 
 offices. Edwards and Learned were veterans of 
 the convention of 1788. Bristol, Wells, Peters, 
 Lanman and Webb were Republican councilors. 
 Tomlinson and Peters were destined to become 
 governors ; three later became United States Sena- 
 tors; and five, members of Congress. Pitkin, Ed- 
 
 9 Cf. Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 53. 
 
380 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 wards and Learned had already served in Congress. 
 Joshua Stow, said to be a pronounced unbeliever, 10 
 represented the type of local politician. William 
 Hungerford, the last survivor of the convention, 
 was notorious among those without religion. Dr. 
 Peters had long been termed atheist. This did not 
 prevent the Congregational clergy from offering 
 prayers for him on learning how he defended their 
 society fund. Nathan Smith was there to watch 
 Episcopalian interests. The five Federalists repre- 
 sented a more or less orthodox Congregationalism. 
 Republicans upheld the various forms of dissent. 
 Hence all interests were guarded. 
 
 The committee submitted the preamble and a 
 bill of rights on the next day. This celerity would 
 be hard to understand, if one did not learn that 
 both the preamble and bill were nearly an exact 
 replica of those in the Mississippi constitution, 
 adopted the year previous. 11 
 
 The preamble adopted by the convention with- 
 out debate declared that: 
 
 The people of Connecticut, acknowledging with grati- 
 tude the good providence of God, in having permitted them 
 to enjoy a free government, do, in order to more effectually 
 define, secure and perpetuate the liberties, rights and privi- 
 leges, which they have derived from their ancestors, hereby, 
 
 10 The Conn. Journal (Mar. 10, 1819) wrote of Stowe: "While in the 
 convention, he openly avowed that in his opinion the government had 
 no more right to provide by law for the support of the worship of the 
 Supreme Being, than for the support of the worship of the devil." Stowe 
 sued for libel, and was awarded damages. 3 Conn. Reports, p. 325. 
 
 11 Conn. Journal, Sept. 1, advised its readers to compare this with 
 the constitution of Mississippi, drafted August, 1817. See N ties' 
 Register, XIII, 54; Mercury, Sept. 16, 1817. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 381 
 
 after a careful consideration and revision, ordain and estab- 
 lish the following Constitution and form of civil govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Here was a recognition of the past and a pronounced 
 religious spirit. 
 
 The bill of rights aroused a heated debate. 12 
 Tread well saw no need of a full declaration, for 
 they were not contending with an aristocratic body 
 or a tyrant. Such a bill, he considered, would 
 only tend to abridge the power of the people. If 
 some guarantee was necessary, it should be decided 
 in committee of the whole. Alexander Wolcott 
 arose in opposition. He believed that the govern- 
 ment of the fathers was truly democratic, being 
 at fault only in administration. He was opposed 
 to alteration, unless definite benefits were to be 
 derived. A multiplying of ordinances would only 
 embarrass the Legislature, for "the virtue of the 
 people was our best security." He would define 
 the present system in a general way with all details 
 left to legislative enactment. He defied any man 
 to erect a tyranny amid an enlightened people or 
 draft a constitution which should preserve liberty by 
 mere paper rules. A legislature which subverted 
 the liberties of the people could not be re-elected. 
 There was no need of drawing up a code of laws to 
 govern their own representatives. Superfluous he 
 considered clauses guaranteeing trial by jury, 
 habeas cor pics and the right of assemblage, when 
 
 12 Journal, pp. 17-21, 74-77. The New England Galaxy noted that 
 it was similar to the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights quoted in 
 Mercury, Nov. 3, 1818. See Baldwin in New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, 
 V, 211 ff. 
 
382 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 these were rights never questioned. Guarantees 
 against excessive bail, compensation for property 
 acquired for public uses and quartering of militia, 
 were as unnecessary as uncertain. Always to 
 put the military in strict subordination to civil 
 tribunals might in practice be found bad. Had not 
 Andrew Jackson been compelled to silence the civil 
 authorities on grounds, not of law but of safety? 
 "In a Constitution," he shrewdly remarked, "he 
 would recognize none but great and general princi- 
 ples. He would adopt few." Such moderation 
 on the part of the most notorious Jacobin was 
 astonishing. 
 
 Aaron Austin, who had served nearly a quarter 
 of a century in the Council, confessed himself in 
 accord with Wolcott. Judges Root and Mitchell 
 saw no necessity of such a bill. Root observed 
 that government could be traced back to God's 
 established rules and grounded on this pure source 
 if man in his depravity had not disregarded them: 
 "A pure Republic is that in which the people govern 
 themselves." As this had been the case since 1639, 
 he was opposed to any infringement of the people's 
 rights. 
 
 The declaration was then reviewed by sections. 
 As Alexander Wolcott observed, many of its pro- 
 visions were superfluous. Two proposals of this 
 nature were struck out. One had provided that 
 no citizen should be exiled or prevented from emi- 
 grating on any pretext. The other declared that 
 no person should be molested for his opinions on 
 any subject, nor suffer civil or political incapacity 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 383 
 
 in consequence thereof. Other provisions quite 
 as unnecessary were allowed to remain. If future 
 students were only able to study the past through 
 the bill of rights as preventive legislation, they 
 would arrive at strange views regarding the liberty, 
 republicanism and history of the state. 
 
 Other clauses provided that there should be 
 liberty of speech, writing and publication with 
 libel responsibility; that no law curtailing liberty 
 of speech or press should be enacted; that libel 
 cases should be tried by jury; that the home should 
 be secured from unreasonable searches; that the 
 accused in criminal prosecutions should have a 
 hearing, a fair trial, impartial jury, speedy justice, 
 and, in capital cases a grand jury presentment; 
 that no person should suffer arrest save according 
 to law; that no excessive fines or bail be levied; 
 that habeas corpus be guaranteed; that no person 
 be attainted by the Legislature; that the right of 
 assemblage and petition be maintained; that no 
 hereditary honors or emoluments be granted; that 
 there be no quartering of troops save in war; and 
 that jury trial remain inviolate. None of these prin- 
 ciples had been violated, with the possible exception 
 of democratic charges of unfair jury trials. The 
 military power had always been subject to the 
 civil, and the right of bearing arms had not been 
 questioned. Some of these rights were guaranteed 
 by the United States Constitution, while others 
 were sacred by the common law. Their inclusion 
 can be accounted for only because such a bill of 
 
384 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 rights was deemed democratic and necessary accord- 
 ing to the political philosophy of the day. 
 
 Other sections of the bill were quite relevant. 
 The first section declared "that all men when 
 they form a social compact are equal in rights; and 
 that no man or set of men are entitled to exclusive 
 public emoluments or privileges from the com- 
 munity." That is, there was no longer to be a 
 Standing Order. The second section declared 
 "that all political power is inherent in the people, 
 and all free governments are founded on their 
 authority, and instituted for their benefit, and that 
 they have at all times an undeniable and indefeasi- 
 ble right to alter their form of government in such 
 manner as they think expedient." 13 This embodied 
 the Republican contention that a constitution 
 should be of the people, not by grace of royal gift. 
 In this form it was acceptable to the Federalists, 
 for they had always maintained that the old gov- 
 ernment had practically, if not nominally, been 
 grounded on popular sovereignty. Yet it was the 
 right of revolution which had been called into 
 question by the treatment of the five justices and 
 by the opprobrium cast upon Republicanism. 
 
 The third section ordered "that the exercise 
 and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, 
 without discrimination, shall forever be free to all 
 
 13 It is interesting to compare this with Hooker's sermon of May 
 31, 1638, in which, after pointing out that the choice of public magis- 
 strates belongs to the people, he declared: "They who have the power 
 to appoint officers and magistrates, it is in their power, also, to set the 
 bounds and limitations of the power and place into which they call 
 them." Conn. Hist. Soc, Collections, I, 20. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 385 
 
 persons in this State ; provided that the right hereby 
 declared and established shall not be construed 
 as to excuse acts of licentiousness or to justify prac- 
 tices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the 
 State." The next section enacted that "no pref- 
 erence shall be given by law to any Christian sect 
 or mode of worship." The term Christian had 
 been substituted for religious. While all religious 
 forms consistent with morality and law were given 
 legal protection, Christianity was emphasized as 
 the state's belief. There is a hint of discrimination 
 against the Hebrew, and possibly the Unitarian. 
 
 The second article separated the powers of 
 government into executive, judicial and legislative 
 departments. 14 Fairchild argued in favor of this 
 division, which was in effect in all the other states 
 and the national government. It would obviate 
 the danger of further conflicts. In his opinion they 
 had long been approaching this ideal of separation, 
 so that it was not such an innovation. Treadwell, 
 Root, and McClellan feared that the additional pow- 
 ers given an independent executive would be danger- 
 ous in case the governor lacked talents and correct 
 judgment. Treadwell could not assent to the 
 withdrawal of the governor from the Council of 
 which he had always been a constituent part. 
 However, the article was passed without a yea 
 and nay vote. 
 
 A corollary, offered by the committee, provided 
 that "no person or collection of persons, being 
 one of those departments, shall exercise any power 
 
 14 Journal, pp. 20-22. 
 
386 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 properly belonging to either of the others, except 
 in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or 
 permitted." Had this been accepted, an artificial 
 division would have been created, preventing any 
 overlapping of powers. In the working constitu- 
 tion the theory has badly broken down. 15 How- 
 ever, the doctrinaire division was advantageous 
 in preventing future concentration of power which 
 had been a chief weakness. The governor was 
 given a separate identity and the judiciary 
 independence. . , ^ \ 
 
 The convention then proceeded to the third 
 article which related to the Legislature. 16 The 
 committee's plan of annual sessions alternately 
 at Hartford and New Haven was at first rejected, 
 but on reconsideration accepted. The change 
 was advisable, for it meant an economy in time 
 and money. A single session could easily pass 
 the necessary legislation. Six-month terms and 
 semi-annual elections had been a source of democ- 
 racy and protection, but with the growth of the 
 party system and increase in population, they were 
 becoming of doubtful value. 
 
 An amendment was offered, providing for a re- 
 apportionment of town representation. The com- 
 mittee report only modified the existing system 
 by suggesting that in some towns the representa- 
 tion should be cut down to one member. Fair- 
 child would give towns under 2,500 people one 
 representative and those over, two representatives. 
 
 15 Baldwin in New Haven Hist. Soc., Papers, V, 212. 
 18 Journal, pp. 22 ff. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 387 
 
 James Stevens suggested 4,000 as the line of de- 
 marcation between large and small towns. Henry 
 and Nathaniel Terry were impressed with the justice 
 of the principle, but opposed its adoption on grounds 
 of expediency. As there were only forty-four 
 towns with a population over 2,500, and seventy- 
 six under, the Assembly would be cut down to 
 one hundred and sixty-four members. Using 
 "4,000" would cut the representation down to one 
 hundred and twenty-four, as there were but four 
 towns whose population was above that figure. One 
 of these was Stamford which Stevens represented. 
 Conservatism ruled. The small towns had no 
 intention of passing a "self-denying ordinance/' 
 Yet such a re-apportionment was badly needed, 
 and every future year up to the very present has 
 increased the injustice of the system of representa- 
 tion. 17 Pocket- borough conditions, noticeable in 
 1790, were becoming marked by 1820, because of 
 the shifting of population toward the larger cities. 18 
 The privilege, which the committee draft gave the 
 General Assembly to reduce the representation in 
 some cases, was struck out by a vote of 112 to 72. 
 This vote was itself an example of small-town 
 tyranny. New towns, it was agreed, should only 
 have one representative. Yet old towns, from 
 which the new town should be formed, were to 
 
 17 Baldwin in New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, V, 228 ff.; Frank Put- 
 nam, "What's the matter with New England?" in New Eng. Mag. (N. 
 S.), 37: 267-290; M. B. Cary, The Connecticut Constitution. 
 
 18 For instances: Union with 752 people and a tax list of $17,000, 
 had as much weight as New Haven with 7,000 population and a list of 
 $133,000. Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 301. 
 
388 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 retain their full representation unless they con- 
 sented to its reduction — an unlikely contingency. 
 
 One provision required that all debates be public, 
 save when the public good required secrecy. 
 McClellan objected to a gallery in the Council 
 Chamber because it had not been customary. It 
 was a small body, conducting business in an in- 
 formal way. Some of its members were plain, un- 
 educated men, not orators, but sound counselors. 
 If forced to speak before crowded galleries, their 
 usefulness would be curtailed. James Lanman 
 argued against secrecy. He would not accuse the 
 Council. But who knew whether they plotted 
 the ruin of the state, engaged in treasonable corre- 
 spondence, or only busied themselves in promoting 
 the public welfare? He declared: "There should 
 be no secrets between the representative and his 
 constituents. Why should an agent act with- 
 out letting his principal know what he was doing?" 
 The result was that the provision was retained in 
 the constitution, and the new galleries in the 
 Council were left undisturbed. Another Republic- 
 an plank was secured. 
 
 The Senate, as the Council was rechristened, 
 was to consist of twelve members according to the 
 committee's draft, with the provision that the 
 General Assembly could within two years after 
 the next census increase the number to twenty- 
 one, and district the state. Regarded as radical, 
 this called forth great opposition. On a vote, 
 it was lost by forty-five to one hundred and thirty- 
 six. Tread well's motion to include the governor 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 389 
 
 and lieutenant governor in the Council found only 
 fifty-six supporters. Timothy Pitkin with sound 
 arguments advised against allowing the General 
 Assembly to determine the number. Other state 
 constitutions had definitely limited the number 
 of their senators. If the state was to be districted, 
 he believed that the districts should be defined in 
 the constitution, not by the legislators. Judge 
 Edwards concurred. This should not be left a 
 bone of contention between the people and the 
 Legislature. Alexander Wolcott voiced similar 
 sentiments. Moses Warren moved that the num- 
 ber be increased to twenty, elected by districts. 
 On a division, his motion only commanded forty- 
 eight votes. Motions to fix the number of senators 
 at sixteen and fourteen both failed. Finally it 
 was decided that the number of senators should 
 remain as of old and that they should be elected 
 at large. 19 In a later session Alexander Wolcott 
 moved for election by districts, losing by 68 to 
 115. This was a keen disappointment to all the 
 old Republicans who had long called for a demo- 
 cratic districting of the state. 20 
 
 Other sections were approved readily. Each 
 House was made the judge of its own members, 
 discipline and rules. Votes were to be publicly 
 canvassed by the treasurer, secretary, and comp- 
 troller. Each House was to keep a journal, pub- 
 lish proceedings and take yea and nay votes on de- 
 
 19 Roger Welles (Conn. Mag., V, 162) compares the Assembly with 
 its two delegates from every town, regardless of wealth or population, 
 with the national Senate, leaving the state senate the popular chamber. 
 
 20 Journal, pp. 57-59. 
 
390 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 mand of a fifth of the members. The usual freedom 
 from arrest during the session and while journey- 
 ing back and forth was confirmed, as well as im- 
 munity for remarks made in debate. The House 
 of Representatives was empowered to select its 
 speaker and clerks. A majority was to constitute 
 a quorum in either House. In case of a tie vote 
 for senators, decision was to rest with the Lower 
 House. 
 
 Article 4 dealt with the executive department. 21 
 In its reported plans the committee incorporated 
 certain Republican principles, which were accepted 
 by the convention. It was provided that the 
 electors (not freemen) should meet in April in 
 town meeting and vote for the governor, lieutenant 
 governor, secretary and treasurer. The ballots 
 were to be counted publicly, the result declared 
 by the town moderator and certified in a report 
 by the town clerk to the secretary of state. The 
 votes should then be canvassed by the treasurer, 
 comptroller, and secretary in the case of governor 
 or lieutenant governor, and by the secretary and 
 comptroller in case of the treasurer, etc., and then 
 reported to the General Assembly on the first day 
 of its session. The General Assembly would then 
 announce the result. In case no man received a 
 majority, both Houses in joint session selected with- 
 out debate and by ballot one of the two highest. 
 This enactment did away with the joint committee 
 of both Houses as the canvasser of votes, as well as 
 
 21 Journal, pp. 35 ff. See Baldwin in New Haven Hist Soc, Papers 
 V, 215-216. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 391 
 
 the secret counting of votes. Henceforth there 
 could be no charge of corruption in counting, 
 or in the destruction of ballots afterward. 
 
 The governor, it was provided, should be an 
 elector of thirty years of age, although the con- 
 servative committee had recommended thirty-five 
 years. The same qualifications held for the lieu- 
 tenant governor who would act as governor in 
 case of the latter 's absence, resignation, death, or 
 refusal to serve. The governor's salary, as well 
 as the salaries of the lieutenant governor, senators, 
 and representatives, was left a subject of legislation, 
 but not dependent on annual votes. This in itself 
 made the governor more independent. He was em- 
 powered to act as captain-general of the militia 
 save when in federal service. This proviso was 
 seriously objected to by Federalist writers, but 
 defended by Republicans as rendering impossible 
 another disgraceful militia struggle. 
 
 The governor could call on departmental heads 
 for reports, and was expected to inform the General 
 Assembly on all state matters, and recommend 
 legislation. In case of a failure to agree on a date 
 of adjournment, the governor was allowed to ad- 
 journ the chambers to a stated day. He was 
 responsible for the faithful execution of the laws. 
 He signed and sealed all commissions. The com- 
 mittee favored an extensive right of reprieve, 
 which the convention limited by excepting im- 
 peachment cases and subjecting all others to re- 
 view by the next session of the Legislature. A 
 slight power of suspensive veto was allowed by a vote 
 
392 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 of 127 to 52. Any bill after passing both Houses 
 was submitted to the governor for approval, and 
 then to the secretary for promulgation. If the 
 governor returned the bill unsigned to the House 
 of origin within three working days, it must 
 again be passed by both Houses when it would 
 become law without the governor's signature. 
 
 While the governor's powers were still slight 
 as compared to later American policy, they marked 
 a great extension over those previously held by 
 the chief executive. The governor was no longer 
 feared, but as the head of an independent execu- 
 tive occupied a position of power as well as honor. 
 
 The lieutenant governor, like the Vice-President 
 of the United States, was made the presiding officer 
 of the Senate. As such, he had the privilege of 
 debate when the body sat as a committee of the 
 whole, and a vote in case of a tie. The secretary 
 was the recorder of documents, the keeper of the 
 seal, and the custodian of legislative acts and 
 orders. Further duties might be imposed by law. 
 The treasurer assisted the secretary and comp- 
 troller in canvassing the vote and was responsible 
 for the state moneys, disbursing them according 
 to law on warrants registered by the comptroller. 
 The comptroller, an annual appointee of the Legis- 
 lature, was commissioned to settle and adjust public 
 debts, prescribe the mode of keeping accounts, and 
 act as an ex-officio auditor. The recent legislation 
 providing that a statement of all receipts, payments, 
 funds and debts, should be published from time to 
 time, was incorporated as a matter of course. The 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 393 
 
 status of these officers was scarcely modified by 
 the constitution save in connection with the count- 
 ing of the vote. Their duties, however, were de- 
 fined so that they were generally known. 
 
 Sheriffs were to be appointed as formerly by the 
 General Assembly and were subject to its removal. 
 They were bonded for the faithful performance 
 of duties defined by law. In case of a vacancy, an 
 appointment could be made by the governor to hold 
 until the next session. 
 
 The committee reported a plan for the perma- 
 nence of the judiciary. 22 Embodying Wolcott's 
 inaugural suggestion, it was the product of the 
 keenest legal minds of Connecticut. The judicial 
 power was defined as invested in a supreme court 
 of errors, a superior court, and such inferior courts 
 as the General Assembly might establish. The 
 justices of the peace as well as the judges of the 
 various courts were to be appointed by the General 
 Assembly in such number as the work of the di- 
 verse counties required. Their powers and juris- 
 diction were to be defined by statute. Supreme 
 court and superior court judges were to retain 
 office during good behavior or until the retire- 
 ment age of seventy years. They were made re- 
 sponsible through impeachment or removal by the 
 governor on address of two- thirds of both Houses. 
 The committee herein incorporated the best princi- 
 ples of the various judicial systems, while retain- 
 ing the essentials of the old organization. They 
 
 22 Journal, pp. 39 ff., 89-90. See Reasons for an Independent Judici- 
 ary in Conn. Journal, Aug. 4, 1818. 
 
394 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 guarded against another Jeffersonian experience with 
 a reactionary, hostile judiciary, by making use of the 
 British method of address, which was in vogue in 
 some of the other states. This would enable the 
 Legislature to eliminate a judge who was out of har- 
 mony with the time. No article, which the com- 
 mittee reported, better evidenced their construc- 
 tive ability. 
 
 This section did not pass without several tests 
 of strength. Alexander Wolcott proposed an 
 amendment which would have meant the retention 
 of the yearly appointments. He felt that it was a 
 novel doctrine for which the people were not ready. 
 He did not believe that it would raise appointees 
 above partisan motives and influence ; nor could he 
 understand why a judge more than any other 
 officer should hold for good behavior. In England, 
 it might be well, for it enabled a judge to oppose 
 an extension of the prerogative. Judicial functions 
 were more important than those of representatives. 
 But who would make the latter independent? 
 Judges should be just as responsible to the people. 
 Henry Terry, a Federalist, argued that the experience 
 of other states should have weight. There were no 
 complaints of the judicial tenure where this prin- 
 ciple was in force. Even in Connecticut the formal 
 reappointment of judges had the effect of giving 
 the judiciary permanence. In states like Rhode 
 Island and Vermont, where the judiciary is depend- 
 ent, complaints of partisan judges are rife. The 
 same conditions might prevail under rotation in 
 Connecticut. A permanency would serve the 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 395 
 
 people as much as in England, for it would safe- 
 guard them from a legislative, if not a regal 
 prerogative. Root spoke in accord with Terry. 
 While Nathan Smith of the Toleration group 
 did not question Wolcott's motive, he was sur- 
 prised that one could believe "that a judiciary 
 deriving their existence from the Legislature; de- 
 pending on the will of that body for their support, 
 and that of their families ; and liable to be removed 
 without cause, and cast destitute upon the world, 
 if they do not execute its mandates, however op- 
 pressive or unconstitutional, will stand as an inde- 
 pendent umpire between man and man and ad- 
 minister justice." The two-thirds majority of 
 both Houses was a sufficient protection. When a 
 judge lost the people's confidence, his removal would 
 not be difficult. Again, the Legislature would 
 have a bridle in their control of judicial salaries. 
 Jefferson in the Virginia constitutional conven- 
 tion had argued for this principle. With a touch 
 of cynicism, he suggested, Jefferson did not dis- 
 regard the people's liberties. In all American 
 constitutions, in which this or similar clauses were 
 in effect, practice bore out the views of jurists, 
 that an independent judiciary was the greatest 
 safeguard of liberty. The New Haven Address 
 in which the man from Middletown was personally 
 interested had demanded an independent judiciary. 
 Newspapers, reiterating this demand, had assailed 
 the government. Without a just judge, the poor 
 man would be oppressed and the minority party 
 deprived of its chief protection. He prayed that 
 
396 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 "political considerations should never enter the 
 Temple of Justice, — Justice would flee from such 
 unhallowed ground." His argument struck the 
 mark. It displayed in a glaring light the incon- 
 sistencies of some of the radical Republicans. 
 Yet political reasons explain the attitude, not of 
 Smith, one of the most learned lawyers, but of 
 some of the reactionary Federalists. 
 
 Treadwell declared that, if the committee's re- 
 port was accepted, this would be the corner-stone 
 and glory of Connecticut, as it had been that of 
 England. English judges did not buy or sell 
 justice. A permanent judiciary would tend to- 
 ward learned, uniform decisions consistent with 
 precedent. It would add certainty in the law, 
 to the satisfaction of enlightened attorneys. Aaron 
 Austin reported that for thirty years he had in- 
 clined toward just such a change. The question 
 of a good-behavior tenure had often been discussed. 
 Then, there was less reason for an insistence on 
 permanency. He recalled how Ohio had once 
 turned out all her judges. 
 
 Alexander Wolcott again spoke in favor of his 
 amendment. He voiced astonishment that men, 
 who had always depicted the excellence of the 
 government, should now be loudest in calling for 
 this change. Temperament, not tenure, was the 
 test of a true judge. It would be a departure from 
 democratic principle of rotation in office. In the 
 New Haven convention the subject, he confessed, 
 had not been as thoroughly considered. Further- 
 more, it was a party business in that instance, when 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 397 
 
 "writhing as they thought under oppression," the 
 delegates were for any change, even life judges. 
 In answer to the argument that a dependent judge 
 would not declare a legislative act unconstitutional, 
 Wolcott offered as his opinion that any judge de- 
 ciding a law unconstitutional should be expelled. 
 He denied that in the United States Supreme Court 
 it was anything but an usurped power. As for 
 the amount of litigation, that depended solely upon 
 the people and lawyers. In England, he begged 
 to add that law was so expensive that a poor man's 
 only chance was to be dragged into court as victim. 
 On a call for the yeas and nays, he found only 
 sixty-seven supporters. 
 
 A motion by Moses Warren for a five-year tenure 
 was likewise negatived. James Lanman, another 
 Democrat, moved for a three-year term. This 
 too was defeated by a vote of 98 to 88. James 
 Stevens then proposed that the words "during the 
 pleasure of the General Assembly" be substituted 
 for good behavior, only to be defeated by 105 to 
 76. Enoch Burrows, another original Republican, 
 in a last attempt endeavored to have struck out 
 the two-thirds provision, so that a legislative recall 
 would only require a majority vote. 
 
 On the question of the whole section the report, 
 with slight verbal modification, was accepted by 
 a vote of in to 78. The one hundred and eleven 
 included all the Federalists and Tolerationists, 
 whereas the seventy-eight were generally Republi- 
 cans. It was evident that the moderate Republi- 
 cans, liberal Federalists and Tolerationists con- 
 
398 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 trolled the convention. The "Revolution" was 
 essentially the work of the independent voter 
 rather than of the Republican party. 
 
 It is not difficult to understand the Federalist 
 support of this measure, for all along men like 
 Zephaniah Swift and President Dwight had pointed 
 to the judiciary as the weak spot in the govern- 
 ment. The men of unreasoning Federalism had 
 not criticised this institution, but the revolution- 
 izing of the judiciary had aroused their fears. Since 
 the reform party came into power, Calvin Goddard 
 and Simeon Baldwin of the superior court had 
 been displaced, along with some twenty-five county 
 court justices, ten probate judges and, it was 
 charged, about six hundred justices of the peace. 
 Not until 1 819 were the other Federalist members 
 of the superior court retired. 23 These changes 
 satisfied the Republican opportunist. Control- 
 ling the Legislature, they were supreme. It would 
 lead to the belief that Federalist charges of office 
 seeking were not in part true, in view of the hesi- 
 tancy of Republicans to favor Wolcott's suggestion 
 relative to the judiciary. Their obstructive tactics, 
 however, did not defeat the independent judiciary. 
 
 23 Courant, July 14, 1818. The Conn. Herald, Sept. 15, believed 
 that the late Legislature had been generous to a fault, leaving two- 
 thirds of the offices in Federalist hands. Trumbull said, in his Address, 
 that with a few exceptions there had been a clean sweep of sheriffs, 
 judges of common pleas, justices, probate judges, court clerks and even 
 turnpike commissioners. Zephaniah Swift (1801), John Trumbull 
 (1801), William Edmond, Nathaniel Smith (1806), James Gould (1816), 
 were all retired from the superior court in 1819; Jeremiah Brainerd 
 (1806-1829) and Stephen Hosmer (1815-1833) were retained. Sedg- 
 wick, Litchfield Bar, p. 2; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, p. 137. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 399 
 
 The suffrage qualification as adopted in Article 6 
 slightly modified the recently enacted law. All 
 persons who had been admitted prior to the ratifi- 
 cation of the constitution were guaranteed the 
 suffrage. The voting privilege was granted to every 
 white male citizen of the United States of good 
 moral character, who had gained a settlement in 
 the state, reached the age of twenty-one, and had 
 resided in the town at least six months, providing 
 that he possessed within the state a freehold of 
 seven dollars a year; or had performed militia 
 service within the past twelve-month, if not legally 
 excused from such service; or had paid taxes dur- 
 ing the past year. 24 On taking the freeman's oath 
 he would be made an elector by the clerk and select- 
 men of the town. Tread well's motion to strike 
 out the militia qualification was defeated, 113 to 
 67. A motion to associate, as in the past, the civil 
 authorities with the selectmen on the freemen's 
 board was defeated by 91 to 82. Virtually this 
 meant manhood suffrage. 
 
 Voting privileges were forfeited on conviction 
 of bribery, forgery, perjury, duelling, fraudulent 
 bankruptcy or theft. Treadwell seems to have 
 been responsible for the inclusion of duelling, for 
 he had tried to include an anti-duelling provision 
 in the bill of rights. Every elector was made 
 eligible to any office except as otherwise provided 
 in the constitution. In principle this was not new. 
 All votes were to be by written ballot. The first 
 
 24 Journal, pp. 46 ff. 
 
400 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Monday in April was established as election day. 
 All freemen were immune from arrest on any civil 
 process on their way to and from the polls. To 
 prevent disorder at elections, it was ordered that 
 laws should be passed prohibiting under adequate 
 penalties all undue influence, bribery and tumul- 
 tuous conduct. The disgraceful conduct at the 
 late Hartford town meeting had deeply impressed 
 those who dreaded a broader suffrage. 
 
 The seventh article dealing with religion was one 
 of the greatest importance. 25 With this omitted, 
 the constitution would not have been approved 
 by the dissenter or the ardent Republican. In 
 this separation of Congregationalism from the 
 state lay their chief interest. Baptist resolu- 
 tions and petitions, passed and circulated while 
 the convention was in session, had threatened 
 that a constitution, failing to embody their views on 
 religious toleration, would not command their 
 support. 26 This had an effect, especially as the 
 Methodists were known to be of like mind. The 
 views of these dissenting elements had become the 
 vital part of the Tolerationists' political philosophy. 
 Wolcott had expressed this principle in his address 
 to the General Assembly, so that on this question 
 the Tolerationists stood committed. 
 
 The drafting of this article was assigned by the 
 committee to Gideon Tomlinson and Joshua Stowe, 
 
 25 Journal, pp. 49 ff. 
 
 26 Resolutions of Baptist Convention at Hartford in Mercury, Aug. 
 11, 1818; for other Baptist and Methodist resolves, see Mercury, Aug. 
 25, Courant, Aug. 11, 1818; Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 486. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 401 
 
 two Jeffersonian Republicans. 27 Their report 
 closely followed Wolcott's wording: 
 
 (1) It being the right and duty of all men to worship 
 the Supreme Being, the Great Creator and Preserver of the 
 universe, in the mode most consistent with the dictates of 
 their consciences; no person shall be compelled to join or 
 support, nor by law be classed with, or associated to any 
 congregation, church or religious association. And each 
 and every society or denomination of Christians in this 
 State, shall have and enjoy the same and equal powers, 
 rights and privileges; and shall have power and authority 
 to support and maintain the Ministers or Teachers of their 
 respective denominations, and to build and repair houses 
 for public worship, by a tax on the members of their respec- 
 tive societies only, or in any other manner. 
 
 (2) If any person shall choose to separate himself from 
 the society or denomination of Christians, to which he may 
 belong, and shall leave a written notice thereof with the 
 clerk of such society, he shall thereupon be no longer liable for 
 any future expenses, which may be incurred by said society. 
 
 It has been said that this article was drawn up by 
 Rev. Asahel Morse, a Baptist preacher represent- 
 ing Suffield. Such an assertion appears groundless. 28 
 Morse offered a substitute section for the bill of 
 rights, which had been rejected: 
 
 That rights of conscience are inalienable; that all persons 
 have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty 
 God according to their own consciences; and no person shall 
 be compelled to attend any place of worship, or contribute 
 to the support of any minister, contrary to his own choice. 
 
 While his substitute did not bear any more simi- 
 larity to the wording adopted by the committee 
 
 27 William Hungerford, one of the committee, so informed Trumbull. 
 Historical Notes, p. 57, footnote. 
 
 28 Burrage, History of the Baptists, pp. 132-133; Trumbull, Historical 
 Notes, p. 57; Greene, Religious Liberty, p. 490. 
 
402 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 than many Baptist resolutions, the principle was 
 the same. The assertion of his authorship can 
 be accredited only to a sectarian desire to assume 
 the whole credit for the inclusion of the religious 
 toleration clause. Morse at best was more of a 
 politician than preacher, thereby violating the very 
 principle of which he was the reputed standard 
 bearer. 
 
 The principle of voluntary support was embodied, 
 while at the same time the tithe system of Con- 
 gregationalists and Episcopalians was legalized. 
 Freedom of conscience was guaranteed to all men, 
 but equality of rights only to Christians. It com- 
 pletely separated church and state in such a way 
 that it would practically cause the temporary de- 
 struction of the societies. This the Congrega- 
 tionalists of the convention would not suffer. 
 
 The article was hotly contested by the Federalist 
 leaders. Stowe, who was not afraid of a dissolution 
 of the old societies, declared that "if this section 
 is altered in any way, it will curtail the great prin- 
 ciples for which we contend." On being submitted, 
 the first section was affirmed by 103 to 86 votes. 
 A motion to strike out the second section was lost 
 by 84 to 105. These votes exactly register the 
 relative strength of the parties, and measure the 
 power of the intrenched minority. Treadwell 
 agreed that it might be well to permit any mode 
 of worship, but he would not draft such a principle 
 in the constitution. It might even be interpreted 
 to cover heathenish image worship, like that of the 
 ancients. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 403 
 
 Nathaniel Terry submitted two amendments to 
 the first section which were readily affirmed without 
 a vote. One provided that every person belong- 
 ing to a located society remained a member until 
 his connection had been legally dissolved. Accord- 
 ing to the other amendment, a tithe could only be 
 laid by a majority of the legal voters in a legally 
 announced society meeting. These amendments 
 were regarded as necessary to prevent an immediate 
 demoralization, for the Congregationalists actually 
 feared that, the legal ties removed, numbers of 
 their brethren, especially young men, would evade 
 their society tax. The easy passage of these 
 amendments can be ascribed to Episcopalian 
 influence. 
 
 Despite the leadership of Tread well, Terry and 
 Pitkin, Federalists " could not prevent the com- 
 plete severance of church from state, the consti- 
 tutional guaranty of the rights of conscience, or 
 the recognition of the absolute equality before the 
 law of all Christian denominations." 29 Republican 
 and sectarian had forced the hand of the Standing 
 Order. 
 
 The article on education, with minor verbal 
 changes, was accepted as submitted by the com- 
 mittee. 30 The charter of Yale as modified by an 
 agreement with the corporation in pursuance of the 
 act of the General Assembly of 1792 was confirmed. 
 The school fund was declared a perpetual fund 
 
 29 Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 56. 
 
 30 Journal, p. 54; Baldwin " Ecclesiastical Constitution of Yale 
 College," in New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, III, 415. 
 
404 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 whose income could be used only in supporting and 
 encouraging the public or common schools, and never 
 diverted to other uses. Certainly this was not 
 unfriendly legislation on the part of men who 
 had been arraigned as plotters against the college 
 and schools. 
 
 The ninth article dealing with impeachment was 
 accepted as recommended by the committee. 31 
 It was very similar to that provided for in the 
 national constitution. 
 
 The tenth article included important general 
 provisions of diverse nature. An oath of office 
 for executive officials and members of the General 
 Assembly was formulated. Annual town meetings 
 were provided for the election of selectmen and 
 police officers. A long section guaranteed the 
 rights and status of all existing corporations. 
 All judicial officers were to hold until the follow- 
 ing June, unless they resigned or were removed 
 according to law. The secretary and treasurer 
 were to serve until their successors were selected. 
 Military officers were to continue until regularly 
 removed. All laws not inconsistent with the con- 
 stitution were to be in force until their expiration 
 or repeal. These were temporary provisions in 
 order to smooth the transition from the old to the 
 new government. The validity of all bonds, debts, 
 contracts, personal or corporate, suits, actions and 
 the like was guaranteed. This clause set at ease 
 those who feared or who gave credence to Federalist 
 claims that a constitution would mean an over- 
 
 31 Journal, p. 54. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 405 
 
 throw, a repudiation of debts, and an invalidation 
 of all legal agreements. A fourth section ordained 
 that no judge of the superior or supreme courts, 
 member of Congress, federal office holder, state 
 treasurer, secretary or comptroller, sheriff or deputy 
 sheriff should be eligible to the General Assembly. 
 Henceforth this body could not be described as a 
 set of office holders, or its independence questioned. 32 
 Article eleven, describing the method of amend- 
 ment, was adopted as reported. Whenever a 
 majority of the House deemed it necessary to 
 alter the constitution, they might propose such 
 alterations as they saw fit. These were to be 
 published and continued until the next General 
 Assembly when, if they were approved by two- 
 thirds of both Houses, copies were to be sent by 
 the secretary to the various town clerks who were 
 to submit them to the electors in freemen's meet- 
 ing. If the proposals were approved by a majority 
 vote, they became part of the organic law. 33 
 
 32 A motion by McClellan, that no federal officer should be eligible 
 to a judgeship, was defeated. A proposal that "no clergyman or 
 preacher of the gospel of any denomination, shall be capable of holding 
 any civil office in this State, or of being a member of either branch of 
 the Legislature, while he continues in the exercise of the pastoral or 
 clerical functions," was laid on the table. Journal, pp. 26, 54, 55. 
 
 33 Journal, p. 55. The method of amendment was made intention- 
 ally difficult. Up to 1891, Judge Baldwin points out that but 28 out 
 of 96 proposed amendments passed. While in his opinion most of the 
 amendments have been of negative value, the difficulty in driving 
 them through has made for a permanence of the constitution, to the 
 point oi weakness. Experience has belied the prediction of the con- 
 temporary Scottish traveller. New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, V, 227, 
 242-245; Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, p. 58. 
 
 Duncan, after stopping a few days in New Haven, wrote: "It does 
 
406 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 September 12 and 14 were given over to a con- 
 sideration of the whole constitution. 34 A last 
 futile stand was made by the radical Republicans 
 to district the state and render worthless the judi- 
 ciary clauses. The independent judiciary was 
 secured by a vote of 114 to 53. Timothy Pitkin 
 moved to strike out the whole clause on religion, 
 changing his motion to refer to the first section. 
 On a call for a yea and nay vote, it was defeated 
 by 114 to 79. A similar motion with regard to the 
 second section was defeated by 114 to 72. These 
 votes and motions displayed Congregational- 
 Federalism at its worst. Nathaniel Terry made a 
 last assault on the single session plan, but the 
 Assembly was opposed to two annual sessions. 
 Lest the radical and reactionary elements continue 
 the discussion indefinitely, Pierrepont Edwards's 
 resolution calling for a final vote on the constitution 
 
 however seem ominous of evil, that so little ceremony is at present used 
 with the constitutions of the various States. The people of Connecti- 
 cut, not contented with having prospered abundantly under the old 
 system, have lately assembled a convention, composed of delegates 
 from all parts of the country, in which the former order of things has 
 been condemned entirely, and a completely new constitution manu- 
 factured; which, among other things, provides for the same process 
 being again gone through, as soon as the profanum vidgus takes it into 
 its head to desire it. A sorry legacy the British Constitution would 
 be to us, if it were at the mercy of a meeting of delegates, to be sum- 
 moned whenever a majority of the people take a fancy for a new one; 
 and I am afraid that if the Americans continue to cherish a fondness 
 for such repairs, the highlandman's pistol with its new stock, lock and 
 barrel, will bear a close resemblance to what is ultimately produced. 
 This is universal suffrage in its most pestilent character." Travels, 
 II, 335. 
 
 34 Journal, pp. 61 ff. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 407 
 
 at 5 p.m., September 15, was adopted. The 
 cloture went into effect; and the constitution as 
 returned by the engrossing committee was read 
 through and approved by a vote of 134 to 61. 
 
 This was not a strictly party vote. 35 There were 
 at least seventy-one Federalists in the conven- 
 tion, so that some ten or eleven must have voted 
 for the constitution. A few more must have so voted, 
 for several Republicans voted "nay." Nathaniel 
 Terry, Henry Terry, Judge Mitchell, William Todd, 
 John McClellan and R. Pierpont were among 
 some of the best known Federalists who favored 
 the new instrument of government. James 
 Stevens, Robert Fairchild, the assistant secretary, 
 and Alexander Wolcott who proved an obstruc- 
 tionist in his consistent voting against the more 
 moderate of his party, were the most prominent 
 Republicans who opposed the constitution. 36 
 All of the Federalists who lived in the past voted 
 against the constitution as a sacred duty. In 
 general the members of both parties followed their 
 party counsels on this question which alone marked 
 the division between parties. 
 
 » Cf. Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 58. 
 
 36 John M. Niles of the Hartford Times wrote: "The deliberations 
 and conclusions of a majority of the convention were not such as to 
 commend themselves to the enlarged comprehension, the progressive 
 
 republican mind, and high expectations of Wolcott The 
 
 Constitution as presented, he discovered as defective, as unjust, as 
 founded on no basis of republican equality, as avoiding in important 
 particulars accountability and responsibility, as a mere embodiment of 
 the charter of 1662, which, though liberal in its day, was not adapted 
 to present circumstances and the changed condition of the country 
 and times in 1818." Stiles, Windsor, p. 835. 
 
408 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The chart will give an idea of the sectionalism 
 of the vote, as it shows how the delegates of each 
 town voted. Seventy-six towns were represented 
 by men in favor of the constitution. The dele- 
 gates of thirty-two towns were opposed; of eleven 
 towns divided. The delegate from one town 
 failed to vote. 
 
 It was then resolved that the constitution should 
 be signed by the president, countersigned by the 
 clerks, and deposited with the secretary of state. 
 Seven hundred copies were ordered to be distrib- 
 uted to the town clerks who were to submit the 
 constitution to the electors on the first Monday 
 in October. It was finally agreed that a majority 
 vote of the electors should suffice for ratification, 
 after motions for three-fifths, four-sevenths, and five- 
 ninths had failed. A slight amendment was made 
 the next day, September 16, by which the powers 
 of government were continued in the hands of the 
 governor, lieutenant governor and General As- 
 sembly until the following May, in order that there 
 be no interregnum. A vote of thanks expressed 
 the general satisfaction with Governor Wolcott as 
 moderator. With that the convention adjourned 
 on September 16. 37 
 
 The constitution which resulted from their 
 three-weeks deliberation was bound to win the 
 support of all fair-minded men. 38 It did not 
 
 37 Journal, pp. 71-72. The Convention cost the state $11,313.25, 
 according to the treasury debenture. Mercury, Nov. 10, 1818. 
 
 38 Cf. Baldwin in New Haven Hist. Soc, Papers, V, 227; preface of 
 Revised Statutes (1821). 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 409 
 
 satisfy several Republican extremists, nor the 
 reactionary third of the members. It was essen- 
 tially a compromise, although its principles were 
 distinctly those of moderate Republicans. Its 
 mere phraseology evidenced the inbred conserva- 
 tism of even the so-called liberal members. 
 Changes were few, but invariably for the best. 
 The old rights of the towns were guaranteed. 
 Representation remained the same; the state was 
 not districted. The offices remained pretty much 
 as of old. Christianity was honored; the quasi- 
 legal connection between Congregationalism and 
 the state was severed. There was no display 
 of anticlericalism ; the one measure aimed at the 
 ministry was laid upon the table. Education 
 was secured. The powers of government were 
 divided ; the judiciary was made independent. In a 
 word, the governmental institutions and practices 
 of the past were revised, brought up to date, and 
 set forth as the organic law of the state, instead of 
 being left undetermined in the shadowy back- 
 ground of usage and statutory provisions. The 
 arrangement of the constitution as a state docu- 
 ment is confused, but its language is simple and 
 has required little interpretation by the courts. 39 
 Such was the constitution submitted to the free- 
 men at their town meetings. 
 
 Ratification by the voters remained in doubt 
 until the last. So many Democrats were ill 
 pleased with the constitution that its acceptance 
 
 s9 The bill of rights has required more interpretation than all other 
 articles combined. Loomis and Calhoun, Judicial History, p. 58. 
 
410 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 depended upon Federalist votes. Some of the 
 delegates did not feel called upon to argue its 
 merits before their constituents. This was espe- 
 cially true of the Federalists, who voted in conven- 
 tion in accordance with their own views rather 
 than those of their party. Gen. Nathaniel Terry 
 used his great political influence to win Federalist 
 votes and to swing Hartford for the constitution. 
 Seth P. Beers, a leading Tolerationist lawyer, 
 thought that Terry did more than any other in- 
 dividual to secure its ratification. 40 
 
 Federalists argued that ninety days was a short 
 time in which to evolve a system of government, 
 breaking so radically with the past. 41 Time enough 
 had not been given to its consideration, for it 
 must be remembered that under it their chil- 
 dren's children must live. This instrument of 
 government was drawn in three weeks, by partisans 
 in the heat of factional strife. If it was in any 
 way moderate, that was due to the watchfulness of 
 Federalist leaders. They alone prevented the gerry- 
 mandering of the state. It was intimated that 
 under the constitution innovations would continue 
 until Democrats had their will. Passage by a 
 bare majority, they argued, was not right, for it 
 left a strong minority with too little protection. 
 The militia were advised to look well into a con- 
 stitution which in case of war gave so much au- 
 
 40 Trumbull, Historical Notes, p. 59. 
 
 41 The Crisis, p. 16; Courant, Sept. 15, 22, 29, Oct. 6; Conn. Mirror, 
 Sept. 21, Oct. 5; Conn. Journal, Sept. 15, 22, Oct. 6, 1818; Trumbull, 
 Address, pp. 12 ft. Robbins wrote: "Should it be adopted, I shall view 
 the event as a great frown of heaven." Diary, I, 759. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 411 
 
 thority over them to the federal executive. Hart- 
 ford papers charged New Haven leaders with a 
 selfish localism in favoring the constitution simply 
 because it made New Haven a capital. They 
 were charged with already boasting that the city's 
 business would increase and property values rise 
 twenty-five per cent, and with contending that for 
 these reasons property owners and merchants should 
 support the constitution. Then, there was an at- 
 tempt to capitalize sympathy for Governor Tread- 
 well who was said to have been treated unfairly, if 
 not worse, by the aggressive majority of the con- 
 vention. This may have had considerable influence 
 with the old element which Tread well represented. 
 The one clause in the constitution, which Federal- 
 ists defended, was that establishing an independent 
 judiciary, which they could honestly maintain had 
 been incorporated because of Federalist support. 
 
 Tolerationists were won by the religious pro- 
 visions. Republicans were not as ardent sup- 
 porters as one might expect. They were disap- 
 pointed in the failure to district the state, a principle 
 for which they had long contended. It was not 
 done until 1827. They were afraid of the judiciary. 
 On the whole, they regarded the constitution as 
 better than no constitution. Furthermore, there 
 was the amending clause in which they lodged 
 future hopes. 42 
 
 October fifth told the tale. A heavy vote was 
 cast in all towns; only Burlington failed to make 
 a return. For the constitution, there were 13,918 
 
 42 Conn. Herald, New Haven Register, and Mercury — issues of Sept. 29. 
 
412 
 
 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 votes to 12,364, or a majority of 1,554 votes out 
 of a total of 26, 282. 43 The closeness of the vote 
 is evidence that the constitution did not command 
 the full reform electorate. Federalists complained 
 that there was no majority, for the state had over 
 thirty thousand freemen; and that there were 
 more than 1,554 new voters, the purity of whose 
 votes was dubious. The returns were made to the 
 October session of the General Assembly, which 
 declared that the ratified constitution was the 
 supreme law of the commonwealth. 44 
 
 The vote by towns is interesting. By looking 
 at the chart and comparing the vote with that 
 cast in 181 7, it will be seen that in general the 
 towns voted according to party. The number of 
 bolters or independent voters was seldom suf- 
 ficient to throw a Wolcott town against the consti- 
 
 43 Journal (appendix), pp. 117-118; Conn. Journal and Mercury, 
 Oct. 13. The following table gives the vote by counties; one town is 
 missing in Hartford County, and the town of Litchfield cast a tie vote. 
 
 COUNTIES 
 
 VOTES 
 
 TOWNS 
 
 
 For 
 
 Against 
 
 For 
 
 Against 
 
 Hartford 
 
 2,234 
 2,385 
 1,740 
 1,836 
 1,777 
 2,027 
 1,051 
 868 
 
 2,843 
 
 1,572 
 
 792 
 
 1,019 
 
 1,671 
 
 2,779 
 
 786 
 
 902 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 10 
 15 
 9 
 5 
 5 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 New Haven 
 
 5 
 
 New London 
 
 4 
 
 Fairfield 
 
 2 
 
 Windham 
 
 6 
 
 Litchfield 
 
 16 
 
 Middlesex 
 
 2 
 
 Tolland 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 13,918 
 
 12,364 
 
 66 
 
 52 
 
 44 Journal (appendix), pp. 119-121; Conn. Journal, Oct. 13. 
 
Vote on Constitution by Towns 
 
 Against. 
 
 No vote 1 I 
 
 Tie vote 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 413 
 
 tution. On the other hand, the constitution was 
 ratified by towns not in the reformers' list. Fed- 
 eralist losses are readily seen along with the more 
 state-wide Toleration strength. A comparison 
 with the religious chart will make clear the impor- 
 tance of the dissenters' vote, for where dissent 
 thrived, the town was for ratification. New 
 Haven County offered a surprise, in that only 
 five of its seventeen towns registered against the 
 constitution. The city of New Haven gave a 
 two to one vote in favor of the constitution. Ap- 
 parently there was some truth in charges that 
 selfish localism had won the day. Fairfield and 
 New London as dissenting counties gave the 
 heaviest majorities for the constitution by towns; 
 only six of their thirty-one voted "nay." Litch- 
 field and Hartford counties gave heavy Federalist 
 majorities, while Tolland went Federalist by a small 
 vote. The hostility of the purely agricultural towns 
 can only be ascribed to the unreasoning conserva- 
 tism of the Connecticut countryman which time has 
 scarcely weakened. 
 
 As evidence of the party character of the vote, 
 sixteen towns repudiated their delegates who had 
 favored the constitution. Of those towns, whose 
 delegates were divided in the convention, six re- 
 fused to follow Republican extremists in their op- 
 position, while the rest failed to support their 
 Federalist delegates who had favored the consti- 
 tution. 45 
 
 45 The following towns repudiated their delegates who voted no: 
 Hartford, East Windsor, Enfield, Granby, Simsbury, Guilford, Lisbon, 
 
414 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The adoption of the constitution was a cause 
 of satisfaction. Republicans considered it their 
 work, and claimed the credit. While not alto- 
 gether pleased, they regarded it as a written safe- 
 guard of their rights, civil and religious. 46 Its 
 adoption brought political quiet, for, as Judge 
 Trumbull wrote, it "quieted the minds of those 
 who wished for an enlargement of the right of 
 suffrage and for greater freedom in religion." 47 
 
 Trumbull, Columbia, Hampton, Lebanon, Norfolk, Plymouth, Rox 
 bury, Washington and East Haddam. 
 
 East Hartford, Greenwich, Stratford, Ashford, Middletown and 
 Stamford reprimanded the bolting Republicans by voting for the Con- 
 stitution. Six towns — Wethersfield, Pomfret, Woodstock, Cornwall, 
 Harwinton, and Winchester — whose delegates were divided, voted 
 down the constitution. 
 
 46 "There seems to be great rejoicing of Democracy and triumphings 
 of the wicked at the adoption of the new constitution. They evidently 
 consider it a triumph over righteousness," wrote Robbins. Diary, I, 759. 
 The Mercury (October 13) wrote editorially: "Connecticut has now 
 a Constitution, founded on sound and liberal principles. The rights of 
 all are secured; and the humble Christian is now permitted to worship 
 his God without fearing the lash of civil persecution." Barstow in his 
 History of New Hampshire (p. 426) wrote that all men of independent 
 and enlightened views rejoiced at this sundering of church and state 
 in Connecticut. 
 
 47 Judge Trumbull, a displaced judge and despiser of reform, de- 
 clared: "The formation and adoption of the new Constitution has 
 quieted the minds of those who wished for an enlargement of the right 
 of suffrage, and for greater freedom in religion. All male citizens above 
 twenty-one years of age may now vote at our elections and the small 
 nominal superiority which the Congregationalists had over the other 
 denominations, arising solely from their being a majority, is now re- 
 moved; and all are placed on a perfect level. Whether these provisions 
 are wise or unwise, and whether it was discreet to cause such changes 
 in our political institutions, is not now to be questioned. All agree 
 that the Constitution must be implicitly obeyed, as the supreme law 
 of the land." Address (1819), p. 1. Cf. Church, Historical Address, 
 p. 67. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 415 
 
 The spirit of bitterness aroused by the partisan- 
 ship of pamphleteers died down. Men repented 
 the violence of the past. As Hollister, who hesi- 
 tated to treat this period in 1855, wrote: 
 
 Gradually too most of them [partisans] learned to rev- 
 erence the old Charter, for the good it had done during a 
 hundred and fifty years of hard and honest service, while 
 at the same time they spoke, some loudly, and others in a 
 more subdued tone, in praise of the constitution, which 
 gave equal rights, ecclesiastical as well as civil, to all inhabit- 
 ants of the state. 48 
 
 Right-minded Federalists, even opponents of the 
 constitution, counseled its acceptance. The party 
 officially condemned the revolution in its mani- 
 festoes to the voters, in a vain attempt to make 
 an issue of the question. This was impossible. 
 The party was dying and the constitution vote 
 sounded its knell. 
 
 The years 181 8-1 8 19 witnessed the completion 
 of the revolution. 49 Governor Wolcott in October 
 
 48 Connecticut, II, 516. 
 
 49 Church Ms. "In the great revolution which immediately fol- 
 lowed the retirement of Governor Smith, and of which his rejection was 
 the first great wave, Connecticut abdicated her Christian standing. 
 The ancient spirit which had shaped her institutions, and linked her, 
 in her corporate capacity, to the throne of the Almighty for almost 
 two hundred years, was then expelled, and the State ceased hence- 
 forth, to wield power as a religious trust. New and alien principles 
 obtained the ascendancy, and the divine life, imbreathed into the Com- 
 monwealth, by its godly founders, was no longer the controlling law. 
 The multiplication of Christian sects undoubtedly rendered a strict 
 adherence to the original constitution both unwise and impossible, but 
 could not justify such a total departure from the old foundations. 
 Schisms in the Church can never necessitate the apostasy of the State." 
 Eulogy in Andrews, John Cotton Smith, p. 40. Tread well's life "involves 
 
416 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 advised a revision of the laws in conformity with 
 the constitution. The code appeared in 182 1. A 
 new plan of taxation as suggested by the governor 
 and the committee of investigation was adopted. 
 Property was henceforth taxed according to its 
 value, not its estimated productivity. Poll taxes 
 were lessened; burdens were equalized; and pro- 
 fessional skill and personal initiative were no 
 longer penalized. Agriculturalists were less apt 
 to emigrate. In a word, taxes were equalized and 
 fairly apportioned. 
 
 Supplementary laws were passed. An act 
 provided for the admission of freemen and for the 
 canvassing of votes. A new election law was 
 passed. A judiciary act followed. School funds 
 were ordered apportioned to the districts on the basis 
 of children of school age, not on that of taxable 
 wealth. Within a short time not only the Epis- 
 copalians, but the Methodists had their colleges. 
 Marriages were recognized, if performed by other 
 than Congregational ministers or those in legally 
 established societies or by magistrates. This 
 democratic legislation completed the reform 
 movement. 
 
 The greatest single result of the reiorm move- 
 ment, which culminated in the written consti- 
 tution, was after all the severance of the union of 
 
 that of the last days of the Puritan dynasty, and of a revolution which 
 although bloodless, and for the most part peaceful, produced a change 
 in the political aspect of the Commonwealth as marked and real, as 
 those which overturn the most powerful empires." Olmstead, Tread- 
 well, pp. 3-4. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 417 
 
 church and state. 50 The divorce redounded to 
 the advantage of both. No longer could there 
 be a "religious test" for office holders. Religion 
 was made purely voluntary. A man might belong 
 to any church or no church; he might contribute 
 to the support of religion or not, as he pleased. 
 No longer were men legally dissenters or " certifi- 
 cate-men." No longer was there a tithe which 
 men must pay or, as the New Haven Register 
 charged, see even their Bible seized and sold. 51 
 Yet religion was not destroyed, as the Standing 
 Order had predicted, when the Gospel should be left 
 to voluntary support. 
 
 The abolition of the tithe at first embarrassed 
 the finances of the Congregational societies, but 
 they managed to support their ministry through 
 the income from the church and glebe lands early 
 donated by the state and never confiscated under 
 the plea of separation by the American "Jacobins." 
 Moreover, there was a revenue from the rental of 
 pews, popular subscriptions, bequests to the 
 society fund, and in some parishes dividends 
 from bank stock. In an occasional society the 
 tithe system was voluntarily retained for a time. 52 
 
 50 Tudor, Letters, p. 93; Wilson, Travels, p. 104; Hetrick, Canterbury, 
 p. 8; Peck, Burlington, p. 18; Pease and Niles, Gazetteer, p. 19; Gold, 
 Cornwall, p. 135. Cf. Rev. Washington Gladden, "Anti-Papal Panic," 
 Harper's Weekly, July 18, 1914. 
 
 51 Conn. Mirror, Oct. 26, 1818. 
 
 52 For financial arrangements, see: Allen, Enfield, pp. 1570 S., 2572, 
 2591; Sherman, Naugatuck, p. 11; Baker, Montville, pp. 654-657; Sedg- 
 wick, Sharon, pp. 95 n\; Gold, Cornwall, p. 135; Orcutt, Wolcott, p. 91; 
 Lamed, Windham County, II, 452; Beardsley, Episcopal Church, II, 64, 
 174; Barstow, New Hampshire, pp. 422-424. 
 
418 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Episcopalian congregations contrived to sustain 
 themselves by subscriptions and pew-rentals. 
 Methodists and Baptists suffered, as many of their 
 members had seceded from the regular societies for 
 financial or administrative reasons rather than 
 because of religious convictions. Their growth 
 slackened. Too often luke-warm members for- 
 sook the contribution box even while retaining 
 membership in the society. Yet there was little 
 real hardship under the voluntary system. 
 
 Morally the Congregational church received a 
 stimulus. 53 Men no longer seceded because of 
 monetary reasons. The onus of a state church 
 was removed. The old charge of a clerical tyr- 
 anny lost force. There was still a feeling of social 
 superiority on the part of its members, but at any 
 rate this had no legal recognition. Hence in the 
 future this sect, as all others, had to depend on its 
 spiritual force. The reaction against infidelity 
 encouraged the revivals of 1818 and the following 
 years. 54 A foreign mission school, which had been 
 established in Cornwall in 181 7, was thriving. 
 
 63 As Rev. R. C. S. McNeille preached: "But Congregationalism 
 has not always been at its best. It was not so when it held onto the 
 mechanism of the Standing Order, when in so many influential quar- 
 ters it opposed the revivals which began about 1740; .... when 
 its members were almost all of them of aristocratic tendencies in their 
 pohtics, when it long looked with disfavor upon the use of the lay ele- 
 ment in church work One of the strong points of Con- 
 gregationalism hereabouts has been its respectability. It has almost 
 died of it." One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of Association of 
 Fairfield, pp. 55-56. 
 
 54 Rev. Joel Ives, Sermon (July 9, 1876), p. 10; Porter, Discourse 
 (1820), p. 18; Anderson, Waterbury, pp. 1627-1629; South, Guilford, 
 p. 104; Dudley, Cromwell, p. 15. 
 
COMPLETION OF THE REVOLUTION 419 
 
 Sunday schools were being established to teach 
 the Congregational catechism which had been 
 driven out of the public schools. 55 Noah Porter 
 declared in 1821 that no year had been so favor- 
 able or more prolific of good results. 56 Later Con- 
 gregational authorities agree that in the end the 
 separation benefited the church. Certainly no one 
 will maintain that the interests of the state were 
 prejudiced. 
 
 Lyman Beecher who so dreaded a voluntarily 
 supported ministry lived to see his fears refuted. 
 His son, the editor of his autobiography, described 
 the sadness of the Beecher family 57 from whom a 
 "perfect wail arose" when they had been informed 
 by John P. Brace of the Democratic success: 
 
 I remember seeing father the day after the election, 
 sitting on one of the old-fashioned rush-bottomed kitchen 
 chairs, his head drooping on his heart, and his arms hanging 
 down. "Father," said I, "what are you thinking of?" He 
 answered solemnly, "The Church of God." . . . . It 
 
 was a time of great depression and suffering It 
 
 was as dark a day as ever I saw. The odium thrown upon 
 the ministry was inconceivable. The injury done to the 
 cause of Christ, as we then supposed, was irreparable. For 
 several days I suffered what no tongue can tell for the best 
 thing that ever happened to the State of Connecticut. It cut 
 the churches loose from dependence on state support. It 
 threw them wholly on their own resources and on God. 
 . . . . They say ministers have lost their influence; the 
 fact is, they have gained. By voluntary efforts, societies, 
 missions, and revivals, they exert a deeper influence than 
 ever they could by queues and shoe buckles, and cocked 
 hats and gold-headed canes. 
 
 55 Kilbourne, Sketches, p. 92; Gold, Cornwall, p. 29; McLaughlin 
 Sharon, p. 15; Field, Middlesex, pp. 53, 62. 
 
 56 Thanksgiving Sermon (1821). 
 
 57 Autobiography, I, 60, 344, 392-406. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 Governors, 1776-1820 
 
 Jonathan Trumbull, Sr 1769-1784 
 
 Matthew Griswold 1784-1786 
 
 Samuel Huntington 1786-1796 
 
 Oliver Wolcott, Sr 1796-1798 
 
 Jonathan Trumbull, Jr 1798-1809 
 
 John Treadwell 1809-1811 
 
 Roger Griswold 1811-1812 
 
 John Cotton Smith 1812-1817 
 
 Oliver Wolcott 1817-1827 
 
 The Council 
 
 Members and their terms of service, 1776-1820 
 
 J. Hamblin . . . 
 E.Sheldon... 
 
 E. Dyer 
 
 J. Huntington. 
 W. Pitkin.... 
 R. Sherman. . . 
 A. Davenport. 
 
 J. Spencer 
 
 O. Wolcott 
 
 S. Huntington . 
 R. Law 
 
 W. Williatais... 
 
 T. Hosmer 
 
 O. Ellsworth... 
 
 B. Huntington. 
 
 A. Adams 
 
 J.P.Cook 
 
 S.M.Mitchell. 
 
 W. Hillhouse.. 
 
 J. Wadsworth . 
 
 J. Sturges 
 
 J. Treadwell.. 
 
 E. Wolcott 
 
 W. S.Johrison. 
 
 J. Chester 
 
 J. Strong 
 
 J. Root 
 
 J. Hillhouse . . . 
 R. Newberry. . 
 
 H.Swift 
 
 J. Chandler. . . 
 J. Davenport. . 
 A. Larned .... 
 J. Ingersoll. . . 
 
 T. Reeve 
 
 A.Miller 
 
 1776-1785 
 1776-1779 
 1776-1784 
 
 1776-1781 
 1776-1786 
 1776-1786 
 1776-1784 
 1776-1778 
 1779-1786 
 1787-1789 
 1776-1787 
 1776-1783 
 1776-1787 
 1776-1780 
 1784-1803 
 1778-1781 
 1780-1787 
 1781-1790 
 1791-1793 
 1781-1790 
 1784-1803 
 1784-1786 
 1787-1793 
 1785-1809 
 1786-1788 
 1795-1801 
 1786-1789 
 1786-1799 
 1786-1790 
 1787-1789 
 1788-1792 
 1789-1791 
 1789-1790 
 1789-1791 
 1790-1809 
 1790-1802 
 1790-1795 
 1790-1797 
 1791-1792 
 1792-1798 
 1792-1793 
 1793-1794 
 
 T. Grosvenor 
 
 .. 1793-1802 
 
 A. Austin 
 
 .. 1794-1818 
 
 T. Seymour 
 
 .. 1793-1803 
 
 D.Daggett 
 
 / 1797-1805 
 • \ 1809-1814 
 
 J. Brace 
 
 / 1798-1799 
 • 1 1802-1820 
 
 N. Smith 
 
 .. 1799-1805 
 
 Z. Swift 
 
 / 1799-1800 
 • \ 1801-1802 
 
 J.Allen 
 
 . .. 1800-1806 
 
 O.Ellsworth 
 
 .. 1802-1808 
 
 C. Goodrich 
 
 . .. 1802-1809 
 
 W. Edmond 
 
 . .. 1803-1806 
 
 F. Goodrich 
 
 / 1803-1808 
 • • \ 1809-1818 
 
 S. T. Hosmer 
 
 . .. 1805-1816 
 
 M. Griswold 
 
 . .. 1805-1818 
 
 H. Champion 
 
 . .. 1806-1818 
 
 C. Goddard 
 
 . .. 1808-1816 
 
 I. Beers 
 
 . .. 1808-1809 
 
 Theodore D wight. . 
 
 ... 1809-1816 
 
 J. Canfield 
 
 . .. 1809-1815 
 
 J.C.Smith 
 
 . .. 1809-1810 
 
 F. Wolcott 
 
 . .. 1810-1820 
 
 R. M. Sherman. . . 
 
 . .. 1814-1818 
 
 S.W.Johnson 
 
 . .. 1815-1818 
 
 S. B. Sherwood 
 
 . .. 1816-1817 
 
 W. Perkins 
 
 . .. 1816-1818 
 
 N.B.Benedict.... 
 
 . .. 1816-1818 
 
 A. Chapman 
 
 . .. 1817-1819 
 
 E. Perkins 
 
 . .. 1817-1820 
 
 W. Bristol 
 
 . .. 1818-1820 
 
 E. Boardman 
 
 ... 1818-1820 
 
 D. Tomlinson 
 
 . .. 1818-1820 
 
 S. Wells 
 
 . .. 1818-1820 
 
 J.S.Peters 
 
 . .. 1818-1820 
 
 J. Lanman 
 
 . .. 1818-1819 
 
 E. Burrows 
 
 . .. 1818-1820 
 
 P.Webb 
 
 . .. 1818-1820 
 
 J. Stowe 
 
 . .. 1819-1820 
 
 D.Hill 
 
 . .. 1819-1820 
 
 420 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 I. NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS 
 
 Contemporary newspapers have been one of the 
 chief sources of material for this study. May 
 Humphreys in his List of Newspapers in the Yale 
 University Library (New Haven: 191 6) enumerates, 
 all told, twenty-eight journals of which all but 
 thirteen had an ephemeral existence. In 1818 
 there were about fifteen newspapers, besides the 
 Religious Intelligencer, with an aggregate circula- 
 tion of fifteen thousand copies. First, there was 
 the Connecticut Courant (1764) published in Hart- 
 ford by Hudson and Goodwin, strongly patriotic 
 during the War, and intensely Federalist in the 
 after-period. Among the Republican papers the 
 American Mercury (Hartford) was the foremost. 
 It was founded in 1784 by Joel Barlow and Elisha 
 Babcock, the latter becoming its editor and owner 
 in 1786. The Connecticut Mirror, founded in 1809 
 at Hartford, represented an extreme wing of the 
 Federalist party, just as the Columbian Register 
 under the editorship of Joseph Barber of New 
 Haven (1812) did in the Republican organization. 
 In 1 81 7, F. D. Bolles and J. M. Niles of Hartford 
 established as a Tolerationist organ The Times. 
 The Connecticut Herald (1803) and the Connecticut 
 Journal (1767), both of New Haven, were Federalist 
 journals of secondary rank. The Connecticut Ga- 
 zette of New London, the Litchfield Monitor, the 
 
 421 
 
422 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Norwich Courier, the Middlesex Gazette, and the 
 moderately liberal Phoenix or Windham Herald 
 complete the list of important weekly papers. Dur- 
 ing the Embargo days America's Friend of Stoning- 
 ton had considerable vogue among administration 
 supporters. Niles' Weekly Register of Baltimore 
 has been of considerable value after 1811. News- 
 papers outside of the state have only been referred 
 to when quoted through the Courant or Mercury. 
 Among the reviews which have been used are: 
 North American Review, vols. 1-9 (1815-1819); 
 The General Repository and Review, vols. 1-4, Cam- 
 bridge: 1 812; The Portfolio, vols. 1-6, 3d series, 
 vols. 5-6, Philadelphia: 181 6-1 81 8; The Athenceum, 
 vols. 1-5, Boston: 1817-1819; The Methodist Maga- 
 zine, vols. 1-2, New York: 181 8; and the Connecti- 
 cut Quarterly (vols. 1-6 for 1 895-1 900), later 
 known as the Connecticut Magazine (vols. 7-1 1 for 
 1901-1907). 
 
 2. SERMONS AND PAMPHLETS 
 
 The following list of sermons and contemporary 
 pamphlets comprises only those actually used and 
 found valuable. 
 
 Address of the General Association of Connecticut to Con- 
 gregational ministers and churches of the State on im- 
 portance of united endeavors to revive Gospel Discipline. 
 Litchfield: 1808. 
 
 Andrews, Ethan A. : Remarks on Present State of Agri- 
 cultural Science in Hartford County. Hartford: 1819. 
 
 Atwater, Rev. Lyman H. : A Tribute to the Memory of 
 the Hon. Roger Minott Sherman, being the discourse 
 preached at his funeral, Jan. 2, 1845. New Haven: 
 1845. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 423 
 
 Backus, Rev. Azel: Sermon, delivered by himself at his 
 induction, Dec. 3, 181 2. Sermon at the funeral of 
 Gen. Oliver Wolcott. Litchfield: 1797. 
 
 Backus, Rev. Charles: Century Sermon. Hartford: 1801. 
 
 Backus, Simon: Dissertation on the Right and Obligation 
 of the Civil Magistrate to take care of the Interest of 
 Religion and provide for its Support. Pp. 34. 
 Middletown: 1804. 
 
 Argues for compulsory support of religion and for toleration 
 to all save Catholics, atheists, or those not believing in future 
 punishment. 
 
 Bacon, Rev. Leonard: Thirteen Historical Discourses- 
 New Haven: 1839. 
 
 Banking and the Shaving Operations of Directors, six num- 
 bers on, with General Remarks. By Corrector. Pp. 
 24. New Haven: 1817. 
 
 Baptist Association, Minutes of Hartford, held at Stratford, 
 Oct. 1814. Pp. 11. Middletown: 1814. Annual Re- 
 ports of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions for U. S. 
 Proceedings of the General Convention of Baptists in 
 U. S., at their first triennial meeting. Philadelphia: 
 1817. 
 
 Baptist, A True: The Age of Inquiry, or Reason and Reve- 
 lation in Harmony with each other operating against 
 all Tyranny and Infidelity — to which is added some 
 remarks upon the report of the committee of the legis- 
 lature of Connecticut, upon the Baptist Petition, pre- 
 sented at their session, May, 1802. Hartford: 1804. 
 
 Barber, Rev. Daniel : The History of My Own Times. Pp. 48. 
 Washington: 1827. 
 
 Barlow, Joel: Oration delivered in Hartford at the meeting 
 of the Connecticut Society of Cincinnati, July 4, 1787. 
 Pp. 20. Hartford: 1787. 
 
 Beach, Rev. James: Immoral and Pernicious Tendency 
 of Error. Hartford: 1806. 
 
 Beecher, Rev. Lyman: The Practicability of Suppressing 
 Vice by Means of Societies instituted for that purpose, 
 delivered before the Moral Society of East Hampton, 
 L. I., Sept. 21, 1803. New London: 1804. 
 
 Sermon, The Remedy for Duelling, delivered before 
 the Presbytery of Long Island, April 16, 1806. Pp. 48. 
 Reprint. New York: 1809. 
 
424 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 The Government of God Desirable. New York: 
 1809. 
 
 A Reformation of Morals Practicable and Indispen- 
 sable — a sermon delivered at New Haven, Oct. 27, 181 2. 
 Pp. 38. New Haven; 1813. 
 
 Sermon delivered at Installation of Rev. John Keyes 
 at Wolcott, Conn., Sept. 1814. Andover: 1815. 
 
 Beers, William P. H.: An Address to the Legislature and 
 People of the State of Connecticut, on the subject of 
 dividing the State into Districts for the Election of 
 Representatives in Congress. Pp. 37. New Haven: 
 1791. 
 
 Bible Society: Reports for 1810, 181 1, 181 2, 1813, 1814, 
 1815, 1816, and 1817. 
 
 Bird, Rev. Jonathan: Discourse delivered to the Freemen 
 collected in the Second Society in Saybrook, April 11, 
 1803. Middletown: 1803. 
 
 First given in Berlin, April 7, 1800. Aroused great political 
 warmth as an attack on Republican rule. The title page cited 
 Solomon: "When the righteous are in authority the people re- 
 joice; but when the wicked beareth rule the people mourn." 
 
 Bishop, Abraham: Georgia Speculation Unveiled. Pp. 
 
 144. 1797. 
 
 An Oration on the Extent and Power of Political 
 Delusion, delivered in New Haven, on the evening pre- 
 ceding Public Commencement, Sept. 1800. Pp. 71. 
 Newark: 1800. 
 
 Oration, delivered in Wallingford, Mar. 11, 1801, at 
 the Republican Thanksgiving on the election of Jef- 
 ferson and Burr. Pp. in. New Haven: 1801. 
 
 Proofs of a Conspiracy, against Christianity and the 
 Government of the United States exhibited in several 
 views of the Union of Church and State in New Eng- 
 land. Pp. 166. Hartford: 1802. 
 
 Church and State, A Political Union formed by the 
 enemies of both, containing the correspondence between 
 Stanley Griswold and, Rev. Dan Huntington, Ephraim 
 Kirby and Rev. Joseph Lyman. Ed. by Abraham 
 Bishcp. Pp. 60. 1802. 
 
 Oration in honor of the election of Jefferson and the 
 peaceable acquisition of Louisiana, delivered at the 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 425 
 
 National Festival in Hartford, May n, 1804. Pp. 
 24. 1804. 
 
 Some remarks and Extracts in reply to Mr. Picker- 
 ing's Letter on the subject of the Embargo. Pp. 23. 
 The New Haven Remonstrance, together with an 
 Exposition of the Remonstrants (against his father's 
 appointment as collector, in 1801). 1814. 
 
 Bishop Fund and Phoenix Bonus, A Collection of the Pieces 
 on this Subject from the Connecticut Herald. Pp. 76. 
 New Haven: 181 6. 
 
 Blatchford, Rev. Samuel: Validity of Presbyterian Ordina- 
 tion Maintained, in a letter to Rev. William Smith, 
 D.D. New Haven: 1798. 
 
 [Bowden, Rev. G.]: A Full-length Portrait of Calvinism by 
 an Old Fashioned Churchman. Pp. 39. New Haven: 
 1809. 
 
 Brace, Jonathan: Half century discourse; history of the 
 Church in Newington delivered on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 
 1855. Pp. 75. Hartford: 1855. 
 
 Bristol, William: An address intended to have been de- 
 livered at the Town Meeting in New Haven in reply to 
 the reasons urged for requesting his excellency the 
 governor to convene the General Assembly, to take 
 into consideration the alarming situation of Public Af- 
 fairs, together with a short account of the extraordi- 
 nary meeting. New Haven: 1809. 
 
 [Carey, James] : A view of the New England Illuminati, who 
 are indefatigably engaged in Destroying the Religious 
 Government of the U. S. under a feigned regard for 
 their Safety and under an impious Abuse of their Re- 
 ligion. Pp. 20. Philadelphia: 1799. 
 
 Carey, Matthew : A brief view of the policy of the founders 
 of the colonies of Massachusetts .... as regards 
 liberty of conscience. Philadelphia: 1828. 
 
 Channing, Rev. William Ellery: Two Sermons on Infidelity, 
 delivered Oct. 24, 1813 in Boston. Boston: 1813. 
 
 Chapin, Rev. Calvin: Sermon delivered in Hartford, May 
 18, 1 814; before the Connecticut Society for the Pro- 
 motion of Good Morals. Hartford: 1814. 
 
 Sermon delivered Jan. 14, 181 7, at the funeral of 
 Rev. Timothy Dwight. Pp. 35. New Haven: 1817. 
 
 Clap, President Thomas: The Religious Constitution of 
 
426 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Colleges, especially of Yale College. Pp. 20. New 
 London: 1754. 
 Clark, Rev. Daniel A.: The Church Safe-sermon June 25, 
 181 7, before the Consociation at Watertown. New 
 Haven: 181 7. 
 Cogswell, Rev. James: The Character and Duty of Preachers 
 and the Duty of People to receive and treat them as 
 such. Norwich: 1785. 
 [Cranch, William]: An Examination of the President's Reply 
 to the New Haven Remonstrance (with an appendix 
 giving the list of removals and appointments since 
 1 801). Pp. 69. New York: 1801. 
 Crossman, Rev. Joseph W. : A New Year's Discourse, de- 
 livered at Salisbury, Jan. 2, 1803. Hartford: 1803. 
 Daggett, David: Oration delivered at New Haven, July 4, 
 1787. 
 
 Oration, July 4, 1799. New Haven. 
 
 Three letters to Abraham Bishop, containing some 
 strictures on his Oration, Sept. 1800, by Connecti- 
 cutensis. Pp. 36. 
 
 Facts are stubborn things or Nine Plain Questions to 
 People of Connecticut with a reply to each by Simon 
 Holdfast. Pp. 22. Hartford: 1803. 
 
 Argument before the General Assembly of the State 
 of Connecticut, October, 1804, in the case of Certain 
 Justices of the Peace. Pp. 30. New Haven: 1804. 
 
 Count the Cost, Address to the People of Connecti- 
 cut, chiefly on the proposition for a new constitution 
 by Jonathan Steadfast. Pp. 21. Hartford: 1804. 
 
 Steady Habits Vindicated or a serious remonstrance 
 to the People of Connecticut against changing their 
 government. By a Friend to the Public Welfare. Pp. 
 20. Hartford: 1805. 
 
 An Eulogium on Roger Griswold — delivered at the 
 request of the General Assembly, Oct. 29, 181 2. Pp. 
 24. New Haven: 181 2. 
 Dana, Rev. James: The Folly of Practical Atheism, before 
 Yale students. New Haven: 1794. 
 
 Christianity, the Wisdom of God, preached at the 
 ordination of Rev. Dan Huntington, Oct. 17, 1798. 
 
 There is no reason to be ashamed of the Gospel, 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 427 
 
 preached in East Hartford, Dec. 23, 1801. Hartford: 
 1802. 
 
 The Character of Scoffers. Hartford: 1805. 
 
 The Wisdom of Observing the footsteps of Providence, 
 Sermon at Wethersfield, Nov. 28, 1805. Hartford: 
 
 1805. 
 
 Two Discourses : 1 . On the Commencement of a New 
 Year. 2. On the Completion of the 18th Century, 
 Jan. 1801. Pp. 68. New Haven: 1801. 
 
 Day, Thomas: Oration on Party Spirit, before Cincinnati 
 at Hartford, July 4, 1798. 
 
 Discourse on the Genuineness and Authenticity of the New 
 Testament, delivered at New Haven, Sept. 10, 1793, 
 as appointed by the General Association. New York: 
 1794. 
 
 Doddridge, Rev. Philip : A Plain and Serious Address to the 
 Master of a Family on the important subject of family 
 religion. Hartford: 1799. 
 
 Dow, Daniel: Reminiscences of past events: a semi-centen- 
 nial sermon preached at Thompson, Apr. 22, 1846. 
 Pp. 32. New Haven: 1846. 
 
 Dwight, Theodore: Oration before the Connecticut Cincin- 
 nati, July 4, 1792. Oration delivered at Hartford, 
 July 4, 1798. Pp. 36. 
 
 Oration, delivered at New Haven, July 7, 1801 be- 
 fore the Society of Cincinnati. Pp. 43. Hartford: 
 1 801. 
 
 Dwight, Rev. Timothy: The Triumph of Infidelity — a 
 Poem. With an abusive dedication to Voltaire. Pp. 27. 
 London: 1791. 
 
 A Dissertation on the History, Eloquence, and Poetry 
 of the Bible, delivered in New Haven, 1792. 
 
 The Genuineness and Authenticity of the New Testa- 
 ment, delivered first at New Haven, Sept. 10, 1793. 
 New York: 1794. 
 
 The True Means of Establishing Public Happiness, 
 sermon delivered before Conn. Society of Cincinnati, 
 July 7, 1797. Pp. 40. 
 
 The Nature and Danger of Infidel Philosophy ex- 
 hibited in two Discourses, addressed to the candidates 
 for the Baccalaureate in Yale College, Sept. 9, 1797. 
 Pp. 95. New Haven: 1798. 
 
428 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Infidel Philosophy, 1798. 
 
 The Duty of Americans, at the Present Crisis, illus- 
 trated in a Discourse preached on the Fourth of July, 
 1798. New Haven: 1798. 
 
 A Discourse on some events of the last Century, de- 
 livered in New Haven, Jan. 7, 1801. Pp. 55. New 
 Haven: 1801. 
 
 The Dignity and Excellence of the Gospel, delivered 
 in New Haven, April 8, 181 2. New York: 181 2. 
 
 Sermon at Yale on Public fast, July 23, 181 2. New 
 Haven: 181 2. 
 
 Sermon delivered, Boston, Sept. 16, 1813, before the 
 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Minis- 
 ters. Pp. 34. Boston: 1813. 
 Educational Society of Connecticut and Female Education 
 
 Societies. Reports for 181 7 and 181 8. 
 Edwards, Rev. Jonathan: Thoughts concerning the Present 
 Revival of Religion in New England. London: 1745. 
 
 Funeral Oration on Roger Sherman, Senator of the 
 U. S., who died July 23, 1793. Pp. 24. New Haven: 
 
 -793- 
 
 The Duty of Ministers of the Gospel to preach the 
 Truth. Hartford: 1795. 
 Election Sermons. 
 
 There is a fairly complete bibliography of these sermons 
 from 1674 to 1813, giving the name of preacher, society, text, 
 size in pages, in the Appendix to Rev. Chauncey Lee's sermon, 
 1813. Political sermons are noticeable after the party strug- 
 gle hardens, but even then, the lesson was somewhat hidden 
 in text and interpretation. Following are some of the more 
 noteworthy sermons: 
 Bassett, Rev. Amos: Advantages and Means of Union in 
 
 Society, 1807. 
 Brockway, Rev. Diodate: Sermon, 1815. 
 Burnett, Rev. Dr. Matthias: Sermon, 1803. Pp. 29. 
 Croswell, Rev. Harry: Sermon, 1818. Called for equal rights 
 
 for all Christians and divorce of politics and preaching. 
 Cushman, Rev. Elisha: Sermon for 1820. 
 Elliott, Rev. John: "The gracious presence of God, the highest 
 
 felicity and security of any people." 1810. 
 Ely, Rev. Zebulon: Wisdom and Duty of Magistrates. 1804. 
 Flint, Rev. Abel: Sermon. Pp. 27. 1816. 
 Hooker, Rev. Asahel: Sermon, 1805. 
 Huntington, Rev. Dan: "They shall prosper that love thee." 
 
 1814. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 429 
 
 Lee, Rev. Chauncey: The Government of God, the true 
 
 Source and Standard of Human Government. 1813. 
 Lyman, Rev. William: The Happy Nation, 1806. "Ruthless 
 
 spirits will foment difficulties." Pp. 30. 
 McEwen, Rev. Abel: Sermon, 1817. 
 Nott, Rev. Samuel: Prayer the Duty of Rulers and Nation. 
 
 1809. 
 Perkins, Rev. Nathan: Benign Influence of Religion on Civil 
 
 Government and National Happiness. 1808. 
 Smalley, Rev. John: On the Evils of a Weak Government. 
 
 1800. Pp. 51. 
 Stebbins, Rev. Stephen: God's Government of Church and 
 
 the World, the Source of great Consolation and Joy. 
 
 1811. 
 Stiles, Rev. Ezra: The United States elevated to Glory and 
 
 Honor. A sermon, May 8, 1783. Pp. 99. New Haven: 
 
 1783. 
 Strong, Rev. Joseph: Sermon, 1802. 
 Trumbull, Dr. Benjamin: The Dignity of Man as Displayed 
 
 in Civil Government. 1801. 
 Wales, Rev. Samuel : The Dangers of our National Prosperity, 
 
 and the Way to avoid them. May 12, 1785. Hartford: 
 
 1785. 
 Welsh, Rev. Dr. Moses : An Excellent Spirit forms the Charac- 
 ter of a Good Ruler. Pp. 18. 1812. 
 
 Ely, Rev. Zebulon : Discourse delivered in Lebanon at the 
 funeral of His Excellency, Jonathan Trumbull, who 
 died Aug. 7, 1809. Pp. 27. Hartford: 1809. 
 
 Emerson, Rev. Ralph: Discourse, on duties of ministers, 
 delivered at Norfolk, May 16, 1816. Hartford: 181 7. 
 
 Fisher, Rev. George P.: Discourse commemorative of the 
 history of the Church of Christ in Yale College. 
 Preached in CoUege Chapel, Nov. 22, 1857. Pp. 99. 
 New Haven: 1858. 
 
 Freemen: As you Were! A Word of Advice to Straight- 
 Haired Folks, addressed to the Freemen by one of their 
 number. Pp. 16. 1816. 
 
 Frothingham, Ebenezer: A Key to Unlock the Door that 
 leads in to take a Fair View of the Religious Constitu- 
 tion established by law in the Colony of Connecticut. 
 Middletown: 1767. 
 
 [Gale, Benjamin]: The Present State of the Colony of Con- 
 necticut Considered. Pp. 21. New London: 1755. 
 
 A Reply to a Pamphlet entitled the Answer of the 
 Friend in the West with a Prefatory Address to the 
 Freemen .... Pp. 63. 1755. 
 
430 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 A Calm and full Vindication of a Letter wrote to 
 a Member of the Lower House .... being an 
 answer in Vindication of Yale College with some Further 
 Remarks on the Laws and Government of that Society. 
 New Haven: 1759. 
 
 Brief, Decent but Free Remarks and Observations 
 on Several Laws passed by the .... Legislature 
 . . . since 1775. Hartford: 1782. 
 
 Gardiner, Rev. John S.: A Preventive against Unitarianism. 
 1811. 
 
 Graham, John : A Letter to a Member of the House of Rep- 
 resentatives of the Colony of Connecticut, in vindica- 
 tion of Yale College. Pp. 18. 1759. 
 
 Granger, Gideon: A Vindication of the Measures of the 
 Present Administration. Pp. 32. Hartford: 1803. 
 
 An Address to the People of New England, Dec. 15, 
 1808. Pp. 38. Washington: 1808. 
 
 Griswold, Rev. John: The Triumph of the Wicked and the 
 Reign of Infidelity, preached at Pawlet, Vt. 
 
 Griswold, Gov. Roger: Message to the General Assembly, 
 at Special Session Aug. 25, 1812, with accompanying 
 documents. Also a pamphlet report of the Legislative 
 committee. Pp. 22, 14. New Haven: 1812. 
 
 Griswold, Rev. Stanley: A statement of the Singular Man- 
 ner of Proceeding of the Association of Litchfield County 
 in an Ecclesiastical Prosecution against him. Pp. 32. 
 Hartford: 1798. 
 
 Discourse, Oct. 12, 1800. Truth its Own Test and 
 God its Only Judge. Pp. 32. Bridgeport: 1800. 
 A Sermon on July 7, 1802. 
 
 The Good Land We Live In. Pp. 29. Suffield: 
 1802. 
 
 Grosvenor, Rev. L. : History of the First Congregational 
 Church and Society of Woodstock. Thanksgiving Dis- 
 course, 1859. Pp. 28. Worcester: 1860. 
 
 Hammond, Charles: A Sermon Preached at the Rededica- 
 tion of the Congregational Church, in Union, Conn. 
 July 25, 1865. Pp. 39. Springfield: 1867. 
 
 Hartford Convention — The Proceedings of a Convention of 
 Delegates convened at Hartford, Dec. 15, 1814. Hart- 
 ford: Jan., 1815. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 431 
 
 Hartford County Agricultural Society — Articles of Associa- 
 tion and By Laws. Hartford: 1817. 
 
 Hawks, Rev. Joel: A Centennial Discourse in First Church 
 of Hartford. 1836. 
 
 Hetrick, Rev. Andrew J.: A Historical Address, preached 
 Oct. 27, 1895, in the Meeting House on Canterbury 
 Green. Pp. 40. Norwich: 1895. 
 
 Hillhouse, Senator James: Propositions for the Amending 
 the Constitution of the United States submitted to the 
 Senate, Apr. 12, 1808, with his explanatory remarks. 
 Pp. 31. New Haven: 1808. 
 
 Commissioner of School Fund Report for 1818. 
 New Haven: June, 1818. Report for 1819. 
 
 Hilliard, Isaac: The Federal Pye. Sixteen pages of verse 
 on the Federal caucus at Hartford. Danbury: 1803. 
 
 Hine, Rev. Orlo D.: Early Lebanon, an Historical Address 
 delivered in Lebanon, Conn, by request on the National 
 Centennial, July 4, 1876, with an appendix of Historical 
 Notes by Nathaniel Morgan. Hartford: 1880. 
 
 Hobart, Bishop Henry: The Moral and Positive Benefits 
 of the Ordinances of the Gospel, delivered at New 
 Haven. New Haven: 1816. 
 
 Hobart, Rev. Noah: On the Ecclesiastical Constitution of 
 the Consociated Churches, in the Colony of Connecti- 
 cut. New Haven: 1765. 
 
 Hooker, Rev. Asahel: Sermon en The Use and Importance 
 of Preaching the Distinguishing Doctrines of the 
 Gospel, delivered at Goshen, Oct. 30, 1805. North- 
 ampton: 1806. 
 
 Humphrey, Rev. Heman: The Duties of Ministers and 
 People, preached before the General Association of 
 Connecticut, June 18, 1816. Pp. 24. New Haven: 
 1816. 
 
 Humphreys, David: A Valedictory Address before the Con- 
 necticut Cincinnati, Hartford, July 4, 1804, at the dis- 
 solution of the Society. Pp. 60. Boston: 1804. 
 
 Discourse on the Agriculture of the State of Connecti-* 
 cut and the means of making it more Beneficial to the 
 State. Pp. 42. New Haven: 1816. 
 
 Intemperance, Address on — to the Churches and Congrega- 
 tions of Fairfield County. 1813. 
 
 Ives, Rev. Joel S. : An Historical Sermon of the First Church, 
 
432 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 East Hampton, Conn., July 9, 1876. Pp. 18. Middle- 
 town: 1876. 
 
 Jacocks, John H.: Bishop's Bonus, Seabury College, 
 Divine Right of Presbyterianism and Divine Right of 
 Episcopacy. A Series of essays appearing in papers, 
 1815-1816, by Toleration. Pp. 99. New Haven: 
 1816. 
 
 Judd, Rev. B.: Sermon delivered at the Anniversary of the 
 Episcopal Academy, Cheshire .... Oct. 7, 1812. 
 Hartford: 1812. 
 
 Judd, William: Address to the People of the State of Con- 
 necticut on the removal of himself and four other jus- 
 tices by the General Assembly for declaring and pub- 
 lishing their opinion that the People of this State are 
 at present without a Constitution of Civil Government. 
 Printed for General Committee of Republicans. Sid- 
 ney's Press: 1804. 
 
 Learning, Rev. Jeremiah: Sermon on The Evidence for the 
 Truth of Christianity made plain from Matters of 
 Fact. Pp. 14. New York: 1772. 
 
 Lee, Rev. Andrew: Half -century sermon preached at Han- 
 over, Oct. 25, 1818. Windham: 1819. 
 
 Lee, Rev. Chauncey: A Discourse, The Tree of Knowledge 
 of Political Good and Evil, delivered at Colbrook, 
 July 4, 1800. Hartford: 1800. 
 
 Leland, Rev. John: 
 
 The Connecticut Dissenters' Strong Box No. 1, con- 
 taining The High-flying Churchman stript of his legal 
 Robe [written 1791], The Dissenters' Petition, Con- 
 necticut Ecclesiastical Laws, American Constitutions 
 [Extracts from], Sixteen of which recognize the Rights 
 of Conscience and three the doctrine of Church and 
 State. New London: 1802. Printed by Charles Holt, 
 the Republican editor. 
 
 Van Tromp lowering with his peak, With a Broadside, 
 containing a plea for the Baptists of Connecticut. Pp. 
 36. Danbury: 1806. 
 
 A Blow at the Root [sermon delivered at Cheshire, 
 Apr. 9, 1801]. Pp. 32. New London: 1801. 
 
 An Elective Judiciary. Speech at Cheshire. July 
 4, 1805. 
 
 The Advantage and Necessity of the Christian Reve- 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 433 
 
 lation, shown from the State of Religion in the Ancient 
 Heathen World. 2 vols. Philadelphia: 1819. 
 
 Some Events in the Life of John Leland, by himself. 
 Pp. 44. Pittsfield: 1838. 
 
 Lewis, Rev. Isaac: Sermon delivered in New Haven at the 
 Ordination of the Rev. Jeremiah Day, President of Yale 
 College, July 23, 1817. New Haven: 1817. 
 
 Lewis, Zechariah: Oration on the apparent, and the Real 
 Political Situation of the U. S. before Connecticut 
 Cincinnati, July 4, 1799. Pp. 24. New Haven: 1799. 
 
 McEwen, Abel: Half-century sermon . . . in first Socie- 
 ty of New London. New London: 1857. 
 
 McLaughlin, Rev. D. Tompkins: A Discourse, preached at 
 the re-opening of the Congregational Church in Sharon, 
 Mar. 2, 1864. Pp. 29. New York: 1864. 
 
 Manufactures, Constitution of Connecticut Society for the 
 Encouragement of. 
 
 Address of Connecticut Society for the Encourage- 
 ment of. Pp. 24. Middletown: 1817. 
 
 Man waring, Christopher: Oration, 1804, at New London. 
 
 Marsh, Rev. Ebenezer: Truth of the Mosaic History of the 
 Creation, at Yale Commencement, 1798. Hartford: 
 1798. 
 
 Methodist-Episcopal Church, Minutes at Annual Conference 
 of, for the years, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817, and 1818. 
 
 Miller, Rev. Jonathan: The Holy Scriptures the Only In- 
 struction of the Christian Preacher, delivered before 
 Yale College, Sept. 9, 1812. New Haven: 1812. 
 
 Miller, Rev. William: Historical Discourse of the Congre- 
 gational Church in Killingworth, May 31, 1870. Pp. 
 67. New Haven: 1870. 
 
 Missionary Society, Articles of Incorporation. 1802. 
 
 Reports for 1801, 1813, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1817 are all of 
 especial value. Contain lists of officers, missionaries sent out, 
 location of New Englanders in West, shipments of Bibles, etc. 
 
 Morals, Address of the Connecticut Society for the promo- 
 tion of Good. Oct. 19, 1814. 
 
 Morse, Rev. Asahel: Oration, July 4, 1802, at Winsted. 
 Hartford: 1802. 
 
 Newberry, H.: Address before the Hartford County Agri- 
 cultural Society, Oct. 5, 1820. Hartford: 1820. 
 
434 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 [Ogden, John Cosins]: An Appeal to the candid upon the 
 Present State of Religion and Politics in Connecticut. 
 Pp. 23. 1796. 
 
 A Short History of late ecclesiastical oppressions in 
 New England and Vermont. 
 
 A View of the Calvinistic Clubs in the United States. 
 A View of the New England Illuminati. 
 
 Parsons, Isaac: A retrospect: two sermons preached . . . 
 Oct. 24, 1841. Pp. 32. Hartford: 1841. 
 
 Perkins, Rev. Nathan: A Half Century Sermon, delivered 
 at West Hartford, Oct. 13, 1822. Pp. 24. Hartford: 
 1822. 
 
 Sermon at the funeral of Rev. Nathan Strong, who 
 died Dec. 25, 1816. Pp. 27. Hartford: 1817. 
 
 Pickering, Timothy: Letter to Gov. James Sullivan, on 
 Danger of an Unnecessary War. Reprinted. New 
 Haven: 1808. 
 
 Pierce, Rev. A. C: Days of Old Remembered — A historical 
 discourse delivered in the Congregational Church, Brook- 
 field, July 16, 1876. Pp. 24. Bridgeport: 1876. 
 
 Porter, Rev. Ebenezer: The Fatal Effects of Ardent Spirits. 
 Hartford: 1811. 
 
 Porter, Rev. Noah: Sermon, Perjury Prevalent and Dan- 
 gerous, delivered at Farmington, Sept. 1813. Pp. 15. 
 Hartford: 1813. 
 
 Discourse on the Settlement and Progress of New 
 England. Hartford: 1821. 
 
 Anniversary Thanksgiving Sermon, 1821. Hartford: 
 1822. 
 
 Sermon delivered at the funeral of Hon. John Tread- 
 well .... Pp. 19. Hartford: 1823. 
 
 [Reeve, Tapping]: The Sixth of August, or the Litchfield 
 Festival. An Address to the Freemen. Pp. 16. 
 
 Richards, George H. : The Politics of Connecticut, addressed 
 to Honest men of all parties, by a Federalist Republican. 
 Pp. 36. Hartford: 1817. 
 
 Rogers, Clark: The Husbandman's Aim to refute the Clergy 
 respecting the Decrees of God: Their Doctrine Un- 
 folded and Errors Exposed. Pp. 39. New London: 
 1801. 
 
 Rowland, Rev. Henry A. : Sermon at the funeral of Oliver 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 435 
 
 Ellsworth, LL.D., who died Nov. 26, 1807. Pp.15. 
 Hartford: 1808. 
 
 Schermerhorn, John F., and Samuel J. Mills: Correct View 
 of the U. S. west of Allegheny Mountains — regarding 
 Religion, Morals, etc. Pp. 52. Hartford: 1814. 
 
 Sherman, Rev. Charles S.: A Memorial Discourse in Com- 
 memoration of the National Centennial, delivered in the 
 Congregational Church, Naugatuck, July 9, 1876. 
 Waterbury: 1876. 
 
 "Sidney:" Modern Toleration, — Tyranny in Disguise, 1818. 
 
 Silliman, Prof. Benjamin: Oration, before Connecticut Cin- 
 cinnati, July 6, 1802. The Theories of Modern Phil- 
 osophy in Religion, Government, and Morals, Contrasted 
 with the Practical System of New England. Pp. 34. 
 Hartford: 1802. 
 
 Eulogium of President Dwight before Yale Aca- 
 demic Body, Feb. 12. New Haven: 1817. 
 
 Smith, Junius: Fourth of July Oration, 1804, before Cin- 
 cinnati. 
 
 Stanley, George W.: Oration at Wallingford, Aug. 8, 1805, 
 in commemoration of Independence. New Haven: 
 1805. 
 
 Oration at Wallingford, Apr. 4, 1814 in Celebration 
 of the Overthrow of Napoleon. Pp. 31. New Haven: 
 1814. 
 
 Stiles, Rev. Ezra: Discourse on the Christian Union 
 
 before Congregational Clergy ... of Rhode 
 Island. Pp. 139. Boston: 1761. 
 
 Funeral Sermon for Rev. Chauncey Whittelsey, 
 July 24, 1787. New Haven: 1787. 
 
 Strong, Rev. Joseph: Sermon preached Mar. 23, 1828 on 
 completion of 50 Years in the ministry. Pp. 26. Nor- 
 wich: 1828. 
 
 Strong, Rev. Dr. Nathan: A Thanksgiving Sermon, Nov. 
 27, 1800. Hartford: 1800. 
 
 On the Universal spread of the Gospel, delivered 
 Jan. 4, 1801. Pp. 46. Hartford: 1801. 
 
 Sermon delivered at Hartford, July 23, 1812. Hart- 
 ford: 1812. 
 
 [Swift, Zephaniah]: A Vindication of the Special Superior 
 Court for trial of Peter Lung [Murderer] with Obser- 
 vations on the Constitutional Power of the Legislature 
 
436 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 to interfere with the Judiciary in the Administration 
 of Justice. 1816. 
 
 The Correspondent — containing Publications in 
 Windham Herald relative to Result of Ecclesiastical 
 Council, holden Sept. 1792, and Consociation of Wind- 
 ham County, Nov. 1792, respecting Rev. Oliver Dodge. 
 Pp. 140. Windham: 1793. 
 
 Taylor, Rev. Nathaniel: Regeneration, the Beginning of 
 Holiness in the Human Heart. Pp. 19. New Haven: 
 1816. 
 
 Tracy, Senator Uriah: Manifesto of the Freemen of Con- 
 necticut, Sept. 6, 1803. Pp. 16. Litchfield: 1803. 
 
 Trumbull, Rev. Benjamin: Century Sermon. Pp. 36. 
 New Haven: 1801. 
 
 A Letter to an Honourable Gentleman of the Council- 
 Board for the Colony of Connecticut shewing that Yale 
 College is a very great Emolument. Pp. 26. New 
 Haven: 1766. 
 
 Trumbull, Judge John: The Mischief of Legislative Caucuses 
 exposed in an Address to the people of Connecticut. 
 Hartford: 1819. 
 
 Trumbull, Gov. Jonathan : Address to the General Assembly 
 and Freemen of Connecticut declining any further elec- 
 tion to public office. New London: 1783. 
 
 Two Brothers: A Dialogue. Pp. 18. Printed by Hudson 
 and Goodwin: 1806. 
 
 Tyler, Rev. John E.: Historical Discourse delivered before 
 the First Church and Society of Windham County, 
 Dec. 10, 1850. Hartford: 1851. 
 
 Varnum, James M.: The Case, Trevett against Weeden. 
 Pp. 60. Providence: 1787. 
 
 Wain wright, Rev. Jonathan A. : An Historical Discourse 
 delivered in St. John's Church, Salisbury .... 
 New Haven: 1868. 
 
 Waterman, Rev. Elijah: Century Sermon, Dec. 10, 1800, 
 commemorating the foundation of the church, Dec. 10, 
 1700. Pp. 43. Windham: 1801. 
 
 Webster, Noah: The Revolution in France, considered in 
 
 respect to its Progress and effects. New York: 1794. 
 
 Fourth of July Oration. New Haven: 1798. 
 
 Ten Letters to Dr. Joseph Priestley in answer to his 
 
 letters to the Inhabitants of Northumberland. Pp. 29. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 437 
 
 A Rod for the Fool's Back [Abraham Bishop], Prov. 
 xxvi, 3. New Haven: 1800. 
 
 Fourth of July Oration. Pp. 30. New Haven: 1802. 
 Address to the citizens of Connecticut. By Chatham. 
 Pp. 24. 1803. 
 
 Address to the Freemen of Connecticut. Pp. 12. 
 Hartford: 1806. 
 
 Letter to the President of the United States touching 
 Prosecutions under his patronage before the Circuit 
 Court in the District of Connecticut. By Hampden. 
 Pp. 28. New Haven: 1808. 
 
 The Peculiar Doctrines of the Gospel Explained and 
 defended. 
 Welch, Rev. Moses C: Sermon before Windham County 
 
 Association. Pp. 19. Hartford: 1807. 
 Williams, Rev. Samuel P.: An Enquiry into the State of 
 the Churches. Sermon preached before several 
 churches of Windham County. Hartford: 1816. 
 Wines, Rev. Abijah: Discourse on Human Depravity, de- 
 livered at Guilford, Oct. 23, 1803. Middletown: 1804. 
 Wolcott, Oliver: An Address to the People of the United 
 States on the subject of the report of the Committee 
 of the House of Representatives appointed to examine 
 . . . . the Treasury .... Pp. 112. Bos- 
 ton: 1802. 
 
 British Influence on the Affairs of the United States, 
 Proved and Explained. Pp. 23. Boston: 1804. 
 
 A detailed report to the Assembly on Taxation, May, 
 1819. Pp. 23. 
 
 3. LOCAL AND SPECIAL HISTORIES, AND BIOGRAPHI- 
 CAL MATERIAL 
 
 The following list records such state, county, 
 and town histories as have been drawn upon for 
 this essay. It contains also biographies that have 
 been found useful, chiefly those bearing upon the 
 lives of Connecticut men. 
 
 Allen, Francis Olcott: The History of Enfield, Connecticut. 
 3 vols. Lancaster, Pa.: 1900. 
 
438 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Alvord, Rev. J. W. : Historical Address delivered in . . 
 Stamford at . . . the Second Centennial Anni- 
 versary of the settlement of the Town. Pp. 40. New 
 York: 1842. 
 
 Anderson, Rev. Joseph [ed.]: The Town and City of Water- 
 bury. 3 vols. New Haven: 1896. 
 
 Andrews, Charles M.: 'The River Towns of Connecticut." 
 Johns Hopkins University Studies. Baltimore: 1889. 
 
 Andrews, Rev. William W.: The Correspondence and Mis- 
 cellanies of the Hon. John Cotton Smith, with an Eulogy. 
 .... New York: 1-47. 
 
 Atkins, Thomas: History of Middlefield and Long Hill. 
 Hartford: 1883. 
 
 Atwater, E. E. [et at.]: History of thi City of New Haven to 
 the present time. . . . with biographies. New 
 York: 1887. 
 
 Atwater, Francis [ed.]: History of the Town of Plymouth 
 .... Meriden: 1895. 
 
 History of Kent, .... including Biographical 
 Sketches .... Meriden: 1897. 
 
 Avery, Rev. John: History of the Town of Ledyard, 1650- 
 1900. Norwich: 1901. 
 
 Bacon, Rev. Leonard: Sketch of the Life and Public Services 
 of Hon. James Hillhouse, 1754-1832. Pp. 46. New 
 Haven: 1860. 
 
 Bailey, James Montgomery: Histo>\> of Danbury . . . 
 1684-1896. New York: 1896. 
 
 Baker, Henry A. [compiler] : History of Montville. 1640- 
 1896. Hartford: 1896. 
 
 Baldwin, Simeon E.: "The Early History of the Ballot in 
 Connecticut." In. Amer. Hist. Assoc, Report for 1890, 
 pp. 81-97. "The Ecclesiastical Constitution of Yale 
 College." In New Haven Colony Hist. Soc, Papers, 
 III, 405-443. "The Three Constitutions of Connecti- 
 cut." In New Haven Colony Hist. Soc, Papers, V, 179— 
 246. An Historical Address before the Chamber of 
 Commerce of New Haven, Apr. 9, 1894. Pp. 37. "Con- 
 necticut in Pennsylvania." In New Haven Colony Hist. 
 Soc, Papers, VIII, 1-19. 
 
 Barber, John W., and Punderson, Lemuel S.: History and 
 Antiquities of New Haven .... with Biographi- 
 cal Sketches. New Haven: 1856. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 439 
 
 Barnard, Henry: A Discourse in commemoration of . . . . 
 Rev. Thomas Gallaudet delivered at Hartford, with an 
 appendix containing history of deaf-mute instruction. 
 Hartford: 1852. 
 
 Barry, John Stetson: History of Massachusetts. 3 vols. 
 Boston: 1855-1857. 
 
 Barstow, George: The History of New Hampshire from 1614 
 to the passage of the Toleration Acts in 1819. Boston: 
 1853. 2d ed. 
 
 Bates, Albert Carlos [ed.]: Records of Rev. Roger Viets } 
 rector of St. Andrews (P. E.), Simsbury .... 1763— 
 1800. Hartford: 1893. "Connecticut Local Histories 
 in Conn. Hist. Society and the Watkinson Library." 
 In Conn. Hist. Soc, Report for 1893, pp. 23-38. 
 Records of the Second School Society in Granby .... 
 1796-1855. Hartford: 1903. Pp. 43. Records of the 
 Congregational Church in Turkey Hills . . . ." 
 1776-1858. Hartford: 1907. Lis of Congregational 
 Ecclesiastical Societies established in Connecticut before 
 1818 with their changes. Hartford: 1913. Pp. 35. 
 Papers of the Connecticut State Society of the Cincin- 
 nati, 1783-1807. Hartford: 1916. 
 
 Beach, Joseph Perkins : History of Cheshire .... 1694 
 to 1840. Cheshire: 1912. 
 
 Beardsley, Rev. E. Edwards: The History of the Episcopal 
 Church in Connecticut, from the Settlement of the 
 Colony .... to 1865. 2 vols. New York: 1866- 
 1868. Life and Times of William Samuel Johnson, 
 LL.D. New York: 1876. Life and Correspondence of 
 he Rt. Rev. Samuel Seabury, D.D., first Bishop .... 
 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of Ameri- 
 ca. Boston: 1881. 2d ed. 
 
 Beecher, Rev. Lyman Autobiography and Correspondence. 
 Ed. by Charles Beecher. New York: 1864. 
 
 Bidwell, Percy Wells: Rural Economy in New England at 
 the Beginning -of the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: 
 1916. An accurate and interesting doctoral disserta- 
 tion describing the agricultural life of the section. 
 
 Bishop, Henry F.: Historical Sketch of Lisbon .... 
 from 1786 to 1900. New York: 1903. 
 
 Blake, Henry T.: Chronicles of New Haven Green, from 1638 
 to 1862. New Haven: 1898. 
 
440 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Blake, William P. [ed.]: History of the Town of Hamden 
 .... New Haven: 1888. "Sketch of the Life 
 of Eli Whitney." In New Haven Colony Hist. Soc, 
 Papers, V, 110-131. 
 
 Boardman, David S.: Sketches of the Early Lights of the 
 Litchfield Bar Litchfield: 1860. Pp. 38. 
 
 Bouton, Rev. Nathaniel: An Historical Discourse . . . . 
 at the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Settlement of 
 Norwalk . . . delivered July 9, 1851. New York: 
 1851. Pp. 80. 
 
 Boyd, John: Annals and Family Records of Winchester 
 .... Hartford: 1873. 
 
 Brainerd, A.: Middletown. 1877. Pp. 28. 
 
 Breckenridge, Frances A.: Recollections of a New England 
 Town, Meriden. 1899. 
 
 Bronson, Dr. Henry: The History of Waterbury .... 
 with an appendix of biography, genealogy, and statis- 
 tics. Waterbury: 1858. "Early Government o ; Con- 
 necticut, with critical and explanatory remarks on the 
 Constitution of 1639." In New Haven Colony Hist. 
 Soc, Papers, III, 292-403. "An Historical Account of 
 Connecticut Currency, Continental Money, and the 
 Finances of the Revolution." In New Haven Colony 
 Hist. Soc, Papers, I. 
 
 Camp, David N. : History of New Britain, with sketches of 
 Farmington and Berlin, .... 1640-1889. New 
 Britain: 1889. 
 
 Campbell, Rev. Hollis A. [et. al.]: Seymour, Past and Present. 
 Seymour: 1902. 
 
 Cary, M. B.: The Connecticut Constitution. New Haven: 
 1900. 
 
 Caulkins, Frances M.: History of Norwich, .... from 
 its settlement in 1660 to 1'845. Norwich: 1845. 
 History of New London, .... from the first 
 survey of the coast in 1612 to 1852. New London: 
 1852. 
 
 Chandler, Thomas Bradbury: The Life of Samuel Johnson. 
 New York: 1805. 
 
 Chapin, A. B.: Glastonbury for Two Hundred Years. Hart- 
 ford: 1853. 
 
 Child, Frank S.: Fairfield, Ancient and Modern .... 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 441 
 
 prepared for the 270th Anniversary of the town's settle- 
 ment. 1909. Pp. 75. 
 
 Church, Judge Samuel: A Historical Address delivered 
 . . . . at the 100th Anniversary of the first town- 
 meeting of ... . Salisbury. Oct. 20, 1841. 
 New Haven: 1842. Pp. 24. Ms. Account in New 
 Haven Colony Hist. Soc. Library, descriptive of the 
 struggle leading up to the Convention of 1818, in which 
 the writer represented Salisbury. It was written at 
 the request of G. H. Hollister then writing a history of 
 the state. 
 
 Clap, President Thomas: Annals or History of Yale College. 
 New Haven: 1766. 
 
 Clark, E. F. : Methodist-Episcopal Churches of Norwich, Con- 
 necticut. Norwich: 1867. 
 
 Clark, Rev. George L.: History of Connecticut. New York: 
 1914. 
 
 Cleveland, Catherine C. : The Great Revival in the West, 
 1797-1805. Chicago: 1916. 
 
 Cole, J. R.: History of Tolland County. New York: 1888. 
 
 Connecticut, Colonial Records of . . . . Ed. by C. J. 
 Hoadley and J. Hammond Trumbull. 1635-1776. 
 15 vols. Hartford: 1850-1890. Records of the State of 
 .... Ed. by C. J. Hoadley. 1776-1780. 2 vols. 
 Hartford: 1894-1895. Public Statute Laws of the State 
 of ... . Hartford: 1808. 
 
 This revision, with its historical annotations, makes it 
 almost unnecessary to refer to the revisions or editions of 
 1702, 1714, 1742-1750, 1769, 1784, 1786 and 1796. 
 
 Supplement of the Public Laws of Connecticut, 1808- 
 1819, and the Revised Statutes of 1821. Zephaniah 
 Swift, A Digest of the Laws of the State of Connecticut 
 (1821). 2 vols. Connecticut from Actual Survey made 
 in 1811, by and under direction of Moses Warren and 
 George Gillet, published by Hudson and Goodwin. 
 Hartford: 1812. 
 
 This is an admirable map, marking county and town lines, 
 sites of settled societies, town-halls, and various manufac- 
 turing plants, mills and distilleries. 
 
442 CONNECTICUT IN TRANSITION: 1775-1818 
 
 Connecticut Historical Society, Collections, vols. 1-16. 
 Hartford: 1860-1916. 
 
 Crissey, Theron W. : History of Norfolk .... 1744- 
 1900. Everett, Mass.: 1900. 
 
 Davenport, Daniel: The Two Hundredth Anniversary of the 
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 ington: 1909. 
 
 Walker, Rev. Williston: The Creeds and Platforms of Con- 
 gregationalism. New York: 1893. 
 
 Wansey, Henry: Journal of an Excursion to the United States 
 of America, 1794. Salisbury: 1796. 
 
 Warden, D. B.: Statistical, Political and Historical Account 
 of the United States of North America. 3 vols. Edin- 
 burgh: 1819. 
 
 Watson, Elkanah: A History of Agricultural Societies on the 
 Modern Berkshire System. Albany: 1820. 
 
 Watson, Winslow C: Men and Times of the Revolution or 
 Memoirs of Elkanah Watson. New York: 1856. 
 
 Weeden, William B.: Economic and Social History of New 
 England. 2 vols. Boston: 1890. 
 
 Wood, John [James Cheetham]: History of the Administra- 
 tion of John Adams. New York: 1802. 
 
 Wright, Chester Whitney: Wool-Growing and the Tariff. 
 Cambridge: 1910. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Adams, John, 229, 310, 333. 
 
 Adams, John Quincy, treaties on 
 hemp raising, 165; views of New 
 England disunion, 251, 295. 
 
 Agriculture, condition of, 2, 140, 
 158, 159, 354; in England, 158- 
 159; laws and societies for im- 
 provement of, 161. 
 
 Albany, 153. 
 
 Alien and Sedition Laws, 250. 
 
 Allen, Ethan, religious belief of, 
 13-14; author of Oracles of Rea- 
 son, 13; mentioned, 20, 152. 
 
 Allen, Ira, 152. 
 
 Allen, J., 201. 
 
 Alsop, Col. John, 372. 
 
 Alsop, Joseph, 105, 112. 
 
 Alsop, Richard, wealthy trader, 
 98. 
 
 American Revolution, 1, 8, 185. 
 
 Ames, Fisher, quoted, 252; de- 
 scribes Republicans, 330; men- 
 tioned, 237. 
 
 Andover, 345. 
 
 Andrews, Rev. Mr., sermon 
 quoted, 42. 
 
 Andros, Governor, 181. 
 
 Anglican church, see Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 Anticlericalism, of Republican 
 party, 236, 331. 
 
 Anti-Federalists, 227-228. 
 
 Articles of Confederation, 211. 
 
 Asbury, Bishop Francis, on reli- 
 gious tone of Yale, 29; character- 
 izes Baptists, 79; his Journal, 
 84; tours Connecticut, 84-85. 
 
 Assembly, description and pow- 
 ers of, 188. 
 
 Atheism, a felony, 43. 
 
 Atwater, Rev. Noah, quoted on 
 lawyers, 305. 
 
 Austin, Aaron, in the constitu- 
 tional convention, 375, 382, 396; 
 mentioned, 325, 360, 370. 
 
 Austin, David, 105. 
 
 Backus, Rev. Azel, sermons men- 
 tioned, 35; president of Hamil- 
 ton College, Georgia, 153; 
 quoted, 230n., libels Jefferson, 
 277. 
 
 Backus, Rev. Charles, sermons 
 mentioned, 35. 
 
 Backus, Rev. Isaac, mission to 
 England, 69; Baptist pamphlets 
 of, 75. 
 
 Backus, Sylvanus, 106, 326. 
 
 Baldwin, Judge Simeon, cited, 218, 
 290. 
 
 Baldwin, Simeon, 106, 25 In., 262n., 
 277n., 375, 398, 405n. 
 
 Balloting, methods of, 193-194, 
 214; increasing importance of, 
 236; purity of, 300. 
 
 Bank of America, 333. 
 
 Banks, 2, 119; failure of, 134; 
 sketch of their establishment, 
 98; charters, 102, 108; in the 
 control of a class, 103, 104, 109; 
 opposed by Republicans, 271. 
 
 Baptist church, growth of, 5, 57, 
 66, 80-81; opposition to state- 
 church, 68, 74, 400, 402; atti- 
 tude toward war, 69; illiteracy 
 of ministers, 70, 87; in New 
 England, 70; Strict Congrega- 
 tionalists, merger with, 70-71; 
 founds college in Rhode Island, 
 72; democracy of, 72; petitions 
 and Bonus Act, 27, 345; men- 
 tioned, 46, 47, 64, 85, 238, 356. 
 
 Barber, Rev. Virgil Horace, be- 
 comes a Catholic priest, 92. 
 
 Barlow, Joel, influence of, 22; 
 quoted, 27; mentioned, 32, 227, 
 228, 241. 
 
 Barstow, George, views on Con- 
 necticut's new constitution, 
 414n. 
 
 457 
 
458 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Beach, Rev. James, sermon men- 
 tioned, 37. 
 
 Beach, Rev. John, conversion of, 
 49. 
 
 Beecher, Rev Lyman, views of 
 Yale religious life, 26; sermons, 
 34, 9 35; quoted, 36, 38, 286, 287n., 
 291n.; opposed to duelling, 37; 
 opposed to liberalism, 39, 42 ; on 
 Connecticut tolerance, 93; on 
 character of Congregational 
 ministry, 322; on clerical poli- 
 tics, 323; views on Revolution 
 of 1817-1818, 350, 419; men- 
 tioned, 290, 319, 324, 325. 
 
 Beers, Isaac, 62, 105. 
 
 Beers, Seth P., supports constitu- 
 tion, 410. 
 
 Belknap, Rev. Jeremy, 19. 
 
 Bellamy, Dr. Joseph, crusade 
 against infidelity, 28; men- 
 tioned, 42. 
 
 Bentley, Rev. William, Diary 
 quoted, 20, 286n., 313. 
 
 Berkley, Dean, deism of, 6; men- 
 tioned, 25. 
 
 Berkshire, Agricultural Society of, 
 142, 162, 164. 
 
 Berlin, 121, 130. 
 
 Bill of Rights, interpretation of, 
 409n. 
 
 Bird, Rev. Jonathan, Federalist 
 preaching of, 250, 313-314; de- 
 scribes Republicans, 329. 
 
 Bishop, Abraham, attacks Congre- 
 gational clergy, 21, 190-191, 
 232; attacks the system, 78; 
 attacks on Yale, 94, 301; as- 
 sault on Council, 201; quoted, 
 212; political charges by, 258; 
 address on extent and power Of 
 political delusion, 315-316; on 
 character of Republicans, 329; 
 mentioned, 105, 197, 228, 229n., 
 237, 240, 243, 250, 253, 269, 
 274, 278, 322, 358. 
 
 Bishop, Samuel, appointment as 
 collector at New Haven, 239. 
 
 Bishop's Fund, 64, 108; see also 
 Episcopal church. 
 
 Boardman, Elijah, attitude on 
 
 War of 1812, 289n., 290; men- 
 tioned, 286, 292, 296, 332. 
 
 Bolingbroke, Lord, 19. 
 
 Bonus Act, 344-346. 
 
 Brace, John P., 419. 
 
 Brade, Jonathan, 112, 145, 200, 
 201, 325, 359, 360. 
 
 Brace, Thomas K., 112. 
 
 Brainerd, Ezra, 326. 
 
 Brainerd, Jeremiah, 398n. 
 
 Bridgeport, 131; Bank of, 101. 
 
 Brighton Cattle Show, 164. 
 
 Bristol, William, Essay in defense 
 of Embargo, 282; work in the 
 convention, 378, 379. 
 
 Bristol, 51, 69, 120. 
 
 British Constitution, 406n.; see 
 also England. 
 
 Brookfield, Episcopal church in, 
 57. 
 
 Brooklyn, Episcopal church in, 52. 
 
 Brown, Rev. Daniel, 47. 
 
 Brownell, Bishop, 59. 
 
 Bull, J., 259. 
 
 Bull, Thomas, 145. 
 
 Bureaucracy, in Connecticut, 210. 
 
 Burke, Edmund, quoted, 139. 
 
 Burlington, 131,345, 411; dissent- 
 ing churches in, 57, 69, 86. 
 
 Burnham, Oliver, in the conven- 
 tion, 376. 
 
 Burr, Aaron, 232, 240, 252n. 
 
 Burrows, Daniel, in the conven- 
 tion, 379. 
 
 Burrows, Enoch, a Republican 
 demagogue, 371; in the conven- 
 tion, 397. 
 
 Caldwell, John, 104, 105, 111, 
 112, 145, 326. 
 
 Calvinism, liberalizing of, 39, 41 ; 
 see also Puritans, ideals. 
 
 Canaan, 83, 121. 
 
 Canada, effect of Embargo on, 
 278. 
 
 Canterbury, 89. 
 
 Capital, increase in monetary, 98. 
 
 Carey, Matthew, taunts Connec- 
 ticut with lack of patriotism, 
 294. 
 
 Carrying trade, 113. 
 
INDEX 
 
 459 
 
 Cary, James, 319. 
 
 Catholic church, attacks upon, 
 34, 35; and French Revolution, 
 16-18; position of, 91-92. 
 
 Caucuses, political, 300. 
 
 Certificate laws, 67-68, 78, 81, 82, 
 92; reform of, 355-356. 
 
 Channing, Rev. Henry, a Unita- 
 rian divine, 90. 
 
 Channing, ReV. William Ellery, 
 sermons of, 35. 
 
 Chapin, Calvin, 325, 326. 
 
 Chapman, Asa, 343, 360. 
 
 Chappell, Edward, 106. 
 
 Charter-Oak, 174. 
 
 Charter of Connecticut, 78, 174, 
 176, 244, 245, 257, 260, 261, 
 263, 265, 369, 371, 407n., 415; 
 legalized as a state constitution, 
 175. 
 
 Chatham, Baptist church in, 69. 
 
 Chesapeake affair, 276. 
 
 Cheshire, 66, 364; academy at, 
 364. 
 
 Chittenden, Thomas, 152 . 
 
 Church, Judge Samuel, quoted, 
 46; views on the judiciary, 208; 
 on prosecution of Republicans, 
 276n.; on the position of Con- 
 gregational clergy, 324; on char- 
 acter of Republicans, 328. 
 
 Church and state, 2, 93, 106, 218; 
 separation of, 286-288, 400- 
 403, 416-419. 
 
 Church of England, see Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 Churchman' s Monthly Magazine, 
 56. 
 
 Cincinnati, O., 229. 
 
 Cincinnati, Society of, 243. 
 
 Clap, Rector Thomas, philosophy 
 of, 6; intolerance of, 24. 
 
 Clark, Patrick, 376. 
 
 Clergy, Congregational, influence 
 of, 19, 190, 212, 214, 236, 301, 
 307, 317, 368; number and sal- 
 aries of, 22, 322 n.; Federalist ac- 
 tivities of, 31, 33, 194, 290, 307, 
 310, 315, 322; aristocratic ten- 
 dencies of, 72-73; Republican 
 attacks, 237, 307, 320, 325n., 
 
 331, 336; lack of patriotism in 
 1812, 289; as patriots in 1776, 
 309. 
 
 Cleveland, General, 145. 
 
 Colchester, 120. 
 
 Commerce, decline of, 354. 
 
 Comptroller of Currency, 184, 
 333; under the constitution, 392. 
 
 Congregationalism, low religious 
 tone of, 5, 82; and Toleration, 
 Act of 1784, 12; see also Clergy, 
 Congregational. 
 
 Congregational societies, strength 
 of, 43 ; their control of education, 
 60, 94; undemocratic seating in, 
 73; and the Bonus, 344-345. 
 
 Connecticut, no frontier, 1-2, 270; 
 Bible Society, 32; Missionary 
 Society, 32; people of,- and tax- 
 ation, 83; intolerance of 93; 
 Moral Society, 32 ; characteristics 
 of its people, 100, 284; banks of, 
 102; size of farms, 149-150; pop- 
 ulation of, 151-152; Agricul- 
 tural Society, 163; opposition to 
 War of 1812, 269, 279, 287-288, 
 292. 
 
 Connecticut Valley, 45, 113, 142, 
 271. 
 
 Constitution, demands for a, 3, 
 178, 253, 338, 364; Charter 
 questioned as a, 176, 244, 265; 
 characteristics of an American, 
 262, 265, 384; legislature and 
 towns urge a new, 366-367, 
 369-371; provides for two capi- 
 tals, 386; general resume of, 408- 
 409; ratification by voters, 408- 
 414; see also Convention. 
 
 Convention, call for a, 371; elec- 
 tion of delegates, 373 ^person- 
 nel, 375-376; chaplains se- 
 lected, 377; rules adopted, 377— 
 378; selection of drafting com- 
 mittee, 378-380; adopts pream- 
 ble to constitution, 380-381; 
 considers and adopts Bill of 
 Rights, 381-385; separates pow- 
 ers of government, 385-386; de- 
 bates on Legislature, 386; de- 
 bates on Senate, 388-389; de- 
 
460 
 
 INDEX 
 
 bates on executive, 390-393; de- 
 bates on Judiciary, 393-399; on 
 suffrage, 399; consideraton of 
 religious toleration, 400-403; on 
 impeachment, 404; final vote 
 on constitution, 406-408; cost 
 of, 408n. 
 Cornwall, dissent in, 50, 66, 69, 
 83, 86; mission school at, 418. 
 
 Corrupt practices acts, 215-216, 
 400. 
 
 Corruption, political, 103, 211, 
 338, 346, 347; see also Phoenix 
 Bank. 
 
 Cotton, manufacturers, 125, 134; 
 prices of, 134-135. 
 
 Council, members, 43, 420; de- 
 feats Baptist petitions and Epis- 
 copal College charter, 61, 79; 
 powers of, 183, 192, 199, 263, 
 342, 347; attacks upon, 195, 
 198, 254, 341, 358-359; attitude 
 in War of 1812, 200; terms of 
 office, 209; and financial re- 
 ports, 340; opposed by Lower 
 House, 355, 357, 362, 369; se- 
 crecy of debates, 372, 386; men- 
 tioned, 105, 106. 
 
 Courts, of errors, 182; common 
 pleas or county, 204, 208; pro- 
 bate, 205-206; partisanship of, 
 264; see also Superior Court; 
 Supreme Court of Errors; Su- 
 preme Court of U. S. 
 
 Cowles, Rev. Whitfield, persecu- 
 tion of, 311. 
 
 Coxe, Tench, statistics from, 120, 
 126, 129. 
 
 Crewse, Rev. John, 59. 
 
 Critical Period, character of, 14. 
 
 Cromwell, 69. 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 328, 337, 366. 
 
 Croswell, Rev. H., election ser- 
 mon, 368. 
 
 Cutler, Rev. Manasseh, 145. 
 
 Cutler, Rev. Timothy, conver- 
 sion of, 23, 47. 
 
 Daggett, David, resigns from 
 Council, 199-201; describes 
 Connecticut government, 210; 
 
 political writings, 257, 268; 
 on ministerial influence, 310; 
 mentioned, 105, 225, 227, 260, 
 261, 270, 277n., 316n., 323. 
 
 D'Alembert, 19. 
 
 Dallas, Alexander, law reports by, 
 304n. 
 
 Dana, Rev. James, sermons by, 
 34-35; quoted, 40, 92, 181n. 
 
 Dana, Senator S. W., mentioned, 
 322. 
 
 D anbury, 245, 365; dissent in, 83; 
 manufactures in, 120, 131. 
 
 Dartmouth College, 143, 335. 
 
 Davenport, James, 177. 
 
 Day, President Jeremiah, 29, 367. 
 
 Day, Secretary Thomas, 184, 230, 
 304, 322, 326, 349. 
 
 Dearborn, General, calls for mili- 
 tia, 200. 
 
 Declaration of Independence, 53, 
 116, 175. 
 
 Declaration of Rights, 177. 
 
 Deism, spread to be hindered, 77. 
 
 Delaware, 270; Land Company, 
 141. 
 
 Democracy, of Baptist preachers, 
 72; of banks, 100. 
 
 Denison, Charles, 60, 106, 343. 
 
 Denison, Elisha, 106. 
 
 Derby, 115; Bank, 101, 105, 109; 
 Fishing Company, 101, 114-115, 
 117. 
 
 Dickinson, Gov. Daniel, 153. 
 
 Dissenters, tithes paid by, 12; 
 grievances of, 92, and Republi- 
 canism, 97, 276, 314-315, 327; 
 emigration of, 141. 
 
 Districting, of Connecticut, 389, 
 411. 
 
 Doddridge, Rev. Philip, sermon of, 
 37. 
 
 Domestic Missionary Society, es- 
 tablished, 36. 
 
 Duelling, condemnation of, 37, 
 399. 
 
 Duncan, John M., views as a 
 traveller, 29; on the state cont- 
 stitution, 405n. 
 
 Dwight, Margaret, Diary quoted, 
 146. 
 
INDEX 
 
 461 
 
 Dwight, Theodore, describes Re- 
 publicans, 238n., 330; secretary 
 of the Hartford Convention, 
 293; defense of the Hartford 
 Convention, 295; on political in- 
 fluence of Congregational clergy, 
 317; mentioned, 63, 106, 153, 
 237, 252, 322, 323, 325. 
 
 Dwight, President Timothy, cam- 
 paigns against infidelity, 9,12, 
 26; on Catholic church, 17-18; 
 character, 18, 320; Triumph of 
 Infidelity, 19; political activity, 
 29, 301, 302, 318; sermons, 34, 
 35; opposes duelling, 37; esti- 
 mates Universalist and Episco- 
 palian strength, 57, 89; on im- 
 migration, 156; on the powers 
 of the Legislature, 187; on the 
 judiciary, 207, 398; attacks on, 
 318-320; on position of clergy, 
 321n.; mentioned, 13, 14, 18, 
 27, 29, 42, 106, 139, 213, 232, 
 242, 243, 262n., 275n., 277n., 
 304, 308, 319, 325, 350. 
 
 East Haddam, dissent in, 69. 
 
 East Hartford, dissent in, 69, 83, 
 85; mentioned, 120, 130. 
 
 East Haven, dissent in, 57. 
 
 East Indies, trade with, 114. 
 
 East Windsor, 120. 
 
 Ecclesiastical chart, analvsis of, 
 339. 
 
 Ecclesiastical funds, 108. 
 
 Edmond, Judge William, 398n. 
 
 Education, article in the consti- 
 tution on, 403-404; see also 
 School fund; Schools. 
 
 Edwards, H. W., 371. 
 
 Edwards, Rev. Jonathan, 42, 107, 
 232. 
 
 Edwards, Rev. Jonathan, Jr., 356, 
 371, 372n. 
 
 Edwards, Pierrepont, defends 
 Judd, 261 ; work in the conven- 
 tion, 376, 378, 379, 380, 389, 
 406; mentioned, 227, 232, 237, 
 241, 248, 255, 277, 283. 
 
 Edwards, Walter, 322. 
 
 Election Day, 181, sermons, 190; 
 ceremonies of, 190-191. 
 
 Elections, of 1790-1800, 229; of 
 1799, 230-231; of 1800, 232, 
 248, 312; of 1801, 236; of 1802, 
 243; of 1803, 248; of 1804, 
 257, 259; of 1805, 270; of 1806, 
 274, 276; of 1807, 276-277; of 
 1808, 279; of 1809, 282-283; 
 of 1810, 284; of 1812-1813, 288; 
 of 1814, 292; of 1815, 296-297; 
 of 1816, 336, 342; of 1817,346, 
 358,360;methodofholding,213- 
 214; reform of, 218; purity and 
 secrecy of, 243; law of, 263-264. 
 
 Ellsworth, Henry, 163. 
 
 Ellsworth, Oliver, 79, 104, 210n., 
 227 332. 
 
 Ely, Rev. Zebulon, 319. 
 
 Embargo, Connecticut attitude 
 toward, 115, 277-278; and man- 
 ufactures, 132; Republicans sup- 
 port the, 281-282; mentioned, 
 115, 123, 148. 
 
 Emerson, Rev. Ralph, sermon of, 
 34. 
 
 Emigration, western, 3, 128, 139- 
 140; character of those emigrat- 
 ing, 139, 147, 152; extent of, 
 151-152; causes of, 154; move- 
 ment to halt, 154; Gov. Wolcott 
 considers, 353, 354. 
 
 Enfield, 121, 131, 
 
 England, industrial and commer- 
 cial rivalry of, 133; and War of 
 1812, 288; judges in, 393, 396; 
 mentioned, 198. 
 
 Episcopal Bank, 102; see also 
 Phoenix Bank. 
 
 Episcopal church, Toryism of, 5, 7, 
 53; establishment and growth of, 
 46,51,52,55,57, 63,64; Act of 
 Toleration favors, 48-49; perse- 
 cution suffered by, 48, 59, 74; 
 Bishop and Bishop's Fund, 53, 
 344; literacy of its ministers, 
 56; and War of 1812, 58; and 
 the Bonus Act, 345; and the 
 tithe system, 356; mentioned, 
 46, 90, 249, 314; see also Bishop's 
 Fund. 
 
462 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Episcopal college, opposition of 
 the Standing Orderto, 201,315; 
 mentioned 59, 95, 416. 
 
 Episcopalians, enter the Republi- 
 can-Toleration party, 285, 340, 
 342, 346; position of, 336-337; 
 support the convention, 375; 
 mentioned, 319, 402, 403. 
 
 Establishment, the, 6, 48; opposed 
 by Tolerationists, 337-338; see 
 also Church and State; Tithe 
 system. 
 
 European wars, influence on indus- 
 trial life of Connecticut, 99. 
 
 Exports, 113, 116. 
 
 Factories, 98, 99; social life in, 
 123, 126. 
 
 Fairchild, Robert, work in the 
 convention, 385-386; opposes 
 the constitution, 407. 
 
 Fairfield, 116, 196n.; dissent in, 83. 
 
 Fairfield County, Episcopalians 
 in, 48, 52; manufacturing in, 
 125, 127, 137, 138; Toleration 
 strength in, 339; vote on the 
 constitution, 412n., 413; men- 
 tioned, 259, 270, 357. 
 
 Fanning, Col. Edward, a loyalist, 
 53, 320. 
 
 Farmington, town of, 260. 
 
 Farms, size of Connecticut, 159. 
 
 Fast days, 181. 
 
 Fearon, Henry B., describes Meth- 
 odists, 87. 
 
 Federal Constitution, religious tol- 
 eration of, 14, 309; Connecticut 
 ratification of, 227, 383. 
 
 Federalist Party, and Episcopali- 
 ans, 61; character of Federal- 
 ists, 77, 327; opposes manufac- 
 tures, 132, 136; organization, 
 229; lack of patriotism in 1812, 
 288; decline of, 295, 415; and 
 the convention, 373. 
 
 Field, Rev. David, estimates num- 
 ber of Baptists, 80; quoted, 157. 
 
 Financial reports, of treasurer, 
 340. 
 
 Fitch, Asa, 106. 
 
 Fitch, Jabez, 276, 277n. 
 
 Flint, Rev. Abel, quoted, 340. 
 
 Florida, 142. 
 
 Foote, S. A., 371. 
 
 Foreigners, opposition to, 115. 
 
 Fourth of July orations and toasts, 
 271-272. 
 
 Freeman, Edmund, in the con- 
 vention, 379. 
 
 Free masonry, 14, 229. 
 
 French and Indian War, marks en- 
 trance of infidelity, 6. 
 
 French Revolution, 366; effect on 
 Connecticut religious life, 15; 
 Connecticut attitude toward, 
 16, 228, 233; and Catholic 
 church, 16-17. 
 
 Friends, persecution of, 91; see 
 also Quakers. 
 
 Fundamental Orders of Connec- 
 ticut, 174, 263, 265, 371, 382. 
 
 Gale, Dr. Benjamin, discourses 
 on Connecticut's constitution, 
 176; on long tenures of office, 
 211. 
 
 Gales Ferry, Methodists in, 83. 
 
 General Assembly, description and 
 powers, 180, 182, 185; judicial 
 powers of, 202. 
 
 George III, 228. 
 
 Glastonbury, manufacturing in, 
 127. 
 
 Goddard, Judge Calvin, 106, 239, 
 251n., 291, 322, 335, 339,357; 
 and the Hartford Convention, 
 295; displaced from the bench, 
 398. 
 
 Goodrich, Chauncey, quoted, 200, 
 291, 313; describes Republicans, 
 234; delegate to the Hartford 
 Convention, 293; mentioned, 
 201,252, 277n., 325, 332. 
 
 Goodrich, Rev. Elizur, 52. 
 
 Goodrich, Elizur, 200, 201, 272, 
 322 ; removal from the collector- 
 ship of New Haven, 239-240. 
 
 Goodrich, Roger, 106. 
 
 Goodrich, Samuel, 325. 
 
 Goshen, Methodists in, 345. 
 
 Gould, Judge James, 25 In., 304, 
 398n. 
 
INDEX 
 
 463 
 
 Governing class, 193, 210, 213; 
 see also Standing Order. 
 
 Government, working, 174. 
 
 Governor, powers, duties and 
 election of, 180, 209; Foot- 
 Guards, 289; under the new 
 constitution, 385-386, 390-393. 
 
 Granby, dissenters in, 86, 346. 
 
 Granger, Gideon, 153, 217, 229, 
 232, 233, 235, 237, 240, 241, 243. 
 
 Great Awakening, 5, 23, 49, 65, 
 67, 82 ; see also Revivals. 
 
 Greene, Louise, quoted, 323n. 
 
 Greenwich, 365. 
 
 Griswold, Rev. John, sermons of,35. 
 
 Griswold, Matthew, 276, 335, 359. 
 
 Griswold, Gov. Roger, and militia 
 episode, 200; addresses the Leg- 
 islature, 287-288; mentioned, 
 284, 285, 289, 290, 323. 
 
 Griswold, Rev. Stanley, clerical 
 persecution of, 310-311; men- 
 tioned, 106, 153, 236. 
 
 Groton, dissenters in, 66, 91; man- 
 ufacturing in, 127; mentioned, 
 345, 365. 
 
 Guilford, dissenters in, 50, 69. 
 
 Haddam, dissenters in, 58, 83. 
 
 Hamden, dissenters in, 57, 86; 
 manufacturing in, 130, 365. 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, financial pol- 
 icy of, 99; on dependence of 
 judges, 208; mentioned, 37, 
 104, 263, 333. 
 
 Hampton, dissenters in, 69. 
 
 Hart, Gen r William, 143, 231, 232, 
 233, 235, 250, 261, 270, 274, 
 279, 280. 
 
 Hartford, Deaf and Dumb Asy- 
 lum, 33n.; Bank, 100, 104, 107; 
 Phoenix Bank of, 102, 106; and 
 New Haven Insurance Co., Ill; 
 Fire Insurance Co., 112; manu- 
 facturing in, 120, 127, 130-131; 
 Toleration-Republican strength 
 in, 275, 340, 374; constitutional 
 convention at, 377; election 
 disorder in, 400; mentioned, 
 182, 191, 196n., 247, 283, 296, 
 365, 375, 386. 
 
 Hartford Convention, delegates 
 from Connecticut, work of, 293; 
 mentioned, 201, 289, 326n., 
 336, 339, 342, 347, 359. 
 
 Hartford County, manufacturing 
 in, 125, 127, 137-138; Agricul- 
 tural Society of, 163, 164; vote 
 on the constitution, 412n. 
 
 Harvard, religious life of, 23. 
 
 Haskell, Eli, 106. 
 
 Haynes, Gov. John, 349. 
 
 Hebron, 128, 379. 
 
 Herbert, Lord, philosophy of, 19. 
 
 Hillhouse, Senator James, oppo- 
 sition to manufactures, 106, 
 132; delegate to Hartford Con- 
 vention, 293; mentioned, 247n., 
 248, 251n., 259, 277n., 321, 
 348, 364. 
 
 Hillhouse, William, 235. 
 
 Hobart, Bishop John H., sermon 
 of, 34. 
 
 Hobbes, philosophy of, 19. 
 
 Holley, President Horace, of Tran- 
 sylvania College, 153. 
 
 Hollister, G. H., on the results of 
 the political revolution, 415. 
 
 Holly, Israel, pamphlet by, 75. 
 
 Holmes, Uriel, 145. 
 
 Hooker, Rev. Asabel, sermon of, 
 34, 323n. 
 
 Hooker, Rev. Thomas, quoted, 
 384n. 
 
 Hopkins, Samuel, 42. 
 
 Hosmer, Judge Stephen, 398n. 
 
 Hosmer, Judge Titus, 135. 
 
 Hotham, Admiral, entertained by 
 Hartford society, 296. 
 
 Hubbard, Elijah, 112. 
 
 Hubbard, G., 371. 
 
 Hudson, Henry, mentioned, 33, 
 112, 325. 
 
 Hume, David, 11, 19. 
 
 Humphreys, General David, 
 founder of Humphreysville 
 Manufacturing Co., 123; ad- 
 dress on agriculture, 162-163; 
 sketch of, 167-168; mentioned, 
 164, 350. 
 
 Hungerford, William, in the con- 
 vention, 379, 381, 401n. 
 
464 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Huntington, Ebenezer, 106, 112. 
 Huntington, Gen. Jedidiah, 33, 
 
 105, 210n., 325-326. 
 Huntington, Jonathan, 112. 
 Huntington, Gov. Samuel, 56, 153. 
 Hyde, Elisha, 217, 272. 
 
 Illuminati, 14. 
 
 Immigration, 156. 
 
 Impeachment, under the consti- 
 tution, 404. 
 
 Infidelity, at the close of the Revo- 
 lution, 11; during the Critical 
 Period, 12, 14; in Yale, 22. 
 
 Insurance companies, 2, 111. 
 
 Intemperance, prevalence of, 37, 
 109n. 
 
 Internal trade, 135, 147-148. 
 
 Irjsh, immigration of, 156-157; 
 juries, 209; Pennsylvania Irish 
 and the War of 1812, 289. 
 
 Iron industry, 121. 
 
 Jackson, President Andrew, 
 mentioned, 382. 
 
 Jacobins and Jacobinism, 16, 19, 
 258, 263, 274, 283, 314, 329; 
 their clubs, 228, 231. 
 
 Jarvis, Bishop Abraham, toryism 
 of, 54; mentioned, 56, 249. 
 
 Jefferson, President Thomas, irre- 
 ligious views of, 21, 30; election 
 of, 30; buys Connecticut home- 
 spuns, 123; attacked by Clerical- 
 Federalists, 234, 312; uses pat- 
 ronage, 239; administration of, 
 253, 280; mentioned, 116, 167, 
 228, 230, 306, 394, 395. 
 
 Jeffersonian party, 228, 236, 340; 
 see also Republican party. 
 
 Jews, 92, 385. 
 
 Johnson, Samuel, religious views 
 and conversion of, 6, 23, 47; 
 mentioned, 51, 61. 
 
 Johnson, William Samuel, patriot- 
 ism of, 53; mentioned, 63, 
 210n., 227, 242, 343, 358, 360. 
 
 Judd, William, controversy, over 
 New Haven Address, 255; his 
 manuscript defense, 262. 
 
 Judiciary Act, Federal, 333. 
 
 Judiciary department, depend- 
 ence of, 199, 207; courts, powers, 
 etc., 202; reform of, 356-357; 
 under new 4 r constitution, 386, 393, 
 405-406. 
 
 Justices of peace, powers and ap- 
 pointment of, 206-207, 393. 
 
 Kant, philosophy of, 19. 
 
 Kendall, Edward A., on the pow- 
 ers of the Legislature and Coun- 
 cil, 188, 198-199; view of Con- 
 necticut democracy, 212. 
 
 Kent, Episcopal church in, 58. 
 
 Kentucky, 148. 
 
 Kilbourne, James, 145. 
 
 Killingly, manufacturing in, 127. 
 
 Killingworth, dissenters in, 58, 69, 
 89. 
 
 King, Rufus, 339n. 
 
 Kingsbury, Treasurer Andrew, 
 104, 105, 163, 184n., 325, 340, 
 348, 367. 
 
 Kirby, Ephraim, advocates wider 
 suffrage, 218, 223; appointed 
 judge of Louisiana, 241; legal 
 reports by, 304; mentioned, 230, 
 232, 238, 247, 248, 274. 
 
 Laboring Class, evidences of, 
 121, 131, 171, 306. 
 
 Lake Erie lands, 141 . 
 
 Lanman, James, in convention, 
 377, 378, 379, 388, 397. 
 
 Larned, Amasa, in convention, 
 377, 378. 
 
 Laud, Puritan fear of, 53. 
 
 Law, Jonathan, 241. 
 
 Law, Judge Richard, 238. 
 
 Lawyers, dependence on Federal- 
 ist courts, 208; Federalist, in 
 politics, 303, 306; in the con- 
 vention, 379. 
 
 Learned, George, in the conven- 
 tion, 378, 380. 
 
 Ledyard, Separatists in, 66. 
 
 Lee, Rev. Jesse, on religious life 
 of the state, 16; his tours, 81, 83. 
 
 Leffingwell, William, 105. 
 
 Legislature, election of represen- 
 tatives, 189; reform of the, 362; 
 
INDEX 
 
 465 
 
 under the constitution, 386-390; 
 see also Assembly; Council; 
 Elections; Stand-up Law. 
 
 Leland, Rev. John, estimates Bap- 
 tist strength, 70; sermons of, 
 76; urges disestablishment, 76, 
 96; quoted, 77; mentioned, 244. 
 
 Lieutenant Governor, powers and 
 duties of, 183, 209; under the 
 constitution, 390-393. 
 
 Litchfield, 196n., 333; Republican 
 celebration at, 275-276. 
 
 Litchfield County, dissent in, 50- 
 51, 57, 86; Toleration-Republi- 
 can strength in, 86, 275, 339, 
 349; manufacturing in, 125, 127, 
 130, 137-138; Agricultural So- 
 ciety of, 164; vote on the con- 
 stitution, 412n.; mentioned, 80, 
 141, 142, 152, 271, 276. 
 
 Litchfield Law School, 304, 332. 
 
 Literacy of the people, 302. 
 
 Livingston, Robert, 167, 169. 
 
 Locke, Letters on Toleration, 24. 
 
 London Missionary Society, work 
 of, 51, 55. 
 
 Long Wharf, of New Haven, 115, 
 117. 
 
 Louisiana Purchase, attitude of 
 state toward, 252, 317. 
 
 Loyalists, 227. 
 
 Lyman, Phineas, land agent, 141, 
 
 Lyman, Thomas, 379. 
 
 Lyman Rev. William, sermon of, 
 275. 
 
 Lyme, 365. 
 
 Lyon, Matthew, 231. 
 
 McClellan, Col. John, work in 
 
 the convention, 371, 374, 385, 
 
 388, 405n., 407. 
 McClure, Rev. David, 277n. 
 McDonough, Commodore, 135. 
 McNeille, Rev. R. C, views on 
 
 Congregationalism, 418. 
 Madison, James, 241. 
 Maine, immigration to, 144. 
 Mansfield, Separatists in, 66. 
 Manufactures, development of, 2, 
 
 118, 128; aided by the state, 
 
 136, 354, 356. 
 
 Marlbone, Col. Godfrey, 52. 
 
 Marlborough, manufacturing in, 
 127. 
 
 Marsh, Rev. Ebenezer, sermons of, 
 34. 
 
 Massachusetts, religious system 
 of, 82; Agricultural Society, 163, 
 164, 168; and the embargo, 281; 
 in the Hartford Convention, 295; 
 mentioned, 90, 93, 284. 
 
 Mayors, 206, 210. 
 
 Medical School, 62. 
 
 Meigs, Jonathan, 145. 
 
 Meigs, Prof. Josiah, 301. 
 
 Meriden, 120, 280. 
 
 Merino sheep, introduction of, 
 prices, etc., 121, 166, 169. 
 
 Merwin, Orange, in the conven- 
 tion, 379. 
 
 M ethodist-Episcopal church, 
 growth of, 57, 81, 85n., 88; per- 
 secution suffered by, 86; primi- 
 tive ministry, 87, 236; and 
 Bonus Act, 345; its college, 416. 
 
 Methodists, in New England, 70; 
 become Republicans, 85, 89; de- 
 mand disestablishment, 400; 
 mentioned, 5, 46, 47, 64, 74, 
 238, 356. 
 
 Middlesex County, dissenters in, 
 63-64; manufacturing in, 125, 
 127, 137-138;Tolerationstrength 
 in, 339, 412n. 
 
 Middletown, dissenting churches 
 in, 50, 66, 69, 86, 89; Bank of, 
 101, 107; Marine Insurance Co., 
 112; Manufacturing Company, 
 124, 130; mentioned, 92, 102, 
 116, 365. 
 
 Milford, Methodist church in, 83. 
 
 Militia, officers of, 183; contro- 
 versy, 342. 
 
 Miller, Asher, 135, 260. 
 
 Mississippi, constitution of, 380n. 
 
 Mitchell, Senator Stephen Mkj 
 in the convention, 377, 388; 
 favors the constitution, 407. 
 
 Monroe, James, visits the state, 357. 
 
 Montesquieu, 187, 263, 304. 
 
 Moore, Roswell, 106. 
 
 Moral Society, 35, 326. 
 
466 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Morgan, John, 104, 105, 111, 114. 
 Morris, Robert, 104. 
 Morse, Rev. Asahel, 401. 
 Morse, Rev. Jedidiah, his Geog- 
 raphy, 307, 317. 
 Mystic Manufacturing Co., 124. 
 
 Napoleon, defeat of, 288. 
 
 National Bank, 99, 102, 105; sec- 
 ond, 110, 111, 333. 
 
 Negroes, 88. 
 
 New Britain, 8. 
 
 New England, 115, 141; Tract 
 Society, 33, 326; Primer, 96; 
 and Embargo, 278; Republican- 
 ism of, 279. 
 
 Newgate prison, 362. 
 
 New Hampshire, disestablishment, 
 93; emigration to, 142, 144, 153, 
 284. 
 
 New Haven, Congregationalists 
 in, 24, 44; dissenters in, 44, 51, 
 58, 69, 84, 86; bank of, 100, 105; 
 Eagle Bank of, 101, 106, 107, 
 110; Marine Insurance Co., 112; 
 shipping, 114, 116; manufactur- 
 ing in, 130, 131; Republican 
 convention at, 248, 254; and 
 the embargo, 280; Monroe at, 
 357; a capital city, 386; address, 
 395; vote on the constitution, 
 411, 413; mentioned, 54, 92, 
 102, 113, 115, 196n., 240, 301, 
 346, 365, 374, 375, 379, 387n. 
 
 New Haven County, manufactur- 
 ing in, 125, 127, 137-138; Agri- 
 cultural Society, 162; vote on 
 the constitution, 412n., 413; 
 mentioned, 305, 339. 
 
 New Lights, see Separatists. 
 
 New London, dissenting churches 
 in, 56, 69, 83-84; Union Bank, 
 100, 105; Bank of, 101, 106; 
 Union Insurance Co., 112; men- 
 tioned, 90, 113, 115, 116, 196n., 
 357, 365. 
 
 New London County, manufac- 
 turing in, 125, 127, 137, 138; 
 Republican strength in, 248, 
 339; vote on the constitution, 
 412n.,413. 
 
 New Milford, dissenting churches 
 in, 66, 91. 
 
 Newspapers, Republican, 235; 
 Federalists, 300, 303, 316; at- 
 tack clergy, 317n. 
 
 Newtown, dissenters in, 52, 89, 
 365. 
 
 New York, banks of, 105, 109; im- 
 migration to, 143, 144, 153; Mer- 
 chants Bank, 333; mentioned, 
 113, 142, 148, 234, 330. 
 
 Nicoll, John, 112. 
 
 Niles, John M., on the constitu- 
 tion, 407. 
 
 Non-Intercourse Acts, 115, 119, 
 281; see also Embargo. 
 
 North America, Bank of, 104. 
 
 North Haven, 318. 
 
 Norwalk, Methodists in, 83. 
 
 Norwich, dissenting churches in, 
 58, 66, 69, 86, 89; Bank, 101, 
 106; Insurance Co., Ill; Mu- 
 tual Assurance Co., Ill; men- 
 tioned, 120, 127, 130, 131, 196n., 
 335. 
 
 Nott/Rev.^ Samuel, 283. 
 
 Numa, articles by, 265. 
 
 Ohio, emigration to, 144, 146; de- 
 scription of frontier, 172n.; 
 mentioned, 148, 150, 396. 
 
 Osborne, Selleck, imprisoned Re- 
 publican editor, 275. 
 
 Osgood, Rev. Thaddeus, 313n. 
 
 Paine, Thomas, Age of Reason, 20; 
 death of, 32. 
 
 Panic after 1815, 108-109, 118, 
 133, 147. 
 
 Parliament, 186. 
 
 Party life, prior to 1800, 229, 273- 
 274, 295, 297-298; see also Elec- 
 tions; Federalist party; Repub- 
 lican party; Toleration party. 
 
 Patronage, federal, 239. 
 
 Patten, Nathaniel, 112. 
 
 Pearson, Rev. Eliphalet, 32 In. 
 
 Pennsylvania, emigration to, 144, 
 150; mentioned, 234. 
 
 Perkins, Elias, 106, 360. 
 
 Perkins, Enoch, 145, 322, 325. 
 
INDEX 
 
 467 
 
 Perkins, William, 326. 
 
 Peters, Rev. Hugh, 53. 
 
 Peters, Dr. John S., in the con- 
 vention, 379-380. 
 
 Pettibone, Judge Augustus, in the 
 convention, 379. 
 
 Phelps, Anson, 310. 
 
 Phelps, Elisha, 378. 
 
 Phelps, Oliver, land agent, 104, 
 143, 153. 
 
 Phelps, Samuel, 152. 
 
 Philadelphia, Agricultural Society, 
 162; character of elections in, 
 374. 
 
 Phoenix Bank, 62, 102, 103-104, 
 344. 
 
 Pierpont, R., 407. 
 
 Pitkin, Samuel, 33, 106, 322, 325. 
 
 Pitkin, Timothy, hostility to Jef- 
 ferson, 277, 367; in the conven- 
 tion, 375, 377, 378, 379, 389, 403. 
 
 Pittsfield cattle show, 164. 
 
 Plajnfield, 127, 335. 
 
 Politico-religious societies, 201, 
 324; political preaching, 312. 
 
 Pomfret, dissenting churches in, 
 51, 69, 91; Manufacturing Co., 
 126. 
 
 Population, racial character of, 157. 
 
 Porter, Rev. Noah, sermons, 35, 
 44; on revival of 1821, 419. 
 
 Porter, Gen. Peter Buel, 153. 
 
 Presbyterians, 45, 46, 49. 
 
 Prices, 1774 to 1816, 172-173. 
 
 Priestley, Dr. Joseph, religious 
 influence of, 21, 41. 
 
 Probate Courts, 205-206. 
 
 Providence, R. I., 125. 
 
 Provincialism of Connecticut lead- 
 ers, 270. 
 
 Public schools, secularized, 419. 
 
 Puritans, ideals, 2, 39, 96; repel 
 immigrants, 156. 
 
 Quakers, complete toleration for, 
 372; mentioned, 46, 67, 91. 
 
 Redding, 83, 365. 
 
 Reeve, Judge Tapping, quoted, 
 
 302n.; mentioned, 33, 232, 304, 
 
 322, 326. 
 
 Republican party, opposed by 
 clergy, 19, 310; character of 
 members, 19, 234, 327, 352, 
 360n.; attacks Yale, 30; appeals 
 to dissenters, 31, 85, 97, 285; 
 supports Baptist petitions, 79- 
 80; supports manufactures, 132, 
 135; favors suffrage extension, 
 218; organized, 232; hostility 
 toward clergy, 236, 331; con- 
 vention at New Haven, 255; 
 and Toleration success, 332. 
 
 Revivals, 28, 30, 33, 44, 59, 85, 
 87, 418; see also Great Awaken- 
 ing. 
 
 Revolution of 1817-1818,4, 211, 
 348, 350, 364, 398, 415-419. 
 
 Rhode Island, no written consti- 
 tution, 176; dependent judici- 
 ary in, 394; mentioned, 131, 
 256. 
 
 Richards, George H., on Yale, 94; 
 political essay by, 367. 
 
 Roads, construction of good, 166. 
 
 Robbins, Rev. Thomas, describes 
 Baptists and Methodists, 68, 87; 
 opinion of Jefferson, 313; de- 
 scribes Republicans, 330; views 
 on the Revolution of 1817-1818, 
 350, 359, 361, 410n., 414n.; on 
 -universal suffrage, 374; quoted 
 or mentioned, 146, 169, 214, 235, 
 276, 283, 284n., 316, 340, 368, 
 377n. 
 
 Rochefoucauld, Duke de la, on 
 Connecticut intolerance, 93. 
 
 Root, Ephraim, 104, 112, 145. 
 
 Root, Jesse, 304; in the conven- 
 tion, 375, 377, 378, 382, 385, 
 395. 
 
 Rousseau, 19, 27. 
 
 Rum industry, 121, 131; see also 
 Intemperance. 
 
 Salisbury, dissenting churches in, 
 
 44, 142; iron mines in, 121. 
 Saltonstall, Gov. Gurdon, 349. 
 Sampson, Rev. Ezra, 302. 
 Saybrook, Methodists in, 86. 
 Saybrook platform, 13, 94, 376. 
 Scantick, 374n. 
 
468 
 
 INDEX 
 
 School fund, 76, 108, 338, 403-404, 
 416. 
 
 Schools, 3; dissenters oppose, 94; 
 school teachers, 95-96; Sunday 
 schools, established, 96, 419; 
 Congregational, 302, 307. 
 
 Scioto Land Co., 145. 
 
 Seabury, Bishop Samuel, toryism, 
 53; made bishop, 55; mentioned, 
 49. 
 
 Secretary of State, powers and 
 duties, 184, 209, 390-392. 
 
 Selectmen, 206, 210. 
 
 Senate, under the constitution, 
 388; present day position, 389n. 
 
 Separatists, persecution of, 65; 
 compared to Baptists, 70; men- 
 tioned, 46, 47, 49. 
 
 Seymour, Horatio, 152. 
 
 Seymour, Methodists in, 86. 
 
 Shaftesbury, Lord, 11, 19. 
 
 Shakers, 91. 
 
 Sharon, dissenting churches in, 
 54, 85, 349. 
 
 Sheep breeding, 166; see also 
 Merino sheep. 
 
 Sheriffs, duties, powers, etc., 183, 
 185, 209, 393. 
 
 Sherman, Charles, 105. 
 
 Sherman, Rev. John, 90. 
 
 Sherman, Roger, 33, 197, 210n., 
 227, 326. 
 
 Sherman, Roger M., religious ex- 
 periences, 27; delegate to the 
 Hartford Convention, 293; 
 mentioned, 106, 290, 343, 359. 
 
 Sherwood, Samuel, 200. 
 
 Shipman, Elias, 105. 
 
 Shipping, 113, 147, 163; statistics 
 of, 118n. 
 
 Silliman, Prof. Benjamin, 27, 29. 
 
 Skinner, Gov. Richard, 152. 
 
 Smith, Gov. John Cotton, on fail- 
 ure of shipping, 118; on manu- 
 factures, 133, 135; attitude 
 toward War of 1812, 293, 295n.; 
 mentioned, 33, 41, 251, 290, 
 291, 292, 296, 322, 325, 335, 
 337, 339, 346,348, 415n. 
 
 Smith, Nathan, in the convention, 
 376, 378, 380, 395. 
 
 Smith, Nathaniel, resigns from 
 Council, 199; delegate to Hart- 
 ford Convention, 293; men- 
 tioned, 360, 398n. 
 
 Society for Propagation of the 
 Gospel, 50. 
 
 Somers, dissenters in, 89. 
 
 South America, prospective trade 
 with, 137. 
 
 Southington, dissenting churches 
 in, 57, 69. 
 
 Spalding, Asa, mentioned, 232, 
 253, 283, 284, 285. 
 
 Spencer, Isaac, 184, 291. 
 
 Spencer, Isaac, Jr., 367. 
 
 Stafford, 365. 
 
 Stamford, dissenters in, 50; Re- 
 publican strength in, 318, 387. 
 
 Standing Order, ministers of, 87, 
 95; rulers of the, 326; passing 
 away of the, 384, 403; men 
 tioned, 31, 47, 50, 56, 71, 83, 92" 
 93, 107, 140, 197, 228, 303> 
 324. 
 
 Stand-up Law, 194, 216, 243. 
 
 Stanley, George W., political pam- 
 phlets of, 226, 273; on position 
 of the clergy, 317-318. 
 
 Sterling, 126. 
 
 Stevens, James, in the convention, 
 376, 387, 397, 407; mentioned, 
 371, 372. _ 
 
 Stiles, President Ezra, religious 
 views and labors, 6, 7, 10, 11, 
 22, 39, 44; character, 18,25; on 
 the Baptists and Methodists, 
 67, 71, 72, 84; views on Epis- 
 copalian Church, 51, 53, 55; on 
 immigration, 156; mentioned, 
 42, 49, 74, 94, 120, 305, 335. 
 
 Stonington, 69, 365. 
 
 Storrs, Lemuel, 145. 
 
 Stowe, Joshua, in the convention, 
 376, 379, 380, 400, 402. 
 
 Stratford, dissenting churches in, 
 46, 47, 83. 
 
 Street, Titus, 112. 
 
 Strong, Dr. Nathan, sermons of, 
 35; mentioned, 17n., 326, 350. 
 
 Sullivan, Gov. James, 319. 
 
 Superior Court, 203, 357, 393, 398. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Supreme Court of Errors, 202, 
 208, 393. 
 
 Supreme Court of the U. S., veto 
 of legislation by, 397. 
 
 Swift, Judge Zephaniah, on con- 
 stitutional reform, 179-180; de- 
 fines powers of the Legislature, 
 188, 196; delegate to the Hart- 
 ford Convention, 293; on de- 
 pendence of judges, 204, 207, 
 398; mentioned or quoted, 14, 
 39, 49, 106, 202, 211, 213, 242, 
 304, 305n., 398n. 
 
 Talcott, Gov. Joseph, 183. 
 
 Tallmadge, Benjamin, 243, 25 In. 
 
 Tammany tribes, 329. 
 
 Tariff of 1816, 135. 
 
 Taxation, system of, 103-104, 
 347, 358; Gov. Wolcott recom- 
 mends reform in, 354-355 ; legis- 
 lative report on, 363; reforms in, 
 416. 
 
 Tea tax, 69. 
 
 Terry, Henry, in the convention, 
 387, 394, 395, 406, 407. 
 
 Terry, Nathaniel, and Hartford 
 Convention, 295; in the conven- 
 tion, 375, 377, 387, 403, 406, 407, 
 410; mentioned, 104, 105, 112. 
 
 Thanksgiving, 181. 
 
 Thayer, Father John, 92. 
 
 Thompson, manufacturing in, 127. 
 
 Tindall, the philosophy of, 11. 
 
 Tithe system, 47, 50, 89, 149, 348; 
 abolished, 416-419. 
 
 Todd, William, in the convention, 
 378, 407. 
 
 Toleration, Act of 1784, 12, 48, 65, 
 69, 75; under the constitution, 
 38, 384-385, 400-403; Party, 
 45, 91, 106, 307, 332, 341,342; 
 Act of 1791, 81; Wolcott on, 
 352; see also Baptist church; 
 Elections, of 1816-1818; Epis- 
 copal church; Methodist church; 
 Quakers. 
 
 Tolland County, manufacturing 
 in, 125, 128, 137, 138; Toleration 
 strength in, 339; vote on the con- 
 stitution, 412n., 413. 
 
 Tomlinson, David, 105, 343, 6 . 
 
 Tomlinson, Gideon, 376, 378, 379, 
 400. 
 
 Tomlinson, Isaac, 112. 
 
 Tories, 53, 149; see also Loyalists. 
 
 Towns, population of, 15 In.; 
 town meetings, 213-214; rep- 
 resentation of, 386-388; vote 
 on constitution, 413n., 414n. 
 
 Tracy, Senator Uriah, quoted, 
 231; mentioned, 247n., 252. 
 
 Treadwell, Gov. John, 33, 133, 
 239, 283, 284, 285, 287n.,293, 
 322, 326, 337; in the convention, 
 375, 376, 378, 381, 385, 38S, 399, 
 402, 403, 411; and the passing 
 of the old order, 41 6n. 
 
 Treasurer, duties and electipn of, 
 184, 209; under the constitu- 
 tion, 390-392. 
 
 Trinity College, Hartford, 61. 
 
 Trumbull, Judge John, on the re- 
 form movement, 359n., 398, 
 414; mentioned, 322. 
 
 Trumbull, Gov. Jonathan, Jr., 114, 
 165, 210, 235, 239, 247, 251, 
 253, 270, 274, 279, 280, 283, 285. 
 
 Tryon, the raider, 320. 
 
 Tudor, William, on the Metho- 
 dists, 88; views of Connecticut 
 intolerance and people, 192n., 
 284. 
 
 Turnpike companies and roads, 
 166. 
 
 Union, 38 7n. 
 
 Unitarians, status of, 43, 46, 89- 
 
 90, 385; Tolerationists, 91. 
 United States Bonds, 110; see 
 
 also National Bank. 
 Universalists, 46, 89. 
 
 Vermont, religious system and 
 its disestablishment, 82, 93, 
 324n.; emigration to, 142, 144; 
 dependence of judiciary in, 152, 
 394. 
 
 Virginia, 330; disestablishment, 
 12, 76, 395; and Kentucky Res- 
 olutions, 231. 
 
 Voltaire, 11, 19, 27. 
 
470 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Vose, Thomas, 123. 
 
 Votes, increase in number, 251, 
 
 297; system of counting, 389; 
 
 see also Constitution; Elections. 
 
 Wadsworth, Daniel, 33. 112, 
 395. 
 
 Wadsworth, Gen. James, 227. 
 
 Wadsworth, Col. Jeremiah, pro- 
 motes woolen industry, 120; 
 mentioned, 104, 105, 111, 177, 
 227. 
 
 Wages for labor, 148-149. 
 
 Wallingford, 318, 365; Republi- 
 can celebration at, 236. 
 
 Wansey, Henry, quoted, 192n. 
 
 War of 1812, effect on manufac- 
 tures, 125; Connecticut's atti- 
 tude toward, 200, 288; West 
 and, 289; Wolcott supports, 334; 
 mentioned, 56, 58, 133, 144, 
 146, 171. 
 
 Warren, Moses, in the convention, 
 378, 389, 397. 
 
 Washington, George, mentioned, 
 120, 167, 251, 332, 342. 
 
 Waterbury, dissenting churches 
 in, 50, 69, S3, 86, 91. 
 
 Waterman, Rev. Elijah, quoted, 
 40. 
 
 Watson, Elkanah, 162. 
 
 Wealth, men of, 98, 104. 
 
 Webb, Peter, in the convention, 
 376, 378, 379. 
 
 Webster, Noah, writings of, 34, 
 302; opposed to democracy, 211, 
 224, 225, 226; quoted, 230, 235; 
 hostility to Embargo and Jef- 
 ferson, 277, 278n.; his study of 
 the Hartford Convention, 295n.; 
 mentioned, 79n., 92, 227, 229n., 
 250, 275n., 316, 350. 
 
 Wells, Dr. Sylvester, 378, 379. 
 
 Welsh, John, 379. 
 
 Wesleyan College, 86. 
 
 Western emigration and lands, 3, 
 139, 149, 154. 
 
 Western Reserve, sale of, 75; emi- 
 gration to, 143. 
 
 West India trade, 98-99, 113, 114, 
 117. 
 
 Westville, 120, 
 
 Wethersfield, 196n. 
 
 White, Rev. Mr., on religious life 
 of the state, 15. 
 
 White, Judge Hugh, 143, 153. 
 
 Whitfield, Rev. George, 23. 
 
 Whiting, Eli, 121. 
 
 Whiting, Joseph, 184n. 
 
 Wilcox, Gen. Joseph, 217, 274. 
 
 Wiley, Asa, 379. 
 
 Williams, Rev. Samuel, sermon 
 quoted, 41. 
 
 Williams, WiUiam, 197, 227, 242. 
 
 Windham, town of, 10. 
 
 Windham County, dissenting 
 churches in, 44, 57, 69, 70, 89; 
 manufacturing in, 125, 126, 137, 
 138; Toleration strength in, 339, 
 349; vote on the constitution, 
 412n. 
 
 Windsor, 83, 196n., 365. 
 
 Wines, Rev. Abijah, sermon of, 34. 
 
 Winthrop, John, 181, 349. 
 
 Wolcott, Alexander, appointed 
 collector, 241 ; organizes Repub- 
 lican machine, 273-274; in the 
 convention, 376, 381, 382, 389, 
 394, 395, 396, 407; mentioned, 
 135, 232, 247n, 269, 277. 
 
 Wolcott, General Erastus, 177. 
 
 Wolcott, Frederick, 106, 333, 359, 
 360. 
 
 Wolcott, Gov. Oliver, 230. 
 
 Wolcott, Gov. Oliver, Jr., a man- 
 ufacturer, 124; sketch of life 
 and candidacy, 332-334, 346; 
 addresses, 350, 361, 368; views 
 on toleration, 352; views on ju- 
 dicial reform, 356, 398; pre- 
 sides over the Convention, 376, 
 377; mentioned, 123, 163,165, 
 181, 210n., 229, 278, 349, 367, 
 408. 
 
 Woodbury, 365. 
 
 Woodstock, dissent in, 69; manu- 
 facturing in, 127. 
 
 Woolaston, Religion of Nature, 6. 
 
 Woolen manufacturing, 120, 121, 
 134; aided by tariff, 169. 
 
 Wyllys family, 184. 
 
 Wyoming Valley, 141. 
 
INDEX 
 
 471 
 
 Yale, religious life of, 22, 26, 28, 
 94; political opposition to, 23 
 315-316; Separatists in, 24 
 Bishop Berkeley donation, 25 
 Federalist politics of, 30, 301. 
 Episcopalians in, 59; aristocratic 
 system of, 73; Commencements, 
 
 147, 301; charter and corpora- 
 tion, 201, 249, 403; bonus given 
 to, 344; mentioned, 6, 45, 56, 
 152, 166, 303, 312, 315, 332, 
 334, 379; see also D wight, 
 President Timothy; Stiles; Med- 
 ical School. 
 
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