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E\ST 1 
 
 1^ 
 
 JONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 
 
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE, 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 
 
 OF THE DEDICATION OF THE 
 
 Stone Meeting House 
 
 EAST HAVEN, CONN., 
 
 Wednesday, ^eptemher 16, 1874" 
 
 Bv D. WILLIAM HAVENS. 
 
 PRl^TfiB BY PUNCERSON & OltlSAND, 12 CENTER STREET^ NE^^' HAYfiJf. 
 
 1876. 
 
.L^ Hi 
 
 >uoxLU. 
 
 
,HE preliminary steps for tlie celebration of the 
 One Hundredth Anniversary of the Dedication of 
 the "Old Stone Meeting-house," in East Haven, 
 was taken at the Annual Church Meeting, October 12, 
 1873, when Deacon Samuel T. Andrews, Deacon Thaddeus 
 Street, Jeremiah Barnes, Capt. Samuel C. Thompson, and 
 Isaac S. Pardee were appointed a Committee on the part 
 of the Church, to co-operate with a similar Committee, to 
 be ai:)pointed by the Society, to make arrangements for 
 the appropriate celebration of the Centennial. 
 
 At the Annual Meeting of the Ecclesiastical Society, 
 December 28, 1873, Lyman Hotchkiss, Samuel Chidsey, 
 James Thompson. Lyman A. Granniss, and Henry Smith 
 were appointed a Committee to co-operate with a similar 
 Committee of the Church, previously appointed, in mak- 
 ing the necessary preparations for the celebration. The 
 Pastor was subsequently added to this Committee. These 
 two committees composed the "General Centennial Com- 
 mittee," from which the following sub-committees were 
 appointed : 
 
 ON FINANCE: 
 
 Jeremiah Barnes, Thaddeus Street, James Thompson. 
 
 ON PRINTING : 
 
 Lyman A. Granniss, Henry Smith, Lyman Hotchkiss. 
 
 ON INVITATIONS: 
 
 D. Wm. Havens, Isaac S. Pardee, Thaddeus Street. 
 
 ON EXERCISES: 
 
 D. Wm. Havens, Samuel T. Andrews, Augustus Street, Joseph L 
 Hotchkiss, Jonathan Dudley. 
 
ON RECEPTION: 
 
 Samuel Chidsky, Nathan Andrews, Edwin Granniss, Timothy 
 Andrews, Albert Forbes, Henry Smith, Collis B. Granniss, 
 Alexander W. Forbes, Leander F. Eichaiond, Julius H. 
 Morris. 
 
 ON MUSIC: 
 
 Miss Sara C. Upson, Mrs. Harriet M. Walker, Mrs. Delia A. Rich- 
 mond, Joseph I. Hotchkiss, Lyjian Hotchkiss, Isaac S. Pardee. 
 
 ON ENTERTAINMENTS: 
 
 William A. Woodward, Edward J. Upson, Abraham B. Chidsey, C. 
 Edwin Woodward, Levi L. Bradley, F. Foote Andrews, Lyman 
 A. Granniss, Leonakd R. Andrews, Theodore H. Thompson, 
 S. W. F. Andrews, John Wm. Thompson, Mrs. Olive Black- 
 stone, Mrs. Lavinia C. Frink, Mrs. Lydia B. Dickinson, Mrs. 
 Eliza T. Street, Mrs. Hannah C. Hurd, Mrs. Mahion Bradley, 
 Mrs. Jane E. Tyler, Mrs. Lois M. Woodward, Mrs. Martha P. 
 Pardee, Mrs. Louisa M. Bradley, Miss Elsie A. Pardee, Miss 
 Bertha M. Havens. 
 
 ON DECORA TIONS : 
 
 Samuel F. Bradley, James King, E. Dwigut Street, Henry T. 
 Thompson, Lyivian C. Thompson, Oliver King, Mrs. Laura A. 
 R. Woodward, Mrs. Grace E. Casey, Mrs. Jane Forbes, Mrs. 
 Ella A. Cowles, Mrs. N. E. Bartholomew, .Mrs. Maria A. 
 Walker. 
 
 ON ANTIQUITIES : 
 
 Samuel T. Andrews, Hiram Jacobs, C. S. Prout. 
 
 The Order of Exercises, as arranged by the Committee 
 for the Centennial Celebration, was as follows : 
 
ORDE^ OF MEETINGS >ND EXERCISES. 
 
 10 o'clock A. M. — Meeting for Religious Services, and De- 
 livery of the Historical Discourse. 
 
 1. Organ Voluntary, with the Doxology — 
 
 " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow." 
 
 2. Invocation. Rev. Owen Stkeet. 
 
 3. Reading Scripture. Rev. Burdett Hart. 
 
 4. Singing. Original Hymn — By the Pastor — 
 
 THE CENTURY. 
 
 A HUNDRED YEARS ! 'mid Calm and storm, 
 
 These massive walls have silent stood. 
 And busy life, in every form, 
 
 Has round them breathed, and thought, and moved. 
 
 A HUNDRED YEARS ! thcsc scenes the same, 
 
 The Rock, the Lake, the Hills, the Sea; 
 But where are they, O God, who came 
 
 To consecrate this house to Thee ? 
 
 A HUNDRED YEARS have swcpt away 
 
 That flowing tide of life and thought ; 
 We, on their graves, our tribute lay. 
 
 And bless Thee for what they have wrought. 
 
 [A HUNDRED YEARS ! and in then- flood, 
 A nation born has marched to fame ; 
 Its starry flag, in storm and blood, 
 
 God has kept pure in Freedom's name. 
 
6 
 
 A HUNDRED YEARS ! the world has moved — 
 The march of mind has onward sped — 
 
 Dark slavery's chain has been removed 
 From human forms that cringed and bled. 
 
 A HUNDRED YEARS ! Christ's parting word, 
 Has sent the Gospel's joyful sound, 
 
 'Till earth's most distant nation's heard 
 The "tiding glad," salvation found.] 
 
 A HUNDRED YEARS ! when they have flown, 
 When life from us, now here, has fled. 
 
 In the dark grave, so drear and lone. 
 We've learned the secret of the dead. 
 
 A HUNDRED YEARS ! May they that then 
 Shall gather here in gladsome guise — 
 
 Worthy the name of Puritan — 
 Lift praise' loud anthems to the skies. 
 
 5. Prayer. Rev. Leonard Bacon, D.D. 
 
 6. Singing. Original Hymn — By Rev. Owen Street — 
 
 From the glad present and its dreamings. 
 
 Back to the past, great God, we turn ; 
 O may we catch its brightest gleamings. 
 
 And all its glorious lessons learn. 
 Do Thou, the faded page renewing. 
 
 Restore the distant and the dim ; 
 While we, our hundred years reviewing, 
 
 Lift up to Thee our Century Hymn. 
 
 We praise Thee for th' inspiring story 
 
 Of faith, that proved itself sublime ; 
 That toiling in the hope of glory. 
 
 Could look to wants of later time. 
 We praise Thee for these firm foundations. 
 
 Quarried from the enduring rock ; 
 This home of buried congregations. 
 
 This fold of the still gathering flock. 
 
 For words the holy dead have spoken 
 
 Resounding still in memory's halls. 
 Voices now still, and strings long broken. 
 
 That woke the echoes of these walls ; 
 For deeper echoes that went thrilling 
 
 Thro' waiting hearts that heard the word, 
 Till they were warmed to heavenly feeling. 
 
 Praise be to our all-glorious Lord ! 
 
For our inheritance of blessing, 
 
 Descending tlirough long ages down, 
 We come, our wondrous debt confessing. 
 
 And here thy faithful covenant own. 
 We'll hold the truth the fathers taught us. 
 
 We'll take the legacy bequeathed, 
 We'll guard the heritage they bought us, 
 
 And keep their memories brightly wreathed. 
 
 7. The Historical Discourse. First Part. By the Pastor. 
 
 8. Singing. Original Hymn— By Rev. Owen Street — 
 
 O, Builder of the Church of God, 
 
 Upon its own Eternal Rock, 
 Who hast the gates of hell withstood, 
 
 And all their rage and fury broke. 
 
 Thy grace has buil^ thy temple here. 
 
 And polished all its living stones ; 
 Here listened to thy people's prayer. 
 
 And saved thine own believing ones. 
 
 What victories hath thy spirit wrought ! 
 
 What stubborn hearts to Thee have bowed 
 What wayward souls have here been taught, 
 
 And kept the pledge their lips have vowed ! 
 
 What trials have thy people seen ? 
 
 What conflicts met, what storms endured V 
 What darkness passed, what anguish keen '? 
 
 What burdens cast upon the Lord V 
 
 What graces hath thy spirit shed ! 
 
 What holy virtues from above ! 
 What memories of the sainted dead 
 
 Remain to tell thy boundless love ! 
 
 The past is sure ; but not more sure 
 Than promised good for coming time ; 
 
 Thy kingdom ever shall endure, 
 Eternity is but its prime. 
 
 Then haste we on to toils to come, 
 Trusting in God's all faithful care ; 
 
 Looking above to heaven our home. 
 And the sweet welcome waiting tliere. 
 
 9. The Historical Discourse. Second Part. 
 
10. Singing. Original Hymn — By the Paptor- 
 
 THE CENTENNIAL. 
 
 To-day, let holy joy 
 
 In every heart arise ; 
 And every tongue emploj' 
 The accents of the skies. 
 With music sweet 
 Our voices raise, 
 Till songs of praise 
 The welkin greet. 
 
 Within these sacred walls, 
 
 Reared by the fathers' hand. 
 Hearts yielding to God's call, 
 Have full salvation found. 
 The Gospel's light, 
 The spirit's power, 
 In mercy's hour, 
 Made all things bright. 
 
 " The fathers, where are they ?" 
 Those men so tried and true ; 
 Yonder, they slumb'ring lay. 
 Beneath the spreading yew. 
 Their lives so brave, 
 Theii' work well done, 
 God's brightest sun 
 Rest on their grave. 
 
 Their children's children here, 
 
 In strong array have come, 
 From dwellings far and near, 
 To seek th' ancestral home. 
 Now to record 
 And give due meeds 
 To noble deeds 
 Of men of old. 
 
 Amid these scenes so fair, 
 
 O, bow before the Lord ; 
 And in our songs declare 
 The goodness of our God. 
 Our fathers' God, 
 Whose power and love 
 They oft did prove, 
 ' And kept his word. 
 
 The Past forever gone. 
 
 Its deeds, its joys, its tears; 
 The FuTUKE now alone 
 In wraps our hopes and fears. 
 Let us be strong. 
 Let us be true, 
 Then for us, too, 
 The victor's song. 
 
 11. Benediction. Rev. O. EvAi^s Shannon. 
 
 1 o'clock p. M. — Collation. 
 
 11. 
 
 III. 
 
 2 o'clock p. M. — Meeting for Reunion, Addresses, Etc. 
 Chairman, Samuel T. Andrews, Esq. 
 
 IV. 
 
 7 o'clock p. M. — Old Folks Concert. 
 
 V. 
 8:30 o'clock P. m. — Reception at the Parsonage. 
 
Notwithstanding the day of the Centennial Celebratioii 
 was stormy, the Meeting-house was crowded with a large, 
 attentive, and interested audience, composed for the most 
 part of persons from abroad — descendents and connections 
 of its ancient families. The services and intercourse of the 
 occasion were peculiarly interesting, and left in the minds 
 of all who participated in them the most pleasant impres- 
 sions and associations. 
 
 The interior of the Meeting-house was profusely and 
 beautifully decorated with flags and flowers. In the rear 
 of the platform which had been erected at the east end of 
 the audience room, the American and British ensigns were 
 draped together, significant of the fact that the ancient 
 sanctuary had stood under two national sovereignties. 
 Between these flags were hung the portraits of all the for- 
 mer pastors of the Church, excepting Mr. Heminway, 
 and under them were announced the dates of the com- 
 mencement and termination of their respective pastorates. 
 The names of the building committee appointed in 1772 
 were placed upon the panels of the galleries. Altogether, 
 the occasion was one that will long be remembered by 
 those who were present ; and the influences and effects of 
 its services will be felt for many years by the congregation 
 that worships within the walls of the "Old Stone Meet- 
 ing-house." 
 
THE HISTORICAL DISCOURSE. 
 
 " See, what manner of stones, and what buildings are here ?" 
 
 These words were originally spoken in very different 
 circumstances than those in which we are gathered to-day, 
 and had another application than that which will be given 
 them on the present occasion. We would search in vain 
 for a better comment upon them : one that would suggest 
 more appropriate sentiments and emotions in contemplating 
 these massive walls which have withstood unharmed the 
 storms of a century, than can be found in one of Shakes- 
 peare' s most familiar dramas. "There are sermons in 
 stones." Under the influences from, and the associations 
 that cluster upon this sacred edifice, and the memories 
 that crowd upon our minds, these silent stones preach to 
 us a sermon more solemn and impressive than was ever 
 uttered by a Chrysostom, or the most eloquent of human 
 orators. 
 
 An unusual interest attaches to the occasion upon which 
 we are assembled. Rarely does it occur, in these days of 
 frequent changes, especially in this country, that a Church 
 celebrates the centennial of the dedication of its house of 
 worship. Owing to differences in the cost of construction, 
 quite as much as to the habits of the people, Church 
 edifices are generally built of materials unadapted to stand 
 the wear of time and the power of the elements. Conse- 
 quently, every few years they require to be replaced by 
 new structures. The men who erected this building were 
 wiser than the most of their contemporaries. So far as I 
 have been able to learn, this was the first stone meeting- 
 house erected in the Colony of Connecticut. There are but 
 two of any kind now standing in the State, older than this 
 
12 
 
 — the brick meeting-house in Wethersfield, and the wooden 
 edifice at Farmington. The former antedates it by four 
 years, and the centennial of tlie latter was celebrated in 
 September, 1872. This is now the oldest stone meeting- 
 house standing in New England. It was, therefore, deemed 
 most fitting, by those who now worship within its walls, 
 that the completion of a century since its dedication to the 
 worship of God, should be marked by some demonstration 
 which would be a memorial to those who erected it, and at 
 the same time, a testimonial of gratitude to the divine 
 goodness in the past. May it also prove the earnest of the 
 continuance of that goodness to all the coming generations 
 who shall worship the God of their fathers within these 
 sacred walls. 
 
 What is that sentiment, that feeling, that influence 
 which has been effective in bringing together, like particles 
 drawn towards a central magnet, so large a number of 
 persons who feel an interest in East Haven ? It is the 
 sentiment of patriotism, the feeling of reverence for the 
 past, the influence of mental and heart associations, which 
 lift into importance and invest with a peculiar interest the 
 place of birth, the homes of ancestors, and the sanctuary 
 of childhood, such as does not attach itself to any other 
 spot on earth. After an unselfish patriotism, pride of 
 ancestry is the noblest natural sentiment of the human 
 heart. When based simply on birth, or wealth, or social 
 position, it often becomes a mean, selfish feeling — food for 
 personal vanity and arrogance, and is usually all that one 
 who cherishes it can boast. But when founded on piety 
 and moral worth, or upon what a former generation has 
 done for the promotion of the higher welfare of posterity, 
 "whose works do follow them," and through them, though 
 "being dead, they yet speak ;" then, no richer legacy have 
 they left to their descendents, and in honoring their memory 
 they do a high honor to themselves, unless, indeed, the 
 character of the latter presents a striking contrast to theirs. 
 Those, therefore, who are here to-day, inspired by the 
 spirit of the occasion, have reason for cherishing a just 
 pride in that ancestry, who, amid difficulties with which 
 
13 
 
 few commiinities now have to contend, and with means so 
 limited as to be scarcely conceivable, entered npon and 
 carried to a successful completion, such an enterprise as 
 the erection of this < enduring edifice ; and, by the celebra- 
 tion of the termination of a full century of years since its 
 dedication to the purposes of divine worship, we honor 
 ourselves as much as we honor them, and shall catch some- 
 thing of that reverent and joyful spirit by which they were 
 animated, when, with grateful piety and devout thanks- 
 giving, they consecrated this house to the worship of Al- 
 miglity God. 
 
 New Haven Colony was settled in 1638. The tract of 
 land purchased of the Indians extended about half a mile 
 east of the "Great Pond," now " Lake Saltonstall " and 
 " Stoney River." The first allotment of land made on the 
 east side of Quinnipiac River, was in 1640, when six hun- 
 dred acres were given to Rev. John Davenport. A portion 
 of this tract was in possession of his descendents till 1830, 
 a peiiod of nearly two hundred years. It is still called the 
 "Davenport Farm." No settlement was made within the 
 present boundaries of the town of East Haven till 1644, 
 when Thomas Gregson built a house at "Solitary," now 
 "Morris Cove," and brought his family to reside there. 
 He was lost in the ill-fated sliip that sailed from New 
 Haven, in January, 1646, the account of whose spectral 
 appearance, given by Rev. James Pierrepont of New 
 Haven, is found in "Mather's Magnalia." His farm was 
 purchased by George Pardee, the first teacher of the 
 "Hopkins Grammar School," and the ancestor of all of 
 that name in the vicinity of New Haven. The principal 
 settlement, however, was made at what was known, for the 
 first half century, as "Stoney River Farms," at the southern 
 extremity of the "Great Pond." Here, extensive iron 
 works were established in 1650, by parties in Boston, Mass., 
 and London, England, which, for fifty years, and until the 
 ore beds in North Haven were exhausted, called in quite 
 a numerous population. The other sections of the town 
 were settled very slowly, and only for agricultural pur- 
 poses. 
 
14 
 
 At a very early date measures were taken for establish- 
 ing religious worship in this little village. The nearest 
 point for the peoj^le to attend divine service was New 
 Haven. This required a long walk, or journey on horse- 
 back, through an almost unbroken swamp and forest to 
 "Ferry Point," now known as "Red Rock ;" then the pas- 
 sage of a tedious and often dangerous ferry across the 
 broadest part of the river, and then another long travel, of 
 a mile or more, to the solitary meeting-house on New 
 Haven common. It is evident that those who attended 
 worship on the Sabbath from East Haven — and this meant 
 all not providentially prevented — must rise betimes in the 
 morning, and it would be far into the night when they 
 returned. If women and children were among the number, 
 they probably went over on Saturday and remained till 
 Monday. For the first twenty or thirty years after the 
 settlement of the village, the dead were carried to New 
 Haven for burial. 
 
 With that high appreciation of attending the services of 
 divine worship, which characterized the Puritans of New 
 England, the distance from New Haven, the difficulty of 
 the journey thither, especially as their infant children were 
 obliged to be carried there for baptism — an ordinance that 
 had for them a deeper significance than it has for many of 
 their descendents — were felt by the early settlers, not only 
 to be a serious inconvenience, but a deprivation and injury 
 to their spiritual life ; therefore, as early as 1677, a petition 
 was presented to the General Court of the Colony for 
 ' ' liberty to set up separate worship ' ' in the village. The 
 petition was granted the following year. It was also neces- 
 sary to obtain the consent of the town of New Haven, 
 application for which was made the same year, but was 
 peremptorily refused. It was renewed the following year, 
 1679, with better success.* It was not, however, tni 1681, 
 
 * At a Towne Meeting held in New Haven, 24 December, 1679, and for 
 the village on ye East Side, those inhabitants gave in their propositions to the 
 Committee, which they desired might be granted, which was : 
 
 1. That they might liave liberty to get a minister amongst them, for their 
 ministei', and keep the Sabbath in a way as they ought. 
 
15 
 
 that the necessary arrangements were completed for hold- 
 ing worship on the Sabbath. Rev, James Ailing was 
 engaged, who ministered to them acceptably for two years. 
 The people desired hii^ to remain with them, but as the 
 town would not grant permission to organize a church, and 
 as he was desirous of becoming a settled pastor, he declined 
 their invitation. The society was fortunate in immediately 
 obtaining the services of Rev. John Harriman, of New 
 Haven, who remained till November, 1685, when, owing to 
 the decline of business at the iron works, and consequent 
 decrease of population, the stipulated salary of £50 could 
 not be raised, and he was compelled to leave. He subse- 
 quently ministered, for a short time, to the Church in New 
 Haven. The people became disheartened, and their relig- 
 ious services were intermitted for eighteen years. 
 
 In 1704, the subject of re-establishing public worship 
 began to be discussed. Their number was small, and not 
 one of them all could be called wealthy, even for those 
 times. They could present no great inducements to a 
 minister to settle with them, and the burden of his support 
 would press heavily upon them. Providence always helps 
 those churches, as well as individuals, who endeavor to 
 help themselves. At this juncture one came to them, every 
 way adapted to their needs, and whose circumstances were 
 such as to render him an eligible candidate. Samuel Hem- 
 inway, Esq., the first of that name who settled in East 
 Haven, was, probably, the wealthiest and most influential 
 man in the village. His youngest son, Jacob, was about 
 to graduate from che new college located at Saybrook, and 
 not yet dignified with the historic name of "Yale." He 
 
 3. That boundaiy might be granted to them as high — i. e., north — as 
 Muddy River. 
 
 3. That they have liberty of admitting inhabitants among them for their 
 help in the work and maintenance of a minister. 
 
 4. That they may have liberty to purchase some lands of the Indians, near 
 Mr. Gregson's — i. e., at the Cove — if the Indians are willing to part with it. 
 
 5. That what land of the Quinnipiac is within Branford stated bounds, 
 the right of the purchase may be given them. 
 
 6. Lastly, That they may be freed from rates to the Towne, when they 
 shall have procured a Minister. 
 
16 
 
 was intending to enter the Christian ministry, and was one 
 of the class of three which was the first to enter the newly- 
 founded institution in 1701, under the presidency of Rev. 
 Abraham Pierson, a man of exteifsive learning and great 
 influence in the Colony. Jacob Heminway graduated in 
 the summer of 1704, when in the twenty-first year of his 
 age. The attention of his fellow townsmen was turned 
 to him, and they cherished the hope that he might be 
 induced to become their minister ; for once disproving the 
 popular proverb, "a prophet has no honor in his own 
 country." 
 
 In November following, a meeting of the people of the 
 village was held, when they "Voted, to seek Sir Hemin- 
 way, that he would give us a taste of his gifts, in order to 
 settlement, in the work of the ministry."* The answer 
 was favorable, "Sir Heminway" gave them "a taste of 
 his gifts," which they relished so well he was invited to 
 preach to them statedly ; and when, after much tribulation, 
 the Church was organized in 1711, he became its pastor, 
 and remained with this people till his death in 1764. Very 
 little is known concerning Mr. Heminway, his personal 
 appearance, manner of preaching, or his abilities. That 
 he was a prudent, wise, and faithful pastor, winning and 
 holding the confidence and affection of his people, is evi- 
 dent from his continuance with them for half a century. 
 
 When Mr. Heminway commenced his ministry there 
 was no church or meeting-house. During all the time Mr. 
 ■ Ailing and Mr. Harriman preached in the village, the Sab- 
 bath services were held either in the school-house or in 
 private dAvellings — almost any farm-house kitchen would 
 have accommodated the congregation. It was, probably, 
 for this reason, they declined remaining, and that public 
 
 * A meeting of the inhabitants of the village was held the following No- 
 vember, when they 
 
 " Voted, To seek Sir Heminway, that he would give us a taste of his gif te, 
 in order to settlement in the work of the Ministry. And 
 
 2. " Voted, To desire John Potter, Sen., Caleb Chidsey, and Ebenezer Chid- 
 sey, to treat with Sir Heminway, to get him, if they could, to give them a taste 
 of his gifts, in preaching the word." 
 
worsiiip was discontinued for so long a period prior to the 
 engagement of Mr. Ileniinway. Before the departure of 
 Mr. Harriman, in 1685, the subject of building a meeting- 
 house was agitated, and an effort made to raise funds for 
 the purpose ; but, failing to secure a minister to succeed 
 him, the people lost heart, abandoned the enterprise, and 
 resumed their former ecclesiastical connection with New 
 Haven. 
 
 It was not till Mr. Heminway had labored among them 
 nearly two years that any movement was made for supply- 
 ing so great a need. June 10, 1706, the society ' ' Voted, to 
 build a meeting-house twenty feet long, sixteen feet wide, 
 and seventeen feet between joints, and set it across the East 
 End of the School-house." From these dimensions it is 
 evident that the population of the village was quite small. 
 The house could not have accommodated comfortably more 
 than fift}^ persons, and seventy -five w^ould have crowded it 
 to suffocation. And yet it was in this little building the 
 services w^ere held at the organization of ^ the Cliurch, and 
 the ordination of the first pastor, in October, 1711. It suf- 
 ficed for the accommodation of the people of the village, 
 until replaced by a larger structure in 1719. 
 
 For the location of the first meeting-house we are de- 
 pendent entirely upon ti-adition. The village records give 
 no further information on the subject than that it was 
 placed "across the east end of the school-house.'" The 
 location of the latter is known. It stood in the rear of the 
 ground now occupied by the residence of the late John M. 
 Finch, and a considerable distance back from the highway. 
 The meeting-house was erected in front and adjoining it. 
 A small burjdng-ground was in the rear, where a few per- 
 sons were interred previous to the donation by the proprie- 
 tors of the ground occupied by the present cemetery. 
 
 The people, with their accustomed energy and resolu- 
 tion, entered at once upon the work, and before the close 
 of the year the meeting-house was completed and dedicated, 
 with appropriate services, to the worship of God. Doubt- 
 less those poor and simple people looked upon it, as it 
 stood complete in all its appointments, with a pride and 
 
18 
 
 satisfaction such as are rarely elicited by the completion of 
 the most splendid temples of modern times. If the secret 
 history of the undertaking was known, it would unques- 
 tionably be found that many a long-hoarded piece of coin 
 was brought forth, many an extra task of knitting, and 
 carding, and spinning, and weaving performed, the avails 
 of which were consecrated to this sacred object. 
 
 After a few years this meeting-hoiise was found wholly 
 inadequate for the accommodation of the steadily increas- 
 ing number of worshipers. The subject of a new, or 
 enlarging of the old one, began to be discussed. It was 
 not, however, till 1714 that any serious movement was made 
 in this direction.* But, in consequence of differences of 
 opinion concerning the location of the new meeting-house, 
 and the style in which it should be built, the project failed 
 at that time. It was revived in 1717, when the same dis- 
 cordance of views that rendered abortive the effort made 
 three years before arose, and threatened the same result. 
 The question being finally brought to a direct vote, by a 
 decided majority the new meeting-house was "ordered to 
 be set up upon the Nole, at that corner of the Green next 
 to Deacon Austin's, on the Nole, in the entrance of the 
 lane that leads from said Green to said Austin's." 
 
 * The first definite action talven was October 11, 1714, and was as follows : 
 
 Ys meeting adjourned till this day fortnite, at eight of ye clock in ye 
 morning, to consider about building a meeting-hous. 
 
 Then follows : 
 
 At a meeting held in East Haven, on ye 25 day of October, 1714, which 
 meeting was warned to be on this day, and ye warning were given in a meet- 
 ing hold ye 11 day of October, 1714, and for ye end of considering about ye 
 building of a meeting-hous in this place. 
 
 Voted, to build a meeting-hous. 
 
 Voted, to build said meeting-hous with a straight roof, and forty foot 
 long, and thirty foot wide and twenty foot between joints, and jetted at each 
 end about a foot. 
 
 Voted, that ye said meeting-hous shall be set upon ye high ground at ye 
 head of ye lane that leads to Joshua Austin's, at or near ye oak trte at ye head 
 of said lane. Capt. John Russell, Ensign Ailing Ball, Sergeant John Hemiu- 
 way. Sergeant Thomas Smith, Samuel Hotchkiss, were chosen, by vote, to 
 agree with some man or men to give said meeting-lums — (this is incomprehen- 
 sible, unless it means the timber for the frame) — and get shingles and clap- 
 boards and cover said hous. 
 
19 
 
 The question of location settled, another difficulty arose 
 concerning the style and form in which the meeting-house 
 should be built. By a vote of tlie society, taken in 1714, 
 it was directed to "be built with a straight roof, barn 
 FASHioiS", and JETTED, sides and ends, about afoot." By 
 this is meant that the upper half should project that dis- 
 tance beyond the lower or basement half. This was the 
 usual style of building at that time, a few examples of 
 which still remain in the town. This vote was subse- 
 quently rescinded, in regard to the sides, leaving the ends 
 alone to be "jetted." Probably another style of building 
 had been introduced, in which the jut did not appear, and 
 two parties had arisen — a conservative and a progressive 
 party — one preferring the old style of architecture, the 
 other in favor of the new. It would seem from the last 
 mentioned vote that a compromise was effected, and Jacob 
 Robinson ^one was unyielding. He entered a formal pro- 
 test againsFthe change, in which he says that he "stands 
 to the former vote about the meeting-house." 
 
 In order to carry the foregoing resolution into effect, a 
 tax of sixpence on the pound was laid, one-third of which 
 was to be paid in cash, and the remaining two-thirds in 
 materials for, or work upon, the building, at the option of 
 the tax payer. It was furthermore required, that two-thirds 
 of the tax should be paid in on or before November 1, 1718 ; 
 and if not paid by that date, then the whole tax was to be 
 paid in cash, on or before May 31, 1719. Lieutenant 
 Thomas Smith and Thomas Alcock were chosen collectors 
 of the tax, with strict orders "to pay it over," as rapidly 
 as it was collected, to the building committee — Capt. Ailing 
 Ball, Sergeant John Thompson, Samuel Russell, Sergeant 
 Joseph Granniss, Ensign Samuel Hotchkiss, Nathaniel 
 Hitchcock, and Samuel Goodsell. This committee was 
 enjoined " to contrive and set forward the aforesaid meet- 
 ing-house, in 'the best ways they can, and to demand the 
 aforesaid tax from said collectors, and receive said rate and 
 improve it, to the best of their skill, for the promoting of 
 the building of said meeting-house ; also, to set the price of 
 broadax men that work at said house." 
 
20 
 
 After this the work proceeded slowly, and the edifice 
 was not readj^ for occupation till the autumn of 1719. 
 The society directed the comniittee to "cause a pew to 
 be made in said meeting-house, in some convenient place 
 as they may judge littest, to be and remain for the use 
 of the minister in this place ; and said committee shall 
 not allow any more pews to be made in said meeting- 
 house." The minister' s family were accorded the distinc- 
 tion of being fenced off from the rest of the congregation, 
 in a wooden box constructed expressly for them. East 
 Haven was always a very democratic town. At that time 
 there was not one other family of sufficient consequence, 
 or of so much greater importance than others, to ad- 
 vance a claim to a similar privilege. The rest of the 
 congregation occujiied rude benches, the only preference 
 shown in seating being based solely on difference of age — 
 the older members being seated nearest the pulmt, and the 
 younger reaching backward by regular gradation, accord- 
 ing to their years. In some places, where the distinctions 
 in society were more marked than in East Haven, the best 
 seats in the meeting-house were assigned to the more aristo- 
 cratic families ; the process was called ' ' dignifying the 
 pews." The expression never occurs in the records of this 
 society. 
 
 When the new meeting-house was completed and ready 
 for occupation, all the necessary steps were taken to arrange 
 this matter. In order to prevent ill-feeling, some of the 
 more eligible seats Avere assigned, by vote of the society, to 
 certain families and individuals. The remainder of the 
 congregation were to be seated on a prescribed plan, and 
 by a committee appointed for the purpose, according to the 
 formal vote of the societ}^, which declared that ''the first 
 short seat shall be reckoned equal with the second long 
 seat," that is, the first wall })ew, next the pulpit, was "the 
 short seat," and those in the bodv of the house, fronting: 
 the pulpit, were the long seats. "Mr. Shepard, Mr. Will- 
 iam Luddington, shall sit in the short seat ; old Mr. 
 lieminway (the father of the pastor), Mr. Bradley, Isaac 
 the first ; Mr. Deiiison, James the first ; Mr. Smith, the first 
 
21 
 
 Thomas, shall sit in tlie first seat of the square body ; Mr. 
 Pardee, George the second ; Mr. Morris, Eleazer the tirst ; 
 Capt. Jolm Russell ; Sergeant John Thompson, Samuel 
 Eussell, Samuel Clark, shall sit in the fore seat of the 
 square body ; and these six men were chosen to seat the 
 rest of the meeting-house, or the major part of them to do 
 it, according to their rates in 1717." 
 
 The only additional direction given, in regard to the in- 
 ternal arrangement was, that ''the pulpit and seats shall be 
 in the form of Branford meeting-house." The new edifice 
 stood on the northwest corner of the Green, six rods north- 
 east of the old meeting-house, and nearly in front of the 
 residence of Henry Smith, Esq. The locality is still known 
 as "Meeting-house Hill," though all appearance of a hill, 
 hillock, or knoll, has long since disappeared before the 
 march of improvement. 
 
 This house served the purposes of the society for more 
 than half a century, and for nearly twenty years after 
 the settlement of Rev, Nicholas Street, the successor of 
 Mr. Heminway. Though larger and more pretentious than 
 the first meeting-house, it was still a rude affair, without 
 steeple or other appendage, except its greater dimensions, 
 to distinguish it from other buildings in the village. Not 
 only the roof, but the whole structure, was in "baen 
 
 FASHIOJSr." 
 
 Soon after the settlement of Rev. Nicholas Street, in 
 October, 1755, it became necessary either to enlarge and 
 extensively repair the meeting-house, or build a new one. 
 When this was erected, the mechanical arts, as well as 
 architectural taste, were in a very rude state throughout 
 the Colony. The building was unpainted, and, consequent- 
 ly, soon became weather-worn and dilapidated. Several 
 years prior to the death of Mr. Heminway, the proposition 
 was made to build a new one, but as the necessity was not 
 pressing the subject was indefinitely postponed. It was 
 not revived till thirty-five years afterwards. In December, 
 17G9, the society " V'oted, we will build a new mteting- 
 liouse, if we can be suited with the place." This was all 
 that was attempted at the time. Oir the twenty-sixth of 
 
23 
 
 the same month another meeting was held " to fix upon a 
 place where the new meeting-house is to be set." It was 
 fully attended, every voter being present. The contest was 
 between north and south — those dwelling at Foxon and 
 Dragon forming one party, those at the Cove and South 
 End constituting the other. The residents at Woodward- 
 town and Center were divided, the majority acting with 
 the south party. The point in controversy was : whether 
 the new meeting-house should be built upon or near the 
 site of the old ediiice, or at the point of "Mullen Hill," in 
 the fork made by the junction of the Foxon and old North 
 Haven road, where the track of the Shore Line Railway is 
 now laid. The first action of the meeting was to declare, 
 by more than a two-thirds vote, that "we will build a new 
 meeting-house, in this society, for the public worship of 
 God." Also, "It was tryed by vote, where ye people 
 were to have ye meeting-house. There were thirty-seven 
 votes for the Green, and twenty-seven votes for the end of 
 the Hill." The parties were so nearly balanced, and the 
 spirit of both ran so high and bitter, that although a 
 decided majority was in favor of the Green, the more pru- 
 dent of both parties recommended that nothing should be 
 done, by virtue of tliis vote, in the way of preparation for 
 building, till further consultation could be had concerning 
 the matter. It was finally concluded to appoint a mixed 
 committee, composed of members from both parties, "to 
 try to agree about a spot where the meeting-house should 
 stand, and if they agreed the people woukl agree." This 
 committee, in the political nomenclature of the day, would 
 be called a "compromise committee." It contained one 
 or more I'epresentative from each of the separate districts 
 of the society. Capt. Stephen Smith, Samuel Thompson, 
 and Capt. Isaac Chidsey, were from Foxon ; Samuel Hem- 
 inway, from Dragon; Capt. Amos Morris and Stephen 
 Morris, from the Cove ; Benjamin Smith, from South End ; 
 John Woodward, from Woodwardtown ; while Abraham 
 Ileminway and Timothy Andrews— one of whom was for 
 th-e Green, and the other for the Hill site— resided at the 
 Center, in the village* proper. 
 
2.^ 
 
 The following year, 1770, this committee reported to the 
 society, that they were unable to come to any agreement. 
 Hopeless of determining the question among themselves, 
 it was decided to refer it to persons non-resident in the 
 society, who could have no personal interest or bias in the 
 matter. The persons selected were, Capt. Eliakim Hull, of 
 Wallingford, and Col. Nathaniel Chauncy and James 
 Wadsworth, Esq., both of Durham ; Capt. Guernsey, of 
 New Haven, was chosen to act in case one of the three 
 principals failed to do so. There is nothing in the records 
 to inform us of the action of this committee. The only 
 reference to it is found under date of April 8, 1770, when 
 Stephen Morris, Esq., was appointed to notify the County 
 Court of "the committee's doings." What is meant by 
 their "doings" is not stated; but certainly the people 
 were no more satisfied with them than they were with the 
 action of their own committee. The committee from abroad 
 was manifestly a failure. The project of building a new 
 meeting-house was abandoned, and the whole subject re- 
 mained in statu quo. But the increasing necessity for 
 larger and better accommodations w^ould not allow the 
 subject to rest for any long period. In the following De- 
 cember the society, by a two-thirds vote, again declared, 
 ' ' We will build a meeting-house for the public worship of 
 God." The next week the grand question of location was 
 tried, when twenty-seven votes were for the Hill, two votes 
 for the Corner, and twenty votes for the Green." It will 
 be seen, by comparing this result with the vote of the pre- 
 vious year, that while the ranks of the Hill party remained 
 unbroken, the number that voted for the Green was much 
 diminished. Then the vote stood thirty-seven for the Green, 
 and twenty- seven for the Hill. In the meantime a new site 
 had been proposed, known as "Thompson's Corner," 
 situated about midway between the other two, the selection 
 of which would require an equal concession from both 
 parties. The aggregate vote was fifteen less than that of 
 the previous year, and the presumption is, that in that 
 number were included those who were indifferent as to 
 which site was selected. 
 
H 
 
 The majority of the two piineipal jmrties remained 
 imyiel cling. Despairing of arriving at a decision among 
 th;^mselves, in Jannary, 1772, the sociefy, by formal vote, 
 referred the matter of locating the new meeting-house to 
 the Judges of the County Court. A committee was ap- 
 pointed to notify tliem of tlieir appointment, and "desire 
 their Honors should come as soon as it was convenient." 
 At a subsequent meeting, it was "Voted, that two of the 
 Judges of the County Court, with another judicious man, 
 should be a committee to state the place of the meeting- 
 house." Col. Chauncy, of Durham, Esquire Darling, and 
 Col. Allen, or Ailing, of New Haven, were afterwards 
 added. Col. Allen having declined to act, Caleb Beecher, 
 Esq., of Amity, now Woodbridge, was chosen in his place. 
 The society also requested the committee "to come and 
 take a view of the society before the court sits," and to 
 "keep their decision secret till the court hath empowered 
 them " to disclose it. The important question was decided 
 before the 10th of April ensuing. The committee came to 
 East Haven, and, after a thorough examination of the dif- 
 ferent sites, drove a stake on "Thompson's Corner," for 
 the site of the new meeting-house. Tiiis was the only de- 
 cision they could reasonably have rendered. It did not 
 meet the views of either of the principal parties, and 
 required an equal concession from both. That decision 
 was most fortunate. Had the committee fixed the site upon 
 the Green, the effect in the future might not liave been so 
 unhappy, though the society would have lost several fami- 
 lies that resided in the north part of the town, which, for 
 more than half a century afterwards, formed no inconsider- 
 able part of its strength. When marking the changes that 
 have taken place in the centers of population, since the 
 commencement of the present century, we readily perceive 
 how disastrous would have been the consequences had that 
 massive edifice, which was destined to last for centuries, 
 been located at the point of "Mullen Hill," instead of in 
 the central and coniuianding position it now occupies. 
 Notliiug appears in the society records to indicate that the 
 decision did not meet with general acquiescence. Tlie 
 
;i5 
 
 people were probably rejoic^ed tliat the long and acrimo- 
 nious controversy Avas ended. 
 
 As soon as the question of location was set at rest, steps 
 were at once taken to commence building. A sixpenny 
 tax was laid upon a total valuation not exceeding £5,000, 
 This would yield about £300, or $1,000 in Federal currency. 
 Upon this small amount, to be collected, the society de- 
 cided to commence the work. After much debate, it was 
 decided to "build a stone meeting-house, sixty-five feet 
 long and fifty feet wide." The tower did not enter into 
 the original plan, without which the new, like the old, 
 meeting-house, would have been in "barn fashion," differ- 
 ing from it only in being of larger dimensions and con- 
 structed of more enduring materials. The building com- 
 mittee were Capt, Amos Morris, John Woodward, Joel 
 Tuttle, Stephen Morris, Isaac Cdidsey, Stephen Thomp- 
 son , Dan Bradley, and Stephen Smith. After the main 
 building was commenced, a few public-spirited men, who 
 had somewhere seen specimens of a more advanced style 
 of architecture than was found in the Colony, were deter- 
 mined that the new edifice should be brought into conform- 
 ity with it. They had sufficient influence to procure a vote 
 of the society to "build a steeple to be carried up with 
 stone." It was, at the same time, decided to add eight feet 
 to the length of the building, making it seventy three feet. 
 
 The w^ork, when commenced, w^as pushed forward with 
 resolution and dispatch, for the same reason that the Jewish 
 temple was so speedily rebuilt, because "the people had a 
 mind to work." In contemplating the magnitude of the 
 work, and the difficulties in the way of its prosecution, it 
 must be remembered that few workers in stone were found 
 in the Colony. It is true the material required lay close at 
 hand, and was easy of access and transportation ; but the 
 quarrying, dressing, and laying the stone was done almost 
 entirely by the people themselves. It is less surprising 
 that they should have undertaken to build n, stone meeting- 
 house than that they should have wj-ought it in the manner 
 and form they did. There was not another in all the Eng- 
 lish Colonies in America, that furnished them with a pat- 
 
'26 
 
 tern. The stone dwelling-house that stands near Tomlin- 
 son's Bridge, built b}^ Capt. Jeliiel Forbes in 1767, was 
 evidently the model after which tln^ stone for the meeting- 
 house was wrought and laid. The "Old South Church," 
 in Boston, which had been lately linished in the latest style 
 of architecture, furnished the model for the general style 
 of the house. The circumstance is not mentioned in the 
 records, but there is a local tradition that some members 
 of the society went to Boston to examine that wonderful 
 edifice. Be that as it may, so faithfully and effectively was 
 the work done, that now, after the lapse of a hundred years 
 since its completion, scarcely a stone has started from its 
 original position, and the water-line is as level and even as 
 when it was first laid. The dimensions of the building, as 
 it now stands in its solid and massive proportions, mea- 
 sures, from outside to outside, seventy feet in length and 
 fifty feet in width. The work occupied a little more than 
 two years, and during its progress nothing occurred to 
 disturb the harmony of sentiment among the people, or to 
 interrupt for a moment its steady advance toward comple- 
 tion. But a single accident occurred, and this did not take 
 place till the walls were nearly finished, and was not as 
 serious as in the circumstances might have been expected. 
 The account of it is given in "Mr. Dodd's Register," and 
 is as follows : 
 
 "The workmen were raising the last window-cap to its place, over the east 
 upper window, on the north side, when the scaffolding gave way, and three 
 men, with a ponderous stone in their arms, fell to the ground. Tony, a negro 
 servant of Capt. Amos Morris', was considerably injured, but not so seriously 
 as to prevent his running away two weeks afterwards. Mr. Stephen Thomp- 
 son had his skull fractured, was oblidged to be trepanned, and, after long suffer- 
 ing and confinement, ultimately recovered. Mr. Joseph Hotchkiss had one leg 
 crushed by the stone falling upon it, was confined for ten months, and never 
 wholly recovered from the effects of the injury." 
 
 Th« walls were completed and the roof put on, in Au- 
 gust, 1774. When the work had advanced thus far, the 
 society found it had undertaken an enterprise it was unable 
 to finish. It had reached the limit of its ability, even gone 
 beyond it, and must leave the work lor another generation 
 to complete. It is estimated that the mere shell of the 
 
27 
 
 building, without a steeple, had cost the society $12,000, 
 or three-fifths of the whole amount of its grand list. It is 
 doubtful if sucli an instance of liberality and self-sacrifice 
 can be produced in the history of New England Congrega- 
 tionalism. 
 
 Many persons, not acquainted with the circumstances 
 of the village of East Haven at the time this house was 
 erected, and with its internal form and arrangements, have 
 expressed surprise that it should have been placed in the 
 position it now occupies. It was directed by the society, 
 that "the stone meeting-liouse shall front the south, and 
 on the main road." The beautiful avenue that now leads 
 to Morris' Causeway, was not opened till more than twenty 
 years afterwards. Those residing at South End, in order 
 to attend public worship on the Sabbath, were compelled 
 to go around by the Cove, through Bridge Swamp, and 
 thence around by the Green to the meeting-house. This 
 was a long, tedious, and uncomfortable ride, especially in 
 the winter, and it is not strange that those dwelling in the 
 south part of the society so strenuously resisted the trans- 
 fer of the site from the Green to Mullen Hill. By the pres- 
 ent arrangement, the building fronts the west. But it does 
 not now wear the same appearance it did when first com- 
 pleted, and for three-quarters of a century afterwards 
 Until 1850, it presented the same aspect externally, except- 
 ing the spire, as it did when dedicated in 1774. It had 
 three doors for entrance — one on the east end, one in the 
 south side of the tower, on the west end, and one on the 
 south side of the main building. The last mentioned was 
 the principal entrance, leading directly through the broad 
 aisle to the pulpit, which was placed high up against the 
 north wall ; consequently the south side was the front, and 
 the position of the building in accordance with the direc- 
 tion of the society. It is now regretted that it was so 
 placed, as the appearance of it would be finer 'and more 
 commanding liad the present front, or tower end, been 
 made to face the south, affording a clear view of its noble 
 facade to those approaching it by the fine avenue leading 
 to it from tlie Causeway. Had those who erected it fore- 
 
28 
 
 seen, not only the clianges in aruliitectural style and taste, 
 but in the surroundings of the stone church, they would 
 have arranged . some things very ditFerently. The present 
 style of church, and domestic architecture, is in striking 
 contrast with that which was in vogue a century ago. 
 Those structures, now considered so grand and noble and 
 tasty, a century hence will be looked upon as out of date, 
 and those then living will wonder at the strangeness of the 
 taste that could produce such architectural monstrosities, 
 as many of them undoubtedly are. But, if the men who 
 reared these walls could not foresee the coming changes in 
 these respects, they had the sagacity to perceive that the 
 building itself would be permanent. Unless destroyed by 
 accident or natural convulsion, it will endure for centuries, 
 and is capable of being repeatedly remodeled and improved, 
 at a comparatively trifling expense, so as to conform to the 
 continually changing demands of taste and fashion, which, 
 in other circumstances, would require the erection of a new 
 building. During the century it has stood, it has saved 
 the outlay of thousands of dollars, and will save thousands 
 more in the centuries to come. 
 
 Notwithstanding the unfinished state of the new meet- 
 ing-house, the society decided to occupy it for public 
 worship on the Sabbath. -Dark and threatening clouds 
 were gathering on the political horizon, and armed resist- 
 ance to the tyranny of the mother country became more 
 and more imminent, the consequences and the end whereof 
 could not be forecasted. Tlie means of the society were 
 exhausted. The idea of leaving the new edifice unoccupied, 
 after so great sacrifices and labor had been made for its 
 erection, was repugnant to their feelings. Therefore, the 
 pulpit and pews of the old meeting-house were removed to 
 the new ; and although, in consequence of the greater 
 dimensions of the latter, tln^ interior wore the appearance 
 of ill-fittiiig hose — "a world too wide for the shrunk 
 slianks" — tlie house was made quite comfortable and ready 
 for dedication in September, 1774. The precise day can 
 not be determined, either from records or tradition. 
 
 The occasion was one of great interest and exultation. 
 
29 
 
 There were no differences of opinion among tlie people, in 
 regard eitlier to ecclesiastical polity or forms of worship. 
 There were, indeed, discordant sentiments concerning the 
 great political question of the day — the necessity or expe- 
 diency of resistance to tlie oppressive acts of the llritish 
 government ; but they had not reached that point of bitter- 
 ness they eventually attained, when they produced religious 
 and social divisions. All were united, harmonious, and 
 haj^py, in the completion of that meeting-house wliich had 
 cost them so much ; which was justly regarded with pride, 
 as unequalled by any ecclesiastical structure in the Colony. 
 When, therefore, the auspicious morning arrived, the wliole 
 community was astir, and we may be sure that nothing 
 less than a providential reason prevented any resident of 
 East Haven from being present at the dedicatory services. 
 As the hour for their commencejnent approached, some on 
 foot, and some on horse-back with wives and daughters on 
 pillions behind them, and some in ox-carts — for otlier con 
 ve3^ance there was none — wended their way from every 
 section of the town, all converging toward the Center, 
 where stood the new meeting-house, the grand object of 
 interest to all. From tlie north, and along the eastern side 
 of the Mullen Hill range, came the Thompsons and Smiths, 
 the Chidsej^s and Moulthrops, the Holts and the Granniss', 
 the Luddingtons and Dawsons, the Andrews' and Ilotch- 
 kiss' and Shepards. From the same direction, and along 
 tlie western side of the same hill, came the Bradle^ys and 
 Hemingways, the Russells and Rowes, and Davenports. 
 From the soutii came the Morris' and Pardees, the Smiths, 
 and Thompsons, and Bishops. From the west came the 
 Browns and Pardees, the Mallorys and Hughes', the 
 Forbes' and Woodwards, witli many of the same names, 
 together with other ancient families residing at the Center, 
 filling the new meeting-house with probably as lai-ge a 
 congregation as has ever gathered within its walls. It has 
 been my fortune to meet but a single person avIio was 
 present on the occasion — Jehiel Forbes, Esq., who became 
 one of the most successful merchants and eminent citizens 
 of New Haven, and died in 1855, at the advanced age of 
 
30 
 
 nearly ninety years. Some years previous to his death he 
 related to me some of the occnrrences of the day, which 
 made an unusually vivid impression on his mind, as fresh 
 and clear in his memor}^, after the lapse of eighty years, as 
 it was the day it was made. He was at the time about six 
 years of age, and rode to the scene from his home — the old 
 Forbes Mansion, near Tomlinson's Bridge — on hore-back 
 behind his father. Doubtless many from New Haven and 
 the adjacent towns, with the neighboring ministers, were 
 present to participate in the services, and congratulate the 
 people of East Haven, on the completion of what, at the 
 time, was a gigantic work — the first stone meeting-house in 
 the Colony of Connecticut. 
 
 For several years diligent inquiry has been made for 
 the dedication sermon, preached by Mr. Street on this 
 occasion, but without success. Could that be found, the 
 precise day of its occurrence, as also of the first Sabbatli it 
 was occupied for public worship, would be known. This 
 knowledge is now hopelessly lost. We may imagine some- 
 thing of the feeling of that congregation, when, for the first 
 time, they gathered within these walls, reared by their 
 toils, and self-denials, and sacrifices. Rough and unfin- 
 ished as they were, when they gazed upon them, and 
 thought there was nothing like them in all New England, 
 they would feel amply repaid for all they had cost. And, 
 as they accompanied their beloved pastor in his fervent 
 thanksgivings at the throne of grace, and listened to his 
 recital of the struggles through which they had passed for 
 the accomplishment of their great work, they would feel 
 confident their descendants would manifest their apprecia- 
 tion of the work they had performed, not merely by the 
 preservation of this sacred edifice from desecration and 
 decay, but by continuing steadfast in their adherence to 
 those principles of truth and righteousness, of patriotism 
 and piety, which have ever been inculcated here, and of 
 whii^h the solid structure they reared, and the im])erisli- 
 able materials of which it is composed, are the fitting 
 emblems. 
 
31 
 
 "It was a great and lionoiablu work," says Mr. Dodd in his Register, 
 published just half a century ago, " and there stands as a lasting monument of 
 the enterprise, public spirit, wisdom, and perseverance of the undertakers, and 
 especially of the leaders. It was a cheaper l)iiilding than one of wood. They 
 had stone and lime, and teams and laborers enough to do the work. A stone 
 house saved them money. The papers containing the accounts of the building 
 are lost, and the expense of it can not now be ascertained. But it is supposed, 
 that when they began to meet in it, it had cost ten or eleven thousand dollars. 
 The steeple and inside of the house were finished several years afterwards, for 
 the war coming on nothing could be done. Indeed, the society has never seen 
 a more favorable period for this great work. They were then united as one 
 people ; and the society, probably, never contained a company of men of more 
 enterprise, or greater resolution and public spirit, than that generation con- 
 tained. The Revolutionary War commenced the next year. And when that 
 war was terminated, divisions began to appear, and had considerably dimin- 
 ished the active abilty of the society to perform such a work again ; and, in a 
 few years, a number of those influential and enterprising men were removed 
 by death. And though there is yet a considerable portion of wealth in the 
 society, it is not accompanied with the same resolution and enterprise which 
 the fathers possessed. But it ought to be considered, that tlie hand of the 
 Lord was in the work. The time had come when the ' Lord's house should be 
 built,' and then men and means was prepared to execute the work of the Lord 
 and fultiU the divine purpose. 'Except the Lord build the house, they labour 
 in vain that build it.' And when the work was done, the people had occasion 
 to say, ' The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.' " 
 
 It was completed, dedicated, and occupied in the au- 
 tumn immediately preceding the Battle of Lexington, 
 which occurred April 18, 1775, Then was fired the tirst 
 gun of that revolution which, after eight years continuance, 
 resulted in the independence of the Colonies, and the birth 
 of a nation. It is needless to state, that with few excep- 
 tions, the congregation that worshiped here were heart and 
 soul with the patriots in their struggle for liberty, and 
 many of its young men gave their lives to the cause of 
 their country ; some on the battle-field, some in naval con- 
 flicts on the ocean, but more in the deadly prison ships at 
 New York. The "Stone Meeting-house" was the ap- 
 pointed rallying place in times of danger, and when, at the 
 invasion of New Haven in 1779, a strong detachment of 
 British troops landed on the East Haven shore, and com- 
 mitted their customary depredations, these walls were soon 
 surrounded by a body of brave and resolute men, who 
 would have defended them so long as stones enough re- 
 
tnained to make a breastwork. The enemy formed in line 
 of battle, on the crest of yonder liill,* witli banners waving 
 and drums beating, apparent I3' about to swoop down upon 
 the little village and devote it to destruction. But the 
 officers seeing, with their glasses, the numbers gathered 
 and the preparations made to receive them, and being 
 without cannon, soon withdrew and hastily decamped to 
 their boats. Beyond the burning of a few buildings, and 
 the killing of one man — Isaac Pardee — they inflicted no 
 further injury, and never reappeared in this vicinity. One 
 incident of the Revolution is worthy of record. When the 
 army under General Sullivan, in Rhode Island, was trans- 
 ferred to New Jersey, to strengthen Washington in his 
 operations against General Howe, La Fayette with his regi- 
 ment encamped for a few days on the East Haven Green. 
 In 1824, on the occasion of his revisiting this country, he 
 rode out from New Haven to review the place of his en- 
 campment, nearly fifty years before. 
 
 In the constant state of excitement that pervaded the 
 country, and the frequent calls for men and money to carry 
 on the war, and consequent depression of every kind of 
 business and industrial pursuits, there was neither the dis- 
 position nor the ability to do any thing about the comple- 
 tion of the meeting-house. From subsequent developments 
 in the history of the town, it is evident that if it had not 
 been built at the time it was, it wotrld never have been 
 erected, at least in its present form. When the war closed, 
 the attention and energies of the people were engrossed by 
 the struggle to obtain a town charter, which had been in 
 progress, at intervals, for a hundred years, but was not suc- 
 cessful till 1785. The ill-feelings engendered by political 
 causes, during the war, had introduced discord into the 
 society, whicli, a few years later, resulted in a permanent 
 division. This combination of influences prevented any 
 effort being made towards finishing the meeting-house. It 
 was not until nearly twenty years had passed away, and 
 the men who had been most active in building it had gone 
 
 * Beacon Hill, 
 
33 
 
 to their graves, that any serious movement was made in 
 this direction. In the meantime the peoph^ continued to 
 occupy it, for the services of public worship, cheerfully 
 submitting to the inconveniences resulting from its unfin- 
 ished condition, in hope the time would come when their 
 sanctuary would put on an appearance more consonant 
 with the honor of Him to whose worship it had been con- 
 secrated, and more in accordance with tlieir own intentions, 
 taste, and feelings. "^^ 
 
 The first action taken by the society, in regard to it, 
 was in 1791, but nothing decisive was effected till March, 
 1793, when Esquire Samuel Davenport, Amos Morris, 
 Jun., Joseph Russell, John Woodward, and Dan Holt, 
 "they, or the major part of them, be authorized and em- 
 powered to indent and agree with any gentleman or gentle- 
 men, to finish the meeting-house of said society, in said 
 East Haven, in such a manner as they, or the major part 
 of them, shall think best ; said house to be finished by the 
 first of December, A. D. 1794." Though objection was 
 made to building a spire at the same time, on the ground 
 
 * From an incident that occurred in society meeting, in December, 1774, it 
 seems that the singers, who composed an important part of tlie congregation, 
 were subjected to greater inconvenience than others who attended divine 
 worship on the Sabbath, and tlie society was indisposed to afford tlxem relief. 
 The galleries of the meeting-house were not furnished with seats, except such 
 as had been extemporized of the roughest materials by the singers themselves. 
 After submitting for several months to this inconvenience, they petitioned for 
 better accommodations. In response, the society coolly " Voted, that the 
 singers should have liberty to make seats around the gallery, upon their own 
 cost." But, with characteristic sensitiveness, this action was greatly disliked 
 by the singers. The society receded, and " voted to build two seats round the 
 gallery for the singers ; and that the singers that carry the tenor should sit at 
 the east end of the first, or front gallery, and the base at the south end of the 
 west gallery, the treble at the north end of the east gallery." This arrange- 
 ment appears to have been satisfactory to all parties. 
 
 The Episcopal Society was organized in 1787, and was the result of divis- 
 ions which had occurred in the Congregational Society during the Revolution- 
 ary War. This secession weakened, to some extent, the old society, and 
 delayed for a time the making of those improvements in and upon the meeting- 
 house which were greatly needed. But, notwithstanding the loss it had 
 sustained, it was still a strong and united body, and four years afterwards the 
 first movement was made towards commencing the much-needed and desired 
 work. 
 
34 
 
 of the increased burden it would impose, it was finally 
 concluded to make one business of it. It was felt to be full 
 time that the edifice, which the preceding generation had 
 reared with so much enterprise, perseverance, and sacrifice^ 
 should be completed in the form and manner originally 
 designed. The people gave themselves to the work with 
 characteristic energy, and carried it through to a successful 
 issue. But the time allotted for it was wholly inadequate, 
 and instead of two it was four years before it was ready for 
 occupation. There are those present here to-day, who can 
 remember the interior arrangements as this house stood 
 completed in 1796, and before its alteration in 1822. Its 
 entire length was traversed by two aisles, from east to west, 
 while three transverse aisles intersected these, the middle 
 one of which lead directly from the front door to the pulpit. 
 The long gallery was on the south side, and two shorter 
 ones extended across the east and west ends. The stairs 
 leading to them were in the south-east and south-west cor- 
 ners, within the audience-room, and the tramping up and 
 down them, by uneasy boys or belated men with their 
 clumsy boots, during service, caused no little annoyance to 
 the minister and congregation. The clatter made by the 
 down-rush, at the close of the service, was almost deafen- 
 ing. But the grand and overshadowing object within was 
 the pulpit, with its surroundings, overhangings, and orna- 
 mentations. This was a marvel for workmanship, archi- 
 tecture, and embellishment. Perched at the highest possi- 
 ble point, it was a subject of ceaseless wonder, especially 
 to the child-mind, how the minister ever got into it, and, 
 when once in, how he ever got out. It must have been at 
 the hazard of a stiff neck on Monday, if those seated in the 
 body of the house kept their eyes on the preacher during 
 the delivery of the sermons on Sunday. But to the child- 
 ren, the most attractive .object was the sounding-board, or 
 canopy, which hung suspended over the pulpit by an iron 
 rod, so apparently slender as to be liable any moment to 
 break and let the whole ponderous mass fall and extinguish 
 the preacher. Upon what principle of acoustics such a 
 machine was constructed, it is difficult to imagine. The 
 
35 
 
 only earthly use it did subserve was to rivet the attention 
 of children and keep them quiet, by the intense interest it 
 excited. The cumbrous pulpit, with its massive canopy, 
 stood its ground amid the changes of nearly sixty years, 
 and until the extensive alterations and improvements made 
 in and upon the meeting-house in 1850, when it was sold at 
 public auction, and the sounding-board appropriated to the 
 ignoble itse of a chicken-coop, where, instead of reverbe- 
 rating the tones of ministerial eloquence, it echoed with 
 the hoarse notes of incipient chanticleers. Sic transit gloria 
 inundi. 
 
 When the improvements were completed, a difficulty 
 arose that had not been anticipated. After repeated trials, 
 it was found impossible to seat the meeting-house in the 
 ancient manner without creating great dissatisfaction. 
 Committee after committee was appointed ; some being 
 unable to effect any thing resigned, whilst others were 
 superseded. A few years after this mode of procedure was 
 abandoned, and a different and more generally satisfactory 
 plan adopted. A great change had taken place in the 
 sentiments and habits of the people in the three-quarters 
 of a century since any thing of the kind had been done. 
 The old English notion, that special privileges should be 
 accorded to persons of birth, and rank, and wealth, in the 
 House of God, had passed away, and more democratic 
 ideas, the natural result of national independence, and 
 more in accordance with the genius of those free institu- 
 tions established by the Federal Constitution, had begun 
 to prevail. By the adoption of a different plan for dis- 
 posing of the seats, the society was happily relieved of an 
 element of discord, which, for a time, threatened serious 
 results. The whole trouble had its origin in the endeavor 
 to retain a system totally at variance with the altered con- 
 ditions of society, and should have been allowed to disap- 
 pear with the knee-breeches and shoe-buckles, and long 
 queues of the former generation. 
 
 The society had scarcely completed their meeting- 
 house, and became comfortably settled in it, when a great 
 calamity befel it. In October, 1797, a terrible tornado 
 
36 
 
 passed through the center of the town, threw down the 
 newly erected spire, unroofed the building, and otherwise 
 seriously damaged it. To repair these damages required 
 renewed effort and sacrifice on the part of the people. 
 They were, as usual, equal to the emergency. The work 
 was commenced immediately, with the express stipulation 
 that it should be done in the most perfect and thorough 
 manner. No person now living retains a recoMection of 
 the first spire. Many years ago an aged member of the 
 congregation informed me that it was of the form and style 
 poj)ularly known as the " Squaw's Cap," which some now 
 present can remember as surmounting the ancient meeting- 
 houses familiar to their childhood. The new one that re- 
 placed it was a tall and graceful spire, far superior in form 
 and style to the one that had been destroyed. It remained 
 standing till 1857, when, becoming delapidated and de- 
 cayed, and in danger of falling, it was taken down, and 
 that beautiful and graceful spire erected, which now towers 
 so grandly above the ancient church and village around it. 
 The entire cost of repairing the damages caused by the 
 tornado, amounted to $1,000, which, added to the $2,500 
 just expended in finishing the meeting-house, was a large 
 sum for so small a society to raise, at a time when the value 
 of a dollar was three times as great as at present. 
 
 The repairs having been completed, to the general satis- 
 faction, the people determined to supply a great deficiency. 
 During the pastorate of Mr. Heminway, the hours for com- 
 mencing worship on the Sabbath were announced by beat of 
 drum. Deacon Joshua Austin was chosen first drummer, 
 whether because of his superior skill with the instrument, 
 or being an otRce-bearer in the churcli, he would perform 
 upon it in a more orthodox and godly manner, is not stated. 
 The society, by formal vote, directed him to "beat the 
 drum from 'Chidsey's Hill' to 'Goodsell's Hill,' " that is, 
 from the present residence of Lucius Linsley, Esq., to that 
 of Justin Bradley, Esq. The custom was probably discon- 
 tinued early in the ministry of Mr. Street, as no trace of it 
 is found in the records after his settlement. In 1798, the 
 society "voted to procure a bell, to place in the new 
 
37 
 
 steeple." The necessary funds were appropriated, and a 
 committee appointed to carry out the vote. Dr. Bela Farn- 
 ham, one of that committee, who died in 1857 at the ad- 
 vanced age of eighty-nine years, informed me that he was 
 present at the melting of the metal, into which he threw 
 nineteen Spanish milled dollars, to give to the bell a sharp 
 and silvery tone. The committee were also present at the 
 important and mj^sterious process of casting, and with great 
 satisfaction saw the bell come forth from its smoking mold 
 in full perfection of beauty and tone. It has no motto 
 uj)on it, and bears only the inscription, ' ' Fenton & Coch- 
 ran, New Haven, 1798." It is the only one the society has 
 ever had, and for more than three-quarters of a century it 
 has, with cheery tones, called two generations and a half 
 of the people of the village to the house of prayer, with 
 solemn accents announced their deaths, and with measured 
 and melancholy toll marked the slow march of the funeral 
 procession that followed their remains to the grave. The 
 first year it was hung, its mournful notes announced the 
 death of the good and great Washington, and the last time 
 it pealed forth the sad intelligence of the death of a presi- 
 dent, was when the equally good and patriotic Lincoln 
 died by the bullet of the assassin, in April, 1865, This 
 bell is remarkable for the purity and richness of its tone, 
 which makes it capable of being heard at a greater distance 
 than bells of much larger size and weight. After it had 
 been raised to its position and hung, a curious direction 
 was given to the person invested with the dignity of first 
 bell-ringer in East Haven, namely, he was ' ' not to turn the 
 bell over in ringing." No description is given of the appa- 
 ratus used for working it ; but unless it was different from 
 any thing now employed for the purpose, the ringing must 
 have been a difficult affair, and the sounds produced some- 
 what peculiar. 
 
 There were some public-spirited, energetic, ^nd liberal 
 men in the society, with whom the determination to do a 
 thing was the same as doing it. Upon their request the 
 society passed a vote, giving permission " to Edmond 
 Bradley and others, to affix a clock in the steeple, in such a 
 
38 
 
 manner as to strike the bell that is about to be fixed in said 
 steeple ; provided, that said clock is affixed without any 
 expense to the society." The clock was procured and 
 placed in position. It proved to be an excellent instru- 
 ment and true time-keeper, and for more than three-quar- 
 ters of a century has been the unfailing index of the time, 
 and announced the passing hours to all dwelling within 
 sound of the bell ; excepting, on a few occasions, when, for 
 lack of the same spirit that actuated those who procured it, 
 its works have been allowed to remain, sometimes for 
 years, silent and motionless.* 
 
 Thus, the "Old Stone Meeting-house," after the lapse of 
 thirty years from its projection, stood complete in all its 
 appointments, both external and internal, by^far the finest 
 church edifice in New Haven County. The ministry of the 
 aged pastor was now drawing to a close. For fifty years 
 he had stood on these walls of Zion, and proved himself 
 an able preacher and a faithful pastor — "a workman 
 thoroughly furnished unto every good work." He was a 
 man of dignified presence, tending to portliness, with a 
 
 * If tlie congregation that worshiped in the " Okl Stone Meeting-house," 
 at the close of the last centuiy, did not enjoy good singing, it was not for want 
 of a large choir, or of choristers qualified to lead it. In 1799, no less than four 
 choristers were appointed, and the following year six. They were all men, 
 and, therefore, could not, as might have been surmised, officiate as leaders of 
 the several parts of the harmony. It is not stated whether they all officiated 
 at the same time, or by rotation. Such an arrangement appears strange at the 
 present day, when a paid quartet is considered sufficient to perform this im- 
 portant part of tlie services of public worship. Unless the disposition and 
 habits of choir singers have undergone an entire change since that time, such 
 an arrangement could not be of long continuance. That it was not, is evident 
 from the fact that the next year but a single chorister was appointed, and it is 
 significant that he was altogether a diSerent person from any of the six who 
 had been chosen to fill the office the previous year. In connection with his 
 appointment, the society authorized the committee " to purchase a Pitch-pipe, 
 for the use of the chorister." For many years this was the only instrument 
 allowed in the Congregational Churches of New England. 
 
 In 180G, in response to their petition, the society gave permission to 
 Samuel Bradley and others, " to fence in the meeting-house, under the special 
 direction of the society's committee." I have been unable to learn whether the 
 fence was built or not, probably it was not, on account of disagreement 
 between the proposers and the committee, concerning the kind of fence to be 
 erected. 
 
39 
 
 eel-tain deliberateness in his movements wliicli gave ini- 
 pressiveness to them ; somewhat reserved in liis intercourse 
 with strangers, he was easy and aftable with his own peo- 
 ple, often indulging in humorous remarks and witticisms, 
 many of which are still lloating around in the traditionary 
 folk-talk of the community. He was an especial favorite 
 with the young, an exceptional circumstance at a time 
 when a minister was generally made a bugbear to frighten 
 refractory children into obedience. It is to these traits was 
 owing the strong hold he had on the aft'ections of his peo- 
 ple, which he retained till his death, which occurred on 
 the tifty-tirst anniversary of his ordination, October 8, 1806. 
 As he appears in the portrait that has been preserved of 
 him, he was a man evidently fitted to inspire reverence, 
 confidence, and afiection ; one to whom flie troubled would 
 go for counsel and advice, and the alflicted for sympathy 
 and consolation. 
 
 Mr. Street's theology was of that type which, a century 
 ago, was known throughout New England as " Old Light," 
 and is now denominated "Hyper-Calvinism." Much of 
 his preaching consisted in the exposition and enforcement 
 of his favorite doctrines ; but they were never presented in 
 the dry, bony, scholastic form, which was the prevalent 
 style of preaching in his day. He had the rare faculty of 
 presenting abstruse subjects in a form of language interest- 
 ing to his hearers. Doctrines, such as the "Existence of 
 sin," "How a sinless being can fall," "Divine Decrees," 
 "Predestination to eternal life," or "Election," assumed 
 an interest under his treatment which stripped them of that 
 repulsiveness with which they are commonly regarded, and 
 clothed them with all the importance of a necessary part of 
 the Christian scheme. The reason of his power in handling 
 these great doctrines was not merely because he presented 
 them in a clear, simple, and intelligent language, level with 
 the capacities of those he aimed to instruct, nor because he 
 manifested a sincere conviction of their truth, but because 
 he threw into his exposition of them all the goodness of his 
 heart, and all the warmth of an earnest nature. But it 
 would be doing injustice to Mr. Street to leave the impres- 
 
40 
 
 sion that this class of subjects formed tlie staple of ills 
 preaching. His practical discourses, comprising much the 
 larger portion of his writings that have been preserved, are 
 of unusual excellence and power, and show a profound 
 knowledge of the workings of the liunian heart. What are 
 denominated hortatory sermons he never preached. Whit- 
 field was the originator of that style of preaching. During 
 the entire period of Mr. Street's ministry, commencing the 
 year immediately succeeding Whitfield's death, there was 
 a reaction from the intense excitement produced by his 
 preaching and that of his imitators. For thirty years 
 after the commencement of the war of the revolution, the 
 churches of New England were marked by a low state of 
 religion and absence of revivals, unparalelled by any 
 similar period in their history. This season of spiritual 
 deadness closed about the time Mr. Street was laid aside 
 from active labor, by reason of age and infirmities. Had 
 his ministry fallen upon times of greater spiritual activity 
 and religious feeling, it is evident, from his ability and 
 personal piety, that his preaching would have been of an 
 entirely different character, and he would have stood in the 
 front rank with men like Lyman Beecher and Edward D. 
 Griffin, in laboring for the promotion of revivals of religion. 
 Although nothing like what is denominated a revival oc- 
 curred during his ministry, yet that ministry was eminently 
 successful, as is manifest from the fact that, at its close, the 
 membership of the church was nearly double what it was 
 at its commencement. It is no more than simple justice to 
 state, that the series of powerful revivals with which this 
 church was blessed, during the ministry of his successor in 
 the pastoral office, was unquestionably the ingathering of 
 a harvest, the seeds of which were sown by the faithful 
 preaching and labors of Mr. Street. 
 
 Rev. Saul Clark, of Southampton, Mass., succeeded 
 Mr. Street as pastor of this church. During his ministry, 
 which extended from January, 1808, to May, 1817, nothing 
 was done to the meeting-house in the way of alteration or 
 improvement ; therefore, a brief glance at the character and 
 results of his labors will be all that is necessary. He was 
 
41 
 
 a man of decided opinions, great energy and resolution, 
 and an able and eloquent preacher. Holding the same 
 theological views as his predecessor, he never hesitated to 
 present them on all appropriate occasions, and in the 
 strongest and most expressive manner. Earnest, animated, 
 and emotional, the eflects of his preaching soon began to 
 be manifested. Almost simultaneously with his ordination 
 commenced that series of revivals, which continued to fol- 
 low each other with astonishing rapidity till the close of 
 his ministry, and even after that, with intervals of only a 
 few years duration, down to the present time. The mem- 
 bership and moral power of the church was largely in- 
 creased. They were an entirely new spectacle and experi- 
 ence in East Haven. It appears from the church records, 
 that from its organization in 1711, and even from the com- 
 mencement of public worship in 1681, nothing like what is 
 now designated a revival of religion had occurred in its 
 history. From 1733 to 1750 revivals had extensively pre- 
 vailed throughout New England. Commencing at North- 
 ampton, Mass., under the preaching of Jonathan Edwards, 
 they were greatly extended by that of Whitfield and his 
 coadjutors and imitators. As, the result of the labors of 
 one of these — Rev. John Davenport, of Stamford — a power- 
 ful revival of religion was produced in New Haven and its 
 vicinity. There is no evidence that it effected, in the 
 slightest degree, the church in East Haven. Mr. Hemin- 
 way was one of the signers of a declaration to the Gen- 
 eral Association, censuring Whitfield and his measures.* 
 Therefore, to Mr, Clark belongs the credit, if any is due to 
 a mere human instrument, of having revolutionized the 
 sentiments of this church, and stamped upon it that high 
 evangelical character it has ever since retained. This 
 church and society have been somewhat noted for their 
 conservatism, which has at times blocked the wheels of 
 progress and prevented their reaping the benefits of the 
 improvements which have been going on all around them. 
 But, in respect to revivals, this church stands on the most 
 
 * See Appendix, 
 
42 
 
 advanced ground. The effects of the revivals enjoyed 
 during Mr. Clark's ministry were unusually stable and 
 lasting. The present pastor is happy in being able to give 
 his unqualitied testimony on this point, from a personal 
 knoAvledge of many who embraced religion at that time, 
 and were living at the commencement of his ministry. 
 They were among the most reliable, prayerful, and spirit- 
 ually-minded of the members of the church. 
 
 But the very things that appeared adapted to assure the 
 prosperity of the church, brought on a crisis in its history, 
 which, for a time, threatened its existence. During the 
 later years of Mr. Street's ministry many practices had 
 crept into the church which were incompatable with the 
 purity of the Christian character, and destructive of the 
 spirituality of religion. Tlie line of demarcation between 
 the church and the world was nearly obliterated. The new 
 pastor soon came in conflict with these demoralizing tend- 
 encies. The revival that began soon after his ordination, 
 elevated the tone of piety in the church. These practices 
 were revealed in their true nature and influence, and recog- 
 nized as inconsistent with a profession of religion. A 
 festering ulcer was on the body of the church, and could 
 not be healed without destroying the equilibrium of, and 
 inflicting pain upon, the whole system. The diseased limb 
 must be amputated, or death would ensue. Mr. Clark 
 addressed himself to the task, with all the energy and 
 determination of an ardent nature, never for a moment 
 weighing his personal interests against the interests of 
 piety. A course of discipline was instituted against offend- 
 ing members, and prosecuted with such great effect that 
 the church was purged of the corrupt practices that had 
 crept into it. These measures produced much ill-feeling, 
 and the afiectiou of many was alienated from the pastor. 
 The excitement was intense. Some, who had been most 
 active in his settlement, became most vociferous in de- 
 manding his dismission. But the great majority of the 
 church, comprising the whole of its spiritual and active 
 piety, and especially the younger portion of the congrega- 
 tion, over whom he had gained a strong influence, rallied 
 
43 
 
 around liini and sustained him, till tlie work was done. 
 As many as forty families withdrew, and united with other 
 congregations. Some of these subsequently returned, when 
 the passions of the hour had passed away, and the children 
 of others attached themselves to the old society, when, after 
 a few years, it was seen that the principles for which Mr. 
 Clark contended, were precisely those embraced by all 
 evangelical churches. In respect to these principles, he 
 was merely in advance of the people. Just as, seventy-five 
 years earlier, Jonathan Edwards was driven from North- 
 ampton, for adherence to a principle which was afterwards 
 adopted by all the churches in New England. With un- 
 flinching energy and unbending will, Mr. Clark carried 
 through the measures by which the church was purified 
 and her moral power in the community greatly increased. 
 The crisis was passed ; and in the very measures which 
 many predicted would prove its ruin, was laid the founda- 
 tion of a larger prosperity and stronger influence in the 
 coming years. 
 
 The church was saved, but the pastor had sacrificed 
 himself. He was dismissed, by his own request, in May, 
 1817, but continued to labor with success in various parts 
 of the Lord' s vineyard. His services were much in demand 
 in revivals of religion. He died in Meriden, in 1849, and 
 was buried among the people of his early love, where, with 
 all the former pastors of this church, he lies among the 
 generations gone, to whom they broke the ' ' bread of life, 
 pointed to heaven, and led the way," in yonder quiet 
 cemetery, where all distinctions are leveled, and all earthly 
 passions are quelled, and where friend and foe sleep to- 
 gether undisturbed in the silent realms of death. 
 
 After the storm the calm. Rev. Stephen Dodd was 
 installed in December, 1817. His pastorate of twenty-nine 
 years was singularly quiet, calm, and successful. From 
 character, and previous experience in the ministry, he was 
 peculiarly qualified to follow the boisterous ministry of 
 Mr. Clark, conciliate the disaffected, and bring back the 
 wanderers to the fold. As we approach the present, the 
 interest in the past weakens, and it will be necessary to 
 
44 
 
 dwell only on a few points in illustration of the history of 
 the "Old Stone Meeting-house," during his pastorate. In 
 thirty years its interior arrangements had become some- 
 what antiquated. A new style of finishing and furnishing 
 the interior of a meeting-house, by the substitution of slips 
 for pews, had come into vogue. A few years before, the 
 First Ecclesiastical Society in New Haven had erected a 
 new, large, and for the time, magnificent church, finished 
 in the latest and most fashionable style. Taking this for 
 their model, the East Haven Society took out the square 
 pews in the body and north side of the house, and replaced 
 them with slips. For a long time there had been a growing 
 dissatisfaction with the old mode of defraying the current 
 expenses of the society by taxation. The plan was now 
 proposed, to make a permanent sale of the pews, and with 
 the avails found a fund for the support of the ministry. 
 The plan was adopted, and the sum realized was $8,000. 
 This was a good arrangement, so long as those lived who 
 established the fund ; but when they were gone, and the 
 pews inherited by a number of different heirs, its evil tend- 
 encies became apparent. In less than thirty years it was a 
 detriment to the society, and, unless it had been broken 
 up, would have resulted in its financial ruin. The plan 
 seems to have been adopted on the principle of Metternich's 
 famous saying, '''After me the deluge." 
 
 In 1830 the first church in Fair Haven was organized. 
 The majority of its members went from this church, and 
 carried with them some of the most important families in 
 the congregation. This greatly weakened the society, and 
 but for the fund previously established, the effect would 
 have been more disastrous. It was one of those events in 
 a grovidng community that is inevitable. That section of 
 the town, which for nearly two centuries was simply an 
 appendage to it, has grown into one of the most beautiful 
 and busiest villages in the State ; and, in forty-four years, 
 that feeble church, commenced in 1830, has expanded into 
 two large and flourishing Congregational Churches, besides 
 five others of different denominations. 
 
 It was during the pastorate of Mr. Dodd that the first 
 
45 
 
 fence, of which there is any account, was put around the 
 meeting-house lot. This was due to the energy, enterprise, 
 and liberality of the ladies of the congregation. It was an 
 ornamental as well as substantial structure, and for thirty 
 years added greatly to the general appearance and beauty 
 of the church surroundings. 
 
 Rev. Stephen Dodd was an earnest, faithful, and suc- 
 cessful pastor, an able and often eloquent preacher. He 
 was a firm and outspoken advocate of temperance, and did 
 good service in the earlier years of the history of the cause. 
 In addition to his pastoral labors, he performed a work for 
 East Haven which should cause his name to be held in 
 grateful remembrance by all the coming generations of its 
 children. He had a great fondness for historical and gene- 
 alogical researches, and soon after his settlement com- 
 menced the compilation of a brief history of the town, and 
 a genealogical and statistical record of its families. By 
 reason of the imperfect state of the village records, for the 
 first century and a half of its history, this was a work of 
 great difficulty. With characteristic energy, patience, and 
 perseverance, he began to gather up the oral traditions of 
 the past, as they existed in the memories of the most aged 
 persons in the community, and spent much time in the 
 ancient burying-ground, where he gleaned many important 
 items of information, by deciphering the half-obliterated 
 inscriptions on its memorial stones. The results of his 
 labors and investigations were published in 1824, under the 
 title of "East Haven Register." Although not a compend- 
 ious or complete history, it contains an amount of informa- 
 tion concerning the town and its ancient families, which, 
 but for him, would be buried in oblivion. The book is now 
 out of print, and those who are fortunate enough to possess 
 a copy place a high value upon it. Mr. Dodd resigned his 
 pastorate in December, 1846, but continued to reside in the 
 town, respected and venerated, till his death in February, 
 1856, at the ripe age of seventy-seven years. His successor 
 takes pleasure in saying, that he was a sympathetic, plea- 
 sant, and valuable parishioner. 
 
 Owing to various causes, the condition of the society at 
 
46 
 
 the commencement of the present pastorate, in June, 1847, 
 was unfavorable. The meeting-house was antiquated, 
 inconvenient, dilapidated, and in striking contrast with 
 others in the vicinity ; and one grand obstacle was in the 
 way of all improvements. After the withdrawal of so 
 many, to unite with the First Church and Society in Fair 
 Haven, the salary of the pastor was reduced to the precise 
 income of the fund, and the society, by formal vote, had 
 taken the stand that this should be a permanent arrange- 
 ment. This was suicidal. The pew owners were the 
 society, and a large number, mostly young men, were not 
 called upon to contribute a penny for the support of the 
 institutions of religion ; consequently, they felt little in- 
 terest in them, for that which costs nothing is lightly 
 esteemed. The pastor, soon after his settlement, perceived 
 the difficulties with which he had to contend, and that 
 unless they were removed his labors would be in vain — his 
 ministry a failure. If this incubus was permitted to remain, 
 what little of public spirit was left in the society would 
 disappear; and the society itself, notwithstanding it con- 
 tained the elements for a strong and effective organization, 
 must die of inanition and inaction — an ecclesiastical maras- 
 mus. 
 
 It was fortunate that, at the time, the society contained 
 a few energetic and public-spirited men, who, taking the 
 matter in hand, with the tacit consent rather than active 
 co-operation of the majority, carried it successfully through 
 this cri-sis. Having secured for it the rights of the pew 
 owners, either by purchase at a reduced valuation, or by 
 the free gift of the more generous or more able, the work 
 of remodeling, repairing, and refurnishing the " Old Stone 
 Meeting-house" was commenced in May, 1850, and com- 
 pleted in the following October. The interior arrangements 
 and external aspect of the building were entirely changed. 
 When the work was finished, nothing was left of the ancient 
 structure but the solid walls, and even these had under- 
 gone extensive alterations. The upper tier of windows was 
 lowered, the doors and windows on the east end filled up, 
 as well also the doors on the south side and in the tower. 
 
and the window behind the pulpit, on the north side ; new 
 frames and windows were inserted, and the building brought 
 into that shape and style it now presents. 
 
 The change of the interior was even more sweeping. 
 The west end was pierced with doors, one on each side of 
 the tower ; the pulpit placed at the east end, changing the 
 front from the south to the west ; new galleries were built, 
 and the walls, upon which the plaster was originally laid 
 without lathing, were furred out and covered with hard 
 finish. The eye does not now rest on a solitary object 
 which was seen before these improvements were made. 
 
 The fitting up and furnishing of the interior was done 
 by the enterprise, energy, and labor of the ladies of the 
 congregation. For several years previously, they had been 
 busy with hands, and minds, and hearts, making prepara- 
 tions for the work, when the time for performing it should 
 come. In spite of discouragements and delays, they did 
 not "bate one jot of heart or hope," but, in every conceiv- 
 able way, endeavored to add to the little fund they had 
 sacredly devoted to this purpose. They provided the costly 
 furniture for the pulpit, the carpet for the floors and pews, 
 the cushions for the seats, and the elegant lamps for light- 
 ing the house. When completed, there was no church in 
 the vicinity that surpassed it, in the richness and beauty of 
 its furnishing. The pastor trusts it will not be considered 
 inappropriate, if lie avails himself of this occasion to pay a 
 deserved tribute to the ladies of the congregation, many of 
 whom, full of years and of piety, have gone to their eternal 
 rest and reward, who have done so much to aid him in his 
 labors, to cheer him in seasons of declension and despond- 
 ency, and to keep alive the flame of piety in the church, 
 when it seemed almost ready to expire. He is happy in 
 giving his testimony to their fldelity and zeal in the cause 
 of their divine Master, and their unfaltering love for Zion. 
 Having the true idea of the sphere of womanhood, they 
 have no desire to go out of it, and seek no distinction but 
 that which comes from the faithful discharge of the wifely 
 and womanly duties to their families, to the church, and, 
 to the community. 
 
48 
 
 So extensive were the alterations and improvements 
 made within and upon the "Old Stone Meeting-house" at 
 that time, it was deemed appropriate that the entire struc- 
 ture should be rededicated to the worship of God. The 
 services were held October 16, 1850, when a discourse was 
 delivered by E,ev. Joel Hawes, D.D., of Hartford. It was 
 an occasion of devout gratitude to God, and of mutual con- 
 gratulation among the people. The entire cost of the work 
 was about $6,000. 
 
 Not many months elapsed, after the completion of this 
 great work — the most expensive that had been undertaken 
 in connection with the meeting house since its erection — 
 when the church received a beautiful and blessed answer 
 to the question, ' ' Who hath first given unto the Lord, and 
 it shall not be recompensed to him again f ' An unwonted 
 seriousness pervaded the congregation. Early in the au- 
 tumn of 1851, the Sabbath congregations became more 
 numerous, attendance on the meetings for social worship 
 largely increased, the interest deepened from month to 
 month, till, in February 1852, the cloud opened, and there 
 was a "gracious refreshing from the presence of the Lord." 
 As results of this extraordinary work of divine power, 
 eighty-five united with the church, by profession, on the 
 first Sabbath of May following, thirty of whom were heads 
 of families. There was scarcely a family in the congrega- 
 tion, one or more of whose members were not subjects of 
 the revival. In some instances, entire families were among 
 the converts. Whether regarded as to extent, or the depth 
 and intensity of religious interest, or the number of conver- 
 sions, it was never paralleled by any similar work of divine 
 grace experienced in the history of this church. It was 
 greatly needed, and added largely, not only to the numeri- 
 cal strength, but to the moral power of the church. 
 
 In 1859, the steeple erected just sixty -two years before 
 became so dilapidated as to be in danger of falling. Im- 
 mediate measures were taken for replacing it with one of 
 more modern style, and greater architectural pretensions. 
 It cost about $2,000. It was fortunate the work was per- 
 formed at that time, as there has been no year since 1860^ 
 
49 
 
 owing to the great advance in the price of building materials 
 and labor, when it could have been built for twice that 
 sum. It was the fitting completion and modernizing of the 
 "Old Stone Meeting-house." The lofty and spacious 
 belfry, and the neat and graceful spire, corresponding with 
 the stern simplicity of the building, and towering to the 
 height of 196 feet from the ground, makes it a conspicuous 
 object and an ornament to the village, in the center of 
 wdiich it stands. It is not surpassed, in symmetry of form, 
 excellence of workmanship, and good taste, by any struc- 
 ture of like magnitude in the Commonwealth. 
 
 Early in 1868, it became apparent that extensive im- 
 provements were required to be made within and upon the 
 meeting-house, if it was to be kept up with the advanced 
 taste of the time. Since the remodeling in 1850, the style 
 of internal arrangement and furnishing had changed to that 
 degree that this house, which eighteen years before had 
 been placed in advance, was now behind nearly all the 
 churches in the neighborhood. The Congregationalists of 
 East Haven had llnally learned, from a rather costly ex- 
 perience, that the prosperity of a church and society 
 depend, in a great measure, on the enterprise, energy, and 
 liberality of their members. The society, sustained by the 
 unanimous sentiment of the congregation, commenced the 
 work with unusual promptitude, and it was completed in 
 about three months. The inner walls and ceiling were 
 painted in fresco, a new and tasty pulpit replaced the old 
 one, the lower floor Vas re-carpeted, the pews new cush- 
 ioned, and new lamps provided. The cost was about 
 $3,000. 
 
 An equally great and much-needed improvement was 
 made, at the same time, in the external appearance of the 
 meeting-house. For several years previously, some of the 
 ladies of the congregation had been gathering funds for the 
 purpose of putting up an iron railing around the grounds, 
 but had not yet secured a sufficient amount. Incited by 
 their example, a number of public-spirited gentlemen now 
 came forward, by whose aid that substantial and orna- 
 mental fence, which now encloses the meeting-house on 
 
50 
 
 two sides, was erected, and a broad concrete walk, continu- 
 ous with the fence, was laid. These add greatly to the 
 beauty of the grounds and convenience of the general pub- 
 lic. The cost of railing and pavement was about $1,300. 
 
 When these improvements were completed, the question 
 came up, "How shall the meeting-house be heated?" 
 Until about 1820 none of the meeting-houses in New Eng- 
 land were artificially warmed, even in the severest weather. 
 It never occurred to tlie men and women of the olden time, 
 that weather which did not prevent their pursuing their 
 secular business on a week day could be injurious to them 
 on the Sabbath. Stoves, with wood for fuel, were placed 
 in this meeting-house about 1825. These were changed for 
 coal burners about 1840, which were in use till 1868, when 
 it was feared they would be injurious to the new finish and 
 furniture ; therefore, stoves were voted impossible, p\d a 
 furnace impracticable, because of there being no basement. 
 After much discussion, it was finally decided to introduce 
 steam. The necessary funds were procured without diffi- 
 culty, though the amount was much larger than would 
 have been required for any other mode of heating. But, 
 once in operation, the saving of fuel will, in a few years, 
 compensate for the difference of outlay. The expense of 
 the steam apparatus was $1,300, as it stood completed and 
 ready for use. After six years experience, it has proved 
 entirely satisfactory, being equally reliable for warmth, far 
 more cleanly, and the heat more equable and pleasant than 
 is produced by any other mode. This was the first church 
 in the State that was heated by steam. 
 
 A parsonage has become a necessar}^ adjunct of an 
 ecclesiastical society. This is especially true at the present 
 time, when a newly- settled minister has scarcely passed 
 through the ordeal of house-hunting, and become warm in 
 his dwelling, Avhen he must leave, to go through the same 
 experience elsewhere. This society, in 1706, built a spaci- 
 ous dwelling, and presented it, a free gift, to their first 
 minister, Mr. Heminway. In this house he lived during 
 all his long pastorate, and there he died. Rev. Messrs. 
 Street, Clark, and Dodd, each built himself a dwelling, 
 
51 
 
 without assistance from the society. When the present 
 pastor commenced his labors, it was difficult to obtain a 
 dwelling, and the society was not in a condition to provide 
 one. He was obliged to move his household goods and 
 gods five times in six years. After the society had abolished 
 its fund, and remodeled its meeting-house, it began to com- 
 miserate its minister for the nomadic life he was leading, 
 and at last gave him a "local habitation." The residence 
 of the late Haynes Heminway, Esq., was purchased for 
 $2,000, and occupied for a parsonage nearly twenty years. 
 With the desire to provide their future pastors with a more 
 convenient residence, and of a more modern style, in the 
 spring of 1873 the society purchased the house built by 
 their former minister — Rev. Saul Clark — enlarged and re- 
 modeled it, and made it one of the most beautiful and 
 commodious rural parsonages in the State. It has cost 
 about $8,000. 
 
 A commodious and convenient chapel had long been a 
 felt necessity to the church and congregation. Nearly ten 
 years ago, a movement was made to supply this great 
 want, which at first promised a speedy success. Funds 
 nearly sufficient for the purpose were either raised by the 
 efibrts of the ladies or j)ledged by the gentlemen of the 
 congregation. But unforeseen difficulties arose, which 
 required time to remove. It was not till the present year 
 that the desires and prayers of so many of the members of 
 the church, living and dead, have been fulfilled, and the 
 "Old Stone Meeting-house" is now supplemented by a 
 building corresponding with it in material, in style of 
 architecture, and in location. The enterprise was ma- 
 terially aided by a liberal bequest of the late Mrs. Eliza 
 Dodd. Though apparently small, in comparison with this 
 structure, it is nevertheless more than twice the dimensions 
 of the first meeting house erected in East Haven, and its 
 audience room is larger, by a few square feet, than the^ 
 second. It is a matter of congratulation, rather than dis- 
 appointment, that its erection was deferred to the present 
 time. It is now the Centennial Chapel — a monumental 
 building, reared in honor of the men who built this struc- 
 
52 
 
 ture, and of the generation they represented, as it will be a 
 century hence of this generation. This coincidence of time, 
 this connection of the close of one century with the com- 
 mencement of another, links together the history of the 
 two and sends them down the ages, clustering with like 
 associations and memories and devoted to the same pious 
 ends and objects. 
 
 The " Old Stone Meeting-house " now stands complete 
 in modern dress, arrangements, and appointments, with a 
 single exception, that of a suitable organ, which, judging 
 from the past, wUl come in due time, when the ladies of the 
 congregation are prepared to take hold of the enterprise in 
 earnest. It presents an aspect of solidity, convenience, and 
 beauty, surpassed by few rural churches in the State. 
 During the last quarter of a century a larger amount has 
 been expended upon and around it, than all it had pre- 
 viously cost, including the original erection. The minimum 
 value of the society's property can not be less than $75,000. 
 If, by any chance, it should be destroyed, it is doubtful if 
 it could be replaced for twice that sum. And as long as 
 the spirit that now animates the great proportion of the 
 congregation survives, they that have gone forth from this 
 community, and found homes in other parts of this broad 
 land, or on foreign shores, and whose thoughts and affec- 
 tions often linger around the scenes of their childhood and 
 the venerable meeting-house where their infant minds re- 
 ceived their first impressions from the gospel of salvation, 
 where have ever been inculcated the principles of truth 
 and righteousness, of an unselfish patriotism and an intel- 
 ligent piety, need have no fear that the sanctuary of their 
 fathers will be suffered to fall into neglect and decay, or 
 that those grand and lofty doctrines which have ever been 
 proclaimed from its pulpit, and have proved "the wisdom 
 of God, and the power of God unto salvation," to so many 
 generations who have worshiped within its walls, will be 
 renounced for any of the specious but sa])less and lifeless 
 theories wljicli, in tliese later times, have emasculated 
 religion of its spirituality and churches of their moral 
 j)ower. 
 
53 
 
 From what has been advanced, the condition of the 
 First Ecclesiastical Society in East Haven may be inferred, 
 without entering upon a more detailed statement of its 
 affairs. It will not be inappropriate to speak briefly of the 
 condition of the church. The society is the body, the 
 church the informing and inspiring spirit. From the settle- 
 ment of Mr. Clark, in 1808, numerous and sometimes pow- 
 erful revivals of religion have occurred. His pastorate was 
 almost a continuous revival. In 1821, under the ministry 
 of Mr. Dodd, there was quite an extensive work of grace ; 
 in common with all the churches in New England, this 
 church was visited with a powerful revival in 1831 ; one of 
 less extent was enjoyed in 1843 ; in 1852 occurred the great 
 work, already described ; one of less power was enjoyed in 
 1858 ; another in 1866, and another still in 1871. As results 
 of the last four, about two hundred were added to this 
 church. Although not large in point of numbers, nor able 
 in respect to wealth, it has always been distinguished for 
 its stability and its fidelity to the principles and polity on 
 which it was originally founded. At a church meeting, 
 September 3, 1755 — after Mr. Street had accepted a call to 
 become its pastor, and before his ordination — "called to 
 discourse of church government, and of ye manner in which 
 they proposed to be governed," it was " Voted and agreed, 
 that Seabrook platform should be the constitution by which 
 they, with their pastor, would be governed." This was 
 signed by the church committee and pastor elect. Again, 
 in 1822, when the fund was founded, it was "Voted, that 
 the interest of said fund be appropriated for the support of 
 a regular Calvinistic minister, on the Saybrook platform, 
 especially as to doctrine, and to be appropriated to no 
 other purpose." With the exception of a single brief 
 period in its history, this church has been equally distin- 
 quished for the unity of sentiment among its members. 
 This has been mainly owing to the fact that, notwithstand- 
 ing the changes that have taken place around them, they 
 have remained steadfast in tlieir adherence to Puritan prin- 
 ciples, and retained, in a remarkable degree, the antique 
 manners and habits of thought. Never may principles less 
 
54 
 
 noble be inculcated here, or influences less beneficent and 
 elevating go forth from this or any of its sister churches. 
 With fervent gratitude to God, and yet with a commend- 
 able pride, may the descendants of those who laid the 
 foundation of this church, nearly two centuries ago, con- 
 temi^hite it, as it stands to-day, far in advance of any period 
 in its past history. The good old ship has encountered 
 severe storms, when she seemed like a wreck, with shattered 
 masts and torn sails, tossed on the billows, and her enemies 
 predicted her ruin ; but, under the protection of divine 
 providence, and with the great head of the church at the 
 helm, she has rode out the tempest, and come forth from 
 all her trials greater in strength, superior in moral power, 
 and brighter in spiritual beauty. In the retrospect of her 
 past, in the contemplation of her present, and in the fore- 
 casting of her future, those who comprise her living mem- 
 bership, with devout thanksgiving and heartfelt gratitude, 
 can say, "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof 
 we are glad." 
 
 This discourse could not, with propriety, be closed, 
 already and unavoidably lengthy, without some reference 
 to the great changes which these silent walls have witnessed 
 during the century of years they have stood like giant 
 warders, keeping watch by day and night, in sunshine and 
 in storm, in peace and war, over tlie surrounding village 
 and its families. There are here to-day worthy descendants 
 of those who gathered within them a liundred years ago, to 
 dedicate this house to the worship of God. But you come 
 in far different guise, and with different mien. The scenes 
 around us remain, in all their essential features, the same ; 
 the same skies canopy us ; the same ground they trod upon 
 resounds to our footsteps. But all else, how changed? 
 Homespun has given place to broadcloth and silks. The 
 very poorest in the community to-day have comforts and 
 conveniences, and even luxuries in their dwellings, un- 
 known to the wealthiest a hundred years ago. The school- 
 master, too, has been abroad. Some of the most prominent 
 and influential men of those da3'^s were unable to write tlieir 
 names ; newspapers and periodicals, there were none ; and 
 
55 
 
 all the information and culture received by the great mass 
 of the people came through the pulpit. Agriculture and 
 navigation were the chief pursuits. The former was carried 
 on in a very rude and unproductive way, yielding a bare 
 support even to those whose wants were few, and to whom 
 the luxuries, and what are now regarded the comforts and 
 necessaries of life, were unknown. The young men were 
 compelled to resort to the sea for the means of subsistence. 
 From these came some of the "solid men" and "merchant 
 princes" of New Haven, when its foreign trade was most 
 flourishing ; men like Abraham Bradley, Laban Smith, and 
 Jeliiel Forbes, whose ability, integrity, and success are 
 still cherished among the mercantile traditions of the city. 
 But, in respect to the latter pursuit, the town has under- 
 gone an entire change. It has now very little interest in 
 navigation, with the exception of that portion included in 
 the village of Fair Haven, which then consisted of here and 
 there a farm-house, with a few oystermen's houses on the 
 banks of the Quinnipiac. The pursuits of the inhabitants 
 are mainly agricultural, and such are the facilities, and so 
 great the improvements made in agricultural implements 
 and modes of cultivation, that in spite of its naturally 
 inferior soil, from being one of the poorest, it has be^come 
 one of the richest farming towns in the State. 
 
 But when the view sweeps more distant fields, how vast 
 the changes, how deep-going the revolutions that have taken 
 place ? With what astonishing rapidity have some of the 
 most important events in the world' s history followed each 
 other, like ocean billows — wave impelling wave — till one 
 after another they have broken and disappeared on the 
 shores of time. When these walls were reared, all this 
 wide land was under the gway of Great Britain. The red- 
 cross flag of St. George waved undisputed from Quebec to 
 Savannah, whilst all that vast country lying west of the 
 Alleghanies, and stretching to the golden shores of the 
 Pacific, excepting a narrow cordon of French settlements 
 lying along or near the banks of the mighty Mississippi, 
 was a te7'Ta incognita — an unknown land. But scarcely 
 had this house been dedicated, when the storm of war burst 
 
66 
 
 upon the nation and the struggle for independence com- 
 menced. For nearly eight years the tide of war surged 
 back and forth, from north to south and from south to 
 north, and when it ceased these walls beheld a vigorous 
 nation spring forth, like Minerva from the head of Jove, 
 l^anoplied for that wondrous career which has replaced 
 primeval forests with teeming cities and waving harvests, 
 and advanced it into the front rank of the nations of the 
 earth. They have seen the throes and convulsions which 
 preceded, and the atrocities that attended, the French revo- 
 lution, out of which was born the universal recognition of 
 the rights of man, which renders impossible the restoration 
 of autocratic or personal government in Europe. The}^ 
 have seen the rise of the first French empire, the toppling 
 thrones of despotism, the fiery meteor, which, for twentj^ 
 years, blazed through Europe, whose brightness was dim- 
 med b}^ the suQws of Russia, and finally quenched in blood 
 at Waterloo. They have seen the false glitter and deserved 
 fate of the second empire, whose foundations were laid on 
 the ruins of the old, and which, like the second Jewish 
 temple, caused those who had seen the glories of the first 
 to weep tears of shame for the contrast. The}^ have seen 
 the founding of a mighty empire in India, whose countless 
 millions of inhabitants are subject to the power of a little 
 sea-girt isle in the North Atlantic Ocean, and where the 
 blessings conferred by British philanthropy and British 
 Christianity scarcely compensate for the wrongs inflicted 
 by British ambition and cupidity. They have seen every 
 foreign power driven from the fairest portions of this con- 
 tinent, the downfall of the temporal power of the Pope, and 
 republicanism become the prevailing sentiment, if not the 
 dominant power, throughout Em-ope. They have seen this 
 young nation, when at the height of its power, and in the 
 full sweep of success, menaced with a danger such as never 
 threatened another. When these walls arose, a century 
 ago, slavery was a legal institution in every Colony. Slaves 
 passed every day within their shadow, and entered their 
 doors every Sabbath. To-day, the foot of the slave does 
 not tread the soil over which floats the starry flag of our 
 
5i 
 
 country. But at what a price was the flaunting lie it once 
 told removed? and, in truth, does that flag now "wave 
 over the land of the free ?" For every drop of blood drawn 
 by the whips and chains of slaverj^, a noble life has been 
 sacrificed to save the Union. No ; these walls do not look 
 upon the' same world they did a hundred years ago ! In 
 respect to all material and political interests, in the enjoy- 
 ment and diffusion of the blessings of Christian civilization 
 and culture, it is a more advanced, a nobler, and a better 
 world, than it has been since the fall. 
 
 There are other fields where changes have spread wider 
 and gone deeper, aff*ecting not only the outer aspects but 
 touching the inner springs of human life. A century ago, 
 no swift and graceful steamers navigated our long rivers 
 and broad lakes ; no mighty Leviathans of the deep, pro- 
 pelled by enginery of Titanic force, yet working as softly 
 as the breathings of a sleeping infant, ploughed their way 
 across the wide expanse of oceans, in defiance of winds and 
 waves ; no iron rails bound together different parts of the 
 same country and distant lands, upon which rushing trains 
 bore the travel and the traffic of many nations ; no electric 
 wires, sweeping over mountains and under oceans, and 
 traversing plains and boundless prairies, carrying messages 
 of politics and science, of business and love, of life and 
 death, and "putting a girdle around the earth in forty 
 minutes." No mighty gatherings were held, pervaded wdtli 
 the primitive spirit of Christianity, to yield obedience to the 
 Saviour's last command, "Go ye into all the world, and 
 preach the gospel to every creature;" no great organiza- 
 tions, the outcome of the revival of the missionary spirit in 
 the church, and breathing the spirit of the Christian life and 
 heart and love, which aim to uplift the fallen, inform the 
 ignorant, and save the lost. All these have sprung into 
 existence since these walls were reared. They have seen 
 lands, then hermetically sealed against Christianity, opened 
 as mii-aculously to the ingress of the Gospel as Jericho was 
 made bare to the march of Joshua' s sumy ; Christian mis- 
 sions planted in nearly every i^ortion of the habitable globe, 
 and whole nations converted to Christ. They have seen 
 
58 
 
 the proud boasts of English deism, French atheism, • and 
 CT('inj;i7i rationalism, falsified, and Christianity come forth 
 from their fierce assaults, stronger, purer, and more resist- 
 less than before. They have seen the wondrous results of 
 modern scientific researches, which give assurance and 
 earnest of an era now dawning upon the world, illustrious 
 for the discoveries of natural science, for the extending the 
 range of human knowledge, and the broadening and deep- 
 ening of human culture, by the revelation of facts, the 
 discoveries of forces, and the development of truths and 
 principles, which have been hidden since the foundation of 
 the world. 
 
 Buckle, in his "History of Civilization," brings out into 
 prominence, and illustrates by a variety of examples, the 
 theory that surroundings have great influence in molding 
 the character, and forming the habits, of individuals and 
 nations. This theory is, in the main, correct, though ex- 
 ceptional instances may not be difficult to find. A marked 
 difference of character is always observed between men 
 reared amid the grandeur and magnificence of mountain 
 scenery and those whose lives have been passed on rich and 
 fertile plains ; between those who have known only the 
 factitious life of cities and those who dwell amid rural 
 scenes, and in constant contact with ]N"ature's works; be- 
 tween those whose home is by the sea- shore, who have 
 
 " Laid their hand upon the ocean's mane, 
 And played familiar with his hoary locks," 
 
 and those who, far removed from tempest-swept waters, 
 have never witnessed one of the sublimest spectacles the 
 mortal eye ever gazed upon. 
 
 Certain traits in the character of the people of East 
 Haven must be traced to some similar influence. They 
 distinguish them from all others, even in the immediate 
 vicinity, and in former years have isolated them and ren- 
 dered them peculiar. It is a matter of surprise to strangers, 
 that although in the immediate neighborhood of a large 
 city, its influence, until recently, has been scarcely per- 
 ceptible on their character, modes of thought, or habits of 
 
59 
 
 life. On the other hand, the same influence has produced 
 a stability, reliableness, and force of character rarely found. 
 With a large proportion of those who have attended wor- 
 ship here, in their childhood and youth — especially the 
 descendants of the ancient families — the idea of worshiping 
 any where than in the sanctuary of their fathers, or em- 
 bracing an ecclesiastical polity or religious principles, 
 other than those of which the house they reared is the 
 fitting S3anbol, would be as alien to their sentiments and 
 feelings as the adoption of the heathen practices of the 
 Chinese, or the fetichism of Western Africa. That influ- 
 ence which has been so eff'ective in producing this peculiar 
 character, and stamping upon it those strong traits, which 
 are of great excellence when not in excess, is the direct 
 outcome from the impressions made upon the mind in 
 childhood and youth, by this massive structure. 
 
 No one who has been trained in the principles, which 
 for a century have been inculcated here, can look upon 
 these venerable walls without having the emotions of his 
 heart stirred, as he recalls the scenes of which they have 
 been the silent witnesses, the men and women who have 
 walked in their shadow, and the words of truth and elo- 
 quence to which they have listened, from lips now silent in 
 death. More than three generations of its worshipers have 
 passed away : those, who in early childhood were borne 
 hither in parental arms, have tottered here when bending 
 under the weight of years, till the time of their departure 
 came, and then entered the spirit world to join the white 
 robed company, in that purer "temple, not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens." Here, upon infant brows, 
 has been sprinkled the consecrating waters of baptism, and 
 in the same spot, in maturer years, the same children have 
 taken the vows of Christ upon them, fulfilling the solemn 
 obligation assumed for them by believing parents. Here, 
 God has spoken peace to many souls, when struggling in 
 the darkness and doubts of conviction of sin, and poured 
 into them the light and peace and joy of conscious forgive- 
 ness, acceptance, and salvation. Here, those whose lives 
 were destined to mingle in the same current, have stood up 
 
60 
 
 amid the sacred memories and associations of the place, 
 and plighted to each other the solemn troth of marriage, 
 and gone forth from its doors, hand in hand, to tread the 
 same pathway in life, share its mingled joys and sorrows, 
 its common weal and woe. And when life's limit had been 
 reached, and their life-work done, hither their mortal re- 
 mains have been borne for the solemn service of the dead, 
 ere laid to rest with kindred dnst. As the years roll on 
 these memories and associations are continnally accumn- 
 lating, and the history of the families that worship here 
 become interwoven with that of the "Old Stone Meeting- 
 house," reared by the toils and sacrifices of the fathers, 
 and by them bequeathed to their descendants — a sacred 
 trust to be transmitted unimpaired to future generations. 
 The family traditions and historical associations connected 
 with the sanctuary of our childhood, are exceedingly ten- 
 der, strong, and lasting. It is the uniform testimony of 
 those who have gone forth from the childhood home, to 
 dwell in distant parts of their o\'^n country, or in foreign 
 lands, or are tossed upon the billows of distant seas, that 
 when recalling the scenes of their early life the old meeting- 
 house, whither their infant feet were turned by godly 
 parents, and the rude school-house where they received the 
 rudiments of education, stand out prominent in the fore- 
 ground of the picture, and around them cluster the purest 
 memories and the most cherished associations and affec- 
 tions. 
 
 Such, and so powerful and everlasting, are the influences 
 that press upon our minds to-day from the past. This 
 meeting-house has a history, of which every descendant of 
 the ancient families of East Haven may be justly proud. 
 As to-day we gather here, on an occasion of such rare 
 interest, imagination will fill these aisles, these seats, and 
 this puli:)it, with the forms of those who occupied them in 
 other days — the venerated fathers and mothers in Israel — 
 who toiled, and prayed, and suff"ered, and then entered on 
 their everlasting reward, whose memory and the savor of 
 their grateful piety are as fresh and green to-day as when 
 they were laid to rest in yonder cemetery. But, is it all 
 
61 
 
 imagination? Were the veil tliat separates tlie material 
 and spiritual drawn aside this moment by a divine hand, 
 and we " see as we are seen, and known as we are known," 
 what a cloud of witnesses 'would be revealed to our view, 
 hovering over and gazing down upon this scene, with an 
 interest more intense, and a gratitude more fervent for all 
 God' s goodness to his church in the century past, than is 
 possible for unsanctified minds and unglorilied souls to 
 feel. Let our emotions go forth responsive to theirs, and 
 our grateful praise arise, because "they labored and we 
 have entered into their labors," and are reaping the rich 
 fruitage of all their toils, and sacriiices, and sufferings. 
 
 " Thus, though oft depressed and lonely, 
 All my fears are laid aside, 
 If I but remember only 
 Such as these have lived and died." 
 
 But it is not with the past alone we have to do, or with 
 which our thoughts and feelings and interests should be 
 associated to-day. It is a law of our being, that we do not 
 and can not live for ourselves alone. All our acts, how- 
 ever unconsciously to ourselves, are inwoven with a net- 
 work of circumstances and events, which, in the providence 
 of God, are destined to have an influence far beyond the 
 immediate sphere in which they are performed, and even 
 the circle of our transient lives. We are links in that 
 mighty chain which connects the historic past with the 
 living present and the unborn future, prophecy with his- 
 tory — the known with the unknown — the seed-germ with 
 the ripened fruitage. The impressions and influences 
 which we carry away from these scenes and these services 
 should make us stronger for our life-work, and better fitted 
 for life' s close. The recalling of the memory of the fathers, 
 the recollection of their patient endurance, their zealous 
 patriotism, their unconquerable devotion, their simple, 
 earnest piety, their frugality and thrift, their rectitude and 
 fortitude, have arrested our attention and elicited our 
 admiration. In all the qualities required to constitute a 
 genuine manhood and integrity of character, they were rich 
 beyond any precedent ; and they remain at this day, in 
 
62 
 
 spite of all the malice and ridicule and prejudice with 
 which the character of the Puritans of New England has 
 been assailed, the best models for our imitation, in all those 
 solid and unobtrusiv^e virtues which make a people strong, 
 vigorous, and truly great. And if such are the impressions 
 and the lessons we derive from this occasion and these 
 services, and if they shall cause us to think more wisely 
 and act more nobly, then will they who shall gather here 
 a hundred years hence, to celebrate the bi-centennial of 
 the "Old Stone Meeting-house," associate our names in 
 honored remembrance with the names of those who, a cen- 
 tury ago, reared this solid structure, and solemnly dedi- 
 cated it to the worship of Almighty God. 
 
 At the conclusion of the morning services, the assembled 
 multitude were invited to partake of a collation, prepared 
 b}^ the Committee on Entertainment. Tables were spread 
 under awnings in the meeting-house yard, and also in the 
 new chapel, laden with a great variety of viands, and in 
 ample quantities to satisfy the large number of persons 
 that partook of them. The divine blessing was invoked by 
 Rev. George I. Wood, of Ellington. 
 
 The reunion in the afternoon was fully attended. The 
 only disappointment connected with the celebration was 
 caused by the unexpected and necessary absence of Presi- 
 dent Porter. After listening to the reading of letters from 
 many invited guests who were unable to be present, by 
 the Secretary of the General Committee, Isaac S. Pardee, 
 Esq., Rev. Owen Street, of Lowell, Mass., grandson of Rev. 
 Nicholas Street, Pastor of the church in East Haven from 
 1755 to 1806, gave the following address : 
 
63 
 
 Mr. Moderator : It seems proper that the after-dinner 
 speaking should begin at some point not very remote from 
 where the century began, 
 
 I propose for my topic the man who was at the head of 
 affairs in tlie local church in East Haven when this house 
 was built. I confess to some feeling of embarrassment, 
 growing out of the fact that he was my own grandfather. 
 But you will have the kindness to remember, that I had 
 no personal acquaintance with him, as he died nine years 
 before I was born, and hence no partialities of intimacy 
 can disqualify me to speak of him, and I shall certainly 
 "set down nought in malice." 
 
 But this very circumstance, of never having seen him, 
 while it relieves me of one embarrassment, creates another. 
 How shall I know what to say of him ? In what way, and 
 to what extent, I have succeeded in overcoming this diffi- 
 culty will appear as I proceed. 
 
 In my early days, when I might have gathered infor- 
 mation from many sources, my mind was not awake to the 
 subject. As time wore on, and such inquiries became 
 more interesting to me, I began to question my father ; but 
 from him I obtained incidents rather than characteristics, 
 yet some of the incidents revealed his idiosyncrasies, and 
 were characteristic enough. But bent still on finding out 
 something more, I caught at every opportunity. When I 
 was in college, 1 had occasion to call on Prof, Silliman. 
 Learning my name, he asked if I was a descendant of the 
 Rev. Nicholas Street, of East Haven. On hearing my 
 answer, he rejoined, "he used sometimes to preach for us 
 in the chapel ; I remember him with a great deal of plea- 
 sure." Some years afterward, when I found inquiries 
 arising which there was no one to answer, I bethought me 
 of Prof. Silliman, as just the man to give me an intelligent 
 and impartial estimate of my grandfather. Accordingly, 
 being favored with an opportunity, I mentioned his former 
 allusion to him, and told him how earnestly I desired to 
 know what impression he gained as to his qualities of mind 
 and his ability as a preacher. "0," said he, "he was a 
 very excellent man ; he used to exchange with Dr. Dwight; 
 
64 
 
 and preach for us in the chapel." "But," said I, "do you 
 remember him well enough to say what his peculiarities 
 were?" "O yes," said he, "I remember him well ; he was 
 a very good man." I began now to despair of obtaining 
 the light for which I was seeking. 
 
 But sometime after this, when having been in the min- 
 istry myself sometime, I was supposed to have come to 
 years of discretion, my father brought me one da}^ a little 
 package of ancient-looking papers, which he said were my 
 grandfather' s sermons, and perhaps might as well be in my 
 keeping. Now the light dawned upon me. Here was 
 material, in part at least, for the knowledge I had so long 
 been seeking. This is the main source of the suggestions 
 which I now offer : 
 
 1. I will allude, first, to his industry in the preparation 
 of sermons. I have in my possession not more than fifty 
 sermons, and fragments of sermons, that were written by 
 him ; but these were scattered along through different 
 periods of his ministry, and furnish me the material for 
 the following statements. He was in the habit of number- 
 ing his sermons, as well as writing the date. By collating 
 the numbers for the first fifteen years of his ministry, of 
 which I have preserved ten, I find that he wrote in fifteen 
 years 617 sermons — something more than forty a year; 
 which, while it does not perhaps exceed the average of 
 ministerial work in that line at the present day, is at least 
 equal to it. Ministers, as a class, in this country are hard 
 working men, and he seems not to have been an exception. 
 At the rate which I have found for the first fifteen years, 
 he must have written more than two thousand sermons in 
 his life-time.* 
 
 * Numbers and dates. 
 
 Dates. Numbere. 
 
 1755 34 and 35 (double), and 60. 
 
 17C0 3G0. 
 
 1763 456. 
 
 1764 473, 474, 475 (triple). 
 
 1766 540. 
 
 1770 617. 
 
 1775 703. 
 
65 
 
 2, But as tliere are fifty-two Sabbaths in a year, and 
 two sermons required for each, how was the deficiency 
 supplied ? Some briefs and skeletons of sermons wliich I 
 have, answer tliis question in part ; some notes, whicli 
 show tliat sermons were repeated after an average of five or 
 six years, tell a part of the story ; and his exchanges tell 
 the rest. I find one page which shows us something of his 
 range of exchanges. It is on the last leaf of a sermon that 
 was written in 1756, the second year of his settlement. It 
 seems to have served him merely as a page of memoranda. 
 It was evidently begun with a view of setting before his 
 own eye the number of times he had preached in the places 
 mentioned, during the twenty years included between 1772 
 and 1792. I find five Sabbaths at the chapel in Yale Col- 
 lege, three at Milford, two at West Haven, two at Amity, 
 one at Derby, one at Stratford, two at Brick Haven (or 
 Brick House), one at North Haven, one at Titicut, one at 
 Branford, two at Fair Haven ( ? ), and one at New Lebanon.* 
 These could not have been all the exchanges he .made 
 
 * The memorandum reads as follows : 
 
 Milford April 5th, 1772. 
 
 AprU 25th, 1781. 
 
 Derby June 20th, 1772. 
 
 Amity April 11th, 1773. 
 
 " March 13th, 1785. 
 
 West Haven June 13th, 1773. 
 
 Oct. 9th, 1791. 
 
 Milford May 14th, 1775. 
 
 Stratford April 26th, 1781. 
 
 Chapel, Yale College April 15th, 1781. 
 
 March 16th, 1783. 
 
 Brick Haven, or Brick House 1782. 
 
 March 13th, 1791. 
 
 Fair Haven Nov. 10th, 1782. 
 
 March 16th, 1785. 
 
 White Haven July 10th, 1785. 
 
 Chapel May 1st, 1785. 
 
 " June, 1789. 
 
 New Lebanon June 5th, 1785. 
 
 North Haven July 24th, 1785. 
 
 Titicut 1785. 
 
 Branford, Mr. Atwater, monthly meeting. May, 1791. 
 Chapel June 3d, 1792. 
 
66 
 
 dnring that period, but it is all he gathered in this memo- 
 randiim, which was probably begun and not completed, 
 and shows something of the range with which he was 
 familiar. The mention of New Lebanon recalled to my 
 mind an incident mentioned by my father, when once we 
 were speaking of the peculiar tie of affection between col- 
 lege class-mates. My grandfather had a class-mate preach- 
 ing in New Lebanon, and when my father was about twelve 
 years old he took him and went to make this class-mate a 
 visit. He was met at the door with a welcome that rang 
 through the house. "Br. Street has come, let us kill the 
 fatted calf!" 
 
 3. But you will naturally ask, what was the quality of 
 his sermons? Just the same question that I was so long 
 in getting at. I give you one specimen of skeleton analy- 
 sis, the subject being one which required three sermons to 
 do justice to his thought. The text is in Hosea ii., 14, 15 : 
 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into 
 the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I 
 will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of 
 Achor for a door of hope : and she shall sing there, as in 
 the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came 
 up out of the land of Egypt." This analysis is as follows : 
 
 (1.) God's method with sinners is an alluring method. 
 
 (2.) Those whom he designs for the objects of his mercy 
 and grace, he brings into a wilderness of inward or out- 
 ward trials. 
 
 (3.) It is in this wilderness that God is graciously 
 pleased to speak comfortably to them. 
 
 (4.) That when God speaks comfortably to them, he 
 frequently comes with some present, real evidences of his 
 love to them. 
 
 (5.) Troubles not only go before mercies, but are doors 
 of hope to let in mercies, as the valley of Achor was to 
 Israel. 
 
 (6.) That our deliverance from outward trouble and 
 bondage, but especially from the bondage of sin, is enough 
 to make us sing for joy. 
 
 You may infer from these heads of discourse what the 
 
07 
 
 sermon would be. You will catch something more of his 
 style if I let him lift the curtain and give you some 
 glimpses of things wherein his times differed from our own. 
 You may be interested to hear, in a few words, how one of 
 his thanksgiving sermons sounded in the times before the 
 American revolution. I have a part of one that was written 
 in the year 1762, the second year of the reign of George III. 
 His first reason for thankfulness is thus given : 
 
 "The first that I would remark upon is, the happy 
 accession and establishment of our most gracious sovereign, 
 King George the Third, upon the British throne, who so 
 largely possesses the virtues of his royal grandfather ; and 
 it is matter for our joy and rejoicing, at this day, that we 
 have one who has so much of the amiable character of 
 young Josiali upon the throne ; who has manifested so 
 much regard for the Protestant interest and religion, and 
 has discovered so much zeal for the suppression of vice, 
 immorality, and profaneness, by his royal proclamation, 
 which forebodes his reign to be auspicious for our nation 
 and land." 
 
 He had not preached in this Stone Meeting-house long 
 before he began to talk very differently about this same 
 King George the Third. He was as ready as any of the 
 people to call him "a prince whose character was marked 
 by every act that may define a tyrant. ' ' 
 
 But let me follow the manuscript a few sentences further. 
 
 "It should be matter for our thanksgiving, that our 
 king has taken for his royal consort a Protestant princess 
 of such amiable virtues and endowments, from whom we 
 may expect a glorious succession, and for the safe and 
 happy delivery of our gracious queen, and the auspicious 
 birth of a prince, which joyful event is made the matter of 
 our public thanksgiving on this day, by the proclamation 
 that has been issued forth ; which, accordingly, we should 
 celebrate by our thankful acknowledgments to Almighty 
 God, who preserveth the Protestant succession, and causeth 
 the royal branch to shoot forth and to flourish, whereby we 
 may hope to have the British scepter swayed by his royal 
 descent to after generations and ages." 
 
68 
 
 It was not foreseen then that this same house of Hano- 
 ver would be pronounced by the historian "a millstone 
 upon the neck of the British empire." This same thanks- 
 giving sermon narrates the capture of Havanna by an army 
 of l^^OOO men, and a fleet of 200 vessels, against 27,000 
 Spaniards — a quickly'- surrendered conquest as it proved, 
 though he could not foresee it, as the island of Cuba was 
 given up to the Spaniards in the treaty of the next year. 
 
 When this sermon was written, my grandfather was 
 thirty-two years old and had been settled seven years. His 
 oldest daughter, Eunecia, who married Mr. Stebbins, of 
 West Haven, and was the mother of the late Mrs. Dr. 
 Storrs, of Braintree, Mass., was about three years old. He 
 needed the best period of his eyesight to read a manuscript 
 so finely and closely written. 
 
 You will naturally inquire what he was in the trying 
 times of the war of the revolution ? He entered into the 
 patriotic sentiment of the war with all his soul. I have a 
 sermon of his, continued through two numbers, which con- 
 sists of a running commentary on the events of the war, 
 down to November, 1778. It reads very much like sopae 
 of the patriotic effusions that were called forth in the North 
 by the late war of the rebellion. Hear in what jubilant 
 strains he celebrates the evacuation of Boston by the British 
 troops : 
 
 " A year of jubilee !" he exclaims. " Angels announced 
 the joyous tidings. Prisoners leaped to loose their chains. 
 Joy sparkled in every eye, pleasure sat on every counten- 
 ance, and the tender gushing tear bedewed many a cheek. 
 Such emotions, such raptures, were never known before ! 
 O, Boston, how great thy salvation? Let not extortion 
 mark thy character ! Henceforth live grateful in the rare 
 but glorious exercise of righteousness and love." 
 
 I do not know what acts of extortion by the people of 
 Boston had been reported to him, to call forth this form of 
 admonition. Doubtless it was timely. 
 
 Let me give a short paragraph on temperance. — Fast 
 Day sermon, February, 1775. He is speaking of perverting 
 and abusing the gifts of the divine bounty. He says : 
 
69 
 
 "This is practiced in a shameful manner at this day. 
 Vast numbers of young and old, male and female, are given 
 to intemperance, so that it is no uncommon thing to see 
 drunken women, as well as drunken men ; and I fear that 
 many of our youths are training up for rank drunkards. 
 The custom that prevails among young people, when they 
 assemble together, to procure such large quantities of strong 
 drink, and drink as long as they can swill it down. [If 
 this was a homely word, it should be remembered he was 
 dealing with a worse than homely fact. Lorenzo Dow re- 
 lined upon this expression when he said, the drunkard is 
 the devil's swill tub.] This custom," says the sermon, "is 
 the direct road to drunkenness, and I greatly fear will end 
 in it." [I should think it would.] He goes on to say that 
 "when youths are elevated with liquor, they are ready for 
 any iniquity. They are emboldened to curse and swear, or 
 to commit lewdness, or whatever the devil is pleased to 
 incite them to do. So that this growing abuse of the good 
 creatures of God is an ill requital of His goodness in giving 
 us such a plenty of spirituous liquors for the refreshment 
 of the weary, and to restore the decays of Nature ; but not 
 to inflame the lusts and corruptions of the youthful, the 
 healthful, and the gay. This large and plentiful drinking 
 of spirits among youths, has a very destructive tendency 
 both as to soul and body." 
 
 There were some of the successors of these youths, that 
 I remember in my childhood, who had become men of 
 strength to mingle strong drink — men who lasted longer 
 than drunkards do now ; I used almost to think that the 
 liquor preserved them, as it does the specimens in natural 
 history which we are accustomed to put up in bottles of 
 alcohol to keep. When my father used to teach me from 
 an appendix to the catechism, that the wicked do not live 
 out half their days, it seemed to me that these men must 
 have had an original lease of life, comparable to that of 
 Methuselah. 
 
 The same sermon has a chapter on the slave-trade, in 
 which he expresses the "fear, that while we abhor oppres- 
 sion, as it comes upon us from the mother country, we may 
 
70 
 
 be harboring it in our own bosoms," and exhorts to '"a 
 careful search and examination of all that has been written 
 on the subject, in an impartial and disinterested way." 
 This calls up the fact that he himself owned a negro, Tom, 
 of whom my father has told me several anecdotes. He was 
 evidently a favorite with the boys. He was contemporary 
 with Newport Freeman, the emancipated slave of Pres. 
 Stiles, He used sometimes to come and say, "Master, I 
 wish I could be free!" and the reply always was, "You 
 may be free any day, Tom, if you will let me draw up a 
 writing that shall clear me from the obligation to take care 
 of you when you are old and can earn nothing." Tom 
 went away in great good nature, but never accepted the 
 offer. I have heard my father tell how this negro Tom 
 used to illustrate to him the way the boys would get him 
 to explore the dangerous places, on the way to the pasture, 
 when the signals from Beacon Hill warned the people of 
 East Haven that foraging parties from the British ships 
 were about landing, to carry off their cattle. More than 
 once, the cattle belonging to the minister were driven by 
 this negro Tom to Northford, to be out of the reach of the 
 enemy. 
 
 One word to meet the question : Did not this pastor of a 
 century ago belong to a long-faced, puritanical age, when 
 it was a crime to smile, and men went to heaven as if they 
 were going to prison ? I think you will find a satisfactory 
 answer to this, in a few words which I give you from his 
 thanksgiving sermon for 1769. He says : 
 
 "Let our lives tell abroad what we feel within, that 
 things holy and lieavenly do not make us sad and heavy ; 
 that we can be pleasant and pious, both together, and 
 heartily merry without forgetting God, and turning all re- 
 ligion out of doors." 
 
 But he obviously felt that there was a possible error in 
 the other direction, and so he manages to say on the same 
 page, "But let not our times of thanksgiving be times 
 of self-pleasing only, nor sacred seasons our ungodliest 
 opportunities, nor holy days the profanest of all the year." 
 Very good advice to be given a century later ! 
 
71 
 
 Two more points, very briefly tonched, and I will close. 
 He had tlie gift of continuance. I do not mean that his 
 sermons were long, for, on the contrary, I And them to be 
 quite as short as the average of sermons now. With the 
 exception of the historical sermons, I do not think that any 
 of them that I have read would exceed thirty minutes in 
 the delivery. I mean the gift of continuance in his place 
 and in the service. Fifty-one years is a good record of 
 ministerial labor. There is nothing for the good people of 
 East Haven to be ashamed of, in the fact that their first two 
 pastors tilled out a history of 101 years, and that the graves 
 of all their ministers in the past are with them. 
 
 Of his work accomplished, we need say no more than 
 bid you look at the whole field as it is to day. The church 
 has not gone the way of the seven churches of Asia yet. 
 It is true that the century has brought other laborers, his 
 successors, into the field ; but they did not tear up his 
 foundations, nor undo his work. They continued it on, 
 with work the same in kind, just as good as his, perhaps 
 better — very probably better, for they have had better facili- 
 ties. But not any of them, nor all of them, need have been 
 ashamed at such an outgrowth of their ministry as this 
 solid and comely edifice of stone : a building over whose 
 walls time has as yet had no power ; walls that, .with 
 reasonable care, nothing short of an earthquake will fissure 
 for centuries to come. 
 
 During the past year the present pastor and people 
 have paid their tribute to the excellence of this work, by 
 building their chapel of the same material and in the same 
 way — a worthy testimony to the wisdom of the past, and a 
 graceful and enduring proof of their own. May God give 
 them their reward in glorious seasons of refreshing from on 
 high, and may generations to come rise up and call them 
 blessed. 
 
 Addresses were then delivered by Prof. George E. Day, 
 D.D., and Rev. Leonard Bacon, D.D., of New Haven. 
 
Edward L. Hart, Esq., of Farmington, spoke as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Mr. Chairman : I cannot refrain myself from express- 
 ing tlie great joy I feel to be once again, especially on this 
 memorable occasion, in this home of my fathers ; for, 
 surely, the place where the families of a people meet, from 
 generation to generation, to worship God, is the truest 
 home of any place on earth. I look around on these, walls 
 and see the names of the builders of this old Stone Meeting- 
 house, among them the name of Amos Morris, my grand- 
 father, with whom I lived in my early boyhood. Concern- 
 ing him, I remember particularly his morning devotions, 
 from their connection with Dr. Thomas Scott's long "Notes 
 and Practical Observations," which, I fear, failed of any 
 salutary effect upon me. But there was one petition in his 
 prayers, daily used, so beautiful in thought and expres- 
 sion — being the very words of David — namely, "Peace be 
 within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces, O 
 Jerusalem," that I delight to recall him to remembrance 
 on this occasion with the mention of them. Surely, this 
 daily petition of his has been answered, in the peace and 
 prosperity of the church that has met for a hundred years 
 in this old Stone Meeting-house. 
 
 I remember Dr. Bela Farnham, the beloved physician, 
 and who, that ever saw him, will be likely to forget his 
 dignified presence, and the pleasant face he always wore, 
 so beautified by the kindly spirit within. I remember, 
 also, Mr. Nicholas Street and Mr. Elnathan Street, being 
 often in their families in my early youth, wise, good men, 
 who, with many others of like spirit I did not know, pa- 
 tiently labored to strengthen and adorn the church of their 
 deepest love. In view of the beautiful lives, and the noble 
 Christian work of these, our ancestors, we, their descend- 
 ants, may thankfully boast, in the words of the poet, 
 Cowper, 
 
 " Not, that we deduce our birth 
 
 From loins enthroned and i-ulers of the earth, 
 But higher, far, our proud pretensions rise, 
 Children of parents passed into the skies." 
 
I look with pride and great delight upon the evidence 
 of progress and growth, which this ancient town has made 
 since I left it, some fifty years ago. Long may its pros- 
 perity continue. 
 
 He was followed by John Gr. North, Esq., of New 
 Haven. 
 
 Mr. Chairman : I well remember, when I first came 
 to New Haven, attending church in this (then) old Stone 
 Meeting-house, and I was impressed with the solid appear- 
 ance of the building, and the substantial look of the homes 
 in East Haven, and no longer wondered that my employers 
 said they liked to select their clerks from the boys of East 
 Haven. Later than this, I attended an anniversary of the 
 Sunday-school in the meeting-house, and then was told by 
 an old citizen some incidents of by -gone days. The pulpit, 
 he said, was perched very high, on the north side of the 
 house, with a sounding-board of immense proportions sus- 
 pended over the minister' s head, in such a manner that it 
 was a mystery how it was held up ; the boys often watched 
 with eagerness to see it fall. On the sides were galleries- 
 occupied by boys on one side, and girls on the other, with 
 men to oversee and keep them from unusual noise and dis- 
 turbance. The walls of the meeting-house were not plas- 
 tered, and the uneven stones furnished shelves and hanging 
 places for clothing, umbrellas, mid fen fiel. Large square 
 boxes, with seats around them, called pews, were placed 
 under the galleries, on the wall sides, leaving the center 
 of the church unoccupied — almost like a promenade or 
 dancing-room — w^hicli was occasionally occupied by slap- 
 seats. The children of the best regulated families were not 
 allowed to go into the gallery, but sat with their parents ; 
 always with backs to the minister, or crowded in between 
 older persons who would keep order. Sometimes the little 
 ones, having nothing to see and little to understand, not 
 even touching their feet to the floors, became uneasy, and 
 felt, if they did not express it, ^Uhe minister 'peeclies too 
 long P'' This church is to-day frescoed most beautifully, 
 
74 
 
 and warmed with the most approved steam apparatus; 
 but then, no church or meeting-house must be warmed. 
 "Little Sabbath-day houses" were built outside, where 
 people who came great distances could eat their lunch and 
 warm their feet. It was considered much out of place, and 
 quite iiTeligious, when stoves were first introduced into 
 churches. For many years, only very aged women and 
 feeble persons were allowed to carry foot-stoves (say about 
 one foot square, filled with coals of walnut wood, or, later, 
 with charcoal) with which to warm their feet during ser- 
 vice ; all the rest of the peoj)le would shiver and sufier with 
 the cold of the winter. Instead of gentlemanly ushers to 
 meet and welcome you to a seat, there stood often men with 
 long guns on their shoulders, to guard and protect those 
 who eagerly pushed their way from their homes to the old 
 stone church. The churches in those days were real forts 
 of defense against any intrusion of the enemy. Well should 
 the}' be built of stone ; and we honor these names which 
 we read as they were placed amid the decorations of the 
 church. Although I do not remember these men, I do 
 recognize their spirit of power in the present generation, 
 for some of our best men, bearing the same names, possess 
 the same energy, and public and religious enterprise, which . 
 so marked theii' ancestors ; so that to-day we can see the 
 wisdom of those who planted this firm church edifice, amid 
 so much difiiculty, and gave so liberally for the suppoi-t of 
 the Gospel preached here. And shall we not be wise in our 
 da}', and with the same determined spirit build strong the 
 temples of God in our own hearts, and see to it that our 
 children, "brought up in the admonition of the Lord," are 
 "rogted and grounded in love," having an house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens, of which Christ is the 
 Cliief Corner Stone. 
 
 Rev. S. S. Joscelyn, of Brooklyn, N. Y., spoke as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 Me. CiiAiRMAisr : When, at the invitation of your com- 
 mittee to be present at this centennial celebration and 
 
reunion, I left Brooklyn, N. Y. (my home), I anticipated 
 "a good tlme,'^^ but my anticipations have been greatly 
 surj^assed. 
 
 I have delightfully realized its full design, not only 
 as a celebration of the dedication of this venerable " Stone 
 Meeting-house," for the worship of God, a hundred years 
 ago, but also one ancestral — a memorial of the noble men 
 who, under difficulties which few bear in our day, erected 
 it ; the fruit of whose faith, toil, and perseverance has, for 
 three generations, been enjoyed by the people of this town 
 and vicinity, and, feeling with them that I stand on ances- 
 tral ground — for among the early ones my ancestors were 
 here, and through years of the building of this edifice — I 
 have the more rejoiced to be present and share with this 
 peculiar and large assembly the inspiration of this occasion. 
 
 The historic discourse by the pastor, so full, compre- 
 hensive, and rich in facts, biographical, churchwise, and of 
 venerable founders and pastors, in combination with times 
 which "tried men's souls," as in the revolution and at the 
 birth of our nation ; and, coming down to our times, with 
 the increase of knowledge, the spread of the Gospel in the 
 earth, the late fearful struggle with rebellion and slavery — 
 its Satanic cause — and both crushed out, all which acknowl- 
 edged to the mighty hand of the God of the oppressed and 
 to His glory ; all this and more, with their instructive 
 lessons and reflections, together with the accompanying 
 addresses of like point, variety, and interest, in combina- 
 tion with prayer, choice original hymns with music in fine 
 keeping, and the congregation entire in praise, all the ser- 
 mces and accompanyments have been too impressive, and 
 yet cheering, ever to be forgotten. 
 
 As we have been invited in the programme and by the 
 chairman, to speak of any personal experience in this place, 
 or facts bearing upon events in the past, I may state that, 
 with two of the later deceased venerable pastors, whose 
 portraits are in view to us behind the pulpit — Rev. Saul 
 Clark and Rev. Stephen Dodd — I was well acquainted, 
 and at times with events on this spot to the glory of God 
 and the riches of His grace. Here it was my privilege — 
 
76 
 
 then a resident of New Haven, my native place — during 
 the great revival there in 1820, 1821, and part of 1822, and 
 in eighty towns in this State, to visit, with other brethren, 
 this church in its revival, to speak and rejoice with the 
 pastor and church in the work of salvation. Also, in the 
 other section, at Fair Haven, where the revival was attended 
 with unusual power and results. The Rev. Horatio Brins- 
 made, now at Newark, N. J., then of Yale, and preparing 
 for the ministr}^, with others of us, labored there and re- 
 joiced in the work so glorious. These were days indeed 
 memorable. The Rev. Asaliel Nettleton, so richly blessed 
 as an evangelist, wrought in New Haven at the time, and 
 lay brethren, sixty in number, met weekly on Saturday 
 evening at the house of that noble Christian and merchant, 
 Timothy Dwight, deceased, and ministers and professors 
 of the college, by their presence and good words occasion- 
 ally, encouraged their work. Deputations of the meeting 
 weekl}^ visited the churches, far and near, to herald the 
 work and share in revival meetings with pastors and 
 churches in this county and over the State. Others there 
 are in this assembly who could, with me, witness to those 
 wonderful days of the outpouring of the spirit, and to 
 others since, most precious, and it may have been to the 
 salvation of some present. May these days soon return ! 
 Loud is the call, and great the work to be done in this 
 land ; fearful was the baptism of blood ere the slaves, and 
 I Tiiny say we, were free. The millions of the freedmen, 
 now citizens, are to be taught and led to Christ. Africa, 
 from the cruel slave-trade, and some other parts must be 
 delivered, and they, with the nations who make them vic- 
 tims, must have the Gospel to be saved, and all the world, 
 or perish. 
 
 What but the outpouring of the spirit, and the full con- 
 secration of God' s people, can avail for the work and time ? 
 
 We are stimulated to-day by the virtues and efforts of 
 pious ancestors, but our responsibilities, with our privileges 
 and means, are far greater than theirs were. Let us then 
 resolve, by the grace of Christ, to rise higher and truly to 
 llim in spirit, and meet our responsibility for the salvation 
 
77 
 
 of the world and the honor of His name, remembering that 
 ''HJie time is shorty If the churcli militant is true, may 
 not the dawn of the millennium light upon entire, sancti- 
 fied, thronging congregations in this old and honored 
 " Stone Meeting-house," and with all people unite in songs 
 of praise to God and shouts of earth' s redemption. 
 
 Mr. Charles H. Fowler then spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr." Chairman : This day is a day of pleasure to us 
 all. We are born of ancestry ennobled by strong virtue 
 and wonderful persistency in doing whatever they believed 
 would tend to the growth of a virtuous, noble, honest, and 
 rugged manhood, and this building is a lasting monument 
 to their self-sacrificing endeavors. I was born in East 
 Haven, and though not connected with this parish church 
 myself, yet, to my mother, who grew up to womanhood 
 under its teachings, I owe a debt that can be canceled only 
 by the efforts of a virtuous, noble, and honest life. I feel 
 that every man whose parents grew up here has an interest 
 in the heritage that has been left us by the strong men who 
 laid these foundations. 
 
 This is a day of prophecy, in that so long as these 
 rugged walls shall stand, and the memory of their builders 
 shall be impressed upon the characters of living men, 
 strength, virtue, and honest manhood, will be a bulwark 
 in the defense of religion, liberty, and law. 
 
 Mr. Fowler then said, that the historical address of the 
 pastor is of interest to many who are not here to-day, and, 
 as a literary monument of painstaking industry, ought to 
 be preserved. He therefore moved. 
 
 That the pastor be requested to furnish the manuscript of his address to a 
 committee to be raised, for publication. 
 
 The motion was carried unanimously, and the committee 
 appointed by the chair. 
 
 Mr. Fowler then moved, 
 
 That the thanks of this assembly be hereby tendered to the ladies of this 
 parish, for a most bountiful and delightful dinner. 
 
 Which motion was passed, unanimously. 
 
78 
 
 Remarks were also made by Joseph C. Farnham, Esq., 
 of Brooklyn, N. Y., Joseph T>. Farren, Esq., of Lawrence, 
 Kan., by the chairman, Samuel T. Andrews, Esq., and 
 others. 
 
 The concert in the evening, under the direction of Dr. 
 J. G. Barnet, in spite of the storm, was fully attended, and 
 was of unusual excellence. 
 
 The reception at the parsonage, after the concert, was a 
 pleasant occasion, but the attendance was not as large as it 
 would have been but for the unpropitious weather. Those 
 present were mostly strangers, from abroad, who thus, to 
 the last, testified their interest in the occasion which had 
 called them to East Haven. 
 
 Thus ended a day, memorable in the history of this 
 ancient church and society, a day whose services, reunions, 
 and associations, have left an influence for good upon both. 
 £Jsto perpetua. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
THE 
 
 D ECLA RATI ON 
 
 Of the Affociation of the County of 
 
 New Haven in Conne6licut, 
 
 Conven'd at New Haven, Feb. 19, 1744,-5:, 
 
 Concerning the Reverend 
 
 Mr. George Whitefield, 
 
 His Condud:, and the State of Religion at 
 
 tliis Day. 
 
 2 Cor. 13, 8. For we can do nothing against the Truth, 
 but for the Truth. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 printed and fold by T. Fleet, at the Heart and Crown 
 in Cornhill, 1745. 
 
82 
 
 (2) 
 
 THE 
 
 D E C L A R AT I O N 
 
 Of New Haven Affociation, &c. 
 
 WE the Servants of Jesus Christ, and (tho' un- 
 worthy) Ministers of his holy Religion, being 
 set as Watchmen to observe, what of the Night, 
 to warn and guard against Ei^rors and Corrupt 
 Doctriiies, Disorders and bad Practices, and all such as 
 teach othei'wise, and consent not to wholeso77ie Words, 
 even the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the 
 Doctrines zuhich is according to Godliness ; Do with Grief 
 of Heart behold and lament the prevalency of Errors, 
 the unhappy Divisions and Separations which are in 
 divers Places, and the Confusions and Disorders upon 
 Religious Accounts, which subsist in the Land, and 
 think we are call'd, in a publick Manner, to bear our 
 Testimony against the same, in this evil Day of our 
 Jacob's Troubles ; and in special, with regard to the 
 Rev. Mr. George Whitcficld, we esteem it our Duty to 
 withstand him, because we think he is to be blamed, 
 and that in various Articles. 
 
 I. We can in no wise approve of his Itinerancy, in 
 going from Country to Country, from Town to Town, 
 and from one Place to another, under a Pretence of 
 preaching the Gospel ; whereas we cannot understand 
 that he hath any orderly Oz// thereunto, whatever Plea 
 he may make of his having a special Mission and Com- 
 mission from Heaven so to do. We are of Opinion, 
 
 that 
 
83 
 
 (3) 
 
 that such a Plea is no Justification, nor to be in any 
 wise regarded, unless he can prove such his Mission by 
 Miracle, or some other equivalent Attestation from 
 Heaven, that may satisfy a Rational and Impartial 
 Mind: For if his own Affirmation in this Case is to 
 be received, every wild Enthusiast may do the same ; 
 and it hath been the Manner of Enthusiasts so to do : 
 Wherefore in this QdiS^, if he bear Witness of himself , 
 
 his Witness is not trite. We also declare against all 
 
 that have copied after him in the Itinerant and stroll- 
 ing-Way of proceeding, whether Exhorters or others, 
 by Reason of whom the way of Trnth is evil spoken of 
 
 2. We account the said Mr. Whitefield hath been a 
 publisher of False Doctrine, in sundry Articles ; particu- 
 larly in declaring in the Pulpit, that if any Man doubted 
 of his Conversion, it was a certain Evidence that he had 
 never experienced it, in those very Words, or Words 
 
 full up to the same Sense: That an unconverted 
 
 Alinister can no more be the Instrument of a Sinner s 
 Conversioji, than a dead Alan can beget a living Child ; 
 as tho' the Efficacy of the Ministry depended upon, and 
 was limited to, the Sanctity of the Preacher ; as tho' 
 Ministers were physical Causes, and not mere moral 
 Instruments in the Conversion of Sinners: That a 
 nattcral Jllan is a motley Mixture, half Beast and half 
 Devil : And in fine, that God loves Siiiners with a love 
 of Complacejicy ; yea, that he loves Sinners as Sinners ; 
 which whether Blasphemous, let others judge. 
 
 3. We think him guilty of uncharitable Censorious- 
 ness, and Slanderous Reproaching, in the vile Aspersions, 
 bitter Retiections, and condemnatory Censures he hath 
 passed upon the main Body Q>i \\\q. Ministry in this Land, 
 tho' the most of them he was a perfect Stranger to, and 
 of most of them it may be boldly said, that they are 
 found in Faith, and of blameless Conversation, and his 
 
 Superiours both in Age and Abilities : Upon Arch 
 
 Bishop Tillotson, to whose Name the venerable Dr. 
 
 Increase 
 
84 
 
 (4) 
 
 Increase Mather hath affix'd the Epithets Great and 
 Good, and concerning whom, with Bishop Burnet, Dr. 
 Colman hath both from the Pulpit and from the Press 
 
 delivered these Words, (Mr. C rs Ordination Serni. 
 
 P. 1 8.) "So were Arch Bishop Tillotson and Bishop 
 Burnet, Men of whom the Age was not worthy ; of 
 conspicuous Sanctity, abundant in their Labours, steady 
 in their Conduct, of unspotted integrity, of an apostoli- 
 cal Spirit, and ready, I believe to have died either for 
 their Country or for Christ : yet these Great and Good 
 Me?i have been loaded with Obloquy. But \.\\Q\r Na7?ies 
 must needs live in the History of the Church, if Truth 
 do not perish from the Earth." Yet a raw and un- 
 studied young Man starts up, and assaults the Charac- 
 ter of the Great and Good A — Bp. in more opprobrious 
 Language than that which the wicked Children used 
 toward the Prophet, Go up thou Bald Head ; for he hath 
 had the Front to say, and print, " that the Arch B — p 
 knew no more of Christianity than Maho?net" which we 
 think is very injurious, tho' we agree not in all Points 
 with the Arch B — p. Bold and Daring Youth ! Go, 
 tarry at Jericho, until thy Beard is groiun. 
 
 — And upon our Colleges, our Beauty and our Glory, 
 which have been, and are, and we pray that they may 
 be, and hope that they will be, even to the latest Pos- 
 terity, great and rich Blessings ; but Mr. W d hath 
 
 said of them, that their Light is become Darkness, evefi 
 Darkness that may be felt. We are astonish'd at the 
 Impudence of the Man, and that he dare to closely imi- 
 tate the Accuser of the Brethren. 
 
 4. He appears to us to be justly accus'd of uncom- 
 mon Pride and Arrogance, and vanity of Alind, in his 
 very liberal boasting (as he hath done in his Writings, 
 especially in his Journals and the History of lus Life^ 
 of his Litimacy with God, and his frequently receiving 
 Messages from Heaven by the Holy Spirit, and his 
 
 great Success here and there. Had he never read, 
 
 or 
 
88 
 
 (5) 
 
 or had he forgot that counsel and Caution of the wise 
 Man, Let aiiot her praise thee anel not tJiine ozvn Month, 
 a Stranger, and not thine own Lips ? 
 
 5. He appears to us to be a great Enthusiast, in 
 being led by Lnpnlses and Impressions, and construing 
 his little Feelings, or the sudden workings of his own. 
 Mind, and his Dreams, to be the Suggestions of the 
 Holy Spirit, without any good Scripture Ground so to 
 do ; and that sometimes, in such trival Matters, and in 
 such a Manner, as can scarcely be clear'd of Prophaness. 
 
 6. Nor can we reconcile his Conduct and Practice, 
 in publickly praying and administring the Sacrament 
 2i\'\-\Q>\\<g Presbyterians and Congregationalists, in the Ex- 
 tempore Way, with his Subseription and Solemn Promises 
 and Vows at the Time of his Episcopal Ordination ; nor 
 see how his doing so is consistent with moral Honesty, 
 Christian Simplicity, and Godly Sincerity. 
 
 These Thines, which we have alledg-'d aofainst him 
 as matters of Grievance and Offence unto us, we could 
 easily, fully and particularly prove from his own Writ- 
 ings, and otherwise, but that we think it needless ; it 
 having been sufficiently done by others, by the Presi- 
 dent, Professors, drT. of Harvard College ; by the Letter 
 signed L. K. by Mr. Henchmans Letter; the Vindica- 
 tion (sarcastically so called) of Mr. W d, and other 
 
 Peices which have been printed, and (as far as we know) 
 never yet answered. 
 
 Nor can we forbear to enumerate some of the Evils 
 and Mischiefs which have follow'd his Conduct, and 
 Management of those that have gone in his Way, and 
 that (as we think) are the natural Consequents of the 
 same, — viz. The Ministry is cast into much Con- 
 tempt, and their Usefulness greatly clog'd and obstruct- 
 ed : The Minds of People in matters of Religion 
 
 are strangely unhing'd and tluctuating, and many turn- 
 ing away, some to Quakerism some to Anabaptism, &c. 
 insomuch that many know not what to think or where 
 
 to 
 
86 
 
 (6) 
 
 to fix, and are tempted to suspect all Revealed Religion 
 to be a mere Flam and Nullity. 
 
 Antinomimi Principles are advanc'd, preach'd up and 
 
 printed ; Christian Brethren have their Affections 
 
 widely alienated ; Unchristian Censoriousness and 
 
 hard judging abounds, Love stands afar of, and Charity 
 
 cannot enter ; Many Churches and Societies are 
 
 broken and divided ; Pernicious and unjustifiable 
 
 Separations are set up and continued, particularly at 
 Neiv Haven and Milford, which have more especially 
 
 fallen under our Observation : Numbers of illiterate 
 
 Exhorters swarm about as Locusts from the Bottomless 
 Pit ; — We think upon the ivholc, that Religion is now 
 in a far worse State than it was in i 740. 
 
 Nor have we any good Account that the said Mr. 
 
 W d hath reflected upon himself, as to these his 
 
 Faults, evil Deeds, and Misdemeanours, held forth Re- 
 pentance, and ask'd Forgiveness in an open and publick 
 Manner, as we think the Rules of the Gospel do strictly 
 require. 
 
 For all which Reasons, and others that might be 
 mention'd, it is our Judgment that the said Mr. G — 
 VVkitcficld should not be allowed to preach any where, 
 or to have Communion ; and we do hereby publish and 
 Declare, that it is our Purpose and Determination, that 
 
 we will not admit the said Mr. W d into any of our 
 
 Pulpits, nor receive him to Communion in any of our 
 Churches ; and that we will Caution the People under 
 our Charge against going to hear him any where, 'till 
 he hold forth Repentance according to Gospel Rule, 
 and bring forth Fruit meet for Repentance. 
 
 It hath truly been Matter of Grief to us, that so 
 many of the Ministers in Boston did caress, applaud and 
 
 follow the said Mr. W d, and even bow'' d before him, 
 
 at his first coming, which we conceive hath had an un- 
 kind Influence into the Coiintry, and set the Things of 
 a bad and dangerous Tendency a going ; and it is still 
 
 more 
 
^1 
 
 (7) 
 
 more o-Hevous to us, that so many Ministers \xi Boston 
 appea? so attach'd to him since his Return, after the 
 bad Effects of his former Visit are so manifest and 
 o-larino- • nor do we see Reason to dissent from the Rev. 
 %Ar.Nat]ianid EcllsM^^^^ Words in his printed Letter 
 are these • / verily believe, that God in Judgment, and 
 not in Mercy to this People, hath sent him again into this 
 Country. It is verily surprizing to us, and what we 
 cannot account for, that Mr. W d, under his Cir- 
 cumstances, pubHckly charged with so much moral 
 Scandal, and no way clear'd of the same, should be im- 
 prov'd to administer the holy Sacrament, ( 1 etl it not 
 in Gath) and that a Gentleman of Character should 
 attempt a Vindication of him in his prevaricating with 
 solemn Vows and Promises. 
 
 But we gladly improve this Opportunity to send our 
 publick Thanks to the Reverend and Honoured Gen- 
 tlemen of Harvard College, the Reverend Associations, 
 and particular Ministers, who have appear'd so valiant 
 for the Truth, against the Errors, Enthusiasm, and en- 
 croaching Evils of the present Day. 
 
 Thus in a Sense of Duty, we make known our Sen- 
 timents and our Resolutions ; and God forbid that we 
 should cease to pray for the Peace of our Jerusalem : 
 For our Brethren and Companions sake, we will noiv say, 
 Peace be within thee, because of the House of the Lord our 
 God, we will seek thy Good. Amen. 
 
 Samuel Whittelsey, Moderator, Pastor of a Church 
 
 (in Wallingford. 
 Jacob Heminivay, East-Haven, 
 
 Joseph Noyes, ^^^^ ^f"['\ 
 
 Samuel Hall, ^f^^ Cheshire, 
 
 Isaac Stiles, North Haven, 
 
 I nomas 
 
S8 
 
 (8) 
 
 Thomas Ruggles, Guilford, 
 
 yo7iatJian Mcruk, A-ortli Bi'dnfo^'d, 
 
 Theophihts Hall, Mci'idcn, 
 
 Samuel WJiittelsey, Milford, 
 
 Jonathan Todd, • East Guilford, 
 
 Nathan Birdsey, West Haven, 
 
 Benjamin Woodbridge, Amity. 
 
 Not being present at the Meeting of the Associa- 
 tion, but having had Opportunity to peruse the above 
 Declaraiion, I do fully agree with the Association 
 therein, as tho' present. 
 
 Nathaiiiel Chauncy, of Durham. 
 
 N'orth Gjiilford, February 21, 1744,-5. 
 
 I the Subscriber, not being present at the Meeting 
 of abovesaid Association, yet do fully agree with, and 
 consent unto the above Declaration of my Brethren, 
 not to improve the Rev. Mr. Whitefield. 
 
 Sannicl Russell, Pastor oi North-Guilford. 
 
 Jk'?7-79 
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