“HOME“Born on these hills, or in this happy vale,Our feet turn swiftly toward the well-known trail:At all great moments, when the heart is stirred,The exile’s soul spreads wings like homing bird.“ ’Tis in this village church our knees are bent,When, ’neath cathedral dome or tropic tent,We hear the burial service for the dead,’Tis in the old home pew our prayers are said.“No brilliant light in bold, bright city streetCan dazzle, eyes accustom-ed to greetThat golden splash and sparkle where the sunKisses our River’s curve ere day is done.You know the spot. We see it from Town-Hill;It stirs our hearts and makes old memories thrill.“In Switzerland, the snow-capped heights grow dim,Mt. Tom appears, and Guardian Mount with him.Rigi’s a dream, and even Jungfrau pales,While Alpine glow lights up New England dales.“Old Ocean’s storms and winds for us grow calm,The while we dream of Housatonic’s charm:And we forget the harbor at TriesteTo float upon Lake Waramaug’s dear breast.“No bells that ring from far-famed distant towersAre half so sweet as those ‘First Bells’ of ours.And songs that thrill the world were never sungAs noble as those hymns we loved when young.“On London ’bus, or in Pall-Mall’s vast crowd,Sudden we’re walking through a field fresh plowed:Upon the steamer’s deck far out at sea,We hear a robin sing in Main Street tree.“In wind-swept wastes, we’re filled with joy, not gloom,Because at home th’ arbutus is in bloom.And when June comes, and roses blow, we say:‘Oh, for those roses round our porch to-day!’“But ’tis at night beneath the heavens we cry:‘These same kind stars with ever-friendly eyeUpon our well-beloved graves look down,Far, far away, in dear New Milford town.’ ”
“HOME“Born on these hills, or in this happy vale,Our feet turn swiftly toward the well-known trail:At all great moments, when the heart is stirred,The exile’s soul spreads wings like homing bird.“ ’Tis in this village church our knees are bent,When, ’neath cathedral dome or tropic tent,We hear the burial service for the dead,’Tis in the old home pew our prayers are said.“No brilliant light in bold, bright city streetCan dazzle, eyes accustom-ed to greetThat golden splash and sparkle where the sunKisses our River’s curve ere day is done.You know the spot. We see it from Town-Hill;It stirs our hearts and makes old memories thrill.“In Switzerland, the snow-capped heights grow dim,Mt. Tom appears, and Guardian Mount with him.Rigi’s a dream, and even Jungfrau pales,While Alpine glow lights up New England dales.“Old Ocean’s storms and winds for us grow calm,The while we dream of Housatonic’s charm:And we forget the harbor at TriesteTo float upon Lake Waramaug’s dear breast.“No bells that ring from far-famed distant towersAre half so sweet as those ‘First Bells’ of ours.And songs that thrill the world were never sungAs noble as those hymns we loved when young.“On London ’bus, or in Pall-Mall’s vast crowd,Sudden we’re walking through a field fresh plowed:Upon the steamer’s deck far out at sea,We hear a robin sing in Main Street tree.“In wind-swept wastes, we’re filled with joy, not gloom,Because at home th’ arbutus is in bloom.And when June comes, and roses blow, we say:‘Oh, for those roses round our porch to-day!’“But ’tis at night beneath the heavens we cry:‘These same kind stars with ever-friendly eyeUpon our well-beloved graves look down,Far, far away, in dear New Milford town.’ ”
“HOME
“Born on these hills, or in this happy vale,Our feet turn swiftly toward the well-known trail:At all great moments, when the heart is stirred,The exile’s soul spreads wings like homing bird.
“ ’Tis in this village church our knees are bent,When, ’neath cathedral dome or tropic tent,We hear the burial service for the dead,’Tis in the old home pew our prayers are said.
“No brilliant light in bold, bright city streetCan dazzle, eyes accustom-ed to greetThat golden splash and sparkle where the sunKisses our River’s curve ere day is done.You know the spot. We see it from Town-Hill;It stirs our hearts and makes old memories thrill.
“In Switzerland, the snow-capped heights grow dim,Mt. Tom appears, and Guardian Mount with him.Rigi’s a dream, and even Jungfrau pales,While Alpine glow lights up New England dales.
“Old Ocean’s storms and winds for us grow calm,The while we dream of Housatonic’s charm:And we forget the harbor at TriesteTo float upon Lake Waramaug’s dear breast.
“No bells that ring from far-famed distant towersAre half so sweet as those ‘First Bells’ of ours.And songs that thrill the world were never sungAs noble as those hymns we loved when young.
“On London ’bus, or in Pall-Mall’s vast crowd,Sudden we’re walking through a field fresh plowed:Upon the steamer’s deck far out at sea,We hear a robin sing in Main Street tree.
“In wind-swept wastes, we’re filled with joy, not gloom,Because at home th’ arbutus is in bloom.And when June comes, and roses blow, we say:‘Oh, for those roses round our porch to-day!’
“But ’tis at night beneath the heavens we cry:‘These same kind stars with ever-friendly eyeUpon our well-beloved graves look down,Far, far away, in dear New Milford town.’ ”
Charles N. Hall, Secretary of the General Bi-Centennial Committee, read the following cablegram:
“London, England, June 15, 1907.
“Success to the Bi-Centennial and best wishes for the dear old town! Deeply regret my absence.
Frank Hine.”
He also read the following letter, explaining that, although addressed to the Committee, it belonged to all New Milford, since it came straight from the heart of one whom all New Milford loves:
“New York, June 11, 1907.
“Charles N. Hall, Esq., Secretary of the Bi-Centennial Association of New Milford,
“Dear Sir:—
“Owing to a severe and unexpected attack of illness I am reluctantly compelled, acting under the imperative orders of my physician, Dr. Allan McLane Hamilton, of New York, to relinquish any participation in the Bi-Centennial ceremonies, and I, therefore, request that arrangements be made to have my duties assumed by the officers upon whom they will devolve.
“It is impossible for me to express my deep regret at the necessity of giving up any part in these exercises, to which I have looked forward with so much pleasure and pride, and my profound appreciation of the high honor conferred on me by the people of New Milford in electing me President of this Association.
“I desire to extend to them all, through you, my sincere and heartfelt thanks; and to all guests and friends who honor uswith their presence on this glad and memorable occasion, and whom I hoped to meet personally, I extend a warm welcome and a hearty greeting.
“Very truly yours,“Henry S. Mygatt.”
Before and after the exercises of the evening, much informal sociability was indulged in, in the course of which many stories of old times were exchanged and many old friendships renewed. The occasion was a highly enjoyable one, especially to those who had come from a distance after an absence of many years. It was an “old home gathering” in the best and fullest acceptation of the term.
Written for Bi-Centennial Sunday by Charles N. Hall
Lord of the Pilgrims; they who cameFar over-seas to praise Thy name;Braving the wave, the wilderness,Firm in their faith that Thou wouldst bless;Planting upon a new world’s shoreThy name, their faith, forevermore—Grant us, their children, thus to bePersistent in our faith in Thee.Dark seemed the way; grim forests frowned,Hunger and cold crouched close aroundThat Pilgrim band; while wintry seasRolled wide, ’twixt English homes and these,Who, faithful still, to doubt unknown,Laid here the Nation’s cornerstone.Grant us, their children, thus to beUnfaltering in our faith in Thee.Bitter their sufferings and tears;Hardship and toil marked all the years;But through it all Thy saving handGuided and held the chosen band;Leading them safely home at last,All hardship done, all trials passed.Grant us, their children, thus to beGuided, sustained, brought home, by Thee.
Lord of the Pilgrims; they who cameFar over-seas to praise Thy name;Braving the wave, the wilderness,Firm in their faith that Thou wouldst bless;Planting upon a new world’s shoreThy name, their faith, forevermore—Grant us, their children, thus to bePersistent in our faith in Thee.Dark seemed the way; grim forests frowned,Hunger and cold crouched close aroundThat Pilgrim band; while wintry seasRolled wide, ’twixt English homes and these,Who, faithful still, to doubt unknown,Laid here the Nation’s cornerstone.Grant us, their children, thus to beUnfaltering in our faith in Thee.Bitter their sufferings and tears;Hardship and toil marked all the years;But through it all Thy saving handGuided and held the chosen band;Leading them safely home at last,All hardship done, all trials passed.Grant us, their children, thus to beGuided, sustained, brought home, by Thee.
Lord of the Pilgrims; they who cameFar over-seas to praise Thy name;Braving the wave, the wilderness,Firm in their faith that Thou wouldst bless;Planting upon a new world’s shoreThy name, their faith, forevermore—Grant us, their children, thus to bePersistent in our faith in Thee.
Dark seemed the way; grim forests frowned,Hunger and cold crouched close aroundThat Pilgrim band; while wintry seasRolled wide, ’twixt English homes and these,Who, faithful still, to doubt unknown,Laid here the Nation’s cornerstone.Grant us, their children, thus to beUnfaltering in our faith in Thee.
Bitter their sufferings and tears;Hardship and toil marked all the years;But through it all Thy saving handGuided and held the chosen band;Leading them safely home at last,All hardship done, all trials passed.Grant us, their children, thus to beGuided, sustained, brought home, by Thee.
Sermonsappropriate to the occasion were preached to large congregations in all the churches Sunday morning. These sermons, in so far as they were historical, are reproduced herewith:
BY REV. FRANK A. JOHNSONIn the First Congregational Church
“...In the summer of 1707, an eagle, poised on extended pinions over the Housatonic Valley, would have looked down upon a scene of singular beauty. He would have beheld a wilderness; but has not a wilderness a beauty unsurpassed by the artificial works of man? Mountain, hill and valley were clothed with magnificent forests of oak, chestnut and ash. The river, then a clear mountain stream, weaving its way among the hills, added to the sylvan beauty of the scene. There was no sign of the presence, or even existence of man, save possibly the thin smoke from the camp-fire of some peaceful Indian, who loved these hills, the home of his fathers.
“Into this trackless wilderness, from the then far-away north-land of Massachusetts, came John Noble and his little eight-year-old daughter. Do we, who know this lovely valley so well, wonder that he built his simple home here, and that his descendants have remained here ever since? His house was for some time the last house this side of Albany.
“After a short time, a company from Milford, on Long Island Sound, took up much of the land here, and naturally gave the name New Milford to the new settlement. These men were of a sturdy race, strong in body, courageous, believers in God and His righteousness. Just think of the task that confronted them! The great forests, which would be a better possession than a gold mine now, were an encumbrance then. The traditions of these fathers tell us nothing of enervating club life, or midday siestas; the daily rule of life for man
SOME NEW MILFORD CHURCHES Methodist Episcopal Baptist, Northville Methodist, Gaylordsville Saint Francis XavierSOME NEW MILFORD CHURCHESMethodist EpiscopalBaptist, NorthvilleMethodist, GaylordsvilleSaint Francis Xavier
and woman then was work, work, work, that we might enter into the goodly heritage we now enjoy. Among the early settlers was Mr. John Read, who built a primitive house at the upper end of “The Green,” near Mr. Frederic Knapp’s house. Mr. Read, at one time, intended to enter the ministry. He preached the first sermon here in his own house. The founders of our State and town believed in God, and delighted in his worship. They were assured that God could manifest himself in the wild woods, or in some log cabin as well as in a stately cathedral. And so, before their families were fairly settled, they provided some place for the stated worship of Almighty God.
“So, here, after Mr. Read left the town, the people continued to use his simple home as their place of worship. I quote from our church manual: ‘These people held their religious services in what was called Mr. Read’s house, which has been described as probably built of logs, one story high, and had but one window, and was not very commodious nor an ornamental place of worship. The first vote to build a regular meeting-house was passed in 1716, and, then, so many difficulties were encountered, and so limited were the resources of the people, that the building does not seem to have been completely finished and furnished till 1731—though it was probably occupied for worship in its unfinished condition as early as 1720. This building stood on Town Hill, on the upper side of the present “Green.” In 1754 a new and more commodious meeting-house was erected upon the village “Green,” nearly opposite the present residence of Mrs. Henry E. Bostwick. This building was used as a house of worship for seventy-nine years, during the pastorates of Revs. Taylor, Griswold and Elliot. During the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Rood in 1833, the present edifice was erected. In 1860, it was completely renovated.’
“In 1892 it was again renovated and a considerable addition made to this audience room, and the chapel, parlor and class rooms were added to the main building. In 1902 the present parsonage was built, and the ample grounds about it werelaid out. In 1904 the organ was presented by one of our members....
“They were a godly people who settled in this valley; a people who believed in the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship, and we may be sure that some kind of religious service was held here from the beginning of the settlement, but a regular church was not organized until 1716. Eight female and five male members were formally recognized as a church by council on November 21 of that year. It was a Congregational Church of the ‘Standing Order,’ and all the early inhabitants seem to have been in sympathy with it. It has continued an unbroken organization to this day. It has always been influential in the moral and religious movements of the community; and we are proud of its history, and are glad that we are members of it in this later day.
“We are so firmly convinced of the wisdom of the separation of Church and State, that it is hard for us to appreciate that our own church, through much of its history, was rigidly united with the State. For thirty-four years after the organization of the church, the Ecclesiastical Society and the town were practically the same thing. The larger part of the business of town meetings was the consideration of religious affairs. The town called the minister, provided for the expenses of the church, cared for the building; in fact did about everything that the church and society would do now. It was a town meeting that voted the size of the shingles and clapboards to be placed on the church building. Some of you, not very old, can remember when the town voted in the basement of this building. If there is any virtue in a union of Church and State, this church must have received the full measure. Until 1819 this Society had the legal right to tax all the inhabitants for its own support; but naturally, other denominations, which had arisen within the town, would object to this, and, as a matter of fact, this right was not insisted upon. The only relic of this incongruous relation of Church and State, according to American standards, is the Ecclesiastical Society; and, in the formation of new churches, this is generally done awaywith, the church feeling abundantly able to take care of its own affairs.
“During the one hundred and ninety-one years of its history this church has been served by ten settled pastors, and by several ministers who acted as pastors for limited periods. All of these ministers were men of power and influence, and have left their mark upon both church and town. From the organization of the church in 1716 to the end of the eighteenth century the church was served by only two pastors—the Rev. Daniel Boardman, and the Rev. Nathaniel Taylor. They were strong men and did much for the religious development of western Connecticut. Their descendants are still influential residents of our town. The third pastor was the Rev. Stanley Griswold, a man of strong personality and pronounced ability. After leaving New Milford he retired from the ministry, and, entering upon political life, became Secretary of Michigan Territory, and afterwards one of the first United States Senators from the State of Michigan. Later, he was Chief Justice of the Northwest Territory. The Revs. Andrew Elliot and Herman Rood were strong men, leaving the impress of their labors upon the life of the church. The sixth pastor was the Rev. Noah Porter. He was a faithful worker here, and his work was greatly blessed. He afterwards became known to all the world of scholars as the distinguished President, for many years, of Yale College. The Rev. John Greenwood was a pastor greatly beloved. After a period of absence from the town, he returned to spend his latter days with the church he loved. The eighth pastor was the Rev. David Murdock, Jr. He was a forcible preacher, and many of the present membership were received into the church during his fruitful ministry. He was pastor during the exciting days of the Civil War, and his stirring, patriotic addresses never left any doubt of the position of this church in the days which tried men’s souls. The last three ministers, the Revs. James B. Bonar, George S. Thrall, and Timothy J. Lee, were the friends and pastors of a large part of the present congregation. Many of the older members were welcomed into thefellowship of the church during their ministries. Not only here, but in other fields of labor, they gave good proof of their ministry. Of all this list of former ministers, only one is living to-day, the Rev. Timothy J. Lee, the immediate predecessor of the present pastor.
“These ministers were advised and assisted by a consecrated band of deacons; men chosen for their piety and interest in the affairs of the church. The New England Congregational deacon has always filled a large place in the moral development of a community; and so these men have done their part in promoting the better life of this town. It would be impossible to write a true history of the town without giving their names a prominent place. The name of one of their number, also sometime clerk of our Society, is written high in the annals of his country, the distinguished patriot and statesman, Roger Sherman, associate of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert R. Livingston, on the committee of five which prepared the immortal Declaration of Independence. His colleague, Thomas Jefferson, said of him, he was ‘a man who never said a foolish thing’; and the noted Senator Macon declared, ‘He had more common sense than any man I have ever known.’ At this anniversary time, we are happy to recall the name of such a man as a citizen of our town, and a member and officer in our church....
The following hymn, written for the occasion by Charlotte B. Bennett, was sung in the Congregational Church in the course of the service at which the above sermon was preached.
BI-CENTENNIAL HYMN“God of our fathers, in whose sightThe centuries are but as days,We ask, as those of old, Thy light;We bring, like them, our gift of praise.“We bless Thee for the fathers’ love;They made the rough way smooth, that weMight safer walk. O, may it proveThe path of peace that leads to Thee.“We reach across the vanished yearsAnd touch their holy lives to-day,They kept the faith through toils and fears;Grant healing in the touch, we pray.“If mists of time have dimmed our sight,And faith has faltered on the way,May clearer vision in the lightOf holy memories, crown this day.“Alike to Thee are new and old;Thy care through ages is the same;Thy love links with a chain of goldThe centuries, in one dear Name.“Keep in the hollow of Thy handThis hallowed place, while years shall last;For righteousness still may it stand,Till days and ages are all past.”
BI-CENTENNIAL HYMN“God of our fathers, in whose sightThe centuries are but as days,We ask, as those of old, Thy light;We bring, like them, our gift of praise.“We bless Thee for the fathers’ love;They made the rough way smooth, that weMight safer walk. O, may it proveThe path of peace that leads to Thee.“We reach across the vanished yearsAnd touch their holy lives to-day,They kept the faith through toils and fears;Grant healing in the touch, we pray.“If mists of time have dimmed our sight,And faith has faltered on the way,May clearer vision in the lightOf holy memories, crown this day.“Alike to Thee are new and old;Thy care through ages is the same;Thy love links with a chain of goldThe centuries, in one dear Name.“Keep in the hollow of Thy handThis hallowed place, while years shall last;For righteousness still may it stand,Till days and ages are all past.”
BI-CENTENNIAL HYMN
“God of our fathers, in whose sightThe centuries are but as days,We ask, as those of old, Thy light;We bring, like them, our gift of praise.
“We bless Thee for the fathers’ love;They made the rough way smooth, that weMight safer walk. O, may it proveThe path of peace that leads to Thee.
“We reach across the vanished yearsAnd touch their holy lives to-day,They kept the faith through toils and fears;Grant healing in the touch, we pray.
“If mists of time have dimmed our sight,And faith has faltered on the way,May clearer vision in the lightOf holy memories, crown this day.
“Alike to Thee are new and old;Thy care through ages is the same;Thy love links with a chain of goldThe centuries, in one dear Name.
“Keep in the hollow of Thy handThis hallowed place, while years shall last;For righteousness still may it stand,Till days and ages are all past.”
BY REV. SAMUEL HART, D. D.OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT, IN SAINT JOHN’S CHURCH, ALL SAINTS’ CONGREGATION UNITING
“It happened, as men say, that the beginning of the settlement of this town fell in the year which saw the organization of the first parish of the Church of England in Connecticut; the bi-centenary of New Milford is also the bi-centenary of the Diocese of Connecticut. It is but natural, therefore, that one who is called to speak to-day as to that part which this parish has borne in the history of the town, should recur to the origin of the Church in this Colony, and should have in his mind the inspiration of last week’s commemoration in Stratford; we cannot but look back from the time when the Church’s ministrations were first held here, to the earlier ministrations on the shores of the Sound. But we have a stronger reason to-day for turning to the beginnings; for the two clergymenwho first officiated here, at the request of a few adherents of the Church of England, were Dr. Johnson, missionary and rector at Stratford, ‘the father of the Church in Connecticut,’ and Mr. John Beach, of Stratford birth, Dr. Johnson’s pupil in theology, in charge of congregations in Redding and Newtown. But, as it appears, we can go still further back; for one of the first settlers here, of whom indeed it is said that he claimed the land by title from the Indians, was John Read, who, at the time when the church services were first held by a clergyman in Stratford, was ministering to the Congregational society there, and presently connected himself with the newly formed congregation of Churchmen; indeed, we are told that at one time he had it in mind to go to England and ask for ordination at the hands of a bishop. Whatever his plans in this matter, they were not carried out; for he removed to this place, granted the use of a house which he built as a place of meeting for public worship, and occasionally preached to those who assembled there. He became a lawyer and Queen’s attorney, and removed to Boston, where he was a communicant in King’s Chapel. His son John was one of the first settlers of Reading (Redding) and named the town for his father. Thus there was here, from the very first, a little Church of England leaven.
“But we are told of no formal church services here for twenty-two years, and of no separate congregation until 1743. At this time, Dr. Johnson, that man of great learning and prudence and missionary zeal, had been ministering for twenty years in Stratford, extending his journeys to places adjacent and remote in the Colony, and exercising a strong and healthful influence on behalf of the Church. Among the young men whom he trained in the Church’s ways and in her theology, his pupils and members of his family, was John Beach, for eight years Congregational minister at Newtown, ‘a popular and insinuating young man,’ as was testified of him, who after ordination in England came back to his former field of labor and began a wonderful work there and in Redding, with a small congregation of five families. These two men came hither at
ST. JOHN’S CHURCHST. JOHN’S CHURCH
the request of a few Church people, of whom Mr. Beach wrote in 1743 there were about twenty families in New Milford and New Fairfield, who frequently attended church at Newtown, and to whom he ministered at their homes as he was able, but rarely on the Lord’s Day. The town, presently, on the petition of twelve men, granted them a piece of land in the street at its south end, ‘near where the old pound used to stand,’ forty feet by sixty, ‘in order to build a Church of England upon;’ and the building seems to have been erected in 1744....
“Under Mr. Beach’s care many in this part of the colony—for he had a wide circuit for visitations and services—accepted the Church’s ways; and thus was the Church established in the faith and increasing in number, as in the primitive times. When at last he asked to be relieved from the care of the congregations and scattered communicants in Litchfield County, the Rev. Solomon Palmer took charge of the Churchmen in this neighborhood, and became the first clergyman resident here. After five years he removed to Litchfield; and to him succeeded, in 1762, as by a kind of exchange, the Rev. Thomas Davies, whose grandfather and father, faithful laymen, had founded the parishes in Litchfield and Washington. His whole span of life was but thirty years, and he ministered here but four years; but he left a record for untiring labor, constant pastoral labor, persuasive eloquence, and godly living, which has not been effaced by time, and the results of which, we cannot but believe, still remain in this community. Even when there was talk of a division of his work, he proposed to retain the towns of New Milford, Woodbury, Kent, and New Fairfield as his mission, leaving Litchfield, Cornwall and Sharon, with a few Churchmen in nine other towns, to the care of another clergyman. During his ministry, a second house of worship was built, the old church being too small for the congregation; it stood in part on the street, some twenty or thirty rods north of the former site. After Mr. Davies, followed the Rev. Richard (or Richard Samuel) Clarke, the twenty years of whose ministry included the cloudy days that preceded the Revolution and the stormy times of the Revolution itself. He was a Tory in politicalconvictions and, after the war, removed to Nova Scotia, where he died in 1824 at the age of 87, the oldest missionary in the Colonies.
“It would be ungracious to dwell now on the opposition, for the most part conscientious, and nearly always quite in accordance with law, which the early Churchmen experienced. It is pleasanter to note that their neighbors and the Colonial authorities extended to them what was for the times, a generous toleration as to ‘sober dissenters,’ and allowed them, if they actually attended church, to turn their ‘church rates’ to the support of their own clergymen. And this parish had the special favor, shared with but two others, of a special act of the General Assembly, which practically put it before the law in the full status of a society of the standing Congregational order. Even the hard feelings of Revolutionary days, almost excusable at the time, soon passed away. The Church of England in Connecticut, under the nominal care of the Bishop of London, became the Church of the Diocese of Connecticut, under the care of her own Bishop, and presently a constituent part of the Church in the United States, loyally maintaining the Commonwealth and the Republic, actually guiding the organization of the State, and moulding a large part of the people in the ways of soberness, righteousness, and godliness.
“In all this time, the parish of St. John’s, New Milford, was a true center of missionary work. We wonder when we read of Dr. Johnson from Stratford extending his journeys to Newtown and Middletown and New London; of Mr. Beach from Newtown visiting New Milford and other places, really caring for a whole county with ‘parts adjacent’; of Mr. Davies from New Milford going about in circuit, preaching and baptizing in Roxbury, and New Preston, and Salisbury, and Litchfield, and Sharon, and divers other places in the Colony, and crossing the line into Great Barrington, where he found difficulties incident to another government, but where a church was built under his care; and how he, in his turn, directed to that place the steps of Gideon Bostwick, who ministered for more than twenty years in Berkshire, in the southern part ofVermont, and in the eastern part of New York. Moreover, there came in 1769, to the clergy of Connecticut, assembled in Convocation in New Milford, a memorial from the few Churchmen in the new settlement of Claremont, in New Hampshire, asking that their case might be presented to the Venerable Society in England, with the hope that they would be allowed at least a catechist and schoolteacher, until (as they said) they should have passed ‘the first difficulties and hardships of a wild, uncultivated country.’ Such a man was commissioned, and did good work as an unordained missionary; while a clergyman was presently sent to make a personal exploration of the northern provinces. It is apart from our immediate topic; but we can never think of the religious history of New Milford without being reminded of that remarkable man, Count Zinzendorf, who held the episcopate among the Moravians, and for a while ministered to the aborigines in this very place—one of the few places in which the Indians remained, and in which they were affected by the preaching of Christianity. There were others also here whose very presence was a challenge to the teaching of the Church at one time or another—Separatists, and Quakers, and Jemimaites, and Glassites. Among them all, the Church held her place, and guided the life of no small part of the whole community.
“For the last ten years of the eighteenth century the Rev. Truman Marsh was rector of New Milford, with New Preston and Roxbury. In 1793 the Church, already occupied for eight and twenty years, was formally consecrated by Bishop Seabury, eight of the clergy being present for a Convocation. It had been long in an unfinished state, as we gather from the frequent entries in the parish records, which refer to the work yet to be done. Only two years before the consecration it was voted, ‘To go on and finish the Pulpit, Reading Desk, Clark’s pew, and Gallery’; and in the next year a vote was passed as to the assignment of seats; and, the front seat in the gallery being reserved for singers, and the back seat there for blacks, it was commendably voted, ‘That People of any Denomination that Wish a Seat Shall have one.’ This edifice, repairedfrom time to time, served the purposes of the congregation until 1837; and the third Church was in turn replaced by the present beautiful and enduring building, on a new but adjacent site, twenty-four years ago, in 1883. There must have been of old a glebe lot here, though we do not find early notice of it; it lay on the west side of the Main Street, and, in Mr. Marsh’s day, it had a house and barn upon it; there is a tradition that it was secured in part from the sale of a piece of land which the parish owned at a still earlier day and in part from the parish’s share of the avails from undivided land in the highway; at any rate, it was sold long ago.
“The history of post-Revolutionary times must be rapidly passed over. Mr. Benjamin Benham began here as a lay-reader, and, having been ordained in 1808, was rector for nearly twenty years, having duties also at New Preston, Roxbury, Bridgewater, and Brookfield; then, for another score of years the Rev. Enoch Huntington ministered to the congregation, and, after an interval, another twenty years of your records is covered by the rectorship of the Rev. Charles G. Acly, in whose time a rectory was secured.
“This brings us down to a date but little more than thirty years ago, well within the memory of many in this congregation; and the last twelve of these years belong to the present rectorship, as to which we may well hope, both for the rector’s sake and for the people’s, that it is much nearer its beginning than its end.
“A few figures will show the remarkable growth of the parish, noticeable even among the thriving country parishes of Connecticut. A hundred years ago, already a century after the first settlement, there were seventy-four communicants in the cure of New Milford, New Preston, and Roxbury; fifty years ago, St. John’s Church, New Milford, reported one hundred and twenty-five communicants and one hundred Sunday scholars; in 1885, not quite thirty years later, the number of communicants had increased to two hundred and eighty-nine, and the number of Sunday scholars was one hundred sixty-four. In the last named year, the new congregation of All Saints’ MemorialChurch was canonically organized, its beautiful place of worship being consecrated in a subsequent year, and a rectory being added some twelve years ago. The result of this increase of the provision for the worship of the Church and for its varied ministrations in this town has been a growth, under all the circumstances, more remarkable than that of former times; in twenty-one years the number of communicants has increased from two hundred eighty-nine to five hundred forty-nine—four hundred five in the older parish and one hundred forty-four in the younger; and where there were one hundred sixty-four scholars in one Sunday school, there are now two hundred fifty-eight in two schools, of which the mother parish has two hundred nine....”
BY REV. S. D. WOODSIN THE BAPTIST CHURCH AT NORTHVILLE
“Our best authority tells us that while Baptists were not very numerous in the early days of the town’s history, yet a decade or more before the close of its first century there was a sufficient number to warrant the carrying on of services at varying places—Bridgewater, Warren, and Gaylord’s Bridge. These were kept up for twenty-five years, when, on Jan. 7, 1814, a meeting was held at the residence of Asahel Baldwin, at which time it was voted: ‘1st, To organize ourselves into a society to be known as the “New Milford Baptist Church.” 2d, To invite a council from sister churches to meet with us on Feb. 9, to consider the propriety of recognizing us as a regular Baptist Church.’ This council met as planned, and after a proper examination of ‘their Articles of Faith and their Covenant,’ voted, unanimously, ‘to recognize them as a sister church in the Lord.’
“By this act twenty-two believers became a recognized body of worshipers, who, ten days later, voted to license Eleazer Beecher as pastor. He was ordained Sept. 15, 1814, at the residence of Abel Canfield on Long Mountain. The services were conducted in the open air.
“This first pastorate continued for seven years, when Rev. Seth Higby assumed charge for one momentous year, as it witnessed the beginning of this present house of worship; and the following year, 1822, saw its completion, when Elder Higby resigned, and Elder Beecher was again installed, serving the church for ten years more. He was succeeded by Rev. Nathan Benedict in a two years’ pastorate, and he, in turn, by Rev. Elijah Baldwin, who remained until 1840. For ten years the church was without a settled pastor, though the pulpit was supplied by various non-resident clergymen.
“From 1850 to 1866 but little growth is recorded; they were years of struggles and trials. There was a succession of pastors, Revs. H. M. Barlow, J. F. Jones, and J. Hepburn, serving as under shepherds.
“In 1868 the Rev. C. W. Potter was called, and his three years of service witnessed a gracious revival and added ten to the church roll. With the resignation of Elder Potter, the church experienced five years of pastorless existence, though being supplied occasionally by Rev. Arthur Day. With the settlement of Rev. Edwin Beardsley, in 1875, the church entered upon a new era of growth and activity. The records show that two are still members who came in during that time. The succeeding pastor was Rev. J. P. Cotney, who remained about three years, adding two by baptism. He was succeeded by Rev. F. P. Braman, in 1887, who remained two years, baptizing six into fellowship. In 1889 the Rev. Frederick Kratz was installed, to be succeeded within two years by Rev. John Scott, during whose ministry of two years the parsonage was well-nigh completed and three members added to the church roll. This pastorate also saw the church made a corporate body. In 1893 Rev. F. D. Luddington was called, and remained three years, baptizing twenty-eight into church fellowship. In July, 1896, Rev. Charles I. Ramsey assumed the pastorate, and for nearly five years continued the good work already begun, by adding ten by baptism. The Rev. A. H. Manee began his pastoral labors in August, 1901, closing his labors in October, 1904, baptizing one into fellowship.
“From November, 1904, until April, 1905, the pulpit was supplied by various clergymen, when Rev. S. D. Woods became pastor, and continues in that office at the present time. Thus far there have been nineteen baptisms, and the church shows the largest membership in its history.
“All told, there have been two hundred and sixty-nine baptisms. The present membership is seventy....
BY REV. HARRIS K. SMITHIN THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
“Text—Proverbs 22:28. ‘Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.’
“A burning desire to deliver a living message is one landmark in the evangelism of the fathers of our church. The age of our town is nearly four times as great as the years of Methodism’s church edifice in our village; more than twice the years of Methodism in the present confines of our town; one hundred twenty-seven years greater than Methodism in the State; thirty-seven years greater than Methodism’s first Conference. Indeed, John Wesley, its founder, was but four years old, in June of the year, when John Noble, New Milford’s first settler, penetrated these forests primeval. Our fathers came not as a colony, but as evangelists, impelled by a vital experience. They believed that sin separated from God, that only by salvation, through the atonement of the Redeemer, could sinners be in harmony with the Father, that personal righteousness and the witness of God’s indwelling Spirit were results of redemption, and that the redeemed were to go on unto the likeness of Jesus. Without ignoring other elements in their belief, the stress laid upon personal experience and its intensity led them far and wide. That they did not thrust an alien graft upon New England religious stock is seen in one instance, at least, by the demands of Jonathan Edwards for personal righteousness, and for conversion as a requirement for all seeking the communion of the Lord’s Supper;and the sad rejection from his pulpit. Infidelity, imported with the teaching of the French revolutionists, was alarmingly on the increase. The custom of discussing metaphysical subjects and of weaving fine-spun doctrines was spreading more or less throughout Christendom; to so large an extent had London been infected, that Blackstone, the famous law commentator, in visiting every church of note in that city, said he did not hear one sermon that had more of Christianity than had the writings of Cicero, and that they could not have been called Christian sermons. The revival-stirring sermons of Wesley and Whitefield were permeating through and upward from the masses of the people. And the reception given to this message, so ardently delivered, assures conclusively the need that had been unsatisfied. So, then, the fathers of our Church entered this field with the ringing word of God in their hearts as their warrant.
“Faithful sowing and careful husbanding of the harvest constituted another landmark. When, in 1789, Jesse Lee was appointed to Stamford, he had neither preaching place nor congregation as a rallying point; not even a member in all New England to greet him. He entered with a ‘roving commission.’ True enough, Methodism had been presented by some of the most prominent evangelical preachers since the visit of Charles Wesley, nearly sixty years prior to Lee, and including Whitefield, Boardman, and Garretson, within a short time of the more concentrated mission in 1789. Lee’s fine appearance, his massive frame, his weight being about three hundred pounds, his wit and good humor, his wisdom and judgment of human nature, his knowledge of the Bible, and his depth of consecration gave him an entry. The labors of Lee extended, during his first year, from Norwalk along the Sound coast, and upward to Ridgefield and Danbury. These pioneers approached our town from the south, reaching the part now separated into the town of Bridgewater, about 1800; they came from the Hudson River in the north to Gaylordsville in 1813, and to Northville in 1816; from the southwest to Lanesville, then called Pleasant Valley, in 1815. These activitiesfrom all directions soon resulted in the erection of church buildings at all of these points. The care of the preachers was constant to train the converts enlisted. They visited and revisited, at heavy privations and difficulties, to make sure of the standing of even one or two new members.
“The essential coworking of the laymen is another landmark. Methodism, from its inception, would have been incomplete without the largest degree of co-operation on the part of the laity. It has been a layman’s movement, under the direction of ordained leaders. As soon as two or more were converted at a place, one of the number was delegated as leader for the others, thus forming classes for religious culture. Awaiting the visits of the preacher in charge, these classes were hives of industry, and seminaries of learning, and communions for worship in charge of one of their own number, the class leader. Those more qualified by nature and grace were called for special activity as local preachers, and they went from place to place, preaching to other congregations, alternating with the ordained preachers and under their direction. These meetings were in homes, at times the choicest in the center of the town, or at others, far in the fastness of the forest within the rude log cabin, or at others, in God’s open temple with the swaying branches of the trees as their rafters. The time of worship might be at any hour from sunrise until midnight, and on any day during the week. The congregation was called from the home, the shop, the store, and the field, not by the chime of the church bell, but by the volume of hearty singing; the numbers might be confined to one beside the preacher, or mount upwards to more than twenty thousand. The immediate results of these preaching visits were to be cultivated by the resident laymen. And nobly did they keep the faith. Exhortation, rebuke, counsel, encouragement, forbearance, and brotherly love must come by means of fellow laymen, in many cases but little older in the faith than the new recruits.
“Zeal in building up the local church was another landmark. Within a few years after the introduction of Methodism,church buildings were erected at Gaylordsville, at a cost of eight hundred dollars; at Northville, on ground of Harvey Benson, at a cost of six hundred dollars, beside labor and material contributed; and at Lanesville, at a cost of three thousand dollars. This indicates considerable sacrifice on the part of the members, and interest in the community. In 1849, after considerable discussion, the members of the different churches, so close in location, agreed upon the village as a central point, and our present edifice was built. Since 1833, when its name had first appeared in the conference minutes, it has been known as the New Milford charge. Before that it had been part of the Stratford circuit, which, in 1822, when our town first had a permanent preaching place on the circuit, had only three church edifices; while to-day this range contains church property, including parsonages, worth nearly a million dollars, has several thousand members, and gives for benevolent purposes, outside its own borders, more money every year by far than the total amount contributed for all causes at that time.
“Within a few years of the building of the present edifice a parsonage was erected. Every year additional money was laid out on the property; principally in 1869 in the pastorate of the Rev. W. R. Webster, and in 1891, when the church was remodeled and enlarged, at a cost of several thousand dollars, in the pastorate of the Rev. R. T. Cooper.... In the long line of preachers, whose counsel and administration have cheered and molded many lives, was the Rev. William T. Gilbert, one of a great class graduated from Yale University, who, with earnest manner and finely wrought sermon, built deeply and broad; and, after laying aside his pastoral duties, he re-entered the ranks, working faithfully along different ways in the activities of the laymen. The Rev. George Lansing Taylor, D. D., L. H. D., ended a life of great intellectual power and moral grandeur, while your pastor. For breadth in learning, strength of thought, independence for truth, tenacity to purpose, and conscientious following after his Master, he was notable. His pastorate will long be memorable in the historyof this church, and be felt in the lives of its members, among the younger especially, as they were marked by his striking personality.”
BY REV. ORVILLE VAN KEURENIN THE GAYLORDSVILLE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
“Methodism was established in Gaylordsville in 1825, under the following circumstances:
“Rev. Cyrus Silliman, of the New York Conference, came to visit a cousin, Mrs. David Sterling, who lived one and a half miles below the village, in the town of Sherman. While there, he made an appointment for a week-evening service at the Strait district schoolhouse. The attendance was so large and the interest so marked that he continued the meetings four evenings, and then returned to his charge in the State of New York.
“The people, however, continued the meetings for several weeks, holding them in private houses. Rev. Andrew Elliot, the pastor of the Congregational Church at New Milford, learning of the revival, came up several times and visited the families.
“The following year, as a result of these meetings, twenty-six persons joined the Congregational Church, nineteen formed a Methodist class at Gaylordsville, and others joined the Baptist Church. A subscription was started to build a union church at Gaylordsville, which was built in 1826. Rev. Aaron Hunt, a Methodist preacher from the State of New York, preached the first sermon in the new church, which was used jointly by the Methodists, Congregationalists, and Baptists up to about 1854. This church stood on the east side of the river, just back of the store now occupied by A. H. Barlow. It was afterward sold to Peter Gaylord, who removed it to his premises and converted it into a barn. At a quarterly meeting, held in that church, Rev. Edmund Storer Janes, D. D., LL. D., afterward a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, received his license as a local preacher.
“In 1854, under the pastorate of Rev. David Nash, the present church edifice was erected, upon a site given by the Rev. John Henry Gaylord, who also raised by subscription about $2800 toward the cost of the new church. The parsonage, which adjoins the church, was purchased in 1884, during the pastorate of Rev. M. M. Curtis.
“In 1827 Rev. Josiah L. Dickerson settled here, built a house, and engaged in making brick. As a local preacher, he filled some of the appointments on the circuit up to about 1834, when he joined the New York Conference, and continued in the regular work of the ministry until retired by reason of age. He died in 1862, and is buried in the Gaylordsville cemetery.
“Methodism was introduced into Sherman Center, under the pastorate of Rev. Alonzo Selleck, in 1838, under the following circumstances:
“A few years before the Congregational Church of Sherman became divided over the building of a new house of worship, or, rather, the location of the building. A majority of the society decided it should be built about a mile north of the Center, where the present church stands. A minority, living at the Center and in the southern part of the town, built a church at the Center, and called it a union church. Rev. Selleck was preacher in charge of New Milford circuit, which, at that time, included the following appointments: Pleasant Plains, Iron Works, Newtown, Merryall, Hawleyville, Northville, Kent Mountain, Gaylordsville, Bull’s Bridge, and Long Mountain. There were but three churches on the circuit. The other preaching places were schoolhouses or private dwellings.
“Following a revival service held at the Leach Hollow schoolhouse in the fall of 1837, the Center people invited Rev. Selleck to come up and preach in the new church, which was not entirely furnished at that time. The first service was held on New Year’s Eve, as a watch night service. The church was filled to overflowing, and, at that service, seventy-five persons came forward as seekers of religion. The meetings werecontinued several weeks, Rev. H. Ames, a retired preacher residing in the town, assisting much in the work. About two hundred fifty persons professed religion during this revival. Of that number, seventy joined the Methodist Church, while many joined the Congregational Church, of which Rev. Mr. Gilson was then pastor.
“A few years later Sherman was made the center of a circuit, separate from New Milford, taking in the appointments in the northern part of the town. From 1826 to 1848 this circuit was connected with the New York Conference. At the session of the General Conference in 1872 it was again transferred to the New York Conference, where it still remains. When the transfer was made in 1872, the records for the charge showed a membership of seventy-three, the Sherman Society having at that time but thirteen members.
“The church has had a long list of pastors, who served in the following order: Revs. John Reynolds, William Jewett, Fitch Reed, Samuel Cochran, Seth W. Scofield, A. S. Hill, Francis Donelly, the exact dates of whose pastorates we cannot give; 1837, Alonzo Selleck and Asahel Brownson; 1838, Alonzo Selleck and Samuel Weeks; 1844-5, Gad S. Gilbert; 1846-7, Elias Gilbert; 1848-9, Justus O. Worth; 1850, Thomas B. Treadwell; 1851, William Wake; 1852, Alexander McAllester; 1853, Gilbert Hubbell; 1854-5, David Nash; 1856-7, William H. Stebbins; 1858-9, Thomas D. Littlewood; 1860-2, John H. Gaylord; 1863, William Ross; 1864, John Henry Gaylord (during his pastorate the church sheds were built); 1865-6, Benjamin A. Gilman; 1867-8, F. W. Lockwood; 1869-70, Sherman D. Barnes; 1871, Frank F. Jordan; 1872-3, B. M. Genung; 1874-5, Uriah Symonds; 1876, W. A. Dalton; 1877-9, R. F. Elsden; 1880-1, Robert Kay; 1882-4, M. M. Curtis (during his pastorate twenty-six joined the church, two of whom entered the ministry—Rev. Henry Hoag, a member of the Conference, and Mark B. Howland, a local preacher); 1885, Gustave Lass; 1886-7, E. H. Powell; 1888-92, W. H. Peters (under whose pastorate the churchwas thoroughly repaired and refurnished); 1893-4, I. H. Keep; 1895-7, John Henry Lane; 1899, C. B. Conro; 1900-1, E. H. Roys; 1902, Robert F. Elsden; 1903-6, Edmund T. Byles; 1907, O. Van Keuren, the present pastor.
“In 1898 the charge was left to be supplied. The Rev. M. M. Curtis, then superannuated, filled the pulpit for a few weeks. When, by reason of failing health, he was obliged to discontinue the work, the Rev. James A. Hurn, who has since united with the Conference, supplied for the rest of the year.
“During the pastorate of E. T. Byles the church property was greatly improved by the addition of well-appointed church parlors, equipped with all modern conveniences, the entire expense being provided for before the work was begun.
“The membership, though small, is thoroughly united and intensely loyal.
“Others have labored, and we have entered into their labors, while they, in continuous procession, have passed on to receive the reward of the faithful.
“The present membership of the church is eighty-eight.”
BY REV. ELISHA J. ELLIS, OF DANBURYIN THE ADVENT CHRISTIAN CHURCH
“Early in the history of the movement which resulted in the formation of the Advent Christian denomination, the seed of the doctrines which distinguished this people were sown here by pioneer hands. So far as ascertained, the first preachers to arrive on the field were Elders Ira Morgan and Samuel G. Mathewson, about 1844. Quite a number of conversions followed, and Elder Mathewson baptized quite a number in the stream which flows near the present church site. Rufus Way, Horace Gregory, and Richard Heacock were converts about this time—also A. S. Calkins, who afterwards became a talented preacher in the West.
“Joshua V. Hines preached here in 1846 or 1847. Afterwards, in the sixties and seventies, representative men like