Gift of Vr t^^<^^9'^»J^ W.::^ er^•^^v^A ))y\JUettlement et ILltcfjfielb, Connecticut HUflUet 1-4, 1920 COMPILED FOR THE LITCHFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY • I « BT Alain C. White UTCHHELD, CONN. ENQUIRED PRINT f^ 19 2 0 The Litchfield Historical Society President Hon. George M. Woodruff 'Vice-Presidents Mrs. John A. Vandeepoel Admiral George P. Colvocoressbs, U. S. N. (retired) Mrs. John Laidlaw Buel Eev. William J. Brewster Recording Secretary Cornelius E. Duffie Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer Alain C. White Managers Miss Alice Wolcott Mrs. John Lindlet Miss Cornelia Buxton Smith Charles H. Coit Eev. Frank J. GooDviaN, D.D. MiLO D. Beach Committee on Financing the Book of the Litchfield Bi-Centennial, Eev. Prank J. Goodwin, D.D. Mrs. John A. Vanderpobl Admiral George P. Colvocoresses, tJ. S. N. (retired) LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS TO THIS BOOK Mrs. D. G. Ambler John C. Barnard Milo D. Beach Mrs. J. H. Bronson Mrs. John Laidlaw Buel Miss Dorothy Bull F. Kingsbury Bull Ludlow S. Bull Gordon W. Burnham Frederick T. Busk Dr. B. Austin Chehey Miss Ella S. Coe Francis M. Coe Mrs. Francis M. Coe William Colgate Admiral G. P. Colvocoresses U. S. N. (retired.) Seymour Cunningham Mrs. Charles B. Curtis Harry Goodyear Day W. Beach Day Frederick Deming Dr. Nelson L. Deming L. E. Denegar C. E. Duffie S. Edson Gage Mrs. W. H. K. Godfrey W. G. Granniss Curtis E. Hatheway Miss Frances E. Hickox Ernest Howe Edward P. Jennings Miss Alice E. Kingsbury Miss Edith D. Kingsbury Col. A. E. Lamb E. H. Liggett Mrs. George S. McNeill Mrs. Henry S. Munroe Mrs. W. D. Mimson Mrs. Eugene H. Outerbridge Mrs. Albert A. Pennoyer Eugene L. Phelps Miss Mary P. Quincy George Eichards Mrs., Harrison Sanford Morris W. Seymour Eobert C. Swayze Miss Kate I. Thomas Henry E. Towne William Trumbull Frank H. Turkington Floyd L. Vanderpoel Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel Miss Mary D. Van Winkle Mrs. George A. Vondermuhll Miss Emily M. Wheeler Alain C. White Miss Caroline White Miss Eliza W. Whife Miss May W. White George M. Woodruff Mrs. Martin G. Wright INTRODUCTION By Cornelius R. Duffie, (Secretary, Litchfield Historical Society) The Two Hundredth Anniversary of the settlement of the Town of Litchfield was observed and celebrated on the flrst four days of August, 1920. As authorized by special Act of the Connecticut Legislature an appropriation of Five Thousand Dollars was made from the town treasury to defray the general expenses of the cele bration and every permanent and Summer resident entered heartily into the spirit of the occasion. The public and mercantile buildings, and with scarcely an exception, the houses in the Borough were profusely deco rated. The display of flags was remarkable, many rare ban ners and emblems of national and political character being shown. The facade of the Beckwith house on South Street was nearly covered with thirteen different flags, each one connected with some phase of American history, including sev eral of the original colonies, the famous "Eattlesnake" emblem, early Eevolutionary banners and a Civil War flag that was under fire at Fort Sumter, while on the Seymour homestead next door was a large and beautiful flag of the Order of the CincinnatL Sunday, August 1st, was observed as Eeligious and Edu cational Day, with special services and addresses relating to the ecclesiastical history of the town in all of the churches, the service at the Congregational Church being especially note worthy, as that society was founded in the year of the settle ment. The large audience assembled there was edified and delighted by discourses delivered by the Hon. George M. Woodruff and the Eev. Eockwell Harmon Potter, D.D. Speakers at the other churches included Admiral George P. Colvocoresses, TJ. S. N. (Eetired), at St. Michael's and Miss Esther H. Thompson at the Methodist Church. In the after- X INTEODUCTION noon at the Playhouse the Hon. Simeon E. Baldwin, LL.D., Ex-Governor and Ex-Chief Justice of Connecticut, delivered an address on the Litchfield Law School, which was followed by an address by Mrs. George M. Minor, President-General of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Eevolution, whose topic was the life and work of Miss Sarah Pierce, founder of Litchfield's pioneer school for girls. In the evening an address was delivered at the Congregational Church by the Eev. Howard Duflield, D.D., of New York, on "The Tolerant Spirit of the American Colonists". The exercises of the day closed with an admirable concert in the West Park by the Band of the First Company, Gover nor's Foot Guard, under Conductor William M. Eedfleld, First Lieutenant on Major Barbour's Staff. The soloist was his daughter. Miss Catherine Eedfleld. Monday was State Day, with Governor Holcomb and Staff, Lieutenant-Governor Wilson, Senator Brandegee, former Gov ernors Weeks and Baldwin, and other notables as; special guests of honor. Shortly before eleven the Governor and his Staff were received at the Playhouse with full military honors by the First and Second Companies of the Governor's Foot Guard, the New Haven Grays and the Putnam Phalanx. A military parade followed, the line of march being through the principal streets and past the reviewing stand where Governor Holcomb as Commander-in-Chief took the salute, it beihg the first time in the history of Connecticut that the four military organizations had ever marched together. Luncheon was served to the men in West Park, while the officers. Governor and other guests enjoyed the hospitality of many of the citizens who so generously opened their beauti ful homes. In the afternoon there were addresses at the Playhouse and the Congregational Church, the speakers at the former being Governor Holcomb, Ex-Governor Weeks, Ex-Con gressman Eeilly and Major John L. Gilson, and at the latter Lyman Beecher Stowe, United States Senator Brandegee and Congressman Glynn. The principal military feature of the day waa a regimental drill in the Center Square of the First and Second Companies Governor's Foot Guard and the New Haven Grays, with a review by Governor Holcomb and Staff. The afternoon's exercises closed with the planting by Governor INTEODUCTION xi Holcomb in front of the Library of an oak grown from an acorn from a tree next Lincoln's tomb at Springfield, 111., the gift of Herman Foster of Bantam. Tuesday was County Day, with all of the county officers and delegations of local officials from nearly every town in the county present as guests. The main feature of the day was a large parade participated in by flre companies and other organizations from many county towns led by the Litchfleld war veterans of the Morgan- Weir and Eobert P. Jeffries Posts of the American Legion, Litchfleld and Bantam Fire Depart ments, Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. E., Litchfleld Boy and Girl Scouts and Litchfleld Grange, with Litchfield's oldest citizen, Edwin P. Dickinson, who is in his one hundredth year, at the post of honor at the head of the formation. The parade was about a mile long, and with many bands of music and picturesque floats in the line it was an imposing sight witnessed by several thousand spectators. New Milford in particular being so well represented that business in that town was generally suspended for the day. Luncheon was served to all visitors in the West Park, after which the Litch field Baseball Team played a game against the New Milford Team at the Athletic Field, which Litchfield was fortunate enough to win after a fine contest by the close score of 4 to 3. Wednesday was Litchfield Day, and the feature of the morning was an address written by the Hon. Morris W. Sey mour, LL.D., and read by his son, Origen S. Seymour, at the Playhouse, the address being replete with historical facts and lore of old Litchfield. After the address luncheon was served on the Green, followed at 2 o'clock by an exceedingly flne con cert by the Band of the Second Company, Governor's Foot Guard. At the close of the concert the inhabitants and visi tors, in hundreds of motor vehicles and on foot, repaired to the groirnds of the Country Club where was given a series of beautiful masques depicting in pageant form various events in the history of the town, staged at a bend in the river not far from the location chosen by John Marsh for his home stead at the original settlement. Beginning with the barter ing vnth the Indians for the town site, other particularly impressive and noteworthy scenes depicted the building of the stockade, the melting of the buUets from the statue of King xii INTEODUCTION George III, the Lafayette Ball, the Bivouac before Cold Har bor, and last a realistic skirmish and gas attack World War maneuvre by the Litchfleld boys so recently returned from France and the training camps. The four days' celebration closed with a flnal concert by the Second Company Foot Guard Band and a community dance on the asphalt pavement on the south side of West Park, a scene more typical perhaps of the Latin countries of Europe than of the New England of our fathers. The celebration was participated in and observed by about ten thousand people. With the weather beautifully clear and cool and not a single accident or untoward event to mar the festivities, the unanimous opinion expressed was that the celebration was in every detail a fitting commemoration of Litchfield's two hundred years and of the influence of her sons and daughters in State and Nation. Much credit was accorded to the several committees under the general direction of George C. Woodruff for carrying the generous plans to a successful conclusion, and to Sheriff Frank H. Turkington and his deputies, the State Police and the Cycle squad of the State Motor Vehicle Department, for keeping order. Table of Contents List of Committees of the Litchfield Bi-Centennial Celebration Greetings from Lichfield, England Official Program, August 1, 1920 Address by Hon. George M. Woodruff: Pastors and People Address by Eev. Eockwell Harmon Potter, D.D. The Mission of the Meeting House Address by Admiral George P. Colvocoresses, U. S. N. (retired) : The First Episcopal Society . Address by Miss Esther H. Thompson: Methodism in Litchfield Address by Ex-Gov. Simeon E. Baldwin, LL.D. : The Litchfield Law School .... Address by Mrs. George M. Minor: Sarah Pierce Address by Eev. Howard Duffield, D.D. : The Toler ant Spirit of the American Colonists Official Program, August 2, 1920 .... Address by Gov. Marcus H. Holcomb Address by Ex-Gov. Frank B. Weeks Address by Ex-Congressman Thomas L. Eeilly Address by Major John L. Gilson: Our Ancestors Address by Lyman Beecher Stowe, Esq. : The Beecher Family Address by Senator Frank B. Brandegee Address by Congressman James T. Glynn Official Program, August 3, 1920 .... Official Program, August 4, 1920 . . . . Address by Hon. Morris W. Seymour, LL.D.: His toric Litchfleld 1 57 19 23 81 49 59 7791939597 101 109117121 123125 127 Litchfield, An Historic Masque, by Miss Dorothy Bull 139 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. state Day: Head of Paradei approaching the Eeview- ing Stand from North Street. Photograph by Miss Dorothy Allen i 2. Litchfield Day: Golf Course of the Litchfield Coun try Club showing crowd at the Pageant; Indian Scene in the foreground. Photograph by W. N. Copley ix 3. State Day: Governor Holcomb and party on the Eeviewing Stand. Left to right: Hon. John H. Wadhams, Col. Eobert O. Eaton, Hon. T. L. Eeilly, Gen. George M. Cole, Major John N. Brooks, Sen. F. B. Brandegee, Gov. Marcus H. Holcomb, Col. Alton Farrel, Lieut.-Gov. Wilson, Ex-Gov. Simeon E. Baldwin, Ex-Gov. Frank B. Weeks. Photo-, graph by W. N. Copley . . . . . T 4. State Day: Entertaining the Visiting Troops at luncheon in the West Park. Photograph by W. N. Copley 31 5. State Day: The Putnam Phalanx passing the Ee viewing Stand. Photograph by W. N. Copley . 49 6. County Day: The Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter, D. A. E., marching in the County Parade. Photo graph by W. N. Copley .59 7. George C. Woodruff, Director of the Bi-Centennial Celebration, near the newly planted Lincoln Memo rial Oak. Photograph by James L. Kirwin . 91 8. State Day: Gov. Holcomb and Staff. Sitting: Gov. M. H. Holcomb, Gen. Geo. M. Cole; Standing, Left to right: CoL Alton Farrel, Col. William C; Cheney, Major John N. Brooks. Photograph by W. N. Copley 93 9. State Day: The Band of the Second Company, Gov ernor's Foot Guard. Photograph by W. N. Copley 101 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS xv 10. State Day: Staff of the First Company, Govemor's Foot Guard, passing the Eeviewing Stand. Photo graph by James L. Kirwin . . . / . 105 11. State Day: Staff of the First and Second Companies, Govemor's Foot Guard, on the Green. Photo graph by W. N. Copley 109 12. State Day: New Haven Grays, passing the Eeview ing Stand. Photograph by W. N. Copley . . 117 13. County Day: The Litchfleld Girl Scouts. Photo graph by Mrs. George A. Vondermuhll . . 123 14. County Day: The Morgan-Weir Post, American Legion. Photograph by Mrs. G. A. Vondermuhll 135 Plates 15-22: Litchfield, an Historic Masque — following p. 148 15. The Indians. Photograph by F. L. Vanderpoel. . 16. The Age of Homespun, 1760. Photograph by W. N. Copley. 17. George III Comes to Litchfleld. Photograph by W. N. Copley. ¦ 18. The same: Oliver Wolcott (Sutherland Beckwith). Photo graph by James L. Kirwin. 19. Bivouac before Cold Harbor. Photograph by W. N. Copley. 20. Home Service, 1863. Photograph by W. N. Copley. 21. The New Leaven: Columbia (Mrs. F. L. Vanderpoel) Welcomes the Foreign Bom. Photograph by F. L. Vanderpoel. 22. Over the Top, 1918. Photograph by W. N. Copley. LIST OF COMMITTEES EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. GEOEGE M. WOODEUFF, CHAIEMAN. JOHN L. BUEL, WILLIAM T. MAESH, MILO D. BEACH, PATEICK C. BUEKE. Religious and Educational Day William Marley George M. Woodruff, Chairman ^_^1^,^. ^.^."..^^^^ ex-officio. Eev. Frank J. Goodwin, D.D. Miss Cornelia B. Smith Eev. W. J. Brewster Miss Julia A. Deming Eev. W. B. Pruner Mrs. F. U. Newcomb Eev. John L. McGuinness Miss B. A. Fitzpatrick Eev. A. B. Crichton Miss Bessie Kinney Eev. Harry Studwell Mrs. George Peck Eev. W. D. Humiston Mrs. Frank Blakeslee F. A. Stoddard Paul Dillingham State Day, Frank A. Osborn Willis O. Perkins Frederick B. Plumb W. S. Eogers Thomas F. Eyan Ealph P. Smith Eichard V. Tobin Albert M. Turner Charles N. Warner George C. Woodruff County Day, Patrick C. Burke, Chairman Ozias Benedict Frank Blakeslee Filmore Brown F. North Clark Walter A. Cook ^Lester E. Denegar James Doyle William T. Marsh, Chairman. Henry T. Gill W. Burton Allen Charles W. Biglow Edward C. Bulkeley Stanley L. Coe William Crutch George Fairgrieve Capt. Wm. M. Foord Eobert A. Goodwin Fremont Granniss Harry F. Lynch Tilden Gifford Louis J. Goodman, Sr. George Guion Albert J. Hausmann Isaac H. Hutchinson Major E. F. Jackson Eudolph Karl John H. Lancaster John J. Moraghan William B. Morse LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENN-IAL CELEBRATION Almon N. Perkins Eobert L. Eochford Frank H. Turkington William E. Turkington A. Benj. Webster Henry T. Weeks Marvin S. Todd Litchfield Day. John L. Buel, Chairman. Miss Mabel Bishop Miss Alice T. Bulkeley Miss Bessie Morse Mrs. F. A. Stoddard W. Jerome Bissell Charles D. Buell Albert W. Clock Charles L. Dudley Cornelius E. Duffie Weston G. Granniss Samuel P. Griffin George W. Hard Chauncey B. Heath John T. Hubbard E. Bruce Mason Eugene L. Phelps Eaymond H. Platts Hector Eichards Floyd Vanderpoel WUliam S. Walcott James P. Woodruff Historic Masque Alain C. White, Chairman. Mrs. Katherine S. Bissell Miss Helen Cahill Mrs. E. S. Chisolm Mrs. Charles H. Coit Miss Carolyn Cowles Mrs. Eobert Currie Miss Elizabeth Deming Mrs. John Dove Miss Dorothy Bull Miss Adelaide Deming Miss Florence Ennis v Mrs. C. B. Heath Mrs. E. A. Marcy Mrs. Grace W. McNeill Miss Ida Meramble Miss Julia E. Morse Mrs. C. I. Page, Jr. . Miss Harriet M. Eichards Mrs. Harold Eichardson Miss Margaret Sanford Miss Amy Thurston Mrs. A. T. VanLaer Miss May S. Van Winkle Honorary Reception, Morris W. Seymour, Chairman Patrick C. Burke George C. Ives Augustus Smith Admiral G. P. Colvocoresses Mrs. John L. Buel Miss Phoebe Benton Mrs. W. H. K. Godfrey Mrs. D. C. Kilboum Miss Alice Kingsbury Mrs. W. D. Munson Miss Mary P. Quincy Mrs. John A. Vanderpoel Miss Mary D. VanWinkle Miss Eliza W. White Miss Alice Wolcott Prof. Henry S. Munroe Julius K. Adenaw J. H. Bronson J. Howard Catlin Truman Catlin Francis M. Coe William Colgate Frederick Deming William Doyle (Bantam) John P. Elton William Gibbs Charles Hinsdale LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Col. A. E. Lamb Eev. H. G. Mendenhall, D.D. Henry B. Peck Edson L. Perkins , George Eichards W. S. Eogers Charles W. Talcott Henry E. Towne Active Reception, Milo D. Beach, Chairman. Dr. John L. Buel Eev. W. J. Brewster Eev. Arthur B. Crichton Eev. Frank J. Goodwin, D.D. Eev. W. D. Humiston Eev. John L. McGuinness Eev. William B. Pruner Eev. Harry Studwell Mrs. William S. Plumb Mrs. W. W. Eockhill Miss Katharine Baldwin Miss Janet Birmingham Mrs. W. Beach Day Miss Frances E. Hickox Mrs. William T. Marsh Mrs. C. B. Eipley Mrs. Marion P. Eoberts Miss Nellie Scott Dr. A. E. Bostwick Wallace H. Camp Frederick T. Busk Seymour Cunningham EUicott D. Curtis George Fairgrieve E. B. Hamlin Curtis E. Hatheway Joseph E. Hopkins Philip P. Hubbard George H. Hunt H. Bertram Lewis John Lindley Charles I. Page, Jr. Thomas F. Eyan Origen S. Seymour William Trumbull Charles H. Turkington Lewis B. Woodruff Invitations, The Executive Committee and PhUip P. Hubbard, Acting Chairman Mrs. John L. Buel J. Howard Catlin Mrs. Charles Symington Bernard C. Eoberg Miss Kate I. Thomas Albert J. Hausmann Hospitality and Refreshments The Executive Committee, and A. E. Conklin A. B. Fuller C. B. Kilboum W. Beach Morse Bernard Olsson George E. Mason John J. Eyan George E. Wedge George J. Switzer Publicity and Printing W. S. Eogers, Chairman F. North Clark Harry A. Borgeson Dr. Nelson L. Deming C. H. Elliott E. J. Landon Fred. O. Mason Edward M. Sepples George A. Smith George C. Woodruff Finance, Gorge H. Hunt, Chairman Miss Clara B. Kenney Miss Esther H. Thompson Edgar D. Beach LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Wallace H. Camp Leman Brundage Charles H. Coit- I. T. Dickinson Henry Edwards Thomas J. Harris Frank B. Mason M. y. Moraghan Frederick U. Newcomb Public Decorations. T. A. Ganung, Chairman George Barber William F- Bergin Lyman J. Booth Edward Brennan Daniel H. Bums James E. Conroy Eobert Currie Jeffery Donohue Frank Foster William Herbert L. M. Marsh Joseph Mayer Hugh Mclntyre E. F. Miner George Morey Harry B. Morse William Oviatt WiUiam S. Plumb Edwin S. Potter W. G. Eosbach James T. Sedgwick F. M. Seeley Transportation. E. D. Sanford, Chairman John C. Barnard Charles P. Barber Joseph A. Cowan Aaron Crutch Charles Deno Nicholas Doyle John Drury H. H. Fenn John J. Hannon Herbert E. Johnson E. H. Liggett H. O. Morse Alfred Mattson, Jr. E. D. Parsons George Theophilos Martin G. Wright Policing and Parking. F. H. Turkington, Chairman Jacob Ackerman Wilbur Anderson M. TuUio Aragona George BaUey John P. Barrett Sutherland Beckwith Ernest Brown John Bums Jr. Dr. A. E. ChUds George E. Crutch John DaEoss George B. Dean Charles Dempsey William Doyle (MUton) Patrick DriscoU Frank Fabbri Alfredo Franzosi WiUiam S. Fenn Timothy F. Higgins Martin C. Iffland Joseph Kelly John Koma Harry B. Morse John Eadich C. J. Eamsey Martin T. Eogers Charles E. Shumway W. E. E. Smith Howard Spencer Eobert W. Tucker WiUiam E. Turkington Edward J. Weir Jay WhitehUl Sol Wheeler Greetings trom Lichfield, England TOWN CLEEK'S OFFICE LICHFIELD, STOFFS, ENGLAND 1st July, 1920. Dear Sir: — ^Eef erring to your letter of the 14th May last addressed to His Worship the Mayor I am directed to inform you that a meeting of the City CouncU held on the 28th uito. a resolution (as per copy enclosed) congratiUattng your Town on its having attained the two hundreth anniversary of its settlement, was unanimously adopted, and ordered to be en grossed on Vellum. In accordance with that resolution I have today had the pleasure to forward to you a registered packet containing the engrossment, which I trust you will receive in due coursa At the same time I amj directed to state that His Worship much regrets that he wUl be unable to accept your Committee's kind invitation to be present at the Celebration. Yours faithfully, W. Brocksom, Town Clerk. For the Bi-Centennial Celebration, George Catlin Wood ruff, Esq., Committee, Litchfield, Connecticut, U. S. A. (City Arms) To the Inhabitants of the Town of Litchfield, Connecti cut, United States of America. We, the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City and County of Lichfield, Engla:nd, send you heartiest Greet ings. We congratulate your town on its having attained the two-hundredth anniversary of its settlement, and heg to express the hope that its history may be as long and honourable as our 6 LITCHFIELD BI;CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION own and beloved ancient and loyal City, after which your town was named though following in its form the quaint speU ing of by-gone days. We sincerely trust that the inhabitants may progress and prosper, and emulate the example of their distinguished pre decessors who we leam with pride and pleasure founded at Litchfield the First Law School in the United States, and the first School for Higher Education of Women. We are convinced the interchange of kindly messages, such as these now passing between us, will cement and strengthen the feeling of friendship and brotherhood which exists between your great Country and our own beloved land, and we beg to assure you that your Bi-Centennial Celebration will be watched by us with the greatest interest and appreciation. We regret that His Worship The Mayor, whom you so kindly invited to be present, is unable to accede to your desire. Given under the Common Seal of the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the City and County of Lichfield, this twenty- eighth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and twenty. Henry G. Hall, Mayor. W. Brocksom, Town Clerk. L. S. State Day : The Reviewing Stand OFFICIAL PROGRAM SUNDAY, AUGUST FIEST. Religious and Educational Day St. Anthony's R. C, Church — Masses at 9 and 11 a. m., and at latter service a sermon by the Eector, Eev. J. L. McGuinness. Congregational Church, 10:45 a, m. — Two Hundredth Anniversary Service. Address, "Pastors and People", Hon. George M. Woodruff. Address, "The Mission of the Meeting House", Eev. Eock- weU Harmon Potter, D.D., Center Church, Hartford. St, Michael's Church, 10:45 a, m. — ^Address by Admiral George P. Colvocoresses, U. S. N. (retired). Sermon by Eev. W. J. Brewster, Eector. Methodist Church, 10:45 a. m. — ^Letters of greeting from former pastors. Historical address by Miss Esther Thomp son. Address, "The Eecent Advance", by Eev. Eidgway F. Shinn, Waterbury. Playhouse, West Street, 3 :30 p. m. — Hon. George M. Wood ruff, Presiding, Invocation, Eev. William B. Pruner. Address, "The First Law School in America", Hon. Simeon E, Baldwin, formerly Governor of Connecticut and Chief Jus tice of the Supreme Court of Errors. Address, "Sarah Pierce, Pioneer of Woman's Higher Edu cation", Mrs. George Maynard Minor, President General National Society Daughters of the American Eevolution. Benediction, Eev. William J. Brewster. Union Service, Congregational Church, 8:00 p. m. — Address, "The Tolerant Spirit of the American Colonists", Eev. Howard Duffield, D.D., First Presbyterian Church, New York. "West Park, Concert, 9:30 p. m. — ^Band of the First Com pany, Govemor's Foot Guard. "The record of what appears to have been the first Town Meeting is without date. Dea. John Buel and Nathaniel Smith were appointed a Committee to hire a minister and 'to make and gather a rate to pay him for his services amongst us'. This Committee employed Mr. Timothy Collins, of Guil ford, a young licentiate who had graduated at Yale College in 1718. At the next meeting, held Nov, 6, 1721, it was voted, 'that Mr. Collins be forthwith called to a settlement in this place in the work of the ministry' " — Kilbourne's History of Litchfield, The General Assembly of the English "Colony of Con necticut in New England", at its May session in 1722, granted "Liberty unto the inhabitants of the town of Litchfield to imbody into church estate with the approbation of the neigh bouring churches, and to settle an orthodox minister amongst them". PASTOES AND PEOPLE. Address by The Hon. George M. Woodruff, Congregational Church, August 1, 1920. As the oldest male member of this church and for a little over one-quarter of its lifetime one of its deacons, it has been thought essential that I should take some part in these exer cises. Naturally that part will be reminiscent. It should be remembered that at and for many years after the settle ment of the town it constituted but one Ecclesiastical Society and aU votes relative to Ecclesiastical matters were passed in town meetings. Our flrst pastor, as that tablet shows, was the Eev. Timo thy Collins. At the flrst town meeting of which we have any record, on November 6th, 1721, some eighteen months after the General Assembly of Connecticut had granted liberty to Lieut. John Marsh and Deacon John Buel, with others, to settle a town at a place called Bantam, to be known as Litch field, it was voted that Mr. Collins be "called to a settlement in this place in the work of the ministry". A salary liberal for those days was voted him and he was ordained on the 19th of June, 1723 and continued as the minister until November 15th, 1752 and remained a resident of Litchfield, practicing medicine and acting as Justice of the Peace untU his death in 1776. During the earlier years of his ministry, the feeling between him and his people was very harmonious, but later there was a good deal of friction over the matter of his salary and alleged "absence from the work of the ministry". Indica tion of this friction is seen in the record of the vote passed on the 14th of April, 1731, in regard to "seating the meeting house". The record reads, "Voted, after dark, that Mr. Col lins have the choice of pews for himself and family", but the town at a previous meeting had voted that no act of the town should stand in force that was passed after day light failed to record it. It would seem therefore that what was apparently a courtesy to Mr. Collins was in fact and perhaps intentionally an affront. The controversy over salary evidently continued 10 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION for some time after he ceased his ministry, as the Eev. Doctor Mendenhall has a writ issued by Abijah Catlin, Justice of the Peace of Harwinton, on April Sth, 1758 and served by Oliver Wolcott, Sheriff, by which Mr. Collins brought suit against Ebenezer Marsh, Esq., and the rest of the inhabitants of the Town of Litchfield to recover one hundred and seventy pounds which he claimed was due him as salary. In 1765 he was appointed a surgeon in one of the Connecticut Eegiments in the expedition against Crown Point. He was described as a gentleman of good talents and stately demeanor, but with manners by no means conciliatory or popular. A disqualifi cation both as minister and physician. Mr. Collins was succeeded by the Eev. Judah Champion in 1753, a very able man and of most kindly nature. His portrait is in our Historical Eooms. He was the beloved minister for forty-flve years, including the trying and stirring days of the American Eevolution. Tiyo instances may be cited as illustrating Mr. Champion's belief that the service of God and Country were one. Both instances are worth recalling in detail. One was his famous prayer, a comming ling of Cromwellism and Mohammedism, on the occasion of the presence in his congregation of Colonel Tallmadge and his squadron of cavalry at the time when Lord Cornwallis was approaching our shores with a large fleet. The prayer is well known but is so illustrative of the times and of the man you will pardon its reproduction. Thus he prayed: "O Lord, we view with terror the approach of the enemies of thy holy religion. WUt thou send storm and temi)est to toss them upon the sea and overwhelm them upon the mighty deep, or to scatter them to the uttermost parts of the earth. But, per adventure, should any escape thy vengence, collect them together again, O Lord, as in the hollow of thy hand, and let thy lightnings play upon them. We beseech thee moreover, that thou do gird up the loins of these thy servants who are going forth to flght thy battles. Make them strong men, that one shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thousand to flight. Hold before them the shield with which thou was wont in the old time to protect thy chosen people. Give them swift feet, that they may pursue their enemies, and swords terrible as thy destroying Angel that they may cleave them down when they have overtaken them. Preserve these ser- LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 11 vants of thine. Almighty God, and bring them once more to their home and friends, if thou canst do it consistently with thine high purposes. If, on the other hand, thou has decreed that they shall die in battle, let thy spirit be present with them, and breathe upon them, that they may go up as a sweet sacrifice into the courts of thy temple, where are habitations prepared for them from the foundations of the world"- The other occasion is thus described: "One pleasant Sabbath moming the congregation had gathered together and had just commenced the moming hymn, when, through the still streets, there came the sharp clatter of a horse's hoofs, always so ominous, at that time, of tidings from the army. As usual, when the courier arrived in any town on the Sabbath he made straight for the "meeting-house". Beaching the door he dismounted and flinging the bridle over the horse's neck, entered the building. The singing ceased, and every eye was turned on the stranger as he walked up the broad aisle and ascended the pulpit stairs. He handed Mr. Champion a paper, who, with a smile of triumph on his face, arose and read: "St. Johns is taken". It must be remembered that this place had been besieged six weeks, till people began almost to dispair of its ever being taken. The noble pastor, the moment he had flnished the sentence, lifted his eyes to heaven and exclaimed: "Thank God for the victory"- The chorister, sitting opposite the pulpit, in the gallery, clap ped his hands and shouted: "Amen and Amen". For awhile the joy was unrestrained, but the pastor soon checked it by saying: "There is something more to be heard". He then read a lengthy communication stating that the army was in a suffering condition. It was now the latter part of Novem ber, and there on the borders of Canada, the winter was already setting in, and yet the troops were about to march for Quebec to undergo the rigors of a winter campaign. It described in vivid language their suffering condition. They were desti tute of clothing, without shoes or stockings, and yet were ordered to traverse the frozen flelds of the north. The touch ing description lost none of its pathos as read by the pastor and commented on by him at its close. When he had finished, there was hardly a dry eye in the house. Especially the women were overcome with emotion. As soon as the congre- 12 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION gation was dismissed, a few prominent ladies were seen to gather round the young pastor with eager countenances. They were evidently asking him some questions, and it was equally evident, from his benevolent smile and nodding head, that he was answering them satisfactorily. Soon they began to move rapidly among the other women, who in turn, gathered into groups in earnest conversation. After a little whUe they all dispersed to their homes. When the congregation assembled for the afternoon service not a woman was in the church. The wives, mothers and maidens had laid aside their Sabbath apparel, and drawn forth their spinning-wheels, set in motion their looms, and brought out their knitting-needles and hand cards, and the vUlage suddenly became a hive of industry. On that usually stUl Puritan Sabbath afternoon there now rung out on every side the hum of the wheel and the click of the shuttle — sounds never before heaird in Litchfleld on the Sabbath Day, and which contrasted strangely with those of prayer and praise in the adjoining sanctuary. Yet both believed that they were serving God. The women were work ing for those brave patriots who were about to march, desti tute and barefoot, over the frozen ground to strike for free dom. Many years after, when a venerable old man, Mr. Cham pion was asked by his granddaughter how he could approve such desecration of the Sabbath, he turned on her a solemn look and replied simply: "Mercy before sacrifice"." A pre cedent worthily followed by our own "Bed Cross" in the late World War. Our third pastor was the Eev. Dan Huntington, who came to us from a tutorship at Yale. He was an eloquent preacher and a very learned man. His ministry seems to have been greatly enjoyed both by paStor and people. He wrote of Litchfield and his congregation: "A delightful village on a fmitful hUl, richly endowed with its schools, both professional and scientiflc and their accomplished teachers; with its leamed lawyers and Senators and Eepresentatives, both in the National and State departments; and with a population enlightened and respectable"". During the ministry of the Eev. Mr. Collins, the town had voted in regard to a proposed visit of some "revivalists", so-called, that it did not wish to see them; so the report was circulated that Litchfleld had LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNUO. CELEBRATION 18 "voted Christ out of their borders", but during the ministry of Mr. Huntington, occurred a remarkable revival of religious interest, resulting in the admission to the various chnrches of the town of some three hundred persons. Mr. Huntington waa a gentleman of some property and buUt for himself the house which stood where Mr. Granniss now resides and was bumed in 1862. In 1807 Mr. Huntington felt obliged to tender his resignation but the Church and Society voted not to concur. Two years later however, on advice of a council called for the purpose, his resignation was regretfully accepted. Mr. Hunt ington was the father of the Eev. Frederick S. Huntington, who when I was in the Cambridge Law School, was a profes sor, and the college preacher, at Harvard. A most delightful gentleman and interesting preacher. He subsequently, as you know, became the Episcopal Bishop of Central New York. A granddaughter of the Eev. Dan Huntington is with us today. I would here say that the relations between Congregational- ists and Episcopalians in Litchfleld have always been unns- uaUy friendly, and we aU recall with amusement the letter which Mary Powell Davies, wife of John Davies, Jr., who was such a tower of strength for the Episcopal Church in its early days in this town, and was an ancestor of Bishop Davies, wrote back to old England, in which she enlarged upon the beauties of the scenery by which she was surroimded in "Davies Hollow" but described herself as "entirely alone, having no society and no one to associate with but Presby terians and Wolves". My own memory goes back to the fourth pastor, Doctor Lyman Beecher, not to his ministry, as he left here before I was born, but to the man himself. Dr. Beecher was installed in March, 1810, President Dwight of Yale College preaching the sermon. When I was a school boy at Andover, Doctor Beecher was living in Boston and at a time of unusual religi ous interest in the school he came up to talk with and advise the boys, and though physically so weak that he was obliged to recline upon his couch whUe talking to us, his mind was as alert as at his best. As he reasoned with us of "righteous ness, temperance and judgment to eome", we did not tremble like Felix before Paul, but the impressions we then received remained with us through life. The story of the latroduction 14 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION of stoves into the church in Doctor Beecher's time, and the fainting of the good woman when there was no flre in them is too well known to be here repeated. His six temperance sermons, foUowing the organization here in 1789 of the flrst temperance society in the country, marked a new era in the history of the nation. We are fortunate in having several of Doctor Beecher's great-grandchildren with us at this time and shall hear from one or more of them. Doctor Beecher's immediate successor for two years, the Eev. Mr. Carroll, I do not remember ever to have seen, but I was baptised by his successor. Doctor Laurens P. Hickok, who while living in Amherst after his distinguished presi dency of Union College, I met several times, and who as some of you will remember, offered the prayer at the dedication of this building. During his ministry of seven years 214 per sons were received into the church. The Eev. Jonathan' Brace, pastor from 1838 to 1844 was the first whose personal appearance, while here, I remember, though I was too young to remember his sermons. His dig nified bearing as he walked our streets, especially in cool weather, in his long circular cloak, with its fold, toga like, over his left shoulder was most awe inspiring. The sermons of the Eev. Benjamin L. Swan, our pastor from 1846 to 1856, were all of a high order, but the one which was most impressed on the minds of all who heard it, was on the death and burial of Moses from the text (Deut. 32: 48-50) ; "And the Lord spake unto Moses that self same day saying. Get thee up into this mountain, Abarim, unto Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, over against Jericho and die in the mount whither thou goest up and be gathered unto thy people". Mr. Swan was I believe the first homeopathist in town and it was said that he carried his belief so far that he allowed his boys only one huckleberry at a time. This story would however give an impression of eccentricities which did not exist. The Eev. Leonard W. Bacon, who came to us whUe I was in College, was a Boanerges or son of thunder, in a two-fold capacity— both as a worthy son of that great Congregational Divine and Authority, Doctor Leonard Bacon of the Center Church, New Haven and individually. He was fearless and LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 16 sometime rash in his attacks on everything and everybody he thought wrong, and therefore made decided enemies and warm friends, and left without the kindest feelings towards us as was indicated in his reply to the Eev. Mr. McLean's request for a word of remembrance for his historical address. In ack nowledgement Mr. Bacon sent a postal card with: "see Exodus 32:9". Which reads: "And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people". In later years Mr. Bacon's feelings towards us materially changed. He was very energetic and progressive in all matters of interest in the church and society. He was instrumental in the purchase by the Society of the land for the horse-sheds and the erection of forty, all of which were usually occupied in his day, on Sundays, instead of only four or five as at present. He intro duced new hymn books and raised the money for a new organ and had the organ and choir located in the gallery at the rear of the church instead of over the vestibule back of the pulpit, which was between the doors as you entered. Our minister during the civil war was the Eev. George Eichards, a worthy successor of Judah Champion of Eevolu tionary fame and like him of a most lovable nature, though Parson Champion's warlike prayer would give a different impression of him. Mr. Eichards did noble work in encourag ing enlistments and upon him rested the burden of solacing many a mourning heart for the soldier dead. On one occa sion the caskets containing the remains of flve soldiers were arranged in front of our church for funeral services — three of them brothers who had been killed or died of wounds received in battle within eighteen days of each other, though in differ ent regiments and at different places. Following Mr. Eichards came the Eev. William B. Clark for four years. He had been the College Preacher at Yale and was a flnished sermonizer and devoted to parish work. The Eev. Henry B. Elliott was in all places and under all circumstances the educated clergyman. His successor, the Eev. Allan McLean was a man of peculiarly lovely character which seemed to draw men into the service of his Master. Except during the revivals in Mr. Huntington's and Doctor Hickok's time, never were more 16 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL. CELEBRATION adults received into church membership than during the miiu,s- try of Mr. McLean. The pastorates of his successors are all so recent that they do not need to be called to your remembrance. In April 1723 the people of Litchfleld voted to build their flrst church. It was 45 feet long by 35 feet broad and at its raising aU the adult males in the town sat on the sills at one time. The second church was flnished in 1762 and was 60 feet by 45 and had a steeple. Both stood in the center of the viUage about where the Beecher monument now stands. The third church was dedicated on the 15th of July, 1829, the same day that Doctor Hickok was installed. It stood as you know on the same site as this building. When I was young the Chapel, or Conference or Lecture Eoom as it was always called, was a separate one-story building standing back of and a little to the right of the church. The seats were of the natural wood, unpainted, on each side of a middle aisle and the men and women sat on opposite sides. Later the arrange ment was changed, a double row of more comfortable and cushioned seats) occupying the center with two side aisles along the walls. The exterior of the church itself is familiar to your sight as Colonial Hall though now without the steeple, which gave it an added dignity. It had a double row of straight backed pews through the center of the audience room with single rows on each side with aisles between the body and side pews. Each pew had a door opening upon the aisle and closed vnth a brass button. The pulpit was between the entrance doors, the pews facing the pulpit so that all had to pass inspec tion as they walked up to their respective seats. I say walked "up" advisedly as the floor rose several inches from front to rear, which sometimes caused those not accustomed to it to waver a little as they passed to their seats. I well remember how in frosty weather Doctor Henry W. Buel would stop and wipe the moisture from his glasses before starting up the incline. The audience room was lofty, being open from what is now the lower floor to the rounded ceiling. The galleries occupied the sides and rear as at present in the Hall, but were higher in front and more on a level. The space now occupied by the stage was the gallery for the organ and choir. LITCHFIELD BI-CENTBiNNIAL CELEBRATION 17 This arrangement enabled the chorister to communicate easUy with the minister. It was not however in our church that the minister having fallen asleep during the singing of a long hymn and being awakened by a touch from the chorister, who informed him that the hymn "was out", rousing up, replied: "fUl it up then — fiU it up". There was no ceUar under the church and the icy winds of winter had free circulation under the floor, so that the only way to keep one's feet from being icy, also, was the famUy foot stove carried to church usuaUy by one of the younger members of the famUy. What Warmth there was in the church came from big box stoves in the comers, the pipes nmning from those in front to the chimneys in the rear and always when the fires were started dripping creosote. The most startling innovation in the established order of things after the introduction of stoves in the time of Doctor Beecher, was the trimming of the church for Christmas, first done in 1859, One of those most opposed to allowing this to be done was the son of the good deacon who had so violently opposed the introduction of stoves, and it was a singular coincidence that when one of the long wreaths which stretched from the comer of the church to the center of the ceiling, broke from its fastenings, the only person hit by it was this, son of the old deacon. Fortunately he was not at all injured. A large and handsome cross of evergreens had been hung upon the wall above the pulpit on Saturday evening, but when the con gregation assembled on Sunday morning, it had disappeared, the explanation being that when the chairman of the Society's Committee came early to church to see if everything was all right he discovered the cross, and ordered the sexton forthwith to remove the "emblem of papacy". And now I suppose I am expected to apologize for the building of this Church, instead of preserving that flne old specimen of so-called colonial architecture now around the corner. There is no apology coming, but an explanation may be in order. In the late sixties, no one thought of preserving the old, if new could be had. As an instance in point, Mrs. Lucy Beach offered to contribute $10,000 towards building a new church or $1,000 towards remodeling the old. And it was found easier to raise the amount necessary for a new 1« LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION building than what would be required to remodel the old. To keep it unchanged was not to be thought of. An effort was also made to secure the lot north of the Bank and build thereon a stone church. Two subscriptions of $1,000 each, and one of $300 were all that could be secured for that purpose. When this building was completed, the very few who had opposed rebuUding expressed themselves as more than satisfied. THE MISSION OF TBffi MEETING HOUSE. Address by The Rev, Rockwell Harmon Potter, D, D, (Pastor of the Center Church, Hartford.) Congregational Church, August 1, 1920. The sermon at the Sunday morning service was preached by Eev. Eockwell Harmon Potter, D.D., upon the subject "The Mission of the Meeting House". The masterly argument, given in fine, nervous English with an abundance of unusual illus trations, proved the Church to be an essential of human pro gress, contributing to spiritual health and stabUity. Life, apparently Christian, but lived apart from and outside of the Church, is life, that perhaps unrecognized by itself, has drawn aU its strength, all its ideals from the Christian formula as evidenced in Church organizations; and the test of such a life is that it stops with itself — it has no vitality to pass on. It is non-propagating. The impression made by the preacher was one of earnestness and power.* The sermon was not a written discourse and can be giyen only in the following brief summary furnished by Dr. Potter. Text — ^Haggai 1:4: "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your ceiled houses whUe this house lieth waste?" The rebuke of the prophet was challenged by the spol^es- men of the people. They offered the excuse that they had not lacked in a willingness to undertake the task of rebuUding the temple, but that the imperative and immediate necessities of providing for the physical life had been so great as to prevent them from undertaking the task of providing for the tonple's ministration to their spiritual wants. They had no time for so relatively useless an undertaking. Th^ offered also an apology. They said they had leamed that it is possible to worship God without a temple, and there fore they had no need of rebuilding the temple that had fallen in ruins. And again they offered an appeal contending that the tem- *Note by Rev, Frank J, Goodwin, D.D, 20 LITCHFIELD BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION pie had been a place where the religion of their fathers had been degraded and prostituted. They therefore were slow to rebuUd it lest it again should degrade and prostitute the faith. Now this excuse and this apology and this appeal have been made in every age and are made today. In answer to the excuse let us affirm that man does not live by bread alone. It is the spiritual values that give worth to all material things, and for the cultivation of these spiritual values we need the place of prayer and the house of meeting. In meeting the apology let us insist that man is such a being that unless he leam to worship God somewhere at some time, he does not worship God anywhere at any time. It is the mission of the Meeting House to provide that instruction and discipline and exercise in worship which will make it pos sible for man to live in communion with God. In answer to the appeal let us confess that too often the Church in the present, as the temple in the past, has been unworthily used, but let us bear witness that the noblest lives we have known have been lives taught and trained in the fel lowship of the Church as the organized institution of religion. Let us rejoice that the Church has so taught the Christian gos pel that many who are outside her walls have learned to live by the power of that gospel. I remember that once I saw an old apple tree from which a great limb had been tom by a sudden storm. Upon this limb which lay outside the orchard and along the road was half-formed fruit, and I grieved at what seemed to be the loss and waste of it. But when the autumn came I found that this fruit on this torn limb had come to fullness and ripeness equally with the fmit on the boughs of the parent trunk. I leamed then that when that limb was tom away, enough of the life and sap of the tree were tom away with it to bring to fruitage the fmit that was already half-formed. But when the next spring time came, on the boughs of the parent tree there were springing leaves and bursting buds and the promise of harvest again. On the torn limb there was no springing leaf and no sign of bud or blossom and no promise of any harvest or fruitage. Men and women separated from the Church, whole gener ations separated from the Church, may carry away with them LITCHFIELD BI-CENTEa