Yale University Library

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Gift of

EXERQSES ATTENDING

¦THE

One Hundred and Seventy-Fifth Anniversary
OF THE ORGANIZATION

OF THE .

Congregational Cburcb

IN-

NORTH BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT,

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER J5, 1902.

Historical Sermon, Addresses and Letters,
J 72^ 1902

r^^

FIRST IVIEETING HOUSE.

PROGRAM

A. M.

10:30 Music.
10:35 Reading: Scripture and Prayer.
10:45 Address,
11:00 Music.
11:05 Address,
11:20 Music.
11:30 Historical Sermon,
12:15 Music.
12:30 Recess. Dinner.

Rev. T. S. Devitt
Rev. E. J. Beach
Rev. F. Countryman

P. M.
2:00 Music.
2:15 to 4:30 Short addresses by Rev. D. N. Prentice, Rev. S. F. Blom-
field. Rev. Fosdick Harrison, Rev. W. R. Mulford and others,
with reading of letters from D. F. Atwater, M. D., Rev. E. L.
Clark, and others. Recess.
7:30 Social hour with music and short addresses.

Ct73

ANIVIVERSARY OPf TME
COINQREGATIOIVAU CHURCH
OF NORTH BRAISFORD, COINN.

THE 175th anniversary exercises of the Congregational
Church in North Branford were held in the church edi
fice on Wednesday, October 15, 1902. The day was a fine
one, and a large number of people from the town and abroad filled
the building. The exercises began at about eleven o'clock, a. m.
with a voluntary by the organist, Mrs. A. U. Piatt followed by an
anthem finely rendered by a chorus choir made up of Mrs. E. B.
Stone of North Branford and Mrs. C. M. Bergstresser of New York
city, sopranos ; Miss Mary Wheadon, Mrs. S. D. Bartlett, Miss May
Countryman, altos; E. B. Stone, G. D. Ford, and C. W. Barker
tenors ; Edmimd Fields, R. N. Ford, A. P. Dickinson basses. Rev.
Charles Page, pastor of the church in Foxon and a member of the
North Branford church, together with the Rev. D. N. Prentice, a
former pastor of the church conducted the introductory services.
The Rev. Dr. Devitt, pastor of the mother church in Branford,
brought its greetings, while Rev. E. J. Beach, pastor of the daugh
ter church in Northford conveyed its good wishes in fitting words.
The historical sermon was preached by the pastor, Rev. F.
Countryman. Interspersed in the morning program were anthems
sung by the choir. A hymn composed by a native of North Bran
ford, Rev. Roger Harrison, and much used in sacred services of
bygone days was sung to a tune of his own composition. At noon
a recess was taken, and all present sat down to a bountiful dinner
prepared by the ladies. In the afternoon letters were read from

D. F. Atwater, M. D., of Springfield, Mass., son of a former pastor
of this church, and from Rev. E. L. Clark, pastor in the years 1867
—1877. Addresses were made by Rev. Fosdick Harrison, pastor of a
church in Palmer, Mass., and a descendant of the Rev. Fosdick
Harrison a native of this place ; by Rev. W. R. Mulford, rector of
a church in Fanwood, N. J., and descendant of Deacon Barnabas
Mulford, one of the early deacons of the church ; by Rev. D. N.
Prentice, a former pastor ; by Rev. S. F. Blomfield, pastor of the
church in Stony Creek ; by Mrs. Weaver, daughter of the late Q.
M. Atwater, Esq., of Brightwood, Mass., and granddaughter of a
former pastor ; by Mrs. W. Irving Vinals of Washington, D. C,
daughter of the late Rev. George I. Wood, pastor here from 1844
to 1850 and again from 1855 to 1859 ; by John S. Baldwin, Esq., of
Worcester, Mass., son of the late Rev. John D. Baldwin, pastor of
this church from 1838 to 1844 ; Attorney C. A. Harrison of Walhng-
ford, Conn., a native of this place — and others.
In the evening short addresses were made by the Rev. S. F.
Blomfield, and the Rev. "W. R. Mulford.
Thus closed an eventful celebration in the annals of North
Branford church history.
The church was finely decorated for the occasion, and on
either side of the pulpit were the figures 1727-1902. C. A. Harri
son, Esq., kindly opened his summer home, the lower rooms of
which were filled with relics of the olden times

¥¥¥¥¥

HISTORICAL SBRMON
By Rev. P. Countryman, Pastor

Psalm 14, 3:5 "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all
thy works. ' '
IT is an interesting task to study the origin of a church which
dates back into the eighteenth century, and to trace the Divine
working in the church's establishment and continued history.
Verily we may remember the days of old, and meditate upon the
works of God in connection with the history of His church. It is
a pleasant task to reconstruct the past, to summon up out of the
long ago the deeds and achievements of those who dwelt in this
old town, and to clothe again with flesh as it were those who
helped organize and support this ancient church of Christ.
What type of people were represented by those who lived then
in this village? They were pious people given to worship. They
were thrifty people with comfortable homes. So far as we can as
certain their houses were substantially built. They grew to the
soil and did not feel the impulse so common in these latter days
to wander away from home and change their abode and location.
They were a thinking people and evidently believed in high think
ing and plain living.
It was the age when great theological truths were preached in
the pulpit and discussed among the people. They had few books
but what they had were read and studied. They came to have
schools and schoolhouses in time but the curriculum or course of
study viewed in the light of today was narrow. They, however,
made the best possible use of the opportunities they had. The so
cial life of the time in which they lived was rich, full and strong,

and yet filled with class distinctions. The clergy and the leading
men of the community were separated from the other classes.
And so there grew up in every community a class of people who
were taught to reverence their elders and those in authority, and a
hardy intelligent, independent, and thinking community grew
in strength and character. Men were dogmatic and som.ewhat in
tolerant but they thought deeply, and could give a reason for the
faith that was in them. Let us betake ourselves back to those
early days and see once again what sort of a people it was that de
termined in due course of time to have here church privileges,
build a meeting house and engage a minister. Godly people, they
wanted to establish a center of religious "worship like the Israel
ites of old where they could wait upon God and pour out their
hearts to Him. From the time when the place was first settled in
1680, the community increased in numbers until the thought grew
in their minds that the people ought to have a parish of their own
independent of Branford whither over an old well beaten path the
Northern farmers, as they were called, took their way with their
wives to the old mother church. From about 1701 meetings w^ere
held here with occasional preaching, in school-houses or private
dwellings. It was a difficult and unpleasant journey to Branford
through the forests and swamps and exposed to the attacks of hos
tile Indians. The feeling grew greater until in 1717 an attempt
was made by petition to the General Assembly to have parish lines
definitely established for the people in the North part of the town.
This petition appears to have been made in May 1717. A com
mittee was appointed by the General Assembly to take the matter
into consideration and see whether the Northern farmers could
maintain and support a ministry. In October of the same year
this committee reported that the farmers vs^ere too small in num
bers for this purpose, and yet that "it was troublesome to go to
Branford to worship. So permission was given them to main
tain a ministry at their own charge "for four months in the year
for the space of three years next coming". They were to pay to
Branford only one third part as much as Branford people, and at
the end of three years were to make further application. Cer
tain bounds were made for the North Parish at that time although
these were changed. Such names as "Rose's Meadow," "Rattle
snake Rocks," "Sawmill," "Long Hill" and "Cedar Swamp" oc-

cur as marking and limiting these bounds. Where all these places
were located I am not able to state. The people not being alto
gether satisfied these bounds were afterwards somewhat changed.
The North farmers began to have the services of a minister for a
much longer time during each year, until in the autumn of 1733, a
Parsonage lot was purchasd, and October 8th, 200 acres were
given by the Proprietors for parsonage lands near Great Hill. In
1734 May 13th, it was voted by the town to build a meeting house
in the North Farms as the population of that part of the town had
increased. This building was to be 45 by 35 feet. Later in 1735
there appears to have been some trouble between the North farm
ers and those in the South part of the town as to the building of
the new house. A committee was finally appointed by the Gen
eral Assembly to adjust matters if possible, and in October 1725
this body ordered that Branford help pay for the new meeting
house voted in tovm meeting for the North farmers in 1724. So
the parish in the North part of the town was separated from the
South, and collectors were appointed in each section to collect the
tax for the support of each minister and the people on the South
side of the bounds established were to pay their tax for the sup
port of the old and those on the North side to the support of the
new minister. Before this time both ministers were supported by
the whole town. The building of a new church at the outset does
not seem to have been brought about without some strong opposi
tion. A strong protest was made against it.
The question of building a meeting house having been settled
at last, three distinct sites were proposed but finally it was deter
mined to locate it on the knoll on the west side of the river at a
place near Samuel Harrison's. The spot was a few feet south of
the present meeting house. The edifice was not finished until
1733. An interesting statement regarding the building of the new
church is that Rev. Samuel Russell of the old church went up from
Branford and offered prayer at the erection of the frame of the new
edifice. An accident occurred at that time which might have been
very serious. A heavy upright beam fell from its position into the
midst of the people. Fortunately no one was struck or injured by
the falling timber. God thus seems to have watched over the church
from its very beginning. The people now in 1735 had a church
building in an unfinished condition, but a church in which to

meet and a minister to preach to them, and some sort of an or
ganization. It does not appear what was the particular relation
of the minister to the church, or what was exactly the status of
the organization. Probably there were different clergyman
preaching to the people from time to time, until just before Mr.
Merrick's time some minister supplied them continuously. It is
somewhat doubtful so far as I am able to ascertain whether the
church was organized earlier than 1737. The first definite state
ment we have is the statement in the Colonial records of the Gen
eral Assembly (1726 — 1735) which reads : upon the petition of the
inhabitants of the North society in Branford this Assembly grants
them liberty to imbody themselves into church estate, and to call
and settle an orthodox minister among them with the approbation
of the neighboring churches.
We have now a definite and fixed date from which to reckon the
legal organization of a church and ecclesiastical society in this place,
for this act was passed in October 1727. We thus look back over
our church history one hundred and seventy-five years, and even
more when we think of the work put forth by the God-fearing men
and women of old to establish and set up and maintain the worship of
God in these borders. People of good old New England stock fol
lowed out the religious instincts of their natures and founded
this church whose anniversary we celebrate today. All honor to
their memory ! What was the kind of building first erected in this
parish as a meeting house? It was plain and unpretentious both
within and without. It had doors on the East, West and South
sides with circular steps made of stone leading up to the thresh-
hold. The windows were many and the panes of glass diamond
shaped. It possessed little architectural beauty to captivate the
public eye. It stood firm and solid, a fitting type of the Puritan
character. Within, the floor was a step below the sills. The gal
leries were high and shut in. They extended around three sides
of the church. The pulpit was also like most of the pulpits of the
day, high and lofty. The minister was thus perched above his
congregation and separated from them. A sounding board, a
roof-shaped structure hung above the pulpit and in later years we
are told it became the abode of bats who were never molested be
cause of the difficulty of cleaning the accumulated filth and dust
of the years. Occasionally a bat would get loose and become a

REV. P. COUINTRYIVIAIN
Pastor Congregational Church
North Branford

cause of discomfort to the congregation. Imagine the sensation
of alarm occasioned by this event especially to the ladies. The
pews were box like affairs. Those occupied by the deacons were
near the pulpit. In the earliest days men and women did not sit
together although this custom was afterwards altered as is evi
denced by the statement of a vote on the church records. The
minister in these olden times was a man of authority, power and
influence. In many cases his word was law, and he walked among
his people as verily a man of consequence. His office was highly
reverenced and the utmost respect accorded him. The early rec
ords of the church up to 1769 are lost and so we are somewhat un
certain as to the date of Mr. Merrick's ordination over the church
in this place as its first minister. Possibly he was ordained in
1726, but we have no proof of that fact so far as I know. He was
evidently preaching to the people here in 1737. The date of his
death on his tombstone is 1772 and in the inscription are the words,
the forty-third year of his ministry. The natural inference from
this statement would be that forty-three years covered his minis
terial life from the time he was ordained till the time of his death.
This would indicate his ordination in the year 1729 or 1730. How
ever, this may be after the desultory preaching of the years pre
vious to 1737 the Rev. Jonathan Merrick was the fii-st regular min
ster. He came to the chvu-ch in the vigor of young manhood, and
remained among this people till his death in 1772, June 37. It
was his only charge. Mr. Merrick was born in Springfield, Mass.
August 13, 1700. He graduated from Yale College in 1725, and
soon after having studied theology came to this place. He lived
in a house framed at the expense of the town at the time a frame
was made for the old church. The house was erected soon after .
It stood on the site of the house now owned and occupied by G .
L. Ford, Esq. A large farm was connected therewith which Mr.
Merrick conducted in connection with the work of the ministry.
Mr. Merrick's active ministry ended in 1769 in consequence of a
paralysis which prevented the exercise of ministerial duties. His
last public act was to preside as moderator at a church meeting-
held February 33, 1769, to appoint a day for the ordination of the
Rev. Samuel Eels his successor. His signature appears for the
last time in the handwriting of an old and enfeebled man on the
church records as the moderator of that meeting. He died June

27, 1773, aged 73 years and was laid to rest among the people he
had so long served, in the old cemetery which in the year 1727
had been laid out about the old church according to the custom of
those days. Forty-three years he lived in this place and his name
remains unto this day. He was said to be a man of fine presence
and of large stature. From his word there seemed to be no dispo
sition to appeal. An anecdote is related of him which illustrates
this. A Timothy Stone who afterwards became a minister taught
school in this place. One of the pupils became refractory and was
thereupon vigorously dealt with by the teacher. The father of
the boy was indignant and removed him at once from the school.
When this was communicated to Mr. Merrick he summoned the
angry parent into his presence. The father immediately obeyed
the summons as he dared not do otherwise, when the minister
is said to have addressed him in the following words : "You teach
rebellion in school. It shall not be so. I will have you know
that I will put my foot on your neck. This rebellious spirit shall
not be tolerated." The rebuke had the desired effect and the
father meekly bowed to the minister's will. This anecdote not
only shows Mr. Merrick's position in the community but as well
the general reverence in which the clergy were held.
What a difference between the eighteenth century in New
England in this respect and today. Mr. Merrick was a Fellow of
Yale College from June 1763 to September 1769. In the theologi
cal divisions of the time he was identified with the "Old Light"
party. Evidently he was a conservative. He left an estate valued
at 3,365 pounds showing that he must have been a man of thrift
and successful in the business of farming. He married March 38,
1731-3 Jerusha Minor of Stonington, Conn., who survived him with
several children. She died July 33, 1777, in her 73d year. A de
scendant of Mr. Merrick in the seventh generation lives among us.
During the ministry of Mr. Merrick the people who resided in
what is now Northford and who had been attending church and
burying their dead here, in 1745 were set off by the General As
sembly as a distinct society.
The first deacon of this church was Benjamin Barnes, a man
of piety and poverty as we are told. He was one of the original in
habitants of the place. He died in 1740. Another deacon was
Daniel Page, who lived near the summit of Sibbie's Hill, a loca-
10

tion not far from the present Center of North Branford. He was
one of the original settlers coming here from Branford, and the
ancestor of the prominent and influential family of that name the
members of which have filled from generation to generation down
to the present, important offices by the vote of their townsmen.
Daniel Page died in 1766. Later Ithiel Russell and Barnabas Mul
ford were deacons. Deacon Mulford was a member of Colonial As
sembly in 1762. He was married by Mr. Merrick to Hannah,
daughter of Edward Petty, in 1740. Their terms of service ex
tended from Mr. Merrick's period of ministry to that of Mr. Eel's.
Deacon Russell's descendants have been helpful and prominent in
the church ministering to its needs. He died March 25, 1773.
Other deacons were Israel Baldwin some time before 1744, Ebenezer
Russell in 1772, Aaron Baldwinl778. Another Israel Baldwin 1798,
David Russell in 1808. The mode of worship was evidently some
what different from that of today. There was appointed an individ
ual whose duty it was to read and tune the Psalm. Jonathan
Butler, Jr., was first appointed to that office in 1732, and later
Abiel Linsley and Abraham Whedon were chosen to that office.
There were no musical instruments to help the people in their
service of praise and one can imagine how solemn and serious and
how bare of all that brightens the worship of today were the services
of that ancient time. The themes of the minister's sermons were
evidently profoundly theological and Calvinistic in thought. But
the people listened with interest to solemn and weighty preaching,
sitting together in cold as in warm weather to hear sermons
whose length would not be tolerated by an audience of this mod
ern day. We wonder sometimes how people or minister kept
warm in cold weather during these long Sabbath services. Per
haps they listened so attentively to the preacher as to ignore the
chilly atmosphere of the house and when at noon they repaired to
the Sabbath day houses near the church they absorbed heat enough
perhaps from the wood fire near which they sat and ate their
lunch, to last them during the afternoon. They must have been
hardy men and women who were trained to endurance and did not
easily yield to the difficulties and burdens of their lot.
It would be interesting if we knew the names of those who
first belonged to the church and their number but the record was
lost and we are unable to find them. Up to the year 1769 Mr.
11

Merrick as we have mentioned had been able to take care of his
church with occasional help from other ministers, but in that
year a stroke of paralysis incapacitated him for active service
longer. His long and useful service was at an end and it became
necessary to look about for a successor. That man was found in the
Rev. Samuel Eels, the son of the Rev. Edward Eels of Middletown.
He was born in that place January 13, 1745 and graduated from Yale
College in 1765. He was ordained here March 39, 1769. The 8th
of March according to a custom then prevalent had been observed
as a day of fasting and prayer, in reference to the ordination. Two
sermons were preached on that day, one by the Rev. Philemon
Robbins of Branford, and the other by the Rev. Warham Williams
of Northford. On the day of ordination Mr. Eels, the father of
the new pastor preached the sermon. Mr. Eels had a settlement
at the time of his ordination of 300 pounds beside materials for
building a house and barn. This house is still standing and is
occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Albert Q. Piatt's family. Mr. Eels en
tered upon his ministry under favorable auspices. He found a
church of seventy-seven members whose names are given on the
church records. Mr. Eels was a man of much ability, kindly and
genial among his people and welcomed by them in their homes.
He practiced to some extent as a physician. One would judge
from the anecdotes related of him that he was a man of good com
mon sense, a man who loved a joke and whose sympathies were
easily moved toward the people of his parish. He was, too, a man
of patriotic spirit. When news came in the early part of 1777,
during the Revolutionary War that more troops were wanted
from Connecticut to assist Washington near New York he was one
of the most active in forming a company. The news came on Sun
day. He gave out the intelligence from the pulpit, and called on
all who were willing to answer the call for more men, to form on
the Green before the meeting-house immediately after service.
There was a ready response. At the conclusion of the service a
company of 60 men was organized and Rev. Samuel Eels was
chosen captain. It does not appear that their services were needed
but the prompt response of these patriots to the appeal made is
worth noting. Mr. Eels was a minister but he was also a man and a
patriot. During Mr. Eels ministry the church adopted the "Half
way Covenant" as it was called. Mr. Eels does not appear to have
13

been fully in sympathy with this covenant. This Half-way Cov
enant to quote the words of the Rev. George I. Wood in his excel
lent Historical Discourse was "a regulation by which individuals
in the congregation who had arrived at adult years without the
seal of baptism were to be baptized upon their professing the faith
of the Gospel and being free from public scandal, without coming
to full communion with the church ; that is without participating
in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper; and by which they were
permitted to have baptism administered to their children". Other
churches than this adopted the same covenant but it soon fell into
disuse. In 1770 Ithiel Russell and William Wheadon were ap
pointed choristers. Five years later we have notice of a singing
master and a singing school. Later in 1784 there was a body of
singers in existence who were seated by vote in the front seats of
the gallery. In 1793 there was a musical society in this place and
a sum of money was appropriated from the treasury of the society
to procure books for that society. In 1799 the singers were to re
ceive 10 pounds a year "in case they sing." It was not till 1839
that the church had an organ so far as I am able to ascertain.
We thus see how the musical portion of the church service ad
vanced from the leading of the congregation by one appointed to
the office to a body of singers occupying the gallery and directed
by suitable choristers. It is worthy of note that in Mr. Eels' time
a committee was appointed to dignify the pews, that is to deter
mine the rank and dignity of the pews, so that class distinction
might be properly observed and the dignitaries of the place re
ceive their proper sittings. Mr. Eels ministered here for 39 years
and died April 3, 1808 aged 63 years. He was buried near his prede
cessor in office. The number received into the church during his
ministry was 104. In addition to his work here, Mr. Eels probably
served for a little time as a missionary in what was then called the
west, and went to the state of New York. He was appointed to this
service by the General Association of Connecticut in 1793. These
appointments were made to some extent from ministers who were
serving our churches. These men thus appointed were allowed
five dollars a week for their services and four dollars a week for
supplying their pulpits in their absence. Mr. Eels left the church
in good condition for his successor, the Rev. Charles Atwater. He
was born in New Haven August 18, 1786, the son of a merchant,
13

Jeremiah T. Atwater. He graduated from Yale College in 1805,
studied theology under the first President Dwight and was or
dained here March 1st, 1809. The day set apart for fasting and
prayer was February 22, 1809. Rev. Aaron Dutton of Guilford
and Rev. T. P. Gillett were to preach the sermons. Rev. Mr.
Atwater was to receive |450 per annum. Rev. Samuel Mewin of
New Haven preached the ordination sermon. While here Mr. At
water lived in the house now used as a parsonage, and this house
was built by him in 1809. Mr. Atwater was a man of command
ing figure, portly and erect. His voice was loud and clear. One
lady now deceased, who in her later years was speaking of him,
said his voice was like the sound of a trumpet. He was a successful
preacher and minister. In the year 1821 there was an extensive re
ligious awakening. Forty-five were added to the church. Ninety-
six were received into the church during the 16 years of his ministry.
He died February 21, 1825, at the early age of 39. He was much
beloved by his people. The funeral took place from the church
on February 33. A large concourse of people gathered together.
Neighboring pastors were present to take part in the solemn ser
vices. The sermon was preached by Mr. Gillett of Branford from
Matthew 24:44. He was buried near his predecessors in office.
Thus these first three pastors sleep side by side in this place.
They held their official position during their life time, living and
working and dying amid their people. They are the only ones
of all the pastors whose remains were laid away near the old
church they served so long and faithfully. A tablet has been
placed in the church to the memory of Rev. Charles Atwater by
his son, the late George M. Atwater, Esq., of Brightwood, Mass.
Mrs. Atwater, the widow of Rev. Charles Atwater, and a woman
of most attractive Christian character, married Mr. Abijah Fisher
of New York city in 1827 and died October 13, 1879, in the 96th
year of her age. Two sons of Rev. Mr. Atwater are stiU living.
Dr. D. F. Atwater of Springfield, Mass., and James C. Atwater,
Esq., of New York city. Of the revival in 1821 we have very in
teresting accounts in the diary of the late Dea. T. R. Palmer ex
tracts from which have been given me. He says under the date
March 23 — "Whoever saw in this place such an attention paid to
religion! Such numbers flocking to the church of Christ. " April
8, 1831 — He says — "Religion has produced its glorious effect in
14

some degree — About fifty have apparently become the subjects of
grace. April 22 — He says — Religion seems to be the predominant
actuating principle of many and prayer meetings are held. The
last evening there were three held in different parts of the society,
notwithstanding the weather being bad. May 11 — He says — The
alteration in the society is great and such an one as all the twenty
years of my life never witnessed and indeed such a one as never
before took place". This condition continued until the autumn
when twenty young people were united with the church making
forty- five in all. The church at this time he says consisted of one
hundred-fifteen members. I give also the following interesting
extracts from the diary — Under the date September 3 1831 he
says — "this evening being set ajjart for prayer I attend. The
wind already blowing strong. The wind, however, increased till
about half- past eight when such a violent gust came it seemed as
if all would go with it. The windows of the meeting house many
of them were blown out, the door burst open, the lights were im
mediately put out and so awful and terrifying a moment I never
experienced. We, however, secured the door and thought it our
duty to repair to our dwellings. The wind continued till about
twelve with increasing rapidity. What carried the greater terror
and alarm was a light in the west. It, however, proved to be
Deacon Russell's barn with its contents on fire. The wind grad
ually died away but not without leaving the marks of a destruc
tive hurricane. The oldest person never experienced so destruc
tive a storm of wind." This is an account of the famous Septem
ber gale of 1831. I give it not only for its connection with the re
vival year in this place, but also because it is an interesting de
scription of a remarkable event. In the year 1833, March 1, Dea
cons Russell and Baldwin resigned and on August 25, of that year,
Daniel Wheadon and Sydney Alden were inducted in to the office
of Deacon. November 1, 1823, communion cups were purchased.
Mr. Atwater's ministry was a fruitful one, and the church was
built up and strengthened.
Now came a time when different ministers were heard but no
regular pastor engaged. The people heard several with satisfac
tion but were unable to secure their services. In 1836 the num
ber of people in North Branford village was 535 constituting
about 100 families. This is an interesting fact. But there was
15

no one to minister continously in the pastoral office to these peo
ple, and this state of things lasted until the year 1838. June 9 of
that year Judson A. Root was called to settle with them in the
Gospel ministry (as the phrase was) on a salary of $400 annually.
At first he would not accept the call but after a second call and an
interview with the committee of the church he consented to come
and October 15, 1838, he was ordained pastor of the church. For
a little over three years the pulpit had been supplied from Sabbath
to Sabbath and now once again they had the services of a regular
pastor. The Rev. Mr. Merwin of New Haven preached the ordi
nation sermon from Ephesians 4:11-13. The ordination services
were very interesting. At first Mr. Root occupied the house now
owned by Deacon S. D. Bartlett back of the church, but soon built
the house now owned by Elizur Foote, Esq., where he resided dur
ing his stay here. Mr. Root preached at his coming in the old
church but it had become unfitted much longer for use. It had
been repaired from time to time, but it seemed now as if a new
structure was needed. Through the influence of Mr. Root the
matter was agitated. At a Society meeting held February 8, 1830,
$3,000 were subscribed toward a new meeting house. The amount
needed was $3,500. February 24, 1830, at a Society meeting a
committee reported $2,395 subscribed and it was voted to build a
new house and to commence its erection upon the subscription of
$3,500. The new house was to be fifty feet long, thirty-six feet
wide and twenty-two feet high with steeple. It was to be located
at or near the place where the old house stood. There was very
little opposition to the building of a new church and on March 7,
1830, the people began cutting timber and making preparations to
build. Then May 35, 1830, the east part of the old meeting house
was turned into a joiner's shop the seats being taken up. May
26 the digging commenced for a basement and the statement is
made that no spirits were brought on to the grounds. August 11,
1830, (Wednesday) the people commenced at eight o'clock to raise
the meeting house (according to diary of Deacon T. R. Palmer)
after singing and prayer by Mr. Root. Services on the foundation
commenced with the tune "Italian Hymn." Prayer was offered
and "Old Hundred" sung. On the 12th and 13 of August the work
of raising the frame was continued. It was finished on the 14th
after four and one-half days successive labor. The people then
16

sung "Oh! give thanks" Mr. Root offered prayer, and the tune
"Dismission" was sung. "Dm-ing these days of danger" (I
quote from Deacon Palmer's diary) "no accident has happened.
The business has gone on regular and without noise and tumult.
No ardent spirits brought on or fui-nished on the occasion. Much
harmony and good feeling exists at the present time." The ac
count of the raising of the frame is extremely interesting as show
ing how this work had its religious side and was regarded as in
some sort a religious work. The people built the house for the
Lord. November 6, 1830, six months after the carpenters began
raising the frame the new house was enclosed. Mr. Volney Pierce
was the contractor. December 18 of the same year it was plas
tered. January 12, 1831, an organ was placed in the church pur
chased by a company of ten individuals at a cost of $130 with the
expectation that the Society would then take it. Mr. Russell
Clark was the organist. February 37, 1831, the people meet in
the old church for the last time. February 38 the old building
was pulled down. The timbers were found to be very rotten.
When the rubbish was cleaned away a stump was found almost
perfect after remaining under the fioor for upwards of a century.
The material of the old building was sold for about $83. March 13,
1831, the people met in the new basement for the first time and on
April 28, 1831, the new meeting house was dedicated. The ser
mon was preached by Professor Fitch of Yale College. The day
was quite stormy and very few were present. The people were
now provided with a new meeting house and necessary appoint
ments. Interesting religious services were held for four days be
ginning May 18, 1831. The meetings were well attended. The
people gathered together at five o'clock in the morning to begin
the day's service with a prayer meeting. Meetings were held later
at 10 :30 o'clock, also in the afternoon and in the evening. There
was much religious interest manifest and the people crowded the
church. Mr. Root continued with the people about six years and was
dismissed at his own request in 1834 probably on October 15.
Fifty-eight were received into the chm-ch during his pastorate.
The year 1831 was marked by the formation of the town of
North Branford which together with Northford was set off from
Branford as a town. This fact is worth recording.
17

The church, after Mr. Root's dismission, found his successor
in the Rev. Henry B. Camp who was ordained July 30, 1835. He
graduated at Yale in 1831. His stay was short. He was threat
ened with consumption and felt himself obliged to retire from the
active work of the ministry. Accordingly he was dismissed Octo
ber 9, 1836, after a pastorate of a little over one year. He took up
the work of teaching in Hartford and died there February 16, 1880,
aged seventy. After his dismission different preachers were
heard. Calls were given to a Rev. William Bushnell and later to
Rev. RoUin Stone but both declined the calls made to them. It
was not until January 17, 1838 that the Rev. John D. Baldwin was
installed as pastor of the church. He was a man of ability and
did efficient service for the church. He studied theology at Yale
and came here from North Woodstock, Connecticut, where he was
ordained to the ministry. Up to this time the ministers had lived
in houses owned by themselves but now it was proposed to pur
chase a convenient house and lot for the use of the pastor. The
proposal was to raise the sum of $1,300 by subscription "by divid
ing said sum into forty-eight shares of $35 each to be expended by
said subscribers or by their committee for the above purpose and
when so expended to be used for the above specified object. " All
transfers of stock w^ere to be determined by a majority of two-
thirds of the stockholders present at a legally warned meeting each
share being entitled to one vote, the property being held as "ten
ants in common." It was understood that the present pastor. Rev'.
John D. Baldwin, should have a right to purchase said property
in part or whole at first cost or on such other terms as he and said
subscribers should agree. It does not appear that Mr. Baldwin
ever bought the place although his name is on the list of subscrib
ers. He took two shares. March 30, 1838, the Parsonage prop
erty consisting of two acres of land and the buildings thereon was
deeded to Samuel F. Russell, Albert Harrison, and Luther Chid-
sey, committee of the Parsonage Association by Jasper Monroe
and Betsy Munroe. The same property was deeded by the Parson
age Association to the first Congregational Society of North Bran
ford, June 16, 1845. Thus in that year the minister had a conven
ient house in which to live and the edifice then purchased and now
occupied as a Parsonage has been the home of the pastors of this
church ever since. Mr. Baldwin remained here six years and was
18

dismissed at his own request July 3, 1844. He subsequently served
a chm-ch in North Killingly (as the place was then called, now
East Putnam.) He afterwards embarked in newspaper work and
ultimately became Editor of the "Worcester Spy." He was also
Member of Congress from Massachusetts from 1863-69. He died at
his home in Worcester, Mass., July 8, 1883, aged seventy-thi-ee
years. His widow is still living, and two sons. Mr. Baldwin was
also an author. Among his books are a History of Ancient Amer
ica and a book of poems. It was in the year 1838 during Mr. Bald
win's pastorate that Thomas Plant was chosen deacon in place of
Deacon David Russell who resigned.
The church was not long without a minister after Mr Bald
win left them. The Rev. George I. Wood came here as pulpit sup
ply December 1844. He was a graduate of Yale College in the
year 1833. He was a relation of the third pastor of the church
Rev. Charles Atwater. He was pastor of several churches before
he came here and of several others after his dismission. He was
the author of the admirable historical discourse regarding the
church here from which many of the facts of this sermon are
taken. He died in Washington, D. C, at the home of his daugh
ter, Mrs. W. Irving Vinal, in 1899 aged eighty-five. He has a son.
Captain Oliver Ellsworth Wood, connected with the Japanese Em
bassy. During Mr. Wood's pastorate Deacon Thomas Plant re
signed his office and Samuel F. Russell and Luther Chidsey were
chosen to serve as deacons. During Mr. Wood's pastorate the con
fession of faith of the church was amended according to the state
ment on the records so as to "recognize the Divinity of Christ, and
the necessity of regeneration by the Holy spirit." Mr. Wood
preached his farewell sermon June 23, 1850, and the church was
again without a pastor. One was soon found in the Rev. Whit
man Peck, who came here March 4, 1851. Like his predecessor
he was "not installed. He graduated at Yale College in 1838. He
was here a little over four years leaving his charge June 34, 1855.
He died in 1894. The Rev. George I. Wood again supphed the
church at the earnest desire of the people. He remained with them
until 1859 when the Rev. William Curtis received a call to settle
in the Gospel ministry. He accepted the call and was installed as
pastor, December 23, 1859. During his pastorate the parsonage
was thoroughly remodeled through his efforts. He was an inde-
19

fatigable worker and a strong and vigorous preacher. He like the
others who had preceded him in the pastoral office was a graduate
of Yale College. He graduated in 1840. He resigned the pastorate
and was dismissed October 3, 1867. He afterwards served other
churches and later took up his residence in this place which he rep
resented in 1882 in the Legislature. He resided here till his death
June 7, 1888, aged seventy-six. His widow died here November 2,
1900 aged eighty-seven. Two sons are living. He was followed
by the Rev. Edson L. dark who graduated from Yale College in
1853 in one of Yale's most famous classes. Mr. Clark came here
in 1867 and remained ten years. He was a successful pastor and
preacher. His pastorate was a pleasant one and he was much be
loved by the people. He was a man of literary ability. Among
his books is "Fundamental Questions" a book discussing impor
tant theological topics. He also wrote a history of Turkey. Dur
ing his stay here over fifty united with the church. A pulpit re
cess was added to the church edifice in 1870 or 71 and a new pulpit
was given by Mrs. Thomas Plant. A chest to hold the cummun-
ion service was bought in 1874 at a cost of $12.50. Mr. Clark was
much interested in all town affairs, and school matters and did
much to serve their interests. He resigned the pastoral office in
1877 much to the regret of the people. He served afterwards
other churches, but is now living in retirement from all active ser
vice at Dalton, Mass., with his most estimable wife. In 1876 he
preached an historical discourse to which I am much indebted for
facts used in this sermon. Following him came the Rev. J. W.
Beach who remained with the church but a short time. He came
in 1877 and served the church a little over a year when he was.
obliged to go away for his health. Hoping for his recovery the
church was supplied by various ministers until 1880 when the Rev.
D. N. Prentice was called to the church. Mr. Beach afterwards be
came a teacher in Windsor Locks and Norfolk, Conn. He was a
graduate of Yale in 1864. He was a man of scholarly attainments
and his departure was deeply regretted. He died February 21
1887 aged forty-four. Mrs. Beach, his widow, is living in New
Haven. Mr. Prentice was a graduate of Yale in the class of 1872. He
served the church for two years from 1880 to 1882. His sermons
were much enjoyed by the people with whom he labored. He re-
30

sides in Greenfield Hill, Conn., without charge. December 3,
1882, the present incumbent entered upon his term of service with
this church. His is the third oldest pastorate which this church
has had. It will be twenty years this coming December since the
present minister began his work here. During that period of ser
vice ninety have been received into the church, mostly from the
young people. This number of members received is two more than
the total membership of the church when the present pastor came,
The membership now is one hundred and two. In 1884, October 23
a Christian Endeavor Society was organized, the first one so far
as known in this vicinity and only three years after the begin
ning of the Christian Endeavor movement in this country The
church building has been twice renovated. January 16, 1887, our
new and pleasant chapel located near the church was dedicated
The cost of this chapel was nearly $1,700 most of which was con
tributed by Mrs. George Rose and Mrs. Thomas Plant. And so we
have reached the 175th year of church history in this village of North
Branford. During all this period, longer than the period of the
existence of the United States, the church has had thirteen pas
tors, and every one of them received a degree from Yale College
or University as it is now. All are graduates of that institution
which is a fact worth noting. In the first ninety- eight years of
the church's history from 1737 to 1835 the pastorate was filled by
three clergymen. In the last seventy-seven years, from 1825 to
1902 ten pastors served the church. No country church, I may
safely say has had in the past a more excellent succession of
religious leaders. They have been without exception men of cul
ture and ability and one was a fellow of Yale College and others
have written books. The deacons of these more modern days
have been T. B. Palmer, 1870, from whose diary I have received
much help, Charles Page, 1870 now a clergyman in active service
and no longer a deacon, also senator from the Sixth District ; G.
C. Linsley, 1883, and S. D. Bartlett 1900. The ministers raised up
in this place are David Rose, a graduate of Yale College 1760,
died 1799. Roger Harrison, Yale College 1791, died 1853, author
of the hymn tune "Weymouth" sung here today — Fosdick Harri
son honored with a degree from Yale in 1815 — Levi Rose and
Charles Page now among us and pastor of the church in Foxon.
I wish I had time to set forth the virtues and services of the
21

old families many of whose descendants are still among us, of
the Russells descendants of the Rev. Samuel Russell minister at
Branford in 1687, deacons and helpers in the church, of whom
Erastus Russell and Eunice, his wife, left a fund to the church
for the maintenance of the Gosple ; also of Miss Martha Russell a
talented woman who has written books of fiction, poetry, etc. ; of
the Roses, Captain Jonathan Rose, member of the constitutional
convention of 1818, of Col. George Rose, state senator in 1858, rep
resentative from the town at different times, both men of weight
and influence and means, and others of that name worthy and em
inent; of the Pages who gave freely their services for church
and community ; of the Harrisons, and Linsleys, of Russell Clark
and others. If I should begin I should hardly know where to
stop. I would like to speak also of those who at the present day
are worthily taking the place of those who have been so eminent
here. This place should be proud of its past, and should try to
wisely improve the inheritage and hand it down unimpaired to
those who are to come after.
It now remains for me to sketch the history of our Sunday-
school which deserves a place by itself, an account of which I get
from a paper written by T. R. Palmer. In the year 1830, May
14, in the twelfth year of Mr. Atwater's ministry, after the sub
ject had been laid before the congregation by him, the children
and youth gathered together in the meeting house at the intermis
sion for Sunday-school instruction. Previous to that time relig
ious instruction had been confined to the teaching of the Assem
bly's Catechism and the Lord's Prayer in the public schools on
Saturday of each week. When the schools were not in session the
children sometimes gathered in the meeting house and were cate
chized by the minister or dominie as he was called. The children
and youth on the 24th day of May came together and sat in those
old pews which it has been said have been likened to sheep pens
so high that a twelve-year-old boy could not look over them.
There was no special Sunday-school organization as we know it to
day. The school, if you can call it so, opened with prayer by one
of the deacons. The lessons were chapters or parts of chapters of
the New Testament, and Psalms such as teachers and scholars
chose to learn. Verses were committed to memory and recited to
the teachers ,who made such explanations and comments as they
22

thought best. The school continued through the warm season
beginning perhaps in April and closing in October. The school
continued in this condition till 1827 when a Rev. Mr. Smith, who
was temporarily supplying the pulpit and was a great friend of
the Sunday-school reorganized the school, forming a Sunday-
school Society with a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treas
urer and Librarian with a board of five Directors and five Di
rectresses. These officers were appointed at each Annual meeting
and constituted a board of managers. They selected the superin
tendents and teachers. All who joined the Sunday-school Society
paid twelve and one half cents which was used to buy library
books. When the Sunday-school closed in October those who
could present a certificate of good character had the privilege of
drawing books from the library during the winter months. The first
President was David Russell, and the first Superintendent was
Deacon Wheadon. The people seemed to take great interest in
the Sunday-school. They began to use question books about this
time. About one hundred and three between the ages of four and
eighteen comprised the Sunday-school. In 1854 or 56 when the
Rev. W. Peck was pastor, the school was again reorganized when
it would seem that officers were chosen by the church. At pres
ent they are chosen by the school. About the time of Mr. Peck's
pastorate the school held its sessions during the year. Among
the superintendents have been S. F. Russell, J. Munro, Deacon
T. R. Palmer, Charles Page, G. H. Munger, Edward Isbell, G. L.
Ford, G. C. Linsley, Isaac Linsley, H. E. Cole. At present the
pastor of the church holds that office. The school was probably
one of the earliest to be organized in the United States.
Church and Sunday-school have gone on doing their work
well till the year 1902. God hath blessed both, and as we look
back over the long years of the church and Sunday-school let us
remember the days of old. Let us meditate on the works of God.
To Him be the Glory Forever !

23

ADDRESS OR GRBBTIING

By Rev. X. S. Devitt, D. D., Pastor of th«
Congregational Church, Branford

I Bring you the greetings of the old mother church in Branford
— Your mother is 258 years old but she sends you word,
in language not altogether classic, that "She's just as young
as she used to be." I bring you the greetings of the oldest church
in the New Haven East Consociation, and incidentally, as its Mod
erator, the greetings of that Consociation now 193 years of age. I
bring you the greetings of a church than which there are but ten
older in the state of Connecticut. Rev. Samuel Russell, one of my
distinguished predecessors in the pastoral office at Branford, was
here and made the prayer at the framing of your first meeting
house and it is fitting that I should stand here now in the name of
the old church. We come here with our younger daughter, the
church in Stony Creek, the child of our old age, and with your
daughter and to our granddaughter, the church in Northford, to
congratulate you upon a century and three-quarters of noble his
tory. We are proud of you. We are glad of your vigorous life
today. Some of our rural churches appear to be suffering a de
cline in religion ; in reality it is merely a decline of population in
the vicinage, and so the vigor and thrift and power of this church
in these times is all the more noteworthy. Great changes have
taken place in the thought and customs of the people during your
ecclesiastical lifetime, some of which are a great gain and some
are questionable. Formerly distances were measured from the
24

church ; now they are counted from the tavern. Once the political
state was made up in the Congregational, which was the State
church ; now it is fixed in the saloon. Then the chief religious
men were a power in politics but the saloon vote and not the
church vote is the great force to be reckoned with in these
times. Yet this is not altogether so and we have yet many great
religious and moral leaders prominent in the politics of our coun
try. An illustration in point is on this platform in the person of
Rev. Charles Page of Foxon, a member of this church, the Repub
lican nominee for senator from the Sixth District of Connecticut.
Because of his valient service as chairman of the Committee on
Temperance in the last House of Representatives, the saloon men
are said to be after his scalp but in the name of social righteous
ness I ask you at the coming election in November to see that he
takes his seat as senator by a safe majority. (He was elected by
a large majority.)
I am very glad in these times that the affairs of the church
are not in the hands of the town. When we have to fight so hard
in town meeting for good roads and a decent appropriation for
public schools, I wonder what would become of a proposed appro
priation for a minister's salary. Brother Countryman and I
would need to give up in despair if our bread and butter was
contingent upon the action of a town meeting.
I am proud of the position I occupy. I am not by heredity
but by election, chosen into a long line of distinguished apostolic
succession. Great men have gone before me in the ministry in
Branford, and I have not time to note the merits of each. At the
Bi-Centennial of Yale University last year, I was glad to see
played on the stage and hear recounted the story of that historic
translation in the study of the home of Rev. Samuel Russell when
in 1700 he with ten other ministers of this state, in prophecy and
in hope, laid some books on the table each saying : "I give these
books for the founding of a college in this colony". Thus the
old church and its minister are linked into the educational life of
New England, America, and the world.
After Mr. Russell came Philemon Robbins into the pastorate.
Mr. Robbins was an earnest promoter of the "Great Revival"
in New England, a lover of peace but a lover of liberty as he
loved life and more than he loved peace. When the Shore Line
25

towns were closed against the preaching of the great evangelist,
George Whitfield, he was permitted to preach in Branford by the
vote of the Society taken August 18, 1744, the vote being 26 yeas
to 6 nays. All honor to the church and town and to its heroic
broad-minded minister for their liberal position prophetic of the
days in which we live. This was in the nlidst of seven stormy
years for Philemon Robbins. In those days no regular minister
could by law preach within the parish of another clergyman with
out his consent. To do so was to forfeit the right to his salary.
Pastor Robbins received an invitation from a little Baptist flock in
Wallingford to preach for them, and seeing no moral or gospel rea
son for not doing so, he accepted the invitation for Jan. 6, "1742 —
on Jan. 5" he was warned by two duly signed letters from the
Congregational Church in Wallingford not to preach for the Bap
tists there as their minister would not consent to it. Seeing no rea
son for changing his mind Mr. Robbins preached twice for the Bap
tists in the Wallingford parish. Charges were immediately pre
ferred against him "for preachiing in a disorderly manner in
the First Society of Wallingford without the consent of the Rev.
Mr. Whittlesey, and contrary to the act of the Guilford Council,
contrary to the act of the Consociation, and contrary to the desire
of two neighboring ministers, and to a great number of the church
members of Wallingford." Mr. Robbins replied in part that he
"knew no rule in the word of God or the Saybrook Platform,
which obliged him to comply with their desires, nor could he see
any reason in their desire." Nevertheless the charges were sus
tained, and he was disfellowshiped by his brethren. In all this
trial, persecution and suffering — council following council in vain
attempt to adjust life and form — be it said to the eternal credit of
the Branford church that it stood by its minister by prayer and
sympathy and money and vote until after seven years of ecclesias
tical ostracism he was restored, without a change of views, to the
fellowship, and love, and confidence of his brethren in the minis
try. My heart swells with joy as I think of the consecrated pews
that held up the hands of the pulpit until the victory was secured.
As our fathers stood loyal to the ministry seeking to find "still
more light breaking forth from God's Holy Word" so the church
of Branford today stands behind its minister in fullest liberty of
prophecy. It gives an intelhgent hearing to every message and
26

what more can any minister ask ? I have spoken only of pastors
Russell and Robbins. "Time would fail me to tell of " Atwater
and Huntington, who had the same wife; of Gillett with his
crowning pastorate of 58 years, who was often in this church
to help you; of Miller, Baldwin and Hill, the latter now in the
Sandwich Islands in missionary service ; of Osborne, Bake, and
Bickford; and to tell of the seventeenth century quarter, Sher
man, Pierson (founder of Newark, N. J.) Bowers and Mather.
As we come down the line we find not one soiled name in all
the list. "Other men have labored and we have entered into their
labors." "And these all, having obtained a good report through
faith, received not the promise : God having provided some better
thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. ' '

27

GREBTIISG
pfrom IVorthford Congregational CHurch

By Rev. Elmer J. Beach

IT is my pleasure to bring greeting from the daughter of 150
years, to the daughter of 175 years. The church at Northford
greets you in the bonds of Christian love and fellowship in
joining in a service memorial of the men and women of the days
gone by, who have bequeathed to their posterity the fruitage of
Godliness, and Christian deeds. We would help you to remember
what has been blessed in your history and so this anniversary
shall be in accord with the word "That the righteous shall be had
in everlasting remembrance, ' ' and prove that the memory of the
just is blessed and that God's will and the execution in His Provi
dence is the planning and developing of His ESngdom in the world
through the church of Jesus Christ.
We greet you not as a prodigal who has wasted his substance
in riotous living, coming home to his aged parent, but as a daugh
ter returning for a day with her children, to say peace be unto
thee and to inspire you with the belief in the expansive power of
that leaven in the kingdom your fathers prayed for and lived in
their generation and whose sepulchres are with us, even to this
day ; a leaven that has ever been working and expansive. A new
wine for new bottles, and as Elijah in the olden days gave leave
to the young prophets to enlarge their dwelling place, so did the
North Branford Church listen to the young and enterprising men
who said "Behold now the place where we dwell with thee is to
28

straight for us, let us go we pray thee unto Jordan and take thence
every man a beam and let us make us a place there where we may
dwell" and they answered, "Go ye," and if the first encampment
of these sons of the prophets was not at the Ancient Jordan, it was
near some never faihng springs of pure and sparkling waters. In
words of another historian "In the pursuit of a larger success in
industry and with something of that roving, adventurous spirit
which has ever characterized the people of New England towns
and which has rapidly peopled the broad West, they were accus
tomed to leave their homes in the opening spring with their pro
visions and implements of husbandry for a sort of back- woods-life
through the summer months occupying, "clearings," at the base
of your mountain range, from which they gathered ample crops,
returning again by the wood's path with the approach of winter
to enjoy the fruits of their summer's absence in the bosom of
their families." Perhaps it would not be out of place to give you
a list of these sons of your prophets to verify the truth that they
are in the line of your ancestry of the North Branford Church.
Capt. Aaron Cooke, Dea. Samuel Harrington, Samuel Barnes,
John Baldwin, Josiah Rogers, Joseph Linsley, Isaac Foote, Ste
phen Todd, Abel Munson, Abraham Bartholomew, Peter Tyler,
Timothy Rose, Daniel Maltby, John Taintor and Joseph Elwell.
For a number of years while clearing and building and mak
ing homes in this North-land, it would seem that these growing
families were united with North Branford in church privileges
and during these years we must remember that these fathers and
their children with them, started out early every Sabbath morning
for a six or seven miles journey to join with those "who keep
holy day" at the village on the other side of Totoket, when the
saddle, the piUion and the ox-cart were the only conveniences for
going to chm-ch. Surely we must say that in "ye olden days" the
services of the sanctuary were held in high esteem and the preach
ers were men of God who could hold an audience two hours a. m.
and two hours p. m. and still they would long for more, a mighty
power for good.
But after eleven years of this weekly pilgrimage to North
Branford, an independent Society was formed and this daughter
of Zion was housed in a lai-ge, open, cold barn in comparison with our
present church edifice, no heating only from a foot-stove, but let
29

any man even the skeptic and infidel, sit down and study the
records of the births and baptisms, the revivals and church admis
sions, the Christian gifts to missions and say that God has not
blessed and made this daughter fruitful and a blessing to the
world. If they were all living today she could greet you as a
daughter not equaled in any other church in the state in her num
ber of liberally educated men and women. From forty to fifty of
them have been graduated at Yale, some twenty-five have held
diplomas from medical schools, from fifteen to thirty have entered
the ministerial profession, such reverend and worthy names as
Rogers, Tyler, Maltby, Rose, Hoadley, Whitney, Page, Linsley not
forgetting to mention Albert Barnes the great commentator of the
Bible, also Eli Smith, missionary to Syria, who translated the
Bible into the Syriac language. A goodly number of her sons,
who have served their day in the different fields of professional
labor ; and over forty men representing the patriotism of North
ford who served their country in the cause of liberty. If they
were all present today the Northford daughter of 150 years could
greet the daughter of 175 years with the honest exultation of the
Roman mother, who pointed to her sons as they returned from
the public schools, saying, "These are my jewels." Thus as we
greet you with this record and roll of honor, we are impressed
with the thought that we have had a past, a history not unworthy
of our ancestors. Shall we have a future so blessed in fruits, this
is a problem for us, and our children to work out ; under God the
places that know us no more in the flesh, shall feel the leaven of
our virtues, our prayers in future ages.
It is for the present members of these churches to honor these
memories for all they were, for they labored and we enter into
their labors. Shall some unknown chronicler a hundred years
from today recall the twentieth century and find it bright and
flaming with honored names and noble deeds, and sacrifices,
among our translated members? Thus we hope and pray for
greater things in the future history of these daughters of Israel.
Oh for Godly parents, who like Noah are alarmed to build an
ark to save the family when there are no signs of storm in the sky,
no east wind or sun-dog in the west and sons, to man the life boats
to save the wreck of a lost world like Abraham to give their sons
and daughters to the Lord, Jacobs and Elijahs and the Syro-
30

phenician woman to honor his faitlif ulness as the hearer of impor
tunate prayer for many a Moses to choose the afflictions of God's
people and to stamp with vanity the pleasure seeker, the gambler
or the glories of Egypt, yoimg Davids to fell the giant and cut off
the head of king alcohol, stiff-kneed Shadrach Meshach and Abed-
nego to defy the proud pontiff of Bel and the golden money god
of to-day, Daniels to decipher the handwritings on the walls rising
up between monopolies and labor unions, Josephs to organize a
gospel trust to feed the starving millions, with bread that cometh
down from Heaven. A hundred years hence it shall then be the
greeting as now in the language of the prophet, "Lift up thine
eyes round about and behold all these gather themselves together
and come to thee." "As I live saith the Lord thou shalt surely
clothe thee with them as with an ornament and gird thyself with
them like a bride." "The children of thy bereavement shall
yet say in thy ears the place is too straight for us, give place that
I may dwell; and kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their
queens thy nursing mothers."
As John in his epistle saluted an honorable matron so the elder
of Northford to the elect lady and her children of North Bran
ford "whom I love in the truth and not I only but also all they who
have known the truth for the truths sake which dwelt first in thy
grandmother Lois and in us and shall be with us forever, grace be
with you, mercy and peace from God the Father and from the
Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Father in truth and love. And
now I beseech thee lady that we love one another. When we call
to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt
first in our grandmother Lois and our mother Eunice."

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GRBBTIINGS
F^rom Stony Ct-eek Congregational Church

By Rev. S. P. Blomfield

Mr. Blomfield spoke in part as follows : —
IT is a matter of great pleasure that the ' 'Baby Church' ' in Stony
Creek can bring greetings to the sister of whom she is so
proud. To all these pleasant words of greeting to which we
have listened, to all these earnest words of hope and prayer, we
utter a fervent amen. We fully enter into this jubilee and most
sincerely congratulate you. May the coming years be crowned
with signal blessings !
This is surely a great hour in the history of this splendid church.
It is a wonderful blessing to be able to look back upon 175 years of
useful and blessed past. Golden is your heritage. Priceless your
privileges. What memories cluster about this old meeting house !
Faces which we loved long since and have lost awhile look down
upon us who to-day run the race and bear the toil. Hands that
once wielded earth's heavy toils now beckon to us through the
sacred shadows of this lovely autumn afternoon. Surely in this
house we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. Glori
ous indeed is the privilege of worshipping in this house. Here
young man and maid pledged their troth and loving hearts went
out together to life's battle. Here consecrated parents dedicated
little precious loved ones to His service. Here you brought the
sacred dead, and beneath the dark vail many a widow has found
33

her tears turned to comfort as the man of God spoke the sweet
simple word of hope and light and immortality. Here where earth
had proven empty and void, when the deeps were engulfing your
souls, here, here you came and found that one sure Rock of Ages.
Here at the Cross you dropped your burden, and bore a song away.
Here, perhaps in that very corner, he could mark the spot in the
dark, some young man first met his Lord face to face and knew
his sins forgiven. Here strong men and women, I see them now,
faces furrowed with care, hands hardened with toil, eyes limpid
with tears and longing prayers, here they met and as they prayed,
the spirit descended and lifted them up and they sat together in
the Heavenlies. Oh beloved, there is no spot quite so dear, quite
so precious to your hearts as this old meeting house on the Green !
Never forget her. Some of you will soon pass to the church
above, ere you go, remember generously the church below. En
dow her well. May she never want any good thing you can give
her. So much has she done for you. Make the portals of this
house, beautiful with all that good taste and consecrated love can
afford. By symbolic memorial, in window, table or furnishing,
by soul endowed music, and grateful prayer and service, make
this none other than the very house of God, none other than the
very gate of Heaven.
The hoary headed sires tell us that these galleries are not filled
as of yore ; that these seats are well nigh empty to what they used
to be in those good old days. But banish forever the thought that
the days of usefulness for these country churches are over.
A new race are taking your farms ; yet these expect to become
American citizens. They need the pre-eminently American
Church. They hunger for the gospel, and their lives are starved
without it. There are little children of your own families, yea
there are strong men and women who need this church. Make
the old meeting house glorious because filled with these — the
first fruits of your Home Missionary labor. Then indeed shall
these old walls be resplendent again as in the lightning — the
Shekina cloud shall enfold this house as before, but vaster shall
be its glory.
The ideal which dear genial Dr. Holmes has before put many an
aspiring heart, I bring to you today.
"Build thee more stately mansions. Oh my soul!
33

As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low vaulted past !
Let each new temple, nobler than the last !
Shut thee from Heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving their outgrown shell by life's unresisting sea.

34

ADDRBSS

By Rev. William R. IVIulford of Panwood, IN. J

Address of Rev. William R. Mulford of Fanwood, N. J., de
scendant of the fifth generation of Deacon Barnabas Mulford, one
of the early deacons of the North Branford Church.
IN the development of the taste for the study of American Colo
nial History, which has at last become general throughout a
large part of this country, there is cause for congratulation
to all who take pleasure in the story of the past as well as to the
comparatively few faithful local historians and antiquarians who
have labored so long in the midst of such apathy as seems to have
prevailed to so great an extent.
Yet how thrilling and romantic are the annals of our past and
what valuable subject matter do they afford for the consideration
of the philosopher, the theologian, the statesman and the political
economist. That this remark is not extravagant we think is
amply proved by the frequent boast of Americans, sometimes car
ried to a degree which becomes rude and offensive, that this is the
most wonderful country on the face of the globe.
Now those who think, know very well that you cannot have
effects without causes to produce them and, in the face of this un
iversally accepted truth, it is, to say the least, marvelous that the
necessity of becoming acquainted with the history of the causes
which lie back of this wonderful civilization by which we are sur
rounded has occurred to so few.
Among the American Colonies founded by that wonderful peo-
35

pie who have done so much to dethrone tyranny and to rid the
Christian Church of superstition and error, to thrust aside "the
tradition of the elders" by which a corrupted Mediaeval priesthood
had made the Word of God of none effect, was the Colony of New
Haven. That the Puritans had faults, that there were good and bad
among them we do not deny. But we venture to believe that as
history is studied in a more philosophic spirit and in the growth
of true liberty, as prejudice and bigotry are cast aside, the Puritans
will be still more admired and the great good which they achieved
for the English race more thoroughly realized. It is too often for
gotten that there were more parties or schools than one among the
Puritans as there have been in other great movements. Then
there is a distinction to be made between the Puritans and the
Pilgrims of Plymouth and it has been claimed that the Puritans
gradually came under the liberal and milder infiuences of the Pil
grims. There has always been a trend toward liberty and toler
ance, anyway, and we are bold enough to say that we do not think
any more noble characters could be found at that day among the
English people than John Milton, Young Sir Harry Vane, the Rev.
Roger Williams and the Rev. John Ehot, each being a product of
Puritanism. Let us be fair enough to judge any party as well as
any individual by the standard of the times and not expect the
growth and expansion of nearly two centuries in the Puritans
whom we may accuse of intolerance living in the American Col
onies in 1690 or of narrowness in North Branford in 1727.
It is a delightful exercise for the imagination to picture in our
minds our beloved Connecticut as it existed in all its fair unsullied
natural beauty that April day in 1638 when the first colonists sailed
into the harbor of New Haven. How vast her forests, how pure
her lakes and rivers with the sapphire waters of Long Island
Sound laving her Southern shore and, rising in the dim distance
beyond those waters, the dim hills of that beautiful isle of the sea
which stands out against the mighty breakers of the boisterous
Atlantic. In our mind's eye we can see these colonists in their
steeple crowned hats and broad white collars and sad colored
clothing as they reverently gather in the shade of the Elm to
worship the God of their fathers and for the imagination moves
quickly — we can see them later on as their little settlement be-
36

gins to take outward form and shape. The different characters
seem to pass before us the dignified Theophilus Eaton, Esquire, the
brave Rev. John Davenport, the pastor of the people, with his
lofty ideal and hope of a new theocracy. Then the individuals
and circumstances begin to crowd thick and fast upon us and we
think of the great faith of those simple brave Christian hearts and
of the wonderful answers which they claim came in reply to the
prayer of faith. We think of the courage and fortitude of those
who sailed away in that unseaworthy "Phantom Ship," of Master
Lamberton and stout hearted Gregson and doughty Captain
Turner, the undaunted soldier of fortune, who after his campaigns
in the Netherlands had served the Puritan colonies well in council
and in field.
By these colonists Branford was purchased in December 1638
and, though in 1644 the tract was sold to William Swain for the
benefit of those in Wethersfield who might desire to move here,
yet New Haven infiuences must have been felt for it was the
larger colony. The family names of those who were identified
with the founding of New Haven are inscribed on the monuments
in your burial ground and written on the town records and, per
haps, they are still to be met within the village. After the migra
tion of the Rev. Mr. Pierson and his people to New Jersey, how
ever, we find a gradual accession of population from various quar
ters. My ancestor. Deacon Barnabas Mulford, came from old East
Hampton on Long Island apparently at about the same time as
Edward Petty, his father-in-law. As the Branford record quaintly
reads under the date April 30, 1740:— "Then was Barnabas Mulford
married to Hannah Petty both of Branford pr. ye Rev. Jonath
Merick minister." Edward Petty represented Branford in the
Colonial Assembly in 1752 and 1753 and Barnabas Mulford in
1762. The latter was a great grandson of William Mulford who was
at Southampton in 1644 and afterwards one of the earlier settlers of
East Hampton, 1648-9. When Charles II annexed Eastern Long
Island to the Colony of New York he did not succeed in breaking
the real connection between the homogeneous people who dwelt
on both sides of the Sound, the old intimacy continued and names
from the insular New England settlements may be found at Bran
ford as at other places in Connecticut. Then there is the Russell
family, founded in this town by the Rev. Samuel Russell, son of
37

the pastor of Hadley in whose home the regicides, Whalley and
Goffe found a secluded abiding place so long. Then, of course, it
is a distinguished honor that Yale College should have been really
started at Branford in the parsonage of the Rev. Samuel Russell —
but I will not proceed with further details for I am only here to
congratulate you and to honor the memory of our ancestors who
established this parish and were identified with the same in years
gone by. Suffice it to say that North Branford was the outgrowth
of old Branford. Our ancestors had very good taste to make a
settlement in the midst of this fair scene. As I think of my first
visit to this village which was made quite unexpectedly some
years ago, the beauty of your surrounding scenery as it looked
that charming autumn afternoon, very much like this, stands
out in all distinctness before me.
We honor the old parish and we will cherish the history of its
founders and their example for, as Morton Dexter has said of the
Pilgrims at the end of their story which he has written so well,
we may say of the best of the Puritans who were after all Pilgrims
and travelers in those troublous times : —
"The Pilgrims long ago rested from their labors and entered
into their reward. But their works still follow them. The mul
titude of their descendants in the flesh does well to honor their
memory and the far greater and ever increasing host of their spir
itual children never will cease to reverence them. But even rev
erence will be empty unless accompanied by imitation. Both the
need and the opportunity of the spirit of the Pilgrims still continue
among us."

m»

38

UBTTBRS
Read at the One |-Iundred and Seventy-Hifth
Anniversary of the Church

LtStter of Rev. B. L.. Clark, Pormer Pastor
Dalton, Mass., Oct. 7, 1903.
Dear Bro. Countryman,
I was glad to receive your letter and wish it were possible for
me to be with you on this most interesting occasion. As this is
not possible I very gladly comply with your invitation to send
some words of greeting and kind remembrance to you and the
church. The one hundred and seventy-fifth birthday of the North Bran
ford Congregational Church is and must be an occasion of the
deepest interest to every one who has ever loved as I did the
church and the town. The first time I ever saw North Branford
which was on the morning of my first Sabbath with the church, I
conceived a strong liking for the place and this soon grew into
strong affection after it became my home. I began my work
under somewhat trying circumstances but the clouds soon cleared
away and for ten years I remained the pastor of a united happy
and prosperous church. I found the church in an excellent state
of spiritual life and activity and the very beginning of my min
istry was marked by a season of deep and powerful religious in
terest. This state of spiritual vigor and prosperity I am happy to
believe has continued from that day to this.
North Branford has been from the beginning a strong, prosper
ous and comparatively wealthy community. The early develop-
39

ment of both church and town was very rapid. At the end of the
first fifty years one hundred and twenty-five years ago, I think
both were as strong as they have been at any time since. From
the beginning the church has been blessed with a long succession
of exceptionally able ministers. Not to speak of the long and
honorable record of the present pastorate, from the days of Pas
tor Merrick to the present time the pulpit of this church has rarely
failed to be filled by a man of unusual ability, high character and
commanding influence. The work of such a ministry has always
been manifest in the constant well being of the church and the
town. And now in conclusion, my dear companion joins me in an ex
pression of our heartiest congratulation for your past and your
present, and our prayers and good wishes for your future. Our
activities are past, our remaining days are few and as we quietly
sit and patiently wait until our change shall come the great com
fort of our declining years is in watching the growth of harvests
in so many fields from seed which we have been permitted to sow.
And now wishing you grace, mercy and peace from Jesus Christ
our Lord and every blessing of both the upper and the nether
springs upon your whole church and family life. I am, in the
everlasting bonds of Christian fellowship and love.
Your former pastor, E. L. aark.

L,etter of D. P. Atwater, JVI. D., Springfield, iVtass
Letter of D. F. Atwater, M. D., of Springfield, Mass., son of the
Rev. Charles Atwater, third pastor of the church.
Rev. F. Countryman, North Branford, Conn.,
My Dear Sir : —
It would give me peculiar pleasure to accept your kind invita
tion and be present at the 175th anniversary of your church, but
the state of my health will not permit.
Were I with you, I fail to see how I could, as you suggest,
greet you on your arrival at the 175th mile stone of your earthly
40

pilgrimage, as I have not quite yet, and probably shall not, reach
that point myself. But whether present or absent, I can extend
to you my heartiest congratulations that you can look back to so
many years of active service for our blessed Lord and Master in
the past, as you assume new courage and strength for the future.
I congratulate you upon having arrived at a serene old age, — so
to speak, as we count time — although the church of the overliving
God will never come to its declining years, and also congratulate
you, that beneath the "Blessed tie that binds" you together, are
suggestions of Christian love and friendship that can never grow old
or fade away.
Leaving North Branford at ten years of age, I do not remember
anything I heard in the old meeting house, (so called,) but as my
reverend father was the pastor and came of good Puritanical
stock, I have no doubt the people were fed with good digestible
spiritual food. But I do recall attending divine service there.
The pews were square and the seats without cushions, of which fact
I still have tender recollections.
The building itself, externally, was plainness presonified — as
plain as the preaching inside, and entirely devoid of ornament of
any kind. Straight lines and square corners were everywhere
visible, and having no chimney, it bore quite as much resem
blance to a barn as a house of worship. At this time, (1825) the
church services were of course the great event of the week. All
the families, and all of the families, went to meeting Simday
morning, and stayed aU day, the women in the winter, carrying
their foot stoves, (as we shall soon be doing, if the coal strike con
tinues, ) and in summer their sprigs of fennel, gathered in the
garden on the way. All of the respectable men of the town were
regular attendants, whether members of the church or not. Pro
tracted three days meetings and revivals had their influence upon
the community. There was a strong intellectual element in the
theology and preaching, at the same time, emotion had its place
in religious experiences. Man's standing in the sight of God was
dwelt upon more than the reproducing and incorporating in his
conduct and daily life, the spirit and life of Christ. I can but
think that we have a more rational idea of the Christian life. As
was truly said at Northfleld : —
"God does not love us because we are good; but to make ue so.
41

As He does not set His love on us because of our deserts, so He
does not turn it away from us because of our sins. He hates our
sins, but He loves ourselves with a love that sin can neither wear
out, nor turn away. "
A characteristic of the New England mind in those days was the
control of life by principle or motive, rather than inclination. If
a thing was to be done, it must be done without regard to feeling,
and no moral anesthetic must be used. To such an extent was
this carried, that it is said that when a man was on his death bed,
to relieve faintness, a bottle of camphor was held to his nostrils.
But if dying was the thing to be done the good man wanted no
temporizing, and he refused it, saying, "No, No, I shall never die
so." The old meeting house stood where the present church stands
and when the new one was erected, I used to look with fear and
trembling, at the weather vane, which was an angel blowing a
trumpet, suggestive, as I supposed then, of the sounding of the
last trump, but more probably signifying the proclamation of
"Glad tidings of great joy."
Near by, stood the red school house, with its school ma'am,
stone fixe place, slab seats and rosy cheeked boys and girls. I prize
very highly a copy of the New England Primer, (now lying before
me as I write, ) on the fly leaf of which is written with red and
black ink:— "The property of David Atwater, Dec. 15, 1836."
Below is the face of an angel ,but I do not see any family resem
blance. The Rev. Charles Atwater was settled for life as pastor of
this church in 1809. Of his descendants there are now living two
children, four grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. He
was I should say about six feet in height, with large frame, dark
eyes and complexion, heavy eyebrows, round face, strong voice
and a slow measured gait. He had an earnest manner that com
manded attention, and his sermons, as I judge from one that I
have, were not brilhant but methodical, biblical, earnest and im
pressive, always closing with an improvement or reflection.
That the delivery of a sermon in those days was no trifling mat
ter and that the preacher warmed up as he progressed, is illus
trated by the following incident. "Are you the son of Priest
 of North Branford, " said an old Branford fisherman to a vis
itor a few years ago? Being answered in the affirmative, he replied,
43

' 'I have often heard him preach and one hot summer day, he became
so much interested in his subject that he removed his coat and
finished in his shirt sleeves. Probably many of his congregation
had already set him the example.
Exchanges with the neighboring ministers, Mr. Dutton of Guil
ford, Noyes of Northford, Gillett of Branford and Wetmore of
North Guilford were quite common in summer, never, however
going or coming on the Sabbath day, unless in case of sickness in
the family. I seem to have been unusually fortunate in the se
lection of both my parents ; (I do not mean our first parents, Adam
and Eve, or the parents which the evolutionist gives us, as I am
not especially proud of either.) It is not wise to inquire too mi
nutely into our remote ancestry under any circumstances. I may
be pardoned for saying a word here about the minister's wife and
paying tribute to my dear mother, for she was a very active, sym
pathetic and helpful and by no means silent member of the min
isterial household. She had dark hair, black eyes, regular features,
clear complexion and a smile which was a benediction in itself.
These added to her lovely character and natural endowments, made
her a favorite far and near. Frail and delicate in appearance, she
possessed courage and endurance which carried her serenely
through trials and perplexities which would have sever ly taxed the
strength of one more robust and vigorous. Although naturally re
served, she was faithful to the utmost in the discharge of all her
religious duties, and after the death of my father always conducted
family prayers herself, whether strangers were present or not. j
can see her now in that upper chamber, (the study,) with a few
mothers in Israel, met to seek the Divine blessing upon their own
and other households. Her petitions and supplications were al
ways accompanied with thanksgiving, for she was always thankful
whatever happened, having for the stay of her soul her trust in
Christ. I often look back to the early years of my life spent in
North Branford. The memory of its little river and hills— of my
school days, of the boys and girls who grew up and some of whom
went out to other places, of the "general training" days when the
"troopers" (as we called them,) came to town, of Capt. Jonathan
Rose, so courtly and gracious and cordial in his manner, of Capt.
Harrison, who at regular intervals, personally conducted on
horseback, a drove of fat cattle to the New York market, and last,
43

but not least, the wild strawberries gathered on the top of the hill
in the rear of the parsonage, not alone, but with two little girls,
one of them Mary Parker, — why I should remember her name and
not the others, I leave you to guess — ^whom I then considered, and I
have no doubt they were, sweeter than the berries we gathered, or
the red clover we trampled down.
But that was very long ago !
"Now were not wishes all in vain,
I tell you what my wish could be ;
I'd wish to be a boy again.
Back with the friends I used to know.
For I was, oh ! so happy then,
But that was very long ago."
Seriously, however, the church in North Branford is and always
has been, dear to my heart, and in closing I wish you God-speed.
May the God of our fathers and our father's fathers continue to
guide and bless you and grant that you may be the means of
bringing many souls into His kingdom, and that we may all so
live, that when we pass away, the light of our past lives, shining
along the pathway of those we leave behind, shall lead others to
follow Christ. And to Him be all the praise. David F. Atwater.
Springfield, Mass.,
October 10th, 1903.

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