HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT,
WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY OF ITS PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN.
COMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF D. HAMILTON HURD
J. W. LEWIS & CO., PHILADELPHIA, 1882
PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., PHILADELPHIA

[transcribed by Janece Streig]

CHAPTER XIV.
NEW LONDON - (Continued).
Pages 192 - 206

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

First Church of Christ-The Second Congregational Church-St. James' Church-Methodist Episcopal Church-Bethel Church-First Baptist Church-Second Baptist Church-Huntington Street Baptist Church-Universalist Church-St. Mary's Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church.

First Church of Christ.-
This church was organized in 1650, and the first church edifice was a large barn which stood on what was then called Meeting-house Hill.

The following are extracts from the records concerning the first place of worship: "Aug. 29, 1651.

"For Mr. PARKE's barne the towne doe agree for the use of it until midsummer next, to give him a day's work a peece for a meeting-house, --to be redy by the Saboth come a moneth.

"Mem. Mr. PARKE is willing to accept of 3l.

"[Same date.] Goodman ELDERKIN doth undertake to build meeting-house about the same demention of Mr. PARKE's his barne, and clapboard it for the sum of eight pounds, provided the towne cary the tymber to the place and find nales. And for his pay he requires a cow and 50. in peage." "30 June, '52. Wee the townsmen of Pequot haue agreed with Goodman ROGERS for the meeting-house for two years from the date hereof, for the summe of 3l, per annum. If we build a lean too he is to allow for it in the rent, and if it come to more he is to allow it, and for flooring and what charges the town is at he is willing to allow when the time is expired." In the mean time a rate of Ł14 was levied to build a new meeting-house, and the site fixed by a town vote, Dec. 16, 1652, which Mr. BRUEN thus records: "The place for the new meeting house was concluded on by the meeting to be in the highwaie, taking a corner of my lot to supply the highwaie." It was undoubtedly a building of the simplest and plainest style of construction, yet full three years were consumed in its erection. Capt. DENISON and Lieut. SMITH were the building committee, and collected the rate for it.

At this period the time for service was made known by beat of drum "March 22, 1651-2.

"The towne have agreed with Peter BLATCHFORD to beat the drum all saboth dayes, training dayes, and town publique meetings for the sume of 3lb., to be paid him in a towne rate." "As a finale to the history of the barn so long used for a church, we may here notice a fact gleaned from the County Court records of some fifteen or eighteen years' later date. William ROGERS, the owner of the building, had returned to Boston, and on his death the heirs of his estate claimed that the rent had not been fully paid; and Hugh CAULKINS, who had been the town's surety, then a proprietor in Norwich, finds himself suddenly served with a writ from Mr. LEAKE, a Boston attorney, for Ł3 10s., the amount of the debt. He accordingly satisfied the demand, and then applied to the town for redress. The obligation was acknowledged, and a vote passed to indemnify the surety." "Feb. 27, '72-3.

"Upon demand made by Hugh CALKIN for money due to Mr. LEAKE, of Boston, for improvement of a barn of Goodman ROGERS, which said CALKIN stood engaged to pay, this town doth promise to pay one barrel of pork to said CALKIN some time the next winter." On the north of the meeting-house was the lot reserved for purposes of sepulture. The ordinance which describes its bounds and legally sets it apart for this use is dated June 6th, 1653, and declares "it shall ever bee for a Common Buriall place, and never be impropriated by any." This is the oldest graveyard in New London County.

"March 26, 1655.

"Goodman CUMSTOCK is chosen to be grave-maker for the town, and he shall have 4s. for men and women's graves, and for all children's graves 3s for every grave he makes." "Feb. 26, 1661-2. Old Goodman CUMSTOCK is chosen sexton, whose worke is to order youth in the meeting-house, sweep the meeting-house, and beat out dogs, for which he is to have 40s a year: he is also to make all graves; for a man or woman he is to have 4s., for children, 2s. a grave, to be paid by survivors." The earliest notice of the first pastor, Mr. BLINMAN, in this country is from the records of Plymouth colony, March 2, 1640.

Governor WINTHROP mentions Mr. BLINMAN's arrival and settlement without giving the date.

"One Mr. BLINMAN, a minister in Wales, a godly and able man, came over with some friends of his, and being invited to Green's Harbour [since Marshfield], near Plymouth, they went thither, but ere the year was expired there fell out some difference among them, which by no means could be reconciled, so as they agreed to part, and he came with his company and sat down at Cape Anne, which at this court [May, 1642] was established to be a plantation and called Gloucester." It is not known that Mr. BLINMAN was ever inducted into office, or that any church organization took place under his ministry, yet he is uniformly styled "pastor of the church," which is strong evidence that a church association of some kind had been formed in the town. The period when he relinquished his charge can be very nearly ascertained, for in January, 1657-58, he uses the customary formula, I, Richard BLINMAN, of Pequot," and in March of the same year, "I, R. B., at present of New Haven." The second pastor was Rev. Gershom BULKLEY, in 1661. Mr. BULKLEY was a son of the Rev. Peter BULKLEY, the first minister of Concord, Mass. His mother, the second wife of his father, was Grace, daughter of Sir, Richard CHITWOOD. It has been often related concerning this lady that she apparently died on her passage to this country. Her husband supposing land to be near, and unwilling to consign the beloved form to a watery grave, urgently entreated the captain that the body might be kept one day more, and yet another and another day, to which, as no signs of decay had appeared, he consented. On the third day signs of vitality were observed, and before they reached the land animation, so long suspended, was restores, and though carried from the vessel an invalid, she recovered and lived to old age. Her son, Gershom, was born soon after their arrival, Dec. 26, 1635. He graduated at Harvard College in 1655, and married, Oct. 26, 1659, Sarah CHAUNCEY, daughter of the president of that institution. His father died in 1659. His widowed mother, Mrs. Grace BULKLEY, followed her son to New London, where she purchased the homestead of William HOUGH, "hard below the meeting-house that now is," and dwelt in the town, a householder, so long as her son remained its minister.

Mr. BULKLEY, after having freed the town from their engagement to build a parsonage, purchased the homestead of Samuel LOTHROP, who was about removing to the new settlement of Norwich. The house is said to have stood beyond the bridge over the mill brook, on the east side of the highway towards Mohegan. Here Mr. BULKLEY dwelt during his residence in New London.

The second meeting-house was built near the old one, on the southwest corner of what was called the meeting-house green (now Town Square).

The contract for building the meeting-house was made with John ELDERKIN and Samuel LOTHROP. It was to be forty feet square, the studs twenty feet high, with a turret answerable, two galleries, fourteen windows, three doors, and to set up on all the four gables of the house pyramids comely and fit for the work, and as many lights in each window as direction should be given; a year and a half allowed for its completion; Ł240 to be paid in provisions, viz., in wheat, peas, port, and beef, in quantity proportional; the town to find mails, glass, iron-work, and ropes for rearing; also to boat and cart the timber to the place, and provide sufficient help to rear the work.

The old BLINMAN edifice,--the unadorned church and watch-tower of the wilderness,--decayed and dismantled, was sold to Capt. AVERY in June, 1684, for six pounds, with the condition annexed that he should remove it in one month's time. According to tradition, he took it down, and transporting the materials across the river, used them in building his own house at Pequonuck. This house is still extant, a view of which may be seen in the history of Groton.

The appointment of deacons is not registered. William DOUGLAS may have been the first person that held the office after Mr. BRADSTREET's ordination. He was at least active in church economy, and held the box at the door for contributions. He died in 1682. In 1683, William HOUGH and Joseph COITE were deacons; the former died August 10th of that year, before Mr. BRADSTREET's decease, and no other deacon except COITE is mentioned during the next ten years. Mr. BRADSTREET died in 1683.

"At a Towne meeting November ye 19, 1683.

"Voted, that Maj. John WINTHROP, Maj. Edward PALMES, Capt. James AVRAY, Mr. Daniel WETHERELL, Mr. Christo. CHRISTOPHERS, Tho. BEEBE, Joseph COITE, John PRENTIS Sen'r., Clement MINER, Charles HILL, are appointed a committee in behalf of the towne to send a letter by Capt. Wayne WINTHROP to the reverend Mr. MATHER and Mr. WOLLARD (WILLARD) ministers at boston for there advice and counsel in attayneing a minister for the town to supply the place of Mr. BRADSTREET, deceased, and that the sd Capt. WINTHROP shall have instructions from the sd Committee to manadge that affaire w'th them." This Bradstreet church building was destroyed by fire in 1694, and replaced by what was known as the Saltonstall meeting-house in 1698. This was occupied until 1786, when a building was erected on the site of the present church, which was occupied in 1787. The present massive and elegant stone edifice was erected in 1850 at a cost of about $50,000.

The following is a list of pastors from Mr. BRADSTREET to the present time: Gurdon SALTONSTALL, [1 - Subsequently Governor of Connecticut.] from November, 1691, to August, 1707; Eliphalet ADAMS, July, 1708; Mather BYLES, November, 1757, to April 1768; Ephraim WOODBRIDGE, October, 1769; Henry CHANNING, May 1787, to May, 1806; Abel MCEWEN, D.D., October, 1806; Thomas P. FIELD, June, 1856; Edward W. BACON, 1877, present incumbent.

The Second Congregational Church of New London is the daughter of the First Church of Christ, in the same city. With the hearty good wishes of the pastor, Rev. Abel MCEWEN, D.D., the colony went out to be constituted into a church Tuesday, April 28, 1835. The confession of faith and covenant in use by the parent church had been previously adopted, April 21st, by nineteen persons. During the repairs of the First church the mother worshiped for six months in her daughter's new house. This stood on the corner of Jay and Huntington Streets, and was completed Aug. 3, 1834. Thursday, April 23, 1835, this house was formally dedicated to God. The Rev. E. W. BALDWIN, D.D., afterwards president of Wabash College, preached the sermon from the text, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The dedicatory prayer was offered by the Rev. Abel MCEWEN, D.D. The concluding prayer was pronounced by the venerable Dr. Samuel NOTT, of Franklin. On the evening of this impressive day-which but one of the original members is alive among us to recall-Henry C. SMITH and Charles BUTLER were elected deacons, and ordained thereto with prayer by Rev. Edward BULL. The following Sunday, April 26th, the first service of the new congregation was held in the new temple. The Rev. Joseph HURLBUT preached in the morning fro the test, "Who is sufficient for these things." In the afternoon the Rev. Daniel HUNTINGTON followed with a sermon based on the Scripture, "Take heed how ye hear." This same day a Sunday school, with fifteen teachers and forty-two scholars, was organized under the superintendency of Thomas S. PERKINS. The first celebration of the Lord's Supper took place on the first Sunday in June, 1835, and was made precious by the confession of Christ of the late Henry P. HAVEN and of the wife of the senior deacon, Dr. Isaac G. PORTER.

Thus inaugurated, and in co-operation with an ecclesiastical society constituted April 14th, at the house of one of the original members, Non. T. W. WILLIAMS, the Second Congregational Church began her life with the benediction of God.

The Rev. Joseph HURLBUT preached and administered the ordinances till a state pastor could be obtained. This was about two year, till March 6, 1837. His labors were gratuitous. They were marked by the ingathering of one hundred and thirteen members. Mr. HURLBUT had also borne one-quarter of the expense of building the first house of worship. He prayed at the last sacrament in the new house before his death, which occurred suddenly, June 5, 1875.

The Rev. Daniel HUNTINGTON, though never an acting pastor, like Mr. HURLBUT, was for a number of months acting preacher in the third Sunday service. He led the service of song. He baptized fiver out of forty-eight children of the church. His long ministries at Bridgewater, Mass., before and after this date are written on earth.

The Rev. James M. MACDONALD, D.D., became now the first installed pastor of the Second Congregational Church, Dec. 13, 1837. He came from the Third Church of this order in Berlin. The public exercises at his installation included a sermon by Rev. H. BUSHNELL, D.D., of Hartford; installing prayer by Rev. Mr. TUTTLE, of Groton. He drew in forty-three members to the fold. He was conservative on slavery and temperance, and his health suffered from the collision with more radical views. At his own request he was dismissed by a Council, Jan. 7, 1840. Dr. MACDONALD died in the harness as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Princeton, April 19, 1876.

The Rev. Artemas BOIES was the second pastor installed, March 10, 1841. The installing prayer was pronounced by Rev. Timothy TUTTLE, Ledyard, the moderator. Mr. BOIES had been in delicate health from childhood, yet there was nothing of somberness in his pastoral zeal. His alertness of wit and affectionateness of manner made him a favorite among the young. During three and one-half years he added to the church one hundred and four members. In his last sickness he thought and prayed much for his flock.

The Rev. Tryon EDWARDS, D.D., was the third pastor settled by this church. This was March 6, 1845. At the public services of installation the Rev. Joel HAWES, D.D., of Hartford, preached the sermon, and Dr. Thomas BOND, of Norwich, gave the right hand of fellowship. Dr EDWARDS was dismissed, at his own request, Aug. 4, 1857. His was the longest pastorate in the church's brief history.

Dr. EDWARDS baptized thirty-seven children and receive two hundred and one members. He exerted and still exerts an influence in the line of his learned and pious ancestry with the pen of authorship of no less than the voice of preaching.

Rev. G. Buckingham WILCOX succeeded to the pastorate April 20, 1859. Rev. Edwards A. PARKS, D.D., preached the sermon before the Council; Dr. MCEWEN was moderator. The charge to the pastor was by Rev. William H. WILCOX, of Reading, Mass. The right hand of fellowship was by Rev. T. P. FIELD, D.D., of the First Church. The charge to the people was given by Rev. Dr., J. P. GULLIVER, of Norwich.

Mr. WILCOX baptized twenty-nine children and gathered two hundred and seven members in his indefatigable pastorate of ten years and seven months.

He established the Bradley Street Mission, Sept. 2, 1859. He laid the corner-stone of the new church, Oct. 28, 1868. Nov. 23, 1869, at his own request, he was dismissed to accept a call to the First Congregational Church in Jersey City.

The Rev. Oliver Ellsworth DAGGETT, D.D., became the fifty pastor of this church, being installed by Council Feb. 21, 1871. The sermon was preached by Rev. S. G. BUCKINGHAM, D.D., of Springfield, Mass. The installation prayer was by Rev. Thomas L. SHIPMAN, of Jewett City. A responsive reading from Psalm viviii, and Isaiah 1ii. Was given by Rev. Thomas M. BOSS, of Putnam, and the Sunday-school and congregation.

In his edifying and acceptable pastorate of nearly seven years Dr. DAGGETT baptized twenty-six children and received one hundred and fifty-five members. On May 25, 1875, he preached a sermon, reviewing the first forty years of the church, from the text, "Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, 'Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.'" To this admirable discourse the compiler of the present notice is largely indebted. Dr. DAGGETT was dismissed, at his own request, Sept. 5, 1877, by a saddened and reluctant Council of the neighboring ministry and laity.

The Rev. John Phelps TAYLOR became the sixth and present pastor of this church by installation of a Council met May 29, 1878. The sermon was preached from 2 Timothy ii. 24, by Rev. A. J. F. BEHRENDS, D.D., of Providence, R. I., and the installing prayer offered by Rev. William S. PALMER, of Norwich. Rev. A. W. HAZEN, of Middletown, gave the charge to the pastor, and Rev. Edward Woolsey BACON, of the First Church of Christ, the right hand of fellowship.

Deacons.-The two original deacons of the church already mentioned are fallen asleep. Of these, Henry C. SMITH died Oct. 21, 1865; Charles BUTLER died March 13, 1878; Robert COIT, elected Dec. 28, 1841, died Oct. 18, 1874; Henry P. HAVEN, elected June 7, 1857, died April 30, 1876. Still surviving and in active usefulness are Dr. Isaac G. PORTER, elected June 7, 1857; William H. CHAPMAN, elected May 28, 1875; Edmund B. JENNINGS, elected May 28, 1875; William M. TOBEY, elected April 26, 1878.

Ecclesiastical Society.-The Second Ecclesiastical Society was organized April 14, 1835. From the first it has co-operated efficiently and harmoniously with the church it was designed to aid. The current expenses of the society are met by the rental of the slips. In the building of two houses of worship within less than forty years the society's committee have been sorely taxed in resources of purse and of spirit, but they have risen to the occasion with an enterprise and liberality worthy of all praise.

Houses of Worship.-The first was a white wooden structure with a square belfry and four-pillared portico, with a fine stone basement, built at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. It stood on the south corner of Huntington and Jay Streets. Friday morning, March 13, 1868, it was burned to the ground. Ten thousand dollars had just been expended in repairs. Rev. Mr. WILCOX preached to the homeless flock the next Sunday, March 15th, in the First church, from the text, "Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised thee is burned up with fire." Scraps of the scorched Bible and fragments of the old bell were guarded by the older members. The Sunday-school recited Isaiah 1xiv. 11 and 2 Cor. V. 1 during the sessions of a year. In this hour of trial the hospitality of the Universalist society gave us a shelter which can never be forgotten.

The second and present edifice was begun by the laying of the corner-stone, Oct. 28, 1868. Rev. Mr. HURLBUT, Elder SWAN, Dr. FIELD, Dr. SMITH, of the building committee, and Rev. Mr. WILCOX took part in the public exercises. The church was finished and dedicated June 1, 1870. Rev. Dr. ARMS read the Scriptures, and Rev. Noah PORTER, D.D., president of Yale College preached the sermon from 2 Cron. Vi.

The concluding prayer was made by Rev. Joshua COIT, a son of the church.

The chapel was dedicated July 22, 1870, with appropriate responsive readings and recitations, prayers and praises. The main address was by Deacon HAVEN, the superintendent.

The house thus built is of granite, with a stone spire surmounted by a cross, with stained windows and horse-shoe galleries. The architects were Nichols & Brown, of Albany, N. Y. The building committee were Seth SMITH, M, D., chairman, Robert COIT, Jr., Jonathan N. HARRIS, O. WOODWORTH, Richard H. CHAPELL, Frederick H. HARRIS, A. G. DOUGLAS. George PREST was the master-mason, and the late Timothy S. DABOLL the master-joiner. The entire cost was one hundred and forty thousand dollars.

The first sermon preached in this beautiful edifice was on the Lord's day was by Rev. Joshua COIT, from the words, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."

St. James Church.-
Among the first settlers of New London no trace is to be found of any attachment to the Church of England. A second company of settlers came in 1650 from Gloucester, Mass., bringing with them their minister, the Rev. Richard BLINMAN, a clergyman in the orders of the Church of England, who had been ejected for non-conformity from his cure at Chepstow, in the county of Monmouth. He is reckoned the first minister of New London, and seems to have comprehended in his charge all the inhabitants of the place. But neither he nor his people manifested any attachment to the church from which a misguided conscience had led them to withdraw. For the accommodation of this new party of settlers a new piece of land was taken up southwest of the town lot, which was called Cape Ann Lane, from Cape Ann, Mass., one of the two points within which Massachusetts Bay is included, a name which it still retains, though it remains even yet thinly settled, and has ever been an inferior and unimportant portion of the town. But neither in WINTHROP's company nor among the followers of Mr. BLINMAN is to be found any indication of attachment to the ancient Catholic Church of the English race. To find any such trace we must pass over a period of a little more than a half-century. There are not extant indications of the presence in New London of any avowed members of the Church of England until 1723, when a child of William and Mary NORTON was baptized there by Mr. PIGOT, the missionary of the Propagation Society in Stratford and the parts adjacent, by the name of John. This took place on the 17th of April in that year. In the year following, Oct. 24, 1724, the Rev. Samuel JOHNSON baptized, Sarah, infant daughter of the same parents; and in recording this baptism in his parish register Mr. JOHNSON makes this note: "N.B.-Mr. TALBOT baptized Lauzerne, son of Richard and Elizabeth WILSON, at New London, Oct. 15, 1724." Thus it appears that John NORTON was the first person Episcopally baptized in New London, and these are the earliest signs of the church's presence here. The name of William NORTON appears among those who subscribed to the erection of a church in 1725, and is appended, with those of others, to a letter address to Dr. MCSPARRAN on the subject in 1726. But who he was or how he came to be a churchman does not appear. And of Richard WILSON nothing is known but the record of the baptism of his son by the extraordinary and certainly very un-Puritan name of Lauzerne. All honor to their memories. It appears thus that the attention of the missionaries of the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel" had thus early been directed to New London as a suitable field for their pious labors, and that they sometimes visited it and gave it a portion of their services.

Churchmen came here churchmen, and naturally sought to provide themselves with the institutions and services which churchmen love. Of those whose names appear in connection with the first steps towards the formation of a congregation and the erection of a church here, several are known to have been Englishmen, and perhaps it is safe to infer that others whose origin is unknown were such also. At any rate, none of them can be traced by their name to the company of WINTHROP or of BLINMAN. I think we are warranted in believing that the church in New London grew up out of the wants of a class of its inhabitants who had been drawn thither by commerce or business, and who, having brought their Episcopal predilections and preferences with them, were glad to bring them into action as soon as an opportunity was presented. Neither Narragansett on the east nor Stratford on the west planted the seed. Both gladly lent their aid to cheer and strengthen the growing blade when it began to shoot forth. The first founders of the parish, then, were English, not of the Puritan stock.

It is evident, moreover, that the young shoot starting into life and growth at New London did not wholly depend for its nurture on the care of Dr. MCSPARRAN. Dr. JOHNSON, at Stratford, still continued to care for it, and extend to it a measure of his active service. In a letter to the secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, of the date of June 11, 1724, he says, "I have since preached in New London, where I had sixty hearers, and where there is a good prospect of increase if they had a minister." And in a postscript to a letter written Aug. 14, 1725, he writes, "New London people are likewise going to build with all expedition. I have got considerable subscriptions, and a piece of ground to set it on." Hence it is evident that he continued to interest himself in the rising parish, and exert himself in its behalf. So that while there is no disposition to derogate from the value of Dr. MCSPARRAN's services, it may well be doubted whether he does not rather overstate matters in calling himself, in so unqualified a way, its founder. Nearer and more accessible than any other minister of the English Church, they naturally resorted to him for advice and help. This he willingly afforded them, an the more readily because by a matrimonial alliance he was connected with some of their ablest friends and supporters.

Not till after the completion of the church and the establishment of a missionary do the records of the parish assume a continuous shape and afford materials for an unbroken narrative.

The Rev. James MCSPARRAN, D.D., was in these early times the missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Narragansett Bay and all the southern and western part of Rhode Island, and in the early part of the eighteenth century his services began to be extended to the incipient parish at New London.

But to neither of these sources, the Narragansett nor the Stratford mission, can the origin of the church in New London be properly traced, though both aided in fostering and strengthening it to the extent of their power. The church was rather the offspring of the early commercial importance and promise of the settlement. Of those whose names remain as the active founders of the congregation, most are known to have been Englishmen who were members o the Established Church before their coming, and were never Puritans or Puritanically inclined. Early in the century vessels began to be built and fitted out at New London, and an active trade was carried on with Newfoundland and the West Indies. There was a port of entry here and a collector of the customs. The gentlemen by whom this maritime and commercial business was carried on were churchmen for the most part, by whom the ministers of their mother-church were gladly welcomed and assisted; and as their numbers grew and their means increased the idea of erecting a church and making provision for the regular maintenance of Episcopal ministrations sprang up and strengthened till it reached consummation. Miss CAULKINS, in her history, after describing the early mercantile adventures and achievements of the place, and the English influence by which they were promoted, adds, "The residence of these English families in the town was not without its influence on the manners of the inhabitants and their style of living. These foreign residents gradually gathered around them a circle of society more gay" (she means less Puritanically precise and austere), "more in the English style, than had before been known in the place, and led to the formation and establishment of an Episcopal Church." This is the true story of our beginning. The nucleus of the church was English, made up not of Puritans converted to Episcopacy, but of Englishmen, to whom the Church of England was their natural mother, whom they had loved and honored from their childhood, and gladly welcomed when she presented herself among them. Of this church of the fatherland, missionaries from the East and West alike contributed to establish, encourage, and strengthen; but they cannot be said to have introduced it in New London.

The first decided movement toward the very desirable object of giving the incipient congregation a local habitation and a name was made in the summer of 1725. The earliest paper extant is one which bears date June 6, 1725, and runs as follows:

"Colony of Connecticut, New London, June 6, 1725.

"Wee, The Subscribers, doe oblige ourselves To pay the Rev. Mr. James MCSPARRAN, or to his Substitute, he being Treasurer, The Particular Sums affixed to our names, for the Building and Erecting a Church for the Service of Almighty God according to the Liturgie of the Church of England as by Law Established. And doe further oblige ourselves to pay the s'd Sums as the Treasurer shall have occasion for the same: John MERRITT, Ł50; Peter BUOR, Ł50; John BRADDICK, Ł25; John GIDLEY, Ł10; James STIRLING, Ł25; Walter BUTLER, Ł10; John BENNETT, Ł3; James TILLY, Ł10; George SMITH, Ł3; Nathaniel HAY, Ł20; James PACKER, Ł5; Giles GODDARD, Ł5.

This engagement was not acted on directly. The reason of the failure or postponement, whichever it may have been, is now undiscoverable. But that the purpose was not abandoned, but apparently only deferred to be put into a more practical and effective form, appears from a second paper drawn up a few months later, which, as it was followed by the accomplishment of the object it contemplated, has been considered the true beginning of the parish. Accordingly, Sept. 27, 1725, is considered the parish birthday, the day it began to have that visible being in the world which has now continued without breach or interruption through all the vicissitudes and trials of a century and a half. This second document is as follows:

"New London, September the 27th, 1725.

"Whereas Sundry Pious and Well Disposed Gentlemen in and around New London, in the Colony of Connecticut, being Earnestly Desirous of Erecting a Church for their more convenient and Decent Worshipping of God, according to the Usage and Liturgie of the Church of England as by Law Established, Did Subscribe to the payment of Sundry Sums Towards Erecting and Furnishing a Church in said Town of New London, as by a paper Bearing date June Sixty, 1725, may Appear, Reference thereto being had; "In order, Therefore, to begin and Carry on ye Building of said Church, the Following Gentlemen, viz., John SHACKMAPLE, Peter BUOR, Esq., Maj. John MERRITT, Capt. James STERLING, Mr. Thomas MUMFORD, and Mr. William NORTON, have formed, and doe by these Presents Incorporate and form Themselves into a Standing Committee to Agree for, Buy, Sett up and finish said Building, as well as to Purchase a convenient Place to Erect said Fabric upon, and Themselves Do Oblige Every Several Sum and Sums Contributed by well Disposed Christians for that good Work faithfully to lay out and Expend According to the Consent, Voice, and directions of the Major part of Said Committee at their Several Meetings; In Witness whereof, the Gentlemen to these presents have Voluntarily and Unanimously Affixed their name ye Day and Year above written.

"John SHACKMAPLE,
"Peter BUOR,
"John MERRITT,
"Walter BUTLER,
"Thos. MUMFORD,
"William NORTON."

Along with this document is another of the same date, as follows:

"New London, September 27th 1725.

"The Major part of the Committee being present at the House of John SHACKMAPLE, Esq., Proceeded to choose a Treasurer to receive and Pay out such sum or sums as are to be drawn out of the Treasurer's hands by an Order or Orders under the hands of a major part of so many of the Gentlemen as shall be present at such meeting whence such order or Orders shall Issue; and further, it is agreed that such Treasurer as shall be chosen by said Committee shall have full Power and Authority to constitute one or more to Act for or under him in said affairs, that said Committee may, upon any failure of said Treasurer, proceed to a new choice of a New Treasurer, as well as upon de Demise, Removal, or Refusal of any member to act, proceed to a new choice of a new member in the room and place of any Dead, Removed, or Refusing member.

"At the aforesaid Committee meeting, the members then present chose the Rev. Mr. MCSPARRAN, of Narragansett, Treasurer, to Receive the Subscriptions for Building said Church.

"John SHACKMAPLE,
"John MERRITT,
"Walter BUTLER,
"Thos. MUMFORD,
"Willm. NORTON,
"James STERLING."

The committee began negotiations with Trinity Church, Newport, for their church edifice, which it was proposed to remove to New London and rebuilt. This project, however, failed, and the committee then determined to proceed without further delay to the erection of a church. For this purpose a lot of land was purchased, and a contract entered into with Mr. John HOUGH to place a suitable building upon it. This lost was situated on the north side of the lower part of State Street, that broad space which is still called the Parade, so called, it is supposed, because it had formed the parade-ground of a fortification which lay to the east of it, on the bank of the river. It contained about twenty square rods, and was of a wedge-like form, the east side coinciding with the west line of Bradley Street, tapering to a point in the west, and leaving a passage of considerable width between the church and the north side of State Street. It stood out apparently unenclosed and surrounded on all sides by the public street. The area of the church itself was used for the purposes of burial, the graves being made beneath the floor, after the custom prevailing in England.

The edifice which John HOUGH contracted to build was to be in its interior length fifty feet, by thirty-two in width, to have two double doors at the west side, and there was also a door on the south side, "the roof half flat, and the other arched on each side," a description not very clear. It was to have five windows, one in the rear and two each side. As it was constructed, according to the custom of the time, of stout oak timber from the model farm of Maj. BUOR, and well-seasoned stuff, it might have remained for centuries had not the ruthless hand of war swept it prematurely away. It stood facing west, and though a very simple structure, it was a respectable and not uncomely edifice according to the ideas of the day.

It had a bell, and, of course, a belfry to contain it. Tradition ascribes it to a steeple, but whether this was an original appendage or was subsequently added does not appear, there being no mention of it in Mr. HOUGH's contract. All we know of the bell is that in 1740 a subscription was solicited "to procure a new and larger bell; by accident the bell belonging to the church having become useless, and being too small for our purpose." Such, so far as we can ascertain, was the fir Episcopal church erected in New London. The beautiful photographic art was not then at hand to preserve and hand down to us its "counterfeit presentment," and without this our notions of it are but vague and indistinct. But doubtless the little flock that first "went into its gates with thanksgiving, and into its courts with praise," were as proud and exultant as those who, more than a hundred years after, hailed the completion of its present noble and costly successor. That happy consummation was not reached, however till 1732, the intervening period, long for so simple a work, being filled up doubtless by unknown and unrecorded struggles and anxieties. The first missionary writes to "the Society" at home n 1742 that on June 20, 1726, a carpenter was agreed with for a wood frame; that on the 9th of August following the timber was brought to the ground; on the 1st of October the frame was raised and completed, and on the 28th of November, 1727, the house was inclosed, glazed, the under floor laid, a neat desk and pulpit finished. In this condition he found the building when he arrived at New London, Dec. 9, 1730, "in the service of the honorable Society." Miss CAULKINS speaks of the building as completed and opened for worship in the autumn of 1732. Mr. SEABURY came in 1730. Till that time, and in the years preceding his arrival, services were held, it would seem, more or less frequently by Dr. MCSPARRAN, and probably also by Dr. JOHNSON in the house of Mrs. SHACKMAPLE.

Miss CAULKINS preserves a tradition of this old church which may not be without interest, and should properly have a place in this history:

"The steeple or belfry terminated in a staff which was crowned with a gilt ball. In this ball an Indian arrow was infixed, which hung diagonally from the side, and remained till the destruction of the building. A delegation of Indians passing through the town stopped to look at the church, to them, no doubt, a splendid specimen of architecture. The leader of the party drew an arrow fro his quiver, and taking aim at the ball, drove it into the wood, so that it remained firmly fixed, and was left permanently adhering there."

In 1775 the regular parish-meeting was holden on Easter Monday, and Thomas ALLEN and John DESHON chosen church-wardens. There was no choice of officers again till 1779. During the most, if not all, of the intervening time the services seem to have been intermitted.

The history of this period is obscure and imperfect. Mr. GRAVES remained in New London, and continued to occupy the parsonage, and doubtless to discharge such official functions as were needed, but held no public services. The public odium, the increasing bitterness of political sentiment, and the division of opinion in his own congregation, joined to his own unbending sense of duty, which would not let him yield to solicitations of interest or appeals of affection, led him to the conclusion that retirement and silence were far him the path of prudence and of usefulness. An outspoken and impulsive man, restraint must have been hard for him, but we hear of nothing done or said by him to exacerbate displeasure or inflame hatred. There is no evidence that the church was closed by any formal action of the parish. It was probably acquiesced in as the dictate of ordinary prudence and a sort of moral necessity. In the heated atmosphere of the times religion of any form sank to a low ebb, and in turmoil and contention about worldly interest, there was little room in men's minds for concern about things unseen. The period of the Revolution was a period of great religious deadness. The parish-meeting of Aug. 17, 1775, was adjourned to August 25th, but the adjourned meeting was never held, at least there is no record of it. A meeting was held Nov. 14, 1778. What led to it is not known. We may conjecture that the fact that several of the Episcopal clergy had by this time found a way to reconcile their consciences with the omission of the prayer for the king had awakened a hope that Mr. GRAVES might be induced to follow their examples and put an end to the unhappy stoppage.

At a meeting this resolution was introduced: "Voted, that no persons be permitted to enter the church, and as a pastor to it, unless openly prays for Congress and the free and independent States of America, and their prosperity by sea and land; if so, he may be admitted to-morrow, being Sunday, 15th November." On putting the resolution to vote, it appeared that there were fourteen in the affirmative and eleven in the negative, and then, as there were four votes challenged and rejected on the one side and one on the other, it left the vote a tie; still, the affirmative sense of the congregation had been pretty distinctly given. But the meeting went on to "vote that the church-wardens wait on the Rev. Mr. GRAVES and let him know of the foregoing vote, and if it be agreeable to hi, he may re-enter the church of St. James and officiate as pastor thereof, he praying and conforming to said vote."

The church-wardens fulfilled their duty and made this report: "Agreeably to the above, we, the church-wardens, waited on the Rev. Mr. GRAVES, and acquainted him of the resolution of the parishioners, to which he replied that he could not comply therewith." The church-wardens who signed this report were Thomas ALLEN and John DESHON, both stanch Whigs. The Sunday cane, however, and Mr. GRAVES, perhaps encouraged or urged by injudicious friends, determined to brave the consequences, and read the service with the obnoxious prayers. The result was a painful and disgraceful scene, which put a speedy end to his ministry in New London, and perhaps expedited his death.

The first meeting of churchmen after the war of the Revolution was held on Easter Monday, April 25, 1783; just as soon as the independence of the country was established and peace restores, their usual annual meeting was holden. William STEWARD, son of that Matthew whose remains lay beneath the relics of their former church, and Jonathan STARR, Jr., the second of that name, were chosen wardens, and it was "Voted, that Capt. John DESHON, Nichol FOSDICK, Roswell SALTONSTALL, Giles MUMFORD, Joseph PACKWOOD, Thomas ALLEN, James PENNIMAN, Ebenezer GODDARD, Henry TRUMAN, Dr. Samuel BROWN, and Jesse EDGECOMB be a committee to join the church-wardens to solicit donations for building a new church, to treat with the selectmen of the town, to see if the ground where the old church stood can be disposed of or exchanged for other ground suitable to erect the building on, and to get the plan of a church procured, and make report of their doings as soon as may be. It was also voted that the church-wardens rent the parsonage-house for the highest rent it will fetch, always giving the preference to one of the parishioners, and that the house be repaired by the wardens in the most frugal manner, and that all back rent be immediately collected, and the residue be appropriated as the church shall direct." The following year an offer of the Rev. John GRAVES, of Providence, brother of their late minister, to supply them with a clergyman was declined, on the ground that they were destitute of a building in which to celebrate the worship of Almighty God. The effort to provide such a building seems, meanwhile, though not relinquished, to have gone on slowly. That the work dragged is not so much to be wondered at as that, under the circumstances, it was projected. In 1784 a committee was appointed to ascertain on what terms a lot could be purchased from Mr. EDGECOMB, or some other proprietor, on which to erect a church. This church was consecrated Sept. 20, 1787. It was enlarged from time to time, and at a parish-meeting held Sept. 7, 1846, it was voted to build a new church edifice, and November 3d of the following year the corner-stone of the new building was laid. The church was consecrated June 11, 1850.

The rectors since Dr. MCSPARRAN have been as follows: John SEABURY, Matthew GRAVES, Samuel SEABURY, Solomon BLAKSLEE, Bethel JUDD, Isaac W. HALLAM, R. A. HALLAM, and W. B. BUCKINGHAM, the present incumbent.

The following is a list of wardens from 1732, when the first choice was made, to the present time: 1732, Thomas MUMFORD, John BRADDICK; 1733-35, John BRADDICK, John SHAKMAPLE; 1736-37, John SHAKMAPLE, Matthew STEWART; 1738, Matthew STEWARD, Samuel EDGECOMB; 1739, Samuel EDGECOMB, Giles GODDARD; 1740, GILES GODDARD, Guy PALMES; 1741, Guy PALMES, Nathaniel GREEN; 1742, Nathaniel GREEN, Edward PALMES; 1743-44, Edward PALMES, Merritt SMITH; 1745 Merritt SMITH, Thomas MUMFORD; 1746-51, Thomas MUMFORD, Samuel EDGECOMB; 1752-43, Thomas MANWARING, Nicholas LECHMERE; 1754, Samuel EDGECOMB, Guy PALMES; 1755, Samuel EDGECOMB, Edward PALMES; 1756, Samuel EDGECOMB, Jonathan STARR; 1757, Jonathan STARR, James MUMFORD; 1758-60, James MUMFORD, Thomas MUMFORD; 1761-62, Samuel EDGECOMB, Jonathan STARR; 1763-64, Jonathan STARR, Thomas FOSDICK; 1765, Ebenezer GODDARD, Jonathan STARR; 1766-67, Ebenezer GODDARD, Samuel BILL; 1768, William STEWART, George MUMFORD; 1769, William STEWART, Jonathan STARR, Jr.; 1770-71, Jonathan STARR, Jr., Thomas ALLEN; 1772, Thomas ALLEN, John DESHON; 1773-74, Thomas ALLEN, David MUMFORD; 1775, Thomas ALLEN, John DESHON; 1776-78, no choice; 1779-80, Thomas ALLEN, John HERTEL; 1781-85, William STEWART, Jonathan STARR, Jr.; 1786-1802, Jonathan STARR, Jr., Roswell SALTONSTALL; 1803-10, Jonathan STARR, Jr., Samuel WHEAT; 1811-16, Jonathan STARR (3d), Edward HALLAM; 1817-18, Jonathan STARR (3d), Isaac THOMPSON; 1819-29, Jared STARR, Isaac THOMPSON; 1830-38, Edward HALLAM, Jonathan STARR (3d); 1839-52, Jonathan STARR (3d), Francis ALLYN; 1853-56, Francis ALLYN, Enoch V. STODDARD; 1857-58, Enoch V. STODDARD, Stanley G. TROTT; 1859-63, Enoch V. STODDARD, Charles A. LEWIS; 1864-67, Enoch V. STODDARD, Isaac C. TATE; 1868-73, Isaac C. TATE, Hiram WILLEY; 1874-78, Isaac TATE, Benjamin STARK; 1878-81, C. A. WILLIAMS, Mason YOUNG; 1881, Mason YOUNG, J. Ivers LEWIS.

Bishop Samuel SEABURY was born in North Groton (now Ledyard) the 30th of November, 1729, the son of Samuel SEABURY, the first minister of New London, born while his father was officiating at North Groton as a Congregational licentiate. He passed the days of his youth in New London, where his father was ministering. At an early age he entered Yale College and graduated with credit in 1748. He went to Scotland and studied medicine in the University of Edinburgh, whether with a view of devoting his life to the medical profession or merely as an amateur is now known. But it is known that in his ministry he made a large use of his medical knowledge as a means of doing good. He soon, at any rate, put aside medicine for the study of theology, and after acquiring the requisite proficiency, was ordained deacon by Dr. John THOMAS, Bishop of Lincoln, acting for the Bishop of London, Dec. 21, 1753, and priest by Dr. Richard OSBALDESTON, Bishop of Carlisle, acting for the same prelate, Dec. 23, 1753, Dr. Thomas SHERLOCK, Bishop of London, being then disabled by infirmity and near the close of life. On his return to America he served several parishes in succession in New Jersey and New York, and settled finally in Westchester, where he continued to officiate till the breaking out of the Revolution. His loyalty, founded on the deepest convictions of duty, drove him from his parish, and during the remainder of the war he resided in New York, serving as chaplain to the king's forces, and eking out his living by the practice of medicine. Soon after the establishment of independence the clergy of Connecticut moved to obtain the episcopate, and made choice of Dr. SEABURY for their bishop. To obtain consecration he sailed for England in 1783. He had been honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University of Oxford, 1777. Political difficulties prevented his success in England; the English bishops were unable to dispense with the oath of allegiance to the sovereign which their ordinal contained, and the British Parliament was backward to pass an enabling act, for fear of exciting the displeasure of the young republic, jealous of any encroachment on its newly-acquired nationality. Under these circumstances, Dr. Seabury bethought himself of the Scotch bishops, identical in polity and authority with the English bishops, but disconnected with the State in consequence of the disestablishment of their church for its fidelity to the House of Stuart, and lying under the ban of political proscription. By them he was cordially welcomes, and by them, Nov. 14, 1784, consecrated at Aberdeen, in Bishop SKINNER's oratory, the consecrators being Robert KILGOUR, Bishop of Aberdeen and Primus; Arthur PETRIE, Bishop of Moray and Ross; and John SKINNER, coadjutor Bishop of Aberdeen. With these prelates, representative of the Episcopal remainder in Scotland, he entered into a concordat to maintain in America, as far as in him lay, the peculiarities of the Scottish Church, and in particular the prayer of consecration in the communion office. With his divine commission he returned to this country, and landed at Newport June 20, 1785, preaching on the following Sunday the first sermon of a bishop in this country, in the old Trinity church, from Hebrews xii. 1, 2. He was soon established at New London as the rector of St. James' Church, which was then in process of erection, where he continued to dwell, in the faithful discharge of his duties as bishop and priest, till his very sudden death, Feb. 23, 1796.

In the formation of our institutions and the establishment of our Prayer Book he acted a conspicuous and influential part. True to his engagement with the Scottish Church, he resisted the tendency to innovation that my quarters displayed itself, and steadfastly exerted himself to procure the insertion of the consecration prayer in the communion office, and with success, most men will now admit, conferring a decided benefit on the church. He set his face firmly against what was termed the Proposed Book, and fought for the retention of the Catholic creeds and the preservation of their integrity. For a few years prejudice and misunderstanding and diversity of views on some points of polity kept him and his diocese separate from the body of the church. But the difference was at last happily settled, and it was his honor to die the first bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

He married, early in life, Mary, the daughter of Edward HICKS, of New York, who died before his consecration. He did not marry again. His house in New London was under the charge of his daughter Maria. At last, after a tour of visiting his parish, he remained to take tea at the house of Mr. Roswell SALTONSTALL, a warden of the parish, whose daughter Ann had married his son Charles. When he had just risen from the tea-table, he fell with an attack of apoplexy, and soon expired. His funeral was attended without pomp, the only record of it in the register-book of the parish being the simple words: "February 28, 1796. Buried, by the Rev. Mr. TYLER, of Norwich, Right Rev. Samuel SEABURY, D.D., Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island." Soon after his entrance upon the discharge of his Episcopal functions in Connecticut the churches in Rhode Island placed themselves under his jurisdiction, whence he derived the double designation of Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island, which is often applied to him. He was buried in the public burying-ground in New London, and a table of gray marble placed over his grave, with the following inscription, written by the Rev. Dr. BOWDEN, of Columbia College, N. Y.:

Here lieth the body of
SAMUEL SEABURY, D. D.
Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island,
Who departed from this transitory scene, February 25, 1796,
In the sixty-eighth year of his age.
Ingenious without price, learned without pedantry,
Good without severity, he was duly qualified to discharge the duties
of the Christian and the Bishop.
In the pulpit, he enforced religion; in his conduct,
he exemplified it.
The poor he assisted with his charity; the ignorant he
blessed with his instruction.
The friend of man, he ever desired their good;
The enemy of vice, he ever opposed it.
Christian! dost thou aspire to happiness?
SEABURY has shown the way that leads to it.

This table, since the removal of the bishop's remains, has been placed within the inclosure on the north side of the present church. Within the church a tablet, in the form of an obelisk, stood originally at the left side of the pulpit, afterwards directly over it, bearing the following inscription:

SACRED
May this marble long remain
(The just tribute of affection)
to the memory
Of the truly venerable and beloved
Pastor of this Church,
The Right Reverend SAMUEL SEABURY, D. D.,
Bishop of Connecticut and Rhode Island,
We was translated from earth
To heaven,
February 25, 1796.
In the sixty-eighth year of his age and twelfth of his consecration;
But still lives in the hearts of a grateful diocese.

This tablet now stands in the basement chapel of the present church. The epitaph is not to be much admired, and one expression in it is justly open to criticism. When, in 1849, the bishop's remains were placed under the chancel of the church, then in process of erection, at the joint expense of the diocese and parish, a handsome monument of freestone in the form of an alter-tomb underneath a canopy surmounted by a mitre was placed over his final resting-place. On the slab above the tomb this simple record was engraven:

The Right Rev. Father in God,
SAMUEL SEABURY, D. D.,
First Bishop of Connecticut,
And of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States;
Consecrated at Aberdeen, Scotland, Nov. 14, 1784;
Died Feb. 25, 1796,,; age 67.
The Diocese of Connecticut recorded here
Its grateful memory of his virtues and services,
A.D. 1849.

And on a brass plate inserted in its upper surface this inscription:

A [Symbol of an X over a P] g

Sub ppavimento altaris
Ut in loco quietis ultimo usque ad magni diei judicium
Exuviae mortals praesulis admodum reverendi nunc restant,
SAMUELIS SEABURY, S.T.D. Oxon.,
Qui primus in rempublicam novi orbis Angelo Americanam
Successionem apostolicam,
E. Scotia transtulit XVIII. Kal. Dec. A.D. CIcIcCCLXXXIV. [little c = upside down capital C]
Diocesis sua
Laborum et angustiarum tam chari capitis nunquam oblita
In ecclesia nova S. Jacobi majoris Neo Londinensi olim seda sua
Hoc monumentum nunc demum longo post tempore honoris causa
Anno salut. Nost. CIcIcCCCXLIX [little c = upside down capital C] ponere curavit.

Of which the following is a translation:

Under the pavement of the alter, as in the final place of rest until the judgment of the great day, now repose the mortal remains of the Right Rev. Prelate, Samuel SEABURY, D.D., Oxon., who first brought from Scotland into the Anglo-American Republic of the New World the Apostolic succession, Nov. 27, 1784. His diocese, never forgetful of the labors and trials of so dear a person, in the new church of St. James the Greater, of New London, formerly his See, now at last, after so long a time, have taken care to place this monument to his honor, in the year of our salvation 1849.

He, perhaps as much as any one, some would say more, has left his impress son the service and offices of the American church. His was the distinguished honor of bringing the episcopate into the New World, and planting on the shores of this Western Continent a genuine branch of that apostolic tree whose "leaves are for the healing of the nations," and whose spreading boughs have now stretched from sea to sea. He was to a large extent the conservative element in the church in his day, useful to restrain the impetuosity of some and stiffen the flexibility of others, and so keep the church from drifting away from those ancient landmarks which the fathers had wisely set. Yet, while he was a firm man, he was not an obstinate man. While he could frankly and earnestly adhere to his settled convictions, and hold unflinchingly to them in all matters of essential truth, he knew how to yield gracefully when his views were overborne, and not waste his time in whimpering over losses, and would himself and the church by ineffectual resistance and defiance. Such a man deserves respect from all, whether they sympathize with his opinions or dissent from them. Bishop WHITE, than whom it would be difficult to find a man wider from him in constitution of mind and habits of thought, bears testimony of the most honorable sort to his worth when he says, in his "Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church," "To this day there are recollected with satisfaction the hours which were spent with Bishop SEABURY on the important subjects which came before us, and especially the Christian temper which he manifested all along." Yet this great and good man it has been the habit, in some quarter,--alas that it should be in our household of faith!-to decry and ridicule, to make the butt of obloquy and detraction, to represent as a weak and vain man, vaporing with the conceit of his dignity, aping English state, strutting in the paraphernalia of office, holding with a blind and unreasoning tenacity to obsolete traditions, and imposing his own personal convictions on men with a narrow and bigoted imperiousness. It was the fortune of the writer to be born and grow up among his contemporaries, while his memory was yet fresh in many hearts. Not one of these imputations was ever heard among those who knew him best. True, he sometimes wore a mitre, and wrote himself "Samuel Connecticut'" but in the latter particular he did bur conform to the ordinary usage, and the mitre he did not use at first, nor did he bring one with him when he came home after his consecration; but when he found many of the non-Episcopal ministers about him were disposed to adopt the title of bishop, in derision of his claims, he adopted a mitre as a badge of office which they would hardly be disposed to imitate. The mitre worn by the bishop is still preserved in the library of Trinity College. This mitre is a bifurcated cap of black satin, displaying on its front a metallic cross.

He was at home, among his parishioners and fellow-citizens, a man of simple, quiet, unpretending ways, performing the humble duties of a parish minister with exemplary assiduity and faithfulness, social and affable, sometimes witty and jocose, benevolent and charitable, always ready to use the medical skill which he had acquired in early life gratuitously for the benefit of the poor and needy, doing good with his narrow income to the utmost extent of his ability, so that when he died he had "a tune of orphans' tears wept over him," sweetest and most honorable requiem that can attend the bier of any man. Yet he possessed a native dignity of appearance and manner that constrained universal respect and repressed every attempt at undue or flippant familiarity. He was always the minister of God, and, as a Congregational gentleman once said to me, every whit a bishop. An honest, brave, fearless, conscientious man was the first Bishop of Connecticut.

The remains of Bishop SEABURY, at the time of his death, were interred in the public burying-ground. It seemed a proper thing, especially as he had been rector of the parish as well as bishop of the diocese, that they should now, upon the erection of the church building, be transferred to the church and a suitable monument to his memory be placed over them. The idea found favor, both in the parish and in the diocese at large. The convention of the diocese, held June 8, 1847, passed the following vote: "That a committee of three be appointed to collect, through private donations, a sum sufficient for the erection of a monument of suitable stability and beauty to the memory of the first bishop of this diocese, to be placed, with the consent of the vestry, within the walls of the new church of his former parish, St. James', New London."

The Rev. Wm. F. MORGAN, The Rev. Wm. JARVIS, and Richard ADAMS, Esq., were appointed as this committee. The following persons-The Rev. Dr. JARVIS, the Rev. Dr. HALLAM, the Rev. A. C. COXE, the Rev. Dr. BURGESS, and the Rev. Dr. MEAD-were appointed a committee to carry the design into effect. The parish, on its part, though heavily taxed for the erection of the church, met the call handsomely and liberally. The work of preparing a design of the monument and attending to its execution was intrusted to Mr. UPJOHN. IN the summer of 1849 the church was so far advanced as to be ready to receive the monument, which was be built into the eastern wall of the chancel, and on the 12th day of September the ceremony of removing the bishop's remains and placing them in their final resting-place was performed with appropriate solemnities. The minute made at the time in the register-book of the parish is here subjoined: "The remains of Bp. SEABURY were removed from the Second Burying-ground and deposited beneath the chancel of the new church, in a grave lined with brick and covered with flagging-stones, directly under the monument in the church and before the north window on the east side of the chapel, below the floor. His bones were found perfect, but no part of the coffin, except a portion of the lid, surrounded by brass nails in the form of a heart, containing within it, in brass nails also, these letters and figures:

S. S.
Ć. 67.
1796.

"The remains were placed in a new coffin, which was borne from the ground to the church, on a bier covered with a pall, by the Rev. Messrs. J. WILLIAMS, D.D., A. C. COXE, T. H. VAIL, H. F. ROBERTS, T. C. PITKIN, J. M. WILLEY, C. E. BENNETT, and E. O. FLAGG. The rector, attended by the Rev. Dr. JARVIS, met the remains at the church. The rector read the first two sentences of the burial service and Dr. JARVIS the anthem, the persons present responding. The rector read, for the lesson, Wisdom, fifth chapter to the seventeenth verse. Dr. JARVIS pronounced the sentence, 'Blessed are the dead,' etc., and the rector read the last prayer but one in the burial service, the prayer for all persons in the 'Visitation of the Sick,' the collect for 'All Saints,' the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostolic Benediction. The coffin was then lowered into the grave, after which the psalm 'Deus Exurgat' and the Nicene Creed were repeated, led by the rector, and Dr. JARVIS said the closing benediction. The place of deposit was a brick grave underneath the floor, covered by heavy flagstones carefully mortared together. There may they rest, in the language of Dr. JARVIS' epitaph in the chancel, 'Ut in loco quietis ultimo usque ad magni diei judicium.'"

Methodist Episcopal Church.-
Methodism was introduced into New London in 1789, by Rev. Jesse LEE. On the 2d of September of that year he preached in the court-house, twenty-three years after the first Methodist sermon was preached in New York by Philip EMBURY. Mr. LEE continued to visit the city for about three years. New London first appears on the minutes of the Conference for 1793, when George ROBERTS, Richard SWAIN, and F. ALDRICH were the preachers and the circuit called New London circuit.

The Methodist Church was organized in New London, at the house of Mr. Richard DOUGLASS, Oct. 23, 1793, with eleven persons, but soon after, within a few months, t the close of the Conference year, consisted of the following persons: Richard DOUGLASS, Ann DOUGLASS, Nancy DOUGLASS, Peter GRIFFING, Gennett HALL, Annah MOORE, Sally LEWIS, Mary LEWIS, Jones ROGERS, George POTTER, Elizabeth POTTER, Ann SMITH, Mercy SMITH, Freelove MILLER, Luther GALE, Susannah STOCKMAN, Abigail POTTER, Epaphras KIBBY, Jemima PERRY, Nabby BECKLEY, P. CHAMPLAIN, Ruth CROCKER, Josiah BOLLES, Hannah BROWN, Henry HARRIS, and Sarah CLARK.

The following is a list of pastors from the organization of the church to the present time: George ROBERTS, Richard SWAIN, F. ALDRICH, Wilson LEE, David ABBOTT, Zadoc PRIEST, Enoch MUDGE, A. G. THOMPSON, Lawrence MCCOMBS, Nathaniel CHAPIN, Timothy MERITT, S. BOSTWICK, John NICHOLS, William PICKETT, Benjamin HILL, Nathan EMORY, Thomas BRANCH, E. WASHBURN, G. R. NORRIS, Daniel PERRY, Theo. SMITH, Isaac BONNEY, E. STREETER, John LINDSAY, Joel WINCH, E. MARBLE, A. STEBBINS, Jon. CHANEY, Benjamin SABIN, J. LEWIS, W. BANNISTER, Robert BOWSER, Joel STEELE, William NICHOLS, Francis DANE, V. R. OSBORN, Nathan PANE, E. BLAKE, Daniel DORCHESTER, J. W. MCKEE. In 1818 New London became a station, and the following is a list of pastors from that time to 1824: Asa KENT, 1818-19; Elijah HEDDING (afterwards bishop), 1820; V. R. OSBORN, 1821; Thomas W. TUCKER, 1822-23. In 1824 the society, having become reduced in numbers and financial strength, was again united with a circuit under the pastorate of Daniel DORCHESTER, G. W. FAIRBANK, and J. W. CASE.

It was again made a station in 1825, with Isaac STODDARD as pastor; N. S. SPAULDING, 1826; Le Roy SUNDERLAND, 1827. In 1828 the church was again connected with the circuit, and Amasa TAYLOR and George SUTHERLAND were the preachers; Reuben RANSON, L. B. GRIFFING, 1829; Reuben RANSON, C. D. ROGERS, 1830.

In 1831 the society was again made a station, with James PORTER, pastor, who remained two year; Ebenezer BLAKE, 1833-34 S. B. HASKELL, 1835-36; Daniel WEBB, 1837; A. HALLOWAY, 1838; John LOVEJOY, 1843-44; John HOWSON, 1845-46; M. P. ALDERMAN, 1847-48; G. M. CARPENTER, 1849-50; Samuel FOX, 1851; Thomas ELY, 1852-53; M. P. ALDERMAN, 1854-55; John B. GOULD, 1856-57; John D. KING, 1858-59; Paul TOWNSEND, 1860-61; V. A. COOPER, 1862-63; F. J. WAGNER, 1864-65; William J. ROBINSON, 1866-67; John D. BUTLER, 1868-69; Charles S. MACREADY, 1870-71; A. W. PAGE, 1872-73; John GRAY, 1874-76; George W. ANDERSON, 1877-79; H. D. ROBINSON, 1880-81.

The first church edifice was erected in 1798, and dedicated the same year, Bishop ASHBURY preaching. This house was occupied until 1818, when a new building was erected. Discussions subsequently arose in the church, and in 1840 a number withdrew and organized a new body. This body, after holding services in the conference-room of the Congregational church and court-house, in 1842 erected a church edifice on Washington Street, which was subsequently sold for a piano-factory. The Federal Street church edifice was erected in 1855, and dedicated in 1856.

There is also a Bethel Church, organized under its present name in 1851, but we have been unable to secure further data for its history.

First Baptist Church.-
The Baptists of New London for some years were members of the First Baptist Church in Waterford, and nothing like an organization is known to have existed until after the great revival in 1794, when the Waterford Church was districted, New London proper constituting one district, and the Harbor's Mouth another.

Immediately after this revival, and probably on account of it, the Waterford Church was divided into four divisions, as follows: Niantic, New London, Great Neck, and harbor's Mouth. Each division had its own leader, but all were under the pastoral care of him who for fifty-two years was the efficient and revered pastor of that church, the Rev. Zadock DARROW, who died at the advanced age of ninety-nine years, and who was the grandfather of the Rev. Francis DARROW, of precious memory.

Thus, besides prayer-meetings, preaching services were held in New London by Baptists in the court-house, and in other places as they could be obtained, and as preachers could be secured, from the year 1794.

In 1802, or two years before the formal organization of this church, arrangements were made by the Waterford Church, in accordance with which communion services were to be held in New London every two months; and about this time arrangements were made by the brethren in New London for the Rev. Samuel WEST, who was then an assistant of the aged and infirm pastor, Zadock DARROW, to preach and administer the ordinances for them part of the time, the church at large engaging him for the rest of his time.

During these years it was agreed between the church at Waterford and the branch here in the city that at each communion service held in Waterford at least two brethren from the city should be present to represent the members here, and, after the same manner, that at least two brethren from Waterford should be in attendance at communion services held here, to represent that part of the church. Thus by sending representatives from one part of the church to meetings held by the other part they sought to co-operate with each other, and to maintain Christian fellowship and a thorough acquaintance between all. At the same time it was mutually agreed that if any members living in New London should prefer to attend services at Waterford, or if any living in Waterford should prefer to attend in this city, they should have full liberty so to do.

On the 11th of February, 1804, "the brethren and sisters of the Baptist denomination in the city of New London accepted and subscribed" to the "covenant articles and principles" which are still used by the church. The meeting for the organization of the church was held in the house of Mr. Samuel COIT, whose name is attached to the letter just read.

The body was fellowshipped as a church of Christ by a Council which convened in the Baptist meeting-house in Waterford, Feb. 22, 1804. About fifty brethren and sisters were dismissed from the Waterford Church, and they, with a few others from other Baptist Churches, untied to form "The First Baptist Church of New London." Rev. Samuel WEST, who had been preaching for them part of the time for two years previous, was chosen as the first pastor, at a meeting of the church held April 9, 1804. At the same meeting, as the record states, "it was agreed to receive Henry HARRIS as a deacon of this church." John LEWIS and Noah MASON were also appointed "on trial in the office of deacon," but no record is found of their ever having been ordained or fully recognized as deacons. Jan. 25, 1809, Jonathan SIZER was ordained deacon, and he, with Henry HARRIS, seem to have been the first deacons.

In October, 1804, the church applied for membership in the Stonington Union Association, and was received, and remained a member of that body till 1817, when the New London Association was formed and it withdrew to unite with it. Up to this time their preaching and communion services seem to have been held in the court-house, and their meetings for prayer and conference in private houses; but in the spring of 1805 preparations were made for the erection of a house of worship. This was to them an undertaking of no little magnitude.

In the first place, they were few in number. Besides this, they were poor in the goods of this world, however rich they may have been in faith. But these were by no means the greatest difficulties to be encountered and overcome by them. The chief obstacle in their way was the intense and persistent opposition, and, I may say, the bitter persecution, of what was then the ruling order. 1 {1. Rev. B. A. WOODS, in his historical address, June 29, 1879.] Such was this bitterness of feeling against Baptists and against Baptist principles that it was impossible for the newly-organized church to purchase land anywhere in the city on which to erect a meeting-house. It was determined that they should not have an inch of ground on which to rest their feet. As a last resort, one of the brethren, John LEWIS by name, acting in a private and individual capacity, and without making known his intentions, purchased that piece of property now familiarly known as "the Baptist ROCKS," and after he had secured the deed then deeded it over to one whom the church had appointed to receive it. Thus in a roundabout way the church secured a solid rock foundation.

The first baptisms into the fellowship of the church of which we find any record occurred on the 6th of July, 1806, when seven persons, one brother and six sisters, were thus received.

The first decade in the history of the church had now passed, the Rev. Samuel WEST having served the church during these years faithfully, efficiently, and to the entire satisfaction of the members. During this time the church had been worshiping in the meeting-house "on the rocks," "which was still in an unfinished state, the beams and rafters left naked, and with loose, rough planks for seats." In 1807 the church petitioned the Legislature for permission to hold a lottery for the purpose of raising funds to aid in completing their house of worship, the pastor being requested to attend and present the petition in person. The petition was never granted.

The pastors from Mr. WEST to the present time have been as follows: Nehemiah DODGE, Ebenezer LOOMIS, Henry WIGHTMAN, Daniel WILDMAN, Chester TILDEN, Alvin ACKLEY, Nathan WILDMAN, C. C. WILLIAMS, H. R, KNAPP, Jabez SWAN, William REID, J. R. BUAMES, J. C. WIGHTMAN, J. E. BALL, A. B. BURDICK 2 [2. Supply] N. P. FOSTER, Byron A. WOODS.

In 1839 the "house on the rocks" had become too small to accommodate the congregation, and what were afterwards known as "the wings" were then put on, other and important improvements being made.

Early in 1854 preparations were begun for the building of a new house of worship. In March, 1856, this building was completed and dedicated, at a total cost of twenty-five thousand dollars. Sermons were delivered on the day of dedication by Rev. Drs. IVES and TURNBULL.

In the spring of 1875 this house of worship was repaired and refurnished at an expense of three thousand dollars, that amount being raised by subscription and paid when the work was done.

The church as had fourteen deacons, viz: Henry HARRIS, Jonathan SIZER, Thomas WEST, Ira R. STEWARD, W. A. WEAVER, Richard HARRIS, Clark DANIELS, W. P. BENJAMIN, D. LATHAM, J. CONGDON, P. C. TURNER, W. P. BENJAMIN, D. W. HARRIS, G. A. LESTER, and C. A. WEAVER.

Second Baptist Church.-
For a considerable period previous to December, 1840, efforts were in contemplation for forming a second Baptist Church in New London. IN the success of Baptist principles, the house of worship of the First Baptist Church became too strait for an increasing congregation; and although subsequently enlarged, it did not remove the convictions of those who believed that the general cause of religion in the city would be promoted by the erection of another house and the establishment of another Baptist Church.

About the 1st of April, 1840, several brethren, together with other individuals in the city of Baptist sentiments, commenced a separate meeting in the court-house, and engaged the services of C. C. WILLIAMS, formerly pastor of the First Church. Immediately active measures were taken to secure a lot and erect a second Baptist meeting-house, with the expectation of the formation of a second Baptist Church. A contract of this object was signed June 10, 1840, by Jonathan SMITH, William CHAMPLIN, John CARROLL, Jr., George W. WHEELER, L. H. TRACY, and Charles and Joseph BISHOP. The house was completed in December of the same year. The early struggles to obtain letters for the purpose of forming the church we would willingly pass over, but a brief outline is necessary to show the origin of the church.

After all attempts had failed of obtaining letters of dismission from the First Church, for the purpose of forming a second interest, and Mr. WILLIAMS and six of the movers of the enterprise had been excluded for the part they had taken in the establishment of a separate meeting, and when a petition of thirty members in good standing in the First Church for the same object had also been rejected, the friends interested called a Council to investigate the whole matter, which, after a prayerful and laborious session and examination, advised the organization of the church. The thirty members then of the First Church constituted themselves into the "Second Baptist Church of New London," and, agreeably to advice of the same Council, immediately received five brethren and sisters having letters from the First Baptist Church of Waterford, and C. C. WILLIAMS and the six brethren who had been excluded with him previously from the First Church. The Council still remaining in session, the church was then publicly recognized, Dec. 31, 1840. C. C. WILLIAMS became the first pastor. A protracted scene of trial followed the organization. The difficulties with the First Church, growing in part out of the reception of excluded members of that body, which unfortunately continued for a considerable period, were subsequently removed and adjusted during the pastorship of Lemuel COVELL, through the voluntary, kind, and affectionate labors of Elders BOLLES, of Colchester, and John PECK, of the State of New York. Harmony was restored, which had continued unbroken to this day.

C. C. WILLIAMS resigned his charge of the church Sept. 13, 1841, and Elder A. BOLLES, of Colchester, was engaged as a supply till a pastor should be obtained. Jan. 5, 1842, the church gave Lemuel COVELL a call. Mr. COVELL signified his acceptance of the call, Feb. 28, 1842, and entered upon his pastoral duties in April of the same year. Mr. COVELL resigned his charge Dec. 28, 1843, and removed to New York in January, 1844. John BLAIN succeeded Mr. COVELL in the pastorate, and continued till the spring of 1845, having resigned January 6th of the same year. March 10, 1845, the church invited L. G. LEONARD, of Thompson, to become their pastor, who accepted, and commenced his pastoral labors the 1st of May of the same year. Mr. LEONARD continued his useful labors with the church till November, 1848, when he resigned. Edwin R. WARREN, of Albany, N. Y., succeeded Mr. LEONARD in the pastorate. He accepted the invitation, and subsequently the call of the church to become their pastor, and entered upon its duties the 1st of January, 1849.

The following is a list of pastors from Mr. WARREN to the present time: Revs. O. T. WALKER, 1853-59; J. S. SWAN, 1859-61; U. B. GUISCARD 1861-62; from 1862-66, supplies, no pastor; Revs. S. B. BAILEY, 1866-67; J. C. FOSTER, 1867-68; W. W. CASE, 1868-69; E. K. FULLER, 1869-70; J. P. BROWN, 1871-77; Latham FITCH, 1877 to present time.

Baptist Church, Huntington Street.-At the annual meeting of the First Baptist Church in the city of New London, in January, 1849, a resolution was passed to give letters to those who desired to form another Baptist Church in the city, to be in fellowship with the First Church. March 14th, the same year, one hundred and eighty-five brethren and sisters of the said First Church met, and after prayer and solemn deliberation constituted themselves into a church, and having previously purchased the Universalist meeting-house in Huntington Street, agreed to be known as "The Hunting Street Baptist Church," adopting articles of faith and covenant. Elder Jabez SWAN was elected pastor, and William P. BENJAMIN and Isaac HARRIS deacons.

March 28, 1849, the house recently bought of the Universalist society was dedicated to the worship and praise of Almighty God, and the church was publicly recognized, and the deacons elect were ordained with appropriate services. Services were preached this day by Elder J. S. SWAN appropriate to the dedication of the house, and by Elder B. COOK on the recognition of the church. Elder P. G. WIGHTMAN preached in the evening. The following is a list of pastors: J. P. SWAN, S. B. GRANT, A. P. BUEL, J. B. BARRY, J. J. TOWNSEND, J. S. SWAN, and J. K. WILSON.

The Universalist Church.--
A Universalist society was formed in New London in the year 1835, and occasional services held, but no church was erected or regular ministry established till 1843, when an edifice of brick was erected on Huntington Street, and dedicated March 20, 1844. Rev. T. J. GREENWOOD was its pastor for four years. In 1849 it was sold by the trustees in order to liquidate the debts of the society, and was purchased by the Third Baptist Church. In August of the same year the Universalist society purchased the former Episcopal church on Main Street for three thousand five hundred dollars. This was subsequently sold, and services have since been held in Allyn Hall. A church edifice is now in process of erection. Among the pastors are mentioned the names of Rev. J. C. WALDO, Mr. CAMPBELL, and George W. GAGE. The church has no pastor at present.

St. Mary Star of the Sea, Roman Catholic Church.-The holy sacrifice of the mass was first celebrated in this city on Washington Street, in about the year 1840, by Father FITTON, the great pioneer of New England Catholicity, then stationed in Worcester, Mass. The second place in which mass was celebrated by this honored divine was the corner of Bank and Blinman Streets. He soon noted indications of success, and at once commenced the erection of a church edifice, which was soon after completed. This was located on Jay Street. Father FITTON was soon succeeded by Father BRADY, who in 1848 was followed by Father James GIBSON, the first resident pastor. From this date, 1848, New London has been a distinct parish. He remained until 1850, when Rev. Peter BLENKINSOP became pastor; in 1851 Rev. P. DUFFY, who was soon succeeded by Rev. F. STOKES, who officiated until October, 1852. He was followed by Rev. Thomas RYAN, during whose pastorate a church was erected on Truman STREET. The Jay Street church was still held by the parish and used for Sunday-school purposes.

In 1858, Father RYAN was succeeded by Rev. P. A. GAYNOR, who organized St. John's Literary Society. Rev. Father GAYNOR remained until 1866, and was followed by Rev. B. TULLY, who stayed but a short time. He purchased the lot on the corner of Washington and Huntington Streets. In August, 1867, Rev. P. GRACE, D.D., became pastor and commenced the erection of the present church. His service here was brief. His successor was Rev. E. A. O'CONNER, who had as an assistant Father FURLONG. St. Mary's Benevolent Society was organized by Father O'CONNER.

Father O'CONNER died in 1871, leaving Father FURLONG in temporary charge. Father M. TIERNEY became pastor in May, 1872, and remained until some time during the year 1873. He organized the Star of the Sea Total Abstinence Society. About Jan. 1, 1874, Rev. P. P. LALOR assumed the pastoral charge, and during his pastorate the present beautiful and substantial church edifice was completed, one of the finest in New England. It was dedicate din May, 1876, with elaborate ceremonies. He remained until 1879. Father LALOR was a very popular man, and had a high reputation for executive ability.

In losing Father LALOR the Catholics of New London have been singularly fortunate in his successor, the present popular incumbent, Rev. T. BRODERICK. His priestly zeal, his self-sacrificing spirit, his gladsome temperament and engaging manners quickly gained for him the affections of his people. Father LALOR's mantle of popularity fell on worthy shoulders. Immediately after taking possession of the parish, Father BRODERICK commenced to beautify the grounds about the church and pastoral residence, and is still making improvements. St. Mary Star of the Sea is now in a prosperous condition, and is one of the strongest parishes in Connecticut.

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