^ THE PRESENT CHURCH EDIFICE, DEDICATED JAN. 20, 1836. THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, EAST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, I7CX2 1QCX2. \V1LLIAM BODLE TUTHILIv, Fastor. HARTKOBD: Press of THK HARTFORD PRINTING Co., (Elihu C.eer Sons,) 16 State Street. 1902. O send o^lt thy light and thy truth; let them lead me: Let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles, Psalm xliii: 3. All space is holy; for all space Is filled by Thee ; but human thought Burns clearer in some chosen place, "Where Thy oWii Words of loVe are taught. Here be they taught; and may We knoW That faith Thy servants kneW of old, "Which onWard bears through Weal and Woe, Till Death the gates of heaVen unfold. Nor We alone: may those Whose broW ShoWs yet no trace of human cares, Hereafter stand Where We do noW, And raise to Thee still holier prayers. ANDREWS NORTON. 2012374 PREFACE. The Two Hundredth Anniversary of the First Congre- gational Church of East Hartford, Connecticut, was observed May 25-27, 1902. The event was a most happy one and that some of the good things said and done may the longer abide with us and be the better preserved for those who come after us, the church issues this commemorative volume. Many things which contribute to the enjoyment and profit of such a festival it is of course impossible to report. Old friendships were renewed. "Why its like the general res- urrection of the dead!" said good Pastor Holmes. Fragrant memories were brought to us out of the past. The spirit of the fathers came upon us. The God of all grace added His blessing. The success of the anniversary was the result not only of the hearty cooperation of the members of the committees in charge, but also in no small degree to the generous aid ren- dered by friends outside the church. Mindful of this the church would gladly acknowledge its indebtedness to the choirs of the St. John's Episcopal Church of East Hartford and of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Burnside ; further to other fellow townfolk and friends who helped to make the music one of the most pleasing and profitable parts of the anniversary. A rare collection of articles of interest connected with the history of the church and the town added much to the en- joyment of the occasion and an acknowledgment of indebted- ness is due to all who loaned articles for that exhibition. Special thanks are due to the Rev. Theodore J. Holmes for his interest in the anniversary as shown by the invalu- able service which he rendered. The public press was most gracious in the notice taken of our doings and by careful reports has greatly assisted us in the preparation of this book. Finally, for full permission to make use of his valuable History of East Hartford, we thank our fellow townsman, Mr. Joseph O. Goodwin. EAST HARTFORD, CONN., December 31, 1902. CONTENTS. Page. PREFACE 5 SERMON n SUNDAY SCHOOL ADDRESSES, John B. Smith 24 Rev. Theodore J. Holmes . . . . . . . . 33 HISTORY ............ 38 BIOGRAPHICAL, Rev. Samuel Woodbridge 58 Rev. Eliphalet Williams, D. D 59 Rev. Andrew Yates, D. D 65 Rev. Samuel Spring, D. D. ....... 67 Recollections of Dr. Spring ....... 68 Rev. Theodore J. Holmes ........ 79 Rev. Richard Meredith 80 Rev. Charles Sumner Nash, D. D 81 Rev. Samuel Allan Barrett . . . . . . . 85 Rev. William Bodle Tuthill 86 MEMORIAL TABLET, By Whom Given 87 Inscription 87 ADDRESSES, Anna M. Olmsted 88 Mrs. Sara T. Kinney 90 Rev. Theodore J. Holmes 96 Rev. Francis P. Bacheler ........ 99 DEACONS ............ 103 PRESENT OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH 104 SOCIETIES OF THE CHURCH 105 COMMITTEES ON BI-CENTENNIAL 106 HISTORICAL EXHIBIT .......... 107 PROGRAM in ILLUSTRATIONS. PRESENT CHURCH EDIFICE Frontispiece H. D. Olmsted. THE PULPIT Facing Page n H. D. Olmsted. CHURCH AND CHAPEL ........ " 18 H. D. Olmsted. MEMORIAL WINDOW . . . . . . . " 26 H. D. Olmsted. MINUTES OF FIRST MEETING 40 THE SECOND MEETING HOUSE . . ... 43 H. D. Olmsted. SEATING PLAN OF SECOND MEETING HOUSE ... 46 THE ORGAN " 52 H. D. Olmsted. TOMBSTONE OF REV. SAMUEL WOODBRIDGE .... 58 H. D. Olmsted. PARSON WILLIAMS, House .......... " 61 H. D. Olmsted. Doorway ......... 62 H. D. Olmsted. Page of Sermon ........ " 62 Tombstone ......... 64 H. D. Olmsted. PORTRAIT OF DR. SPRING ....... " 67 PARSONAGE " 75 H. D. Olmsted. PORTRAITS, Rev. Theodore J. Holmes " 79 Rev. Richard Meredith " 80 Rev. Charles Sumner Nash, D. D " 82 Rev. Samuel Allan Barrett " 85 Rev. William Bodle Tuthill 86 BOULDER AND TABLET ........ 94 H. D. Olmsted. COMMUNION CUPS " 103 Edward S. Goodwin. "CHAIR OF STATE" ........ 107 C. A. Porter. GLIMPSES OF THE HISTORICAL EXHIBIT . " 108 C. A. Porter. SITES OF HOMES OF EARLY SETTLERS " in H. D. Olmsted. ' THE PULPIT. 11 SERMON. THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, Rev. THEODORE J. HOLMES. This sermon was preached at the opening service of the Anniver- sary, Sunday morning, May twenty-fifth. ."the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." I Timothy iii: 15. The thought revealed in these words suggests the special significance of our gathering to-day. No institution has a right to a birthday celebration simply because it is old : "The hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. " This two-hundredth anniversary means a life- venerable not only for age but for character. It sobers us to think of the generations it represents. To some of us who can remember nearly half a century or more, who realize how many, many of whom we used to know and love, have entered into rest, it seems somewhat like having lived in a previous state of existence. Yet this occasion is not a funeral, but a festival, a glad thanksgiving day, when we praise the Heavenly Father for his wonderful goodness and set up here our Ebenezer: "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Such remembrance is our best inspiration. We look back that we may look .forward, sure that Jehovah, who has been our pillar of cloud and of fire in the past will be our guide and strength in years to come. As one center of such thoughts of praise and hope, I take these words of the Epistle: "The Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." The " truth " referred to here is explained immediately after : ' 'And without controversy great is the mystery of god- 12 liness: He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory." Of this truth, the church is the pillar, supports it as a column holds the roof of a build- ing ; it is the ground, as a foundation sustains the whole super- structures. That is, the stability, the existence of Christianity depends on believers who together stand under it. In a Roman Catholic cathedral around a dome in the ceil- ing, they have inscribed these words of the apostle, with anoth- er clause, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism. We do not deny their share in the right to such inscription. We honor them for the reverence and devotion they give their church, for their powerful aid in holding for the world, the religion of the gospel. But may not we Protestant people, too, write as plainly upon the walls of our sanctuaries. "The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." The philosophy underly- ing this, with such wide application, is one which we can readily comprehend. All truth, to live and bear fruit, must become in- carnate ; must come out of abstract formulas of creed or philos- ophy and get itself into men and women ; into a body organized, equipped, earnest for its promulgation. When, a generation and more ago, Garrison and Phillips and Whittier and Mrs. Stowe and others wrote against slavery, what if the spirit they stirred in the land had remained simply a feeling, a sentiment, a conviction, would it have accomplished anything ? But when it took concrete form, in a party, with a standard about which people could rally ; in a body which had not only a heart to feel, but a voice to speak and feet to march and hands to strike, then came the great revolution. What is true of this and every other reform is as reasonable in religion. Righteousness prevails as it is embodied. That is a matter of history. How is it that the religion of the Bible has been handed down from generation to generation, now for at least four or five thousand years ? The only sufficient answer is, it has been done by the church of the living God. If the doctrines revealed to men at the beginning had remained mere formulas of confession, would they have lived till now ? The study of comparative religions, though still in its rudi- ments, has yet given us facts that are very surprising. For ex- 13 ample, we know that among the ancient Egyptians, before Moses and Abraham, there was more or less prevalent, with an advanced civilization, an exalted religious faith. They be- lieved, some at least did, in one God, spiritual, eternal, to whom they offered prayer much like that we offer to-day. Why was it that a faith like this became gradually perverted, mixed with polytheism and idolatry and the grossest vice, till it was finally swept out of existence ? Because it had no body, no organiza- tion, no divine church into which the Holy Spirit could breathe perpetual life. That ancient faith came, we are sure, from God ; how the revelation was made, what its relation was, if it had any, to the religion of the ancient Hebrews, we are not told. But while it passed away so completely, why did the re- ligion of the Jews continue down through the centuries ? In this connection we have an interesting chapter of history. Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees, in the valley of the Euphrates; a land where idolatry prevailed, but where God "had not left himself without witness." The true faith was known there, at least by some who were disposed to receive it. Certain of the hymns used by them resemble in spirit the Psalms of David, though composed probably a thousand years before his day. Now this belief, with much other knowledge, in a line with our scriptural revelation, all disappeared from that country, lost in idolatry. On the other hand Abraham, who, by divine command, left his native country and came to the land of Canaan, bringing his faith with him, established a system which though imperfect on many sides, took such deep root that it has been ever since the supreme religion of the world. What was the secret ? How could he hand his faith down to his seed and to theirs after them ? The only explanation is that it was conserved by the church which he was commis- sioned to inaugurate. He was the father of the faithful. From him sprang the institutions and laws which kept Israel a pecu- liar people. Stephen's expression in the Acts. "The church in the wilderness, " means the congregation, the general body of those who believed in Jehovah. To them were committed the oracles of God. The preservation of pure religion rested with them. ' ' The Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." 14 When we come to New Testament times the matter is still more evident Jesus said to Peter: " On this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it " Peter remembered that when he preached at Jerusalem after the ascension and the Holy Ghost fell with such power; when he saw the people convinced, pricked in the heart, persuaded to accept the new religion, he said: "Then take your stand; or- ganize , come into our fellowship ; we must hold together or we cannot live.' 1 "Repent and be baptized every one of you." Baptism was the sign of the covenant in the new church as cir- cumcision had been in the old. The three thousand converts replied: That is reasonable and right; we will, and at once they joined the little company of the disciples. It is recorded that from the very first they "continued steadfastly in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. "And the Lord added to them day by day, those that were being saved." Along that line exactly, Christianity was developed. After this, there is constant reference in the history to "the church. " There was a great persecution against the church. " Saul made havoc of the church;" "Then had the churches rest;" So were the churches established in the faith and increased in number daily. " All this was by divine appointment ; but it was not merely a matter of authority, it was a necessity. Is it possible to conceive of any way in which the religion of Jesus Christ could have been started and continued except by such an organization ; its confessors standing togeth- er against all their enemies, praying and working in unison for the establishment of the Lord's kingdom ? So, would it be pos- sible for Christianity to survive in the ages yet to come, except as it rests on the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth ? This general fact, which has its basis so clearly in reason, in revelation and in history, suggests one or two inferences which are worth our attention. i. We see the responsibility which rests 011 any individual church. "Truth " is to be held up by "the church of the liv- irg God. " What is that ? The church invisible ? No, indeed ; such an expression is vague, intangible ; it does not suggest the eyes, ears, mouth, feet, hands that are necessary for service; 15 the end can be reached only by separate, live churches, one by one, each in its own place, in its own way, striving to establish the truth. We want a "church visible, " which is the name they once gave this building where we are assembled, because it was seen, from afar, in all directions. No one supposes that tLe division of Christian people into various denominations was a matter of accident; we can see how it may have been designed in order to individualize the body, to set every member to work, to secure the stimulus com- ing from the healthy emulations which such differences inspire. Every Christian has a right to love his own church better than any other, to be proud of it, to do all in his power to make it such that he can be proud of it, to be sure that it is proud of him ; not cherishing toward it any mere personal conceit ; not indulging a narrow bigotry speaking of it as the church, out of which everyone is practically a heathen and a publican, but lov- ing it as a part of Christ's body, set in the world for its redemp- tion ; and while working for it with all his might, praying earn- estly, Lord, "Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem. " Only so will the kingdom come. Here in this town, what has kept the Christian faith su- preme in such degree, through these centuries ? The church of course ; the continuous ministry, the continuous Sabbath ser- vices, with all the various instrumentalities by which the body of Christ has accomplished its mission. From the original or- ganization in 1702, or added to it, there came in time other churches that have been doing excellent service and it is the in- fluence of these forces combined that has kept this, till to-day, a Christian community. So it is throughout the land. When it is said the church stands under the truth we are thinking of course not only of intellectual faith, but of faith vitalized, bearing its appropriate fruit. " From scheme and creed the light goes out, The saintly fact survives, The blessed Master none can doubt, Revealed in holy lives/' The "truth" means, brotherhood, love that reaches out to the whole human race. In the year 1800, the General Associa- tion of Connecticut decided to send a missionary "far hence to 16 the heathen;" that meant as it was explained to "the Indian tribes in the unknown wilderness beyond Lake Erie. " The first missionary set out from Hartford, "not only alone but on foot and with his luggage on his back, to rejoice in whatever oppor- tunities he might find of being helped along by any charitable traveler with a spare seat in his wagon." That was a small start, not more than a grain of mustard seed, but the seed grew, in our own denomination and others till it became a mighty power ; " and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." So that the century then opening witnessed, before its close, wider gain in missionary work than had been achieved in all the years since Christianity began. But the brotherly love inspired by the truth reaches not only people at the ends of the earth, but those as well who are just about us ; reaches them with a gospel not simply for the life to come, but for the life that now is, in all its manifold needs and concerns. President Roosevelt, this last week, at the Presbyterian Home Mission Centennial in New York, spoke of "the one hundred years of earnest effort to spread abroad the gospel, to lay deep the moral foundations upon which true national great- ness must rest. " This utterance, by our chief magistrate, voices the best sentiment of the land concerning the beneficent effects of Chris- tianity. The church is every way man's best friend. We Christians obey the first great commandment only as we obey the second. With regard to the social questions which are under discussion, complaint is sometimes made that preachers do not lay down the law on the subject more definitely ; but the fact is preachers do not always know what the law is, in its specific applications. Nobody knows. Authors who write books like "Looking Backward "do not know; theoretical reformers and professors do not know ; we Christian people, among the rest, are at sea, but we have this advantage, we have an anchor sure and steadfast, our rule of brotherly love. It is a sign of pro- gress that in the solution of these problems, the churches are taking a more definite and persistent share, through their insti- tutional methods, their theological seminaries and otherwise; accepting this study as a part of their discipleship ; are getting 17 more and more determined that all their influence shall be di- rected to establish the royal law according to the scripture, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." And all this as a matter not of benevolence but of justice and right. In every other particular as well as this, truth means righteousness. We repudiate, as our fathers did, the union of church and state, yet there is a sense in which it might be a real good, if only the church should control the state, not by arbitrary, intolerant law, but by the moral forces essential to pure and undefiled religion. Indeed, is it not true, in a large degree, that any community is virtually what the church there makes it. The Psalmist says: "O God . . . thy right hand is full of righteousness." What if that could be said uniformly of God's people ; a hand full, with no room for anything evil ; the right hand, where the power lies. What an irresistible force Christendom would be, the world over, if all its strength, its money, its learning, its social life, its political energies were spent continually in the interest of righteousness. The prophet says to ancient Israel: "Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem," "Arise, shine." The church that shines is the church that wins. Any congregation that answers to this de- scription is surely a part of the "Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." 2. Another inference from the Apostle's words is: We see the privilege of belonging to the church of Christ. If it has indeed such a vital office, any one may well covet the honor of sharing its responsibilities. Belonging to it does not mean membership merely ; that alone would never hold up the truth; it might work the other way; as mere bulk in an army may be its ruin, if it is not organized, drilled with the mind and the capacity to fight. It is belonging to a church that helps ; as you speak of be- longing to a party, pledging it your hearty support ; as you be- long to a firm in business, engaging to perform certain service, to furnish certain capital, expecting to be faithful to such cove- nant on your honor as a man ; as you belong to an army, sur- rendering your will, absolutely, the hardest sacrifice a soldier has to make, offering your life for its flag. Belonging to a church means all this and more; you have given yourself to 18 its service; you are not your own any longer, seeking just your personal gratification and gain ; you have entered into covenant with it, to seek its good, to maintain its honor, to accomplish its mission. We must keep in mind our individual accountability, "Ye are the body of Christ and members in particular." Every member has his own particular function. One of the earliest acts of this parish, mentioned in Mr. Goodwin's history, was to vote, "a rate of three and a half pennies in the pound to sat- isfy the Rev. John Reed for his pains in the ministry among us." Again, when in 1704 they decided to fortify certain houses on this side of the river against the .Indians, a committee was appointed ' ' to proportion each man's share that he is to doe of said fortification." So early did they emphasize the principle of proportionate giving and proportionate work, which we regard a vital law to- day, that there may be no talent hidden, no power wasted, no light that does not shine. This is what supports the truth. A historian says : " Rome fell in its last days because no one be- longed to it." That is, everybody was living for self and not for country. So, any church is alive according to the number of those who belong to it. Paul writing the Galations, refers to "James, Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars " there; of every other congregation since then, it might be said of certain men and women; they seem to be its pillars; they support, stand under all its life and work. To some of us the record of the last half century suggests names with which we are very familiar, of those who have been among the pillars of this church ; we should like a list of them from the beginning. It is the privilege of any who belong to Christ, to belong to his church. Much might be said, naturally, of the obligations to con- fess the Saviour before men. A distinguished scholar in this country who had always believed in Christianity but claimed he could work for it as well, in his individual capacity as a student and a man, came to see his mistake and joined the church, say- ing in his public confession: " Reflection upon the superior val- ue of organized over unorganized Christian life made the step a positive duty. " Why is not that sound ? For anyone who believes in the gospel and wants it to triumph, to stand off and CHURCH AND CHAPEL. 19 say, " God bless you, " without lending a hand, without com- mitting himself, openly and faithfully to its service, is as though a man in the Civil War, seeing the desperate straits of the gov- ernment, should have stood off and said, "Mr. Lincoln, God bless you; you are doing a good work; the flag ought to be hon- ored, the Union preserved ; it is a pity you do not have better support.-" Saying all this, fervently, without enlisting, putting on the uniform, going to the front, or, if obliged to stay at home, without v taking sides actively for the Union ! With such loyalty to the flag the government would have gone down ; with such loyalty to God, Christianity would go down. Christ has appointed his church as his army which, alone, by his grace can establish the truth; how can anyone who believes in Him fail to see his individual responsibility to the church of Christ ! A man in East Hartford once said to me: "Pastor you've seen me often among your hearers, but never among your helpers. I've always thought of myself as belonging to the reserved corps of the Lord's army; but now it does seem to me high time the reserves were called up, and you may count on me from this time on." Are there not some of you in this congregation who ought to enlist, straightway, like that ? The church invites earnestly the co-operation of all who approve its mission. We offer them a share with us in work which is calculated to promote the best good of this community, and the advancement of the Divine Kingdom a share in win- ning the triumph which is sure to come. We are not blind to the conditions and forces which stand in the way of victory, but we are confident they will be all overcome. It is obvious that in some quarters the standard of truth has greatly changed. The Saybrook Fathers, two hundred years ago, said: "That your faith be right and divine, the word of God must be the foundation of it and the authority of the word the reason of it." But now we hear the declaration that final authority lies not in the scripture, but in the individual consciousness. That we are to believe only what seems to us true; that objective history is of no account; that subjectivity is the only real thing, etc. We are told this view prevails now largely among philosophers of Germany, but it is no new idea, no modern invention even there. A writer mentions the fact that in Voltaire's day, in the eigh- 20 teenth century, he had the patronage, the hearty support of all the most potent forces of the government and of society. On the throne sat a powerful monarch, Frederick II., who was an open and zealous deist. He filled the university with professors who taught his doctine. The great libraries, under his control, spread the teachings far and wide. In every way, to the end of his reign his powerful influence was used to banish the super- natural from the scriptures and to make them a mere human book, of use only so far as it accorded with human reason. Yet Christianity still lives in Germany. When recently they laid in Berlin the corner-stone of the American church our minister to that country, Andrew D. White, a man of great mind, of wide learning, of most tolerant religious spirit, delivered an ad- dress in which he said: " Never was the Christian church, in all its branches, so pure, so earnest, so devoted to good works as now. . . . More and more Christianity centers in love to God and love to man, and hence are evolved multitudes of blessings in all nations." So the philosopher and the King and the rest of them did not accomplish their end. It is a relief to some of us who are unable to apprehend all the problems in- volved in the more advanced critical study, to know that, to a large extent, its leaders hold as resolutely as any of us to the supreme authority of the scriptures as the word of God. What a turmoil of thought we are in, nowadays, about the things we do not understand ; about all the strange mysteries of matter and of mind ; about the meaning of human life for this world and beyond. But let us remember thankfully that no one needs to wait till all these questions are settled before coming into the Lord's kingdom. The truth is so simple. Accepting Jesus Christ for our master we may bring all our perplexities to him. He knows. His spirit will lead us into all truth. The vital question is; are we willing to take His yoke and learn of Him, without any reservation, in love and trust and faithful obedi- ence ? And while this fundamental faith, the sufficiency of which we are learning better these later years, is being held up by the church of the living God everywhere, it need not be a matter of alarm that so many adversaries are striking at the founda- tions of Christianity. When the old prophet, that day, hiding 21 in the cave, thought in his pessimistic mood he was the only man in that region faithful to Jehovah, the Lord said to him : "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal." There is a tonic to our faith. When the forces just about us, within our vision, which make for righteousness, seem so few comparatively, against all the forces of evil, then we need to keep in mind that the Lord has a countless host of helpers whom we do not see, who are true to him. Above all it is our comfort to know that we have with us Elijah's God. Our Saviour said to the apostles before he left them: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and disciple all nations." Therefore, because all power is given unto me, I will give it unto you ; there are not many of you and you are weak, with small attainments, without worldly goods or social position. Yet, go forth, for back of you is the very throne of the Almighty. They recalled this a little later when the power fell at Pentecost We may not expect the Holy Spirit to work now as He did then or as He has done in many later awakenings, but in some way He will work mightily if the churches are willing. It is said the times have so changed that revivals of religion are not needed now ; but something is needed, evidently. A minister has remarked that, at the beginning, one sermon converted three thousand souls, while to-day it takes three thousand sermons to convert one soul. What makes the difference ? The Saviour breathed upon the disciples and said, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." They did, one by one, receive the gift and the blessing came ; it was that breath which started the rushing mighty wind. So true revival always comes. A historian of our Connecticut churches says: "Nothing but the extraordinary grace of God in the great awakening of 1740 could have saved the churches from apostacy. " We need in our time to offer earnestly the prophetic prayer: "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord ; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old." But we want to re- member, too, his appeal, in the same connection: "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion. " Was there ever a time, friends, more than now when all the hosts of God needed to rally for the defense of Christianity ! 22 One of the prophets describing the old battle for the King- dom of God, represents his enemies as personified by the pagan ruler, "Gog and his land Magog." Against this combined force, Jehovah summons his people, exhorting them to stand together, saying to them, I will stand with you, my strength shall be yours : our side will win. The heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel." Our hymn based upon that prophecy suggests a rally song for our day. "We are living, we are dwelling, In a grand and awful time, In an age on ages telling ; To be living is sublime. Hark, the waking up of nations, Gog and Magog to the fray ; Hark, what soundeth? is creation Groaning for its latter day? Worlds are charging, heaven beholding, Thou hast but an hour to fight ; Now the blazoned cross unfolding, On, right onward for the right! On, let all the soul within you For the truth's sake go abroad ; Strike, let every nerve and sinew, Tell on ages, tell for God ! " Let us believe that this old First Church of East Hartford, on this two hundredth anniversary is but renewing its youth and is to be in the future centuries even more than it has been in the past, for this community and for all the earth, a mighty power for good, the very power of God unto salvation. I congratulate you all, friends, who are enjoying such an honorable relation to the Lord's everlasting kingdom, who are faithfully standing under it in its earthly mission. Such blessed service brings us into fellowship with all, the world over, disciples of every name, who are working for God, and makes us with them, "fellow helpers to the truth;" it brings us into fellowship with the redeemed in glory, who having been, here or elsewhere, pillars of the truth, have come to the Mas- ter's reward, promised in the Revelation: "Him that over- cometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God;" it brings us into fellowship with the Heavenly Father himself and with His Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Ghost. 23 So with all the good forces of heaven and earth, we are co-operating, to bring the day when "the Church of the Living God " shall have accomplished its mission, when the truth shall have been forever established and the world redeemed. "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations, forever and ever, Amen. " 24 SUNDAY SCHOOL SERVICE. ADDRESS BY JOHN B. SMITH. Mr. Smith served as a deacon in this church from 1863 until his removal from East Hartford in 1879. He was superintendent of the Sunday School for about fifteen years. To the people of this church he is still known as "Deacon Smith, the best Superintendent that the Sunday School ever had." As a worker in the cause of temperance, and as a contributor to the columns of the Sunday School Times he has achieved more than a local reputation. It means much to me to stand here this afternoon by your kind invitation and to have a part in this commemora- tive service with my old pastor, confidant, friend, Rev. T. J. Holmes, the beloved, my beloved. On this floor in front of this altar at the age of fourteen years, I first took upon myself the public vows of disciple- ship. This is the church of my first love and longest service. The anticipation of this occasion has brought to me a flood of precious memories, some of which I must share with you. But this is a Sunday school service someone says, or is it my own voice I hear, and how inappropriate old-time mem- ories are to little children. But then is not history appropriate to children? Is it not biblical to tell of the Lord's ways and the Lord's people to the children? They need to know something of the olden time. Then, too, children imply parents. A school implies teachers. The book we study here and the reasons that we study it interest all humanity, making an ideal Sun- day school an all souls affair. So I am sure you will indulge me if I use most of my time in reminiscence. But now a new difficulty arises, that of selection. Rev. Henry Clay Trumbull, whose name and presence were of old very familiar and very welcome in this Sunday school, used to tell of an old lady who didn't like the Interna- tional Sunday School Lessons because they left out so much. 25 As I look back, the multitude of loved and honored faces that hang- fresh in my heart's picture gallery, and the many significant events of which I would fain speak, and the varied needs of the occasion are so many, that even if I am so fortu- nate as to make worthy selections so much will get crowded out, that I know that if Mr. Trumbull's old lady is here she will be much dissatisfied, and I cannot blame her for I am a good deal dissatisfied myself. Mr. Samuel Spring was my first East Hartford pastor. Dr. vSpring, the gentleman, the peace lover, the kind neighbor, the thoughtful friend, prompt, self-forgetful, self-depreciating, honored and loved by all who knew him. Certainly, as was appropriate, there was for the most part great peace in his days, and in the twelve years next thereafter a more quiet and orderly parish than East Hartford could hardly be found. After Dr. Spring came Mr. Holmes, the pastor, the builder, the brother, in the strength of early manhood, cour- ageous, quick-witted, sympathetc, helpful. We all loved him. He was a ready and strong singer and leader, and besides his excellent pulpit gifts was a delightful platform speaker, as he will soon show those who have not yet heard him. When he went away he took our hearts with him and has kept them ever since. Two years and a half of severe discipline followed, but the unity and restored good judgment of the church was con- spicuously shown in the invitation soon, and, so far as I remember, unanimously extended to Rev. T. T. Munger, then in California, to minister to the church for one year. He accepted our invitation, and that year of preaching has been, to some of us at least, a delightful memory and inspira- tion ever since. Then came Rev. Richard Meredith, leaving the Asylum Street M. E. Church and the Methodist denomination for ours. He was a thoughtful, able, popular preacher, a Bible student and Bible lover, and he entered into our parish work and Sunday school and Normal Class plans with a hearty helpfulness which endeared him to us all. My removal with family from East Hartford to New Britain occurred during his pastorate. 26 My father's family had removed to East Hartford in No- vember, 1847, to the Major Pitkin place, which was bought of Mr. Ashbel Olmsted, prominent in the affairs of church, society and town. His children are still with you ; you cannot give them up, they cannot give you up. His grandson I salute as my honored successor, I trust in a rapidly ascending scale of merit, in the superintendency of this Sunday school. The location and associations of our new home helped at once to bring us into the midst of things. Dr. Spring was a very near neighbor and almost a daily caller who brought gifts which surprised us as much by their great liberality as by their frequency. Major Pitkin and East Hartford history were inseparable and every body talked of it. The General Pitkin place was next south of us and almost equally distinguished. The stately residence with its wonderful carvings in closets and over the front door, of humble Aunt Abby Williams, was just across the street. The rest of us thought she was a saint almost made perfect, but under the spell of a stern theology she classed herself with the vilest of the vile, and hardly ever had any hope of salvation. She was the aged and quaint daughter of Parson Williams of a long past generation, and many an evening I used to sit by her small, cracked, smoky, and generally detestable old stove, which she regarded as an undeserved luxury, and read to her or enjoyed her interest- ing conversation, always kind and charitable to everyone but herself. In this same house lived Deacon Hayden, tallest and worthiest of men, with his shortest and most Christian of wives, often doing his chores at night after his return from an evening prayer meeting that he had attended in some dis- tant part of the town, and to which he had carried, very likely, with his unsanctified old white horse, a wagon load or a sleigh load of people. Col. Solomon Olmsted, a wise and wealthy man of affairs, was then a leader in church, town and state and was prominent in every good word and work. I remember him as a temperance reformer, early bringing John B. Gough to East Hartford to lecture almost annually, and I have no MEMORIAL WINDOW IN THE CHAPEL TO MAJOR SAMUEL PITKIN, FIRST SUPERINTENDENT OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 27 doubt that the consistent, steadfast attitude of this church on this question for more than a generation, even requiring the expression of a total abstinence purpose as a condition of church membership, was not a little due to those forceful and eloquent presentations of the subject by John B. Gough. Certainly I have always felt myself greatly indebted, for the privilege of hearing those wonderful lectures, to the wise enterprise and generosity of Deacon Solomon Olmsted. Mr. Gough was often, perhaps always entertained by Deacon J. A. Ayres, who was one of Col. Olmsted's most valuable co-work- ers. Deacon Ayres, with others, canvassed the town, district by district, again and again, in a campaign of lectures and pledge signing. He was then and for many years thereafter a teacher at the American Asylum for the Deaf. He was a broad man of active brain, genial, scholarly, public spirited, liberal, graceful. A most delightful man to meet, and in- fluential in all affairs. He was my longest and best remem- bered East Hartford Sunday school teacher. Afterwards we came to have a quartet of wealthy, gen- erous, reliable men whose harmonious co-work made financial music, or at any rate did very much to insure financial success to this church for many years: Francis Hanme'r, Charles Forbes, Reuben Chapman, and Deacon Horace Williams. Happy is the church that has a quartet of such a character and calibre. To Albert Raymond I am under many personal obliga- tions. He lived for men and deserves pages of recognition, but needs none for the bell sounds his praise every time the clock strikes, and the Raymond Library Building and its con- tents are his enduring memorial. But Esther B. Raymond was his worthy partner in winning his fortune and equally interested with him that every dollar of it should go for the world's betterment and I suppose was the largest single donor this church ever had. Let her works praise her in the gates. My first East Hartford Sunday school superintendent was Mr. M. L. Rogers, principal of East Hartford Academy. A man of distinguished appearance and of good ability. He was succeeded by Deacon J. Hubbard Wells of eminent piety and soundness of theology, and who tried hard to secure Bible 28 study and indoctrination. Deacon Ayres was his successor and he soon began and long continued a weekly teachers' meeting at his own house which was always interesting and well attended and which had much added interest to me on account of a certain rosy face and pair of black eyes that were always present and that afterwards, for one blessed eighteen months, looked at me from the opposite side of my own table. After Deacon Ayers as superintendent, came Deacon Horace Williams, a genuine lover of children and of Sunday- schools and of Sunday school machinery ; and the era of Sun- day School Concerts with speakers from Hartford and annual Picnics and Christmas festivals, of weekly contributions and of special Sunday School songs came in, all belonging I judge, in some degree, to the things that should remain. Mrs. Williams, too, became a large factor in all these things and endeared herself to all our hearts. Miss Delia Pitkin, afterwards Mrs. George Williams, and Miss Ellen Hollister, became associated as primary class teach- ers, (infant class we then called it), and a lovelier pair with more natural aptitude for interesting little children and in- clining their feet to virtue's ways it were hard to find. Under such magnetic leadership the total membership of the infant class was often over one hundred. The time came when Mrs. Williams's health could not bear the winter climate of Connecticut, and as Deacon Wil- liams was too good a husband to allow her to go alone, and as her absences became quite prolonged, the name of John B. Smith was added to the honorable roll of your Sunday school superintendents and there remained, with one short interim, for fifteen years or until his removal with his family to New Britain. As for me this was a period full of faults, full of weaknesses, full of failures. Still, I cannot but feel that both for my associates and for myself it was very largely also a time of humble and earnest endeavor to teach the Word and establish minds in the knowledge and the love of it. At one time the school was able to give the Titles and Golden Texts of all the lessons for three years, and to bear a very thorough further examination on the same period. At the end of one 29 year, I remember, when we had a Sunday school concert and review of the year, Rev. Henry Clay Trumbull was with us, and we challenged him to ask any question answered in the text of the lessons for the year which the school could not answer and with great promptness and unanimity, and I remember I made the offer without a tremor. We all knew the school could stand the test and very much harder ones, and that the more questions he asked the better he and we should enjoy it. We had our "Song and Study Band" in preparation for this annual review, and no spelling match ever excited keener interest than when at its meetings we chose sides for answers, each side being questioned alternately by the leader or ques- tioning each other. And it was not merely the letter but the spirit, the meaning and the application to life that were a part of the study and drill. And we have reason to believe that our review work called national attention, through Mr. Trum- bull and others, to the importance of reviews and was influ- ential in making them a part of the International Lesson system. The use of maps and charts and blackboards was then in- troduced into our school and a Review Chart that we began is still published by the American Sunday School Union. By the organization of our school as a Missionary Society, and each class as an auxiliary with its teacher for its Presi- dent, we several-folded our missionary contributions and habitually raised with great ease and pleasure several hundred dollars per year. For years our aggregate membership was in excess of four hundred. We also organized a Sunday School Temperance Society on the same lines as the Missionary Society and held occasional meetings for reports, songs, addresses, etc. ; and for many years nearly every member, including both teachers and schol- ars, was a pledged total abstainer. And I want to bear testi- mony as a member of the Standing Committee for more than twenty years, and so present almost uniformly at the examin- ation of candidates, and a very greatly interested observer, that I have no evidence that our temperance attitude kept one single person out of either church or Sunday school or made 30 even a ripple of friction, while it certainly greatly added to the value of both to many. It does not hurt a church to stand for something. It does hurt a church not to. We had at one time and kept it up for several years, more or less frequently, a Sunday School Prayer meeting, holding it in various parts of the town, at which meetings we believe many Christians were quickened and many souls were born into the kingdom. Circumstances and I believe the Holy Spirit, once induced the teachers of this Sunday school looking into each other's faces to say one to another "Ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake," and with this for their motto, met at each other's houses for years for a two hours' session with prayer and song, Normal Class and social cheer, to carry out the spirit of the motto, accepting and faithfully fulfilling whatever assign- ments were given them, and I have often thought that there are rarely banded together a more capable or more devoted corps of teachers than that with whom it was my pleasure here to be associated and from whom I sorrowfully parted when I left the school. A banner given us by the Hillstown School was each year put into the keeping of the class that stood the highest according to our system of marking which included Attendance, Prepared lessons, Written Exercises and Contri- butions. For several years the class of young men taught by Miss Hattie Kilbourne kept the banner. At the semi-centen- nial the class had six members including the teacher, and its record was only two failures in Prepared lessons during the year and fifty-one written exercises to each member, also in- cluding the teacher. I think for, perhaps, five years the record did not go much lower. The names at the semi-cen- tennial were Howard Ensign, George King, Joseph King, Frank Roberts and Horace Williams. This class has furn- ished three Sunday School superintendents in three churches. I believe most of the class, with the teacher, is present and perhaps will favor us by standing*. The Lord bless them now and evermore and every member of the old Sunday school. In the semi-centennial year forty-two pupils were on the Roll *The class were all actually present and rose with their teacher in response to this request 31 of Honor which meant either attendance every' Sunday ex- cept three, or a prepared lesson every Sunday, and so far as I know Albert Forbes, who should be named Albert the Faith- ful, holds the National Sunday School Record by unbroken attendance for seven years. Miss Lucia Spring was for many years my Lady Assist- ant Superintendent, and truly a lady she was, thoughtful, pa- tient, tactful, wise in counsel, efficient in working. Mrs. Ralph Spencer, a Mother in Israel, succeeded her, and it is enough to say that she did not one whit fall below the high standard of her predecessor. She was an ideal Lady Assist- ant Superintendent. Mr. William Stanley was for many years Assistant male superintendent. He ordinarily excused himself from Sunday school attendance after I became superintendent, but what he did he always did well. He had a genius for good sense and was wise and sagacious in all public affairs of the town, state and nation. Little traveled yet of broad and liberal views, and cosmopolitan in his knowledge and tastes and interests, he was a remarkable man and a delightful associate. Mrs. Ashbel Olmsted, the beautiful and good ; intelligent, humble, loving, spiritual, of whom the rest of us were not worthy, but she thought we were, and we all loved her. She appreciated every good thing in us, and to our faults was at least a little blind, and that pleased us, and does still. High among the teachers, supporters, saints of the East Hartford Sunday school stands the name of Mrs. Ashbel Olmsted, and heaven is dearer because her mansion is there. Deacon George H. Goodwin, the Just, the Soldier, long our librarian, was a man of high standards and genuine in- tegrity, of literary culture, of clear thought and speech and of faithful work. He did much to select and shape the read- ing of more than a generation, and we owe him a great debt. He was a democratic aristocrat. He was my friend ; the friend of everybody. Mr. Holmes, I know, would hardly forgive me, even if I could myself, if I did not speak of Brother E. A. Parker, a man, a Christian, a Baptist. He was my neighbor first on one side then on the other, and equally good on both sides, always 32 ready with most helpful help to the neighbor, church, Sun- day school, prayer meeting that needed him and where God had cast his lot. Timothy Deming, the materialistic spiritualist, I cannot omit, in at the organization of our Sunday school, saluted at our semi-centennial as a veteran of 1819, carrying in his hoary head a crown of glory, with face aglow in our prayer-meet- ings with a joy like Mary's, when she had seen the Lord and was telling the resurrection news to the only half believing disciples, and radiant also with the assurance of his speedy second coming. Children, I beg your pardon for all this talk, to you I fear tiresome ; but you have been in my mind every moment since I began. This church and Sunday school and their long line of pastors and grand men and women are all for you. This Bible with the Father and the Saviour whom it reveals is all for you. It is yours. Possess yourselves of it, know it, love it, live it. To know it and to love it is to live. Everything else is death. Touch poison ivy with the tip of your finger and the trouble will come out all over. If a thing is right do it, if wrong let it alone. Let it alone. God's way is best. Come here to learn it from His Word. Look up every day and ask it in prayer. Walk in the light given, and the light shall daily grow and guide you till you see and know and love the Lord. Fellow Teachers A few months ago, visiting our old friend, dear friend, Edward Olmsted, at his office in the 2;th story of Park Row Building, New York, he took me up sev- eral stairways higher to the lookout on the tower and bade me look down. O how small, getting up even that little way, made everything earthy look! The men 'and women seemed only flies on the sidewalk, pigmies, rushing about ridiculously. So much does what we see depend on our point of view. The right point of view for a Sunday school teacher would have dwarfed that skyscraper and much that the men were pursu- ing, and have exalted the men till they seemed only a little lower than the angels. Let us all try to get and keep the right point of view, Mr. Moody's view, Paul's view, Jesus Christ's view. 33 Teachers, our work is to teach this word, holding it up, a light on the pathway of God's children, that they may see their way home. This is the Mission of the Sunday School. This is our mission. This message that we bring is God's panacea for all the ills of our sin sick world. Working together with Him, be it ours, so to bring it, as to save. ADDRESS BY Rev. THEODORE J. HOLMES. Some of us were present at the seventy-fifth anniversary of this Sunday school, a generation ago, and we remember what a grand celebration we had, what an inspiration it was in all our work. To-day we look back a little farther, to a time before Sunday schools were invented, and the retrospect ought to do us good. The Psalmist prayed: "So teach us to number our days that we may get us a heart of wisdom." That is a fitting prayer for our anniversary to-day. Recognizing gratefully the debt we owe this institution for all its beneficent service, in manifest ways, we may ask fairly whether its usefulness may not be increased in the days to come. Without such inquiry, numbering our days would not give us the heart of wisdom. Sometimes any one who reflects at all on the existing order of things and suggests improvements is called an old fogy ; but that is not necessarily a disreputable term. According to the dictionary, it comes from a word meaning a protector ; it was applied to the old soldiers of the royal guard. We old people must aim to be broad and tolerant, but also to be fogies in the original sense, protectors, guards, good soldiers for the truth. The only suggestion I would make regarding the Sunday school is that it has been regarded, to a great extent, the exclu- sive means of religious training ; not of course in theory but in practical effect. 34 Two vital factors have been neglected. First, the church. The tendency has been to leave the whole business of educating a child in spiritual things to the Sunday teacher. Often the school is an outside affair for which the general congregation has no concern. Evidently the church should be in closest touch with its children, giving them its warmest sympathy, exercising for them the most long- suffering patience, making room for them in all its life, provid- ing for them, at every cost, what will contribute to their enjoyment and their good. Professor Drummond, when last in this country, describing the boys' brigade movement in England, said that if people objected that drilling at the meet- ing house spoiled the carpets, he replied: "One yard of boy is worth 100 yards of carpet. " There is no effort too great, no sacrifice too exacting, for a church to make in holding the children. Then, the pastor's best opportunity is just here. If I had the privilege of addressing a company of theological students, I would say this to them, with all my might: Make it a chief function of your ministry to save the boys and girls, save them now, while they're young. Get acquainted with them from their earliest life. Keep acquainted with them. Study them, one by one, in their character, environment, education. Edu- cate them personally yourself. Never leave it to the Sunday school or the Endeavor society, senior or junior, or to any other organization. Remember that your responsibility for bringing them into the Lord's Kingdom cannot possibly be delegated to anybody else. Take time for this momentous work ; though your sermons are not so elaborate, though people grumble because you do not visit them more, the people, too, it is probable, whom you visit the oftenest. It will tax your best strength of body and soul ; but never mind, nothing else pays so abundantly in building the church of the living God. And any wise congregation will not only permit their pastor to spend himself in such work, they will demand it as the proof of his ministry. The Roman Catholics set us an example in this matter, as in some others. They have their Sunday schools and other kindred agencies, but their church recognizes its own responsibility, through the priest and otherwise, to bring the 35 young, all of them, steadily, certainly, into their fold. How can our Protestant churches secure larger accessions, not "marking time," as one statistical secretary put it, but mov- ing forward like the mighty army of which we sing? The best answer is, bring in the children. They need the church and the church needs them. No other growth could be so healthy and so sure. The other factor neglected is, the home. In multitudes of Christian families, fathers and mothers seem to have no definite part in the Christian nurture of their children, but hand it all over to the Sunday school. We need to get back to the divine law prescribed for the ancient Jews: "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul and bind them for a sign upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thine house and upon thy gates." A missionary among the Nestorians said once in the Hart- ford ministers' meeting, a native Christian in that country being asked by a traveler how Christianity could survive and flourish in that mountainous region where people were so scarce, replied : We say to our children, as the old Jews said to theirs: You are not Hittites and Hivites and Jebusites or any such people, you are Israelites; you belong to God and must in due time take your place in his family; so, they come along into the church, regularly, as a matter of course." Is there any other way so good for perpetuating the Kingdom of God? These suggestions are only those which would be approved by the best Sunday school workers. Nobody urges more earnestly than .they the duty and of the church and the home. This is a day certainly not to disparage, but to mag- nify Sunday school work, a day for us all to enlist in it anew. We can help to increase its membership. Ralph Welles, a stirring, effective worker, when we old folks were young, said one Sunday to his school: "To-night we are going to have here a rare meeting and I want you to bring the whole neighborhood." In the evening he was met 36 at the door by a man, led in by a boy, who said, "Mr. Welles, I could not bring- the whole neighborhood, so I just brought father. " If we would all adopt that philosophy, bring father, bring just one, our year book would soon show better looking statistics. We can help to raise the standard of Bible study. A serious consideration for such endeavor is the fact that the state no longer provides religious education. One of my pleasantest memories of Hartford is the school building on Asylum Hill, with its inscription across the front: " All thy children shall be taught of the Lord." Have those words ever been chiseled out yet? I hope not. They may be some day, if they come to be regarded an infringement upon relig- ious liberty. But never mind, we'll write it more conspicu- ously, more indelibly across our churches ; and we may all have a hand in keeping it there. But especially, we can help the Sunday school by living out its teaching. Many of you here I remember with peculiar affection. You were my boys and girls, forty years ago. I recollect definitely when and where and how you started in the Chris- tian life. I feel like expressing to-day a desire which has often been in my heart, since I was your pastor, to know how you have been developing all these years : Are you growing stead- ily in the things that are true and good ? What are you spending yourself for, day by day ? What is your aim, your outlook? That was a true word spoken by ex-Governor Russell of Massachusetts: "Never forget the everlasting difference between making a living and making a life. " I trust you are, every one, remembering that distinction. Your father or your grandfather was a pillar in this church. Are you? For all of you young people this anniversary ought to mean a fresh start. We want, all of us, young and old, to co-operate in making this twentieth century the grandest in the history of the world. The weakest of us can wield a power that will tell. This Memorial Sunday reminds me of a reception that was given once in Hartford by the cavalry boys to General 37 Sheridan, their old leader, whom they had learned to trust and love. As some one said of him: "A man of few inches, but every inch a man." He seemed very much delighted as one and another of those who had served under him came up to be introduced. There were officers of every grade who had been his comrades in the great fight. There was a host of privates and non-commissioned officers, among whom there came along a trooper who said: " General, I was one of your orderlies on the ride from Winchester to Cedar Creek! " Then you should have seen " Little Phil." How his face did shine : he looked as though he wanted to take the boy in his arms as he recalled their ride together that day which witnessed one of the miracles of history. It was very interesting to observe that he gave the same cordial recognition to the corporal as to any officer in his command. As we Christian people think over our good fight of faith, \ve like to remember the words of our leader, the Captain of our Salvation: "He that is faithful in a very little, is faith- ful also in much;" to know that at the end, to those who have been true to him, in high station or in the ranks, he will say, "Well done!" At this time which brings to mind the men who by their valor and sacrifice saved our nation, let us strive to emulate their spirit in our work to save the world. As we remember on this anniversary, those who were once with us in our holy war, those in this church and the good workers everywhere, in all the years, from Robert Raikes down, let us try to be their worthy successors. ' ' A noble army, men and boys, The matron and the maid, Around the Savior's throne rejoice. In robes of light arrayed ; They climbed the steep ascent of heaven, Through peril, toil and pain ; O God, to us may grace be given, To follow in their train." 38 HISTORY By HARRY DWIGHT OLMSTED. The following history of the Church was prepared for the Anniversary, and read by Mr. Olmsted at the Monday evening session. Mr. Olmsted has been actively iden- tified with the Church since 1878. He is a descendant of Captain Nicholas Olmsted, Timothy Stanley, and Thomas Burnham, three of the first settlers of East Hartford, and of Deacon Joseph Olmsted, one of the founders of this Church. Those who have attempted the collection and preparation of a paper of this kind, with the meager and tantalizingly elusive data which those early and trying days afford, will appreciate the difficulties of such a task, and no one else can. This church is, however, much better off for records, such as they are, than many others about here. The records of the ecclesiastical society are continuous from Dec. 31, 1699 to its dissolution in 1895, a period of 196 years. While the church records beginning with the account of the call and settlement of Rev. Eliphalet Williams in 1748, written in his own hand- writing as are all the subsequent church records during his pastorate, are continuous to the present time. But for many years they consist, aside from baptism and membership lists, of infrequent entries and not much really available material. They are more complete than those of either of the older churches in Hartford, which is cause for gratitude. When the company under Rev. Thomas Hooker settled at Cambridge, they complained that the settlements around Boston were being located too close together. They did not have room enough, and especially lacked meadow land. To secure the latter, together with a more democratic form of government, the party took the long and tedious journey on 39 foot through the unbroken wilderness, reaching- Hartford in the summer of 1636. The spacious and beautiful meadows, the fertile soil, the "Great River," (the main highway of the olden time) gave them their welcome to settle. It was not long before they found that the east side of the river pos- sessed great attractions which led them to establish homes on this side. Few privileges of these exiles for conscience's sake were more highly prized by them than that of public worship, and for half a century they regularly worshiped in the meet- ing houses across the great river. Let us for a moment picture them on a bright June morning, as they take their way down through the fair meadows in all their summer glory, the music of the birds accompanying them. All nature speaks of the Creator and all the people are on their way to acknowledge Him. They are plainly dressed, indeed the law restricted their apparel and they are on solemn business bent. They come to the ferry place and crossing the river go up to the meeting house which stood somewhere near the post office building, where they listen to the preach- ing of Hooker, or Stone, or Whiting who led out the south church to which he ministered many years, or Haynes, or Foster, all of whom had finished their work before this church was formed. The morning service began at nine o'clock. After meeting came the intermission which took the place of the newspaper. All the affairs of the day, its gossip and news, were interchanged, and the social greetings were passed. This was, no doubt, a great diversion in their work-a- day lives, and did much to make the wilderness life tolerable. At 2 o'clock they assembled for another long service, and toward night returned to their homes, where, as soon as the sun had set, the holy day was ended, and the thread of their life was taken up where the previous sunset had arrested it. But it was not always summer, and the days were many when to cross the ferry was too difficult or dangerous to be thought of, and in May 1694, when Rev. Timothy Wood- bridge was pastor of the Center Church the people of the east side of the river petitioned the General Court for the "liberty of a minister" here, setting forth the trouble and peril of the 40 crossing to worship. Their request was referred to the two churches for action. They reported to the next Court, October, 1694, that they had duly considered their request, and after declaring- they prize their good company and can- not support their ministry well, if they withdraw; "yet if the General Court see cause to overrule in this case we must submit." They, however, shrewdly laid conditions by which they should retain much of the revenues from east side people and property for themselves. The Court accepted their report and established the conditions, granting the liberty to settle an orthodox minister. The project of settl- ing a minister here was made difficult by the requirements for the support of the older societies in addition to their own work, and it is not until Dec. 29, 1699 that we find any record of their having accomplished anything, although much must evidently have been done previously, in the way of organiza- tion at any rate. At that time, Wm. Pitkin, Deacon Joseph Olmsted and " Leift. " Hills were chosen a committee "to act about ye meeting house, to do what they shall think needful 1 in ordering ye same as they think best." A tax of 3 pence in the pound was laid upon all the inhabitants of this society to be expended upon the meeting house, ' ' to pay one penny of it in corn and ye rest in work, if ye persons rated will take their opportunity, but if they don't then to pay ye whole in graine." Another rate of 3 half pence in the pound was laid to satisfy Rev. Mr. John Reed for his pains in the ministry here. These ecclesiastical society revenues were derived from the outset by taxation of this sort, the custom con- tinuing- until 1824. In May, 1701, the General Court granted the people of the east side permission to embody themselves in church estate. The exact date of their organization, as the Third Church in Hartford, cannot be definitely known, but the earliest record of dismission from the older churches to this one, is May 13, 1702, and the General Court, convened May 14, recognized the new church and ordered the transfer of ratable property to its society. It must, without doubt, have been formed between October, 1701 and May 13, 1702. Rev. John Reed, who was a very interesting and some- tjir.) -eft i e . iW J/TN ' fi\ i/y-A>ajfx, < MlNUTES OF THE FlRST RECORDED MEETING OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL SOCIETY, DECEMBER 29, 1699. 41 what eccentric young' man, about 20 years old, a graduate of Harvard, was given a unanimous call to the pastorate by the society, Dec. 12, 1700. He preached here for two or three years but did not accept the call to settle. His subsequent career as farmer, preacher and lawyer; for several years state's attorney for Massachusetts, was brilliant and displayed extra- ordinary ability. He was considered the greatest common lawyer before the Revolution. Dec. 30, 1702, a call to settle in the ministry here was ex- tended to Rev. Samuel Woodbridge, a graduate of Harvard the previous year, nephew of Rev. Timothy Woodbridge of the Center Church. In 1704 the people seem to have become impatient because Mr. Woodbridge had not yet taken upon him the work of a pastor here and appointed committees to try and hasten his ordination and settlement, which took place March 30, 1705. He was granted a salary of ^60, and was given a house and considerable land on condition that he remain here for life. The first meeting house was a long time in process of completion, and did not long answer the needs of the people. Very little is known of this building, which was undoubtedly a bare and uninviting structure with bare floors and seats, when it had any seats, no chimney, and probably not well built, as there are constant votes for its repair after a very short time. A guard seat near the door for safety from the Indians was probably never really needed and was finally removed and a pew built in its place. The meeting house was built on the green now rescued and appropriately marked through the efforts of the Nathan Hale Lyceum and the Daughters of the American Revolution. It was set on a slight knoll long since removed. In 1714 gal- leries were ordered built and Mr. Woodbridge was granted permission to build himself a pew. Four years later four green casements were ordered for the gallery windows. In 1730 the question arose whether to add to and thoroughly repair the meeting house or build a new one, and for several years the agitation continues, large sums are spent in repairs, but finally in 1739, its days of usefulness over, a new meeting house was decreed. 42 Of Mr. Woodbridge and his ministry little is known. He was evidently an able minister who had the affections of the people in a high degree. That he was a believer in good music is evidenced by the fact that his uncle, Rev. Timothy Wood- bridge, gave a singing lecture here in June, 1727. This lecture was printed, and as a glimpse of the olden time let me quote a few sentences from the preface : ' ' The following discourse was delivered at a lecture for the encouragement of Regular Singing, a comely and commendable practice ; which for want of care in preserving, and skilled instructors to revive, has languished in the country till it is in a manner Lost and Dead; yea it has been so Long Dead, as with some it Stinketh, who judge it a great crime to Recover it againe." The psalm books in use then in this country had no tunes in them and the tunes themselves had been forgotten. The psalm was lined out and the singing conducted by a leader. Many con- gregations used only four or five tunes, and often tunes called by the same name were wholly dissimilar in congregations but a few miles apart, which is not strange when it is consid- ered that no notes had been used for nearly a century and the tunes were such as the leader's memory of tradition or invent- ive skill could furnish. The singing was slow and unmelodi- ous and the Woodbridges were very anxious for a return to musical service. The proposed change was fiercely resisted everywhere. Churches were almost rent asunder by the attempt. It was a common saying, "Sing by note, the next thing will be pray by rule and preach by rule, and then comes Popery. " The second meeting house was built under Mr. Wood- bridge's pastorate, but before it was completed he fell sick, and was unable to preach for several years at the close of his life, so that his active ministry is almost entirely associated with the old edifice. This second meeting house was voted in 1739, and Cap- tain Joseph Pitkin, Captain Jonathan Hilles and Mr. Samuel Wells were chosen a building committee. The next year they requested the General Assembly to be allowed to raise this building east of the old one, the northwest corner to be not more than three feet from the front of it, and their request 43 was granted. The building- was sixty-six feet long north and south and forty-six feet wide, twenty-seven feet between joints, about half the size of this one. There were three doors, and aisles leading from them divided the high square pews, which had seats around three sides and the door orna- mented with slender turned balusters in the other. Narrow aisles gave access to the other pews. The pulpit on the west side was high up on the wall, a somewhat ornate structure with a huge and ornamental sounding- board over it like a great extinguisher, or a hanging spire. Galleries occupied the other three sides, which later were changed over and used for the choir. There was no organ, and for a long time no musical instrument save a pitch pipe or tuning fork. The floors and seats were bare, there was no stove or heating apparatus of any kind, not even a chimney. Outside it was plain and severe. No steeple pointed its finger heavenward. No bell summoned the worshiping congregation. Neither blinds nor curtains adorned the windows, although these may have been placed back of the pulpit later. Plain and bare as this edifice was, it was destined to have a long life of useful- ness and be a silent witness to many outpourings of divine grace, and some of the greatest revivals in our history. The meeting house was "dignified" in 1742. This curious custom, which was continued until 1824, consisted in assigning the seats in accordance with taxes paid, age, and station in life of the parishioners. Naturally it often led to jealousies and hard feelings. The seats of honor were around the pulpit and included, besides the minister's pew and deacon's seat, the widow's pew, which was provided for those who were unable to pay. Mr. Woodbridge preached the election sermon in 1724, the printed cop} 7 of which shows him to have been a schol- arly, devout and practical preacher, earnest and fearless, yet courteous ; somewhat of a reformer, urging upon the august Assembly the need of restricting the drink traffic. He was active in endeavoring to have Yale College, of which he was a fellow from 1732 to 1743, moved to Hartford. He was evidently no less beloved by his ministerial associates than by his people, and after his health failed, a meeting of 44 the association was held at his home to have the benefit of his advice in the weighty matter of restraining Rev. Geo. White- field's attacks on the ministers and churches. During his long illness preaching was provided when possible, but by no means regularly. He failed to furnish a pulpit supply him- self, and all efforts to settle a colleague failed, calls being extended to Revs. Chauncey Whittlesey, Wm. Adams, Jona- than Hunting and Noah Welles, all of whom declined. Rev. Samuel Newell was hired for about two years, but the church having become restive under the long absence of regular ministrations attempted unsuccessfully to deprive Mr. Wood- bridge of his salary, the General Court ordering it paid. After forty years of as faithful service as his health permitted he "fell on sleep June 9, 1746." After his death, the church, in 1747, extended a call to Rev. Eliphalet Williams to preach on probation, and the society concurred six months later. Two months after this he was called to settle and was ordained and installed March 29, 1748. Rev. Solomon Williams, his father, preached the ser- mon. Revs. Timothy Edwards, Samuel and Elnathan Whit- man, Benjamin Colton, Stephen Steel and Thomas White were the other officiating ministers. At the time of the church's call, the meeting recorded a protest against sundry articles in the Saybrook platform, with which they "were not well satisfied," which indicated a strong degree of Congrega- tional independence. At the same time they came under its consociation system, which resulted in the churches being called Presbyterian at a later date. Thus began the long pastorate of this church, and one which was to powerfully affect the community. Dr. Williams was a strong man, very industrious, a profound scholar, a stern theologian. Faithful according to his beliefs, and fear- less, he inspired awe and reverence rather than affection, but was highly honored and respected. Some six years after his settlement, the meeting house was painted and four big square- pews were built over the gallery reached by separate stair- ways. These were for the colored people, slaves and servants. Low seats for the children were also built in convenient places. 45 In 1757, Mr. George Pitkin was chosen to set the psalm, with Lieft. Olmsted, Mr. Aaron Benton and Mr. Russell Woodbridge as assistants. Colonel John Pitkin was desired to read the psalm and Dr. Watts version of the psalms was officially authorized. If we could listen to that old time singing it might be more instructive than edifying. A board of elders, or a church council, was instituted in 1763, to be composed of the most wise, prudent and humble minded brethren, to consider cases of church discipline, which, as the pastor sets forth, could not be well attended to by the whole congregation, and also to advise with the pastor, who laments the decline of the visible purity of the church, and the looseness and error and impiety which were growing amongst them. The first board, the predecessor of the present standing committee, consisted of Hon. William Pitkin, governor of the colony, Deacons Jonathan Hills, John Pitkin, William Cowles, William Pitkin, Jr., Messrs. Samuel Smith, Isaac Porter and Richard Oilman. This council with the few changes necessitated by death was continued many years. That they performed their duties is amply attested by the records which follow, which are largely disciplinary votes. The same year, 1763, the people of the east end of the town called "the five miles," who had had preaching provided by this church for several years, petitioned to be made a separate society. Their request was not granted for some ten years, when it became Orford parish, now the flourishing town of Manchester. Among the reasons given for opposing the petition was "the great probability that this society in a few years must be divided into two societies by the river below the meeting house ; it being with much difficulty we now meet together." It was more than a century before this division took place however. In 1772, it was voted that the singing in public on the Sabbath afternoon be without reading line by line. It seems probable that this was the first serious attempt to improve the singing. The front gallery and the lower half of the side galleries were reserved for the singers, who were arranged, the tenor and alto opposite the pulpit, the sopranos in the left and the bassos in the right side galleries. A person well skilled in psalmody was sought in 46 1783 to instruct the parish in the art of regular singing. James Benjamin was secured for this work, and for many years appropriations were made for "reviving" the singing, which seems to have been a very difficult task, and several sing- ing masters were hired and many singing schools conducted in the effort. In this year the town was separated from Hartford and the church henceforth is known as the First Congre- gational (or Presbyterian) Church in East Hartford. In 1797, $100 were appropriated for repairing and painting the meeting house, and from this time the old reckoning in pounds is abandoned and the dollar is substituted. The next year, Dr. Williams, commonly called "Priest Williams," celebrated his jubilee, with a sermon in which he reviews the work of a full half century, with commendable pride. His sermon was from the text in i Thess. 2: 19. He says he had preached over 5,000 sermons, he had baptized 2,601 persons, admitted 274 to full communion, 898 had owned the convenant and 1,500 had died during his ministrations. During the remainder of his pastorate 13 more were admitted to the communion, and 35 more acknowledged the convenant. In the later years of his life his stern Calvinistic theology caused many of his people to withdraw and attend the Baptist and Methodist meetings which were held here, and in the effort to reclaim them he wrote tracts, and with more fidelity and zeal than tact, attempted to drive them back into the fold. Failing in this, they were cut off from the church with the evident belief that they had passed beyond redemp- tion. The disproportion between the convenant and full communion members is a sufficient commentary on this strange and anomalous custom which prevailed in most of the churches up to a hundred years ago. Dr. Williams was one of the striking characters of our church's history, bringing the old dress and theology and manners down to the end of the century, when having become feeble, it became necessary to procure a colleague for him. The first Christmas day of the nineteenth century Rev. Andrew Yates came from Union College, Schenectady, where he was a professor, and was ordained and installed, Dr. PLAN OF THE OLD "MEETING HOUSE" AND "SEATING THE PEWS" BY MR. ELISHA BENTON, (THE POET.) PRESENTED TO RAYMOND LIBRARY BY HIS GRAND NIECE, MRS. CAROLINE R. BOYNTON, 1893. 47 Williams becoming pastor emeritus. The sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Dana, of New Haven, Revs. Nathan Perkins of Hartford, Walter King- of Norwich, Mr. Marsh of Wethersfield, Mr. Lockwood of Glastonbury and Mr. Row- land of Windsor assisting in the service. Dr. Williams died June 29, 1803, after fifty-five years of service here, two of them as pastor emeritus. He left considerable of his literary work, which bears the impress of his great learning. He also held a distinguished place in the state. His home, which is still standing although shorn of much of its glory, is still one of the most beautiful of our old places here. In the early part of Mr. Yates' pastorate a thorough can- vass of the town revealed six families destitute of Bibles, and they were supplied. The standing committee was estab- lished at this time, and the first committee was Colonel Jona- than Wells, Deacon John Williams, Messrs. Gideon Spencer, Samuel Pitkin, Eliab Pratt, Jr., and Ebenezer Hills, Jr. In 1807, Mr. Yates calls for fasting and special prayer because of the low state of vital piety in the church. The next year in a jtibilant vein he wrote " Let it be recorded that we have reason to bless God for a gracious answer to our private prayers in the outpouring of His Spirit beyond any- thing ever known in this place. Oh! that we may never forget, the Lord is a hearer of prayer. He hath never said to any of the sons of Jacob, seek ye my face, in vain. " In Decem- ber thirty-five were added to the church and the beginning of the next year forty more. Again in 1813, sixty were received, and the last year of his ministry, 1814, fifty-one. Two hun- dred and seventy-seven in all were brought into the church during his pastorate, which included two of the great revival periods which awakened the communities far and wide. Mr. Yates was a striking contrast to Dr. Williams. Indeed they belonged to altogether different eras. The good doctor used to keep one of his colored servants at home on Sunday to have his flip ready for him when he returned from preach- ing. But Mr. Yates was a strong temperance man, taking a much stronger and more vigoroiis ijtand than was customary at that time. The venerable doctor in his wig, silk stockings and old-time clerical garb was a terror not only to evil doers, 48 but even to the children. Mr. Yates 1 work amongst the children was so successful, and his efforts in behalf of the schools were so highly appreciated, that the people declined to accept his resignation, which was tendered in 1814, urging that his work in this field alone was sufficiently important to require his continuance. He felt that his call to return to Union College was imperative, and the enlarged opportunity it afforded him, too great to be overlooked, and insisting he was dismissed with great reluctance. After his removal calls were extended to and declined by Rev. Isaac Lewis and Rev. Eber L. Clark. June 26, 1816, Rev. Joy H. Fairchild was settled as pastor. His pastorate of eleven years covered a period of intense and widespread religious interest, and this church came under its influence in a large degree. In 1821 there were sixty-six accessions, and in 1827, eighty-two. The latter, in the closing year of his pastorate, was the largest number on record. Two hundred and four additions, of which nineteen were by letter, are recorded under his leadership. In 1 8 1 8 the first stoves were put into the meeting house. In 1819, the first Sunday school was organized with Major Samuel Pitkin, whose benign coun- tenance looks down from the memorial window on the school of to-day, as its superintendent. Mrs. Fairchild, who died in 1824, was an ardent advocate of the school, and used all her influence in behalf of its formation, as there was considerable opposition to it. Mr. Fairchild preached a long series of sermons from the epistle to the Colossians, taking his texts in consecutive order. A gruff old colonel once interrupted a sermon of his, cor- recting his quotation of a passage somewhat in accordance with modern translations and criticism, and after several committees had interviewed him and he had offered apologies to them, he was finally excommunicated because he declined to come and make his apologies before the whole church. In 1824 the old practice of dignifying the meeting house gave place to the sale by auction which as Dr. Walker sagely says had the advantage that it allowed a man to set his own value on himself. Mr. Fairchild was dismissed in 1827. 49 Calls were extended to Rev. Samuel W. Brace in 1828 and Rev. Charles Hyde in 1829 and declined. Then the call to Mr. Brace was renewed but again declined. Rev. Asa Mead, of Brunswick, Me., was installed August 17, 1830. Two months later an impressive meeting was held, when all, or nearly all, of the members present, pledged them- selves to each other and to God that they would pray for a revival. Their prayers were answered and the next year forty- seven were received into the church. Mr. Mead's pastorate was cut short by his untimely death, October 26, 1831, after an illness of nearly a month. His earnestness and intense and unsparing activity, which made his brief year here so successful, together with the death of his little son, John Mooney Mead, of whom he had written a memoir, which was in press at the time, may have hastened his death. Rev. Messrs. Hooker, Grosvernor, Smith, and Lee sup- plied the pulpit until February 13, 1833, when Rev. Samuel Spring, D. D., pastor of the North Church (now the Park Church) was installed. Rev. Joel H awes preached the sermon. Rev. Mr. Riddel of Glastonbury, Rev. Dr. Tenney of Weth- ersfield, Rev. Dr. Perkins of West Hartford and Rev. Mr. Vanarsdal of the South Church, Hartford, were the other par- ticipants in the service. Dr. Spring's long pastorate was one of deep and true prosperity to the church. In 1834 the old meeting house, which for nearly a century had been the church home for this people, having served its day and generation, it was determined to build another. It seemed best to many that the location should be changed, and, as is usual in such cases, the selection of a site became a source of so much strife that a disinterested commission had to be called in to settle the con- troversy. They located the edifice at the northernmost point which they were allowed to consider, and their decision was finally accepted and a good degree of satisfaction and harmony prevailed. The old building was torn down in 1835, in order that all available material from it might be used in the new one, and for eight months the scattered congregation worshiped in three school houses. The pastor says of the meetings at that time, that the gentle showers of grace have been falling on the 50 congregation during the past season and the little school rooms in which they met seemed sometimes almost filled with the Divine presence. The new meeting house was built by Mr. Chauncey Shep- ard of Suffield, and was to be in nearly every particular a duplicate of the new church in New London. The building committee consisted of Messrs. William Bigelow, George Goodwin, Jr., Joseph Spencer, Henry Phelps and Samuel Brewer, and the contract price was $9,309. The town was to pay $1,000 toward the building and have the use of the base- ment room "for the purpose of transacting public business on the days of electors and town meetings only, subject at all other times to the sole control of the society," a privilege which was exercised until the bequest of the late Mr. Jonathan Tremaine Wells provided a much more suitable and satisfactory place for town business. The raising in June 1835 was a famous affair. It was no light task to raise into place the massive framework. At times there seemed to be imminent danger of the bents falling back on the great crowd engaged in the rais- ing, under Mr. Sylvester G. Farnham's direction. " There was ample provision of crackers and cheese, lemonade and water, but no rum. " When the building was completed the people took a just pride in it, for it was considered one of the most beautiful edifices in this part of the country, and with its carpets and purple velvet pulpit cushion, and its handsome cen- ter piece, it was not only beautiful, but pervaded with an air of dignity and comfort in harmony with its purpose. The dedi- cation January 20, 1836, was a great occasion. Dr. Spring's sermon from Psalm 46: 5. "God is in the midst of her " was a luminous and impressive exhibition of the sentiment that "the church enjoys the presence of God." A large choir under the leadership of Mr. B. C. Wade furnished the music. Of that choir there are now living, Mrs. James A. Moore, Mrs. George S. Phelps and Mr. Ashbel Brewer. They were accompanied by an orchestra consisting of Mr. Sal- mon Phelps, first violin, Mr. George S. Phelps, second violin, Messrs. Alfred Bemis and E. Stearns, flutes, and William B. Johnson, double bass viol. Of the music the report in the " Courant " says that " music is beginning to take its rightful 51 place in our church services." Rev. Horace Bushnell and Rev. Dr. Tyler of the Theological Seminary (then at East Windsor Hill), took part in the celebration. Some weeks later it was voted not to encourage any per- son to unite with the church who uses or traffics in ardent spirits; evidently the result of humiliating experiences in pre- vious years. At this time the change in the observance of Sun- day was considered, and it was voted to observe Sunday even- ing as holy time, and still retain the observance of Saturday night. The Christian Psalmist was adopted as the hymn book of the church. There were thirty-four additions to the church that year, thirty-five the following, and forty-two the next. In 1841 Rev. Mr. Kirk was holding revival services in the vicinity and all the churches were feeling the stimulus of his work, fifty-eight being received here, and again in 1843, forty-five more. In 1844 another unfortunate choir difficulty, which had been brewing for some two years, culminated with the ousting of the leader and some members of the choir. But the following year Mr. Albert Gaines, having been chosen as leader, some of the principal offenders were returned and harmony was restored. The violin and bass viol, which were then in use, gave place later to the harmonium, which many of us remember, and which was used until our organ was introduced, Mr. Gaines remain- ing as leader most of the time. In February, 1852, a set of rules for church worship was adopted. Up to this time it had been the custom to stand dur- ing the prayer and to turn and face the choir at the last hymn. The new rules ushering in the present form in these points met with considerable opposition on the part of some of the older members, who deemed them irreverent and clung to the old ways. The next year the Psalms and Hymns set forth by the General Association of Connecticut, was adopted. In 1852 anoth- er awakening added forty-six to the membership, and again, in 1858 there were fifty added. As a preacher Dr. Spring was one of those rare men whom to hear once is to remember al- ways. The perfect symmetry and felicitous expression of his beautifully rounded sentences, the quiet and impressive dignity and refinement of manner, the convincing logic, combined to 52 make an impression which endures. Even the cold official records are permeated with the choice style and apt expression which show how powerful was that calm and quiet influence on all. In 1860, his health failing, he resigned and was made pas- tor emeritus January 9, 1861. Five hundred and fourteen per- sons came into the church under his ministration of twenty- eight years. October 17, 1861, Rev. Theodore J. Holmes of Richmond, Vermont, was installed as pastor. Rev. Nathaniel J. Burton de- livered the invocation and read the Scriptures, Rev. George N. Webber the introductory prayer and Dr. Roswell D. Hitchcock preached the sermon. The installing prayer was by Rev. Dr. Hawes and the charge by Dr. Spring, the concluding prayer by Dr. Bushnell. These were stirring times, and Mr. Holmes entered ardently into his country's service, as chaplain of the ist Regiment of Connecticut Cavalry. Rev. J. B. R. Walker supplied the pulpit during his absence of two years. In 1867 a chapel was built, reached from the church by a flight of steps, a pipe organ built by Johnson of Westfield was placed in the church largely through the efforts of Mr. J. W. Boynton, and the church debt was paid, it being rightly argued that it was easier to do all these things at once than little by little. Dr. Crane was the first organist, followed by Messrs. William Ells- worth (more familiarly known as "Blind Billy, ") H. E. Bissell and A. W. Keane, all of whom presided at the organ during this time. Although there were no great revivals the additions to the church were large and constant, most of them being the younger people to whom Mr. Holmes especially endeared him- self. One hundred and ninety-nine are recorded as having united with the church during his pastorate, which closed in 1872. In view of the large place he has taken in this celebration it is superfluous for me to speak at length in his behalf. A pleasant recollection, for many of us who were children then, is of the open air meetings which were held in " Dowd's Grove, " or on the banks of the Hockanum River in Burnside, on pleasant Sunday afternoons in lieu of the afternoon service at the church, which with the old time midday lunch was continued until this time. These open air meetings were productive of great good, THE ORGAN. 53 many conversions dated from them, and their influences on the moral and spiritual welfare of the town was salutary. The " Book of Praise" in the preparation of which Mr. Holmes was interested, was adopted for church worship at this time and was used until 1886. The Semi-Centennial of the Sunday school was celebrated in 1869, and to the efforts of the pastor on that occasion is due much information concerning the early history, manners and customs, and descriptions of the old meeting house. September 3, 1873, F. H. Buffum, from the Windsor Avenue Church, Hartford was installed. Eleven persons united with the church on profession and twelve by letter during the two and a half years he was here. He was deposed from the ministry, April 26, 1876. The organists during this period were, Mr. Henry Cox and Mr. A. L. Conkey. Rev. Theodore T. Munger, D. D., came here as stated supply in 1876. That year the church was badly damaged by fire, supposed to have been of incendiary origin, and it became necessary to remodel it largely. At that time the handsome fluted Ionic pillars under the galleries were removed, and these iron ones substituted. The old pews with their doors dis- appeared in favor of the more comfortable slips, the ceiling was altered and frescoed, the pulpit platform lowered and in fact nearly the entire interior changed in appearance. These alterations increased the comfort and convenience of the room, but at the sacrifice of some of its beauty. The disappearance of the time honored broad aisle was lamented by many. At the re-dedication Dr. Munger calling attention to the inscrip- tion on the new pulpit " Preach the Word," said it was most ap- propriate that it should adorn the side next the congregation, as a constant reminder that it was no less the duty of the peo- ple than the minister to proclaim the glad tidings of the Gospel. September i, 1877, the South Church was set off, becoming the second daughter of this old church. Good Dr. Spring passed to his reward December 13, of that year. The great revival wave which swept over the country, under the leadership of Mr. Moody just coming into the height of his power, reached Hartford in 1877 and '78. As an after- math a series of meeting under Young Men's Christian Associ- ation auspices were held here in March and April 1878, with signal success. April 1 8, 1878, Rev. Richard Meredith, formerly pastor of the First Methodist church in Hartford, was installed. Rev. Dr. Nathaniel J. Burton preached the sennon. Rev. Wm. L. Gage, Rev. Joseph H. Twichell, Rev. Dr. W. W. Scudder, Rev. George A. Bowman, Rev. W. P. Clancy, Rev. A. C. Adams and Rev. S. W. Robbins were the other ministers participating. In July the harvest of the earlier meeting was reaped in the largest addition to the church, on profession of faith, for a score of years previously, and it has never been equaled since. Forty-five were admitted during the year. The old bell having become cracked it was recast and enlarged, and the valuable tower clock placed in position, by the gener- osity of Mr. Albert C. Raymond whose public spirit the town has reason to gratefully remember for all time. An able and scholarly preacher, deeply interested in the intellectual and educational, as well as the spiritual welfare of the people, Mr. Meredith conducted classes for Bible study and also his successful English history class. He served the church faithfully, for six years, resigning in February 1884. Mr. Howard C. Gaines was organist and choir director until 1883, when Miss Annie E. Viner took the position, which she filled acceptably for six years, Mr. William H. Olmsted acting as choir director. Rev. F. S. Hatch, now secretary of the Christian Endeavor Society of India, supplied the pulpit for several months most satisfactorily. Rev. Charles S. Nash, was ordained and installed as pastor, October 22, 1884. The town was just beginning to feel the effect of industrial changes and the new conditions and rapid growth stimulated an intense activity, in which both pastor and people shared. The pastor by reason of his interest in the seminary had several of the students as assistants in various lines of work. January 20, 1886, the fiftieth anniversary of the dedication of the meeting house was celebrated, and the account of the building of the meeting house, told by Deacon George H. Goodwin, was exceedingly interesting and valuable, as were 55 the reminiscences by Mr. William M. Stanley. That year our present hymn book " Laudes Domini!" was adopted and the Psalter with responsive readings first used. The following year, having become convinced of the value that the Christian Endeavor Society might become in the life of the church, Mr. Nash led in the organization of one here, and found his expectations justified in the cordial support which the young people gave to the church work. For thirty-five years the primary Sunday school had met in a room in the basement, but it had long been considered unsuitable and in 1888 the chapel was moved back from the church and fitted up for the library, Bible class, and primary rooms, and the main chapel was built, with its extensive facilities for all the require- ments of church work. The memorial window was presented by descendants of Major Samuel Pitkin, the first superinten- dent of the Sunday school, and active in all church work. At the dedication Rev. Mr. Holmes and Rev. Mr. Hatch, and Mr. Charles Leonard Pitkin, were among the speakers. The custom of the annual dinner was inaugurated with about 180 at the table, and it has been continued to the present time. Mr. Henry Dike Sleeper became organist and choir master in 1889, and did most successful work not only in this but in all lines of church activity, during the nearly three years he remained here. The system of assigning seats, instead of auctioning them, was now introduced and for a time proved adequate to furnishing the support of the church. Mr. Nash's warm inter- est in foreign missions, born of a first hand knowledge of them, led to a more hearty response from the people than ever before. In 1890 the standing committee was enlarged by the addition of two ladies; the first official recognition the ladies had, although their right to vote had been established fifteen years earlier, after considerable opposition. Mr. Nash resigned and was dismissed May 19, 1890. During his pastorate 106 persons imited with the church, forty-two of them in the year following his settlement. In July a call was extended to Rev. Robert Chambers, a former missionary, returned to this country on account of the health of his family, he declined the call, however, and December 17, 1890, Rev. Samuel Allan Barrett, of Castleton, 56 Vermont, was installed. The sermon by the Rev. Dr. G. W. Phillips of Rutland, Vermont, trom the text Rom. 8:19, was a notable one. The other participants were Revs. Messrs. Richard Meredith, S. W. Robbins, Henry H. Kelsey, John Barstow and Professor Nash. The eight and one-half years pastorate of Mr. Barrett was a period of development of many lines of church work. The institutional church idea (intro- duced under Mr. Nash's pastorate) was being tried in many places, and many of its features were adopted here with vary- ing success. The Boys' Brigade, the gymnasium, the kinder- garten and the Junior Endeavor society are among the many plans tried for bringing the church and its work, in the most helpful way, to the people. The organ, always fine toned, was remodeled and enlarged by Messrs. Woodruff and Whiton. Messrs. W. T. Schneider, Denslow King, Fred S. Smith and H. D. Sleeper, were the organists ^during this time. With Mr. Smith's cooperation many improvements in the musical part of the church service were introduced, many of the ser- vices in which organand choir played a prominent part being worthy of note. March 8, 1894, the church was incorporated, and in March 1895, the ecclesiastical society which for 196 years had cared for the temporal affairs of the church, transferred its property to it and having finished its mission, passed into history. The adoption of the present free seat system, for which the way had been prepared by the assignment of seats which proved somewhat difficult, as the old practice of "dignifying" had been, was accomplished. From an ideal standpoint faultless, as a means of support- ing the church it has never proved a pronounced success. The electric railway and the rapid growth of the town has made great changes in the condition of church work, greatly increas- ing its difficulties. Yet 150 members were added, thirty-six of them in the last year of Mr. Barrett's service. He was dis- missed May 12, 1899. For the next six months Professor E. E. Nourse supplied the pulpit admirably. December 3, of the same year, Rev. William Bodle Tuthill, our present pastor, began his service and was installed November 7, 1900. The sermon was by 57 Professor A. R. Merriam, the other parts of the service being performed by Rev. Messrs. O. W. Means, Francis P. Bacheler, George F. Waters, William W. Ranney, Clarence H. Barber, William F. English and Professor Edward E. Nourse. Since that time the music has been in charge of Mrs. N. L. Bronson, Mr. Alfred W. Driggs and Mr. L. B. Hawley. In the 154 years covered by our church records there have been received into the church about 1940 full communion members and 933 have acknowledged the convenant, all of the latter during the pastorate of Dr. Williams. What a cloud of witnesses! And what a power these lives have been on this community in which they lived. In conclusion, I desire to express my appreciation of the high privilege of preparing this all too meager and incomplete story of this beloved old church through all the vicissitudes of the two centuries concluded. They have witnessed the growth of this people from the simple, primitive, hard life of the early days, when even our supposed necessities were not even dreamed of by the most affluent, to the present, better than even the best of the good old times. Of the grand worthies and saints of former days and the noble record they have left behind them, in church, in town, in state and nation I had hoped to speak, but in the necessarily circumscribed limits of this paper found it impossible. Notwithstanding these, and neither overlooking the great merits of much that they accom- plished, often against great odds; nor forgetting the crying evils of this present day, yet the pessimist is out of place. Indeed a study of the old records of this church should prove a good cure for pessimism. In fact considerable portions of them it would seem injudicious to publish to say the least. This is neither a time for discouragement with the present nor for complacent drifting with the current, satisfied with the achievements of our forbears, but rather an incentive to us to bend to our oars and steadily press this craft freighted with the precious heritage of the past, and the hope for the future, against the tide toward a higher and better haven, where, when we become weary we can pass the oars to new hands and rest the rest that comes from honest labor well performed. And we have the divine assurance that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. 58 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. The following biographical sketches are given to supplement the preceding history. Rev. SAMUEL WOODBRIDGE. There is little known of the life and ministry of Mr. Woodbridge aside from what has been given by Mr. Olmsted in the history of the church. The following facts, however, concerning his ancestry are of sufficient interest to receive notice here. Rev. Samuel Woodbridge was youngest son of Rev. Benjamin Woodbridge, who preached at Windsor, Conn., at Bristol, R. J., and at Medford, Mas^. Rev. Benjamin Wood- bridge was second son of Rev. John Woodbridge, who was born at Stan ton, Eng., in 1613, and came to New England with his uncle, Rev. Thomas Parker, in 1634. He was ordained minister at Andover, Mass., in 1645. Rev. John Woodbridge was eldest son of Rev. John Woodbridge, Rector of Stanton, Wiltshire, Eng., who died in 1637.* oe. Tombstone marking the Grave of Mr. Woodbridge in Center Cemetery, East Hartford. *Goodwin's History of East Hartford. 59 Rev. ELIPHALET WILLIAMS, D. D.* "The next year (1748) Mr. Eliphalet Williams accepted a call to settle here. His salary was to be ^65 a year and four contributions which were to be taken. Six years later the currency had reached so low a state of depreciation that the committee decided that it would require ^867 in bills of the old tenor to pay his salary of ,80. In 1755 a price for grain was agreed upon with him, that he might be paid in that commodity. His wood was at all times a part of his salary, and various persons were paid for cording it for him, that he might get good measure. At one time Mr. Benoni Hale and at another Mr. Jonathan Stanley performed this service for him, receiving 6d. per cord from the society. In 1778 Mr. Williams was voted 90 salary, and ^450 (old tenor) in consideration of the extraordinary price of pro- visions and the necessaries of life. About the year 1799 Mr. Williams, having served his people long beyond the time usually allotted to such constant service as his, began to feel the weaknesses of old age. It became necessary to support another minister, and the society asked him to relinquish his claims upon them. He replied that this he could not do. He finally consented to retire on an annual salary of ^no. This was in 1801. He died June 29, 1803, aged 77 years, and in the 56th year of his ministry. He was settled here about 53 years. Many stories remain of Dr. Williams, Parson Williams, or Priest Williams, as he was often called, and there are still a few who remember him. He wore the old-time minis- ter's dress, with black stockings and knee-breeches, a straight- buttoned waistcoat, with the ends of his broad white band showing on his chest. A big white wig, so large that a child once called it a lamb, covered his head ; on top of this he wore a large, stiff, broad-brimmed hat. He had a high sense of the dignity and sancity of his office. Some thought him domineering, and David Crosby, in 1766, wrote him a long letter in which he stoutly arraigns the clergy in general, and Mr. Williams in particular, for trying to make themselves *Copied by permission from Goodwin's History of East Hartford. 60 "lord's over the heritage of God, and to make merchan- dise of the souls of men." Mr. Williams was certainly a sturdy theologian of the old school, who would not be likely to make concessions to any one. His was not a nature to be tolerant, and one of the phrases which he put into Governor Pitkin's epitaph pictures him most palpably to our conceptions as "Scattering away evil with his eye" especially since we have been told that the children would crawl under the fences and hide when they saw him coming along the street. A man of that sort is never cordially loved, and no doubt he did call some of the wood which his parishioners were obliged to bring him, "crooked stuff," and, perhaps, with cause. It is said he told Benjamin Roberts that his load had in it the making of all the letters in the alphabet. Roberts promptly drove home and left none of his wood. A Mr. Warren came and began to unload. " I cannot have it put down there," said Dr. Williams. "I am going to leave some of it there," said Warren, and hurled it about so promiscuously that the good Doctor was fain to retreat into the house. A man once mow- ing for Dr. Williams did not bend very low to his work. "My cow," said the Doctor, mildly, "loves the roots of the grass." "Just so," said the man, keeping right on with his mowing; " you see I am leaving them for her." These trivial anecdotes, however, show only the surface humor of the man. His work here, the many honorable titles he bore, and his literary remains, show him to have been a man of large attainments for his day, and one of profound convictions, and a champion of them who hesitated at no inconvenience to himself to assert and maintain them. He clung to his dark views of what in the unlovely phraseology of that day was known as "infant damnation," until many of the mothers in Israel withdrew from his preaching and went to the Baptist meetings, which were then first held, and drew their husbands with them. Then he launched a dia- logue pamphlet after them, entitled " Sophronistes : Persuad- ing the people to reverence the ordinances of God in the teachings of their own Pastors. Hartford: 1795." He did not remit his labors against the new sects even when his own son joined them, although he is said to have been less bitter against them from that time. PARSON WILLIAMS' HOUSE. 61 Of his home life we also know something. He had his favorite arm-chair by the fireside, and after supper he would sit, while his daughter dutifully filled his long pipe for him from his smoking-box, which hung hard by the fireplace, and brought it to him with a coal in the little tongs. In his last days he smoked a good deal; but one day he put his pipe away, saying, "What right has a dying man to smoke ?" and never took it again. His smoking kit, and pipes, and tongs are still preserved by the writer, who has many curious things from his household. Rev. Dr. E. P. Parker, of Hartford, has his old arm-chair. Like most ministers of his time, Dr. Williams thought he needed something warm to drink after his Sunday sermons, and one of his black women used to remain at home to have his flip iron hot when he arrived. Among his papers was found a recipe for making "shrub," a liquor composed of three quarts of grape juice and two-thirds as much "rumm," kindly copied for him by some friend, who pronounced it, when sweetened and diluted with about twelve quarts of water, an "agreeable liquor." Such were the customs and courtesies of this time. Dr. Williams' study was a mere closet, not over five feet square, with a north window. It contained his chair and a small table, over which were shelves with his few books, all within reach. This was his sanctum, and his children, want- ing him, came and rapped once. If he did not answer, they went softly away. Sometimes he would open the door, with- out getting up, and pass out to them an apple, or a pear, or a piece of melon, and they would thank him reverently and go away. His house, on the east side of Main street, near the site of the old meeting-house, and late the home of Mr. Edward W. Hayden, is a study in old-time architecture. It was built for him by Benjamin Roberts, and has a spacious hall, and low, easy stairway, with unpainted, hand- wrought banisters. There is much wainscoting and elaborate molding, even the " escallop shell " closets in the parlor being minutely molded and trimmed. The ceilings are low, and traversed by large beams; and there are endless cupboards and closets. The 62 FARSON WILLIAMS' DOOEWffi back rooms are finished in yellow pine and are unpaint- ed. The house is gambrel- roofed, and over the chambers is an immense attic, until within a short time a perfect curiosity shop in old-time trumpery. A low, unceiled i chamber, under the rafters, called the meal room, is the "black hole" where the ne- gresses used to sleep, a com- plete sweat-box in summer. The first paper hangings that were used in this town were really hung in the parlors of this house, having been tacked loosely to the walls. They are of a large brown velvet figure upon a green ground. This paper was sent from England expressly for Dr. Williams. Afterwards paper was pasted on the walls here, and the bor- der, uncut, was put around under the windows in a broad strip, the use of it not being understood. Dr. Williams' sermons cover a richly interesting period of our history, from 1748 to 1801. But they are so finely written, on such scanty sheets of paper, that most, beyond the Scrip- ture text, are utterly undecipherable, showing mere crooked pen-strokes across the page. He wrote in a time when paper was scarce and high in price. Some of his printed sermons remain. One delivered on the Sabbath after "the late terrible earthquake," Nov. 23, X 755> by Eliphalet Williams, A. M., shows "The Duty of People under dark Providences or symptoms of approaching evils to prepare to meet their God." To which is appended an account of previous earthquakes in New England, eleven in all, of which this was the "fifth that has been general and very awakening," to wit: one in 1638, one in 1658, one January 26th and 28th, 1662-63, an ^ one i n J 7 2 7> an d one in PAGE OF SERMON WRITTEN BY PARSON WILLIAMS IN 1779. 63 i755- This sermon was printed by Timothy Green, New London, 1756. We have also a sermon (unprinted) of August, 1757, on the occasion of a public fast on the taking of Fort Henry. This was used again on some similar occasion in 1776. The text is, " Humble yourselves therefore," etc. A thanksgiving sermon of March 6, 1760, on the taking of Quebec, was printed by Green of New London. Its theme is, "God's wonderful goodness in succeeding the arms of his people to be acknowledged and celebrated with rejoicing and praise." Dr. Williams preached the election sermon before the General Assembly in May, 1769. His sermon on the death of Gov. William Pitkin, in October, 1769, delivered in our old meeting-house at the funeral, before many of the dignitaries of the State, was prepared in a marvelously short time, and indicates a capacity for work which few men have. It was on " The Ruler's duty and honor in serving his generation, and his dismission by death, and entering into peace Acts, xiii, 36, by Eliphalet Williams, V. D. M. Hartford, Green & Watson, 1770." Dr. Williams also wrote Governor Pitkin's epitaph, as he did many another notable one in our burying grounds. At the induction of Dr. Stiles to the presidency of Yale College, July 15, 1778, Dr. Williams, Senior and Presiding Fellow, made the opening prayer and delivered an oration in Latin. His Sophronistes pamphlet was published in 1795. Rev. David McClure of East (now South) Windsor, said of him in his funeral sermon: "He possessed quickness of apprehension, imagination, great sen- sibility, and zeal. He imbibed the principles of the Puritan fathers, and his diction was flowing, pathetic, impressive. He supported an unblemished reputation, and magnified his office." Niles & Pease's Gazetteer says of him that "he was distinguished as a man of science, a preacher, and divine." Dr. Williams was a man of almost tireless industry, who let go no opportunity to impress the great concerns of life and of death upon his people. His talents, which belonged to an- other age than ours, we cannot rightly estimate. To his own generation "he was an able, orthodox, faithful, laborious, ex- emplary, and successful minister of Jesus Christ, patient under sharp bodily distress, resigned to the will of his Master, he committed himself to Him who judgeth righteously." ( His tombstone.) Dr. Williams came of a family famous for its ministers. He was born at Lebanon, Feb. 21, 1727; graduated at Yale, 1743, and ordained, 1748. He was the son of Rev. Solomon Williams, D. D., of Lebanon, and grandson of Rev. William Williams of Hatfield, whose ancestors came from England to Roxbury, Mass. He was a brother of William Williams, who signed the Declaration of Independence. Tombstone marking the Grave of Dr. Williams in Center Cemetery, East Hartford. 65 Rev. ANDREW YATES, D.D. Eminent for his piety and scholarship, Rev. Andrew Yates, D.D., who became the third installed pastor of this church, was a most worthy successor to Mr. Woodbridge and Dr. Williams. Mr. Yates was born at Schenectady, N. Y. , January 15, 1772. At the age of twenty-two he graduated from Yale College. He received the second honor upon graduation. He began at once the study of theology under Rev. John H. Livington, D. D., and was licensed to preach in 1797. About this time he was elected Professor of Languages in Union College, Schenectady. He held this professorship for four years, when he accepted the call to East Hartford. Here he labored with great fidelity for nearly fourteen years. Not only did he faithfully perform the ordinary duties of the pastorate, but to these were added much work of an educa- tional nature, especially such as was involved in the prepar- ation of young men for the ministry. In 1814 he resigned his pastorate here that he might accept the invitation of the trustees of Union College to return to that institution, this time to become Professor of "Mental and Moral Philosophy." His theological students went with him to Schenectady ; thus for a time he performed the duties of both a theological and a collegiate professor. Preaching, however, was his great delight, and it was said ' that there were but few Presbyterian and Dutch churches within a circuit of thirty miles around Schenectady, in which he had not often spoken of the preciousness of Christ. ' Dr. Yates was deeply interested in the missionary cause, and was an active member of a society formed in 1820 for the evangelization of the American Indians. In 1822 he was a member of a commission sent out by this society to explore certain parts of the west, and north-west, with a view to the establishment of schools among the Indians. It appears that through his efforts a mission station was established at " Mackinaw." He was also an ardent advocate of temperance. In this matter he was doubtless considered an extremist, for he advocated not only temperance but total abstinence even, and this at a day when it was customary for ministers to have 66 liquors set out at their councils and conferences. When the council met to dismiss him from East Hartford, he complied with this custom, to the extent, that he set out four bottles for the use of the brethern, but he expressed his disapproval by remarking, "Brethern, here is rum, gin, brandy, laudanum, all poison, help yourselves!" In 1825 he resigned his professorship at Union College, and by the aid of a brother, Hon. John B. Yates, he estab- lished a school at Chittenango, N.Y. This was "a high school of a more elevated kind than any that had been previously in the United States." While conducting this school he estab- lished a Protestant Reformed Dutch Church at Chittenango, and was instrumental in the erection of a "large and beauti- ful edifice." In 1836 he removed once more to Schenectady. During the remaining eight years of his life he devoted himself to the interests of feeble churches. " He established, resusci- tated, or greatly aided, no less than thirteen congregations in the Presbyterian and Dutch connections." In the sermon preached at his funeral Rev. Wm. H. Campbell, D. D. , refers to the last work of Dr. Yates in these words : ' ' But his last work and labor of love is a story of touching interest. His work at Fonda being finished, he returned once more to the bosom of his family. But he could not be idle, so he looked about him to see what he could do for the glory of God and the good of men. His thoughts were directed to the valley of the Sacondaga. He had been often there in his youth, and as to his recollection its high mountains presented themselves, thickly dotted with the humble cottages of the hardy mountaineer, it grieved him to think that there the sound of the church-going bell was never heard; and that the people were perishing for the lack of knowledge, for they had none to break to them the bread of life. His purpose was soon formed. "There," said he, "I shall labor, if God permit me. " He went among them, and his labors were abundant and blessed. He organized a church ; he stirred up the liberal to aid him in the erection of a house of worship, and on the 24th of October, that edifice was solemnly dedicated to the service of the Triune God. But alas, he was not there; for on the i3th of that same month, he had gone to his rest. " REV. SAMUEL SPRING, D. D. 67 Rev. SAMUEL SPRING, D.D. Samuel Spring was born at Newburyport, Mass. , March 9, 1792. He was the son of Rev. Samuel Spring of New- buryport and of Hannah Hopkins, and a brother of Dr. Gar- iner Spring of New York. He began the study of Latin at the age of seven, entered Exeter Academy at the age of twelve, and Yale college with the class graduating in 1811. After leaving college, he began the study of law, then en- gaged in mercantile business in Newburyport till the war of 1812, when he entered in partnership with his brother Lewis into the coasting trade, was part owner of several vessels, and master of one which, with himself and crew, was captured off Chesapeake Bay by the blockading squadron under Admiral Cockburn. Peace being declared, he again engaged in trade, now in Boston, and for a time in partnership with David Hale, afterward editor of the Journal of Commerce. In 1816 he married Lydia Maria Norton, the daughter of Winthrop B. Norton of Berwick, Maine. He had been married five years and had two children when his mind turned to his life work. He entered the Theological Seminary in Andover in 1819, and graduated in September 1821. His family was in Newburyport, twenty miles away, but every Saturday evening he walked that distance, spending Sunday with them, and walking back on Monday in time for his early duties. Before leaving the Seminary he was called to the pastor- ate of the Congregational Church in Abington, Mass. , where he continued five years until called to the North Church in Hartford. With this church he remained for six years. In 1833 he was called to the church in East Hartford, where he continued in the active pastorate for twenty-nine years, and where he rested in the evening of his life among the people of his love. He died December 13, 1877, and at sunset on a cloudless Sabbath day, his beloved people gathered about the open grave, while reverent hands laid him to rest. 68 RECOLLECTIONS OF Dr. SPRING. This paper was written for the anniversary by Mrs. William H. Corning, daughter of Dr. Spring, and read at the Monday afternoon session by Mary Isabel Corning, his granddaughter. Those who know East Hartford only as it is to-day, a growing town, with five lines of electric cars connecting it with Hartford, its blocks of stores, the many cross streets and new houses, would hardly recognize as the same place, the quiet country town of sixty years ago, the wide grass plot in the middle of the elm-shaded street, the houses standing far apart, each within its own lawn and fence, with no public conveyance to Hartford, whither the old people went in their wagons and the younger on foot. One thing only remains unchanged amid the changes. With its pillared front, its flight of stone steps, its square tower, the old church stands in its grove of maples, a fine type of the church building of its day. Long may it remain so, and some of its old friends wish it were as little changed within as without. As the church building connects the old time with the new, so did the life of Samuel Spring who first ministered within its walls, and of whose long pastorate I am asked to give some remembrances in this paper. He came to East Hartford in the prime of life, and he came to stay. After twenty-nine years of active service, and then, at his own request, did his ministrations cease. It was a large parish. From the Willow Brook district, from Hockanum, from Scotland, now Burnside, Podunk, Long Hill and Hillstown, in carriages and on foot the people flocked to the big white church, and the staid family horses settled themselves in the sheds at the back of the meeting house for a comfortable all day rest, for there were two preaching services, with an hour's nooning between, followed by the evening prayer meeting. The north yard of the parsonage, shaded by the branches of a large elm and carpeted by the softest green, with its pleasant western outlook of the orchard and the city spires 69 beyond, was a quiet resting place on a summer's day, and here comfortable seats were placed, and in the Sunday noon- ing's came a few old people for rest and refreshment. It was the privilege of the two youngest girls at the parsonage to minister to the wants of these visitors, to pass the steaming cups of tea made "good and strong" in the kitchen or to draw water fresh and cool from the well close by. In the center, and successively in the outer districts, there was a Thursday evening lecture, and some of the older people with us to-day will remember the notices given of these meetings from the pulpit, and the pastoral calls and the tea visits made on those afternoons at their homes ; at Dr. Eli Hall's or Mr. Samuel Brewer's or Mr. Allen Brewer's in Hockanum, at the Williams' and the Comstocks' of Willow Brook, at the Goodwins', the Forbes', the Hanmers' of Burn- side, at Capt. Samuel Kellogg's of the Meadow. These lectures were given in the school houses, the min- ister sitting at the teacher's desk and the audience on the benches which the children used during the day. Hither at "early candle-light," came his audience in goodly numbers, old men and maidens, young men and children, with the Bible and the Village Hymns, the wise virgins "bringing oil in their lamps." To these meetings, Mr. Spring often walked, for from choice as well as economy, he did not keep a horse. He came to East Hartford with a family of seven children, the eldest a girl of seventeen, and the eighth was added the first year of his pastorate. His salary was $800 per year. Judge if there was much to spare for luxuries. Yet it was at that time a liberal salary for a country parish to pay, and then, as in all the happy years spent in their service, his people were most generous and kind. The first house to which Mr. Spring brought his young family one of the Bigelow houses on Burnside Avenue soon proved too small, it being found necessary to lodge two or more children at a neighbor's, at Mrs. Bigelow's or Madame Kellogg's, when agents for the Bible or Tract So- ciety and other clerical guests came to preach and to solicit contributions for the good objects they represented. In these days of rapid transit and hotel accommodations, minister's 70 families are mercifully relieved of this burden, but seventy years ago all such travelers "put up at the minister's." In this connection a good story is told of Dr. Hawes, the pastor of our Mother Church over the river. An agent, who in his zeal in soliciting for his cause, had made a long stay at the parsonage, and when about to leave, said, "And now Dr. Hawes, what is your contribution to this worthy object? " "Boarding the agent and his horse a week," was the curt reply. But because some reverend visitors outstayed their wel- come, let no one fancy that ministers of seventy years ago lacked the Christian virtue of hospitality. When the Bigelow house was no longer large enough to hold his growing family and its many visitors, Mr. Spring removed, first to the Farn- ham house near the head of what was then called Deming Lane, now Governor street, and, later, to the house next to the church, where the parsonage now stands, a large, com- fortable dwelling, where there was room enough for family and guests. Near the direct road to the city, this was the favored half-way house for Mr. Spring's ministerial brethren, and hither they of ten came, Northrup of Manchester; Smith of Glastonbury; Prof. Thompson of East Windsor the last named, a life-long and dear friend with, now and then, a young student from the Theological Seminary to advise with the minister, or to chat with his older daughters. From over the river on a horse, big and bony like him- self, came Dr. Hawes to counsel and advise with his country neighbor. "My horse," the Doctor used to say, with his kindly quizzical smile, "is like one of Brother Finney's per- fectionists, he hasn't a fault," and when asked, " Who takes care of him for you?" "The Rev. Joel Hawes, D. D.," was the answer. He walked with a stick and used to bring it down with force to emphasize what he was saying, and had the habit of clearing his throat with such power, that the small boy at the parsonage said, "Dr. Hawes a-hems the door open." With " Father" Brace of Newington, there was a yearly exchange of pulpits and, early on a Sunday morning the little folks at the parsonage used to peep from the upper windows, 71 listening, awe-struck, to his sonorous tones, as he paced the garden walk, reading from his Greek Testament. Another visitor from over the river, a warm friend of the East Hartford minister and a former parishioner, was Deacon Seth Terry. Long after the removal to East Hartford, he used to send his yearly gift of a barrel of flour. One New Year's day, came two barrels, and with them this quaint char- acteristic message, "Last night the Tempter whispered 'Times are hard, flour has gone up in price, don't send a bar- rel this year;' but my good angel said 'Beat the Devil and send two ' and I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. " When about to start in business in the practice of law, he with his own hands, nailed his sign above the door of his house and, standing before, addressed himself thus: "Seth Terry, Attorney at Law. Be just and faithful in all your business dealings. Keep a conscience void of offence toward God and man. When in your power help the fatherless and the widow. Never knowingly take the wrong side of a case or plead or argue against your conscience. " The minister's wife was a busy woman in those days. To the care of her own large family was added the en- tertaining of much company (afternoon teas then meant coming at two with knitting' and staying till dark), attend- ance at the " Maternal Association," the Ladies Prayer Meet- ing, calls on the sick, and I know not what other outside du- ties, in which she took the lead. But the great event of the year, requiring more laborious preparation than a Donation party or a Thanksgiving dinner, was the meeting once a year of the Hartford Fourth Associa- tion of Ministers. Then was the kitchen of the parsonage a busy place, preparations for the great dinner going on for days ; the eldest daughters sharing the mother's responsibility and labors, the little ones looking on in joyful anticipation, knowing they should share the remnants of the feast. "Ministers for dinner! Ministers for dinner! " the small boy of the family shouted on one such occasion, and was pres- ently discovered astride the gate post, singing to a tune of his own composition " I's going to be a minister! " Through the early years of his pastorate, Mr. Spring was 72 an autocrat in the town. His counsel was sought, his judg- ment relied upon, his decision final, often in public as well as in private affairs. He chose and examined the teachers for the public schools and for several years, was the only school visitor. He advised and assisted in the making of wills, was called upon to settle family and neighborhood quarrels, and to decide the right and wrong of a disputed point. " If Mr. Spring says its so, 'tis so," said one whom reason and logic had failed to convince. When a boy at school bragged that his father was rich for he had a thousand dollars in the bank, the minister's little son retorted "You don't call that rich why, my father owns the whole Congregational Church!" One of the early deacons of the church, whose memory in his old age sometimes failed him, mistook a Saturday for Sunday, shaved and dressed, got out his horse and chaise and insisted on starting for church. His wife, failing to convince him of his error went with him. As they drove along, she called attention to men working in the fields, but the deacon said, "They are wicked folks breaking the Lord's day." As they drew near the parsonage, the wife had an inspiration "If Mr. Spring says it isn't Sunday will you go home?" "Yes, I will," was the prompt reply. So they drew rein at the parsonage, and when the minister, in a few kind words, corrected the mistake, without a word the deacon turned his horse's head homeward. The wife's kindly apology is worth recording "Never mind, husband," she said, "it's better to be in too much of a hurry to have Sunday come than the other way. " In the good old time, the people of East Hartford were so faithful in their attendance at church that the dumb creatures were trained in their service to punctuality in their habits. A horse belonging to two ladies living in the north part of the town, which for years had carried them to church, was brought at the usual hour to the door one Sunday morn- ing. For once the ladies were long in coming. The bell began to toll. The people were going by. Dobbin felt that he must do his usual Sunday duty, and started at a slow pace for the church sheds, where he put himself and the chaise in 73 their accustomed place and stayed quietly till the service was over. When he saw the other horses going, he backed him- self out and trotted home, while Miss Annie and Miss Fanny heard no sermon that day. In the early days of Mr. Spring's ministry, there was a quarrel in the singers' seats, so serious that it resulted in a division, and on a certain Sunday, there were two choirs, one at either end of the gallery, each prepared to burst forth with a flute and violin and bass-viol when the hymn should be given out. There was the opening prayer and the reading of the scriptures, then, in the hush of expectation that followed, the minister, holding the closed hymn book in his hand, said: "There will be no singing to-day. Let us pray." He called a meeting of the church committee the following week and told them, if the trouble continued, he should resign, for said he, "there must be harmony in the gallery and in the pews, else I can do this people no good. " He was sometimes called to visit the sick and to attend funerals outside of his own parish. Once a poor man, suffer- ing from an attack of delirium tremens, begged that Mr. Spring might be sent for " to pray away the devils" that were tormenting him "the big devils with pitchforks and the little devils with pins." And the minister went. During the ministry of twenty-nine years, think of how many weddings Mr. Spring officiated. In many families he successively married four and five of the daughters good old-fashioned big families we had in those days and often, from neighboring towns, came couples to have the knot tied. Of his prayers at the bedside of the sick and dying, and the words spoken by him at open graves, many here to-day have a tender, sacred remembrance. His was a deeply sympathetic nature and he made the joys and sorrows of his people his own. "One more prayer," an aged saint whispered with dying breath, and passed from earth before that last prayer was ended. His familiarity with the scriptures, noticeable in all his ministrations and sermons, added a special dignity and beauty to his prayers, and his love for the book Isaiah led him to commit to memory many of its later chapters which he some- 74 times repeated to the family and often to himself in the wake- ful nights of old age. The hymns learned in childhood he loved all his life to sing- ; his voice retaining its sweetness and purity to the last. There were seasons of special religious interest when the minister's labors were greatly increased, when prayer meet- ings were held at sunrise, a preaching service every evening, followed by an inquiry meeting in the pastor's study. At these times help was called in. Dr. Yates once came from his college, and Dr. Nettleton, whose labors at such seasons were greatly blessed, rose from a sick bed to give the needed help. This good man, sorely afflicted with a disease only death could cure, must needs work while the day lasted. "I have been brought many times to the river brink," he once said, "but its waters were not cold," nor did he find them cold when the last "clear call" came for him; but like Bun- yan's pilgrim, "there being at that time a great calm in the river, he passed over singing." Though not of a strong constitution, spare of habit and of a sensitive, nervous temperament, Mr. Spring passed through many seasons of extra -labor without a break-down. Only once, after a prolonged strain following a season of deep religious interest, was his health seriously impaired. Then came the opportunity to take a voyage to Spain with his brother, the owner of a sailing vessel, a rest and change he greatly needed and from which he returned to his people after a three months' absence, with renewed strength and vigor. It was the only long vacation he took in his pastorate of twenty-nine years. Those who knew him intimately remarked his uniform courtesy and gentleness in the home life. He was never too busy to sympathize with his children's pursuits and pleasures. There were swings and jumping ropes and driving hoops for his girls and boys, and neat garden plots prepared by his own hands for each one to cultivate. They remember how, in the midst of his busy life, he spared an hour from his study on winter evenings to read a paper of Addison's from the Spectator, or a chapter from one of the Waverly novels. His favorite poet THE PARSONAGE. 75 was Cowper, and he quoted from Milton and Pope. He de- lighted in the Latin language and literature, and read the Latin authors with pleasure in his last years. He was an attentive and copious correspondent, and his letters, beautiful in chirography, were characterized by an old-fashioned stateliness and dignity of diction, suggest- ive of Addison, whose style was his admiration, and upon which he used to say his own was modeled. He felt a peculiar tenderness for all dumb beasts. It grieved him to see the meanest of God's creatures suffer, and though usually gentle and mild spoken, he could rebuke an act of wanton cruelty in no measured language. He loved all green things growing and worked many hours in his garden. Two large beds of asparagus were his pride, from which he cut with his own hands neat and generous bunches to carry to friends and neighbors. Some of you will remember how he loved a good story and how he made puns upon his own name, as "In other par- ishes they have a change of seasons, but my people have Spring all the year round." Once, in his old age, he was greatly amused when a man who was mending the kitchen clock looked up from his work to say, "The fact is, Parson, these springs ain't good for much after they git old." Speaking once of the loss of some of his sermons by the fire that destroyed the old house, he said, with his own pleasant smile: " Perhaps they give more light in that way than in any other," and "Dry things burn well." On the burning of that dear house I need not dwell, for some of you remember, and all perhaps have heard, how the prompt generosity of his people restored to the minister all that could be restored of what he had lost ; how, before the ruins of the old house had done smoking, there was nearly money enough raised to build the new. Dr. Hawes came one day to see the new parsonage. He went over it from garret to cellar, contrasting the high, well- lighted rooms with those in the old, so low and dark, examin- ed the new furniture, the curtains, the carpets, the study with its new desk, then a pleasant smile breaking over his rugged 76 features, said: "Brother Spring, Brother Spring, hadn't I better let my house burn down? " Years passed in happy, prosperous work, then, as his sixtieth birthday approached, Dr. Spring feared that he might be out-staying his usefulness, and that his parish needed a younger man. " He was ever, " as was said of his maternal grandfather Hopkins long ago, "a man of an humble and modest spirit," and at a ministers' meeting, counseled with his brethren as to the advisability of his giving up his charge, stating as his reason, that the Jewish priests were required to resign their office at that age. "Very necessary and proper," said Dr. Bushnell, "under the Jewish dispensation, but its no part of your work or mine, Brother Spring, to kill oxen." To the advice of his brother ministers was added the per- suasions of his people, and Dr. Spring did not resign his charge at sixty, but continued to labor on as his strength per- mitted until, after a pastorate of nearly thirty years, and then, at his own urgent request, the tie between pastor and people was sundered. Later on, he filled for a few years the position of chap- lain at the Retreat for the Insane in Hartford, where his services were highly valued, both by patients and physicians. Many of his sermons he re-wrote at this time, shortening them and softening the stern theology of his earlier years, for the comfort of those afflicted ones. Within these sacred walls there was reverential silence when the face of the former pastor looked down, as of old, upon the congregation to whose fathers he first ministered. Those men and women in middle life were children when he came to East Hartford. He had married them, and bap- tized their little ones Who were to do the work of life when he was sleeping in his grave. When the voice that fell so familiarly on the ears of the older people told gently and earnestly the old story, its very feebleness made it effective. But, whether in the pulpit or out, the minister preached to his former charge. His presence in their midst, enjoying a peculiarly peaceful, green old age, was a sermon, and its text, every promise in the Bible of God's care and love for his servants in their declining years. 77 When the summons came to depart hence, it found him willing, even longing to go. "Do not hold me back," he said, " I want to go home. It is but one step to the arms of my Saviour. How safe it is to die! How easy! What a com- fort to think the great work of living is done. My soul is committed to Christ. He will keep it to the end. I know in whom I have believed." Again, "Do you want to know how I feel toward the people of East Hartford? I feel as if they were my children, the little ones my grandchildren, and when I see the little ones running about the streets, I long to take them in my arms and to tell them to live for Christ, and to tell their parents to train them up for Heaven." Some of his last words to his family are pleasant to read. When one asked, " Can you rest a little now, father," he said, " Dear child, it is all rest, for the everlasting arms are underneath me." And when one spoke of mourning, he exclained, "No, robes of rejoicing!" With such glad outbursts did he welcome the oncoming of death. About five hundred united with this church during the twenty-nine years of Dr. Spring's ministry. In 1852, after a season of religious interest, forty-eight were received by profession and letter. Some of you remember those services. The gathering at the altar, the serious upturned faces as the solemn vows were taken, the hushed assembly, and the sweet- ness and solemnity with which the service was rendered. Of that company, how few are with us to-day! How many may be numbered on the hillside yonder, by their graves. The saintly men and women who filled these seats and joined in worship in these earthly courts are, we believe, worshiping to-day in the heavenly, with him, whose prayers and sermons and faithful admonitions were blessed of God to the saving of their souls. A brief extract from one of the many sermons preached in this house by Dr. Spring will perhaps be a fitting close to this paper. The text was from Hebrews 12: 22-23. But ye are come to the spirits of just men made perfect. I give the conclud- ing paragraphs : 78 "Good men and women who die beyond the period of middle life, find more in heaven whom they knew and loved than they have left on earth. There children have met their parents, brothers, their sisters ; husbands and wives who have walked together on earth have there met to walk together in white robes. How sweet the thought that familes, separated by the unrelenting hand of death, are united by the kindlier sympathies of heaven. The church on earth and the church in heaven will there be one. Millions of unfallen and perfect spirits, who have never wandered from their Father's house, with millions more, who have wandered but have been brought home through the blood of Jesus Christ and the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit will there be united in the sweetest intercourse forever. They shall see one another and hold sweet converse together, and be happy in one another's society forever. The peculiar intimacy and friendship, which individuals, or circles, or societies have enjoyed in this world, shall there be renewed, exalted and perpetuated in a far more intimate and endeared friendship. "To us who remain among the inhabitants of this dying world, the death of a loved one is a melancholy event, and we weep and mourn over it, but do we consider that for our mourning below there is rejoicing above, that the sad parting here, means a happy meeting there. Those arrivals in the heavenly world, that make homes desolate on earth, make joyful reunions in heaven among those who are like the angels. For the vacant chair, the silent, empty rooms, in these earthly habitations, there is in the heavenly the prepar- ed seat, the glad song of welcome, and the dear faces of our loved ones who have gone before. "Then, why should we not be reconciled to their depart- ure from us nay, why should we not rejoice over their accession to that happy, happy company? "I heard a voice from heaven saying, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." REV. THEODORE J. HOLMES. 79 Rev. THEODORE J. HOLMES. Mr. Holmes was born in Utica, N. Y., April 26, 1833. He graduated at Yale College in 1853. The next three years he spent in teaching at the American Asylum for the Deaf in Hartford. He studied at Union Theological Seminary, New York, and graduated from that institution in 1859. In October of the same year, he was ordained at Richmond, Vermont, whither he had gone under the direction of the Vermont Do- mestic Missionary Society. After about three years' service at Richmond, he was called to East Hartford and was installed pastor of this church, October 17, 1861. This was war time. Mr. Holmes recognized his country's claim to his service, and resigned his pastorate that he might be free to enlist in the army. The church, however, refused to accept his resignation, but granted him an indefinite leave of absence. In December, 1863, he enlisted in the 2istConn. In- fantry. His regiment went to the Rendezvous Camp, at Fair Haven, where he was detailed for chaplain's work among the thousands of recruits who were awaiting orders to the front. The following spring he received a call from the ist Conn. Cavalry and was mustered in as their chaplain April, 1864. He was with Sheridan in all his raids; was wounded June i, 1864, and came home on leave of absence; returned to the front in September, and remained with his regiment until February, 1865, when he was detailed to act as aide on General Custer's staff. This position he held until March, when he re- signed and returned home in response to urgent letters written by Dr. Spring and others, saying that he was greatly needed in the church, especially in view of a marked religious interest which had been developed. He resigned his pastorate of the East Hartford church in 1872 to accept a call to the Lee Avenue Congregational Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. Other churches which he has served are: The First Congregational Church, Baltimore, Md. , the First Church, Newton Centre, Mass., and the Congregational Church in Hopkinton, Mass. He has now returned, after forty-three years, to his first field of pastoral service at Richmond, Ver- mont. 80 Rev. RICHARD MEREDITH. Mr. Meredith is of Welch ancestry. He was born in Ire- land within what is known as the English pale. He was edu- cated in the schools and colleges of his native land. The ex- cellence of his scholarship is shown by several first-class prizes taken at Dublin University. He began his ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and served under that denomination at Victory Mills, Galway, Albany, North Adams, Brooklyn, New York, and Hartford. In 1878 he was called from the First Methodist Church in Hartford to East Hartford. Since his pastorate here he has served Congregational churches in Leominster, Mass., and Brooklyn, N. Y. Unable to be present at the anniversary, Mr. Meredith ex- pressed his regard for the old church at East Hartford in the following words of greeting and benediction: " I should re- gard it as no less than a distinguished honor to be permitted to have a part in such a celebration as the people propose and determine shall crown two hundred years of noble history. Such a period in the lifetime of a Christian church must of course embrace all sorts of vicissitudes and experiences. But, through all the years, the dear old church has stood for God and htimanity; for truth and righteousness; for the Gospel of Christ and the salvation of souls; for kindness, sympathy, gentleness and consideration for and toward frailty, weakness, sin, and suffering. May God pour upon it His richest blessing as it enters its third century ! May the membership of this generation be as true to their sacred trust as those of former generations ! May pastor and people be so endued with power from on high, that they shall together see the work of the Lord prospering in their hands! "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." REV. RICHARD MEREDITH. 81 Rev. CHARLES SUMNER NASH, D. D. Mr. Nash was born at Granby, Mass., February 18, 1856. . He graduated at the Amherst High School, 1873, and at Am- herst College, 1877. For three years following his graduation from college, he was a teacher at Robert College, Constantino- ple. He then entered the Hartford Theological Seminary, where he took the regular three years' course of study, gradua- ting in 1883. He remained at Hartford the following year for post-graduate work in New Testament Greek. He was ordained and installed at East Hartford, October 22, 1884. During the first year of his pastorate he was an instruct- or in Biblical History at the Theological Seminary in Hartford, and during the last year he taught elocution at the same insti- tution. The year following his dismission from East Hartford he spent at the Seminary as a teacher of elocution and New Testament Greek. In 1891 he was called to the Pacific Semi- nary at Berkelej^ California, where he now holds the professor- ship of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology. He received the degree, Doctor of Divinity, from Amherst College in 1897. The letter of greetings and congratulations sent by Mr. Nash gives us a picture of the personality of the man who is still remembered most affectionately by our people. Moreover, it forms in itself an interesting chapter of our church's history and is in part given a place here. "Ever since my privileged years among you, I have antic- ipated this Bi-Centennial. I have enjoyed hoping and deter- mining to be present. I resolved to let nothing prevent me. Yet here I am in the farthest corner of our land, looking across three thousand impossible miles toward you. I not only do re- gret, but I never shall cease to regret my failure. Hitherto, few ministers have had my privilege of being a pastor of a two- hundred-years-old church. And I have felt that all who have should make an utmost effort to share in the august celebration. Your church has had a noble history and is worthy of the most hearty and complete tribute now. You will have histori- cal papers or addresses tracing the course of events and honor- 82 ing the names of your saints and leaders. There have been many such, men and women of fine fibre and splendid strength. I hope you will have several papers giving in detail the life-story of some of them, "written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the ages are come." I look back to my five years and a half among you, as every pastor must, with mingled feelings of happiness and grat- itude, of regret and sorrow. So many good things in the Master's name and strength we did together! So many more we might have done ! You were exceedingly cordial and co- operative. It was in your hearts to move forward, to make progress, to do all that you were able to do. Let me bear wit- ness, both grateful and distinct, to your willingness, your devo- tion, your faithfulness. I never shall forget at what cost of effort and in what a spirit of helpful service the Standing Com- mittee used to meet. I can see them now sitting around in my parsonage study, while we discussed some plan of work or en- couraged some young Christian to unite with the church with the right appreciation of the great act. I can see Deacon Goodwin of sainted memory ! and the Long Hill brethren, entering the parsonage on cold winter nights, and later leaving it, with their whips in their hands and buffalo robes under their arms, think- ing these articles safe in the parsonage, while they themselves were present at any rate. I am sure I understand better now how much effort went into the right movement of those church affairs, and must go into the progress of every church. The trustees, of whom Mr. Ackley was the efficient chairman, were always ready to spend time, and thought, and action. The Sabbath school officers and teachers, led by Mr. W. H. Olm- sted and Miss Annie Olmsted, gave their services generously and happily. The Ladies' Society deserves most honorable mention. The King's Daughters did many a gracious thing to relieve and brighten and strengthen. And the Endeavor So- ciety, in its public services and its committee work, could be depended on all the time. The primary department of the Sabbath school was a wonderfully bright spot in our church life. I assure you that I rejoiced over it more than I ever could show, for you do not need to be reminded that I was a poor hand at associating with the children and addressing them on REV. CHARLES SUMNER NASH, D. D. 83 Sunday. There is one little thing with whom I am learning to get on better in these last days ; she may be able to teach me how to behave toward the whole precious lot. I could not write of these five years without making special reference to the young people. Some of you remember as viv- idly as I do the first January Communion after we started in to- gether; that day twenty-five young people stood before us to confess the Lord Jesus Christ and to enter into covenant with His church. They had long been preparing for the step and it was my rare privilege as pastor to thus gather the harvest of others' labors. They were all sincere and true ; they were among our most faithful workers; they have all kept the faith, I hope and believe, and will keep it to the end. Other sincere and true ones came along, time after time, a goodly number in all. Such an Endeavor Society as we had ! You remember the meeting in the basement-room to consider forming a society. We reasoned it out, and then acted together, strong in our unanimity, solemn as men always are when undertaking a great duty more in faith than by sight. Then we went on to prove how Christians can grow and serve in the spirit and power of Christ. That full chapel every Sunday night was the place, not for display, but for earnest duty and hard discipline. This world cannot know all that was gained and wrought there. The heavenly world is even now harvesting the seed there sown in the lives of some dear ones already translated. Our committee meetings were among our best experiences. The pastor was always wanted in them and never willingly missed one. There our plans were laid and our spiritual life strengthened. I recall those little meetings as among my choicest pastoral associa- tions. If I were with you while you celebrate, I should be aware of many changes, all interesting, some sad. You have lost some whom you can ill spare ; some of our leaders, who would have rejoiced to see this two-hundredth day. I may mention Deacon Goodwin, Mr. and Mrs. Ackley, Mrs. Kilbourne, and I have in mind too many more to call by name. A most noble company has gone up to the better land from your church in these two hundred years ; and the last ones to go in the few re- 84 cent years are well worthy, through the grace of Christ, to join the sainted throng. As you celebrate, you should be aware of the "great cloud of witnesses;" many of their sainted faces you know and love ; your meeting house, your homes, the very air of your streets, are, to the awakened soul, full and fragrant and a-tune with your choir invisible. It is a grateful and aspiring thing to live up toward the level of their worth, to hear them saying with Paul, " Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ." There is another special line of changes in which I should be keenly interested, if I were with you; I mean the swift growth of those who were children twelve years ago. Many of them I should hardly recognize now I cannot tell you how strongly my thoughts and affections set toward you. Let me hope that each of you will take my personal greeting from this letter Good and great as your long past has been, may the longer future surpass it, not merely in the time element, but in the presence of God with you and the triumphs of His grace in your hearts." REV. SAMUEL ALLAN BARRETT. 85 Rev. SAMUEL ALLAN BARRETT. Mr. Barrett was born at Woodstock, Vt. , 1861. He grad- uated at Datmouth College in 1883, at the age of twenty-one. For one year following his graduation from college he was principal of Gilmanton Academy, Gilmanton, N. H. He then entered the Hartford Theological Seminary where he took the regular three-years' course of study. After graduating from the Theological Seminary he ac- cepted a call to the Congregational Church at Castleton, Vt., where he was ordained and installed, February 28, 1888. From Castleton he was called to East Hartford, and was installed here Dec. 17, 1890. He was dismissed May 30, 1899. After leaving East Hartford he was called to the Congre- gational Church at Gilbertville, Mass., where he remained until January, 1902, when he began his present pastorate at Florence, Mass. Mr. Barrett entered upon the work of the ministry with the most exalted idea of what the calling demands, and through his devotion to his ideal, has accredited himself in his several fields of labor as a faithful minister of the Lord Jesus. In Cas- tleton he faced and settled difficult problems with rare conscien- tiousness and won a large place in the affections of his people, who were very loth to part with him. To East Hartford he brought the same devoted spirit, where he labored in season and out of season, for the upbuilding of the church, the inter- ests of which were ever uppermost in his mind. To his preach- ing, which was biblical and spiritual to an unusual degree, his iipright life gave a stamp of genuine sincerity. Faithful in pastoral duty, and warmly interested in everything that looked to the welfare of the young, he left an impress upon the church and community that if sure to abide. 86 Rev. WILLIAM BODLE TUTHILL. The present pastor was born at Goshen, N. Y., 1867. He graduated at Colby College, Waterville, Me., 1894. Following graduation at college he studied one year at Union Theological Seminary, New York City, and two years at the Hartford Theo- logical Seminary, where he graduated in 1897. He received a call to the Congregational Church at Kensington, Conn., and was there ordained, Nov. 26, 1897. He was called to East Hartford in Nov. 1899, and was installed, Nov. 7, 1900. REV. WILLIAM BODLE TUTHILL. 87 MEMORIAL TABLET. PATRIOTIC EXERCISES IN CONNECTION WITH THE MARK- ING OF THE SITE OF THE OLD MEETING HOUSE, UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION OF EAST HARTFORD AND SOUTH WINDSOR, CONN. At a meeting of the Martha Pitkin Wolcott Chapter, held December 13, 1900, the following motion was presented in writing by Miss Frances L. Roberts : ' ' I move that Martha Pitkin Wolcott Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, co-operate with Nathan Hale Lyceum of this town in reclaiming and marking the plot of ground upon which stood the meeting house of the Third Church of Hartford, afterward the First of East Hart- ford." A committee was at once appointed to act in the matter, and the energy and enthusiasm of the Chapter was thenceforward devoted to the project until the work was accomplished. The work actually began in the Nathan Hale Lyceum some time before this. This small debating society was composed of young men, led by the Rev. Francis P. Bachelor, pastor of the South Congregational Church, (Hockanum,) East Hartford, Connecticut, they brought much enthusiam to their plan, then modestly stood aside and waived their right to its completion in favor of a patriotic society having a national organization. Descendants of the founders of the church and town came generously forward with their gifts, until the treasury contained a sufficient sum to warrant the laying out and curbing of the plot of ground to be known as the Old Meeting House Green. In May, 1902, a substantial granite boulder with a bronze tablet was placed on the spot where the old meeting house stood. The tablet bears this inscription : OLD MEETING HOUSE GREEN 1699 1836 HERE THE PEOPLE MET FOR WORSHIP AND TO TRANSACT ALL PUBLIC BUSINESS. THE SECOND HOUSE WAS USED AS A HOSPITAL BY THE FRENCH ARMY 1781-2. IN HONOR OF THE FOUNDERS OF CHURCH AND TOWN, THIS SITE HAS BEEN RECLAIMED BY THE MARTHA PITKIN WOLCOTT CHAPTER, DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 1902. 88 ADDRESS BY Miss ANNA M. OLMSTED. Miss*Olmsted is Regent of "Martha Pitkin Wolcott" Chapter, D. A. R., and presided at the afternoon session. Friends of the First CJiurcJi of the town of East Hart- ford and neighboring towns : For the past two days this church has celebrated in various interesting exercises, the two-hundredth anniversary of its organization. To-day you have been invited to help us, the Daughters of the American Revolution, to write in more permanent form the history of the first house where the founders of this church and town worshiped their God and transacted their public business. Should the question be asked why the Daughters of the American Revolution are interested in the spot where this house stood, the reply will be: Because the first object of the national society is "To perpetuate the spirit of the memory of the men and women who achieved American in- dependence, by the acquisition of historical spots, and the erection of monuments." The spirit of these men and women was born in their children and grandchildren, who bravely resisted oppression and gave us that spirit of independence which has made us a great nation. The first settlers of this town were simple, God-fearing men, and they doubtless carried their profoundly religious spirit into town affairs, in those days of blessed simplicity before the political machine was invented. In the hurry and rush of to-day, it seems idyllic to con- template those sober, leisurely times, but we would not go back to them if we could. While we sigh for a little of the peace that seemed to brood over their lives, we know our present civilization to be vastly superior to anything they could conceive of. So far as our forefathers and foremothers saw the light they lived up to the best that was revealed to them, and we honor them for it. And so we have sought to reclaim 89 from oblivion the plot of ground where they built their first meeting house. How dear it was to them we may not under- stand. It was the center of their existence. Their religious, their social, their public life was focused there. Can we not see them in fancy, plodding through winter snows to the cold church, to sit in hard, uncushioned pews, with no other heat than the little warmth from the coals in their footstoves ? Could we do that? Would we do it? Yes, doubtless, if we thought it our duty. The stern stuff of our fathers is in us still, latent perhaps, but yet ours. And we can feel our kin- ship with them. The ancient records of the church and town tell us where the first meeting house stood. Mr. Goodwin's admirable his- tory of East Hartford says, " It was begun in 1669, on a small hill which once rose above the open ground, near the junction of Main street and the South Meadow Road." It goes on to say, "The first preserved record of a meeting of the society is of one held December 29, 1699, when William Pitkin, Deacon Joseph Olmsted and Lieutenant Hills were appointed a committee to see about the meeting house, and do what they think needful in ordering the same, as they think best. " These three men constituted not only a building committee, bvit a committee of general arrangement, with freedom to act " as they think needful," and "as they think best." We, their children of the fifth, sixth and seventh genera- tion so many of us gathered here to-day may be justly proud of the trust reposed in their honor and integrity. Notwith- standing these records and this history, I venture to say that few of the younger people of our town could have told where the first church stood before we began the work of reclaiming the spot. We have sought to write this bit of history in enduring bronze and stone, and the sympathy we have met, the hearty co-operation of our fellow townsmen and friends near and afar, have encouraged us to go on. Without your help we could not have accomplished the work. Let me thank you in the name of the Martha Pitkin Wolcott Chap- ter, for your generous contributions and your kindly interest. And I would ask the younger generation to feel a responsi- 90 bility in keeping up the spot. As time goes on and we no longer work, I trust that those who come after us will carry on our work and add to it, so that the site of the first meet- ing house may never again become a desert of sand, but may ever be a place of beauty, worthy of those whom we have sought to honor. ADDRESS BY Mrs. SARA T. KINNEY, State Regent, Connecticut D. A. R. A sobering fact leaps into prominence when one is remind- ed that of the untold and countless myriads of human beings that have inhabited the earth since its beginning, but a few hundred names are recalled to-day with any degree of famil- iarity. From the time when "Adam dolve and Eve span," men and women have had their distinctive interests and activities, and have lived more or less strenuous lives, in varying kinds and degrees, much such lives as we are living to-day. Since the creation of the world brave men have fought and died for the sake of a sacred principle, or for what they fancied was such. Brave women, too, through all the ages have suffered and yet have been strong to dare and to do. From time immemorial, great deeds of physical prowess have been accom- plished and mighty intellects have struggled for supremacy in the arena of thought. But not even one name remains to tell the story of the rise and fall of innumerable races which have passed on into oblivion. In centuries comparatively close to our own, a name here and there shines out like a star, and its splendor may, perhaps, last as long as the earth shall swing upon its axes. But what of the many others, who were they ? How did they live ? What did they say and do, and what was their influence for good or for evil ? Individually they are as though they had never lived. They doubtless served their day and generation 91 well and valiantly, but their personality is now as vague and full of mystery as is that of any possible inhabitant of the planet Mars, and their work, such as it was, their mighty deeds of valor, their successes, failures, sacrifices and sufferings were long ago merged into the one, great ever-rising tide of univer- sality, precisely as the shining brooks that go twinkling through our green pastures, flow into and lose themselves in the mighty volume of a limitless sea. It is natural and right that this should be so, but it is exactly as natural and right that each generation should strive to hedge about its heroes and their achievements with an imperishable bulwark of affection and pride and deathless remembrance. And so far as this may, and can be done, it should be done, for nothing is more help- ful or uplifting than the object lesson of noble, and well spent lives. There are debts of honor and of gratitude that cannot be paid in coin of the realm. To keep green the memory of the good and the great, whether they were combatants in the church militant or the church triumphant, is a duty which seems to fall easily and rightfully and quite as though it were a sacred obligation, upon certain organizations and upon a certain class of individuals. One of the distinctive missions of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is to acquit themselves, so far as maybe, of their share in the many long-standing debts of honor and of gratitude which we all owe to the founders of church and state in this country. Do this they must, for a spe- cific duty and a very sacred obligation has been imposed upon them by their heredity by the blood, the sacrifices, the pray- ers of a long line of noble ancestors, from whom they have re- ceived the golden heritage of civil and religious liberty. It is then no ordinary event that has called us together to-day. In common with other citizens in this town, the " Martha Pitkin Wolcott " Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, has undertaken to pay a debt of gratitude, and to do special honor to the memory of the men and women who first established a house of meeting and of worship in this locality, that their names and their influence for good may not be forgotten by the present or by future generations. This action on the part of the Daughters of the American Revolution is strictly in accord- ance with the constitutional requirements of our organization, 92 which, as many of you know, is the largest patriotic, hereditary organization in the world, and the only one of its kind to re- ceive a charter from the Congress of the United States. This society was formed for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of the men and women who gave material aid to the cause of liberty during the war of the Revolution, and is a memorial es- tablished by lineal descendants of patriots, that the names and services of those same patriots may be remembered in years to come, as a part of the nation's history. By our constitution we are bidden : i st. "To perpetuate the memory of the spirit of the men and women who achieved American Independence, by the ac- quisition and protection of historical spots, and the erection of monuments ; by the encouragement of historical research in re- lation to the Revolution and the publication of its results ; by the preservation of documents and relics, and of the records of the individual services of Revolutionary soldiers and patriots, and by the promotion of celebrations of all patriotic anniversaries." 2d. " To carry out the injunction of Washington in his fare- well address to the American people, "To promote, as an ob- ject of primary importance, institutions for the general diffu- sion of knowledge," thus developing an enlightened public opinion, and affording to young and old such advantages as shall develop in them the largest capacity for performing the duties of American citizens. " 3d. " To cherish, maintain, and extend the institutions of American freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of coun- try, and to aid in securing for mankind all the blessings of liberty." There are nearly 40,000 members of our society, and they are striving to live up to the happy privileges which are part and parcel of the honor " beqiieathed down from many ances- ters" to Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution. I think it is not overstating the case when I say that in the ten years of its existence, this society has accomplished a won- derful amount of patriotic and commemorative work. From Maine to California the Daughters of the American Revolution are starring this dear land of ours with monuments, not merely to the memory of individuals, but in honor of the ideals which 93 they represented, and the principles which actuated the men and women of a century and more ago, and made them what they were, and are, and ever will be in the hearts of their country- men. All through the United States, and especially right here in the commonwealth of Connecticut, the Daughters are doing the kind of patriotic, historical, commemorative and educa- tional work which is their's to do by right of inheritance, and in accordance with the mandates of the National Society of which each and every Daughter is a member. Not only are we putting new life into the dry and crumbling bones of a dead and almost forgotten past, but our National Society is taking its rightful place among the forceful agencies for good which are coming to the fore in the new century, and it is making his- tory which we hope will prove an inspiration to future genera- tions "A people which takes no pride in the achivements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be re- membered by remote descendants. " These are Macaulay's words but in a very true sense they belong to the creed of Daughters of the American Revolution. * * * I am here to-day more especially for the purpose of ex- pressing and emphasizing the very great gratification which is felt by myself and by the sister chapters throughout the State, in the good work which has been accomplished by the " Martha Pitkin Wolcott " Chapter, an achievement which has long been anticipated as a possibility and which comes to its consum- mation to-day. In placing a memorial to mark the site of the first meeting house in East Hartford, this Chapter of patriotic women has honored not itself only but the National Society which it represents in this community, and the State of Con- necticut as well. I bring to you, Ladies, greetings from the " Daughters " of Connecticut, and their sincere congratulation upon the success of your effort to link together the fragrant past and the forceful present with the name and aims of your great and well beloved National Organization. This Chapter has not so large a membership as some in the State, but it is faithfully doing the work for which it was organized, and in the D. A. R. firmament it is showing itself a star of the first magnitude, and its light is shining brightly and steadily in the very beautiful constellation of Connecticut Chapters, Daugh- ters of the American Revolution. 94 I am conscious of a wistful hope in my own heart that those early settlers and first ministers of the Congregational Church in this town are cognizant of what has been said and done here during the past three days. If this be so, they are doubtless filled with a wordless surprise at the ceremonies in which you have all been taking part. They were modest men. To serve God and win souls to Christ, was the business of their lives, and it is to be doubted if it ever occurred to any one of them that they were doing more than any man should do, or any- thing for which future generations would be more than quietly grateful. Their lives, like those of our Colonial and Revo- lutionary fighting ancestors, were full of the activities which per- tained to their profession, and to their own day and generation. There was no leisure for them in which to even dream of the marvelous changes that were in store for this new land of Canaan. Indeed, our country had lived through its first cen- tury before its sons and daughters found time to give much thought to its history. They were far too busy making history to feel justified in halting by the way long enough to study in detail the wonderful things that were being accomplished the pathetic sacrifices that were being made and the moulding of sterling character which, all through the strain and stress of the Colonial and Revolutionary period, went steadily on until they our forefathers and foremothers who builded better than they knew, became strong and virtuous souls. They passed unscathed through a fiery furnace. Weighed in the balance, they are not even now found wanting. They were not swayed from the simple line of rectitude, which they "kept with love's unconscious ease," and "The gospel of such lives as theirs Is more than books or scrolls." Nor is it to be supposed that they realized the full signifi- cance of the great on-going struggle for human freedom, versus kingship, a struggle which involved the right of every individual to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. " Their battle is over, their victory won and those early victors in church and state, rest from their labors. Time, opportunity and inclination are now ours in which to sum up results and to try and realize, as never before, something of the magni- THE BOULDER AND TABLET. 95 tude, the dignity and the virility of the patriotic and religious movement which led to the founding of this great republic. A study of the religious, political and social causes which made it possible and necessary for the colonies to cut loose from Mother England's apron strings, may well be regarded as a part of the work of Daughters of the American Revolu- tion. It is also our blessed privilege to keep green the mem- ory of the heroes and heroines whose blood throbs in our veins. Their names should be household words with us; the he- roic deeds of the fathers, and the noble heroism of the self- effacing mothers, should be twice told tales in every home. The reverent care of the lowly and almost forgotten mounds which cover the sacred dust of our dead, of more than a cen- tury ago, should be one of the coveted privileges of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The placing of me- morials to those who fought the good fight, either upon the battle-field, or beneath the sounding-board the cultivation of a broader and more comprehensive spirit of patriotism and of reverence for the traditions and customs of a noble past, wise and legitimate efforts for municipal reform, and a vigorous stand for the permanence of the American Sabbath, all these things come directly within the province of patriotic women as well as men, and in doing them we shall demonstrate anew, and in a far higher and nobler sense than ever before, our inalienable right to bear that most honorable title of Daughters of the American Revolution. Perhaps the best service this society can render our coun- try is one which is dear to the heart of every true Daughter of the American Revolution, and the one to which many are giving their most earnest thought and attention. It is in con- nection with the children in these United States, children of both native and foreign parentage. To bring the latter to a realizing sense of their obligations to the land of their adop- tion, to make it easy for them to understand, and possible for them to assimilate our American customs, beliefs and prin- ciples ; to instill all alike with profound respect for law, and the blessings of liberty as distinguished from license, this, too, is one of the distinctive missions of our patriotic organ- ization. 96 If we should haply accomplish even the half of what we hope to do, if we succeed in inspiring the boys and girls of to-day with a truer love of home and country than is some- times to be found among them ; if we can stimulate them to a profounder loyalty to the flag that floats over them if we can stir these embryo statesmen and possible presidents with ' ' high hopes of living to be brave men and worthy patriots, dear of God, and famous to all ages, if all this, or any part of it, should be the outcome of our patriotic and educational efforts, then will the Daughters of the American Revolution know that they have not failed in their duty to the past, or their obligations to the future. ADDRESS BY Rev. THEODORE J. HOLMES. The students of the High School, by special invitation, were present at this session, and the address was directed particularly to them. One of the old-time stories about the Revolution is that when Washington was, on a certain day, being welcomed in one of the Connecticut towns by a crowd of children, he said to his staff: "We may be beaten by the English, it is the chance of war ; but there is an army they can never conquer. " He thought the acquirement and preservation of a free country depended on the young people. That is about the idea in the minds of the ladies who put upon their program this afternoon a short talk to the boys and girls of the High School. They thought no celebration of the old days would be complete, if you did not have a hand in it, because it is for you and the generation whom you represent to keep alive in the future the spirit which created the republic more than a century ago. The liberties which they won, you are expected to hold. And to fulfill this mission will require the same qualities 97 which characterized them courage, fortitude, devotion. You do not realize what you are told often, that there is room for such virtues in the commonest experiences of life. The Daughters of the Revolution are doing good service in marking the sites of the old buildings, the old events, to per- petuate their inspiring memories. There are so many of these memorials in this state alone, and one of the most interesting of them referred to here to-day is Putnam's Den. Did you ever visit that spot? If not, you ought to. The youngest of you remember about it: how Putnam a farmer in that vicinity was annoyed a great deal by wolves, one night losing seventy sheep which they carried off. He started at once, with a party in pursuit of them, tracked one to the river and then back to his den. A colored man, in- vited to go in after the beast, declined. A dog, also invited, refused, whereupon Putnam said there shouldn't be a coward in his family, and in he went, with a torch in one hand and a musket in the other, down a decline of fifteen feet, then along a level of ten feet, then up an ascent of fifteen feet, and there he saw the monster, with his fierce, hungry looking eyes, shot him and dragged him out. When I was there one day, a little boy who was with me crawled in a few feet to show he was not afraid, but he crawled back in a hurry, because, he said, he saw in there a yellow mouse! He is a man now, and has since learned there are better ways to show courage. The spirit which Old Put exhibited then, and through his brilliant career afterwards as a soldier, is always possible in fighting the dangers that confront us in common life. Any good- looking boy has that stuff who can meet a sharp temptation bravely and put it where it belongs, under his feet ; or who can tackle promptly and heartily some positive task or duty, and do it, at any cost. Of course this is a quality that does not concern the boys alone. Virtue, you know, means man- liness, but that is not a matter of sex. Some of the manliest people in the world are women. It was so in the Revolution. Speaking of Pomfret, when you are in that vicinity don't fail to visit the neighboring town of Hampton and ask them to show you the house that was built literally by 98 the mothers of the Revolution. In 1776, when Putnam was rallying- in that region the force which did such effective ser- vice at Bunker Hill, he took all the men he could find from the towns around, persuaded them to follow his example, to leave their work, on the farm, in the shop or store or factory, just as it was, and run to the front. One little company of his recruits had been engaged in preparations to erect a dwelling ; they had the frame all ready, when they heard in the valley below, the fife and drum calling them to action. They responded without delay ; the timbers were left upon the ground and they fell into line, to join the Continental Army. Then the women rallied; they could not fight, but they could stay well by the stuff ; they could look after things at home, and among other things there was that dwelling. They resolved to arise and build. Gathering their force from the neighborhood around, they pressed into the work a car- penter who was too lame to be a soldier, and under his direc- tion, they lifted the frame and completed the building-, which, they tell us, stands to this day. That is only an illustration of the courage, the zeal, the unquestioning devotion by which women have always proved their patriotism. And I am sure that is the ideal cherished by the girls of the present genera- tion. But while we recall the grand spirit of those women and men of the Revolution, in their fight against British tyranny, is it not a joy to think that the old enmity between the mother country and her colony is all forgotten, and that we remem- ber only the principles which were then established, principles recognized to-day as heartily over there as they are in this land. At a great Anglo-American dinner in London, three or four years ago, it is said, representative Englishmen joined with Americans in applauding the triumph of American liberty; in acknowledging freely that George III was wrong, and this country was right. The presiding officer, Lord Col- eridge, declared: "That the union of the two nations by kinship, race, language, and literature, was a far more certain source of strength than any formal alliance." We cannot know yet how much this unwritten alliance means for the United States and for the world. 99 Rejoicing in such unity, which we trust will never be broken, it is natural to think at this memorial time of the unity which prevails among- all parts of our land. This week you will be decorating the graves of those who fell in the war of the Rebellion. Yet we have forgotten the old enmity and remember only the principles which were estab- lished. The wars in Cuba and the Philippines have done more to promote a hearty and abiding reconstruction than could ever have been accomplished by argument or diplomacy, or by the constraint of legislation. As our army and our navy were rallied from every section of the land, we sang of them : ' ' They are Yankees, they are Johnnies, They're for North and South no more, They are one and glad to follow, Where Old Glory goes before." If only that spirit can prevail; if we can, as a people, stand together, north and south and east and west, that will keep Old Glory waving full and strong during the century, the centuries to come; that will achieve our ideal of the Republic : " One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, one nation, evermore. " PRESENTATION ADDRESS BY Rev. FRANCIS P. BACHELER. Ladies and Gentlemen : 'Tis an honor indeed to stand here as the spokesman of the patriotic society which donates this magnificent memorial to our town ; an honor, however, from which one would modestly shrink did not this great stone speak so eloquently for itself that one need but inter- pret its utterance, adding nothing. This rock stands as the record of religious and civic virtues exercised by the first settlers and their descendants 100 from the beginning- of this town to the year 1836. But I will refer only to that period in which the generous donors of this stone, the Daughters of the American Revolution, must be especially interested the period of struggle against Great Britain. This is a ponderous rock, and yet every grain of its great weight is significant. Some years ago I found myself in correspondence with a New England society engaged in searching out and appropri- ately marking the graves of Revolutionary soldiers. At that time I learned that it was the wives and mothers of the com- munities, which had been swept of all able bodied men by the war, who visited camps, battle-fields and hospitals, to claim and carry home for burial in the quiet churchyard of the hamlet, the bodies of husbands and sons. There were none to help them, no means of public transportation, so the bereaved women of the Revolution, like them of Palestine, went early to the sepulchre to bear away the bodies of their dead. The Revolution has been painted in the stalwart valor of Bunker Hill, in the bloody snows of Princeton, in the white death of Valley Forge, and in the glowing triumphs of Yorktown, but the Revolution will never be truly painted until some artist puts on the canvas this scene : a wearied horse -slowly drawing a rough farm wagon in which is seated a weeping woman. The cart holds a coffin. Let all this be seen at the turn in the road, where the lane from the farm house enters the highway. At this turn, stand the children in tearful silence, for this is father's home-coming. The mother looks at them and knows how little her slender hands can do for them, knows the snows will sweep down on the farmhouse and find its hearth fireless, that want will invade it and find its cupboard bare, that hunger and cold, nakedness and want must be the portion of the little ones into whose quivering up-turned faces she gazes. Now let the artist paint the truth and put into her face all the anguish and tears and broken-heartedness of a life on which rests a stony grief. He talked, she remembers, with blazing eyes of liberty, but now that glowing face must mingle with the clods of the valley. The bosom that held her close in parting, no longer throbs with love ; the hands that so eagerly served her are folded in 101 unwonted ease ; her husband is dead. Here is the tragedy of the Revolution ; to die is not a grief, but to live bereaved ; to know hourly in the isolated farmhouse a haunting loneliness, to suffer want and to mourn. On the hearts of the wives and mothers of the colonies who gave husbands and sons to liberty, there fell grief like a stone, a grief which no angel of consolation could roll away. That sorrow this heavy stone doth typify. The great sculptors of Europe have chosen to represent war as a youth of powerful limbs and mature strength, hel- meted in brass, clad in steel, with every power of mind and body in superb perfection. But how unfit such a personification of war in the Revo- lution. Here, where we stand, here there came forth from the meeting house where the news of contests in Massachusetts had been the theme of the sermon, an aged man who lifted his hat in unconscious consecration, saying, "I have but few years left, I'll give my life for liberty." But the boy at his grandfather's side caught the word and his gentle cheek sud- denly burned with high resolve, "I'll go with you, grand- father;" and while their eyes still searched one another's souls, a third voice speaks, the voice of the son and father, a man of middle life, "I have long intended to enlist; now I start at once." Not here, but on the battle-field, do we see them again. The scant white locks of the old man are flying in the wind ; a bloody handkerchief is knit about his brow, but from his shrill fife comes unbrokenly the wild and thrilling music of battle. The boy is by his side, his eyes fixed on his grand- sire's face, while under his swift hands the throbbing drum sends forth its constant thunder. The third figure is there, all, all in glorious van. But, alas ! ' ' The brave went down ! Without disgrace They leaped to ruin's red embrace ; They only heard fame's thunder wake, And saw the dazzling sun-burst break in In smiles on glory's blood}' face." I know not whether it be the highest art or the happiest of happy chances, but the granite of this rock doth truly sym- bolize what no sculptor could have set forth in the "beautiful and conventional figures of war. The valor of the aged and feeble, of the young and tender, of the mature and strong, was like this rock, granite, and against it as against a rock the power of England broke. "In vain the "grenadier" set His breast against the bayonet. In vain the " British" squadrons charged and raged A tigress in her wrath uncaged Till all the hill was red and wet." Lastly, the archaeologist finds in Wiltshire, England, a Druid altar. There is a legend that at that altar the Druid priests while celebrating the mystic rites of their religion, of- fering human sacrifices, the sacred mistle-toe wreathing their brows, and bloody knives in their hands, were slain by the swords of an alien soldiery. Here hath been set up on Amer- ican soil the very image of that famous Druid altar, and I can see in this rock nothing else than a place of sacrifice. On that rock, across the sea, the fairest youths were slain and presented in sacrifice to heathen gods. Here, here we will consecrate ourselves and our children to the true God, teach- ing them under the shadow of this rock those lessons of cour- age and virtue which it commemorates, then, whether at home or abroad, in war or in peace, their lives are spent, God shall be honored and the republic served. I beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present yourselves and your chil- dren here a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. And now, in the name of the Martha Pitkin Wolcott Chapter of the Daughters of the Amer- ican Revolution, I present this memorial to the town of East Hartford, doing this to the glory of God and the edification of mankind. Amen. "THE GIFT OF THE *HON'BL WM. PITKIN, ESQ'R, TO THE CHURCH OF THE 30 SOCI'Y, HARTFORD." " THE GIFT OF COL. JOHN PITKIN, TO THE CHURCH OF THE SOCI'Y, HARTFORD." Other cups of the Communion Service now in use were also given to this Church before it became the First Church of East Hartford in 1783, by CAPTAIN RUSSELL WOODBRIDGE, MR. ELISHA PITKIN. One cup bearing the date, June, 1802, was the gift of DEACON TIMOTHY COWLES. * Governor of the Colony, 17661769. 103 DEACONS. JOSEPH OLMSTED, CHOSEN TIMOTHY COWLES, JOHN GOODWIN, JOSEPH OLMSTED, COL. JOSEPH PITKIN, 1748 JONATHAN HILLS, 1748 JOHN PITKIN, i75 2 WILLIAM COWLES. 1752 WILLIAM PITKIN, JR., 1760 SAMUEL SMITH, 1775 JOSEPH MEKENS, 1775 ASHBEL PITKIN, (declined) 1772 but appears as deacon later CAPT. JOHN WELLS (declined) 1778 JOHN GOODWIN 1780 ELISHA PITKIN, ESQ. (decl'd) 1790 TIMO: COWLES, 1790 MOSES SMITH, 1793 JOHN WILLIAMS, 1801 COL. JONATHAN WELLS, 1802 DR. EPAPHRAS BIDWELL, 1810 CHOSEN. ELIAB PRATT, 1813 JOHN JUDSON, 1817 JOB PORTER, 1834 J. HUBBARD WELLS, 1840 JARED A. AYERS, 1847 SOLOMON OLMSTED, 1847 EDWARD HAYDEN, 1847 HORACE WILLIAMS, 1855 GEORGE GOODWIN, 1856 DAVID L. WILLIAMS, 1862 JOHN B. SMITH, 1863 GEORGE H. GOODWIN, 1874 ASHBEL BREWER, 1874 AARON G. OLMSTED, 1875 MARTIN ROBERTS, 1875 ELIZUR R. ENSIGN, 1876 WILLIAM H. OLMSTED, 1891 ALFRED E. KILBOURNE, 1894 GEORGE W. SMART, 1894 C. HENRY WILLIAMS, 1902 104 PRESENT OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH. Pastor. REY. WILLIAM B. TUTHILL. Deacons. DAVID L. WILLIAMS, GEORGE W. SMART, ALFRED E. KILBOURNE, C. HENRY WILLIAMS, Standing Committee. REV. WILLIAM B. TUTHILL, CHAIRMAN, GEORGE GOODWIN, CLERK, DAVID L. WILLIAMS, GEORGE W. SMART, ALFRED E. KILBOURNE, C. HENRY WILLIAMS, HORACE B. WILLIAMS, ERASTUS C. GEER, HARRY D. OLMSTED, WALDO J. DRIGGS, FREDERICK H. AVERY, C. HENRY OLMSTED, MRS. WM. B. TUTHILL, MRS. JOSEPH O. GOODWIN. Board of Trustees. ALFRED E. KILBOURNE, CHAIRMAN, C. HENRY OLMSTED, CLERK, GEORGE A. WILLIAMS, C. HENRY WILLIAMS, FREDERICK COMSTOCK, WILBUR S. BURNHAM, ERASTUS C. GEER. Clerk. HARRY D. OLMSTED. Treasurer. ERASTUS C. GEER. Auditor. HENRY B. HALE. Historian. LILLIE M. HUNTTING. Sexton. DANIEL L. BRYAN. The Choir. MR. L. B. HAWLEY, ORGANIST AND DIRECTOR, Miss A. LOUISE GILMAN, SOPRANO, MRS. FRANK S. FORBES, CONTRALTO, MR. FRANK P. PERRY, TENOR, MR. F. J. BENDALL, BASS. 105 The Sunday School. C. HENRY OLMSTED, SUPERINTENDENT, HORACE B. WILLIAMS, ASSISTANT, ANNIE E. OLMSTED, LADY ASSISTANT, RAYMOND S. GAINES, REGISTRAR, ARTHUR H. GAINES, ASSISTANT, C. HENRY WILLIAMS, LIBRARIAN, MARY S. BURNHAM, SECRETARY, WILBUR S. BURNHAM, TREASURER. Junior Department. MRS. JAMES R. TUCKER, SUPERINTENDENT, ETHEL P. RIST, ASSISTANT. SOCIETIES OF THE CHURCH AND CONGREGATION, Woman's Home Missionary Society. MRS. GEORGE BISSELL, PRESIDENT. Mission Circle. MRS. GEORGE A. WILLIAMS, PRESIDENT. Auxiliary Woman's Board of Missions. MRS. WILLIAM B. TUTHILL, PRESIDENT. King's Daughters Circles. READY TEN. Miss ANNA M. OLMSTED, LEADER. "MINISTERING" DOUBLE TEN. MRS. GEORGE A. BOWMAN, LEADER. Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. JAMES JOHNSTON, JR., PRESIDENT, ARTHUR H. GAINES, VICE PRESIDENT, FLORENCE R. WILLIAMS, SECRETARY, MABEL H. GOODWIN, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, WALTER M. GILBERT, TREASURER, GEORGE GOODWIN, UNION DIRECTOR. Junior Society of Christian Endeavor. MABEL H. GOODWIN, SUPERINTENDENT. 106 COMMITTEES ON BI-CENTENNIAL. REV. WM. B. TUTHILL, CHAIRMAN. Entertainment. MRS. GEORGE BISSELL, Miss LAURA COWLES, Miss CLARA H. BEAUMONT, WILBUR S. BURNHAM, MRS. ALBERT H. LATHROP, ALBERT A. FORBES, Invitation. Miss ANNA M. OLMSTED, MRS. GEORGE H. GOODWIN, EDWARD A WILLIAMS, MRS. O. D. RIST, HENRY B. HALE, Meetings and Program. HORACE B. WILLIAMS, Miss ANNIE E. OLMSTED, MRS. GEORGE A. BOWMAN, DAVID L. WILLIAMS, MRS. JOSEPH O. GOODWIN, MRS. WILLIAM B. TUTHILL, Decorations. C. HENRY OLMSTED, C. T. HOLLISTER, Miss MAUDE A. BEAUMONT, EVERETT E. ARNOLD, MRS. HENRY R. HAYDEN, Jr., MRS. FREDERICK T. MOORE, MRS. CHARLES C. HANMER. Historical. Miss FRANCES L. ROBERTS, MRS. CAROLINE R. BOYNTON, MRS. GRACE W. WEATHERBY, Miss MARY ISABEL CORNING, GEORGE GOODWIN, ALFRED W. DRIGGS, Musical. ROBERT E. S. OLMSTED. FRDERICK H. AVERY, MRS. LOREN G. TERRY, MRS. A. EDWARD OLMSTED, FREDERICK COMSTOCK, MRS. GEORGE A. WILLIAMS, Miss LILLIE M. HUNTTING, Souvenir and Printing. HARRY D. OLMSTED, ERASTUS C. GEER, Miss HARRIET T. KILBOURNE, Finance. ERASTUS C. GEER, HARRY P. BREWER, GEORGE W. SMART. Chief Usher. HOWARD C. GAINES. SC O 107 HISTORICAL EXHIBIT. Written by Grace Weld Weatherby, a member of the Historical Committee. In connection with the Bi-Centennial, the Historical Committee prepared a loan collection of old furniture, china, silver, pictures, and manuscripts which filled three rooms of the chapel. The articles of this exhibit, with a few excep- tions were contributed by residents of the town many of them direct descendants of its early settlers and founders. In the main room was placed the fine furniture of the Colonial period the towering- highboy, the inlaid card table, the straight-backed sofa, the great winged chair, the carved chest, the lowboy, the slender candle stands, and the beautiful Chippendale chairs and couch, once the property of the Hon. Elisha Pitkin. On the platform stood the massive high- backed, three-cornered " chair of state" of Hon. William Pitkin, governor of the colony from 1766 to 1769, and on the wall beside it hung a proclamation whose time-stained paper bore his official signature. In two corner cupboards, taken from old houses in the town, were gathered the precious bits of old china, Delft and silver lustre, quaint tea pots and flow- ered "custard" cups, old Staffordshire ware, and the black and white prints known as Newhall, flanked by ancient "flip" tumblers of generous dimensions. Shining candlesticks and gilt candelabra graced the colonial mantelpiece and beneath gleamed a pair of polished brass andirons, an old-time wed- ding gift. Family portraits looked down upon the visitor from marvelous cap borders, or over ruffled shirt fronts. There were mirrors with gaily painted landscapes set in gilt frames with pendent balls and one wreathed with lilies and nodding wheat, which may have reflected the features of Count de Rochambeau as it hung in the old Pitkin house 108 his headquarters during part of the autumn of 1780. A glass case near the mantel held the treasured pieces of family sil- ver and the first seven communion cups given to the church by individual members, each bearing the name of the donor. The second room reproduced an old-time kitchen. Here was the stone fireplace, with its swinging crane and attendant kettles, the iron "fire-dogs" and twirling broiler, the warm- ing-pan and foot-stove, while on the shelf were ranged the iron candlesticks and pierced lantern. Above all hung the old flintlock and powder horn. Close by the fireplace was the high-backed settle, and behind it the great woolen wheel, the smaller flax wheel keeping company with grandmother's ban- ister-backed rocker and bible stand. Here was the tall dresser with its shining rows of pewter, the flat-topped highboy on whose crown of " steps" was set the blue and white ware and the "sailor" pitcher, the frugal supper table with its splint- bottomed chairs, its homespun cloth laid with wooden spoons and trencher, polished pewter plates and mugs. A chair- table stood in a far corner, and a tall clock, made by a local dealer, ticked off the hours as of old ; while on a side wall swung the lantern of the old Welles Tavern, where President Monroe lodged in 1817. In the little north room, known for the time as the " Min- ister's Study," were gathered articles belonging to the former pastors of the church. Beside a quaint Franklin stove stood the great three-cornered study chair of "Priest" Williams, and across the hearth a round-backed "Windsor," with its spreading desk-like arm, once the property of Dr. Yates, Mr. Williams' successor. Just beyond "Priest" Williams' chair was his small, square table, with his smoking kit, and here too was the round center tip-table, the high-backed Dutch chairs, and the tall secretary, on whose open lid stood the hour glass which tradition says he was wont to turn twice during his morning discourse. Beside it lay the closely- written, stained, and yellowed pages of a sermon, delivered by him February 19, 1775. At the opposite end of the room was the low desk of Dr. Samuel Spring, every year of whose long pastorate strengthened the tie between him and the people of his charge. His photograph and that of his wife stood on THE CORNER CUPBOARD. PARSON WILLIAMS' DESK. THE KITCHEN FIREPLACE. GLIMPSES OF THE HISTORICAL EXHIBIT. 109 the top of the desk and two sermons in his beautiful, clear handwriting lay on its open front. Here too were the leather- bound books of the early period old pamphlets, hymn books which recalled the days when the riddle and bass-viol were used in the church service, and a well-preserved Bible of the seventeenth century. A beautiful collection of water color sketches of old houses in the town added much to the interest of the exhibit. The Historical Committee also marked the graves of the ministers and deacons of the church down to 1850, indi- cated by suitable signs places and sites of historic interest, such as "Priest" Williams' house, the headquarters of Count de Rochambeau, the site of Governor William Pitkin's house, and that of the tavern where Lafayette stopped in 1824 and issued a plan of Main street, from about 1640 to 1836. This account, though necessarily brief, embodies the work of the Committee and indicates the main features of the exhibit. 110 MEETING HOUSE GREEN. RecUimvd And mrH