Pomfret Connecticut Church History
After receiving confirmation of bounds in 1713, one of the first things
Pomfret did was to settle religious worship. The town, October 28th, voted
to give an orthodox minister one hundred and fifty pounds toward buying
land and building himself a house, and fifty-five pounds annual salary,
until the town should contain sixty families. A committee was appointed to
look for a minister. Reverend Ebenezer Williams was secured for six
months. He boarded at the house of Captain John Sabin. in the northeast
corner of the town. Religious services were held in some convenient
private house. February 16th, 1714, the town gave Mr. Williams a call to
settle permanently, offering him one hundred and seventy pounds for
settlement and sixty pounds salary. He accepted the offer and entered upon
the work. Two hundred acres of land that had been reserved for the
encouragement of preaching were made over to Mr. Williams in June, 1714,
by the Mashamoquet proprietors. Work was now begun upon a meeting house,
which the town in December previous had voted to build "with all
convenient speed." The frame was raised April 27th, and it was covered
during- the summer. It stood on the east side of the road, about a quarter
of a mile south of the spot where the present Congregational church
stands. A burial plot was set apart adjacent to it. The house was
completed so far as to be opened for public use in autumn. Privileges were
granted to build pews in specified parts of the house. Mr. Belcher was
granted the privilege of building a pew on the west end of the pulpit,
next to it, which privilege he probably never exercised.
A church was organized with eleven male members, October 26th, 1715, and
Mr. Williams was at the same time ordained pastor over it. An ordination
dinner was ordered for the occasion, sufficient for forty guests from
abroad. The expense of the dinner was ten pounds. In 1716 the meeting
house was fenced in, and the privilege was granted Nathaniel Gray to build
a "Sabba-day house " in the highway near the meeting house, for himself
and his family. The `, Sabba-day house" was an institution of that period,
common in many parts of New England, though this is the only instance of
any record of them in Windham county which we have discovered. It was a
small house with a good fireplace and chimney. in which a few persons
could sit and warm themselves, and eat their lunch, when they had come a
long distance to church and wished to stay through both morning and
afternoon services. A good fire was kept up, and from the coals thus
accumulated their " foot-stoves " were filled to carry into the meeting
house to help them keep warm during the long service, there being no fire
kept in the meeting house other than what was carried in in the
foot-stoves. Sometimes a single family owned a "Sabba-day house," and
sometimes a few families joined in building one. Sometimes a number of
them might be seen in the neighborhood of a single church. In 1722 the
inhabitants were given liberty to build stables for themselves near the
north side of the meeting house. In 1719 Mr. Jonathan Belcher appears to
have offered the town a bell for their church, and straightway they vote "
That there shall be a bell cony built at one end of the meeting house."
But for some unexplained reason the bell did not arrive. In 1729 the
church had fifty male members. Mr. Williams was greatly respected at home
and abroad, and his counsel was sought in many difficulties throughout the
colony. In 1731 he was chosen Fellow of Yale College.
The religious disturbances which attended the Separate movement in the
middle part of the last century seemed to make but little if any
impression upon the First church of Pomfret. No record is left of any
agitation or loss to this church during that period that can be attributed
-to the elements spoken of. Mr. Williams died March 28th, 1753, thus
closing a term of pastoral service with this church extending through
nearly forty years. This blow came to the people at a time when they were
somewhat discomforted over the removal of much of their former strength by
the division of the town into three distinct societies. A re-organization
of the society and church, and the building of a new meeting house and
settlement of a minister were questions which confronted them.
Reverend Noadiah Russel, of Middletown, preached through the summer of
1753, and October 16th, was' called to the pastorate. The pay offered him
was £1,500 for settlement, and £650 a year salary. These figures look
large for that period, but their magnitude is easily explained away by the
recollection that the currency at that time was highly inflated. At that
time it took three pounds ten shillings to be equal to a dollar in value.
Mr. Russel accepted the terms, but before ordination took place a
disagreement arose in regard to church discipline, and in the early part
of 1755 Mr. Russel withdrew. Reverend Aaron Putnam was next called, and he
was ordained March 10th, 1756. The frame of a new meeting house, after
long discussion in regard to its site, was raised September 5th, 1760, on
the home lot of Zachariah Waldo, where two acres had been purchased for
the purpose. The size of the house was sixty feet long, fortyeight feet
wide, and twenty-four feet " stud." It w as probably completed during that
and the following year. Galleries were built around the sides of the
house, a high pulpit and massive canopy was erected, and the outside of
the house " cullered " in the most approved fashion of the day. The main
body color was orange, with trimmings of chocolate on the doors and bottom
boards, and white on the window frames, corner boards and barge and eaves
boards. A preliminary lecture sermon, when the house was all completed,
was given by Mr. Putnam, Thursday, January 20th, 1763. The old meeting
house and training field adjacent were sold by order of the society, and
liberty was granted .to build sheds on the east line of the common, within
four rods of Reverend Mr. Putnam's house.
While yet in the prime of life Mr. Putnam was in a great measure disabled
by a failure of voice and physical weakness, which obliged him to seek the
aid of a colleague. The young man invited to act in this capacity was
Oliver Dodge, of Ipswich, a recent graduate of Harvard. While on probation
here Mr. Dodge manifested at times an alarming license in speech and
conduct, and unfavorable reports concerning him came from abroad, so that
some objection was made to his ordination, on chares of disregard to
truth, neglect of duty, irreverent application of Scripture, and
unbecoming levity. The council called April 19th, 1792, to ordain him,
refused to do so, and later another council was called to consider the
charges against him, which they found sustained. But despite the decision
of the church court, the people had become so much attached to him that
many refused to give him up, and a division was made in the church. A
majority, both in church and society, were strongly in favor of Mr. Dodge.
When the church was called together to concur with the society in making
out a constitutional call, Mr. Putnam, exercising what was called the
negative power," which the Saybrook Platform allowed to ministers,
dissolved the meeting without permitting a vote to be taken upon the
question. Thus by a strategic manoeuvre the desire of the majority was
defeated.
But the majority were not to be so easily silenced. Thus debarred from
further expression and action, they indignantly repudiated all connection
with the First church and society and straightway organized in a new form
as the Reformed Christian Church and Congregation in Pomfret. A
satisfactory covenant was hastily drawn up and adopted, and divine service
instituted in friendly private houses. The young minister, thus released
from previous restrictions, was more eloquent and fascinating than ever.
Crowds flocked to the new places of worship, and the old meeting house and
minister were almost deserted. Only twelve male members were left. These
were Reverend Aaron Putnam, Oliver, Asa, Seth, Ebenezer and John
Grosvenor, John and John H. Payson, Caleb Hayward, Josiah Sabin, Simon
Cotton and Jabez Denison. Conflict of sentiment now ran high, over this
occasion and the Ecclesiastic Constitution of Connecticut and the
principles of Saybrook Platform, which gave the occasion its destructive
force. A recriminative war of words, from platform and from press, was
waged, not only in Pomfret, but throughout the county and state.
The first public act of the new society, December 28th, 1792, was to
invite Mr. Oliver Dodge to settle as its minister; and in the following
February he was ordained over it. So strong was the feeling against him
that ministers of good standing shrank from the responsibility of
introducing him into the ministry, and of many invited only the Reverend
Isaac Foster, his sons and son-in-law-all of doubtful orthodoxy-assisted
in the ordaining services. This ministerial reprobation only increased the
fervor of his adherents. His personal friends clung to him with unwavering
fidelity. His levities and indiscretions, which all were forced to
acknowledge, were but the irrepressible exuberance of a free and generous
spirit, and were more than compensated by his ingenuous confessions of
wrong and great social attractions. The newspaper controversy and Swift's
avowed championship gave him great notoriety, and attracted many hearers
from abroad. The old Grosvenor House, in which his church now worshipped,
could hardly contain the congregation. No minister in the county had so
wide a popularity. Some of the most respectable families in Brooklyn,
Abington parish, Woodstock, Thompson and Killingly left the churches "of
their former attendance and united under the Reformed church of Pomfret.
But while the masses were carried away by the fascinations of the popular
preacher, a small but powerful minority were banded together against him.
This minority were supported and encouraged by the ministry of the county
and sober men in the neighboring towns. An attempt made by the Reformed
society to obtain possession of the house of worship was unsuccessful, the
Windham county court deciding "that Mr. Putnam's adhor-ents were the First
Ecclesiastic Society and had a right to the society property." This legal
action and decision only made the controversy more bitter. Friendly
intercourse between the contending parties was wholly suspended. The
controversy was carried into town elections. Opponents of Mr. Dodge were
excluded from office. Josiah Sabin, who had served as town clerk for many
years, was defeated, and, in vacating his office, he wrote in the record,
" Here ends the services of a faithful servant of the public, who was
neglected for no other reason than because he could not DODGE."
This breach and controversy continued till near the close of the century.
For more than six years Mr. Dodge maintained his ascendency, and his
church grew and flourished, while the old church withered and wasted. Even
some of the faithful eleven were lost to it. The family of Captain Seth
Grosvenor removed to New York state. Through these weary years, however,
the faithful few maintained the stated Sabbath service in the great
desolate meeting house, the deacons praying and reading the sermons
prepared by the speechless pastor, who cheered them by his presence and
silent participation in their worship.
The conduct of Mr. Dodge grew at length more and more scandalous, until he
became openly profane and drunken, even entering his pulpit in a condition
of intoxication. The eyes of his most ardent followers were at last
opened, and the tide of popularity was suddenly and strongly turned
against him. He was tried by his own church July 4th, 1799, and found
guilty of drunkenness and profanity, and was forthwith excluded from the
rites and privileges of the church until by his reformation he should be
restored to their charity. The restoration never came. Like Jonah's gourd
the Reformed church of Pomfret now withered and died. Their last meeting
was held November 4th, 1799, when they determined to return to the First
church and society. No obstacles being in the way, they readily effected a
union with the old church, and Mr. Asa King was now engaged as assistant
to Mr. Putnam. After a reasonable probation Mr. King was approved, and May
5th, 1802, he was duly installed pastor of the First church of Pomfret,
Mr. Putnam having been dismissed from the position which his physical
disabilities would not permit him to fill. Mr. King gradually led his
people to a higher sense of the duties and responsibilities of life and
the demands of Christian character upon them. Material things of the
church were not overlooked. The meeting house was repaired, its back seats
replaced by fashionable pews and an additional sounding board suspended
under the massive canopy over the pulpit. His pastorate was harmonious and
fruitful. A special revival season was enjoyed in 1808, when seventy
members were added to the church. An imposing addition, a lofty tower or
steeple, was now added to the meeting house. An unfortunate casualty marks
the history of that improvement. Barnard Philips, a youth of nineteen, who
was assisting in raising the structure, was thrown from the top of the
frame and so injured by the fall that he died in a few days. This was done
in 1810. With the completion of the improvements a bell was placed in the
towerr by the generosity of Mr. Benjamin Duick, which served the purpose
of a town clock, being rung three times a day. Mr. King was dismissed from
his charge in 1811. An interval of three years followed, after which
Reverend James Porter was inducted into the pastorate. He was a very
active man, setting forward every good work that came to his hand. He
established the first Sabbath school in this region; began the first
monthly concert for prayer, and took the first collection at such meetings
for foreign missions; was one of the most earnest promoters of the
temperance cause, and helped organize in Pomfret a Moral Society, having
for its aim the suppression of gambling, lottery dealing, Sabbath breaking
and the excessive use of liquor.
Always forward in culture and worldly refinements, it was in keeping with
the character of this church that it should be among the first to
introduce the grand church organ. This was done during the second decade
of the present century. Deacon Sweeting's son, Nathaniel, was the first
organist, and" many were the comments called forth by his orchestral
performances. The plain old Quakers and the Methodists of the town were
much scandalized by this culmination of worldly vanity. Still the church
seemed to go forward, engaging with much interest in any progressive
movement. A Duick Charitable Society was organized in 1817, having for a
permanent fund a legacy left for charitable purposes by Mr. Duick. A Bible
class met every week at the parsonage. In 1819 the Sabbath school was
organized with one class of boys and two of girls and Major Copeland for
superintendent.
About ten years later a new church edifice was built. The site was secured
from Doctor Waldo, on a lot east from the former site, the ladies of the
church paying for the same by knitting a hundred pairs of stockings.
Materials from the old house were used as far as it seemed advisable in
the construction of the new one, which was completed and dedicated in
October, 1832. Mr. Porter asked to be dismissed in 1830. Reverend Amzi
Benedict was installed pastor in 1831. The organ was retained in the new
church, being now played by Miss Elizabeth Vinton, the only person in
town, it was said, who was competent for the service. A deep and powerful
revival was experienced by the church during Mr. Benedict's time, bringing
many into the church. His successor, Reverend Daniel Hunt, was ordained
April 4th, 1835, and most worthily filled the place of his esteemed
predecessors. At this time two brothers, Zephaniah and Job Williams,
served as deacons. Lewis Averill was elected to that office at a later
date. Reverend Daniel Hunt enjoyed a pastorate of nearly thirty years, and
was succeeded by Reverend Walter S. Alexander, who was ordained here
November 21st, 1861, and was dismissed January 17th, 1866. Reverend Henry
F. Hyde was installed April 24th, 1867, and dismissed June 20th, 1872.
Reverend William A. Benedict was acting pastor from January, 1873, to
flay, 1874. Reverend W . S. Alexander returned and served as acting pastor
from August, 1874, to August, 1875. Reverend Charles E. Gordon was acting
pastor from January, 1876, to May, 1877. Hamilton M. Bartlett was
installed as pastor in May, 1878, and dismissed in February, 1883.
Reverend Frank H. Palmer was installed in February, 1884, and dismissed in
May, 1885. Reverend Egbert N. Munroe was acting pastor from December,
1885, to May, 1889. The membership of the church in 1889 was one hundred
and eight. A parsonage was built in 1883, at a cost of $3,000, not
including the lot upon which it stands, which was given by Mrs. C.
Comstock. The church was repaired and an organ purchased in 1878, at an
expense of about $1,800, and further repairs and improvements to the
outlay of $800 were made in 1886.
During the year 1776, a Baptist society was organized in Pomfret. The
Baptist element which had then spread considerably in different parts of
the county came by the way of Canada parish, Abington having furnished
many adherents of that sect to the Grow church of the former locality. In
Pomfret public religious services were held by. Mr. Manning at the houses
of the Thurbers and other friends, which excited much interest. Baptist
sentiments for a while gained strength and a branch was also established
in the Quinebaug valley, including members from the eastern part of
Pomfret and from Killingly. The Reverend Mr. Kelly labored for a time with
the Pomfret Baptists, holding services at convenient residences, which
were attended by large numbers. Hitherto the Baptists of Windham county
had been mostly of the lower and uneducated classes of society, and their
ministers had been men of little or no education. Now, men of higher
standing were entering the ranks and a different ministry was demanded.
President Manning urged the importance of education and endeavored to
influence the people to attend to having their children educated. The
society here maintained its organization and held services occasionally
for many years, even though they had no minister and no house of worship.
After a number of years, in 1803, the people on the Pomfret and Killingly
line were constituted a branch of the Woodstock church. Under the
preaching of James Grow, of Hampton, or Canada parish, their numbers were
multiplied.
Regular services were held in the Gary school house at Pomfret Landing.
Here, on September 18th, 1805, James Grow was ordained to the ministry, by
a council of elders and deacons from the neighboring Baptist churches. In
April, 1806, a distinct church was organized here, the members of which
were dismissed from the Woodstock church as follows : Elisha Sabin,
Artemas Bruce, James Grow, Pardon Kingsley. Smith Johnson, Thomas Bowen,
Charles Robbins, Guy- Kingsley, Stephen Chapman, Alvin Easting, Lucretia
Cady, Mary Brown, Hannah Sabin, Patty Bruce, Phebe and Sarah Stone, Azubah
Bowen, Pollv M. Spalding, Orpha Easting, Susanna Kingsley, Katharine
Ashcroft, Sabra Withey, Hannah Kent, Betsey Leavens, Hannah Fling, Celinda
Copp, Lucy Goodell. Services were still held in the Gary school house and
at other convenient points. A great revival visited this church in
1813-14, and many were added to its numbers. Services were held in the
Gary and the Brick school houses. Soon after this a meeting house was
built on Pomfret street. The branches at Pomfret Factory (now Putnam) and
the Killingly border, were rapidly increasing in strength. Soon after this
the Pomfret church seemed to have reached its zenith and began to decline,
while its branches grew stronger. It, however, maintained services and
pastors for several decades, but was finally absorbed into its former
branch at Putnam. Among the last of its pastors were Bela Hicks, Warren
Cooper and Isaac Burgess, the last of whom closed his service here about
forty years ago.
Episcopalians in Pomfret worshipped with the church at Brooklyn in the "
Malbone " church, until the year 1828, when the parish of Christ church
was organized. A church edifice was built during the following year.
Reverend Ezra Kellogg officiated in this as well as in Trinity church at
Brooklyn. Reverend Roswell Park assumed the sole charge of Christ church
in 1843. At the same time he opened a select school, which gained a very
high reputation. Doctor Park was a thorough scholar, a strict
disciplinarian, and his nine years' incumbency left abundant fruits.
Reverend H. C. Randall was in charge of the church a few years after that.
The church is at present without a rector. The last one in charge was
Reverend Fred. Burgess, who came to the church in May, 1883, and left it
in May, 1889. The old site is occupied by a new and elegant church, which
was erected in 1882, and consecrated in May, 1883. It occupies a beautiful
site in a grove of evergreens, and is in part surrounded by an ancient but
well kept burial ground.
The "Friends" gained a name in this town about the end of the last century
and in the early years of the present century. Unobtrusive as their
principles require them to be, their presence was asserted by no booming
demonstrations. A few Quaker families resided in the town at the time of
which we speak, and a plain house of worship was erected for them by the
Smithfield Conference. This worship was maintained in a quiet way for many
years, but it has now long since died out.
Methodism, though nominally belonging at one time to Pomfret, made but
little headway except in the eastern part, where it joined other towns,
and the history of its movements there will appear in connection with
Putnam and Killingly, where the resulting churches centered. As early as
1793 a class was formed in the northeastern part of the town, then known
as Cargill's mills, which grew until 1795, when the Pomfret circuit was
formed, which included that and a number of neighboring stations in
northeastern Connecticut, the circuit comprehending altogether a
membership of 169. Daniel Ostrander and Nathaniel Chapin were then
preachers, and Jesse Lee presiding elder. In 1801 this circuit was
included in the New London district, and in the following year in the New
York Conference. In 1804 it was joined to the New England conference.
Daniel Ostrander had then become presiding elder, and John Nichols and
Samuel Garsline were preachers on this circuit. Meetings were held in the
press rooms of Cargill's mills and in the Perrin House at what is now
Putnam. The Methodists, true to their reputation, were active and alive.
Meetings were held in private houses. Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Bugbee, Noah
Perrin and Mrs. Lucy Perrin were prominent leaders and exhorters. George
Gary, a nephew of the last named, began preaching at an early age. The
first Methodist camp meeting in Windham county was held in Perrin's grove
in 1808, and was largely attended.
Beginnings of Roman Catholic worship were made in Pomfret a few years ago.
Mass was said in Pomfret Hall previous to the erection of a church. A
Sunday school was also held. In the early part of 1885 the foundations of
a new Catholic church were laid in the northeastern part of the town, a
mile or more from Pomfret street. In 1886 this region was made a part of
the parish of Mechanicsville, and placed under the pastoral care of
Reverend Father Flannagan. The church was so far completed that services
were held in it on Easter Sunday in 1587, and it was dedicated a few
months later.
In the southeastern part of the town lies a settlement which gives
evidence of business in earlier days, but which evidences are fading into
the appearances of desertion, while in other directions new life is
springing up. A large building stands in the heart of the settlement known
as Pomfret Landing, which was once a cotton factory, but for long years
has been abandoned as to that use, and a part of it is still used as a
grist mill. A store and a few houses, and a handsome school house, make up
the appearances which art has given to adorn a landscape which nature left
in so rich a condition of beauty as to need but little more to make it one
of the enchanting nooks of this almost fairy land. We might dwell at
length upon the beauties of Pomfret Landing-a rich, cool glen in the green
valley of the rippling, rambling, laughing Mashamoquet. But while the din
of the cotton mill is no longer heard, and the rock ribbed hills no longer
give echoing answers to the shrill whistle of the " brick steamers "
plying the river, yet new signs of business life and social prosperity are
not wanting here. A creamery was started here in 1885, which is now in a
flourishing condition, its success fully warranting all the sanguine
expectations which were put forth in regard to it. The cream is received
into large vats, holding 300 gallons each, where it is brought to the
desired temperature, and thence it goes into swing churns run by steam, in
which it is converted into butter. A wagon is run out daily, which gathers
the cream from about 400 cows. About 1,800 pounds of butter a week are
made during the best part of the season, and the market demand for this
butter is ahead of the supply, at good prices. A 12-horse power steam.
boiler is used to run the machinery and regulate the temperature.
Religious services have within the past year been inaugurated at the
school house, no denominational organization existing, but a sort of union
service being maintained.
Back to: Pomfret, Windham
County, Connecticut History
Source: History of Windham County, Connecticut,
Bayles, Richard M.; New York: W.W. Preston, 1889
Back to: Windham County, Connecticut
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