Hartford County CT Archives Church Records.....Congregational Church of Wethersfield Copyright Date 1860
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HISTORICAL MEMORANDA.

   WETHERSFIELD, Windsor and Hartford, the three oldest towns in Connecticut,
were founded by colonists from Watertown, Dorchester and Newtown, Massachusetts,
in the order mentioned, and originally under the same names. Such a migration,
from the eastern coast to the interior, was first suggested by an Indian Sachem,
Wahquimacut or Wahquinnacut, to the Governors of the Massachusetts and Plymouth
colonies in 1631. The Governor of Massachusetts received him courteously, but
declined to entertain his proposition. Governor Winslow of Plymouth, without
directly acceding to it, could not wholly dismiss it from his mind; but went
himself to spy out the riches of this Indian Paradise. His favorable report led
to the erection of a trading house, near the mouth of Tunxis river at Windsor,
under the sanction of the Plymouth colony, as early as October, 1633; and a
similar one had been erected, by the Dutch from Manhattan, at Hartford, a short
time before; but neither of these establishments seems to have been intended as
the nucleus of a settlement. In September of the same year, Rev. Thomas Hooker,
who had been driven into exile from England, for non-conformity, in 1630,
accompanied by Samuel Stone, his assistant, followed and rejoined his old
parishioners at Newtown, Mass., who, soon after his excision from his ministry,
had fled to America under a mutual pledge of reunion. The crowded state of the
settlement, where they met, led them to cast about for room; and the Connecticut
valley, being at that moment the favorite Eldorado, they, with others,
petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts for leave to transfer themselves
thither. This petition, made in 1634, was at first rejected; but a number of the
inhabitants of Watertown, during the autumn of the same year, disregarding the
decision of the General Court, set out for the interdicted country, and arriving
in season to construct temporary houses in which to pass the winter, made, it is
believed, at Pyquag, now Wethersfield, the first settlement on the Connecticut
River. In May following, (1635,) the old application of Hooker and his friends
was renewed, and leave to remove reluctantly granted. During the summer of the
same year, several of the people belonging to the congregation of the Rev. Mr.
Wareham of Dorchester, removed to a point on the river a few miles above; and
prepared to lay the foundation of the town of Windsor. The whole of that season,
the Watertown settlers, in parties of a few families each, continued to make
additions to the little company of pioneers at Wethersfield.

   In the middle of October, Hooker and his friends, constituting a band of
sixty persons, made up of families of every age, from infancy to second
childhood, set out on their tedious march across the country, like the
Israelites of old, with "their flocks and herds," for the " promised land."
After a long and wearisome journey, they arrived at the river just in time to
escape the rigors of winter; and most ot them settled at Hartford, though some,
having joined the caravan not originally parties to it, distributed themselves
among the previous colonists at Wethersfield and Windsor. Of the members of the
church in Watertown, Mass., who came to Wethersfield, only six wrere dismissed;
to which number only one was added in the next six years. During this interval
they received the ministerial labors of Rev. Richard Denton, Rev. John Sherman,
and Rev. Peter Prudden.

   Rev. Richard Denton had been a preacher in Halifax, Eng., before coming to
this country. He came to Watertown in 1634, and to Wethersfield in 1635; where
he remained until 1641, when he removed to Stamford, carrying a considerable
number of families with him. Cotton Mather in his Magnalia, thus speaks of Mr.
Denton: — "First at Wethersfield, and then at Stamford, his doctrines dropped as
the rain, his speech distilled as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender
herb, as the showers upon the grass. Though he was a little man, yet he had a
great soul; his well accomplished mind, in his lesser body, was an Iliad in a
nut-shell. I think he was blind of an eye; nevertheless he was not the least
among the seers of our Israel; he saw a very considerable portion of those
things which 'Eye hath not seen.' He was far from cloudy in his conceptions and
principles of divinity; whereof he wrote a system, entitled 'Soliloquia Sacra,"
so accurately considering the fourfold state of man, 1st, in his Created Purity,
2d, Contracted Deformity, 3d, Restored Beauty, and 4th, Celestial Glory, that
judicious persons who have seen it, very much lament the churches being so much
deprived of it. At length he got beyond clouds, and so beyond storms; waiting
the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the clouds of heaven, when he will have
his reward among the saints."    He returned to England in 1658, where he died.

   Rev. John Sherman was born in Dedham, England, December 20 1613, and educated
at Cambridge University. He came to this country in 1634, and, after being an
assistant to Mr. Philips of Watertown, came to Wethersfield in 1635; and went to
Milford in 1640, where he was chosen teaching Elder, in connection with Mr.
Prudden, which office he declined. He preached only occasionally in Connecticut.
On the death of Mr. Philips, Mr. Sherman returned to Watertown in 1644. He died
Aug. 8th, 1685, aged seventy-one.

   Rev. Peter Prudden, born at Edgton, Yorkshire, in 1601, educated for the
ministry, and ordained in England, preached awhile in Yorkshire and
Hertfordshire, before coming to this country July 26, 1637. While looking about
for a home, he resided for a time at Wethersfield, and preached there. Upon his
leaving Wethersfield, a considerable number of families accompanied him to
Milford, and were among the principal settlers of that town. He was installed
pastor of the church in Milford, April 18th, 1640, and died there, July, 1656.
Cotton Mather describes him as "an example of piety, gravity, and boiling zeal
against the growing evils of the times, yet possessed of a singular faculty to
sweeten, compose, and qualify exasperated spirits, and to stop or heal all
contentions. His death was felt by the colony, as the fall of a pillar which
made the whole fabric shake."

   After the removal of Messrs. Denton, Sherman and Prudden, the Rev. Henry
Smith seems to have been the only remaining minister. He is said to have been a
companion of the earliest settlers, and to have officiated as their preacher,
but for reasons not given, to have temporarily withdrawn. On the 28th of
February, 1641, the church in Wethersfield seems to have been, for the first
time, regularly organized, and a ruling Elder, Clement Chaplin, appointed. There
are no church records of that period extant, but the circumstance is found on
the records of the town. The number of members, which it embodied, is unknown.
Among them were Joseph Sherman, Joseph Strickland, Robert Reynolds and James
Weed, who had been regularly dismissed from the church at Watertown.

   Soon after his installation, some restless spirits began to visit him with
persecution; and the controversy became at last so violent, that recourse was
had to the General Court for adjustment. Their Committee reported, that "the
best way for recovering and preserving the public peace, is, that Mr. Smith lay
down his place, if it may be done according to God." This opinion was approved
by the General Court, and a copy given to Mr. Smith, for his answer; with the
request that, "if it was not satisfactory to him, he would point out some other
course." A final hearing, Nov. 10th, 1643, resulted in Mr. Smith's triumphant
acquittal of the charges brought against him, and the imposition of heavy
penalties on his false accusers. Among whom, it is painful to remark, that his
ruling Elder, Mr. Chaplin, seems to have been most conspicuous. After this his
ministry seems to have been without serious interruption, but it is thought that
his trials preyed upon his health, and brought him prematurely to the grave in
1643, "grieved and wearied with the burdens of his charge."

   After the death of Mr. Smith, the Rev. John Russell, Jun., became his
successor, about 1650. He was born in England, but graduated at Harvard in 1645.
Having completed his course of college studies, he prepared for the ministry,
and was invited to settle at Wethersfield. Here he was ordained, and soon
obtained a considerable standing, among the clergy of the colony, receiving an
important appointment from the General Court, for the adjustment of grave points
of doctrine then agitated by the church. The early part of his ministry seems to
have been quiet, but the Hartford Controversy, as it was called, beginning to
rage at this time, Mr. R. and part of his church became involved in it. "What
the precise nature of the controversy was," Cotton Mather says, "it was
difficult even at the time to tell." It was supposed, however, to relate to the
reciprocal rights of clergy and laity; and so irreconcilable did the feud at
last become, that Mr. Russell, with a large majority of his church, resolved to
leave the colony. They removed to Hadley, Massachusetts, in the year 1659, and
laid the foundation of that town and church.

   After the removal of Mr. Russell, the Rev. John Cotton, Jr., was employed at
Wethersfield, and remained there till 1663. He was born at Boston, March 13th.
1640, graduated at Harvard, 1657, and died in the ministry at Charleston, S. C.,
18th of Sept., 1699, at the age of 60.

   Rev. Joseph Haynes, son of Gov. Haynes of Hartford, supplied the pulpit
during 1663 and 1661; at the close of which period, he received a call from the
First Congregational Church at Hartford, which he accepted; and at which place
he died, at the age of 38, May 14th, 1679.

   Rev. Thomas Buckingham succeeded him, as temporary supply for a short time;
was subsequently settled at Saybrook, and died April 1, 1709, aged 62.

   Rev. Jonathan Willoughby, or Willaubee, preached for the church at
Wethersficld, from Sept., 1664, to the spring of 1666.

   Rev. Samuel Stone, son of the Rev. Samuel Stone of Hartford preached at
Wethcrsficld after the removal of Mr. Willoughby; and also, while Mr. Bulkley,
who succeeded, was absent as surgeon in the Indian wars. His death, 8th of
October, 1693, was caused by a fall, at night, down the precipitous bank of the
Little river, at Hartford.

  Rev. Gershom Bulkley was the next regular incumbent of the pulpit. He was the
son of Rev. Peter Bulkley of Concord, Mass.; born, Dec. 26, 1635, graduated at
Harvard, 1659, settled in New London, 1661, installed at Wethersfield, 1666,
dismissed, 1677, died at Glastenbury, Dec. 2, 1713. His mother died, as was
supposed, on her passage to this country, 1635; but, at the urgent request of
the husband, her body was kept three days beyond the time appointed for
committing it to the deep, when signs of vitality appeared, and she recovered.
Her son Gershom was born soon after her arrival. After leaving college, he
studied divinity and medicine, and settled at New London. Some difference of
opinion having arisen, between him and his people, in regard cither to doctrine
or discipline, he resigned his place. After being installed at Wethersfield, he
was appointed, by the General Court in 1675, surgeon to the army that had been
raised against the Indians; and Mr. Stone was directed to supply the place of
Mr. B. in his absence. After his return from King Philip's war, he asked a
dismission from the church in Wethersfield, on account of the state of his
health, removed to the east side of the river, and commenced practice as a
physician, which he continued over thirty years. He married Sarah, only daughter
of Pres. Chauncey. His ashes rest in the Wethersfield church-yard, under a table
bearing the following inscription:—"He was honorable in his descent; of rare
abilities, extraordinary industry, excellent learning, master of many languages,
exquisite in his skill, in divinity, physic, and law, and of a most exemplary
and Christian life. In certain spem beatae resurrectionis repositus."*

*The latin omitted in present inscription which has been recut.


   Rev. Joseph Rowlandson succeeded Mr. Bulkley. He was born in England,
graduated at Harvard, 1652, being the whole of the graduating class; was settled
at Lancaster, Mass., in 1656, where he remained till the burning of that town by
the Indians, in 1676. He was installed at Wethersfield in 1677, and died Nov.
24, 1678.

   Rev. John Woodbridge succeeded Mr. Rowlandson in 1679. He was the son of an
English clergyman, of the same name, and born at Newbury, in 1651; and graduated
at Harvard, 1664. He was first settled at Killingworth, Conn., whence he removed
to Wethersfield, and was installed pastor of the church in 1679, and resigned
his ministry with his life, in 1691. "Whiting of Hartford, Woodbridge of
Wethersfield, Wakeman of Fairfield," says Cotton Mather in his Magnalia, "will
never be forgotten, till Connecticut Colony do forget itself, and all religion."

   Rev. William Partridge, son of Col. Samuel Partridge of Hatfield, born Nov.
16, 1669, and graduated at Harvard, in 1689, was employed, as an assistant to
Mr. Woodbridge during the few last years of his ministry, when, his declining
health rendered him unequal to the discharge of its duties. After Mr.
Woodbridge's death, he continued to occupy the pulpit until Feb., 1693, when he
declined a call from the church to become their pastor, and died at Wallingford,
the subsequent September, at the age of 24.

   Rev. Stephen Mix succeeded Mr. Woodbridge in the pastorate, in 1634, and his
account of a long ministry of forty-four years, was sealed up, August 28, 1738.
The earliest known records of the church are from his hand; but, so impaired by
time, as to be irrecoverable as a whole. Such names, as can be clearly
deciphered, are given in the catalogue annexed. His ashes rest beneath a
monumental tablet, in the ancient burial ground, which bears the following
inscription:—

Here lies Interred the Body of the Rev. Mr. Stephen Mix, late Pastor of the
first church in Wethersfield; an able Minister, born in New Haven, and Educated
at Cambridge College; who, having served his generation, by the will of God,
fell asleep, August 28th, 1738, In the 66th year of his age, and 44th of his
Ministry.

   Rev. James Lockwood, son of James Lockwood of Norwalk, Conn., was ordained
his successor, Feb. 28th, 1739, just prior to the memorable revival of 1740,
which highly blessed New England. During the ministry of Mr. Lockwood, the
celebrated Whitefield made his first and second visits. The people of
Wethersfield were favored with his instructions, and felt their power. This was
probably the first revival, with which this ancient church was visited. Mr.
Lockwood closed his labors and entered into rest, in 1772, aged 59, having
served his Divine Master thirty-three years in the ministry. His monument, near
that of his predecessor, bears the following epitaph:—

To the memory of the Rev. James Lockwood, Late pastor of the first church of
Christ in Wethersfield; Who, in the 34th Year of his Ministry and 58th of his
Age, on the 20th of July, 1772, Entered into the Joy of his Lord. As a Tutor,
and afterwards one of ye Corporation of Yale College, highly venerated and
esteemed; As a Minister of the Gospel, one whose praise is in the churches:
Solicited to preside over two of the principal Academies in America, The
Colleges at New Haven and Princeton, His Affection for the people of his charge
did not permit His acceptance of either of these honorable stations; But having
respect to the Recompense of Reward, finished the pious course he early began in
the Gospel Ministry, And here resteth from his Labours Through Life exerted;

"The Bold to curb, and the Licentious awe
And Tifrn the Tide of Souls another way."

   Rev. John Marsh, D. D., who succeeded Mr. Lockwood in the pastorate, was born
at Haverhill, Massachusetts, on the 13th of Nov., 1742. His parents, descended
from early settlers of New England, were eminent for their piety; and his
mother, a superior woman, inspired him from his childhood with the deepest
reverence for divine things. He entered Harvard University at the age of
fifteen, subsequently became one of its Tutors, and received from it the degree
of Doctor of Divinity. On the 12th of January, 1774, he was ordained pastor of
the church at Wethersfield, and continued in this relation until his death, 13th
of Sept., 1821, in the 79th year of his life, and 48th of his ministry.
Punctilious in the discharge of his official duties, he made the Sabbath
honorable, its ordinances precious, and the sanctuary solemn as "the gate of
Heaven." His spiritual graces were always peculiarly enlivened at the table of
the Lord, and he habitually went from it with a heart full of gratitude and
love, and a face beaming with holy joy. At the dying bed, he administered "the
oil of consolation" with the utmost tenderness, in the language and the spirit
of the gospel; and at the grave, he dwelt with animating faith upon the promises
that irradiate its gloom. A profound judge of human nature, he controlled the
conflicting waves of public opinion with unerring skill; and acquired, by his
frequent reconciliation of village feuds, the noble title of Peacemaker. Genial
in temperament and courteous in manner, he was cordially "given to hospitality;"
and propitiated an affectionate and reverential regard, alike from strangers and
the people of his charge. The records of his ministry, kept with clerkly care,
attest his official fidelity, and the blessing of God upon his labors. He died,
as he had long lived, in the active service of his Master; and was followed to
his rest by parents and children of many generations, who had learned from his
lips to love and honor God, and confess Him before men. The labors of the last
five years of his ministry were cheered and lessened by the co-operation of the
Rev. Dr. TENNEY as his colleague; with whom he "took sweet counsel," and with
whom he rejoiced, at his departure, over the fruits of their joint services for
Christ. He reposes beneath a marble tablet, containing the following brief
inscription:

In Memory of the Rev.  John Marsh, S. T. D. A native of Haverhill, Mass.,
Graduate and Tutor of Harvard College, Pastor of the First Church of Christ in
Wethersfield, and Fellow of Yale College. A Gentleman of great urbanity,
distinguished scholarship, fervent piety, and an eminent Minister of the Gospel
of Christ. Ordained Jan. 12, A. D. 1774. Died Sep. 13th, 1821, AE 79.

   CALEB JEWETT TENNEY, D. D., the next incumbent of the pastorate, was born at
Hollis, N. H., May 3d, 1780. At the age of sixteen he became a convert to the
truth, under the immediate influence of Davies' sermons, suggested to his
perusal by his pious mother in the progress of a faithful training, "in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord." He was graduated at Dartmouth College in
1801, receiving the first honor in a class distinguished by the membership of
the Rev. Dr. Merrill and the Hon. Daniel Webster. In 1604 he was ordained at
Newport, R. I. as successor of the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D. D., who had died the
previous year. About 1815 he was compelled, by the failure of his health, to
resign this pastorate; but in 1816 he was so far restored as to be able to
accept the call of the church at Wethersfield. Here, first installed as
colleague, he became sole pastor at the death of Dr. Marsh in 1821. In 1833 a
bronchial affection disabled him from discharging the duties of the pulpit, but
so much had he endeared himself to his people, that they would not consent to
sever the pastoral relation subsisting between them, until he felt himself
impelled, by a regard to their interests, to ask for a dismission, 12th Jan.,
1841. Previous to this date, the same sympathy with him that, in the case of his
predecessor, had led to his own appointment as colleague, had twice relieved him
by the installation of two persons in succession to the same office in relation
to himself, and he had become unwilling any longer to impose a double ministry
upon this people. He became subsequently a very efficient agent of the American
Colonization Society, in whose service he died at Northampton, 28th September,
1847, in the 66th year of his age. Dr. Tenney was a thorough, bible christian,
and his sermons were, to his spiritual hearers, like refreshing showers of
heavenly manna. In the deep sense of his solemn responsibility, as a watchman
for souls, he never stooped to the frivolous embellishments of style so popular
with feeble minds; but uttered himself habitually with the severe simplicity of
the Gospel; yet no dispassionate hearer ever listened to his earnest,
affectionate, lucid and comprehensive expositions of divine truth, without a
profound conviction of his sincerity and heaven taught wisdom. The tones of his
voice were full of tenderness, and although to impulsive natures his elocution
might appear too unimpassioned to rouse sinners from the lethargy of guilt, yet
the power of "the still, small voice" ever dwelt upon his lips, and convictions
were perpetually stealing to the hearts of those who heard him. His ministry was
eminently successful, and a "cloud of witnesses" will attest his faithfulness at
the bar of God. " He was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, and
much people was added to the Lord." His ashes sleep by those of Brainerd, in the
soil consecrated by the longest ministry of Edwards.

   Rev. CHARLES J. WARREN was installed as colleague to Dr Tenney July 1st,
1835; dismissed Feb. 1st, 1837.

   Rev. ROBERT SOUTHGATE, a native of Portland, Maine, succeeded him in the same
office February 7th, 1838, and became sole pastor at Dr. Tenney's resignation,
January 12th, 1841. Circumstances, however, induced him to ask a dismission Nov.
22, 1843.

   Rev. MARK TUCKER, D. D., a native of Whitestown, N. Y., succeeded him as
pastor Oct. 15, 1845, and continued to discharge the duties of the office until
arrested by disease in 1855. During the disabilities incident to this attack, he
concluded to ask for a dismission, and the pastoral relation was dissolved March
24th, 1856.

   Rev. WILLIS S. COLTON, the present pastor, was ordained Sept. 17th, 1856.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:
MANUAL OF THE Congregational Church 
WETHERSFIELD, CONN.;
COMPRISING
Historical and Biographical Memoranda,
CHRONOLOGICAL CATALOGUE.
CONFESSION OF FAITH, COVENANT AND STANDING RULES,
AND
PRESENT LIST OF THE CHURCH.
HARTFORD:
PRINTED BY CHARLES MONTAGUE. 1860.


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