The Church of Christ in Vernon, Connecticut : an historical address

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HISTORICAL ADDRESS,

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

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ALLYN STANLEY KELLOGG.

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THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

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VERNON, CONNECTICUT.

AN HISTORICAL ADDRESS

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INTRODUCTION

The following address, relating to the formation and
early history of the Church of Christ in Vernon, Con-
necticut, was prepared at the solicitation of its pastor,
by Allyn S. Kellogg, and delivered by him at the church
on Sunday, January 2 2d, 1888.

As it embraced also some account of the daughter
churches in Rockville, Mr. Kellogg was asked to repeat
the address in that city. Ill health prevented its public
delivery ; and in its revised form it is now published as
of interest to the churches alike of Vernon and Rockville.

Newtonville, Mass.
April, 1894.

Allyn Stanley Kellogg, son of Allyn and Eliza White
Kellogg, was born in Vernon, October 15th, 1824. He was for
many years Clerk of the Church, and was particularly interested in
all things relating to its formation and early history.

He died at Newtonville, Massachusetts, April 3d, 1893.

ADDRESS

A year or two ago, the elder of the Con-
gregational churches then existing in Rockville,
celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its organ-
ization. In his historical discourse on that
occasion, the pastor recounted the steps by
which thirty-five members of the original
church in Vernon, with "tender expressions
of love and respect for the parent church,"
and with the full approval of their remaining
brethren, separated themselves from its fellow-
ship. They left the home in which they had
been richly blessed, and in which some of
them had been nurtured from their youth,
that they, with others, might take up the
duty to which they were providentially called ;
of establishing Christian institutions in the
Northern part of the town.

I am requested to speak of those earlier
religious institutions in Vernon, from which
those in Rockville sprung. There is time

only to recite the principal facts, preserved in
the public records, relating to the origin and
formation of the First Church and Society in
Vernon, and to sketch briefly the history of
that church and society, for the three-quarters
of a century before a second church was formed.

These facts are a part of Rockville's history.
As early, at least, as 1739, the power of this
wild stream had been brought into use, in a
saw-mill, a grist-mill, and in iron works; and
near to these there were dwelling-houses. And
so, for almost a hundred years before a church
was established here, there were people here
who were united in all civil and ecclesiastical
relations with those who lived South of this
valley. They had the same religious teachers.
They took part in the earliest efforts made to
secure the preaching of the gospel within this
town. They helped to found the church in
Vernon. And it was in that church, that most
of the founders of the first church in Rock-
ville received strength for their undertaking.

The ecclesiastical history of Vernon prop-
erly begins with the settlement of the town of
Bolton, in which the larger part of Vernon

was then included. The General Assembly
authorized the settlement of this tract of land
in May, 1718, under the direction of a com-
mittee appointed for that purpose. This com-
mittee made fifty allotments for settlers, one
of which was expressly " designed for a
minister's lot."

In October, 1720, "the Governour, Council,
and Representatives, in General Court assem-
bled," incorporated the town by the name of
Bolton. " And, for the setting up and main-
taining the worship of God there," as the pur-
pose is expressed in the enactment, a tax was
laid upon " all the lots in said town, but that
laid out for the minister." This tax was con-
tinued for several years, until it amounted in
the whole to thirteen pounds ten shillings on
each allotment ; a sum much greater for those
days than would now be the forty-five dollars
by which we should express it in federal money.

A meeting-house was built two or three
years after the town was incorporated. In
May, 1725, when the town had increased to
more than thirty families, liberty was granted
to the people " to imbody in church estate,"

8

with liberty "to call and settle an orthordox
minister among them, with the approbation of
the neighboring churches." In October, of
the same year, a church was formed, and the
Reverend Thomas White was ordained its
pastor.

All these acts affected alike the proprietors
and the inhabitants of all parts of the town.
Mr. White was for thirty-five years the minis-
ter of the whole town. The people who lived
in the North part of Bolton shared in the
expense of supporting him, and, so far as was
practicable, attended upon his ministrations.
The church communicants dwelling there were
members of the Church of Christ in Bolton.

As the families in the Northern part of the
town increased in number, the difficulty of
attending public worship was so great that,
as early as 1748, the people there "obtained
liberty from the church, of having the word
of God preached amongst themselves, for the
winter season," and in that year the town
released them from half their minister's rate.
The next year, in 1749, they asked that such
winter privileges be confirmed to them by the

legislature, saying, "That Providence hath
cast our habitations at a great distance from
the place of publick worship in said town, by
reason of which we are not capable of attending
said worship in the town, especially in the
winter season, some of us living seven miles
from the meeting-house, and the most of us
above five."

Their prayer was granted. Liberty was
given them " to hire an orthodox approved
minister, or candidate for the ministry, to
preach among themselves from the last of
October to the first of May, annually, and
that during that time, .... if they shall
procure preaching of the Gospel among them,
they shall be exempted from payment of minis-
terial charges in the parish to which they
belong."

This was the beginning of a separation, in
ecclesiastical matters, from the older part of
the town. In the final petition for a new
society, in 1760, the inhabitants of this part
of Bolton refer to this privilege of meeting by
themselves, for worship, for about ten or a
dozen years past, and say, "which privilege

10

we have carefully improved." There is found
no other evidence to this effect than their own
sufficient testimony. This winter parish was
doubtless organized according to law, having
a committee and collector, and a clerk to
record its proceedings. But no local record
or tradition has preserved even the fact that
such separate religious worship was ever
maintained.

The eighteen persons who petitioned the
General Assembly for winter privileges, in
1749, describe themselves as "inhabitants of
the North end of Bolton, viz., inhabiting North
of a due East line drawn from the Ditch com-
monly called the T Ditch, cross said town."
This " T Ditch " is often referred to.* It was
simply the legal landmark for town boundaries,
at the East end of the line between the towns
of Hartford and Windsor. Its arms marked
the direction of the lines between those towns
and the town of Bolton. The place is now
the Northeast corner of the town of Man-
chester. North of this line, the line between
Windsor and Bolton was parallel with the West

* See map.

II

line of the present town of Vernon. It ran less
than a quarter of a mile West of the site of the
church now standing at Vernon Centre, and
met the North line of Bolton at the place
where West Street, in Rockville, now enters
the town of Ellington. More than one-third
of the town of Vernon lies West of that line,
and was then chiefly in the Second Society
in Windsor, which included more than the
present towns of South Windsor and East
Windsor. The meeting-house of this society
was in the principal street near the river,
nearly a mile and a half North of the present
church in South Windsor. The people living
in the Eastern part of this society, in the dis-
trict called Hockanum, were, it was said, at a
distance of eight or nine miles, " as the roads
go," from the public worship they supported.
As will appear, the ecclesiastical relations of
this territory were the source of the principal
difficulties encountered in procuring the forma-
tion of a new society.

The next year after the winter privileges
were granted to a part of Bolton, the people
there took the first step towards becoming

12

a separate ecclesiastical society. The Colony
records show that, in May, 1750, " Benjamin
Stoughton and others, inhabitants living on a
certain tract of land in the Southeast part of
the town of Windsor," prayed " to be made
a distinct ecclesiastical society, with certain
limits." At the same time, " Isaac Jones,
Moses Thrall, and others, inhabitants living
part of them in the town of Bolton, and
part of them living in said Windsor," prayed
"to be a distinct ecclesiastical society, with
certain other limits." Neither of these petitions
is preserved ; but it is evident that they con-
flicted with each other, each of them including
the district of Hockanum within the limits it
proposed. Without this district, both Wap-
ping, where the former petitioners lived, and
the North part of Bolton, were too small to
constitute a society. The people in Hock-
anum generally desired to unite with the
people in Bolton. But it seems probable that
the movement to secure such a union was
hastened by the action of the petitioners in
Wapping.

Both petitions were referred to the same

13

committee, which reported in each case, in
the following year, that the people were but
few, and a new society was not necessary at
present. The town of Bolton had voted to
oppose the petition from the North end of
that town.

In May, 1754, the application for a new
society was repeated ; one that should include
a district about two miles in width, lying in
Windsor. This petition was negatived, with-
out referring it to a committee.

Three years later, in May, 1757, the matter
came before the General Assembly in a new
form. In brief, Governor Roger Wolcott and
other principal inhabitants of the Second
Society in Windsor, and many of the prin-
cipal inhabitants of the town of Bolton,
headed a petition asking " that another dis-
tinct ecclesiastical society may be formed out
of Windsor and Bolton, or out of Windsor,
with such bounds and limits as your Honours'
committee sent to view the land judge reason-
able and just." This readiness to accept what
was reasonable and just, in the view of judi-
cious men, shows the spirit of the whole

14

paper; although it is evident that most of
the signers favored the plan for forming a
new society from Bolton and Windsor. The
petitioners acknowledge that by reason of the
different sentiments among them, "contentions
have already arose to a considerable degree,
which are likely to increase and continue, to
the disturbing of the peace of Societies, to
the disadvantage of religion, by breaking that
love and friendship that ought to be in every
community."

The one hundred and eight petitioners
included the people in the North part of
Bolton, and most of those living near them
in Windsor. But Wapping still chose a
course of separate action, and twenty-six peti-
tioners asked, expressly, for a new society that
should include " Wapping and Hocanum,
with the other lands in the Southeast part
of Windsor." The papers in this case are
numerous, and show that the whole subject
was warmly discussed. The Assembly de-
clined to appoint the committee asked for;
perhaps in despair of harmonizing the various
conflicting interests.

15

Another three years passed before it seemed
best to ask again, and for the fourth time, for
a new society. In May, 1760, forty-four in-
habitants of the North part of Bolton, and of
the East part of the Second Society in Wind-
sor, presented their memorial to the General
Assembly. They say, " Our difficulties are so
extreme that we are obliged to seek relief."
They carefully state these difficulties; their
great distance from their places of divine wor-
ship, with their "roads exceeding rough and
bad traveling." And even in regard to their
meeting separately in winter, they say, " Yet
there is a new difficulty. We are so increased
that no dwelling-house will receive or hold us
with any tolerable comfort. And hoping that
we shall still much more increase, both in
number and estate, and that the smiles of
Divine Providence will still continue with us,
it gives us great hopes of success." They ask,
therefore, to be made a distinct ecclesiastical
society, with the bounds which they describe,
and proceed to show that the societies from
which they would be taken would be well able
to do without them.

>* Of TH2

i6

Time has made their necessities evident to
their neighbors, and has doubtless allayed the
excitements of earlier years. There is now
no counter petition from Wapping, and the
town of Bolton, which had hitherto opposed
a division by any line farther South than the
" T Ditch," now votes, " That the upper end
of this town be set off agreeable to the bounds
of the memorial now sent to the General
Assembly."

The Assembly appointed Messrs. Zebulon
West, of Tolland, and Silas Long and Jona-
than Porter, of Coventry, a committee to view
the situation and circumstances of the pro-
posed new society, and to report the facts,
with their opinion thereon, to the Assembly,
in October next. This committee reported,
in October, 1760, that they "find that within
the limits prayed for, there are dwelling up-
wards of sixty families ; " and recounting the
facts of the situation, they say, " Wherefore
we are of opinion that it is very needful that
there should be made a distinct ecclesiastical
society, and most fitting and best that the
bounds and limits be as prayed for."

*7

The General Assembly accepted this report
of the committee, and Resolved and Enacted
that the inhabitants living within the limits
and bounds mentioned, "be made into a dis-
tinct Ecclesiastical Society, by the name of
the Society of North Bolton."

The territory of North Bolton Society was
the same as that of the present town of
Vernon. It was taken from four different
ecclesiastical societies. Much the largest part
of it was taken from Bolton, the Southern
boundary being a line running nearly East,
from a point one mile South of the " T Ditch."
The inhabitants of this section numbered a
little less than three hundred. The number
living in that part of the society which was in
the town of Windsor was perhaps one hundred.
This Windsor part was a little more than a
mile and a half in width, and had belonged to
three societies which all bounded on the town
of Bolton. At the North end, was a tract
nearly half a mile in width, on which were
living two families, which was in Ellington
Society. South of this was a strip half as
wide, having no inhabitants, that was in the

i8

North Society of Windsor, or Scantic Parish,
which had been formed in 1752. The re-
mainder of this tract was in the Second
Society of Windsor. All this territory lying
in Windsor became a part of East Windsor,
when that town was incorporated in 1768. In
May, 1789, it was annexed to the town of
Bolton.

Thus far the course of events has been
traced directly from the original public records
and documents. But from this point, from
the moment the Society was given existence,
the most important sources of history are
wanting. The Society records, a complete
record of its acts for one hundred and fifteen
years, and all papers in the custody of the
clerk, were destroyed by fire, in 1876. A few
facts are preserved in the accounts and papers
of the Society Committee, for a part of this
period, and in scanty notes taken by me from
the records, many years before they were lost.

The powers granted to the inhabitants of
the new Society were soon called into action
by a writ issued by Thomas Pitkin, Justice of
the Peace, commanding John Dart, Constable,

19

to warn a Society meeting, to be held at the
dwelling-house of David Allis, on Wednesday,
November 12, 1760, at one o'clock, P.M. This
first meeting of the Society was organized by
the choice of Isaac Jones as Moderator. He
was the oldest member of the Society, then
seventy years of age, and his name stands first
on all the petitions from the North part of
Bolton, and on the record of original members
of the church formed there. John Chapman
was chosen Clerk and Treasurer, Titus Olcott,
Moses Thrall and Aaron Strong Society Com-
mittee, and John Paine Collector. It was
voted, " That the present Committee shall
invite Mr. Bulkley Olcott to preach with us
upon probation." It was also voted, " To hold
the Sabbath day meeting at David Allis's
dwelling-house, till the first of May next."
These two votes relate to the subjects that
chiefly occupied their attention for some years ;
the settling of a minister, and the providing of
a place for public worship.

Plans for building a meeting-house were at
once formed. On the 28th of November, a
little more than two weeks after the first meet-

20

ing, it was voted, " To build a Meeting-house,
to be 50 by 40 feet, with 24-foot posts." Two
months later, on the 27th of January, 1 761, it
was voted to apply to the County Court for a
committee " to affix a place to build a meeting-
house." This was in the regular course of
procedure then required by law, and still per-
mitted by law. The Court records, at Hart-
ford, show that " Zebulon West, of Tolland,
Esqr., and Messrs. Jonathan Porter, of Cov-
entry, and Solomon Gilman, of Hartford,"
were appointed a committee for the purpose
stated. This committee met on the 25th of
February, and fixed upon a place " on the
southward part of land belonging to Mr. Sam-
uel Bartlett, near to the highway that leadeth
westward from Mr. David Ellis's." Hardly a
fortnight later, March 10, the Society voted to
build at the place selected by the committee.

Apparently, the people expected to enter
at once upon the work of building. But no
strange thing happened when there arose
strong objection to the location of the meet-
ing-house; and on the 15th of May, before
the report of the committee was acted upon

21

by the Court, it was voted to apply to the
County Court for another committee " to affix
a place for building." But at the June term,
the Court accepted and approved the report
of its committee, and established the place
therein mentioned, to be the place for building
the meeting-house. It was now not lawful to
build elsewhere. But so far was this decree
from disposing of the question, that several
months later, on the 23rd of September, the
Society voted to apply to the General Assembly
for a committee to affix a place to build a
meeting-house. If such application was made,
the request was refused. The place estab-
lished by the Court must have been accepted,
at length, and on the last day of 1761, more
than a year after the first vote to build, it was
voted, " that the meeting-house be 46 by 36
feet, with 22-foot posts; " a somewhat smaller
house than was at first proposed. John
Chapman, David Allis and Seth King were
appointed a building committee.

The place where this house was erected
is about half a mile East of the present meet-
ing-house at Vernon Centre, on the top of the

22

hill still known to some as the " Old Meeting-
House Hill." It was usual to choose an ele-
vated place for a house of divine worship.
This house stood in the most sightly place
near the centre of the Society. When first
built, it could be reached only from the East
and the West, by the highway already men-
tioned. Several years later, highways were
opened leading to it from the North and from
the South. There were no newspapers in those
days; and what other sites were proposed,
and for a time preferred, we cannot now rea-
sonably conjecture.

The meeting-house was raised on the 6th
of May, 1762, and was first used for divine
worship on the 20th of June following. It
could then have been little more than a shelter
for the congregation. Slow progress was made
in fitting the building for use ; for it was more
than two years and a half after it was raised,
December 13, 1764, when the Society voted
to accept the account of the committee for
building. The house was then far from being
completed. In 1768, it was voted that the
committee " provide a lock and key, and bolts,

23

to fasten up the meeting-house." Pews were
built in 1770. Probably before that time the
house had been furnished only with benches.
The house was not plastered until 1774, twelve
years after it was first occupied for public
worship.

This slow progress in building was not due
to indifference, or to fitful zeal. But the peo-
ple were poor, and money was scarce, to a
degree that can now hardly be understood.
It was a heavy burden for a people of such
slender means, to bear the expense of building
a house of worship, and of settling a minister.
They endured well the hardships of those
times. There was a like slow progress in
finishing the meeting-houses erected a few
years earlier, in the neighboring societies of
Tolland and East Windsor ; parishes stronger
than this in numbers and in wealth. *

This meeting-house was of the prevailing
style of architecture for country churches; a
plain four-sided building, without a steeple.
It fronted the highway on the South by one

* Waldo's History of Tolland, p. 27, 1755-1760. Stiles's History
of Windsor, pp. 298, 310. 1755, 1759, 1767, 1769.

24

of its longer sides, having doors, also, in the
East and West ends. It was not dwarfed by
the horse-sheds and the school-house, the only-
buildings erected near it ; and standing on ele-
vated ground, and for a long time surrounded
by the original forest, it had a dignity which it
were vain to seek in the structure that has
stood for sixty years, having substantially the
same frame, — the East wing of the old Frank
Factory, in Rockville. (Built in 183 1 and
1832. Cogswell, p. 15).

The interior of the house was arranged,
also, after the almost universal fashion ; with
nearly square pews having straight-backed
seats; with galleries on three sides, and, high
above the stairs, in each front corner, a negro
pew.

The pulpit, on the North side, was consid-
erably elevated above the pews ; and over this
was the sounding-board. This was a structure
of considerable size, and wrought into some
striking form, of which we cannot now obtain
an exact description. It was fastened to the
wall, above the pulpit, and was also suspended
from the ceiling, by an apparently slender rod.

25

This sounding-board was considered an indis-
pensable aid to hearing. It was certainly a
never-failing source of wonder and of awe to
successive generations of children in the con-
gregation. All persons who have attempted
to describe it have made statements similar to
that of tne late Rev. Dr. Perrin, who said but
a few months before his death, that in his child-
hood he used to look up to it with wonder,
and ask himself, — " What if it should fall ? "

The other work laid upon the Society in
its earliest years, was that of settling a min-
ister. It does not appear that during the first
year any one had preached there as a candi-
date for settlement. At the end of that year,
at the annual meeting held in November,
1 76 1, it was voted, "to hire a candidate to
preach the gospel to us the year ensuing."
On the 10th of March following, it was voted,
"to send to the Association for advice, in
order for calling a candidate upon probation."
This was the usage of the times, continued till
a much later date, to apply to the Moderator
of the local Association, to recommend some
one as a candidate.

26

Only three Sabbaths passed after the above
vote, before the people were ready to take the
first step towards settling a minister. On the
29th of March, 1762, it was voted, "to call
Mr. Ebenezer Kellogg upon probation, in
order for settlement." After a trial of three
months, on the first of July, it was " Voted, to
call Mr. Ebenezer Kellogg to settle in the
work of the ministry in said Society." It was
voted to give him as a salary, ^55 the first
year, and so to rise by £1 yearly, to ^65 ; and
also to give him ,£100 settlement at the end
of one year after his ordination, and £50 at
the end of the next year. On the 9th of
September the vote was changed, naming a
salary of ^60 the first year, to increase by £1
yearly, until it reached £70. One month
later, it was voted " to accept Mr. Ebenezer
Kellogg's answer, dated October 7, 1762."
The salary remained unchanged through Mr.
Kellogg's life. After the adoption of the
federal currency, the sum was expressed by
#233-33> instead of £70.

All these preliminary measures were taken
by the Society alone, there being as yet no

27

organized church to take part in them. The
church records contain no account of the
formation of the church, except a single line,
written by Deacon Francis King, as late as
1818; "The Church in Vernon was formed
October, 1762." This doubtless rests on the
authority of a paper written and signed by the
first pastor, and dated January 3, 181 5, in
which he says, " Sometime in October, in the
year 1762, a Church was gathered and em-
bodied in said North Bolton Society." But
there is good reason for supposing that while
the thirty-five original members of the church
had been dismissed from the church in Bolton,
as early as October, and then made such
arrangements for organization as were needful,
they were not "embodied into a church state,"
to use the language of those times, until the
Council met, on the 24th of November, to
ordain the candidate called by the Society.
This is directly inferred from the fact that the
call of the Church, and the candidate's accept-
ance of the call, was upon that day. This fact
appears by the following paper, the earliest
church paper on file : —

28

Att a meeting of the Church of Christ in North
Bolton, Novbr 24th A Dom. 1762, att the house of Mr.
John Chapman in sd North Bolton ;

It is unanimously agreed by this Church that nothing
shall be deemed a Vote or Act of the Church wherein
there is not the explicit consent or agreement both of the
Pastor and of the major part of the brethren of the
Church present at the meeting.

Voted allso by this Church to give M.r Ebenezer
Kellog a Call to settle with us in the work of the Gospel
Ministry.

Isaac Jones,
Titus Olcott,
John Chapman,
Isaac Brunson,
Charles King,
David Allis,
Seth King,
Thomas Darte,
Asahel Root,
Thomas Chapman,
Jabez Rogers,
Solomon Loomis,
Nathan Messenger,
Caleb Talcott.

I concur w* ye Article above,
relating to Chh Discipline,
& also accept of ye Call of

afrsd Chh.

Ebenf Kellogg.

(This paper was signed by all the original male members of the
Church but two; Hezekiah King and Stephen Payne, who were
probably unable to be present at that meeting.)

29

These votes were the first church acts;
taken, doubtless, immediately after the Council
had declared these disciples to be duly consti-
tuted a Church of Christ, and before it pro-
ceeded to examine the candidate who was to
be ordained. He was to be constituted the
pastor of that Church ; and it was not in order
to proceed to his ordination until the Church
had called him to be its minister, and he had
accepted that call.

There is no record of this ordination, and
the most diligent inquiry has failed to dis-
cover any facts respecting it ; the name of the
preacher, or of others who took part in the
exercises. The Council was the North Con-
sociation of Hartford County, which included
churches so distant as those of Stafford on
the one hand, and Farmington and Canton on
the other. Probably most of the Churches
not remote from that place were represented
in this Council.

The Church then formed was known as
the " Second Church of Christ in Bolton,"
until the town of Vernon was incorporated,
in October, 1808, when the Church and the
Society took the name of the town.

30

The ministry of the first pastor continued
till his death, in 1817, nearly fifty-five years
from the time of his ordination. Yet the
history of the Church and Society during this
long period, — a period that covered all the
great events of our early national history, —
presents but few facts that need here be men-
tioned. The principal fact is one shown by
the record of church communicants; that
there were almost yearly additions to the
membership, and that but few years passed
without receiving some upon profession of
their faith. Taking into account the changes
by death and removal, the resident church
members seem to have increased in quite as
great a ratio as the population of the Society,
which somewhat more than doubled during
this period.

The record of business transacted by the
Church is valuable chiefly for its brevity, as
showing an absence of contentions, and but
few occasions for church discipline. The only
church acts for more than thirty years, that
seem worthy of record, were of five different
dates, in the choice of deacons.

3i

The spirit in which the pastor labored,
and the events of his ministry which he
thought most worthy of mention, may best be
learned from his own words, spoken to his
people in 1812, in his review of fifty years of
labor among them. His text was 1 Thessa-
lonians, 2: 19. "For what is our hope, or
joy, or crown of rejoicing ? Are not even ye,
in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, at
his coming ? " Of his own ministry and its
results, he said :

" I was ordained pastor over the church
and congregation in this place, November the
24th day, in the year of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, 1762, and the 24th day of the
present month completed the term of fifty
years. Through which period of time, I have
been detained from attending on public wor-
ship, and preaching on the Lord's day, by
reason of infirmity (if I recollect right), not
more than twelve Sabbaths. And having
obtained help of God, I continue to this day,
testifying unto you, both aged and in young
life, the grace of God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, for the salvation of your souls.

32

" I am sensible I have labored among you
in much weakness, and have reason to ex-
claim, in the words of the prophet, ' My lean-
ness ! ' ' My leanness ! ' However, I am not
conscious of having knowingly withholden from
you the whole counsel of God, nor neglected
to teach and inculcate upon you the doctrines
and duties of the Christian religion, as they
are revealed in the gospel of the Savior.

" The success of my ministerial labors
among you, I know not ; God knoweth ; but
hope that I have not altogether labored in
vain, and been of no service to you on
spiritual accounts. It hath pleased God, in
the course of my ministry among you, to
favour his people with three or four seasons of
the awakening influences of his Holy Spirit,
whereby an unusual attention was given to the
word of his grace ; several put upon this inter-
esting inquiry, what they should do to be
saved ; some few hopefully converted to God ;
and it was a refreshing time to His saints.
These seasons of uncommon awakening were
in and about the years 1772, 1782, 1800
and 1809.

33

"At other times, some few in almost every
year since my ministry have felt so much of
the importance of religion and spiritual con-
cerns as induced them to publickly profess it,
and join to the Church.

" The number who have become members
of this Church, by solemnly covenanting with
God and His people, since my ministry, is
339. And the number of those who have
been dedicated to God in baptism is 825 ; 28
of whom were adult persons. The deaths
which have taken place since I was settled
here are about 389, and the marriages, 235.

" Time in its nature is fleeting. It bears
all the living along with it. One generation
passeth away, and another generation cometh.
It has been so from the beginning of time,
and it will continue to be so till time shall
end. Some of us, who yet are of the number
of the living, are far advanced in life, and
according to the course of nature must expect
shortly to be numbered with the great congre-
gation of the dead.

"As to myself, the time of my departure is
near at hand. And in view and prospect of

34

that solemn day, I am supported with a
believing hope that I trust in Christ as my
all-sufficient Savior, and that I have not
labored altogether in vain among you ; but
through the rich and free grace of God in
Christ Jesus, have had some souls given me
as seals of my ministry, and who will be to me
a crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord
Jesus."

Not one of the thirty-five original members
of the Church who first received him as their
pastor, was present to listen to these words.
By death, and by removal from the place, all
had long since passed from his pastoral care.

Mr. Kellogg continued to preach pretty
regularly for about four years after the close
of his half century of ministerial service,
except for a time in 1815. In that year, there
was another season of uncommon awakening,
more fruitful of manifest results than any that
had preceded it. This was principally in con-
nection with the labors of Rev. Hervey Talcott
and Rev. Cornelius B. Everest.

The infirmities of age finally withdrew him
from pulpit labors early in the year 181 7.

35

He died on the 3d of September, 18 17, in the
81st year of his age, and in the 55th year of
his ministry to that people.

Ebenezer Kellogg was born in Norwalk,
Connecticut, April 5, 1737; was graduated
at Yale College in 1757; studied theology
under the Rev. David Judson, of Newtown,
Connecticut, and was licensed to preach May
28, 1760. He did not make a public profes-
sion of religion till he was twenty-one years of
age; yet he said, "from my youth, and even
from childhood, I have been in the fear of God."

Like many others of his day, he read his
sermons without any action. They lacked the
refinements of style, and the graces of delivery,
which are now more commonly found and
more highly valued. But they were serious
discourses, carefully setting forth the most
important doctrines and duties of religion,
and they were so founded on the word of
God, that his people were instructed in the
way of life.

There is testimony which cannot be quoted
here, to his faithful labors in one of the revivals
referred to. There is special evidence to his

fUHIVEHSI

36

efforts to promote spirituality in the Church.
What characters were formed under such in-
fluences, may be seen in some of those who
came to manhood in the latter part of this
ministry, and who were foremost in the early
business and religious activities of Rockville.

There is still one cord unbroken, binding
back the present church life of Rockville, to
the ministry of that first pastor in Vernon.
With his own hand he recorded the last
admission to the Church during his lifetime ;
— "Anno Domini 1817, May 25, Eliza, wife
of George Kellogg, recommended by Revd E.
Cook, of Orford." (Now Manchester.)*

The records of the Ecclesiastical Society,
after the completion of the meeting-house,
related almost wholly to matters of routine;
the choice of officers, the laying of taxes, and,
till 1796, when a separate School Society was
formed, as required by law, the care and control
of the public schools.

In May, 18 10, a part of the town of East
Windsor was annexed to the Ecclesiastical

* Eliza Noble Kellogg was born at Middletown, Conn.,
March 7, 1799, and died at Rockville, September 21, 1892.

37

Society of Vernon. This tract was bounded
on the West by a line drawn from the South-
west corner of the town of Ellington, to a
point in the then South line of East Windsor.
It was one mile in width at the North end, and
a little wider at the South end, and included
most of the present village of Oakland, now in
the town of Manchester. After the adoption
of the State Constitution, in 1818, all Society
lines were practically obliterated. But this
territory continued to be a part of the Vernon
School Society, until 183 1.

The second pastor of the Church in Vernon
was the Rev. William Ely ; a native of Say-
brook, Connecticut, a graduate of Yale College
in 181 3, and of Andover Theological Seminary
in 181 7. He came to Vernon directly from
the Seminary, and first preached there Sep-
tember 28, 181 7. He received a call from the
Church On the 4th of December, but was not
ordained until the nth of March, 1818. The
Church increased in numbers during his brief
ministry, fifty persons being received by pro-
fession. In a biographical sketch of Mr. Ely
by the Rev. Dr. Calhoun, it is said of him,

3«

"he was particularly interesting and profitable
to the young, and the youths of Vernon
received his special attention." He is held
in grateful remembrance, as having established
the Sabbath School in Vernon, in May, 1818;
one of the earliest in Tolland County. This
School had marked success under his care as
Superintendent. It was for many years main-
tained only in the summer season, and included
in its membership only such as were called
" children," perhaps all of them under the age
of fifteen years. The early methods of con-
ducting a Sabbath School, and its relations to
the Church, were very different from those
now common. Soon after the close of Mr.
Ely's ministry, a Sabbath School Society was
formed, which chose the officers of the School,
appointed persons to solicit and enroll pupils,
and provided for the expenses. This oversight
and responsibility were at length assumed by
the Church, by general consent, and almost
informally. But for forty years, or more, after
the Sabbath School was founded, there is not
a single reference to it in the Church records.
Mr. Ely was dismissed February 21, 1822.

39

He was afterwards, for about fifteen years,
pastor of the church in North Mansfield. He
died in Worcester, Massachusetts, November
2, 1850, aged 58 years.

After a vacancy in the pastoral office of
more than two years, the Church voted, on
the 19th of May, 1824, "to give the Revd.
Amzi Benedict a call to settle with this
Church, as their pastor." The call was ac-
cepted, and Mr. Benedict was installed on the
30th of June, 1824.

The principal event connected with this
ministry was the building of a new meeting-
house, which was dedicated April 4, 1827.
This is the house of public worship now stand-
ing at Vernon Centre, having been moved a
short distance from its original site, changed
in the structure of its front and steeple, and
remodeled in the interior.

Mr. Benedict was dismissed, at his own
request, on the 10th of February, 1830. He
continued in the work of the ministry, except
when he was for a while engaged in teaching,
until he died, in Brooklyn, New York,
November 17, 1856, aged 65 years. His
death resulted from a railway accident.

40

On the 2 2d of September, 1830, the
Church in Vernon invited the Rev. David L.
Hunn, who had been preaching there since
July, to become their pastor. He did not
accept the call, but continued to preach as
stated supply, until the close of March, 1832.

A revival of religion was in progress when
he began to preach there, which continued
through that and the following year. This
was an era of remarkable revivals. The char-
acteristic means used for promoting them was
the "protracted meeting," usually continued
for four days, in which the minister was
assisted by neighboring pastors, and other
preachers. Such a meeting was held in
Vernon, commencing on the 6th of Sep-
tember, 1 83 1. Of this meeting, the Rev.
Mr. Hunn said, in a published account of
the revival, that "it was in all respects the
most interesting and efficient meeting of the
kind that has been held in this region." More
than 80 persons united with the Church upon
profession, during the years 1831 and 1832; a
much larger number than in any corresponding
period of the Church's history.

4i

The fourth pastor of the Church was the
Reverend Chester Humphrey, who was or-
dained October 4, 1832. The Church con-
tinued to increase in numbers. In the five
years before another church was formed, it
received to its membership more than eighty
persons; in nearly equal numbers by profes-
sion and by letter. Many of these, as of those
received after the revivals of 1830 and 1831,
were living in the North part of the town.
The growing industries there brought hither
many professed Christians, who became mem-
bers of the church in Vernon. They brought
hither many others, chiefly persons in early
life, who came under the prevailing religious
influences of the place. Attendance upon the
Sabbath worship at Vernon was expected, and
was as general as could be secured from such
a distance, of two and a half to three miles.
(One of the distinct recollections of my child-
hood, is that of the large number of men from
this part of the town who used to pass my
father's house, every Sunday, on foot, in going
to meeting at the Centre and returning. One
man, for a time, made the journey on such a

42

lowly beast as some of the ancient prophets
rode. But the most noticeable sight of the
day was the large team wagon of the Rock
Company, with four horses driven by John
Chapman, Junior, full loaded with girls from
the Rock Factory.) There were many local
religious meetings, and the daily presence of
Christian example. And thus about one-
fourth of all the additions to the Church in
Vernon, for the seven years preceding the
formation of the Second Church, were from
that part of the town which became the espe-
cial care of the new church. This district
was of much narrower limits than the present
city of Rockville. All but one or two of the
sixty families enumerated here in 1836 lived
on a tract but half a mile in width, on the
Northern border of the town. Hardly ten of
these were on the South side of the river.
The fact should be noticed, that only six of
the thirty-five members who were dismissed
from Vernon, in 1837, to found the new
church, were received at Vernon before 1830.
Clearly, the providence and the grace of God
were alike preparing the way for a living
church on this ground.

43

The measures taken to form a Second
Church and Society in Vernon were fully
described in the Historical Discourse already
referred to. There was no occasion for action
by the original Ecclesiastical Society. Those
of its members who proposed to form a new
Society, withdrew from the old Society, indi-
vidually, in the manner provided by law.

The subject was first presented to the
Church in Vernon, at a meeting held on the
nth of November, 1836, when, as appears by
the record, " a petition was made by several
members residing in the northern part of the
town, for permission to meet and enjoy the
ordinances of the gospel by themselves, during
the ensuing season." A committee was ap-
pointed, to consider this petition, and report
at a future meeting. This committee con-
sisted of the pastor, and Deacon Flavel Tal-
cott, Messrs. Thomas Wright Kellogg, John
Chapman and George Kellogg. At a meeting
held one week later, "the committee reported
in favor of granting the petition. The report
was accepted, and a motion carried to grant
the petition."

44

There was no occasion for further action
by the Vernon Church, until the preparations
for forming a new church were nearly com-
pleted. Those of the Vernon members who
were engaged in this work, then presented a
request that their covenant relations with the
Church in Vernon might be dissolved. The
record shows, that at a meeting of that
Church, held October 2, 1837, "a vote was
passed to dismiss the following persons, agree-
ably to their request, with a view to their
being organized into a Church." This is fol-
lowed by the names of the thirty-five members
who were thus dismissed.

The Church in Vernon, by this act, parted
with about one-sixth of its resident members,
and with no small part of its working force.
Yet the work undertaken by those who went
forth for this high purpose was so evidently
one to which they were called of God, by His
providences, that they were, in the prayers of
their remaining brethren, recommended to the
grace of God, for the work to be fulfilled.

The whole work accomplished by the
Church during this period cannot be suflfi-

45

ciently understood from its records, nor from
considering its whole influence within this
town. The impulse of migration, strong from
the first, carried away from the town one-half
of its seven hundred members, and scattered
them in nearly every Northern State this side
of the Mississippi. Of a goodly number of all
these, it is distinctly known that they answered
the call of duty, in founding and sustaining
other churches, and that as godly men and
women, they upheld the honor of the Christian
name.

Seven of the early members became
preachers of the Gospel ; Salmon G. King,
Allen McLean, Francis King, Joel Talcott,
Eliot Palmer, Cyril Pearl and Lavalette
Perrin. All but one of these were natives
of Vernon ; all were children of members of
the Church there, were baptized by the first
pastor, were there taught the way of life, and
there professed their faith in Christ. All left
the place in early manhood, and labored long
and faithfully in the Christian ministry, except
Francis King, who preached for several years,
and then used the office of a deacon well in
his native town.

46 •

Two others should be named, children of
the church, and there instructed, but provi-
dentially led to profess Christ elsewhere ;
Ebenezer Kellogg, a grandson of the first
pastor, for nearly thirty years a professor in
Williams College, preaching also in the early
years, as his health permitted, whose voice
was sometimes heard in the church in which
he was baptized. Also an early missionary,
Lauren Andrews. His life work was in the
Sandwich Islands, where he was for forty years
useful as a missionary, the author of a grammar
and a dictionary of the language, and as Judge
under the Hawaiian Government.

And thus, by the dispersion of its members,
and of the preachers it had reared, that church
in Vernon scattered abroad the godly influ-
ences it had graciously received ; so that it
may well be said, its line hath gone out
through the earth.

47

The present Church at Vernon Centre was dedicated
on the 4th of April, 1827. The following " Order of
Exercises " for the occasion is reprinted from a copy
received from Mrs. Pearl, of Vernon Centre ; perhaps
the only copy that has been preserved.

The sermon was preached by the Reverend Amzi
Benedict, the pastor of the Church, from Genesis xxviii.
17 : "And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this
place ! This is none other but the house of God, and
this is the gate of heaven." Mr. Benedict also offered
the Dedicatory Prayer, which is to this day remembered
as being peculiarly solemn and impressive, " as if he were
talking face to face with God."

The music for the occasion was under the direction
of Mr. Salmon Phelps, of East Hartford. The choir was
a large one, and had been under his instruction through
the winter. The music for the selections from the
Psalms was doubtless that of English composers, who
took the words from the Psalter, rather than from our
common version of the Scriptures.

ORDER OF EXERCISES

AT THE

DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH
IN VERNON,

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4TH, 1827.

3npoeatton anb HeaMng tfye Scriptures.

Chorus. —

O, praise God in his holiness,

Praise him in the firmament of his power ;

Praise him in his noble acts,

Praise him according to his excellent greatness ;

Praise him in the sound of the trumpet.

Praise him upon the lute and harp ;

Praise him in the cymbals and dances,

Praise him on strings and pipes ;

Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.

Prayer.

OLD HUNDRED.

Great God, we to thy honor raise
These walls to echo forth thy praise ;
Do thou, descending, fill the place
With choicest tokens of thy grace.

Here let the great Redeemer reign,
With all the graces of his train,
While power divine his word attends,
To conquer foes and cheer his friends.

And, in the great decisive day,
When God the nations shall survey,
May it before the world appear,
That crowds were born to glory here.

Recitative. — One thing have I desired of the Lord, which I
will require.

Chorus. — That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the
days of my life : to behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and to visit
his temple. Amen.

Sermon.

Chorus. — I was glad when they said unto me, We will go into
the house of the Lord, for there is the seat of judgment, even the
seat of the house of David. O pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and
plenteousness within thy palaces. I was glad when they said unto
me, we will go into the house of the Lord. Amen.

<£ortdubmg prayer.

In God's own house pronounce his praise ;

His grace he there reveals ;
To heaven your joy and wonder raise,

For there his glory dwells.

Let all your sacred passions move,

While you rehearse his deeds ;
But the great work of saving love

Your highest praise exceeds.

All that hath motion, life and breath,

Proclaims your Maker blest ;
Yet when my voice expires in death,

My soul shall praise him best.

Chorus. — Hallelujah to the God of Israel. He will save us in
the day of fight. Hallelujah, the Lord is our defender ; he will save
us in the day of fight. God is great in battle, for he is the Lord of
hosts. Hallelujah, he is our refuge, I will praise him for evermore.

Benebictton.

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