Morning journal and courier., 1883-10-30
aenrasd xlIS GaarisE.
Tuesday, October 30, 1888.
RefrOsDective.

Retrospective. ThIrtIeth Anniversary of the First Pres-
 bxtersan Church of Bridgeport =
 Glance at the Growth ofthaG OAey Ah Thirty Years. Sunday, October 28th, being the thirtieth anniversary of the First Presbyterian church of Bridgeport. Rev. H. G. Hinsdale, the for. mer pastor, now of Princeton, N. J., by re- quest, preached the historical sermon from Deut s:2, s'And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee" After finished and beautiful introductory re- marks he took up the recital of the history of the church with mention of it's first pas tor, Nathaniel Hewitt, who, from 1880 till 1858, was pastor of the Second Congregation al church, Bridgeport, in 1853 becoming pas, tor of the First Presby terian church. In 1860 this church was turned over to the Presbytery of Connecticut, and in 1870 came within the Presbytery of Westchester. In 1862 Rev Mir. Hewitt retired from the pas torate and Rev. MT. HinsdaIe succeeded him.
 The historical sketch gives the following interesting glance at the growth of Bridge pert: Bridgeport's population grew from 4 500 in 184O to 7,50O in 1850. From this time the progress was rapid. In the decen- nium beginning with 1850 the gaslight and water companies were formed, the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine company estab- l lished itself there, three new banks were chartered, two bridges were opened to East Bridgeport, and the population advanced to | 13,0 ,0OO. "In 1862 the population was 13, 900, not greatly exceeding one-third of the pres | ent population. Territorially it was smaller than now. One had but to cross Park \ avenue, then known as Division street, to | find himself in Fairfield. Seaside Park, than which few cities can boast 8 more beautifully situated pleasure groundi had not come into being. There was no horse railroad. The postofice was small room in Bank street, opposite the present post office The New York morning pa l pers did not reach us until nearly ten o'clock. It is perhaps no sign of progress that you pay a larger railroad fare to New York than we 1 then did, although rival steamboats were moi l competing for the honor of our patronage al losing rates and that you need larger c0un | ty jail than the one which then stood in Broad street, not far from South avenue. On one at least of the bridges to the east side toll wal | exacted of every one crossing, clergymen ex I and West Stratford was not yet divided into I town lots. For concerts and lectures we were l obliged to content ourselves with old Frank l lin Hall. There were fewer factories than al | present. and thef factory buildings were usual ly smaller. Our principal school building was the Prospect street house not then en | larRed to it's present size. Houses could bI rented for half the amounts demanded thre' | years later. The era of varied and ornatl 1 architecture had not arrived and there wa comparatively little display in furniture anC ] equipage. But an air of comfort pervadeC the place and rural charm beautifed it
 civic featuEes which led Dr. James w. Alex
 ander of New York. who spent some vacation
 times here to say in one of his pub
 lished letters under date of June, 1856,
 made my first acquaintance with Bridgepor
 this week. dare not say that it is the mos
 beautiful place I ever saw, but dare as littl
 say the reverse. The railway passes far ava
 from this surpassing rural villa.
 "We were in 1862 passing through the earl
 days of the war of the rebellion and the shad
 ows of doubt and dread brooded over us
 Until the close of the strife our communit
 took an honorable part in upholding tn I Union against the forces of slavery and secet
 sion. Recruiting went busily on. Militar | sights and sounds were common. Severt
 companies went from Bridgeport homes
 the storm of battle. The Seventeenth Cor
 necticut regiment, under Colonel William HI. Noble, was for @ time encamped
 the lower end of the town. In this reg
 ment Elias Howe, the famous sewing ma chine inventor, patrioticaIly enlisted as pr ! vate In the 14th Connecticut regiment an
 the 2d Connecticut Battery of Light Artiller
 Bridgeport was represented by a large nun | Der of officers and private soldiers. Our cit I zens contributed iberally to the treasuries C
 the sanitary and Christian commissions an l our local aid and relief societies, organize | md NxzA Avnkn I men, whose exertions were unsparing sent t
 the front many substantial tokens of tbei 1 sympathy with sick and wounded sufferers. | ''The North and South Congregations
 churches and the Baptist, Methodist an I Universalist churches were situated as nov l St. Johns church stood on the corner ( | Cannon and Broad streets. There were tw
 congregations of colored people and sma | German reformed congregation. The RC ! man Catholic church was en unpretendin
 brick structure standing, if mistake not,
 short distance east of the commanding sit l now occupied.
 Amidst such surroundings my ministr
 here began. The western side of the cit
 was not then growing. Our congregetio
 had recently suffered losses and was small
 The number of communicants reporting t the Presbytery ? in the spring of 1863 was 10( The Sunday school membership did not @ ceed fifty. The singing was accompanied b \ service on the Sabbath was held in the after noon, and there was prayer meeting in t1 1 evening. There was prayer meeting als on Tuesday evening and lectul on Thursday evening. The lecture preparI tory to the Lords Supper was given on il Friday afternoon preceding the administrl ! tion of the sacrament. The ruling elder { were Messrs- Brooks, Hine, Middlebroo1 I Hollister, Marsh. Elder Stephen HawIey ha I recently died and Elder Thomas Hawley ha
 become insane. The loss of these two pior and faithful men was 8 blow which woul have staggered 8 stronger church. Anoths loss awaited us in the removal of Elder Hin and Harsh to the country on account of in pal Eed health. Mir. Marsh returned son time after and was reelected to the eldershil also appointed superintendent of the Sunda school MT. Hine rejoined the school l87I."
 The Court Record.