Morning journal and courier., 1889-09-21
NORTH HAVEN ANNALS.

tho Fast.
 NUMBER 24.
 The steeple mentioned in the last article was built from the ground, no provision for extra weight having been made in the roof of the meeting house. It was erected at the north end and the foundation was about 12 feet square; 1t was carried up in this manner a little distance above the peak of the roof, l where 1t terminated in the "bell deck" This
 belfry was of very open construction, light ornamental railing guarding its outer edge,
 and heavy posts rising through the floor, on
 which the lofty steeple was set. The interior of this tower was unfinished except as a rough
 board floor was laid in the lower story. A narrow door. seldom used, opened on its east side; there were four windows, ,one above the other, on it's north face; four flights of lad | ders were used in 1t to reach the belfry; ex- cept as foundation for the spire it was a waste of room and material, but then, the spiders enjoyed 1t, and it is said the webs | they wove in it's tenantless interior were something wonderful in quantity and quail ity. The spire was much taller than the present | one and was surmounted with lightning rod, gilded ball, and the old vane. Tradi- | ton tells us it was painted by Martin Moul- throp and Captain Timothy Andruss, and that the former gentleman signalized him- l self on this occasion by sitting sstride the | vane and revolving himself at that dizzy height to the great scandal and horror of the The exterior of the meeting house was clap. boarded and painted white. The interior was plastered and the wood work was paint cd white with some bluish tints. The pulpit was oolored with mahogany stain. For some distance around the east door the ground was paved with rough stones, and the large semi>circular steps made easy the ascent in- to the saored edihce.
 Such Is fairly accurate description of this ancient meeting house as collated from those cotemporary with its last days. It was . notable building-it had notable his tory, and It lett notable influence behind 1t. It was in truth and usage a veritable meeting house." It was as well the thea- ter of many a worldly conflict, as the gate of heaven. It was completed in 1741, but of it's dedication, If such, no record remains. Cts actual dimensions, according to Presi dent Stiles, were s5 feet long by A feet wide.
 On It's occupation there was no further use for It's predecessor. Unlike modern wants,a "chspsl" was not conceived to be an indispensable necessity, and the old building,
 
 in . measure, worthless. It was probably sold to the Rev. Mir. Stiles, for the roof covers to- day the barn where 1t was placed a hundred and fifty years ago on the premises now owned by Henry D. Todd. There Is no doubt concerning the authenticity of this account, for besides the positive declaration handed down through the Stiles family is the appear ancs of the roof itself with it's enormous rafters, its old-fashioned "ribs" laid thereon and the unmistakable air of antiquity which at onoe assures us it was the product of crude and unskilled workmen. Many are the bits of it stored up as keepsakes in the com- munity.
 There is no building or part of a building | Ia the town that approaches this roof in age. | The nearest kin to 1t is small one-story tenement standing on the Evelyn Blakeslee | estate and once the property of Isaac Blakes- lee, and which humble building enjoys the rare distinction of having stood In four dif- ferent towns without being once moved, to wit: It was built on land owned by New Ha. ven, New Haven sold the land to Branford, Rranford sold the same to East Haven and mile" division as has been related. But of old houses more anon. The perusal of the parish records on their resumption In 1750 is Q series of surprises to the casual reader by their frequent allusions to committees raised for the pnrpose of ad- justing the Rev. Mir. Stiles salary, and his confusion is further increased when he finds the following written in 1751:
 Voted by the Society that they arc wiling to isye 1t too indifferent Men to say what ye revd Mir. Stiles ought to have for ye year past and also for
 Soose maS to judge Row muoS MT seS ought to have; namely, Sergeant Isaac Blakslee, Captain ss sns s m sna cannot agree then these two are to choose the third man."
 
 On the surface this savors of ''strained res lstions" between pastor and people, but nothing of the kind existed, at least, not there. It arose from the overwhelming de. preeiation of the paper money of that time. The value of the currency was so uncertain that no contract could be entered into with any confidence. Referring to the year 1750 the society voted Mir. Stiles 550f old tenor, for his salary the past year. Some difference, this, from the 120f agreed upon yearly at his settlement. What had caused this more than four fold increasel The vain hope by the State authorities that the lavish issue of paper money would relieve the necessities of the people and provide for all their wants! Never was there sorrier mistake! For some years before the date mentioned above, 1750, Connecticut had been increasing the volume of her currency. The spacious thing about this course was that while she paid her debts with 1t, while its circulation increased busi- ness, while short-sighted men pointed with sxultation to the "good times" prevalent, they strangely seemed to forget that if day of reckoning should come she had neither gold nor silver In her treasury to redeem her paper promises with.
 In 1710 an ounce of silver bullion was worth eight shillings in paper money, but in 1745 so much had she inflated her currency that 1t took thirty-fve shillings in paper to equal ounce in silver, and in 1749 sixty shil- L. n Nc heaven could long exist at such @ rate; this was "the pace that kills" and the State au- thorities finally awakening from their splen. did dream, began to be alarmed at the gulf yawning before them. Says Dr. Henry Bronson in his admirable essay on the cur- renoy of Connecticut: Grade was embar- raased and the utmost confusion prevailed. All values as measured by paper were uncer- tain. The public mind was demoralized, so to say; public and private justice was for gotten: Doubt and suspicion took the place of confidence and men were afraid to trust one another"
 Such state of feeling as just described did not exist when Mir. Stiles meeting house was building. The reaction was not appar- ont then, nor till half dozen years thereaf- ter, "but when 1t did come, when the bubble burst, when 1t was sought to return at once to specie basis, then the woe began for North Haven as we'll as for all Connecticut and her adjoining neighbors.
 The following exhibit of the Rev. MT. Stiles salary, as voted him by his society for few years, will somewhat illustrate the status of money at that time:
 Between 1730 and 1750 (record missing) his parish has been gradually increasing his com pensation as money depreciated till he was voted In:
 i75o, 4so4, O.
 175l, left to arbitration.
 17b2, 700E, O. T.
 1753, SOOg, o. n.
 1754 SOOR, O. T,
 1755, s50R, o. T.
 175s cog, proc money.