Morning journal and courier., 1889-09-28
NORTH HAVEN ANNALS.

Temuest Arises - A PastOr,s Law Suis for Salary Arises - MT. SthAes' sudaUn Death Coincidence ana He-
 parasion - Picture. Of she ola First Meeting House.
 NUMBER 25.
 Whatever of faneied peace the parish now proved itself upon, was suddenly over thrown one May morning in 1757 by an inci- dent calculated to vex its soul and bring ad- ditional burdens on 1t. Quoting from the colonial records.
 z "Upon the Memorial of Daniel Bradley and oth- CTS. Inhsnitants Of the north part of the First Society of New Haven, showing that they live at 2 Society % praying % to have we committse appointed to view the ciIcumstances of the memorialists & and dsncs as a % society as Sy the on file more fully appears"
 The Assembly respectfully submitted this and gave the petitioners a com- mittee of three with instructions to repair to the north part of New Haven (Mount Oar meD and after hearing all parties interested, make report at the following October ses- sion.
 The fall sitting of the Assembly was called for the ae aond Thursday in October or the 18th. On the tenth of that month the North Haven society held special meeting and
 "voted, That Capt. Samuel Barns be agent for this Society at the Assembly in October instant to oppose the memorial of the inhabitants of the nor thern part of New Haven first society who pray to be made into distinct parish, in that they are about to include divers families belonging to tkis society, whereas we were never notified of such do- Voted by ye society that they will bear the charge"
 But Captain Barnes was not diplomat enough to flank and defeat the petitioners, and they went home carrying in their hat the General Assembly's permission to form a separate organization under the name of the "Mount Carmel Eoolesiastical Society" and decree defining the boundaries thereof.
 When tho newly born Hamden parish came to look around and take an inventory of their recently acquired real estate, sthey suddenly discovered they had not enough territory on their notheast border and hence they pre-. pared another memorial to the Assembly in tho spring of 1757 "praying to have certain made, or a committee to view, &c.,, as more fully appears on file, &c." The Assembly gave them another committee of three, and instructed this body that the par- isheh of New Haven and North Haven must be notified to appear before them if they chose when the hearing was held.
 Previous to the appointment oe this latter committee, perhaps through some informal knowledge that reached them, the North Ha- ven society called special meeting May 11th (day of the sitting of the Assembly, and ar- rayed themselves in war paint as follows:
 "voted by this Society that they were ut terly unwilling to part with one Inch of Land that Does now or did belong to this Society, and being Cited by him by the In- hsbitants of Mount Carmel to appear at the General Assembly if they saw Cause, to ob- jsot against their having their Request grant, cd in Memorial they were about sending to said Assembly. This Society looking upon 1t as highly unreasonable that they should have said Request granted, have by Vote chose Ensign Dan Ives their Agent to op- pose them in the matter of said memorial to the last extremity at the General Assembly now held at Hartford"
 Some time during the summer these com mittees all met and hearing was had, whereat Ensign Ives so vigorously 'opposed to tho last extremity" the further encroach- ment of the Mount Carmel people that 1t was North Haven this time who won the victory. The legislative committee rectifed some minor matters concerning the boundaries and reported "said parish ought not to be enlarged as prayed for" Thus the matter ended. The new society perfected it's ergan- ization, and as matter of course drew into 1t many families in that vicinity, who hith- erto had cast in their fortunes with 1t.
 
 come singly, in the spring of the year that witnessed the defection of Mount Carmel, the Rev. Mir. Stiles sued his society. Here follows what they said:
 "March ye 31-1757.
 At . meeting of the society warned by the com mittee, the occasion of this meeting was the rev'd Pounds Isxfa! Money for ye past year and also also our Minister and also his firewood on condition he fling up the old bargain Voted by the Society that Frost be . committee to answer this writ-Voted sy Sy have one atturnee"
 Evidently Mr. Stiles would not accept the 70e and "fing up the old bargain" for refer ence to the schedule before given, shows only 60f paid. Moreover in e receipt signed by him for his stipend for 1758, which was 80f, he makes use of the words, Gin part of my rate due," thus signifying in his estima- tion balance remaining unpaid. Without any doubt the "hard times' mentioned in the last article was responsible for this dispute. The issue may have arisen over the shifting value of the currency, or the parish may have been really in arrearages from the very necessity of things. There is no known copy of the writ, and nothing to indicate the suit was ever called, for MT. Stiles died suddenly in 1760. His son, Isaac, was appointed ad- ministrator of his fathers estate, and in the settlement of the property made demand on the society for an accounting. A committee was appointed forthwith with instructions "to settle that affair with him either by leaving of 1t to referees, or some other way to have 1t settled" No further sllusion is made to it.
 It Is with reluctance that one approaches the closing years of the life of this servant of God. Reluctance not because he wavered, or proved unfaithful to the interests committed to his trusts, but because the skies of his de- clining life became so overcast as to cause a percePtible chill in the air.
 For three or four years previous to his death storm clouds which would not dissi- pate had been gathering in the parish horizon. It doubtless can be said that the overt act which more than anything else made him a marked man, was the judicial action which he saw fit to bring against his society in 1757 to recover his arrearages of salary.
 In addition to this, came his attitude taken at the ordination of Mir. Dana agear later and what had previously been but sullenness and disaffection on the part of some of his people at once broke out into an angry roar, and the tempest with all its fury was on. No one reading of the struggle between the "Old Lights" and "New Lights" on that battle ground in WallinRford can but wonder that Q shred of Godliness remained to deck the souls of the vehement leaders in that contro- versY. The unmistakable drift of part at least of Mr. Stiles church was in the direc- ton of "New Light, while it's intrepid and vigorous leader adheared to the old and cen. tury- -trodden way.
 Let no one hastily oensure this brave man for his conscientious devotion to duty. As with all sincerity he saw the right, so with all his vigor he fought for 1t; less would have made him coward, more he could not do. It does not seem to have been time of much spirituality. The distractions of the country, the increasing inroads of the Church of England, the apparent waning vigor and energy of the aging preacher, the entry of new generation on the stage of life, all proved harrassipg agencies to the gospel peace they had enjoyed for more than score and half of years. When thus all these forces became arrayed against MT. Stiles, there was no more armistice and inde- cision; they boldly demanded his resigna. tion. Cautiously enough, Pres. Stiles has preserved to us the names of the signsrs to that petition.
 May 27, A. D., i7e0.
 6igners against father Stiles.
 Christopher Todd, Captain Ives, Daniel Bassett Abram Bassett, James Bradley, Joel Bradley Moses Bradley, Demas Bradley, Obediah Bradley, ZuaI Bradley, Samuel Tharp, Joseph Turner, Phinehas Clark, jr, Samuel Mix, James Heaton, and five sin gie young men.
 Also under the classification of "Secret laloontents" he records these:
 Sergeant Futile, william Futile. Aaron Blakeslee