Morning journal and courier., 1891-04-04
AN HISTORICAL SKETCH.

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 The Founding Of ,the ssNorth Parish,, of New Haven, Conn. [Read before the New Haven Colony Historical society March 30, 1891, by Sheldon B. Thorpe.] The departure of Mir. Wetmore uncover ed condition of things little suspected in the North parish and, for the matter of that, even in New Haven colony. HIS SOWING OF THE FORBIDDEN SEED % was not without it's harvest. Ebenezer Blakeslee and five others of the North parish announced themselves as protesting to the Church of England, and in 172s Mr. Blakeslee again opened his doors, but this time to little company who brought the Book of Common Prayer into their circle and then and there at that hearthstone formed that temporary organization which later became the Church of England in North Haven.
 Thus literally, from under the same roof and within period of half dozen years, sprang into existence the two Chris tian bodies who have dwelt 80 amicably side by side for a hundred and seventy years. One can understand now why pos 51S4y PuUuC boItlCo was T6UOVcO rom MT, Blakeslee's house to Captain Ives, accord ing to Trumbull. Coming events may have ''cast their shadows before"
 THOSE sEcEDERs.
 It is not to be understood that this small company of seceders at first had anything like formal organization. At this date 1723-tbere was but one Church of Eng land clergyman in the colony and not even "church house'' built. Stratford was en- gagged in the erection of one, which was not ready for worship until year later Christmas, 1724.
 No formal action appears to have been taken by the Ecclesiastical society to which these men belonged, but their names here tofore recurring with frequency on the records, upon the departure of MT. Wet more, are dropped with an abruptness which needs no interpreter.
 NIT .AI aLAKsLEE's PRESIDE.
 Of their worship we know almost noth- ing. It is tradition that they met at Blaks. lees freside, using the Bible and the Prayer Book, with the occasional reading of church sermon. Later on-174O- they formed union with Cheshire, Wal lingford, Northford and Mount Carmel. AAASSc first house of worship at "Pond Hiu," a suburb of Wallingford. This building, about twelve feet square and one story in heighth, is still in existence. In this they worshiped for sixteen years and then Wallingford withdrew from the union. She found herself grown strong enough to be independent of the others. A little later North Haven reached the same conclusion, and April "A 1759, organized anew for themselves the parish of St. Johns church. The First Ec- granted them permission to build upon % the north east corner of the market place. and the first Episcopal M s church was opened for worship Decem-
 AN IMPORTANT EVENT. Just twenty-five years later-17ss-year of the incorporation of the town-the sixth convocation of the diocese was held with this church Bishop Seabury was present and the challenge is here made that the first published account of any con- frmation ceremony by the bishop of the Church diocesan convention in North Haven eSee CON. NEcTIGuT JoRuNAI, October 4, 17s6. as related, the little North Haven band out out stripped their Wallingford brethren by two years. Ebenezer Blakeslee-God bless the old hero!- lived long enough to see the desire of his soul satisfied and new gate of Zion lifted up in the North parish for the entrance of the king of V Let it not be thought that the shoulders of Yale "; or Blakeslee was laid all the burden of par
 
 every man seemed to feel that he owed an indi- vidual responsibility for its and held on with true New England grit. The limits of this paper forbid further individual mention Yale and Blakeslee stand representatives of their day-as pillars of the parsh-as founders of the town.
 SCHOOLS ALSO
 Alongside of church privileges came educa- tional. In fact two years before the first meet Ing house was finished, schools were in opera tion in the parish. These sessions were kept at private dwellings nearly half a century In 17e3 or forty years after the building of the meeting house near ye Pine Bridge" and it appears as if it was the only one. In that same year, how ever, 1163 one was built by particular men" the record says on the market place under the shadow of Dr. Trumbull's church. This building was used until 1841. The Ecclesiastical society maintained the oyer- sight of the schools from 1716 to 1796 At the lat ter date School society was formed which man. aged them until 1855, when this body was Iepis- lated out of existence and the present system | adopted. Previous to the founding of the parish do not dlscover what the educational facilities were certainly by reason of distance the children could not attend in New Haven. The law If 1890 made 1t obligatory that the grand jurymen should annually visit each family in the towns and satis fy themselves whether the children were sin good proceeding to learn the English tongue or not It is not unlikely that provision was made similar to that which followed the establishment of the parish.
 TO BE CONTINUED l