The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-08-19

forced to say that he supposed he could do little more, and 1t was decided that their deacons should go to New Haven and seek advice from some of the ministers there, They went to one, who gave them very little encourage ment, in view of all their circum- stances. They then went to pr. N. w. Taylor, who was then professor in Yale divinity school, and told him their discouraged situation. He asked how many members they had. believe the answer was, thirty" Dr. Taylor ex- claimed, "Disband with thirty mem bers! Never! Hold on by all means. If you want help I will come out and l will send the boys out. They need the practice in preaching" And he did come, and the theological students sometimes came and new life and cour- age was breathed into the church. Dr.
 Taylor proved a great benefactor, stand ing by them and often giving his ser vices He supplied this pulpit so much, first and last, that he is almost entitled
 to place in the list of ministers of this church,
 From the 1st of May, 1883, to the 21st of August 1884,, Rev. George E. Dele van served the church as minister He
 was ordained here. cannot learn
 much about him personally except in connection with the building of the new
 meeting house, and the starting of a
 sort of library society, which supplied
 them with the first beginnings of the
 privileges of a circulating library,
 xtyhi seems that at about the time he came
 the subject of building new meeting
 house had been discussed. The great
 CT part of the members then lived
 on this side of the parish, and
 it came to be proposed to build the new edifice over here, A subscription paper was circulated with this end in view, and the needful amount was pledged. It was therefore voted to build here And so the church made a pilgrimage
 of a mile and on the bank of Mill river the ark of the church stood still, there to abide and thenceforth to be known
 as the Whitneyville church, and to cast in its lot with the community which bears that name-a name given in honor
 of the ever famous inventor of the cot ton gin, who located his works about half mile below here nearly century ago. His son, MT. Eli Whitney, has ever taken a deep interest In this church. He gave the land on which this edifice is built, and has been gen erous benefactor in many ways.
 Through his enterprise many changes
 have been made in the region, and the beautiful expanse of Lake Whitney has replaced Mill river at our side.
 The removal of the church caused a | temporary division, thing by no means new to the struggling band but as there was another church on Hamden
 Plain, perhaps it was just as well, on the whole, that they should separate, like Abram and Lot, to give better pas turage to their flocks, and perhaps 1t may be better for us, as it was better for Abram, that we did not pitch our tent on the plain. The prospects at present would seem to make this loca- tion good one-a veritable land of Canaan. It is a matter of congratula- | tion that our relations with our Meth odist neighbor have always been so fra ternal and cordial And so through great labors our church was built Rev. MT Delavan and the staunch Deacon | Eli Dickerman being the principal pro motors of the enterprise. The corner stone was laid in April, 1894, when Gov ernor Edwards and his wife were pres
 ent, and Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon made
 an address. The dedication occurred on 1 the 9th of August, 1884.
 A.,
 closed his labors here, and the flock was again without a shepherd. Tn the
 year 1927, on account of their feebieness and limited resources, they had begun
 to receive aid from the Connecticut
 Home Missionary society, at which time they reported that they could not raise
 more than s140 among themselves. The
 church continued to receive some such
 aid till 1S45. In 1885 they write that Dr. Taylor supplies them and they like him
 we'll, and ask for $50 aid. Through the
 winter of 1835-6 they were supplied for
 several months by MT. Putnam, who
 had then happened to come to New Ha- ven in his travels as a young preacher without charge Now we comes to the | turning point in the churchs history.
 In June, 1898, Deacon Elias Bassett,
 writing to the Home Missionary society,
 says: We have come to the conclusion | that we shall never be built up and gain strength as society and church unless we have minister of the gospel estab- | lished and residing among us, who shall
 spend all his time and talent among this
 people. For this purpose we have sent | to the Rev. Austin Putnam, now in the western part of New York state, to
 come and take charge of this people,
 and he has consented to come if we will provide for his maintenance, which we are determined to make an effort to do,
 and 1t is expected he will be here next
 month with his family" And he did so
 arrive, he and his wife having travelled
 the entire distance by horse and buggy,
 there being no railroads then. He be- | gan his labors at once, about the 1st of
 July, 1888. A call was soon after given
 him to settle, and he was installed pas tor of this church on the 31st of October of the same year. Here was the Mos as
 to lead this Israel out of their wilder
 ness wanderings. A good text for this church at that time would have been, Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
 that her warfare is accomplished" With l MT. Putnam's pastorate began a new
 era for this church. And his pastorate IcontinIed until his death on the 18th of