The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-12-09
COMMEMORATIVE SERVICES
Continued from FIRST Pago1

Continued from First Page)
no high school, and graded schools We're
not organized until almost twenty-five
years later QS54-1S55)
No locomotive with it's shrlll shrek
broke the sweet silence of the still air.
NO street car gong disturbed the quiet
of the night. The canal boat and the
stage coach connected the city with the
outer world, Postage on letters for a
distance not exceeding thirty-siX miles,
T. e. no further away than Hartford,
was six cents and Increased, according
to distance, until for four hundred miles
or more it was twenty-five cents, Low
ers who were so unfortunate as to be
separated by distance of a few hun
dred miles not only found visits almost
impossible, but even correspondence
costly. These few facts will give more
conception Of the condition of New Ha-
Ven three score years ago.
In this city, which was practically
large New England village, this church
began its life and proposed to itself a
missionary career 1t is not at all
strange that some good people doubted
the necessity of such work and opposed
the organization of this church. There
were already four congregational
churches, the First or Center the Unit
ed, the Third, the church in Yale college
and also the African, now the DiXwell
avenue Congregational church. In adj
dition to these was also the Episcopal
church and the Baptsts and Metho-
dists had obtained a footing in the city.
There was this, however, to be said
of the one church which took the name
of Missionary, that while more churches
are formed by a disruption and schism,
and more to depend a particular doc
trine, and more to maintain form of
worship or of government, this church
was organized for the noble purpose
of raising men through the gospel and
grace of Christ. Such work is every
where needed and upon such work the
blessing of God always rests.
The First church of Christ in this city
has been mother of churches. Some
of the outlying churches like West Ha-
ven and North Haven have been form
ed by colonies of her members. Some
churches within the city have been
formed by her members or have grown
out of her missions She is not, how
ever, the mother of the College street
church, This church had no mother;
like Topsy, it "just growed." The First
church, however filled the place of a
foster mother and took the infant or
ganization into her lecture room on
Orange street, where it's meetings were
held for almost two years, until June,
1888, when it occupied a hall in the
Exchange building.
The first man who served the church
as a minister was Mr.. Waters Warren,
a young licentiate who was ardent,
earnest and effective, but impulsive and
indiscreet and whose labors terminated
after a period of some six months. For
the next five years the church was
served, for short periods, by several
men, among whom were the Rev. Aus
tin Putnam, who afterwards served the
church of Whitneyville for almost fifty
years, and the Rev. DIR. Nathaniel Tay-
Tor, the celebrated professor of theology
in Yale divinity school. But the peo-
pie as we'll as the preachers labored.
On Sunday evenings, those jealous men
might have beenl seem on the streets
and wharves and vessels in the herbor
distributing tracts and inviting the peo-
pie to the house Of God During the
week they engaged in prayers and as
fruit Of their labors the church grew in
numbers with considerable rapidity,
adding each year for the first five years
as follows: 16, -, "a, 49, and 60 men,
bers The names found in the early
catalogue reveal the fact that the early
New England life still fingered and
found place in the new church. God
Charity and Thankful are there.
Though such names have disappeared
from the roll let us hope that the graces
which they signify remain and that
charity and thankfulness abide and
the troup, of which God is the promise,
is yet to come.
In April, 1884, a Sunday school was or
ganized, and in June, 1885, an ecclesia.s-
teal society was organized. In 1886
church edifice was erected on Church
street and occupied I'M September of the
same year. Thus after five years the
church found itself located in it's own
home The name which the church
first bore was the missionary church.,
given to it because of its spirit and pur-
pose. Two objections to the name soon
appeared; members of other churches
complained that the name seemed to
imply that those other churches were
not missionary; and the people whom
the church sought to reach objected to
the name because it seemed to imply
that they were heather On account of
these criticisms, the name of the church
was changed in 1882 to the Free church.
This name was given to it because
the founder proposed neither to sell
nor rent sittings. After the build
ing on Church street was occupied
the name was again changed to that
of the Church Street church. The first
settled pastor was the Rev. Henry c.
Ludlow, who had been the successful
pastor of the Spring street Presby-
terrain church in New York. He was
installed in May, 1897, and dismissed
in March 1912. Mr.. Ludlow was a very
successful preacher. He was a strong
anti-slavery man and an associate of
the Tappans of New York. During his
passionate, Mr.. Gerritt Smith, of aboli-
tion fame, was invited to lecture in
the church. A large mob gathered
about the building, Mr.. Smith was
fusiladed with eggs and other mis-
siles and the con preoatio was broken