The Press., 1904-04-07
AN EVENING WITH HISTORY OF
STAFFORD.
The Churches.
By MRS. VIM MoRRALL. :.

By MRS. VIM M0RRALL.
When I accepted the subject, "The
Churches of Stafford" 1 little thought
of what might be the magnitude of
the undertaking. But had not gone
far into the subject until the realiza-
tion dawned upon me, that there was
much in it, much more than one would
expect from community of this size.
When you come to go back to the year
1913 in the history of a community
situated in the thriving, enterprising,
pushing, advancing and changing ma
ton like the United States; when
you come to go back fifty years before
the Declaration of Independence, we
see somewhat how foundations locally
may change, how ups and downs may
vary, before anything permanent may
result. With this in view, we must
not be surprised to find that the furth-
er we go the more we meet, and the
more we meet the further we want to
go.
With so much material as found
in my research, hope no one will be
surprised or disappointed to find some
sketches shorter than we might de-
sire, or even in one or two cases,
terseness bordering closely on to
barrenness. "Out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaketh, "but
in this case out of the abundance of
the material the pen is restrained.
There are seven Congregational
churches, two Universalist churches,
there is one Baptist, two Methodist,
one Protestant Episcopal, one Catholic
church, meaning so many actual
houses for worship, to be treated of,
and in some cases more locations than
actual buildings. 1 will begin with
the Congregational church, and with
the eldest building of this body,
which was located ON Stafford Street.
"At a town meeting held in 1871 at
Stafford Street, it was decided to go
to build a meeting house as fast as
may be with conveniency, to be forty
four foots in length, forty foots in
breadth, and twenty four between
joints, or twenty four feet high. 1t
was also voted to levy a tax of one
hundred and fifty pounds, towards de-
fraying the charges of building the
meeting house. forty shillings a year
for each lott This church started
with ten male and thirteen female
members, and stood on Stafford Street
near the old grave yard.
The Street was described by DIR.
Dwight of Yale, in 1907, as a loosely
built village upon a street running
north and south, over elevated ground,
and having a church without a
steeple.
In 1756, when Rev. DR.. willard
was called to its pastorate, it was
provided by the society, that part of
one window should be glazed to give
him light. All the others were board
ed up to keep out the rain and wind
the cracks let in light enough. Rev.
DR.. Willard was pastor for nearly
fifty years. A man of extraordinary
culture and refinement, graduate OF
Harvard and a great-grandson of a
president of that institution. DIR.
Willard died in 1907. A large hori
zontal slab. supported by six columns,
marks his grave in the old burying
ground, near the lower end of the
Street.
Pew renters hired space and built
their own pews, and had liberty tc
sit therein, they and their children,
forever. In 1859 certain persons, eight
in number, were given permission tc
build a pew in the front gallery, or
condition that they keep the glass
window in repair. "Some of you may
have heard the Oldest inhabitants
speak of an old rock, where the good
church goers used to stop to put or
their shoes, as they neared the meet.
ing house Sunday morning. To this
meeting house all ancient paths led,
and whittier the tribes went up every
Sunday, as the people of all Israel
went up thrice year to Jerusalem. -
The second Congregational church
on Stafford Street was built in 1776.
The frame was raised and the building
Enclosed, but it was not until 1880 that
the pews were made. They were
built on three sides of the church and
were square, with doors. There were
two pews set apart for colored people,
situated on opposite sides of the
church; one was for the colored men,
and the other was for the colored
women. The church also had gal
leries on three sides of it. There
we're pews in these galleries, also
benches for the singers. Deacon Lyon
with his bass viol and CLARK Grant
with the clarionette furnished the &C.
compartment for the singers. The
pulpit was high, and when the
minister was in it he was elevated
half way between the main floor and
the gallery. The church was not
heated, and so foot-stoves were car.
ried, this being the only means OF
keeping warm. Fancy ourselves with
only foot-stoves in our churches this
long, cold winter. cat first they met
in the church for worship, without
the benefit of the light of heaven,
save what might beam in through the
openings, through which also the cold
urged its way. For a long time ii
was simply covered for a shelter, and
for more than year there was preach
ing without a single pane of glass in
the house, when, out of compassion
for the minister, they contrived to
raise means to glaze one-half the pull
pit window, which shows out of what
poverty they abounded, even to liber.
ality, to do so much as make an at