Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1910-07-06
ANCIENT GRAVEYARD OF LEBANON
Burial Flace Men National Early
Days Headstone Biographies DR.. Solomon Will
Hams and Rev. Z.bulon Ely

piece steel engraving of a meIan-
choly gentleman in black, seated be-
slda an aggressively Gothic church
Underneath a weeping Willow, con-
templat1ng with a certain gloomy sat
1sfaction variety of COMMISSIONERS writes
f. p. in the Hartford Courant The
book is an odd and by no means un-
interesting work. of considerable value
to the antiquarian and genealogist.
Mr.. Alden was. however. a Harvard
man. and a Connecticut reader cannot
prominence which Massachusetts,
not fail to be Impressed with the
prominence which Msssachmsetts
graveyards are given in comparison
with the burial places of neighbor-
ing states For example. only three
Of the graves at Lebanon, Conn. are
Fitch, Andrew, Alden and Governor
Trumhun the younger. Surely even
at the soDsezvhat remote date of Mr.
Aldens qualification, the old burial
ed on its monuments the names of
more men of distinction than this coll
lector o1/epitaphs usually found in
one s9et A pilgrimage thither last
sumETer had fer it's object not the
catafoguing of all of these, but merely
the location and inspection Of the
gra.PaS and monuments of two pastors
of the Lebanon church.
1t was by No Means a lugubrious
Indeed as it progressed
adventurous ehzTacter-partIy because
the exploration was by means of
motor. over unknown roads and
through peaceful country towns, part
~ BECAUSE Of the clear sunshine of
perfect summer day 1t was. moreover.
the nations holiday. and the escape
from the noise and heat of a city was
grateful and refreshing. quarter of
q mile east Of the center OF the village
the graveyard was discovered, located
a n
high read and bordered on two sides
by q green thieket. Very quiet and
old It looked in the bright sunlight.
The little motor was left abandoned
beside the road-an object of interest
and stimulus to local horseflesh unac-
customed to such sights-and as is
usual in such cases almost every head
stone in the place was examined be-
fore one<of the two particularly sought
for w9S found.
Rev. DR.. Solomon Williams.
The Rev. Solomon williams, DID,
reads his epitaph (Which Mr.. Alden
overlooked). can doubt it. And other
OF him that nave come
down to US from his day confirm the
legend on the Signified table monu-
meHt that stands over his grave There
4seanoA children, who, during the
height of the Great Awakening
thai remarkable religious revival that
sH ept over New England about the
r1siddle of the eighteenth century
claimed that in trance they were
to heaven where they were
allowed to inspect the Book of Life.
The result Of this inspection which
they publicly announced threw the
town into a turmoil OF excitement and
anxiety. for these youthful impostors
reppzttd that they had seen in the
of the elect the names CT
some of their fellow townsmen (whom
they specifed), but had failed to find
mentiened), and they further reported
that the name of the pastor himself
was written in very small letters at
the bottom of the last page This
story, however, is lese majestic, and
must, moreover, be taken with the ap-
grain of salt Surely no man
Nas ever more deserving of his re-
ward than Governor TrunbulPs hon
ored and beloved pastor. Born in 1701.
he was ordained minister of the
church at Lebanon in his twenty sec
oRd year and served its people till his
death in 177S. "Adorn'd with uncom-
9aon gifts of nature. learning and
grace says the record on his tomb
stone, he shone bright as the gentle
man, scholar. Christian and Devine,
conspicuous for wisdom, warm in de-
votion. bold In the cause of Christ.
excellinE a preacher most agreea-
BILE in conversation. clear and judi
eious ia counsel, an ardent lover of
peace and the rights of mankind.
Very possibly this epitaph and that
Of DIR. williams distinguished half
brother Elisha, soldier. statesman. and
rector or president of Yale college,
who is buried in Wethersield, We're
composed by the same eulogist, for the
two bear striking points of resem-
olance in style and phraseology.
Doubtless the men. too. were much
OF Yale embraced a larger
experience In things of this world than
fell to the lot OF his younger brother.
Fersmeet TheeIeqian of His Time.
But minister's life of over half a
m the years preceding the
Declaration of Independence was by
no means devoid of interest and even
excitement, particularly in Lebanon,
he center of much POLITICAL and theo-
ogicaI activity. DIR. Williams was one
Of the most distinguish ed men and
foremost theologians of his tirne. The
logic of t he halfway cove
lant. the exact meaning of "Aruini-
anisrn," the schisms of the Great
A Weakening were all clear to him
When his brother elisha was called
% England and for that reason forced
20 abandon controversy with Jona-
han Edwards dealing with the quail
9cat4enS for communion, DR. Williams
took up his brothers eudgels and FIN
she'd the contest, doubtless triumph
antly in his own estimation, perhaps
actually so. 1t is rather fraitless to
argue these questions now. How far
way they seem and how strange to
argue them so strenuousIyi But if
DR.. Williams was at times a contro-
7ersialist, it is pleasant to know that
re was a champion OF the broader
doctrines. 1t is said that ne received
LII to communion who offered them
selves without a rotation of their ex-
provided they be of sound
knowledge in religion and a converse
ion free from scandal"
New Nation in the Making
And ia the years of his ministry a
lew nation was in the making At
lis quiet parsonage he must have
heard the tales the early explorers
brought back of the great country
% the west. The French wars came
on. Louisburg was taken. Quebec
he preached a sermon ON
he occasien.) His friend and parish
Oner, Trumbull. became governor of
he colony. The stamp act was i'm
posed. Toward the end OF his life
public events meved swiftly. I'm
aoubtedly he was present at many
conferences in the Trumbull store that
ster beca me the revolutionary War
at which were
present men whose names are famous
n the history of the country But it is
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