The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-14
GREENS FARMS CHURCH ENDS
2OOTH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

nnal celebration OF the bf-centennlal
of the Greens Farms Congregational
church society. The morning was oc-
cupied by a meeting of the Fairfield
West consolation of ministers of the
Congregational church and the after
noon was devoted to memorial eXer-
ciseS at the church
At noon the assem- blage sat down to
very excellent banquet in the church
parlors. feature of this luncheon
was a great table of roses of the most
beautiful variety, furnished by Mr..
Taylor, florist who is . member OF
the church.
der the direction of Toastmaster Rev.
c. B. Strayer; Ye Ministers of Ye
Olden Days, Rev. John DePue; Y.
Women in Ye Churches in Ye Olden
Days, Miss NJ. Louisa Hyne; Ye Church
Customs in Ye Olden Days, Rev. E. n.
Packard, d. D.; Ye Social Life in Ye
Olden Days, Rev. w. H. Holman; Ye
General Court, Past and Present, Will
liam H. Burr; Ye Original Poeme fol
Ye Occasion, Miss Fanny Crosby.
Brief and to the Point.
These responses were. brief and to
the point, especially marked with VIII
and humor and kindly bandinage on
occasion. Rev. Henry Woodruff of
Black Rock having been asked to sup
ply for Rev. w. H. Holman, who was
notice might have been excused had
he not maintained the high standard
reached by those who had had time to
prepare their wisdom and wit, but no
rose to the occasion and was if any
thing, the wittiest of them ALL which
is saying a great deal, especially after
Mr.. DePue's initial response in hu-
morous vein, at the expense of the
ancient prototypes, which drew forth
continued applause.
Miss Louise Hyde, who shares with
her sister, Miss Eleanor, the honors of
an inherited prestige because of the
long line of paternal generations which
have borne the name and been identi-
fed with the church in it's stewardship,
| read an interesting paper a few eX-
tracts Of which follow:
I'm their minds eye some may pic
| ture these old-time women, plainly
dressed in homespun, sitting in FROM
of a large spinning wheel near the
chimney corner, or knitting by the
light of tallow dip, and the blazing
log, as if that were their chief end
of existence, uncultured and unedu-
| Gated; but, friends, there was an in
nate rein culture, and intellec-
tuality in the dear people of early
times that would put to shame many
of US in these later days.
You will urge they had not the ad-
vantages Of education we have today.
Did it never occur to you that they
were spared many of the disadvan-
tages. Let me remind you that no less
the academy at Greenfield Hill until
he resigned to accept the presidency
Of Yale college.
Nearby, at Fairfield, was an acad-
envy where young men and maidens
the country round received an educa-
ton that would stand the test Of our
modern schools in all things essen
tial to the higher life.
Some one has suggested that I tell
you of the style of women's dress of
long ago. Think Of describing the up
to-date styles. Now, while 1 must con-
fess that l am almost trespassirg on
the borderland of the oldest inhabi-
tant, yet friends, 1 really have no
distinct idea of the particular style
of dress worn two hundred years ago.
Fashions are fieeting. What may be
termed a dream of loneliness today is
perfectly horrid tomorrow.
There was more distinction in the
dress of the old and young. A womaI
of forty-five or fifty, especially if the
mother of children, must wear a cap,
and as soon as a few silver threads
appeared in the hair, she must put on
a false front piece of a shade suited
to the taste of the Wearer. The COM
binations were not always happy.
Whether this edict of fashion was pre-
ferable to the rats CT today, / leave
to your judgment.
"All these things are trivial. We are
more interested in the woman herself
and what has been accomplished
through her for this church. To go
back to this Friendly Aid society the
promoter of the Sunday school, 1 am
quite sure, for most of the intervening
time there has been Sewing society
maintained by the women of the
church. Many valuable boxes have
been sent to destitute parts of our
land, making garments for the needy
ones at home, money raised by fairs
and other means for church and So
ciety necessities. There is no complete
record of this branch Of the work.
During Mr.. Relyen's ministry the name
was changed to Ladies' Aid society.
For the past % years Mrs. Emily Beers
has been president, managing its af-
fairs wisely, judiciously and with very
marked executive ability. 1t was
largely through her efforts and I'M
firing zeal we have this chapel today.
The church has been recarpeted, a
number of times. The society has been
helped through financial straits.
las an old woman Greatly I do not
you young women of today, guard zeal
ously the heritage that is yours, and
watch that you transmit to your sue
ceSSors an influence which shall be
widespreading for good
William H. Burr, all his life long
identified with the church, let light
in on those ancient days when the
Blue Laws" were in force if ever
some of which were surprising as for
instance the following:
THE mandates of the general court
can be brought in no sharper contrest
with present day legislation, than in
the prescribed duties of town officials
in colonial days. The selectmen were
to see that every family was furnished
with a Bible, and that the children
of the town were catechised once a
week.
"a petitioner secured a liquor H.
cense from the G. c. on condition
that he set his rum shop near the
meeting house, writer said it was
standing invitation to thirsty sin
ners.' Unfortunately the same mis-
conception or Misrepresentation of the
eternal fitness of things, still fingers
in the minds Of legislators, as 1t is
proposed to remove the restriction to
200 feet from church or educational
institutions on saloons.
Sharp criticism of our legislative
bodies are heard on all sides. When
we consider that many of the MEM
bers are engaged in an enterprise
with which they are not familiar, and
that they are representing peoples di-
verse in thought and sentiment, 1t is
not surprising that some peculiar en-
actments are placed on our statute
books.
Many are the good men in our
general assembly to-day and L am
optimistic enough to have deep and
abiding faith in the future. When
the Christian citizenship of any COM