Adonijah Bidwell Early life . Adonijah Bidwell was born in Hartford , Connecticut in 1716 . The son of Thomas Bidwell , a wealthy merchant involved in the triangular trade , Adonijah had a comfortable childhood . As a young adult , Adonijah Bidwell attended Yale College and graduated in 1740 . He was intermittently a teacher , a chaplain for the British and colonial expeditions to Canada and , finally , a full - time minister for Township No . 1 in Monterey , Massachusetts . Career beginnings . In 1745 he was the chaplain on the William Pepperell expedition to Louisbourg during King George ' s War . He chaplained other expeditions and ships between 1744 and 1747 , and in 1748 , accepted an offer to become the first minister of Township No . 1 . His house , finished in 1750 , was located north of the Township No . 1 Meeting House . The Bidwell House Museum is now located in Monterey , Massachusetts . Family life . In 1752 , Adonijah Bidwell married Theodosia Colton of Suffield , Connecticut , a poet and the daughter of his former tutor . It was a childless marriage , and lasted until Theodosia ' s death in 1759 of unknown causes . A year after Theodosia died , he married Jemima Devotion of West Hartford , Connecticut , his second wife and a first cousin of Theodosia . They had four children : Adonijah the Younger , Barnabas Bidwell , Jemima Bidwell , and Theodosia Bidwell . Adonijah the Younger inherited the family farm , while Barnabas Bidwell became a member of the United States House of Representatives . He was later accused of embezzling money and fled to Canada . Jemima Devotion died in 1771 . One year later , Reverend Bidwell married Ruth Kent of Suffield , Connecticut to take care of his four children . Ruth outlived the Reverend . After Adonijah ' s death , she married a Jonathan Judd , a second widower who was also a minister in Great Barrington . Upon his death in 1815 , she lived with her brother and died at the age of 85 . Church life and business . As the minister of Housatonic Township No . 1 , Bidwell would have been expected to write two sermons each week . Members of the church would congregate in the morning before taking a short break for midday meal . Those close enough would travel back to their houses for dinner , however , most would bring along lunch pails . The second sermon began around 1 : 00 p . m . and stretched late into the afternoon . Reverend Bidwell ' s sermons often dealt with love or forgiveness , however his shorthand code is too complex to gain more than the basic feel of a sermon . The meetinghouse , badly constructed and only half finished when Adonijah arrived , was a poor place to hold service and town meetings . The space leaked and was bitterly cold in the wintertime . Eventually , it fell into an increasing state of disrepair and then burned down . All that remains are two foundation stones and the stone steps leading to the church . As the church slowly decayed , it is likely that Adonijah Bidwell would have held sermons in his own house , utilizing the 48 chairs listed in his death inventory . The Reverend had five punch bowls listed in this inventory . His large home may have accommodated travellers passing through Tyringham on the Boston - Albany Post Road which was located near the Meeting House . Bidwell the Patriot . As tensions between the colonies and Britain escalated , Reverend Bidwell took the side of the patriots . He also often centered his sermons around freedom , penning them in a cryptographic code to disguise the language to potential readers . In 1776 , Adonijah Bidwell bore his " full proportion toward . . . the War " for Independence at age 62 . He sold beef to the troops , gave up his salary for four years so they could be paid , and loaned the town an additional ₤60 to pay the soldiers . The debt was never repaid . Despite his fervent patriotism , Adonijah Bidwell hung several portraits of the king in his house . Messengers and soldiers under the king ' s command would have often stopped by frontier outposts , therefore , pictures were needed to suggest loyalty to the king . Following the American victory , Adonijah died in 1784 at age 68 , leaving the farm and 1 / 3 of his possessions to his eldest son , Adonijah the Younger , as well as 1 / 3 of his worldly possessions to both Barnabas and widow Ruth .