The Clergy of Connecticut in Revolutionary Days

STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LIBRARY SERVICE CENTER MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS LVI The Clergy of Connecticut in Revolutionary Days ALICE MARY BALDWIN PUBLISHED FOR THE TERCENTENARY COMMISSION BY THE YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS I936 Connecticut State Library • ry Service Center o-'.-in Main Street Middle-town, Connecticut 06457 The Printing-Office of the Tale University Press TERCENTENARY COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT COMMITTEE ON HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS LVI The Clergy of Connecticut in Revolutionary Days ALICE MARY BALDWIN I HE story of the nonconformist clergy of Connecticut in the American Revolution is a dramatic tale of men who were convinced of the eternal righteousness of their cause, Twho knew their power and believed in their responsibil- ity—men whose lives were inextricably inwoven into the life of their community whether in peace or in war, and whose knowledge, convictions, and acts were of great significance in those days of conflict. To understand the part played by the ministers one must first forget the populous, industrial state of the twentieth century with its large cities, good roads, auto- mobiles, radios, and daily press, and turn back one hundred and sixty years to a Connecticut of about seventy towns and villages ranging in population from two or three hundred to five, six, or seven thousand, a large number having less than fifteen hundred inhabitants. Its people were for the most part farmers, its roads were poor, books were hard to obtain, and newspapers were small and published weekly in three or four towns only. Theology and the church were then of far greater importance in the life of the average man than today. Every village or, in the larger towns, every parish had its meeting house, and the people were taxed for its support and for the support of the minister who was chosen, according to the law of the colony, by the voters of the town rather than by the church members. The great majority of the people were Congregationalists, or Presbyterians, as they were sometimes called. A few were Anglicans or Baptists. In the eastern counties especially were some Separate congregations made up for the most part of humble, uneducated men and women who refused to accept the so-called ecclesiastical constitution of the colony and who vainly petitioned the assembly for relief from taxation for support of the regu- lar clergy or Standing Order. The choice of a minister in those days was a serious matter. At his installation he was given a home and land, received a stated salary, small though it often was, and sometimes, in addition, a sum of money to induce him to settle. Each parish took its time about selecting its pastor, minutely investigated his life, character, and training, carefully tested his theology, and was deeply concerned over the method of his ordination and installation. The pastor so chosen settled down among his people to live and work with them, and there he frequently remained throughout a long life, baptizing the babies, teaching the children the catechism, watching them grow to manhood, often preparing the brighter boys for college, marrying them, reproving their errors, sharing their festivities, and helping them in sickness and in sorrow. The parish of North Haven, for example, num- bered at the time of the Revolution less than thirteen a hundred souls, and of these Benjamin Trumbull, their minister from 1760 to 1820, said that over a thousand came under his pastoral care. Ammi Ruhamah Robbins was pastor from 1761 to 1813 at Norfolk, which in 1774 had nine hundred and sixty-nine inhabitants. In The clergy of Litchfield county Arthur Goodenough said of him, "He ruled the old men, being at once their counselor andbooncompanion.Theyoungmenwerehischildren. I was the hundred and thirteenth boy whom he had fitted and entered at some collegiate institution." Among other famous teachers were Joel Bardwell of Kent, James Lock- wood of Wethersfield, and Elizur Goodrich of Durham, who is said to have prepared three hundred boys for college in twenty years. The meeting house1 was the center of community life in the smaller towns. There the people listened atten- tively and sometimes critically on the Sabbath day, and frequently on other days as well, to sermons theological, historical, and political. Town meetings were opened by prayer and sometimes by an address by the minister. Usually a graduate of Harvard or, far more frequently, of Yale, the minister was the friend of education and the schools. In his home were books and he was often influen- tial in organizing lending libraries and book companies. Around his fire gathered the better educated of his parish- ioners, and travelers stopped with him in their journeys. In the country towns the minister was also a farmer and sometimes a notable one, as were Elizur Goodrich of Dur- ham and Benjamin Trumbull of North Haven, able to discuss crops as well as difficult questions of theology with his fellow-farmers. Whether approachable and beloved or more cold and formal, as were some of the clergy, the minister was a 1 See Noah Porter, The New England meetinghouse (no.XVIII in this series). 3 man of consequence, not only in his own town but in the broader affairs of the colony as well. There were ministerial associations and consociations where the clergy met together for conference and where, although at times bit- terly at odds, they developed means by which they could, if necessary, act together on a common issue and make their power felt. From the foundation of the colony, the ministers had been consulted in various matters of politics and government and their interest was sometimes such as to arouse the disgust and apprehension of certain laymen who resented their power or disapproved their policies. The consociations and the platform of the churches had been established by law, and legal questions concern- ing the churches and clergy were frequently before the assembly. Annually many of the ministers came together while the assembly was sitting and the election sermon preached by a prominent minister was a long-established institution. The minister chosen was frequently a fair indication of the political complexion of the assembly. Yale College was another center of clerical influence. The president, the fellows of the Corporation, and most of the faculty were ministers. At the time of the Revolu- tion there were about one thousand Yale graduates, the large majority living in Connecticut, who had come under the influence of the Yale faculty. A goodly number had become ministers themselves, and had often remained the friends and correspondents of their college mates who had turned to law, medicine, trade, or politics. A few of the latter had studied for a time after graduation, as did the ministerial candidates, with such well-known teachers of theology as Joseph Bellamy of Bethlehem, Levi Hart of Griswold, Benjamin Pomeroy of Hebron, and Solomon Williams of Lebanon. 4 II THE ministers, then, influenced the lives of their people and the life of the colony in many ways, but there were certain of their teachings which especially prepared their people for the Revolution and for the framing of new governments. For generations they had discussed fully in the annual election sermons, in historical addresses, and on many special occasions theories of government, the beauties of the English constitution and of the government of Connecticut, and the rights of men and of Eng- lishmen. They had taught that these rights were sacred and came from God, and that to preserve them they had a legal right of resistance. They taught the meaning and sanctity of the constitution and that an unconstitutional act was null and void. They quoted Locke and other political philosophers and especially the Bible, until the theories—that men are born equal and have a natural right to liberty and property that cannot constitutionally be taken away from them, that society and government are formed by the common consent for the good of the people, and that, if necessary, the people have a right "to resume the powers they have delegated and alter and abolish governments and by common consent establish new ones"—had been given the sanction of religion. These theories had taken on special meaning in the con- troversies over the so-called ecclesiastical constitution, in which each side asserted its own constitutionality and denounced the unconstitutional acts of its opponents. During the French and Indian War they had become closely allied with the preservation of religious freedom. James Cogswell of Canterbury in addressing a military company of Captain Putnam's command in 1757 said: There is a Principle of Self-Defense and Preservation im- planted in our very Natures, which is necessary to us almost as 5 our Beings, and which no positive Law of God ever yet con- tradicted. Liberty is one of the most sacred and inviolable Privileges Mankind enjoy;. what Comfort can a Man take in Life, when at the Disposal of a despotic and arbitrary Ty- rant, who has no other Law but his Will; ... To live is to be free: Therefore when our Liberty is attacked . 'tis Time to rouze,anddefendourundoubtedandinvaluablePrivileges . We fight for our Properties, our Liberties, our Religion, our Lives. When the difficulties with England began, the attitude of the clergy was of great moment, and this fact was recognized by friend and foe alike. They had an incom- parable opportunity to influence public opinion, especially in the smaller towns. Time and again both the assembly of Connecticut and the congress of the United Colonies called upon them to use their pulpits as a means of stimu- lating and unifying the people.

Load more