New Britain Herald Newspaper, October 13, 1924, Page 11

ML LT f. i < “‘but in molding men's Kensmgton Congregationalists KENSINGTON CONGREGATIONAL CHURC. Celebrate | 150th Anniversary| ‘ Impressive Exercises Held In House of Worship in Neighboring Town — Crowds Throng Church. With impressive ceremonies, 160 years of active service of the old white, wooden structure, the Ken- sington’ Congregational church, were brought to a close yesterday, old members of the church sitting in ity pews for the first tinie in many years and yodnger membery sitting 'in rapt attention, a fitting contrast, the old and the new. The church was crowded to the doors at the historical gervice in the afternoon and the rumble of the organ mingled with the voices of the congregation amid the ecld rafters which have echoed the singing of éener-!lon upon generation. Many of the original fixtures of the old church are gone, but the memories of past days linger apd countless members of the church in olden days seemed to be present, so perfect was the spirit of the occa- sion, Dr. Tuthill Preaches Rey, Dr. William B. Tuthill of Lowell, ‘Mass, preached at the morning service in the church, one of the best sermons ever heard within its walls. His talk, “Things New and O14,” seemed pecullarly appropriate to such an occasion. One of the hardést problems of the times is to draw a dividing line be- tween the'old and the new, he said; to know what to reject of the old and what to accept of the new. His address dealt with things old and new, materially and spiritually. The main speakegs at the after- noon service were Rev. Vernon IL. Phillips, pastor of the church, who spoke on “A Forward Look,” and E, Allen Moore, of New Brtaln, who delivered the historical address. Tt is an interesting fact that one woman was present who had net Lieen in Kensington since 1884, She noted with surprise the many changes which have taken place, Others taking part were Theron Woleott Hart, who tendered a re- cital on the organ; Rev. May B. lord, pastor of the Kensington Methodist church, who offered up prayer; Charles J. Stuhiman, who presented a solo, “Lead Kindly Light,” Rev. Samuel A. Fiske, pas- tor of the Second Congregational church, Berlin, who offered closing prayer and benediction, and A male quartet composed, of mem- hers of the IFrom Their Labors: Rest.” Mr. Moore’s Historical Addres An interesting historical address was delivered by Mr. Moore, In part it follows: N We are gathered here today to commemorate the 186¢% anniversary of the bullding of this Meeting House. Wo are mecting here a century and a half after our fore- fathers convened here for its dedi- cation, December 1, 1774. Perhaps it may seem strange to some in the iudience that I record unimportant facts having to do with the Meet- ing House itsclf when the real work of the church has been not in build. | ing and repairing Meeting Houses lives to be more In harmony with the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, Were this the only paper with the history of this church it might well be a just criticism, Hav- ing, however, in mind the “History v the Rev. Carleton Hazen, the “Ministers ~ of the Kensington Church” by the Hon. Livingston Cleavland and the “Historical Sketch of the Sunday School” by Mr. Arthur W. Upson, not to mention the other carefully prepared address- es of the 200th celebration in 1912 of the founding of this church, would seem that this paper could well be largely confined to record- ing the facts dealing with the Meeting House itself. We can, however, better understand the sig- nificance of this sacred building and our presence here it we review some of the previous history leading up to its erection and construction. . Kensington was originally part of the territory granted by the general court in 1640 to those persons sct- tling the town of Farmington.. A years later which still ministers to the inhabitdnts of the much smaller, territorially-wise, town of Farming- ton. Almost three centurles have the | Kensington | chureh, | which sang “For All The Saints Who | dealing | of the Kensington Church” written | it church was organized there twelve | 1 urgiary Theft and Robbery Insurance M'EWUH [0y THE BANK OF SERVICE OPEN SATURDAY EVENINGS 79 elapsed since our ancestors began that first of the inland settlements in what is now the State of Con. nocticut. Farmington grew rapiddy and soon bégan to reach out to the ' east while Wethersfield was |begin- ning the cultivation of landa to her two towns was disappearing. The main road between Hartford and New Haven passed through the val- | ley now traversed by the steam rall- I road bearing the name of the two | towns, This settlement of the enl-} ern part of Farmington began In | 1686 or almost half a century after | that of Iarmington proper, The story of the early years of the Great Swamp settlement, the Fort, the fear of the Indlans, the arduous and dan. gerous trips on foot and horseback over the mountgin to Farmingten to church you are familiar with. In lggs than twenty years after “the settiement of the Great Swamp re- {glon wefind the inhabitants peti- tioning the gencral assembly “to grant unto your humble petitioners o scttlement and confirmation of & soclety at a place called the Great Swamp within Parmington bounds having obtained a liberty from said Farmington for that, " Then follow the reasons for the petition signed by twenty-nine men whose names loom large in our local histbry. The petition was granted and in 1707 (the town having in 1706 given its consent) the new society was organ- ized, Irom the records it would ap- pear that the Rev. William Burn- ham began his ministrations late in | 1707. While during the years 1707 until 1712 Mr. Burnham acted as pastor of the parish which in 1709 the general assembly had again con- firmed and approved by granting permission to tax all the inhabitants of the Great Swamp “setting up and maintaining public worship of God there,” the formal organization of the church was in 1712 with ten| members. A few years later some | of the gerritory belonging to both Middicfown and Wethersfield was added®o the “Great Swamp society.’ Although, the Meeting House had probably been used since 1709 the building was not finished until 1720 Aas the following vote attests, March 2, 1719: “Provided ye aforesaid Judd and Hart shall at thelr own proper | ¥ charge provide all suitable matter ! for and procure workmanlike ve| finishing of our Meeting House gal- leries in manner according to the galleries in Farmington Meeting | | House or ye same sort of work fin- |ishing them from ye underside of | { theyer girts unto ve underside of ye | | beams and plates of 'ye house in-' cluding suitable frames for ye wind- | dows and ye putting them up and: all this to be done by the first of | June in ye yare 1720 they having ye | priviledgae of ye lose bords and tim- ber that is now in the House.” In retrospect it seems as thmuz!\ the church were not fairly settied in the Mecting House which was final- | Iy finished in 1721 before the mem- bers hegan sowing the seeds of con- tention that lasted almost halt a ! century. When T was a young man ' | teaching ‘school I lived with a fine ' 01d Jady who had spent her 78 years in the house next to the Congrega- tional churgh., She often sald that when Christians tried to build a church or schoolhouse the devil got in his best work. The society had grown very fast and in 1730 the Meeting House, begun 18 years and finished hardly 10 years before, had become inadequate, The first Meet- ing House was located well toward the north and east of the Kensing- ton parish. Its southern boundary reached to Wallingford, now Meri- den, and the population of the cen- tral portion along and around the Mattabessett river had increased. Those who settled in “Blow Moun- al region near Wallingford, now feriden, had the longest journey to the Meeting House and naturally ' could hardly believe it was their duty to vote for the old Christian Lane location it a new Meeting | House were to be buflt. Tt is fair to | observe that the desire for a new | | meeting house in 1730, ten years |after_the completion ot the first one may have been somewhat influenced by the fact that. the central apd south portlons of the parish had a majority of the votes. At this time with our meagre facts it is not for us to judge of the unfortunate cir- cumstances that existed in thé so- ciety for so many years. The mem- bers of the society were as a whole God-fearing, upright Chr desirous of following Christ's exam- ple and especially the precepts of | the Bible. In fact their daily lives | ua west and the wilderness between the | ¢ were guided ‘by such example and |is unnecessary In this address to fol- precept to a larger extent than we |low from step to step all the long can well appreciate. however, Englishmen, tenacfous of general assembly building the new |hy the general assembyy Settled Z,erl: ;Ighta “and Drl\'l}lf‘z!‘s.‘ The | Meeting House and asscssing the | nothing. The remaining years of Fossession of the Universal Cleancr produces not merely |same Kkind of people lived in the cost on the parish, It might be |the Rev. Mr, Burnham's ministry perfect housecleaning, but the pride and satisfaction north center, and south of this at- | ! tenuated parish. to sce that being assessed to build |numerable votes. A drawing by lot [fod of the Rev. Mr, Clark’s pastor- a new Meeting House where a sub- | was rted to fn order to decide |ate, were not years of peace and stantial minority did nor want it where the Meeting Touse shom. be | harmony within the soclety. TIn all would lcad to trouble. It did. As|built. The choice fell for 4¢ foca- |this period things had been com- FOR A Ll I carly as 1730 the society voted {o |tion desired by the minority where- | plicated for the Kensington parish build a new Meecting House on lupon the majority refused to abide | because It sprawled out in every Sarg't. for it and 36 against. was, far removed from the Christian |way | L.ane location and welPon the way to | claimed it was taken after sundown. | the place where this Meeting House | They then asked four ministers to now sta S [the lotac from the :"I]um\v';ns!'ll«lml on Mill river by | |should then refused to abide by the he D Meeting | o NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, MQNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1924. they had signed an agreement to abide by their decislon, They had also, memorialized the general as- sembly repeatedly, and after a loca- tion had been determined by a com- mittee of the general assembly re- fused to build the Meeling House where ordered by that august body. However they might turn back on a lot with which their own brethren, |} the general assembly would admit of no such course with regard to fts action and appointed a committee who built the watlng House for the soclety and, thus the “inhabitants of the soclety of Kensington” had their second Meeting House. This was lo- cated on the home lot of ~ Deacon Thomas Hart, T can find no trace of the old foundations, but the Meeting House was undoubtedly bullt on the road on which the sec- ond pastor, Rev, Samuel Clark, aft- ferwards built his beautiful residence which, with Its sétting of trees gnd gardens, is one of the most beautfful colonial homes in this state. This road crosses the present main high- way between Berlin station and Worthington Ridge and continues on to the east in front of the Norman orter place and was'the main“road Between Farmington, and Middle- town. The exact location was prob- ably near the intersection .of these two streets and on the north side of the former, The records of the soclety give the seating of the Meeting House in 1717 with the names of the occu- pants of cach pew. The only man entitled to*the dignity of a “Mr.” was Thenezer Gilbert spelled .with the freedom that pervades the rec- erd, “Gillbird.” . . This second Meeting House huilt | i l——- “Cleaner Homes With Less.Drudgery" PERFECT HOUSECLEANING WITH THE . “w‘ sy m "y I e ‘u,‘; MV 'fi. No Charge 5% Discount for Tyoe Time for Cash Demonstration Payments They were, l}ourney that finally resuited in the which was terminated in 1750 by vacuum cleaner of recopded, however, that before this | his death, and almost the entire per- was done the parish had passed in- derived from owning an électric proven quality and reliability, It is not difficult PHONE 230 THE CONNECTICUT LIGHT & POWER CO. by the lot, They had {have this lot taken in a and, before sundov agreed to onable They direction and go in many cases near it geographical limits the inhabitants could attend church in another par- ish more conveniently and many were allowed to do so. The pay- ment of \assessments in these¢ cases still further complicated matters. During the interim hbetween Mr. John Norton's lot, voting “[ This location ds. This location was on |act as arbitrators as to whether the | s the road to the north hhm(" by lot should be binding on t pond made by the |their consciences and being told it | pre N. H. and H. railroad. "ldl‘(‘hmn of the arbitrators although (Cdhtinued ~n Page 12) ONE HALF ENTIRE TRACT Sold in Three Days In Twenty Years It Has Never Been Done Before Why—Never Before Have We Been' Able to Sell 50 Foot Lots for the Price of 30 EVERY LOT WILL BE SOLD BY SUNDAY NIGHT RY' Are You Going to Miss This Chance to Make Money ® Over 300 People at Our Sale Sunday PROSPERITY HEIGHTS We Bought a Bargain—Ynu Get the Benefit Where Yuur I]nllars WiII Grnw Fast! A BEAUTIFUL SWEET GRASS BASKET Imported From Chma—The Women Are Wlld About Them TO EVERY MAN AND WOMAN AT OUR SALE ; SPEC[ AL FREE C ARS Marked Carr Land Sale—Leaves Central Square 2:00 P. M. by Hartford Line. Get On Anywhere Along the Line R T T Y T 3 A SALE DIFFERENT‘ THAN ALL THE REST—YOU DOUBLE YOUR MONEY ON EVERY LOT L()TS $79 TO $199—-10% DOWN-—-$1.00 WEEKLY A few higher. No interest. No taxes for two years. No payments required while sick or out of work. AND LOOK AT THIS DRIVE OUT IN YOUR CAR JNDERFUL PROPERTY SALESMEN ON PROPERTY EVENINGS UNTIL DARK C ARR L AND CO. Local Office, 297 Main Street T.c.2ont B. llir.g, Boston