HISTORY OF

THE HUNTINGTON CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

The spring of 1639 saw the advent of the white man at Cupheag, as the Indian village at the mouth of the Housatonic River was called. In 1643, Cupheag received the name of Stratford – whether from Stratford in Essex or from the more famous home of William Shakespeare on the Avon is a matter of dispute. The Pootatuck Indians owned the land and in 1661 were permitted to sell Joseph Judson of Stratford land called Mohegan Hill, located south of Moose Hill, bounded "on ye south at ye parting of ye spraynes of ye Far Mill River called by ye English ye Trapfalls." The sale was confirmed the following year by a larger purchase which included the Walnut Tree Hill district, making five thousand acres in all. Late in 1661 the townsmen purchased all the remaining land between the Near Mill and Far Mill Rivers for twelve pounds of trading cloth and one blanket. The Indians sold 26,880 acres along the river to Newtown to one Henry Tomlinson in 1662. The remaining right of the Indians was bought by the town of Stratford in 1671 for ten coats, five pounds of powder and twenty pounds of lead. This right included the area of White Hills. The Indians remained at Pootatuck, as their Shelton village was called, until 1684. They had abandoned their planting fields in 1663 at the request of the white man.

About the year 1700, four men settled within the limits of the present city of Shelton. Daniel Shelton settled on Long Hill, Jonas and Abraham Wooster at the mouth of the Far Mill River and Dr. Thomas Leavenworth near Indian Well. Within two decades many others joined Mr. Shelton in the hill settlement and in October 1717, the General Assembly granted the petition of Benjamin Curtis and Daniel Shelton that a separate parish be created to be, however, still a part of the town of Stratford. The new parish was called Repton until 1770 when it was spelled Ripton. Both names were a misspelling of Ripon in Yorkshire, whence Daniel Shelton and possibly other settlers had originally come.

On December 10, 1722, Joseph Blackleach was chosen as clerk and the committee included Robert Wheeler, Sylvester Perry, Samuel Hawley, Nathan Bennett and Z. Beardslee who were appointed to the parish of Repton for one year. On the twelfth of March 1723, it was voted to build a church on Ocingquage Plains or Fanton Hill on the east side of Means Brook near the upper end of the graveyard plot on the Old Shelton Road, an eighth of a mile from the fountain on the present Green in Huntington Center. The Church was built at a cost of thirty-one pounds and served Shelton and Monroe. Each member had to provide his own stool or seat.

On December 10, 1723, a call was extended to Jedidiah Mills to become its minister. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister the same day the church was organized in 1724 when it had ninety-two members, probably counting children and slaves. Mr. Mills was given eighty pounds to build his house—forty pounds in cash and forty pounds in work—and a salary of fifty pounds (about two hundred and fifty dollars) a year.

After David Brainard was expelled from Yale for expressing his unflattering opinion of a professor, he was brought to Huntington by Mr. Mills and prepared for the ministry. At the time, Mr. Mills lived at the site where the Bartlett residence on Shelton Road is now located. Nearby is Brainard’s rock, said to be a favored place used for meditation by David Brainard and which is now visited by all confirmation classes at the termination of their course of study. David Brainard became the first missionary to the Indians; he ministered to those living in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania until his death in his twenty-ninth year. At present the David Brainard fund is maintained by the church to be of assistance to any member of our church desiring aid while preparing for a religious vocation.

Feelings were intense between Old Lights and New Lights and preachers were not permitted to express their opinions in other parishes. In 1742 Mr. Mills, a follower of the New Lights, aired his views in Stratford, (now Bridgeport) and as a result was deprived of his salary for seven years.

During this time some additions were made to the Meeting House itself – in 1727 it was decided to build a pulpit, in 1730 seats were built and Mr. Mills was given the liberty to build a pew on the east of the pulpit for his family’s use. Because the church had no bell, it was voted in 1723 to have a drum beat on the Sabbath to give notice of the time of worship, for which service Samuel Beardslee was paid twenty shillings a year.

Church services were the event of the week and the sermon the highlight of the event. It was said the churches were cold but the sermons were hot and provoked much discussion and argument. The ministers of that time were in a sense the public educators and discouraged the education of women in more than reading and writing. Women were not encouraged to speak on subjects under discussion.

The second church or meeting house was built in 1745; it measured fifty by thirty-six feet and had twenty-four foot posts. It was located at the northeast corner of the present Green. Inside it was rather attractive with large square pews with high backs which showed only the heads of people. The Deacon’s seats were below the pulpit which was high and had a sounding board above it. The choir was in the middle of the gallery. Male slaves sat on one side of the building and the female slaves on the other.

Permission was granted in 1746 to build a tower at each end of the building and to hang a bell provided it was done at the owner’s expense. In 1761 it was decided to raise money for a public clock for the meeting house.

David Ely, D. D. was hired to be preacher in 1772 at a salary of seventy pounds which was to be increased five pounds yearly until a maximum of ninety pounds a year was reached. Because of the political temper of the times, St. Paul’s Church was closed during the Revolutionary War which left the Congregational Church to minister to many people.

In 1795 the Society appointed a committee to raise funds to have a singing school in the Parish to improve the singing of the people. In 1800 it was voted that twenty-five dollars be paid to teach in the art of Psalmody.

In 1832 a fine colonial structure was erected on the site of the present church on land given by Mr. Rudd. The building, which was fifty-six feet long and forty-four feet wide and had a basement and one story, was dedicated May 25, 1833. This third building had a wide porch across the front of it and was graced with a steeple. The basement was leased for town meetings, a fact which shows that church and town were still in close touch. In early days all people owning property in Ripton paid Church Taxes to the Congregational Church. Daniel Shelton spent a night in jail for refusing to pay his tax. This law was on the statute books until 1818. When Monroe built a church of its own and a Baptist Church was established in White Hills, it was necessary to find new ways to finance the parish. The pews were now rented as a source of extra income.

At this time, the Meeting House children were allowed to attend the Christmas celebration in the Episcopal Church which was decorated for the holiday. The Congregationalist’s chief holiday was Thanksgiving when they had their feast at home in a religious atmosphere.

This third building burned to the ground July 25, 1892 at one in the morning. It was a total loss which was not covered by insurance. Two days after, the fire subscription papers were circulated and liberally signed.

On July 25, 1893 the present edifice was erected with only a few hundred dollars debt. While the church was being built, sheds to shelter horses and carriages which came from a distance were also constructed. To save money for the church, the sheds were individually owned. This plan worked wonderfully until 1929 when it became necessary to build the parish house. Because the original owners had forgotten to mention ownership in their wills, permission to relinquish ownership had to be obtained from the heirs, some of whom had to be traced to the far corners of the world.

In 1844 Joseph Tomlinson was appointed agent to purchase Dr. Jones’ home which was the original parsonage and a committee was appointed to make necessary repairs. The house burned down in the fall of 1925 and the next parsonage was built in 1926.

The parish house was built including a kitchen and stage for a cost of eight thousand dollars. This was financed by private contributions and a loan of fifteen hundred dollars from the Home Board of Missions which never has been repaid.