Author: Theodore Thornton Munger

Publisher:

Published: 2015-09-27

Total Pages: 54

ISBN-13: 9781330616147

Excerpt from Historical Discourse: Preached on the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Organization of the United Church May 8th, 1892 The celebration of the 150th anniyersary of the founding of the United Church began on May 7, 1892, when a mural tablet commemorating the main events in its history was set up in the vestibule of the church, at the right of the main entrance. In the evening, the members of the church and congregation met in the Chapel. Simeon E. Baldwin acted as moderator, and brief addresses were made by Horace P. Hoadley, Prof. George B. Stevens, William J. Thompson, Lyman E. Munson, S. H. Moseley, Walter B. Law, and Dr. S. D. Gilbert. Mr. Thompson's reminiscences ran back nearly to the time of the erection of the present church. It was, he said, one of the last brick buildings in New Haven, in which the bricks were laid with the Flemish bond. When a boy, he once went up into the belfry to assist the sexton in tolling the passing-bell, for a funeral. There were then few large trees in the town, except upon the Green, and although it was in the Summer they could see the funeral procession moving through Grove Street to what was then known as the New Cemetery. The Green was still dotted with tomb stones, around the churches, and often in the Spring a sudden sinking of the ground over some decayed coffin, would mark the site of a forgotten grave. Every family brought its own foot-stove at the Sunday services, and Mr. Merwin, the pastor, sometimes preached in Winter, with his overcoat and gloves on. The pulpit was elevated on high mahogany pillars, and, if it had been lower, the minister would have been hidden from the view of many, by the flaring bonnets which were then in fashion. A piece of the stair-rail of the old blue meeting-house was exhibited, which ever since the demolition of that building has been in use in the attic staircase of the old Herrick house on College Street. It retains its original color of a dull blue. Mr. Harry P. Miles, the assistant pastor, read the following notes taken in conversation with two of the oldest members of the church, who were unable to be present at the meeting: "Mary Ann Miller, now ninety years old, remembers when Dr. Horace Bushnell, in 1880, preached for six weeks in the Third Church on Chapel Street. He was followed by Dr. Taylor, Mr. Boardman and Dr. Cleaveland, the last named having come to New Haven to attend Dr. Taylor's lectures and beginning to serve the Third Church as its pastor while still pursuing his theological studies. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.