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275th Commemorative Labyrinth Plans
(Click on plan for enlarged view)
View the article in the ROCKVILLE REMINDER about
ECC's 275th
275th Anniversary Highlights
The year 2008 is a particularly special one for our church.
It is the year that we are celebrating the 275th
anniversary of our church! It is just amazing to think about.
Our church was in existence before the Revolutionary War and
before we were even a country! There is a special committee in
place for overseeing the many ways that we will be celebrating
our anniversary:
June: Special Service and Dinner Program with former
ministers. This may include a slideshow or video presentation.
A historical booklet about the church will be printed for this
program. The date is Saturday, June 7, 2008.
September: Special Service/Luncheon. The idea is for a
service and church picnic with an old-fashioned theme and will
be tied with Rally Sunday. This will be our official birthday
party.
October: Tentative dedication for Memorial Garden Labyrinth
November: Interfaith Service to be held Thanksgiving Eve
with Reception to follow in the Social Room.
There are other ideas also being discussed for our year-long
celebration. Stay Tuned! J
Memories, Congratulations and Thoughts
If you would like to share a memory, congratulations or
other thoughts to our church as we celebrate our 275th
Anniversary, please submit an e-mail to
sec-eccucc@sbcglobal.net. If you do not use
the preceding link include 275th Anniversary Page as your email
subject.
275th
ANNIVERSARY TRIVIA
DID YOU
KNOW?
The night the third church
building burned October 3, 1914 was the night before the town
election and town meeting. As the church basement had served as
town hall, the election took place the next morning in Charter’s
store (which stood where the present shopping center is located
across the street from this Church) and the annual town meeting
was held outdoors, probably for the first and only time. There
were 400 in attendance.
During
the construction of the second church, which stood in the church
park, the Rev. Diodate Brockway, while climbing up to the
cupola, took hold of a board which gave way and he fell 65 feet
to the ground. He was seriously injured and taken up for dead
but he recovered but was lame for the rest of his life.
As a
result, many of his sermons were preached while seated in a
chair. Even after poor health forced his retirement, he
remained very active in the church. His service and dedication
spanned more than 50 years.
During
the years of 1780-1791, the church was without a permanent
pastor. This may have been a result of the church’s inability
to support a minister, for in the Treasurer’s book, an entry
dated March 16, 1785 reads, “finally settled with Mr. Bliss” –
the Rev. Mr. Bliss had resigned in 1780-five years earlier.
Apparently quite aware of the church’s difficulty in paying
ministers’ salaries, Mr. Brockway accepted the position in 1799
only AFTER it was agreed that interest would be applied to any
salary not paid at year’s end.
The
Third Church was under construction from June 27, 1867, when the
cornerstone was laid, until it was dedicated on August 26,
1868. This building was approximately on the same site as the
present church, but was wider by over 4 feet and longer by about
7 ½ feet. It could seat 500 people and our present church only
seats 275 people. It was destroyed by fire the night of October
3, 1914.
The small cemetery next to
Hall Memorial Library dates back to the first church.
The Rev. John McKinstry, the
first minister, having been replaced because he was at odds with
the church over church discipline, he being a staunch
Presbyterian, chose not to be buried with his parishioners. So
he and his family for several generations are buried there.
The first church building
was erected in 1738 or 1739 on land belonging to the Rev. John
McKinstry. This building was located facing south on what is
now the town green. This church was a very simple unpainted
structure, but remained in use almost 70 years when it was
replaced by the second church in June 1806. You can see the
site where the church stood as it is marked by a monument placed
there by the Ellington Grange.
Again, according to research
done by Dorothy Cohen, former town historian, the Rev. John
McKinstry on October 28, 1733 bought 50 acres of land on what is
now Main Street. The land presumably stretched from the
westerly end of Main Street at least to the present town green.
By 1736 he had a parsonage built on the southwest corner of the
land, it is thought about where the Lehmann’s house stands at
119 Main Street.
According to Dorothy Cohen,
former historian for the Town of Ellington, when the Rev. John
McKinstry first came to this area he purchased land with a
house, barn, shop and orchard on April 27, 1730 in the East
Windsor Hill section of South Windsor.
While living there he became
acquainted with the families from what is now Ellington as they
had to go the long distance to South Windsor to attend church.
Apparently before these people could establish a parish and
build a church they had to hire a minister. And so, probably
about 1733, they hired the Rev. John McKinstry with the
understanding he would come to the “Great Marsh” to live.
As you
may be aware, we are this year celebrating the 275th
anniversary of the gathering of the Ellington Congregational
Church. In order to get better acquainted with our unique
heritage, the weekly bulletin, throughout this year, is going to
include a “DID YOU KNOW”? column which will present various
facts, anecdotes and other trivia from our long and colorful
history. The first:
The Rev.
John McKinstry, the first minister of this church, had been a
minister in Sutton, MA where he was called in 1720. He was 45
years old in 1722 when he married twenty-two year old Elizabeth
Fairchild of Wenham, MA. They had two children.
According to the book, “The McKinstrys of Chicopee” by Alice
McKinstry Hawes, the Rev. John, being of Scotch-Irish and
Presbyterian background, was often at odds with the
Congregational Church in Sutton and so in September 1728 he was
dismissed by the Sutton Church. He and his family remained in
the area for a time, where their third child was born, and he
presumably supported his family by preaching in area churches.
In 1729
or 1730 it was decided to move to New York where there was a
settlement of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. In passing through
East Windsor, Melrose to be exact, Mrs. McKinstry became ill and
so they stayed for awhile.
The
final decision of where the third church (and our present
church) was to stand was made overnight.
Legend
has it that Mr. J. B. McKnight, unhappy with the planned
location of the third church, and wanting to see the church set
further back from the road, rearranged the stakes in the dead of
the night.
Workmen
began work on the church the next morning, completely unaware of
the changes made.
That the town and our church
had a strong tradition of partnership?
The first town meeting was
held in the church building. On April 4, 1817, a town meeting
voted to maintain the outside of the second church building, in
consideration for the privilege of holding town meetings there.
Then, when the third church
was constructed the town appropriated $5000 towards the cost in
exchange for the privilege of having town offices in the
basement.
When this building burned in
October, 1914, the town decided to separate from the church and
the present Town Hall was built in 1915.
That the Rev. Diodate
Brockway, pastor from 1799 to 1829, was a tutor for the “lost
prince of France” for several months in 1803?
When he was about five years
old in 1795, the prince was secretly brought to this country.
His identity was kept secret from the world until about 1848.
The story goes, “the prince lived with the family of a
half-breed Iroquois Indian Chief, named Thomas Williams. The
family lived in Longmeadow, MA in the early 1800s and in 1803
the boy was sent to live and work with the Rev. Brockway, who
was regarded as one of the finest scholars of his time.”
The Prince ultimately went
to Green Bay, WI to work. It was there in 1841, that he first
learned of his true identity from an emissary of the French
Royalty. He was asked to renounce any future claim to the
throne. (This information came from a church bulletin printed
in 1983)
The morning after the fire
that destroyed the third church building, Dr. Everett J.
McKnight salvaged from the ruins, the spire that had stood on
the steeple, 200 feet above the church. First it was used as a
coat rack, but as that deteriorated, it is currently the staff
that holds the flag which is on the platform in the Social Room
In the early history of the
first church, the building was without heat. The parishioners
kept warm using foot warmers filled with hot coals. When the
long Sunday morning service broke for lunch at noon, they went
to nearby homes and refilled their foot warmers with coals from
a hickory fire provided for this purpose, at the expense of the
church.
In days gone by the church
set very strict standards for personal behavior. For example,
back in April 1831 the church voted that “it should be
unchristian and improper for members to attend any dances or the
Shakers’ meetings in Enfield.” Other offenses were intoxication
or failure to attend church service or failure to pay one’s
pledge.
Deacons dealt with offenses
and the minister had the power to excommunicate a guilty person
upon vote of the church if the guilty person didn’t repent. The
church records contain examples of excommunication and also
letters of confession and repentance.
The steeple of the third
church building that burned was 50 feet higher than the one on
the present building. It was set on a rather unique sort of
rocker assembly that allowed it to swing through an arc of
eleven feet. A heavy wind held the steeple over to the limit,
and as the wind subsided, the tall, slender spiral would swing
back. If you climbed to the top of the steeple, you would
experience a sensation similar to climbing to the top of the
mast of a large ship.
After the fire in 1914 that
destroyed the third church building, only a few items were able
to be salvaged. The bell, after being recast, has hung in the
steeple of the fourth church building and is still being used
today.
A few years ago someone
anonymously put a charred pitcher and cup in the Records Room
and I assume they were relics from the fire.
The seventeenth pastor of
this church, the Rev. William Hutchins, had a hobby of growing
sweet peas. A friend and frequent house guest, Mr. Burpee of
Burpee Seeds, in fact, named a variety of sweet peas after Mrs.
Hutchins.
One prominent pastime in the
third church service was the use of palm leaf fans stationed in
each pew. The ladies especially made good use of those fans when
the minister wasn’t looking their way. When the minister faced
their way, the fanning decreased or went into slow motion. Some
of those fans became quite battered.
The first communion set used
in our original building by the early Deacons included a pewter
flagon, 13 inches tall, having an artistic double curved handle
and domed lid with finial, and for use with this, a pewter
beaker 5 ¼ inches high. The following inscription is engraved
on the front of the flagon: The Gift of Capt Ebenr Grant To
the Church in Ellington 1773.
This set was presented to
Ellington Church by Dr. John R. Smith of Warsaw, Missouri whose
grandfather and later his father had been deacons of the old
church. This set is usually on display in the cabinet in the
Narthex, but is presently in the 275th Anniversary display at
Hall Memorial Library.
The third church edifice was
in construction from June 27, 1867, when the cornerstone was
laid, until it was dedicated on August 26, 1868. This building
was approximately on the same site as the present church, but
was wider by over 4 feet and longer by about 7 ½ feet. It could
seat about 500 people. It was destroyed by fire on the night of
October 3, 1914.
During the building of the
second church, in the park across from our present church, the
Rev. Diodate Brockway received a message, possibly a letter, for
one of the men who was working on the steeple.
Being the thoughtful man
that he was, he decided to go up into the steeple and deliver
the message in person. That is when he took a hold of a board
from which a nail let go and Mr. Brockway fell 65 feet to the
ground, hitting several places on the way down.
The story goes that he was
taken for dead but survived, although seriously injured. As a
result many of his sermons were preached while sitting in a
chair. Even though poor health forced his retirement after
thirty years, he remained very active in the church for more
than fifty years. During the last twenty years he had three
different associates.
The Rev. Kenneth Johnson,
the twenty-eighth pastor of our church, began his pastorate in
July 1952 during a dry spell.
One Sunday shortly
thereafter, he prayed for rain to relieve the summer’s drought.
The follow- ing day, during a thunderstorm, the church spire was
struck by lightening. The Rev. Mr. Johnson was never known to
pray for rain again!
The night the church burned, October
3, 1914, was the Sunday night before the town election and town
meeting which was held on the first Monday of October. As the
church basement had served as Town Hall, the election took place
in Charter’s Store, which stood where the present shopping
center is located.
The Annual Town Meeting was held
outdoors, probably the first and only time. There were 400 in
attendance.
The church budget for this
year is $308,049. Twenty-five years ago it was $85,095, and
fifty years ago it was $17,589.
That the town and our church
had a strong tradition of partnership? The first town meeting
was held in the original church building. One hundred ninety-one
years ago, on April 4, 1817, a town meeting voted to maintain
the outside of the second church building, in consideration for
the privilege of holding town meetings there.
The town appropriated $5,000
to the building of offices in the basement of the third church.
When this building burned in 1914, the church and town parted
company, the latter deciding to build the present Town Hall.
The Rev. Diodate Brockway,
the sixth minister of this church, lived briefly in the house
which stood across from the present School Administration
building, which his wife bought the day before their marriage.
He then built a rather large
house across the street, about where the School Administration
building now stands. This house was set on fire by the same man
who set the fire which burned the third church in 1914.
When I was a child and went
to the old Center School, which stood on the site of the present
parking area, some of the foundation of this house was visible
at the far eastern end of our playground area.
In earlier times the church
set very strict standards for personal behavior. For example,
177 years ago, on April 29, 1831 the church body voted that “it
should be unchristian and improper for members to attend any
dances or the Shakers’ meetings in Enfield.”
The 1851-1852 period in this
church was a particularly bad time for those who didn’t follow
the rules. Anyone found intoxicated, or who failed to attend
church or failed to pay their pledge was warned that
disciplinary action would be taken if they didn’t confess their
sins and ask for forgiveness. The Deacons were designated to
deal with the guilty persons. The minister had the power to
excommunicate the guilty person by a vote of the church body.
The seventeenth pastor of
this church, the Rev. William Hutchins, had a hobby of growing
sweet peas. A friend and frequent house guest, Mr. Burpee, of
Burpee Seeds, in fact named a variety of sweet pea after Mrs.
Hutchins.
The first Communion Set used
in our original building by the early Deacons included a pewter
flagon, 13 inches tall, having an artistic double curved handle
and domed lid with finial, and for use with this, a handle-less
pewter beaker, 5 ¼ inches high. The following inscription is
engraved on the front of the flagon:
The gift of Capt
Ebenr Grant
To the Church in Ellington
1733
This set was presented to
Ellington Church by Dr. John R. Smith of Warsaw, MO, whose
grandfather, and later his father, had been sextons of the old
church. This very set is now on display in the cabinet in the
Narthex. Take a look as you leave.
When our first minister, the
Rev. John McKinstry, came to this area in 1730, there were only
eleven or twelve families living in the Great Marsh (Ellington)
settlement. Only 13 years before, in 1717, Mr. Samuel Pinney
bought land and built a log cabin on what is now Pinney Street.
Over the years our Church has considered Samuel Pinney to be the
first settler.
In Dorothy Cohen’s book,
“Ellington Chronicles of Change,” it is stated that Samuel
Gibbs, Jr., in 1716, bought land with a house from Dr. Samuel
Mather, Jr. on the eastern border of the town of Windsor (which
included Ellington). Thus, she maintains that Samuel Gibbs, Jr.
was the first settler. Apparently Dr. Mather never lived here.
This house was in the northernmost area of the present Route 83.
John Brockway, one of our
sixth pastor’s seven children, a lawyer and active citizen of
the town, in 1834 built the house across from the Church park on
Maple Street called the Conference House. The Conference House
was rented for meetings of all kinds, singing school and the
first meeting place of the few Baptists here at the time.
As a child, I remember going
by the building, which was now used as a private residence, and
seeing a bunch of dead flowers on a stand in the window. A
bachelor lived there with his mother and when she died people
said that he never changed anything in the house, including the
bouquet of flowers.
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