Wolcott History – Congregational Church Pastors

When Samuel Orcutt started writing what became the “History of Wolcott” in 1872, it was because of the upcoming centennial of the Congregational Church in Wolcott in 1873. As he got more and more into the history of this church, he found it to be so intertwined with the history of the town that he got quite enamored with history and thus spent the next two decades of his life pursuing that passion. However, in his book on Wolcott he did devote the first 150 pages to the history of the Congregational Church in Wolcott.

As the pastor of the church, he had access to all the church records, correspondence, etc. Thus he was able to write a very detailed account. The below is his list of the ministers of the church. The ones in brackets were written up in the book, but not put in the list as they were “pulpit supply” pastors, primarily from Waterbury, who only came to town on Sunday to deliver the sermon. The term “stated supply” indicates that these men came from another town and they had previously been ordained. The term “ordained” indicates that this was their first assignment and the ordination took place in the Wolcott church.

·         Rev. Alexander Gillet, ordained Dec. 29, 1773, dismissed Nov. 10, 1791

·         Rev. Israel B. Woodward, ordained June 1792. Died Nov. 17, 1810

·         [Rev. Parmalee, pulpit supply]

·         Rev. Lucas Hart, ordained Dec. 4, 1811. Died Oct. 16, 1813

·         [Rev. Stebbins, pulpit supply two months]

·         Rev. John Keys, installed Sept. 21, 1814, dismissed Dec. 1822

·         Dea. Isaac Bronson, read sermons most of the time five years, 1822-1827

·         Rev. Erastus Scranton, stated supply from June 1, 1827 to August 1829

·         Rev. Mr. Wheelock, stated supply from Sept 7, 1829 to Sept 7, 1830

·         Rev. Nathan Shaw, stated supply from July 4, 1831, nine months

·         [Rev. David Smith, pulpit supply 1832-1833]

·         Rev. Seth Sackett, stated supply, a short time [1834]

·         Rev. Wm. F. Vail, stated supply one year. [1835-1836]

·         Rev. James D. Chapman, ordained Oct. 25, 1837, dismissed Nov. 1840

·         Rev. Zephaniah Swift, stated supply, probably one year [1840-1841]

·         Rev. Aaron C. Beach, ordained June 22, 1842, dismissed June 22, 1857

·         Rev. Z. B. Burr, stated supply a short time

·         Rev. Joseph Smith, stated supply, one year [1858]

·         Rev. Stephen Rogers, installed March 25, 1859, dismissed April 18, 1863

·         Rev. Lent S. Hough, stated supply from May 1863 to May 1869

·         Rev. Warren C. Fiske, stated supply from May 1869 to June 1872

·         Rev. Samuel Orcutt, stated supply from July 1, 1872 to May 17, 1874

Some notes which will help explain the above:

·         Rev. Gillet was dismissed because several church members were unsatisfied with his teaching style. Since he was the pastor for 18 years, one wonders whether it was he that changed, or that he became out of touch with the younger generation.

·         Rev. Woodward and Rev. Hart both died in office.

·         Rev. Keys left because the church could no longer afford to pay him. The population of the town was decreasing and there were not enough church members to properly support him. They then went without a paid pastor for five years with Deacon Bronson (who was in his 60’s) reading the sermon.

·         The next 15 years were ones of constant turnover, as the church members still did not have the adequate support to give to the pastor.

·         Rev. Chapman preached very strongly against slavery and caused a split within the church – so strong that someone set fire to the meeting house when an anti-slavery notice was posted on the front door. The church then voted to dismiss him to eliminate the divisiveness.

·         Rev. Beach came from Yale, then a theological college, and began the task of healing the wounds from Rev. Chapman. Church membership increased and he stayed for more years than the previous eight pastors combined. This also began a period where the pastors stayed for more than a year or two.

Since nearly all of these men came from out of town, their only connection to Wolcott was their service as the pastor of the Congregational Church. There are two exceptions. Rev. Gillet married Adah Rogers and his sister married Josiah Atkins. This is detailed in my blog http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2015/05/genealogy-story-josiah-atkins-house-in.html. The other exception is Rev. Rogers who is the second cousin of Judah Frisbie. This is detailed in my blog http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2015/05/genealogy-story-wolcott-library-early.html.

The above are only the first 100 years of the Congregational Church. If someone has access to church records since then and can add to this list, please do so.