Date: Fri 26-Mar-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JAN

Quick Words:

real-estate-churches-history

Full Text:

History of Newtown's Early Churches Tells A Story Of A Town's Faith

(with cuts)

Religion was very important to early colonists. Two church denominations, the

Congregational and the Episcopalian, were well established in Newtown in the

early days of its settlement.

One of the first duties of Newtown's founders in the early 1700s was to secure

the services of a minister, a non-conformist of Presbyterian (later the term

Congregationalist was used) persuasion.

Thomas Tousey of Wethersfield was the first minister of the Congregational

Church. However, in 1724, after 11 years in Newtown, Mr Tousey was invited to

quit his post because "Ye major part of ye inhabitants could not sit easy

under him."

The Rev John Beach of Stratford was the minister called to follow Mr Tousey.

However by 1732, Mr Beach resigned his parish, and leaving home and family,

sailed for England to be ordained in the Church of England. He later returned

as a Church of England missionary to the Newtown and Redding area, and a

church was built here.

While townspeople were distressed by Mr Beach's decision, there was an

aristocratic contingent in early Connecticut that remained loyal to the Church

of England.

The Congregational and Episcopal church buildings, as well as others, have

undergone changes through the years. Their history is part of Newtown's

history. Some parishes have built larger houses of worship because of growing

congregations and the original churches were torn down. Other church buildings

were replaced because they were believed to be structurally unsound or had

burned down. One church was moved across the street to provide for additional

parking.

Congregational Church

In the early days of Newtown's settlement, the established church of the

colony was the Congregational denomination. Everyone was required to support

it by taxation regardless of personal faith.

After securing the services of a minister in 1713, erecting a meeting house

for religious services was next on the town's agenda. In the fall of 1713, a

committee was appointed and the members authorized to hire workmen and put up

a 32 by 40 foot building.

In 1718, Thomas Scidmore offered to build the meetinghouse for 45 pounds. In

1719, the location on the main street was agreed upon.

The building, when completed, was very simple, unheated and with little light.

Plain board benches served as seats.

Over the years, repairs and alterations were made in the meeting house, but it

was a long while before the board benches gave way to "fationable pews" and

the gallery stairs and a floor were laid.

The move of the Congregational meeting house, to accommodate the construction

of a new Episcopal church, occurred on June 13, 1792. In eight and one-half

hours, the building, steeple and all, was moved a distance of eight rods to

the opposite side of Main Street.

On June 19, 1988, members of the Newtown Congregational Church held their

first service in a new building on West Street on ten acres given to them by

the Nettleton family 20 years before.

The congregationalists then set up an Old Sanctuary Committee charged with

finding a way to preserve the town landmark, which is used today for weddings,

meetings, concerts and other events.

Trinity Episcopal Church

The first service of the Church of England in Newtown was conducted by the Rev

John Beach under a buttonball tree near the corner of Main Street and Glover

Avenue. Tradition states that the first Episcopal church in town was located

near this spot. The building, 28 feet by 24 feet, was framed, raised and

enclosed on a Saturday.

A second church was named Trinity Episcopal and erected in 1746, farther up

the street on the west side.

In 1792, the Episcopalians were granted permission to move the Congregational

meeting house across the street and to build for themselves a new church at

the corner of Main Street and Church Hill Road.

The present Trinity Church was built in 1870. The old Trinity Church building

was dismantled upon completion of the new church and sold to the highest

bidder.

St John's Episcopal, Sandy Hook

St John's Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook was established as an off-spring of

Trinity Parish. The first church building was erected in 1868 under the

conditions of a bequest of William B. Glover. It was then a diocesan mission.

The parish of St John's was organized in 1880.

In 1929, the original structure burned to the ground. The present church was

consecrated in 1934.

St Rose of Lima

Roman Catholic Church

In 1858, the number of Roman Catholics in Newtown had grown to 100 members.

Until this time, Newtown Catholics had been under the jurisdiction of St

Peter's Church in Danbury. At that time, St Rose parish purchased a church

that had been constructed by the Universalists on Main Street, at the present

site of Edmond Town Hall. In 1873, the location of the Catholic church was

transferred from Main Street to Church Hill Road to accommodate the large

portion of the congregation that lived in Sandy Hook. A new building was

completed in 1883.

In 1957-58, St Rose of Lima church members, fearing the 1883 structure was no

longer structurally sound, led a drive for a new sanctuary.

Ground was broken in 1968, and the new church was dedicated in 1969.

Methodist Church

Methodist meetings were held as early as 1800 in a private home near where

Trinity Church was later built.

By 1831, the first meeting house was built on Main Street.

The present church was built in Sandy Hook in 1850.

In 1972, growth led to the necessity of moving the church across Church Hill

Road onto 40 acres of land. The church was turned around so that the front

door still faced the main highway and was set on its new foundation on

September 15, 1972.

Information for this story was obtained from Newtown Connecticut Past and

Present, written and published by the League of Women Voters of Newtown in

1955, and Newtown Connecticut Directions and Images , another local history by

the League published in 1989.