Diocese Of Connecticut - Formative Period, 1784-1791 Formative Period, 1784-1791

INTRODUCTION. The Commission on Parochial Archives has the honor to present to the Diocese and to all interested in the history of the Church in Connecticut its third publication. The period to which these letters belong was in the Church as in the State, one of experiment, when the independence of the Church, as of the former Colonies, was being tested. Hardship and suffering were the lot of many. The Clergy of Connecticut were ready to endure all things for the sake of the establishment of the Church upon the best and surest foundations. They had chosen, or rather designated a choice, of a fit person to be their Bishop. The manner in which they met the difficulties of the situation was admirable. Letters in this series throw new light upon the meeting at Woodbury on the feast of the Annunciation, 1783, and show true loyalty to the ancient and catholic polity of the Christian Church, without regard to the expe diency of the hour or following the suggestions in a notable pamphlet by a prominent clergyman to the southward, Dr. White, afterward Bishop of Pennsylvania. Jeremiah Learning, Bela Hubbard, Samuel Andrews, John Tyler, and Ebenezer Dibblee, were true confessors of the faith whom we still delight to honor. William Samuel Johnson stands as a type of the well-instructed, devout layman, serving ably both the Church and the State. The friend to whom these letters were sent has been greatly misunder stood and misjudged by many of his contemporaries, but his brethren of the clergy were near his heart and they repaid him with affection and respect. The preservation of the papers of Dr. Samuel Peters through many vicissitudes until they found a permanent place among the archives of theGeneral Convention has made possible a revision and correction -of our history. The editor has prepared the absolutely necessary notes covering the essential facts in the lives of the writers of the letters and a few of the persons mentioned in them. While fuller annotation was desirable it was impossible within the limit set for the appearance of this volume. The notes upon Dr. Bliss and Mr. Mann were courteously furnished by the secretary of the Commission, Mr. F. Clarence Bissell, Deputy Comptroller of the State of Connecticut. He is a recognized authority upon the genealogy of the Peters family and the history of the Town of Hebron. The half-tone illustrations of Dr. Peters and Dr. Hubbard are taken from the best known likenesses of these worthies. June 5, 1913. J. H. JOHN BREYNTON. The town of Halifax was laid out in 1748 under the auspices of the Honorable Edward Cornwallis, Captain General and Governor of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the western side of a deep inlet of the sea known as Halifax Harbor. It was named in honor of George Montague, Earl of Halifax, the President of the Board of Trade. An ample plot opposite the Grand Parade was reserved for a church, and a parish by the name of St. Pauls Church was organized. The frame of a church building was ordered from New England, and it was estimated that it would cost one thousand pounds to set it up. It was said by Governor Cornwallis to have been a copy of Marylebone Chapel, London. Those who know both buildings have declared that it was identical with St. Peters Church, Vere Street, London. The Rev. William Tutty was sent by the Venerable Propagation Society early in 1750 to be its minister. On September 2 of that year heformally opened the building although it was not finished. In 1752 the Venerable Society sent the Rev. John Breynton to be his assistant. Mr. Breynton had been a chaplain in the British Navy and was at the siege and capture of the fortress of Louisburg in the summer of 1745...