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A YEAR'S HISTORY
OF THE

ASYLUM HILL
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
OF

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

I

Read at
The Annual Meeting of the Church
February 3, J898

PLIMPTON PAINT ,

HARTFORD .

(j

HISTORY

FOR

OF

THE

1897

7l"GAIN, and yet again, have our voices joined m
Bickersteth's sweet but pathetic song:

M

J

"Our years are like the shadows
" On sunny hills that lie."

A picture of shadows fa}ling upon and darkening sunlit
fields that a moment ago were smiling in the sunshine.
Why may not this suggest its antithesis-sunshine
banishing the shadows?
The bright upon the dark?
Why not sing ?
Or-

The Christian 's faith, like sunshine,
Beams o'er his darkened way.
" Light of Light shine o'er us,
"To the endless day."

.

Retrospect in any form must needs bring sadness,
pathos, tears; for memory recalls the brightness gone
in the glad days of the past. But let us make our looking backward to-night like that of Whittier, when he
sang:
"That care and trial seem a,t last,
"Through memory's sun-set air,
"Like mountain ranges overpast,
" In purple distance fair."

,

4

ASYLUM HILL

CH UR CH

Has a membership of 787. Of these fifty -five were
admitted in 1897. Of the :fifty-five, twenty-eight were
on profession,
twent y -seven by letter or certificate.
There were nineteen removals, of which eight were by
death.
It is "meet and fitting," if not" our bounden duty,"
to stop at least with the coming of each new year, in
order that, as fellow-servants
of one Lord, we may
exchange words of encouragement and Christian cheer;
that we may tell one another of our labors, our endeavors, our successes, our failures, during another year of
our mortal service. As our Church has an established
custom-and
a most excellent one-of having an '' Annual Record" made and issued in printed form, the
task of pre p aring a paper annually, called the" Church
History," is greatly different from what it otherwise
wou ld be as well as from what it should be.

Dear Pastor, Brother, Friend: There is no reason or
occasion for telling you of our deep, devoted love. Of
that you know. But surely we must be allowed to
speak-a word of thankfolness and of thanksgiving . For
in duty and in love you have helped us in our hardships;
yo u have smiled with us and bronght us cheer and gladness; you have prayed for us and sympathized with us
in our sorrows.
We thank yon for tho se prayers and

HISTORY

OF 1897

5

tears for us, for your wise words fitly spoken, for your
sermons strong and true. For these we thank you.
But more than for these, we thank God for you.

Like other Christian churches, we are organized in
many associations or various departments of Christian
work:
The Sund ay School, The Ladies' Benevolent
Society, The Mission Band, The Daisy Chain, The Glenwood Church, The Young Men's Union, The Teachers'
Club, Our :r,1id-Week Meeting, The Young People's
Meetin g , Our Chur ch Music, Choir and Choir Master,
The Business Side of Church Work-i. e., the duties of
the Society's Committee, Collection and Disbursement
of our money gifts for others. Then, too, without trying to name further our other activities of Christian
service within our Church life, many of us engage as
individuals in our Master's work outside church lines.
There are the Home for the Blind, the Young Men's
Christian Association, the Good Will Club, the City
Mission, the Open Hearth, the Hospital, the Jail. All
these and many more show how varied is our field of
work.

Our Sunday School is a department
of Christian
work in importance second to no other. So few would
dissent from this '' article of religion" that we submit
no reasons to prove the truth.
As an axiom we admit
it without challenge.

6

ASYLUM HILL

CHURCH

The report of the Sunday School has brought to us
details of the year's record.
The enrollment for the
year 1897 is 602.
The Home Department's
success seems almost phenomenal.
This is a splendid illustration
of the coming
and staying of new and potent agencies of Christian
life and work. Put in a peg there, ye pessimists, if any
there be. When some in stitution
of our fathers' has
finished its useful career and goes to its eternal reward,
say ye not "These be degenerate days."
When the
female house-to-house
prayer meeting went out, perhaps the Young Women's Christian Association came
in. Your Historian
believes that it is enough and a
most important
duty for us all individually to stop,
and with prayer and much thought consider this quesWhat is my duty as my Master's
servant m
tion:
regard to Christian service in the Sunday School?

Under wise guidance in carefully planned meetings
(six within the year), this club has a highly satisfactory
account to give of itself for 1897. The two-hour Emit,
The supper and table
6 to 8 P. M., is strictly regarded.
talk of the first hour prove an admirable preparation
for the serious, earnest, helpful, suggestive interchange
of thought and experience that follows. But this form
of meeting is but one of many; and it strikes the Historian that he can do naught better than to say that the
meetings, which he has had the good fortune to attend,
impressed him as most stimulating and inspiring.
The

HISTORY OF 1897

7

Scripture saith: "Honor to whom honor." The father,
founder, faithful friend of the Teachers' Club is Waldo
Selden Pratt.

Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Texas each has
to-day within its borders a family of willing, winning
workers in receipt of a box of blessings from our
Ladies' Benevolent
Society.
Since one box-presumably the Texas box-bad
to hold blessings for
eleven persons (blessings in the shape of babies having
probably arrived first), a fifth box was not attempted,
the fourth being counted as twins.
In a word, the _
full measure of work, and more, was done, though
an ex-president (not many years ex) writes:
"The
ladies do such good, faithful work, I wish there might
be more interest, for we always need money sadly."
Three afternoon teas were given, and, with the cooperation of the Social Committee, a six-o'clock. supper,
called a Donation Party, which was an unqualified
success.

The good work of the Mission Band shows (above
and beyond the earnest, consecrated effort, always
essential, but not in sight,) these noteworth y items:
Nine meetings of the Band were held during the season.
The practical outcome of these was a missionary box
sent to Rev. Mr. Curtis, of Killingworth,
Conn. The
year's work ended with a fair in the chapel in October.

8

ASYLUM H I LL CH URCH

The elaborate
preparation
for the fair more than
repaid all the effort it cost. One hundred and sixty
dollars were in the treasury at the close of the year.

Here are some of the links for ' 97:
1. Meetings each month from November to June.
2. A June picnic at the end.
3 . "Gathered flowers for a settlement concert ."
4. Studies of the work in v aried mission fields.
5. A talk by Miss Lewis on the children 's work in
the McCall Mission.
6. A picture exhibition with stories of life in India.
7. A cruise among the Micronesian Islands in the
Morning-Star .
8. Visits to the village schools in China, Turkey and
India, under guidance of three young girls in native
costume .
9. At Christmas
a dolls' tea party to the Little
Happy Hour Club.
And all the rest of the acts, too many further to enumerate, and the dollars that were given, are they not
written on the happy hearts of merry children?

This club is strictly a social organization, established
in 1893 for the purpose (as set forth in its printed
statement)
"of promoting social intercour se among its
members, and to render aid to other organizations
of

HISTORY OF 1897

9

the parish ." Mr. H. S. Conklin, president, reports that
the Union now numbers eighty members. It is receiving
and doing good.
This club met nine times during the year. Musical
entertainments,
talks by men who know how to talk,
debates, mock trials, dinners, etc., combined to render
each meeting better than any of the other eight.

An outline of the work extending over several years
of our Parish Visitor shows four important
facts:
(1) An initial canvass of all the homes on the Hill.
(2) The extent of the work of the Parish Visitor is
immensely greater than is generally known. Your Historian takes pleasure in calling your attention to the
fact that a record made by actual count showed that
a maximum of fifty families a month bad been visited
during the period in which this record was kept.
(3) These visits destroy the false idea that everybody connected with our Church has a gilt-edged
bank account.
Our Visitor finds the East-side kind
of poverty rare, but the bank-account
idea is a
myth or a fable.
(4) And-most
important-tact,
wisdom, sympathy, kindness, have won confidence
and love, and only Our Father in Heaven knows the
extent of the blessed service which our Visitor and her
helpers have rendered. Surely it will be hers to hear:
"Inasmuch as thou didst the Master's service, come,
thou blessed of my Father."

10

ASYLUM HILL

CHURCH

Is an institution
absolutely independent of the Church
and separate from it (that is, in its organization),
but
the local chapters are so identified in membership with
our Church and Sunday School that a failure to tell the
year's story of these royal worker s would be like a
Sunday School history minus the report of its most
important
class. The magnitude of the work done, as
well as its excellence, is a matter of astonishment.
There are three chapters, whose membership is largely
composed of members of our Church.
These chapters
are named the Hyacinth,
Miss Capron, president; the
Goldenrod, Miss Rathbun, president; the Violet, Miss
Worthington,
president.
The aggregate
membership
is about forty-five, not including some fourteen or
fifteen honorary members.
Of the sixty names enrolled
(including the honorary members), about fif-ty are members of our Church or Sunday School. Through the
kindness of their officers in writing many letters and in
other ways, the details of the splendid work of our
King's Daughters
have been secured.
But, as elsewhere, they form a part of the permanent record of
good works.
I bring to your attention, here and now,
only the following two of many noteworthy
features of
the record.
First, they seem to have sought out and
found many needy, but hard-to-be-found-out
and specially deserving places where to bestow their Christian
help. An illustration
of this is Christian work among
the Gloucester deep sea fishermen.
Second, they have,
by great output _of personal effort , secured some $400,

HISTORY OF 1897

11

which they have invested in good works for others.
If any here have equalled these princesses in good
works, they are invited now to rise and be counted!
Of the one hundred members of the Cheerful Workers'
Chapter of the King's Daughters, about one in five is
identified with this Church. For their sake it seems but
fitting to call attention to the really remarkable history
of the work which culminated, but did not end-far
from it !-in the completion of the Chapter-house,
on
Prospect Avenue. To raise $7,000 for that purpose
was no small task; and only the time limit has decided
me to omit an account of the devoted service of these
royal workers.
However, I may refer you to the most excellent history of their good work by their leader, Miss Mary R.
Fenn. This report appeared in the "Young People at
Work," the issue of September, '97.

For more than a score of years, regular religious
services have been maintained by our Church in the conduct of what has been known as the Glenwood Mission.
Not only has the financial support, in large measure,
come from our Church, but, what sometimes is worth
more, Christian service has been rendered by those in
our chur ch fellowship. Long years of patient effort are
now blessed in the building and dedication of a new
house of worship in the year of our Lord 1897. The
property-consisting
of an ample lot well located, the
new church edifice, and the pastor's
residence-is
now valued at from $8,000 to $10,000.
The finan-

12

ASYLUM HILL

CHURCH

ciaJ situation is exceptionally
satisfactory.
The membership
is between
sixty and seventy.
Rev. Mr.
Williams, pastor, has rendered glad, heroic, successful service; is rendering more; and, with God's blessBeyond question the right
ing, is sure to render most.
man in the right place. Think of this Church. Imagine
what it is sure to be, ye, whose prayers and whose
patient service, whose deeds and whose dollars are the
solid foundation
on which this new Church of Christ
now stands.

The custom is now fairly established-a
good thing
come to stay-of
devoting the first Sunday evening of
each month to a musical service. Of this, as a part of
our regular worship, a report is made elsewhere.
During the year a number ofSundayevening
services
were held for specific purposes.
Of these the more
notable were: In January
a Jubilee Quintette from
Nashville brought us a message of word and song of
quite exceptional value and interest.
A large congregation came to listen, and were well repaid.
Almost an
identical report could be made of the Atlanta
Quartette service in June. But probably no Sunday evening
of the year included a service of greater interest than
that of an evening in the autumn, when Mrs. Gates,
wife of President C. F. Gates, of Harpoot College, told
of her personal experiences amid the horrors of the
Armenian massacres.

HISTORY dF 1897

13

Here should be recorded:
First-Professor
Stearns'
lecture on "The Catacombs," based upon personal investigation and study during a residence in Rome of several months, and also being the interpretation
of some
1,500 inscriptions-data
which your Historian happens
to know are not duplicated in the world. This lecture
was one of unique interest and importance.
SecondThe pathetic stories of heroic hardship and financial
woe, as they exist in some ten colleges or schools, each
of great importance, were told by their presidents or
other accredited emissaries. And these stories were well
told. To many of us, doubtless, the most sobering and
discouraging fact in regard to all forms of missionary
effort is the apparent increase of need in the geometric
ratio, while our gifts and efforts seem never capable of
increase except in arithmetical
ratio.
Third-The
meeting in recognition of the "Day of Prayer for Colleges" was one of the important meetings.
Mr. Willis
I. Twitchell, for many years the rightly honored principal of the "Arsenal School," made a strong and an
effective address. Fourth-Another
meeting of note
was devoted to an account, by Mr. E. B. Dillingham,
of his Christian work among the prisoners of both jail
and state prison at Wethersfield.
Fifth-The nine summer vacation Thursday evenings this year fell to the
lot of the Church Committee; and the authorization
of
proxies resulted in our being favored ·on three of the
nine evenings by Professor Beardslie, of the Theological
Seminary.
Professor Merriam conducted the prepara-

14

ASYLUM HILL

CHURCH

tory service preceding the September
service which for exceptional reasons
special acknowledgment.

®u~ QJ;hux.ch~u.st.c

communion,
a
was deserving

ht '97

One approaches this subject with absolute confidence
and serene assurance, inasmuch as he feels it to be
impossible to go astray by reason of the absolute
unison-or,
rather, unanimity-of
opinion and harmony
of judgment,
especially in regard to church music, on
the part of all. For some reason the absolute truthfulness of that statement
has been called in question.
Hence your Historian, who loves music so much that he
is enthusiastically
devoted to all kinds, except the best,
was careful to have expert assistance in what he herewith submits.
An earnest effort has been made during the past yea r
to render the musical part of our religious services
helpful, devotional, and in every way acceptable.
The
hearty assistance of the chorus-choir, composed of our
young people, has been an invaluable help, both in leadership of congregational
singing and in the rendering
of a wider range of anthems than those within the
limits of a quartette.
The work of the quartette
has
been sympathetic and greatly appreciated.
In addition
to the monthly services of song, works of a more comprehensive scope have been sung . Mr. Lord has given
frequent organ recitals in the Church, which have been
largely attended.
~_otta~,s

Good music, Eke most good things, comes not, like
manna, from heaven. It requires work and money;

HISTORY OF 1897

15

and you have heard with pleasure, or now hear, that
the faithful service of the chorus-choir, as well as that
of the quartette, has been reported to the Historian for
special commendation.
The word "dollars" calls our attention to the financial record of the year. The Treasurer's report, which
we heard read at the appointed time, was, as it ever
has been-at least for the twent y years of Col. Thompson's term as treasurer-a
report of superlative interest, presented with ideal accuracy and completeness.
From that report record is here made of but a single
item: Legacies to the amount of over $30,000 were
paid, and cash gifts to the amount of over $40,000
make the year's total ofmoneyinvested
in the Master's
work in '97 over $70,000 .

~h,e §i.o-ddy' .s <!r.crmmitt.e,e
We have, up to this point, directed our attention to
the work of a complicated machine. We have inspected
its intricacies and noted what all the diflerent parts are
"for," and what they all "do."
But the machine
doesn't g o of itself. And often the "power" is unno ticed. We do not -see the electric power that does. And,
in our church life, let us stop and think what we owe to
the energy and wisdom of our friends and brothers of
the Society's Committee.
Your Historian has had the
experience of responsible service on a certain Society's
Committee-once
upon a time-and
he ma y be pardoned
for telling you that "it is not all angels' food and
Marechal Niel roses."
For a long list of unnamed blessings we owe our
Society's Committee sincere thanks.
And we will not

16

ASYLUM HILL

CHURCH

pass unnoted their kind service in securing for us an
exceptionally acceptable pulpit supply for the eight
summer Sundays (July 25th - Sept. 12th). The reverend
gentlemen are:

L.

J.

w.

W.

BACON,
C OOPE R,

HEBER

F . T.

H.

EM ERSON,

CLAYTON
CHAS.

BEADLE,
WELLE

s. MILLS,

S,

Norwich.
New Britain.
Bridgeton, N. J.
Providence.
Taunton .
Cleveland.

Work not in sight is often unnoticed, if not unknown.
If an enrollment were made of the names of doers of
this kind of work among us, and their deeds, what
startling surprises would surprise us !
~:u.r,;r~,ertahb ®Ut.s
THE FONT

A notable gift to the Church was made on Easter
Sunday by our brother in Christian fellowship, Mr.
George L. Chase . Mr. Chase's letter is as follows:
To the Asylum Hill Congregational Church:
On this beautiful Easter morning, in behalf of myself, Mrs . Chase,
Mr. Ch ar les E. Chase and family and Mr. C. H. Longley, I present
and ask you to accept a!s an Easter gift this baptisma l font, in
blessed memory of a beloved daughter, a loving sister and a devoted
wife, who for many years was a consistent member of this Church .
Very sincerely yours, April 18, 1897.
GEORGE L. CHASE.

A fitting acknowledgment
by ou r pastor voiced our
thanks at the time tlie font was put in place, and later,
by form al action of our Church Committee, a message

HISTORY OF 1897

17

of acceptance and ofloving appreciation of the beautiful
and costly gift was sent to Mr. Chase. At the beginning of the morning service on Easter Sunday, April 18,
1897, a dedicatory baptismal service was held, Mr.
Twichell officiating. Following a brief prayer of consecration, the right of baptism was administered to
Mr. Chase's grandson, Porter Bourne Chase, the infant
son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Chase.
A brief description of Mr. Chase's gift, valued in its
deep and rich spiritual significanceeven beyond its great
material worth, is as follows:
The font is of pure white Carrara marble, imported
from Italy especially for the purpose, being all in one
piece, ch iseled out of a so lid block of the famous stone.
It stands about three feet high, on a circular base,
twenty- six inches in diameter and five inches thick.
The marble has the soft "hone"
finish-the
natural
stone without polish. On the top, engraved on a twoinch outward bevel, is the inscription, cut in ornamental text:

®ne '.!Lor(). ene ~attb.

©ne :rsapttsm.

On the base of the font is the inscription:

1652.

1rn memor)2of
1TaabeIabase '.lLongiei?, 1893.
()augbter of
a;eo.'.IL.an() a. M. <lbaae.

The outside of the bowl is highly ornamented with
arabesque work and Greek crosses. The bowl is chiseled out eight inches deep, and the water is contained
in a copper bowl, gold lined.

18

ASYLUM

HILL

CHURCH

The font was cut by P. Sonius & Son, of New York,
from a design drawn by Cleveland Cady, of the firm of
Cady, Berg & See.
THE

CLOCK

A second notable gift came to the Church-to
us-in
September.
The character of the record here made, the
simple reading of parts of two short letters, is determined by the attempt to make the record in the way
most acceptable to the giver.
To THOMAS TURNBULL, Esq., Chairman of Committee of the Asylum Hill Congregational
Society:
In June las t your committee gave Mrs. Julia M . Turner, of Philadelphia, permission to place a clock in the steeple of your Church in
memory of her father, Mr. Roland Mather.
Mrs. Turner now formally pre sents the completed work to the
Society, and desires also to express the pleasure it has given her to
finish, in a sense, the work which her father carried to so successful a
conclusion by his generous donations towards the comp letion of the
Sincerely yours,
Church edifice.
JULIA M . TURNER,
By G. L. C.

We omit the technical description, which the His torian has from the makers.
An inscription plate has
been placed as follows :
~resenteb to tbe

:as12Iumbtil aongregattonaI <tburcb,
September,

t897,

'lfn memorI?or l?oian~ ~atber,
Jll? bis :&laugbter.

Letters were sent thanking th~ donor in due form,
and making acknowledgment
of the Church's-i.
e.,
our-sincere
appreciation of the gift.

HISTORY

OF 1897

19

Justice to you who have followed our outline of the
Church history for '97 thus far, forbids my including
some pages devoted to various
incidents worth
keeping, for which data were obtained.
Instead of
reading these-the most important are to appear in the
Annual Report-let
me ask a few questions.
This is a
teacher's privilege, and a good way, at least with
mature students, of starting trains of thought which
may carry us to desired destinations.
Have you an
idea how hard the battle is that the "shut-ins"
are
called to fight? A Hartford writer of distinction said,
in writing of General Grant, most truly:
"General
Grant fought a far harder and more noble fight at Mt.
McGregor than he ever fought at Vicksburg or in the
\Vilderness."
Have you thought often or much of the
little but important
things of our church life? The
arranging of the flowers, e.g.? Would you wish to try
and "fix the fires" in the six furnaces to please everybody? Do you know about the never till now mentioned Friday Evening Club? What would you say to
an advanced class in Bible study outside of Sunday and
Sunday School and Sunday School lessons? A class
that might enjoy the rare opportunity of drawing on
the treasure-house of the theological professors?
Prof.
W. S. Pratt can tell you the rest. What would you say
of the plan of selecting your deacons by sending printed
ballots to the 787 members, after some simple selection
of candidates,
and thus accomplishing several good
results?
Is there any danger of losing a ~umble mind

20

ASYLUM HILL

CHURCH

and lowly spirit because, from the materialistic
point
of view, the record of '97 is good? God grant us ever
a lowly and contrite heart.

DISMISSALS

BY DEATH

NoRTHEND, CHARLES A., .....
.
CARPENTER, ELISHA, . . . . . . .
ALLEN, HARRIET R. SHARPE (Mrs. Chas.),
MATHER,ROLAND, ........
.
ELLSWORTH, ELLEN TULLER (Mrs. Fred'k),
KELSEY, WM. H. JR., . . . . . . . .
BULLARD, REV. CHARLES H., . . . . .
CHASE, CALISTA M. TAFT (Mrs. Geo. L.),

March
March
April
May
July
Sept.
Oct.
Dec.

1
22
25

10
21
22
15
9

It is not for the Historian to include either biographical sketches or character studies of our comrades who,
within the bounds of 1897, have heard the bells from
the towers of the Celestial City call them home. As
our Whittier sings :
"Happy
"The
"In the
"The

is he who heareth
signal of his release
bells of the Holy City,
chimes of eternal peace!"

To-night I am accorded the rare privilege of bringing to you what may be regarded as a loving message
of farewell from our brother in Christ, Mr. Roland
Mather, in which we may read wise and helpful Christian counsel between as well as in the lines.

HISTORY

21

OF 1897

Among the personal papers of Mr. Roland Mather
was found a little memorandum book, of which I am
permitted to speak, and from which to read.
During a long series of years-just
how long we do
not know-Mr.
Mather made an occasional memorandum of some important historical event with which his
life came in contact.
But most of the entries were of
the nature of short,- concise, terse statements, which
summed up in aphoristic form the truth, as observation and experience presented it to him. Full of wisdom, they are greatly characteristic of the man. These
are some of them :
I.
I have now come to the conclusion
unless it is used in a proper way.

that

money does not pay

II.
Save a dollar when you can as well as not.
a dollar to give to some worthy object.

Then you will have

III.
Excelsior seems to be the universal motto;
for our guide, will bring us right.

and this, with Christ

Intellect and Christianity,
est style of man.

IV.
combined with industry,

give the high-

V.
It may be called selfishness, but a person who has something of
his mvn to occupy his mind is less liable to meddle with the affairs of
others.
VI.
A t.bality. Great want of Christianity in the world. Hea.1,en is
my home.

22

ASYLUM HILL

CHURCH

And with some lines, in part quoted, which these
words suggested, your Historian
would turn your
thought with his own toward that rest into which, as
the days go by, our dear ones are entering "Through
the Gates."
Into the Heavenly City. HOME.

We will not mourn. God's way is best ;
For, toil and trial past,
"'fhe soul that bravely meets life's work"
Finds heaven-and
rest-at
last.
"But we would lay upon those graves,
"When summer flowers shall spring,
"The memories green of steadfast hearts,
"Our love's best offering."

Of us you ask?
With warfare we're not throughCalls the battle-cry to fight .
God grant our hearts prove ever true
To Honor, Faith, and Right.
"That, following our Great Captain's call,
"We may each battle win.
"And when the bells of Earth ring out ,
"l\1ay bells of Heaven ring in! "

'

·,