The First Church of Christ (Congregational) in New Haven, Connecticut (also known as Center Church, due to its location on New Haven's town green) was established in 1639 by the Puritans who founded the New Haven Colony as a theocratic "New Jerusalem". The first English settlers arrived in April, 1638 led by the Rev. John Davenport and by Theopholis Eaton, a merchant and farmer who later becme the first governor of the New Haven Colony.
For more information on the history of the church, see:
https://centerchurchonthegreen.org/history/
Leonard Bacon (1802-1881) was an American Congregational preacher and writer. He was pastor of the First Congregational Church in New Haven from 1825 to 1881 and Professor of Religion at Yale from 1866 to 1881.
He was regarded as the most prominent Congregationalist of his time and was sometimes popularly referred to as the "Congregational poe of New England." He was especially intereste in the ecclesiastical history of New England and was frequently called upon todeliver commemorative addresses such as the one featured here. Among his most important works in this field are "Genesis of the New England Churches" (1874) and "Thirteeen Historical Discourses" (1839), dealing with the history of New Haven.
He was also particulary identified with the anti-slavery movement, adopting a moderate course, condemning the apologists and defenders of slavery on the one hand and the followers of William Lloyd Garrison, who advocated the immediate abolition of slavery, on the other.
His "Slavery Discussed in Occasional Essays from 1833 to 1846" is said to have exercised considerable influence on Abraham Lincoln.
https://theodora.com/encyclopedia/b/leonard_bacon.html
