New Milford.
A
Memorial Discourse.
1876.
NEW MILFORD.
A
Memorial Discourse,
DELIVERED IN THE
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH,
NEW MILFORD, CONN.,
Sunday, July 9, 1876.
BY
JAMES B. BONAR, Pastor.
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.
1876.
M. L. DELAVAN, Printer.
New Milford, Ct.
HISTORY
Town and Church of New Milford, Conn.
MEMORIAL SERMON.
“One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declarethy mighty acts.”—Ps. 145: 4.
The past is full of interest and instruction, so that allconcede the value of history. Its importance is manifestfrom the fact that about two-thirds of God’s Holy Wordis historical.
The history of any and every part of the earth is interesting;but our own Country and State, the town in whichwe reside, the Church to which we belong, and the familywhose name we bear, are to us of the greatest interest.To-day, therefore, we turn our attention to the history ofthis Church, Society and town.
The sources of information on these subjects, thoughbulky, are meagre and imperfect. We have
1. Minutes of the Proprietor’s Meetings from 1706 to1801.
2. Records of Town Meetings from 1713.
3. Minutes of the meetings of the First EcclesiasticalSociety, from December, 1753.
4. Ecclesiastical Society’s Treasurer’s books from 1802.
5. Church Records from December 27th, 1727. Theseare not complete; the book kept by Mr. Rood is missing.
6. MSS. Notes of Rev. W. H. Moore.
7. Records of Baptist and Methodist Churches.
8. Memoir of Mrs. Mary A. Boardman, by Rev. Dr.Schroeder.
9. And the memory of persons still living.
In 1703, Col. Robert Treat and others representing 111persons, all of Milford, obtained a patent to a certain tractof land in New Haven County, formerly called Weantinogue.This tract contained 84 square miles, embracingwhat is now known as the towns of New Milford, andBridgewater, with parts of Brookfield and New Preston.It cost the Proprietors about 8 mills an acre. The firstsettler, though not a Proprietor, was John Noble, whocame here from Massachusetts, in 1707. The Indianswere then and long afterwards numerous, but seem alwaysto have been on friendly terms with the settlers.The Proprietors held their meetings at Milford until 1715.The first Town Meeting seems to have been held in 1713.[2]The town was first represented in the Legislature in 1725.The first record of freemen was made in 1744. The townbelonged to New Haven Colony until the incorporation ofLitchfield County, in 1751. The first bridge over theHousatonic, between the sea and its source, was built herein 1737. The first school in the town was opened in 1721,and was taught 4 months in the year, the town payinghalf the expense.
In 1707 two persons came into New Milford.
In 1712 there were here 12 families or between 60 and70 persons. A census, taken in 1756, reports 1137 in thetown; another taken in 1774, reported 2776, while in1800, after parts o