North Church manual, 1742–1867 · scan page 13

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HISTORICAL  SKETCH.
It  is  just  a  century  and  a  quarter*  since  forty-three
members  of  the  First  Church  in  JSTew  Haven,  after  a  day
of  fasting  and  prayer,  were  set  apart  as  the  "  Wliite
Haven  Church."  The  foundations,  we  read,  were  hxid  in
"  love  of  evangelical  doctrine,  of  ecclesiastical  liberty,  of
revivals  of  religion."
The  first  few  months.  Rev.  John  Wheelock,  afterward
the  founder  and  President  of  Dartmouth  College,  sup-
plied the  pulpit ;  but,  yielding  to  the  importunity  of  his
people,  he  returned  to  his  own  parisli  in  Lebanon,  and
gave  the  work  into  the  hands  of  Rev.  Mr.  Graham  and
Rev.  Joseph  Bellamy.
Five  or  six  years  of  trial  followed.  The  church  was
not  allowed  by  law  to  settle  a  pastor,  or  even  to  listen  to
ministers  of  their  own  choice.  The  "Act  of  Toleration,"
which  gave  the  right  of  separate  worship,  compelled  them
to  assist  in  the  support  of  the  First  Parish.  The  civil
authorities,  the  President  and  Corporation  of  the  Col-
lege, and  nearly  all  the  ministers  of  Connecticut,  deter-
*  The  organization  of  the  Church  was  on  May  7,  1742  (old  style)*
Consequently  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  are  completed
May  18,  1867.

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Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P003-0013. North Church manual, 1742–1867, printed page not verified, PDF page 13. North Church (New Haven, Conn.). 4n; digitized copy contributed by Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center https://archive.org/details/manualofnorthchu00nort/page/n13/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.

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