New Haven · Membership and death references
North Church manual, 1742–1867 · scan page 17
Uncorrected OCR. Name spellings, dates, symbols and column order may be wrong. Verify against the original scan. Updated historical membership catalogue with death and dismissal information. Overlaps the 1855 United Church catalogue; the two editions are not separate populations.
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Rev. Mr. Curtiss remained two years. His successor, Rev. Samuel Bird, came from Dunstable, Mass., and was installed October 15, 1'751, on a salary of £90 lawful mo- ney, and twenty cords of wood, half walnut and half oak. Mr. Bird was twenty-seven years of nge at the time of his settlement, " very evangelical," impressive, popular and successful. During the sixteen years of his ministry the church became the largest in the town, containing 302 members. It then threw off the tax which had been rigorously exacted by the First Parish, and even com- pelled a division of their property. But Mr. Bird's health failing, he resigned, and afterward became a chap- lain in the Revolutionary army. On the 5th day of January, 1769, Rev. Jonathan Ed- wards, son of Rev. Jonathan Edwards of Northampton, was ordained pastor of the White Haven church. His mother was the daughter of Rev. James Pierpont, pastor of the First Church, and sister of Mr. James Pierpont, one of the founders of this church. At the installation of Mr. Edwards, sixty-eight per- sons, including all but eleven of the brethren, dissatisfied with the " half-way covenant," and the dismission of Mr. Bird, entered a protest. They soon after desired a col- league, and not succeeding in this, in June, 1771, estab- lished a new church called the "Fair Haven" Church, building upon the ground where our present edifice stands. At this time a choir is first noticed, and thirty tunes are voted to be sung in turn, five each Sabbath.
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Silent Grounds Collective, Church Burial & Death Records, CH-P003-0017. North Church manual, 1742–1867, printed page not verified, PDF page 17. North Church (New Haven, Conn.). 4n; digitized copy contributed by Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center https://archive.org/details/manualofnorthchu00nort/page/n17/mode/1up Accessed September 8, 2026.
Historic U.S. publication before 1931; public-domain assessment based on publication date. Internet Archive does not necessarily provide an explicit license. Preserve publication and digitizing credits.