In the first settlement of this country, Baptists were persecuted by
Pedobaptists, on account of their tenacity for believer's baptism; but
all parties were united in oppressing and persecuting the Sabbatarians.
Soon after the organization of the church at Newport, the sentiment,
that the moral law was immutable and unchangeable, found advocates in
New London, Connecticut, where the spirit of persecution was under less
restraint than it was in Rhode Island. There is an old work, which was
written by a Friend, and published in Baltimore in 1698, and which gives
a very detailed and circumstantial account of the sufferings of the
dissenting parties in New England. According to his statement, no less
than ten Sabbatarians were mutilated, imprisoned, and subjected to
barbarous and cruel scourgings by their Puritanical brethren. Of these,
John Rodgers, a member of the church at Newport, but a resident in New
London, was fined, imprisoned, and sentenced to sit a certain time upon
the gallows with a rope about his neck. Another, named Philip Rodney,
who was a Seventh-day Baptist in sentiments, although not a member of
the church, was scourged, and then deprived of one of his ears.
Sometimes their meetings would be disturbed and broken up by the lawless
violence of a mob. At others they would be fined, imprisoned, and
maltreated for pursuing any ordinary business or labour upon the first
day of the week; and such was the opposition to them, in many places,
that a man who religiously observed the Bible Sabbath, would much sooner
be subjected to fines and imprisonments, than if he had acknowledged it
to be the Sabbath. These hostilities against the observers of the
seventh-day, occasioned a remonstrance, addressed to the Governor of New
England, by Peter Chamberlain, Senior Doctor of both Universities, and
first elect Physician in ordinary to His Majesty's person. This somewhat
abated the rage of persecution, although the Sabbatarians were
continually exposed to great inconveniences. It does not appear,
however, that any sect was ever extirpated by persecution, particularly
one that had the testimony of Scripture upon its side, and flourished in
an age of general inquiry.
SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST CHURCH, BURLINGTON, CONNECTICUT.
The distinct organization of this church took place in 1750, and Elder
John Davis, who had been ordained at Hopkinton, became their first
pastor. The place was then called Farmington, West Britain. This church,
while yet in its infancy, was considerably weakened by the loss and
removal of several of its most influential members. Other difficulties
arose of a peculiarly trying and painful character, and few, if any,
additions were made to their numbers for more than ten years. But
previous to the decease of Elder Davis, which occurred in 1792, they
were blessed with a precious revival, and the church received several
additions. In the character of Elder Davis, we discover few points that
are brilliant or remarkable, but many that are lovely and amiable. It is
said, that he pre-eminently exemplified the Christian duty of loving his
neighbour. His entire life exhibited a series of actions illustrative of
that virtue. The quiet placidity of his mien, his venerable and
dignified countenance, were long remembered with enthusiastic veneration
by the people of his charge. His glory was not of this world—his name
has never been ranked with those of ecclesiastical dignitaries,
scholars, or civilians; but it was set in the Lamb's Book of Life—it was
known to angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect.
Rev. Amos Burdick succeeded him in the pastoral care of the church, in
which station he continued until his death, in 1803. The church, under
his ministry, enjoyed great prosperity and union. Rev. Amos Stillman,
for some time his colleague, was his successor. Elder Stillman, though
subject to many temporal embarrassments, was a preacher of considerable
ability and unblemished character; he was universally esteemed. In the
autumn of 1807, he visited the churches in New Jersey, where the
Conference was being held, in which he presided and preached many times
to great satisfaction. But on his return home, he caught the yellow
fever, of which he died in 1807, in the forty-fifth year of his age.
From the loss occasioned by the death of Elder Stillman, this church
never recovered. A general declension in religious feeling almost
immediately followed, and although meetings were regularly sustained a
number of years, and the name occurs in the Conference minutes, it never
after possessed that inestimable blessing, a stated pastor. From 1810,
its decline was gradual but sure, and a few years since, it was publicly
announced that the Sabbatarian church at Burlington had ceased to exist.
Nevertheless, it must not be supposed that the Sabbatarians of this
community apostatized from their ancient faith. Without a regular
administration of gospel ordinances, there could be few, if any,
additions to their numbers. Some of the old members were removed by
death to that home where congregations never break up, and Sabbaths
never end. Others have been the pioneers of Sabbatical sentiments, and
the founders of new churches, in distant regions.
SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST CHURCH, AT WATERFORD, CONNECTICUT.
Soon after the organization of the Sabbatarian church at Newport, we
find that John Rogers of New London, Connecticut, was fined and
imprisoned, on account of his adherence to Sabbatical sentiments. Others
were subsequently persecuted for the same cause; but they persisted in
their adherence to the truth, and ultimately became the founders of a
church at the place now called Waterford. The church was organized in
1784, and Rev. Davis Rogers became their first pastor. Their number was
sixteen; but soon after, several families emigrated from Hopkinton and
settled among them. In 1804, Elder Rogers resigned the pastoral care of
the church, and removed to Preston, Chenango County. He was succeeded by
Rev. Jabez Beebe, whose ordination took place in 1796, and whose
ministry was very acceptable, though not of a long duration.
Rev. Lester Rogers, his successor, was distinguished for sobriety of
mien, and although not calculated to shine as the preacher of a
promiscuous assembly, was very useful and acceptable as a pastor of this
church. He died in 1822.
Rev. Lester T. Rogers,[37] the present incumbent, was licensed to preach
in 1822, and ordained in 1824. Rev. Benedict Wescott, for some time his
colleague, was licensed in 1828, and ordained in 1831.