Late-19th century Connecticut was marked by the growing prevalence of fraternal benefit societies, hostility toward a recent influx of Catholic immigrants from Europe, and dangerous working conditions in factories that left many families fatherless. In response to these societal pressures, Father Michael J. McGivney, the 29-year-old Irish immigrant and assistant pastor of St. Mary’s…
Tag: religious history
March 25: America’s First Episcopal Bishop
At a meeting held in Woodbury, Connecticut on March 25, 1783, ten clergymen concerned with providing for the future of the Episcopal Church named Samuel Seabury to be the first bishop of the new United States of America. Seabury was born near New London on November 30, 1729, and had lived in Connecticut for…
November 26: The Oldest Congregational Church in America
As the oldest continuously active Congregational church in the United States, the First Congregational Church of Windsor, Connecticut has celebrated more anniversaries than nearly any other church in the country. One of the most memorable anniversaries in the congregrations’s existence was its 275th anniversary, celebrated on November 26, 1905. That year, the church organized…
October 7: Danbury Baptists Inspire Jefferson’s “Separation of Church and State” Doctrine
One of the central tenets of modern American political doctrine was borne out of a humble letter exchange that began on this day in Connecticut history. On October 7, 1801, the Danbury Baptists Association of Danbury, Connecticut sent an eloquent letter to newly-elected President Thomas Jefferson expressing their concerns about Connecticut’s continued state sponsorship…
September 15: Connecticans to Vote on a New State Constitution
On September 15, 1818, three weeks after they first assembled at the state house in Hartford, delegates voted 134 to 61 to approve a newly-written state constitution and submit it to a vote of the people of Connecticut for ratification. In a particularly radical, last-minute twist, the delegates also voted to require only a…
July 20: Reverend Sun Myung Moon Arrested in Danbury
Sun Myung Moon, the late 20th century Korean evangelist whose Unification Church once claimed over 3 million members worldwide, was a figure dogged by controversy throughout his entire life. Born in occupied North Korea in 1920, Moon developed strong anti-Communist views as an adult and founded the Unification Church in Seoul, South Korea, so…
July 8: Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
During the 1730s and 1740s, New England was in the midst of a sweeping religious revival now known to history as the Great Awakening. During this period, charismatic ministers like the internationally-famous George Whitfield traveled from town to town on a mission to invigorate congregations with a renewed sense of Christian piety and devotion,…
July 4: Delegates Selected for Connecticut’s New State Constitution
Today in 1818, the voters in every Connecticut town gathered at 9:00 am to select their town’s delegates to a convention at Hartford that would produce – a few months later – the first state Constitution ratified by a vote of the people themselves. The constitutional convention was the result of a decades-long struggle…
June 24: Henry Ward Beecher Born in Litchfield
Henry Ward Beecher, one of the most famous and influential preachers and speakers of 19th century America, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on this day in 1813. Henry was one of many literary giants of the extended Beecher family: his father Lyman was also a notable preacher; his sister Harriet found international fame as…