First meeting of the Second Ecclesiastical Society May 8, 1735

We have documented in previous articles on the blog the events that led to the formation of a second ecclesiastical society in Killingworth. The act of authorization was passed by the Connecticut General Assembly on May 8, 1735. On September 25 of 1835 the men who were then living within the boundaries of the newly established Second Ecclesiastical Society held their first annual meeting. After electing a moderator one of the first actions was to appoint a committee “to warn the Society meeting as is needful”. In our present day congregations the action would probably be described as “announcements”. In 1735 church attendance was mandatory as both a legal matter and as a necessity for the salvation of one’s soul”. Thus the use of the word “warn”. “Warn” was a term used for the next 100 years. The next item of business was a call for a vote on the necessity for building a meetinghouse. The next item of business was to appoint a committee to approach the General Assemble “to lay a memorial before the General Assembly…………to affix a place for a meeting house”. By January of 1838 the Reverend William Seaward was permanently established as the pastor of the Second Society. We have previously posted the titled page for the ledger he used to record the affairs of the church. Click to enlarge.