Friday, March 9, 2012

The Later History from the time of the Revolution


— Patriotism, education and religion were the passions of the Puritans. Each of these passions took form in unusually bold expression in Bloomfield. The "Common," the parading-ground of citizen soldiers, was spacious and central. It was laid in front of the church lot, which was already occupied with material for the new edifice. The academy, which soon followed the church, was a massive edifice for a rural community in the early century. It included in its plan of education, in connection with neighboring pastors, missionary and theological training, and sent many young men into the ministry. It was the culmination of the excellent common schools long before established and of the catechetical instruction of the Puritans.

The stone church, far larger than their present need, with foundations and walls wisely laid for successive enlargement and for modern adornment, was the concrete symbol of their value of religion.

The Presbyterian Church wsas identified with the name of the town and with the larger body of the people. The Reformed Dutch Church at Stone House Plains was identified with only a section of the town. The Bloomfield Church became the Third Presbyterian Church of Newark; the congregation organized in 1794, the civil society in 1796 and the ecclesiastical body in 1798.

A parchment subscription in October, 1796, contains fifty-nine names with five subscriptions of one hundred pounds each and other subscriptions all the way down to one pound. The Baldwins, Cranes, Dodds, Morrises, Wards, Balls, and Davises constituted about three-fifths of the population in the Puritan part of the town at that time. The Vincents, Cadmuses, Cockefairs, Uriances and Garrabrants were the principal Holland names among the Puritans. The sum of the parchment subscription in 1796 was £1615 4s., or $4038.

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