Notes on Two Hundred Years (and More)
by Douglas H. Parkhurst

Continued from February 2025…

An article about the Danbury Universalist Church appeared front and center, with an engraving of its building, on page one of The Christian Leader issue of September 14, 1893. The Leader was a Universalist periodical (subscription price $2.50 a year) and a forerunner of the present-day UU World magazine. The write-up begins by reporting the dedication, on Sunday morning, September 10, of the newly constructed church edifice at 347 Main Street.

“A new Universalist Church in Danbury, Ct., has long been a consummation devoutly to be wished….The old building was not adapted to the growing needs and opportunities of Universalism in these times and in the growing city. The purpose to build anew took shape in early summer 1891….”

A complete description of exterior and interior features of the building follows, as does a copy of the order of service for the dedication. The day of the service was characterized as “most pleasant….that the congregation filled the church; that the financial pledges at the service amounted to twenty-five hundred dollars, and that with the coming of better times [see note below] the indebtedness will soon be largely decreased; and that the edifice ‘called forth the admiration of the hundreds who were there.’ “

The report concludes with details of a Service of Friendship and Good Will that followed on Sunday afternoon. Participants were pastors from other churches in Danbury: First Congregational, Disciples, Methodist Episcopal, Second Congregational, Union Hall, and Second Baptist.

The cornerstone of the new building had been laid a year earlier, on September 15, 1892. A brief history of the church’s first seventy years was prepared for that occasion, though the author was not named. Perhaps it was read aloud to those assembled and perhaps their hearts did rejoice at these words:

“Sometimes prosperous, sometimes under the shadow of misfortune, but always alive, the faith has been kept, and taught and loved, and lived, by earnest souls who have rejoiced to hear its name….Once more the circumstances of the time, and the desire of the Society for larger opportunities for work, call for another change of location. In the summer of 1891 the beautiful lot on upper Main Street was purchased…and we lay the cornerstone of the new edifice [today]….”

James M. Bailey’s and Susan B. Hill’s History of Danbury, Conn., 1684-1896, contains a four-plus page essay about the local Universalist Church. The author was Rev. James Vincent, minister from 1891 to 1897. It tells of Rev. Hosea Ballou’s visit to town in 1807, to the formal organization of the Danbury society in 1822, and the evolution of the church up to completion of the building project in 1893.

“With the completion of the new church the opportunity offered itself and the necessary machinery was at hand for what may be called a new era for Universalism in Danbury….Various departments are organized for special lines of effort, all to concentrate upon the task of making life sacred, helpful, and glad. Among these are the Society, the Church, the Sunday-school, the Ladies Social, the Women’s Mission Circle, the Young People’s Christian Union, and the Thursday Night Conference….One and a half years have passed since the beginning of this new era. There have been no spasms of religious feeling, no sensational methods, but steady, persistent work….”

First Universalist Church, now Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury (UUCD), celebrated its first one hundred years in December 1922. A lengthy history of the group, presented at one of the centennial gatherings and printed in the Danbury News, was written by congregant Luman L. Hubbell, who joined First Universalist in 1863. A church deacon, Luman Hubbell had many personal memories of the congregation. He recorded bits of history not found in other accounts. For example:

“Our Society was represented in the Civil War, 1861-1865 by Grandison D. Foote, William O. Hoyt, Timothy Rose, Benjamin F. Skinner, all members of the first company to respond, on April 19, 1861. After the return of the ‘three months men’, a company was organized and became a part of the Seventh Regiment, Benjamin F. Skinner was elected captain. Lewis A. Ward was a member of Captain Moore’s company in the 17th Regiment, and Joseph T. Bates was a member of Co. B, 23rd Regiment.”
Hubbell goes on:

“There is no record of any special service on the occasion of the semi-centennial anniversary. I do recall, however, a church social being held at the home of Ezra G. Wildman, in Beaver Brook, about that time December 1872. I remember that Ira R. Wildman was present, one of the original twelve founders, also Mrs. Joseph T. Bates, and it was remarked that the oldest and the youngest members of the church were present.”

Rev. Dr. Harry Adams Hersey, minister on the occasion of the 125th anniversary, wrote “A Brief History of the First Universalist Church in Danbury, 1822-1947.” It was printed in the program for the 125th celebration and also in The Danbury News-Times [see note below]. Here are some excerpts:

“Theological Atmosphere – Fierce theological controversy and slanderous and libelous opposition to the Universalist Church, with its ‘Larger Faith,’ raged in the early years. But as sectarian strife everywhere decreased and liberal views increased, the sterling character and community service of Universalists commended them to their fellow-men….

“Contribution to Danbury – Both clergy and laity have been very active in all community enterprises. A permanent contribution to the institutions of the city was made by the long-time church school superintendent, the late Laura Scott Fanton. In her will she gave ‘in perpetuity’ her estate on Deer Hill Avenue for an historical museum…. [see notes below].

“Today and Tomorrow – Today [1947], in a redecorated church, with a renovated organ, with an active and progressive board of trustees, the Universalist Church faces the future…with a modern attitude to truth, known or to be known.”

A more recent historical treatment was prepared by Rev. Stephen H. Furrer, minister in West Redding from 1983 to 1987. This nine page “A Brief History of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Northern Fairfield County” (UUSNFC) is interesting and useful. It describes the religious field in colonial and revolutionary Connecticut, and surveys the appearance of religious dissenters and liberals and Universalism’s long Danbury experience. Furrer goes on to recount the founding of the Unitarian Fellowship of Ridgefield, and concludes with the establishment of the UUSNFC and touches on its first years in West Redding.

[Note – A national economic panic began in 1893. It had serious repercussions for the hatting industry, Danbury’s most important at the time.]

[Note – The text of the 1947 newspaper printing confused an anniversary celebration in 1897 with centennial activities in 1922.]

[Note – Laura Scott Fanton died in 1918, and her husband, John H. Fanton, a year later. The museum contents were later moved from the Fanton home at 109 Deer Hill Avenue to the present museum in the John Rider House at 43 Main Street. The former Scott-Fanton Museum is today the Danbury Museum and Historical Society.]

[Note – Coincidentally, when the UUCD was planning its return to Danbury in the early 2000s, one of the properties toured and considered by the building committee was the former Fanton home (and museum) at 109 Deer Hill Avenue.]