Waterbury began as a strictly Puritan, and later Congregational,
community, but from the first settlement there were a
few Episcopalians present. The first Episcopal baptism
in Waterbury was performed in 1734 by Rev. Samuel Johnson,
rector at Stratford. Ministers often traveled to towns
without resident ministers in order to perform baptisms
and sermons. In 1740, approximately 25 families left Waterburys
Congregational Church to become Episcopalians. Three years
later, the Episcopal church purchased land from the town
of Waterbury on the corner of West Main and Willow Streets
and established the church and parish of St. James. Waterbury
did not, however, have its own minister until the 1750s;
before that time, the minister from Derby would spend
part of his time in Waterbury.
Slavery and the Church
Prominent members of the Episcopal church in Waterbury
were slave owners; the first may have been Rev. James
Scovill, a Waterbury native who served as the towns
first resident Episcopal minister from 1759 to 1788. At
least two people, named Phillis and Dick, were enslaved
by Rev. Scovill. Dick was eventually given his freedom,
possibly when Scovill moved to Canada in 1788. At one
point, Dick had also been enslaved by Waterburys
Episcopal deacon, Stephen Bronson.
Preserved Porter and his family were also members of the
Episcopal church. Porters wife, Lydia, was a devout
Episcopalian. She may have been influential in having Fortune
baptized in December of 1797. Fortune appears to have been
the only member of his family to have been baptized. There
were a handful of free and enslaved African Americans living
in Westbury who were baptized in the Episcopal church beginning
in the 1750s.
St. John's church, designed by architect David Hoadley,
was constructed on the Green in 1795, replacing St. James'
church which had been located further away. St. John's
church was consecrated on November 1, 1797. Engraving
published in Joseph Anderson's History of Waterbury,
Volume I, 1896.
St. John's Church, c. 1845
St. John's church on the Green, showing alterations made
in 1839. Nineteenth-century print from a daguerreotype.
Collection of the Mattatuck Museum.