Browse the First Church of Christ records in Hartford, Connecticut

The First Church of Christ in Hartford, Connecticut was organized first in Cambridge, Massachusetts with Rev. Thomas Hooker, who had left England and fled to the Netherlands before arriving in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1633. Hooker and his congregation of about one hundred people moved to Hartford in 1636 with permission of the General Court. Hooker served as the minister until his death in 1647. Rev. Samuel Stone, who had come with Hooker first to Massachusetts and then to Hartford in 1636 and served as teacher in the church, took over as minister after Hooker’s death and served until 1660. In 1660, Rev. John Whiting was ordained as the minister in Hartford and continued until he left to form his own church in 1669. Rev. Joseph Haynes was ordained in 1664 as assistant to Whiting, and took over after he left, serving until his death in 1679. Rev. Isaac Foster was ordained at Hartford in 1679 and died in 1683, having only been the minister for a few years. In 1685, Rev. Timothy Woodbridge was ordained and served as the minister for nearly fifty years until his death in 1732. He also married Rev. Foster’s widow, Mehitabel Wyllys Foster.

Rev. Daniel Wadsworth was ordained in 1732 and served as the minister of First Church until his death in 1747. Wadsworth was followed by Rev. Edward Dorr. He was ordained in 1748 and continued as minister until his death in 1772. Rev. Nathan Strong was ordained in 1774 and served as the minister until his death in 1816. Later nineteenth century ministers at First Church included Revs. Joel Hawes, Walcott Calkins, George Gould, Elias Richrdson, and George Walker. 

The first meetinghouse in Hartford was constructed in 1636 and replaced in 1640. The third meetinghouse was built in 1739. The fourth meetinghouse was constructed in 1807 and is still in use today. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The First Church of Christ in Hartford, one of the oldest congregations in Connecticut, is active today as Center Church, and is a member of the United Church of Christ (UCC). 

This collection contains one volume of church records, one volume of society records, and two volumes of financial records, one from Rev. Edward Dorr and one from the First Society of the church. The records include admissions, baptisms, marriages, deaths, disciplinary records, meeting notes, financial records, and ecclesiastical society records.  

Materials in this collection have been digitized in partnership with the Connecticut State Library and have been made available through our New England's Hidden Histories project.