Browse the First Congregational Church of Stonington records in Stonington, Connecticut

The First Congregational Church of Stonington, Connecticut was organized in 1674. Rev. James Noyes was ordained as the first minister in 1674 after preaching for about a decade in the church there. He served as minister until his death in 1719. Rev. Ebenezeer Rossiter was ordained in 1722 and dismissed in 1730. He was followed in the pulpit by Rev. Nathaniel Eels, who served as the minister from 1733 until his death in 1786. In 1789, Rev. Hezekiah Woodruff was ordained at Stonington and served as minister until 1803. Later ministers in the nineteenth century at Stonington included Revs. Ira Hart, Joseph Whittlesey, Peter Shaw, Nehemiah Cook, and Pliny Warner. 

The first meetinghouse was built in Stonington in 1661. The present meetinghouse was constructed in 1829. The East Society split off from the First Society in 1733 but reunited in 1762. The Second Church of Stonington formed in 1833 as the population of Stonington increased. The First Congregational Church of Stonington is active today and is a member of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (NACCC).

This collection contains five volumes of church records which include admissions, dismissions, baptisms, marriages, deaths, disciplinary records, and meeting notes.

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.