Transition from Colony to Republic
1775-1789

Transitions can be difficult—especially for Anglicans at this time. Most New Englanders viewed Anglicans as too loyal to Britain. Christ Church rector Rev. Mr. Kneeland certainly confirmed that belief. On a Sunday after the Battle of Lexington, Rev. Kneeland started the usual prayer for the King. An elderly worshipper yelled that King George III was the greatest enemy of the Colonists and no prayer for him should be uttered in Stratford. Rev. Kneeland closed the prayer book, pronounced the benediction, and supposedly closed the church for the duration of the war. Rev. Kneeland was placed under house arrest, where he died in 1777.

Placed under house arrest at about the same time was William Samuel Johnson, the son of our first rector. His life reflects the push and pull of colonial issues and independent ideas during this turbulent period. Though trained by his father and later at Yale for the ministry, he resisted his father’s wish and became a lawyer. He established a successful practice both in Stratford and in New York. As a wealthy man, he was able to devote himself to public life serving in the Connecticut militia, in the colonial assembly, a judge of the Connecticut colonial supreme court, and as a representative of the Connecticut Colony in Britain. In his four years there he tried to improve relations between king and colony, without success.

Though he attended the Stamp Act Congress and opposed the Townshend Duties, he decided to work for peace between Britain and the colonies. He refused to participate in the First Continental Congress to which he was elected.

When hostilities broke out, he retreated from public life. Although he was arrested in 1779 on the charges of communicating with the enemy, he cleared himself and was released.

Once the passions of war had ebbed, Johnson resumed his political career. In both the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention he played influential roles. Along with the two other Connecticut delegates, he put forward the “Connecticut Compromise”, wrote the judicial section, and chaired the Committee of Style which shaped the final draft of the Constitution.

Johnson took part in the new government as a Senator. After serving three years, he resigned mainly because he preferred to devote all his energies to the presidency of Columbia College. Continuing his father’s work there, he established the school on a firm basis and recruited a fine faculty. He retired from the college in 1800, and returned to Stratford where he died at age 92 and was buried in our cemetery.

As the dust settled from the short turbulent period, transitions had happened at many levels. Slowly, 13 separate colonies merged into a republic. Power shifted from the crown to the citizenry. At the same time, the Protestant Episcopal Church emerged as a revolutionary church, the product of revolutionary ideas and decisions. This character was and is democratic in its governance, giving the laity a voice never known before in the Church of England or historic Christianity.

In 1784, Christ Church rector Rev. Jeremiah Leaming was asked to be bishop of Connecticut. Due to war injuries and age he declined, and the honor went to Samuel Seabury.

Previous | History Start | Next