FROM THE HISTORIAN’S DESK, January 2026 – Carol Ganz.

Here We Are – 300 years!

January 3, 1725, or is it 1726?  How about 1725/26?  This month marks the 300th anniversary of the first meeting of our North Groton Ecclesiastical Society.  While we mark our founding date as 1725, which is the year the society was approved by the General Assembly, and obviously preparations must have begun immediately, the first actual meeting was in January.  At the time, the western world was in a very slow transition from an old dating system, in which the new year began March 25, to the January first new year.  To keep clear which year was intended, dates in January through March in that era were often recorded as both, making clear what was intended by showing both “old style” and “new style” dates. 

Monday, January 3, 1725/26 dawned gray and miserable.  Joshua Hempstead notes that it snowed most of the day, with some rain.  That didn’t stop the residents of North Groton from attending the planned meeting.  Capt. John Morgan, who had been one of the prime movers for establishing the new society, hosted that gathering, presumably with the assistance of his wife Ruth and his many daughters.  Capt. Morgan was not a sea captain, but had succeeded his uncle James Morgan as Captain of the local train band, or militia.  The fifty-seven-year-old Morgan had substantial property and a home which was probably near the intersection of the current Gallup Hill and Spicer Hill Roads, now across from Ledyard High School.

Minutes from that meeting were very brief but set the basis for the work to come.  The first priority was establishing a governing body, then beginning the search for a settled minister and the construction of a meetinghouse.  Both would take time, but a dedicated group set to work.  They chose Capt. Morgan as moderator for that day, and William Morgan, Junior, as clerk.  They then selected a group of “committee men”:

First, Capt. John Morgan

Second, Lieut. Christopher Avery

Third, Sgt. Richard Williams

Fourth, Mr. Ralph Stoddard, Sr.

Fifth, Sgt. Joshua Bill

Sixth, Mr. Samuel Whipple

And seventh Ens. John Dean.

No other business was recorded, but by the next meeting (in February) it was clear that work had begun.  The committee was already working on finding a preacher and locating sites for services before a meetinghouse could be constructed.