Graduation: 1697, Harvard College, A.B.
Graduation: 1715, Harvard College, A.M.
Ordination: 27 May 1702, pastor of 1st Church of Christ in Woodbury, CT
He settled as minister in Woodbury CT, where he continued 60 years.
Spouses: Prudence GOODRICH, Mary SHERMAN
Son of Reverend Solomon and Esther (Warham) Mather Stoddard of Northampton, MA
Grandson of Anthony and Mary (Downing) Stoddard of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Boston)
Great-grandson of Anthony and Alice (Tyro) Martin Stoddard of London, England
Anthony Stoddard was the eighth child born to Reverend Solomon Stoddard and Esther (Warham) Mather Stoddard and the eldest male son. He was born on August 9, 1678 in Northampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1697 and afterwards studied divinity with his father in Northampton. Anthony was licensed for the ministry in 1700, and shortly thereafter was asked to come and preach, on a trial basis, at the First Congregational Church in Woodbury, Connecticut after the death of their minister, Reverend Zechariah Walker (1637–1699).
After the trial period, it was voted at a town meeting on August 13, 1700 to make Anthony an offer to be the permanent minister:
“At a lawfull Towns–meeting ye 13th of August 1700 in ordr to ye settling of ye Reverend mr
Anthony Stoddard amongst us in ye work of ye ministry. And for his encouragemt so to do;”
They proposed to build him a house:
“Wee do also promise, to build him an house here in Woodberry of known Demensions; yt is to say, the Carpenters works & Masons work; hee providing nayles and glass; by building ye sd house, is intended, doors, floures, filling up and playstering and partitions, finishing it as also a well;
And to provide him lands:
“We do also promise to accommodate wth a five and twenty Acre Accommodations Round yt is to say five and twenty Acres of home lott & homelott division, five and twenty Acres of Meadow
or lowland; five and twenty Acres of good hill Division, five and twenty Acres of Wood Division.
Twelve Acres and an halfe of pasture Division; Foure Acres and an halfe of white–oak–plaine
division so Called:”
Conditions were applied:
“The Conditions of this engagement are; That in Case hee, ye sd mr Stoddard, accepts of these or proposalls and engages to lives and Continue wth us in ye Work of ye Ministry six years after ye Date hereof; Then wt is promised as to house and Lands to bee a firm grant to him his Heires and Assigns forever to all intents & purposes wtsoever…”
These terms were agreed to. His home lot in Woodbury was laid out in an area of Woodbury called Foot’s Neck. His house was fortified with palisades, a type of log fence, as a defense against sudden Indian attack (see image of a pencil drawing of Reverend Anthony Stoddard's parsonage house uploaded to this memorial). His salary was to be paid entirely by provisions. Reverend Anthony Stoddard was ordained at the First Congregational Church in Woodbury, Connecticut on May 27, 1702.
Reverend Anthony Stoddard married at least three and possibly four times in his life and fathered twelve children with two wives. He fathered nine children in his first marriage to Prudence Welles (1682–1714). Gideon Stoddard (1714–1780) was the ninth and last child born during that marriage as Prudence died sometime after Gideon's birth. Four of the other children from that marriage, including three sons, died during an epidemic in May 1727. This made his son Eliakim the oldest surviving male.
Abijah Stoddard (1718–1776) was one of three children (and the only son) Reverend Anthony fathered during his second marriage to Mary Sherman (1691–1721). Abijah died in 1776 at Crown Point, New York while serving his country during the American Revolution.
Reverend Anthony’s third wife, with whom he had no children, is only known as “Mrs. Hannah, wife of Anthony Stoddard.” She died on November 26, 1747 —some 13 years before her husband.
According to William Cothren, in his 1879 book of genealogical statistics, there is an “inscription on a monument in the ancient grave–yard at Woodbury, Conn.” that reads, “Widow of Rev. Anthony Stoddard, July 29, 1783.” There is also a listing of a death in Woodbury on Nov. 16, 1783 for “Anthony Stoddard.” However, Reverend Anthony Stoddard died twenty–three years earlier on September 6, 1760. In addition, a headstone lying in the Woodbury South Cemetery, broken, and what can be seen today without disturbing the stone, says, “In Memory of Mrs. Thankfull the wife of Mr. Anthony Stoddard.” Therefore, if Reverend Anthony indeed married a fourth time, her name was likely Thankfull Stoddard. This is highly likley: his wife, Hannah, died 13 years before him, and at his increasing age, and with his ministerial prestige, he would probably not have lived alone for that long. In terms of relationship, she may have been more of a caretaker than a wife, but he likely married her so as not to be living with an unwed woman under the roof his parsonage house.
In March 1736, Reverend Anthony Stoddard gifted and deeded one acre of land with a dwelling on it that was part of his own home lot to his aforementioned oldest son Eliakim. The deed, in transferring the land from Reverend Anthony Stoddard to his son, states:
"...to my duty full And Beloved son Eliakim Stoddard of Woodbury...about one acre of my homelot ye northend share of with ye mansion thereon butted on Highway, or Common, on East west & north, and South of my own land at ye northend of ye hallow share being known boundaries at Either Highway, as also my Lott as it is Enclosed with fence at ye southwest corner of ye Cranberry Pond."
The importance of this description is that it demonstrates that the land gifted by Reverend Anthony Stoddard to his eldest son Eliakim Stoddard in March 1736 included an existing dwelling ("ye mansion") upon it. This dwelling house, or "ye mansion," had previously been built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard and had been owned and occupied by him. Therefore, the house of Eliakim Stoddard was a separate house on the home lot across the field from the original parsonage house built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard back in 1701. The “ye mansion” was likely built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard as a matter of necessity: He fathered nine children with his first wife Prudence who died after the birth of son Gideon in 1714. He fathered three more with his second wife Mary Sherman before 1720. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume the larger, dwelling "ye mansion" house was probably built and dates back to between 1715 and 1720. By 1736, with his children all grown and married, Reverend Anthony Stoddard returned to living at his original parsonage house where he was still close enough to look in upon his son Eliakim and his growing family living at the "ye mansion." This house, the "ye mansion," is still standing today (2021) in Woodbury and is operated an an inn. The promotional legacy of the house (that it has been operated as an inn "since 1754") is a myth. See Reverend Anthony Stoddard's son Eliakim Stoddard's memorial #58825582 for more information.
It has been said that his ministry in Woodbury was remarkable for its duration as well as the peace and prosperity which attended it. Under his leadership the ministry was harmonious and prosperous —while other parishes in the colony experienced setbacks and dissention. He was probate clerk for Woodbury for 40 years, and the records of this period are in his own handwriting. He drew up the wills of his parishioners. Yet his ancillary services to his flock never interfered with his higher work as the Lord’s ambassador. Reverend Anthony Stoddard served his parishioners faithfully until death.
Reverend Anthony Stoddard passed after two days of illness on September 6, 1760.
It would be hard to summarize the life of so great a man as Reverend Anthony Stoddard better than that provided by Reverend Anson Atwood at the Woodbury bicentennial celebration on July 5, 1859, when he said the following words about Reverend Anthony Stoddard in a speech, titled, "The Early Clergy of ancient Woodbury:"
“A part of his name ROMAN [Anthony], but all the rest of him was STODDARD, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot; and he had a brave, strong Christian heart, that beat full and clear, as it sent out its pulsations through all the channels of the duties of his sacred office. Who was his father? Whence came he? We have the answer. He had an enviable descent, from one of the ablest divines New England had raised on her soil. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Mass., was that father, who had few equals, if any superior, in the ministry of that day. He was of a liberal heart, and he gave to the cause of Christ some large donations. He had a daughter, Esther, much beloved, and he gave her away to be the wife of Rev. Timothy Edwards of East Windsor, Conn., and the mother of the immortal Jonathan Edwards. He had a son, Anthony, equally beloved, and he gave him to Ancient Woodbury. This son honored his parentage. His intellect and furniture of mind were of high order; and one would think from the amount of labor he performed, his mind must have been kept from rusting. He must have had almost a giant’s strength, to have, in no unimportant sense, discharged the duties of three professions: that of a pastor, a physician, and a counsellor or judge, while it is said, he neglected no part of his ministry. It was from a necessity of the times that all these labors devolved upon him. It must be remembered, that education was almost with and in the hands of ministers in the early infancy of our colonial State. Hence, they had to do many things that belonged to other professions. To teach school–masters, and to fit them for their work, draw deeds, wills, keep records, and even be judges, in some cases of probate. Many of these burdensome duties pressed upon Stoddard, but he met them cheerfully, manfully devoting soul and body and every energy of his being to the advancement of the best interests of his flock, temporal and eternal, and not without blessed results. A long, prosperous and happy ministry of sixty years crowned his labors. The divine approbations set its seal to his ministry, in permitting him to see almost constant additions to the church through the whole period of his ministry, numbering in all four hundred and seventy–four persons."
“At an advanced age, having served his generation fully, he came to the grave, “as a shock of
corn fully ripe,” and his record is high.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This biography is an excerpt taken from the book, "The Autobiography Manuscript of Major Amos Stoddard." Amos Stoddard was the great-grandson of Reverend Anthony Stoddard.
(Biographical information contributed by Find A Grave member #49338315)
Graduation: 1715, Harvard College, A.M.
Ordination: 27 May 1702, pastor of 1st Church of Christ in Woodbury, CT
He settled as minister in Woodbury CT, where he continued 60 years.
Spouses: Prudence GOODRICH, Mary SHERMAN
Son of Reverend Solomon and Esther (Warham) Mather Stoddard of Northampton, MA
Grandson of Anthony and Mary (Downing) Stoddard of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Boston)
Great-grandson of Anthony and Alice (Tyro) Martin Stoddard of London, England
Anthony Stoddard was the eighth child born to Reverend Solomon Stoddard and Esther (Warham) Mather Stoddard and the eldest male son. He was born on August 9, 1678 in Northampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1697 and afterwards studied divinity with his father in Northampton. Anthony was licensed for the ministry in 1700, and shortly thereafter was asked to come and preach, on a trial basis, at the First Congregational Church in Woodbury, Connecticut after the death of their minister, Reverend Zechariah Walker (1637–1699).
After the trial period, it was voted at a town meeting on August 13, 1700 to make Anthony an offer to be the permanent minister:
“At a lawfull Towns–meeting ye 13th of August 1700 in ordr to ye settling of ye Reverend mr
Anthony Stoddard amongst us in ye work of ye ministry. And for his encouragemt so to do;”
They proposed to build him a house:
“Wee do also promise, to build him an house here in Woodberry of known Demensions; yt is to say, the Carpenters works & Masons work; hee providing nayles and glass; by building ye sd house, is intended, doors, floures, filling up and playstering and partitions, finishing it as also a well;
And to provide him lands:
“We do also promise to accommodate wth a five and twenty Acre Accommodations Round yt is to say five and twenty Acres of home lott & homelott division, five and twenty Acres of Meadow
or lowland; five and twenty Acres of good hill Division, five and twenty Acres of Wood Division.
Twelve Acres and an halfe of pasture Division; Foure Acres and an halfe of white–oak–plaine
division so Called:”
Conditions were applied:
“The Conditions of this engagement are; That in Case hee, ye sd mr Stoddard, accepts of these or proposalls and engages to lives and Continue wth us in ye Work of ye Ministry six years after ye Date hereof; Then wt is promised as to house and Lands to bee a firm grant to him his Heires and Assigns forever to all intents & purposes wtsoever…”
These terms were agreed to. His home lot in Woodbury was laid out in an area of Woodbury called Foot’s Neck. His house was fortified with palisades, a type of log fence, as a defense against sudden Indian attack (see image of a pencil drawing of Reverend Anthony Stoddard's parsonage house uploaded to this memorial). His salary was to be paid entirely by provisions. Reverend Anthony Stoddard was ordained at the First Congregational Church in Woodbury, Connecticut on May 27, 1702.
Reverend Anthony Stoddard married at least three and possibly four times in his life and fathered twelve children with two wives. He fathered nine children in his first marriage to Prudence Welles (1682–1714). Gideon Stoddard (1714–1780) was the ninth and last child born during that marriage as Prudence died sometime after Gideon's birth. Four of the other children from that marriage, including three sons, died during an epidemic in May 1727. This made his son Eliakim the oldest surviving male.
Abijah Stoddard (1718–1776) was one of three children (and the only son) Reverend Anthony fathered during his second marriage to Mary Sherman (1691–1721). Abijah died in 1776 at Crown Point, New York while serving his country during the American Revolution.
Reverend Anthony’s third wife, with whom he had no children, is only known as “Mrs. Hannah, wife of Anthony Stoddard.” She died on November 26, 1747 —some 13 years before her husband.
According to William Cothren, in his 1879 book of genealogical statistics, there is an “inscription on a monument in the ancient grave–yard at Woodbury, Conn.” that reads, “Widow of Rev. Anthony Stoddard, July 29, 1783.” There is also a listing of a death in Woodbury on Nov. 16, 1783 for “Anthony Stoddard.” However, Reverend Anthony Stoddard died twenty–three years earlier on September 6, 1760. In addition, a headstone lying in the Woodbury South Cemetery, broken, and what can be seen today without disturbing the stone, says, “In Memory of Mrs. Thankfull the wife of Mr. Anthony Stoddard.” Therefore, if Reverend Anthony indeed married a fourth time, her name was likely Thankfull Stoddard. This is highly likley: his wife, Hannah, died 13 years before him, and at his increasing age, and with his ministerial prestige, he would probably not have lived alone for that long. In terms of relationship, she may have been more of a caretaker than a wife, but he likely married her so as not to be living with an unwed woman under the roof his parsonage house.
In March 1736, Reverend Anthony Stoddard gifted and deeded one acre of land with a dwelling on it that was part of his own home lot to his aforementioned oldest son Eliakim. The deed, in transferring the land from Reverend Anthony Stoddard to his son, states:
"...to my duty full And Beloved son Eliakim Stoddard of Woodbury...about one acre of my homelot ye northend share of with ye mansion thereon butted on Highway, or Common, on East west & north, and South of my own land at ye northend of ye hallow share being known boundaries at Either Highway, as also my Lott as it is Enclosed with fence at ye southwest corner of ye Cranberry Pond."
The importance of this description is that it demonstrates that the land gifted by Reverend Anthony Stoddard to his eldest son Eliakim Stoddard in March 1736 included an existing dwelling ("ye mansion") upon it. This dwelling house, or "ye mansion," had previously been built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard and had been owned and occupied by him. Therefore, the house of Eliakim Stoddard was a separate house on the home lot across the field from the original parsonage house built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard back in 1701. The “ye mansion” was likely built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard as a matter of necessity: He fathered nine children with his first wife Prudence who died after the birth of son Gideon in 1714. He fathered three more with his second wife Mary Sherman before 1720. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume the larger, dwelling "ye mansion" house was probably built and dates back to between 1715 and 1720. By 1736, with his children all grown and married, Reverend Anthony Stoddard returned to living at his original parsonage house where he was still close enough to look in upon his son Eliakim and his growing family living at the "ye mansion." This house, the "ye mansion," is still standing today (2021) in Woodbury and is operated an an inn. The promotional legacy of the house (that it has been operated as an inn "since 1754") is a myth. See Reverend Anthony Stoddard's son Eliakim Stoddard's memorial #58825582 for more information.
It has been said that his ministry in Woodbury was remarkable for its duration as well as the peace and prosperity which attended it. Under his leadership the ministry was harmonious and prosperous —while other parishes in the colony experienced setbacks and dissention. He was probate clerk for Woodbury for 40 years, and the records of this period are in his own handwriting. He drew up the wills of his parishioners. Yet his ancillary services to his flock never interfered with his higher work as the Lord’s ambassador. Reverend Anthony Stoddard served his parishioners faithfully until death.
Reverend Anthony Stoddard passed after two days of illness on September 6, 1760.
It would be hard to summarize the life of so great a man as Reverend Anthony Stoddard better than that provided by Reverend Anson Atwood at the Woodbury bicentennial celebration on July 5, 1859, when he said the following words about Reverend Anthony Stoddard in a speech, titled, "The Early Clergy of ancient Woodbury:"
“A part of his name ROMAN [Anthony], but all the rest of him was STODDARD, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot; and he had a brave, strong Christian heart, that beat full and clear, as it sent out its pulsations through all the channels of the duties of his sacred office. Who was his father? Whence came he? We have the answer. He had an enviable descent, from one of the ablest divines New England had raised on her soil. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Mass., was that father, who had few equals, if any superior, in the ministry of that day. He was of a liberal heart, and he gave to the cause of Christ some large donations. He had a daughter, Esther, much beloved, and he gave her away to be the wife of Rev. Timothy Edwards of East Windsor, Conn., and the mother of the immortal Jonathan Edwards. He had a son, Anthony, equally beloved, and he gave him to Ancient Woodbury. This son honored his parentage. His intellect and furniture of mind were of high order; and one would think from the amount of labor he performed, his mind must have been kept from rusting. He must have had almost a giant’s strength, to have, in no unimportant sense, discharged the duties of three professions: that of a pastor, a physician, and a counsellor or judge, while it is said, he neglected no part of his ministry. It was from a necessity of the times that all these labors devolved upon him. It must be remembered, that education was almost with and in the hands of ministers in the early infancy of our colonial State. Hence, they had to do many things that belonged to other professions. To teach school–masters, and to fit them for their work, draw deeds, wills, keep records, and even be judges, in some cases of probate. Many of these burdensome duties pressed upon Stoddard, but he met them cheerfully, manfully devoting soul and body and every energy of his being to the advancement of the best interests of his flock, temporal and eternal, and not without blessed results. A long, prosperous and happy ministry of sixty years crowned his labors. The divine approbations set its seal to his ministry, in permitting him to see almost constant additions to the church through the whole period of his ministry, numbering in all four hundred and seventy–four persons."
“At an advanced age, having served his generation fully, he came to the grave, “as a shock of
corn fully ripe,” and his record is high.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This biography is an excerpt taken from the book, "The Autobiography Manuscript of Major Amos Stoddard." Amos Stoddard was the great-grandson of Reverend Anthony Stoddard.
(Biographical information contributed by Find A Grave member #49338315)
Graduation: 1697, Harvard College, A.B.
Graduation: 1715, Harvard College, A.M.
Ordination: 27 May 1702, pastor of 1st Church of Christ in Woodbury, CT
He settled as minister in Woodbury CT, where he continued 60 years.
Spouses: Prudence GOODRICH, Mary SHERMAN
Son of Reverend Solomon and Esther (Warham) Mather Stoddard of Northampton, MA
Grandson of Anthony and Mary (Downing) Stoddard of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Boston)
Great-grandson of Anthony and Alice (Tyro) Martin Stoddard of London, England
Anthony Stoddard was the eighth child born to Reverend Solomon Stoddard and Esther (Warham) Mather Stoddard and the eldest male son. He was born on August 9, 1678 in Northampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1697 and afterwards studied divinity with his father in Northampton. Anthony was licensed for the ministry in 1700, and shortly thereafter was asked to come and preach, on a trial basis, at the First Congregational Church in Woodbury, Connecticut after the death of their minister, Reverend Zechariah Walker (1637–1699).
After the trial period, it was voted at a town meeting on August 13, 1700 to make Anthony an offer to be the permanent minister:
“At a lawfull Towns–meeting ye 13th of August 1700 in ordr to ye settling of ye Reverend mr
Anthony Stoddard amongst us in ye work of ye ministry. And for his encouragemt so to do;”
They proposed to build him a house:
“Wee do also promise, to build him an house here in Woodberry of known Demensions; yt is to say, the Carpenters works & Masons work; hee providing nayles and glass; by building ye sd house, is intended, doors, floures, filling up and playstering and partitions, finishing it as also a well;
And to provide him lands:
“We do also promise to accommodate wth a five and twenty Acre Accommodations Round yt is to say five and twenty Acres of home lott & homelott division, five and twenty Acres of Meadow
or lowland; five and twenty Acres of good hill Division, five and twenty Acres of Wood Division.
Twelve Acres and an halfe of pasture Division; Foure Acres and an halfe of white–oak–plaine
division so Called:”
Conditions were applied:
“The Conditions of this engagement are; That in Case hee, ye sd mr Stoddard, accepts of these or proposalls and engages to lives and Continue wth us in ye Work of ye Ministry six years after ye Date hereof; Then wt is promised as to house and Lands to bee a firm grant to him his Heires and Assigns forever to all intents & purposes wtsoever…”
These terms were agreed to. His home lot in Woodbury was laid out in an area of Woodbury called Foot’s Neck. His house was fortified with palisades, a type of log fence, as a defense against sudden Indian attack (see image of a pencil drawing of Reverend Anthony Stoddard's parsonage house uploaded to this memorial). His salary was to be paid entirely by provisions. Reverend Anthony Stoddard was ordained at the First Congregational Church in Woodbury, Connecticut on May 27, 1702.
Reverend Anthony Stoddard married at least three and possibly four times in his life and fathered twelve children with two wives. He fathered nine children in his first marriage to Prudence Welles (1682–1714). Gideon Stoddard (1714–1780) was the ninth and last child born during that marriage as Prudence died sometime after Gideon's birth. Four of the other children from that marriage, including three sons, died during an epidemic in May 1727. This made his son Eliakim the oldest surviving male.
Abijah Stoddard (1718–1776) was one of three children (and the only son) Reverend Anthony fathered during his second marriage to Mary Sherman (1691–1721). Abijah died in 1776 at Crown Point, New York while serving his country during the American Revolution.
Reverend Anthony’s third wife, with whom he had no children, is only known as “Mrs. Hannah, wife of Anthony Stoddard.” She died on November 26, 1747 —some 13 years before her husband.
According to William Cothren, in his 1879 book of genealogical statistics, there is an “inscription on a monument in the ancient grave–yard at Woodbury, Conn.” that reads, “Widow of Rev. Anthony Stoddard, July 29, 1783.” There is also a listing of a death in Woodbury on Nov. 16, 1783 for “Anthony Stoddard.” However, Reverend Anthony Stoddard died twenty–three years earlier on September 6, 1760. In addition, a headstone lying in the Woodbury South Cemetery, broken, and what can be seen today without disturbing the stone, says, “In Memory of Mrs. Thankfull the wife of Mr. Anthony Stoddard.” Therefore, if Reverend Anthony indeed married a fourth time, her name was likely Thankfull Stoddard. This is highly likley: his wife, Hannah, died 13 years before him, and at his increasing age, and with his ministerial prestige, he would probably not have lived alone for that long. In terms of relationship, she may have been more of a caretaker than a wife, but he likely married her so as not to be living with an unwed woman under the roof his parsonage house.
In March 1736, Reverend Anthony Stoddard gifted and deeded one acre of land with a dwelling on it that was part of his own home lot to his aforementioned oldest son Eliakim. The deed, in transferring the land from Reverend Anthony Stoddard to his son, states:
"...to my duty full And Beloved son Eliakim Stoddard of Woodbury...about one acre of my homelot ye northend share of with ye mansion thereon butted on Highway, or Common, on East west & north, and South of my own land at ye northend of ye hallow share being known boundaries at Either Highway, as also my Lott as it is Enclosed with fence at ye southwest corner of ye Cranberry Pond."
The importance of this description is that it demonstrates that the land gifted by Reverend Anthony Stoddard to his eldest son Eliakim Stoddard in March 1736 included an existing dwelling ("ye mansion") upon it. This dwelling house, or "ye mansion," had previously been built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard and had been owned and occupied by him. Therefore, the house of Eliakim Stoddard was a separate house on the home lot across the field from the original parsonage house built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard back in 1701. The “ye mansion” was likely built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard as a matter of necessity: He fathered nine children with his first wife Prudence who died after the birth of son Gideon in 1714. He fathered three more with his second wife Mary Sherman before 1720. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume the larger, dwelling "ye mansion" house was probably built and dates back to between 1715 and 1720. By 1736, with his children all grown and married, Reverend Anthony Stoddard returned to living at his original parsonage house where he was still close enough to look in upon his son Eliakim and his growing family living at the "ye mansion." This house, the "ye mansion," is still standing today (2021) in Woodbury and is operated an an inn. The promotional legacy of the house (that it has been operated as an inn "since 1754") is a myth. See Reverend Anthony Stoddard's son Eliakim Stoddard's memorial #58825582 for more information.
It has been said that his ministry in Woodbury was remarkable for its duration as well as the peace and prosperity which attended it. Under his leadership the ministry was harmonious and prosperous —while other parishes in the colony experienced setbacks and dissention. He was probate clerk for Woodbury for 40 years, and the records of this period are in his own handwriting. He drew up the wills of his parishioners. Yet his ancillary services to his flock never interfered with his higher work as the Lord’s ambassador. Reverend Anthony Stoddard served his parishioners faithfully until death.
Reverend Anthony Stoddard passed after two days of illness on September 6, 1760.
It would be hard to summarize the life of so great a man as Reverend Anthony Stoddard better than that provided by Reverend Anson Atwood at the Woodbury bicentennial celebration on July 5, 1859, when he said the following words about Reverend Anthony Stoddard in a speech, titled, "The Early Clergy of ancient Woodbury:"
“A part of his name ROMAN [Anthony], but all the rest of him was STODDARD, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot; and he had a brave, strong Christian heart, that beat full and clear, as it sent out its pulsations through all the channels of the duties of his sacred office. Who was his father? Whence came he? We have the answer. He had an enviable descent, from one of the ablest divines New England had raised on her soil. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Mass., was that father, who had few equals, if any superior, in the ministry of that day. He was of a liberal heart, and he gave to the cause of Christ some large donations. He had a daughter, Esther, much beloved, and he gave her away to be the wife of Rev. Timothy Edwards of East Windsor, Conn., and the mother of the immortal Jonathan Edwards. He had a son, Anthony, equally beloved, and he gave him to Ancient Woodbury. This son honored his parentage. His intellect and furniture of mind were of high order; and one would think from the amount of labor he performed, his mind must have been kept from rusting. He must have had almost a giant’s strength, to have, in no unimportant sense, discharged the duties of three professions: that of a pastor, a physician, and a counsellor or judge, while it is said, he neglected no part of his ministry. It was from a necessity of the times that all these labors devolved upon him. It must be remembered, that education was almost with and in the hands of ministers in the early infancy of our colonial State. Hence, they had to do many things that belonged to other professions. To teach school–masters, and to fit them for their work, draw deeds, wills, keep records, and even be judges, in some cases of probate. Many of these burdensome duties pressed upon Stoddard, but he met them cheerfully, manfully devoting soul and body and every energy of his being to the advancement of the best interests of his flock, temporal and eternal, and not without blessed results. A long, prosperous and happy ministry of sixty years crowned his labors. The divine approbations set its seal to his ministry, in permitting him to see almost constant additions to the church through the whole period of his ministry, numbering in all four hundred and seventy–four persons."
“At an advanced age, having served his generation fully, he came to the grave, “as a shock of
corn fully ripe,” and his record is high.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This biography is an excerpt taken from the book, "The Autobiography Manuscript of Major Amos Stoddard." Amos Stoddard was the great-grandson of Reverend Anthony Stoddard.
(Biographical information contributed by Find A Grave member #49338315)
Graduation: 1715, Harvard College, A.M.
Ordination: 27 May 1702, pastor of 1st Church of Christ in Woodbury, CT
He settled as minister in Woodbury CT, where he continued 60 years.
Spouses: Prudence GOODRICH, Mary SHERMAN
Son of Reverend Solomon and Esther (Warham) Mather Stoddard of Northampton, MA
Grandson of Anthony and Mary (Downing) Stoddard of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Boston)
Great-grandson of Anthony and Alice (Tyro) Martin Stoddard of London, England
Anthony Stoddard was the eighth child born to Reverend Solomon Stoddard and Esther (Warham) Mather Stoddard and the eldest male son. He was born on August 9, 1678 in Northampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1697 and afterwards studied divinity with his father in Northampton. Anthony was licensed for the ministry in 1700, and shortly thereafter was asked to come and preach, on a trial basis, at the First Congregational Church in Woodbury, Connecticut after the death of their minister, Reverend Zechariah Walker (1637–1699).
After the trial period, it was voted at a town meeting on August 13, 1700 to make Anthony an offer to be the permanent minister:
“At a lawfull Towns–meeting ye 13th of August 1700 in ordr to ye settling of ye Reverend mr
Anthony Stoddard amongst us in ye work of ye ministry. And for his encouragemt so to do;”
They proposed to build him a house:
“Wee do also promise, to build him an house here in Woodberry of known Demensions; yt is to say, the Carpenters works & Masons work; hee providing nayles and glass; by building ye sd house, is intended, doors, floures, filling up and playstering and partitions, finishing it as also a well;
And to provide him lands:
“We do also promise to accommodate wth a five and twenty Acre Accommodations Round yt is to say five and twenty Acres of home lott & homelott division, five and twenty Acres of Meadow
or lowland; five and twenty Acres of good hill Division, five and twenty Acres of Wood Division.
Twelve Acres and an halfe of pasture Division; Foure Acres and an halfe of white–oak–plaine
division so Called:”
Conditions were applied:
“The Conditions of this engagement are; That in Case hee, ye sd mr Stoddard, accepts of these or proposalls and engages to lives and Continue wth us in ye Work of ye Ministry six years after ye Date hereof; Then wt is promised as to house and Lands to bee a firm grant to him his Heires and Assigns forever to all intents & purposes wtsoever…”
These terms were agreed to. His home lot in Woodbury was laid out in an area of Woodbury called Foot’s Neck. His house was fortified with palisades, a type of log fence, as a defense against sudden Indian attack (see image of a pencil drawing of Reverend Anthony Stoddard's parsonage house uploaded to this memorial). His salary was to be paid entirely by provisions. Reverend Anthony Stoddard was ordained at the First Congregational Church in Woodbury, Connecticut on May 27, 1702.
Reverend Anthony Stoddard married at least three and possibly four times in his life and fathered twelve children with two wives. He fathered nine children in his first marriage to Prudence Welles (1682–1714). Gideon Stoddard (1714–1780) was the ninth and last child born during that marriage as Prudence died sometime after Gideon's birth. Four of the other children from that marriage, including three sons, died during an epidemic in May 1727. This made his son Eliakim the oldest surviving male.
Abijah Stoddard (1718–1776) was one of three children (and the only son) Reverend Anthony fathered during his second marriage to Mary Sherman (1691–1721). Abijah died in 1776 at Crown Point, New York while serving his country during the American Revolution.
Reverend Anthony’s third wife, with whom he had no children, is only known as “Mrs. Hannah, wife of Anthony Stoddard.” She died on November 26, 1747 —some 13 years before her husband.
According to William Cothren, in his 1879 book of genealogical statistics, there is an “inscription on a monument in the ancient grave–yard at Woodbury, Conn.” that reads, “Widow of Rev. Anthony Stoddard, July 29, 1783.” There is also a listing of a death in Woodbury on Nov. 16, 1783 for “Anthony Stoddard.” However, Reverend Anthony Stoddard died twenty–three years earlier on September 6, 1760. In addition, a headstone lying in the Woodbury South Cemetery, broken, and what can be seen today without disturbing the stone, says, “In Memory of Mrs. Thankfull the wife of Mr. Anthony Stoddard.” Therefore, if Reverend Anthony indeed married a fourth time, her name was likely Thankfull Stoddard. This is highly likley: his wife, Hannah, died 13 years before him, and at his increasing age, and with his ministerial prestige, he would probably not have lived alone for that long. In terms of relationship, she may have been more of a caretaker than a wife, but he likely married her so as not to be living with an unwed woman under the roof his parsonage house.
In March 1736, Reverend Anthony Stoddard gifted and deeded one acre of land with a dwelling on it that was part of his own home lot to his aforementioned oldest son Eliakim. The deed, in transferring the land from Reverend Anthony Stoddard to his son, states:
"...to my duty full And Beloved son Eliakim Stoddard of Woodbury...about one acre of my homelot ye northend share of with ye mansion thereon butted on Highway, or Common, on East west & north, and South of my own land at ye northend of ye hallow share being known boundaries at Either Highway, as also my Lott as it is Enclosed with fence at ye southwest corner of ye Cranberry Pond."
The importance of this description is that it demonstrates that the land gifted by Reverend Anthony Stoddard to his eldest son Eliakim Stoddard in March 1736 included an existing dwelling ("ye mansion") upon it. This dwelling house, or "ye mansion," had previously been built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard and had been owned and occupied by him. Therefore, the house of Eliakim Stoddard was a separate house on the home lot across the field from the original parsonage house built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard back in 1701. The “ye mansion” was likely built for Reverend Anthony Stoddard as a matter of necessity: He fathered nine children with his first wife Prudence who died after the birth of son Gideon in 1714. He fathered three more with his second wife Mary Sherman before 1720. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume the larger, dwelling "ye mansion" house was probably built and dates back to between 1715 and 1720. By 1736, with his children all grown and married, Reverend Anthony Stoddard returned to living at his original parsonage house where he was still close enough to look in upon his son Eliakim and his growing family living at the "ye mansion." This house, the "ye mansion," is still standing today (2021) in Woodbury and is operated an an inn. The promotional legacy of the house (that it has been operated as an inn "since 1754") is a myth. See Reverend Anthony Stoddard's son Eliakim Stoddard's memorial #58825582 for more information.
It has been said that his ministry in Woodbury was remarkable for its duration as well as the peace and prosperity which attended it. Under his leadership the ministry was harmonious and prosperous —while other parishes in the colony experienced setbacks and dissention. He was probate clerk for Woodbury for 40 years, and the records of this period are in his own handwriting. He drew up the wills of his parishioners. Yet his ancillary services to his flock never interfered with his higher work as the Lord’s ambassador. Reverend Anthony Stoddard served his parishioners faithfully until death.
Reverend Anthony Stoddard passed after two days of illness on September 6, 1760.
It would be hard to summarize the life of so great a man as Reverend Anthony Stoddard better than that provided by Reverend Anson Atwood at the Woodbury bicentennial celebration on July 5, 1859, when he said the following words about Reverend Anthony Stoddard in a speech, titled, "The Early Clergy of ancient Woodbury:"
“A part of his name ROMAN [Anthony], but all the rest of him was STODDARD, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot; and he had a brave, strong Christian heart, that beat full and clear, as it sent out its pulsations through all the channels of the duties of his sacred office. Who was his father? Whence came he? We have the answer. He had an enviable descent, from one of the ablest divines New England had raised on her soil. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton, Mass., was that father, who had few equals, if any superior, in the ministry of that day. He was of a liberal heart, and he gave to the cause of Christ some large donations. He had a daughter, Esther, much beloved, and he gave her away to be the wife of Rev. Timothy Edwards of East Windsor, Conn., and the mother of the immortal Jonathan Edwards. He had a son, Anthony, equally beloved, and he gave him to Ancient Woodbury. This son honored his parentage. His intellect and furniture of mind were of high order; and one would think from the amount of labor he performed, his mind must have been kept from rusting. He must have had almost a giant’s strength, to have, in no unimportant sense, discharged the duties of three professions: that of a pastor, a physician, and a counsellor or judge, while it is said, he neglected no part of his ministry. It was from a necessity of the times that all these labors devolved upon him. It must be remembered, that education was almost with and in the hands of ministers in the early infancy of our colonial State. Hence, they had to do many things that belonged to other professions. To teach school–masters, and to fit them for their work, draw deeds, wills, keep records, and even be judges, in some cases of probate. Many of these burdensome duties pressed upon Stoddard, but he met them cheerfully, manfully devoting soul and body and every energy of his being to the advancement of the best interests of his flock, temporal and eternal, and not without blessed results. A long, prosperous and happy ministry of sixty years crowned his labors. The divine approbations set its seal to his ministry, in permitting him to see almost constant additions to the church through the whole period of his ministry, numbering in all four hundred and seventy–four persons."
“At an advanced age, having served his generation fully, he came to the grave, “as a shock of
corn fully ripe,” and his record is high.”
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This biography is an excerpt taken from the book, "The Autobiography Manuscript of Major Amos Stoddard." Amos Stoddard was the great-grandson of Reverend Anthony Stoddard.
(Biographical information contributed by Find A Grave member #49338315)
Inscription
In Memory of ye Revd
Mr. Anthony Stoddard
After of ye 1st Church of
Chrift In Woodbury
Died Sept.br 6rh 1760
in ye 83rd year of his Age
in ye 61st year of his
Miniftry
