James Beebe (1717–1785),

Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

, presided over the Unity Parish at ''North Stratford'', now

Trumbull, Connecticut Trumbull is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders on the cities of Bridgeport and Shelton and the towns of Stratford, Fairfield, Easton and Monroe. The population was 36,827 during the 2020 census. Trumbul ...

, between 1747 and 1785. He was an Army

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

and a

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

Biography

Beebe was born in

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

in 1717, the son of one of the town founders. He studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. Beebe married Ruth Curtiss, the daughter of Ephraim and Elizabeth (Stiles) Curtiss, in 1749 and they raised five daughters and two sons; the youngest son, David Lewis Beebe, graduated from Yale College in 1785 and followed in his father's profession. Besides his pastoral duties, Mr. Beebe also managed a large farm, was part owner of the local grist and sawmills and he owned slaves. One slave in particular was Peg, the wife of free slave

Nero Hawley Nero Hawley (1742 – January 30, 1817) was an African-American soldier who was born into slavery in North Stratford, Connecticut, and later earned his freedom after enlisting in the Continental Army in place of his owner, Daniel Hawley, on April ...

. Since Beebe owned Peg, he owned all of her children too, who were subsequently emancipated by their father after Beebe's death. Beebe died in office on September 8, 1785, in his 68th year. His wife Ruth died on July 29, 1818 at the age of 94. Beebe's gravestone at the Unity Burial Ground reads:

Ministry

In the fall of 1746, the Fairfield East Association of Ministers contacted the Church at the Unity Parish in

Trumbull Trumbull may refer to: Places United States * Trumbull County, Ohio ** Trumbull Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio * Trumbull, Connecticut * Trumbull, Nebraska * Fort Trumbull, Connecticut * Mount Trumbull Wilderness in Arizona People Surname * ...

and advised them that Reverend Beebe was ready to become the minister at their parish. Beebe was ordained and installed at Unity Parish in May 1747. Beebe had his work cut out for him though, as the church had become scattered in 1744 by the conversion to Episcopacy by the last pastor, Reverend Richardson Miner. Under Beebe's leadership, 167 parishioners were added to the Unity Church rolls. Reverend Beebe's ministry in Trumbull lasted for 38 years until he died in office on September 8, 1785, in his 68th year.

Military service

Beebe served as an Army Chaplain in the 3rd Regiment raised in the

Colony of Connecticut The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

in March 1760 during the

French & Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the s ...

. Beebe was a Patriot, and served in the local militia for eight months in 1776 during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. His eldest son James, was a Captain in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

and wintered with

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

at the

Valley Forge Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight winter encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. In September 1777, Congress fled Philadelphia to escape the B ...

winter encampment. Beebe was a staunch supporter of the Revolution. One night he organized a public meeting at his house to talk about the Revolution. While he was addressing the people, gunfire was heard and fires were seen in the distance as if the British were coming. Beebe suspected this was a trick. So, he sent a small party by a back road to check it out and to cut off the retreat of this scouting party. They captured the culprits, who turned out to be young men from the town who had burned some cornstalks and were playing a joke on the people at the meeting to test their patriotism.

A Great Jubilee Day

Reverend Beebe organized

A Great Jubilee Day A Great Jubilee Day, first held on Monday May 26, 1783, in North Stratford, now Trumbull, Connecticut, commemorated the end of fighting in the American Revolutionary War. This celebration included feasting, prayer, speeches, toasts, and two com ...

on Monday May 26, 1783 in ''North Stratford'', now

, commemorating the end of fighting in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. This celebration included feasting, prayer, speeches, toasts, and two companies of the North Stratford

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

performing

maneuvers A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...

with

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

discharges and was one of the first documented celebrations following the War for Independence and continued as Decoration Day and today as

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

with prayer services and a parade.A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport Connecticut, Reverend Samuel Orcutt, 1886, Part 1 page 40

/ref> in May 1783 to commemorate the end of fighting in the American Revolution. The celebration included feasting, prayer, speeches, toasts, and two companies of North Stratford militia performing maneuvers with cannon discharges and was one of the first documented celebrations following the war.

Notes

References

* Reverend Samuel Orcutt
''A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Volume 1''
Fairfield Historical Society, 1886 * Reverend Samuel Orcutt
''A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Volume 2''
Fairfield Historical Society, 1886 * ''History of Trumbull Dodrasquicentennial 1797–1972 Commemorative Book'', Trumbull Historical Society, 1972 * Henry Phelps Johnston
''The Yorktown Campaign and the Surrender of Cornwallis, 1781''
Ayer Publishing, 1971 * Charles S. Hall
''Life and Letters of Samuel Holden Parsons''
Ostenigo Publishing Co., Binghamton, NY, 1905 * E. Merrill Beach, ''They Face the Rising Sun'', Trumbull Historical Society, 1971 * E. Merrill Beach, ''Trumbull, Church and Town'', Trumbull Historical Society, 1972 * Dorothy Seeley, ''Tales of Trumbull's Past'', Trumbull Historical Society, 1984 * Jonathan Sutherland, ''African Americans at War: an encyclopedia'' Vol. 1, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Beebe, James 1717 births 1785 deaths American Christian clergy People of Connecticut in the French and Indian War Clergy in the American Revolution American theologians Yale University alumni

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

People of colonial Connecticut People from Trumbull, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut