+------------------------------------------+ | IN MEMORY OF | | David Dudley Field, | | Pastor of this Church. | | | | Born in Madison, Conn., May 20, 1781. | | Settled in Haddam, 1804-1818. | | In Stockbridge, 1819-1837. | | | | Recalled to his Charge, he Preached | | again in Haddam till 1851, | | When he returned here | | To spend his last days. | | | | Died April 15, 1867, | | Aged nearly 86 years. | | | | The Hoary Head is a Crown of Glory | | when found in the way of | | Righteousness. | +------------------------------------------+ Morning and evening the entire family gathered in the sitting-room for prayers, each one with a Bible, and all were required to join in the reading. A chapter was never divided, and in turn the verses were read; often comments were made. Afterwards came the long prayer, when all, except Dr. Field, knelt; he stood, with his hands on the back of his chair, and one of his favorite expressions, and one which greatly impressed the younger members of his family, the more because they did not understand it, was that the Lord would "overturn, overturn, overturn ... until he come, whose right it is." That the Puritanic atmosphere was no harsh and unmirthful thing in this parsonage is shown by the story told by one who was a boy in Stockbridge at the time. A hen was sitting in a box in the woodshed; each morning Cyrus looked for the little chickens. One day in an adjoining box he found the family cat with a number of kittens. These he placed with the hen, and then with a very straight face asked his father to come and see the chickens. The controversy as to the scriptural limitation of the Sabbath, whether it began at sunset on Saturday or at midnight, was then very active. When Dr. Field was questioned as to which evening was the one to be observed, he always advised those in doubt to keep both. Once in speaking of the curious texts that he had known clergymen of his generation to choose, he instanced: "Parbar westward, four at the causeway and two at Parbar"; but he failed to give the lesson that was drawn from the words.