John Stanley

  Noted events in his life were:

• Biography. ⁵⁴¹ He was accepted as a bachelor proprietor in Waterbury in 1715, but never resided there. he lived in Kensington; was one of the petitioners to the General Court in 1705 for a new parish in Great Swamp, kensington, and when the new meetinghouse in that place was dignified, was awarded the third pue. his contribution for the support of the minister Rev. william Burnham in 1720 was one bushel of wheat valued at 5 sheckels and 6 d. He was chosen a school committee in December 1, 1730.

An agreement for the settlement of his estate was filed in court on February 9, 1749 and signed by John Stanley, Thomas Stanley, Watts Hubbard and Mary Hubbard.

• Family Event. ⁵⁴² The form of worship during my father's day was for everyone to sing the hymns of the church by memory. However, many of our hymns were now being written so that we could all sing the same verse. You see, during my father's day everyone would sing by memory and at ad libitum which was quite discordant. My brothers and I decided to make a change in the church as is document here:

To the honourable ye General Assembly at Harford ye 18th of May 1725.

The memorial of Joseph Hawly, on e of ye house of Representatives humbly sheweth your Memorialist his father and Gradfather and ye whole Church and people of farmingtown have used to worship God by singing psalms to his praise in yt mode called ye Old way.

"however t'other Day Jonathan Smith and one Stanly got a book and pretended to sing more regularly and so made great disturbance in ye worship of God for ye people could not follow yt mode of Singing. at length t'was moved to ye church whither to admit ye new way or no, who agreed to suspend it at least for a year.

Yet deacon hast ye chorister one Sabbath day in setting ye psalm attempted to sing Bella tuen; and yor memorialist being used to ye old way as aforesd did not know bellum tune from pax tuen and supposed ye deacon had aimed at Cambridge short tune and set it wrong; whereupon yor petitioner raised his voice in ye sd short tuen and ye people followed him except ye sd Smith and Standly and ye few who Sang allowd. in bella tuen; and so there was an unhappy Discord in ye Singing as there has often bin since ye new Singers set up and ye Blame was al imputed to yor poor petitioner; and John hooker Esquire, assistant, sent for him and fined him ye 19th of February last, for breach of Sabbath, and so yor poor petitioner is layed under a very heavie Scandal and Reproch and Rendered vile and prophane for what he did in ye feare of God and in ye mode he had bin well educated in and was then ye settled manner of singing by ye agreement of ye church. Now yor Petitionr thinks the Judgment is erroneous first because ye fact, if as weicked as Mr. Hooker suppose Comes under ye head of disturbing Gods worship and not ye statue of prophaning ye Sabath; secondly, because no member of a Lawfull Church Society can be punished for worshipping God in modes and formes agreed upon and fixed by ye Society. Thirdly because 't is errors when ye Civill authority Sodenly Interpose between partyes yt differ about modes of worship and force one party to submit to ye other, till a ll milder methods have bin used to Convince mens Consciences. Fourthly, because't is error to make a Gent of yor petitoner carracter a scandalous offender upon Record, for nothing but a present mistake at most, when no morral evil is intended.

Wherefore yor poor petiionr prays you to set aside ye sd judgment or by what means yor honrs please, to save yor poor petitionr from ye imputation of ye hainous crime laid to him and yor poor petitionr as in duty and shall ever pray.

Joseph Hauly

John married Hannah Porter in Aug 1710 in Farmington, Connecticut. (Hannah Porter was born on 20 Jul 1691 in Farmington, Connecticut and died in 1712 in Farmington, Connecticut.)

John next married Mary Wright on 9 Dec 1714 in Farmington, Connecticut.