Copies of these and other records were furnished us by Mr. Jabez Watrous of Quakertown.
These marriages were, with the exceptions noted, of Rogerenes on the Groton side, although the public meetings in which the earlier ones were solemnized were held in New London, and most of the witnesses were of New London. The New London Rogerenes continued to be married by regular ministers or justices of the peace. Thus early, we find an exclusiveness on the part of the Groton Rogerenes not discoverable among those of New London. Yet all of the Rogerenes considered marriage a strictly religious ceremony, consisting of vows taken before God and not to be annulled save for the one cause stated in the New Testament, while all know for how comparatively slight causes marriages in other denominations have been set aside. By the Quakertown method, the parties took each other for husband and wife in the presence of their “elder” and the assembled congregation; the elder did not pronounce them man and wife, they having taken each other before God; but the marriage was recorded in the church book, with names of several witnesses attached. We find certificates of these marriages both on the New London and Groton town records, further showing their legal character. Among them the following:—
Groton, July 29, 1821.
Personally appeared John Crouch and Rachel Watrous, both of Groton, and were married in presence of me
Zephania Watrous.
Where the antique marriage anecdote to which reference has been made originated, or to what persons it was first applied, is a matter of uncertainty; but, as it has frequently been attached to others besides Rogerenes, it is likely to have originated in quite different quarters. It appears to have become attached to the Rogerenes through the fallacious notions previously mentioned. Even the talented and scholarly author of the Bolles Genealogy (Gen. J. A. Bolles) was misled by this anecdote, together with the current statement in regard to lack of marriage ceremony among the Rogerenes, and also by his failure to find a record of the marriage of Joseph Bolles.[[191]]
Marriage publications were not entered upon New London records; but the publication of Joseph Bolles and Martha Lewis, in the Congregational church, in 1731, is plainly recorded in the “Hempstead Diary.” Mr. J. A. Bolles had no knowledge of the existence of this Diary.
The anecdote which Mr. J. A. Bolles judged too good to be spoiled for the sake of relationship, yet of which he said: “The story has been told of so many that I doubt its authenticity,” has had so many versions, even as attached to the Rogerenes, that it cannot well be presented in this connection without laying before the reader several of the Rogerene versions that have become current. Space is given for these the more readily, because this is a good illustration of the scurrilous stories that have been told regarding this greatly abused sect.
ANECDOTE.
Version No. I. (From the Half-Century Sermon of Rev. Abel M. McEwen, 1857.)