Project Canterbury

Sketches of Church Life in Colonial Connecticut
Being the Story of the Transplanting of the Church of England into Forty Two Parishes of Connecticut,
with the Assistance of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel

Written by Members of the Parishes in Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Society

Edited by Lucy Cushing Jarvis

New Haven, Connecticut: The Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company, 1902.

St. Peter's, Oxford
1764 (1769)

It appears from the records of Derby that before 1764 Episcopal services were held in Oxford, and that it was regarded as a Mission of the Parish of Derby, and that the minister from Derby either went to Oxford occasionally or sent a supply.

In 1764 it was decided to make this mission into a parish, giving it the name of S. Peter's Parish.

The Rev. Richard Mansfield assisted in forming the parish.

At first services were held in private houses, but before long a small church was built on "Governor's Hill." Land was given to the Episcopal Society by Joseph Davis of Derby, and in 1770 the church was completed and service held.

A cemetery was also prepared by the side of the church on Governor's Hill.

In 1832 the first church was taken down and removed to the Green, and when built was a much more suitable building than the former one. In 1835 the parish was visited by Bishop Brownell and the church was then dedicated by him.

The Rev. Chas. Smith was rector at the time of the visit by Bishop Brownell.

Project Canterbury