Hiram Phelps Arms was born in Windsor, CT, in 1799. He graduated from Yale College of Divinity with a PhD in 1824 and was settled in the ministry at Hebron and later at Wolcottville, CT.
In August of 1836, he was invited to preach at the First Congregational Church in Norwichtown by Senator John T. Wait. Following his sermon, the church members, numbering around 200, voted to install Rev. Hiram Arms as their new pastor. Since the church’s inception, he was the congregation’s sixth pastor. He served in that capacity from 1836 to 1873, a period of 57 years.
Rev. Arms was a strong believer in equality for all and an outspoken abolitionist, often reflected in his sermons. He was invited to officiate at the funeral of Aaron Dwight Stevens following his execution. Stevens fought with John Brown at Harpers Ferry and, following his capture, was hanged for treason. Aaron Stevens’ father was the church’s choirmaster.
Reverend Arms was first married to Lucy Ann Wadhams. She bore him four sons, but died at the young age of 29. She is buried with Rev. Arms in Yantic Cemetery.
A year after her death, Rev. Arms married Abby Jane Baker Arms, who is also buried in Yantic Cemetery.
Rev. Arms retired in 1873 at age 74 but remained pastor emeritus in Norwichtown until his death in 1882 at age 82.
During the Civil War, three of the Arms boys fought for the North. Col. Charles J. Arms, Frank T. Arms, and Theodore Arms. A fourth son, Col. George H. Arms, fought for the Confederacy.
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Col. George Arms married Henrietta McKay. She was a native of Kentucky, although both her parents were Virginians of old and well-known families.
Colonel George Arms was a skilled engineer and gained the nickname “bridge builder.” Following the Civil War, George suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and died soon after in 1878. Upon his death, his wife, Henrietta, was obliged to support herself. As a nurse, she became intimately associated with Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin) and, as nurse, companion, and closest friend, continued with her until her death in West Hartford, April 12, 1900.
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