SHEBOYGAN HISTORY

Rev. George B. Hubbard, Page 439

REV. GEORGE B. HUBBARD, pastor of the Congregational Church of Plymouth since May, 1888, is a native of New England, and is descended from the Rev. John Hubbard, who was the first pastor of the first church (Congregational) of Meriden, Conn.  The latter was a descendant of William Hubbard, an English emigrant who joined the Massachusetts Colony in 1630.

    The subject of our sketch was born in New Haven, Conn., February 16, 1822, and is a son of Ezra S. and Eliza (Church) Hubbard.  His father was born in Meriden, May 13, 1794, and was a son of Deacon Isaac Hubbard, of that place, who was a son of the Rev. John Hubbard, also of that town.  Mr. Hubbard's mother was a native of New Haven, Conn., and was descended from an old New England family.

    Mr. Hubbard was graduated at Yale, in the Class of '42, after a classical course, and from the same institution in the theological department in the Class of '46.  The following year he came West and located at Griggsville, Pike County, Ill., where he served as pastor of the Congregational Church.  In April, 1848, he was ordained a minister.

    At Bristol, Kendall County, Ill., August 5, 1849, he was married to Miss Jane Beardsley, a daughter of Rev. William Beardsley.  Mrs. Hubbard was born in the town of Prattsburg, Steuben County, N. Y.  She and her husband have four children living, and have lost two.  Emily B. died aged two years; Rev. William B. married Ella Tuttle; George Stiles died in infancy; Lillie C. is the wife of Henry J. Bamford, of Plymouth, of whom see sketch; Mary B. is a teacher in the public schools of Huron, S. Dak.; Joseph S. married Carrie Stevens, and is an editor of Hawarden, Iowa.

    Mr. Hubbard continued in the ministry in Illinois for thirty-eight years, occupying various pulpits, perhaps the longest time spent in one place being six or seven years' service in Aurora.  In December, 1885, he removed to Mazomania, and from there to Plymouth, Wis., in May, 1888, since which time he has served as pastor of the Congregational Church of that place, being the present incumbent.  He has now been in the ministry for forty-six years, exclusively in the West.

    The Congregational Church of Plymouth, of which Mr. Hubbard is pastor, was organized December 1, 1857.  The first Board of Trustees was composed of the following-named gentlemen:  W. W. Winder, Elijah Dawley and Joseph Bamford.  Prior to the organization of the society, the Rev. Mr. Marsh and others held services in the schoolhouse in the Mullein district.  Meetings were held in that place until the erection of the existing church in Plymouth, in 1859.  The Rev. Mr. Martin was the first to serve this congregation in Plymouth, but died just previous to the completion of the church, which he aided in constructing.  The Rev. Thomas Wadsworth was the first to hold service in the new church.   The Congregation numbers fifty-two members, and other attendants.  The Sunday-school was started in 1848, in the Mullein school district, and was transferred to Plymouth about 1859.  The attendance is from fifty-five to sixty, the pastor being the Superintendent.  The following-named brethren compose the present Board of Trustees:  W. C. Saemann, Rial Wilson and Asa Carpenter.  Joseph Bamford has been Clerk of the church for upwards of twenty-five years.