Catch'd on Fire

Rufus Hawley was a man of extraordinary actions and little means. The Yale-educated pastor served Farmington's Parish of Northington, presently Avon, for forty-eight years through some of the most tumultuous periods in the town's history. Hawley prayed with the Continental army during the American Revolution, supported abolition, searched for lost children, performed surgeries, survived smallpox and floods and established a library. Although he was able to unite a congregation, Reverend Hawley was overcome by heartbreak as loved ones perished and allegations of arson were directed toward him after his meetinghouse burned to the ground in 1818. Join Avon town historian Nora Oakes Howard as she combs through fifty years of journal entries to tell the story of a deeply complex man and a devoted pastor of his community.