The Descendants of Joseph Loomis in Colonial America - pafn88

Descendants of Joseph Loomis Sr. in Colonial America

Notes

Lived on West Street in Torringford (Orcutt).

Extract from an article in the Courant (Hartford, CT) "Loomis Portraits," (1822 Works By Deaf Artist On Display For The First Time)
By JESSE LEAVENWORTH | Courant Staff Writer (July 1, 2008 )
"When they sat for artist John Brewster Jr. in 1822, the Rev. Harvey Loomis and Anna Battell Loomis had been away from their Connecticut home for 11 years, establishing a church in the wild lumber town of Bangor, Maine."
"Harvey Loomis was an inspiring preacher and an ardent abolitionist. Less is known of Anna, but she had endured unspeakable loss, losing four of her six children to illness."
"Gary Wait, archivist at the American School for the Deaf, said he saw a difference between Brewster's early work and his portraits after he went to the American School for the Deaf. Wait pointed to the relatively blank expressions on children's portraits Brewster painted early in his career. Pointing to the Loomis portraits, Wait said he saw clearly in Harvey's face an intense introspection."
"Loomis is a footnote in national history because of his presence at the Haystack Prayer Meeting in 1806. Born in 1786, Loomis had entered Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., where he became part of a small group of Christian students. Meeting in a meadow to discuss foreign missionary work, the group had to take shelter in the lee of a haystack during a brief thunderstorm. Out of that meeting, the American foreign missionary system was born."
"Loomis, however, was the lone holdout on sending Christian representatives to far-off lands, preferring to spread the Word on the frontier of his own country. He married Anna in 1811, and the two immediately departed to run a nascent Congregational church in Bangor, which at the time was noted for an abundance of lumber and a lack of morals."
Haystack: Harvey Loomis
February 24, 2006
Only two of the five Williams students at the Haystack Prayer meeting ever left the United States, but the impact of their passion for missions is widespread. Rev. Harvey Loomis, true to his early convictions, dedicated his life to domestic missions in Maine.
Rev. Harvey Loomis was born 1785, in Torringford, CT. A participant in the Haystack Prayer Meeting, he graduated from Williams College in 1809.
In 1811, Rev. Harvey Loomis became the third settled minister in Bangor, ME. He was chosen to be the first minister of the newly formed First Church, which is now All Souls Congregational Church, UCC, in Bangor.
Rev. Loomis was considered a prominent citizen in Bangor, and was a principal contributor to the Bangor Register newspaper.
Rev. Loomis died in the pulpit on January 2, 1825 at the age of 39 years, following severe exertion climbing State Street hill on his way to church during a heavy snowstorm.

Anna Battell

Extract from an article in the Courant (Hartford, CT) "Loomis Portraits," (1822 Works By Deaf Artist On Display For The First Time)
By JESSE LEAVENWORTH | Courant Staff Writer (July 1, 2008 )
"As for the portrait of Anna Loomis, Wait said she looked sad and a bit frightened. She had ample reason, having lost four children, all before they were 2 1/2 years old, and she would have cause for more grief. About three years after Brewster's visit, Harvey Loomis died at his pulpit in Bangor. Anna wrote in a letter to her siblings, 'The lips that were ever dropping sweet sound and comfort are closed in death. My heart is bleeding; the clear object of my affections can soothe me no more.'"
"Anna Loomis returned to Torrington and lived in her family homestead, still standing on Torringford Street, until her death in 1861. Although Brewster has long been celebrated as a significant portrait artist, the Loomis paintings remained unknown to the wider public until 2005, when the home went up for sale. Harvey Loomis' great-great-grandson, Harvey B. Loomis, invited representatives of the local historical society into the home to look at the portraits and other items and determine their value to the community, McEachern said."

6186. Ralsamon Loomis

"Removed to Charlestown, Ohio, making the journey in forty days with an ox team." (Orcutt)

6200. Chloe Loomis

Stiles lists d.o.b. as 13 Dec. 1748; but that date of birth is attributed to Chloe Loomis, dau. of Joel Loomis, who married Richard Pitkin and died 1 April 1830. Stiles also says Chloe was a cousin of husband Roger.

6202. Daniel Loomis