Baptismal Cloak

Baptismal Cloak

An infant's green silk cloak, entirely handmade. The following legend, written in ink on silk, is stitched inside the garment: "The baptismal cloak of John Davenport, the only child of Rev. John Davenport who settled Connecticut. He was born in London and this cloak was brought over with him in 1637. It belongs at present (1879) to Rev. James B. Fisher who is the eighth in regular descent from the original owner. It was altered by Mrs. Alice Fisher. Many of the descendants have been baptized in it." The first sentence can only refer to the Rev. John [I] Davenport (1597-1670), who resigned from the Church of England and went via Holland to America in 1637, founding the colony of New Haven in Connecticut. His son John [II] Davenport (1635-1677) seems to have been christened in England before the family's departure. The line continued as follows: John [III] (1669-1731); Abraham (1715-1789); Elizabeth (1756-1779), m. James Coggswell; Alice Coggswell (1777-1851) m. Samuel Fisher (1777-1856), the brother of Jonathan Fisher of Blue Hill. Alice and Samuel christened their daughter Elizabeth Davenport Fisher, in memory of the Davenport line (she lived 1806-1871); and Elizabeth married Jonathan Fisher's son, her cousin Josiah (1802-1875). Their son was James Boorman Fisher (1833-1889), the "Rev. James B. Fisher" of the stitched-in note, who was thus indeed the eighth in the line beginning with John [I] Davenport. The donor of the cloak, Evelyn Steinman Cook, is the grand-daughter of Mary Wright Fisher Wheeler, who was the daughter of James Boorman Fisher, and represents the eleventh generation of the history of this baptismal garment. We can imagine that Jonathan Fisher's grandson was baptized wearing this cloak. If it seems rather elaborate for an infant being baptized in a strict Calvinist tradition, we should recognize that the first parent to use it for the baptism of a child, the Rev. John [I] Davenport, was himself a notoriously strict Calvinist. Jonathan Fisher himself was a firm believer in infant baptism (under the proper conditions), but as far as we know he left no comments on what infants should wear for the ceremony! - Michael McVaugh The cloak has spots and stains but appears to be in good condition for its age.