Joseph3 Backus, second son of William, Jr., and his second wife Elizabeth (Pratt) Backus (p. 11), was born September 6, 1667, at Norwich, and lived out his life there, dying in December, 1740 (159, 49). On April 9, 1690, he married Elizabeth Huntington, who was born October 6, 1669, and died August 24, 1762, daughter of Simon and Sarah (Clark) Huntington. Her family was one of some prominence. The three Huntington brothers, Christopher, Simon, and Thomas, came early to Connecticut with their mother, a widow, their father having died during the Atlantic crossing. The young men established themselves quickly, Simon becoming the first of a long line of deacons (78, pp. 179-85).
Joseph received a considerable legacy of property from his father, including a tract at Saybrook and two or more areas at Norwich. He appears to have been able, ambitious, and well respected. In 1699 the town proprietors granted him "so much land....as may be needful for him to set up a shop and coal—house upon, provided he improves it for the above use." The grant was confirmed a year later. He was made a Lieutenant in the train band in 1708. At various times he was mentioned as moderator of a town meeting, and as being active in church and community affairs.
He was a Representative in the General Assembly of the colony on numerous occasions between 1704 and 1733, and had a long record of service as Justice of the Peace. Caulkins relates (159) that in April, 1730, all the freemen were enrolled. "The first on the list, and probably so placed in respect to respect and dignity, was Joseph Backus, Esq., the three reverend ministers, Lord, Willes, and Kirtland, and the two deacons, Simon and Christopher Huntington."
On one occasion a neighbor did take exception to Joseph's conduct. Mary Perkins (160), in discussing town customs, relates that goat-raising "became a source of profit, and though no laws had then been made for their restraint, who can blame Joseph Tracy for impounding fifty-four belonging to Joseph Backus, which like an invading army invaded his lands in 1722"
In matters of church polity, Joseph was clear—thinking and determined when need arose. The church of the New England colonies was generally congregational in organization, each church group being virtually independent, finding its own pastor, and accepting as members only those who had been well scrutinized by the membership, and approved by their vote. By 1708, certain leaders in the church felt it was time for a broader organization, to which the individual congregations would be subordinate. A council of delegates, l2 ministers and 4 laymen, met at Saybrook and drew up a plan for regulating the churches, known as the Saybrook Platform, giving dominant power to the ministers. They then managed to get it confirmed by the General Assembly as the law of the colony, but with the proviso that any church dissenting from this might worship in its own way. The Norwich pastor presented the Platform to his congregation without mentioning the proviso, hoping for acceptance. The church had been of "independent Congregational order....and jealous of extraneous influences, whether civil or ecclesiastical. The members...denied the jurisdiction of magistrates and presbyteries." (78) Hearing their pastor urge acceptance of the Platform, the two Norwich Representatives in the Assembly, Richard Bushnell and Joseph Backus, rose in meeting, vigorously stated their objections to the plan, and told of the proviso permitting them to take independent action. Dissension in the church was long and painful, the pastor was eventually dismissed, a new pastor installed in 1717, and at the same time, the church "renounced the Saybrook Platform as their code of faith."
Joseph's will, signed Dec. 5, 1740, the month of his death, left legacies to his wife and children, and made his wife and youngest son, Ebenezer, executors.
