Born in Hesse-Darmstadt on September 4, 1796, Charles Follen was a fearless advocate of liberty and justice. Exiled for conscience sake, he sought in America the freedom denied him in the Old World. He was distinguished for rich and varied learning, for uncompromising devotion to the cause of the oppressed and enslaved, and for the simplicity and integrity of his character. He organized in this town the Free Christian Church and became its first pastor. He designed the octagon meeting house erected here and, on his way to its dedication, was lost in the burning of the steamboat “Lexington” on Long Island Sound on January 13, 1840.