The town of Darien was incorporated May, 1820, and taken from Stamford. The Congregational Church in Darien, formerly called Middlesex, was organized June, 1744. It is recorded that "one Sunday during the Revolution the church was suddenly surrounded by Tories and the British, and forty men (nearly all who were in church, including Dr. Mather, the pastor), and as many horses, were carried off to Long Island. Many of them never returned." (ECM Book 6)