Guide to the Silas Constant Papers

Constant was born in Waterbury, CT; his father was Joseph Constant, a colonel in the French army, and his mother was Susan Tirrell of Waterbury. Orphaned shortly after his birth, Constant was brought up by his aunt and uncle, Lieutenant and Mrs. Jonathan Beebe. In 1769, Constant married Amy Lewis.

In 1783 Constant was ordained by Morris County (NJ) Presbytery. He preached in Blooming Grove, Smith's Clove, and Yorktown, NY. In 1805 his congregation at Yorktown divided over the question of proper form of government; Constant and his adherents organized the Congregational Church of Yorktown, and he was its pastor until his death in 1825.