USA > Connecticut > Some old time meeting houses of the Connecticut Valley > Part 5
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Like many of the meeting houses of the region, the structure was a small square building made of logs and had a turret or belfry rising from the center
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of the roof. The building stood on an elevation of the common near a small goose pond. It is said that the "squawking" of the geese sometimes made it difficult to hear the voice of the preacher.
Mrs. F. H. Smith, in the article already mentioned, says : "The first church bell to startle the echoes in Mt. Holyoke's wooded crags was bought in 1670. The turret for the bell was in the center of the four-sided roof and the bell rope hung down in the broad aisle where the ringer stood."
In 1713 the town voted, "That we will build a new Meeting Hous," and that "the Meting house that we have agreed to build shall be forty foot in length and forty foot in breadth with a flattish roof and a Bellcony on one end of said house."
This second house of worship was finished in 1714 and stood at a point half way down the broad street near where it intersects the Northampton road. Sometime after it was built quite extensive im- provements were made in the interior of the house, and in 1738 Eleazer Porter built a sounding board and canopy for it. Judd's History of Hadley has the follow- ing foot-note: "Such a structure over the preacher and pulpit was named sounding board and canopy in England. In this country it was several feet high, had a peculiar form, with several sides and angles, and was generally of very nice workmanship as well as the projecting front of the pulpit." A spire about one hundred feet high was added to the church sometime after 1753. It is believed that the weathercock, purchased in London, was placed upon the spire at this time. Bailey's Dictionary, 1737, says : "The cock is generally placed on the tops of steeples in England, and is called the weathercock."
This second meeting house was used for nearly a century, having been sold and moved away in the fall
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1.
CHURCH AND TOWN HALL, HADLEY
of 1808. George Whitefield preached in this meeting house on one occasion in 1740. Judd in his History of Hadley, referring to Whitefield's visit, observes, "It has been said that when he preached in Hadley, his voice was heard in Hatfield." Whitefield was not allowed to preach in Hatfield, but many of the people of that place went to Northampton and Hadley to hear him.
The present house of worship in Hadley dates from 1808 and was erected near the site of the second meeting house. The only part of the second church used in the new building was the weathercock, which was regilded and mounted in its place. The architect of the third house is unknown. The steeple was patterned after that of the North Church, Boston, on which the lantern was hung out for Paul Revere, when about to take his famous ride to Lexington "through every Middlesex village and farm."
The chairman of the building committee was once a lawyer in Boston and the contractor was a Boston man. The influence of Sir Christopher Wren is seen in the tower of the church.
The writer of this sketch does not deem it neces- sary in the treatment of his theme to give an account of the difficulties and differences, which resulted in the moving of the meeting house from its ancient site to the present situation on Middle street and the building of a second house of worship by the occupants of West street. The bitter contention, described by one writer as "The Feud of the Streets," has subsided, and more than a score of years ago the meeting house on West street ceased to be used for religious purposes and most of the attendants joined forces with the church on Middle street.
Let it suffice to say that the meeting house began quite a long journey in the fall of 1841. It was not until sometime in January of the next year that it was
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set upon its present site on Middle street. Extensive alterations were made at this time, again a Boston contractor having been engaged. Dr. F. H. Smith, in a paper read at the one hundredth anniversary of the building of the third meeting house, says: "After having been placed on this spot where it now is the house suffered a complete remodeling. Gallery, pews, and pulpit were taken out. Five years later the lower story was divided into two rooms by a partition. In 1868 and 1869 very extensive improvements were made upon the building. The steeple was newly timbered and a new bell deck constructed. I do not know whether the ceiling was in its present vaulted position in the original building of one hundred years ago or not. A cornice across the eastern end of the interior and the recess behind the pulpit were removed at the time of remodeling in 1868 and 1869, and a new platform and pulpit were built." In 1902, during the pastorate of Rev. Edward E. Keedy, a handsome pipe organ was installed in the church.
The Hadley meeting house is a veritable master- piece of Colonial architecture. The beautifully pro- portioned spire with its three tastefully ornamented architectural forms, each a little varied from the others, the delicately wrought hand-carving about the cornice, and "the quaint but graceful windows lighting the lower and upper vestibules," give to the structure a most dignified appearance.
The town has had no more heroic soul in its long history than Rev. John Russell, who brought the first settlers with him from Connecticut in 1659. He it was who bravely harbored the "Regicides." The well known historian of the Connecticut valley, George Sheldon, says of this "greatest hero of Hadley :" "Through the anxious days and lingering nights of more than ten years, he bravely stood within a hand's
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breadth of the gates of ignominious death. Month after month, summer and winter, year after year, zealously watching and guarding his trust, John Russell was virtually a prisoner within his own hamlet. Under his very rooftree he was secreting Edward Whalley and William Goffe, two of the patriot judges who condemned to the scaffold that misguided and perfidi- ous representative of the 'divine rights of kings,' Charles I, of England. These two men were now proscribed; a price was set upon their heads, and swift retribution awaited any who might relieve or conceal them."
The weathercock, which surmounts the steeple of the meeting house, is loved and admired by all the people of Hadley. The following lines are taken from a poem, "The Hadley Weathercock," written by Julia Taft Bayne, wife of a former pastor of the church :
"On Hadley steeple proud I sit, Steadfast and true, I never flit, Summer and winter, night and day, The merry winds around me play, And far below my gilded feet
The generations come and go, In one unceasing ebb and flow, Year after year in Hadley street.
I nothing care, I only know, God sits above, He wills it so;
While roundabout and roundabout and roundabout I go,
The way o' the wind, the changing wind, the way o' the wind to show."
For more than one hundred and fifty years the weathercock has looked down from his lofty perch upon the streets and homes of Hadley.
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CHURCH AND OLD ELM, HATFIELD. ABOUT 1860
Sketch of the Hatfield Church
T HE Congregational church in Hatfield, Massa- chusetts, is a subject well adapted to awaken interest in all who love New England insti- tutions and ways. At the time of its organization there were only three other churches in the Connecti- cut valley in Massachusetts, the others being Spring- field, organized in 1637; Hadley, organized in 1659; Northampton, organized in 1661.
In the admirable work, "A History of Hatfield," by Daniel White Wells and Reuben Field Wells, it is stated that the exact date of the organization of the church in Hatfield is problematical. The writers evi- dently inclined to the belief that the church was organ- ized as early as 1670. The pastor, Rev. Hope Atherton, was ordained May 10, 1670, and it seems altogether probable that he was ordained over the church in Hatfield. For almost two hundred and fifty years it has been the only Protestant church in the town and during all that time the town has escaped the mis- fortune of having too many churches or being divided by sectarianism.
The Hatfield church has enjoyed the ministry of several eminent divines. Rev. William Williams served the church from 1686 to 1741, fifty five years. Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, who was ordained as colleague to Mr. Williams in 1739, served as minister of the church forty one years. Rev. Joseph Lyman, D. D., who was ordained in 1772, continued as minister until 1828, fifty six years. Rev. John M. Greene, D. D., the friend and adviser of Sophia Smith, founder of Smith College, was pastor of the Hatfield church from 1857 to 1868.
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Rev. Robert M.Woods, D. D., who was ordained over the church in 1877, continued as pastor until his death in 1909, a period of thirty two years. Dr. Woods was acting pastor for the year previous to his installation. These five ministers together gave the church almost two hundred years of service. It is not remarkable under the circumstances that the church became stable and influential. Such a church endears itself to all the members of the community. It is so intimately asso- ciated with the lives and fortunes of the people that it becomes an object of love and veneration.
The Hatfield church has the distinction of having had in its membership Sophia Smith, the founder of Smith College, and of having had for its pastor the Rev. John M. Greene, D. D., Miss Smith's closest adviser at the time she decided to devote her fortune to the founding of the college for women in North- ampton, Massachusetts.
The building of the first meeting house in Hat- field was begun in 1668 and services of worship were held in the house that year, although it was not com- pleted until later. It stood in the middle of the street at a point a little below the site of the present church. It was thirty feet square and had a "four- sided roof flat on top." It was without glass in the windows and there was no way of heating the building.
The second meeting house was erected in 1699 and stood on, or near, the site of the first building. It faced east and west and had galleries, a turret and bell. There was no way of heating this house. It must have been regarded at the time as a worthy structure, for it evidently served to some extent as a model for some other houses of worship built in the same period. The edifices erected about this time in Deerfield and Westfield, Massachusetts, were of "Ye bigness of Hatfield meeting house."
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PAGE FROM SERMON OF REV. JOSEPH LYMAN, D. D.
SOPHIA SMITH, FOUNDER OF SMITH COLLEGE
The third meeting house was erected in 1750, on a site a little south of the former houses, and faced north and south. It was fifty six feet long, forty five feet wide, and had a belfry and tower with Gothic points. Stoves were placed in the vestibule of this house and pipes extended through the auditorium. This arrangement was a compromise as there was opposition to having stoves in the house of worship. The building was sold to the late Elijah Bardwell, who moved it on to his premises, where it still stands. It is the red building in the rear of Mr. F. H. Bardwell's residence, and is used for a barn. It was in this house that the representatives of fifty towns met in the August convention that preceded the Shays' Rebellion and drew up their list of twenty five "grievances."
The late Samuel D. Partridge, in his "Reminis- cences," states that this third meeting house had a tower built up from the ground, surmounted by a tall spire, on the top of which was a brass rooster. He also states that about 1850 the belfry and spire were taken down and the bell transferred to a tower erected on the other end of the building. At this time, according to Mr. Partridge, the old pews were taken out, slips put in instead, and a platform pulpit substi- tuted for the high pulpit.
The story of the building of the present house of worship has never been told in print, so far as the writer of this sketch knows, and is now given because it affords a fine illustration of the spirit and manner in which many of the old time meeting houses were erected.
The parish records of the time are complete and furnish the facts here stated. One Ephraim L. Has- tings certified that he had posted a warrant on one of the south doors of the meeting house, calling for a meeting of the First Parish at the Town Hall, January
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15, 1849, at six o'clock, to see what means the parish would take to build a new meeting house and dispose of the old one. At the parish meeting of the date named it was voted to build a new house of worship, provided sufficient funds could be raised by the sale of slips. J. D. Billings, E. Bardwell, Jr., and Erastus Cowles were appointed a committee to see if the necessary funds could be obtained. Justin Wait, George Wait, Josiah Brown, John A. Billings and Jonathan Porter were chosen a committee to procure plans, estimate the expense of the new building and find a site.
At an adjourned meeting held January 31, 1849, Alonzo Parker, of Conway, brought forward a plan, drawn by himself, for the new house. It was an- nounced that a site for the house of worship and for horse-sheds could be bought of the estate of Benjamin Smith, deceased, for the sum of $400. Instructions were given to the building committee at this meeting to examine the meeting house in Springfield and the house in Meriden, Connecticut, and any other houses of worship they might think best to inspect. There was also talk about a vestry and measures for warming the house. It was voted to purchase the proposed site for the sum named by the committee. The name of George W. Hubbard appears in the records as parish clerk at this time.
February 5, 1849, the building committee reported a plan for the meeting house, calling for a structure eighty feet long, including a portico in front of seven feet, supported by four Ionic columns, and a vestibule of ten feet. The width of the building proposed was fifty feet, and according to the plan there were to be seventy six pews on the lower floor and twenty in the gallery, with suitable seats for the accommodation of the choir. The pews in the new house were appraised at $5,880.
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THE FOUR IONIC COLUMNS
REV. JOHN M. GREENE, D. D. The Originator of the idea of Smith College
A vote to build the house according to the plan pro- posed was passed. Nine pews were reserved for the use of the parish, one of these being for the pastor's family.
The pews were appraised at sums varying from $12 up to $135. Free pews were not the fashion in that day. In February, 1849, at a parish meeting, there was a sale of choice of pews. The highest price paid for a choice was twenty dollars, Moses Warner paying that sum. Sophia and Harriet Smith paid the same amount; J. D. Billings paid fifteen dollars. The lowest price paid for a choice was one dollar and fifty cents. At a later sale Samuel Graves paid eighteen dollars. At a meeting of the parish held February 19, 1849, it was reported that the amount raised from sale of pews amounted to $5,839.25. Eleven pews appraised at $525 were left unsold.
At the same meeting it was voted that the com- mittee chosen to obtain a plan proceed to procure various master builders' proposals and erect a meeting house according to the plan already adopted by the parish. Jonathan Porter and John A. Billings resigned from the committee, and Elijah Bardwell, Jr., and Alpheus Cowles were chosen in their stead.
At an adjourned meeting of the parish, March 12, 1849, Captain Isaac Damon, it is recorded, came into the meeting and "gave a bill to build the house for $4,750." The contract was awarded to him and the building committee instructed to superintend the erection of the new house.
The writer is unable to ascertain from the records what plan it was that was adopted at the parish meet- ing February 5, 1849. January 31, Alonzo Parker, of Conway, presented a plan for the new house drawn by himself. No description of this plan is given in the records, unless it be the one given in the record of the meeting of February 5th. The fact that Captain
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Damon came into the meeting of the parish held March 12, and was awarded the contract for the new building, leads the writer to believe that it was his influence that determined the plan for the new house. Damon had for many years been a leading architect and builder of western Massachusetts. He resided near by in Northampton and must have been well acquainted with the members of the Hatfield parish. The meeting house which he built in Hatfield has certain features which suggest the Damon style of building. The corner stone of the new house was laid May 23, 1849. The record is as follows :
"May 23d, 1849. The corner stone of the new meeting house was this day laid with appropriate ceremonies: an address was delivered on the occasion by the Rev. Dr. Woodbridge of Hadley. Attest.
Geo. W. Hubbard, Clerk."
At a parish meeting held August 27, 1849, the matter of "Fresco painting" for the meeting house was discussed and a committee appointed to see if the sum of three hundred dollars could be raised for the purpose. October 16, 1849, a meeting of the parish was held to consider the matter of purchasing a new bell and disposing of the old one.
January 28, 1850, there was a report made to the parish by the building committee, showing that $6,665.13 had been expended in the construction of the new house and $400 for the site. The sum of $5,880 had been realized from the sale of pews and $484.25 from bids for choice of pews, leaving a deficit of $235. At a meeting of the parish held January 29, 1851, it was voted that the meeting house should not be opened for any other purposes than religious meetings and rehearsals of the choir, except by permission of the parish given by vote at a legal parish meeting.
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It is interesting to learn that one of the articles in the warrant for the parish meeting held March 25, 1850, called upon the parish to take action in regard to the elm tree in front of the meeting house. In spite of this apparent purpose to remove the old tree, it was still standing at the close of the Civil war. The town clerk, Mr. L. H. Kingsley, thinks it was removed about 1865. He has in his possession a cane made from the wood of the tree. As may be seen from the accompanying illustration it was a noble old tree. It is said to have been thirty three feet around the base of the trunk. In Memorial Hall is the great iron key of the first meeting house. It is nearly seven inches in length.
From the parish records of 1849 and 1850 it is learned that the women of the town were active in raising funds for the furnishing of the new meeting house, no small matter, considering the size and char- acter of the building.
The fathers are entitled to much credit for the house of worship which they erected in 1849. The building is well proportioned, the tapering spire grace- ful and well adapted to the rest of the structure, and the portico with its four Ionic columns beautiful and impressive. The entire structure is splendidly adapted to the surroundings. It seems a pity that the white paint, so intimately associated with the old New England meeting house, should have been discarded by the present generation. Here and there in the Connecticut valley some local painter, void of the historical sense, has been allowed to cover up the white paint, so characteristic of the old meeting houses, with a color utterly inharmonious with the associations of the building.
In 1867 extensive changes were made in the pres- ent house of worship, the structure of 1849, a vestry
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being constructed and an organ loft built. The parlors in the rear of the church were built in 1891. In 1892 extensive alterations were made in the interior of the church. The clock was placed in the steeple in 1898. In 1909 a beautiful window was placed in the east end of the church in memory of Rev. Robert M. Woods, D. D.
The bell is the third one used. The first one weighed about nine hundred pounds and was used from the beginning of the eighteenth century until the last quarter of the nineteenth. In 1876 it was cracked by being rung violently in celebration of the advent of July Fourth of that year. It was recast and enlarged, but was cracked again July Fourth of the next year. It was again recast. It weighs eighteen hundred pounds. No music is sweeter to the church going people of Hatfield than the sound of this bell. Its tones are fixed fast in the boyhood memories of the writer of this sketch, and it is with love and gratitude that he has written the story of the fourth meeting house in Hatfield. This was the meeting house of his early life. It was in this house that he made his first public confession of Christ and united with the church, just before leaving home for college. Here it was in earlier days that love of country was fostered in his breast by the patriotic discourses of the pastor, Rev. John M. Greene, preached during the Civil war, and here on the Sunday after President Lincoln's assassin- ation he saw the flag of his country draped and hung behind the pulpit, and heard the preacher with righteous indignation denounce all those whose sentiments or deeds had led up to the terrible event of the death of Abraham Lincoln.
President Timothy Dwight journeyed through Hatfield in the forepart of the last century and wrote his impressions of the place in his "Travels." "The
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THE WOODS MEMORIAL WINDOW
inhabitants," he writes, "have for a long period been conspicious for uniformity of character. They have less intercourse with their neighbors, than those of most other places. An air of silence and retirement appears everywhere." He expresses the opinion that their seclusion and devotion to daily business con- tributed much to their prosperity. He adds, "The people of Hatfield are good farmers. Their fields are cultivated, and their cattle fattened in a superior manner."
Without doubt the great educational institution for women at Northampton, Smith College, owes its origin indirectly to the Hatfield church, of which Sophia Smith, the founder of the college, was a member. Her mind and spirit were moulded by the church, which exerted a strong influence over her throughout her life.
Rev. Irving A. Flint, was installed pastor of the church, February 23, 1911, president M. L. Burton, of Smith College, preaching the sermon.
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FIRST MEETING HOUSE OF SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, HOLYOKE, MASS. Edifice dedicated July 27. 1853. Corner of Dwight and High streets. Architect, Henry Austin, New Haven, Conn. Use of the building discontinued the last Sunday of 1884
Meeting Houses in South Hadley, Massachusetts
ASSOCIATIONS OF MARY LYON AND HER INSTITUTION
T seemed to the writer that no one to whom he could turn for aid in telling the story of the meeting houses in South Hadley and Mary Lyon's associa- tion with the second and third of these houses would be more competent to render him the assistance needed than the South Hadley pastor, Rev. Jesse Gilman Nichols, A. M. He accordingly invited Mr. Nichols to prepare the desired sketch, the result being the appreciative and valuable article below, printed ver- batim as written by Mr. Nichols.
ALTHOUGH the town of Hadley made grant of pasture land south of Holyoke range as early as 1675, it was not until 1720 that settlers began to make their homes there. In the face of determined oppo- sition on the part of the older people, who tried to discourage them by urging that the southern slopes of the mountains were but the coverts of bears, wolves and panthers, and that the thin sandy soil of the plains would furnish bare subsistence, a small party made their way over the mountain pass through the wilder- ness. The seriousness of this venture is shown by the fact that before their departure the parents tearfully invoked the blessings of Heaven upon their children.
In those days attendance upon public worship was compulsory, and the church authorities were relentless toward those who were able bodied; no one could indulge in unnecessary absence. No exception was
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made for the new settlers on the south side of the mountain. ' On the Sabbath they followed the narrow Indian trail eight miles to the meeting house, and after the services were over retraced their steps. This weekly journey became so irksome even to the most hardy of the settlers that they petitioned the General Court at Boston in 1727 to be set off as a separate precinct with power to build a meeting house and settle a minister. The Court granted this petition on condition that the precinct contain forty families within two years, and that they settle a learned and orthodox minister within three years. The Court granted a second petition in 1728, provided they build a meeting house and settle a minister within three years. Upon a third petition in 1732 the Court extended the time limit two years.
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