USA > Vermont > Bennington County > Manchester > Manchester, Vermont : a pleasant land among the mountains, 1761-1961 > Part 6
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A number of the ladies of the congregation, headed by Mrs. Ahiman L. Miner, had an ambitious thought-a white marble church which would stand forever! With their typical driving New England energy they again put forth all their efforts to accomplish this purpose, but alas! they could not quite reach their goal. One day it was announced that the Cone and Burton grocery store was for sale, located between the Equinox House and what used to be the Orvis home. The store sold almost every- thing needed-sugar, calico, molasses, cider, fodder, shoes, hairpins, etc.
The price was right, and best of all, possible to achieve. Now came the friction! The "white marblites" against the "grocery storites" "fought the good fight" .. . but it was a losing battle. ... The grocery store was bought in 1908 and moved across the street, now its present location, and rebuilt [1910]. After the first service .. . someone asked Mrs. Miner how she liked the new chapel. Whereupon she remarked, "I declare, I don't know whether to offer up a prayer or ask for a yard of calico!" However, her children and grandchildren were christened there and the chapel always remained her life's work and greatest interest.
Now to many of us who have the good fortune to live in this beautiful
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little village in the Green Mountains and even to strangers in our town, it is a haven of peaceful simplicity and will always remain in our hearts as our beloved St. John's.
The present parish serves an area from Wells to Weston and from Danby to Sunderland and includes responsibility for St. Paul's church in Wells.
The following have been rectors in Manchester :
James Nichols 1785-1786
Daniel Barber 1790-1794
Abraham Bronson 1802-1825, 1825-1833
Freeman Lane 1834-1835
Alexander H. Cull 1838
John T. Sabine 1839-1843
Watson Monroe 1844
Henry Blackaller 1844-1851
J. B. Pratt 1853-1855
Calvin R. Batchelder 1857-1864
Over a twenty-year period following 1864 resident pastors were in Manchester only temporarily. Dr. and Mrs. E. L. Wyman substituted with lay services.
George Weeks 1865
Germont Graves 1869
George Eastman 1875-1877
John Randall 1877-1883 Arlington pastor with oversight of parish.
Francis Gilliat 1884 Arlington pastor with oversight of parish.
James C. Flanders 1855-1889 Lay reader ordained during pastorate.
Clarence M. Conant 1890-1891
Elmer Shoemaker 1891-1892
James C. Flanders 1892-1895
Charles S. Lewis 1895-1897
Robert V. K. Harris 1897-1899
John Brown 1899-1902
Hamilton MacNeil 1903-1907
W. H. Bamford 1908-1922
William J. Brown 1922-1941
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CHURCHES IN MANCHESTER
Walter Hendricks 1941-1943 A. R. E. Green 1944-1950
Carroll Simcox 1950-1955
Robert L. Clayton 1955
§ Church of the Disciples of Christ
IN 1829 a group of fifteen members headed by Elder Peter Worden Reynolds and his family left the Baptist church at Factory Point to organize a Disciples church or Society of Campbellites in East Man- chester. Though rejecting the name of "Campbellites," the de- nomination was begun by Alexander Campbell, an Irish-American theologian who lived 1788-1866.
Among those in the Manchester group were Oreb and Arad Taylor and their families, all of whom lived in the lane leading east from the Peru road, and the Baldwins and Hogebooms who lived on the east road from Barnumville. Elder Reynolds, the unsalaried pastor, made his living mainly from free-will offerings and from his work as carpenter and cabinetmaker. Believers in baptism by im- mersion, the Disciples held their rites in a pool below the sawmill, long known as Dean's mill, and in the brook near the lane close to the Reynolds' home.
About 1845 the Disciples built a church which stood on the right- hand corner at the junction of routes 11-30 and the East Manches- ter road. It has sometimes been referred to as the "White Meeting House." The society, never large, disbanded shortly after 1862 and sold the church to the town for a schoolhouse with the proviso that it always be used for religious services when desired. During an attic cleaning of the school years later, baptismal garments of the Disciples-heavy, black woolens weighted with wires-were dis- covered.
As late as 1870 another group holding views in regard to the second advent of Christ organized and used the schoolhouse for services. William Blanchard of Chittenden, an Adventist preacher, often ministered to this church until it, too, became defunct.
Some time later, the eighth district schoolhouse, as it was called, was moved south on the East Manchester road. By 1947 it had been
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remodeled and was considered one of the town's most modern school buildings. Unfortunately, in December 1947, all but the walls burned to the ground. It has since been made into a private home.
§ The Roman Catholic Church
IT Is difficult to establish when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was first offered in Manchester.
When the Diocese of Boston was created in 1810, Vermont came under its jurisdiction. The venerable Father Matignon of Boston visited Burlington in 1815 and found some 100 Catholic Canadians without church or priest. Though Father Migneault of Chambly, Canada, and Father James Fitton of Boston did pioneer work among early Vermont Catholics, it was the Rev. Jeremiah O'Calla- ghan who was the first resident priest. He was sent to Burlington in 1831, where he remained until 1854, "his influence and pastoral zeal radiating far and wide." In 1843 Vermont Catholics numbered 9,440, but the building of railroads, the development of the marble industry, and the establishment of numerous public works were bringing a steady increase to the state.
The Rev. John D. Daley, believed to have been the first to cele- brate the Mass at the Court House in Manchester, commenced to care for missions in southern Vermont in 1837. Before the town had a Catholic church, the Court House was often used for con- fessions, and for special holiday services. Priests who traveled here especially for Easter and Christmas were Fathers Druon, Pichart, Boylan, Cloarec, Fitzgerald, and Glynn.
In 1868 Father T. J. Gaffney became parish priest at Dorset and Arlington. He also took charge of missions at Wallingford, Mount Holly, and Manchester. The Manchester Journal in 1906 said, "This post was a difficult one, entailing long trips from one town to an- other in all kinds of weather and Father Tom, passing through Manchester of a Sunday morning behind his fast stepping trotter, was a familiar sight to the older residents of the town." Father Frederick Paquet traveled here from Arlington between 1890 and 1896 to assume charge of the parish.
The first Catholic families in Manchester as a rule attended Mass
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in East Dorset, which was the center for all Catholics living between Rutland and Bennington. That church was established in 1853. Among those early settlers were John Woods, John Sheehan, Levi Savoie, James Hanley, Barney Howley, Timothy Ryan, Daniel Cof- fee, and Martin McCarthy. Some 250 Catholics then represented twenty-four families. It was a familiar sight to see special carriages taking Irish maidservants from Manchester hotels and summer cot- tages to church at East Dorset on Sunday morning.
An edifice for Manchester Catholics was probably being consid- ered as early as the summer of 1893, as in August 1895 a "Third Annual Pic-Nic and Athletic Games" was being held at Munson's Grove for the "Benefit of the New Catholic Church."
In 1896 the Rev. John Dwyer arrived as first resident pastor. He lived in the home of a parishioner while construction of the church was undertaken on the corner of Seminary and Franklin Avenues in the Village. The cornerstone was laid by the Very Rev. Thomas Lynch, Vicar General. On September 3, 1896 Father Glynn celebrated the first Mass in St. Paul's church which was con- sidered "a beautiful structure, finely furnished." The Rev. D. J. O'Sullivan preached the first sermon. The Sisters of St. Joseph from Bennington came to the parish weekly to teach catechism. In the fall of 1898 a house was built for Father Dwyer on Franklin Avenue next to the church.
The parish took so much pride in its new buildings that by 1907 all indebtedness had been paid off, including the expense of an or- gan. Much money was earned by the very popular "Equinox Min- strels" held annually in "St. Paul's Society Hall." Credit should also be given to Father Dwyer, who not only supervised the build- ing of the new church, but as the pastor, was "greatly loved and re- spected by his parishioners and useful in the community."3 He was transferred to Ludlow in 1905 from his Manchester and Arlington charges.
The Rev. Bernard Kelly, who ministered here from 1906 until 1916, carried through the original plan to add an extensive sacristy. Construction was begun in April 1911 by the contractor, Hiram Eggleston. In June of that year St. Paul's received a bell, the gift of
3. Manchester Journal, January 1905.
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Miss Mary B. McKee of Baltimore, Maryland, in memory of her brother, James. The bell, product of the celebrated Meneeley Com- pany of Troy, New York, weighed 750 pounds and was named ""Bernard" in a bell blessing ceremony performed by the Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Joseph J. Rice.
The only other major renovations inside St. Paul's and on the grounds have been done under the supervision of the Rev. Donald C. Kelly, who came to Manchester in 1953.
Other pastors at St. Paul's church have been :
The Rev. James Thompson 1916-1917 The Rev. J. Maillett 1917-1926 The Rev. Robert F. Joyce 1926-1927 (now Bishop of the Diocese of Burlington) The Rev. P. A. Barry 1927-1928 The Rev. Charles Regan 1928-1934 The Rev. John Ready 1934-1953
In the early spring of 1924 a group of Manchester women dis- cussed the possibility of forming an organization to parallel and co- operate with the Knights of Columbus. Mrs. Mary E. Malone, as general chairman, secured within a few weeks fifty-nine applications for membership. Court St. Rita number 894, Catholic Daughters of America, was instituted by the officers of Court St. Andrew, Ben- nington, on June 24, 1924. The first initiation, with Mrs. Malone as Grand Regent, was in June 1925 at the Equinox House in Manches- ter. There are at present over 100 members of Court St. Rita.
The Holy Name Society was formed in St. Paul's parish in 1957 with eighty-two members. The work of the organization is primarily spiritual.
§ The Methodist Church
THOUGH early records of the local Methodist church are incom- plete, Manchester first appeared in the minutes of the Burlington District, Vermont Conference, of which it was a part, in 1811. The Rev. Phineas Rice was pastor. The Troy Conference was not set up until 1832. Jacob Beeman ministered from 1833 to 1834 to the spiritual needs of the few Manchester Methodists, who were still not strong or numerous enough to organize a society or own a church.
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In 1859 the charge was with Danby and for several years after 1860 it was with East Arlington, as it was again later in 1936 with Sandgate and Arlington proper. From 1871 to 1875 the charge was with East Dorset. Local Methodists attended irregular services which were held in the public hall on the upper floor of Adams Hall at Manchester Center (Battenkill Locker 1961). Warren A. Adams was listed as the first official member in 1860 by the pastor, D. W. Clemans.
Finally some of the prominent Methodists led by James E. Mc- Naughton of Barnumville became determined to complete a society organization and erect a church. The lot was purchased for $500 from Colonel Mason S. Colburn. Not one of the trustees thought it possible that $1,500 could be raised, but within a year twice that amount had been subscribed and collected. McNaughton, W. A. Adams, and Andrus Bowen composed the building committee and R. Cook was employed as master builder.
The wooden church with a tin roof was built in 1883. Its outside dimensions were fifty-two feet long by thirty-two feet wide. The tower was square and forty-five feet high. The Manchester Journal said, "If the height had been a few feet more, the proportions would have been better perhaps, but a high church is not the thing for this breezy country."
The audience room seated 200 and the vestry was furnished in chestnut and black walnut presenting "a neat and attractive ap- pearance . . . and at a cost of $3000 ... a marvel of cheapness." All the local pastors participated in the dedication ceremonies November 15, 1883. The Rev. S. M. Kean, D.D., of North Adams was principal speaker.
The parsonage was built in 1884. For many years the church was in a "reasonably prosperous state" though the pastor was almost entirely dependent on "donation parties" for a living. In 1887 the Manchester Journal appealed to the public to support the Rev. G. A. Kerr by attending a church supper in his behalf:
Many kind favors have been bestowed by the liberal hearted people of Manchester upon the little Methodist society of Manchester Center which has enabled them to continue their meetings and pay their preacher the moderate salary promised, and without which it would have been very burdensome if not impossible to support preaching.
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The Rev. Kerr received $112.00 from the supper.
An earlier minister, the Rev. J. C. Butler, was not so fortunate ! In the Whipple Collection is an engraved invitation for Mr. Butler :
There will be a donation party and oyster supper at Adams Hall, Factory Point Thursday evening, Dec. 21, 1869 for the benefit of the Rev. J. C. Butler. All are invited to attend. Per order of the Prudential Committee.
After the occasion, the Rev. Mr. Butler inscribed his invitation -"Was a failure."
On October 22, 1936 the Methodist church celebrated the 125th anniversary of Methodism in Manchester. Active membership at this time numbered thirty-three. Unfortunately, one of the more wealthy benefactors of the church died in 1937 and the organization proceeded to lose strength quickly. Winter services were first can- celled to avoid extra expense. Finally on May 7, 1940 five of the six trustees met at the home of Harry L. Adams with the district super- intendent of the Troy Conference, E. F. Tripp. Mr. and Mrs. Ad- ams, Mrs. Lester Farnum, W. M. Hitchcock, and S. B. Taylor were present. Mrs. Emma Willard was absent.
With reluctance and sorrow they dispensed with the remaining vestiges of the once thriving church. The baptismal bowl and church hymnals were given to the East Arlington Methodist church and the pews and pulpit furniture to Stamford church, Schenectady, New York. Harry Adams acted as agent for the sale of the parsonage to retired pastor E. J. Goodell, and the sale of the church proper. It has since been used as a music studio, art gallery, and funeral home.
Methodist ministers in Manchester have been:
D. W. Clemans 1860
W. A. Miller 1862 Hubbard Farrar
Mr. Harroway 1863
J. C. Butler 1869
C. H. Dunton 1870
W. W. Foster (first recorded resident pastor-was here six months) S. Gardner 1877 John Langford 1882-1884
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CHURCHES IN MANCHESTER
John E. Metcalfe 1884-1887
George A. Kerr £ 1887-1889
S. J. Robinson 1889-1890 J. M. Appleman 1890-1894
H. L. Kelton 1894-1896
C. A. Bradford
1897-1901
W. D. Spencer 1901-1902
C. T. Edwards 1902-1905
S. J. Robinson 1905-1907
E. S. Morey 1907-1912
G. W. Parker 1912-1914
W. J. Chapman 1914-1916
L. D. Penniman 1916-1917
Allan L. Dodd 1917-1920
A. J. Hutchinson 1920-1925
B. F. Ciegler 1925-1926
C. N. Curtis 1926-1927
E. J. Goodell 1928-1929
Kingman Golledge 1930-1934
George M. Folsom 1934-1937
§ Israel Congregation
THE first Hebrew congregation in Manchester was formed in Oc- tober 1921. Religious services were held in the Colonial Theater building at Manchester Depot, the Rev. Kaplan of Troy officiating. Officers elected were H. H. Levin, president; Samuel Greenberg, vice-president; A. Levin, treasurer; N. Kamber, secretary. L. Cohen and N. Kamenetzky were chosen trustees. Among the women of the congregation Mrs. I. Greenberg was elected president; Mrs. H. H. Levin, vice-president; and Mrs. L. Cohen, secretary.
Subsequent places of worship were the Odd Fellows Hall at Manchester Depot and the Opera House at Manchester Center.
The first synagogue in the history of Manchester was opened the week of October 5, 1948, as members of the Jewish faith celebrated Rosh Hashonoh, the opening of the year 5709. The place of wor- ship was established by Mr. and Mrs. Nahum Kamber on the same premises as their home and business at Manchester Depot. Over fifty residents of the town and visitors congregated at sundown on that Tuesday evening for the ceremonial blowing of the sacramental
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ram's horn (Shofar) by Noah ("Pop") Kamenetzky, then a patri- archal figure in Manchester. Services were conducted by Samuel Greenberg of Manchester Center assisted by Max Cohen of Rutland and Manchester, president of the services. Friends of all faiths were invited to the new synagogue during Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, for the singing of the Kol Nidre.
Inter-faith co-operation has always been encouraged by the Israel Congregation, now presided over by Nahum Kamber. Though he officiates only on high holy days, the synagogue is kept in use by the Israel Congregation as a repository for their Torah and other religious relics. The richly ornate Torah (handwrought scroll given to Moses on Mt. Sinai) used in the Manchester synagogue was purchased by the local congregation.
CHAPTER VIII
Manchester Cemeteries
N EARLY all who died in Manchester during the first twenty-five years of its history sleep in unmarked graves. Many interments prior to 1791, however, were made in a burial ground provided for by the original Proprietors in the two- acre "meeting house plot" forty rods long by eight rods wide. This cemetery occupied space now covered by the Court House and that section of Union Street adjacent to it. Many who fought in the Revolution were buried there.
By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the burial ground, uneven with graves, was not only filled, but also sadly neglected. Though many small headstones still stood, recruiting officers re- moved them, leveling the ground into a parade when war fever was at its height in 1812. This saddened and horrified the older citizens and the remains of many belonging to more wealthy families were disinterred and placed in a new burial ground at the south end of the Village (Dellwood). In digging the deep drain for the opening of Union Street and also foundations for the various buildings (school- house, tinshop, courthouse, etc.) that have since occupied the hal- lowed ground, many bones have been found. The latest discovery was in 1937 during an excavation in the Court House basement.
Manchester has few private burial grounds. The largest and best tended is the Roberts family cemetery located in a pasture behind the "Old Homestead" of the Roberts family in the north part of town. Protected by a stone wall and fencing are the graves and headstones of General Martin Roberts, his wife, and various mem- bers of their family.
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A similarly protected cemetery is that of the Oreb Taylor family in East Manchester. This ground is in fairly good condition, but is somewhat inaccessibly located off routes 11-30 behind the Bonny Peter Motel.
The Purdy family cemetery, located in the south part of Man- chester in the area once called "Purdyville" and now called "Purdy Hill," is no longer recognizable. It is fortunate that an earlier his- torian copied the headstones. The few remaining lie flat in the ground among weeds just north of the stone wall bordering the "Three Brooks" property on the eastern edge of U.S. Rte. 7. Buried here were: "Benjamin Purdy, 1719-1808; Deborah Purdy, his wife, 1726-1804; Sally [wife?] of John Palmer, 1777-1794; Sarah, daugh- ter of Dr. Duncan Dunn, Died 1793 ae 11." Parts of gravestones marked "S. Roberts" and "J. Roberts" can be found as part of the stone wall.
Two family cemeteries are known to be located on the western edge of Manchester. The Seeker family cemetery, difficult to find, is supposedly in Beartown Notch in the gap between Mount Equi- nox and Bear Mountain. The other, containing members of the Lee, Logan, and Mallet families, has apparently been plowed under. It was located in what is known as the "Munson Pasture" on the side of Equinox north of the Van Buskirk (Callanan) meadows. A third cemetery, also on the slopes of Equinox, is said to lie beyond the Dyer house and quarry west of the Wilcox dairy farm. Nothing is known of its condition.
According to legend, an unmarked Indian burial ground exists in the area of the "Dugway" on route 30 to Dorset.
The Factory Point Cemetery on "Meeting House Hill" was given in 1791 to the Baptist Society for a burial place to be located adja- cent to the Baptist meeting house. The meeting house was situated on the westerly side of the present cemetery ground and at that time, on the main highway. (The street past the Episcopal church was not in existence until later.) Donors of the burial ground were Isaac and Jeremiah Whelpley and Timothy Soper.
By 1860 not only had the fences become dilapidated, but the cemetery was being used as a sheep pasture. This situation was soon rectified by an outraged citizenry. Factory Point Cemetery is now cared for by a board of commissioners with town money. In
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1938 when all lots were reported full, the commissioners were in- structed to purchase additional land. It seemed more practical to build a retaining wall on the western edge of the cemetery. This work, long recommended by the State Highway Department, was done in 1940. Not only did this widen the road and eliminate a dangerous curve, but it also made considerable land available for cemetery purposes. With funds left by Mrs. Clara C. Howard, new fences and a gate were erected in 1939. The commissioners pur- chased land on the eastern side of the new section of the cemetery and developed a portion on the south side in 1951.
Dellwood Cemetery in the Village, which began with two acres to care for the overflow from the burial ground on the Village green, is considered one of the most beautiful in the state. Between 1850 and 1860 it was enlarged to take in ten acres and also a lot with a small dwelling north of the cemetery which was later replaced by the superintendent's stone cottage. Donors of this land were Mark Skinner of Chicago and Helmus M. Wells of New York, who pre- sented it to an association which would improve it. On November 9, 1865 the Dellwood Cemetery Association was incorporated by Act of the Legislature, the first officers being Augustus G. Clark, presi- dent, and S. G. Cone, secretary-treasurer.
About $6,000 was subscribed for beautification of the grounds, the design being laid out and supervised by Burton A. Thomas of Albany, New York. Dellwood, which Sarah Cleghorn found "more like an Italian garden than a village burying ground," was primarily Judge Skinner's gift to Manchester. Not only was it largely estab- lished by his means, but he gave frequent and careful attention to its supervision during his lifetime. His special gift to the corpora- tion in its early days was the beautiful main entrance adorned by choice Italian sculpture. One is the statue of "Mourning" and the other, a statue of Gabriel impersonating "Resurrection."
Mark Skinner was also responsible for the erection of a home for the superintendent and greenhouses in which to grow flowers and plants for the cemetery and for a regular florist trade. The Man- chester Journal noted April 11, 1901 that the cemetery, which usually shipped a large quantity of flowers, especially lilies, to the city for Easter, was losing "two or three hundred dollars ... owing to the lack of sunshine." Clifford B. Graham, the present superin-
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tendent, succeeded his father and has been at Dellwood for over thirty years.
In his will Judge Skinner endowed the cemetery with $10,000. He, his sons, and other members of the illustrious Skinner family now rest in Dellwood. The avenues and walks wind artistically over more elevated ground into the valley beneath and along the beauti- ful brook. Under a bluff, with a broad carriage way in front, is the receiving vault surmounted by bronze griffins. The grounds con- tinue to receive painstaking care.
A card index of headstones can be found in the town clerk's office. This index includes early Manchester people buried in the Dellwood and Factory Point Cemeteries as well as in several of the family plots.
CHAPTER IX
Education
§ The Public Schools
A N outstanding characteristic of English colonial settlement in America was early provision of educational and religious facilities in every community. Manchester was no exception. At least one school was here in 1776, as a road was laid out that year bordering the glebeland and making a turn from the east to the south "at the schoolhouse." Where the schoolhouse was is not clear, but it may have been in the vicinity of Way's Lane.
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