Dover, N.H. First Parish Church records, 1614-1862.
Scope and Contents
The Dover, N.H. First Parish Church records consist of administrative church records and correspondence from 1614-1862. The scope includes records of births, marriages, deaths, meeting minutes, financial records, and pew plans; letters by appointed clergymen, including Jeremy Belknap, Hubbard Winslow, and Asa A. Tufts, between congregations, and from parishioners wishing to leave the congregation. Microfilm materials duplicate some of the physical material but additional correspondence not present in the physical material are present on the microfilm.
Dates
- 1614-1862, 1967
Creator
- Belknap, Jeremy, 1744-1798 (Person)
Restrictions on Access
Access to this collection is unrestricted and open to the public.
Restrictions on Use
Items in this collection are subject to U.S. Copyright Law. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine the copyright status of collection items and to secure any permissions necessary for their reproduction and publication. Requests for permission to publish material must be discussed with the archivist or librarian.
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Historical note
Gathered in 1633, the First Parish Church in Dover is the oldest church in New Hampshire. The first permanent settlement in New Hampshire, the lands that would eventually become Dover were initially settled by a pair of fishmongers from London. In 1633, the land was bought by a group of English Puritans. Over the next 150 years, with the arrival of mills and other infrastructure, the small settlement grew in population, size and prosperity.
The settlement’s first church services were held on the last Sunday of October 1633 by Rev. Leverich at Dover Point; a year later the first meeting house was built on the same location. Little is known about the first meeting house except that it was made of mud and logs with a thatched roof and that it served the community’s purposes until 1658 when a new meeting house was erected on Dover Neck. The third meeting house was located on Pine Hill from 1710-1759. In 1758 the fourth meeting house, built out of wood, was constructed in Tuttle Square. Construction on the fifth, and final, meeting house, a new brick church building, was concluded with its dedication on December 31, 1829.
Rev. William Leverich was the first minister to hold church services in Dover in 1633 and is considered the founder of Mission and Action in Dover. Rev. Hanserd Knollys organized the First Parish Church as a religious organization in 1638. Rev. Jeremy Belknap, who wrote the three volume “History of New Hampshire” and founded the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1791, was the minister at the First Parish from 1769-1786. Rev. David Root was well-known for his opposition to slavery and his anti-slavery sermons, as was his successor Rev. Jeremiah S. Young, who on October 28, 1841 passed a resolution against slavery.
The First Parish Church joined the United Church of Christ in 1961 and in 1996 the name changed to First Parish Congregational Church in 1996. It is a member of the New Hampshire Conference, UCC and of the Carroll-Strafford Association. The First Parish Congregational Church continues to serve the community of Dover, New Hampshire, today.
Ministers
- William Leverich
- 1633-1635
- George Burdet
- 1637-1638
- Hanserd Knollys
- 1638-1640
- Thomas Larkham
- 1640-1642
- Daniel Maud
- 1642-1655
- John Reyner
- 1655-1669
- John Reyner, Jr.
- 1669-1676
- John Pike
- 1678-1710
- Nicholas Sever
- 1711-1715
- Jonathan Cushing
- 1717-1769
- Jeremy Belknap
- 1769-1786
- Robert Gray
- 1787-1805
- Caleb H. Shearman
- 1807-1812
- Joseph W. Clary
- 1812-1828
- Hubbard Winslow
- 1828-1831
- David Root
- 1833-1839
- Jeremiah S. Young
- 1839-1843
- Homer Barrows
- 1845-1852
- Benjamin F. Parsons
- 1853-1856
- Elias H. Richardson
- 1856-1863
- Avery S. Walker
- 1864-1868
- George B. Spalding
- 1869-1883
- George E. Hall
- 1884-1908
- Evarts W. Pond
- 1909-1912
- Walter A. Morgan
- 1913-1917
- Robert W. Coe
- 1918-1921
- Lewis E. Purdum
- 1921-1929
- David P. Hatch
- 1929-1938
- Ralph S. Huffer
- 1939-1965
- William W. Tucker
- 1965-1971
- L. Arthur Domingue
- 1972-1978
- William U. Conway
- 1978-1986
- J. E. Lane
- 1985-1987
- David L. Slater
- 1988-2009
- R. E. Staley
- 1988-1992
- J. G. Pirie
- 1993-1994
- R. L. Hirtle
- 1993-1994
- G. L. Crouch, Jr.
- 1994-1998
- K. Geuther
- 1998-2004
- J. G. Pirie
- 2000-2001
- A. Campbell
- 2001-2004
- N. M. Talbott
- 2004-2009
- J. Mcardle
- 2009-2010
- N. B. Bendroth
- 2009-2010
- J. W. Lynes
- 2011-2012
- M. S. Bennet
- 2012-2017
Extent
.83 Cubic Feet (2 boxes, 2 reels)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Gathered in 1633, the First Parish Church in Dover is the oldest church in New Hampshire. Rev. Hanserd Knollys organized the First Parish Church as a religious organization in 1638. The church joined the United Church of Christ in 1961 and the name changed to First Parish Congregational Church in 1996. Records include births, marriages, deaths, dismissals, disciplinary cases, meeting minutes, financial records, and pew plans; letters by Rev. Jeremy Belknap, Rev. Hubbard Winslow, and the church's clerk Asa A. Tufts, and between congregations.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into three series. Records in each series have been arranged chronologically, by start date, and by topic.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1639-1855
Series 2: Church Records, 1717-1857
Series 3: Microfilm, 1614-1862
Technical Requirements
A microfilm reader is required in order to access microform materials. One microfilm reader is available to the public upon request.
To access digital user’s copies via online-interface, a java-enabled web browser is required. Internet Explorer 8.x and later, Firefox 5.x and later, Opera 12 and later, Safari 5.x and later, or any version of Google Chrome are recommended.
Custodial History
Microfilm copies were created by the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1967.
Acquisition Information
Materials were received at two different dates. Microform materials (RG1319) were received at an unknown date. The remaining materials (originally RG5360) were loaned to the Congregational Library & Archives from the First Parish Congregational Church (Dover, N.H.); Accession 2017-17.
Accruals
Additional accruals are expected for this collection in the form of full-text transcription. There is no anticipated date for this accrual.
Location of Originals
The physical materials in this collection are held by the First Parish Church in Dover, New Hampshire. The Congregational Library & Archives maintains digital and microfilm surrogates for much of the colection.
Bibliography
Processing Information
Processed by Susan Stanley, March 2018, using DACS Second Edition. Additional description by Zachary Bodnar, February 2019. Item level descriptions by Jules Thomson, January 2020.
Creator
- Belknap, Jeremy, 1744-1798 (Person)
- First Parish Church (Dover, N.H.) (Organization)
- Tufts, Asa Alford, 1798-1884 (Person)
- Winslow, Hubbard, 1799-1864 (Person)
- Title
- Dover, N.H. First Parish Church records, 1614-1862.
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Susan Stanley, Zachary Bodnar, Jules Thomson
- Date
- 2018-03-06
- Description rules
- Dacs2 2013
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Congregational Library & Archives Repository