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Northbridge, Mass. Centre Congregational Church records, 1782-2011.

 Series
Identifier: RG5030

Scope and Contents

This collection contains the administrative, financial, and visual records of the Northbridge Centre Congregational Church. Included within this collection are the records of the church and parish, guest books, membership lists, financial records, collection records, extensive records from the Ladies Aid Society, and photographs.

Dates

  • 1782-2011

Creator

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.

Digital Reproductions are protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use the Digital Reproductions in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the Congregational Library & Archives for educational uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the Congregational Library & Archives. For additional information regarding copyright, please consult the Congregational Library & Archives' Digital Collections Copyright & Use policy.

Historical Note

The town of Northbridge, Massachusetts, was incorporated in 1772 out of lands which had previously been a part of Mendon and then later Uxbridge. In 1773 the town voted to begin construction on a meeting house and in 1774 construction on the first meeting house was completed. Due, at least in part, to the American Revolutionary War, no Congregational church was formally gathered until 1782. The First Congregational Church in Northbridge was established on June 6, 1782 and John Crane was ordained as the first minister on June 25, 1783. Rev. Crane served as pastor of the church until 1832.

In 1833 the First Congregational Church established a Sunday school. In 1834 a significant portion of the congregation from the southern section of Northbridge, known as Whitinsville, withdrew to form the Congregational Church of Whitinsville (now the Village Congregational Church). In 1835 the first meeting house was demolished and construction on the second meeting house was completed the following year. In 1879 another contingent of the church's members withdrew to form the Rockdale Congregational Church. Both churches were served by the same pastor until 1897 and both churches remained closely united throughout their histories. In 1885 the Ladies Auxiliary group was founded; this organization was later renamed the Ladies Aid Society.

Around the turn of the century the name for the First Congregational Church in Northbridge was changed to Centre Congregational Church. In 1922 the church rejected a proposal, put forth by the Massachusetts Home Missionary Society, for the Centre Congregational Church to merge with the Rockdale Congregational Church. The second meeting house was destroyed by a fire on February 12, 1932. After the fire, the Centre Congregational Church worked closely with the Rockdale Congregational Church and shared a pastor; this formal relationship lasted until 1952. Construction on the third, and final, meeting house was completed in 1836 and the building was dedicated on October 22, 1836. In 1940 the Church Society was officially dissolved and Centre Congregational Church was formally incorporated. In 1952 Rev. Clayton H. Witt resigned from Centre Congregational Church but not from the Rockdale Congregational Church; the formal relationship between the two churches was officially ended shortly after Rev. Witt's resignation.

The Centre Congregational Church joined the United Church of Christ in the early 1960s. In 2011 the Centre Congregational Church dissolved, following financial difficulties, and was absorbed by the Rockdale Congregational Church.

Extent

3.45 Cubic Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The town of Northbridge, Massachusetts, was incorporated in 1772 and the First Church in Northbridge was established in 1782. The first meeting house was constructed in 1774. In 1834 a significant portion of the congregation withdrew to form the Congregational Church of Whitinsville (now the Village Congregational Church). The second meeting house was constructed in 1836. In 1879 another contingent of the church's members withdrew to form the Rockdale Congregational Church, though both churches shared a minister until 1897. Around the turn of the century the name for the First Congregational Church in Northbridge was changed to Centre Congregational Church. The second meeting house was destroyed by a fire on February 12, 1932. The Centre Congregational Church joined the United Church of Christ in the early 1960s. The church dissolved in 2011. This collection contains the administrative, financial, and visual records of the Northbridge Centre Congregational Church and its auxiliary organizations.

Arrangement

This collection has been arranged into the four series listed below. Within each series, materials have been primarilly arranged in chronological order by start date. Materials that are very closely related, by either subject matter or a temporal connection, have been grouped together.

Series 1: Church and society records, 1782-2011

Series 2: Financial records, 1815-2011

Series 3: Clubs and organizations, 1909-1998

Series 4: Visual materials, 1869-2002

Technical Requirements

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.

Acquisition Information

Materials were donated to the Congregational Library & Archives, October 2011, by the Northbridge Centre Congregational Church; no accession number.

Accruals

Additional accruals are expected for this collection in the form of full-text transcription. There is no anticipated date for this accrual.

Bibliography

Hackett, Peter. Manual and History of the Centre Congregational Church, Northbridge, Mass. Northbridge: 1962.

Processing Information

Originally processed by Christina Prochilo, 2012. Reprocessed and redescribed by Zachary Bodnar, July 2019, using DACS Second Edition.

Title
Northbridge, Mass. Centre Congregational Church records, 1782-2011.
Status
Completed
Author
Zachary Bodnar, Cristina Prochilo
Date
2019-09-12
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

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