Jaffrey, N.H. United Church of Jaffrey records, 1827-1980.
Collection
Identifier: RG0106
Scope and Contents
The United Church records document the history and life of the church, including reports, meeting minutes, vital statistics, financial information, church bulletins, auxiliary groups, correspondence, and property deeds. Please be sure to read the history of the church and note both Universalist and Baptist church records are included from those extinct congregations. All series records are fragmentary and incomplete.
Dates
- 1827-1980
Creator
- East Congregational Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) (Organization)
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.
Historical Note
The roots of the United Church of Jaffrey start in 1850 when 23 members of Jaffrey’s First Congregational Church established Jaffrey East Orthodox Congregational Church, erecting a meeting-house the same year. The church built a parsonage and vestry in 1876. When the town’s Universalist minister, Myron L. Cutler, died in 1930 the members of his church chose to join with East’s congregation rather than find a new minister. The members of East also had connections with the Baptist church and still with First Congregational. Further inter-denominational ties were drawn when Jaffrey’s Baptist minister, Roger Floyd, left his position in 1949. The small Baptist church chose to close rather than find a new minister; most of the members joined East. At this point, there were equal number of Baptists and Congregationalists, prompting a shift in name and organization. East Orthodox Church became the Federated Church with separate covenants for each denomination. In 1957 the Congregational members of the church voted to become a Covenant member of the New Hampshire Conference of the New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ. After maintaining membership with both Baptist and UCC denominations, the members decided to withdraw from the Baptist Convention in 1970 to simplify day to day work as well as strengthen the bond as one United Church.
The Federated Church continued services in the old Baptist building, which was larger than the Congregational building. In 1959 the Federated Church dissolved its two components and formed the United Church of Jaffrey. Further building changes started in 1967. The old parish hall and parsonage were in disrepair. The current trend by mid-20th century was for ministers to live in their own house. This, plus the cost of restoration, meant the church chose to tear down the parsonage and old hall and build a new hall in 1970.
Ministers
East Congregational Church
John Edward Bullard Jewett 1850-1852
George Washington Adams 1854-1857
Franklin Dexter Austin 1858-1863
C.W. Allen 1863-1870
John C. Gowan 1870-1871
Darius Newton Goodrich 1872-1874
W. H. Dowden 1875-1880
John Calvin Staples 1880-1883
Ezra Jackson Riggs 1883-1886
Moses T. Runnells 1886-1889
Edward I. Ross 1890-1891
William H. Stuart 1891-1899
J. Sherman Grove 1899-1903
Millard Fillmore Hardy 1904-1910
David Howie 1911-1914
Charles G. Johnson 1915-1919
John H. Hoffman 1920-1922
Ambrose Jenkins 1923
Bruce W. Cronmiller 1924-1930
Henry Rees Jones 1930-1933
G. Gerald Parker 1933-1939
Levering Reynolds, Jr. 1939-1945
Richard Stoughton, Jr. 1945-1957
Federated Church
Byron Higgon 1957-1961
United Church
Interim Ministers 1961-1963
Mario Cestaro 1963-1969
United Church, UCC
Franklin L. Irvine 1969-1972
Emily B Preston 1972-1993
Lois Sundeen 1993-1995
William Beardslee 1995-2007
J.M. Shepherd 2007-2009
Teri Motley 2009-2014
Christopher C Owen 2014-2016
Mark Koyama 2016-present
The Federated Church continued services in the old Baptist building, which was larger than the Congregational building. In 1959 the Federated Church dissolved its two components and formed the United Church of Jaffrey. Further building changes started in 1967. The old parish hall and parsonage were in disrepair. The current trend by mid-20th century was for ministers to live in their own house. This, plus the cost of restoration, meant the church chose to tear down the parsonage and old hall and build a new hall in 1970.
Ministers
Extent
1.79 Cubic Feet (3 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The roots of the United Church of Jaffrey start in 1850 when 23 members of Jaffrey's First Congregational Church established Jaffrey East Orthodox Congregational Church, erecting a meeting-house the same year. The United Church records document the history and life of the church, including reports, meeting minutes, vital statistics, financial information, church bulletins, auxiliary groups, correspondence, and property deeds. Records are fragmentary and incomplete.
Arrangement
The collection has been organized into the five series listed below. Within each series, records have been arranged chronologically.
Series 1: First Baptist Church Records, 1827-1964
Series 2: East Congregational Church Records, 1849-1968
Series 3: First Universalist Society Records, 1875-1939
Series 4: Federated Church Records, 1949-1959
Series 5: United Church Records, 1956-1980
Acquisition Information
Permanently loaned to the Congregational Library & Archives by The United Church of Jaffrey, June 1991; Acc# 1992-1.
Bibliography
The United Church of Jaffrey, UCC. Celebrating 150 Years 1850-2000. Jaffrey: United Church of Jaffrey, U.C.C., 2000
Processing Information
Re-processed by Zachary Bodnar, August 2017, using DACS Second Edition.
- Christian union.
- Church membership.
- Church newsletters.
- Church records and registers.
- Church societies.
- Clergy -- Appointment, call, and election.
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.).
- East Congregational Church (Jaffrey, N.H.)
- Federated Church (Jaffrey, N.H.)
- First Baptist Church (Jaffrey, N.H.)
- Jaffrey (N.H.) -- Church history.
- Unitarian controversy.
- United Church of Jaffrey (Jaffrey, N.H.)
- Universalist Church (Jaffrey, N.H.)
Creator
- East Congregational Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) (Organization)
- Federated Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) (Organization)
- First Baptist Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) (Organization)
- Universalist Church (Jaffrey, N.H.) (Organization)
- United Church of Jaffrey (Jaffrey, N.H.) (Organization)
- Title
- Jaffrey, N.H. United Church of Jaffrey records, 1827-1980.
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Zachary Bodnar
- Date
- 2017-08-14
- Description rules
- 3
- 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