Each Sunday a "Did You Know?" factoid appeared in the Sunday Bulletin.  Below is a collection of these factoids.

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

At the 100^th anniversary of this church, a celebratory history book was published to document and honor the courage and fortitude of our church founders.  It is only fitting that we close this 225^th anniversary year with the same words written 125 years ago because they are as appropriate today as in 1881:

“…Their record was an honorable one.  All the heroism, the patience, the faith, the sacrifice for which it stands cannot be told.  Let us be thankful that we are in such a succession, that we are heirs to such virtue and piety.  The streams which have made glad and greatly enriched the city of God must not stop with us, and disappear as rivers among sands in a desert.  We should add force and width thereto, and send them on more swiftly, to bear refreshment and verdure and life to those who shall come after us.  May our descendants who shall gather here a hundred years hence delight in our memories, as today we rejoice in the memory of our fathers; and, from generation to generation, all the honor and the praise and the glory shall be ascribed to the same Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

--from Congregational Church, West Newton, MA, One Hundredth Anniversary, 1882, p. 46

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In this season of giving and rejoicing in the birth of Christ, we have the privilege of reflecting upon the rarely documented words of our first pastor, Rev. William Greenough, as he closed his sermon at The Old South Church in 1814:

 “…But I forbear to enlarge on this subject, sensible that I am addressing those who live in a metropolis where acts of liberality have so much abounded.  I trust you are not ‘weary in well doing.’  May the Almighty bless you with the riches of His grace.  While on earth may you experience the fulfillment of these declarations: ‘There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth.’ ‘The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.’  When summoned to the bar of your Judge, may you be so happy as to enjoy the approbation of Him who hath said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’  Amen.”

 --Sermon by Rev. Wm. Greenough, preached January 14, 1814 at The Old South Church, Boston before The Society for Foreign Missions.  Published at the request of the Society.  Original publication digitally photographed at The Congregational Library, 14 Beacon Street, Boston.

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In colonial days, Cheesecake Brook received its name because a party of hunters rested at noonday on its shores and ate cakes and cheeses. 

 “Ten rods north of Cheesecake Brook…stood the old home of Major Samuel Shephard, built around the year of 1650.  It passed into the possession of Deacon William Park, of Roxbury, who gave it to his son-in-law, Isaac Williams…. One of his sons was the Rev. Solomon Williams of Hatfield, whose son William Williams became one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Another son was Ephraim, whose son [also named] Ephraim…commanded the Massachusetts forts among the hills of Berkshire for eight years.  In 1755, while advancing through the woods near Lake George, with 100 colonial troops…and 200 Mohawk Indians, he was defeated by the French army…and died on the field of battle.  He had received a premonition of his coming death, and bequeathed his estate for the establishing of a collegiate school in the then savage wilderness of northern Berkshire.  On this foundation the school was commenced, in 1790, and received incorporation as Williams College three years later.  So that in a certain sense this famous Berkshire Athens, the birthplace of American foreign missions, is a child of West Newton, or strictly speaking, a grandchild.”   

--King’s Handbook of Newton, M.F. Sweetser, 1889, p.162

Note: Cheesecake Brook is the culverted stream that runs down the center of the boulevard opposite the Albemarle Playground at the corner of Watertown and Albemarle Streets.  Ten rods is approximately 55 yards.

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 "Up on West Newton hill, where the well-to-do had their beautiful estates, thirteen men formed the Neighborhood Club in 1890 with a membership for the single purpose of social enjoyment.  They built a small clubhouse and constructed tennis courts of high quality, where they invited the highest players of the country to compete, and even of England.  By 1895 the club was agitating for better quarters, and 1898 it was reincorporated under the new name of the Neighborhood Club.  It remained consistently a social club, but the men shared their pleasures with their wives and children." 

 - from the Tercentenary History of Newton, 1930

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 October 28, 1646 (360 years ago) was the date that John Eliot, clergyman and missionary known as the “Apostle to the Indians”, first preached before the Indians without an interpreter at Nonantum. Born in England, he came to Boston in 1631 and preached and taught in Roxbury and Boston.  He acquired the language of the Pequot Indians from a young native taken prisoner in 1637.  Through many years of self-sacrifice, he established sixteen settlements of converts and organized them into communities of “praying Indians.” One of the Indian settlements was made in 1651 in Natick and an Indian church was organized there in 1660.  He wrote, translated and personally published many religious works for the Indians.  In fact, his translation of the Bible for the Indians was the first Bible printed in America.  There was no word in the Indian language for “love” until Eliot told the Indians of Christ’s great love for them. 

A carving of John Eliot’s likeness appears on one of the newel posts leading to our pulpit.  Today, we celebrate the pioneering spirit, Christian zeal and unselfish dedication of our forefathers in the celebration of our 225^th anniversary of this congregation. 

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 Needing a church closer than the one that existed in Cambridge, early settlers of “New Town” established public worship in 1654 in Newton Centre and built themselves a meetinghouse, organizing The First Church of Christ.  After 117 years, the residents in this part of town now known as West Newton thought the First Church too distant and built a meetinghouse where our current police station and court house now stand.  

A struggle followed for a separate existence from the First Church that was strongly resisted by residents of the East Parish.  Though refused year after year, the west end residents’ persistent and unyielding demands for money from the town treasury to support preaching resulted in a successful legislative petition to be set off as an independent Parish in 1778.  On October 21, 1781, the very day after Cornwallis surrendered  -- the event that closed the Revolutionary War -- and after a long, seven years of fighting and spiritual impoverishment, twelve men of this West Parish gathered and covenanted together to form a church of Christ.  Two weeks later, on November 8, 1781, Rev. William Greenough was ordained and installed (and served this church for 50 years).  One week later, thirteen women were added – and so this church was formed with twenty-six members.

 “Our attention is arrested at the order in which this history begins – the reverse to that which is common in our day.  The first thing was a house, then a parish, then a pastor elect, and last a church.” *

 One hundred years later, on November 8, 1881, was the first occasion of a public commemoration of our church’s founding.  Several anniversary events and services have occurred since that date.  125 years after that first celebration and 225 years after our founding, we once again celebrate the courage and perseverance of this church’s original founders with a Period Service of remembrance and vision for future generations of worshippers at The Second Church in Newton.

 * P. 17 Congregational Church, West Newton, MA, One Hundredth Anniversary   published in 1882

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 “The memorials which we have in this church are hidden, as you know.  Dr. Henry Patrick, Loomis Patrick’s grandfather, has the pulpit as his memorial, and on the base of it is carved, without any enrichment, just his name.  Dr. Prudden’s name is carved into the intricate design of the lectern.  Boynton Merrill’s name is carved, almost so that you don’t notice it unless you are looking for it, on the back of the minister’s chair on the pulpit side.  We did at one time renew the entrance vestibule and put in that marble tablet which recalls that Dr. Park was the one to whom the whole building is a memorial.  We used the phrase from St. Paul’s Cathedral about Christopher Wren: ‘If you would see his memorial, look about you.’  I think it is very appropriate.”

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

The parents of Sally Pride, Gladys Wyman and Edward W. Pride, were the first couple to be married in this building, in February 1917, soon after its consecration.  The daughter of Dr. Prudden, one of our former ministers, attended as a bridesmaid.  Sally has been a member of this church since April 16, 1933 (more than 73 years) and is a cousin to another longtime member, Bill Wyman.

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 Good things come to those who wait….

“The social work in the New Church has in some ways become more successful than in the Old Church, and in other ways equally unsuccessful.  A crowd of youngsters need a place to decorate as they choose, to dance around and kick up their feet and holler fire in, without being told to be careful or that they disturb.  It is happily or unhappily only a matter of time before they will be exercising their physical talents here thoughtless as to the beauty and the unmarred attire of this building, unless some other preparations are made.”      

- 1917 Annual Report, Social Work

“A youth room where the young people of the church can gather and visit is currently being decorated by the youth.” 

- 1999 Annual Report, Board of Christian Education

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“In the early years of the Twentieth Century, a New Church was built in West Newton, Massachusetts by the People who called themselves Congregational, which has been Justly Famed ever since as one of the Most Beautiful Churches in the Country.

Many reasons have been given for its Wonderful Beauty.  But an Old Document from the year 1911 has been recently Discovered which Explains the Whole Matter.

It is therein Stated that this Church was not built to Order by a Few Men, as so many ready-made Churches of that time were, but that Every Man, Woman and Child in the Whole Parish helped to build the Church, there not being a Single One who leaned back and said ‘Let the Others Do It!’

Everyone Rich and Poor, Young and Old alike brought of their Very Best.  Three great Easter Sundays were held as Festivals of Generosity upon which Even the Most Liberal surprised themselves and the More Prudent Ones bloomed out into Glorious Prodigality of Cheerful Giving.

Out of the Generous Love with which these people loved their New Church before it was Born, there came to light this World-famed Sanctuary, built not so much of Blood and Stone as out of the Love and Self-Sacrifice of a Whole Generation.

That is why in our Prayers we thank God for the Early Twentieth Century.  That is why we Journey even from Japan to say our prayers within it and after these Many Years amid the Multitudinous Ruins of Later Churches it still Remains and will Ever Remain a Joy Forever.

 Extract from ‘The Early Chronicles of the Twentieth Century’  (Tokio, 2131 A.D.)”

 --Reproduction of a circular distributed for a building fund offering before the dedication of this structure in 1916, from  Our Church, Its History, Its Buildings, Its Spirit, 1926, p.25.

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 The current Spire tower bell was used first in our Old Meetinghouse on Washington Street to welcome our second pastor, the Reverend Lyman Gilbert, in 1828.  “Not until the early days of Christianity were bells used.  Before there were clocks, the bells told the time for worship.” 

-from The Story of the Second Church in Newton, 1956, p.26

*** DID YOU KNOW? *** 

In 1848, when we sold our Washington Street meeting-house to the City (and constructed a new church adjacent to the old structure), its lower story became home to the West-Newton Athenaeum “…where the assembled sages of the village exchanged views as to the questions of their day.  In the long winter evenings, the local orators discussed the American Colonization Society, the Fugitive Slave Law, the Underground Railroad, the Higher Law, and similar topics; and the fearless radicalism of their views gave color of reason to the outsiders, who entitled the debaters ‘the Incendiaries and Radicals of West Newton’….  Sometimes Abolitionist speakers in Boston were walled around by a bodyguard of West-Newton yeoman…. By such loyal guardsmen Wendell Phillips* was more than once escorted, through howling hostile mobs, from the place of speaking to his home on Essex Street….”

 *considered one of the Abolitionist movement’s greatest orators

-- King’s Handbook of Newton, M.F. Sweetser, 1889, p.174

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 “My acquaintance with this church began in its youth, when it was but sixty-five years old, and I was a mature young man of nine.  I well remember the old meetinghouse, and my first Sabbath there.  In the distribution of the family, my lot fell to sit in a side pew near the pulpit, where I could see the church mouse running in and out under the feet of the minister as he preached.  I do not recall distinctly the heads of the sermon, but I do remember with gratitude all the points of that mouse.”     

--From the evening address of Rev. Joseph B. Clark, a “son” of our church who served as the first pastor of The Central Church, at the 100^th anniversary celebration of our church.  

Congregational Church, West Newton, MA, One Hundredth Anniversary   published in 1882

*** DID YOU KNOW? *** 

“On the floor of the church are to be found the pews.  A pew is an ancient method of symbolizing that the unit of true religion is not the individual, but the family, so our fathers had family pews where father, mother, and children could sit together.  There were elements of exclusiveness and constraint in this method, but still the pew remains as a sign that in the family the spirit of religion has its roots; it divides the crowd into smaller groups in the interest of friendliness.” 

---- p. 55  “Our Church, The Second Church in Newton” 1926

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 Shortly before the 100^th anniversary of the church in 1881, the church adopted a radical change in the method of supporting the church – by instituting voluntary offerings.  

“The obnoxious word ‘tax’ is thus dismissed from the records, and the substitution of a system of pledges broadens the constituency of, and extends the interest in, the church.  The new method was instituted after the removal of all indebtedness; and the intent of the system is thus far realized, in keeping free from the burden of debt, and offering to a larger number the privileges of a free seat, if desired, in our house of worship.” 

 P. 38 Congregational Church, West Newton, MA, One Hundredth Anniversary   published in 1882

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 In the early days of Reverend Wm. Greenough’s ministry (1781- 1831), his “salary” was paid in rye, corn, pork, beef and wood.  Towards the end of his ministry, his salary was paid in currency and raised by taxation.  The church and state were essentially united; under the condition of secular and spiritual partnership, the parish or precinct became a sort of financial sponsor of the Church.  The man who refused to pay his assessment had his belongings (other than essential work tools) confiscated and held for four days until payment was made; otherwise, the “distress” (goods) was auctioned off .  For lack of goods or chattel to be auctioned, the man was jailed until the amount was paid or abated by the assessors or Court. 
P.93,  Congregational Church, West Newton, MA, One Hundredth Anniversary   published in 1882

*** DID YOU KNOW? *** 

From the beginning [our] church followed the “Congregational Way,” which Gaius Glenn Atkins describes as “the right and duty of the church member to administer his own church affairs with a direct control, with a minimum of ecclesiastical machinery, with a willing obedience to majority decisions, and with a disciplined respect for the right of the minority.” 

-- From “An Adventure in Liberty”. The Pilgrim Press.  Excerpted from  P.11 of  “The Story of The Second Church in Newton”, The 175^th Anniversary Committee, 1956

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*** DID YOU KNOW? *** 

The son of our first Deacon, Joseph Ward, was a close friend of John Adams, Paul Revere and other key characters of that period.  He had gone to his father’s farm to pick up a horse and gun on his way to the battle of Concord on April 19, 1775.  The next day he became an aide-de-camp and Secretary to General Washington, the first such appointment in the American Army.   

*** DID YOU KNOW? *** 

In its new home on Highland Street, Second Church grew rapidly. During the nineteen years of Dr. J. Edgar Park’s pastorate (1907 – 1926) more than a thousand new members were added to the membership of the church.  The membership was four hundred and fifty-eight on January 1, 1917, and it was an even thousand when Dr. Park resigned to become President of Wheaton College in October 1926.

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 The disputed line between East and West Parishes in Newton fostered an argument one day near Pearl and Watertown Streets.  The line, as ultimately agreed upon, passed over a squash – the large end of which lay to the east.  For years, the “west” side bore the nickname of “Squash End” of town, a designation proudly given to a series of successful church fairs in the 1900’s.

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 In colonial times, only church members could vote or hold public office and church attendance was a serious obligation.

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The location of our current church building is the geographical center point of the homes of church members at the time the cornerstone was set in 1915.

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 Our Church was the only church of any kind in this half of Newton for 31 years until we helped to form St. Mary’s Church in Lower Falls in 1812.  Our members subsequently helped form the: church in Waltham (1820), Unitarian Church in West Newton (1848), church in Auburndale (1850), Methodist Churches in Newtonville  (1863) and Auburndale (1864), Baptist church in West Newton (1866), Central Church in Newtonville (1868) and Church of the Messiah in Auburndale and St. John’s in Newtonville (1898). 

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“…In 1956 Don Perry, who was Moderator of the church at that time, said, ‘We don’t have any kind of support for what lies ahead in terms of maintaining this property, and there are prospects that its program is going to be hampered and diminished; we ought to do something about it.’  He gave us the initial gift of $26,000, apart from one or two endowments which were being held in trust.  He said, ‘This will take the place of my pledge when I come to the end of my days.’  This was the nest egg for the beginning of the endowment, which, through the years, has been added to by many thoughtful people.  Our hope was that basically it could underwrite the structural care of the building.” ~ Ross Cannon, Minister Emeritus, “Retrospectives” 

That unrestricted endowment fund has now grown to over $2.3 million.

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Social customs had been such that courtesy demanded the offer of the “intoxicating cup” even to the pastor in his visits.  However, early on in the ministry of Rev. Lyman     Gilbert, D.D., (1831-1856), he took the advanced ground of total abstinence and was supported in his efforts by the strong men of the church community.  At this time, temperance reform was just awakening the attention of Christian people.

-excerpted from Congregational Church, West Newton, MA, One Hundredth Anniversary   published in 1881

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

 From the beginning [our] church followed the “Congregational Way,” which Gaius Glenn Atkins describes as “the right and duty of the church member to administer his own church affairs with a direct control, with a minimum of ecclesiastical machinery, with a willing obedience to majority decisions, and with a disciplined respect for the right of the minority.”

 -- From “An Adventure in Liberty”. The Pilgrim Press.  Excerpted from  P.11 of  “The Story of The Second Church in Newton”, The 175^th Anniversary Committee, 1956

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

The Gentlemen of the West Parish felt a moral obligation to express their opinion to the Selectmen of Newton about an upcoming marriage:

 To the Gentlemen Selectmen of Newton:                            Newton, November 4^th 1782

            We the subscribers, are informed that there is an intention of Marriage between Mr. Isaac Williams of this Parish and a certain Vagrant woman by the name of Crosby alias Crosman…we are so fully acquainted with her Character as to make it appear to us an indispensable duty, which we owe to this Town…..to ourselves & indeed to humane society ….faithfully to remonstrate against such a marriage which we humbly conceive would be attended with evil consequences to this town, if not to the sacred ordinance of Matrimony…. 

We therefore humbly pray you Gentlemen, (the Civil Fathers of this Town) would be pleased to use every lawful endeavor in your power to prevent such a marriage…… and to that end Gentlemen we beg leave to recommend the speedy & immediate removal of this Vagrant Woman to the place to which she belongeth, if such place may be found, relying on your wisdom to conduct and abilities to execute

We are Gentlemen with unfeigned respect

your Friends & very humble servants

Josiah Fuller                                            Alex. Shepard Jun’r                                Joshua Jackson

Peter Drall                                               Joseph Adams Jun’r                               Sam. Jenk

Nathan Fuller                                          William Upham Jr.                                  David Fuller

Daniel Cheney                                        Daniel Jackson                                        Sam. Woodward

Joseph Fuller, Jun.                                  Phinehas Jackson                                    Elisha Seaverns

Joseph Adams                                        Benjamin Prentice

Nathan Parkhurst                                    Samuel Jackson

                                                                Jonathan Stone

Taken from  Our Church, Its History, Its Buildings, Its Spirit, 1926, p.103.

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 “Those of us who lived through the days of the toll road coming through remember the railroad station down here…Margin Street which went from Highland Street to Chestnut and the ramp down to the station….We had a petition addressed to the State Public Works people not to put the toll road extension through (along with everybody else along the line, I guess).  But I couldn’t see very much turbulence in the coming of the toll road, and I think by and large probably we’ve come to see it as a distinct convenience for the community.  We did lose a wonderful little forest of Japanese red maples that used to be at the turnaround at the Margin street door, which I coveted.  Finally we put one at the base of the fireplace chimney outside here, to remind us of what used to be.”[1]

 Today, the tree by the chimney is thriving but you might also notice a sapling Japanese red maple that Mother Nature has seeded at the Margin Street (Turnpike) door, perhaps in memory of Dr. Ross Cannon and that grove he so loved.

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 A home was built in 1867 on a 20,000 square foot lot at the corner of Winthrop and Putnam Streets with a bequest of $5000 from the estate of Miss Sarah Baxter “with conditions, for the purpose of securing the erection of a parsonage for the pastor of this church….Owing to the increased price of labor and materials, the cost of the house was greater than was anticipated – not far from $10,000, the land costing $1,000.” [1]

 Jane (Cooper) Wyman grew up across the street (at 22 Winthrop) from that parsonage and her father, Thomas Cooper, Jr., became a close friend of the Second Church pastor, Dr. J. Edgar Park.  To this day, Jane still has Dr. Park’s daughter’s (Rosemary’s) child-sized roll-top desk which was enjoyed by Jane, her children and her grandchildren.  Jane also became a childhood friend of (the next pastor) Dr. Boynton Merrill’s children. 

Jane tells an amazing small-world story: After moving to Ottumwa, Iowa after her wedding to husband Bill and subsequently returning to Newton many years later, they learned that Bob Johnson (our former Minister of Music) grew up on the same street in Iowa that Jane and Bill lived on as newlyweds and Bob had attended the same elementary school as Bill did when he was a child.  She believes that they must have seen Bob playing in the neighborhood when he was a boy!

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The West Parish Burial Ground

           Newton is a name derived from an Old English term 
meaning: “new farmstead” or “New Town”.  Originally a part
 of Cambridge its settlers worshipped at a Church located on 
the corner of Homer and Centre Street That Church would be
 known as the “First Church in Newton.” 

        After a century of harsh New England winters coupled with 
the lack of accessible roads descendants of that original 

congregation living to the west looked for a closer house of worship. 
It was through their resolve that a Second Church began holding

services at the corner of Cherry and Washington Street in a 
Meetinghouse constructed in 1764 and so began our “Second 
Church in Newton”

           In 1781 Captain Nathan Fuller, donated land to the newly 
established parish which was to be "improved only as a burying place." 

It consisted of one and a half acres a short distance north of the

meeting house and was located at the corner of Cherry and River 
streets in West Newton The piece of land became known as “The West 
Parish Burial Ground” and it has been owned by the City of Newton 

since the 1880s. 

                With the notable exception of some regional secular graveyards 
the idea during the Colonial period in New England was to bury the 

dead in churchyards located in close proximity to churches. In many 

17th century New England towns land was set aside for a common 
community burial ground as some early Puritans rejected churchyard 

burials feeling that like other "papist" practices, they were heretical and

idolatrous. It seems our Second Church ancestors did not feel prejudiced 

towards religious differences. 

The heart of any New England town can be found in its cemeteries.

           The West Parish Burying Ground is the second burial place established 
in Newton. The first one the “East Parish Burial Ground” was associated

with our Sister Church the First Church and is located on Center Street 

just north of the intersection of Mill St and like our “West Parish Cemetery” 

it retains a strong sense of history with distinctive burial markers associated 
with residents of Newton’s earliest settlers.  

        In the West Parish Burial Grounds there are 251 recorded burials  

represented by approximately 170 headstones and small monuments and 

several tombs that represent the resting place of our Churches’ earliest

members.  

 Nineteenth century histories indicate that there may have been earlier burials at the West Parish Burying Ground.  The earliest recorded dates found are the relatives of Nathan Fuller. The first is his grand-daughter, Catherine Fuller, who  30 years old when she died on June 3, 1777.  Her death was followed a few weeks later by her four year old son Henry who died on the 23rd of June. In August of that year, her father Captain Joshua Fuller passed at age 75; Joshua’s Wife Anna, Catherine’s mother, died on October 6,1778 at age 61; and another of Catherine's sons, Jacob, died on Oct 18, 1778 at three years old. These five members of the Fuller family possibly died as the result of an epidemic, perhaps of smallpox, although it is not known for sure.  The Fuller family is the best represented at West Parish with 31 family members interred here.  Some members of the family were re-interred at Newton Cemetery in the mid-nineteenth century.

Other families who are well represented at West Parish are the Jackson’s with 17 family members, the Adams’s with 14, and the Jenison’s with 11.  

Names carved on the burial markers are almost entirely Anglo Saxon. 

Epitaphs indicate that several people came from England while others 

were from Boston, Concord, Newburyport or other New England

cities and towns. Typical carvings depict a cross and the person’s name 

and age. 

Several who served our church, including the first pastor Rev. William 
Greenough, and several deacons are buried with their families in the 

West Parish Burying Ground. During this early period when our Church and 

our Country were in its infancy, not only were men and women struggling

for survival against the New England elements, they were also seeking 

freedom from England. There are four members of the Continental Army 

who fought in the Revolutionary War who are buried here: Captain Thomas 

Eustis, Captain Joshua Fuller, Lieutenant John Fuller, and Captain Aster 

Stoddard.

The earliest markers for graves were natural fieldstone, grey slate stones
 used until 1840. Some graves were left unmarked while others were decorated
or incised using a metal awl. The inscriptions have been recorded, and some to 
this day are quite legible. There are some footstones associated with about one 
third of the slate headstones. Most remain in their original location although 
some have been relocated or are lying loose on the ground. 

Several stones are the work of Daniel Hastings who was a local stone cutter and 
a Newton resident.  Approximately 111 of the headstones are slate; although the
majority of stones are grey there are also a few light gray and greenish slates, and 
at least one reddish slate. We can assume that many of the fieldstones were 
taken from local fields plowed by local farmers. 

Sandstone slowly replaced fieldstone markers; the material was soft enough to be 
carved easily and was somewhat durable. Some sandstone markers can be well 
preserved while others crumble into dust, which occurs when water gets between 
the layers that make up the sandstone and freezes and as it expands the layers 
flake off. This could have occurred to some of the present day “unmarked graves.”  
There is a cluster of unmarked graves in the northwest corner that may have been 
a pauper’s section. 

In the early 1800’s marble replaced sandstone. Marble also will slowly dissolve in the 
slightly acidic rainwater. Inscriptions slowly become unreadable as the marble 
dissolves in the rainwater. The marble stones are white and often more pointed 
than others. Unfortunately many of the marble stones have weathered badly and 
the grid delineating the private family plots is barely discernible.

The layout of the West Parish Burying Ground reflects the transitional style of the 
early Nineteenth century.  It consists of a combination of single graves and family 
lots laid out in rough rows running north/south. The oldest graves, which were 

predominantly single burials, lie in the eastern section of the burying ground near 
the entrance, while the later burials located in the western section are primarily in 
family lots.  Most of the headstones face west. The layout is most clearly evident on 
a 1901 map which shows all recorded burials, including those not marked by 
headstones or monuments.  Today the grid is less clear because there is no visible 
evidence of many of the graves, although there is slight mounding in some areas 
where no headstones are present. The granite hitching posts which were used as 
lane markers are still in place but the paths are all grassed over. The Grounds are 
very plain which reflect the simple Puritan burial style of the period. Today we are 
more inclined to see gardens and ponds associated with our cemeteries. As with 
the gravestones themselves, the cemeteries have evolved with more religious 
symbols as the Puritan beliefs have tempered with time.

*** DID YOU KNOW? ***

The ad-hoc Committee that has organized the year-long, Second Church 225^th anniversary celebration is concluding its activities: a memorial calendar, a Rededication Service, an old-fashioned potluck sharing supper featuring the new production of Vicky Patterson’s period play, a concert with 225 years of choral music reviewed in 75 minutes, an Easter sunrise service at West Parish Burial Ground, numerous slideshows of historic photographs, “Did You Know?” weekly Bulletin factoids, a sermon by John Thomas (UCC General Minister and President), a June church picnic with old-fashioned fried chicken and period games, canvas anniversary bags, monthly Spire inserts about our church history, an October  Period Worship service, a catered birthday gala at the Neighborhood Club, and a time capsule (to be opened in 2031) created by our young people.

We would like to thank the many, many members of the church who contributed to the success of each of these endeavors.  The other official members of the ad hoc planning committee included Shirley Taylor (chair), Mary-Ellen Efferen, Donna Johnson, Kathy Lucey, Joy Paine, Nancy Palmer, and Joan Rosser.  Special thanks goes to Michael Dorfman for all the hours he spent videotaping events and oral histories and making composite tapes.