Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1899-11-17
the HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
A History of the Congregational
Church in Barre for One Hundred
Years.
CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY.


The form of worship which the
fathers adopted was simple and would
to the present generation seem weari-
some. The attitude in prayer was
standing and the prayers were in no
wise brief The psalms were sung and
the sermons We're long. The dict of
worship embraced the greater part of
the Sabbath day During the inter-
mission the children were catechised
until Sunday schools were organized,
and held at midday. The service of
praise was aided by various instru-
ments, lncuding the bass viol,
clarinet, flute violin, and double bass
vol. Prayer meetings were held
frequently and neighborhood meetings
were sustained.
The common facing Elmwood ceme-
tery at Gospel Nillage'' was the first
site secured for a Congregational
church, and this is what gave the
name to the place. A deed of the
land, embracing about three acres,
was given for this purpose by Ma
thaniel Carpenter to Chaplin Keith,
John Dodge and others. in considera-
tion of the sum of $50. The cemetery
is an enlargement of the old church
yard and embraces a part of the farm
owned by Deacon Ezckial Wood. In
1904 the erection of Il house of wor-
ship was begun. which was completed
in 1903. 1t was, for those times.
large and attractive building. ing
S4 600. 1t is said that at this time
"the whole property of the church
members would not equal $l5, ,000"
and from this we may gather that
great sacrifices were made in erecting
such place Of worship. There were
two men at least who gave one-third
of their possessions, namely, Israel
Wood and John Dodge. 1t is said of
the latter, that with the consent of
his wife, he sold Il large quantity Of
cloth she had made and gave the pro-
cecdS to the church, while the father
and sons wore their old garments a
year longer. One man left his own
house unfinished, saying, 81 can wait;
we must erect the house of God.'
The interior of the church was
adorned with carved work: the pulpit
was reached by a flight of stairs; the
old fashioned box pews filled the floor
space, and Il gallery extended around
three sides. Back of the pulpit hung
an oil panting--a landscape with
church in the foreground. On each
side there was a tablet with the words
'H0liness becometh thine house, O &
Lord, forever" on one and figure of
justice holding aloft Il pair of balances
ON the other. The church was not
heated even in the coolest weather,
but those who had them brought foot
stoves, which were filled with Goals
from the hearth in Deacon Woods
house, which was near by.
At Il meeting of the church, held
Dec. 10Th. 1898, Il ''free consultation
was held in relation to building a new
meeting house in a different locality.
But one opinion was expressed and
that was that a new house in the lower
village, SO called, will be highly pro-
motive of the interests of the Redeem
er'S Kingdom, and that the church is
abundantly able to do it. Voted unani-
mously to build new house of wor-
ship. Voted to appoint a committee
of five three i'm the church and two
out, to report such facts in regard to
location, expense, size Of house, how
to be built, etc, ETC., as they may
Continued on Third Page