1751-1918: Second Congregational Church ~ Church Street
It was one hundred years after the town was settled before a church was organized in what was called “Chelsea,” now the city of Norwich. This part of the town gradually increased in population due to the development of facilities for commercial pursuits. Several resident members of churches formed a Congregational Church and immediately supported the ministry.
The Second Congregational Ecclesiastical Society was established at Chelsea’s landing on November 28, 1751. An Ecclesiastical Society is defined as “a legal corporation with the power to manage a church’s temporal affairs and represent it legally.”
The society’s first meetings were held in a tavern at the corner of Shetucket and Water Streets. The tap of a drum summoned the people to worship.
Captain Jabez Dean served as the society’s first Moderator. Several men preached at the Society’s gatherings between 1752 and 1760. After the congregation voted to hire a minister, an invitation was sent to Reverend Nathaniel Whitaker. The Reverend and his family arrived in Norwich in April 1760, where he became the first minister of the Second Congregational Church.
The church was officially organized on July 24, 1760, and Reverend Whitaker was installed on February 25, 1761, by the Rev. Benjamin Lord, the pastor of Norwich’s First Congregational Church. Rev. Whitaker served as their leader until 1769. (Click on the photo to learn more about Rev. Whitaker)
From 1763 to November 1793 services were held at their meeting house. It was located opposite N.D. Sevin & Sons drug store on Main Street. It was a small wooden structure 41 feet long by 37 feet wide. Since there was no steeple, its bell was suspended from the limb of a tree.
Reverend Ephraim Judson succeeded Whitaker in 1771. On August 14, 1776, he resigned from his position in the church to begin service as Chaplain in Colonel Ward’s Regiment for the Revolutionary War. After two months, Reverend Judson returned to his congregation in Norwich as an invalid. He continued serving the church for two years but never recovered his former health.
No minister was appointed from 1779 to 1786, partly due to the ravages of the Revolutionary War, which lasted from 1775 to 1783.
Reverend Walter King was installed as minister of the Second Congregational Church in Chelsea on May 25, 1787.
The meeting house was burned on November 26, 1793. At that point, it was the worst fire ever in Norwich. In addition to the church, four homes, six stores, six shops, and four barns were burned. Reverend King rushed into the church during the fire to save the Pulpit Bible.
Subsequently, King’s congregation met in the neighboring Episcopal Church for three months. A stately new wooden building was constructed on Church Street and dedicated on December 24, 1795. Its dimensions were sixty-two feet in length and forty-two feet in width. It was built soundly, with a tower surmounted by a tall spire. Due to its imposing location, the site was often referred to as the “holy hill of Zion.”
In 1810, King married his deceased wife’s sister. The congregation dismissed him from his church duties on August 18, 1811. During Reverend King’s 24-year tenure, the congregation membership grew from 80 to 238.
Reverend Alvan Bond
Reverend Asahel Hooker (descendant of the Colony of Connecticut’s founder Reverend Thomas Hooker) served as pastor from January 1812 to March 1813.
Reverend Alfred Mitchell served as pastor from October 27, 1814, until he died at the age of 42 in 1831. The congregation prospered during his tenure, and its growth required an enlargement of the house of worship. The addition and remodeling of the interior were completed in 1829. Mitchell donated one-fourth of his annual salary to this endeavor.
Reverend James Taylor Dickinson served as pastor from April 1832 to August 1834. He resigned from his position to answer a call of duty to Foreign Missions. He accepted an assignment to Singapore.
Reverend Alvan Bond served as their pastor from 1835 to December 28, 1864. When Bond was installed, the church had approximately 360 members. During his 28 years of service, he was absent from communion service only once.
By 1842, the Second Congregational church building had become overcrowded, and 78 of the most active members chose to split off and form a new group. Most of these persons were then in the vigor and strength of their years, and by their removal, an essential portion of the entire membership of the church was taken away. The change exerted a depressing influence upon those who remained. After the division, the number of resident members was two hundred and twenty-seven, among whom were the aged and infirm, who did not feel like engaging in a new enterprise.
The group and several members of the dissolved Third Society on Sachem Street formed the Fifth Society on June 1, 1842. Reverend Willard Child was installed as their pastor on August 31, 1842. They held meetings in the town hall until their new church was built. The new building, named the Main Street Congregational Church, located at today’s 40 Main Street, was dedicated on October 1, 1845.
Two years after the split, in the spring of 1844, the remaining congregation’s meeting house was severely damaged by fire. The congregation decided to replace the building with a more substantial structure. The building committee comprised several highly influential members, including Charles Rockwell (the former Mayor of Norwich & President of the Norwich & Worcester Railroad) and William Williams Jr.
While the new church was being built, the congregation used the nearby Central Baptist Chuch building as their meeting house.
A new, impressive stone building was built on the same site. Dedicated on January 1, 1846. The church building still stands grandly at 63 Church Street, on the side of a hill.
The stone ediface is ninety-one feet long (including the tower) and sixty-four feet wide. It contained one hundred and twenty pews on the floor, twenty-four in the gallery, and the orchestra. The architecture is of the Roman order, with a plan furnished by a professional architect, Mr. Warren, of Providence, Rhode Island.
*Place cursor over images to magnify
63 Church Street in 2025
Reverend Bond remained as the Second Congregational minister for an additional 18 years. He was replaced by Reverend Malcom McGregor Dana on December 28, 1864, as the new minister.
On October 2, 1872, Dr. Dana wrote a letter of resignation to the church because the society had refused to accept a new house of worship, which he strongly favored. However, a few days later, he withdrew his resignation. Reverend Dana resigned again by March 2, 1874, when the new sanctuary across the street from the Norwich Free Academy was finished and ready for occupancy. Dr. Dana was dismissed from the Second Congregational Church by the council on April 10, 1874, and became the first pastor of Park Congregational Church.
Five months after Reverend Dana’s departure, Dr. William S. Palmer became the next pastor of the Second Congregational Church. He was dismissed on October 7, 1889.
He was succeeded by Reverend Leonard W. Bacon, a former pastor of the Park Congregational Church.
The Second Congregational Church and the Broadway Congregational Church merged to form the United Congregational Church in 1918.
The church building and land were sold to Beulah Land Church of God on October 10, 1979. Today, the building is home to the Haitian Community Center of Greater Norwich.
Acknowledgements
“A historical discourse, delivered at the hundred anniversary of the organization of the Second Congregational Church, Norwich, Conn., July 24, 1860,” by Reverend Alvan Bond
“A historical discourse, delivered by Rev. Cornelius W. Morrow, at the 100th Anniversary at dedication of the first house of worship erected on the site of the present Second Congregational Church, Norwich, Conn. 1795-1895.” (1895), by Reverend Cornelius W. Morrow
“Norwich: Early Homes and History,” 1905, page 14, by Sarah Lester Tyler
“History of New London County, Connecticut, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, (1882),” by D. Hamilton Hurd, ppg 292-293
“Reverend Nathaniel Whitaker” (1708-1795)
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Second Congregational” in the SEARCH box.
1827-1842: Third Congregational Church ~ Sachem Street
1850 Norwich’s Large Plain
Today’s Chelsea Parade
A third Congregational Church was established within the Chelsea district on August 29, 1827, with ten founding members. A small brick edifice was erected for its accommodation near the Park located on what is now known as Sachem Street.
The location of the church building is shown on Henry McIntyre’s 1850 Map of Norwich at approximately 51 Sachem Street. In 1850, the name for today’s Sachem Street was Prospect Street. The church is identified as the “Central Congregational Church” and was next door to Levi Goddard’s home. Interestingly, the 1850 map identifies the building as the “Central Congregational Church,” but the Third Congregational Church members left the building eight years earlier. In 1850, the building served as an edifice for one of the Methodist Societies.
*Place cursor over the image to magnify
Upon review of the magnified map, it is clear that several of Norwich’s elite lived very near the 3rd Congregational Church. At the time, Levi Goddard was Norwich’s longest-serving member of the bar, James Carew was Norwich’s Mayor, John Dunham was a former Norwich Mayor, and Henry B. Norton was one of Norwich’s most prominent businessmen. William Williams Jr., a civic leader, banker, and militia leader, lived nearby in the Teel House with his wife, Harriet Peck Williams.
Although the Third Congregational Church existed only for twelve years, it was a well-sustained, well-organized group. It had 91 members by profession and 66 by letter.
During its existence, the congregation had four ministers :
Reverend Benson C. Baldwin was installed on January 31, 1828
Reverend Charles Hyde was installed on January 2, 1830
Reverend Joel W. Newton was installed on October 29, 1834
Reverend Thomas K. Fessenden was ordained on October 16, 1839
By early 1842, the congregation on Sachem Street was languishing due to its distant location from Chelsea, Norwich’s major population center. The Third Congregational Church was disbanded on May 23, 1842, and the members were dismissed from their commitments to their Society.
During the same time period, the Second Congregational Church in Chelsea was overcrowded. In May 1842, seventy-eight members of the Second Congregational Church were dismissed from their obligations to their Society. Subsequently, the Second and Third Congregation members combined to form a new congregation, the Fifth Congregational Society. They built a new church, the Main Street Congregational Church, which was dedicated on October 1, 1845.
The Third Congregational Society meeting house was sold to the Methodist Society in 1842. By 1867 the building was strongest Methodist Society in Norwich. At that point in time, it was the only Methodist congregation with more than 100 members in Norwich.
Acknowledgements
“History of Norwich, Connecticut: From Its Possession From the Indians, to the Year 1866”, ppg 558, 603, by Frances Manwaring Caulkins
“Historical address delivered by Rev. Cornelius W. Morrow, at the one hundredth anniversary of the dedication of the first house of worship erected on the site of the present Second Congregational Church, of Norwich, Conn. 1795-1895,” ppg 17-19, by Cornelius W. Morrow
“1850 Map of Norwich,” 1850, by Henry McIntyre
1833-Present: Congregational Church ~ Greeneville
This article is under construction
Greeneville Congregational Church
143 Prospect Street, built in 1835
The Greeneville Congregational Church was organized with sixteen members on January 1, 1833. It was the first institutional building in Greeneville, and the Fourth Ecclesiastical Society organized in Norwich. Their meeting house, shown on the left, was built the following year and employs Greek Revival-style architecture.
Its first minister was Reverend John Storrs, installed March 12, 1834. Samuel Mowry, the father of Civil War-era Norwich gunmaker James D. Mowry, was one of the church’s first deacons.
Due to its proximity to many manufacturing concerns such as Camp Hall Paper Company and the Shetucket Company, residents of Greeneville frequently relocated from one town to another. However, the church membership remained surprisingly constant. When the town had 700 inhabitants, 100 were members of this church.
Greeneville Congregational Church
The front of the church building once faced Central Avenue. However, in 1867, it was completely turned around to face Prospect Street. The building was literally cut in half, and two additional bays were inserted in the long elevations.
Raised in 1893 and was rededicated in 1894.
It has the following ministerial record :
Reverend John Storrs: March 1834 through April 1835.
Reverend Stephen Crosby: Elected in 1837 and officiated until his decease in June 1838
A. L. Whitman: December 1838 through March 1846
Charles P. Bush: 1846 through January 1856
Reverend Robert P. Stanton: June 1856 through 1880
The church’s spire was blown down in the 1938 Hurricane
Rev. R.P. Stanton
Pastor from 1856-1880
Acknowledgements
“History of Norwich, Connecticut: From Its Possession From the Indians, to the Year 1866”, ppg 26,558,559, by Frances Manwaring Caulkins
Greeneville Congregational Church Facebook page
“Faith Jennings Collection,” (1997), page 118, by Faith Jennings
Rev. Robert P. Stanton, “Illustrated Popular Biography of Connecticut, (1833),” page 372, by J.A. Spalding
Greeneville Congregational Church Facebook page
The complete list of sources may be found by clicking the “Bibliography” button, and, then typing “Greeneville Congregational” in the SEARCH box.