Our History
This is the third of four histories that have been prepared for this day, each with a slightly different message – one for the booklet, one for the newspaper, this one for the program, and a fourth yet to be done for the 4th of July program since the church anniversary will be featured in Dick Pasi’s cover this year.
Since many early settlers of this area brought with them a Presbyterian heritage from down east in Pennsylvania and clear back to their ancestry in Europe, it was only natural that they would want to form a Presbyterian Church in this community. Some Brockwayville residents were already traveling to the Beechwoods Presbyterian Church which was organized in 1832, while others were going west to the Richardsville Church when weather permitted travel by horse and buggy.
The Rev. John Wray was installed as the first minister at Beechwoods in 1850. He remained in that pulpit until 1871 when failing eyesight led him to retire. He moved to Brockwayville where he was very influential in getting this church started. He presented a large, pulpit Bible to the new congregation, one that he had brought back from his missionary days in India. It is one of the three kept on display in the Heritage Room downstairs.
On the evening of May 8, 1884, eleven dedicated persons met to organize the Brockwayville Presbyterian Church. Among the charter members were John and Susan Atwell whose granddaughter Mary Belton is still on our active church roll along with their great-granddaughters Barbara Belton, Kathleen Britton, and Mary Ann Britton Mihok. The first Communion Service was held on May 11, 1884 and was administered by the Rev. Alexander B. Fields who became the first official pastor. As far as I know, Rev. Fields was our only pastor to die while serving the church. He was hit by a train while visiting at Dagus Mines.
The earliest services were held in the Methodist Church, which was about 20 years old at the time, and where the two congregations sometimes shared the same preacher. On August 1, 1884, the congregation moved into a large room on the second floor of the Beadle Building which stood on the same corner as Salandra’s True Value Hardware today. The original building later burned to the ground in a disastrous fire on November 13, 1911 and was replaced with the current 3-story brick building.
The Presbyterians named the place “Chapel Hall”. A small choir was formed under the direction of Miss Carrie Lane, daughter of lumber baron Norman Lane who built the fine house at the far end of Broad Street, now owned by Janice and Randy Bart. Carrie Lane later married the original James Bond, and was destined to become Betsy Bond Dallaire’s great-grandmother.
As early as 1885, the little congregation had begun to think of erecting a church building of their own. Land was purchased along Main Street and this dream became a reality on September 9, 1888, when the congregation of 63 members dedicated a new church building. It was located on the same spot as the current church but almost at street level. There was basically one big room with a bell-tower entrance at the front. The bell remains today on display on the lawn in front of Taylor Memorial Museum at the park. How the youth of the church enjoyed pulling the rope to ring that bell on Sunday morning.
Four years later at a congregational meeting in April of 1892, approval was given for the construction of a manse which was completed and occupied by late fall of the same year. The large, two-story house was located next door to the church on the side toward 8th Avenue directly in front of the current education wing. Gordon Tait grew up in that house.
Around 1920, as the need developed for more space, the entire church was lifted up and a basement constructed containing a large fellowship hall, a kitchen, a toilet room, and space for a central heating system. Our current trustees can understand about the major renovation of the original buildings that took place around 1930 with new carpet, drapes and painting of the walls. Around 1940, a whole new two-story education building was added to the back of the church. That’s the church and Sunday school rooms that many of us grew up in.
The front wall of the sanctuary at the back of the church was moved back to allow more space for the choir. The organ sat right in the center directly behind the pulpit. The organist sat with her back to the congregation and had a mirror to observe the collection of the offering as well as check out the congregation. The pews were arranged into 3 sections, a wide double section in the middle and a narrow section on each side making it difficult for a bride to make her grand entrance although she could arrange to meet the groom coming down the other side.
My senior high Sunday School class sat in the south-west corner with Eleanor Jacobs as teacher; the ladies Bible Class was around the corner in a room of its own also doubling as the church office for the rest of the week; the old codgers of the Men’s Bible Class were in the south-east corner; and the Young Adults were downstairs in the kitchen – hence, the “Breakfast Class” was born. There was the choir room across the back and the classrooms upstairs for the little kids.
By 1953, the congregation realized that more space was needed for the growing church school program. Under the spiritual guidance of the new pastor, Rev. Harvey M. Smith, plans were begun for a building program which would replace the original buildings. In the first phase of this program, the Spence property was purchased at the corner of Main Street and Ninth Avenue and a red-brick ranch-style manse was erected in 1954-55 at a cost of $31,500. This was done without a mortgage thanks to a 3-year extra pledging campaign ending in 1957. The original manse was converted into a needed educational facility.
In 1958, a committee was chosen to consider a two-phase construction program: first, an educational building and later, a new sanctuary. Those plans came together when Former Member Vernon Taylor offered matching funds for the first $100,000 pledged and paid within 3 years. His challenge was accepted by the Session and congregation, making it possible to undertake both phases of construction simultaneously.
The last Church School classes and worship service in the original buildings were held on August 12, 1962. During construction, Church School classes were held in the Lanzoni Building next to the bridge where St. Vincent DePaul is currently located, and in the space above the new Beadle Store where Mary Elizabeth Devlin’s parents had lived, almost where the church had begun almost 80 years before and at the top of the longest staircase in town. Worship services were conducted earlier on Sunday mornings, back in the sanctuary of the Moorhead Methodist Church, thanks to that congregation’s gracious and friendly invitation.
The demolition of the old buildings was accomplished in September of 1962 and construction began in October. Twenty months went by before the completion and dedication of the new structure. The culmination of this ambitious building program, carried out during the pastorate of the Rev. Lynn L. Illingworth, was the memorable first worship service in the new Sanctuary, June 14, 1964. For the ensuing 45 years, as elders, as trustees, and as members of this congregation, you have been living “the rest of the story”.