Dighton Community Church
| Dighton Community Church | |
|---|---|
| Pedo Baptist Congregational Society of Dighton | |
 | |
  Dighton Community Church | |
| 41°49′0.156″N 71°7′46.3578″W / 41.81671000°N 71.129543833°WCoordinates: 41°49′0.156″N 71°7′46.3578″W / 41.81671000°N 71.129543833°W | |
| Location | Dighton, Massachusetts |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Non-denominational |
| Previous denomination | Congregational, Unitarian |
| Website | http://dightoncommunitychurch.com |
| History | |
| Former name(s) |
Dighton Unitarian Church, Church of the Lower Four Corners |
| Founded | 25 June 1798 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | active |
| Style | Colonial |
| Groundbreaking | 1770 |
| Completed | 1798 |
| Specifications | |
| Bells | One Revere Bell |
Dighton Community Church is a non-denominational church in Dighton, Massachusetts. Formerly known as the Dighton Unitarian Church.[1][2] Formally and legally known as the Pedo-Baptist Congregational Society, due to the practice of infant baptism.[2]
History
In 1767, the first meeting house in Dighton Village burned to the ground.[3] A new site was selected in the village at Lower Four Corners,[3] at the eastern edge of a cornfield used by the Pokanoket tribe.[4] Construction was started in 1770, and apparently the building was begun to be used in that same year;[2][3] however, the church was yet unfinished, with no tower or steeple.[3] During the Revolutionary War, the unfinished church was used as a barracks for colonial soldiers, and sometimes to hold sheep.[2][3] Construction was finally finished on the main building in 1798,[4] but the bell tower was not added until 1824.[4]
Ezra Stiles arrived in Dighton from Newport with a congregation which included William Ellery.[3] They lived together in the Whitmarsh house on Elm Street, just north of the church.[2] Ellery represented Rhode Island as a member of the Continental Congress, and he traveled by horse from Dighton to Philadelphia for meetings.[2] After the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, 1776, a copy was brought to Dighton.[2] On July 13, 1776, a copy of the Declaration was read in the church, most likely read by Ezra Stiles.[2]
Stiles became the first minister of the church in 1777.[3]
Revere Bell
The bell tower features a Revere Bell.[5] It was cast at the Revere Foundry and purchased by Joseph Revere in 1821.[4] The bell bears the inscription "Revere Boston 1821", and is listed in the Revere Stockbook as "Bell Number 254."[2] It was installed in the tower in 1827 and rung frequently.[2] The bell's yoke and wheel were restored in 2012-2013.[2]
Renovations
The church was renovated in 1830, when the pew layout was changed and the Elm Street door removed.[2] The church was modernized in 1861[4] and had a complete renovation in 1930.[2][4] In 2002 the steeple was removed and transported to Vermont, where it was completely rebuilt, and re-installed in September of that year.[2]
Recently, the church has been known locally for its annual Day Lily Show, held every summer since 1960.[1] Every year since the town's 300th anniversary in 2012[2] (or possibly since 2011),[6] the Declaration of Independence has been read aloud as part of the town's July 4 commemorations.[2][6]
Cemetery
On the West side of the cemetery, on the site of the old Indian cornfield, is a cemetery.[3] The Massachusetts Historical Commission refers to this cemetery in MACRIS as DIG805.[7] The earliest burial in the cemetery dates to about 1750.[7] Medal of Honor recipient Frederick C. Anderson is buried in the cemetery.[8]
External links
- Church website
- Church cemetery at Find a Grave
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dighton Community Church. |
References
- 1 2 Sullivan, Lynne (12 July 2014). "Annual Day Lily Show at Dighton Community Church will highlight nature’s beauty". Taunton Gazette. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 An Historic Outline. Dighton Community Church. Feb 2014.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Walkden, Marion B. (26 Oct 1975). "Dighton Community Church History". Dighton Community Church. Dighton, MA: Dighton Community Church. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Dighton Community Church marker". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
The building of this church began in 1770 on the eastern edge of the Great Cornfield of the Pocanocket Indians. Construction was halted during the American Revolution and the church was used as soldiers farmed and sheepfold. Completion was in 1798. The bell was cast at the Revere Foundry in Canton and purchased by Joseph Revere in 1821. The tower was added three years later. The church was modernized in 1861 and restored in 1930. The Pedo Baptist (Child Baptizing) Congregational Society of Dighton was incorporated June 25th, 1798.
- ↑ Robinson, Charles Turek (1998). Rehoboth, Swansea, and Dighton. Arcadia Publishing Co. p. 115. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- 1 2 Hogle, Anna (5 July 2015). "Dighton church steps back in time with reading of Declaration of Independence". Taunton Gazette. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- 1 2 "Unitarian Church Cemetery". Find a Grave. Ancestry.com. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
- ↑ Larocque, Marc (20 October 2011). "Grave of Civil War Medal of Honor recipient found in Dighton cemetery". The Taunton Gazette. Retrieved 7 February 2016.