A Guide to Jonathan Edwards' Northampton
Sites relating to Jonathan Edwards in Northampton
Northampton Meeting Houses | First Congregational Church
Jonathan Edwards preached in the second Northampton meeting house (1661-1737) and the third Northampton meeting house (1737-1812). Neither building stands today.
The term "meeting house" or meetinghouse or meeting-house traditionally referred to the first public building built as new settlements were created in colonial America. Public gatherings included religious worship, town meetings and court proceedings. In Northampton, the first meeting house was built in 1655 and replaced in 1661 (2nd meeting house), 1737 (3rd), 1811-12 (4th) and 1877-78 (5th). As towns grew, church and state functions became separate and separate buildings - churches, courthouses and town halls - were constructed. The term meeting house fell out of everyday use.
The site where the Northampton meeting houses stood was referred to as meeting house hill because they were located on a hill, which has diminished over the centuries. The location was central to the homelots allotted to the 17th century European settlers. This site is near the present day Hampshire County Courthouse (99 Main Street) and First Churches (129 Main Street).
Local architects have drawn architectural drawings of first, second and third meeting houses based upon written records.
The term "meeting house" or meetinghouse or meeting-house traditionally referred to the first public building built as new settlements were created in colonial America. Public gatherings included religious worship, town meetings and court proceedings. In Northampton, the first meeting house was built in 1655 and replaced in 1661 (2nd meeting house), 1737 (3rd), 1811-12 (4th) and 1877-78 (5th). As towns grew, church and state functions became separate and separate buildings - churches, courthouses and town halls - were constructed. The term meeting house fell out of everyday use.
The site where the Northampton meeting houses stood was referred to as meeting house hill because they were located on a hill, which has diminished over the centuries. The location was central to the homelots allotted to the 17th century European settlers. This site is near the present day Hampshire County Courthouse (99 Main Street) and First Churches (129 Main Street).
Local architects have drawn architectural drawings of first, second and third meeting houses based upon written records.
Architectural drawing of the second
Northampton Meeting House (1661-1737) Drafted by Chuck Whitman, 2018 |
On July 12, 1661, the town voted to replace the first meeting house built in 1655 and build a "new meeting howse, [sic] of 42 foote square...." The building was described as square, with a roof rising in a pyramidal form towards a point in the center. On the apex was placed a turret or small cupola designed for a bell, though no bell was in use for some time. Town residents were called to meeting by a trumpet or beating of a drum.
Reverend Solomon Stoddard, the town's second minister, preached in this building. In 1726, Jonathan Edwards was called to assist his grandfather in the ministry of the church. Edwards was ordained assistant pastor on February 15, 1727. When Solomon Stoddard died in 1729, Edwards became the town's third pastor.
On May 13, 1737, just as Edwards was beginning his sermon, the back gallery split in the middle and crashed, burying the people below. The town was building a new meeting house which was dedicated on December 25, 1737. |
EDWARDS CHURCH
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Forbes Library
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THe MANSE
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