Presbyterian Church 200 Years August 5, 2003

On the 5th day of August, 1803 Rev. Peter Fish and Rev. Timothy M. Cooley, missionaries, one Presbyterian and the other a Congregationalist, met with a number of professing Christians to take the preliminary steps for the formation of a Christian Church.

They set down the new covenant of the Church and what each Board member and member of the congregation should follow. Two days later a Christian church was solemnly organized consisting of 22 members.

With the Church finally organized and supported by the inhabitants of Verona a meeting was held on the 10th of Nov., 1806 for the purpose of forming a society to be known as the First Religious Congregational Society in the Town of Verona. Worship services were held at private homes.

On May 7, 1807 the society voted to hire Rev. Israel Brainard to be their first pastor for the salary of $365 a year to be paid only one half the sum, and to make an addition of $45 and 62 cents yearly for four successive years, or until it totals the $365. He was installed on Sept. 23, 1807.

About 1810 the desire for a house of worship began but a site could not be decided. Some wanted it in Hands Village (Verona) and others favoring Blackmans Corners. There is no actual date of completion, except in a sermon it was noted it started in 1813 and completed in the summer of 1814. The building was 36 by 50, it was painted white and had somewhat of a steeple, three windows on each side, no chimney as it was heated by foot stoves that were brought by the parishioners from their homes when they came to worship service.

There are not too many records of what happened over the years to this congregation and the life of this church, but there were quite a few members who were discouraged and wanted to form another church and society. Records show that on the 6th day of January 1829 the male persons of full age, belonging to the congregation at Hand's Village, in the Town of Verona, assembled at the school house to form the Second Congregational Society and that the said church would be changed to the Presbyterian and would be known as the Second Congregational Church of Verona. On the 11th day of February 1830, 44 persons requested permission from the parent church to form this church.

The church building, already referred to as the new church, is the present one that we are in today and it was built in 1829 by a Mr. Dodge of Vernon who had a contract to do it for $3000.00. At the completion of the church, it is noted that George Gardner, a carpenter, climbed to the steeple to christen it with a bottle of liquor, as was the custom in those days, and threw the bottle to the ground without breaking it and the liquor gurgled out with a noise that sounded by those in attendance as saying, good, good, good.

The land this church sits on was donated by Joseph Eames, and it previously was a school house which was removed to the next lot north of the church. The church was 38 by 57 feet in size and it stood on a basement which was used as a Sabbath School.

The way the church is today inside, the pulpit and the entry doors are the same as then. The heating was done by stoves with hanging pipes which generated heat in the building. It is noted that one day the pipes smoked so much the preacher remarked that Satan seemed determined that they should not worship there that day. At noon some of the male members crossed the road to the hotel and reported that the preacher told them the devil was in the stovepipe.

The so called "Presbyterian church horse sheds" were never owned by the church, but the ground was purchased and the sheds built by 12 men who attended the church. There is no record of a date of dedication of the church.

On May 21, 1837 it was noted that two churches couldn't continue so the Blackmans Corners church members joined the Presbyterian, their church was moved to New London near the canal, where it remained a church and later became a barn near the canal.

For many years the church had no bell, but in 1840 or 1842 a bell with the name of W. H. Munger painted inside of it was purchased. For a time the bell rang 3 times a day, 9 a.m., 12 o'clock noon, and 9 p.m. The custom of tolling the bell on the death of members has long stopped.

Membership increased over those first years with 348 in the First Congregational and 56 of the 2nd Congregational before becoming full Presbyterian, some did leave but the final total after the first organization was 1025 members.

A Few Facts

The house on Main Street where Joe and Peg Cmaylo live was the first manse that was owned by the church in 1851. The first family was the Weeks and Gardner Weeks was the founder of the first cheese factory in town afterwards known as the Merry Factory.

The little white house across from the post office was the new manse that was built by George Abel and Clint Jones and finally was sold. The burgundy drapes behind me were given in memory of Philip and Jan Davis in memory of their daughter who died as an infant. The gold cross was in memory of Mrs. Noble given by her husband, I believe his name was Grant. Elizabeth played the organ since she was a young girl and her music filled the church with wonderful sounds.

The cemetery next to the elementary school was called the Verona Burial Grounds started in 1805. If you tour the grounds you will see some of the old families that started the Presbyterian Church buried there.

My late husband Andy, my three children: Deborah, Glen and Mark all came to Verona from the Rome Presbyterian Church before we transferred our membership when we moved here in 1959 to the same house we still live in on Route 31. The children all went to Sunday School, were in the youth groups, choirs. My husband and I held all the offices in the church for many years, including Deacon, Elder, Sunday School Superintendent, teacher, Church secretary, youth fellowship leader and Clerk of Session.

Andy became a Presbyterian lay minister in 1984 and was assigned to the Augusta Pres. Church until his sudden death in Dec. of 1987. On Feb. 14th 1988 I preached one Sunday at that church and remained there for 5 years, since then I have been serving other churches and other denominations, with my last full time church in Sherrill at the United Church of Christ where I went for 3 Sundays and remained for 2 full years until they merged with another church.

This church has many fond memories for my children and me and we hope that it will continue for many many years to come for other families to enjoy it like we did.

God gives us the ability to have a memory, and it is something that only we own, no one can take away our memories away from us. God had been good to all of us who are members and to those who don't have a church family yet. Let us remember a church is not just a building, a church is its people.