Author: Mass First Church of Christ Pittsfield

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-18

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 9781331716754

Excerpt from Proceedings in Commemoration of the Organization in Pittsfield, February 7, 1764 of the First Church of Christ: February 7, 1889 The First Church of Christ in Pittsfield was organized February 7th, 1764, one hundred and twenty-five years ago to-day. Its organization ante-dates the Declaration of Independence by twelve years; the adoption of the Federal Constitution by twenty-four years. It was three years after the incorporation of the town of Pittsfield and three years after the creation of the County of Berkshire; thirty years after the organization of the church in Stockbridge, twenty-one years after that in Great Barrington, and six after that in Becket. The three named churches were present by pastors at least at the organization of this church. The settlement of Pittsfield began in 1752. After twelve years of struggle and of the ordinary frontier vicissitudes, there were in the town in the year 1764, the year in which the church was organized, between three hundred and five hundred inhabitants, most of whom lived in log houses. When Thomas Allen, the first minister came here in 1763, his son says "All the houses of the village were made of logs excepting half a dozen." The hundred or more log houses were far apart and most of them were at the western or eastern extremities of the town. To accommodate the widely separated inhabitants the first meeting house was placed in the center, not far from the site of this building. Its story and that of its successors will be told by another this afternoon. The proprietors of the settling lots in the township of Pontoosuck, held their first legally called meeting Sept. 12, 1753. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.