About this blog...
The First Congregational Church (FCC) of Montclair began in 1870. The Silver Anniversary edition celebrating First Congregational's first twenty five years is available as a Google book. It is freely available on the Web, This is the link to the book.
This blog is preparation for the 150th anniversary of the Church. Let me say a few words about the project. One Sunday after service I was speaking with our sextant. I am not quite certain how we got onto the topic, but he related to me that there "is a lot of old stuff" in the bell tower. He asked if I wanted to take a look. Since I have an interest in "old stuff" I was more than anxious to follow him up the steps to the bell tower room.
"You know," he said, "there was water damage in the tower room." Well, the damage was not too bad and I was amazed to find boxes and file cabinets full of the old stuff. There were photographs, banking records, ledgers, minutes and notes of meetings, and assorted other ephemera. Apparently, efforts to archive all of the material had ended some time ago. The room looked like it had not been touched in about 25 to 30 years. So, the inner amateur historian in me went into imagination mode. Why not get it all onto the Internet?
I have long known the value of this kind of material to historians, genealogists, people investigating their family history, and I am sure current and prospective members of the First Congregational Church will have an interest.
The history of FCC is woven into the fabric of Montclair's history. Many early members were also prominent citizens. I am sure there will be interest in the numerous people that have contributed to the rich history of FCC and Montclair.
This is not a "professional" archive. Essentially, I will work on it as time allows and as I uncover all of the "hidden gems" I find in the bell tower. All of the posts will be tagged with name information, years, events, committees, etc. The scans on the items are high-resolution but I do not claim them to adhere to archival standards. All of the images are in JPEG format. Whenever there is text available, I used OCR software to convert to a readable and searchable format. I have proof-read the text but occasionally some errors may slip by. If you can add additional information to any of the posts, please contact me via email.
Enjoy!
This blog is preparation for the 150th anniversary of the Church. Let me say a few words about the project. One Sunday after service I was speaking with our sextant. I am not quite certain how we got onto the topic, but he related to me that there "is a lot of old stuff" in the bell tower. He asked if I wanted to take a look. Since I have an interest in "old stuff" I was more than anxious to follow him up the steps to the bell tower room.
"You know," he said, "there was water damage in the tower room." Well, the damage was not too bad and I was amazed to find boxes and file cabinets full of the old stuff. There were photographs, banking records, ledgers, minutes and notes of meetings, and assorted other ephemera. Apparently, efforts to archive all of the material had ended some time ago. The room looked like it had not been touched in about 25 to 30 years. So, the inner amateur historian in me went into imagination mode. Why not get it all onto the Internet?
I have long known the value of this kind of material to historians, genealogists, people investigating their family history, and I am sure current and prospective members of the First Congregational Church will have an interest.
The history of FCC is woven into the fabric of Montclair's history. Many early members were also prominent citizens. I am sure there will be interest in the numerous people that have contributed to the rich history of FCC and Montclair.
This is not a "professional" archive. Essentially, I will work on it as time allows and as I uncover all of the "hidden gems" I find in the bell tower. All of the posts will be tagged with name information, years, events, committees, etc. The scans on the items are high-resolution but I do not claim them to adhere to archival standards. All of the images are in JPEG format. Whenever there is text available, I used OCR software to convert to a readable and searchable format. I have proof-read the text but occasionally some errors may slip by. If you can add additional information to any of the posts, please contact me via email.
Enjoy!
SO happy to have discovered this blog. Maybe I can find more info on Thomas Travis and The Pilgrim Chapel here. Thanks for what you are doing to preserve these treasures, Mark.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great project! Looking forward to seeing more and learning about the history of this great congregation.
ReplyDeleteMark, Hope you can get back to this soon. I'll be happy to help.
ReplyDelete