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First Congregational United Church of Christ of Newark Valley is alive and growing with many opportunities for you and your family. We are a member congregation of the New York Conference of the United Church of Christ,
a partner in Project Neighbor and home to many community organizations.
We offer opportunity to give expression to faith through the arts, music and community service.
Church History
The Puritans, who became the Congregationalists, grew from a larger movement called Separatists who had existed in England for over 200 years. These people risked death or imprisonment in leaving the Church of England. They subscribed to a less ritualistic service, autonomy for each congregation, and free discussions of religious belief. They went to Holland for 12 years to escape persecution, then voted to come to the New World, establishing the colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in December, 1620. Within a few years, other New England churches were established in Salem, Hartford, and New Haven. Despite some differences in doctrine, they did in time form a loose association. In England, the church had been under the direction of the state. In America, the church virtually ruled the state. This change of authority would then lead to the outlook of the earliest members of our church that is evident in the early book of minutes. In America, Revolutionary War soldiers had marched through this area in their campaign to eliminate the British-allied Indians. When they returned to New England, they took back reports of fertile valleys and wooded hills. After the border disputes between New York and Massachusetts were compromised in 1786, a land company located in Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, purchased a tract of land bounded between the Chenango River on the east, the West Owego Creek on the west, and extending northward from the Susquehanna River about 25 miles. This ‘Boston Purchase Company’ sent out a party of men to resurvey the area, which was known as the Boston purchase or later, the Boston Ten Towns. In 1790, the area was unbroken wilderness and old records relate that Abram Brown, one of the surveyors, lost his way during the survey and lived for three days on roots, eventually rejoining his comrades. Colonel David Pixley was one of the commissioners. He set out to ‘treat with the Indians for rights to the soil.’ He acquainted himself with the Indian language and greatly endeared himself to the native population.
Originally the whole area, including what are now Newark Valley, Berkshire, and Richford was known as Tioga. Abram Brown and one of his brothers settled three miles north of what is presently Newark Valley. That area was known as Brown’s Settlement. Present day Main Street was only an Indian trail leading from the Susquehanna River to the Onondaga salt springs. It was necessary to cut down trees to build a good wagon road for ox teams before permanent settlers and their families could come in.
An excellent article about settling the area appeared in The Tioga County Herald of July 2, 1976, authored by Anna Paterson. The Slossons were early members of the church. The following material comes from that article: The first settler on the site of what is the present village of Newark Valley was Ezbon Slosson, who married Electa Williams. He first came early in 1792 and built a log cabin with a bark roof near where Fortunato’s restaurant now stands. He returned in February of 1773, bringing some tool and household goods on a ox sled. While waiting for his wife and his father’s family to come, he began making maple sugar. He made the spiles from elders that grew along the creek, cut trees and split logs; then hollowed troughs out of the half logs to catch the sap. He boiled the sap in a large iron kettle he had brought. By the time his wife and his father’s family arrives, he had made a year’s supply of maple sugar, doubtless black and smoky, but enjoyed by the family nevertheless. The two families, Ezbon Slosson and his wife, and his father Enoch and his family lived together at first. Later Enoch built a log cabin for himself. In the fall of 1793, there was a heavy rain and the creek rose so high it floated the puncheon floor of Ezbon’s cabin and the bark roof slid off, exposing them to the downpour. They had to go through the night to Enoch’s cabin where they had lived until Ezbon built a new cabin where the Congregational Chapel now stands. One night, after they had moved into the new house, the cold became the worst they had ever known. The wolves were howling outside and tearing at the house. Ezbon had put his overcoat on the bed for extra warmth, and in the morning found that the wolves had torn the mud and ‘chinking’ from between the logs and bitten and torn the coat to pieces. It was therefore necessary for Ezbon to later make a trip to Boston on horseback to purchase a new coat.
The Newark Valley First Congregational Church was the first in an area that includes nearly all of Northern Tioga County. Records show that within a short time after the arrival of the settlers from Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1791, thier scattered inhabitants met irregularly from house to house for religious services. Seth Willston and James Woodward, traveling missionaries who had settled in Lisle, New York, visited these services from time to time. On November 17, 1803, a group of interested and devoted people, aided by Williston and Woodard, organized the First Congregational Church of Tioga. The six constituent members were: Dr. Joseph Waldo, Nathaniel Ford, Jesse Gleason, Levi Bailey, Beulah Patterson Brown, and Caroline Ford. On Sunday, November 20, 1803, the first Sunday of the church’s existence, four more people joined, bringing the membership to ten. Dr. Waldo had been a surgeon in the Revolutionary War and for many years was the only physician north of Owego. He was remembered as a diligent Christian worker and a benevolent community leader. Beulah Patterson Brown was also a diligent worker and a powerful influence in establishing this first church. She was a widow and a mother of five sons, of whom the surveyor Abram Brown was one. The other sons soon came into the area, which became known as Brown’s Settlement. Mrs. Brown gave land near her home for the first building. The first ‘meeting’ house just south of her home was located about three miles north of the present village of Newark Valley. It was a plain frame building and never finished inside. There was no provision for heat, and the seats were rough slabs. Services were conducted in both the morning and afternoon. Members brought their lunch and ate Mrs. Brown’s house, where she kept a big fire going to provide hot coals to replenish the little foot stoves in the unheated church, and also provided hot drinks, ‘rye Injun bread’, and donuts. The first task of the newly organized ‘Society of Western’, the secular arm of the church, was the building of a place of worship. During 1803 and 1804 it was decided to build a ‘meeting house’ on the land donated. By 1805 the settlers had increased in number so that the Society of Western had 58 members. That year, the first minister, Rev. Jeremiah Osborne, began his work December 24 at a salary of $275, which was increased $25 annually until a maximum of $350 was reached. At his ordination service, delegates were present from other churches organized by Mr. Williston, including Homer, Jericho, Lisle, Scipio, and Windsor. Organized as a Congregational Church, it continued as such until 1811, when it became Presbyterian and remained in the Tioga Presbytery until 1869. Then the Susquehanna Association was reorganized, and the church again became Congregational.
The first book of minutes starts with a Confession of Faith and a Covenant, which members subscribed upon joining. They acknowledged and obligation to maintain daily closet and family prayer, to sanctify the Sabbath and attend public worship, to present their children for baptism and to attend the Lord’s Supper as often as it was administered. Further, they promised to watch over each other, to admonish kindly and to receive admonition; to confess faults. This covenant was taken seriously. Individuals were put under the ‘watch and care’ of the church, and if a member was found behaving in an unbefitting manner, it was reported to the congregation. A respected member or a committee of members was assigned to ‘labor’ with the accused who was encourages to make public confession if guilty. This ‘labor’ often entailed several visits and sometimes interviewing witnesses. Rumors of poor behavior as well as first hand accusations were explored and the accused was given the opportunity to answer the charges. At times, the charges were dismissed as unfounded. On rare occasions, members were excommunicated when they were unrepentant. Causes for serious concern were absence from Sunday Services and from attendance at the Lord’s Supper, theft, ‘prevarication’, contumacy (stubborn resistance to authority), neglect of family worship and closet prayer. The mother of a child born one month after her marriage was confronted. She acknowledged that her new husband was not the child’s father, so he was absolved of any criminality in the matter. This pattern of justice had originated many years earlier and served on the frontier in lieu of police and the courts. These early records also show that Marcus Ford, the second pastor, at one time had not been paid and the church was indebted to him for $2,100. His yearly salary was $500 at that time, and he freely cancelled the debt. Also, at that time, no house was provided for him. He did some farming to provide for his family. Rev. Ford served the church from 1820 and Mrs. Ford then moved to Binghamton. A history written in 1878, the 75th anniversary of the church, tells that at that time, his memory was still so loved that the parishioners themselves, with the approval of the Ford descendants, took horses and wagons to Binghamton, disinterred his remains and Mrs. Ford’s, (and the grave marker), and carried them home to Newark Valley, where a fitting ceremony re-interred them. Membership grew slowly at first. However, in the winter of 1830-31, a revival occurred and in April, 107 joined by profession of faith and six more by letter of transfer. In July of that year, 22 more were added to the membership. In the minutes from February 1847, a resolution was passed, stating that dancing, balls and other vain amusements were a sinful waste of time. An account in the Tioga County Herald dated 11-20-1903 about the church’s centennial states that for the first 50 years, it was thought improper for women to speak in church. This changed in 1866.
The first rough building on land donated by Beulah Patterson Brown was used for 14 years. It measured 24 feet by 36 feet. Then the building was moved to the woods, a short distance south and was used as a stable for the pastor’s horse. Later it was moved again, and finally to the village, where it still stands on the Varney property on Whig Street. The new church was built on the site of the original one and was dedicated in 1817. This building was 45 feet by 55 feet. It had a spacious gallery and a high pulpit where the minister could have a good view of his audience seated in the large square pews. In 1823, thirteen members were dismissed to form what is now the church in Richford. In the same year, three members left to join with other settlers to organize West Newark Church. In 1831, because of the number of newcomers who were locating south of Brown’s Settlement, it became evident that there would be two settlements – one north and one south. It was decided to accept from Mr. Otis Lincoln the gift of land, which is the present site of the church, and to take down the old church and remove it to the village of Newark Valley. The plan was a disappointment to those settlers living further north near Berkshire. Dr. Waldo and his family were among this group. A third building, on the land donated by Otis Lincoln, was built in part from some of the second building. However, it had been placed too close to the road and was used until 1849, when it was moved back about 45 feet and extensive repairs were made, including six tiers of pews and three aisles. It became known as the traveling sanctuary and when the current building was ready for use in 1869, it was moved again to a site in back of the present Post Office and became known as Allison’s Hall, being used in the 1870s and 1880s as a place for Entertainments and a temporary place of worship for the newly formed Roman Catholic congregation. The fourth building is the present structure, erected in 1868 and dedicated January 14th, 1869. The original plan was to spend not more than $7,000, but the final amount was $12,725.25. The hope was then expressed that it would last longer than either of its predecessors. It has outlasted all three. The sanctuary has been renovated three times; 1899, 1938, and 1987. William Lougher of Waverly, New York, did the interior redecorating in both 1899 and 1938. Originally lighted by oil lamps and candles, acetylene lamps were installed about 1889. The fixtures can still be seen in the choir loft behind the arched woodwork. A gas tank in the basement used carbide with water added to form acetylene gas when needed. Parts of a central gas light candelabra which hung from the ceiling were found, refurbished, and electrified by Nick Klimazewski, the 1987 restorationist. He had matching wall sconces made to match while returning interior décor to the 1899 style. His work with this lighting and restoring the stenciling earned a ‘Landmark Award’ from the Preservation Association of the Southern Tier in 1987. It is believed that the choir loft was added after original construction when the organ was installed in 1889. It is a Hook and Hastings tracker-type organ made in Boston at a cost of $1,335.95, raised by subscription. A hand pump bellows supplied the air originally and later water from the village supply turned a turbine which pumped air for the bellows. In 1925 it was equipped with an electric motor which is still in use. The organ is all mechanical with push rods and leather valves. It was reconditioned in 1950 and again in 1980 under the direction of Dick Kerr, dedicated organist for nearly four decades. Heat was originally provided by two stoves on either side of the altar on the main floor, with chimneys in both corners hidden behind the curved walls and joined in the attic to go out as one. In 1890 a coal furnace was installed in the basement, and in 1965, the system was converted to oil-fired hot water heat. At the same time, a tunnel was added between the church and the chapel. Office and Sunday School rooms were added to the basement, which had been dirt floored. In 1881, the Rev. Jay Clizbe donated 100 volumes of scientific, literary, historical and biographical interest and one hundred dollars to start a public library, located in the chapel where it remained until the Tappan-Spaulding Memorial Library came into being. Before electricity was available, the church bell served as the village fire alarm. A button on the front porch could be depressed to send a battery powered signal to slowly release the weight of a large, sand-filled box in the steeple, causing the bell to ring for perhaps ten minutes. The mechanism remains in place; the sand has been removed. The first chapel was built in 1887. It is now used as a garage on the Doolittle property on the corner of Main Street and Rewey Avenue. It was replaced in 1895 by the present building built by Cephas Barker, at a cost of $1600. The women on the church provided the funds for this project. Later, the basement was excavated and finished to make the area suitable for Sunday school rooms. In 1962, the interior of the ground floor was completely remodeled and redecorated. The building was then re-dedicated to Rev. D. Glyn Lewis who served for 36 years, much loved and respected in the community, and also to William Stimming, a dedicated member and supporter for many years. The chapel basement was refurbished in 1998 to provide an office for the church secretary, a pastor’s study, and a meeting area. The work was done by Joseph Onofrio of Newark Valley, who has done many other needed repairs over the years. No regular home for ministers was maintained until about 1907 when the dwelling on the corner of Whig Street and Watson Avenue was purchased. It was first occupied by John Richardson. A new parsonage was erected just south of the church in 1928 at a cost of $7000 and was used as a manse until 1992. Since then, it has been rented to several different tenants. In 1994, the Sunday School rooms below the Sanctuary were renovated by volunteers. In 1996, both buildings, the church and the chapel, were professionally insulated and covered with new siding. The quality of the materials and the workmanship was so high that none of the architectural character of the original building was lost. Ever environmentally sensitive, the heating oil tanks were placed above ground for both buildings, so as to never be a danger to the waters of the creek behind us. Repairs, remodeling and upkeep will always be of concern, and like other churches, this one has been helped by bequests over the years as well as countless hours of volunteer labor. The chapel is now named The Bernice Davenport Chapel in gratitude to a former member. Space prohibits listing all the benefactors over the years; they are a legion. The current members of the congregation now reap the benefits of this generosity and labor.
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