Today is a special day in Eaton, it
is the day the current Eaton Church was dedicated on June 6th
in 1833. Its the historic sight I see while having coffee in the morning.
At that time it was the
Congregational Church, its founding members included two of the original
incorporators of the Baptist Theological Seminary that became Madison University and today's Colgate University.
The step which bore the inscription
still sits in front of the church, but has been broken up and can no longer be
read. But the churches history has followed that of the Eaton Hamlet and has in fact helped the
history of the United States.
In 1848 the church hosted the
Congregational Society’s yearly northeast meeting at which time the
Congregational Society officially adopted an anti-slavery stand. Some information on this is in the Cornell
College Library.
The church had many noteworthy
pastors including its first installed minister the Reverend E D Willis, a
friend of Gerrit Smith and a noted abolitionist. I became interested in Willis because he
lived in my house, a house that Allen Nelson Wood and his wife would buy on
their return to Eaton.
The church’s members at that time
included Allen Nelson Wood founder of the Wood, Taber & Morse Steam Engine
Works and both his partners Loyal Clark Taber and Walter Morse.
Other famous Eatonites who attended services
were Melville Delancey Landon and his family. Landon became a well known as
both a writer and as a lecturer. Many rich and famous people attended the
church during the Victorian era during what time Grover Cleveland’s brother;
the Reverend William Cleveland was its pastor.
The church still today houses a
historic Meneely Clock and Bell, and the churches windows which bear the names of some of
Eaton’s greats... still grace its interior; an interior that sports hand
turned pillars turned by Allen Wood himself.
During the Civil War the Eaton
Churches banded together and held services attended by each other patrons
during the week to pray for the wars end.
Eventually, the Congregational Church
became part of the Federated Churches of Eaton and then later became a
Community Church under the Pastor Thomas Clark who improved not only the
building, and but helped institute a fabulous AWANA program. During the time he
was pastor the congregation also built a large activities build that is used
today for youths to play basketball and games and to host special functions.
One of the best stories I have about the church is one
that ended up involving me. Melville
Landon wrote a story on Mr. Wood and the Rev. Cleveland for one of his books. In
the story Mr. Wood is hawking hymnals for sale in the back of the church while
Rev. Cleveland was announcing the following weeks Baptism Service for
children. Wood only had one child and so
when the minister said for the parishioners to bring their children… Mr. Wood
piped up, thinking he was talking about the hymnal that “they could have as
many as they wanted for 50 cents each.”
I wrote about this story for the Mid-York Weekly newspaper
and the next week I received a package from Pennsylvania…it was the sermon
handwritten that Rev. Cleveland delivered that day!...
History always returns to Eaton…so visit the museum soon
and see the document for yourself…we are going to be open on Sundays 1-3 pm in
the summer.
Here's a video of the church!
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