When Bennington, New Hampshire was just a cluster of raw-wood houses in the 1790s, there was no place to go to church. When the area was called Factory Village, a family could journey to attend the Congregational Church of Hancock, but that was a long trip, impassible in winter or Mud Season. Most families probably held home-based religious activities on Sundays: prayers, scripture readings, hymn singing. In 1833, a group of town worthies banded together for worship as the Union Trinitarian Congregational Society, meeting in private homes for worship.

From then on, there was a push to build a church to serve those who lived on the banks of the Contoocook River. Congregationalism as a church movement, descended from Puritans who thought that each church should run its own affairs, unbeholding to the dictates of people elsewhere. By that time, citizens of what-would-become Bennington were feeling stirrings of independence, so a Congregational church would have been a good fit. Evangelical churches [Congregational, Methodist, Presbyterian] were part of the Second Great Awakening of religion in the1800s in the US. This lead to buildings that were not ornate and soaring, like Gothic or Georgian-style churches.

The church building was constructed in the Village Center on the corner of Main Street and Francestown Road in 1839. To pay for it, families would pledge money and sweat-equity to put up the House of God. The style is a simple, gable-end structure. The steeple was the tallest structure in town. A pair of front doors lead into an entry vestibule, thence into the nave. Oddly, the boundary line between the Town of Hancock and the unincorporated Factory Village ran right along the front of the building. When entering the church, one stepped out of Hancock and into Factory Village.

The nave is a 58’x50′ rectangle with a high ceiling. There was a balcony in the back where the choir sat. At first, there was no church organ and music was provided by two violins and a viola. Coming to church was often the social event of the week. There were two 90-minute services each Sunday, with an hour break in-between. During that time, the children attended Sunday School, everyone had lunch and a good tongue-wag.

In 1984, a parsonage was built by George Burns. Some of the ministers of the church included: Rev Ebeneezer Coleman; Rev. Albert Manson; Rev. James Holmes; Rev. Josiah Heald; Dr. Thomas Billings; Rev. Reginald Merrifield; Rev. William Clark, Jr; Rev. Marie Tolander; Rev. Fay Gemmell; Rev. Daniel Poling.

In 1853, a subscription was held to buy a bell for the steeple. In 1896, the small vestry building across the street was abandoned in favor of a set of attached rooms at the back of the church: kitchen, ladies’ parlor, wash room, small chapel. In 1899, a reed organ was installed. In 1917, a clock was donated for the steeple. The church interior was changed in the 1970s. With the lowering of the ceiling, the balcony was walled off.

Today, the church still holds services, with a revolving slate of ministers. The parsonage was sold off in 1977.

The next installment of the Bennington NH Historical Society Blog will be posted on July 31. If you click the Follow button, all future posts will be sent straight to your inbox every month.