THE BICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY

of

THE UNDERHILL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

and

ITS HISTORICAL ROOTS (1801-2001)

THE BICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY

of

THE  UNDERHILL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

and

ITS HISTORICAL ROOTS (1801-2001)

THE FOUNDING OF THE UNDERHILL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

    The settlement of Underhill in the mountainous, inaccessible backwoods of Chittenden County did not get underway until after the Revolutionary War. Although the town was chartered in 1763 it was not officially organized until 1795, four years after Vermont had relinquished its status as an independent republic and had been accepted as the fourteenth state. A small group of homesteaders had earlier established a hamlet just south of the Cambridge line and in 1787 had built the first log schoolhouse.  The Hill Road (now called Poker Hill)  was officially surveyed and laid out in 1791 and soon became the commercial route  to the north. By 1800 a second hamlet had developed along the hilltop midway along the Hill Road. Many of the original settlers were from  Connecticut and  Congregational in religious persuasion. In 1801 they established the first church in the new community. The first page in the  Underhill Congregational record book  reads,  "Be it remembered that on ye 29th day of December, in ye year of our Lord one thousand eight  hundred and one, a number of believers were formed into a church by ye advice and assistance of ye Reverend Ebenezer Kingsbury  of ye First Church of Jericho". (The First Congregational Church in Jericho Center had been established in 1791.) Seven men and seven women  subscribed to the Covenant and Articles of Faith and Practice, "thus declaring both their obligations to God and their fellowship and charity for each other, and becoming known as the members first joining in covenant and organized a church of Christ in Underhill." 

In those days "church" did not refer to a building, but to a congregation of people who shared a common spiritual commitment and convenanted together to uphold their creed. (Each member signed the covenant, after approval of the congregation, and woe to the member who did not live up to expectations. The early records of the churches are rife with  excommunications and details of the causal human frailties.)  The congregations often met in the homes of members until a meetinghouse could be built. For the first few years the Underhill Congregationalists held worship in the Birge Tavern (now the Brewer home) where town meetings were also held. The North Underhill Cemetery on Poker Hill Road, still in use today, was deeded to the town in 1807.  In 1805  the first meetinghouse was built, under town auspices, close to the road by the cemetery grounds. It served, as was customary in those days of theocratic governance, for town meetings as well as Congregational worship. The first minister was Reverend James Parker. He was pastor until 1812, when his opposition to the war put him at odds with the congregation. For four years the church was without regular preaching. In 1816 Mr Nathaniel B Dodge began preaching and by the end of the year was ordained as minister. He organized a Church School in 1818 which  continued in different forms throughout the years. (In the beginning the emphasis was on memorization of the catechism, Bible verses and hymns. At the first annual meeting 88 scholars were reported. One was said to have recited eighteen hundred and eighty seven verses and hymns! The students attended worship services with their parents;  Church School training was under the tutelage of several teachers throughout the community who taught under the supervision of a main teacher.)

GROWING PAINS AND CHURCH EXPANSION  

 In 1820 the Pleasant Valley highway was laid out to the Cambridge border and by 1827 Underhill Center emerged as a village with its own cemetery and meetinghouse, store and sawmill. Many of the new settlers were from New Hampshire and were not Congregational in persuasion. In 1824 a group established a Methodist Episcopal Church in the Center. Meanwhile a new village was growing on the Jericho border in what became known as "The Flatts", with its own school, stores and even a starch mill.  The original settlement on the Hill Road in what was now North Underhill was no longer the population center and sentiment grew to move town meetings and Congregational worship to a more accessible location.  In 1827 a small group of worshipers  petitioned to be dismissed from the founding church to establish the Second Congregational Church in Underhill Center. For a while they  shared a newly-built Union Meetinghouse with members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Shared places of worship were common in those days, enabling small congregations which could not afford a resident pastor, or even to meet every Sabbath, to rotate the use of the meetinghouse among the denominations. The population of Underhill was burgeoning and new families from England and Ireland arrived to establish settlements. In Underhill Center a  Freewill Baptist Church was organized in 1836 and a Catholic congregation was growing.  

     In 1828  the members of the original Church of Christ in Underhill, now the First Congregational Church, erected another meetinghouse, known as the "Lower Meetinghouse" or the "River Church", on the River Road, hoping to draw back the secessionists from the Center. (The exact location of the meetinghouse is not known, but it was close to the intersection of River Road and the present Sand Hill Road, barely a mile from the Union Meetinghouse in Underhill Center.) In 1829 a  constitution was adopted to form officially the First Congregational Society. (Congregational Societies were established to tend to the worldly matters of raising funds to pay the ministers and to build and maintain the meetinghouses. Women were very active members of the churches but did not participate in the work of the societies.)  The minutes record the names of the 34 men responsible for the preaching at the "River Church" and its maintenance and the 54 men responsible for the affairs of the "Old Meeting House" on the Hill Road. The members met at the "Old Meeting House" and called Reverend Phineas Kingsley to service, then adjourned to the meetinghouse on the river. For a short time services were alternated between the two meetinghouses, as were the Town Meetings. 

    In 1827 the more level "Creek Road" (now Route 15) had been  surveyed and by 1840 it displaced Poker Hill as the County Road. The historic Birge Tavern closed in 1831 and business diverted to the Barney Tavern which opened in a residence in the Flats along the Creek Road. (It is now a private home across the road from the present fire station.) At the March Meeting in 1832 it was voted to convene all Town meetings at William Barney's Tavern, centrally located between the two meetinghouses. The Tavern continued to be used until the late 1840s. Underhill Flats was growing as a commercial center, especially under the leadership of John H Tower and Henry Oakes whose Tower & Oakes store and other enterprises were prospering. The dispersed Congregationalists, alternating worship between meetinghouses and divided by argument, were often not able to meet the salary of the minister without assistance from the Vermont Domestic Missionary Society. Then in 1837 a windstorm tore the steeple from the thirty-year-old meetinghouse in North Underhill rendering the building unusable. On December 31, 1838  twenty four men organized to address the church problems. "We the subscribed inhabitants of Underhill and vicinity do hereby agree to form a society by the name of the Second Congregational Society  in Underhill for the purpose of building and repairing a meetinghouse, settling and supporting a minister, according to the first section of an act entitled, 'For the Support of the Gospel', past October 26, 1797." That same day Tower and Oakes leased to the Second Congregational Society, of which they were  founding members, a parcel of land which became the site of the present church. It was next to their store (now an apartment house): 

"To have and to hold the said leased lot on farm premises for the use of a Congregational Meetinghouse so long as the said ground shall be used for  that purpose, but for no other use, they yielding and paying  yearly each and every year on the first day of January if demanded one Ear of Indian Corn. Dated at Underhill this 31st of December 1838."  John Tower also created a cemetery on part of his farm (now the Underhill Cemetery) and deeded it to the Second  Congregational Society. 

    A few days later, at a meeting of the Second Congregational Society on January 4, 1839, the discussion concerned the advisability of moving a meetinghouse or rebuilding, but there were no funds even for preaching. Later in the year, however, they did move the Lower Meetinghouse from the River Road to the new location on the leased land in The Flatts. The same year a determined group of the founding Congregational members salvaged parts from the wind-damaged  original "Old Meetinghouse" and rebuilt it farther up the road, on the corner of what is now Page Road. (Presumably, this meetinghouse was still under the oversight of what was left of The First Congregational Society, but there are no records.) On October 25, 1839 this group requested to be dismissed from the Congregational Church of Christ in Underhill to form a separate church. The petition was at first denied, but then a Council was called to consider the matter. In spite of the concern that the division would further weaken the church, the separation was allowed. The congregation was later referred to as the North Church.) 

     Then in January 1840 the Second Congregational Society engaged Rev. Sherman Kellogg, pastor of Montpelier Free Congregational Church, to conduct a three-week gospel meeting at their rebuilt church in Underhill Flats. All the churches in the vicinity were invited to participate.  The revival was a great success and many new members joined the church. It led also to a partial reconciliation  between the Congregational factions and the return of at least some members of the Second Congregational Church. There is no mention of the Second Congregational Church after this time. (The Second Congregational Society was not affiliated with The Second Congregational Church which had been established in Underhill Center. The latter seems not to have had a corresponding society, for it shared the Union Meetinghouse with the Methodist Episcopal denomination and never had a regular pastor. There are no records of this church and the only information comes from its correspondence with the parent church.)

BUILDING OF THE PRESENT CHURCH

      In June 1843 the Reverend Simeon Parmalee began a vigorous pastorate in the First Congregational Church  which lasted through 1856. A fire damaged the relocated meetinghouse in Underhill Flats in 1845.  Under the strong leadership of Rev Parmalee funds were raised and by 1847 it was replaced by the present building in the fine location directly on the village green.  The Congregational Church was now firmly established in Underhill Flats. For 100 years it played a prominent role in the life of the community. (The North Church continued until 1879 when the few remaining members rejoined the parent church. Some years thereafter the relocated North Meetinghouse was destroyed by fire.) 

     In 1885, through the efforts of The Second Congregational Society, in co-operation with the Ladies' Dime Society, the parlor and kitchen were added on the back of the building. (This addition is the present reception room). In 1889 the church incorporated and at the same time the name of The Second Congregational Society was changed to The Congregational Society. (In 1916, recognizing that the "purpose, object and business" of the church and the society  were intimately connected, a new constitution was written to merge the two organizations.)  There seem to be no records of the fund-raising Ladies Dime Society. However, in 1894 a women's group from the church purchased an organ, which still graces the sanctuary. Their fund-raising efforts were documented in a booklet entitled, Experiences of the Would-be Poetesses Connected with the Ladies Industrial Society and a Response from one of the Sufferers.   Each lady had to raise a dollar for the organ fund and write a poem about how she earned it. (The first charge was the easier; writing the poems was a challenge -- for the ladies and their families.) The organ was dedicated with ceremony and a dinner and the poems were read aloud to the great amusement of all, so much so that they decided to publish the collection. (Such a story it tells about the life of the times and the droll sense of humor for which Vermonters are renowned.) 

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GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT

        The population of Underhill had continued to grow until it reached a peak of 1655 in 1870. The Methodist Episcopal Church and the Freewill Baptists, who had organized in 1836, jointly erected a meeting house in Underhill Center in 1851. (In 1950 the  building  became the Underhill Town Hall.) Methodism had been introduced in the local area back in 1798 by the circuit preacher, Reverend Lorenzo Dow, who proselytized as far north as Canada. He was followed by the Mitchell brothers, preachers  who organized a Methodist circuit of 186 members based in Vergennes.  In 1799 the circuit was divided, with Underhill constituents part of the northern Essex Circuit. But it wasn't until  1857 that the Methodist Episcopal Church established a permanent building  in Underhill Flats, followed in 1859 by the present church in Jericho Corners. Both churches were served by  very busy circuit pastors, who also served other areas , such as Bolton. None stayed the course very long and there was constant turnover.

    The original St Thomas Catholic church was built in 1855. (It was destroyed by fire and replaced by the present building in 1891.)  The Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church was completed in the Riverside area in 1857, but it was not in continuous use until many years later (1928). There were also in Jericho two Congregational Churches, a Baptist Church and a Universalist Church. There was certainly no lack of Christian commitment in the area. 

ACADEMIC AND CHURCH RELATIONSHIPS; GEORGE WASHINGTON HENDERSON

     In mid century two short-lived, but outstanding academic institutions were established in Underhill which not only served local students, but attracted boarding scholars:  Underhill Academy in Underhill Flats (later, the ID school; now Green Mountain Foam Company ) and  Green Mountain Academy in Underhill Center (later used as a Town Hall, 1900-1950). The Congregational church occasionally drew upon the well-educated faculty of the academies for service as interim pastors and preachers.

       After the end of the Civil War, the Underhill Academy had among its students a most outstanding young man.  George Washington Henderson was born a slave in Virginia in 1850.  During the war he escaped to the Grand Army of the Republic and was taken on as a servant by Henry Carpenter, adjutant in the Eighth Vermont Regiment. In 1865 , then only fifteen years old, he accompanied Carpenter when he returned to his home in Belvidere, Vermont.  While working for the family, the young man was helped to "learn his letters". He must have been an apt student, for the Carpenters made an arrangement for him to study at the Underhill Academy, then under the tutelage of Oscar Atwood. His boarding arrangements are not known, but he must have lived in the area, for on  April 5, 1872, George Washington Henderson became a formal member of the Underhill Congregational Church.  W. Scott Nay, later to become a beloved doctor and leading citizen in Underhill, was his school companion at the Academy and later remembered him in a  letter to the UVM Alumni Weekly in 1936: "It was a most satisfactory privilege for me to protect him from the jibes of some discourteous students who, because of his color, thought themselves to be his superiors.  It is needless to say that he outranked them all in scholarship as he excelled them in demeanor. His record has shown him to be a second Booker Washington."

     After several years in Underhill, the young man went to Barre, graduating from the Spaulding Academy. He still remained a member of the Underhill church.  He went on to study at the University of Vermont,  where his career from then on has been quite well documented. At the University he was an outstanding student, graduating at the head of his class in 1877, the first member of his race to be elected to the scholastic fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa.  He was leader of his class and a member of the Delta Psi fraternity (along with contemporary, John Dewey.)  The  1877 commencement at which he received his A.B. degree was held in the College Street Congregational Church.  He gave an honorary address at the ceremony, "The Economy of Moral Forces in History". The Burlington Free Press covered the event and commented, "Mr. Henderson's effort, in point of interest and ability, as well as of earnestness and excellence of delivery, asked no odds of any other on the programme. When it is considered that its author was born a slave and twelve years ago had not learned to read, its maturity of thought and good taste in presentation must be considered truly marvelous."

       In 1875-76, while he was a student at the University, he served as a teacher in the Jericho Academy. In the summers he worked on a farm in Waitsfield.  After receiving his degree,  he became a teacher and then the Principal of the Craftsbury Academy, along the way earning an M.A. degree from UVM, reading a paper on "Conservation" . He went on to Yale Divinity School where in 1883 he  received a B.D.degree and a Hooker Fellowship for graduate study in Berlin. He was accompanied to Berlin with his new wife, the young Preceptress (teacher of drawing, music, elocution and bookkeeping) at the Craftsbury Academy.  When they returned to Vermont, they settled in Newport, where Mr. Henderson held the position of principal of the elementary school. It was in 1886 that he formally transferred his membership from the Underhill Congregational Church. His time in Newport was short, for  tragedy befell, with the untimely death of both his wife and infant. Both are buried in a family grave in Belvidere. At this time, his former mentor at the Underhill Academy,  Oscar Atwood (UVM 1864), was president of Straight University (now Dillard) in New Orleans.  He may have encouraged the young widower to come South, where he became an ordained Congregational minister in 1888, serving for two years as pastor of the Central Congregational Church. In 1890 he accepted the chair of theology at Straight University and pastorate of the University Church. In 1904, he became Dean of Theology at Fiske University, and in 1909 went on to Wilberforce University in Ohio, where he taught theology and classical languages until his retirement in 1932.  Throughout his career he was in demand as a lecturer and editor. He died in 1936 and is buried in Wilberforce, Ohio. He often visited in Vermont with his second wife and kept his relationships with friends in the state.  In 1999, he was honored with an historic site marker in Belvidere, as a "Minister, Educator, Champion of his Race". 

SPIRITUAL REVIVAL

     The opening of the railroad and the location of a depot in Underhill Flats in 1877 had created a thriving commercial center there, while the overall population in Underhill steadily declined following the Civil War, as did the general population of Vermont. In spite of the declining population, however, the many churches thrived and dominated life in the villages of  Underhill and Jericho through the end of the century and the turn of the next. The nineteenth century was marked by the spiritual rebirth of the " Second Great Awakening" and fiery revival meetings which resulted in surges of new membership. Thirty-four new members joined the First Congregational Church in 1828, 54 in 1840 (after Rev Kellogg's gospel meeting), 20 in 1855 and 1866, 34 in 1876, 22 in 1883. (There were also a few episodes where "false preachers" caused considerable unrest and temporarily drew off membership.)  The Reverend S L Bates, Pastor Emeritus (1863-1871),  wrote a discourse for the Centennial celebration of The First Congregational Church in 1901, from which much of the historical information related here has been taken.  In his concluding remarks, he paid tribute to the Christian mission, (then and now): "This church like all others, has continually nurtured childhood, molded maturing youth, supported old age, comforted bitter griefs, illumined the darkness of death and carried souls up to a blessed immortality". 

THE MANSFIELD CIRCUIT

      The Methodist Episcopal Church, which was built on the Jericho side of Underhill Flats in 1857, was called the Underhill church to distinguish it from the Methodist Episcopal Church in Jericho Corners built in 1859. (It was also sometimes described as the Riverside Church.) Both churches had parsonages. The ME Church in Underhill Center did not have a parsonage. The three churches were members of the Underhill Circuit and shared the expenses of a circuit pastor, along with smaller groups of worshipers in North Underhill, Bolton, and Lee River. The History of Jericho (1916) relates a description of the distribution of the labors of the pastor in 1869: "at West Bolton once in two weeks in the morning, Jericho Corners once in two weeks in the afternoon or evening (or five o'clock), the Flats once in two weeks in the afternoon, the Center once in four weeks in the morning, North Underhill, Jericho Center and prayer meeting at the Flats the remaining time." According to the same History of Jericho, during the period from 1858 and 1916 there were 25 different ministers! Few stayed for more than one or two years. The ministers were supplied to the Circuit by the Presiding Elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church organization in Vermont. They resided in one of the various parsonages. 

       On August 11, 1906 the Methodist Episcopal Church in the Flats and the drug store of Dr. W. S. Nay beside it were destroyed by a fire which threatened the entire village. At this time Underhill had no fire department, so a message was sent to Burlington, where a fire truck was immediately loaded on a flatcar and brought to Underhill on a special train.  However, by the time the train arrived the wind had shifted and a light rain began to fall, preventing further destruction of the village. The following year the present structure, which later became the United Methodist Church of Underhill, was erected (at a cost of $2750, including furnishings and horse sheds).

         Through the years the Underhill Circuit consolidated to serve the churches in Underhill Center, The Flats, Jericho and Essex. (Some Methodists remember when their minister also  preached at the CCC camp in Underhill during the 1930s.)  

    From 1911 to 194l, during the vicissitudes of the First World War and the Great Depression, The Congregational Church of Underhill was served by Reverend Dr. William Cashmore, who was both a doctor of divinity and a doctor of veterinary medicine. He not only served his constituents' spiritual needs, he took care of their cows as well. The railroad had closed in 1938, many families had been displaced by the Federal purchase of the Range, and by 1941 the Town of Underhill was in serious economic decline. The population was barely 700. In June 1941 at a special meeting where he announced his need for retirement Dr Cashmore spoke eloquently  about the serious situation confronting all the Protestant churches." In this narrow bit of a valley several churches are having a hard time because of the expanding of the Range and people being obliged to move away. Jericho Center Church is in a more serious condition than any others and must cease to exist unless a solution to the problem is found. Officers of the Conference say there are no funds to support it. Six separate churches in this locality are trying to exist."  He suggested that the churches consolidate and meet the situation together. 

     The directors of the Conference suggested that there be two worship centers, one in Underhill and one in Jericho, served by two ministers working together. If such an arrangement could be worked out, Dr. Cashmore  agreed to stay on as interim pastor if an associate pastor could be engaged to help.  In October 1941 an agreement was made between the First Congregational Church of Jericho and the First Congregational Church of Underhill to form the Jericho - Underhill Larger Parish.  Miss Louise Rodgers from Albany, NY was called as associate pastor to Dr. Cashmore.  She was not yet ordained, so a special Council of Ordination was called to take care of the problem.  After one year she left for Bridport. The Jericho-Underhill Larger Parish was left with one minister and he could no longer carry on. Dr. Cashmore suggested that the Congregational and Methodist churches in both communities should join together for united church services. ( The Methodist Episcopal denomination had become the United Methodist Church in 1939.) The idea was explored but no agreement could be found and the matter was dropped. In 1942 in the midst of the war there was a shortage of ministers. There were 25 vacancies just in the Vermont Congregational Churches. In desperation the Larger Parish engaged a Harvard divinity student for the summer of 1943. That November Reverend George Beach came to serve the three churches, living in the Jericho Center parsonage.  Dr. William Cashmore finally became Pastor Emeritus, although he continued as an active member of the Underhill congregation.  In January 1946 Dr. Beach tendered his resignation. He was worn out and simply needed a rest. He was offered a year's leave of absence, but he reconsidered his resignation, provided that his wife, who was licensed to perform some official church functions, could be engaged as associate pastor.

    In the summer of 1946 the Larger Parish and the Methodist Fellowship agreed to hold union services in July and August in alternate churches in Underhill Flats. Then in March 1947 Dr. Beach announced his decision to resign by May first. A meeting was called attended by the Methodist District Superintendent, the Congregational Executive Minister and representatives from area churches of both denominations. There were six churches to be considered, three Congregational churches and three Methodist. The Methodist Churches in Underhill Flats, Jericho, and Essex shared a minister as members of the Mansfield Circuit (formerly the Underhill Circuit). It was under the oversight of the  Mansfield Parish Council. The Vermont United Methodist churches are members of the Troy Conference, part of the overarching United Methodist Church organization. Individual Methodist churches receive considerable support and backing from the parent organization which throughout the years has helped to carry parishes through vicissitudes. However, the Methodist congregation in Underhill Center had not survived the difficult times.

    Somehow the First and Second Congregational Churches in Jericho managed to consolidate and went their own direction. By the time Dr. Beach left in May, a yoke agreement had been arranged by the Underhill Congregational and Methodist parishes.  Under the special relationship the two churches would share the worship services and Sunday School.  Each church would be used for six months of the year. The salary of the pastor was to be shared along with the Mansfield Circuit (which then included the Methodist churches in Jericho Corners and Essex). The details of other expenses were worked out. Each church would retain and maintain its own properties and would retain its own cash resources and endowment; each church would continue to pay its own denominational  apportionments. New members would join either church, but the union services were to be held under Methodist leadership. Signing for the Congregationals were Eugene Metcalf, Elwood Clark, Edna Pollard, Marion Mead and Lillian Cross; for the Methodists, Charles Thompson, J.E. Foster, P.J.Kinsley, W.A.Wetherbee and H.W. Austin. The original agreement, dated May 1, 1947, was for one year. The trial arrangement lasted almost twenty five years. The First  Congregational Church of Underhill became a member of The Mansfield Circuit.

     In 1960 Pastor LeFevre served four congregations and was responsible for 700 souls. After preaching for the combined worship in Essex, where he resided in the parsonage, he preached in Jericho Corners and then in Underhill. It was a formidable task to minister effectively to three communities, with separate churches, officers and programs. Pastor LeFevre suggested that the two Underhill churches would be better served by a pastor living in the community, ministering to the two congregations.  In 1962 a serious study of the Underhill Church situation was initiated. In 1964 the Mansfield Parish Council decided to dissolve the three point charge within three years. In 1966 the Reverend John Peterson reported, "There is no more important mission for our church than to present a united witness in the community. The progress the Congregational and Methodist people have made toward reaching a united church is encouraging. The United Church Study Committee has met four times since May and drawn up a tentative constitution. It is searching to find a way to support a resident minister and plans to undertake a canvas of the community to ascertain the Protestant potential."

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UNDERHILL-JERICHO JOINT WORSHIP 

    In 1967 the Underhill Women's Guild and the Methodist Women's Society of Christian Service agreed to form the United Women's Fellowship, a pillar of the church today. By the late 60's the population decline in Chittenden County had been reversed to such an extent that in 1968 the Essex Methodist Church was able to offer a full-time position to Reverend James Clark, who was then serving the entire Mansfield Circuit. The pressure was on for the other churches to find a resident minister of their own. The congregations rose to the challenge and in June 1968 engaged United Methodist minister, Reverend Marcheta Pebbles (later, District Superintendent), to serve the joint congregation in Underhill and the Methodist congregation in Jericho Corners.  She took up residence in the Methodist parsonage in Underhill Flats and began a ministry which nurtured the spirit of growth toward a more lasting union.

     During the years of joint worship, it came to be customary to use the Congregational Church in the cold months because it had a better furnace.  It also had a kitchen, but since there was no basement, the water could not be used in the winter. The Methodist building was used in the summer. When the time came to change churches, the congregation would carry the hymnals from one building to the other, singing together "Blessed Be The Tie That Binds". It was a project for some of the men to move the small, but heavy, organ back and forth for the seasons. There was a need in the town for a building to serve as a meeting house for the Senior Citizens. The small parish house next to the Methodist Church  was available and with the help of some of the tradesmen in the community and the church youth group, the building was modified to  include a kitchen, meeting room and toilet facilities, heated to be useful throughout the year. 

THE UNITED CHURCH OF UNDERHILL

     Formal discussions leading to the formation of the United Church of Underhill began early in 1973 and were held on a weekly schedule to formulate the Articles of Agreement which are the basis of the union. The Rev Donald Brushett, United Methodist District Superintendent and Rev Edward Treat, Executive Minister of the Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ, were the denominational representatives in the process. (Nationally, the Congregational Christian Churches had merged with the Evangelical and Reformed Church to form the United Church of Christ (UCC) in 1957.)  The United Church committee consisted of Marion Fay, Edwin Moore, Harold Moss, Tom Woodward, and Marianne Worden for the Congregationals; Doug Keith, Leroy Keith, Ken Mitchell, Peter Mitchell, Mable Priest, Harold Sargent, and Glenn Towle for the Methodists. The Articles of Agreement were adopted by vote of the congregations on July 25, 1973. They were signed for the Underhill United Methodist Church on September 28, 1973 and for the First Congregational Church of Underhill on December 10, 1973.  On September 30, 1973 the Reverend Richard B. Crocker from the United Church of Christ ministry was called to serve the United Church of Underhill and a new era was launched.

CONSOLIDATION OF PROPERTIES

     At the beginning of the union the church owned two "meetinghouses", two parsonages and the small Senior Center. One of the difficult points of agreement had been the disposition of the properties.  While the Congregational Church owned its buildings, the Methodist buildings were actually the property of the United Methodist Church Troy Conference with headquarters in Saratoga Springs, NY. It took much negotiation and much good faith on all parts to persuade the Conference to deed the Methodist buildings to the new United Church. In 1974, in a formal ceremony at the annual Troy conference in Poultney, Vermont, the Methodist property deeds were delivered to Edwin Moore as representative of the United Church of Underhill. It was a momentous occasion. 

    The church members had decided to use the Congregational church building for the United Church and to sell the Methodist Church and both parsonages. In 1973 David Gallop, who owned the land behind the church with a large house thereon, was in a convalescent home; his property was for sale. Church members recognized that the house would be a fine parsonage and that the ell could be modified for Sunday School rooms, very much needed. In addition, the extra acreage would provide driveway and parking space and expansion potential.  Marion Fay, Leroy Keith, and Edwin Moore visited Mr. Gallop to discuss the possible purchase of his property by the church. (It was an act of faith, for the Articles of Agreement had not yet been voted on, but the Congregational parsonage was available for immediate sale.)  Mr Gallop was pleased to make the arrangement. Shortly thereafter he died. The deed was transferred on June 20, 1974. The former Congregational parsonage was sold in June of that year and the Methodist parsonage in December. The United Methodist Church building was sold to the United Christian Assembly in 1982, fulfilling a hope that the building could be maintained as a place of worship.  Leroy Keith handled all the real estate transactions for the church.

PROPERTY RENOVATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS

     As soon as the church received  the deed for the Gallop property, work began to renovate the house to provide a parsonage, conference room and church school classrooms. Church members worked diligently for five months to complete the project and it was ready to receive the Crocker family in early December 1974.  On New Year's Day 1975 the open house was attended by more than 100 visitors. 

       On October 15, 1978 the church membership voted to borrow $10,000 from the United Church of Christ Board for Homeland Ministries for energy conservation and building improvement. In 1847 the Congregational building had been erected without a foundation and the facilities were primitive. There was no basement under the building; the huge sills were set on stones laid on the ground, which fortunately was well-drained sand. In all the 130 years the wooden structure had maintained its integrity. A hole excavated under the sanctuary held a hot air furnace with one grill for heating the church. The kitchen facility could not be used in the cold weather because the water lines were above ground and the only sanitary facility was a "privy" (truly, in 1979!) off of the front vestibule.      

    At the annual meeting on January 18, 1979 the members voted to undertake a project to excavate a basement under the church, build a proper foundation, install toilet facilities, create a kitchen and classrooms and to put in a full heating system. Groundbreaking for the project took place after the Easter service. With experts to raise the building and excavate the earth beneath it, the project proceeded. It was a queasy summer with the church perched high on huge timbers. On September 16, 1979 the cornerstone was symbolically dedicated by members of the Masonic Lodge and celebrated by the church membership. The church building now had a fully-weatherized basement with windows, a large kitchen facility, meeting room and classrooms. There were toilet facilities front and back, each with its own septic system, and the entire church was heated with a comfortable hot water system. In addition, new walks, a driveway and parking area were created. In 1988 the steeple was repaired and covered with copper. Later the church roof was replaced, a reception room was created behind the sanctuary, a wheelchair ramp was added.  Members helped with painting projects on the buildings. For the first time the church property was surveyed and an onerous dispute regarding the line adjacent to the former Tower and Oaks Store was resolved. It took nearly ten years, with hard work and dedication by all the membership, those who gave of their time and effort and those who helped to raise the necessary funds, but the church properties were ready to serve the challenges to which the United Church was called to respond.

CONTINUING  PROGRESS

       In the succeeding years , the United Church of Underhill has become a major influence in the communities of Underhill and Jericho. Like the meetinghouse of yesteryear, the church building has become a center for citizens to meet, both for worship and for other important functions of the community. In addition to Sunday Worship, the Church welcomes people from throughout the community to many events and activities.

     Primary among the events is the fall Underhill Harvest Market, held on the last weekend in September, with crafts, a country store, cider, a soup kitchen run by the United Women's Fellowship, a cookie factory, a book nook, antiques and collectibles in the "clutter barn", a flea market and entertainment all weekend long. Truly a community event, other church and community groups have joined in the Harvest Market with fund-raising sales, dinners and other activities stretching along Route 15 from the firehouse to the lumberyard and down Park Street to the Underhill Cemetery. Indeed, the Harvest Market has become a noteworthy event in the state and it has been estimated that 10,000 people have attended in some years, from near and far. 

      Other annual events of the Church have included a Men's Roast Beef Dinner on the eve of Mother's Day, the One Great Hour of Sharing Breakfast in the spring, and the Ice Cream Parlor run each summer by the youth group. Community groups that meet in the Church on a regular basis have included  the Senior Citizens, the Lions Club, the Cub Scouts, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the Jericho-Underhill Water Board. With Church activities several times a week, it is hard to find any evening when the Church is not used. 

      Throughout the years, mission outreach, worship, music, and Christian education have been enriched. The United Church has supported both the United Methodist and United Church of Christ denominations in extending their work beyond the Underhill and Jericho communities and has given generously to the One Great Hour of Sharing and other causes.  Church members have given of their talents in building houses in the Habitat for Humanity project, given blood in the Red Cross Drives sponsored by the Lions Club, and participated in Crop Walk, The Heifer Project, Meals on Wheels, and the area Food Shelf programs. The United Women's Fellowship has been actively involved in service projects for the church and outreach, especially ABC Quilts for babies.

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MINISTRIES IN THE UNITED CHURCH

CHURCH MUSIC   

     Throughout the years music has filled the United Church with a talented Choir, first under the directorship of the outstanding organist, Howard Wilson.  Lois Nassau directed the choir and managed the music for the service for over 10 years, with Janet Gallagher as organist.  When Lois retired, Janet became music director as well as organist. In 2000 a special vocal choir anthem, A Place in the Valley, by Nancy Price and Don Besig, was commissioned to celebrate the long-standing music ministry of the church and Janet's dedicated service.  An active Children's Choir has also been providing music and joy for many years. Two handbell choirs have added special musical contributions and make holiday times particularly festive in the life of the church. 

     The Mason and Hamlin reed organ, purchased in 1894 by the dedicated ladies of the church who each  had earned a dollar toward the cost (and memorialized their efforts in the  'Dollar Poems') languished for many years during the periods of church renovation.  Then in 1999, through the generosity of the family of MaryLou Herr, the instrument was completely rebuilt and dedicated to her memory. The dedication concert paid tribute to the ladies of the 'Women's Industrial Society' and their book of 'Dollar Poems' was reprinted for all to enjoy.  

NEW MINISTRIES/ CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

      It was with profound regret that in 1988 the United Church bid farewell to Reverend Richard Crocker, who had served the congregation for 15+ years of exciting growth. In keeping with the Articles of Agreement, the ministry called a Methodist pastor, Cheryl Heater, to serve. Her pastorate saw much growth in Christian Education.  Then in 1996 she was called to serve in White River Junction. The United Church established a search committee for a new pastor, served in the interim by Diana Scholl. The Congregational minister, Reverend Alden Launer, was called in 1997.  After a short ministry he moved on to service in the Waterbury Church in 1999 and another search committee was formed.  Retired minister, Reverend Clifford Field served with distinction as interim pastor.  The church welcomed Methodist minister, Reverend  Dr. Rich Cooper, in the year of the millennium 2000 to serve an ever-growing congregation. 

     Christian education has been continually growing throughout the years with larger Sunday School classes, adult Bible study, and the development of a coordinated program. Rev. Kirk Thompson became Christian Education Director in 1992 and among his contributions was the organization of youth fellowship activities, which continued after he moved on to a new career. 

ECUMENICAL COMMITMENTS

     From the beginning The United Church has supported ecumenical programs. There has been a commitment to unity in whatever means it has been possible to share in worship or mission. The  All Faiths Thanksgiving Service, special Lenten worship services, Holy Week early morning worship, ecumenical Maundy Thursday worship, a Good Friday walk, early morning Easter Service  -- are among some of the activities. In 1983 an Underhill-Jericho Ecumenical Ministry was founded which includes St. Thomas Catholic Church, along with most of the Protestant churches in the two communities. Among other activities, the Ministry sponsors a food shelf and clothing distribution center and cares for local families in need.

EVOLVING DIRECTIONS

      Revisions of the Articles of Agreement were made in 1974, 1976, 1982, 1993, and 2001. Throughout the years the United Church has been guided by a Statement of Purpose which was formally adopted in 1983:

          "The purpose of the United Church of Underhill is to be a Christian community that offers spiritual growth to all and responds to the needs of people according to the teachings of Christ."

       In the year 2000 the church adopted a Vision Statement: Welcoming, Worshiping, Working for God. A first-time-ever World Wide Website was established for communication by electronic mail:  www.ForMinistry.com/05489UCU, with an approximate weekly "hit" rate of 25-35.

      In 1998,  the United Church voted to buy the adjacent building, originally a Grange Hall, but serving as the Gifford Funeral Home for many years.  In 2001, it was made useable for public functions and its first application was to house the Clutter Barn for the Harvest Market.   The same year the church office was moved from the parsonage annex to new quarters in the basement of the church.  The parsonage annex was renovated and acquired new life as a study for the pastor. Dr. Cooper now has regular visiting hours for parishioners in an inviting environment. 

      In 1998 a Peace Pole was erected in front of the church, reading, "May Peace Prevail on Earth."  After the devastating tragedy of September 11, 2001, when peace was so drastically threatened, the Peace Pole took on a new significance. Among the changes that these events have wrought on everyday life, a new addition was also made to the liturgy. The worship service incorporates the lighting of a 'Peace Candle', the "passing of the peace" among those attending, silent prayer, and the hymn 'Let There Be Peace on Earth'. 

THE FUTURE

      One hundred years ago in his dissertation for the centennial celebration of the founding of the first church of Christ in Underhill on December 29,1801,  the Reverend S L Bates challenged the congregation. As we enter the dawn of a new century, his charge could address us all today. " As we turn from the past we must face the present and look down through the future. Our backward look today suggests important lessons for you. Remember you are acting in the line of those who have gone before and for the welfare of those who shall come after. You stand in a goodly line. Others have labored and you are entered into their labor. The work committed to you is the Lord's work, and the Lord is your Leader. Dare you, then, in view of your responsibility to him and to generations to come, hesitate for a moment in doubt and discouragement, or expect anything less than success and victory?  Your trust is surely a sacred one. It is yours to carry forward towards completion the work the fathers begun, to give greater vigor and efficiency through your lives to the truth upon which they builded, and, in your measure, to hasten the coming of our Lord's kingdom here and throughout the world." 

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302 Theron H. Porter

303 Mrs. Phoebe L. Porter

304 Mrs. Bertha E. Wells

305 Rev. H. Barnard

306 Sophronia Rogers Hale

307 Mrs. Hattie Palmer

1892

308 Mrs. Harriet Herrick

309 Luella Clark

310 Mrs. Estelle Thompson

311 H. L. Thompson

312 Olia Pitman 313 Mrs. Dora A. Knight

314 Mrs. Cora Wiley-Chaphin

315 Mr. D. L. Terrill 

1894

316 Mrs. Cyrus Mead Prior

317 Lettie Prior-Hutchinson

318 Hubert Moran

319 Mrs. Hubert Moran

320 Mrs. Ruth Sinclair

1895

321 Mr. Wm. Cady

322 Mrs. Wm. Cady

323 Olive Cady

324 Maud I. Johnson

1896

325 Miss I. Marsh

326 Mrs. Clara D. Lyman

327 Mrs. Ella M. Lee

1897

328 Mr. Ebenezer White

329 Mrs. Cora E. Carperter

1898

330 Mrs. George Prior

331 Mrs. Julia Powell

332 Miss Mary Powell

333 Miss Phoebe Powell

334 Mrs. Emma Etta Kinney

335 Mrs. Clark-formerly Mrs. Lewis Wills

336 Mrs. Ella May Lord

337 Mrs. Lucia M. Houghton

1900

338 Rev. Geo. M. Rees

339 Mrs. Maggie E. Rees

340 Miss Theo Rees

341 Mrs. D. O. Evans

342 Mrs. Mary Orr Douglass

343 C. H. Hayden

344 Mrs. C.H Hayden

345 Miss Julia Scott

346 Charles E. Ayer

347 Mrs. Ella Ayer

1901

348 Abbie A. Dexter

349 H. Carl Mead

1902

350 Alice Ayer-Cashmore

351 Hazel Knight-Van Bluckirk

352 Florence Terrill

353 Olive Hayden-Janes

354 Marjorie Hayden

355 Bertha Hatch

356 Martha E. Church

357 Arthur Myette

358 Scott Terrill

359 Harold Hayden

1905

360 Mrs. Edith Colegrove-Terrill

361 Taylor Withey Mead

362 Rollie Donald Blodgett

363 Willie Leslie Blaisdell

364 Mrs. Jennie Marie David

365 Howard Paine David

366 Milo Pearl Davis

367 Fern Marguerite Davis-Hunt

368 Bastwick Ludwic Green

369 Julia Ann Green

370 Merton Erastus Green

371 Lillian Isabel Green

372 Effie Mabel Whitaker

373 Wendell James Hayden

374 Mrs. Ruby Diadery Burrows

375 Jessie Jane Russin

376 Emma May Brow-Haylette

377 Perley Arthur Russin

378 Ella Lorida Melendy-Alexander

379 Luna Elva Gleason

380 Lillian May Cross

381 Ethel Blakey-Colegrove

382 Henry Chas. Ayer

383 Florence MacGibbon-Mead

384 Mrs. Nellie Marion Blaisdell

385 Iva Odessa Gleason

1906

386 Rev. Charles Atwood

387 Mrs. Julia C. Atwood

388 Carroll E. Atwood

1907

389 Reuben Dickinson

390 Delilah Dickinson

391 Mrs. Rennie O. Chase-Bates

392 George H. Prior

1908

393 Charles E. Scribner

394 Ursula A. Scribner

395 Reuben Lee Howe

396 Nina Hurlburt Howe

1910

397 F. Albin Rowlands

398 Mrs. F. Albin Rowlands

1911

399 Miss Gladys Small-Ellis

1913

400 Mrs. Ethel Yalusha-Hawley

401 Mrs. Clara Brown-Nay

402 Mrs.  Martha Rich-Irish

403 Iona Viola Irish-Tomlinson

404 Harriet Dimick Chase

405 Elbridge G. Nealy

406 Jennie Booth Small-Nealy

 1914

407 Myrthe L. McGinnis

408 Seth Thomas Bruce

409 Irene Amanda Bruce

410 Mrs. Wilbur- Lincoln

411 Maud Esther Blaisdell-Dimick

412 Wesley Gile Ayer

413 Buel Gurney Irish

414 Luna Belle Irish-Hobart

415 Mrs. John Cushing

416 Dr. D. L. Burnette

417 Wm. B. Cady

418 Mrs. Flora M. Cady

419 Miss Eva S. Cady-Metcalf

420 Mr. Lynn D. Moulton

421 Mrs. Lynn D. Moulton

422 Carl D. Moulton

423 Estella Moulton-Jackson

424 Emma Moulton-Rice

1915

425 Alma Hope Scribner- Chapman

426 Eva Maude Terrill-Woodruff

427 Mr. H. L. Murdock

428 Mrs. H. L. Murdock

1917

429 Mr. Henry Ayer

430 Mrs. Agnes Rice

431 Mrs. Lois Rogers

432 Ralph Corliss

433 Miss Doris Hawley

434 Miss Ethel Nealy-Walbridge

435 Ralph Nealy

436 Miss Doris Small Gile

1922

437 Miss Edna Bartlett-McGibbon

438 Miss Grace E. Foster

439 Mrs. Anna L. Mead

440 Miss Helen Nealy-Selby

441 Miss Glayds Porter-Rogers

442 Miss Marian Rice

443 Miss Genevieve Scribner

1923

444 Charles Chapman

445 Mrs. Leora Kirby

446 Charles Mason

447 Mrs. Irene Mason

448 Mrs. Effie Reynolds

449 Delbert Rice

450 Mrs. Fanny Spaulding

451 Mrs. Clara Bartlet

452 Earl Bartlett

453 Mrs. Elnor Clark

454 Elwood Clark

455 Mrs. Lillian M. Cross

456 Kenneth MacGibbon

467 Harold Pollard

458 Mrs. Elizabeth Parker

582 Parker H. Rice

1925

459 Miss Irma Burns-Pettit

460 Miss Jennie Chandler- Schellenger

461 Henry Howe

1926

462 Mrs. Ella Parker

463 Mrs. Emma Cook-Bailey

464 Clifford Pettit

1929

465 Mrs. Lizzie Burns

466 Chauncey Burns

 467 Frank E. Simpson

467 Frank E. Simpson

468 Mildred Simpson

469 William Beebe

470 Mrs. William Beebe

1933

471 Mrs. Ada Boyce

472 Joel Boyce

473 Mrs. Mae Kirby

474 Archie T. Kirby

475 Cliford Kirby

476 Eugene Metcalf

477 Miss Addie Nichols-Burbank

478 Mrs. Lois MacGibbon

479 Donald MacGibbon

480 Miss Inez Skinner

481 Mrs. A. E. Skinner

482 A. E. Skinner 

1935

483 Mrs. Ella Tillison

1936

484 Miss Gwendolyn White- Frayer

485 Miss Rosemary Brewster

486 Mrs.  Mary B. Rounds

1937

487 Mrs.  Jennie Harvey

488 Mrs.  Angenette Winchell

489 Miss Ruth Alice Haylett

490 Miss Hellen B. Kirby Kinney

491 Miss Genevieve Alice King

492 Miss Marian Ethel Mead-Fay

493 Miss Mary Elizabeth Mead-Anderson

494 Miss Kathleen Agnes White

495 Robert Thomas King

496 Allen Robert Metcalf

497 Fred Paine

498 Richard Simpson

1939

499 Mrs. Betsy Boardman

500 Howard Boardman

501 Mrs. Virginia Gagnon

502 John Gagnon

503 Donald Boardman

1940

504 Mrs. Lois B. Davis

505 Watson Rogers

506 Mrs. Watson Rogers

1941

507 Mrs. Laura Warner

1943

508 Mrs. Emma Kinney

509 Mrs. Gladys Markle

1944

510 Walter Godfrey

511 Mrs. Shirley Ingalls Godfrey- Morrill

512 Mrs. Aretta Wrisley

513 Orville Wrisley

514 Mrs. Edna Pollard

515 Wayne Pollard

516 Bernard Simpson

517 Mrs. Nettie Jackson

1945

518 Mrs. Emma Hurlburt

519 Mr. George Hurlburt

520 Mrs. Muriel Davis Gover

521 Mr. Alanson Foster Gover

522 Mrs. Clarinda Viola Irish

523 Mr. Hugh Elmer Irish

524 Mrs.  Mabel Lottie Irish

525 Mrs. Wilma Blanche Clark

526 Mrs. Jessie Pearl Bartlett

527 Mrs. Ida Pearl Irish

528 Mr. Harold Edwin Irish

529 Mrs. Bessie Metcalf

530 Miss Mary Neilene Metcalf Severence

531 Lawrence Allen Wright

1946

532 Mrs. Elizabeth Reed-Howard

533 Montague Howard Jr.

534 Mrs. Harriet Duffy

535 George Duffy

536 Miss Marian Kelley Haylette

537 Herbert Haylette

538 Mrs. Louise McClellan

539 Carl McClellan

540 Mrs. Clara Marie Walker

541 Christian Ludwig Walker

542 Miss June Ward Thomas

543 Ray Edward Gleason

1947

544 Mrs. Nelda Arnold

545 Russell Arnold

546 Mrs. Nellie Blaisdell

547 Mrs. Elnor Boardman

548 Gilman Boardman

549 Mrs. Dorothy Comstock

550 Sherman T. Comstock

551 Miss Ann Comstock

552 Benjamin Marble

553 Mrs. Martha Konz-Russell

554 Mrs. Edna Warner

555 Mrs. Bertha A. Gleason

556 Miss Rena Gleason

1949

557 Mrs. W.T. Mead [Aurill-MacGibbon]

558 Mrs. Vivien Shattuck-Wright

559 Mrs. Ruth Burgess

560 Lawrence Burgess

1950

561 Mrs. Olive E. Wright

562 Daniel H. Wright

563 Richard Wrisley

564 Donald Howard

565 Mrs. Grace MacGibbon

1952

566 Henry W. Burbank

567 Lloyd A. Woodward

568 Mrs. Etta S. Woodward

570 Raymond Ricker

571 Mrs. Ruth Ricker

572 Donald Ricker

573 Stephen Howard Eddy

574 Mrs. June Frances Eddy

575 Roger Burr Gleason

576 Mrs. Mara M. Jackson

577 Herbert Fay

578 William Norman Mead

579 Mrs. Georgia Ruth Mead

580 Clinton Alva Davis

581 Irving Albert Bartlett

582 see listing for 1923

1953

583 Mrs. E.G. Robinson

584 Donald J. Balch

585 Mrs. Mary Balch

586 Betsey Jean Bartlett_Drinkwine

587 Richard Parker Irish

588 Mancy Elizabeth Irish-Hemenway

589 Judith Elsa Irish

590 Mrs. Dorothy Davis

1954

591 Mrs. Patricia Stromme

592 Christian Ludwig Walker Jr.

593 Craig Gail Walker

1956

594 Arthur Bartlett

595 Ann Howard

596 Irene Keith

1958

597 Randall Clark

598 Calvin Walker

599 Diane Irish

600 Robert O. Curtis

601 Mrs. Robert [Helen] Curtis

602 Donald Drinkwine

603 Seth Mead

1959

604 Jack Howard

605 Mrs. Melvin [Joanne] Bordeaux

606 Donald Steele

607 Mrs. Donald [Mauna] Steele

1960

608 Edgar H. Day

609 Mrs. Edgar [Elva] Day

610 Susanne Marie Jeler Yorkville

611 Sharon Ann Haylette Bourne

1961

612 Mrs. Vivian Wright

613 Mrs. Ann C. Howard

614 L. Robert Jeter

615 Esther Jeter

616 Robert Jeter Yorkville

1962

617 Clinton Marshall Russell Jr.

618 Brenda Balch Charron

619 Brian Balch

620 Gary Irish

621 William Jeter

1963

622 Mr. Harold Moss

623 Mrs. Harold [Margaret] Moss

624 James W. Moss

625 Helen Elizabeth Moss

626 Margaret Ann Moss

627 Marilyn Lee Moss Powell

628 Gary Spaulding Towne

629 David Anglin

1964

630 Mr. Theodore Hinkley

631 Mrs. Theodore Hinkley

632 Norma Corliss

633 James Corliss

1966

634 Gerald Aldrich

635 Sally Aldrich

636 Judy David

637 Susan Howard Hooper

638 Carrie Towne

1968

639 Mr. Edwin T. Moore

640 Mrs. Elizabeth Moore

641 Mr. Edwin T. Moore III

642 John Moore

643 Wayne O. Bourne

1969

644 Mr. Robert Ling

645 Mrs. Robert Ling

646 Susan Durbrow Abair

647 Mrs. Howard [Eleanor] Wilson

648 Mr. Howard Wilson

649 Mr. Merle Canedy

650 Mrs. Merle Canedy

651 Deborah Mead Ehman

652 Kathleen Mead

653 Roger McLaughlin

654 Edith Rawson McLaughlin

1970

655 George Bradbee

656 Adell Bradbee

657 Mary Ann Worden

658 John Kimball Worden

659 Ludwig Pulaski

660 Doris Pulaski

661 Thomas Woodard Jr.

662 Janice Woodard

663 Thomas Woodard

664 Robin Woodard Hee

665 Carol Haight

1971

666 Mrs. Elizabeth Wood

667 Susan Wood Venus

668 Mrs. Lillian Ward

669 Mr. Edward Ward

670 Mr. Robert New

1973

671 Mrs. Harriet Murray

672 Mr. Lee Murray

673 Mrs. Judy Crocker

674 Rev. Richard Crocker

1974

675 David Ford

676 Nancy Rod

677 Ann Mallory Lopes Brown

678 Deborah Moore

679 Robert Allen Greenia

680 Beverly Greenia

681 Kim Cota

682 Kathy Kelley Moore

683 Ellen Kelley Billado

684 Mr. B. Dave Kelley

685 Mrs. Irene Kelley

686 Mr. George M. Abbott

687 Mrs. Jan Gould

688 Mr. Charles Erickson

689 Mrs. Paulette Erickson

1975

690 Mr. Alan Roy Johnson

691 Mrs. Margaret V. Johnson

692 Mr. Harvey Bagshaw

693 Mrs. Connie Bagshaw

694 Mr. Roland Burroughs

695 Mrs. Rachel Burroughs

696 Miss Robin Burroughs Simard

697 Mr. Donald Canedy

698 Mrs. Gail Canedy

699 Mr. John Andrews

700 Mrs. Jane Andrews

701 Mr. David E. Cedarfield

702 Mrs. Barbara S. Cedarfield

703 Mr. John French

704 Mrs. Christine French

1976

705 Mr. Roger Clark

706 Mrs. Barbara S. Clark

707 Mr. Thomas Hitchcock

708 Mrs. June Hitchcock

709 Mr. Jonathan Stevens

710 Mrs. Margaret Stevens

711 Miss Nancy Eileen Bradbee

712 Miss Carolyn Dow Woodard

713 Mrs. Fay Abbott

1977

714 Dean Powell

715 Mr. Lewis Buchspics

716 Mrs. Grace Buchspics

1978

717 Mr. Gerry Ackley

718 Mrs. Gerry Ackley

719 Coleen Kelley Mjaatvedt

720 Ross Andrews

721 James Nassau

722 Lois Nassau

723 Ralph B. Sargent

724 Barbara Sargent

725 Reginald B. Anair

726 Edna Anair

1980

727 Hugh Pierce

728 Patricia Pierce

1981

729 David Damkot

730 Sharon Damkot

731 Tom Worden

732 Cindy Ballas

733 David Haight

734 Jennifer Bergersen

735 Carol Dearstyne

736 Allen Simard

737 Judy Thompson  Scrodin

1982

738 Ethel J. Alexander

739 Willard E. Alexander

740 Muriel Johnson

741 Jason J. Nassau II

742 Laura Nassau

743 David A. O'Bryan

744 Kevin Anair

745 Kenneth D. Ballas

746 Charles Erickson

747 Michael D. Greenia

748 Mary Fell

749 Howard Herr

750 MaryLou Herr

1983

751  Susan Andrews Boardman

752 Carolyn Clark

753 Adrienne Dearstyne

754 Carl Erickson

755 Laurie Worden Fielder

756 Paul Blodgett

757 Kathryn Blodgett

758 Linda Evans

759 Dan Manz

760 Liz Manz

761 Roxanne B. Niles

1984

762 Ruth Haylette

763 Helen Thornton

764 Kevin Cummings

765 Marlene Cummings

766 Peter Pease

767 Barbara Pease

1985

768 Anne Grove Spaulding

769  Dennis Dale Spaulding

1986

770 Suzanne Kusserow 

771 Evan Edward Andrews

772 Stephen James Clark

773 Jeffrey Stuart Clark

774 Keith Alan Johnson

775 Erica Avery Dearstyne

1987

776 Michael Henry

777 Deborah Henry

778 Dana Swenson

779 Cheryl Swenson

780 Sally Hobart

781 Winfield Tandy

782 Carolyn Tandy

783 Roberta Courtney

784 Pat Richmond

1988

785 David Edson

786 Harvey Mayo

787 Scott Allen Clark

788 Hugh Denis Francis Pierce

789 Barbara Blokland

790 Bruce Blokland

791 John Fiegel

792 Linda Fiegel

1989

793 John French IV

794 Gloria French

795 Deanna Fiegel

796 Katherine Fiegel

797 Peter Houle

1991

798 Robert W. Earley

799 Arlene W. Earley

800 Margaret A. DeVolt

801 Katherine Amy Richmond Boomhower

1992

802 Phyllis Eldred

803 Bradley James Eldred

804 Gail Richardson

805 Mike Audet

806 Liz Audet

807 Alison Dombroski

1993

808 Michael Audet Jr.

809 Ellen Worden

810 Gia Amorese

811 David Iverson

812 Barbara Iverson

1994

813 Andrea Greeley

814 Brian Greeley

815 Ellen Stiefel

816 Brian Stiefel

817 Dianne Sisson

1995

818 Susan O. Audet

819 Andrea Renee' Courtney

820 Sarah Elizabeth Manz

821 Helen Beardsley Niles

822 Jonathan Edward Simard

823 Jessica Lynn Swenson

1996

824 Howard Scott

825 Karin Scott

1997

826 Audrey Anderson

827 Rev. Alden Launer

1998

828 Dale Billado

829 David Potter

830 Bonnie Potter

831 Violet Hobart

1999

832 Robin Burroughs Simard

833 Rev. Arnold Thomas

834 Kimberly Keszey

835 David Manz

2000

836 James Nickerson

837 Julianne Nickerson

838 David Keszey

839 Carol Keszey

APPENDIX 4: LIST OF METHODIST MEMBERS

The following is a roll of the members of the Methodist Church in Underhill, by year, to the extent that church records exist. Thanks to Pat Richmond for compiling this list.

From previous records

Joseph H. Metcalf

Lucy Rawson

Carrie Kinney Metcalf

Edwin T. Irish

1905

Alice M. Kirby King

1911

Orrilla Rawson

1914

Agnes Gurley

Luella Drinkwine Gallup

Helen Jock

1917

Julia Metcalf

1920

Harold Woodworth

Cassius Woodworth

1923

Wallace Dickenson

Leighton H. Keith

Grace Keith

Solon Rawson, Jr.

Burnett Rawson

Robert Ward

1927

Kenneth Keith

Robert Keith

1928

Marjorie King Lindner

1932

Hazel Wetherbee

Ethelyn Foster

1935

Dorothy Woodworth

Norma Woodworth Cutting

1941

Dorothy Duffy Burno

Kent Rawson

Cedric Wetherbee

Merwyn Wetherbee

1942

John Atchinson

Hattie Atchinson

1943

Henry Cook

Grace Cook

Alton Chamberlin

Olive Chamberlin Nolan

Charles Garrapy

Ruth Garrapy

Arthur Haselton

Grace Haselton

Ruth Green

Lena Jock

Christine Lyons Blade

Lillian Rawson

Roy Sturtevant

1945

John Woolley

Ramona Woolley

John Everett Woolley, Jr.

Jean Mae Woolley Fonda

Perry J. Kinsley

Olive Kinsley

Perry J. Kinsley, Jr.

Kathleen Lamphere

Dulcie Culver

Jessie Luck

Dora Richards

Albert Steinhour

Glenn Towle

Sheila Towle

Daisy Lumbard

1946

Robert Dickenson

Harold Austin

Nellie Austin

Roy Kelley

Della Anna Kelley

Helen Kelley Kinsley

Douglas Kelley

Robert Kelley

Mildred Metcalf Sturtevant

Harry Kinsley

1947

William Wetherbee

Milton Priest

Waldo Cutting

Richard Cutting

Ethel Alexander

Martha Hubbard

Edna Salter Monroe

Mrs. Maurice Niles

Vernie Sturtevant

Grace Seymour

Mabel Priest

1950

Gerald Chamberlin

Betty Garrapy Workman

Charles Garrapy, Jr.

1953

Myrtle Casey

Leona Foster

Craig Foster

Raymond Haselton

William Haselton

Arlene Haselton Degree

Douglas Keith

Winston Rawson

Jane Rawson

Leslie Warner

Evelyn Woolley Drinkwine

1956

Marilyn Keith Rivero

Janice Seymour Greene

Beverly Wrisley Boutin

1958

Janice Wrisley Robinson

Mary Lee Woolley Seymour

1959

Barbara Farr

Kay Farr

Murray Farr

Eunice Tatro

William Cook

Joyce Rawson Bates

1960

Leroy Keith

Lawrence P. Cook

Earl Osgood

Lorraine Osgood

1962

Robert Bagdy

Mrs. Robert Bagdy

Patricia Smith

Freda E. Powers

1966

David P. Rawson

Emilia Shattuck

E. L. Shattuck

1967

Nancy Hill

Clifford Hill, Jr.

Merlene McLaughlin

1968

Carol Warren

Mary Kelley

1969

Erma B. Pettit Sage

Emily Mitchell

Kenneth Mitchell

Elaine Mitchell Aranda

Kenneth Mitchell, Jr.

Martha Skinner

Odell Skinner

Marie Skinner

Brenda Skinner

Joyce Mitchell Blaisdell

Grant Mitchell

Mary Sturtevant Armstrong

Peter Mitchell

Susan Whitcomb

1970

Harold Sargent

Evelyn Sargent

Brian Sargent

William Janicki

Eleanor Janicki

1971

Nancy Craig Whitaker

Brenda Kelley St. Amour

1973

Chester Willey

Arlene Willey

David Willey

Alan Morse

Bonita Morse

1974

Deborah Ann Mitchell

Linette Mitchell Bushey

Charles Streator

Barbara Streator

Rondi Streator

Nancy Willey Miller

Margita Grenfell

1975

Walter Higgins

Elizabeth Higgins

Rebecca F. Canedy

Dave Richardson

Cheryl Richardson

1976

Harry Kinsley

Corrine Kinsley

Thomas St. Amour

Dave Ward

Alice Ward

Virginia W. Perkins

1977

William Douglass

Marjorie Douglass

1978

Harriet Rooney

Stacey Streator

Gloria Keith

1979

Craig Knight

Liz Knight Perrotte

Alan Rogers

Betty Rogers

1980

Anthony Dally

Betsy Dally

1981

Ellie Rice Emerson

Alison Ward

Scott Richardson