Methodist Church
1830 (Date manufactured/created)
From Alice Bice Bunton's book "Bethany's Old Houses and Community Buildings"
Litchfield Turnpike, west side, 1/2 mile north of Hatfield Hill Road intersection.
Removed c. 1955
"Bethany Sketches and Records" notes that the first Methodist "class" was established in Bethany about 1830 and by 1837 numbered forty members. Among them were many prominent local names, Peck, Andrews, Downs, Dickerman, and Tuttle. "Services had been held in schoolhouses and private houses, or in the shady grove, but this time Brother Joel Andrews went forth in the name of the Lord and with a dauntless spirit and rested not until he saw a church erected. He secured subscriptions varying in all 50 cents to $150.00 collecting in all $926.84. The church was built in 1840.
"The first preacher of whom we have record was Rev. Reuben Harris. Many preachers followed him, including Rev. Jesse Beecher."
"In 1915 the church had only twenty-eight members, and they were widely scattered, some living in Southington, Cheshire, New York State, and Middletown. The church was then only opened during the summer months, and the pulpit was supplied mostly by students from the Yale Divinity School."
The building was sold and removed about 1955. The cemetery behind the site of the church is still in use.
Litchfield Turnpike, west side, 1/2 mile north of Hatfield Hill Road intersection.
Removed c. 1955
"Bethany Sketches and Records" notes that the first Methodist "class" was established in Bethany about 1830 and by 1837 numbered forty members. Among them were many prominent local names, Peck, Andrews, Downs, Dickerman, and Tuttle. "Services had been held in schoolhouses and private houses, or in the shady grove, but this time Brother Joel Andrews went forth in the name of the Lord and with a dauntless spirit and rested not until he saw a church erected. He secured subscriptions varying in all 50 cents to $150.00 collecting in all $926.84. The church was built in 1840.
"The first preacher of whom we have record was Rev. Reuben Harris. Many preachers followed him, including Rev. Jesse Beecher."
"In 1915 the church had only twenty-eight members, and they were widely scattered, some living in Southington, Cheshire, New York State, and Middletown. The church was then only opened during the summer months, and the pulpit was supplied mostly by students from the Yale Divinity School."
The building was sold and removed about 1955. The cemetery behind the site of the church is still in use.
loc2