1 10 1 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/32209/archive/files/93030e08076b2f7422e36b1cf60f0c21.pdf?Expires=1773878400&Signature=uwZQYIDOy083WxBPACMv0n-5l6kxs4BHZ7o7R8W2URW1PRhbp4-NPxq3cToZGEP1PIUbUDIw%7E56MasuPTw2R%7EIreFOfqDqekH42v5oAzNJhcQaJaoQigkmUgGm8PRUbE93sSzUzfDZkSk01ff5gHbGu9ZvIApNcxNVE5slJvB-s3vA93XrRmgifezLh7viKZE8bdrWT-z6UgiipTR%7EkS9OBMYg78UD3tS7ZxRIDLa6pz9cHsO%7E0lbuqEaprcjYNZRm6hRYLda0H1U8FlYGVc5ZF7SxHZ14iryC7-rZiVoakchLYh2%7E8ECzB3M06ptjBGzvn1PcgfrOXilDg1ExKnmA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 6f3f55d8786adbd2d3d9a7177fa2cd29 PDF Text Text Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth Postcards from Falmouth Oral History Transcript Recorded: February 24, 2020 Oral Historian: Reverend Jonathan Drury Interviewer: Troy Clarkson Topic: First Congregational Church Note: The right column references postcards by identifiers searchable in the Digital Commonwealth online collection. 00:00 [Music] 00:44 so welcome 00:45 thank you and my first question to you 00:47 is I’d like to begin by 00:48 asking you to tell us your full name and 00:51 the postcard you'll be discussing and 00:52 you can certainly show it to us 00:54 my name is Jonathan Drury I’m the 24th 00:57 pastor of the First Congregational #firstcongregationalchurch Hunt_Village_Bldg_001 Hunt_Village_Sts_152 Gunning_Village_Sts_0073 Gunning_Village_Bldg_0346 through 0365 00:58 Church in Falmouth 00:59 uh this is the postcard that I’m going 01:01 to be discussing that's a photograph 01:03 of or a picture I don't know if it's a 01:05 photograph 01:06 um of the church that is taken from the 1 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 01:09 south side of the green #falmouthvillagegreen See above for postcard views of the First Congregational Church on the Green 01:12 and there's a number of other postcards 01:15 of this church 01:16 here's another example 01:21 it's a very prominent structure on the 01:24 green 01:24 probably the most prominent structure on 01:26 the green and so I I thought I’d talk a 01:28 little bit about the history of 01:30 the buildings that have supported the 01:32 Congregational Church over the years 01:34 the First Congregational Church in 01:36 Falmouth was established in 1708 01:39 and it was established at the same time 01:40 that the town of Falmouth was 01:42 established 01:43 so the congregation was an offshoot of 01:45 the West Parish in Barnstable 01:48 which claims to be the oldest 01:49 congregation on Cape Cod they were 01:51 established in 1614. 01:54 um so this is you know for for American 01:56 history this 01:57 predates our nation by easily 150 years #1708 #westparishofbarnstable #1614 2 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 02:01 so it's it's pretty remarkable 02:02 um 1708 a group of people decided that 02:05 they wanted to establish their own 02:07 congregation 02:08 and to do that they also had to 02:09 establish a meeting house where there 02:11 could be 02:13 some form of governance some some 02:15 structure of governance so 02:17 initially the the first meeting house 02:19 was built off of Mill Road in the old #millroad #oldburyingground Gunning_Village_Sts_0001 through 0016 Hunt_Village_Sts_075 through 178 02:21 burial ground 02:22 and it was likely built sometime between 02:24 1690 and 1700 02:27 that would have also been the seat of 02:29 governance for Falmouth at the time 02:31 and it was a very simple structure as 02:33 far as I know 02:34 had no paint had no heat no organ no 02:37 bell 02:38 um the Puritans were were 02:43 their approach to purity included 02:45 aesthetics and #puritan 3 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 02:47 they they didn't need much in terms of 02:49 artifice 02:52 later on there was another 02:55 meeting house built on that location 02:58 this was a 03:00 meeting house built in 1717 that was 03:03 actually 03:05 designed to look just like the meeting 03:07 house in 03:08 Barnstable so they they very much saw 03:10 themselves as an offshoot of that 03:12 congregation 03:13 and then in 1750 the first church 03:18 was moved to the from the old burial 03:21 ground 03:22 to the brand new green space that had 03:25 been established in Falmouth what we 03:26 think of now is the town green 03:28 the town green initially was actually 03:30 kind of the front lawn of the church 03:32 because the church was built on the 03:33 south end of of the green 03:36 in 1750 and at that time there were 03:40 roads but it was not divided the way it 03:42 is today um 03:43 there were you know dirt roads that were #1717 #1750 4 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 03:46 used for 03:47 horses and and buggies um but they were 03:50 not in the same 03:52 location that our current roads are in 03:54 the green was much larger and what's 03:55 also kind of interesting about the green 03:57 is that it has always been a green space 04:00 um 04:01 before it was established as the town 04:03 green it had been a green space that was 04:04 available for anybody to use 04:07 for their horses and so it's the 04:09 equivalent of the parking lot for for 04:11 downtown Falmouth 04:12 and remains a green space of course 04:15 today 04:16 um that's also where the the local 04:18 militia would have gathered 04:19 uh to do their training um both for the 04:22 Revolutionary War then later for the #americanrevolution 04:23 Civil War #americancivilwar 04:25 which is interesting so in 1750 the 04:28 church was built on the south end of the 04:29 green 04:30 and it remained there until 1796 when 04:33 the fourth meeting house was built and 5 #1796 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 04:36 at that time in 1796 04:39 a decision was made to outfit this new 04:41 meeting house with a bell 04:42 which brings me to a riddle the riddle 04:45 is 04:46 the living to the the living to the 04:49 church I call 04:51 and to the grave I summon all 04:54 what am I a bell 04:58 a church bell that's right that riddle 05:01 which is actually not a riddle it's just 05:03 a poem is engraved along the top of all 05:06 of Paul Revere's bells 05:08 so in 1796 the First Congregational 05:11 Church 05:11 uh commissioned a bell from Paul Revere 05:13 who was a bell maker in Boston at the 05:15 time 05:16 the bell that was purchased weighs 807 05:18 pounds and we have the original 05:20 receipt signed by by Paul Revere and 05:22 what's interesting about that receipt 05:24 is that along with having the price and 05:26 the weight of the bell 05:28 it indicates that the price was derived 05:31 by a specific cost per pound #churchbell #paulrevere 6 #boston �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 05:34 so almost like you were selling poultry 05:36 or something he sold his bells 05:38 42 cents per pound so 807 pounds 05:42 at 42 cents came out to just under 400 05:46 which would have been a small fortune in 05:47 1796. 05:49 so in 1796 that bell was put into the 05:52 steeple of the church 05:53 and has been ringing over Falmouth ever 05:56 since 05:57 which is quite remarkable 06:00 but the church was moved it was moved in 06:03 1858 06:05 the decision to move the church came as 06:07 a result of a very generous offer offer 06:09 from the Swift family 06:10 to give them a parcel of land the Swift 06:14 family was a very prominent 06:16 family in town they owned the first 06:18 mercantile store in Falmouth 06:20 they also owned the first bank in 06:22 Falmouth and they owned quite a bit of 06:24 land in Falmouth 06:25 um probably the equivalent of the Beebes in 06:28 that regard #1858 #swift 7 #beebe �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 06:29 they owned all of the land that exists 06:32 behind the church 06:33 and the parsonage which is directly next 06:34 door to the church extending 06:36 all the way back to Lakeview which is #lakeview 06:40 the neighborhood behind the Lawrence #lawrenceschool Gunning_Village_Bldg_0232 06:42 School so all of the Lawrence athletic 06:44 fields all of the Katharine Lee Bates 06:45 Road 06:46 all of the land behind the church all 06:47 belonged to the Swift family 06:49 and in 1858 they agreed to offer a 06:53 parcel of this land 06:54 to the to the congregation the 06:57 congregation decided to take advantage 06:59 of this offer and to move the church and 07:02 so depending on who you ask 07:04 the story is that they either rolled the 07:06 church on logs across the green 07:08 I think that's very unlikely the truth 07:11 is most of the trees would have been cut 07:12 down by that point 07:13 to build the ships in Woods Hole so 07:16 there's a widow's walk on top of the 07:18 parsonage next door #katharineleebatesroad #woodshole 8 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 07:19 and you would have easily been able to 07:21 see the ocean 07:23 from that widow's walk today you can't 07:25 see those you can see a lot of trees 07:27 but those trees didn't exist when in 07:30 1814 when that house was built 07:32 so they probably didn't roll the church 07:34 across the green 07:35 um some people say that they put it on a 07:38 sled 07:38 and they pulled it across um which is a 07:41 possibility though I think that the 07:43 train wouldn't have really accommodated 07:44 that 07:45 it was a big building and then other 07:47 folks said that they parceled the the 07:49 church 07:49 literally taking apart piece by piece 07:51 and then rebuilding it in 07:53 a new location whatever they did they 07:56 didn't do it well 07:57 because within a year they tore that 07:59 building down and they built the fifth 08:01 meeting house 08:01 I say that the truth is the claim has 08:03 always been that the congregation was 9 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 08:05 growing so quickly that they needed to 08:06 have a larger sanctuary 08:08 and needed to have a larger foundation 08:10 for the church 08:12 so we'll go with that but they did build 08:14 that 08:15 that church in 1858 the fifth meeting 08:18 house 08:19 now here's some also some some 08:21 remarkable history attached to the 08:22 church 08:24 two things one we discovered not long 08:26 ago 08:27 that um the steps in front of the church 08:30 were covered with bluestone and we had 08:33 to add a new railing to the front of the 08:35 steps 08:36 when the the masons were doing the work 08:38 on the steps 08:39 we heard them kind of yell out they were 08:40 very excited I was hoping they had found 08:42 a box of gold doubloons 08:44 underneath the stone steps that wasn't 08:46 what they found what they found 08:47 might be you know an equivalent treasure 08:50 though they discovered that underneath 10 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 08:51 the blue stone was 08:52 original pink granite some of the 08:55 Falmouth granite 08:56 and so somebody in fact we know is 08:58 probably in 08:59 1952 someone decided to put 09:03 bluestone on the steps we had lost track 09:06 of that 09:07 and so it was a great find to be able to 09:09 restore those front steps back to their 09:11 original condition 09:12 so um in 1858 these were what the steps 09:16 would have originally looked like 09:17 in the process of of thinking about 09:19 those steps and looking at the steps we 09:21 also had some of the masons 09:22 bring to our attention the fact that the 09:24 whole foundation of this church 09:26 is made from that pink granite 09:30 and there is virtually a few hundred 09:31 tons worth of this pink granite 09:34 at this church so it may be that the 09:36 true value of the church 09:38 is really the church's foundation we'll 09:41 see 09:41 um but I I just think it's it's a #falmouthgranite 11 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 09:43 remarkable piece of kind of 09:45 lost history that was recently 09:46 discovered 09:48 one of the most interesting aspects of 09:50 that move 09:52 that took place in 1858 is that that is 09:54 the year 09:55 that William Bates came as the pastor of 09:58 the church 09:59 so William Bates who is the father of 10:00 Katharine Lee Bates 10:02 was the was one of the ministers of the 10:04 First Congregational Church 10:05 he served that church for one year 1858. 10:09 he was sick from the moment he arrived 10:12 to the moment he passed away in fact the 10:15 last service he presided over was 10:17 Katharine’s baptism 10:18 she was three months old at the time so 10:21 I’ve always wondered 10:23 was this seen as a great challenge for 10:26 the congregation 10:27 this decision to move the church during 10:29 this time when the pastor was not 10:31 available to offer leadership 10:32 or was this seen as kind of #williambates #katharineleebates 12 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 10:35 an opportunity to make that move because 10:37 they weren't able to meet for worship 10:40 this was a chance for them to to make a 10:42 transition to a new space 10:44 as a result I don't know the answer to 10:46 that but I’ve 10:47 I’ve always been curious to know um how 10:50 that impacted the 10:52 the move itself not having William Bates 10:54 as the pastor or actively 10:56 engaged as the pastor at the time 11:00 so there have been a number of of other 11:02 additions to our 11:04 church building over the years in 1952 11:07 an educational wing was added 11:08 and then in 1992 as a result of a very 11:11 generous 11:12 gift from the Faxon family we're 11:14 able to build a Christian education 11:16 center the Faxon 11:17 Education Center and so the church has 11:20 continued to 11:20 expand and grow we really do think of 11:24 ourselves as a community church 11:26 we take to heart this this attachment to 11:29 the to the town of Falmouth and we see #faxon 13 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 11:31 ourselves 11:32 as a place where people should gather 11:33 and meet um to to be in conversation to 11:36 have potluck suppers to worship 11:39 um we've got really great parking 11:42 which is essential if you're going to 11:44 have people gather 11:45 we're in a wonderful location and so we 11:48 really try to open up the church as much 11:49 as possible 11:50 we're we're actively looking for ways to 11:52 support our community 11:54 with with our space um and it is a 11:56 beautiful space 11:57 I’m always surprised recently in the 11:58 last four or five years we've been 12:00 opening up the the 12:01 church on the Lighting of the Green um 12:04 in December 12:05 and it's amazing how many people come 12:07 for the Lighting of the Green 12:08 opening of the church has allowed people 12:10 just to come in and warm up we usually 12:12 have a little bit of a hymn sing 12:13 the bathrooms are available I’m always 12:17 shocked to hear from folks who have 14 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 12:18 lived in Falmouth 12:19 their whole lives that this is the first 12:22 time they've been in the First 12:23 Congregational Church 12:25 I say that not as a pastor of a church I 12:28 say as someone who's just genuinely 12:30 curious about history and and the 12:32 connection of that church to the history 12:34 of Falmouth 12:35 I think that that church should be on a 12:38 short list 12:39 of locations where every single student 12:41 in our school system should come and 12:43 hear about the history of that church 12:44 I’d love to take them up to the bell to 12:46 see the bell but you've got to be a 12:47 little bit of a billy goat and 12:49 I would hate to lose any children along 12:51 the way um 12:53 but it is remarkable history and and 12:55 we're really proud of it and we really 12:57 would like to be able to share it 12:58 generously 12:59 with folks so the 13:02 the building itself is one of the 13:05 uh iconic images of Falmouth for sure 15 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 13:08 yes and you've just described the rich 13:10 history one of the 13:12 interesting things that has emerged 13:14 during the interviews that we're 13:15 conducting 13:16 we've chatted with Rabbi Lieberman with 13:20 Reverend 13:20 Will Mebane yes is the shared history 13:23 uh of the congregations in the faith 13:27 communities 13:29 for instance the the Jewish Congregation 13:33 can trace 13:34 its history the building at least 13:37 to that same first meeting house that 13:39 you mentioned is that right 13:40 uh because the East End Meeting House #eliaslieberman #williammebane #falmouthjewishcongregation #eastendmeetinghouse Gunning_Hatchville_Bldg_0526 through 0531 13:43 which is today 13:44 the the headquarters of the Jewish 13:46 Congregation 13:47 uh was built and created because 13:50 uh the meeting house down at Mill Road 13:53 uh 13:54 could not accommodate a growing 13:56 community is that right 16 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 13:57 so what's fascinating is that uh the 14:02 history 14:03 is a shared history it sure is and and 14:05 today that interconnectivity 14:07 yes uh Reverend Mebane used the same 14:10 phrase that you just use as a community 14:12 church 14:12 yes and and and so 14:17 uh today those faith communities 14:20 continue to have 14:21 yes we do a shared history and a shared 14:23 mission absolutely 14:24 I think two of the finest examples of 14:26 that shared history mission 14:27 would be the Service Center in Falmouth 14:29 so the Service Center which 14:31 which has a huge impact on this 14:32 community and is really the front line 14:35 in terms of responding to need there are 14:37 other organizations that 14:38 that provide outstanding support to 14:41 folks in need but I think that we all 14:43 consider the Service 14:44 Center to be at the center of that that 14:46 support system 14:47 that organization was established 17 #falmouthservicecenter �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 14:49 originally by the clergy in Falmouth 14:51 because they recognized that they could 14:53 not do 14:54 as much of the follow-up and the 14:56 background uh work that they needed to 14:58 do to be able to provide the the best 15:01 care available and so 25 years ago they 15:04 they got together and said this is 15:05 worthwhile and we should make it happen 15:07 and now 15:08 that has a huge impact on this community 15:10 another example is the Upper Cape 15:12 Chaplaincy which supports the 15:13 the chaplain's position at the hospital 15:15 that was also 15:17 a result of of the collective will of 15:20 the clergy in town 15:22 and we still have an active group of 15:24 people who meet together on on a monthly 15:26 basis to talk about our community and 15:28 how we 15:29 as the communities of faith should be 15:32 supporting one another and 15:33 and supporting the good work that's 15:35 being done by so many organizations in 15:37 this town #uppercapechaplaincy 18 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 15:38 I I feel this absolutely today you know 15:41 we are living in a time 15:42 where there's so much divisiveness and 15:45 division 15:46 um regardless of how you feel 15:50 about your relationship with with 15:52 eternity or 15:54 or the divine or not um 15:57 we are in relationship with one another 15:58 and our churches 16:00 and our um congregations have always 16:04 been at the center of of the community 16:07 and they should continue to be they the 16:09 our our 16:11 congregation should be open and 16:12 available as a place where people can 16:14 feel 16:16 you know not the divisiveness but the 16:18 the potential that exists in harmony 16:20 when we work together 16:22 to do good things and I think we're 16:24 going to have plenty of opportunities 16:26 to talk about doing good work with one 16:27 another in the in the next few years 16:29 indeed for sure so what does it mean to 16:31 you 19 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 16:33 to be part now of the the rich history 16:37 of 16:37 the Congregational Church and Falmouth 16:39 and and 16:41 that the congregation itself has evolved 16:44 along 16:45 as the history of the building unfolded 16:47 and today 16:48 continues to be a vibrant part of the 16:50 fabric of the community 16:51 it does um you know I’m very honored to 16:54 be 16:54 in the role that I have been given and 16:57 I’m 16:58 really grateful to work with really good 17:00 people you know my colleagues 17:03 both within the the church that I serve 17:05 but also you know the 17:07 my fellow clergy folks and and the other 17:10 folks who are serving organizations in 17:12 town that we support 17:13 um I really appreciate the the good work 17:15 that they do 17:16 but also the members of the of our 17:20 congregation are really outstanding 17:22 people they're they're all 20 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 17:23 very effective people and they're all 17:26 very much engaged in in this world I 17:29 will say our churches are trending much 17:31 older 17:31 and Cape Cod in general is turning much 17:33 older and so 17:35 I spent a lot of time with with my 17:36 constituency thinking about the end of 17:38 life and 17:39 and some of the concerns that that exist 17:41 around that 17:42 um it's all good it's all good 17:45 and and so I’m grateful to have that 17:47 opportunity there's a certain amount of 17:48 of 17:49 responsibility that comes with that and 17:51 I I am aware of it 17:52 um and I take it to heart and so there 17:55 are times where where 17:56 I think you know we we really have a lot 17:58 of work to do in Falmouth 18:01 there's a lot of need in this community 18:03 and it's not always apparent 18:05 right we work hard to make Falmouth a 18:07 beautiful place 18:08 and certainly we're aware that we have 21 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 18:10 folks who visit us every summer 18:12 who come because this is a beautiful 18:14 place and so we work hard to keep a 18:16 certain 18:17 a certain beauty here 18:20 it's not a facade it's real but below 18:23 that beauty 18:24 below the surface of it there is another 18:26 community that exists and 18:28 there are a lot of people who struggle 18:30 there's a terrible affliction 18:32 that exists in this community addiction 18:34 is awful 18:35 in Falmouth there are a lot of folks who 18:38 are living right at the point 18:39 of of not being able to to get by 18:42 and so um I’m aware of that we're the 18:45 downtown church one of the downtown 18:46 churches and I 18:47 I learned a long time ago if you're 18:49 going to point at God 18:51 with your big steeple you better expect 18:53 that people are going to see that and 18:54 they're going to come looking for God 18:56 or you know the equivalent of that so I 19:00 take that to heart too we we try to do 22 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 19:01 right by people if we can 19:04 it's a long answer to your question what 19:06 a wonderful one thank you 19:07 is there anything that we didn't cover 19:09 that you'd like to share today 19:12 there's so much there's so much rich 19:15 history if you had 19:16 an hour I would fill it um so I you know 19:19 I can't think of anything 19:21 specifically right now that I didn't 19:23 cover that I wanted to but if there's 19:25 ever anything 19:27 that you're curious to know more about I 19:28 would love to to come and 19:30 talk more about the history of of our 19:32 community 19:34 thank you so much you're very welcome 19:55 [Music] 23 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Postcards from Falmouth Oral Histories Description An account of the resource A collection of transcribed oral history interviews from the Postcards from Falmouth project, 2020-23. Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project made possible by a Library Services Technology Act grant administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Falmouth Public Library Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Language A language of the resource English Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Falmouth Public Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcript of Reverend Jonathan Drury's Oral History on the First Congregational Church Subject The topic of the resource First Congregational Church, Falmouth, Mass Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Falmouth Public Library (Falmouth, Mass.) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Video transcript Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Postcards from Falmouth Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Falmouth Public Library (Falmouth, Mass.) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jonathan Drury Troy Clarkson Falmouth Community Television Falmouth Public Library Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 24, 2020 1614 1708 1717 1750 1796 1858 American Civil War American Revolution Beebe Boston church bell East End Meeting House Elias Lieberman Falmouth granite Falmouth Jewish Congregation Falmouth Service Center Falmouth Village Green Faxon First Congregational Church Jonathan Drury Katharine Lee Bates Katharine Lee Bates Road Lakeview Lawrence School Mill Road Old Burying Ground oral history Paul Revere Postcards from Falmouth Puritan Swift (family) transcript Troy Clarkson Upper Cape Chaplaincy West Parish of Barnstable William Bates William Mebane Woods Hole