Christian Church at Fitch’s Bridge
The historic Christian Church, also known as Fitch’s Bridge Church, is located adjacent to the West Branch of the Delaware River in the hamlet of East Delhi, New York. The church is located close to the picturesque Fitch’s Covered Bridge and just east of the Judge Gideon Frisbee House, the late 18th century home of one of the area’s earliest settlers.
Church History
The congregation of the church was formed in 1822. The land for the church building and cemetery were leased from Gideon Frisbee, an early settler of Delaware County and prominent local farmer.
Gideon Frisbee (1758-1828) was a man of many talents that through an industrious career included pioneer, farmer, justice of the peace, county treasurer, revolutionary war veteran, militia captain, tavern keeper, and vestryman. His Federal-style, two-story house, located two miles north of Delhi, was built in 1797 along the West Branch of the Delaware River. The house is sometimes referred to as the “Birthplace of Delaware County” as the first meeting of the county board of supervisors was held here in 1797. The house remained in the Frisbee family for much of its history until it was acquired in 1960 by the Delaware County Historical Association, for which it now serves as their headquarters. The property is home to several other historic structures including a one-room schoolhouse, a gun shop, a blacksmith shop, a tollgate house, a corn crib and the family barn. The property and buildings are open to the public for tours. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The first trustees of the Christian Church were all prominent members of the community, including Putnam Farrington, Daniel Frisbee, John Hammond, Clarke Sloot and Newell Dodge. Reverend William Cummings was the first pastor at the Christian Church, and was followed by Reverend D. Call; Reverend J. M. Westcott; Reverend Southwick; and Reverend Daniel Grant.
In 1859 the church society was reorganized and the current church was built one year later in 1860 by James Adams, a regional carpenter from nearby Hamden. The building replaced the original 1820s church that had been razed circa 1859. The church was dedicated on Saturday, September 1, 1860.
“The Christian meeting-house near Fitch’s Bridge, in this town, was dedicated last Saturday. As the weather was fine, and the roads good, the attendance was large. The church was filled to overflowing. The new building is a very neat and pretty one for the purpose, and is fitted up in simple but comfortable style. It is a little smaller than the old one, but is large enough to accommodate the congregation. The contract for the repairs, or rather the rebuilding of the edifice, was entrusted to our friend, Mr. James Adams, of this village, who executed the work in a very satisfactory and acceptable manner.” (Delaware Republican. September 8, 1860.)
In January 1862, efforts were made by the trustees of the church to pay off the remaining debts that were incurred in constructing the church.
“Donation. The Christian Church in East Delhi being embarrassed with debt, incurred in erecting their new house of worship, have resolved to put forth a vigorous effort to liquidate the same.
For the purpose of consummating the above named object, the church and congregation would earnestly invite all the friends of religion to attend a donation party at the chapel, on Wednesday evening, the 12th day of February, at 6 o’clock.
All the churches in this community having been erected by united effort, and this house being free to all religious denominations, the committee feel justified in extending this invitation to all the friends of religion of every name and order. Refreshments will be prepared for the occasion.
The committee intend to secure the attendance of a good speaker, and to have the exercises enlivened by music, both vocal and instrument. By order of the trustees.” (Delaware Republican. January 25, 1862.)
In 1875, the church was improved with the addition of a new interior chandelier and lamps and exterior painting. The work was completed by J. L. Meeker. “When the work on the house was completed, it was thought best to see if the hearts of the people could not be renovated, as well as the church. Accordingly, a series of meetings was commenced, which has been running for about two weeks which has resulted in the conversion of ten or twelve happy son’s – and still they come. Christians of all denominations in the place work with heart and zeal becoming their profession. The preaching is done by Rev. Thomas Taylor, of New Paltz, Columbia Co., N.Y., assisted by the Pastor, D. Grant, who has proved himself a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. The meetings will continue through this week and over the coming Sabbath.” (Delaware Republican. November 13, 1875.)
In 1880, “sheds and other conveniences have been added to the property this year.” In 1888, the church was significantly renovated, “making decided improvement in the interior as well as the exterior of the church.” The church was repainted on the outside and new wallpaper was hung on the inside. A new “pulpit suite” was purchased from the firm of Jackson & Mason of Delhi. Funding was also being raised for a new carpet and the purchase of “opera folding chairs” for the congregation.
The church congregation continued to operate under the Christian Church denomination for over 100 years until 1925, when there were only two members left. The church building then remained vacant for 15 years. In 1940, Emily Dannheimer, a 1937 graduate and valedictorian of the Delaware Academy at Delhi, began to organize services at the church. Mrs. Alfred Carey, the only surviving member of the old church, granted permission for services each Sunday during the summer. “The Gospel of Christ” was the subject of the first sermon at the reopened church. The Christian Church had a short revival from 1940 to 1948, with the congregation reaching nearly one hundred members, but a significant decline in membership then prompted its closing.
From 1950 to 1990 the Christian Scientist denomination utilized the building. In 1990 the Delaware County Historical Association assumed ownership of the property. The Delaware County Historical Association makes the church available to rent for private functions.
Cemetery
The Christian Church Cemetery is located adjacent to the church to both the east and the west. Gravestones at the church date from 1820 to the 1970s. There are approximately 25 graves marked with simple fieldstones without inscription.
National Register of Historic Places
The Christian Church and its adjacent cemetery were officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. The church was noted “for its distinctive blend of Greek Revival and Gothic Revival styles and for its long association with the history of the hamlet of East Delhi.”
The application for the Christian Church to be included on the National Register of Historic Places described the architecture of the church in great detail. “The core of the building represents a typical mid-nineteenth century church design in the region, embodying forms and embellishments typical of the Greek Revival style; however, its overlay of assertive Gothic Revival decoration creates the dominant visual image of the building today. The small wood-frame building is of post and beam construction and sits on a dry-laid stone foundation. It is rectangular in shape, three bays wide by four bays deep, and surmounted by a gable roof clad with asphalt shingles. An interior brick chimney pierces the gable at the rear of the building. The church features clapboard siding, a wide water table and a raking cornice.
The most dramatic exterior decorative elements are the twelve narrow, engaged towers with pinnacles that mark the corners of the building, define the entrance bay and serve as the primary decorative components of the tower. The towers are of wood-frame construction and the pinnacles, originally sheet iron, are now aluminum.
Each of the corner towers rests on a separate stone base, which is not connected to and extends beyond the stone building foundation. The two towers that define the entrance by rise into a two-stage square tower, which interrupts the front gable of the roof. The raking cornice extends across the tower, either intentionally designed or replicated for the flat roofline at the apex. Each of the two tower stages is defined by corner towers and the whole is surmounted by a tall spire. Each stage of the tower originally featured louvered openings on all sides; however, the louvered elements that survive today are replacements without openings. Towers on each state were originally connected by decorative balustrades; only those on the upper stage survive.” (National Register of Historic Places.)
The Christian Church
The Christian Church, also known as Christian Connection, was a New England sect that broke away from the prevailing 16th and 17th century Calvinist theology. The Christian Church is often considered the first uniquely American religious movement. Elias Smith (1769-1846), founder of the Christian Church denomination, wrote of his ideas in the Herald of Gospel Liberty, which was first published in 1808 and is considered the first religious newspaper in the United States.
“The Christian Church was a religious denomination of its own, such as the Presbyterian or Baptist denominations. Early immigrants to Delaware County were generally from New England states, where the Christian denomination was popular. The sect was founded by Elias Smith, who had been raised near Woodstock, Vermont in the 1780s. Smith had been raised as a Calvinist Baptist.
The new denomination was a reaction against the old Calvinist doctrine of predestination, and, like other new sects of this period, believed in shifting the responsibility for salvation to men and women. The Christian Church held that the New Testament, accessible to all, was the only authority and could be used without divine assistance. By the early nineteenth century Smith had broken with the Baptists altogether and, with others of like mind, formed the loosely-knit Christian Church, or Christian Connection . . . The name “Christian” reflects the believers’ focus on the New Testament and their commitment to a more active role in their own salvation.” (National Register of Historic Places.)
Reverend William Cummings
Reverend William Cummings, the first pastor at the Christian Church, was born at Plymouth, New Hampshire on September 24, 1786. William was the youngest of ten children born to Captain Jotham Cummings (1741-1808) and Anna (Brown) Cummings (1744-1829). Jotham Cummings moved to Plymouth, New Hampshire in 1764 and was among the original grantees of Plymouth. Captain Cummings served in Colonel Goffe’s regiment during the march on Crown Point in the expedition to Canada in 1760. During the American Revolution, Captain Cummings served as a lieutenant in a company of New Hampshire Rangers, and subsequently as a captain of the Plymouth company in Colonel Hobart’s regiment.
William married Sarah Hazeltine on March 12, 1809. Sarah was born at Concord, New Hampshire on February 28, 1790. She was the daughter of John and Hanna Hazeltine. “Before 18 years of age she gave herself up to the service of the Lord, and found precious joy in believing in Him.” She had worked as a school teacher prior to her marriage in 1809. During the spring of 1809, months after their marriage, William and Sally moved to Plymouth, New Hampshire, where they remained for a few years.
William and Sarah had seven children together, including Dorcas, Peter, Damaris, Moses, Aaron, Marion and Lydia. Moses (1816-1867), like his father, would become a preacher in the Christian denomination; and served as publisher and editor of the Christian Messenger and the Christian Palladium. Amos Cummings (1841-1902), son of Moses, grandson of William, won the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Civil War and would later serve in the United States Congress for several terms.
William Cummings was converted in 1806 and began preaching in 1810. He would become a preacher in the Christian Church denomination, serving in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York. Cummings was ordained at Bradford, Vermont in 1815. He helped establish and organize churches for his denomination.
Reverend Cummings and his wife moved from Rumney, New Hampshire to Roxbury, and later to Kortright, and then Stamford, all in Delaware County, New York. Reverend Cummings then came to the Delhi area and began preaching the doctrines of the Christian church. He helped establish the Christian Church at Fitch’s Bridge in 1822. For six years they lived at Delhi, and then moved to Lansingville, which was later known as Delancey. He served at the Christian Church of Delancey from 1842 to 1847.
After a long and distinguished career, Reverend William Cummings passed away from “inflammation of the lungs” at Hamden, New York on Sunday, December 12, 1847. He is buried at Chesire Cemetery in Chesire, Massachusetts. Upon his passing it was written that “The Elder was a prominent man in the church. He was also a man of more than ordinary consecration to the great work. His letters, of which he wrote many to the different periodicals of the day, are full of cheerfulness, faith, hope, and confidence in God. When he first embraced religion, he was so full of joy that some of the older members told him he was going on borrowed capital, and that the sorrows of life would have to pay back etc. The Elder, mentioning this in his days, said, ‘They were mistaken; I have been full of glory all the time.’”
Sarah Cummings passed away from “congestion of the lungs” at Lansingville on the morning of January 29, 1868. Upon her passing it was written that “those who knew Mrs. Cummings well, also knew her to be a very superior and excellent woman. She was especially gifted in prayer. In glancing over her diary, one is struck with admiration of the spirit of sincere piety throughout. So much refinement and delicacy of thought, so much humility and earnestness in the cause of the Lord and Savior – such an anxiety for the welfare of immortal souls – such gratitude for daily mercies, even in the midst of feebleness – such entire submission to the will of God – all show the elevation of her character.” (Delaware Republican. February 1, 1868.)
Reverend Daniel Grant
Reverend Daniel Grant (1812-1879) was the pastor at the Christian Church in 1860 when the new building was constructed.
Daniel Grant was born on October 3, 1812, the son of John Grant and Jane (Stillwell) Grant. In 1882, at 20 years of age,
“Brother Grant confessed faith in Jesus Christe as the Son of God and his only Savior . . . His conversion to Christianity was one of thoughtful deliberation, at a time when there was no unusual interest in the community on the subject, and, indeed, when the opposite interest pervaded society.
He came to the crisis of deciding the great question that changed the whole current of his life and destiny in a ball-room. He carried out his purpose as deliberately as he made it, going from the ball-room in the small hours of the morning to the grove where, in meditation and prayer, he dedicated himself forever to the service of God, and with the dawn of that morning came the light of life upon his moral and spiritual being.” (Delaware Republican. December 27, 1879.)
Grant was baptized by Elder Joshua Howard in September 1837, and began to preach that same year. He was admitted in 1837 to the New York Eastern Christian Conference. In 1839 he became a member of the Christian Church in Delhi and in 1842 he was ordained and chosen pastor of the church. He was selected by the ordaining council comprised of Elders John Spoor, William Cummings and Wright Butler, “a trio of strength, for there were giants in those days.”
Reverend Grant continued his pastorate of the Delhi church for 34 years until 1876. Besides the Delhi church, he also preached for the churches at Otego, Portlandville, North Harpersfield, Summit, Delancey, South Franklin and Roxbury. “None but God knows the weary miles he traveled over the hills of Delaware and Otsego counties and the anxious heart he carried for the cause of the blessed Master, weeping between the porch and the altar. He was often cheered by seeing men led to Christ, to taste his love and share his great salvation.” (Delaware Republican. December 27, 1879.)
Reverend Grant was married to Sally Frisbee, a granddaughter of Gideon Frisbee, at Delhi in 1837. David and Sally had five children, including Naomi, Huldah, Darius, George and John. Sally was “a faithful wife, an affectionate mother, and a devoted Christian all these years. Happy is that minister who has, in his wife, a help-meet indeed . . .”
Reverend Grant resigned from his pastorate in 1876 due to failing health. He died three years later at his home in Delhi at 67 years of age on October 30, 1879. He is buried at the Frisbee Family Cemetery in Delhi, New York. Upon his passing it was written that he “was a man of strong convictions; and we believe he ever tried to do right and to follow in the strict path of duty. . . In his death, the cause of religion, as well as all moral interests, particularly that of Temperance, loses a fast friend and sincere and efficient co-laborer.” (Delaware Republican. November 15, 1879.)
