History
Kathy Dube
A Historical Primer
Prospect Church has been a bastion of mainline Protestantism in Bristol for close to 175 years, but it was not the first Methodist Church in the area. The first official Methodist presence in the immediate area was the Burlington (Conn.) Methodist Episcopal Circuit, formed in 1816. The original Methodist preachers were “Circuit Riders” who conducted classes in the developing religion based on the teachings of the Anglican preacher John Wesley.
In future issues of the Tower, the History Committee will review the developments that led to the eventual establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Society of Bristol, the precursor to the Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church, today known as Prospect United Methodist Church.
If you are interested in purchasing commemorative ornaments or sketches of Prospect Church to assist the History Committee with preservation projects, please see Vivian Brackett, committee chairperson, after the 10 a.m. service Sunday mornings.
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A Historical Primer Part 2
According to a historical sketch from Charles L. Wooding, former church member and the first librarian in Bristol on the occasion of the centennial of Prospect Church, then known as Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church, the first Methodist Society legally established in Connecticut was located in Stratford, in 1789, with exactly three charter members Rev. Jesse Lee, a noted itinerant preacher, was the guiding force. The movement was initially opposed by the well-established Congregational Church.
The first Methodist sermon reportedly was preached in
Bristol in a Baptist Church by the Rev. Nathan Bangs, presiding elder and eventual President of Wesleyan University. The sermon was based on Acts 28.22: “But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” Apparently, the Methodist emphasis on emotionalism was a turn-off to the more staid Congregational church.
Following Rev. Bangs’ provocative sermon, occasional meetings were held by new converts to Methodism in a schoolhouse on West Street or in private homes. Classes were taught by traveling preachers on the Burlington circuit, the first Methodist circuit established in this immediate area.
The next issue will follow the growth of the church on West Street that eventually became Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church.
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A Historical Primer Part 3
The fledgling Methodist Episcopal Society in Bristol, legally established in 1834 as an outgrowth of the Burlington Circuit, soon had 27 members who set about to buy land for a church building. According to historian Milo Norton in the 1871 Bristol Press, utmost caution had to be taken with the land purchase because of “the prejudice against their establishment” (one factor: too many ‘amens’ and ‘hallelujahs’ in their services).
Two of the members, Evits Hungerford and Philip Gaylord, got a commitment from Chloe Daniels to sell a parcel on West Street. The Smith History of Bristol notes that they interrupted Esquire Tracy Peck during his dinner to get the deed recorded lest a higher price be offered for the land in the hopes of blocking the church. Rev. Albert Wickware is said to have felled a white oak to initiate the project.
Early meetings were held at a nearby school until the basement of the church was completed in early summer of 1835. It stood roughly across the street from St. Stanislaus Church. The rest of the church was finished and dedicated in July of 1837. The Burlington church was closed soon afterwards because of dwindling attendance.
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A Historical Primer Part 4
According to a historical sketch read by Charles L. Wooding, Bristol’s first librarian, at the centennial of Prospect Church observed the week of October 21 - October 28, 1934, the first pastor, Rev. Albert G. Wickware, felled a white oak with his own hands when construction began for the planned West Street church building. Meetings were held in a nearby schoolhouse until the basement of the new church facility was ready for occupancy in the summer of 1835.
The West Street church resembled many New England churches of the era. It was rectangular in shape with a front entrance directly under the front gable. There also were several rows arranged facing the chancel at right angles to the main body of the building along with a choir loft in the rear and special seats set aside for “Negroes” and others (yes, even in the North). The basement was used for prayer meetings, suppers and social events. Outside were horsesheds where the “horseshed class” met during Sunday School and many business deals no doubt were arranged.
All pastorates were customarily short in that era, so Rev. Wickware, described as a young and energetic preacher, left in 1835 for another pastorate. He was succeeded by Rev. Chestar Turner, who oversaw the building project until its completion. The completed church was dedicated in July of 1837.
Charles Wooding told one priceless anecdote about the early church: The pulpit was elevated above the floor of the auditorium, occupying an ell at the rear/west end of the buildings. This left a space a few feet tall under the pulpit, without a door or windows. Boys apparently could easily fit in the space by removing the underpinnings beneath the pulpit. “Little did the minister dream, as he conducted divine service, that he was standing over what was during the week a pirates’ cave or a bandits’ den or an Indian camping ground; as boys’ fancy might determine.”
The first church building was destroyed by fire in 1890, but by then the congregation had relocated to the present site.
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A Historical Primer Part 5
When the first Methodist church was constructed in Bristol in the 1830s, most of the population lived on the North side, where the business center was located. The decision to build a new church, however, took the church to a new location -- Federal Hill in general and Summer Street specifically, which were under development because of the southerly track of the railroad.
Church members tried unsuccessfully to buy the property across Summer and Center streets that was to house the first Bristol High School and today serves as headquarters for the Historical Society. Instead, they bought land from James Shane across Summer Street in 1879 for the new church and parsonage.
The first reference to the new church was in the Trustees minutes of January 26, 1880, when it was voted “to commence our regular Sunday services in our new church on Sunday, February 1, 1880.” The total cost for the new church, including grounds, building, grading, bell, clock, horse sheds, gas machine, etc., was $21,146. Subscriptions covered roughly half of that debt. Before all of the dedicatory services were concluded, benefactor J.H. Sessions and congregants pledged to pick up the remaining balance.
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A Historical Primer Part 6
Prospect Roots Date Back 175 Years
(Note: This year marks the 175th anniversary of the formation of the first Methodist Society in Bristol, which eventually became the Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church and today, Prospect United Methodist Church. Watch for information from the History Committee about an observance this fall to celebrate the anniversary.)
Past Towers have related the early history of Prospect Church, from its origins as a class taught by a circuit rider to the incorporation of the first official Methodist Society, construction of the former West Street sanctuary and lastly, relocation to the corner of Center and Summer streets where Sessions Hall is located today.
While the move to the then new part of town was a significant accomplishment, it soon became apparent that the growing congregation once again needed a larger sanctuary. The first reference to the planned larger sanctuary which now houses our church was in the May 18, 1893, Bristol Press:
“J.H. Sessions (benefactor) and William Linstead (construction contractor) went Tuesday to Norfolk to look at granite quarried in that place.
Mr. Sessions will decide in a few days as to the kind of stone to be used in building the new church. Plans will be received from Akron, Ohio within a month.”
Plans for an “Akron-styled” church were accepted on June 8, 1893. “Akron” was named for the hometown of architect James Kramer, commonly used in many Methodist churches constructed in that era.
J.H. Sessions, a convert to Methodism in the late 1850s, entirely funded the $75,000 cost of the planned new sanctuary.
The original building on the Sessions Hall site was partially demolished to make way for the new sanctuary, forcing members to meet elsewhere for a year. According to an article in a special historical Bristol Press section denoting the 100th anniversary of the new sanctuary’s dedication, Sessions and Linstead settled on granite from the Mine Hill quarry in Roxbury and brownstone from East Longmeadow, Mass. It is believed that much of the rock was shipped via the Connecticut River on barges.
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