A DEERFIELD MEETING HOUSE
COLONIAL laws and public policy required every new settlement to secure a
sound and learned Minister to be its spiritual guide. The life stories of the
many courageous men who held this post in Deerfield deserve telling. The names
of a few may prompt someone to weave together this fabric of Deerfield life.
Samuel Mather was the first Minister to brave this frontier but he left about
1675, at the time the first inhabitants were driven off by the Indians. The
story of John Williams, although not the next Minister, is known to all who
love the Valley. He came to this Ministry fresh from Harvard in 1686 when a
lad of only twenty-two. His story of the trying days of his captivity in Canada,
"The Redeemed Captive," ran through many editions and is one of the
cornerstones of Americana in any good library. He was the leader of the religious
life of the countryside until his death in Parson Jonathan Ashley brought vigor,
a resourceful mind and a fighting spirit to the Community over the next half
century. His part in the religious and political struggles of the day may soon
be told in a biography by a capable Deerfield Academy graduate. During the next
century and a half other splendid men have occupied this Pastorate.
Meeting houses appear to have been nearly as essential as Ministers in American
frontier villages. Unfortunately little has been found about the details of
construction of the first Meeting House in Deerfield. Doubtless it was a small
building, perhaps of logs. It was erected before the breaking up of the first
settlement in 1675. Old documents of that date reveal sums paid for a Minister’s
house and "ye little house for a Meeting House that ye Meet in."
Soon after the resettlement in 1682, sums were voted by the
Town for another Meeting House which, however, soon proved
inadequate for we find that in 1694 it was voted "that there shall
be a Meeting House Built in deerfield upon the Town charge" —
the record goes on to state:
"That there shall be a committy chosen and impowered to
agree with workmen to begin said building forthwith and
carry it on fast as may be voted affirmatively
"That ye meetinghouse shall be built ye bigness of Hatfield
meeting house only ye height to be left to ye judgement and
determination of ye committy voted affirmatively
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