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Compiled by David Rapalyea
First Meeting House in Salisbury
Now known as the Salisbury Congregational Community Church.
The information that follows is from John J. Dearborn’s History of Salisbury, New Hampshire, published in 1890. This is a watered-down version of the actual events of the time. Those events were very volatile and split the Town into various factions, with “every man forming an opinion and ready to defend it.”
Location and Building the First Meeting House
The building site of this Meeting House in 1764 consisted of 10 acres on the north side of what is now known as Searle’s Hill. The land was purchased and cleared, retaining the lumber for timbers and other material needed to complete the house. A vote to build the Meeting House of the same size as “the second parish in Kingston,” now East Kingston, in 1767 was taken, and in the spring of 1768, the frame was laid and the Meeting House was boarded and shingled. It was then voted to sell pews to the highest bidder, and on April 7th, 1768, that sale took place in Kingston, N.H. Additional pews were sold in Salisbury in May of 1768.
The First Cemetery
Soon after the Meeting House was built, the first cemetery established in Salisbury was laid out just to the east of the Meeting House. Buried here were many citizens of Salisbury, including the first minister and his wife. This 10-acre tract came into the possession of Stephen Perrin. The parcel was then passed to David Pettengill, who sold it to Samuel Guilford, who had no respect for the dead and removed all the headstones and plowed up the land, thus this cemetery disappeared. At this time (1890), the land was used as a pasture, but now it has returned to forest.
The Parsonage
The parsonage was built northwest of the Meeting House on the same 10 acres. The house was large with two stories, and it was known as a “comb-case roof.” The parsonage was now ready for the first minister. The Rev. Mr. Searle was asked to be the pastor of the church and became the first settled minister of Salisbury on November 17th, 1773. He and his wife lived in the parsonage until he died in 1819. He had owned the parsonage for only a few years before his death.
Moving the Meeting House
The Meeting House, being on the northerly slope of one of the highest hills in Town, is difficult to travel to in winter. As the land had been cleared for pastures and crops, allowing snow to drift over the road and having nothing to block the wind made travel not only difficult but dangerous. From about 1773, many parishioners started talking of relocating the Meeting House. This led to the question “Where to build a new Meeting House?” This was discussed throughout the town with “every man forming an opinion and ready to defend it.” The two main areas for the location of the Meeting House were Garland’s Hill, which is just up the hill from the intersection of Center and Whittemore Road, and the other being the Crank section of South Road. There were many votes about the location of the Meeting House. It became so volatile that the Town almost went to war over this question. Though there are no records, it is thought, the old Meeting House was brought by leading citizens of South Road, taken down, and with new timbers rebuilt “a few rods southwest from its present location.” This was sometime between July 13, 1790, and the next April.
The original Meeting House was erected parallel with South Road, having a porch and entrance door at each end. The west porch had a steeple and belfry above it. At some time, being unclear in Dearborn’s History, the Meeting House became the Congregational Church. It remained this way until 1835, when it was moved north and partly turned, with the steeple facing South Road. The Church has remained at this location ever since and is now known as The Salisbury Congregation Community Church.
