Chenango County Historical Society Meets
Bainbridge News & Republican, May 21, 1942
A regular meeting of the Chenango County Historical Society was held at 8 o'clock P.M. on Apr. 30, 1942, at the Courthouse in Norwich. President Raymond Williams presided. There were approximately 50 members present.
Miss Myra Shattuck, of Norwich, Chairman of the Committee on Churches, reported a list of Church Histories and their authors which were ready to be placed on file and available to the members for reference. She urged members of the Society to give the Committee any information they might have on the early Churches and their histories so that it could be added to the collection. Miss Shattuck said that in their research work they had discovered that the eldest Catholic cemetery in the County was at Oxford. The Society also has a record of the articles of faith of the Guilford Episcopal Church taken from the corner stone when it was organized in 1830.
Mrs. Archie Gibbs read a paper covering the origin and building of the North Guilford Church written by Josephine Thompson for a D.A.R. meeting. A church society was formed of 18 members May 16, 1832, for the purpose of building a Congregational Church "for the spiritual welfare of ourselves and our children and our neighbors," but no active steps were taken until 1843, and the church finally dedicated Oct. 29, 1844. It was called the First Congregational Church of Norwich and Guilford and was situated about five miles from the Norwich cross roads which led to four corners. There was a great deal of rivalry between the Congregationalists and the Methodists in that day and they each selected opposite corners for their buildings. The Methodists waited until the Congregationalists had built their church and then built a bigger one and also had a steeple. Horse sheds were placed between the two churches. The church was built by voluntary labor and the only money spent was for nails and windows. The church was not heated and at first the pews faced the doors so late comers were embarrassed to enter. The women and men sat on opposite sides of the church. There were no cushions for the seats and the sermons were usually of two hours duration. Dancing and attendance at plays were forbidden by the church rules and those who attended either were subject to discipline. As time went on and the attendance at church grew scanty the Congregationalists and Methodists were forced to give up their old feud and take turns in having church meetings.
Mrs. Ellen M. Donaldson gave a paper on the Eagle Hotel which was especially interesting to the members. The first tavern was built on the present Eagle Hotel site in 1799 by Stephen and Asabel Steere. Later, when Mark Steere became the manager, the lion which had been painted on the signpost was changed to an eagle and it has been known as The Eagle Hotel ever since. At that time the building was a two story house painted white. Norwich was then the county seat as it is today and was a favorite resort of lawyers, judges and officers of the court. Many gala affairs were held at the Eagle. At a ball given July 4, 1849, the hotel caught fire. It was thought that one of the guests had accidentally knocked a candle over, or it might have been caused by a defective lamp. After the fire, the Eagle Hotel Company was formed with a capital of $11,000. There were 110 shares of stock outstanding at $100 a share. The Company paid $4,000 for the site and the hotel was built substantially as it is today. In 1864, a fourth story was added. Many famous people have visited at the hotel including Theodore Roosevelt, Horace Greeley, Roscoe C. Conklin and others. Mrs. Donaldson read some of the entries from the old Hotel Register from 1851 to 1857 which has been presented to the society by E.B. Pendleton.
After the meeting the members examined a number of historical items which had been given to the Society. These include the Eagle Hotel register, old books donated by Miss Sarah Higley and Miss Hattie Walworth, an album of old Norwich prints exhibited by W.A. Baldwin. An old wood cut of a cannon of Civil War times was shown and presented to the society by James A. Haynes, foreman of the Norwich Publishing Company. A large picture of a Chenango County Society Banquet held in the Hotel Astor, New York City, was displayed and President Williams asked the members to identify the different persons so that they could keep a record of the names.
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