White Store History

Chenango County Historical Society Meeting

Presentation on White Store

Bainbridge News & Republican, June 26, 1941

The Chenango County Historical Society held its June meeting at 8:00 P.M. on June 19, at White Store Church [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY].  Robert S. Marshman, the first vice-resident presided.  About 60 members attended the meeting.

 

The evening proved unusually interesting as White Store Church is over 100 years old and has not been altered in any major respect but has been kept in its original condition.  Lamps were used for lighting which gave a great deal of atmosphere.  There were two musical selections:  a solo, "Genevieve," given by Miss Hazel Coss and "Loves Old Sweet Song," a quartet consisting of Mrs. Van Buren, Mrs. Hayes, Mrs. Kullman and Miss Gilbertson.  The singers were dressed in old-fashioned costumes which added to the pleasure derived from their songs.

 

Mrs. Archie Gibbs read a History of White Store Church written by her husband, Archie Gibbs, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the church on September 18, 1820.  Mr. Gibbs recalled the circumstances surrounding the pioneers and gave some facts on the growth of the county.  The church was built through the union of the Baptist, Methodist and Universalist denominations.  Community life at that time was much more integrated than it is today due mainly to the lack of transportation, mail service and the telephone.  There were no highways as the county was new.  There were a few turnpike companies with charters from the state for toll gates and toll bridges, but communication was difficult.  Letters were carried by post riders or by stage coach and sometimes took months to arrive.  There were no postage stamps, but the price of sending a letter was a calf skin or 25 cents.  The postmaster at the time of the founding of the church at Oxford received $127.93 a year, the one at Norwich $103.93 a year, and the postmaster at Bainbridge received $6.00.  The Erie Canal was not completed until 1825 and the Chenango Canal in 1833.  The first railroad was built in 1831 and extended only 10 miles from Albany to Schenectady.  All these conditions made the individuals of a town more dependent on themselves and each other and they cooperated to a much greater extent than we do today.  The population of the county steadily increased until 1860 and since that time there has been a decline.

 

Since the meeting of June 19, 1941, it has been learned that John Arnold, great uncle of Miss Josephine Thompson, of North Guilford, was the carpenter who built the historic old church.  He later went west.  His grandfather was Caleb Arnold, Sr., one of the three war commissioners of Rhode Island in the Revolutionary war.  Caleb Arnold, Jr., father of John, was a major in the fife corps in the Revolutionary War and came to Chenango County in 1805.  He together with his son, Peleg, a soldier in the War of 1812, and William, are buried in the White Store Cemetery. 

 

White Store Has Interesting History

Bainbridge News & Republican, September 18, 1941

 

Helen B. Brown, writing in the Otsego Journal recently, tells an interesting story about White Store [Norwich, Chenango Co., NY], the old church, etc.

 

"Two miles up the Unadilla Valley we come to White Store.  Here we find more landmarks, one in the form of a church that celebrated its centennial anniversary in 1920.  The records from the old church are mostly traditional.  It was completed in 1820.  It was to be a Union Church and was built by the Methodists, the Baptists and the Universalists, the latter giving $50, the most in money.  those who could not give money helped in other ways; some gave corn and this was turned into money, others gave lumber and many were glad to give labor.  Daniel Westcott and Edward Green did some of the carpenter work.  Captain Abner Wood, Colonel Medbury, and Asa Tyler helped to finish the building free of charge.  The original pulpit was a box shape, the front resting on posts and a door on each side shut the reverend gentleman in.  There were narrow stairs on each side.  This pulpit was lowered in 1852. At first there were no stoves.  The church was warmed by iron kettles filled with coals.  The people carried footstoves of perforated tin;  inside the basins of coals were put.  The pews were closed by doors with a wooden button that fastened them.  The church was lighted by tallow candles, and tin candlesticks hung on the posts.  These candlesticks were said to be very ornamental. The singers sat in the gallery opposite the preacher.

 

"The following is a copy of what is written in the Bible that is in the pulpit:  'May 12, 1848.  This book is given by the following subscribers for the use of all Christian denominations to be used at the meeting house at the White Store, Chenango County, N.Y.; signed:  Harris Medbury, George W. Medbury, Nathan Field, Orvil P. Field, Seth Richmond, Jacob B. Reynolds, William West, Samuel Winsor, Henry Curtiss, Philander Green and Simon C. May.'

 

"The church has been kept in repair by the Evergreen Cemetery Association.  We have records of the cemetery back to the 18th day of January 1805, when a company of men formed themselves into an organization for the purpose of buying a piece of land to be used as a burying ground.  There was a small burying ground at Latham's Corners, but the bodies were taken up and buried at 'White Store.'  Twelve Revolutionary soldiers are buried here:  Col. Stephen Winsor, Maj. David Richmond, Maj. Samuel May, Capt. Edward Greene, Capt. Anan Winsor, Capt. Abner Wood, John Secor, Jeremiah Burlingham, Andrew Webb, Caleb Arnold, Ezekial Wheeler and Philemon Shippey.  There are three 1912 soldiers buried here:  Capt. Peleg Arnold, Cyrus Hopkins, and Wilmarth Peters.  We have records of but one wedding held in the church; that was about 1830, the bride being a Miss Gunn and the groom, Elder Peck. 

 

"At an early date White Store was a place of commercial importance.  It derived its name from the fact that the store which was built in pioneer times was painted white, which was not in accordance to custom, for if a building was painted at all, red was the prevailing color--hence the name White Store.

 

According to a Gazetteer of New York State published in 1860, the first settlement made at White Store was that of Avery Powers in 1788, and the first religious services were held by the Rev. Manasseh French in 1793 or 1794,  In the early days of 1800 White Store had a carding mill where wool was carded, the cloth finished, fulled and pressed.  This business was carried on by John Curtis, great-grandfather of Mrs. Louella Skinner.  There were two blacksmith shops, two saw mills, a grist mill, a wagon shop, a cooper shop, a hattery where some sort of felt hat was made, a cider mill, a store, a tannery and a shoe shop.  The tannery was located on the Cheney homestead and was owned and operated by Ebenezer Cheney.