An article in the July 30, 1928, edition of the Brattleboro Daily Reformer provided information on Christ Church Guilford and its pews. Periodically the Society receives requests from descendants of the pews’ donors, so we here provide the donors’ names contained in the article so that they are more easily accessible to the public.
According to the Reformer article (which appears to be based on an historical address by John E. Gale of Guilford), there were originally 58 pews when Christ Church was built in 1817. They measured 3 feet by 7 ½ feet, “numbered and fitted with doors.” The pews were sold at auction on February 25, 1818, with prices ranging from $40 to $100. Of the 58 pews available, 41 were sold at this auction; apparently some were later removed for various reasons. The 1928 article contains the following names and amounts paid:
- Edward Houghton, $50
- Dana Hyde, $48
- Nahum Cutler, $81
- Artemas Gale, $80
- John Gale, $77
- Hiram C. Kingsbury, $60
- Elihu Field, $70
- Jonathan Burt, $61
- Rufus Graves, $60
- Guy Bridgman, $50
- David Jacobs, $51
- Asa Melendy, $49
- Moses Clark, $51
- Simon Stevens, $50
- Cyrus Briggs, $46
- Minister (cost left blank)
- Dana Hyde, Jr., $48
- Levi Boyden, $75
- John Melendy, $670
- Ephraim Gale, $100
- Jonathan Melendy, $68
- Calvin Harris, $75
- Solomon C. Pratt, $70
- George Darling, $52
- Eli Boyden, $52
- John Barber, $60
- Ezra Baker, $48
- Ephraim Gale, Jr., $75
- Ward Bullock, $70
- Stephen Gregory, $57
- Isaac Brown, Jr., $50
- Joshua Lynde, $50
- Abel Weatherhead, $49
- Peter Baker, $50
- John Burnett, $47
- Philemon Baker, $60
- Thaddeus Bixby, $60
- Thomas Colgrove, $49
- Absalom Harris, $50
- Eli Houghton, $46
- Timothy Root, Jr., $46