1848 Fire Place Congregational Church Minutes

Brookhaven/
South Haven
Hamlets
Long Island, NY

August Hawkins and his sister Prudence around 1900

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1848 Congregational Church Minutes

The following copy of the Fire Place (now Brookhaven), New York, Congregational Church minutes of March 27, 1848 recorded the purchase of the "Lecture Hall" from Richard Corwin. Richard Corwin died on October 27, 1848

This building, now a private dwelling known as Chapel House, was said by some sources to have been originally built by the Congregationalists. Other sources also suggest that it was deeded to the Presbyterians in the late 19th century, and moved by them to its present site at the intersection of South Country Road and Chapel Avenue.

George Borthwick records that: "In October, 1842, a Congregational church was organized within the bounds of this parish ...." and that "the Congregationalists ... put up a small church building at the intersection of the Old Town Road and South Country Road. In 1845, according to Prime, this edifice was in use and about eleven members attending services in it."

These minutes indicate that the the building existed before the Congregationalists made their 1848 purchase.

These accounts are difficult to reconcile.

It may be that Richard Corwin, or his son William H. Corwin, built the small "Lecture Hall" for the use of the Congregationalists sometime around 1842, when they were said to have been first formally organized, or perhaps even a bit earlier when a group may have been meeting informally. Richard Corwin had a large farm in Fire Place which may have extended as far north as Old Town Road. He appears to have stayed a member of the Presbyterian Church throughout his life. William H. Corwin seems to have been among the original organizers of the Congregationalists. Their building seems to have been small. The lot was only 20' x 30'. It's clear from Prime that it was being used by them in 1845.

It wasn't until 1848 that the small congregation may have had sufficient resources to purchase the building.

The accounts of when it may have been moved, or even if it was moved, are especially difficult to reconcile. George Morse, a local historian, owned the building after 1945, and he no doubt researched its history. He indicated that it was moved by the Presbyterians after they acquired the deed from the sole remaining Congregationalist. Borthwick indicated that the transfer to the Presbyterians occurred sometime after 1885, during the pastorate of the Rev. Frederick Van Deuser Frisbie, but made no mention of it being moved. The 1873 Beers map shows it at its present site well before this transferred to the Presbyterians. In 1899, the building was remodeled and made larger, and in 1908 another addition was place at the rear.

Not all of the subscribers recorded in the minutes were Congregationalists. Some were known to have been affiliated with the Presbyterians or another denomination, or were unaffiliated community members.