A Brief History

Historical Summary

April 4, 1827	Founding of the Second Congregational Society (Unitarian), as it split from First Congregational Church. The congregation continued meeting at the First Congregational Church building for two years.
June 17, 1827	First Unitarian sermon heard in Concord, preached by the Reverend Parker of Portsmouth in Representative's Hall.
Until 1829	Services were conducted by prominent Boston Unitarian leaders, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Ware, Jr.
Feb. 25, 1829	Moses G. Thomas ordained as first minister. He was minister until 1844.

Early Prominent Lay People

Col. William Kent	Donor of land for the first church. Prominent citizen and businessman, member of NH Legislature, State Treasurer, step-father of Ellen Tucker Emerson.
Lewis Downing	Benefactor of Second Congregational Society, partner of J. Stephen Abbott, manufacturer of Concord State Coach, famous around the world.
William E. Chandler	Secretary of Navy, 1882-1885, United States Senator, 1887-1901
George E. Fogg	United States Senator, 1866-1867, Minister to Switzerland, 1887-1901
Onslow Stearns	Governor of State of New Hampshire, 1869-1870
Henry S. Bellows	Chief Justice of Supreme Court of New Hampshire, 1859-1873

The First Three Church Buildings

In 1829, on land given by Colenel William Kent, bordered by State, Capitola nd Green STreets, the first congregation built its first church, a simple wooden structure in the meeting house style, which burned to the ground as it was being fitted for gas illumination in 1854. The following year a more imposing church of granite with a tall steeple was constructed on the same site.

Fire struck again in 1889 when the adjacent high school burned and the flames leapt to the church tower, destroying the sanctuary, but sparing the parish house. A new sanctuary was built immediately, this time of brick in the Romanesque style.

The Present Church Building

Our present building was completed in 1960. The style of the building came from a charge from the congregation to the architect: "We feel strongly that we want a church that is appropriate to our times and truly beautiful. WE want one that is sympathetic to our form of Unitarian Universalist worship and to our educational and social activities. We want a church, furthermore, that is compatible with our New Hampshire landscape and in particular with the beautiful site..." The architect was further charged to create a sanctuary that would express freedom in relation to belief and freeom within the democratic congregation. "...somehow the search for truth should be felt, perhaps in simple unconcealed building construction and honest direct use of materials.... there should be a feeling of warmth and stillness and aspiration... we do not wish to have just a traditional church with the essence removed, but to have a positive creation which expresses our faith..."

Ministers

1829-44	Moses G. Thomas	1934-35	Dana McLean Greeley
1844-47	William P. Tilden	1936-41	Irving Stultz
1849-53	Augustus Woodbury	1940-42	George Reed (interim)
1854-57	Artemus B. Muzzey	1942-48	Frank O. Holmes
1857-61	Silas Farrington	1948-56	John Ruskin Clark
1861-63	Liberty Billings (interim)	1956-57	George A. Mark
1864-66	Junius L. Hatch	1958-63	Eugene B. Navias
1866-75	Joseph F. Lovering	1963	Milton McGorrill (interim)
1877	W. G. Todd	1963-69	Paul Hamilton Beattie
1878-85	Samuel C. Beane	1969-79	Edward Allison Cahill
1886-92	John Bradley Gilman	1979	Irving Stultz (interim)
1892-99	Frank L. Phalen	1979-82	Robert Lloyd Schiably
1900-09	Louis H. Buchshorn	1982-83	Jean McKnight Rickard (interim)
1909-12	Sidney Bruce Snow	1983-87	Judith Ellen Meyer
1912-17	Charles Wing	1987-88	Ronald D. Marcy (interim)
1917-18	Howard Rees Williams	1988-89	Glen W. Snowden (interim)
1918	Rees Williams	1989-97	Charles Joseph Stephens
1919-23	George F.Patterson	1997-99	Joan Kahn-Schneider (interim)
1924-33	Earl Clement Davis	1999-	Marcel P. Duhamel

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