The Rev. Irene Earll, a fourth-generation Universalist, served the Athens Universalist Church from 1892 to 1893. She was a native of Syracuse, N. Y., and an 1890 graduate of Cornell University. She was ordained in 1891 and served a Universalist congregation in Webster, N. Y., before coming to Athens. Earll was called to Athens in … Continue reading The Rev. Irene Earll Addresses the Slackers

In the 1800’s, local associations of Universalist congregations were responsible for fellowshipping and ordaining ministers, and for addressing complaints about inappropriate behavior by clergy. For the latter function, each association had a “Committee on Discipline.” Complaints were pretty rare, but there was one case in Bradford county in the early 1840’s. I found this story … Continue reading The Protracted Trial of Br. Cheney

The Universalist Register, first published in 1836, was an annual directory of the Universalist denomination.  While most early Universalist periodicals were relatively short-lived, the Register lasted over eighty years. The Register was the brainchild of a minister with ties to the Sheshequin congregation – the Rev. George Sanderson.  Sanderson was born into a prominent Boston … Continue reading The Universalist Register

After the Rev. John Murray, often called the founder of Universalism in America, the Rev. Hosea Ballou (1771-1852) is probably the second most famous and influential early Universalist minister. Hosea Ballou’s father, the Rev. Maturin Ballou (1722-c.1804), was a Calvinist Baptist preacher.  Calvinists believed that human beings were predestined by God to go either to … Continue reading The Famous Ballou Family in Bradford County

Last month I wrote about a namesake of the Rev. Myra Kingsbury. The Rev. Noah Murray, the first Universalist preacher in Bradford county, also had a namesake – a great-grandson who followed in his footsteps as a Universalist preacher. Noah Murray’s daughter Sylvia married Lemuel Gaylord in 1791. In 1814 the Gaylords moved to Hamilton … Continue reading Noah Murray’s Namesake

In the 1800’s it was common for people to name their children after famous people, friends, and neighbors, in addition to family members. Sheshequin Universalist Society member W. H. H. Gore, born in 1835, was named after military hero and future (1840) president William Henry Harrison. Orrin Day Kinney, a grandson of Joseph Kinney, was … Continue reading Namesakes

Celebration of the Eucharist – also known as the Lord’s Supper, or communion – was a controversial topic in Universalist circles in the 1830’s and 1840’s. Some Universalists believed that the original “Last Supper” was a celebration of Passover, and that Christians were not obligated to continue Jewish traditions. Others believed that it was a … Continue reading The Communion Controversy

General Simon Spalding was a Revolutionary War hero and a pioneer white settler of Sheshequin. He was also the progenitor of many members of the Sheshequin Universalist Society. At least 50 members during the Society’s first hundred years were his descendants or spouses of his descendants. Simon Spalding was born in Plainfield, Connecticut, in 1742. … Continue reading General Simon Spalding – the Great Universalist Progenitor

Julia Kinney Scott, an early member of the Sheshequin Universalist Society, was well-known in Universalist circles as a poet. Her poems first appeared in Universalist newspapers in 1831. At least 100 of her poems and prose writings had been published in these papers by the time of her death in 1842. Near the end of … Continue reading The Julia Scott Memoir Controversy

The Shaws were early settlers of Sheshequin, and several of them played significant roles in the early history of our church. Ebenezer Shaw, known as “The Centenarian” because he lived to be one hundred years old, came to Sheshequin from Rhode Island in 1786, when he was fifteen. As an adult he farmed on property … Continue reading The Shaw Family