I never thought I would be able to use the words “baseball” and “Universalist” in the same sentence until I stumbled across an interesting story while researching our church history. The story involves the Rev. Nelson Doolittle, a Universalist minister who was born and raised in New Milford, Pa., about 50 miles east of here. … Continue reading Baseball and Universalists

One of the things I learned early on when I started researching our congregation’s history is that you can’t trust everything you read. Every reference – websites, on-line family genealogies, books, newspapers, even the U. S. Census – may contain errors. Some of these errors have sent me on wild goose chases or led me … Continue reading Pitfalls of Historical Research

Julia Kinney Scott, granddaughter of one of the Rev. Noah Murray’s first converts, was a member of the Sheshequin Universalist Society in the early 1830’s. She was renowned in Universalist circles for her writing, which soothed the suffering and encouraged the faithful. Her poetry and prose were published in both Universalist and non-denominational periodicals in … Continue reading “The First Snow,” by Julia Kinney Scott

Some of you may have heard the following excerpt from our church records from the year 1878: “Our Partialist friends in the surrounding country, becoming much disturbed and alarmed at the spiritual condition of their ‘awful neighbors’ in the Valley, occasionally send a ‘screaming Moses’ to warn us of the wrath to come.” I had … Continue reading Our Partialist Neighbors

Back in the early 1800’s, the local Universalist Associations, like the North Branch Association, had the power to ordain ministers. The first ordination in Sheshequin, as far as I have found, took place 180 years ago. The new minister was the Rev. Gustavus S. Ames. He served the Sheshequin congregation for six years. I have … Continue reading First Ordination in Sheshequin

Before the Unitarians and Universalists joined together in 1961, many states had Universalist Conventions. Like today’s Unitarian Universalist Association and the affiliated Regional organizations, these conventions existed to support the Universalist churches in their states and to promote the spread of the good news of universal salvation. Some of the Conventions – including Pennsylvania’s and New York’s … Continue reading First Pennsylvania Universalist Convention Meeting

Sunday, October 2, 2016, is the 142nd anniversary of the installation of the bell at our Sheshequin meeting house.  Fran Brown will ring the bell to commemorate that event.  But there’s more – I have just learned that October 2 is also the 182nd anniversary of the dedication of the Sheshequin meeting house. The meeting house dedication service took … Continue reading Dedication of Sheshequin Meeting House