By Mary Lou Nahas
For Capital Region Independent Media
Churches, like the houses we live in, need repairs over the years. The Durham United Methodist Church, built in 1895, is no exception.
Records show that the Durham Presbyterian Church was founded Nov. 8, 1792, on Meeting House Hill. The church was a hurriedly built log house of worship. The founding members were Christopher Lord, Jairus Chittenden, Augustus Pratt, Joseph Hart, Lemuel Hotchkiss, Eliakim Strong, John Hull, Daniel Merwin, and Icabod Scranton.
In 1796 the frame of a new church was raised. In 1821, that building was moved off the hill to Broadway on Route 145, where it stayed for 30 years, acquiring a small steeple and in 1823, a bell. In 1851 it was dismantled and moved to the village (Route 22) and re-erected on the spot where the current Durham United Methodist Church (once called the Susquehanna United Methodist Church) now stands.
In 1894, that building burned to the ground and, in 1895, the Presbyterians built the present house of worship in the English Gothic Style. This structure is clapboard with front bell tower entry, large windows and dark wood inside. The architect and builder are unknown, but stones for a foundation were quarried and furnished by Theodore Scutt and the Strong Brothers. G.C. and E.S. Stedman, under contract for $165, laid the foundation.
The pipe organ came from the Presbyterian Church in Catskill. It was built by Simmons of Boston in 1863. This is a two-manual organ with 30 foot pedals. There are seven ranks in the great, or lower, keyboard, five in the small, or upper keyboard, and one the pedals. This totals 678 pipes in the organ. These pipes range in size from 10 inches square and 8 feet tall to the size of a lead pencil. It is a trace-action organ. At one time, air was provided by lifting a lever up and down in a small pump room beside the organ. Later the organ was electrified.
The chandelier was originally oil lamps. A long pole pulled the chandelier down for cleaning, filling or lighting the lamps and then they were pushed into place by the same pole. In later years, it too was electrified.
The original building was heated by a wood and coal furnace in the cellar and a wood stove in the Lecture Room.
In the 1950s, the Presbyterian population in Durham dwindled to the point where they were no longer
and straighten the church structure. The old steeple had to be removed and replaced by a new one, with all supporting structure repaired. In the 1990s the kitchen, bathrooms and fellowship hall and downstairs rooms were again expanded.
Diaries of Rev. Clement Brown who lived on Brown Road provide interesting details of much of this work:
1977 diary: On May 11th met with Ralph Teter at the church to see what had to be done with the sagging beams. The foundation and the sills were bad. It was estimated to cost 4-5 thousand dollars.
On June 5th the trustees met concerning repairs of the church. It appeared that it was going to cost around $50,000. They did not know where the money was going to come from.
July 11th wrote to the O’Conner Foundation hoping to get some money for the repair of the Durham Church.
On July 12th met with Latimer Neal, district superintendent, and Wesley Williams, the minister, at the church concerning the needed repairs.
On August 12th worked on the application to the O’Connor Foundation for money to repair the church.
On October 11th met with Donald Bishop of the O’Connor Foundation at the church in the morning concerning the grant for repairing the church.
1978 was a pretty big year for the church building.
The diary provides further interesting details:
Sunday, 2/19: The winter caused further damage to the church so it was decided that they would not use the sanctuary until repairs could be made. Services would be at Oak Hill.
4/11: Met with Mr. Randall at the church to assess the restoration of the building.
4/21: Received the estimate from Randall Construction for restoration of the church, $45,000-$50,000.
6/16: Called Donald Bishop of the O’Connor Foundation and Mr. Bishop told him that they would receive a grant of $50,000 for the restoration of the Durham Church. Met with Mr. Thompkins at the church to look over the job of restoring the church.
7/24: Attended a charge Conference at the church. It was unanimously voted that they grant the contract for the restoration of the church to the Randall Contractors for $50,500.
9/20: Wrote a check for a payment to Randall Construction for $11,250.00.
10/13: Received an estimate on the church roof for $8,718.00
10/25: Sent a letter to the O’Connor Foundation hoping for some more financial help with the church improvements.
10/26: Went over to church in the morning and again in the afternoon. Found that the chimney to the furnace was not safe for use.
11/14: A man from Catskill came to look at the chimney, maybe had a solution. Mailed an application to the O’Connor Foundation for a grant for the church.
11/29: Met with a mason about the chimney.
12/5: Went to an Administrative Board meeting where they voted to have the chimney fixed.
12/14: The steeple of the church was supposed to go up, but it did not arrive, wind blowing a gale. (This is the first entry about the steeple, so I don’t know any other information prior to this.)
12/20: Steeple was delivered.
12/21: Ice and rain in the morning.Went over to the church expecting the steeple to be put in place, but the ice was so bad it could not be done. The men were not to come back until after Christmas.
1979
1/1: Men were supposed to come in the afternoon to put up the new steeple but did not show up.
1/10: The big event finally took place. Two men from Kentucky and two of Randall’s men lifted the aluminum belfry and spire with a crane and set it on top of the bell tower. It is beautiful.
1/17: Called all the trustees concerning the chimney and the plugged sewer at the church. They decided to have Donnelly from Windham do the repairs to the chimney.
1/29: Chimney work was supposed to start, but Mr. Donnelly didn’t come at the appointed time, but later on he and his son were there working.
1/31: Bill Kratsky was at the church to finish the work of the reconstruction. Mr. Donnelly had been there working on the chimney. B&G Plumbing were at the church digging up the sewer line. They found the trouble and fixed it including thawing out the pipeline. George and Donnelly went to Hudson for pipe for the chimney, but it was not available.
2/14: Mr. Donnelly and his son were working on the chimney. The temperature was 0 in the church!
2/22: Mr. Donnelly worked on the church chimney yesterday and today. It was near enough done that it could be used. Called Post’s to have the furnace started.
2/28: Went to the church in the afternoon for a cleaning bee. Everything was ready for worship service on Sunday.
3/4: Had our first service in the Durham Church. Over 80 in attendance.
3/6 Drew the check for the final payment on the reconstruction of the church – $5,055.00.
3/17: Plumbers at the church to get the sewer line thawed out for the second time this winter. Did some more digging and found some pipe crushed and plugged. They replaced it so it is all in order now.
3/18: Had to have Post’s to get the furnace going for service. 150 at church. Baptism of Nathan Lee DeGeyter, son of Sheila and Bruce DeGeyter.
5/23: Letter from the O”Connor Foundation denying a grant.
6/5: Met with Bob Schmidt about the church roof. He expects to begin work next week.
6/18: Met with Bob Schmidt about the church roof. He expects to begin tomorrow afternoon.
6/28: Bob Schmidt finished the church roof.
7/10: Planned the Re-dedication Service to be held Aug. 19.
7/30: Talked with Ernest Millet about the altar rail which he was building for the church.
8/10: New carpet in the church given by George Henderson in honor of his father and mother.
8/14: Sydney Chase tuned the organ.
8/18: George Hamm stained the altar rail.
8/19: Lester Finley preached at the morning service. There was a good congregation. They had a dinner at the Cornwallville Hall. At 3 P.M. they had the Service of Re-dedication. Bishop Ward gave the sermon and did the service of re-dedication. Also, the superintendent and several former pastors were present. Rev. Brown’s son Garrett played the organ and directed the choir. The church was filled. Donald Bishop and Olive Bishop Peirce of the O’Connor Foundation were present. “It was a great day.”
9/5: Met the carpet man at the church and he measured the kneeling bench at the altar for covering and padding.
10/5: Went over to the church and found that the roof was leaking. Also, the front door had swollen and could not be locked.
Strangely, there was nothing about the church building in the 1980 diary. In the 1981 Dairy, we find:
3/16: Received a letter from the O’Connor Foundation saying a grant had been made to the Susquehanna Church for cleaning and varnishing the walls and ceiling and for a new furnace – $9978.00 in all.
3/29: Met with Mr. Conner at the church in the afternoon concerning cleaning and varnishing the walls and ceiling of the church.
4/22: New furnace almost complete.
4/24: Got money for a down payment on the varnishing of the walls , ceiling and beams of the church, then took it to Coeymans to pay it to Mr. Conners, who will do the work.
4/28: Bob Conners began work on varnishing the walls of the church sanctuary.
4/30: Early morning telephone call with complaints about the varnish on the church walls. “People are hard to please.” Called the trustees, who seemed to be satisfied.
5/5: The varnishing was finished.
5/18: Went to Catskill and Coeymans in the afternoon to pay for the church furnace and the varnishing.
That’s the last information from the dairies because in December 1981, the Rev. Brown died. I am grateful to his son Wesley Brown for transcribing these entries. Many of Rev. Brown’s papers were donated to the Durham Center Museum and are not accessible at the current time.
Times goes on and history repeats itself in needed repairs. During the COVID-19 pandemic the congregation raised money to replace the roof. The project was paid for by donations and a grant from the Sacred Sites origination. The O’Connor Foundation denied a request. Then, with funds from the sale of the parsonage, repairs were made to the belfry and the front doors were restored. Now a new furnace is being installed. And so it goes.
The church has been listed on the Greene County Historic Register and hopefully will be listed on the State and National Registers in the future.
