Easter Past: A Short History of the Paschal Celebration

Easter,  the most holy day in the Christian calendar,  tends to be a bit quieter compared to another popular Christian holiday - Christmas.  Yes,  I know about the Easter Bunny and Easter baskets filled with candy and eggs,  but even those traditions are more on the subtle side.  I also know stores are trying to make it a big-spending deal like Christmas,  but I don't believe Easter will ever become as commercialized.

Which is fine. 

And there is a history to this celebration of this springtime holiday,  and I plan to explore some of that here.

Pascha,  or Easter,  morning.

If you see Facebook memes floating around here and there,  you might find one spreading the rumor that states Easter is based on a pagan holiday.  It is claimed that the word  “Easter”  is derived from the name of a pagan fertility goddess,  “Eostre.”  However,  there is no solid consensus on this.  The Venerable Bede,  an English Benedictine monk of the 7th century,  was the first to claim that Easter was derived from Eostre.  Ronald Hutton,  professor of medieval history at Oxford,  argues that this interpretation is not to be trusted.  "It falls into a category of interpretations which Bede admitted to be his own,  rather than generally agreed or proven fact,"  he says.  

Other scholars of medieval history have also thrown doubt on Bede's claims,  noting that in most other European languages,  the festival has names derived from the Greek word  "Pascha,"  from  "Pesach,"  the Greek and Hebrew word for Passover.  Easter is commonly thought throughout the world as the Christian Passover festival.  

The Church itself,  since ancient times,  has actually referred to the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as  “Pascha,”  and still does in the Catholic Church I attend.  I never knew what Pascha meant until I looked for it on my own.  I have found that there is plenty of information dug up by the historical researchers that show neither the commemoration of Christ's death and resurrection nor its name are derived from paganism.

In many cultures,  by the way—including our own—the image of a bunny,  rather than that of the risen Christ,  predominates,  bearing no relationship whatsoever to the essence of Pascha;  such secular symbols,  however,  surely do not define the Church’s Paschal celebration,  nor do they indicate that they are  “Church approved,”  so to speak.  Further,  their presence is hardly a serious basis for accusing the Church of celebrating a  “Christianized”  version of a fertility rite.

The fireplace mantle at Edison Cottage Greenfield Village depicting decorations for a 1915 Easter celebration.

However,  many of the traditions and symbols we now associate with Easter,  such as eggs and rabbits,  do have their origins in pre-Christian pagan rituals.  The Encyclopedia of Religion says:  "The egg symbolizes new life breaking through the apparent death  (hardness)  of the eggshell."  And as for the rabbit,  it was  "known as an extraordinarily fertile creature,  and hence it symbolized the coming of spring."

The other side of the fireplace mantle at the Edison Cottage from 1915.

In the 18th century,  Dutch and German immigrants used eggs to celebrate Easter and Pentecost.  One of the most famous observations of Easter eggs in the 18th century comes from Thomas Anburey,  an officer Captured at Saratoga while staying in Winchester,  Va,  in 1780

"At Easter holidays the young people have a custom,  in this province,  of boiling eggs in logwood,  which dyes the shell crimson,  and though this color will not rub off,  you may,  with a pin,  scratch on them any figure you think proper.  This is practiced by the young men and maidens,  who present them to each other as love tokens.  As these eggs are boiled a considerable time to take the dye,  the shell acquires great strength,  and the little children divert themselves by striking the eggs against each other,  and that which breaks becomes the property of him whose egg remains whole."

"To impress the minds of his children with there glorious struggle for independence,  as they term it,  the Colonel has an egg,  on which is engraved the battle of Bunker's Hill.  This he takes infinite pains to explain to his children,  but will not suffer them to touch it,  being the performance of his son gone to camp,  but now being slain,  he preserves it as a relic.  The Colonel favoured us with a sight of it,  and,  considering the small space,  the battle is very accurately delineated."

And the middle of the Edison mantle showing 1915 Easter decorations.

Easter bunnies are first mentioned in the 1682 book De Ovis Paschalibus  (About Easter Eggs)  by Georg Franck von Franckenau,  which told of the German tradition of a hare bringing Easter eggs for the children.

The following Easter Bunny information came from THIS site

Easter is known spiritually for it’s religious meanings  (Christianity)  and known commercially for the Easter Bunny arriving with his/her baskets of brightly colored eggs and candy for the children. 

Osterhase

What you may not know,  is the Easter Bunny was introduced to America by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 18th century.  The arrival of the Osterhase  (Easter Bunny in German)  was considered one of  “childhood’s greatest pleasures,”  similar to the arrival of  (Santa Claus)  on Christmas Eve.  According to the tradition,  children would build brightly colored nests,  often out of caps and bonnets,  in secluded areas of their homes.  The  “Oster Hase”  would,  if the children had been good,   lay brightly colored eggs in the nest.  As the tradition spread,  the nest has become the manufactured,  modern Easter basket,  and the placing of the nest in a secluded area has become the tradition of hiding baskets.

Another Easter tradition during the 18th century was the baking of Hot Cross Buns.  Since before medieval times,  marking baked goods  (like breads,  buns,  and cakes)  with the sign of a cross was a common thing for a homemaker or a baker to do.  The cross was said to ward off evil spirits which could affect the bread and make it go moldy.

Traditional Hot Cross Buns

The cross was etched on the top of the bun.  The round bun represented the full moon,  and the cross divides the bun into the four lunar quarters.  Traditional buns have the cross cut into the dough or pricked out with a pin.  Although the first name for these buns were Good Friday Buns or Cross Buns,  the earliest written instance of the name  ‘Hot Cross Buns’  comes from the year 1733.
Bread and religion have been intricately linked for thousands of years,  well before Christianity,  going back even to the stone age.  However,  in the 1700s,  ‘buns’  were specifically looked at by scholars,  who thought they could be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman customs.
The 1778 book  “A View Of Northumberland”  written by William Hutchinson and Thomas Randal,  explains,  “I intimated in the preceding pages,  an intention of remarking the Sweet Bread used in religious rites.  Small loaves of bread,  peculiar in their form,  being long and sharp at both ends,  are called Buns.  This name takes place where old religious ceremonies have been solemnized,  derived from the consecrated sweet bread,  which was offered on high festivals … the offerings which people in ancient times used to  “present to the Gods,”  were generally purchased at the entrance of the temple;  especially every species of consecrated bread,  which was denominated accordingly.  One species of sacred bread which used to be offered to the Gods,  was of great antiquity,  and called Boun .… The custom of Hot Cross Buns in London,  on the morning of Good Friday,  seems to have relation to these ancient practices.  We only retain the name and form of the Boun;  the sacred uses are no more.”
The sign of the cross marked into breads was acceptable on Good Friday to the English Puritans,  because it commemorated the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary.   
The Christian traditional preparation for Easter Sunday consists of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  So Good Friday,  and the food consumed on this day  (Good Friday Buns / Hot Cross Buns)  are also traditionally a part of  Lent fasting.  Dr.  Johnson kept this Good Friday breakfast tradition by eating cross buns.  From  “The Life Of Samuel Johnson,”  by James Boswell,  published 1791: “On the 9th of April  (1773),  being Good Friday,  I breakfasted with him on tea and cross-buns … On April 18 (1783),  (being Good-Friday)  I found him at breakfast,  in his usual manner upon that day,  drinking tea without milk,  and eating a cross bun to prevent faintness.”

Hot Cross Buns vendor--1799

By the 1700s,  in many English towns,  these Cross Buns were sold on the streets all day long by street sellers crying,  “One-a-penny,  two-a-penny,  hot-cross buns.”  Some did not find the cries very sacred.   From  “The Country Magazine”  published in 1788,  “Observations On The London Cries – Hot Cross-Buns” — although they occur but once a-year,  are cried to a tune which has nothing of that majesty which would accompany sacred music —There is a slur upon hot which destroys the effect;  and,  indeed,  gives the whole a very irreverent sound.”
Just in case  ‘Hot Cross Buns”  are something you would like to add to your Easter tradition,  here is a :
Recipe from “The Art Of Cookery”  By Hannah Glasse,  Published 1740:
“To make Buns.  TAKE two pounds of fine flour,  a pint of good ale-yeast,  put a little sack  (white wine)  in the yeast,  and three eggs beaten,  knead all these together with a little warm milk,  a little nutmeg,  and a little salt;  and lay it before the fire till it rises very light,  then knead in a pound of fresh butter,  a pound of rough carraway comfits,  and bake them in a quick oven,  in what shape you please,  on floured paper.”

Now,  why does the date of Easter change every year?

It's because the date on which Easter occurs is related to the full Moon.  The changing seasons and the moons have been observed and kept time for all people from time immemorial.  So then Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday following the full Moon that occurs on or just after the spring equinox.  For instance,  in 2021,  the spring equinox happened on Saturday,  March 20.  The first full Moon to occur after that date rose on Sunday,  March 28  (Palm Sunday).  Therefore,  Easter is observed on the following Sunday,  which is Sunday,  April 4.  In Christian calendars,  the first full Moon of spring is called the  “Paschal Full Moon,"  so,  to put it another way:  Easter is observed on the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon.

Why do we call it “Good Friday”?

"Good"  comes from the Old English/14th century meaning  “pious”  or  “holy,”  in reference to persons or God  (“goodbye,”  for instance,  is a contraction of  “God be with you”  as a favorable blessing or gesture upon parting).

Thus,  the Middle English meaning of  "holy"  is preserved in our modern times in  “Good Friday.”

Isn’t etymology wonderful?

Because Easter/Pascha celebrations have mostly been in a more subtle vein,  and is still celebrated very much as it has been for centuries - with modern touches added as times changed - there is little else I have been able to find on the holiday itself.  However,  it is interesting to note those changing celebrations through time,  which you will see in a few of the following photographs.

You see,  I took the pictures below at Greenfield Village on a beautiful spring day in 2019.  In fact,  they were taken on Easter Sunday.  It's not often that Greenfield Village is open on Easter,  due to the timing of the holiday as explained earlier,  and since my family celebrates Easter on the Saturday before,  therefore allowing all family members to get together for the day rather than spend it between multiple households,  I,  for the first time ever,  was able to visit the Village on Easter Sunday itself!

And do you know what?  It was wonderful.  I mean,  it just  'felt'  like Easter...and it felt like spring...with the sun out,  warm temperatures,  the festive mood of all the visitors  (and there were many!),  and the presenters all seemed to be really enjoying themselves as well.

As I strolled along the sidewalk...

Welcome to the dawn of the 20th century!

What marvels and wonders await us!

We’ve already been seeing the horseless carriage becoming more and more 

popular – I wonder if their popularity will ever overtake the horse & carriage…

or might it just be a fad?

And what about all this talk about the aeroplane?

I daresay,  you’ll never catch me up in one of those!

The flag that flies over our local courthouse has only 45 stars on it.  I wonder if their number will increase in the coming century…?

That’s what this photograph makes me think when I see it.

The Martha-Mary Chapel
~Happy Easter---Pascha~

Looking across the Village green,  we see the non-denominational chapel that was based on a Universalist church in Bradford,  Massachusetts.  The bricks and the doors came from the building in which Henry Ford and Clara Bryant were married in 1888 - the Bryant family home in old Greenfield Township  (from which the Village name was taken).  The name  "Martha-Mary"  came from the first names of his mother and mother-in-law.

By the way,   the bell,  according to the 1930s guide book I have,  was cast by the son of Paul Revere! 

From this angle we see the back of Doc Howard’s Office,  originally built in 1838,  the Logan County Courthouse from 1840,  and the George Washington Carver Memorial cabin,  built in 1942 by Henry Ford to honor his friend,  agricultural scientist George Washington Carver.  

Oh,  and I spy a horse and carriage on the road in the distance.

There were plenty of Model T's about,  though I see no Easter Bonnets being worn.
In the background there,  on the right,  is the  "nerve center of Menlo Park."

The original brick building,  erected the same year as the machine shop - 1878 - was one of the unfortunate structures to disappear nearly completely,  sans one lone shutter,  from the compound in New Jersey.  When reconstructing this building,  just like the other reconstructed Menlo Park buildings,  Mr.  Ford relied heavily on old photographs,   newspaper etches,  and memories of those who were there 

in the 1870's and 1880's,   including Thomas Edison himself.

To keep this as authentic as he could,  Ford arranged to have bricks supplied by the same firm that furnished the originals,  and, after the structure had been completed,  placed a single slat from the original  'lone shutter'  in each of the rebuilt shutters to shade the windows.

The horse-drawn carriages took tours around the Village as well.
I still haven't seen any Easter Bonnets.
Where's Judy Garland when you need her?
That's the Sarah Jordan Boarding House where many of Edison's workers stayed.  Built in 1870,  this building originally stood near the laboratory where Thomas Edison and his men toiled.
I wonder if he gave them Easter Sunday off?

The Ackley Covered Bridge

"At one time covered bridges were as much a part of any journey as are today's traffic signals."  So says noted Americana historian Eric Sloane.  One such bridge spanned Enlow's Fork of Wheeling Creek,   Pennsylvania.  It was built in 1832 by Daniel and Joshua Ackley,  from whose land the great oak timbers came.  There was much help from the men of the community in its construction.

The wooden covering on such bridges were inexpensive and easy to replace,  but they had an important job - to protect the floor boards.  A number of local folk at the time felt the bridge should have been constructed of hickory in honor of the then president,  Andrew Jackson,  known by his nickname,  'Old Hickory.'

A beautiful spring day in 1915...

When the grandfather of Thomas Edison led his family into Upper Canada in 1811,  he settled in Vienna,  Ontario,  near the shore of Lake Erie.  In 1816,  their log cabin was replaced by this homestead,  the first and for many years the only frame structure in that region.  In this home,  the father of the great inventor,  Samuel,  grew to manhood,  and married Nancy Elliot,  the village school teacher,  in the Sunday parlor in 1828.

It was in the 1830s the couple moved to the United States.

Young Tom had returned to his ancestral home over many summers and fondly recalled the large,  simple,  farm-type kitchen.

Meanwhile,  on the inside of the Edison Cottage:

It is 1915 here at the Edison Cottage,  and the celebration of Easter reflects that.

Sharon,  here,  and Patience  (top)  have,  unfortunately,  retired from Greenfield Village.  I appreciate them both and their willingness to share their knowledge beyond the normal presentation.  I wish I could have recorded each and every presentation I heard from them!

Hmmm...methinks we may try to decorate our home
in this manner.  I rather like it.

As we continue on our journey to Easter/Pascha past...

On the right we see the Susquehanna Plantation from Maryland.
Originally thought to have been built around 1650,  it was later found that it is actually from the 1830s.
   As the owners of this house also owned slaves,  I felt it apropos to include a bit about the lives of slaves and holidays:

"Economics,  not a slave owner's  "good nature,"  determined the celebration of holidays.  If slaves were behind schedule in gathering,  planting,  or storing crops,  only the most liberal and munificent slaveholders granted more than a few hours or a day of holiday celebration.  When not given time off,  slaves might receive some paternalistic token,  including gifts of clothing,  special food items, household items, or cash."

Information from Charles Ball - former slave.

Upon entering the home built around 1750 by Samuel Daggett,  oftentimes we hear he and his family - wife Anna,  son Isiah,  and daughters Asenath and Talitha - were Congregationalists in their religious beliefs.  However,  what is a Congregationalist in comparison to a Presbyterian,  Methodist,  or even Catholic? 

And,  knowing they did not celebrate Christmas,  did they celebrate Easter?

Congregationalism in the United States consisted of Protestant churches that had a congregational form of church government and trace their origins mainly to Puritan settlers of colonial New England.  Their churches have had an important impact on the religious,  political,  and cultural history of the United States,  for their practices concerning church governance influenced the early development of democratic institutions in New England.  Congregationalists were also known for their interest in an educated clergy.  For that reason they founded Harvard College.  Later,  colleges such as Dartmouth,  Olivet,  and Oberlin were organized by their efforts.

The home of the Daggett family in the last half of the 18th century.

The American Congregational community was a part of the Great Awakening,  a widespread religious revival movement that began in 1734 under the influence of Jonathan Edwards.  The Awakening,  however,  revealed the differences emerging between two wings of Congregationalism.  On one side were those who maintained the Calvinist tradition with a greater emphasis on the affective elements in religion.  On the other was a rapidly growing Unitarianism,  which paralleled a similar movement in England.  With the exception of the churches in Connecticut  (where the Daggetts lived)  where Congregationalism had taken root and remained the established church from the 18th century into the 19th century.

Enjoying an Easter/Pascha meal on Easter/Pascha Sunday in the 1760s?
Hmmm...
I have found nothing either way if the Daggetts celebrated Easter,  though from what I can gather,  most Congregationalists did not.  They viewed it much in the same manner as they viewed Christmas,  thus the Holiday being another Papist Holiday,  of which they despised,  and the date not being biblically based.

The Daggetts came from strong Puritan stock,  and Puritans,  from whence Congregationalists came,  valued order over other social virtues,  reasoning that men required rules to guide them and bind them to their good behavior.  Authority dominated people's lives,  beginning with the highest authority of God,  then the authority of religious leaders,  and finally the authority of the male head of the household.  

Sunday dinner...

In the 1760s,  though changes were on the horizon,  many of these attitudes would have still described rural New England families.  They still perceived themselves as deeply religious people.  They observed the hand of God in everyday occurrences.  They believed in order,  hard work,  and maintaining high moral standards. 

The Giddings,  from the same period in time as the Daggetts,  were also Congregationalists~

Puritans thought it un-Christian to use the names of heathenish deities.  For a while,  they managed to abandon the word  ‘Monday’  and all the rest of the days of the week,  as well as the names of the months.  So Sunday,  derived from the Teutonic name for its sun deity,  Sonntag,  became simply the first.  Monday was the second,  Tuesday the third,  and so forth.

For a time,  the Puritans also called the months by numbers,  with March being the first and February the twelfth  (before the  "Gregorian"  or  "New Style"  Calendar was adopted in 1752).  Because the year began in March,  records referring to the  "first month"  pertain to March;  to the second month pertain to April,  etc.,  so that  "the 19th of the 12th month"  would be February 19.  In fact,  in Latin,  September means seventh month,  October means eighth month,  November means ninth month,  and December means tenth month. 

You see,  it was during the Middle Ages when it began to became apparent that the Julian leap year formula had overcompensated for the actual length of a solar year,  having added an extra day every 128 years.  However,  no adjustments were made to compensate.  By 1582,  seasonal equinoxes were falling 10 days  "too early,"  and some church holidays,  such as Easter,  did not always fall in the proper seasons.  In that year,  Pope Gregory XIII authorized,  and most Roman Catholic countries adopted,  the  "Gregorian"  or  "New Style"  Calendar.  As part of the change,  ten days were dropped from the month of October,  and the formula for determining leap years was revised so that only years divisible by 400  (e.g.,  1600,  2000)  at the end of a century would be leap years.  January 1 was established as the first day of the new year.  Protestant countries,  including England and its colonies,  not recognizing the authority of the Pope,  continued to use the Julian Calendar.  It wasn't until 1750 that an act of Parliament in England changed calendars dates to align with the Gregorian Calendar rather than remain with the Julian calendar.  The beginning of the legal new year was then moved from March 25 to January 1.

Whew!  There's a lot to comprehend,  isn't there?  Read it again and it will make sense.

Meanwhile,  over at the Sounds of America Gallery...formerly known as the Stephen Foster Memorial...

This structure, built in Lawrenceville  (now part of Pittsburgh),  Pennsylvania in 1830,  was purchased by Henry Ford in 1934,  and placed inside Greenfield Village a year later.  There is an interesting,  albeit confusing,  story to this house and its supposed connection to one of the most prolific songwriters in American history

When Henry Ford bought this house,  he was told prolific 19th century composer Stephen Foster had lived here.  However,  the mayor of Pittsburgh declared that Ford had bought the wrong house.  His statement was seconded by Foster's biographer,  John Tasker Howard,  who,  while conceding the land on which the house stood was owned by Foster's father,  pointed out that there was  "little documentary evidence"  to support the claim that the homestead was ever occupied by Stephen Foster himself.  

Here is a list of a number of Stephen Foster's biggest  'hits'  (as far as sheet music in the mid-19th century can be considered):

Camptown Races

Old Folks at Home  (aka Way Down Upon the Suwanee River)

My Old Kentucky Home

Hard Times Come Again No More

Beautiful Dreamer

O Susannah

Bring My Brother Back To Me

If You've Only Got A Moustache

Gentle Annie

Merry Merry Month of May

I Dream of Jeannie With the Light Brown Hair

Nothing But A Plain Old Soldier

Nelly Bly

We Are Coming Father Abraham

Old Dog Tray

The Glendy Burke

Katy Bell

Massa's In De Cold Ground

Laura Lee

Willie Has Gone To The War

Some Folks Do

Ring De Banjo

Better Times Are Comin'

To judge for himself,  Ford made two well-publicized trips to Pittsburgh,  expressed his faith in the house,  and ordered it removed to Dearborn.  On July 4,  1935,  the house - in the presence of 70 of Foster's descendants - was formally added to the Greenfield Village collection.  One of Foster's granddaughters lit  "a perpetual monument of fire"  in a stove inside the house and a sign,  "The Birthplace of Stephen Foster,"  was hung above the front door
After Ford's death the trustees of Greenfield Village wanted to clear up the controversy of whether Foster was actually born in this house or not due to the insistence of other Foster relatives,  so a professional historian was hired to do the determination.  The historian's conclusion was that Foster's actual birthplace was torn down in 1865 and that Ford's agents either ignored or did not understand the available evidence at the time.  The house,  as of 1953,  was then known as the Stephen Foster Memorial.

But,  the controversy didn't end,  and through the 1960's other historians offered their  'professional'  opinions.  After continued research they decided Mr.  Ford and his agents were,  in fact,  correct and the Village,  in 1971,  renamed it,  once again,  the Stephen Foster Birthplace.

In the 1990's,  after another bout of research,  the historians one more time agreed that this was not the birthplace of Stephen Foster,  doubting,  in fact,  that he ever lived in this house.  But,  it was on the property belonging to his father.

So,  rather than just have it as a restored  'mistake,'  the Village,  in 2003,  decided to incorporate the music and the musical instruments of the era of Stephen Foster into a house-sized showcase.

And,  as you can see by the small list of Foster's compositions beneath the above photograph,  his songs truly were the soundtrack of not only his generation but of future generations to come.

Even if this is not his birth home,  Stephen Foster deserves any memorial that he receives,  for he was the Lennon & McCartney of his day,  and I believe his songs will live on for generations to come.

And rightfully so,  for not only are they wonderful songs but they wonderfully depict the time in which he lived.

Moving through a few centuries on an Easter Sunday could be quite exhausting,  but I found my way back to the turn-of-the-20th century,  nearing the point where I would soon be in my own time.  However,  people continued coming through the Village gates to enjoy the beautiful April weather and festive Holiday atmosphere.

As I made my way out,  this little vignette showing a snippet of life around 1930 caught my eye.   

Make sure you have Easter flowers to bring home to your wife.

And now here is a little Easter/Pascha at my own house:

This was our lonely  "covid-19"  table last year  (2020).
This year it was surrounded by my family.
As it should be.

Easter is a pleasant holiday that isn't marred by an over-abundance of gifts and food.  Just an Easter basket with a few eggs and candy treats,  perhaps a small in-expensive gift,  a nice meal,  and family.

Though much of the history and symbols of Easter aren't necessarily biblically based,  that doesn't mean they don't remind us of why we celebrate the holiday.

I hope your Easter/Pascha is a bless'd one.

~   ~   ~

History Extra!

Since we are on a religious-laden topic,  let's visit a true historic church before we go~

~   ~   ~

Back in the old days, churches were always to be the tallest structure in any town or village, and the point to where anyone from any part of town may see it was very important. It also would house the bell to be rung for service or for important news, therefore it could be heard farther into the countryside the higher it was. So rather than build an extremely tall building, they built a tall steeple to place the cross atop and put the bell inside instead.
And, yes, we could see (and hear) the Bruton church steeple from across Williamsburg.
Dating from 1715, the Bruton Parish Church is the third in a series of Anglican houses of worship that began in 1660.

It certainly is the oldest church I have ever been in!

The Reverend James Blair,  president of the College of William and Mary and Virginia's highest-ranking clergyman,  approved construction on March 1,  1711.  The same day,  Governor Alexander Spotswood provided an architectural drawing of a cruciform design.

Yes,  that is my lovely wife there:

During our visit to Colonial Williamsburg in 2016.

Work began in 1712 with an October 15,  1714 deadline.  The December 2,  1715 entry in the vestry book says,  "at length new Church is finished, or nearly so." 

 In 1761,  merchant James Tarpley presented the church with a bell.  Bids for a steeple or belfry to house the bell were let on January 1,  1769.  The vestry awarded a £410 contract for a brick tower surmounted by a wooden octagon and for miscellaneous repairs to Benjamin Powell that September 14.  The addition can be seen from outside the church,  as the steeple bricks have a darker color than the salmon-hued bricks of the rest of the church. Tarpley's bell is still in use.

And here is another view.

In 1724,  when the city was just 25 years old,  a professor from the College of William and Mary sketched a Williamsburg vista in a book... 

"From the Church,"  he said,  "runs a Street northward called Palace Street;  at the other end of which stands the Palace or Governor's House,  a magnificent Structure built at the publick Expense,   finished and beautified with Gates,  Fine Gardens,  Offices,  Walks,  a fine Canal,  Orchards,  &c."

The oldest church I have seen in person.

And now,  the inside!

Governor Spotswood was provided with a canopied chair on a platform inside the rail opposite the raised pulpit with its overhanging sounding board.  Parishioners sat in boxed pews,  their walls providing privacy and protection from drafts.

In the early years the sexes sat apart.  A vestry book entry for January 9,  1716,  says:

"Ordered that the Men sitt on the North side of the church,  and the women on the left."

BAPTISMAL FONT
This font,  used regularly for baptisms,  
occupies a central place in the governor’s pew at Bruton,  
a reminder of the central focus on baptism in the church.   
It came to Bruton circa 1758 from the church at Jamestown
via its successor,  the Church on the Main, located about 
two miles west of Jamestown on the mainland

My wife and I and our daughter inside Bruton Parish Church. 

In 1781,  the church served as a storehouse or even a hospital,  or perhaps both,  

during the Battle of Yorktown.

This is a very impressive structure,  one that should not be missed 

when visiting this city.

Here are a couple of colonial-era tombstones
inside the church yard

Maybe one day I can experience an Easter service here.
Wouldn't that be something? 

I do hope you enjoyed today's posting.  Yes,  it was a bit different from what I normally post,  but I found the information quite interesting and,  as a living historian,  very useful as well.  I also had a few of my own questions answered.

Until next time,  see you in time.

Some Easter information came from HERE

Other info came from HERE

Yet other information from HERE

Puritan and Congregationalist information came from THIS book as well as from the Collections of the Henry Ford.

And the information about Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg came from HERE

 

~   ~   ~