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

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