Browse the First Church of Christ records of Northampton, Massachusetts

The First Church in Northampton was gathered June 18, 1661. The Congregation was established by representatives from the Churches of Christ from Dorchester, Roxbury, Springfield, and Hadley. The founding members of the church were Eleazear Mather, William Clarke, Henry Cunliffe, and Henry Woodard, all originally members from the Dorchester church.

Their first minister was Elezear Mather, followed by Solomon Stoddard. Stoddard's grandson, Jonathan Edwards, became their third minister, who served from 1727-1750. Edwards' departure centered around his refusal to accept the Half-Way Covenant.

In 1833, the congregation had grown enough to warrant a new church forming, Edwards Church. This group was made up primarily of younger members of First Church. The congregation joined the United Church of Christ after the denomination's start in 1957. The current congregation blended with Northampton's Baptist First Church in 1988 and the resulting organization is now known as the First Churches of Northampton.

Materials in this collection have been digitized in partnership with the Forbes Library and have been made available through our New England's Hidden Histories project.