Browse the Third Congregational Church records in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

The Third Congregational Church of Portsmouth, New Hampshire was organized in 1758. Members of the First and Second Congregational churches left to form their own congregation. The Third Church was also known as the Independent English Church or the Independent Congregational Society in Portsmouth. Rev. Samuel Drowne was ordained as the first minister of this church in 1761 and served until his death in 1770. The next minister was Rev. Joseph Walton, who was ordained in 1789 and continued until his death in 1822. This was a small congregation that seems to have dissolved by the 1830s. 

These records contain information about a Black woman named Dinah who joined the church in 1791 after experiencing an “awakening” in nearby Kittery, Maine. She was excommunicated in 1796 for allegedly breaking her covenant with the church but was later readmitted to membership in the congregation in 1811. 

This collection contains one volume of church records which includes admissions, dismissions, baptisms, deaths, disciplinary records, and meeting notes.  

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