The Pottersville Reformed Church

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Cody Bryant
5 years ago
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1 The Pottersville Reformed Church For me, it started with the bells By: Gillian Anthony 4 th grade, Tewksbury Elementary School Teacher: Mrs. Susan Wilkinson

2 Even before I could read a clock, I could tell time by the bells of the Pottersville Reformed Church. Nine bells meant time for preschool, twelve bells was lunch, three bells was time for my nap and six bells meant Daddy s home! Often called the most important landmark in Pottersville, the church s white steeple can be seen from miles away. Even though many of Pottersville s older buildings are changed or long gone, the church still stands tall over the village where it has been said that change comes slow. The church and the village of Pottersville are on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. Many local people helped with the research, which started around 1983 and was finally approved almost 10 years later. The history of the church began with Sunday School classes that met in the Pottersville school starting in The community decided to organize a church in the summer of The committee voted that it should be a Reformed Protestant Dutch church. A local resident, George Moore, agreed to donate two acres of land for the building. The building committee and builders included men from most of the well-known families in Pottersville, including Potter, Vliet, Philhower and Herzog. Building began in the spring of 1866 and the church was dedicated on December 26, More people came for the sermon than could fit in the church! The design of the church is like a number of other churches in the area, including the Presbyterian churches in Mendham, Westfield and Liberty Corner. The architect was Major Aaron Hudson of Mendham. The building is 44 feet by 62 feet, or three bays wide by five bays deep. The siding is clapboard with a slate roof. The style is both Greek and Romanesque Revival and includes rounded top windows, a belfry with matching rounded shutters and an octagonal spire. The cost of the building was $8, plus $288 for furnishings. Originally the steeple stood at a height of 122 ½ feet, the tallest structure around. It was struck by lightning in 1890 and The second strike badly damaged the steeple and the interior of the church. Insurance covered the cost of repairs. At that time it was decided to lower the steeple by 20 feet. Unfortunately this didn t help, since the steeple was struck by lightning again in The church was also damaged by a hurricane in In October of 1993 the steeple was so rotten that it was in danger of collapsing. The church had to do something. Workers used a giant crane to remove the 3,500 pound steeple and the church bell in front of a small crowd of curious people. It was lowered safely 130 feet to the ground. The cost to rebuild the steeple was $166, more than double the church budget. People from the community and the church helped by

3 donating money. The new steeple contained as much of the original wood as could be saved. The rebuilding was finished in time for Christmas The 1,000 pound bell was rung to call local residents to worship. The bell ringers were men and older boys from the church. Many of their names are carved into the door up in the balcony where the rope hangs. The first automated carillon was installed in For the first time the church bells rang the time as well as the call to worship. The current carillon is a Maas-Rowe Digital Chronobell that can hold 6 CDs and can play hundreds of different songs. A large speaker is in the belfry. The carillon was a gift of local resident Pauline Polly Boothe in memory of her husband Thomas, who died in 1995 and is buried in the church cemetery. It was dedicated at Easter After the carillon was installed, the bell was rung by hand much less often. An important occasion was on the death of former President Ronald Reagan. Nancy Reagan requested churches ring their bells to mark each year of his life. I was lucky enough to get to ring the bell at 4:15 on a recent Monday. Some of my neighbors wondered what was happening! To get to ring a bell that has hung in the church for almost 150 years was pretty cool. The interior of the church is mostly unchanged. The original chandeliers held candles and were converted to electricity. The interior has been painted and carpeted several times. The pews are the same, and many windows still have their original glass. Sitting in the church makes me feel like I can go back in time. The church also includes two other buildings which are across the street, the chapel/community House and the parsonage, which is the home for the pastor. The chapel was the original Pottersville school until it was bought by the church in 1915 for $500. The chapel burned to the ground in 1924, the night before the first community dance was scheduled to happen. Some people thought that was very suspicious. It was rebuilt in 1924 and a basement was added in A preschool was started in Today, like for most of its history, the Community House is still the social center of Pottersville. They host events including square dances, movies and potluck and chili suppers. The original parsonage was located on McCan Mill Road and was donated by Sering Potter, Sr. in It was sold by the church in 1952 and the existing parsonage next to the Community House was built in The current pastor does not live there. In the cemetery behind the church are many of Pottersville s oldest families, including the Potters, the Lindaberrys, the Rineharts, the Philhowers, the Hoffmans, the Ammermans and the Wortmans. The oldest grave that I found was Lydia Ann

4 Ammerman, who died in 1847 at the age of 4 years and 7 months. She was probably moved to the cemetery years after being buried at home. Local history says that a young girl in the cemetery was run over and killed by Mr. Potter s horse-drawn wagon, but I could not find out who she was. The Pottersville Reformed Church says that it is the church in the heart of the community with the community in its heart and I think that is absolutely correct. Doing this research helped me to learn more about the village, and made me think about how many people have been a part of Pottersville before me. I am happy that I am a part of this community, and think that maybe I hear the bells a little differently now.

5 Bibliography History of the Pottersville Reformed Church, complied by J. David Muyskens, 1965 Spectators Awed by Steeple Removal, Robin Gaby Miller, The Star-Ledger, October 14, 1993 A Talking Tour of Pottersville, Anne O Brien, Courtesy of the Historical Room Collection of the Clarence Dillon Public Library Application for the Inclusion of the Village of Pottersville in the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places, 1983 Change Comes Slow to Village Where Counties Meet, Anne O Brien, The Bernardsville News, August 21, 1969 Pottersville Church Sets Observance of 100 th Year The Bernardsville News, October 23, 1965 Historic Churches of Somerset County, New Jersey, Frank Greenagel, 2006 Remembering when Pottersville was a Bustling Town, James Raas, Hills Press, July 4, 2002 Tewksbury Township Website History of Tewksbury Township tewksburytownship.net Personal interview with Richard Lindaberry, March 28, 2011 Personal interview with Pottersville Reformed Church pastor Reverend Steve Miller, March 30, 2011

6 Postcard from 1912 March, 2011 Present carillon Names of bell-ringers

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