Pastors and Preachers gives the names of church pastors known to us, starting with Reuben Allen, our first pastor. It includes pastors from the Chepachet Union Church era when the congregation of the Chepachet Free Will Baptist Church was associated with members of the Chepachet Evangelical Congregational Church in the Chepachet Union Church. We have also included a very incomplete list of pastors from other churches who have served as guest preachers here.

John Colby, Preacher of the Gospel, by Jeff Brooke Stewart, is a biography of an itinerant preacher and evangelist whose missions to northwest Rhode Island led to the formation of the Free Will Baptist Church in Burrillville (1812), the Greenville Free Will Baptist Church (1820), and the Chepachet Free Will Baptist Church (1822) -- congregations still in existence.

The Morrell Diary, transcribed by Jeffrey Brooke-Stewart, is a fragment of a diary of Alexander H. Morrell, covering the period May 17th to July 6th, 1882, when he was pastor of this church. It describes the life of the town and the life of its two churches during this period. Morrell, who was a major figure in the founding of Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, was a careful observer and diarist. This diary fragment is a marvelous original source for historians as well as for casual readers interested in the history of Chepachet and its churches. The page consists of five subpages: The Morrell Diary Part I; The Morrell Diary, Part II; Endnotes to the Morrell Diary; Morrell's Chepachet (consisting of a fascinating collection of photographs of the town from the late 1800s); Morrell's Harper's Ferry (consisting of text and photographs that relate mainly to Morrell's role in the founding of Storer College, an institution devoted to the education of newly-freed slaves, and later to African Americans generally.

The Design for the Chepachet Meeting House, by Clifford Brown and Marilyn Brownell, is an extensive analysis of the origins of the design for the Chepachet Meeting House, tracing its roots back through the American, English and Italian architectural traditions. Part I discusses the colonial period of New England meeting house architecture. Part II describes the development of the Federal meeting house design (of which Chepachet is a late example. Part III focuses on the immediate development of the specific Chepachet design. Part IV describes Chepachet's interior design. An Epilogue provides a retrospective on the larger context of the New England meeting house design. Appendix I discusses the Chepachet's setting, outbuildings, and additions. Appendix II reviews the building's alterations, improvements, and major restorations.

Coming soon in 2015

Our Holbrook Bell, by Clifford Brown, narrates the story of our steeple bell and of George Holbrook, bell founder, who cast it in 1822. An apprentice of Paul Revere's, Holbrook, together with his son, came to be one of the principal bell makers in America, originally casting bells in Brookfield, Massachusetts, and later in Medway, Mass., where our bell was cast -- the third (known-to-us) bell cast in Medway still in existence. The Holbrook foundry in Medway cast over 10,000 bells during its sixty-year history.

A National List of Holbrook Bells, by Clifford Brown and Marilyn Brownell, building on prior and recent work by others, provides a partial list of bells known to have been cast by George Holbrook and his descendants. It includes reference to approximately 150 Holbrook bells known or believed to have been cast by him and his descendants. Most are still in existence.

The Dorr Rebellion, by Clifford Brown, presents a detailed account of the Dorr Rebellion itself and the role of the Proprietors of the Chepachet Meeting House, members of the Chepachet Free Will Baptist Church, and the meeting house itself in this important Rhode Island event that culminated in the Town of Chepachet -- and is still attracting the attention of scholars. This page includes seven sub-pages: The Dorr Rebellion Part I; The Dorr Rebellion Part II; Log of the Newport Artillery Company for its March to Chepachet; Eye-Witness Account of Ara Hawkins (a Proprietor of the Chepachet Meeting House); Eye-Witness Account of Clovis Bowen (a Proprietor of the Chepachet Meeting House); Eye-Witness Account of Jedidiah Sprague (a Proprietor of the Chepachet Meeting House); President Tyler and the Dorr Rebellion, an essay suggesting that the crisis-management skills of President Tyler played an important role in dampening and then ending the crisis.

Chepachet's Old Home Days, by Clifford Brown, is an account of Chepachet's Old Home Day celebrations, which took place between 1906 and 1947, a large majority of which took place at the Baptist Church. The narrative is based on first-hand recollections of participants, newspaper accounts, church records, and old photographs. This page has seven attachments: Old Home Day Celebration Dates and Attendance; Guests at Chepachet Old Home Day Celebrations; People who Made it Possible: Selected Chepachet Old Home Day Committees; Music at Chepachet Old Home Day Celebrations; Speakers and entertainers at Chepachet Old Home Day Celebrations; Baseball at Chepachet Old Home Day Celebrations; and The 100th Anniversary of Chepachet's Old Home Day.