Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Weathervane Wednesday ~ Another Shem Drowne Weathervane

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post weekly.  I started out by publishing only weather vanes from the Londonderry area, but now I've been finding interesting weather vanes from all over New England.  Sometimes these weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are very unique.  Often, my readers tip me off to some very special and unusual weather vanes.

Today's weather vane is from somewhere in the Boston area.

Do you know the location of weather vane #330?  Scroll down to see the answer...




This is the third weathervane I have featured here at "Weathervane Wednesday" by my distant relative Shem Drowne. You can click on the links below to see his other famous weathervanes on top of Faneuil Hall and the Old North Church.  This weathervane is above the steeple of the First Church in Cambridge, at 11 Garden Street in Harvard Square.  This church is located right on the common and is visible from Massachusetts Avenue.

This gilded weathercock is very typical of other 18th century weathercocks, with the full tail feathers and the glass eye. This weathervane was originally made in 1721 for the New Brick Church on Hanover Street in Boston's North End.  It was bought in 1873 for the First Church in Cambridge. 

The First Church in Cambridge was established sometime in the mid 1630's.  The famous Puritan Rev. Thomas Hooker was the first minister, before he took some of his flock with him to found Hartford, Connecticut.  This stone church is the sixth meetinghouse of the congregation, built in 1872. 


The photo above was sent to me by reader Betty Fredericks.  That's her husband, Robert "Bob" Pacheco, in the photo when he was serving as sexton of the First Church of Cambridge.  During his term as sexton the weathercock was removed for restoration and re-gilding.  You can see in the photo how big the cock is (almost six feet). 


Shem Drowne's grasshopper weathervane over Faneuil Hall:    https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/06/weathervane-wednesday-genealogical.html

Shem Drowne's weathervane over the Old North Church, Boston:  
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/08/weathervane-wednesday-very-historic.html

The First Church of Cambridge website: http://www.firstchurchcambridge.org/


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ Another Shem Drowne Weathervane", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 27, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/09/weathervane-wednesday-another-shem.html: accessed [access date]).

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