Hancock, New Hampshire Congregational Church - Weathervane Wednesday

 Today's weathervane was photographed on the steeple above the Hancock, New Hampshire Congregational Church. 

The Hancock Congregational Church was gathered in 1788, and the current building was erected in 1820 as the Hancock Meetinghouse.  It was rebuilt and moved in 1851 to create two floors, the first floor served as the town hall and the second floor was the sanctuary for church services. The church has remained exactly like this up until a recent 2014 restoration project described below.

The weathervane here dates from 1820. It was restored and regilded during the recent restoration. It is a simple two dimensional banner, with a lyre shaped tail, similar to many seen around New England at this time period.  According to town reports, it was regilded after the 1938 hurricane, which it thankfully survived! 

In 2019 the Hancock Congregational Church received a Preservation Achievement Award from the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance. The recent 2014 restoration project improved the original timber framing, mechanical systems, installed a lift, added restrooms, restored this weathervane and steeple, restored the original windows, and more.  A quote from the Preservation Alliance says "This award salutes Hancock's high quality foundation-to-weathervane-work fueled by strong community support and a great team." [https://nhpreservation.org/blog/9yxfxdfac5mxmvyhn99jn3efaneqnu accessed 11 January 2021] 

In the above photo you can see the Hancock Church, the brick vestry building, and the town common.  The little red convertible is parked next to the Pine Ridge Cemetery, where I was looking for the graves of my 5th great grandparents John and Catharine (Eaton) Emerson. They removed to Hancock, New Hampshire from Reading, Massachusetts around 1788 or 1790 where they raised their children.  They had eleven children, one died before they moved to New Hampshire, and nine grew to adulthood. Three of their nine sons became ministers!  They signed the church covenant in 1805. I'm sure they were very loyal members of this Congregational Church.  John and Catharine's tombstone in Hancock can be seen at this link: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/11/john-and-catherine-eaton-emerson.html  

My 4th great grandfather, Romanus Emerson (1782 - 1852) grew up in Hancock, and planned on becoming a minister, too, but he had a speech impediment.  He went to South Boston, where he became an infamous atheist.  Imagine that! You can read about the "infidel" Romanus at this link:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/10/romanus-emersons-obituaries-1852.html   

For the truly curious:

The History of Hancock, New Hampshire, 1764 - 1889, by William Willis Hayward, 1889. (available to read online at Archive.org  https://archive.org/stream/historyofhancock00haywrich/historyofhancock00haywrich_djvu.txt  ). 

Hancock Congregational Church website:  https://hancocknhchurch.com/   

Hancock Congregational Church Facebook group:   https://www.facebook.com/hancockcongregationalchurch/  

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To Cite/Link to this post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Hancock, New Hampshire Congregational Church - Weathervane Wednesday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 20, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/01/hancock-new-hampshire-congregational.html: accessed [access date]).