Gleanings From
In Christian Fellowship
By Shirley Lindahl
Edited by Jerry Rutherford
The Minister was a Carpenter and The Bell Arrives
The newly chartered church was incorporated and had a minister. Next came the bonding of the treasurer and a request for building sites. Harry French's offer was accepted. He wrote, "I will give a deed to one-half acre of land to the First Church of Christ of Pleasant Bay on condition that the Society shall do all the fencing to said lot..." (The land described was approximately at N.E. 66th along the present Lake Washington Blvd.)
The building committee was appointed in May, 1880. Their directive stated: "to select plans for a church building, locate the same on the lot selected and circulate a subscription for money, labor and material toward erection of the same." Further instructions were that "no debt shall be incurred on any condition whatever, without the means in hand to pay the same."
Aid in the amount of $300 was asked of the American Congregational Union Building society.
Construction of the church was done by members but mostly by Reverend Greene who was a skilled carpenter. His report of December 1O was that the costs to date were S435.14 and there was still a need to "complete the front step. The amount needed to furnish the main audience room depending upon what manner we should conclude to furnish it, whether it was with permanent pews or mere boards or benches, whether we should have a pulpit and chairs or a rough table and a box for a seat."
The Trustees gave Rev. Greene a lot for the parsonage. He cleared the land and fenced it for his pony, "Dusty" who carried him on his rounds.
In January, 1881, Harry French who had been involved with the church since its inception, asked that he be baptized and thus became a member of the church.
Gifts to furnish the church were a bible for the altar from Mrs. Greene's mother, a check for $100 from the Central Congregational Church of Providence, R.I. for furnishings--the Trustees authorized using the gift to purchase 20 pews and a pulpit.
Sarah Greene received a letter from a friend in Boston, Sarah Jane Houghton. She wanted the church to have a bell--not a poor one, but a good one. She hoped we could procure one on the West Coast. Word was sent back that there were no bell foundries in the West.
On July 1, 1881 the promised bell arrived. When Mrs. Houghton discovered none was available on the West Coast she ordered one from Meneely & Co. of West Troy, New York. The bell she selected was 32 inches wide and 24 inches high. It weighed 615 lbs, which meant it was worth approximately $200 at that time. (In 1976 it was valued at $8000.)
The church did not have a belfry nor the money at that time to do any further building so the bell was placed on a platform in front of the church. It was the first bell to be rung on the Eastside.
In gratitude for this generous gift "our settlement has decided to take the name of Houghton." (A name that remained in effect until 1967 when Houghton consolidated with Kirkland.)
This bell still rings for our Sunday services. (There is another story of our bell was refurbished after not ringing for several years -we'll write it for another issue.)
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