History of the First Congregational Church
The First Congregational Church was established in Belfast, Maine, on December 29, 1796, with Ebenezer Price as its first minister. There were seven original members, including Rev. Price.
On 20 May 1820, during a period when a “Unitarian controversy was sweeping… over all the New England churches,” the First Church suffered “an irreconcilable division of religious belief,” and “separates itself from the parish and is organized into a new and independent congregation.”[1] A Unitarian group worshiped in the old Church, which had been built in 1818, while the more orthodox group built a new meeting house known as the North Church.
A new church structure was built in 1831 and completed in 1832. In 1846 the church divided, creating the Second Congregational Church in North Belfast.[2]
These two churches reunited in 1921, at which time the North Church was sold and a new parish house was built. The combined church became known as the First Church in Belfast.[3] Located at 8 Court Street in Belfast, the church is known today as the First Church in Belfast, United Church of Christ.
Church Records
A number of records from the First Congregational Church have been placed on deposit at the Belfast Free Library. These records consist of bound books, journals, and loose papers. A previous inventory, conducted by the church, assigned identifying numbers to many of these items. Those numbers are retained here.
Search by Surname
The alphabetical links below provide every-name indexes to these records.
| A | B | C | D-E | F-G |
| H | I-J-K | L | M | N-O |
| P-Q | R | S | T-U-V | W-X-Y-Z |
The towns of Monroe, Swanville, and Waldo did not include any vital record information in their annual reports, so they are not included in this index.
Browse by Source
Click the links below to open the vital records data page for each of the following towns in Waldo county.
First Congregational Church Records, 1797-1830
First Congregational Church Register, 1873-1894
First Parish Unitarian Church Records, 1848-1909
First Parish Unitarian Church Pastor's Register, 1906-1921
Journal of Rev. William Frederick Skerrye, 1907-1937
Journal of the Belfast Branch Aid Society, 1863-1882
First Church Marriage Certificates, 1976-1996
First Church Pilgrim Church Register, 1956-1969
First Church Records, 1941-1956
First Church Register and Record, 1970-1979
[1] Mosher, Elizabeth M., Records of the First Congregational Church, Belfast, Maine, (Picton Press, Camden, Maine, 1993), library call no. 285/REC, in the Special Collections Department of the Belfast Free Library, pp. 21, 22.
[2] Field, Rev. George W., Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of The Organization of the First Congregational Church at Belfast, Maine, p. 15. See item C-15 in the Special Collections Department inventory of church records.
[3] Hayes, Rev. Frederick D., “The First Church in Belfast,” in The Maine Church Exchange, Annual Conference Edition and Program, No. 14, October 1940. See Folder F-9 in the Special Collections Department inventory of church records.