We ask for your support in raising funds for the renovations needed to repair the St. John’s Church Steeple. Our goal is to keep our town’s landscape from becoming an eyesore. We hold in trust the list of original contributors to the bell Steeple dating back to 1851. Be a part of the next 170 years of history and add your name to the new list of contributors to the St. John’s Church Bell Steeple Fund.
Our town’s beautiful green is a classic historic testament to the popular New England scenery so well-known and cherished by many who live here or come to visit. Its gazebo and monuments are the centerpiece. Our ancient cemetery is the resting place of many of the town’s original families that worked and lived to build the place we call home. Historic homes like the Trumbull house dot the outer edge and the tall church steeples complete the expected image of how a New England town green should appear. It would be terribly heartbreaking to lose this town’s pride and charm, but the harsh reality is that as religion is in decline this beautiful imagery and history is threatened as the lack of funding is leaving churches like these in disrepair. While many no longer feel the draw to religion the architectural beauty and historic significance of the buildings are worth saving. Right now, the historic bell steeple of St. John’s Church is threatened.
The St. John’s Church bell and steeple are now over 170 years old. The bell was cast by George Handel Holbrook (b. 1798) [whose father George Holbrook apprenticed under Paul Revere] in East Medway, Massachusetts in 1851 and installed that same year. Jared Pierpont who died May 7, 1849, left $100 in his Will towards the purchase of the bell and Ezra Stiles started a general campaign to raise the remaining money needed to complete the purchase. The contributor list was not exclusive to St. John’s Church members but included many from the Town of North Haven. It was a realized asset for the entire town. The bell weighs 1,030 pounds and cost $257. It was necessary to remodel the steeple to accommodate the bell, and this work was done by Solomon Fowler Linsley a prominent North Haven citizen. The church bell is not just for the church parishioners, it was bought and installed by North Haven citizens for the entire town to enjoy its splendor and the sound of its bell. It is part of who we all are.
Your Friends of St. John’s Episcopal Church