Dana Meeting House (also known as First Free Will Baptist Meeting House and Dr. Dana Meetinghouse) is a historic

meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Chr ...

on Dana Hill Road in

New Hampton, New Hampshire New Hampton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,377 at the 2020 census. A winter sports resort area, New Hampton is home to George Duncan State Forest and to the New Hampton School, a private prepara ...

. The meeting house was built in 1800 by a

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists are a group of General Baptist denominations of Christianity that teach free grace, free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the 1600s with the development of General Baptism in England. Its formal est ...

congregation after the majority of the townspeople voted that the town's tax-subsidized New Hampton Town House would be used by the Congregationalists. The Baptist congregation originally met in homes until its meeting house was completed, and the early congregation was opposed to a paid ministry. Originally, services were conducted in rotation by three men: Simeon Dana, a physician, Josiah Magoon, a Revolutionary War veteran, and Thomas Perkins, a legislator. The best known was Dr. Dana who regularly conducted Sunday worship services from 1803 to 1853 and became the namesake of the church. Notable early preachers included

Benjamin Randall Benjamin Randall (February 7, 1749 – October 22, 1808) was an American Baptist minister the main organizer of the Freewill Baptists (Randall Line) in the northeastern United States. Biography Early years Benjamin Randall III was born February ...

and

John Colby John Colby (December 9, 1787 – November 28, 1817) was an evangelist and itinerant preacher in the early Free Will Baptist movement in New England and various other American states. Born to Thomas and Elizabeth Colby in Sandwich, New Hampshire ...

. Church services were held on Sundays throughout the year until 1860, when regular Free Will Baptist services were discontinued. Various summer services were held in the meeting house after the 1860s. Rev.

Adoniram Judson Gordon Adoniram Judson "A. J." Gordon (1836–1895) was an American Baptist preacher, writer, composer, and founder of Gordon College and Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary. Life Gordon was born in New Hampton, New Hampshire, on April 19, 1836. His ...

, a prominent minister who was a native of New Hampton, often preached at the meeting house during the summers. Gordon went on to found Gordon College. The meeting house was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984 and contains

box pews A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in chu ...

and a few unboxed pews. The Dana Church was founded Jan. 6, 1800 at the home of Capt. Peter Hanaford. Josiah Magoon was chosen as one of three messengers to the Quarterly Meeting at

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. In April 1802, Brother Magoon (Josiah, Sr.) was one of three men appointed to “take oversight in building the meetinghouse.” The building was first used in Dec. 1802, during the ordination of the first elders and deacons, including the Elder Josiah and Deacon James Huckins.The Dana Meeting House First Free Will Baptist Church - Church Clerk’s Records 1800-1849 Josiah's son, Stephen, was the cabinetmaker who made the pews and finished the interior of the church. Elder Magoon was an itinerant preacher in Maine, Vermont, and mostly in New Hampshire. Among his descendants were several noted ministers, educators, architect, politicians, and lawyers. He did not preach much after his 80th birthday. Stephen Sleeper Magoon's house is across the street from the Dana Meeting house. Stephen was a farmer, country merchant, and held various offices in New Hampton. On March 9, 1801, the first town meeting was held in this meeting house. The names of many of the founding families are still on plaques on each of the pews in the meeting house, of where they were to sit. File:Dana Meeting House in New Hampton NH.jpg, Dana Meeting House File:Dana Meeting House interior in New Hampton NH.jpg, Dana Meeting House File:A.J. Gordon.jpg, Rev.

References

{{NRHP in Belknap County, New Hampshire Baptist churches in New Hampshire Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Churches completed in 1800 Churches in Belknap County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Belknap County, New Hampshire New Hampton, New Hampshire