63. ‘Bridges to Yesterday’ in Salem, Massachusetts: Part 2

 

Wolfgang Koch, the church member who delivered a greeting about Roger Conant from the latter’s home village of East Budleigh   

Founders’ Day Service at The First Church in Salem on 7 August 2022. The First Reading was presented by church member Wolfgang Koch:

Most of us are familiar with the fact that in the fall of 1626, Roger Conant led a band of people, a fishing company known as the Dorchester Adventurers, from Gloucester to Naumkeag. He and others from that group are among our founders. Of the 30 or so people listed in our Records Book who gathered on August 6, 1629 to sign and declare our covenant, the names we call out today are:

• William Allen,

• Peter Palfray,

• Captain Trask,

• John Balch,

• Thomas Gardner,

• John Woodbery

• And again, Roger Conant

At Naumkeag, historians have found evidence that these colonists were among those who built houses, interacted with the indigenous people of the area, and cleared and prepared the land for the planting of corn and tobacco and other crops. It is believed that Conant built the first house along the Bass River. When John Endecott arrived, along with all that went on in the peaceful transition of power, that house was disassembled and moved closer to here at what is now Essex Street almost opposite the Town Market. It's also worth a mention here that Roger's son, also named Roger, who was born in 1626 and recognized as the first colonist born in Salem.

Today we remember these people and others who established The First Church in Salem in 1629. As part of linking today to the founders of our community, the Archives Committee is in the process of building a type of sister relationship with Roger Conant’s hometown in the UK. Hearing about today’s service, this group, connected with the All Saints Church in East Budleigh Devon England, sent a message to be included in our service. East Budleigh is a small village in East Devon, about two miles inland from the sea. The small village is proud of its contribution to our colonial history. The statement says:

“To be read to the congregants of the First Church in Salem during its Founders Day service, 7th August 2022. The community of East Budleigh, Devon, England is delighted to celebrate with the First Church of Salem its Founders Day this year. The village’s Roger Conant Club is proud to recognize the founder of Salem as a calm, tolerant and peaceful leader among the early European settlers of America. His life was spent in a period of religious intolerance, in which people were persecuted and martyred for their faith. Roger Conant managed to shelter his family and community from the excesses, resolved disputes, and founded a successful settlement where he is honoured today.”

We will be hearing more from this The Roger Conant Club, the Church of England’s Raleigh Mission Community, and the Village of East Budleigh Devon. They will be loaning us artwork featuring Roger Conant that we will display, link to the 400th anniversary of Salem and later our church, the Ancestry Days events in 2023 and other opportunities that will be designed to further cement our relationship across the Atlantic.

www.firstchurchinsalem.org/archives

Continued at https://conant400.blogspot.com/2022/10/64-bridges-to-yesterday-in-salem.html