The church on the hill celebrates 225th anniversary with living history events

Imagine planning a birthday party for a 225-year-old.

That’s pretty much what Bill Meyer and the committee he heads is doing for the Baiting Hollow Congregational Church.

The roots of “the church on the hill,” as it’s sometimes called, go back to the 1780s when parishioners met in private homes to worship, but it was officially organized in 1791 — 225 years ago. It’s one of Riverhead’s oldest entities.

So how do you plan a party for such a grand old institution?

You celebrate with art, music and events that take your guests on a jaunt through history. And you invite everyone you know.

The celebration runs over the course of two weekends beginning with an art show and auction on the last weekend of October. The theme of the show is Long Island’s history; it’s curated by Caitlyn Shea — the artist who painted the hummingbird mural downtown. So far she has “at least 15 submissions” to the show.

Shea says “the artists will have one work on display and will donate one work for an auction that will benefit the church.  We are excited to see the different interpretations of the theme “Long Island’s History.”  The church has a rich history and this event will celebrate its 225th anniversary.”

Visitors can meet and greet the artists at the reception on Friday, Oct. 28 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Media in the show include photography, oil, pastel, watercolor, ceramics, stained glass, woodcarving and pyrography – commonly called wood burning. A special “celebrity auction” of works donated by the artists will take place at the reception.

The following day, Saturday, Oct. 29, weather permitting, there will be lots going on. The art show beginning at 10 a.m. and running through 4 p.m. is a rain or shine event as it’s indoors.

Meyer has planned for tours of the church building and grounds if the weather cooperates. The structure dates back to 1862 – and the graveyard is even older. Stones marked with some of the oldest family names in Riverhead, including Horton, Benjamin and Terry, rest in the cemetery.

Meyer shared a captivating anecdote involving Ambrose Horton, whose gravestone in the cemetery records his death in 1795 at age 63. About 16 months ago, Bruce Miller of Elmira, New York contacted Meyer about two artifacts he had purchased at an antique firearms auction. One was a scrimshaw powder horn engraved with etchings of Manhattan Island and sites around it. The other was a rum horn inscribed with these tempting words: “Take ye a swig.” The two horns were dated 1751 and 1752 with Ambrose Horton’s name inscribed on them. Miller was inspired to find out more information about Horton. Eventually, he learned that Horton was buried here in the church’s graveyard and he contacted Meyer. Meyer said he was astonished that the two pieces were still together after more than 250 years.

Two hundred years or more leaves a lot of time for events to unfold. Meyer told another story about a diary he’d found while cleaning out some old filing cabinets in the church. The journal of H. W. Benjamin reads in part that he is leaving Riverhead “for reasons I will not discuss.” The 1850s era diary describes Benjamin’s journey by packet boat and then train to end up on the whaler New Dawn for a three-year seafaring adventure. It continues in 1854 when he returned to farm life in Riverhead, but ended in 1858. Meyer, intrigued by its abrupt ending searched the cemetery and found Benjamin’s gravestone dated 1858 in the church cemetery.

The events that will take place on Saturday, Nov. 5 have been more than a year in the planning. Meyer has his fingers crossed that the weather will do its bit to make the occasion successful – rain will spoil his best-laid plans, so keep your fingers crossed for him. Tours of the building and cemetery are planned, but there’s much more.

The church grounds will be the site of a mock Civil War encampment. A group of volunteers based in Sayville will portray soldiers of the 67th New York Volunteer Infantry’s Company K and the women who followed them to war. These men and women will bring the Civil War era to life as they reenact life in an army camp in the 1860s.

Music of the 1860s will fill the air as Larry Moser and Mary Nagin of the Long Island Traditional Music Association play age-old tunes on the fiddle, hammered dulcimer and concertina. The songs, generally of Irish, Scottish and English derivation, would have been very familiar to anyone living on the North Fork when the Baiting Hollow Congregational Church was still in its youth.

Inside the parish hall, Mary Ann Spencer, author of Barns of the North Fork, will be giving a talk about her book.

Around 2 p.m. Meyer has planned for an All Wars Memorial Service to take place at the north end of the burial ground where the land is flatter and fewer stones lie half buried in the churchyard. The chaplain from the 67th Regiment will lead the service in the style of one from the Civil War era.

All events from both weekends are free, but Meyer is asking for free will donations. He would like to raise money to have a flag for the cemetery and some display cabinets for artifacts the church members have collected or been loaned over the years including Horton’s powder horn and rum horn and the Benjamin diary.

A fundraising dinner is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. at the Lobster Roll North. Tickets for the buffet dinner are $40 for the dinner which includes a cash bar. The owner of the Lobster Roll is Fred Terry – his ancestors were among the founding members of the Church.

According to the church’s website, “Baiting Hollow derives its name from the pond in the hollow and the inn which stood just to the east of the present church. This was where weary beasts and their drivers in the 1700s stopped for rest and refreshment. The meaning of bait in old English is ‘to give food and drink, especially to horses on the road.’”

Bill Meyer hopes that many travelers stop at the church to help celebrate its 225th-anniversary celebration for rest, refreshment and recreation this fall.