Listen on your favorite podcast player:iTunesSpotifyOvercastHeartRadioAmazon MusicBibliography:Mockridge, Ella. (1961). Our MendhamEmmonds, Kate. (1973). Through the Years in Mendham Borough. Self-Published.Martha G.; Edward W. Roessler & Wallace G. West Hopler (1964). The Mendhams. Publisher: Mendham Township Committee. Foster, Janet W. (1986). Legacy Through the Lens: A Study of Mendham Architecture. Mendham Free Public Library.Wright, Helen Martha. (1938). The First Presbyterian Church of Mendham, Morris County, New Jersey and its vital records. Self-published.Transcript:One of the oldest aerial photographs of Mendham highlights a specific building. Maybe you’ve driven by it picking up your kids from school, or you’ve been in it during a Sunday service. It’s a white steepled church on a hill. And regardless of your spiritual beliefs, it stands as one of the iconic symbols of Mendham. So when my producer Katie and I went looking for information on the history of the First Presbyterian Church of Mendham, also known as Hilltop Church…we found something a bit confusing. In several older books written about Mendham history we came across references to not only this FIRST church…but also a second presbyterian church of Mendham. (And listeners, in case you’re not aware, currently, in 2024, there is no Second Presbyterian Church of Mendham)We dug a little deeper and discovered that this second church formed, in 1859, from a breakup of the first church. And whenever there is a schism, there is a story. So we wondered…what event could have caused a congregation that had been around for so long (over 100 years at that point) to fracture? Was it geological? Political? Social? A lover’s quarrel? —(Theme)This is the story of two versions of a church. The story behind why…in 1859…it decided to split. Welcome to Hometown History. A series about the iconic places and events that make a town someplace people call home. Stories that people can tell to their friends old and new about the place they live, did live, or will live: In my case, Mendham, New Jersey. —Now, I know this is the second time we’re talking about the church on this podcast. But that’s because The First Presbyterian Church of Mendham held a commanding position in the life of the town, both physically and culturally, since the day it opened its doors in 1745. In fact, according to English law and tradition, you didn’t even have a permanent community until you established a church. And Hilltop Church is much more than just a place of worship for Mendham. Ask any longtime local, churchgoer or not, and they’ll probably have a story to share about Hilltop. Wait this is great…There’s the one about how Ms. Martha Drake, nee Thompson, sat in church near a window during a violent storm and was struck by lightning.(Thunder crack)Or how Rev. Philip Courtlandt Hay was run out of town for preaching too heavily against the evils of alcohol.And of course there’s the story of how the sanctuary was turned into a hospital for soldiers stricken with smallpox during the Revolutionary War. Twenty-seven of them are buried in the cemetery there.The point is, there isn’t a resident of Mendham who doesn’t know something about the history of The First Presbyterian Church.But what about the Second Presbyterian Church? The one that was created in 1859 from a split at Hilltop? It dissolved in 1904, so it’s not as if there are local residents alive today who can tell us all about it.There are several books written by former residents of the town. Our Mendham, by Ella Mockridge; Through the Years in Mendham Borough, by Kate Emmonds; The Mendhams, by Martha Hopler and others. But none of them dedicate more than a page or two to this particular chapter of Hilltop’s history. The archives of the Mendham Borough Library were able to tell us a little more about the second church as it existed, but not a ton of detail about why it split.So we reached out to Hilltop itself - wasn’t there a trove of records we could take a peek at?(Door squeak)They said yeah, come on over to our library.KATIE: Hello…?Uhh it turns out that the library isn’t actually in the physical church itself.KATIE: Hello…?It’s at Hilltop House, next door to the elementary school, where the Hilltop Nursery School is located.KATIE: “Oh my god I just broke into a church…”Yeah…we should’ve figured that out sooner.(Door squeak)By the way, the building that Katie just broke into here – well, technically she got in through a side door that was open – that church, the one we see today was not the first church to occupy this little hilltop. (Music) The first was built in 1745. It was a modest, square, south-facing structure built by John Cary, a carpenter and friend of one of Mendham’s main forefathers - Ebenezer Byram. Now the Byram family, as we know, had a big role in the early history of Mendham. Ebenezer Byram was the proprietor...
