History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

1~»' J NEW
MEETING-HOUSE. 75
proceeded to seat married people together in the pews, but
upon the benches in the center of the house the men were
placed on one side of the broad aisle, and their wives on
the other. In some cases husbands were seated in a pew
and wives on a Ijench.
Plans of Sittings.
A plan of the sittings, containing the name
of each occupant, in all probability the one
adopted in December, 1737, is here reproduced, but it bears
no date. The arrangement of pews and seats is identical
with that of 1750, which has also been preserved ; no
change having been made on the ground floor of the building
till some years later. On this plan are the names of
several persons, known to have died in 1738, while on another
plan, also without date, they are omitted. It con-
tains the names of nearly six hundred persons.
First Occupation of The uew house of worship was occupied
the New Meeting- early in the year 1738, though it was not
wholly completed till the following j^ear.
It was never formally dedicated, for it was not then the
custom to set apart the meeting-house for none other than
religious services. Meetings for military, civil, political,
as well as ecclesiastical purposes, were held within its
portals. ^
Before the uew building was ready for oc-
Serious Accident in
the old Meeting- cupaucy its Special need was emphasized
in a most striking manner. A serious ac-
cident, most remarkable in its consequences, occurred in
the old meeting-house.^ On Sunday, March 13, 1737, during
the morning service, the front gallery fell. The build-
ing, too small for the large congregation worshipping there,
was filled in every part. The first great revival under the
pastorate of Jonathan Edwards, during which more than
three hundred members were added to the church, had not
1 "Holiness of places, "' says Cotton Mather, writing in 1726. " is no more believed
in among them [the Xew England churches] than it was in the days of Clemens
Alexandrianus, who says that every place is holy where we receive the knowledge
of God."
3 The above account of this catastrophe is compiled from a letter describing it,
written by Rev. Jonathan Edward.-*, under date of March 19, 1737 ; from Dea. Ebenezer
Hunt's Journal, and from an account published in the Boston Weekly News Let-
ter of March 24, 1737.