The Beginning

On February 2, 1868, less than a year after Boonton's own incorporation as a town, the First Reformed Church was organized, largely due to the spirit and initiative of Rev. Nathaniel Conklin of the Montville Reformed Church. That organization, which had its beginnings in 1756 in Old Boonton, an area now under the reservoir, was therefore our mother church. In the growing town of 1868, Rev. Conklin saw a "wide field of Christian influence for a church of his own denomination."
Blowers, Crane, Doremus, Dockerty, Gaines, Myers, Porson, Sargeant, Tompkins, Roome --- these are the families that made up the 21 members of the original congregation. Almost all of them had been attending the Lower Montville Church, as it was sometimes called, but had moved into the Boonton area from the surrounding countryside.

Church records state that for the first few months, the congregation worshipped in the school room of Miss Barbara Flora Crane, and then Washington Hall was secured "where for some months afterward, morning and afternoon services were regularly held." An early historian recorded that on December 8, 1867. "public services of the Dutch Reformed Church were held for the first time in Boonton at Washington Hall." The historic Hall, built in 1833 as the original Presbyterian Church edifice, was destroyed by fire in 1865. But the building that housed Miss Crane's school room still stands in the same place, 210-12 Washington Street, just a block away from the Church.

In 1867, Nicholas N. Jacobus had donated to the church organization, a plot of ground 100 by 125 feet, at the corner of Washington and Grant Streets. The story of how we acquired the building is an interesting one. Around 1857, there had occurred a division in the congregation of the second Presbyterian Church of Hanover Township, an area which then included Parsippany. The dissident group --- financed mainly by well-to-do Joseph Board --- pulled away, established and built the First Presbyterian Church of Parsippany. In 1858, Joseph Board died, and a few years later the congregation dissolved. Thus it was that our small congregation, wanting its own house of worship, was able to buy this First Presbyterian Church building. The cost amounted to $5,000, which included moving and placing it on our property. The cellar, however, was not dug until four years later.

Henry Banta with his sons Edward and Jeremiah moved the building, section by section, to its present site. Dedication ceremonies were held on December 8, 1868. The building has, of course, undergone many changes since then. Edward Banta, who had helped move the building, was the father of Elihu Banta, and Edward Banta's wife was the church's first organist --- though in those days a melodeon was used. "Henry Banta, 1798-1879" lettered on one of the stained glass windows, preserves the memory of this family.