The life and times of Rev. Henry Wight, founding pastor of our July Fourth tradition, will be the topic of the Bosworth Lecture Series on Thursday, June 11, 6:30pm, at First Congregational Church, (FCC), in the DeWolf Room. The event is free and open to the public.
Members of the church, Dyan Vaughan and Rei Battcher, will explore the life and times of Rev. Wight, who presided as the sixth pastor of the town’s founding church for 44 years after serving in the Revolutionary War. The Historical Properties Room at FCC, which exhibits relics and documents from this era, will be open on this occasion.
Rev. Wight was outspoken in the areas of religion, education, civic life, and politics, and his daily journals chronicled life in Bristol from 1784 until his death in 1837. In 1785 he started the tradition of reading the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, which continues to this day, making it the first patriotic exercise in the history of the country.
In conjunction with the Fourth of July Committee, and in tribute to the 250th Anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, Ms. Vaughan, Mr. Battcher, and the Rev. Nancy Hamlin Soukup invite FCC members and the larger community to learn about the life of this patriot and preacher, to see how he was shaped by the Revolution, and to discover how his views influenced the Town he loved. The lecture will conclude with excerpts from Rev. Wight’s Patriotic Address from July 4, 1809, read by Mr. Steve Brosnihan.
The Roswell S. Bosworth Jr. Lecture Series is presented by the Men’s Club, a local organization that pays tribute to its founding member, former editor and publisher of the East Bay Newspapers, with lectures of interest to the public. FCC collaborates with the Lecture Series to hold the annual June lecture at the church.