America's 250th birthday is coming up very soon. There are many ways to celebrate this special occasion, and the Romeo Community Archives took the historical route. The display we have now at the Romeo District Library Kezar Branch shows off items from time capsules that were once buried in the cornerstone of the First Congregational Church (now the Abbey on Main). This includes the copper box seen above.
Now, you're probably wondering, "How does that relate to the Fourth of July?"
Buckle in, reader. Before the building most associated with the church came to be, there were two other edifices. Both stood on the corner of Main and Church Streets in Romeo. The first iteration lasted from 1833 to 1842. It would later serve as the Romeo Branch of the University of Michigan from 1841 to 1852.
The second building lasted a little longer from the 1840s to June 1875. The picture below is of the church in 1874. By the mid-1870s, the need for a new structure grew, so the last service was held on June 13, 1875, and it was demolished soon after. On July 4, 1876, the church installed a cornerstone with a copper box - the same one from above - filled with items that told the church's history while the edifice was being constructed. This was fitting because that year marked the country's 100th birthday. Hugh Gray of the Gray House on Chandler Street formally laid the cornerstone. He was the chairman of the board of trustrees at the time and the largest donor to the new church.
R.F. Odion was the builder behind the project, and it was completed in 1877. This photo shows what the building would've looked like at the time. Ben Cuyler - well-known Romeo photographer at the turn of the century - took the picture because on the bottom, it mentions Cuyler's Gallery.
One hundred years later on July 4, 1976, the First Congregational Church removed the cornerstone, so the items could be displayed for the building's anniversary. The Romeo Obsever snapped the same picture of the 1876 copper box seen at the very top for an article about the event. That story appeared on the front page of their July 8th edition. Along with the box, some of the items included the following:
- A copy of the Holy Bible
- Histories of the church written by Reverend Horatio O. Ladd and Reverend Dr. Philo R. Hurd
- A record of names of all who attended the church from its organization in 1828 to July 4, 1876
- A copy of the church manual adopted on December 1, 1872
- An 1876 membership directory by families
- A copy of the June 28, 1876 issue of The Romeo Observer
- A copy of the Detroit Daily Post
- Photographs of various buildings and people related to the church
- Samples of coins and stamps of 1876
The Romeo Observer mentioned that a special anniversary service took place at 10am on Sunday, July 4th, in the church. The centennial committee planned the event, and it was "almost an exact duplication of the 50th anniversary of the church, just one year after the completion of the construction of the church building."
O.B. Gould made a new copper box, so it could go into the cornerstone along with "current items" like coins, the July 8th Romeo Observer issue, and the program for the service. It was not meant to be opened until July 4, 2076. However, when the church closed its doors in 2021, both boxes resurfaced. These capsules and their contents were donated to the Romeo Community Archives as part of the First Congregational Church Collection.
Even thougth these items were not meant to be unearthed again until 2076, we wanted to show them off this year because of the First Congregational Church's connection with the United States's birthday.
The display exhibits many of the items mentioned, including the original 1876 and 1976 copper boxes and newspapers, coins from both years, the 1872 church manual, the 1876 membership directory, and the 1976 program for the anniversary service.
Come and check it out when you have the chance!
Happy Fourth of July!
To learn more about First Congregational Church time capsules, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890. If you want to search for articles on that topic, you can find the Romeo newspapers like The Romeo Observer on the Suburban Library Cooperative's Local History Digital Collection website.
Images and sources courtesy of the Romeo Community Archives; Melvin E. and Joan D. Bleich Collection, The Romeo Observer, July 8, 1976, p.1-A; The Romeo Observer Centennial Supplement, August 4, 1966, p.4; and First Congregational Church Collection, 1874, 1876, 1877, and 1976