"The First Charitable, Universal, Religious Society of the Town of Homer" was organized at the Court House, Homer, now Cortlandville, Nov. 16 1813. Samuel Ingallo and Mead Merrill presided at the meeting. The list of names is like a roster of our early settlers.
A Rev. Mr. Sanderson was the first to preach Universalism in 1833. The first Legal Church was effecting in 1835 and 101 persons were admitted to church membership.
In 1889 the church was remodeled and re-dedicated, with one sermon by Rev. Amanda Deys of Oxford, NY.
Temperance, abolition and other topics of the day were and still are discussed in this church.
Many prominent people have spoken in this church, among those - Henry Ward Beecher, Harriett Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Wendall Phillips, Susan B. Anthony and Clara Barton.
In 1937 this church observed 100 years and some of the following was taken from the booklet published at that time.
$100.00 was given to the church building fund when the church was first built with the understanding that the basement of the church could be used as a town hall. 45 years from 1838-1883 is was used for election purposes.
Horace Bliss of Truxton built the church and the mason work was done by Benjamin Davis. The hardwood timbers were donated by Robert Wells and were cut from his farm near "the brick school house".
Farmers brought loads of stones from their farms and the right type of stones is easy to find in Cortland and vicinity. The Universalist Church is the oldest public building still in use in the City of Cortland.
In 1831 after 18 years of loose organization, 101 village residents, mostly transplanted New Englanders, banded together under the leadership of the Rev. Nelson Doolittle, to form the present church.
The parish voted to build a cobblestone meeting house on Calvin Bishop's lot. The men of the church built the building which still stands as the Universalist Church. The building completed, they inscribed one the front door the words, "Holiness to the Lord, good will to all mankind, Universalist Church erected 1837".
This church has had man prominent people on its platform, among them Ralph Waldo Emerson, Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Thomas Star King, Clara Barton, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher and Susan B. Anthony.
"The Old Cobblestone Church" as it is locally known was modernize in 1889. Earlier in 1885 the church livery stable was torn down to make way for the parsonage. That parsonage is now the church house and the present parsonage is 19 Harmon Ave. and The Rev, James Hunt is pastor. It is in good repair and is very much alive today.
Hope that this answers your questions.
Sincerely
Mrs. Mary C. Brown Asst. Local Historian, Cortland, N.Y. Transcribed from written correspondence archived at the Cobblestone Museum.