The Old Farmington Church from Woodruff Genealogy by Susan Emma (Woodruff) Abbott

Detailed information about the old Congregational church, designed and built by Judah Woodruff (N° 25), is not difficult to find. The few notes below are from (1) Richard W. Bissell's "Historical Sketch of Farmington", published 1928; (2) "Farmington, Conn., the Village of Beautiful Homes", published Farmington 1906; and (3) E. J. Johnson's "The Old Church" in The Farmington Magazine for March 1901. The drawing above is from one by Walter Griffin in that magazine.

The church, still standing and wonderfully well preserved, is the third church building and was built in 1771, the parish having voted 30 to 24 in February 1767 that a new meeting house was necessary. The building was to be 75 feet long by 50 feet wide, the heavy timbers of the best white oak from the Province of Maine. Judah Woodruff, already a builder of considerable experience and renown, was a member of. the building committee, architect and master builder. A good portion of the credit for the church belongs also to Col. Fisher Gay, Woodruff's associate on the committee and one of Farmington's merchant princes.

The pulpit, as it first stood, was large and high and looked down upon the center aisle, with a window behind it. It was reached by a staircase on the north side and was overhung by a sounding board or canopy of wood, with a roof like the dome on a Turkish mosque, which was fastened to the wall. Along the front of the pulpit was the deacon's seat, and beneath the pulpit was a closet which legend says was reserved for use by the tything man for boys of unruly behavior.

The front of the pulpit was carved by Judah Woodruff himself, after working hours, and it is agreed that the carving took the form of wreaths of English ivy, which were painted green. One unappreciative writer described it as "tub-like". The pulpit and its canopy were evidently removed during alterations made in 1836, and unfortunately disappeared.

The spire was constructed on the ground and later raised to its proper position on the tower.

A saw and some molding planes belonging to Judah Woodruff are illustrated on page lid of "Farmington, Conn., the Village of Beautiful Homes", and were probably used in the construction of the church.