Stained glass memories — the Timothy Frost building in Thetford Center

This is a Letter to the Editor from Thetford resident Helen Carter as well as Li Shen. Sidenote welcomes and considers writing on any topic related to Thetford.

Hezekiah Porter was "an energetic and ambitious man" and one of the last to own a sizable chunk of Thetford Center village where his impact is still apparent today. He hailed from Hebron, Connecticut, where he is thought to have learned his clothier trade before moving to Thetford in 1806. In addition he was a real estate speculator and owner of a local tavern. 

From the late 1700s to mid 1800s, towns and villages expanded and grew prosperous thanks to the harnessing of water power for industry at places like the falls on the Ompompanoosuc River in Thetford Center. Through Porter's initiative, mechanization was adopted in the cloth-making process in the village, replacing laborious hand-production done largely by women.

This period saw a growing amount of construction of mills, shops, and homes, with wood as the primary material. Some towns, like Thetford, discovered they had deposits of clay, the raw material of bricks. Unlike common and everyday wood, brick was expensive to produce and required skilled labor to build with. It thus signified wealth. It also projected stability and permanence as it was fireproof in an age when mills and other buildings all too frequently went up in flames. Hezekiah Porter was one of the first to open a brickyard in Thetford Center and used the brick to build himself a fine mansion on a nearby knoll overlooking the village, as well as several Federal-style homes on Thetford Hill. When the Methodist congregation that was starting to displace the once-dominant Congregationalists desired a meeting house in Thetford Center, Porter stepped forward as their contractor and used his bricks for the building. He also used them for its companion structure, the 1830 Thetford Town Hall.  

The red brick Methodist Church, built in 1836-38, was a testament to the prosperity of Thetford Center at the time. It is still regarded as an outstanding example among Gothic Revival style churches in Vermont. The style is expressed primarily in the pointed louvered insets above the windows and in the steeple and the finials atop the steeple. Its construction cost the congregation $1400, which was financed by 56 parishioners each of whom purchased pews for their family's exclusive use at a cost of $25 to $35 each.

Pastor Timothy Frost, for whom the church is named, entered the itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the 1870s. He served a full term at the church in Thetford Center where he preached his first sermon in 1875. He also served in Woodstock, Bradford, and Montpelier and was chaplain of the Vermont Senate in 1886. After retiring, he and his family settled in Bradford. The church was named after him in 1925 when he made the last of several return visits to preach.

In the next 93 years or so, the church went from being the center of village life to seeing its congregation slowly dwindle. In its heyday, it was the place where the community gathered together for the weekly service. It also hosted events like Old Home Day — an opportunity for those who had left Thetford to be welcomed home and to donate to the church's upkeep. And there were bible classes, church suppers, and more. The church was given to the Town in 2018 because the remaining congregation felt their efforts were better spent on the ministry rather than the never-ending fundraising necessary for the upkeep of the aging building. It is now deconsecrated and known merely as the Timothy Frost building.

Enter it today and your eyes are quickly drawn to the stained glass windows that illuminate the shadowy interior. In 1889, nine former residents of Thetford, some of whom had gone on to become prosperous in cities like Boston, Chicago, and New York, donated four windows “... in memoriam of much respected citizens: Truman Burr, Thomas G. Sanborn, Isaac & Nancy Russell, Mrs. Maria H. Tucker.” 

Truman Burr, born December 14, 1809, operated mills in Thetford Center, Strafford and Post Mills. He was also a selectman in Thetford for five years. His widow, Mary M. Burr, owned three houses and seven acres in Thetford Center.  Another window, probably given in 1910 based on its Tiffany style, is for Ellen Burr, who was Truman Burr’s niece. Ellen’s family lived on a farm north of Thetford. She worked as a schoolteacher and later made a good living as a taxidermist.

Thomas G. Sanborn was the son of Mary H. Sanborn, who owned "8 acres of meadow and a woodlot" in Thetford. Thomas was one of eight children and grew up to be a mason. He arrived in Thetford in 1840. The house he built is now the E.C. Brown house, made with very local brick from the clay deposit across the road (now Route 113) from the village store. He obtained the granite for the steps and the wall of the house in NH.  One of his brothers, Lieutenant A.L. Sanborn, was assassinated in 1863 “while drilling a company of colored soldiers” in Norfolk, Virginia. Thomas also served in the military.

The Tuckers, Enoch (1828-1903) and Mariah (1833-1884), farmed "The Nye Place" about a mile-and-a-half from the church, where they owned 300 acres of sugarbush. Their daughter Emma married George Fifield, and their son William was active in the church. 

Another window given in 1898 commemorates pastor Timothy Frost. 

More additions came in 1983, 1996, and 2004. In 1983 a window was installed dedicated to Gertrude & Hayden Clark. Gertrude was very active in the church, serving as Trustee President.  She was also president of the Thetford Center Community Association, president of the women’s group, active in the Red Cross and in other areas. The Grange gave her a special citizenship award. Hayden was less involved but did get up early to stoke the fires in the stoves before the services. The Clarks’ window is styled after the first windows installed in 1889.

A window dedicated to Matthew I. Wiencke was donated by his family in 1996. He was a Trustee of the church, and many in Thetford remember his dignified command when moderating Town Meetings in years past. Matthew’s window is also similar in style to the original windows.

The most recent window is a memorial to Bertha Brown situated facing the street from the choir loft. Bertha taught religious education at several large churches including in Arlington, Virginia and Barrington, Rhode Island. She moved to Concord, New Hampshire to become the Director of Religious Education for the New Hampshire Conference of the United Church of Christ. In 1964 she married Elmer C. Brown and became the mother of Elmer's twin boys, Kevin and Kirk. The family settled in Fairfield, Connecticut, then moved to Thetford Center in 1967 where they founded E.C. Brown’s Nursery. The entire family participated in running the business, and Bertha took the important role of bookkeeper.

Bertha continued to serve the church as a local supply preacher and in 1994 was appointed by the Bishop of the Troy Conference to serve as pastor of the Timothy Frost Methodist Church. She retired from this position in 2004, but was soon called on to serve as pastor of the Union Village Church, a role she carried until her passing.

The window dedicated to Bertha is unlike all the others. It incorporates images of things dear to her, such as flowers and teddy bears, in addition to sea shells, interlocked rings, and a quotation from the bible. 

Outside the Timothy Frost church stands a granite monument dedicated to the Four Chaplains — two Protestant, one Roman Catholic, and one Jewish — who died heroically in World War II. They were aboard the troop ship The Dorchester when it was hit by a torpedo. The chaplains gave their life belts to servicemen on board and went down with the ship. They were last seen on deck with their arms linked in prayer. George L. Fox (1900 – 1943) was a Methodist Minister from Thetford and the oldest of the four. In World War I, he had enlisted in the Marines at age 17. Trained as an ambulance driver, he won a Silver Star on the Western Front for rescuing a wounded soldier from a battlefield full of poisonous gas despite the fact that he had no gas mask. He was also awarded a Purple Heart and a Croix de Guerre. Following Pearl Harbor and the outbreak of WWII, Reverend Fox joined the Army and, on the same day, his 18-year-old son Wyatt joined the Marines. Unlike his father, Wyatt survived the war.

The Town has not decided what to do with the Timothy Frost building, the repository of so many memories from one small VT community -  insignificant in the greater scheme of things, yet dear to those who know. It is hard to repurpose a church and horribly expensive. The building lacks running water and bathrooms and needs to be stabilized and repaired. In 2020 an engineering company offered a preliminary assessment that "Overall, structurally, the building appears to be in good physical condition but does show signs of deferred maintenance as well as signs of structural distress in isolated locations." 

An ongoing series of community forums aims to envision how the Timothy Frost building might be repurposed to contribute to the revitalization of Thetford Center Village. Check the Thetford Listserv for the announcement of the next meeting, which will be held in the Thetford Center Community Association building across the road.

Photo credit: Helen Carter