New Brunswick Historical Tidbits

The Meeting House

By Mitch Biggar

The first towns in Westmorland County were Sackville, Shediac, and Dorchester. In 1788 only twelve families were living in what is now Moncton. In 1821 Ichabod Lewis and William Steadmen built the Free Meeting House. The land for the building was acquired from William Steadmen and it was built in the style of a New England Meeting House, but without steeple and bell. The building was designed to be used by all faiths until they could build their own churches.

The people of Westmorland County took their religion very seriously in the 1820's. So seriously that in 1825 the Lieutenant Governor Sir Howard Douglas was arrested for traveling on the Sabbath. The Lieutenant Governor left on Monday after the Justice of the Peace had dismissed the case.

Ichabod Lewis and Salomon Trites were the original Trustees of the Free Meeting House. Meetings were held in the building until 1963. The building was remodeled in 1892 and again in 1990.

This page was designed by Irene Doyle September 1999