The Beginning

First Barnstable

Rev. William Black, the founder of Methodism in the Canadian maritime provinces, was traveling from New York to Boston by packet when his storm-tossed ship was forced to anchor in Hyannis Harbor on January 20, 1784. He then traveled to Barnstable Village, where he preached six sermons.

Whether Dr. Jonas Whitman was among those who heard Rev. Black preach is unknown, but eventually a Methodist class began meeting in Dr. Whitman’s West Barnstable home.

As this class, known as the Great Marsh Class, grew in size, smaller groups broke away to form classes of their own, generally along geographical lines. Transportation was difficult in those days, and local gatherings made regular worship more accessible.

These classes all fell within the Barnstable Circuit, which erected its first church building in Barnstable Village in 1826. At that time, there were eleven classes within the circuit.

By 1837, some classes had died out, merged, or built their own churches. Methodism, then known as Methodist Episcopal, gradually declined in Barnstable Village, and the church closed in 1894.

The Story Continues

Then Hyannis

One of the eleven classes within the Barnstable Circuit was the Hyannis Class. In 1841, its members built a meetinghouse on Main Street in Hyannis.

Five years later, a split occurred. One faction became Protestant, or Wesleyan, Methodist, while the other remained Methodist Episcopal.

Neither society prospered. When a new Congregational Society was organized in Hyannis in 1854, Methodists from both societies joined it. The Main Street meetinghouse was purchased by the Congregational Society as its place of worship.

In 1917, the Congregationalists and Universalists merged to become the Hyannis Federated Church.

A New Class Forms

Marstons Mills Next

Among the early Methodists who traveled to West Barnstable to attend the class at Dr. Whitman’s home were Lewis Hamblin and Eldred Baker, Sr. They lived in a section of Marstons Mills known as Hamblin’s Plain.

As more neighbors joined them in worship, it became clear that they should form a class of their own. In 1819, the Hamblin’s Plain Class was organized.

People from Osterville, Cotuit, and Cotuit Port joined this growing Methodist community.

A Shared Place of Worship

And Then Cotuit

Around 1846, members of the Hamblin’s Plain Class who lived in Cotuit and Cotuit Port withdrew to establish their own society.

The group met in the newly built Cotuit Port Meetinghouse on Main Street in Cotuit. The building served as a place of worship for three denominations: Methodist, Baptist, and Congregational.

In 1879, this combined group was reorganized as the Independent Christian Church. By 1900, most Methodists had withdrawn and were holding meetings in various locations in Cotuit and Santuit.

In 1901, the Cotuit Methodists erected a church building at High and School Streets. In 1923, the Congregationalists and Methodists reunited to become the Cotuit Federated Church.

To this day, the Cotuit Federated Church maintains its affiliation with the Methodist denomination.