Seating of the Meeting House

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From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information


About this item

Where a family sat in the meetinghouse was a measure of the social status of the male head of the household. A committee assigned pews based on wealth, military titles, and town offices held. Seating the meetinghouse became the subject of frequent legislation and social agitation. This  seating chart of the meetinghouse in Deerfield, Massachusetts, was created shortly after the American Revolution. Men and women were no longer segregated and families sat together. Box pews with doors replaced the older backless benches. Many congregations began selling or renting pews to parishioners in this period.

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Details

Item typeMaps, Plans, Blueprints
AuthorCommittee to Seat the Meeting House
Date1788-01-07
PlaceDeerfield, Massachusetts
TopicReligion, Church, Meetings & Revivals
EraThe New Nation, 1784–1815
MaterialPaper
Process/FormatHandwriting
Dimension detailsProcess Material: manuscript, paper, ink Height: 12.00 in Width: 15.00 in
Catalog #L99.111
View this item in our curatorial database →
Committee to Seat the Meeting House. Seating of the Meeting House. Map/Plan. January 7, 1788. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l99-111/. Accessed on October 11, 2024.

Please note: Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.