From The Connecticut River Valley in Southern Vermont and New Hampshire: Historical Sketches by Lyman S. Hayes, Tuttle Co., Marble City Press, Rutland, VT., 1929, page 212:
IMMANUEL (EPISCOPAL) CHURCH, THE FIRST IN THE VILLAGE OF BELLOWS FALLS–DATES OF OTHER CHURCH BUILDINGS
The beautiful stone church building of Immanuel (Episcopal) church in this village had nearly $10,000 expended upon it during the summer of 1928 in redeccorating and in new fixtures and furniture, making it one of the most attractive church buildings in all this section of New England.
This church had the first organization and church building in Bellows Falls. The organization was effected in the village of Rockingham in 1798, that village then being the only one in this town. Their first services were held in the old town Meeting-House there until 1817, when, seeing the tendency of population toward the, then, new village of Bellows Falls, they decided to change their location. For ten years previous to the organization, or from about 1788, residents of all this section of New England, who were interested in the Church of England, had met for public worship at Rockingham, under the leadership of lay readers, availling themselves also of the ministrations of transient clergymen.
As early as 1785, the records of the town show a quaint certificate appointing Oliver Lovell, one of the town's earliest residents, as a "wardean of the Church of England for the Towns of Rockingham, Westminster, Chester, and Thomlinson (now Grafton) in Vermont State. " It was dated at Claremont, N. H., and signed by , 'Ranne Cossett, Clerk."
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In 1798, articles of association were drawn up by Dr. Samuel Cutler and signed by himself and Dr. Alexander Campbell and fifteen other influential citizens of the town. These articles were destroyed by fire in 1809. Dr. Cutler drafted them again, and the church was reformed in that year. The name of the original association was the "Protestant Episcopal Society of Rockingham," and it so remained until April 28, 1862, when it was changed to its present name of "Immanuel Church of Bellows Falls.
In 1817, upon removal from Rockingham to Bellows Falls, the parish erected its first church building, and it was the first church building in Bellows Falls. It was a frame structure and stood about thirty feet south of the present church building. It was surmounted by a square belfry of the peculiar architecture so common at that date, in the tower of which was, in June, 1819, hung the first village bell. The bell was presented to the village by Gen. Amasa Allen, a wealthy citizen of Wallpole, N. H., and June 29, 1819, the members of the parish united with the citizens of Bellows Falls in tendering to Gen. Allen a notable banquet in recognition of the gift. It was held at "Webb's New Ilotel," erected two years before on the present site of Hotel Windham. The bell is the one now used by the parish and was cast by Revere & Sons, of Boston, the senior member of which firm was the noted Paul Revere, immortalized by Longfellow. For over thirty years it was the only church bell in the village, and was used as a fire alarm, for Curfew at nine in the evening, and to announce to the resiidents every death occurring within the village limits, according to the custom of those years. A certain [214] number of strokes announced the sex (three strokes for a man and two strokes for a woman) followed by the number of strokes corresponding to the age of the deceased.
The first church building of the parish was, in 1867, replaced by the present beautiful stone structure, the building being occupied for the first time on Christmas day. In 1891, Schouler Memorial Parish House was presented to the parish by the late Mrs. James H. Willliams (2d), in memory of her parents.
There is no record of a resident rector until 1810. The most notable incumbency in that office in the history of the church, in point of length of service, was that of Rev. Carlton Chase, D.D., who was later the bishop of New Hampshire. He served the parish from 1819 to 1844, and the second longest term was that of Rev. David L. Sanford who served from 1889 to 1908. The present rector, Rev. John G. Currier, came to the parish in December, 1919.
The second church building in Bellows Falls was the present Methodist building, erected in 1835. The Congregational church was erected in 1851. The first Catholic Mass was said in this village in 1848, while the railroads were being built, but they did not erect their present building until 1885. The present Baptist church building was built in 1860, and the last church building in the village, that of the Universalist society, was built in 1880 and 1881.