Plymouth Magazine-Fall26-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 6
The Plymouth Church Story
“Plymouth is a tradition. It is not only a present possession, it is a rich heritage passed along to us by the past. It belongs not only to
today but to yesterday. God help us to be worthy of it—to hold fast to the best of yesterday to make tomorrow even better.”
—Rev. Stoddard Lane, January 17, 1943
Rapid Growth for our Fledgling Church
Plymouth Church first gathered in 1857
after two newcomers to Des Moines
met on a train and discovered they
shared a mutual interest in starting a
Congregational church. George Green and
Samuel Stacey later met with the Rev. J.T.
Cook, principal of the Des Moines public
schools and an ordained Congregational
minister, who shared their dream.
The Civil War was imminent, and
Plymouth members were ardent
abolitionists, assisting in the operations
of the Underground Railroad passing
through Des Moines. A founding
Plymouth member, John Teesdale, was
a friend of abolitionist John Brown, and
recounted after the Civil War how he had
paid ferry fares to assist escaping slaves.
Five men and five women formed
Plymouth with Cook as the minister.
They met in a room over B.F. Allen’s
bank and in Sherman’s Hall at 3rd Street
and Court Avenue until their church
building was completed. The 26-by24-foot wood structure at 5th Street
and Court Avenue was dedicated in
1858, and 13 men signed the formal
incorporation papers establishing
Plymouth Church on January 21, 1859.
By the end of the year, membership
included 10 men and 13 women.
From the earliest days, women were
integral to Plymouth’s growth and
financial success. The Plymouth
Woman’s Beneficent Society was
organized in April 1858, later called the
Ladies’ Aid Society. Women organized
fundraisers (paying for drapes, furniture,
and Sunday school supplies), visited the
sick, cooked and served meals at socials,
washed dishes, and cleaned not only the
kitchen, pantry, and dining room but the
whole church (or paid to have it done).
6Church on 5th Street and Court Avenue.
In 1858, the first church building was
erected on Court Avenue and 5th Street.
Membership grew to 66, and in 1864,
the Court Avenue church building was
moved to an orchard lot at 7th and Locust
streets and remodeled to accommodate
400 people. Even in those days, parking
was a problem. With more people,
there were more horses, and additional
hitching posts had to be installed.
During the 1860s, Plymouth demonstrated
its tradition of sharing resources with the
community when one of the ministers,
the Rev. Henry S. DeForest (1866-1870),
helped to found the Des Moines Library
Association, a predecessor to the Des
Moines Public Library.
In 1871, the Woman’s Missionary Society
of Plymouth Congregational Church
was established to “study and serve both
home and foreign missions.”
The 7th and Locust streets church newly moved from 5th Street, pastor stands near tree in front.
