Historic Stain Glass Windows

UPDATE 13 May 2021: The Stained glass window restoration capital campaign has reached its goal of $90,000. Thank you so much to everyone who donated, worked on the campaign committee, and was so supportive of this huge endeavor.

In October of 2019 we launched our Window Capital Campaign to raise the funds needed to repair and restore our six c.1909 stained glass widows. We are grateful for all donations received to date. We continue to work towards our goal and plan to hold more fund raising events through 2020.

The windows have been cleaned, repaired and returned to us. Workers from Stained Glass Resources spent the first three days of June 2020 to reinstall the windows. May they last another 110 years! Visit our "Progress Updates" page for more info, click here.

Here is a copy of our October 2019 press release:

The Capital Campaign is for the repair and restoration of the six memorial stained glass windows that were installed in February of 1909. After 110 years of age and weather, the windows are showing areas of bowing, buckling, and cracks in the pieces of glass. The lead has deteriorated and the fine wires that hold their frames have begun to break. Without action they could be lost forever.

The church’s Finance, Invested Funds, and Properties Committee started seeking inspections of the windows almost a year ago. Multiple quotes and inspections were sought from stained-glass experts. Several meetings of the church membership were held this year to discuss restoration and replacement options. Several detailed reports were presented after meetings with each of the stained-glass experts.

Church members voted to hire Stained Glass Resources Inc. of Hampden, MA to do the work which will cost approximately $90,000. It will take six to eight months to complete from time of removal from the church until the time the windows are reinstalled. Stained Glass Resources Inc. is one of the largest stained and leaded glass restoration studios in the Northeast. They have a proven track record of thousands of successful projects during the last forty years. The windows are expected to be removed in early November of this year. [The windows were removed Nov. 4, 2019]

The Window Capital Campaign Committee has been meeting regularly. They are planning several special fund-raising events to be held in the coming months and throughout 2020 to benefit windows restoration.

The history of the windows’ installation and who made them is currently a mystery. On October 20, 1908, the pastor of the church at that time,
Rev. John D. Waldron, made a presentation at a special meeting of the church members regarding memorial windows. The church voted to accept memorial windows. No details of the presentation Rev. Waldron made have been found. On Feb. 20, 1909, just four months after Rev. Waldron’s proposal, the Greenfield Gazette & Courier reported in its column of Buckland news, “The new windows for the church have arrived and are being put in.” On Feb. 28, 1909, at another church membership meeting, the new “memorial windows having been placed in the church, it was voted they are very satisfactory to the church.” The church members voted to send thank you letters to the donors.

Each window is unique in design yet similar in overall format and colors with the name of the person memorialized centered on the lower panel. The windows include several symbols of faith - the young Jesus, lilies, palms, passion flowers, grapes, cross, star, anchor, harp, Bible, and pomegranates.

Each of the windows was given by family or friends in memory of well-known persons of Buckland:

Samuel Taylor (1744-1837) was an original member of the church and a settler of Buckland, given by his descendants
Deacon John Porter (1791-1872) held many town and church offices, was a teacher, and member of the town government, given by his grandchildren
Silas Trowbridge (1798-1898) was a deacon of the church and active in the town, given by his daughters
Mary Lyon (1797-1849) was born in Buckland, baptized in this church, and was a teacher and founder of Mount Holyoke College, given by the Alumnae of Mount Holyoke College
William F. Sherwin (1826-1888) was a nationally known composer and musician born in Buckland, given by his children
Guild and Hodges window for Rev. Charles L. Guild (1834-1899) a settled pastor of the church and Rev. Alpheus C. Hodges (1853-1906) who was ordained in the church in 1881 and was instrumental in creation of the Buckland Public Library, given by friends of these two ministers.