The following paper, writen by Mrs. Martha A. C. Conger, was read at the unveiling of the monument to Jonathan Church at Rossie in 1917:

Jonathan Church was born a subject of King George the second, in the year 1747, in the Colony of Massachusetts and the town of Hadley and where his ancestors had lived since the day of its founding. When he was about fifteen years old, his family, seized with migratory impulse, went up on the Connecticut River to what was then known at the New Hampshire Grants, the region which was claimed by both New Hampshire and New York and finally came to be known as Vermont.

At the beginning of the war of the Revolution, we find Jonathan located with his wife and two children on a farm near Brattleboro, and from there he went out with the Militia.

In the archives of the State of New York, is recorded the appointment of Jonathan Church as second Lieutenant in the company for Brattleboro, commanded by Captain Timothy Church, and belonging to the first or Southern Regiment of Cumberland County, and of the New York State Militia, which regiment was then under the command of Col. Eleazer Patterson.

The year 1777 found the Revolutionary conflict in full sway. Burgoyne's threatened invasion from the North, filled the country with terror and alarm and according to the recollections of Daniel W. Church the country was alive with excitement, and the men in that part of what is now Vermont, all rushed to meet the invader. Old Ticonderoga was the place of rendezvous and all were on the qui-vive when the men of Brattleboro, Jonathan Church among them, hurried off to join the army of St. Clair.

Burgoyne and his forces arrived and began to fortify a strong position and St. Clair after a time of bombardment, decided to evacuate Fort Ticonderoga, and Jonathan with the rest, was privileged to march out, and to take part in the skirmishing of that irregular retreat, which finally brought them to the main army at Saratoga. He is said to have been in the Sabbath Day fight as it was then called at Bemis Heights, and was detached at Castleton with Col. Morgan in chase of Indians and tories, and later he took part in the skirmishing which harassed Burgoyne's retreat.

Had Providence in the shape of weather made it necessary for us to postpone this gathering till tomorrow we might have been celebrating the 137th anniversary of the battle of Saratoga in which Jonathan Church is supposed to have participated. It was on the 17th of October, 1777 that Burgoyne surrendered all of his arms, stores, and ammunitions of war to General Gates and took free passage for himself and army to England. In his letters, Burgoyne speaks with admiration and wonder of the yeoman militia, which he said assembled as by magic, wherever the King's forces made a stand, bringing with them their subsistence, and when the alarm was over returning to their farms to await another call.

We have no definite information as to the further service of Jonathan Church in the Revolution except that according to his son he was ready with knapsack and musket and was out from home for long periods either with the militia or on account of the Vermont conflict, while at home the mother and children were doing the work of the farm as well as the spinning and weaving and making clothing for the family.

Of the personal appearance of Jonathan there is little to say, as he lived before the day of the kodak.

He is said to be an unpretentious man and no doubt, in the home near Brattleboro, where a large family was reared, the fare was plain enough to satisfy the most ardent admirer of the simple life. He traveled much on foot, but it is safe to say he went in as good style as his neighbors. Journeys of State were no doubt made on horseback, for his eldest son has recorded his recollections of a trip from Brattleboro to the sea short, a distance of 130 miles, when he rode behind his father, and his mother also on horseback, carried a child in her arms.

Some journeys were made under great stress. When the sleeping household was aroused by the cry that Indians were coming and bedding and provisions were hastily thrown on to a sled and the family hurried to the shelter of old Fort Dummer.

The War of the Revolution over, the men turned their eyes toward the new country, the promised land, and many families came from New England to the North Country. Among them were three sons and three daughters of Jonathan Church, and after a time he and his wife made the long journey through the wilderness to the homes of their children.

At the beginning of the 19th century there was no human habitation where the pleasant village of Rossie now stands, and in the region now known as St. Lawrence County, there were, possibly not more than 150 families. In the year 1808 Mr. David Parish made large purchase of land hereabouts and proceeded to build roads and open the way for settlers.

His undertakings called here men of experience in building. Mr. James Howard came with his family about 1813 and began the erection of a furnace and Daniel W. Church had already been sent here by Mr. Parish to erect mills and make ready for settlers.

Here at the home of Mrs. James Howard, her daughter, died Perone Whipple, wife of Jonathan Church, in September 1817. Jonathan after this lived with his son in Morristown and died there December 28, 1827 and was buried beside his wife in the first burying ground in Rossie.

Because his descendents were associated with the very earliest activities of your town, it is fitting that you of the village of Rossie take part in the dedication of this memorial to the memory of Jonathan Church, and in after years when you pass, may you remember that here lies buried one of the patriots of the American Revolution, and with him his wife, Perone Whipple, who also served well the cause for which her husband fought.