Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Government, Religion, Site

Location

206 County Rd 5, Cincinnatus, NY 13040, USA

Lat/Long

42.490839, -75.859281

Grant Recipient

Cincinnatus Area Heritage Society

By 1861, the Free Will Baptist Church of German was built in the town of German in Chenango County, New York. The church had been built by local resident Ezra Fuller on land given by local farmer William and his wife Amanda Burnap. Both Fuller and Burnap served as trustees of the church at the time of its construction. According to James H. Smith’s 1880 History of Chenango and Madison Counties, Fuller had relocated to the town of German around 1850 and briefly operated a general store in the town followed by a marble works with his brother Enos Fuller. In addition to the marble works, state and federal census records and a local business directory show Fuller working as a millwright, farmer, and assistant postmaster.

Smith’s History of Chenango and Madison Counties included that the Free Will Baptist Church of German cost about $1,200 to build and that it was the only church standing in the town. Prior to its construction, the congregation, believed to have been organized around 1855, had been worshiping in the local schoolhouse. In 1955, the Binghamton Press reported that the church’s steeple had been knocked off by lightning in 1949. In 2022, the former church became the home of the German Town Hall.