The communion vessels
were not always of valuable metal; John Cotton's first church had wooden
chalices; the wealthier churches owned pieces of silver which had been
given to them, one piece at a time, by members or friends of the church;
but communion services of pewter were often seen.
The church in Hanover, Massachusetts, bought a pewter service in 1728, and
the record of the purchase still exists. It runs thus:--
3 Pewter Tankards marked C. T. 10 shillings.
5 " Beakers " C. E. 6 sh. 6d. each.
2 " Platters " C. P. 5 sh. each.
1 " Basin for Baptisms.
This pewter service is still owned by the Hanover church, a highly prized
relic. Until 1753 the church in Andover used a pewter communion service,
but when a silver service was given to it, the Andover church sent the
vessels of baser metal to a sister church in Methuen. In Haverhill the will
of a church-member named White gave to the church absolutely the pewter
dishes which were used at the sacrament, and which had been his personal
property. The "ffirst church" of Hartford had "one Puter fflagon, ffower
pewter dishes, and a bason" left to it by the bequest of one of its
members. When the Danvers church was burned in 1805, the pewter communion
vessels were saved while the silver ones were either burnt or stolen. As
pewter was, in the early days of New England, far from being a despised
metal, and as pewter dishes and plates were seen on the tables of the
wealthiest families, were left by will as precious possessions, were
engraved with initials and stamped with coats of arms, and polished with
as much care as were silver vessels, a communion service of pewter was
doubtless felt to be a thoroughly satisfactory acquisition and appointment
to a Puritan church.
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