First Presbyterian Church reinstalls historic bronze bell

First Presbyterian Church of Fernandina Beach’s 1,500-pound bronze bell has been reinstalled after a months-long refurbishment project and will ring again on July 8.

The gleaming bell was hung in the tower of the church, located at 9 N. Sixth St., on July 7. Fernandina Beach residents were free to pose with the bell for photographs before it was lifted into place.

The bell has called worshippers to services for 165 years, said Leslie Byrne, communications director of First Presbyterian. The historic church was organized in 1858 and the bell — constructed by a New York company — was installed when the church building opened the following year.

First Presbyterian is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a central part of Fernandina’s historic district, Byrne noted. The church was used as a hospital after Union troops arrived in Fernandina in 1862, and the bell almost didn’t survive the war. A Fernandina Beach historian, the late George Davis, found evidence that Union troops considered melting the bell for cannonballs. However, a Union leader named Major Duryee put a stop to those plans.

“This is a historical church,” Byrne said. “It’s the oldest church building on Amelia Island, and the bell is such an important part of our heritage.”

Today the church serves more than 600 parishioners, not including children. The decision to refurbish the bell evolved as part of an overall restoration of the church that was supported by a capital campaign. The bell was removed in March and taken to Georgia for the work.

“I think the thing people are most delighted about is that we have restored this original bell that has been there since 1859,” Byrne said. “We didn’t replace it with something new. The decision was made to go ahead and restore this piece of our history — not just a piece of history for the church but for Fernandina Beach.”

The bell needed structural work as well as polishing, said Charles White, of White's Clock and Carillon, located in Sharpsburg, Georgia. The company refurbishes bronze bells and landmarks for much of the Eastern United States.

“When we got the bell, it had a red tint to it, so we bead-blasted it and polished it to get it back to the original,” he said. “It’s one of the older bells that we’ve restored.”

The company also forged some new hardware for the bell, such as the head piece, head bowl and the internal striking mechanism, called a clapper. Those parts were badly worn.

The bell will sound the same, White said. “Once a bell is cast to a certain sound, that will never change.” The gleaming bronze polish will only last a year or two before the natural bronze patina evolves, he said. However, the bell should last another century before it requires additional work.

The bell will be rung for the first time on July 8 as part of an event sponsored by the Amelia Island Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). The group will sponsor a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the courthouse steps in downtown Fernandina Beach at 6 p.m. A drum promenade, moving from the Monument to Our Fallen at the waterfront to the courthouse, will begin at 5:30 p.m. Church bells around the city will ring in unison as part of the commemoration. The public is invited to the free event.

“We will be ready to participate with our restored bell,” Byrne said.