250 years later, a minister reads the Declaration of Independence in Yarmouth again
The Rev. Diann Bailey, left, of First Parish Church in Yarmouth, and Arthur Bell, of Yarmouth, re-create the reading of the Declaration of Independence on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Yarmouth Town Hall. North Yarmouth's copy of the Declaration of Independence was originally read aloud on Aug. 19, 1776. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)
It was a Sunday morning, Aug. 19, 1776, when the people in the pews of Yarmouth’s First Parish — a part of North Yarmouth at the time — heard the history-altering words of the Declaration of Independence for the first time.
While the document was signed in Philadelphia on July 4, it wasn’t until the second week of August that a copy reached the town of North Yarmouth. The Executive Council of Massachusetts had ordered it be sent to every town in Massachusetts, including the District of Maine, and the minister read it aloud the next Sunday to the congregation, the town’s largest gathering.
The painting “Meetinghouse Under the Ledge” by George Allen, c. 1880. The depicted church on Gilman Road in Yarmouth is where the Declaration of Independence was read aloud on Aug. 19, 1776. The church was torn down in 1836. (Courtesy of Yarmouth History Center)
A lot has changed since then. The Revolutionary War was fought and won, the United States solidified and expanded. North Yarmouth and Yarmouth split in 1849, with North Yarmouth keeping the town’s original name and the copy of the Declaration of Independence. The church on Gilman Street where the declaration was read, called the Old Meetinghouse Under the Ledge, was torn down in 1836, with the congregation moving several times since.
On the morning of Aug. 19, 2026, Yarmouth residents gathered to re-create the reading’s semiquincentennial. Both literally and in spirit, much remained the same.
“It’s a part of our church history,” said Diann Bailey, the current pastor for First Parish Church, which now gathers on Main Street. “It’s very relevant to what they said back 250 years ago, relevant to where we are today.”
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In front of Yarmouth Town Hall, Bailey read the Declaration of Independence, reprising the role carried out by First Parish’s 1776 minister, Tristram Gilman. She was accompanied by Arthur Bell, a congregant of First Parish, state representative and history buff who helped organize the reenactment.
“We couldn’t pass this opportunity, it was too cool,” said Bell, wearing a tri-corner hat and strapped with a sword.
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Robin Hodgskin, left, of Yarmouth, reads aloud history notes on the 250th anniversary of the reading of the Declaration of Independence on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Yarmouth Town Hall. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
Both Bailey and Bell were dressed in American Colonial-era costumes, sewn by Bailey. Decades of participating in historical reenactments across New England with her husband and children has resulted in a “closet full” of handmade 18th-century garb.
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Bell credited the event’s spark to Katie Worthing, executive director of the Yarmouth History Center, who published an article in the organization’s spring newsletter on her research about the 1776 reading. While the North Yarmouth Historical Society may have the original copy, currently held in the Maine State Archives, the historic event has strong ties to what became Yarmouth, she said.
“It’s the same congregation,” said Worthing.
The crowd of about three dozen gathered Wednesday and listened to the entire declaration recited over 10 minutes.
Craig Burkert and his grandsons, Henry, 10, and Oliver, 7, listen as The Rev. Diann Bailey, of First Parish Church in Yarmouth, and Arthur Bell, of Yarmouth, re-create the reading of the Declaration of Independence on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Yarmouth Town Hall. Burkert lives in Dallas, but spends his summers in Yarmouth. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
“I haven’t heard the Declaration of Independence read aloud in a while, so this was a good opportunity,” said Becky Hamilton, 76, who can trace both sides of her family’s history to the Yarmouth area since before the Revolutionary War.
Yarmouth resident Marguerite Brocard, 83, said the document has a special place in her heart.
“I believe in what it’s talking about, as an immigrant myself,” said Brocard.
After immigrating to the United States from France over 40 years ago, Brocard framed and hung a replica of the Declaration of Independence on the wall of her apartment.
“It gives me a spirit of belonging,” she said.
Robin Hodgskin, center, of Yarmouth, chats with her husband, Arthur Bell, after Bell and The Rev. Diann Bailey, left, of First Parish Church, re-created the reading of the Declaration of Independence on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at Yarmouth Town Hall. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
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Tagged: America's 250th, history
Sophie is a community reporter for Cumberland, Yarmouth, North Yarmouth and Falmouth and previously reported for the Forecaster. Her memories of briefly living on Mount Desert Island as a child drew her. More by Sophie Burchell
