Benedict Arnold Jr., the notorious traitor, was baptized in the third meeting house on 01/11/1741. During the time period of this floor plan, he would have been about 19 years old. Upon inspection of the floor plan, Benedict Arnold Sr. paid £18 for his family’s pew box (pew box #45). Eighteen British pounds in 1760 would be worth approximately $6,000 in today’s dollars.

In the 1760s, the Arnold family sat in one of the best pews in the meeting house, symbolizing their high community status. However, as the Arnold family’s finances declined and his father’s alcoholism increased, the family underwent the public humiliation of being resigned to the gallery for poor people.

Benedict Arnold Junior’s father was arrested on several occasions for public drunkenness and was refused communion at the church. Benedict’s mother, Hannah Waterman Arnold, was cruelly reminded every Sunday of how her family’s fortunes had fallen.