The U.S. Constitution was signed on Sept. 17, 1787, by 39 attendees of the Constitutional Convention. As our Founding Fathers exited the meeting room at 4 p.m., our government’s birth was celebrated with the ringing of bells throughout Philadelphia.
Betts, a Wilton native, was a Revolutionary War hero who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The society said its members asked churches in their communities to toll their bells 39 times -- one strike for each signer of the Constitution.
Chiming will be heard in six Connecticut communities -- Bristol, New Canaan, Norwalk, Redding, Ridgefield and Stamford -- and in one New York community, Plattsburgh.
In New Canaan, the following churches are taking part in bell-ringing: Community Baptist Church (in spirit only -- the church doesn’t have a bell); First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan; St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church; United Methodist Church of New Canaan; and St. Michael’s Lutheran Church.
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