USA > Iowa > Benton County > History of Benton County, Iowa. From materials in the public archives, the Iowa Historical society's collection, the newspapers, and data of personal interviews > Part 23
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VINTON'S G. A. R. POST.
P. M. Coder Post. G. A. R .. of Vinton, was organized Septem- ber 28, 1882, with the following charter members: II. H. Eddy. D. M. Colwell. U. T. Morris. J. b. Tinkham, Jacob Hoxey. A. O. Adams. E. H. Colcord. G. H. Gordon, J. P. Matthews, L. S. Keagle. M. Meredith. L. H. Starks, C. O. Harrington, Harper Scott. Isaac Pease, E. D. Stedman, George E. Shaw. S. E. Conner, C. R. Wil- kinson. S. D. Redfield. D. I. Comnett, R. Il. Quinn and John W. Barr. The post now numbers 110 members and is officered as follows: J. M. Fisher, commander; Asa Forrester. S. V. and Wil- Jiam Byxby, J. V.
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CHAPTER XIII. .
CHURCHES IN THE COUNTY.
METHODISM IN BENTON COUNTY -- FIRST METHODIST CHURCH, VINTON --- BUILDING OF. THE CHURCH-KIND WORDS FROM MR. KNAPP -- WHITE ELEPHANT SLAUGHTERED-A BELOVED METHODIST PIONEER-THE PASTORAL ROSTER- SHELLSBURG METHODIST CHURCH FIRST M. E. CHURCH, BELLE PLAINE-BLAIRSTOWN M. E. CHURCH VAN HORNE METHODIST CHURCH --- REV. THOMAS C. GOLDEN-OTHER M. E. CHURCHES -- VINTON'S NEW SCHOOL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH -OLD SCHOOL PRESBYTERIANS -- PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF VINTON -REV. STEPHEN PHELPS --- UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, VIN- TON-SHELLSBURG PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-PLEASANT HILL PRES- BYTERIAN CHURCH -- BLAIRSTOWN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-GARRI- SON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH -- ATKINS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH- CEDAR RAPIDS BAPTIST ASSOCIATION- - SHELLSBURG BAPTIST CHURCH -- FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, VINTON -- GARRISON GERMAN BAPTIST CHURCH-UNITED BRETHREN SOCIETIES-DR. W. B. WAGNER- FIRST DISCIPLES' CHURCH --- MT. AUBURN CHRISTIAN CHURCH- ! HARRISON TOWNSHIP CHRISTIAN CHURCH -- DISCIPLES' ( CHRISTIAN) CHURCH. VINTON -- FIRST SERMON IN BELLE PLAINE -- ST. MICHAEL'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, NORWAY -- ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, VIN- TON-OTHER CATHOLIC CHERCHES -- - BELLE PLAINE CONGREGATION- AL CHURCH-LA THERAN AND EVANGELICAL CHURCHES-BENTON COUNTY SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSOCIATION.
It would be impossible to say when the first religious services were held in Benton county. as it was characteristic of the early times to observe some kind of Christian worship whenever half a dozen or more adults could be gathered together. Before the early fifties. missionaries connected with the Methodist church and other of the old established denominations occasionally visited Benton county and gave religions comfort and moral support to the few settlers in this frontier seetion of the country. The mis- sionaries of this great proselyting Protestant denomination were evidently first in the field.
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY
METHODISM IN BENTON COUNTY.
Methodism in Benton county was introduced almost with the advent of the first settlers. It is known that Elijah Evans gathered a few of the settlers in the northeast part of the county about the year 1847. to hold services in his house. near the present town of Urbana. There is no record of any regular services hay- ing been held until the second Sabbath of August. 1850. when Rev. Rood. of Iowa City, held a religious meeting in the first court house at Vinton. This court house, which also served as the first regular church of the county, was a little frame building. at that time unfinished. and therfore without doors or windows except openings left for them. At one end of the unfinished court room was a rude platform of puncheon laid across the sleepers which was constructed in honor of Mr. Wood, the preacher. The little congregation were obliged to content themselves by sitting upon the floor timbers with their feet upon the ground. There is no record of another religious service having been held in the court house, as the structure was destroyed by fire in February, 1853.
FIRST METHODIST CHURCH, VINTON.
About the time of the burning of the court house. Rev. H. Taylor was doing missionary work on the frontier and in the spring of 1853 succeeded in organizing the First Methodist Episcopal church of Vinton. with the following eleven members: Elijah Evans and wife. Elmer Howard and wife. David B. Keys and wife, William Taft and wife. Joseph Morris and wife. and J. D. Tracy. Soon after the organization of this church. the Iowa Conference appointed Rev. H. S. Burleigh to the Vinton circuit. but not being able to find a residence within the town. he secured a small room in a farmer's house. sis miles out in the country. Although the denomination thus established itself in Benton county in rather modest and unostentious circunstances the church of which Mr. Burleigh assumed charge developed into one of the largest in the Upper Jowa conferences. Some time after the founding of the church at Vinton. meetings were held at the homes of the various members: the first to open his house for this purpose being the father of Hon. Marion Evans. In 1855. what is now known as Good Templars Hall was created in Vinton, and the First Methodist church rented it for religious purposes until the year 1857. by which time the society had increased to about eighty. This en- conraging growth called for the erection of a church home.
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THE BUILDING OF THE CHURCH.
In 1858. under the pastorate of Rev. John Ridlington. the basement of the church was first occupied. and in 1863 the old brick church was completed over it. Much of the material which entered into its construction-in fact all of the woodwork and timbers-was supplied by Bowe's mill. being hauled from Bentos City for that purpose by ox teams, the latter under the "manas -- ment" of Romanzo E. Bowe.
The period of the building of the church was also the season of hard times, but the faithful Methodists of Vinton circuit labored bravely and unceasingly and, in spite of every drawback, built up a flourishing society. At this period of its history the circuit embraced besides Vinton, Big Grove, Spring Creek. Mud Creek. and Royal's School house. During this trying ordeal for the Vinton circuit, gracious revivals were held at Vinton and in other churches, and the society continually increased in strength, al- though the building of the church neces arily dragged. Money was not only scarce and hard to collect. but was so unreliable that what was secured one day might be almost worthless the next. The pillars of the elmirch and the hardest laborers of this season were those faithful pastors. Rev. J. M. Rankin and Rev. F. X. Miller. While the former. the preacher of the church, was actually carry- ing the hod for the workmen engaged on the church building. Rev. Miller was sent east by the board of trustees to secure funds to complete the house of worship. Ilis efforts of about four months resulted in seenring enough money to finish the basement. which was used for some time before the superstructure was completed. In a letter written during recent years Mr. Miller gives several members of his congregation hearty credit for their faithful wor's during this period. "There were some grand good people on the Vinton charge, " he says, "Dr. Boyd and wife, Elijah Evans and wife. Rev. Stephen Williams and wife, David Hollingsworth and wife. Hiram Roszell and wife, Martha L. Ralyea and many other good people."
As stated the church was not entirely completed until 1863. when Rev. S. C. Freer was pastor : and his gracious life and faith- fulness in the upbuilding of the Vinton society were recorded in one of the church's beautiful memorial windows.
In 1864 Rev. S. A. Lee assumed charge of the circuit, and it
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was mainly through his efforts that the first parsonage was secured. By this time the membership had so increased that an addition to the church was necessary. Under the pastorate of Rev. Scaman A. Knapp such addition of the seating capacity was made in the form of a transcept which was built at an expenditure of several thousands of dollars, and doubled the church accommodations.
KIND WORDS FROM MR. KNAPP.
Mr. Knapp afterward entered government employ. but recalls these early days of his pastorate at Vinton in the following words : "I vividly recall those veterans of Methodism, every expression of their countenance is clearly photographed upon my memory, and the tones of their voires come to me through the corridor of years as lifelike and resonant as if they were present. Personally I may have forgotten some, but the old guard of the Amen corner I shall never forget. I think those days were the happiest of my life. While the position I now occupy gives me an acquaintance vastly wider and commands a salary much more tempting than the salary of the little brick church in the early days of Vinton, vet it seems to me in some respects the work there was more attract- ive and more valuable to me than any position I have since held. and I send a kind greeting to all the members of the Methodist church at Vinton."
A few months after this addition, and while the society was enjoying an unusual season of prosperity. the first railroad entered the city limits, and unfortunately was laid within a few feet of the church building. It may be imagined that with the passing and switching of the passenger and freight trains, religious services were apt to be interrupted or at least made unpleasant, but the congregation "suffered all and endured all" for nearly twenty years. and finally. in 1887. under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. M. H. Smith, the present attractive edifice was completed at a cost of more than twenty thousand dollars. It was dedicated on the first Sabbath of January. 1889. by Bishop MeCabe (then Chaplain MeCabe). In 1905 Rev. Frank L. Loveland was called to the pulpit and during his pastorate the church was re-embellished, a fine pipe organ installed and other improvements added. at a cost of five thousand dollars. About the same time a well furnished parsonage was also built for three thousand dollars.
During Rev. Frank L. Loveland's pastorate the church cele- brated the fiftieth anniversary of its establishment as a permanent Vol. I-17
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY
society; its real founding being dated from the time when it rented Templar's Hall for religious services. Upon this occasion Bishop MeCabe, who dedicated the church in 1889, was present as the chief speaker. Perhaps one of the greatest causes of rejoicing upon this occasion was the fact that the debt of the church had been finally liquidated.
WHITE ELEPHANT SLAUGHTERED.
One of the events of the jubilee was also the preparation of a complete and interesting historical sketch of the church, prepared
PIPE ORGAN. VINTON METHODIST CHURCH.
and read by J. E. Marietta, secretary of the board of trustees. from whose paper the following is extracted as a fitting conclusion of this article: " The records of the trustees and official boards of
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the past fifty years would all make very interesting reading for this occasion, but those meetings to be chronicled as among the more significant are those which met for the purpose of laying plans for the slaughtering of the White Elephant (as the church mortgage is properly called). The financial depression of the times seems to have thwarted the purpose of the church to dedicate free from debt both on the old and the new.
"The first meeting of the board of trustees was held on the day following the adoption of articles of incorporation and the only business transacted of which a record was kept was the creation of the first White Elephant. and from that time on, through all the years of our history, records appear of the slaughtering of the White Elephant. Some of the members even yet recall the Mt. Vernon debt, the Jacob Stevens loan and the Church Extension Society mortgage, all just and legitimate obligations which were met with Christian fortitude. The burning of the latter mortgage we celebrated through the magnificent labors of our well and dearly remembered Jolm W. Clinton. D. D., the only pastor called to his great reward while in the active pastorate of our charge, and whose Godly virtues we would emulate. Our celebration of the last slaughter on last Sabbath is a fit event for the first day of this Golden Jubilee. During these fifty years of history this church has contributed to church and parsonage building and improve- ment at least $40.000.00: to ministerial support and current ex- penses over $80.000.00, and for the benevolences of our church more than $20.000.00. making a total of $140,000.00. We are now «lear of the incubus of debt and may we look for the future achieve- ments far exceeding the magnificent record of the past.
"Verily these founders of carly Methodism in Vinton builded even better than they knew. Those beginning days were times of great sacrifice and faithful toil for the building up of the cause of Christ in our midst which cannot be forgotten by those who remain to review the experiences through which they passed, while those who have come after to carry on the work so well begun will not be unmindful of what has been done in other days.
"For nearly one-half of the time since the organization of the charge one of my greatest privileges has been to be an officer of your board on whom has been devolved the duty of keeping the records of the church, and during that time I recall many whose faces we see no more among us. Of all such we would speak in words of praise. Their numbers are too great to particularize. "'Gone, but not forgotten.'
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"This may be said of many who once filled places in pulpit and pew of this church. 'Rich in labors; abundant in sacrifices; precious in memory, they have gone to make a part of the church triumphant, while their work and influence still live to strengthen and cheer the church militant.' "
A BELOVED METHODIST PIONEER.
Mr. Marietta pays the following tribute to the first pastor of the church. Rev. H. S. Burleigh, it being in the form of an extract from one of the church papers upon the occasion of the peaceful death of this beloved pioneer of Methodism: "He was such a little old man-eighty-six years old his last birthday. So crippled with rheumatism, he had to use two eaues, and walk so slowly that his wife was in constant terror lest he be run over by the passers-by. For years he had been a minister in the Methodist church, one of the pioneers in a great western state. What stories he could tell of early Methodism !
"Like so many of the old veterans of the cross. they had no means of support when old age came; but a loyal church paid the necessary amount yearly, and the old couple were contented and happy in one of our delightful Old People's Homes. Their home was but one room now: but they were so thankful for the qniet and peace of that one room in which to spend their remain- ing days.
"A great sorrow had come to the old man. He was getting blind, so he could no longer see to read or see the faces of his friends. A celebrated oculist was consulted, and for three years the old man submitted to the painful treatment.
"One early spring day the old couple went to the doctor's office, and the assistant looked into his eyes. 'We can do nothing for you sir.' he said. . Can't you, doctor ?' asked the old minister feebly. 'If you were twenty years younger we might, but it's no use trying now.' 'Well, ma. we better go home then.'
"The quick ears of the faithful wife detected the weary voice. and she led him tenderly from the room. When the door of the office closed behind them she whispered to him: 'We will go and see Dr. Johns. If anyone can do anything he can.' They con- sulted the kind old doctor, and, with tears in his eyes, he said to the aged man: 'No power on carth ean restore your sight.' 'Oh, doctor, I want to see again.' was the ery as the old man sank to the floor.
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"Willing hands lifted him up, and after a little a strong man carried him to his carriage, and drove quickly to their home. They laid him on his bed, never to rise from it. IFe recovered conseious- ness after a little, and the old-time cheerfulness; but never spoke again of seeing. Many friends visited him during the few days that he lived. His pastor, class leader, and a few friends met for a little service in his room, and he was the happiest of them all. The end came peacefully ; and he could see at last."
THE PASTORAL ROSTER.
The following have served the church from the commencement : 1853, II. S. Burleigh; 1854, Nelson Wells; 1855, S. R. Young; 1856, B. F. Taylor; 1857. H. H. Keith ; 1858-9, J. Ridlington; 1860, J. M. Rankin, resigned: 1860, F. X. Miller; 1861-2. S. C. Freer : 1863-4, S. A. Lee; 1865-6, Uriah Ebberhart; 1867-8, S. A. Knapp; 1869. J. C. Cormack; 1870-1, G. W. Brindell; 1872, R. W. Peebles ; 1873-4. D. Sheffer; 1875, T. C. Golden ; 1876-7. E. L. Miller ; 1878-9, J. R. Berry ; 1880-1, R. D. Parsons ; 1882-3, William Brush ; 1834-5, II. D. Church ; 1886-8, M. H. Smith ; 1889-90, W. A. Pottle; 1891-3, J. W. Clinton, deceased: 1893, R. F. Hurlbut; 1894, J. C. Magee; 1895-6, T. M. Evans; 1897, R. D. Parsons; 1898-1905, Frank L. Loveland; 1906-7, Rev. Dewitt W. Clinton; 1908 -. Rev. W. F. Spry. The present membership of the church is 510, making it the strongest religious organization in Vinton.
The first Sabbath school in connection with the church was held in the home of Elijah Evans, about the same time that the adults formed a society. The juveniles gathered in the houses of varions members until 1862. when they met in Crowe's Hall. which gave the school better chance to grow. The membership of the Sabbath school increased in excess of the growth of the church. until the completion of the first edifice, when the school became one of the largest in the city, and has since maintained its former rank.
SHELLSBURG METHODIST CHURCH.
Rev. C. S. Burnard, the Methodist minister at Shellsburg. also includes the First Eden congregation in his charge, and the parent church numbers about 125 members. The organization at Shellsburg was effected by Rev. B. F. Taylor in 1856, when four- teen joined the church. The first religious edifice of the Shells-
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY
burg society was built in 1861, at a cost of $1,200, but the growth of the church membership made a larger structure necessary, and in the summer of 1876 it was erected, being dedicated during the same year by Rev. Mr. Crippen, of Waterloo, who took his text from Mark X :29:30. Succeeding the first pastor, Rev. B. F. Taylor, who remained until 1858. were the following: Revs. D. Donaldson. II. P. Hollensworth, C. W. Brewer. H. W. Beach, George Rains. D. C. Wortz, William Glassner. Joseph Wilkinson, J. Baker, James Leslie, Asa Critchfield, L. Winsett. A. N. Lee, Reuben Ricks, S. Sherin, F. E. Days, J. A. Davis. W. F. Pitner, N. S. Mustrom. William Cobb, J. F. Norton, William A. Allen, George L. Culp. W. F Spry, W. N. Brown, L. D. Stubes, James Carson, J. II. Barr, A. B. Fickle and C. S. Burnard.
FIRST M. E. CHURCH, BELLE PLAINE.
The first Methodist Episcopal church of Belle Plaine was organized June 2, 1866, the officers of the corporation being G. D. Blue. president ; W. W. Benson, vice-president, and A. N. Twogood. secretary and treasurer. During the same month Messrs. T. Thompson, Benson and Twogood were selected as a building com- mittee, and on July 21st. lot 2, block 3, was purchased for a church site. Soon after a contract was made with D. B. Blue for the erection of a building to cost $2,484, and the edifice was completed during the later half of the year. The dedicatory services in Jannary, 1867, were conducted by Rev. A. J. Kynett. Among the well known pastors of this church have been Revs. J. B. Taylor. R. W. Milner. G. W. Ballow. F. P. Schaefer, J. A. Davis, O. B. Waite. N. Pye. F. G. Clarke. J. Q. Robinson. L. L. Lockhard and Dilhan Smith, 1909.
The fine church now occupied by the society was built in 1888 at a cost of $15,000 and the $5,000 parsonage was completed in 1902. Membership of the church about 350.
BLAIRSTOWN M. E. CHURCH.
A class of Methodists was formed in the vicinity of Blairstown in 1858, and in the fall of 1861 it was included in the Hickory Grove circuit under Rev. O. D. Boles. When the church was incorporated at Blairstown in 1868, Rev. S. W. Heald was the pastor in charge of the circuit. In that year the number of mem- bers on the circuit, including two other appointments, was seventy-
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two. A church edifice was erected and dedicated in the fall of 1878. Present membership, of the society eighty-five, with Rev. W. J. Pyle pastor.
THE VAN HORNE METHODIST CHURCH.
A Methodist Episcopal church was organized at Van Horne soon after the town came into existence as a station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. Its first pastor was Rev. Uriah Eberhart, who was followed by Rev. John G. Palmer. Then came Rev. W. S. Lewis, who became a bishop in the fall of 1908 and is now engaged in missionary work in China. After Dr. Lewis the following successively filled the pulpit: Revs. Adam Holm, T. A. Trimble, R. A. Miller, S. C. Bretnall, C. E. Logsden, C. B. Wright, W. H. Il. Bunch, William Bartle, H. T. Crawford, S. V. Williams, H. W. Artman and G. W. Dunham. Membership of church about fifty. Mr. Dunham has also under his charge the congregation at Second Eden. The church at Van Horne was for many years in the Blairstown circuit.
REV. THOMAS C. GOLDEN.
Rev. Thomas C. Golden was a prominent Methodist in Benton county for a number of years, after having served as chaplain of the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Infantry in the war of the Rebellion. He was a man of middle age when he entered the army, his original profession being that of medicine. He was a graduate physician when he came to America from England in 1849, and practiced both in his native country and in the state of Wisconsin. He also entered the itinerant ministry of the Methodist church, served as presiding elder in Wisconsin for ten years, and was several times a delegate to the general conferences. He came to Iowa in 1870 and was pastor of the church at Mt. Vernon for a number of years, as well as presiding elder of the district.
OTHER M. E. CHURCHES.
The Methodist societies at Urbana and Bear Creek are under Rev. W. W. Martin.
Rev. A. M. Ewert is the pastor of the Methodist church at Garrison, which was dedicated in 1874.
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HISTORY OF BENTON COUNTY
The Methodist societies at Norway and Walford are in charge of Rev. T. Y. Williams, a recent graduate of Cornell college. Mein- bership of both charges about forty.
VINTON'S NEW SCHOOL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The New School Presbyterians of Vinton formed an organiza- tion June 27, 1852, under Rev. Williston Jones. The original members of the society were James F. Young and Mrs. Mary Young, John S. Tilford and Mrs. Margaret A. Tilford, James Rice, Mrs. Maria Traer, Mrs. Amy Jones. Harrison Bristol and Mrs. Mary Bristol. Rev. Jolm Summer was the first stated supply of the society and was succeeded in the spring of 1854 by Rev. Nelson C. Robinson. After a pastorate of seventeen and a half years he was succeeded by Rev. Stephen Phelps, who not only served the church until its organization was lost in the union of the two churches. June 17. 1872. but continued as pastor of the united congregations.
OLD SCHOOL PRESBYTERIANS.
The Old School Presbyterians formed a society February 25. 1854, under Rev. J. S. Fullerton and Elder William Vaughn, a committee from the Presbytery of Cedar Rapids. Its original members were Franeis J. Dobbins and Mrs. Rachel Dobbins, Mrs. Rachel Gwinn, Mrs. Lavina Beatty. Miss E. Jane Watson, Henry Watson and Ezra Watson. Its ministers were: Rev. W. L. Lyons, who was pastor from the spring of 1856 for abont a year and a half; Rev. JJames Kirk, who served for three years from November 1. 1557: Rev. J. S. Dunning, 1863.9, and Rev. J. W. Crawford from the spring of 1869 until the union of the churches in 1872. At that time the First (New School) church had a membership of 200 and the Second ( Old School) of 125.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF VINTON.
The meetings of the First Presbyterian church were held sur- cessively in the old court house. J. S. Tilford's residence. Jones' Hall. Tilford's school house (especially built for the holding of , church services) and the Baptist church building, which had been sold and a larger structure erected. The Second Presbyterian society worshiped. previous to the union. at the Tilford school house, and in their frame churches of 1857 and 1866. The united
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NINTON.
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congregation enlarged the latter house of worship and occupied it until October 14, 1877, when they dedicated their present build- ing erected on the site of the Second Presbyterian church.
Dr. Stephen Phelps became pastor of the Presbyterian church of Vinton, which resulted from the union of the New and the Old School societies in 1872, continuing in charge until 1881. In that year he resigned to become president of Coc college. Dr. Eugene 11. Avery was then called to the pastorate, and, to the great regret of his parishioners, resigned his charge in 1899 to assume his min- isterial labors in California. In the following year Dr. Solomon S. Hilscher was installed as pastor, and remained in charge until October, 1907, when he was succeeded by Dr. P. Marion Sinns. The church now comprises about five hundred regular attendants and is among the strongest Presbyterian societies in Jowa.
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