USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa, History > Part 25
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By an act of the territorial legislature, approved July 31, 1840,289 certain parts of blocks were granted for the purposes mentioned. These particular sections of city blocks, as they are indicated on the plat filed by the surveyor, L. Judson, on July 4, 1839, are described as follows: The south one-half of blocks thirteen and fifty-one, which are found between Lucas and Dodge, and Van Buren and Gilbert on Church street, and which named the latter street; the south half of block sixty- seven, which is now the location of the Methodist Episcopal and St. Mary's Catholic churches, the north half of block sixty- six, the home of the Christian church now, and formerly the location of the Methodist Protestant denomination. These lands could be secured by meeting the conditions named in the grant, which were not much more than the mere act of the tak- ing possession, and planting a building on the ground, for a special purpose.
The east half of "church lot in block sixty-six" was deeded to the Methodist Protestant church through its trustees, W. B. Snyder, Thomas Snyder, E. Metcalf, J. P. Hamilton, and Arthur Rowan, on January 20, 1843, although they had select- ed this site sometime before.290 It was on May 13, 1841, that the corner stone of the first church building in Iowa City was laid by this denomination, Rev. John Libby acting for the church and Gov. Robert Lucas taking part in the services. It
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was, moreover, in this building that Dr. Reynolds taught his select school, and in which most of the "higher institutions of learning" mentioned in the previous chapters, made their be- ginnings. Here the first free public school was taught by A. G. Gower in 1847, and here later a Sunday school was con- ducted for the blind. It is said, "this house was of brick with a high basement, with a long flight of stairs from the avenue."
When in later years it was repainted it became known as "The Old Blue Church." The first annual conference of this church met in the State House in October, 1846, William Pat- terson being the presiding officer. The principal address at the opening was delivered by Rev. W. H. Collins.
When the old Methodist Protestant church was removed in 1886, it occurred to M. W. Davis, that there must have been a corner stone laid when it was built, and on making inquiry found that his surmise was correct. By per- mission of Sheets & Co., who had secured the old ma- terial in the building, he made an excavation, and found the object of his search, which was of the following descrip- tion: A block of limestone from the capitol quarries of cubical form of eighteen inches edge, having a cavity three and one- half inches deep by four wide and six in length, which con- tained when found an empty bottle and four lead plates. Two of the plates are two and one-half, by four and three-fourths inches and the other two, somewhat different in dimensions, and in thickness they are approximately one-sixteenth of an inch. If one doubts this he may examine them in the case, in the southwest corner of the rooms of The Historical Society, in Iowa City. The plates contain the following inscription :
PLATE I-FACE "May 12, 1841, "W. H. Harrison Died April 4th, 1841, "John Tyler, Acting President "U. S. A." PLATE I-REVERSE "Robert Lucas, Governor of Iowa."
This is scratched on the plate by some one as a chisel would be used in imitating writing, while the other plates have the lettering stamped on them one at a time, in straggling lines, from type known to the initiated as "two line nonpareil con-
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densed caps," which represents type "a little lighter and deeper" than the largest type used in headlines of the ordinary reading columns.
PLATE II-FACE "Iowa City "Located May 4th, 1839.
"Chauncey Swan -
"John Ronalds
Commissioners"
"Robert Ralston
PLATE II-REVERSE "Estimated number of Inhabitants "in Iowa City, "May 5, 1841, "1,000" PLATE III-FACE "Methodist Protes[ tant] Church, "In Iowa City, "Organized May 4th, 1841" PLATE III-REVERSE "The Erection of This House "Commenced May 5th, 1841." PLATE IV-FACE "The Corner Stone "of this House Laid "May 12th, 1841." PLATE IV-REVERSE
"John Libby
"John [W. B.] Snyder
Building
"Malcolm Murray
"Horace Smith
Committee"
"Thomas Snyder -
The bottle was uncorked and empty, indicating the decay of the cork through chemical action, and if the bottle contained wine, as supposed, it had evaporated during the forty-five years of its confinement in the narrow cavity. For some time these interesting things were on exhibition at Mr. Davis's store, when the plates were placed in charge of The Historical' Society, and the corner stone went somewhere else, no one seems now to know where. That corner stone should have been retained in the new building as the old Mechanics' Academy
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corner stone and tablet were retained in the walls of the Uni- versity hospital. Nothing more was found in the corner stone than the articles mentioned, no trace of any papers of any kind. This building was the first public building in Iowa City, so it is said and almost the first one of brick. Not one of those named on the building committee was living at the time the corner stone was removed, and it is believed that only one of them remained here until his death. Probably very few have looked at these tablets since they were placed in their present location, and surely no one would think of their history as they now appear. The Christian church stands on the ground where the old building described above was erected.291
At the Iowa City Quarterly Conference held November 10, 1885, the new pastor, Rev. G. W. Brindell, having failed to find any history of the First Methodist Episcopal church, moved the appointment of a committee to inquire diligently for facts and data for such a history, and to prepare and inscribe such history in the records of the church, where they would be permanently preserved. The motion was favorably received and was by vote unanimously adopted, whereupon a committee con- sisting of the pastor and L. Kaufman, J. G. Starkey, G. W. Kettlewell, and Chas. Cartwright were appointed for this pur- pose. After considerable research and correspondence with Revs. J. P. Hardy and E. H. Waring of the Iowa Conference the following historical statement was prepared, which is be- lieved to be the accurate history of the church as far as it can be gathered :
"Methodism in Johnson county probably dates its begin- ning from the Iowa River mission which was established in 1836 by the Illinois Conference, extending from the Mississippi river to the limits of civilization on the west wherever a set- tlement was found that might come under its jurisdiction. The missionary appointed to the field was Daniel G. Cart- wright, who at the close of the year 1836, reported a member- ship of seventy. In 1839 the Iowa mission was formed with Joseph L. Kirkpatrick as preacher. This mission appears to have been named for Iowa City which had been but recently established in the new territory and located in the brush on the banks of the Iowa river by the commissioners appointed for that purpose.
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"Rev. Kirkpatrick supplied the few settlers in Johnson county at that date with preaching, but for want of suitable accommodations he did not open his mission in the city until late in 1839, or early in 1840. The town had.been surveyed and the stakes driven for the capital of the territory the May before. The population at the time of the first services could not have exceeded one hundred souls, and he, according to the testimony of Colonel Trowbridge, preached the first sermon in Iowa City at the house of Matthew Teneyck, at or near the corner of Iowa avenue and Dubuque street.
In June, 1840, Rev. James L. Thompson, a veteran minister of Indiana Conference, appeared and preached, as did also the Rev. Barton H. Cartwright, the pioneer minister of Burling- ton, then on the Rockingham circuit about the same time. His. written statement, that he preached in Iowa City but once and that the State House building was just then commenced, fixes the time of his visit as subsequent to the sermon of Kirkpat- rick. These three, then, were the pioneer Methodist preachers of the county."
From a manuscript in the possession at one time of Rev. E. H. Waring, of the Iowa Conference, it appears that some time in the autumn of 1840 a few members of the church in this vicinity associated themselves together as a class, among them being Mrs. Cole, the mother of Mrs. Teneyck, B. C. Pin- ney and wife, C. R. Ward and wife, John Horner and wife, John Parrott and wife, Mrs. Gardner and Mrs. Hawkins, A. T. McElwaine, Isaac Bowen, and B. M. Horner. The first form- ally organized class was in the fall of 1840, under the direction of Bartholomew Weed, the presiding elder, in place of the regularly appointed minister, who was detained by illness. During the same visit, the elder held the first quarterly meet- ing in Iowa City, and appointed Chauncy R. Ward the first class leader of the society here. The meeting was held in a school house belonging to Jesse Berry, and it stood on the ground later occupied by the Arcade Rink, which was burned some time about 1885. Another class was organized in the neighborhood of John Parrott's, east of Iowa City about four miles, and of this class, B. M. Horner was the appointed leader.
The precise number of members in Iowa City at the close of the first year of the church in August, 1841, cannot be deter-
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mined very accurately, but the number in the Iowa mission was reported as 122. Having no church building, the infant society occupied the most suitable rooms that offered and that were available for their use. Following the school building of Jesse Berry, that of Mrs. Anson Hart on Iowa avenue was used by the mission or class. It was in the fall of 1841 that the Rev. Geo. B. Bowman was sent to this charge, in reference to whose appointment the presiding elder of the time has the following account: "I found it difficult to find a suitable man for Iowa City, since we contemplated building a church there during the year, and wanted a man who was suited to that kind of work. Bishop Morris said to me at our conference (Rock River), 'Come down to the Missouri Conference which is to meet at Palmyra, and I think we can find you a man.' I went, and a young man by the name of G. B. Bowman was selected, who proved to be the right man in the right place."
It was only by the exercise of the authority of the Bishop, that the transfer could be made, and there was some hesita- tion in the matter after it had been determined upon by the Bishop even, for some of his associates almost persuaded him to remain after he had consented to the transfer, and to under- take the formation and the establishment of a new church in Iowa City. The Missouri conference held a night session to close their business and there was strong opposition to letting the man go. Bishop Morris also said: "Brother Bowman went to his new mission, gathered a large congregation, formed a new society, erected a church, and found the means between that and Boston, to pay for it. In 1844 I organized the Iowa Conference in that same church erected by Rev. Bowman in Iowa City." In reference to the soliciting trip of Rev. Bowman the old manuscript says: "During the first year the society experienced a very considerable revival and many were added to the church. Still being without a house of worship, the temporary capitol was used for that purpose." This building was located just east of the Whetstone drug store and was the meeting place of a great many of the dif- ferent denominations at various times before they secured any meeting place of their own. The following spring, the mem- bers being in great distress and inconvenience on account of room, and being too poor to build for themselves, it was de-
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termined on mutual consultation to seek aid abroad and oc- cordingly Rev. Bowman was appointed "the agent of the congregation to solicit funds, and Rev. J. L. Thompson filled the place in his absence."
This trip occupied six months time, when the pastor re- turned with about $4,000 in money and materials, which he had secured in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. With means thus obtained, and with the small local subscription that the members and friends were able to contribute, there was erected a "splendid brick church, forty-five by sixty feet, with a basement throughout, with a large school room and four class rooms. The church was well finished and handsome- ly seated, with aisles, four tiers of seats and an altar and pulpit of the most substantial workmanship."
At the close of Rev. Bowman's term in 1843, Rev. Laban Case was appointed to the charge, but there was a special arrangement whereby he was to have the mission and Rev. Thompson was to have the work of the town proper. The health of the latter failing, a young man by the name of Lewis was appointed to the place for two reasons, it was said. He was a talented scholar from Cincinnati, and had been sent to Mahaska county to an Indian mission, and was now sent here for the "double purpose of supplying the station and for starting a school designed as a Conference Academy." The house of worship of the Methodist Protestant church on the avenue, recently removed to make room for the Christian church, was rented, chiefly through the labors of Wm. and Thos. Snyder, for the Academy or College, and here Mrs. Hart, and afterward James Harlan, subsequently United States sen- ator and secretary of the interior, taught there for nearly two years. The very moderate success of this enterprise seems to have inspired the Rev. G. B. Bowman to select the site now occupied by the College at Mount Vernon, which became the Conference Academy, in place of the one which was begun in Iowa City.
In 1844, when the Iowa Conference was established, the city was made a station and the country was formed into a circuit. Rev. David Worthington was assigned to the station as the first pastor, and in 1845 there were one hundred and forty-five members. In this connection, it should be remembered, that
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the territory gave building lots to the pioneer religious so- cieties which should erect church edifices in a given time, and this accounts for the locations of several churches, and the excellence of the sites, besides the promptness of their con- struction, at a time when they had to go "down east" to get the money. The title deed to the lots was signed by the gover- nor of the territory, John Chambers.
During the pastorate of Rev. A. B. Kendig the building be- came too small to accommodate the congregation and an ex- tension of forty feet square was added to the west side in 1864. In the first structure the pulpit was in the north end, and at this change in the building it was placed on the east side of the room and the front entrance was on Dubuque street instead of Jefferson. On a very cold Sunday morning in February, 1884, during the pastorate of Rev. R. D. Parsons, the church was discovered to be on fire, when it was so damaged by both fire and water that it was necessary to rebuild the entire structure, at a cost of $8,000. At about nine o'clock on Sunday morning, April, 1906, during the pastorate of Rev. L. C. Clark, the build- ing was again found to be on fire and in this case it was burned to the ground. Immediate steps were taken to rebuild on a much larger scale, and the present fine building is the result, which cost to erect the sum of $75,000.
The first parsonage built was only a cabin and did not cost more than $175, according to the records, but the second, built on the northwest corner of the church lot, was more preten- tious, and was for the time called a good house. A third par- sonage, which was pronounced a spacious residence, was con- structed in 1860, during the pastorate of Rev. J. G. Dimmitt, which was, as is often the truth, the work of the Ladies' Aid Society led by Mrs. Anson Hart. It was occupied by successive pastors for a period of thirty-four years. In 1895, during the pastorate of Rev. Frank E. Brush, the present large and com- modious house was erected at a cost of $6,500.
After the fire in 1884, the Presbyterian church opened their house for the use of the congregation of the burned-out church, and the pastors united in the service, preaching alternately and uniting in the communion service, while Dr. Fellows led the united meeting of the young people's societies on Sunday evenings until the Methodist church was rebuilt. Since the
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organization in 1839, forty-one pastors have served this church, a majority of whom have passed from the land of the living and left their work to be continued by those who may follow. Each one has his own individual history that cannot be in- cluded in one short sketch of the local church. The present church was dedicated on February 9, 1908, and the exercises continued for the greater part of a week, which brought into the church at its various programs many citizens of the com- munity from all the churches and some from beyond the bor-
FIRST M. E. CHURCH, IOWA CITY
ders of the state. The pastor of this church at this date, 1911, is Dr. Rollo F. Hurlburt.292
The Tiffin charge of the Methodist Episcopal church now embraces Tiffin and North Liberty. At various times during its history it has included, besides these two churches, Coral- ville, Greencastle, and Center school, and in 1871 the circuit had as many as six churches, while as late as 1880 all of the above named five churches were on the circuit.
Within this territory the first preaching seems to have been done by the Rev. Peter Patterson, of Iowa City, in a log house in Penn township, some two miles east of North Liberty. This preaching, though frequent, is said not to have been regular. How long it lasted no records state, but in 1841 a society was formed of the following members: George and Mary Wein,
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Jacob, Mary, William, and Jane Alt, and Maria Wray. About this time preaching began at the residence of Henry S. Gould on Dry Branch in the vicinity of Greencastle, in 1840 or 1841. Later, service was held at the home of a Mr. Babcock, but after a time was taken to the school house. Preaching in Clear Creek township also began early. The first "regular preach- ing" was at the residence of Thos. King, about a mile east of Tiffin, in 1845 or 1846. The implication is, that preaching was held there even before that, although there was no regular place for holding the services until they were taken to Mr. Keeler's stage farm in the same neighborhood. Such was the founding of early Methodism of Johnson county northwest of Iowa City, and it is interesting to note further that these three points had an almost simultaneous beginning.
As to the growth of the circuit, it may be mentioned that about 1842 the place of holding the services in Penn township was changed to a school house on the present site of North Liberty. After nine years the people began the erection of a building of their own, but difficulties so hindered that it was not completed until 1855, four years later, when the new church was dedicated by the Rev. Geo. B. Bowman. The year 1860 seems to have seen a reorganization in North Liberty, for from this date on the records are silent until 1870 and we have no news of the churches which later made up the circuit. It is hardly safe, however, to say the circuit embracing North Lib- erty and Tiffin was not in existence prior to 1870, for an ex- amination of the respective lists of pastors shows that the two churches had many in common. Since 1855 there is a list of the pastors of North Liberty with the dates of their pastor- ates appended. The town of Tiffin has a list of "some early Methodist preachers," and comparing these two lists we find, that from 1857 to 1867 inclusive, with the exception of the two years 1863 to 1865, Tiffin had the same pastors as did North Liberty. Evidently they were together on the circuit.
Beginning with 1870 much fuller information is at hand, since Tiffin is now a part of the North Liberty charge, while in the autumn of this same year Coralville was made a part also. "Religious apathy and a want of church accommoda- tions," runs an old record, "made us anticipate trials and slow progress, knowing however that 'bread cast upon the waters
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would return after many days,' we 'sowed in tears' expecting to reap in joy." The year following a class of three full mem- bers and thirteen probationers was organized. The member- ship at Tiffin in 1870 was only thirty-three, and the services were held in the Christian church. The people were discour- aged and spiritless, but the next winter a great revival changed all. With more than forty conversions the church took on new life and felt so strong that when the Annual Conference met the next fall Tiffin and Coralville asked to be constituted a cir- cuit by themselves. Their request was granted and they were given a pastor, though at the time neither of the societies owned a dollar's worth of property. The Christian church at Tiffin now denied the Methodists the use of their building, which action forced them to build for themselves before they felt able. While their building was being erected they wor- shiped in a school house, until its completion on September 15, 1872, when what must have been a most excellent building for the time, was dedicated. It cost $3,100 and is still sufficiently large for all the needs of the society.
Changes in the constitution of the circuit were frequent. In 1875 Center school, six miles south of Tiffin, was added. A four week's meeting here resulted in thirty-four being added to the membership, which so encouraged these people that they felt they must have a church building also. However, they never got it, and only two years later the appointment was discontinued, the membership being transferred to Tiffin. North Liberty seems to have been left "to be supplied" in the fall of 1877, since the Rev. E. Sampson, having been appointed to Tiffin, supplied it by a special arrangement between himself and the people. It was during this year that the parsonage at Tiffin was built. In the winter of 1878 Coralville was discon- tinued at its own request, but received again in 1880.
The fall of 1895, the Rev. T. B. Owen, having resigned the pastorate of the charge to take an appointment as a mission- ary to China, the Rev. Thos. Biggar was appointed to complete the year. He remained, however, but a short time, when the presiding elder removed him and appointed the Rev. W. C. Barclay in his place. By a heroic effort, which the people have not forgotten to this day, Mr. Barclay succeeded in erecting the beautiful structure in North Liberty which is the home of
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that society at the present. During his pastorate a Sunday school room and a furnace were added to the Tiffin church, and in 1899 Greencastle was transferred to the Oxford work. The church at Tiffin was "renovated and greatly improved" in 1898, and since then the parsonage has received extensive im- provements.
For a few years Cross Roads chapel was an appointment on the charge, but has not been listed since 1906, while the fol- lowing year Coralville was dropped and the next year Tiffin and North Liberty comprised the circuit, which arrangement has continued to the present. The only other noteworthy event since then is an extensive remodeling of the Tiffin church in 1910, the various improvements amounting to $2,400, and in- cluding modern conveniences.293 Rev. Rollo F. Fisher is the pastor of the Tiffin church and the circuit at the present time.
The home of David Sweet was probably the scene of the first sermon in the township of Fremont, which was preached by that pioneer minister of the Methodist church, Rev. Kirkpat- rick. It will be remembered that the earliest settlers here were David Sweet, James Magruder, who is mentioned as securing the first tax receipt in the county, and the Walkers. It has been stated that the first white child born in the county was the daughter of George Hawkins, who settled here temporarily in the early part of 1837. William Kelso and John Cain were also among this early group who settled in the Keokuk Reserve after its cession to the government.
For a number of years the Methodist Episcopal people of Fremont township held their meetings at King's school house. They organized at first in 1858 with the assistance of Rev. A. W. Stryker. The original members at the time were Mr. and Mrs. Robert Anderson, Sidney Potter, A. W. Leonard, George Sanders, Clement Wood, and Mr. and Mrs. Richard Huskins. In 1868 they built a church south of Lone Tree at a distance of about two miles, and later the same was moved to the town and rebuilt at some increased cost, when it was re- dedicated by the man who did so much for the local churches, Rev. A. B. Kendig. To mention all the pastors of these local churches seems impossible, as they were in many cases here for a brief time only and in but few cases had any particular con- nection with the local history longer than the time they labored
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