USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 41
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THE CHURCH IN ORANGE TOWNSHIP.
Located on the land of Alexander Matney in Orange township and only a short distance from the Methodist church erected about 1837 was another church building erected by general subscription and used as a place of wor- ship for all denominations. It is probable that the church was built between 1820 and 1830. Beginning with 1874 the United Brethren congregation, organized by Rev. Alexander Carroll, were the principal users of the edifice. The building is now used by the Christian church and services are held twice each month.
LUTHERAN CHURCHES.
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church at Lyonsville dates from about 1851, at which time the following members organized a separate congregation : Jacob John, Solomon H. John, Jacob John, Jr., Daniel John, Benjamin John, Abraham John, Sr., John Scholl, William Scholl, Jacob Riebsomer, Charles Riebsomer, Isaac Brown, William Roth, Christian Isenhoser, Margaret Scholl, Nancy Scholl, Elizabeth Scholl, Sarah E. Scholl, Jane Scholl, Mary A. Titterington, Hester Scholl, Mrs. William Rady, Rebecca Riebsomer, Mrs. Brown, Anna M. Roth, Satrona Isenhoser, Elizabeth Heinbach, John Small- wood, Samuel Smallwood, Daniel Gise, Thomas Huston, Robert Scarlet, Michael Brown, David Scholl, Sarah Heinbach, Margaret Smallwood, Mary Huston, Amanda Smallwood, Mary Brown, Eva Brown, Matilda Gise and Hester Huston.
The congregation worshipped in the homes of its members until a build-
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ing was erected and ready for occupancy. A frame building was erected in 1853 about one-quarter mile south of Lyonsville and was dedicated on October 16, of that year, by the Reverend Riser, of Dayton, Ohio. The congregation has maintained regular services from the time of its organi- zation down to the present time.
The church building was rebuilt during the pastorate of Rev. J. L. Guard. Following is a list of pastors since 1853: J. B. Oliver, S. Weills, F. W. Keller, M. L. Kunklemon, J. H. Link, Jacob Keller, J. M. Hughes, Daniel Scholl, C. S. Spencer, S. B. Hymen, J. A. West, J. L. Guard, D. P. Heltzer, R. A. Halverstadt, E. P. Young, G. E. Harsh, D. P. Heltzel, W. J. Dentler and H. E. Turney, the present pastor. Reverend Turney has just finished in the church college at Springfield, Ohio, and after acting as the supply of the church during his preparation has now become the regular pastor. Services are held twice each month. The present membership is sixty-three.
The church maintains an active Sunday school with an average attendance of sixty. Emery A. Scholl is the superintendent. Other auxiliaries are a Luther League with a membership of thirty, a Mission Board of ten members; and a Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society of .fifteen members.
UNION EVANGELICAL CHURCH.
The Union Evangelical church in Jackson township (section 12) was organized in October, 1864. with seven members. As early as 1855 Rev. J. B. Oliver, then pastor of St Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church at Lyons- ville, began preaching to a few scattered Lutherans in the township and services were continued under his successors, the names of whom may be seen under the history of the St. Paul church. It was during the ministry of F. W. Keller that the church building was erected in 1864 and the name given to the congregation in accordance with the terms of subscription. The building was erected by Charles W. Elliott, the father of R. N. Elliott, an attorney of Connersville. The most prosperous time of the church's exist- ence seems to have been immediately after the organization, for the records show a gradual decline by deaths and removals from that time on. In 1917 James G. Smallwood was reported as the only member of the church left. There have been no regular services in the church for at least a quarter of a century.
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IRELAND UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.
The Ireland Universalist church, located in the northwestern quarter of section 35. Jackson township, was organized in the Ireland school house in November, 1868, by Rev. M. G. Mitchell, of Abington, Indiana. The charter members were the following: Milton Trusler, M. Annie Trusler, Laura J. Trusler, James and Emma Sims, John Rigor, Ada Smith, Thomas and Elizabeth Curry, Elnora Taylor, Ebenezer Glenn, James and May Smith. The first trustees were Milton Trusler, James Smith and Thomas Curry. Church services were held in the school house and in homes until 1871, when a frame edifice was built, the same being dedicated on August 13, 1871. Among the pastors who have served the congregation may be mentioned the following: M. G. Mitchell, J. B. Grandy. Frank Evans, W. S. Bacon, W. C. Brooks. R. N. John, William Tucker, May T. Clark, H. A. Merrell and the Reverends Case, Crossly, Cantwell, Biddlecome and McLean. Reverend Becker, of Kokomo, now has charge of the church.
Among the leaders of the church for many years was the late Milton Trusler, the farmer who has the credit for originating the idea of rural free delivery. It was the custom of Mr. Trusler to invite the entire congrega- tion to take dinner with him on the Sundays when regular church services were held, and it was not uncommon for a large number of the members to accept his hospitality.
A very unique feature of the administration of this church was-and is -the fact the minister is paid each Sunday for his services before he leaves the building. This is the only congregation in the county that pays "spot" cash for services rendered, and this fact may account for the fact the church has been able to maintain itself, while so many of the other rural churches in the county are finding themselves unable to continue their services.
UNIVERSALIST CHURCH AT EVERTON.
In about the year 1844 a brick church was erected at Everton by popu- lar subscription, among the contributors being Elisha Cockefair, J. N. Bon- ham, James Smith, Azariah Beckett, R. N. Taylor, Alexander Cockefair, John Rigor, Mordacai Miller, David Taylor, Ezra Bonham, and William Rigsby. The church was built by all denominations and was used as such during its existence. The doctrine of Universalism was very strong at one
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time in this section and the adherents of that faith used the church more than any other. Reverend Brooks and Reverend Kaylor were among the earlier ministers of the Universalist doctrine who officiated in this building. The church ceased to exist as an organization during the early nineties. The church building remained standing until 1905.
LONGWOOD UNIVERSALISTS.
One of the early religious societies in the county was that of the Uni- versalists in the vicinity of Longwood. John Philpott, Jr., entered land on what later became the John Ludlow farm and built a church house in 1842. Although the people were of the Universalist faith, the church was dedi- cated by a Methodist minister by the name of Stone. Among the pioneer ministers were James Smith, Peter Wiles, Arthur Miller, George Campbell and Jacob Daubenspeck. The church organization has long been dormant and must be classed among the many discontinued churches of the county.
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, CONNERSVILLE.
The Seventh-Day Adventist church at Connersville, the first and only one of that denomination in the county, began its formal existence on Sep- tember 1, 1900, with the following charter members: W. W. Hunt, Allie R. Hunt, Isabelle C. Hunt, Amanda Foster, L. A. McDaniel, Anna M. Kess- ler, Dollie Deaton, Ama M. Hunt, Lola M. Gray, Nellie Sparks, Anna D. Sparks, Blanch Gray and Leota Burke. The year following the organiza- tion a modern church building was erected on the corner of Thirteenth street and Indiana avenue. The elders of the church from the beginning include the following: R. H. Sparks, George R. Underwood, W. W. Hunt, J. H. Neihaus, W. W. Worster, Benjamin F. Harrison and P. Z. Kinne. The pastors of the church are itinerant. The congregation has nearly doubled since its organization, the membership at the present time being twenty-four.
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS AT GLENWOOD.
There appears to have been a Seventh-Day Adventist church in Glen- wood at one time, but the organization was abandoned several years ago and it has been impossible to get any definite records concerning its career.
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POPLAR RIDGE FRIENDS CIIURCH.
One of the many churches of the county which disappeared before the Civil War was organized by the Society of Friends in the eastern part of Jackson township about 1818 or 1819. Their first and only building was a log structure which stood about two miles east of Everton in section 23. Owing to the complete absence of all records of the church as well as the death of all the members it has been impossible to secure definite information concerning the church. The building itself seems to have been moved from its first site some time before the Civil War to a new location not far from the Cockefair woolen mill and repaired for use as a dwelling, but it had not been used as a house of worship for some years prior to that time. Mr. Cockefair intended to preserve it for future generations as a relic, as he expressed to his friends, but he died (October 25, 1912,) before he put his plan into execution. Since that time the building has gradually fallen into decay and now only a few logs are left of the once humble house of worship.
The old site will be forever marked because of a large granite boulder which stands a few hundred yards north of the church. This interesting reminder of the glacial age bears on one site the following inscription :
Wright
Jacob Wright Isaac Wright Jesse D. Ward Jesse Cook Stoci discant ut Amici hic Convinciebant 1838
Who these five men were, what they did to cause someone to raise such a stone to their memory, whether they are all buried beneath it: these are questions that the historian has not been able to unravel. It is even possible that they were not members of the church, but it is generally supposed that they were. The stone itself is as silent and uncommunicative as the ancient sphinx and the historian leaves it to the writer of romance as a fitting sub- ject for his imagination.
The church was organized at first as both an "established" and a "pre- parative" meeting. Among the early ministers were Susannah Hollings- worth, William Haughton and Rebecca and Sylvanus Talbert. The names of the members of this church have disappeared along with the log church
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in which they held their silent worship. This is the only church of this denomination ever established in Fayette county.
TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Services were commenced in Trinity Episcopal parish at Connersville under the charge of Rev. William Miller, November 3, 1850, the town hall being used for the purpose. The organization of the parish was accom- plished on May 24, 1852. A chapel building, forty by twenty-two feet, was erected in 1855 and the first services in it were conducted by Bishop Upfold on April 15, 1855.
On November 17, 1856, the cornerstone of the new edifice, situated on the southeast corner of Eastern avenue and Sixth street, was laid by Bishop Upfold with appropriate religious exercises, the stone being laid in the name of the Holy Trinity. Upon the site of the building the bishop and clergy read the one hundred and twenty-second Psalm and a number of articles enclosed in a leaden box were placed in the cornerstone by the rector. The "edifice was completed and consecrated on November 1, 1859, by Rt. Rev. George Uphold. This church was built mainly through the untiring efforts of Mrs. Mary S. Helm. Reverend Miller continued his services with the congregation for about a year and was succeeded by Rev. J. W. Stewart who served for a period of about six years, closing his work in 1861. The advent of the Civil War meant a great loss to the parish and from 1860 to 1867, the church was closed most of the time and no records are at hand to show the condition of affairs during that period. However, it is known that missionaries came from Indianapolis and Richmond during the period mentioned and held services with more or less regularity. In 1867 regular services were resumed and up to 1890 fourteen clergymen served the parish, their respective terms of service varying from three months to one year. Among the pastors who were connected with the parish during that period were J. W. Hibben, J. S. Harrison, Jesse R. Bicknell, J. Clausen and T. Test. In 1890, Rev. Willis D. Engle was appointed deacon in charge and served the parish until in June, 1894, he being succeeded by Rev. F. J. Col- lins, through whose influence a beautiful font, a lectern and a pulpit of quartered-oak were received from a church in Chicago. Reverend Collins remained only a few months and was succeeded by the following in the order mentioned: Rev. J. Sanders, Rev. James Stafford, Dr. A. Kinney Hall, Rev. William Crossman Otte, Rev. E. C. Bradley, Rev. B. R. Butler,
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Rev. Rush Sloane, Rev. W. R. Plummer, Doctor Guilligin and Rev. W. D. Engle, the present pastor, a resident of Indianapolis, who preaches to the congregation on the second and fourth Sunday of each month. The mem- bership of the parish includes thirty communicants.
From an architectural point of view Trinity church is second to none in the diocese. In the church are many memorials of more than usual interest, donated by members and friends, many of whom are now dead, among these memorials being an antique altar in memory of Alice Evans, a brass altar cross in memory of Daniel and Sarah Hawkins, a polished candelabra in memory of Alice H. Seradino and C. Huber, and a beautiful processional cross presented in memory of the Batamans, whose marriage was the first Episcopal wedding in Connersville. The first marriage in the church was that of Dr. Thomas Hall McCorkee and Susanna Rowan Enyart on October 6, 1874.
CHURCH OF CHRIST ( SCIENTIST ).
The first meeting held by adherents of the Christian Science faith was at the home of Charles Bucher on Eastern avenue, January 26, 1902. The first public service was held in the rooms now occupied in the Odd Fellows, July 6, 1902, and was attended by the following: A. T. Todd, Mrs. A. T. Todd, Omole Todd, Olin Todd, Charles P. Bucher, Mrs. Charles P. Bucher, Gertrude R. Bucher, Charles Brown, Mrs. Anna Brown, Norman Brown and Susan Conwell. Services were held there until March 4, 1903, when, on account of reduced numbers due to natural causes, the little band retired to the home of Charles P. Bucher. At that time the membership was com- posed of Charles P. Bucher and wife, Gertrude Bucher, Susan Conwell and Mrs. Anna Brown .. Due to the persistent efforts of Mrs. Charles P. Bucher the spirit of the society was kept alive and in due season she was to be rewarded by seeing the society grow into a permanent organization. Ser- vices were held in the front room of the Bucher home until the quarters became so crowded that a public place had to be acquired. This circum- stance led to a permanent church organization effected in the rooms of the Odd Fellow building, May 5. 1914.
During the time the society was first meeting in the Odd Fellow build- ing A. T. Todd was first reader, Mrs. Charles P. Bucher, second reader, and Charles P. Bucher, secretary-treasurer. After retiring to the Bucher home William E. Lowe became first reader and Mrs. Charles P. Bucher, second reader. At the present time Charles P. Bucher is president; William E. Lowe, first reader; Mrs. Milton Shade, second reader. The first instance
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of healing through the exercise of the doctrines of this cult in Connersville was in the case of the mother of Mrs. Anna Brown.
Services are held regularly every Sunday and Wednesday evening in the rooms that have always been occupied in the Odd Fellow building. As the Sunday school is limited only to the children, it is necessarily small. The membership of the congregation numbers about twenty-eight and the prospects for the future are bright.
PENTECOSTAL CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE.
The Pentecostal church of the Nazarene at Connersville began its exist- ence on April 15, 1900, with a membership of twenty-five. Rev. Ora A. Overholser was the first pastor and served one year. He was succeeded by Rev. B. B. Sapp, who served the congregation for a period of four years. He in turn was followed by Rev. R. R. Still and the latter by the Rev. O. E. Enos, each of whom was in charge of the congregation for one year. Rev. K. C. McCollum is the present pastor and has under his care a congregation composed of fifty members. The congregation occupies the church built by the congregation of the Christian church in 1872, but which was purchased by the Nazarene church in 1909. This church bears the distinction of being the only one of its kind in the county.
COLORED BAPTISTS.
The Mt. Zion Baptist church (colored), located on West Fifteenth street, was organized on March 26, 1888, with the following charter mem- bers: Eliza Johnson, Julia Harris, Jacob Collins, Joel Cassman, Alice West, Mame Marshall and William Huey. The society was organized at a meet- ing held in the city hall and continued to meet there periodically during the next three years. In 1891 the congregation erected an edifice at a cost of two thousand five hundred dollars. Ten pastors have served the congrega- tion. Rev. R. D. Leonard is the present pastor. The membership is quite active and growing and at the beginning of 1917 numbered one hundred and thirty.
AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
About 1844 or 1845 the colored people of the Methodist faith began to meet quite often in whatever quarters could be obtained for religious worship. In subsequent years an organization was perfected and a small
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frame church was erected which was occupied until 1872, when the brick house of worship was purchased from the Christian congregation for two thousand five hundred dollars. This was the property of the regular Meth- odists.
In comparatively recent years a number of the congregation of the regular colored Methodist Episcopal church organized the African Methodist Episcopal church and maintain a church house on Water street, near the parent organization. Among the first members of the church were Mrs. Margaret Turner. George Mitchell, Mrs. Dolly Wilson, James Freeman and wife, James Franklin and wife and Mrs. Powell. Some of the first ministers who preached to the congregation were Reverend Davis, Reverend Woodfork, Rev. Daniel Winslow, Rev. John Myers, Rev. John Payne and Rev. Charles Jones. Regular services are conducted and several auxiliaries serve the church.
CATHOLICITY IN FAYETTE COUNTY.
Sketch of St. Gabriel's Parish, by J. L. Heinemann.
Under the patronage of Saint Gabriel the archangel, arose" the first church for Catholics within the confines of Fayette county.
That event will be noted in detail later on, but there is a prelude that is not without interest, to which first a few lines should be devoted. It has to do with primitive times. Of the first pioneers, a limited number were evidently of Catholic antecedents. This fact is shown by traces of character and their family connections. Their names, localities whence they came, certain little preferences of which they were known to be possessed are all lesser parts of the general grouping of tradition, which, in the aggregate, has an assembly of derelict faith worth noting.
French traders traversed this neighborhood for several years, and no doubt lost something of their civilization and perhaps most of their religion during their travels. Their immediate successor, and previously their com- panion and brother in the craft of woodsmanship-John Conner-received his schooling, without doubt, at the hands of Catholic priests, at Detroit. His parents lie in graves marked with a cross, the symbol of the resurrection. And as a brother lived in the faith, and bestowed it upon his family, the connection with the olden faith, even in the case of John Conner. is not remote. Thomas Hinkston entered land here in 1811 and again in 1814. upon which he lived till his death in 1850. He was born in County Cavan, Ireland, in 1773. Whatever turn his religious practices took at times, it is well known that, with his accustomed brogue, he fondly sang the praises of his native land, from which he derived a superior education and which
OLD ST. GABRIEL'S CATHOLIC CHURCH.
From a Pencil Sketch made by Theodore P. Heinemann in 1870. Built in 1851 to 1853 on the south part of the double lots below Eleventh Street, facing Eastern Avenue. Discontinued for use as a Church in 1884.
PRESENT ST. GABRIEL'S. Ninth Street, near Western Avenue. Built, 1881-84.
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brought him distinction amid his rustic surroundings. He was one of the first land surveyors of Fayette county. As to the Irish schoolmaster, he was very much in evidence. Charles Donavan was among the first of Con- nersville's teachers. Thomas O'Brian had a similar standing in the Ever- ton neighborhood; and the famous school teacher of the Waterloo neigh- borhood is enshrined in tradition as "an Irishman by the name of Gray." At Bentonville it is "Kelly", and Harrisburg does nearly as well by having William McKemmy. There are eleven names which are unmistakably Irish in the land entries prior to 1815 and perhaps an equal number which are identified in other ways with Fayette county's history during the few years next following. Although facts are meager which establish for them any connection with the Catholic faith, yet, considered as subjects for mission- ary effort, the kind to which reference was made when the Shepherd is spoken of as leaving the ninety-nine sheep to go look for the one which is lost, it is hard to believe that a priest's visit among them would have failed to find a working basis and latent faith.
EARLY CATHOLIC INFLUENCES.
In 1819 Owen McCarty, from Hagerstown, Maryland, settled with his wife in land a few miles south of Connersville. A son, Otho McCarty, with a widowed mother, lived long enough to participate in the passing of sev- eral phases of St. Gabriel's history, and consequently they are well known as early Catholic settlers. John B. Tate came to Connersville about 1830 and was early identified with the village activities. He was connected in a variety of ways with its business life, and was employed for clerical work at the court house. In 1843 he was one of the teachers at the seminary, the present Fifth street school, and in 1856 held the postmastership of Con- nersville. In the period of 1830 to 1840, John B. Tate would be quickly pointed out as a Catholic to anyone inquiring for such. The reason is that his profession of faith was open and frank. In consequence of this fact many villagers of those days noted their acquaintance with him as that of the first Catholic 'within the circle of their associates.
By the time the forties of the last century came into being, two events transpired which had an important bearing upon the progress of Catholicity. The first was the creating of Vincennes, Indiana, into a Catholic bishopric, in 1836, which resulted in missionary priests finding their way to the neigh- borhood; and the second event was the influx of laborers who came with the building of the canal. Although the scenes were shifting, they still are to be
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recognized as making an epoch wherein a something. can be found which previously did not exist. New life was in. the making in those days of improvements and many. potent factors were added to the sum of Fayette county's. forces of material and spiritual progress; and naturally in the sum- ming up, Catholics appear.in their wonted proportion. How glad the. first visit of a priest made them, can be fancied, but for want of definite. data cannot be described in these pages.
The following is a complete list of Catholic priests, who, from their nearby locations, may have touched Connersville and vicinity during their travels and ministrations :
Rev. Joseph Ferneding, New Alsace, 1833-43.
Rev. M. E. Shawe, Madison, 1837-45.
Rev. C. Schneiderjans, Oldenburg, 1838-42.
Rev. V. Bacquelin, Shelby county, 1838-46.
Rev. M. O'Rourke, Dearborn county, 1841-46.
Rev. F. J. Rudolf, Oldenburg, 1842-68.
Rev. William Englin, St. Peter's, 1844-54.
Rev. John Ryan, Richmond, 1846-48.
Rev. William Doyle, Richmond, 1850-53.
BEGINNING OF ST. GABRIEL'S PARISH.
The full story of known facts and local traditions. of these priests would expand these pages unduly, and a start for the beginning of St. Gabriel's parish can be fittingly made with the acquisition in the month of August, 1850, of a lot upon which to build a church. Father Doyle counted Richmond his home, but his visits promised now to be made with some degree of regularity and a decisive step had been made in acquiring the church site. The location of the site seemed far removed from Conners- ville's business section. It was. the generous aid of A. B. Conwell that made its possession possible and the wisdom of the selection later became evident, although for years going to St. Gabriel's seemed like. a long distance to go to church. The old site is north of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis & Western tracks, on . Eastern avenue, and though the survey of the new railroad was possibly known, still, it was quite a few years subsequent to 1850 before Connersville as a town built itself that far north. .
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