USA > Indiana > Vermillion County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 10
USA > Indiana > Parke County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 10
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whole audience was hushed; then in a strange, quavering voice, drawing the vowel sounds to great length, now recited these lines :
'The day is almost gone, The evening shades appear; Oh, may we all remember well The night of death draws near.'
"The effect was electric; every eye in the motley audience was fixed on the speaker, as if by a terrible fascination and having thus prepared the way, he proceeded to preach in a more natural tone. His illustrations were drawn largely from the common life of his hearers. He spoke of their combats with wolves and serpents, and symbolized the contests of the human soul; he touched upon their early trials and ill health, and pointed to the Comforter ; he alluded to children already buried in the young settlement and to the graves of kindreds already left behind, and dwelt with great energy on the promise of a re-union in the skies. The few who remember the scene cannot say that any marked or permanent effect was produced. Most of the hear- ers came from mere curiosity and were too much interested in the preacher's eccentricities to weigh his words."
PRESENT METHODIST CHURCHES.
In the autumn of 1912 the following churches of this denomination were in existence in Parke county :
Bellemore and Marshall circuit, 175 members ; value of church property $4,000. Aside from this there is one parsonage valued at $700. Pastor, T. B. Markin.
Bloomingdale, with 143 membership, a $1,200 parsonage and a church valued at $6,400. Pastor, O. M. Mckinney.
Carbon and Sharon circuit, membership, 100; two churches valued at $5,000. Pastor, Ray Stevenson.
Catlin and Minchel circuit, with a membership of 170, two churches, valued at $6,000. This circuit included Bridgeton. Pastor, Jesse Bogue.
Linebarger chapel, membership 36, church valued at $1,500. Pastor, Julius Pfeiffer.
Mecca and Bethel circuit, with a membership of 130; three buildings, valued at $6,000. Pastor, Herbert Webster.
Montezuma, with a membership of 150; a brick church valued at $6,000. Pastor. J. J. Davis.
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Rockville, with a membership of 387, one church valued at $20,000; parsonage valued at $5,000. Pastor, Alfred S. Warriener.
Rosedale, with a membership of 164, one church valued at $6,000; one parsonage valued at $3,000. Pastor, C. C. Stanforth.
The above pastors were serving in 1911 and some of them in 1912.
In addition to these the African Methodist Episcopal have a church spoken of elsewhere, at Rockville.
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCHES.
This denomination was organized into a church society in Penn town- ship in 1840, but no church was erected until about 1869. It was thirty by forty feet in size. The church was formed by Isaac Pickard and John Ephlin at a point a mile to the east of Annapolis, in Washington township.
In Union township this people was well represented at an early day. They frequently met at James Bulion's or John McGilvery's houses; also at Moses Hill's or Charles Beache's. In 1849 a church was erected on section 30, called Otterbein. The society grew rapidly and in 1873-4 there were reported forty-one members as having been added thereto. In 1866 about forty of these people met at the Martin school house to organize a class and Joseph McCrary was chosen leader. In March, 1867, they held a revival and thirty-one were added to the society. A thirty-by-forty-foot frame church was erected and dedicated in November, 1867. James A. Smith was minister in charge at that date.
In Sugar Creek township there was in existence in the seventies another United Brethren church in the Bristle Ridge neighborhood.
THE LUTHERANS.
There not being a large German population in Parke county, this denom- ination has never had many societies or churches. In 1830, however, the Philadelphia Lutheran Church Society built its church in Greene township. It was a log building, used as school house and church. Within a year after its completion it was burned. In 1835 a second building was erected on Big Raccoon, this being a frame structure. Matthias Sappinfield was a leader in this society. In 1866 another church was built at a cost of fifteen hundred dollars and was located in Greene township on section 15. At first this society numbered fifty, but owing to emigration it was greatly reduced in the
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passage of years. Several Lutheran ministers went forth after being educated here and made for themselves names in the theological world.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES.
The first Catholic services of which we have an account in Parke county was in 1854, at the house of Martin Ryan, three miles south of Rockville. Mass was read by Rev. La Lamere, who was then the parish priest at Terre Haute. Rev. Highland was then appointed by the bishop to the missions of Rockville, Montezuma, Greencastle and Bainbridge. He first read mass at James Kinney's and later at the home of Patrick Riordan, where it was held at different times for seven years. Finally, a church was built by Father Minerod. The members of every other church generously donated to this building enterprise. Services were then held, but not oftener, as a rule, than once in a month or two. James Bowman gave instructions to the children of the parish for a number of years. Next this work was carried on by Mrs. E. J. Hughes, who voluntarily gave her services.
In Reserve township what was styled the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was established after the Civil war. Father McCarty was the first priest in charge. A church house was erected at a cost of one thousand dollars, the lot having been donated by Mr. Davis, of Rockville, late in the seventies. A dwelling for the priest was soon built near the chapel, while the cemetery was located two miles south of town. This Catholic church was formed in the town of Montezuma.
OTHER CATHOLIC CHURCHES.
In the autumn of 1912 the Catholic society had churches in Parke county as follows: At Rockville, where the present building was built in 1886, and is in charge of Father Gorman ; it is known as St. Joseph's. There is a church at Mecca, one at Montezuma and one at Diamond, all of these congregations being served by the Rockville paster, except the one at Diamond which is under Father Cobb.
SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
More than a quarter of a century ago the following account of the Society of Friends in Parke county was written after careful compilation and research, by Hon. Robert Kelly :
"The first meeting of the Friends in Parke county took place at the
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residence of Adam Siler in 1825, and were kept up at that point from 1825 on for more than one year. Then the settlement at Bloomfield and Rocky Run began to assume shape; the place of meeting was changed to the house of Simon Rubottom, where they continued until the sixth month, 5th, 1826. At this date the first meeting house was erected and a preparative meeting established by the authority of the Honey Creek monthly meeting. Jeremiah Siler and Mary Kelly were the clerks of this preparative meeting, the records of which up to the twelfth month, Ist, 1827, were lost.
"Bloomfield meeting was established twelfth month, Ist, 1827, by an order of the Blue River quarterly meeting, dated Lick Creek, Orange county, tenth month, 27th, 1827. The committee having charge of its establishment were John Bray, J. Jones, James Rhodes, J. Hadley, and C. Hill. They appointed the first seventh day in each month for meeting. At this meeting M. Kelly, Payton Wilson, N. Newlin, S. Allen, and Isaiah Pemberton were appointed to have the meeting house grounds surveyed, and a grave-yard staked off, and M. Reynolds, John Newlin, and Isaiah Pemberton were ap- pointed trustees of the house. At the monthly meeting held second month, 2nd, 1828, M. Kelly and J. Siler were appointed to receive and report accounts of sufferings to the meeting. The sufferings alluded to were such as origi- nated from fines collected by law from members in indigent circumstances for non-conformity to the military laws of the state, which at that time, and for several years afterwards, required every able bodied man between the ages of eighteen and forty-five to muster at stated periods, or on the call of the proper offices, failure to respond being punished by fine. Friends, to be consistent with their well-known peace proclivities, refused to pay, or directly or in- directly to give up property, hence they were made more or less annoyance, and sometimes distressed, by the loss of indispensable articles which poorer members could not of themselves replace. This being brought to the notice of the yearly meeting, it, true to its principles, came to the relief of the dis- tressed, and itself bore the burdens; and the more successfully to accomplish this it required each monthly meeting to appoint a committee to take cogni- zance of all cases of distress within their respective limits, and report, when they were forwarded to the meeting for sufferings, which furnished the proper relief.
"Another source of trouble which the early Friends had to contend was with the difference of opinion on a doctrinal phase denominated Hicksism, which resulted in a wide-spread and damaging separation under the leadership of Elias Hicks. On the peculiar doctrine set forth by this new sect, an
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article by Prof. B. C. Hobbs, of Bloomingdale, is very explicit and reads as follows :
CAUSE OF THE HICKSITE SEPARATION.
"Sixty years ago the New Testament was common as a school book, but a complete copy of the Bible was not often found in the family of Friends. When read it was not expected to be explained, except by ministers, and as a consequence there was a great indefiniteness in the religious opinions of too many on doctrinal subjects.
"They accepted the opinions of those in whom they had confidence when they were positively asserted and capable and plausible men had great in- fluence in society.
"The Society of Friends at this time was distinguished, as it ever has been, for benevolence, temperance and the social virtues. They were practi- cal Christians. This lack of establishment in Christian faith rendered the hearts of too many a favorable soil for the seeds of heresy to take root and bring forth evil.
"About the years 1818 to 1825-8 Elias Hicks, a man who embraced in his character the appearance, language and manners of the straightest of his sect, and was most sympathetic and benevolent toward the poor, the afflicted and the oppressed, was known to advance sentiments which under- valued the mediatorial offices and atoning merits of Christ. He often spoke of Him as only a good man. That the Holy Spirit was in Him as it is in us; that His death and sufferings on Calvary were of no value to us, only as an example in a devoted life; that His blood was only a metaphor, meaning His life or the life of the Holy Spirit. He denied the existence of a devil or an evil agent apart from man's passions and taught that we are all by nature like Adam in the creation and fall. That the account in Genesis of the creation, the fall of our first parents and the Garden of Eden, were figurative and unreal; that we must be saved alone by the Holy Spirit in us; and that the Scriptures were not all inspired; such as were written by the in- spiration of God are to be believed; such as were not, are of no more binding authority than other books; and that each must judge for himself.
"His plausible and winning manners and persuasive eloquence led many unsuspecting men and women astray. Many saw the error of his teaching from the beginning and gave timely warning. Some took one side and some the other. The controversy waxed earnest and culminated in a separation in 1828, in several yearly meetings in America, beginning in New York and ending in Indiana. Meetings, families and friends were divided. Wounds
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were made, never to be healed. Some were led on in the separation by their love of a libertine faith, while others were influenced by the strong ties of friendship and social relations.
"There are some still living who can remember the work of the dark angel. Such recur to it with sad hearts.
"The effects of this separation were, however, not without some good. It stirred up the whole society to an earnest searching for the faith once delivered to the saints and from that day to this the Society of Friends have held a sound faith, in the doctrines of redemption by the blood of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
"Although the date of the beginning of this trouble, in the United States, was some years prior to the settlement of Friends here, yet its first appearance in this part of Indiana was not until 1828. A paper was prepared that year by the Indiana yearly meeting, directed to each monthly meeting, on this subject, in which, among other things, the doctrine of Friends was clearly and fully set forth. The paper was read at Bloomfield monthly meeting third month, Ist, 1828, which endorsed it and took action confirming its acceptance by an order that it be spread upon the record, and by the appoint- ment of a standing committee to look after certain spurious books and pamphlets purporting to contain the doctrine of Friends which were being circulated. It is a fact worthy of note that while almost every section of the country, from Canada to Virginia and from Vermont to Illinois, was con- vulsed with the elements of Hicksism, within the limits of Parke county proper there was scarcely a ripple. In the monthly meeting held the fifth month, 2nd, 1829, the representatives of the quarterly meeting produced three copies of Evans' Exposition and a Testament as a donation from Philadel- phia yearly meeting, and other books having accumulated which were intended for the use of the members, a committee was appointed to establish a library and appoint a librarian, they recommending William Pickard for the position. Rules were afterward adopted for the government of the library and at various times valuable additions had been made to it, by purchase and donation, among others being a present of several important works and pamphlets from England and Philadelphia, consisting of a hundred and forty volumes and fifteen volumes purchased by the librarian, Philip Siler.
"The establishment of White Lick quarterly meeting was made on the third to seventh day in second month, 1831. White Lick, Fairfield, Bloom- field and Vermillion monthly meeting joining in the request.
"The first proposition for the establishment of the Western quarterly meeting came from the Sugar River monthly meeting third month, 5th. 1834.
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A committee of the above mentioned and Bloomfield meetings was appointed and met at the latter place on 8th of fourth month, 1834, which agreed to ask for a meeting to be known as the Western quarterly meeting and that its assemblies take place on the second to seventh day, in the second, fifth, eight and eleventh months. The report was adopted by the yearly meeting which answered the request of the committee, by establishing it as required on the second to seventh day, of second month, 1836, nearly two years after the proposition was first made.
"The first meeting held in the quarterly meeting house, built by Reuben Holden, in 1834, was on the 8th day of sixth month, of that year, only one end of the building being completed. At this meeting, Exam Outland, Stephen Kersey, Jesse Hobson and Lot Lindley were appointed as the first representatives of the Western quarterly meeting."
Union church was instituted by the Society of Friends, but the meetings were entirely undenominational. A church thirty-five by forty feet was built in 1875, at a cost of one thousand dollars. On Christmas night the same was dedicated. Levi Woody was the first preacher in charge.
What was known as the Christian Union church, on the Rockville and Mecca road. two miles from the former place, had at one date a membership of eighty, but by removals and death the society went down. A neat chapel was erected, costing eight hundred dollars. Rev. William Halt was the first to preach their regularly, and following him came Revs. Myers, Jacob Wright, Boer and Nathan Wright.
UNIVERSALISTS.
This denomination has never flourished to any great extent in Parke county. In Sugar Creek township, in 1859, there was a society of this sect who built a church which was dedicated on Christmas night of that year, by Rev. T. C. Eaton. The building was thirty by forty feet in size and was erected on land owned by a Mr. Pickard. By 1880, the society had virtually gone down and the building was no longer used for church purposes. There have been several other attempts to maintain such churches, but all to no avail, the sentiment in favor of universal salvation not being strong enough in this locality.
CHAPTER VIII.
CIVIC SOCIETIES IN PARKE COUNTY.
Freemasonry was first introduced into Parke county in 1844 by a dis- pensation to organize Rockville Lodge of F. & A. M. on May 30th of that year. The first meeting was held June 25th, when the following brethren attended : Charles Grant, Jeptha Garrigus, Caleb Williams, Randolph H. Wedding, Vetal W. Coffin, Albert G. Coffin, David L. Hamilton, Henry Slaven and Joseph B. Cornelius. The officers installed were Peter Q. Stryker, worshipful master; John Briggs, senior warden; Seba S. Case, junior warden ; Joseph B. Cornelius, secretary ; Charles Grant, treasurer ; Randolph H. Wed- ding, senior deacon, Albert G. Coffin, junior deacon; D. L. Hamilton, stew- ard and tyler. Joseph C. Smith, Aaron Griffin and John R. Ten Brook were the first persons elected to take degrees in this order. The grand lodge of Indiana granted a charter May 29, 1845, and at this time the name of the lodge was changed to Parke Lodge, which it is still known as. In 1880 this lodge had a membership of forty-nine, and it has always been in a prosperous condition. The laying of the corner-stone of the new court house in the month of September, 1879, was under the auspices of this lodge and was a notable event in the history of the order, as well as of the county government. The ceremony took place in the presence of a fair-sized audience of citizens and the lodges from Terre Haute and Judson and delegations of the fraternity from Annapolis, Bellemore, Mansfield, Roseville, Harveysburg and other places, and was performed by Most Worshipful Grand Master Robert Van Valzah, assisted by a full corps of Masonic officials. At the conclusion of the ceremonies Dr. Harrison J. Rice, a member of Parke Lodge, delivered an historical address of great interest and highly befitting the occasion. In the casket deposited in the stone was placed a copy of the oration, and of the charter of the lodge, with many other articles which it is expected will be of curious interest to the citizens of Rockville and Parke county centuries to come, perhaps.
Parke Lodge now (1912) has a membership of one hundred twenty- three. It meets in the Masonic hall, owned by the fraternity, purchased in 1909, and which is large and complete in all of its appointments. The present
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officers are : W. B. Collings, worshipful master; Jacob S. White, senior war- den ; George L. Laney, junior warden; William Hobson, senior deacon; Ollie Decker, junior deacon; M. W. Marshall, secretary; W. H. Hargrave, treas- urer; tyler, W. J. Gaebler.
Parke Chapter No. 37, Royal Arch Masons, was secured by an applica- tion for dispensation July 11, 1856. At a convocation held on that day by Royal Arch Masons there were present Addison L. Roach, M. G. Wilkison, John T. Price, H. Alvord, P. Q. Stryker and L. A. Foote and an organiza- tion was made by appointing Roach to the chair and Foote as secretary. A committee appointed to procure a dispensation reported October 7th, in which it was made known that a dispensation had been obtained from William Hacker, most excellent high priest of Indiana. The meeting organized with William Hacker, grand high priest, presiding; S. F. Maxwell, king; P. Q. Stryker, scribe; - - Sayer, captain of the host; L. A. Foote, principal sojourner; J. S. Dare, royal arch captain; H. Alvord, master of the third veil ; John T. Price, master of the second veil; M. G. Wilkison, master of the first veil. A charter was issued by the officers of the grand chapter of In- diana, May 21, 1857. At that date the membership was twenty-one. The present membership is fifty-nine. This is the only chapter of Royal Arch Masons in Parke county.
Annapolis Lodge No. 127, Free and Accepted Masons, was char- tered May 26, 1852, and in the year of Masonry 5852. The first officers and charter members were: John M. Wadding, worshipful master; Edward D. Laughlin, senior warden; James W. Tucker, junior .warden; John D. Gifford, secretary: John S. Dare, Simon Vestal, John Kelly, L. B. Dunigan, C. N. Harding, David Best, William Sweeney, R. A. Coffin.
Bridgeton Lodge No. 169, Free and Accepted Masons, was or- ganized in 1854. The petitioners for the dispensation were M. G. Wilkinson, Mahlon Wilkinson, R. C. Allen, N. B. Smook, John Briggs, Jr., James A. Cole and Jeptha Garrigus, all but the last named being members of Parke Lodge No. 8. The petition was granted with the title of Whitcomb Lodge. M. G. Wilkinson was the first master, and Mahlon Wilkinson and R. C. Allen were wardens. A charter was issued May 30, 1855, and the title of Bridge- ton No. 169 was given. The meetings were held in the second story of R. C. Allen's wagon shop for eight years, when, in 1863, the limited room and in- creased membership made it necessary to provide other quarters, and the lodge was removed to the upper story of Dr. Crook's drug store. In 1868 the store and contents were burned, including the lodge room, library and other valua-
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bles. The Crook store was rebuilt and a lodge room built especially was added to the structure. The lodge then flourished as never before.
At Waterman, in the extreme northwest part of Parke county, Lodiville Lodge No. 172, Free and Accepted Masons, was chartered in May, 1855, the first officers and charter members being: J. M. T. Bright, worship- ful master; N. Thomas, senior warden; A. R. Hood, junior warden; Samuel Richmond, secretary ; Isaac Carman, Andrew Baker, D. G. Ephlin.
Montezuma Lodge No. 89, Free and Accepted Masons, was chartered May 28, 1861, its first officers and charter members being: R. M. Gilkinson, worshipful master; Firman Allen, senior warden; Jacob Myers, junior warden; George Kretz, treasurer; Thomas Griffith, secretary; David Phillips, senior deacon; William McIntosh, junior deacon.
In the autumn of 1912 the officers of this lodge were: R. W. Johnson, worshipful master; C. S. Overman, senior warden; R. W. Sutton, junior warden; T. A. Welshnans, treasurer; W. P. Montgomery, secretary ; Samuel J. Holmes, Frank Arn and T. A. Welshnans, trustees. The membership is now seventy-four, and the hall is valued at three thousand dollars; it was erected in 1902.
Catlin Lodge No. 402, Free and Accepted Masons, was char- tered May 25, 1869, with a membership of sixteen. The charter members were: S. T. Catlin, Thomas Harshman, Marshall Gray, A. S. Alden, Thomas Akers, John Pence, Asal Riggs. John Lollis, S. R. Beal, Price Hawkins, Ira Jones, John Thomas, Harvey Gray, Uriah E. Thomas, J. W. Puett and Dr. George M. Knight. The lodge met for many years in the Ray hall.
In Union township the first fraternal society formed was that of the Masonic order. An informal meeting was held at the store of James Brack- enridge, November 7, 1874, for the purpose of considering the expediency of organizing a Masonic lodge, and on December 26, 1874, thirteen members met for this object. J. M. Jerome was elected worshipful master; A. B. Collings, senior warden; James Brackenridge, junior warden; W. P. Blake, treasurer ; J. D. Wright, secretary; W. Jerome, senior deacon; P. L. Reid, junior deacon; Albert Beach, tyler.
Lena Lodge was organized September 29, 1874, in Murph's hall, in the town of Lena, Jackson township, with a membership of eight. The officers elected were: Wellington Peach, worshipful master; James Smook, senior warden; Levi Woodrum, junior warden; John A. Welch, secretary; Jacob Plummer, treasurer; M. R. Plummer, senior deacon; Mathew G. Quin, junior deacon; Jesse Williams, tyler. A charter was granted May 22, 1877, in the
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meantime the lodge working under dispensation. Up to 1880 no death had occurred within the circle of the membership.
PRESENT MASONIC LODGES IN THE COUNTY.
In 1912 the following Masonic lodges existed within Parke county : Parke Lodge No. 8, with one hundred and twenty-three members; Monte- zuma No. 89, with seventy-four members; Annapolis No. 127, with sixty-four members; Bridgeton No. 169, with one hundred and twenty-three members ; Lodiville (Silverwood) No. 172, with forty-six members; Rosedale No. 259, with eighty-two members; Catlin No. 402, with fifty-eight members; Judson No. 518, with fifty members; Sylvania No. 559, with sixty members.
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