USA > Missouri > Presbyterianism in the Ozarks : a history of the work of the various branches of the Presbyterian Church in Southwest Missouri, 1834-1907 > Part 17
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years-Rev. W. L. Schmalhorst-and Miss Bertha Miller, who is now a trained nurse in China, received her Christian nurture here. Rev. Ernest Thompson was a charter member of this church. In its infancy the church was cradled by "Aunt Mar- tha" and "Uncle" Robert Hall, brother and sister-in-law. "Uncle Robert" was a shining example of what grace can do in its efforts to produce a good man, and "Aunt Martha" was an unofficial pastor's assistant, who had a mysterious way of discerning a' Presbyterian family before their goods were unpacked. This ยท church has trained a number of other efficient Christian workers who are serving the kingdom of Christ in other places. Its ca- reer has been conservation amid the vicissitudes of a changing population. Elder Colin T. Carter and wife left by will an en- dowment of $1,000, and Mrs. Jane McDowell. now of Long Beach, California, gave the first $500 toward the erection of the parsonage. Miss Carrie Switzler is the only charter member whose name is still on the roll.
WEST PLAINS (HOWELL COUNTY).
Before the reunion of 1870 the New School ministers (nota- bly Rev. L. J. Matthews), who were pre-empting Howell and Texas counties, seem to have done some work at West Plains. The roll of the churches of the Presbytery does not recognize these earlier efforts, but the minutes of the Presbytery indicate that there was a church there some years before the record of the organization of the present church. Cf .: "The following reso- Intion was adopted: 'That the Chairman of the Committee of Church Erection write to the Board and apply for permission to sell the Peace Valley Church building, with the understanding that the proceeds be granted to the church of West Plains to erect a building."-Minutes September 7th, 1878.
Permission to sell the church was granted by the Board, and in April, 1879, a committee was appointed so to do. For some reason the building was not sold until 1890, by which time the West Plains Church had a commodious house of worship. In April, 1885, Presbytery took cognizance of the fact that there was no church at West Plains and the name was stricken from the roll. I am inclined to believe that this is one of those instances where a preaching station is inadvertently accounted a church without the formality of an organization. Be that as it may, the roll of the churches of the Presbytery accords with the sketch furnished by the session and recognizes only the organization effected February 15, 1886. On this date Revs. D. P. Put- nam, D. D., and E. A. Hamilton organized the church with thirty- one members. B. C. Thomas. Dr. W. W. Watkins and Prof. W.
WEST PLAINS CHURCH
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H. Lynch were elected elders. For some months the Presby- terial evangelist, Dr. Marks, had oversight over the church, and he was followed by Student Glenroie MeQueen. ' A church building was erected in 1887 at a cost of $4,000. of which amount the Board of Church Erection furnished $1.000. This building was dedicated by Rev. G. H. Williamson. This church has had an unusually efficient Ladies' Aid Society and a strong Sabbath school. For some years there was no other organization of our branch of the Presbyterian Church in a hundred miles of West Plains. In June, 1896, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of West Plains began to co-operate with this church. and the union of the two bodies was consummated at the organization of the new Presbytery of Ozark. The church owns a commodions par- sonage, is lighted with electricity, has a fine organ and cathedral glass windows.
The list of elders before the union, in addition to those given above, contains the name of Dr. H. T. Smith, T. J. Whitmire, L. P. Anderson. J. H. Shepard, David Carson, J. M. Crabb. G. H. Lee, W. L. Kilpatrie and L. B. Harris. Rev. Woodhull supplied the church in 1888. He has been followed by Revs. J. E. Leyda, March, 1889, to August, 1894: G. H. Williamson. November, 1895. to November, 1879; W. R. McElroy, February, 1898, to June, 1901; A. B. Brown, March to October, 1902; D. B. Whimster, April, 1903, to - 1907. Of these ministers, Revs. W. R. MeElroy and G. H. Williamson were installed pastors. Now that the church is not remote from other churches it is one of the most flourishing churches in the Presbytery.
MOUNT VERNON (LAWRENCE COUNTY).
On the 11th of October, 1887, Presbytery appointed a com- mittee consisting of Revs. G. H. Williamson, W. S. Knight, D. D., and Elder William R. Gorton to organize a church at Mount Ver- non "if the way be clear." The organization was effected Feb- ruary 27th, 1888. Rev. Thomas Marshall, Synodical Missionary, assisted. Thirteen members, mostly from the Ozark Prairie Church, were enrolled. In 1888 a house of worship was erected at a cost of $7,000, of which the Board of Church Erection fur- nished $1,000. As alluded to elsewhere, this house was erected for school as well as church purposes. The following ministers have served the church :
Rev. G. H. Williamson, from organization to September, 1891. Rev. E. E. Stringfield, April, 1892, to April, 1895.
Rev. J. A. Gehrett, April, 1896, to October, 1897.
Rev. R. E. L. Jarvis. October. 1898, to April, 1900. Rev. J. H. Bright, December. 1900. to April. 1903.
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In May, 1895, the church began to co-operate with the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church, preparatory to union, which was effected April, 1907. The membership of this church was never large, but it made an enviable record for benevolences and the support of the gospel ministry.
MONETT (BARRY COUNTY).
The Presbyterial committee appointed to organize a church at Monett consisted of Revs. J. G. Reaser, D. D., G. H. William- son and Elder John Orr. The organization was effected October 27th, 1888, with seventeen charter members. The first elders were George Shiels, S. A. Chapell and S. P. Cowan. Mr. Chapell still serves the church in the eldership. Presbyterial oversight over this new church was commendable. Dr. Reaser, President of Carthage Collegiate Institute, and Licentiate W. J. Haydon, in the employ of the Board of Publication and Sunday school work, were appointed to minister to the flock until the spring meeting of Presbytery, and at that time Presbytery appointedy regular monthly supplies for the next six months. This church has ap- parently gone on the theory that they must have a strong preacher or none, and no church in the Presbytery has more steadfastly adhered to this theory. For three years Dr. Reaser gave them such services as his other duties would permit. Then the church employed Rev. Henry M. Campbell, fresh from the seminary .. The veteran church builder, Rev. G. H. Williamson, came to them for 1893 and 1894 and led them in the erection of a house of wor- ship at a cost of $4000 of which $500 came from the Board of Church Erection. The first installed pastor of the church was Rev. J. N. MeClung, 1895-1897. Mr. MeChung was a man of even- gelistie ftrvor and spiritual and intellectual power. His pastorate that portended so much for the church was terminated adruptly when he sank back into his chair while delivering a sermon- prostrated with paralysis, which soon took him to his reward.
The five year's pastorate of Rev. W. C. Templeton, Ph. D .--- 1898-1902-was the longest in the history of the church. Dr. Templeton raised the church to self-support, seenred a valuable property for a manse, and together with members of his church was a potent factor in securing for the city a railroad Y. M. C. A. organization and building. It is safe to say that but for Mr. Stockton of this church that valable institution would not have been reckoned to the assets of Monett for years to come. The church has ever maintained this close relation to the Y. M. C. A. that now enrolls 550 members. . Its President and Secretary are ruling elders of this church. The pastorate of Dr. Templeton was followed by that of Henry Hepburn, June, 1902-March, 1905. Mr.
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Hepburn was regarded as especially strong in his pulpit work. From age to youth and from youth to age in their selection of a minister has been the tendeney of this church. Mr. Hepburn was followed by Rev. G. H. Williamson, who entered upon his second term of service with this church with a head more hoary yet a vigor but little abated.
(OZARK) (CHRISTIAN COUNTY.)
Organized with eight members Nov. 12, 1888: committee on organization, Revs. E. A. Hamilton, J. Shepard and Elder J. E. Kenton. Jacob Bell and Wm. A. Aven were elected Ruling El- ders. Rev. G. F. Davis supplied the church for a time. The church was dropped from the roll Sept. 16, 1891.
SENECA (NEWTON COUNTY)
This little church on the border of the state was organized in 1891 (enrolled Sept. 15th) by Revs. R. W. Ely, J. G. Reaser. D. D. and J. A. Gerhard, with 19 members. For eleven years Mr. Ely ministered to the flock in Spiritual. things. In 1896 a house of worship was reared but was taken off of its foundation in the flood of May the thirtieth of that year. "The little band was very much disheartened but in a little while things began to move and in October assisted by Dr. Walker the Synodical Missionary, we (quotation from Mr. Ely) dedicated a handsome little frame church building free of debt and seating 250."
Rev. W. N. Crozier and others have ministered to this ehureh for brief terms of service.
(WESTMINSTER, CARTHAGE) (JASPER COUNTY)
This church was organized by Presbytery at a Pro re nata meeting August 7th, 1891. The petition, signed by sixty-six per- sons was the largest of its kind ever presented to Presbytery and stated that $1400 were already subscribed to meet the enrrent expenses of the church the ensuing year. Fifty-seven were re- ceived by letter and a few on profession of their faith. Wm. D. Mateer, Aaron Myers, R. L. Galbreath and S. H. Houser were elected ruling elders. The church was a vigorous secession from the first church and made an enviable record for growth and in benevolenees. But time demonstrated the fact that two churches of the same faith and order could not flourish at the same time a block apart in a city the size of Carthage. When one was grow- ing the other was either losing or standing still. The two churches
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were happily united July 3, 1903. The following ministers serv- ed the church as pastors or stated supplies : Rev. D. C. Hanna, F. G. Knauer, C. A. Stewart, D. D., W. F. Bishop, Ph. D. and G. H. Williamson.
(SOUTII JOPLIN) (JASPER COUNTY)
Enrolled Sept. 16, 1891, with sixteen charter members. The committee on organization consisted of Revs. J. A. Gerhard, J. G. Reaser, D. D., and Elder Fred Allen. Disbanded Oct. 21, 1896.
FAIR PLAY (POLK COUNTY)
Enrolled Sept. 16, 1891, with seven charter members. Rev. G. H. Williamson and Elder J. D. Abbe organized the church. It has had the usual vicissitudes of a Presbyterian church in a vil- lage in Southwest Missouri. For the most part the church has been grouped with Bolivar. Prior to that grouping Rev. G. H. Williamson did some of his characteristically effective work. S. D. Strain in the eldership of this church has perpetuated the strain of the Earlier Strains who were so intimately associated with Presbyterianism in the beginnings of Ozark Presbytery.
(LONE ELM) (JASPER COUNTY)
Another of the Ephemeral churches in the mining region whose record we hope is more permanent and comprehensive in the books on High than in the annals kept here. The church was enrolled by Presbytery May 2, 1902.
FORDLAND (WEBSTER COUNTY)
Organized May 17. 1896, by Revs. E. D. Walker, D. D. Synod- ical Missionary, and Elder C. W. Likens, with 13 charter mem- bers. Rev. G. H. Williamson led the congregation in the erection of a house of worship (1896) at a cost of $925. The Board of Church Erection granted $250.
The church has had the services for short periods of William Westwood, a student, Revs. G. H. Williamson, Geo. Clymer, Charles Memott. E. J. Nugent, Local Evangelist. L. B. Harris and Revs. H. A. Tucker and J. D. White.
(ASBURY) (JASPER COUNTY)
Born to die of tender years. Organized Sept. 27, 1896, with 18 members. Stricken from the roll April. 1904.
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A group of Arkansas churches:
(JONESBORO.) (RIDGE STATION.)
MAMMOTH SPRING.
MOUNT OLIVET. (MENA.)
(HARRISON.)
RAVENDEN SPRINGS.
BETHEL, HARRIS, TRACE VALLEY.
The jurisdiction of Ozark Presbytery in Arkansas has been referred to in the Preliminary Word, and in connection with the Eureka Springs church. By these references it is seen that Jones- boro and Ridge Station were originally in connection with the Presbytery of St. Louis and Mena with the Presbytery of Choc- taw. These churches were transferred to Ozark Presbytery in 1899 and 1900. Ridge Station was dissolved Oct. 27, 1894; Mena and Jonesboro were transferred to the Presbyterian church U. S., the former April 14, 1903, the latter in the summer of 1904. The Harrison church was organized by the Presbyterian Church U. S., transferred to this Presbytery Oct. 21, 1903, and dismissed to unite with the C. P. Church of Harrison, 1906. The other churches were the outgrowth of work done in Arkansas by the missionar- ies of the Board of Publication and S. S. Work. This Board has expended a large sum of money in Arkansas. The work has been of a pioneer nature and the soil has not been very productive .. The Home Board followed up the work with ample appropria- tions. The remoteness from the Presbytery, together with ad- verse local conditions, and an inhospitable environment hardly . warrants us in saying more than that we hope seed has been sown that will produce a harvest now that the reunion has great- ly strengthened our church in Arkansas. Ravenden Springs. nn- der the ministry of Rev. A. N. Wylie, is in a measure an excep- tion to the above statement. The work there has been as pros- perous as could be excepted.
Harris and Trace Valley owe their existence to the labors of S. S. Missionary Grundy. The Home Mission Board was able to do next to nothing in the territory they represent.
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BURNHAM (HOWELL COUNTY.)
This Church in the fruit belt of the Ozarks was received by letter from the Pres. of La Fayette U. S. in April 1892. During the ministry of Rev. D. B. Whimster at West Plains it was group- ed with that church. Previous to this it had been served by Rev. E. J. Nugent.
BETHANY --- JOPLIN (JASPER COUNTY.)
During the pastorate of Rev. J. B. Welty the First Church of Joplin made rapid developments in city missions. A Pastor's assistant was secured and placed in charge of this work. Ont of one of these missions grew the Bethany church in South Joplin. The committee of organization consisted of Revs. R. W. Ely and H. O. Seott D. D. and Elder F. A. Cushman. The church was organized with 42 members, April 29th, 1902. Mr. Claus Olandt. Mr. Welty's assistant supplied the church while a candidate for the ministry and after his ordination became its first pastor. Mr. Olandt proved himself a masterly personal worker and brought into the church large numbers of persons of diverse beliefs and accomplishments. He organized and directed a thriving brotherhood of Andrew and Philip and the sunday school frequently out grew its quarters. This accounts for the pictur- esque development of the house in which this church worships. It was originally square and was seated with opera chairs. First the end opposite the pulpit was taken out and an addition was erected which was divided into three class rooms that opened in to the auditorium, and a vestibule at one corner. At another time one side was taken out and an extension was made which served as a prayer meeting room; in the right angle between the vestibule and this room a tower was erected the floor of which answered for a new vestibule and the old vestibule was con- verted into a sabbath school library. Again the other side was taken out and an addition comprising three class rooms was erected : then in the right angle between this and the first addition a room was built for the pastor's study. Meanwhile the ground under the building had been excavated and a basement was fitted up for a gymnasium and institutional purposes. Mr. Olandt was succeeded in the pastorate by Rev. R. L. Kinnaird, who was in- stalled June 6, 1906.
(MOFFETT AVENUE-JOPLIN) JASPER COUNTY.
This church was of Cumberland origin. Its struggles for ex- istence, heroic though they may have been, seemed uncalled for
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after it became evident that the two bodies would unite. Ilence it transferred its property to the First Church of Joplin and was received by the Presbytery by letter September 14th, 1904. At its own request the church was dissolved the 27th of October, that its members might unite with the First Church.
CRANE (STONE COUNTY).
The Crane Church was organized June 11th, 1905, by Revs. W. L. Hackett, E. L. Renick and Synodical Missionary Rev. John B. Hill. D. D. Thirty-four charter members constituted the or- ganization. Mr. Reniek as S. S. missionary, and Mr. Hackett as pastor at large, had done considerable work there prior to the or- ganization. It was supplied for some months by the pastor-at- large, Mr. Hackett, and under his supervision a neat house of worship was erected at a cost of $2,500. Rev. C. W. Smith fol- lowed the pastor-at-large as supply of this church.
CARTERVILLE (JASPER COUNTY).
The Carterville Church is one of the first fruits of the reunion. After the churches of Webb City were united the United Church offered the church building formerly occupied by the Cumber- land Presbyterians to Carterville for a Presbyterian Church. The citizens of the place purchased a lot and the Board of Church Erection provided the money for the removal of the building. The church was organized by Rev. J. F. Shepherd, Ph. D., and Rev. Baldsar Hoffman July 1st, 1906, with thirty-one members. R. T. Hurley and J. C. Sanders were elected and in- stalled ruling elders. Mr. C. W. Sample, a theologial student. was instrumental in gathering the flock and ministeretl to them during his summer vacation.
NORTHI HEIGHTS-JOPLIN (JASPER COUNTY).
This church is the ontgrowth of a mission established by the First Church. It was organized with thirty members September 14th, 1906. A number of the charter members had been identified with the Moffett Avenue Church, formerly C. P., and the house of worship belonging to that body was transferred to the North Heights Church. The committee on organization consisted of Revs. B. M. Shive. D. D., J. F. Shepherd. Ph. D .. and R. L. Kin- naird. Rev. Samuel Wiley, assistant pastor of the First Church. was placed in charge of the new organization.
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HOBERG (LAWRENCE COUNTY).
Rev. George F. Harbour organized a church at Hoberg Sep- tember 30, 1906, with twenty-eight members. A. E. Baugh was elected clerk of the session, consisting of three elders. Mr. Har- bour was at this time a member of the former C. P. Presbytery of Ozark, or Ozark A, as it was now officially styled. But the church made appliation to the Presbytery of Ozark and was re- ceived and enrolled October 25th, 1906.
WENTWORTH (NEWTON COUNTY).
The last entry in the record of the First Presbytery of Ozark reads:
"Addenda .- On the 26th of April (1907) Revs. J. F. Shep- herd and E. W. MeCracken organized a church at Wentworth, Mo., with twenty-two members and ordained and installed as ruling elders S. H. Griffin, J. W. Robb and J. H. Hines. In ac- cordance with instructions of Presbytery, the stated clerk en- rolled this church May 1st.
"E. E. STRINGFIELD, Stated Clerk.
"Approved October 18, 1907.
"R. T. CALDWELL, Moderator of Synod."
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CHAPTER VII.
SKETCHES OF MINISTERS
Note .- An attempt is made to insert these sketches in chron- ologoical order, arranged under the different Presbyteries. Where a minister served under more than one Presbytery his name is given in connection with the Presbytery under which he first serv- ed churches in our territory. The sketches are at best fragmentary. The space given a minister is not necessarily in proportion to his abilities or deserts, but is determined in part at least by the permanent impress he left on the work in Southwest Missouri, rather than his work elsewhere, and in part by the available interesting material. Perhaps no other place is more fitting to acknowledge indebtedness to Hill's "History of Kansas City Presbytery" for material facts concerning some of the pioneer ministers and churches. Strenuous service in the chairmanship of home missions has rendered the writer at least partially "im mune" to personal criticisms, and therefore he ventures to insert sketches of present members of the Presbytery. If the sketched feel that their merits are not fully delineated they are referred to the sentence above beginning "the space given a minister," etc., and to the additional fact that their labors in the Presbytery are of too recent occurrence for the historian to fully weigh their permanent value.)
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MINISTERS OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HARMONY AND THE FIRST OSAGE
NATHANIEL B. DODGE.
To an age that is tending to the reunion of Christendom, and that looks upon "the field" as the wide, wide world. I present this Congregational founder of Presbyterianism in Southwest Missouri, this stepping stone from foreign to home missions.
Nathoniel Brown Dodge Jr. was born in Winchester N. H., June 5, 1781, served in the war of 1812 and was ordained about 1816 by the Congregational council in Vermont. In 1821 he organized the company sent out by the A. B. C. F. M. to found the Harmony Mission to the Osage Indians. The company con- sisted of ten or eleven families and five lady teachers. Starting from New York "they went to Philadelphia by sea, thence to Pittsburg by large wagons. At Pittsburg they built boats to go down the Ohio and up the Mississippi. They went up the Mis- souri in keel boats to the north of the Osage, and up that as far as they could cordell, and 'till the stream became too shallow to go farther." It took them four months to make this journey and some of their number died by the way. Mr. Dodge was the superintendent of this Mission planted in Bates county. "In the course of six or seven years the Government moved the Indians to Neosho in what is now Kansas, to which place he followed, there founding the Bondinot Mission. Subsequently he returned to Missouri and organized out of the Mission families the Little Osage Church. Thus the transation was made from a Foreign to a Home Missionary. "His first commission from the A. H. M. S. was April 25, 1836, to labor in the vicinity of Harmony Mission station." Some time previous to that he had founded a Congregational Church in that neighborhood, which was undoubtedly the first ehurch of that order ever organized west of the Mississippi, unless the Mission Churches were of that order." To the Board and to the Missionaries it seemed to be a matter of small moment as to whether the churches were of the Congregational or of the Presbyterian order. The Harmony Mis- sion was beyond the confines we are considering in this volume. But the Little Osage Church was in Vernon county. At its organization this church adopted the Congregational form but it soon voted to change to the Presbyterian form of government.
G. A. M. RENSHAW
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Mr. Dodge, its minister, was a member of the Harmony Pres- bytery.
On the third of September 1848 he entered into rest. and his mortal dust lies at Little Osage. He was described as "The best preserved speeimen of an old-fashioned New England country minister." His manners, his dress and all together suggested a generation passed away-one of the old fashioned type. He was unwilling to depart from the ways of New England even among the pioneers. A sacramental meeting was once held in the church, and several of his brethren were with him. A num- ber of persons were hopefully converted. and his brethren urged him to admit them to the church then; but he deleared that such was not the enstom in Vermont, and he would not do it. Soon the Methodist eame and held a meeting, sweeping in all his eonverts, some of them members of his own family, into their fold."
Yet "His life is an illustration of the usefullness of effort for good. He met his kindred race at their first entrance into an important seetion of the country." and he stamped upon the virgin soil the impress of a man of God.
EPHRAIM PEAKE NOEL,
Born in Casell. N. C., Oet. 4, 1804: student of Maryville college : Ordained by the Presbytery of Union Sept. 26. 1833. The labors of this teacher and preacher were confined largely to other parts of the state. But he organized the Hermon and Mt. Zion churches and supplied both for a time. Mr. Noel held the first Presbyterian camp meeting at the Cave Spring camp ground in July and August 1841.
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