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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02279 8323
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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A HISTORY
THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
OF DAYTON, OHIO,
FROM 1845 TO 1880.
BY
CLARKE M¿DERMONT, M. D.
INCLUDING
A SKETCH OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHURCH FROM A POSTHUMOUS MANUSCRIPT OF THE LATE
HENRY L. BROWN, ESQ.
FROM 1800 TO 1845.
DAYTON, OHIO: Journal Book and Job Printing Establishment. 1880.
١
DR. C. McDERMONT:
DEAR SIR -- We have been delegated by the Session, to request you to write a History of the First Presbyterian Church, of Dayton, for publication.
Very respectfully yours, JOHN H. THOMAS, JOHN F. EDGAR.
July, 1879.
Даутаг - А3.50
1206028
PREFACE.
Forty years ago, by request of session, Dr. Job Haines wrote a brief history of the First Presbyterian Church of Dayton. This history was never published, but was carefully copied into the session book of that period, where it may still be found in a good state of preservation. In this sketch Dr. Haines states that no sessional record of the Church, prior to 1818, was in existence. For this and other reasons, his account of the early Presbyterian settlement at Dayton, and the organization of the First Church, is somewhat imperfect.
A few years ago Mr. Henry L. Brown undertook to prepare a history of the Church, but died before his task was completed. His manuscript contains the Church's history from its incipiency to the close of Mr. Barnes' ministry in 1845. His account of the early organization of the First Church is very satisfactory. The information he transmits on this point was obtained chiefly from the old records of the Washington Presbytery, in the State of Kentucky, to whose care the Dayton Church committed itself in its infancy. Mr. Brown visited the Washington Presbytery in order to make a thorough examination of its minutes and correspondence. By this means he discovered that the First Church held ecclesiastical relations with that body in April, 1800. From this we know that its organization must have preceded that date.
From 1845 to the present time, the records of all official proceedings of the First Church have been carefully preserved, which makes the continuation of the history a much easier task than that which Mr.
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Brown assumed. This consideration in connection with the writer's personal knowledge of the general affairs of the Church during the inter- vening period, has enabled him to undertake the duty assigned with less embarrassment than his conscious unfitness for this kind of work would have permitted under other circumstances.
Mr. Brown's manuscript is printed in this volume just as it came from his hand, with the exception of a few verbal corrections, and its characteristic style and language will doubtless prove an interesting feature of the book to the numerous friends of that warm hearted and noble Christian.
In 1870 the Rev. Dr. Thomas delivered a Historical Discourse on the First Church, to which the writer is indebted for a large part of the information given under the head of "Church Statistics."
C. McDERMONT.
DAYTON, OHIO, March, 1880.
EARLY HISTORY OF
THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF DAYTON.
BY THE LATE HENRY L. BROWN, ESQ.
Daniel C. Cooper, formerly of New Jersey, the proprietor of Dayton, was Presbyterian in his church preferences, as were also others of the earliest inhabitants of Dayton who came from the same State. Several of the first emigrant families from Kentucky were New Lights, but formerly Presbyterian, and a few of the original settlers were mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church, who sought ministers of their own denomination to preach for them before any church was organized. The Presbytery of Washington, in the synod of Kentucky, was organized in 1799. Its minutes of proceedings and rules of government do not contain special directions or forms for the organization of new churches, the record only stating with reference to applications that "certain members of a new church living in . . . desired to be taken under the care of Presbytery and to be known as the "church of and such was the entry made of the First Presbyterian Church of
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Dayton, on April 14th, 1801, "when a petition was presented to the Presbytery requesting that occasional supplies might be granted to the church." In answer to this petition Rev. James Kemper was appointed to preach one Sabbath.
The Presbytery of Washington met on April 8th, 1803, and in the minutes of that meeting we find an application from the congregation of Beulah, etc., praying to be con- sidered vacancies, under care of Presbytery, and that sup- plies might be " granted as frequently as possible." Now, we understand that the "etc.," vacancies, and supplies included the wants of the Dayton Church, as needing supplies as frequently as possible, and from this we are assured that the First Presbyterian Church of Dayton existed prior to the spring of 1801, and most probably as early as April, 1800.
The Beulah Church, in common with a New Light con- gregation, of which the beloved Nathan Worley was preacher, and perhaps a Baptist society occupied for wor- ship their log cabin meeting-house, which stood on the grounds of the Ewery grave-yard, near Beavertown. This log building afterwards gave place to a stone church, which was built in the village of Beavertown, and is yet standing, although not used for church purposes. The Beulah Church was supplied by Rev. William Robinson, who lived about three miles east of Dayton on Mad River, and there owned and operated a mill through the week to supply his own bread and accommodate the neighborhood, and then preached the gospel on the Sabbath to furnish spiritual food for the Beulah, Dayton, and other people as
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EARLY HISTORY.
opportunities offered. The population of the country was so sparse at that early day, and the Beulah and Dayton Presbyterian congregations so contiguous as to be really considered one society. In a short period thereafter the Church of Beulah passed out of record and the Dayton Church only remained.
Further entries in the Presbyterial records, with refer- ence to either the Beulah or Dayton churches, do not reveal anything except that supplies were requested and granted for appointments of ministers to preach one Sab- bath at each church.
Although the Church was organized and met for worship as ministers would occasionally present themselves, and in the spring of 1804 called Rev. James Welsh to supply them regularly as their minister, yet a session was not instituted until May, 1806. The trustees and congrega- tional records were opened and the following is the first minute, viz. :
"At a meeting of the First Presbyterian congregation of the town of Dayton, held at their meeting-house, on the 23rd of October, 1804, John Miller, Robert Edgar, David Reid, John McCabe, and John Ewing were elected trustees."
The meeting-house in which this election was held was a small log building standing on the south end of lot num- bered 134, the, then, burying ground, fronting on Third Street.
This cabin was two feet from the ground, eighteen by twenty feet, seven logs high, without chip chinking, a yellow-clay daubing, clapboard roofing, held down with
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
weight poles, rough-slab flooring, and log seated, without windows. It was approached from the roadway or Third Street by a winding pathway through clumps of hazel bushes, and by these bushes was hid from the view of passers-by on Main Street, and was then worshiped in by the men and women of God in that day. And it is of interest to state that Charles Spinning, one of the members of the Church in 1876, when a lad, attended and heard the word of God read and preached in that old log cabin church, and on one occasion, prompted by a boyish freak, crawled between the log under-pinning beneath the floor, and through some hole in the floor up into the room whilst the service was going on. The cabin church was sold for $22, and the amount placed in the new church build- ing fund.
At the same meeting it was resolved, " That for the pur- pose of enabling the trustees to make the meeting-house more comfortable, it was agreed that a subscription should be raised," etc., etc., but at the next meeting of the congre- gation, which was held in June, 1805, the trustees reported that it was inexpedient to do anything to the present cabin meeting-house, and that if the subscriptions made were not sufficient to build a brick meeting-house, that the money should be loaned to the county commissioners to build a court-house, with the understanding that the use of the new court-house room should be granted to the Church as a place of worship, until the money should be refunded, The arrangements being satisfactory to the congregation, was approved, and the sum of $412 was loaned. This
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Log Cabin Meeting House, built 1799; sold for $22 in 1805. CORNER THIRD AND MAIN STREETS, DAYTON, O. The first Church built in Dayton.
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EARLY HISTORY.
amount appears small, but at that time it was much, and required sacrifices, on the parts of some, to make it up ; and the loan was not refunded until 1816.
Under this arrangement the Church services were moved up to the corner room in the log building standing on the south-west corner of Main and Water Streets, and, then, in 1805, used as the county court-room. This house was also the tavern of the town, and, then was, the inn, court- house, jail, and church building of Dayton. (It is there yet in use as a store and dwelling.)
The court-house, on the corner of Third and Main Streets, was completed in 1806, and thereafter was used for church on Sabbath-days for several years.
One of the trustees having resigned, the congregation was called to fill the vacancy, and the meeting resolved to increase the Board to seven, and thereupon D. C. Cooper, James Hanna, and James Miller were elected to fill the vacancies. Mr. Cooper having invested in the county commissioners a deed of trust for lot numbered 133, and 134, 201, 202, an assignment of this deed was presented by the commissioners to the trustees at their May (1807) meeting, and it was ordered that the same be deposited for record.
The lots, 133 and 134, were situated on the corner of Main and Third Streets, and were subsequently subdivided by the trustees into seven lots and sold, and the proceeds of the sale appropriated to church building.
In 1804, the congregation was prosperous, and invited Rev. James Welsh to take charge and preach for the
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Church. He accepted, and continued to minister to the congregation until the spring of 1817, when about the time of the new building, latent opposition, which had been smouldering for some time, was manifested in ex- pressions of desire that his ministry should cease.
The result was, the Doctor resigned. There were some who wished him to be continued as pastor, and their feel- ings were manifested by a call for a congregational meet- ing of all who desired the organization of a Second Pres- byterian Church in Dayton. The meeting was held, and there being more than twenty members of the First Church present who were favorable to such an organization, it was resolved to proceed to constitute the meeting by appoint- ing Dr. Welsh, moderator, and F. Gosney, secretary. They then proceeded to an election of officers, which resulted in the choice of Henry L. Brown, Henry Robin- son, and Andrew Hood, as trustees; and F. Gosney, clerk; and directed that a legal notification of the action of the meeting should be filed with the recorder, and this being done, any further effort to establish a Second Church, ceased.
At the time of Dr. Welsh's taking charge of the Church, a record of the proceedings of the trustees and congrega- tional meetings was commenced and has been continued. In this record is found the minute that, on the 3rd of May, 1806, a congregational meeting was held to "choose elders to form a session, and John McKaig, John Ritchie, and James Hanna were elected to constitute the session of elders of the First Presbyterian Church, of Dayton, Ohio.
3 1833 02279 8323
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EARLY HISTORY.
It seems strange to state that no sessional records were kept, or if kept, were not preserved until February 4th, 1817. During the long pastorate of Dr. Welsh, the one special absorbing question in the Church was, how to obtain a fixed house of worship; and in this struggle the sympathy of the congregation and people of the town were with them.
John McKaig, one of the elders, having resigned, it was resolved at a meeting of the congregation, held May 16th, 1807, that the vacancy should be filled, and also that one more member should be added to the session, whereupon John Miller and Robert Parks were elected, making in all four elders.
Dissatisfaction being manifested by some of the sub- scribers to the building fund, the complaint was consid- ered June 27th, 1808, and the trustees determined that the amount subscribed should be reduced one half, and the remainder be settled by due bills payable in three months to the county commissioners.
At the congregational meeting, December 3rd, 1811, matters of conference and agreements between the trus- tees and the county commissioners were reported and dis- cussed, and it was determined to petition the Legislature to pass an act of incorporation, and Dr. Welsh was ap- pointed to draft a law, and Mr. Cooper and John Miller to circulate a petition and forward the same to the repre- sentatives of the county for presentation and enactment by the Legislature. The request was granted by the passage of a law; and on April 6th, 1812, the congregation pro-
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
ceeded to legally organize the corporation by determining in accordance with Section 3 of the act, which four of the trustees should vacate their office, this being accomplished, a new election was entered into, and after the result was declared, the Board of Trustees, under the act of incor- poration, consisted of D. C. Cooper, John Ewing, Andrew Hood, J. H. Williams, John Miller, James Hanna and Wm. King, with Mr. McClure, treasurer; David Reid, clerk ; and Mathew Patton, collector; and thereupon Jas. Hanna was chosen chairman of the Board, and Jno. Ritchie clerk, and special rules passed for the government of offices.
In all these years there does not appear that any provi- sion was made for paying for ministerial services, and it must be presumed that voluntary contributions were made and depended upon, of which, perhaps, the right- hand knew not of.
The act of incorporation being in force the trustees met June 15th, 1812, and resolved that they were empowered to raise by subscription funds to pay the preacher.
The propriety of changing the place of burial was can- vassed among the people, and as Mr. Cooper had donated two lots to the First Presbyterian congregation, one to the Methodist and one for purposes in common to all, as burying grounds, under their care and control. Said lots being on Fifth, south of Wilkinson Street. The trustees, at their meeting in June, 1812, appointed a committee to collect money to pay for clearing, fencing, and improving two lots donated, 261, 262, and, to assist in making these improvements, the committee was requested to "call upon
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EARLY HISTORY.
the leading characters of the different churches and learn whether they would join in fencing the burying ground."
In October, the committee reported " That they had called upon the leading characters of the different congre- gations, and that the leading characters of the Methodist Church would join in fencing all the lot intended for the burying ground; but, there being no leading characters of the Baptist congregation, they had no report, as to them."
A committee was then appointed to prosecute the work, and, in June, 1815, report was made that a contract had been made for fencing, clearing, plowing, and sowing with grass-seed the burial lots; and, further, directed that the lots as laid out on the ground belonging to the First Pres- byterian Church be offered at public sale, at the court- house, on the second court-day in September; and also to offer for sale the sub-divided parts of lot 133 and 134 at the same time and place.
The question having been raised as to who were qualified voters in congregational meetings, the trustees resolved, "That all who should declare that they believed them- selves to have been baptized, and reside within ten miles of the town of Dayton, and who have contributed to the congregation, should have the right to vote."
At this meeting, May 15th, 1813, the all-absorbing ques- tion of church building was again discussed, and a com- mittee appointed to contract for a lot, and this committee subsequently reported that Isaac G. Burnet had offered to donate from his land at the south of Wilkinson Street, but the lot was not considered well situated; and they had
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
purchased of D. C. Cooper a lot, at the west end of Second Street, for $250. In May, 1814, proposals were invited for furnishing materials for new church building purposes, contracts were made, and some of the lumber and stone was delivered. But the location of the lot was not satis- factory to some, who protested, and in March, 1815, the trustees resolved that it was inexpedient to proceed with the building, and directed that the materials on hand should be disposed of. The trustees, however, met again, on May 15th, and re-resolved that it was expedient to proceed immediately to build a brick meeting-house, thirty-four by fifty feet, in accordance with a plan adopted contemplating a one-story house; and the chairman was authorized to purchase of D. C. Cooper the lot on the north-west corner of Second and Ludlow Streets at $1,00, with the understanding that the lot bought for $250 should be taken in part payment.
The exchange was made; and the plan of building was so changed as to require a two-story house, forty-two by fifty feet, with a gallery on three sides of the room.
A contract was made and the building was commenced, but for a time its construction was so delayed as to cause an abandonment of the agreement, and the entering into of another with D. C. Cooper, Joseph Peirce, Isaac G. Burnet, Benjamin Van Cleve, and David Reid to complete the work, but for some reason this engagement was soon abrogated, and the trustees proceeded to prosecute the building. The plan of the house was forty-two by fifty feet, two-stories high, with two front doors on Ludlow
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EARLY HISTORY.
Street, two entrances and one cross-aisle, the pulpit on the west side, about eight feet from the floor, and approached by a flight of winding steps. On the lower floor there were thirty-eight single and four double pews, the gallery was entered by stairs from each front door, and had thirty- two pews in it. The precentor's desk was under the pulpit and was entered from the cross-aisle. In that early time, as well as in this centennial year, there were continued and church-annoying differences of opinions as to who, how many, and from what position in the church the singing should be conducted. And, as some of the young and a few of the old were not content to have the precentor from un- der the pulpit lead the singing, the question of place was submitted to the trustees in 1821, and they resolved, "That the front seats in the middle block of pews in the gallery should be appointed for musicians; and that persons who were acquainted with the rules of singing have leave to occupy said seats." For a time, this change was satis- factory, but then came the question of permitting the use of a bass-viol, the assistance of such an instrument was resisted, but soon it was permitted probationally.
The pews in the lower floor were quite high, and would be now called perhaps box seats, and however acceptable to the fathers and mothers, they were not so to their children, who could not see out, excepting they would turn their eyes upward.
The building being completed, the pews were offered for sale, on the terms of subscription, October 4th, 1817, and realized $2,980, and on the following Sabbath the house
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
was occupied in public worship, with thanksgiving that all their plans, contributions, and labors had resulted so well at last. Some who rejoiced, although not members of the Church, yet had been interested in the enterprise from its inception to its completion, and were greatly pleased. The entire cost of the lot and improvement was $6,961.62, to make up this sum, privations, such as we are not called upon in these days to endure, were graciously submitted to. Thirteen years elapsed from the commencement of the preparation until the occupancy of the house of worship, but faith, perseverance, and good words prevailed and the blessing came. The trustees of the congregation, up to the time of finishing the church, were John Miller, Robert Edgar, David Reid, John Ewing, John McCabe, D. C. Cooper, James Hanna, Andrew Hood, William King, J. H. Williams, Hezekiah Robinson, Matthew Patton, James Steele, H. G. Phillips, Isaac G. Burnet, G. W. Smith, David Lindsley ; clerks, David Reid, Rev. James Welsh, Benjamin Van Cleve, Job Haines, and James Steele; treasurers, W. McClure, Obadiah Conover, and John Folkerth; collectors, Matthew Patton, A. McFadden, R. Wilson, John King, Daniel Pierson, and A. Darst; elders, John KcKaig, John Ritchie, James Hanna, John Miller, and Robert Parks; pastor, Rev. James Welsh.
There are no records of the Church-members to which we can refer, but in the year 1819 there were 94 com- municant-members on the roll.
The first bell hung in the cupola proved to be too small, and an arrangement was made with Mr. Cooper to
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. Built 1817 ; taken down 1839. CORNER SECOND AND LUDLOW STREETS, DAYTON, OHIO. The second Church built by this Congregation.
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EARLY HISTORY.
exchange it for a larger one. When the large bell was delivered at Mr. Cooper's store, he put it on a barrow and wheeled it to the church, and in this effort so injured himself as probably to hasten the time of his death.
The First Presbyterian Church was not only the first regularly-organized Church in Dayton, but the Sabbath- school in connection with it, was the first Sabbath-school formed in the town, and the third organized in the State.
March 6th, 1817, the inquiry was made by some citi- zens, " Do we need a Sunday-school in the place ?" Rev. Backus Wilbur, a licentiate from New Jersey, visited and preached for the congregation several months during the summer and fall of 1817, and was so acceptable in his preaching as to prompt a congregational meeting on the 13th of August, and a call to be given him to become pastor of the Church. Mr. Wilbur returned to New Jersey, but did not for some reason accept and return until in June, 1818, when he commenced his ministry and preached until he was ordained and installed, August 27th, and preached his first and only sermon as pastor on the following Sabbath. Mr. Wilbur had been appointed by Presbytery, to visit and preach for, and administer the communion in the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati on the succeeding Sabbath. He filled the appointment, and whilst in Cincinnati was taken sick, and returned to Dayton, continued and died September 29th, 1818, in his thirtieth year, and his body rests in Woodland Cemetery. From the commencement of Mr. Wilbur's min- istry until his decease, there were received into the Church
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
27 on certificate, 23 on examination, and 1 by infant bap- tism; in all, 51. In 1819 there were 5 persons received on certificate.
Rev. Ahab Jenks, of Connecticut, was invited to come and preach for the Church in December, 1819, and on Feb- ruary 2d, 1820, the officers of the Church were authorized to procure his settlement as pastor as soon as practicable, at a salary of $600 per year. Mr. Jenks accepted the call, was installed, and continued to preach until the fall of 1821, when his relation as pastor was dissolved. During the time of his ministry there were members added on certificate, 14; on examination, 37; in all 51.
After Mr. Jenks left and before the coming of Mr. Graham, there were added on examination to the mem- bership, 5; infants baptized, 8; in all, 13; with adult baptism, 4.
In the winter months of 1822 and 1823, the Rev. Wm. Graham preached for the congregation, and in March he was elected pastor at a salary of $400, which he accepted, and was ordained and installed on May 8th, 1823, and remained pastor until February 6th 1826. Under his pastorate there were added to the Church on certificate, 6; on examination, 29, and by infant baptism, 62; making in all, 97; with adult baptism, 3.
After Mr. Graham left and before another was called, there were 5 members received on certificate, and 4 by infant baptism; in all, 9.
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