First Presbyterian Church, Market and Hinde Streets, Washington Court House, Ohio : sesquicentennial anniversary, 1813-1963, October 6th-13th, Part 1

Author: First Presbyterian Church (Washington Court House, Ohio)
Publication date: 1963
Publisher: [Washington Court House, Ohio] : [First Presbyterian Church]
Number of Pages: 26


USA > Ohio > Fayette County > Washington Court House > First Presbyterian Church, Market and Hinde Streets, Washington Court House, Ohio : sesquicentennial anniversary, 1813-1963, October 6th-13th > Part 1


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Part 1


First Presbyterian Church


Market and Hinde Streets Washington Court House, Ohio


1.


FIRST PRESBYTERIAN


---


SESQUICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY


1813-1963


October 6th-13th


- -


SESQUICENTENNIAL PROGRAM OCTOBER 6-13, 1963


Yook


SUNDAY-


9:00 a. m. and 10:45 a. m. Holy Communion Services Senior Elders officiating 9:35 a. m. Church School


11:45 a. m. Coffee Hour 3:00-5:00 p. m. Open House at the Manse


TUESDAY- 6:30 p. m.


Covered Dish Dinner Reverend and Mrs. E. DeVer Walker, Speakers Members of over twenty-five years honored


THURSDAY- 7:30 p. m.


Worship Service Reverend John Parrett, Speaker McNair and Bloomingburg Night Social Hour


FRIDAY- 3:00-5:00 p. m. Open House Tea Mrs. Harold J. Braden, presiding


SUNDAY-


9:35 a. m. Church School 10:30 a. m. Anniversary Worship Service Reverend John K. Abernethy, Speaker


1:00 p. m. Homecoming Basket Dinner at the Youth Building on the Fairgrounds


Displays throughout the building of relics and pictures relating to the past history of the congregation.


Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015


https://archive.org/details/firstpresbyteria00fir0


A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, OHIO


The Presbyterian Church in Fayette County first came into being in 1812. In that year the Chillicothe Presbytery received a petition "from some inhabitants of Fayette County desiring to be known as the Washington Congregation and praying for supplies." This took place but two years after the organization of the county and after the platting of the town of Washington. Only the Friends Meet- ing at Walnut Creek, below New Martinsburg, is older in Fayette County; but it has long been disbanded. So the First Presbyterian Church has grown up with the community.


In 1813 the Presbytery noted that Major Samuel Waddle of Washington was to receive certain religious books and supplies being then distributed, and in 1814 Reverend Samuel Baldridge was assigned to the pastorate here. However, the church records here show the organization date of the congregation as Octo- ber 10, 1813, and date Reverend Baldridge's ministry from that time. From that date Mr. Baldridge served until 1815 and was to give only half his time to the congregation here. In 1815 Reverend James Dickey was assigned and was here two years. From 1817-19 there was no regular assigned minister, and during this period the Bloomingburg congregation was set off as a separate group.


THE ORIGINAL SESSION


James Clark William Blair Samuel Waddle


Ananias Allen


James Stewart


ORIGINAL MEMBERS - RECEIVED OCTOBER 19, 1813


William Devlon


John Waddle


Henry Snider


James Devlon


Mary Waddle


Betsy Snider


Phebe Devlon


Betsy Waddle


Jane Stewart


Mary Waddle


Catherine Blair


James Blair


Isabella Blair


Lucinda Baldridge


Margaret Allen


Isabella Clerk


MEMBERS RECEIVED AFTER OCTOBER 19, 1813


June 3, 1814-


Robert Robinson


Joseph Parrott (Senr.) Joseph Ronk Catherine Ronk


Mary McGarraugh James McCormick Mrs. James McCormick Margaret Ellot


August 26- Sarah Robison


November 20, 1816 Samuel Buck Sarah Buck


December 16, 1818? (Prob. 1815) William Gunning


Sally McCandless


Jane Gunning Margaret Gelaspey


James Manary


Elizabeth Boyce Jane Sincebaugh


Harriet Buck, wife of James Buck James McMath


Mathew Galespy Andrew Gunning


Polly McMath


Barbara Gunning


Francis Waddle


Joseph Gibson


Elenor Orr ("a member over 20 years ago")


Elizabeth Gibson


Nancy Allen Thomas McGarraugh


August 16, 1818 James Patterson


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Mary Cristy


Mrs. James Manary


July 19, 1817


Isabella Patterson, his wife Norman F. Jones Milly, wife of J. B. Webster Elisabeth Blackmore, wife of Joseph Jacob Caylor Catherine Caylor, his wife Roswell Grosvenor Harriet Grosvenor


Deaths reported Nov. 20, 1816 James Clark - Elder James McGarraugh


Infants Baptized


June 3, 1814


David Ronk


Joseph Ronk


Elisa Snider


Elizabeth Waddle


Hugh Stewart


August 26


August 17, 1818


Polly Blair Catherine Blair


John Blair


Elizabeth Blair


Eloner, William Hamilton and Polly Gibson, children of James Pat- terson Eliza, Nancy, John, David Dawson, Mary Ellen, Amelia, and Lidia, children of Amelia Webster


December 16, 1818? (Prob. 1815) Jane McGarraugh


Elener Waddle


Henry, son of Jacob Caylor


Polly Waddle


July Ann Montgomery


Mary Ann, daughter of Elizabeth Blackmore Isabella, daughter of James Blair


November 20, 1816 James Wason Buck William Buck


Newton, son of Thomas Blair James, son of Samuel Waddle


About this time Reverend William Dickey came for four years and after his pastorate there are no records until 1834. The Dickeys deserve an article by them- selves, but since they were much more associated with the Bloomingburg Presby- terian Church, we feel they should be studied in connection with that congrega- tion. In 1834 Reverend John C. Eastman came for five years, and following him was another period of irregular pastorates and no definitely assigned ministers. In 1849 Reverend James Hopkins came to try to breathe life into the little con- gregation, and he was followed by the fifteen year pastorate of Reverend Samuel Miller. There is a tradition that in the 1829-34 period the Bloomingburg and Washington congregations returned to a sharing of the minister, but we can find no proof of this.


During Reverend Miller's time a good deal of dissension arose in the con- gregation. The session minutes disclose that one family, who evidently felt little regard for the minister, were called before the session for unseemly conduct. The testimony developed that the father, mother and grown son were accustomed either to walk out or put their hands over their ears when Mr. Miller arose to pray. During a union service at the Methodist Church this occurred, and it was at this point that the session intervened. The north memorial window is dedicated to Reverend Miller.


This was the period during which the second church was erected. The first


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Elisabeth Buck Nathaniel McCandless July 19, 1817 Margaret Amelia, daughter of Rev. Ruben Whight


Jane Carson, daughter of James Stewart


Elenor and Catherine Ellot, daughters of James Manary


John and Elenor, children of Francis Waddle Emily Ann, daughter of James McGrath


Catherine and Perry, children of James Buck February 7, 1818


James Dickey, son of Rev. William Dickey Joseph Parrett, son of Hugh and Sally McCandless


church, of wood, had been built in the late 1830s, and it had become outmoded and inadequate to meet the needs. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph McLean sold the congre- gation in two different transactions the whole of the lot they owned which cor- nered at the intersection of Market and Hinde and had its widest dimension along Hinde Street. Some years later Mr. Joe Wilson sold them a small tract adjoining the church lot, and this constitutes the present tract. The differences over the building of the new church and other matters became so strong that Mr. and Mrs. McLean, with a good many others, left the church to join the Grace Methodist Church. The little group who were left behind kept on trying to hold together and managed to do so.


O


ARTIST'S CONCEPTION OF THE SECOND CHURCH EDIFICE ERECTED IN 1856 AND DAMAGED IN THE CYCLONE, SEPTEMBER 8, 1885 .- DRAWN BY EDWARD HELT.


With the coming of Reverend George Carpenter and family in 1867 things began to improve. The Carpenters accomplished much during their stay, and the membership rolls increased comfortably during the seventeen years. Mrs. Carpen- ter was asked personally to direct several of the things to be built in the new manse, and one of the things she got done was the building of closets in the home, a fairly unusual thing for those days. They were the first family to occupy the manse in the early 1870's. The structure continued to serve for over 75 years as the home of pastors. After use as a church house for another dozen years, it was razed in 1961.


5


PICTURE OF OLD MANSE TAKEN SHORTLY AFTER IT WAS BUILT. (PICTURE OWNED BY MRS. W. H. HASTINGS WHOSE FATHER, WILL HAMMER, BUILT THE MANSE.)


Reverend Samuel Alderson came next and was here eight years, being followed by the Reverend J. L. McNair, of whom more below. Reverend David H. Jones came after Reverend McNair and then Reverend William I. Campbell.


In 1913 the Reverend William Boynton Gage came to the pulpit. He accepted this church's pastorate, among several offered him, because he was a grandson of Reverend William Gage, for many years the pastor of Pisgah and Concord Presbyterian Churches in Ross County. The elder Reverend Gage had several times filled our pulpit when we had no regularly assigned minister. The younger Mr. Gage served as a chaplain during World War I, and during his absence the late Reverend J. L. McWilliams of Melvin filled the pastorate.


Since Mr. Gage, the pastors have been the Reverend Arch Nicholson, 1921-26; the Reverend J. Stanley Mitchell, 1926-36; The Reverend J. Roby Old- ham, 1936-42; Reverend John K. Abernethy, 1943-50; the Rev. Harold J. Braden, 1950-56. Reverend W. Neil Hand, the present pastor, has served since 1956.


The original members of the session, or elders, were William Blair, James Clark, Samuel Waddle, Col. James Stewart, and Ananias Allen. The last named was a Revolutionary soldier and lived on the old Stewart farm just north of Bloomingburg. He sold it to the Stewarts before he removed to Madison County many years ago. In the old barn on the farm were held some of the earliest Pres- byterian church services in the county.


In 1817 the Washington Church elected three session members, Thomas McGarraugh, Henry Snider, and Robert Robinson, which leads us to believe that the three men they replaced were of the Bloomingburg congregation.


In 1835, when a reorganization took place, Robert Robinson was the only elder retained, and with James Pollack, John Wilson, Isaac Templin, and Joseph


6


McLean became the new session. In those days membership on the session was for life or until the member resigned. This explains the long tenure of some of the members and why they died in office. Other names of session members of later date have included the following: Taylor, Bryan, Parrett, Van Deman, Deva- lon, Ustick, Fullerton, Rothrock, Edwards, Pinkerton, Pavey, Hopkins, and many others.


SAMUEL ALDERSON


No one has yet found where the earliest meetings were held in the homes of various members of the church. Rent was paid for the use of some building as early as 1835, but the use is not explained. Sometime after this date a wooden church was erected, probably on the present site, but as we have seen, the title to the ground was not acquired until 1848. The erection of the wooden church must have been costly, for it was a good eighteen months before a belfry could be built.


In 1856 after the present site had been bought by the congregation, the first brick church was erected. It stood nearer the corner of Market and Hinde and was not quite as large a church as the present structure. In the famous cy- clone of 1885, which wrought so much damage and devastation throughout the community, the brick church was damaged a good deal. In 1890 the present brick church was finished and dedicated and is substantially as it was when first built. The new Hinde Street building was dedicated June 10, 1962.


Church financing is an old problem. How it was met about 1835 is worth telling. In the first session book preserved for us is a statement as follows:


"We, the undersigned, promise and hereby bind ourselves to pay the several sums annexed to our names annually to the Reverend John C. Eastman for his labors as a gospel minister so long as he shall remain the pastor of the Presby- terian Church of Washington, Fayette County, Ohio."


The names signed were these: T. McGarraugh, Robert Robinson, James N. Wilson, Matthias Van Deman, John Jackson, Mrs. Elizabeth Waddle, Samuel Hamilton, Norman F. Jones, Jesse L. Millikan, Samuel Lydy, Noah Evans, James B. Webster, William H. Boggs, Evans and Bates, Membrance Blue, William Hill,


7


SANCTUARY BUILDING, ERECTED 1890


F. M. Peland, Nicholas Hay, Samuel A. Smyth, John Sanders, David McLean, Dan- iel McLean, Robert Cissna, Joseph McLean, William Stockdale, Samuel Millikan, Peter Wendel, Adam Beard, Samuel F. Kerr, John Webster, Robert R. Lindsey, Ellis B. Stockdale, Samuel F. Yeoman, J. M. Burnett, J. Blackmore, Z. W. Heagler, Joel S. Bereman, Isaac Templin, John Wilson, Jr., John Wilson, Sr., Zachariah W. Baughn, William Flesher, Lewis F. Wilson, John Parrott, William Hynes, Henry Hynes, Jesse Gum, Joseph Wendle, Jacob Dunkle, John Harper, Jacob Gum, George Glaze, Sen., Jacob Glaze, George Glaze, Jun., Eliza H. Smith, Elias Par- rett, George Parrett, Adam Flesher, Elizabeth Armstrong, John Armstrong, Philip Weaver, William Hidy, John Pollock, John Orr, Samuel Orr, John Orr, Jr., George Boyd, Vincent Lanum, John Baird, William Irwin, Jacob Caylor, Davidson Pitzer, George W. Easterbrook, James Vance, William Jenkins, and Jacob Jamison. These people gave sums ranging from 50c to $15, and totaling $180.50. There is no date but it must have been about 1835 or 1836.


An early complete membership list is dated November 18, 1834, and shows but twenty-six names: John Wilson, Sr., Hannah Wilson, John Wilson, Jr., Thomas McGarraugh, Robert Robinson, Elizabeth Waddle, Mrs. Amelia Webster, Mrs. Betsey Snider, Mrs. Anna Boyd, Samuel F. Kerr, Matthias Van Deman, Mar- garet Van Deman, Ellis B. Stockdale, James Pollack, Isaac Templin, Lucy Ann Rob- inson, Norman F. Jones, Mary Jones, James N. Wilson, Maria Wilson, Margaret McGarraugh, Joseph McLean, Lucinda McLean, Martha Eastman, Rachel Orr, and Eleanor Cissna.


Other entries show that before 1850 expenditures were made for com- munion wine, 2 at 371/2c; candles, 25c; "sweeping the house," 61/2c; a broom, 25c; domestic missions, $5; for education of the Negroes in Brown County, $5, and


8


40c for a spit box. About the time of the Civil War coal oil was used in the lamps at 75c a gallon and stove coal at a cost of 20 bushels for $3.50 heated the build- ing. At one time the finances of the church did not permit the purchase of a heat- ing stove so one of the elders let them have it on time. The final payment is re- corded, and one can imagine the satisfaction which attended the entry, "final payment on heating stove paid this day."


Mention ot the wine brings to mind one of the minister's wife, Mrs. George Carpenter. Besides helping with the planning of the manse, she was one of the vigorous campaigners in the Women's Temperance Crusade here. The first meet- ing of the now historic campaign was held in the old brick Presbyterian Church while her husband was pastor. In later life, at the request of many people, she compiled a very fine history of the Crusade at Washington Court House, and many homes here contain a copy. Mrs. G. M. Ustick was another of our ladies who was in the front ranks in the Crusade. After the Crusade the session voted to use only unfermented grape juice for communion purposes. In one of the earliest record books of the church, the session of that day had gone on record as making it a condition of membership in this congregation that the prospective member will totally abstain from spirituous drink except for medicinal purposes.


Ladies' organizations in the church don't appear until after the Civil War, although we can find little evidence one way or the other. We do find a record book of the Women's Missionary Society beginning in 1888 which calls itself the fourth year. It can easily be seen that while the attendance rarely got above 20, the amount of work and fund raising was far out of proportion to the number.


As a good example of what the ladies of that day could do, we would like to cite 1894. In that year they held a Fair at the Old Opera House for three days and nights. In the evening a pageant, called "The Seven Ages of Men," was presented. There were many booths, and the handwork that was shown and sold must have been very fine. The decorations of the booths were elaborate and care- fully planned. One lady was instructed to obtain 24 silver cups at 34c each to sell at the Fair. The financial report showed a profit of over $500. In the same year the Society sponsored a violin concert which netted them over $100. When the pastor told them of a debt of $300, it is not surprising that the ladies could vote at once all he asked for, nor was he unaware of their abilities to raise money for the church. They didn't have to plan ahead to raise it; they already had it.


The early lists of baptisms and admissions of adult members show that a number of the Dutch Reformed Presbyterian Church lived within the bounds of our church. They brought the children to be baptized and the church affiliation is noted in each case. The Germanic names don't appear in numbers until after the Civil War, and before that the Scotch-Irish and English names predominate.


The Sunday School's beginnings are rather vague. We can find the first mention in 1850 when an expenditure for books was made, but nothing after that. We presume that there were Sunday School activities, but it seems likely that the records were kept elsewhere. Today the Sunday Church School enrolls 375 children, youth, and adults.


Missions have been a Presbyterian standby since our beginnings. In 1835 we find regular sums allotted for missions and receipts given by the Presbytery. One early year finds the session resolving to send a petition to the Presbytery for money for our church which was then in a very precarious financial condition. The request never had to be repeated.


One of our national missions projects had its beginning in this community almost seventy years ago. It began as the East End Chapel and is now McNair Memorial Presbyterian Church. While it had its status as a Mission of First Church, the First Church session regularly assigned a member of its group to lead the


9


Sunday services and another to lead the midweek services. Reverend McNair, a pastor of First Church, was very much interested in this mission and spent much time in the work there. So it was but natural that the Mission should take his name when Presbytery recognized it as a separate congregation in 1915. The McNair Church continues to serve the community, sharing a pastor with Bloom- ingburg.


SESSION OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-1895


Seated: (Left to right)-G. M. Ustick, Dr. C. M. Wilson, Dr. J. L. McNair, Pastor; James M. Edwards, and William Robinson.


Standing: Joseph Rothrock, J. P. Robinson, F. M. Fullerton, George Pavey, T. S. Pinkerton, and John Urquhert. (Picture is property of Miss Hattie Pinkerton.)


While prior mention has been made of the church facilities, some additional facts should be noted.


Following the construction of the sanctuary edifice (1885-1890) at a cost of $19,000, no remodeling or enlargement of facilities was undertaken until during the ministry of the Reverend John Abernethy (1943-49). The sanctuary was ex- tensively redecorated and new lighting installed, and a chapel was dedicated in memory of those who died in service during World War II. (The furnishings are included in the present "Wayside Chapel.") The church having received the for- mer G. W. Blakeley home at 220 North Hinde Street to be used only as a manse under the terms of the bequest, the church manse was converted to other use. The five rooms on the first floor were used for church school classes on Sunday and as a church office and for numerous meetings during the week. The second floor became an apartment for the custodian.


In 1934 the church received a 130 acre farm from the will of Miss Mary Edwards. The proceeds from the farm are used for the upkeep of the manse.


10


k


WILLIAM B. GAGE


DAVID JONES


While the Reverend Harold J. Braden served as pastor (1950-56), extensive remodeling of the church basement took place together with the sandblasting of the exterior brickwork. Approximately $15,000 was expended. In 1956 new car- pet was laid in the sanctuary at a cost of $5,000.


The increased enrollment of children in the church school in the mid 1950's presented the church with a space problem. At the annual congregational meet- ing in 1958, a committee was elected to study the spatial needs. Under the chair- manship of Mr. L. M. Hayes, the committee carefully considered a number of possibilities, and in the fall of 1958 recommended that a new building be con- structed on Hinde Street adjacent to the sanctuary building. The church house would have to be razed. By a 92 per cent favorable vote the congregation ap- proved the plan, and a general building committee of nineteen members was elected and empowered to develop a plan of financing, employ an architect, and prepare a preliminary set of plans for an addition. Under the chairmanship of Mr.


ARCH H. NICHOLSON


J. STANLEY MITCHELL


11


JOHN K. ABERNETHY


J. ROBY OLDHAM


Rollo M. Marchant, this committee, working through several sub-committees, labored diligently. In May of 1959 a most successful financial campaign, directed by Mr. Don Hull of H. P. Demand and Associates, resulted in pledges of $130,000. Plans were drawn up by Lagedrost & Walter, A.I.A., of Dayton. Follow- ing numerous revisions in the plans and the decision of the congregation to make available the BancOhio stock given by Dr. Carey Persinger in 1951 for the build- ing fund, contracts were let in March, 1961, for the construction of the new build- ing. Mr. Waldo Bowman supervised the construction of the building for the Don King Construction Company of Jackson, Ohio. Associated Plumbers and Heaters and Snyder Electric of Washington C. H. were the other contractors. The building of almost 15,000 square feet of space on three levels contains Persinger Hall (a large fellowship room with stage and kitchen), a chapel, a parlor-library, pas- tor's study, offices, rest rooms, and twelve classrooms. Total cost of the structure and equipment totaled approximately $245,000. Approximately one-half the cost


HAROLD J. BRADEN


W. NEIL HAND


12


was met from the sale of the BancOhio stock which had appreciated from a value of $20,000 in 1951. The remainder represented the gifts of 350 persons or fam- ily groups. Names of donors are recorded in the memorial book upon the reposi- tory in the foyer. The church has no indebtedness.


In this year of 1963 as the First Presbyterian Church of Washington Court House closes out 150 years of ministry in Fayette County, we pause, looking in retrospect to what has happened during the last century and a half. As we have noted, the congregation has had its "ups and downs." Because some ministers and sessions were less inclined to the keeping of records than others, we have many gaps in what should be a continuous record. But so that those who may look back upon the status of the church at the time of its sesquicentennial ob- servance, we will cite some facts and figures about First Church today.


CHURCH MEMBERSHIP Age Groupings


Male


Female


Total


Ages 13-21 years


35


28


63


Ages 21-35 years


56


71


127


Ages 36-50 years


65


67


132


Ages 51-65 years


69


107


176


Aged over 65 years


28


75


103


Totals


253


348


601


Marital Status


Male


Female


Total


Single


53


61


114


Married to another member


160


160


320


Married to a non-member


29


58


87


Widowed or divorced


11


69


80


Totals


253


348


60


Classification of Employment


Professional and Technical


60


Proprietors and Managerial


47


Clerical


62


Sales


32


Craftsmen and Foremen


26


Skilled Operatives


18


Service


12


Farmers


11


Armed Forces


5


Laborers


3


Total


276


.


In addition the membership includes students, retired persons and home- makers in considerable numbers.


As is true with any church many are a part of the ministry and fellowship although they are not numbered among the communicant membership. There are over 200 children under the age of 13 who attend church school and/or partici- pate in other church activities. Approximately 100 older persons are affiliated with the church in one way or another. Thus the church serves a constituency of approximately 900 persons.


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For 1963 the total church budget exclusive of the Women's Association and the Church School is $35,800. Of this, $8,650 is designated for General Missions (benevolences) and the remainder is for the Local Church.


The First Church is one of the churches of the Columbus Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, which was formed in 1958 by the merger of the former Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. (which was the denomination of this church), and the former United Presbyterian Church of North America. The First Church has cooperated fully with the Presbyterian system of government and has always espoused the theology of the Westminster standards. Two recent pastors have been honored by being selected to serve as moderator of the Presbytery. Reverend John K. Abernethy was moderator in 1947 and Reverend W. Neil Hand in 1961. Three men who have been former members of the congregation serve as Presbyterian pastors. Reverend John Parrett is pastor of the Harris Memorial Church in Ashtabula, Ohio; Reverend George Clementson is pastor of the Jeffersonville Presbyterian Church in Indiana; and Reverend Leo McDaniel is associate pastor of the Brentwood Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles, California.


For sixteen years members and affiliates of the church have been informed


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of the programs and activities of the church by the DEACON BEACON, which is edited and produced by Mr. Perse Harlow, who also serves as Financial Secretary and Treasurer of the church.


PASTORS OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH


*Samuel Baldridge 1813-1815


*James Dickey


1815-1817


*William Dickey 1819-1823


Records missing from 1823 to 1835


*John C. Eastman 1835-1840


*James Dunlap and others 1840-1849


(Records are incomplete)


*James G. Hopkins 1849-1850


*Samuel J. Miller 1851-1866


*George Carpenter 1867-1884


*Samuel B. Alderson 1884-1892


*James L. McNair 1892-1905


*David H. Jones 1905-1910


*William I. Campbell 1910-1913


*William Boynton Gage 1913-1920


*J. L. McWilliams, Stated Supply 1918-1919


(Reverend Gage in France)


Arch H. Nicholson 1921-1926


*J. Stanley Mitchell 1926-1936


*J. Roby Oldham 1936-1942


John Knox Abernethy 1943-1949


*Harold J. Braden


1950-1956


W. Neil Hand


*Deceased


1956-


ELDERS OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WHO HAVE SERVED SINCE 1888


*William A. Ustick


Jess E. Magly


O. D. Farquhar George Finley


*C. M. Wilson


Arthur H. Finley


*E. W. Detrick


Edward E. Porter


*Frank M. Fullerton


*Dwight Summers


Charles A. Reinke


*J. C. Van Deman


W. O. Beatty Trox Farrell


Leo B. Edwards William F. Lord


*Joseph W. Rothrock *Charles F. Wise


*R. Owen Harrison


*E. Wayne Titus *James F. Parkison


*James M. Edwards *Thomas Pinkerton *J. P. Robinson *John Urquhart


*Harry Lawson


*H. O. Noland


*Walter Patton John Steele


*William A. Smith Joseph H. Shoemaker Donald E. Wood


*George M. Pavey


*Samuel A. Dewey William C. Allen


Charles W. Mustine


*Austin F. Hopkins *H. D. Chaffin *J. T. Tuttle *C. A. Reid


J. H. Persinger Frederick R. Woollard John Bailey, Jr. Duane Baker


*Carey Persinger


Mrs. P. M. Cook


*Sherman Reeder * Albert J. Walker *O. K. Probasco *George Jackson


Charles V. Sexton


M. Grove Davis


Charles A. Wallace


*Eugene N. Holloway


*John M. Hicks


* Arthur Leland Clark Pensyl Kenneth Craig Walter Rettig


Mrs. Howard Perrill Jessee Persinger J. Rankin Paul Mrs. I. L. Pumphrey


*Charles P. Jamison *Harry Reese *Frank M. Rothrock *Harry E. Sprenger


*Paul Van Voorhis


Dwight B. Ireland


*O. D. Armstrong Fred D. Woollard *John W. Wilson


* Ambrose Elliott Robert E. Bishop Carroll Halliday


Paul Crosby


A. Jerry Grundies


*Elders who are not living and/or not still members of this church.


*J. W. Henceroth


*A. B. Murray


C. L. Musser Joseph Hamm *E. F. Hodson *J. W. Yates


Russell Giebelhouse


George Robinson, Jr. John Wylie


Herbert M. Clickner


Robert A. Heiny


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*George M. Ustick


THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH - 1963


THE SESSION Rev. W. Neil Hand - Moderator


Class of 1964 William C. Allen J. Rankin Paul Mrs. I. L. Pumphrey


Class of 1965


Class of 1966


Kenneth Craig


Paul Crosby


Dr. Robert Heiny


J. H. Shoemaker


Dr. Dwight Ireland, Clerk


Larry D. Bishop Elmer Castle, Pres. William L. Gordon


THE BOARD OF DEACONS


Russell Spaulding


Robert A. Baney, Sec.


Harold Thomas


Eugene Ladrach


Harry Townsend


Lee B. Lynch, Jr.


THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES


Kenneth A. Bush


Charles W. Ellis


Herbert Clickner, Pres. C. H. Morrison


William A. Ribble Philip M. Morrow


Perse E. Harlow - Secretary-Treasurer of the Corporation


THE WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION


President Mrs. Herbert M. Clickner


Vice President Mrs. P. M. Cook


Secretary Miss Marie Marchant


Assistant Secretary ... Mrs. D. K. Adams


Treasurer Miss Kathleen Stookey


Program Chairman Mrs. W. C. Allen


Circle Leaders


Mary Circles


#1-Mrs. Peter Smeltzer


#2-Mrs. C. H. Morrison


#3-Mrs. Charles S. Hire #4-Mrs. P. M. Cook #5-Mrs. Lee B. Lynch, Jr.


Martha Circle-Mrs. Richard Rankin


Mary Circle-Mrs. I. L. Pumphrey


THE SUNDAY CHURCH SCHOOL


Co-Superintendents-Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Miller Associate Superintendent-Mr. Maurice Stone Secretary-Treasurer-Mrs. James Wilson


THE STAFF


Pastor-Rev. W. Neil Hand


Organist and Chapel Choir Director- Mrs. John P. Case


Secretary-Mrs. Don E. Wood


Treasurer and Financial Secretary- Perse E. Harlow


Chancel Choir Director- Mrs. Russell Spaulding


Custodian-J. Russell Dilley


SESQUICENTENNIAL COMMITTEES


O. D. Farquhar, General Chairman


Display Mrs. Richard Rankin Mrs. C. S. Kelley, Chairman


Special Music


Mrs. P. M. Cook


George Robinson, Chairman


Miss Kathleen Davis


Mrs. Arthur Finley


Miss Edna Hamm


Ways and Means


Dr. J. H. Persinger


O. D. Farquhar


Hospitality


Publicity J. Rankin Paul History


Jess E. Magly Miss Grace McHenry


Dr. F. D. Woollard


16


M. Grove Davis Paul Pennington


Dr. Byers W. Shaw


IMPORTANT HISTORICAL FACTS


1812-Petition to Presbytery to organize a congregation at Washington.


1813-October 10-The church was organized.


1818-April 8-The Bloomingburg congregation separated from Washington, or- ganized as a separate church.


1835-First edifice erected.


1836-March 14-Incorporated by a special act of the Legislature.


1839-March 16-Act of incorporation amended by the Legislature.


1856-Second edifice erected.


1874-December 25-Women's Temperance Crusade organized in the church.


1885-September 8-Edifice damaged by cyclone.


1890-June 8-Third edifice dedicated.


1894-October 7-East End Chapel dedicated.


1915-October 19-East End Chapel separated and organized as the McNair Me- morial Presbyterian Church with the transfer of 100 members.


1934-Mary Edwards farm received by bequest.


1947-Former G. W. Blakeley home received to be used as a manse.


-Former manse converted for use as a church house.


-Blakeley Fund for a new sanctuary received. To be invested in bonds until sufficient. In 1963 amounts to $70,000.


1951-Gift of $20,000 of BancOhio stock by Dr. Carey Persinger.


1955-Remodeling of basement and sandblasting of exterior.


1958-Congregation votes to build a Christian Education Addition.


1959-Building Fund Campaign.


1961-Church house razed. Construction of building begins.


1962-June 10-New Hinde Street building dedicated.


1963-October 6-13-Sesquicentennial Celebration.


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5


THE MARKET STREET MEMORIAL WINDOW IS DEDICATED TO KATIE M. STIMSON


Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping. Pioneers! O Pioneers! -Walt Whitman


This booklet is dedicated to the memory of those who kept the faith alive in this church and this community. Let us be grateful for them and for the future.


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The number of persons who made this booklet possible is large and it is very fitting that we thank them - one and all - for their contributions so diverse and so necessary for its success.





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