USA > Ohio > A century of Congregationalism in Ohio, 1796-1896 > Part 3
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In order to complete the setting forth of the non-re- ligious aspects of the beginnings of our churches in the state, it will suffice to add that about three months after the nineteenth century company of Pilgrims landed from the Mayflower upon the soil of Greater New England, General St. Clair, the newly appointed governor, and the other of- ficials, inaugurated the government of the Northwest Terri- tory, with Fort Harmar for defence across the Muskingum to the west. Not until 1799 did Ohio begin a separate ex- istence, when a territorial legislature was elected and began to frame statutes for the rapidly increasing population. In 1803 the boon of statehood was secured, with Chillicothe as capital. In 1816 the seat of government was transferred to Columbus. It was a great event in Ohio when, in 1811, the first steamboat was built at Pittsburg; and also when the National Turnpike, begun at Cumberland, Md., in 1807, was completed to Wheeling in 1820, and extended to Springfield during the next fifteen years ; and a much greater when in 1825 the Erie Canal was opened, with a system of water-
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ways following hard after which gave this state several lines of communication between the Lake and the River ; but greatest of all when before the end of the thirties the rail- road had entered. These figures will afford some idea of the early development of our commonwealth. In the opening year of the century the population numbered but 45,365, which by 1810 had increased to 230,760 ; ten years later to 581,434 ; by 1830 to 937,903 ; and by the close of the next decade to 1,519,467, only New York, Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia now containing more inhabitants. In 1850 it had at- tained to the third place, and held the same until the last census, when through the enormous growth of its metropo- lis, Illinois ascended to this place of honor.
THE DAYS OF THE PIONEERS.
It will be convenient to divide Congregational history in Ohio into three periods ; the first covering about fifty years, and extending to near the close of the fourth decade ; the second including about half as many years, and ending early in the sixties, which may be termed the days of dark- ness, or the times of conflict and chaos for our Zion; and the last extending to the present, and characterized by a steadily growing denominational consciousness and devel- opment of organic life, as well as by a normal and remarka- ble increase of numbers. And the task of reviewing the story of the origin and early growth of our churches will, perhaps, be better performed by making these topographi- cal divisions ; the region lying adjacent to the mother set- tlement ; the Cincinnati country, including other territory in the interior; New Connecticut; and the northwest, which was the latest to be redeemed from the rule of the red man and the forest.
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I.
IN SOUTHEAST OHIO.
The founders of Marietta were wholly of sturdy Puri- tan stock, though not all especially Christian either in char- acter, or the motives which brought them so far from home to lay foundations in the wilderness. But among them were not a few possessed of strength of purpose, noble ambitions, and large ideas of what institutions the new community should create and cherish. Both learning and religion should be held in honor. The first Sabbath was observed as a day of rest, and July 15 Rev. Daniel Breck, a member of the Ohio Company, being present, in a bower a general gather- ing was held for public worship, made up in part from the neighboring garrison, about three hundred in all. But in March preceding a committee had been chosen "to consider the expediency of employing some suitable person as a pub- lic teacher at the settlement now making." At the same time a plan was formed to secure money by subscription to sustain churches and schools. Moreover (in those medieval days state and church were still closely connected), it was re- quired by the act of Congress under which the Company held its lands that "section 29 should be given perpetually for the support of religion." In August Dr. Cutler arrived on a visit, and for four Sundays preached in a block house on Campus Martius. General Parsons officiated on Thanks- giving Day, and March 19 of '89 Daniel Story, a licentiate from Boston was present, to begin a ministerial career which lasted twelve years. This devoted servant of God, with Joseph Badger, of whom mention will be made further on, must be honored and revered as the pioneer preachers of our faith and order, when the heavenly spirit which inspired Robinson, and Bradford, and Winslow, and Winthrop first entered on its career of conquering for Christ the western forests, the prairies, the Great Plains, and even to the Gol- den Gate. His ordination for various reasons did not occur
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until '98, to secure which he must needs make a journey to Massachusetts. But meantime his energies were fully taxed in ministering to the spiritual needs of his neighbors. Dur- ing six years of hostilities with the Indians his lonely jour- neys through the woods from hamlet to hamlet were made often at the risk of his life. For nine long years the organ- ization of a church was delayed, and then no council nearer than the Hudson River was possible to extend the right hand of fellowship. Some forty, men more than half of them, entered into covenant, gathered from four communi- ties, including Belpre twelve miles down the Ohio, Water- ford about as far up the Muskingum, and Vienna, Va., and each supplying a deacon. As the fashion then was in the East, in 1801 a religious society was formed, one hundred and twenty-seven male citizens signing the constitution. Three years later Mr. Story resigned the pastorate and soon died, worn out by the exposure and severe strain of frontier life. Just before this the earliest of ecclesiastical troubles and schisms befel, when certain disaffected spirits of Presby- terian antecedents withdrew and brought into being a second congregation. In 1805 Samuel P. Robbins became pastor of the original church, and in May of 1809 a sanctuary cost- ing $7,349.033 was finished and dedicated, which with thor- ough repairs in 1836, and a much more extensive overhaul- ing thirty years later, is doing good service to-day.
In the meantime population had been steadily pouring into this portion of the state, but for the most part non- Congregational in origin and sentiment, so that the mother organization was long left almost without neighbors or fel- lowship. It is true that a church is heard of as existing early at McConnelsville on the Muskingum, and now the cap- ital of Morgan county, as well as one still further up the same stream at Springfield (Putnam), now the western part of Zanesville, which after two years (ex more patrum) was merged in a Presbyterian church. In all seventeen churches
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which once existed within fifty miles of Marietta leave only their names behind. Moreover, in 1798 a Rev. Lyman Potter with his son-in-law had bought a tract of land on Mingo Bottom, a short distance below Steubenville, and formed a church thereabouts whose lease of life was also but brief. As representing a cheering promise that sadly failed of fulfil- ment, in 1809 the Muskingum Congregational Association was organized by Messrs. Potter, Robbins of Marietta, and Harris of Granville, Licking county. After seven years this body, born prematurely, ceased to be. Such in brief is the early story of the polity we love in the southeastern section of the state. Belpre became a distinct organization in 1827, Harmar, across the river, dates from 1840, during the same decade three others followed located not far away, and three more in the fifties, with others sufficient to raise the num- ber in Marietta Conference to thirteen, with a membership of over 1,200. The First Church has 408 members, and Harmar 232.
II. SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL.
The summer which followed the advent of the first set- tlers to Marietta saw an excited and enthusiastic multitude descending the Ohio, and fixing themselves at various points which seemed attractive, even as far down as the fertile bot- toms of the two Miamis. A few chose for a home the site of the future Cincinnati. To these so many others were added the year following, emigrants mainly from New Jer- sey, that by 1790 the way was prepared for the organization of a Presbyterian church. But it was six years later before anything occurred of especial pertinence to this history, and in the self same famous year which our Centennial recalls, when certain energetic, enterprising and godly Welshmen, recently from North Wales, and Independents by strong con- viction, began to gather hereabouts waiting for the lands to be opened for occupation. Among them were Ezekiel Hughes
1
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Edward Bebb, and two brothers, Morgan and William Gwilyms. By 1801 they began to locate in various townships near the line separating Hamilton county from Butler. For the better part of a generation from time to time their num- bers were increased by accessions, in part by families of New England birth, but to a greater extent by immigration from Wales, Yankees and Welsh easily meeting and co-operating on the best of terms. After a year they began to receive the ministrations of an English Congregational clergyman from Cincinnati, Rev. J. W. Brown, who also organized them in 1803 into the Whitewater Congregational Church, at Pad- dy's Run. This was our fourth church west of the Alleghe- nies, located in the extreme southwestern corner of civiliza- tion, with Marietta more than three hundred miles up the Ohio, Austinburg, formed in 1802, almost within sight of Lake Erie in the remote northeast corner of the Western Reserve, and Hudson dating from the year after. Only dense and pathless forests lay between. Not many of our churches have made a nobler record than this one. Educa- tion has been looked after by a high school, a boarding school, and library association, with the natural result seen in the sending out of a succession of men to fill worthily im- portant public stations. "These men and women were so truly Christian and liberal in their views that they could agree upon a confession of faith and rules of practice so scriptural, and satisfactory, that from 1802 to 1878 there had never been but one attempt, and that unsuccessful, to form another evangelical church in that community." Nor is it a slight honor and privilege that this body of disciples by priority of origin, can rightly claim primacy among the sisterhood of forty-two Welsh Congregational churches in Ohio, and with two others as oldest of all such in the United States.
For more than twenty-five years Paddy's Run was left without neighbors, or until a church was organized at Mon-
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roe, Butler county, in 1829, though in 1822 one had been formed nearly eighty miles to the east at Greenfield, High- land county. In 1832 followed one in Storrs township, now within the limits of Cincinnati. Though Vine St. Church dates from 1831, it did not fully enter the Congregational fold until fifteen years later. Lawrence Street Welsh was added in 1840. In 1878, after diligent search through twenty counties situated in the southwest, just twenty churches of our order could be found, and of that number only about a dozen survive to the present day, though new ones have taken the places of some which have perished.
For various reasons one other name must be mentioned, though in some respects it suggests matters tending to de- nominational humiliation and sorrow. For striking, spectac- ular entrance into history perhaps Granville, Licking county, may vie with Marietta herself. For in 1805 the church and community were fashioned in Massachusetts and then trans- ferred almost bodily to the wilds centralof Ohio. The Sci- oto Land Company had made a purchase of 28,000 acres, and persuaded some hundreds of substantial farmers to leave behind all the accessories of civilized life, and take up the rudimental task of felling the forests, breaking the soil, and building all good institutions from the very foundations. During the first year nearly two hundred and fifty of all ages had accomplished the trying journey of forty or fifty days, and were housed in log cabins. Of what excellent spiritual stuff these colonists were made we find in the fact that on the arrival of the foremost company at nightfall, no sooner were the oxen unyoked than they were ready for public wor- ship. The Sunday after, though no preacher was present to lead, and though it was the middle of November, they ga- ther about the stump of the first tree that had been cut on the town plot to join in prayers offered and hear sermons read by some of the abler of their number. This isolated flock was left in the wilderness for three years without a.
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shepherd, only visited several times by Rev. S. P. Robbins, of Marietta, traveling over a dreary stretch of a hundred miles, to marry, to baptize and to administer the communion. In the spring of 1808 the Rev. Timothy Harris took up his abode among them, remaining pastor for fourteen years. From the log school-house the church graduated into a frame structure in 1810, and from this into a regular sanctuary of goodly proportions supplied with porch, pews, galleries, steeple and bell! The further story, though of thrilling in- terest, must be passed by. Suffice it to say that all the good things civil, social, intellectual and religious which New England so abundantly produces, were here possessed and diffused far abroad on every side. And it is therefore only the more lamentable, and inconsequent, and utterly out of place when, by a decisive vote of sixty-three to eleven, these doughty sons and daughters of the Pilgrims turned their backs upon their ecclesiastical ancestry and entered the Pres- byterian fellowship !!
Around Granville, in the same county, about fifty years since quite a cluster of Congregational churches were formed, most of which have since perished. In 1839 Rev. Jacob Little, nearly forty years pastor at Granville, wrote naming these five in the order of their organization : St. Albans, Hartford, Burlington, Bennington and Mckean. In later times all these, one after another, have disappeared from our lists. Bnt over against this disheartening reminiscence it is pleasant to recall that in the counties covering the central portion of the state we now have two conferences, contain- ing together more than forty churches, some of them among our largest and most vigorous, which have not yet begun to suspect that Congregationalism is other than most excellent both in theory and practice, in principles, methods and re- sults, upon the individual character, and upon society at large.
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III. THE WESTERN RESERVE.
Though comprising no considerable portion of the area of the state, this section for various cogent reasons de- serves a prominent place in the history of Congregationalism in Ohio. For outside of New England no region of equal ex- tent can be named which so closely resembles New England at so many characteristic points. The population to an un- usual degree is homogeneous and of Puritan ancestry. Its twelve counties hold three-fifths of the churches of our or- der, and about one-half of the membership, leaving the mi- nority thinly scattered abroad through the other seventy-six counties. To make a comparison (not meant to be odious in the least) with a denomination which in social, intellectu- al and spiritual qualities most nearly resembles us, and with which therefore we are most likely to come into competition, on the Reserve, according to the census of 1890, we outnum- ber the Presbyterians two to one in communicants, and in churches three to one. In two counties no Presbyterian church has an existence, and in each of three others but a single one. The metropolitan city of northern Ohio stands third in this country for the number of Congregational churches, being surpassed only by Chicago and Boston. The Reserve holds a village community of upwards of 4,000 and two Congregational churches, one ranking fifth for size among our entire American sisterhood, and together having a membership of over 2,000.
As we have seen, it is just a hundred years since the first company of emigrants from Connecticut crossed the Pennsylvania border to build homes and open farms in this the ultima Thule of the time. The Indian wars were but recently closed, the distance from civilization was great, and the task of making the journey tremendous, so that several years passed before the settlers numbered more than a few hundreds, while these were located in little groups separated
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by long stretches of pathless woods. The first missionary who sought them out and began to hold religious services was Rev. Joseph Badger, sent hither by the Connecticut Missionary Society in 1800. For six years this man of tru- ly apostolic gifts and graces went back and forth, here and there, wherever log cabins had been built, ministering with- out stint to the spiritual needs of all. The first winter was spent in and about Youngstown, Vienna, Hartford, Warren, etc, in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, the next summer he made his way as far west as Sandusky, and late in Octo- ber organized the first Congregational church in "New Con- necticut" at Austinburg. Early in September of 1802 another church followed at Hudson, some fifty miles away to the southwest, and the next year two more, at Hartford and Warren. In 1800, only 1,144 settlers were to be found east of the Cuyahoga, while beyond that stream the Indians were in full possession. At first Mr. Badger had only Rev. Wm. Wick, a Presbyterian, for companion and fellow helper, but late in 1801 came Rev. Ezekiel Chapman, to remain but a twelvemonth, and in the autumn of 1803 Rev. Thomas Rob- bins arrived. By 1810 the population of the Reserve had in- creased to 16,000, and the number of churches, counting only those which remain to us, had increased to nine, organized in the following order : Canfield, Burton, Aurora, Hampden, Ge- neva and Tallmadge. In the meantime the precious Plan of Union had been contrived and put into operation, whereby the two denominations concerned went into partnership in the matter of planting and watering religious institutions in the nascent Great West. The Connecticut Missionary So- ciety and the General Assembly were to co-operate in a way strictly fraternal, and impartial, and unselfish for the greater glory of God and well-being of men. But, unfortunately for the furtherance of New England ecclesiastical ideas and practices, it came to pass that during the six years preceding 1812, the formative period of the infant organizations, while
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the missionary money was derived mainly from Connecticut, the missionaries were almost wholly from Pennsylvania, so conveniently near at hand, and made of sturdiest Scotch- Irish Presbyterian stuff. The Presbyterian governing bodies were also within delightfully easy reach, with demoralizing results to Congregationalism, of which mention will be made on later pages.
The second decade of the century brought re-inforce- ments of ministers much more generally of New England birth and training, and among them such honored names as Thomas Barr, Harvey Coe, Joseph Treat, G. H. Cowles, John Seward, Simeon Woodruff, William Hanford, Caleb Pitkin, Luther Humphrey, Alvan Coe, Lot B. Sullivan and Alfred H. Betts, who survived till the close of this primitive period, wrought righteousness, endured hardness as good soldiers, and made notable achievements in laying well the foundations of the Kingdom. By 1810 the Reserve west of the Cuyahoga was open for settlement, and population be- gan to pour into the Firelands at the western extremity. Entrance was becoming common by water from Buffalo, thanks to the steamboat, and the Erie Canal was under way. Of course the towns bordering on Lake Erie were easiest of access, the several gravel ridges which parallel the lake were highly prized and selected for occupation by the earli- est comers, while the southern borders of the Reserve were left as mere habitations for deer, bears and wild turkeys until the thirties were at the doors. By 1820 the churches, reckoning only those still on our rolls, had increased from nine to forty-two. The first eight which belong to the second decade are all east of the Cuyahoga: Painesville, Rootstown, Charlestown, Windham, Mantua, Nelson, John- sonville, and North Madison. Brecksville, across that stream, follows in 1816, and after West Williamsfield and Bristol- ville, formed about the same time, come Lyme far west in Huron county, and Lodi in Medina county, some forty miles
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back from the lake and on the divide beyond which the streams flow to the Ohio. Others follow in this order : Mesopotamia and Strongsville in the same year with the last named, Atwater, Croton, Huntsburg, Richfield, Sheffield, Vermillion and West Andover, all in 1818. During the next year no less than eleven churches were organized, a number surpassed only once, and in 1834 which gave origin to twelve. These are their names : Brooklyn Village, Brunswick, Ches- ter, Conneaut, Kent, Kirtland, Medina, Rock Creek, Fitch- ville, Sandusky and Vermillion, the last three formed between May 23 and June 10 by Rev. John Seward and Rev. Joseph Treat, missionaries of the Connecticut Missionary Society, while on a horseback tour through the almost uninhabited woods of the extreme frontier.
Twenty-two churches date from the third decade, of which Belpre, on the Ohio, is one, nine were located in the western half of the Reserve, among them Elyria and Well- ington, and twelve in the eastern half. The fourth decade leads all others to date in our history, since it increased our sisterhood by no less than thirty-eight, not all, however in the region now specially under view. Those were booming times for the state. The Erie Canal was completed, the Ohio canal system was finished or well under way, the pop- ulation advanced some 600,000, and the financial craze was on which ended in the collapse of 1837. Cleveland First, Mansfield and Oberlin began their career, while in the limit- ed region now covered by Medina Conference no less than ten churches were organized, and also the first one in the Toledo region, Plain Church, located in Wood county, a few miles from Bowling Green.
IV. IN NEWEST OHIO.
Although in this portion of the state fourteen of our churches are located, and some of them take rank among the first for size, financial ability and abundance of good
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works, yet a few words concerning them will well suffice here, and indeed the events connected with their history be- long almost altogether to a later period. As we have just seen, the eldest of them all dates only from 1835, and but a few months since was celebrating its sixtieth anniversary. When Marietta was making ready for her semi-centennial, Toledo was just casting off her swaddling clothes, having only in 1833 attained to a name. Seven years later her in- habitants numbered no more than 1,224, and in 1850, 3,829 were the figures. In 1830 this newest Ohio contained eight counties whose aggregate population was only 2,679, an av- erage of 335, five of them having less than 300 each, and one, Van Wert, only 49. By the end of the decade, how- ever, the census showed an advance to 38,462, or more than fourteen-fold. In order to explain this phenomenon it is only necessary to recall such facts as these : Until 1818 the area now covered by more than twenty counties, and more than 7,000 square miles in extent, or about one-sixth of the entire state, was still owned and occupied by various Indian tribes. Until after the peace of 1815, Indian hostilities were often threatened from this quarter. Then this same frontier region held the flat, low-lying Black Swamp, of evil name, about 120 miles by 40, nearly the size of Connecti- cut, covering the valley of the lower Sandusky, of the Por- tage, and the streams which flow into the Maumee from the south, like the Auglaize. The forests were most dense and shut out the sun, while during the bulk of the year the ooze was so deep as to make travel impossible. Excepting cer- tain roomy reservations, this section was open for settlement in 1820, though the fifth decade of the century had arrived before 700 Wyandots, the last remnant of the red men, took their final departure. Still further, the financial crash of '37 delayed the beginning of rapid immigration. And finally, the relative dearth of Congregational churches may be ex- plained by suggesting that the pioneers of northwestern Ohio
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to a large extent were of German birth, or else of Teutonic stock which, while en route for a terrestial paradise, halted for some generations in Pennsylvania ; and that our eccles- iastical fathers of fifty years since held religiously to the idea that only New England Yankees were fit to possess the church polity of the Pilgrims, and only such were thought of as eligible to fellowship with us. Of our sixteen churches composing the Toledo Conference five date from the forties ; West Mill Grove having been organized in 1843, Sylvania and Toledo First in the year following (the latter, though Congregational always, yet reposing in the bosom of Pres- bytery until within five years), Ridgeville Corners in 1846, Toledo Second in 1849.
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