USA > Ohio > Church of the Brethren in southern Ohio > Part 16
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The church has also shared in the district activities. Mary Flora Eikenberry served on the B.Y.P.D. Cabinet and she and her husband were managers of Camp Sugar Grove in 1943. J. C. Flora, who is chairman of the Historical Committee, has been on various district committees. Emmert Studebaker is now a trustee of the Brethren Home at Greenville. D. S. Filbrun was a member of the Standing Committee in 1909. West Charleston was host to the Sunday-school and ministerial meeting in 1922 and to the women's conference in 1945. The pastor, Roy Teach, is the district secretary.
The present membership of the congregation is one hundred thirteen,
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WEST MILTON
The origins of the West Milton congregation were in what was called the Brush Creek church, which comprised some of the territory in and around West Milton. Phillip Younce, who came to Southern Ohio in 1813 from North Carolina, locating east of the village, near Nashville, was a leader of the fellowship in the early days. In 1869 the Brush Creek congregation, which later became Pitsburg and Painter Creek, ceded the territory to the Salem church. It is known that there were at least three preaching points in this ceded area in the days just prior to the close of the nineteenth century, one of them in a Methodist church in the village of West Milton. In 1898 the interest in the West Milton field led the Salem congregation to appoint a committee to in- vestigate the advisability of erecting a church at West Milton. The committee advised the purchase of property and the erection of a building there. The present site was secured and a building, thirty-six by fifty-eight feet, of brick construc- tion, was dedicated in February 1900, with Elder D. M. Garver giving the dedicatory address and following with a series of evangelistic meetings.
A Sunday school was organized almost at once, and regular preaching services were held, mostly by ministers from the Salem church. Some well-known men were soon identified with the West Milton congregation, among them Jesse K. Brumbaugh, Ezra Flory, J. Henry Showalter and S. A. Blessing.
Along in 1908 the West Milton brethren petitioned the parent church, Salem, for the privilege of forming a separate organization. It was granted, and the new congregation was organized with Jesse K. Brumbaugh the first presiding elder. There were ninety charter members. The Salem church deeded the church property to the new fellowship and a dividing line between the two congregations was agreed upon. An addition thirty-four by forty feet was built to the church in 1912 and dedicated in February 1913. This provided more auditorium room, eight Sunday-school rooms and a ladies' aid room. Plans are being made at present for a remodeled or new structure.
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As we come to the beginning of the third decade of the twentieth century we find a congregation of one hundred forty members, with S. A. Blessing presiding, having served since 1905. The Sunday school had an average attendance of one hundred.
E
The West Milton Church
In 1937 Elder Blessing was succeeded by Hugh Cloppert. He was followed in 1941 by H. M. Coppock. Elder Roy Teach took over in 1943 and continued until 1947, when Moyne Landis became presiding elder.
The preaching appointments following 1920 were filled by S. A. Blessing and some visiting ministers. In 1927 Elder I. J. Kreider moved to West Milton from Indiana and became the first full-time, supported pastor. He remained until the fall of 1930. Then the local ministerial board secured speakers from various places to fill the appointments, especially using Galen B. Royer of New Carlisle a great deal.
Harold Helstern became part-time pastor in 1937 and continued until 1941. Then Frank Eby was secured for full- time work beginning in 1944; he labored with the church
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until September 1948. He was succeeded in February 1949 by the present pastor, Perry L. Huffaker, from Pennsylvania, a member of the Brotherhood committee for the compilation of the Brethren Hymnal.
Granville Minnich and J. P. Miller have been resident elders since 1900. Ministers in the same period include J. P. Robbins and Mark Shellhaas. Harold Helstern was ordained in 1939, while serving as pastor. W. J. Barnhart was licensed in 1926, Leonard Lutz and Mohler Filbrun in 1943, and Joel Thompson in 1951.
Deacons installed since 1920 include B. F. Studebaker, 1925; Howard Dohner, 1927; and Ralph Mishler and Wilbur Erbaugh, 1937.
Sunday-school superintendents, in succession, have been: Howard Dohner, S. C. Gnagey, B. F. Studebaker, S. C. Gnagey, Jacob Lowry, Mark Shellhaas, Wilbur Erbaugh, Jacob Lowry, Paul Studebaker, Wilbur Erbaugh, Harry Peters, George Thompson, and Harold Oren.
West Milton built a beautiful modern parsonage at the south edge of the village on Highway 48 and dedicated it in 1949. Extensive remodeling of the church is under consideration.
Besides the regular organizations of a local church, this church has a mothers' study club; a temple choir, composed of adults; a chapel choir, made up of young people; a cherub choir, comprising preschool children; and a junior choir, ages seven to thirteen; a ladies' chorus; and a men's chorus.
The congregation observed its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1933 and the fiftieth anniversary of the dedication of the church in 1950. It was host to district conference in 1938 and in 1950, to the Women's Work meeting of 1938, and to the midwinter youth conference of 1939.
B. F. Studebaker was for twenty-five years a trustee of the Brethren Home at Greenville and for one term a member of the General Mission Board. S. C. Gnagey gave ten years of service on the Home Trustee Board. Mark Shellhaas was a camp director. Ralph Mishler served on the Southern Ohio Auditing Committee. In Brethren Service the work of West Milton has reached beyond its borders, sending wheat to
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Europe and contributing heifers, clothing, and supplies for relief abroad; also it was represented in person by Betty Sotzing, who spent nearly two years in Europe. The pastor, Perry L. Huffaker, is a member of the District Board.
The membership numbers three hundred ninety-five.
WOLFE CREEK
The Wolfe Creek church dates back to about the third quarter of the nineteenth century. C. Walter Warstler, who visited the church here in 1941, writes: "They have a group of some sixty-five enthusiastic members. The church here dates back about sixty-five years."
The first contacts with the church by this district occurred in 1940, when representatives of our Mission Board met with the Home Missions secretary from Elgin and brethren from Tennessee and Kentucky to consider accepting supervision of mission points in eastern Kentucky.
The records available show that Keither Wilson was the elder here from 1944 until 1953. He was succeeded by Dolar Ritchey.
Residing here were John H. Fields, a minister, and Fayette Fields, who was licensed in about 1946 and ordained an elder on September 12, 1948. He later moved to Wichita, Kansas. John H. Fields did most of the pastoring of this field.
The congregation, now numbering fifty-four members, has a very adequate church edifice.
2. NEW CENTERS
OHIO STATE STUDENT CENTER
A student center was organized at Ohio State University, Columbus, and began operation with the fall of 1954. The location is just north of the campus, at 75 West Norwich Street. Brother and Sister Dwight Farringer, he being a graduate student, are in charge. Over fifty Church of the Brethren and Brethren students in the university there have access to the facilities and can co-operate in the activities.
THE DAYTON AREA
The comity committee of the Church Federation of Greater Dayton has given the district the privilege of locating two Brethren churches in the area of Greater Dayton, one south of the city in Kettering Village, and another north between Northridge and Vandalia. The very large expansion of the areas prompted the District Board to strive to serve the developing population.
Meetings have been held in the Kettering area and plans are underway to put a leader here, looking forward to the erection of a building and the organization of a church.
The northern section is under study but no definite location has been selected for new work there.
There are Brethren families living in both these areas, holding their membership in Dayton and suburban Dayton churches.
3. THE CHURCHES LEFT BEHIND
Throughout many parts of the district one may find abandoned church buildings standing as a testimony to our zealous members, to misguided choices of locations, or to such growth and interest as to require two congregations to be formed from one. In some instances better locations due to shift in population or change in residence of many members was responsible for the change in the location of the house of worship. However, in not every instance was the church abandoned as a place of worship, some of the buildings being purchased by or turned over to other denominations.
One of the early congregations to be abandoned was in Greene County, near Gunnersville. The new work was sponsored by the Donnels Creek members about 1880. It was continued for several years, then was taken over by the Mis- sion Board. This board reports an expenditure of $35.20 for this congregation in 1911. Just when the work was discon- tinued seems not to be a matter of record.
Another venture that proved not to be successful was in the territory north and northeast of Hillsboro. This involved three locations. The earliest of these dates back into the 1870's, when a house, known as Fall Creek, was built some eight miles east of Hillsboro. This building has been re- placed by a dwelling on the same ground. Another location was some eight or ten miles to the northeast of this one; it was known as Twin Valley. This lasted a few years and then the building was converted into a dwelling. The third location was two miles south of Highland; it was called the Lexington church. The last report of district efforts here was made in 1930. This building still stands and is in good repair. A sort of homecoming is held here each year. In the cemetery back of this latter church are the graves of many whose names were familiar in the early days-among them the Majors, Thomas
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and Sarah. She will be remembered as the pioneer Brethren woman preacher.
In connection with this field should be mentioned another building once used by the Brethren near this location, not as a church but as an academy. This was at New Vienna, ten miles to the northwest of Hillsboro. It was in operation from 1861 to 1864, with James Quinter in charge. Financial reverses caused its abandonment.
While we are surveying the southern field some other abandoned church houses, in Highland and Adams counties, should be included. In 1898 a second house of worship was erected on the same spot a short distance from Dunkinsville, in central Adams County. It was known as the Brush Creek or the Ridge church. This building still stands and is used by the Christ in Christian Union people. The Mission Board was authorized by district meeting of 1915 to sell the building. In the cemetery adjoining the church lawn lie many persons who were linked with the cause of our church in this locality.
Not very far away from the Ridge church, and nearer to the famous Serpent Mound, stands another building which once housed the May Hill congregation, organized in 1880. By the side of it is another cemetery holding the bodies of well-known Brethren members. Here again annual home- comings are held and at these meetings the offerings lifted are used to maintain the building, which is in good repair. This is in Adams County, as the reader would note.
In Adams County, some miles to the east of West Union, the county seat, stands another abandoned church which reverted to the original farm, as a feature of the deed, in event it was not used for church services. It was known as the Cassell's Run church.
While the churches mentioned above had their days of activity in much earlier times, this one was erected in 1914, as a branch of the Marble Furnace church. Work began here in the 1880's, preaching being by Brethren who occasionally visited the community. It attained a membership of over fifty and then began to decline. There were forty-three mem- bers when the house was dedicated. The cost was five hundred dollars. There is record of its use as late as 1935. It reverted
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to the original land when services ceased. It stands by a very little used roadway and is in a very bad state of repair.
A fire in July of 1921 removed one of the landmarks of Brethren efforts in Highland County, the White Oak or Hollowtown church building. It dated back to the 1850's, the exact date of its erection being obscure. It was the one Church of the Brethren with a belfry and a bell. Its parish was taken over by the Church of Christ. It was reported dis- organized in 1930.
As we turn to Ross and Fayette counties, there seem to have been two churches which early became extinct, and we have no record of the status of the buildings. One was Paint Creek, located a few miles west of Frankfort, Ross County. Another which was earlier was known as Fairview; it was located farther west over the Fayette County line. Then an- other abandoned church represents an unusual adventure for our people, the organization of a colored church. This was at Frankfort. The work really never got underway; the Negro leaders died and the house was sold in 1917.
Now to Fairfield County for another church left behind. A church building was erected in 1856-57 just south of Bremen, Ohio, perhaps over the line in Hocking County. It housed the Rush Creek congregation, which dates back to 1809. At first it was a part of the Northeastern District. The Mission Board of Southern Ohio took it over in 1889 and supervised the work until 1902. It was abandoned as a place of Brethren efforts in 1914. A brick structure was erected in Bremen in 1909. Interest was then directed here. In 1911 it became self- supporting, but in 1921 it came back under the care of the Mission Board. In 1922 it was pastored jointly with Circleville. The last mention of preaching here was in 1925. A report of the sale of the building to the Citizens Realty Company was made in 1926.
At Summerford, Madison County, stands another building, used now as a store, which was built by the Brethren, the second at this place. Work here began over a century ago. In 1879 a house was built. In 1908 this was torn down and another was built on the site. But by 1917 it seemed evident
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that a permanent, ongoing work could not be realized; so the work was closed and the building sold.
Two churches were abandoned in northern Darke County -Ash Grove and North Star. The first was just north of Coldwater, the latter just east of North Star. They were previously one congregation and a part of the Oakland church territory. The Ash Grove church was built in 1896. Ash Grove last reported its Sunday-school attendance in 1927, when it averaged fourteen members. A report of the dis- organization was made in 1930. The North Star church was erected in 1883. The two churches, sixteen miles apart, were organized separately in 1916. By 1919 the North Star con- gregation recognized its inability to go on and asked to be disorganized and the property sold. Also in this same territory was another church left behind. It was known as the Swamp Creek house. It had been an unused church building which was purchased by the Brethren. It was some six miles north of Versailles. The date of its abandonment is not available. It was not an organized church, it seems.
In Shelby County stands another abandoned Brethren church. It was known as the Loramie church. It dates back to 1866 when the first house was erected. Too small for future use, it was replaced in 1885 by the structure still extant. The location was some nine miles west of Sidney. Loss of mem- bership and lack of leadership caused its abandonment by authority of district meeting in 1926. The equipment and property were sold and the proceeds given to the Sidney church, to which most of the members transferred. The church was purchased by the Oran Christian church, moved on a lot there, and is used as a community house.
Two other houses were abandoned in Shelby County. One, called Mosquito Creek, was the first house used by what is now the Sidney congregation. It was located six miles east of the city. The date of its construction seems obscure. It was of brick and still stands. Having reverted to the original property, it is used as a dwelling. About 1895 it was abandoned for a new location in Sidney, which was purchased from the German Methodists, at Ohio and South streets. It was sold
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and the present structure built on Grove Avenue in 1905. It is now used for business purposes.
To the west of Sidney, at the state line, we find that the Union City congregation vacated a building one and one-half mile north of the city. It was erected in 1870. In 1917 it was replaced by the present structure in Union City. It seems that another house, erected in 1878, south and east of the city, and formerly used by this congregation, was abandoned. Pleasant Valley, formerly a part of the Union City congrega- tion, also abandoned one of its two meeting places, called the Jordan house. It was erected in 1900. The work was then centered at the Valley house. The Jordan house was razed and the material used for a barn.
As we move into Miami County we find three churches left behind, Casstown, Hickory Grove, and the original Troy church. The Hickory Grove church stood a few miles east and south of its successor, the West Charleston church. It was erected in 1854 and used until 1903 when the new structure, the present one except for enlargement in 1915, was occupied. The building was converted into a dwelling. The first Cass- town church, of brick, was built about 1850. The congrega- tion reached a membership of one hundred twenty and then began to decline, particularly after the Old Order division. In 1895 the old brick structure in the country was abandoned and a new one built at Casstown. In 1921 the members petitioned to be permitted to disband and transfer to Troy. In 1923 the report was made of the sale of the property, the proceeds of which were given to the Troy church. The Troy congregation worshiped at first in a frame church on McKaig and Monroe streets, purchased from the Progressive Brethren people in 1911. This was the home of the Troy members until the erection of the new modern building at the west edge of the city in 1952. It was sold to the Grace Baptist brethren.
In Darke County, in the former territory comprising the Palestine church, there was erected a building, in 1868, just south of the village of Palestine. This was torn down prior to 1905, when the congregation rebuilt the West Branch house, erected in 1876, and used but the one house. In 1922 the name of the congregation was changed to West Branch. This con-
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gregation was disorganized in 1930. Another building abandoned.
In Montgomery County, we turn first to the West Dayton congregation, now Mack Memorial, which built its first struc- ture in 1889 on College Street in Dayton. This was occupied by the members until 1951, when it was sold to the colored people. It had been remodeled in 1918. A very beautiful new house of worship was erected in 1952 on Salem Avenue.
To the west and north the old Wolf Creek congregation had erected a building in 1837. It was superseded by a larger one across the road in 1870. This one was abandoned for the one erected to the south, Eversole, in 1872, and the one in Brookville purchased from the United Brethren in 1905. With the building of a church in Arlington in 1886, there were four buildings. There remain the one at Eversole and the one in Brookville. The score, two out of four!
In Darke County, in territory now comprising the Pitsburg and Painter Creek congregations, which was first known as the Brush Creek congregation, there was erected a log cabin in 1849. This was the first house of worship. Within a few years this was succeeded by a larger structure, one mile west of Painter Creek village. This in turn was abandoned for a new one, one-half mile north. This was succeeded by a new one, the present structure, in 1906. One was also built at Potsdam (Georgetown then) in 1860. This was superseded by a larger one in 1875 and this one by the present structure in 1917-18. This was a part of the Pitsburg congregation. The present structure at Pitsburg is the first and only for that congregation.
Another church abandoned for church services but con- verted to many uses for Kingdom building was the Sugar Grove church between Covington and Pleasant Hill. It was itself the successor to a log house of worship erected in 1840 one-half mile north of Pleasant Hill. The first Sugar Grove house, of stone, was erected in 1849, a large one for its day, being forty by eighty feet. In 1874 a brick house erected on the same site superseded this one. It was fifty by eighty feet. When the New Covington church structure was erected in 1911, interest here and at Pleasant Hill gradually moved
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Sugar Grove into disuse until it was taken over by the district for a camp site. Not abandoned but its services shifted.
The West Alexandria congregation grew out of what was known as Sugar Hill, although the latter included a much larger territory. Within this area was built the "Brower" meetinghouse in the early 1840's. Another house, called Twin Valley, was built in 1874. It was later razed. Still another, called Tom's Run, was erected around 1860. These were superseded by the new structure erected at West Alexandria in 1924. A church, abandoned before 1920, stood west of Gratis. It was known as the Brubaker church. In 1862 a house was built at Wheatville. This was superseded by a building pur- chased in Gratis in 1912.
In New Carlisle there stands a building, now converted into an apartment house, which housed the New Carlisle congregation at first. It had been purchased from the Pres- byterians. This was replaced in 1892 by the present structure, since twice added to, to provide room for the growing con- gregation.
4. GROUPS WHICH STEPPED ASIDE
The District of Southern Ohio suffered severely in the withdrawal of two groups especially, both of which also affected the entire Brotherhood.
The group known as the Old Order Brethren was the first to withdraw. The grievances which finally led to the division began in the early part of the last half of the nineteenth century. This district presented a petition to Annual Con- ference of 1869, requesting condemnation of certain practices in local churches and in conducting the Annual Conference. This petition originated in what was then the Stillwater (Covington) church. It was amended or changed in a later meeting at the Wolf Creek (Bear Creek) church. The An- nual Conference answered the petition in a very carefully worded reply, in which it refused to grant the desired changes and objects to the full extent petitioned for but allowed some changes. This did not satisfy the petitioners. There was continued agitation.
In 1879 many elders of Southern Ohio met at the Salem church and framed another petition. It was presented to district conference. The district sent it on to Annual Con- ference of 1880, with this answer appended: "Answer: The elders of Southern Ohio having gotten up this petition to Annual Meeting, and being very urgent that it be sent up, we in District Meeting, agree to send it up, but we as a District cannot unitedly give it our approval."
The Standing Committee carefully framed an answer and the Conference passed it, but it did not satisfy the petitioners. They met again in the Wolf Creek church in December 1880. It being widely known that this meeting was being held and that it represented a final attempt to achieve the petitioners' ends, it was attended by elders from other districts. Resolutions were passed and sent to Annual Meeting of 1881, which stood firm on the answer of 1880.
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This was the action that precipitated the division. An- nouncement of another meeting was circulated. Held in August of 1881, at the Ludlow (Pitsburg) church, this meeting was largely attended. A paper, passed and signed by twelve Southern Ohio elders and three others, set forth the basis for the new group. The elders led many members into the dissenting group. It succeeded more by the suasion of the elders than by the convictions of the members. In November of that year a meeting was held near the Salem church where the group organized as the Old German Baptist Brethren. Many churches of the district lost large or small groups to the new body.
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