USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 52
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The deed for the property was made to Alexander Wier, John Little and James C. McMillan, trustees, and their successors in office-but with this proviso: "That should this organization cease to exist, any other ecclesiastical body adhering to the same doc- trinal standard as held by the Reformed Presbyterian church should have the use of the said property for a house of worship."
Rev. G. McMaster, D. D., and Rev. Hugh McMillan preached the two first sermons at the dedication. Rev. J. A. Crawford was the first pastor and continued in charge for about seven years at an annual salary of $500. Rev. Robert McCaslin, the second pastor, served about six years. John Armstrong and Robert Bryson were added to the session in 1854 after the death of Alexander Wier. John Miller, James C. McMillan and William McQuiston were elected elders in 1856.
After the release and removal of Rev. Robert McCaslin the congregation was without a pastor for three years. The last communion was held by Rev. J. Y. Boice, then of Cincinnati, in May, 1869. The Ohio presbytery being reduced to three ministerial members, it was found difficult to obtain supplies in the Reformed Presbyterian church. A meeting was held in order to ascertain how many of the members were willing to unite with the Presbyterian church. The basis of union that was adopted by the delegates of the Reformed Presbyterian, the Associate Reformed and the Associate churches was read, all adhering to the same doctrinal standards, forms of worship and government. It was agreed by all present to accept this as the basis on which we were willing to unite with the United Presbyterian church without any sacrifice of principles of the Reformed Pres- byterian church. It was then resolved to present a petition to the Xenia presbytery to be received as a congregation under the care of that presbytery. James C. McMillan, James
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Bryson and Thomas B. Harper were appointed to present the petition, the same being accepted, and H. P. Jackson was appointed to preach on Thanksgiving Day, November 18, 1869, and arrange for the reception of the new congregation.
At this time a proposition came from members of the Second U. P. church principally, and some from the First U. P. church, of Xenia, to unite and form the Third U. P. church. The First and Second U. P. churches of Xenia contributed 37 members and the Reformed Presbyterian church 38 members, making a total for the new Third U. P. church of 75 members. December 9, 1869, was appointed to form the organization. Rev. H. P. Jackson called the session to order. James C. McMillan, James Bryson and William McQuiston, elders of the Reformed church, and George Monroe, Joseph Morrow and H. J. Bonner, of the U. P. church, constituted with prayer. The officers and members of the Reformed Presbyterian church were received, retaining the use of the church property under the direction of the three trustees, James Bryson, W. H. Stewart and Hugh M. Wier. Those of the U. P. church having their certificates were also received and the ecclesiastical union was formed and the organization of the Third United Presbyterian church of Xenia was completed.
The congregation was allowed to supply the pulpit for a time. Rev. Baldridge, W. T. Meloy, W. P. McNary and W. H. McMillan were heard, the latter holding communion on January 23, 1870. On this date the congregation held a meeting and a vote was taken without nomination for a pastor. Rev. W. H. McMillan received a large majority of all the votes cast. It was agreed to ask the presbytery for the moderation of a call. Rev. James G. Carson was appointed to moderate on March 28, 1870, who, after preaching a very appropriate sermon from Romans I, 16, asked the congregation if they were prepared to go forward with the call. They answered in the affirmative, and the name of Rev. W. H. McMillan was proposed to be inserted unanimously, and $1,200 was proposed as his salary. All the members present signed the agreement, and the three trustees signed the bond for the salary. The call being approved by the presbytery, it was forwarded to his presbytery in Illinois and by him accepted.
In a short time Rev. McMillan was installed as the first pastor of the newly organized Third Presbyterian church of Xenia. He remained until January 23, 1873, when he was released to accept a call to the Second U. P. church at Allegheny. On November 3, 1873, Rev. Richard Turnbull was called and installed, remaining five years, being released on September 17, 1878, to accept a call to Detroit.
Rev. W. G. Moorehead was called on October 18, 1878, he being at the time a professor in the Xenia Theological Seminary. He accepted with the understanding that his services should not interfere with his duties in the seminary. He continued with the church until September 15, 1885, when he was released, the seminary requiring all of his time. Rev. J. W. Smith was called in April, 1886, and installed on the 4th of the month. He was released after four years' service to take charge of a church at Warren, Pennsylvania. The congregation next presented a petition to Rev. W. W. White, a professor in the local seminary, but he declined the offer. Rev. W. J. Buchanon, of Media, Illinois, was next invited to come and preach two Sabbaths and hold communion. He came and gave such satisfaction that a call was extended to him on March 23, 1891. A call was moderated for him, which he accepted, his salary to be $1,200. He took charge on the second Sabbath in June, 1891, and was installed in December, 1891. At that time there were about 160 members on the roll.
The Third U. P. church had 75 members when organized and showed an increase of 140 per cent in 22 years. The writer at the present time is the only surviving member of the organization of 1848. [This concludes the original manuscript of J. C. McMillan, his final statement being to the effect that his work was "done by request," the manuscript being dated March 28, 1892.]
Rev. W. J. Buchanon was succeeded in September, 1897, by Rev. W. S. McClure, who was in charge of the church until it effected a union with
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the Second United Presbyterian church, and then became the pastor of the united congregations, the new congregation being called the Second United Presbyterian church. The year 1902 saw the Second United Pres- byterian without a pastor, Dr. J. G. Carson, who had been pastor since 1869, resigning on September 1, 1902.
It is at this point in the history of Presbyterianism in Xenia that the prejudices of a century had their last hearing. The old questions, such as music in the church, secret societies, and various others, were thoroughly discussed during 1902 and 1903. The facts in the merger are that both the Second and Third United Presbyterians needed new buildings, and yet neither congregation was strong enough to build a church. For this reason and also for the reason that many of the members of the two churches could not see the necessity of trying to maintain two separate congregations, the more progressive members of both churches began to agitate the merging of the two congregations. The discussion was carried on during the fall and winter of 1902 and 1903 and finally resulted in the two congregations coming to an agreement whereby the consolidation was effected. The record shows that on March 25, 1903, the session of the Third church unanimously adopted a resolution accepting the proposal of the Second church, and this date may be said to mark the official close of the Third church as a distinct congregation. At a subsequent meeting of the sessions of both churches, Rev. W. S. McClure was called as pastor of the united congregations, the new church carrying the name of the Second Presbyterian church. Thus closed the career of the Third United Presbyterian church of Xenia. Its church property was later sold, and the new church at once began plans for the erection of a new building. This new structure, as before stated, was completed in 1905 at a cost of twenty-seven thousand dollars.
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT JAMESTOWN.
The United Presbyterian church at Jamestown is a worthy daughter of the old Seceder church organized under the ministration of the Rev. Robert Armstrong on Massies creek in 1804, the latter having included in its membership all those of the early settlers of Greene county who held to the Associate faith. Presently the settlement along Caesars creek gained sufficient numerical strength to feel that it could support a church of its own, many finding the trip to the Massies Creek church too long for con- venience, and in the spring of 1831, following a sermon preached by the Rev. John Kendall in John Duncan's barn, five miles east of Xenia, the people of that neighborhood began to talk about an organization. John Duncan was sent as a commissioner to presbytery with a petition for an organization.
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This petition was granted and the Rev. Samuel Wilson was appointed to preach on the last Tuesday of July, 1831, and effect an organization. This meeting was held in George Junkin's barn and there and then was organized the Caesars Creek Associate church, David Brown, James Moore, John Duncan and James Irwin being elected elders of the same, these together with the following being the charter members, certified by the session of Massies Creek as dismissed by order of presbytery, July 26, 1831: John Ireland, Josiah Espey, Margaret Espey, John Turnbull, Margaret Turn- bull, James Cresswell, Ann Cresswell, Martha Cresswell, William Sterrett, Elizabeth Sterrett, John Collins, Margaret Collins, George Junkin, Martha Junkin, Mary Anne Irwin, Margaret Irwin, Euphemia Brown, Andrew Harper, Christiana Duncan, Nancy L. Duncan, Mary Anne Duncan, Anthony Cannon, Martha Cannon, Thomas Cannon, Ann Cannon, John Bickett, Mar- garet Bickett, Hugh Campbell, Jannett Campbell, Mary Moore, Elizabeth Dean, Archibald Greave, Nancy Greave, Lancelot Junkin, Lancelot Junkin, Jr., Rosanna Ginn, Catherine Wilson, James Struthers, Elizabeth Struthers, Nancy West, Mary Currie, J. C. Webb.
On August 24, 1831, Mr. Wilson again preached and the above named elders were duly ordained. A comfortable house of worship was built without delay on the banks of Caesars creek, three miles west of James- town, and was entered before the close of that year, the con- gregation continuing to worship there until the present house of of worship was erected on West Main street in the village of James- town in 1867, the congregation meanwhile, following the union of 1858, having adopted the polity of the United Presbyterian church. The first pastor was the Rev. Andrew Heron, D. D., who was installed on January 8, 1833, and who served as pastor until October 18, 1843. Doctor Heron was born in Scotland on November 13, 1788, and died at Cedarville, this county, September 1, 1873. The second pastor, the Rev. Cyrus Cummins, served from October 22, 1846, to March 25, 1861, and was succeeded by the Rev. W. A. Robb, D. D., who was installed as pastor on April 23, 1863, and who was reluctantly released by the congregation after a continuous service of fifty years, his resignation, due to the growing infirmities of age, being accepted on April 23, 1913, the fiftieth anniversary of his instal- lation as pastor. Doctor Robb was born in Harrison county, this state, July 13, 1832, was graduated from Franklin College in 1855, took his theol- ogy' in Xenia Theological Seminary and was licensed by Wheeling presbytery on April 10, 1861. Following the resignation of Doctor Robb the con- gregation was served by supply until presently a call was extended to the Rev. William A. Lorimer, who was installed as pastor on July 21, 1914, and is still serving.
The present membership of the United Presbyterian church at James-
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town is one hundred and thirty. The Sabbath school has an enrollment of two hundred and ten. C. D. Lackey is superintendent of the Sabbath school. Mrs. J. C. Lackey is president of the Woman's Missionary Society, an organization numbering thirty-five, and Ruth Ferguson is president of the Young Peoples Society, which has an enrollment of thirty. For some time after 1862 the United Presbyterian congregation at Reesville, in the neigh- boring county of Clinton, was served as one pastoral charge with the James- town congregation. It is interesting to note that out of these congregations have gone thirteen ministers of the gospel, namely: Samuel F. Morrow, D. D., Anthony C. Junkin, D. D., Thomas W. Winter, John M. Heron, R. D. Williamson, Walter P. Currie, Ebenezer Currie, W. G. Spencer, F. M. Spencer, D. D., J. S. Turnbull, F. E. Dean, Mills J. Taylor and J. H. Dean.
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT CEDARVILLE.
The formal organization of what since the union of 1858 has been known as the United Presbyterian church of Cedarville was effected on November 6, 1844, by the following charter membership: Ruth R. Read, John Hume, Elizabeth Hume, James F. Stewart, Sara Jane Stewart, John Barber, Sarah Barber, David Jackson, Nancy Jackson, Robert Jackson, Minerva J. Jackson, Rachel Nichols, Thomas A. Read, Innis Townsley, Sarah Townsley, George Townsley, Margaret Townsley, William I. Gor- don and Martha E. Gordon. On July 23, 1846, the Rev. James Buchanan was installed as pastor of the congregation and he continued in that relation until his death on April II, 1847, being succeeded by his brother, the Rev. J. Harvey Buchanan, who was installed on May 22, 1848, and continued as pastor until November 20, 1854. He was succeeded by the Rev. James P. Wright, installed on April 9, 1856, who served until April 24, 1860, to be succeeded, March 31, 1863, by the Rev. James A. McCall, who died while thus serving on the 23rd of August following. Mr. McCall was suc- ceeded by the Rev. W. H. Haney, who was installed as pastor on June 8, 1865, and who served until October 29, 1872. The next formally installed pastor was the Rev. H. F. Wallace, who served from October 26, 1875, until August 28, 1883, and was succeeded by the Rev. A. M. Campbell, April 14, 1885, to July 24, 1888. Mr. Campbell was succeeded by the Rev. J. C. Warnock, who was installed pastor on September 10. 1889, and who served the congregation until August 24, 1897, being succeeded, August 2, 1898, by the Rev. F. O. Ross, who continued as pastor until May 25. 1903, being succeeded by the Rev. O. H. Milligan, who was installed on January 12, 1904, and who served until January 19, 1909. Mr. Milligan's successor was the Rev. J. S. E. McMichael, the present pastor, who was installed on December 16, 1910.
The house of worship occupied by this congregation, a substantial brick
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edifice at the northwest corner of Main and Chillicothe streets, was erected in 1887 and in 1912 was handsomely redecorated within, new opalescent windows being added at the same time, making the interior one of the pret- tiest in the county. The present membership of the church is approximately two hundred and seventy-five and all departments of the church's activities are reported in a flourishing condition. G. E. Jobe is superintendent of the Sabbath school; Mrs. C. W. Dean is president of the Woman's Missionary Society ; Mrs. M. W. Collins, president of the Ladies Aid Society, and Hazel Lowry, president of the Young Peoples Society. There is besides a Junior Missionary Society.
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AT BELLBROOK.
Previous to the union of the Associate (Seceder) and Associate Reformed churches in 1858 services had been held by those holding to the faith of the Seceders in the neighborhood of Bellbrook, these early settlers being ministered by the Rev. Robert Armstrong, who had his station up on Massies creek. In 1811 the Seceders of the Bellbrook vicinity erected a church building at the point now marked by the old Seceder graveyard north of the village and there worshipped until a gradual preponderance of the population rendered advisable the abandonment of that site and the erection of a church on Sugar creek, northwest of the village, where they continued to worship until the union of 1858. In the following year the United Pres- byterians erected a church in Bellbrook, under the ministry of the Rev. R. E. Stewart, and that church has ever since been maintained. Mr. Stewart died not long after the erection of the new building and was succeeded by the Rev. J. B. McMichael, who continued as pastor until elevated to the presidency of Monmouth College in 1878. During the period of the ministry of Doctor McMichael he organized another congregation of the United Presbyterian church on the Dayton pike. Doctor McMichael was succeeded as pastor of the United Presbyterian church at Bellbrook by the Rev. W. McClure.
REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CEDARVILLE.
Though there were a sufficient number of Covenanters among the early settlers of what is now the Cedarville neighborhood to hold prayer meetings there as early as the year 1804, there was no formal preaching service in their behalf until in 1809, in the fall of which year the Rev. Thomas Donnelly. a minister of the Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter ) communion, and John Kell, then a licentiate, passed through the settlement and preached. This is said to have been the first authorized exposition of the gospel by a minister of the Covenanter church in the state of Ohio, and it is from that year, 1809,
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that the Reformed Presbyterian church of Cedarville dates its organization. During the more than a century of service in that community the Covenanters have maintained the faith of their fathers and have been a continuing and helpful force for good thereabout, and when the church celebrated its cen- tennial anniversary in 1909 the occasion was made one of much rejoicing.
The early prayer meetings above referred to were participated in by the families of David Mitchell, who had settled on Clarks run in 1804, James Miller, James Reid, grandfather of Whitelaw Reid, and William Moreland. Both Mitchell and Miller were elders of the church, having been ordained to that office before coming to this county. The first preaching service was held in a log barn on the Dallas farm. Not long afterward the Rev. John Black, of Pittsburgh, visited the little society, constituted a session and received James Reid and his wife as the first accessions to the church, the Reids having fallen out with the Associated Reformed church, with which they previously had been affiliated in Kentucky, by reason of their pastor at Lexington, the Rev. Adam Rankin, having become a slaveholder. On the following Sabbath Mr. Black preached in the log barn belonging to David Laughead, son-in-law of Mr. Mitchell, and administered the sacrament of baptism to William and Joseph Reid, young sons of James Reid and wife, born after their parents had withdrawn from the Associate Reformed com- munion. In 1810 the families of Gavin Johnson and Alexander Foster settled in the neighborhood, adding their numerical strength to the little band of Covenanters thereabout, and not long afterward other families holding to this faith began to come in, so that by the year 1812, when the little flock decided to erect a church building instead of continuing its services in the houses of its several members, there was a considerable band thus to assemble. In the meantime the Rev. John Kell had been making trips here from time to time and thus served the congregation with preaching about one-fourth of the time from 1810 to 1816, in which latter year the Rev. Jonathan Gill was installed as pastor. Mr. Gill continued this relation until 1823, when, by reason of the meager financial support the little congregation contributed to his maintenance, he was compelled to resign. He remarked that there were a few families in the congregation to whom he would gladly preach as long as he lived if they could only give him enough bread and meat to support his family, but this he knew they could not do, and so he would resign. At no time during this period had the congregation numbered more than forty com- municants. After the departure of Mr. Gill the church was supplied about one-fourth of the time until the spring of 1829 by the Rev. Gavin McMillan, who in the meantime stirred the congregation to abandon the little log church building which they had erected in 1812 on the Miller farm, seven miles east
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of Xenia, and to put up a more comfortable house of worship. This second church building was built of stone and was forty feet long by thirty wide, erected on a plot of ground two miles east of the old log church, on the banks of Massies creek, six miles from Xenia and two miles from Cedarville, and was opened for service in 1824.
In the fall of 1828 Rev. Hugh McMillan assisted his brother Gavin to dis- pense the Lord's Supper in the congregation and the members were so pleased with his service that they extended to him a unanimous call to become the settled pastor of the church. He then was preaching in South Carolina, but had become discontented over slavery conditions in that state, as had most of the members of his congregation there. He therefore inclined a willing ear to the call to come over into Ohio and in April, 1829, returned from the South and was soon afterward installed as pastor. When the Rev. Hugh McMillan entered upon his pastorate there on Massies creek he had under his charge sixty-six communicants. A goodly number of his people in South Carolina followed him, so that in a few years they formed the major part of the con- gregation. In 1833, at the time of the division in the church, there were one hundred and sixty-five members, thirty-eight of whom went out with the Synod branch. The division caused some trouble about the occupancy of the church building, but an amicable adjustment was made by allowing those who had left the congregation to use the church every fourth Sabbath. During the time the church was thus occupied Mr. McMillan preached in Xenia one- fourth of his time. In 1839 the congregation purchased a plot of ground adjoining the old site and erected thereon a new church, of brick, forty-five by fifty-five feet, and gave the other congregation full use of the old stone church. In 1848 the members living in Xenia and vicinity petitioned presby- tery for a distinct organization and the petition was granted, the Xenia congregation subtracting fifty members from the mother church. They immediately made a call upon Doctor McMillan, who was then living in Xenia, to become their pastor, but he declined to give up his connection with his old congregation and presently moved to Cedarville, where he continued his labors and where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there on October 9, 1860. Doctor McMillan was a man of great vigor and ability. A native of South Carolina, born in 1794. he was graduated from the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania and was presently elected professor of languages in Columbia University. Determining to consecrate himself to the ministry, he entered the Reformed Presbyterian Seminary at Philadelphia and in 1820 was licensed to preach. After doing missionary work from Ohio to South Carolina, he was ordained and installed pastor of Rocky Creek church, in the Chester district of his home state. in 1821. His antipathy to slavery soon
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made his position untenable and, as above noted, he came to Greene county with nearly all his congregation. It has been observed that as a religious leader Doctor McMillan exerted an influence which has impressed itself ineradicably upon the character of the people in the neighborhood in which he so long labored. The Doctor's fame as an educator also was widespread. For many years he conducted an academy where young men were prepared for college. He also held a professorship in the Reformed Presbyterian Seminary at Philadelphia and was a trustee of Miami University. He died with his armor on and was buried in Massies Creek cemetery, on the very spot where his pulpit had stood.
After the death of Doctor McMillan the congregation at Cedarville was served by supplies until in 1863, in which year began the forty-year pastoral incumbency of the Rev. James F. Morton, D. D. During Doctor Morton's pastorate the congregation enjoyed the steady growth that characterizes a mature organization. Two of the most notable events were the founding of Cedarville College and the erection of the present handsome church edifice. Cedarville College was chartered in 1887 and opened its doors in 1894 under the auspices of the Reformed Presbyterian general synod. Started primarily to furnish theological students, it soon proved a valuable help in the local religious work of the congregation and has steadily maintained that position. Doctor Morton continued as pastor of the congregation until his death on May 31, 1903, a period of forty years, during which time he proved a potent influence for good throughout the community in which his patient labor of love was carried on. He was born in Tennessee. January 18, 1828, and was thirteen years of age when his parents moved from Tennessee to Illinois. He spent his early manhood in teaching and in 1859 entered Monmouth College, from which he was graduated in 1861. The next year he was grad- uated from the seminary and not long afterward entered upon his labors at Cedarville. After the death of Doctor Morton the pulpit was vacant for a year, during which time Prof. W. R. McChesney, of the college, performed the duties of pastor. In 1904 a call was extended to the Rev. Albert Barnes Henry, a Kansan and a graduate of Monmouth College, class of 1896, who was graduated from the Philadelphia Seminary in 1900, ordained by the Phil- adelphia presbytery and placed in charge of the Second Reformed Presby- terian church in Philadelphia, where he remained until he accepted the call to Cedarville. . Mr. Henry's labors at Cedarville continued until 1906, in which year he accepted a call from the Kensington Presbyterian church of Philadel- phia and returned to that city. Professor McChesney was again placed in pastoral charge of the church at Cedarville and continued thus serving the congregation for two years, at the end of which time, in September, 1908,
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