USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 55
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METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT YELLOW SPRINGS.
The Methodist Episcopal church at Yellow Springs, pleasantly located at the southwest corner of Dayton and Winter streets in that village, was erected in 1846, at a cost of about thirty-five hundred dollars, and was remodeled in 1910, during the ministry of W. M. Patton, at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. The new church has ample capacity for the needs of the community, has an excellent pipe organ, made possible through a donation from Andrew Carnegie, is embellished with three beautiful art windows and is recognized
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as one of the best "country" churches in the state. The present membership of this church numbers three hundred and seventy-five souls and all depart- ments of the work of the church are reported to be in flourishing condition. The roll of the Sunday school just about duplicates that of the church and is conducted under the present superintendency of J. B. Sparrow. The Epworth League numbers forty, Miss Mary Meredith, president; Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, president, Mrs. W. C. Lacy ; Woman's Home Missionary Society, Mrs. C. S. Sheldon, president ; Home Guards, Mrs. W. Curry, presi- dent, and Standard Bearers, Miss Pauline Sparrow, president. The official . board of the church recently appointed the Rev. H. C. Middleton as pastor emeritus, in recognition of his distinguished service to the church during the period of his pastorate and since his retirement after forty years of service in the ministry, he having made his home in Yellow Springs since his retire- ment and the church thus profiting by his counsel and companionship. The present pastor of the church is the Rev. G. W. Matheson, who has been in charge since 1917. From the beginning and up to the term of Mr. Matheson's pastorate, the following ministers have served at Yellow Springs: Gideon C. Townley, 1852; Joseph J. Hill, 1853; Enoch G. West, 1854-55; G. W. Harris, 1856-57; Samuel A. Brewster, 1858-59; J. F. Spence, 1860; S. D. Clayton, 1861 ; G. W. Kelly, 1862-63 ; M. P. Gaddis, 1864-66; S. L. Yourtree, 1867; J. T. Bail, 1868-70; James Kendall, 1871-72; G. C. Crum, 1873-74; J. P. Shultz, 1875; H. M. Keck; 1876-78; T. W. D. Peake, 1879-80; W. H. Sutherland, 1881-82; W. H. Ramsey, 1883; Andrew Hamilton, 1884-86; J. G. Vaughan, 1887; Lafayette Young, 1888-89; H. C. Middleton, 1890-94; Reuben K. Deem, 1895-97; Calvin W. Elliott, 1898-1901; Benjamin D. Hypes, J902-07 ; W. M. Patton, 1908-12, and C. H. Clarke, 1913-17.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT CEDARVILLE.
The Methodists in what is now the Cedarville neighborhood began holding services as early as the year 1804. For some time these services were held in the houses of such of the settlers thereabout as held to the Methodist faith and presently a formal organization was effected and a house of worship was elected in the village of Cedarville. The church thus organized has flourished ever since and is in a thriving condition. As long ago as in the '70s this congregation numbered right around two hundred and the present membership is about three hundred and fifty. In 1879 the substantial brick house of worship in Cedarville was rebuilt, the Methodists there thus securing one of the best church buildings in that part of the county. From the very beginning of this organization a flourishing Sunday school has been a valuable adjunct to the work of the church and the various other departments of the church's activities are also doing good work. The Rev. J. W. Patton is the present pastor.
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MT. ZOAR METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Many years ago the Methodists of Caesarscreek township erected a house of worship and held services under the congregational title of the Mt. Zoar church. Not only did the church building serve as a house of worship, but it was much used as a general social center and the old-time singing-schools which were made much of a feature in that neighborhood were conducted in the church. After a while the congregation ceased to exist as a separate organization and the church building gradually fell into disuse.
OLIVE GROVE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The Olive Grove Methodist Episcopal church was another early organi- zation in Caesarscreek township, which was long ago disbanded. The first house of worship erected by this society was a log building erected on the Powers farm, but which was afterward removed to the site of what has for many years been known as the Olive Grove cemetery. This was another case of the rural church losing out in favor of the town and village churches and the Olive Grove society long ago gave up its separate history and the old church house was in time torn down.
METHODISM IN ROSS TOWNSHIP.
About the year 1850 the Wesleyan Methodists of Ross township erected on the Daniel Little farm a church in which they held services until during the time of the Civil War, when the church ceased to exist as a separate organization. The building then passed into the hands of the Disciples, who held services in it until 1870, when they erected a building of their own in Grape Grove. The Protestant Methodists are said to have been the first of any religious denomination to hold formal services in Ross township, it being a matter of record that prior to 1820 they had been having preaching in various houses in the neighborhood, the principal place of gathering having been the one-room cabin of Berah Orcutt. One of the first ministers to preach there was Robert Dobbins. Z. Brown, an itinerant preacher, also occasionally stopped at Orcutt's and held meetings. About 1830 the congregation became organized under the name of the Bethel church, built a frame house of wor- ship and continued to hold meetings for years, but the members finally became scattered and the old church was sold, the building later coming to be used as a barn.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT BELLBROOK.
The first Methodist Episcopal church in Sugarcreek township was built on the southwest corner of Thomas White's farm, where the Bellbrook road joins the Dayton pike, about two miles west of the village of Bellbrook. Afterward this organization erected a log house of worship on the site of what
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later came to be the establishment of the Protestant church, after the separa- tion holding their services in the school house west of Dawson's, where the society continued to worship until 1844, in which year it erected a substantial meeting house in the village of Bellbrook. Among the more prominent of the early ministers of this church were the Reverends James B. Finley, Christy, Bigelow, Raper, Latta, Chase, Newson, Webster, Fields, Hypes, Black, Conroy, Robinson, Verity, Shultz and Porter.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT CLIFTON.
Soon after the village of Clifton found a place on the map there was organized there a vigorous society of the Methodist Episcopal church and that organization has been maintained effectively ever since, the Methodists of Clifton having one of the most active of the lesser church organizations of the county. Not long after effecting an organization the Methodists at Clifton erected a comfortable little brick church, which was presently found to be too small for the purposes of the growing congregation and was sold to the town- ship for school purposes. . Upon the abandonment of this structure, Bates and Lewis presented to the congregation the lot upon which the present church stands and a new and adequate edifice was erected. The Clifton church has from the first enjoyed a prosperous state of development and the various departments of the church's activities have ever maintained active organi- zations.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT BOWERSVILLE.
At a meeting held in Haughey's school house in Jefferson township in the year 1845 under the direction of the Rev. Ebenezer Webster there was organized the society now and long known as the Methodist Episcopal church of Bowersville. John S. Perkins was the first class leader and the society started out with an excellent organization, which has ever since been main- tained. Originally the church was included in the New Burlington circuit, but presently was transferred to the Sabina circuit. In 1851, under the min- istration of W. S. Smith and Joseph Blackburn, the church conducted a notable revival and in 1855 a neat one-story frame building was erected at Bowers- ville as a house of worship. The present pastor is Reverend Moore.
METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH AT BELLBROOK.
The history of this organization is contemporary with that of the denomination to which it belongs. In 1828 the agitation for lay-representa- tion in the Methodist Episcopal church culminated in the expulsion from that body of a large number of ministers and laymen whose protest against the episcopacy had placed them outside the pale of the church, and these vigorous "protestants" formed a new church to which they gave the name
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of the Methodist Protestant church, thus embracing in the name of the new organization their principal objection to the old church, that is, a protest against the episcopacy. This revolution found the Methodists of Sugar- creek township worshiping in the old log meeting-house on the Thomas White farm about two miles west of Bellbrook. The new church found adherents in the congregation and among these "protestants" was Stephen Bell, the owner of the land on which the church stood. He dispossessed the regular Methodists and the protestants, or "radicals," as they then were called by some, retained hold on the old church and grounds, for which they' received a deed in 1832, the first trustees of the new organization being Henry Harman, James Snodgrass and Thomas Sparks. In 1842 the congregation, seeking a more central location, built a new church at Bell- brook and has since maintained an effective organization there. Among the early pastors of the Methodist Protestant church at Bellbrook were Joshua Devore, John M. Young, Reuben Rose, Henry Brown, T. B. Graham, J. B. Walker, J. J. White, W. R. Parsons, William Overholtz and W. W. Creamer.
METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH AT ALPHA.
The Methodist Protestant church at Alpha was erected in 1872 by the united efforts of the Methodist Protestant and German Reformed organi- zations, but the latter did not long hold services there. The original trus- tees were composed of members from each body, Daniel Overholser and David Gray acting for the Methodist Protestants. The latter organization continued to maintain its identity and flourished from the very start, for many years being the only church organization in the village. It has a substantial brick house of worship and its various activities are maintained in excellent fashion. Among the early ministers who served this congre- gation were T. J. Evans, W. R. Parsons, Reuben Rose, William Overholser and W. M. Creamer.
METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH AT BOWERSVILLE.
The history of the Methodist Protestant church at Bowersville dates back to the year 1829, when, not long after the "protest" against the episcopacy of the Methodist church, a camp-meeting was held at Port Will- iam, in the neighboring county of Clinton, under the auspices of the "protes- tants." This meeting attracted much attention and aroused no end of interest among the people, particularly those of the Methodist faith, and not long after the meetings closed societies of the Methodist Protestants began to be formed in this and surrounding counties. A church was built by the converts in Jefferson township and the new society grew and flour- ished. This early house of worship stood alongside the Jamestown road
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near the residence of John Ross, but as the social center gradually became more pronounced at Bowersville the church was moved to that village, where the church congregation has ever since maintained services, the church and its various activities being reported to be in a flourishing condition.
METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH AT PAINTERSVILLE.
The beginning of the present church of the Methodist Protestant com- munion at Paintersville, for many years one of the strongest church organi- zations in that part of Greene county, was effected after the "protest" against the bishops during the '30s and the organization has been a continuing force for good in that community ever since. Following the separation the Metho- dist Protestants in that part of the county erected a frame house of worship near the township center, east of the Mt. Zoar church to which they pre- viously had been attached, and when the growth of the organization warranted a further stage of development moved to the village of Paintersville.
METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH AT SPRING VALLEY.
Not until 1849 did the protest against the episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal church among the adherents of that faith in and about Spring Valley lead to a sufficient separation of the "protestants" to warrant the organization of the Protestant Methodists in the village. In that year, under the leadership of Michael Dougherty, M. A. Gest, Mrs. Johanna Morris and others, the Methodist Protestant church was organized at Spring Valley and has since maintained an organization there.
BETHEL METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH.
According to an older chronicle, the first religious denomination of any kind to hold services in Ross township were the Protestant Methodists, who had preaching at different houses in that neighborhood prior to 1820. These meetings were frequently held in the little log cabin of Berah Orcutt, which contained only one room, and here the settlers would gather on preaching days, bare-footed and in their shirt-sleeves. Robert Dobbins was one of the first ministers who preached here, and while he expounded the Scrip- tures, Mrs. Orcutt, in the same room, watched the boiling of the old iron kettle, which hung in the fireplace, and the baking of the corn-pone, with which the congregation were to be refreshed when the services were con- cluded. Rev. Z. Brown was also an itinerant preacher who frequently stopped at Orcutt's and held meetings. The congregation built a frame church about 1830, called the same Bethel church and meetings were held there for years threafter, but the members finally became scattered and the old church build- ing was sold and later became used as a barn.
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FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF XENIA.
From an older chronicle it is learned that the first Baptist church in Xenia was organized on November 2, 1844, by nine persons who had taken letters from the Baptist churches at Cedarville and on Caesars creek for that purpose, the meeting at which the organization was effected being moderated by the Rev. T. P. Childs, who with his wife, the Rev. William McDonald and wife, Thomas McDonald, John Birth and wife and Ebenezer Hatch and wife, formed the nucleus of the present congregation. John Birth was clerk of the meeting, which received the letters of dismission from another church presented by Mrs. Susanna Parcell and her daughters, Catherine and Martha. On the 30th of that same month the Rev. T. P. Childs was called as pastor of the church and in the following month formal services were begun in a building dedicated to that purpose. Upon its organization this church was attached to the Mad River association, but in 1846 became connected with the Caesarscreek association. In July of this latter year Mr. Childs resigned his pastorate and in the following December the Rev. S. Marshall became his successor. The latter served as pastor for something more than a year and was succeeded by the Rev. J. R. Downer, who entered upon his pastorate in June, 1848, continuing to serve the congregation until 1850, when he was succeeded by the Rev. G. D. Simmons, whose salary was fixed at four hun- dred dollars a year. Mr. Simmons found this salary inadequate to his needs and in May, 1851, resigned his pastorate, the church remaining without a pastor until in the following October, when the Rev. O. B. Stone accepted a call. Two years later Mr. Stone also resigned and in December, 1853, the Reverend Parmalee took charge, remaining with the church until his resig- nation in November, 1855. He was succeeded by the Rev. J. W. Weatherby, who served from January 12, 1856, to March 13, 1859, to be succeeded by the Rev. A. Guy, who served from December 1, 1859, until in June, 1865. In the following December the Rev. I. Childs entered upon the pastorate and continued thus to serve until March 1, 1867, to be succeeded in the following November by the Rev. A. B. White, who served as "supply" until March 25, 1868. In the following June the Rev. B. Bedell became pastor of the church and thus continued to serve for more than ten years, or until October 8, 1878. In the meantime the church building had undergone extensive improve- ments and the congregation in 1853 had been presented a good parsonage property, the gift of J. W. King and Thornton Lucas. It was in 1853 that the church witnessed the greatest revival it had ever known, thirty-six hav- ing been baptized, three admitted by "experience" and five, by letter. In 1877 the church roll showed a membership of one hundred and nine. Fol- lowing the departure of the Rev. B. Bedell a call was extended to the Rev.
(34)
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C. W. Currier, who was installed as pastor on January 16, 1879, and who served until 1886. He was succeeded in the following order by the pastors who have served the congregation since that time: James Rea, 1886-89; J. S. Wrightnour, 1889-93; T. B. Collins, 1893-96; D. G. Stevens, 1896-99; Albert Read, since 1899. Reverend Read has had the longest pastorate of any of the men who have served the congregation. The present member- ship is one hundred and eighty-nine. Harlan Fudge is superintendent of the Sunday school, Hugh McFadden president of the Young People's Society, and Mrs. Emma Simons president of the Ladies Aid Society.
MERCERS RUN BAPTIST CHURCH.
Another of the real old Baptist churches in Greene county is that known as the Mercers Run Baptist church in Caesarscreek township. This society was organized in 1818 by Aaron Lambert, one Hanby and a few others, who built a log meeting-house along Caesars creek about four miles east of Spring Valley. That site was used as a meeting place until along in the '70s, when the church building was destroyed by fire. The congregation then moved to the point it has since occupied as a meeting place, erected a new church and has ever since maintained an organization there. In the meantime, in 1844, the Baptists in and about the village of Spring Valley organized a society and in 1848 erected in the village a frame meeting-house, in which they held services until 1860, when, by reason of deaths in the congrega- tion and the removal of many of the members, the organization was aban- doned. This latter organization was led by Judge Clark and family, Wash- ington Alexander and family and Elias Adair and family and until the church was built in Spring Valley held services in a log school house two miles west of the village. The Mercers Run congregation has enjoyed the services of some ministers of strong personalities during the long course of its con- tinuous organization and has been a strong factor in the moral and social development of that part of the county.
MIDDLE RUN BAPTIST CHURCH.
What is said to be the oldest church organization in Greene county is the Middle Run Baptist church in Sugarcreek township, the church being located in section 35, not far from the Warren county line. The first house of worship erected on that site was a little log house which was built in 1799 by those of the very earliest settlers of that neighborhood who held to the Baptist faith. In 1832 that primitive log church was supplanted by a brick church building, which served the purposes of the congregation until in 1852, when it was torn down and a more commodious and convenient building of frame was erected. It is said that the chief distinction of these early Middle Run Baptists differentiating them from other Baptists was their
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belief in what is known as "predestination," hence the name by which they came to be called, Predestinarian Baptists. The first minister of the Middle Run church was the pioneer preacher, John Clark, who was followed by Lemuel Cotterill. Following Cotterill came the Rev. Hezekiah Stites, who continued to serve the congregation as pastor for the remarkable tenure of forty years and whose influence for good in that community was marked in . many enduring ways. Later the Reverends Read and Littleton served as pastors.
CAESARSCREEK BAPTIST CHURCH. .
One of the oldest church organizations in the county is that. of the Caesarscreek Baptist church, located on the dividing line between Jefferson and Silvercreek townships. The exact date of the organization of this society is unknown, but it was undoubtedly considerably more than one hundred years ago, probably about the year 1803. The first Baptist church in that neighborhood was the little old log church in Jefferson township for many years known as the "Iron Jacket" meeting-house. This building was finally abandoned and a new church was erected on the township line at the site ever since occupied by the congregation. During the '20s the pioneer preacher, Cottrell, was in pastoral charge of the church and he was followed by Sutton and Tuttle, also well-remembered pioneer ministers of the Baptist church. Sutton has been referred to as "a great preacher and a successful revivalist, whose words, like bread cast upon the waters, were gathered after many days." An English preacher of the name of Jones has also been referred to as one of the successful pastors of the church during the pioneer period. Others of the pioneer line were Reeves, Hummer, Stephens and Smith. When the little old log meeting-house became inadequate for the needs of the congregation a small brick structure was erected and this latter served as a place of worship until in 1873, when the congregation erected a much larger and more comfortable church building, one of the finest rural churches in the county. Adjacent to the church is the neighborhood burying ground which was established in that community at a date so remote as to be beyond the recollection of the oldest present inhabitant.
CAESARSCREEK BAPTIST CHURCH NO. 2.
On account of a difference of opinion on religious matters which arose in the Caesarscreek Baptist church, above referred to, in 1837 there occurred a division in that congregation which resulted in the withdrawal of about twenty of the members of the same, who, under the leadership of the Rev. George Reeves, organized a new society, built a new church, not far from the old one, and there held services until 1859, when their present house of southern part of Silvercreek township. From the time of this division the worship was erected on what was long known as the Hatch farm in the
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Rev. George Reeves served as pastor of No. 2 church for a period of eighteen years. At the time the new church was built in 1859 there was a membership of thirty-three, but by natural decline this number gradually became reduced until in the early 'Sos there were but seventeen members, the congregation at that time being ministered to by the Rev. Elias Reeves, son of the founder of the church, who preached once a month.
GERMAN BAPTIST (DUNKER ) CHURCH AT ZIMMERMANVILLE.
The German Baptists or Dunkers of Beavercreek township have had an organization since the year 1805, when they began to hold services in accord- ance with their faith in the houses of members of this faith who had settled in and about the settlement that later came to be known as Zimmermans, or Zimmermanville, there being early a considerable colony of Dunkers there who had come over from Pennsylvania. The first deacons of the congrega- tion were Moses Shoup and John Stoneberger and the early ministers who served the congregation were Elders Miller, Sigler and Shoup. Until 1843 the Dunkers continued to hold their services in the houses of members and then they erected a single-story frame structure, about thirty-six by seventy in dimensions, at Zimmermans, where they ever since have maintained their organization, holding services every other Sunday. During the 'Sos the ministers of this congregation were B. F. Darst, Henry Duncan and David Bates. Aaron Coy is the present pastor. Since the old days the German Baptists or Dunkers have gradually abandoned some of the distinctive customs that marked them apart from other religious denominations, the younger gen- eration giving much less attention to the distinctive dress of the sect than did their fathers, but the old ritual of the church is maintained and there has been no diminution of the devotion of the members to the old faith.
MT. ZION REFORMED CHURCH.
In connection with the dedication of the new church at Mt. Zion in July, 1912, the Rev. J. F. Tapy, pastor of the Beavercreek charge of the Reformed church, issued an admirable and illuminative pamphlet under the title of "A Record of the Past," which carries a complete and comprehensive history of the old-established Mt. Zion Reformed church and which is acknowledged as the basis of the present briefer narrative relating to that church. The Mt. Zion church, situated on the Indian Riffle road in Beavercreek township, eight miles west of Xenia, was organized in 1845, in which year the congregation erected a substantial meeting house of brick which served as a house of wor- ship for sixty-six years, or until torn away to make place for the new church which was dedicated on July 28, 1912.
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