History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 44

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926; Baskin & Battey. Chicago. pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1014

USA > Ohio > Medina County > History of Medina county and Ohio > Part 44

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Dr. James H. Cassady has been engaged in the practice of medicine in Sharon Township since about 1870.

Dr. Porter located in Granger about ten years ago, and continues to practice there.

Dr. Singer came to York about 1871 ; stayed about two years, and quit.

Dr. H. H. Doane commenced in Litchfield in 1872.

Dr. Frank Young commenced studying medi- cine with Dr. Darley, of Cleveland, in 1869. He attended two full conrses of lectures in the old Cleveland College, and gradnated in the spring of 1872; he located in Weymouth the same year, and continues to occupy that field.

Dr. Wallace Briggs studied with Dr. Lyman at Wadsworth, and graduated at Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1869. He located at River Styx in same year, bnt moved to Wadsworth in 1873, and in 1877 moved to California.

Dr. Hahn located in Spencer abont the year 1874, occupying the office left by Dr. Warner at his death. He continues to reside and prae- tice there.

Dr. Frank S. Jones began his medical career as druggist's clerk in 1865, in Medina, afterward in Cleveland, and subsequently in New York City. While in New York, he attended the New York College of Pharmacy for three sea- sons, and graduated in the spring of 1872. In the fall of 1872, he went to Chicago, and at- tended medical lectures at the Rush Medical College of that city, graduating at that insti- tution in the spring of 1876. During a portion of the time of attending lectures, he was resi- dent physician of one of the hospitals of Chi- cago. He came to Medina in the spring of 1876, and began practice, since which time he has continned iu the line of professional duty.

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

Dr. Newberry came to York about 1876, and stayed about one year.

Dr. P. E. Bench, a graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, commenced the practice of medicine at Seville, in company with his father about 1877, since which time he has been building up a practice.

Dr. Thomas Hunter came to this country from the Emerald Isle, bringing with him the medical education acquired through the oppor- tunities afforded him in that historic land. He stopped off at Seville, and planted himself with- out introductory ceremonies, and no artifice or opposition could ever "rattle" him in the least.

Dr. Brown came to York about 1878, and stayed about one year.

Dr. E. E. Britton is a native of Medina County, and read medicine with Dr. Garver, of Homer. Graduated at Cincinnati in 1878, and

came to Lake Station in June of the same year, and practiced there until October, when he moved to Spencer, where he now resides.

Dr. John Cowan came to Lodi from Ashland County in 1879, and has a drug store in con- nection with his practice. Read medicine with his brother, J. P. Cowan. Commenced in 1851, and graduated at Columbus in 1854.

Dr. J. Wall was raised in the township of York, and read medicine with Dr. Gamble, of Liverpool, graduating at Cleveland, Ohio. He located at Sharon for a short time, but since 1879, has been practicing at York.

Dr. C. G. Hollis came to Wadsworth in the spring of 1880, from Richfield, Summit County.

Dr. George H. Wuchter studied medicine under Dr. Lyman, at Wadsworth. Attended three full courses of lectures at Jefferson Med- ical College, Pennsylvania, and graduated in the spring of 1880. He is now at River Styx.

CHAPTER IV.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT-THE PURITAN CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS-EARLY RELIGIOUS SOCIE- TIES-THEIR TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS-RISE AND GROWTII OF SCHOOLS- EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS-THE PRESS-RAILROADS.

T THE early settlers of Medina County were a "peculiar people." Nurtured in the shad- ow of Plymouth Rock, and growing to maturi- ty under the rigid Puritan system, that scarce- ly in theory divided the church and state, they brought to this new land a religious spirit that eagerly seized upon the new Connecticut as a means to propagate a theology that had hitherto flourished only within the rock-bound limits of New England. In their native land, hedged about by traditions that had com- manded the unquestioning respect of parents and children for many generations, opposition had been thrust out, and the people began to feel, like the Jews of old, that they were espe- eially aided of God, and that they alone had

kept the faitlı undefiled. But hitherto, it had not been successfully transplanted, and, when the " Western Reserve" was placed in the con- trol of those "to the manor born," a prominent thought in the minds of those who peopled it, was that now favorable circumstances were to aid in transplanting the Puritan faith to a spot peculiarly guarded, from which its influence like the light, should dispel the darkness and make the church of New England the church universal. Accepting the dogma of "original sin," they sat beneath the denunciatory preach- ing of their native land with a meekness that was satisfied if, by the rigid rule of practice laid down, they might, peradventure, be saved. But under this quiet exterior there was a true

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

war-like spirit, and the mind of each member of the church that had reached maturity of thought, was an arsenal of theological weapons At church meetings, in the social circles, and on the street, the ponderous themes of "elec- tion," "fore-ordination," " the perseverance of the saints," and kindred subjects, were promi- nent topics and were wielded with a power and an address that vividly recalls the physical combats of medieval times. On coming to the new country, however, these characteristics ex- perienced a change. The standing army had been mobilized, aud each member was imbued with the enthusiasm of a crusader, but they found here au enemy, to subdue whom their arsenal held no adequate weapon. Their ful- minations of the decrees were met with an ap- peal to "common-sense" philosophy ; dogmas were met with the demand for freedom of thought ; and the result here, as in many a phys- ical conflict, was that the light-armed forces completely demoralized those strong only in their defensive armor, and forced them to ac- cept, and in the end to champion, that freedom of thought that they had early learned to de- nounce as heresy.

Society during the first ten or fifteen years was but little divided by sectional lines. In church, politics and social matters, neighbor- hoods for miles about were closely allied by the necessities of the situation, and society in the spirit of true democracy inquired only into the moral worth of the new comer. The ma- jority of the adults among the early settlers had been members of some one of the Christian churches in their native States, and at the first opportunity arrangements of more or less per- manent character were made for Christian wor- ship. Sectarian feelings, under the exigencies of the occasion, were lost sight of or kept strictly in abeyance, and Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Methodists and Baptists united to establish and continue religious worship on the Sabbath. The reminiscences of Ephraim

Lindley, of Brunswick, are typical of the ex- periences of the different communities throngh- out the county at that time. He says : " At the first religious meetings, citizeus from Liver- pool and Brunswick united. Wheu mectings were held at William Warner's cabin, Justus Warner, who was an Episcopalian, took the lead of the meeting, and when at Brunswick the leader of religious exercises was of the Methodist or Congregational denominations. Generally the small family dwelling was filled with those who revered the Sabbath and church duties. The exercises commenced with sing- ing, in which all took part, and were able to keep time and sing in unison without the aid of organ or other musical instrument. After singing, prayer devout and fervent was offered, then a sermon was read, one or more exhorted, then closed by singing. Many of those who witnessed these religious exercises in the then wilderness, cannot have forgotten the zeal, the good feeling, the solemnity, that was apparent. God smiled graciously on the first settlers and conferred upon them many and rich blessings while employed in rearing homes in these wilds. At the Sabbath prayer meetings there was a marked reverence, and not a few can date back to those times aud places their first and lasting religious impressions."

In the meanwhile, the mother State had not been unmindful of the spiritual wants of its Western offspring, and the Connecticut Mission- ary Society, formed to carry the gospel of the Puritans to Vermout and Western New York, sent several of its missionaries to the New Con- necticut. Among these, were the Revereuds Amasa Loomis, William Hanford and Simeon Woodruff; and it was under their guidance that most of the early Congregational churches were formed. These were established in Har- risville on October 3 and 4, 1817, with twelve members ; in Brunswick, February 19, 1819, with eleven members ; in Medina, February 21, 1819, with seven members ; in Wadsworth August 8,

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

1819, with nine members ; in Granger, Novem- ber 14, 1819, with thirteen members, and soon after iu Westfield. These organizations did not at once set about erecting a place of worship, nor to secure a pastor, but they served as rally- ing points for the denomination which they represented. Other church influences were uot less active. The Methodist Episcopal itiner- ants were early found in all parts of the county, establishing a class at Brunswick in 1817; in Medina and Westfield in 1819, and in Granger in 1820. The Baptists and Presbyterians or- ganized churches a little later, so that in 1835, each township had several religious organiza- tions. These different churches, though osten- sibly independent bodies, were, in fact, in the majority of eases, a single church for all prae- tical purposes. They usually oceupied the most centrally located schoolhouse, and the different missionaries so timed their visits as to arrive when there were no other appointments. A little later, union houses of worship were built, and frequently, at first, a single pastor condueted the services, or each seeured a pastor to preach on each alternate Sabbath, the same audience attending each service. In some instances, the original proprietor of the lands here, took an in- terest in this subjeet which greatly aided these weak societies. In Montville, Aristarehus Cham- pion, the principal owner of land in the township, contributed $300 toward the building of a Methodist Church, and in 1827, induced Rev. S. V. Barnes, a Presbyterian minister, to locate there, by the gift of 100 acres of land. In a similar spirit, Elijah Boardman sought to estab- lish the Episcopal Church in Medina as the one with which he affiliated. The disposition thus manifested, tended to facilitate the organization of a religious sentiment that did not need awakening or quickening. The first religious serviee of a public character in Medina, was held ou the 11th day of March, 1817, Rev. Royce Searle, Rector of St. Peter's Church, of Plymouth, Connecticut, preaching the sermon.

On the following day, Rev. William Hanford, a missionary of the Connecticut Missionary So- eiety, preached a sermon at the same place. The county seat was considered a point of great advantage for denominational development, aud both of these ministers, the one represent- ing the proprietor's choice, and the other the ruling element in the New as well as the old Conneetieut, and both finding persons of like faith with themselves, were thus seeking by carly efforts to secure the ground for their re- spective organizations. On the 10th of the fol- lowing month, the people gathered near the present residence of Herbert Blakslee and pre- pared to erect a log cabin for a place of worship. The underbrush was eleared away, the timber eut and hauled to the site of the proposed building, and shingles had been pre- pared from the tree, when a uotice that Rev. Mr. Scarle would be there in the afternoon and preach, was received. The people with one ac- cord redoubled their efforts, and completed the structure, providing seats, by placing poles on forked stakes driven in the ground, in time to listen to the sermon at 4 o'clock in the aft- ernoon. Here the Congregationalists and the Episeopalians held serviees on alternate Sun- days, and continued in this way for years. This state of affairs continued without any thing to dis- turb the general harmony, until about 1830 or 1835. By this time, the number of available ministers had largely increased ; the pressure of pioneer life had become less burdensomc, settlers had more means to devote to the build- ing of "meeting houses," more members were gathered into the different organizations, and there began to be manifested on the part of the different denominations, a disposition to assert their individuality. This led to less cordiality in the union work, and gave rise to an attempt to turn the work to denominational account, which led in some cases to a violent disruption of the harmonious relatious previously known, and in all cases gradually to a separate place of

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

worship and ehureh work. On the whole, this re- sult was not altogether undesirable, as, in the main, it ineuleated a proper spirit of emulation and more plainly marked the individual respon- sibility of the members, resulting in greater Christian activity.

During all this time a subtle change had beeu going on in the character of the people. Minds that had been kept within rigid lines of thought, breathing in the free air of the wilder- ness, had unconsciously begun to wander in the fields of speculation which had been forbiddeu to their earlier life, and were rapidly eoneeiving a taste for this freedom of thought. It was years, however, before these staid New Eng- land people, strictest of their seet, would ae- knowledge what was readily revealed to the new comer, or to their old friends in the East when they returned to visit their native places. This was the happy mean in a ehange that af- feeted all classes of society. Some of the older people could not surrender the traditions they had respected from their youth up, the habits of thoughts that had strengthened with their growth, and they beeame more stern in their judgment, and contended for each jot and tittle of their faith with inereased pertinaeity. The other extreme was a violent reaction, in the form of infidelity, against the mental tyranny of the old Puritau faith. The seeds of this heresy did not come into the county from New England, but, once here, it found fruitful ground' in the minds of those, who, held in control only by the stern influenees of their native land, became restive and insubordinate when these restraints were partially removed iu this wild country. This reaction was not marked, how- ever, until the whole eounty were suddenly awakened to the faet, by the organization and eharter of an association or society in Medina, for the promotion of "Morals and Seientific Research." This was about 1830 or 1832, and in January of 1833, and again in the following year, this society publicly celebrated the birth.

day of Thomas Paine. On one occasion they heralded their freedom from the " thralldom of religious opinion," with cannon, and, on both occasions, a procession headed by sueh music as could be seeured, paraded the streets of the village. The number which thus openly avowed their infidelity reached something over fifty persons, a few of whom, at least, had beeu church members here. A dinner and an ora- tion completed the exercises of these oeeasions. Although it was generally understood that sueh a society existed, this revelation of the extent of the evil came upon the church with startling force, and brought a stigma upon legitimate free thought, that strongly re-inforeed the ranks of eonservatism in the ehurch.

But the struggle for free thought was not destined to be lost or won on a single field. The question of human slavery, which had been kept iu abeyance by the church, under the fostering influence of Garrison, the "Ohio Observer," and the Philanthropist," began to loom up into sueh proportions here, that it eould no longer be ignored, and the continued divergenee of sentiment among the people, threatened to disrupt the ehurehes-a eonse- quence which did follow in many cases. The establishment of Oberlin College, in 1833, gave strength to the progressive element in society and added to the seriousness of the situation. The Congregational and Methodist Churches suffered most by the agitation which followed. In the case of the latter, the Wesleyan move- ment, championed, if not inaugurated, by Ed- ward Smith, was seriously felt in Medina County. His powerful arguments, brought home to the intelligence of the people by forci- ble illustrations, earried eonvietion. His favor- ite figure was to represent those who hoped to reform the Methodist Episcopal Church from within, as a washer-woman who should jump into her tub, and, grasping the handles, expect to empty it of the water. A number of elasses were formed throughout the county from these

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Am Grove Houghton AGE 92 YEARS

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY.

dissenting members of the Methodist Church. No buildings, however, were erected by them, and subsequently, when the logic of events re- moved this question from the forum of debate, they generally returued to their original church home.

With the Congregational Churches the case was more complicated. These had been organ- ized on the "plan of accommodation," that of union with the Presbytery, an arrangement which had been effeeted through the overtures of the Presbyterian Church, which had been ac- cepted by the Congregational Churches in Western New York. It provided for the regu- lar incorporation of these ehurelies into the Presbyterian order for temporary purposes, al- lowing in cases of discipline the member to elect under which mode of procedure the ease should be tried. In 1828, the Western Rc- serve College was founded at Hudson, with Rev. Charles B. Stows as professor, and later as President. At this period the influence of the college, under the guidance of a faculty eom- posed of such men as Elizur Wright, Beriah Green and Rufus Nutting, was in favor of emancipatiou. This attitude was maintained until 1833, when, through the death of the Pres- ident and the efforts of the institution's pro- slavery friends, the administration was changed, and President Pierce, a conservative, put at the head. It was at this juncture that Oberliu College was established, having for its object, as was set forth in its first annual report, "the diffusion of useful seienee, sound morality and true religion, among the growing multitudes of the Mississippi Valley." One of its objects was the elevation of female character, and included within its general design, was "the education of the common people with the higher elasses, in such manner as suits the nature of Republiean institutions." These eenters of college aud church influence were at once brought into collision. Oberlin stood for human rights witlı- out reserve; for independent Congregational- |

ism ; for "santification," "Christian perfec- tion " or "holiness of heart," in religion, as it was varionsly termed. On all these points it was antagouized by Hudson. "From the time of the Edwardses, there had been a progressive and a conservative party in the churches ; the former aspiring after an enlarged liberty, and the latter seeking to repress it; the former insisting upou the doctrine of immediate and unconditional repentance (as did Hopkins) ; the latter pleading for indulgences, postponc- ment, gradualism, and temporizing expedients ; the former responded promptly to the eall for the immediate and unconditional abolition of slavery ; the latter had previously intrenehed and fortified itself in the fortress of the Coloni- zation Society, and was determined to permit no disturbauee of its quietude."* This, as near as any formula can express it, was the re- lation of these two centers of learning in the New Connecticut, and their antagonism was at once transferred to the churches in the country surrounding, arousing a rancorous contention, the echoes of which have but recently died away. A man was set "at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, aud a man's foes were they of his own household." While the antagonism was really between the progressive and the con- servative elements, the questions upon which they differed were threefold-Slavery, Congre- gationalism, and what became to be known as " Oberlin Doctrines." On the first question, the Hudsou institutiou, in obedience to its friends, had changed from its early advanced grounds to conservative views of the subject. It still claimed to be opposed to slavery, and repelled with indignation the charge that it was only half-hearted in the cause, and was really pro- slavery in sentiment. Its support of the " Plan of Accommodation " allied the power of the Presbytery to its interests, and for awhile it

* Slavery and Anti-Slavery-By WILLIAM GOODELL.

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HISTORY OF MEDINA COUNTY,

seemed invincible in the churches. The major- ity of the ministers here were members of the Presbyterian order, and frequently had no con- nection with the church over which they pre- sided, save as hired master of the organizations. According to the plan of union, the government of the church was in the hands of the Presby- tery, while the membership was in a great ma- jority, if not wholly, Congregational. The ma- chinery of the church, therefore, was entirely in the hands of the conservative party, and it was only that the minority of the laity pos- sessed the same Puritan pertinacity with the majority, that, with the triple armor of a just cause, they eventually triumphed. Oberlin at once became the rallying-point for those who were opposed to this unnatural union, and this stronghold of conservatism was a little later shaken to its center by the organization of a "Congregational Association," the forerunner of the present conference system. Some years subsequently, the "General Assembly " of the Presbyterian Church met at Cleveland. The question of slavery could not be kept in abey- ance, and one of the Southern members deliv- ered himself of a labored argument, taking the ground that the Bible sustained human slavery. This proved an efficient weapon in the hands of the progressive element in the churches of this conuty. Society here had outstripped the churches in anti slavery progress, and the de- fense of the Presbytery, to which the odium of this argument attached, rapidly became unpop- ular. The power of the Presbytery, however, though shaken, was not overthrown at once, and the "Oberliu Doctrines" became heir to the hostilities which the agitation had engendered. The Oberlin Evangelist was denounced from the pulpit ; subscribers were "marked men," and were frequently shunued even by their rel- atives. It was simply the old fight for free- dom of thought, without any foreign questiou to mask it. The Evangelist demanded the abo- lition of formulas, freedom for all investigation,

and the holding-fast of that which was good, The excitement permeated the whole commu- nity, and those outside of the church declared " that the devil had really come to Medina ; had got the Episcopalians all by the ears, and frightened the Methodists to their prayers, while the

"Presbyterians look on and sing,

' Sweet is the work, my God, my King.'"

The end was a division in some of the principal churches in the county, the Oberlin adherents being forced out or departing to establish new organizations. This culminating point was not reached in all parts of the county at the same time, and the asperities of the agitation were greatly relieved by occasional revivals, oue of the most remarkable occurring at Medina Vil- lage in 1844. The rapid progress of subse- quent political events hurried the disturbing question of slavery on to the final arbitrament of war, aud when, ou January 1, 1863, slavery was struck dead, there was no church influence but that applauded. With this the root of all bitterness removed, the step to a re-union was a short one, aud this desirable consummation soon followed. Now, slavery is dead, Congre- gationalism is iudependeut, and Oberlin gradu- ates are sought by all churches of this order- the triumph of free thought could not be more complete.

The churches of the county have passed through great changes since the early days. Many have died out, some have, as an organ- ization, changed their creed, and others have sprung up aud supplanted the older established ones. There are sixty-nine church organiza- tions, all but one or two possessiug places of worship averaging from $1,200 to $10,000 in cost of erection. These churches are divided deuominationally as follows : Methodist Epis- copal, nineteen ; Congregational, ten ; Baptist, seven ; Disciple, six; Lutheran, six; United Bretliren, five ; Dunkard, three ; German Re- formed, Catholic, Universalist and Presbyterian,

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History of Medina county and Ohio, Part 44

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926; Baskin & Battey. Chicago. pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Baskin & Battey Number of Pages: 1014

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?; Battle, J. H; Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, 1852-1926; Baskin & Battey. Chicago. pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Baskin & Battey
Number of Pages: 1014