USA > Ohio > History of Ohio Methodism : a study in social science > Part 18
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Methodism began in Barnesville with the laying- out of the village, in 1806; and the close of the cen- tury still finds it pushing onward to still greater work. True, there are the Presbyterian with its 350 members;
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the Disciples, 350; the Friends, 100; the African, 150; the Roman Catholic, 150; but the Methodist with 900 members holds on its way towards lifting this com- munity into higher and holier life. May her star never dim! J. D. TALBOTT.
METHODISM IN BELLEFONTAINE.
The Rev. John Strange, who was widely known as a pioneer preacher in Indiana and Ohio, is said to have preached the first Methodist sermon in this re- gion, about the year 1816, in the old town of Belle- ville, located south of the present site of the Logan County fair-grounds. He was a frequent guest in the log-cabin of Samuel Carter, which was situated south of the town on the site now occupied by the residence of William P. Carter. The town of Belle- fontaine was laid out in 1818 by William Powell, and soon outstripped its rival, and became the center of missionary operation in this county. Such men as the Rev. James B. Finley and the Rev. Russel Bigelow, whose fame as great preachers and heroic missionaries in these primeval wildernesses of Ohio will never be forgotten, were frequent visitors in these parts, and did effective work in laying the foundation of Meth- odism in this vicinity.
The first church-building, or, as it was then called, meeting-house, was a little brick structure, 20 by 25 feet, located on the lot now occupied by the residence of Robert Lamb. The lot was conveyed by Samuel Newell to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church for fifty-five dollars, the date of the deed be- ing December 18, 1826. The church was then in process of erection, and was completed early in 1827.
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In 1839, during the pastorate of the Rev. William Morrow, a new and larger church was built upon the site of the old edifice, costing one thousand one hundred and thirty-nine dollars. He was supported in the enterprise by a zealous body of men, fore- most among whom were Lemuel G. Collett, Noah Z. McColloch, Daniel Hopkins, James Starr, Jonathan Seamen, and Isaac S. Gardner. The church was com- pleted and dedicated in 1840, the dedicatory sermon being preached by the Rev. Adam Poe.
Bellefontaine was made a station in 1847, during the pastorate of the Rev. Samuel L. Yourtee, and from that time the work of the Church was blessed with an increasing growth and prosperity. A division oc- curred in 1853, while the Rev. David Rutledge was pastor, the congregation worshiping in the old church, calling itself First Charge, and the other calling itself Second Charge, and worshiping for a short time in the little brick church which was located back of the pres- ent African Methodist Episcopal church, and was re- cently torn down. The Second Charge soon projected a church edifice, and located it on the southwest corner of Main Street and Sandusky Avenue. The congregation was not a wealthy one, and it was only after hard work and the most rigorous self-denial that they finally brought their handsome church to com- pletion at a cost of seven thousand dollars.
The two charges were consolidated in 1858 at the conclusion of the pastorates of the Rev. Franklin Marriott and the Rev. Oliver Kennedy. The Rev. Thomas Parker was the first pastor of the united congregations. His deeply spiritual and magnetic
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eloquence is still remembered by many of his old parishioners. The Church now entered upon a period of great prosperity. The pastoral term was increased to three years in 1864, and for five successive pas- torates the full term was served; namely, by the Revs. Wesley G. Waters, L. A. Belt, Isaac Newton, S. L. Roberts, and E. D. Whitlock. Since 1863, with the exception of two years, there has not been a pastorate of less than three years' duration.
In the autumn of 1885, during the Rev. Isaac Newton's second pastorate, occurred what is known as the Great Bitler Revival, which resulted in about two hundred accessions to the Church. The church- building now became inadequate to accommodate the growing congregation. A new church was ac- cordingly erected, and the dedicatory services were held Sunday, June 23, 1889, Bishop John P. Newman preaching the sermon. It was a great occasion, fully sixteen hundred people being present; and under the efficient management of Presiding Elder L. A. Belt, nine thousand dollars was raised in subscriptions to cover the total indebtedness.
The church edifice was at first thought to be en- tirely too large, but already the large congregations and the growing Sunday-school often crowd its ut- most capacity. But growth in numbers, large con- gregations, financial achievements, and the outward evidences of prosperity do not suffice. We need spir- itual power, intelligent zeal, and consecrated Christian activity. C. R. HAVIGHORST.
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METHODISM IN BUCYRUS.
The Methodists were the first religious body to enter into Crawford County, and have been the lead- ing denomination. In 1821, Jacob Hooper was ap- pointed preacher-in-charge, and, his circuit being seven hundred miles around, he reached here but once every eight weeks. Jacob Young was presiding elder. In 1822, Thomas McCleary was preacher-in-charge; and in 1823 the circuit was made smaller, and, James Roe being appointed junior preacher, the people had preaching every two weeks.
It was in this year that two brothers, John O. and William Blowers, began a most active work in Craw- ford County. They came from Vermont, and were of Puritanic stock, fairly well educated, having good libraries for those days. They were a great help to the community,-they aided in educational work, assisting in building the first schoolhouse in their township; they organized the first Methodist class which was connected with the Bucyrus Church; or- ganized the first Sunday-school in the county, and John was the first superintendent. They were the first to be licensed to preach the gospel in the county; and they did good work for the Master, being powerful in revivals, and helpful in teaching in the schools and in the Sunday-schools, having a restraining influence over the lawless, enforcing the observance of the Sab- bath. One incident in John's life shows his regard for the Sabbath. Having sold a mill he had built on the Sandusky, a few miles above Bucyrus, the party buying it ran it on Sunday; and John, not being able
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to stop it, bought the mill back, and then it was not run on Sunday. Communities settled by such men felt the effect of their lives for many generations.
During the year 1832 the first church was built, which was also the first in the village. The land was given by Mr. Norton, who was the earliest settler here, he giving us a large lot on Mansfield Street, which we held and occupied, with church and parsonage prop- erty, for sixty years. The church was a one-story brick, and was used twenty years.
In 1849, David Gray, Gabriel Williams, and Jesse Durbin were the preachers; and in 1850 the new two- story brick church was begun, which was built on the site of the first one built, and in 1851 was dedicated by Adam Poe.
In 1888, Rev. J. S. Reager was appointed as preacher-in-charge. He made himself felt in Bucyrus with his pushing spirit, and soon a new church was talked of; and by the aid of a strong force of good men and women and an efficient Building Committee, composed of the pastor, Judge J. C. Tobias, M. R. Lewis, M. J. Monnette, and Col. H. M. Deal, plans were prepared, and a lot purchased, and the old church property sold; and on September 10, 1889, Dr. Earl (now Bishop) Cranston laid the corner-stone of one of the best churches in Ohio Methodism. It was com- pleted and dedicated in the fall of 1890, by David H. Moore, editor of the Western Christian Advocate.
The people of Bucyrus are progressive, and the Church has in it many public-spirited men, and those prominent in business and public circles. There is a great future before the Methodism of Bucyrus.
2I
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Since the building of the new church the membership has doubled, and still, with the resources at hand and the splendid church-building, greater things can be expected. M. J. KEYES.
METHODISM IN CANTON.
The first preaching in Canton by ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church was in 1817, by J. A. Waterman, presiding elder, and J. Graham, circuit preacher.
During the year 1833-34 there was erected a frame church. The Sabbath-school was reorganized during 1836. The church was sold in the year 1866, and re- moved to the southwest corner of South Cleveland Avenue and Seventh Street.
In 1856, Canton became a station. In 1862-3, dur- ing the pastorate of S. P. Wolf, the new brick church on the corner of West Tuscarawas and Poplar (now Cleveland Avenue) was built. The church was dedi- cated on the 13th of March, 1864, by Edward Thom- son, D. D., and Thomas Bowman, D. D., both of whom were afterwards made bishops.
A fact worthy of special mention in this connection is, that the church, costing $45,000, was dedicated en- tirely free from debt, and on the date of dedication a missionary contribution of over $6,000 was given as a thank-offering by the congregation.
At the session of the Pittsburg Conference held in Canton, in March, 1876, the Conference was divided, and that part of it lying in Ohio became, with the Ohio part of the Erie Conference, the East Ohio Conference.
Sunday, January 2, 1881, was a clear but intensely
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cold day, and the occasion of the second quarterly- meeting of that Conference year. The presiding elder, Dr. B. F. Brooke, being absent, the pastor, Dr. Hiram Miller, officiated in his stead.
He had closed his sermon and just commenced the communion service, when the alarm of fire startled the congregation. It was discovered that the church was on fire between the ceiling and roof. Under the assuring counsels of the pastor a panic was averted, the people leaving in such perfect order that persons outside thought that they were being regularly dis- missed, without any knowledge of the fire.
By reason of their inability to secure promptly a sufficient supply of water, owing to the frozen con- dition of the fire-hydrants, the firemen were unable to check the conflagration, which increased with such rapidity that within a brief time the massive and beau- tiful structure was destroyed beyond repair.
A committee was at once appointed to correspond with different architects, with a view to either repairing the burned building or erecting a new church. After numerous meetings of the Board, it was decided to tear down the walls of the old church, and build an entirely new structure on its site, Mr. Frank Weary, of Akron, being selected as the architect.
In the meantime it was decided to accept the offer of the Second Methodist congregation, and hold our services in their church until we could find a suitable room to be occupied, pending the erection of our new church. The following March, the congregation be- gan holding services in the Monitor Block, which had previously been rented and fitted up for the purpose.
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Here the congregation continued to worship until December 17, 1882, when the Sunday-school room of the new church was completed, and the congregation held its services therein until the completion of the en- tire edifice.
The auditorium being completed and the pews temporarily located (the work being expedited as much as possible, with a view to accommodating the Annual Conference, which held its session therein, commencing September 26th), the formal dedication of the church took place on the preceding Sunday, September 23, 1883, Bishop C. D. Foss officiating. The furnishing, carpeting, upholstering, heating, etc., were not, however, completed until December Ist fol- lowing, when it was permanently occupied.
The church property, not including the ground which it occupies, cost $137,000, and it was dedicated free from debt. A pleasant, well-furnished parsonage adjoins the church on the south.
During the years that have elapsed, three other Methodist Churches have gone out from the mother Church; viz., Simpson, Dueber Avenue, and Lawrence Avenue.
First Church, at this time, has a membership of over twelve hundred, a Sunday-school of eight hun- dred and fifty, a strong Epworth League, and is well equipped and doing excellent work. One of the strong features of this Church has been for years its large and enthusiastic prayer-meetings. One may expect to find the lecture-room filled to overflowing almost any Thursday evening of the year in ordinarily pleasant weather.
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First Church enjoys the distinction of having Presi- dent Mckinley as one of its members, and as a trustee. The present pastor is Rev. C. E. Manchester, D. D., who was an army comrade of President Mckinley, having served in the same regiment with him. In 1897 the four Methodist Churches had an aggregate membership of 1,802.
Methodism is an acknowledged power in Canton, being numerically much stronger than any other de- nomination in the city. C. E. MANCHESTER.
METHODISM IN CAMBRIDGE.
The first Methodist preacher to preach in Cam- bridge, so far as known, was Peter Cartwright, who in 1807-8 traveled the Muskingum and Kanawha Cir- cuit of the Ohio District, Western Conference. He says, in his autobiography, that it was four hundred miles long, up the Muskingum north of the Ohio River and up the Kanawha south of the Ohio River, and that in making his round he had to cross and re- cross those rivers four times, and that this year he had hard work to keep soul and body together. Thomas Sarchet, a pioneer settler, leaves this record: "There being no religious worship established here by any de- nomination, I wrote to the Baltimore Annual Confer- ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church to send us on a preacher. The Rev. James Watts was accordingly sent on. From that time my heart and my house have been open to receive the preachers, and my wife and myself have done all we could to render them com- fortable, and to open their way to be useful among the citizens. A class was raised principally of the French,
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who were among the earlier immigrants to Guernsey County, many having come from the island of that name. For ten or fifteen years we struggled pretty much alone without being joined by many Americans. Ultimately they began to come in, and Methodism takes hold on the community." As Rev. James Watts came from the Baltimore Conference, which is a Spring Conference, this society was organized some time in the summer of 1808.
He mapped out the Wills Creek Circuit of the Ohio District, Western Conference, John Sale, pre- siding elder. Revs. James Watts and William Young were returned to the Wills Creek Circuit in 1809-10. This circuit was half as large as the East Ohio Con- ference. The following were the appointments: Zanes- ville, Cambridge, Leatherwood, Barnesville, St. Clairs- ville, Cadiz, Stillwater, New Philadelphia, Sandy Creek, Canton, Sugar Creek, Whitewoman, and Wapatomica. In 1810-II, James B. Finley was sent to the circuit; James Quinn, presiding elder of the Chillicothe District, Western Conference. We shall not speak of James B. Finley; his work and labors and books are written deep down in the history of Western Methodism. In 1811-12, John Strange and Jacob Mills were sent to the circuit. John Strange-Strange by name and nature-was the Boanerges of Western Methodism. He rode his circuit with a hunting-knife in a scabbard at his side, a trusty rifle swung over his shoulder, not caring what might befall him so that he made full work of his ministry and finished his course with joy.
The first preaching-place in Cambridge was at the
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house of Thomas Sarchet; then, after the first court- house was built, upstairs in the grand-jury room. Then in the lower room of the Masonic Lodge, now a part of the brick house on the southeast corner of Seventh Street and Steubenville Avenue.
The first church was built and dedicated in 1833, David Young and Henry Whiteman, preachers on the Cambridge Circuit, Dr. Joseph M. Trimble preaching the dedicatory sermon. This church cost three hun- dred dollars; lot, fifty dollars.
The second church was built and dedicated in 1854, Revs. Andrew Magee and William Gamble, preachers on Cambridge Circuit, and Rev. James G. Sansom preaching the dedicatory sermon. This church and lot cost six thousand dollars.
The third church was built during the pastorate of Dr. W. H. Locke and Dr. J. R. Mills on Cambridge Station, and was dedicated January, 1886, dedicatory sermon preached by Bishop Edward G. Andrews, as- sisted by Dr. Joseph M. Trimble and Dr. C. H. Payne. This church cost thirty-two thousand dollars. Dr. S. Burt, present pastor.
Methodism, with a fine church, having a member- ship of 715 in 1897, makes her a power for good in the community. C. P. B. SARCHET.
METHODISM IN CHILLICOTHE.
Undoubtedly the first Church people in Chillicothe were Presbyterians. The negotiations with General Massie for the first settlement here were carried on by a Presbyterian clergyman, the Rev. Robert W. Finley, for himself and members of his congregation
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in Kentucky. They came in April, 1796. But the Methodists followed soon after, and it was not many years before Finley himself, and his sons, were mem- bers and preachers in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
We have no certain knowledge of who the early Methodist settlers were until we come to Dr. Edward Tiffin and Everard Harr, both local preachers. Dr. Tiffin first came out in May, 1797, with his brother- in-law, Thomas Worthington. They both returned to Virginia, and the next spring, March, 1798, again set out, Tiffin from Charlestown and Worthington from Shepherdstown, Va., with their wives and a party of relatives and freed slaves, to make Chillicothe their permanent home. Everard Harr emigrated from about Carlisle, Penn., and settled in Chillicothe, also in 1798. These two, Tiffin and Harr, with their wives, were certainly among the earliest well-known Meth- odists in Chillicothe.
Whether any Methodist traveling preachers, or itinerants, as they were called, visited and preached in Chillicothe prior to 1799 can not now be known, but prior to that time, Dr. Tiffin, for some reasons not stated-but partly, perhaps, because there was no Methodist society in the town-organized one at An- thony Davenport's, on Deer Creek, twelve miles north of Chillicothe, where he had regular appointments for preaching and meeting the class, to which both he and his wife belonged.
Everard Harr, on the organization of the first so- ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Chillicothe, was appointed its leader. He is described as "a mod- erate preacher, but a man of deep piety and of great simplicity of manners."
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A session of the Western Conference was held at Bethel Academy, Jessamine County, Kentucky, on May 1, 1799, at which Henry Smith was appointed preacher for the Miami Circuit, in the territory north- west of the Ohio River. Scioto Circuit does not ap- pear in the Conference Minutes until 1800, when it and Miami are stated as being in the Northwest Terri- tory, and Henry Smith is named as the preacher on Scioto Circuit, he having been so appointed, probably at the session of the Holston Conference, held at Dun- worth, in April, 1800. Mr. Smith afterward published a book, styled "Recollections and Reflections of an Old Itinerant," covering several hundred pages, in which, among other things, he gives an account of his proceedings on the Scioto Circuit.
He says: "On Sunday, October 13, 1799, 1 preached at Anthony Davenport's, on Deer Creek, twelve miles north of Chillicothe, where Dr. Tiffin had organized a society, and had his regular appointments. Monday, the 14th, I rode down the river to Chilli- cothe, and put up with Dr. Tiffin, with whom I had long been acquainted in Virginia. He had often preached in our neighborhood, and sometimes at my father's. He and his excellent wife received me as a messenger of Christ, and treated me with great kind- ness. She was one of the most conscientious and heavenly-minded women I ever saw. She was, indeed, a mother in our Israel. About that time a report was put in circulation that the Doctor had given up his re- ligion; he laughed at it, and said: 'It would not do for me to backslide, for my wife would let me have no peace.' The Doctor, however, refused to take any
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part in religious exercises in Chillicothe, out of his own family: he had reasons for it.
"Tuesday evening, October 15, 1799, I preached my first sermon in Chillicothe; I think in a school- house. Half the congregation had never before heard a Methodist preacher. I never saw a people more orderly or attentive, except one poor drunkard, who came in drunk, and made some disturbance; but the people paid little attention to him. From that time I preached in the town once in three weeks, when I could get a place to preach, and generally in a school- house. There was a log house called the Presbyterian meeting-house; but I had no access to it. The morals of the people were such as are common in newly- settled countries, and religion was despised, particu- larly Methodism. We had, however, a few faithful souls, who held fast to their integrity, and adorned their profession.
"Sunday, July 7, 1800, I preached to a large and serious congregation at Davenport's, on Deer Creek, at eleven o'clock, and rode twelve miles to Chillicothe, and preached again under the trees, it being a pleasant evening. Then and there I organized the first Meth- odist society in Chillicothe."
The next authentic information we have, following that of Henry Smith, is found in Bishop Asbury's Journal. He visited Chillicothe in September, 1803, while Sale and Timmons were the traveling preachers on Scioto Circuit. He notes that on Saturday, Sep- tember 24th, of that year, he rode from White Brown's, on Deer Creek, to Chillicothe, fifteen miles, through lands generally rich. He preached on Sunday at the
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court-house (used also for a State-house, Ohio hav- ing been admitted into the Union as a State in the preceding March). He had "about five hundred hear- ers, and would have had more had not the rain pre- vented." On Monday he "came away from Governor Tiffin's, across the fat lands of Paint Creek."
In the Minutes for 1804, the Western Conference is made to embrace four districts, one of them called the Ohio District, including all the circuits in Ohio, and one on the Guyandotte River. William Burke was the presiding elder, and William Pattison and Nathan Barnes preachers on Scioto Circuit. The next session of the Western Conference was to be held at the same place as in 1803-viz., Mt. Gerizim, Ky .- October 2, 1804, when Louther Taylor and Caleb W. Cloud were appointed to Scioto Circuit.
About this time the first movement for the building of a meeting-house in Chillicothe for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church was set on foot. The assistant preacher of the Scioto Circuit, Caleb W. Cloud, nominated, and the society in Chillicothe elected, John Shields, Everard Harr, Joseph Gardner, William Rutledge, and Thomas Scott trustees to su- perintend its erection. The writer knew all of these men, except Harr, who died in 1811, and Shields, who moved away in 1817. At least three of them were local preachers. On November 6, 1804, they met and or- ganized by the election of a president, secretary, and treasurer, appointing a committee to draft a constitu- tion and by-laws for their government, and another to select a site for the proposed meeting-house. They adjourned to meet again on November 10th, "at early
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candle-light" (this was the ordinary designation of the time for holding evening or night meetings then, and for many years afterwards. There were no town- clocks, and clocks and watches of any sort were owned by but few. Sunrise, noon, sunset, and "early candle- light" seemed to answer the purpose of the time).
The constitution which they adopted and their earliest recorded Minutes are models, which might well be followed at this day. They first contemplated building on in-lot 89, fronting 99 feet on the south side of Second Street, between Walnut Street and the alley next east, which was priced to them at seventy dollars, but afterward decided to purchase in-lot No. 61, at the northeast corner of the same street and alley, for which they paid ninety dollars, the payment being made on the delivery of the deed in 1805. The contract for building the house was made with John Shields and William Rutledge, and is dated April 27, 1805.
Up to December, 1805, only one hundred and fifty dollars had been collected on the subscriptions, of which ninety dollars had been applied in payment for the lot. No progress had been made in the erection of the building, and on December 16, 1805, Messrs. Shields and Rutledge abandoned their contract. The trustees then resolved to sell the east half of the church- lot, and appointed a committee to make the sale, and to receive proposals from bricklayers, stonemasons, and carpenters for building the meeting-house accord- ing to former plans, and to report at the next meeting.
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