USA > Ohio > History of Ohio Methodism : a study in social science > Part 22
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The congregation still increased, and about the year 1822 a one-storied brick church was erected on the site of the present church. It was a good-sized building, and had a gallery on three sides. It was dedicated the same year by Bishop McKendree.
The present church edifice was erected in 1853. The church was only about six months in building, during which time trees were felled and sawed, bricks burned, and building erected, and furnished ready for dedication at the time fixed. It was dedicated by Joseph M. Trimble, assisted in the services by Dr. Charles Elliott, editor of the Western Christian Ad- vocate.
Mrs. Jane Trimble, who, in the year 1819, had left her Clear Creek farm for a residence with her son, Allen Trimble, who had married and established a home in Hillsboro, seeing the great need of Sunday- school work, gathered up a class of little girls, and in the quiet parlor of her daughter, Mrs. Nelson, taught them blessed lessons from God's Word, and with song and prayer made that little room a Bethel indeed! Soon a Bible-class of young men was undertaken, and out of that class five became earnest ministers of the gospel; viz., Joseph McD. Trimble, her grandson; Will- iam H. Lawder, George C. Crum, John Brouse, and John G. Bruce. The latter became one of Kentucky's prominent Methodist Episcopal ministers. Mr. Alex- ander Buntain was persuaded to take the superintend- ency of the Sunday-school then organized; the youth- ful George C. Crum as assistant, until he should join the Ohio Conference. To-day the Church can boast
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of a well-ordered and spiritual Sunday-school. Two missionaries have gone from the school, Miss Mary D. Loyd and Miss Hattie L. Ayers. The present enroll- ment is 627, with a large average attendance.
L. DETWILER.
METHODISM IN MANSFIELD.
Mansfield was laid out by General James Hedges, June II, 1808. The first cabin was built in 1809. In 1815 the village consisted of two block-houses, built for defense from the Indians, and twenty-two log- houses. But one of these buildings is now standing. It was built by William B. James, a physician and local preacher, in 1814. It was the birthplace of or- ganized Methodism in Mansfield and Richland County. In it Dr. James organized, in 1814, the class which afterward built the first church-building in the county, and here the little band of Methodists often met for worship. He frequently preached for the class he had organized as early as 1815. In 1816, Jacob Young, presiding elder of Muskingum District, Ohio Confer- ence, traveled all over Richland, Wayne, Ashland, and Knox Counties, and at the Annual Conference of 1817 a circuit, called Mansfield Circuit, was formed, with Lemuel Lane as preacher in charge. The first quar- terly-meeting of that year was held in the tavern, with whisky-drinking and carousing going on in the ad- joining bar-room, and Lane went into the bar-room and exhorted the sinners there, a number of whom came to the altar. Lane kept the door of the love- feast the next morning, and kept out those who wanted to come in to buy whisky. Jacob Young, who
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preached that day, says: "The angry people raged without, God worked within, and we had a refreshing time."
The first church-building in Mansfield was erected by the Methodists. It is still standing, and used as a dwelling. The frame was raised March 4, 1818, the day on which Mary, Dr. James's daughter, was born. It was, when completed, the best building for any purpose in the village. A gallery was placed in the building in 1829, to accommodate the growing con- gregations, but the Church outgrew the building, and in January, 1834, during the pastorate of William Run- nells, the first steps were taken to build a larger church. In March, 1835, a committee was appointed to obtain subscriptions for the new church. Russel Bigelow and Mordecai Bartley, afterward governor of Ohio, were members of the committee. The Building Committee was appointed in 1835. The work pro- gressed slowly, and in the autumn of 1836 the church was dedicated by Adam Poe, presiding elder.
During Dr. Lorenzo Warner's first pastorate, 1848-9, the church could no longer accommodate the crowds which flocked to the services, and in Septem- ber, 1849, the question of a second church was first discussed in the Official Board meetings. In 1851, the Second Church was organized, with about seventy- five members. Samuel Meredith became its pastor. The Conference Minutes for 1852 report a member- ship in First Church of 210, and in the Second Church of 67; the First Church Sunday-school numbering 120, and the Second Church school 142. The experiment of a Second Church, however, proved a failure, and,
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September II, 1852, the Official Boards met in joint meeting, and the Churches reunited. Henry E. Pil- cher, the pastor, presided at the meeting.
The steady growth of the membership finally made a larger building an absolute necessity, and in 1867 a lot was purchased on the Public Square, and the work of collecting money for a new church begun. The church, a large, two-story, Gothic, brick structure, was dedicated, July 3, 1870, by Bishop Clark and I. C. Pershing, D. D. John H. Mudge was pastor. It cost about $33,000. In 1876 a fine pipe-organ was pur- chased, and in 1881 a commodious parsonage was built.
The membership has again (1898) outgrown the capacity of the church, making enlargement impera- tive. It has two Sunday-schools, with a total enroll- ment of eight hundred. A flourishing mission school was organized in the northeastern part of the city in 1893, and will soon be housed in a neat chapel, built by the Church at a cost, including lot, of about $2,000.
The Epworth League numbers 263, with an aver- age attendance at devotional meetings, in 1897, of 177. The Junior League has 164 members. The Church occupies a commanding place among the Churches of the city, only one exceeding it in membership, and it is now the largest Church in the North Ohio Confer- ence, and ranks among the fifteen largest Methodist Churches of the State. F. A. GOULD.
METHODISM IN MARIETTA.
Methodism crossed the mountains into Western Pennsylvania in 1781, and had a "circuit" in that
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region, with a regular preacher, as early as 1783. The year 1788, in which Marietta was founded, saw two of its Conferences in session west of the Alleghanies. On the Little Kanawha, a dozen miles below Marietta, Reece Wolf, a Methodist local preacher, came in 1798. The winter following, his preaching resulted in a re- vival, by which a "class," numbering twenty-one, was formed. In response to a call upon Bishop Asbury for help, Robert Manley was sent to assist in the work so well begun. He organized a Methodist Episcopal society at that place-in Wood County, Virginia. After preaching at different points, this good man "looked across the Ohio," and saw another great field in which "many were destitute of the bread of life." Moved by this, June 20, 1799, he came to Marietta, and visited each settlement of the county, finding "growing neighborhoods entirely destitute of the gospel."
That was an eventful year for Methodism in this vicinity. Classes were formed, and a circuit organ- ized. They fell into the Baltimore Conference, and in 1800 had the services of Jesse Stoneman and James Quinn as preachers. Success attended their labors in the country neighborhoods, but not in Marietta. The year 1804 saw George Askin as preacher in charge. Daniel Hitt had been the first presiding elder, but now William Burke held that office. An aggressive move- ment was made in the town, a Methodist camp-meet- ing being there held, but without marked results. In the year 1805 Jacob Young was the preacher. He and George C. Light held another camp-meeting on the same ground. This proved more effective than the
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first. One of its converts was Jonas Johnson, till then an active disciple of Thomas Paine. He at once turned from the latter's "Age of Reason" to the Bible and Methodist hymn-book, and became the leader of the first "class" formed in the city. For years it regu- larly met, though suffering much from persecution. The houses in which it gathered were stoned, windows broken, and at times the chimneys closed, until the worshipers were literally "smoked out."
This class was the first regular organization of Methodists in Marietta. Among its members was Henry Fearing, of Harmar, a village on the opposite side of the Muskingum River. The two places always have been parts, however, of one community, and are now united under a single city government. In 1806, a third camp-meeting was held, this time in Harmar. John Sale, presiding elder, and Peter Cartwright, the preacher in charge, conducted it. Among the converts were Joseph Bartlett, John Drown, Robert McCabe, James Whitney, and others, of high reputa- tion. The winter of 1809-10 witnessed a great revival, in which many were added to the Church. Unhappily, dissensions followed. Soon, however, the zealous little band recovered from the effects of these troubles.
Up to this time Methodist meetings had been held in private houses, or the old academy. A schoolhouse in Harmar was used for the next five years. On a Sabbath in 1815, while Marcus Lindsey was preach- ing, John Stewart, a dissipated Negro, on the way to drown himself, heard his voice, went to the place of meeting, and, after listening to the sermon, returned home with an awakened conscience. The next Sun-
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day brought him into the society. He could read, and was a superior singer. A truly regenerated man, wish- ing to do good, Stewart resolved upon going to the Indians as a witness for the gospel. Taking a Bible and hymn-book, he went among the Delawares and other tribes, often at the peril of his life; meeting, how- ever, with great success on the Upper Sandusky. "Thus went forth," says Stevens, "the first American Methodist missionary, and he an African." So prom- ising was Stewart's work that, in 1819, the Ohio Con- ference adopted his mission, and sent him a colleague, under the presiding eldership of James B. Finley. The year 1822 saw him once more in Marietta, at a Con- ference, with four Indian converts.
During 1815, the first Methodist church was built, on Second Street. Disaffection came in 1819, and seri- ously harmed the society. In 1825, James Whitney gave to the Conference a faithful representation of the unfortunate condition of affairs. He wrote, indeed, "Send us Leroy Swormstedt, or we are gone." That able, excellent man was appointed for the coming year. The wisdom of this action was demonstrated during the winter of 1825-26 by a revival, in which 125 were added to the Church. The building on Second Street was enlarged in 1825, and again at a later period. Crawford Chapel, in Harmar, was completed in 1833. Some very strong men, in character and influence, were members of the society which built it.
The Centennial of Methodism came in 1839. This was celebrated by Marietta Methodists in the erection of a fine brick church on Putnam Street. Samuel Hamilton was then presiding elder, and William P.
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Strickland preacher in charge. With them, on the Official Board, were Abram Daniels, local elder; John Crawford and John McCoy, local deacons; James Whitney and R. P. Iams, stewards; and Daniel Prots- man, Joseph Kelley, Charles Tidd, Junia Jennings, Wyllis Hall, Robert Howeson, J. W. Babcock, Alex. Shanklin, and Benjamin Soule, class-leaders. These were a "remarkable body of men," says a contempo- rary, "with the Bible in their pockets, and the Lord's Spirit in their hearts." The new building was dedi- cated by Leonidas L. Hamline, afterward bishop, the noted David Young assisting. There were two sub- scriptions of $500 each; one by James Dunn, long since gone to his reward, the other by Hon. George M. Woodbridge, now the oldest Marietta Methodist. He united with the Church in 1828.
The "glory of the Lord came down" upon Meth- odism in its new home, early in 1842, under the preaching of I. C. Hunter and William Simmons, 187 being added to the membership.
In 1848, Harmar and Marietta were made separate "stations." The year 1856 brought a great revival to the latter charge, from which 210 new members were received. The Whitney Chapel society was or- ganized in 1859. This grew out of painful differences in Centenary Charge, intensified by. lack of wisdom in administration. Both societies, however, afterward prospered for some years. In 1875 they were consoli- dated by the Annual Conference, in the older charge. This action was untimely, and proved to be fraught with sad consequences to Methodism in Marietta. More than a decade was required to make up the
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losses, and overcome the depression which it caused. The first marked advance was by a revival under the pastorate of S. B. Mathews (1876-79). G. W. Burns followed him, and by his efficient services pro- gress was continued. During that period the need of a new house of worship became manifest. Brother Burns, now presiding elder of the district, worked with zeal and wisdom in preparing the way for this. A new site was bought, but not until the pastorate of Thomas M. Leslie (1882-85) was the First Church built. A service was held in the new building, then incomplete, on Thanksgiving-day, 1883. On Sunday, July 19, 1885, it was dedicated, C. H. Payne preaching and conducting the service. The cost of ground and build- ing was over $14,000. Not more than $300 came from those outside the society, and to pay it all took fully a tithe of its entire wealth at that time. Brother Leslie was active in promoting the work which resulted in giving Methodism its best home in this city-one then unequaled by any other church house here. Since its dedication, the growth of the society has been steady and solid. During the pastorate of M. W. Acton, which closed last year, a fine pipe-organ, far the best ever in the town, was put up, to help in worship and add to the proper attractions of Church services. The congregations have grown until they are the largest in the city-often filling the auditorium for the regular services. Moreover, it should not be forgotten, says an account of this society, now before me, that be- tween 1830 and 1860 it "furnished to different Con- ferences useful laborers in the Lord's vineyard." Among them were Dudley Woodbridge, Israel Archi-
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bald, William P. Strickland; L. D. McCabe, so long at the Ohio Wesleyan University; A. S. McCoy, David Dempsey, William Protsman, and J. H. White.
Crawford Chapel, in what now is called "West Ma- rietta," was remodeled during the pastorate of R. H. Wallace (1869-72). Thus fitted for religious uses, the history of this house was made memorable by a revival of great power while C. B. Longman occupied its pul- pit (1885-88). This meeting not only enlarged the roll of membership in that society, but as often has been the case when Methodists have aroused the moral sensibilities of a community, by personal solicitation of their members many of its converts were induced to go to other Churches.
Early in the present decade it became evident that a larger house, better located, was greatly needed. During the pastorate of F. R. Crooks (1892-7), the work of providing one was successfully entered upon. It received the sympathy, and to some extent the financial aid of the First society. The happy result was Gilman Avenue Church, the finest structure of its kind ever built in Harmar. This was dedicated by Bishop I. W. Joyce, assisted by D. H. Moore, on Sun- day, May 5, 1895.
Excepting the First Congregational society, the Methodist is the only religious body which has main- tained a continuous existence in Marietta since 1805, or even from 1815, and none has equaled it in growth and numbers. At present the membership of this Church in the city is much larger than that of any other, without counting the German brethren or the smaller bodies of colored Methodists.
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As preachers, the Marietta societies have had some of the able and distinguished men of the Church. Among these were Jacob and David Young, the fa- mous Peter Cartwright, Thomas A. Morris, Frederick Merrick, D. H. Moore, Earl Cranston, A. C. Hirst, and James Kendall. The district generally has been strongly manned. Chief among presiding elders, prob- ably, are Bishop S. M. Merrill and Brother Kendall- two among the profoundest minds given to the Church by Ohio Methodism-the latter, in my estimation, one of its greatest preachers.
Down to 1804, Marietta was in the Baltimore Con- ference; thence, to 1813, in the Western; and since that year, in the Ohio. Until 1821, when it first be- came a "station," the society was in a circuit. In 1824 it went back to that relation, so continuing till 1835. The city was in the Pittsburg District down to 1804, when it was named the Ohio. This lasted till 1809. Then it was called the Muskingum District; but in 1824, the Scioto; the next year, the Kanawha; in 1826, the Lancaster, which name it held until 1833, when it took that of Zanesville, to be followed in 1836 by Marietta, ever since retained. The name of the circuit, in 1800, was Muskingum and Hocking; in 1802, Little Kanawha and Muskingum; in 1805, Mus- kingum and Kanawha; in 1807, Muskingum; in 1808, Muskingum and Kanawha; in 1809, Marietta, which it retained until the city work was permanently con- stituted a station by that designation, in 1835. Whit- ney Chapel was a station from the first.
George Danker, a converted Lutheran minister, preached to the Germans in Marietta during 1838.
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Some of the people being also "born again," wished prayer-meetings to be held. Others opposed this, and so the congregation divided. Brother Danker then began to preach to such as went with him in the old Methodist church on Second Street. That was the be- ginning of German Methodism in this city. At its ses- sion in 1839, the Pittsburg Conference appointed Carl Best to the Monroe and Marietta "Mission." At the second quarterly-meeting of that year, George Danker and E. H. Bahrenburg were made local preachers. Henry Koenige was sent to Marietta in 1840. His labors were greatly blessed, and in the spring of 1841 the society bought the house in which they had wor- shiped, and German Methodism in the city had a home. Among its first members were William Klintworth, E. H. Bahrenburg, John Olhafer, George Helweg, Peter Wilkens, C. Otten, C. Duden, J. Link, J. Sil- chen, and John Fisher. The society not only sustained itself, but grew. In 1874 a lot was bought for the erection of a new church, and in 1876, during the pas- torate of J. W. Fishbach, it was built. The father of German Methodism, Dr. William Nast, and Henry Liebhart, D. D., conducted the dedicatory services. The house is of brick, admirably located, and one of the most sightly church-buildings of the city. With the lot, it cost $7,300. The society is religiously active, and in its membership includes, as do the two other charges, some of the best citizens and business men of Marietta. Each of the Methodist Churches of the town has a parsonage.
The numerical strength of the three societies is as follows: First Church, members, 500; Sunday-school,
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450; Epworth League, 125; Junior League, 75. Gil- man Avenue, members, 360; Sunday-school, 225; Ep- worth League, 120; Junior League, 50. German Church, members, 185; Sunday-school, 165; Epworth League, 26.
Their respective pastors are, W. V. Dick, N. D. Creamer, and Henry Jend. I only add, that in the county, according to the census of 1890, Methodists outnumbered any other Protestant body three to one, and stood to Catholics as 3,275 to 1,835.
HIRAM L. SIBLEY.
METHODISM IN MARION.
The growth of Methodism in Marion, beginning in the organization of a class of five members in the spring of 1825, has been by sudden and large acces- sions, rather than by a gradual process. In 1826, Ma- rion Circuit was established, with James Gilruth as preacher in charge. Seven appointments were in- cluded in this circuit; viz., Marion, Caledonia, Bucy- rus, Little Sandusky, Wyandot, Rawle's Corners, and Idleman's, the last being six miles south of Marion, thus covering a large part of what is now Marion, Crawford, and Wyandot Counties. In 1834, the first "meeting-house" of this Methodist Episcopal society was completed. It was a plain and unpretentious structure of undressed stone, twenty-four feet wide and thirty-six feet long, and it contained but one room. It stood east of State Street, and near the entrance of the old, and now disused, burying-ground which lies north of the "Big Four" and Erie Railway stations. While the society worshiped in this modest little build-
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ing, it was refreshed and greatly augmented by a memorable revival under the pastorate of Henry E. Pilcher, and so large and so important were the acces- sions that Marion was made a station in the fall of 1843, with Mr. Pilcher as its first stationed minister. In the year 1845 the Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, situated at the corner of East and North Streets (now State and Mill Streets), was completed; and in the same year the Annual Conference held its sessions there. Within a few years the construction of the Bellefontaine & Indiana Railroad along North Street made it necessary for the society again to change its location, and a site at the southeast corner of East and Center Streets (now State and Center), was purchased. The old Centenary church was henceforth devoted to manufacturing purposes, and, after serving the purposes of the Huber Manufacturing Company for many years, its walls still stand as a part of the building occupied by the Automatic Boiler Feeder Company.
A fine and commodious church for that time was erected on the new site in 1854, and soon there fol- lowed another gracious revival, under the labors of Joseph F. Kennedy. The Church enjoyed great pros- perity while it worshiped in this building. It was of sufficient importance to entertain there two Annual Conferences ; but the great landmark in its history was the great revival of the year 1870, during the pastorate of Leroy A. Belt. This revival spread in its overflow to all the other denominations of the town, and is felt in its influences to this day. In 1887, the pastorate of Richard Wallace began; and in his third year it was
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decided, on account of the growth of the city and the vicinity of business blocks, to sell and build elsewhere. Accordingly, the construction of the present Epworth Methodist Episcopal Church was begun early in the year 1890. This name, which has since become so common as to be almost trite, was adopted in January, 1890, and was at the time believed by the Official Board to be the first use of the name in this country as a designation of a church.
The church was formally dedicated on December 27, 1891, by Bishop Joyce. Brother Wallace con- tinued to be pastor of the Church until the Annual Conference of 1892, and his departure was generally regretted. During his pastorate the Church had al- most doubled in membership. He left it with more than five hundred members in full connection. His successor was John L. Hillman. This was Brother Hillman's fourth year in ministerial work, and the re- sults remarkably justified the things hoped and ex- pected of him. The Church continued to grow from the beginning of his ministry; but in his second year came the most notable revival in the history of this Church. It began in January, 1894, with a "pente- costal service," conducted by S. A. Keen. So great was the interest aroused in the ten days that Dr. Keen labored here that Mr. Hillman resolved to continue the meetings himself, and did so with unabated in- terest and wonderful success for eleven weeks. The result of this revival was not only to uplift the Church to a remarkable degree, and to convert large numbers who went to other Churches, but the membership of this Church was increased to about twelve hundred
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in number, at which point it has been steadily kept ever since.
The Sunday-school, the Epworth League, and other Church organizations, have kept pace with the growth of the Church. The Sunday-school has an enrollment of more than 1,100, and an average attend- ance of upwards of 700. The adult Bible-classes and the primary department, including the kindergarten, are especially worthy of study by Sunday-school workers. W. Z. DAVIS.
METHODISM IN MASSILLON.
The first Methodist positively known to have lived in Massillon was James McCoy, who came to that part of the city, then known as Kendall, about the year 1812. He was a tailor by trade, whose shop offered a place where divine services were held. Mas- sillon was not regularly laid out till 1825-6. The ap- pointment was a part of the Ohio Conference for a time, and until 1831 continued its connection with what was known as the Tuscarawas class of the old Tuscarawas Circuit.
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