USA > Ohio > History of the Central Ohio conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, 1856-1913 > Part 11
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OBSERVATORY.
Church could afford to wait for the accumulation of all these before beginning their work, and the result was that most of our schools were started upon very meager foundations. Such was the case with the Ohio Wesleyan University.
The Board of Trustees started with nothing, and were in debt. To secure a present support and a future growth was, of course. a matter of immediate and vital concern. The only resources of the institution were the contributions of its friends, and these at first came slowly and sparingly, and it was not until 1849 that the indebtedness of $7,000 for the purchase money was all paid.
Early in the history of the college the Conferences devised plans for the endowment of the university. In 1843 the Ohio Con- ference appointed Revs. Frederick Merrick and Uriah Heath agents to raise funds from donations for the university, or by the sale of scholarships entitling the bearer to tuition at the rate of $100 for five years. The following year the North Ohio Con-
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Ohio Wesleyan University.
ference appointed agents to work within its bounds. These agents, in the course of two years, obtained subscriptions and notes for scholarships to the amount of about $30.000, and some donations of land worth perhaps $15,000 more. And though these agents were continued in the field for the sale of scholarships, the aggre- gate did not perceptibly increase. At the end of six years the total net assets were estimated at only $70,000, and of this the endowment money and subscriptions reached only $54,000. The institution was still on the borders of inanition. It was evident that unless a more effective policy were adopted, the school was destined to failure, or at best to a feeble existence.
In 1849 the Faculty devised and proposed to the trustces a system of scholarships by a much cheaper rate; and it was hoped that these would be more popular, and be sold to an cx- tent sufficient to give the insti- tution both money and students for at least all present ne- cessities. The success which crowned the effort, notwith- standing the fear that it would not meet the requirements, STURGES HALL. quieted all criticisms. Three agents were appointed by each of the Conferences to put the new scholarships upon the market, and in two years they sold nearly three thousand, and paid into the treasury of the university, besides the expense of the support of the agents and the Faculty meanwhile, a sum sufficient to raise the nominal endowment, in 1854, to a round $100,000. In view of this hopeful condition of the finances, the salaries of the Faculty were increased as follows: the president was paid $1,400; the professors, $1,000 each; the tutors, $500 each. At the end of the first decennium the institution was in a healthful condition and with good prospects for the future. This system of cheap scholar- ships greatly and rapidly increased the number of students from year to year.
The better outlook for the future of the school soon led to improved accommodations for the care of the larger number of students; and on Saturday, July 26, 1851, during Commencement
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week, the corner-stone was laid of a building large enough for a chapel and a number of recitation rooms. The building, which cost about $20.000, was dedicated the following year. The structure was three stories high and measured eighty-five feet by fifty-five. The main audience room, twenty-three feet high, covered the entire upper floor, and its capacity was about six hundred sittings, which was then thought the utmost probable need of the institution for long years to come. The building was afterwards named Thomson Chapel, in honor of the president. This building, the only tangible thing on the university grounds to suggest the name and eminent services of the first president of the institution, was some years ago dismantled to make room for Slocum Library, a large and ample building adapted in every way to its purposes. The material equipments of the university are among the very best.
The beautiful campus, em- bracing forty acres in the cen- ter of the city, affords suffi- cient ground for the necessary growth of a great university. The green lawn, the fine trees, MERRICK HALL. and the large campus make it a delightful place for student life. The college buildings, some ten or twelve in all, are equal in architectural beauty and convenience to any in the country. Besides Slocum Library there is Elliott Hall, formerly the old "Mansion House;" Merrick Hall, named for Dr. Frederick Merrick, the second president of the university; University Hall and Gray Chapel, the most stately building on the campus, built in 1893, and named for the Rev. David S. Gray, for many years a beloved member of the Central Ohio Conference- the father of Dr. D. S. Gray, a munificent patron of the college, and for the past twenty-five years president of the Board of Trus- tees; the Gymnasium, made possible by the generous gift of Mr. John Edwards and family, of Leipsic, Ohio.
In the western part of the city is Monnett Hall, located on a separate campus containing ten acres. The broad walk, the well- kept lawn. and the fine shade trees give charm to this picturesque spot. The Hall accommodates between three and four hundred
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Ohio Wesleyan University.
WILLIAM F. WHITLOCK, LL. D.
JAMES W. BASHFORD, LL. D.
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young women. who have the home protection and supervisory care of experienced and cultivated teachers.
Recently erected, just at the left of the beautiful walk leading to Monnett Hall, Sanborn Music Hall graces the scene, the gift of Mrs. A. S. Clason, in memory of her mother.
Edward Thomson, D. D., LL. D., the first president of the university, was born in England, but wore the manners of an American. Dr. Thomson, though slight of stature, bore the mien which would at once attract attention and command the deepest respect and admiration. His mind, like his body, was of fine tex- ture, and had been brought to such discipline and culture, to such beauty and charm of expression, to such powers of generalization, as to make him one of the most thrilling and classic preachers of the Church. His knowledge was so extensive and exact that he was at home before almost any class, or in any text-book.
His sermons made famous the pulpit of old William Street Church, and gave renown to the lecture platform of the university.
His wit was of a high order, rich and varied, and with its use he could silence a tumult and put to blush the effrontery of intruders.
In 1864 he was elected editor of the Christian Advocate, and in 1868 bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
By his beautiful life and Christian example he left an indelible impress on the thousands of young men who sat under the charm of his eloquence and in the splendor of his personality.
Frederick Merrick, D. D., succeeded Dr. Thomson as presi- dent of the university. His general appearance at once gave one the impression of seriousness, gravity, and of reserve; but, when known, he was transformed into the aspect of fatherly affection and profound sympathy. His presidency of the college was char- acterized by eminent wisdom and spiritual oversight of his students.
Whatever he touched with mind or hand was given the character of permanency and solidity. Nothing crumbled that he builded, but like the mountains that remain, his work, wherever done, stands.
Upon his retirement from the presidency, but not from the Faculty, for he was retained as professor, Professor L. D. McCabe, D. D., was made acting president of the university, bringing to the administration of the school a long acquaintance with student life, a nature sensitive as a woman's, an eloquence in sermon and prayer as if a seraph were speaking, and a personality tender in
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Ohio Wesleyan University.
PRESIDENT HERBERT WELCH, LL. D.
PRESIDENT'S RESIDENCE.
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History of the Central Ohio Conference.
its sympathies and warm in its attachments; and then, Professor William G. Williams, LL. D., exact and exacting in the recitation room, yet ever kind, modest, and universally estecmed, a linguist of high rank, and professor of Greek for more than half a century ; and Professor William F. Whitlock. LL. D., literary, practical, a superb teacher, as much at home in Latin and Latin literature as a mother with her children, the loving and loved friend of all young people, were each in turn the acting president of the University.
The third president was the Rev. Charles H. Payne, D. D., who came to the university after an extraordinary career as pastor of Eastern Churches. Dr. Payne's administration was marked by em- phasis on evangelism. He was a remarkable preacher, a dominating personal leader, and was instrumental in leading hundreds of stu- dents into the Christian life:
The fourth president of- the university was the Rev. James W. Baslıford, D. D., of Buffalo, New York. His presidency of the university for some fifteen years was attended with great and growing success in the number of students, in the erection of build- ings, in popularizing the institution throughout the State and the country, and in the adoption of such standards and policies as should meet the requirements of the times. President Bashford was elected to the office of bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1904, and immediately assigned to duties in China, where ever since he has had his episcopal residence, and where in the provi- dence of God he has been performing a work the records of which only eternity can unfold.
The Rev. Herbert Welch, D. D., LL. D., became president of the university in 1906, and by a thorough acquaintance with the details of administration, the maintenance of a high moral standard for the students, the increase of the endowment to a half-million dollars, and the introduction of the spirit of modernism into the institution, is making the university a center of increasing light and influence in the State.
The annual attendance of large numbers of young men and women, the generous support and wise counsels of many laymen in Ohio Methodism, the united patronage of all the Conferences in the State, and the spirit of the fathers immanent in the school, and more, the immanence of the Spirit of all wisdom and goodness in the university, combine to make the Ohio Wesleyan one of the greatest schools in the land.
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Ohio Wesleyan University.
UNIVERSITY HALL.
XVII Ohio Northern University.
ADA, the seat of the Ohio Northern University, is an attractive town in Northwestern Ohio, on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Its climate is healthful, sanitary conditions well guarded, and it possesses an abundant sup- ply of excellent water from drilled wells. The town is singularly free from epidemics.
Fine forest trees line the avenues and adorn the premises, affording a delightful retreat during the summer months. The paved streets, the hot and cold water plants, the electric light works, and the constant building and renovating of residences and building blocks evince the interest of the citizens in the matter of public utilities and civic improvements. Exclusive of students, the popu- lation of the town is about three thousand.
The people are moral, large-hearted, and especially kind and courteous to the students. For several years the saloons have been banished from the place, and to-day the county is "dry" under local option law.
In the latter sixties, half a century ago, Henry S. Lehr, a young pedagogue from Eastern Ohio, found his way westward to this town, then known as Johnstown. He secured employment as teacher in the Union Schools, and afterwards taught for a number of terms a select school. His spirit of enthusiasm and helpfulness, and his keen appreciation of the practical in subjects and in the methods of instruction, attracted many students and prospective teachers to his school.
The dream of founding a great normal school, in which plain- ness, practicalness, and inexpensiveness should be the main char- acteristics, became a master passion, directing his thought, shaping his plans, and at last taking definite and actual form in his purpose.
In the year 1870-71 the first building, a large, three-story brick, was erected, and on August 14, 1871, the Northwestern Ohio Normal School was formally opened "for the instruction and
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ORIGINAL BLOC ONU
ADMINISTRATION BLDC. O.N.U.
LEHR MEMORIAL O.N.U.
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History of the Central Ohio Conference.
training of teachers in the science of education, the art of teaching, and the best methods of governing schools."
In the fall of 1875 the Northwestern Normal School, located in Fostoria, Ohio, was consolidated with the Northwestern Ohio Normal School at Ada. From the very beginning a limited number of special subjects was offered in the course of instruction, but from time to time, as patronage required, department schools were organized as follows: Music, commercial, telegraphy, fine arts, stenography, engineering, military, law, and pharmacy.
In 1885 the name was changed from Northwestern Ohio Normal School to Ohio Normal University, the plan and management re- maining the same, and the principles and methods in normal in- struction marking the administration.
From its inception the school was under private management and control until in September, 1898, when the proprictors of the school sold it to the Central Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church for $24,000.
Under the new administration, as rapidly as existing contracts permitted, there came a change in the relations of the several departmental schools to the main school. These, hitherto semi- independent, were now recognized under one management and con- trol, and the respective deans placed on salaries instead of on commissions. At the same time instruction in the main school was made departmental, with the head teacher in each department as director.
In 1904-05 the institution was chartered under the name of the Ohio Northern University.
The university campus lies in a residential portion of the town, a few blocks south of the Pennsylvania Railroad station. On this campus stand the old Normal Hall, endeared by many a cherished memory of the early and struggling days of the school; the Admin- istration Building, erected by the citizens of Ada and leased to the original proprietors of the school, but deeded a few years ago to the present owners; Dukes' Memorial Building, located on the south side of the campus, devoted to science, engineering, and law ; the Brown Auditorium, in the northeast angle of the campus, an assembly hall for gatherings of all kinds, from lecture courses to basket-ball; the Pharmacy Building, in the northwest angle, re- cently remodeled and newly equipped; while just outside, south-
BROWN AUDITORIUM ON.U.
DUKE'S MEMORIAL O.N.U.
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H. S. LEHR, LL. D., Founder and First President.
REV. LEROY A. BELT. D. D.
REV. ALBERT EDWIN SMITH, PH. D., D. D.
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Ohio Northern University.
west of the quadrangle, Music Hall, with its assembly room, offices, and private practice rooms, well lighted and heated by the university central heating system. At night these buildings are all lighted with electricity.
The university possesses a tract of land within a block and a half of the campus, containing sixty acres of rich, productive soil under cultivation. Here the agricultural buildings are to be erected in the near future-a well-equipped College of Agriculture already partly organized and giving instruction, to be devoted to the prac- tical demonstration of farm methods and problems, and to the training of young men and women to stay on the land and to be made to realize that independence, culture, social development, and a free life are to be attained in rural districts as well as in the city.
The various departments of the university-Chemical, Bio- logical, Museum, Pharmaceutical, Library-are all well cared for and appropriately and fully equipped.
The Young Women's and the Young Men's Christian Associa- tions are strong organizations and are exerting a salutary and moral influence on the student body.
The Rev. Leroy A. Belt, D. D., was elected president of the university in 1898, and resigned in 1905, and the Rev. Albert E. Smith, D. D., Ph. D., became its president. The Faculty com- prises some thirty professors and instructors.
The enrollment of students in the various departments of the school in 1912 was between eleven hundred and twelve hundred.
The purpose of the university to raise $200,000 of endowment during the year 1913 has been realized.
The graduating class of 1912 numbered two hundred and forty- nine students. Eighty-five out of the eighty-eight counties of the State, twenty-nine out of the forty-eight States of the Union, and twelve foreign countries are represented in the enrollment of the school.
The institution has a preparatory course of fifteen standard units and three full college courses leading to the Bachelor degree.
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XVIII. History of Churches.
ADA CHURCH.
THE Methodist Episcopal Church in Ada was organized in 1854 or 1855. The village was then called Johnstown. Meetings were held by Samuel Hagerman and Enos Holmes, local preachers, and a small class was gathered. Among the original members were Joel Baum and wife, William Tyley and wife, Brother Schliester and wife and daughter, S. M. Johnson and wife, Hammond Gilbert, Eli Newman and family, Mrs. Samuel Lynch, John Epley and wife, the Woods and the Turner families. Among the early preachers were David Bulle, Joseph Good, and J. A. Smith. Johnstown was on the Patterson Circuit, and was served in 1861 by Joseph Wykes; REV. O. L. CURL, PASTOR. in 1862, by Joseph Wykes and Silas B. Maltbie; in 1863, by W. K. Peck and H. J. Bigley. That year there was a great revival and ingathering, some of the families of which still remain. In 1864 the preachers were W. J. Peck and T. J. Mather. In 1865 it was placed on the Dunkirk Circuit, and W. J. Peck was pastor. He was called from labor to his reward in 1866. At the next Conference the Johnstown Mission was or- ganized, and J. S. DeLisle was appointed to it.
The meetings were now held in the Presbyterian Church. They had hitherto been held in the schoolhouse on the corner of Main and Montfort Streets. It was in this same schoolhouse that H. S. Lehr taught his first select school, which developed into the Normal School and later into the Ohio Northern University, after the Cen- tral Ohio Conference bought it from Professor Lehr.
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History of Churches-Alphabetically Arranged.
In the second year of Rev. DeLisle's pastorate-that is, 1868- the old church was built. It was a capacious, two-story building and comfortably housed the growing congregation until the present
FIRST CHURCH, ADA, O.
beautiful structure was erected. The preachers here when the church was in process of erection were S. L. Boyer and John I. Wean.
J. T. Cunningham came to Ada in 1872. He was foremost in all that tended to advance the interests of the Church until his death, in 1911. In addition to the many other large gifts, he pre- sented the congregation with one of the lots on which the new church now stands.
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At the present time the Church has a membership of nearly eight hundred.
The Methodist Episcopal Church in Ada is more largely re- sponsible for the religious tone of both the university and the town than any other institution in the town, and hier increasing member- ship and crowded galleries are an indication that she is accomplish- ing her mission.
The Rev. O. L. Curl is the present popular pastor.
ANNA CHARGE.
This charge has three appointments-Anna, Botkin, and Wesley Chapel. We are indebted for the facts concerning the early history of these societies to a very carefully prepared historical record left by Rev. David F. Helms, pastor of Anna Circuit from 1883 to 1886.
In February, 1842, Rev. Samuel Lynch came to the neighborhood eight miles north of Sidney, Ohio, and stopped at the home of Mr. Munch and organized the first Meth- odist society in that neighbor- hood, called "Munch's Class." A few years later a hewed-log church was built about one- eighth of a mile north of the present site of the town of REV. JOHN W. MILLER, PASTOR. Anna. and the name of the society was changed to Mt. Gilead Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1858 the log house at "Mt. Gilead," now Anna. was torn away, and, under the pastorate of Rev. Patrick G. Goode, a frame church, 30 x 40 feet. was erected on the site of the log church; and it was dedicated that year by Rev. T. H. Wilson.
A list of the preachers who preached at one or more of the above named three societies is quite interesting. Prior to 1860 the record gives the names of Clark, Sutton, Kemper, Walker, War- nock, Brown, Berry, Stephen D. Shaffer, H. O. Shelden. T. H.
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History of Churches-Alphabetically Arranged.
Wilson, Brandeburg, John S. Kalb, A. Harmount, J. S. Albright, A. Foster, M. R. Hebbard, Baker, L. C. Webster, G. Lease, N. B. C. Love, and Patrick G. Goode.
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ANNA CHURCH AND PARSONAGE.
In 1884, Rev. David F. Helms, pastor, the fourth Quarterly Conference appointed as a Building Committee for a new church at Anna the following: S. D. Young, P. W. Young, Daniel Curtner, F. S. Thirkield, J. W. Davis, Wilson Dill, and R. D. Mede. Under the direction of these brethren the present beautiful modern brick church was erected, and dedicated February 6, 1887, by Dr. J. H. Bayliss, editor of the Western Christian Advocate.
BOTKINS CHURCH.
About 1834 a Methodist society was organized at the house of Richard Botkin, in Dinsmore Township, in the northern part of Shelby County, Ohio.
According to tradition, this society was organized by Rev. D. D. Davidson and Rev. James Smith, the class consisting of Richard Botkin and wife, Henry Hilbrant and wife, and a few others. The house of Richard Botkin (from whom the present village of
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Botkins was named) was the meeting place of the society for a number of years.
In 1841 the Botkin society erected a hewed-log church, 30 x 40 feet. This structure was used for a church until 1860, when the society built a frame church (still standing, and now used by the Roman Catholic Church as a schoolhouse). This church was dedi- cated by Rev. T. H. Wilson, under the pastorate of Rev. Patrick G. Goode.
In 1861 Rev. Harrison Maltbie was sent to Hardin Circuit, in which was included Anna and Botkins, called respectively "Mt. Gilead" and "Asbury." By these names these two societies appear for a number of years in the Annual Conference records.
The present church at Botkins, a brick structure, was built and dedicated 1872-73.
WESLEY CHAPEL.
Rev. Thomas Simms, while pastor of Bellefontaine Circuit, in 1833, came into this community at the solicitation of some Meth- odist families and preached a sermon and organized a class of seven members at the home of Philip Young, Sr. Those who com- posed the class were Philip Young, Sr., and wife, Adam Young, Sr., and wife, John M. Wilson and wife, and Mrs. Isaac Bogard.
About 1844 the society erected a frame church building, which they named Wesley Chapel, located about three miles east of Anna. This was replaced by a good modern building in 1893, which was dedicated by Dr. Earl Cranston, now bishop.
From this rural Church have come three men who entered the Conference and gave years of faithful service to the Church: Rev. Jason Young, Rev. Philip Lemasters, and Rev. Valentine Staley. Also three local preachers: Rev. William Young, Rev. Philip Le- masters, Sr., and Rev. Peter Young.
ANSONIA.
Ansonia, formerly called Dallas, had Methodist services as early as 1859, when it was a part of Versailles Circuit; and there is a memory among the people of the place that in 1839 the Ohio Con- ference appointed a preacher by the name of Edward Williams to preach in that vicinity. In 1863 Ansonia was a part of Hill Grove Circuit, and in 1870 it was connected with Wabash Circuit.
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History of Churches-Alphabetically Arranged.
In 1872 Dallas Circuit was organized, the Rev. R. D. Oldfield, pastor, and consisted of Ausonia (Dallas), Webster Chapel, Raper Chapel, Union, and Dawn.
Until the year 1873 the society held services in the old school- house and in the Christian Church, when a brick building was erected, and dedicated in October of that year by the Rev. W. G. Waters, D. D., presiding elder of the Bellefontaine District, the Rev. E. D. Whitlock being pastor. The building cost about $3,500.
The week following the dedication the pastor called together the officiary of the circuit, and a parsonage was purchased. Some of the official members of the Church at that date were Monroe Glick (a local preacher ), Noah Poling, Samuel Kenhner, W. H. Fry, and Dr. Hooven. At this time there were but few gravel pikes in the country, the roads by which the various appointments were reached being "mud" roads.
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