USA > Ohio > Stark County > Canton > History of the First Reformed Church, Canton, Ohio > Part 9
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* Herbruck Reminiscences.
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THE HERBRUCK SYNOD
lutions aiming to restore order and comity. Because the Ohio Synod thus acknowledged its errors and reversed its previous actions, and also frequently urged the "Herbruck Synod" men to come back, a number of the ministers returned to the old Synod. Furthermore "a number of well educated young men from the East"* had been received, and "as the temperament of the Synod was changing, and the hindrances seemed re- moved"* the eighteen left were ready to return to the old Synod.
The following plan of reunion was agreed upon in 1851. The Ohio Synod was to create a Northern German Classis and a Southern German Classis, the line running through Colum- bus east and west. All the ministers preaching in German were to have the privilege of uniting with the one or the other of these Classes. The "Herbruck Synod" under this plan was to become the nucleus of the new Northern German Classis. In accordance with this agreement the Northern German Clas- sis met in Akron, Ohio, June 23, 1852 and organized.
It would seem that now there ought to have been peace, but not so. The old friction with Columbiana Classis which now again numbered five ministers continued. Two of their ministers invaded the fields of their neighbors in the Northern German Classis. The old quarrels threatened to break out again. At a special meeting of the Northern German Classis, held in 1853, in Canton, at which Rev. Herbruck was again the dominant figure, the Classis decided to send an ultimatum to Synod demanding that Columbiana Classis should be dis- solved, or some other plan of removing the grievances should be immediately found, or else the Northern German Classis would again declare itself "free and independent," although "nothing but an unavoidable necessity would drive us to such a step." Rev. Herbruck helped to draft this ultimatum. One of the main reasons for this drastic action seems to have been the determination to permit only the use of the German language in the Classis and the congregations belonging to it. The dif-
* Herbruck Reminiscences.
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FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, CANTON, O.
ficulty was finally adjusted by the Ohio Synod in 1854 by auth- orizing both the Northern German Classis and the Columbiana Classis to dissolve, and then, after arranging the fragments into two parts to suit themselves, to organize two new Classes. This plan proved satisfactory to both Classes; hence they dis- solved, and the German ministers organized the St. John's Classis* at Massillon, on June 21, 1854. Since that time the Canton congregation has remained a part of this Classis. The first regular meeting of the Classis was held in the Canton church in October following the organization.
It seemed both necessary and appropriate that the story of these difficulties with the Ohio Synod should be presented somewhat at length because Rev. Herbruck was the main fig- ure in the movement for an independent Synod, and was heart- ily supported in every step that was taken by his congregations. That he had abundant justification in that period of religious fanaticism and synodical hesitancy to deal vigorously with the situation, has been made plain by the facts presented. It is clear that the secession of so large a number of ministers made a deep impression upon Synod, and immediately brought about a reaction in favor of the more conservative ways and customs of the fathers. While we may at the present time deplore that the secession occurred, the German ministers were confronted by what they considered a dread disease, and the surgeon's knife promised the speediest cure.
During this period the following congregations belonged to the Canton charge: Canton, Osnaburg, Paris, St. Martin's, St. Peter's and Zions, whose locations have already been given. St. John's in Massillon, which had been reorganized by Dr. Buettner, was also supplied by Rev. Herbruck during the inter- vals when they had no regular pastor.
The number of communicants in all the congregations var-
* Other names that were also considered were Canton Classis, or Heidelberg, North Ohio and Salems. After the strenuous scenes through which the ministers of the new Classis had passd the name St. John's seemed most appropriate. The name has proved itself a pro- phecy.
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THE HERBRUCK SYNOD
ied between 450 and 742. The baptisms averaged 120 each year and the confirmations 78.
It was a requirement of the Independent Synod that each congregation should send an annual report giving the opinion of the membership as to the work of the pastor and the con- dition of the congregation. Sometimes each consistory sent a separate report ; more generally a joint report was signed by the several consistories. A number of these reports have been preserved. Two of these will be given as fair samples of all of them. The spelling, punctuation and capitalization of the originals are retained :
"We the undersigned Members of the Church, do hereby sartify that we are dewly Satisfied with Mr Rev P Herbruck as a teacher of the Gospel in our midst and wish him to remain teacher in our Church."
The second testimonial will be left in the German as writ- ten :
"Wihr die unter schriebenen bezeigen hier mit das die gliter vohn -- gemeinte felig zufrieden sein mit Peter herbruck Pretiger." der
CHAPTER XIII SEPARATION FROM THE LUTHERANS AND
BUILDING THE FIRST REFORMED CHURCH
D URING the years from 1830-1850, Canton was almost completely at a standstill. The building of the Ohio Canal through Massillon in 1830 was a staggering blow to the town. Massillon grew rapidly, and became the center of trade and shipping for two score miles around. Grain, furs, and various products in large quantities were shipped out. The number of settlers in the county increased.
"Fast fell the forests, Cabins by night-time grew ; Like bees to honey, Each settler others drew."
But though farming boomed and prospered, Massillon alone received the benefit, and Canton lagged and languished. In twenty years, an addition of scant five hundred inhabitants could be recorded. Then in 1851, the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne and Chicago Railroad was built from Pittsburgh as far as Can- ton. Immediately the town felt the impetus of new life. In- dustries were established, the population increased, and Canton rapidly forged ahead.
The growth of the town was a great benefit to the Re- formed church. As a large number of the new inhabitants were Germans and Swiss, the congregation increased consid- erably in membership. The union church-building which had served the Reformed and Lutheran congregations for thirty years became too small for the audiences, and furthermore was in need of extensive repairs.
The relations between the congregations had also gradual- ly become rather strained. During the first forty years of their
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THE THIRD CHURCH BUILDING Dedicated 1862
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SEPARATION FROM THE LUTHERANS
history the two congregations had worked together with scarce- ly a consciousness of any denominational distinctions. The children of both congregations were instructed alternatively by the pastors of either denomination; and the members of each congregation had the right to vote for the officers of the other congregation. Until 1829 the two congregations also kept their church records in the same book.
During these years numerous efforts were made to effect an organic union between the two denominations. The efforts proved futile and came to a definite end about 1840, be- cause the two bodies began to clearly apprehend their denomi- national distinctions. The gulf was widened still more by the new-measure movement in the Reformed Church. Theologi- cal attacks of great bitterness were made, and accusations of heretical teachings were hurled by Lutheran divines against the Reformed ministers. Gross misrepresentations of the doctrines of the Reformed Church were also widely circulated. These occurrences in the denominations at large still further estranged the local congregations in Canton.
In 1855 the Lutheran congregation made the first move to secure a separation by appointing a committee to confer with the consistory of the Reformed Church to ascertain "whether one of the congregations might not be willing to purchase the rights of the other in the property ; and under what conditions this might be accomplished."
As a result of this conference it was agreed to submit to each congregation the following propositions to be voted on :
1. Whether the church-building should be repaired or improved jointly.
2. Whether one congregation should purchase all the rights of the other.
3. Whether the church should be pulled down and the materials be divided equitably between the two congregations.
The two congregational meetings disclosed such a variety of opinions that no common ground could be found. Some wanted to simply repair the old building, others wanted to repair and enlarge the building, still others wanted to erect a 7
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FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, CANTON, O.
new building jointly on the same site as the old, again others wanted a new building on a different site, and a few wanted to separate from each other entirely. As no agreement seemed possible the matter was dropped for several years.
During these years the Reformed congregation continued to grow in membership, and "as our congregation increased in membership, the desire became strong to possess our own build- ing so that services might be held each Sunday; for on account of owning the building with the Lutherans we could hold serv- ices only every other Sunday."*
Several congregational meetings were called "to discuss the matter, but as soon as the raising of seven or eight thou- sand dollars was mentioned, the people got scared and dispersed without definite action."*
The need became so imperative that finally in 1858, Rev. Herbruck determined on heroic action :
"I drew up a subscription list and wrote my own name at the top for $150, which was equal to a year's salary from the congregation. Then I went from farm to farm and in the town from house to house and in three or four weeks $4000 had been subscribed. Then I called the congregation together again, presented the subscription list, and tried to show the people that this amount would suffice to get a new church under roof ; and when we were that far the good Lord would supply ways and means to finish the building. Then the people took new courage."*
After the congregation had decided to build a new church, the next step was to select a suitable site. The people were unanimously of the opinion that the church ought to be built on the western half of the large plot owned by the two congre- gations, and a committee was appointed to confer with the Lutheran congregation to ascertain whether they would agree to this, or whether they preferred to buy the Reformed share of the property or would sell theirs. The committee was
* Herbruck Reminiscences.
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SEPARATION FROM THE LUTHERANS
promptly informed that the Lutheran congregation would not accept any of the propositions.
"A second proposition was then made the Lutheran con- gregation ; namely, whether they would give us the right to build, provided we presented them with our share of the joint property, including the church building, with all its contents such as bell, stove, etc. This proposition, also, was rejected."*
The cause of this uncompromising attitude was the pastor, Rev. Nunemacher, who had been in Canton for only a year, and persuaded the people that a fine, new church erected by the Reformed people so near the old building would result in a large loss of members to the Lutherans, since, "No one would then go to the old church any more."
"Another congregational meeting was then held to deter- mine the next step. At this meeting a lawyer, whose wife was a member of our church, was present, and he persuaded us to go ahead with our building project, by saying that the Lutheran congregation could not prevent us from building and also that they could never claim a share in the new building. Owing to the assurances of this lawyer we decided to begin building."*
A building committee was then appointed to take charge of the matter. Conrad Schweitzer was made treasurer of the build- ing-fund, and Ludwig Ohliger, Peter Preyer, Heinrich Berg- man, Joseph Herschy, Johannes Glass, and Christian Vogelge- sang were the other members of the committee. The committee at once began the work of formulating plans for the new build- ing and securing more subscriptions. Most of the work of secur- ing the necessary funds devolved upon the pastor. Members of other denominations also extended a helping hand. One of these "gave $100, another $50, and still another $25. Even quite a number of Catholics offered their help."* All of the heavy lumber necessary for the entire building was donated by Mr. Meyer, who at that time owned extensive tracts of timber- land about Meyer's Lake. The circumstances connected with the donation were so interesting that the older members of our
* Herbruck Reminiscences.
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FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, CANTON, O.
congregation still delight in telling them. It must therefore be a matter of peculiar gratification to the present generation that the story has been preserved as written down by Rev. Her- bruck himself :
"One day as I was going up the street I met a man who was a Catholic. He possessed a large tract of timber near the town. He said to me, 'I hear that you are going to build a new church.' That is our intention, Mr. Meyer, was my an- swer. 'Well,' said he, 'I will make you a nice offer.' So I inquired what sort of an offer he had to make. Then he an- swered, 'If you will come out to my home, I will show you a tree, and if you will chop down that tree yourself, I will not only give you that tree but as many more as you will need for beams, posts, rafters, etc., for the entire church.' I immediately pulled out my little subscription book and said: Mr. Meyer, I accept your offer with gratitude; please, put it down into my little book with your name. Then I also will sign my name agreeing to chop down the tree which you will show me. So we made the contract together.
"Several days after I went to the home of Mr. Meyer with three members of the building committee. He showed me a tree about three feet in diameter. An ax was offered me which had a new handle. This handle was rather rough. I began chopping away. After about three hours, the tree fell; but the blood was running from my hands. But everyone who saw that stump had to laugh for it certainly was frightfully mangled. Not being used to handling an ax, I had struck a new place with every lick. The stump was, as the Pennsylva- nia German would say, 'schrecklich verkrutzt' (frightfully scratched up)."*
This tree was carefully laid aside and was later given the honor of being used as the center timber in the steeple. In the course of time it has become so hard that it is practically impos- sible to drive a nail into it. It is quite certain, therefore, that the old tree would again draw first blood from any minister
* Herbruck Reminiscences.
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SEPARATION FROM THE LUTHERANS
who would be unfortunate enough to be obliged to chop it in two.
The reason why the Catholics of Canton were so willing to assist in the erection of a Protestant church was found in the personal friendship between Rev. Herbruck and Rev. John Baptist Uhlman, the priest in charge of the St. Peter's Catho- lic Church. He also gave valuable suggestions concerning the arrangement and architecture of the contemplated building. This friendship between the two ministers continued until Rev. Uhlman returned to Germany. As a farewell gift he presented Rev. Herbruck with a complete set of the sermons of the noted German Protestant preacher, Franz Volkmar Reinhard.
The advertisement given the new church project by the chopping down of the first tree by the pastor helped very sub- stantially in securing the promise of further building-material and subscriptions, so that the successful completion of the church was assured. When this fact was perceived by the Lutherans, they decided to hinder the building by every means available, and a long-drawn-out legal contest ensued that proved very expensive to both sides, created much bitterness of feeling, and finally resulted in a compromise whose terms were the same as those previously offered by the Reformed people.
This part of the history we will take verbatim from the reminiscences of Rev. Herbruck :
"The building material was finally brought to the place where we were going to build. The foundation was almost completed when the Lutherans brought suit against us. The sheriff came with an injunction, and we had to quit working. For almost two years the matter was before the court. The trial was postponed from time to time intentionally in order that our material and foundation might be ruined. In fact it was necessary later on to tear out the entire foundation.
"Then our opponents made every effort to stir up the peo- ple who had subscribed for the building, so that they would refuse to pay their subscriptions. They boasted that the church would never be built. In the meanwhile the war between the
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FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, CANTON, O.
North and the South broke out and many of the members lost their courage. But I felt that I could not give up the project so easily. From the judge I learned that there was no law in the state of Ohio according to which joint church-property could be divided. When I learned this, I started for Colum- bus to see whether the legislature would not soon pass such a law. Another man from our county who was intimately acquainted with several members of the legislature accompan- ied me. I also was well acquainted with two members of the legislature. The one was and remains to this day an active member of the Reformed church and the other had Reformed parents. My journey to Columbus was not in vain. In a short time a law legalizing the division of joint church-proper- ty was passed .*
"Now we went to court again requesting the division of the joint church-property. The request was granted. However, the Lutherans found yet another way open to still further delay our building operations; for they could appeal to the Supreme Court. This was promptly done. They knew that now they would have to pay us half the value of the old church building ; but by appealing, they believed that our church build- ing could be delayed several years. In this way they hoped to force us to renew our former proposition to them, namely, to give them our share in the old church.
* This bill was introduced by Jacob A. Ambler, a member of the House of Representatives, and was passed March 26, 1859. It is very brief, containing only four sections. Of these the first and most im- portant forms more than one-third of the bill and is worded as follows :
Section 1. That in all cases where two religious societies or congre- gations, by gift or purchase, have procured land upon which to erect a house of public worship and other buildings for church or school pur- poses, and for a burial ground and cemetery, in common, and either of said societies or congregations shall be desirous of abandoning the joint or common use of said house of public worship or other erections, it shall be competent for the court of common pleas upon application of either of said societies or congregations, to make partition of the use of said common property, except the burial ground and cemetery, which may continue to be used in common.
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SEPARATION FROM THE LUTHERANS
"In the spring of 1861, a citizen of our town took up the matter. Although no member of the Reformed church, he was nevertheless a true friend of the Reformed congregation. This citizen, whose name was Louis Gibbs, visited the leaders of the Lutheran congregation in their homes and with his suave, gentle, and persuasive speech succeeded in removing the existing difficulties by means of two committees appointed by the two congregations. The joint property was divided. The Lutheran congregation took the eastern half, and the Reformed congregation took the western half. According to the terms of the settlement the Reformed congregation was forced to present their interest in the old church to the Lutherans.
"The long-drawn suit, as well as the interruption in the building, caused the Reformed church a loss of at least one thousand dollars.
"A new building committee was selected consisting of Lud- wig Bauereis, Heinrich Schack, and George Deuble. Conrad Schweitzer remained as treasurer of the building fund.
"Now the building commenced again. The first founda- tion was torn out and replaced by a new one. A true friend and member of the church who had already subscribed $200, also donated the large, cut stone for the new foundation. Dur- ing the first summer the building was put under roof without any debts. During the winter new subscriptions were gath- ered. Most of the lumber for the inside work I received from the members of the country congregations which belonged to the charge. In the spring work began again. While the car- penters and plasterers were completing the interior work, our women were busily engaged in collecting money for a bell. The bell was ordered, but, instead of one bell, two arrived. The dear friend who had already furnished the stones for the new foundation, had ordered a second bell at his own expense. This bell he named after his own name the "Schweitzerglocke." This name he had engraved in the bell. In the fall of 1862 it was possible to dedicate the church to the Lord free of debt. In the corner stone of the church a document was placed which
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FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, CANTON, O.
will narrate to the folks of a later generation, how the Re- formed church of Canton was treated by a Lutheran church .*
The names of the members of the two societies of women who assisted loyally in raising funds for the new building, as well as much additional information concerning the erection of the building itself will be given in the next chapter.
* Herbruck Reminiscences.
INTERIOR OF THE THIRD CHURCH BUILDING Taken about 1880
CHAPTER XIV THE CORNER STONE WITH ITS CONTENTS AND THE DEDICATION
T HE work on the new church progressed so favorably that by June 23, 1861 the corner stone could be laid. The rapid progress of the building operations was due largely to the untiring efforts of Rev. Herbruck. He displayed an "un- wearied zeal, and feared no effort nor exertion to bring the work that had been begun to a successful conclusion."*
A great multitude had assembled to witness the ceremon- ies of laying the corner stone. As many as could find room crowded into the old church. Every square inch of space was occupied by the audience which was estimated at about eight hundred souls. Rev. Robert Kohler, pastor of the Mt. Eaton, Ohio, church, preached the German sermon on the text Ezra 3: 10-11, "And when the builders laid the foundation of the tem- ple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel with trum- pets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Jehovah . . and they sang one to another in praising and giving thanks unto Jehovah, saying, For he is good, for his loving- kindness endureth forever." Rev. Buckingham, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church then delivered an English sermon, choosing for his text I Chron. 22: 19, "Now set your heart and your soul to seek after Jehovah your God ; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of Jehovah God, to bring the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of Jehovah."
At the close of this service the audience marched over to the site where the new church was being built. An immense crowd surrounded the foundation walls and overflowed into the cemetery adjoining. The people in attendance were esti- mated at not less than twenty-five hundred. They had come
* Report in "The Evangelist."
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FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, CANTON, O.
not only from Canton but also from all the country congrega- tions served by Rev. Herbruck. The music was furnished by the choirs of the Canton and Paris congregations, who sang alternatively both at the service and the corner stone ceremon- ies. The pastor displayed "the usual articles for the corner- stone, a Bible, a hymn-book, a catechism, etc." These were placed into a copper box which was thereupon soldered shut and deposited in the iron receptacle sunk into the corner stone. The pastor then spread a layer of plaster upon the top and the work was completed. The services were brought to a close by the reading of the 96th Psalm by Rev. Herbruck, prayer by Rev. Buckingham, and the benediction by Rev. Herbruck. The offering amounted to $54. An unusual innovation for a Ger- man church was introduced in the taking of this offering; for, to the amazement of the audience, some of the women of the congregation passed around and collected the money.
The contents of a corner stone are always of peculiar inter- est to the later generations. Rev. Herbruck in his "Reminis- cences" had declared that "into the corner stone of the church a document was placed which will narrate to the folks of a later generation how the Reformed Church of Canton was treated by a Lutheran Church." Owing to the meager scraps of infor- mation preserved from that period of our history, the consis- tory decided to open the corner stone and have the enclosed documents copied. After the publication of this history, all the original contents of the corner stone together with a copy of the history and the latest published roll of the members will again be deposited in the original receptacle and walled in as at the beginning.
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