History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 107

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1202

USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I > Part 107

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Colonel A. G. Patton, George M. Peters and II. C. Lonnis were appointed a building committee, and they rapidly pushed the Shoemaker Chapel to comple- tion. In April, 1889, Rev. Mr. Horlocker organized a church class of eight mem- bers by letter and twenty on probation, which was put under the superintendence of Third Avenue Church.

Preaching services were provided for by Rev. Mr. Horlocker under the diree- tion of the presiding elder and the Third Avenue Quarterly Conference until November, 1891, when the Third Avenue Church requested the Shoemaker Chapel membership to provide for themselves and allow the entire services of Rev. D. ITorlocker to be employed by Third Avenue in looking after its finances, benevo- lences and otherwise assisting the pastor. The Shoemaker Chapel people then employed Mr. E. D. Bancroft, a young student member of Third Avenue, to serve them the coming year. Their membership was now about seventyfive, with eighteen probationers.

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

North Columbus. - The North Columbus Methodist Episcopal Church was suc. cessor to the Clintonville Methodist Episcopal Church as part of the Clintonville Circuit. The latter was a very old society. The change came under the ener- getic labors of Rev. Tell A. Turner. The members who lived south of Clintonville and within the corporation of Columbus felt, as did their pastor, that the church ought to be within the city limits, thus bringing it into contact with the people. But there was much opposition to the movement from very influential members. Perhaps an older man would have been more cautious than was Brother Turner. He earnestly pushed the project to a consummation during his pastorate in 1879-81.

His first class at the present site consisted of but seven members. A few of the best families refused to move with the location but brought their membership down into the city, driving past the new church fully two miles, in all these suc- ceeding years ; so strong is the attachment for old places and the prejudice against new movements. Rev. Mr. Turner succeeded, however, in raising money to build and the church was dedicated in January, 1881. Larger congregations were at once secured and there seems to be no question that the move was a wise one in the end, however much it may have seemed otherwise at first to those who opposed it. The name of the Clintonville Circuit was changed to North Columbus Circuit after the church was moved. Rev. Mr. Turner is a man of more than ordinary oratorical powers and has been a successful pastor. For the last few years he has filled the pulpit of Logan with great popularity. At the conference of 1891, he " took a location " with the view of being transferred to the West.

At the Conference of 1889 the North Columbus Church asked to be set off from the circuit of that name, to be made a station and to be transferred to the Columbus District. This request was granted, and Rev. Louis F. Postle became its first stationed pastor. They courageously undertook to pay him a salary of $800, besides $150 house rent. Having but 170 members, and most of these being people in very moderate circumstances, this looked like a formidable obligation to assume. But Pastor Postle proved a perfect fit, and the people entered with zest upon their newera of church life. Theirs had been regarded as one of the weaker points of the four societies on the circuit the year before, which unitedly had paid lest than $900, all told, to ministerial support. But now, with new zeal and hope and increased service, they not only met all of the salary allowed, but bought an organ, paid some old debts, and in all aggregated $1,500, which they alone raised this year. It is a striking illustration of what a weak people can do when they are united and aroused. During Rev. Mr. Postle's second year they enlarged the church by putting an addition at the rear end and also remodeled the interior in seating arrangement and gallery, making a very great improvement at the cost of $300, all of which they promptly paid. They have a valuable church lot, but it is not eligibly located for the parish, and they contemplate a change of site so soon as they can sell at a profitable price. Pastor Postle was at the last Conference appointed for his third year, and continues to serve the people with undiminished acceptability. At the last Quarterly Conference, in 1891, the name of this charge was changed to High Street Church.

825

METHODIST.

Christie Chapel .- This is the name of about the only Methodist Episcopal Church ever in Columbus which began to be, and is not. It was named after the renowned Rev. William B. Christie, one of the most gifted and eloquent preachers of early Methodism in Ohio. Few pulpit orators of any denomination sur- passed him.

The Town Street Church asked the Ohio Conference, at its session in 1860, to appoint a minister to do missionary work in the northeast part of the city. Rev. Eli Kirkham was selected for the work. He began by organizing a Sabbath- school and preaching in a schoolhouse. The ladies of the various Methodist churches were organized into a sort of Home Missionary Society, and raised money by varions means sufficient to pay the preacher. A lot was purchased on North Eighteenth Street, and a church erected. Rev. Mr. Kirkham left a mem- bership of forty persons. In 1861 Rev. T. W. Stanley was appointed as the mis sionary to this eharge, and remained two years. He left but fortytwo members which proves that the field was a hard one, for the Ohio Conference has bad but few more zealous and successful pastors than was Rev. Mr. Stanley. He after- wards filled some of the better stations, and died in the midst of his work and in the prime of life, while pastor of St. Paul's, Delaware, in 1883.

Rev. Ancel Brooks served the mission in 1863 and 1864. He reported seven- tyfour members. All of these men were supported largely by appropriations from the General Missionary Society of Methodism. In 1865 Rev. Isaac King became the pastor, serving one year, and leaving seventyseven members. In 1866 Rev. E. II. Heagler was sent to this charge ; he served it three years. Rev. James M. Jameson, D. D., whose labors in Columbus are also noted elsewhere, served Christie Chapel from 1869 to 1870, inclusive. Hle reported 144 members. Rev. George W. Burns, later a pastor of Third Street Church, had charge of this mission two years, reporting 165 members in 1872. Rev. John E. Sowers became pastor in 1873, leaving 124 members. Rev. Daniel Horlocker served it two years, begin- ning in 1874, and reporting 162 members. The next and last pastor was Rev. Albert J. Nast, who was appointed in 1876, and served one year, reporting 152 members. He is a very scholarly and devont man, the son of Rev. Dr. William Nast, with whom he has been associated in editorial work for several years past.

The following year Christie Chapel was left without a pastor and put under the charge of Town Street Quarterly Conference. The location of a church par- ticularly in a growing city, is a most important and often difficult matter. It is not always possible to foresee the direction the city growth will take. Several denominations in Columbus have made mistakes in this respect. The Roman Catholics wisely submit these matters to a board of most experienced and impar- tial men, and the favorable results are plainly manifest. Christie Chapel never bad a flattering prospect, and the organization of Broad Street in 1875, effectually cut off its last hope. The property was finally sold, and that which remained over after debts were paid, was mostly reinvested in Mt. Vernon Avenue Church. The old building is now the Shiloh Baptist Church, occupied by the colored people. Perhaps, after all, its life was not a failure. Many received Gospel privileges in it

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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

while it lived as a Methodist Church, and its spirit, like that of John Brown, yet goes " marching on " in the church home of the colored people.

Mt. Vernon Avenue .- This church owes its origin to a godly woman. Iu Sep- tember, 1882, Mrs. John Sugdon canvassed what was known as the Mt. Airy neighborhood, for Sundayschool scholars, and gathered together from twentyfive to sixty, who met every Sunday in her own home, at 2:30 P. M. Her husband aided her in the work of teaching them. The next summer they repeated this effort, but having determined to move from the city shortly, they could not endure the thought of this work subsiding into nonentity. There was no church within reach of this then sparsely-settled community. Seeking to turn the school over into responsible hands, Mrs. Sugdon was directed to Rev. Thomas R. Taylor, pre- siding elder of the Columbus District. After full investigations the Mt. Airy, or Twentieth Street brick schoolhouse, was rented for the use of this Sundayschool. Presiding Elder Taylor then secured the almost gratuitous services of Rev. Noble L. Rockey, a young local preacher, who was at that time a student at the Ohio Wesleyan University but spending his summer vacation at the home of his father, Daniel R. Rockey, in Columbus. On July 22 Mr. Sugdon held his last session of the school with twentyfive present, he being the only adult among them.

Rev. N. L. Rockey was appointed July 24 and at once began visiting the peo- ple of that neighborhood and announcing his work. On Sunday, July 29, he had a congregation of forty-34 children and 6 adults -and a collection of 53 cents. Four classes were organized ; the children were quite small, and there were but seven boys among them on the first Sabbath. Mr. Rockey also preached regu- larly to the people every Sabbath. Ile devoted himself carnestly to the work, and although in the most unfavorable season of the year, he gathered an attendance of 53 scholars and purchased and paid for a cheap organ. After September 16, he was obliged to leave the field to return to college, but the local workers now car- ried it on. The first communion service held for this congregation was admin- istered by Rev. W. W. Cherington, who was living here in superannuation. Rev. F. A. Spencer, at that time a member of Broad Street Church, became a very earnest and valuable worker in this field. Robert Rusk and wife were among the first Methodists to encourage this incipient congregation by their presence and labors, although holding their membership at Town Street.

After Conferenec in 1883, Rev. C. F. Prior, who had been appointed pastor of Neil Chapel, gave much of his time and labor to this missionary field. During the year he organized the gathered members into a society, under the supervision of Rev. John T. Miller, as presiding elder. They numbered thirtysix, eighteen of whom, however, soon afterwards moved away. The first member to join by let- ter was Naomi Staggs. The first trustees were, F. A. Spencer, L. D. Patton, M. C. Bukey, L. S. Schull, Charles Henley, L. T. Burris, Robert Rusk, Sextus Scott and Thomas Hammond, the last three not then being members. The first class leaders were G. W. Burris, Robert Rusk, L. T. Burris and F. A. Spencer. Articles of incor- poration were filed April 19, 1884. A building committee was appointed April 21, 1884, consisting of Rev. C. F. Prior, the acting pastor, Sextus Scott, L. T. Burris, L. D. Patton and M. C. Bukey. On May 1, 1884, they awarded the contract for

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a frame church, forty by sixty feet, to Wallace Petticord, to be erected at the cor- ner of Mt. Vernon Avenne and Eighteenth Street, which site was selected by a committee consisting of George M. Peters, H. O'Kane, M. Halm, Rev. D. Hfor- locker, Doctor J. M. Trimble and M. W. Bliss.

Some hundreds of dollars were awarded to the enterprise from the sale of the old Christie Chapel property. The Broad Street trustees, after building their new church, also donated their old chapel building to the Mount Vernon Avenue Society. The material of this frame structure entered into the new Mt. Vernon Avenue Church, but it lost its identity as a building in being taken entirely apart. The church, after completion, was dedicated September 14, 1884, by Rev. Dr. J. II. Bayliss, in the afternoon of that Sabbath. Doctor Trimble had charge of the morning services and presiding elder Miller conducted the evening meeting. This society never received any missionary support, but was self-sustaining from the beginning. The first year it paid 8820 salary and $180 house rent, with $75 for benevolences.

Rev. William D. Gray was the first Conference appointee as pastor of Mt. Vernon Avenue Church. He came to it in the fall of 1884, and remained three years. He began with about 40 members and left 340 members. lle was young, zealous and successful. The membership rapidly grew and became marked for spirit- uality, in keeping with oldtime Methodism. Rev. Mr. Gray's next appointment was to Athens, Ohio, but before the year closed he was transferred to Sedalia, Missouri.

Rev. J. M. Rife was sent next as pastor by the Conference of 1887, and remained two years. His efforts were attended with much revival influence and continued additions to the membership. He had been a captain in the Union Army during the great Rebellion and has ever since been prominently identified with its Grand Army reunions and organizations. At the close of his second year he was appointed to the Raton Mission Church, in New Mexico, but the climate not agreeing with his health, he returned after a year and was appointed to Neil Avenue, where he is now serving his second year. Rev. J. U. Arbuckle was sent as pastor to Mt. Vernon Avenue in the fall of 1889 and remained two years. Ile had just closed his fourth year as presiding elder of the Gallipolis district. His pastorate in this city was signalized by its popularity with his people. During his first year the charge paid off a long-standing indebtedness of 8600, which, with their salary of 81,000, and house rent, made a very heavy burden for them. The second year they rallied with heroic effort, and to retain their pastor paid bim $1,400 and house rent. The society numbers over 500 members, but it is another case in which the church gives evidence of doing the work of Christ by the poor having the Gospel preached to them. This society is greatly in need of a larger, new church, with better accommodations for its multitude of people. Rev. Mr. Arbuckle was sent next to Second Street Church, Zanesville, and Rev. J. 11. Gard- ner became his successor at Mt Vernon Avenue. The latter has been spoken of in this history in connection with his successful pastorate of Third Street Church. Ile has been filling the better grade of appointments in the Conference and is very acceptable in his present charge.

828

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS.

First German .- The First German Methodist Episcopal Church was organized by Rev. John Barth in 1843. Its trustees were Michael Decker, Daniel Weir, Valentine Emrich, Philip Amos and Charles Wootring. For one year the society worshiped in an enginehouse on Mound Street, near the Courthouse. Then they bought a lot at the northwest corner of Third Street and Livingston Avenue for 8450. Here they built a brick church which answered their purposes till 1871. In April of this year they began a new church, costing $16,000. It was finished in 1872 and dedicated September 8 by Rev. Dr. Pershing, President of the Pitts- burgh Female College, assisted by the Rev. William Nast, D. D., editor of the Apologete, and the Rev. Doctor Löbenstein, of Berea College, Ohio. The church is 75 feet by 45 feet in dimensions. The building committee consisted of J. W. Laut- erbach, Henry Schneider, C. Eilber, Charles Frank and John Peauerle. In Sept- ember, 1866, the church bought ground for a parsonage at number 438 South Third Street, where they erected a fine brick residence at a cost of 85,000.

The following is thought to be a correct list of the pastors to date : John H. Barth, 1843-45; William MeLain, 1845-6; William Hoffer, 1846-7; Peter Wilkins, 1847-8 ; L. Nippert, 1848-9; Rev. Mr. Gahn, 1849-50; Rev. Mr. Braumiller, 1850-52; Rev. Mr. Fry, 1852-53; Hugo Rehm, 1853-4 ; G. Nachtrieb, 1854-56; Paul Brodbeck, 1856-58; H. Vogel, 1858-60; HI. Fuss, 1860-62; C. C. Helwig, 1862-65; C. Bozen- hardt, 1865 67; H. Herzer, 1867-70; Z. Allinger, 1870-73; George Schwinn, 1873-76; Augustus Gerlach, 1876-79; John S. Schneider, 1879-81 ; John C. Egly, 1881-84; Jacob Rothweiler, 1884-86; Jobn H. Horst, 1886-91.

The present pastor is Rev. Mr. Treuschell. The German Methodists are a very earnest, reliable, sincere and generous class of Christians. Their founder in America is the venerable William Nast, of whom it is fitting that we here give some extended notice. The following is taken from the Cyclopedia of Methodism :

William Nast, D. D., was born at Stuttgart, in Würtemberg, in 1807, and entered when fourteen years of age the Theological Seminary at Blaubeuren, and later was a fellow- student with David Strauss. He abandoned the study of theology for that of philosophy, and emigrated in 1828 to the United States Here he became a private teacher on Duncan's Island. In 1831-32 he taught German at the Military Academy of West Point. Through Law's Call to the Unconverted and Taylor's Holy Living, Nast became interested in Methodism. He heard Römer preach, became a teacher of modern languages at the Gettysburg ( Lutheran) Seminary, and then Professor of Greek and Hebrew at Kenyon College, Ohio. In 1835 he became a local preacher, and joined the Ohio Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Since January, 1889, he has been the editor of the Christliche Apologete, of which, as well as of the Sundayschool Bell he was the founder. Doctor Nast was not only the first German Methodist Episcopal missionary, but also the founder of German Methodist literature and compilations.

Besides many translations of books, he has given the church a commentary on Matthew, Mark and Luke. and his Introduction to the New Testament has been adopted into the course of study for the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1857 he was a dele_ gate to the Evangelical Alliance held at Berlin, and in 1873 in New York. He read in 1857 a paper on Methodism, and one in 1873 on the Doctrine of Christian Perfection. He was a member of every General Conference from 1848 to 1876, to the latter of which he was elected a reserve delegate.

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METHODIST.

Donaldson Church. - The Donaldson Methodist Church, for colored people, was built in the summer of 1888, and was located in the midst of a large settle- ment of people of African descent having no Gospel privileges. Bishop Mallalien appointed a colored minister, Rev. Gabriel White, to organize a society among them. He went to work in earnest and the local Church Extension society of Columbus Methodism took hold to help him. By their united labors a lot was purchased for $481, and a frame chapel costing about $1,200 was built. This property was deeded to the trustees of the Broad Street Church to hold in trust for the society until it should become selfsustaining. The building committee consisted of A. G. Patton, George M. Peters and H. C. Lonnis. Presiding Elder Jackson and Rev. D. Ilorlocker were appointed to raise the money for this pro- ject and were successful in so doing. Rev. William Johnson is the present pastor. lle is an earnest, hardworking and welldeserving servant of God. The society now has a membership of sixtyfive and a Sundayschool attended by about the same number. A salary of 8400 is allowed, but unfortunately is not paid in full.

The number of Metl.odists in Columbus at the end of each of the last six decades has been as follows: 278 in 1840; 609 in 1850; 730 in 1860; 1,200 in 1870 ; 2,495 in 1880; 5,000 in 1890. In 1860 Methodism had 555 Sundayschool scholars in the city ; the number was 1,259 in 1870 ; 2,197 in 1880, and 4,585 in 1890.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

CONGREGATIONAL.

BY REV. BENJAMIN TALBOT.

[Benjamin Talbot is a native of Brooklyn, New York, born May 22, 1827. At the age of six years he was removed to the home of his mother at Colchester, Connecticut, where he was brought up on a small farm adjoining the village. He was a bright boy with good memory and was especially quick in mental arithmetic. He was educated at Bacon Academy, a free school in Colchester. He began his Latin studies at nine years of age and was ready for college at thirteen. In 1849, he graduated at Yale College, fifth in a class of ninetyfour. At the age of seventeen he taught a district school. He was a student in the Yale Theological Seminary in 1850-3 ; was licensed to preach in 1852; was a classical teacher in Williston Seminary at Easthampton, Massachusetts, in 1853-4; was a teacher at the Ohio Institution for the Deaf and Dninb from 1854 to 1863 ; was superintendent of a similar insti- tution at Iowa City from 1863 to 1870, and of one at Council Bluffs from 1870 to 1878; was ordained as an evangelist September 7, 1864, and has since 1880 been a teacher in the Ohio Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, of which he was acting Superintendent for three months in 1881, and for ten months in 1882-3. Many interesting and able papers on subjects per- taining to the education of the deaf have emanated from his pen.]

The growth of Congregational churches in and around Columbus has been comparatively recent. It would naturally be supposed that those of New England birth, in moving west, would seek to preserve the traditions and follow the faith of the Pilgrim Fathers. But Central Ohio was not largely settled by New Eng- landers, and for many years Congregationalists who came from the East joined the Presbyterians in preference to establishing churches of their own order.

The first Congregational church formed in Ohio was the one at Marietta, organized December 6, 1796. What is now the Presbyterian church in Granville, Licking County, was organized as a Congregational church, in Granville, Massa- chusetts, in the spring of 1805, before the colony started for its new home, but it did not join Presbytery until 1869. Two years later, 1807, a Congregational church was formed at Springfield, afterwards called Putnam, now the western part of the city of Zanesville. This little church was absorbed by the Presby- terian church of Zanesville in the fall of 1809. The church at Hartford, Croton Post Office, in Licking County, organized in 1818, is the oldest Congregational church in this vicinity which has continued such to the present time.

[830]

831

CONGREGATIONAL.

No Congragational churches seem to have been established in this region for fifteen years after the organization of the Hartford church. Then, the great anti- slavery agitation which led to the founding of Oberlin, with its church and college, stirred the churches of Northern Ohio to their very foundations, and the ground- swell cansed by this upheaval was felt deeply in many religious communities in the central portions of the state. Burning opposition to slavery and radical views on temperance made many earnest Christians restive in their connection with the more conservative element in the churches; and this general uneasiness, with a growing distaste for the extreme views of Hyper-Calvinists, led to the formation of many new churches on a more liberal basis, some as Congregational, and some as Free Presbyterian. In this way arose the Congregational churches at Lock, Licking County, and at Mount Vernon, organized in 1834, and the one at Mans- field, formed in 1835. The church at Marysville followed soon after, in 1839, and was long known as the Second Presbyterin church, but, after a quarter of a cen- tury, became Congregational. In this decade many of the Welsh Congregational churches in Central Ohio also came into existence, among which was the Welsh church in Columbus, established in 1837.

The growing hostility to slavery which enlminated in the triumph of the Republican party and led to the Civil War deepened the conscientious convictions of many, and strengthened their scruples against the least complicity with the monstrous iniquity of the nation. Little Congregational churches sprang up here and there, or came over from the Presbyterian connection, composed of warm- hearted, carnest Christians, full of sympathy for the downtroddlen and the oppres- sed, and ready for every good word and work. In some places they aroused bitter opposition and even persecution, as was experienced by the little church at Paint Valley, in Holmes County, whose meetinghouse went up in the flames kindled by Copperheads during the Civil War. Elsewhere they crystallized around themselves the patriotism and loyalty of the community, as in New Albany, Franklin County, where pastor and people to a man enlisted in the Union Army.

Made up of such material, and often ostracized at home because of their sym- pathy with the lowly and oppressed, these churches naturally sought a union with kindred spirits ; and this desire led to the formation of the Congregational Asso- ciation of Central Ohio, now known as the Central Ohio Conference of Congrega- tional Churches. This body was organized August 13, 1861, at Columbia Center, in Licking County, a preliminary meeting having been held at New Albany, on the third of July. The First Congregational Church in Columbus took an active part in the formation of the association. Messrs. M. B. Batebam and L. L. Rice, with Rev. Lysander Kelsey, represented the church at New Albany, and the two latter, with Pastor Goodwin, participated in the meeting at Columbia Center. The Congregational ministers of Columbus have done their full share in the work of the Conference at its semiannual sessions.

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History of the city of Columbus, capital of Ohio, Volume I, Part 107

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co Publication date: 1892 Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co. Number of Pages: 1202

Author: Lee, Alfred Emory, 1838-; W. W. Munsell & Co
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York and Chicago : Munsell & Co.
Number of Pages: 1202