USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Minutes of the session of the Ohio Miami Conference, successor to Miami Conference, of the United Methodist Church, 1970 > Part 4
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CLIFTON W. HATFIELD Secretary, Board of Trustees
31
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
REPORT NO. 7 The Board of Pensions
The Board of Pensions reports that we will publish in the Journal the up-to-date service record of all active and retired ministers in the Conference. This will be for the purpose of verifying the service record for pension pur- poses of the ministers.
GARY EUBANK, Secretary
REPORT NO. 8 Report of the Conference Statistician Church Membership
1. Total members reported at close of last year
34,645
2. Received this year on Confession of Faith or restored
814
3. Received from other United Methodist churches
554
4. Received from other denominations
262
5. Removed by charge conference action or withdrawn
883
6. Removed by transfer to
468
7. Removed by transfer to other denominations
221
8. Removed by death
405
9. Total members at close of this year
14,657
11. Number of persons baptized this year
799
12. Preparatory members now on roll
4,095
Church School
13. Number of leaders
2,169
14. Children in all classes and groups
6,741
15. Youth
3,613
16. Adults
17. Total Church School membership
19,940
18. Average attendance
1,360
20 Number of short-term classes and groups for learning
628
Women's Society of Christian Service
3,975
22 Amount paid for local church & community work
$38,899
United Methodist Men's Groups
23. Number of groups
18
Property and Other Assets
24. Value of church, land, buildings & equipment
$10,183,517
25. Value of church owned parsonages & furniture
1,439,010
26 Value of other assets
899,191
27. Unpaid balance on indebtedness on items 24, 25, 26
2,620,840
28. Balance of other indebtedness (current expense, etc.)
8,052
Local Church Expenditures
30. Principal & interest on indebtedness, loans, mortgages, etc.
692,102
31. Buildings & improvements (not including funds borrowed)
220,338
32. Church School: lesson materials, supplies, administration, etc.
108,218
33. Other current expenses
768,848
34. Womens Society of Christian Service
32,571
Ministerial Support
36 & 37. Pastors' salaries
591,438
38. Travel allowance
74,057
39. Utilities
44,651
Total Operational Expense
1,583,799
other United Methodist churches
34,298
10. Average attendance at worship service
7,417
11,215
19. Number of ongoing classes and groups for learning
21. Membership of Society
32
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
REPORT NO. 9 Report of Audit February 18, 1970
Bishop F. Gerald Ensley, Bishop Ohio West Area Dr. Carl B. Eschbach, Superintendent
Members of The Ohio Miami Conference
Greetings :
By action of your Conference Council of Administration I have again been requested to audit the various groups of accounts of the Conference. Therefore I have prepared the attached statements representing the result of audit of your assets and liability accounts as of December 31, 1969, which covers the following accounts:
Section 1-The General-Annual Conference Books
Section 2-The Ohio Miami Conference-Church Extension Fund Section 3-The Ohio Miami Conference-Camp Miami Operations Section 4-The Ohio Miami Conference-Mutual Benefit Society
The audit covers all the operations pertaining to the above named groups. The figures submitted have been prepared by examination of original entries and on spot-check basis wherever it was deemed desirable. In several instances detailed inspection has been made.
Section 1-General operations of the Conference-the balance sheet is shown. A comparison with years of 1968 and 1967 is listed as follows:
1969
1968
1967
ASSETS
Cash Assets
150,997.06
105,483.07
89,348.15
Investments
63,830.35
63,601.33
161,652.17
Other Assets
10,458.29
28,458.29
29,583.29
225,285.70
197,542.69
280,583.61
LIABILITIES
Non-Conference Funds
6,021.00
37,121.48
32,855.16
Missions Funds
52,358.97
53,209.36
135,472.66
Conf. Funds-Designated
88,024.63
43,629.50
51,022.40
Capital & Agency Funds
12,180.33
30,125.60
29,883.61
Conference-General Fund
66,700.77
33,456.75
31,349.78
225,285.70
197,542.69
280,583.61
Total Receipts-General Fund
Christian Service Fund
351,213.45
359,969.88
330,419.72
Other Receipts
32,431.04
13,980.12
9,200.28
383,644.49
373,950.00
339,620.00
Expenditures-General Fund
Denominations-Christian S.F.
114,512.88
164,856.00
164,856.00
General Administration
88,595.00
88,209.20
73,659.61
Student Aid
11,598.00
15,016.00
12,547.00
Boards and Commissions
19,666.59
11,761.83
10,448.00
234,372.47
279,843.03
261,510.61
Appropriations-General Fund
Missions Fund
75,000.00
75,000.00
75,000.00
Ministerial Aid & Retirement
33,028.00
4,000.00
4,000.00
Group Insurance
5,000.00
10,000.00
10,000.00
Miami Messenger
3,000.00
3,000.00
3,000.00
116,028.00
92,000.00
92,000.00
Total Expenditures-General Fund
350,400.47
371,843.03
353,510.61
Excess of Receipts
33,244.02
2,106.97
Excess of Expenditures
13,890.61
33
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
1969
1968
1967
Missions Fund
Receipts
3,829.19
54,506.10
36,933.03
From Appropriation-General Fd.
75,000.00
75,000.00
75,000.00
78,829.19
129,506.10
111,933.03
Expenditures
General
4,840.99
6,471.15
5,203.47
Special Projects
37,032.02
103,381.29
1,096.01
Special Loans
40,000.00
10,000.00
Aid to Churches
37,806.57
61,916.96
73,981.06
79,679.58
211,769.40
90,280.54
Excess of Receipts
Excess of Expenditures
850.39
82,263.30
Section 2-This section records operations of the Conference Church Ex- tension Fund. The balance sheet for this Fund shows total assets of $657,- 816.81, an increase of $1,705.26 compared to total assets as of close of 1968. Total loan funds deposited with this Fund as of December 31, 1969 is $621,- 527.80 compared with total as of December 31, 1968 $623,078.91. You will note a decrease of loan funds of $1,551.11.
Schedule II under Section 2-records the church loans with interest accrued. The balance of outstanding church loans as of December 31, 1969 is $542,- 342.67, an increase of $15,616.67 over the close of 1968.
Section 3-This section records the operations for your Camp Miami. Total receipts for 1969 totaled $50,932.83 with expenditures totaling $49,649.74, leaving an excess of receipts of $1,283.09.
Section 4-This section records the receipts and expenditures for the Mutual Benefit Society.
Total Receipts for the year
868.86
Total Expenditures for the year
340.00
Net excess of receipts
528.86
Total Cash in this Fund as of December 31, 1969 was recorded as:
Cash on Deposit- Germantown Federal Savings & Loan
2,570.68
Investment in Conference Church Extension Certificates
5,000.00
7,570.68
In each section the bank balances have been reconciled and verified with the bank records, and where passbook was submitted, said account was verified by letter from the association or personal inspection. Also a personal audit of securities with Third National Bank and Trust Company was made.
One observation was made in the audit just completed. By inspection with Third National Bank and Trust Company, the following loans are held by the bank as of December 31, 1969:
Loan #1
27,927.74
Interest paid 2,233.41
Loan #2
18,000.00
Interest paid 1,440.44
Loan #3 (dated 1-23-69)
15,000.00
Interest paid 1,136.65
60,927.74 4,810.50
The indebtedness listed above covers Camp Miami and is not reflected in the Conference balance sheet, nor is an asset value available.
The audit included tests of the accounting records detail and other pro- cedures considered necessary. I hereby report that the balance sheets and
21,652.49
34
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
statements of income and expenditures do present fairly the operations of the above named funds, as of December 31, 1969.
WOC:ss
WESLEY O. CLARK Accountant WENDELL A. HOHN Treasurer
REPORT NO. 10
Ordinands for Elder-June 18, 1970-Lakeside
Paul D. Robinson
Born-Dayton, Ohio
Home Church-Union City Evangelical United Methodist
Education
Otterbein College
United Theological Seminary
1970
M.Div.
Sponsors : Frank Robinson, Jose Estoye
Kelly D. Silvers
Born-Piqua, Ohio
Home Church-Piqua Evangelical United Methodist
Education Capital University
Education
Captital University
United Theological Seminary
1970
M.Div.
Sponsor : Carl Hahn, Jr.
Richard C. Storment
Born-Ann Arbor, Michigan
Home Church-Vandalia United Methodist
1967
B.S.
United Theological Seminary
1970
M.Div.
Sponsors :
Maurice Gribler, Walter Miranda
David C. Trout
Born-Middletown, Ohio
Home Church-Middletown Faith United Methodist
1966
B.A.
Education Otterbein College United Theological Seminary
1969
M.Div.
Sponsors :
Richard Hughes, John Bergland
To be Ordained in Local Church-Fall, 1970
Wendell L. Butt
Born-Union City, Ohio
Home Church-Union City Evangelical United Methodist
1966
B.A.
Education Miami University
United Theological Seminary
1970
M.Div.
Sponsors :
David E. Stichweh
Born-Austin, Texas
Home Church-Belmont United Methodist, Dayton
Education Ottebein College
United Theological Seminary
1970
M.Div.
Sponsors :
Ordinands for Deacon-June 18, 1970-Lakeside
John S. Boyd
Born-Indianapolis, Indiana Home Church-Union City Evangelical United Methodist
1967 B.A.
Education Otterbein College United Theological Seminary
(presently enrolled)
Education Ohio University
1967
B.S.
1967 B.A.
35
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
Daryl G. Fourman
Born-Dayton, Ohio Home Church-New Lebanon United Methodist
Education Otterbein College United Theological Seminary
1969 B. Music
(presently enrolled)
Alan K. Harris
Born-Greenville, Ohio Home Church-Greenville Evangelical United Methodist
1969 B.A.
Education Otterbein College United Theological Seminary (presently enrolled)
A. Ronald Keebler
Born-Brookville, Ohio Home Church-Oakwood United Methodist Church
Education University of Dayton United Theological Seminary (presently enrolled)
1968 B. Tech.
"The foregoing proceedings, reports of Boards, Commissions, Committees and Treasurers, together with all items included therein, constitute the official record of the 161st session of the Miami Annual Conference, being the 19th session of the Ohio Miami Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, held at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio, June 10, 1970."
FGerald Emlay Bishop
Maurice A Griller
Secretary
36
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
INDEX
Auditor and Treasurer, Report of
32 - 34 35
Certification
Churches and their Location
10 - 13
Conference Proceedings (Minutes)
14 - 16
Conference Staff, Report of
18 - 21
Conference Widows, Roll of
8
Council of Administration, Report of
21 - 23
Deacons, Biographical Sketch
7
Deacons, Roll of
8 - 10
Lay Members, Roll of
6 - 7
Local Elders, Roll of
23 - 25
Memoirs
Memorial Roll
4 - 5
Ministerial Students of Conference, Roll of
7
Ministry, Report of Board of
25 - 26
Missions, Report of Board of
27 - 28
Officers of the Conference and Area
3
Ordinands, Biographical Sketch
34
Pastors Serving Churches, Not Members of the Ohio Miami Conference
7 - 8
Pensions, Report of Board of
31
Statistician, Report of Conference
31
Superannuated Itinerant Elders, Roll of
6
Supernumerary Elders, Roll of
6
28 - 30
Trustees, Report of Conference
34 - 35
HISTORY OF THE MIAMI CONFERENCE THE CHURCH OF THE UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST 1810 - 1950
THE OHIO MIAMI CONFERENCE THE EVANGELICAL UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH 1950 - 1970
BY ROY D. MILLER Minister of the Conference and Professor at United Theological Seminary
Published by THE OHIO MIAMI CONFERENCE
1970
38
CONFERENCE HISTORY
FOREWORD
The Miami Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ has a history of 160 years. Its roots, however, go back almost ten years beyond 1810 into the lives and experiences of migrants, circuit riders, preaching places and classes. It en- dured several divisions in the earlier decades as other conferences were hewn out of its territory. In the more recent period its spirit and strength were infused into larger bodies as church union transformed it into the Ohio Miami Conference of the Evan- gelical United Brethren Church in 1950 and into the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1970.
In writing the history of this segment of the Church one of the major problems was the selection of topics and material. A mass of documents, letters, articles and minutes were available. Most of these have been read and, though the writer has had some counsel, the selection of material and its organization are largely his.
One of the difficulties was interpretation. Did a secretary or writer always put down exactly what he meant? Was his information always correct? The author was certain that the conference secretaries did not record material with the future historian in mind. He sometimes agreed with the editor of the Religious Telescope who wrote in the June 9, 1841 issue,
The minutes of this (Miami) Conference, as published in this day's paper, is doubtless full of errors for which we are not responsible. The Secretary (William Collins) is quite a ready scribe, but he indulges too much in a running hand for strange compositors to put into type. All proper nouns should be very legibly written because, generally speaking, we have no clue by which to decipher them.
Some persons' names were differently spelled by various secretaries. In a few cases the author has used more than one spelling in this document.
Church names were also confusing. For instance, at least four churches in the Conference were named Zion. Zion and Mt. Zion were even used interchangeably. In many cases the circuit carried the name of a local church but in the earlier years it was not always clear that there was a church by the same name as the circuit.
Despite the difficulties it has been a joyful and rewarding experience to do the research and to put the material together in this organized form.
The author expresses appreciation to the trustees of the Conference Historical Society for their encouragement, to Miss Esther George of the Dayton depository of the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History for assistance in locating material, and especially to Mrs. Anne Moore for her counsel and for typing the hand- written material.
39
CONFERENCE HISTORY
THE OHIO MIAMI CONFERENCE
CHAPTER 1
THE EARLY HISTORY OF SOUTHWEST OHIO
The early history of the Ohio Miami Conference is a chapter in a story of adventure, dauntless courage, and the determination to succeed in a new land. It is a record of "by faith he went forth to live and to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ."
Early Settlement in Ohio
The beginnings of the Ohio Miami Conference are coterminous with the be- ginnings of the state of Ohio. The Conference did not begin at a certain place on a certain day. It was the normal and natural result of a long process of human experi- ence and association. The Conference's beginning as well as its continued history is a culmination of the convictions, choices, decisions and actions of a segment of those people who migrated from beyond the eastern mountain country. They came into a good land, but a land for a long time made hostile by the white man's enmity with the native Americans.
The Indians had roamed the plains and forests of Ohio for centuries before the coming of the white man. Ohio history records such tribal names as Iroquois, Eries, Miamis, Shawanoes and Delawares. As the white man came, a long and interesting though tragic and sad story of association and conflict was recorded. These whites began to explore the Ohio country around the middle of the 18th century. The Ohio Company of Massachusetts was formed in 1748 for the purpose of settling people in the Valley of the Ohio. "The Royal Government gave the Ohio Company its charter in 1749 and the governor of Virginia was ordered to make the grant to the Company." 1
Reference is made to Christopher Gist as the first recorded English visitor through Ohio. 2 He was an experienced surveyor and woodsman. Employed by the Ohio Com- pany, he was sent out in 1750 "to survey the river (Ohio) as far as the Ohio Falls (Louisville) ." 3 He left Maryland at the end of October 1750 and on the fourteenth of December arrived at Muskingum, a town of the Wyandots or old Wyandot Town as it appears on some maps. On Christmas day, Gist held a religious service here which was attended by Indians and whites. As Galbraith reports, "Thus ended the first Protestant religious service held within the limits of Ohio fifty-three years before those limits were established by the entrance of the state into the Union." 4
The Ohio Company continued to operate, but in 1770 it was merged into the Walpole Company, 5 which had also been organized for the purpose of establishing colonies in the Ohio River Valley.
The second Ohio Company, called the Ohio Associates, was organized at Boston in 1786, and in 1787 secured a contract to purchase 1,500,000 acres on the north bank of the Ohio River.
1 E. O. Randall and D. J. Ryan, History of Ohio, New York: The Century History Company, 1912, II, 218.
2 Ibid., p. 248.
8 Ohio Archeological and Historical Publications, Columbus : Fred J. Heer, 1891, VII, 20.
4 Charles B. Galbreath, History of Ohio, Chicago: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1925. I, 77.
5 Randall and Ryan, op. cit., I. 470.
40
CONFERENCE HISTORY
History records, "The first acts of territorial government were performed at Marietta, then the only white settlement within the present state of Ohio. The advance guard of the Ohio Associates had arrived there May 7, 1788, just two months before Governor St. Clair." 6
This entire period of early Ohio settlement was a time of Indian fighting. Peace was finally brought to the Northwest Territory when General Anthony Wayne, after defeating the Indians at the battle of Fallen Timbers south of Toledo, signed the treaty of Greenville on August 3, 1795." The Indians renounced their claims to all territory east of a line running in a general way from the mouth of the Cuyahoga on Lake Erie to the mouth of the Kentucky on the Ohio.
Since this treaty was regarded as securing the safety of the settlers, people began to pour into the territory in ever-increasing numbers. In 1798 the population of the Northwest Territory was slightly in excess of 5,000. In 1802 Ohio alone had a population of 45,028. The number was 230,760 in 1810. 8 The population of Ohio grew very rapidly after the War of 1812.
Another factor contributing to stability in Ohio was the formal organization of the state. The Constitutional Convention, which drew up the Constitution for Ohio, adjourned on November 29, 1802, and Ohio became a state on March 1, 1803. 9
Southwestern Ohio
One of the early settlers in southwestern Ohio was John Cleves Symmes, a New Jersey land speculator with a reputation also as teacher, surveyor, colonel, and jurist. He visited the area referred to as the Miami country in the summer of 1787. On his return to the east he organiezd a company of 24 persons, among whom was General Jonathan Dayton.
On August 28, 1787 a petition was presented by this company to Congress re- questing all the lands between the two Miami rivers. Before this was approved Symmes purchased 10,000 acres from Benjamin Stites. 10 When his petition was approved he purchased an additional 300,000 acres along the Ohio. 11
The first settlement on the Symmes land was the village of Columbia, established in November 1788. 12
In the course of the winter another town was surveyed and developed with the help of Colonel Ludlow, and was named Losantiville. The name was changed to Cincinnati in 1790.
On June 1, 1789, a party of soldiers began the building of Fort Washington. During the next several years a string of forts was built north of Fort Washington: Fort Hamilton in 1791, Fort St. Clair in 1792, Fort Jefferson in 1791, Fort Re- covery in 1793, and Fort Greenville also in 1793.
Approximately 15,000 people were living on the Symmes land by 1800. By 1810 the town of Cincinnati had a population of 2,540, increasing to 9,642 by 1820.
6 Galbreath, op. cit., I. 195, 196.
7 Harvey W. Crew, ed., History of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton: United Brethren Publishing House, 1889, I, 35.
8 Galbreath, op. cit., p. 260.
9 Galbreath, ibid., p. 277.
10 Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio, Cincinnati: J. Krehbiel and Co., 1900, I, 746. 11 Randall and Ryan, op. cit., II, 473-480.
12 Howe, op. cit., p. 747.
41
CONFERENCE HISTORY
The Germantown area began to develop during this same period. The Rev. J. P. Hentz, a Lutheran minister in Germantown, published in 1883 a small volume with the title Twin Valley. He was referring to the Germantown area between Big Twin and Little Twin Cr.eeks. He said, "The first white settlers came to this valley in the year 1798 from the state of Kentucky, though they had originally come from Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina."
The City of Dayton began to develop about this same time. Three parties jour- neyed from Cincinnati, one by boat and two by land. Samuel Thompson and his party landed near the end of what is now St. Clair Street, just west of the mouth of Mad River. This was on Friday, April 1, 1796. The land parties arrived a few days later. After locating places for their homes the village of Dayton had a total of 16 persons in 1796 and 23 in 1799. 13
Dayton grew slowly and had 40 houses in 1806. In 1815 it had 100 dwellings and a Methodist meeting house.
CHAPTER 2 THE FIRST UNITED BRETHREN CHURCHES
Germantown, Zion near Cincinnati and New Hope in Preble County were the first churches of the United Brethren in Christ organized within the Ohio Miami Con- ference area. Some differnce of opinion exists. however, as to which of these was first. Here are the facts in-so-far as they are known.
1. Germantown. J. P. Hentz writes that the first people who migrated to the Germantown area were squatters rather than settlers. The land was not surveyed until 1802. Some of these then purchased land and some moved away. 1
Of this early group James Hatfield and Robert Hardin entered and owned the land which later became the site for Germantown. It was sold to Philip Gunckel for ten dollars an acre in 1804. Another who left his mark was Richard Brown who lived on Brown's Run, the stream which bears his name. 2
The Germans among these squatters, so far as is known, were Lutherans. The predominating element, however, were Baptists. This is indicated by the fact that the first and only minister who labored among them, the Rev. Father Lee, was a Baptist preacher. A place of worship was started, though never completed, on the farm later owned by Christopher Emerick. 3
Mr. Hentz reported that these squatters made no lasting impression. They founded no institutions. No burial place is known, only a log cabin and a small clearing. 4
It is generally agreed that the first of the second class of settlers of the Twin Valley were Pennsylvanians of German descent. They came principally from Berk's County and most of them from Tulpehocken Township. " Many of these had par- ticipated in the religious movement led by Philip William Otterbein and Martin Boehm in Pennsylvania.
13 A. W. Drury, History of Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, (Chicago-Dayton : The S. J. Clark Publishing Co., 1908) I, 70.
1 J. P. Hentz, Twin Valley: Its Settlement and Subsequent History, 1798-1882, Dayton : Christian Publishing House, 1883, 35-37.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., p. 41.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid., p. 47.
42
CONFERENCE HISTORY
In the year 1803 Philip Gunckel, Christopher Emerick, David Miller and John George Kern, all natives of Berk's County, Pennsylvania, came to Ohio on a prospect- ing tour. They later returned to Pennsylvania and formed a large party (twenty-four families). By way of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, they finally arrived at the present site of Germantown where Gunckel chose a site for a mill on Twin Creek. The arrival here was about August 1, 1804. 6 "Religiously they were either Lutherans or Re- formed." ?
By the year 1808 the area was already rather thickly peopled, and most of the land of the township was entered and occupied. 8
One of these early settlers was Andrew Zeller. Mr. Hentz says that Zeller came here in 1805. ยบ Dr. A. W. Drury also says that Andrew Zeller arrived in German Township from Berk's County, Pennsylvania in 1805. He says, however, that "the deed given by him shows that he transferred his property in Berk's County in the spring of 1806, and the deed given him shows that his land in Montgomery County was transferred to him in the spring of 1807." 10 Though this might indicate that his arrival was 1806 instead of 1805, Drury believes that it would not be unusual for him to come "in advance of completed business transactions, especially in advance of records made." 11
Andrew Zeller had been converted in 1780 while living in Berk's County. Upon arrival in German Township he located on a farm a little more than a mile north of Germantown and west of Little Twin Creek .* Services were held in this log house. Dr. Drury says, "When Andrew Zeller built his house, he included a special room for religious meetings." 12 He further states, "In the house of Andrew Zeller, in 1806, was organized a United Brethren Class." 13
Later, about the year 1817, Mr. Zeller built a larger house on the east side of Little Twin Creek. A meeting house, a log building later weatherboarded, was built separate from the dwelling.
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