USA > Ohio > Muskingum County > Zanesville > Past and present of the city of Zanesville and Muskingham County, Ohio > Part 28
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In March, 1817, the school was reorganized in a frame dwelling at the northeast corner of Third street and Fountain alley, and a regular Sun- day school was formed, and two years later, on May 2, 1819, the classes assembled in the court room and marched down Fourth street to the new Presbyterian church, at Fourth and South streets, and occupied seats in the gallery.
A semi-centennial celebration of the establish- ment of Sunday schools in Muskingum county was held at Zanesville, March 23, 1867, at which time A. A. Guthrie delivered an address and de- tailed the origin of the various schools from the first held in the garrison at Marietta, in 1791.
SECOND STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
The first Methodist prayer and class meetings, and love feasts, were held in 18os, in a double, two-story, hewed-log cabin, with a passage
through the center, which stood in South Third street, where the foundry is now located; when it became too small for the growing congregation services were held in the old frame court house ; the Commissioners' journal, dated December 6, 1810, records that the Methodists were given permission to hold their regular services in the old court house, but the quarterly meetings could be held in the new, or old, 1809; the Presbyte- rians were given permission to meet in the new building, and each society was required to keep the room clean, and like permission was given any other Christian denomination.
The first church building was erected in 1813. on the ground now owned by the church; the structure was built by Thomas Moorehead and William Craig, and was a plain, one-story, frame, forty by sixty feet, with the gable towards Second street, and four large hewn posts supported the roof and ceiling. In the east end were two doors hung upon heavy, iron strap hinges and opened with wrought iron thumb latches ; each opened upon an aisle and a partition, lengthwise the middle of the room, separated the sexes, as was the custom of the period. Seasoned lumber for the floor could not be obtained and the green supply for the purpose was piled in the west end of the room, to season, and upon it a plain, four- legged table was placed as a pulpit, behind which was a plain, wooden chair for the minister; the congregation sat upon the flat upper surface of the sills of the building. with the feet upon the ground, but during the ensuing year the interior was finished. The land was conveyed February 2, 1814, by Jonathan Zane and John McIntire and wives, for a consideration of one hundred dol- lars, to Christian Spangler, Samuel Frazey, Jesse Miller, James Vickers, Joseph Hamilton, John Spry, and Barney Munro.
In 1826, a Sunday school was opened in the Market street academy, and in 1830, the con- gregation having prospered and increased, re- moved the old building and erected one of brick, one story in height, and of the rigidly plain, old- fashioned. box style of architecture; in the east end were the two doors, the north for the men, and the south for the women, in the north and south sides were four windows, and in the west two, with the pulpit between. The present two- story brick cdifice was erected in 1860, and dur- ing its construction the congregation occupied a building formerly standing on the site of the South Street A. M. E. church.
For many years the location of the church had been undesirable, by reason of the conver- sion of the neighborhood into business houses, and particularly on account of the three lines of railroad in Second street. In 1905, a lot, 140 feet square, at southeast corner of Fifth and North streets, was purchased and the Trinity
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congregation united with the Second street in the erection of a sanctuary commensurate with the wealth and proportions of the consolidated congregations. Monday, May 15, 1905, about five hundred members of the churches assembled on the new site, formerly dedicated the prem- ises to sacred purposes, the officiating clergy being Revs. B. D. Evans, of Trinity: A. M. Courtenay, of Second Street: Franklin McEl- fresh, presiding elder, and Bishop D. H. Moore, a former pastor of the Second Street church.
TRINITY METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The congregation of the Second Street church having outgrown the capacity of its building, in September, 1840, at the annual conference held at Zanesville, the excessive clerical duty of the Second Street pastor was represented, and the necessity urged of an additional minister; it was deemed more expedient to divide the congrega- tion, and two preachers were assigned, the new congregation occupying the second story of the McIntire Academy building, at Fifth and North streets, by permission of Z. C. & M. Co.
In 1841, a lot opposite North street, in Seventh street. 66 by 124 feet, was purchased, and on January 6, 1843, an additional width of 18 feet was secured, the title being given to Daniel Brush, Thomas Moorehead, Samuel J. Cox, John Dillon, Levi Chapman, James Mills, James Hen- derson, Samuel Howard, and Horatio J. Cox. trustees. The stone basement was erected by Daniel Price, in 1841, and in the following year the brick work was contracted by Daniel Price and John T. Thorpe, and the house enclosed in 1842; the basement was finished and the opening service held there in June, 1843.
The Sunday school was organized shortly after the church was formed, and the Second and Seventh street congregations were regarded as one station, the ministers alternating, but in 1845. Seventh street was made a station, and in September, 1845, the church was finished, and dedicated in 1849: during the pastorate of Rev. B. F. Jackson, about 1891, the name was changed to Trinity.
In 1905 there is prospect that the city will condemn the church to open Gilbert street through to North, and the indications point to the early abandonment of the structure.
EUCLID AVENUE METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
The formation of this congregation and its suc- cessful efforts to surmount difficulties is a nar- rative of perseverance, pluck and not a little of the original Adam, which is essential for human endeavor. In 1889, there were four Methodist Episcopal stations in Zanesville, and many mem- bers thought a new one in the old Eighth and
Tenth wards would relieve the over-crowded city churches and add new members to make it prosperous. Accordingly, during the summer of that year a meeting was held in the parlors of the Second Street church, and a branch of the Methodist Episcopal Extension Society was organized, consisting of Rev. T. C. Read and John W. King, of Second Street; Rev. D. N. Stafford and J. N. Carr, of Trinity ; Rev. C. C. Elson and W. A. Weller, of South Street, and Rev. B. F. Stubbins and J. P. Curtis, of Moxa- hala Avenue, with Rev. Isaac F. King, presiding elder, ex-officio president; J. N. Carr was chosen secretary and W. A. Weller, treasurer.
A portion of the old Boggs residence was oc- cupied as a dwelling and the Extension Society purchased and converted it into a church build- ing, the two lower rooms being thrown into one, and the upper ones used for a Bible class and the infant class : a Sunday school was organized, an organ purchased from the proceeds of a straw- berry festival, and chairs were donated by friends. Forty members, principally from Trinity, were enrolled, but the members of other churches, while willing that others should unite with the new church, did not manifest any disposition to do so themselves, and maintained their former affiliations ; there was no enthusiasm for the new church, and the Extension Society became luke- warm and rendered no aid. Rev. T. F. Garrett had been assigned to the charge, which had been named "Euclid Avenue," and upon becoming ac- quainted with the conditions, concluded that if the new church must take care of itself, it were better to assert its independence of its pretended guardian, and during the winter of 1892-3, so in-' formed the Extension Society, which surrendered the property to the original owner, with the loss of the advances thereon. The congregation con- tinued the occupancy, but during the spring of 1893, purchased a lot, northeast corner of Euclid avenue and O'Neill street, for $1,600.00, paid $300.00 thereon, gave a mortgage for the re- mainder, and placed the title in Jeremiah Vroom.
Meantime, Rev. Thomas W. Locke was assigned to the station and trustees were selected and confirmed as follows: Rev. T. W. Locke, president; William Curtis, treasurer ; Samuel Oldham, secretary ; John McCaslin, J. R. Saunders, A. S. Mitchell, Jeremiah Vroom, and John Shainholtz. The contract for the erection of a frame church was awarded October 22, 1894, and it was com- pleted and furnished May 18, 1895, at a cost of $3,000.00. The following day it was dedicated by Bishop Willard F. Mallalieu, assisted by Rev. T. F. Miller, presiding elder, and Rev. J. C. Arbuckle, pastor of Second Street.
That the congregation might negotiate a loan, Jeremiah Vroom, Samuel Oldham, John McCas- lin, Frank McCaslin, and J. R. Saunders were
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selected as incorporators and the property placed in their possession, and during the pastorate of Rev. P. Drumm, 1901-4, the debt was extin- guished and the prosperous and harmonious con- gregation enjoys the possession of a religious home acquired by untiring personal effort under discouraging conditions.
SOUTH STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
A mission Sunday school was organized in 1865 in the southeastern section of the city, and became the nucleus of this congregation; by the liberality of Rev. David Young a lot was pur- chased at Seventh and South streets, fronting one hundred feet north on Seventh street, and east to the alley on South street, and upon it, in 1869, a small brick chapel was erected at the corner of the alley. Mr. Young made further bequests in his will, and in 1887, the present beautiful brick building was erected at the corner of the streets, at a cost of $9,000.00.
FIRST UNITED PRESBYTERIAN.
During the spring of 1889, about half a dozen gentlemen met at the office of T. C. Connar. county surveyor, at the court house, and organ- ized a congregation, which was established as a mission of the United Presbyterian church. Ser- vices were held in the old Universalist church, in Zane street, for about six months, when a removal was made to the Knights of Pythias hall, in the Shinnick block, where they remained about eighteen months, and where a Sunday school was organized. The mission was organized by Rev. Spencer, of Muskingum College, and in 1890 was accepted as a church, with mission help, and in 1892 a brick church was erected in Pine street, near Main, with a seating capacity of three hun- dred, and at a cost of $7,500.00. Rev. D. M. Sleeth was first pastor, succeeded in 1896 by Rev. J. H. Hutchman, who resigned in 1905.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
About 1807, the pastor of the Presbyterian church, at Lancaster, passed through Zanesville, and was persuaded to remain over Sunday, that the seven persons of that communion might en- joy a service ; they assembled in Taylor's tav- ern, at Fourth and Main streets, on the site of the present Clarendon, where a sermon was preached and the communion administered.
A Congregational congregation had been or- ganized in Putnam a short time previously, at the residence of Benjamin Tupper, with five per- sons, which was soon increased to eight, but they were too feeble to employ a minister, and they united with the Zanesville Presbyterians to
form the United Presbyterian church, of Zanes- ville and Springfield, in 1809, and a pastor was installed, in Putnam, December 26, 1809. Ser- vices were held in private houses, taverns, the old log jail, and sometimes in a small frame building on Putnam Hill, and, during the sum- mer, in barns and groves. After the completion of the court house, in Zanesville, and the stone academy, in Putnam, the congregation alternated between the places and crossed the river in skiffs and by ferry. Once during service in the court house, the building was struck by lightning and several persons were stunned, but none seriously injured.
In 1817. the erection of a two-story, brick church building was begun on elevated ground, at the northeast corner of South and Fourth streets. The first story was finished for a store room and the rent given the sexton for his ser- vices ; the auditorium had a gallery on three sides and an aggregate seating capacity of 600 or 700. Money was obtained by the sale of pews, a deed being given to the purchaser for the land covered by the pew, which title could be sold as property. The building was dedi- cated August 28, 1817, and President Monroe and party, being in the city, attended the ser- vice.
Music was furnished by stringed instruments, and once during the absence of the regular pas- tor, a Scottish Covenanter occupied the pulpit : not approving of such auxiliaries he announced : "We will fiddle and sing the psalm." Mr. L. P. Bailey, an elder of the church, was a build- er of organs, and, in 1827, had made one which the party had failed to accept, when completed ; the members on both sides of the river were anxious to secure it for the church, but the pas- tor feared some one might be offended ; finally, a member offered to sustain the expense of chang- ing the gallery to admit the organ, and it was set up. The instrument was HI feet high, 7 feet wide, and 4 feet deep, and on the first Sunday remained silent, and many looked quietly and disapprovingly at the innovation ; on the second Sunday it was played while the Sunday school children assembled, but closed when the church service began ; later it was played as the congre- gation was dispersing, and next as they assem- bled ; some weeks elapsed before it was used in the regular service, and inquiry has failed to elicit an earlier use of an organ by an American Presbyterian congregation.
About 1840, the walls showed weakness, and as the town had grown away from the church and the Presbyterian church, in Putnam, had been formed, a more central point was desirable. and a lot was purchased on Fifth street. now oc- cupied by the Second church, which was ex- changed for the present site on Sixth street.
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upon which the present structure was erected at a cost of $15,000, and dedicated December 26, 1841.
The Sunday school was organized in 1816, as a "union school," and in 1819, was removed to the church.
This congregation is the mother of the Pres- byterian churches in the county. the direct de- scendants being the Newlin church, in 1829, Putnam, in 1834. and the Second, in 1852, which organized with forty-six of the members and the pastor of the First church.
SECOND PRESBYTERIAN.
In response to the petition of twenty-seven persons, the Presbytery, on September 7. 1852, authorized the formation of the Second Presby- terian church of Zanesville, and it was organ- ized October 9, 1852, twenty-three additional sig- natures to the petition having been affixed be- fore the organization. Rev. M. A. Hoge was pastor of the First church at the time, and by act of the Presbytery, October 22, 1852, he was assigned to the new congregation.
The two congregations occupied the same building until the spring of 1853, when the Sec- ond church rented the assembly room of the Odd Fellows' hall, and held services there until Janu- ary 1, 1854, when the Lutheran church build- ing, Sixth and South streets, was leased for a year ; January 1, 1855, the Odd Fellows' hall was again secured and retained until the present struc- ture was finished, in August, 1855.
January 2, 1854, Peter Black, W. A. Graham, John A. Adams, R. P. Robinson, Adam Peters, and A. McFadden were appointed to secure funds to procure a lot and erect a church build- ing ; they reported March 2, 1854, that they were successful, when E. Buckingham, Adam Peters, John A. Adams, L. P. Bailey, John S. Black, and W. A. Graham were empowered to transact all the business necessary to erect the church. The brick building, now standing in Fifth street, between Market street and Fountain alley, was the result of this movement, and cost $15,000, and was completed August 11, 1855; in 1874, an addition for Sunday school purposes was erected on the rear of the lot.
The Sunday school was organized while ser- vices were held in the Odd Fellows' hall, and has been maintained since at a high standard of efficiency.
FIRST METHODIST PROTESTANT.
Records do not exist to support the assertion but a Methodist Protestant congregation must have been formed as early as 1835-40: the Rev. Cornelius Springer was editor and publisher of the Western Recorder, an organ of the church,
and was published at Meadow Farm, from 1833 to 1845, being moved to Putnam in the latter year ; Mr. Springer was active in evangelical, as well as editorial work, and it is improbable that he would have neglected so fruitful a field as Zanesville, while forming congregations through- out the county. That a church building was in existence in 1850, is asserted by a lady still liv- ing in the city, who states that she was bap- tised in it in 1851, being then a girl of eight years, and that she heard her father speak of the building frequently as having been built for some years before, and places the erection at a year in the early forties. The church stood in South street, at corner of Potter alley, where the present African Methodist church is now erected, and was known, locally, as the "Radical;" it was a two-story, brick structure, with several stone steps leading to the level of the auditorium in the second story, the basement being used as a wareroom by Daniel Applegate, and other mer- chants engaged in the New Orleans trade.
About 1865, the African Methodists bought the edifice, and the Methodist Protestants bought a lot at northwest corner of Underwood and Center streets, upon which were a dwelling, which was rented, and a store room, which was used as a church, but the worshippers were an- noved by the noise of boys playing in the streets, decided to secure a location on a side street, and sold the property. Services were held in Trinity church until the erection of the present brick building, in Beaumont street, which was constructed about 1871, during the pastorate of Rev. John Burns. The original building was a plain, two-story house ; the basement being fitted for Sunday school and prayer meeting purposes, with the auditorium, on the second floor, with a seating capacity of from 350 to 400 persons. During 1889 an ornamental front, with a tower, was added at a cost of $2,000.
FIRST BAPTIST.
In the fall of 1820. George C. Sedwick left Winchester, Va., for a trip to the West, and at Zanesville discovered one Baptist, held a service and delivered a sermon : his journey was con- tinued through Kentucky and Indiana, and sev- eral requests, from strong congregations, were made to him to remain with them as pastor, but his impressions of Zanesville were so favorable that he returned in 1821, and held services in the court house and private houses, and Febru- ary II, 1821, baptised three men; June 16, he organized a church and was chosen pastor, and August 22, reported thirty-seven baptisms and four admissions by letter. In August, 1822, the membership was eighty-three, and in 1825 it had increased to one hundred and four.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY.
In the fall of 1823 the present one-story brick church building, forty by sixty feet, in Sixth street, near South, was completed, and the ded- icatory services were held November 15, and the first regular service held December 15, 1823. In May, 1826, the Ohio Baptist State convention was organized in this church and the two suc- ceeding annual sessions were held in it.
During the pastorate of Rev. I. B. Conyers, 1856-59, sixty-four members withdrew and or- ganized the Sixth Street church, which after struggling for a time united with the Market Street church. While Rev. J. B. Sharp was pastor, 1865-6, seventy-seven members withdrew and organized Berean church, which subse- quently disbanded, some of the members return- ing to the First and others uniting with the Market Street church. Rev. W. G. Pratt, 1866-8, adjusted the differences between the members, which had been the causes of contentions, pruned and excluded a large number, and succeeded in having the "brethren dwell together in unity."
A Baptist Sunday school was organized in 1822, in a small frame, on the river bank, east of the approach to the Third street bridge, and upon the completion of the church building it was removed to that structure.
MARKET STREET BAPTIST.
During the year 1832, a Baptist congregation was formed in the Academy building, a three- story brick still standing in Market street, im- mediately west of the former Masonic temple, at Fourth and Market streets. Services were held there for a short time, and the court house was obtained for the purpose, and later in a small building on South street, near Seventh. In 1833, a room in the "bottoms" was rented and a Sun- day school started, and when the congregation was strong enough, it was moved to the Academy and placed under the care of the church, and has ever since been conducted and is now one of the most prosperous and enthusiastic schools in the city.
In 1835, a movement was inaugurated to erect a church building, and "Father Mills" donated the lot on the east side of Sixth strect, south of North, and August 5, 1837, the corner-stone of a brick edifice was laid, and the building com- pleted in 1839: as the name of Market Street church had become endeared to the congregation, it was retained.
The growth of the congregation had made the church building inadequate, and during 1904-5 the question of a new structure was agitated, and determined upon ; plans were prepared, and May 11, 1905, farewell services were held in the old church, and Monday, May 15, the demolition of the structure was commenced, arrangements hav-
ing been made to occupy the public hall, in the Odd Fellows' building, during the erection of the new and larger sanctuary.
The location of the corner-stone of the origi- nal church had not been designated in the rec- ords and the workmen engaged in razing the building were instructed to look for it; May 29, 1905, it was uncovered and opened and its con- tents found in a good state of preservation ; they consisted of six copies of the city papers from August 2 to August 5, 1837, a declaration of Baptist faith, dated May 11, 1835, the hymn book in use at the time, a Bible, and a map of the city; it is purposed to place the box and contents in the cavity of the corner-stone of the new church.
FAIR OAKS BAPTIST.
The Market Street Baptist church opened a mission, October 6, 1889, in a store room in Putnam avenue, which was so successful that a lot was purchased at the corner of Woodlawn and Maysville avenues, and a small frame chapel erected, and dedicated December 28, 1890. For a couple of years the work was continued almost exclusively by laymen, and in the fall of 1892. Mr. E. U. Smith, of the senior class in Denison University, was engaged as a supply. February 3, 1893, a complete church organization was ef- fected with thirty-seven members, and having been officially accepted as a congregation, Mr. Smith was offered the pastorate, and was or- dained March 24. The chapel proved too lim- ited for the congregation, and a handsome frame church was erected on the chapel site, and ded- icated October 14, 1894. Mr. Smith severed his pastoral relations February 28, 1895, and his successors have been Revs. E. M. Lake. J. A. Snodgrass, W. L. Lemon, J. Ernest Reynolds. and J. W. Ely, the present pastor, who assumed the charge May 1, 1904.
BRIGHTON PRESBYTERIAN.
The congregation was formed April 30. 1896, and a handsome church and pastor's residence on the adjoining lot were erected.
UNION BAPTIST CHURCH ( COLORED ).
About 1848, Booker Terrell, Ann Jane Ter- rell, George Roots, -- Harris, Mrs. Catherine Cook, Ann Alexander, Elizabeth P. Parrott, and others formed a Baptist congregation, which met in the second story of the First Masonic hall, in Market street, the birthplace of the Market Street Baptist church, and from there moved to a frame building in Putnam: the con- gregation appears to have been later divided. purely from motives of convenience, between the Zion and Third Baptist churches.
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February 4, 1859, the Zion Baptist church was incorporated, under Ohio statutes, and the first regular business meeting was held in Nevitt and Dixon's hall, northwest corner of Main and Sev- enth streets, March 5, 1859, when twenty-seven members were enrolled. In June, the trustees purchased for $300.00, a one-story frame, the property of the True Wesleyan church, near the Blandy works, and the first service was held therein July 2, 1859. In January, 1863, the building was vacated. and a room secured in the Nevitt and Dixon building, and in August, 1866, a lot was purchased on the east side of Eighth street, between Main and South streets, for $800.00, upon which a one-story frame was erected, and the first service held in it November 3. 1866.
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