USA > Ohio > Champaign County > The history of Champaign county, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; history of the Northwest territory etc > Part 25
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nothing for Barrow or Tillotson, but had had her curiosity excited by the heavy clasps and the closing of the fly leaf to the back by many wafers-a mode of pasting papers together at that day. She was a true daughter of Eve, and had her curiosity gratified by lifting the leaf from its wafer fastenings, the only writing found on the page being, "You are a good man, but a most incorrigible beggar." The fly leaf was replaced, but the young lady never got beyond that page in the book. It has been said that his congregation verified in their acquaintance with him the truth of the criticism expressed on the fly leaf. His last sermon in the house was delivered on the day the building was destroyed, and he removed to Illinois, on one of whose wide prairies, one winter day, he was found frozen to death, sitting on the ground with his back against a tree and his saddle-bags by his side. The house was rebuilt, and the successor to Mr. Britch was Rev. David Merrill. In 1840, the two churches were able to stand alone, and the Buck Creek branch secured the services of Rev. Hugh Price. Mr. Merrill was a man of learning and rare abilities, a most genial and social companion, fell of wisdom and wit. In 1837-38, when the controversy arose between the two wings of the Presbyterian Church, called Old and New School, he was suspected of favoring the new heresy, and by stress of circumstances compelled to resign his charge. He afterward was Pastor of a Congregational Church in Vermont, and died from the effect of a sunstroke in the hay-field. His sermons were short and demanded close atten- tion, and were read tolerably fast and without gesture. The use of intoxicating liquors agitated the good people of the country then as now, and, in one of his sermons, afterward of wide circulation, and known as the "ox sermon," he first propounded the principle that the maker and seller of ardent spirits should be held responsible for the evils of intemperance, and used as his text the law enunciated by Moses, that, where the ox pushed with the horn and the owner knew the fact, he was liable for the injury the ox might do.
During the latter part of the ministerial labors of Mr. Merrill, the two or- ganizations at Buck Creek and Urbana were thought to be strong enough to stand alone. The Urbana branch was supplied for a time by Mr. Elcock, then by Mr. Adams. The congregation was hard to please, or these men were in- efficient as preachers, and they remained no long time, and were succeeded, in 1846, by Rev. Mr. C. Magill. The Buck Creek Church gave a call to Rev. Hugh Price, which was accepted, and he was duly installed.
Mr. Price remained at Buck Creek many years, popular and successful. He was not a "rare and ripe scholar," but he had good sense, the zeal of an evangelist, and, in his pulpit efforts, was full of enthusiasm and gesticulation. He was a most companionable man, and probably owed much of his popularity to this characteristic. The Buck Creek Church was different from its Urbana neighbor in the department of singing. This was led by Elder Samuel Humes and Deacon John Earsom, who stood up before the congregation and performed the duties of choristers. They sang as though they enjoyed it, and the whole congregation joined in the singing with a good will and earnestness, and verified the Scriptural injunction to "sing aloud and make a joyful noise."
Again a change came over both churches. New houses of worship were erected in Urbana and at Buck Creek, and with the new houses, a new order of things was introduced. Frequent changes occurred in the pastorate of the Urbana Church, which, in 1869, was filled by Dr. J. A. P. McGaw, who re- signed the place, June, 1880, for a church in Rock Island, Ill., Rev. W. F.
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Claybaugh being settled at Buck Creek, Dr. John F. Marley at First Methodist Episcopal Church, and James Murray at Grace Church, Urbana ; E. C. Stone, Baptist ; - Toliver, of St. Paul's; A. I. Imhoff, of Lutheran ; H. H. Thompson, of the United Presbyterian denomination ; and President Frank Sewell, of the New Church. They were representative men, fully up to the times in general scholarship, harmonizing in social intercourse and religious enterprises, and taking an active interest in the duties of the public-spirited citizens. The unification of several branches of the Presbyterian Church, twenty- two years ago and the surrender of the differences of New School and Old School, eleven years since, tended not only to make unity in these and other branches. of the same general denomination, but to infuse a spirit of harmony in and with all other churches. The material changes which have taken place are a want of the profound respect for the office of clergyman, which was a marked feature forty or fifty years ago. The clergyman then was largely in advance of his congregation, as a general rule, and was not only a religious teacher, but was consulted on matters of daily secular concern. The office was reverenced, if not the man. The general diffusion of knowledge has brought the Pastor and his hearers more on the same intellectual level. The preacher of to-day is proverbially an inefficient business man. The line which once separated the Pastor from the people, and was overstepped only by few, has been broken down, and the minister is regarded as a preacher and a man, rather than "a teacher sent from God." In the pulpit, dogmatic theology has made way for the spirit and teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, and, ordinarily, a stran- ger would be unable to say what are the distinctive tenets of the congregation Political sermons make no part of the in-
where he might chance to worship. tellectual bill of fare. The infraction of this rule or custom would hardly be tolerated by church-going people. In the question of music, the most radical changes have been made. The interlining of the hymn has been abandoned, and in its stead the hymn-book, with musical notes, substituted and placed in every pew. The churches, for the most part, pretend to hold to congregational singing, but rely mainly on a trained choir, sustained by some musical accom- paniment. In the houses of worship above mentioned, which we have selected as types of the churches generally, are found large and expensive pipe-organs, while the reed-organ is made an essential part of the furniture of almost all others, both in town and country.
The former hymn-books have been superseded by a more enlarged and select collection. Galleries are obsolete, and the choir occupies a platform in the rear of the minister, or on the side of the rostrum, which latter, with an upholstered desk or table, is raised a foot or two above the floor. Much of the old congre- gational music is changed. The "voluntaries " and "fugues " of long time ago have given place to "solos," and selections from the masters of song, rendered, probably, with technical skill. However much the change may grat- ify the current musical culture, to the gray-beards who have long occupied the "amen corner," it holds the same place that the violin and cornet did in the esti- mation of their fathers -- and, for all religious purposes, might as well have been written in Choctaw.
We have entered into details respecting the two pioneer churches of Urbana -the Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian-as the parent hives from which went out in large measure, the societies which sprung up over the county as time went by, and which in their methods have followed the same development. A just exhibit demands a short review of other denominations that have established
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
themselves in the village and city, and have carried their organizations, with perhaps two exceptions, into every township.
The Baptist Church. - For nearly half a century after the first settlement of the State, nearly all the churches of the Baptist faith and order, were insti- tuted in the rural districts. Whether the country was supposed to present a more advantageous field than the city, or whether the latter was pre-occupied by
The
the Methodists, who were the early religious pioneers, does not appear.
first organization in Ohio was in 1790, at Columbia, five miles from Cincinnati ; the second at Pleasant Run, near Lancaster, in Fairfield County, in 1801, and the third in Champaign County, on King's Creek, three and one-half miles north- east of Urbana, in the year 1805. At the time of its organization, it numbered eight members only, but some additions were made within the next five or six years, under the pastorate and alternate care of Elders Thomas and Gutridge. Among these were Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Patrick, who afterward helped to organize the society in Urbana.
During these few years other rural churches were instituted at Nettle Creek, Honey Creek, Lost Creek, Tharp's Run, Buck Creek and Darby Creek, and these separate and independent organizations united themselves in a body under the name of the " Mad River Baptist Association." In a few years Baptist Churches were organized throughout the State, and numbered in their member- ship some of the ablest and most influential men of the country. The subject of a more efficient instrumentality for the propagation of the tenets of the church in places where societies had not been established, and especially in the towns, took hold on the minds of the leading men of the denomination, which led to the formation of an advisory missionary body, styled " The Ohio Baptist State Convention." Among the other towns which were selected as "waste places," and entitled to the fostering care of the church as a whole, Urbana was thought to present a good field for missionary labor. To this field Elder Enos French was sent, under the auspices of the convention in 1843. Worship and other religious meetings were held by permission of the County Commissioners in the court house. The result of these efforts, was that upon petition to the Legis- lature, a charter was issued authorizing Samuel V. Baldwin and two others named in the charter, and their successors, to constitute themselves into a cor- porate body, and, as Trustees of said church, hold property, sue and be sued, etc. This body was called the " Urbana Baptist Society," and drew support in some measure from neighboring Baptist Churches. Among its active workers were Douglas Luce, William Patrick, James Dunlap, Judge Baldwin, Jacob Pence, William Richards, John Logan, John Newell, -- Powell.
The Methodist Episcopal Church .- We have elsewhere given a sketch of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This was recognized as the "Pioneer Church " of the new settlements. The itinerant was to be met everywhere, and wherever he could find a lodgment was erected a place of worship. The pioneer itinerant was not distinguished for his learning; commentaries and books being scarce. Indeed he had little room for books in his lonely rides. The church did not demand a high order of scholarship, but he possessed higher qualities for his calling, good sense, earnestness, endurance and fearless- ness. While he did not boast " book learning," in fact too often despised it, he was on an equality in point of intelligence with any of his hearers, and in ad- vance of most of them. He made the Bible his study, practice made him a ready talker, and social intercourse with all classes suggested new thoughts. It was his business to hunt up the " lost sheep," and when one was found he was
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
at once installed a " class leader," and the nucleus of a church then and there placed. A log by the wayside, the cabin in the wilderness, the dedicated house, each or all, as opportunity offered, were used to deliver his message. Under such a system of work, success was inevitable, and at an early day we . find evidences in every locality of an organized society, a settled purpose to stay. The early log structures have passed away with the hands that built them. Here and there over the county we find the small brick building, which marks the first step in the onward movement. These, for the most part, have fulfilled their purpose and begun to show signs of disuse and decay. A later period has erected in the rural districts the frame house with white weather- boarding and green blinds. The towns, as the societies have increased in num- bers and wealth, have vacated the frame buildings for more pretentious edifices of brick. Urbana being among the earliest settled portions of the county, we might infer that here the initial movement would be made. But the itinerant system did not necessarily select the towns. The preacher studied the geogra- phy of the circuit to which he was sent as well as his Bible, and his equipment was a fine horse, a capacious pair of saddle-bags and an abiding faith in his mission.
Trustworthy information in reference to the first Methodist Episcopal Church organization in the county, is difficult to be had. The early system of work and the religious zeal of its preachers were well adapted to make the Methodist Episcopal Church missionary in its work. Preaching was probably had before an organization was effected, of which the circuit called " Mad River was the first, about the year 1803-04. In 1800, the circuit was known as the " Scioto and Miami." In 1803, it was subdivided, and part called " Miami," and in 1805, " Miami and Mad River." As the emigration increased, Urbana was made a preaching-point, and the first regular place of meeting was in a small log house on Lot 207, on Locust street, between Church and Ward, now owned by Mrs. Sciota Hendley. The old house was sold to William Downs, who became contractor for the erection of a brick building on the corner of Locust and Court streets, which has been elsewhere described. In 1833, Urbana appears for the first time in the general minutes, and attached to the Lebanon District ; W. H. Raper, Presiding Elder over the district, and R. Brandriff and O. Johnson, first preachers on the Urbana Circuit. In 1834, the circuit reported a membership of 1,314 members. In 1835-36, Urbana District, W. H. Raper, Presiding Elder, and Urbana Circuit, G. W. Walker and M. Marley, Joshua Boucher and A. Morrow, preachers. In 1837, Urbana was made a station, of which Joshua Boucher was Pastor. Membership re- ported, 283 ; in the circuit, 1,196.
The denominations named-Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist-were the pioneer churches of the county. Small societies of other churches were feebly maintained in various parts of the county at a comparatively early day, among which may be named the Universalist and Christian or Disciples Churches. The former has grown to be a society of considerable magnitude and wealth, erecting several houses for worship in different parts of the county, of which the largest and most expensive was built at Westville in 1878. This church, with others in the county, is under the ministerial supervision of Rev. Mr. Carlton, of Woodstock.
The Christian, New-Light, or Campbellite, or more recently the Disciples, Church (for by each of these names was this particular branch of the church known in this county), at one time had considerable strength. The difference in
Very Chuly Im Aughatric16 URBANA.
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
name probably arose from some shadow of difference in the views of special churches on minor matters, the name Campbellites having been given from a recognition of the services of Alexander Campbell, of West Virginia, who is accepted as the founder of the tenets held by the church, in the earlier part of the present century. Some years since, this society was stronger in the county than at present. Many who held to the doctrines of this branch of the church are to be found in the eastern part of the county, and religious meet- ings are held at different points occasionally during the year, but the church, as a body, in this locality, is not adding to their numbers.
By permission of the County Commissioner, the court hall was opened to the meetings of all religious denominations. The court house in the public square was common property for meetings of all kinds. The erection of the building on the corner of North Main and Court streets, induced considerable restriction in this respect ; but for religious teachers, until the formation of societies with their own place of worship and the erection of the city hall, the doors were opened, and scarcely a Sunday passed in which the advocates and expounders of the doctrines of other branches of the Christian Church did not receive a free hearing. Some of these had followers enough to form societies, which still maintain themselves in Urbana and are prospering. The result is that while the three first named, the pioneer churches of the county, keep the advance in numbers and wealth, here the various shades of opinion, doctrine and church government are represented, and with church settings amply suffi- cient for the entire population in the city. The various churches which have at different times erected houses of worship in Urbana will be noted more par- ticularly in the notes on Urbana City.
SUNDAY SCHOOLS.
A passing notice of Sunday schools may not be out of place. The first school was opened about the year 1820, in the brick church on the corner of Locust and Court streets, and shortly after, one in the Presbyterian House. The pupils were mainly under sixteen years of age, and in 1830 numbered fifty to seventy-five pupils each, with ten teachers for each school. The schools labored with two serious difficulties ; one, the want of classification, the other, the want of teachers. The latter was a serious drawback, as changes were not only frequent but supplies were in constant demand. The Bible, outside of what was called the Bible Class, was not studied. Each teacher selected cer- tain books to be read, the reading of which would give the more interest or benefit, and the pupils were expected to commit to memory and recite passages of Scripture without reference to their connection or bearing. Every ten verses entitled the pupil to a white ticket ; attendance counted one white ticket; ten white tickets were the equivalent and exchanged for one blue, and teh blue for one red ticket. The red ticket was supposed to have a pecuniary value, but few secured enough to make this an object, and the few usually earned were held as high rewards of merit. The system was not well calculated to teach doctrinal theology, but the reading of verses, alternately, in the classes, through whole chapters, and the recitation of portions of the Scriptures committed to memory gave a knowledge of the Bible hardly to be had in any other way. The sing- ing was not very attractive, usually, or rather always, a church hymn, sung without spirit and mainly by the teachers. The libraries were small and pretty well thumbed, and, while they contained some trashy books, contained a less
C
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HISTORY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
percentage of " Dime Novels" than are found in the Sunday-school collections of to-day. The schools continued an hour in session, and met in the morning and afternoon. The Sunday schools of fifty years ago, with all their imperfec- tions, supplied a great want. Experience only was necessary to make them more useful. Mason and Bradbury rendered effective service in composing and arranging simple music, which soon worked its way into all the schools. The harmonium and reed organ gave an added attraction. Instead of depend- ing on chance collections in the churches, or subscriptions by those who took an interest in the schools, they have become self-sustaining by a system of vol- untary weekly contributions of small sums of money. But perhaps more than all else the introduction and use of a system of lessons, prepared by competent men, ranging through years of study, and which in turn has called into active exercise the learning and talents of many persons fitted for the preparation of books and periodicals for the use of Sunday schools, has contributed to make them efficient and attractive. Out of these have also grown mis- sionary and other bands, having the accomplishment of special objects in view, and a county organization composed of delegates from all the schools, who meet semi-annually to consider the questions appertaining to the prosperity and usefulness of the work. The same spirit, system and progress have character- ized the Sunday schools throughout the county, with this exception, that, out- side the towns and villages, the schools are closed during the winter months.
SCHOOLS-PRIVATE AND PUBLIC.
The founders of the Republic had a clear perception of the importance of education as a means to insure the prosperity and permanency of the nation. The building-up of an empire based on the manhood of the citizen, and each holding a ballot, was not in accordance with the accepted opinions of the world, and when the declaration went forth that it was a government by the people and for the people, the wisest statesmen of Europe predicted a failure in less than three generations. A hundred years have passed, every decade of which brought with it a dangerous ordeal, culminating in a civil war such as the world had not seen for three hundred years. Through them all, the nation not only passed safely, but came out of the trial stronger than before. Yet the lesson each has taught, is the necessity of education to the great body of the country. The Franco-Prussian war was won, not by the needle gun, but by the mental training of the German soldier. In a struggle for national life, the odds are all on the side of an educated people, and the history of the world shows that no nation can remain free, however wise and virtuous her rulers may be, when its people are degraded. The Republic has nothing to fear from its educated class. What that education shall be, or to what extent it shall be pursued, are questions for the future to determine.
The convention that assembled at Chillicothe November 1, 1802, in ac- cordance with the act of Congress, April 30, of the same year, besides framing the constitution, had another duty to perform. The act of Congress providing for the admission of the new State into the Union, offered certain propositions to the people. These were, first, that Section 16 in each township, or, in lieu thereof, other contiguous and equivalent lands, should be granted for the use of schools ; that thirty-eight sections of land, where salt-springs had been found, should be granted to the State, never, however, to be sold or leased for a longer term than ten years; and, third, that one-twentieth of the proceeds from the
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sale of the public lands in the State should be applied for the construction of roads from the Atlantic to and through the same. These propositions were offered on the condition that the public lands sold by the United States after the 30th day of June, 1802, should be exempt from State taxation for five years after sale.
The ordinance of 1785 had already provided for the appropriation of Sec- tion 16 to the support of schools in every township sold by the United States ; this, therefore, could not, in 1802, be properly made the subject of a new bar- gain between the United States and the State; and, by many, it was thought that the salt reservations and one-twentieth of the proceeds of the sale of pub- lic lands, were inadequate equivalent for the proposed surrender of a right to tax for five years. The convention, however, accepted the propositions of Con- gress, on their being so far modified and enlarged as to vest in the State, for the use of schools, Section 16 in each township sold by the United States, and three other tracts of land, equal in quantity respectively to one-thirty-sixth of the Virginia reservation, of the military tract and of the Connecticut Reserve ; and to give 3 per cent of the proceeds of the public lands sold within the State to the construction of roads in Ohio, under direction of the Legislature. Congress agreed to the proposed modifications.
We here have the basis of the common-school fund of the State, never probably conjectured or intended to be sufficient for the purposes of education, but adequate to encourage broader and more liberal views. In the early devel- opment of Ohio, a great variety of influences were felt in the way of general education. The settlements were, and for years continued to be, sparse. The people, as the pioneers of all new counties are, were poor, and lacked the means of remunerating teachers. Their poverty compelled all who were able to labor, and the work of the females was as important and toilsome as that of the men. Added to these, both teachers and books were scarce. This condition of things continued perhaps for more than a quarter of a century.
Taking these facts into consideration, it is surprising that they had any schools whatever. The interest awakened in the Eastern States in literature and science immediately after the Revolution, followed the pioneers to their Western homes ; but, to make their efforts productive of useful results, time became absolutely necessary. Just as soon as the settlements were prepared for the experiment, schools were opened ; but at every step it was the acquisi- tion of knowledge under difficulties. Everything connected with them was as simple and primitive as were their dwellings, food and clothing. Houses were built in the various neighborhoods as occasion made necessary, not by subscrip- tion in money, but by labor. On a given day, the neighbors assembled at some place previously agreed upon, and the work was soon done. Timber was abun- dant ; they were skilled in the use of the ax, and, having cut logs of the required length, out of them, the walls were raised. The roof was made of clap- boards, kept in place by heavy poles reaching the length of the house. The door was of clapboards, and creaked on wooden hinges ; the latch of wood, and raised by a string. The floor was "puncheon," or trees split in the middle, tolerably true, with the edge and face dressed with the ax. The crevices between the logs forming the walls were filled with " chinks," or split sticks of wood, and daubed with mud. The fire-place was equally rude, but of ample dimensions, built on the outside of the house, usually of stone to the throat of the flue, and the remainder of the chimney of split sticks of wood, daubed with puddled clay within and without. Light was admitted through the door and by
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