USA > Virginia > Rockingham County > Rockingham County > A history of Rockingham County, Virginia > Part 21
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10. McGaheysville: It is said that a Mr. Bader built a Methodist church in McGaheysville in 1835.
11. Fellowship: Three miles east of Linville.
12. Linville: Church dedicated in September, 1890.
13. Edom.
Churches 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 make up the Rockingham Circuit.
14. Elkton: Said to date back to 1821, when Conrad Harnsberger and Col. Miller donated 4 acres of land for church site and cemetery, and Wm. Monger hewed the logs and built the church. This house was evidently the same as the famous old Elk Run Church, which stood until recently opposite (north of) Cover's tannery.
15. Mt. Hermon: Two miles west of Elkton; corner stone laid September 22, 1893.
16. Mt. Pleasant: Two miles east of Elkton.
Churches 14, 15, and 16 form the Elkton Circuit.
17. Port Republic: Date of organization unknown. As early as 1835 there was a union (free) church in Port Re- public.
18. Grottoes.
19. Timber Ridge: Three miles northwest of Port Re- public.
Churches 17, 18, and 19 constitute the Port Republic Circuit.
20. Broadway: Church dedicated in October, 1881.
21. Lacey Springs.
22. Glass's Church.
Churches 20, 21, and 22 belong to the New Market (Shen- andoah County) Circuit.
23. Furnace: Four miles northeast of Elkton.
Church 23 belongs to the Shenandoah City (Page County) Circuit.
In the Rockingham Register of January 5, 1866, appeared
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the statement that Long's school house, which stood on land in the southern part of Rockingham belonging to the heirs of Ephraim Whitmer, and which had been erected some 50 years before (to wit, about 1816), had been used in early days as a church by the Methodists; later, by the United Brethren.
In 1872 the Baltimore Conference, M. E. Church, South, made appointments to the following charges in Rockingham County: Harrisonburg, Bridgewater, Rockingham, E. Rock- ingham, and Rockingham Mission.
In the latest available census reports, the membership of the M. E. Church, South, in Rockingham County is given as 2560.
The first Methodist church in Harrisonburg, which was also the first in the county, so far as known, stood on the hill west of the county court house, on the site now occupied by the Church of the Brethren. In this house the school estab- lished in 1794 under the direction of Bishop Asbury, noticed more fully in Chapter XV, was conducted. The divisions, etc., incident upon the civil war caused certain changes in organ- ization, and the natural course of circumstances has brought about various changes in the construction and location of church houses. At present the Harrisonburg Methodists are just completing a splendid brown-stone church on the west corner of Main and Bruce streets. When the cornerstone of this structure was laid, September 1, 1911, Rev. H. H. Sher- man, pastor, read an extended and interesting paper on the his- tory of Methodism in Harrisonburg, which paper was published in full at the time by the local press.
On September 17, 1821, a meeting was held by the official members of the Methodist Church in the Rockingham Circuit, at which the following resolutions were passed:
Resolved that it Shall be the farther duty of the Same Committee [Peachey Harrison, Joseph Cravens, Geo. W. Harrison, Reuben Har- rison, and Gerard Morgan] to prepare a petition to the next General As- sembly of this State praying that Body to pass a law for the better pro- tection of Camp meetings and that G. W. Harrison be the Chairman thereof.
Jos. CRAVENS,
Clerk.
LOUIS R. FECHTIG,
Presiding Elder.
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The campmeetings at Taylor's Springs and other places had been much disturbed by disorder, the sale of liquor, etc. On February 19, 1822, the committee reported to the quarterly conference that a memorial had been prepared and forwarded to the legislature.
Says Mrs. Carr:
The camp meeting was one of the great features at that time. It was looked forward to with even greater pleasure than general muster day. Everybody that could raise money enough to get materials for a tent was sure to be there with their families. A good many would go if they had to stint themselves for months. For many years it was held on Taylor Spring grounds. The water was so good and healthy that many people stayed there all summer to drink the water. George W. Harrison had a nice two-story frame house on the corner of the campground. Those that did not have a tent would go out in the morning to stay all day, and take their lunch along.
From 1815 to 1820, as the old minute book shows, the quarterly conferences for Rockingham Circuit of the Meth- odist Church were concerned frequently with the question of slavery. According to the rules of the church and a prevail- ing sentiment, there were persistent efforts to secure the gradual emancipation of slaves belonging to members of the church; and there was evidently a marked disposition on the part of the Rockingham Methodists to make a test on this point with persons applying for membership. About 1816 an elaborate memorial was draw up, addressed to the Gen- eral Conference in Baltimore, deploring the existence of slavery among members of the church, together with the fact that the General Conference had authorized the Annual Conferences "to make whatever regulations they Judged proper respecting the admission of persons to official stations in our Church!" The memorial concludes:
Therefore we most ardently desire that the General Conference would adopt some plan that would enable us to look forward to the day when this great evil shall be removed and the Methodist Church shall become the Glory of all the Churches; If nothing better should be thought of, Permit us, to suggest the following plan; That no person shall be admitted to official stations in our Church, Who holds Slaves, without emancipating them when the Laws of the State shall admit of Emanci-
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pation, and in case they cannot Emancipate them in the State where they may live, to give the Slave the offer of liberty by going to some of the States that will receive and protect free people of Colour, whenever he or she may choose to go,-
And that all persons coming forward to Join our societies, holding Slaves, shall be informed, that we will take them on trial for Twelve Months, and offer them every information in our power, on the Subject- And if they will submit to the same plan of Emancipation as in the case of Official Members, we will consider them Acceptable Members, of Our Church; But if not, they can have no place among us-
And also that the General Conference, Strongly recommend to all our members, conscienciously to avoid Hiring Slaves, in all cases where it can be dispensed with, as this practice tends Indirectly to incourage that sin which we long to be delivered from.
Another interesting incident connected with the history of Methodism in Rockingham was the formation of the Armenian Union Church, August 12, 13, 1847, at Dry River Church, by Benj. Denton, a minister of the M. E. Church, John L. Blakemore, formerly of the Lutheran Church, and others. Later, Denton and Blakemore seem to have separated; and Denton, endeavoring to get things more to his notion, organized another synod at Dry River Church in 1849. The members of this body were Benj. Denton, ordained preacher; John D. Freed, licentiate preacher; Algernon E. Gilmer, Madison Tyler, and John Denton, delegates. A house was built at Dry River, near the old one, in 1850, and services kept up for some time. The old Dry River Church was originally Methodist. Denton published a little book on his movement.7
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Presbyterian Churches in Rockingham (1912).
1. Cook's Creek: New Erection; organized in the 18th century; called "New Erection" because an older establish- ment was, or had been, at Dayton; second church at New Erection built in 1834; present one in 1912.
7. I am under obligation to Dr. H. H. Sherman for the loan of old records of the Methodist Church, of books, etc., and for direct informa- tion; to Bishop L. J. Heatwole for access to a copy of Denton's booklet, etc., and to Rev. John W. Rosenberger for aid.
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2. Harrisonburg: First preaching by Presbyterians said to have been done about 1780; congregation organized in 1789; first church built (on E. Market St.) about 1793; present church erected (northeast side of Public Square) in 1907-8.
3. Cross Keys: For many years a union church; present church erected about 1872.
4. Broadway: Church dedicated June 5, 1870; Rev. T. D. Bell, D. D., organizer and first pastor.
5. Edom: A new church, replacing an old one, was ded- icated in 1871 for use of Lutherans, Methodists, and Presby- terians.
6. Massanutten: At Peale's Cross Roads; dedicated in November, 1874.
7. Bridgewater: Congregation organized in June, 1878; church dedicated in December, 1889.
8. Dayton: Replaces Old Erection.
9. Mt. Olive: On Rawley Pike, 9 miles west of Harri- sonburg; dedicated January 3, 1897.
10. Elkton.
11. Mabel Memorial Chapel: Two miles southeast of Harrisonburg; dedicated 1899.
It is probable that Presbyterian ministers were sent into this part of Virginia from Pennsylvania prior to 1750. In 1752 the congregations of North and South Mountain, Timber Grove, North River, and Cook's Creek are mentioned in the records of the Philadelphia Synod. In 1756 the Cook's Creek congregation made application to the synod that Rev. Alex. Miller might be sent them as pastor, and in 1757 he came. He was installed as pastor for Dayton (Old Erection) and Peaked Mountain (probably Cross Keys).
The church at Dayton was finally abandoned, apparently for New Erection; and about 1780 the old church was torn down. Later, a dam was built across the creek below, and the waters backed up and spread out until the site of Old Erection, with the graves about it, was lost in Silver Lake.
The following table will not only give interesting infor- mation regarding the history of one church, but will also
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show how "division and reunion" have been part and parcel of the experiences of Rockingham Presbyterians.
HARRISONBURG PASTORS.
1789-1808-Benjamin Erwin.
1809-1814-A. B. Davidson.
1818-1821-Daniel Baker, D. D. 1822-1826-Joseph Smith.
1827-1837-Abner Kilpatrick.
1837-1839-J. W. Phillips.
1839-DIVISION.
Old School
New School
1840-1850-Henry Brown. 1837-1839-J. W. Phillips.
1853-1856-J. H. Bocock, D.D. 1840-1841-A.H.H. Boyd, D.D.
1858-1867-D. C. Irwin. 1842-1844-T. L. Hamner.
1846-1867-T. D. Bell, D. D.
1867-REUNION.
1867-1884-John Rice Bowman, D. D.
1885-1887-J. H. Smith.
1887-1892-L. B. Johnson.
1893-1904-E. P. Palmer, D. D.
1905- -Benjamin Wilson, D. D.
The following description of the little stone church on East Market Street, and of the services held in it, is copied from the manuscript of Mrs. Carr, whose account of Harri- sonburg in olden days is of such rare interest.
Next comes the old stone Presbyterian church. The lot on which it was built was taken from Harriet Graham's part of her portion which her father gave her afterwards. John Graham's land furnished the land on which the church was built. The last ten feet on the W. side was where the principal entrance was; there was also a door on the E. and S. ends. My grandfather paid a great deal more than his share towards the erection of this church.
There were four high pews in each corner of the building, each pew having one a foot or two below it. My grandfather's pew was in the N. W. corner, and Sam Henry had one under it. Mr. Scott had the S. W. corner; and I do not remember who had the pew below his, unless it was
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the Herrons. The S. E. corner was Dr. Waterman's, with Robert Gray's below his; the N. E. was Mr. Jerry Kyle's. The pulpit was very high, and half way between the E. and the W. on the N. side of the church. Under it, a little distance from the floor, was the enclosure of perhaps six or seven feet where the elders sat. In front of the pulpit stood a man who led the singing, giving out two lines of the hymn at a time, the congregation joining in the singing. The rest of the seats were on a level with the floor. The high pews were entered by doors. The upper part of the pews were of turned balustrades-two steps leading up to the high pews and one step to the low pews.
The communion was administered twice a year; long high benches were placed in the aisles, in front of the pulpit, with clean white linen placed on them; then on either side were low benches for the communi- cants to sit on. Every communicant brought a small square piece of copper called a token, and when they were seated at the table laid it be- fore him. The elders came around and took them all up; then a solemn hymn was sung beginning, "On that dark and doleful night." The elders after the singing handed around the bread and wine. Afterwards an ad- dress was delivered by the preacher, and a few more verses were sung, when those at the table would retire and make room for others: there were usually four or five tables. It was certainly a more solemn cere- mony than at the present day.
The Presbyterians in Rockingham at the present time number between 1000 and 1200.8
REFORMED CHURCH.
Reformed Churches in Rockingham County (1912).
1. Friedens: Termed a mother church by Gen. J. E. Roller (Hagerstown address, 1897), and indentified with the "New Germantown" visited in 1748 by the eminent Michael Schlatter. Still held jointly by the Reformed and Lutherans. Repaired and rededicated in 1894.
2. St. Michael's: Three miles south of Bridgewater;
8. For aid in securing the foregoing information, I acknowledge special obligation to Mr. Milo Custer, Bloomington, Ill., and Dr. B. F. Wilson and Judge George Grattan, of Harrisonburg.
Reference is made to the following publications: Webster's History of the Presbyterian Church in America (Phila., 1857); Custer's Alexander Miller and Descendants; Year Book of the Harrisonburg Presbyterian Church; and files of the Young Virginian, published in 1874-5, etc., by Rev. W. T. Price, pastor at New Erection.
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organized (as Lutheran or as Lutheran and Reformed) in 1764; house had dirt floor; Rev. Benj. Henkel (Lutheran) said to have been buried under the chancel, about 1794; in 1830 the old log house was remodeled; in 1876 it was torn down, and present brick church was built.
3. Brown Memorial: At McGaheysville; build in 1885, after a separation of the old Reformed and Lutheran con- gregation.
4. Mt. Crawford: Congregation organized and church built in 1842.9
5. Timberville: Cornerstone laid in 1881; church dedi- cated June 1, 1884; built by the Reformed congregation that had previously worshiped at Rader's Church.
6. Pleasant Valley.
7. Harrisonburg: Congregation organized 1894-5 by Rev. J. S. Garrison; church built in 1897.
The most famous leader of the Reformed Church in Vir- ginia was Rev. John Brown, preacher, organizer, author, reformer, born in Germany, 1771. Having come to America, he began the study of theology at Chambersburg, Pa., in 1798; about the same time he visited the Reformed churches in the Valley of Virginia. In 1799 or 1800 he came to be pastor of the Rockingham churches-walking all the way from Pennsylvania. He labored at St. Michael's, Friedens, McGaheysville, and elsewhere. In 1818 he had a 400-page book printed in Harrisonburg (intended as a "Circular"), in which he advocated Bible societies, foreign missions, freedom, and peace. In 1850 he died at Bridgewater, having served his people 50 years. No wonder they called him Father Brown.
Another beloved pastor was John C. Hensell, who died March 29, 1894, at Mt. Crawford, aged 85. For many years he had preached at Mt. Crawford, St. Michael's, Friedens, McGaheysville, and other neighboring places.
9. I am indebted to Mr. S. H. W. Byrd, of Bridgewater, for the par- ticulars given regarding St. Michael's Church and Mt. Crawford Church.
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A HISTORY OF
The Reformed Church members in Rockingham number about 600.10
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.
There have doubtless been some Roman Catholics in Rockingham from very early times. The present church organization seems to date from about 1865. In this year, perhaps earlier, the Catholics had a chapel in Harrisonburg. In July, 1866, their chapel was on German Street, -a school- house shortly before occupied by Miss Mary J. McQuaide. Father McGuire, of Maryland, and Father Joseph Bixio held occasional services in Harrisonburg in 1865 and 1866. In 1867 a Sundayschool was conducted, and Father Weed of Staunton held services each 4th Sunday. In November, 1867, Right-Rev. Bishop McGill of Richmond preached in Rev. Mr. Bell's (Presbyterian) church in Harrisonburg. Mass was celebrated in the Catholic chapel at 10 a. m., November 5. In the summer of 1873 Father Kane, of Washington or Balti- more, and Right-Rev. James Gibbons, 11 of Richmond, visited Harrisonburg and stimulated the movement for building a church. The Rockingham Register of September 5 and Octo- ber 31 contains lists of names of those persons subscribing to the enterprise. In June, 1876, it was reported that the Catholics had purchased the church formerly belonging to the Methodists. In August following the church was dedi- cated, Bishop Gibbons preaching the sermon. In the evening Father O'Keefe preached. Special music was furnished by the St. Francis choir of Staunton.
10. On Brown Memorial Church, see Our Assistant, May, 1899, pub- lished at Mt. Crawford; on Father Brown, Rockingham Register, March 29, 1895, and March 12, 1897; on St. Michael's Church, the Register, April 26, 1877; on Rader's Church, etc., the Harrisonburg Daily News, May 22, 1909, supplement.
I acknowledge information received from Mr. S. H. W. Byrd con- cerning Father Brown.
Rev. J. S. Garrison, of Harrisonburg, is preparing to publish a history of the Reformed Church in Virginia.
11. Now Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore.
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Big Spring, Court Square, as in Olden Days Photo by Morrison
Normal School Girls at Ashby's Monument (Page 179)
OLDEN DAYS ON COURT SQUARE
Waterman L Kenny Catholic
House House Church [Pages 272, 273] High Hill at Left site of First Methodist Church [Pages 263, 265]
Asbury Chapel (Page 284)
Gen. Roller's Library Oldest House in Harrisonburg
Old St. Peter's Church, near Elkton (Page 259)
ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
The church purchased was the one erected about 1863 by the Northern Methodists. It stood on the bank opposite the B. & O. passenger station, on the site now occupied by the large Snell building. For several years, about 1868 and following, it had been used as a place of worship by the Baptists. This church burned in April, 1905, and about a year later the present handsome Catholic church on Main Street was erected. The total number of Catholics in Rockingham is about 250.
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH.
United Brethren Churches in Rockingham (1912).
1. Mt. Hebron: Formerly Whitesel's Church; oldest in the county; located a mile or so southeast of Pleasant Valley. Rededicated in February, 1876, by Bishop J. J. Glossbrenner.
2. Pleasant Grove: On the Valley Pike, two miles south of Mt. Crawford.
3. Dayton Station: Dayton. Church dedications: June, 1878; September, 1904. The congregation was organized prior to the civil war. In 1866 there was a United Brethren Church in Bridgewater, 3 miles south of Dayton .- See Rockingham Register, June 28, 1866.
4. Ottobine: About 12 miles north of Spring Creek.
5. Pleasant Valley.
6. Mt. Horeb: A short distance southwest of Hinton; dedicated in August, 1875.
7. Mt. Clinton.
8. Harrisonburg: Lot on W. Market Street purchased in July, 1894; first service in new church, January 5, 1896.
9. Cedar Grove: A mile and a half east of Harrisonburg. Church dedicated in November, 1886.
10 .- Mt. Sinai: Three miles south of Harrisonburg.
11. Keezletown.
12. Singer's Glen: Donovan Memorial Church, dedi- cated in May, 1906. Salem, formerly located one mile north of Singer's Glen, was founded during the civil war, said to have been the only U. B. Church erected within the Confed- erate States during the war.
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13. Herwin: One mile east of Linville.
14. Cherry Grove: Three miles northeast of Singer's Glen.
15. Lacey Springs.
16. Mt. Bethel: On the Keezletown Road, four miles south of Lacey Springs.
17. Mountain Valley: Two miles east of Lacey Springs.
18. Broadway: Church dedicated in 1893.
19. Cootes' Store: Union church.
20. Mt. Carmel: Three miles west of Cootes' Store.
21. Keplinger's Chapel: Near Crider's.
22. Shady Grove: Two miles northwest of Port Republic.
23. Mt. Zion: Three miles northeast of McGaheysville. Church dedicated in 1899.
24. Elkton.
25. East Point: Two miles west of Elkton.
26. Mt. Hebron: Near Beldor.
27. Swift Run: On Swift Run, southeast of Elkton.
In the Rockingham Register of Feburary 26, 1864, appeared this paragraph:
"Virginia annual conference of the United Brethren in Christ will meet at Freeden's Church, Rockingham County, Va., on the 11th of March."
Inasmuch as Whitesel's Church is near Friedens, the former may be the one referred to in the above notice.
The United Brethren have been at work in Rockingham for more than a century. In 1809, when the Baltimore Methodist Conference met for the second time in Harrison- burg, Christian Newcomer, who succeeded Otterbein and Boehm as bishop of the United Brethren, was present in the effort to arrange for the union of the two churches. Although the plan for union was never formally consummated, Asbury recieved Newcomer warmly, and cordial relations have always existed between the two bodies. The United Brethren have frequently been called German Methodists. Practically all of their preaching up to 1820 was in the German language, and the teaching is like that of Methodism.
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ROCKINGHAM COUNTY
Like the Mennonites, the Dunkers, the Methodists, and at least some of the Lutherans and Reformed, the United Brethren opposed the institution of slavery. Their well-known attitude on this question subjected them to no little unpopu- larity and to some persecution. In 1830 there were only three church houses in all Virginia, one of these being White- sel's Church. So heavily did the storms of the civil war fall that Bishop Markwood, in 1865, or thereabouts, is said to have exclaimed, "There is no United Brethren church in Vir- ginia." In view of this statement, and the discouraging situation that warranted it, the present large number of churches in Rockingham and adjacent sections of the State is the more remarkable.
One of the indefatigable leaders in building up the waste places after the war was Rev. John Williams Howe. He was born December 4, 1829; and lived long enough to see much rejoicing in the blessings that followed his labors. He died June 17, 1903. A fitting sketch of his life and work is given in the second volume of "Our Heroes," by W. M. Weekley and H. H. Fout. The same book contains an extended tribute to Rev. James L. Hensley, another leader of the church, a native of Rockingham. The establishment of a church school at Dayton, 12 in 1876, which has since grown to large proportions and influence, contributed greatly to the success of the religious work now so much in evidence. In this connection the influence of the Ruebush-Kieffer publish- ing house at Dayton should also be mentioned.
The membership of the United Brethren churches in Rockingham in 1906 had reached a total of 2917.13
COLORED CHURCHES.
So far as ascertained, there are eight colored churches in Rockingham: Two Baptist, two Methodist, and four United Brethren.
12. Now Shenandoah Collegiate Institute and School of Music.
13. For aid in securing information regarding the United Brethren Church in Rockingham, I am under special obligation to Rev. A. S. Ham- mack and Mr. Joe K. Ruebush, of Dayton.
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The colored Baptists in Harrisonburg have had a church organization for many years. Shiloh Church was dedicated July 11, 1875; and again in June, 1882. The Baptists of Bridgewater erected a church on Mt. Crawford Avenue, near Main Street, about ten years ago.
The colored Methodists of Harrisonburg dedicated John Wesley Church November 25, 1866. In January, 1870, they purchased the "brick church on the hill" shortly before re- linquished by the Baptist congregation (supposedly the col- ored Baptists), for $2500;14 and in January, 1880, they pur- chased Andrew Chapel, on the west side of German Street, of the white Methodists.
The colored Methodists of Bridgewater used to meet in an old school house that stood on the southwest side of the river, not far from Warm Spring. In May, 1879, they first used the present house of worship, west of Main Street.
In 1879, Mt. Moriah, the colored M. E. church at Mt. Vernon Forge, was burned.
The four United Brethren churches are the following:
1. Harrisonburg: Organized in April, 1876, by Rev. A. H. Wells.
2. Linville.
3. Long's Chapel: Near Lacey Springs; used as early as 1885.
. 4. Dungee's Chapel: Near Pleasant Valley.
Reliable statistics of membership of the colored churches have not been available.
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