Ohio History Journal
234 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
In the fall of 1816 the state offices
were removed from
Chillicothe to Columbus, and on the
first Monday of December,
of the same year, the legislature began
its first session in the
then new state house in Columbus. The proprietors having
finished the public buildings and deeded
the two ten acre lots
to the state, agreeably to their
proposals, at this session they
presented their account for the erection
of the public buildings:
and by an act passed January 29, 1817,
the Governor was au-
thorized to settle and adjust the
account, and the Auditor re-
quired to draw on the treasurer for the
balance found due after
deducting the $50,000 which the
proprietors were by their pro-
posal bound to give.
In the settlement, after deducting from
the charge for car-
penter work some six or seven per cent.,
and the $50,000, there
was found a balance due the proprietors
of about $33,000, which
was paid by the state, and thus was
closed the political and finan-
cial enterprise of fixing the permanent
capital for the state of
Ohio.
Concerning this matter of the location
of the capital, The
Supporter-a Chillicothe weekly of the date Saturday morning,
February 29, 1812-in its leading
editorial spoke as follows:
"The law fixing the permanent seat
of government will be seen
in this week's paper-a town to be laid
out on the east bank of the
Scioto river, opposite Franklinton, and
is, we understand, to be named
Columbus. We believe a more eligible
site for a town is not to be found
and it must afford considerable
gratification that this long contested sub-
ject has at last been settled. The
legislature has appointed Joel Wright,
of Warren county, director."
THE CENTENNIAL CHURCHES OF THE MIAMI
VALLEY.
J. E. BRADFORD, MIAMI UNIVERSITY,
OXFORD.
The aim of this study is to trace the
course and note some
of the main features of ecclesiastical
development in the Miami
Valley to the close of the year 1815. By
the Miami Valley we
mean the whole area drained by the two
Miamis including the
Whitewater which is one of its
tributaries entering the Great
Miami near its mouth. Let it be borne in
mind that what is
here offered is but a hasty preliminary
survey of a very inter-
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 235
esting field which would well justify a
much more careful in-
vestigation.
One hundred years ago the Miami country
had a popula-
tion of about ninety thousand. Dr.
Drake1 gives us a good sur-
vey of it in that year of which the
following is a summary: Cin-
cinnati had about one thousand houses, a
stone courthouse with
dome, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist,
and Friends' meeting-
houses, two banks, two newspapers, a
library, a two-story build-
ing in process of erection for the
accommodation of the newly
founded Lancastrian Seminary, and a
number of manufacturing
establishments, including one stone
mill.
Hamilton had seventy houses, chiefly
log, a postoffice and
printing office, but no public buildings
save a stone jail. Lebanon
was a considerable village with houses
of brick and wood, a
courthouse and a schoolhouse, Baptist
and Methodist churches,
a stone jail, a printing office, a
library, a bank, and several
manufactories.
Franklin had forty-five families, grist
and saw mills and a
postoffice. Dayton had one hundred
dwellings, principally wood,
a courthouse, a Methodist meeting-house,
a brick academy, a
library of two hundred and fifty books,
a bank, a postoffice, and
a printing office.
Xenia was a group of wooden houses with
a courthouse,
one church, a postoffice, and printing
office. Urbana, having been
the base of the recent military
operations, had developed into a
town of about one hundred houses, with a
newspaper and bank,
but without any public buildings. West
of the Miami River was
Greenville, a military post, and Eaton,
with thirty dwellings and
a postoffice, but with no public
buildings. Oxford he describes
as a sparsely populated village located
on the frontier of the
state, that had gained notoriety from
having been fixed on as the
seat of a university.
It was a full quarter century before Dr.
Drake penned his
description of the Miami country that
the first churches were
planted to the northward of the Ohio.
But little more than a
year after the coming of the first
settlers into the Miami coun-
try steps were taken to effect a
religious organization. The
initiative was taken by the Baptists
who, at Columbia, on Jan.
236
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
20, 1796, organized the first Protestant church in the Northwest
Territory. The officiating clergyman was
Rev. Stephen Gane,
and the number of charter members was
nine, though this was
shortly added to. The following May,
Elder John Smith, later
a member of the Constitutional
Convention, and United States
senator from Ohio, took charge of the congregation. This
church grew rapidly, but after Wayne's
Treaty in 1795 many of
its members moved into the interior,
and, in 1797, we have the
founding of Miami Island, Carpenter's
Run and Clear Creek
churches.2
In December of the same year, as the
founding of the Col-
umbia church, a Presbyterian
congregation was organized at
Cincinnati by the Rev. David Rice3 of
Danville, Kentucky. A
few months after James Kemper, a
licentiate, was sent to supply
this congregation, and to establish
preaching stations at Colum-
bia, North Bend and Round Bottom. He
arrived at his field of
labor a few days before St. Clair's
defeat, and proved a tower
of strength to the disheartened
settlement in those troublous days.
If the Baptists have the honor of
organizing the first congre-
gation, to the Presbyterians belong the
credit of erecting the
first house of worship in the Miami
country, and this by the
Cincinnati church. In January, 1792, subscriptions
were made
by one hundred and sixteen persons,
totaling $289 plus £3. 6d.
English money, one hundred and seventy
days work, seventy-one
days' work with team, twenty-three
pounds of nails, four hun-
dred and fifty feet of boards, and
sixty-five boat planks. The
church erected at this time is described
as a good frame house
thirty by forty feet, but "neither
lathed, plastered, nor ceiled".
The floor was of boat plank laid loosely
upon the joists. The
seats were of the same material
supported by blocks of wood.
There was a breastwork of unplaned
cherry boards called a pul-
pit, behind which the clergyman stood on
a piece of boat plank
resting on a block of wood. This church
somewhat improved
a few years later served the
congregation until 1812 when a more
commodious edifice was erected.4
Though there may have been some prior
sporadic preaching,
it was not until 1798 that a definite
effort was made to establish
Methodism in the Miami Valley. In that
year Rev. John Kobler,
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 237
acting under appointment of Bishop
Asbury, crossed the Ohio at
Columbia and made his way to the cabin
of Francis McCormick
near Milford. Here he organized a class
of twenty-one mem-
bers. A few days later, accompanied by
McCormick, he set out
on a tour of the settlements between the
Miamis, visiting among
other points Dayton, Franklin, Hamilton,
and Cincinnati. The
few score of Methodists whom he found he
organized into eight
or ten classes which he sought to visit
every two weeks. After
such a ministry of several months, he
retired from the circuit
reporting ninety-nine members.
It was not, however, until five years
after the close of his
ministry in the Miami Valley that
Methodism gained a foothold
in Cincinnati, as on his visit to the
place in 1798 he could find
no one interested in his ministry, and
so did not include it in his
list of appointments. It was in 1804
that John Collins, a local
preacher residing in Clermont County,
while on a business trip
to Cincinnati learned of the presence
there of a number of
Methodists. These he at once gathered
together, and after
preaching to them organized them into a
class, and a little later
secured their inclusion in the
appointments of the Miami Circuit.
There was, however, no regular place of
preaching until about
1807, when a stone meeting-house was
erected. By 1812 this
church had so grown that it had two
hundred and nine names
upon the roll of its members.5
So far as has been ascertained, the
following list comprises
the churches founded prior to 1816 that
have persisted to the
present time.
|
238 Ohio Archi. and Hist. Society Publications. |
|
|
|
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical Association. 239 |
|
|
|
240 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. |
|
|
|
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical Association. 241 |
|
|
|
242 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications |
|
|
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical Association. 243
Of the churches listed above
twenty-seven are of the Presby-
terian group, twenty-three are Baptist,
twenty-two are Methodist,
sixteen are designated as Friends, five
are Lutheran, four are
Reformed, two are Christian, one is
United Brethren, one is
Congregational, one is known as Shaker.
The affiliation of two
is undetermined. It is noteworthy that
no Catholic or Episcopal
church or Jewish synagogue is included
in the list.
Judging by the churches founded, it
appears that until 1795
the religious frontier adhered closely
to the Ohio river. By 1797
it had reached the banks of Mad river
beyond which it does not
appear to have advanced until a decade
later. In 1805 it ex-
tended to the westward of the Great
Miami and a little later
crossed the boundary line into Indiana.
An examination of this list shows that
comparatively few
churches were founded between 1790 and 1800. This
evidences
lack of interest for the religious
welfare of the rapidly growing
community, and reflects the general
indifference of the West to
matters religious at the close of the
18th century. The great
mass of the people were out of sympathy
with the church. But
with the dawn of the new century a
change occurred, as is
shown from the churches founded after
1802.
THE NEW LIGHT REVIVAL.7
During the years 1801-1805 the Miami
Valley was affected
by certain remarkable religious
phenomena that were farreach-
ing in their results. These were first
manifest in the Cumber-
land settlements some time previous to
this. Due to denomina-
tional dissensions, the influence of
French infidel philosophy, and
the prevalence of wrong doing, interest
in religion at the close
of the eighteenth century was at a very
low ebb. Moved by the
low state of religion, the Rev. James
McCrady, a Presbyterian
clergyman, of southwest Kentucky,
prevailed upon certain ear-
nest Christian spirits to join him in a
covenant to observe the
third Sabbath of each month as a day of
fasting and prayer,
and to spend one-half hour each Saturday
evening and the same
time each Sabbath morning in praying to
God for a revival of
His work in their midst.
The results were first noted at a
sacramental service held
244 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
In 1798 which was pervaded by such
earnestness that little work
was done the following week, the time
being given over to prayer
and other religious exercises. At a
sacramental service held the
following year, while a Rev. Mr. Hodge
was preaching a woman
gave vent to her emotions with a scream.
This was followed
by other meetings frequently held in the
open air in which much
interest was shown. Soon Bishop
McKendree of the Methodist
church arrived on the scene and threw
himself into the work.
Various meetings were held which
attracted persons from far and
near, some of whom came prepared to camp
out during the meet-
ings. Thus originated the camp meetings which became a char-
acteristic feature of the religious life
of the West, and prepared
the way for the modern Chautauqua.
Hundreds were affected in various ways.
Some swooned
away and would lie for hours apparently
without breathing.
Others would roll over and over like a
log, or sometimes like a
wheel. Still others would have violent
twitching of the muscles.
If those of the neck were affected the
head would jerk from side
to side, or backwards and forwards, so
as to threaten the dis-
location of the neck. Some would move
about on hands and
feet barking like dogs. At the Cane
Ridge meeting where the
attendance was estimated at twenty
thousand, it is said that as
many as three thousand fell, jerking,
rolling, dancing and laugh-
ing. No class was exempt from the
affection, nor was it con-
fined to religious gatherings. Usually
the ones so affected were
brought under strong convictions of sin,
but not always.
By 1801 these phenomena began to be
manifest in the Miami
Valley as also in western Pennsylvania,
Virginia and Carolina.
By some they were regarded as operations
of the Divine Spirit
intended to humble the pride of the
human heart and bring con-
viction of sin. Such taught that
"the will of God was made
manifest to each individual who sought
after it by an inward
light which shone into the heart".
Hence these persons came
to be known as New Lights.
The effects of this movement on the
Miami Valley were
threefold:
1. The almost complete extinction of all
Presbyterian churches north
of Hamilton County.
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 245
2. The development of the New Light
movement under the leadership
of Rev. Barton K. Stone.
3. The establishment of three Shaker
communities within the Miami
Valley.
In 1802, there came into the Miami Valley a Presbyterian
clergyman-the Rev. Richard McNemar who
had but lately
resigned his charge at Cabin Creek,
Kentucky, because of op-
position to his participation in the
revival movement in that
region. Though tall and gaunt he had a
commanding presence.
an expressive countenance, and was a
good scholar, reading with
ease Latin, Greek and Hebrew. His manner
was animated and
fervent. His services as pastor being
desired by Turtle Creek
Presbyterian church, a call was
presented to Presbytery at a meet-
ing at Springfield (now Glendale), in
April, 1803. This called
forth a proposal to examine McNemar and
John Thompson, the
pastor of the Springfield church,
"on the fundamental doctrines
of religion". This proposal was
sustained by Rev. James Kem-
per of Cincinnati, and Matthew Wallace
then located in Hamil-
ton. But as the brethren thus brought
under suspicion were
joined by Rev. John Dunlevy the motion
did not prevail. On
the matter being brought before the
Synod of Kentucky these
were joined by the Rev. Robert Marshall
and Barton K. Stone
in entering a protest disclaiming the
jurisdiction of Synod.
These protestants formed the
"Dissenting Presbytery of Spring-
field" which was later joined by
David Purviance. This body,
however, was of brief duration. On June
28, 1804, at a meeting
held at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, it drafted
a Last Will and Testa-
ment, dispensing with the title of
"Reverend", disrobing itself of
all governmental authority, and of its
power to license and ordain
ministers, instituting congregational
form of government and
declaring itself dissolved. Meanwhile
these brethren were inces-
sant in their religious ministrations.
The churches frequently
proved inadequate to accommodate those
who waited upon their
ministry, and services had to be held
out of doors. Numerous
largely attended camp meetings were
held. The strange phenom-
ena to which reference has already been
made were frequently
manifest. It is recorded that at a
communion held at Turtle
Creek in the spring of 1804, even
Thompson - more conserva-
246 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
tive than some others-after
administering the elements began
to dance around the communion table
repeating in a low voice:
"This is the Holy Ghost.
Glory." This exercise in which others
joined him continued for more than an
hour.
THE SHAKER MOVEMENT.8
While interest was at this height, there
arrived at the home
of one of the members of the Turtle
Creek congregation three
representatives of the Shaker community
at Lebanon, New York,
who had been attracted by the reports
that reached them of the
strange happenings in the Ohio Valley.
The next day these men
were introduced to McNemar to whom they
explained their mis-
sion. He was deeply impressed with their
words and consented
to their preaching to his people. To
them they unfolded their
doctrine of the Duality of God, spirit
communications, religious
asceticism, and community of life and
property. The message
found a response in the hearts of the
hearers. McNemar and
the greater part of his congregation
espoused the principles of
Shakerism, renounced the family relation
and transferred their
property to the community which they
founded. On a beautiful
elevation near the old church they
erected their community build-
ings some of which are more than a
hundred years old. Here,
in 1819, they erected their chapel which
is a fine example of
pioneer architecture, and is perhaps the
oldest building devoted
to religious services now standing in
the Miami Valley. Here
the Shakers led their life, introducing
new methods of agricul-
ture, developing new breeds of stock,
providing garden seeds
and remedial agents to the general
public, and engaging in certain
forms of manufacturing. For many years
the community flour-
ished until it numbered several hundred
people. North and
South villages were erected on the
Turtle Creek property, while
additional communities were established
on Whitewater and
near Dayton. In time, however, the
community declined, and as
numbers decreased they centralized at
Union Village. Finally
in 1912, recognizing that they must soon
become extinct, they
disposed of their buildings and farm
lands amounting to about
six thousand acres to the United
Brethren Church, reserving a
life interest in one of the buildings
and its grounds. Here, en-
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 247
joying the comforts of life, the remnant
of this interesting com-
munity calmly await ultimate extinction.
Dunlevy followed McNemar ino Shakerism,
but his other
associates failed to accompany him in
this course. Thompson
soon returned to the Presbyterian fold
and resumed the pastorate
of the Springfield (Glendale) church.
Stone and Purviance
held to their profession, and aided in
laying the foundation of
the Christian church with which they
ultimately merged. Stone,
in his biography, narrates an experience
of himself and a minister
named Dooley while on one of their
preaching tours. "We
preached and baptized daily in Eaton for
many days. No house
could contain the people that flocked to
hear. We left the place
and preached and baptized as many
others. We were poorly clad
and had no money to buy clothes. Going
on to a certain place
through the barrens, a limb tore Brother
Dooley's striped panta-
loons very much. He had no others and I
had none to lend
him. He tied his handkerchief over the
seat and went on and
preached to the people."
SUGAR CREEK UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.9
The years that saw the foregoing
religious development were
marked by the founding of several
congregations that are worthy
of special mention. In 1804, the members
of the Kentucky con-
gregation ministered to by the Rev.
Robert Armstrong, being
dissatisfied with slavery, and having
sent a committee to examine
the country and to select a suitable
location, removed in a body
to the Miami country. These settled -part
of them on Massie's
Creek, an eastern tributary of the
Little Miami, and part on
Sugar Creek, a western branch of the
same stream. Two
churches were built-one on either
stream. The Massie's
Creek church in time was absorbed by
congregations of a kindred
faith organized at Xenia, Cedarville and
Jamestown. The other,
though its church stands at a cross road
in the open country,
has grown stronger with the years.
Originally it was composed
exclusively of Scotch Irish. It chanced
that in removing the site
of the church to a point more central
and accessible, land there-
for was secured from a member of the
German Reformed church.
Soon this man with his family and a
number of his relatives
248 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
asked to be received into membership,
and after some deliberation
they were accepted. They were soon
followed by some Lutherans
and later by some Methodists and others
of Baptist and Quaker
stock. Today this church is thoroughly
Americanized, is well
organized and highly efficient. Last
year it gave its pastor one
thousand dollars salary and a parsonage,
and presented him an
auto that he might more effectively do
his work, while its con-
tributions to benevolence amounted to
one thousand and ninety
dollars. It has given nine of its sons
to the ministry. One of
these is a distinguished college
president and another a university
professor, while one of its daughters
has for more than half a
century labored in the Egyptian mission
field. Two sons that
studied medicine achieved such
distinction that they were chosen
to chairs in medical colleges of
recognized standing, while an-
other son is a leading layman of the
denomination.
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF
WHITEWATER.10
As early as 1802 Mr. J. W.
Brown of Cincinnati preached
at various points in the region of
Paddy's Run, Butler County.
The Christians of the community were
from England, Wales,
Scotland, Ireland and New England; they
were of various de-
nominations, but in order to properly
maintain the ordinances
of the church decided to drop personal
predilections and organize
on the broad basis of Christian love. A
committee was appointed
to draft a constitution and rules of discipline.
The report of
the committee was, after due
deliberation, adopted, and the
church formally organized on September
3, 1803, at the home of
John Templeton, and given the name of
"The Congregational
Church of Whitewater" but is
commonly known as the "Paddy's
Run Church." The first members were
Benjamin McCarty, Asa
Mitchell, Joab Comstock, Andrew Scott,
Margaret Bebb, Ezekiel
Hughes, Wm. and Ann Gwilyne, David and
Mary Francis. In
1804 a committee of their own members
set apart the aforemen-
tioned John W. Brown to the office and
work of the ministry.
The relation thus established continued
until 1811 when Mr.
Brown was sent on a mission to the
eastern states by Miami
University. The church received large
accessions to its mem-
bership among whom were many Welsh.
These soon became
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 249
numerous and in 1817 a minister was
secured, Rev. Rees Lloyd,
who could hold services in both English
and Welsh,
which custom
was continued for many years.
The members of this congregation early
evinced an interest
in education, and in 1807 erected a
schoolhouse and started a
subscription school. In 1821 the
co-pastor, Rev. Thomas Thomas
of the congregation, opened a high
school with a boarding depart-
ment. This school soon acquired
considerable distinction. In
1821
a Union Library Association was formed and
chartered
which is still flourishing. In 1823-25 a
brick meeting-house
43 x 30 was erected. In 1856 a new
church was erected and the
old one given ever to community purpose.
This congregation
continues to flourish, and during the
present year has at very
considerable expense remodeled its
building in order to better
adapt it to its present needs.
It is but natural that a congregation
with such a spirit should
send forth a due complement of its sons
and daughters to achieve
distinction in the world's work. Among
them have been Gov.
William Bebb, Murat Halstead, Dr.
Griffen Shaw, Alfred
Thomas, legal advisor in the United
States Treasury Depart-
ment, Rev. Thomas E. Thomas, at one time
a professor in Lane
Theological Seminary, Rev. Mart Williams
of the China mission,
Prof. S. W. Williams of Miami University
and many others.
HOPEWELL UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.11
When, in 1801, the lands west of the
Miami River had been
open to settlement, a number of Scotch
Irish Presbyterians of
the South located in the southwest part
of Preble County. In
1808 Rev. David Risk of the Associate
Reformed Church organ-
ized these into a congregation which
took the name of Hopewell.
After the cessation of hostilities in
the West in 1813, a gen-
eral exodus from the South, due to the
opposition to slavery,
set in toward this region. This movement
climaxed with the
coming in 1815 of a number of families
from Georgia, led by
their pastor, Rev. Alexander Porter, a
graduate of Dickenson
College. This congregation so increased
that the old log church
thirty by thirty which had been built
prior to 1814 was enlarged
by a thirty foot addition. This building
gave place in 1823 to
250 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
the present commodious brick edifice. By
1835 this building was
so overcrowded that rather than enlarge
it a new church was
built in the northern part of the
congregation, and the members
living in that section were set off and
organized into the Fair-
haven congregation. In 1837 those
members living in and near
Oxford were organized as the Oxford
congregation, and in
connection with the Synod erected a
building that until 1856 was
used both as a theological seminary and
church. Upon the build-
ing of the railroad between Hamilton and
Indianapolis, and the
laying out of College Corner but three
miles to the southwest
of the parent church, another body of
members swarmed to
organize a church at that place. In 1875
almost half of the re-
maining members voted to unite with the
Beechwood Reformed
Presbyterian congregation and erect a
new building at Morning
Sun, midway between the two churches.
This union was effected
and a flourishing congregation is the
result. The other members
were loath to have the services
discontinued, and so have main-
tained a pastor and regular services
until the past year when it
was decided to disband and distribute
themselves among the other
congregations.
The members of this congregation early
showed an interest
in education by establishing a school,
and later founded an
academy which has since evolved into a
high school. This inter-
est is shown in the fact that upward of
forty of the sons of this
community have entered the Christian
ministry. Many of them
have achieved high distinction, two
becoming moderators of the
General Assembly, and two professors in
theological seminaries.
Each of the congregations of the group
has a well equipped
church with parsonage, pays an average
salary of one thousand
dollars to its pastor, and contributes
an equal amount to the mis-
sionary and benevolent agencies.
The community has long been noted for
the loyalty, probity,
as well as religious zeal of its members.
During the Civil War
this purely rural community sent more
than two hundred and
fifty of its men into the Union army,
one of whom became cap-
tain and another a colonel. During the
Civil War and after, the
party vote of the community was almost
unanimously republican.
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 251
WEST ELKTON FRIENDS CHURCH.12
As early as 1804, Nathan Stubbs of
Georgia settled near the
southern boundary of Preble County. He
was shortly followed
by others of like faith from Georgia,
the Carolinas, Pennsylvania
and New Jersey. In 1805 a meeting-house
of round logs was
erected. This gave place in 1809 to one
of hewed logs, while
this was replaced in 1827 by a brick
meeting-house. This later
gave place to the one now standing. At
this time this congrega-
tion numbered about three hundred
members and was but one of
the numerous Quaker settlements made in
the Miami Valley prior
to 1815
the membership of which numbered upwards
of five
thousand. This congregation in common
with other churches
was sadly disturbed by the Hicksite
controversy, and a Hicksite
meeting-house was erected near by. For a
time the congregation
was in a state of decline. Some years
ago, however, a paid pas-
tor was secured, public services were
conformed to the customary
practice, a Bible school was organized,
evangelistic preaching
was introduced, and today the church is
grasping the community
problems in a very practical and
forceful way and gives promise
of long continued service. In this
respect she was more fortunate
than some of her sister churches which,
due to dissension, have
been forced to abandon their churches
and discontinue their
services.
THE GERMAN CHURCHES.13
Among the pioneers who came into the
Miami Valley during
the early years of the last century were
many Germans from
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the valley
of Virginia. Judging
by churches founded these settled almost
wholly within the val-
ley of the Great Miami, and for the most
part within the upper
half of the west slope of the valley.
One important center was
about Germantown, German township,
Montgomery County.
Here they organized a United Brethren
church in 1806, and
Evangelical Lutheran and Reformed
congregations in 1809.
These latter two, as they frequently did
throughout the valley,
united in erecting a house of worship
which they used alternately.
As the congregation grew in strength
each built its own house
of worship, and today both are
flourishing congregations with
252 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
well appointed buildings. To the west of
Germantown extend-
ing into the bounds of Preble County is
a community of German
Baptists or Dunkards. These began the
holding of services as
early as 1806 but it was not until 1845
that they erected a church.
They have now divided into three sects
which are distinguished
as the Old Order, the Conservatives, and
the Progressives.
Many of the German churches endeavored
to continue the
exclusive use of the German language in
their church services.
They found in time that they could not
do this and retain their
young people. Thus they were led to use
the English in part or
in whole in their services.
NEW JERSEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.14
After 18OO a number of families settled
in the vicinity of
Franklin. On August 14, 1813, a number
of them met at the
home of William P. Barkalow and resolved
to form themselves
into a congregation, to apply to
Presbytery for one-half of the
ministerial services of Rev. Francis
Montfort, and to raise him
one hundred and fifty dollars in half
yearly payments. The fol-
lowing year ruling elders were chosen
and Mr. Montfort ordained
as their pastor. In 1815 steps were
taken to build a frame
church. This was used until 1867 when it
gave place to a hand-
some brick structure that cost $16,365
and which is well adapted
to religious services, Bible school work
and the social work of
the community. This congregation today
numbers more than
two hundred members who look well to the
comfort and support
of their pastor and are deeply
interested in all missionary ac-
tivities.
TAPSCOTT BAPTIST CHURCH.15
Within half a mile of this church stands
the Tapscott Bap-
tist church, founded in 1814 by people
of the same general stock
but with different religious ideals. A
little later a brick meeting-
house which still stands was erected and
for a time the church
prospered. But in 1835 dissension arose
in the Baptist churches
as to the propriety of undertaking
missionary work, establishing
Bible schools and joining in
evangelistic effort. In 1836 a majority
of this congregation decided in
opposition to those agencies.
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 253
Those favoring withdrew and formed the
Franklin Baptist
church. Today the Tapscott church
numbers a scant dozen mem-
bers, holds an occasional service, and
is without any vital hold
on the community life. Of similar
history is the Clear Creek Bap-
tist founded in 1797, but which stands
today practically unused
and with woods growing about its doors.
CHURCH ARCHITECTURE ONE HUNDRED YEARS
AGO.
The most primitive type of pioneer
church was that built
of round logs. Such an one was that at
Massie's Creek, Greene
County, in 1808 which is thus described:
"The building was
thirty feet square and built of peeled
hickory logs, and had
neither loft nor floor save mother
earth. There was but one
door, and it was in the center of one
end of the house. From the
door there was an aisle which ran to the
foundation of the pul-
pit in the center of the other end of
the house. The pulpit was
constructed of clapboards on a wooden
foundation, and on each
side of the pulpit was a window of
twelve eight by ten lights.
It was seated with two rows of puncheons
from twelve to fifteen
inches broad and twelve feet long, split
out from poplar near by,
and from four to six inches thick,
hewed on the upper side and
smoothed with a jack plane. In each end
and center there were
uprights some three feet long mortised
in, and on these uprights
two or three slats were pinned which
formed quite a comfortable
back." To worship in these rude
houses men and women would
travel as many as fifteen miles and sit
without fire, even in the
winter, and hear two sermons. With the
growth of the congre-
gation the church was sometimes enlarged
by building thereto.
This was done at Hopewell when, ere the
first building was com-
pleted, it was found too small to
accommodate the influx of
population, so an addition of thirty
feet was built to the original
structure.16
With the development of society a hewed
log meeting house
would be erected. Immense logs would be
selected and so care-
fully hewed that no mark of the ax was
seen. For such a build-
ing at Massie's Creek the members
contributed material and
labor, while Parson Armstrong
contributed a gallon of whisky
for the raising, without which that
function would have been
254 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
incomplete. Sometimes the building was
made two stories with
a gallery, as was the first
church building in the Miami Valley
erected at Columbia, or the "Old
Dutch church" erected in 1823
which still stands a few miles west of
Germantown and in which
a pipe organ was installed in 1859. The
pulpit was small and
was built high up on the wall, and was
reached by a number of
steps and entered by a door. Such
without the pulpit was the
first Methodist meeting-house in the
Miami Valley, erected in
1804, at
"Old Hopewell, Clermont Co." It was a hewed log
building two stories high and a very
large building for its day.
Some congregations were more ambitious
and erected frame
structures. The New Jersey church at
Carlisle modeled its first
building after the Old Tenant church in
New Jersey from whence
they had come. For its construction
Tanes D. Vanderveer fur-
nished the frame work, George Lane the
weather boarding, Hen-
drix Lane the floor, Michael Van Tuyle
sawed the material, John
McKean built the pulpit, while each man
furnished his own
bench.
The Associate Presbyterian (now Second
United Presby-
terian) church of Xenia determined to
build somewhat more
durably, and in 1814 a stone building
fifty by thirty-five feet was
erected. But the masterpiece of church
architecture in the Miami
Valley one hundred years ago was that
erected by the Cincinnati
Presbyterians in 1814 and known as the
Two-horn church from
its two towers. However, the churches of
a hundred years ago
were for the most part of the most
primitive type, while many
congregations were worshipping from
place to place in the cabins
of its members.
EARLY PREACHERS.
It would be interesting to study the
lives of the men who
pioneered in the religious development
of the Miami Valley. We
can, however, but note, and that
briefly, a few of these.
Stephen Gard, 1776-1839, was born in
Essex County, N. J.,
and educated in a classical academy near
his home. He arrived
at Columbia in 1798 and located at
Trenton, where, in 1801, he
was married to Rachel Pierce. He founded
Baptist churches at
Trenton, Middletown, Carlisle, Dayton
and Hamilton.17
James Kemper (1755-1784) was born at
Warrentown,
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 255
Fauquier Co., Va. Though reared in the
Episcopal Church he
was led to espouse the Presbyterian
faith. In 1735, at the solicita-
tion of Rev. David Rice, he moved to
Kentucky to take a posi-
tion as teacher in the Transylvania
Seminary. In 1791 he was
licensed and appointed to supply in the
"churches of the Miami."
In 1791 he came to Cincinnati where,
after a year, he was
ordained and installed pastor of the
Presbyterian church at that
place. Later he ministered to the Turtle
Creek Presbyterian
church, but his work here was cut short
on account of the dis-
approval by the plain dressing pioneers
of his wife's elaborate
head-dress. Later he founded the Second
Presbyterian church
of Cincinnati. He was a man of ambitious
plans and promoted
the Kentucky Academy, the Walnut Hills
Academy, the Cincin-
nati College, and Lane Theological
Seminary.18
James Hughes was born of English
parentage in York
County, Pa. About 1780 he moved wtih
his parents to Washing-
ton County where he received his
classical and theological educa-
tion, in part at least, under the
tuition of Rev. John McMillan
in the "Log College" which he
erected near his house, and which
still stands on the campus of old
Jefferson College. He was
licensed in 1788, and two years later
was ordained and installed
as pastor of the Short Creek and Lower
Buffalo churches. He
was probably the first Presbyterian
clergyman ordained west of
the Alleghenies. In these fields he
labored until 1814. In 1815
he settled at Urbana, where he founded
the Presbyterian church
to which he ministered until 1818, when
he was elected Principal
of the Grammar School of Miami
University. On moving to
Oxford he organized the Presbyterian church
at that place. Here
he died in 1821.19
Robert H. Bishop (1777-1855) was born
near Edinburgh,
Scotland, graduating from the university
at that place in 1798,
and from the theological seminary at
Selkirk in 1802. In that
year he, with four others, was induced
to migrate to America
to minister to the Associate
Presbyterian churches there. He,
with another of these, was sent to the
Ohio Valley to labor.
After ministering for a time to churches
in southern Ohio, he
located at Lexington, Ky., where he
occupied a professorship in
Transylvania University, and the
pastorate of two congregations
256 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
near that place. In 1819 he connected with the Presbyterian
church, and became pastor of McChord
church, Lexington. In
1820
he was made first president of Miami
University. In this
connection he served for a time as
pastor of the Presbyterian
church at Oxford. In Kentucky he was
reckoned as one of
her best pulpit orators. In 1844 he
severed his connection with
Miami, and became president of Farmers'
College at College Hill,
where he served until his death.20
The pioneer Methodist preacher of the
Miami Valley was
Francis McCormick who was born in
Frederick County, Virginia,
June 4, 1764. In 1790 he became a
local preacher. In 1795 he
moved to Kentucky and two years later
crossed the river into
Ohio, locating at Milford in Clermont
County. At his suggestion,
Bishop Asbury sent Rev. John Kobler to
Ohio, and it was at
his cabin that the first class was
organized. He acted as guide
to Kobler on his first tour of the Miami
country. He was in-
strumental in organizing a class near
Lockland and another near
Columbia, where he located in 1807.21
Rev. John Kobler was born in Virginia in
1768. At twenty-
one he entered the ministry, and in 1798
he was appointed to the
work in Ohio where he formed the Miami
Circuit, being the first
regularly appointed Methodist preacher
in the Northwest Ter-
ritory. He is described as tall and well
proportioned, with long
black hair, and unusual intellectual
powers. The arduous work
of the frontier undermined his health
and he died after render-
ing eighteen years of ministerial
service.22
Rev. John Collins was born of Quaker
parentage in New
Jersey in 1789. At an early age he was
licensed as a local
preacher. In 1803 he moved to
Ohio and settled on the East
Fork of the Little Miami where he
purchased a tract of land.
In 1807 he became an itinerant and
attached to the Miami cir-
cuit. He was a man of prepossessing
appearance, gentle spirit
and great eloquence. He was the founder
of the churches at
Cincinnati, Columbia, Dayton, Hillsboro,
and other places. He
died in 1845.23
Does this survey reveal any general
principles that deter-
mine the growth or decadence, the life
or death of a congrega-
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 257
tion ? I would not be over positive on
this point but would pro-
pose the following tentatively:
To live and grow a congregation must
1. Become Americanized.
2. It must keep itself free from serious distractions.
3. It must have some aim in existing
other than itself.
4. It must understand the application of
the Divine prin-
ciples of life and action in their
relation to its own community
and age.
REFERENCES.
1. Drake, Natural and Statistical View
or Picture of the Miami Coun-
try, 36-50.
2. Dunlevy, History of the Miami Baptist
Association, 16-54.
3. Bishop, Memoirs of Rev. David Rice,
13-116.
4. Montfort, History of the First
Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati,
(Mss.).
5. Williams, Pictures of Early Methodism
in Ohio, 38-49.
Barker, History of Ohio Methodism,
81-10, 338-346, 361-364, 421-
424,
436-438.
6. The list of churches here given has
been compiled for the most part
from the following histories:
History of Hamilton County, Ohio.
Greve, Centennial History of Cincinnati.
A History and Biographical Cyclopedia of
Butler County, Ohio.
Steele, History of Dayton, Ohio.
History of Montgomery County, Ohio.
History of Preble County, Ohio.
History of Clinton County, Ohio.
Williams, History of Clermont and Brown
Counties, Ohio.
History of Greene County, Ohio.
History of Clark County, Ohio.
Antrim, The History of Champaign and
Logan Counties, Ohio.
Harbaugh, Centennial History of Troy,
Piqua, and Miami County,
Ohio.
Young, History of Wayne County, Indiana.
History of Union County, Indiana.
History of Fayette County, Indiana.
Morrow, History of Warren County, Ohio.
8. McNemar, The Kentucky Revival with a
Brief Sketch of Sha-
kerism, (1808), 19-72.
Vol. XXV-17.
258 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
Bishop, Memoirs of Rev. David Rice and
History of the Church in
Kentucky, 118-140.
Hoffman, The Story of a Country Church,
36-59.
8. McNemar, The Kentucky Revival with a
Brief Sketch of Sha-
kerism, (1808), 73-105.
Morrow, History of Warren County, Ohio,
267-274.
Otterbein Home Annual.
9. Centennial History of the Sugar Creek
United Presbyterian Church.
History of Greene County, Ohio.
10. The Articles of Faith, Constitution
and History of the Congrega-
tional Church of Whitewater, Morgan
Township, Butler
County, Ohio.
Chidlaw, An Historical Sketch of Paddy's
Run, Butler County, Ohio.
11. Records of Hopewell United
Presbyterian Church (Mss.).
12. Records of the West Elkton Friends
Church (Mss.).
13. History of Montgomery County, Ohio.
14. Morrow, History of Warren County,
Ohio.
15. Morrow, History of Warren County,
Ohio.
16. History of Greene County, Ohio, 272.
17. Dunlevy, History of the Miami
Baptist Association, 165.
18. Kemper, A Memorial of James Kemper.
19. Smith, Old Redstone Presbytery,
344-347.
Porter, The Presbyterian Church of
Oxford, 8, 9.
20. Mills, Life and Services of Rev. R.
H. Bishop, D. D.
The Diamond Jubilee Volume of Miami
University, 86-90.
21. Barker, History of Ohio Methodism,
83-87.
22. Barker, History of Ohio Methodism,
87-90.
23. Barker, History of Ohio Methodism,
137-140.
BUSINESS MEETING OF THE OHIO VALLEY
HISTORICAL
ASSOCIATION.
A business meeting was held at the close
of the Friday after-
noon session. Prof. H. W. Elson called
for the report of the
committees on nominations and
resolutions. The following of-
ficers were nominated and elected.
President: Prof. Harlow Lindley of Earlham College, Richmond,
Indiana.
Vice Presidents: Prof. J. R. Robertson of Berea College, Berea,
Ky.; Mr. B. S. Patterson, Pittsburgh,
Pa.; Prof. W. H. Siebert, Ohio
State University, Columbus, Ohio; Prof.
C. L. Martzolff, Ohio University,
Athens, Ohio.