A COMPLETE HISTORY OF ALL THE CHURCHES --- THE METHODIST --- DIFFERENT BAPTISTS --- CHRISTIAN --- PRESBYTERIAN --- CATHOLIC --- WHO ORGANIZED THEM --- SKETCHES OF THE PROMINENT CHURCHMEN, ETC.
"Saw ye not the cloud arise,
Little as the
human hand;
Now it spreads along the skies;
Hangs o’er all
the thirsty land."
---Old Hymn.
AMONG the early pioneers in the Illinois country were some of the soldiers of Gen. George Rogers Clark, who, after his successful expedition and capture of this vast domain, returned with their friends and settled in this Territory. A few of these had been trained in the principles of Christianity, though we have no positive assurance that there were any church members among them, but there is a tradition that a Mrs. Bond had once belonged to the Presbyterian Church.
We are, however, led to the conclusion that their hungering after the "Word of Life" was great, inasmuch as, in the absence of the Gospel ministry and all sanctuary privileges, some of them were in the habit of assembling at private houses on the Sabbath day, for the purpose of hearing read the Bible or any other good books that could be obtained for the occasion.
One of their number (generally Judge Bond) would read, after which they would discuss the subjects read and inquire of each other the meaning of the different passages that had attracted their attention. It is not at all probable that there was any public praying at these meetings, as there were none so far advanced in the cause as to undertake so great a task.
The first Gospel minister to visit Illinois was a Baptist by the name of Smith, who preached to the people in 1787, and we understand that there were some conversions under his ministry, among whom was Capt. Joseph Ogle, who afterward became a Methodist class leader and a prominent man in the commonwealth.
Conspicuous among those who have borne the story of Calvary, and carried the glad tidings of salvation to the pioneer cabin, offering in the name of the Great Master, life to fallen men, was the itinerant Methodist preacher.
Invincible, untiring; if one should fall by the way another would rise up to take his place. In the frontiers, without roads or bridges, swimming swollen streams, enduring cold and hunger, with other hardships and privations, poorly clad and often without the means of securing adequate covering; keeping watch with the stars at night, far away from human habitation, with no sounds to cheer or disturb their quiet, save the winds or storms among the forests, the howl of wild beasts, and sometimes the echoing war-cry of the savages; alone in the world, with poverty as a constant companion, far away from loved ones, they pressed the battle to victory, denying themselves that others might live. Others may have equaled them in zeal and good works, but certainly none ever surpassed them.
So far as is now known, the first Methodist preacher to visit Illinois was Joseph Lillard, in 1793. He had been a circuit preacher in Kentucky, and after his location came to this country, and after preaching to the people, organized the first class in the Territory, and appointed Joseph Ogle class leader. He was a good man of moderate ability, but sometimes afflicted with mental trouble. During one of these periods of abberation he escaped from his friends, and while wandering in the woods, came across the body of a man who had recently been murdered and scalped by the Indians. While he tarried gazing upon the mangled remains, the cloud passed from his mind, and becoming conscious he returned and gave the alarm. Thirty years afterward he again visited Illinois and preached to the people, finding many things changed for the better.
In 1796, Rev. Hosea Riggs, a local preacher, settled in Illinois, where he became of great service to the church and country, dying at the advanced age of eighty-one years, in 1841.
He was a Revolutionary soldier. Rev. John Clark came to Illinois, and preached and taught school, being loved and honored by all who knew him. He preached the first Protestant sermon west of the Mississippi River. In his old age he joined a sect of Baptists, calling themselves "Friends of Humanity," but retained the confidence of his old friends.
Rev. Thomas Harrison, settled near Bellville, in Illinois, in 1804, and labored with acceptability for more than fifty years.
In 1803, Rev. Hosea Riggs visited the Western Conference in Kentucky, and secured a circuit preacher for Illinois. Benjamin Young was the first itinerant circuit preacher in the Territory, commencing his work in 1803. He reported sixty-seven church members in Illinois at the end of the year.
In 1804, Joseph Oglesby was appointed to Illinois, and the membership was increased to 140 during the year. He was a man of good stock, and died a few years since in Indiana, greatly respected.
In 1805, William McKendree was Presiding Elder, and not at that time a Bishop as Gov. Reynolds states. He was a soldier in the Revolution, a great preacher, the peer of any man in the nation, and was receiving, as any other itinerant preacher, a salary of only $80 a year. He was soon afterward elected Bishop, and we would here remark that a Bishop is the only member in the M. E. Church that is entitled to neither a vote nor a veto.
In 1805, Charles B. Matheny was pastor this year, and, on account of ill health, located in Springfield in 1818, where he left an honorable record and a worthy family.
In 1806, Jesse Walker came, and though volumes might be written in his praise, the want of space admonishes us to pay more regard to their chronological order than the character of the preachers.
1807---John Clingan, P. C.; James Ward,
P. E. 272 members.
1808---Jesse Walker, P. C.; Samuel Parker,
P. E.
1809---Abraham Amos; 341 members on Illinois
Circuit.
1810---Cash Creek Circuit, Thomas Kirkham.
1811---Cash River, Baker Wrather; James
Axley, P. E.
1812---Illinois Circuit was attached to the
Tennessee Conference. Wabash District, Peter Cartright, P. E.;
Little Wabash Circuit, John Smith.
1813---Jas Porter, P. C.; Jesse Walker,
P. E.
1814---John C. Harrison.
1815---Daniel McHenry.
1816---Illinois for eight years formed a part of the
Missouri Conference. John Harris, P. C.; Samuel H. Thompson,
P. E.
1817---Daniel McHenry.
1818---Charles Slocumb, P. C.; Jesse Haile,
P. E.
1819-20---Thomas Davis, P. C.; David Sharp,
P. E.
1821---H. Vredenburg and Thomas Rice.
1822---Wabash and Mt. Vernon, Josiah Patterson
and William H. Smith.
1823---Wabash and Mt. Vernon, William H. Smith,
P. C.; S. H. Thompson, P. E.
1824---Illinois Conference established. Wabash
Circuit, Cornelius Ruddle.
1825---Wabash Circuit, Thomas Davis, P. C.; Charles
Holliday, P. E.
1826---Robert Delap.
1827---James Hadley.
1828---William Mavity; George Lock,
P. E.
1829---John Fox and Alfred Arrington.
1830---Thomas H. Files and Philip T.
Cordier.
1831---Thomas H. Files and James M. Massey.
1832---James McKean and J. W. Corbin;
Michael S. Taylor, P. E.
1833---James W. Corbin and William Mavity.
1834---James Walker; John S. Barger,
P. E.
1835---John Fox.
1836---William Taylor and William Metcalf.
1837---Rhodam Allen and John Parsons;
Hooper Crews, P. E.
1838---Arthur Bradshaw; A. E. Phelps,
P. E.
1839---G. W. Strebling; G. W. Robins,
P. E.
1840---William Cummings and Ashael Brown.
1841---John Shepherd; Barton Randle,
P. E.
After this year, the work in Wayne County was called Fairfield Circuit.
It will not be out of place to mention a few incidents in connection with some of the foregoing preachers.
The fiery, impetuous and fearless Daniel McHenry was the right man for the circuit during the Indian war, as a less courageous man would have failed in the midst of dangers so menacing. He was a terror to evil-doers and entertained a great antipathy to slavery. On one occasion he, with his son and a negro, actually whipped and drove back into Kentucky a company of kidnapers.
After an absence of fifty years, William H. Smith visited the Conference at Mt. Vernon and met a few of his early parishoners.
Cornelius Ruddle, while moving from his circuit at New Haven to Equality, with both his horses, was killed by a falling tree. His wife was compelled to return on foot four miles to the settlement to procure help. James Hadley’s wife died in the vicinity of Fairfield. Father Mavity (pronounced Movit—ee) died and was buried at Mellrose’s, in Edward’s County, on the place now owned by Mr. West.
Alfred Arrington is remembered by very few now living here, but by those few well remembered. Though unassuming, he proved to be a young man of great erudition, and became an able and eloquent preacher. He was expelled from the church, after which he studied law, became an able advocate, and settled in Chicago, where he was elected Judge, and died a few years since, a Roman Catholic.
While crossing the Little Wabash River, at the mouth of White Oak Creek, a little below the "Air Line" Railroad bridge, in 1839, William Metcalf was drowned. He lies buried in the Mathew Crews’ Cemetery.
More than sixty-seven years ago, or within a few weeks after the first settlers had come to the region of Burnt Prairie, in 1816, came John Harris, the Methodist circuit rider, following the wake of the early pioneer, serving the flocks, gathering up the scattered fragments that had strayed into the wilderness waste, carrying the glad tidings to the lost, administering to the spiritual wants of a people widely separated, and persuading men to seek a better inheritance and live better lives. At his first appearance in the settlement, in August, 1816, Mr. Harris preached at the house of Alexander Hamilton, to five persons as his congregation, viz.: Mr. Hamilton, his wife and two nieces and George Meritt, a young man at that time.
Early in the winter of 1817, Archy Roberts, a talented local preacher, settled on the southeast quarter of Section 11, Town 3 south, Range 8 east, and at his house it is thought the first Methodist society was organized. It is also stated by Mr. Meritt that it was several years before the ministers of other denomination visited these settlements.
In 1817, Daniel McHenry, on his rounds, found the Gillison family, and established preaching at their house. In the new settlement the necessaries of life were not only costly, but hard to obtain. Mrs. Gillison had carded, spun and wove a piece of jeans, taken it on horseback to Shawneetown, and sold it, taking in part pay corn meal at $1 per bushel, which she brought home, and with this fed the circuit preacher’s horse on his first visit. So glad were many of the people to have these messengers of Christ make their monthly rounds, that they would endure almost any hardship and undergo many privations, that they and their children might obtain the "Word of Life." To this society belonged the Robertses, Fileses, Pattens, Gillisons and others.
In 1820, John Bovee, with his family, removed to Big Mound Prairie, and found here an organized Methodist society, with regular circuit preaching at Hugh Stewart’s northeast quarter of Section 5, Town 2 south, Range 7 east, latterly the home of the late Rev. John Chambers. The early members were Stewarts, Robinsons, Gastons, Bovees and Andrew Hall’s family. Rev. James A. Robinson was born here, and Rev. James M. Massey, step-son of Bovee, grew to manhood in this settlement. In 1831, the preaching was removed to Bovee’s house, on the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 9, where it remained about five years, when it was again removed to the Bovee Schoolhouse, southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 32, in Lamard Township, and became the headquarters for Methodism for many miles around. About 1859, as the membership had increased and the house would no longer answer the demands of the congregation, Mt. Olivet Church, a substantial log house was built about sixty rods west of this place, which amply serves the society at the present time. The cemetery is still near the schoolhouse. Many souls have been converted at this place, and among the most prominent revivals were those resulting from the protracted meetings conducted by Revs. Samuel Walker, C. W. Sabine, C. A. Young and Robert D. Ellis. Connected with this society at present are many good and substantial members, and the sabbath school has been in a flourishing condition for many years.
Ebenezer.---In 1819 or 1820, the untiring itinerant appeared at Andrew Crews, in Massillon Township, and the organization of a Methodist society was, shortly afterward accomplished. Among the first members were Andrew Crews and family, Jonathan Douglas and wife, McMackens, Monroes, George Wilson and probably some others. After 1829, the place of worship was at Matthew Crews’ dwelling house for a number of years, and this society became the center of the circuit, and in fact, the most prominent Methodist organization in Wayne County. James Crews was the first class leader. In 1840, when the Crews’ dwelling house would no longer accommodate the increasing congregations, it was determined to build a church house, when Matthew Crews remarked that "it must be ready before the next quarterly meeting." This declaration gave assurance that the work would be done, and a substantial log house, with two glass windows, a large stove (the first in the township), and fine, broad plank seats, made bench fashion, was erected on the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 31, in Massillon Township.
At this place was also established a cemetery and a camp ground. The church was called "Ebenezer," a name by which the society has been known for the past forty-four years.
While R. H. Massey was on the work in 1865, the society erected a neat, frame chapel, 24x36 feet, at a cost of $1,000, on the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 35, Jasper Township (land donated by John M. Creighton), and this house still serves as a temple of worship, where an active society still offers up prayer and praise. In 1851, under the ministry of Thomas Sharp, at the camp ground, a sweeping revival visited this community.
The principal revivals at this place since that time have attended the labors of Revs. Hazen and C. W. Sabine, although there has been some revival influence almost every year.
Woodland.---As early as 1826, a Methodist society was organized at the dwelling of John McMacken, northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 21, in Jasper Township, on the place now owned by Mr. G. E. Shank. Among the first members were the McMackens, Bradshaws, Douglases, and George Wilson. Some of these were transferred from the Crews’ society. The preaching was sometimes at the house of Jonathan Douglas. Clinton McMacken, James and Thomas Bradshaw were early class leaders, and, in fact, five sons of Mrs. Ann Bradshaw became leaders at this place.
An amusing incident occurred here, shortly after the organization of the society. A boy fell asleep, during preaching one day, and, dreaming that the hogs ere in the yard clapped his hands and hollowed, to frighten them away, when the preacher, mistaking the shout for a conversion, expressed great satisfaction that another sinner had turned from his evil ways.
The increase in the congregation at this place, had placed the society under the necessity of providing larger accommodations. In 1843, it was determined to build a church house, and the only question agitating the brethren was with regard to the location. J. J. Bradshaw had offered an acre of ground on the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 15, when Thomas Bradshaw terminated the controversy by proposing that all go to work in the morning, with axes and broadaxes. Some hesitated for a while, but by the next evening the woods were ringing with the sound of axes and falling trees, and Woodland, a neat log church, was completed, which serves the congregation as a place of worship at the present time, though they greatly need, and ought to have a better house for the worship of God.
There have been many revivals of religion at this place, and many have found peace and rest here, that have entered into their great reward.
Rev. Arthur Bradshaw of the Illinois Conference entered the itinerancy from this place, and Rev. Lewis A. Harper, of the Southern Illinois Conference, preached his first sermon here.
From information that seems to be reliable, we have reason to believe that there was a Methodist society in existence at Virden’s as early as 1830.
The appointment was supplied from Mt. Carmel, at first, and latterly, from Albion Circuit. Two camp-grounds were established near this place, many years ago, and the church has been favored with good revival influences, at different times.
Among the early members, were the Verdens, Melroses, Robinsons, Scotts, Ewings and others. Dr. H. G. Thrall, a talented and useful local preacher, and Rev. L. A. Harper were probably licensed to preach at this place.
Rev. J. A. Robinson, whose wife was a Melrose, from this society entered upon his long and useful career as an itinerant minister.
Many years ago, the society built a log church house on the southwest corner of the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 24, Town 2 south, Range 9 east, in Leach Township. The church is still flourishing to some extent, and after a long course of usefulness, is still in the field, but we are unable to give any statement as to their numerical strength. The church is sometimes known by the names of Scottsville, Wabash, and Brushy Prairie.
We have no means of ascertaining, at present, when the first Methodist organization was established in this community, as Wayne County formed a part of a large scope of country, known as Wabash Circuit, the records of which are not now known to be in existence, and the records of Fairfield Circuit did not commence until 1842. We have been able to ascertain, with certainty, that there was a society in existence in 1830, at Moses Woods’ house, in the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 30, in Leach Township, the place now owned by John L. Wagner. Preaching was sometimes at Sion Harris’, where there was once quite a revival; also at Harlan’s near "Beach Bluff, and at Andrew Neal’s, Benjamin Mabry’s and Marcus R. Day’s.
The early members were the Woods’, Mrs. Stanley, Elizabeth Hooper, Frank Day and wife, with probably others. Minsey James was class leader. Rev. Benjamin S. Mabry, from Tennessee united with this society about 1840, and was useful in building up the church.
In 1873, a neat, frame church house, 28x48 feet, was erected at the cross-roads, on the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter Section 14, Township 2 south, Range 8 east, in Barnhill Township. The society has continued to prosper since building the church. Revs. Sabine, Carter, Owen and Houser’s labors have been blessed in the conversion of many at this place. James H. Hodges was the first to join the church in the new house, and was licensed to preach while a member of this society. William Neal was long ago a local preacher here. Dr. Homer G. Thrall, a local preacher of no mean ability, and a thorough Methodist, though a lover of all Christians, was a leader in building the new church, and died here greatly lamented.
At a period not later than 1832, a society of Methodists was in existence at Lot Gregory’s, in Hickory Hill Township, and still remains as a distinct organization, although the preaching was moved around from place to place as convenience or caprice might suggest. Sometimes it was at Thomas Buck’s, William Ellis’ or at other places, and we presume of late years has been held at public schoolhouses. The early members were Lot Gregory, Thomas Buck, William Ellis, Albert Brannon, Garrison, William Irwin, Samuel Bradford, Isaac Milner, with their wives, and others.
A new frame church worth about $800 has just been erected on the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 28, Township 1 south, Range 5 east, in Hickory Hill Township. This work has been accomplished chiefly, through the labor and perseverance of Mr. Thomas Bilbro, who did not live to enjoy the anticipated pleasure of having a house of God to worship in, but passed away to the brighter rest in the church triumphant above.
About fifty years ago, we are informed, there was a great revival at this place, that was so general in its influence that it affected the entire community. A man not a member of the church states that it was impossible to resist its power; that they got him and his young lady friend down at the altar before he knew it; that he came very near joining church in spite of all his efforts to the contrary; and that the power of the meeting was so great that it "run the cattle all out of the country." Under the labors of Mr. Helm, there was also a gracious revival here many years ago.
About 1842, a society in Six Mile Prairie, Four Mile Township, was organized, but it is now difficult to state what ministers officiated at its first organization. Revs. Andrew Maulding, John Fox, Williams and Fenn are known to have labored here in a early day, and Thomas Cottingham and Charles Coker, local preachers from Hamilton County, did good service among the people here. Among the early members of the church were the Mauldings, Mrs. Mabry, Mrs. Abbott, S. Boyd and wife, Mrs. Hopkins, George Mabry and family, Mary Wood, Simons, Tyler, William Harlan, Walden, with their wives, Calvin Schell and others. While John Fox was pastor, preaching was at an old storehouse, near Maulding’s bridge, a little north of the present Wayne City. Meetings were also held at Maulding’s and Mabry’s. There was a general revival in this society in an early day, so sweeping in its effects that most of those for miles around, who were not already members of some society, were received on trial in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The work in this portion of Wayne County was probably supplied by preachers on the McLeansboro Circuit. A church house is greatly needed in this community, and permanent religious prosperity cannot be expected without it.
Middleton, or Long Prairie.---Long Prairie Methodist Episcopal Society in Four Mile Township was established in 1841 or 1842. Among the early members were Mary Anderson, Frederic Davis, Andrew Davis, Jabez Anderson, James Boswell, Howard, William Johnson, with their wives and others. James Boswell was class leader. King Allen, Jesse Johnson, McKinsey, Hardy, Laird and other local preachers labored here.
About 1860, a good sized frame church was built in the village of Middleton, but does not seem to have been well constructed, and was abandoned in 1875.
A neat frame chapel, 26x40 feet, was erected in 1852, on the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 9, Township 3 south, Range 5 east, where the society of eighty members now worship. Rev. R. Oliver, of the Middleton Circuit, is the present pastor.
Frog Island.---The Methodists organized a society near the old town of "New Baltimore," in Four Mile Township, previous to 1844, at the Gray Schoolhouse, near E. Gray’s, on Frog Island, which still exists, with a membership of twenty or more. Among the early members attached to this society were Stephen Bradford and family, Mrs. Maulding, Mrs. Crouch, Mrs. McMillan, King Trotter, John Ballard, Richard Norman, William Miller, with their wives, and probably some others. S. Bradford and King Trotter were class leaders.
This little band have struggled on faithfully, through many discouragements, and it is hoped that a brighter day in the near future awaits them.
More than forty-five years ago, in the southern portion of Barnhill Township, the Methodists had a society, and regular circuit preaching at Henry Mericle’s. The first members were H. Mericle (class leader), Presly Simpson, William Boze, and their wives, Mrs. Conn, Mrs. Bradshaw and some others.
Their membership was transferred some years since across the line into White County, and constitutes in part what is now known as Union Church, about two miles east of Mill Shoals. There have been some revivals in the past at this place, but the old original members have about all passed away, and I do not think there is regular stated preaching at the place. A few very worthy members hold on to their integrity with unswerving devotion.
Brush Creek Township.---About 1850, a Methodist society was established at Mathew Warren’s, in Brush Creek Township. Laterly, the services were conducted at Mr. Phillips’ house, and the society had some prosperity for a few years, but, I think is not flourishing at present. Among the earlier members were Rev. Cook, Arms, Z. Phillips, Joseph Phillips, Van Sycles, Borroughs, Lovelace, with members of their families, and probably some others.
Probably after the organization at Phillip’s, fully thirty years ago, a live, active little society of Methodists was established at the Copeland Schoolhouse in Brush Creek Township, and seemed to be in a flourishing condition at the commencement of the great war, when dissensions and divisions occurred which almost destroyed its usefulness as a Christian body. It is unnecessary to ask how any true Methodist stood when his country was assailed. The members were Rev. A. C. Gonterman and wife, the Sullivans, Irvins, Moores, Smothers, and others. Our information has been but meager, and we should not court a severe criticism as to dates and incidents. Preaching in this portion of Wayne County was supplied by the pastors of Xenia Circuit.
About 1842, the local and circuit preachers established a Methodist society in the Buckeye neighborhood, near the northeast corner of Lamard Township. At different periods, the services were held at Rutger’s, Swain’s, or Hays’, according to the convenience of those most deeply interested. The society existed here with varied success until after the establishment of Jeffersonville as a flourishing village, when John Rutger preached the first sermon in David C. Porter’s house, and John E. Taylor is thought to have been the first circuit preacher to minister to the people of the village, and, during a protracted meeting under his labors in 1854, a good little revival resulted.
We are, at present, unable to state who were the first members constituting this society, but doubt not, like the present membership, they were stalwart to the very core.
Among the most noted revivals may be mentioned those under the labors of Revs. Samuel Walker, J. H. Lockwood, Hazen, Sabin, Carter, Owen, Baldridge and Youngling. Under the administration of J. C. Baldridge, in 1872, a neat and commodious frame church, 30x60 feet, was commenced, and completed the next yar at a cost of about $1,800.
Brother Baldridge preached the first sermons in the new house, and it was dedicated by Rev. William Tilroe.
There are a number of substantial Methodists in connection with this church, and the outlook is promising. The parsonage of the Jeffrersonville Circuit is located at this place, and the church property is free form debt. The pastors of this circuit since its commencement in 1865 have been Revs. Hazen, J. P. Rutherford, F. M. Woolard, William Tilroe, C. W. Sabine, J. C. Green, J. C. Baldridge, R. M. Carter, William M. Owen, David Moore, C. J. T. Tolle, J. D. Reeder, W. F. Brown, _____ Houser, J. P. Youngling, N. Stauffer, and C. D. Lingenfilter, the present pastor.
Methodist preaching was kept up, societies established and long maintained at Faurote’s and Allen’s Schoolhouse, near Enterprise, for many years, accomplishing some good; but on account of deaths, removals and other causes, the organization was abandoned some years ago.
The societies established in an early day at Gaston’s, Capt. John Clark’s, Linn Grove and Beamer’s, have been absorbed by Bethel and Fairfield, or scattered by death and removals.
Near Beamer’s, two miles south of Fairfield, was once a society of about thirty members, who commenced and partially completed a log church house, but the title to the property proving defective, the enterprise was abandoned.
Organ’s Schoolhouse.---For many years a flourishing society existed at Organ’s Schoolhouse, two and a half miles northeast of Fairfield, where great good resulted from the labors of the preachers in that community, but it is no longer maintained as a distinct organization, its members having been transferred to Woodland, Ebenezer and Fairfield. The folly of establishing societies in almos every school district, thereby dividing their strength so as to render them unable to build houses of worship, has certainly been demonstrated among our people, to an extent that ought to teach them that its repetition is a grave mistake.
Johnsonville Circuit.---Our information is somewhat meager concerning the earlier societies on this work, and there is no doubt much of value that unless gathered soon will be lost, even if it is not already too late in many instances.
The early records of Fairfield Circuit mention Galbraith’s, Hills’, Tibbs’, Round Prairie, Forackre’s, Watson’s, Baker’s, Liberty Schoolhouse, and probably some other places, but lest we should cause confusion in attempting to classify them in connection with the present appointments of Johnsonville Circuit, we would prefer passing them by with the mere mention of their names. The following from Rev. Lewis A. Harper, the present pastor of the circuit, in few words and very much to the point, contains information the most reliable that we have so far been able to obtain.
"The Territory now embraced in Johnsonville charge, from the time there was preaching in it, was included in the Fairfield Circuit until the fall of 1858, when the Johnsonville Circuit was formed, and James I. Richardson appointed to the work. Under his administration the parsonage was built that still stands. In 1859, J. H. Lockwood was appointed to the work, and remained two years. There was some religious prosperity during his term.
"In 1861 the work was supplied by W. F. Massey, who remained till near the close of the year, when he enlisted in the United States Army. IN 1862, J. P. Rutherford was appointed. He made some improvements in the parsonage property. In 1863, J. W. Grant was appointed. These being war times, and Brother Grant being strongly Union, there was some trouble, and but little or no revival. In 1864, Anderson Meyers was appointed, and the present church at Johnsonville was commenced and nearly finished, at a cost of nearly $4,000.
"In 1865, ‘Uncle Jimmy’ Johnson was appointed, and continued two years. In 1867, G. W. Brannine was appointed, and remained three years.
"In 1871, N. E. Harmon was appointed, and had some revival work.
"In 1872, R. M. Carter was appointed. He had poor health, and there was not much done in revival work. In 1873, J. P. Youngling was appointed. During his administration, the brick church at Rinard was bought. In 1874, William McMorrow was appointed, and remained two years, during which time there was some revival influence. In 1876, L. A. Harper was appointed, and remained two years, during which time there was considerable revival work, the most noted of which was a union meeting with Rev. Gaston at Mt. Zion, which resulted in about sixty conversions. In 1878, A. L. Downey. In 1879, M. L. King, who remained two years. Sixty joined the church his first year. In 1881, W. R. Bradley was appointed, and remained two years, and there was considerable revival work during his term. In 1883, L. A. Harper as returned, and is making an effort to build a parsonage, which is greatly needed.
"There are four churches, worth about $4,000, and seven appointments, and a membership of about 230."
Mr. Harper further states that: "The first meetings in Arrington Prairie by the Methodist Episcopal Church were in 1859, at David "Baker’s house, by Andrew J. Maulding, Israel Turner and Jacob O. Feather, then a member of our church. About that time, a Methodist Episcopal class was formed at the old Liberty Schoolhouse, in the south part of Arrington, and continued until 1858, when the Zion Church was built, northwest corner of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 24, Town 1 south, Range 6 east, on land donated by Esq. John Cisne. This church is a frame of some respectability, and has been lately repaired. Among the first members were David Baker, Rev. Jacob. O. Feather, Jacob Baker, Alfred Baker, Aaron Graham, with their wives and some others. This church is ten miles south of Johnsonville.
"Three miles southwest of Johnsonville there is a society of over twenty-five years’ standing, with preaching first at the houses of H. D. and John Taylor, and then at schoolhouses, when they built a log church (southeast corner of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 17, Town 1 north, Range 6 east), which is called Wesley Chapel. This house is one of the regular preaching places of this circuit. Among the first members were John Taylor, H. D. Taylor, Nicholas Borders, Joseph ‘Spicer, with their wives and others.
"There is a society three miles southeast of Johnsonville, on the Dry Fork, of more than twenty-five years’ standing, with preaching for many years at the Watson Schoolhouse. Eight or nine years ago, a frame church east of the Dry Fork was put up, and used for some time, but never finished, and the preaching is now in a log church, owned by the Baptists. Henry Schell, George Cariens, Enoch Greathouse, Elias Holmes, their wives and others were early members."
Mt. Erie Circuit.---We are somewhat at a loss, from the fact that we have been unable to obtain adequate information concerning the early membership of the church in one of the most interesting fields of labor in Wayne County, feeling that an injustice has been done to Mt. Erie Circuit, for which no one is to blame; and we can only regret that our account is not more full in detail of the unwritten portion of the history of the church in that section.
From old records, we obtain the names of Vandaveer’s, Farmer’s, Walker’s, Ake’s, Locust Grove, Long Prairie, Bradshaw’s and Yohe’s, which were, doubtless, the nucleus from which sprang the towers of greater strength, Mt. Erie Church, McKendree Chapel and other modern preaching places.
The following very concise official account has fallen into our hands, which we suppose was written by Rev. J. P. Youngling:
"The first society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Mt. Erie Township was organized in 1839 or 1840, by Alexander Blakely, a local preacher. Rev. Guthrie began to preach at two or three points in this section. The societies until 1854 were served by the same pastors as those of Fairfield Circuit.
"I copy from the records: At the session of the Southern Illinois Conference in September, 1854, the New Massillon Mission was formed out of territory formerly belonging to the Fairfield and Louisville Circuits. At its organization, the mission consisted of eight appointments, having 144 members and sixty-two probationers. It was a part of Salem District; J. I. Richardson, P. E., and Cavey Lambert, P. C. A parsonage was commenced and so far completed as to be occupied by the preacher in the winter.
"In 1855, Brother Lambert was returned, the parsonage debt was nearly paid, needed improvements were made and the work was in good condition generally. In 1856, the mission appropriation of $50 was withdrawn, the charge named Mt. Erie Circuit and Rev. James M. Massey appointed preacher in charge. He was man of more than ordinary preaching ability.
"During the year 1856, the present church building was put under contract, but not enclosed until the spring of 1857. In 1857, Rev. R. H. Massey was appointed P. C. The church was dedicated October 3, 1858, by Rev. J. M. Massey. It is a frame building and cost $1,300. The following preachers then successively served the charge: J. H. Lockwood, J. I. Richardson, R. H. Massey, who was appointed Chaplain of the Fortieth Illinois Regiment, and Wilbur F. Massey supplied the charge until the next session of the conference. (W. F. Massey died a prisoner of war in the pen at Andersonville, Ga.)
"In 1862, the Mt. Erie and Flora Circuits were united, and Rev. Cavey Lambert appointed P. C. The next year Mt. Erie and Flora Circuits were restored to their original bounds, and Rev. C. Lambert was appointed to Mt. Erie. Brother L. was succeeded by Rev. Calvin Gibbs, and in 1866, Rev. O. Brunner was appointed.
"In 1868, Rev. John Thatcher was appointed to
the Mt. Erie and Clay City Circuits. He died March 3, 1869. The work
was then divided, and Rev. M. L. King was placed in charge of
Clay City, and Rev. Richard Thatcher at Mt. Erie.
"There are, at present, five regular appointments, with occasional preaching at two others. There are five Sabbath schools, doing good work. The society three and one-half miles southeast of here have a comfortable church house. The other societies are worshiping in schoolhouses at present. But one church house will be erected this year, and others, we think, will be in the near future."
In addition to the above account, we have learned that McKendree Chapel, a good frame house, 26x40 feet, situated on the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 33, in Mt. Erie Township, and costing $1,350, was erected in 1876, and dedicated, free from debt, by Dr. J. W. Locke. The Trustees were W. H. Porterfield, A. L. Wall, James Bradshaw, W. H. Wells, J. F. Troyer, and Albert Vandaveer.
In 1849 under the ministry Rev. James Johnson, there was a great revival in this neighborhood at Ake’s Grove. In 1877, Rev. C. D. Lingenfelter conducted a revival meeting at McKendree Chapel, during which sixty-five persons were converted.
In 1881, during the service of Rev. J. P. Youngling, fifty people were converted at the same place.
In the vicinity of the places formerly known in the old church records as ""West’s Schoolhouse" and "Massillon," a new frame church house, 26x40 feet, on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 10, Massillon Township, is now under construction, to be known as the West M. E. Church. Mrs. Salina West, widow of the late Mr. Wayne West, died in 1865, leaving forty acres of land for the purpose of erecting this chapel. The land has been sold, and through the liberal contributions of a generous public, in addition to the bequest, a small society, with a flourishing Sunday school and good prospects, will soon have a good house of worship, where it is greatly needed. We suspect that through the energy of A. L. Wall, Esq., and others, this work has been greatly facilitated. The Trustees of this property are W. V. Goodall, Sylvester Price, John R. Troyer, A. L. Wall, Van R. Price and W. E. Allison.
Zif Township.---In 1837, "Aunt Hannah Husselton," like Barbara Heck, went in quest of a preacher, when J. I. Richardson came and preached at her house on his last round. Rev. John Fox was the next preacher, and organized a society there. The early members were Mrs. Husselton, John Williams, Thomas G. Williams, John H. Hill, James Cochran, John Husselton, and their wives. J. H. Hill was class leader. Preaching was sometimes at the dwellings of Hill and the Williams. The appointment was known as "Williams," but is now known as the Grove Creek Schoolhouse. Rev. J. C. Williams is a member of this society.
Rev. John H. Hill entered upon his long and useful career as an itinerant minister from this place. The society is at present connected with the Mt. Erie Circuit. Previous to the establishment of the Williams Society there was a Methodist organization at Isaac Creeks, with regular circuit preaching. The pioneer members were Creek and Jordan C. Patterson, with their wives and other members of their families. Patterson was a useful local preacher. John Husselton and his wife died here. Preaching was afterward held at Mrs. Humes, who was also a member, and then at the Patterson Schoolhouse, until a neat chapel was erected in the neighborhood.
Circuit preaching in Zif Township must have been supplied from the old Maysville Circuit, as these societies were established prior to the organization of either the New Massillon Mission or the Mt. Erie Circuit, and they nowhere appear on the Fairfieldrecords, which commence in 1842. The society is now in connection with the Mt. Erie Circuit.
Camp-meetings.---Realizing fully how incomplete this account would be without it, we will digress, at this point, to give a brief sketch of the early camp-meetings of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Wayne County, in which strong men often participated, and where many precious souls were converted.
After considerable labor and inquiry, we believe the dates attached to each may be relied on with considerable certainty, although there are, doubtless, many incidents of interest, which have long since passed from the memory of living men.
This manner of conducting public worship in the early days of the church in the West, when people would travel long distances on foot, on horses or in ox-carts, to worship God, when the country was little less than a "waste, a howling wilderness," was almost a necessity, as no houses in the country, at that time, were large enough to contain the assembled throngs; such congregations would not, at the present time, be considered large, but then, when the nearest neighbors ere often miles apart, a few hundred people were considered a very large assemblage.
From Uncle George Meritt, who certainly deserves to be classed as the "oldest inhabitant," and among the very first pioneers, we learn that "The first camp-meeting in Wayne County was held by the Methodists in May, 1818, conducted by Charles Slocumb, Zadoc Casey, John Slocumb and Archibald Roberts.
"The meeting was held at what was then, and is yet known as the Meritt Springs, in the southwest corner of Leech Township."
We visited this ground a few days since in order to definitely locate it, before those knowing its situation should all pas away. The place of encampment is now a cultivated field, and the springs are still flowing, but much neglected.
At or very near the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 7, Town 3 south, Range 9 east, on the spot where Alex Stewart’s house now stands, was the place of the encampment. About forty paces to the east of this house, on the brow of a small hill, in the field, stands, at present, a large, black gum stump, from which the tree has been recently cut, and, under the shade of which, facing west, or south of west, was erected a stand, from which, more than sixty-five years ago, Charles Slocumb, Zadoc Casey, men of giant minds, with others, proclaimed the word of life and salvation to the assembled pioneers; and grand results were attained on the occasion, as many obtained the "Pearl of great price."
It is no disparagement to Gov. Casey, though a great and talented preacher, to say, that he was not by any one regarded as the peer of the eloquent and inimitable Slocumb.
This most sacred spot is now a part of the domain of our truly worthy friend, Esquire Nathan Meritt. The springs thirty or forty rods to the southeast, on Section 18, are on the estate of Mr. Charles Winzenberger.
South of the Meritt camp-ground one and one-fourth miles, and east of Burnt Prairie, was the Patten camp-ground, where the same preachers, in connection with some others, conducted a meeting in 1822. Meetings were kept up here for a number of years, and great good was evidently accomplished, as this means of gathering the people together was continued, until houses of worship were built of sufficient capacity to accommodate the multitude. Circumstances strongly indicate that the meeting about which Dr. William Beauchamp writes, and mentioned in Bangs history, occurred on this ground.
At these early meetings, though denominational in their character, the Cumberland Presbyterians and Methodists usually united in bearing the burdens for the occasion and the labors of the altar; sometimes Methodists, at others, Presbyterian; their denominational features were only determined by the ministers in charge.
In the summer of 1827, and for some years afterward, the Methodists held a camp-meeting near a spring, on the Porter place, one and one-half miles northeast of Fairfield, under the charge of Jacob Delap, the pastor. James M. Massey first exhorted here. It was here that Charles Slocumb preached the funeral of John Barnhill and his wife. There were many converts and a great stir on the occasion. Daniel McHenry and Archy Roberts were active at this meeting.
Coming to this meeting, John Y. Bradshaw, then a boy, was driving an ox team, when approaching the creek the thirsty oxen suddenly made a dash for the water, upsetting the cart, and turning the box upside down, with old Mrs. B. and the cap provisions on the under side.
A vessel of honey was spilled on Mrs. B., when she hollowed lustily for dear life, declaring that she was already killed dead, mashed flat, every bone in her body crushed into splinters, and that we was all covered with blood. When released, unhurt, she seemed greatly disappointed at finding no real blood, and left in high dudgeon, saying it was an unpardonable sin to attend a Methodist meeting anyhow, and that this was a judgment sent on her for so doing. She was never afterward seen in an oxcart riding to a Methodist camp-meeting.
In 1835, a Methodist camp-ground was established, and continued for some years afterward, as such, on the Jonathan Douglas place, one and one-half miles west of south of the Grinnell Pond, where the old cemetery yet remains. Among the ministers present were Charles Slocumb, B. F. Kavanaugh, Thomas Hinds, James Crews and John Thatcher, then a young man on his way to Missouri. By some means, Brother Thatcher was regarded with suspicion, being an entire stranger and so unministerial in his personal appearance. With what very different feelings and emotions did many of these same people regard him, when, after the lapse of nearly thirty years this truly wonderful man became their devoted pastor.
A great work was accomplished at the first meeting, and among the converts was a lad fifteen years of age, who afterward was and is now known as Col. Warren E. McMackin, of Salem.
About 1838, the Methodists held a camp-meeting about two miles north of Scottsville, in the eastern portion of Wayne County. The encampment was afterward made about one-half mile west of that village, where similar meetings were conducted for some years. We know nothing definite concerning the outcome of these meetings, nor who were present as ministers. It is, however, not probable that camp-meetings were maintained here for a series of years, without some good being accomplished. Circumstances strongly indicate that Methodist preaching was established in this community at an earlier period than we have been in the habit of placing it. The Mt. Carmel Circuit preacher, in 1820, had a preaching place in Wayne County; and as the territory east of the Little Wabash was connected with that circuit, it is probable that this is the place.
In 1844, the Methodists commenced holding camp-meetings at the Mathew Crews encampment, where the old Ebenezer Church stood, in the southwest corner of Massillon Township. These meetings were maintained for about eight years, and this place became somewhat noted as a Methodist center. There were some sweeping revivals here, by which great and lasting good was accomplished. It was said to be a custom with Mathew Crews, when people came from a distance to attend these meetings, to show them his pastures, his corn, hay and oats, and tell that all were free, and to help themselves.
About thirty years ago, a camp-meeting was conducted by the Methodists, one mile and a half southwest of Middleton, in Four Mile Township, on the land of Richard Jenkins, but we have been unable to ascertain any facts concerning it, except that Rev. Thomas Casey was a prominent factor during the progress of the meeting.
There was a camp-meeting held about one mile north of the town of Middleton, shortly after the war, but our information concerning this, is even more meager than that of the first one.
These short accounts cover all the camp-meetings, conducted by the Methodist Episcopal Church in Wayne County, so far as we have been able to learn.
After his return from the Black Hawk war, in 1882, Mr. Hugh Stewart removed to Fairfield, and as a consequence, regular circuit preaching commenced, and has been mantained to the present time. There may have been a society, and Methodist preaching in the village before the coming of Mrs. S. but, unless possessed of more definite information on the subject, we should hesitate to state this as a fact.
The town seems to have been largely given over to hardness, whisky drinking, fighting, gambling, and even worse things were prevalent, and but little attempt was made to conceal the dominant wickedness of the place. Mr. Stewart entertained preaching at his own residence, often supporting the quarterly conference, laboring and trusting, with a persistent courage, amidst embarrassments, that would have made a less stout-hearted men quail, until a few additional members were added to their little band. Jonathan Douglas, living five miles in the country, came into the town regularly, and attended to the duties of class leader. An attempt was made to build a church house, and a log pen was raised for that purpose, but they were unable to finish it, and the enterprise was abandoned. Preaching was, for a time conducted in the court house, and there were a few additions there, among whom we may mention Mr. John Wilson, but there came into office, men "dressed in a little brief authority," who were so indignant at the public building being desecrated by Gospel preaching, that the little band had to seek quarters elsewhere. Mr. Stewart held to his purpose with such heroic constancy, that he may justly, under Divine Providence, be regarded as the Father of Methodism, in Fairfield. He has long since passed to his reward, but his memory is held in reverence by the few now living, who knew him, and, although he did not live to see the triumph of this work here, could he but come to Fairfield to-day, and see six good Christian church houses, each with a respectable holding, the saloons banished, iniquity driven to dark corners, and Christ triumphant, his soul would be satisfied.
"Sow in the morn they seed;In 1882, the Illinois Conference established what was then called Fairfield Circuit, with James Hadley as pastor. We think his wife died here. Of the bounds of the work, at that time, we have no record; but the next year, it was again merged into the Wabash Circuit, and so remained until 1842, when Fairfield again appears on the minutes, and has so continued to the present time. Fairfield charge in 1842, embraced all the territory lying between the Skillet Fork and Little Wabash Rivers, to the north line of Wayne County, with , probably the exception of two societies in Zif Township and some in the west part of the county. Out of this territory have since been formed Fairfield Station, Jeffersonville, Johnsonville, Mt. Erie and Liberty (Burnt Prairie) Circuits.
Robert E. Guthrie was appointed the first pastor of the new Fairfield Circuit, and Barton Rande was Presiding Elder. Extensive revivals prevailed this year, and "Guthries revivals" are often spoken of by old citizens. During one of these meetings some young men were playing cards, in the woods near by, at night, when a meteor passed over, which , they thought, dropped close by them. They ran for the meeting with all the power that was left in them, and prayed and bellowed with their might, as though his brimstone majesty had them already in his clutches. It was but a short tie, however, until their pristine bravery returned, and they had no more use for meetings, until a tornado or something else should come along and give them another fright. In 1843, James M. Massey was pastor. He was a grand man, a workman indeed who passed to his reward in 1859.
In 1844, Ephraim Joy, P.C.; John Van Cleve, P. E. 1845, Daniel Fairbanks. 1846, T. C. Lopas, a gifted but eccentric man, who never married. 1847, Jacob E. Reed, P. C.; W. H. Taylor, P. E.; Thomas Parker, A. P. 1848-49, James Johnson. 1850, James Haley. 1851, Moses Shepherd, P. C.; W. W. Mitchel, P. E. 1852, Hiram Sears. 1853, Thomas Sharp, P. C.; J. I Richardson, P. E.; John Wilson was elected Recording Steward this year, which position he has filled to the present time. 1854, James Knapp. 1855-56, John Gilham. 1857, Wesley Williams and John E. Taylor; G. W. Robbins, P. E. 1858-59, Samuel Walker, P. C.; William Cliffe, P. E. 1860, S. E. Willing and James Burke. 1861, John H. Lockwood. 1862, John Thatcher and William M. Owen; T. F. Houts, P. E. 1863, James A. Thrapp. 1864, Richard H. Massey. 1865, Fairfield was made a station and R. H. Massey, preacher in charge. 1866, R. H. Massey, P. C.; C. J. Houts, P. E. 1867, James Johnson, P. C.; Z. S. Clifford, P. E. 1868, William B. Bruner. 1869, J. S. Barnes. 1870-71, Simon P. Groes; R. H. Masey, P. E. 1872, Calvin Gibbs. 1873-74, John H. Hill, William F. Davis, P. E. 1875, J. A. Baird; John Leeper, P. E. 1876-77, Caloway Nash. 1878, James L. Wallar. 1879-81, William F. Davis, P. C.; Owen H. Clark, P. E. 1882-83, Milo N. Powers, the present pastor.
For convenience, we have thought it best to give the chronological order of the pastors without disturbance, and recur again to the records, traditions and oral testimonies for a brief account of incidents that transpired from time to time. It must be remembered that ever since Fairfield became the head of a circuit, pastors and people lived on a more meager allowance than would now be deemed necessary for the ordinary day-laborer’s family’s support. The preacher’s disciplinary allowance was $100 a year, with a like sum for his wife and a small stipend for each child under fourteen years of age. To this was added by the "estimating committee" whatever sum was thought necessary for feeding the preacher’s family and horse, fuel, etc., and this last was denominated "table expenses." The committee, in 1851, reported $70 as table expenses for Moses Shepherd and family. At a later time, when $140 were reported for John Gilham, he stated that it was more than was necessary, so it was reduced to $128. In 1843, the following, which may appear unique to some was passed by the Quarterly Conference: "Resolved, That the stewards of this circuit be appointed a committee, to solicit and collect cattle, for the purpose of purchasing a horse for the preacher in charge." The subject was up again, and it is supposed Brother Guthrie obtained a horse, for in those days "trade and barter" was the rule, and as money was almost out of the question, the preacher took in payment anything that himself and family stood in need of.
At the first "Quarterly Conference this year, the public collection amounted to $1.52½, and the entire sum in cash, gathered from the seventeen appointments, footed up $5.62½, and the cash receipts for the year for Elder Randall and the pastor was $87.85½.
At a little later period, as an evidence of the improvement in the times and more liberal ideas among the people, while Elder Van Cleve and Rev. Joy were conducting the meeting, the public collection amounted to $2, even.
James M. Masey’s regular appointments, besides occasional preaching places, in 1843, were Fairfield, Bovee’s, Hay’s, Thomas Bradshaw’s, Harris’, Masillon, Ebenezer, Mabry’s, Wood’s, Stewart’s, Hutchcraft’s, Staley, W. W. George’s, Powles’, Gillison’s, Hamilton’s, New Schoolhouse, N. Harlan’s, G. Bradshaw’s, Capt. Clark’s, Gaston’s and Reed’s; involving not less than 300 miles travel each month. In some instances two of these may have been classes in the same appointment.
Ebenezer, a log house, was the only Methodist Episcopal Church house on the circuit. In 1850, a Board of Trustees was appointed for a church house to be built in Fairfield. In 1851, under the pastorate of Rev. Moses Shepherd, the frame church house, 32x45 feet, was contracted at $700, and commenced.
In 1852, John Gillison, the most active member of the first society in Wayne County, passed away. At the Second Conference in 1853, Rev. Hiram Sears reported that "ninety have joined the church since conference; eleven by letter, and seventy-nine on probation; seventy-five have professed religion; three have been expelled for dram-drinking; two have been received into full connection, and one died and gone to heaven."
This year, we find the names Galbraith’s, Farmer’s Schoolhouse, Locust Grove, Shaw’s, White’s, Sampson’s, Hill’s and Enterprise as preaching places, or classes. In 1854, Thomas Sharp, at the Third Conference reported 101 received on probation. In 1855, the members in the societies were---Fairfield, 44; Bovee’s, 26; Tibbs’, 4; Hill’s, 8; Jeffersonville, 5; Faurote’s, 11; Organ, 42; Ebenezer, 42; Woodland, 54; George’s, 10; Craven’s, 4; Staley’s, 4; Mabry’s, 35; in all, 287.
A number of appointments had been attached to other circuits. Jonathan Douglas, a very prince among class leaders, died this year. John M. Walden was at this time a local preacher at Fairfield. The class leaders were Charles Sibley, John Chambers, Israel Foracre, Ellis Evans, William Rutger, Clinton McMacken, Daniel Creighton, F. George, David Staley, William Sampson and J. Monroe. In 1856, according to the records, the preacher’s claim was apportioned for the first time, among the classes, which secured more satisfactory collections. At the same time, the conference "approved the action of the board of trustees of the church in Fairfield, in borrowing money, to save the house from being sold," and $117 was contributed at the same time by persons present. The records do not show when this church had been completed.
In 1860, Samuel Walker reported over two hundred accessions to the church. George Clinton McMacken, a sweet singer in Israel, died this year. John M. Creighton was appointed a steward this year, and from this time until his triumphant death, the finances of the church were looked after in a more businesss-like manner. The exhorters at this time were Lewis H. Baker, John Rusell, G. Bradshaw---W. C. Borah, O. G. Trussell, R. D. Ellis, C. A. Young, J. W. Wheeler, and J. Miligan. Early in 1861, Brother Willing’s health and James Burke was appointed to supply his place. In 1864 the parsonage question was agitated, the final result of which was the purchase of the house now used for that purpose.
We will state here, lest the matter be forever lost, that many years ago, a man named Owen, donated the lot where F. M. Woolard’s barn now stands, to the M. E. Church. On this was a shanty of some kind, fit for no one but a Methodist preacher to live in. There is a tradition that James Hadley lived in this shanty when his wife died. The lot was sold by the church.
Fairfield Station---In 1865, at the annual conference at Olney, Fairfield was made a station, and at the first quarterly conference, January 6, 1866, the official board consisted of Christopher J. Houts, P. E.; R. H. Massey, P. C.; David Campbell, William M. Owen, J. G. McCoy, M. W. Collins, and Fayette Turney, local preachers; O. G. Trussell, exhorter; John Wilson, W. M. Owen, F. George, Dr. D. Adams, R. Schell, T. T. Bonham and E. C. Owen, stewards; Charles Sibley, and Francis George, class leaders, and C. Sibley, Sabbath School ‘Superintendent.
This year, centenary fund of $180, and $10 for church extension was raised. For bell, repairs on church, and parsonage, $837 were contributed, besides the regular church expenses.
In 1872, Mrs. Nancy Gillison, an old veteran passed away.
During the pastorate of Rev. Calvin Gibbs, the question of church building was agitated, and , near the close of the year, at an official meeting, Dr. John L. Handley presented the following: "Resolved, that we build a new Methodist Episcopal Church in Fairfield."
A committee was instructed to secure Lot No. 58, for which $650 was paid.
In 1874, the board reported the sale of the old church for $1,000, reserving its use for two years, also, retaining the seats, which were finally placed in the basement of the new church.
In 1875, John Wilson, John L. Handley, E. Bonham, Dr. C. W. Sibley, A. H. Baker, G. J. George, R. D. Adams, S. M. Staley and F. M. Woolard, were elected trustees of church property. Mrs. Esther Harper, mother of Rev. L. A. Harper, died this year, at a great age, having served her Master from childhood.
March 1, 1875, a contract was entered into with John Barlow, of Olney, and Wells T. Clark, of Fairfield, for the construction of a brick church, 101x45 feet wide, according to plans and specifications, furnished by Barlow, for $9,455. Darling & Ford constructed the brick work for contractors.It was then determined to put on a slate roof at an additional cost of $350, and this, with the cost of the bell, $325, organ, $300, chandeliers, $225, furniture, $75, carpets and matting, $165, with some minor expenditures, brought the entire cost up to $11,577.
On June 17, 1876, the new church was dedicated by Bishop Thomas Bowman, on which occasion over $4,000 was subscribed for the liquidation of claims. A large portion of this subscription, however, was never realized, and a debt hung over the church until the summer of 1883, when, by heroic efforts, the last dollar of indebtedness against Fairfield Methodist Episcopal Church property, amounting, principal and interest, to $2,350 was paid.
The first substantial revival in Fairfield, was under the labors of Elder Cliffe and Samuel Walker. In 1864, through the labors of R. H. Massey, there occurred a good revival among the Sabbath School scholars.
In 1869, under the labors of W. B. Brunner, there was manifested general seriousness in the congregation, which, by the Sabbath School Convention, immediately following, was turned into earnest inquiry, and culminated in a grand work under J. S. Barnes, when about 120 were converted. S. P. Groves and J. A. Baird, also had revivals. In 1880, through the labors of W. F. Davis, assisted by Thomas Massey, there was a revival in the new church, in which 170 were converted.
As a matter of fact, seldom equaled, we are prepared to state, that, of eighty-seven pastors and elders, having the oversight of this work since 1816, Mrs. Francis George has known eighty-six of them, while John Harris, the first one, doubtless, visited her father’s (John Gillison) house, in her early childhood. Some of the early preachers she knew in later years.Among the local preachers who have labored in Wayne County, we have secured the names of Archibald Roberts, Andrew Maulding, James Crews, Benjamin S. Mabry, Amos Phelps, Jacob O. Feather, John Rutger, William Rutger, Robert H. Ellis, Robert D. Ellis, William M. Owen, Asa B. Owen, John Chambers, --- --- Carr, George Swain, --- --- Price, Elliott Robberts, Greenup Bradshaw, Cephas A. Young, Joseph Winchester, Dr. William Johnson, Johnson Monroe, Abraham Johnson, John M. Walden, David Moore, Sr., David Campbell, Minsey James, William West, Thomas Mason, Thomas Cottingham, James Sloatt, Dr. Alex Jessup, David Koontz, Joseph Cook, William Neal, J. C. Williams, S. H. Williams, Jourdan C. Patterson, Stanford Ing, C. McKelvey, John Griffith, Joe Helm, G. G. Helm, William Borah, Edward Ulm, Dr. J. B. Hall, David Moore, Jr., Dr. J. S. Miligan, Dr. H. C. Thrall, --- --- Jaggers, F. M. Wollard, Dr. E. West, Dr. A. C. Gonterman, John Cook, W. F. Massey, J. H. Hodges, Fayette Turney, Dr. J. G. McCoy, M. W. Collins, Alex Blakely, Furney Stanley, Israel Turner, Dr. George Camp, Charles Coker, William Smith.
There are, doubtless, others whose names we have been unable to obtain.
In addition to the list of local preachers, the following have entered the traveling connection from this county: James M. Massey, Arthur Bradshaw, Thomas Parker, James A. Robinson, John H. Hill, Lewis A. Harper, Charles E. Creighton, James A. Baird, William M. Owen, Fayette Turney, David Moore and possibly others.Feeling that this work would be incomplete without some further allusion to that most wonderfully gifted man, Charles Slocumb, and fully realizing our inability to do full justice to the subject, we can only hope to so far rescue his memory form the oblivion into which it is fast falling as to preserve some facts worthy of the attention of the future historian, that will enable him, whoever he may be, to present a character sketch befitting this truly great man. We have been driven to the conclusion that he scarcely had an equal as a preacher in the West, and it is doubtful whether his superior exists there to-day. However strange these statements may appear, they are based upon the fact that when he stood beside men of such recognized ability as William Beauchamp, S. H. Thompson, Hooper Crews, Zadoc Casey and John Van Cleve, he was regarded as surpassing them all in eloquence, and it was no uncommon thing for some of these men to put Slocumb forward on occasions where it would have been considered almost presumptuous for them to preach when he was present.
Again, we have conversed with men of intelligence who knew Slocumb well; men who have kept pace with the times, and have heard some of the most eloquent men of the church or State, and they all, without a single exception, unite in the opinion that he was not equaled by any of them as an orator.
Charles Slocumb was born in Kentucky (probably Union County) in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and came with his parents to White County, Ill., in 1812, where he entered Gen. Hargrave’s rangers against the Indians in 1814. He was converted, it is thought, in 1815, in White County, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and commenced preaching immediately, as we find him on Vincennes Circuit in 1816. We traveled, in connection with the annual conference, some eight or ten years, at different times. In his person he was tall and erect, magisterial in his bearing, and presented the appearance of one born to lead men. He was of dark complexion, with dark hair and fascinating black eyes, and possessed a magnetic influence that own all hearts that came in contact with him, and retained their confidence to the last. "As true as Slocumb’s preaching," became a by-word, when men wished to add force to any assertion they had made.
In reading the Scriptures or lining the hymns, his emphasis was natural, and it was done with such elegance and grace that the true force and poetic meaning were impressed upon his hearers. His gestures were easy and graceful, and so true to nature that they were said to almost speak, and greatly contribute to the interest of his wonderful displays of eloquence. His voice was sonorous, possessing great scope and capable of great endurance. In prayer, he was comprehensive, earnest and reverent; with no assumed adulation of the Deity that he did not feel; no attempt at personal display; nor did he presume upon God’s ignorance by telling him of things that he did not already know. In his preaching he was solemn, profound, deeply experimental and practical.
His eloquence was always powerful, sometimes almost irresistible, and in its effects upon his hearers, learned and unlearned alike, was truly wonderful. He challenged the intelligence of his audience, and spoke as one commissioned by the Great King, failing not to bring a message of peace and love. Men totally indifferent to the preaching of others would, as if bound by some unseen hand or magic spell, hang upon the words of Charles Slocumb with a rapt attention that made them oblivious of all that was passing around them; and often, without seeming consciousness of the fact, would stand learning forward, as if fearful that some of his words would be lost. So pure was his life, and so upright his walk, that he won the hearts of men, even those who regarded not his teaching.
His religious impressions were of the deepest cast, and of that intense character that fixed them as settled facts in his mind and heart, and were so indelibly stamped upon his life, that their influence was felt by all who came into his presence. If men were boisterous and hilarious before, they became hushed and quiet, as he passed along. If riotous and threatening, a motion of his hand, or a word of admonition from Charles Slocumb, would calm the raging sea of passion. But, in the midst of his career of great usefulness, in the prime of life, as it were, he was stricken down by the fell destroyer in 1844, and his ashes repose on his old homestead in Concord, White County. With his life long friend, Rev. John Shrader, he had arranged that when one of them should die, the other should preach his funeral, and Shrader came from Indiana on the occasion, and attended to the last sad rites of his lamented friend. It was remarked of him at the time of his death, that "the sword was too sharp for the scabbard." To many it was a matter of wonder why one so greatly useful in the world, should be called away so early by an overruling Providence. It may be answered that "death loves a shining mark, " and that Charles Slocumb was fully ripe for the kingdom, and it was not meet that he should longer tarry, or remain away from his Master’s abode.
His family have all passed away, and are, doubtless, with him, enjoying a rich reward and brighter rest above. His live, like a celestial meteor, shown with brilliancy upon all the surrounding horrizon:
"He sleeps the sleep of the just."
Regular Baptist Church.*---I attempting to write the history of this church in this county, we have had to encounter several obstacles, among which is the loss or want of sufficient church records, and the treachery of memory in the older persons. If this sketch should fail to come up to what some might desire they must attribute the failure to the want of sufficient facts on which to base it, and not for want of a desire on the part of the writer to do them justice.
The earliest organization of the Baptist Church in this county which we have been able to gather, was at what was then and still is known as Hopewell, in the southern part of Barnhill Township. This church was organized August 5, 1820, by Elders William Hanks and Benjamin Keith. The persons entering into this organization at that time were James Bird, Susan Bird, William Wadkins, Polly Wadkins, Stephen Coonrod, John Coonrod, Anna Blisset and Naomi Close, all of whom most likely have long since passed away. The church record form which we gather these facts, after giving the organization, articles of faith, and rules of decorum, makes a skip of some twenty years, that is from 1820 to 1840, and this interval we are unable to supply, except from what few stray items we have been able to gather from persons who were living here at the time. We presume this congregation had no house of worship at the date of their organization, as we find in their record at the time of their organization this entry: "Done at the place of George Close’s, Wayne County and State of Illinois." They afterward, however, but at what date we do not know, erected a house of worship. As to who their early preachers were we are not informed. We find in 1840 that William Wadkins was their pastor, and Asa Atteberry, clerk. This parent church flourished and prospered for some years, and the membership lived in harmony until probably from 1830 to 1835, when one Daniel Parker, from somewhere in Illinois, came amongst them and began to preach doctrines which some of the members could not relish. Just what those doctrines ere we were not advised, but one thing we find they were induced by Parker and his adherents to take upon themselves the name of "Regular Baptists. By what name they were known before this we are not advised. From a short history of this church which was written some years after this, by one Carter J. Kelly, we find this statement made by him: "The churches were then universally as United Baptist, the original having emigrated from Kentucky and Tennessee, where they were universally known as United Baptist." We only give this as we find it, and do not wish to be understood as endorsing or rejecting it as true, as it is not our province to attempt (were we able to do so) to settle church disputes. We find, however, that the breach already made continued to widen, until March, 1845, it culminated in a division of the church, one party taking the name of United or Missionary Baptist, the other taking to themselves the name of Regular Predestinarian Baptists. Both factions claim to be the genuine original Baptist Church, and to have descended in a regular line from the Waldenses, and the contest has been long and bitterly contested, and is still unsettled, and we do not feel called upon neither do we desire to take sides in the matter, but to leave it where we find it, unsettled.
After the organization of the Hopewell "Church, we have no record of the organization of any other church of this denomination until July, 1846; at this time there was organized by Elders Richard Gardner, Jeremiah Doty and C. S. Madding, A church in Mt. Erie Township, then and still known as Providence Church.
The persons entering into this organization at that time were Jesse Williams, Thomas Traverse, John Meadows, Nathaniel Traverse, Reuben Whitaker, William H. Harrelson, Nancy Williams, Hannah Vandaver, Mary Rice, Elizabeth Collins, Christina Traverse, Catharine Harrelson, and Belinda McCollum.
From the best information we can get, the larger part of those entering this organization are now dead; but others have united with the church form time to time, and it is still kept up. They have a house of worship and regular preaching.
The next church organized was in December 1848, in Hickory Hill Township, and known as Little Flock. This church was organized by Joseph Hartley, John Martin, Barnes Reeves, Solomon Blisset and Brady Meeks. The persons entering this organization were Sarah M. Crask, Stout Atteberry, Fanny L. Atteberry, Alfred Wilson, Joseph Crask, Nancy Crask, Abraham P. Witter, Sarah M. Wilson, Enos K. Wilson, Wilkins Dewees and Eleanor Dewees; of this number only three are now living, to wit: Fanny L. Atteberry, Joseph Crask and Abraham P. Witter.
This church, like many others, has had its days of prosperty and its days of adversity. They have a comfortable house of worship, and regular preaching; and notwithstanding nearly all the old members who "bore the heat and burden of the day" have passed away, yet others have come forward and taken their places; and though they are few in number, yet they be said to be in a fair condition of prosperity.
There have probably been other churches of this denomination organized in the county, but they have gone down, and only these three so far as we are advised, now exist.
As to who the earlier preachers were, we are at quite a loss. We will, however, give the names of a few we have been able to gather: --- Dewey, Robert Eskridge, Samuel Dickens, William Wadkins, Joseph Hartley, Jeremiah Doty, Isaiah Walker, Charles H. Clay, William Lawson and others.
As a people the "old Baptist," as they style themselves, are honest and sincere; and whatever the world may think of their doctrines, manners and customs as a church, still all must admit that they are honest in their views.
One of the main reasons for the split in the Baptist Church, not only in this county, but elsewhere, was on the missionary question. The "Regulars" claim to be the true missionary church as organized by Christ and his apostles. They maintain that when God calls a man to preach, that the man so called feels that a necessity is laid upon him and that he feels as did the Apostle Paul, "Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel," and that feeling thus, they are compelled to go wherever the Lord directs, and that without "stave or script." So, taking their own version of the matter, they are not opposed to missions, but to the manner of sending them out; or, in other words, they believe a preacher should go and preach, and not be sent out by a board.
Numerically speaking, they are a weak church, and likely to remain so, as their doctrines and customs are not in keeping with the fast age in which we are living; and in churches, as in all other institutions the majority want to be on the popular side.
Free-Will Baptists.---The first church was organized in the county about two miles west of Jeffersonville, September 2, 1854, by Rev. S. S. Branch, and consisted of six members: S. S. Branch, Elizabeth Branch, Densy Tubbs, Samuel Branch, Jacob S. Hawk and Mary Hawk. Of this number the least three are still living, and active members of the church. S. S. Branch was chosen pastor; J. S. Hawk, clerk, and Samuel Branch, deacon. The Saturday before the third Sabbath of each month, was appointed for convenant meetings. Regular services were held on the Sabbath. Rev. S. S. Branch was born in Vermont, in 1794, removed to Ohio in 1820; professed religion in April, 1831; baptized by Rev. Steadman, a powerful preacher of Southern Ohio; ordained in 1841; removed to Illinois, 1853; died January 29, 1862, leaving a wife and eight children. At last accounts his widow was living in Rock County, Minn., with her son, Joseph. Of the ten children of this family, four are living. The oldest, Sirenus Branch, is living in the northern part of this county, and is a carpenter by trade. The second child of the family was the second wife of Titus Buffington, of Xenia, Ill., who is well known to many of our readers. Stephen Branch is living at Sandoval, Ill., Joseph Branch in Rock County, Minn.; Levi B_____, in Kansas. Of the other original members, Densy Tubbs is living another life in the "bright beyond;" J. S. Hawk is living on a good farm, enjoying the rounds of life; Samuel Branch is living in Jeffersonville, Wayne County, in a ripe old age.
The church flourished for a time under the efficient labors of its pastor, who was an earnest, practical preacher of Gospel truths. After his death, Rev. John Rhodes, of Bone Gap, Edwards Co., Ill., preached to the church for a time.
The church struggled on, but removals, death and dissensions ere long reduced the number and disheartened all.
The"lions by the wayside" caused many to retrace their steps to the enticing shades of sinful pleasure.
Years rolled by, and although the church had almost lost its visible form there were some who still stood firm to the faith, and kept alive the coals from which, since then, a bright fire has been kindled.
In 1872, Rev. G. H. Moon, having located in the county, the church chose him as pastor, but its progress for a few years was not rapid, although its life blood pulsated with more regularity. Dr. Talmage has said" A prayer never goes heaven high that does not go pocket deep." And history affirms that the progress of a church is in proportion as its means are consecrated. In the early spring of 1878, the church enjoyed a sweeping revival under the labors of the pastor. Members were quickened, back-sliders reclaimed and sinners brought to Christ. From that time on it has been such as to merit the best regards of all Christians. Upon the resignation of G. H. Moon, Rev. J. C. Gilliland was chosen pastor in January, 1880. Another revival made sad havoc among the workers of iniquity, and the church was greatly strengthened.
A church house was soon talked of, and soon stood upon its foundations in a beautiful place, about two and three-fourth miles west of Jeffersonville. It is a structure that honors the church and the community where it stands.
J. C. Gilliland having moved away, Rev. W. R. Moon was selected as pastor, June, 1883. He had been licensed to preach, but on October 21, he was ordained to the full work of the gospel ministry. Another revival was now enjoyed under the labors of Rev. Harry Thompson, of Lebanon, Ill. A young man, writing to the pastor said: "The whole community is love." The Sunday school which was already large was fired with new zeal and interest. A public prayer meeting was held every Sunday night, and a young people’s prayer meeting every Wednesday night. The membership at present (January, 1884) is ninety-two.
In June 1872, another church was organized at Big Mound, by Rev. A. J. Hoskinson, of Odin, Ill., consisting of ten members: G. H. and Mrs. Moon, Joshua Davis, Mrs. Elizabeth Davis, H. N. Moon, Mrs. Lillie Moon, Mr. and Mrs. E. Scranton, Betty Virden and Flora Moon.
The biography of some of these will be found in another chapter of this volume.
Of this number four have removed to other localities. One had died. The other five, Joshua Davis, Mrs. Davis, G. H., Mrs. M. B. and Flora Moon are still standing shoulder to the wheel.
H. N. Moon has removed to Ohio; and is residing in Marion County. E. Scranton removed to Lamard Township, and Betty Virden silently closed her eyes and fell into a peaceful slumber to awake again on the farther shore.
G. H. Moon was chosen pastor at the time of organization, and held the position till 1880, during which time different revivals were enjoyed by the church. Upon his resignation, Rev. J. C. Gilliland was chosen pastor, but, owing to ill-health, his labors with the church were not regular. After his removal to another locality, G. H. Moon again ministered to the spiritual wants of the church until the spring of 1881, when a good revival was had, and W. R. Moon was chosen pastor.
Although its career has not been the most brilliant, yet no jar of discord has ever marred its ebb and flow. It now numbers thirty-seven members, and sustains a regular prayer meeting.
The local church is always an independent body so far as relates to its own government; chooses its own officers, and disciplines its own members; that immersion is the only mode of baptism; do not believe in fore-ordination; believe in unrestricted communion with all true believers; takes an active part in educational work, as it shows the remarkable record of an institution of learning to every 6,000 members of its order. It also stands high in missionary work, and has about thirty workers; eleven well established schools, and also a printing establishment in the foreign field.
General Baptist Church.---The religious organization that maintains that there is a possible general atonement for all mankind, and that all good people have a right to the communion, regardless of whatever religious creed they may belong to, is known as "The General Baptists," and had its origin in the United States in 1637, twenty-six years prior to any organization of the kind in England.
The first church of the above denomination that was organized in Wayne County, was so effected by Elder R. Stinson in the fall of 1853, and was known as the "Old Arrington Prairie Church." The original members were H. H. Brown and wife, John Wheeler and wife, James W. Gwin, C. C. Ayres, Thompson Fares and Samuel Rogers. At this organization, James W. Gwin and Thompson Fares were ordained Elders by Elder Stinson, assisted by Elder Samuel Branch.
Elder Givin possessed but a limited education, yet was endowed with strong natural qualities, and at once set out with earnest efforts in his ministerial labors, and on March 26, 1859, he organized Mt. Pleasant Church, when, assisted by Elder S. Branch, he ordained H. H. Brown and W. M. Montgall. Later, by the efforts of H. H. Brown and W. M. Montgall, the Johnson Prairie and Wilson Branch Churches were organized from persons who held their membership with the Liberty Association, General Baptist Church, in Indiana. It was in 1863 that they obtained permission from the mother church in Indiana to effect an association in Wayne County, and accordingly the Union Grove Association was organized by Elders Brown, Branch and Stinson. The organization has continued to grow from the beginning, and at present thirteen churches are numbered in its list, which are in Wayne County. Elder Gwin, who was instrumental in bringing about the above organizations, moved to Arkansas soon after the Union Grove Association was established, where he subsequently died, after having organized other associations. Elder William M. Montgall was an earnest worker, but was taken with consumption soon after having been ordained, and his short but useful career was abruptly ended. The writer could obtain but little data relative to the life of Elder Fares, but H. H. Brown is living in Johnsonville, and has served well his religious organization in various places, and has been entrusted with some small but important offices in the gift of the general public where he resides. He, like the other originators of the General Baptist Church in Wayne County, had but a limited education, but with such energies as he could "muster up" he has, like them, done a noble work, notwithstanding the membership of the various churches where they have labored in this county is composed of persons of limited circumstances, such that they are not, even now, able to compensate the various Elders as largely as other associations. Upon the whole, the vicissitudes of the church in this county have been various. Sometimes they had marked prosperity, which would last for a short time, and this frequently followed by a decade of lingering apathy, or at least a state of comparative quiescence, but the average has been a vitality that is not at all discouraging to the many members who in the long ago learned to love it as the child does its protecting and cherishing mother.
United Baptists.**---Pleasant Grove Church was organized September 25, 1853, with twelve members, as follows: Samuel C. Pendleton, James Hearn, John R. Carter, Eliza R. Pendleton, Hannah Carter, Lidia Doris, Susan Fitzgerald, Phebe Butler, Mahala Boyce, Rosanna Meritt, Mary Butler, Sara A. Robinson. Two of these are still living, James Hearn and Rosanna Meritt.
The ministers composing the presbytery were Elders Joseph P. Ellis, Carter J. Kelley, William P. Sneed and Solomon M. Webb. At the close of the meeting, which lasted about ten days, there were twenty-four converts baptized into the church, and eleven others united with the church by letter and relation.
There have been about five hundred names enrolled on the church book since its organization. Three churches have been organized from this church, viz., Bethel Church, in White County; Providence Church and Barnhill Church in Wayne County, and a portion of the members that went into the third organization at Fairfield, were from this church in the thirty years that the church has had an existence. A great many have drawn letters and moved away; some have been excluded and others died, leaving at the present writing about one hundred and forty-six members. The church as set apart three to the ministry, viz., Revs. B. S. Meeks, D. C. Walker and S. C. Pendleton, all of whom have served the church as pastor, B. S. Meeks for a number of years, perhaps half the time since the church’s organization. The above named ministers have all departed this life.
Three other ordained ministers have belonged to the church---Revs. C. J. Kelley, E. W. Overstreet and Gideon Tenison, besides licentiates that have been ordained by other churches after receiving letters from this church, J. M. Madding and S. M. Tenison, while others have been licensed and ordained since.
Pleasant Grove Church might properly be called the mother of the Baptist Churches in the southern part of Wayne County and the northern part of White County.
Of the six ordained ministers that have belonged to the church, none are living. The church has no minister of its own, and has to be supplied from abroad.
We give the names of the ministers that have served the church as pastors since its organization:
Carter J. Kelley, E. W. Overstreet, B. S. Meeks, J. B. Smith, S. C. Pendleton, D. C. Walker, J. H. Murray, K. G. Hay. Elder S. A. Martin served as pastor a few months.
The following deacons were ordained:
B. S. Meeks, J. R. Carter, D. W. Atteberry and D. K. Felix. William P. Whiting was ordained by Salem Church of White County, and is a member of this church. Four different ones have served as clerk, viz.:
D. C. Walkter, D. K. Felix, J. R. Carter, D. W. Atteberry.
Christian Church.---In the year 1839, a number of families emigrated from Columbiana, Carroll, and Stark Counties, Ohio, to this county, and settled in Lamard Prairie and vicinity. All of these families belonged to the Christian Church, among whom we name Jesse Milner, Isaac Whitaker, Edward Whitaker, Jonas Lumm, John Morlan, Martin Emmans, Noah Towers, James McNeely, John Skelton and James A. Maslan, Fenton Lumm and Townsend Richards. About the same time a few families settled in the same neighborhood from Tennessee, among whom were the Butcher Family and the Caudle family, and Edward Puckett and others, who were members of the Christian Church. At the time that these parties settled in this neighborhood, the county had but a very light population, and in the vicinity of this settlement the land was all vacant, being but a few squatters residing in a radius of several miles. No schoolhouse or churches within several miles of this settlement. The first work was to locate their homes, build their houses, and get a little land opened up for cultivation. As soon as this was done, the next work was to build a house that would answer the double purpose of a schoolhouse and a place of public worship.
The church was not properly organized until the fall of 1840. The writer has at this time, no means of knowing the names of all that went into this organization. With this first emigration, there were a number of preachers that did good work in establishing the cause in this, and adjoining counties, among whom were Jones Lumm, Fenton Lumm, Isaac Whitaker, and Cornelius Ades. This church at its first organization, besides the labors of the above named brethren, had the labors of the Goodwin brothers---Moses and Elijah---of William Bristow and David R. Chance, although these brethren have all long since gone to their long home, where they are resting from their labors. Three names are fresh in the memories of all the brethren. As these old soldiers and pioneers have one by one passed away, new ones have sprung up in their places, among whom will name Jeramiah Butcher, E. J. Hart, Joseph Skelton, and more recently Brother Rose, Brother Wall and Brother D. Logan. The school that was first taught at the Buckeye Schoolhouse (this was the name given the house and also the name given the church), was taught by Gibson B. Davis; he taught there for several years, and by his labors in his school, in the Sunday school and the church, assisted largely in building up the cause of morality and religion in the neighborhood.
About the years 1850, 1851, and 1852, another large emigration came into the county from the central part of Ohio and settled in the west part of Lamard Township, among whom we will name: Isaac Brock and family, George Brock and family, John Burton and family. The two last named were both preachers and assisted largely in building up the Christian Church. This old Buckeye Church by emigration and proselyting had spread over so much territory, and had become so strong numerically, that it was thought advisable for the convenience of its members, and for the purpose of extending its influence, to organize from its membership other organizations. The first move in this direction was to cut off the west portion of the body and organize a new congregation about four miles west of the old organization. The new organization was called Pleasant Grove. This took place about the year 1855. After this, several years, the Cisne congregation was organized first at the schoolhouse near Brother Levi Cisne’s. After this, when the Shawneetown branch of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad was built, and the town of Cisne was laid out, the brethren built a neat church house at the town of Cisne and moved the membership there. About the same time the brethren in and around Jeffersonville, thought it best to establish the cause there and went to work and built a good house of worship in that town, and organized a congregation under the name of the Christian Church, at Jeffersonville. The membership that composed this new organization was taken from the membership of the old Buckeye Church and Pleasant Grove Church, the same year that the church was built at Jeffersonville. The brethren at the Buckeye Church erected a new church house, about one-half mile north of the old schoolhouse, where the church was first organized. About the year 1873, a little band of brethren that were worshiping at what was called the Gunion school about four or five miles northeast of Cisne, built a neat, frame church house and organized a congregation. The congregations named are all the out-croppings of the old Buckeye Christian Church. All have good houses of worship and are in good condition, no two of the church houses being more than seven miles apart. Another fact that should be named in this connection is, that the territory covered by the membership of these five congregations has always been noted for morality, industry and christianity. From the first settlement of the country the membership of these five churches will aggregate about 800 members with a church property which will aggregate in value $8,000. Soon after the organizaton of the Buckeye Church, a few brethren from Tennessee settled in and around Turney’s Prairie, about six miles south of Fairfield and organized a congregation at what was called the Walker Schoolhouse, among whom the writer recollects the names of William Baze, P. J. Pucket, Thomas Pucket, Joseph Odell, John Shruseberry and Anderson Walker, who toiled together under great opposition to build up the cause of primitive christianity; the pioneers of this organization have all fought their last battle and won the victory and gone to rest, except Brother Odell who is still lingering on the shores of time, waiting for the Master to call him home. The congregation still has an existence and has a comfortable house of worship and a live membership. The congregation at Barnhill was organized from a portion of the membership of this congregation. The Barnhill congregation has a comfortable house of worship and a live membership.
The Fairfield congregation has a membership of about one hundred; at present is meeting in the Opera Hall; is building a brick house of worship which, when completed, will cost about $3,500. The congregation has a live and zealous membership, and assist largely in throwing restraint and religious influence around the citizens of the growing little city of Fairfield. There are many other small congregations in the county that the writer is not acquainted with the history of. There are two organizations in Four Mile Township, two in Leach Township, one in Zif, one in Elm River Township, one in Brush creek, one in Arrington Township, one in Indian Prairie. There are in the county fifteen or sixteen church organizations, with an aggregate membership of about one thousand five hundred, with a church property that is worth about $14,000. These people have done a good work in this county, and are all working faithfully to restore the apostolic order of things, discarding creeds and confession of faith, taking the Bible and the Bible alone as the rule of faith and practice, pleading for a union of God’s people on the one foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ being the Chief Corner Stone.
Zachariah W. Wood, the present serving pastor of the church, was born in Rockingham, Va. He removed to Missouri with his father’s family, and in 1855, came to Wayne County, and commenced preaching in 1867.
Catholic Church was organized in this place about twenty-five years ago. The services were first conducted by Father Fisher, who in passing through the county would serve mass at the residence of S. Rider. The first organization was principally of the Rider families, and John and William Bowles and their families, and meetings were at their houses.
The present church edifice was erected by these families, assisted greatly by James Hillard, James Henings, Miss Josie Cooper, Nelly Barnhill, John Taafe and others. The present serving priest, L. Reisner, took steps and commenced and completed the building in 1881. It is a one story brick and cost $3,000. The Rider brothers, J. and A. B. were made trustees, in which position they are now acceptably serving. The present membership is about forty-five.
Presbyterian Church.---There was a Presbyterian Church organized, perhaps as early as 1825, by B. F. Spillman.
It was called by three or four different names, Fairfield, Franklin and Bethel, arising probably from as many different places of preaching. The principal point was Bethel, or New Bethel, now Mount Erie, about twelve miles northeast of Fairfield. The Elders, so far as now known, were Isham B. Robinson, aged eighty, still living; Alexander Ramsey and Samuel McCracken. It had quite a considerable membership. Among them, Mrs. Gen. Leach, whose husband was quite prominent in the early history of the county, and Mrs. Slocum, B. F. Spillman, and Thomas A. Spillman paid them occasional visits. Rev. Isaac Bennet, from Eastern Pennsylvania, Bucks County, and a graduate of Jefferson College, Penn., with the highest honors of his class, also a graduate of Allegheny Theological Seminary also served them. He was the greatest preacher---as a preacher---who had ever appeared in this part of the country; and the impression he made was worthy of his talents. He was devoted and zealous and successful. Rev. Mr. Bennet labored here during 1829, and probably afterward. He was at this time only a licenciate and was not ordained for some three years afterward (April 13, 1833). He purchased here of George Russell that famous horse, "Jack," with whom he lived in such close intimacy at Pleasant Prairie, Coles County.
But Mr. Bennett was called away from them, and their organization was lost. But immediately after the re-union of the two largest branches of the great Presbyterian family---known as Old School and New School---Father Galbraith, a most earnest, zealous and self-denying missionary, who was then preaching at Flora, Clay County, came down to Fairfield, and after repeated visits and after earnest invitation, the Presbytery of Cairo organized or reorganized the Presbyterian Church of Fairfield, which was done on the 23rd day of April, 1871, when the following persons gave their names and united at its organization:
John Robinson, Mrs. E. A. Robinson, A. R. Robinson, James R. Dales, Susan Dales, Mrs. Belle Ball, Dr. William M. Kerr, Mrs. Grace Fetherstone, Henry L. Beecher, Mrs. Eliza Rea, J. C. Claudy, Alexander Moore, Mrs. Jane Moore, John Rankin, Mrs. Eliza Rankin, Mrs. L. Claudy.
At the same meeting, Rev. Robert C. Galbraith was called as pastor for half his time. The other half of his time was occupied by the church at Flora.
Mr. Galbraith was born in Indiana or Pennsylvania February 26, 1814, was the son and grandson of ministers. He graduated at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1834, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1837.
Mr. Galbraith was a scholar and a gentleman of the old school. Most of his ministry had been in Virginia and Baltimore, Md. He came to this State in 1865. He preached for a time in Odin, Marion County, Ill., but the cessation of business and travel after the war closed, resulted in his removal to Flora, and afterward in substituting Fairfield, Wayne County, for Odin, which led to his removal to Fairfield in 1873, giving his full time there.
He remained here as pastor until June, 1880, when the pastoral relation was dissolved by the Presbytery of Cairo.
He thence removed to Metropolis and supplied the church there for one year and a half. He is now, 1884, pastor of the church of Golconda.At this first meeting of the church for its organization, the following gentlemen were elected elders: Messrs. John Robinson, of Wayne City; James R. Dales, now of Olney; J. C. Claudy, now of Newville, Penn. Also the following gentlemen were elected its first Board of Trustees: Mesrs. C. A. Beecher, Oliver Holmes, T. L. Cooper and Dr. William M. Kerr to serve for three years, and Mr. Joseph T. Fleming, William H. Robinson and Adam Rinard for the term of five years; and also that said Board of Trustees act as a building committee in the erection of a church building.
Rev. R. C. Galbraith was installed pastor of the church by the Presbytery of Cairo May 14, 1871.
The proposed church was erected during the summer---a very fine one for the time; one of the best, if not the very best, in Southern Illinois, costing about $7,000, the lst $1,000 not being paid until $1,000 had been spent in interest, just ten years after, in August, 1881.
Fairfield, when the church was erected, was a village of less than 1,000 inhabitants.
The years have mainly been years of growth, but one year without some uniting on profession of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The church was organized with but sixteen members. Its first report to the General Assembly of the church was thirty-four. It has had on its roll about 135, but by reason of death and removals it has now sixty.
Its present pastor, Rev. Edward P. Lewis, was called here August 30, 1880, when he visited the church. He entered regularly upon his work the last Sabbath of September, the 26th, 1880, since which time there have been twenty-five members united with the church, all but four upon profession of faith in Christ, as Presbyterians moving into Southern Illinois are few and far between.
Rev. E. P. Lewis was born in Indiana County, Penn.; was the son of Rev. David Lewis, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Lewisville, Penn.; the same church as was Rev. Joseph Henderson, the grandfather of Rev. R. C. Galbraith.
After the death of his father, the mother removed to Washington, Penn., the seat of Washington and Jefferson College, for the purpose of educating her three sons and daughter.
Mr. Lewis graduated at the college in 1860, and afterward at Allegheny Theological Seminary in the spring of 1864.
Immediately afterward, he was called to the Presbyterian Church of Atchinson, Kan. He resigned this church in 1868, on account of his health, and returned to Pennsylvania, where he remained until accepting the invitation to the church of Fairfield, in the summer of 1880.
This church in all its history has been marked for its special liberality, not only to home expenses, but to outside and missionary objects, its gifts amounting annually to thirty-three and one-third dollars per member.
Alexander Moore was elected an elder January 3, 1875, and remained an elder until his death, which occurred on the 19th of August, 1883.
The present officers are:| Visit Our Neighbors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Marion | Clay | Richland | |
| Jefferson |
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Edwards | |
| Franklin | Hamilton | White | |
