HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 325 ladies come to life for him who can say the right word or make the secret sign. Thurston's own life story of his life makes it plain that there is no necromancy in the making of a magician. There was natural ability fired by the performance of a great master, there was the will to win, but there was almost the quarter of a century of the hardest kind of work with enough discouragements to balk any but one of the magi before he found the substitute for "sesame." When he was nine years old he was bellboy at the old American House. Then he was a newsboy on the C. A. & C. Railway, and afterward on the Pennsylvania between Columbus and Pittsburgh ; and when he was but thirteen he ran away from home and went out into Bohemia—the land that is not shown on any map because its sun rises in the West and sets in the East. For a time he "followed the races," and lived with jockeys and trainers and touts ; he traveled blind baggage and adventured with the flotsam of humanity; he was lured by the circus and found his voice as barker for a sideshow where Coffey, the Skeleton Dude, proved that it was possible for at least one freak to equal the painted banner outside. He toured the brush with a wagon show, shared time and honors with educated dogs and ponies and opened his small bag of tricks in dime museums—and came through it all unscathed. Thurston was thirty years of age when he met with his first real encouragement and success. He got an engagement at Tony Pastor's Union Square Theatre, in New York. The result of all his hard work in developing original card manipulations was to win the instant recognition of a critical public and the reluctant theatrical managers. He was booked for a tour of the States and Canada, and the following year went to London. With the incentive of financial success and approval in high places he built a show that subjugated Europe. Royalty came to be amused in public and sought him in private to be instructed. The late Emperor Franz Josef, of Austria, presented him a watch—one of a collection of trophies that provides an evening's entertainment without backdrops or footlights. Thurston has literally toured the world. He has entertained Mandarins in China, Maharajahs in India and everywhere the prince and 326 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY the pauper, the lord and his lackey, King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid. All in all some fifty million people have watched him at work, have wondered—and gone home satisfied. He says that his show is for children—children from four to ninety-four. It seems his mission to satisfy the yearnings of those who pray : "Backward, turn backward, O Time in your flight, Make me a child again just for tonight." A successful magician must know something of psychology, physics, mechanics and chemistry. He must possess manual dexterity raised to the nth power, and he must have personal magnetism—that charm of manner known as "It." Thurston has all of these and more —he has published a book, "My Life of Magic" that may well be the envy of hardened writers. Also he is inventor. He designs and makes all those strange cabinets and cases and those funny "gimicks" that help in making the impossible happen. He has the qualities of mind and heart that would have brought him distinction in the pulpit, at the bar, on the rostrum or in any place where one mind seeks to sway the multitude. He was born in Columbus, passed the days of his early life here, and he returns every year admitting that no matter where he lives, Columbus is his home. WAYNE BIDDLE WHEELER. Wayne B. Wheeler was born at Brookfield, Ohio, November 10, 1869, and graduated from Oberlin College in 1894. During his junior year he became interested in the work of the Anti-Saloon League, then in process of organization by Dr. Howard H. Russell, and upon taking his degree, was assigned to work in the Cleveland district. Here he studied law and was admitted to the bar and shortly thereafter transferred to Columbus, where he made his home for twenty years. Just prior to our entrance into the World War, he was called to Washington as general counsel of the Anti-Saloon League of America, but he went to the capital with a national reputation gained while operating in and from Ohio. If Wayne Wheeler had never been associated with the Anti-Saloon League he might not have gained a national reputation, but he would HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 327 have been a marked success in anything he undertook. He was primarily a serious minded man. The world to him was a workshop and time was a tool, not a plaything. It is doubtful if he ever played in the usual sense ; but in a special sense his work was all play. To him America was a great chess board on which he had the white men and the first move—and he never lost the initiative. The black represented to him the forces of darkness—the saloon, the brewery, the distillery and the devil, and the ultimate object of the game was checkmate. Through all the years of his conduct of the campaign he never lost sight of the objective. The loss of a pawn here or the sacrifice of a piece there amounted to nothing so long as a better position resulted and the black king's perils increased. And he played the game in just the same impersonal manner as he would have played chess. Senators, congressmen, legislators, governors, detectives and policemen, brewers, bottlers and barkeepers were just pieces, black or white, to be moved or captured without approval or resentment and some time gathered up and put away in the box. Wheeler's peculiar effectiveness lay in the fact that he did not harbor hatreds. He -did not abuse the enemy. He did not pound the pulpit or shout maledictions. A sopping wet could listen to one of his speeches and not be insulted—that is, not deeply. He smiled while he delivered the coup de grace. He preserved the judicial temperament, giving his clients the best service possible while maintaining an air of personal aloofness as if the whole thing mattered nothing to him. He subordinated his own deep interest, thrust it aside entirely the better to promote a principle. When Wayne Wheeler took up the anti-saloon work, the Prohibition party was attempting to occupy the field. This party was composed of a few consecrated souls, almost fanatics, deluded with the idea that something could be accomplished by building up an overwhelming political party on a single issue. The plan of campaign would have required eternity for its consummation. Wheeler pointed out to these idealists the fact that their purpose could be accomplished in a single generation by using the two parties already in existence, and that is exactly what he proceeded to do. All the forces in the nation opposed to the liquor traffic were organized in mobile units, 328 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY without regard to majorities or pluralities, but solely as a balance of power. This balance of power was thrown first one way and then another to the party that would nominate candidates approved by the league. Starting with the nominating conventions, Wheeler's forces began to elect a few delegates here and there, and presently there were enough of them to dictate nominations ; and wherever a convention would not listen to them, disaster waited on them at the polls. The liquor people might have taken warning in Ohio in 1904. Governor Herrick did not see some things political with the same glasses used by the Anti-Saloon League. When the Republican party nominated him for a second term, Wheeler induced the Democratic party to nominate a pronounced dry. As a Democrat John M. Patti-son hadn't an outside chance of beating Governor Herrick for reelection, but retaining a majority of the normal Democratic vote and adding the votes the Anti-Saloon League threw to him, he was swept into the governor's office to the tune of "Onward Christian Soldier." This was the beginning of a series of similar operations from Maine to California, north and south, that brought about the eighteenth amendment. Possibly the political see-saw was not invented by Wayne Wheeler, but he devised all the modern improvements and made it fool proof and practical. September 5, 1927, Wayne Biddle Wheeler died at Battle Creek, Michigan. The next morning -every newspaper in America gave space to his passing, many of them using page headlines and most of them adding editorial comment in which credit was given to his genius as an organizer, a leader, an outstanding success in a field unique but of universal appeal. DR. T. G. WORMLEY. Theodore G. Wormley was born in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1827. He attended Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and received the degree of M. D. from the Philadelphia College of Medicine in 1849. He located in Columbus in 1850 and became a teacher of chemistry in the Starling Medical College in 1854, where he remained until 1877, when he accepted the chair of chemistry in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 329 During his residence in Columbus he wrote and published numerous pamphlets on chemistry and allied subjects and was a member of most of the scientific societies in America and Europe. In 1867 he published his great work on the "Micro-chemistry of Poisons," which brought him world-wide and enduring fame. This work has been described as "The most valuable contribution to toxicology and medical jurisprudence that America has ever made to medical science, and in many of its features is unsurpassed by any contribution to these departments from European science." Dr. Wormley spent the most of the time he was not engaged in the class room during fifteen years in his chemical and microscopic analysis of the effects of all the well-known poisons on animal life. It is recorded that the cat and dog population of Columbus was reduced more than two thousand in the course of these investigations. During all of these experiments, Mrs. Wormely (who was the daughter of John L. Gill, pioneer resident of Columbus) was the doctor's constant assistant and made drawings of wonderful faithfulness of the poison crystals as they were recovered and identified. It was of the greatest importance that these drawings should be engraved as illustrations for the doctor's magnum opus. Engravers far and wide were consulted and no one found willing to undertake the work. One expert told Dr. Wormley that only the person who had made the drawings could successfully engrave the plates and so, as a last and only resort, Mrs. Wormley undertook the labor of teaching herself the art of steel engraving. With infinite patience she mastered every detail of the work and, in less than a year, finished the etching of thirteen full-page plates containing seventy-eight figures. These plates have been pronounced by the best judges to be the finest set of microscopic plates ever produced in Europe or America up to that time, and it is doubtful if they have been excelled since. Dr. Wormley is easily entitled to a place on any list of famous Americans and it is well that he gained honors enough for two because his wife is always given equal praise in any reference to the great toxicologist. 330 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY OTHER NOTABLES. These sketches might have included many more subjects by a slight extension of the original definition. Some future list will probably add the names of persons now living who are well on the road to the widest recognition. Among the great ones who have lived in the county at one time or another are : T. C. Mendenhall, a member of the original faculty of the Ohio State University ; professor of physics in the Imperial University of Japan at Tokio, where he was the founder of the meterological system of the Imperial Government; again a member of the faculty of the State University from 1881 to 1884 ; resigned to accept employment with the federal government where he further distinguished himself in the Signal Service, as superintendent of the U. S. Geodetic Survey, as a commissioner in the Behring Sea controversy and as an authority on scientific subjects. Frederick Marvin, chief of the United States Weather Bureau, was a temporary resident in Columbus, educated at the Ohio State University. William Dean Howells, the novelist, was a member of the editorial staff of the Ohio State Journal from 1858 to 1861 and began to contribute poems to the Atlantic Monthly shortly before leaving here. Samuel S. (Sunset) Cox was the editor of the Ohio Statesman in 1853 when he wrote his famous editorial "A Great Old Sunset." His permanent reputation, however, rests on his later literary work, done after his residence in Columbus. Al. G. Fields, the genial minstrel man, made Columbus his home and headquarters for many years. He wrote and published "Watch Yourself Go By," an unusual auto-biography. Henry L. Doherty got his early education and start in the financial world with Emerson McMillan and the Columbus Gas Company; now a leader in the development of public utilities, with offices in New York. Oley Speaks, composer of "Sylvia" and other songs of great merit and strong appeal, was born and raised in Franklin County. Julius F. Stone, known at home as a manufacturer and financier, has a wide reputation elsewhere as an explorer. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 331 Alice Schille is now on the list of the world's greatest painters of children's portraits. Mary Elizabeth Cook, the sculptor, will be given a place in the Hall of Fame when her genius and accomplishments are fully appreciated. Zane Grey was a resident of Columbus during his early struggles for literary recognition. CHAPTER XXII THE CHURCH AND THE Y. M. C. A. FOUNDATIONS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE-THE COMING OF JAMES HOGE, HIS BIRTH AND PREPARATION-SERVICES IN THE COURT HOUSE-EARLY INTEREST IN EDUCATION-STATE SCHOOL FOR DEAF-INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND- PRINCETON REVIEW ESTIMATE OF HODGE-FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES-FIRST AND SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES-OTHER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES-THE METHODISTS -WESLEY CHAPEL-BROAD STREET AND KING AVENUE CHURCHES-THE EPISCOPALIANS-FOUNDING OF TRINITY-ST. PAUL'S-THE LUTHERANS-CAPITOL UNIVERSITY AND THE BOOK CONCERN-ST. PAUL'S, TRINITY AND GRACE CHURCHES-THE BAPTISTS- CENTRAL, HILDRETH AND MEMORIAL-CONGREGATIONAL-FIRST CHURCH AND DR. GLADDEN -PLYMOUTH AND FRANK GUNSAULUS-OTHER PROTESTANT CHURCHES -THE CATHOLICS-ST. JOSEPH'S CATHEDRAL-THE FOUR BISHOPS OF THE COLUMBUS DIOCESE-JEWISH CHURCHES-THE Y. M. C. A.-EARLY HISTORY-BUILDING COMMITTEE-COUNTY ORGANIZATION-WAR WORK -NEW CENTRAL BUILDING-BOYS' WORK-SUMMARY. The foundations of religious life in Franklin County were laid broad and deep. The pioneers coming from Virginia brought with them a strong tendency toward the Presbyterianism of their Scotch forebears and those from New England, fired with zeal for religious freedom for themselves and the missionary spirit for others, were equally devout and possibly even more militant. These pioneers brought little with them in the way of material impedimenta, but with almost every family there came a Bible. The harvest was ripe when the pioneer evangel came to organize and direct the spiritual activities of the wilderness. To the Reverend James Hoge is due and given the credit for shaping the course of the - 332 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 333 earliest church development ; and he did his work so well that he set a standard for all his successors. A knowledge of his work and accomplishment furnishes a key to the church history of the community; therefore, the facts are submitted in the following brief biography. James Hoge was born in the beautiful valley of the South Branch of the Potomac River at Moorfield, Hardy County, Virginia, July 4, 1784. It has been said of him that he could trace his ancestry back through a line of ministers of the gospel three hundred years to the time of John Knox, of Scotland. His family were well known and influential in Virginia. His father was president of Hampton-Sidney College. John Randolph said of him that he was the most eloquent speaker Virginia had produced. Young Hoge enjoyed fine educational and social advantages. His early youth was spent among men who ranked high as patriots, soldiers and statesmen. There was a courtly society in Virginia at that time which was noted for its hospitality, culture, refinement and grace. Patrick Henry was a trustee of Hampton-Sidney College. In the spring of 1805 young Hoge was licensed as a Presbyetrian minister by the Presbytery of Lexington, and a little later in the year he was commissioned by the General Assembly of the -church, meeting in Philadelphia, a domestic missionary to the state of Ohio and territory adjacent thereto. The young man had been carrying on a school at Sheperdstown. He disposed of this in the fall and betook himself on horseback in search of the work on the frontier to which he believed God, in His providence, would lead him. He crossed over the mountains into Kentucky and on to Cincinnati, then north through the Miami Valley and the Mad River to Springfield, where he fell in with the Supreme Court of Ohio, which at that time was also a circuit court. They were on their way to hold court for the first time in Franklinton, which had the reputation of being such a lawless frontier place that it had the nickname of "Sodom." Judge Baldwin convinced the young man that there was no more needy place than Franklinton. The largest room in the little settlement of Franklinton was in John Overdier's house. This large room had been chosen by the court for its sessions. Young Hoge had made such a good impression 334 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY on the judges, and they were so desirous of giving him a good sendoff, that they adjourned court and sent notice to the inhabitants that there would be religious services and that Hoge would preach. This is said to be the only instance in which the Supreme Court of Ohio ever adjourned to hear a sermon. The principal amusement in the village of Franklinton was fighting. Any man who would not fight was looked upon as a coward and unworthy of citizenship. The first manufactory was a distillery located on the east bank of the Scioto River not far from the north edge of the present Civic Center. Drunken white men and Indians were a common menace. The situation fully justified the extra-legal opinion of the court. Amid these surroundings Hoge began his ministry and by February 18 he had gathered a church membership of thirteen persons—eight women and five men. To that church he gave the most of his life for over fifty years. In its issue of June, 1870, "Our Magazine," of Cincinnati, said of Doctor Hoge : "So long located at the capital he had formed an acquaintance with most of the prominent men of the state, in both political and professional life, and his church was the place where governors, judges and legislators mainly congregated for religious worship. His influence was widely felt in political as well as in ecclesiastical affairs, and probably no man did more than he at that period to frame and establish the various educational and benevolent institutions of the state. As a trustee of the two state universities, as a member of the committees that organized the asylums for the blind and the deaf, and also an advocate of that for the insane, as a known friend of popular education and of the temperance reform, and other such enterprises for the public good, he accomplished a peculiar and conspicuous work. In church affairs he was widely known and respected as a man of unusual wisdom ; and in seasons of difficulty was always regarded as a safe adviser and a cool and reliable leader. In the pulpit his power was specially felt ; that pulpit became a kind of throne, whence without any form or pretense of royalty he swayed and governed men. Up to the year 1850, with one brief interval of rest in 1845, he thus stood at his post, and did the work to which HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 335 God had called him; a man of mark in both church and state, unblemished in personal character, and trusted and revered by men of all classes, surpassed by few as a preacher, and by none in the patience and fidelity and efficiency of his general labors ; filling his place in life nobly, and thus making for himself a name which neither the city nor the state of his adoption can easily suffer to be forgotten." Doctor Hoge was greatly interested in education and he, very soon after the coming of the Legislature to Columbus in 1816, began to cultivate its influence with the object of urging the establishment of free schools. He formed friendships with the men over the state who had similar desires. He entertained governors and senators at his house and advocated the need and the blessing of education for the young of the state at a time when education was not popular. There was a feeling in the minds of a great many that education unfitted a man for the ordinary occupations, such as farming and all kinds of manual labor. Men thought that if a boy could figure the value of a load of hay or wood and could read a newspaper, he had all the education that was worth while ; and, as for educating women —it was thought it would bring about family discord. As one man said : "My wife thinks she knows more than I do now, and if she had an education, there would be no living with her." There was close friendship existing between Governor Allen Trimble and James Hoge ; and Governor Trimble was in full sympathy with those who were anxious to provide public schools. In 1822 Allen Trimble, then acting governor, appointed seven commissioners, of whom James Hoge was one, to make a report to the Legislature on education. Their diligent efforts resulted in the presentation of a bill, which they succeeded in having passed, providing funds by taxation for educational purposes and which laid the foundations for Ohio's educational system. Referring to Doctor Hoge's services in initiating the State School for the Deaf, Henry Howe said : "Rev. Dr. Hoge, of Columbus, was a man of great force in Ohio, shown by his successful efforts at an early date in influencing its Legislature to found beneficent institutions. Largely through him it was that an institution for the education of the deaf and dumb was 336 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY founded during the legislative session of 1826-27. Governor Morrow in his annual message recommended the measure, and the result was the passage of an act in accordance with the recommendation." Doctor Hoge served as secretary of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum trustees for twenty years until his health failed. It was a number of years after the Legislature permitted the establishment of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum before they made any adequate provision in the way of appropriations of money for the expenses of the institution, and the trustees were obliged to carry on the work largely by gifts from individuals. Doctor Hoge, Doctor Awl and Judge Swayne sold to the state the ten acres on which the school is located for $300, which even at that time was recognized as being below its value and was looked upon as a virtual gift. Doctor Hoge was instrumental, also, in the establishment of the institution for the blind and in raising the money by popular subscription for the purchase and gift to the state of the land now occupied by that school. The earlier histories of the county frequently refer to Doctor Hoge as a member of civic committees and he was ever a prominent figure in public ceremonies. He was a member of the committee in charge of the obsequies of Henry Clay and Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, the Artie. explorer. The Princetown Review, of January 1864, has this to say regarding the services of Dr. Hoge to the National Body of the Church : "The vast and varied powers of Doctor Hoge were not confined to the individual church of which he was pastor, but were largely enjoyed by the whole denomination to which he belonged. He was justly called the father of the Presbytery of Columbus, and even of the Synod of Ohio. He never appeared to better advantage than in our church courts ; there he was a giant among his brethren. His personal influence, his practical wisdom, his extensive historical knowledge, his clear mind and logical powers told effectually whenever they were brought to bear on any subject. His power was felt also in the General Assembly. For many years he was one of the most prominent men that attended its sessions, having acted as its Moderator in the year 1832, and served always on some of its important committees." HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 337 James Hoge was the first minister of any denomination to settle in this central part of the state and for a long time the only Christian minister here. As there were no roads, he rode on horseback, ministering to pioneer families for a long distance in all directions. He said that he covered on horseback two thousand miles in a year. He was a trustee of both Miami and Ohio colleges. There is church authority for the statement that he established the first Sunday School west of the Allegheny Mountains. This he did though opposed by the people of his own church. As he was not allowed to carry on the Sunday School in the church house, he conducted it in his own home. As he could get no one in his own congregation to help him, he secured the cooperation of a brother Methodist. During the great cholera epidemic of 1833 it was Dr. Hoge who was most active in ministering to the sick and attending the dying. He lived the fullest possible life until the day of his death, September 22, 1863. This outline of a great life shows that Dr. Hoge was more than a missionary, greater than a minister only, broader even than his church. He made one of the greatest contributions to the beginnings of our community and commonwealth. While he was primarily a Presbyterian, his influence for good was undenominational. He may be claimed by all our churches because he was first of all a Christian. With such a founder, it is little wonder that the church organizations of the county have prospered and kept pace fully with the demands made upon them. The further history of the Presbyterian Church is one of great growth without material change in character. Services on the east side of the Scioto River were first held in private homes, but in 1814 a log church was built in Spring Street, near Third. A few years later a substantial frame edifice was erected at the corner of Front and Town Street, at a cost of $1,050. This had a seating capacity of four hundred. June 20th, 1821, the First Presbyterian Church, of Columbus, was incorporated by Gustavus Swan, Lincoln Goodale, David Taylor, William Mcllvain, James O'Harra and others. In 1830 this congregation, grown in numbers and strength, built a new church at Third and State Streets, which continued for more than half a century as a religious center. 338 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY The Second Presbyterian Church was organized March 3, 1839. It was located on the west side of Third Street, between Rich and Main Streets. The new building was completed in 1840, and Rev. George Hitchcock was the first pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. E. D. Morris, of Auburn, N. Y., and during his pastorate a new church in Third Street, immediately south of the present Postoffice, was built, now the home of the Central Presbyterian Church. Beginning in 1871 the Rev. William E. Moore was the pastor of this church for more than a quarter of a century. By his high character, scholarly attainments and wide influence he added much to the prestige of his denomination at home and abroad. Other prominent Presbyterian Churches are Westminster, organized in 1854 ; the Northminster Church, King Avenue, near Neil, successor to the Fifth Avenue Church, itself an outgrowth of the old Hoge Chapel ; the Board Street Presbyterian Church ; the Welsh Presbyterian Church, organized in 1849, which after outgrowing several buildings, is now located on Miami Avenue. The United Presbyterians, organized in May, 1858, are now located on Long Street, east of Washington Avenue. The Presbyterian faith is now preached in twenty churches in the city of Columbus. THE METHODISTS. The Methodists were the second in the order of church establishment. In 1813 Rev. Samuel West, a circuit rider, formed a congregation with George McCormick and his wife, George B. Harvey and Miss Jane Armstrong as a nucleus. Among the early members was Moses Freeman, a colored man. In 1814 a lot on the north side of Town Street, near High, was donated by the city and the First Methodist Church was built. This church building was first enlarged by the addition of a frame extension and in 1825 succeeded by a new brick structure which, in turn, gave way to a more modern edifice in 1852. This last building was the scene of many important church events and abolition meetings and conventions noted elsewhere. In 1891 this property was sold to the School Board and remodeled to house the public library and offices, the congregation moving to a new church in Bryden Road. Early preachers who con- HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 339 tributed to the spiritual welfare of the followers of John Wesley were Jacob Hooper, William Swayze, Simon Peter, Lemuel Lane, Jacob Tevis and Leroy Swarmstedt. In 1830 Thomas A. Morris was appointed to the Columbus charge. He was a man of great ability and was afterward distinguished as the editor of the Western Christian Advocate and was made a bishop in 1836. Other noted pastors were Granville Moody, the Fighting Parson, Dr. W. H. Scott, Earl Cranston, who became a bishop, Dr. A. C. Hirst and W. D. Cherington. The Wesley Chapel congregation was organized from the membership of the First Church and a building erected in High Street in 1845-6 on the site now occupied by the Wesley Block. This building was destroyed by a spectacular fire May 13, 1883. The site was sold at what was then considered a top price for High street real estate for that day, $62,500.00, and a new church raised on the northeast corner of Fourth and Broad Streets. This lot is now included in the plans for the great Methodist Temple the general church is preparing to build in Columbus in the near future. Leading all other denominations in numerical strength, as it does, the Methodist Church ranks first in the number of houses of worship, now almost fifty. The Broad Street church and the King Avenue church are fine examples of modern church architecture. In the county, outside the city, the Methodist is proportionately strong and its ministrations fully as active. THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPALIANS. The Protestant Episcopal Church had its beginning in Franklin County in Worthington in 1803. A church was built and an academy established. Rev. James Kilbourne, the patriarch of the little colony, conducted regular Sunday services. When Worthington lost its chances to become a metropolis and many of its pioneers moved to Columbus, Episcopal services were held at the Buckeye House in Broad Street by the Reverend Philander Chase, and in 1817 the parish of Trinity Church of Columbus was legally formed. The first Trinity Church was located on the site now occupied by the Hayden Building. The location on the corner of Broad and Third Streets was acquired in 1862 and the chapel was ready for use in December, 340 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY 1868. The Trinity chimes, installed in 1910, continue to be one of the features of down-town Columbus. The old St. Paul's Church, situated on the corner of Third and Mound Streets, was begun in 1841 and completed in 1846. It continued to be a religious landmark for sixty years when, the congregation outgrowing its accommodations, a new church was built in East Broad Street between Garfield and Monroe Avenues. The Church of the Good Shepherd, on the corner of Buttles Avenue and Park Street was built in 1871 and continued in that location for fifty years. Following the rapid development of the city to the north, the Good Shepherd congregation united with the Woodward Avenue mission, under the name of St. Stephens and erected a new church. Other Episcopal churches are St. Johns, Town and Avondale, and St. Andrews, Whittier Avenue. LUTHERAN. The disciples of Martin Luther first gathered in Franklin County in the Perry Inn, later known as the Franklin House, South High Street, in 1813, under the leadership of Rev. Michael J. Steck. Their first church was erected in 1820 in Third Street, between Town and Rich Streets, where the Reverend Heckel conducted services entirely in German. In these early days Christian Heyl found time amidst his many political and business occupations to act as leading lay-member of the Lutheran denomination and impressed his vigorous personality on its succeeding history. The prestige of the denomination in this county is greatly augmented by the location here of Capital University, of which more is to be said elsewhere, and the Lutheran Book Concern, one of the Church's most important publishing houses. Among the church buildings of especial interest because of long existence or influence, are : St. Paul's, at Germania and Bruck Streets. This church was originally located on the southwest corner of High and Mound Streets, occupying a portion of the site of the great Indian mound, and was built in 1844 under the leadership of Rev. Conrad Mees. In 1856 the church was destroyed by fire, but immediately rebuilt with a steeple HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 341 something over two hundred feet high. In 1917 the property was sold and the present church built. The Trinity German Evangelical Lutheran congregation located at Third and Fulton Streets, had its beginning in 1847. The present building was dedicated in 1857. Grace Lutheran Church, Oakwood Avenue, was first organized in 1872 and its services were originally held in Trinity Lutheran Church and afterward in Emanuel M. E. Church. In 1873 a frame chapel was built and occupied in south Fourth Street near Main. St. Mark's Church was organized in 1885 and the next year the present church was built on the corner of Dennison and Fifth Avenues. At this time there are twelve churches of the Lutheran denomination in Columbus. BAPTISTS. The Baptist Churches in Columbus date from 1823, when Elder George W. Jeffries, of Delaware County, began to devote a part of his time to those of his faith in the Capital City. The first church was built in 1828 on the south side of Mound Street between High and Front Streets. In 1831 this congregation completed a larger church in Front Street, north of Main and in 1840 again moved to the corner of Rich and Third Streets. The successor to this first church is now located in Broad Street, opposite Jefferson Avenue, and ranks with the leaders in church architecture and spiritual welfare. The Central Baptist Church, Russell Street, is the outgrowth of a mission established by the First Church in 1870. The present building was erected in 1884, but much enlarged and beautified in 1916. The Hildreth Baptist Church, corner of Twentieth and Atcheson Streets, was dedicated August 25, 1885. It is the natural outgrowth of a Sunday School organized in 1870 by members of the First Church for the benefit of those of the denomination and their families living at this distance from the original church. On the west side is the Memorial Baptist Church, Sandusky and Shepherd Streets, also the outgrowth of a Sunday School started in October, 1885. 342 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY There are four Baptist churches supported by members of the colored race. The Second Baptist Church, now located in 17th Street, was presided over for many years by Rev. James Poindexter who, because of great native ability and tact, escaped the usual limitations of his race and occupied a position of prominence in the community until his death. CONGREGATIONAL. The Welsh Church of Columbus, established in 1837, was the pioneer of Congregationalism in this county. It was not until November 3, 1856, that a branch of the Central Presbyterian Church, which had been located on the corner of Third Street and Lynn Alley and designed to care for the territory north of Broad Street, laid aside its allegiance to Calvin and assumed the name and church government of the Congregationalists. In 1857 this congregation acquired the site of the present First Church and erected a building on the rear of the lot. It was dedicated on the 27th of December of that year. The First Congregational Church has exerted a powerful influence in the community at all times. From 1882 to 1918 it furnished the pulpit from which Dr. Washington Gladden delivered his inspiring messages to a world not bounded by its church walls or the boundaries of county or state. Dr. Carl S. Patton, Rev. Irving Maurer and Dr. M. H. Lichliter, successors of Dr. Gladden, have carried on the traditions so firmly established. Plymouth Congregational Church was formed in 1872 for the benefit of Congregationalists living on the north side. For many years it occupied its own building on the corner of High and Russell Streets, and during a part of this time had for its pastor the Rev. Frank W. Gunsaulus, afterward widely known as a leading divine of Chicago. In 1891 the High Street property was sold and a new church built in West Fourth Avenue, near High Street. Other outstanding churches of the denomination are : The Congregational Church of North Columbus ; Eastwood, located in Twenty-first Street, near Broad ; Mayflower, Ohio avenue and Main Street ; the Welsh Congregational Church, Gay Street and HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 343 Washington Avenue ; and the South Congregational Church, High Street and Stewart Avenue. OTHER DENOMINATIONS. The Disciples of Christ, the Universalists, the Friends, the United Brethren and in fact all of the denominations of National scope, have their own places of worship in the city. The Christian Scientists have two churches, one in East Broad Street and the second on the corner of Park Street and First Avenue. Both are a credit to the city as specimens of church architecture and both serve a large membership. It is worthy of note that there is a growing tendency toward church cooperation on all public moral questions. Recently several congregations have consolidated, wiping out denominational lines for the sake of unity and greater influence. CATHOLIC. The Catholic Church in Franklin County, as in every other populous district, is organized to offer a complete religious benevolent and educational service to its votaries. In addition to St. Joseph's Cathedral, the headquarters of the diocese, there are some twenty imposing churches, each with its ecclesiastical staff and numerous parish activities. The many parochial schools, colleges, academies, hospitals, convents and charitable institutions are all a part of the church, each carrying on its peculiar work in harmony with every other activity. Anything like a detailed presentation of Catholic history in Franklin County would require another book. There is record of Catholic Church services being held in the original courthouse in Franklinton. The first Catholic Church in Columbus, the Holy Cross, was begun in 1833 at Fifth and Rich Streets. It was several years before it was completed, the delay being largely due to the difficulty of procuring the necessary money, but on April 29th, 1838, it was formally dedicated and local Catholic history took its date. Naturally the Catholic world of this diocese revolves about the Cathedral. In July, 1868, Right Reverend Sylvester Horton Rose- 344 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY crans was apprised of his appointment as the first Bishop of the new See of Columbus. The Bishop was a brother of General William S. Rosecrans, of Civil War fame, and one of a family distinguished in the early history of the nation. Two years before the building of St. Joseph's had begun on the corner of Broad and Fifth Streets, and to its completion the new Bishop gave his great ability and energy. On Christmas day, 1872, the Bishop celebrated Pontifical High Mass in his new Cathedral. The church was consecrated October 20, 1878, by Bishop Dwenger, of Ft. Wayne, in the presence of six other prelates, more than fifty priests and a large assembly of laymen. On the same evening Bishop Rosecrans was stricken with a fatal illness and died the next night. He has been succeeded by Bishop John Ambrose Watterson who, for more than twenty-five years, graciously conducted the affairs of his office and participated in the outstanding events of local history. Following the death of Bishop Watterson in 1899, Rt. Rev. Henry Moeller was consecrated as the third Bishop of Columbus August 25, 1900. Upon his appointment as Coadjutor Bishop of the See of Cincinnati, he was succeeded, December 10, 1903, by Rev. James Joseph Hartley, a native of Columbus, who is the present incumbent. References are made in other chapters to various Catholic schools and institutions. JEWISH. In a general way it may be said that the Jews of Franklin County have been here so long and have so thoroughly adapted themselves to native manners and customs that they are not readily distinguishable except in their church relations. The first Jewish Church was organized in 1849 and services were held in various halls until a temple was built at the northwest corner of Main and Third Streets and dedicated September 16, 1870. This was used for some thirty years, when it was sold and a new temple erected in Bryden Road, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets, dedicated in 1905. Four other Jewish congregations now have churches in the city. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 345 THE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (By John W. Pontius) Mr. William T. Perkins, General Secretary of the Columbus Young Men's Christian Association from December, 1889 to October, 1903, provides the following : "During the Jubilee year of the Y. M. C. A., 1910, I compiled an eighteen page booklet entitled 'Jubilee Number of Columbus Men.' At that time I learned that there had been three Y. M. C. A's. in Columbus. The first one was organized in 1855 and the first president was General H. B. Carrington, who was graduated from Yale in 1845. He was recruiting officer during the Civil War and mustered the late President McKinley into service. He visited Columbus in 1901 and was tendered a little reception. (See Columbus Evening Dispatch, September 18, 1901.) The General was living in Hyde Park, Massachusetts, at that time. "The second Association was organized in 1866 and the first president was Dr. R. E. White, a noted writer on educational subjects. In the year 1901 he was living at 387 East Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio. "The present Columbus Association was organized in the Fall of 1875. The first president was Charles H. Hall, who died April 28, 1898. (For a list of officers for 1875 see Ohio State Journal for August 10 and October 26, 1875.) " By the year 1890 the work of this new organization had so well recommended itself to the community that the Board of Directors dared call upon the public for necessary funds with which to erect a building, the first of its kind in the city of Columbus. The building was erected at 36 South Third Street, being the southeast corner of Third Street and Capitol Alley. The cost of the lot, building and furnishings was $125,000.00 ; dimensions 60x187 ft. ; ground broken October 29, 1890. The new building was dedicated January 2, 1893. Building Committee, appointed at meeting of Directors May 13, 1890 ; Geo. M. Peters, Henry O'Kane, Geo. W. Bright, David M. Greene, 0. A. Miller, R. M. Rownd, Geo. Hardy. Members ex officio : Charles E. Munson, president, and W. T. Perkins, general secretary. Mr. George W. Bright served as chair- 346 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY man of this committee for five months during the canvass for funds, and succeeded Mr. Munson as president. The report of the Columbus Y. M. C. A. for the year ending October 1, 1893, showed an active membership of 227 ; associate members, 243 ; junior members, 147, or a total of 617. The gross expenditures for the year totaled $21,104.54; the total receipts amounting to $21,228.58. Of these receipts, $5,229.94 were public subscriptions. The balance represented the earnings of the new building. The Y. M. C. A. of Columbus grew rapidly from this time but the passing years with their steady wear and tear upon the old building, plus the effect of constantly changing and remodeling the plant in line with the needs of the new programs for dormitories, formal schools' work, expanded physical education and diversified informal education, resulted in a condition of the building which clearly indicated the need of its replacement. The Annual Report for the year ending April 30, 1911, showed that there were 1,682 members of the Y. M. C. A. in the building on South Third Street. Serious consideration was given to the question of launching a campaign the year following. Printed matter was prepared, but the project fell through. DEVELOPMENT OF THE METROPOLITAN WORK. Under the presidency of Mr. A. M. Miller, in the year 1913, a change in the administration took place. Mr. John W. Pontius was called to the general secretaryship September 1, 1913. He had served the preceding year as General Secretary of the Student Young Men's Christian Association at Ohio State University. Up to this time there had been no local connection between the two organizations. Soon after the opening of college, the Board of Advisors of the University Association petitioned the Board of Directors of the City Association to allow Mr. Pontius to supervise informally the work of the University. This was done, and for a year and a half the informal relationship continued. Then constitutional arrangements of federation were agreed to, which are still binding. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 347 In the meantime, a work in temporary quarters, at the corner of Spring and Fifth Streets, had been started in the interests of the colored population. These three Associations constitute the beginnings of what is now known as the Metropolitan Young Men's Christian Association of Columbus, Ohio. In 1917, a South Side Branch was organized upon the community basis in the industries and the residence section of the southern end of the city. Mr. R. L. Dickinson, a member of the faculty of the Iowa State Teachers' College, was called to direct and develop this phase. The spring of 1918, while the country was at war, the Board of Directors purchased a body of water known as Silver Lake (later changed to Lake Mac-O-Chee), with seventy acres of surrounding farm land, near Bellefontaine, Ohio. In 1920, through the generosity of Mr. Alfred L. Willson, modern buildings were erected upon the shores of the lake and the whole project recognized as the Camp Willson Branch of the Columbus Y. M. C. A., making a fifth Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Y. M. C. A. Mr. Harry A. Spyker, Director of Boy's Work, was made executive of this camp project and its further development was committed to him. In 1926, Mr. E. S. Pettigrew provided another generous fund towards the camp project from which resulted the Pettigrew athletic field and Pettigrew social-educational hall. The following year an additional tract of two hundred and eleven acres on the west side of the lake was purchased, making a total of three hundred and thirty-six acres in all, including the water of the lake. This fifth Branch of the Columbus Y. M. C. A. is one of the best equipped camps in America. Simultaneous with the opening of the New Central Building in 1924 there was started the sixth Branch of the Columbus Y. M. C. A. known as the Franklin County Branch. Mr. 0. H. May was called to the position of executive of this work. It is conducted in the interests of the boys and youth in Franklin County outside the corporate limits of the city of Columbus. Its work is made possible by a large staff of voluntary workers who assist the boys with their activities in more than seventy centers of the county. 348 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY The Columbus Metropolitan Y. M. C. A., therefore, in the year 1930 comprises the six above mentioned branches under one coordinated administration ; in other words, all of the Y. M. C. A. endeavor of Columbus, with the exception of the Railway Y. M. C. A., which latter functions as an independent Y. M. C. A. service in the interests of railroad employees. MODERN BUILDINGS. By 1916 it was apparent to all that the building erected in 1893, at 36 South Third Street, now known as the Central Branch, had served its days. It was equally apparent that adequate facilities should be provided for the service of the colored men and boys. To this end a great campaign was conducted from November 15 to November 24, 1916. The goal sought was $500,000.00. No such amount had ever been raised in the city. Mr. C. O. Tracy of the Tracy-Wells Company was chairman of the campaign organization ; Mr. Theodore E. Glenn was president of the Association ; Mr. John W. Pontius was general executive ; Mr. Charles S. Ward of the International Committee of the Y. M. C. A. campaign director; Mr. A. M. Miller was chairman of the Business Men's Committee ; Mr. H. S. Warwick was chairman of the Young Men's Committee ; Dr. W. H. Method was chairman of the Colored Men's Committee and Mr. Foster Copeland was chairman of the Citizen's Advisory Committee. In the eight days of the campaign this working organization raised over $533,000.00, as shown by the official audit. Of this amount, no single gift was in excess of $10,000.00 except in the instance of Mr. Julius Rosenwald of Chicago, who gave $25,000.00 towards the building for the colored people. This achievement marked a new epoch in the city of Columbus. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION AND A WORLD WAR. One of the conditions of Mr. Rosenwald's gift of $25,000.00 was that the building for the colored people should take precedence of the Central Building in construction. Ground was broken for this building at Spring and Fifth Streets on March 18, 1918. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 349 Already the World War was sweeping nation after nation into its vortex. Before work could be started upon the New Central Building America had entered the World War. Everywhere, from every walk, men were enlisting or being called by the draft to the colors. The work upon the Spring Street Building moved ahead under the greatest difficulty for Charles W. Schneider & Sons, General Contractors, and for all parties concerned. November 11, 1918, will ever be known in history as Armistice Day, when for the first time in four dreadful years the guns of war were all silent. Immediately men began to think of returning to normal interests and activities ; so was it with the Columbus Y. M. C. A. The construction at Spring Street was pushed to a more rapid completion, but it was not until June of 1919 that the doors were thrown open and the dedication of the new building for the colored people was held. The War was over, but the aftermath of war brought soaring prices and prohibitive building costs. So far as the New Central Building was concerned, the only thing accomplished had been the purchase in December, _1916, of a site known as the old Front Street School grounds on the northeast corner of Long and Front Streets, a magnificent plot of ground 1871/9 by 1871/2 feet. Repeatedly the Board of Directors endeavored to proceed with the new construction, but it was not until the third anniversary of Armistice Day, on November 11, 1921, a fitting day for advancing the interests of an organization which had served so largely and so well with the armies of the War, that ground was broken upon this new site in the midst of a steady rain. The cornerstone was laid on the fifth of January, 1923, by the Grand Lodge of Ohio, F. & A. M., Mr. Harry S. Johnson, Grand Master, presiding in his official capacity. During the period of the World War it became very apparent that the public expectation of the Y. M. C. A. in the future would require a very much larger and more adequate Central Building than it had contemplated in the 1916 campaign. Therefore, following the War new and enlarged plans were drawn. This meant that further funds were necessary to supplement those of 1916. Therefore, from March 6 to March 14, 1923, a second financial campaign was successfully