1000 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY sible economy was practiced in running the school even to adopting the cooperative plan of dividing the income from endowment and tuition pro rata among the teachers. Dr. Manchester spent eight wonderful years as head of the college, being soon elected "President without date," instead of the first title "President of the Faculty." During these years the endowment grew, new buildings were secured, teachers added, the enrollment increased and the future of the college instead of experiencing "its darkest hour" as it did soon after he became "President of the Faculty," could see the light breaking. A new day was dawning but to the regret of many Doctor Manchester resigned in 1904 because of "the many burdens of the office." Dr. C. I. Brown of Pennsylvania was unanimously elected President to succeed Doctor Manchester. The work of the institution went forward splendidly under the leadership of Doctor Brown. He was a great organizer, a polished platform speaker and very popular with students and faculty. The endowment continued to grow, money being obtained from Andrew Carnegie, local business men and from church leaders over the country. One new building was secured for dormitory purposes. During the last year of Dr. Brown's administration some of the securities of the college in the form of bonds and stocks made a great drop, and while Doctor Brown was not to blame he felt very badly over it and perhaps as a result offered his resignation in April, 1913, but it was not accepted until offered a second time at a later meeting of the Board during the same year. The Board then elected a member of the faculty, Dr. W. H. Guyer, acting president. A year later he was chosen president, which position he held until his sudden death in July, 1926. During his administration the school grew in every department, until the endowment reached the total of $277,070. A new Physical Culture Hall was erected under his supervision and -an athletic field was given the college by the Alumni. A special session of the Board of Trustees was held in August, 1926, to elect a successor to Dr. Guyer. Several precedents were broken in their selection. Instead of electing a man from Pennsylvania, as had always been done, they elected H. L. Allen, who was at that time superintendent of the city schools of Guthrie, Oklahoma. He is a native of Missouri and a loyal member of the Church of God. He is of old Church of God stock running back three generations. One of his chief reasons for accepting the position, was TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1001 that his father, Rev. H. W. Allen, a pioneer Western Missionary, requested before his early death that his sons should "carry on." President Allen holds the M. A. degree from Oklahoma University and has done graduate work both there and at Wisconsin University. He is the first person to be elected president of the college without first serving as acting president. He is also the first non-clerical president of the institution. His election was unanimous, one vote coming in by telegraph and another by air mail, making the total of fifteen votes for him. The College is today on a firm financial basis, the endowment being $400,000 and pledges and notes in the amount of an additional $100,000 have been recently secured. There are now six buildings owned and used by the college. Including the athletic field the school owns nearly eighteen acres of land which forms a beautiful campus in the heart of the residence section of Findlay. The past year there was an enrollment of 400 students in the various departments including : liberal arts, education, commerce, music, theology, oratory and physical education. There are twenty-five members of the faculty. The Preparatory Department is being discontinued and the liberal arts work is being stressed. Application for membership in the North Central Association will be made at the next meeting of the Association. Eligibility to membership in this highest accrediting association has been made possible by the increased endowment and the raising of standards for faculty members. Every liberal arts teacher in Findlay College has, as the minimum requirement, a master's degree from a nationally recognized graduate school. The buildings are well equipped with apparatus and books. The library has over 11,000 volumes with numerous magazines. The science department is considered as well equipped as any in the state. Strong courses are offered in preparation for medicine, law, engineering, etc., articulating with the best professional schools, especially Ohio State University. Over four hundred alumni of Findlay College are scattered over the country and may be found in almost every nation in the world. The graduation class of 1928 was by far the largest in the history of the school. Many noted doctors, teachers, ministers, lawyers, and business men secured their early training in Findlay College. The future looks bright for the college as she speeds up to meet the new high standards of accrediting agencies. Located in 1002 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY a beautiful city of over 20,000 population and a county whose schools rank first in the state an increased enrollment and an increased, more efficient product is assured. The tax duplicate within a radius of ten miles of Findlay College is over $100,000,000. The tax rate is the lowest of any city in the state. Each year there graduate from Findlay high school and the centralized schools of Hancock County over three hundred young people eligible to enter Findlay College as freshmen. With these resources at her doors the future surely holds great opportunities for building a larger, greater college. Toledo University.—Out West Bancroft Street, Toledo, opposite Old Orchard and on a fine thirty acre tract of land, is in the course of building, what is planned to be one of the finest Municipal University plants in America. The relocation of Toledo University was made possible when a bond issue for that purpose of $285,000 was passed by the city authorities in the fall of 1928. In speaking of the movement Ruth Elgutter in the Toledo Sunday Times in August, 1929, wrote that "It will be a far cry from the university founded in 1872 by Jessup W. Scott and his wife as a forerunner of the University of Toledo to the handsome buildings which it is hoped to have ready for occupancy in the fall of 1930. * * * "Dr. Doermann and his staff have been preparing for increased efficiency in curriculum, by meeting the highest standards of present day education, by giving heed to the individual needs of the students, by considering their play program as well as their work. "Particular attention will be devoted by the president next year in the presentation of a new junior college program which will give each student a broad concept of education as a whole and give him opportunity to view all sides of a subject before he decides to make it his life work. As far as is possible with the present limited facilities, new subjects are being added and courses are given new treatment. Enlargement will come with increased space. "When the doors of the relocated University of Toledo are opened to reveal what promise to be the best buildings possible to erect, the academic side of the college will be ready to match it and Toledo will have a university worthy of its pride." Five buildings have been planned for the first unit of the University. University Hall the main feature, Engineering and TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1003 Science halls, Physical Education Building and Field House. The general type of architecture will be Gothic. Mills, Rhines, Bell-man and Nordoff are the architects. The building committee of the board of directors of the university, consisting of Judge George P. Hahn, Albert H. Miller, William P. Clare, Dr. Stephen K. Mahon, president of the board, and Dr. Henry J. Doermann, president of the university, started work with the architects almost as soon as they were named. The property on Bancroft Street has been termed by authorities one of the most beautiful sites for the purpose which could MAIN HALL (PLAN) TOLEDO UNIVERSITY be found anywhere. Its rolling topography will set sections of the buildings at different levels and the Ottawa River, which winds through the rear section of the property, affords natural beauty of scenery. A boulevard has been planned along the picturesque little stream and the view which will be obtained from the proposed drive has been kept in mind in the planning of the building. In a later chapter. concerning Toledo, is set forth the announcement of Jessup W. Scott of his original gift for the Uni- 1004 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY versity. As noted, Toledo (Municipal) University was founded in 1872 by Mr. Scott as the Toledo University of Arts and Trades. In 1884 the University was established as a Municipal University and in 1909 was reorganized. Since that time the institution has had a steady development, but has been handicapped by lack of buildings, equipment, proper environment and the wide range of the location of the various buildings. The institution is under the control of a board of directors of nine members of which board, as stated, Doctor Stephen K. Mahon is president. Dr. A. Monroe Stowe did good work for the institution while he was president, Dr. Henry J. Doermann assuming the duties of that position in 1928. Bluffton College.—The school which for fifteen years was Central Mennonite College and in 1914 rechristened Bluffton College, was "established upon the enduring foundations of liberal learning, permeated and saturated with the spirit and the truth of the Christian faith." While it is loyally an institution of the various branches of the Mennonite Church in America, it draws no lines of denomination or creed among students or faculty groups. Its "animating purpose is to lead the way into realms of learning and to interpret therein the truths of Him who speaks as never man spoke before; to develop worthily the minds and the hearts of those who study in its halls and who worship at its altars." Deep into sacrifice run the roots of Bluffton College. It seeks to be as vital as truth; as genuine as life. Bluffton aspires to have all that is necessary for its best usefulness; to do right by the young people of its faith and aid all who seek its instruction, its privileges and its associations. Bluffton College is an accredited A-Grade College with the proper endowment, equipment and buildings. It has been a long and strenuous journey from the erection in 1900 of the first college hall in a beautiful situation in the virgin forest on the edge of the town of Bluffton, to the ten pleasing handsome buildings which now grace the heights of the spacious grounds. A new endowed library is in course of construction "over yonder among the trees," and in rallying to raise the school to its proper standards, its 400 alumni and its 2,000 former students have displayed clearly the spirit which has animated and permeated the institution since its beginning with nineteen students, down through the years to where its splendid group of 381 young men and women now grace its campus. 1006 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY For a long period the question of a new college had been under discussion. As the result of the conference at Noble, Iowa, in October, 1896, N. C. Hirschy, Wadsworth, Ohio, J. F. Lehman, Berne, Indiana, and J. B. Bear, Bluffton, Ohio", were appointed as a committee to look into the possibilities for such a project. This committee met at Bluffton, Ohio, in January, 1897, and drew up plans for a proposed college. Further meetings were held and further committees appointed and at the conference held at Danvers, Illinois, the first vote as to the location of the new college decided upon was, Bluffton (O.) 49, Berne, Indiana, 31, Goshen, Indiana, 16, and Wadsworth, Ohio, 9. On the second ballot Bluffton received a majority. The cornerstone for the first and for many years the only building was laid Tuesday, June 19, 1900, the address of the day being delivered by N. C. Hirschy of Wadsworth. October 31, the same year, the dedicatory services took place, with a great concourse of people present. Noah C. Hirschy was chosen the first president and the story of the progress and struggles of the institution which has brought about its present solidity and standing is a long one. It was in 1908, that Doctor Samuel K. Mosiman came to Bluffton College as an instructor of languages and literature. In 1909 he was made president of the institution, which position he held in 1929. Much of the success of Bluffton College has been due to the great energy and constant effort of Doctor Mosiman, aided of course at all times, by a faithful and efficient faculty, including such men as Prof. C. Henry Smith, Prof. Edmund D. Hirchler, and Dean Noah E. Byers. Regarding the strengthening and broadening of the work of the institution, a meeting was called by President S. K. Mosiman to be held at Warsaw, Indiana, on May 29, 1913. Friends from the Mennonite Brethren in Christ, the Defenseless Mennonites, the Central Conference of Mennonites, the Old Mennonites and the General Conference Mennonites agreed to attend the meeting. The most important resolution passed was the following: "Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that an institution be established, representing the various branches of the Mennonite Church, giving the undergraduate and the graduate work of a standard college (courses leading to the A. B. and A. M. degrees), the theological and Biblical work of a standard seminary and courses in music aiming at the thorough development of the musical ability of our people and meeting the needs of our churches." TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1007 Bethel, Goshen and Bluffton were informed of the plan and later it was decided that the proposed school should be established in connection with Central Mennonite College, Bluffton, Ohio, and the name adopted was "Bluffton College and Mennonite Seminary." The first Board of Trustees was constituted as follows: Old Mennonites—F. S. Ebersole, H. W. Eby, Amos A. Geiger; General Conference of Mennonites—Maxwell H. Kratz, Peter Jansen, J. F. Lehman ; Mennonite Brethren in Christ—A. B. Yoder, J. A. Huffman, L. J. Lehman ; Central Conference of Mennonites—Emanuel Troyer, J. H. King, A. B. Rutt ; Defenseless Mennonites —Aaron E. Souder, D. N. Claudon, Noah Steiner; Local members—A. D. Lugibihl, N. W. Cunningham, and Noah Moser. J. E. Lehman was chosen president of the board. Rev. Emanuel Troyer, vice president and C. H. Smith, secretary. On January 27, 1914, the boards of both Central Mennonite College and the new Bluffton College met at Bluffton, and the reports of the Executive Committees of both Boards, transferring the property of Central Mennonite College to Bluffton College and Mennonite Seminary were accepted, and Bluffton College and Mennonite Seminary began its legal and corporate existence as an institution of higher learning. The story is told that when Bishop Chase located Kenyon College, he was wandering through the forest and along unbridged, beautiful streams until he arrived at a delightful situation. Mounting a huge, fallen tree he surveyed the surroundings, and from his elevation exclaimed—"this is the place." As to the location of a site for Bluff ton College, a member of the first board of trustees told this : "The offer of Bluffton was $10,000 in cash and land on which to build the colloge. It was at this time that the Conference elected me a member of the board. In December, 1899, I made a trip to Bluffton to assist in the selection of the site where the college should be built. We trudged through six inches of snow to look at different pieces of land that were offered by the owners. When at last we made our way west of town over little Riley Creek, climbed a rail fence and went into a natural grove rising gently to the west, I envisioned how beautiful this grove would be next spring, and had decided almost before I jumped down from the rail fence that this place would be my choice for the location of the college. Evidently, the other members of the committee must have had similar thoughts, for this place was unanimously selected in preference to three others at which we had looked that day." CHAPTER LIX MAUMEE AND SANDUSKY VALLEY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS JESUIT FATHERS-CHRISTOPHER GIST-REV. JOSEPH BADGER- PRESBYTERIANISM- METHODISM-EARLY BAPTISTS-LUTHERANS AND OTHER EARLY CHURCH SOCIETIES. Christianity and education, the functioning of church and school, necessarily go hand in hand with the advancement of civilization—they are its vital elements. With the explorers of the New World, came religious teachers, missionaries, and preachers of the gospel in the various interpretations. In the beginning in the West, the Jesuit Fathers in their wanderings with the exploring parties, "carried the cross to the savages of the wilderness," and in their zeal, braved great hardships and even death. In the establishment of the new colonies, religion of the Protestant faith took root and its practices were fostered, the Bible the foundation and guide. The Jesuit Fathers and priests of the Catholic Church were the first to conduct religious services among the Aborigines in the earliest days of the Maumee and Sandusky regions. But the first settlers who arrived, were in a large measure of the Protestant belief. All during the early wars and the contest for the possession of this rich section of the New West, when bloodshed was rife and the military supreme, the church had its representatives and advocates, who performed their work in the name of the Master. The date of the arrival of the earliest missionaries of the Catholic faith in this section is indefinite. It was at a very early time; though in the beginning they had no established missions. The first Protestant religious service in Ohio was evidently in charge of Christopher Gist. The date was Christmas day, 1750, and the place was "the King's House" at the Town of the Wyandots, located at the "Muskingum Forks"—the head of that river, in now Coshocton County. The English flag had been hoisted over the old chief's quarters by George Croghan the explorer, and when Gist arrived on a journey west through Ohio, he was greatly - 1008 - TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1009 elated to see the colors of civilization flying in the village. There were present at the services the English traders and "several of the well-disposed Indians, who came freely." Gist discoursed upon the "doctrine of Salvation—Faith, and good works, as extracted from the Homilies of the Church of England." He read the service to the best of his ability, and his words were interpreted to the Indians by one of his companions—Montour. The Indians seemed well pleased with the exercises and the words of Gist and "returned to him thanks." The operations of the early missionaries, both Protestant and Catholic, are told about in the chapter on the Missions of the Maumee and Sandusky country which include the work of Father Richardie and the Catholic Mission in the Sandusky region, Father Burke on the Maumee, the Protestant missionaries Bacon and Badger, and others throughout this section of the then Northwest. While the Rev. Joseph Badger first came to the Maumee and the Sandusky in 1801 as a missionary of the Presbyterian Society to labor among the Indians, he also preached to the first white settlements and was one of the organizers of early churches of the Presbyterian faith in connection with Congregationalism. In Badger's Memoirs, he relates that he arrived on the Western Reserve late in the year 1800, where during the following years he preached to practically every community in the Reserve east of the Cuyahoga River. In the year 1801 on horseback, with a white friend and an Indian boy, he "arrived at Whitakers, a little before dark on the Sandusky. Swam our horses." This was September 9, 1801. In the afternoon of the 10th, "went our way to Portage River and camped. 11th, Rode through the swamp to the Shawnee village on the Maumee." This was at the foot of the Maumee Rapids where is now Perrysburg. That evening they visited the aunt of the Indian boy who lived on the Big Island. (Pilliods, between now Maumee City and Perrysburg). Here he preached his first sermon in this western region, there being present the Indian family and the three visitors. More details of Badger's work is found in Chapter XLVIII. He preached at many points on the Sandusky and the lower Maumee at intervals, from 1801 to near a half century thereafter. He died at Perrysburg, April 5, 1846, in sight of the point where he delivered his first sermon and near where he was in 1813 chaplain at Fort Meigs, War of 1812. Although Badger was a graduate of Yale, and other early ministers were educated, college men, a majority of the early 1010 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY religious teachers and preachers were itinerants. While truly men of God, they were in a way crude and uneducated. As exhorters, they headed religious gatherings of the shouting, amen type. The first church services were held in the cabins of the more prominent pioneers and the attendants would travel through the wilderness from long distances. Some reached the meeting place on foot, others on horseback, and if there were trails or roads that permitted, some in wheeled vehicles. They would often bring their dinners and spend the day at the cabin, or perhaps a crude log church or schoolhouse. First the sermons were an hour and a half long, then Sunday School, followed by dinner. Experience meetings and prayer service came next. The complete day's program was interspersed with social periods at which the events of the times would be discussed and pioneer experiences exchanged. The discussions, however, were necessarily very circumspect, as on Sunday no boisterous activities, whistling, or ordinary amusements were allowed among the children and young people. Camp meetings were among the religious methods, where revivals were held, and many "got religion" under dramatic and strange experiences. Scenes at the camp meetings of those days have been vividly pictured by the Rev. James B. Finley in his "Autobiography," where are told strange operations upon the minds and persons of some of the most extreme subjects, who became imbued with the "power." Immediately before they bey came totally inactive "they were sometimes seized with a general tremor, and often uttered several piercing shrieks in the moment of falling. Men and women never fell when under this jerking exercise until they became exhausted. While some were unable to stand, yet they had the use of their hands and could converse with companions. Others were unable to speak. The pulse became weak, and they drew a difficult breath about once a minute. In many instances they became cold. Breathing, pulsation, and all signs of life forsook them for hours; yet I never heard of one who died in this condition, and I have conversed with persons who have laid in this situation for many hours. They uniformly testified that they had no bodily pain, and that they had the entire use of their reason and power of mind. * * * Persons have fallen on their way home from meeting, some after they arrived at home; others while pursuing their common business on their farms. Numbers of thoughtless, careless sinners have fallen as TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1011 suddenly as if struck by lightning. Professional infidels, and other vicious characters have been stricken, sometimes at the very moment when they were uttering their blasphemies against God and the work." * * * In the end at times, upon their revival, a "happy smile which lightened up the countenance" would overspread the, face of the stricken. Such testimony as this from a reliable authority as was Finley. While representatives from other denominations may have been the forerunners of religious teachings in the Maumee and Sandusky Region, generally speaking, the ministers from the Methodist Episcopal Church were the most prominent in the pioneer times of these sections. It may have been partially because the character of their tenets fitted the better into the minds and lives of, the pioneers, and again from the zeal of the early circuit riders of that church. However, it is not vital to the story of early religion in Northwestern Ohio, which denomination was in this field, earliest.. One society was the first to organize in one community and another sect in still another locality. Whenever a minister of the gospel appeared, he was readily welcomed, no matter what his creed and the log cabin home or schoolhouse was opened for his ministrations. Investigation shows that the Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Catholics, Baptists, United Brethren, Lutherans, German Reform, Protestant Episcopal, Church of Christ then known as Campbellites, and still others, had their early followers. The story of Methodism by Lura Warner Callin is given and the history of Catholicism in the Maumee and Sandusky by the Rev. Francis J. Macelwane; also sketches of Presbyterianism and other societies. But to attempt to give a connected history of all denominations is not possible in ordinary space. While the real pioneers of the clergy of the Sandusky were the Revs. Joseph Badger, and James Hughes of the Presbyterian faith, James Montgomery, who was Indian agent at Fort Seneca, in 1819, preached the first sermon by a Methodist clergyman ever delivered at Lower Sandusky (Fremont), and thereafter for a year continued to preach there. He had been ordained by Bishop Asbury and for thirty years continued his. religious work along the Sandusky River. There was increased activity and extension of Methodism in Northwestern Ohio in 1825. The Detroit District was organized that year, with two appointments in Ohio, the Defiance Mission and the Wyandot Mission at Upper Sandusky. Rev. William Sim- 1012 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY mons of Xenia was the first presiding elder and probably the first preacher at Defiance-1825. A religious teacher named Weir followed him and Rev. Elias Patten was sent to the Defiance Mission in 1826, then in the Monroe, Michigan Circuit. Services were held in the home of Benjamin Leavell and late in 1826 a class was organized and a small log church was built on the present site of 406 Wayne Street, Defiance. "Fort Defiance charge" included all the Maumee Valley west to the Indiana line down the Maumee River to near Waterville. PRESBYTERIAN ORGANIZATION Francis Makemie organized the first Presbyterian Society in America in 1683, in Maryland. The Rev. Joseph Badger the Presbyterian missionary who "preached the Word" to an Indian family gathering in their humble but on the Big Island, September 11, 1801, as noted, was the advance guard of Presbyterianism in the Maumee and Sandusky Country. Yet to Isaac Van Tassel, Sr., his son-in-law and who married Lucia Badger, belonged the honor of being the father of organized Presbyterianism, especially in the Maumee section. Mr. Van Tassel on coming west from New York state taught school at Austinburg, Ashtabula County, Ohio ; under the Rev. G. H. Cowles studied theology, and in 1826, was licensed and ordained by Huron Presbytery. However, he established the Maumee Indian Mission before this in 1822, and was appointed superintendent therein 1826, when the mission was transferred to the American Board of Foreign Missions. Years before the permanent work of Van Tassel, however, there was a Presbyterian organization formed. On January 9, 1820, a sturdy little band of this faith gathered at a cabin at Orleans, at the foot of Fort Meigs, which pioneer home was also used for school purposes. The society was constituted as the First Presbyterian Church of Christ in the township of Waynesfield, Ohio. "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord harkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon His name"—Malachi 3:16. Thus reads the first page of the church record. The Rev. Mr. Burgess presided and the charter members were Samuel Spafford, Catharine Spafford, Aurora Spafford, Olive Spafford, Horatio Conant, Eunice Nearing, Elisha Martindale, Clara Martindale his wife, Thomas McGrath, Eunice McGrath and Solomon Cross. A Mr. Barlow and a Mr. Baldwin were present, but did not become members. A TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1013 missionary from the General Assembly, Rev. Mr. Hunter, drew up the articles of faith and covenant, and Samuel Cross, Samuel Spafford and Thomas McGrath were chosen elders with Aurora Spafford, Horatio Conant and Elisha Martindale deacons. The Rev. Mr. Monteith delivered the solemn dominition. The organization was maintained as a mission adjunct of the River Raisin (Monroe) settlement. On February 19, 1827, the society became a member of the Presbytery of Huron, Ohio. This was some years after the initial work of Rev. Isaac Van Tassel. On Tuesday, December 6, 1836, several Presbyterian ministers and delegates met at Perrysburg in accordance with the. appointment of Synod, to organize a new Presbytery. Rev. Joseph Badger, who then on account of his health had retired to a farm home in Milton township, Wood County, was made moderator. On account of a goodly representation from the Congregational Society, a Presbytery was organized on "the accommodation plan and articles were drafted by Rev. Joseph Badger and Rev. J. H. Eels, Presbyterians, and Rev. Benjamin Woodbury, a Congregationalist." The following members reported at an adjourned meeting: ministers—Rev. Joseph Badger, church of Milton; Rev. Benjamin Woodbury, church of Plain; (both in Wood County) ; Rev. J. H. Eels, church of Maumee; Rev. Isaac Van Tassel, church of Perrysburg; Rev. J. H. Alvord, church of Waterville. Elders and deacons—Elisha Martindale, Plain ; Deacon Ballard, Maumee; Deacon Hillis, Perrysburg. In 1837, the church memberships were : Maumee, 40; Plain, 41; Waterville, 18; Perrysburg, 36; and Milton seven members. There were added to the ministerial role the Rev. Isaac Hagler, Rev. David Smith, Rev. J. H. Francis, Rev. N. F. Smith and A. L. Parsons, licentiate. The church of Toledo, now the First Congregational Church was received into Presbytery, November 5, 1837. A Presbyterian society, however was organized in 1833. The meeting was held at the residence of Coleman I. Keeler and seven members were enrolled by Rev. Mr. Warriner of Monroe, Michigan; also in 1828 the Rev. John Robinson organized a Presbyterian Society at Melmore, Seneca County. Findlay had an organization of Presbyterians about 1830, and Defiance in 1837. The Presbytery of this district was dissolved in 1840 and again reorganized in 1843 on October 18. At this session, Rev. Cyrus L. Watson presided. Other ministers present were : John McCutchen, E. Richard Tucker, and Hubbard Lawrence, licentiate. Delegates—Isaac Kelly, West Millgrove, Wood County; 34-VOL. 1 1014 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Horatio Conant, Maumee; Abner L. Brown, Perrysburg; John M. Mount, Toledo; Dr. E. Ranger, Montgomery township, Wood County, and Henry Reed, Waterville. There were various changes in the territory contained in this Presbytery. A feature of the early work of this society was the establishment of a Presbyterian Academy at Williams Center, on the south line of Williams County, south of Bryan. The site contained four acres, and a two-story building, size 32x40 feet, was constructed from funds mostly donated by the citizens. The school was opened about 1852 under the direction of Rev. David S. Anderson and wife and was in operation for several years before abandoned. As noted, the first Presbyterian organization was merged or changed into a Congregational society. March 2nd, 1854, the Maumee Presbytery appointed Rev. I. M. Crabb and Rev. D. S. Anderson as a special committee to organize a society in Toledo. As a result the First Presbyterian Church in Toledo was founded January 27, 1855. The Rev. J. M. Baird was the moving spirit and he was installed the first pastor. Early services were held in Stickney Hall on Summit Street, and in 1860 quarters were obtained on Lynn Street by the lease of the old Bethel. A new edifice was completed in 1873. From 1860, the growth of this Presbytery was steady. Churches were organized at Hicksville, Delta, Bryan and at other points. Writing of the reuniting of the two divisions of the Presbyterian Church which had had their differences, one of the pastors wrote that "it was a happy time for the cause of Christ when the division of these two great branches of the Christian Church, holding to the same standards of faith, were led to forget their dierences and come together as one body, and no part of the church rejoiced more over the prospect of reunion than these two Presbyteries of Maumee. The action of the General Assembly was ratified joyously by both of the Presbyteries and the day was set for their meeting together as one ecclesiastical body. It was like the meeting of the waters of the two saints, Saint Joseph and Saint Marys at Fort Wayne, which forms the beautiful river from which we have taken our name, the Maumee,' which, mingled together, flow ever so peacefully past the beautiful towns of Antwerp, Defiance, Napoleon, Grand Rapids, Waterville, Maumee, Perrysburg and our great and populous city of Toledo, where it pours its waters into the lake and thence to the great ocean beyond." The ministers of the reunited Presbytery were Perry C. Bald- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1015 win, David S. Anderson, George A. Adams, Henry M. McCracken, John P. P. Stockton, Robert Edgar, James E. Vance, William W. Williams, D. D., Samuel R. Hughes, Henry M. Bacon, Bernard W. Slagle, David Edgar, George M. Miller, John Eaton, Jr.; licentiates, Martin Koehler, R. B. Marshall. Something near fifty churches are on the roll of Maumee Presbytery, with some 8,000 members. A Presbyterian church was organized at Perrysburg, November 13, 1834, by Huron Presbytery. The original members were : Abner Brown, J. W. Smith, W. Williams, J. A. Scott, J. A. McBride, Mary Williams, Mary Fowler, Jane Wood, Mary Loper, Elizabeth Smith, Eliza Ann Nye and Catharine Spafford. In the Sandusky territory, at Fremont, Tiffin, Upper Sandusky, and throughout that section, the societies are equally thrifty and prosperous. The First Presbyterian Church at now Fremont was organized November 30, 1833, in the then old courthouse, later occupied by the St. John's Lutheran Church as a parsonage. The ministers present of the Huron Presbytery were the Revs. Xenophon Betts, Enoch Conger and Ellory Bascom. The ruling elders chosen were David Camp and W. C. Otis. The members in attendance were—Jacques Hubbard and Sophia, his wife, Alexander Ross and Hannah his wife, Joseph Cookson and Mary his wife, Samuel Crowell and Mary his wife, James Ross and wife, Nancy Cookson, Margaret Nyce, Eunice Everett, wife of Jeremiah Everett, Samuel Moore, Henry Spohn, John Magee, Ruth Magee and Elizabeth Camp, wife of Elder Camp. The first minister of this congregation was Rev. Ellory Bascom. Concerning the work of early Presbyterianism in the Mel-more, Seneca County section, referred to, Dr. Robert G. Steele of Melmore has in his possession the original record of the society the first pages of which read as follows: "Melmore, Feby 1828 "A number of the inhabitants of the townships of Eden and Bloom met for the purpose of trying to prevail with the Rev. James Robinson who was now among us as a traveling preacher to settle among us. Accordingly we agreed with him for the one-half of his time for one year at the rate of $200, to commence about the first of April (1828). "Mr. Robinson came and entered upon his labors among us according to contract. "In July, we made ourselves known to the Huron Presbytery, that we might be taken under their watch and care, and that they 1016 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY would appoint Mr. Robinson to be our stated preacher according to our contract, that we might be organized into a church known by the name of the Church of Melmore. All of which was granted by Presbytery. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Conger were appointed to form our church, and July 21st was the time appointed for us to meet for that purpose. Thus in the providence of God did this Church of Melmore commence." The next entry then reads- "Melmore, July 21, 1828 "According to notice previously given, the congregation met for the purpose of forming a church, when it appeared by their certificates that the following persons were regular members of the Presbyterian Church : Samuel Clark, Sarah Mathers, Kathrine Harper, William Campbell, Mary Campbell, Mary Darrald, Thomas Boyer, Mary Boyer, James Boyer, Isabell Boyer, Susan Kinger, Mary Robinson, Electa Smith." At a later meeting, David Clark and William Patterson and Phoebe Patterson were added to the membership and Samuel Clark, David Clark and William Patterson were chosen ruling elders. Rev. James Robinson was clerk. There are many human interest records of church trials of alleged wayward members. A son of one of the churchmen was arrested for "the fast driving of his horse on the highway on Sunday." The arrest and fine so incensed the father that he absented himself from the church services and was cited to appear before the session on account of his delinquency. He refused to appear and a member of the church was selected to represent him at the trial. He was found guilty of the irregularity charged and suspended from membership for church nonattendance. The Melmore Presbyterian Church came under the control of Maumee Presbytery some years since and about 1924, became inactive. Doctor Steele was one of the last elders. About a mile west of Bloomville, Seneca County, is an old cemetery where once stood a church, and where what was evidently the Bloom Presbyterian society held services. This organization must have been older than the Presbyterian Church of Mel-more. As the Missionary Rev. Joseph Badger, as before related, visited the Honey Creek section as early as 1805, and at later times, it is reasonable to suppose that he spread the doctrine of Presbyterianism in the Melmore and Bloomville locality in such a manner that the Melmore and Bloom churches were the outgrowth. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1017 At this point in the story of Religious Organizations, it will be noted that Lura Warner Callin of Bowling Green, Ohio, has written an extended account of Methodism, which follows so closely the work of all other denominations, that it is presented in its completeness. A SKETCH OF METHODISM By Lura Warner Callin The word method comes from two Greek words—Meta, after, and Hodos, a way. The word Methodist is almost universally associated with the group of Christians led by John Wesley, but there have been other methodists,—groups of people who did things "after a way"—before his time. A sect of physicians centuries before the church was organized, bore the name. At an earlier date the title "New Methodists" was used much as "New Thought" is today to indicate more liberal religious thought and sentiment. But for almost two hundred years the name Methodism has stood for that reaction against legalized religious and bound Christianity that had stifled individual religious experience for centuries. Wycliff, Huss and Luther, each had in his own generation encouraged a revolt against the hypocrisies of the State Churches. Each century added its bit toward the realization of such freedom, until to John Wesley was given the wisdom and understanding which enabled him to define and promote the gospel of free, full, and present salvation of souls. A gospel that has lost none of its appeal and power, but rather, has gathered impetus during the years, and for which the word Methodism has become a synonym. However, as we take our pen in hand to sketch the growth of Methodism in this Northwestern locality, a movement is on foot that may result in a change in name. On January 26, 1929, a joint committee from the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Churches, met in Cleveland to consider the advantages of joining the two sects and the possibility of effecting a union. What will this new union be called? Call it what you will, the outstanding principles of these two sects will stand above any name. With the possibility in mind that this sketch may be an obituary as well, a brief review of the start and growth of Methodism may be appropriate. John Wesley seems to have been peculiarly fitted, both by heredity and environment for the task that spread itself before him. He came from families of distinguished ministers on his 1018 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY father's and mother's sides. He was one of a large family of children all of whom received Christian training from a devout mother who understood the problems of her children and gave each one her careful personal attention in a most methodical way. When John was seven years old he was almost miraculously saved from a fire that destroyed the home, and like Hannah of old, Susannah Wesley consecrated this child and wrote in her journal---"I do intend to be more particularly careful of the soul of this child that Thou has so mercifully provided for, than I have ever been." His methodical and logical turn of mind showed itself in his early demands for the "reason why" for everything; a trait of character which made him later on a leader among his college associates and served him in mapping out a practical course of procedure in every new phase that the phenominal development of the new movement presented to him. Wesley took his master's degree at Oxford in 1724. In 1728 he was ordained priest of the Church of England and was curate to his father at Epworth for a short time, before he was called back to Oxford. It was during this time that he became leader of the Oxford Methodists, when in 1729 a small group of students began spending certain evenings in the week studying the New Testament and in prayer. The first Methodists were John and Charles Wesley, Robert Kirkham, and William Morgan; and later George Whitefield. "They read the Greek Testament daily." And in the spirit of the New Testament they "systematically visited the prisoners in jails, and the poor in the lanes and alleys of the town, instructing them and relieving according to their means." In 1736 Governor Oglethorpe came to the new colony of Georgia and brought Charles Wesley as his secretary. John Wesley was requested to come as a missionary to the colonists and the Indians. He accepted the invitation and stayed in the colony for two years. He preached and taught in English, French and German, as the occasion required. His strict ideas of discipline and religious life stirred up the opposition of leading families, and finding his work thus embarrassed, he returned to England. On his way to America he became acquainted with some Moravians. During a severe storm Wesley realized that he had not attained the spiritual strength that could keep folks in such a tranquil state of mind as these people showed in such a terrifying experience. In his journal he wrote : "I went to America to convert the Indians; but 0, who shall convert me ! I have a fair summer TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1019 religion; I can talk well and believe myself while no danger is near, but let death look me in the face and my spirit is troubled. Nor can I say, 'To die is gain.' " After returning to England, he attended a Moravian meeting in London, one evening in May, 1738. While listening to some one reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans, in which is described the change which God works in the penitent heart, he received the positive assurance that Christ had taken away his sins and saved him from the law of sin and death. He was nearly thirty-five years of age when this experience started him out on the wonderful career that closed with his death at eighty-eight years of age. Francis Asbury and Richard Wright were sent to the societies in America in 1771—Asbury as assistant superintendent. Later Thomas Rankin was authorized by Wesley to become Superintendent of the entire work of Methodism in America. He convened and presided over the first Conference in America, held in Philadelphia in 1773. Ten preachers were present. At the beginning of the Revolutionary war, all of the ministers, being from England, and sympathizing with the mother country, they soon after made plans to return home. After two years, only Francis Asbury remained. Native preachers, however, continued the work and, although uneducated and of the poorer classes, their labors were wonderfully blessed with extensive revivals. This work had to be confined to the colonies not occupied by the British troops, hence the strong societies were in Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, which may account for the fact that when the split on the slavery question came in 1845, the church was badly disrupted. Up to 1775 the members of all these societies did not constitute a church. They were still members of the Church of England and received the holy sacraments from its clergymen. Wesley's assistants were lay preachers and were not ordained. Wesley had no idea of forming a new church; did not in fact contemplate any such move until the Revolutionary war brought about a peculiar situation in America. Here the rise of Methodism was incidental. Two emigrants from Ireland who brought their religious convictions with them, lighted small spiritual fires in the neighborhoods around them ; fires which eventually spread to every state and province of the Union. Robert Strawbridge settling on Sam's Creek in Maryland in 1764, soon made his home the center of religious services, where 1020 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY his neighbors met for praise and prayer. His work in other neighborhoods resulted in the conversion of several who became active and zealous preachers. Philip Embury, whose parents were expelled from Germany for their religious beliefs and had found a refuge in Ireland, began services in his home in New York City in 1776, at the earnest request of Barbara Heck, whose name is inseparably connected with the history of pioneer Methodism. Neither of these men came as missionaries but soon found active work in the communities in which they lived. But the chief apostle of Methodism in this locality at this time was Captain Webb, who had been converted in England and licensed a local preacher by Mr: Wesley. He was connected with the barracks in Albany, N. Y., and when he sought out the Methodist meeting being led by Embury one day, he struck terror to the hearts of the little group, as the uniform of a British soldier might mean persecution. He was the real leader in the society's affairs and helped in the erection of the John Street Church in New York City. His excursions led him to Long Island and the chief towns in New Jersey, and Philadelphia, where he formed a class of seven and helped to buy the first church property, St. George's on Fourth Street. In 1775, the societies had nineteen preachers and 3,148 members; a wonderful showing, when we remember that the colonies were under English rule, the Church of England widely established, and was supported by taxation and appropriations. In Maryland, the state of free toleration, the inhabitants had to pay to the Church of England a poll tax of forty pounds of tobacco. Many other denominations had established churches, and most of them being Calvinistic in doctrine, the Methodists being Arminians, were made the object of bitter attacks from the pulpits. Then the handicap of not being a church embarrassed them. Children were baptised and the sacraments were administered by the clergy of the English Church, who did so grudgingly. Although John Wesley had asked that his preachers be ordained by the English Church, it had never been done. After the close of the Revolutionary war, this situation became crucial, and Wesley describes it as follows: "By a very uncommon train of Providences, many of the provinces of America are totally disjoined from the mother country and erected into independent states. The English government has no authority over them—either civil or ecclesiastical. No one either, claims any ecclesiastical authority at all. "In this peculiar situation the inhabitants of those states de- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1021 sire my advice and in compliance with their desire I have drawn up a little sketch. * * * Lord King's account of the Primitive Church convinced me many years ago, that bishops and presbyters are of the same order, and consequently have the same right to ordain. For many years I have been importuned from time to time to exercise this right by ordaining a part of our preachers. But I have still refused, not only for peace' sake, but because I have determined as little as possible to violate the established order of the national church to which I belonged. "But the case is widely different between England and North America. Here there are bishops who have a legal jurisdiction. In America there are none—neither any parish minister. So that for some hundreds of miles together, there are none either to baptize or to administer the Lord's Supper. I invade no order and invade no man's rights by appointing and sending laborers into the harvest. I have appointed Doctor Cope and Mr. Francis Asbury to be joint superintendents of our brethern in America. "I desired the Bishop of London to ordain one, but I could not prevail. If they could ordain them now, they would expect to govern them, and how grievously this would entangle us. They are now at full liberty to simply follow the scriptures and the primitive church. And we judge it best that they stand fast in that liberty * * * wherewith God has so strangely set them free." When at the close of the Revolutionary war, the Societies of America found that the dependence on patronage of the English Church, always grudgingly given, was no longer advisable, Mr. Wesley was obliged to consider some form of administration especially suited to their needs. His study of church history had convinced him of the fallacy of Apostolic succession and the right of the Christian Church to ordain its officers. He also believed the Episcopal form of government the most efficient in the establishment and spread of the church. With this plan in view, he proposed to Doctor Cope a presbyter of the Church of England who had associated himself with the Methodists in England, that he be ordained superintendent of the societies in America. After several weeks consideration of this surprising proposition, Doctor Cope consented to undertake the mission and in 1784 left England with Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey, who had been ordained as elders at Bristol, where Dr. Cope had been also ordained as superintendent of the church in America. In the mean- 1022 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY time Mr. Wesley had prepared an abridgement of the English Church prayer book which Doctor Cope brought with him. Doctor Cope spent only a part of his time with the American societies. His autocratic ideas of church government conflicted very often with the democratic notions of the colonists, which had not only won liberty in government but had permeated their church organizations as well. Yet his unpopular ideas served the new church well in a negative way. The opposition to what they did not want clarified their ideas of what they did want and gradually step by step the new societies developed a church government that was in accord with the democratic ideas of the new Republic. Doctor Cope finally returned to England to stay. He was intensely interested in missions, and in 1784 had drawn up a plan for a missionary society. He collected and disbursed large sums of money to support missions in the islands adjacent to England, the West Indies and Nova Scotia. He for years planned the establishment of a mission in India, and finally sailed for Ceylon, with six preachers, in December, 1813. On May 3, 1814, when he had almost reached that country, he was found dead in his cabin. It is interesting to note how the obstacles that arose seemed to serve not as obstructions to the work of the gospel, but to direct its development along lines that proved to be most practicable and became permanent features of the organization of the growing church. So many people called on Wesley daily for help in interpreting the scriptures that he finally set aside Thursday evening as a regular time for meetings, to read and pray and discuss individual problems. Thursday is still the common meeting night. When George Whitefield went to Bristol to preach, all the pulpits were closed against him, so he went down to the collieries and preached in the open air, just as many another missionary, such as Livingston, John Stewart, Lorenzo Dow and Peter Cartwright have done since then. When John Wesley had to be absent from London, he left the societies in charge of some of his ablest young men. Thomas Maxwell was inspired to preach, but was not ordained. Wesley hastened back to stop such a procedure, but his mother cautioned him, saying, "Examine what have been the fruits of his preaching, and hear him for yourself." Wesley did, and being convinced of Maxwell's call to preach, again allowed the leading of the Spirit to overcome his prejudice, and thus released a power which TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1028 has tended to keep the spirit of service alive and working—the power of the lay preacher. As the work grew and chapels were built, expenses were incurred that finally demanded some system of finance to meet them. So, Mr. Wesley appointed a number of stewards to take care of the moneys received from collections, to account for them and disburse them. Sixteen were first appointed in the principal societies, but the number was soon reduced to seven. For many years none of this money was given to the support of the preachers. All of it was used for general purposes and the poor. As church property ownership increased, trustees relieved the stewards of the responsibility of its care, and took charge only, of the money given for this specific purpose. This plan works two ways. Church property cannot be charged for debts for current expenses, but on the other hand, preachers have no recourse if their salary is not paid up. The forming of classes, which was an outstanding feature of the church until just recently, came about through the inability of John Wesley to personally supervise the spiritual and temporal welfare of the numerous members; it being his original plan to call on each member once every three months. Many of them were poor and often had to shift from one place to another, and so some were lost track of. One day when the plans for meeting debts in the society at Bristol were being discussed, a Captain Foy suggested that every member pay a penny a week until the debts were paid. When another objected because many were too poor to afford to do so, Captain Foy said : "Then put eleven of the poorest with me and if they cannot pay it I will pay it myself. And each of you call on eleven of your neighbors weekly and receive what they give and make up the rest." It was done. In making these calls the leaders, as these men were called, had a chance to observe how the members were living and were given an opportunity to reprove and encourage. By this means many were kept from stumbling, others were lead back to the narrow path, while some were put away from the class because of their persistent wrongdoing. The house to house method took so much time that the leaders decided to meet the members of the classes at a certain time and so gave rise to the classmeeting, an outstanding feature of Methodism. Class meetings have accomplished a vast amount of good. They have been the means of supplying regu- lar religious services in the absence of ministers and developed many a timid convert into an active Christian worker. The phe- 1024 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY nomenal growth of Methodism is due to this interpretation of the promise, that "where two or three are gathered together there I will be also." All of the pioneer churches of this Northwest Territory started from just such small classes held together by some consecrated member, who carried on during the time between the visits of the itinerant preachers. John Wesley was the first itinerant. He tried, as has been said, to visit each member of the early classes once in three months, and gave each member that was approved a ticket. As late as 1860, in the United States, tickets were issued to members worthy of being admitted to the love feast held at the time of the quarterly conference, and no one was admitted without this passport. As the work grew, John Wesley accepted the offers of service from a number of consecrated young men and sent them out to classes where they were most needed. In 1744 the first society—a group of classes—was formed. Five years later Wesley held his first Annual Conference. The suggestion that the Society in London be the mother church was not accepted, but London became, naturally, the headquarters of the Conference. Here the itinerants met and from it they were distributed from year to year, and so a regular itinerancy was established. Bishop Simpson in "A Hundred Years of Methodism," sums up the organization thus: "In ten years the outlines of the coming church were already prepared. Societies were organized, classes formed, leaders appointed, stewards selected, love feasts and quarterly meetings held, annual conferences assembled, and preachers were exchanged. All these were the outgrowth of the earnest revival spirit and were instituted to meet a long felt want. It is remarkable that to this day, amid all the changes and secessions which have taken place, in all its branches and in all countries, the Methodist family has preserved all these outlines. They form a broad platform, a ground of common union. Differences have arisen as to the mode of appointing leaders and stewards; as to who should compose the annual conferences and how the preachers should be appointed to their work. These have involved questions as to a General Conference, as to episcopacy, and as to ordination. But in all the points which touch the mass of people directly, Methodism is one everywhere. It is simply, in the language of Chalmers, "Christianity in earnest." After the Revolutionary war immigration took its westward way and the Northwest Territory became dotted with pi- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1025 oneers' cabins and the beginnings of cleared and cultivated farms. To these early settlements the Methodist itinerants soon found their way. Dr. Charles H. Payne in a sermon given at the Centennial Celebration of Ohio Methodism in 1898 at Delaware, tells this incident. An itinerant finding his way through a deep forest came upon a woodman felling trees for a hastily built shelter for his family. The itinerant asked if he could preach in his cabin. "What!" exclaimed the astonished man, "are you here? I lived in Virginia and a Methodist preacher came along and my wife got converted. I fled into North Carolina and had hardly got settled until another Methodist preacher came along and some of my children got converted. Then I went to Kentucky, but they followed me, and I thought this time I'd get beyond their reach. I've hardly got to this settlement until here's another Methodist preacher wanting to preach in my cabin !" "My friend," replied the itinerant, "I advise you to make terms of peace with the Methodist preachers, for you will find them everywhere you go in the world, and when you go to heaven as I hope you will, you will find plenty of them there. If you go to hell, as you will if you don't repent, you will find a few there." The man surrendered. In 1787-8, George Callahan came to Carpenter's Station a point about a mile above Warrenton, Jefferson County, Ohio, to preach to a group of pioneers. A few of these pioneers had crossed the river in the morning to hear Mr. Callahan preach at Regin Pumphrey's cabin in Peach Bottoms, Va. At their earnest request he promised to preach at the block-house to where the Indians had driven the settlers at four o'clock that afternoon. As he preached, fifteen or twenty backwoodsmen armed with rifles, tomahawks and scalping knives, kept guard outside against attack by the Indians. This is the first recorded Methodist preaching in Ohio. Up to 1798 there had been no organized plan for preaching, although itinerants had held services in different parts of the state for ten or more years. Among these were Rev. James B. Finley, who set up housekeeping at Bainbridge, Ohio, and has given vivid pictures of the experiences of the early settler in his "Pioneer Life." Peter Cartwright whose time was spent in the saddle, practically for years, found time to write of his experiences, which were on the same lines as those of all the early preachers. Itineracy did not mean driving out a few miles to some country point every two weeks as it does today. Among many unusual experiences, Mr. Cartwright tells of the preparation of a meal : "We stretched deer skin over a hoop, 1026 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY burned holes in it with the prongs of a fork, sifted our meal, baked our bread, ate it and it was first rate eating, too. We raised or gathered from the woods our own tea. We had sage Bohea, cross vine, spice and sassafras teas in abundance. As for coffee, I am not sure that I smelled it for ten years. We made our sugar from the water of the maple tree and our molasses, too. These were great luxuries in those days." He also tells of traveling for ten years before he was invited to sleep in a plastered house. This was the house of Gov. Edward Tiffin in Chillicothe. Peter Cartwright traveled over the larger part of Ohio, visited the societies and formed and organized new ones. He was, one may learn from his own stories, rough and ready, both spiritually and physically. He often showed his prowess in silencing the carping disturber, and with his physical strength would put to rout the leaders of organized efforts to break up his meetings. Lorenzo Dow was another pioneer preacher of a little different type, often referred to by the older generations of Methodism. He is said to have been the originator of the camp meeting idea, having been obliged to hold outdoor services while on an evangelizing tour through England. On returning to this country, the conditions peculiarly favored that form of revival work. Many of the incidents of pioneer itinerants' lives are so interesting it is hard to pass them by for more practical matters of history. One writer tells that in 1774 the preacher was paid $64 a year and traveling expenses. Many of the preachers supported themselves. Emsbury was a carpenter, Strawbridge a farmer. Many were unmarried. Robert Williams is said to be the first American Methodist preacher to publish a book, get married, locate and die! In 1782 a resolution was adopted requiring the preachers to bring to the quarterly conference all the gifts of money or clothing or their value. In 1780 a question reading "What provision shall be made for the wives of married preachers?" was answered thus : "They shall receive an equivalent with their husbands if they stand in need. In 1785 the regular annual salary for preachers was $64 and no more, and for each preacher's wife $64, and for each preacher's child under age of six there was allowed $16, and for each child over six years and under the age of eleven, $21.33. This rule in reference to the children created so much dissatisfaction that no provision was made for them after 1787. At that time no deacon, nor elder was allowed to receive fee or present for marrying, baptizing, or burying the dead—"Freely TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1027 we receive, freely we give." Later, a gift might be received for a marriage ceremony, but it must be reported and applied on the quarterage. In 1860 the salary of a preacher was fixed at $100 ; also $100 for his wife, a small allowance for his children and an amount estimated for house rent and family expenses. These sums were paid out of a common fund and all preachers shared alike. In this year (1860) however, this custom was set aside and each charge gave as it saw fit—sometimes not at all. Worn out preachers could have an allowance of $64 "if he wants it;" a widow and child, "if wanted, $53.33" provided they had paid $6.67 into the Chartered Fund and had kept up the yearly fee of two dollars. For a number of years peace and harmony characterized the inauguration of the new form of church government. It was finally disturbed by a feeling voiced in a resolution presented by Rev. James O'Kelly which proposed that ministers dissatisfied with their appointments were given the right of appeal to the conference. The resolution failed and Mr. O'Kelly left the conference, taking with him a few adherents who formed a sect called the Republican Methodists. This sect later united with groups from the Presbyterian and Baptist churches and formed the Christian connection, which sect affiliated with the Disciples of Christ in 1831; only to separate again on the slavery question in 1854. In view of the democratic ideas pervading all forms of social and political organizations in America, it is not at all surprising that a feeling of unrest should develop, and other groups cut loose from the original society. Besides the Christian connection led by James O'Kelly in 1792, the question of larger privileges of laymen led to the organization of the Methodist Protestant Church in 1828. Laymen that had not been represented in church councils were given full rights in this organization. It has a membership of 189,583, with 1,082 ministers (1927). The slavery question divided the church seventeen years before the nation was divided. In 1843, a small anti-slavery and anti-secret society element split off and was called the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America. In two years it had 15,000 members, but after the Civil war thousands of its members returned to the Methodist Episcopal Church. But the real split came in 1844. James O. Andrews, a southern Bishop had become, by marriage and inheritance, a slaveholder. A resolution passed at the General Conference that 1028 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY year requested Bishop Andrews to "desist from the exercise of his office as long as this impedimenta remains." Five thousand ministers and a membership of 500,000 were represented in a protest presented. A convention which met at Louisville, Kentucky in 1845, resulted in the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which still, in spite of all overtures, exists as a separate body, with a membership of 2,602,217 (1927). From this branch of Methodism the Congregational Methodists withdrew in 1852 on a question of church polity. Free Methodists were organized in 1860 by ministers and members who had been expelled or had withdrawn from the Methodist Episcopal Church on account of differences concerning membership in secret societies and doctrinal questions. This sect believes that sanctification is instantaneous and subsequent to regeneration. Often it is called the second blessing. In 1815 the colored membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia became dissatisfied, and under the leadership of Richard Allen organized a society called the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It has a membership of almost 700,000. Several other denominations have been formed by groups of seculars among the colored people. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, organized in New York in 1796, permits the ordination of women—membership (1927) 490,000. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, organized at Jackson, Tenn., 1870, came from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, membership 342,000. There are several other denominations, each having very small followings. LOCAL METHODIST SOCIETIES The first classes organized in the northwestern part of Ohio were, one at Fremont in 1819, and one at Perrysburg in 1820. From this time until 1840, there were about forty classes formed in the Maumee and Sandusky valleys, which developed into churches and which are doing active work today. Fremont, up to 1848, was known as Lower Sandusky. The class at Lower Sandusky was organized in 1819 by Rev. James Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery had been appointed agent for the Seneca Indians by President Monroe in 1819. He was a local preacher, having been ordained by Bishop Asbury at Lebanon, Ohio. This first class consisted of himself and wife and daughter. Rev. James Finley was the Presiding elder, in this part of the state at that time, and the first communion service was attended TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1029 by the three members of the pastor's family and a local preacher from Springfield, Ohio, by the name of Moses Hincle. More pioneers settled in this neighborhood from time to time, and in 1822 the class was reorganized with eleven members, which was the beginning of the Methodist Church in Fremont, Ohio. This class was ministered to by Rev. Elijah Fields from the Cincinnati Conference, which at that time extended into the northern part of the state. Its membership grew rapidly and the little society prospered until the scourge of cholera broke out in 1834, which frightened away those that could get away and only three men were left to bury the dead. When the disease had abated and the inhabitants had returned to their homes, plans for building a church were made and a part of the building was ready for use in 1836. Two other churches have been built since that time—one in 1850 and the present one in 1883. But the latter was partially destroyed by fire in 1888, and was rededicated, 1888-89. Fremont has a membership of 860, a Sunday School enrollment of 640, and is one of the four outstanding points in the Toledo District outside of the. City of Toledo. It is rather difficult to keep track of the changes in conference boundaries at this time, as the rapid development of the work required frequent alterations, and more definite areas of work. Fremont with the rest of the northwestern points, passed from the Ohio—the North Ohio, the Michigan, North, Central and West Ohio into the Ohio Conference, where it now belongs. Each one of these changes was made to better serve the growing churches. Perrysburg was laid out in 1816 by the government, which accounts for its wide streets and their names. At that time the river was navigable up to that point and the new town was to become the metropolis. So, one could foresee how nature frustrated such a plan and the honor went to Toledo. In 1820, the pioneers who had worshiped in Fort Meigs and other settlements mentioned, formed the Perrysburg Society under the leadership of John P. Kent and P. B. Morrey. The Spafford and Webb homes were the preaching centers until a combination church and schoolhouse was built. In 1836 a church was built which served the congregation until this year (1929) being 92 years old. It is probably the oldest church building in continuous use in the state. This society passed through a crisis during the cholera scourge in 1834, but has sustained itself and is building a fine new structure that is planned to meet the needs of an increasing membership and a prosperous community. 1030 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Perrysburg was the first society organized in the Maumee Valley. During the settlement of the Maumee Valley a number of small settlements were made along the river. Their names only occasionally recur in the history of this region—Orleans, McCutchensville, Johnstown and others. Small classes were formed at some of these points. Mount Blanchard, in now Hancock County, passed its centennial in 1928, having been organized in 1828. At that time Elnathan Gavitt and Thomas Thompson, who were preaching to the Indians at Upper Sandusky, organized a class that met in a log cabin and then in a log schoolhouse, until a church was built in 1838. Three churches were built and a short time ago these buildings were still standing. The first society in Findlay was organized in 1829 by Adam Poe. He was connected with the Wyandot Mission at Upper Sandusky and came up to Fort Findlay to preach. The first preaching service in the immediate vicinity of Toledo was at a settlement known as Ten Mile Creek, later Tremainesville, and still later, West Toledo. B. O. Plymton and Elias Pattee were the preachers in 1823, before Toledo became a city. There were two classes formed in 1826 by Rev. John A. Baughman ; one at the house of Eli Hubbard near the Tremainesville bridge, which became the Collingwood Church. The other class formed at the Whitney residence, became the Monroe Street Church. There are sixteen Methodist societies in Toledo at the present time (1929) as follows : Asbury, membership 350 ; Bethany, membership 185; Broadway, 1153; Central, 790; Clark Street, 706; Collingwood, 805; Epworth, 1228; Euclid, 760; Hamilton, 60; Ironville (Farley) , 179 ; Monroe street, 1523 ; St. James, 360; St. Johns, 443; St. Pauls, 1236; Wesley, 320; Western Avenue, 330. This makes a total of 10,428 out of the 16,460 members in Toledo District, who belong to the city churches. The Bowling Green society was organized in 1834. The first group of neighbors met in a barn on the Peter Klopfenstein place on the Napoleon road south of the village in 1832. The first class was probably organized here. Later meetings were held in a log schoolhouse on the Napoleon road, near the now Dixie Highway. The Rev. I. R. Tracy and Joshua Carr, local preachers, ministered to the little class. The first itinerants were Alanson Fleming and Wesley Shortis, who traveled the Waterville Mission, which included Wood, Lucas, Henry, Hancock, Ottawa, and TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1031 Sandusky counties. In that year there were 224 members on this circuit. Eight years later there were 104 members. The situation may be explained by this incident. In 1848 Rev. Charles Thomas came to the Waterville Mission, but after spending one night at the home of Father Pray, he left before daylight next morning, leaving a message that if he must starve or die of chills and fever, he preferred a natural death and burial at Jeromeville, Wayne County, Ohio. But there was a brave and gallant force whose nerve did not fail them in facing the terrors of the "Black Swamp" in behalf of the struggling pioneers in the name of our Lord. There is a long list of the names of those who traveled the circuit, some of whom lost their lives through the exposure. Among them was Wesley Shortis, who was so active in this early work and who is buried at Springfield Church near Holland Station. The first church, built in 1846 on South Main Street, Bowling Green, where the Church of Christ now stands, became the cradle of every new church organization in town but one. The old parsonage across the street bought in 1856, still stands. In 1871 the cornerstone of a new brick church to be built on the corner of East Wooster and Prospect streets was laid. In 1899 a fine stone building was erected on the same site. In December, 1928, a property on North Main Street was purchased for a parsonage. In 1834 a Methodist Class was formed at Waterville with twelve members. Elam Day was the pastor. Its history was so like that of most of the other early classes it is given in detail. In July, 1842, "A church 36x50 was in process of erection in Waterville Village." It stood at the corner of Mechanic Street and the river road; where the filling station now stands (1929). In these early years there was no Sunday school under the control of the Methodist Church, and not until 1847 is found a notice of a Sunday school of "about 50 scholars." In the record of February 20, 1841, is found the following: "Resolved, that we view with ardent pleasure the strong footing that Methodism is gaining in this section of our country, and therefore cheerfully recommend a steady and persevering adherence to the whole Economy and Maxims of our beloved Church." On January 10, 1846, a constitution for a Missionary Society was adopted and a resolution passed that the members of the Quarterly Conference should use their influence to circulate the Missionary and Sabbath School Advocate. The preachers who served the Waterville Circuit between 1836 and 1848 were : Alan- 1032 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY son Fleming, Wesley Shortis, Austin Coleman, Chas. Babcock, George Brown, Alexander Campbell, Liberty Prentice, Orion Hatch, John Brakefield, Chas. Thomas, H. K. Bain, Thos. J. Pope, Wm. Hatcher, Sam'l. Mower, C. H. Owens, Henry Chapman, John B urges. Situated in the famous Black Swamp with its malaria, ague, almost impassable roads, unbridged streams, dense forests and all the conditions of pioneer life, it needed hardy as well as conse crated preachers to minister to the no less hardy settlers. That they were found and counted no hardship too severe, if only the Kingdom could be advanced, is seen in the way the churches in this whole territory have grown. However, one who was sent to Waterville in the early '40s decided after a few weeks that if he had to starve or die of chills and fever, he would do it among accustomed scenes; so resigned and returned to the eastern part of the state. He was doubtless influenced, also, by the constant state of terror in which his wife lived. She had been told dreadful tales of the terrors of life in the Black Swamp, such as that the settlers tied rattlesnakes to the tails of their hogs, and she was almost frenzied with fear all the time. We may wonder why all the preachers did not starve, when we read such items as these in the quarterly conference minutes : on October 15, 1842, a committee, composed of Bros. Pray, Morrison and Trowbridge, reported their estimate for the support of the preacher for the ensuing year. For Table Expenses, $50; for Horse Keep, $20 ; for Quarterage, $200; and for the Presiding Elder, quarterage and expenses, $30. In the year 1845-46 the preacher, C. H. Owens, was paid $100, with $17.07 for traveling expenses. To the Presiding Elder, Thos. Barkdull, was paid $26.23, and as there was "a surplus of $1.22," it was paid to the P. E. We notice at this time that two dollars had to be removed from the collection because it was conterfeit. In 1856, the Delaware Conference was formed out of the western part of the North Ohio, but in 1860 the name Central Ohio was substituted for Delaware, and again Waterville became a part of a new Conference. The local records from 1848 to about 1900 are lost, so it is from the memories of the older residents that are gathered names and facts. Among the preachers that served the charge during these years are found J. F. Burkholder, B. Herbert, Russell B. Pope, T. N. Barkdull, P. P. Pope, F. Marriott, R. B. Olive, John A. Lucy, A. D. Newell, A. J. Keister. TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1033 The parsonage was built in 1879, A. D. Newell being the first to occupy it. As it had no dining room, it was enlarged in 1893 by the addition of a kitchen. The pastor, A. J. Keister, did the work, and $36 in subscriptions, ranging from ten cents to one dollar, were collected to pay for the lumber. But the money was exhausted before the shingles were provided, so Rev. Keister roofed it with tin cans. Later alterations on a more generous scale, have resulted in the comfortable home of the present. The Ladies' Aid Society was organized in 1889, and the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society at a later date. In the fall of 1914 the present beautiful brick church at the corner of Mechanic and Fifth streets was commenced, and dedicated the next summer by Bishop D. H. Moore. Again, Waterville has changed its Conference; for by the uniting of the Central Ohio and the Cincinnati in 1913, it became a part of the West Ohio and once more in 1928, it belongs to the Ohio, when the West Ohio and the Ohio are joined. The preachers who have served the charge in the last thirty years are : W. McK. Brackney, J. J. Richards, E. D. Cook, F. L. Hook, E. L. Matter, C. W. Jameson, M. D. Scott, H. F. Zierer, G. W. Matheson, Wm. Gross, D. E. Rhoades, E. E. McCammon. One, H. F. Zierer, went from his pastorate here to the Philippine Islands as a missionary. Two daughters of the church married missionaries and went to China; one laying down her life there—Florence Suter, who married Chas. Roberts. The other, Grace Farnsworth, married W. I. Lacy, and after a few years had to return to the U. S. for health reasons. A return is made from Waterville to the general story. In 1834, the first Methodist prayer meeting in the Fulton County section was held at the home of Sidney Halley in Six Mile Woods, now Delta. In 1835 the Methodist Episcopal Society was formed by Rev. Elisha Trowbridge, who gave the ground for the first church about one mile east of Delta. The Church at Napoleon was organized by Rev. Austin Coleman in 1835, the same year that Henry County was established and Napoleon was the county seat. Rev. Ira Chase organized the society at Sylvania in 1837. As the outgrowth of the efforts of these early pioneers in Methodism, there are about one hundred and twenty-five M. E. churches serving the communities in the Maumee and Sandusky river valleys. 1034 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY (The story of the Upper Sandusky Indian Mission is told in another chapter). The missionary work of the church is carried on through three distinct organizations. The Board of Home and Foreign Missions represents the work of the church at large. It is supported by apportionments made to each church, based on membership. By these funds, churches, schools, and preachers in both home fields and foreign, are established and sustained. To distinguish from other missionary societies, it has been called the "Parent-Board." The women of the church work through two societies. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society was organized in 1869, in Boston. It undertook its first work in behalf of the women in heathen lands. Miss Isabella Thoburn was the first woman missionary to India. From the one missionary in 1869, the force has grown to an army of 217. During the year 1928, $373,157 was raised from a membership of 84,316 in the Cincinnati Branch, which included Ohio, Kentucky,parts of Tennessee and Michigan. The Woman's Home Missionary Society was organized in 1880. Its objects were, to administer to the negroes and poor whites in the south, and later the Indians, and also foreigners locating in the big cities of the north and west. It supports fourteen Industrial schools for blacks, five for white children, 3 for Indians, five for orphans, and sustains social centers in the large cities and industrial districts, where foreigners can be helped. One of the most interesting perhaps is the service to the immigrants at Ellis Island. THE EPWORTH LEAGUE In the late eighties the question of providing especial service for the young people claimed the attention of the church. Doctor John H. Vincent, who was made bishop later, was much interested in young people. He fostered the Sunday School idea for years and did much toward standardizing Sunday School work. The Berean Lesson Leaf was the first fruit of this effort. This soon became the International Lesson Study; and soon, not only Methodists, but all denominations were stressing Bible study in a systematic way. To further the work for the young people, Doctor Vincent was instrumental in organizing the Oxford League and published a paper called Our Youth. Soon other societies sprang up. One, the Epworth Society, was quite popular, as well as Christian Endeavor groups. In 1890 an effort was made to TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1035 unify all Methodist groups into one strictly Methodist organization, and a meeting was called in Cleveland to effect such a plan. The idea worked through to the name the new society should bear. Doctor Vincent had a strong support for Oxford League, but an equally strong faction held that anyone might have a right to use the name Oxford, but only Methodists were interested in Epworth, and so the balance hung for sometime until someone speaking in behalf of "Epworth Society" made a slip in speech and said "Epworth League," and the deadlock was broken instantly and happily, and so these groups called Epworth Leagues, play a most significant part in the work of the church. The young folks of this northwest section gather at Lakeside, Ohio, for a week of instruction and conference every summer, the session ending in a day of decision for different forms of life service. The church supports two colleges in this territory, Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, from whose halls hundreds of young ministers have stepped into the arena of life and have ministered to the church life from humble stations and circuits to places in the rank of bishops. Ohio Northern at Ada was first a popular school for teachers seeking special training for their work, until it was taken over by the Methodist Episcopal Church. One of the first attempts to educate the young men and women,was in the establishment of a seminary, in Maumee. A written request made in 1860 to the conference for such a school, resulted in the establishment of a school, or seminary in the old courthouse, which stood on the site of the present Lucas County Library. Maumee was the early county seat of Lucas County, and the old courthouse, a fine building of the Grecian style of architecture, with the grounds, was turned over to the Methodist Episcopal Church to be used forever for educational purposes. The absence of many young men during the Civil war closed the seminary and the property was turned back to Maumee in 1881. Flower Deaconess Home and Hospital at Toledo, was made possible by a gift of $20,000 and the family residence, by Stevens W. Flower, a leading business man of Toledo. This hospital, the only one under the church's direction in this part of the state, has proven a wonderful asset in ministering to the needs of the community. Another piece of property on Superior Street, The Esther Flower Home for girls, cares for girls that are struggling for a business foothold in the city, providing home comforts at a reasonable price for them. 1036 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY Many references are made to the itinerant's love of argument. It seems interesting in the twentieth century, that so much importance should be attached to the questions of the mode of baptism, foreordination, foreknowledge, sanctification, the character of heaven and hell, the sinfulness of ribbons and veils and buckles and other accessories of dress, and that so much time and energy should be spent in arguing about them. But that seemed to be the one thing among all their hardships that they were free to enjoy. And did they? Read Peter Cartwright's Life, or Elder Gavitt's Saddlebags. One incident has stuck in our memory that illustrates this phase of the preacher's life. A district conference was being held at Genoa, Ottawa County, in 1880. The Disciples had the strongest society there and there were many hot discussions on the comparative efficiency of immersion and pouring or sprinkling. It seemed that the subject presented from a Methodist point of view might help a little in clearing up the controversy. So Dr. Lorin C. Webster was chosen to speak in the evening and open the way for a discussion on the subject. The Disciples sent a delegation led by their minister, a tall, splendidly built man with 'hair and complexion as ruddy as David's and with whom the folks of the Methodist pursuasion had formed a warm friendship. After a very strong setting out of the facts from his standpoint, Doctor Webster met the criticism of the delegation with fire in his eye, apparently routing the "enemy," so to speak. The Disciples' minister in his last rebuttal stretched his arm toward the Doctor, saying in closing, "I hope, my dear sir, when my hair is as white as yours, I'll know more about the Bible than you do!" We held our breath for we knew that he had rung his own knell, remembering as we did, how as a child when Doctor Webster was P. E. in this district, we had stood beside him and wondered at his flaming hair which now was white as snow. The red head reaction didn't fail the doctor. He leaned his tall form over the stand and with an imitative gesture with his long right arm said, "Don't take any comfort to yourself on that score, my brother. When I was your age my hair was as red as yours is!" The discussion ended. Among our souvenirs we have a number of love feast tickets. Before quarterly meeting, tickets were given out to persons whose daily walk entitled them to participate in the love feast and communion service. The love feast was a testimony meeting, and bread and bowls ooater were passed. There was no anxiety on sanitary conditions at that time, and the fact that our Savior TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1037 "took the cup and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank of it," was sufficient reason for everyone drinking the water from the same bowl. Grandmother told of taking her baby on the pommel of her saddle one cold winter morning and arriving at the steps of the church just as the door was closed and locked in her face. She had her ticket, but she was a few seconds late and fifteen miles from home with a young babe. What a furor such an incident would cause now. But grandmother had no words of reproach, for she had not met the conditions, and law was law in those days. She mounted her horse and went back home—justly punished for being late ! One of the young ladies in their neighborhood had been to town and had caught on to the fact that young ladies were wearing veils, so she went to the country church wearing one. Imagine her consternation when the preacher halted in the midst of his morning lesson and striding to the pew where she sat, unceremoniously pulled the veil from her hat and took the opportunity to administer a most scathing rebuke for such vanity. This sketch has been drawn with the help of several most interesting articles of a like nature to which an interested student may turn for more information on the subject than can be included in this story. "An Hundred Years of Methodism"—written in 1876 for the Centennial of Methodism by Matthew Simpson, one of the early Bishops of the church. "Handbook of all Denominations"— compiled by M. Phelan, published in 1927 by the Cokesbury Press, Nashville, Tenn. "Introduction of Methodism in Ohio"—an article prepared by Rev. I. F. King, D. D. for the Ohio Archeological and Historical Society Publications, Vol. X. "History of Central Ohio Conference"—published in 1913; and some others. BAPTIST SOCIETY The Baptists were the first denomination of British Christians to engage in missionary work among the so called heathens. Again as told in the chapter on the missions of the Maumee and Sandusky Region, the Board of Managers of the Baptist Missionary Convention for the United States, appointed Rev. Isaac McCoy as missionary to the Indians of the Maumee, October 17, 1817. McCoy also preached to such white settlers or squatters as were found at the head of the Maumee River as early as 1817. Later he carried on his work in Michigan. 1038 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY When settlements were more freely developed, a Baptist society of twenty-six members, was organized at Lima in 1834, and was admitted into the Mad River Association. A society of the Baptist denomination was established at Bucyrus in 1838. The First Baptist Church of Bellevue was organized May 14, 1836, with Rev. J. Kelly the first pastor. Much of this early work was accomplished through the zeal of Rev. John D. Birdsell, who established Baptist societies at Maumee and Perrysburg, followed by organizations at Sylvania and Ten Mile Creek or West Toledo. An organization was effected in Toledo about 1842, in Findlay in 1857, and after 1860, churches of that denomination began to be established in many sections of the Maumee and Sandusky valleys. The following account of early Baptist work in Toledo, is of so much general interest that it is produced here rather than in the story of Toledo : The earliest gathering of Baptists for public services within the present Toledo city limits, was at Ten Mile Creek now designated as West Toledo, and a society was organized some time about 1842. But on account of adverse conditions the work for a time in this locality was suspended. The alignment of the people upon questions of public concern, included slavery, and as said in a historical paper written by Mr. P. N. Mackinder this agitation "had its effect on religious activities, and as far as Baptist work was concerned, every vestige of denominational activity was abandoned and the very term Baptist became only a memory. Its effect throughout Ohio was such that the name of Toledo and surrounding territory became a synonym of reproach to denominational activities. Yet the fire was not quenched, it was only slumbering." Taking further information from this valuable paper, in the spring of 1853, a young man named Henry J. Hayes arrived in Toledo from Loudonville, Ohio, and became the leader of the commission firm of H. J. Hayes & Company. Being a devout churchman and a Baptist, he wanted a church of his own faith he could call "home." Fortunately he met Rev. S. B. Page of Norwalk who gave him the name of some Baptist adherents in young Toledo and they were invited to his home on St. Clair Street near Jefferson. The gathering resulted in regular weekly prayer services being held there. One faithful attendant was Deacon Solomon Johnson of Maumee, who each Sunday afternoon walked all the way "through thick and thin" to lend his influence in aid of his TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1039 Toledo brethren to keep the faith. From these little gatherings "where two or three met together," sprang the germ of the present First Baptist Society of Toledo, which will soon occupy a magnificent new edifice on north Collingwood Avenue, where they own a plant worth more than a half million dollars. The climax came on July 6, 1853, when a permanent organization was decided upon. And from the New York Catskills came the man of the hour. Failing health compelled Rev. Edward Francis Platt, the young pastor of the Baptist Church of Catskill to relinquish his work there in 1852. A change of climate was advised and the American Baptist Home Mission Society appointed him to local mission work in St. Paul, Minn. On his way west in May, 1853, he stopped at Cleveland where he became interested in Toledo conditions through Rev. S. W. Adams and a Mr. J. M. Hoyt, missionary enthusiasts. Among the letters of introduction given him to Toledo Baptists was one addressed to William Baker. As the train bearing Mr. Platt westward left Norwalk, a young man who had taken passage was addressed by another passenger by this very name included in his list. His personal appearance also corresponded to the description of this leading Toledo Baptist given Platt and he immediately made himself known to him. In the ride to the new city on the Maumee a friendship was established between Platt and Baker which became more firmly cemented as time passed and lasted until they were parted by death. Mr. Platt made the same favorable impression upon other Toledoans on his arrival, and so it was that on July 6, 1853, eight men met to establish a Baptist Society. Besides Rev. E. F. Platt the others were this William Baker, Benjamin Farley, J. E. Franklin, Ransom Wilkinson, W. S. Grow, Dr. Lewis Pagin and Dr. W. C. Scott. Rev. Mr. Platt was made chairman of the gathering and Dr. Scott secretary. The result was that Platt was invited to a pastorate at a salary of one thousand dollars a year, and his work opened July 13, one week later. A committee consisting of William Baker, Dr. Pagin, Dr. Scott and H. J. Hayes, was selected to secure a place to hold services until a church could be built. The place chosen was Union Hall located on Summit Street near now Jackson Avenue. The rental was one hundred dollars per year. The first sermon was preached there by Mr. Platt Sunday, August 7, 1853.. A Bible School was organized a week later with eleven scholars. October 16, plans were laid that resulted in the regular organization of the First Baptist Church of Toledo, on October 31, 1853, 1040 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY with the following members : Rev. E. F. Platt, Mrs. E. F. Platt, Benjamin Farley, Mrs. Almira Farley, Miss Harriet Shumway, William Baker, Henry J. Hayes, Mrs. Henry J. Hayes, Ransom Wilkinson, Mrs. Margaret Pfanner, Mrs. Sophronia Blodgett, S. G. Harvey, Dr. W. C. Scott, Mrs. Elizabeth Scott, Mrs. Mary E. West, Miss Clarissa Shaw, Mrs. Minerva Freeman, Mrs. Clarissa Flint. The deacons chosen were H. J. Hayes, Ransom Wilkinson and Benjamin Farley. The first board of trustees selected March 15, 1854, were W. C. Scott, H. J. Hayes, William Baker, H. L. Hosmer and Charles A. King. On November 2, 1854, the society was formally recognized as a church and at the recognition council there were representatives present from Cleveland, Norwalk, Monroeville, Bellevue, Fairfield, Maumee, Perrysburg, and no doubt Findlay, Lima and Bucyrus. From Michigan Detroit, Adrian and Tecumseh were represented. The sermon was preached by Rev. S. W. Adams of the First Baptist Church, Cleveland, and the charge to the new organization was given by Rev. W. H. Crane of Adrian. On December 9, 1854, the first church located on Huron Street near Cherry, was dedicated, the cost of which with the lot it occupied, was about $15,000 and pronounced the finest Protestant church then in Toledo. The Home Mission Society aided in the support, until 1859. A great shock to the organization, although not unexpected, was the death of the pastor in the year 1866. One feature of his work had been his aid to the cause of the Union in the Civil war, many of the church members being in the field, including the noted Brig.-Gen. John W. Fuller. An illustrious character identified with the First Baptist Church was Mr. H. L. Sargent who came to Toledo from Davenport, Iowa, in 1864. He was the organizer of the Sargent Mission on lower Ontario Street, which later became Riverside Baptist Church. Soon after being regularly ordained in the ministry he took up a pastorate at Springfield, Mass. Following the service of Rev. Mr. Platt, there were one or two temporary supplies, after which Dr. C. D. Morris became pastor in October, 1867, and continued until 1882. The pastors since that time at the First Baptist have been : Rev. Byron A. Woods, 1882-1884; Rev. A. S. Hobart, 1885-1888; Rev. W. H. Sloan, 1889-1893; Rev. Philip J. Ward, 1893-1896; Rev. W. E. Loucks, 1897-1908; Dr. George C. Moor, 1909-1911. Then came Rev. J. Y. Montague, Rev. T. B. Frizelle, and finally the Rev. Al- TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1041 bert King Morris, in September, 1920, from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., the present able pastor (1929). So much of the story of the First Baptist Church, Toledo, concerns other organizations which sprang from the parent body, and also human interest side lights on early Toledo. In the year 1866, a mission was established at Clinton Park, the site of the old Toledo circus grounds, now the corner of Ashland Avenue and Prescott Street and where is located Ashland Avenue Baptist Church. Mr. Mackinder in his story says this Mission was at first independent of the First Church, but soon came under its supervision with Mr. Frank Braisted as superintendent. The Sunday School was at first held in the open air, but when the fall weather came on the little band built a refuge from the cold, of which they took possession in December of that year. The site of the structure was owned by the then Gen. R. B. Hayes of Fremont, later president of the United States. The Clinton Park Mission became the Platt Mission and is now the Ashland Avenue Church, one of the leading Baptist societies in Ohio. In 1866, the colored element of the First Baptist society withdrew and they are now known as the Third Baptist Church. In the same year the church organized a mission in then the celebrated old Fifth Ward. This resulted in the Oliver Place Baptist Church, now the Trinity Baptist society. Among the First Baptists identified with the new movement, were F. D. Suydam, F. P. Beaver, T. J. Collins, C. L. Rhoades, Miss Carrie Platt, Miss Mary Lane and others. Miss Lane, now (in 1929) Mrs. W. H. Alexander, is perhaps the oldest living person at any time connected with the First Baptist membership. Dr. F. P. Beaver is a leading business and church man of Dayton. Lately Mr. Beaver recounted that when he came to Toledo and attended the First Baptist services, he was invited home to dinner by one of the members ; whereupon the daughter of the prospective host rejoined that the invitation would be conditional upon Mr. Beaver attending the Mission in the afternoon and teaching a Sunday School class, to which the guest assented. Miss Platt is now Mrs. P. P. Farnham of Michigan. Mr. Rhoades was an uncle of the present Toledo attorneys, John D. and E. H. Rhoades, Jr., and was a successful preach-for over fifty years. On the organization of the Oliver Place Mission into a church society, the first pastor was Rev. William Sheridan of New York City who presided over the flock for twenty years. Sheridan was known as the "Grand Old Man of Ohio" in Baptist work. In fact 1042 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY the Oliver Place Church, the Ashland Avenue Church, the Riverside Church and the Second Baptist Church, are the outgrowth of the First Baptist mission work. In June, 1888, the First society had a membership enrollment of 368. And like the change in the center of commercial activites of a city, churches are likewise affected. Gradually the principal residential section had gravitated toward the Collingwood district. The first Baptist Church was still on Huron Street and the Ashland Avenue location was much nearer and more convenient to a large number of the membership of the Huron Street Church. In consequence in this year 1888, sixty-two members of the First Society withdrew in a body and identified themselves with Ashland Avenue. The pew renting system was abolished by the First Baptist people in 1886. During the summer of 1897 the church property on Huron was remodeled and improved at an expense of $6,000 and the church rededicated in the fall of that year. The dedicatory sermon was preached by the Rev. G. R. Robbins of Cincinnati. Not long after the beginning of the pastorate of Dr. Morris, on account of the growth of the society and local conditions, a movement was inaugurated for a new church in a new location. In 1923, $250,000 had been pledged and a fine location was donated by the late R. A. and Mrs. Bartley at Collingwood and Collins. Later the size of the tract was found to be inadequate for the plant in mind, and a delightful location was secured on Collingwood, near Central Avenue. The first unit of the new church was dedicated in September, 1925. The old church property in Huron was sold in 1924. In 1929, $200,000 more had been pledged to complete the new First Baptist on the original plans. And so more than seventy-five years of the society is now history. In the last three quarters of a century, the Baptist membership has grown from eighteen to about 3,000 in Toledo. The first missionary offering has grown from ten dollars in 1859 to nearly $100,000 given by Toledo Baptists for missionary purposes. Individually the late Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Bartley's contributions have been stupendous compared to a five dollar donation made by Mr. Bartley on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the church, to assist in raising three thousand dollars to clear the church debt. And this subscription in 1878 was contingent upon the whole three thousand dollars being raised. Others who later contributed their thousands were then as follows: J. G. Lamson $10, F. D. Suydam $25, W. O. Brigham $20, J. J. Freeman $25, Herbert Baker TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1043 $25, T. J. Collins $25, W. H. Alexander $40, E. A. Rood $15, E. H. Van Hoesen $25. Among those who were already more forehanded were William Baker who headed the list with $300, followed by John W. Fuller $100, R. H. Lane $100, and Thomas A. Taylor $100. Further work of the Baptists will be found in the special stories of the various Northwestern Ohio counties. LUTHERANISM The Christian denomination known as Lutherans, which adopted the principles of the great Martin Luther, is strongly represented throughout the Maumee and Sandusky regions. In the city of Toledo alone, there are some thirty-seven organized societies, which is more than represented by any other Protestant denomination. Lutheranism developed early in the Sandusky Valley, as well as the Maumee section. From 1820 to 1830, Lutherans from Germany and Pennsylvania began to establish themselves at Lower Sandusky (Fremont). They were ministered to by missionaries from Western Pennsylvania and Somerset, Ohio. One of the first local preachers was Rev. A. Conrad of Tiffin. However, when the settlements were sparse the pioneer church people of different faiths often joined in their organizations. This was the case with the Lutherans and Reformed people of the now Fremont territory. The history of the Reformed Church of Fremont starts in connection with the St. John's Lutheran Church. In 1842 a society was incorporated under the name of The Evangelical Lutheran and German Reform St. John's congregation. In 1843, they purchased the old courthouse property. The first minister was a Lutheran, and in 1853, the name was changed to The Evangelical-Lutheran St. John's Congregation, and later the St. John's people acquired title to the church property. Further details would hardly come under this general story of churches, including the German and English branches of this sect. But another early organization in Sandusky County was Solomon's Evangelical Church of Woodville, which dates from 1830. In that year settlers began to arrive from the Osnabruck section of the province of Hanover. Then in 1841 came the Rev. George Cronnenwett who served his people faithfully for forty-seven years and for much of the earlier period was the only Lutheran pastor within a radius of more than fifty miles. During his service Father Cronnenwett baptized 2,341 subjects, confirmed 1,730 and had charge of 1,214 burial services. 1044 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY As told by Doctor Kennedy of Heidelberg College, in Seneca County and Tiffin, the German Evangelical people were early in the field. They received their charter in 1836, under the name of "The United German Evangelical Lutheran and German Evangelical Reformed St. John's Congregation of Tiffin, Seneca County." The first meeting-house was constructed of hewed logs and located on now South Jefferson Street, Tiffin. For the Reformed society, on June 8, 1833, the Rev. John L. Sanders of Maryland began his services as the first pastor of the First Reformed Church of Tiffin. At the present time there are many strong Lutheran organizations throughout the Maumee and Sandusky regions, including Henry, Hancock, Ottawa and other counties, with many good schools in connection. The first Lutheran church west of the Alleghenies was built under the direction of Father John Stout, in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1808, although the society records there date back to 1802. The old parsonage in a beautiful situation is still standing and a memorial tablet marks the site of the church. At Brentwood on the Brownsville Road, upon another delightful plat today stands a fine brick edifice the present Zion Lutheran Church, although some distance from the old location. Here Rev. Fred O. Schuh now of St. Paul's Lutheran congregation, Toledo, was pastor from 1917 to 1922. Father Stout the first Lutheran minister west of the Allegheny Divide, did noted missionary work for his church all through Ohio, including the counties of Pickaway, Montgomery, Jefferson, Perry, Stark and Fairfield. He also came to the great Black Swamp region of Northwestern Ohio and only a short time since his grave was discovered in a little cemetery near Attica, Seneca County, marked by a modest marble slab, the site now being honored by an appropriate memorial tablet. The Rev. Dr. H. Lindemann, Ph. D., of Woodville, has written extensively upon the early work of American Lutheranism. In speaking of the early Lutheran settlements, and of the celebrated Muhlenbergs, he quotes the late Secretary John Hay who said, "Martin Luther's far-reaching influence, which is today felt from the Atlantic to the Pacific, helped to people our Northern Continent with colonists who laid the foundation of its future liberties on the truths of the Bible. He recommended the oppressed people of Europe to take the teachers of their choice, and with the Bible TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1045 in their hands to follow the star of freedom to lands where religious liberty could find a home." In the early pages of this (Van Tassel's) history, the work of Conrad Weiser is spoken of in connection with his explorations across Ohio to Pickawillany, the Indian town at the head section of the Great Miami River, in 1748. Concerning Weiser, Doctor Lindemann says : "In the final contest with the French, the Lutherans bore a prominent part. Conrad Weiser the wizard of Conestoga, the Lutheran elder, the father-in-law of Patriarch Muhlenberg, was the Indiana agent, who, more than any other man, held the Six Nations in check and prevented the French from securing their invaluable assistance. We would not deny to Sir William Johnson the credit of influencing the Mohawk tribe, but it was Conrad Weiser who treated with the rest of the Six Nations, and this saved our cause. When laid to rest on his farm at Womeldorf, the Indians came to mourn over his grave for years." Concerning the Revolution Doctor Lindemann further writes: "In the Revolutionary war our Lutherans were loyal to the cause of freedom. The Germans were ever opposed to all forms of tyranny. The appeal of their Philadelphia Society in 1775 aroused their countrymen throughout the Colonies. The motion of Richard Henry Lee to declare the United States free and independent' was held in suspense because the Pennsylvania delegation, composed of Quakers and allied sectarians, refused to support it, and would have doomed it to defeat. Had not our Pennsylvania Germans, the majority of whom were Lutherans, rallied their forces to the Pennsylvania convention of June 18, 1776, and cast their votes in its favor, the Declaration of Independence could not have been passed on July 4, 1776." Then of Peter Muhlenberg, the eldest son of Patriarch Muhlenberg, Doctor Lindeman. says: "We have heard of Putnam leaving his plow in the furrow to shoulder his musket, but we have heard little of Rev. Peter Muhlenberg, who after preaching to his people in Woodstock, Va., said, 'There is a time to preach, a time to pray, but there is a time to fight, and that is now.' Removing his gown and standing in military dress, he commanded the drum to beat, enrolled 300 of his congregation and served as colonel under Washington. 'He saved the day at Brandywine and led the reinforcements which took the last of the British works at Yorktown.' " John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg was born in Trappe, Pa., October 1, 1746. He was educated in Germany. In 1766 he re- 35-VOL. 1 1046 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY turned to America, studied theology and was pastor of Lutheran churches in New Germantown and Bedminster, New Jersey. In 1772, he settled in Woodstock, Va., left his former charge in consequence of the Virginia laws and obtained Protestant Episcopal ordination from the Bishop of London. He continued his ministry at Woodstock for three years and in 1775 accepted a colonel's commission in the American Army. His organization of a military force has been referred to and after his valiant war record, he was at the close of hostilities made a major-general. In 1785 when Benjamin Franklin was chosen president of Pennsylvania, General Muhlenberg became vice president, in 1801 was chosen to the U. S. Senate, and in 1803 made Collector of the Port of Philadelphia. He died October 1, 1807, and his remains rest in the cemetery of the Lutheran church at the historical hamlet of Trappe, Montgomery County, Pa., and which was consecrated October 6, 1745. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL This religious denomination was early in the field of the Maumee and Sandusky region. The First Protestant Episcopal Church at Maumee was organized in 1837, with Rev. B. H. Hickox the first pastor. This society has prospered, early built a sub stantial little house of worship which was a short time ago greatly enlarged and improved. An Episcopal society was organized at Manhattan, now within Toledo, in 1838. In 1840, Bishop McIlvane conducted services in the old Presbyterian Church, Toledo. But even before that time, April 23, 1837, Rev. Narcissus Lyster, a Protestant Episcopal minister, conducted services in the room in Toledo used for holding court. Rev. Joseph S. Large of the Maumee society also during his pastorate there traveled to Toledo on Sunday afternoons and held services in a frame building on Summit Street, between Cherry and Walnut. The present Trinity society sprung from a meeting held by Bishop Mcllvane in 1842. The story of this organization appears in the article on the City of Toledo. St. Paul's Parish, Fremont, as told about in the story of Fre mont, had its beginning January 12, 1842, when the articles of association were signed on that date. There are many strong organizations in the region of the Maumee and Sandusky of the Protestant Episcopal faith. CONGREGATIONAL As has already been noted, the early days of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches were closely associated in the TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1047 Maumee Valley. Their early history in this section was practically parallel. What is now known as the First Congregational Church, Toledo, was organized as the First Presbyterian Church, in 1833. At Bellevue in 1836, the present First Congregational Church was formed under the direction of the Huron Presbytery as a Presbyterian society and remained as such until 1846, when it was made a regular congregational organization. Out in Plain township, Wood County, at a beautiful situation some four miles west of Bowling Green, rises the spire of a substantial church belonging to one of the oldest religious organizations in this section—the Plain Congregational. The beginning of this society, still in a flourishing condition in a cultural community, was November 27, 1835. Upon that date in this then new country there gathered at the cabin home of Jacob Minton, near the present church site the following named noble, pioneer churchmen : Rev. Joseph Badger, Rev. Isaac Van Tassel and Rev. Benjamin Woodbury, together with Elisha Martindale, Jacob Minton, Nathaniel Edgerton, Mehetable Woodbury, Philetta Minton and Lydia Edgerton. Missionary Badger presided with Rev. Mr. Woodbury as scribe. The confession of faith and articles of practice of the Presbyteries of Grand River and Portage were adopted for this little church in the deep wilderness. In the seventh article, instead of the reading "when he has not thus elected" the words "who will not repent" were accepted. In October, 1836, the membership organized a Home Missionary Society to aid the American Home Society. The first church, a substantial frame structure, still intact in 1929, was built in 1840. In April, 1836, an Indian interpreter known as King, from the old Maumee Mission, who had united with the society, for his waywardness and intemperance, was tried and suspended. Rev. Benjamin Woodbury, the first pastor, also labored at Milton Center, West Mill-grove and Freeport (Wayne) Wood County and at Swanton, Lucas County. The Congregational organizations of the Maumee and Sandusky regions are among the strongest in this territory. UNITED BRETHREN The United Brethren Society, relatively is not an old organization. The denomination was established under the labors of P. W. Otterbein (1726-1813) a native of Germany, who as a missionary arrived at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1752 and later established himself at Baltimore. He became associated with the Mennonite teacher Martin Boehm and in his work also cooperated with the 1048 - STORY OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY early Methodist preachers of Pennsylvania. The first U. B. annual conference was held in 1800. Considering Northwestern Ohio, the origin of the Sandusky Conference according to the historical sketch of the same, written by Rev. W. R. Arnold of Findlay, dates back to 1822, when Rev. Jacob. Bowlus and family moved from Maryland to a farm near Lower Sandusky (Fremont). Evidently he was the first of the United Brethren faith to preach within the bounds of this conference. Soon after establishing himself he threw open his home for religious service and invited his neighbors and friends to assemble for worship. This culminated in the forming of a society by himself and family joining with his newly-made converts. He opened his doors and spread his table for ministers of other religious faiths. He was a good provider, generous, hospitable, and religiously zealous. Thus he made many friends and wielded a good influence, thereby giving the United Brethren Church a hearty welcome and permanency. Without quotations the story of Rev. Mr. Arnold says the General Conference of 1829 attached a portion of Sandusky County to Muskingum Conference and named it Sandusky Circuit. At the following session of Muskingum Conference, this new territory was made a district and called Sandusky District. Mr. Bowlus was elected presiding elder and placed on the new district, and Rev. J. Zahn was appointed pastor of the Sandusky Circuit. Thus it is evident that Mr. Bowlus was truly the nestor of Sandusky Conference, being its first pastor, its first presiding elder, its first representative in the General Conference. Other societies and circuits were formed in adjacent territory and counties. The work grew and was strengthened by other ministers moving within the territorial bounds. Such were Revs. George Hiskey, John and Jacob Numann, John Smith, Philip Cramer, Henry Kimberlin, Israel Herrington, Daniel Strayer and others. As this work grew and was of such great promise the General Conference of 1833 authorized the organization of a new Conference and on the twelfth day of May in the following year the first session of Sandusky Conference was held in the private home of Mr. Philip Bretz, near Melmore, Seneca County, Ohio, Bishop Hiestand, presiding. The stone dwelling was still standing, in good repair, and was occupied in 1913, when Mr. Arnold penned his history. The farm belongs to the Zeigler heirs. A number of sessions were subsequently held at the Honey Creek chapel, a few rods from this house, but it is now abandoned. The TOLEDO AND THE SANDUSKY REGION - 1049 following ministers were present: Jacob Bowlus, George Hiskey, Jeremiah Brown, C. Zook, John and Jacob Crum, W. T. Tracy, Jacob Bair, 0. Strong, Henry Erret, J. Smith, Lawrence Easterly, Philip Cramer, J. Alsop, Benjamin Moore, Daniel Strayer, Israel Herrington, Henry Kimberlin, and John Fry. The following brethren were admitted : John Davis, Jacob Garber, Stephen Lillibridge, A. Winch, J. C. Rice, and B. F. Kauffman. There were twenty-six in all. The value of the work of Jacob Bowlus may be realized when the state of the church in 1913 is compared with the small beginning. At the annual session on the latter date there were 142 ministers and 232 organized churches, with a membership of 23,374; church houses, 227, and their value $763,805; parsonages, 62; valued at $100,425; salaries paid to pastors, and Conference superintendent and all purposes, $178,945.29; Sunday schools, 222, with an enrollment of 25,878. All other statistics are proportionately as good. "In the early days of the Conference," says Arnold "most of the ministers and their parishioners were German. By nature they were content to stay in the country and rural districts. Furthermore, they were a little opposed to adopting the English language and customs. Consequently many fine openings closed and some may never be opened to the church, as others have now occupied the territory. And yet it is remarkable what progress has been made, especially in the last few decades." The Conference originally occupied all the territory it now holds except that portion annexed in 1902 from the Auglaize Conference. In 1853, the North Ohio Conference was formed, and all that portion of Northern Ohio, northwest of the Maumee River, was placed into the North Ohio Conference, and later in 1878, the Central Ohio Conference was formed and some valuable territory was taken from Sandusky Conference. Among the fields taken were Marion and Galion. Such men as Revs. J. B. Resler, J. A. Crayton, A. Orr, M. A. Powers, J. W. Waggoner, and others, men of great worth and influence in the Conference, became members of the new conference. When this territory was re-annexed to Sandusky Conference in 1901, only Revs. M. A. Powers and J. W. Waggoner returned; but the society was fortunate in getting Drs. J. L. Hensley, A. Snider and a number of young brethren who have rendered valuable service. At the same time that portion of Ohio which was a