350 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. character were blended in him, and his very presence in society gave it gravity, dignity and tone. The introduction of the newspaper press in Wooster is due to his intelligence and enterprise. He established in 1817 the Ohio Spectator, the first newspaper ever published in the county, thereby depositing the seed which germinated and grew, and now in 1878 blossoms in the Republican and Democrat—two of the most vigorous and ably conducted weekly papers in Northern Ohio. All honor to Judge Levi Cox for this most praiseworthy of his achievements ! At the close of a long life of active toil he left behind him no wealth, no statues of bronze, no home intrenchments of brick or stone for a monument ; no brown fronts or granite hotels, no college legacies, no flaunting portraits of himself— simply and only a name. His neighbor testifies to his goodness; the business man asserts his integrity ; the lawyer vouches for his honesty ; the moralist endorses his private life ; the philanthropist asks, " Who is this man ?" and receives from his minister the answer of, " Christian gentleman." He is not a robber of his neighbor's goods ; he is not a swindler in his dealings with his fellow man ; he is not an extortioner in his profession, sucking blood from his clients and stabbing with the spear of his cupidity the unfortunate patrons of his office. A believer in human nature, and holding on with a death grasp to the original elements of his soul, he meets the world with a bold face and deals with his fellow man as with a brother. He had faith in an independent press, and amidst doubts, dangers and difficulties, he planted it in the new town of his choice. He believed in the editorial age—the age of intellect. It is an_ old, worm-eaten Gothic dogma of the world, thought he, to suppose that publicity given to every event by the press is fatal to the interests of mankind. He had faith in the jury for the trial of criminals, and to him the press was the living jury of the nation. He served as County Recorder for fourteen years, was in the Ohio Senate, and for five years he was Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, under the old Constitution, besides holding other important and responsible positions. He discharged the duties of these various trusts with the strictest regard to honesty, and a desire to deal justly with all men. An immense philanthropy possessed him, and with his means he was liberal to a fault. With those who had professional contact with him he dealt most WOOSTER—SKETCHES - 351 kindly. His charities were only compassed by his ability to bestow them. His nature glowed with the heat and sunshine of summer. His moods were always pleasant and genial. "All his tickets from nature were stamped with a smile." For several years previous to his death he was a member of the Episcopal church. He died at his residence in Wooster on the 31st of December, 1862. DAVID MCCONAHAY. David McConahay emigrated from the neighborhood of Lewistown, Pa., to Wayne county as early as 1816, when he entered a farm south-west of Smithville about a mile, and began improvements thereon. Being single when he first came out, in the course of a year or so he went back to Pennsylvania and married Lydia Dunn, a native of that State, when he returned to Wayne county and settled upon his farm in Greene township. In 1822-23 he removed to Wooster and started a tannery, occupying the two lots just south of the present residence of E. Quinby, Jr., following this pursuit until about 1837, when the business passed into the hands of J. E. McConahay, a nephew of his. He had two children, Jane E. and Catharine McConahay. His death occurred Dec. 6, 1841, his wife surviving him until May 5, 1862, both of whom were members of the Presbyterian church. He was twice elected to the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, and was one of the early Associate Judges of the Common Pleas Court of Wayne county, serving at the May term in 1819, LINDOL SPRAGUE. Lindol Sprague, a native of Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, was born October 12, 1798. His father was a Rhode Islander, a tradesman and farmer, and removed to the Empire State in 1794, and with whom his son remained until 1815. Mr. Sprague first commenced public life by clerking in a store in Hartwick village, a few miles from where he was born, kept by Dr. John Seymour, with whom he read medicine three years. 352 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Before going west, he taught school one term of three months, for which he received in round numbers $36.00, having boarded with the scholars. His capital consisted of $33.00 when he departed from home, arriving at Columbus, Ohio, May 24, 1818, a distance of seven hundred miles, which he made on foot. From Columbus he immediately pushed to the country, eight miles distant, where he began teaching school, teaching five consecutive terms. He next went to Columbus to acquire a fuller knowledge of his trade, that of jeweler, working under instructions from William A. Platt one year. On the 9th of November, 1820, he came to Wooster, since which time he has resided here. He formed a partnership under the firm name of Lindol & Hezekiah S. Sprague; which continued until 1829, when Hezekiah removed to Newark, Ohio. He was married December 23, 1828, to Margaret Lippincott, of Belmont county, Ohio. In 1838 he built the brick house which he now occupies on the corner of Walnut and West Liberty streets. When Mr. Sprague came to Wooster, in 1820, Cox and Avery were the only lawyers, and McPhail and Daniel 0. Hoyt the only doctors here, and stores were kept by Benjamin Jones, William McComb, Bentley and the Larwills. Mr. Sprague has been a member of the Presbyterian church for forty years, and is a worthy and respected citizen. JOHN CHRISTMAS. John Christmas was born in Manchester, England, and emigrated to America when he was eighteen years of age. He lived for a time in Washington county, Pa., across the Monongahela river from Brownsville, and from there removed to Georgetown, at the mouth of the Little Beaver, opposite Smith's Ferry. Here he followed merchandising until 1818, when he came to Wooster, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. His wife was of the Beall-Stibbs family. His son, Joseph Christmas, became a Presbyterian minister, and preached the first sermon ever delivered in the old brick Presbyterian church. He was an artist and poet of ability, and died in New York city, at the age of 27. Charles Christmas, his oldest son, was born in Washington county, Pa., November 20, 1796, and removed with his father to Wooster, in 1818. In February, 1821, he was appointed Surveyor of Wayne county, by Judge Parker, serving three consecutive WOOSTER-SKETCHES - 353 terms, by appointment. In 1829 he surveyed public lands on the terms, Plains ; in 1830-31 he surveyed in Michigan, and in 1832 on the Seneca Reservation. In 1850 he left Wooster, and arrived at the Falls of St, Anthony in July of that year. He helped to organize Hennepin county, Minn., in 1852, had the first appointment as Surveyor of the county, and helped to establish Minneapolis, the county seat, He was married to Mary A. Rogers, in December, 1820, and had fifteen children. He is now, if living, 81 years old, and the only survivor of the family bearing the name. He surveyed a great deal of the present site of Wooster, and is the author of what is known as "the old Christmas map" of Wayne county. His father built the brick house now occupied and owned by Samuel Johnson, Esq., and the stream known as "Christmas Run" was named for him. EDWARD AVERY. Edward Avery was born, we believe, in the State of Connecticut, and, according to our information, was a graduate of Yale College. He settled in Wooster in 1817, and was married December 28, 1823, to Jane, daughter of John Galbraith, of Steubenville. With Judge Levi Cox, he was one of the pioneer lawyers at the Wooster bar. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Wayne county in 1819, and held the office until 1825. He was a member of the Senate of the State of Ohio, serving from December, 1824, to December 4, 1826. He served in the capacity of Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio prior to the adoption of the New Constitution. He died June 27, 1866. On the 28th of June a bar meeting was held at the office of Rex & Jones, at which George Rex, William Given and John McSweeney were appointed a committee to draft resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting. Judge Avery was a distinguished jurist, possessing many public and private virtues, his life long, honorable and useful to the community and State. In all ways he was an enlightened, patriotic citizen, an accomplished, honorable man, and a consistent member of the Presbyterian church. 354 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. JAMES JACOBS, SR. James Jacobs was born in Mifflin county, Pa., September Ts, 1799, and moved to Ohio in February, 1826. Ambitious in his disposition, resolute in his determination to accomplish something for himself, he directed his steps to the West. Being of graceful deportment and having quick business qualifications, and withal a courteous and affable gentleman, he soon found employment as clerk in the office of Hon. Wm. Larwill, at that time Register of the Land Office, of Wooster. This relation was sustained during that summer, and in fact into the autumn, when, desiring to be released from the restraints of an employe, and with the bolder purpose of conducting and controlling his own personal affairs, he concluded to surround himself with the perils as well as the profits of business. In pursuance of this resolution, in the fall of 1826, he entered into commercial transactions with Mr. J. S. Lake, making a specialty of no particular branch, but conducting a general dry goods, hardware, queensware, &c. business. This partnership existed for about four years, when a dissolution both desirable and mutual in its character took place, when Mr. Jacobs proceeded to conduct affairs on his own account. From this time forward, and until his retiracy from the active concerns of a life of assiduous business toils, he was the same enterprising, persevering citizen which so distinctly characterized him from the hour of his entrance upon business life. He was married May 14, 1830, to Miss Elizabeth W. Eichar, the nuptials being solemnized by Rev. Samuel Irvine, one of the eminent pioneer ministers of the county. His death, a sudden one, occurred June 3o, 1863, in his sixty- fourth year. His wife, Elizabeth, with whom he lived over a quarter of a century, was first to enter the Valley of the Shadow, having died November 23, 1858, in her fifty-first year. " For years they climbed life's hill together— They sleep together at its foot." James Jacobs can not properly be identified with the pioneers of the county, but his embarkation hither was at that opportune moment when that element of our population so surely needed the infusion of his public spiritedness, the zeal of his character and the momentum of his enterprise. WOOSTER—SKETCHES - 355 He was a patron of the common school and a co-operator in the cause of education, not because he had sons and daughters to educate, but because he believed it a companion that no enemy could alienate, no clime destroy, or no despotism enslave. He was a staunch adherent of the church, and a believer in the ultimate triumph of all truth. Hence he gave of his means for the promulgation of Bible truth, for he was of opinion that the principles of Christianity had projected themselves into the civilization of the age with the fixedness with which a continent thrusts itself into the sea. He was one of the earnest advocates of railroad communication with our city, and, with Dr. Day, the Larwills, and others, contributed largely to the location and completion of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, that has proven so incalculable a benefit to the whole community. In his business relations he was unswervingly affable and polite; so in his private walks was he cheery, agreeable and intelligent. He was modest, calm and self-possessed under almost any emergency. He was a Presbyterian of the rigid order, ardently attached to the Sunday-school, ever present at the prayer meeting. There was no looseness in his views of theology. The screws had to be tight on every bolt. He could have said : " I have never known the winter's blast, Or the quick lightning, or the pestilence, Make nice distinctions when let slip From God's right hand." For he believed there was a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. He was a lover of all that was beautiful in the world. To him a beautiful church was a sermon in stone ; its spire, a finger pointing to the Throne. A lady, speaking to us of Mr. Jacobs, remarked that he was a handsome man. Such he was, and of elegant grace, genial disposition and serene dignity. He was a gentleman by birth and culture. The emerald was in his composition, and one ray of it constantly streamed upon his soul. He was kind, gracious and indulgent, not only in the circle of home, but in his relations with every one. He had a pleasant word for all and a special fondness for children. The little boys on the street, " these young princes of God," knew him, and he had a smile for them, which was a benefaction. His kindness to 356 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. the poor was proverbial, and his feelings were easily aroused, either with pity for suffering, or indignation at injustice or wrong, He loved home, friends, kindred, the good that is in the world, that was, and will be. His heart was set to the music of friendship, as the stars are to the melodies of Heaven. He had the Christian's love for his fellow-man, and if at times its disc was clouded by a resentment or a doubt, they soon vanished in the warm sunshine of his nature, as the ice-jewels of an autumn morning disappear before the radiance of the sun. This, and no more than this, must we say " To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die." NEWSPAPER PRESS. "The newspaper has become the log-book of the age."—Anon. “I consider the newspaper to be the grand agency by which the Gospel is to be preached, ignorance cast out, oppression dethroned, Heaven rejoiced and God glorified. In the clanking of the printing press, as the sheets fly out, I hear the voice of the Lord Almighty, proclaiming to all the dead nations of the earth, ' Lazarus, come forth ! ' and to the retreating surges of darkness, ' Let there be light!' "—Talmadge. To the late Judge Levi Cox is justly due the credit of supplying the people of the county with the first newspaper press. In the earlier portion of the year 1817 he imported from the East the materials of a journal office, and about the same time issued proposals for the publication of a weekly paper to be entitled the Ohio Spectator, in the village of Wooster. Having after a short time realized, as he supposed, an adequate support, he took into partnership a young man from Wilkesbarre, Pa., named Samuel Baldwin, he being a practical printer, Mr. Cox not being familiar with "small caps," "nonpareil," etc. Having called in their subscription lists they went to work, and after a brief time the Ohio Spectator appeared, under the imprint of Cox & Baldwin. This was the midsummer of 1817. The size of the paper was a medium. The materials being all new and the workmanship good, the paper though small, made a respectable appearance. The character of the paper was neutral with regard to party politics. Its aim was to promote the general welfare, comprising within the same wide field the interests and prosperity of the town and country. The subscription patronage WOOSTER—NEWSPAPER PRESS - 357 was a little over three hundred, the advertising maintaining an average of two dollars per week. The partnership of Cox & Bald- win an closed at the end of the first year, Mr. Cox withdrawing, d a Mr. Asa W. W. Hickox, of the Western Reserve, taking his place. The latter left at the end of the year, when Mr. Baldwin continued it alone; but being bodily quite infirm, he soon fell a victim to that terrible scourge, consumption. Dr. Thomas Townsend, a relative of the deceased, assumed control of the paper and closed out the remainder of Mr. Baldwin's year. He managed the business of the office, edited the paper, and Mr. Joseph Clingan executed the printing of it. At the end of the year the paper became defunct, and the county was without an organ for a time, excepting a temporary sheet, published occasionally, termed the Electioneerer, established exclusively to advance personal claims to office in the pending election of 1820. Mr. Cox having a lien upon the office, resumed the possession of it, and soon thereafter issued proposals for a renewal of the Spectator. The offer not being sufficiently patronized, Mr. Cox concluded on relinquishing the enterprise and sold out his property in the press to Mr. Benjamin Bentley, of Wooster, who had conceived the idea of instituting a paper there. Being in no sense a practical printer, he proposed a partnership to Mr. Clingan in the contemplated sheet, to which he readily assented. Subscription papers were soon issued and returned, and on the 13th of January, 1820, the Wooster Spectator breathed the breath of life. It was published for two years jointly by Mr. Clingan and Benj. Bentley, when the latter withdrew, Mr. Clingan purchasing Mr. Bentley's interest in the press and conducting for five years longer the paper himself. In the spring of 1826 Col. John Barr, of Hagerstown, Md., bought the office, preparing and issuing from it a paper entitled the Ohio Oracle, devoted to the support of General Jackson for President. This pretentious journal, in name at least, had a career of about four years. It is probable it had no prototype and will have no successor. Col. Barr sold his office to Mr. David Sloane, of Wooster, who issued therefrom a paper denominated the Wooster Journal and Democratic Times. He ran the issue four years and then transferred it to his brother-in-law, Mr. J. W. Schuckers, who published it for a like period. Both papers were well gotten up, and the " man of the quill " was understood to be 358 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Col. John Sloane, one of the most bitter, vituperative, incisive and powerful writers of the day. A Mr. Wharton was the printer. Mr. Schuckers disposed of the concern to Daniel Sprague, who took charge of it June 23, 1836, conducting it under the caption of the Wooster Journal and Democratic Times. September 16, 1840, he changed the title of the paper to the Wooster Democrat. Having ably conducted the paper for over 16 years, he sold out, his successors, H. C. Johnson and Enos Foreman, assuming control of it August 5, 1852. For a time we believe Mr. 0. H. Booth, a practical printer, and at the present time the efficient telegraph superintendent at Mansfield, had an interest in the concern. May 12, 1853, its managers resolved to change the name of the paper, and thereafter the winged messenger appeared in the baptismal freshness of the Wooster Republican. August 12, 1858, H. C. Johnson retired from the management and office, removing to Sandusky City, Mr. Foreman issuing the journal himself, being both proprietor and editor. Mr. Johnson was a pleasing and fertile writer and a man of fair ability and excellent private character. We regret that we can not record the date of his death. July 25, 1861, Mr. Foreman issued a daily from the Republican office, which was continued, without intermission, until November 30, of the same year. This was the first daily in the county and was devoted to war news. Mr. Foreman disposing of the office August 4, 1870, Captain A. S. McClure and Joseph G. Sanborn assumed the proprietorship and publication of the Republican. We have thus concisely and as sententiously as possible endeavored to indicate the origin of one of the lines of the press, and to sharply pursue that course down to the present time. Another remains to be treated in like manner, and to this end we turn. Some time in the summer of 1826 Mr. Joseph Clingan prepared for the publication of another paper in Wooster. In the same year, we may here announce, that a Mr. John Sala, from Canton, Ohio, established in Wooster a German paper, entitled the Wooster Correspondent, which had an extremely meager circulation, and died in the very agonies of its birth. Mr. Clingan having consummated his arrangements, as above set forth, in September of the year 1826 sent out, booming with force and freshness, the Republican Advocate. Its partial object was the advancement of the claims of General Jackson to the Presidency. It was liberally encouraged and supported, and was continued twelve years under its originator, WOOSTER-NEWSPAPER PRESS - 359 when he sold out to a Mr. Samuel Littell, who purchased the Western Telegraph, established by Mr. Martin Barr. Mr. Littell merged the two papers, their politics being identical, and then issued a sheet entitled the Democratic Republican. This journal bad a life of three years, when it was transferred by lease to James G. Miller and a Mr. Carpenter, a practical printer, they publishing it for a year and then abandoning it. Mr. Isaac N. Hill then leased the office and issued the Democrat from it for a few years. After this Mr. Littell sold the office to Messrs. Carny and Means, who published until the death of. Mr. Means. Hon. John Larwill obtaining proprietorship of the paper after the death of Mr. Means, sold the office to Jacob A. Marchand, who owned the Democrat up to the time of his death, which occurred August 28, 1862. On the 1st of April, prior to his death, Mr. Marchand rented the office to Messrs. Franklin Harry and John H. Oberly, for the term of one year. His decease necessitated the sale of the Democrat, when it was purchased by John H. Oberly, in 1863, who for a year conducted it with vigorous and signal ability. In 1864 Mr. Oberly sold to Colonel Benjamin Eason, who, on the 1st of November, mounted the editorial tripod. In 1866 Mr. Eason sold the office to Hon. John P. Jeffries, under whose auspices it was managed for a year, with his son, Linnaeus Q. Jeffries, as publisher, when he sold it to Benjamin Eason and Asa G. Dimmock, the former doing some of the writing, but especially invested with the managerial interests of the paper, as Mr. Dimmock was at that time Prosecuting Attorney of Coshocton county. In May, 1867, Mr. Eason sold his interest to Mr. Dimmock, who took Lemuel Jeffries into partnership, under the firm name of Dimmock & Jeffries. Subsequently they sold the Democrat to James A. Estill, of the Millersburg Farmer, who took charge of it April 30, 1868. Mr. Estill retired February 25, 1869, Hon. E. B. Eshelman, of the Columbus Statesman, purchasing his interest, the paper being conducted by Messrs. Eshelman, Franklin Harry and John J. Lemon. On the 23d of October, 1872, Mr. Lemon sold his interest to John H. Boyd, who, on August 2, 1876, transferred his share to Thomas E. Peckinpaugh, the Democrat now (1878) being owned and published by E. B. Eshelman, Franklin Harry and T. E. Peckinpaugh, under the firm name of E. B. Eshelman & Co. Contemporary with these two series of papers, there were a few others, but disconnected with them, and which had but short tar- 360 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. ryings on " the gay island existence." Born in the day-light, they absorbed and reflected little of its lustre. Darkness encompassed, them for a while, but like the fire-fly, which "lights, if not to warm, the gloom," they revealed a "gleaming wing," then fell from sight forever. One of these was by R. V. Kennedy, christened the Wayne County Standard, which " rose to explain " in 1844. It was a large sized paper, mechanically well executed, and edited with considerable ability. But with all these deserving commendations it did not survive beyond its first year. In politics it was Democratic. Another of these isolated issues was the "American Eagle," which was established about 1855, by a young man and a native of the county, named Howard Coe. It was to be feathered anew, under the auspices of the then office-holders of the town, who had promised the owner of the bird crumbs of comfort, rare tidbits and much fat and singular picking. But, says Mr. Clingan, to whom we are indebted for much of the above data: " Alas! for the too confiding Wight, they scarcely doled him a pitiful morsel, in consequence of which the poor fowl dropped from its lofty roost to earth, greatly to the damage of its center of gravity, and like to the fall of Lucifer, it never rose again." And says he, "It was certainly deserving of a better fate, for it was a neatly plumed bird, and during its brief period of six months it behaved itself in the sight of male and female with commendable propriety and decency of deportment." HORACE HOWARD. Horace Howard was born in Swansey, New Hampshire, 1787, the family being of English descent. His father was a farmer, with whom Horace remained until he was twenty-one years of age, when he engaged in the carpentering business. In 1811 he married Lydia White, of Winchester, and removed to Wooster in the winter of 1818. On his arrival he visited the families of Calvin and Cyrus Baird, of Plain township, they being Eastern people. He purchased a quarter of land soon thereafter in what is now Ashland county, two miles east of Jeromeville, on the State road. He then returned to New Hampshire for his wife and the other two children, Harriet and Everett—Charles and Harvey, who had come out with him, having been left with Calvin Baird—bringing them hither in the spring of 1819. WOOSTER-SKETCHES - 361 He remained on the farm a year, when he removed with his family. to Wooster and engaged in the manufacture of patent water wheels, with Mr. Elisha Hale. About 1825 he purchased two lots, 120 feet frontage, now known as the residence of John Crall and Widow Seigenthaler, where, on the corner of the east lot, he built a one-story frame building 24x60, and here he conducted the manufacture of carding machines, and here the Hackett boys commenced their apprenticeship with him. In 1827 he removed to Norwalk, Ohio, and there engaged in hotel keeping. In 1830 he went to Cincinnati and became overseer and manager of the cotton factory owned by Wm. Tift & Co. Whilst in that city, 1831, his wife died. By this marriage, in addition to those named, was born Alfred and William Howard. In Cincinnati he remained several years, when he returned to Wooster, staying about a year and marrying Mrs. Abigail Weed, when Mr. Tift sent for him to return to the Queen City and once more assume control of his factory. In 1838-39 he removed to Detroit, Mich., thence to Jackson, Canaan township, Wayne county, and thence to Wooster, taking charge of the " White Swan," a hotel situated upon the site of the old " Exchange," now Zimmerman's Exchange Block. He afterwards removed to Loudonville, and then to Wooster, taking charge of the " American House," in the spring of 1847, remaining there fifteen years, after which time he retired from active business, dying August 4, 1870, aged 82 years. George (deceased) and Lewis Howard, of Wooster, were his sons by the second marriage. Horace Howard was a natural genius and a first-class mechanic. He was a man of great decision and independence of character. He was dignified, courteous and social, fond of bright society and mirthful conversation. He possessed a wonderful memory, and was much inclined to poetical recitations. He could for hours and days quote from the Old and New Testaments, from Byron and Burns, and was familiar with the newspaper literature of the day.. JOSEPH CLINGAN. Joseph Clingan, one of the pioneer printers of Wayne county, was born near Greensburg, Westmoreland county, Pa., February 29, 1789. At an early age he served an apprenticeship at the printing business, and in 1818 he journeyed to Wheeling, West 362 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Virginia, and established a newspaper, which not proving to be a successful or profitable enterprise, in the latter part of 1819 he removed to Wooster, Ohio. On his arrival he took charge of a newspaper for Benjamin Bentley, called the Wooster Spectator, which he conducted for a year, when he returned to Pennsylvania. Mr. Bentley being a merchant and having no practical knowledge of the office, did not succeed in the management of his publication, and after Mr. Clingan's departure wrote for him to come back and assume editorial supervision of the Spectator, offering him a partnership interest in the profits of the same. This arrangement being satisfactory and promising to be advantageous to Mr. Clingan, he again took charge of the paper, the subscription list soon being enlarged from three hundred to five hundred subscribers, payment usually being made in coon skins, hickory wood and corn meal, with occasionally a little " wild-cat " money. Some of the leading merchants would patronize the office to the amount of five dollars a year by way of advertising. Flushed with the importance and influence of his position, Mr. Bentley, against the expressed wish of his partner, inaugurated a series of personal attacks through the columns of his paper against some leading aspirants for political favor, prominent among whom was Mr. , a candidate for the Ohio Senate, This nameless gentleman instituted an action against the publishers of the Spectator for libel, when a trial was had, resulting in a verdict of six and one- fourth cents damages. But the libelant was too plucky to submit to such an award, and, obtaining a second hearing, he obtained a judgment of six hundred dollars. This was a terrible blow to young Clingan's prospects, a very " slice of the day of judgment," and he was compelled " to step down and out," as all his surplus capital was absorbed in payment of his share of the "blood money," and in defraying the costs of suit and their lawyer, who was none else than Hon. Thomas Ewing. In consequence of this prosecution he was obliged to dispose of his interest in the Wooster Spectator. About this time the Presidential difficulty between John Quincy Adams and General Jackson was assuming political significance, when Mr. Clingan proposed establishing an organ in the interest of the Jackson party. In this project he was warmly seconded and encouraged, and, with some additional aid, in 1826 the Republican Advocate was established. This movement was entirely successful ; the Jackson party at the WOOSTER—SKETCHES - 363 next election was overwhelmingly victorious, and the Republican Advocate became the leading oracle of the day. He continued its publication until 1837, when failing health obliged him to relinquish the editorial calling. He rented the office to Mr. Samuel Littell, and finally disposed of it to this gen- tleman. After having undergone a succession of changes, it was ultimately merged into the Wayne County Democrat, so deservedly popular under the editorial management of Hon. E. B. Eshelman. In 1840, Mr. Clingan sought retirement in the country, and died in Knox county, Ohio, in 1873, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. He was slender in build, always delicate, never weighing over one hundred and thirty pounds, straight as an arrow, and to the time of his death was quick and active. His life was exceedingly temperate and abstemious, he never using tobacco, either by chewing or smoking, and never indulging in spiritous liquors of any kind whatever. He was a man of fair abilities, a nervous, forcible writer, always expressing himself with great clearness, and employing the fewest possible words to convey his meaning. He was an incessant reader, had an excellent library, and included among his volumes many valuable and precious publications. He had a thirst for old books, and reveled in the researches of antiquated authors. With the politics of his generation he was remarkably familiar, and took a prominent part in their discussion. He was a close student and reader of modern literature, prose and poetical, and was intimate with the best passages of the best authors. He was elected to the office of Recorder of Wayne county in 1833. He was married in 1824, to Clarissa, daughter of John Lawranee, who resided near Wooster then, on what is now known as the " :Thomas farm." E. G. Clingan, of Wooster, his son, makes frequent excursions to Parnassus, and we here introduce one of his poems, published in Bennett' s Magazine some years ago : BELL McLAIN. BY E. G. CLINGAN. Ever with the rolling year, Summer comes ; then do I hear A voice again From memory dear— Bell McLain ! 364 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Now my summers long have fled, But the hallowed joys they shed Will remain A lingering thread, Bell McLain ! Like the songs of summer birds, Sinless were your thoughts and words; But again I hear from lips unstirred, Bell McLain ! Brief were your unclouded days, Kind and gentle all your ways ; But in vain Is earthly praise, Bell McLain ! Life and beauty sometimes meet, And sever with the winding sheet ; But oh the pain When life was sweet, Bell McLain ! Some have thought it for the best Now that you will ever rest. Green the plain Above your breast, Bell McLain ! REMINISCENCES BY REV. M. E. STRIEBY. My father, C. H. Strieby, came to Wooster, July 7, 1822. His trade was that of a clock maker, and I presume that many of his clocks are yet to be found among the Germans and others, in various parts of the county. He removed from Wooster to Mount Vernon, Ohio, in 11847, thence, in 1856, to Syracuse, N. Y., and thence, in 1869, to Maple Wood, N. J., where he died June 28, 1872, aged 84. My mother still survives him, and resides in my family. She is now in her 81st year. I was seven years old when we came to Wooster, where I enjoyed the school advantages of the place, and also spent a year or two as clerk in the stores of J. W. Schuckers, and of John Larwill. At the age of sixteen I determined to go to college, and few things mark the progress of Wooster in educational advantages, more than the fact, that then it had nothing of higher grade than the common school, and I went to Hudson College on the Western Reserve, while now near the place where we boys gathered hazelnuts, there stands a college that rivals the one at Hudson. A year or two after I went to Hudson an Academy was started in the Court House in Wooster, which I attended for a time, but afterwards I went to Oberlin College, where, in 1838, I graduated. After my graduation I studied theology, and in 1842 became the pastor of the Free Presbyterian church in Mount Vernon, Ohio. It afterwards became a Congregational church. In its early his- WOOSTER—SKETCHES - 365 tory it was frequently mobbed on account of its antislavery sympathies, one of .these mobs occurring soon after I went there. In 1852 I left Mount Vernon and went to Syracuse, N. Y., where I organized the Plymouth Congregational church, and remained its pastor nearly twelve years. In 1864 I was appointed one of the Corresponding Secretaries of the American Misssonary Association, and that position I still occupy. EZRA DEAN. Concerning the life, incidents thereof, public services and death of Hon. Ezra Dean, we make the following extracts from the Ironton Semi-weekly Journal: He was born in the town of Hillsdale, Columbia county, New York, April 9, 1795, and was descended from an ancient family which settled in Massachusetts in the year 163o, as shown by a register found among his papers. Among them is Silas Dean, who took an active part in the Revolution, who, in September, 1776, was chosen by the Continental Congress one of the embassadors, in connection with Dr. Franklin and Thomas Paine, to conduct the negotiations between the Confederate Colonies and France, which resulted in the treaty of alliance signed at Paris, February ,6, 1778. Others of the family, less conspicuous, were doing duty in the ranks of the army of the Revolution. It is said of Judge Dean that he attained to the maturity of manhood at an early age. When in his seventeenth year, on the 17th of April, 1814, he was appointed, by the Secretary of War, an ensign in the Eleventh Regiment of United States Infantry, then doing duty against the English on the northern frontier. The l0th of February, 1815, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant by President Madison, to take rank from October 1, 1814, for meritori in the sortie of Fort Erie, the 17th of September, 1814. He was in the battles of Bridgewater and Chippewa. His regiment held the advance in the storming of Queenstown Hights, in September, 1814. At the close of the war he was placed in command of a revenue capacity he rendered effective service against that ever-daring class engaged in smuggling. After about two years in guarding the trade of the northern frontier, he resigned that position, and was next assigned a place in the corps of Government engineers that ran the north-east boundary line between the State of Maine and New Brunswick. He was engaged in that service about one year. He then resolved to enter upon a more independent mode of life than that of public service under Government, when he went to Burlington, Vt., and was initiated a student of law with Governor D. P. Van Ness, under whose instructions he remained about two years, when he went to Plattsburg, N. Y., and completed his preparatory course of study. The 1st of October, 1823, he was admitted by the Supreme Court of Appeals of the State of New York, a member of the bar of that State. In the year 1824, when Ohio was among the young and thinly peopled Western States, he emigrated to Wooster, and entered into the practice of law in Wayne and the surrounding counties. In 1825 he married Miss Eliza Nailor, who survives him.* * Since dead. 366 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. In the year 1832 he was chosen by the General Assembly to the President Judgeship of the Court of Common Pleas, his circuit being composed of the counties of Wayne, Knox, Holmes, Richland, Medina and Lorain. He served in that capacity the full constitutional term of seven years. In the campaign of 1840, Mr. Dean was elected to Congress from Ohio, and took his seat in that body on the 4th of March, 1841. He was re-elected in 1842. Such was the sense entertained of his merits as a public man, that he lacked but one vote of being the choice of his Democratic friends in the Legislature for United States Senator, when Benjamin Tappan was chosen. Upon his retirement from Congress he resumed the practice of his profession in Wooster, and in the year 1852 took into partnership his son, and only child, Ezra V. Dean, whom he trained for the bar. This relation continued until 1865, when the son moved with his family to Ironton, Ohio, and engaged in an active practice there. The father could not endure a separation from his son and grandchildren. He at once resolved to set his affairs in order, and to spend the evening of his life with them, on the banks of the Ohio ; he accordingly moved to Ironton, in the year 1867, where he made his home and found his grave. Judge Dean possessed a healthy and upright intellect, stored with various knowledge. Few men were better read in ancient and modern history, and especially the history of England and his own country. His convictions were deep and settled in whatever he believed to be right, and he adhered to them with a firmness and uttered them with a boldness which neither the roar of the tumult could drown nor the clamor of opposition modify or subdue. It was the force of these convictions which sometimes gave him the appearance of dogmatism in conversation ; yet he was most tolerant of what he believed to he errors of opinion in others. From the great diversity of life which he experienced in the vicissitudes of a soldier's camp, the deck of a revenue cutter, or tracing a boundary line between the possessions of his own country and those of Great Britain, the practice of the law and its administration among a pioneer people, to that of a legislator in the Federal Congress, he had garnered up in the well-arranged storehouse of an unfailing memory a variety of knowledge, interwoven with the history of his country and of his adopted State, curious and interesting. Besides the diffusion of thought and sentiment which animated his discourse, it was enlivened by ingenious illustrations, pointed sentences, and always seasoned by a vein of good humor which, among all, the old and the young, the learned and the ignorant, recommended him to favor and attention. In stature he was above the middle size, manly, athletic and well proportioned; his countenance was marked in visible characteristics of deep thought and inflexible resolution, yet bearing an air of serenity and satisfaction, the natural result of a vigorous intellect and conscious integrity. The habits of intellectual and physical activity which he had practiced through a long life, continued until within four days of his death. On Sunday evening, the 21st of January, he complained of being unwell, and continued to decline until Thursday evening, the 25th of January, 1872, when all that was mortal of Ezra Dean perished without a struggle or a groan. He was fully conscious to the last, when he took affectionate leave of those most dear to him, and with filial confidence resigned his spirit to the common Father in full trust that those he had loved here would each in their appointed time re-unite with him in the future life. WOOSTER—SKETCHES - 367 On receipt of the startling intelligence in Wooster of the death of Judge Ezra Dean, a meeting of the members of the bar of the city was called and a committee of three appointed to frame a memorial and draft resolutions expressive of their sorrow and suitable to the character and memory of the deceased. At an adjourned meeting of the bar of Wooster, at the office of Rex & Jones, on Saturday evening, March 9, 1872, Hon. John P. Jeffries in the Chair, and Benj. Eason Secretary, the committee, appointed at a former meeting for that purpose, composed of Hon. George Rex, Hon. Martin Welker and Hon. C. C. Parsons, Sr., presented their report, which, on the first day of the ensuing term of the Court of Common Pleas, was ordered to be placed on record. Mr. Jeffries, after the presentation of the resolutions in Court, indulged in a brief but touching and eloquent speech, testifying his high esteem and reverence to the moral worth, intellect and ability of the deceased. John McSweeney, Esq., then pronounced an eloquent eulogy, and other members of the bar spoke befitting words. STEPHEN F. DAY, M. D. Stephen F. Day, M. D., was a formidable man in the profession of medicine, and wore the baton of a field marshal in the empire of physic. The annals of medical practice may supply a more illustrious name, but we doubt if, as a practitioner in his chosen sphere and field, he had either many equals or superiors. He entered the lists, not for the purpose of eliciting applause, starving competitors, or of being a subaltern. His was a higher aim— that of acquiring a transcendent skill ; of mastering the abstrusities of the books ; of penetrating the mysterious origins of disease ; of exploring the ingeniously contrived, most complicated and most wonderfully constructed Temple of Life ; of ennobling the ministry of pain, and exalting and glorifying his profession. His pronounced motto was, "To guard is better than to heal, The shield is nobler than the spear." He despised that Goth and Vandal herd of mountebanks and quack professors—professional Assyrians, who swoop upon a community, devastate human habitations, augment the total of human misery, and who, in the solemn flight from death, allow not a single straggler to get home. 368 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. He ever insisted that infinite mischief was occasioned by this piebald army of dog killers, insect hunters, weed pickers, spider catchers, cockle shell-mongers, and brass-faced, unlettered charlatans that too often infest communities and levy their pretentious and ruinous services upon unsuspecting and luckless victims. Like the British army in Caesar's time, they slay in chariots and they slay on foot. This most remarkable man was a native of Morris county, New Jersey, where he was born September 4, 1798. At the tender age of seven years he accompanied his father to Washington county, Pa., where his time was spent upon a farm, and where he remained until he was sixteen years of age. He now, with iron resolution, determined to make a forward movement in the interest of himself, and calling on the powers with which God and nature had endowed him, advanced to deliver battle to the world. Home, its wedded light and shade, its opulence of boyish fancies, and all of its endearments, were forsaken, and, on horseback, attired in home-spun clothes, and with twenty-five cents in his pocket, he quitted the family mansion to blend in the great fretting sea of human life, where so many are stranded, and where too often a lone sail points to the voyagers beneath. Ample opportunity was afforded him to exercise those faculties of industry and economy always so characteristic of him. As a basis of the contemplated professional life upon which he was about to enter, some judicious disciplinary preparation was essential, and how well he succeeded in this respect his subsequent and distinguished career quite clearly demonstrates. His elementary studies of medicine were with Dr. Leatherman, of Canonsburg, Pa., his course concluding with a diploma from the Medical College of Philadelphia. He immediately entered upon practice at Florence, Pa,, equipped with the redoubtable pill, the nauseating jalap, the savage knife and the blades that shine, prepared to make or heal a scar. In the spring of 1827 he came to Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, the arena of a life of patient, laborious, exhaustive toil, and the theater of his subsequent professional exploits. Here he continued in practice until 1861, when approaching bodily infirmities admonished him to surrender the field and fortress he had so long and valiantly maintained, and that competitors and antagonists had assaulted in vain. He was married in the year 1833, to Miss Eliza E. Straughan, of Salem, Columbiana county, Ohio. In March, WOOSTER-SKETCHES - 369 1863, he was attacked by paralysis, from the effects of which he never fully recovered, but was confined to his bed until the 25th of November, 1869, when a second attack suddenly precipitated him from time to eternity. And thus closed the earthly career of one of our most estimable and conspicuous citizens, and to the period of his death the most capable, most skillful and accomplished physician and surgeon that ever settled in Wayne county. It is safe to assert that no practitioner ever located in our midst who held such a supreme monopoly of his profession, and who had bound to him, by the ties of friendship and confidence, the hearts and affections of so many people. His circuit of visitation was not confined to his own county, but extended far beyond its limits. In surgery especially did he excel, although he made a specialty of no particular branch of the profession. Was there a fracture to be replaced, a dislocation to be readjusted, an adventitious tumor to be incised, an excrescence to be slashed, or a limb to be amputated, Dr. Day was summoned and the work was done. By some it has been charged, and the belief entertained, that he was too violent in his operations—that they were even cruel and barbarous. Not so. The work of the surgeon is his own work. All responsibility is with him, and all consequences. His dispensations to act emanate from himself. Once entrusted with the case, he must be his own master, and for the time recognize no superior. There must be no flinching or quailing ; to falter is to fail. His position is a grave and decided one—the middle-ground of Life and Death. The heart may bleed in sympathy with the victim, but for the time it must be stone and steel ; the eye may witness, but be blind; the ear hear, but, as the adder, must it be deaf. There must be no delicacy, no mauvaise honte when Life's fountains are being gashed. Be he a skillful operator and does his work well, the harder, deeper and faster he cuts the better. If he rushes through that he may know the end, no one is gladder than the sufferer. There can be no refinement when the edge of steel pierces the trembling flesh. Call it cruelty, barbarism, or what you will, he is the true physician, who by the quickest, best and most skillful process, rescues the greatest number of sufferers from the tents of death. He shall be crowned the Autocrat of his Art, and the incense of grateful and remembering hearts shall pervade the air that inspheres his mausoleum. No surgeon ever wielded a knife in whose breast 370 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. throbbed a tenderer heart than in that of Dr. Stephen F. Day. There is abundant testimony to this fact by those yet living who have witnessed his operations and are competent judges. Even in the less difficult and complex operations his deep pity was aroused and he was moved to tears. Moreover, it must be remembered that in those days surgery was performed under embarrassing conditions, entirely or almost unknown to the operator of the present day. This is the era of anesthetics—of chloroform, of ether, of devilish gases and subtle fluids. Is there a leg to be taken off, a skull to be trepanned, a contusion to be manipulated, or what not, the anaesthetic is called in, and the operation is performed without consciousness on the part of the patient, who may be out-dreaming John Bunyan, and happier than the soul of a Scandinavian hero in Valhallah. In his time, anaesthetics had not been popularized, or brought into general use. Their properties were not so well defined, and their administration was supposed to be accompanied with more or less peril. Surgery was performed when the patient was in a state of entire consciousness. He knew he had to suffer, what it was to suffer, and that he had to endure it. Frequently the strong man had to be pinioned, or put in chains. The situation became essentially an embarrassing one to the surgeon, and a distressing one to the subject. The scalpel could have no velvet edge, the saw no cushioned tooth. No wonder the sufferer writhed, and that the operation was performed in the midst of agonizing screams. But, despite all these embarrassments, Dr. Day rose to the altitude of superior and distinguished surgical eminence. He was a man of clear judgment, positive opinions, and was extremely cautious of his conclusions at the bed of sickness. When his position was taken, it was upon tenable grounds, and none could with more delicate, acute and ringing eloquence, defend it better than he. He was free from all acrimony and resentments toward his professional brethren, and when assailed by them, had little but regrets to indulge that such things should occur. He was a man of most affable and pleasing manner ; of great politeness, and could read human nature as though it were a printed book—hence resulted his characteristic tact of dealing with men, of influencing masses of men, and of ingratiating himself with so many people and so many families. In point of character he was emphatically independent, and confronted the world with a manly countenance. The time-server and the timid shuffler, who only WOOSTER— CHURCHES - 371 dare to look up at life through blinkers, and who only have an opinion to advance when there is a crowd to back it, he despised. As a public speaker he was graceful, fluent and forcible, and the active part he took in inducing subscriptions for the construction of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad will not soon be forgotten. In aid of that enterprise he was one of the effective canvassers, and one of its most eloquent advocates. Not only was he a pleasing and convincing speaker, but he excelled in conversation. There was a richness, copiousness, versatility and enthusiasm in it, which, though it sometimes bordered upon art, nevertheless fascinated and regaled. He was an expert in controversial argumentation. Every word was as smooth as if dropped in oil. Personally he was a man of imposing appearance, stood over six feet high, and erect as a column, and, in his more youthful days, was a model of physical development and muscular perfection. In later life he became exceedingly corpulent. He was an incessant and indefatigable worker until he retired from the profession of his choice — one which had rewarded him with honors, competence and wealth. Many young men of talent took their rudimentary course in his office, two of the most prominent of these being Dr. Edward Thomson, the renowned Methodist Bishop, who died in Wheeling, West Virginia, March 22, 187o, and Dr. Leander Firestone, the eminent surgeon of Wooster. The former was in the office of Dr. Day from 1833 to 1836, the latter from 1839 to 1842. There was a simplicity and unostentatious evenness of way, an intellectual equipoise, healthy frugality, persistent industry, steady integrity and sense of honor characteristic of Dr. Day, worthy of imitation. His life enshrines many a practical and noble precept. With him, we may hope, death was "but transition." He had been a devout and consistent member of the Presbyterian church from early manhood, and died in the full faith of the immortality of the soul, and its reunion with the Father of Spirit and all Life. THE WOOSTER CHURCHES. [NOTE.—In giving the history of the churches of Wooster we regret exceedingly to be compelled to go to press without a notice of the United Presbyterian church. At an early stage of our work Rev. R. H. Pollock, D. D., volunteered to prepare the desired sketch. Prior to his leaving to take charge of his new ministerial field at Mt. Vernon, 0., he informed us that, with the exception of a very few items, he had it completed, and to others he made a similar statement. We did not see him immediately preceding his departure, and hence did not procure his MSS. 372 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Since his death M. C. Rouch, Esq., of Wooster, has corresponded with Mrs. Pollock in regard to the matter, but no such paper can be found. We do not doubt but that Dr, Pollock prepared the article, and that it is either lost or mislaid. The intelligence that it could not be procured came too late for us, either to obtain or examine the records.] Baptist Church. The following is extracted from Rev. J. B. T. Patterson's historical sermon, December 10, 1876 : The history of the Baptist church, called Bethany, at Wooster, Ohio, dates from the settlement of this portion of the State. Although the church was not organized until 1812, some of its constituent members were among the first settlers. In 1812 a blockhouse, for the protection of the people from the Indians, who had allied themselves with the English, in the war then begun, was built on the premises of Colonel John Sloane. In the same year, in this block-house, the Baptist church was constituted, and has continued its organization unchanged to the present. From the church records I find that the first Baptists who moved to Wooster were David and Lydia Kimpton and Philip B. Griffith, who settled here in 1810. In 1811 Ezekial Jones and family, a number of whom were Baptists, setted in the same township. To this handful of the faithful in the wilderness Elder Kimpton preached, without, however, forming them into a church. On July 25, 1812, a meeting was held in the house of Brother Kimpton, " to take into consideration the propriety of organizing a church in this new country." The following named persons were present : David and Lydia Kimpton, Ezekial and Hannah Jones, Oliver Jones, Wm. Robison, John Robison, Ann Robison, Catherine Kirkendall, Thomas G. Jones and Philip B. Griffith. The record simply states that " several of the brethren prayed." It was voted that the organization take place on the first Lord's Day in August, and that Elder T. G. Jones should write the constitution and present it at the next meeting, on Friday before the first Lord's Day in August. On July 31, 1812, the constitution was adopted, John Robison appointed clerk, and church meeting for business appointed to be held on the Saturday before the first Lord's Day in each month, alternately in Wooster and at Brother Kimpton's settlement. Brother Kimpton was appointed Moderator of the Church. On August 2, being the Lord's Day, the brethren convened in the block-house, and whilst "a body of men, armed with guns, stood guard about the building, to give warning and protect them WOOSTER—CHURCHES - 373 in case of an attack from the Indians," the church constitution and the covenant, known as the " Philadelphia Confession of Faith," was formally and solemnly ratified, and the church constituted. Up to April 17, 1813, the records are kept in due form, and then a break in the minutes occurs, which is thus accounted for: There is seen a vacum in the minutes which was occasioned by the war of 1812, between the United States and Great Britian, as many were afraid of the Indian allies of Great Britian, by Reason of which some fled, and the church became lukewarm, by Reason of the war, as that was almost the universal Topick, and the event of it was of much importance to this country. At first the brethren, as in the primitive days of the primitive churches, held their meetings in private houses, but in 1814 a frame building was erected in the rear of the lot on which the Reformed church now stands. It was situated within convenient distance of the block-house, which overlooked it. I read that the worshippers sometimes carried their guns with them to the meeting-house, though it does not appear that the settlement was ever disturbed by the Indians. This house, being the only church building in the settlement, was generally used by visiting ministers of other denominations, and at times, also, as a school-house. I could not ascertain the cost of the house, but find in the Trustee's book an account previous to 1819 of " cash paid for meeting-house " of $125.86. This does not include the frame-work, weather-boarding, roofing nor chimney, but mentions the flooring, and among other items, hair and hickory brooms. The house was afterward sold, and removed to the east side of Buckeye street, turned end for end, the doors and windows altered, and converted into the " Wooster City Tannery," where it now stands thus labeled. Bro. Kimpton, though moderator, or overseer, was never pastor of the church. The first pastor was Elder Thomas G. Jones. The church, however, had in its membership several preachers, who, in connection with the pastor, not only preached to the church, but also engaged in missionary tours to the surrounding settlements. The church was very careful in the reception of members, holding firmly to the N. T. principle, that the churches of Jesus Christ are to be composed only of converted persons. On July 1, 1815, is the following minute : "Motion by Brother Thomas G. Jones, that members absent from church meeting, 374 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. should not enjoy the privilege of the next communion, except they render satisfactory reasons for such absence, to the church or deacons." The annual growth in membership during the earlier days of the church, can not easily be determined, because the clerk failed to mention the date of baptism in the church roll. The first list of members is appended to the minutes, and dated November 4, 1815. Among the constituted members there recorded, I find the name of Naomi Youngs, which was omitted in the list of those who met to form the church. She was at the first meeting in the block-house, but not at the previous meeting in the house of Brother Kimpton. This would make the number of constituent members twelve, instead of eleven. The whole list gives the names of one hundred and frfteen persons, who had been added by baptism and letter, to the original twelve constituted members. The list of names then continued without dates of reception. On this list I find the names of Charles and Susan Morton. Brother Morton became pastor of the church in November, 1839, Brother Jones having resigned the pastorate in May, 1839. Counting backward from the name of C. Morton to the first list, I find that during the pastorate of Elder Jones, one hundred and twenty-one members were received, of whom ninety-three were received by baptism. The record shows that the growth of the church, after the first three years, was slow, but solid. At the church meeting, October 15, 1816, a number of brethren living at Mohican made application for the church to send their minister and other brethren to constitute them into a church, and ordain as their minister, Brother Alpheus French. The church endorsed the application, and sent as their representatives, D. Kimpton, T. G. Jones, Oliver Jones and John Robison, and on the 13th of October, 1816, a church at Mohican was duly constituted. This, I understand, to be the first Mohican church. The land on which the first church was built was donated by William Robison. October 4, 1817, the church resolved to have a weekly prayer meeting. " In 1819 all the Baptist churches in Pennsylvania, west of the Allegheny river, and all the churches in Ohio, east of Wooster, and as far north as the Lake, were included in the Beaver Association." This Association was organized in 1809, by twenty-five delegates, representing ten churches. Five of the delegates were ministers. In 1819, the Mohican Association was formed from WOOSTER-CHURCHES - 375 the Beaver Association. The Wooster church assisted in forming that body, and remained a member of it until 1840. In 1818, the Beaver Association held its meeting with the Wooster church. Brother Hand was pastor of the church two years, 1818-19, during which time Elder Jones was engaged in general missionary work. Brother William W. Hickox, whose name afterwards appears as a minister, was licensed by this church in 1819. From 1821 to 1830, there is an unaccountable gap in the records. In the minutes of the Wooster Association for 1842, I find the following, in a historical sketch of the churches in the Association, which may, in part, account for it: " From the time of its constitution until 1827, the church enjoyed almost uninterrupted prosperity, although her increase in numbers was comparatively moderate. * * * In 1827, a schism was produced in the body by the introduction of the sentiments of Alexander Campbell, at which time some seventeen or eighteen members seceded, and went over to the Disciples.' It was several years before the church fully recovered from the shock." Returning to the church records, I find, in 1831, that a hand was employed by the church " to work for Elder Jones, that he might be able to devote more time to preaching " among them. On March 5, 1831, it was resolved to build a new meeting-house. The church seems to have had great difficulty in raising the amount necessary to complete the building. It was not finished until 1839, immediately after Mr. Morton succeeded to the pastorate. The house was floored and plastered through the efforts of the sisters, one of whom informs me that she promised forty dollars (a sum much more valuable then than now), not knowing how she could raise it, but "believing that God would help her, and it was all paid." She still lives and worships with us —Sister Cynthia Van Ostern. The house has been altered since then. At first there was a gallery extending around the sides and end of the building. These were removed, and the house remodeled in 1865. Mention is made of Mr. Thomas Fisher, who, for a while, preached to the church. He subsequently moved to Kentucky, where he was murdered. During the pastorate of Brother Jones, the Wooster Association was formed in 1837. It was composed of the Massillon, East Union, Warren, Wooster, Salt Creek, Sugar Creek, Sandyville or Magnolia, 1st Mohican, Canal Dover, Greene Township and Clark 376 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Township churches, eleven in all, with eleven ordained ministers, one licentiate, and 453 members. Some of these churches were afterwards known by Other names. On January 1, 1839, after serving the church twenty-seven years, twenty-four of which he was with the church, Elder Jones resigned. Brother Charles Morton, after first supplying the church, was called to the pastorate February 29, 1840. On April 6, 1844, Brother John Croll, was elected deacon ; and after 32 years of service, still discharges the duties of that office. On June 30, of this year, Brother Page was invited to supply the church for six months, and on the 4th of January, 1845, was elected pastor. The church reports to the Association this year 248 members, some having been dismissed by letter, others excluded; two added by baptism, and twelve by letter. The pastorate of Brother Page ceased in April, 1850. Brother Page, during his term of service baptized twenty-six; received by letter forty-one; dismissed by letter forty ; excluded twenty-six. December 4, 1845, the subject of instrumental music was brought up for discussion, and the matter indefinitely postponed. October, 1846, a resolution "to continue the choir" was passed. January 16, 1847, a special meeting in regard to instrumental music was held, and the following resolution adopted ; "Resolved, that instrumental music be prohibited from coming into this church henceforth." December, 1847, a motion was passed, " that members at evening service be allowed to conduct the singing as suited themselves." I record these facts to show the opinion of the brethren of that day on this most perplexing subject of church music, and also to show that the church controlled the matter of public praise. Brother Page was succeeded by Elder E. T. Brown, who was called to the care of the church in May, 1850, and soon after took charge. As before stated the membership was then 200. Brother Brown served the church until 1856. In 1851 I find that the church reports 248 members. In the minutes of 1852 the report is only 60 members, but this is evidently a mistake of the printer, as the minutes of 1853 report a total of 242. In 1854 the total was 213. In 1855 a still further diminution is reported, the total being 208. In 1856 only 175 members are reported. The total gain during this pastorate was, by baptism, 61 ; by letter, expe- WOOSTER-CHURCHES - 377 rience and restoration, 23. The total loss was, by death and exclusion, t0 ; by letter, 89. Net gain, 84; net loss, 99. In March, 1853, a committee was appointed for building a vestry and baptistry. On July 1, 1854, Brother Joseph H. Larwill proposed to donate a number of lots, held by the Wooster Cemetery, to the Baptist church, " on condition the church inclose the same with a suitable fence," and on the 2d of September presented the church with the deed for the same. In March, 1855, a number of persons were dismissed by letter to form a church at Millbrook. This accounts in part for the great number of dismissions under Brother Brown, but there were many removals about that time farther west. Brother Brown was succeeded by T. J. Penny the same year, 1856, who served the church as pastor till 1860. Brother Penny was followed by Elder John Bolton in 1861. The year following the church reports 121 members. Brother Bolton having resigned in 1862, Elder P. M. Weddell was called to the pastorate in 1863. The total net gain during this pastorate was 54 members ; 21 of these were converts in the Sunday-school. In 1865 the church building was remodeled. In 1868 there was no pastor. Church reports 206 members. In 1866, no report in the minutes. In this year Rev. G. M. Preston became the pastor. The following year the church reports 196 members and 153 in the Sunday-school. In 1871, 195 members reported; no pastor. In 1872, 201 members reported. In this year the church secured the services of Rev. Alexander McFarlane, who had just emigrated from Scotland. In 1873, 207 members reported. The baptisms this year were 9, and additions by letter, 2 ; whilst the diminutions are, by letter, 2 ; death, t 1. This would make 199, instead of 207, which is the number reported the following year, 1874. In 1874, Brother McFarlane resigned the pastorate, and accepted a call from the Baptist church at Port Huron, Mich. He was succeeded by Rev. Hugh A. Marshall, June 21, who resigned the pastorate the June following. In 1875, the church reported to the Association a loss of eleven members by death, among whom were some of the oldest and most efficient members. In August, 1875, the Wooster Association met with this church. On the afternoon of the Sunday closing the meeting, a Sunday-school meeting was held, and some manifestation of interest on the subject of religion being made by some of the scholars,. 378 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Rev. J. B. T. Patterson, a visitor from Virginia, was requested to remain and preach during the week. On the following Lord's Day he baptized three persons in the creek near the city. In October following, he settled with the church as pastor. In the fall of this year the new lecture room was completed. This building was erected by a legacy left for the purpose, by Sister Mary B. Larwill, who died a few years previous. The baptistry was also deepened and remodeled, and a heater connected with it, the funds for this purpose being donated by Sister Joseph H. Larwill. LIST OF PASTORS, DEACONS, CLERKS AND TRUSTEES Pastors and Preachers. 1810—David Kimpton. (Overseer.) 1812—Thomas Griffith Jones, pastor till 1839 ; Brother Kimpton, moderator. 1819—Thomas Hand, supplied as pastor. 1832—Frederick Freeman, Thomas Fisher, Rev. J. B. Swaine. 1839—Charles Morton. 1845—S. B. Page. 1850—E. T. Brown. 1856—T. J. Penny. 1861—John Bolton. 1862—P. M. Weddell. 1868—No Pastor. 1869—G. M. Preston. 1871—No pastor. 1873—Alex. McFarlane. 1874—Hugh A. Marshall. 1875—J. B. T. Patterson. Deacons. 1812—Oliver Jones. 1814—John Robison. 1835—Peter Ambrose, Jonathan Smith. 1839—Thomas Rees. 1840—John Zeigler. 1844—John Croll. 1850—John McCully, J. M. Choate. 1854—Evans Parker, J. B. Trimble, John Myers. Clerks. 1812—John Robison. 1836—William Punches. 1839—Jefferson Alexander. 1840—Thomas Woodland. 1842—J. W. McMillan. 1843—Jonathan B. Diebell. 1844—Thomas Woodland. 1847—W. H. Taylor. 1850 —Emanuel Schuckers. 1855—Thomas Woodland. 1868—H. D. Durkee. Trustees—As far as Could be Ascertained. 1816—Philip B. Griffith, Wm. Jewel, Oliver Jones, John Lawrence, Wm. C Larwill. 1831—John Smith, Samuel Quinby, Benjamin Bentley. 1835—Hugh Morton, Peter Ambrose, John Smith, T. L. Punches. 1837—Hugh Morton, John Larwill, Alfred G. Glass. 1840—John Larwill, Samuel Quinby, John Ziegler. 1841—John B. Larwill, Jacob M. Eberman, Samuel Quinby. 1875—S. Routson, John Myers, James Taggart. 1876--S. Routson, John Myers, H. B. Swartz. WOOSTER—CHURCHES - 379 First Presbyterian Church. The appended historical survey of the First Presbyterian church we extract from a Centennial sermon delivered by Rev. T. A. McCurdy, D. D., its eloquent and popular pastor, to a large and intelligent congregation, July 2, 1 8 76. It is a concise and pictorial presentation of the rise and progress of the church from 1815 to the present time. We greatly regret that our space will not justify the reproduction of the entire sermon : In passing at once to the history of this congregation, I share with you in the general regret that no accurate records of the organization of this church exist. Much uncertainty therefore hangs over the birth-hour of this congregation—an uncertainty that is painful, and yet not without its salutary lessons. It must be remembered that the organization of this church dates back to the hour when all this region round about was peopled with the wild, untutored savage—when this was all a wilderness, whose grim solitude was unbroken save by the sound of the pioneer ax responded to by the war-whoop of the treacherous Indian. In the dangers to_ which the early fathers were exposed, in the hardships to which they were subjected, in their anxiety for the comfort and maintenance of themselves and families, they seem to have been content with the privilege of religious worship without giving attention to a minute history of the circumstances incident to such a privilege in "the wild wilderness of pioneer life." Our regret is no reflection on the real or apparent neglect of the first settlers. They entered the wild-wood, following the path of the Red Man, with no security of life other than their trust in the providence of God, to convert the wilderness into a garden, to extend civilization, to make conquest in God's name for civil and religious liberty ; and wherever they went they took with them the ark of God and worshiped around its sacred shrine. As the wilderness resounded with the woodman's ax, so from the altar of God and from the altar of their hearts, grateful praise and prayer arose to heaven. It is somewhat remarkable that in nearly all the first settlements of Maryland, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, there was an element of Scotch Irish Presbyterianism, and wherever it located it found a place for the worship of God. It is true that this element had a limited representation in the early settlement of this region, but large enough to sow the seed of Presbyterian faith and polity. They had in them the ring of the true metal and blue 380 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO was their color. Their circumstances were such as to lead them: to cast all their care on Him who had watched over their fathers in the dark days of tire persecution amidst the glens and highlands. of Scotland. Their fathers had, in spite of persecution, found places for worship in the rocks and caves of the earth. Their blood shed in defense of the faith had become the seed of living truth, which sprung up to bloom and bear fruit in all lands, and nowhere did it so rapidly :germinate as in American soil. Among other fruits of righteousness from this goodly seed is the First Presbyterian church of Wooster, Ohio. The earliest record of this church is found in a book, dingy and yellow with age, quaint in style, and wonderfully humorous in many of its suggestions. Its date is October 30, 1821, and bears this inscription : "Presented to the First Presbyterian Church of Wooster, by Reasin Beall." The first record of the constitution of the church indicates that the organization was anterior to the date of this record. It shows that "the members of the First Presbyterian congregation of the town of Wooster, in the State of Ohio, convened in their congregational capacity on October 30, 1821," for a two-fold purpose : First, to provide ways and means, whereby they might relieve their minister from worldly cares and avocations; and, second, to provide a comfortable house for religious worship. Outside this record we have no information as to the precise date of the organization of this church, but a combination of circumstances point unmistakably to an organization much earlier than 1821. The very first sentence of the first record assures us of this. It expresses the longing of pious hearts for a comfortable house in which to worship God, and an earnest desire to relieve the pastor from worldly cares and avocations, that, he might devote the whole of his time to their spiritual necessities, implying, evidently, that hindrances in these regards had obtained in consequence, as we may well suppose, of pecuniary inability to meet these wants at an earlier hour. Other circumstances point to Presbyterian worship in the year 1815. In a little house on West Liberty street. nearly opposite the present residence of Mr. Bonewitz, some ten or twelve of the Presbyterian faith assembled, prior to 1815, for the worship of God. In that place this church had, as all the circumstances indicate, its birth. Who dispensed the Word of Life, and who all the worshipers were, are not known. Would that we could have their names WOOSTER-CHURCHES - 381 carved on some marble tablet to hand down to succeeding generations. The fathers and mothers were few in number and have long since gone to their rest, but their sons and daughters are numerous, in the enjoyment of a rich legacy bequeathed by the first worshipers at a cost of self-denial of which we can have no real appreciation. In the manuscript of the history of Wayne county, by Mr. Ben Douglass, I find the following oral testimony touching the organization of this church : From this manuscript it appears that Mr. Alexander McBride told Mr. John McClellan that this church was organized with fifteen (15) members, in the year '815, by Rev. William Mathews, by the order of the Presbytery of Richland, at which time Mr. Alex. McBride and Mr. Walter Buchanan were chosen ruling elders. At the time Mr. McClellan received this information Mr. McBride was the only person living that was present at the organization of the church. Any anxious desire to know whether Mr. McBride and Mr. Buchanan were two of the ten or twelve persons who worshiped in the little house nearly opposite the present residence of Mr. Bonewitz, and whether the church was organized then, by Rev. Wm. Mathews in 1815, must rest satisfied with the probabilities in the case. For one year only after this organization, with Mr. McBride and Mr. Buchanan as ruling elders, the Rev. Mr. Mathews continued a stated supply. We must now leave the infant church for a period of five years, knowing nothing of it except the occasional preaching the congregation received from different clergymen. What prosperous or adverse winds blew over it, what for peace or dissension obtained in that struggling flock, we know not, except from an inference that in the year 1821 it comes to the surface again strong for duty and manly in purpose. Meanwhile the tides of emigration came rolling in and furnished reinforcements to the struggling band, while a merciful God, with an eye ever watchful of His people's seemingly most trivial interests, had guided their efforts, enlarged their hearts and smiled on them benignantly. At this juncture they seemed well prepared to make aggressive efforts for the cause of Christ. Under the leadership of a wise, faithful, energetic and godly pastor, they began to lengthen their cords and to strengthen their stakes. The records of the old Presbytery of Mansfield show that Rev. Thos. Barr accepted, April 4, 1820, the call of this congregation for one- 382 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. half of his time, and that on May 24, 1820, he was installed pastor over the united charge of Wooster and Apple Creek. Rev. Mr. Barr, the pastor, was chairman of the meeting of the congregation, in the Baptist church, October 30, 1821, at which the present constitution and articles were adopted. In pursuance of the adoption of the constitution one of its provisions was complied with, in the immediate election of Messrs. A. Hanna, Thos. Robison and Alex. McBride, trustees of the congregation. The Trustees, by virtue of authority given them in the Constitution, elected Mr. Reasin Beall Clerk of the Board of Trustees, As thus constituted, they entered immediately on the duties pertaining to their office, and have transmitted through their successors in office to this time, all their proceedings, which, as ratified by the congregation, have put the present organization into possession of all the rights of property and estate originally acquired by the organization. At this same congregational meeting, Mr. John Christmas, of Wooster, offered a certain lot of ground on West Liberty street, for the purpose of erecting thereon a house of worship, and requested the board to accept the same as a donation for the benefit of the congregation and for no other use whatever." The donation was accepted, and at a meeting of the Trustees, held at the house of Reasin Beall, November 2, 1821, Mr. Beall, as Clerk of the Board, presented " a deed of conveyance from John Christmas and Elizabeth, his wife, to the Board in trust for the congregation, which deed was approved, and ordered to be recorded in the Recorder's office of Wayne county." The deed, as prepared, was received for record November 3, 1821, and recorded November 7, 1821, in Book B, page 407, 8 and 9, of the Records of Wayne county, by L. Cox, Esq., County Recorder. The lot thus donated is the same as that on which the residence of the late Dr. S. Wilson now stands. The ground having been secured, the Trustees, under direction of the congregation, made arrangements for the erection of their new house of worship. For this purpose the congregation, evidently large in territory, was divided into five districts, and a collector appointed to each, with instructions to take subscriptions, "payable in money, grain, or such produce as is usually taken in stores, in two equal installments, viz: The first to be paid on the 1st day of March next ; the second to be paid on the 1st of December following." The part subscribed in money to be paid to the Treasurer, Mr. John Christmas, WOOSTER-CHURCHES - 383 the part subscribed in grain to be delivered at Mr. Stibbs' or Mr. Plank's mills, and the part subscribed in produce to be delivered by the subscribers at the store of Mr. William McComb, in Wooster.” The miller's receipt for the grain, and the storekeeper's be delivered by the subscriber to the Treasurer, and in all cases of payment by a subscriber, the receipt be delivered through the Treasurer to the Clerk of the ter" Board to for the produce, to of Trustees. It would be impossible to give minutely the successive steps taken by the congregation in the erection of their first house of worship. I pass rapidly to this difficult and perplexing task. The records show evidence of embarrassment, disappointment, and yet, withal, a determination, coupled with moral and religious heroism, which must be admired. At last a sufficient amount was subscribed to justify the Trustees to make contracts for the speedy erection of the house. The first contract was on May 10, 1822, with Mr. Thomas Carroll and Dr. Daniel McPhail, for fifty thousand bricks, for which they were to receive in payment, on the day of delivery, $37.50 in cash, and $75 in equal proportions of wheat, at 62 1/2 cents per bushel, delivered at Mr. Stibb's and Mr. Plank's mills. This was one-half the cost of the fifty thousand bricks, the other half to be paid in June, on terms equal to the first. The first subscription was taken November 3, 1821, and then after the congregation had held two meetings, one in the German church, June 3, 1823, and the other in the Court House, June 10, 1823, a second subscription was taken August 25, 1823, and a third, June 21, 1825, ere a sufficient amount had been subscribed for the completion of the house. The specifications describing the inside character of work are certainly curiosities. As an illustration of this, I quote as follows : "Four outside doors to be made of good, sound and well-seasoned pine or white walnut boards, similar to the front door in Reasin Beall's dwelling-house." The thirteen windows, washboards, posts and gallery floor, lathing and plastering stairs to the gallery, and its front, the pulpit, the seats and the railings, are each and all as quaintly and as minutely specified. At what time the congregation entered their new house of worship does not appear, since no record is made of the first service held in the new house. The presumption is that it was about November 25, 1825, as on the l0th of this month the seats were sold to the highest bidder for the following purposes, viz: To 384 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. raise funds for the completion of the house, and to accommodate all with seats of their own choice, as to location and price. Each purchaser was to give his note to the Trustees for the purchase, payable in part in three months, the remainder in nine months; one-half of the purchase in money and the remaining half in wheat, rye and corn at the market price. The following quaint receipt corroborates the presumption that the congregation entered their new house of worship in 1825 : I have received from R. Beall and others, twelve dollars in full, for making fires, lighting candles, and sweeping the meeting-house, for the year 1827, commencing November 30, 1826, and ending December 31, 1827. JACOB MASON. The different subscriptions show that the cost of the building was as follows : $508.75 in cash, $34 in work, $20 in bricks, 2000 bricks, $16 in wheat, 20o bushels wheat, $1o5 in sawed stuff, $42 in flooring, $47 in hauling, 258 bushels corn, $so in digging stumps and foundation, 175 lights of sash, Sic) in poplar boards, 114 bushels rye, so joists at 4 cents per foot, $12 in leather, $78 in cloth, 5 yards in linen, 5 yards in tow-linen, 20 lbs. flax, $9.3734 in coarse shoes, $20 in silver work, $10 in teaspoons, $5 in tailoring, $6 in " blacksmithing," $2 in cabinet work, $13.50 in hats, $8 in saddlery, $30 in nails, I spinning wheel, and 42 gallons of whiskey. [ Mr. McCurdy very irreverently neglected to furnish the names of the church members who made these contributions, especially Mr. — and the other donor of the "whisky !"] In such an age as this, we can scarcely reconcile such a subscription, either with religion or common sense. Neither can we appreciate the times in which the founders of this church lived. All these articles were as truly money as the currency of this age is to us. In money, as they regarded their subscriptions, the house cost the congregation, according to the final report, January 1, 1829, $2,737.834. The whole subscription amounted to $1,568.58. The amount realized by the sale of seats was $1,136.40. The amount of delinquent subscriptions was $184.71. On January I, 1829, an indebtedness of $217.56 rested on the congregation, which was speedily provided for. On September 7, 1829, the Rev. Thomas Barr having asked, the congregation consented to the dissolution of the pastoral relation, he having served this congregation for nine years and four months ; a period which was evidently the most trying in the history of the congregation. It is not too much to say, that this congregation owes, under God, whatever of, success it has attained to this godly servant of Christ, WOOSTER—CHURCHES - 385 and those noble laymen, who, with him, struggled hard and long, to establish this congregation and church on a basis firm and solid. The fidelity with which the first Trustees served the congregation may be inferred from their continuance in office long after the pastoral relation between Mr. Barr and the congregation was dissolved. The pastor's salary was raised annually by collectors, appointed to each of the five districts, into which the congregation was divided. As a relic of this fact, one of the old subscription lists still exists, and is worthy of the greatest care, in its transmission to future generations. At the time Mr. Barr ceased to be the pastor of this congregation, Alexander Hanna, Alexander McBride, Robert Patterson and Thomas Cox were ruling elders, though no notice of the election of either of them appears on record, save that of Alexander McBride. It is a source of profound regret that no mention is made of the increase of membership to this church during the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Barr. That which will be given subsequently is both conjectural, and traditional. From this point onward the history is more easily traced. I have been particular to give all the available circumstances, presumptions, and probabilities, connected with the early history of this church ; only for the reason that so little data is given in the records, which, however, with the oral testimony that is fresh in the memory of many, furnish what is believed to be an accurate history of the congregation in its first years. On January 8, 1830, the session were authorized by the congregation to make application for the ministerial services of Rev. William Cox. Mr. Cox served this congregation as stated supply for one year, at the expiration of which he declined an invitation to serve the congregation longer, and accepted an agency in the interest of the American Sunday-school Union. Mr. Adley Hemphill and John Cunningham were added to the members of the session on the 18th of April, 1831, after several unsuccessful attempts to dissolve the union between Wooster and Apple Creek congregations. It was finally accomplished September 13, 1831, at which time Wooster congregation adjudged itself able to employ a pastor for the whole of the time, and acting upon this decision, a call was made out on this date for the ministerial services of Rev. William Wiley. On August 3, 1832, a call was made out for the ministerial labors of the Rev. George W. Warner. At what time he 386 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. entered upon the pastoral oversight of this congregation is not known, but the fact of his dismissal from the pastorate is recorded as having taken place April 4, 1836. On March 4, 1833, a meeting of the congregation was called for the purpose of adopting measures looking toward the purchase of a place for the burial of the dead. A committee, consisting of Messrs. A. Hanna, Reasin Beall, Joseph Stibbs and Adley Hemphill, were appointed to make the purchase of a lot lying south of the house of worship on West Liberty street. Said committee reported to the congregation April 1, 1833, the purchase of the lot aforesaid, from Mr. John Christmas, for $88.50, together with a deed of the same, which was accepted, and recorded in Book I, pages 189-90, in the records of Wayne county, by L. Cox, Esq., County Recorder. From the dissolution of the pastoral relation between Rev. Mr. Warner and this congregation, until December 31, 1838, there was a vacancy in pastoral labors, during which the Rev. Woodruff acted as stated supply. The successor of the Rev. Mr. Warner was Mr. William McCandlish, a licentiate, who was ordained and installed pastor in June, 1839, and continued the pastor of this church until May I, 1849. The good name of this honored servant of Christ is fragrant with rich memories of a faithful, earnest and most untiring labor. The Lord richly blessed him in his labors here, and by means of him brought many to Christ. During this pastorate the following historical facts appear : 1st. Almost contemporaneous with the settlement of Mr. McCandlish as pastor, a movement was made looking towards the improvement of the church building, which was one of those peculiar notions of congregations, which, as in this case, usually developed into a new house of worship.. The proposed improvements resulted in temporary repairs to the foundation of the church edifice, and the erection of a board fence around the lot on which it stood. 2d. The first change in the Board of Trustees was January 6, 1840, in the election of Mr. William McComb, in the place of Mr. Alexander Hanna, whose term of office had expired. 3d. On September 20, 1841, Messrs. Samuel Coulter, John Jacobs, David Schamp, William Jacobs and William McComb were duly elected to the office of Ruling Elder ; and to the same office, October 16, 1848, Isaac Johnson, Leander Smith, Joseph E. McConahay, Stephen F. Day and William Slemmons were elected. 4th. On the 24th of March, 1845, a meeting of the congregation was held, at which Mr. McCandlish presented WOOSTER—CHURCHES - 387 his request for a dissolution of the pastoral relation, with reasons therefor ; thereupon the congregation adjudged his reasons insufficient and very kindly invited Mr. McCandlish not to "grow weary in well doing." It was on Monday, January 24, 1840, that a committee was appointed by the congregation to examine the church building and report favorably or otherwise in the matter of a new house of worship. The enterprise of a new church building was now fairly inaugurated ; all agreeing on the necessity, but disagreeing as to the time when such an enterprise should be undertaken. Along with this movement there was introduced into the congregation an element of restlessness, and there being no favorable evidence for harmonious action in this regard, and while the subject of a new house of worship was still being agitated, Rev. Mr. Mc- Candlish, on April 9, 1849, tendered to the congregation his resignation as pastor. The congregation agreed to acquiesce in Mr. McCandlish's request, and by consent of pastor and people, Presbytery dissolved the relation, to take effect in the month of May following. The congregation was now vacant for about one year, when o n April 1, 1850, a call was ordered to be presented before the Presbytery of Steubenville for the ministerial labors of the Rev. Joseph H. Chambers. He took charge of this congregation on the last Sabbath of the month of May following. His work in this congregation was brief. He became pastor on the last Sabbath of May, 1850, and to this congregation he preached his last sermon on the last Sabbath of August of the same year. On the first Sabbath of September, although very much indisposed, he assisted Rev. Dr. John Robinson, of Ashland, at a communion service, and afterwards returned home with an attack of typhus fever, from which he died September 13, 1850. His precious dust lies undisturbed in a cemetery near Pittsburg, Pa. In this same year (1850) the project of a new church was vigorously undertaken, It appears from the records that a subscription hadbeen taken with a view to rebuild on the old site on West Liberty street. The change in location, however, was effected by the endeavors of the ladies of the congregation, as is seen by the following resolution of the congregation, on April 1, 1850, viz : WHEREAS, A portion of the ladies of this congregation propose to donate to the congregation, in fee simple, a lot of ground on the corner of North and Walnut streets, being go feet on North street and 180 feet on Walnut street, and in addition 388 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. to the same obligate themselves to procure not less than $300 additional subscription for the erection of a new church edifice on said lot ; therefore, Resolved, That the subscribers to the paper for building on the old site accept the above proposition, and apply their subscriptions for building on the "old site" to the erection of a new church editice on the lot proposed to be donated. The resolution was adopted with the amendment that a committee be appointed to solicit the concurrence of the subscribers to the proposed change. On April 13, 1850, the committee reported to the congregation that they had obtained the concurrence of the subscribers to the proposed change of location for the new church edifice, and at the same meeting the ladies presented their subscription, amounting to $515, coupled with the assurance that they were prepared forthwith to obtain the title to the lot donated, whereupon the congregation resolved that the church be located on the present lot. A building committee of five persons, viz : J. P. Coulter, James Jacobs, Ephraim Quinby, Isaac Johnson and David Robison, were appointed. A call for the ministerial labors of Rev. J. N. Shepherd was ordered November 16, 1850, who, instead of becoming pastor, acted as stated supply until March, 1851, at which time the call of the congregation was reissued, but finally declined by Mr. Shepherd the following October. On the 8th of December following a call was made for the Rev. James H. Baird, who accepted the same and entered upon the duties of this relation during the year 1851. During tbis pastorate, on November 24, 1852, David Robison, John Cunningham, H. F. Ewalt and George Brinkerhoff were elected ruling elders. To this office, on the same day, the previous election of Judge Avery was reaffirmed. Of these, George Brinkerhoff and Harris Ewalt accepted, and were duly ordained and installed January 16, 1853. Meanwhile the erection of the new church was pushed rapidly by the Trustees. The cost of this structure was between five and six thousand dollars. The congregation held its first meeting in the new house January 2, 1854, at which time E. Quinby, Jr., was elected Trustee for the unexpired term of John M. Robison, who had recently moved away. Mr. Quinby served subsequently as Treasurer for a number of years. In April, of 1854, the Rev. J. H. Baird gave notice that at the ensuing meeting of Presbytery he would ask for a dissolution of the pastoral relation, to which request the congregation assented. Following this vacancy, the congregation seems to have been WOOSTER—CHURCHES - 389 quite popular with the ministers. Perhaps the attraction was the new house. They seem to have been quite eager to settle a pastor, as may be inferred from the fact that they actually made out a call for a dead man. It happened in this wise : On July 20, 1854, at a congregational meeting for the purpose of electing a pastor, four ministers were put in nomination, viz: Rev. Dr. McClarran and Rev. Messrs. Burrough, Harris and Fulton ; the names of Rev. Dr. McClarran and Rev. Mr. Burrough were withdrawn, and the choice of the congregation was for Rev. Mr. Harris, by a vote of thirty-nine to eight. The call to Mr. Harris was made unanimous and forwarded to him at Louisville, Ky., only to receive a reply from Mr. George Smith, of that city, that Mr. Harris had died July 17, three days before the call was made out for him. Rev. J. B. Stewart, at present of Milwaukee, Wis., was unanimously called to the pastorate on November 2, 1854. Mr. Stewart entered immediately on his duties as pastor, but on account of ill-health, tendered his resignation September 1, 1855. He was not released, however, until April, 1856, but was granted absence for a time with a view to his restoration to health, the congregation meantime supplying the pulpit. The remaining history of the congregation is quickly told. On March 12, 1856, Rev. Alexander Swaney, of the Steubenville Presbytery, was called to this pastoral charge, and on the l0th of April following notified the session by letter that he declined the call. On the 1st of July, 1856, a unanimous call was ordered for the Rev. R. Colmery, who, having accepted, was duly installed, and continued the pastor of this charge until the pastoral relation was dissolved by the Presbytery of Wooster, April 17, 1860. During this pastorate, on October 10, 1856, Messrs. Edward Avery, Joseph Caldwell and John McClellan were elected Elders. Messrs. Avery and McClellan refused to serve. The first movement of the congregation looking towards the erection of a parsonage was on January 11, 1859. To further this project a committee, viz : John H. Kauke, John McClellan, E. Quinby and R. B. Stibbs, were appointed to ascertain what amount of money could be secured for this purpose, and also, for the erection of a lecture-room for the church. The lot on which the present parsonage stands was purchased of E. Quinby, Jr., for $75o, and the parsonage was erected thereon at a cost of about $2,500. The erection of a lecture room, as was proposed, failed through inability to raise sufficient funds. On May 28, 1860, Rev. J. H. 390 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. Reed was called to the pastoral oversight of this church, and soon after entered upon his duties as such, and continued the pastor until November 5, 1867, at which time the relation was dissolved. To the eldership were added John McClellan and John H. Kauke, on April 6, 1861 ; George H. Clark and Anderson Adair, on April 27, 1861. No notice of their ordination and installation appears, but the first mention of their presence as elders is at a meeting of the session held July 6, 1861. Messrs. Caldwell and Clark removed from the congregation, and returned again, and on June 28, 1868, they, and William Osborn, and Dr. J. M. Weaver, were by a large vote of the congregation called to this office, all of whom were duly ordained and installed September 29, 1868. The Rev. S. W. Miller commenced his labors on the first Sabbath of May, 1868. A call was made out for him January 11, 1869, which he accepted and was installed pastor on the third Tuesday of May, 1869, and continued in this relation until April 28, 1874, when the relation was dissolved. He did not cease his labors, however, until the second Sabbath of May following. The first mention we have of deacons in this congregation is on January 3, 1870, at which time D. Robison, Jr., G. Troutman, James Numbers and Thomas B. Cunningham, were elected to this office. One year later, Mr. S. A. Wells was elected deacon in place of Mr, T. B. Cunningham, who had removed out of the congregation. During his ministry 299 persons were added to the membership of the church. The project of enlarging the present house of worship, initiated during the pastorate of Mr. Miller, was not executed until after his resignation of this charge. Almost contemporaneous with his resignation, the Westminster church was organized, in connection with the Wooster University, which church and University are the legitimate children of this congregation, the University being the older. Not a little of the unwritten history of this congregation enters into the existence of the University. If the mother is proud of this child, much more has the child reason to be proud of its mother. The first membership of the Westminister congregation was from this congregation, who, out of a sense of duty merely, for the encouragement of students attending the University, consented to enter this organization. The remodeling of the present house of worship was undertaken April 28, 1874. The addition of wings on the east and west, and the arrangements for prayer meeting and Sabbath-school in the lecture-room, together with the neatness of finish in the inte- WOOSTER—CHURCHES - 391 rior, were at a cost of about $14,000. The present pastor was called to labor in this field March 16, 1875. He accepted the call and preached the first sermon in this house after the present addition to it was made, on May 9, 1875, from Haggai, chapter ii, and verse 9: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of Hosts, and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts." On Saturday, May 15, the present pastor was installed, in which service the Rev. John M. Hastings preached the sermon. President Taylor presided, proposed the constitutional questions and gave the charge to the people, and the Rev. T. K. Davis gave the charge to the pastor. On Sabbath, May 16, the house of worship was formally rededicated to the worship of Almighty God. Rev. A. A. E. Taylor, President of Wooster University, preached the sermon from Kings, vi. 7. Following the sermon, Dr. Taylor succeeded in raising about $4,00o from the congregation, to liquidate the debt at that time resting upon it, after which the pastors concluded the dedicatory services. On the 22d of June, 1875, according to previous notice, the congregation assembled for the purpose of electing Ruling Elders. As the rotary plan in the election of Euling Elders had, by action of the General Assembly, become the law of the church, the Session, in ordering this meeting, agreed to submit to the congregation the opportunity to determine whether they would elect, as heretofore, on the life plan or on the rotary plan. They accepted the latter, whereupon the existing Session, consisting of Messrs. John McClellan, John H. Kauke, George Binkerhoff and Joseph Caldwell, tendered their resignations as Elders of this church. Their resignations were accepted by the congregation, and in the election that immediately followed, these brethren were re-called to serve this congregation as Ruling (Elders, on the rotary plan, and along with these George Troutman, George Liggett, M. D., Peter Foust and L. J. Barker, were elected to the same office. At the same time D. W. Immel, N. W. Laubach and Jacob Geiselman were elected Deacons. The official constitution of the church at present is as follows : T. A. McCurdy, Pastor ; John McClellan, John H. Kauke, George Brinkerhoff, George Liggett, M. D., Joseph Caldwell, George Troutman, Peter Foust and L. J. Barker, Ruling Elders ; David Robison, Jr., D. W. Immel, James Numbers, S. A. Wells, N. W. Laubach and Jacob Geiselman, Deacons ; J. H. Kauke, James Numbers and John Hindman, Trustees. 392 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO The Sabbath school constitutes no little part of the history of this congregation; and yet we find no mention of it, except at a congregational meeting-held not many years since. Mr. David Robison, Jr., proposed that the congregation raise $200 for its use. Oral testimony places the organization of the Sabbath-school in the year 1825. Record of Membership. — The church was organized with 15 members. When the Rev. Thomas Barr was installed as pastor, the membership was 33. When this pastoral relation was dissolved, the membership was 107. During his pastorate there were admitted to its membership 146 persons. The next enrollment I find extends from January 1, 1846, to February 27, 1853, and shows an aggregate membership of 570. The enrollment during the pastorate of Mr. Miller is as follows : April, 1870, 281 ; 1871, 382 ; 1872, 336; 1873, 344; 1874, 397; 1875, 324. The present enrollment of actual members, after deducting all that have died and removed elsewhere, is 416. The Wooster Reformed Church. The history of the (German) Reformed church at Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, dates back to 1819. Some families of the Reformed faith settled at and about Wooster even before this. In the summer of 1819, the Rev. Henry Sonnedecker, residing in Washington county, Pa., made a missionary tour through the counties of Jefferson, Tuscarawas, Wayne and Richland, in Ohio, and, according to appointment, preached in a brick school house at Wooster, on the 1st day of August. This was the first sermon ever preached here by a minister of the Reformed church, and the occasion was one of interest and encouragement. At the close of services he was strongly entreated to settle in this community and organize a Reformed congregation. On the 4th of January, 1820, he, with his family, settled at Wooster, and on the 23d of that month, preached his introductory sermon to an attentive congregation in a school-house. As the Lutherans had united in the organization (being one portion of the old-fashioned " Union church "), and as yet had no pastor of their own, they mutually contributed to the support of Rev. Henry Sonnedecker, who served both interests. He continued pastor of the united congregation for seven years, when the Lutherans called Rev. G. H. Weygandt, who WOOSTER-CHURCHES - 393 preached his introductory sermon May 27, 1827, and continued his pastorate for a period of thirteen years. The first communion of the Lord's Supper under the ministry of Rev. Mr. Sonnedecker here, was celebrated on the 16th of July, 1820, when twenty-five persons communed, of whom ten had been received by confirmation on the previous day. At first, preaching or public worship was held in a schoolhouse, or at private dwellings, but during the summer and fall of 1820 a one-story frame house of worship was erected, conjointly by the Reformed church and Lutherans, and dedicated in the fall of the same year, under the name, " Die Friedens' Kirche." Rev. H. Sonnedecker closed his pastorate on the 3d of April, 1831. During his ministry here he baptized 246 children and received 50 members into communion with the church. He was much beloved by his congregation, and the day on which he preached his farewell sermon was a solemn and memorable one. The congregation, after being vacant for nearly two years, called the Rev. Charles Zwisler in the early part of 1833, who served it for nearly seven years, closing his ministry here in the latter part of 1839. During his pastorate movements were started looking toward the erection of a new church. With this end in view, in 1833, George Bender and George Reiner purchased outlot No. 23, in the town of Wooster, for $155. This lot contained nearly 212 acres. September 28, 1833, a graveyard was laid out. On the 17th of December, 1833, the united congregation was incorporated, by a charter obtained from the Ohio Legislature, under the name of "The German Lutheran and Reformed Church in Wooster and its Vicinity." On the 8th of August, 1834, the lot was purchased by the Trustees for the use of the united congregation. The building of a new brick church on the lot was set in motion in the spring of 1836. The Trustees elected to carry into effect the wishes of the congregation, in this respect, were William Reiter, Jacob Solt and Jacob Albright. The erection of the church commenced in early summer, and the corner stone was laid in the beginning of September, 1836. The sermons preached upon the occasion were by Rev. Peter Herbruck (Reformed), and Rev. Emanuel Greenwald (Lutheran). In 1837-38 the church building was completed. The total cost of the house was $4,131.74. The church was dedicated during the annual meeting of the Reformed Synod of Ohio, on Saturday, June 16, 1838. About 30 ministers, besides a large congregation, 394 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. were present. The sermons on the occasion were preached by Rev. D. Krantz (Lutheran), in German, from Mark xi. 17, and by Rev. Abraham Keller (Reformed), in English, from Psalm xxciv. In the spring of 1840, the Rev. Charles Z wisler was succeeded in the pastorate by the Rev. Augustus W. Begeman, who served the Reformed congregation for a period of three years. February, 1843, the Union Sunday-school was organized, with Isaac H. Reiter as Superintendent, and the school went into practical operation, April 2, 1843, with about l00 scholars. The successor of Rev. Begeman was the Rev. John Peter Mahuenschmidt, who having been elected by the congregation as pastor, September 2, preached his introductory sermon, October r, 1843. After a ministry of one year he resigned. He was succeeded by Rev, David Kammerer, who was elected by the congregation as pastor, November 30, 1844 and preached his first sermon, January 19, 1845. He commenced his ministry under rather adverse circumstances, but soon secured the confidence of the whole congregation and succeeded well in his labors of love. In 1847 an organ was donated to the united congregation by the Germans of Wooster, which was dedicated August 22 of that year. Believing that it would be conducive to the growth and harmony of the church, on the 16th of May, 1853, at a meeting of the membership, the original organization of the conjoint congregation was reciprocally sundered, and at the same time the (German) Reformed congregation organized itself into a separate congregation, according to the constitution of the church, under the name of the German Reformed church, of Wooster and vicinity, and elected John Moyer, John Freeman and J. Bechtel, Trustees; Samuel Rhodes, Treasurer, and G. K. -Wilhelm, Clerk. As up to this time the Reformed congregation had been served only with German preaching, the Rev. Hiram Shall was called, in August, to preach in the English language, in connection with Rev. Kammerer in German. His first sermon was delivered September 4, 1853, but he did not remain long with the society. Mr. Kammerer continued in charge of the congregation until April, 1864. During his ministry, running through a period of nineteen years, the congregation became harmonious and prosperous, and numerous, indeed, were the accessions made thereto. Worn out, enfeebled, and exhausted, by unremittent labor, and English service being necessary, he concluded his duties were too manifold WOOSTER-CHURCHES - 395 and oppressive, and resigned the pastorate of the church. His parishioners were deeply attached to him, and hesitatingly excused him from his charge. Before leaving, however, they devolved upon him the responsibility of procuring them a minister. After careful inquiry and observation he concluded to recommend Rev. Joshua H. Derr, of Allentown, Pa,, who assumed the pulpit, April 1, 1864. Mr. Derr abandoned the Wooster congregation in July, 1869. Rev. Kammerer, returning to Pittsburg with a hope of restoring his health, and finding no realization of that hope, returned to Wooster in 1866. He found the church in not a very flourishing condition, and as he says, began to " tighten the screws" on it. For four years he performed a sort of missionary labor, visiting the various charges, trying to infuse life into the " dry bones," vigor into the sleeping souls, and re-produce the unity and brotherhood of the congregation. But here a somber cloud swept the horizon of the Union church. A disposition to separation existed among the members, and the court was petitioned for partition and sale of the building and premises, which occurred at public outcry in the early part of 1869. Then they were left without Bible, pulpit, place of worship, or organization. Mr. Kammerer now resolved to make a strong effort to collect together the lost sheep of the fold, the watchmen that were guarding the Hill of Zion. He preached first in the Court House, then in France's building, then in Zimmerman's room. A congregational meeting, after the third sermon of a series in the Court House, was held, and a resolution was passed to buy grounds on which to erect a church. In a few days $2,400 was raised, and the lot was purchased for that amount, on the corner of North and Buckeye streets, where the new building stands. On the 6th of July, 1871, they began this building, C. C. Baker being architect and carpenter, D. Brown and William Roberts doing the cutting and stone work, and Joseph Haettinger contractor on brick work. The corner-stone was laid August 12, 1871, amid impressive ceremonies. The dedication occurred December 31, 1871, when sermons were delivered by Rev. H. E. Herbruck, of Canton (this was the dedicatory one) ; Rev. A. F. Zartman, licentiate, of Tiffin ; Dr. G. W. Willard, President of Heidelburg College, Tiffin. The dedication services were conducted by Dr. Willard, Rev. Miller, Rev. Herbruck and Rev. Kammerer, resident pastor. The cost of the edifice, gas and carpets inclusive, reached 396 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO. $12,400. Its membership attains 130. A flourishing Sunday-school organization, with William M. France as Superintendent, exists, with an average attendance of 100 children. Rev. D. Kammerer was born in Northampton county, Pa., near Easton, in 1802. His father was a native of Hoboken, N. J. and was the father of seven children. His father died at the advanced age of eighty-four years, and his funeral was the first one in the family. Rev. Kammerer belongs to a long-lived and vigorous ancestry, traced to Zweibrecken, Germany, and the members of his father’s family all living, with one exception. He was educated in the State of Pennsylvania, and received private biblical instruction from C, Baker, D. D., an eloquent and eminent German theologian. He is now seventy-six years old, but in good health, and hopeful of a protracted and useful life. Evangelical Lutheran Christ Church. Rev. D. Henkel, a missionary, preached the doctrines of this church in Wooster as early as 1815. Rev. John Stauck succeeded him in 1816, and for the first time administered the Lord's Supper, when Mrs. McIntyre, Mrs, Anspach and Mrs. Ihrig were received into the church by the rite of confirmation. In 1820 the German Reformed denomination united with this church, and erected a house of worship. This was a small frame building, which, converted into a dwelling, still stands on the original lot, immediately adjacent to and north of School-house No. 4. Union churches in those days were, it seems, quite popular amongst the early settlers, not specially because of affinity in the faiths between the opposites—Lutheranism and Zwinglo-Calvinism-but because of personal preference and attachments between neighbors of like nationality, language and like need of mutual assistance. Rev. H. Sonnedecker was among the early Reformed preachers. This unionistic latitudinarianism relation, as one minister designated it to us, lasted seven years. In 1827 Rev. G. H. Weygandt, of Washington county, Pa., became pastor, and a second church (joint also) was erected—a brick structure, which still stands on outlot No. 23, and was dedicated June 16, 1838, Rev. E. Greenwald preaching in the Lutheran interest. The graveyard, meantime, had been laid in 1833 on a part of the church WOOSTER-CHURCHES - 397 ground, the first person buried in it being Elizabeth Weiser, step-daughter of George Reiner. Rev. Weygandt remained pastor till 1840, preaching only in German. Rev. S. S. Kline was his succesor, and alternated every two weeks in preaching German and English, the Reformed occupying the church on the intermediate Sunday. Nativism, however, soon made itself felt. The European Germans who, during the pastorate of Rev. Weygandt, had settled in Wooster, felt themselves slighted, and withdrew, organizing a distinctive church on North Buckeye street, with a Rev. Konradi as preacher, occupying a room on that street in which religious services were held. This organization lasted but two years, when the members returned to the old church, bringing with them a pipe organ with four stops. Rev. Kline was succeeded by Rev. Benjamin Pope, who labored in both languages, but owing to declining health resigned the charge in 1856-57. The congregation was now without a pastor until 1861, when Rev. J. C, Schulze received and accepted a call. In May, 1853, a distinctively Lutheran constitution had been adopted by the congregation. In the spring of 1867 Rev. Schulze took leave of the congregation, and Rev. D. Martens became his successor in July of that year, and during the period of his ministerial service the dissolution of partnership between the two congregations in the joint possession of the church occurred. In September, 1869, Rev. Martens resigned, and on April 1, 1870, Rev. E. Cronenwett assumed charge of this field of labor. Rev. George Dillman is the present pastor, and is a young man of ability and popularity, and an excellent German and English scholar. FIRST M. E. CHURCH. Ministers representing this religious denomination held service in Wooster and vicinity as early as 1817-18. The date of the organization of the church is involved in doubt to the extent that we will not undertake to fix it. At a quarterly meeting conference, held in Wooster, December 15, 1832, for this circuit and district, William P. Christie appeared as Presiding Elder. We have also the following: Shadrach Ruark, and L. D. Bevins, C. P.; Samuel Montgomery and William Spencer, Local Deacons; E. McGinley, A. Briggs, C. Howser, S. Chacey, Jesse Warner, John Floyd and Samuel Oldfield, Exhorters; A. Stewart, A. Warner, J. Sampson, 398 - HISTORY OF WA YNE COUNTY, OHIO. D. Chacey, C. Yordy, George Snider, H. Kizer, D. Black, Al. Warner and William Spear, Leaders. At this conference four circuit stewards were appointed, to. wit: William Spear, E. McGinley, C. Howser and Andrew Laird. The Sunday-school was organized about 1832, and in 1835 the Wooster class enumerated 112 scholars. In April, 1836, William Spear, Christian Eyster and David Fairfield, were appointed a committee to estimate the cost of building a church. In 1837 a proposition was made to divide the circuit, embracing all the appointments north of Wooster and the State road, leading to Mansfield, which was agreed to. In 1834 Adam Poe was Presiding Elder, and in 1838 J. H. Power. June 27, 1840, the Trustees of the Methodist church made the following report : First, the meetinghouse has been pulled down and lies even with the ground. Second, they have determined to build a new house, of the following dimensions; 75x50, a portico 8x30, with columns in front, etc. They have contracted for building the same for $2,700, and $2,503 having been subscribed, the building is now in a state of fowardness, and they expect to have the basement story ready for use by the first of September next, and the house finished some time during the summer. Signed, J. J. Armstrong, Jacob Immel, William Spear, D. P. Hartman, M. E, Shamp, D. Black, C. Yordy, Thomas Williams, Trustees. October 17, 1840, E. Yocum appears as Presiding Elder. October 14, 1843, at a quarterly meeting the question arose whether it was best to divide the circuit and make Wooster a station, which, upon a vote, was affirmatively decided, whereupon it was moved and seconded that Bodine and Smithville appointments be attached to Wooster, which was carried. The circuit was now divided as before decided by the conference, and Wooster was constituted a station. September 21, 1844, E. Raymond appears as Presiding Elder, and D. Black, William Stitt, D. M. Crall as Stewards. May 31, 1845, Charles Hartley and M. K. Hard, were recommended to the conference as suitable persons to enter the traveling connection. November 29, 1845, Hiram Shaffer appears as Presiding Elder, and September 18, 1847, Daniel Lambert as Presiding Elder. May 6, 1849, the Trustees reported the church entirely out of debt, but suggested some repairs and improvements to the building. September 13, 1851, Thomas Barkdull appears as Presiding Elder. November 29, 1852, C. Eyster, William Henry, Philo S. Vanhouten, J. Anderson, J. Boucher, G. Bartol and E. Oldroyd, WOOSTER-CHURCHES - 399 were appointed Trustees of the parsonage, the grounds for which were donated by William Henry. September 23, 1854, J. F. Kellum appears as Presiding Elder. March 27, 1858, J. Hinton offered the following preamble and resolution : WHEREAS, The putting on of gold is a plain violation of Scripture precept, as well as the rules of our church, therefore, be it Resolved, That the members of this M. E. Conference prohibit the use of it in their own families, and discountenance the use of it by the members of the church. After discussion, Rev. J. Durbin presented the following as a substitute, which was accepted by Mr. Hinton, and passed by the Conference : Resolved, That we hereby request our pastor to preach a discourse, at his own -convenience, on the subject of dress; and that we will sustain him in the execution of the General Rules of our discipline, without exception. October 9, 1858, Joseph H, Kennedy appears as Presiding Elder. September 28, 1863, H. G. Dubois appears as Presiding Elder, and after him C. H. Owen, and in 1868 the immortal Joseph Matlock. Chaplain Collier is the present Presiding Elder. LIST OF STATION PREACHERS SINCE 1843.

George W. Howe E. R. Jewett Cyrus Sawyer H. E. Pitcher Henry Whiteman Leonard G. Gurley S. L. Yourte Jesse Durbin Horatio Bradley J. S. Kalb*

1843 1844 1845-46 1847 1848-49 1850-51 1852 1853-54 1855

W. H. Seeley. H. C. Dubois Lorenzo Warner M. K. Hard C. L. Foote A. Palmer Joseph Matlock George Mather. George Pepper G. A. Hughes

1857-58 1859-60 1861 1862 1863-64 1865-66 1867-68 1869-70 1871-73 .Present Minister

ZION'S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH. This religious body was organized September 18, 1840, by the Rev. Solomon Ritz. The following is a list of officers and members of the church at the time of its constitution : George Reiner, J. A. Lawrence, Elders ; Henry D. Miller, Israel Windel, Deacons ; Members-George Reiner, John A. Lawrence, H. D. Miller, Israel Windel, Isaac Notestine, Abraham Fox, Conrad Oiler, Benj. Lehman, M. A. Fox, Mary * Succeded Bradley in September, 1855.