Des Moines Co./History/1879 History/Religion

1879 History of Des Moines County
Transcribed by
Lou Bickford &
Janet Brandt

RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF BURLINGTON.
Presbyterian, Episcopal, Baptist

Presbyterian Church.—The early history of the Presbyterian Church in Burlington is almost identical with that of the Congregational, both having grown out of the same early religious organization of 1838. The records of the Presbyterian Church, however, attribute to Rev. L. G. Bell, who came from Tennessee, the honor of first planting the Presbyterian Church in Burlington, in the year named. This organization was reported to the General Assembly three years later, with thirty-two members, the Rev. John Fulton, stated supply. This organization having adopted the Congregational name and form in 1843, it was dropped from the Assembly's roll in 1844, and such of the members of the infant organization as were not satisfied with the change took measures to effect a new organization.
   In February, 1845, Rev. Dr. Cummins and Rev. William L. McCalla met these persons, organized them into a church and ordained Mr. David McIntyre the first Ruling Elder. Mr. David Rice was elected and ordained to the same office July 9, 1846. William B. Ewing, John F. Henry, M.D., J. C. Fletcher, Robert Armstrong and Nathaniel Ervin were selected, October 29, 1846, the first Board of Trustees for the young Church. Col. Isaac Leffler, presided over the first meeting called for the purpose of taking measures to build a house of worship, and at this meeting a subscription for the building was started. Dr. John F. Henry and Nathaniel Ervin, Esq., heading the list with $50 each, which was considered a very large and liberal amount. The church-building, corner Fifth and Washington streets, was so far completed that services were held in the basement in the autumn of 1846. In the early part of the following year, the house was completed and dedicated to the service of God. Father Stewart, then of Macomb, Ill., preached the dedication sermon. Before this house was ready for use, the congregation met in the schoolroom of Miss Mary Calkins, which stood on Main street, nearly opposite Old Zion Church. Here the first communion was administered, by the Rev. Aaron Leonard. For three years, the Church depended on occasional supplies for the ministry of the Word. Rev. Thomas Bracken preached for six months, and was followed by Rev. W. R. Stewart, then of Macomb, Ill., who came over once a month, as the roads and river permitted. Up to the autumn of 1848, fifteen persons were added to the membership of the Church.
   Early in the year 1848, Rev. C. C. Cuyler, D. D., then Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, visited the city and preached for the congregation. Through his recommendation, Rev. James G. Shinn, a recent graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, was invited to become Pastor of the Church. He arrived in the summer of 1848, and November 2 following, he was ordained and installed first regular Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Burlington. On the next day, Sabbath, he held his first communion session, on which occasion seven persons were admitted into the Church on profession of faith, and nine on certificate.
   During the pastorate of Mr. Shinn, the organization of the church was fully completed, according to the Presbyterian standard, by the election of Charles L. Rentz to the office of Deacon, and to the Board of Deacons William Grier, M. D., and Nathaniel Ervin were soon after added. In 1849, Mr. Rentz was ordained Elder, in place of John G. Law, who had removed to St. Louis, and Peter Jacoby and John Thompson were made Deacons. At this time, the Church had not yet become self-supporting, receiving from the Board of Home Missions annual aid to the amount of $200. The infant Church was burdened with a debt incurred in building; but both Pastor and people struggled bravely with their difficulties, the former contributing to his own support by teaching, and many of the latter working with their hands on the building, cheered by the sympathy and aid of fellow-Christians in other places. The old pulpit Bible and the lamps that originally lighted the house were presented by friends in Dr. Rice's church, at Cincinnati, Ohio. The first communion service was the gift of two sisters of Rev. Mr. Shinn. The present communion service is a memorial in memory of Mr. Silas Williams and his daughter, Miss Louisa Williams, given by two other daughters.
   Mr. Shinn continued his pastoral relations to the Church until 1851; but having been called East in October, by the illness of his wife, in November following, his resignation was received, and on the 22d day of December, 1851, the pastoral relation was dissolved at a meeting of Presbytery held in West Point, Iowa. During his pastorate of three years, eighty-five persons were added to the Church, of whom thirty-one were on profession of faith. Mr. Shinn is remembered as a faithful and successful Pastor, as a man of culture and refinement, an able and forcible preacher, and was beloved by his congregation . In 1876, he was residing at Waterford, N. J.
   For one year, from May 27, 1852, Rev. Joshua Phelps, D. D., ministered to the Church, on a salary of $700. At the close of the year, he received a call to become Pastor, but declined. He was a talented man and a strong preacher, and the Church prospered under his ministry, receiving, in the year, an addition of thirty-eight to the membership. The total membership, in the spring of 1853, was 118. The first record of contributions to the Boards is found in this year, $57 to foreign missions and $10 to publication. After Dr. Phelps' time, for a period of six months, the Church was supplied by Rev. W. E. Larkin, then of Rock Island, Ill., a period of which not much of interest is on record, expecting that a call was issued to the Rev. I. N. Candee, D. D., of La Fayette, Ind., and declined by him on account of the large opposing minority. About the time Mr. Larkin's ministrations closed, an unfortunate difference arose between the Session and the members of the Church, which culminated in an appeal to the Presbytery for advice, followed by that body sending Revs. Salmon Cowles and Robert McQuigan to give counsel. They advised that the acting Session ought to resign, and that a new Session acceptable to the majority should be chosen. Their advice was followed, and on the 10th of April, 1854, John Flournoy Henry, Denise Denise and J. B. Browning were elected, ordained and installed Ruling Elders, Mr. Coles presiding over the meeting. This measure of compromise did not bring the longed-for reconciliation. The day after the installation, the new Session, as its first official act, granted certificates of dismission to twenty-three persons, who formed a new organization known as the Second Presbyterian Church of Burlington, no records of which are accessible. Rev. Mr. Jennings was stated supply of the new society for a time, and afterward the Rev. Tracy M. Oviatt. They erected the house of worship on Third street, and, after struggling for a few years under a debt of over $7,000, the organization broke down. It was followed by another, under the name of the Westminster Church; but, after a vain attempt to pay the old debt, they abandoned the enterprise, and the house was sold, and purchased by the Roman Catholic Bishop. From the beginning to the end of the Second Church enterprise, was about five years. An attempt was once made to effect a union between the First and Second Churches; but, for some reason, failed. We are unable to give the exact cause of the original differences between them, nor is it now deemed advisable to perpetuate a record of them.
   Resuming the history of the Church proper, the pastorate of Rev. Joseph Harrison, D. D.. began September 27, 1854, and ended in October, 1857. During this period, extensive repairs were made on church-building and lot, debts were paid, and Pastor's salary increased to $800, and fifty-five persons united with the Church. Dr. Harrison is reported as a devoted minister. Succeeding him, the Church was supplied for a year by Licentiate W. L. Mitchell, who, though twice called to the pastorate, declined. During this year (1858), no increase in membership occurred; the number reported to the Assembly, April 1, 1859, was ninety-seven. Rev. James Harvey Clarke began as a supply in July, 1859, and in September of the same year he received a call, and was installed Pastor, remaining two years and one month, when he resigned, going into the Seventh Regiment Iowa Volunteers as Chaplin. During his pastorate, twenty were added to the membership. Mr. William L. McPherren was added to the Session February 10, 1861, and died in 1870. The Rev. W. E. Westervelt became stated supply in August, 1861, continuing until the spring of 1864, when he was succeeded by Rev. George D. Stewart, D. D.. and for six years and a half ministered to the Church, which was a period of unusual prosperity to the organization. One hundred and six persons were added to the Church, a net increase of forty members; the financial interests were put into good shape; the house was enlarged and repaired, and the Pastor's salary raised from $800 to $1,500 per annum. Dr. Stewart is an able and eloquent preacher, and is now Pastor of the church at Fort Madison. During his stay here, the Church raised $938 for the Boards of the Church, and the Session was increased by the installation of Prof. J. Allison Smith, Thomas Darling and Thompson McCosh. Samuel Robinson, and afterward O. H. Schenck and John Dickie, were added to the Board of Deacons.
   Rev. John C. McClintock, present Pastor, at the request of the Session, came from Mount Pleasant, where he was preaching, to preside over a Congregational meeting held on the 5th day of December, 1870. To the surprise of the Chairman, as it had been unpremeditated by the people and unsought and unthought of by him, the result of the meeting was a unanimous call to become their Pastor. His installation took place January 19, 1871. The Rev. W. B. Noble, then of Fort Madison, presided and preached the sermon. The Rev. Alexander Scott, then at Kossuth, Iowa, delivered the charge to the Church, and the Rev. H. B. Knight, of Ottumwa, the charge to the Pastor. His pastoral work has been attended with the most gratifying results, some of which we briefly mention. In 1871, the Sunday School Teachers' meeting was organized. In January, 1873, the Ladies' Society was formed, its object to raise funds to furnish a new house of worship. February 2, 1873, Mr. John R. Nelson was ordained and installed a Ruling Elder. During the same month, a series of union meetings were held by the various Pastors, assisted for two weeks by the evangelist, Rev. E. P. Hammond; and, as the fruits of the meeting, the Presbyterian Church received sixty-one members on the profession of faith, and thirty-six on certificate, the largest total ever before received by this Church in one year. November 10 of the same year, the Ladies' Missionary Society was organized, under the direction of Mrs. S. J. Rhea, formerly a missionary in Persia. May 3, 1874, W. E. Blake, Esq., was ordained and installed a Ruling Elder. In 1876, the Church abolished the pew-renting system as a means of Church revenue, and all funds are now raised through the envelope plan, by voluntary pledges and weekly offerings. At the end of the year, the Trustees reported, for the first time in the history of the Church (as far as is known), that the salary had all been paid before it was due.
Christ Episcopal Church.—This Church was organized on the 2d day of February, 1840, and is the oldest Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Iowa. The first Vestry were: Charles Mason, Senior Warden; V. P. Van Antwerp, Junior Warden; A. C. Dodge, George Partridge, Bernhard Henn, Charles I. Starr, Charles Nealley, James W. Grimes, William B. Remey, J. P. Bradstreet and Henry W. Moore. Rev. John Batchelder was the first Rector, and presided at the meeting when the Church was organized. He continued to be the Rector of the parish until the 21st day of November, 1850, at which time he tendered his resignation. During his incumbency, the lot was secured and the church-building, at the corner of Fifth and High streets, was erected.
   The rectorship was vacant, after Mr. Batchelder's resignation, for about a year. On July 22, 1851, Rev. William Adderly accepted a call to the rectorship, and the records show that he was present at a meeting on the 1st of December. At this time, the Church was only able to pay the Rector a salary of $500. The records do not show when Mr. Adderly resigned. He was present and presided at the annual Parish meeting for the election of officers on Easter Monday, April 12, 1852. His name nowhere appears in the records after that. January 7, 1854, at a meeting of the Vestry, the Secretary was authorized to write to F. R. Haff, requesting him to visit the parish; and, on the 20th of the same month, the Wardens were authorized to write Mr. Haff and request him to take charge of the parish, "with a salary of $300 in addition to the amount agreed to be given by the Bishop." At the regular Easter meeting, April 17, 1854, Mr. Haff was present and acted as Chairman. Mr. Haff was Rector of the parish until February 7, 1859, at which time he tendered his resignation. During his incumbency, the tower and chancel additions to the church were made, and an organ purchased, which is still in use. On March 28, 1859, the Vestry called to the rectorship Rev. W. H. Barris, D. D., now Ely Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Griswold College, Davenport, Iowa. He accepted the call, and was Rector of the parish until January 22, 1866, at which time he resigned to accept his professorship. Under his administration, the Church prospered greatly, and his resignation was accepted with much regret by the Vestry. A series of resolutions, expressing esteem and confidence and indorsing and approving all his acts as Rector, and regrets at his departure, were adopted. He was succeeded in the rectorship by Dr. George W. Watson, who took charge of the parish about Easter, 1866. His incumbency continued till September 28, 1874, at which time he resigned the rectorship to accept a call to Red Wing, Minn. During the time Dr. Watson was in charge of the parish, the people undertook to purchase eligible grounds and to erect a new church, the growth of the Church seeming to demand more room and better accommodations. The lots fronting on North Hill Public Square, corner of Fifth and High streets, were purchased by the Vestry, in pursuance of the expressed wishes of the people. A partial subscription was raised, plans and specifications for an elegant church were prepared, and the stone foundations were laid. But, unfortunately, a change in the times prevented the completion of the new church. The people refused to give the necessary amounts even to pay for the lots. The rapidly accumulating interest soon involved the Church in difficulty, and finally resulted in the sale of the lots purchased, and also the old church property, which still left a portion of the debt unpaid; so that the Church to-day, so far as property is concerned, is about where it was nearly forty years ago. After the resignation of Dr. Watson, the parish was vacant for a time. About April 1, 1875, Rev. F. B. Nash, Jr., was called, but his incumbency only lasted till July 1, 1876, when he resigned. On the 2d of July 1877, the Rev. Frank M. Gregg, the present able and efficient Rector, was called, but did not accept and take charge of the parish until April 22, 1878. The prospects of the Church have much improved since Mr. Gregg entered upon his work. He is recognized as one of the ablest and most zealous Rectors in the Church. The Church now occupies and holds worship in a building near the corner of Third and Valley streets, known as "Guild Hall." It was rented and fitted up by the Church Guild, which was organized under the direction of the Rector, and which numbers about two hundred and fifty members. The Church numbers some two hundred communicates and one hundred and twenty-five families. The Sunday school is in a flourishing condition, under the superintendency of A. Cootswsorth, Esp., and numbers about one hundred and fifty scholars. Under the charge of the Rector, there is an industrial school for girls, where poor children are taught to sew, materials being supplied by the charity of its friends, and the garments made by the children are given to them. Over two hundred girls are enrolled upon the lists of this school. Some of our most prominent citizens have been connected with the Church as its officers, among whom we might name Gen. Jacob G. Lauman, Maj. W. H. Mann, George C. Lauman, Hon. Charles H. Phelps, Gen. Fitz Henry Warren, William Garrett, Harvey Ray, Jr., Joshua Copp, John H. Armstrong and many others.
   The present officers of the Church are: Hon. Charles Mason, Senior Warden; P. Henry Smyth, Junior Warden; Thomas Wilkinson, Gen. S. L. Glasgow, E. Sherwood, Vestrymen.
   The congregation are now contemplating the erection of a new church in a central locality, and already a fund for that purpose is being raised, and the prospect is fair that soon this Church will be in the full tide of a renewed prosperity. It is the only Episcopal Church in Burlington fully organized and in union with the Convention.
The Burlington Baptist Association, under this name, had its origin in a meeting of the old Des Moines Association held with the Pisgah Baptist Church, twelve miles north of Burlington, August 27, 1859. In the minutes of that year, the following report is found: "The committee on the division of the Association report that as the Association has now become so large, and is spread over so wide a territory, it be now divided by the line of the Skunk River, and resolved into two new associations, the northern to be known as the Burlington Association, and the southern as the Keokuk Association, which shall terminate the existence of this organization. It appears from the minutes of the two Associations, for a number of years after the division, they both spoke of their meetings in 1860 as their first anniversaries. But at a meeting of the Keokuk Association, held at Fort Madison in 1866, Bro. Hubbard, of Keokuk, offered the following preamble and resolutions:
   Whereas, It is desirable to preserve our associational name and number, so far as is consistent, and the denominational history, so far as it is connected with the Association:
   And Whereas, This Keokuk Association is a chief part of the territory of the original Des Moines Association, the first one organized in the State of Iowa, and is a continuation of the same more properly than any other one Association, and may also more justly than any other similar body assume the old name, as Des Moines County formerly embraced all Southern Iowa, therefore
   Resolved, That the name of the Association be so far restored to the original as to be called the Keokuk Baptist Association (formerly Des Moines), and that the constitution be amended accordingly; and also that the numbers of the annual meetings hereafter date from the organization of the Des Moines Association.
   "These were adopted, and the Keokuk Association has taken the name and date of the old Des Moines Association ever since. Now it seems to your committee that the action of the Keokuk Association is correct, except in this, that it assumes that it is more properly the successor of the old Des Moines Association than any other. It is legitimately a successor; so is, also, the Burlington Association; and if the preference is to be given to either of the two, it properly belongs to the Burlington Association, as it not only covers territory that was covered by the Des Moines Association, but it contains all the churches which originally constituted that body; and, moreover, as the Keokuk Association is dated, it is older than any church in it. We do not and have not proposed, however, that the Burlington Association find any fault with the Keokuk Association, but that it places itself before the world historically, as it did last year (at the suggestion of your committee), by calling itself the Burlington (formerly Des Moines) Association, and dating its anniversaries accordingly.
   "The history of the Burlington Association as now dated, therefore, begins with the history of the Baptists in Iowa. It was organized in Danville, Des Moines County, on Saturday before the fourth Lord's Day in August, 1839, in a grove in the southwest part of the township, near what was the residence of Bro. William Mathis. Three churches united in the organization. These were the Danville, then known as Long Creek Church, organized October 20, 1834, by Rev. John Logan, of McDonough County, Ill.; Union, organized in 1839, afterward known as Rock Spring Church, but long since extinct, principally on account of removals, located six miles southwest of Burlington and three miles southeast of the present Spring Creek Church; and the Pisgah, now located twelve miles north of Burlington, organized in 1838. The Association was organized by electing Elder Jonah Todd as Moderator, Elder Alexander Evens as Clerk, and appointing Elder Hezekiah Johnson to preach the introductory sermon. Four delegates were present from Danville, and three from each of the other churches The whole business of the body was transacted while nine of the delegates were sitting on a log, and the Moderator standing behind a chair. The body then took the name "Iowa Association," as it was the first and only one in the Territory. But upon the organization of the Davenport Association, the name was changed to the "Des Moines Association," not as Rev. S. J. Johnson in his history suggests, after the name of a church in Des Moines Township, in Lee County, but after the name of Des Moines County, which originally covered all Southeastern Iowa. The time and place of the subsequent anniversaries, and the statistics of the same, as far as can now be gathered, we present you in the statistical table, published in your minutes last year, and which we recommend to be published this year also. The minutes of the seventh anniversary are the oldest to which your committee has had access, and they are probably the oldest now in existence. Of this meeting Elder J. M. Post was Moderator, and Bro. Otis Thompson, now living near Bonaparte, was Clerk. It was held with the Ebenezer, in Lee County. Before this anniversary, Elders Alexander Evens, Hezekiah Johnson and Ezra Fisher had removed to Oregon, and Elders Hiram Burnett and William Elliott had arrived from Ohio, coming in 1842. Other ministers, such as Elder William Sperry, R. Cheadle, M. J. Post, A. Ball, J. Moore and B. B. Nichols, had also come to the Territory and commenced work, mostly within the bounds of the Association. In their minutes of 1845, the names of Samuel Pickard, G. W. Bond and J. Bond appear as licentiates. Others had labored with us and gone already, such as J. N. Seeley and Hope. The Association had increased from 3 churches and 90 members in 1839 to 25 churches and 655 members in 1845, making a general average of 26 members to a church. The largest churches were: Fox River, with 77 members; Danville, 57; Rock Spring, 56; Farmington, 48; and Round Point, 48. The Association met for the third time in Danville in 1850. Hiram Bennett preached the introductory sermon, and served as Moderator. During the meeting, Elder A. Seamans preached the dedication sermon of the new meeting-house. New churches admitted were the Burlington, Brighton, Richland, Charleston and Anamosa. In 1851, the Association was held in Agency City. Here took place the first division; the eastern portion was to be known as the First Des Moines, and was to be composed of the following churches: Keokuk, Burlington, Mt. Pleasant, Danville, Pisgah, Washington, Columbus City, Denmark, Farmington, Charleston, Liberty, Ebenezer, Mount Zion, Union, Marion and Township--15 in all. It had for ministers and pastors, Elders Elihu Gunn, G. J. Johnson, J. Williams, H. Burnett, S. J. Penny, W. H. Surton, William A. Wells, D. Jewett, W. B. Morey, J. Moore and Wilson Woodruff--11 in all. The Western Division to be known as the Second Des Moines Association was composed of the following churches: Fox River, Keosauqua, Fairfield, Libertyville, Brighton, Richland, Sigourney, Middle Creek, Agency City, Blakesburg, Oskaloosa, Anamosa, White Creek, Knoxville and Harmony--15 in all, with ministers and pastors as follows: Elders William Elliott, O. Ormsby, J. Bond, G. W. Bond, B. B. Arnold, A. W. Atwood, J. C. Curtis, C. L. Riley and W. D. Everett--9 in all. In this division, you will observe that Fort Des Moines Church, with others in that part of the State, was left out of both the Des Moines Associations to form a new one in that part of the State."
   These arrangements were virtually carried out, the upper association, however, not taking the name assigned above, and some of the churches not affiliating with the bodies to which they were assigned. A second division was made, as referred to above, at Pisgah, in 1859. The Association had grown from its organization in 1839, from 90 members, on its first division in 1851, to 1,126 members. In 1852, it started again with 725, and grew to 2,036 in 1859. The ordained ministers at this time were Elders J. B. Knight, Isaac Leonard, W. H. Surton, D. Jewett, A. Edson, M. Sutton, H. Burnett, E. Crane, S. Pickard, B. P. Bishop, L. B. Allen, D.D., J. S. Robert, A. D. Bush, J. Lee, J. M. Wood, G. W. S. Bell, W. R. Woodruff, C. Bush, T. M. Ind, S. W. Marston, W. J. Cochran, J. W. Coggshall, G. J. Johnson, Morgan Edwards, W. A. Eggleston--25 in all, with 6 licentiates. The visiting brethren present were: Elders I. J. Stoddard, of the Assam Mission, India; Dexter Smith, of the State Convention, and E. C. Cady, of St. John, N. B.
   At the thirtieth anniversary, or the sixth of the Burlington Association, held in Burlington, a committee of five were appointed to try to effect a union between this and the Keokuk Association, and the committee recommended that the following churches be dismissed to form the Washington Association, viz.: Richmond, Washington, Columbus City, Davis Creek and Ainsworth--5 churches with 365 members. This was virtually a third division of the Association.
   The thirty-fourth anniversary was held in New London in 1872, and is especially worthy of note, because of the presence of Rev. J. E. Clough, of Ongole, India, who was educated in Burlington University, where he was converted, baptized, and afterward ordained in 1864. Here he still holds his membership. He had then returned to us after an absence of less than eight years, during which time he had baptized about 2,000 Tellagoos. He came home seeking for health, $50,000 for the Ram-a-potam Seminary and four new men for the Tellagoos Mission. Here the first subscription was made toward that $50,000, all of which was afterward raised; and the three things sought by Bro. Clough were granted in the good providence of God. It may be well also to mention here the fact, that soon after the thirty-ninth anniversary, held in Danville in 1877, Miss R. A. S. Norwood, of Burlington University, left to engage in mission work in Swaton, China. Thus has Burlington been most highly honored in having two such noble representatives in the foreign field.
   It may be well here to mention the names of Pastors of the different churches since the division, of the Association in 1859. At Danville, J. B. Knight, Elijah Russ, S. West and R. King. At Pisgah, Isaac Leonard, W. E. James, S. Brimhall, H. Burnett, I. J. Penny. At Washington, A. Edson, Charles Thompson, A. Pratt, H. A. Braden, A. Scott. At First Mount Pleasant, M. Sutton, Elihu Gunn, W. L. Brown, R. W. Benton, L. M. Berry, J. F. Merriam. At Burlington, P. P. Bishop, A. F. Willey, D. F. Carnahan, J. B. Fuller, L. W. Hayhurst, J. E. Hopper and J. C. Hurd, M. D. At Jefferson, J. Lee, J. D. Wilson, L. Frescoln, J. Warren, D. Simmons, George Berry. At Richmond, C. Thompson, A. C. Sangster, E. Ward. At New London, John Warren, M. Edwards, R. King, H. H. Parks, J. W. Hoffman, B. F. Goldsby, I. H. Denton. At Columbus City, W. R. Woodruff, J. L. Cole. At Marion Township, Charles Thompson. At Flint River, E. Russ. At Huson, Moses Parker. At Davis Creek, J. W. Coffman, A. W. Sutton. At Fairfield, Isaac Leonard, C. Darby, C. B. Egan, J. R. Shanefelt, J. H. Storms, J. Frey, H. W. Thiele. At Second Mount Pleasant, J. D. Wilson, William Webster, J. H. Handy, A. M. Colston, William Washington. At Brighton, J. C. Burkholder, D. Morse, H. H. Parks. At Second Burlington, John Warren, E. Burkett, G. C. Corey, William Webster, G. W. Shelton. At Ainsworth, A. W. Sutton. At Mount Carmel, H. Burnett, E. Crane. At Goldsby, I. H. Denton. At New Sweden, Peter Colson. At Beulah, D. Simmons, George H. Berry. At South Hill, Burlington, J. D. Fuller, L. D. Benedict, ----- Fish. At Spring Creek, A. F. Sharpnack, M. T. Lamb, Joel H. Austin.
   Thus since 1859, there have been twenty-four different churches in the Association, with about sixty different men as Pastors.
The First Baptist Church was organized April 1, 1849. The twelve following persons were its constituent members, viz.: Rev. G. J. Johnson, William B. Ewing, William R. Hinkley, Hannah Chamberlain, Mary Kitchen, Ann Bridges, Kitsey Martin, Benjamin Gore, Kitty Gore, Aaron Chamberlain, Harriet Smith, Susan Holdridge.
   On the same day the following persons, who had been received as candidates for church fellowship, were baptized: John M. Webber, John Bridges, Mary Garret, and Arville McGuire, at the close of the morning service, and at 6 o'clock on the evening of the same day, George Van Beck and Adaline Van Beck were baptized by the first Pastor, Rev. G. J. Johnson.
   The first pastorate continued for five years, when, after an interval of a few months, it was formed again and continued about four years longer, closing September 1, 1858. Rev. P. P. Bishop then became Pastor, and held the office for one year and nine months, resigning June 2, 1860. The Church was then without a Pastor six months, when Rev. A. F. Willey became Pastor December 16, 1860, continuing this relation for three years and nine months, resigning October 1, 1864. He was succeeded by Rev. D. T. Carnahan, April 2, 1865, who resigned November 3, 1866. Then came Rev. J. B. Fuller, February 10, 1867, remaining until January 1870. Rev. L. W. Hayhurst then supplied the pulpit for one year, and, at its expiration, February 2, 1871, accepted of the pastorate, resigning in February 3, 1871, accepted of the pastorate, resigning in February, 1872, when, after a short vacancy in the pastorate, Rev. J. E. Hopper accepted of the office, March, 1872, and began work the following month, April 19, 1872.
   The present church edifice was built during the pastorate of Rev. G. J. Johnson, at a cost of about $9,000. The largest additions to the Church were during the pastorates of Johnson, Willey and Hopper. In all over one thousand persons have been enrolled members of this Church.
   There are now four Baptist Churches in the city, and church and school property held by Baptists in the city worth $80,000. The Church has erected a pleasant and commodious parsonage on West Hill. The present membership of the congregation is about two hundred and fifty, which is presided over by Rev. J. C. Hurd, who succeeded J. E. Hopper as Pastor. Connected with the Church is the Sunday School, the Women's Foreign Missionary Society and the Ladies' Benevolent Society.

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