HISTORY OF THE DISCIPLES IN ILLINOIS 1819-1914

by Nathaniel S. Haynes, A.M.

[Sangamon County, pages 369-382]

Auburn.

Organized 1868; present membership, 70; value of property, $3,000; Bible school began 1868; present enrollment, 40.

One or two efforts to form a church here that should be Christian only had come to naught. But in the spring of 1868 the following named Disciples constituted themselves into such church: A. G. and Mary A. Harvey, John and Laura Piper, George W. and Margaret Hackley, M. G. and Mary E. Wadsworth, A. M. and Salome T. Black, and Nancy F. Wineman. Meetings for public worship were held on the second floors of store buildings. A good Bible school was held. Preaching for half-time was arranged.

John Piper and G. W. Hackley, two carpenters of limited means, led in the building enterprise. The former gave the lot. On a $600 subscription they began to builds a house. When the structure was about ready for the doors and windows, it was wrecked one night by a hurricane. It was the only building in the town that was damaged. The next day the two carpenters began on the work again. After two or three years the building was finished. These facts attest their faith and heroism.

Barclay.

This congregation grew from the Wolf Creek Church, located two miles southeast, which was one of the early churches of the county, and prosperous and influential in its time. As indicating the conceptions of "discipline" then current, the following transcript is made from the original records of the Wolf Creek Church:

Jerry Richerson husband of Alley Richerson.

The above named person is excommunicated from this congregation for the following disobedience.

He dissembled from the Brethren, almost altogether. (Forbiden Hebrews 10 & 25). His works were those of the flesh. (Galacians 5 & 22-23.) we are commanded to withdraw ourselves from every person who walks disorderly. Second Thessalonians 3rd & 6, and first Corinthians S & 4 says, In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, when you are gethered together and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. This done Feb. 7th, 1841.

W. M. Ellis, Clerk.

On the same day and in the same formal manner, Alley Richerson was excommunicated because "she did not meet with Brethern on the first day of the week to commemorate the death and suffering of our Savior, violated even the laws of morality, in her conversation; in short, she refused to live that character and carry out that principle taught in the Christian Religion," etc., etc.

The Wolf Creek Church was organized Sept. 3, 1837, with Adam J. Groves, Rezin H. Constant and Melitus W. Ellis as elders, and Samuel Wilson, James Taylor and William F. Elkin as deacons. Up to Feb. 5, 1849, there had been 282 members.

The old building was burned, so that in 1890 the chapel in Barclay was built and the congregation met there. Removals and the influx of miners decimated the congregation so that only a small Sunday school is kept going.

Berlin.

Organized 1825, by Andrew Scott; present membership, 80; value of property, including parsonage, $1,500; Bible school began 1867; present enrollment, 100.

(See Chap. II.) In its early years the church was served by Andrew Scott, Theophilus Sweet, Judge J. W. Taylor, A. J. Kane and Dr. Mallory. Charles O. Rowe came from Indian Creek and so strengthened the congregation that a frame chapel was built in 1842, one and a half miles northwest of Berlin. Then it was known as the Mt. Zion Christian Church. The elders then were Mr. Scott, William Grant and Henry Ellis. Then Harrison Osborn and Robert Foster served the church for six years. It was here, in 1855, that Mr. Foster, removing his coat in order to immerse thirty converts in Spring Creek before a large assembly, disclosed the fact that he was wearing his "boiled shirt" with the bosom behind. In 1859 a new chapel was built in Berlin, which thereafter became the place of meeting'. This town was the boyhood home of War Governor Richard Yates. Early in 1861 he visited the place and made a "war speech" in the Christian chapel that greatly perturbed the congregation. Two of his sisters, Mrs. Martha Scott and Mrs. Elliott, were members here. A four days' public discussion was held in this house during the Civil War. Since then sixteen pastors have served the church.

Buffalo.

Organized 1875, by G. M. Goode and J. B. Allen; present membership, 125; value of property, including parsonage, $4,000; Bible school began 1875.

Two pastors, G. M. Goode, then of Illiopolis, and J. B. Allen, then of Mechanicsburg, conducted a series of meetings in the schoolhouse in the fall of 1874. The work was purely missionary on their part and resulted in eight conversions. The organization of thirty members was made early in the following January. T. J. Underwood, John Jacobs and Samuel Garvey were chosen elders. A church building, costing $2,000, was erected the same year.

Cantrall.

Organized 1820, by Stephen England; present membership, 125; value of property, including parsonage, $3,300; Bible-school enrollment, 29.

(See Chap. II.) In 1819 a band of pioneers made the first settlement north of the Sangamon River, a few miles northwest of Springfield. Stephen England was the leader. He was born in Virginia in 1773. When quite young he was taken to Bath County, Ky. There he married Anna Harper. They became the parents of twelve children. The family moved to Madison County, O., in" 1813, and in the fall of 1818 to Madison County, 111. Mr. England was a Baptist preacher in Kentucky, but was never known as such in Sangamon County. In June, 1819, he first preached to his neighbors who assembled in his home. The next year (May 15) he formed a church with the following members*. Stephen and Anna England, Jachoniah and Nancy Langston, Levi and Fanny Cantrall, Mrs. Adelphia Wood, Mrs. Sarah Cantrall and Mrs. Lucy Scott. This was the first church organized in this county. These nine people then signed the following agreement:

We, members of the church of Jesus Christ, being providentially-moved from our former place of residence from distant part, and being baptized on the profession of our faith and met at the house of Stephen England, on a branch of Higgins Creek, in order to form a constitution, having first given ourselves to the Lord and then to one another, agree that our constitution shall be on the Holy Scriptures of Old and New Testaments, believing them to be the only rule of faith and practice.

In 1823 a log meeting-house was built one and a half miles southeast of the site of Cantrall, near what is now known as the Britten Cemetery. The cracks were chinked, and greased paper was used for the windows. This primitive temple was built by the volunteer labor of the settlement. In 1846 the second house was built in the village, and the third in 1873. Mr. England continued to serve the church till his death, preaching his last sermon sitting. He solemnized the first marriage in the county in his own home. On one occasion a couple came from Fort Clark, now Peoria, to be married by him.

The congregation was served by about all of the pioneer preachers of central Illinois. It gave John England and R. E. Dunlap to the ministry. Besides these, many great and good men and women have gone forth from this church.

David England served the congregation as an officer over half a century, George T. Sayles as an efficient elder for forty years, and later, John and Robert Grant and John S. Lake have given invaluable service. The names of Carlile, Livi and John T. Canterbury, Hiram Powell, "Uncle Jack" Cline and Carlile Witts are cherished.

The church has always been missionary. It was never affiliated with the Christian Denomination.

Clear Lake (Springfield).

Organized 1865, by A. J. Kane; value of property, $1,500.

The charter members of this church were H. D. Turley and wife, M. D. Whitesides and wife, B. Turley and wife, J. Cartmel and wife, C. Churchill and wife, B. F. White-sides and wife, Mrs. Black, T. King and Mary F. Turley.

Its house of worship was built the same year. For many years the church was a strong force in the community for truth and righteousness. Its most active and useful members were H. D. Turley and family. Denominational opposition was active for a long time. It was here that A. J. Kane baptized Dr. W. A. Mallory.

By deaths and removals the church has become feeble. The remnant are dividing between Riverton and Springfield Churches.

Dawson.

Organized 1887; present membership, 30; value of property, $2,500; Bible school began 1887; present enrollment, 30.

The chapel was bought of the Presbyterians. The congregation has lost by removals. The influx of coal miners adds to the difficulties to be met.

Illiopolis.

Organized 1866, by C. P. Short; present membership, 408; value of property, including parsonage, $17,600; Bible school began 1868; present enrollment, 240.

The original members of this church were Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Ford, Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Garvey, Mr. and Mrs. John C. McGuffin, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bourland, W. L. Roberts, W. N. Streeter, F. M. Green, Mrs. Mary Ruby, Mrs. Sarah Dake, Archibald Boyd and Mrs. Mary Skeen.

For a long time the meetings were held in the M. E. Church, with only occasional preaching. But this privilege was withdrawn and the meetings were held in the public-school house.

On a cold, misty, windy day in November, 1867, the congregation met in the street in front of a hotel, as the school-house was undergoing repairs. At this meeting there were eight conversions to Christ, and the determination to build was reached. A plain frame house was finished and occupied in August, 1868. This served the church until 1909, when the building was reconstructed, enlarged and modernized during the pastorate of Robert A. Sickles.

The church has always had some admirable men and women. The present pastor is B. H. Sealock.

It has given to the ministry John McGuffin and Charles O. Williams. Possibly H. M. Brooks should be credited here.

Loami.

Organized 1892, by C. S. Medbury; present membership, 150; value of property, $1,500; Bible school began 1892; present enrollment, 75.

The church was organized with sixty-eight charter members. A convenient frame building, costing $3,400, was occupied the following January.

The church has had twelve pastors and has done fine service.

Mechanicsburg.

Organized 1845, by Walter P. Bowles; present membership, 175; value of property, including parsonage, $3,500; Bible-school enrollment, 100.

Mr. Bowles and Dr. Robert Foster preached the apostolic gospel in the early forties in this community. The people met in residences, barns, groves and schoolhouses. There were about thirty charter members. The first officers were Wm. S. Pickrell, John Churchill and John Dawson, elders, with James McRee, Joseph Green and Wileby Churchill, deacons. The house of worship was finished in 1856. Mr. Pickrell gave the lot and made the brick used in the construction. It still stands, having received only modern improvements. The dedication sermon was preached in August, 1856, by A. Campbell. Besides Ministers Bowles and Foster, A. J. Kane, W. H. Brown, W. A. Mallory, A. D. Northcutt, and John Wilson, who was a product of this church, served the congregation in its earlier years.

By 1885 the tide had gone out so that John Garvey, with twenty-four women, constituted the membership. Miss Emma Pickrell, a daughter of Wm. S. Pickrell, during this period superintended the Bible school and administered the Lord's Supper with grace and fidelity.

In 1887, Evangelist W. F. Black conducted a great revival, since which the work has moved forward.

This church is noted for the number of great, noble and helpful people it has produced. The Pickrells, Garveys, Churchills, Elkins and others are enshrined in the hearts of many.

Pleasant Plains.

Organized 1869, by John Wilson; present membership, 102; value of property, including parsonage, $4,000; Bible school began 1870; present enrollment, 78.

W. M. Brown preached the gospel in this community in the early years. There was a congregation of Christians formed four miles east of the town site and worshiped there for several years. The town grew when the railroad was built. The church was formed in a hall. In 1870 the house of worship was built. A period of strife and division ensued, but gradually disappeared.

In the earlier years, A. T. Kane, G. W. Minier, Ministers Osborn, Norton, Burton and John Lemmon served the congregation.

Riverton.

Organized 1876, by Dr. W. A. Mallory; present membership, 90; value of property, $6,000; Bible school began 1876; present enrollment, 50.

Meetings for public worship had been held in school-houses in the neighborhood of Riverton for years. The first name of the town was Howlet. This was the home of Dr. Mallory. He first preached in the village "little brick school-house" in 1874, and then baptized the first converts there— Louise Fox and Georgiana Flagg. In 1876, Evangelist Logan conducted a series of meetings with about fifty converts to Christ. A small building was then rented and regular church work begun. But the M. E. congregation offered more rent and got the use of the room. Then the Christian congregation went to the Good Templars' Hall. Next, the Opera Hall was used. Then Temperance Hall again.

Jacob Bunn, of Springfield, gave the congregation a lot, but they were unable to build a chapel thereon. The death of Dr. Mallory proved a severe loss to the congregation, and they scattered. A few stood true to their convictions of Christian truth and duty; they were Emma King and Mrs. Amanda Steele and her daughter Etta, who is now Mrs. Etta C. White, the church clerk.

During the pastorate of J. B. Briney in Springfield, he preached here occasionally. In 1894, B. F. Flagg and Archie Neal led in an effort to revive the work. Min. J. O. Sutherland conducted a series of meetings and reorganized the church. The next year an effort was made to build a chapel, but it only partially succeeded. But the women held true until the house was finished, furnished, and even modernized and improved. The ashes made by burning the mortgage were turned over to the church clerk to keep.

Riverton is a coal-mining town. Its population is shifting. The congregation is composed of laboring people. The legalized groggeries do their fatal work. It is said that ministers do not wish to reside there.

Rochester.

The first church by this name was formed in Rochester Township, independent of the South Fork congregation, in 1841. A. Richardson and B. Williams were elected elders, with S. West and W. Bashaw, deacons. This congregation was served by Mins. W. M. Brown, A. J. Kane, W. P. Bowles and W. A. Mallory. For years it was strong and a power for good in the community.

Organized 1877, by A. J. Kane; present membership, 90; value of property, including parsonage, $2,500; Bible school began 1877; present enrollment, 50.

With the coming of the railroad, the town grew and the place of meeting was changed. The first elders were W. P. Clark and J. McClure, with W. Windsor and S. Wolford, deacons. The chapel was built in 1877.

A. J. Kane and W. A. Mallory served the church for several years. There followed a few ministers whose lives did not vindicate their calling, and disturbance ensued. The church, however, has recovered and is doing good work.

Springfield—First.

Organized 1833, by Josephus Hewitt; present membership, 992; value of property, $133,000; Bible school began 1848; present enrollment, 450.

Were this not a great and good church, it would be untrue to its antecedents. Minister Hewitt was a man of superior versatility and eloquence, and passed like a comet through the Springfield sky. In the residence of Mrs. Garner Goodan, located on the lot now occupied by the Chicago & Alton passenger station, the church was constituted in October with the following charter members: Philo and Martha Beers, Joseph and Lucy Bennett, Alfred and Martha Elder, Dr. James R. Gray, Mrs. Garner Goodan, Mrs. Ann McNabb, William Shoup, Reuben Radford and Elisha Tabor. To these were soon added America T. Logan, wife of Judge Stephen T. Loran; Gen. Jas. Adams, Lemuel and Evaline Higby, Mordecai Mobley and wife, George Bennett and wife, Ool. E. D. Baker and wife, the Wood worth family and others.

The passing years further brought to and took away from this fellowship Alexander Graham, its second minister: Wm. H. Brown, its third, and great evangelist; William Lavely and Daniel B. Hill; A. J. Kane, whom it added to the Christian ministry; Jonathan R. Saunders; Mary Logan, who became Mrs. Milton Hay; J. W. Taylor, who was an earnest preacher and served four years as county judge; John G., Thomas C. and Wm. F. Elkin; Richard Latham, J. H. Pickrell and his sister, Airs. H. P. Pasfield, and many others whose names are held in sacred remembrance. In that honorable company, A. J. Kane may easily be counted the leader. The gospel, working through his clear mind and pure heart, gave direction to the thought and character of the church. His wife, Mrs. Caroline Beers Kane, was the last one of the old guard to pass to the church triumphant.

The first house of worship was of brick, completed in 1834, and stood on the north side of Madison Street, between Fourth and Fifth; the second in 1853, at the northeast corner of Sixth and Jefferson; the third in 1882, at the corner of Fifth and Jackson, built during the pastorate of J. Buford Allen; the present splendid edifice was finished in 1912, during the pastorate of F. W. Burnham, and stands on the southeast corner of Sixth and Cook Streets.

This church has now many good people who abound in good works. They supported Mrs. Susie C. Rijnhart in Tibet; paid $2,500 to build a dormitory in Tokyo, Japan, when Miss Rose J. Armbruster went out there, and pays $600 yearly to the Foreign Society. Dr. Paul Wakefield and his wife, who is a daughter of Mrs. Lindsay, went out from this church to China, and E. T. Williams left its pastorate thirty-five years ago for the same field. He is secretary of the American Legation at Peking. The church has entertained the National Missionary Convention twice and the State Convention six times.

The pastors have mostly been noted men. Besides those already named, the list includes the names of D. R. Howe, L. B. Wilkes, T. T. Holton, H. W. Everest, J. M. Atwater, J. Z. Taylor, E. V. Zollars, J. B Briney, A. P. Cobb, J. E. Lynn and F. W. Burnham.

Among the now forceful members are H. C. Latham, Charles P. Kane, B. R. Hieronymus, L. H. Coleman (whose son, C. B. Coleman, entered the ministry and is a teacher in Butler College), Mrs. Catherine Lindsay (for thirty years president of the C. W. B. M. auxiliary), G. A. Hulett, C. E. Brown and Mrs. Mary L. Morrison. Others equally worthy, both among the dead and the living, have their names in God's book of remembrance.

Springfield—Stewart Street.

Organized 1905, by C. C. Morrison; present membership, 550; value of property, $10,000; Bible-school enrollment, 264.

This church was the result of a tent meeting conducted by C. C. Morrison in the southeast part of the city while he was pastor of the First Church.

A good property costing $9,000 was completed and occupied in May, 1906. This congregation was nourished and helped by the other two churches of the city. It does good work. The pastors were R. A. Finnell, H. H. Jenner and Gifford Earnest.

Springfield—West Side.

Organized 1902, by J. E. Lynn; present membership, 674; value of property, $45,000; Bible-school enrollment, 346.

On the 5th of January, 1902, this church was organized, its Bible school formed and its building dedicated. There were ninety-eight charter members and twelve were added that day. The church has grown seven-fold, possesses an admirable spirit and is doing excellent work. In 1910 an addition was made to the building, costing $14,000.

The church has given Chester Gruble to the ministry.

Salisbury.

Organized 1875, by John Lemmon; present membership, 50; value of property, $5,000; Bible school began 1875; present enrollment, 57.

This is an inland village in the northern edge of the county. The subscription paper for building the house had some unique conditions; as, "The house should be used for religious purposes only; that no entertainment that required admission fee at the door should be given there, or any political meeting held there; and when not in use by the owners, the church of Christ, it should be open to all religious proclivities." It has served the community well for a third of a century.

South Fork (Rochester).

This congregation is located southwest of Rochester. It was organized in the residence of Thos. Baker, that stood one and one-half miles west of the town site. The charter members were W. P. Bowles and wife, A. Bowles and wife, Joseph Walter, Elizabeth Bowles, Anna Payne, J. Baker and wife, Thos. Baker and wife, A. Richards and wife, W. Poor and wife, E. Delay, D. Stokes and L. Gooden. The church now has preaching part of the time.

Williamsville.

Organized 1842; present membership, 200; value of property, including parsonage, $11,800; Bible-school enrollment, 137.

This church was first organized in the home of W. F. Jones. At first it was known as the Fancy Creek Christian Church. There were members scattered from Wolf Creek to Fancy Creek; hence, about thirty of them withdrew from the Wolf Creek congregation and organized at Fancy Creek.

Meetings for public worship were held in the homes of the people until 1856, when the Lake Schoolhouse was secured. In 1858 a house of worship was built in Williamsville, and thus the name of the congregation was changed. In 1852, W. Jones and James Lester were chosen elders, with G. W. Constant and J. Barr as deacons. In 1866, A. J. Kane ordained T. M. Helm and A. W. Elder as elders, and F. A. Merriman, C. Turley and J. Groves as deacons of this congregation.

Minister Kane served the church for several periods as preacher in charge.

J. S. Sweeney held a public discussion here with Minister Davies, of the M. E. Church. By this, many people in the community were helped to a better knowledge of the Scriptures.

This church is composed of excellent people. For many years it has been noted for its liberality and fidelity in all Christian work.

The Richland congregation, twelve miles westward of Springfield, and four miles east of Pleasant Plains, was a country church of the early time. For many years it was the home of John Wycliffe Taylor and his wife,'Aunt Sallie.