Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/177

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

ginning of regular scr%'ices here, and in the tollowing year a class w as formed, which ineluded D r. Harman Gearhart, William Paul, Jesse Shaniton, Delilah Barton and others. Preaching was sometimes held in the schoolhouse, and when the attendance was small in the carpenter shop o f William Paul, on M arkct, between First and Second streets. In 1835 a frame church w as built on Third Street, being replaced in 1857 by a brick struclure, dedicated by Bishop L evi Scott. The paslor at lliat time was Kcv. George W arren. A list of the pastors o f this church w ill be found in the previous cliapter on religious denominations of the county. Most of them up to i 8(>2 were in charge of other churches in addition to that o f Bloomsburg. A t present it is a charge by itself. Pastors exclusively in charge of the Bloomsburg Church have been: Revs. D. C. lohn, R . E . W ilson, J . A . Price, J . A . Melick, B . H . Crcver, N . S. Buckingham, J . H. M cGarragh, J . S . M cM urray, M . L . Sm yscr, E . H . Yocum, John Donahue, D. S . Monroe, F . B . Kiddle, up to 1886. It was during the pastorate of the last named that the present commodious parsonage was purchased— 1884. A fte r that date the rapid growth of the congregation made the building o f a larger church very ncccssar}', and steps were taken looking towards that end. The lots between the church lot and M arket street were purchased, and during the pastorate o f Rev. B . C. Conner active measures were adopted and the new church scheme culmin at^ . Ground w as broken in the fall of 1895, and on Sunday. M ay 2. 1896, the cornerstone w as laid. T he contract for the stone work had been awardeil to Thomas Evans, o f Danville, T h e walls were about completed when, on Aug. 24, 1896, M r. Evans accidentally fell from the northeast com er to the ground, a distance o f about thirty feet, and w as killed. A stained glass window, the gift o f his workmen, marks the point where he fell. T he new church was dedicated on Sunday, Sent. 19, 1807, with imposing ceremonies. It is built o f E lk Run graystonc. trimmed with Indiana limestone, and cost $65,000. It is one of the l.irgcst and finest church edifices in this section, having a seating capacity o f 1,200 in the auditorium, and by opening the glass partition between that and the Sunday school room 800 more can be seated. The large stained glass window at the front, and the fine pipe orean. were the gifts o f M rs. Freas Brow n. T he other windows were contributed by classes and individuals. The trustees of the church

at the time of the building w e re : G. W. Cor* rcll, J. C. Brow n, L. N. M oyer, D r. J. J. Brow n, M. P. Lutz, C. C. Peacock, L. E. W liary, W. K Ringrose, S. C. Creasy. The building committee consisted o f Messrs. J. C. Brow n, M oyer, Peacock, Correll, W. R. Kocher. T he pastor was Kev. B. C Conner, The pastors o f this church since Rev. F. B. Kiddle, 1886, have been: S. M. Frost, 18868 8; S. W. Scars, 18 S 9 -9 1; W. G. Ferguson, 1 8 ^ - 9 4; B. C. Conner, 1895-99; M. F ry ».i.gcr, 1900-02; W. P. Eveland, 1903-05; P. F. F.ycr, 1905; M. L. Ganoc, 1906-07; E. R. Ilcck n u n, 1907 to the present The o ^ e r s are as follow s: J. C. Brow n, president o f trustees; W. R. Kochcr, secretary; Dr. J. J. Drovi’n, treasurer; C. H. IGinc, finaiicial secretary; F red Holmes, official board treasurer; 1*. B. Hartman, Sunday school superintendent The church membership in 1 9 13 is 1.036, and of the Sunday school, 14 6 5. Baptist Church Among the several con gr^ations o f town which contemplate new church homes in the near future is the Baptist congregation, whose present edifice is located on Third between Iron and Catherine streets. Established fiftyfive years ago at the same location, the church has had a steady, substantial growth, and at different times, to satisfy the growing demands of the congregation, improvements have been made to the church structure, but at the prcsent day it is again inadequate to the needs. The parsonage of the church is located on First street. T lic first efforts to establish the Baptist faith in Bloomsburg were made in 1840 by R ev. J. Green Miles, who preached in the Methodist church once and in the union meetinghouse six times. The next minister to come w as Rev. William S. Hall, o f Berwick, who preached two sermons in 1843 and baptized John Snyder in Fishingereek in Jan u ary o f that year. T h is was the first immersion in the town. F o r some years afterw ard services were held at various places in Bloomsburg by Revs. Joseph B. M orris and A. D. Nichols. In 1858 Rev. J. R. Shanafelts, o f Berwick, began to preach once in three weeks in the courthouse, and in less than a year a house o f worship was dedicated, T h is structure, with many alterations, is the one at present in use. T he church was organized with M artin C. Woodward as deacon: John Snvdcr. c le rk; Daniel Breeee, treasurer; and with nineteen members on the roll. T hey w ere: M artin C.