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/284

 COLUMBIA A N D M ONTOUR COUNTIES shoit, house join ers, to do certain work on the church b y the follow ing M arch. B e fo r e the w ork w as completed another subscription w as taken up, the new signers o f this sheet being Sam uel M oore, C a l ^ H op­ kins, J a c o b L an gs, W illiam Aten, W illiam Ikeler, Ja c o b W intcrstccn, Stephen Drake, W illiam H u ll, Jam e s Cochem, Jo h n Butler, W illiam B u tle r, Jam e s Campbell, Jam e s Winterstcen, I ’c tc r W intcrstccn, Frederick Coder, .braham Shoem aker, Haul Lyd e, Jo h n Coder, John W a ts, W illiam H arris, E lam B. A lb ert­ son, S am u e l K ennedy, Joseph Sam pson, L a w ­ rence S id r ic k, H enry Lap ort, P au l Eicke, M ar­ tin B o g a rt, A n d rew Irvine, Jo h n Lem ons. T h e old church w as built o f very straight, hewn p in e l(^ s, and w as quite large, with a gallery on three sides. It w as chinked between the logs w ith lime and sand. T h e pulpit w as well built a n d nicely furnished, and there w as a raised san d box in the center of the room for h eatin g purposes, charcoal being the fuel. It is not know n when the church w as com­ pleted. but the last payment w as made by R e v . Caleb H o p k in s in December, 1798. The subscription pai>cr refers to tfic church as E piscopal and "L u th erian .” but there are no records o f services by the latter denomina­ tion, although undoubtedly m any of the sign­ ers were Lu therans. Rev. C a le b H opkins, the first rector, left the church in 1 8 1 2 and thereafter the services were irre g u la r until 18 2 1, when R e v . C harles Snowden took charge for about a year. A fte r him R ev. Ja m e s D cpuy (o r D e P u c) w as rector for two y e a r s, follow ed by R ev. M r. Carter, who m inistered to the people fo r several years after 1826. H e first suggested the removal of the church to Jerseytow n, and served in that town a fte r the rem oval. Then cam e the last regular rector. R ev. M r. F u ry, and aftcrwar<l.s services w e re held irregu larly by E d w in and Milton L igh tn er. T h e last recorded min­ ister w as R e v. W illiam I I. Bourns, who bap­ tized M ay 19. 1844. M athias, son o f E sau and Sarah C irto n, and Ja n e, daughter o f Phillip and Jan e G irton. By 1829 the old church became dilapidated and it w as tom down and another built at Jerseytown. on an acre o f groun<I <lonatcd by Jeremiah W elliver and h is w ife. W hen the building w as erected cannot be definitely de­ cided. It w as used intermittently until 1844. when it w as abandoned. Conrad K re am er for a time stored his grain in the building, and in t877 conveyed the title to another lot to the Episcopal parish o f Bloom sburg. in return for the u n law fu l use of the old church and

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lot. L a te r the old building w as tom down, in 1899 the lot w as sold. M any of the early settlers in M adison town­ ship w ere Baptists, am ong them being the iM n o tts. R unyons, H ulitts, H odges, W ellivcrs and Sw ish ers, so they soon prepared to estab­ lish a congregation o f that faith in their new home. O n Sept. 27, 18 17, E ld ers Jo h n W ol­ vcrton o f Sham okin, Sm iley o f W hite D ccr township, and Sim eon Coombs o f Middleboro, M ass., met in the union meetinghouse in M ore­ land township, Lycom ing county, and organ­ ized the Little M uncy Baptist Church. T h is society is one of the oldest in the Northum ber­ land Baptist A ssociation, and at the fom iation o f that body in 18 2 1 the delegates from M ad­ ison were R evs. H enry C lark and S ilas E. Sliepard, and Jam e s M oore, K id ia rd Demott, Jam e s Ilu litt and Pow ell B ird, lay delegates. T he M adison Baptist church w as built in 1845 in the ca.stcm part of the township, near Little Fish in g creek. T h e pastors of the con­ gregation have been: R evs. H enry C lark, J. Green M iles, Joseph B. M orris, H en ry Essick, A. B. Runyan, H en ry C. M unro, R. M. Hunsicker. T h is church is now out o f use, a s the membership has been greatly reduced. T h e first Reform ed church, called the "H e lle r " church, w as built in 1826 in the south­ ern end of the township, on the stage road to Bloom sbutg. R e v. Jac o b Dieffenbach organ ­ ized the congregation, and the attendants came from n c ig h ^ rin g townships as well a s this one. T h e second church w as built in 1870. Other pastors here w ere R evs. Daniel S. T o ­ bias, H en ry Funk, W illiam Goodrich, and others from O rangeville and Bloomsburg. T h e Methodist church at Jerscytow n was built in 18 32 about a quarter o f a mile above the village. In 1900 (he old building w as re­ moved and a fine structure o f native limestone, with a slate roof and bell tower, erected in the heart of the town. T h e congregation is now served by the pastors from M illville, hut four m iles distant. "V an d in e” Lutheran Church w as organized in 1869 b y R e v . G eorge Eicholtz, o f I.airdsvilje. Lycom ing county, and the next year a building w as erected in the extrem e northern IKirt of the township. 'Flic successive pastors here have been; R e v s. M iller. Bodine, Baitcrsby, Hutchison. T h e church is now sup­ plied from Buckhorn. SCHOOLS

T h e first school in this township w as opened at Jerseytow n in 1799 by a M r. W ilson. In