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/93

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COLUM BIA A N D M ONTOUR COUNTIES there w as built the same year, while (he pres­ ent one w as built in i t ^ . S t. H ubert’s church was built at Danville in 1862. S t. Jam e s' R o ­ man Catholic Church at E xch an ge w as estab­ lished many years ago. and in 1 9 10 the old church on the hill w as abandoned and a splen­ did new one built in the village. T hese rcpre.sent the numl>cr in M ontour county in 19 14 . In Columbia county there arc tw o churches in Berwick, one in Bloom sburg, one in Centralia, one in the edge of the county at Mount C a r­ mel, and one in l.ocust township, ju st com­ pleted in 19 14.

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w as organized at Bloom sburg in 1868, and in­ cludes all Protestant evangelical Sunday schools in the county. It is an au xiliary o f State and national organizations o f sim ilar names, and has held many annual conventions since its form ation. R e v. A lfre d T a y lo r, o f N ew Y o rk, w as the conductor of the first meet­ ing and w as probably the organizer. T h e second convention w as held in 18 70 at Bloomsburg, but no records arc to be had re­ gard in g it. In 18 7 1 the third convention w as E'ANCFXICAI. held at E sp y, and here J. B. Robison w as T his denom ination cam e to Columbia county elected president. H e w as succeeded a fte r in 1848. an d to M ontour county in 1858. In one ye ar’s service by a series o f presidents, all 1S86 it had three churches in Scott township, m inisters, well known in the county, among one at M iftlinville, two in Jackson township, them being R evs. Stu art M itchell. A. Houtz, two in C en tre township, tw o in Briarcreek N. S p ear. F. P. M anhart and U. M yers. T h is township, one in B eaver township, and one in continued until 1889, conventions liaving been Bloomsburg. In the same year there w as one held each ye ar to the present since 1873, e x ­ church in D anville, and tw o in other parts o f cept in the year 1879, when the records merely Montour county. T h e present number o f state that the secretary had died. churches in Colum bia county is thirteen. In In 1889 H. R. Bow er, o f Berw ick, w as Montour cou n ty there are now three churches. elected president and ser'c<l three years, when he w as succeeded by M yron I. L o w. who has OTHER D EN O M INATIO NS served ever since, m aking a record fo r con­ The M cthoclist Protestant, Unitc<l Brethren, tinuous an<l efficient service uncqualcti in the Christian, Pentecostal and G reek Catholic de­ State. nominations a r c represented in the two counties A t the first convention o f which w e liave a by organizations which are mentioned in the record there w ere eighteen delegates from the sketches o f (he different sections in which local .schools an<l twenty-five from outside the t h ^ arc located. county, representing in all sixteen schools. The fo llo w in g table w ill convey some idea T h is docs not convey, how ever, an idea of the of the relative standing of the different de­ number o f S a b l« lh schools in the organization nominations in both counties. It might l)c in­ at the tim e, since every Protestant evangelical ferred that the M ethodists have lost in num­ school in the county became autom atically a bers in both counties, but such is not the case, part o f (he assocuttion. the only lo ss being in the number of the In 1880 the executive committee w as di­ churches, cau sed by the removal of the mem­ rected to effect the township organization, .and bers to the cities and towns. In fact, the at the 1882 convention district or township vice majority of the denominations have gained in presidents were appointed, within a few years numbers stead ily, the exceptions Iwing the every township or borough in the county Quakers and the M ethodist Protestant sects. being represented by an organization. T his Columbia Montour system prevailed until a rcdistricting along less Co. Co. cumltcrsome lines w as authorized by the con­ . Dtuominalion tSi6 1914 1S86 1914 vention o f t o n . and before the 19 12 conven­ Methodist ................................. 42 36 10 9 l.otheran ................................... 18 21 10 to tion w.as held the county had liecn subdivided Enufclical ............................... 13 13 1 3 into thirteen districts, all o f which are actively Retormed ................................. 12 12 3 $ at work. Pmbjfterian .............................. 8 10 5 5 A bout 1900 departmental organization w as ....................................... 6 s 3 3 begun, and at present there arc at w ork in the - tpocopal ................................. 4 5 2 2 Ronun Catholic ...................... 2 5 2 3 county sujicrintcndcnts o f elementary, second­ Oiriuiui ................................... 6 5 a ry. aVlult, teacher training, home, temperance, Vnitcd Brethren...................... S 3 mission and rural departments, with a com­ Creek Catholic ........................ 2 4 plete corresponding organization extcm ling Pe«eco$ta1 ................................... 1 throughout the districts. Society of Friends (Quakers) 3 3 Methodist Protestant ............. 2 ........... In 1907 the State Association creeled a