1915 Disciples of Christ
Albion
Organized 1841, by Elijah Goodwin; present membership, 331; value of
property, $1,800; Bible school enrollment, 221.
The formation of this church, August 4, was just after the old brick
Christian chapel was finished. Daniel Orange, a fine type of Englishman, led
in this movement. He was a descendant of the French Huguenots and settled
here in 1818. He had heard the Campbell-Purcell debate in Cincinnati in 1836
and was fully persuaded that the doctrinal position of the Disciples was
right. The charter members were Daniel, Elizabeth, Elizabeth S. and John B.
Orange a fruitful beginning indeed. Four weeks later Alfred Flower, who
married Elizabeth S. Orange with Charles and Sarah Burns was added to the
number. The first elder was Daniel Orange, and the first deacons were Alvin
Kenner and George Goodwin. Elijah Goodwin was employed one-fourth of the
time at $50 the year. Like most churches, this one met reverses, but it has
grown to wide service and usefulness. The present chapel was built in 1868
and a new building is in process of construction.
Bone Gap
Organized 1886, bv T. S. Rose; present membership, 154; value of
property, $1,000; Bible school began 1886; present enrollment, 175.
Mr. Rose was chiefly instrumental in establishing this church, serving it
four years. Under his ministry the house was built in 1887. W. D. Walker is
correspondent.
Browns
Organized 1894, by Zacharia Harris; present membership, 144; value of
property, $2,500; Bible school began 1894; present enrollment, 134.
The Bonpas Church, located on the eastern border of the county, was
organized by Amos Miller in 1838. It served its generation and the remnant
finally united with Browns.
Ellery
Organized 1890, by J. C. T. Hall; present membership, 150; value of
property, $3,500; Bible school began 1888; present enrollment, 85.
This congregation had its beginning in a Bible school that was started at
the Woods Schoolhouse in 1888 and continued two years. The people of the
community were led by Min. J. C. T. Hall in the erection of a frame church
which was finished in 1890.
Shiloh (West Salem)
Organized 1862, by J. C. T. Hall; present membership, 125; value of
property, $1,500; Bible school enrollment, 109.
The location is eight miles south of Albion. A large per cent, of the people
of this community originally came from Kentucky, so it was sometimes called
"Little Kentucky." It is noted for its hospitality. The church was organized
in the barn of James McKinsey.
West Salem
Organized 1858, by J. C. T. Hall; present membership, 175; value of
property, including parsonage, $13,000; Bible school enrollment, 235.
This church was formed by uniting the "Long Point" congregation with one
that was meeting at the residence of Jas. F. Barney. James Kinner and
Blashel Foster led in this work. The twenty-nine charter members signed the
following agreement: "We whose names are hereunto annexed, being immersed
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, do mutually and voluntarily associate
ourselves together in a congregational capacity to be known as the
Congregation of the Lord at West Salem, taking the Christian Scriptures as
our only rule of faith and practice, taking no name as a church name but
such as they authorize."
West Village (Albion)
Organized 1858; present membership, 293; value of property, $2,000;
Bible school enrollment, 250.
This church is four miles north of Albion. It was a scion of the Little
Prairie Church. It was first known as Village Church, but as there was
another not far distant by that name, this one was changed to West Village.
The first meeting was held in an old log building one and a half miles from
the present site. A Bible school was conducted there for a number of years,
with occasional preaching. A frame building was erected in 1858, which was
used till the present house was built in 1896.
The Curtisville Church was organized by J. C. T. Hall in 1854. A few years
later it united with the West Village congregation. But in 1878 it was
reorganized and built a chapel. In later years it disorganized.
The charter members were J. T., Nancy J. and Mary Hunt; W. W., Nancy and
Edward Willis; Laurie Stroup; W. A. and Sarah T. Inskipp; John T., Ann C.
and Eliza Woods; Joe J. Mitchell, Malinda Mann, Harriett McKibben, Harriett
Winters, Thomas and Mary Niles, William and Narcissa Scott, and Jane I.
Lines.
Little Prairie (Ellery)
Organized 1823, by Elder Alan Emmerson; present membership, 100; value
of property, $2,000; Bible school enrollment, 125.
This church, located about four miles northwest of Albion, was for sixteen
years a part of the Christian Denomination. It was organized in the house of
Alan Emmerson, near the site of the present church building. The first elder
was Alan Emmerson, and the first deacons were Joseph Applegath, Thomas Gill
and William Hall. Amos Willis- was the first preacher of the Christian
Denomination in the county and the first minister of this church. He died in
1840.
The first house of worship of this congregation was a frame covered, ceiled
and weather-boarded with clapboards and plastered with post-oak clay. It had
a brick chimney and fireplace. With the passing years, that bear all things
away, this superior temple of its time gave place to another frame building
that is still in use.
In 1837 the congregation came into the Restoration movement through the
leading of Amos Willis, a minister of the older congregation. Later J. M.
Mathes, John O'Kane, Moses Goodwin and others served the church.
Marion (West Salem)
Organized 1843, by Elijah Goodwin; present membership, 150; value of
property, $1,200; Bible school enrollment, 82.
This church is in the northwest corner of the county and is on the bank of
Sugar Creek. Its first elders were William Foster and N. A. Shelby; its
first deacons, Quinton Nicks and B. F. Stark. It was formed in the residence
of Quinton Nicks. Meetings were held in the home of N. A. Shelby and others
till the chapel was built. Besides Elijah and Moses Goodwin, J. Standish and
Cornelius Aids preached there in the earlier years.
It gave George Morrall to the ministry.
New Hope (Browns)
Present membership, 52; value of property, $800; Bible school
enrollment, 44.
Only occasional meetings are held here now.
The East Village Church, after years of work, also disorganized.
Extracted 03 Feb 2019 by Norma Hass from History of the Disciples of Christ in Illinois 1819-1914, by Nathaniel S. Haynes, published in 1915, pages 190-194.
