COLUM BIA A N D M ONTOUR COUNTIES with additional inscriptions; it w as laid on Oct. 13th. T h e building committee consisted o f Reuben Fahringcr, Leonard A dam s and Henr>' Oabic, and the cost of the brick church, which still stands there, w as $7,000. F o r a time the two denominations remained in harm ony, but in 1886 dissensions arose, the result being the o ffer of the Lu therans lo sell their share t o ’ the other congregation. T h is was refu sed by the R eform ed m em bers, and the result is that the Lutherans still own a half interest in the building, although using a new church elsew here. T h e permanent separation between the congregations occurred In 1888, after a law su it which decided nothing, and in 1889 Lu th eran s erected the present brau tifu l and com m odious fram e church nearer to the village, at a cost o f $8,000. A parsonage w as built in 1893. T his church bears the name o f S t. P au l’s Evangelical Lutheran Congregation and the m cm ^ rsh ip is 375. w hile the Su n d ay school has attendants. T h e pastors have been Revs. J . Benningcr, J . Schindcl, W illiam J . Eyer, W . G- Laitzlc, L . Lindenstrcuth, J . H. Nciman, F . A . W eicksel and the present pas tor. R ev. W illiam J . M asscr. A fte r u sin g the old brick church fo r a time the R e fo rm ed congregation repaired it and re* dedicated it in 1893 under the name o f St. Paul. T h e pastors of the R eform ed denomi nation h ere have been R evs. K nable, Tobias, Fursch. Stee le y. D aniels, M oore. Dechant, and the present pastor, R e v . Jo h n F . B a ir. T he membership is 300. and the Sunday school has 3.14 attendants. Methodist services w ere first held in this section in 18 3 5 at the homes o f Nathaniel Purdy and M iciiacl Phillips, near Rhoadstown. The first pastors. R e v s. O liver E g e and Thom as Taneyhill, w ere from .Sunbury. *1110 Slabtown congregation worshipped in the Rcform erl church at that place, built in 1848. T h ree years later a cam pm eeting of the M ethodists resulted m the conversion o f most of the Reform ed members and since that lime the church has been exclu sively a Methodist one. T h e pres ent building w as erected in 1895 on the site of the old one. It is a fine fram e structure, and the congregation is served by K ev. Jo h n H . Orcenwall. H e also serves T rin ity Church at Numidia. whose house o f worship w as built in J872 at a cost o f S2.250. T h e first trustees were Isaac D yer, Daniel L evan, Thom as S e a borne, W illiam K line. Successive p.tstors have been: Revs. Franklin E . G earhart, H en ry S. Mendenhall. Jo h n F Brow n. T . .. Clees, John
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G u ss, Jo h n Z . Lloyd, Thom as O wens, W. S . Hamlin. T h e U nited Brethren denomination cam e in to I.ocu8t township in 1862, S t. P au l’s congre gation being then served by R ev. Jo h n Sw ank. T he land on which their church w as erected that ye ar w as donated by Jo h n R ichards, ow n e r of the E sth er Furnace, and included the summit of the hill above. T h is church, now in Cleveland township, w as rebuilt in 1907 and is a large fram e building, witit a belfr}', o f modern design. The first pastor o f this church and of the one at Fisherdale, built a few years a fte r the first one, w as K ev. J . G . ,M. H errold. Freew ill U nited Brethren church, on the northeast edge o f Locust township, w as huilt in 1876 and remodeled in 19 14 . Soon a fte r the repairs w ere completed it caught fire from a gasoline explosion. Su nd ay. Oct. 18th. and w as totally destroyed. It w as a fram e build ing, 28 by 40 feet, and the loss w as estimated at $3,000. with $ 1,0 0 0 insurance in the I.ocust M utual Insurance Com pany. T h e congrega tion is occupying the Strau sser schoolhouse. preparatory to rebuilding. T h e present pastor of these three churches above mentioned is R ev. B . F . Goodman. In 1840 a number o f W elsh immigrants cam e to Locust township and bought farm s, am ong them being the W atkins. E v an s, H um phreys. R eese and Jo n e s fam ilies. In 1850 Jan ie s H um phreys and M ichael Phillips gave a plot o f lan<l on the road to .Ashland, about tw o miles south of the present vil age o f N um idia, fo r the use of the Baptist denomina tion. A church w as erected there in that year, and the first jrastor w as R ev. WilUam Jones. T h is church w as used by the Baptists fo r about ten y e ars and then sold to the U nileil Brethren denomination, most of the W elsh fam ilies having gone to Can.ada. In 1908 the old church w as abandoned by the Brethren, and in i<x>9 it w as tom down. It w as long known .as S t. Jo h n ’s Church. T h e latest addition to the religious edifices o f this township is the church o f O ur I^ d y o f M ercy, built at Slabtow n in 19 14 at a cost o f $4,000. T h ere are fifty-five fam ilies here, o f S lav ic and Polish ancestry, and the first pastor in charge is R ev. Father .N. B . Strickland, up on whom devolved the w ork o f gathering funds and supervising the erection of the church. sc n o o L s
T h e first school in I.ocust township w as that of the Friend s, near their meetinghouse be tween Slabtown and N ew lin. W illiam H ughes
