C H A PTER VI R E L IG IO U S D E N O M L N A T IO N S The earliest iiUlucncc tending to bind to gether the colonists in Columbia and Montour counties w as a religious one. Most of the pioneers had strongly cherished religious affiliations, and were thus brought together in the practice of their individual form o f worship of the Creator. These bonds of synipatny compacted the community and eventually led to some more permanent form of organization in a religious way. B y this means the rarious denominations in early times established the foundations of their churches which have since been most faith fully preserved and deepened, until in 19 14 the strength of religious convictions has be come so iirmiy fixed in the two counties as to be a part of the life and well-being of the entire community. F ift y years ago it w as no uncommon thing for a country minister to travel twenty miles on a Sunday to serve three congr^ations. N W, in )9i4» (he automobile has made travel so much easier that even (he little country parsonage has a garage attached to it and the parson may often be seen speeding along the highways to visit a parishioner or hold Sab bath services. T h e auto has also proved an important factof in the reduction of the coun try church attendance. Farm ers can now at tend the larger churches in the towns and mingle with the urban w'orshipcrs there, often causing such a dwindling o f attendance at the little village church that it is finally forced to close. Many of the wayside temples arc now atendoned. w*hilc others are opened only at irregular and infrequent periods. T he final abandonment o f many o f (hem has been de layed by the associations of the old burying grounds l>cside them, where fathers and grand fathers, mothers and grandmothers arc laid at rest. M any of these cemeteries are over a hun dred years old— for example, H idlay in Scott township, (he Q uaker burying grounds at Oitawi<sa. M illville, Roaringcreek and Green wood. Columhia countv, and the old cemeteries
at New Columbia (Sw en od a), U crry, Washtngtonvtllc and Danville, Montour county. These ancient places o f sepulture will alw ays be tenderly cared for, and (he old churches near will l>c preserved as monuments to the piety of the past. Ill this year o f 19 14 the work o f country ministers is difficult and poorly paid. Most of them scrv'c several charges, which means holding service in one church in the morning, another in (he afternoon, and a final service in (he evening. T he salary o f (he pastor is seldom large enough to warrant the purchase o f an auto, but many of the ministers of Columbia and Montour counties have been compelled to draw upon their meager stipend fo r this purpose. Still, as in the past, these faithful pastors jog along the country roads, chatting with the farm ers, cheering the down hearted, com forting the disconsolate, settling petty quarrels, praying with their parishioners, m arrying them, baptizing the little ones, mak ing their wills, and finally burying them and giving consolation to the mourning family. Rev. A . HouU, o f Orangeville, is one of these old-time pastors carried on into the mod em days, and now retired from active work. H e says that the labors of the country pastor arc as hard as in the early days of the churches, but the compensation is still (lie same. H ow ever, he says the congregations in the countr>* churches arc more appreciative— they seem almost to hunger fo r the services. T he growth of the churches here has been steadily upward, as may be seen from the de tailed descriptions which follow. The oldest sect, the Societv o f Friends, which w as at one time the most important in the State, has dwindled in numbers grcatlv during the years that have elapsed since the first monthly meet ing was established, but (hough the tendency of the present day for more worldly methods o f worship has diminished the mimhers o f (he Q uakers, their deeds and records of the past* all o f a beneficial and substantial character.
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