COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES fo r speed, which served him well in the many and lengthy (rips around the circuit. T he succeeding pastor to this charge was Rev. M. Tobey, who remained but a short time. R ev. Daniel M . Barber, who had established a school fo r young ladies near WashingtonviUc, next took the New Coliunbia charge. A t the same date Rev. D. M. H alliday was pastor at Danville. N ext in 1838 cantc Rev. D . J . W aller, Sr., whose life work in both (he religious and material field has left a permanent impress on the history* o f Columbia county. H is chaige embraced alt the country from the mouth of R oaring crcck to Little mountain, and along (he Susquehanna to Nanticokc, with North mountain for the upper boundary, a territory nearly forty miles s<]uare. One sermon a fort night w as all that could be allotted to Blooms burg and Berwick, w hile other points were restricted to services once a month. A t first the residence of the pastor w*as at E sp y, as the most central point, but later, when Berw ick was set o ff as a separate charge, Cataw issa offered letter inducements for a time. Among the early pastors in this section may be mentioned Revs. Daniel M . Barber, A . II. H and, S. S. Shcddcn, George W . Thompson, C harles Williamson and Jam es L Hamilton, in Columbia cou n ty: and Revs. John Bryson, H alliday, Yeomans, John B . Patterson, Dun ham, William Sm ith, Nicholas Patterson, Isaac G rier, Hood and. Ijam s, in Montour county. Detailed histories of the different churches o f both counties will be found in the chapters devoted to the separate divisions. T he list of pastors, location o f churches, and other statis tics fo r 1 9 1 4 arc here presented: Pojlor W illia m Gemmill. M illville.......................... J. H o m e r Kerr, O ran geville................. 70 John B. Crier, D anville.............................. James W . K irk. M a h on in g.................. x W illiam R . Mather. Raven C reek.................. Spencer C. Dickson. Bloomsburg 443 Howard A. Loux. Berwick 499 Robert P. H owie. Mooresburg.............. 9a A rtu ro D ’Albergp, W est Berw ick................ C. .A. I^nkel. Centralia........................ 48
Sundoy
Sckcpi 72 27s 410 JSt 132 60
A ll of the above churches are in the P r c ^ y tery o f Northumberland. T he following churches are vacant, the pulpits being occa sionally filled by request: B riar Creek, N ew Columbia. Washington ville. Benton, Derry and Rohrsburg.
59
M E T H O D IS T
T he introduction o f Metliodism into Colum bia county was made probably through the in strumentality of Bishop Asbury, the founder of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Am eri ca. It w as under lus preaching in Northamp ton county that the Bowmans were co n ve rt^ . They subsequently removed to Berwick, and it was probably through their representations tlu t the Bishop was led to come here. A t that time he ordained these men w*lio subsequently became such a power for good. Other itin erants who came here on missionary tours were Revs. Willwm Colbert, Jam es Paynter, M orris Howe and Robert Burch, but they did not seem to effect any pcnnaneiu organization. In the valley o f B riar creek, four miles dis tant from Berw ick, near the present village of that name, resided the Bowmans, Thomas and Christopher, both ministers of the Methodist Church. In order that the neighborhood could have r ^ u la r religious services, Thomas Bow man fitted up the third story o f his rather pretentious stone house as a place o f worship, and invited the Methodists to hold services therein. T his house was used for religious purposes for many years and stood in a fair state o f repair until 19 12 . It is now only a* ruin. Rev. Thomas Bowman later tm am e the celebrated and eloquent Bishop Bowman, whose death occurred in 1914. In (he year 1805, under the joint ministry o f Revs. Jam es Paynter and Joseph Carson, a great revival was held, the country for forty miles around feeling the impulse. A s a direct result a class was formed at l^ rw ick, and this point was made a regular appointment of the W yoming circuit, which extended from N orth umberland to Tioga Point. In 1806 it was attached (0 the Northumberland circuit, wdth which it .w as associated until i 8 t i, when the church work had so increased that (he B er wick circuit was formed, embracing twentyeight preaching places, o f which the following were in Columbia county: Benton, Berwick, Bloomsburg, Buck bom . Espy, Jersey town. Light Street. MifBinvillc and Orangeville. In 1886 there were forty-two churches in Columbia county of the Methodist denomina tion. and in Montour county (here were eight. Since that date the denomination has grown steadily in strength and numl)crs and in the year 19 14 is the strongest religious denomina tion ill both of these counties. The first regular conference appointments for the different stations in Columbia county were mailc in 17 9 1, when it was in the North-
