History of Perry County, Ohio, by Clement L. Martzolff, Churches

Churches.

     The church organizations have always been the
social centers in our county. The people who settled
Perry county were very religiously inclined. Soon

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after the first settlers the missionary came, not to con-
vert, but to gather the people into congregations.
     To speak of all of the church communities in this
county would demand more space than the size of this
book will justify.
     Only a short time elapsed after the settlement at
Overmeyer town, till there came Rev. William Foster
a Lutheran missionary from Pennsylvania. The first
sermon ever preached in the woods of Perry county
was in what is now the orchard owned by the late
George Weisman. In 1805, at New Reading, the first
congregation in the county, and the first of the Lu-
theran Church in the state was organized. This or-
ganization is yet in existence. The next year, 1806,
Zion's church of Thorn township was begun. This
was erected by the Lutheran and German Reformed
congregations, and is the second oldest in the county.
The Reformed minister was Rev. John King, who
settled in the county in 1803. He was the first, there-
fore, to permanently locate here for Rev. Foster was
a traveling missionary. This Rev. Foster organized
the Lutheran church at Somerset in 1812. He died in
1815 and is buried in the Zion cemetery. The Somer-
set congregation has a very interesting history. The
church was located in what is now known as the Old
Lutheran Cemetery. It was built of hewed logs and
had a gallery. It had also a pipe organ, built by Henry
Humberger. It was in this church, in 1818. that the
Joint Synod of Ohio was organized, and the first
preacher, Rev. Andrew Hinkle was licensed to preach.
The "Lutheran Standard," the official organ of the
Ohio Lutheran Synod was also for a time printed in
Somerset. At one time, the Lutheran Seminary, now
Capital University, was expected to be located here.

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In fact, during the ministry of Rev. Lehman, a theo-
logical class was privately taught.
     This congregation and most of the other Lutheran
Churches in the county was served by Rev. Chas.
Hinkle who is buried in the old cemetery.
     The Thornville Lutheran Church was organized in
1810 by Rev. Foster in conjunction with Rev. King,
of the Reformed congregation.
     Lebanon Lutheran Church at Junction City began
its existence in 1815. For many years the Reformed
people also worshiped in it. The Lutheran and Re-
formed congregations jointly built St. Paul's at Glen-
ford in 1818.
     The same year, the Shelly, or Good Hope Church
was organized. St. John's Lutheran Church in Mon-
daycreek was organized by Rev. Frankenburg in 1841,
but preaching had been held in private houses and barns
for six years previous.
     About a mile and a half east of Mt. Perry is the
United Presbyterian Church on Jonathan Creek.
This denomination was the third to organize a church
in the county. They date from 1807. Their services
were first held in a school house, or, if weather per-
mitted, in a tent. The first pastor was Rev. Abraham
Craig.
     Unity Presbyterian Church, in Clayton township,
began its existence in the year 1809. The services
were, at the beginning, transient, both barns and houses
being utilized. In 1811, Rev. James Culbertson of
Zanesville came once a month.   The organization
proper was made in 1816, when Rev. Wright of Lan-
caster became pastor. The old log school house was
used at first. During his pastorate the log church was
built in 1826. Unity congregation had a wide influ-

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ence. Her pastors were scholars. One was a gradu-
ate of Dartmouth and Yale, and another of Princeton.
Rev. Moore rests in the cemetery beneath the shadow
of the church, for which he labored so arduously. Rev.
Henry Beeman of New Lexington, came to Unity in
1866 and for some years served as its efficient pastor.
     The Presbyterian congregation in New Lexington
was organized in 1837. Rev. Moore had preached to
the people before. This society deserves to be placed
in the list of pioneers.
     The Dunkers or German Baptists, of whom there
were, and are now, quite a number in the northern part
of the county, worshiped in private houses in Thorn
township as early as 1810. In 1817 a congregation was
organized in Madison township near Mt. Perry.
     Hopewell Baptist Church, on Zane's Trace, in
Hopewell township is the pioneer church of that de-
nomination. 1812 is the date of its organization. It
was for many years one of the most influential of all
the Baptist societies in the country.
     The Hazelton graveyard in Saltlick township is an
old landmark. The church that stood there not only
occupied a prominent position, geographically, but its
influence gave it prominence in another direction. The
Hazelton Baptist Church was the first in Saltlick town-
ship and the second of that denomination in the county.
The church has for many years been destroyed and the
congregation disbanded. The date of its beginning is
1820. John Hazelton for whom it was named was
a soldier of the War of 1812.
     To walk from New Lexington to Hazelton's to
attend church was a little difficult, and it was not long
after the organization of the church in Saltlick town-
ship until the Baptists in the vicinity of New Lexing-

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ton concluded that they, too, might support a church.
Accordingly, about 1821, the organization was ef-
fected. In 1825, they built their church of hewed logs.
It contained a gallery and was quite a commodious
building for the time. The present building stands
near the site of the first. It was built in 1845.
     A Baptist congregation existed for some years at
Oakfield. It is worthy of being listed as a pioneer.
In 1814 they organized and built a church, but the con-
gregation was small and it soon disbanded.
     An organized society of this denomination was at
Bristol in 1832. In the same year, Ebenezer, in Mon-
daycreek was founded.
     The pioneer Methodist Circuit Rider early found
his way into the Perry county wilds. The Methodists
held services in the county as soon as any of the de-
nominations. But the first class was not begun till
1811, when Rev. James B. Finley organized the con-
gregation at Somerset. This was followed the next
year by the formation of a class at Rehoboth. Church
services were held in the latter place in a private house
until 1818, when a log church was built.
     The same year that the Methodists organized at
Rehoboth, the Hopewell class or as it is better known,
the Chalfant's Church was formed.
     The Fletcher, or Holcomb M. E. Church is in Bear-
field township. They built a church in 1825, but for
ten years, the congregation had met in private houses.
     The first church in Harrison township was the Iliff,
The log edifice was built in 1819, but that is not the
exact date for the genesis of the society. Bishop Iliff
of the M. E. Church is from this place.
Madison has an M. E. Church, known as Bethel,

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that antedates Iliff by one year. It organized in 1818
and in 1819, they erected a hewed log church.
     Zion Church in the same township is of later origin.
It began about 1834. It is in its cemetery that General
Ritchey, ex-Congressman lies buried. New Reading
M. E. Church was organized in 1825.
     The New Lexington Methodist congregation was
organized in 1828. The services at first were held in
the old log Baptist Church. Eleven years later they
built their church which was destroyed by fire in 1875,
when the present brick structure was erected.
     The Asbury M. E. Church in Monroe township
may also be classed among the pioneers. Its begin-
ning was in 1830.
     The Bible Christians built a log church in 1820 in
Monroe township. A frame building was more re-
cently erected and services are still held.
     The pioneer church of the Disciples was in the east-
ern part of Saltlick township where in 1830 a congre-
gation began its existence.
     In 1847, with Daniel Rusk, the father of Jeremiah
Rusk, at the head, a congregation was organized at
Porterville. A log church was built which has since
been supplanted by a frame building. Daniel Rusk
is buried in the cemetery adjoining the church.
     St. Matthew's Disciple Church near Mt. Perry was
organized in 1851. The society was disbanded in 1867
and re-organized in 1880.
     A Disciple Church existed at Oakfield a few years
subsequent to 1848.
     Otterbein United Brethren Church is situated on
the Pike, four miles west of Somerset. It is the first
church of that denomination in the county. It has al-

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ways been a large and influential society and is yet
a strong organization. It dates from 1818.
     Zion Church, in Jackson township, is only a few
miles from the mother church. Before a church home
was procured, church services were held in the woods.
When the frosts of autumn came, they would burn
log heaps. The date of the beginning of this society
is 1830.
     The Mennonite Church in Mondaycreek is the only
representative of that denomination in the county.
The exact date of its organization is unknown. Its
members were mostly Germans and among them were
many of the first settlers of that community. The
date of its beginning is certainly before 1830.
     The first settlers of Perry county were mostly Prot-
estants. In the north where the German element pre-
dominated, there were mostly Lutherans, German Re-
formed and Dunkers. In the central and southern
parts of the county where the people were mostly Vir-
ginians the Methodists and Baptists were most numer-
ous.
     However, among the first pioneers of the county,
especially in the neighborhood of Somerset, were some
German Catholic families. To Bishop Fenwick be-
longs the honor of being not only the missionary priest
of Perry county but the very first to be settled in Ohio.
It is said that Bishop Fenwick in traveling through
Ohio reached the tavern of John Fink at Somerset,
and upon discovering that his host was a Catholic
celebrated Mass within the rude home of the pioneer.
This is as far as known the first mass ever said within
the bounds of the State. It was the genesis of the
Catholic Church in Ohio. Bishop Fenwick was a priest
of the Dominican Order which had established the

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Convent of St. Rose in Kentucky. Dr. Fenwick was
ably assisted in his missionary work by his nephew,
Father. Young.
     The Ditto and Fink families had entered at the
land office, three hundred and twenty-nine acres of
land, located two miles south of Somerset. This they
donated to Father Fenwick for the express purpose of
establishing a Church and Convent of the Dominican
Order. Fathers Fenwick and Young were sent to take
care of this endowment.
     They arrived at their destination about the first of
December 1818. On the sixth of the same month, the
little log chapel in the forest was dedicated. It was the
first Catholic Church in the state of Ohio. The congre-
gation consisted of but six families. Before the end
of the year an addition of stone was built to the log
chapel.
     Holy Trinity Church at Somerset was organized
in 1820 by the Dominican Fathers. About this time
Catholics began to pour into the county. It was found
that Holy Trinity and St. Joseph's could not accomo-
date all. Arrangements were made to enlarge the lat-
ter and in 1829 a substantial brick edifice took the
place of the original.
     St. Joseph's was the headquarters of the Dominican
Order in America. From its Convent walls, its preach-
ers, for preaching is what the Dominican priesthood
stands for, went into all parts of the country. With
the exception of the Pacific coast, St. Joseph's is yet
the American center of the Order. Most of the Cath-
olic congregations in the county were organized
through the agency of the priests at St. Joseph's.
While all of these congregations, with the exception
of Holy Trinity, have passed under the ecclesiastical

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control of the Bishop of the Columbus Diocese, the
honor of their organization belongs to the Dominicans.
     The Church and Convent were destroyed by fire in
1862. The present buildings were then erected. For
a time St. Joseph's was also a college, where a purely
secular education could be received. It is now but a
Theological school. It has a magnificent library of
about ten thousand volumes. Many of these are quite
old and valuable.
     The Convent is to be taken to Washington City.
At present the students begin their study at St. Rose's,
Kentucky, and complete it at St. Joseph's. After the
removal the initial work will be done at St. Joseph's
and its completion in the Capital City. The "Rosary
Magazine" at Somerset is published under the auspices
of the Order.
     Father Fenwick who became Bishop of Cincinnati,
purchased land opposite the church in Somerset for
the purpose of founding a female academy. This
school was opened in 1830 in connection with a Con-
vent. Its success was unbounded till it burned to the
ground in 1866, Because of a generous offer from
Columbus, it was determined to accept the new loca-
tion.  The well-known school, St. Mary's of the
Springs, in Columbus, is the successor of St. Mary's at
Somerset.
     A few years subsequent to the founding of St. Jo-
seph's, a Catholic Church was built in the eastern part
of Clayton township. It was made of logs and was
used till 1833, when it was abandoned. The congre-
gation then met at Rehoboth, in a large building that
had been erected for a grist mill. The motive power
of this mill was to be a perpetual motion. The ar-
chitect didn't get the motion perpetuated and he was

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glad to dispose of the building. This was used as a
church till 1851, when a new one near McLuney was
built. The Rehoboth congregation then worshiped
at the new location. The McLuney church has in
turn been united with the new organization at Crooks-
ville.
     St. Patrick's Church near Junction City is one of
the children of St. Joseph's. It was organized in 1830
by Father Young of whom mention has already been
made. The first building was of brick and was quite
small. The present edifice was erected in 1845. It
is one of the largest church organizations in the county.
     Chapel Hill is possibly one of the best known
churches in the county. It may hardly be considered a
pioneer church, since it was not organized till about
1850. Services are not held here now, and the building
is nearing a state of ruin.
     The famous old Stone Church in western Saltlick
is, too, in a ruinous condition. The congregation dates
back to 1825. The building that is now falling to
pieces was built in 1839. It was a magnificent struc-
ture for its day and is one of the landmarks of south-
ern Perry.

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