Walnut Township, Pickaway County, OH

Church History & Records

 

Hedges Chapel.--At an early date members of the Methodist Episcopal denomination established religious services in Walnut township, the first meetings being held in the homes of Noah Jones, Moses Oman and George Brinker, and also at the homes of Jacob Longenbaugh and the widow Cole in the eastern part of the township. The Hedges Chapel class was organized by Rev. J. H. Creighton at the house of George Brinker in 1841, and consisted of the following members : Thomas Young and wife, Shadrack Cole and five. children, James Hoyman, George Brinker and wife, John Knight, wife and his sister Betsey, Lewis Fridley, wife and daughters, Hannah and Catharine, Cyrus Hedges, wife and daughters, Ann D. and Cynthia, Eli Hines and wife, Sarah Payton and daughters, and Gideon Cummings. Shadrack Cole was local preacher. Revs. James Gilworth and Thomas Hurd were then on the circuit. The first class leader was Thomas Young. The original chapel was built in 1843. Cyrus Hedges donated we ground and in addition subscribed $5o. The present chapel of the society is a frame structure that was built in 1887. The church property is well improved with cement walks and shade trees and lawn and is valued at $4,000. Rev.. S. M. Merrill (afterward Bishop) was pastor during the Civil War; he was followed by such men as Riker, J. M. Rife, Miller, H. B. Westervelt, L. H. Binkley, Frank Gillilan, B. F. Jackson, C. M. Prior, F. M. Evans and F. R. Crooks, who was succeeded in September, 1906, by Rev. C. E. Hill. The class is a charge of the Ashville Circuit, in which town the pastor has his residence. The society has a membership of 100. The Sunday-school, of which George C. Marion is superintendent, has an attendance of about 75.

The East Union M. E. Church was organized between 1825 and 1830 with 12 members. The meetings continued to be held at the home of Mrs. Cole, as previously mentioned, until the erection of a brick church building in the year 1835, for which William Tallman gave the land. The structure soon became inadequate to the needs of the society and about 15 years after its erection it was torn down and another brick church was erected on the same spot. The church is located about half a mile east of Walnut. The church property is valued at $2,500. The society has a membership of about 75. The church is a charge of the Ashville Circuit, of which Rev. C. E. Hill is present pastor, having succeeded Rev. F. R. Crooks in September, 1906. Ezra Hedges, now nearly 90 years old, has been a lifelong member. The Sunday-school, of which , Alva Courtright is superintendent, has an average attendance of about 75.

There have been two churches of the Evangelical Association in Walnut township. Mount Zion's Church, at one time called the Zinser Church, was organized in 183o, at the home of Solomon Zinser, where meetings were held until the frame church on the south line of the township was erected in 1840. The original members were : Solomon Zinser and wife, John Bridagum and wife, Jacob Rife and wife and Valentine Reber and wife. The church building was the first church edifice erected by the denomination west of the Allegheny Mountains. Previous to its completion, the first Ohio Evangelical Conference was held in a barn on the farm then owned by Solomon Moyer, after-ward the Andrew Ucher farm. The church was abandoned in the '80's.

Emanuel Church of the Evangelical Association was formed about 1832, with the following members : John Tobias and wife, Peter Tobias and wife, John Hittle and wife and Peter Moyer and wife. Meetings were held at the dwellings of the members, until the church in the southeast corner of section 28 was built, in 1848. Rev. A. J. Diefenderfer has been the pastor of the church .for the past two years. The membership of the church, which in former years was more than 100, has been decreased by removals and deaths to 25. There is a flourishing Sunday-school.

Mount Hermon U. B. Church.--A class of the United Brethren in Christ was organized at the house of James Ward in 1833. The meetings continued here some time, later being held in log schoolhouses. Soon after 1845 Rev. Isaac Kretzenger, the circuit preacher, conducted revivals here, which resulted in the addition of quite a number to the church membership. The need of a church building then became keenly felt and it was therefore decided to build. A mound, supposed to be of artificial construction, located in the southeast part of section 17, was selected as the site. The church, at the suggestion of Robert G. Morral, one of the members who selected the location, was called the "Mount Hermon Church." In 1875 the old building was removed to give place to the present frame structure, which was completed during the incumbency of Rev. William Fisher, who served the circuit in 1876 and 1877. The church has a membership of about 6o and has a flourishing Sunday-school of 40 members, C. B. Barnhart being superintendent. The church is a class of the Ashville Circuit, of which Rev. W. E. Rowe is the present pastor.

The East Ringgold class of the United Brethren Church, which belongs to the Bethany Circuit, of which Rev. E. Gwartney, of Lancaster, is pastor, was organized in 1865 by Rev. Thomas Forsyth and was composed of six members. The frame church, erected by members of the German Reformed Church at the Ritter burial-ground, was purchased and moved' to East Ringgold. This building was replaced about two years ago by a new frame structure at a cost of $3,000. The church has a membership of 80. The Sunday-school of 75 members is under the superintendence of C. M. Spayth.

Bethlehem class of the United Brethren Church was organized at the house of John Hager in 1835 with 10 members. Meetings were held at his residence until the erection of the church, in 1840. Meetings of this class have not been held for 15 years or more and it therefore may be termed extinct.

A United Brethren class formerly existed in the Pontious neighborhood but it disbanded in 1845, and the members, then only five or six in number, went with the Mount Hermon class.

A United Brethren class was formed at the dwelling of John May in 1838 or 1839 by Rev. William McCabe. They held their services there for some time until the class became large, when it was divided, and one part met for worship at the house of John Morris and the other in the Albright Church on the town line, which some of the members had assisted in erecting. Subsequently the two classes re-united and continued their meetings in the Al-bright Church until 1874, when the Bethany Church building, in Washington township, was erected.

The Warner Church at East Ringgold was built in 1839. The land consisting of over five acres was donated by Henry Warner, one of the members, in consequence of which the church was named for him. The preacher at the time of the erection of the church was Rev. Henry King. Both the German Reformed and Evangelical Lutheran denominations united in building this church. Soon after its erection, however, trouble arose between the two parties on account of certain forms of worship which the German Reformed members sought to introduce resulting in a split. The German Reformed faction then erected a frame building at the Ritter burial-ground half a mile northeast of East Ringgold. This society subsequently disbanded and the church structure was sold to the United Brethren, who moved it into East Ringgold. At the present time there are two congregations holding service in the Warner Church--the German Reformed, of which Rev. S. U. Snyder, of Stoutsville, is pastor; and the Evangelical Lutheran, of which Rev. F. B. Hax, of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, is pastor. The German Re-formed organization has a membership of 50, while the Lutheran has 12o members. F. M. Stout is superintendent of the Lutheran Sunday-school.

In 1842 a German Reformed clergyman by the name of Strickland, after conducting services in the township, organized a society and then returned East. He was followed by a minister named Phillips, during whose labors the North Union Church was built, in 1844. It was erected by the people generally, without respect to denomination, and ministers of different faiths officiated in its pulpit. In the spring of 1851 a United Brethren class was formed and used the church for a number of years. The church, which is a frame structure, is located two and a half miles north of Nebraska and is rapidly falling to pieces. Near the church is a small burial-ground, which is not now in use.

Hugh Creighton, who settled in Walnut township in 1816, was a pioneer in Sunday school work here. He was one of the first teachers of day school in the township, as early as 1822 or 1823, and it was his custom to collect the children together on Sundays for religious instruction.

Source: HISTORY OF PICKAWAY COUNTY, OHIO AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS, EDITED AND COMPILED BY HON. AARON R. VAN CLEAF.  CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO