Delaware County, Ohio - Chapter 12 (2 of 2 so headed), 1880 (part 3 of 3)

Grace Methodist Episcopal Church"j- was organized in January, 1860, by the Rev. Henry E. Pilcher, in a small schoolhouse near the grounds of the Agricultural Society. Twelve members in full connection and thirty upon probation constituted the original organization.

at the General Conference of 1860, it was transferred to the North Ohio, where it has since remained. During the year 1861, by perseverance, and not without sacrifice, tho membership succeeded in erecting a small frame church. In this the congregation worshiped until 1875. Many glorious outpourings of the Holy Spirit were received by the membership in the little white church ; here many weary sinners were moved to repentance, sought pardon, and started upon the upon the way of happiness and usefulness.

The church edifice which is now occupied by the congregation, was begun by the Rev. Charles P. Creighton, in 1872. After many reverses, it was finally completed, and dedicated February 7, 1875, by Rev. Bishop Randolph S. Foster. It is located in the eastern part of the city, at the junction of William and Berkshire streets. It is a neat building of brick, with spire and turret. It will comfortably seat 500 people. The seats are of ash, trimmed with black walnut, and flexed at the sides, giving all the auditors a front view of the pulpit. Its commodious and tasteftil arrangement is commended by all who are acquainted with it.

Grace Church includes within its membership and congregation nearly all the English-speaking . Methodists on the east side of the river, and many from the west side, but most of its members live in the country. It has never abounded in wealth, but, under liberal and wise management, it has been able to erect a substantial, neat edifice, and to pay annually the average amount of about $600. It has not increased in membership as rapidly as so'me other churches more favorably located. It has filled to a considerable extent the place of a mission church, and has exerted much influence upon the fallen, and the lower classes of . society. Its members have, however, as a rule, been good, substantial men and women, who have indeed been servants of the Lord. Consequently many revivals have characterized the history of the church. In 1865, the membership had grown to about 100 persons. During the winter of 1871-72, a powerful revival took place, in which many students of the Ohio Wesleyan University took an active part. At the close of this year the membership numbered about 150,

The church has never been- a separate parish. From 1860 to 1865, it was included in the bounds of the Woodbury Circuit : in 1865, it was transferred to the Galena Circuit; in 1868, it was made the chief appointment of a newly formed circnit.

The following is a list of the Pastors who have served the church: 1860-61, Revs. Samuel Mower and C. B. Brandebury ; 1861-62, Revs. Plummer and John Blanpied; 1862-63, Revs. Chilton Craven and John Blanpied ; 1863- 64, Revs. John Mitchell and William Jones. Mr. Mitchell died in November, 1863, and Rev. Oliver Burgess was sent to fill the vacancy. 1864-65, Revs. James Wheeler and William Jones; 1865- 66, Revs. Allen S. Moffit and Francis M. Searles ; 1866-67, Revs. Heman Safibrd and Jacob S. Albright; 1867-68, Revs. Heman Safford and William Hudson ; 1868-69, Rev. Cadwalader H. Owens; 1869-71, Rev. Joseph F. Kennedy, Soon after the commencement of the year 1870- 71, Mr. Kennedy was appointed agent of the Ohio Wesleyan Female Cellege, and Rev. Wesley B. Farrah was appointed to fill out the year. 1871-72, Rev. Stephen Fant was Pastor ; 1872- 73, Rev. Charles F. Creighton ; 1873-76, Rev. Benjamin F. Bell; 1876-77, Rev. William L. Phillips; 1877-80, Rev. Samuel R. Squier.

In this chapter, devoted to religious organizations, it is not inappropriate to say a few words of other organizations, founded in truth, and that take for their great light the Bible itself - organizations which teach a " belief in God, hope in immortality and charity to all mankind." There are those, doubtless, who will take issue with us in this, but we know whereof we speak.

The origin of Freemasonry, the most ancient of all the secret societies now in existence, is a point upon which there is much curious speculation among men, and about which there is some contradiction and more conjecture among those distinguished for their knowledge of ancient history. That it originated so long ago that the oldest histories can tell little of its beginning, is true. That Masons are to be found in almost every country subjected to modern discovery, is a point universally admitted. In tribes and countries where letters and arts are extinct, and where commerce and modern improvement have as yet made no impression upon the national character, the grand features of Masonry are found to be correct. This remarkable coincidence is accounted for in various ways by different writers upon the subject. All who have carefully considered the origin of the Order have been convinced that the germ from which it sprang was coeval with that wonderful command of Jehovah : '- Let there be light." At the building of King Solomon's Temple, the Order assumed something like a definite form. We learn from tradition, that, at the erection of that superb model of architecture, there were employed three grand masters, 3,300 masters or overseers of the work, 80,000 fellow-crafts, and 70,000 entered apprentices, who were all systematically arranged according to their grade and rank.

A writer whose intelligence and veracity have never been questioned says : " After the completion of the temple at Jerusalem, most of the Tyrians who had been employed by Solomon, returned to their native country." From the same source we also learn that many of the Jews who had been engaged upon the temple migrated to Phoenicia, a country of which, at that distant period. Tyre was the principal city. For some cause, left unexplained by the historian, this Jewish colony was oppressed by its neighbors, and flew to their friends, the Tyrians, for relief The latter furnished them with ships arid provisions, and they (the Jews) took their departure for a foreign land, and finally settled in Spain. If, as workmen at the temple, they had been invested with secre's not known to others, there can be no doubt but they preserved and carried them wherever they went. Another writer, whose accuracy is surpassed by no author of his time, informs us that about 190 years after the Trojan war, which would be about fifteen years after the completion of the temple, a colony of Jews from Palestine made a permanent settlement on the western coast of Africa. From these three distinctive points, we may follow the march and spread of Masonry throughout the world. In all the countries settled by emigration from these places, or connected with these people, either by alliance or commerce, Masonry is found, her signs the same, her mystic word the same in all. And that it has existed in some form ever since, there is no shadow of doubt in the mind of the educated craftsman. At what precise date it became speculative, and dropped the operative form, is not definitely known. In the early part of the eighteenth century the Grand Lodge of England was established, and, from that day to this, the history of Masonry is familiar to all reading members of the order.

With the early pioneers, Masonry made its advent into Delaware County. The Byxbes, Carpenters, Lambs, Littles, Roots and others of the early settlers were members of the Order, and charter members of the first Masonic lodge in the county. The original charter issued to the Masons of Delaware to establish a lodge, bears date January 15, A. L. 5812, and is the constitutional authority under which Hiram Lodge, No. 18, now exists, and exercises its its functions as an organized body.* It is signed by Lewis Cass, Grand ' Master of Ohio, and August Louis Langham, Grand Secretary, and contains the names of the following charter members, viz.: William Little, John Carpenter, Eeuben Lamb, N. W. Little, Charles Thompson, Azariah Root, Jonathan Collin, Stephen Harrington, Czar Sturdevent, Aaron D. Lebar and Moses Byxbe, Jr., not one of whom but has long since been laid away to rest beneath the " evergreen." Of these members, Moses Byxbe was Worshipful Master ; Stephen Harrington, Senior Warden ; John Carpenter, Junior Warden ; Reuben Lamb, Treasurer; N. W. Little, Secretary; William Little, Senior Deacon ; Azariah Root, Junior Deacon and Steward. One of the first entries on the minutes of the Lodge is the following : "That all Master Masons who are members of this Lodge, except the Worshipfiil Master and Senior and Junior Wardens, shall take their turn in Tiling this Lodge alternately." Among the relics laid up in the archives is a diploma of Azariah Root, one of the charter members. It is as follows :

As such, he has been received by us, and, being a true and faithful brother, is hereby recommended to the favor and protection of all Free and Accepted Masons wheresoever dispersed.

In witness whereof we have caused the seal of our said Lodge to be hereunto affixed, this 12th day of November, Salvation, 1795, and of Masonry, 5795.

The Order glided along in "peace and harmony " from its introduction into Delaware in 1811, doing "good work and square work," until 1826-27, when the great anti-Masonic storm burst upon the country with a violence, that for a time, threatened to sweep Masonry into the "Valley of Jehoshaphat." A great political party had discovered that Freemasonry was an institution established in "opposition to all laws human and divine," and the cunning sought to snatch away her richest jewel - secrecy] - that they might expose her to the scorn and contempt of the world. It was but a little while, and the " wings of Jehovah" were even then sheltering her, yet many a true heart despaired, and many an honest, though weak one, endeavored, for the sake of peace, to untie the indissoluble bonds of Masonry. The storm of the Morgan excitement (not the rebel General Morgan, but the apostate Mason) reached Delaware. For a time, the faithful few stood to their posts, and met on "the highest hills and in the lowest vales," the better to " guard against the approach of cowans or eavesdroppers, either ascending or descending." But their exertions failed ; their efibrts to keep the fire burning upon their altar were unavailing, and their temple was closed for a season.

It was during this period that the charter of Hiram Lodge was lost lor stolen. There is a pre vailing tradition that Harry Rigger, who was a member of the order, was intrusted with its keeping, and, in removing from Delaware to Millville, lost it. For years it lay as securely hidden as the " book of the law and testimony " lay hidden in the " ninth arch," from the destruction of the first to the building of the second Temple. If it was stolen, the thief finally threw it away (where he knew it would be found), and, one day, toward the close of the anti-Masonic crusade, the lost charter was picked up near Millville. It was handed, by the finder, to Judge Griswold, who was known to be a zealous Mason. Griswold returned it to the Grand Lodge, and succeeded not only in having it renewed but in having the original number of the Lodge restored, which, during its dormant period, had been given to a newly organized body. The charter bears this inscription upon its margin : " Returned to the Grand Lodge, October 20, A. L. 5846 ; re-issued, by order thereof, October 24, A. L. 5846. Attest : B. F. Smith, Grand Secretary."

A strong anti-Masonic element existed in Delaware, and, in derision of the faithful few (who had closed the doors of their templess about the year 1827 ; year of Masonic light, 5827 ; year of Masonic darkness, 1), lodges were convened by the antis ; degrees were conferred from the expositions of Morgan, AUyn, Richardson, and kindred publications, for the benefit of the curious, or any one else, who chose to attend the vile exhibitions. For a period of about twelve years the persecution was kept up, but -

The storm passed by, and the sun of Masonry came forth again brighter than before. Hiram Lodge, after a Kip Van Winkle sleep, was reorganized under its original charter, which we have seen was re-issued, and which had been almost miraculously restored to the Lodge. In 1846, the Master's gavel again called the workmen to labor, order assumed its sway, and the fire was rekindled upon the altar, where it has ever since continued to burn.

We have noticed, among the charter members of Hiram Lodge, some of the very first settlers of Delaware. They were not only active Blue Lodge Masons, but equally active in the higher degrees. In an old file of the Delaware Patron and Franklin Chronicle, a notice appears of the election of officers in Mount Vernon Encampment of Knights Templar, February 22, 1820, as follows : Sir John Sno,w, Grand Commander; Sir Chester Griswold, Greneralissimo ; Sir Benjamin Gardner, Captain General ; Kev. Joseph Hughes, Prelate ; Sir Mark Seeley, Senior Warden ; Sir James Kilbourn, Junior Warden ; Sir Levi Pinney, Treasurer ; Sir William Little, Recorder ; Sir Erastus Webb, Standard Bearer ; Sir Parden Sprague, Sword Bearer, and Sir Chancy Barker, Warder. Several of these were citizens of Delaware. But these old craftsmen are all gone. Mr. James Aigin, whom many of our readers know, is one of the oldest surviving members of Hiram Lodge. He says there is but one man now living who was a member when he took the degrees in this Lodge, and that is Horatio Smith, of Millville. B. F. Fry, of Troy Township, was admitted about the same time as himself. These three are the oldest landmarks now left, and soon they too will have passed away.

Hiram Lodge is in a flourishing condition, and, in connection with the Royal Arch Chapter, have a handsome and well-furnished hall. The membership is large, and comprises many of the best citizens and business men of the city. The present officers are; James M. Crawford, Worshipful Master ; George H. Aigin, Senior Warden ; David Battenfield, Junior Warden ; Sidney Moore, Treasurer ; Charles M. Converse, Secretary ; John

Cowgill, Senior Deacon ; Henry Robinson, Junior Deacon, and James Aigin, Steward and Tiler. These are well tried, true and trusty, and in their skillful hands the temple is safe.

Delaware Royal Arch Chapter, No. 54, was organized under dispensation, June 4, 185;-), and chartered in October of the same year. The charter members were: Ezra Griswold, W. L. Harris (now of Chicago, and a Bishop of the! Methodist Episcopal Church), Caleb Howard, J. A. Burnham, B. F. Willey, Moses Byxbe, Jr., E. L. Leroy, George Taylor, E. Dutton and J. S. Brown. The first officers were : Ezra Griswold, Most Excellent High Priest ; W. L. Harris, Excellent King, and Caleb Howard, Excellent Scribe. Most Excellent W. B. Thrall, Past Grand High Priest of the State, was authorized by the Grand Chapter to institute the Chapter and set it to work. At present it has a membership of eighty-eight, and is officered as follows, viz.: C. H. McElroy, M. E. High Priest; F. E. Moore, E. King; S. C. Conrey, E. Scribe ; Sidney Moore, Captain of the Host; James M. Crawford, Principal Sojourner; William Robinson, Royal Arch Captain ; John Cowgill, Joseph Wells, George H. Aigin, Grand Masters of the Veils ; Max Frank, Treasurer ; C. M. Converse. Secretary, and James Aigin, Sentinel. Delaware Council of Royal and Select Masters, had an existence in Delaware for a number of years, but during the year 1879 it surrendered its charter, and is now extinct. The city has never had a Commandery of Knights Templar.

White Sulphur Lodge No. 10 (Colored Masons), was organized in March, 1868, under a warrant from the Grand Lodge of the State of Ohio (colored), and duly set to work by Right Worshipfiil David Jenkins, Deputy Grand Master of the State. The three officers named in the charter were, J. J. Williamson, Worshipful Master ; Benjamin Austin, Senior Warden, and Hubbard Menden^ hall. Junior Warden. The Lodge is prosperous and has twenty-five members, with the following list of officers : B. F. Thomas, Worshipful Master; J. J. Williamson, Senior Warden; H. C. Clay, Junior Warden ; Allen Mitchell, Treasurer ; E. D. Roberts, Secretary ; Samuel Greer, Senior Deacon ; J. A.lston, Junior Deacon, and Lewis McAfee, Tiler.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, though of far more modern origin than Freemasonry, is very similar in some of its essential qualities. Its grand aim is charity and benevolence. It was introduced into Delaware a third of a century or more ago, and is at present represented by a lodge and encampment. The Lodge was instituted November 15, 1845, as Olentangy Lodge, No. 53, I. 0. 0. F., and was composed of the following charter members : ' Henry Pattee, Adam Wolfe, J. W. Place, Charles A. Drake, C. Piatt, William L. Harris (now Bishop of Methodist Episcopal Church), and George Breyfogle. The first officers were ; William L. Harris, Noble Grand ; C. S. Drake, Vice Grand ; C. Piatt, Secretary, and George Breyfogle, Treasurer. The Lodge has an active membership of 158, and is officered as follows : J. L. Wolfley, Noble Grand ; Lewis Benton, Vice Grand ; 0. A. Wolfley, E,. Secretary; G. W. Wentsell, P. Secretary, and A. Evans, Treasurer.

Delaware Encampment, No. 52, 1. O. 0. P., was chartered May 5, 1851. The charter members were J. A. Barnes, S. A. Cherry, W. P. Jones, C. T. Bradley, John Converse, H. W. Chamberlain and Cyrus Masters. It has sixty-seven members, and the following is the roll of officers for the present term : H. A. Weld, C. P.; J. L. Wolfley, H. P.; Thomas C. Evans, J. W.; E. R. Ryan, Scribe, and C. T. Bradley, Treasurer.

Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 1,511, Grand United Order of Odd Pellows in America (colored), was chartered December 12, 1872, under authority from the Grand Lodge of England. Among the