Delaware County, Ohio - Chapter 15: Berkshiee Township, 1880 (part 2 of 2)

The history of the churches and of the religious work of Berkshire Township is an interesting study, and dates back to the arrival of the first settlers. They were a religious people, and needed missionaries not so much as material for missionaries to work upon. The family of Col. Byxbe was of the Presbyterian creed, that of Maj. Brown belonged to the Episcopal Church, together with the Princes, Plumbs, and Curtises. With the advent of the Carpenters in the southern part of the township came in the Methodist element. Gilbert Carpenter was a minister in that church, of an active nature, and it was not long before the first church was organized in that part of the town. There were about fourteen members, and meetings were held in a Vrge hewed-log schoolhouse that was erected not far from 1813. Gilbert Carpenter andhis nephew, Benjamin, Jr., supplied the preaching, with occasional visits from itinerant ministers. Some two years later, the Methodists organized a church at Sunbury, holding their meetings during the winter in the cabins around the neighborhood, and in Judge Carpenter's barn in the summertime. The people came |from a distance of ten miles with ox teams, barefooted in summer, and frequently so in winter, to hear the Grospel preached. The ministers were not college-bred men, nor men marked with especial gifts for the ministry. They wore the same homely garb of the settler, and were often compelled to suffer privations which were seldom-known in the settler's cabin. In the southern part of the township the larger gatherings of the church were held in the mill and barns until 1825, when the frame building now standing in Galena waB erected. This is the largest church edifice in the township, and continues to be the rallying-point of that denomination. At Sunbury the church used the brick schoolhouse until 1839, when their present building was erected at a cost of $1,500, which was built in connection with the Episcopal organization, each using it on alternate Sundays. The latter organization finally became extinct by removals and members changing their place of worship. To erect such a building in those days was quite a tax on the community, and there was a vigorous effort made to interest the outside community. James Smith, a young tailor, and full of life, took an active part, and rode three weeks to raise the subscription, starting the list himself with $100, a sum greater than all his worldly possessions. Such interest is difficult at this time to explain, save on the theory of his own statement, that he had "got tired of seeing the girl's pretty faces in that old schoolhouse." The first circuit was established in 1831, with Kev. James Mclntyre as Presiding Elder. The church has numbered as high as 140 members, but now numbers about 67. At the " corners," a Methodist church was organized in 1858, by Rev. Amos Wilson, with about twenty-five members. The organization now numbers about eighty-five. They erected a place of worship in 1860, where they have maintained a Sunday school summer and winter. Church services are held one half day only on each alternate Sunday.

The next church organization, in point of time, was the Protestant Episcopal. The first sermon was preached in Maj. Brown's house, at Berkshire

Corners, in 1818, by Bishop Chase, the first Bishop of the diocese. On Easter Monday, at the house of David Prince, March 23, 1818, those of Episcopalian belief met, and organized a church by the following election of officers : Clerk, Carlos Curtis ; Wardens, Ichabod Plumb and Joseph Prince. Vestrymen - William Smith, Zenas Ross and Aaron Strong. Lay Readers, David Prince and Carlos Curtis.

It was not until some ten years later that they built their church building, and, in the mean while, they held their services in private houses with Rev. Mr. Stem and others as Rectors. The church building is a brick house with a large triple Gothic window in front, which was considered, at that time, a great achievement in the way of church ornament. This edifice is the third Protestant Episcopal building erected in the State, and among the very first of any denominational church buildings. The membership now numbers some twelve or fourteen persons, who maintain regular services and Sabbath school during the summer months. The leading church of this denomination, however, is at Galena, which was organized in 1875, by the Rev. John Ely, with eight or ten members. This drew .a number of members from Berkshire Corners, and now numbers about thirty persons. In 1877, assisted by the community, they built one of the handsomest brick edifices in the county. It is small and plain, built from a plan drawn by a New Jersey architect, at a cost of about $1,750.

Closely following the Episcopalians came the Presbyterian Church. There were at Berkshire Corners several families, Bennett, Gregory and Patterson, who went to services held in the old court house, by Rev. Mr. Hughes, a son-in-law of Col. Byxbe. Once in four weeks, Mr. Hughs came to the settlement and held services in the cabins. About 1818, Rev. Ebenezer Washburn, a Presbyterian minister, came to Berkshire Corners, and it is remembered'that he drove into the settlement in a steel-shod sled, a circumstance that gave him no little distinction at the time. He held services in the cabins for two or three years, when he removed to Genoa Township. This denomination seems never to have gained a permanent home here until the organization of a church in Sunbury, in May, 1 868. It started with a membership of some twenty-three, and now numbers some thirty-five. Rev. Robert Wiley was principally instrumental in organizing it. They have no church building, but rent. The lower part of the town hall has been fitted up for their use and rented for several years. They maintain a Sabbath school the year round, which numbers about fifty.

The Baptist denomination was represented in Berkshire- as earlyas 1812, by Elder Henry George. He was a Welshman, spoke with a marked brogue, and was a plain man of excellent common sense. A church was not organized, however, until 1835. This occurred in District No. 2, of Trenton Township, and was called the Walnut Creek Baptist Church. Here they occupied a log schoolhouse until 1837, when the church was moved to Sunbury, and in the succeeding year built their present place of worship. The church building was built at a cost of some $2,000. The first Pastor after coming to Sunbury was the Kev. Mr. Gildersleeve, succeeded by a Rev. Mr. Roberts. It has a membership of some sixty persons, and maintains a Sunday school the year through. There is a church of the Free- Will Baptist denomination located at Rome Corners. In the winter of 1876-77, the Rev. Mr. Murray, of Sunbury, held a series of meetings which were crowned with abundant success, and he naturally sought to establish a church there. There did not seem to be a desire for such a church, and in a perfectly friendly spirit both minister and people joined in inviting a Rev. Mr. Whittaker to organize the church, which, in 1877, erected a place of worship at a cost of $900.

Sunday schools as they existed in the days of the early settlements were not such as we have now. In many instances the rudiments of education were joined with instruction in the Scriptures. The first of this sort was opened by Julia Strong, daughter of Maj. Strong, in her father's house about 1814. The house stood on the Gaylord property, near the bridge east of Sunbury. Another school, akin to this, but rather nearer our idea of a Sunday school, was opened about 1816, by Miss Bowen, a sister-in-law of Ebenezer Washburn. Her method was to invite the little folks to her house on Sunday, when she would read them a passage of Scripture, then an historical sketch calculated to interest such little minds, and then asked them to learn a short passage from the Bible to repeat on the following Sunday. The Hon. 0. D. Hough was one of her scholars, and believes this school to have been the first Sunday school ever held in the eastern part of Delaware County.

The early settlers of Berkshire appear to have been agreed upon the necessity of education, and the historian finds it difficult, with settlements at three diflferent points in the township, each one of which established a school at the earliest practicable moment, to determine the priority in the order of their establishment. The first authentic date we have been able to find is that of a school taught by Maria Denton, in 1810, in a log house near Hon. Ezekiel Brown's farm, now owned by H. Vanfleet. She had some ten scholars who paid for what they got, very much on the "European Hotel plan." This was not, however, the first school in the township. In the north part of the township, east of the Berkshire street, and a few rods south of the Granville road, stood an old round-log schoolhouse, built in the most primitive fashion. This was the first attempt of the Byxbe settlement toward advanced education. When it was built is not known, but it was very early. The first teacher in this schoolhouse was a Miss Thompson, from Worthington ; she was succeeded by Cynthia Sloper, and by Solomon Smith in a winter school. Lucy Caulkins also taught here, but at a much later date. The first school at Sunbury is shrouded in obscurity. A hewed-log schoolhouse which stood on the southwest corner of the square is one of the oldest landmarks, but, to the date of its erection, or when first used for school purposes, the memory of man runneth not. Julia Strong was an early teacher, and perhaps the first, but there is no authentic information on that point. In the southern part of the township, Nathan Dustin was an early teacher. He had a very strict sense of propriety, and was wont to give his scholars short lectures on rules of behavior. On one occasion the "big girls" got very much interested at noon in a game of ball, and played with all the abandon of light-hearted girlhood. This was too much for Mr. Dustin's spirit of propriety, and, calling the girls in, he ga^ve them a severe rebuke, imitating their appearance when running, and the unladylike style of the whole proceeding. It proved too much for one girl, and she broke out crying, which ended the discourse. It is not clearly explained whether it was on the principle of " if you won't cry I'll give you a stick of candy," or the natural inclination of his heart, but he made this girl the second of his five wives. Lexton was the name of another teacher in this part of the township, and it is said might well be taken for the original of the doggerel lines :

"Old John Cross kept a village day school, And a cross old man was he, For he spared not the rod as he taught the old rule Of a b c, a b c."

He was an Irishman, and had the bad habit of carrying his whisicy with him to school, a circumstance which aggravated the natural severity of his temper. Partially intoxicated, he frequently fell asleep, and, on awaking, punished at random the first one his eyes fell on. It was in one of these moods that he called upon all the larger girls after recess one day, and distributed sundry blows of the " ferule " among them, much to the discomfiture of their hands, because they had been sliding on the ice.

The Berkshire Academy was the first attempt in the way of more advanced schooling. This was a chartered institution, located at Berkshire Corners, and was established in the winter of 1840-41. The building was a small frame, costing about $300 or $400, the expense of which was defrayed by the sale of shares of $10 each. The first session was held in. the following winter, with an attendance of about thirty scholars, and G. S. Bailey, from Obcrlia, as teacher. This was in the time of the anti-slavery agitation, before Ohio had been largely won over to the cause of human rights, and Oberlin was not a good place to hail from. Bailey was discreet, and said nothing of his future intentions, or of his antecedents, until the last week of the school term. The announcement of his opinions took the community by surprise, for, like the men of old, they looked for nothing good to come out of Nazareth, and, liberal as the old New England settlement was in the matter of education, they could not reconcile themselves to the thought that they had so long harbored an Oberlin agitator in their midst. This school was maintained for some fifteen years, when it was discontinued for lack of support. The building still exists, and is now used as a residence, just east of the Episfopal church. The influence of this academy, upon its patrons and the township at large cannot be easily estimated. It is a noteworthy fact, however, that the number of its pupils who have achieved more than ordinary distinction is large. Among their number is a Governor, a congressman, and a banker, and one whose active participation in the temperance and anti-slavery work upon the lecture platform has gained for her a wide circle of admirers.

There are two special school districts in this township, organized in 1868, both of which are furnished with, fine buildings. The one at Sunbury is a brick structure, somewhat in the form of a cross. The main arm, extending from east to west, is about 38x48 feet ; the arm crossing this at right angles in the center is 13 feet wide, and projects 24 feet in front and 13 feet to the rear. There are accommodations for four departments, but only three have as yet been used. The building stands upon a prominent site, north of the town, is ornamented with colored brick, contains a cellar under all, and is eonsidfired by the enthusiastic citizen as the finest school building in the county outside of Delaware. It cost $5,000, and was built in 1878. Just before the building was completed a fire broke out in it and threatened to destroy it, occasioning a loss of some $400 to the contractor. The enumeration of the district is 181. The average attendance in the winter is 120, and about 100 in the summer. A gentleman is employed as Principal, and two ladies as assistants in the other departments. The salary of the former is fixed at $600 for the school year of nine months. The other teachers are paid $30 per month.

The building in the special district of. Galena is situated near the square on a dry knoll which commands a fine prospect of the Big Walnut and the range of hills' beyond. It is a square building, surmounted by a cupola. There are three departments, with a Principal and two assistants, who receive $70 and $30 per month respectively. The latest enumeration showed 145 persons eligible for school privileges. The enrollment readhes 125, with an average attendance of 110.

There are besides these special districts six districts in the township, which are all supplied with brick houses save Districts Nos. 3 and 4. In these, neat frame buildings, supplied with modern furniture and conveniences, are provided. The first brick schoolhouse was erected in District No. 1, at a cost of $1,000, in 1871. A similar schoolhouse was built in District No. 2 in 1873, at a cost of $900. Districts Nos. 5 and 6 are also provided for in like manner. They are all supplied with improved school furniture, and are up to the most advanced schools of the time in this respect. The enumeration combined in these districts reaches 194. The average salary paid is $35 per month to male- teachers and $20 per month to female teachers, teachers boarding themselves. The majority of the teachers throughout the township are females. The town hall proper is located at Rome Corners. For some years, the schoolhouse was used for voting purposes, but when a new schoolhouse was built, the old school building was purchased at a cost of $100.