Montgomery County, Ohio - Chapter 19, 1882

and vicinity who are disposed to aid in the establishment of a Bible society ar requested to meet at Mrs. Brown's, on Wednesday next, at 3 P. M. " Ir, re sponse to the notice, a few Christian women met in the bedroom of Mrs Catherine Brown, mother of Henry L. Brown, on the l'2th of April, 1815, am organized the Dayton Female Bible Society, which subsequently became a: auxiliary of the present society. At the time it was formed, there were bu seven Bible societies in Ohio. The first Board of Officers consisted of the fo] lowing ladies:

Mrs. Col. Robert Patterson, President; Mrs. Thomas Cottom, First Yic President; Mrs. James Welsh, Second Vice President; Mrs. Eliza Phillips Corresponding Secretary; Mrs. Julia A. Crane, Recording Secretary; Mrs Henrietta Pierce, Treasurer; Mrs. Mary King, Elizabeth Reid, Martha Hari nah, Hannah Spinning, Phoebe Steele, Catherine Brown, Mrs. Curtner and Mis Spinning, Managers. Two of the officers, Mrs. Steele and Crane, continuei in office forty-six years, until their decease, in 1861.

"A public meeting will be held in the Presbyterian Meeting-House oj Wednesday next, at 2 P. M. , to form a Bible society for Montgomery County The Rev. Richard Hall, agent of the American Bible Society, will address th meeting. All persons respectfully invited to attend. " Agreeably to the abovi notice, the meeting was held, with Hon. Joseph H. Crane as Chairman, an< George S. Houston, Secretary. The following resolution was adopted: " Re solved, That this meeting form a Bible society auxiliary to the American Bibl Society of New York," after which a committee was appointed for eubscrip tions and donations, to report at a meeting September 14, 1822. After an ad dress by Rev. Richard Hall, the meeting adjourned, and the proceedings wen ordered to be published in the Dayton Watchman. On the 14th of Septem' ber, 1822, the following officers and Directors were chosen, to hold their offices until a general meeting, to be held in January, 1823:

A committee consisting of Col. Reid, Dr. Job Haines and Rev. Thomas Sullivan, was appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws for the government of the society. In 1873, the semi-centennial anniversary of this society was held in Raper Chapel, and we learn from the proceedings that only two de fbndants of that first board were connected with the board of 1873. Judge ,'mes Steele was a member until his death, and was immediately succeeded his son, Robert W., who served as a member of the board for more than i rty years. Robert Patterson was represented by his grandson, Henry L. ] own, who was first elected Manager in 1843, and served as Director, Secrety or President until his death, in 1878. William B. King, a member of the .irdup to the last annual election, in 1882,. is a son of the first First Vice Resident of the society. Rev. Nathan Worley, the first Third Vice President, vs represented in 1873 by William Worley, President of the Madison Townsip Branch Society; and Rev. Thomas Sullivan, a member of the Constitui nal Committee of 1822, was represented by his nephew, S. M. Sullivan, as -iretary from December, 1871, up to the annual election of 1881. The folhVing additional names have been prominently connected with the society for u ny years, and deserve honorable mention: Thomas Parrott, deceased; Dr.

Steele, deceased; J. D. Loomis, deceased; George M. Young, deceased; Jin Powell, deceased; Patterson Mitchell, Alexander Gebhart; T. N. Sowers, Leased; and S. C. Crumbaugh, deceased. The Presbyterian Meeting-House, were the Bible society was organized, stood on the corner of Second and Idlow streets, the present site of the First Presbyterian Church of Dayton. Te Methodist Meeting-House, in which the first anniversary was held, was bated on Third street, near Main, and was known as Wesley Chapel M. E. Clurch; the same society is now known as Grace M. E Chui'ch. At a meetir held April 15, 1823, the following resolution was adopted: " Resolved ,

Tat Messrs. Baker, Bruen, Steele and R. Patterson be a committee, and aurized as such to make arrangements with the different Assessors to make in- ! ry of the different householders and ascertain who and how many are withoi; the sacred Scriptures." In this way, a large number of destitute families w;e found and furnished with Bibles. At an annual meeting held January 1- 828, the following resolution was adopted : " Resolved, That this society n'horize the Board of Directors to employ a suitable agent to visit evex-y famil, as far as he may be able, taking the county by townships." The spirit of h resolution was carried out by the board, who appointed local agents in :k township to distribute the Scriptures among those families not already svplied with a copy of the Word. On the tenth anniversary of the society, tl|J Secretary, in his report, said: l£The first great object which this society i i in view on its formation, viz., the supplying of the destitute of this county k the Bible, is now, as they believe, completed." On the 29th of June, 115, the board resolved to refurnish every destitute family with Bibles; also,

' ry child under fifteen years of age who could read was to be supplied with a C tarnent at cost, part price or gratis, and for thirteen years the work was car- 'i l on in accordance with the spirit of this resolution. The board passed a resodon, January 5, 1856, to employ an agent for the purpose of organizing Oijpch societies in every township, which was carried into effect. In 1867, Tj agent of the society visited 5,734 families of Dayton, and supplied 1,099 w i Bibles. Since then, the female branches, one of which is the same that w organized in 1815, have annually attended to this work in the city up to v fin a few years ago.

At a meeting of the board, April 5, 1823, a letter was read from the Rev. T mas Winters (father of David Winters), requesting the privilege of formpi a branch society in Germantown, which request was granted, and a supply >(Bibles and Testaments was furnished them to form a depository in that, 0p. Since that date, the following branches have been formed, and are acljl co-workers as auxiliaries to the Montgomery County Society, as is also the : ton Female Bible Society, which antedates it by seven years:

To show the value of these societies as auxiliaries, pi'ior to their formatic only $363.77 was contributed by Montgomery County outside of Dayton, ar since, up to 1873, the amount realized was $9,830. 89, and in the past nil years has been steadily increasing. November 30, 1830, a Mr. Kincaid w; employed and paid $12 to canvass and supply German Township with Bible At a meeting held Api'il 5, 1836, two young men from Oxford College we: employed at a salary of $15 per month to explore the country and furnish t! destitute with the Scriptures, while others were working without compensatio n In the summer of 1848, four young men were employed for the same purposj and in March, 1856, Robert Anderson was regularly engaged as County Age to organize branches and supply Bibles. He began the work and had orga ized societies in one-third of the townships, when he was taken sick, and did after a lingering illness. In the following October, Rev. Samuel Scott w appointed to finish the work, and, in the summer of 1867, Charles Roder ca vassed the city very thoroughly. There are now in the sixteen branch societi about one hundred and forty local agents, mostly ladies, who are appointed a nually, and are very efficient aids to the work. In addition to private familid the society has furnished a number of missions with Bibles; also the Y. M. A. rooms, jail, infirmary, Soldiers' Home, and the hotels of the city with copy for each room, free of charge. During the war, thousands of Bibles we furnished to the several regiments passing through the city for the seat war. The railways passing through Dayton have also been supplied wi Bibles and Testaments. Since its organization, the Montgomery County Bit Society has distributed the following number of Bibles and Testaments:

For the next three years the cost of the b joks distributed is given, and r the number of volumes. The records of the society show that $559.53 was p£ for Bibles and Testaments distributed during the years 1877, 1878 and 18r In the latter year, the society sold its stock of books on hand to the Unit Brethren Publishing House, where the depository had been kept for ma years, since which time they purchase whatever number of copies is want from time to time. In 1880, seventy -seven families were found destitute aji supplied with Bibles free of charge. In his report for 1881, the Secret; says: " Bibles and Testaments costing the society $116.06 have been donat: during the year, many being supplied to the soldiers at the National Hon with very satisfactory results, as attested by the Chaplain, Rev. William Eai shaw, and others by the Woman's Christian Association, which very efficient co-operates in the work of our society, and, although not an auxiliary, as w* the female Bible societies in years past, in a great measure is a worthy suecj sor in their work." The township of Harrison was canvassed by Mrs. M; C. King, and twenty-three copies of the Scriptures supplied to destitute fanlies. This venerable lady is the only survivor of that band of Christian wom who organized the first Bible society in Montgomery County. Since its org; ization, this society has contributed to the American Bible Society the sum $15,131.31, Every church in Montgomery County in harmony with this: ciety takes up an annual collection, which goes to support the work in har rom this source the society derives its principal assistance, although many rivate donations are received yearly. Judging from the Secretary's last rent, there seems to be a lack of interest in the cause throughout the county at ie present time, and little is being done by the township societies to forward ie work No doubt this apathy will soon give place to vigorous measures, id the good work prosecuted with its old-time energy. The female branches ive not been actively engaged for the past few years, and, although not liter - jjly disbanded, have to a certain extent ceased to have life, their work now beta efficiently carried on by the Woman's Christian Association.

While 1882 is the semi-centennial anniversary of the organization of the lontgomery County Sabbath School Union, the good work had really begun early twenty years before the society was organized.

April 10. 1815, the Female Bible and Charitable Society of Dayton was raed. The good works and influence of that band of women, among whom et'e Presbyterians, Methodists and New-Lights, led to the establishment of le Presbyterian Sabbath school in 1817, and the next year that of the Methlist Sabbath school that held its sessions in the old academy on St. Clair Ireet, opposite the park. Shortly after that, union meetings of the two Sabkth schools were regularly held. In 1822, the County Bible Society was oranized. The Montgomery County Sabbath School Union was organized at a meeting held at the Presbyterian Meeting-House, at the corner of Second and udlow streets, Dayton, on AVednesday, February 15, 1832.

Dr. John Steele was Chairman of the meeting, and E. M. Burr, Secretary, ad upon motion of the Rev. Ethan Allen, of the Episcopal Church, it was detrained to organize the society.

Now, in the year 1882, there are about one hundred Sabbath schools in Ye county; seventy-three of them report regularly to the County Sabbath chool Union; twenty-seven of them do not.