Twin Township (part 3 of 3)

Reformed

The first church services of the German Reformed denomination were held at the members' homes and in the open air, and the first church building of which we find any account was the log church which stood west of a graveyard, near the site of the dwelling of John L. Emlet. This was built in 1816-17, and known as the "Union" church, being used jointly by the German Reformed and Lutheran denominations, until about 1853, when the first named, under the pastorate of Rev. John Rike, built a new and substantial church on the site of their present church building, which was erected in 1893, under the pastorate of Rev. Reuben Keller. Rev. Thomas Winters was the first pastor of the Reformed congregation in the old "Union" log church, and continued to serve it until 1840. Rev. A. Leis succeeded him for a year, when Rev. John Kercher took up the work for a couple of years, after which Rev. Thomas Winters returned to their charge for a period of five years. In 1880 Rev. John Rike began a four-year pastorate, during which the first brick church in West Alexandria was built. He was succeeded by his brother, Levi Rike, who served two years, and was followed by Rev. A. C. Kendig, who preached to this congregation until 1891, when Rev. Harry M. Herman (who died March 10, 1915, at his home in Dayton, Ohio), became its pastor, serving twenty years. He was succeeded by Reverend Shoemaker, and the latter was followed by Reverend Schulmberger. Then Rev. H. L. Hart officiated, followed by Reverends Keller, Goeckler and the present pastor, Reverend Miller. This congregation continues to grow and, as one of its auxiliaries, the Sunday school is wide awake.

Lutheran

Salem Evangelical Lutheran church, as has already been stated, jointly occupied the old "Union" log church built in 1816-17, under the pastorate of Reverends Man, Morgan, Esbich, and Henkle, until 1830, when Rev. Jacob Gruber was called as its pastor. He served it until about 1848, when Rev. Andrew Henkle was recalled, serving them until June, 1850, when Rev. George Baughman took charge and served it for forty years. During his pastorate, a commodious brick building was built in i860, and the congregation kept pace, there being about three hundred communicant members when he laid down the work. Rev. E. F. W. Stellhorn, a young minister, fresh from college, succeeded Reverend Baughman, and, marrying during his pastorate, the congregation bought the Sheppard residence on the northwest corner of Main and Oak streets for a parsonage. While he served this society, efforts were going forward toward the erection of a new church, but the church at Marion, Ohio, called him to its pastorate before the accomplishment of his plans. It fell to the lot of his successor, Rev. S. Schillinger, the present incumbent, to carry to completion the building proposition, and in June, 1906, its people saw it dedicated, one of the finest, if not the finest, churches in the county.

Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, West Alexandria Methodist

The absence of records compels us to depend upon obtaining facts by reminiscence. It seems that, in the earlier settlement of West Alexandria, those of the Methodist faith met for worship in the first school house in the town, which stood near to its present site, on the opposite side of the street. At the home of Doctor Gray, in 1841-2, a class of, perhaps, a dozen was organized by Reverend Davis, which was increased, as the result of a revival held in the summer of 1842. After the formation of this class, services were held in the brick school house, on the site the present dwelling of Scott Wilson, on East Second street, and later in the Protestant Methodist church, just east of the brick school house, which has since disappeared. A small, one-storv brick church building was built about 1850, which was replaced by the present house, in 1878, at a cost of about three thousand dollars. Rev. R. C. Moon has been serving this congregation the past few years.

Cemetery

It is laid out on a slight knoll, on the west side of the Winchester pike. The town laid a cement sidewalk from the corporation line to the cemetery gate, drilled an artesian well, built an arch over the drive-gate and put in a watering trough by the roadside. For the time, about ten years, that it has been open, it has been beautifully kept.