Welcome to
Richland County
German Reformed at Grand Prairie
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran
Biographical Sketches of
Churches in Richland County
Salem Evangelical Lutheran - This church was organized in 1843, by Rev. SECHRIST as pastor. The first edifice was erected in the same year in what is now Olney Township. There were forty-one original members. The second edifice was erected in 1862, in Claremont Township, and the name changed to Saint James Evangelical Lutheran Church. It now has 149 members. The following have been pastors: Rev. D. SCHERER, J. SCHERER, C. KUHL, C. HUNDERDASSE, D. D. SWUNEY, G. H. SCHNUR, J. M. HURKEY, C. L. LUNER and J. HURSH, present incumbent.
German Reformed - This church in Olney was established and erected by a few families, about ten in number, and mostly all of Swiss emigration. At a meeting on the 24th of June, 1860, the congregation organized itself, and the following members were elected as trustees to manage and facilitate the building of the present church: John VON GRUTEN, Christian BOHREN, J. J. FUETZ, John SCHILT, and Jacob MILLER. Operations were immediately commenced by the said trustees; the building site -- about one acre of ground, worth $300 -- was deeded by Mr. T. W. LILLEY, gratis, and the church was erected during the same year, 1860, at a cost of $2,000. A few years after, a fine bell, the best in Olney, was put in the cupola at a cost of $325. In 1874, the parsonage near the church, was built by the congregation at a cost of $1,200; the best parsonage in Olney. The first pastor was Rev. G. F. LAUNER, an ordained theologian from Switzerland. In 1874, the congregation, through the management of its pastor, Rev. Fr. JUDT, and old graduate of Basel, Switzerland, associated itself with the German Reformed Synod of America. The present membership amounts to about sixty, and its present pastor is Rev. EICHEN.
German Reformed at Grand Prairie - This church was established by about twenty families, mostly all of Swiss emigration. In the same settlement there were living a number of families known as Lutherans, and two branches, Reformed and Lutherans, were supporting together one church and one pastor in common, for a number of years, but matters did not work all right together; the Lutherans being too orthodox for the liberal minded Reformed, and they separated. At a meeting then held by the Reformed members on the 5th day of February, 1852, a resolution was unanimously adopted to establish and form a church of their own. A few of the prominent members then, such as Peter INGZI, Christian INGZI, Christian STERCHI, Henry STERCHI, John Jacob HAUCK, Philip J. ZIMMERLE and others, now all dead, took the matter in hand, purchased a tract of land of twenty-four and a half acres for a building site, and the present church was then erected at a cost of $800. In 1876, or 1877, a very handsome parsonage was also erected near the church; the first pastor, Rev. G.F. LAUNER, a theological graduate of Berne, Switzerland. In 1874, the congregation associated itself with the German Reformed Synod of America, through the management of Rev. Fr. Judt, a graduate of the Basel Missionary Society, Switzerland, of many years ago. The present membership is large, amounting to about 100, and its pastor is Rev. KIPER.
Church of Christ - There are ten congregations of this denomination in Richland County. Two are in Madison Township, at Parkersburg, and Fairview, each of which has a membership of about seventy-five persons. In Decker Township, there are congregations at Fransonia and Green Hill, with a membership of about fifty each. In Noble Township there is one at "Brushville", with a membership of 100 members under pastoral charge of Rev. H. M. SANDERSON. In Denver Township there are two, with a membership of about 100. There is also one in German Township, "Prairie Hall," which has a membership of upwards of 100; one in Claremont Township "Eureka" with 110 members, and one in Bonpass Township, "Shiloh," having a membership of 100, under the pastoral charge of Rev. F. M. SHEIK. The church at Olney, was organized in the year 1867, by W. B. F. TREAT, with thirty members. The congregation met in the court house as they had no place of worship of their own, until about 1874, when they secured a hall. In 1878, the church purchased a small frame building and fitted it up with a total cost of about $1200. The pastors succeeding Mr. TREAT have been Revs. Erastus LATHROP, G. W. MORRELL, J. F. JAMES, and John MAVITY. The church has been without a regular pastor occasionally, and has enjoyed the services of a large number of ministers who were not regulary employed. The membership now reaches to the number of 125 persons. Of the other churches no reliable data can be given. The Baptist denomination number some seven or eight congregations in the county, and the Moravian, two organizations.
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran - As far as is known, Rev. SEACRIST was the first Lutheran minister who preached the gospel to the scattered Lutherans in Richland County, Ill. Rev. Daniel SCHERER succeeded Rev. SEACRIST, and labored faithfully among the people, preaching the gospel and administering the sacraments, his field, however, being so large, he called his son Jacob from Gettysburg, to his assistance. He preached several years in the log church, in the Schlichenmyer neighborhood, and various other places. Rev. C. KUHL succeeded the SCHERER's, and organized the Saint Paul's in 1851-52, two miles southwest of Olney; he labored but a few years, and was succeeded by Rev. HUNDERDASSE, who remained six months or a year. Rev. SWANEY was the next Lutheran minister who supplied the St. Paul's with the preaching of the gospel, for a year or two. Rev. George H. SCHNUR became his successor in 1861-62, and continued pastor for several years, when he resigned. The congregation next invited Rev. J.M. HURKEY, from Mount Carmel, to preach for them as a supply until they could obtain a regular pastor. In the month of October, 1869, in obedience to a regular call, Rev. J. M. HURKEY became the pastor of the church, and remained so until the fall of 1874. During the pastorship of J. M. HURKEY, the Saint Paul's resolved to change the place of worship from Schlichenmeyer Schoolhouse, to the city of Olney. On the 23rd day of September, 1873, the Saint Paul's laid the corner-stone of their house of worship, according to the ceremonies of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The building is a brick 36 by 65 in size, and was erected at a cost of $4,500.
Saint Paul's Evangelical Lutheran of Preston - The Rev. G. H. SCHNUR had been preaching for some time in the neighborhood of the present Saint Paul's Church, but without any organization In the spring of 1869, Rev. J. M. SINGLE accepted a call from the Claremont Pastorate and commenced preaching at this point. On October 30, 1869, he organized the Saint Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, with the following eleven members, vis.: John ZIRKEL, Levi KESLER, G. W. DOZER, Socrates DOZER, Henry STANG, Nancy ZIRKEL, Mary KESLER, Eliza A. DOZER, George STANGE, Elizabeth STANG, and Catharine STANG. The Rev. J. M. SINGLE was succeeded by Rev. W. FRIDAY, who served teh congregation from February, 1871, to April, 1872. Rev. W. FRIDAY was succeeded by Rev. A. LEATHERS, who took charge of the congregation in the fall of 1873. The next minister in charge of this church was Rev. J. P. SCHNUR. He commenced his services on the 10th of December, 1876. Rev. J. P. SCHNUR was succeeded by Rev. E. A. BEST, who took charge of this congregation, in connection with Olney, in the spring of 1878, and served them until the spring of 1883, when Rev. E. SCHWARTZ, the present pastor, took charge of the congregation. The present membership of the congregation is fifty-four. The first officers of the church were Levi KESLER, elder, and George W. DOZER, deacon. They were also the first trustees. A Sunday-school, not very large, but in good running order, is kept up during the whole year. The church house in which the congregation worships is a frame building, and was erected in the year 1871, and cost about $1,100.
Olney Presbyterian - This church was organized January 8, 1858, by a committee of the Palestine Presbytery, with these members: Mrs. Mary KNIGHT, Mrs. Elizabeth DARLING, Mrs. Mary McCLURE, Mrs. Milla BURRELL, Mrs. Rebecca A. WILSON, Mrs. Harriet N. CROZIER, John BOYD, James CROZIER, Mrs. Jane WILSON, John HENDERSON, Mrs. Jane HENDERSON, Miss Mary A. HENDERSON. Elders of the church, since chosen: George W. CONE, D. MARQUIS, David SMITH, John L. CAMPBELL, James W. BECK, Horace HAYWARD, William H. WALLACE, L. M. PARKER, E. BOWYER, J. C. ALLEN, J. H. MORGAN, John HORNER, J. P. WILSON. Ministers, since the organization: John CROZIER, H. E. THOMAS, A. H. SLOAT, Solomon COOK, R. J. L. MATHEWS, John STUART. The church building is a neat frame structure, erected in 1860, at a cost of about $3,000. A parsonage was built in 1864, at a cost of about $1,500. The church and parsonage are on the same lot. The church is out of debt and has a membership of a little over one hundre. In the history of this church the Rev. John CROZIER is entitled to special mention, as he was really the founder of the church and has done more since to build up its interests than any other one man. On account of the health of his family he has recently moved to Minnesota.
First Congregational - This church was organized in June, 1873, by Rev. Robert WEST, of Alton, Ill., with a membership of twenty-six persons. The first pastor was Rev. Edward ANDERSON of Boston, Mass. The first officials of the church were G. W. FRITCHEY, and Prof. David EDMISTON, deacons; Horace HOWARD, president, Andrew DARLING, J. M. WILSON, Gary GADDIS (Robert BYERS, secretary), trustees; Mrs. M. V. BYERS, treasurer; Mrs. Sarah EDMISTON, clerk; David EDMISTON, Sunday-school superintendent. The present church edifice, a handsome structure in the Gothic style and one of the finest in the city or county, was erected in 1875, at a cost of $8,000. The church has a membership of about sixty persons and is in a flourishing condition. The pastor is the Rev. D. C. McNAIR.
Roman Catholic - The Catholic Church is represented in Richland County by two congregations, one at Stringtown, German Township, and the other at Olney. The first, as noted above, was organized in 1844 as an off-shoot of the church in Saint Marie, in Jasper County. It is served by the officiating priest at Olney, and is in a vigorous condition. A Catholic school was organized and a building for this purpose erected in 1879, at a cost of about $300. The membership is composed entirely of Germans, and numbers about fifty families.