Fremont County, Iowa
Congregational Church
Tabor, Iowa
1876

Historical Outline: The Congregational Church and settlement at Tabor sprung from a movement, originated in 1847 by George B. Gaston, to plant the institutions of religion and education on the frontiers of our country. Several families, accordingly, located at Civil Bend, in Fremont County, Iowa, in the Autumn of 1848 but, because of high water in 1851, removed to the vicinity where Tabor now is, and were organized into the Congregational Church of Tabor, October 12, 1852.

Rev. George G. Rice, of Council Bluffs, then the only Congregational minister in Western Iowa, beside the pastor, Rev. John Todd, was present and aided in the organization, which took place in a rude log cabin in the grove, about two miles southwest of the present village of Tabor.

The original members were George B. Gaston, Maria C. Gaston, Alexander C. Gaston, Alonzo M. Gaston, Samuel H. Adams, Caroline M. Adams, John Todd and Martha A. Todd--all of whom remain to the present, except Alonzo M. Gaston, who gave his life in defense of his country in March, 1863 his father, George B. Gaston, who died May 1, 1873, and Mrs. Caroline M. Adams, who died August 12, 1875.

From April, 1852, till August, 1853, meetings for preaching and Sabbath school were held in the grove under a basswood tree in fair weather, and in the pastor's cabin in foul weather. Prayer meetings were held on Wednesday evenings in Brother Gaston's cabin until his house was built and from August, 1853, until November, 1854. Brother Gaston's house, on the southeast corner of Orange and Park streets, in Tabor, was the place of religious worship.

In May, 1854, our present bell--the first church bell in Western Iowa--arrived.

From Nov. 22, 1854, until the autumn of 1860, the place for religious meetings was the present district schoolhouse. From 1860 till 1865, the college chapel, in its original size and form (32 ft. x 42 ft.) furnished the place of meeting. From 1865 till 1875, the church worshiped in it in its present form (32 x 66). Since then they have occupied the new edifice.

Two hundred and sixty united by profession in the first twenty years.

This Church has been self-supporting from the first, except that in the first year after its organization $150.00 was received from the American Missionary Association.

NEW CHURCH EDIFICE
The utterly inadequate accommodation which the college chapel afforded to a steadily increasing congregation prompted the Church in the spring of 1871 to take measures to build a new house of worship. Accordingly, J. Todd, G. B. Gaston, S. Dalton, S. Jones and H. W. Howard were constituted a building committee, under whose direction the work was begun in the summer of 1871. On the death of Bro. Gaston, in May, 1873, the committee was enlarged by the addition to it of James L. Smith, L. E. Webb and W. M. Brooks, under whose direction the house was completed and dedicated June 8, 1875, at a cost of over $20,000.

OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH, 1876
Pastor: John Todd
Deacons: Samuel H. Adams, L. Benedict Hill, Heli W. Howard, Alexander C. Gaston, George S. Houghton
Trustees: Cyrus S. Harrison, Charles F. Wells, Prentiss B. Clark

1918: Class Photo

• A:
• Adams, Samuel H.
• Adams, Finney S.
• Allen, Albert
• Anderson, Atlanta
• Asman, Marinda C.
• Asman, Elizabeth
• Avery, Egbert
• Avery, Harriet K.
• Avery, Elizabeth
• Avery, Albert

• B:
• Baker, Louisa
• Barbour, John M.
• Barbour, Irene S.
• Barrows, Inez
• Baylor, Ramsdell
• Bell, Mary
• Bell, Lillie F.
• Benton, Sarah
• Bosworth, Franklin
• Bosworth, Lucy J.
• Bosworth, Uriah C.
• Bosworth, Lucy A.
• Bosworth, Ada M.
• Bosworth, Constant F.
• Bricknall, Sarah S.
• Brooks, William M.
• Brooks, Adelia S.
• Brooks, Edith M.

• C:
• Callark, Henry
• Carlyle, Samuel
• Carpenter, Milo L.
• Carpenter, Caroline P.
• Carpenter, Lillia J.
• Clark, Orson B.
• Clark, Abbie E. J.
• Clark, Chauncy L.
• Clark, Sophia L.
• Clark, Helen
• Clark, William L.
• Clark, Flora G.
• Clark, Willis G.
• Clark, Sarah B.
• Clark, Maria
• Clark, Mary
• Clark, Prentiss B.
• Clark, Abbie B.
• Clark, Nellie M.
• Clark, Myra D.
• Cook, John
• Coward, Charles
• Cumings, Burton I.
• Cumings, Alice B.
• Cumings, Lucy O.
• Cunningham, Mary E.

• D:
• Dalton, Samuel
• Dalton, Frances A.
• Dalton, John
• Dalton, Susan H.
• Dalton, William H.
• Dalton, Sarah
• Dalton, Mary E.
• Dalton, Fannie M.
• Darnell, Murray A.
• Dobeney, Richard
• Dobeney, Elizabeth
• Dobeney, Sarah
• Donaldson, Ella R.
• Duntington, O. R.
• Dannington, Jennie H.

• E:
• Ellis, Nellie
• Everett, Frederick F.

• F:
• Fay, Morrison
• Fay, Jennie
• Field, Alvina
• Fletcher, James
• Flint, Lucy
• Foster, George W.

• G:
• Gardner, Benjamin F.
• Gardner, Abbie C.
• Garman, Julia A.
• Gaston, Alexander C.
• Gaston, Mary J.
• Gaston, Ozro C.
• Gaston, Cora E.
• Gaston, Maria C.
• Gaston, James K.
• Gaston, Sarah J.
• Gaston, Emily C.
• Gaston, Ella M.
• Gates, William J.
• Gates, Emily P.
• Gates, Henry C.
• Gates, Milo Н.
• Gates, Sarah C.
• Gates, Adah L.
• Geer, F. B.
• Geer, Julia
• Geer, Lizzie
• Geer, Ambrose
• Glover, Allen
• Goltry, Flora A.
• Goodell, Joel
• Goodell, Clarissa P.
• Goodell, Mary
• Goodell, Charles
• Graves, Phillia G.
• Grosse, Thomas
• Grosse, Catharine

• H:
• Hallam, John
• Hallam, Amelia W.
• Hammond, Elizabeth G.
• Harrison, Cyrus S.
• Harrison, Lucy A.
• Heritage, Thomas
• Hill, Esther S.
• Hill, Leverett B.
• Hill, Hannah W.
• Hill, Clarence W.
• Hobbs, Frank
• Hobbs, Mercy
• Hopkins, Mary
• Hopkins, Lulu S.
• Hough, John T.
• Hough, Alice G.
• Houghton, George S.
• Houghton, Amanda H.
• Houghton, Edward L.
• Howard, Heli W.
• Howard, Candace
• Howard, Sarah L.
• Howard, Harvey C.
• Howard, Joel L.
• Howard, Lester
• Howard, Mary R.
• Howard, George S.
• Howard, William
• Hume, Stella I.
• Hunter, John H.
• Hunter, Mary M.
• Hunter, Alma
• Hunter, Henry H.
• Hunter, Robert
• Hurlbut, Robert H.
• Hurlbut, Arvilla M.
• Hurlbut, Eunice

• I:
• Irwin, Lucy A.

• J:
• Jones, Pamela C.
• Jones, Caroline D.
• Jones, Solomon
• Jones, Minerva S.
• Jones, Luella E.
• Jones, Anna M.
• Jay, James W.
• Jay, Sarah A.
• Jay, Julia M.
• Jewett, Olive
• Johnson, Elizabeth

• K:
• Kellogg, Elijah N.
• Kellogg, Emma N.
• Kempton, Julia A.
• Kinney, Aaron
• Kinney, Sarah
• Kinney, Charles
• Krahl, Mary

• L:
• Ladd, Jeduthan
• Ladd, Mary
• Laird, Marion
• Latoret, Catharine M.

• L:
• Lawrence, Mary W.
• Lindsay, George
• Loveday, Ann
• Loveday, Clara
• Loveland, Anna B.
• Lyman, Mary C.
• Lyman, Rhoda
• Lyman, Sarah
• Lyman, Albert

• M:
• Madison, William
• Madison, Jane
• Marshall, George
• Marshall, Ann D.
• Martin, Mary A.
• Matthews, L. A.
• Matthews, Julia A.
• Matthews, D. P.
• Matthews, R. T.
• Matthews, Wm.
• Matthews, Elwyn
• McCormick, Samuel
• McCormick, Harriet
• McKee, John D.
• McKee, Susan T.
• McKee, Mattie A.
• McKee, Jennie
• McKee, Maggie
• Moon, Thomas J.
• Moon, Emma L.
• Moore, John
• Moore, Letitia G.
• Morrison, Joshua L.
• Morrison, Martha G.
• Morse, I. Dana
• Morse, Julia
• McPherron, Asbury S.
• McPherron, H. M. C.
• Munsinger, Charles
• Munsinger, Electa
• Munsinger, Joseph
• Munsinger, Martha
• Munsinger, Armina
• Murray, James A.

• N:
• Noel, Eva M.

• O:
• Osborn, John F.
• Osborn, Jane
• Osborn, Enoch B.
• Osborn, Catharine
• Osborn, Stephen A.
• Osborn, Mary E.
• Osborn, Arabella R.
• Osborn, Celestia C.

• P:
• Padelford, Emma
• Pangburn, Lycurgus E.
• Pearse, Marens C.
• Pearse, Hannah H.
• Patton, Harry
• Piper, Charles
• Piper, Emily E.
• Plumb, Martha
• Pratt, Jean
• Pratt, George

• R:
• Rhode, Dorothy
• Rhode, Martha
• Rhode, Esther
• Rood, Aaron
• Rood, Clarissa
• Rood, Edwin S.
• Rood, Albert
• Rossiter, Samuel
• Rossiter, Maria G.

• S:
• Sanborn, R. E.
• Savage, Poole
• Savage, Sarah A.
• Savage, Samuel
• Savage, Martha
• Savage, Sarah
• Scott, Mary
• Sheldon, Edward T.
• Sheldon, Mattie H.
• Shellington, John W.
• Shepherdson, Salome R.
• Simons, Inez
• Smith, James L.
• Smith, Julia M.
• Smith, William
• Smith, John L.
• Smith, Lucretia
• Smith, Henry M.
• Smith, Caroline
• Smith, Agnes M.
• Smith, Lucretia
• Smith, Arabella E.
• Starrett, Henry M.
• Starrett, M. F.
• Spees, Marcus T.
• Spees, Minerva
• Spees, Frederick J.
• Spees, Marcia E.
• Spees, Marian E.
• Spees, Frederick B.
• Spees, Abbie
• Spees, Betsy J.
• Spees, Fannie M.
• Spees, George L.
• Spees, Juliette E.
• Spees, Lucy J.
• Swatman, Milton G.

• T:
• Taylor, Charlotte A.
• Taylor, John
• Taylor, Nancy
• Thompson, Andrew
• Timson, Albert A.
• Timson, Eliza B.
• Todd, John
• Todd, Martha A.
• Todd, James E.
• Todd, M. Louisa
• Todd, Quintus C.
• Todd, Maggie H.
• Todd, Martha E.
• Todd, Bertha R.
• Townshend, Isaac
• Townshend, Harriet E.
• Tucker, Henry P.
• Tucker, Mary R.

• W:
• Watson, Joseph
• Webb, Lemuel E.
• Webb, Elizabeth B.
• Webb, Edwin
• Webster, Charles A.
• Webster, Jerusha S.
• Wells, Charles F.
• Wells, Rosa C.
• Wells, Emma
• West, Josiah N.
• West, Sarah L.
• West, Julia J.
• West, Lester L.
• West, N. Ellen
• West, Arthur T.
• Whitmore, Albert B.
• Williams, Cyrus T.
• Williams, Aurelia
• Williams, H. Miranda
• Williams, Julia E.
• Williams, George W.
• Williams, Sarah A.
• Williams, Walter E.
• Williams, Mary L.
• Woodley, Frank
• Wood, Harriet P.
• Wood, David J.
• Wood, Henry N.
• Wood, Harriet J.
• Woods, Daniel E.
• Woods, Diantha
• Woods, Katie
• Woods, Eugene E.
• Woods, Mattie E.
• Woolley, Henry J.
• Wright, Walter
• Wright, Mary
• Wright, Johnson
• Wright, C. Vesta
• Wright, Mary Frances
• Wright, Nettie
• Wright, Walter, Jr.
• Wyman, William A.

• Y:
• Young, Charles S.
• Young, Joanna E.
• Young, Horace D.
• Young, Augustus.