| LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA |  |
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| LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA | |
Pg 130
Marshall Township, Louisa County, Iowa
Transcribed by Beverly Gerdts, August 20, 2016
We are fortunate to have a church history of this church written by J. T. Cowles and presented by him to the congregation on March 19, 1895 at a congregational meeting.
He starts by saying that “our fathers who first settled in this vicinity, thought their religion good enough to pay the freight on it, and therefore brought it with them.” The earliest mention of these worshipers dates back to the middle and early 1840s. After participating in services with a Presbyterian congregation at Columbus City they petitioned the Presbytery of Iowa to organize a church that would include newly settled Presbyterians of the Morning Sun area as well as those of the Oakland community. It is interesting to note that on a subscription list for the Columbus City church, their parishioners’ pledges were to be paid in cash or wheat.
The list of the first petitioners for the church were: Mrs. Rebecca Nichols, Anna M. Nichols, Mrs. Ellen Nichols, John D. Baldridge, Eliza Baldridge, James Coulter, Jane Coulter and Margaret E. Benton. At this time the name of the church was the “Unity" church.
Educational supplies for the group were acquired at random until September 30, 1850 when Rev. S. Cowles was installed as the first pastor. He continued as the leader of the Unity church until Jan 14, 1854 when he was called to the presidency of the Des Moines College at West Point , Iowa. He was succeeded by the Rev. F. B. Dinsmore who was the pastor until June 6, 1857.
As the size of the congregation increased, it was thought best to petition the Presbytery to make a division of the church to form a new church north of Morning Sun. Rev. J. B. McBride was appointed chairman of a committee to perform this duty, which he did on June 6,1857. The first pastor was Rev. O. H. Miller who was installed on September 1, 1858 and heads the list of pastors included at the end of this article.
In 1858 the 43 members f the Oakland church began to erect a building. This project was to require several years to complete. On October 6, 1867 the congregation was informed that the building was finished and completely paid for. The vestibule was added in 1878.
The original members of the congregation included
| Joseph T. Cowles | Benjamin F. Coe | Eliza J. Bunnell | Hugh Fulton |
| Mrs. Mary Fulton | Mary Dodd | Catherine Ristine | Maria Fulton |
| Mary A. Cowles | Rachel Fulton | Eliza J. Baldridge | Hannah Betts |
| Rebecca J. Nichols | Lydia Coulter | Mary Gilchrist | William Newell |
| Joseph B. Nichols | Mary J. Coulter | Margaret E. Benton | Elizabeth Newell |
| Ellen I Nichols | James Coulter | Ann E. Benton | Parkus Woodruff |
| John N. Baldridge | Jane Coulter | Robert Coulter | Abram Fulton |
| Joseph S. Benton | Elizabeth Cowles | Jane Coulter | Keziah N. Fulton |
| Susan R. Benton | Noah M. Cowles | James Smith | Rebecca E. Fulton. |
| Drusilla Coulter | Robert Nichols | Sarah Smith | |
| Martha Coulter | Anna M. Nichols | Jane Larkin |
In early years the Sunday School and the Christian Endeavor were very important activities of the congregation. In December 1921 the Sunday School was reorganized as the Oakland Union Sunday School. The What–so–ever class was organized in 1922. A tradition of having an annual homecoming of the congregation was started in 1928 and was continued nearly every year until the Centennial Celebration on September 29, 1957. On October 12, 1951 the congregation was released from Presbytery in order to form a Community Church.
Following is a listing of the pastors that served the congregation after the June 7, 1857 organization
| Rev. J. B. McBride | who presided over the first service held at the Oakland School house |
| Rev. O. H. Miller | 1858-1860 |
| Rev. D. T. Campbell | 1861-1865 |
| Rev. Jacob Baay | 1866-1870 |
| Rev. Corbett | 4-1-1870 to 9-1-1870 |
| Rev. John Glass | 1871-1872 |
| Rev. James Brown | 1872-1873 |
| Rev. Ringland | May to Nov. 1873 |
| Rev. George Hays | 1873-1874 |
| Rev. A. M. Heizer | 1874-1879 |
| Rev. Colver | |
| Rev. J. E. Kearns | 1879-1886 |
| Rev. M. M. Cooper | 1887-1889 |
| Rev. A. M. Cooper | May to Sept. 1890, missionary to Siam |
| Rev. J. K. Alexander | |
| Rev. J. H. Condit | 1891-1896, missionary to Alaska |
| Rev. T. N. Buchanan | 1896-1899 |
| Rev. R. J. L. Mathews | 1900 |
| Rev. McKay | |
| Rev. S. H. Parvin | 1901-1904 |
| Rev. William Cooper | 1904-1906 |
| Rev. M. E. Todd | Apr-Nov 1906 |
| Rev. Theodore T. Koopman | 1907-1908 |
| Rev. George Wickwire | 1909-1910 |
| Rev. A. E. Cameron | 1910-1918 |
| Rev. W. P. Nicholas | 1918-1922 |
| Rev. G. Winter | 1923 |
| Rev. Shock | 1927 |
| Dr. Spyker | 1930 |
| Rev. C. E. Burdine | 1931 |
| Rev. D. E. Kerr | 1932-1937 |
| Rev Giffin | 1934 |
| Rev. O. L. Byrns | 1939-1947 |
| Rev. H. Henderson | 1949 |
| Rev. Edward Mohr | moderator, 1950-1951 |
| Rev. J. O. Hall | Special Services |
| Rev. C. B. Larson | 1951 |
| Mrs. Lillian (Green) Fisher | a former members and husband were missionaries to Japan. |
Officers of the congregation in 1957 were: J. F. Niccolls, President, Mrs. C. E. McConahay, Vice President, Mrs. Lydia Hupp, Recording Secretary, C. E. McConahay, Treasurer.
Picture: Oakland Presbyterian U. S. A. 1857-1951