| LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA |  |
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| LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA | |
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Oakville, Iowa
Transcribed by Jackie Terry, August 12, 2016
Picture: Interior of church
Picture: Sunday school teacher, Harla Peck. Students Jamie Coleman, Bree Metcalf, Rebekah Whitaker, Lacey Walgren.
Picture: Sunday school teacher Ethel Whitaker. Students Kay Lee Hays and Ryan Coleman.
Picture: Sunday school teacher, Carol Gerst. Students Stuart Timmerman, Steven Coleman, Tricia Millard, Jennifer Davis, Josh Bowman, Ashley Bowman. ‘Twas the first Sunday in September, 1896 when several persons living in Oakville asked Rev. J.M.McGaughey of the Presbyterian Church in Kossuth, Iowa to come here and preach. The services were held in Creighton Hall, which stood on the northwest corner of the Russell and Oak Street intersection. A large and interesting congregation was present and a number of persons expressed their desire for regular services here. Free use of the Hall was offered for this purpose. Rev. McGaughey agreed to come as often as he could leave his own church. No further service was held during September or October. In November a committee from the vicinity of Oakville consisting of Mrs. F.C.Edwards and Mrs. R.C. Russell visited Rev. McGaughey and invited him here twice a month, with the view of organizing a Presbyterian Church. Having obtained permission from the Session of his church, he complied with the request. In December, a petition to the Presbytery of Iowa was prepared and signed. The petition was sent to the Presbytery which was meeting in Burling, Iowa.
On March 5, 1897, the Presbytery appointed a committee to visit Oakville and organize a church here if the way be clear. Two appointments were made to meet, but high water and other providential circumstances rendered postponement in both instances.
However, on Saturday May 22, 1897, the committee from the Iowa Presbytery met in the M.P.Church (which later became the M.E. and finally the U.M Church) in Oakville at 2:30 p.m. Rev. McGaughey then briefly rehearsed the history of the petition and announced that the committee was here to organize a Presbyterian Church. Pg 85
| Mr. & Mrs. F.C.Edwards – R.P.Church, Morning Sun. |
| Mrs. Alice Russell, Miss Vinnie Russell, Miss Bessie Russell – Presbyterian Church, Mediapolis. |
| Mrs. Mary Torbert – Presbyterian Church, Kossuth |
| Mr. & Mrs. L.C.Erbes – M.E. Church, Wapello |
| Mrs. Delia Edwards – Trinity Methodist Church, Oswego, New York |
| Mrs. J.H. Brader – Church of United Brethren in Christ, Fairview, Penn. |
| Mr. Abram Pershing – Church of United Brethren in Christ, Fairview, Penn. |
| Mr. J.A. Duncan – U.P. Church North, Henderson, Illinois. |
| Mr. A.E. Faris – U.P. Church, Morning Sun, Iowa |
| The following were received on examination and profession of their faith in Christ: |
| Mr. S.R. Faris |
| Mrs. Zoie Russell |
| Mrs. C.B. Greene |
| Mr. R.C. Russell |
| Mrs. Isabelle Russell |
| Mrs. Isabelle Russell |
| Mr. John H. Brader |
At this time Lillian Russell, daughter of Zoie Russell, was baptized, becoming the first child to be baptized in the new church. All the above persons then stood together and entered into the covenant of the First Presbyterian Church of Oakville, Iowa.
Having thus publicly avowed their desire to be organized as a Church of Christ and having given their assent to the Presbyterian Order and pledged their obedience to Presbyterian law, Rev. McGaughey, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Head of the Church, and by authority of Iowa Presbytery, did pronounce and declare that they were regularly organized as the First Presbyterian Church of Oakville, Iowa.
By a unanimous vote it was then decided to adopt the rotary system of Eldership. Election of Elders was then held. The first Elders, namely: F.C.Edwards, J.H.Brader and L.C.Erbes were ordained and installed May 23, 1897. Articles of Incorporation were adopted in May 1897. At the same time election of trustees was held namely:
| F.C. Edwards | J.H. Brader |
| S.P. Faris | A.E. Faris |
| J.A. Duncan | R.C. Russell |
Rev McGaughey was appointed moderator of the Session of the church until next meeting of the Presbytery.
The next step was to build the Church. The land on which the church and parsonage were to be built was purchased from J.W. Elrick. The rock for the foundation of the church was blasted on the F.C. Edwards farm and donated by him. The laying of the cornerstone took place at the foundation August 19, 1897 at 4 p.m. Rev. McGaughey conduting the exercise. It was voted by the congregation that together with the Holy Bible, Confession of Faith and Testimony and four county papers, history of Organization and a copy of the Articles of Incorporation be placed and sealed in a copper box in the cornerstone. The church was located at the intersections of the northeast corner of Second and Cedar Streets.
Arrangements were made for the dedication which occurred on December 26, 1897. The congregation was composed of members of the Church, people of Oakville and vicinity and a large delegation from the Presbyterian Churches of Kossuth and Mediapolis. The choir from Kossuth assisted in the musical part of the program. Rev. T.S. Bailey preached. Then in solemn and fervent prayer of Thanksgiving, supplication and consecration the First Presbyterian Church of Oakville, Iowa was dedicated to Almighty God, That, Son and Holy Spirit.
The cost of the Church complete, including pews, pulpit and choir chairs, an organ and hot air furnace was $3500. Six hundred of this, the last debt on the church, was contributed in cash and pledges on the day of dedication. $750 was received from board of church erection of the Presbyterian Church. The balance was contributed by the congregation and people of Oakville, and vicinity, and by members of Presbyterian Churches of Kossuth and Mediapolis.
While the church was being built, services were conducted in the M.P. Church in the afternoon. Rev. McGaughey, the Moderator, came twice a month. He would leave his own church as soon as his services were over and travel by horse and buggy. Mrs. R.C. Russell always had dinner ready for him when he arrived.
In the year 1898 Billy Sunday and his singer, Oliver, were here for three weeks revival services. He won many converts. The first thing he did was to call the men of the church together and tell them that they had to get down on their knees and get right with God before the meeting would be successful. Ruth Mellinger remembers her parents, the A.E. Faris’s tell of his foot stomping and pounding the pulpit while preaching. Many funny little incidents occurred during his stay here. He stayed at the Fred Edwards’ farm, and was here at a busy season when the farm home was full of hired men, so it became necessary for the hired girls to sleep in the attic for a time. Mr. Sunday quite often in his prayers asked God to bless the girls that slept in the attic. At another time some of our men folks had some fun at the expense of Mr. Oliver, the singer, when they took him snipe hunting. Need I say more? Anyhow, it was morning when he got home.
On September 9, 1899, Rev. McGaughey stated his…
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…intention to resign as Stated Supply of this church, to take effect the first of October and advised the Session to secure a minister who could give his whole time to the Church. The work had grown to such an extent and the field was so large that it was not possible for a pastor to do justice to it while serving another church between 70-75 members besides the original 19 charter members.
On November 26, 1899 Rev. James E. Foster was called to become pastor of this church. He accepted the call and was the first full time minister with a salary of $500 per year. In July 1901 Rev. Foster was called to a church in Danville, Illinois and Rev. J.W. Robb took his place but stayed on a short time because of failing health. .
January 5, 1903 Rev. Z.W. Steele of Ft. Dodge Presbytery came to supply the pulpit with a salary of $400. $200 of this was paid by Board of Home Missions. I have been told that Rev. Steele did his own soliciting part of the time.
Rev. A.D. Rundell came to us in November of 1908. A congregational meeting was held April 22, 1910 at the home of J.A. Duncan for the purpose of appointing a building committee to build a parsonage. Work on the parsonage commenced immediately. Mrs. Alice Waterhouse donated the native lumber for the dimension timber of the parsonage. This lumber was sawed at the Mel Conly saw mill. .
Rev. A.S. Covert and family were the first to live in the new parsonage. Rev. I.C. Smith came to us in 1913. Rev. Louis Pillneir came in 1915. It was during his service that Miss Helma Sample was chosen director of the choir. The Session realizing the need of good music agreed to pay Miss Sample a certain amount of money per week for special work with the choir. .
Rev. James came to us in August 1921 with a salary of $1500 per year. In March 1925, Rev. Russell received a call and came to us. He left April 15, 1928. .
After this we secured the services of a young man from Parsons College, Mr. Ransom who came for the summer. .
In the year 1931, Rev. Allison became our minister. He stayed only about a year. .
It was decided after this that we would continue our Sunday School and have services whenever we could get someone to come in and supply the pulpit. Thus, we had our years of prosperity and our lean years. But many of the members, both old and young had moved to other communities leaving only a few to carry on the work here.
The last service held in the church was the Baccalaureate Service for the 1949 graduating class. .
The parsonage was rented and Old Judge Hiller was one of the tenants. Cody Grooms purchased the parsonage in 1958 and the church was bought by the community for a center and a meeting place for the boy scouts.
In 1969 the Grooms’ bought the church and remodeled it for their home. The cornerstone is still visible and they have plans to open it up to see what is in the box on a special date in the future.
The Grooms’ gave the podium and the alter chairs to the Oakville Church of God and one of the stained glass windows to the Louisa County Historical Society. That window is hung in the Heritage Center with a light behind it to enhance the colored glass. The bell was sold to the Methodist Church in Harvey, Illinois in memorial to Dale Bass, who had been a minister in both churches, (Harvey and Oakville).
The parsonage is now owned by the Raymond Huxley’s, who resides there.
This article was submitted by Ruth Faris Mellinger and updated by Bonita Grooms.
I am P.K., preacher’s kid. These are put in a class separate from other children. I was reminded of this often, for the rules for us were stricter than for other children. When I grew older, I often thought of the pressure my parents were under with the four of us.
Our church was the old United Presbyterian Church which has now combined with other Presbyterian Churches.
Looking over the History of the Presbyterian Churches, who were followers of John Knox and his group, members came to the United States from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Holland as early as 1700’s. There were, at one time more than forty branches of Presbyterians. About the time of the Civil War, two branches joined and became the United Presbyterian Church. Dad was a minister in this group.
The church was set up with a yearly national gathering called The General Assembly meeting in some large city in the United States. The next smaller division, the Synod, similar to our states met yearly. Breaking the Synod down smaller was the Presbytery which covered several counties.
The church itself had trustees who were concerned with the building needs. The elders were concerned with the spiritual growth of the church and its members. They served our communion in the pews, and with the minister were known to admonish some wayward members.
We never spoke of Sunday, always Sabbath, for it was considered a day of rest. Many earlier members cooked nothing on the Sabbath except to heat water for tea, all else was prepared on Saturday. However, my Mother usually put a beef roast with potatoes in the cook stove oven before we left for Sabbath School. I remember one time, Dad, while preaching discussed hell and a lady hurriedly left church. We later found she had forgotten to turn her oven heat down on the roast.
We sang Psalms, not hymns, with variations of the Psalms put to a variety of tunes. I was in high school before hymns were introduced in our song books. Sev…
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…eral older members wouldn’t sing them even then.
We stood to pray, and believed in Predestination. We kids were permitted on Sabbath afternoon to sleep, read church literature or take walks. No ball playing not even horseback riding.
All four Sabbath services were attended and our evening meal was eaten after evening church. We went to prayer meetings on Wednesday, we learned the short catechism, my folks learned the long.
I never realized how lacking in close friendship my folks were for if they went too often with one couple or another, even though they had children the same age as us, some others felt slighted. But we usually were invited to family picnics or dinners by the members.
The United Presbyterian minister was called not appointed. Sometimes a congregation, needing a minister, sent delegates to hear a minister preach, or he might be asked to give a trial sermon in their church. To my knowledge there were no women ministers in the pulpit at this time.
A bit about my family. Dad, Rev. William H. Hemphill was born in Conty Antrin, North Ireland. The fifth of seventeen children. When he was about seventeen, he came to Philadelphia and lived with a sister. He worked in a grocery store in the days but attended night school, finishing high school and Temple U. Wanting to become a minister he was also offered a managing job in a store. He sent two letters, one to the store company and one to a seminary. The answer from the seminary returned first thus he felt the Lord’s decision was for him to become a minister. He entered Xenia, Ohio seminary with much desire and thirty-three dollars in his pocket. After three years there he was 32 and was accepted at three churches in southeastern Illinois. The parsonage was located in Duncanville, Ill. It had a well with a bucket to draw the household water – plus four small rooms. There were no sidewalks in the town. For two Sabbath mornings he hitched old Betsy to the buggy and headed for Morea’s ten o’clock service, about eigth miles out in the country. Back home as three o’clock, he preached at the small Duncanville church. The third week he boarded a train on Saturday for Brownsville, eighty miles south, where a member of the West Union Church took him in for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, then back to Duncansville.
A story about Morea. Programs for Christmas or special days were held in the basement. But it was difficult for those in the back to see the children. This was discussed at a board meeting. Dad suggested if they were to build a stage those in the back could see the program. The word “stage” did it, no stages were to be built in that church. If he had only said platform it would have been all right.
The church eighty miles south, West Union, was a rural church set back up a lane. Belonging to that church was the Houston B. Crozier family with five attractive daughters, three of whom were school teachers. The oldest daughter, Ivy May and the Irish minster became attracted to each other and were married in October of 1907. They lived in the four room house at Duncanville. Here we four children, Mary, William, Martha and Amy were born. Around the West Union Church is the cemetery in which my grandparents, great, great ones, aunts, uncles and friends are buried. Nearly every summer we returned here for a week or two. I have a special feeling for it. Because of the closeness in the families, we hardly knew kin folk from family friends.
Ten years later, the folks moved north to a large rural church Somonauk. The parsonage had bathrooms, steam heat and thirteen rooms. The church was and still is a beautiful structure with oak paneling, organ and lovely windows. Many of the farms were owned by wealthy people of Chicago.
Three years later we moved to Huntsville, Ohio, not a modern house. We had a cow and sold milk, chickens and a pig or two. But nearby was Indian Lake and the Miami River. Dad gathered up many of the neighboring kids in our homemade wool knee length bathing suits, all in his Model T and they were taught to swim. At the lake during a group picnic, we saw nearby, the K.K. Klan burning a cross and again in an outspoken neighbor’s yard.
Huntsville church was several blocks from the parsonage. It was a white church on a hill with locust trees around it. In the winter evenings as the furnace died down, I would put my head on Mom’s lap to sleep. She would cover me with my coat. But after the service there was the cold awaking, the cold walk home. I was too old to be carried. I still get the feeling when I am out too on a winter’s night.
The folks really liked the church they were in. Both parents called. Dad oftener than Mom. But she had Junior Girls Missionary, worked up plays and added parts when we had more kids than parts. She had a large wooden box with material that was used for costumes. I remember her working with 4-H teaching canning while I was sick in the front room with malaria.
We had a fireplace in our front room but in the dining room a hard coal burning stove. There was a small space behind it which was a warm place to dress on a cold morning, but it took some care while leaning over to put on long underwear, one didn’t touch a rear area to the stove pipe.
About six years later Dad had a call to preach in a coal mining city in Pennsylvania. He told the Ohio church we were leaving. Mom started packing when a call to Dad explained a wealthy man in the church had decided his nephew should have it. If not he would withdraw his support. How embarrassed Dad must have been to tell the congregation we weren’t leaving. I have a warm feeling for Huntsville.
My sister May was to be a senior, Bill, a junior, both quite popular. How they hated to leave. Mary threatened all things if she had to move. But move we…
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…did to Stanwood Iowa. Our furniture was loaded into a boxcar, arrived somewhat smashed. We in our Model T Ford came west. We crossed the Clinton bridge, Dad had said, “Amy if the wind is blowing, very hard we could be blown off.” As we crossed I was in the back seat praying for no breeze.
Stanwood was and is a pretty town. The parsonage was next to the church. The church had beautiful windows, one in the east was of Christ as the good shepherd. The church in the morning was flooded with red as the sun shone through His robe. But there was no water in the church so every supper it was necessary to go to the parsonage for it. On a snowy or rainy night, this left a mess in our front room. In nearly every church we had been in we were the janitor, lawn mower, side walk shoveler and keeper of the furnace.
We had an active high school and college group here. My sister Martha with her musical talent, Mom who enjoyed writing plays, we had many programs, sometimes art would orchestrate our worship songs.
In our home we had Bible reading morning and evening. Dad read in the morning, at times he would translate from Greek or Hebrew or read as his father did in Ireland. Dad had very little brogue. Our evening worship after supper each read three verses in a chapter. I seemed always to get the tree verses with the most difficult names. I remember especially at Stanwood so many missionaries, college presidents or college groups in our home. I didn’t then, but now I realize the opportunity this gave me.
Once a group of blacks from one of our colleges came. They offered to stay in the church. Mom wouldn’t hear of it and we kids were moved out of our beds for them. I remember Mom said after they left, if you kids would only clean the tub out and pick up your room as they did. One time when I was perhaps five, a missionary came who had an arm off at the elbow. Dad and Mom warned me to say nothing about it, but I could not help asking what happened. “I’ll tell you, he said, if you promise not to ask me another question”. I promised. He said. “It was bit off!”. I never found out more.
How Mom loved flowers. At every church, Mom knew who grew flowers and one of Mart or my early Sabbath jobs was to collect all that could be had. Mom arranged them for church. Dad always wore one in his buttonhole. Even when he died, the mortician found one and put it in.
Before we left Stanwood in 1935, after 8 years, Mary was a nurse at St. Lukes in Cedar Rapids. Bill had finished Monmouth and had a scholarship to law school at Iowa University. Because of the depression he couldn’t use it, the folks had no money to help him out so he was cutting weeks for the county. Mart was through Monmouth College, no jobs, and was working at a meat plant in Cedar Rapids. Corn was burned in the church furnace. It sold for $.10 a bushel.
We moved to Red Oak, Iowa. Here Dad had a church in town and one twelve miles northwest called Center Ridge. Here I finished high school, worked a year and had two years of Junior College. By this time the folks had moved to Ainsworth, Iowa and I followed after finishing college.
Perhaps this is a good time to add that the churches of Huntsville, Ohio and the one at Stanwood, Iowa had both burned. Both rebuilt but Stanwood Church is with the United Methodist. I felt a loss when we heard the Huntsville one was gone, but the Stanwood church had such beautiful windows that financially could not be replaced. It was sad.
I began teaching in a country school in eastern Washington county. Having visited a country school only one day as a kid, I was little prepared for that. When I came to Oakville we had a great group of teachers. They all were active in the Methodist Church, so I was too. And here I met Stanley Shutt whose parents had been active in this church. We were married at Ainsworth in August of 1943. In time we had a son Wesley, then later Todd.
After 31 years of teaching and ten more of substitute teaching, I retired.
Surely there are times I resented being a preacher’s kid. But as I matured I’m aware of so many kindnesses and blessings that have come my way. Both parents and my sister Martha are buried at Ainsworth, Bill, an attorney, and his wife at Clarinda. Mary, the north, drowned while fishing and is buried at Cedar Rapids.
Picture: First Presbyterian Church, Oakville