ATLANTIC CHURCHES

ATLANTIC M. E. CHURCH.

The Atlantic M. E. Church was organized in 1869 by Rev. William Abraham, who is still a resident of the city, a venerable and honored pioneer in the religious field, more than eighty years of age. The first quarterly meeting of which there is any record was held on the 10th and 11th of December, 1869, and Wilkins Warwick, Dr. W. Richards, H. T. Sharp, Dr. G. S. Montgomery, Isaac Dickerson, A. C. Thorp, and Frank Everett were approved as trustees. Wilkins Warwick, J. H. Needles and H. T. Sharp were also elected stewards, and the last named gentleman was made Sunday school superintendent. The first building, a story and a half frame structure, was dedicated in April, 1869. The membership of the church rapidly increased, and by the early eighties was about 200; it is now over 500. The society occupies a handsome brick church, which, with the parsonage, is valued at some $20,000.

BAPTIST CHURCH OF ATLANTIC.

The Baptist Church was organized at a meeting held on March 29, 1869, by Rev. C. C. Baird, a missionary, with the following members: Perry Disbrow, Harriet Disbrow, Clarissa Disbrow, J. C. Livingston, Simon Smith, Lucy Smith, Alice Cavenaugh, Jacob Armkantrout, Mrs. J. Armantrout, and A. S. Churchill. Until the construction of a church building meetsing were held in the Presbyterian church and the I. O. O. F. hall. In 1874 an edifice was completed at the corner of Fifth and Elm streets, and was dedicated by Rev. A. Scott, then the pastor. The church has now a membership of about 240, of which 175 are residents of Atlantic.

ATLANTIC CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

The Congregational Church, organized April 10, 1869, had the following charter members: E. O. Hoyt, G. W. Norton and wife, Seldon McGeehon, C. D. Tuttle and wife, and Julian Phelps and wife. The first board of trustees consisted of G. W. Norton, E. O. Hoyt and Julian Phelps. The first church building, corner of Fifth and Walnut streets, was dedicated on the 15th of August, 1869, being the second religious edifice finished in the city; the Methodists had dedicated their church only a week earlier. The original church of the Congregationalists was thirty-two by forty-six feet, and cost about $3,000. In 1876 an addition was built, and in the following year a chapel was added. The present splendid edifice, on the site of the first church, was dedicated on the 15th of December, 1889, and is one of the architectural attractions of the city. Its cost was $15,000. The membership of the Congregational Church is about 350, and, what is very remarkable, its first pastor, Rev. E. S. Hill, occupied its pulpit continuously until 1905, when, on account of declining health he went to California. He was a gallant soldier of the Civil War and a school teacher prior to his entrance to the ministry, and is universally honored for his ability, manliness and Christian worth.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ATLANTIC.

On the 10th of October, 1869, Rev. Sheldon Jackson and S. Phillips organized the Presbyterian Church of Atlantic, with Theodore Cushing, Joseph H. Smith, Mrs. A. Smith. J. L. Stone and Mrs. J. P. Stone, as charter members. At this initial meeting, which was held in a school on the northwest corner of Chestnut and Sixth streets, Messrs. Cushing and Smith were made ruling elders. The Presbyterians found the Methodists and Congregationalists already installed in the religious field, each of the last two denominations having a house of worship. The first to assume regular charge of the new society was Rev. Melanethon Hughes, who arrived in December to take the field. Through the following winter services were held in the M. E. church on alternate Sabbath afternoons, and a separate edifice was not built until 1871. This was partially wrecked by a tornado in July, of that year. The church became self-supporting in 1878, and in 1880 erected a handsome religious home on the corner of Sixth and Chestnut streets, three blocks west of the first location. A commodious parsonage was afterward built on Oak and Seventh streets. The Presbyterian Church is now one of the strongest in the city, and has done much evangelical and missionary work in the surrounding districts, one of its offshoots being the organization in the town of Marne, which was founded in 1889.

SS. PETER AND PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH.

The SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church dedicated an imposing Gothic edifice, on the corner of Locust and Sixth streets, on the 16 of September, 1894, the cornerstone having been laid withmost impressive ceremonies, in the presence of a large and reverent audience, on August 27, 1893. As announced in a printed document sealed in the cornerstone, the church "is erected to the greater honor and glory of God by the generosity of Pierce Maher, and his wife, Bridget Maher. The cornerstone on this occasion was delivered by Rev. J. F. Nugent, of Des Moines."

The Pierce and Bridget Maher mentioned above were both natives of Ireland, and spent their early married life in Pennsylvania. They became residents of Cass county in 1858, and the following decade Mr. Maher spent as a hard-working, economical farmer of Brighton township; a soldier of the Union engaged in the trying service of border warfare, and a careful investor of his earnings in agricultural and city real estate. He died in Pasadena, Cal., whither he had gone for the benefit of his health, February 27, 1893, and his wife passed away in Atlantic, February 26, 1894. The death and will of Mr. Maher disclosed for the first time the munificence of his gift to the church, of which he and his wife were such devoted, but unobtrusive members. The property which he left it made possible the present beautiful edifice, and during the year that his wife survived him she also gave her earthly all to the church.

In its main dimensions the SS. Peter and Paul Catholic church is one-hundred and twenty-eight by fifty feet, and the steeple which rises to a height of 132 feet, is surmounted by a golden cross. The interior corresponds to the Gothic style of the exterior, and the beautiful stained glass windows are inscribed with the names of their donors, leading members of the church. The main altar is the gift of James and Mary Blake, while other altars and furnishings of the sanctuary were presented by prominent church members and several societies.

The early Catholics of Cass county were accustomed to go to Council Bluffs to trade and sell their produce, and to take advantage of the ministrations of their church, which had been established there for many years. With the building of the stage line from Des Moines to Council Bluffs, the pastors from the latter city commenced to come themselves to perform the more necessary rites of the church on the ground. When the Rock Island road was extended through Atlantic, in 1868, the Des Moines clergy began to attend to the spiritual welfare of the growing community, and about 1870 Father John F. Brazil, of that city, with his assistant, Father Moynaghan, gathered together the scattered Catholic families of the locality and organized a congregation. Father Moynaghan attended the church during the first year. Immediate steps were taken to procure a home for the church, and as a first undertaking the one-fourth block located on the corner of Locust and Sixth streets was secured, and the erection of an edifice commenced. During the progress of the work and the bishop assigned to this post, Rev. Father Gaul, who in 1873 became the first resident priest of the local parish. He finished the building of the church and remained faithful to his labors in Atlantic until the fall of 1887, when Rev. Father P. Daly was assigned to the church and has since continued as its worth and efficient pastor. Father Daly came from Mechanicsville, Iowa. The church has had a steady growth since its inception, and it now stands as one of the strongest in Western Iowa, both numerically and in point of influence.

THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Rev. R. T. McCrea, who had been preaching at Cass Center for a number of years, was appointed by the United Presbyterian General Assembly of 1875 to extend his ministrations to Atlantic. Accordingly, on July 1st, of the year, he commenced holding regular services in what was then the court room of Cass county, and which afterward was the dining room of the Park Hotel. Meetings were held on alternate Sabbaths at Atlantic and Cass Center. On October 22, 1875, by the direction of the Presbytery of Nebraska, he officiated in the organization of the United Presbyterian congregation of Atlantic, the following being its members: Silas Wilson, S. W. Wilson, Amanda Wilson, Mary J. Wilson, John B. Allen, Hugh Livingston, Mary Livingston, A. S. Moncrief, John Stewart, Aliza J. Stewart, Martha Stewart, Catherine Campbell, Nancy Gibson, George Livingston, Lide Wood, Martha Wilson and Melissa Livingston. The congregation continued to worship in the court room until 1877, when the present building, corner of Sixth and Walnut, was erected at a cost, including site, of $3,100.

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, ATLANTIC.

The Church of Christ has a large congregation, and one of the prettiest churches in the city, located on the corner of Eighth and Chestnut streets. The building was dedicated in March, 1904. The church was organized in 1892, and its first pastor was Rev. William Semones. Its first tabernacle was erected at the corner of Sixth and Elm streets. Rev. W. B. Crewdson was called from Council Bluffs to the pastorate of the church in 1903, and since his coming the membership and general activity of the church have shown a somewhat remarkable increase.

"Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pp. 240-243.
Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, February, 2012.