CHURCHES OF PALO ALTO COUNTY
From Atlas of Palo Alto County
Compiled 1969 by Title Atlas Company; Minneapolis, Minnesota

    UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
RUTHVEN, IOWA

    The Methodist Episcopal Church of Ruthven had its beginning in what was known as the Harris School House, which was built the summer of 1872, in the southwest corner of the northeast quarter of Sec. 8 of Highland Township, or about 1 -1/2 miles north and 1/2 mile east of the town of Ruthven. This school house, which received its name from its location across the road from the Charles Harris homestead, was in the center of the settlement that existed at that time. With the completion of the school house, there arose a demand for some form of spiritual education along with the work of the public school system, and when autumn came, it found both a thriving school and a growing church housed in this one-room structure. Each worked in harmony for the best interests of the neighborhood.
    Rev. Horace Scott, who took up a homestead on the south shore of Lost Island Lake, is credited with being the organizer of this early church, the first in this part of the county, and while he, at that time, was not an ordained minister, he took much interest in the church work and he often supplied the pulpit when the congregation was in need of a pastor. He was a member of the Baptist Church but was ordained in the Christian Church in 1883. Rev. Scott passed away in May, 1895, and was buried in Crown Hill Cemetery at this place.
    According to church records, Rev. Brenton Webster was pastor in this locality from Oct., 1872 until Oct., 1873. Rev. J.M. Woolery was pastor from Jan., 1875 until Oct., 1877. It is not definitely certain who served the Methodist constituency during the latter part of 1873 and 1874. Rev. Kettlewell, a Baptist minister, and Rev. Hawley, a Christian Church minister were among the ministers who came to hold services in the Harris school in 1874.
    Thomas B. Stokes, who is known as the first postmaster at Ruthven, was also the first Sunday School Superintendent in the Harris School Church. The post office was then located in Mr. Stokes residence on the hill west of town, and it is related that he would stop at the railroad station and get the sack of mail and take it along with him to the Harris School on Sunday mornings. Then he would open the mail sack and hand out the mail to those to whom it was addressed, if they were present. it is likely that his accommodation along the line of being the community's first rural mail carrier, even though he covered his route only once a week, helped increase the church attendance, for we find the Methodists moving to Ruthven the next year for a larger building to accommodate their growing membership.
    Among the early settlers who attended the services regularly at the Harris School House we find the following: Horace Scott and family, and Amos Miller, Sr., and family; George Hamm and family; Charles Harris and family; Joseph Somes and family; T.R. McLaughlin and family; Silas Ryder and family; Edson Curtiss and family; J.K. Oliver and family; John Crookshank and family; John A. Anthony and family; Alman Needham and family; D.A. Goff and family; Alexander Ruthven, Sr. and family; Thomas B. Stokes and family and several other families of the neighborhood attended this church now and then.
    The early church was largely interdenominational with the pastors favoring either the Methodist or Baptist rituals as the case may be, until the pastorate of Rev. A.J. Beebe in 1878. Rev. Beebee was a devout Methodist, and evidently seeing the need of uniting the Harris School Church with some permanent church organization, he linked the congregation with the Methodist conference, and it has continued under this denomination without interruption to this day.
    With the coming of the Milwaukee Railroad in 1878, there developed a sentiment for moving the church to Ruthven where there would be better accommodations and a more central location. Consequently, the next year, we find the Methodists holding their Sunday services in what was known as the Skevington Hall, which was located a short distance east of the present Methodist Church building, and church services came to an end at the Harris School House.
    Rev. A.J. Beebee reported, in 1878, the first time that the Ruthven Methodist Church appears in the conference minutes, that there were 41 members and 9 probitioners in the charge which, at that time, extended as far south as the town of Mallard. The first church trustees were: Horace Scott, Edwin Colton, H.L. Snow, D.G. Greer and Alexander Ruthven. With the building of a one-room school house in Ruthven in the fall of 1881, the Methodist Church headquarters were moved from Skevington Hall to the school house. According to the records, the Methodist Church of Ruthven was incorporated Nov. 8, 1881, under the pastorate of Rev. A.J. Langdell.
    The church continued to grow and in 1884, under the pastorate of Rev. J.M. Woolery, the church board decided to build a church building of their own on the lots where the present Methodist parsonage now stands, just across the corner. The first Methodist church building was a modest structure, about 32 x 50' in dimension, that faced the east. The next few years witnessed a very creditable growth in both the membership and the attendance at the regular Sunday services, until the little church taxed beyond its capacity to accommodate those who came to worship under its roof. More room was needed, so under the pastorage of Rev. O. S. Bryan, this church building was moved back from the street, and a new addition of approximately 50x60' was built onto the front of this first church building.
    In keeping pace with the progress of the community and needs of a continually growing membership, plans were made in the spring of 1914, for building the present brick structure, which stands on the site of the first school building in Ruthven. Donations amounting to $8300 were received for this purpose on the day following Easter Sunday in 1914, and from then on it was not long until enough money had been subscribed to insure its erection. This brick church was completed in 1915, and the old frame church building was torn down and part of the material was used to construct the parsonage which now stands in its place. This new church building was dedicated with impressive ceremonies on Sunday, July 11, 1915, under the pastorate of Rev. W.O. Tompkins.
    A tornado, coming from the west on Tuesday evening, June 19, 1934, at about 10:30, struck this church building and caused considerable damage to the structure. The loss was covered by insurance and this insurance company put a crew of men to work at once to repair the damage, and the church was restored to its original condition and nicely redecorated on the inside. The work was completed in time for the rededication on Sunday, Sept. 16, 1934.
    In 1936, the name of the church was changed to The 1st Methodist Church. In 1959, a new educational unit was added to the present church and dedicated then. In 1968, the name was just changed again, and the church is now called The United Methodist Church.