The earliest church of which we have
any information was one located in the Shidler neighborhood, in
1823, by the Christian denomination, but made a free church,
because assistance was solicited and received from the people of
all faiths and people of none. An interesting relic of
this church has been preserved, and we here present it. It
is a subscription paper circulated to secure the completion of
the church edifice, and reads as follows:
"We, the undersigned
subscribers, obligate ourselves to pay David V. Stephens
the sum annexed to our names, in wheat, rye, corn, and pork, if
paid by the tenth of January next; or in good sugar, to be paid
after sugar-making, at the cash price, delivered in Eaton; or in
good whiskey, to be paid by the first of February next, at cash
price, delivered at the place above mentioned, in payment to aid
said Stephens for a job of joiner work done by him,
amounting to twenty-five dollars, in a meeting house on a
certain lot of land obtained from George Shidler and
Thomas Woolverton. Said house to be free for all
Christians to worship God in, - December 3, 1823:
Alvy Swain, seventy-five
cents, paid.
Silas Frame, one dollar.
Joseph Frame, sugar, fifty cents.
James Frame, sugar, fifty cents.
John Bloomfield, one dollar.
Daniel Melling, sugar, seventy-five cents.
Jesse Long, twenty-five cents.
Tobia Whitesell, twenty-five
cents.
James Melling, twenty-five cents in sugar.
Daniel Strader, one dollar.
George Hoffle, thirty-seven and a half cents.
George Laird, sr. eighteen and three-fourths
cents.
Adam Whitesell, thirty-seven and a half cents.
Nathan Meroney, eighteen and three-fourth cents,
paid in cash.
John Meroney, two bushels of wheat.
John C. McManus, sixty-two and a half cents
John Caughey, five bushels of corn
Meneck Tafree, three bushels of corn
Thomas Tomlinson, one dollar in sugar.
Conrad Bonebrake, twenty-five cents in sugar.
Peter Bonebrake, one bushel of corn
George Thompson, twenty-five
cents.
David Brower, two dollars and thirty-four cents.
John Frame, two dollars and thirty-four cents."
Although whiskey was one of the articles which the paper stated
would be received, it will be observed that not one of the
subscriptions was paid with it. Some progress has been
made since those days, for now no church would agree to take
whiskey in payment for subscriptions or other obligations.
The active men in this church were Jacob Spacht,
after whom the building was called "the Spacht meeting
house;" George Shidler and Thomas Woolverton.
ZION EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH.
This church, located
about five miles north of Eaton, was organized by Rev. Lewis
Morgan, in the year 1819. A small log cabin answered
the needs of the congregation a portion of the time for some
years. Services seem, however, to have been more
frequently held in private houses and barns than in this little
cabin. The first trustees were John Kayler and
Henry Kislilng, both of whom have gone to their heavenly
reward. There is no account of the organization having any
other church officers than the two named above. Neither
have we any account of the length of time this little band of
believers was served by Rev. Morgan, but after his
resignation, services were occasionally held by Revs. Man
and Espich, both of whom, of course, were Lutheran
ministers.
The next regular supply we meet with is in the person
of Rev. Jacob Gruber, who, to the best of our knowledge,
is yet living on his farm near Ottawa, in the State of Illinois.
He took charge of Zion congregation about the year 1829, and
closed his pastoral duties in the year 1855, since which time it
has been under the care of the present encumbent, Rev.
George Baughman, with the exception of two years and five
months, namely, from July 1861, to December, 1863, during which
time it was served by Rev. George W. Busby.
In 1840, during the pastorate of Rev. Jacob
Gruber, this congregation erected a small brick church, then
considered a large one, being, in the order of time, the third
brick church in the county. On the second day of October,
1875, the congregation resolved to supplant it by the erection
of the present large and commodious church building.
The church was completed the following year, and
dedicated to the service of the Triune God on the twentieth of
May.
The German Baptist church in the western part of this
township was built in 1868. It is popularly known as the
Beech Grove church. No facts concerning its first
organization can be ascertained.
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