THE PRESBYTERIANS.

     Upon carefully comparing traditions, we are inclined to the opinion that the first organized congregation was within the present limits of Montgomery township.  The membership was largely composed of the residents of Milton township.  It was organized by the settlers of 1815-16, who were the descendants of the Scotch-Irish.  In 1816 these people, mostly from western Pennsylvania, were visited by Rev. Joshua Beer, who preached a few sermons in the cabins of the pioneers, and became a candidate for settlement among the congregation then organizing.  About the same time Rev. William Mathews also became a candidate for employment.  Upon consultation, the members gave Mr. Mathews the preference, and employed him one-third of the time.  The balance of the time was divided between Mt. Hope, in Perry, and Jeromeville, the Mohican township, where a few Presbyterians were beginning to organize, with a view of erecting churches.  In 1817 the Hopewell congregation was organized, and twenty-two persons received on certificates and twelve on examination.  In 1818 Robert Nelson and Abraham Doty were elected elders, ordained and installed.  The members, so far as we can learn, were Robert Nelson, Abraham Doty, David McKinney, William Huston, David Pullock, Abel Montgomery, William Andrews, George Ryall, Samuel Burns, David Burns, Jasper Snook, James Clingin, James Ferguson, Hance Hamilton, Thomas Cook, Robert Culbertson, Isaac Mathews, Jesse Mathews, William Lions, John Hall, George Hall, Samuel Urie, James Black, William Shilling, and their wives, and Mrs. Jane Burgett, Mrs. Mary Stevenson, Mary Vanoshand, Susan Vanmeter, Nancy Owens, Margaret and Mary Owens, Mary Callen, Nancy Starret, Obediah Ferrell, John Crabs, John Prosser, Joseph Scott, Elisha Kelley, and Cornelius Eaton.
     In 1819 a hewed log church, thirty by thirty-five feet, was erected one and a half miles west of Uniontown, now Ashland, on what is now the Olivesburgh road.  According to the recollection of Mr. John Nelson, son of Robert, "the building had a cabin roof, plank floors and door, plank benches without backs or cushions, the windows very high from the ground, the pulpit elevated after the old style, four or five steps and boarded as high as a man's shoulders.  The church was heated, in winter, by a large box-stove, capable of receiving four-foot wood.  The building was erected by the voluntary efforts of the pioneers and members, some furnishing a quota of hewn timber, others, plank and boards, and others, clapboards, sash, glass and nails, while others, with teams, hauled the materials to the ground where the church was to be erected.  William Andrews and George Ryall, excellent singers, were chosen to conduct the music.  They were stationed near the pulpit, on a platform, where they read two lines of a psalm or hymn -

"And are we wretches yet alive,
And do we yet rebel?"

and sang, the congregation joining as the leaders proceeded to read and sing."
     The services - reading, singing, and preaching - began about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and continued until about twelve o'clock, when there was a recess, after which the services were renewed for one or two hours.  In the absence of the pastor, a reader was selected from among the church officers, who read a printed or written discourse for the edification of the members.  This task frequently fell upon Elder Robert Nelson, who is said to have been a fluent reader.  It was not uncommon, at that period, for members and others to ride or walk

MORE TO COME.....

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.

THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERANS.

THE BAPTISTS AND DISCIPLES.

THE GERMAN BAPTISTS OR TUNKERS.

THE UNITED BRETHREN.

     The United Brethren church of Ashland was erected in 1867.  It is a neat frame.  The members number about two hundred.  The minister is Rev. David Sprinkle.
     The United Brethren church, of Mohican, near the Lake fork, was built in 1847.  It is thirty by thirty-eight feet, and known as Fairview chapel.  The membership is about sixty.
     The Oak Grove United Brethren church is some three miles north of Fairview.  The building is twenty-six by thirty feet.  The membership is about seventy-five.
     The United Brethren, of Lafayette, have a small frame church.  There is also a small church near the south line of Perry township.  The number of members in each is believed to be about forty.
     The United Brethren church, of Jackson township, known as Otterheim chapel, thirty by thirty-six feet,, was built in 1861.  It has about thirty members, and has occasional preaching.

THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION.

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

     In 1827 a small Congregational society formed in Ruggles Center.  The minister was Rev. E. T. Woodruff; the members Harvey Sackett, E. D. Smith, Reuben Fox, Tholia Sackett, Norman Carter, Rachel Curtiss, Sarah Sturtevant, Lorinda Beach, Jerusha Peck, Mina Fox and Cynthia Smith.  The ministers have been Revs. Joseph Treat, E. T. Woodruff, S. Robinson, Benjamin Judson, E. P. Salmon, S. Dunton, W. L. Buffett, O. W. Mather, E. P. Sperry, W. T. Milikan, G. C. Judson, James Wilson, John McCutchin, H. L. Howard, and G. V. Fry.  The services were held in the cabin of Mr. Sackett, and in a school-house for several years.  In 1838, a church was erected by the congregation and township.  In 1854 a new church was erected.  The members number about ninety-five.

THE CATHOLICS.

     St. Peter's Catholic church, of Loudonville, was built in 1871.  It is of brick, seventy by forty feet, and thirty-five feet high in the clear.  The corner-stone was laid by Rev. Father Verlet, of Massillon, June 25, 1871, assisted by Father Ankly, of Wooster.  Father Magenhann sang high mass in Loudonville on the occasion.  The building was completed in 1872, and Rev. Father Schmitz took charge.  It has a membership of thirty-five families, and is a neat, comfortable church.  It cost about twelve thousand dollars.  It has no school as yet.
     The Catholic church, of Ashland, St. Edward's, was organized in 1863.  Mass had been said as early as 1853, by Father Brennan, who came from Wooster, Ohio, sayinv mass in private houses.  He was followed by Father O'Neill and Molony, and Rev. J. F. Gallagher, of Wooster, in 1863, in which year the Presbyterian church was purchased, for six hundred dollars; and from that time the organization of the congregation may be dated.  Rev. J. Kuhn took charge in 1865, attending every four weeks, from Mansfield, Ohio.  About this time, the church, a wooden structure, quite old, was repaired, at an expense of about five hundred dollars.  The congregation consisted, at that time, of about thirty members.  By the time of the completion of the Atlantic and Great Western railway, it had a less membership.  Father Kuhn continued in charge until 1867, when Rev. A. Magenhann, of Mansfield, took charge.  At this time, the old church burned down.  A new church (brick) was built in 1870, thirty-six by fifty feet, at a cost of three thousand five hundred dollars; and in 1872, Rev. M. Schmidt, of Loudonville, took charge, and has continued ever since.  Mass is said every five weeks.  St. Edward's has no school, and has never had a resident pastor.

GERMAN REFORMED.

     About the year 1838, a small congregation of Evangelical Lutherans and German Reformed Lutherans organized in the Gierhart settlement, on the east line of Montgomery township, and erected a brick church.  Rev. Mr. Wolf was the first preacher.  The Rev. Adam Staump preached at the same time, the congregation being partly Lutheran and partly German Reformed.  The Rev. William Gilbraith subsequently took charge of the congregation.
     The German Lutherans of Ashland, having organized some time prior, erected a neat brick church in 1868.  The first minister was Rev. Mr. Schmidt.  The present minister is C. R. O. Muehler.  The members number about thirty.
     The German Reformed Lutherans of Ashland, having organized some time prior, erected a new frame church in 1867.  The membership is about fifty.  The present minister is Rev. Mr. Mutsinger.
     The Winebrenarians erected a church, near the east line of Vermillion township, in 1835.  It has now about seventy-five members.  The early ministers were Rev. Thomas Hickerall and Jacob Keller.