[Pg. XIV] -  The Gallia Academy - continued -

of lots on Fourth street.  One condition of the sale of lots on the square, was that no wood buildings be erected thereon; they fronted on the square from the corner of State street to the Regnier building.  They were purchased by S. T. & R. Langley, William C. Miller, L. B. Menager, and W. H. Langley, and brought $9,195.  May 9th, 1853, it was decided to accept a proposition from John Sanns for the purchase of his lot, at which time Julius Regnier was made president and R. Aleshire secretary.
     May 27th, 1853, a meeting was held at the court-house at which Simeon Nash presented the importance of erecting an academy building, and a committee was appointed to solicit subscriptions of stock, and proposals for erecting said building were advertised.  The accepted proposals for carpenter work, ,plastering, painting, glazing, brick and stone work footed $2,685.41.  Julius Regnier, John Nutsinpiller and R. Aleshire were appointed building committee, June 6th, 1853.
     May 3d, 1854, Simeon Nash, who had previously been appointed a committee for the purpose, reported that he had employed Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Sears to take charge of the academy, the building to be furnished  them free of charge, and they to look to the scholars for their pay, and to furnish other teachers if necessary.
     School opened in the present structure, May 17th, 1854, and at a meeting held July 29th following, it was decided that the academical year should commence the next 6th of September, and continue for twenty-two weeks; then a vacation of two weeks, followed by another twenty-two weeks' term.  The president was also authorized to buy maps and other supplies, which made the total cost of the building, furnished complete, exclusive of grounds, $3,685.50.  During the next few years very much was added in the way of hooks, apparatus, etc.
     In 1858, an arrangement was made that for the first six months after the union school went into operation, if the receipts to Mr. Sears fell below $900 per year, the trustees should make that amount up to him.  It was decided that Mrs. Bethia S. Tupper intended in her legacy that Mr. Sears should receive $900 per year after all other teachers were paid.
     Mr. Sears withdrew Dec. 10th, 1862, and Rev. George B. Sturgis filled the vacancy for three months, when ill-health compelled him to resign, and James Henry Nash was appointed for one term.  This year the lot opposite the Langley mill was sold to W. H. Langley for $3,000.  In 1863 the lots were subdivided and sold for $1,907, and the surplus funds of the academy were invested in government bonds, the amount so invested in 1864, amounted to $6,300.
     In 1863 the military took possession of the academy, throwing Mr. Nash out.  In 1864, Mr. Sears was again employed.  In 1866, $7,187.12 was expended upon an addition to the building, and July 11th, it was insured for $9,000.  Apr. 9, 1867, Mr. Sears was given leave of absence until fall, and Mr. Maxwell engaged for the interim.  Oct. 11th, 1867, Mr. Mills was employed as principal, who continued until July 19th, 1869, when Sidney T. Skidmore was appointed.  Mar. 29th, 1870, the old bell was sold, and a new one bought.  Aug. 23, 1870, E. A. Cooley was employed.  Apr. 3d, 1872, the death of General Lewis Newsom was announced.  He was aged eight-seven years, having been a member of the board since its organization.  S. Y. Wasson was appointed in his place.
     Mr. Cooley continued as principal until July 28th, 1873, when E. W. Chase, of Worcester, Massachusetts, was employed.  Mr. 27th, 1874, E. Deletombe was elected treasurer, Franklin Carel resigning after over thirty years of faithful service.  Mr. Chase was superseded as principal, Aug. 22d, 1876, by Rev. D. W. Cox, who resigned Feb. 28th, 1877, and W. H. Mitchell was employed, who also resigned Dec. 9th, 1878.  Feb. 27th, 1879, R. Aleshire was elected president and still continues to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Simeon Nash.  The same day, Henry Collins, of Felton, Delaware, was appointed principal.  A. Baird, the present principal, was appointed in January, 1880, and is assisted by his wife.
     The academy is at present in a prosperous condition, and a credit to its founders.  An outline of its interesting history has been given from which a fair conception can be formed of its small beginnings and gradual growth through a term of seventy-two years.

CHURCH SOCIETIES OF GALLIPOLIS

     There are ten church organizations in the town, viz:  Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, German Lutheran, Catholic, Episcopal, Universalist, African Methodist Episcopal, Methodist church (colored), and Baptist (colored).  The Baptist and also the colored Methodist societies have not at present church buildings of their own.

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

     The Presbyterian church of Gallipolis is an outgrowth of the "First Religious Society of the Township of Gallipolis," formed on the 15th day of March, 1815.  Prominent among the founders of this society were General Edward W. Tupper, Dr. Jonas Safford, Lewis Newsom, Nathaniel Gates, Thomas Rodgers and Nathaniel S. Cushing.
     No doubt these honored men and their associates felt the need of religious worship in the wild region of the west, to which they had emigrated.
     They chose by ballot (mark the method) three trustees, to manage the fiscal concerns of the society, but limited their powers by one of the first articles adopted, as follows:  "No rules or by-laws shall be made to levy any tax on the members; nor shall any regulation be made to effect or infringe the rights of conscience."  Thus carefully were their rights guarded in the early days, when freedom was better understood and appreciated.
     The object of the society, as set forth in its constitution, was "to maintain the preaching of the Gospel in the town of Gallipolis."  To aid them in this sacred duty, they were allowed the rent of one section of land in Gallipolis township, called the Ministerial Section.  This section (twenty-nine) was set apart by congress for the support of religion in the Ohio Company's purchase.  This grant by congress of one section for religion and one section for school, was largely due to the influence of Dr. Manasseh Cutler, agent of the Ohio Company.
     Rev. William R. Gould was the first minister employed by the society, at a salary not to exceed two hundred dollars a year.  A subscription was made in addition to the rents from the ministerial section for the pastor's support.  General Edward W. Tupper acted as agent for the society from its organization until his death, in 1823.  The old academy that stood near the present site of the Presbyterian church was the place of meeting.
     In December, 1825, an agreement was made to divide the rent of section twenty-nine equally between the First Religious Society and the First Methodist Episcopal society of Gallipolis, to put a stop to any abuse "in the mode of procuring adherents to each society."
     In 1827, Rev. James H. Brook was employed to preach part of the time, having been previously engaged to preach at Point Pleasant.
     In 1828, at a meeting called for that purpose, the society was incorporated under the name of the "First Presbyterian Society of Gallipolis," according to the rules of the Presbyterian church of the United States.  The Hon. S. F. Vinton  resident at this meeting, and John T. Brasee was chosen secretary.  A church lot was  bought for one hundred dollars from the trustees of the Gallia academy in 1828.  On Sept. 16, 1828, the corner stone of the Presbyterian church was laid with appropriate ceremonies.  Rev. A. Pomeroy was the laboring minister.  At this time Gallipolis had a population of about seven hundred, and John P. R. Bureau was the mayor.
     In 1829, Rev. Nathaniel W. Fisher began to preach, and continued two years.  Rev. Ebenezer Hebard preached during the year 1832.  Rev. P. S. McAboy was engaged to preach from 1833 to 1837, when Rev. William Baccus preached for one year.
     In 1839, the first organ was bought from N. Gates.  During the latter part of this year Rev. W. R. Gould again became the minister, and continued to preach until the autumn of 1846, when he was succeeded by Rev. Joseph B. Adams for one year, and he, in turn, by Rev. Sylvanus Warren.  In  May, 1849, Rev. C. B. Maday was engaged and continued until September, 1850.  In May, 1852, Rev. Adams Huntington was engaged and served for two years.
     There were sixty-nine members in 1854.  On the 5th of November, of that year, Rev. Warren Taylor became the minister, and during the year 1855 twenty-two members seceded and formed an old school branch.  This division seriously interfered with the growth and usefulness of the church.  Here began the schism between the old and new school bodies in Gallipolis that caused a division and kept the members in agitation for many weary years.
     We find the following on the record:  "June 15, 1855.  Whereas, John Cating, with others, forcibly entered and took possession of the church building; Resolved, That the trustees repair to said church, open said building, and fit it for worship on Sunday next, if not forcibly resisted."  They were not allowed to "fit it" (unless they fought), evidently, for they had preaching at the Baptist church the next Sabbath.  Surely the church was passing through a season of Trial.
     In 1857, Rev. A. A. Jimeson was called to the church and continued his labors until 1861, during which time twenty-five members were added to the church, when Rev. R. D. Van Dusen began to preach.  He resigned, however, in August of that year to become the chaplain of the 12th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
     Thus the war made its demands upon the pulpit as it did upon every department of human activity.  Rev. R. D. Van Dusen returned to his people late in 1862 and remained with them until the spring of 1867.  In December, 1867, the Rev. Walter Mitchell was called to preach to this church, and during his ministry of eight years the church grew in numbers until in April, 1873, there were one hundred and ten members.  Great improvements were made in the church edifice.  A new tower was constructed, new sittings furnished, new windows put in, and the interior changed, for which Rev. W. Mitchell is entitled to great credit.
     In January, 1876, the Rev. E. Muse was engaged, and he remained until May, 1879.  In the Centennial year (18760 the old schism that became in 1855, and was followed by a long suit in the courts, was settled upon terms mutually honorable to the representatives of the two parties to the contest - the old and new school bodies.  By this union the church property and the Tupper legacy of two thousand dollars, bequeathed to the Presbyterian society by Bethia S. Tupper, widow of General Edward W. Tupper, was given to the present body.  Mrs. Tupper  was a most devoted woman, of large charity and broad sympathy as her many bequests attest.  A legacy of one thousand dollars was left to the Presbyterian Sunday-school, about this time, by one of the active workers in the church - Captain John B. Smithers, whose name is prominently mentioned in the records, and whose benevolence was often manifested in its behalf.
     In July, 1879, the Rev Maurice B. Wilson, a young graduate of the Western Theological Seminary, was employed for four months on trial, and at the end of that time he was called to become the pastor of this church.  His labors were highly esteemed, and during his pastorate the

See Page XV -

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