HISTORY: Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, PA, Roland D. Swoope, 1911, Chapter 22 Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja and Sally Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/ NOTE: Use this web address to access other chapters: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/clearfield/1picts/swoope/swoope.htm ________________________________________________ TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS BY ROLAND D. SWOOPE, JR. PUBLISHED BY RICHMOND-ARNOLD PUBLISHING CO. F. J. Richmond, President C. R. Arnold, Secretary and Treasurer CHICAGO, ILL. CHAPTER XXII RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 251 Pioneer Clergy of the County - First Services of the Different Denominations - Early Churches and Meeting-houses - Growth of the Various Churches - Y. M. C. A. It is but another proof of the wisdom of the sturdy pioneers of Clearfield county that, hand in hand with the educational, went the religious development. Among the pioneer clergy of the county, in addition to the missionaries of various denominations, whose names are mentioned in the earlier history of the county, the first preachers who held services in the county, of whose names we have been able to find any record, were: Bishop Onderdonk of the Protestant Episcopal church, who held services in 1832, and again in 1838 in the old Court House. The Rev. Tiffany Lord, rector of the Episcopal church at Philipsburg in 1843, held occasional services in the Old Court House, also Rev. George W. Natt of Bellefonte made periodical visits to Clearfield, but the first regular Episcopal minister was Rev. William Clotworthy, who was sent to Clearfield in 1847. The first Presbyterian ministers were the Revs. William Stewart and Henry R. Wilson, who preached in Clearfield in 1803 and for several years thereafter. Rev. John Hammond was the first Methodist preacher and he preached in Clearfield in 1822 long before there was any regular church. The first Catholic services were held about 1815 by the Rev. Fathers Hayden, Reilly and Leavey, and about 1830 the first Catholic church was built. Rev. G. Phillip Geulich, known as Father Geulich, was the first Lutheran preacher, preaching in Luthersburg in 1832. Rev. Samuel Miles was one of the first regular Baptist preachers, preaching in Clearfield about 1842. As is the case with most of these early dates, that of the first church in Clearfield county is a much disputed question. One early chronicler states that the first meeting house was built in 1809, on the site of McClure's cemetery in Pike township. A later writer just as emphatically declares that the first church in Clearfield county was built in 1822, although he agrees with the earlier writer as to its location. It is impossible to obtain any facts concerning the first house of worship, but as religious meetings were held at homes and in barns before any church building was erected, it is probable that this caused the confusion in dates. HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY 252 Such other facts as we have been able to gather concerning the early religious history of our county are set down in the following history of the different denominations: Presbyterian - In the first history of Clearfield county, published in 1878, we find the following lines: "The first meeting house in Clearfield county was built in the year 1809 and was located at the site of McClure's cemetery. It was of the Presbyterian faith." To the members of this denomination, then, must be conceded the honor of having erected the first house of worship in our county. A church building was erected in Clearfield several years later, and one in Curwensville in 1826. These charges were admitted to the Huntingdon Presbytery, which at that time had a total number of 558 communicants. There is now a church membership of 3,111 in this county, and nineteen church buildings. These statistics prove in a most convincing manner the marvelous growth of this denomination, and the powerful and thriving condition of the Presbyterian church in Clearfield county at the present time. Methodist Episcopal - Methodism in Clearfield county had its beginning as early as 1814, in the days of the Huntingdon circuit. This circuit covered nearly three hundred miles, and included in its thirty charges those of Clearfield and Centre. The first church building was erected at the latter charge between 1828 and 1834, and Rev. John McEnally appointed its pastor. A "meeting house" was erected at Clearfield about 1839 and one at Curwensville, one in Bradford township and one in the Grampian Hills a few years later. From this time on, the Methodist Episcopal faith grew rapidly in power, and the Clearfield county charges became part of the Altoona District of the Central Pennsylvania Conference. At the present date there are twenty thriving Methodist Episcopal churches in Clearfield county, with a total membership of about 5,000. Baptist Church - An early historian of Clearfield county states that the first sermon preached in this county was preached by Rev. Charles Pinnock, a Baptist clergyman. The oldest Baptist church in the county is the one at Curwensville, founded in 1836. The largest Baptist church in the county is the Zion church, which maintains four places of worship - Ansonville, Marion, Bell's Landing and Kerrmoor. There are in all fourteen Baptist churches in the county. Clearfield county is not a Baptist stronghold; but commendable progress is being made, and only one church now reports a smaller membership than it did ten years ago. The average annual rate of increase is three per cent. There are today one-third more Baptists in Clearfield county than there were ten years ago. Evangelical Lutheran Church (English) - In the year 1832, Father Phillip Geulich, called the "Father of Lutheranism," in Clearfield county, began to preach monthly to the people of Luthersburg, in Brady township. Ten years later a Union church AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 255 was built by the German Lutherans and Reformers, and services were held there by all branches of the Lutheran faith. In 1845 the first English Evangelical Lutheran church in the county was built near Luthersburg. Since that time this denomination has grown greatly in membership, and there are now about twenty-two English Evangelical Lutheran churches in Clearfield county. They are united with the Allegheny Synod. The Catholic Church - As early as 1815, priests of the Roman Catholic church visited this county for the purpose of saying mass for the few members of that faith who resided here. But it was not until 1830 that a church building was erected at Clearfield. Some years later, about 1841, another Catholic church was built at Frenchville. These were the only Catholic churches in the county for many years but when the mineral resources of the county began to be mined, a foreign population, largely of the Catholic faith, came into this region, including many Greek Catholics. Since that time the number of the Catholics has steadily increased, until they have a membership of about twenty thousand, and thirty church edifices. Protestant Episcopal Church - Although services were held in the county as early as 1832, no regular organization of the Protestant Episcopal church was made until 1849, when a church of that faith was established at Clearfield. In 1851 a church building was erected, and named St. Andrews. For many years, this was the only Protestant Episcopal church in the county, but in 1884, two more churches were built - one at DuBois and one at Houtzdale. Although the growth of the denomination has been very gradual its members are noted for their devotion and loyalty to their faith. Society of Friends - The first meeting of this Society in the county was held at the home of James Moore, in Penn township, in 1813. Several years later a school-house was built in the vicinity, and here the Friends met for worship until 1824, when a meeting-house was built on a lot donated by James Moore. In 1833 this meeting was regularly established as a monthly meeting by Warrington Monthly Meeting in York county, and the name West Branch was given it. There are now two Friends meeting-houses in the county - one on the original lot near the town of Grampian, and one in Curwensville, built in 1878. African Methodist Episcopal Church - There are but two churches of this denomination in Clearfield county - one at Curwensville and one at Clearfield. The total membership of these two churches is thirty-two. Although they are few in number they are strong in faith and untiring in their efforts to promote Christianity among their people. United Brethren Church. - This church has a large membership in various parts of Clearfield county. One of the earliest churches of this denomination was the Shiloh church, organized in 1847. The services of this church were held in Shiloh school-house until 1886, when a large church building was erected. HISTORY OF CLEARFIELD COUNTY 256 There are several other churches of this faith in the eastern townships of the county, and the total membership is very large. German Reformed Church. - Brady township, with its large German population, is the stronghold of all branches of the Lutheran faith, and the German Reformed Church in Clearfield county had its beginning in that locality. In 1842 the German Lutherans and the members of the Reformed church combined forces, and erected a Union church, three miles from Luthersburg. But in 1851 these two congregations could no longer agree, and in 1853, the Reformers erected a church of their own. A Reformed church was built in DuBois in 1883, and another in Huston township in 1884. The membership of the denomination is local, confined almost entirely to the northwestern section of the county. Other Religious Denominations. - There are several other religious denominations in Clearfield county, the memberships of which are too small to support regular churches. Among these are the Dunkards, the Methodist Protestants and the Menonites. The Primitive Methodists, though not large in membership, have several churches throughout the county. The Salvation Army supports two barracks in the county - one at DuBois and one at Clearfield. Young Men's Christian Associations There are three Young Men's Christian Associations in the county, one at Clearfield and two at DuBois. The Clearfield Young Men's Christian Association was incorporated February 11th, 1903. The officers at the time of organization were are follows: President, W. D. Bigler; Vice Presidents, H. B. Powell and A. B. Reed; Secretary, H. E. Trout; Treasurer, Andrew Harwick; General Secretary, S. W. Smith. The association owns its building, situated on Second street in a fine location, near the center of the business portion of the town. The building is well equipped with sleeping rooms, a fine bowling alley, a swimming tank, gymnasium, and assembly room. The association has about one hundred and fifty members and the present officers are as follows: President, Hon. A. O. Smith; Vice Presidents, H. B. Powell, George R. Bigler; General Secretary, H. F. Beck; Recording Secretary, William Bigler; Treasurer, A. Harwick; Assistant Treasurer, R. I. Fulton. Directors - Hon. A. O. Smith, C. T. Kurtz, A. Harwick, W. I. Betts, J. B. Nevling, W. P. Sheeder, Geo. R. Bigler, William Bigler, A. B. Reed, James Mitchell, J. L. Gilliland, A. K. Wright, H. B. Powell, A. O. Campbell, F. B. Kerr, R. B. Thompson, Alfred Graham, Raymond C. Ogden, A. J. Musser, D. B. Lucas, C. B. Porter, Hugh Woodward, Scott McKelvy. Trustees - Thomas H. Murray, C. W. Smith, F. B. Row, H. J. Flegal, B. F. Chase, W. C. Miller. The DuBois Young Men's Christian Association was incorporated November 5th, 1894. Austin Blakelee is the president of the Association and it has a board of directors, composed of prominent business men of DuBois. AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS 257 The Association occupies a desirable building, well equipped for its purposes and it has about two hundred members at the present time. The Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburg Railway Young Men's Christian Association was organized by the officials of the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg Railway Company in order to furnish a suitable place of recreation and rest for their employees in and about DuBois. The Railway Company has been very liberal in the support of the Institution. The Association has a fine building, well equipped with the necessary facilities for carrying on its work. R. L. Bogardus is the secretary. The Association now has several hundred members.