St. John's Church
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Copied from " History of the Panhandle, being Historical Collections of the
Counties of Ohio, Brooke, Marshall and Hancock, West Virginia".  
Compiled and Written by:
J.H. Newton,  G.G. Nichols, and A.G. Sprankle
Published by:
J.A. Caldwell, 1879, Wheeling, W. VA.


ST. JOHN'S CHURCH (EPISCOPAL)

This is one of the oldest churches in the county.  It was founded by the celebrated Dr. Doddridge, and was the first church organized by him west of the mountains.  It has a history, could it be resurrected from the buried past, that would be highly interesting, as well as useful, to the cultured and appreciative mind of the present day, and also in future ages.  But the history of this venerable old church, as well as most of the other churches in this county, has not been preserved, and is now lost beyond recovery.

It seems to us there should have been regard enough for the memories of the forefathers of this land, who bore the heat and burden of the day of trial, planted the infant churches in this wilderness, and changed the forests into fuitful fields, to preserve the memory of their deeds and hand them down to posterity.  But such, it appears, is not the case.

We give what few items about old St. John's we can gather, after the most diligent research and inquiry.

This church was organized by Dr. Doddridge about 1793.  The first building was of logs.  It stood about a mile west of the present brick building about three miles east of Steubenville.  After a few years, the lost now used as a cemetery, and on which the present church stands, was procured, and a frame building put up, on the east side of the lot.  This frame was used until 1849, when the present comfortable brick house was built.

From the memoirs of Dr. Doddridge, prepared by his daughter, Mis Narcissa Doddridge, for a new edition of his "Notes;" we are told:

"This parish continued under charge of its present pastor, for nearly thirty years, when declining health compelled him to sever a relation around which clustered many endearing and fondly cherished associations of his youthful and maturer years."

From the same, we learn the following were the names of the subscribers in this parish in the year 1800.

George Atkinson, Absalom Wells, Archibald Ellson, John Davis, Charles McKey, Charles Elliot, William Atkinson, John Strong, George Swearingen, William Davis, Richard Wells, asel Owings, Andrew Maneally, Thomas Nicholson, John Myers, John Foster, Abel Johnson, William Baxter, James White, George Wells, George Mahon, Simon Elliot, jr., Simon Elliot, Daniel Swearingen, Anthony Wilcoxen, Andrew Morehead, Alex. Morrow, George Elliot, William Lowther, William Adams, James Britt, John Crawford, John Ellson, Peter Hay, George Richardson, Andrew Lockey, Hugh Lingen, John Hendricks, Richard T. Ellson, Israel Swearingen, Richard Ellson, Thomas Crawford, Jame Morrow.

From the examination of the monuments in the cemetery, we learn that the first interment was that of Elias Barney, who died September 11, 1805, in the 16th year of his age.  The next monument is in memory of Asexander Morrow and Susan Morrow, 1808.

The old frame church has disappeared, and left no memorial or record behind to tell its history.  The new brick building has inscribed upon the front,  "Built in 1849".