Finding aid for the Alexander Presbyterian Church Collection

History of Alexander Presbyterian Church

Due to the lack of official records, the beginnings of the Presbyterian Church in Alexander Township are vague. A few lines from records kept by the Athens Presbyterian Church points to the late 1820s as the probable years for the origination of the first Presbyterian in Alexander Township. The first pastor was thought to be Reverend Ebenezar Hebard, who came to Ohio in the early 1820s as a missionary sent by the American Home Missionary Society. In the Spring of 1832, Rev. Hebard, who led a fairly conservative congregation, welcomed Rev. John Morgan, a Cumberland Presbyterian Evangelist, to preach in Alexander. Resulting from Rev. Morgan's visit, many people favored Cumberland Presbyterianism. Jacob Lindley, assisted by a Cumberland missionary, conducted a highly successful camp meeting to inform people more about Cumberland Presbyterianism. By October 17, 1832, Rev. Lindley (formerly the head of Ohio University) was appointed fist pastor of the Alexander Cumberland Presbyterian Church (credited with being First Cumberland Presbyterian congregation in Ohio and the records effectively start in 1880). The Alexander Cumberland Presbyterian Church became a mother to two young congregations in the early 1880s. The Albany Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized in 1880, followed, in 1884, by the organization of a Cumberland congregation in Waterloo Township, Wingett Chapel. These actions reduced the membership rolls of Alexander Church considerably; however, in 1925, the three congregations were reunited. In the 1950s, the church was growing in numbers and activities. To handle this growth, new bylaws were adopted and new committees formed. Finally, since 1975, the Alexander Congregation now serves God in a growing rural-suburban area and deals with the problems of a transient community.

Scope and Content

This collection has been arranged into four series. The first series includes the session records, records, and Board of Deacon material. These official record books contain minutes of session, register of infant baptisms, register of death, register of elders, register of communicants, and statistical reports to the presbytery. The second series contains record books of Sunday School, Bible School, Ladies Auxiliary and Young Adult Classes. The Sunday School records include an explanation of what was taught that Sunday, a list of who attended, number of teachers and the amount of money collected. The Bible School records contain a treasury's report, a report of each class meeting, what time the class began, who was presiding, the hymn, prayer, devotional reading, golden text, description of what will be taught in the primary, intermediate, and adult classes, officers and teachers present, total number present, amount of offerings, announcements and the secretary report. In the Ladies Auxiliary, records were the songs sung at the meetings, money collected, fund raising dinners, suggestions about what they were going to do for the church, and an attendance chart on the last page. The Young Adult Class records include a list of officers, treasury report, mailing list, hostess of the programs, and a description of what went on at each young adult social meeting. The third series contains Journals of the Treasurer and the Wingett Chapel Financial Records. The journals includes information on receipts and disbursements, expenditures, old cemetery fund, rent from the Manse, church attendance, special accounts, deacon fund, Mrs. Ruth B. Hines account, and the Raymond Webb Memorial Fund. The Wingett Chapel Financial Records deal with money for the minister's salary, incidentals, Presbyterian dues, ministerial fund, and four different boards of the church. Finally, the fourth series contains a History of Ohio's First Cumberland Church, the Constitution of Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and Bible Songs.

Statement of Arrangement

Subject Terms

The following terms have been used to describe this collection.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

Researchers are requested to cite collection name, collection number, and Ohio University, Athens, Ohio in all footnotes and bibliographical references.