HISTORY
of the
Western Union Baptist
Association
OF OHIO
By CHA5. D. SWAYNE
Robert W. Woodruff
Library
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Special Collections & Archives
Charles D. Swayne.
ST. JOH.\ BAPTIST CHURCH, SPRIXSFIELD, OHIO.
Rev. N. Alexander, Pastor.
HISTORY
OF THE
WESTERN UNION BAPTIST
ASSOCIATION
of Ohio
By
CHA5. D. 5WAYNL
With Introduction by
PROF. E. W. B. CURRY
The Informer Fublichiag Compimy
Urban*, Ohio
O the brethren who hold in rever¬
ence the memory of those pious
old fathers who were the pioneers
of a worthy cause, with some of
whom we were intimately and
lovingly associated, is this little work dedi¬
cated. C. D. S.
ill
Jlttfar*
In preparing this little work under the direction,
and by the authority given by the Western Union
Baptist Association of Ohio (1899, page 18), the
writer found it was no small task to secure the neces¬
sary data with which to begin the work, notwith¬
standing much had been gathered previous to the
final action taken by the association; it having been
a cherished object of the writer to prepare such a
work, and the search for the necessary material was
begun no less than twenty years ago. In present¬
ing this work to the public, or at least those who
may be interested, we do so, recognizing the fact
that it is not a complete history, as much of the
material necessary—and no doubt very valuable
parts—are lost beyond recovery. However, much is
left us, by which we are able to determine to some
extent the motives of those who conceived the organ¬
ization and were the moving and controlling spirits
in its infancy. D. S.
v
Jntrobuctimt
a
The History of the Western Union Baptist Asso¬
ciation of Ohio is a record of an earnest endeavor on
the part of a large family of regenerated persons,
baptized on a profession of faith in Christ, laboring
to establish His Kingdom in the hearts of men, wo¬
men and children.
The glorious work of our fore-fathers in breaking
the bread of Life to the thousands of Negroes in
central and western Ohio is honored and revered by
their sons and daughters who now, as the fruits of
their labor, worship the God of our Fathers in beau¬
tiful and costly edifices amid the sweet music of our
choirs, teach the Word in Bible schools, support
Home and Foreign Missions, and, institutions for
Christian and Industrial education thus lifting the
masses as we climb.
Their task, they did well. The names of Shelton,
Fox, Fossett, Meek, Powell, Bowles and Poindexter
will be loved as long as there are hearts to revere
the struggles of God sent men.
Living with us today we have the last of the old
pioneers, Fathers Wm. Balay and Wm. Allen. They
stand as connecting links between the faithful Fath¬
ers of the past and their sons on the walls today.
The days of these two dear ones are few at the longest
and let it be our pleasure to crowd into their lives
all the happiness and sunshine possible while they
are with us such as they deserve.
Some thirty years ago a layman with a pure heart,
intelligent head and hand given to the use of a pen
became the choice of the Association for Clerk. He
VII
faithfully served in this capacity from 1879 to 1895
with marked success. He was born of the Baptist
faith and is today a most able defender of the dis¬
tinctive principles for which this church stands. He
is the product of the High Schools of his city and has
held for thirty odd years a position as clerk in the
Post Office.
He is the head of an interesting family composed
of a wife, two sons and a daughter. The children
have already brought honor to the home of their
parents. Charles, Jr., is an accomplished violinist;
Helen is a first-class dress-maker and musician; Rus¬
sell is now a student in the Dental department of
Howard University, Washington, D. C.
The great man of whom I write is Charles D.
Swayne, Springfield, O., who was selected by the
Association as our Historian.
We who have had some experience in literary
work can appreciate the ardous task that he has
completed and the opulent contribution that he has
made to our organization. After years of research
going through thousands of pages of not well kept
records he has brought to us a most valuable piece
of literature, the first of its kind.
Charles D. Swayne is in every sense a true his¬
torian. He deals with facts as all records will show
and -when opinion is necessary he expresses his hon¬
est convictions without fear or favor.
He associated for years with the Fathers of this
great body; sat at the desk and penned their sayings,
listened to their teachings and drank into his noble
soul those principles propounded by our fallen but
never to be forgotten heroes. He today is a living
expression of their hopes realized in consecrated
Christian manhood. To be other than this he would
not be our Charles D. Swayne.
I honor him for the uncommon loyalty that he has
always maintained for his church. He has a voice
to advocate, a heart and pocket book to support any
enterprise that has for its mission the betterment of
VIII
humanity. On the other hand he will fight like a
Trojan any scheme which is questionable in its opera¬
tion. He is a true and staunch friend to right and a
bitter and deadly enemy to wrong.
I appreciated the honor conferred upon me, the
preparing of this introduction.
May this volume go forth to accomplish a great
mission by relating to those who may chance to
read the true acts, aims and purposes of the W. U.
B. A. of Ohio, one of the most honorable bodies of
Christian workers in the vineyard of the Master.
I, as a believer in One Lord, One Faith and One
Baptism, have the honor to subscribe,
Yours for humanity,
E. W. B. CURRY.
IX
IN DfLX
History^ IS
Education . 22
Curry School 30
Missions 35
State and National Idea 38
Denominational Paper * 40
Sunday Schools 43
Instrumental Music 45
Camp Meetings 48
Shelton Homestead 49
Division of the Association 53
Western Union 60
Ministerial Convention 71
Home for Aged and Infirm Ministers 82
Money Raised
Membership Statistics 85
Moderators and Clerks 88
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
13
fjffstnrg
a
Too little thought is given in many instances to
the preservation of written or printed records that
deal with the movements of organized bodies or that
detail the progress of the same so that posterity may
have the benefit of such knowledge concerning the
organic life as will enable them to determine just
how well they have succeeded in accomplishing the
objects for which they were designed, and before
there is scarcely time to realize the folly of such in¬
difference the years pass rapidly and the records are
lost or in some manner destroyed; those who are
intimately connected with, and those who were the
primal factors in the movement pass away, and thus
it is that much that serves to make history gets
beyond our power to recall. To a certain extent is
this true with reference to the earliest records of
this association. Little can be obtained, written or
printed, and those who knew the story best have
passed to the great beyond. We can be thankful,
however, for what is left to us, for such as it is en¬
ables us to approximate the time when the organiza¬
tion began and to know its prime movers and most
aggressive leaders. As near as we can fix the time
of the beginning of the Union Anti-Slavery Baptist
Association is the year 1840, the month and exact
date is unknown^ but probably the last week in Au¬
gust or first week in September, as the records we
have usually refer to the Annual meetings as being
held at this time.
Through the kindness of Rev. H. C. Randolph,
pastor of the church at Chillicothe, Ohio, we were
allowed to peruse the pages of an old record book
of that ehurch. In it we found recorded an action
14
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
taken bearing upon its relation to this association.
The first important mention is made in a resolution
offered to appoint messengers to represent this church
(Chillicothe) in a colored convention that would meet
with the Brush Creek Baptist Church near Fincastle,
Brown County, Ohio. The date of this meeting to
which the messengers were appointed was August
16, 1839, and evidently was a part of the beginning
of a concerted movement among the few churches
then established to unite their forces for better and
more aggressive work. That the meeting of this
convention at Fincastle, Ohio, was the initial meet¬
ing of the organization, seems evident; because the
church at Chillicothe for the second time, on Au¬
gust 19, 1840, elected messengers to represent it in
what, for the first time, was styled the Colored Bap¬
tist Association, which was to meet at Cincinnati,
Ohio, on Friday before the first Lord's day in Sep¬
tember, 1840. Our written record ends with this
information; but from reminiscences of the early
movements as detailed by brother John Redmond,
of Bloomingburg, Ohio, this meeting was not suc¬
cessful, and was adjourned to meet at Chillicothe,
Ohio, on a later date of the same year (1840). This
meeting was held, and as brother Redmond remem¬
bered it, was also a failure, so far as the perfection
of an organization was concerned. The movement,
whatever its basic principles were, seemed to have
been championed by the young but fearless and ag¬
gressive leader, the Rev. Wallace Shelton, of Cin¬
cinnati, Ohio, who, it appears, met with much oppo¬
sition ; I presume more because of the policy the
organization should adopt than because of the un-
desirability of the union of forces, or the power and
influence that might be exerted by such a union.
This second meeting, in 1840, was a pronounced
failure, and the brethren again adjourned to meet
in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1841. This meeting resulted,
as others before it; the opposition continuing strong
and fierce, led by such men as Elders Satchell, F.
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
15
Able, of Ohio, and J. Adams, of Louisville, Ky.
During the time that this meeting was being held
in Cincinnati a riot occurred, which had the tendency
to hasten the deliberations of the meeting to a close.
An adjournment was made to meet in Columbus at
about the same time in 1842.
From broken records and other testimony there is
every reason to believe that an organization was ef¬
fected, opposition seemed to have become quiet, eith¬
er because the most violent opposers had become con¬
verted, or for other reasons had remained away from
the meeting, in either case, the names of those men
who fought the movement so bitterly do not appear
among those given who were present as pastors and
represented the churches who were prominent and
composed the organization.
The names of those who appear in the records that
we have as most prominent, are Elders Wallace Shel-
ton, Samuel D. Fox, D. G. Lett, Robert Allen, J. Mar¬
tin, Samuel Jones, J. W. Hackley, and Licentiates, L.
B. Moss, N. Satterwhite, J. T. Ward and D. Mitchell.
There may have been and we presume there were,
others who were actively identified in this movement
from the beginning, but on account of the absence of
authentic records, we do not know them, or what part
they played, and so much of your history will never
be clear, we reget this very much, for we would glad¬
ly give all credit and do injustice to none, if it was in
our power to do so. For many years within the rec¬
ollection of the writer who, (though young in years)
was intimately acquainted with the old fathers, many
of whom spent many days and nights under the roof
of our parents home, it was a mooted question as to
who was really the prime mover in the organization
of the churches into an association, and while the Rev.
Wallace Shelton was accorded the honor of being its
father, he having been the most prominent in the agi¬
tation leading up to the organization ; it was at the
same time considered a matter of fact that the Rev.
Samuel D. Fox, the only minister who at that time
16
History of W. U. B. A. of OMo
had an education worth the name, foresaw the great
necessity of a union among his people to elevate them,
and suggested the idea of organizing, which idea was
taken up by Shelton, and the two worked together,
planning and executing, Fox devising plans and shap¬
ing the policy, Shelton advocating and organizing. It
is not our purpose however to detract in any way
from the glory of the accredited, and recognized fa¬
ther, since the two worked so harmoniously and with¬
out the least jealousy, to lay a foundation upon which
succeeding generations might build, but to the truth
of history, as fair and impartial as the facts will war¬
rant, and without bias or injustice to any who may
be concerned.
Prior to the time of this organization there were
few Negro churches in the state of Ohio, and those
few were so widely scattered as to make it extremely
difficult for them to associate, and excepting a few of
them, the membership was too small and too poor to
warrant such an expenditure of money as would be re¬
quired to bring them together very often. The facil¬
ities for traveling were very limited, and accomoda¬
tions for traveling, Negroes so much more so, that
frequent gatherings were practically out of the ques¬
tion, therefore, in order to affiliate with any organized
body of Christians, at all, our brethren were compell¬
ed to connect themselves with the White Baptist
brethren and their associations, which many of them
did.
The Negroes who composed the membership of
these churches, in a majority were known as Free-
Born, while quite a number of them were persons who
had been liberated from slavery from time to time by
their masters, and those who by their own industry
and toil, had purchased their freedom, but, it mattered
not what the conditions were, there existed a bond of
fellowship, and the feeling of a common "brotherhood
prevailed, that suggested to them that their interests
would be materially advanced were they in an organi¬
zation to themselves and this feeling became the more
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH, SPRIIVGFIELD, O.
Rev. R. T. Frye, B. D., Pastor.
MRS. JULIA PORTER.
Instructor S. S. Teachers'
Training Class.
Mrs. H. E. Jackson.
Itev. Jas. l'oiiiilexter, D, D.
Prof. E. W. B. Curry.
Rev. J. M. Meek, D. D.
Rev. J. II. Meadows.
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
17
intense as the Negroes increased in numbers and in¬
telligence, for while the white brethren were dispos¬
ed to treat them kindly and accept them into their
churches and associations as members, they at the
same time maintained a rather cold and indifferent
attitude toward their spiritual and social advance¬
ment, and as time passed the relations became very
much strained and finally reached the point of em¬
barrassment.
The question of Human Slavery, its right to exist
or to be recognized as any part of the fabric of Chris¬
tianity > and the right of Christians to hold slaves, and
to traffic in human souls became a matter for serious
consideration, to the extent, that many churches and
members were divided, some advocating the right of
slavery, others denouncing it as an institution whose
principles were inimical to Christianity.
This matter of slavery was not only a basis for con¬
troversy between the white brethren and their
churches, but communicated itself to the colored bre¬
thren as well, many of whom were found not only to
be content with the conditions with which they were
surrounded, but also willing to apologize for those
who forced the conditions upon them.
There were those, however, who, smarting under
the degrading conditions, and the knowledge of the
wrongs being perpetrated against the Negro under
the guise of Christianity, felt that they could no long¬
er endure, much less submit to the infliction of these
wrongs and retain their self-respect and manhood, and
believing that God would raise up friends to aid them,
they determined to separate from any, white or black,
who would in any manner seek to hinder them from
obtaining Christian liberty and human freedom; and
set up a standard for God, which should be a living
protest against the unwise, and unholy conditions
then existing, and also in the language of one of our
honored fathers (Jas. Poindexter), "A true standard
of Godliness upon the mountain, that the rising gen¬
erations might look and live."
18
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
The number of churches in the organization can
only be determined by statements made by different
brethren, who were more closely related to the early
experiences, by association with the early leaders, and
who had heard the story often repeated, in after years
when referring to the rise and progress of the asso¬
ciation. The most reliable of which, seems to be that
of the Rev. James Poindexter, of Columbus, Ohio, giv¬
en in an address to the association which met in Har-
veysburg, Ohio, in 1868, found on page 6 of the min¬
utes of the association, which places the number at
four (4) and it is a matter of regret that no record can
be found that gives the names of the churches who
became the foundation stones in this great structure.
There seems to be little doubt however, that the
churches at Cincinnati (Zion) and Chillicothe, were
two of the number, as these churches were represent¬
ed by Shelton, Fox and Hackley; it is probable also,
that Beaver Creek church located at Carthagenia,
Mercer county, was one of the four, as Samuel Jones,
active with Shelton and Fox, lived there, and is nam¬
ed in the earliest records in our possession as its pas¬
tor. The fourth church we cannot definitely locate,
it may have been the church at Fincastle, Brown coun¬
ty, but we have nothing to offer in support of the idea,
saving the fact that one of the first meetings called for
the purpose of organizing an association was held
with this church. Until the year 1844 it seems evi¬
dent that no printed records were made, and these
were prepared by one A. E. Graham, the secretary,
but v/ere afterward rejected as spurious, being full of
errors and mis-representation (Minute 1845, page 9).
It would be very gratifying to us just at this time if
we could possess one of those minutes because of the
light we might receive, for there is little doubt but
what they contained the rules and regulations by
which the association was to be governed, and some
statement as to the general principles upon which the
organization was founded, this view is based upon the
fact that reference to the laws found in the minute of
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
19
1844, is made on several occasions in the minute of
1845, the most important of which is that covering the
action of the brethren to which we have referred in
the preceding pages, which caused the separation
from the whites, this reference is made to one of the
laws or a part of the constitution, touching slavery
and reads as follows: "That this body will not have
any correspondence, connection, alliance, or fellow¬
ship whatever, with churches, associations, conven¬
tions or ministers, who hold any connection with, or
apologize for slavery in any form." This reference is
very important as it shows the determination of the
brethren to go to the farthest extent, to exhibit their
hatred, and an uncompromising enmity to slavery
and everything connected with it. The situation call¬
ing forth such a vehement declaration must have been
a very trying one, and to some extent unique, the law
referred to, seems to have been submitted to the as¬
sociation by the Second church of Columbus through
her letter and advocated by her representatives in
1844, adopted by the association as a part of its law,
and in 1845, this same church was tried, and expelled
from membership in the association, for violating the
law which she had been active in having enacted, the
action of the brethren in expelling this church seemed
to be justified by what they considered "undisputed
testimony" as to the violation, to what extent* is not
mentioned, but the violation must have been quite
flagrant for the action which expelled, was followed
by a resolution to the effect, "That we recommend the
churches of this body to keep a watchful eye upon the
present pastors of the Union Baptist church, of Cin¬
cinnati, Ohio, (called the Baker Street church), and
the Second Baptist church, of Columbus, Ohio, and
debar them from their pulpits because they are injur¬
ious persons, seeking not your good, but your over¬
throw," (See minute 1845, Page 8). The session of
1845 seems to have been one entirely devoted to the
adoption of measures, by which a healthy moral senti¬
ment might be formed against slavery, and through
20
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Ohio
this means, eventually crushed, and the expulsion of
the two churches named, and the warning against the
pastors of these churches (names not given) was fol¬
lowed by an address to the churches as follows:
"Whereas about one hundred thousand of our Bap¬
tist brethren are held in bondage, subject to the lash,
to family separations, and the most cruel treatment,
and many of them are held in this condition by Bap¬
tists, and as we are a part of the Baptist denomination
and are liable to be reproached with them unless we
separate from those who are thus guilty, therefore
Resolved, 'That the ministers or churches who neg¬
lect to act and pray against slavery and slave holding,
neglect a very essential part of their Christian obliga¬
tion.' Resolved 'That we recommend the churches to
set apart the first day of January, A. D. 1846, as a day
of fasting and prayer unto God for the abolishment of
slavery throughout the world.' "
It is highly probable that the provisions of this
resolution were fittingly observed by the churches at
the time appointed, and that the same practice was
kept up for several years afterward, whether contin¬
uously or not, we are unable to say as the record is
broken between 1846 and 1848, but in 1849 a resolu¬
tion of like character was passed naming January first,
1850, as the day for fisting and prayer and again in
1851 for the same purpose. The strong belief that God
would answer their prayers has been well attested by
subsequent events, and is a fitting compliment to the
strength of their faith, and although the answer to
their petitions was delayed for many years, and many
of these old brethren died without the satisfaction 01
knowing the result, yet it is significant, that those
who were most prominent in the agitation against this
evil lived to see, and enjoy the day when Abraham
Lincoln with one sweep of the pen liberated four mil¬
lion of their brethren from the toils of the most cruel
and barbarous slavery that the world has ever known.
The issuing of the "Emancipation Proclamation"
was followed by a season of rejoicing among the bre-
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
21
thren, and as an expression of their joy the following
resolution was adopted at the meeting in New Rich¬
mond Ohio, in 1863 (minutes 1863, page 12) :
"Whereas. God in his divine wisdom through the
election of Abraham Lincoln, our modern Moses, has
brought about the weeped and prayed for period, the
abolition of slavery; that diabolical and gigantic sys¬
tem, which has ever been a curse, both to the church
of Jesus Christ, and the peaceful happiness of the na¬
tion, and whereas we do hail with joy the proclama¬
tion of liberty, proclaimed on the first day of January,
1863, which freed its millions. Glory to God on high,
peace on earth good will to man, slavery's throat is
cut." This resolution was followed by a recommen¬
dation that the brethren faithfully and promptly re¬
spond to the call of the government by enlisting in
the service for war, and that all of the churches cele¬
brate the first day of January annually as a day of
Thanksgiving to God for answering the prayers of his
people. While the destruction of slavery formed the
principal basis for union of effort, there were other
causes very serious in their nature that operated ef¬
fectively against the material, social and religious ad¬
vancement of our people, and as the years passed and
the brethren became more fully alive to the situation,
these causes and their remedy became sources of wor-
riment, not that the necessity for improvement along
all lines had not been recognized, for Shelton and Fox
had from the beginning, seen the great need of our
people, their absolute ignorance of letters, physical
and moral culture, and had contemplated a movement
for reform along these lines, so soon as the faithful
co-operation of their followers could be secured.
lEiutratimt
The condition of the people at thii time, in¬
tellectually and morally, is best described in the
words of S. D. Fox in his essay on the origin
of the Ministerial Institute found in the minutes
of 1879, Page : "The intellectual and moral stan¬
dard of our people was just what might be ex¬
pected, very low; coming as most of us did, out
of bondage at once, the most cruel, oppressive and de¬
grading that ever crushed and brutalized the energies
of any people; that system of American slavery, a
system which for fiend-like atrocity and diabolical
brutality, words are wanting to express, but we thank-
God, that although we were the victims of these bale¬
ful, malignant and corrupting influences, we were
emphatically a religious people." Again, speaking of
the status of the leaders, intellectually, this same writ¬
er (Fox) says: "Of these dear and devout Christian
brethren except S. D. Fox (and his knowledge was
very defective) not one knew anything( except the
mere name of grammar), of the language in whiob
they were to speak to the people, while most of them
could not read well enough to line out a hymn or re¬
peat a text without great blunders, and only two 01
three could barely scrawl their names on paper, and
some never did learn to read—even with a tolerable
degree of correctness—the blessed word of God, to
which they were so much devoted."
"With this low state of literature and brooding
darkness, was connected its usual concomitant, pred-
judice against education. Even the venerable father
of the association, although he did not oppose what
he conceived to be education, but was diligent in try¬
ing to learn to read his Bible, yet outside of this he
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
23
did oppose what he thought was pedantic rather than
Biblical education. One great difficulty now remain¬
ed to be overcome, towit: The deep predjudice against
education, which was the bar to the ministers accept¬
ance. Here again was the tug of war, but by ener¬
getic and persevering effort the great father of the
association was brought to acquiesce and come on
board of our frail little bark, and with him all that in¬
fluence which he justly deserved, and of which we
were truly proud."
It became apparent then under such conditions, no
doubt, that if there was to be any success these condi¬
tions must be reversed, steps were taken to bring
about a reformation, as soon as ways and means could
be devised, and it is plain to be seen, that on account
of the dense ignorance of those people, that little
might be expected in the way of elevating the present
generation, to that higher plane of intelligence which
would secure for them a more perfect enjoyment of
all rights and privileges usually guaranteed to a peo¬
ple who were intellectually capable of appreciating
them, so that the way of reversing the conditions lay
through a long and tedious, as well as an uncertain
course, and the hope for its success, if successful, must
be realized in the proper training of the young for the
generations to follow. The means for accomplishing
such results were not at all plentiful, for facilities for
the education of the young, especially Negroes were
scarce, and this fact added no little to the discourage¬
ment of the effort, but the brethren were determined
to take advantage of what few were offered, and trust
in God for more. The lines along which they pro¬
posed to work were decided upon in 1849 and were
proposed by brother J. D. Patterson in the following
Preamble and Resolutions, which were adopted:
"Whereas. Education, physically, intellectually, mor¬
ally and religiously, are the great principles for which
we are associated to extend to the utmost of our abil¬
ity, and Whereas, Our children, to a great extent, are
in the depths of ignorance. Therefore, Resolved. That
24
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
we the Anti-Slavery Baptist Association recommend
to the members that compose this body, to be vigi¬
lant in forming district schools in their various loca¬
tions, if they have the number of children required by
the law passed in 1848 by the legislature of the state
of Ohio. Resolved, That we regard education as the
greatest means by which we as a people, must be ele¬
vated to the enjoyment of all the rights and privileges
which are guaranteed to our white friends; and to
neglect this duty which we owe to God and our chil¬
dren, would be a violation of the laws of God."
Perhaps it would be well to state for the benefit of
the younger people, who may chance to read this his¬
tory, that the law as passed by the legislature of Ohio
in 1848 to which reference is made in these resolu¬
tions, and which the brethren desired to take advan¬
tage of related principally to the education of Negroes,
and may be found in Swan and Critchfield's reports
of Ohio laws, page 1357* section 31, and reads as fol¬
lows : "The township boards of education in this state,
in their respective townships, and the several other
boards of education and the trustees, visitors and di¬
rectors of schools or other officers having authority
in the premises of each city or incorporated village
shall be and they are hereby authorized and required
to establish within their respective jurisdictions one
or more separate schools for colored children when
the whole number by enumeration exceeds thirty (30)
so as to afford them as far as practicable under all
circumstances the advantages and privileges of a
common school education, and all such schools so es¬
tablished for colored children shall be under the con¬
trol and management of the board of education, but in
case the average number of colored children in at¬
tendance shall be less than fifteen (15) for any one
month, it shall be the duty of the trustees to discon¬
tinue said school or schools for any period not exceed¬
ing six (6) months at one time, etc."
This enactment of 1848, was followed later on by
another in a modified form, giving the boards of edu-
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
25
cation discretionary power, and reads as follows:
"When in the judgment of the board, it will be for the
advantage of the districts to do so, it may organize
separate schools for colored children and boards of
two or more adjoining districts may unite in a sep¬
arate school for colored children, each board to bear
its proportionate share of the expense of such school,
according to the number of colored children from each
district in the school which shall be under the control
of the board of education of the district in which the
school house is situate." This section of the law giv¬
ing school boards the power to establish and main¬
tain separate schools for colored youth, with all oth¬
er black laws upon the statutes of Ohio, was repealed
under the provisions of the Arnett Bill, introduced by
the Rev. Benj. W. Arnett, a colored man, and a mem¬
ber of the general assembly from Greene county in
1887. The Rev. Mr. Arnett afterward became an hon¬
ored Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal
church, but has now passed to his reward. We do
not know just what action was taken by the associa¬
tion looking toward the execution of any plans to car¬
ry out this advice, or whether the resolutions were the
result of some plan that had previously been consid¬
ered, as the record gives no light, but in the minutes
of 1852, page 3, among the items, proposed by the
committee who had been appointed to draught an or¬
der of business, is one numbered 8 which proposes to
hear the report of the committee on the "Institution
of learning/' when this matter of erecting a school, or
the purchase of land for school purposes was first con¬
sidered and this committee appointed is not stated, it
must have been done at sometime between the years
1849 and I^52, either by action of the association or
appointment by the officers, in either case, the matter
was not recorded by the clerk. It is a fact, however,
that under consideration of item 8 as referred to
above the committee reported having done nothing
satisfactory and asked to be continued another year,
the request was granted and Rev. I. Redmond was
26
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Ohio
added to the committee, which now stood as follows:
Jno. R. Bowles, J. M. Meek, James Poindexter, G. W.
Bryant and I. Redmond.
At this same meeting Rev. Wallace Shelton was
elected as treasurer to receive money or donations to
purchase land for the association to be used for school
purposes (see minute 1852, page 6). It may be re¬
garded as certain that our brethren were alive to the
needs of the people from an educational point of view,
and were determined, if possible, to pave the way for
better conditions. They were not to realize the hope
of their ambition so soon as expected, however, for
their appeals did not meet with that hearty and gen¬
erous response so necessary to the accomplishment of
such high ideals, and it may be said to the shame of
the Baptists of the state of Ohio, that to this day, their
duty in this respect has not been performed.
It is due to the fathers at least, to say that their in¬
tentions were entirely founded in good faith and to
know that they persisted in this matter of buying land
and building a school, from year to year, but failed to
arouse the proper interest, the committee finally
wearied of the undertaking in the manner proposed,
and the committee was discharged. Undaunted by
this failure the matter was again taken up for consid¬
eration in 1865 by the adoption of the following reso¬
lutions :
Whereas, "In God's providence the time has fully
come when we should provide a place and the means
for the education of our children for the various posts
of usefulness and especially for the Baptist ministry.
Therefore be it resolved
"First, That this association appoint five of our
brethren to take into consideration the propriety of
calling a convention at an early date to take some
steps to inaugurate such enterprise.
"Second, That this committee be empowered to fix
the time and place for this convention sometime in
the month of October next, and issue a call to all who
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
27
are friendly to the enterprise, through the American
Baptist and such other papers as are read by our peo¬
ple.
The former committee was re-appointed with the
addition of brother John McSimpson, of Zanesville,
Ohio. In 1866 this committee (page 14) made report
as follows: "We, your committee after consultation
did not think it best to call a convention of the
churches, but we do cordially recommend 'Albany En¬
terprise Academy' as a suitable place for the educa¬
tion of our children, and the institution above all oth¬
ers for us as Baptists to sustain, for the following
reasons: First, it is an institution already established
upon a firm basis, in a very suitable location and under
the supervision and control of the Baptists." Second,
"The board of trustees have unanimously passed a
resolution inviting this association to establish in con¬
nection with this academy a Theological Department."
This report was accepted, with the invitation of the
trustees of the Academy, and a board of fifteen mem¬
bers to manage and control the funds necessary to
sustain the department of theology, and appoint the
professor, was appointed, the board was selected as
follows:
President, Wallace Shelton, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Secretary, John R. Bowles, Lee, Ohio.
Treasurer, John T. Ward, Columbus, Ohio.
Jesse M. Meek, Chillicothe, Ohio.
G. W. Bryant, Xenia, Ohio.
These five constituted the executive committee, the
other members of the committee were:
H. Williams, Petersburg, Va.; T. P. Childs (white),
Troy Ohio; L. A. Grimes, Boston, Mass.; T. D. Mill¬
er, Philadelphia, Pa.; D. W. Anderson, St. Louis, Mo.;
R. Da Baptiste, Chicago, 111.; J. Gooden, Columbus,
Ohio; I. N. Carmen (white), Marietta, Ohio; H.
Adams, Louisville, Ky.; Jared Morris, Athens, Ohio.
With this cheerful prospect of realizing in part at
least th>eir ambition, an effort to arouse an interest
among the churches and others to the support of this
28
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
institution was made, but does not appear to have been
more successful than others before it. The churches
were urged to take shares of stock, also collections,
individuals were urged to do the same, but as the work
was finally abandoned, it may be inferred that the in¬
terest taken was not sufficient to justify a continu¬
ance. This Academy however was a private enter¬
prise, in which the brethren had only a nominal in¬
terest, excepting such as had taken shares of stock,
its failure to exist cannot be attributed directly to this
association. It is our own belief that the people, too
recently removed from slavery, were not prepared to
fully realize its importance, either in intelligence or
financial means to support it, a few of them only had
reached this point to know the advantages of an in¬
stitution of learning, but they had not the means to
secure its permancy. The idea of securing some kind
of a school still lingered with the brethren, and in 1875
the committee on education advised that steps be tak¬
en to carry out the original idea of the association in
the establishment of an institution of learning. J. M.
Meek and John R. Blackbrun were appointed to con¬
fer with the Eastern Union A. S. Baptist Association
(at this time the association had divided, as will be
seen later on). Wallace Shelton, S. D. Fox and J. M.
Meek to select a central site, and Wallace Shelton to
solicit funds. In 1876 the committee appointed to se¬
lect a site reported a proposition received from Mr.
James Mercer Clayton, of Springfield, Ohio, in which
he would donate four (4) acres of his farm, located
four miles southeast of Springfield, on condition that
the school be located there, and the committee advis¬
ed its acceptance, the matter was taken under advise¬
ment by the association, and a plan to secure the in¬
stitution was considered, an executive committee of
ten (10) was appointed to take charge of the work and
perfect plans, this committee consisted of Jno. R.
Blackburn, S. D. Fox, G. W. Collins, I. M. Troy W.
H. Harris, P. F. Fossette, H. Rockhold, S. Troy' Tr.
R. Herod and J. M. Meek. Rev. W. Shelton was made
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Ohio 29
agent in chief, he conferred with the Eastern Union
Association and reported them as willing to join in the
movement, and do what they could to make it a suc¬
cess. With these assurances even, little headway was
gained, the board reported in 1877 (page 13), "Where¬
as nothing has been accomplished toward the erection
of our school although two years have been spent in
fruitless effort, whose failure is due to mis-direction,
the responsibility and jurisdiction being too widely
scattered, and believing that more can be accomplish¬
ed by allowing our representatives in the executive
board the exercise of greater privileges and larger
powers. Therefore resolved. First, "That all the leg¬
islative and executive powers of this body in the said
institution be vested in our ten members of the said
executive committee, to whom full and plenary pow¬
er, and authority is hereby granted to select a site,
adopt plans, accept terms, and do whatever may be
necessary to set in operation a school as contemplat¬
ed. The association reserves the right to approve
such action of the executive committee annually by
re-electing them, or disapprove by the election of oth¬
ers, provided that no action of the executive commit¬
tee shall bind or obligate the association or the
churches composing it, in a pecuniary sense." Sec¬
ond, "Whenever directors shall be appointed for the
proposed institute, members of the executive com¬
mittee shall be so numbered and accounted, provided
the association shall raise and pay into the treasury of
the said institution for each a certain sum, which may
be adopted as entitling others to directorship there¬
in."
This report with recommendations was adopted,
and it is remarkably strange that following this ac¬
tion, the committee on education submitted the fol¬
lowing report which was also agreed to: "Being alive
to the great importance of education, and having ob¬
served the damaging effects of ignorance, we conclude
that further delay in the establishment of an institute
would be terribly disastrous to those united with us
30
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Ohio
in word and doctrine. We hold that the age and prog¬
ress of our people demand immediate action, and that
in order to secure the needed help we advise the estab¬
lishment of a school as a nucleus, around which we
may gather our scattered energies, and then planting
our feet side by side, march in solid phalanx, with
steady step, and firm tread, to victory. While we feel
that in the course of time it will be necessary to pro¬
vide accomodations for the furtherance of the object
in view, our common sense impels us to acknowledge
the present demand for brain force. We therefore
suggest, That the town of Yellow Springs, Ohio, be
selected as the most suitable locality for the establish¬
ment of said school and that the executive committee
be empowered to make arrangements for the prosecu¬
tion of this end."
The wisdom of the action in revoking the power
just granted the executive board of ten by the associ¬
ation, so far as it relates to the selection of a site is
not apparent, since there seems to have been no prop¬
ositions or inducements offered by anyone to have the
school located at Yellow Springs, and the conclusions
set forth in the report, referring to the necessity for a
school, etc., offers nothing new upon the subject, that
had failed of consideration before.
With this action, the effort to establish a school
ceased for a time, the brethren either could not, or
would not, concentrate their forces, the last and per¬
haps what will be the final effort to have a school came
seventeen years later when in 1894 the "Curry School"
located at Delaware, Ohio, and managed by E. W. B.
Curry was brought to their attention, and a commit¬
tee of three (3), H. D. Prowd, D. D., J. M. Meek, D.
D., and Chas. D. Swayne were appointed to visit said
school and ascertain its conditions and to report as to
what extent this association might contribute to its
success. This committee reported the following year,
towit: "We visited the school taught by Brother Cur¬
ry at Delaware, Ohio, May 21, 1895, found Brother
Curry and eleven pupils, one male and ten females.
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
31
We found no property or anything that could bind us
or encourage us to take hold of it more than an earn¬
est brother striving to do all that is possible for him,
to inform those whom he had or could secure, and we
saw nothing to hinder us from commending his work
to the churches of this association." The acceptance
of this report was followed by the appointment of a
board of trustees, to act with a like set of trustees,
appointed by the Eastern Union, and the Providence
Associations, the question of adopting the school hav¬
ing been presented to each of these associations, as well
as the Western Union. The board organized, and
the work of awakening an interest in behalf of the
school was found to be a very difficult one, the op¬
eration of the school did not meet the approval or ex¬
pectation of the board, and after much complaint, the
board decided to advise the association to withdraw
from any part of its management, and at the meeting
held in Van Wert, Ohio, 1897 (PaSe 21) the associa¬
tion decided to withdraw from the school in so far as
it related to having any part in its management. In this
matter as in others heretofore mentioned the records
connected with the movements of the leaders in such
matters reveal the same lack of business knowledge
and sagacity, perhaps it would be better to put it, a
lack of interest in the work entrusted to their hands.
For a search of the records of the churches over which
the majority of those who were appointed members
of the board of management, trustees, etc., presided,
does not show that those churches had been encour¬
aged as fully as they should have been, to assist in
making the school a success, and it is very plain to
the intelligent one, that no project could be success¬
ful with men managing its affairs who are too ignor¬
ant to understand the nature of their relation to it,
or too indifferent to give it their best service and the
extreme benefit of their influence in the particular
field where this influence should be the strongest.
There does not appear at anytime in the history of
this association or the Baptists of Ohio an opportun-
32
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
ity so fraught with the possibilities of success m rea¬
lizing the ambition of years for an institution of learn¬
ing, as was here presented in the Curry school, and
the subsequent success of this school under the di¬
rection of E. W. B. Curry, this determined and as yet
undaunted champion of Negro education, who has
been the main spring, single handed and alone, who
is still fighting for the life of his pet ambition, does
well attest the fact, that ten thousand or more inter¬
ested people throwing their strength and their influ¬
ence and money to it could have one of the best de¬
nominational schools in the land. But school are like
other institutions, they cannot be maintained by senti¬
ment alone, but require money, and until the brethren
decide to put in some money, it is useless to keep re¬
solving about an institution of learning.
However, it would seem to the thoughtless and un¬
observant, that the effort of this Association to estab¬
lish an institution of learning operated and controlled
by the Baptists of Ohio, was a dismal failure, but to
the careful and impartial student of events, the failure
is not without its mitigating features. The failure
to secure a school in Ohio, if contrasted with the suc¬
cess of Baptists in other states, more ^specially in the
south, who have in later years established and have
in operation many schools, may be partly accounted
for, by the difference in existing conditions, by which
the people of these sections are surrounded, and these
conditions may honestly be accredited as reasons for
what may appear to be a lack of concentration in Ohio.
In Ohio a few years after the abolishment of slavery,
the attitude of the whites toward the blacks became
much more friendly, and not only the public schools
but many of the colleges opened their doors for the
admission of colored students. These facts in connec¬
tion with the poor financial condition of the Negroes
operated largely to enhance and magnify the difficul¬
ty of establishing a separate institution of learning,
and may be safely considered a sure if not an abso¬
lute solution to the distressing problem.
THE CURRY INSTITUTE.
TJjVION BAPTIST CHURCH, ZANESVILIiE, «.
Rev. A. 31. Thomas, D. D., Pastor.
Zion Baptist Church, Xenia, O., Rev. J. J, Ross, D.D., Pastor
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
33
The failure to get an institution however has not
lessened the desire of the brethren to contend for a
higher educational standard and they have continued
to decry illiteracy, and to declare in favor of advance¬
ment along all lines, more especially in the pulpit, and
much of the work of this association has been directed
toward the securing and encouragement of an educat¬
ed ministry, if there is no visible sign of improvement,
it is not due to lack of interest in the matter, for from
the time of the origin of the ministerial institute in
1845 to the present day, the cry has been for an edu¬
cated ministry, and everything calculated to inspire
young men, who aspire to the ministry, to fully equip
themselves for the work has been done. Resolution
after resolution, expression upon the subject by com¬
mittees on education, have been made over and over,
the churches have been advised to license none to
preach who would not pursue the necessary course
to make them efficient, and courses of study, such as
would come within the reach of any who might be.
deprived of larger opportunities have been recom¬
mended, so that those in possession of the most ordi¬
nary attainments might be prepared to do the work
required of them more acceptably. The most import¬
ant of these resolutions was adopted in 1871 (page 7)
and serves to show the earnestness which character¬
ized the brethren with reference to Ministerial Cul¬
ture: "Whereas, The qualifications of the ministry as
recorded in the Sacred Scriptures, especially those of
the New Testatment, are far above those which ob¬
tain among us," and whereas, "The signs of the times,
the genius of the gospel, and the progress of the age,
imperatively demand a much higher degree of clerical
culture than that which generally prevails," therefore
resolved, "That we advise the churches composing
this association to license none to the Gospel minis¬
try, nor to commend any to the presbvtery for ordina¬
tion, who shall not possess the qualifications herein¬
after specified. First, "That the candidate be able to
read with a tolerable degree of correctness the sac-
34
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
red oracles, in his own vernacular tongue." Second,
"That he be required to possess some solid informa¬
tion of at least the elements of English grammar."
Third, "That he possess some accurate knowledge of
systematic Theology, with its grand divisions, sub¬
divisions, and the signification of the terms used," etc.
Fourth, "That in addition to the questions usually
asked, he be required to give a full and lucid explica¬
tion of the great doctrines of Justification, and Sanc-
tification, with their specific differences." Fifth, "That
we demand reasonable advancement in education, of
every ordained minister in our midst, and that our
approbation of him as a minister shall depend upon
his success, in making such advancements." Sixth,
"That we will provide for annual examinations to se¬
cure these ends."
While the lines laid down indicate a desire to ar¬
rive at the highest and best results, and did receive
the endorsement of everyone, who was interested in
the ultimate good of the churches, and the advance¬
ment of the cause of Christ, yet, many of the churches
have failed to follow the advice, and as a consequence
many men have been passed into the ministry, who
lacked the qualifications specified, and who have since
been the cause of much annoyance.
mtaaiona
a
The work of missions has claimed a large share of
attention, and naturally so from the fict that we are
a part of the great family of Missionary Baptists of
the world. The nature of the interest in missionary
effort at first was confined simply to the work of build¬
ing up the waste places in Ohio. To do this it was
the custom of the association to appoint annually one
or more elders to "ride the circuit." This was a fa¬
miliar expression), the purpose of which was to visit
the churches and hold meetings with them and in out
of the way places where no churches were established,
and the people were found in sufficient numbers to
justify, they would hold meetings and endeavor to
plant churches. This custom or method of operation
was kept up for many years, and proved a source of
much valuable encouragement to the work of church
extension, as well as pleasure to the people who were
too far from the centers of population to enjoy the
benefit of frequent gatherings and religious meetings.
The reports made annually to the association by these
missionaries included in a brief way the history of
their work for the year and were quite full of interest,
showing as they did, the number of miles traveled,
meetings held, sermons preached, communions admin¬
istered, persons baptized, sick visited, funerals at¬
tended, marriages solemnized, monev collected, etc.
And this work was attended with no little sacrifice
and hardship, for to perform it, the brethren appoint¬
ed were often kept away from home and their fam¬
ilies many months at a time, walking or riding as best
they could, over lonely and dangerous roads, with lit¬
tle or no hope of securing sufficient funds to provide
themselves or families with the necessities of life, only
36
History of W. U, B. A. of Ohio
a supreme faith in the word of God, and an abiding
confidence that He would provide the way and the
means.
It is very pleasing, however, to note the generous
treatment they received from the people whom they
visited, and a visit of the missionarv in those days
was looked upon as a heaven sent blessing and favor
of God, and was received with a great deal of joy and
rejoicing.
Rev. Samuel D. Fox was the first missionary ap¬
pointed, and began his work in 1843. He speaks in
part of his work and experiences as follows:
"In the year 1843, I was chosen bv the association
as its first missionary. It was while traveling through
the lonely wilderness of Ohio in search of our scat¬
tered and oppressed people, that my mind was fre¬
quently impressed with the sad and distressed condi¬
tion of our crude little churches, the work was a vast
one, our resources, humanly speaking were nothing;
driven from among our white brethren, ignorant of
the very elements of our great work, what were we
to do? We could only trust in the Lord for succor,
and look to the skies for help, utilizing all the means
within reach for our improvement, this, thank God
we did, nor did we trust in man." And after thirtv-
four years connection with the work, noting the rise
and progress of the association, this hero of the early
days, speaks of it after this manner: "Looking back
through the dim vista of more than a third of a cen¬
tury cf years, to the perilous times of the planting of
the little acorn of which the present majestic and tow¬
ering oak, with its thick boughs and lofty branches is
the product, remembering that notwithstanding it has
been rocked in storms and cradled in tempests, its
roots have only taken firmer hold, and it stands today
as the proud monarch of the forest, a sublime and
goodly tree."
What is said by Fox, relative to the privations, suf¬
ferings and ^ discouragements, in forwarding the work
of establishing life stations in the wilderness, may be
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
37
accepted as the experiences of the other of his co-la¬
borers in the work. Perhaps one report will give an
idea cf the work performed under such difficulties, as
traveling over mud roads, through forests, and on foot
most of the time. We select from the repot t of Rev.
Samuel Jones, (1849, page 5).: "Have traveled this
year 1864 miles, preached 286 sermons, held nine pro¬
tracted meetings in which 124 professed to be con¬
verted, baptized 67, preached 11 furneral sermons, and
received from eleven churches and private donations
$42.92; my expenses were $32.45; balance, $10.47."
Thus the reader will see that the balance of account
is a very small pittance from which to provide bread,
clothing or other necessities, the expenses incurred
were mainly on account of travel from church to
church.
The matter of enlarging the missionary efforts of
the association were considered from time to time, but
nothing definite was reached until later years and af¬
ter the association was divided. An account of which
will be considered later on in this work.
" Extension of $muer anb
SnfUmtt?"
THE STATE AND NATIONAL IDEA
01
It may be important to know that the brethren of
the early days of this association,even though their
limited success brought about by the most imperfect
of organizations, began to realize the great possibil¬
ities that might come to Baptists, not only through a
thorough organization of the churches and associa¬
tions in Ohio, but in other states also, until the entire
country should be organized, and a national body of
churches, conventions or associations be the result. It
is also quite possible that they were among the first,
if not the first association to suggest the idea of a
National Baptist Association. At any rate the fol¬
lowing may be accepted as an indication of their pur¬
pose to extend the power and influence of Baptists
through such an organization.
On page 14 of the minutes of 186S the idea is em¬
bodied in a resolution offered by Mr. John Booker, of
Columbus, Ohio, which was favorably considered, to-
wit: Resolved, "That this Association recommend
to the Colored Baptist churches and Associations in
the United States the propriety of calling a National
Baptist Association." Second, resolved "That a com¬
mittee of five (5) be appointed to correspond with the
leading colored Baptists and Associations iri the Uni¬
ted Spates with reference to this important movement,
and report at our next association." James Poindex-
ter, J. M. Meek, Jno. R. Bowles, Wallace Shelton and
John Booker were the committee named. Just how
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
39
far the work of the committee proceeded along the line
as indicated, we do not know, for no reference is made
to the matter afterward. However, if they did not
meet with sufficient encouragement to wan ant in a
continuance of effort, the idea no douM was taken up
by others and as a result, the Baptists have today the
largest and the best Negro Organization in the world,
known as the "National Baptist Convention of Amer¬
ica," and the state of Ohio is not without influence in
that body. This association was also influential in as¬
sisting to organize an association in Indiana, as will
be seen by the minute of 1855, page 5. Two churches,
Union and Zion of Indiana (location not given) were
granted letters of dismission from the Union Anti-
Slavery Association of Ohio., to form an association
in Indiana. The association also named Ravs. Sam¬
uel Jones, J. R. Bowles, J. Burton, G. W. Bryant and
Brother John T. Ward as a committee to represent
them and to assist in the formation of this organiza¬
tion in Indiana. The time of the organization was set
for the Thursday before the second Sunday in Aug¬
ust, 1856, and was accomplished as intended, so the
committee reported at the annual meeting in 1856
(page 6).
A Senommattonal flaper
m
The value of a paper or some medium through
which they might communicate the progress of the
churches and such other information as was neces¬
sary for the enlightment and the encouragement of the
people was recognized in 1868, when the first efforts
to secure one was made. After some formal discus¬
sion upon the subject the matter was placed in the
care of William Parham, J. T. Ward, S. D. Fox, J. M.
Meek and John Powell as a committe to formulate
plans. This committee reported as follows: "The
necessity for such a paper is more apparent at this
time than ever before. We therefore recommend this
association to take the necessary steps to establish
such an organ immediately after the following plan,
'The paper to be published in Cincinnati, Ohio. There
shall be an editor in chief and six associate editors
who rhall govern and manage the whole editorial de¬
partment. These seven editors to constitute the pub¬
lishing board, assisted by three members who shall
constitute a bureau of publication. This bureau shall
have the immediate oversight of the paper and its fi-
nancs, and attend to the agencies, distribution, pay¬
ment of debts, receipts, expenditures, etc. All agents
outside of the members of the board shall report to
the nearest member of the said board, or to the bureau
directly. The paper shall be self-sustaining, it shall
be issued promptly for one year, or until the meeting
of the next association and shall be devoted to the
Baptist cause in Ohio particularly, as well as to the
general welfare and elevation of our race. Each
church belonging to this association is requested to
appoint an agent who shall give as much of his time
and service as possible in behalf of the paper. The
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
41
paper shall be called the Christian Standard. We fur¬
ther recommend the following as the editorial board
and bureau of publication: Editor in chief, Elder W.
H. Parham, Cincinnati, Ohio; associate editois, Elders
Jas. Poindexter, Columbus; J. M. Meek, Circleville;
S. D. Fox, Williamsburg; J. R. Bowles, Albany; J.
McSimpson, Zanesville, and Brother Ed. C. Jackson,
Xeniu, For members of the bureau: Elders W. Shel-
ton and P. B. Ferguson and Brother Isaac Troy, o£
Cincinnati."
The success of the effort for the first yeai may be
judged from the report made by the board in 1869,
page 13, viz.: "The Editor in Chief reported that he
had run the paper amid many difficulties and at, a
great sacrifice, but he was not willing to stop it. He
had donated one year's service and was willing to do¬
nate another, rather than to allow the paptr to go
down. The debt for press work and paper now
amounts to fifty ($50.00) dollars." The members of
the association subscribed to the paper for this amount
and the following action was taken by the association:
"That the Christian Standard be continued anoth¬
er year, tc be published once a month, to be conduct¬
ed by the same board with the exception of Brother
Ed. C Jackson, of Xenia, and that Elder A. Binga, of
Albany, be elected to fill Brother Jackson's place, and
that we pledge ourselves to use our utmost endeavors
to support the paper by every possible means." "A
vote of thanks to the Editor in Chief and his asso¬
ciates for the faithful discharge of their duties, and in
case the funds necessary to carry on the paper for the
year should fall short, Resolved "That this associa¬
tion at our next meeting shall make up such defic¬
iency."
What became of this paper is not known, as the
official record from that date contains no further ref¬
erence In 1885 the association endorsed as its offic¬
ial organ The Ohio Baptist Beacon, a paper edited
and published by the Rev. Wilton R. Boone, at
Springfield, Ohio. This paper failed to meet the need
42
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
and expectations of the association and went out of
business. In 1898 "The Informer," published by E.
W. B Curry, was indorsed by this association as the
official organ and remains so to date. This paper is
now published monthly at Urbana, Ohio, and is the
property of Prof. Curry, president of the Curiy School
of that place, who is editor, the work on the paper is
done by the students and is upon the whole a very
creditable sheet.
GDrganizatum of #unhay Brbnolg
In the year 1865 the work of the Sunday school
was taken under advisement, and steps taken to en¬
courage their organization and development. Upon
this subject, perhaps we can give the reader no bet¬
ter idea of the Sunday school and its importance as
it appeared to the brethren in that day, than is sug¬
gested in a history of the "Western Union Sunday
School Convention," printed in the record of that or¬
ganization and read by the writer of this little work
at the annual meeting held in Lebanon, Ohio, in July,
i897:
"The first real sign of an agressive interest in this
work showed itself in the appointment of a commit¬
tee (in 1871, page 6) to 'encourage and organize Sun¬
day schools.' Prior to 1872 there was no form of or¬
ganization for Sunday schools in the Union Anti-
Slavery Association, except a few individual schools
scattered here and there, 24 in number, all that had
up to that time made any attempt to report, showing
98 officers and teachers, and 938 pupils. Mo^e schools
were known to exist, but little attention was given to
such matters, our brethren at that time did not ap¬
pear to have a very enlarged idea of the scope and
importance of the Sunday school, and so this work
was allowed to drag itself along until 1872, when more
advanced minds began to mingle and take an active
part in the management of affairs."
In this connection it is justly due our brethren to
state that they were not entirely ignorant of the val¬
ue of the school and its influence for good to the
churches, as the enrollment for 24 schools shows
some activity in organizing them in the different
churches, but the larger benefits derived from an or-
44
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Ohio
ganization of the schools into one large body for a
more thorough and effective campaign seemed to es¬
cape their minds until near the date just mentioned
(1872. The wisdom of that movement has been dem¬
onstrated in the larger achievements now recognized
in the work of the Western Union Sunday School
Convention.
Jnatrmtmrtal iftuaic
Instrumental music in the worship of God was not
regarded with favor by our older brethren, indeed its
introduction by some of the churches was resented as
an innovation calculated to degrade and to do intense
injury rather than to elevate the character of divine
worship, and in 1868 (page 10) the feelings of the
brethren upon this subject were expressed in the in¬
troduction and adoption of a resolution as follows:
"Whereas, The use of instrumental music in religious
worship is anti-Christian," resolved, "That we recom¬
mend the churches of this association to discourage
its introduction in religious service." The sincerity
of the brethren in this matter is beyond doubt, and in
the present day and generation, surrounded as we are
by an abundance of light, such an attitude would
seem strange to those not otherwise informed, and
would be attributed solely to their ignorance, a very
charitable view at that, but they were not alone in
their ignorance, especially as it applied to their hos¬
tility to instrumental music in worshio, for the same
feeling was shared by many white Christians, and
there are yet today some denominations who discour¬
age this same phase of religious worship. Our breth¬
ren were not only hostile to instrumental music in the
churches, but many other things which they believed
to be inimical to Christianity, such as church fairs,
secret societies, camp meetings for financial gain,
Sunday excursions, etc. In 1848 (page 5) a commit¬
tee to whom was referred the question of propriety,
in church members joining an order known as the
"Sons of Temperance," decided that "It is not gospel
order for members of a regular Baptist church to join
the order of the Sons of Temperance. First, "Because
46
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
we say the word of God is the only infallible rule of
faith and practice and it nowhere enjoins it." Sec¬
ond, "It is contrary to the gospel, because its whole
spirit is against Christians forming alliances or amal¬
gamating with the world, 'be not unequally joked to-
gethei with the world.' " Third, "It is contrary to
the gospel because it is calculated to draw Christian
influence from the church and cause it to shine
through a human institution, when God hath said,
the 'light must shine out of Zion.' " Fourth, "It is
contrary, because it is calculated to weaken the
church and ministry, by drawing away and causing
the means which God has put into the hands of his
children for the support of his cause, to flow in an
unauthorized channel." Fifth, "It is contrary to the
gospel because it is the duty of the church to cover
all the ground occupied by those institutions, in this,
the church has neglected her duty, for the church is
a temperance society, peace society, anti-slavery so¬
ciety and a society opposed to all distinction on ac¬
count of the color of the skin." Sixth, "It is contrary
to the gospel for Christians to unite with secret oath-
bound and pledged societies; because history shows
that they have been set up to rule the church and
usurp her prerogatives; for they often claim to be
superior to the church."
With this opinion, as expressed by the committee,
forecasting the mission and power of secret societies,
the churches, many of them, seemed to be in accord
and refused to retain as members thos^ who persist¬
ed in uniting with them. To what extent their judg¬
ment was at fault upon the question is a matter in
dispute, even now, but in view of the uncertain po¬
sition of the church in the minds of the people of to¬
day, and this feeling of uncertainty mainly in favor
of the society as against the church, it does not seem
remote from the truth, so say, that their opposition
was well established and that their ideas concerning
the power of societies to divide honor with the church
were very clear. "Church Fairs" were severely con-
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio 47
demned as subversive of the good order and purposes
of the church. In 1850 an address was ordered to be
sent to the churches on the "Demoralizing effects of
Fairs on the Christian Church." This address was
prepared by the Rev. S. D. Fox, and every- phase of
the question was subjected to an intelligent and ela¬
borate discussion, free from any bitter or biased feel¬
ing, saving that justified as he saw it. by the scrip¬
tures, to condemn sin wherever seen and in whatever
form, the argument was conservative in tone, very
scholarly and convincing. This address is too lengthy
however to be included here, but after summing up
the evils arising from church festivals and fairs and
comparing the state of the church at that time with
the church as it was before these fairs came into use,
his conclusions were: "The church was constituted
and existed many ages and that too, prosperously
without them; and this is proof positive that they are
not essential, not to say anything about their surrep¬
titious and meretricious character. In my humble
opinion never will the river of the water of life run
pure, copious and irresistible—extending universal life
and vigor in its course, until this great evil is swept
away, and the gospel is again preached in its native
and unadorned simplicity, and original pristine pur¬
ity."
(ttmitp iHppttnga
Attb lExritrsums.
These also were features that crept into the church
life and became disturbing elements, action against
which will be spoken of later on.
FOX MONUMENT, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.
(Dedication Day.)
ZIOIVT BAPTIST CHURCH, DAVTON, OHIO.
Rev. AV. O. Harper, D. D., Pastor.
As the churches advanced in intelligence., they be¬
gan to appreciate the loyalty, fidelity and the unsel¬
fish labors of the leaders, especially that of the fathe,
of the association, Rev. Shelton, to whom they fell
that they owed a debt of gratitude and as a testimon¬
ial of their esteem they thought to purchase and pre¬
sent to him a homestead. Presumably the movement
toward that object began in 1859, perhaps earlier, just
when we are not able to fix the date, as we have no
record of the association between* 1856 and i860, the
first mention of the matter that we have is in i860
(pags 6), when the committee on business reported
Item 8, "To hear the report of the agent on the 'Shel¬
ton Homestead." From the record it is learned that
Rev. Shelton was acting as agent by the appointment
of the association, a rather undesirable position for
one who had given his time so unselfishly., without
thought of reward, save that which he should receive
in the life to come, and this may account for the fact
that he had no report to make. The matter was car¬
ried over, however, and he continued as agent, which
no doubt proved an unwise move as nothing more
was done until 1865 (page 18) when under item 19,
the churches were advised to proceed with the pro¬
ject of securing this home and the following resolu¬
tion was adopted: "Whereas this Association ap¬
proved most heartily the benevolent design conceived
and adopted at a previous session of this Association
to present to our faithful old pioneer and father in the
gospel, Elder Shelton, with a homestead," therefore
resolved, "That we appoint a board of three (3) with
power to appoint one or more agents, whose business
shall be to raise money necessary to the attainment
of the object."
50
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Ohio
James Poindexter, J. T. Ward and John Booker
were appointed as this committee, very little was done
thereafter, and whatever action was taken;. was little
more than a repetition of steps as provided in the
above mentioned resolution, numerous pledges were
made., which, if they had been made in good faith,
were sufficient to have made the effort a success. An
indication of this fact may be cited here in evidence.
In 1872 (page 5) the committee on homestead affairs
reported: "We are in a fair way to make good our
promise to secure to Elder Shelton a home. His own
church (Zion of Cincinnati) has acted generously,
have pledged five hundred (500.00) dollars, and agreed
to allow him three-fourths of his time to look after
the matter. The two churches of Columbus have sub¬
scribed between four and five hundred dollars, and
other churches have evinced a liberal spirit, and we
believe will do as well." Relying upon what seemed
to be the evidences of success, the association issued
an appeal to the churches. After reciting the reasons
therefor and the progress made in the work, the claims
of Elder Shelton upon the affections of the associa¬
tion 2re urged in the accompanying language: "It is
hoped that the churches will have prayerfully consid¬
ered this matter and that they will respond at his com¬
ing with a liberality corresponding with the work our
beloved brother has performed, and the sacrifice he
has made for Christ during his nearly forty years of
ministerial labor. His work has been continuous and
laborious; and his success in bringing sinners to
Christ, signal. Perhaps there is no man in Ohio to
whom the Baptists are greater debtors than to Elder
Shelton; and no man has realized less on his labor in
a temporal way than he. So that bodily infirmity and
old age come apace, and financially, he is not prepar¬
ed to meet them. Now, those who are conversant
with the life of the man know this to be the result of
his not making gold, silver, apparel, houses and lands
his object, but the salvation of souls. Giving to sec¬
ular employment the attention he has devoted to the
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
51
ministry, would have made him comfortable in the
evening of life. Having devoted the strength of his
manhood in ministering to the spiritual wants of men,
would it not be a reproach to the denomination of
which he is a minister, not to suitably provide for the
temporal needs of his feeble and declining years? Are
not our brethren everywhere too magnanimous; do
they not love Christ too well to permit our brother's
great trust, which led him to remit all care for tem¬
poral supplies to God, to go without its reward?"
A penny system for raising such funds was adopt¬
ed and recommended to the churches. They were
advised to take collections annually, all to no purpose
however, as the object was never accomplished. We
have no knowledge of what amount of money was
collected by Rev. Shelton, as no report is found. It
is very likely the same indifference that had always
characterized him, so far as it related to his own tem¬
poral welfare, prohibited him from urging the matter
upon the churches, so that if at any time he received
money for that purpose, on his visits to the church,
it was offered him without solicitation and in such
small amounts as to be of little effect, and easily spent
in the expense of travel. Two hundred and thirty-
four ($234.00) dollars, of which sum twenty-live
($25.00) dollars was his personal subscription, was re¬
ported as collected for this purpose by the Rev. Wil¬
liam H. Stewart, of Anna, Ohio, missionary in 1879
(page 4) ; in 1881 (page 6) twenty-eight ($28.90) dol¬
lars and ninety cents was reported as the gift of nine
churches, making a total of two hundred and sixty-
two ($262.90) dollars and ninety cents in all. What¬
ever became of this money is unknown,it was never
applied to the purpose for which it was raised, at any
rate, and may have been returned to the donors.
Several sites for the location of the home were of¬
fered and considered, and one was offered as a dona¬
tion, but none were accepted, and so the home for
Shelton is as a dream. The causes for the failure of
this project are not entirely clear. It may have been
52
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
and probably was due more to the fact that Elder
Shelton and the board of trustees could not agree upon
a location, as Shelton desired to have the home in
Cincinnati, while the board felt that the undertaking
was too great on the account of the high value of land
in and around Cincinnati, and thus the matter was
closed. It may be well to state that the movement for
this homestead began with the association in its orig¬
inal organization, but was carried on by the two as¬
sociations, the Eastern Union and the Western Un¬
ion, a? they were known after the division, and is the
last of the important movements inaugurated by the
association as a whole.
limaum nf tht Asanriatum
g^sasS)
The first action taken in this matter occurred in
1856 (page 8), on account of the rapid growth of the
association, it was becoming too large and unwieldy,
and a feeling began to manifest itself, that the sphere
of operation if narrowed, and the responsibility of op¬
erating placed in fewer hands, might result in increas¬
ed interest and power for the purposes of the organiza¬
tion, so the question of division was placed in the
hands of a committee with instructions to take the
matter under advisement, and if found advisable, to
propose some plan for the division and report at the
next meeting. The committee elected was John R.
Bowles and Wallace Shelton. We have no record of
the findings of the committee, but in 1867 (page 7)
under item 6, the matter was again presented by a
committee on business, the idea did not seem to be in
favor for the item was tabled indefinitely. In 1870
(page 8) the matter again came up ind was referred
to the churches for an expression to be made in their
letters to the association the following year.
In 1871 (pages 4 and 5) the wishes of the churches
as expressed in their letters was referred to a com¬
mitter consisting of Bowles, Jones, Meek. Poindex-
ter, Simpson, Fox, Shelton, Moss and Able with in¬
structions to report at 3 o'clock p. m. The -clerk fail¬
ed to tell us what report the committee made, but
says that it was tabled until a former action of the as¬
sociation bearing upon the matter in question could
be rescinded, and for the first time we now get an
inkling of the nature of the report made by the com-
mitte; appointed in 1856. The matter to be rescind¬
ed, the record says, was "That a resolution adopted
at a previous session of the association, with reference
to the continuing together of this association during
54
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Oliio
the lives of Elders Wallace Shelton and Samuel
Jones," was passed and then the report of the com¬
mittee was adopted. The presumption is, that the
idea of a division of the association as presented in
1856 was repulsive to the feelings of these two old
pioneers, and out of respect for such feelings the as¬
sociation declined to act favorably. A lapse of a few
years seemed to have produced a change of views on
the part of these two brethren, however, in favor of
the proposed division, which enabled the association
to act favorably in the matter by adopting the report
of the committee made in 1871. While there is no
record of the report as made by the committee our
own understanding of the matter, gleaned from active
association with those prominent in the matter is that
the division was to be made upon an imaginary line
following the Little Miami railroad from Cincinnati,
Ohio, east to London, Ohio, and from thence to Cleve¬
land, Ohio, all west of this line to constitute the Wes¬
tern TJnion Anti-Slavery Association, and east of this
line to be the Eastern Union Anti-Slavery Association.
This idea perhaps, is correct as shown by the action
of the association at Xenia, Ohio, in 1872 (page 5),
when under item 7, "To consider the division of the
association the following resolution with reasons
therefor, was regarded as the sense of the body:"
"Whereas, a clear majority of the churches have
expressed themselves in their letters in favor of the
plan as rcommended last year, and the Little Miami
railroad as the dividing line," resolved, "That the dele¬
gates of the churches on the west side meet Saturday
at 2 o'clock p. m. in the vestry, to provide for the meet¬
ing of said division as an association next year," also,
"That the churches on the east side meet at the same
time in the audience room for a like purpose, and that
the ministers of these associations labor to effect the
union of all Anti-Slavery Baptists in the state into
one General Association." In accordance with this
resolution the two associations were formed at the
time specified in Zion church, of Xenia, Ohio. The
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
55
Easte.-n organized by electing Rev. James Poindex-
ter, of Columbus, Moderator; J. T. Ward, Columbus,
Clerk; Rev. B. Harper, Missionary, and decided to
meet in Washington C. H. the following year on Wed¬
nesday before the fourth Lord's day in August, Elder
Poindexter to preach the introductory sermon. The
Western elected Rev. Wallace Shelton, Moderator;
Rev. j. M. Meek, Clerk, and Brother Samuel Troy,
Treasurer. Elders Bowles, Meek, Fossette, Shelton
and S Jones a committee on constitution; Rev. Rich¬
ard Merideth to preach the introductory sermon. El¬
der John Goins and licentiate I. Lafayate as mission¬
aries; Elder Meek to preach on Ministerial Educa¬
tion, Shelton on Missions, and Bowles on Distinctive
Principles of Baptists. And adjourned to meet at Yel¬
low Springs, Ohio, Thursday before the first Lord's
day in September, 1873.
Preceding their organization of these two associa¬
tions, the general body held a session of prayer for
the success and prosperity of the divisions, led by El¬
ders Shelton and Jones.
This is the history of the Union Anti-Slavery Bap¬
tist Association of Ohio as far as records, printed,
written, or data otherwise obtained can produce it.
If the importance of preserving records had been rec¬
ognized earlier by those interested in the work, or by
those even who were appointed to look after the mat¬
ter of history, our record now might have been a com¬
plete; accurate and authentic review of the work.
Twice were committees appointed to prepare a his¬
tory, and at such times as would have made the work
a comparatively easy task, if they had been sufficient¬
ly impressed with its importance. In 1849 Elders
Shelton and Fox were selected to prepare a history.
In 1851 Brothers J. Hatfield and A. Roberts were add¬
ed to this committee. In 1873 Elder Shelton propos¬
ed to bring out the history in connection with a bio¬
graphy of his life, and the association agreed to as¬
sist ir the work( 1873, page 7), and for this purpose
many of the old records of the association were plac-
56
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
ed with Elder Shelton. The writer discovered this in
his search for material with which to begin this work,
and after the death of Shelton made an effort to se¬
cure what records he obtained, only to learn that such
matter., presumably had been destroyed along with
other effects, thought to have no especial value. In this
manner we have been deprived of the means of secur¬
ing a complete history in detail. It is very fortunate,
however, that we are in possession of as much of the
record as we have. Aside from the first years 1840 to
1844, in which we have no knowledge of the minutes
being printed, and a few of the years between 1852 and
i860, and the year 1861, when no meeting was held on
accouLt of the stirring times incident to the Civil War.
With these exceptions we have an unbroken record
from 1862 to date. The purpose of bringing this his¬
tory of the Union Anti-Slavery Association up to the
time of the division, in connection with the history of
the Western division from that time (1872) on, is to
preserve to posterity an account of the work of their
forefathers from the records now in the possession of
the writer, which it is certain may never again be col¬
lected for this purpose if separated. Many of them are
now so faded and worn that they are almost undeciph¬
erable and can scarcely be kept together. It will also
aid the Eastern association in the preparation of a
work of like character should they choose to have it,
knowing that the history of the two associations from
1840 to 1872 are identical.
It is not definitely known how many churches, the
number of their membership, or the number of the
ministers who composed the association in the organ¬
ization and the nearest approach to such ,'nformation
is only obtained from statements, made by different
persons in reports and addresses made from time to
time, and these vary, in many instances, and lack con¬
firmation by such figures as we have. It was said by
Rev. James Poindexter in an address delivered to the
association at Harveysburg in 1868, that there were
three or four churches in the organization, by others,
Rev. Wallace Shelton.
Rev. G. W. Curry.
Hon. Geo. W. Ilajw.
Rev. Peter Fossette.
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
57
Fox especially, that there were ten. But the earliest
period from which we have anything like a reliable
figure on record is 1843 when there were thirteen (13)
churches with a membership of one thousand (1000)
with seven (7) ordained elders, towit: Wallace Shel-
ton, Samuel Jones, E. Fields, J. W. Hackley, N. Sat-
terwhite, J. Martin and S. D. Fox. In 18^2, a period
of nine (9) years, there were 23 churches; a gain of
ten (10), or about 76 per cent, with an enrollment of
1052 members, a gain of 52, or about four (4) per cent.
In 1862 there were 25 churches, a gain of 2, a member¬
ship of 1499, a gain of 447 in membership or about
29 per cent. In 1872, 68 churches and 4567 members,
a gain of 43 churches, or 63 per cent, and a total gain
in membership of 3068, or about 67 per cent.
These figures show the entire gain for a period of
29 years. The calculation based upon periods of ten
years, it will be observed that the greatest increase
occurred between the years 1862 and 1872 when the
enrollment reached 4567. This seems to have been
a period of great activity among the churches, per¬
haps due to better organization and methods of con¬
ducting the work. Perhaps it was due to that effect¬
ual fervency of prayer or zealousness of heart and
purpose to gain souls for Christ, which usually bring
such rich results. Whatever the cause, it is certai-n
that God was working with them. The number of
ordained elders had increased to 37 and among the
new additions were some younger men, powerful in
intellect, who gave promise of successful effort for
God; among this number we might without predju-
dice or injustice to the ability and faithfulness of oth¬
ers who labored with them, name J. M. Meek, John R.
Bowles, J. C. Carey, Thomas Webb and R. Merideth.
During the interval between 1840 to 1872, other
young giants had joined the list, such as James Poin-
dexter, G. W. Bryant, Sampson P. Lewis. John Mc-
Simpson, R. T. W. James and others, but these witk
the exception of James had parsed to their reward.
Some of them had given their lives in defense of the
58
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
flag, tnd had sealed with their blood the prayers that
they had offered for the liberation of their brethren
from bondage. Of this number none attained greater
distinction than James Poindexter, who lived to a
quiet and peaceful old age and who enjoyed a long and
faithful career and a national reputation.
There were other men, older men who were not so
well equipped with intellectual advantages who, nev-
er-the-less, possessed great common sense and native
ability, honest in every fibre, and devoted to every
known principle of right; these men were equally suc¬
cessful in every undertaking, and under God have
wrought a mighty work, among this number we name
Elders Peter F. Fossette, P. B. Ferguson, W. H. Mer-
ritt, R. Herod, L. B. Moss, Joseph Emmons, John
Powell and W. H. Evans. Most of these have been
gathered to their fathers, after having fought a good
fight.
The financial showing of the association to this
date (1872), may not appear as large as it should, ow¬
ing to the imperfect manner, no doubt, in which the
records were kept, no particular attention was paid to
the collection of, or accounting for money, other than
that necessary to meet the actual expense of the work
carried on. Aside from money collected by the mis¬
sionaries from the churches they visited, and that
sent in by the churches annually for expenses incident
to the association, the printing of the minutes being
the largest item of this expense. There seemed to be
no great or urgent necessity for the collection of mon¬
ey, since the work of home and foreign missions, as
now conducted by the association had not been in¬
troduced. And while education was regarded as of
prime importance, yet there was no definite policy,
fixed plan, or system for raising money to support
schools, colleges or worthy young men who aspired
to the ministry. It is a fact, however, that much more
mopey was collected than we have figures to show.
During tfre annual meetings money was collected for
sick or distressed brethren, to help the cause for lib-
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
59
erating the slaves, etc., but in many cases the amount
collected was not stated, a bare mention of the fact
was deemed sufficient, and a report from the treasurer
seems to have been an unknown incident.
Upon all questions of reform the record of the breth¬
ren has been very pronounced, and especially so upon
the questions of intemperance and the social evil. And
no opportunity was passed that would allow these
great evils to be denounced and yet in spite of all ef¬
fort to curtail their growth and power, many instances
are recorded where it was found necessary to admin¬
ister discipline to those who persisted in violating the
laws of God and society. And the association is con¬
stantly on record as favoring a high moral, religious
and intellectual plane.
WlIfratmt Union Anti-§lauerg
Haptist Association.
^sasS)
At this point we take up the history of the Wes¬
tern Union Anti-Slavery Baptist Association of Ohio,
for it is under this caption that it began its career, ref¬
erence has already been made to the circumstances
under which this association came into existence in
the foregoing pages, and we shall simply aim to re¬
view the progress made for a period of 37 years, fol¬
lowing the lines principally suggested in the treat¬
ment of the subject before the division. Excepting
so much as refers to the great question of American
slavery, the abolishment of which was the dominant
idea in the primary organization, the history of this
body now under consideration from 1872 to date, will
be considered solely upon the merits of the question
as, "To what extent, if any, the generation whose life
and effort is connected with it, have succeeded in giv¬
ing the work laid out by the old fathers a stability of
character and importance in excess of that establish¬
ed by the fathers themselves?" This question can be
better determined by a comparison of the facts as they
stand recorded in their relation to the efforts of each
along specific lines, the difference in time opportun¬
ity and educational advantage to be honestly consid¬
ered.
The division of the Union Anti Slavery Association
was effected with harmony and much good will. The
parting of the ways was reached, however, not with¬
out sadness of heart, such as is commonly experienced
among those who dwell together in brotherly love,
the painful emotion of which gets partial relief in the
thought of meeting again^ To this end it was arrang¬
ed that the two associations should cojne together
History of W. TL B. A. of Ohio
61
every fourth year, and that this arrangement should
stand so long as the founders of the association
should live or time should demonstrate that such
meetings were no longer necessary.
In pursuance of this arrangement four of these
meetings were held, at Columbus in 1878, Xenia 1882,
Cumminsville 1886, and again at Columbus in 1890,
at which meeting the association voted to discontinue
quadrennial meetings. In lieu of these meetings, the
decision was reached to attempt to organize all of the
associations of the state into one representative body,
as a s;tate convention and in furtherance of this idea
a committee of ten (10) was named, five from each
association, to devise plans and report at their next
annual meeting. The committee selected were: East¬
ern division, J. Poindexter, W. E. Nash, C. W. Strib-
bling, W. H. Beasley and W. A. Burke; Western di¬
vision, J. M. Meek, W. A. Burch, W. H. Stewart,
P. H. Williams and Geo. W. Hays. This was not the
first attempt to effect such an organization, the mat¬
ter had been under consideration four years previous
at Cumminsville, when a similar committee had been
appointed for the same purpose. This committee
could not agree upon the subject and the matter was
referred back to the respective associations. It was
not until May, 1896, that sufficient interest was mani¬
fested to effect such an organization, which was done
at Mechanicsburg, Ohio.
This convention has now been in existence twelve
years and its work is no doubt familiar to all who are
interested in the work of Baptists. We presume that
a close account will be kept of its life and work, so
that its success or failure may be known.
The history of the Western Union division as it
relates to Education, Temperance and general reform,
from 1872 to date, follows about the same general
lines, as indicated in the previous pages, with few
exceptions, and has been little more than a repetition
or re-affirming of positions taken before upon these
important questions.
62
History of W. U. B. A. of Oliio
From the beginning of the new division a growing
spirit of missions has been in evidence, and in this
particular a more aggressive campaign has been made
to arouse the churcnes to the importance of support¬
ing them, both home and foreign, so that today, it is
true, the churches have a better understanding of
their relation to the great work of spreading the gos¬
pel, as is contemplated in the principles governing the
great family of missionary Baptists, and are respond¬
ing kindly to the appeals of their leaders, where the
leaders show a disposition to lead. The custom of
appointing missionaries annually as was done in the
early years was continued for several years after the
division, and a very marked improvement, even in
that particular was shown over previous years along
the same lines in the support of the missionaries as
well as in the amount of money contributed for mis¬
sions; but in time the brethren became more enlight¬
ened upon the subject and realized more fully the im¬
portance of missions. It was finally determined that
more systematic and aggressive effort was necessary
to a cultivation of the true and intelligent spirit of
missions among our people and gradually the old
system, faded away, and with the death of Shelton and
Fox was discontinued, these two having been pre¬
viously honored with the appointment as missionaries
for life.
In 1879 (page 6) a plan for organized missionary
work was considered upon the following lines: "That
a missionary board be organized, with all of the neces¬
sary power for active work, and that the churches be
advised through the association to take two collections
annually for the maintenance of a competent mission¬
ary or missionaries, said money to be placejd in the
hands of said board for proper disbursement." The
plan was adopted and the board elected, viz.: Revs.
S. P. Young, W. H. Roberts, J. M. Griffin, L. B. Moss
and A. Gillard.
After the organization of the board, with S. P.
Young as president, J. M. Griffin secretary and L. B.
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
63
Moss as treasurer, the plan for raising money was sug¬
gested and recommended as follows: "That every
church of 300 members or more be requested to raise
$i2.oo# 200 or more $7.00, 100 or more $5.00, and
churches with less than 100 members $4.00, all mon¬
eys so raised to be sent to the treasurer."
Very little was accomplished along the line sug-
geste .1, possibly due to the fact that the leading men
of the association, although agreeing upon the plan,
were divided in opinion as to the course the associa¬
tion should pursue to accomplish the greatest amount
of good, some advising the appointment of a mission¬
ary to do work in this state alone, others a division
of the support among the great missionary societies
already in existence and doing an extensive work
anions our people in this state and throughout the
country. Both positions had friends, and because of
this division of sentiment among the leaders, there is
no doubt but what its influence was extended to the
churches, who did not respond very liberally.
Four years later, 1883 (page 14), a resolution some¬
what in the nature of a compromise, was recommend¬
ed by the committee on missions, which sought to de¬
fine the line along which our missionary effort should
be directed. This included work to be done in the
state, by a regularly appointed missionary, in addition
to the support of the American Baptist Missionary
Union American Baptist Publication Society, Amer¬
ican Baptist Home Mission Society, and the Ohio
Baptist Convention. It was also suggested that the
co-operation of the Ohio Baptist Convention (white)
be sought in the support of a man to do missionary
work in this state, and to that end a committee of five
(5) consisting of Elders James Poindexter, W. R.
Boone J. M. Meek, R. Merideth and Brother George
W. Hays were selected to present the matter to the
Ohio Convention.
This committee failed to meet the convention as
instructed, with the exception of W. R. Boone, who
at the next meeting reported that he had attended the
64
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
session of the Ohio Baptist Convention and presented
the matter, and that it was the desire of the conven¬
tion tbat the committee meet then in their next meet¬
ing at Youngstown, Ohio, when the matter would be
further considered. The association accepted the
statement of Elder Boone and the same committee
was continued, but again failed to attend the conven¬
tion. However Rev. Poindexter and Brother G. W.
Hays did meet the board of managers of the Ohio
Convention in a quarterly meeting of the board, held
in January, 1885, at Columbus, Ohio, and there pre¬
sented the matter with the result that the board of
managers agreed to assist in the work upon the fol¬
lowing terms, towit: "They would give two dollars
for the support of the missionary on the field for ev¬
ery dollar contributed for the same purpose by this
association."
This proposition was accepted, the committee dis¬
charged, and the matter referred to the committee on
business for such action as they deemed proper. This
committee from some cause failed to report, and the
matter went by default until at the General Associa¬
tion held at Columbus in 1890, the matter was again
under consideration and an agreement was reached
whereby the two associations, the Eastern and West¬
ern, accepted the proposition of the Ohio Baptist Con¬
vention, and the Rev. W. A. Burch, D. D., of Cincin¬
nati, Ohio, was selected and recommended as a cap¬
able man to begin the work. James Poindexter for
the Eastern and J. M. Meek for the Western, were
elected the two to constitute a missionary board to
act with the Ohio Baptist Convention in all matters
relative to the duty and compensation of the mission¬
ary (see minutes 1890, page 11).
Ths matter had now assumed a status that prom¬
ised good results. However, during the interval of
time between the advancing of the proposition upon
the part of the Ohio Convention and its acceptance
upon the part of the association, the Ohio Baptist
Convention had reconsidered the proposition and
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
65
when consulted in regard to the matter by the com¬
mittee. agreed to encourage and assist dollar for dol-
lar.
With this offer the Rev. Mr. Burch began the work.
The success of his first year in the field may be bet¬
ter understood and even judged by his report made
to the associations the following year, of which we
give a summary: "Have preached 154 sermons, at¬
tended 60 sessions of Sunday schools, made 37 ad¬
dresses, 150 visits, attended 7 funerals, 3 Sunday
school institute meetings, 2 Sunday school conven¬
tions, conducted one series of meetings during which
there were 13 converts, baptized 11 persons, traveled
2700 miles, conducted the services incident to the lay¬
ing of the cornerstone of one church, and have receiv¬
ed the following amount of money: For missions,
$164.87; services, $167.75; total, $332.62."
It will be seen from the report that the character
of the work done and the support of the churches, al¬
though less than desired, yet seemed to promise suc¬
cess. The report was considered as satisfactory and
Doctor Burch was re-appointed, and accepted the
work, but in the early part of the next year he resign¬
ed, and left the state to accept a similar work in the
city of Chicago, Illinois. His work up until the time
he resigned was no less encouraging than the first
year, in fact, it bid fair to excel in so far as it relates
to contributions in money, as his final report made
to the secretary of the Ohio Convention, G. E. Leon¬
ard, showed a total of receipts from the churches of
both of-the associations $119.82. This in addition to
his compensation from the Ohio Baptist Convention,
$125x0, made a total of $244.92. By resigning the
work at this time the movement for state missions
received a shock from which it has not, as yet appears,
fully recovered. The churches were advised to con¬
tinue sending money to the board.
In 1893 after organizing with Rev. A. M. Thomas,
of Zanesville, Ohio, as president; G. W. Hays, of Cin¬
cinnati, as secretary and treasurer, the state board of
66
History of W. U. B. A. ot Ohio
missions reported to the association that they had at¬
tended the Ohio Baptist Convention at its meeting in
Zanesville, Ohio, in October, and upon invitation from
Doctor Geo. E. Leonard, secretary of the convention,
the Rev. J. M. Riddle, of Rendville, Ohio, had met
with them. All action upon the continuance of the
work of state missions among our people was based
upon the following letter received by Secretary Hays
from Dr. Leonard, viz:
"Dear Brother Hays: At a recent meeting the
board voted to give an appointment as district mis¬
sionary among the colored people to Rev. J. M. Rid¬
dle, provided the committees appointed by the East¬
ern Union and the Western Union Associations are
satisfied. The board guarantees three hundred (300)
dollars, and traveling expenses for the year. We ex¬
pect the colored churches to raise at least four hund¬
red (400) dollars, any amount that they contribute
over and above $400.00 will go into our treasury to
help in paying the three hundred (300) dollars which
we guarantee, so that the salary of Brother Riddle
will be at the most $700.00 and traveling expenses. I
wish you at the earliest possible day would ascertain
whether this arrangement is satisfactory to the com¬
mittees above referred to and write me. There is need
of promptness in this matter, for Brother Riddle
ought to be in the work immediately. From the rec¬
ommendations which I have I am fully satisfied that
Brother Riddle is just the man we want for these ser¬
vices "
This action of the board of the Ohio Baptist Con¬
vention was endorsed by the board of the Western
and Eastern Associations, and the following letter
was addressed to the churches:
Dear Brethren
"We are glad to inform you that the Rev. J. M.
Riddk, of Rendville, Ohio, has been appointed state
missionary of the mission board of the Ohio Baptist
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
67
Conv ntion and his appointment has been approved
by our board. Brother Riddle is an able and worthy
Christian gentleman, and a man of large experience
in this kind of work, and we believe just the man for
this place. We need three more just such men in the
field in this state, and by your encouragement we
hope within the next few years to have them. This
is the Lord's work, but brethren, he has honored us
with rhe privilege of being laborers together with God.
i Coi. 3 :g. And let us therefore willingly and faith¬
fully aid our brother Riddle by our prayers and sym¬
pathy and sustain him in the service with our means,
that at last the Master may say to each of us, and to
him, 'Well done.' And this we know you will gladly
do for the cause of our blessed Lord; and remember
he lo/es a cheerful giver. We hope each church will
raise a collection at once and forward the same to the
secretary, Geo. W. Hays, Number n Kittenhouse
street, Cincinnati, Ohio. We also ask you to read the
minutes of the General Association of 1890, page 10,
and oi the Eastern, page 12, Western, page 13, also the
minutes of the same for 1892. Now brethren, we have
endeavored to lay before you and upon your hearts
this great and important work, and if you love the
cause of Christ, and our dear denomination, you will
act promptly."
As the churches did not respond, our board could
not assure Brother Riddle our part of his salary, and
on January 9, 1893, we received a letter from him de¬
clining to accept the appointment.
The board then received a letter from Doctor
Leonard, stating that three applications for the posi¬
tion rs district missionary had been received by him,
namely, Revs. L. C. Newby, A. W. Puller and P. H.
Williams, but that their board declined to make an
appointment, and asked that the two associations
unite upon, and recommend, a man. W^e issued a call
for a meeting of the board at Columbus in April 18,
1893, but no one met the board excepting the secre¬
tary' This report of the board was accepted and the
68
History of W. tJ. B. A. of Ohio
association decided to continue the effort to place a
missionary in the field and elected as the board for
1893-C4 Brother G. W. Hays and Elders H. C. Ran¬
dolph, J. C. Taylor. In 1894 this committee reported
that, "We are sorry to say that the prospect in regard
to the appointment of a missionary last year has
brought disappointment. As you will see from the
record of last session that Brother Riddle was ap¬
pointed state missionary, but he has not entered upon
the work, nor is he likely to do so, but we have not
given up, for a missionary is a necessity. 'Men of
Israel help!'
"We are glad to report that the board of the Ohio
Baptist Convention renews its offer of three hundred
(300) dollars and traveling expenses. We believe that
four hundred (400) dollars can be raised in the East¬
ern and Western Associations, the membership of
this body alone last year was 5,496, this number con¬
tributing five cents apiece, would amount to $274.80.
We believe there is denominational pride enough in
the Baptist church to keep the gospel as believed by
us among the people of the state. We would recom¬
mend the appointment of a board in this association
who shall have full power to act in connection with
the state board of missions, and to devise means for
raising money to support a missionary. We would
recommend that, that board proceed to secure a bro¬
ther, or act with the Eastern division, Providence, Mt.
Zion, or all other associations in Ohio among the col¬
ored Baptists in securing a brother. We would rec¬
ommend, that each church represented in this body
pledge themselves at this session to assume so much
of the required $400.00 as they believe can be raised
in this associational year. We would suggest that in
order to make the employment of a missionary cer¬
tain, that a missionary committee be appointed in each
church and for the time being, said committee be com¬
posed of the delegates representing the churches re¬
spectively, and that each committee on their return
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
69
home, immediately bring the matter before their
churches."
The report with all of its recommendations was
adopted and the committee continued excepting the
appointment of Rev. H. L. Page to supply the place
of Rev. H. C. Randolph. The committee was given
full power as suggested in the report.
In 1895 (page 16-17) this matter was again consid¬
ered, practically in the same manner, with like results,
excepting a change in the personal of the committee.
Elders N. S. Merritt, L. C. Sheafe and J. W. Byrd be¬
ing elected. The strength of the effort of this com¬
mittee to bring the work to a successful issue is in
doubt, and under the circumstances it is not clear how
they could have succeeded, more than committees
who preceded them. Apparently there was no method
by which the churches could be reached, excepting by
resolutions in the minutes, and it appears to be evident
from the figures at command, that at least ninety-five
per cent of the pastors and the delegates who voted
the oftenest, talked the strongest, and consumed the
most time in explaining how it could be done, did very
little, and some of them nothing at all, to secure an
interest in the work of missions as proposed, in their
own churches. There is in fact, no grounds for excuse
from censure, for any, who are now connected, or who
have been connected with this movement, unless it be
incompetency, a very charitable grounds, and yet suf¬
ficiently grave, as to be serious and alarming.
This state of affairs can find no excuse now for ex¬
isting and should be remedied by the selection of
men as leaders, who are alive to every interest of
Christ and the denomination, men who are capable of
educating the people they lead, and who are willing
if need be, to sacrifice some of their own comfort and
pleasure, that the work of missions may become a suc¬
cess! This work as proposed by the Eastern and
Western Associations, failed to reach a. successful
5t3,cr£ but is now being tried by the Ohio State Con¬
vention of Colored Baptists, in connection with the
70
History of W. "U, B. A. of Ohio
Publishing Board of the National Baptist Convention.
This arrangement went into effect October, 1900, with
Rev R. D. Phillips, of Cincinnati, a very capable and
worthy young man in the field.
Rev. Phillips remained in the field for several years
and put the work of missions on a better basis than
ever before. He resigned, however, to accept the
charge of the church at Cumminsville, and was suc¬
ceeded by Rev. J. H. Meadows, who at this writing
is still in the field. The work thus far under Rev.
Meadows promises to do well, and as we have sug¬
gested in previous pages, if the pastors of the churches
will do their duty, there need be no fear of the
churches coming to the support of this work. The re¬
port of the missionary for 1908 runs, viz., and is given
to :how the strength of our contention, and this too
in ' he face of the fact that the White Convention does
not now contribute under any agreement to our work:
Report
Sermons preached, 112; addresses delivered, 76;
revivals held, 4; converts, 42; baptized, 28; missions
organized, 1; funerals attended, 10; sick rooms vis¬
ited, 26; married, 3. Amount of money received from
the churches, $534.00; expenses, $82.95; salary prom¬
ised, $600.00; received, $534.00; balance due, $65.56.
The itemized report shows that this total sum of
money received from the churches ranges in amounts
from fifty cents to eighteen dollars.
With this small investment even, in dollars and
cents, the churches will never be able to fully realize
the amount of good done by this character of work.
The reaping must follow the sowing, and if the har¬
vest is to be great, the sowing must be bountiful.
lutmt Haptist
Mintatertal (Eottuftttiim
(S5*8^
"Tl:e Purity of the Gospel Ministry" was a theme
that continued to bind itself upon the mind and hearts
of the brethren, due perhaps to what seemed to be the
growth of an alarming indifference, on the part of
preachers, and churches, too, to those principles of
piety which should make Christianity a governing in¬
fluence in a man's life, and without which no Christian
life and character is complete. In consequence of this
feeing there was organized at Xenia, Ohio, July 30,
1885, by the ministers connected with this association
the "Western Ohio Baptist Ministerial Convention,"
with this association/- .. " \ '
whose avowed purpose, expressed in Articles 3 and 4
of the Constitution found on page 4 of the minutes of
1885 was. "To defend the purity of the Gospel minis¬
try, ai'd sacredness of the cause of Christ, to promote
a pure and blameless ministry by discountenancing all
such ministers, who are known to be guilty of those
things that are unbecoming to a Christian minister,
such as fraud, intemperance, licentiousness, or any
disorderly conduct that is mentioned in the word of
God." "Any minister known to be guilty of such evils
shall be prohibited from preaching in the pulpits of
the elders of this convention, and in this we will seek
the co-operation of the churches belonging to this
Association."
This organization and its principles were heartily
endorsed by the action of the association at its annual
meeting held in Dayton, Ohio, September, 1885, and
the f<-flowing resolutions in addition were adopted,
"Whereas the churches of this association, and the
cause of Christ is becoming fearfully embarrassed by
72
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
the increase in numbers of a floating ministry, there¬
fore resolved, That we demand of all such ministers
that they give satisfactory evidence of the legality of
their papers, and as to their standing and general repu¬
tation Second, That we advise the churches of this
association to call no man to the pastorate who does
not come well recommended upon these points."
fh_ purpose of the organization as expressed, "To
defend and maintain a pure ministry," was conceded
a very laudable one, yet it was feared that its accom¬
plishment would be seriously embarrassed, and the
aim defeated, especially was it so, by even those whose
desires were to see a better condition obtain in min¬
isterial circles, but who were conversant with the cor¬
rupt conditions as they existed and related to the min¬
istry, and their serious influences effecting the entire
church. Without attempting to explain all of the dif¬
ficulties suggested, the chief one to be feared was "the
indifference of the churches to support such measures
as had been previously advised, whose aim was to
dispose of all irregularities so far as they related to
the misconduct of the ministers, either on account of
their personal habits, or their failure to administer the
government of their churches so as to preserve the
spirit of peace in the bonds of unity." Many of the
churches then, and too many of them now pay little
if any attention to the character or reputation of the
men whom they call as pastors. And because of this
failure to demand of every man who would lead them
the evidences of purity, the essential element in Chris-
itan character, men of vile reputations crept into their
pulpits, and- their presence not only among Christian
people, but to the decent and respectable people of
all kinds outside of the pale of the church, became
offensive. To overcome this difficulty w;as a problem
the sblution of which could only be reached through
the education of the churches to a proper and intelli¬
gent appreciation of their responsibility in this mat¬
ter, And- on account of the avenues through which
UNION BAPTIST CHURCH, CINCINNATI.
Rev. Clias. D. Douglass, 13. D., Paster.
ZIOIV CHURCH, CINCINNATI, OHIO.
Rev. J. F. Walker, D. D., Pastor.
Rev. Sam D. Pox.
■■wdjl
Rev. Wm. Allen.
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
73
our people must be reached, to do this would entail
an enormous amount of labor and expense.
Happily, however, the outcome has been encourag¬
ing, Much has been accomplished through a constant
proclaiming of the principles adopted, and the con¬
tinued policy of arresting and bringing to trial, and
exposure, of such men whenever and wherever found,
and thus very much of this disgrace promises to be
eliminated as the churches seem now to realize its
serious consequences and are becoming active in the
demand for good men. There has been too much favor
shown to bad men in the ministry, and opportunity
for them to ply their nefarious and unholy schemes in
the name of Christianity heretofore, and while not so
bold now to take advantage of the ignorance of the
churches, there are some, however, who get in where-
ever they can. We are not averse to extending to
these men the same as to other men who fall, all the
help and encouragement within decent and respect¬
able limits to reform, but they should be kept out of
our pulpits and places where they can do the most
harm, until satisfactory evidence is produced showing
their repentance and reform and confidence in them
can again be restored. Otherwise they should be hu¬
miliated and ostracised with an unsparing vigor.
In a large measure much of the trouble arising in
churches and with which the association had to deal,
was due to the carelessness of the churches in ordain¬
ing and recognizing incompetent men to the ministry
against the advice o fthe Ministerial Convention and
also the association. The action of the churches in
this particular was a constant source of worry, for
which there seemed to be no effective remedy. No
opportunity was lost, however, to decry this evil, and
the strongest resolutions consistent with the free gov¬
ernment and policy of the church were introduced to
discourage the growth and if possible to wipe it out.
Among the strongest of the kind and those having
the greatest influence to check the evil might be men-
74
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
tioned, those found in the minutes of 1877, page 11
and 12, viz.:
"We find that the object of the permanent presby¬
tery is, that only those who have the necessary quali¬
fications shall be clothed with ministerial authority
or acknowledged in the Eldership. We have no cus¬
tom or usage for this particular arrangement which
we have adopted, but we think expediency and a de¬
sire to elevate the ministry fully justifies the plan
adopted at our last meeting. While we dare not say
that those who have been ordained contrary to the ad¬
vice of the association are not elders, yet we think
that any and all persons who desire to be clothed with
the honors of eldership, should submit to the wish of
the brethren as has been expressed and in every case
when he or they shall fail to comply with such desire
they should be denied membership in the association
until they shall satisfy it that they were justified in
disregarding its authority."
This action of the elders was endorsed by the as¬
sociation in another resolution, notifying the churches
that persons ordained to the eldership in any other
manner, excepting as prescribed in the minutes of
1876, page 19, would not be recognized by the Elder¬
ship or regarded as such by the association (see page
12, 1877). This was followed by other resolutions of
similar character and while the desire has not been
fully met yet there is a very noticeable improvement
in the character and quality of the men whom the
churches now set apart for the ministry.
One of the greatest evils accruing from the ordi¬
nation of incompetent men was the multiplying of
weak and feeble churches, a condition which is much
in evidence today. While unwillingly admitted, yet
it is none the less true, there are now within the
bounds of this association too many little churches
struggling for an existence. If you should ask the
reason for this, it might easily be suggested that ig¬
norance of the true principles upon which churches
are to be founded may be the cause in part. The sel-
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
75
fish desire of some men to have a following, however
small, regardless of the advice of this association and
the baneful effect of their selfishness is seen upon the
cause of Christ and the imposing of grievous burdens
upon the community where established. They are
also in many cases the result of strife and therefore
are unable to accomplish any good.
Against this state of affairs the brethren adopted
the most radical resolutions, placing themselves upon
record as being bitterly opposed to all such churches.
In 1886, page 7, we find this declaration: "Whereas,
There appears to be a disposition to increase the num¬
ber of churches within the bounds of this associa¬
tion without just cause or sufficient reasons for so
doing, and whereas, A number of them in the larger
cities are damaging to the cause of Christ, because of
the manner of their organization, therefore resolved,
That we recommend the churches who recognize a
church and the minister who may organize such
churches, to take especial pains to find out the true
reasons for organization, and the relation such church
will sustain to the one already existing, and if satis-
isfied that it will not be advantageous to refuse
to organize or to recognize such church, further¬
more We believe it to be the wisdom of this asso¬
ciation to refuse membership to all such churches un¬
til satisfied that God will be honored by so doing."
While even this strong measure has not proven an
effective barrier against the practice of organizing
disorderly churches, its endorsement by many of the
churches has had the effect to check the evil. The
desire to put an end to the multiplying of these small
churches was not based alone upon the trifling causes
in many instances which gave cause for their birth,
but in addition thereto, the unholy and often times we
fear, the ungodly methods to which many resorted in
order to maintain an existence. Festivals, financial
camp meetings, Sunday excursions, etc., held under
the auspices, and supposedly for the benefit of these
churches, became growing evils. The influence of
76
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
which tends to destroy the pure character of God's
church, and to bring it into disrepute, for there seems
to be no grounds for justification in the adoption of
such methods for the support of the church of Christ,
provided however the Bible methods of supporting
the church are to be considered as the standard. In
the early days of the association the brethren were
severe in their denunciation of all such, and the posi¬
tion of the Western Union as against these practices
has been no less positive, especially upon the subject
of camp meetings has this association spoken in no
uncertain tones. In 1877, page 12, under item 13, "To
notice the increasing disregard of the Lord's Day, and
the decay of vital godliness because of money," a
motion prevailed, that the churches be advised to
cease holding festivals in their buildings, discounte¬
nance camp meetings, Sunday excursions and other
things of a like character.
In 1880, page 6, the association more clearly defined
its position in opposition to camp meetings thus:
"We hold as ever, that they are not in any sense com¬
patible with the will of God, or beneficial to any one
who would possess vital godliness, for the influence
exerted by those gathered together by us by far ex-
cells any influence we can bring to bear upon them;
besides they teach indirectly that God is unable to
keep up that which he has wrought without the aid
of the evil appliances known to exist in the world, or
compromising with his worst enemy, the devil. Fur¬
thermore we are hindered from doing what we are
enjoined to do by these meetings—we are to 'Come
out from among those who work iniquity,' in these
meetings a mixture is a necessity. Without it there
can be no success. We are commanded to 'Withdraw
from those who walk disorderly.' In these meetings
a union and a communion must exist in form in order
to success, and thus it breaks down that spirit of loy¬
alty to Christ which is necessary to godliness,
God's commandments are trampled under foot in the
name of Christ, humanity treated as though they were
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
77
made for nothing but to be fleeced, stability uprooted,
the flood gates of sin are opened and like the Eu¬
phrates when turned upon the city of Babylon, de¬
stroy it, so will the gates of hell opened by these meet¬
ings destroy the beauty of the city of our God. We
therefore urge upon the churches to discontinue hold¬
ing them, not to encourage them in any way but to
let them alone as a viper and return to the time hon¬
ored custom of God's people in the ages gone by."
This resolution was followed by the circulation of a
paper among the ministers, pledging a large number
to take no part in camp meetings.
The aessociation again in 1882 (page 10) expressed
itself very positively upon this matter, giving an evid¬
ence of their determination, if possible, to break up
the evil. The matter came up for discussion through
a query from the church at Cumminsville "As to how
those ministers should be regarded who wilfully dis¬
regard all of the expressions of the association against
financial camp meetings'?" A resolution prevailed that
"We re-itterate all that we have said, or can say,
against those meetings as now held and that we will
do all that is possible under the circumstances to dis¬
courage and hinder them, and furthermore, we will
disfellowship all ministers and churches who continue
to hold them." Following this most determined ac¬
tion of the association, several churches and ministers
who dared to oppose the advice of the association in
this matter were brought under discipline. The wis¬
dom of the association in its efforts to break up the
practice of holding camp meetings was recognized by
a large number of the churches, to the extent that
ministers who conducted these meetings were kept
out of their pulpits. Such a strong endorsement upon
the part of the churches was very effective, and since
1882 very few churches have held them, so that there
is little left of them now to disturb, and practically the
evil is dead. While the association is an advisory
body having no authority or power to legislate for, pr
interfere with the independence of the churches, its
78
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
triumph in this matter may be credited to the bold
and determined stand for right, and demonstrates the
power of unity among the brethren and faith in God.
It was not intended, however, to oppose at anytime
the holding of meetings in groves on Sunday or any
other day, out of a pure desire to worship God under
pleasant surroundings where nature might contribute
to the comfort and happiness of the worshippers and
where, robbed of all desecrating and mercenary in¬
fluences, God's name can be honored, but to persecute
to death those where the evident and only purpose is
to make money.
Since the organization of the association it was the
custom to hold the meetings over Sunday. This was
due originally to the fact that the annual meeting was
considered a great treat religiously by the people who
lived within ten or fifteen miles of the place where
the meetings were held, and those who could not at¬
tend the sessions through the week, took advantage
of the occasion and came in wagons, on horseback,
and on foot to attend the religious worship and see
their friends. But as time wore on and railroads be¬
gan to run in every direction, advantage began to be
taken by unscrupulous persons, who for sordid gain,
began the habit of running excursions to the meetings
on Sunday. Oftentimes the association was asked to
submit, and in a few instances was compelled to do
so, to some things against which it stood committed,
and in order to be consistent, and demonstrate their
sincerity, the association voted to discontinue holding
meetings and since 1892 no meetings have been held
ovir Sunday, although an effort was made in IQ02 to
test the churches upon the subject of ap-ain holdine
these meetings on Sunday. The churches in iqo^ re¬
mained firm, and refused to sanction the move by a
vote of 25 to 10, and vet there are some who keep
agitating the matter, for what purpose does not seem
clear.
On education, temperance, missions, state, home
and foreign, the Western Union has been no less
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Ohio
79
°r determined to arouse an interest than were
the brethren in the earlier years of the association
when all were together. Although the work of arous¬
ing such interest has been very arduous, much has
been accomplished along these lines as may be seen
by an examination of the tables of comparative state¬
ments at the close of this work.
The need of an educated ministry is apparent, and
has constantly claimed the attention of the association
from year to year. The necessity for the promulga¬
tion of temperance principles has also been a promi¬
nent theme for discussion. But no one theme has
commanded more attention, thought and serious con¬
sideration than missions, a work to which all Chris¬
tian bodies are committed, and upon all of these ques¬
tions this association has from time to time expressed
itself as favorable to, and exceedingly anxious to dem¬
onstrate, not in words alone, but deeds, its love and
interest for great and good results, cherishing the
hope that when educated to the importance of these
matters, the association as well as churches must be¬
come a power for good.
Upon all matters of public interest, especially those
affecting the welfare of the race, the association has
sought to keep the churches well informed and for
many years it was the custom to appoint a commit¬
tee on "State of the Country," whose addresses to the
churches conveyed such information as related to the
condition and general welfare of the Negro race, and
his treatment by the powers that be. This informa¬
tion was often given to the churches in circular let¬
ters as well as printed in the minutes. Having been
instrumental in the abolishment of slavery, the asso¬
ciation has taken up the cudgel in behalf of the race
upon all other evils that have resulted as a conse¬
quence of previous conditions, and its voice has been
lifted and in no uncertain way, against flagrant abuse
and persecution of every sort.
On the subject of "Lynch Law" (1893, page 35),
Rev. Doctor H. D. Prowd, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was
80
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
selected to give suitable expression and the following
was adopted: "As we hear the cry of the poor and dis¬
tressed people of the south, over the murder of their
sons and daughters, regardless of law or any legal
trial; and whereas, Mob rule and outrage are against
law and peaceful government and must result disas¬
trously to our commonwealth; therefore, We advise
the people everywhere to awake to righteousness and
call upon those in authority to save our country from
destruction by the proper enforcement of law."
Every movement that has for its object the eleva¬
tion and advancement of the young people along
moral and religious lines, has received the hearty en¬
dorsement of this association, and much time has -
given at these annual meetings for the Sunday schools
and Baptist Young Peoples Unions to hold their ses¬
sions For a number of years after the organization
of the Sunday School Convention, the two organiza¬
tions met together, but owing to the large and grow¬
ing interest in Sunday school work, and the limited
amount of time that could be given to the convention
for the consideration of its work, the two bodies
agreed in 1887 to separate in so far as related to the
time and place of meeting. A very cordial feeling ex¬
ists, however, and the two bodies maintain friendly
associations through an interchange of fraternal mes¬
sengers.
The growth of the association has also been rapid
and substantial, and the question of division for the
second time has been seriouslv considered In 1888
the question of division was referred to a committee
who reported adversely. Again in 1897 the proposi¬
tion having been submitted to the churches for a vote
the year previous, the matter was tabled in definite iv
only three churches reporting in its favor.
In 1893, page 24, the name of the association was
changed by the following resolution, offered by Rev.
J. C. Taylor and adopted: "Whereas, This association
when in its infancy had for its aim a righteous indig¬
nation to that outrageous institution—slavery—which
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Ohio
81
degraded and humiliated us as a race and hindered
our progress in the upward advance toward Christian
civilization^ and intellectual attainments; and where¬
as, The object of our aim has been accomplished and
slavery abolished, and freedom to our race has been
secured by certain constitutional amendments, and
other fundamental barriers to racial progress have
been removed; therefore resolved, That the prefix
'Anti-Slavery' be dropped from the name of this
organization, and the name hereafter be the 'Western
Union Baptist Association.' "
In 1890 the association sustained a great loss by
the death of the venerable father, Wallace Shelton.
This death was followed by that of his fellow worker
and companion in the gospel, Samuel D. Fox, who
died December 1, 1891. Both had reached a ripe age,
Shelton being 81 years and Fox 79 years. Shelton is
buried in the Union Baptist Cemetery at Cincinnati,
Ohio, and Fox lies in beautiful Ferncliff at Spring¬
field. Ohio. Both have beautiful monuments erected
to their memories, the one erected to Shelton was
given by the churches of the association, while the
one erected to Fox was given by the Sunday schools
of the Western Union Sunday School Convention.
Both are excellent testimonials of the love and esteem
in which both were held by their friends and reflect
great credit upon the donors.
Others of the older brethren who labored with these
grand men have followed since in death: P. F. Fos-
sette, T. Webb, J. M. Meek, William Byrd, Paul Cum¬
berland, J. S. Adams, John Redman, and many others.
Younger men, but enthusiastic in their devotion to
the cause of Christ have gone to reap the full fruition
of iheir labor. While the association still continues
in the work committed to the hands of younger men,
from whom much is to be expected by reason of the
superior advantages which they have. The sagacity
and foresight of the older brethren, however, in # so
far as it related to the possibilities and hopes of build¬
ing up a substantial Christian citizenship, and their
82
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
untiring zeal and unselfish labor to bring about such
results as they desired, is today not equalled by that
of the younger men. But we sincerely hope that the
foundation so magnificently laid may not be lost, but
upon it may be erected a structure so grand in all of
its appointments as to stand out in boldest relief, a
glorious monument enduring to eternity.
One other movement, and perhaps one more ex¬
pressive of that deep feeling of brotherly love, "In
as much as ye have done it unto one of the least, ye
have done it unto me," has been inaugurated in re¬
cent years. That is to establish and maintain a home
for aged and infirm ministers. Coupled with this is
the desire to establish along with it a theological
school. As we have discussed in previous pages, the
various efforts to establish a school with their subse¬
quent and apparent failure, the outcome for the fut¬
ure so far as the school goes will be awaited with in¬
terest. A small tract of land with a house upon it has
been purchased near Bellefontaine, Ohio, and an ef¬
fort U being made to interest the churches in con¬
tributing to make the movement a success. The ob¬
ject of caring for aged ministers who have given their
lives unselfishly for the cause, when no longer able to
do active service, and who through thier zeal for the
Master have neglected to provide for their future ma¬
terial comfort, is a very worthy one, and should com¬
mand the sympathy and unstinted support of every
Christian man. Rev. J. J. Jackson, D. D., is at pres¬
ent the efficient and enthusiastic head of this enter¬
prise, and there seems to be no doubt, with his intel¬
ligent zeal and business knowledge, backed by a gen¬
erous financial support from the churches and that of
others favorably inclined, the. success desired must
fallow.
An examination of all records for the purpose of
showing what has been done in a finacial way reveals
the following:
History of W. U. B. A. ot Ohio
83
Statement of Money Raised and Expended
For Church and Current Expenses $235,399.27
For Pastors' Salaries 213,234.83
Superanuated Ministers 294.04
African Missions 1,729.54
Home Missions 8,694.86
Education 686.19
Ag^d Ministers' Home 166.50
Total $460,205.23
The figures present a very remarkable showing for
a people so poor in this world's goods, and so un¬
tutored, as to S3^stematic methods of raising money
for the spread of the gospel, and as large and credit¬
able as they appear, they do not in fact represent all
that has been accomplished in this particular, for from
1840 to 1872, a period of 32 years, no regular system
of accounting for all money raised was in use, so that
really—with the exception of money raised for the
printing of minutes, which is included in the column
of "money raised for all other purposes"—the system
of accounting for all money raised begins with 1872
and the figures are brought to date. In two items,
those for African Missions and Education, the collec¬
tion of funds for these began in 1888. The item Home
Missions, includes every dollar where given that can
be classed as missionary money, such as assistance to
weak churches, sick and indigent ministers, reports
of traveling missionaries who were appointed annual¬
ly by the association, as well as money contributed to
the " ''Woman's Baptist Home Mission Society"
(white) and "American Missionary Union" (white)
societies doing work among the colored people. This
does not include money raised for the purchase and
payment of church property, the total valuation of
which is not definitely known as figures for many of
the churches have not been secured, but of those
known, the figures given in the minutes of 1908, the
latest published, place the amount at $310,557-50-
With the present figures as a basis showing the
84
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
amount of energy along all lines, and that too, under
circumstances of the most discouraging character,
there seems to be no good reason, why the efficiency
of this organization may not be strengthened two¬
fold, if not more, under the more favorable conditions
that new exist. The continuance of this prosperity
and the increase of activity necessary to develop a
stronger and more durable interest in the work pro¬
posed, should appeal very strongly to the hearts of
every individual now connected with this organiza¬
tion, and the obligation rests upon those who are the
recognized leaders, to see to it that every force at their
command is utilized to that end.
With a table of figures showing the growth in num¬
bers of the membership, which we trust will enable
you to determine how much spiritual energy has been
expended, and whether or not the advancement along
all Hnes is in keeping with the spirit ordained by the
fathers, we leave with you this little book, not as a
complete history but a brief review of the work done
up to date, leaving to the future historian, whoever
he may be, to record (we hope) wonderful and glor¬
ious achievements.
History of W. TJ. B. A. of Ohio
85
YEARS
ADDITIONS
30
50
8l
33
94
125
113
ii5
83
136
161
69
170
211
293
433
408
505
361
436
374
520
23
14
39
26
43
57
43
34
24
26
53
49
49
38
60
9i
89
7i
75
68
141
97
10
22
10
6
16
6
10
14
15
10
17
23
29
46
24
35
52
71
5i
66
60
90
100
139
118
87
7i
66
57
DISMSSIONS
ta
40
45
35
28
33
34
32
36
5i
61
57
39
7i
82
83
162
81
105
123
118
135
163
3
7
11
18
29
13
26
20
28
24
29
37
50
47
52
58
74
64
72
7i
65
79
Total '40-72
4801
1210
683
638
1614
877
Total Additions 7332
Total Dismissions 3464
Total Gain 3868
86
History of W. TL B. A. of Ohio
ADDITIONS
DISMISSIONS
W
•0
Lettei
w
(9
M
rt-
O
H
H
I
M
P
GO
ta
*
2-
0
O
O-
Lettei
YEARS
p
J
a-
1
s
Q-
£
p-
i
TOTAL
1873 •
262
51
38
66
48
31
2307
1874 .
180
45
19
66
44
33
2408
^75 •
120
40
24
38
66
36
26
2502
1876 .
242
66
25
83
84
38
52
2744
ai 677
334
73
77
no
123
76
&3
32
3044
1878 .
153
47
190
65
7
hi
60
44
32 77
1879 .
216
55
128
74
48
157
7i
70
3443
1880 .
249
62
74
76
54
117
82
42
3365
1881 .
93
55
28
56
100
129
43
38
3861
18 82 .
460
88
58
113
81
93
93
46
39J8
1883 •
116
57
37
75
21
112
54
41
3968
1884 .
158
86
57
7i
33
181
57
51
4024
1885 .
238
70
53
9i
148
134
60
54
4159
1886 .
275
49
73
105
53
184
64
66
4626
1887 •
377
104
77
158
3i
94
60
64
4841
1888 .
273
89
57
95
61
99
75
64
4983
1889 .
268
137
86
107
188
108
78
82
5178
1890 .
197
100
83
86
56
89
76
5o
535i
1891 .
277
81
78
hi
103
118
86
67
5498
1892 .
244
84
66
125
60
128
no
74
5715
1893 .
290
177
60
173
239
9i
94
59
6012
1894
549
103
99
136
219
202
105
64
5983
1895 .
167
83
75
105
64
244
81
70
6149
1896 .
298
67
113
178
108
189
116
77
6940
1897 .
656
94
140
217
4i
r35
9i
49
7189
1898 .
337
93
83
192
127
194
80
55
7184
1899 .
215
65
86
113
177
150
9i
66
7348
*1900
58
89
1901 .
334
7i
9i
88
115
98
7699
1902 .
334
85
94
209
io-}
112
100
56
7936
1903 .
176
75
60
262
68
162
71
35
8i73
1904 .
342
220
85
191
157
28
105
52
8599
1905 .
334
116
95
322
215
175
95
75
8906
1906 .
456
95
100
247
100
103
53
9503
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
87
YEARS
ADDITIONS
DISMISSIONS
TOTAL
a
*
s*
s
ST
F
t
i
H
H
g»
1-
8 i
a
5
s
B.
EJ
s
§.
s.
S
a
g
n
1907 .
1908 .
472
626
75
92
145
142
369
381
36
149
145
46
I20
I23
27
48
IO236
IIO4I
O *0
O O
00 00
10318
15118
2950
4160
2763
3446
4825II2994
5473II2994
4273
5987
2768!l9II
3645I2884
Total Additions, 1872-1908 20,856
Total Dismissed, 1872-1908 11,946
Total Gain 8,910
"•'Statistics lost, Minutes burned while in press.
a Under the head of "Erasure." This practice was
not adopted until 1877. Members whose whereabouts
could not be accounted for were included in this list,
their names were placed upon a separate roll or erased
entirely.
The figures in this table showing the numerical
strength of this association from year to year have
been verified from the minutes, and the numbers reck¬
oned by a careful comparison, taking the reports of
the year previous as a basis. Many clerks of the
churches are not careful in making their reports, to
use the previous year as a basis and for this reason the
table in the minutes show at times a difference, for
instance: The minutes of 1902 shows the total mem¬
bership to be 6,885, while in 1903 the total given is
5,165, the difference is 1,720 and is not properly ac¬
counted for. The figures in this table show just what
the membership was for those years, the correction
being made and brought up year by year from 1873.
88
History of W. U. B. A. of Ohio
NAMES OF MODERATORS AND CLERKS,
AND TERMS OF SERVICE.
MODERATORS
Wallace Shelton,. 1842-46
Samuel Jones, 1846-47
Wallace Shelton,. 1848
Samuel Jones, 1849
Wallace Shelton, 1850
Samuel Jones, 1851-54 A
John T. Ward, 1860-61 B
G. W.. Bryant. 1862-63
L. B. Moss, 1864-65
George Dardis, r866 '
Wallace Shelton, 1867
James Poindexter, 1868
I. Redmonds, 1869
A. Pratt, 1870
James Poindexter, 1871
Samuel Jones, 1872
Wallace Shelton. 1873
L. B. Moss, 1874
P. F. Fossette, 1875-78
Wallace Shelton, 1879
L. B. Moss, 188081
P. F. Fossette, 1882
R. Merideth, 1883-84
P. F. Fossette, 1885-86
A. F. Darnell, 1887
P. F. Fossette, 1888-90
J. M. Meek, D. D., 1891
MODERATORS
P. H Williams, 1892
H. L. Page, 1893-94
N. S. Merritt. 1895-96
R. D. Phillips, 1897-98
J. W. Byrd, 1899-1900
H. D. Prowd, 1901-02
L. W. Gray, 1903-04
R. D. Grant, 1905-06
J. ]. Jackson, 1907-08
- CLERKS
Samuel D. Fox; 1842-43
A. E. Graham, 1844
Samuel D. Fox, 1845-46
John T. Ward. 1847-52
John Booker, 1860-62
R. James, 1863-64
J. M. Meek, 1865-66
J. C. Allen, 1867
Jno. McSimpson, 1868-69
J. M. Meek, 1870-78
G. W. Hackley, 1878
Chas. D. Swayne, 1879-95
E. W. B. Curry, 1896-97
N. S. Merritt, 1898
E. W. B. Curry, 1899-1902
W. L Anderson, 1903-05
Chas. T. Isom, 1906-08
BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH, DAYTON, 0.
Rev. J. B. Anderson, D. D., Pastor.
BAPTIST CHURCH, YELLOW ,SPRI NGS, O.
Rev. C." M. E. Lewis, Pastor.