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OBSERVEJNTENNIaIPLEASANTMilfthis little church a« minuter* or rhr* gospH; J. Madison Williams, William F.’kprman, John I.II STORY OF CHURCHTelford, JamesRaymond Wit*to those minis-Nlcholaon andas evangelisticNiehol-u»n S. P.T, Nichols and trig. In addition ter* Clayton A, wife wont otitslnaera, and have sung the gos-j»H in nearly every state In theunion. Thus this little unpretentious country ehtirrh has,through Its in!n 1sters and singers, touched arid quickened the religious life of a large portionof our great commonwealthNearly ««*► MembersPleasant Hill Isprogressive church hershlp of nearlyIt has a liveschool which often one hundred markstill a strong, with a mem-two hundred, active Bible passes the In attend-Pleasant Hill Church of Christ♦\\Ylt;lnlt;*,s the IMeaMint llillioiU* * III* titnh\m*k usHI( It it nil of ( liri.st, hix milesHim! henst of Washington,ot ifiiiii/.etl in IHMti eelebrat1*11its centennial, withnil aII%t nit• lav 1 foi» IDr S.program.of Washington,who was reared in this • Inin*h, has written a historyOII N If 111it* o !ftit H Olwhichutilization and later\ oar#*ifad tothe .1 OlISwhere Keokuk now stands. Th»y stayed a year or more and then returned to their own claims;and then church services were resumed in the Moore home. The second interval occurred during the latter part of the Civil wai. Unwise actions andutterances overcaused such Intense personal animosities r up ted the church, short time. It ceased Lion Hut by and bywar issues friction andthat it disand, for u to fuuc-tlie wise4 —tpublish.nCo I(11 l»r. S. I*. Telford)I love Thy kingdom, Lord, Toe uouse ol Thine abode; ih. utiurch our blest RedeemersavedUitcounsel of the older men vailed, and Hie church was revived.limit Church In 1H4MIDuring the late winter and ■prlng of lKCti, John Morgan. William Moore, son of itlchurd Moore, William McFarland.James Anderson and Joseph Nits iti. MU own precious blood, ehols conceived the idea ofuniting the members of the awakening church by enlisting them in the building of a suitable house of worship. OnMarch 2. istiti, E, Ross survey ed section 3, north, range 7 aam Anderson: then donated thei m her my tears shall fall, for her my prayers ascend; To her my cares and toils begiven.Thl toils and care* shall end.”hrice The direct descendants n! 1 Richard Moore, in whose log cabin the church was organized, are active workers In the church today. Little did those pioneer Christians realize they were laying the foundation for a thriving country church which, in one hundred years, would multiply many times and send outits lines of Influence far and wide throughout the land. They builded better than they knew. They sowed In tears; we aroreaping In Joy. Freely theygave, and freely we have received.I became a member of pleasant Hill church Just fifty years ago; and my religious life has been Intimately Interwoven withits history during the last halfof It* existence. For fortyvears 1 was acquainted with Mrs Mary Stiles, granddaughterof Absalom Deeper under whose ministry the church was organized For fifteen yeac* I wasverv Intimately acquafh'ed withWilliam Moore, son of RichardMoore in whose cabin home thechurch first met and worshiped for fifteen vears. William Moore was pre*rnt at the organizing of the church and was a member until his death in 1900 slxtv-four vears later. From these two persons the earlv history ofHie church was handed down toHFllU*hardyrnaiiounThorn* lines express thedominant, soul-stirring meats ot many of the pioneers who settled on the fertile soil of our beloved stale lor Iowa «»m* hundred years agoand planted the **Runner of theCros» ’ in the great “Empire of no* Middle West.” They took their religion with them and Rethels” spiaiig up all over the land The first on Iowa soil wasMethodist Episcopal congregation near Dubuque, in 1834; and by the close of the year 1S4o quite a number of congregation* of the various religion* communions had been established on the west aide of the Father of Waters.Among the Churches or Christ, the Lost Creek churchlo.n Fort Madison, in LooCounty holds honorable firstplace On July 3. 183#. David R Chance preached in the log cabin home of Isaac Uriggs, andeight per-on* enrolled as charter members of the Lost Creek t’hurcli «»t Christ; thus the restoration movement was plantedon Iowa soil.VI tHire Faintly t'aniesthe spring of the sameRichard Moore and his twoAmos andfrom Putnam diami, atid took upmiles Houiheast ofdte ot Washington, in ington county. Richard built a double log cabin Haim and plowed andtwenty acres. Then they returned to Indiana and, aftercompleting preparations, movedto their new home in Iowa earlyin * he fall of the same year. During the spring and summer r ISltl. several new settlerswi te|y scattered claimsTownship 7 4west, for Jial-Mr. Andersonground for thechurch and cemetery.Henry Anderson, being a carpenter, superintended the construction of the tie w church house. James Anderson, who was a mechanic as well as a farmer made the scuts, pulpitdesk and the communion table. John Morgan, William Moore, William McFarland, Joseph Nichols, John Henry Kephart and others, hauled the material out from Washington and assisted in the erection of the building.At this distant day—after three score and ten years—we of the present have very little conception of the forbearance.fortitude, sacrifice and self •ju-trol those noble souls, in ttaimethe next generation; now pass It on in written form those who follow after us.William Moore used towe young folks how, in the ginning days of the church.wetotellboll ewas morethan inpreaching cond noted catdn, he room and crowd. HeInterested In mischiefreligion and, whileservice was beingin one room of the stayed In the other cooked dinner for thesaid he took specialtarThaddetts, county, Inclaims three the presentWasti-Mooreon hisfencedandper-andfin-took upin whatcount v.*Soon afterand was helpedtheir new homet :» lt;'lit istianis now Washingtonto th»being a« hurch,conductone room it*s RationdifferentRichard Mooreto his feet by Absalom L‘*e p-minister, camecommunity Mt. Mooremember of the same invited Mr. Lee per tlt;» preaching services in of his cabin home. An was sent out to til *settlers to attendthistheap-tenfirst church service held in community; and, on the pointed Sunday morning,persons came. Two familieswalk. I ten miles and the others walked fifteen miles to church that morning Where are the Christians (71 that w ould do that today1* I am afraid the verv thought «.f such an effort would cause them to fall in a dead faint.Services in HomeFor about fi teen years thechurch held service* in theMoor*- home. During that period, be* des Absalom Deeper, Mr. Grant and Mi Brown sometime*supplied the pulpit ministrations The little church slowly increased until it numberedtwenty members; then the me.tings were transfered to a new l\ built school house near where the present churchstand Richard Moore was thefor many years officer In th.aide-theItsfirst e'der and, was the onlylt; hurchPleasant Hill church hasways functioned. In varyingtrees of activity, duringentire one hundred years ofexistence, except two brief period* The first was in 183?when Chief Wapello, a friendlyIndian, warned Mr Moore of athr *atenelt;i Indian uprising. Af-*er what mieht be called com-rulsorv persuasion Mr. Moore nd sons were induced to leave their home until the danger«'« p-»st The Indians assisted •hem in loading their beloug-tne* and they went down to a more protected settlement near. wav days, had to czcreiaa in order to buy the bitter setHi menu and hatred engendered by those terrible four years of war. The war was elided, but the hitter hatred and personal animosities still existed In the minds and heart* of the people; and It was hard to suppress them. The smouldering tiros were hard to smother out But the leaders tried to keep Christ and the interests of Ills church in the forefront In their lives and in their contact with each other, and the gospel won the victory. Times were hardmoney scarce, but by theirsistent fortitude, Industry sacrifice the building was illy completed and dedicated. That first Lord’s Day in theirnew house of worship was a high day in the community; the Joy and enthusiasm of it did much to burn out the unholyanlmosiites that had so longdisrupted the church and rent asunder the sacred ties of Christian fellowship That was thirty years after the beginning of thechurch In the pioneer cabin ofRichard Moore and twenty vears after Iowa was admitted Into the union as a state.Preaching Once a MonthAfter the dedication in June Freeman Walden of ColumbusCity. Iowa. was called to preach for the church once a month. At that time John Moreau and William Moore were elected elders and Joseph Nichols, A J. Hrummage and A. E. Benson were elected deacons. John Morgan was chosen superintendent of the Bible school.Tin* church increased In numbers until, at the end of two weirs they were able to supportpreaching every two weeks in-Read of only once a month.During the intervening years iftween ikfifi, and the nresent — 19 T f» the following personshave served the Pleasant HH1church either as pastor or nsvangelist; Freeman Walden, Tense McCrnry. M F Miller, L. C. Wilson, C, E. Evans, J. if. Painter, George F Devol, 14. M Scott, Mr. Leigh. W M. Se-monea. S M. Martin. 1) F. Snider, Bruco Brown, L. W. JKUn-ker, William Branch S. H Giv-ler. S B. Ross, W S. Johnson,J H Ragan A. L. Criley, L, W. Tucker, C. E. Hunt, L. H. Hunt-E. Huntley C. h.H. Betts, C. h K. Coates, W, A.1 Nicholson, A. B.delight in dropping all the pan* he could and making asmuch noi*e as possible for the entertainment of the worshipers in the adjoining room. In bis later years he retained his interest In the harmless sports and amusements of the young people but, at the same time, set them the example of a righteous life; and was a strongpillar In the church. Those older disciples taught and trained the younger generation in church life and management so they would be qualified to stop into the vacancies when their lathers were called to pass on That is one great secret of Pleasant Hill’s faithful continuance through the long years ofthe century,I have watched that older generation as they stepped off the stage of action and saw them pass the hlazinr torch of spiritual battle to those who came after them. 1 have spoken words of eulogy at their graveside when they laid down their cross to take up their crown. Then, turning to the generation younger than myself 1 have f*at at the communion table with their grandsons and their great-grandsons in the observance of that Holy Feast, As I sit in the evening glow of Life's Twilight waiting for the sun to go down; my interest in the old home church grow* deeper anil deeper, as I watch the procession crossing the century mark between the fruitful past and the opportunities which are wrapped in the folds of the years that are yet to be. A thoughtful survey of the blessings of the past should inspire us to great activity in the new century Just opening before us. In quiet meditation I try to weigh; to measure; to compute; the value and the blessings of this littlecountry church to the community and to the world, during all those wonderful one hundredyears. In profound reverence Iask myself the question:\4 hat Do We Owe the Church?What do we owe the littlechurch—The little white church onthe hill?We loved In our youthful daysAnd today we love it still.If we would learn how muchwe oweThe little white church today; We must compute, in silencemute,Our blessings along the way.iii!hley, Mrs. I. Organ. W. Walker. S. Hunt, JohnCornell. B W ford, VernonPettit. S H. CarteriTel-Mrs.Jessie SarchettWittrigBuildingThe buildinglias been twiceand Raymondwe will only count blessings. one byknow and underwhite churchAh, yes' ifAll our one;Then we will stand What the little has done.We will appreciate, more.The splendid help it hasTo liehten our load, on lone road And help us to live trueI.iStmore an1beenlife’sni e nRemodeled erected in 1S66. remodeled; oncein 1901, and again in 1914 A.t that time it was put in itspresent form and condition; with a full basement in which Is a dining room, kitchen and furnace The church has become a very much appreciated community centerSix men have gone out fromWhen we, :d last, shall enter in The land of eternal rest;And meet again each otherthere.In the home forever blest; And we remember in the little churchWe were taught the Father's xv lt;11;Then we will know’ how much we oweThe little white church on the hill.S«il with »
Newspaper Details
Washington Democrat Independent
Washington, Iowa, US
Thu, Oct 15, 1936
Page 16
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 02 Apr 2020
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