CHAP. V.] INCREASE OF CONG'L CHURCHES. 217 measures which some Ohio Congregationalists had unfortunately adopted and practised for awhile against all these, Congregationalism, pure and evangelical, orderly in form and sound in the faith, had to struggle for many years — has, in fact, still to struggle; and in the southwestern part of Ohio the struggle has been longer and harder than in any other part of the State. Between the years 1830-40 there were fortythree Congregational churches organized in the whole State; that is, forty-three which are still living; and of these, four were in the southwestern counties. Between 1840-50 thirty-four Congregational churches were formed, of which eight were in the southwest. One of these was the second Congregational church in Cincinnati, the Lawrence Street Church, formed in 1840. The Vine Street Church was fully organized in 1846, and the Seventh Street Church in 1847. These two churches were formed by colonieschiefly New England people from the First and the Second Presbyterian churches of Cincinnati ; not, however, without much opposition; for they were not only dissentients from Presbyterian rule, and advocates of a free and popular church government, but many of them were also warmly enlisted in the anti-slavery cause, which found little favor among the Presbyterians, and was indeed very unpopular in that entire section of Ohio. Though compelled to encounter much reproach and severe hostility, and at times brought low and even threatened with utter extinction, these free churches struggled on, and at length began to prosper. When the Seventh Street Church, in 1847, assumed the title of "The First Orthodox Congre gational Church of Cincinnati," it was by a vote of fifty-six to five. From this vote we may presume that its entire membership was then not far from one hundred and thirty. Their first pastor, after reorganizing, was the Rev. John K. Lord. He was installed in October, 1847, and died, greatly lamented, of cholera, in July, 1849, after a popular and prosperous ministry of twenty-one months. During his pastorate the accessions to the church were fifty-three. After this, the church passed through several years of adversity and trial, and its downfall was confidently predicted. But the congregation began at length to increase, and by the aid of outside friends a large debt was paid off, and the sun of prosperity began to shine upon the enterprise. In 1860 it was able to report a membership of two hundred and thirty-five, and in 1879 three hundred and forty-six. The Vine Street Church, formed in November, 1846, also prospered and increased, reporting, in 1856, a membership of two hundred and fifty. Since that date it does not seem to have increased much in numbers; though its Sabbath school in 1878 was somewhat larger, and its benevolent contributions were considerably in advance of its more numerically prosperous sister church. CHAP. V.] STATISTICAL SUMMARY. 219 A fifth Congregational church was organized in Columbia, one of the suburbs of Cincinnati, in 1867; and has proved to be a vigorous flourishing little vine. In 1873 it reported ninety-three church members; and in 1879 one hundred and seventeen. In addition to the churches already named in southwestern Ohio, a Congregational church was organized in Springfield, Clark county, in 1850; another at Lebanon, Warren county, in 1857; at New London, Butler county, in 1866; and perhaps a few others which have escaped notice. But altogether the Congregational churches of the twenty-one southwestern counties of Ohio cannot much exceed the number of the counties themselves; while their aggregate church membership in 1877-78 was only about twenty-two hundred-2,248.* The largest of these churches *I begin with Adams county, on the Ohio river, and follow up the second tier of counties, to Union county, near the centre of the State, and then go west to Darke county, on the boundary of the State, which include the entire southwest corner of the State-just twenty counties. In these, according to my count, there are just twenty Congregational churches now, 1878, viz.: Cincinnati, Storrs Church, 1832, Hamilton Co. Eaton, 1838, Preble Co. Fairfield, 1841, Green Co. Greenfield, 1822, Highland Co. is the Welsh church at Gomer, which had in 1879 a noble membership of four hundred and twenty souls. Enough has now been said to indicate what has been the history of Congregationalism in southwestern Ohio for the past three fourths of a century, and to demonstrate that hitherto that region has proved to be uncongenial to Congregationalism. We have now looked over the early history of Congregationalism in the great State of Ohio. A few additional figures will elucidate the later history of the denomination in the State. At the close of the year 1844, there had been planted in Ohio one hundred and fourteen Congregational churches. In 1854 the number had increased to one hundred and eighty-nine. In 1860 the reported number was one hundred and Jerome, 1866, Union Co. Springfield, 1850, Clark Co. Centreville (Welsh), 1859, Montgomery Co. Linwood, 1875, Hamilton Co. Monroe, 1829, Butler Co. Pisgah, 1854, Butler Co. Ripley, 1851, Brown Co. York, 1833, Union Co. Gomer, 1835, Allen Co. There are a very few churches, additional, whose locality I cannot determine by their recorded names. CHAP. V.] SUMMARY CONTINUED. 221 ninety-eight churches, with nearly twelve thousand communicants-11,750. In 1865 there were two hundred and thirty-six churches and sixteen thousand five hundred communicants. The year following, 1866, the number of our churches reported was seventy-six less, and the number of communicants was nearly five thousand less. This apparent falling off is explained by the fact that all Congregational churches which were connected with and reported by Presbyteries were dropped from our list in 1866. In 1868 the number of pure Congregational churches in Ohio had increased to one hundred and seventyone, and the communicants to nearly fourteen thousand-13,896. In 1871 we find the denomination rapidly approaching the number reported six years previous-two hundred and and one churches being the number returned; while our church members amounted to seventeen thousand, actually exceeding by five hundred the number reported in 1865. In 1878-79 the Year-Book reported two hundred and sixteen pure Congregational churches, and twenty-two thousand two hundred eighty-seven church members—a gain of fifteen churches and more than five thousand communicants in the course of eight years. From these data now given, it appears that, of all the Congregational churches now living in Ohio, forty-two were formed between the years 1800 and 1820; and, what is particularly noteworthy, nearly half of these churches date from |