p. 150 | OHIO | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 8, 1879

OHIO

Paulding and Uniopolis.—I came to Paulding, April 25. Spoke twice in the court-house to a few. A goodly number of Sabbath-keepers came in on Sabbath and Sunday. I explained to them the nature of our work and the duties of our people. Nineteen gave in their names to form a church. Four were baptized. Some were sick, and some were to get letters before they could unite; so only twelve entered into church organization. Bro. Wm. F. Crouse was elected and ordained elder, and Sister Morehouse was elected clerk.

The brethren obtained a full outfit for the Sabbath-school, including a club of sixteen Instructors; they also procured all our blank-books for the various branches of the work, and a set of Sister White’s works, costing, in all, $25. There are over thirty Sabbath-keepers in this place, mostly raised up within the last year by Bro. Rupert’s labors. There is good material here for a strong church. He will follow up the work, and probably gather in others who are still interested. They need a meeting-house.

Sunday afternoon we came eighteen miles through the rain and mud, in a lumber wagon, over terrible roads, to Van Wert. This part of the country is newer, rougher, and wilder than Northern Michigan.

I came to Uniopolis, Monday, April 28. This is a most lovely country, very rich and finely improved. A company of over a dozen Sabbath-keepers has settled here. Some have embraced the truth here. Bro. Rupert labored some with them last winter. They have a Sabbath-school and regular meetings, and have promptly adopted the tithing system, as every Christian should do. Hence I found their money ready, and no complaining. All business was laid aside and we spent all of Tuesday in meetings of various kinds. I baptized four, and organized a church of eight. The others will come in soon. We raised money enough to furnish the Sabbath-school, and supply the church with all our blank-books. I am much pleased with the zeal of this little company. There is a deep interest here, and all around them. The most pressing calls for meetings are made within a few miles on each side of them.

We had the pleasure here of meeting Eld. Hamilton Hull, of the S. D. Baptists, who remained all through the meetings. Twelve miles from here is a company of over one hundred S. D. Baptists, of whom he is pastor. It is their only church in Ohio, though there are scattered members all around it, and three churches in the West have been formed from it. Both Bro. Hull and his church gave us a warm invitation to visit them. We regretted that it was impracticable to do so, at least at present. D. M. CANRIGHT.

Wakeman.—Sabbath, April 26, I baptized five persons, and organized a church of twelve members. Others are keeping the Sabbath, and will join soon. Officers: F. O. French, elder; F. M. Shepherd, S. S. superintendent; Gertrude M. French, church clerk; and Elvina Corban, treasurer. May they so live that the Lord can bless them, and add to their numbers. H. A. ST. JOHN.

Corsica, April 28.—Our meeting at Belleville closed very encouragingly last Wednesday evening. Thursday we returned to Corsica, after an absence of five weeks. Harmony and love prevail. The Sabbath-school is proving a grand success, as well as the Sabbath and evening prayer-meetings. They enjoy these meetings and can hardly wait for the Sabbath to come. On the Sabbath we celebrated the ordinances for the first time in this new church, and the Lord came very near. Sunday six were baptized, and joined the church.

The Methodist minister preached three sermons against our views. Their house, which will seat about three hundred, was packed to overflowing. Sunday afternoon and evening we reviewed him at the private house of Bro. Stevens. The rooms, which were large, were quite full, many standing outside around the door. The Methodist minister’s effort amounted to almost nothing. He dealt largely in slang and mimicry, and accused us of ignorance, but when he criticised Hebrew and Greek words, his own ignorance was manifest. On the whole, his effort will greatly help our cause in this place. At the close of our review we repaired to the water, where six more were buried with their Lord in baptism, making twenty-six that have come into the church organization. There are still others who will be baptized, and come into the church at our next quarterly meeting.

The masons are laying the foundation of our meeting-house, and the carpenters are framing the timber, and in a few weeks the house will be up and inclosed. A tract society was organized last night. Some of the Methodists have gone to the lawyers to get counsel to keep the brethren from desecrating the pope’s Sunday. A. O. BURRELL.