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1943 Smith thesis

A HISTORY OF THE
MAHONING BAPTIST ASSOCIATION


Thesis
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment 
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts 
to the Faculty of the Graduate School 
of West Virginia University


by


Mary Agnes Smith, A. B.


Morgantown,
West Virginia 
1943



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. ii]

PREFACE

The subject of this study was suggested to the author...



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. iii]

ABSTRACT

This thesis traces the history of the Mahoning Baptist Association...



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. iv]

The third chapter shows the influence of Alexander Campbell...



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. v]

INTRODUCTION

Among the valuable source materials of American church history not yet published, is the Journal of the Mahoning 
Baptist Association in the Hiram College Library at Hiram, Ohio,,,,



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. vi]

but no printed copy of the minutes of 1820 is available...



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. vii]

meetings? what rich and abundant materials...



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. viii]

Burke A. Hinsdale, President of Hiram College from 1870 until 1882...



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. ix]


Association, which was in existence for a ten-year period (1820-1830) while the Western Reserve was a frontier region, 
is an historically valuable one, for it presents a leading scene in the drama of the development of religion on 
America's frontier.




M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. x]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ii PREFACE

iii ABSTRACT

v INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER:

1. I. FRONTIER RELIGION AND THE CAMPBELL INFLUENCE...



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. xi]

66 IV. AN EVANGELISTIC PROGRAM ADOPTED (1827)...



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 1]

Chapter I 

FRONTIER RELIGION AND THE CAMPBELL INFLUENC

Religion on the Frontier

It is widely recognized that America's frontier was of far-reaching significance to the political and economic life 
of the country during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The influences of the frontier and the frontier spirit 
on the religious history of the times are equally important. A summary of the historical facts of the development 
of religion on the frontier must first recognize the influence of the frontier itself on the religious life of the 
period. The frontier produced a type of eccentric life and theory and of political practice and doctrine, which was 
typically its own; it also created its own typical religious experience and expression. The result, according to 
Niebuhr, was the formation of peculiarly western denominations. [1]

The eastern states were interested in the frontier and the religious problems it had to face. Missionary societies in 
Massachusetts and Connecticut wished to get an authentic picture of conditions; and in 1813 they appointed two men, 
B. J. Mills and J. F. Schermerhorn, as their agents "to make a tour through the Western and Southern States and 
Territories, preach the gospel to the destitute, explore the country, examine the moral and religious state of the 
people and promote the establishment of Bible societies wherever they went," These men reported that 


__________
1. H. Richard Neibuhr, _Social Sources of Denominationalism_, pp. 136-137.


M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 2]

great tracts of country...


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M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 3]


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M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 4]


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M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 5]


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M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 6]


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[7]


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[8]


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[9]


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[10]


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M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 11]

active, America's frontiersmen were seeking new land and an opportunity to exercise their religious nature in whatever 
way their instincts led them.

The area known as the Western Reserve includes eleven counties in northeastern Ohio. The historical background may be 
briefly summarized as follows: Before the Revolutionary War, Cinnecticut claimed lands reaching far into the west. 
After the formation of the United States Government, she ceded all her lands to the United States except three million 
acres, in what is now northeastern Ohio. Originally this tract was called "New Connecticut" or "The Connecticut 
Western Reserve." Latter the word "Connecticut" was dropped, and it became known simply as "The Western Reserve." It 
was settled mostly by people from New England, and in the early part of the century Baptist and Methodist churches 
sprang up in considerable numbers. [20] 

In writing of the Baptist influence on the frontier regions William W. Sweet says:

Generally speaking they belonged to the class, economically, which would be attracted by the lure of cheap land. The 
pure democracy of the Baptist church government would also tend to attract them to the freer life and the greater 
democracy of the frontier.... The Baptists were particularly well suited in their ideas of government, in their 
economic status, and in their form of church government to become the ideal western land grants. [21]

In 1800 the population of the Western Reserve was not great. It was truly a frontier region. The entire Northwest 

__________
20. Adamson Wilcox, _A History of the Disciples of Christ in Ohio_, p. 40

21. Sweet, _Story of Religions_, p. 312.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 12]

Territory, which later was formed into five states, had a pipulation of only 51,000. There were few schools and but 
one college. The pipulation of Cincinnati, the largest town, was 1,750. [22]

The Mahoning Association

The Baptist churches established in this frontier region were frequently organized into associations, and in 1820 one 
such group was formed which called itself the Mahoning Baptist Association. It embraced churches in parts of 
Columbiana, Trumbull, Portage, and Mahoning counties. [23]

This Association is of significance to the religious history of America, for in it we see the early Baptist Church 
movement on the frontier. The Association is of special importance to the history of the Disciples of Christ; for 
this church (the largest of the denominations purely American in their origin) [24] had its beginning, so far as the 
Western Reserve area is concerned, in the Mahoning Baptist Association.

The significance of the Association can be seen in the fact 


__________
22. Garrison, _Religion_, p. 55.

23. Burke A. Hinsdale, _A History of the Disciples in Hiram, Portage County, Ohio_, pp. 5-16.

24. United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, _Religious Bodies, 1926_, Vol. 1, pp. 86-96. The 
figures given for the membership of the eight largest Protestant churches are as follows: Negro Baptists, 3,782,404; 
Methodist Episcopal, 3,509,763; Southern Baptist Convention, 2,709,155; Methodist Episcipal South, 2,051,883; 
Presbyterian Church of the Unoted States if America, 1,757,327; Protestant Episcopal, 1,735,335; United Lutheran, 
1, 236,612; and Disciples of Christ, 1,136,316. It will be noted that the churches larger than the Disciples of 
Christ (Methodist-Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Episcopal and Lutheran) are, none of them, purely American in 
origin.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 13]

that many historians of the Disciples of Christ date the beginning of that church from the dissolution of the Mahoning 
Association in 1830. Alfred T. DeGroot says:

In 1830 the Campbells... found themselves forced to carry on their reformation outside of the prevailing 
church systems. This date is generally conceded to be the nearest possible approximation of the real 
separation of the Reformers from the Baptists in whose fellowship they existed with increasing tension 
for seventeen years. In 1830 the Mahoning Baptist Association, of which Alexander Campbell was a member, 
dissolved. [25]

The biographer of Walter Scott throws more light on the significance of the separation in 1830. He says:

The action taken at Austintown may be regarded as the formal separation from the Baptists; up to this time 
the Association was a Baptist body, and the members of it Baptists, although many of their peculiarities 
been abandoned in consequence of a better understanding of the Scriptures. These Baptists who had embraced 
the new views, together with the new converts made, were called Campbellites, and by many Scottites; but 
after the dissolution of the Association... they were called Disciples. [26]

Disciples on the Frontier

The Disciples of Christ, like the Baptist Churches, were a typical frontier church in many respects. In writing about 
Disciple history DeGroot emphasizes that throughout all their formative years, the Disciples were a frintier religious 
movement. "What happened to the frontier happened to the Disciples. The type of person reached, the forms of religious 
services which were held, the political interests and social


__________
25. DeGroot, _Grounds of Divisions_, p. 2.

26. Baxter, _Life_, p, 218. For further discussion of the dissolution of the Association see infra, Chapter V, pp. 88-93.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 14]

habits, the mental characteristics, the economic fortune or misfortune -- the total millieu of the Disciples -- in 
order to be understood must be stamped with the word 'Frontier.'" [27]

Campbell led the Disciples of Christ into a democratic organization; they ordained ministers without requiring that 
they have a theological education and organized their churches on the sectarian principles. [28] "The Disciples." 
says Niebuhr, "appealed to the emotions, used some of the methods of revival and featured immediacy in religious 
experiences." [29] But Campbell was always more reserved in his religious expression. A single instance is recorded 
in his life of his giving way to an emotional expression during a religious meeting. [30] The Disciples of Christ, 
as such, started later than the Methodist and Baptist churches and became organized only after the frontier had 
passed hundreds of miles further inland. It lacked the emotional fervor of the other two and was less aggressive 
than they. It was more representative of a West which had passed through its rugged pioneer stage and was becoming 
settled.

Alexander Campbell's Background

Mr. Campbell, in contrast to the average religious leader of his time, had a background of classical education, As a 
boy


__________
27. DeGroot, _Grounds of Divisions_, p. 11.

28. Niebuhr, _Sources of Denominationalism_, p. 179.

29. Idem.

30. One time near Wellsburg, (West) Virginia when Walter Scott was preaching he held his audience rapt in attention 
and "carried them to the very heavens... Mr. Campbell, forgetting himself, rose to his feet and shouted, 'Glory to God 
in the highest!' Recovering himself and realizing what he had done, he retired in confusion. It was the first and only 
time he ever forgot himself in worship." Benjamin L. Smith, _Alexander Campbell_, p. 320.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 15]

he studied under his father, Thomas Campbell, a rural minister in Ireland who had prepared himself for the ministry 
by taking the prescribed course in divinity at Glasgow University. [31]

Later in his life, just before coming to America, the younger Campbell studied for eight months at Glasgow. Here he 
learned Greek, Latin, and French and read the philosophical, theological, and scientific books of his time. [32] His 
course in philosophy gave him a background and interest which served him well in developing his own philosophy. [33]

Campbell's first year in America was devoted to a study of the scriptures under his father's direction. His biographer 
presents a program of study which Campbell arranged for himself "just as he wrote it for his iwn guidance." I reads 
as follows:

One hour to read Greek --from 8 to 9 in the morning. One hour to read Latin -- from 11 to 12 in the morning. 
One half hour to Hebrew -- between 12 and 1 P. M. Commit ten verses of the Scriptures to memory each day, 
and read the same in the original languages, with Henry and Scott's notes and practical observations. For 
this exercise I shall allow two hours. These exercises, being intended for every day, will not be dispensed 
with. Other reading and studies as occasion may serve. These studies in all require four and a 


__________
31. Ibid., p. 46.

32. Ibid., p. 41.

33. The philosophy of John Locke was an impirtant part of Campbell's philosophical education and in his later years 
had great influence in his toleration of ideas other than his own. He considered Locke the Christian philosopher "par 
excellence" and much of his own thinking was influenced by Locke's theory of knowledge. Locke's view of religious 
toleration was expressed in his _Letters on Toleration_. He felt that one man had as good a right as another to 
interpret the Bible, and that since the exercise of that right would inevitably produce differences of opinion, the 
only practical source to follow was that of toleration. Garrison, _Religion_, pp. 41-44.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 16]

half hours. Church history, and divers other studies, are intended to constitute the principal part of my 
other literary pursuits. [34]

Such study of the classics, philosophy, and the Scroptures was quite unusual for clergymen of Campbell's time in America; 
and it may account for his emphasis on the intellectual rather than the emotional in religion. Campbell and hos 
followers were more interested in fostering union than in converting individual souls.

Sectarianism

Part of the lack of enthusiasm for the church on the part of the people in the early nineteenth century America might 
be explained  by the fact that the Protestant Church was in a state of division and contradiction among sects. Baxter 
says that looking into the Scriptures the people saw that there had been many departures in religious practice from 
their teaching.

Looking into the word of God they saw the way of life clearly, simply, and beautifully set forth; 
looking over the religious world, they beheld darkness, mystery, conflict, and contradiction 
everywhere. When they looked... at the differences, discords, and divisions of those claiming to 
be followers of the meek and lowly One, the contrast was sad and striking, and the questions 
would rise unbidden: Are these the fruits of the teachings of him who came to save a lost world? 
Did he intend that his followers should pursue such different paths? Did he not teach that a house 
divided against itself can not stand? Is what we see right, and the word of God false? [35]


__________
34. Smith, _Campbell_, pp. 82-83.

35. Baxter, _Life_, p. 13.
http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/1874Bax1.htm#pg-013



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 17]

Campbell's Teachings

This characteristic of the religion of his time Alexander Campbell sought to correct. To many people disturbed by 
such division he seemed to offer the solution to their problem, and large numbers if people from all denominations 
were attracted by his doctrine of eliminating sectarian creeds and returning to the Bible as the only true basis 
of faith and practice. Through the medium of his _Christian Baptist_, which he published from 1823 to 1830, he 
aroused an interest in individual study of the Bible and an enthusiasm for his idea of returning to the practice of 
the primitive church as shown in the Scriptures.

The basic principles evolved by the Campbells may be briefly summazired as follows: (1) Any approach to Christian 
union must be based always and only upon the New Testament. (Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where they are 
silent, we are silent); (2) the only creed should be, to recognize Christ as Lord and Saviour; (3) the only source 
of authority for Christians is Jesus; (4) the name of the church should be taken from the leader -- Christ (Christian 
church or Disciples of Christ); (5) the only ordinances to be found in the Bible are Baptism and the Lord's Supper; 
and (6) to prevent division -- which comes from differences in interpretation -- the church should be liberal in 
nonessentials. Men, in the interest of unity, should allow free liberty to others in matters of opinion. "In essentials, 
unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 18]

all things, charity." [36] Many efficient helpers came forward as leaders in the spread of this doctrine, and it 
assumed the proportions of a movement. By many it was called "Campbellism."

Early on his life Mr. Campbell  came to feel that the division of the church, which he concluded was brought about 
by close adherence to narrow bounds pf a party creed, was harmful. He decided to explore the teachings of the Scriptures 
for himself to determine the truth. Instead of rejecting the Bible on account of the divisions, as many people were 
doing, he blamed the sects and parties, saying that they were misusing the Bible. He explained that their differences 
did not originate in the word of God, but in their departures from it and through basing their creeds on their own 
opinions and interpretations of it. The remedy he advocated was the abandonment of all creeds and a return to the Word 
itself as the only rule of faith and practice.

Campbell's efforts were directed toward this end. Where the _Christian Baptist_ circulated, the fiundations of religious 
belief were carefully and earnestly re-examined with the result that many of its readers, to whom religion had been a 
mysterious and altogether unintelligible affair, came to see in it a beautiful harmony and simplicity. They began to 
spread among their neighbors the "Light" which they had received. Being placed on


__________
36. Smith, _Campbell_, Ch. 7, "The Campbells State Their Principles." The statement, "In things essential unity; in 
things doubtful, liberty; in all things, charity," is not original with the Campbells. It has cime down through 
religious history. At the Creyden Church Congress in 1877 Canon Farrar attributed it to Rupertus Meldenius. It has 
also been attributed to Melancthon.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 19]

the defensive, they were obliged to maintain their views by an appeal to the Scriptures. In some instances entire 
churches were led to lay aside their creeds and much of their theology and accept the Word of God as their only 
guide. [37]

At first most of Campbell's efforts were directed toward returning people to a consideration of the Word of God and 
getting them away from sects and creeds. Comparatively little was done for the conversion of sinners, and the churches 
did not increase their membership greatly. Campbell's followers were so occupoed with the attempt to reform the 
church and unite the various parties that they did not at first see the necessity for "urging the original plea." [38]

"Campbellism" in the Western Reserve

The wide interest displayed in Campbell's efforts by religious groups in the Western Reserve indicates that a 
considerable interest in religious things developed in that area during the 1830s. The spread of the influence of 
Campbell's thought in this area centered in the Mahoning Baptist Association. The members of the Baptist churches 
in the Association were influenced first, by his doctrine as set forth in the _Christian Baptist_ and later, by 
Campbell personally when, in August, 1824, his church at Wellsburg, West Virginia [39] came into the Association.
__________

37. Baxter, _Life_, p. 80.

38. Idem.

39. At that time it was Wellsburg, Virginia.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 20]

The churches on the Association placed the same emphasis on learning the meaning of the Sxcriptures and uniting groups 
in their practice as did Campbell. They, too, were interested in achieving unity rather than in converting large 
numbers of people. From the time of its formation in 1820 until the adoption of an evangelical program under Walter 
Scott's direction in 1827, very little increase in membership is reported by the member churches of the Association 
at the annual meetings. [40] 

The corresponding letters written to other associations refer to the fact that the number of new members is not great 
but that the group rejoices in the quality of the faith. The letter for 1823 states that "There has been no considerable 
additions to our numbers, yet our churches appear to remain stedfast in the faith, and all appear to be advancing in 
the great truths contained in the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." [41]

Baptist preachers like Adamson Bentley of the Warren Church, who were leaders in the Association, were influenced by 
the doctrine of Campbell as expounded in the _Christian Baptist_ and they concentrated their efforts on trying to learn 
the true meaning of the gospel. When Campbell entered the Association, he found that through its formative years it 
had been much influenced by his thinking. His views, rejected by the Redstone Baptist Association, were acceptible to 
the majority of the Mahoning group; and he was welcomed into this Association.


__________
40. Appendix C, pp. 2, 6, 12, 19, 24, 28, 33 and 37.

41. Appendix D, p. 13



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 21]

THE MAHONING BAPTIST ASSOCIATION:

THE FORMATIVE YEARS (1820-1823)

Adamson Bentley

Adamson Bentley, minister of the Baptist church at Warren, Ohio from 1811 until 1831, was preminent both in organizing 
the Mahoning Baptist Association [1] and in bringing Alexander Campbell onto that Association. [2] Bentley was one of 
the most influential of the ministers of the several Baptist churches in the Western Reserve. According to Richardson, 
it was Bentley who first introduced a number of his colleagues in the Baptist ministry of that area to hold ministers' 
meetings annually for the purpose of "conversing upon the Scriptures and upon their own religious progress, and 
improving each other by criticisms upon each other's sermons." [3]

When, on August 30, 1820, messengers appointed by ten churches met and constituted the Mahoning Baptist Association, 
the name of Adamson Bentley appeared as one of the four ordained ministers present at that meeting. He came as a 
representative of Concord church, located at Warren, which he had served as pastor since May 4, 1811. [4] His name 
appears in the minutes of each meeting of the Association during its ten years of existence,

__________
1. Garrison, _Religion_, p. 264.

2. For a detailed discussion of Bentley's part in introducing Campbell to the Association see infra. Chapter III, 
pp. 30-31.

3. Robert Richardson, _Memoirs of Alexander Campbell_, Vol. II, p. 43.

4. Hayden, _Early History_, p. 193. 



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 22]

It is logical that the Warren pastor should be the person to take the lead in such a religious group. Warren was the 
religious center of the Western Reserve just as it was for years the political center and "seat of justice" for that 
area. The ministerial assemblies, which were meeting annually, convened at Warren in 1821 and again in 1822. [5] 
Attention would naturally tend to center on the minister of the Warren church, and Adamson Bentley was of the character 
and ability to draw attention to himself as a leader in religious matters, regardless of the location. Hayden says of 
him and his Warren pastorate: "For a long time he was popular in that community. The bland dignity of his manners, 
and his social courtesy, won him many friends. Though his talents as a preacher were above mediocrity, and he was 
heard with delight and profit by numerous auditors, to his social qualities and moral excellencies, as a man and a 
citizen, are to be traced the sources of that extensive power which he possessed among the people." [6] To such a 
man goes the credit for the organization of a ministerial group in his area which eventually led to the formation, 
in the area of the Mahoning River valley, of a Baptist Association which included laity and clergy alike.

Purpose and Creed of Baptist Associations.

Hayden describes Baptist Associations as "voluntary unions of churches for mutual encouragement, for counsel in church 
__________
5. Ibid., p. 93.

6. Ibid., pp. 103-104.
http://sidneyrigdon.com/1875Hay1.htm#pg103


M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 23]

affairs, and for protection against heresy and impostors." [7] The second article of the constitution of the Mahoning 
Association states that "The utility of an Association appears in many respects as the obtaining a more general 
acquaintance with the state of the churches, maintaining a friendly intercourse with each other, giving advice in 
cases of difficulty, supplying destitute churches, and guarding ourselves against innovations, which the churches of 
Christ may expect always to be troubled with by those who lie in wait to deceive." [8]

The Association assumed no authority over the member churches or the individual members but constituted itself as an 
advisory council only. Article one of the constitution explained the object of the Mahoning Baptist Association as 
follows:

1st our object is to glorify God... by urging the importance of the doctrine and precepts of the gospel in 
their moral and evangelical nature, commending ourselves to every man's conscience... not pretending to have 
authority over any man's nor over the churches whise representatives form this Association. But we act as an 
advisory council only, disclaiming all superiority, jurisdiction, coercive right, and infallibility, and 
acknowledging the independence of every church which has received authority from Christ to perform all duties 
enjoyed respecting the givernment of his church in this world. [9]

The procedure for accepting churches into an Association was as follows: Each church was entitled to send three 
representatives who brought with them a written statement of the

__________
7. Ibid., p. 25.

8. Appendix A, p. 1.

9. Idem.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 24]

creed of their church. Hayden explains that "If this document is orthodox, or in harmony with its accepted standards 
of faith, the church is received by a plurality vote, upon which the moderator gives the right hand of friendship to 
its messengers, and bids them to a seat." [10]  Article three of the constitution asks that the messengers chosen by 
the churches to represent them at the Association be "judicious, well versed in the Scriptures, prudent, men of 
integrity, and sound in the faith." [11]  The fourth article provides that the letters sent with the messengers should 
contain the names of the messengers, the "state of the churches respecting their continuance in the faith," the number 
baptized, received by letter, dismissed, restored, excommunicated, deceased, and their total number. It further provides 
that any churches wanting counsel of the Association should state their question in their letters.

The aforementioned practices are typical, according to Hayden, of the regular procedure among the Baptist Associations. 
After Adamson Bentley brought Alexander Campbell into the Mahoning Association in 1824, that Association, which had 
been typically Baptist, began to deviate from the accepted doctrine and practice of Baptist church groups and became 
more and more "Campbellite" in its thinking and practice; by the time of its dissolution in 1830 it was thoroughly 
"Disciple" in theology. We can, however, accept the Mahoning Association as a typical Baptist group during the years 
now under consideration.

__________
10. Hayden, _Early History_, p. 28.

11. Appendix A, p. 1.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 25]

Organization of the Mahoning Association

On Tuesday, August 30, 1820 ten churches of the Mahoning River valley area were represented at a meeting held at Nelson, 
Portage County, Ohio. At 2:00 p.m. the group assembled for worship, and the introductory sermon was delivered by Andrew 
Clark, the ordained minister of the "Salem" Church at Palmyra, [12] who came to the Association as one of the three 
representatives from his church. Following the sermon, the letters from the churches were read and a record of their 
report was made. The officers for the year were chosen and a letter from the Beaver Association was read. The sixth item 
of business recorded in the minutes of the meeting reads: "Resolved that we will form ourselves into an Association, 
which shall be known by the name of the Mahoning Baptist Association." [13]

The name chosen by the Mahoning Association is accounted for by Hayden from the fact that it was customary for 
associations in those days to take their names from rivers. He gives as examples, the names of other associations with 
which the Mahoning had contact through correspondence and inter-change of messengers. The Beaver, Grand River, Huron, 
and Stillwater Associations, as well as the Mahoning, took their names from rivers in their respective areas. [14]

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12. Quotation marks will be used to indicate the name adopted by a church group for their church.  This will distinguish 
the chosen name from the name of the location of the church. Most of the churches had both names, but some times a 
church was known only by the name of the location. It should be noted that to live _in a place_ usually meant to live 
in that township area and not in the town proper.

13. Appendix C, p. 2.

14. Hayden, _Early History_, p. 25.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 26]

After agreeing, on Wednesday, August 30, to form themselves into an association, the group adjourned to meet Thursday, 
August 31. At this second session the first item of business was the reading of the Constitution. It had been formed 
by a convention which met October 23, 1819, [15] and included, in addition to its provisionsreferred to above, rules 
regarding the procedure of meetings and the method of receiving new churches into the Association.

The Mahoning Association was founded on the Philadelphia Confession of Faith as its organic law. This statement of 
Baptist creed was drawn up at Philadelphia, September 25, 1747 and was the orthodox creed adhered to by all Baptist 
churches and Baptist church associations in America. The Mahoning Association was formed from the Beaver Association, 
and it copied without changes, the statement of faith of that Association. [16] It is worthy of note, however, that 
while the Association declared _its_ creed fully, each church was left at liberty to form its own creed as long as 
that creed agreed in sentiment with that of the Association.

Creeds of the Member Churches

The second important item of business on Thuesday was the reading of the articles of faith of the ten churches 
represented


__________
15. Appendix C, p. 2.

16. Hayden, _Early History_, p. 29.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 27]

at thisfirst meeting of the Association, viz. "Concord," "Zoar," "Bethesda," New Lisbon, "Salem," Randolph, "Mount 
Hope," "Liberty," Braceville, and Bazetta. An examination of these statements shows them to be in accord on the 
fundamental concepts. [17] They very from the relatively clear and concise eleven-article statements of the "Bethesda" 
and New Lisbon churches to the more detailed and somewhat more obscure seventeen- and nineteen-article statements of 
the Braceville and Bazetta churches. The Randolph Church asked to be accepted on the articles of faith held by the 
Association.

All the statements expressed belief in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the word of God and only 
infallible rule of faith and practice; all set forth the doctrine of the trinity as basic to their creed; all showed 
conviction of the election and predestination of a number of men "unto everlasting life;" all demonstrated their 
acceptance of the creed that "on Adam's fall, we sinned all," that the way to salvation was provided by Christ, "the 
second Adam," and that a final judgment will reward God's children and punish the wicked.

Each church except Braceville expressed the conviction that Baptism and Communion are a part of the church service and 
that the former should be by immersion. The church of Bazetta expressed the belief that only ordained ministers should 
administer the two sacraments. Six churches sanctioned the laying on of hands as an apostolic practice to be followed, 
and four accepted the singing of psalms and hymns as a part of the "solemn worship of God's house."


__________
17. Appendix B represents the statements of the articles of faith. All the following statements with regard to them are 
condensations from the original statements.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 28]

Six of the churches expressed the belief in one God, and three in the divinity of Christ. The Braceville Church expressed 
the conviction that the first day of the week is the sabbath, and the "Liberty" and Bazetta Churches expressed the 
further thought that the sabbath should be kept holy, as a day or worship and devotion.

The creeds of six churches stated the conviction that the work of regeneration, conversion, sanctification and faith "is 
not an act of man's free will and power, but of the mighty, efficatious, and irrestable grace of God." The "Concord" and 
Bazetta churches expressed their conviction that "brother should not go to law against brother."

Bazetta Church expressed a belief that it is the "indispensible duty of churches, to support comfortably him that 
teacheth in word and doctrine so that neither himself nor family suffer worldly inconvenience in consequence of his 
devoting himself to the work of the ministry." The "Concord" church agreed to "receive and adopt the Confession of 
Faith together with the addition of church discipline as received and adopted by the Philadelphia Confession of Regular 
Baptists."

The Randolph Church, in entering the Association on the basis of the creed of the Association set forth in its 
constitution, accepted the following: The doctrine of the Trinity; eternal and personal election and salvation through 
Christ; the condemnation of all mankind in consequence of Adam's fall; the depravity of mankind in "all the faculties 
of the soul, the understanding, will, affection, etc.;" the power of the Holy Ghost in regeneration; water baptism of 
the repentent only and



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 29]

by ommersion rather than any other manner; everlasting and unlimited punishment of the impenitent; and the acceptance 
of the Holy Scriptures as the certain rule of faith and practice.

Upon finding that the creeds stated by the ten churches conformed closely enough to that of the Association, the 
convention followed with its next otem of business which reads: "Resolved that we be and are by unanimous vote formed 
into an associate body, known by the name of Mahoning Baptist Association."

Records and Correspondence

At its first meeting the Association decided to have the minutes, constitution, and articles of the Association printed 
and sent in place of a circular letter to the member churches. The custom of printing the mibutes continued throughout 
the years in which a written record of the orocedures of the  meetings was kept. It became customary to print the 
minutes, a corresponding letter, and, until 1824, a circular letter. Those were sent to each member church and to the 
"sister associations" with which the Mahoning Association carried on correspondence. It is doubtful whether a copy of 
the material printed in 1820 is extant, but copies of the printed matter for the years 1821 to 1827 are available. [18]

Each year, with the exception of 1824, the Association cgose a member to write a corresponding letter to be sent to 
sister associations. At its first meeting the Mahoning Association


__________
18. The few copies on file today are in the vault of the Library of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, 
Ohio.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 30]

agreed to solicit correspondence with four such associations (Beaver, Redstone, Grand River, and Hartford); in 1821 the 
Mohegan Association was added to the list; and in 1824 the correspondence reached its high point with the addition if 
the Huron Association and the Westfield (Massachusetts) Association.

In 1820 Andrew Clark, who delivered the introductory sermon and who was also chosen moderator for the year, was asked 
to write the corresponding letter. Thomas Miller, ordained pastor of the "Liberty" Church, was appointed to write 
the letter for the ensuing year.

Sidney Rigdon was chosen in 1821 to write the corresponding letter for the next year, but he does not appear to have 
attended the meeting held in 1822. [19] The minutes for that year show that the committee which had been appointed to 
examine and revise the circular letter also presented a brief corresponding letter. [20] Perhaps the Association 
concluded from this experience that it would be wise to choose the author of the corresponding letter at the meeting 
at which it was to be presented; Marcus Bosworth was not not appointed to that task for the year 1823 until the 
Association convened that year.


__________
19. Sidney Rigdon was a noted orator in the Baptist churches of the Mahoning area. He is, perhaps, better known for 
the fact that he joined the "Mormon" church when it was active in the Western Reserve around Kirtland and Hiram, 
Ohio. This sect -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- was organized by its Prophet, Joseph Smith, in 
1830 -- the year the Mahoning Association dissolved. Rigdon was active in the "Mormon" church from 1830 until Smith's 
death in 1844 when he attempted to make himself the head of the church. The "Mormons" rejected him for Brigham Young, 
and his reaction to this disappointment led to his excommunication from that church.

20. Appendix C, pp. 11-14.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 31]

In 1824 a short corresponding letter was composed, and it was voted that William West send the minutes to the 
"corresponding associations." [21] In 1825 Jacob Osborne wrote a brief letter concerned mostly with the state of the 
churches in the association. This topic, by that time, had come to be of considerable concern to the group. [22]

The correspondence was placed in the hands of Alexander Campbell in 1826. He gave the task his serious attention and 
was invited to write the letter again in 1827. This one was, presumably, the last sent by the association. It seems 
unlikely that correspondence was continued beyond the point where the conclusion to keep no written record of the 
meeting was reached. At the meeting in 1828 the group agreed to discontinue written records of the Assocuation.

The history of the circular letter to the member churches is more brief. It is recorded that no letter was sent in 
1820, but that the constitution, minutes, and creed of the Association were printed for the member churches. In 1821 
the circular letter, in the form of a brief treatise on "Love," was written by Enoch Leavitt. The following year a 
lengthy epistle was composed by Adamson Bentley on the subject of "Liberty." In 1823 William West wrote inviting the 
churches to reflect on "The distinguishing blessings which are attached to gospel times." [23] 


__________
21. Appendix C, p. 26.

22. Appendix B, p. 15. It was at this time that the "Bethesda" Church was having difficulty over the "onnovation" of 
Campbell's doctrine among members of that Baptist group.

23. Appendix D, pp. 1-2, 4-9, and 10-13.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 32]

The minutes for the year 1823 indicate that Thomas Miller was chosen to write the circular letter for the ensuing year; 
but the record of 1824 makes no mention of such a letter, and none was printed with the minutes. It is doubtful if 
any was sent, and the minutes for 1825 definitely record a decision to omit the circular letter for that year. No 
mention is made of it in the minutes for the years 1826 or 1827.

Each of the corresponding and circular letters were presented to the Association for its approval and revision. 
Frequently they were  referred to a committee. Upon final ratification by the Association they were sent to a printer 
along with a copy of the minutes of the meeting. All were worked into a circular which was then sent to the member 
churches of the Mahoning Association and to other associations.

The minutes were printed at Warren in 1820; Benajah Austin and Enoch Leavitt, two representatives who accompanied 
Adamson Bentley from the Warren church, were made responsible for superintending the printing. [24] Nathan Coffin of 
New Lisbon and Andrew Clark of the "Salem" Church were appointed to that task in 1821. They had the minutes printed 
in New Lisbon at the office of the "Ohio Patriot," [25] The Rules of Decorum drawn up for the Association were printed 
in addition to the customary material that year.

In 1823 Marcus Bosworth of Braceville was asked to superintend the printing of the minutes, and in 1823 that task was 


__________
24. Appendix C, p. 4.

25. New Lisbon is now Lisbon, Ohio.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 33]

turned over to Benajah Austin for the second time. The work was done both years by Hapgood and Quinby in Warren. After 
that time it appears probable that the printing was done by Alexander Campbell. In 1824 Enoch Leavitt was appointed to 
take care of the printing and distrubuting of the minutes. The three following years that task was assigned to Campbell. 
The name of the printer does not appear on the circulars for the years 1824 to 1827. Since Campbell was responsible for 
it three of these years, and inasmuch as he was engaged in printing his _Christian Baptist_ during that period, it 
seems likely that his own establishment did the work. Although Leavitt, nit Campbell, was made responsible for having 
the minutes printed in 1824, the type font as well as the format of the circular heading is identical with that of the 
three following years. It seems probable that since Campbell was at the meeting of the Association in 1824, Leavitt 
asked him to print the material that year. The manner of conducting its correspondence adopted by the Mahoning 
Association in its first years, was carried on through the first seven years of its history with little change. This 
is equally true of some other aspects of its procedure.

The Officers

At the first meeting a committee was appointed to draw up a set of Rules of Decorum for the Association, which were 
presented in 1821. The _Rules) set forth the basic organization of the Association; they enumerated five officers to 
be elected and provided the method of choosing them; and they outlined the procedure to be followed in business meetings,



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 34]

The presiding officer was referred to as the "Moderator." This office was passed around from year to year among the 
leading clergymen in the group. Bentley served in that capacity three years, Clark, West, Freeman, Miller and Jacob 
Osborne [26] each served one year. [27]

The original constitution drawn up October 23, 1819 provided for two treasurers, but at the meeting in 1820 the group 
voted to strike out the words "two treasurers" and insert the words "a treasurer." The constitution, as thus revised, 
was copied into the Journal in 1820. Enoch Leavitt, a representative at the Association from the Warren Church at all 
meetings from 1820 through 1826, was chosen treasurer each of these seven years. He was not in attendance at the 
meeting of 1827, and Joab Gaskil of the New Lisbon Church was chosen to fill that office. [28] 

Leavitt, serving as clerk of the Association at two of the meetings, recorded the minutes. Gaskil served in that 
capacity in 1821. At the meeting in 1827 John Rudolph, Jr. was chosen clerk. The last minutes were recorded by him, and 
the Journal was left in his hands. [29]


__________

26. Osborn represented first the Nelson Church and later the Braceville Church at meetings of the Association. He was 
an ordained minister and was active in the Association after 1826.

27. For duties of the Moderator see _Rules of Decorum_, Appendix C, pp. 2-10.

28. For duties of the Treasurer see Idem.

29. Other clerks served terms as follows: Coffin, 1821; Bosworth, 1822; Austin, 1823; and Osborne, 1825.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 35]

For other officers, a recording secretary and a corresponding secretary, were elrcted each year. Neither the _Rules 
of Decorum_ nor the constitution of the Association offer an explanation of the work of these two positions. The 
_Rules_ state that the clerk of the Association had the duty of entering the names of all the members and of keeping 
a correct account of all the proceedings of the Association. [30] The minutes taken each year were signed by the 
Clerk and also by the official referred to in the minutes as the Secretary, but who signed himself as "Clerk for the 
Association." Benjamin Pritchard, representative from New Lisbon, was "Secretary" in 1820 and again in 1821. The 
twenty-third item of business recorded in 1821 was a vote that "brother Protchard be compensated for his services of 
this last year," but no clue is given as to the nature of these services. Perhaps it was his duty to send the 
customary material to the member churches. [31] John Rudolph, jr. was secretary in 1823 and from 1825 to 1827. In 
1823 and 1824 that position was held by Marcus Bosworth of Braceville.

The corresponding secretary probably had the duty of sending the material to the association with which the Mahoning 
Association corresponded. The minutes for 1824 record that William West, who was the corresponding secretary for that 
year, [32] sent the

__________
30. Appendix C, pp. 9-10.

31. The letter was compared, as has been shown, by a member of the Association especially appointed to that task; it 
was considered by a commottee and amended; it was ratified by the Association. The only duty the Secretary could have 
had was to mail the material.

32. West was corresponding secretary every year from 1822 to 1827. Clark held that position in 1820 and 1821.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 36]

minutes to the corresponding associations. [33]

While the word of the corresponding secretary was not extensive, that of the clerk of the Association increased as the 
years progressed. There were ten churches present when the Association was formed at Nelson in 1820; the total reached 
seventeen by 1824.

The Churches

The ten member churches of the Mahining Assiciation came from Trumbull, Mahoning, Portage, and Columbiana counties. 
The importance of the "Concord" Church at Warren (in Trumbull County) and of Bentley, its minister, has been noted. 
Other Trumbull County churches included: Bazetta, Braceville, and "Mount Hope" (Hubbard). The church of "Zoar," 
located at Youngstown, was the only representative of Mahoning County [established in 1846] in the group. "Bethesda" 
(Nelson), "Salem" and "Liberty" (both in Palmyra) and Randolph were all Portage County churches. New Lisbon was a 
Columbiana County church.

New churches were accepted for membership by vote of the Association when the creed of the church making application 
was found to be in accord with that of the Association. To this original group of ten churches were added the 
following: "Yellow Creek" and "Valley of Achor" (both of Columbiana County) and "Sandy," later called Franklin, 
(Portage County) in 1821; Canfield (Columbiana County) in 1822; Southington (Trumbull County) in 1833; Wellsburg, 
(West) Virginia, Hartford (Trumbull


__________
33. Appendix C, p. 26.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 37]

County, Ohio) and Salem (Columbiana County, Ohio) in 1824. [34] The "Salem" (Palmyra) church was not represented after 
1823, and after 1825 the Bazetta church no longer sent messengers to the Association. Sixteen churches made up the 
Association in the last three years in which its records were kept. [35]

General Practices

In addition to the selection of its officers, the carrying out of their duties, and the acceptance of new churches, 
other general practices of the Association started in its formative period were followed as long as the records were 
kept.

In accordance with the _Rules of Decorum_, the annual meetings were opened with prayer and singing followed by an 
introductory sermon delivered by one of the leading ordained ministers of the


__________

34. This Salem church from Columbiana County, which entered in 1824 is not to be confused with the other church called 
Salem-Palmyra (on the records of 1820 and 1822) or "Salem" (Records for 1821) or Palmyra (Records for 1823), which 
was a member of the Association at the beginning and is on the records from 1820 through 1823. The Salem-Palmyra Church 
was led for three years by the ordained minister Andrew Clark, who represented it in 1820, 1821 and 1822. Joseph 
Merrell was the licentiate minister and represented it in 1823, but it was not represented at the Association after 
that time. Hayden writes (_Early History_, p. 334) of a church (probably this one) in the south part of Palmyra which 
"sustained itself a number of years, but succumbed at last to the common enemies of embodied societies -- emigration, 
death and neglect." The entrance of the Church of Christ of Salem into the Association the year after the Salem-Palmyra 
Church was last represented there is a coincidence. None of the men who represented the Salem-Pa;myra Church 1820-1823 
were leaders in the Salem Church of Christ 1823-1827. Joseph Morrell went from Salem-Palmyra to New Lisbon. Others are 
not accounted for.

35. In 1827 the Mantua-Hiram Church, which was a "Campbellite" branch of the "Bethesda" Church, was represented at the 
meeting; but the origina; "Bethesda"  church was not represented. See Appendix C, p. 36.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 38]

Association. [36]  Each year the speaker for the following year was chosen and an alternate was named to perform the 
task "in case of failure" of the first named. On three different occasions the alternate served. In 1822, although both 
Adamson Bentley, who was first choice as speaker, and Andrew Clark, the alternate, were present, Thomas Rigdon, [37] 
"occasionally falling in," delivered the  introductory sermon. On all other occasions the regularly appointed speaker 
or their alternate served. Andrew Clark, minister of the "Salem" Church at Palmyra, delivered the introductory sermon 
in 1820; Thomas Miller of the "Liberty" Church, in 1821; Rufus Freeman of Bethesda," in 1823; Adamson Bentley 
(alternating for the Youngstown minister, William West) in 1824; William West in 1825; and Alexander Campbell in 1826. 
Bentley again served as an alternate in 1827. That year Campbell was chosen to preach in 1828, and Richardson says 
that he fulfilled that task. [38]


__________
36. Sweet explains the meaning of the ordained minister as follows: "There were two types of frontier Baptist 
preachers, licensed and ordained, and sometimes there were several ministers in a congregation, though generally one 
was designated as the pastor of the flock. Licensing a preacher was the first step in the making of a minister after 
he had been permitted to 'exercise his gifts' by vote of the church. Then chosen to take charge of a regular congregation 
he was then ordained." Sweet, _Story of Religions_, p. 314.

37. Thomas Rigdon was a prominent Baptist preacher of the Mahoning area in the 1820's. He was a cousin of the better 
known Sidney Rigdon.

38. Richardson, _Memoirs_, Vol. II, p. 248. Since minutes were not kept for later meetings we have to rely on chance 
mention of the introductory sermon among the writers. Only the years 1829 and 1830 have thus been accounted for.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 39]

The Association met on the Wednesday and Thursday preceding the first Sunday in September during the first six years 
if its life. In 1825 they agreed to "meet on Friday preceeding the last Lord's day of August at one o'clock p.m. and 
that the messengers spend the Lord's day fellowing together..." [39]

Each year the place of the meeting for the following year was agreed upon. At the meeting in Nelson in 1820 the group 
accepted an invitation to meet at Palmyra (in southeastern Portage County) in 1821. Palmyra was again nost to the 
group in 1825. The "Valley of Achor" church on Columbiana County was the scene of the 1822 meeting, and the church of 
"Zoar" was host in 1823. In 1824 Hubbard received the Association. The other meetings were held as follows: 1826, 
Canfield; 1827, New Lisbon; 1828, Warren; 1829, Sharon, Pennsylvania; and 1830 at Austintown (near Youngstown), 
Mahoning County, Ohio.

It was customary to invite interested church men who attended meetings of the Association to "sit in council" with 
the Association even though they might not be there as a representative of any church of the Association. The minutes 
record such invitations almost yearly and show that these people sometimes took an active part in the proceedings 
of the Association. In 1821 Sidney Rigdon, Rufus Freeman and others were invited to take part; and although they were 
not elected messengers from any of the churches, Freeman was appointed to the committee to examine the minutes and 
Rigdon was appointed 


__________
39. Appendix C, p. 31



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 40]

As a messenger to the Grand River Association. [40]

The approval of the minutes of the previous meeting was secured by the examination and report of a committee rather 
than by reading and taking a general vote of approval. The appointment of messengers to represent the Mahoning 
Association at meetings of other associations was an annual occurance.

During its formative years a few special motions were passed in the general interest of the Association. For instance, 
in 1821 the group went on record as recommending to the preachers of the Association that they attend the minister's 
meeting to be held that fall. [41] It was voted in 1822 that the churches be requested to alter their original names 
to the name of the town in which they belonged. [42] In 1821 and again in 1822 the Association required its churches 
to send 6 1/4 cents for each member om their church to raise a fund for gospel purposes.

Since the second article of its constitution explains that the usefulness of an association, like the Mahoning, loes 
in giving advice in cases of difficulty and in supplying destitute churches, it is to be expected that the convention 
meetings would


__________
40. Appendix C, p. 7.

41. Appendix C, p. 8.

42. Concerning the original names of the churches, Hayden says: "Baptist churches were in the habit of assuming 
names having a sentimental or historical import. Thus the church of Warren was called "Concord;" that in Nelson 
"Bethesda" -- probably in allusion to John v: 2, and the healing of the helpless by the compassionate Redeemer. 
The church in Youngstown took the name "Zoar," significantly reminding its members that when the LORD rained upon 
Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, Lot found safety by fleeing from destruction, 
and entering into Zoar. Gen. xix: 23, 24. A church on the Sandy was known as the "Valley of Achor," teaching us that 
admission into it was entrance into a "door of hope." Hosea ii: 15. The church in Hubbard was "Mount Hope." Hayden, 
_Early History_, pp. 25-26
http://sidneyrigdon.com/1875Hay1.htm#pg025



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 41]

present opportunities for doing these things. Requests for "supplies" came from the Randolph church at the first two 
meetings of the Association, and arrangements were made to assist that church. The churches of "Yellow Creek" and 
Franklin were similarly aided in 1821 and 1823.

Under the category of "giving advice in cases of difficulty" the Association received many queries from the member 
churches which it sought to answer in the interest of the common good. The first question came in 1822. The query 
whether the Association would receive into its connection a church made up of members calling themselves regular 
Baptists but who allowed some of their members to commune with Presbyterians and Methodists was answered in the 
negative. [43]

Four queries were presented in 1823. Those which dealt with church practice were answered by the Association; but one 
which raised a serious question with regard to the procedure of the Association itself was postponed for a year. [44]

Growth

The numerical count of the membership of the several churches on the Association was recorded each year as provided 
in the _Rules of Decorum_. The clerk formed the report made by the churches into a chart which he placed in the 
Journal along


__________
43. Appendix C, pp. 13-14. The Baptist Church has retained its practice of closed communion, but Campbell led the 
Disciples of Christ into the practice of open communion.

44. Appendix C, p. 16. The questions and the answers given to them by the Association are discussed in detail, Infra., 
Chapter III, pp. 31-36.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 42]

with the minutes each year. According to the _Rules_, each church was to report the number baptized, added by lerrer, 
dismissed, excluded, lost by death, and restored to its membership each year.

Throughout the first four years the "Concord" church reported the largest membership, having around ninety on its roll 
each year. This church had increased its membership under Bentley rapodly in the years immediately preceding the 
formation of the Association. Fifty-six members had been added to its roll by baptism in 1819. [48] Hayden refers to 
this as a "parent of churches." The churches of "Zoar" (1818) and Bazetta (1819), as well as others at a later time, 
were dismissed from the "Concord" church to form new groups. [46]

The church of "Zoar" with William West as its pastor entered the Association as a leading church. It was second in 
size in 1820 and third in 1821, having close to sixty members. The following year fourteen members were dismissed, and 
from that time the churches of New Lisbon and "Valley of Achor" replaced "Zoar" as the leading churches (after 
"Bethesda") from the standpoint of numerical strength.

The total membership of the Association increased gradually during its formative years; but, to a great extent, the 
increase is accounted for by the addition of new churches to the roll. The total membership of the churches in the 
Association was


__________
45. Appendix C, p. 1.

46. Hayden, _Early History_, pp. 91-93.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 43]

three hundred seventy-five when it was first formed in 1820. That was increased to five hundred fourteen by 1821; but 
that increase of onehundred thirty-nine members included three new churches with a total membership of one hundred 
seven. Only sixty-three members were added to the rolls of the churches by baptism between 1820 and 1821, with 
twenty-four of these having been brought into the new churches of "Yellow Creek," "Valley of Achor," and "Sandy."

On 1822 the membership of the Association reached five hundred fifty-three, an increase of thirty-nine over the 
previous year. This is partially accounted for by the addition of the Canfield church with twenty-four members and 
an addition of forty-eight by baptism. The fifteen churches which comprised the Association in 1823 had a total 
membership of six hundred one. Of these, forty had been added by baptism since 1822.

Members were lost to the Association in its first three years through exclusion from their home churches. In 1820 
"Zoar" and "Concord" each excluded one member, and in 1823 "Zoar," "Sandy," and "Valley of Achor" churches each 
excluded a member. Between 1821 and 1822 there were twenty-two members asked to leave their churches. The following 
year saw ten more driven from their groups.

Light is thrown on the process of exclusion by the minutes of the Association for 1824. Nelson asked how members were 
excluded from the churches that were set in order by the Apostles. [47] This question was laid over until 1825, when 
the
__________
47. Appendix C, p. 25.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 44]

answer was "By vote of the brethren." [48] If certain members of a church showed themselves unorthodox in theology or 
in practice they could, presumably, be excluded from their group by a majority vote. The total of thirty-seven were 
thus asked to withdraw their membership from churches in the Association between 1820 and 1823.

Members were dismissed from churches to form or join other churches. The records of the numbers dismissed and added by 
letter to the churches were kept. No analysis of the effect on the Association's membership of dismissal and addition 
by letter can be made, however, because no record is available to show how many of those dismissed from the church[es] 
in the Association were added by letter to another and how many took their membership outside the bounds of the 
Association.

Among the churches, "Yellow Creek," "Valley of Achor," "Sandy," Canfield, and Southington were added in the first four 
years, bringing the original number of ten up to fifteen in 1823. With two hundred fifty-four members added by baptism, 
thirty-seven excluded, five restored, and nine lost by death the membership of the churches in the Association 
increased from the original three hundred and seventy-five to six hundred one during its formative years.


__________
48. Appendix C, p. 30/



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 45]


Chapter III

CAMPBELL IN THE ASSOCIATION (1824-1826)

New Churches


When the messengers from the churches to the Association assembled September 1, 1824, they found three churches 
requesting admission to their group. The items of business record the acceptance of the three as follows: Item 6 -- 
"At the request of the Church of Christ at Wellsburgh it was received into this Association.... 8 -- At the request 
of the Church of Christ in Salem She was received.... 22 -- at the request of the Church of Christ at Hartford it 
was received into this Association." [1]

The articles of faith held by the Hartford church were written into the Journal. They conform closely to the pattern 
set by the other churches in the Association. [2] The Hartford church did not have a definite organization at that time, 
however, [3] and it sent messengers to the Association only in 1824 and 1825. The two following years the name of 
the Church

__________
1. Appendix C, pp. 24-26.

2. The articles of faith of the Hartford group are listed [in] Appendix C, pp. 20-22. The creed of Hartford, like that 
of a few other churches, sanctioned the laying on of hands and singing of hymns. It differed from the others in that it 
had this further statement: Only those are to be admitted into the communion of the church and to participate of all 
ordinances in it who upon profession of their faith have been Baptized by immertion in the name of the Father and Son 
and of the Holy Ghost."

3. Hayden says that the church at Hartford was formally organized May 1, 1830 with twenty-two members. At that time 
Elihu Bates, who had been a representative of the Hartford group to the Association in 1824, was chosen deacon. Many 
groups met and worshipped for some time before they were formally organized into churches in America's frontier days. 



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 46]



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 47]




M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 48]




M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 49]




M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 50]




M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 51]




M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 52]

happy to make the change. He wished to do so with as little friction as possible and determined upon the following method: 
He, with thirty others, took a letter from the Brush Run church August 31, 1823 and organized a new church at Wellsburg, 
(West) Virginia. This church, thereupon, applied and was accepted for membership in the Mahoning Association which was 
already "permeated with Campbell's ideas." [24]

"Thus," says Graftonm "was organized the second church of the Reformation, and by this means Alexander Campbell escaped 
excommunication from the Baptist Church, which would certainly have been his fate had he longer remained a member of the 
Redstone Association." [25]

"Campbellism" in the Mahoning Association

The influence of Campbell's doctrine on the Mahoning Association can be seen, even before he entered, in the queries 
presented to the Association at its annual meetings of 1823 and 1824. In 1823 the Nelson church sent the following query: 
"Is it an apostolic practice for churches to have Confessions of Faith, Constitutions, or anything of like nature 
except the Scriptures?" [26] It has been said that "to answer the question in the affirmative would have made it necessary 
to prove what did not admit to proof; to have given a negative answer would have condemned what was universally 
practiced." [27] The Association put 

__________
24. Garrison, Religion, p. 114

25. Garrison, Campbell, pp. 104-105

26. Appendix C. p. 16

27. Baxter, Life, p. 95



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 53]

this query aside until the following year.

In 1824 even more perplexing problems presented themselves. Again it was "Bethesda," now called "Baptist Church of 
Christ in Nelson," [28] which presented the major difficulty. The following queries were presented: First, will this 
Association hold in its connection a church which acknowledges no other rule of faith and practice than the Scriptures? 
Second, In what manner were members received into the churches that were set up by the apostles? Third, How were 
members excluded from the same churches?

From Randolph came this query: Can Associations in their present modifications find their model on the New 
Testament? [29] Again it was deemed best to postpone the answers to these queries and, presumably, the one of 1823, 
until the following year. [30]

No better proof of the influence of Campbell's thinking in the area could be offered than the fact of the presentation 
of these queries by the churches to the Association. The first query from the Nelson church in 1824 is a direct 
challenge to accept or reject Campbell's doctrine of the return to the

__________
28. This change was in conformity with the request made by the Association in 1822 that the churches change their 
names to the name of the town in which they were located. Nelson did this on August 16, 1823, and the change is recorded 
in the _church Book of Bethesda Church_ in the minutes of that date.

29. These questions and another from New Lisbon ("Is it scriptural to license a Brother to administer the word and not 
the ordinances?") appear in the minutes of the meeting of 1824. Appendix C, p. 25. 

30. Idem.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 54]

Scriptures as the only true basis of faith and practice. The other queries indicate that the churches presenting them 
were thinking along those lines and were "permeated with Campbell's ideas."

The Association was reluctant to commit itself on these matters, but in 1825 it was forced to face the issue. By that 
time the Nelson church had split over the use of the Scriptures alone as the basis of church practice and the 
difficulties within that church were presented to the Association for solution. The Association was faced directly 
with the alternative of accepting the group which had taken the stand advocated by Campbell or of rejecting it to 
support the "regular" Baptist church.

The Problem of "Bethesda"

"Bethesda" had been established in Nelson, Portage County, Ohio in 1808 by Elder Thomas Jones of Sharon Pennsylvania. 
It was the first church of any kind organized in Portage County. [31] In the beginning there were six members. They 
had no church building but met in homes, school houses, and even barns, usually in the townships of Nelson, Mantua, 
or Aurora. The area covered by the "Bethesda" church was quite extensive. It reached west from Nelson about fifteen 
miles, to Aurora; south about twenty miles to Palmyra; and north five miles to Troy and Bainbridge in Geaufa County. 
By 1820 the territory was considerably narrowed by the organization of other churches in the vicinity.

__________
31. Hinsdale, _Disciples in Hiram_, p. 10.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 55]

John Rudolph, who came from Maryland in 1806 and settled in Hiram Township near the present site of Garrettsville, 
was influencial in organizing the church in 1808. The six members drew up articles of faith and entered the minutes 
of their meetings in a church book. Membership increased to twenty-four by 1810. When the Mahoning Baptist Association 
was organized, at Nelson, in 1820, "Bethesda" reported thirty-eight members.

Before the organization of the Mahoning Association, "Bethesda" had some contact with the Redstone Association. The 
following entry appears on the church records for August 20, 1808: (Item) "4 Resolved to write to the Redstone 
Association stating the state of the church and suggesting to them the propriety of dividing the Association." [32]

The records do not indicate whether there was any such division made. The next reference to an association appears 
in the records for July 15, 1809. The church agreed to send a letter to the Association at Connuonnesson (?) to be 
held in August. Elder William West was appointed to write the letter and attend the association meeting as a messenger. 

July 28, 1810 West, who on June 2 of that year had accepted the formal call of the "Bethesda" church to serve it as 
pastor, was chosen, along with John Rudolph and Jothom Atwater, to represent the church at "the Association." West 
and Rudolph were appointed to write the customary letter to the Association, and it was agreed that three dollars be 
sent by the messengers

__________
32. _Church Book of Bethesda Church_, records for August 20, 1808.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 56]

to pay the necessary expenses of printing the minutes.... etc. Other references to association meetings were recorded 
on the following dates: July 4, 1812; July 17, 1813; August 6, 1814; July 1, 1815; August 9, 1817; July 11, 1818; and 
July 3, 1819. Little information is given about the Association meetings. It was recorded that the meeting of 1818 
was to be held in Wooster, Wayne County; and in July, 1819 the church voted that a request be made to the Association 
for a division of the Association.

At a meeting in Nelson October 9, 1819, the group voted that "there should three Brethren be sent to sit in council 
with the Brethren in Palmyra to form a new association." It was decided that Jothem Atwater, John Noah, and John 
Rudolph "be the Brethren to sit with them." At that meeting, which was held October 23 of that year, articles of faith 
for a church association were drawn up. The organizational meeting for the Association was appointed to be held 
August 30, 1820 at Nelson.

Meeting in Mantua on August 19, 1820 the "Bethesda" church voted "to receive the Articles of the Association to be 
held at Nelson 30 August." [33] They also voted to send Rufus Edwards, Samuel Baldwin, and John Rudolph to "sit in 
council with our Brethren in Nelson at the time of the Association to be held 30 August." [34]

In 1821 Oliver Snow, John Rudloph and John Rudolph, Jr. 

__________
33. _Church Book of Bethesda_, minutes for August 19, 1820.

34. Idem. The records of the Association show only Rudolph and Edwards in attendance.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 57]

attended the Association meeting at Palmyra. On 1822 Rufus Freeman (the newly-elected minister who had come to "Bethesda" 
from Jefferson, Ohio), John Rudolph, Jr., and Darwin Atwater were the representatives at the meeting of the Association 
held at the "Valley of Achor" church.

On August 16, 1823 the church voted to send Freeman, John Rudolph, and Zeb Rudolph [35] to the meeting in Toungstown. 
These three took with them the letter in which was presented the first query to show the influence in the Association 
of Alexander Campbell's theology. At that time "Bethesda" asked: "Is it an apostolloc practice for churches to have 
Confessions of Faith, Constitutions or anything of like nature except the scriptures?" [36]

The Association postponed giving its answers until the following year. Between 1823 and 1824, however, the disagreement 
within the church became very great. Before the Association met in 1824 the church had agreed to separate; a group 
of the members had renounced the articles of faith of the "Bethesda" church and had adopted the Campbell doctrine of 
the Word of God as the only rule of faith and practice. The best explanation of this difficulty is presented in the 
Church Book of "Bethesda" after the minutes of the meeting of April 10, 1824 as follows:

__________
35. Zeb Rudolph was a resident of Hiram, Ohio. He was a son of John Rudolph and brother of John Rudolph, Jr. He was 
the father of Lucretia Rudolph Garfield (wife of President James A. Garfield).

36. Appendix C, p. 16.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 58]

The church here feels it her duty to leave on record some painful events in her history occasioned by a difference of 
opinion springing up and gaining on the minds of many of the brethren who became dissatisfied with some of the leading 
doctrines of the church and was the principal means of preventing the regular administration of the Lord's Supper and 
the reception of some persons who had been baptized. About the 18th of June 1824 Elder Thomas G. Jones visited the 
church and preached several times and on Lord's Day June 20th after sermons at the Centre of Nelson publicly requested 
to see the church together on the next day at Bro. Noah's on business of importance in order to see if the breaches 
could not be made up and a way opened for the church to proceed in order and fellowship. June 21 the Church met agreeable 
to request at Bro. Noahs. Elder Jones presided and the meeting was opened by solemn prayer by several of the Brethren. 
The question was then asked by the Elder what their difficulties were and why they were not in fellowship. On examination 
it was found that a part of the church was dissatisfied  with the doctrine [law?] of the eternal sonship of Christ as 
expressed in the church articles. 2nd of the law of ten commandments as explained in our confession of faith and 3rd 
they were dissatisfied with having any written or printed articles or confession of their religious belief. After 
considerable discussion of the points of difference it was unanimously agreed to separate peaceably and those who 
adhered to the constitution of the church should give the other part a letter expressive of the cause of separation and 
their good moral standing in the church. On the vote being taken the following persons manifested their satisfaction 
with and their adnerence to the constitution by rising: Joseph Tucker and wife; Martin Manley and wife; Caleb Stow, 
Eleanor Garrett; Ann Morris; Pauline Stowe; Rhody Gilmore; and Roxanne Ketcham who afterwards gave her assent to the 
Articles. Deacon J. Rudolph and wife with their sons and daughters and Bro. Noah and wife dissented. It was then agreed 
to meet at the house of sister Eleanor Garrett on the 29th of June and those who _now_ constitute the church was to 
give the dissenting party their letter dismissed in the usual way. June 29, 1824 Church met agreeable to appointment 
and Elder Jonesgave an address from 3 Chap of 1st Timothy. Deacon Rudolph then declared his own and his party's 
dissatisfaction with what had been done and that they would not receive the letters agreed on at the meeting above 
noted and another meeting was then appointed in Hiram on the 21st of August. The meeting was then closed by an 
appropriate sermon by Bro. Jones.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 59]

At the meeting appointed in Hiram on the 21st of Aug. a number met but mostly of the dissenting party. They then chose 
Bro. Green moderator. 2 -- voted to renounce the Philadelphia Confession of faith, the Constitution, the Articles and 
Covenant of this Church which was formed the 30th of July 1808 and take the Word of God for our rule of faith and 
practice. Those who voted as above were: John Rudolph, sen. & wife; John Noah and wife; Huldah Atwater; Darwin Atwater; 
Rosetta Snow; John Rudolph, Jr. and wife and Benjamin Green. [37]

These of the "Bethesda" church adhering to the traditional Baptist faith met August 28, 1824 and voted to send a 
letter to the Association. The representatives of "Bethesda" at that meeting of the Association were of the liberal 
party. Darwin

__________
37. A few incidents in the history of "Bethesda" which immediately preceded the abandonment of the statement of creed 
help to make clear some of the reasons for that step. It is related that "a short time before, two members had been 
received without the laying on of hands after baptism, which had previously been regarded by some as much a gospel 
ordinance as baptism or the Lord's Supper; this was done in consequence of their minister, Rufus Freeman, refusing to 
lay hands on the converts, as he did not regard it as enjoined by the Scriptures. And so the articles of faith which 
made it necessary had the effect of making trouble instead of keeping it away. A refractory member had also been 
brought up for trial, but as the offense was not specified in the church articles, and she beyond all question guilty 
and yet unwilling to confess her fault, she was excluded on scriptural ground. An aged German brother, highly esteemed 
for his godly life, but who had never spoken in a church meeting before, arose, and after alluding to the above case, 
said: 'Brethren, that trial was conducted without the use of the church articles; we have found that we can exclude 
disorderly members without them; if the Bible is a good rule by which to exclude evil-doers, it ought to be a good 
rule for right-doers to live by. I think we can do without the articles.' The longer the discussion continued the 
stronger grew the party which stood up for the Bible alone, and when the motion was put that all their church rules and 
standards save the Bible alone should be renounced, all save three voted in its favor. One of the three, a lady, rose 
and said she had not voted on the motion from the fact that she had never accepted the documents which had been 
rejected, and for that reason could not renounce them; another gave a similar reason, leaving only one in the 
opposition." Baxter, _Life_, <a href="http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/1874Bax1.htm#pg-097">pp. 97-99</a>.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 60]

Atwater and James Rudolph [38] attended. Rufus Freeman, who had been their minister and one of the representatives in 
1823, was no longer at Nelson. In the midst of her difficulties (April 10, 1824, he resigned as pastor of the church 
and requested letters of dismissal for himself and his family. This request was filled by the church that day. Freeman's 
name is listed with the "Bethesda" delegation on the records of the Association for 1824 with the notation that he was 
absent from the meeting.

Failing to receive any answer from the Association to their questions, the members of "Bethesda" were forced to solve 
their problems in their own way. Those attending a meeting of the church November 27, 1824, took the following action:

Took into consideration the conduct of our brethren who have at the church meeting in Hiram August 21 "voted to 
renounce the Philadelphia Confession of Faith, the constitution, the Articles and Covenant of this church which was 
formed the 30th of July 1808." After deliberating on the subject we viewed this departure of sufficient grounds for 
their exclusion in the church therefore voted to exclude them. [39]

The group thus driven from "Bethesda" was the first of the Mahoning area to adopt Campbell's doctrine as the basis of 
its church organization. Such a step was certain to bring immediate and drastic action. Baxter describes the attitude 
of churches of the early nineteenth century with regard to creed 

__________
38. James, a brother of Zeb Rudolph and John Rudolph, Jr.

39. Following this statement the names of those who reached the agreement at Hiram are listed as excluded. _Church 
Book of Bethesda_, minutes for November 27, 1824.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 61]

thus: "Conformity to party views was a test of orthodoxy; and to deny the teachings of the Church Standards, whether 
Creed, Catechism, or Confession of Faith, even though the Bible were silent in regard to such matters, was quite as 
heretical and dangerous as to deny the clearest and most explicit declaration of Holy Writ." [40] The dissenting 
members of "Bethesda" could expect nothing less than excommunication.

Appeal to the Association

This party, which is often referred to as the "Rudolph Group" because John Rudolph was its leader, refused to consider 
itself excluded, however, and both sides considered themselves the Church. In 1825 both groups sent delegations to 
the meeting of the Association, and both were received. Five men, instead of the customary three, represented "Bethesda." 
Jotham Maxson, Martin Manley and Joseph Tucker were chosen by "Bethesda" to represent her, but the Association Records 
indicate that Tucker did not attend. [41] John Rudolph, jr. and Jacob Osborne were also in attendance representing 
the dissenting party.

The difficulties in the Nelson church and a similar problem

__________
40. Baxter, _Life_, p. 21.

41. Menley and Tucker were leaders of the parent church following the split. That part of "Bethesda" met frequently 
at Menlay's home. They retained the record book and continued to keep records of the meetings of "Bethesda." The minutes 
of the meeting in which the agreement to abandon the stated creeds was reached by the Rudloph group are in the Hiram 
College Library. The original was retained by the Rudolphs and their party; only a summary of the section taken was 
entered into the _Church Book of Bethesda_.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 62]

in the Hubbard church were assigned to a committee for examination and report to the Association in 1825. Alexander 
Campbell, Thomas Miller, William West, and Adamson Bentley were on the committee.

This was Campbell's second year in the Association. His influence had been great both before and after his entrance into 
that group. The Association was moving in the same direction as the dissenting party of "Bethesda." As chairman of the 
committee, Campbell wrote the following report of their investigation:

The committee to which were referred the difficulties existing in the churches of Nelson and Hubbard report that 
having heard from all the messengers a statement of the causes of said difficulties and conversed familiarly with 
them it appeared from their determinations that there was a hopeful prospect of those difficulties being removed 
and that it would appear inexpedient for the Association to take further notice of these difficulties in the mean 
time. [42]

That important question concerning the willingness of the Association to accept a church which acknowledged no other 
rule of faith and practice than the Scriptures was answered as follows: "Yes, on satisfactory evidence that they 
walk according to this rule." [43] 

Further Questioning

A query from the Youngstown church was made as follows: "Was the practice of the primitive church an exact pattern to


__________
42. This report, in Campbell's own handwriting and over his signature, appears in the Journal. It is pasted on the 
inside front cover.

43. Appendix C, p. 29.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 63]

succeeding ages and is every practice practice designed for good to be receded from which was not the practice of the 
primitive saints in their peculiar circumstances?" The Association concluded that "It is the duty and high privilege 
of every Christian church to aim at an exact conformity to the example of the churches set in order by the Apostles 
and endeavor to imitate them in all things imitable by them." [44] 

A disturbing query from Randolph foreshadowed further problems for the Association it it intended to follow, to its 
logical conclusion, the doctrine of Campbell. Randolph inquired: "Can Associations in their present modifications find 
their model in the New Testament?" The committee was forced to admit, "Not Exactly." [45]

The answers to these questions point to the conclusion that the Association was more "Campbellite" than "Regular Baptist" 
by 1825. Of the replies, Baxter says, "These answers were condemnatory of the almost universal practice of the Baptist 
Churches at that time, as they did not recognize any church unless it had articles of faith corresponding to their own; 
and such was the universal demand for an 'experience' that persons who had been baptized on a simple profession of 
faith in the Lord Jesus were denied membership with them." [46]


__________
44. Appendix C, pp. 30-31.

45. Appendix C, p. 30.

46. Baxter, _Life_, pp. 96-97.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 64]

Meeting of 1826

Again in 1826 both sections of "Bethesda" elected messengers to the Association. The original group "thought it proper 
that Bro. Edward Welch, Tucker and William Sumner be appointed to write a letter and protest against the proceedings 
of the Association." [47] The minutes of the Association contain no trace of the "Regulars," or of their protest, 
however. They had apparently given up hope of reconciliation with the dissenters, [48] and they blamed the apostasy 
of their brothers on "the innovations of Alexander Campbell." [49]

The corresponding letter for 1826 refers to that meeting as one of the most joyous in the history of the Association.

__________
47. _Church Book of Bethesda_, minutes for August 12, 1826.

48. In December, 1825, Tucker and Hanley were sent to Mantua to visit the brothers and sisters and to determine 
whether or not there was possibility of bringing them back into the fold. The report was made April 5 and the Atwaters 
were excluded from the church. It is interesting to note that the dissenters lived in the area of Hiram and Mantua 
while the original group came from Garretsville and Nelson. The "Rudolph party" met at Hiram and Mantua and continued 
to send its representatives to the Association. The church was formally organized at Mantua in 1827 -- the first in 
Ohio to completely take apostolic grounds. (Wilcox, _Disciples in Ohio_, p. 42) That church is still in existence today 
and in 1927 celebrated its centennial. In 1829 the Garrettsville and Hiram members asked for a division because it was 
so far to go to Mantua, and thirty-four of them formed a separate church. The Garrettsville-Hiram division died out 
but a second Disciple church was organized there in 1889. It lived until 1915 when it went into the United Church of 
Garrettsville. The Hiram church has had a continuous history and recently (March, 1943) celebrated its 108 anniversary,

49. Bethesda used this expression in connection with a difference of opinion which arose in the Palmyra Church and 
upon which they were consulted because of its similarity to their own difficulty. (_Church Book of Bethesda_, Minutes 
for March 10,



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 65]


It was, in contrast to that of the previous year, quite peaceful and harmonious. [50] An important conclusion regarding 
the nature of the activity of the Association was reached in 1826. It is set forth in a portion of the correspinding 
letter written by Campbell for that year as follows:

You will, from the preceding minutes, see thar nothing very special has occurred amongst us during the past year. Our 
increase in number has not been great. We think, however, we see one of the causes at least, why it has been so. The 
discovery of an error is necessary to its correction, and to our reformation. It is a fact that both the public teachers 
and the private brethren have been labouring more in the _doctrines_ than in the _word_. Whereas we ought to labour 
chiefly or preeminently in the _word_: and then in the _doctrine_. Labours in _the word_ tend to _increase_ the body; 
but labours in _the doctrine_ tend to _strengthen_ the body. To labour in the word is the way to bring sinners into 
the fold; to labour in the doctrine or in teaching is the way to confirm and edify those already in the fold. But, 
perhaps, while we have supposed ourselves labouring in the doctrine, we have been merely labouring in opinions and 
speculations upon the doctrine of the apostles. 
It is one thing to speculate _on_, and another thing to labour _in_ the doctrine. It is more than worthy of an experiment 
to try the effects of labouring in the word with more zeal and industry and thus to test the results. [51]


__________
1827). The "Regular" Baptist church of "Bethesda" remained Baptist and in 1828 joined the Grand River Association 
(_Church Book of Bethesda_, minutes for August 9, 1828). It lived as the Baptist church of Garrettsville until 1915 
when it, together with the Disciples of Christ and Congregational churches of that village, formed a United Church.

50. Appendix D, p. 17.


51. Ibid, p. 16.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 66]

Chapter IV
AN EVANGELISTIC PROGRAM ADOPTED (1827)

Walter Scott

By the time the yearly meeting of 1827 many members of the Association were becoming disheartened over the slow growth 
of the congregations. Believing that this was due, as Campbell had expressed it, to having "labored too little in the 
word," they resolved to correct that error. At that meeting, which was held in New Lisbon, they appointed an evangelist 
to travel among the churches of the Association with the object of increasing the membership. The man chosen to fulfill 
that task was Walter Scott of Steubenville.

Walter Scott was born in Scotland in 1796 and was educated at the University of Edinburg. On the invitation of an uncle 
in New York, he came to America and taught on Long Island. He later went to Pittsburg, and it was there that he met 
Campbell. At that time Campbell was preparing to issue a magazine designed to develop the truth of the gospel and to 
"plead for the union of Christians on biblical grounds." He proposed the name, _The Christian_ for his magazine; but 
upon Scott's suggestion he adopted the title, _The Christian Baptist. [1] From the beginning Scott's contributions to 
the magazine were extensive. His numerous articles under the signature of "Phillip" gained him a reputation among the 
readers.

__________
1. Hayden, _Early History_, pp. 63-64. It has been suggested that Campbell acquiesced to Scott's suggestion because it 
seemed to offer a method of conciliating the Baptists of the Redstone group with which he was still affiliated (spring 
of 1823). The adoption of such a title was intended to indicate 



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 67]

Scott made his first appearance among the Mahoning group at the meeting of 1826. Although he was not a member of the 
Association he was invited to take part in its deliberations that year. [2] He was also invited to preach on the final 
day of the session -- Sunday morning at the hour usually reserved for the best talent. This act of courtesy on the part 
of the Association was rewarded, for it is recorded that his sermon was a powerful one and made a deep impression. [3] 
Many had been attracted to the meeting by Campbell's reputation; some of them left after hearing Scott whose eloquence 
led them to suppose they had heard Campbell. [4]

Scott remained in Pittsburg until 1826 when he moved to Steubenville, Ohio. That year he visited the Association at 


__________
to them that he contemplated no secession, The "vigorous and vitriolic magazine emphasized the disagreements between 
the Baptists and the Campbellites, however, and it formed a nucleus around which the new movement developed." 
(Garrison, _Religion_, p. 130.) Campbell began in 1822 to think of issuing a work especially devoted to the interests 
of his proposed reformation. He came to realize the power of the press in disseminating his views when he observed 
the widespread effect of the publication of his debate with Walker (Richardson, _Memoirs_, Vol. II, p. 48). The 
_Christian Baptist_ was issued from Buffalo Creek, Virginia (now Bethany, West Virginia), and the first number appeared 
August 1, 1823. Hinsdale says that the more prominent men in the "Bethesda" church (especially the Rudolphs) read the 
_Christian Baptist_, "a powerful organ of Mr. Campbell, published in 1823." (Hinsdale, _Disciples in Hiram_, p. 16). 
The widespread effect of the magazine on the people and churches in the Western Reserve can be seen in the innumerable 
references to that magazine throughout Hayden's _Early History of the Disciples in the Western Reserve_.

2. Appendix C, p. 33.

3. Baxter, _Life_, p. 82.

4. Hayden, _Early History_, p. 35.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 68]

Canfield, and the impression he made there made him a welcome visitor. The following year Campbell passed through 
Steubenville on his way to attend the meeting at New Lisbon as a representative of his Wellsburg church. He stopped in 
Steubenville to urge Scott to accompany him to the meeting. Scott was finally persuaded to do so, and in agreeing to 
go to New Lisbon with Campbell he took one of the most important steps in his life.

Condition of the Association

The need for a revival of religious spirit among the churches in the latter part of the decade of the 1820's was noted 
and admitted by the leaders of the Mahoning Baptist Association. One picture of the situation is presented as follows:

Although there were within the bounds of the Association some pious and devoted men, such as Bentley, Osborne, 
the Haydens, and others; still, in consequence of their creeds, by which they were cramped and confined, and 
the chilling influence of the ultra Calvinistic views then prevalent, religion was at an extremely low ebb. 
The monthly meetings had become cold and formal gatherings, the reading of church constitution, covenant, and 
articles of faith -- for some had all these -- had, in a measure, usurped the place of reading the Scriptures, 
of prayer and praise. There was but little growth in true piety, little enjoyment, and but few conversions. At 
the Association in 1827 fifteen churches reported only thirty-four baptisms, and of these eleven were at Wellsburgh, 
from which church A. Campbell was the delegate. The report of the previous year was still worse, only eighteen 
baptisms within the bounds of seventeen churches, while the exclusions and deaths for the same period were 
twenty-three.

In 1825 seventeen churches reported but sixteen baptisms. The greatest number reported in any one year was one 
hundred and three, from ten churches, of which fifty-six, or more than one-half of the entire number, was at 
Warren, under the labors of Elder A. Bentley, whose love for dying men made him often overstep the narrow limits 
of his creed. [5]
 

__________
5. Baxter, _Life_, pp. 89-90.
http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/1874Bax1.htm#pg-089



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 69]

Scott Appointed Evangelist

In 1827, as in the previous year, Scott, along with other "teaching brethren," was invited to a seat in council with the 
Association. The first important item of business that year was as follows: "7. Voted to take up the request from the 
Braceville Church which is as follows: 'We wish that this Association may take into serious consideration the peculiar 
situation of the churches of the Association, and if it would be a possible thing for an evangelical preacher to be 
employed to travel and teach among the churches, we think that a blessing would follow.'" [6]

The Association voted that a person be appointed for that purpose and agreed that "all the teachers of Christianity 
present" be a committee to nominate a person to travel among the churches, and to suggest a plan for the support of the 
person so appointed. [7] The following recommendations were later offered and adopted by that meeting:

1. That br W. Scott is a suitable person for the work and that he is willing, provided the Association concur 
in his appointment, to devote his whole energies to the work; 2. That voluntary and liberal contributions be 
recommended to the churches for creating a fund for his support; and 3. That at the discretion of br Scott, as far as 
respects time and place, four quarterly meetings for public worship and edification be held in the bounds of this 
Association this year and that at those meetings such contributions as have been made in the churches in those 
vicinities be handed over to Br. Scott, and an account kept of the same, to be produced at the next Association; 
also, that at any time and in any church when and where br Scott may be labouring any contributions made to him shall 
be accounted for to the next Association. [8]

__________
6. Appendix C, p. 37.

7. Ibid., p. 38.

8. Ibid., pp. 38-39.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 70]

It is remarkable in many ways that Scott was the man chosen to fulfill the task appointed to him. He was not a member 
of the group which selected him, nor did he surpass in reputation certain men who were members of that group. Bentley 
was known and esteemed throughout the Association; Campbell's talents were well known and acknowledged; Sidney Rigdon 
had a reputation as an orator; many others were able men who had been in the Association since its formation.

In his religious views Scott was not in complete accord with many of those who chose him, and he made no effort to 
conceal the differences. It should be noted, however, that in appointing him the Association set no doctrinal 
restriction, creeds, confessions or anything of the sort. He was merely told to preach the word. This fact would seem 
to indicate a serious intent to labor in the _Word_ rather than in the _Doctrine_ and that the primary consideration 
was that of adding to their numbers rather than that of establishing any particular theology.

Scott was not chosen because of any great success in the evangelical field. Both Joseph Gaston and John Secrest, 
ministers of the "Christian Connection" [9] who were visitors at the

__________
9. The ministers of the "Christian Connection" were followers of Barton W. Stone, a Presbyterian minister who labored 
om Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. Stone was originally a member of the Presbyterian Church, but he came to reject all 
creeds and all ecclesiastical authority. In this his teaching ran parallel to that of Campbell. Campbell and stone 
became close friends, and the relations between their two groups were cordial. The preachers of the "Christian 
Connection" in the Western Reserve were interested both in the work of the Mahoning Association and in the appointment 
of Scott. The chief items of divergence of opinion between Camobell and Stone were the question as to whether immersion 
should be required as a condition of admission to the church and the question  of the name to be adopted by groups 
adhering to their doctrine. See infra., p. 98.



M. A. Smith -- 1943
[p. 71]

meeting, were popular and successful evangelists. It has been suggested that "it was indeed a great success of the 
'Christian' preachers in gaining converts that had awakened the churches of the Association to the importance of 
making an effortin that direction." [10]

The action of the Association in bringing in ministers of the "Christian" brotherhood into council with a Baptist 
association is significant in itself. It was a practical exhibition of the union of Christians for a common purpose 
and an indication of increasing tolerance on the part of the Mahoning group. It foreshadowed the development of an 
even greater willingness to accept the views of other groups. [11]

Two other important facts concerning the appointment of Scott by the Association have been pointed out. It was an 
innovation for an association to assume the power itself of establishing and preparing to regulate an evangelistic 
ministry, and it was unusual to ask that every church take part in the support of the evangelist. [12]

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10. Richardson, _Memoirs_, Vol. II, pp. 204-205.

11. In 1831, after a conference at Georgetown, Kentucky, "Racoon" John Smith of the Campbell group and John Rogers of 
the Stone group set out to travel and teach together. Between 1831 and 1835 many churches of the two groups found 
themselves in sufficient accord on their fundamental beliefs to unite. (Smith, _Campbell_, pp. 186-187). A considerable 
element of Stone's followers refused to follow him in a merger with the Disciples of Christ, however, and there has 
never been a complete union of the two groups. Those who refused to go along with Stine called themselves the Christian 
Convention in the United States. They existed January 1, 1832 to August, 1931 when they united with the Congregational 
Church at Seattle, Washington. Today this group is called the Congregational Christian church.

12. Jennings, _Origin and Early History_, pp. 104-105.



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The Meeting of 1827

The most important action taken by the Association in its meeting of 1827 was the appointment of Scott. Other items of 
business followed the pattern of former years. The general character of the meeting was discussed in the corresponding 
letter for that year as follows:

We made our last meeting, as much as possible, a worshipping assembly; and from the experience we have had, 
are led to conclude that if our associations were not so much debating schools as worshipping assemblies, we 
should find our spiritual health promoted more by attendance upon them than we have hitherto done. Great peace 
and harmony distinguished our meeting and we parted in brotherly love without a single unkind feeling.... We 
have found that too much indifference to the use of means for the conversion of our fellow-men and contemporaries 
has hitherto prevailed amongst us, and, by the favor of God, are determined to be more attentive to this grand 
object than before.

Campbell, in writing the corresponding letter, concluded with an admonition to others to do likewise.

It is the great duty of each individual citizen of the kingdom of Jesus, as the aggregate body, to labor for the 
conversion of all those to whom God giveth access. As lights of the world, and as the salt of the earth, we 
should endeavor to live.; arise brethren! shake off your sleep! and, instead of fighting about words, go to 
work in the Lord's vineyard by the accession of your children, relatives and neighbors! and, by your union 
and cooperation, seek the extension of Messiah's kingdom throughout the earth! [13]

Evangelistic Activity

In carrying out his mission Scott had many ardent and able fellow workers. Chief among these was Adamson Bentley who 
was well and favorably known, especially in the Baptist communities.

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13. Appendix D, pp. 20-21.



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The weight of his character and influence was great, and the people listened attentively to learn the reasons which 
had led him to give up orthodox Baptist convictions to follow Campbell and Scott. The value of Bentley's assistance 
has been pointed out by Scott's biographer as follows:

Scott was a stranger; his fiery zeal to some seemed wild enthusiasm; and his entire absorption in his theme 
made him at times eccentric; but the Baptists had ever looked on Bentley as their safest and best man; no one 
imagined that he could be turned hither and thither by every wind of doctrine: and hence, from his known 
integrity and soundness of judgment, he was heard without that prejudice with which Scott, as a stranger, 
had every-where to contend. The visits of Bentley would most admirably prepare for the coming of Scott; and 
when the former had disarmed them of all prejudice, the latter would join him and take entire communities 
by storm. [14]

Scott's success was phenominal. His appeal was different from that of Campbell who leaned more to an intellectual 
analysis of his theme. But Campbell recognizes, in the corresponding letters of 1826 and 1827, the need for the appeal 
which Scott represented. In discussing this matter Hayden says, "The matters of the Christian religion are classified 
under two fundamental departments -- the evangelical and the ecclesiastical; or, the gospel and the church. The gospel 
is prior to the church. The evangelist forms and establishes the church." Scott's work was purely evangelism. It was 
given to him to "blow the trumpet of the gospel." [15]

Under Scott the restoration of the primitive gospel spread rapidly. He and his assistants "pleaded for a return to

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14. Baxter, _Life_, p. 141. http://www.sidneyrigdon.com/1874Bax1.htm#pg-141

15. Hayden, _Early History_, p. 445.



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apostolic teaching and practice. They baptized believers on profession of their faith in Christ for remission of 
sins." [16]

Adamson Wilcox has summed up the general character of the movement as follows:

They met on the first day of every week to attend to the Lord's Supper.... They called themselves individually 
disciples of Christ or Christians.... They adopted all that Luther and the other Protestants advocated which 
was Scriptural, but protested that they had not gone far enough. It was not so much reformation that was needed 
as restoration of original apostolic teaching. They tried to break away from all human religious shackles. They 
repudiated the title of "Reverend" for their ministers. Instead of Sabbath or Sunday, they used the "first day 
of the week" or "Lord's day." They tried to speak of Scriptural things in Scriptural language. They discriminated 
between opinions and faith, and held that faith and the obedience of faith brought the joy of salvation.

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16. Of the many contributions of Scott's preaching to the development of the theology of the Disciples of Christ 
none is more important than that of the idea of baptism for the remission of sins. The difficulties faced by those 
who sought some "experience" as an indication that their sins were pardined have been noted. Many lives were made 
unhappy by a vain search for some indication from God that the "seeker" was saved. In discussions with Jacob Osborne 
and Adamson Bentley, Scott evolved a different idea of the place of baptism in the steps to conversion. Instead of 
insisting that the soul seeking salvation must have a vision or some other similar indication of the influence of the 
Holy Spirit _prior_ to baptism, he preached baptism on the basis of repentance. He promised the gift of the Holy 
Spirit _after_ conversion and baptism and consequent upon them. He was among the first of his day to cite the words 
of Peter in Acts 11:38: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of 
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Hayden credits Osborne with suggesting the idea of baptism 
for the remission of sins. It was Scott, however, who saw the value of that idea to his mission and who gained 
hundreds of converts on the five-finger exercise leading to salvation -- (1) Faith; (2) Repentance; (3) Baptism; 
(4) Remission of Sins; and (5) The Gift of the Holy Spirit. For fuller discussion of this see Garrison, _Religion_, 
pp. 123-124.



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They held that opinion would neither save nor damn a person. They were to receive one another without reference 
to opinions, and opinions must not be bound on others as tests of fellowship. [17]

The change which attended Scott's evangelical progress was extraordinary. "Apathy and indifference vanished... 
professors were roused to a new and unwonted zeal, and everywhere sinners became deeply concerned. The Bible was 
read with new interest. [15]

Scott opened his work in New Lisbon in November, 1827 in the old Baptist church in which, two months before, he had 
received the appointment of the Association. One incident which occurred at this meeting made a deep impression on 
the people of New Lisbon and encouraged Scott in his teaching of the new idea of baptism. William Amend, a highly 
respectable citizen and a member of the Presbyterian Church, was converted merely upon hearing Scott call men to be 
baptized fir the remission of sins. [19]
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17. Wilcox, _Disciples in Ohio_, p. 42.

18. Baxter, _Life_, p. 181.

19. Amend had been attending a prayer meeting at the Presbyterian church and had come into the Baptist meeting 
house just at the end of Scott's sermon. He heard little more than the call to baptism. Scott found it difficult 
to understand how the first person to respond to his call should be a man who had not heard his sermon. In later 
years he wrote Mr. Amend a not of inquiry concerning the incident He received the following reply: "I will answer 
your question. I was baptized on the 18th of Nov., 1827, and will relate to you a circumstance which occurred a 
few days before that date. I had read the second chapter of Acts, when I expressed myself to my wife as follows: 
Oh, this is the gospel; this is the thing we wish, the remission of our sins! Oh, that I could hear the gospel in 
those same words as Peter preached it! I hope I shall some day hear, and the first man I meet who will preach the 
gospel thus, with him will 



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Late in the autumn of 1827 Scott met John Secrest and James G. Mirchell as they were going to wellsburg to visit 
Campbell. Mitchell was charmed by Scott's speech as well as his theme, "The ancient gospel." Upon learning from 
Secrest that Mitchell had a gift in exhortation, Scott engaged Mitchell to go with him to Warren. [20]

In January 1828 Scott and Mitchell "besieged" Warren. Very few attended the first appointed meeting. Scott resorted 
to "anecdote, pathos, wit, eloquence, and general remark" [21] -- all intended to advertise himself as a speaker. 
His psychology was effective. That evening the Baptist church was crowded to capacity, and many were outside. Of 
the sermon that night Mitchell wrote, "I had never heard such a discourse, so touching, so telling, not only on me, 
for the whole audience

__________
I go.' So, my brother, on the day you saw me come into the meeting-house, my heart was open to receive the word 
of God, and when you cried, 'The scripture shall no longer be a sealed book, God means what he says. Is there any 
man present who will take God at his word and be baptized for the remission of sins,' -- at that moment my feelings 
were such, that I could have cried out 'Glory to God! I have found the man whom I have long sought for.' So I entered 
the Kingdom, when I readily laid hold of the hope set before me. WILLIAM AMEND."

20. Hayden, _Early History_, p. 94. James 6. Mitchell came from a preaching family. His ancestors emigrated from 
England with Lord Baltimore and settled in Maryland. James was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania December 5, 1805. 
His father later moved to Belmont County, Ohio where ministers of the "Christian Connection" led the Mitchells into 
their way of religious practice. James, along with his two brothers Nathan and David, became a prominent preacher 
of the gospel. (Ibid., pp. 94-95.)

21. Ibid., pp. 95-96.



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