CHURCH RECORDS WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH COMPILED AND EDITED BY REV. NORMAN CARLYSLE YOUNG, M.Div.; M.Ed. AND NAOMI KATHLEEN IVEY HORNER UPDATED June 30, 2021 AN HISTORICAL RECORDS VOLUME PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE ARCHIVES & HISTORY MINISTRY TEAM Printed by McElvany & Company Printing and Publishing 1 Copyright © 2021 by The Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church All Rights Reserved 2 PREFACE The Historical Volume Church Records Western Pennsylvania Conference of The United Methodist Church was last printed in 2003. In order to keep the Church Records current, Janet & Norman C. Young were retained to update the more recent appointments and make necessary corrections as new information became available. Since their death, Naomi Horner has graciously volunteered to continue updating the volume. New information comes from the readers making corrections and suggestions. New information also comes from Naomi’s continued research on the companion volume Pastoral Records. The Western Pennsylvania Commission on Archives & History decided to make this revision and update available on these webpages www.wpaumc.org0H so that the most current information remains accessible and for corrections to continue to refine the document. This volume has had long history of Revision. Described by Herbert E. Boyd in his 1957 volume on the Erie Methodist Preface as a “compendium…intended primarily as an administrative tool.” He then credits forerunners back to 1898. At that time, this primarily contained Pastoral Records. Grafton T. Reynolds edited for the Pittsburgh Methodist Episcopal Church a similar volume through 1927. W. Guy Smeltzer divided his 1969 revision between chapters on Pastoral Records and Church Records. Raymond M. Bell followed the same chapter division when he added Evangelical United Brethren in 1991. Norman C. Young who had worked on the Methodist Protestant section in the 1969 volume required us to divide the Church Records (2003) and the Pastoral Records (2012) into separate books because of the sheer volume of the material collected. With Naomi Horner’s contributions the Western Pennsylvania Commission on Archives & History is hoping to eventually publish a three-volume set. John R. Wilson Conference Secretary TABLE OF CONTENTS BUTLER DISTRICT ........................................................................................................................ 5 CONNELLSVILLE DISTRICT ..................................................................................................... 91 ERIE-MEADVILLE DISTRICT .................................................................................................. 191 FRANKLIN DISTRICT ................................................................................................................ 287 GREENSBURG DISTRICT ......................................................................................................... 391 INDIANA DISTRICT ................................................................................................................... 459 JOHNSTOWN DISTRICT ........................................................................................................... 563 KANE DISTRICT ......................................................................................................................... 643 PITTSBURGH DISTRICT ........................................................................................................... 709 WASHINGTON DISTRICT ......................................................................................................... 799 INDEX .......................................................................................................................................... 895 3 Sources of Information Allegheny Conference, Evangelical United Brethren Church, Journals Allegheny Conference, United Brethren Church, Journals Allegheny Conference, United Brethren in Christ Church, Journals Baltimore Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, Journals Central Pennsylvania Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, Journals Central Pennsylvania Conference, The Methodist Church, Journals Erie Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, Journals Erie Conference, Evangelical Association Church, Journals Erie Conference, Evangelical United Brethren Church, Journals Erie Conference, The Methodist Church, Journals Erie Conference, United Brethren in Christ Church, Journals Genesee Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, Journals Genesee Conference, The Methodist Church, Journals Ohio Conference, Evangelical Church, Journals Pittsburgh Conference, Evangelical Association Church, Journals Pittsburgh Conference, Evangelical Church, Journals Pittsburgh Conference, Evangelical United Brethren Church, Journals Pittsburgh Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, Journals Pittsburgh Conference, Methodist Protestant Church, Journals Pittsburgh Conference, The Methodist Church, Journals Pittsburgh Conference, United Evangelical Church, Journals Western Pennsylvania Conference, Evangelical United Brethren Church, Journals Western Pennsylvania Conference, The Methodist Church, Journals Western Pennsylvania Conference, The United Methodist Church, Journals West Virginia Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, Journals West Virginia Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Journals West Virginia Conference, Methodist Protestant Church, Journals Pittsburgh Conference, Evangelical Association Church, Microfilm Boyd, Herbert E., Historical Record of the Erie Conference of The Methodist Church, 1957. Fradenburgh, Jason N., History of Erie Conference, Volumes I – II, 1907. Fulton, J. S., History of the Allegheny Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, 1931. Hodge, Edwin S., Western Pennsylvania Conference, Record of Churches – Closed, Merged and Change of Names, 1994. Reynolds, Grafton T., Manual of the Pittsburgh Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church 1825-1929. Smeltzer, Wallace Guy, Methodism in Western Pennsylvania 1784-1968, Co-Editor, Methodist Protestant Church Records, Young, Norman Carlysle Young, Norman C., Pittsburgh Conference Methodist Protestant Churches and Ministers 1933-1939 Young, Norman C., Church Records, 2003 4 Greensburg District District Superintendents District: Blairsville: Commenced in 1851. John Coil 1851-1852; Gideon D. Kinnear 1852-1856; David L. Dempsey 1856-1860; William Lynch 1860-1864; Thomas McCleary 1864-1868; Discontinued 1868; South Pittsburgh District: Commenced 1868; Lancelot Robinson Beacom 1868-1872; Hiram Miller 1872-1876; Thomas Newton Boyle Spring-Fall 1876; Blairsville District: Reactivated 1876; Isaac Newton Baird Fall 1876-Fall 1879; Henry Conley Beacom 1879-1883; Jesse Franklin Core 1883-1887; Asbury C. Johnson 1887-1890; Robert Thompson Miller 1890-1896; William Pitt Turner 1896-1902; Silas Thayer Mitchell 1902-1906; William Francis Conner 1906-1910; John Jacob Hill 1910-1914; Jesse William Cary 1914-1919; Benjamin Burton Wolf 1919-1925; Nolan Harden Sanner 1925-1931; Ralph W. McKenzie 1931-1936; John Fred Jose 1936-1942; William Leroy Hogg 1942-1945; Roy Lincoln McQuiston 1945-1951; Walter Fred Preset 1951-1956; Edward Louis Boetticher 1956- 1962; Continued in Western Pennsylvania Conference: Raymond Wesley Faus 1962-1965; Clarence Wilbur Baldwin 1965-1970; Greensburg District: Commenced in 1970 from former Blairsville District; Paul Mechem Easter 1970-1976; Clark Russell Kerr 1976-1982; Donald James Joiner 1982-1988; Gerald Allen McCormick 1988- 1994; William Delano Schmeling 1994-1998; Rudolph Gerald Schmidt 1998-2004; Richard Donnelly Markle 2004- 2006; William Bright Meekins, Jr. 2006-2014; Patricia Marie Nelson 2014--. ARMBURST GREENSBURG DISTRICT UNITED BRETHREN 1???-1??? History: United Brethren. Closed. ARNOLD GREENSBURG DISTRICT METHODIST EPISCOPAL – PITTSBURGH CONFERENCE 1896 Mailing Address: 1801 Leishman Avenue, Arnold, PA 15068-4226 724/339-2377 ID: 097240 Location: Located at the corner of 1801 Leishman Avenue and Rankin Street in the Borough of Arnold in Westmoreland County, PA. History: Methodist Episcopal – Pittsburgh Conference. Arnold had been the second ward of the Borough of New Kensington and became a separate municipality in 1896. It was during the same year that the first meetings of the church were held in a school building. There were nine members and the church was served by the New Kensington pastor, Reverend Alexander Earl Husted, until the Conference in the fall of 1896. Then Arnold was made part of the Bethel-Mount Hope Circuit until 1899 when the Church became a Station. The first church building was dedicated June 24, 1900. This was replaced by a new building, dedicated April 5, 1925. The mortgage was paid during the pastorate of Reverend Charles William Oresek 1944-1951. The sanctuary was remodeled during the pastorate of Reverend Howard Weston Jamison 1951-1956; and the basement completely remodeled during the pastorate of Reverend Edwin John Keifer being completed in 1963. The 1968 membership was 780. The membership on January 1, 2002 was 154. Free Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, hosting the homeless through the Interfaith Hospitality Network, and Vacation Bible School are some of the ongoing ministries of Arnold UMC to the community. In 2016, the Arnold congregation became part of a charge with the nearby communities of Braeburn and New Kensington, and value the relationships they have formed as a charge. Pastors: New Kensington/Arnold: Alexander Earl Husted 1996-1996;