Evangelical United Brethren Chi irch History Daft Back to Era of Nehalem Valley Pioneers
The Vernonia Evangelical Unit­ early tra il.
In 1874, soon after the first fam-
ed Brethren church, which ob­
ili;s arrived, they began getting
served its 75th anniversary Sep­
together for prayer meetings in
tember 16, is the outgrowth of the the homes with Clark Parker and
desire of the first settlers here for Henry Van Blaricom as leaders in
spiritual nurture and growth.
the activity.
The first settlers in this part of
In 1876, a C. N. Plowman, a
the valley were Mr. and Mrs. United Brethren minister, came in­
Clark Parker and family who came to the valley and homesteaded and
in the early spring of 1874. They he organized a class and held reg­
settled about a mile below the ular services, first in the vicinity
present sit? of Vernonia on the of Vernonia and then at other
place known in later years as the points in the valley.
Andy Parker place. Later that
Rev. Plowman was followed by
same year, the Van Blaricom fam­
a Mr. Parmer who lived on a
ilies came to the valley. This
homest ad a mile south of town.
group included John Van Blari­
He continued the work here. He
com, a widower, and his sons,
Henry, Phillip, Joseph, Hiram and was followed by a Rev. Black. A
John Jr., part of whom were mar­ United Brethren elder, Rev. A.
ried and had families, and daugh­ Bennett, frequently visited this
area.
ters, Sarah Ann Sheeley and her
One preaching point of interest
husband Sol and Drusilla Baker
was
the Harding house which was
and her husband Frank. They
homesteaded in various parts of located two miles south of Ver­
the valley, with Henry taking up nonia on the place now owned by
land where the Guy Thomas place the Ed Crawfords. Sunday school
is now and Joseph taking up what was conducted there regularly.
In the middle eighties, the work
is now a major part of the city
of Vernonia. Hiram took land up of the United Brethren church de­
Rock Creek and Phillip home­ teriorated due to trouble in the
steaded up the Nehalem toward general conference. In 1887, Mr.
Kist. His daughter Anna was a Plowman and Holford Jackson at­
small girl when the group came to tended the conference of the Evan­
the valley. After sh? was grown gelical church with the purpose of
she became the bride of Hans persuading them to tak? over the
Christensen and when she passed work of the church here. The con­
away this year at the age of 93, ference responded favorably and
that took from this earth the last established a mission in Vernonia
on.? of the original group to come in 1887 and assigned as the first
to the valley. Many of their des­ minister, Holford Jackson.
In 1888, James W. Ray was
cendents still live here, however.
Other families that soon followed named as pastor and in 1890, the
the Parker and Van IBaricom fam­ church was supplied by A. Mar­
ilies were the Adams, Tuckers, cham
It was during the pastorate of
Campbells, Spencers,
Wilsons,
Mr. Marcham that the building of
Pecks, Hesses and others.
The earliest families came by a church was undertaken. Land
way of Mountaindale, over trails was donated by Joseph Van Blari­
down Pebble Creek with their com and subscriptions were solici­
few possessions on horses and the ted. A pledge of $10 was large for
family members walking. Pebble those who pledged it had little
Creek was forded 13 times by the idea where it would come from
but before the building was com­
pleted, most of them had given
many times that. Labor was do­
nated and the building constructed
4 THURSDAY, SEPT 27, 1962 served as the only church here un­
til in the 1920s. It was used until
1924 when the new church on
State avenue was built and the
old church building was sold and
I converted into what is now the
Cherry Tree apartments. The old
parsonage, remodeled but still
much the same, is now the home
•5 of the apartment manager.
V
Demonia Eagle
I
SOMETIMES
YOU’LL NEED THE
DOCTOR ANYW AY!
I♦
I
•5
î
I
All of the ounces of preven­ V
tion in the world can't keep I
the doctor away all of our
I
lives.
And when illness or accident V
strikes, it often means that a I
tremendous burden of finan­
cial loss falls on a family. If
the breadwinner is the vic­
tim, the results can be cata­
>5 strophic.
V Ask this Hartford Group
Agency how Health Insur­
ance can help keep sou from
getting hurt when illness or
accident strikes.
BILL J. HORN
Vernonia Insurance
Exchange
V ernonia, Oregon
!
Hanford Accident and
Indemnity Company
Member Hartford
Insurance Group
Hartford 15, Conn
I
Farm ers Auto
Insurance
Off IOS ANGELAS
« v tsu rfh M '
Lloyd Quinn— HA 9-3693
It's Fall
Tune-up Time
R A L P H 'S
CHEVRON SERVICE
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And you save money, toot
Lower rates because Farmers
insures careful drivers.
Echlen Brand Points
and Condensors
Phone HA 9-6203
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Fast service. Fair
s e ttle m e n t of claims.
Friendly people who
s re on your eide.
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Batteries
Accessories
Motor Tune-up
Auto Parts
HAiel 9 6691
i A - N - N - O - U - N - C - l- N - G
Change of hours lor the Vernonia Office
of
MARSHALL C. HJELTE
and
DONALD L. KALBERER
ATTORNEYS
Office in Vernonia Professional Bldg.
Will I h * open Saturdays 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
instead of Wednesdays as Previously announced.
Phone HAzel 9-6565
At the anniversary observance,
seme of those who attended the
old church recalled the long shed
to the north of the church in which
horses were stabled while their
owners attended services. Oral
Spencer Faulkner, sister of Bob
Spncer, recalled the first little
organ which she began playing for
services when she was 11 years
old.
In 1891 a Rev. M. Burlingame
was assigned here. Some of his
descendants still live in the St.
Helens area. During that summer,
a camp meeting was held on the
banks of Rock Creek with Rev. L.
S. Fisher as evangelist. At this
meeting, many were converted and
28 joined the church.
This represented the permanent
establishement of the church.
In 1892 another camp meeting
was held at the sam? spot. Joseph
Van Blaricom donated land for a
camp grounds which was used
each summer for many years. It
was at the point where the James
Caywoods now live, but the creek
made a big bsnd there at that
time so the contour of the land
was entirely different. It was cov­
ered with maple and alder and
some fir trees to make a b?autifui
grove. A tabernacle was built and
some families erected cabins to
live in during the camp meeting.
Others used tents on the grounds.
The meetings were held each sum­
mer until about 1920.
The grounds were also used for
community affairs, such as Fourth
of July picnics.
There was a nice gravel bar at
the bend of the creek and baptis­
mal services for the church were
held there in connection with the
meetings.
As the years passed, many oth­
ers cam? into the valley who were
associated with the church and ac­
tive in keeping the work going.
Included were the Malmstens, the
Keaseys, the Dallases, the Norths,
and others whose efforts were un­
tiring.
The “little church on the hill”
served the community and congre­
gation well until th? coming of the
“big mill” brought a great influx
of population. About that same
time, other denominations began
to seek a foothold here and some
who had worked in the Pioneer
church but had been raised in
other faiths withdrew and began
work in the new churches. This all
took its toll but newcomers to the
community stepped in to fill the
gap and the work flourished and
grew.
In 1924, the present church was
built on State street by the Repass
brothers as contractors and the
congregation moved to it in May
of that year with a march from
the old church to the new one.
4-H Club Girl
To Seek Title
A 4-H club girl will be selected
to reign as Miss P I P. at the Pa­
cific International parade, Satur­
day, October 13 in Portland. The
Portland Junior Chamber of Com­
merce is sponsoring the Miss P.I.P.
contest and will select a 4-H club
member from the contestants par­
ticipating from Columbia, Clacka­
mas, Multnomah and Washington
counties and Clark county, Wash­
ington.
One girl from each county will
be chosen to represent her county.
From these five girls the Portland
JC's will select a princess with the
other four girls being her court.
In Columbia county a 4-H girl
from each club may be chosen to
compete, this club member to be
selected by the club. These club
members will then submit their
permanent 4-H club record and a
statement from their teacher or
principal giv ing their rank in their
class.
This must be submitted to the
county Extension office in St. Hel­
ens bv Tuesday, October 2. From
these applications, one contestant
will be picked to represent Colum­
bia county in the Miss P I P. con­
test. Any 4-H club girl is eligible
to compete.
Large Group Here for
Delta Kappa Gamma
One of the largest meetings ev­
er held by Tau chapter of the
Delta Kappa Gamma sorority,
honorary organization for women
in education, was held here last
Saturday. Luncheon was served by
the ladies of the PTA to 47 mem­
bers frrm throughout Columbia
and Clatsop counties after which
they adjourned to the home of
Mrs Harry Sand on for their meet­
ing.
Seven new members were in­
itiated during the afternoon.
HERE, the congregation pauses before the new church edifice to be dedicated that day. May 11, 1924
THE picture above, taken May 11, 1924 as the congregation of the Evangelical church was marching
from the old church on the hill to the new church for the dedication. The locale is on State street ap­
proaching the church from the turn off Bridge street.
During the years the mill was here Meyers, 1906-07; A. Weinert, 1908; who came here in 1960.
Some other sidelights brought
it served as a community church Ezra Maurer, 1909 to 1913; Samuel
and center for many activities. Conklin, 1913-15; 1916-17, sup­ out at th? anniversary were that
Rev. H. G. Hermann was pastor at plied; G. Hartzell, 1919-20; H. G. Sunday school was held at Pleas­
the time the church and the par­ Hermann, 1923-24; W. F. Rade­ ant Hill and ether surrounding
sonage at the corner of State and macher, 1925-26; G. W. Plummer, points until roads and travel be­
North streets were built.
1927 to 1932; D. H. Kauffman, came easier. At one time in the
In 1930, the Oregon-Washington 1933; A. N. Glanville, 1934; H. R. early 1890s, Dr. Poling held a
conference of the Evangelical Scheuerman, 1935; to 1942; Allen camp me?ting at Pittsburg. Early
church met in Vernonia in the Backer, 1942 to 1949; Paul Sisler, ministers were in a sense circuit
still-new church. Overnight ac­ 1949 to 1953; F. M. Knowl, 1953 riders going as far down the river
commodations were in the homes to 1959; Earl Tousley, 1959; Ray­ as Jewell and up Rock Creek and
of members and meals were served mond Targgart, present pastor, to other points.
in the church social hall, with all
th? women of the church working
hard, long hours.
In recent years, the United
Brethren church and the Evangel­
ical church have merged and the
name for the church today is Evan­
. . . that you're riding on safe tires this winter. Install
gelical United Brethren combining
both groups that exerted so much
winter tread tires now for bad weather drying. Ask
influence in the early church.
The 28 ministers who have
us for information.
served during the 75 years of the
church are M. H. Jackson, 1887;
James W. Ray, 1888-89; A. Mar­
cham, 1890: M. Burlingame, 1891;
R. D. Streyfelder, 1892-93; F W.
Launer, 1894-95; G. McElroy, 1896;
F. M. Fisher. 1897-98; G. M.
Stroup. 1899-1900; C. C. Snyder,
1901; J. C. Emmel, 1902; Morris
Heverling, 1903-04, 1918 and 1921-
22; J. C. Coleman, 1905; A E.
DRIVE WITH ASSURANCE
BOB'S
U N IO N S E R V I C E
ATTENTION MOTHERS
VERNONIA AREA
Tom Thumb Studios
Offers You This
Pre-Christmas
S -P -E -C -l-A -L
Exira Large Life Size
PORTRAIT
l l x l l " — Limit, One Per Family
Only
Groups $1.00 extra, each person
$l ’5
Family Groups Invited.
We honor all photographic albums outstanding certificates.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th
12 Noon to 8 P.M.
VERNONIA I.O.O.F. HALL
DINING
ROOM
ENTRANCE