This information is thanks to the research of Alice RockHill. It was posted on Nov. 14, 2010. The information is work a progress. If you have edits, corrections or questions, please contact Alice: karockhill at cpcinternet.com
The History of the Garfield Methodist Church
What is a church? A church is a place, a people, a house of worship, a fellowship, a circle of friends, a tradition, … What follows is an attempt to narrate the history of the Garfield Methodist Church over the nearly 150 years of its presence in the town of Garfield, Washington.
The sources of information include a history compiled by John A. Hoffman, a pastor in 1935, and during a time when a member of the church was Jonas A. Crumbaker, a pioneer of 1878 was still alive. Also researched were early church records and early editions of the Garfield Enterprise.
About the year 1870, settlers came to the Palouse country in increasing numbers from all parts of the United States. Most of them can from the central states in oxcarts over the Oregon Trail. Washington was a still a territory. Many came from western Oregon, which had been settled as early as 1834. The first permanent settler was the Reverend Jason Lee, a Methodist missionary, who located at what is now Salem, Oregon in 1834.
In 1935 the oldest settler living in this region was Ben W. Powers whose father located on a homestead at what is now Seltice Junction in 1873. Another settler, a Mr. Tant, owned land along Silver Creek. In the 1870’s he plated a town, called it Garfield, and waited for people to make it their home.
Presumably there were members of the Methodist Church here among the earliest settlers. The earliest Methodist minister to locate here was Reverend Loomis, a local preacher, who located on a homestead near Elberton about the year 1875. Mr. Loomis farmed and preached until about 1885 when he removed to parts unknown.
Garfield was at first connected with Palouse where the pastor resided. The first resident pastor at Garfield came in 1889, the same year that Washington became a state. Elberton was connected with the Garfield church for quite a number of years.
The first pastor appointed to Garfield seems to have been Reverend W.J. White, who established his residence at Palouse in 1881. Mr. White later established the Methodist work in the mining region of the Coeur d’Alene where he became widely and affectionately known as “The Elijah of the Coeur d’Alenes.” Mr. White died in this region about the year 1915. The record is blank between 1881 and 1885. In the latter year Rev. T.C. Hoagland was appointed to the Palouse-Garfield circuit. The first meetings were held in the first school house which was erected in 1882. This building was used by all itinerant preachers until 1885 when the Baptist hurch was erected on the site where Burch Distributors is now located. Some of the stones for the foundation of this structure were quarried from LaDow Butte and hauled by team and wagon to Garfield. The Baptists and the Methodists used this building jointly until 1888. Rev. F.L. Young was appointed to the circuit in 1888. He seems to have organized the class at Garfield into a church and erected the first church edifice on the premises occupied by the present brick veneer church on the south –west corner of Second and Union streets.
The pastoral records show two pastors for the year 1889 when Rev. W. R. Phelps was appointed to Garfield and established his residence here. The membership record shows that Rev. G. E. Wilcox received members into the church during the same year. (See the photo from 1889 and notice the original wood frame church in the background.)Garfield had a resident pastor continuously since 1889 until 1949 to 1957 when there were no resident pastors.
The earliest members of the Methodist Church that are known to have located here are as follows:
Mrs. Elizabeth Syron can here in 1877 and united with the local church in 1882.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis C. Love came in 1881 from Ohio and united with the church by letter in 1883. Mrs. Love was still a resident in Garfield in 1935 when Rev. Hoffman was doing his research.
Mr. and Mrs. Giles came in 1882 and united with the church during that year.
Mr. and Mrs. John Strandberg came in 1886 and united with the church. Mr. Strandberg died in 1934 and his remains repose in the Garfield cemetery.
Mrs. Ida M. Dix, wife of Dr. Dix, came in 1886 and united with the church by letter in 1890. She later became a charter member of the local Church of the Nazarene. She was still alive at the time of Rev. Hoffman’s work.
Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Case came in 1888 and united with the church by letter in 1890. Mr. Case was a merchant and served the church as treasurer for many years.
Mrs. Jane Morrison came in 1888 and united with the church by letter the same year.
Mrs. Roberta Summers, 1889.
Mrs. Polly McManus, 1889.
Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Potter, 1889.
Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Irwin, 1890.
Mrs., Ruth Hale, 1890.
Mrs. Eunice Gant, a widow, 1890.
Mr. and Mrs. F. O. Tarbox, 1892.
(Notice the dedications on the stained glass windows in the sanctuary in memory of the Silas P. Syron family, Martha C. Strandberg. given by her husband John, and the Epworth League.)
Some of the previously listed members were active in the church for many years. They were members of the original structure build in 1888 and were participant in the 1912 building of the new church at a cost of $11,000 dollars during the pastorate of Rev. C. W. Monson. The old building was turned and used as part of the framework of this new brick building. It still exists as the music room, the pastor’s study, the social room upstairs and two Sunday school rooms downstairs. The new building was completed in the fall of 1912 and Bishop Cooke of the Columbia River Conference came to conduct the dedication services. The minutes of the conference for the 1912 printed a photo of the church, of its pastor, and of the building committee. The building committee was composed of Mr. J. H. Vannice, Mr. Charles W. McCall, Mr. S. J. Scott, and Mr. Jonas A. Crumbaker. (See an original copy of the Garfield Enterprise dated August 9, 1912 for an article about the church dedication, photos, and related local news.)
A special highlight of the church’s early history occurred in 1926 when a mortgage burning ceremony was conducted. Pioneers recall that it was a struggle to raise the money to pay off the church debt. Two charter members were present at the mortgage burning ceremony; Mrs. R.C. Belus and Mrs. Lewis C. Love. (See the original script for the Mortgage Burning ceremony. The two children on the left, boy and girl were George and Ella Meiller, twins, The two children on the right, boy and girl were Calvin and Ellen Gatesw, also twins.)
In these early years, the Garfield Methodist Church sent one young man into the ministry: Otho McKinley Love, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis C. Love, who graduated from Willamette University and served as missionary to Jesse Lee Home, Seward, Alaska. His wife also helped at the Jesse Lee Home. He was born here in 1896 and died in Alaska in 1926.
There is not much known about the early pastors of the church, but there are a few notations that might be of interest. Garfield was first connected with Palouse. The first three pastors served both Palouse and Garfield: Reverend Loomis (about 1875), Rev. W.J. White (1881), and Rev. T.C. Hoagland (1883). The first pastor appointed to Garfield seems to have been Rev. W.J. White, but he too resided in Palouse. The first resident pastor at Garfield came in 1889. Elberton was connected with the Fairfield church from that time for quite a number of years.
The History of the Garfield Methodist Church
What is a church? A church is a place, a people, a house of worship, a fellowship, a circle of friends, a tradition, … What follows is an attempt to narrate the history of the Garfield Methodist Church over the nearly 150 years of its presence in the town of Garfield, Washington.
The sources of information include a history compiled by John A. Hoffman, a pastor in 1935, and during a time when a member of the church was Jonas A. Crumbaker, a pioneer of 1878 was still alive. Also researched were early church records and early editions of the Garfield Enterprise.
About the year 1870, settlers came to the Palouse country in increasing numbers from all parts of the United States. Most of them can from the central states in oxcarts over the Oregon Trail. Washington was a still a territory. Many came from western Oregon, which had been settled as early as 1834. The first permanent settler was the Reverend Jason Lee, a Methodist missionary, who located at what is now Salem, Oregon in 1834.
In 1935 the oldest settler living in this region was Ben W. Powers whose father located on a homestead at what is now Seltice Junction in 1873. Another settler, a Mr. Tant, owned land along Silver Creek. In the 1870’s he plated a town, called it Garfield, and waited for people to make it their home.
Presumably there were members of the Methodist Church here among the earliest settlers. The earliest Methodist minister to locate here was Reverend Loomis, a local preacher, who located on a homestead near Elberton about the year 1875. Mr. Loomis farmed and preached until about 1885 when he removed to parts unknown.
Garfield was at first connected with Palouse where the pastor resided. The first resident pastor at Garfield came in 1889, the same year that Washington became a state. Elberton was connected with the Garfield church for quite a number of years.
The first pastor appointed to Garfield seems to have been Reverend W.J. White, who established his residence at Palouse in 1881. Mr. White later established the Methodist work in the mining region of the Coeur d’Alene where he became widely and affectionately known as “The Elijah of the Coeur d’Alenes.” Mr. White died in this region about the year 1915. The record is blank between 1881 and 1885. In the latter year Rev. T.C. Hoagland was appointed to the Palouse-Garfield circuit. The first meetings were held in the first school house which was erected in 1882. This building was used by all itinerant preachers until 1885 when the Baptist hurch was erected on the site where Burch Distributors is now located. Some of the stones for the foundation of this structure were quarried from LaDow Butte and hauled by team and wagon to Garfield. The Baptists and the Methodists used this building jointly until 1888. Rev. F.L. Young was appointed to the circuit in 1888. He seems to have organized the class at Garfield into a church and erected the first church edifice on the premises occupied by the present brick veneer church on the south –west corner of Second and Union streets.
The pastoral records show two pastors for the year 1889 when Rev. W. R. Phelps was appointed to Garfield and established his residence here. The membership record shows that Rev. G. E. Wilcox received members into the church during the same year. (See the photo from 1889 and notice the original wood frame church in the background.)Garfield had a resident pastor continuously since 1889 until 1949 to 1957 when there were no resident pastors.
The earliest members of the Methodist Church that are known to have located here are as follows:
Mrs. Elizabeth Syron can here in 1877 and united with the local church in 1882.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis C. Love came in 1881 from Ohio and united with the church by letter in 1883. Mrs. Love was still a resident in Garfield in 1935 when Rev. Hoffman was doing his research.
Mr. and Mrs. Giles came in 1882 and united with the church during that year.
Mr. and Mrs. John Strandberg came in 1886 and united with the church. Mr. Strandberg died in 1934 and his remains repose in the Garfield cemetery.
Mrs. Ida M. Dix, wife of Dr. Dix, came in 1886 and united with the church by letter in 1890. She later became a charter member of the local Church of the Nazarene. She was still alive at the time of Rev. Hoffman’s work.
Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Case came in 1888 and united with the church by letter in 1890. Mr. Case was a merchant and served the church as treasurer for many years.
Mrs. Jane Morrison came in 1888 and united with the church by letter the same year.
Mrs. Roberta Summers, 1889.
Mrs. Polly McManus, 1889.
Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Potter, 1889.
Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Irwin, 1890.
Mrs., Ruth Hale, 1890.
Mrs. Eunice Gant, a widow, 1890.
Mr. and Mrs. F. O. Tarbox, 1892.
(Notice the dedications on the stained glass windows in the sanctuary in memory of the Silas P. Syron family, Martha C. Strandberg. given by her husband John, and the Epworth League.)
Some of the previously listed members were active in the church for many years. They were members of the original structure build in 1888 and were participant in the 1912 building of the new church at a cost of $11,000 dollars during the pastorate of Rev. C. W. Monson. The old building was turned and used as part of the framework of this new brick building. It still exists as the music room, the pastor’s study, the social room upstairs and two Sunday school rooms downstairs. The new building was completed in the fall of 1912 and Bishop Cooke of the Columbia River Conference came to conduct the dedication services. The minutes of the conference for the 1912 printed a photo of the church, of its pastor, and of the building committee. The building committee was composed of Mr. J. H. Vannice, Mr. Charles W. McCall, Mr. S. J. Scott, and Mr. Jonas A. Crumbaker. (See an original copy of the Garfield Enterprise dated August 9, 1912 for an article about the church dedication, photos, and related local news.)
A special highlight of the church’s early history occurred in 1926 when a mortgage burning ceremony was conducted. Pioneers recall that it was a struggle to raise the money to pay off the church debt. Two charter members were present at the mortgage burning ceremony; Mrs. R.C. Belus and Mrs. Lewis C. Love. (See the original script for the Mortgage Burning ceremony. The two children on the left, boy and girl were George and Ella Meiller, twins, The two children on the right, boy and girl were Calvin and Ellen Gatesw, also twins.)
In these early years, the Garfield Methodist Church sent one young man into the ministry: Otho McKinley Love, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis C. Love, who graduated from Willamette University and served as missionary to Jesse Lee Home, Seward, Alaska. His wife also helped at the Jesse Lee Home. He was born here in 1896 and died in Alaska in 1926.
There is not much known about the early pastors of the church, but there are a few notations that might be of interest. Garfield was first connected with Palouse. The first three pastors served both Palouse and Garfield: Reverend Loomis (about 1875), Rev. W.J. White (1881), and Rev. T.C. Hoagland (1883). The first pastor appointed to Garfield seems to have been Rev. W.J. White, but he too resided in Palouse. The first resident pastor at Garfield came in 1889. Elberton was connected with the Fairfield church from that time for quite a number of years.
