In the beginning
It all started when First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1799. A year later, a rustic log cabin was built, and regular church meetings began. Today’s Westminster is a descendant of that first church.
The beginnings of the congregation are unclear.
A 1949 Dayton Journal Herald article indicated that William Robinson, a member of the Transylvania Presbytery, came to the Dayton settlement as early as 1798 with authority to organize a church.
The Westminster website however, has a page that say it was organized by the Washington Presbytery of the Synod of Kentucky.
Rev. James Kemper appears to have been the first pastor, though not a permanent one.
The cabin was not ideal in cold weather, so plans were quickly made for a new meeting place.
A new meeting place
County commissioners were trying to raise funds for a new courthouse. The congregation sold the cabin site, and with other funds totaling about $434, they lent the money to the commissioners to go towards building the courthouse with the agreement that they could use the space once completed.
In the meantime, the church met in Colonel Newcom’s tavern, which is still preserved in Carillon Historical Park.
Credit: Ty Greenlees
Credit: Ty Greenlees
The members then worshipped in the courthouse from 1805 to 1817.
Next was a new two-story meeting house that was constructed at Second and Ludlow streets for $6,961.
As the congregation grew, more space was needed. Less than 20 years later, the meeting house was torn down, and larger quarters were built in is place, facing Second Street. This one lasted 27 years.
A church divided, then reunited
Because of a dispute regarding slavery, the church split in 1838. Part of the congregation formed Third Street Presbyterian Church. In 1919, the two churches were reunited. The recombined church chose the name Westminster Church.
The name Westminster was chosen because it had been closely associated with the history of the Presbyterian church for more than two and a half centuries.
At the time of the merger, the Third Street Church had 630 members, and the First Presbyterian Church had 516. Thierty years later, in 1949, it had 2,694 members, making it the second-largest church in Ohio, exceeded only by Fairmont church in Cleveland.
Today’s building
While a new church was being built, services were held in Memorial Hall, the NCR schoolhouse and the YWCA over two years.
The building the church occupies today was built from 1924 to 1926 in a neo-gothic style by architect Ralph Adams Cram. It is located on West First street between Wilkinson and Perry streets. The architectural masterpiece was ready for occupancy on Sept. 12, 1926.
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
A dedication ceremony was held on Oct. 24, 1926. Presiding over the ceremony was Pastor Hugh Ivan Evans.
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