Editor’s note: On July 7, First Presbyterian Church will celebrate 200 years since its founding. The following is the first of a four-part series to run intermittently over the next week leading up to the anniversary on the church’s local history. This article was culled from church history documents dating back to the late 1800s. Dr. James Schumacher, John R. Wetnight Sr. and Frances “Ted” Bryant updated the history for the 150th celebration in 1974. The church history was further documented in more recent decades by Bill and Carolyn Perry English, J.M. McKeand, Emily McKeand Campbell, Sandy Learned, Judy Wasson Mitchell, Marilyn Cole Bushfield, Betty Alexander, Jane and Dan Runshe, Mike and Dawn Whitfield, Will Mitchell, Rev. Mark and Cynthia Morningstar, John Tobian, Sharon Orem, Rev. Roscoe Wolvington, Sara Kramer Smith and Dr. Carolyn Statler. A 200th anniversary celebration is set for next Sunday, July 7.
Two hundred years ago, July 7, 1824, 13 people representing seven families gathered in Hendricks Township to create a “Presbyterian” church in the newly formed Shelby County. The church was first called New Providence Church, a reference to the name of a church some founders had attended before moving west to Indiana. The organizing pastor was Rev. John McElroy Dickey, called “the Father of Indiana Presbyterianism” in a state essay on the denomination’s pioneers.
“Living largely on what he was able to earn by farming, Rev. Dickey preached two and often three times each week at a salary of $80 per year” (approximately $2,500 in today’s money), a recently updated church history document said.
Rev. Dickey preached in various places, and so was unable to minister here weekly. “Walking from place to place, he led a horse on which his wife rode,” the document states.
In 1829, the church was relocated to Shelbyville, the county seat. Members met in a small brick building at the northeast corner of Pike and Franklin Street, later home to Major Elementary and now the location of Charles Major Manor.
Later that year, Rev. Eliphalet Kent, fresh out of a New York seminary, and his wife arrived in Shelbyville, via steamboat on the Ohio River, then horseback to complete the journey. The Kents stayed with Dr. S.B. Morris for three months before moving into a small building where Mrs. Kent opened a school.
Of the 700 people living in Shelbyville, which included one frame house and many scattered log cabinets, only eight families were Presbyterian. Services were held in homes and the school house before moving to the old courthouse in the center of Public Square. Rev. Kent, who also formed the church in Boggstown, concluded his ministry here in 1835. He died in 1892, and is buried in City Cemetery.
In 1839, the congregation purchased the entire square of ground bounded by Broadway, Harrison and Jackson streets and continuing to the alley. The property, named Presbyterian Square, was subdivided to allow for the sale of corner lots to help defray the purchase price.
The first First Presbyterian Church building, finished in 1840, was elevated on five-feet-high wooden blocks due to the swampy ground. A flight of steps nearly as wide as the building led to the doors. The exterior was unplanned lumber and was never painted. A plain cupola adorned the roof and housed the first church bell in Shelbyville. The bell was cast by C.W. Coffin in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1849.
“In those days, the town was very small and there were no telephones or newspapers,” the history document says. “The bell, which could be heard in every home, performed a service of calling the people to church.”
It is the same bell ringing today in the present building on West Broadway. It remains the oldest bell in continuous use in the city and has only been repaired one time so far in its 175 year existence.
The following building permits were issued in Shelbyville over the past month: remodel existing restaurant (former Don’s Pizza) for Tierra Mexican Restaurant, 748 S. Harrison St.; replace existing deck and add roof over structure, 1108 Fallway Court; new in-ground swimming pool at 1222 Stonehedge Way; remodel office space at 39 W. Washington St., Suite A; remodel existing apartments, 39 W. Washington St., Suites B, C, & D; construct addition to existing garage at 1104 Executive Court; remodel portion of PNC Bank, 102 S. Harrison St.; install new windows at Crosstown Bar & Grill; new roof over patio at 634 Main St.; and four new condos on Saddle Drive and several new homes.
HOOSIER NEWS: Indiana University lost $1.3 million on its April eclipse event at Memorial Stadium.The Hoosier Cosmic Celebration delivered impressive headliners including Grammy-nominated singer songwriter Janelle Monae, Emmy-winning Star Trek lead William Shatner and astronaut Mae Jemison, the first woman of color in space. It also featured local performers such as the Marching Hundred, music students from Jacobs and IU dancers.Indiana University lost a net $1,358,418.77 on the event, according to information obtained through a records request. With a $1,626,609.02 bill, it generated $268,190.25 from sponsorship, parking, and ticket sales. Much of the bill went to facilities costs such as staging, equipment and staffing. Artist fees and travel arrangements made up the second highest category in IU’s breakdown.IU originally was selling tickets for $15 to students but gave them out for free in the week leading up to the event.About 9,400 tickets were distributed. IU estimates that only 3,000 to 4,000 showed up on the day.Poor turnout can be at least partially attributed to far-off estimates about the number of tourists coming to Bloomington to witness the eclipse.(Indiana Public Media)
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News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.
2014: Kennedy Lawson was named overall livestock showmanship champion at the county fair’s Shelby Royal. Lawson, a nine-year 4-H member, would be a senior at Shelbyville High School in the fall. Others competing were Gage Bridgford, Olivia Cassidy, Taylor Gilbert, Lauren Koch and Megan Spegal.
2004: A group of Shelbyville High School advanced Latin students returned from a trip to Europe. It was advisor Kris Schwickrath’s seventh visit to Italy. The students raved about their experiences, despite not having their luggage for the first three days due to the airline losing it.
1994: Major Hospital began giving an option of epidural anesthesia to women giving birth. About 250 babies per year were born at the hospital, officials noted.
1984: State Rep. Stephen Moberly (R-Shelbyville) urged members of Congress to approve The Balanced Budget/Tax Limitation Amendment. The proposed amendment would have forced the federal government to balance its budget each year. Moberly noted that states did so, and that the federal government should, too.
1974: The Hope Business Association announced they would sponsor a go-kart race July 4th on the Hope town square with races slated for those 10 and older.
1964: Four more candidates entered the Shelby County Fair Queen race: Sheila Rice, Nancy Buehling, Linda Allen and Beverly Crum.
A single stalk of corn was growing at the north end of Harrison St. from a gutter by the bridge. “It goes to show that corn will thrive almost anywhere in Shelby County, and the plant has drawn the attention of many motorists,” The Shelbyville News said.
1954: A new mezzanine floor was under construction at the city’s oldest men’s clothing store, Todd-Bennett, on Public Square. The store had recently added air conditioning and a new back door, facing Washington St.
The new Comstock Standard Service Station, just across the N. Harrison St. bridge, opened. George McCain was station manager. The station, featuring four pumps, would be open 24 hours a day.
A modern new Crystal Flash Service Station was under construction at the junction of North State Road 9 and U.S. 421. The station would have eight pumps plus a diesel fuel pump for trucks and a kerosene pump.
1944: Golden Crown Lodge, Shelbyville’s “colored” Mason Lodge, was named state conference host, to be held in August. James R. Brown Jr. was the local worshipful master.
1934: Fourteen percent of Shelby County taxpayers were delinquent on their first installment of the year, County Auditor Claude X. Mohr said.
1924: The new hospital received a gift of 26 bedside lamps, donated by the Shelbyville Trust Company. The lamps were especially designed for hospital use. The lights did not get hot nor burn out on any light up to and including 40 watts.
1914: For the third time in the last few years, lightning struck and destroyed a barn on B.F. Stubbs’ property on the Franklin pike.
None today.
