PHOTO PROVIDED
The wood-frame church on the corner of 7th St and Adams Ave was built in 1892.
As the first white settlers put down roots in the late 1840s in what is now Cottage Grove, they were scattered about with no semblance of a town or village. A log schoolhouse near Latham was one of the first attempts at civilization during this pioneer stage of the Grove. With a sparse populace there was no way to support a full-time minister, nor was there enough of any one denomination to organize a church.
But nearly every pioneer family had brought along a Bible, and wandering circuit riders would come through preaching every few months. But without a meeting place or regular preacher, religious practice was irregular.
Descended from the Scottish Reformed Church, Presbyterianism is distinguished by its democratic principles. Each Church is governed by its own elected elders, and they in turn “call” or hire the preacher who serves at the pleasure of the congregation. Local Presbyterian churches are organized into a Presbytery, or governing body.
It is necessary to document an earlier event that happened in 1810 in Kentucky to explain how Presbyterianism came west. There was an issue that divided the Synod over the revival movement, which favored ordaining ministers who did not meet the educational requirements of the Presbyterian church in order to satisfy the spiritual demands of a rapidly expanding American West.
PHOTO PROVIDED
The church bell, which still rights today, was acquired from Baltimore, Md., in 1893.
This break-away group called themselves Cumberland Presbyterians. These Presbyterians wanted to get preachers out to the territories even if they didn’t have the formal training normally expected for ordination by the Church. These Cumberlands sent enthusiastic, dedicated men to minister to the settlers. It didn’t really hurt the cause that their grammar and Biblical knowledge wasn’t perfect. They preached sermons from their personal experiences rather than book learning and focused on salvation of souls rather than doctrine. This did far more to resonate with the flocks, especially since their words were delivered in the language of the people.
This schism would last until 1906, when the two Presbyterian factions reunited into one body again, but not before the founding of quite a number of Cumberland churches in the western states.
The historical details are a bit fuzzy, but one thing is certain: The congregation of the First Presbyterian Church of Cottage Grove is one of the earliest and longest continually meeting church groups in the area.
Early reports state the founding church members first met under a large oak tree in Dorena in 1855. (This oak still stands, much weakened, but still alive). The earliest written records are the minutes of the session meeting that organized the congregation on the first Sabbath of July, 1855, held in the schoolhouse near John Currin’s land claim. Presbyterian ministers Jacob Gillespie and Samuel Dillard helped during this meeting.
Location of this schoolhouse is in debate and stories handed down from charter members indicate that the first organizational meeting actually took place under the aforementioned oak tree as did some of the first services.
In a history prepared by church members to celebrate the church’s centennial in 1955, the committee acknowledged the murkiness of the past and bewailed the sparseness of the church records that have large gaps in the earliest days of the church. There are only six entries in the minutes for the first 33 years of the church.
Of those recorded notes come strongly worded exhortations to the membership: “The session orders the members of the choir shall be those who are willing to help sing to the glory of God and who do not attend balls, go on Sunday excursions, or visit questionable places, or engage in immoral conduct.”
From the beginning it seemed that many of the prominent citizens were drawn to First Presbyterian. The early records show names such as Veatch, Oglesby, Currin, and Judge J.W. “Squire” Vaughn. This trend runs through the 166 years of church history.
The meetings of the Presbyterians continued to be held in scattered locations under the guidance of circuit preachers. Rev. Samuel Dillard served as the first minister. Later, the pioneer circuit rider C.H. Wallace took on the preaching. In his circuit days, his territory covered an area from Ashland to Salem, meeting in schools, churches, and public buildings. In addition to others he helped organize the Walker Union Church in a meeting at the Walker Store.
Wallace was not a full-time minister but worked as master brick mason and developed the Wallace Brickyard on the west bank of the Coast Fork River, writing his sermons a night after long days of manual labor.
In 1872 a lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars, an abstinence group, was organized in Cottage Grove. The needs for a meeting space for both the Prohibitionist Templars and the fledgling churches forged a partnership between the Presbyterians and the Good Templars. In 1873 they jointly acquired a piece of land along the river facing what was to become Main Street and constructed a two-story building. The Temperance group occupied the upper story and religious groups the lower floor.
It didn’t matter who was preaching or their particular orthodoxy, everyone in the growing village came out for services. There was a common choir and H.C. Veatch played organ.
Eventually, competition for use of the building led the Presbyterians to build their own building. In 1892 the Session decided to pursue this and sold their interest in the Good Templars building to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
A wood-frame church was built on the corner of 7th Street and Adams Avenue, where the Credit Union is today. Rev. C.H. Wallace, an active mason, built the foundation at no charge. Since flooding was still a common occurrence in the area, the building featured a high set of stairs that congregants had to negotiate to get into the sanctuary. The total cost of the building was $3,300 on top of the $150 it cost for the land. The new church building was dedicated on May 8, 1892. The remaining $1,000 due on the structure was raised in 20 minutes during the dedication service, according to a newspaper report.
1892 also marked the first time that the Presbyterian Church hired a full-time minister, the Rev. J.C. Templeton accepting the call. Until this time the congregation was served by a succession of part- and half-time ministers preaching every other Sunday or less.
The Cumberland Presbyterian Aid Society was an organization of church women formed in 1891 and met mostly in private homes.
Their mission was to raise money to help pay the minister and to also furnish the new church building. Their activities included sewing, rug making, and public dinners that included roast turkey, chicken, salad, vegetables, pies, cakes, coffee, and all the trimmings for 50 cents a plate.
Another project was organizing a strawberry festival, featuring 10 gallons of berries and two freezers of ice cream. Those proceeds went toward the church bell, which arrived from Baltimore, Md., in 1893 and still rings each Sunday.
There was a succession of pastors that were called. Some stayed less than a year, others for as long as 11 years. Salary seemed to be around $300 a year, raised by subscription. Duties varied with each call, with some ministers preaching at other churches in the area one or two Sundays a month.
A sample of church activities from a newspaper notice in 1900 documents a full schedule. “Sunday School 10am, preaching Sunday at 11am and 8pm, Jr. Christian Education, 3pm, Young Presbyterian Society for Christian Endeavors at 7pm; Prayer Meeting Wednesday at 8pm.” This was in addition to business meetings, Aid Society, and other social activities. The notice emphasized that “Strangers made welcome.”
Modernization from kerosene lamps to electric lighting allowed the monthly custodial salary to be reduced from $3 to $2. Other improvements included building a Manse for the preacher using volunteer labor and donated materials and the addition of a study.
In 1905 there was a golden jubilee celebration of the founding of the church, still operating under Cumberland Presbyterian auspices. The celebration featured two charter members who were present. Others had either moved away, were too feeble to attend or were on the other side of the world. Former minister C.H. Wallace spoke and many old-time hymns were sung.
Several months later the Cumberland movement ceased to exist and church members found themselves adjusting to being part of the newly reorganized Presbyterian USA.
Things moved along for the Presbyterians in Cottage Grove with the church weathering the Great Depression and seeing members leaving to serve in WWII.
The old building had issues and members had been assembling a building fund. Already a piece of land had been pledged, on Adams Avenue. This was a gift from Mr. & Mrs. Eakin, daughter and son-in-law of Dr. Armand Wynne, a pioneer doctor who arrived in1869.
He had owned the original 16 acres that had been developed into Wynne’s Addition to Cottage Grove and the three lots had been left undeveloped with an eye for a possible building site for a new church.
The church put out the call to a young minister and on Jan. 1, 1947, the Rev. Hugh Peniston arrived and led the congregation as the longest-serving minister in the church’s history.
He knew that a major part of his ministry was to shepherd his flock through the process of building a new sanctuary. As he first met with the building committee the enormity of the task began to dawn on members.
As a beginning step, they spruced up the old sanctuary. Part of this included cleaning, painting, and covering up the water stains from a leaky roof. This involved unscrewing fixed chairs; having the chairs mobile allowed for experimentation and generating ideas of how the new sanctuary would look, function, and feel.
Next week: The congregation hires Pacific Northwest architect Pietro Belluschi.
Part One: First Presbyterian was first in many things over the years
Part Two: Architect, congregation bring out church’s natural beauty
Part Three: Church now focusing on homeless, ill
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