Ohio Christian Universalist
History in a Nutshell
American Christian Universalism took root in the 1770s in New England. By the end of the century, it had begun to spread westward. The first known minister to espouse Christian Universalism in Ohio was the Rev. Abel Sargent in and around Marietta in 1800. Rev. Sargent called his version of universalism “Free” or “Halcyon” Christianity, not Christian Universalism. He believed that souls would be absorbed into God. The truly wicked would be annihilated. Not exactly the Christian Universalism of John Murray or George de Benneville.
Belpre has the privilege of claiming the first organized Christian Universalist Church, 1823. However, it is provable that Universalists were worshipping together in Marietta as early as 1817. Even so, Belpre became the center of the expansion of Universalism throughout Southeastern Ohio and nearby West Virginia.
Christian Universalist Society of Belpre Marker
500 Block Middle St., Belpre
Organized Christian Universalism entered the Wester Reserve/Firelands region of Northern Ohio with the arrival of Gage Smith and the establishment of a congregation in Mesopotamia in 1805. By 1817, Universalism had reached Bronson in Huron County. Major Minor Spicer, and early Akron settler, introduced Christian Universalism to the southern part of the Western Reserve in 1811. For the most part Universalism appealed to factory workers and those living in rural areas. There were some exceptions, many industrialists and business people embraced Universalism, businessman John R. Buchtel of Akron for example.
The Columbus area lagged a bit behind. The first organized Christian Universalist in the area was in 1844.
Through the extensive efforts of circuit riders, Christian Universalism spread from the Western Reserve to western Ohio and into Indiana. In 1814 there was said to be less than 20 Universalists in all of Ohio. In 1821, it was claimed that the number had brown to well over 1500, largely due to their efforts. With the increase in members it was decided to call a meeting that year at Palmyra, Ohio to organize and establish the Northeastern Ohio Universalist Association, where the Rev. Timothy Bigelow, a tenacious circuit rider was commended for his efforts and elected clerk of the newly formed Association. the Rev. Johnathan Kidwell birthed several churches in Southwest Ohio in the 1820s, most notable in Cincinnati. Cincinnati, like Belpre, became a hub for the expansion of Christian Universalism.
Rev. Timothy Bigelow Marker
Palmyra Cemetery, Palmyra Township, Ohio
By the 1850s there were over 160 Universalist Churches in Ohio. Much of the growth was due to circuit clergy, some ordained, many not. These circuit riders preached Universalism throughout much of Ohio, leaving a legacy of Christian Universalism in their wake. Sadly, by the time the Christian Universalist Church of America merged with the Unitarian Christian Church of America in 1961, the church had greatly declined in numbers. The colorized cover image is from Adventures of Elder Triptolemus Tub (Universalist Publishing House, Boston, 1867) by an anonymous author who humorously depicts the work of the circuit riding ministers.
A good source of early Christian Universalism in Ohio is Rev. Elmo Arnold Robinson's The Universalist Church in Ohio (Ohio Universalist Convention, 1923). Rev. Robinson's work is, I believe the earliest work covering the Universalists of Ohio.