First Universalist Church (2026)

First Universalist Church

McConnelsville, Ohio
Morgan County

If you were to read the Historic Marker for the church, you would think that for the most part the history of the church started and stopped with a Christmas tree.

While not the first Christmas tree to be set up in an Ohio church – that honor goes to Zion Lutheran in Cleveland (1851) – the tree set up in 1865 in the McConnelsville Universalist Church, not among the earliest, was the first in a McConnelsville church. Unlike the Zion tree, the McConnelsville tree apparently generated little controversy.

The Christmas tree was not the only first for the church. They had the community’s first pipe organ and the first Sunday School library, the forerunner of the town’s public library. The church had the reputation of holding a strong conviction for education and the pursuit of knowledge, and was attended by many of the town’s prominent families. A noted member of the congregation was Richard Bilbe¹, a freed slave who served as an early trustee of the church and regularly attended with his family. Other prominent members were the Manly, Whitiker, Beckett, Arrick, and Murray families. These families remained active through the early twentieth century.

In 1811 William Milhouse came to Morgan County and settled in Malta Township when it was still wilderness.² He later moved to a farm between Pennsville and Chester Hill, to the south of McConnelsville. Milhouse was an ardent Universalist and abolitionist. Although the links are hidden in time, he undoubtedly influenced the presence of Universalism in the area. Both nearby Beverly and Stockport had established Universalist societies by the mid-1840s.

The Universalist Society was organized sometime prior to 1836 and reorganized in 1847 [3] under the direction of Rev. L. W. McMaster. In 1850, the society was fellowshipped by the Washington Association. What is interesting is that although the existing building was built in 1852, their might have been an earlier church.

One recorded bit of early church history is the 1828 marriage of Francis Dana Barker to the noted Ohio abolitionist lawyer and Universalist, James Gage, in McConnelsville, where they then resided. Francis Dana Barker Gage, a Universalist, was a reformer, feminist and abolitionist who worked closely Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, among others, for women’s rights and the abolition of slavery.⁴

J. L. Gage was a delegate to the 1861 General Convention of Universalist held in New York. This was a significant convention. The Civil War was brewing and Southern Universalists had recently withdrawn from the General Convention to form the Southern General Convention. The “Northern” Convention of 1861 passed strong pro-Union resolutions.

Both Gages were significant church benefactors.

In 1842 some of McConnelsville citizens, apparently including Universalists established the McConnelsville Academy, “intended for the cultivation of youth.” According to historical accounts they “rented a frame building on Water Street, between East and Penn, which had been built for a Universalist church.”⁵ If so, at some point the Universalist abandoned that church, and prior to building the 1852 church met in the old Court House.

The 1852 church, built at a cost of $3,500, is a traditional wood frame and local brick, rectangular (40 x 60), gable-front, reflecting the simple Greek Revival influences common to that era. The façade is uncluttered and symmetrical, consisting of a prominent front-facing gable, plain wooded trim and tall, simple, windows letting natural light in.

The utilitarian interior layout prioritizes a simple open worship space over ornamentation. In 1867 a pipe organ was installed at a cost of $1000 requiring minor chancel adjustments to improve acoustics.

Decorated for Christmas
The Universalist Church interior as it is today.

In 1837 and 1911 the church hosted the Washington Association Convention, and in 1869 the State Convention. By 1917, worship in the church had ceased and the building was utilized as a temporary school.

After becoming vacant, the church was purchased by Joseph Cowan who in turn sold it to the Morgan County Farmers Elevator Company. In 1946 they let it out to be used as veterinarian clinic. The Elevator Company sold the building in the 50s to the Malta-McConnelsville Board of Education. Around 1965 the Board sold it at public auction to Janet Hoch for $5200. First Universalist was the church of her grandparents and she wanted to see it preserved.

After several decades of varying uses the church underwent historical restoration in 1997 to preserve its original 1852 appearance. Today the edifice serves the Church of the Gospel Ministry. In 2002, the Church of the Gospel Ministry celebrated the church’s 150th anniversary. In 2018, the church underwent four years of additional restoration, which was completed in 2022 with the installation of stained-glass windows in their original colors.

First Universalist 2017 — Before restoration

Notes:

1. Or Albe.
2. Malta is across the Muskingum R. from McConnelsville.
3. Some accounts say 1849.
4. Francis Dana Barker Gage caused a bit of stir in town with her activism. Some of the told folk thought it was unbecoming for woman. However, not much was said in public as the Gages were significant benefactors of McConnelsville. Ref: News & Sentinel, April, 2020 .

Mt. Airy | The home of Francis and James Gag as it looks today

5. Robertson p. 310. Resources & Bibliography:

- Church of the Gospel Ministry
- Morgan County Herald
- Morgan County Historical Society
- The History of Morgan County, 1980. Morgan County Historical Society
- News and Sentinel, Parkersburg, WV.
- Remarkable Ohio: Morgan County
- Robertson, Charles. History of Morgan County, Ohio (1886). L. H Watkins.
- Robinson, Elmo Arnold, The Universalist in Ohio(1923), Ohio Universalist Association Download.
- UU Biographical Dictionary
- “Visit Morgan County”

Images

- Church: Courtesy of the Church of the Gospel Ministry. Background, my reworked picture by Terry young, from Church.
- Mt. Airy, ADF photo, “Pricey Pads”

Posted: 09.05.26
Frank A. Mills
Sheffield Lake, OH

[Church history may be updated as new information comes to light.]

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