A Historical Account of the early religious and social life of New Knoxville Community from 1836 to 1900

By E. R. Kuck
BROOKSIDE FARMS, New Knoxville, Ohio, September 15, 1962

PREFACE

The founding of the Churches in New Knoxville, Ohio dates back to the arrival of the earliest pioneers who participated in the settlement of the adjacent area now known as the New Knoxville Community.  Their arrival in this area was consistent with the overall settlement of the Northwest Territory established in 1787, and of which Ohio represented the gateway for the westward migration of the hardy pioneers.

What kind of people were these early pioneers?  Were they the foolhardy breed of individuals that their contemporary stay-at-home neighbors considered them at that time?  Through their deeds, their sacrifices, their privations, and by their final accomplishments, history records for them otherwise.

These early pioneers were a hardy lot.  The men and women alike were of a physical and moral fiber such as is seldom woven today.  In many respects, these early pioneers were much wiser than we are, although they knew less than we do about the ways in which things are made or how they operate.  We soon accept such modern inventions as the radio and television as so much furniture, and we take our water from the tap instead of from the sky as the pioneers found it necessary to do.

By virtue of their self-chosen solitude and their attendant privations, and because of their close association with the very heartbeat of nature experienced all about them, even the most rugged individualists experienced a void in their personal beings.  There were so many things they could not control and so many natural manifestations they could not understand. 

A noted historian has written that once religion and life were one.  It is a significant fact that the word “religion” does not once occur in the Old Testament.  There was no need of the word, for everything was religious.  In all primitive societies it has been so.  It is a well-known fact that when certain elements of life are divorced from religion and given separate spheres of their own, that there is produced in the average person a feeling of impotence and confusion because his life lacks unity.  Life’s various interests clash and peace of mind becomes a phantom experience.

In no phase of human experience was the need for faith in a higher power more demanded than by these otherwise rugged pioneers.  This almost inexplicable void in their arduous lives made them ready converts to almost any religious mission that became available to their hungry souls.  Realizing their own incapacities, they desired a belief in spiritual things.

Nor were they to be disappointed.  For soon after the pioneers blazed trails into the black wilderness of Ohio, missionaries of the Methodist faith followed, establishing the first Methodist Church on Scioto Brush Creek in 1800.  Soon missionaries of other denominations followed, so that active competition existed in many communities for the welfare of the rugged souls engaged in conquering the wilderness.

The lives of these early missionaries were ones of constant hardship.  Mainly, at first, they walked or rode horseback from community to community, offering their messages of hope to all who would listen.  However, and above all, there was a fervor and steadfastness in their faith that made them equal to the tremendous task of serving the settlers who had left religion and the comforts of civilization behind them in more settled parts.

Such were the conditions and the modes of procedure that resulted in the settlement of the Northwest Territory and also the manner in which religion was brought to the pioneer communities.  The organization of the Reformed and the Methodist Churches in New Knoxville was in accordance with these evolutionary procedures.

By your request to write this historical account of the early church life in new Knoxville, I have presumed that you wished me to tell about the very beginning of things – where   it began; how it began; why it began; who did what and how – all in the form of a running account in which I might be able to include all these things.   In the following chapters, I submit my best efforts in this respect.

The author

In the Beginning

In the beginning the New Knoxville area was part of the Black Wilderness, later to be proclaimed as the Northwest Territory.  From the time Fernando De Soto discovered the Mississippi River and claimed all territory drained by that mighty stream for the Spanish Crown, many wars were fought for possession of this vast inland empire.

Next, France established her claims to the territory by right of discovery and navigation of the Ohio River by LaSalle, who followed the Allegheny River to the Ohio and thence down the beautiful river to the falls, the present site of Louisville, Kentucky.  However, this claim was later forfeited by Captain Celeron De Bienville, who in 1749 buried lead plates at the mouth of each of the tributaries of the Ohio.

This same territory was also claimed by many English Colonies as their grants read from “sea to sea.”  Both France and England won support from the Indians, which in the end brought on the French and Indian War.  With the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the French gave this vast territory to England.

After the American Revolution, England lost this empire to the Americans, who opened this territory for settlement by proclamation in 1787.  It is at this point that our historical account begins.

It was in the Land Office Building established in 1788 at Marietta that the first task of settling the territory began.  Many surveying teams came to this office and through their efforts, boundaries were decided upon, whole areas surveyed and many special plots were selected and deeded to men, the majority of whom had fought in the Revolution.

In the early history of the United States, there are four high points to remember:  first, The Revolution; second, organizing the new government; third, the Nations’ Capitol; and fourth, the Land Office of the Ohio Company at Marietta.  Outside of the Government Office at Washington, the unpretentious land office building at Marietta was at first the most important in the early days.  It was, in fact the Little Capitol of the United States.

General Rufus Putnam was the President of this miniature Capitol and was a man worthy of the high office and trust.  Three times in his eventful life he had fought in behalf of the Northwest Territory.  First to win it from France for the British; second, to win it from England for the Americans; and third, to win it from Congress for the men who gave the United States to the world.

While Marietta thus became at first the focal point for the westward migration of the Pioneers it was by no means the most important.  A Benjamin Stites had interested John Cleve Symmes and other members of Congress that the present location of Cincinnati, Ohio was a desirable place for settlement.

In 1787 negotiations were begun with the government for the purchase of the land lying between the Miami rivers.

Symmes eventually received title to about 300,000 acres.  In 1788 Symmes and Mathias Benham selected the site, where Cincinnati now stands, for a village to be called Losantiville.  It was laid out the following year by Israel Ludlow, and in 1789 the government located Fort Washington there.

The name was changed to Cincinnati in 1790, and by the end of the year the village contained some 40 log houses.  Whereas Marietta became the gateway for those pioneers who departed their homes from the original colonies in the newly formed United States; Cincinnati for some reason became the gateway for a tremendous migration of European settlers principally from Germany.

So great was this immigration from Germany that by the year 1810, Cincinnati had become the largest city in the state of Ohio with 2300 inhabitants which by the year 1840 had increased to 115,000 inhabitants, thus causing it to be a truly large city.  The large immigration of Germans made Cincinnati a typically German city, and it is part of this immigration that accounts for the settlement of the New Knoxville community.

Thus it was that starting in 1788 the new nation began the herculean task of settling the Northwest wilderness.  The first grants were allowed to unpaid generals and soldiers of the Revolution.  From this gateway at Marietta and several years later from Cincinnati, thousands of American and foreign immigrants made their way into the inland empire by sheer courage and great vision.  Their efforts resulted in carving the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota.

But all was not well on the new frontier.  While the new nation had acquired undisputed possession of the new territory from England, they had yet to subdue the many Indian tribes living in the Ohio territory who claimed the land as their natural possession.   It was one thing to declare the territory open to settlement by proclamation, another to make it safe for settlement.

Before the white man came to Ohio, it was a happy hunting ground for many tribes of Indians.  Great forests of hickory, maple, oak, poplar, walnut, sycamore and elm darkened the land, and were inhabited by droves of wild turkey and other edible fowl.  Here the deer, wolf, panther, bear and a giant herd of buffalo roamed.  Hills and plains were full of game and the rivers filled with fish.

The first treaties with the Indians set the Ohio River as the western boundary for the whites.  Here the red men encamped believing they might hold their beloved haunts for many moons.  The northern section was occupied by the Ottowas and the Chippewas, the eastern by the Mingoes and the Delawares, the central by the Hurons, the southern by the Shawnees and Miamis.

With the opening of the territory the wandering tribes in Ohio began to realize that the Great Spirit of the White Fathers was writing their destruction in their land of the rising sun.  When the squatters, and later the settlers moved over the Ohio the scattering tribes began their last futile effort to protect their hunting grounds.  Under the leadership of their most gallant chiefs, Pontiac, Logan, Cornstalk, Little Turtle, Tecumseh and others, bloody wars and raids were conducted until the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 ended the rule of the Indian in this virgin paradise.

While the Treaty of Greenville did not provide for the removal of the red men from the territory it brought about an understanding and an agreement for peaceful coexistence and unmolested passage through their country.  The following quote from the Greenville Treaty most accurately explains the agreements consummated and how they included the approximate area of the New Knoxville Community.  Quote:

“And the said Indian tribes will allow to the people of the United States a free passage, by land and by water, as one and the other shall be found to be convenient, through their country, along the chain of posts herebefore established; that is to say, from commencement of the portage at or near Loramie’s Store (Fort Loramie), thence along said portage to Girty’s town (St. Marys) on the St. Marys River, and down the same to Fort Wayne, and thence down the Maumee to Lake Erie; again, from the commencement of the portage, at or near Loramie’s store along the portage, from thence to the river Auglaize, and down the same to its junction with the Maumee at Fort Defiance; again, from the portage aforesaid, to Sandusky River, and down the same to Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie, and from Sandusky to the post which shall be taken at or near the foot of the rapids of the Miami of the lake; and from thence to Detroit.  And the said Indian tribes will also allow the people of the United States the free use of the harbors and mouths of rivers, along the lake adjoining the Indian lands, for sheltering vessels and boats and liberty to land their cargoes where necessary for their safety.”

The three time reference to Loramie’s store in the Greenville Treaty attests to the importance of that immediate area in the traditional migratory wanderings of many Indian tribes.  In no other place on the American continent was there a more strategic vantage point for the many wandering tribes than that area representing the approximate 12 mile portage route between Loramie Creek and the St. Marys River.

Since most tribes were migratory by nature, using canoes on navigable water ways, whenever possible, they could travel south, first on Loramie Creek which was navigable up to the point of Loramie’s store, then thru the great Miami River, joining the Ohio and finally on the Mississippi River itself.  Conversely by using the 12 mile portage to Girty’s town on the St. Marys River they could travel to Fort Wayne and then navigate the Maumee River, taking them all the way to Lake Erie at Toledo, Ohio.

This twelve mile portage connecting the two principal waterways from the Gulf of Mexico to the South

and Lake Erie to the north experienced more Indian activity and population than any other area in the United States.  Many thousands of Indians representing many scores of tribes utilized this thoroughfare in their migrations.  That the area should have been free from incidents was due to a rigid and peculiar Indian code that tribes would not be attacked or harmed during their migration.

Loramie’s Store or trading post had been conveniently established on Loramie Creek by a French trader named Peter Loramie in the late 1760’s.  He conducted a flourishing trade with the Indians until the area was conquered by a special mission conducted by George Rogers Clark who destroyed the post by fire in 1782.  This act, more than anything else infuriated the many tribes and aroused them to the various Indian battles starting with the battle of Fort Recovery and culminating with Wayne’s victory at Fallen Timbers on Aug. 20th, 1794, which in turn led to the signing of the Greenville Treaty.

Other Early Area Activity

While there is no recorded evidence of any white man’s activity in the immediate area of the New Knoxville community prior to the year 1832, the nearby locations of St. Marys, Ohio and Wapakoneta, Ohio played a distinctive part in Indian life and in the early Indian frontier conquest.

Because of the favorite Indian portage between the St. Marys River to the north and Loramie Creek to the south, James Girty, one of three renegade brothers, established himself there in 1783 in what is now the site of St. Marys, Ohio, as a trader, and the post soon became known as Girty’s Town.  For a number of years he enjoyed a practical monopoly of the Indian trade here, shipping his peltry down the St. Marys River to the Maumee.

With James Girty thus well established with the Indians through his trading post, his brother Simon Girty soon found this relationship to his advantage and made it his chief base of operations.  In all American history there is no name more despised and representative of greater infamy, treachery and traitorous behavior than that displayed by this blackest of all renegades – Simon Girty.  He betrayed the settlers, planned massacres, scouted for the Indians, and laughed at the torture of his white brethren as they burned at the stake.  He was never known to stake out a claim, build a cabin or erect a wigwam.

When General Anthony Wayne approached the St. Marys area in 1794, James Girty packed up his goods and fled to Canada, thus ending the notorious Girty brothers episode in Ohio.

When General Wayne arrived at Girty’s Town he found the trading post deserted but was impressed with the strategic location of the site at the head of the St. Marys River.  He therefore assigned a detachment of his forces to plot the site on which Fort St. Marys was built during 1784 and 1785, and which was commanded by Captain John Whistler for many years.

Later, during the War of 1812 Fort St. Marys became the principal headquarters of General Harrison’s army for quite a period and was one of the principal depots for the provisions of the armies in the northwestern part of Ohio.  The accumulation of cattle, horses, and other army stores was so great that additional storage buildings were needed and a place was built to protect the livestock.

The spring located near where the Fort Barbee Hotel now stands furnished an abundance of pure water.  When the buildings of the depot were completed, the stockade was given the name of Fort Barbee, in honor of the Colonel who was its commanding officer.

Such were the conditions as they existed during the pre-settlement days of this area and how the military operations were called upon to guarantee safety to settlers.

The Indian Tribes

The history of the American Indian involves many tribes, each with its own tribal tradition, and governed by a code of behavior that had become established through a long lineage of the chieftains that governed the tribe.  Tribal warfare was a natural and constant threat to satisfy their vanity for glory and power and to avail themselves of newer and better hunting grounds.

Originally the land now comprising Auglaize County was claimed principally by the Miami tribe of Indians, although hunting parties of the Wyandotte tribe would sometimes encroach upon the lands.  However, when the Miami village of Pickawillamy (near Springfield, Ohio) was attacked by General George Rogers Clark and completely destroyed by fire in1782, the tribe moved to the state of Indiana.

Almost as soon as the Miami tribe had moved, the strong Shawnee tribe which had been driven from the Carolina’s and Georgia moved in and possessed the land formerly occupied by the Miamis.  Under the leadership of Chieftains Blue Jacket and Black Hoof they established themselves at the mouth of the Auglaize River and built the famous Council House at the present site of Wapakoneta, Ohio.  At this new location munitions were regularly supplied them by the British from Detroit and Canada.

Here at the Council House in the village of Wapakoneta, were to be assembled some of the greatest chieftains of Indian lore – Blue Jacket and his son James Bluejacket, Black Hoof, Tecumseh, The Prophet, Peter Cornstalk, The Little Turtle, The Little Snake, the noted Indian interpreter Francis Duchouquet, Captain Logan, and others.  However, after the Treaty of Greenville, segments of the tribe started to migrate to Missouri.  The final migration according to treaty was accomplished in 1832 when James Blue Jacket who had enjoyed a flourishing trade in liquor moved out with the contingent.

The Settlement

It was not until the year 1832, after the removal of the last Indians from their settlement in Wapakoneta that the land now comprising Washington Township in Auglaize County was duly surveyed and offered for sale. The year 1832, therefore, represents the beginning point of any historical account for the New Knoxville area. 

With the Indians removed and the safety of the area established, the settlement of the area proceeded in orderly fashion through the purchase of parcels of farm land usually in 80-acre tracts. Shadrach Montgomery was the first white settler in Washington Township, making his land entrant in

1831. 

Soon after this date a heavy influx of principally German immigrants took land entrant possession of the newly established land division so that in the course of only a few years’ time most of the desirable farm land had been taken up with the village of New Knoxville, Ohio, the focal point of communication and community enterprise. 

The New Knoxville Settlement

The original founder of Knoxville, later to be called New Knoxville, Ohio, was James Knox Lytle. It is his name that is affixed to the document of the Auglaize County records establishing the town of Knoxville.  It may seem peculiar that a man of Scotch-Irish descent should found a town so predominantly German.  The reason for this is explained in a later paragraph.

James Knox Lytle was the eldest son of Robert Lytle, Jr., who had married Miss Hannah Knox at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  This same Hannah Knox was a direct descendant of John Knox, the great Calvinist Reformer and she was furthermore a full sister to the mother of James Knox Polk, the eleventh president of the United States.  Miss Knox was born in 1780, and died on August 19, 1840 at St. Marys, Ohio and is buried in the old Benner Cemetery in the northern part of St. Marys.

In surveying the Knoxville area for the possibility of establishing a satisfactory town site, Mr. Lytle found that Cummins, Mather and Brown had established a water power operated saw mill approximately a half mile north of the present village located approximately at the border line of the Fred Haberkamp and George Katterhenry farms.

Envisioning the requirements of a mill operation for the construction of homes, Mr. Lytle purchased the mill and persuaded Cummins, Mather and Brown to establish a store and trading center to form the nucleus of the new town in the area of the contemplated town site.  This site was later sold to Henry Venneman and later owned by B. E. Cook and now owned by Adolph Henschen and operated as the Double A Restaurant.

Location and Description

On page 16 of Plat Book No. 1 on file at the Auglaize County Courthouse, Wapakoneta, Ohio is recorded the following description as pertains to the founding of Knoxville:

The town of Knoxville is laid off in a piece of ground embracing the corners of Sections 29 and 30, Town 6, South of Range 5 East, on the north side of the sections.  The lots are all 66 feet wide and 132 feet deep.  The streets and alleys all cross each other at right angles and run with the cardinal points.  A monument is planted at the southeast corner of lot No. 1.  Main and Bremen Streets are each 4 rods wide, all the other streets are 3 rods wide and the alleys are one rod wide.  Lot 17 is donated for the purpose of building a school house.

Signed:    James K. Lytle

A plot in conformity to the above description was drawn by Hamilton Davidson to which is attached the following certifications:

“I do hereby certify that the within plot of the town of Knoxville as laid off and surveyed by me for James K. Lytle, proprietor, June 30, 1836, is true and correct.”

Signed: Hamilton Davidson
Surveyor, Allen County, Ohio
State of Ohio
Allen County SS

Before me, Hamilton Davidson, a Notary Public, within and for the County aforesaid, personally name James K. Lytle, the Proprietor of the within described town, and acknowledged that he had laid off the same agreeably to the within plot and desired that the same might be recorded.

Given under my hand and seal of office the 21st day of July A. D. 1836.

Signed: Hamilton Davidson, Notary Public

Hamilton Davidson, Notary Public, presented the foregoing instrument for record July 22, A. D. 1836, and was by me recorded on the 23rd day of the same month.

Signed: John Ward, Recorder

This plot was then officially accepted by order of the Commissioners of Allen County, at their September Session, A. D. 1836.  Of principal interest in the foregoing documentary certifications is the use of the name Knoxville and the fact that these documents were recorded in Allen County.

In 1836, all of what is now Washington Township, Auglaize County, was a part of Allen County.  It was not until February 14, 1848 that the County of Auglaize was established by an act of the Ohio Legislature. 

In regard to the transcription of these documents from Allen County to Auglaize County, we find the following transfer notation:   

Transcribed by me November 15,1849.

Signed: S. Dresher, Recorder
Allen County, Ohio

The name Knoxville was chosen by James K. Lytle in honor of his mother, the former Hannah Knox, who was a direct descendant of the great Calvinist preacher and reformer. When the new community applied to the United States Post Office Department for a local office, their application was denied because there was already a post office of record as Knoxville, Ohio, located in Jefferson County, Ohio, in the extreme eastern part of the state.

However, the early “town makers” were not dismayed and, persisting to commemorate the mother of the founder of the town by means of her maiden name Knox, prepared a petition, an exact duplicate of the first one save that in it the prefix “New” was added to the original name “Knoxville”. This new name was accepted by the Post Office Department in 1858, and since that time the village has been called New Knoxville.

While the townsite of New Knoxville had acquired legal status permitting the sale and purchase of lots, the farm land adjacent to the town, principally all in what is now Washington Township, had similarly been approved and recorded at the land office at Upper Sandusky, Ohio.

The author has in his possession the land grant given to his great-grandfather, dated October 1st, 1846 and issued at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. This Document reads as follows:

S. H. Laughlin
RECORDER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE
RECORDED, VOL. 26 PAGE 293

The foregoing copy of an original Document of Conveyance of land from the Public Domain by the United States of America to a purchaser represents the form and manner in which such conveyances were made, prior to the time that Auglaize County was established in 1848.  The contract is printed on regular parchment and is signed by James K. Polk as president and countersigned by J. Knox Walker.

This counter signature by J. Knox Walker on this document answers a previous question of why a man of Scotch-Irish descent – James K. Lytle should establish the 100 percent German townsite of Knoxville.  A careful study of these early records reveals how political patronage was used in these early days.

James K. Polk was elected to the United States Congress in 1827 and in 1835 was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives and later in 1844 was elected to become the eleventh President of the United States.

With such political eminence he could and did pass out the rich plums of patronage to his own kin, principally all of his cousins and nephews which included James Knox Lytle who established the townsite of Knoxville and later transferred his operations to St. Marys to Edmund K. Lytle who was James Lytle’s younger brother who established Sidney, Ohio and parts of Shelby County and to J. Knox Walker who operated the land office for the sale of Farm Lands in Allen County.

However, in their defense it must be said that there are no records of illicit dealings by these men.  They were simply fortunate to have a cousin in the National Capital who could provide them with these extraordinary opportunities.

Thus by 1836 the proper legal procedures for the purchase and conveyance of real estate, whether a town lot or farm land had become established.  An early historical account reports that during the year 1836 only two log houses had been built in the New Knoxville area at a distance of 4 miles apart.

            The Precarious Life Problems of the Earliest Pioneers

          So far in this historical sketch the author has relied on documented and other recorded evidence that may be factually regarded.  However, from this point forward, because of the scantiness of early records, he accepts the liberty of drawing deeply upon recollections that he, as an over-curious youth (up to the age of 17), was able to elicit from his great-grandfather, the Reverend F. H. W. Kuckherman in whose home he had the good fortune to live until his death in 1915.  Reverend Kuckherman came to the New Knoxville community in 1841.

The precariousness of life for the earliest pioneers may best be visualized by considering that they came to a complete wilderness in which there were no roads or even markers to direct them.  They had no shelter; they had few if any neighbors.  There were no stores from which to buy provisions and supplies.  Their only source of illumination was from candle light.  There were no doctors or dentists to attend to their aches.  At best their life must have been lonely and filled with many apprehensions for their safety and well-being. 

When the first pioneers came to the Knoxville area, which included the greater part of what is now Washington Township of Auglaize County, they found a veritable wilderness.  The land itself was slightly rolling and variable with approximately 50 percent high ground, 25 percent low ground and 25 percent swamp land.  This swamp land was to create a major problem for the future building of roads. 

The land was heavily forested with huge trees, including principally walnut, oak, beech, hickory, maple, and elm on the high ground with sycamore, swamp ash and willows abounding in the swamp areas. All forms of wild life were in abundance with deer and wild turkey providing the choice meats for the early pioneers.

However, the very first requirement of the pioneer was to assure himself of an adequate and satisfactory water supply.  A man may live without food for an extended period, but he cannot long exist without water.  It is for this reason that the early settlements were always made along rivers and streams. Except in periods of flooding, these streams were clear, for man had not yet contrived to pollute the waters.  In this respect it may be noted that the townsite of Knoxville was established at the confluence of the two streams that join just north of the present American Legion Hall.

          With a satisfactory water supply assured, and with a bountiful natural supply of game, berries and nuts to provide him food, the next concern of the settler was to select a home site.  This selection would usually involve a parcel of high ground comprising an area varying from one-half to one acre of ground to be completely cleared.  This would provide enough logs to construct a log house, and the remaining cleared land would then be used as a garden.

This garden, whether on a town lot or a farm homestead, was the principal mainstay for the pioneer. Because of stumps and other obstacles, every piece of the ground had to be spaded. The early pioneer had no use for horses or other livestock until he had cleared sufficient land to grow feed for them.  The principal garden crops were potatoes, carrots, squash, pumpkins, cabbage, lettuce, beans, peas, and corn for corn meal.

After a pioneer had thus built the log home and established a garden, the family duties were subject to special assignment.  Aside from the task of spading the garden, the balance of the work with the garden – the   preparation of the seed bed, the planting of the seeds, their cultivation and harvesting, fell upon the women and children in the family.  This permitted the husband to devote his time to clearing additional land.

The matter of clearing the land represented a considerable chore; one man could not very well do it alone, so neighbors shared this task by helping each other.  The trees were large and, with the exception of certain oak logs fit for rail splitting, the logs were rolled together and piled up to make a huge bonfire that would burn for weeks.  This rolling together of the logs usually was performed by six to a dozen men, depending upon how many were available.  After the logs had thus been piled up, these piles would be left to dry for as much as six months or a year before they were fired.

After the pile was burned, the voluminous pile of ashes was gathered up and stored.  This was done for two reasons:  first, they had experienced that a large accumulation of ashes in their gardens had so alkalinized the soil that plants would not grow and, secondly, they had discovered in Germany how to make soap by using lye from wood ashes. 

This process of making soap was a simple one.  They simply made a rack about two feet from the ground on which they would place wooden barrels with a number of holes bored in the bottom.  They would fill each barrel to within two inches of the top with these wood ashes and then place an iron kettle below the barrel.  Then every other day they would pour a bucketful of water on top of the ashes.  As this water slowly leached through the ashes, the filtrate would be collected in the kettle below.  When the kettle was approximately two-thirds filled with this filtrate, there would be added to it a certain amount of fatty materials such as fat, tallow and lard which they had especially saved from the carcasses of animals which they had trapped for furs or had otherwise deliberately hunted.  This kettle of material was then put on a hot fire until it was boiled down to about one-half.

The kettle was then cooled, and when completely cold, the precious soap had solidified at the top of the remaining liquid to a thickness varying from two to three inches.  This cake was then removed from the kettle and cut up into pieces about three inches square.  After the soap had completely dried, it was packaged in wooden boxes and shipped to Cincinnati where it found a ready market until the early 1850's when the production capacity and the superior soap made by Proctor and Gamble began to dominate the soap market.

Thus furs and soaps became the first merchandisable products from the new community, thereby providing some cash for the early efforts of the pioneers for clearing the land.  The rate of clearing the land, when based on exchange of labor conditions, was slow and tedious.  The clearing of as much as three acres of dense growth woodland in a year by a farmer would be considered a big achievement.

Thus the clearing of the land proceeded slowly, and when a farmer had cleared as much as five or six acres for crop production he became entitled to own a one-horse wagon (ein-spenner) and a horse to pull it.  He would also buy a jumper plow and a spike-tooth harrow to prepare his land.  At this point he would usually grow an acre of wheat, an acre of rye, two acres of corn and one acre of timothy hay.  He would also have acquired by this time a bred gilt and would have acquired from two to five dozen hatching eggs

which would supply him with both meat and eggs for his table.  The reason he did not grow more wheat and rye was that of the labor involved with harvesting it.  Both the wheat and rye were harvested by hand cradling (about one-third acre per day), and it had to be threshed by hand with a flail.

However, when the pioneer farmer had succeeded in clearing ten acres for crop production, he had really arrived.  Now he commanded a two-horse team, owned several cows and more hogs and chickens. Now he was producing a surplus over his personal needs, and he had pork, cheese and eggs to sell. This was for him the day of promise, and he envisioned even greater benefits when the additional sixty to seventy acres he owned were likewise cleared for production.

Preparing the Knoxville Townsite in 1836

          After the townsite of Knoxville had been plotted and laid out in 1836, the streets had merely been marked off and had not yet been cleared of the trees and the underbrush that was growing on them.  Thus Main Street, running from north to south, was the first to be cleared to the designated width of four rods (66 ft.) for an approximate length of 1200 feet, and Bremen Street, running cast and west, was to be similarly cleared for an approximate length of 1350 feet.

This task fell at first to four men who as so-called "buddies" came to the Knoxville community in the latter part of 1836.  These men, all immigrants from Ladbergen, Germany, were William H. Kuck (who changed his name from Kuckherman to Kuck upon his arrival in the United States), H. H. Fledderjohann, H. Lutterbeck and Herman Meckstroth and his wife. These men had the distinct advantage of being employed at first by the Lytles, James and Edmund, in clearing the streets for a compensation of 50

cents per day, which served as an allowance toward the purchase of any lots or land they sought to purchase.

Because of the interests held by Edmund Lytle in the development of Sidney and with his financial interest, along with his brother James, in the Knoxville area, the southern end of Main Street was soon to become the point of entry for an angling road connecting Knoxville with Sidney.  Similarly, the northern end of Main Street became the terminal point for an angling road to St. Marys, Ohio.  In the same

manner, the west terminus of Bremen Street became the link with New Bremen (also by angling road), while the east end remained for the later development of a road to connect with the county seat of Wapakoneta.

Thus we note that by the end of 1836 the Knoxville townsite, as well as the adjacent farm land, was ready for settlement.  Glowing letters reporting wonderful opportunities sent to their homeland by the four immigrant settlers who came to the new community in 1836 were becoming the topic of interest and conversation in the Ladbergen community.

Consequently, others soon were to follow in ever-increasing numbers until at the end of 1841 we find a documented report dated December 14, 1841 the names of forty heads of families who had banded together for the purpose of drafting a constitution for congregational worship.  The names affixed to this original document are given in the order in which they occur in the record, and also in the original spelling and are as follows:

Whether or not all of the heads of families in the Knoxville community at that time participated in this meeting is, of course, not known.  However, it may be assumed that if the wives and children of these heads of families that signed this constitution were counted, that the population of the Knoxville community by the end of the year 1841 may well have been in the neighborhood of 100 souls.

Ladbergen to Cincinnati and Knoxville

During the 1830's, 1840's and early 1850's Cincinnati, Ohio, was the fastest growing city in the world.  Its population of 2,300 in 1810 had expanded to 115,000 by the year 1840.  The reason for this growth was that this city had made immigration its business.  Because of its fast growth, a strong labor market was developed for the building of new streets, new homes, business establishments, factories and more than two dozen breweries.  The building of the Cincinnati-Lake Erie Canal also provided employment opportunities.

With such ever-increasing demand for labor, the enterprising business men of Cincinnati formed a round robin syndicate whereby all would benefit from this influx of new immigrants.  These men, being of German descent, specialized in inviting only Germans.  Through their organized effort they sent recruiting agents to all parts of Germany.  The fare from Hanover or Bremerhaven to Cincinnati was $48.00 for an adult and half that fee for children under fourteen years.  If the would-be immigrant had no money, he could have his fare advanced by simply signing a work bond or some other type of repayment guarantee.

The route of journey was from either Bremerhaven or Hanover in Germany to New York or Baltimore in the United States.  From either of those two cities they traveled by stage coach to Pittsburgh and from there by river boat to Cincinnati.  All along the route were special agents to help the travelers with their problems of lodging and meals, which services were included in their fare.

Upon arriving in Cincinnati they were taken to the immigration office for official registration and then were assigned to a boarding place for their lodging and meals. The following day they would arrange for their employment.

The wages were the highest in the nation - $1.00 per day or $6.00 per week for ordinary labor. Skilled labor such as masons and carpenters could earn $8.00 per week.  The workday was from sun up to sun down. 

Wages were paid weekly.  Those working under work-bond or other financial obligations had $2.00 per week deducted from their wages, which was paid to the immigration office until their travel bill was paid.  The usual cost of lodging and meals was $2.00 per week, so that $2.00 was left over as spending money or to save for moving on to the settlements.

This repayment plan usually required the immigrant to spend about one year in Cincinnati before he could acquire the necessary supplies and extra money to move to his final destination.  It has been conjectured that of the 115,000 people credited to Cincinnati in the 1840 census, more than 50,000 were such itinerant immigrants.

After the immigrant had fully discharged the financial obligations of his work bond, he would save what money he could for equipment and supplies to take to the new settlement.  For this the merchants were prepared to offer him the following:

1.  A pioneer kit, consisting of I cross-cut saw, axe, sledge, shovels, garden hoe, complete carpenter's  kit, candle lanterns with 2 dozen candles, and other miscellaneous items.  Price of kit - $10.00.
2.  A muzzle-loading gun, complete with powder horn, flints, and 10 lbs. black powder.  Priced from $6.00 to $12.00.
3. Table ware for the home, comprising china and silverware.  The cost of this was variable, according to personal pride and preference.
4. Household furniture, bedding, and clothes were selected on the basis of need and what they could  afford.
5. The final arrangement was for the teamster who could deliver them and their goods to the settlement.  This cost $5.00 per day, and the trip to Knoxville took from 3 to 4 days.  Usually two or three families would join together to save on this cost.
6. After having satisfied all of the foregoing requirements, the wise settler would fortify himself with surplus savings ranging from $50.00 to $100.00.  To buy an 80-acre farm would cost about $80.00, and there were not yet employment opportunities in the new settlements, except for possible work on the Cincinnati-Erie Canal where the wages were only 50 cents per day.

The interests of the immigration syndicate did not cease with the arrival of the immigrant in Cincinnati.  Their interest in the immigrant's welfare continued until he was securely settled in any one of the many settlements they had helped to establish.  In each of these settlements they had their special representatives who would greet the newcomer and help him with the selection and purchase of the land he would own.  This represented the world's largest and most successful real estate operation.

Thus the would-be settlers were given a wide range of selection regarding the area they would choose for settlement.  In this regard it is interesting to note how the settlements at Fort Loramie and Minster were settled by Germans of the Catholic faith, New Bremen settled by Germans from the Bremen section of Germany, and New Knoxville settled entirely by Germans from the Ladbergen community.

In closing this phase of the immigration story, it may be of interest to note that the syndicate's representative in the Knoxville Community was Charles Route, highly respected and revered citizen among the early settlers.  The earliest tax records reveal that 101 of the 102 lots in the Knoxville area were taxed at the rate of $5.00 per year, but that lot 88 in the name of Charles Route was taxed at the

rate of $78.00, thus indicating that a building had been built as his headquarters of operation.

Ladbergen and Germany During the 1830's to 1850's

          remained for the great Bismark to achieve the federation of the many German provinces into a unified Germany in 1871. Prior to this unification, the German speaking areas of the country were referred to under the all-inclusive name "Germania”.

At this time the land was divided into many provinces, each of which was ruled over by a prince or king.  The living conditions represented a refined version of the ancient feudal system.  Wars between various provinces were many and were usually prompted by a shortage of food supply caused principally by an over-population of the territory.  The over-lords of the provinces would collect heavy taxes to support their castles and to maintain large armies to defend their small kingdoms.

Under such conditions, the community of Ladbergen was subject to the laws and edicts of the rulers of the province of Oberbeck, of which it was an integral part.  The heavy taxation and the constant threat of forced military service bore heavily upon the people, so that when the opportunity of migrating to a new land with new opportunities came, the challenge was quickly accepted.

The community of Ladbergen is comparatively small.  The village itself is hardly as large as the present village of New Knoxville.  The vast majority of its citizens live on small farms, varying in size from 10 to 40 acres.  One exception to this condition was the "Kolon" Kuck farm which in those days supported seven tenant houses.  The word Kolon means large farmer, and upon the author's last visit in 1953, the seven tenant farms had been reduced to two.

The size of the community was governed largely by the distance that the families could walk to attend school and church services.  This was usually confined to four or, at most, five-mile radius surrounding the village in all directions.  Even in 1953 the churchgoing was principally by foot.

For more than five centuries the community life, both religious and social, was centered around the protestant Ladbergen church.  After the services, the people who congregate at the various inns to enjoy "schnaaps" and to learn the latest news of the community and the world at large.  This custom is still in vogue.

The soils of the Ladbergen area are very sandy and have a low level of fertility.  The farm houses are built of stone and the barn is built in connection with the house – the kitchen door usually representing the entrance to the barn.  Most of the homes are hundreds of years old.  In many cases of over-population on a farm, parts of the barn would be utilized for living space.

In the Ladbergen area, one will not find two farms by the same name.  There in only one Kuck farm, one Wierwille farm, one Schroer farm, one Kattman farm, one Katterheinrich farm, one Kuckherman farm, etc. This is because of their peculiar laws concerning the descent of property, which I shall attempt to explain as follows:

1. The eldest son in the family inherits all property and becomes the head of the household when his father dies.  He is encouraged to marry at an early age and have children within three years.
2. The second son assumes the position of a standby.   He is referred to as "Der Onkel an Die Muhre "the "Uncle at the Wall".  He may not marry except in the event of the oldest son's death when he must marry the widow and thus assume the position of the head of the household.
3. All other sons and daughters born thereafter were tolerated as extra baggage.  The extra sons had little to look forward to, except that it was the duty of the head of the family to provide them with the necessities of life in lieu of which they performed services on the farm.  The daughters were given some special consideration in the hope that they could be married.  The failure to marry, however, did not release the head of the family from providing them the necessities of a home and a livelihood throughout their lifetime.

Exceptions to the Rule

While such were the established procedures for the perpetuation of the family name and the property involved, nature did not always cooperate.  For this major sin of nature, they had a remedial plan that was universally accepted.  If after three years of marriage the oldest son had no children or prospects of the same, he was considered to be sexually impotent.  At this point the second son would accept the

husbandly duties with his oldest brother's wife.  If children were thus born, he became the head of the family in place of the older son, who was then relegated to the position of servant.  However, if the second son would not produce a child within three years, then the wife was considered impotent and would become an ordinary servant in the home.  Under such conditions, the eldest son would again be free to  remarry, and start the routine over again.

In families where only daughters were born, the situation was reversed.  The first daughter in such a family to marry would require her fiancé to change his name to her family name, and he would thus become the future head of the household with all its inheritance.  This offered a golden opportunity to those sons in large families who would otherwise not succeed to authority or property, making such courtship highly competitive.

Such were the laws, customs, and practices in the family lives of the people in the Ladbergen community.  Imagine the interest and the high hopes instilled in the minds of those "extra baggage" individuals when the first glowing letters from the first four settlers of the Knoxville settlement arrived in Ladbergen.  The effects were immediate and immigration started with stampede proportions.

To best illustrate this momentous situation, the author can recite with authority what happened in the Kuckherman home in Ladbergen about the year 1834.  Gerard Heinrich Kuckherman, the third son in the Kuckherman houschold, married Katherine Elizabeth Kuck, a daughter of "Kolon" Kuck, whose farm holdings included seven tenant houses. While "Kolon" Kuck could offer them the opportunity of living in one of the tenant houses, there would be no inheritance privileges involved.  Those rights belonged to the eldest and second sons of "Kolon" Kuck.

In this tenant house lived, in 1834, the father and mother Kuckherman, three sons and three daughters - all unmarried.  In 1834, the eldest son - William H. - migrated to Cincinnati and eventually came to the Knoxville settlement in 1836.  His glowing account of the opportunities in Knoxville so electrified the other two brothers and three sisters that all five had reached Cincinnati prior to 1842.

This recital of what happened in the Kuckherman household is but an example of what happened in virtually every other household.  So electrifying was the news of the opportunities in the new world, and so immediate was the acceptance, that virtually every household in the Ladbergen community was emptied of its "extra baggage" fold by the end of 1848, ending the mass migration from Ladbergen.

And so they came, virtually in droves – the  unmarried "extra baggage" folk – both  men and women – headed  for Knoxville via Cincinnati.  The mode, route, and conditions of their travel have been previously described.  Upon arriving in Cincinnati they first reported to the Immigration Syndicate's office and then were to meet their relatives and friends who had preceded them at the First Evangelical Reformed Church of Cincinnati.  All members of the Ladbergen Church had been instructed to make this their new church home while in Cincinnati.

Imagine the hopes and aspirations of these people as they anticipated opportunities for marriage, for homes and families of their own.  Many courtships started even during the ocean voyage, which took from six to seven weeks.  Many resulted in marriage in Cincinnati during their enforced stay there while working out their work bonds or while accumulating surplus earnings so that they could enter the settlement.

However, in spite of all of their good intentions to settle at Knoxville, less than one-third of the migrants came to the Knoxville community.  Their forced stay in Cincinnati, usually for a year, caused them to enjoy the employment opportunities available there and to become entranced with the more lively aspects of city life.  Those who came to Knoxville were those who preferred rural life and possessed the ambition to own their own farms.

The Early Religious and Social Life of the Community

From 1836 to 1850 the population of the Knoxville community was made up entirely of families from Ladbergen, Germany.  There were four principal reasons for this:

1. The people of one province in Germany were suspicious of the German people from another province because of the continuous warfare that had been waged between the various provinces. Furthermore, the Low Dutch dialect of the people from Ladbergen differed greatly from the dialect of the German people, as for example, the Low German dialect of the people who settled New Bremen differed from the Low German dialect of the settlers of Minster, who came principally from the town and province of Munster.  The Ladbergen dialect was heavily flavored with Dutch because of Ladbergen's proximity to the Netherlands.
2. The people who came to Knoxville came principally on the invitation and recommendation of friends or relatives who had already settled in the new community.
3. The immigration syndicate's representative in Knoxville had asked that only people from Ladbergen be advised to come to the Knoxville community.
4. Knoxville lay off the beaten path of travel.  From every direction it could be reached only by angling roads.

By 1850 the mass migration from Ladbergen had ended and those who would come to the Knoxville community had already arrived.  After 1850, other Germans, principally from the province of Osnabruck, settled in Knoxville, along with some occasional arrivals from Ladbergen.  The people of Osnabruck had approximately the same German-Dutch dialect as those from Ladbergen because of the proximity of these provinces in Germany.  Actually, the entire population of Knoxville in 1850 represented a partial transplantation of the Ladbergen community.  In all respects, these people shared the same social background and religious experience.  All had been members. of the same Protestant Reformed Church in Ladbergen, and all had attended the same Evangelical Reformed Church in Cincinnati.

In reviewing the early history of the community, one cannot neglect to evaluate the efforts of the early settlers in establishing proper and satisfactory religious services.  The recorded evidence of the period from 1838 to 1852 reveals two principal activities in the community to capture the allegiance of the several hundred souls in the Knoxville community.

This activity involved the establishment of the two churches still operating in the community, -- first the establishment of the German Evangelical Reformed Church in 1838, and in 1843 the establishment of the German Methodist Church, at first called the Salems Methodist Church.  It is regrettable that the historical accounts for both the Reformed Church in its Centennial Celebration in 1938 and the Methodist Church in its Centennial Celebration in 1943 should entirely ignore and evade the facts of this early struggle in the development of their separate churches.

Through careful review and study of the early church records for both the Reformed and Methodist Churches, the events of this early period are brought into discernible focus and can be accurately traced and described.  In the following chapters, the author will describe the step-by-step procedures involved in the establishment of both churches.

From the very beginning, the earliest settlers – because of their religious training in Ladbergen – sought religious direction.  At first they congregated as neighbors in various homes to observe the Sabbath and to participate in religious services through collective singing and reading the Bible.  Their request to the Reverend Johann Reck, Pastor of the church they had attended in Cincinnati during their stay there, was partially answered by having assigned to them the services of a circuit rider by the name of Rev. Frederick Jaertin.  He would visit the community at uncertain intervals and perform such special services as administering Holy Communion, baptism of children and other services as the members might desire.

By the end of 1839, more than two dozen families had become established in the community, so that there was no house large enough to accommodate the joint services.  This led to the building of a log church and a parsonage, both completed in 1840.  The records indicate that in 1840 lots #45 and #46 of the original townsite, plus 15 acres to the West, were purchased for $60.00.  This church was located on the grounds of the now-abandoned Evangelical Reformed cemetery, which was also established at the same time.

Thus by the end of 1840, the young community had provided itself with all of the facilities necessary to engage the services of a full-time resident minister.  It was not until the latter part of 1841 that the Rev. Johannes Heinrich Tanke, who had replaced the Rev. Jaertin as Circuit Rider, accepted the permanent position as resident minister of the church.

The first official act of the Rev. Tanke was to organize the congregation by having them adopt a constitution for official regulation.  This was accomplished on December 12, 1841.   The constitution was approved and signed by 40 heads of families whose names have already been mentioned in a previous chapter of this treatise.   

The Constitution provided that:

1.  According to the confession of faith, it shall be a German United Reformed and Lutheran Church.
2.  In matters of faith, there shall be freedom of choice, and freedom in quest of religious truth shall ever be vouchsafed to its members.

From subsequent records following this meeting, it must be presumed that this Constitution was dictated by Rev. Tanke without ample discussion among the members, because the second article of the Constitution was soon to come under heavy criticism and eventually to be completely disavowed.  Because of Rev. Tanke’s liberal views on religion, the members of the new congregation found violent disagreement with his sermons, for they were in no way comparable to the “hell and brimstone” sermons they had heard in Ladbergen.

Because of the ever-growing dissatisfaction with Rev. Tanke, the members became subject to more satisfying influences.  Under such circumstances, a newcomer to the community – a Mr. William Doering, who was single and carefree, and who was quickly recognized in the community as not too religious because of pranks and jokes which he would play on everyone – was to create the community sensation.

All of a sudden, late in the year 1842, this would-be hellion went about the community apologizing to one and all for the jokes and pranks he had committed.  He claimed that he had been converted and that he was now the most devout Christian in the whole community.  This change in temperament and attitude on the part of Mr. Doering was not left unnoticed in the community, and many questions were raised.

When Mr. Doering was questioned as to how and where he was converted, and how he had acquired his religious fervor, he became eloquent in his praises of the mighty work done by a Rev. Kissling , a member of the Sidney Mission of the Methodist Church in Sidney, Ohio.  “Come, see and hear this Mighty Man of God” was his challenge to one and all.  Consequently, not long after this unusual experience three men – Henry Kruse, William Braaksick and William Rethwilm – journeyed to Sidney to personally investigate Mr. Doering’s story.  So impressed were these men with Rev. Kissling’s sermon that then and there they invited him to hold services in Knoxville, and promised that they and their families would form the first class for his instruction.

Thus the Methodist Church became established in Knoxville, largely by members who left the Reformed Church which had been established by Constitution on December 14, 1841 and concerning which had arisen great dissension regarding the matter of the Proclamation of Faith.

With the establishment of this Knoxville congregation, it was to become part of the Sidney Methodist Mission.  Under this authority, it was joined to the Circuit which included Sidney, Piqua, Greenville, Spencerville, Kossuth and St. Johns.  The ministers assigned to the Sidney Mission at the time of organization were Rev. John Zwahlen, Rev. William Floerke, Rev. Adolph Kaetter, Rev. J. A. Schermund, Rev. F. Schimmelpfennig, Rev. C. Bier and Rev. J. C. Reiber.

Of the above ministers, Rev. John Zwahlen was assigned to service the Knoxville congregation.  On May 18, 1843, the first member was received with special ceremonies.  He was the William Doering who in 1842 claimed conversion through the Sidney Mission.  On the following day, nine additional members were received, as follows:  Henry Kruse, William Braaksick, William Rethwilm, John Reiniker, Herman Henry Meckstroth, Charles Brockmeier, Henry Ney, William Lutterbeck and John Gottlieb Conzelman.  Thus the ten members, along with their families, officially established the local M. E. Church on May 18 and 19, 1843, under the adopted name of “The Salem Methodist Episcopal Church of Knoxville”.

Now, seeing the establishment of the Methodist Church on May 19, 1843, let us see what was happening in the other church at this time.  With the loss of a number of members and facing the loss of many more by acceptance of membership in the Methodist Church, the Reformed Church was now facing a real dilemma.  Criticism and confusion were rife and no one had suggested a reasonable solution.

However, there was a young, personable member in the congregation – Henry Kuck, the local school teacher – who suggested that since the principal contention among the congregation seemed to concern itself about the Proclamation of Faith, why not change it and word it to their satisfaction?  This very simple suggestion was immediately and enthusiastically accepted, and the members found a common cause and interest in restating their Proclamation of Faith. 

Accordingly, soon after this suggestion had been made, we find another recording – made probably during December 1843 – of a special meeting called for the purpose of reworking Article II of the Proclamation of Faith.  Although this meeting carries no date, its position in the church record immediately follows a recording of November 13th, the date on which Sophia Christine Kuck, a sister of the school teacher Henry Kuck, was confirmed.

The record of this meeting is short and simple, as follows: “It was unanimously resolved:  The minister who serves this congregation shall preach the fundamental truths of the Gospel.  These truths are enumerated thus:  The Doctrine of God, the Fall of Man, Christ the Savior, the Need and Meaning of Conversion, Repentance, Faith, Sanctification, Final Judgement, and the End of the World; also that eternal life is the portion of believers and that eternal punishment is the portion of unbelievers.  It was further stipulated that “no minister who is a member of a secret order may serve the congregation”.

The foregoing resolution appears in a different handwriting from that of any writing recorded by Rev. Tanke.  Undoubtedly the record of confirmation of Miss Kuck on November 13, 1843 was Rev. Tanke’s last official act for the congregation.  Furthermore, it is almost certain that Rev. Tanke would not have participated in rewriting this article on the Proclamation of Faith.  It may well be presumed that this recording was made by the young school teacher – Henry Kuck – as his first official act in the long service he would give to the congregation.

While this action of rewriting the Proclamation of Faith gave renewed interest and unification to the congregation, it was not enough to overcome their disappointment at not being able to engage a permanent preacher.  Because of their recent unpleasant experience, no preacher would accept the charge.  So it was left to the congregation to develop their own minister and this is exactly what was to happen.

The young and very personable teacher had gained the respect and admiration of everyone in the community.  It was also rumored in the community that he was contemplating marriage.  Because of his firm, strong voice and his excellent reading ability, he was soon tagged to become the congregation’s leader.  As a special inducement, they offered to provide him and his intended bride the use of the parsonage, which was then empty.

This proposition was accepted by the young teacher, and on March 18,1844 he married the widow Mrs. Maria E. Meckstroth (nee Quiller), whose husband had been tragically killed while felling a tree on January 31,1843.  Thus his career with Reformed Church began and was to continue until the year 1890.  However, this arrangement was not to prove immediately acceptable.  Regardless of the high regard in which the teacher was held, there were those who could not conceive of a preacher as a 22-year-old youth.  Their concept of a good minister was a man of mature years – with a flowing beard.           

Thus by the first of January, 1845, we find the competition between the Reformed and the Methodist Churches on almost even terms.  While the dissension in the Reformed Church had healed, the church had no licensed minister to its credit, giving an advantage to the Methodists who offered – in addition – the prospects of a new and larger church built during that year.

However, during the year 1847, the young teacher had earned his license as a minister and now carried the title of Reverend Henry Kuck.  This gave to him the authority to bring about the necessary stability to insure the continued success of the Reformed Church.  Actually, it was in 1847 that this church regained stability, relieving it of the fear of losing more of its members to the Methodist Church.  However, the Methodist Church was still able to sign into membership some of the newcomers to the community.

At this point it is appropriate to relate that from the very time the young teacher and semi-preacher accepted the challenge to lead the Reformed congregation, he made what was to become a firm and lasting friendship with Rev. Frederich Herman Braasch of the Cincinnati Church.  For special services, such as Holy Communion, Baptisms, etc. he could depend upon Rev. Braasch to come to the community himself, or that he would otherwise provide an ordained minister for these special services.

Because of this close relationship, the young teacher was to find in Rev. Braasch a true champion in advancing his progress to – first – becoming a licensed minister in 1847, and then after three months study with Rev. Braasch and Rev. Reck, young Kuck received his certification as an ordained minister.  Thus the teacher, Henry Kuck, was licensed and ordained by the Lutheran Church, with condition that he assume his baptismal name – Frederich Herman Wilhelm Kuckherman.

Thus in 1852 the Knoxville Reformed Church obtained a fully qualified, homespun, home-trained, ordained minister with a new name and title – the Rev. F. H. W. Kuckherman.  So grateful for this accomplishment were the members of his church that they immediately set about to build a new and larger frame church, which was dedicated early in 1854.  A new parsonage was built and dedicated in 1858.

1853 – A Memorable Year for Both Churches

            Celebrating the 10th anniversary of its establishment in 1853, the Methodist Church had reason to be proud of its achievements.  Not only had it gained a prominent position in the Knoxville community, but it had also attained the topmost position in all respects in the Sidney Mission Circuit.

The very complete records kept by this church indicate that from May 19,1843, up to

January 1,1853, the following heads of families had been received into membership either by baptism or by Confession of Faith:

Of further noteworthy mention is the account of the first baptism in the Methodist Church.  The records simply reveal that John Henry Kattman, son of William and Sophia Elizabeth Niemeyer Kattman was baptized on September 20, 1845, the Rev. John Zwahlen officiating.

In those days the authority of the husband as head of his household was absolute.  For this reason, the names of wives and children were not recorded because the membership accepted by the husband and father automatically included them under his membership.  Thus it may be assumed that the established membership in 1853 (including wives and children) may well have exceeded the 100 mark.

In addition to the established membership in this church, there were probably many more people who attended the services but had not yet made up their minds regarding membership.  From every point, the progress and achievement of this church up to 1853 must be considered phenomenal and certainly noteworthy.  However, it must be noted from the study of subsequent records that this church had reached the pinnacle of its achievement in this year, and that from this time forward there would be gradual recession in its membership which would continue over many years.

During the same year, 1853, the Reformed Church might have celebrated its 15th anniversary, but because of the strife and confusion it had experienced there was little to commemorate.  Their hopes and aspirations were future attainment.  Already they were encouraged by having a qualified ordained minister whom one and all had learned to love and revere, and –also – were they not building a new church?  Such was the conservative and serious-minded sentiment of the members of this church.

Thus, in 1853, we find the Methodist Church joyfully commemorating its 10 – year achievements, while the Reformed Church was cautiously, with serious mind and hope, contemplating the future.  In reviewing these events, it must be remembered that the people in both churches were of the same stock, and often were related.  Each had the same training and social background.  In every case these people were serious minded and were doing what their strict religious background dictated.  In every case they were dead serious and dedicated in their religious beliefs and behavior, whether they were Methodists or members of the Reformed Church.

The events affecting community life after 1853, and extending throughout Rev. Kuckherman’s entire pastorate (which ended the latter part of 1890), can be recited in several short paragraphs.

In 1858, the name of the village was changed from Knoxville to New Knoxville, upon order of the United State Post Office Department when granting the community a local post office.

For the Methodists, we note the building of a frame parsonage in 1861.  In 1864 they built a small frame church on Lot 27, which had previously been presented to the Methodist Church as a gift from E. and S. B. Brown in 1845.

The various ministers and their terms of service in the Methodist Church from the time of its founding to the end of the 19th century (1899) include the following:

For the Reformed Church, we find the record of dedication of the new church on May 29, 1855, although this church was completed and in use during the latter part of 1854. In 1858, a frame parsonage was built, which in turn was replaced by a new brick edifice in 1888.

In 1868, because of the great increase in membership, a 40 foot addition was added to the front of the church built in 1854, and this structure was graced with a special tower to carry a very special church bell.

It is also noteworthy that in 1874 the Reformed Church became affiliated with the Reformed Church in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Heidelberg Classis, then under the jurisdiction of the Synod of the Northwest.

The peace and calm that settled over the New Knoxville community starting in 1853 and continuing until the end of his pastorate in 1890 may be totally credited to the complete mastery Rev. Kuckherman held over the people by sheer force of his character and his disarming personality. No one doubted his sincerity, his intellectual ability and his unselfish devotion to helping any and all who would seek his advice. He practiced what he preached – “Be ye all things to all people”.