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 In September
1882, ground was broken and work commenced for a church building [for
the First Universalist Church]. The corner-stone was laid on
October 10, 1882, and the building completed and dedicated with
appropriate ceremonies February 10, 1884. It fronts on Mercer
Avenue, is constructed of pressed brick with stone trimmings and slate
roof, forming a handsome structure, probably second to none in the
county, and cost when completed $16,000, the larger part of it being
donated by Mrs. Chloe Pierce,
widow of the late Gen. James Pierce.
She also placed in the church a fine pipe organ, the only one in
Sharpsville, as a memoir to her sister, Mrs.
Abida H. Boles. In 1887-88, the sons of Mrs.
Chloe Pierce built a beautiful and substantial parsonage, costing about
$4,000, and donated it to the church as a memorial to their mother,
making the present church property one of the most complete and
desirable in the county. The present [1888] official members
are: Moderator, T.O. Hazen,
trustees, J. J. Pierce,
Aaron Fell
and Frank Pierce;
deacons, T. M. Ford, Dewalt Wiles
and W. W. Kitch; T. M. Ford,
clerk and treasurer, which office he has held since 1871. The
following is a list of the successive pastors of the church, with the
date of their "calls": Rev.
C. L. Shipman, 1876; Rev.
Samuel Hough, 1877; Rev.
DeWitt Lamphear, 1885, Rev.
W. S. Williams, 1887, and is the present pastor.
The present church membership is forty-nine. A successful
Sunday-school was organized in 1874 and is still in flourishing
condition.
History
of Mercer County, 1888 pages 454-454.
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