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The Methodist Episcopal Church
is
the oldest religions society in Sharpsville. The first preaching by
Methodist ministers in this region was on the farm of William Fruit, whose tenant, William Hays, was a follower
of the Methodist faith. This occurred about the year 1835. The place of
meeting changed shortly afterward to the house of Andrew Byerly, where services
were conducted for several years. A class had been formed soon after
the first preaching was heard, and this was organized into a regular
society in under the supervision of
Andrew Rice, the first class-leader. Mr. Rice was
succeeded by Andrew Byerly
and Phineas Dunham.
The class when first organized belonged to the Pittsburgh Conference.
The next year, the Erie Conference being formed, the class was
transferred to that.
The
first preachers were Ensign B. Hill
and R. Peck. The
circuit was as the “Salem Circuit,” and belonged to the Meadville
District. In 1837, the society became one of the constituents of the
“Old Clarksville Circuit,” among the other preaching places of which
were then Greenville, Clarksville, Orangeville, Charlestown, Big Bend
and Keel Ridge. Sharpsville
remained in this circuit from 1837 to 1869, when it became a separate
charge, under the pastorate of
Rev. L. Wick. The first
church edifice was erected in 1858, under
the pastorate of Rev. R. A.
Caruthers. It was a frame structure 30x40 feet in
dimensions, and stood on Mercer Avenue.
During the pastorate of Rev. John Perry, 1874-75, it
was remodeled and enlarged. For over ten years prior to the erection of
this church building the society worshiped in a school house belonging
to the first furnace
established in Sharpsville. The
membership of the church is 201 at present [1888]. Their condition is
good. Following is
a list of pastors since the establishment of the Sharpsville
congregation as a separate charge, with term of the service of each: Rev. L. Wick,
1869-70; Rev. J. E. Johnson,
1870-71; Rev. J. H. Merchant,
1871-73; Rev. John Perry,
1874-75; Rev. W. H. Mossman,
1876; Rev. F. Fair,
1877-78; Rev. O. W. Darrow,
1879-81; Rev. J. A. Ward,
1882-84; Rev. S. M. Clark,
1885-86, and Rev. A. O. Stone,
the present pastor, who began ministry in 1887.
The History of
Mercer County, 1888, pages 451-452.
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