The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1881-12-21
CHURCH.

Cheyenne was organized, July IS,
1869. The Presbytery of Mis-
souri, river in session at Sioux City
April 10Th, 1869, commissioned
Rev. John S. Gage to preach at
Cheyenne and Laramie City,
Wyoming. He commenced work
May 18th, 1869. He occupied
the field for some time-during
his occupancy of the field DR..
Sheldon Jackson was commission
ed as a superintendent Omissions
for the Presb's of Des Moines, Fort
Dodge and Missouri river. There
fore during the labors of Mr.. Gage
the following petition was present
ed, viz:
"We the undersigned desiring
to be organized into Presbyter-
ian church do hereby request Rev.
Sheldon Jackson, superintendent
of Presbyterian missions in con-
neotion with Rev. John s. Gage
to effect an organization at their
earliest convenience.
ISigned] WIN. F. Thompson
and Mrs. E. H. Thompson, s. j.
Scriber and Mrs. s. j. Sctiber,
Geo. II. Russell, Mrs. Anna Heck
er, Mrs. b. Lyon, Mrs. Jennie
Hook and Mrs. NJ. K. Harms.
In compliance with the preced-
ing petition Messrs. Jackson &
Gage held an organization service
in the school house on Sabbath
morning July 18th, 1869. The
services were said to be we'll at
tended and very solemn and i'm
p~ressive. In the evening by invit-
alton the services were heldin the
Episcopal church. There is no ac-
count of the organization of a
Sabbath school as the record was
probably retained by the pastor.
On October 1869 it seems Mr..
Gage had left and Rev. II. P. Peck
had taken charge of the church.
Feb. LIST, 1870 Rev. w. G. KEEP
hart under commission from the
board of home missions took
charge of the church. We have
no account on the records of the
church of the steps taken to erect
the new building but the impress
sion is that Mr. Gage agitated the
question so soon as he came; and
when DR.. jackson arrived on the
field he pushed the matter forward
with great energy so that the new
house was dedicated, July IT, 1870
Dr. jackson preached the dedica-
tory sermon from I'd Chronicles
6:18 "But will God in very deed
dwell with men on the earth?" &c.
The services were participated in
by Revs. Kephart, Presbyterian,
Davis, Congregationalist, Ander-
son and Tackelberry Methodist
Episcopals. AT the dedication a
collection ofSI50 was taken which
placed the church out of debt.
August 6, 1870 the first elders
were elected being w. f. Thomp-
son and S. j. Scriber. From this
time forward there is but little re-
cord except the reception and dis
missal of members, election of eld-
ers change of pastors. Mr.. KEEP
hart remained pastor ofthe church
till the summer of 1873 when Rev.
Mr.. Gordon supplied the pulpit for
a short time. Then Rev. Thomas
Cooper took charge and remain
ed till some time in April
1874. During the time of Mr..
Cooper being stated supply
the first board of trustees was ell
ected consisting of the following
persons, viz: John A. Campbell, a.
G. Snyder, James Droney, Frank
Allen and w. w. Corlett. The
last record made during Mr.. Coop
er's service was in March 14th,
but he probably remained until
April. On the 22d of May 1874
Rev. VIM. b. Reed arrived and
took charge of the church. III.
Reed is a young man of unusual
talents and geniality, a son of DR..
Reed a leading physician and
member of congress of Western
Pennsylvania and brother of Rev.
Alexander Reed who was success
slvely pastor in Philadelphia,
Brooklyn and Denver where he
came to seek health but died.
Mr.. Reed took hold of his work
with great energy and returned
east and secured funds to build a
new parsonage when this was
completed he brought his young
wife out to help him enjoy it, but
they returned east without ever
occupying it. Mr. Reed is now
pastor of the church at Helena,
Montana.
Mr.. Reed left on May 1875 and
the present pastor arrived on the
9Th ofAugust the same year. He
came under somewhat discourage
ing circumstances, but has quietly
held on his way and has no rea-
son to complain of either Provi-
dence or people. Statistics though
dry give the clearest idea of the