Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1905-10-19
First Churches in Audubon.
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

We had expected to have an article
on this topic from the pen of K. B.
Cousins the first pastor of the Presby-
terrain church; and he had given us,a
conditional promise to prepare one,
but found his time so occupied as to
leave none for any outside work. So
we insisted upon his talking to us for
half an hour about his coming to
Audubon and the building of the first
church, of which he was pastor for
term of four years. Mr.. Cousins came
here by invitation arriving on the 9Th
day of March 1879, the spring after
the town was started. He remained
over Sunday preaching in the evening
Rev. Mr.. Lewis of the M. E. church
having charge of the services on Sun
day morning. At that time all the
services were held in the first school
house which is now used as a dwelling
on the street leading from e~Park to
the Northwestern station. This SER
vice conducted by Mr.. Cousins was
not the first by the Presbyterians as
the Rev. John Heron of Atlantic had
been here some time before as
representative of the Presbytery to
determine what should be done con-
corning the matter of organizing
church and securing pastor for the
same in Audubon. After Mr.. COus-
ms made report of his visit, Mr..
Heron came up again and at meet
ing held in the Rock Island station
organized the First Presbyterian
church with membership of ten. A
"call" was at once extended to Mr..
Cousins to become the pastor of the
new church and a dispatch was sent to
him at. Clinton where he was attending
the Presbytery of Cedar Rapids to
which he belonged. He was released
and came directly to Walnut where
he was admitted to the Presbytery of
Council Bluffs, then in session, and
recognized as pastor of the church in
Audubon, which he reached the second
time on the 23rd day of April and
where he has lived ever since.
When Mr.. Cousins received the in
vitatiOn from Audubon to make his
first visit, he was at Abel on business
but neither he nor the people at the
hotel knew where it was located. Fin
ally an old man said it was out in the
hills near Council Bluffs, out where
they had to shoe the sheep SO they
could climb the hills to get their liv-
ing. When he made his first visit
here early in March, Mr.. Cousins
observed the fact that while it was
cold and muddy on the east side of
the ridge, here on the Missouri slope
the ground was dry and the farmers
were busy seeding.
The religious meetings were cOntinu-
ed in the school house where on the
4th day of July, 1879, Mr.. Cousins
held his first communion service and
received five new members. A contract
had been let that spring for q new
church for 5000, which was erected
on the same ground occupied now by
their beautiful new building. Along
about the first of June when the frame
for the walls and roof were up and
sheeted, little cyclone came up the
ravine from the northwest, picked up
the roof and set it down in the. street,
and left the other part in a badly mix
ed condition. The rear part of the
house in which Mr.. Cousins now lives
and which he was erecting at that
time was moved on its foundation but
not seriously damaged. AS there
were no other buildings east of there
no more damage was done by that
cyclone. The effect of the storm was
delay on the building until October
when the men who had the contract
stepped out and Captain Stuart,
though not q member of the church,
put twenty men at work, got the
building up and enclosed SO that it
could be finished during the winter.
On the 9th day of May 1880, the church
was dedicated amid much rejoicing,
and Mr.. Cousins was installed as the
first pastor of the first church in the
town of Audubon. He was delighted
to have the new church, and In
friendly way was pleased to come in
ahead of the Methodists in building
the first church, thing he admits
very seldom happened in those early
days. This first church and the people