The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1954-09-16
Golden Anniversary of Macksburg
Methodist Church Observed Sept. ;

church celebrated its 50th ami
versary on Sunday, Sept. 5th.
Approximately 800 attended
with sessions in the morning.
afternoon and evening. Many
former members and friends
were present for the day and a
basket dinner was much enioy-'
ed in the church basement, as
we'll as luncheon in the evening.
The services were presided
over by the present pastor, the
Reverend Walter H. Brown. DR..
Thurman F. Alexander, District
Superintendent of Cambridge
district, DR.. Carlyle T. Boynton
of Rochester, N. Y, the Rever-
end H. T. Wintermute of New
ton Falls, Ohio, Reverend Mrs.
Lela.@Rowland of Fairview and
the bverend Forest Hall of
Lansing, Ohio, were the prin-
cipal speakers.
Vocal selections were given by
Mr.. and Mrs. James Carter and
Mrs. Mallett of South Olive; Mr..
Floyd Milestone of Akron; the
Macksburg choir; DR.. c. T.
Boynton of Rochester, N. Y; Mr..
Lawrence Nichols of CALDWELL;
Miss Doris Way of Dexter City
route; the South Olive choir
with Mrs. Ruth Harper at the
piano and Mrs. Susabelle McVay
of Caldwell.
Mrs. Eileen Jeffers and Mrs.
Helen Lewis were the pianists
for the day and instrumental
selections on the Accordion were
given by Miss Irene Marquis and
Master Billy Hayes of Caldwell.
A brief "In Memorium" SER
vice was given by Miss Evelyn
Weaver of Caldwell, Reverend
Walter H. Brown and Mrs. Lula
Blake. Reverend William Kath-
ary of Macksburg and Reverend
William Phillips of Youngstown,
offered prayers.
The Historical Sketch of the
Macksburg chcurchc was prepar-
ed and given by Mrs. Lizzie
Hale and she said: 'The chair
man of our committee thought
I should write the historical
sketch for our 50th anniversary
because had been here SO long.
At least, there is no mistake as
to time. | had the privilege of
being present when our church
was dedicated September 4,
1904, also at our 25th anniver-
sary and today Reading a print
ed article of our 25th anniver-
sary, I concluded that it should
be rewritten. However, | will
use the same statistics and data
as taken from the complete and
accurate records as kept from
the beginning by the late Harry
N. Smithson, and in memory of
Mrs. c. S. Blakeslee, who wrote
the 25th sketch, l also want to
use statements that she used.
''To make our history more eff
fective and better understood, it
seems necessary that it be pre-
faced by sketch of our village.
The records show that in the
long ago about 1902, to be exact,
all the land in the section was
owned and cultivated by two
men-Wm. Foster and John Hill
ton. Later, there came a French
man by name of DR.. John Reg
nier, who settled here and built
a mill near the site where the
Z. F. Smith residence now
stands A post-office was esta-
blished in 1920 called Regnier
Mills with DR.. Regnier as post
master The village was named
Macksburg in honor of DIR. Reg
nier's son-in-law, Wr. Macintosh.
However, the name of Macks-
burg as our post office was not
made permanent until 1873. The
first plSaSe to worship was in
log Of Baptist denomina-
ton and stood on what is now
vacant lot just west of the re-
sidence of the Reverend William
Kathary. Here the people Wor-
shipped until 1854 In that year,
the six families who resided here
decided to build a new church.
The denomination was changed
to Methodist Episcopal and the
aforesaid John Hilton and wife
decided 1I8 of an acre of land,
the same spot where this present
church now stands, to the fol-
lowing trustees: John Perkins,
Isaac H. DeLong, James Dutton,
John Eagler, John Daugherty,
Alex Simmons and Charles
Boyd.
For long time, we were of
the opinion that this tract was
donated by Mr. and Mrs. Hilton
but Mrs. Cox, granddaughter Of
one of the trustees, has a copy
of the record, where they were
paid the sum of twelve dollars
and fifty cents. The church was
completed that same year and
is now referred to as "Our Old
Church" Other churches were
organized - one, about halfway
between Macksburg and Dexter