JOHN ROTHROCK, PIONEER DUNKARD-- THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-- THE OLD AND THE NEW SCHOOLS-- SECOND, OR NEW SCHOOL CHURCH-- PUBLIC HALL AS WELL AS CHURCH— UNION OF CHURCHES— BUILDING OF THE PRESENT CHURCH-- THE METHODIST CHURCH FOUNDED— HOUSES OF WORSHIP-- METHODIST PASTORS-- THE DUNKARDS— HOW THEY SUPPORTED THE UNION-- THE NEW DUNKARDS-- THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH-- FOUNDED IN MONTICELLO-- CHURCH REORGANIZED-- PASTORS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH-- DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AND THE NEW CHURCH-- THE ORPHANS' HOME-- SOCIETIES-- THE ODD FELLOWS-- THE MASONS-- KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS— GRAND ARMY POST-- OTHER SOCIETIES— WOMEN'S CLUBS.
If he has followed the course of this history, the reader has noted that the pioneer settlers on the site of the present City of Monticello commenced to arrange for their religious needs before all their physical necessities had been met. It speaks well for the human nature of those times, also, that such longings were relieved by unselfish souls as soon as manifested; two or three had only to gather in His name and some faithful circuit rider, or local elder, would be promptly on hand to expound the gospel to the best of his ability. The field was small, it is true, hut the workers were full of zeal, and Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Dunkards, Christians, New Lights and other denominations sought earnestly and patiently for their little bands of worshipers. First they met in private houses, then in schoolhouses—often occupying the same building at different Sundays, or week days, or different hours of the same day—and, as their enterprises prospered or dragged, they would erect separate church buildings, or withdraw from the field awaiting more propitious seasons of harvest.
John Rothrock, one of the donors of the land on which the city stands, was a leader and a minister in the Dutch Reform, or Dunkard Church, and was very active in its affairs until his death in 1860. Although his followers made no special effort to increase the formal membership of the society, its annual meetings, or out-of-door revivals, were largely attended, even by many Dunkards from a distance. As Mr. Rothrock was comparatively wealthy and the local members of the church were industrious and fore-handed, the society maintained for some years a strong and good influence on the community.
The Baptists and Presbyterians organized classes not long after the Dunkards took the field tinder Elder Rothrock, and in 1836, as has already been noted, the Methodists founded a society. The Presbyterians and the Methodists have maintained their organizations to the present time.
The Presbyterian Church was the first of the religious bodies to obtain such a firm standing as warranted the calling of a resident pastor, Rev. Alexander Williamson, but an even more important event in the history of local Presbyterianism was the coming to town of the eloquent evangelist, Rev. Samuel N. Steele. As an advocate of New School Presbyterianism he inaugurated a series of revivals in January, 1843, and within two months bad gathered a society of nearly a hundred members from all the other societies which had formed classes—Baptists, Old School Presbyterians and Dunkards.
The Old and the New School Presbyterians commenced building churches about the same time in 1843; but the history of the periods of disunion and subsequent union has been so well written by A. R. Orton that the writer is pleased to condense from one of his articles.
In the spring of 1836 the Presbytery of Logansport was petitioned by a number of members of the Presbyterian Church residing in White County that a church be organized in Monticello. The names of the petitioners were Zebulon Sheetz, Margaret Sheetz, Ann B. Sheetz, Austin C. Sheetz, Margaret Rees, Elizabeth Rees, Beersheba Cowan, Rhoda Cowan, Beersheba E. Cowan, Okey S. Johnson, Rebecca Johnson, Harriet Cowan, John Rees, Maria Wilson, Catherine Johnson, Martha Rees, Mary Ann Parker, Mary Ann Allen, Asa Allen and Lewis Dawson.
On May 7, 1836 at the house of John Wilson, who lived about a mile west of Monticello in a log cabin on the farm now known as the Moore Farm, the Presbyterian Church of Monticello was organized by the Rev. John Stocker, then of Delphi, Indiana, assisted by Rev. Michael Hummer, of Lafayette; Zebulon Sheetz, a ruling elder in Bloomery Church, Winchester Presbytery, Virginia, was chosen elder. On the day of the organization. John Wilson and Jonathan Harbolt were received as members upon profession of faith, and were elected and ordained ruling elders, and on the same day Isaac Reynolds and Joseph Scott, who had been elders in their eastern churches, were chosen to serve in the same capacity in the Monticello organization.
On January 21, 1843, thirteen members from the First, or Old School Presbyterian Church, organized the Second, or New School Church under Rev. Samuel N. Steele, as noted. These original members were Thomas Downey, Catherine Downey, John Wilson, Maria Wilson, Okey S. Johnson, Rebecca Johnson, Ellis H. Johnson, Catherine Rothrock, Mrs. Mary Reynolds, Mary Jane Reynolds, Miss Catherine Johnson, Mrs. Elizabeth Burns and Sarah Kepperling. From January until October Mr. Steele so added to the membership of the church that be had about a hundred, and although the Old School Church started a house of worship about the same time that the Second Church got one underway, the latter was the first to be completed—the pioneer structure of the kind in White County.
The old house of worship stood on the site of the church now occupied, and served its special, as well as not a few general purposes, until January 18, 1874. At the time it was built, and for some time after, it was considered not only a great convenience for worshipers, but for public meetings of many kinds; it was sometimes used as a court room, and in that day was considered a valuable public improvement.
The First Church did not complete its building until 1846. It stood upon the site of what was afterward occupied by McCuiag's livery stable. After the union of the First and Second churches in 1867, it was sold to the Baptists, who moved the building to the east side of Bluff street south of Jefferson Street, but some years ago it was torn down.
Following Rev. John Stocker, who organized the original church, came Rev. A. T. Rankin and Rev. Alexander Williamson—the latter, in 1839, as the first resident pastor. Mr. Williamson occupied the pulpit when the division occurred, and was succeeded in the Old School Church by such pastors as Rev. Jesse Edwards, son-in-law of Zebulon Sheetz, Rev. J. W. Wampler, Rev. Robert Irwin, Rev. W. P. Kouts and Rev. S. R. Seawright.
Rev. William M. Cheever came to the Second Church as its first regular pastor in the fall of 1843, following the Steele revivals, and his successor, Rev. G. D. Miller, held the pastorate for nine years. Rev. B. F. Neal served about a year, and Rev. H. C. McBride a full decade. Rev. Edwin Black, Rev. William Wilmer, Rev. Amos Jones were in charge before the union.
Rev. S. R. Seawrigbt took charge of the Old School Church in May, 1867, and a few months afterward the pulpit of the New School, or Second Church, having become vacant, it was proposed that the two bodies become one in fact as they had in spirit. Although they began to worship together in the New School church building, no organic union was effected until April, 1870; at that time the Second Church received permission from the New School Presbytery to be transferred to the Old School. The transfer was made a few months in advance of the completed union of the two General Assemblies at Pittsburgh, and in May, 1870, Mr. Seawright was installed as pastor of the united local church, since which time six pastors have had charge of the work, and in the following order, Revs. John B. Smith, Sol C. Dickey, George L. Knox, H. G. Rice, Charles J. Armentrout and Fred W. Backemeyer.
In the meantime another church building had been commenced. Its construction was begun at the northwest corner of West Broadway and Illinois, in the spring of 1873, under the supervision of the building committee, Rev. S. R. Seawright, J. C. Reynolds and George Uhl. It was occupied for regular services in January, 1874, but the tower and entire exterior was not completed until 1878, and the auditorium was not considered fully prepared for dedication until December, 1886. The church, a large and handsome brick edifice of Gothic design, cost about $17,000, and its dedication also marked the semi-centennial of the founding of the original society.
Since then, or for nearly thirty years, the Presbyterian Church of Monticello has steadily progressed. It has a membership of 300 and is now under the pastorate of Rev. Fred W. Backemeyer, who succeeded Rev. C. J. Armentrout in December, 1913.
The origin of Methodism in Monticello dates back to the year 1836, when a class of seven was formed at the store and tavern of a Mr. Orwig, on the site now occupied by Thomas W. O'Connor's residence, opposite the Public Library on Bluff Street. The members of this first Methodist society were Richard Worthington and wife Mary, Silas Cowger and wife Ruth, Rebecca and Sarah A. Cowger, and Rev. Hachaliah Vreedenburg held services for them. Mr. Worthington was the class leader. At that time Monticello was a Methodist mission and was thus supplied until 1850; then as a circuit appointment until about 1860, when it became a station of the Northwest Indiana Conference. As a mission it was in the Crawfordsville, Logansport and Lafayette districts; as a circuit in the Lafayette and Delphi districts, and as a station has been at different times in the Lafayette, Battle Ground, Monticello, Valparaiso and South Bend districts. It is at present in the Lafayette District of the Northwest Indiana Conference.
Religious services were at first held at private houses in Monticello, but after several years the attendance and membership became too large to be thus accommodated, and the schoolhouse was then made the place of assembling, in common with other religious denominations of the village In 1850 the society secured a church home by the erection of a frame building on the northwest corner of Main and Marion streets, just north of the Reynolds Block. It was sold to the Christian Church in 1887, and the edifice now occupied at the southwest corner of Main and Harrison streets was dedicated on August 26th of that year.
"The enrolling officer of each county in the State was directed to enroll all the men in his county between eighteen and forty-five years of age, and note opposite the name of all those who were opposed to military service, on account of religious belief, that fact. After completing the enrollment a list of those who were conscientiously opposed to military service was made out and apportionment made of the enrollment of able-bodied militia enrolled, and it was found that nine men would be required to pay commutation money, three hundred dollars each, to exempt them from service in the army. These were selected by lot under the supervision of a commissioner appointed by the Governor. On a day appointed by the Commissioner the names of all those of proper age and not exempt by reason of bodily disabilities, were written on slips of paper and placed in a box and the first nine names drawn therefrom by the Commissioner were to be subjected to the payment of three hundred dollars each in lien of military service. The draft took place in public at the Court House in Monticello, and the men drafted were all members of Elder Fisher's congregation. Mr. Fisher attended the draft meeting in person and paid the whole amount, twenty-seven hundred dollars, to the party authorized to receive it, and thus relieved his congregation from military service.
In 1857 George Patton organized a class of what have been popularly called New Dunkards; the original body in White County was placed in charge of Rev. Uriah Patton. Elder Patton, its founder, built a meeting-house for the fast-increasing congregation near his residence in Jackson Township, and another was erected at Sitka, Liberty Township. These two societies were the predecessors of the flourishing Church of God at Idaville, which was founded in the early '70s.
Unlike the Dunkards, the members of the Christian Church first obtained a foothold outside of the county scat before founding an organization at Monticello. In 1849-50 Rev. R. C. Johnson organized a Christian Church at the Palestine Settlement, Princeton Township, which was the first religious body in that part of the county, and Rev. James Thomas founded a society in West Point Township, to the south. The ministers named were the owners of large farms, were not dependent upon their parishioners for their livelihood, and spent all their spare time, night and day, in the work of mustering converts to their faith. The first meetings of the new societies were well attended and several Christian ministers were present from abroad, a united and enthusiastic revival continuing for a month or more; and Reverends Johnson and Thomas did not confine their efforts to their home congregations, but traveled into adjoining counties and preached to the end of their lives. Rev. I. Goodacre is the present minister of the Palestine Christian Church.
In the spring and summer of 1854 Rev. Dr. Roberts, one of these Christian missionaries, who had become so well known in the outlying districts, held a series of meetings at Monticello, and, although a large number joined the church, a house of worship was not then providcd. A Christian Church had been organized near what afterward became Sitka and a building erected about a mile northwest of that locality, in the neighborhood of the old Cullen and Conwell Settlement. Not a few faithful members from Monticello and vicinity attended the services in that locality for years.
In March, 1887, the trustees of the Methodist Church in Monticello offered for sale their property on the corner of North Main and Marion streets; this consisted of a lot, a frame church building and a parsonage, and the few members of the faith who were then living at and near the county seat gladly availed themselves of the opportunity of providing a home for the revived organization at a reasonable cost. Dr. M. T. Didlake thereupon went to Indianapolis and presented the facts to the state board of the Indiana Christian Missionary Association, at its meeting April 9, 1887. The board promised him that if the property were secured the state Christian missionary evangelist, J. H. O. Smith, should come to Monticello hold a meeting and organize a Christian church. A. M. Atkinson, of Wabash, Indiana, a member of the Indiana Christian Missionary Association, afterward examined the property and agreed to advance one-third of the purchase money for one year without interest. At the expiration of that time, if a Christian Church should be established and trustees elected, he should be reimbursed and the property transferred to the trustees. On April 19th the property was purchased and deeded to A. M. Atkinson, M. T. Didlake and W. B. Keefer. All the terms of payment having been complied with, formal possession was given to Doctor Didlake, in behalf of the church, October 1, 1887.
Rev. J. H. O. Smith then began a series of meetings which resulted. on November 2d, in a partial organization of twenty-six members, or disciples of Christ. These original members of the church were Dr. M. T. Didlake and wife, R. Land, Sarah A. Mowrer, S. K. McClintic and wife, P. M. Benjamin and wife, Cordelia A. Chandler, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Rothrock, Mrs. Kate V. Cowger, Mrs. Ella Armstrong, Mrs. Mary C. Gow, W. B. Keefer and wife, W. P. Van Winkle, G. G. Wood and wife, J. Y. Stephenson, Mrs. Mary A. Casad, Lula Wood, May Benjamin, Joseph Mowrer and wife, Rachael Mowrer, Mrs. S. R. Temple and Miss Anna Johnston.
The initial meetings continued until December 18, 1887, and resulted in a total membership of 134. The day before they closed the membership assembled in the church and effected a permanent organization by electing M. T. Didlake, R. Land, P. M. Benjamin and S. K. McClintic, elders; J. Y. Stepenson [sic], John Cowger, H. P. Rothrock and C. E. Bailey, deacons; Mrs. M. T. Didlake, clerk; Mrs. S. R. Temple, organist, and J. Y. Stephenson, treasurer. In the following month R. Land, W. B. Keefer, H. P. Rothrock, John R. Cowger and M. T. Didlake were elected trustees, and the organization was thus completed.
Rev. E. B. Cross, of Valparaiso, preached during January and February, but as he could not secure release from previous engagements Rev. A. F. Armstrong succeeded him, still temporarily. Rev. E. A. Pardee was chosen at the conclusion of a series of meetings which materially added to the membership of the church, and continued as pastor until January, 1890. In the meantime a Ladies' Aid Society and other church auxiliaries were organized, an organ purchased and other improvements made.
Rev. J. H. Bristor succeeded Mr. Pardee, resigning on account of ill health, in April, 1892. The succeeding pastors of the church have been Revs. P. M. Fishburn, William Kenney, J. C. Anderson, M. V. Grisso, J. H. Dodd, A. W. Jackman, J. A. Parker, A. L. Martin and T. R. Spray.
On May 5, 1901, during Mr. Dodd's pastorate, the note and mortgage held against the church property were publicly burned at the close of the morning services, indicating the release of the debt; but the rejoicing of the church members was of short duration, for on the 27th of the following August the house of worship and the parsonage were burned to the ground.
While a new church was rebuilding on the river bank at northeast corner of Bluff and Broadway, services were held in the Opera house and the Circuit Court room. The beautiful brick structure which has since been the home of the Christian Church was completed and dedicated March 17, 1903, and, together with its site, cost about $16,000. In February, 1904, occurred the death of R. Land, senior elder of the church, and one of its most active workers. Rev. T. R. Spray, the present pastor, has been in charge since September, 1913. The church has reached a membership of about 250.
By Mary Henke
There are probably a great many people in the city who do not know that at one time an orphans' home was instituted here by a number of women interested in charitable work and was conducted under their direction for about thirty years.
Mrs. Tirza Scott, of Royal Center, who has been visiting friends here for several weeks, was the first matron of the home. At that time Mrs. B. O. Spencer, who came here from Logansport, where she was interested in the care of children of the poor, found an eager audience in the women of this city, and it was not long before a home was established here for the care of children who were bereft of their parents or were in need of help. The first children to be entered were the four children of Andrew Arrick, whose mother, when dying, had asked Mrs. Scott to care for them. Consequently, when the home was founded, they were placed under the motherly care of the matron. At that time it was not necessary for the parents to surrender complete possession of their children when they were placed in the home. Often little ones whose mothers died were placed there that they might be cared for properly, and whenever it was desired to remove them there was no restraint to such action. Poor or orphaned children were also given homes there. The home was established in the property belonging to Mrs. Cornelia Logan on the corner of South Bluff and Market streets, which is now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Mack Spoon and by Miss Lora Allen. After Mrs. Scott had successfully filled her duties as matron for several years she was succeeded by Mrs. S. R. Temple of Monticello, who was also a member of the society that established the home.
Among the women who have been interested in the home at various times and who are members of the Orphans' Home Association, are: Mrs. Frank Britton, who is now president, Mrs. Benjamin, Mrs. Elmira Richey, Mrs. Ellen Van Voorst, Mrs. S. R. Temple, Mrs. Engle, Mrs. Charles Gardner, Mrs. Isaac Davis, Mrs. Sarah Thompson, Mrs. Mary Davisson, Mrs. B. F. Ross, Mrs. Martha Rothrock, Mrs. Will Sargent and Mrs. McCollum. Only a few of these women were members of the association when the home was established, but they have all shown an intense interest in the work and have given a great deal of time and money towards the aid of needy children.
For a number of years after the institution was established, there were no funds in the county treasury and the women of the organization themselves paid for the tuition and yearly support of the children, who sometimes reached as high as fifteen in number. They were entitled to the building but it was a number of years before outside help was received.
The death blow was given the institution about ten or fifteen years ago when a law was passed governing the care for charity children. By this act parents were required to relinquish all claim to the children placed in a charitable institution of this kind. As few of the parents would consent to such a sacrifice, the home here did not have enough occupants to warrant its continuance and from that time children needing homes were sent to Indianapolis or some other city. The women regard the law governing children in charity homes as cruel to both parents and children and consider the manner in which the home was conducted here as much more humane and just.
While the society now is not an active organization, it still continues its interest in poor and needy children and does a great many acts of charity. A fund which is in the hands of the treasurer, Mrs. Van Voorst, is used for that purpose.
Monticello is well provided with societies—benevolent, social and literary—and they largely account for its reputation as a desirable residence for all classes of intelligent people who realize the necessity of mingling with their fellows—all combining in a proper spirit of recreation and uplift.
The oldest secret and benevolent society was organized by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows on the 30th of January, 1852. A dispensation for their lodge was granted on the 23d of the month upon the petition of M. R. Sheetz, J. T. Richey, W. R. Davis, J. R. Lovejoy, Samuel Barnes, R. C. Kirk and D. T. Spears. At the organization, a week later, the following officers were elected: William Davis, N. G.; D. T. Spears, V. G.; J. R Lovejoy, Secretary, and J. T. Richey, Treasurer. Among the prominent men who early became members of the order were Jonathan Harbolt, Isaac Reynolds, Calvin Reynolds, the late Dr. William Spencer David and Daniel McCuaig, Rufus L. Harvey, Dr. Samuel B. Bushnell, Judge Alfred Reed, Capt. John C. Brown, Judge A. M. Reynolds, Robert C. Kendall, Thomas Bushnell, Joseph D. Cowden, John Wilson and James Burns. The last survivor of the charter members was Daniel P. Spears, a resident of Morrison, Illinois, At the time of his death Capt. John C. Brown was the oldest Odd Fellow in the county, having united with the order at Hagerstown, Maryland, many years before the lodge at Monticello was institutued [sic].
The order has prospered both in the increase of membership and financially in Monticello, and in 1902 erected a building at the southeast corner of Main and Washington streets, setting aside convenient quarters for the different bodies. The lodge itself (Monticello No. 107) has a present membership of 250, with the following officers: Thomas Spoon, N. G.; Richard Hinshaw, V. G.; John M. Nelson, Secretary, and J. M. Turner, Treasurer.
The Rebekah degree (Eudora No. 201) was organized in December, 1879, and Stewart Encampment, No. 159, in December, 1882. The present encampment has a membership of nearly 120, with officers as follows: William Lowe, C. P.; F. C. Gardner, H. P.; Ivan Shell, J. W.; John Bretzinger, S. W.; John W. Nelson, Secretary, and S. T. Whitman, Treasurer.
The first Masonic body to organize in Monticello was Libanus Lodge No. 154, which was granted a dispensation by the State Grand Lodge on petition of Francis G. Kendall, James W. Bulger, William Russell, William B. Gray, Alexander Yount, Robert W. Sill, Charles W. Kendall and William C. May. The Grand Master appointed Francis G. Kendall, Worshipful Master; James W. Bulger, Senior Warden, and William Russell, Junior Warden. Upon receipt of the dispensation, which was granted April 1, 1853, a meeting of the lodge was called by the Worshipful Master and the following minor officials elected: C. W. Kendall, Secretary; Alexander Yount, Treasurer; William B. Gray, Senior Deacon; Robert W. Sill, Junior Deacon, and William C. May, Tyler. Other early members to join the lodge were John Ream, David K. Ream, Rowland Hughes, David Turpie, John H. Lear, John B. Bunnell, Thomas Bunnell, Joseph Shafer, Samuel Shafer, Adin Nordyke, Cornelius Stryker, Thomas Beard, Thomas Wickersham, Job Wickersham, R. B. Wickersham, Israel Nordyke, John Large, James Richey, Orlando McConahay, Marshal Murray, Harrison P. Anderson, Peter R. Failing, William S. Davis, John Keever, Isaac M. Davis, James Parcels, William A. Parry, John Leach, William P. Koutz, Ansel M. Dickinson, Thomas Bushnell and Alfred Reed. At the present the lodge has a membership of 105. George F. Marvin is Worthy Master; George W. Gilbert, Senior Warden, and Frank L. Hodshire, Junior Warden.
Monticello Chapter No. 103, R. A. M., was organized under dispensation granted October 28, 1887, and by appointment of Madison T. Didlake, High Priest; Marion Parrish, King, and Cloyd Loughry, Scribe. The chapter worked under dispensation until November 22, 1888, when it was constituted a regular body, with Madison T. Didlake as first High Priest; Cyrus A. G. Rayhouser, first King, and Reuben M. Wright, first Scribe. The chapter has now a membership of 100, with the following officers: William N. Loughry, H. P.; Frank B. Phillips, E. K., and Joseph D. McCann, E. S.
Monticello Council No. 70, R. and S. M., was organized under dispensation on April 26, 1898, on petition of Madison T. Didlake, Joseph D. McCann, George H. Cullen, Julius W. Paul, William S. Bushnell, James P. Simons, James F. Brown, Hiram A. B. Moorhous and William H. Hamelle. It worked under dispensation until October 18th of that year, when it was organized under charter and present name, with Madison T. Didlake as Illustrious Master; James P. Simons, Deputy; Joseph D. McCann, P. C. W.; Lewis E. Wheeler, C. G.; Hiram A. B. Moorhous, Treasurer; Samuel A. Carson, Recorder, and William S. Bushnell, Sentinel. At present there are 100 members identified with the council, with the following officers: William H. Hamelle, T. I. M.; Samuel A. Carson, I. D. M., and Joseph D. McCann, P. C. W.
There is also a chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, which was organized under dispensation on January 15, 1895, and under charter, as Crystal Chapter No. 165 on May 22d of that year.
Both the Knights of Pythias and the Pythian Sisters have organizations. The former, known as Monticello Lodge No. 73, was organized October 29, 1877, its charter members being John H. Wallace, Emory B. Sellers, Henry P. Owens, James V. Vinson, Irvin Greer, Henry Snyder, John C. Hughes, Isaiah Bisher, Taylot Bennett, John T. Roach, Washington Kuntz, George Baxter, Frank Roberts, Thomas J. Woltz, William R. Harvey, William Spencer, James E. Howard, Josiah Purcell, John T. Ford, John H. Peet, Albert W. Loughry, John H. Burns, T. Fayette Palmer and Samuel Fenters. The first officers were as follows: T. F. Palmer, P. C. (still active); J. H. Wallace, C. C.; J. T. Ford, V. C.; John H. Burns, M. A.; Prelate, Josiah Purcell; M. of E., William Spencer, and M. of F., James V. Vinson (active). The membership of the lodge is over 150, and its present officers are as follows: Arthur Halstead, C. C.; L. A. Young, V. C.; R. A. Layton, Prelate; Jacob H. Hibner, M. of W.; H. J. Reed, K. of R. and S.; Claude Irelan, M. of F.; W. F. Bunnell, M. of E.
Tippecanoe Post No. 51, G. A. R., was organized March 31, 1882, by Judge John H. Gould, of Delphi, and John C. Brown was its first commander. As the old Civil war soldiers drop away from year to year the organization becomes more and more reduced, but the few remaining veterans still cling to their post with old-time affection.
The foregoing by no means complete the list of the fraternal societies which have their headquarters in Monticello. The Modern Woodmen of America, the Maccabees (both Knights and Ladies), the Loyal Order of Moose, the Red Men and other orders have all their local representatives, some of them growing organizations.
There are also a number of women's clubs in Monticello worthy of note. Among the oldest of these are the Nickel Plate Club, organized for both social and charitable purposes, which has done much good work toward civic betterment; the Coterie Club, social, organized in 1893; the Wednesday Reading Club, organized in 1892 for the purpose of "studying standard English literature and general history in a social club;" the University Extension Club, founded in 1895 in connection with the Chicago University; the Chautauqua Home Study Club, a member of the great chautauqua system, and established in 1898, and the Equal Franchise League, organized in 1913 for the purpose of educating women on the suffrage question.
The first President of the University Extension Club was Prof. L. S. Isham, with Miss Pearl Jones, Secretary. Miss Eva Cosad has been President for about ten years; Miss Nora Gardner is now secretary.
Mrs. Byram was the original president of the Coterie Club, and Mrs. Ida Jest, Secretary. Present officers: Mrs. C. D. Meeker, President, and Mrs. Myram Spencer, Secretary.
Mrs. Meeker is also President of the Wednesday Reading Club, its first president having been Mrs. James H. McCullum.