Vienna Presbyterian Church

The Vienna Presbyterian Church, established in 1805, is housed in the westernmost building on the Township Green, located on the northwest corner of Vienna Center (the intersection of Warren-Sharon and Youngstown-Kingsville roads).

Establishment

The Vienna Presbyterian Church was originally organized as a Congregationalist Church of Christ. On September 22, 1805, thirteen persons met at the home of Samuel Clinton. With the help of the Reverend Thomas Robbins, an itinerant minister sent to the Western Reserve by the Connecticut Missionary Society, these individuals were formed into an ecclesiastical society, the legal body of Congregationalism that oversees the temporal concerns of a church.

Reverend Robbins wrote of this meeting in his diary:

[September] 20. Visited several families. Rode to Vienna. Afternoon after preaching from 1 John iv: 11, conversed with several persons who presented letters and certificates of good standing in different Christian churches, on the subject of forming a Christian church. Concluded to proceed further on the subject tomorrow.

[September] 21. Wrote. Afternoon preached from Matt. xvi: 18. After which proceeded in the examination of those who wished to be organized into a church. Having obtained satisfaction, concluded to constitute them publicly tomorrow. Mr. Matthews, committee of the church at Smithfield, was present and assisted.

[September] 22. Preached from Matt. xvii: 5 and Gen. v: 24. After sermon in the afternoon publicly organized thirteen persons--seven men and six women--as a church of Christ, charged them to keep covenant with God and one another, and endeavored to commit them to the care and grace of the great head of the Church. Several people attended from the neighboring towns. Rainy.[1]

The first thirteen members were Isaac Flower, Rosanna Williams, Samuel Clinton, Anna Wheeler, Joseph and Sylvia Bartholomew, John and Lois Clark, Robert Hughes and Margaret Hughes, James Montgomery, Jane Montgomery, and Isaac Woodford.[2]

Reverend Robbins continued his work with the congregation:

[October] 11. Visited. Rode to Vienna. My horse quite lame. Had appointed to preach a sacramental lecture, but the lameness of my horse hindered me so that I did not arrive in time. Quite warm. Wrote to Col. Perry, of Pittsburgh.

[October] 12. Wrote records for the church here. Afternoon the church chose me for their standing moderator, and chose a committee and clerk. Preached preparatory to the sacrament from Rev. xv: 15. Some people from Pennsylvania came to attend the sacrament.

[October] 13. Preached from Matt. x: 32 and Esther iv: 16. Administered the sacrament. The first time in this place. A very agreeable and solemn season. A full meeting, appeared solemn and attentive.

[October] 14. Preached in the forenoon from Rev. xx: 15. Rode to Smithfield. A man has lately died of the prevailing fever in Gustavus. Received a letter from my cousin, S. P. Robbins.[3]

Though Reverend Robbins and Reverend Joseph Badger, who had preached at Vienna in 1800 and 1801, were Congregational ministers, they were united with Presbyterians in their efforts to bring organized religion to the Connecticut Western Reserve. As missionaries of the Connecticut Missionary Society they heeded what was called the Plan of Union, instituted in 1801. Some churches in the Western Reserve attempted to combine both denominations, but this practice was eventually abandoned. According to a published history of the church, the Vienna congregation resolved on May 3, 1854, to adopt Presbyterianism, merely formalizing longstanding practice. Yet, according to an 1882 history, church members unanimously adopted a resolution to adopt “the Presbyterian form of government and discipline” on March 2, 1871.[4]

Building a Church

On June 20, 1810, eight acres on the northwest corner of Vienna Center was purchased by the ecclesiastical society for $20.00. Nevertheless, no church building was constructed until 1837. From 1805 to 1837, church services were held in congregants' homes and in schoolhouses.

The timber for the 1837 church building was cut from the land of George Alderman. On January 18, 1853, this building and all its contents were destroyed by fire.

The new church building was dedicated on May 3, 1854, and is still in use today. The postcard (right, in the collection of the Princeton Theological Seminary Library), shows the church building in the early twentieth century. In June 1963 the church was remodeled to enlarge the sanctuary and to add a vestibule. The mortgage was burned on June 24, 1973.

Ministers
Thomas Robbins (1805-1810)
Nathan B. Derrow (1810-1815; 1819-1830)
John Core (1817-1819)[5]
Chester Birge (1830-1835)
F. B. Chamberlain (1839-1841)
Xenophon Betts (1843-1871)
Daniel Williams (1871-1872)
Joseph R. Stockton (1873-1883)
Wesley M. Hyde (1884-1886)
Wilson W. Tait (1888-1889)
Joseph R. Stockton (1891-1895)
D. Herbert Deets (1896-1898)[6]
Elmer Aukerman (1899-1901)[7]
Frank Armstrong (1902-1903)
A. M. Reed (1905-1908)

Published Account

From Harriet Taylor Upton, A Twentieth Century History of Trumbull County, Ohio: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People, and Its Principal Interests (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1909), Volume 1, pp. 597-598:

The Presbyterian church existed early in Vienna. It was organized in 1805 by Thomas Robbins, under the “plan of union.” Isaac Flower, Rosannah Williams, Samuel Clinton, Anne Wheeler, Joseph and Sylvia Bartholomew, John and Lois Clark, Robert and Montgomery Hughes, James and Jane Montgomery, and Isaac Woodford were the original members. At first services were held largely in private residences, and sometimes in schoolhouses. In 1810 they had a regular minister, the Rev. Nathan Darrow [Derrow]. He stayed four years, and entered the missionary field. Later he returned to Vienna, where he taught school and preached until 1828. Rev. John Core was made pastor over the church at Youngstown, Vienna and Brookfield. In 1830 Rev. Bierge [Birge] had charge and stayed five years, when Rev. E. [F] B. Chamberlain succeeded him. Zenaphon [Xenophon] Betts above referred to was installed as pastor in 1843, and continued in that capacity until his death, twenty-eight years. The church was for some little time without a minister, and in 1873 Rev. J. R. Stockton was given charge of the congregations of Vienna and Brookfield. In 1835 Isaac Woodford was deacon; in 1837, Samuel Hutchins; in 1835, Dexter Clinton. In 1853 the church building was burned and everything destroyed. The next year the new church was dedicated. Just before the death of the Rev. Mr. Betts, the form was changed from Congregational to Presbyterian.

List of names on the bottom of the stained glass windows in the church:

• Ladies Aid

• Mr. & Mrs. Harry Truesdell

• Robert Stewart

• Eliza Stewart

• John Treat

• Mary Treat

• Isaac Woodford Sr.

• Statira Woodford

• Mr. & Mrs. A. B. Cratsley

• Mr. & Mrs. A. B. Mannix

• Darius Woodford

• Bethiah Woodford

• Matilda Woodford

• Y. P. S. C. E.