Page 134 - History of UB Church in Hburg Region
P. 134
History of U.B. Churches in Harrisonburg-Staunton Region December 26, 2024
price. This was the first preaching place in Dayton, and continued to be the only church until the Union
Church chiefly owned by the Lutherans, which was built about 1858, and sold later to the Brethren.” It
should be said that prior to this church there was a Baptist Church-von the southern outskirts of the
town, a Presbyterian Church on the ground now covered by Silver Lake and an Episcopal Church on the
North Corner of the Dayton Cemetery, but Mr. Funkhouser did not consider these as being in Dayton
proper.
In speaking further of this early church, Mr.
Funkhouser explains, “Instead of a bell, they used to
blow the horn for preaching at the old church. To
improve it Brother Bachtel had a steel triangle made,
which he placed in a cupola on top of the church. Then
he got up to it and beat it with a hammer.”
This church was situated on Seminary Avenue
almost in front of the Howe Building of Shenandoah
College. It was about eighty feet in length, with the long
side facing the street. With the evidence now at hand it
might be said that this building was one of the first United Brethren church buildings in the state of
Virginia in addition to its being the first church of any denomination in Dayton. Preaching services were
held in other vicinities prior to the purchasing of this building in Dayton, but they were usually held in
homes, schools, or churches of other denominations.
At the present time it is impossible to give a complete ministerial roster of this early period.
Often local churches shifted from one circuit to another without a record being made of the change. For
example, it seems that the first Dayton ministers served what was then called the Staunton Circuit. Later
Dayton was probably a part of the Rockingham Circuit, and finally of the Dayton Circuit. In addition,
“Circuit Riders” in those days, had a considerable amount of liberty in the selection of their preaching
places. A church might not have been visited more than once a month, and during the interim, other
ministers might have made visits.
The church building of 1835 served the congregation until the Union Church was built in 1858.
This was a union project with several different denominations cooperating in the cost, and taking turns
holding services. This was a very common practice in that day, without which many church buildings
could not have been built.
The demand for a separate church building on the part of the United Brethren grew out of the
founding of “Shenandoah Seminary” in 1875. The Seminary was founded by Rev. A. P. Funkhouser, a
young man of twenty-two years of age, whose parents had been of the United Brethren faith for three
generations. In Mr. Funkhouser’s notes on the history of Virginia Conference, he speaks of his
II.B.14 Dayton U.B. Church and SCI 120
price. This was the first preaching place in Dayton, and continued to be the only church until the Union
Church chiefly owned by the Lutherans, which was built about 1858, and sold later to the Brethren.” It
should be said that prior to this church there was a Baptist Church-von the southern outskirts of the
town, a Presbyterian Church on the ground now covered by Silver Lake and an Episcopal Church on the
North Corner of the Dayton Cemetery, but Mr. Funkhouser did not consider these as being in Dayton
proper.
In speaking further of this early church, Mr.
Funkhouser explains, “Instead of a bell, they used to
blow the horn for preaching at the old church. To
improve it Brother Bachtel had a steel triangle made,
which he placed in a cupola on top of the church. Then
he got up to it and beat it with a hammer.”
This church was situated on Seminary Avenue
almost in front of the Howe Building of Shenandoah
College. It was about eighty feet in length, with the long
side facing the street. With the evidence now at hand it
might be said that this building was one of the first United Brethren church buildings in the state of
Virginia in addition to its being the first church of any denomination in Dayton. Preaching services were
held in other vicinities prior to the purchasing of this building in Dayton, but they were usually held in
homes, schools, or churches of other denominations.
At the present time it is impossible to give a complete ministerial roster of this early period.
Often local churches shifted from one circuit to another without a record being made of the change. For
example, it seems that the first Dayton ministers served what was then called the Staunton Circuit. Later
Dayton was probably a part of the Rockingham Circuit, and finally of the Dayton Circuit. In addition,
“Circuit Riders” in those days, had a considerable amount of liberty in the selection of their preaching
places. A church might not have been visited more than once a month, and during the interim, other
ministers might have made visits.
The church building of 1835 served the congregation until the Union Church was built in 1858.
This was a union project with several different denominations cooperating in the cost, and taking turns
holding services. This was a very common practice in that day, without which many church buildings
could not have been built.
The demand for a separate church building on the part of the United Brethren grew out of the
founding of “Shenandoah Seminary” in 1875. The Seminary was founded by Rev. A. P. Funkhouser, a
young man of twenty-two years of age, whose parents had been of the United Brethren faith for three
generations. In Mr. Funkhouser’s notes on the history of Virginia Conference, he speaks of his
II.B.14 Dayton U.B. Church and SCI 120
