Page 139 - History of UB Church in Hburg Region
P. 139
History of U.B. Churches in Harrisonburg-Staunton Region December 26, 2024
information include the following:
Regarding Dayton Church and EUB Congregation: Mr. James L. Ruebush, Mrs. Jenny Lind
Shirley, Mrs. Carter Shanholtzer, Mr. Donald Phibbs, and Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Thomas
History of the Town of Dayton, Virginia, dated 1962
Official Meeting Minutes, Dayton Mission Station 1882-1906 U. B. Church
Pictorial History of the Virginia Conference [Glovier 1965]
Church Bulletin, EUB Church, Dayton, Va., dated January 28, 2025
Clipping from newspaper dated June 18, 2024
Regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Harrisonburg, Va., area: Mr. and
Mrs. James N. Conis Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Morris Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Higgins Mrs. Essie
Kee.
Coffman Shop, 1835. It is difficult to point to a definite date as the beginning of the first U.B.
Church in Dayton. However, two different sources of information for this study mention the purchase of
a long shop building from a Mr. Samuel Coffman by the U.B. Church to be used as a place of worship
around 1835. They had no bell, but a horn was blown each Sunday to announce the services. As an
improvement, a Mr. Bechtel had a steel triangle made and placed upon the top of the church encased in a
cupola. Men had to climb up to it and beat it with a hammer to call the people to worship. For more
than 40 years, the Dayton preaching appointment was attached to either the Staunton Circuit (1835-
1853) or the Rockingham Circuit (1853-1875).
Union Church, 1858. This building was located on Seminary Street and was used until a Union
Church was obtained on what is now Main Street, in 1858. One reference states: “While the 49ers were
seeking gold in California, the members of Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and U.B. Churches were
worshipping in the Union Church in Dayton on the site of the present Church of the Brethren. There
was a balcony at the rear of the church, and the negro slaves of the community occupied seats in the
balcony.” An elderly person who died recently remembered having attended a Union Sunday School
picnic in 1867.
Shenandoah Seminary, 1875. The demand for a separate U.B. church building grew out of the
opening of Shenandoah Seminary, which was founded by Rev. A. P. Funkhouser, known as a man of
great vision, and Prof. J. N. Fries, in 1875, in the Town of Dayton. The U.B. Church and the Seminary
were closely affiliated for many years. The school was very much a part of the Town of Dayton
activities, as well as those of the United Brethren Church.
The Seminary was first known as Dayton High School, and it was located in a building on Main
Street in Dayton near the corner of the street leading to the old railway station. As the school grew, it
moved into a former store and dwelling house. In 1885 an annex was added to this building, and
students of a later generation will recall this building as the Girls’ Dormitory. What is now Dayton
Interiors was a gymnasium for the College. The Colonial Apartments building was the administration
II.B.14 Dayton U.B. Church and SCI 125
information include the following:
Regarding Dayton Church and EUB Congregation: Mr. James L. Ruebush, Mrs. Jenny Lind
Shirley, Mrs. Carter Shanholtzer, Mr. Donald Phibbs, and Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Thomas
History of the Town of Dayton, Virginia, dated 1962
Official Meeting Minutes, Dayton Mission Station 1882-1906 U. B. Church
Pictorial History of the Virginia Conference [Glovier 1965]
Church Bulletin, EUB Church, Dayton, Va., dated January 28, 2025
Clipping from newspaper dated June 18, 2024
Regarding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Harrisonburg, Va., area: Mr. and
Mrs. James N. Conis Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Morris Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Higgins Mrs. Essie
Kee.
Coffman Shop, 1835. It is difficult to point to a definite date as the beginning of the first U.B.
Church in Dayton. However, two different sources of information for this study mention the purchase of
a long shop building from a Mr. Samuel Coffman by the U.B. Church to be used as a place of worship
around 1835. They had no bell, but a horn was blown each Sunday to announce the services. As an
improvement, a Mr. Bechtel had a steel triangle made and placed upon the top of the church encased in a
cupola. Men had to climb up to it and beat it with a hammer to call the people to worship. For more
than 40 years, the Dayton preaching appointment was attached to either the Staunton Circuit (1835-
1853) or the Rockingham Circuit (1853-1875).
Union Church, 1858. This building was located on Seminary Street and was used until a Union
Church was obtained on what is now Main Street, in 1858. One reference states: “While the 49ers were
seeking gold in California, the members of Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and U.B. Churches were
worshipping in the Union Church in Dayton on the site of the present Church of the Brethren. There
was a balcony at the rear of the church, and the negro slaves of the community occupied seats in the
balcony.” An elderly person who died recently remembered having attended a Union Sunday School
picnic in 1867.
Shenandoah Seminary, 1875. The demand for a separate U.B. church building grew out of the
opening of Shenandoah Seminary, which was founded by Rev. A. P. Funkhouser, known as a man of
great vision, and Prof. J. N. Fries, in 1875, in the Town of Dayton. The U.B. Church and the Seminary
were closely affiliated for many years. The school was very much a part of the Town of Dayton
activities, as well as those of the United Brethren Church.
The Seminary was first known as Dayton High School, and it was located in a building on Main
Street in Dayton near the corner of the street leading to the old railway station. As the school grew, it
moved into a former store and dwelling house. In 1885 an annex was added to this building, and
students of a later generation will recall this building as the Girls’ Dormitory. What is now Dayton
Interiors was a gymnasium for the College. The Colonial Apartments building was the administration
II.B.14 Dayton U.B. Church and SCI 125
