He
en
go
aited
and will be open for inspection after the
~ large room for
: moved to permit a full
stage at the extreme end and electrical
facilities for motion picture or stere-
The improvement program which ended this week began several years ago,
while Rev. Frank D. Hartsock was pas
‘preparation for laying a floor there.
JE, Church Completes Lh
Alterations and improvements which have been under way at: Dallas M. E.
Church on Church Street for the last three months were completed this week
DEDICATION ON SUND
\
Building Program
special services begin on Sunday.
tor, when the cellar was excavated in
Rev. Francis BE. Freeman, the pres-*
ent pastor, continued the work about |
a year ago when he. had a concrete
floor laid in the basement. The present !
improvement program was started in |
September.
i Recreation Room
ba One of the most valuable improve-
ments has been the finishing of one
‘recreation purposes.
The ceiling has been finished in an at-
tractive buff, studded with neat, mod-
ernistic fixtures. Pillars have been re-
view of the
optican cameras have been installed in
the rear.
Miss Flora Brown's J. B. C. Class has
had a stage erected for the presenta- |
tion of religious dramas and church
plays. The stage is about twenty-feet
square, is flanked by two dressing
rooms, and has six ceiling lights and
Tacilities for flood and footlights.
Kitchen Well Lighted
To one side of the recreation room is
an ante room and a large, well-lighted
kitchen, fully equipped with Pyro-fax
range and large cupboards, Four serv-
ing windows open to the ante room,
over wide tables, and the windows can .
‘be closed tightly so kitchen noises will
not disturb programs being carried on
in the recreation room, where dinners
~ will be served.
‘Wide stairways have been erected in
the front and rear and the efficient ar-
rangement of passages in the basement
permits people to move from one room
to the other without disturbing the oc- gan on ground purchased from George
cupants of any other room.
Heating System
A new heating system will not only .
make it easy to keep the church com- :
fortably warm but will permit a sav-
ing in coal.
Through an ingenious system of val-
ves it will be possible to close off the;
~ heat in any room not being used and
direct the warmth to only those rooms |
which are desired to be’ heated. This
system, Rev. Mr. Freeman believes,
will be especially valuable and econo-
‘ical in the Spring and Fall.
Colonial Front
Perhaps the most attractive of the.
new improvements is the Colonial |
doorway which is one of the most |
beautiful church entrances in this sec- |
~ tion.
The entrance to the church, formerly !
- open in the front, has been closed and |
auditorium the worshipper will use the
instead of entering directly into the
stairways which branch to the right |
and to the left just inside the door and '
lead to opposite sides of the audi- |
torium,
Two electric lights, fashioned similar |
te old ship’s lanterns, add a distinctive |
touch to the Colonial entrance. Inside '
the door indirect lighting gives a soft, !
diffused glow to the vestibule.
M. E. Church Has
Had 21 Ministers
Rev. Elijah Santee First
After Dallas Charge
Was Founded
Twenty- one ministers have been ap-
pointed to the local charge since the
present Methodist Episcopal Church
was constructed in 1881. In the earlier
days the local church was a branch of
the Carverton charge, but in 1882 a di-
vision was made and the Dallas church
became a separate charge.
The first preachers dwelt in a par-
sonage which occupied the site where
John Sullivan’s home is now. About
1890 the present parsonage, next to the
church, was built.
A list of the local pastors follows:
(of settlers. The houses of Philip Kun-
ithe log school house,
great variety of uses.
any school exhibitiond. Fourth of July
Homes And Bure
First Places Of
Worship Locally
First Church Bu Built In 1816:
Present Structure In "
11851
TRADITIONS SURVIVE
When the first wandering Jerseymen
came to this section they brought two
creeds—Methodism and the Demo-
cratic Party. Methodism prospered.
The first services were held with
humble devotion in the homes or barns
kle, Richard Honeywell and Christian
‘Rice were among the ® most popular
places for holding prayer meetings and
Sunday meetings until the old log
school house was built in 1816; then
meetings were held there, and later in
other school buildings in convenient
locations.
The first Methodist Church—later
converted into a broom factory was
‘built in 1851 by Almond Goss, whose
ibid og $960 was the lowest. It still
stands on Lake Street next to Morgan
Wilcox’s home,
In 1888 the present church was be-
. Kirkendall, a former resident of
this section who had moved to Wilkes-
.Barre. The work of erecting the new
‘chur a was begun with great cere-
‘mony in the presence of about fifty
|leading members of the congregation.
Mr. Kirkendall threw out the first
'shovelful of dirt. :
The church was erected at a cost of
about $9,000, according to plans
Congregation Sat On Logs
Religion was a vital part of the lives
;of the first men and women here. So
great was the need of, and haste to
‘make use of. the present Methodist
Church edifice that it was pressed into
active service as soon as it was en-
lclosed, and before any floor was put’
down. The congrégation sat on logs.
After its complétion, the church, like
was put to a
Lectures on temperance, hygiene,
travels in the Holy Land, magic lan-
{tern panoramas, day school and Sun-
celebrations, funerals, revivals and
“protracted meetings” yere all held at.
the church.
Even a funeral was ya diversion
from the loneliness and isolation of |
most of the pioneers who lived. outside |
of the village. “Uncle” Oliver Lewis, as |
reveryone called a’beloved old character
who was known for his passionate ora-
tory, was famous for his funeral ser-
mons.
Funerals Drew Throngs
He wept copiously, as did the r ourn-
ers and most of the audience, «& ng
his sermon, which usually lasted n
hour or more and was devoted to the
narration of touching incidents in the
life of the deceased, with minute and
torturing details of the special sorrow
that this and that member of the fam-
7
AS DALLAS M. E. CHURCH LOOKED 25 YEARS AGO
~
A photograph’ taken about iene years ago of Dallas Methodist Episcopal
Church which will be fifty years old in 1938. This photograph was the property of Mrs.
Wesley Daddow. Part of the improvement program which was completed this week was
to close in the entrance and replace it with a vestibule and a Colonial doorway.
J aly 4th Programs
Were Major Events
Connected Intimately With
Earliest Sunday Schools
Here
. Sunday schools, then, as now, an in-
seperable adjunct of the church, were
established in Dallas soon after the
erection of the old log school house,
probably some time about 1820.
Because of the distance children had
to travel, and of the condition of the
roads during the greater part of the
year, the schools’ were at first held
only during the summer months.
The first effort to have Sunday
School continued all the year around
was made at the Methodist church
about 1870 and it was only through the
effort of a few untiring workers that
the school prospered.
At first, the Sunday school would
jal ! de- be organized as soon as the roads be-
‘signed by. Messrs. Kip and Podmore, 'came settled in Spring, and the Fourth
Wilkes-Ba¥re architects.
of July celebration, usually held under
the auspices of the Sunday School, was
the great event of the year.
A neighboring grove would be
cleared of underbrush, logs laid, and
slabs laid across them for seats. A
speaker's stand or large platform was
built in front, and the music generally
was supplied by a fife and drum corps.
Uncle Alex Lord of -Poverty Hollow,
near Pincherville, who had been a
drummer in the War of 1812, played his
famous “Double Drag Yankee Doodle”,
with Mr. Hazletine from Trucksville
accompanying him on the fife. Mr.
Hazletine kept his fife wrapped in a
red handkerchief and seldom allowed |
it to leave his immediate possession.
Such celebrations usually attracted?
a ereat many people from miles around |
and were conducted much as Sunday
school picnics of a later era. Fre-|
quently, the story of the Wyoming
Massacre was related by the early
settlers.
the revival would be at a white heat.
The fact would become known far and
near and the “protracted meeting”
would be the leading event of the
neighborhood.
Through Storm And Mud
If the sleighing was good, parties
would be formed miles away to go
sleigh riding with this protracted
meeting as their objective. Others
ily would, for particular reasons, feel.
The open coffin was placed directly
‘under and in front of the pulpit about:
idway between the preachers and the!
mourners. At all meetings and services |
in the church it was the invariable rule
for the men and women to occupy
separate sides of the house.
After the funeral, the men were in-
vited to pass around and view the
corpse, passing down the aisle on the
Rev. Elijah L. Santee ...... 1882-1883
Gideon C. Lyman «...covea.n 1883-1885
aS Je AUuStin . Lo ede 1885-1888 |
Jo B. Cooke i... conus .iuiidy 1890-1891 |
Jonas Underwood .......... 1891-1893
CF TF WHHAIS one vsvin ih 1893-1894
“SW, D. Westlake... 0. 0. 1894-1898
OG SPrICE (vi ois vines vive 1898-1899
FW, Young ....: ssi eee. 1899-1903
Pavid Evans .......cesree .. 1903-1909
W. S. Crandall ..... tevees. 1909-1911
Wilson Treible ...¢viveeses.s 1911-1916
Joshua Brundle ...... veseins 1916-1917
HH. H, Wilbur ......-+ saevss 1917-1918
Joseph R. Pennell ....e00... 1918-1923
W. I. Hunter ..... oN 19238-1927
Judson C. Bailey .......... 1927-1930
Frank Webster ...... vied 1930-1932
Frank D. Hartsock ......... 1932-1933
Francis Freeman ...c.ccoc.. 1933-
women’s side, out doors, and re-en-
tering and taking seats again on their
own side, A reverse operation was then
performed by the women. After all
strangers had thus finished viewing
the remains, the mourners were invited
to take a last look.
The “Protracted Meetings”
Of all the occasions in the church,
however, none ever approached the in-
tensity of feeling and excitement as
the “revival” or “protracted meeting”
season.
The meetings usually .began late in
the fall, shortly after the farmers had
finished their harvesting. One Sunday
the pastor would have a slightly extra
fervor in his sermons. Then a special
prayer meeting would be held during
the week. Other special meetings fol-
lowed and within two or three weeks |
travelled just as far through storm’ and
mud, in wagons or on foot.
The house was usually packed dur-
‘ing the religious crusade. In his his-
‘tory of Dallas, Mr. Ryman tells of one
occasion when he saw a leading exhort-
er enter the pulpit, take off his coat,
hurl it into the corner, and, standing
in his shirt sleeves, begin an inspired
message. After possibly half an hour
of vigorous preaching he jumped up on
top of the rail which extended down
the cerifcn of the room and divided the
seats on. @ two sides, and from there
continue( until he had exhausted him-
self.
Harris Remembered
A famous revivalist and assistant at
such meetiny's was Elisha Harris, per-
sonally well tnown to most of the re-
sidents of thi: section then, His home
was near the Dallas church and he
was a frequent visitor there, and a
zealous worker at
ings.” His familiar and tremendous
“Amen! Glory be to God,” was heard
always at such times.
John Linskill, a brawny Yorkshire
Englishman, was often heard with
good and telling effect at those meet.
lings.
“protracted meet-
DALLAS OF A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO
"A photograph of Dallas Borough taken about twenty-five years ago from the belfry
of the Dallas M. E. Church, looking toward Main Street.
Born In England
Mr. Dawber was born in England
and learned the trade of his father—
a cabinet maker. As a youth, Mark was
a passionate prohibitionist and liquor
dealers, who were among his father's
best customers threatened to change
their patronage to another firm if the
young man continued his battle against
drinking. Rather than cause his father
trouble, Mark left the shop and sailed
for Vancouver, where he lived for sev-
eral years before moving to San Fran-
cisco.
About 1912 he came to Dallas to
work. ‘One day, while men were laying
a floor in the church, Mr. Dawber
stopped in, He was attracted to the or-
gan, but when he asked, jokingly, if he
might serenade the workers, the man
in charge explained that the organ
would not play. Dawber walked to it,
though, made a few adjustments, and
soon was playing. Later, he repaired it
and became the church organist,
Becomes A Minister
In 1915 he joined the church. Short-
ly after, in company with Charles
Harris, he started the East Dallas Sun-
day school. That, and the fact that he
preached sometimes at Kunkle, led
some of his friends to believe that he
|
DOCTOR DAWBER BEGAN MINISTRY
IN LOCAL CHURCH 20 YEARS AGO
Dr. Mark A. Dawber, who cancelled several Western engagements to come
here to join with Rev. Francis Freeman in re-dedicating the Dallas M. E.
| Church on Sunday, began his ministry in the local church twenty-odd years ago.
Mr. Dawber, whose ministry began with the humble task of repairing the
old organ in the local church; is now superintendent of the rural department of
the Board of Home Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
should become a preacher. They sug-
gested that he go to the next confer-
ence to take the examinations. Dawber
was embarrassed by the suggestion, He
protested that he could not pass the
examinations, since he had never stu-
died to be a preacher. A Reverend
Wiagner, a retired minister, provided
the books, however, and Mark Dawber
prepared for the tests.
Seven graduates of Drew Theological
Seminary took the examinations with
Mr. Dawber. His mark was the highest.
He was ordained in 1916.
At Maple Grove 3 Years
His first charge was at Maple Grove.
He served there for three years, al-
though during that time he received a
splendid offer from a church in the
(valley. He preferred to finish the task
at Maple Grove, where he ministered
to four charges each Sunday.
In 1919 he was called to serve as an
instructor on rural church work at
Boston University and in 1925 he was
selected to fill his present important
position.
Although Dr. Dawber has been near
here frequently, his trip to preach in
{the local church tomorrow night will
be his first official visit here since he
left to begin his inspiring career.
"To Launeh Drive
For $7,000 Fund
At Re-dedication
Special Services At Local
Church To Begin On :
Sunday
NIGHTLY PE PROGRAMS :
- BY REV. FRANCIS FREEMAN
(Pastor, Dallas M, E. Church) |
It is with a deep sense of hap-
‘piness that we approach the open-
ing of our new kitchen and social
rooms. We have waited long for
their completion. They will fill a
great need. They can be used for
social gatherings, dinners, plays,
and Sunday school work.
Our constituency will have just
cause to rejoice at teh completion
of our social rooms.
Of course we are to have a cam-
paign for funds. Pledges will be
asked on a thirty-month basis. We
in this campaign. Our goal
$7,000. We, with the help of God,
can accomplish our aims.
The culmination of an improvement
program which has been under con=
sideration for several years and in the
process of completion since Septem=
ber will be marked by the congrega-
tion of Dallas M. E. Church at special
services on Sunday and on the first
three days of next week.
In conjunction with the re- -dedica-
tion of the church, the congregatiom
to defray the SXpenses! of the building
program.
First of the special services will take
place ‘on Sunday morning at all when
opening note in the drive for funds.
In the evening at 7:30 Dr. Mark A.
Dawber, rural
Ladies’ Aid, the J. A. B. Class,
Philithea Class and the Senior Choir—
will have charge of the service an
Monday night at 7:30.
‘On Tuesday night, Men’s Night, Col.
Sterling Eyer of Kingston will bring
a Male Chorus from the Kingston M.
E. Church to sing.
of the service on Wednesday night and
will present “The Rock”, a three-act
religious drama by Mary Hamlin. All
the evening programs will be presented
in the new recreation room of the |
church.
Climax to the re-dedication and the
drive will come at the service at 9:30
on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Rev.
Francis E. Freeman, pastor, will deliver
the message at that service.
a world gone mad.
"1
Honor
made by men!
manufacturing
with the remnants of men, and
of animals, and of machines
designed to kill them—Ilittered with
the hopes, and ethics, and ideals of
I" DIED ON a battlefield strewn
They said he died on “The Field of
We gladly honor him, because he
fought so bravely and died so piti-
fully. But for the men who put him
there, the battlefield can be nothing
but a “Field of Dishonor”!
And men did put him there. Let’s
face facts; War is not the idea of a
divine power . . . it is not an inevit-
ability of nature . .. It is not a part
of the universal scheme. Wars are
Men greedy for fame and power.
Politicians so fond of seeing them-
selves on the front page they will
risk international complications toi
. get there. Men who make a living by
implements with
xy
This is the third of a series of advertisements'being used by The Dal- FEL he
las Post in an effort to arouse its readers to their responsibility in. pro-
tecting this country against another war.
THE FIELD OF DISHONOR
which the citizens of one nation can
kill and maim the citizens of another
nation. Men,
deavor, who
that. But by
ous methods
“To Arms for Peace”
line their pockets with gold.
These men make war. Not direct-
ly, of course—nothing so crude as
grow into misunderstanding, hate,
and finally war.
Do you want them to make an-
other war—a war which may cul-
minate in disaster so colossal it will
set civilization back a hundred, two
hundred, five hundred years? The
one thing that can stop the coming
war is an aroused public opinion of
hitherto unknown magnitude. Your
help is needed.
One way you can help is by talk-
ing peace wherever you have an op-
portunity—by impressing upon your .
friends the futility and bestiality
of war—by being alert to the insidi-
in various lines of en-
see in war a chance to
sowing the seeds that
of the war-makers.
know that you will rally together :
is
will launch a campaign to raise $7,000
Dr. George M. Bell, superintendent of’
Wilkes-Barre District, will sound the
superintendent of the
Home Missions, will preach, and Dr.
Bell will again speak.
The women of the church—the
the
The Epworth League and the young
people of the church will have charge
1
i
{XY