Calhoun County, Iowa
Churches First Regular Baptist Church of Lake City The first church of this denomination in Calhoun County was organized at Lake City. It was incorporated on May 29, 1882, as the "First Regular Baptist Church of Lake City," with David Fox, E. D. Williams, Larkin Williams, G. G. F. Harris and N. R. Hutchinson as the first board of trustees, under whose direction a frame church building was erected. The church had been organized some time before that, however, and meetings had been held in rented quarters. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 1, 1915, submitted by cd=fofg] First Baptist Church of Pomeroy The youngest Baptist Church in the county is the First Baptist Church of Pomeroy, which was incorporated on March 23, 1901. The first board of trustees was composed of G. W. Randlett, A. D. Parker, C. W. Alexander and William McNames. Those who signed the articles of incorporation in addition to the trustees were: Lulu M. Baker, Mrs. J. A. Davy, Mrs. A. D. Parker, William Knudson, E. E. Hatch, Millie Alexander, M. J. Bruin, L. T. Alexander, Miss Essie Parker, Benjamin Olson, Sarah McNames, Edna Davy, Jeannette Feeck and Mrs. Atkinson. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 1, 1915, submitted by cd=fofg] First Baptist Church of Rockwell City In 1880 Rev. D. Robinson and Rev. J. W. Thompson, two Baptist ministers, held a series of evangelistic meetings in Logan and Lake Creek townships and a number united with the church. The converts were first received into the church at Lake City, but on June 25, 1880, a number withdrew from that congregation and organized the First Baptist Church of Rockwell City. From 1887 to 1893 this church held services only at irregular intervals. Then a revival came and Rev. William Pearce was installed as permanent pastor. The society was incorporated on August 9, 1895, with J. H. Gregg, E. W. Burch, F. E. Blackman, R. W. Murphey and A. T. Bowers as trustees. The old schoolhouse was purchased soon after the incorporation, but the building was not dedicated as a church until September 17, 1899, when the church was free from debt. This house is still used by the society. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 1, 1915, submitted by cd=fofg] The First Baptist Church of Union On May 11, 1882, a meeting was held at Lohrville for the purpose of organizing a Baptist Church. A majority of those present voted to incorporate as "The First Baptist Church of Union," and H. J. Bolander, J. D. Parker and W. Holmes were elected trustees. Articles of incorporation were filed with the county recorder on May 16, 1882. These articles were signed by the trustees, A. S. Catlin, Nathaniel Owens and O. S. Martin. A frame church was built soon afterward and for several years the congregation flourished. Then reverses came. Some of the leading members died, others moved away, the meetings were discontinued and the building once occupied by the Baptists of Lohrville as a house of worship is now used as a motion picture theater. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 1, 1915, submitted by cd=fofg] Free Methodist Church C. E. Osborn, O. S. Connor and T. Ball, as trustees, filed articles of incorporation of the Free Methodist Church of Garfield Township with the county recorder on March 16, 1892. A frame house of worship was afterward built near Lytton. This society is sometimes called the "Pleasant Hill Church." [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 1, 1915, submitted by cd=fofg] Seventh Day Adventists Among the pioneers of Williams Township was James Rigby, a believer in the doctrines of the Seventh Day Adventists. He organized a society of thirty-six members and meetings were held in the schoolhouses known as Kennedy's and Mayo's for some time. No church was ever built and the society finally went down. So far as can be learned, the only organization of this church is the one located at Lake City. It was organized some years ago and purchased the building formerly occupied by the Methodists in Lake Creek Township and removed it to Lake City. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 1, 1915, submitted by cd=fofg] Swedish Mission Union On May 27, 1892, the Swedish Mission Union of Calhoun County was incorporated "to teach the religion of Jesus Christ and the gospel of the Holy Bible." The incorporators were: Oliver Tall, chairman; S. Johnson, recorder; A. G. Blomberg, treasurer; V. Johnson, J. A. Peterson and Gust Linder, trustees. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 1, 1915, submitted by cd=fofg] United Brethren Church The United Brethren Church of Lake City was incorporated on August 2, 1890, with H. D. Lockard, C. C. Fahan, W. A. Yetter, William Wicks and Levi Cook. This society has a neat frame house of worship one square north of the northeast corner of the public square, on the lot where the first schoolhouse in Lake City formerly stood. There is also a United Brethren Church at Yetter—the only church in Elm Grove Township. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 1, 1915, submitted by cd=fofg] Early Churches Calhoun County, one of the prosperous, intelligent, moral and progressive interior counties of Northwestern Iowa, has been building up its religious life and institutions for seventy years. In the chronological order of their establishment, the principal denominations have thus stabilized themselves in this county: Christians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Catholics and Baptists. There is always a dispute as to precedence in church matters which hinge upone the definition of terms. The Methodists and Christians were undoubtedly the pioneer denominations to be established in Calhoun County; their missionaries came to Lake City about the time the county seat was laid out, but that branch of the Christian Church, commonly known as the New Lights, seems to have first effected a substantial organization, which could be dignified with the name of a Church, and its people undoubtedly erected the first house of worship in the county, which they shared with the Methodists. Before the Christian Church was completed in 1874, members of both denominations met forworship in residences, the schoolhouse and the courthouse. All in all, it would appear that the Christian, rather than the Methodist Church, has the stronger claims to the first establishment of a firm foothold as a religious body of Calhoun County. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. A few years after the first settlement was founded in the southwestern part of the county, Rev. Moses Mc Daniel, a minister of the New Lights, came to Lake City and preached first at the house of Peter Smith, one of the most prominent of the pioneers in that region. Peter Smith, Christian Smith, James O. Smith, their wives and a few others, organized themselves into a regular church society, which increased in numbers as time passes, and in 1872 steps were taken to build a place of worship. Work on it was commenced in the summer of 1873, and it was dedicated early in 1874. This was the first building erected in Calhoun County exclusively as a place of worship. Work on it was commenced in the summer of 1873, and it was dedicated early in 1874. This was the first building erected in Calhoun County exclusively as a place of religous worship, and its site is one block north of the northwest corner of the public square. Although not as strong as in former years, the congregation still maintains its organization and holds regular services. Northwestern Iowa, published by S. J. Clark Publishing Co., Chicago, 1927, pages 535-536. Contributed by Ramona Johnsen Hartley who adds this note: "Moses E. McDaniel is my great-great grandfather. He died in September of 1881, while serving the church at Lake City. While researching the county records I discovered that he performed several weddings in the county between 1870 & 1881, including those of two of his own daughters. Great great grandmother McDaniel and her children remained in the area until about 1886. The names of McDaniel, Woodward, Stevenson, and Tirtlott were in evidence in the area between 1870 - 1885."
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