present stately Trinity were laid in 1866. under the directions and supervision of William A. Piatt. Francis Collins and William G. Deshler. William Lloyd, of Detroit, was architect and Mr. Fish the superintendent of construction. The style of architecture is Gothic-English. The stone for the walls of the church was brought from Licking county. The total cost of the structure approximated seventy thousand dollars. The chapel was available for regular services in 1868. The main auditorium was finished in 1869. Trinity Guild, to promote the interests of Trinity Church, was organized November 6, 1872. The Trinity Chapter, No. 115, of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, was organized in 1891-92.
The property on the north side of East Broad street, nearly opposite Trinity church, originally known as the Esther Institute, later as the Irving House, is now the Trinity House, having been acquired for the use of the church in 1890, the price paid for the lot and building being forty-five thousand dollars. One of the notable events at Trinity was the consecration of Bishop Kendrick, January 18. 1889, in the presence of a vast audience.
St. Paul's—In 1841-42 St. Paul's church was erected at the corner of Mound and Third streets. At a meeting of the signatories of the articles of association, December 7, 1842, Rev. H. L. Richards, the first rector of the church, presided and F. J. Matthews acted as secretary. A. Buttles was chosen senior warden; I. N. Whiting, junior warden; and Henry Matthews, Moses Altman, John Burr and Herman H. Hubbard, vestrymen. Growth of membership and desirability of environment led to the change of location of the church edifice at or near the turn of the century, and St. Paul's church is now located on the south side of East Broad, between Garfield and Monroe avenues.
Church of the Good Shepherd, located on the southeast corner of Buttles and Park avenue, was originally built as and intended for a mission of Trinity Episcopal congregation. The corner stone of the church edifice was laid June 13, 1871, with the usual ceremonies, conducted by Bishop Bedell of Gambier. On that occasion a notable address was delivered by Rev. Wyllys Hall. The first rector of the church was Rev. Frederick Grannis.
Church Edifices and Locations.
Trinity: Southeast corner Broad and Third streets. Rev. Theodore Irving Reese.
St. Paul's: East Broad street, between Garfield and Monroe avenue.
Good Shepherd: Southeast corner Buttles and Park.
Missions of Trinity.
All Saints' (for deaf and dumb): 136 East Broad Street, St. John's Chapel: Southwest corner Avondale and Town. Rev. Robert Johnston.
St. Philip's ( colored): Lexington, between McKinnon and Spring.
Rev. R. D. Brown. Branch at 961-2 Mt, Vernon.
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
Organized 1821.
Among the earliest pioneer settlers in Columbus and Franklin county were the Heyls, consisting of Lorentz Heyl, his wife, their two sons, Christian and Conrad; Mrs. Regina Pilgrim, a widowed daughter, and her family, and a grandson. They arrived in a single party in 1813. The name is interwoven with the future history of Columbus. Being German Lutherans and devout believers in the faith, they missed their hitherto regular church services. The German Lutherans in the township, too, felt lonely without a temporal fold and shepherd, and so they all united and set about the work of procuring the shepherd and the upbuilding of the sheepfold.
In the year 1818 a meeting, headed by a missionary, Rev. Michael J. Steele, was held at the Franklin Tavern on High street, of which Christian Heyl, subsequently a leading citizen, was the proprietor, and set about the organization of the church. In 1819 this primitive Hock was taken in charge by Rev. Charles Honkel, who had come into the Ohio wilderness to do the Father's work. The hitherto shepherdless sheep were called to meet this time at the residence of the other brother, Conrad Heyl at the corner of Rich and Front streets. Here the church was fully and befittingly organized.
Among those present at this assemblage were Gottlieb Lichtenecker, William Altman, John Athan Knieriemer, Henry and Philip Borman, Simon Stahl, John and Peter Putnam and Rudolph Loeliger, and their respective families, resident of the town, and the following from the townships of Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson and Miffin, John, George and David Ridenour, Michael Meuschwender, Jesse Baughman, John Saul. Father Heltzel and his sons, Jacob, Nicholas and Philip, and Frederick Stanibaugh.
Several of these were accompanied by their families. Many came long distances to attend this and other meetings, some on foot, some on horseback or in primitive vehicles and sleds along the forest paths and roads centering in the town.
A lot was purchased in 1820 at the corner of Third and the alley north between Rich and Town, for two hundred dollars. On this a church building was erected and occupied in 1821-22. At first the services were in German. For the benefit of the English-speaking members they were given in German at one service and in English at the next. In 1831 Rev. W. Schmidt became pastor. At Canton, Ohio, he had projected a theological seminary, and this, with his consent, was removed by the Ohio synod to Columbus, where it still flourishes as the Capital University, which annually graduates young men into the clergy and is thus united by a strong bond with the church at the capital, as well as with the pastorates of the graduates by sympathetic and fraternal chords.
St. Paul's Church—In 1842 a lot was purchased by the congregation of St. Paul's at the corner of High and Mound streets, and on this a substantial and imposing church was erected, and is still St. Paul's, although once burned and rebuilt and again remodeled. Rev. Konrad Mees was installed as pastor of the church in 1843, and his pastorate extended slightly beyond a half century.
In 1844 the brick building was erected. In October, 1856, fire in a frame building adjacent in the rear communicated with the church and it was destroyed, save as to the more substantial walls. Immediate steps were taken to restore the edifice, and on the first anniversary of the fire the newly restored church was consecrated, Rev. Mees officiating. The cost of restoring the building, refurnishing and installing a new organ was approximately eighteen thousand dollars. In 1890 the interior was reconstructed, decorated and lightened into a new auditorium, at a cost of about three thousand five hundred dollars.
Trinity German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation —Forty-eight adult persons were the original founders of this congregation. They were members of St. Paul's United Lutheran Reformed church of Columbus. On January 28, 1847. they withdrew from the church and held divine services under the ministration of Rev. C. Spielman from time to time in the seminary building of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint synod. When Rev. W. F. Lehmann was called as a professor to this seminary the congregation extended him an invitation to become their pastor, which he accepted.
On January 28, 1848, these Lutherans organized as the Trinity German Evangelical Lutheran congregation of Columbus, Ohio. In February, 1849, the new society rented the building of the German Independent Protestant church on Mound street, where services were regularly held for eight years.
Meantime the congregation grew steadily in numbers. On April 6, 1856, a committee, which had been appointed to look up a suitable building lot, reported that they had purchased the lot at the corner of Third and Fulton streets.
The erection of a church building thereon was begun in June of that year, its dimensions being fifty-six by one hundred and six feet. The corner-stone was laid July 28. 1856. The church was dedicated December 20, 1857, and a steeple was built on the church in 1876. The church moved forward despite inevitable doctrinal controversies.
Grace Lutheran Church—In 1872 a majority of the members of the First English Lutheran church, so called, withdrew from the joint synod and joined the general council. Those who did not withdraw met at the German Trinity Lutheran church and in 1872 organized the Grace Evangelical church. Among the first members were Rev. M. Lay. In 1873 a lot was purchased on Mound street and a frame chapel was built and dedicated in the same year, Professor William F. Lehmann officiating. In 1889, the congregation having grown rapidly, the church was remodeled and enlarged, and the pulpit was frequently filled by the professors of the Capital University, especially when there was a pastoral vacancy for any reason.
St.