Embedded Files
Pine Grove, in the late 1800s, was a hamlet that stretched along the Pine Grove, Wetmore, and Austin Roads in the Township of Watson, Lewis County, New York. Homes in Pine Grove tended to be scattered with a small cluster at the intersection of the Pine Grove and Austin Roads.
1875 Map of the Pine Grove area
A one room schoolhouse had already been built at that intersection by 1878. On Sunday afternoons, a Methodist elder serving in Beach’s Bridge began to walk the four miles between the two hamlets to hold a religious service in the schoolhouse. When the group that met there was successful in combining their funds to purchase a Bible, a hymnal, and then a used organ; the elder suggested that perhaps they could also be successful in raising funds to build their own church.
District No. 8 Pine Grove Schoolhouse in the 1800s
Church Timeline
1896 Church Construction began
1898 Pine Grove Union Church members accepted responsibility for the church with Methodist pastors providing services
1949 Mennonites began Summer Bible School and Sunday School as a mission endeavor
2001 Pine Grove Community Church Preservation Society granted ownership
Construction of the Church
The Church soon after its construction before the bell was added in 1904.
By 1893, a Pine Grove Church congregation had established itself as a Union Church. The members were a mixture of Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists. Given the idea of building their own church, one of the Trustees of the Church, Lucian Rumble, leased a parcel of land - for the sum of $1 - from the Merwin Austin family. The lot was located at the Pine Grove Road and Austin Road intersection. The parcel had an old building that was disassembled; the lumber was then used to build the church. The actual construction began in 1896.
Mr. Rumble became the builder of the church. He was a local carpenter and apparently had architectural skills as well. In his past travels, he had taken note of a small theater. He kept that theater in mind as he constructed the church. We assume that Mr. Rumble was responsible for designing the interior finials and balusters and the exterior corbels. However, he probably did not produce these embellishments. A firsthand account states that Frank Tisse of New Bremen produced the “shopwork.”
Two of the local women, Mrs. A. J. (Edna) Beach Quinn and Mrs. C. A. (Adelaide) Wetmore, traveled about the county to solicit financial support for the building project. Established congregations in other areas, as well as individuals, donated furnishings for the church.
The structure was ready for use by 1898. On February 14, 1898, the Union Church membership voted to accept the church building and its debt of $134. That debt was mostly paid within the year with the final payments raised at the second Annual Meeting held on February 14, 1899.
Methodist Services
The Methodist Episcopal Church regularly supplied ministers to the Union Church. Ministers of other denominations occasionally visited or filled in when needed.
Each year the local church members voted for a Chairman, Trustees, Treasurer, and Secretary. The minutes of the Annual Meetings indicate that many of the same men tended to rotate through the Chairman, Trustee, and Treasurer positions. One lady, Mrs. Charles (Adelaide) Wetmore, served as Secretary for over 45 years!
The local members were responsible for a salary for the minister. They paid for janitors to tend the wood fires and clean the lamps. They also needed funds for repairs and improvements to the building. Raising these monies was an ongoing challenge.
Will and Salina Higby lived near the church and were caretakers for many years.
In 1899, a lady’s aid society was organized. They called themselves the “Willing Workers.” They were an active and effective group!
They gathered on a biweekly basis at one of the members’ homes. Often, especially in the summer months, members would bring guests. Usually, the ladies started their get-together with sewing projects - and presumably a fair amount of visiting! There was always a business meeting that included devotions and sometimes entertainment in the form of a recitation, poetry reading, or a song. Each gathering concluded with a supper for which each worker donated a nominal sum.
Every two months or so, the Willing Workers hosted a social for the entire community. These socials were planned with a theme and always included food. Chicken pie was a popular menu item for a fall social while June might be strawberries and ice cream. Sometimes, if the ladies had sewn a sufficient number of items, a sale was held in conjunction with the social. The socials were successful fundraisers that could help meet the minister’s salary, buy materials for repairs, pay money owed to workmen, or go towards improvements.
At least once, when the Board of Trustees was slow to act, the Willing Workers took matters into their own hands; it was the ladies who arranged for an insurance policy on the church building. Throughout the years, they also made sure that the insurance premiums were paid.
A Photo from a Gathering of the Ladies' Aid Society
There were many improvements made to the building and property. The donated furnace was repaired, and a chimney built. A bell was purchased. New steps replaced the original ones. Electric lights were installed. Sheds were constructed to the rear of the church. A steel roof was added.
In September of 1938, the Church proudly celebrated its 40th Anniversary! Several newspaper accounts document the event. At noon, a dinner prepared by the ladies of the church was served at the Pine Grove schoolhouse across the road. The Board Secretary for all those 40 years, Mrs. Adelaide Wetmore, had written a history of the church and read it at the gathering. Fortunately, her original handwritten history has been preserved!
In September of 1946, another celebration took place to dedicate improvements to the church. New windows with textured and amber-tinted glass had recently been installed and social rooms had been constructed in the basement. The windows were donated by former residents and by members who wished to commemorate departed congregants. The social rooms provided needed space for community gatherings. It would appear that the 1940s was an active period at the church - but apparently there were some problems.
In her history, Mrs. Wetmore mentions that, as of 1938, there were 20 members. She also indicates that, through the years, 25 members were lost and that few new members had joined. In the 1940s, church attendance had dwindled, and it became increasingly difficult to meet financial obligations. Regular Methodist services ended by 1948.
Although Sunday services were no longer held at the church, a Methodist minister might come to conduct special services, such as a wedding.
On December 5, 1951, Reverand Williams, the Methodist minister from Lowville, married Phyllis Smith and James Ward in the Pine Grove Church. Mr. Ward was home on a 5-day furlough from the Army. He was a paratrooper stationed in Kentucky. His bride was 16 years old.
Mennonite Mission Church
About this same time, Marie Gingerich, a schoolteacher at the Otter Creek schoolhouse in an adjacent township, took note that her students had a “limited knowledge of God, the Bible, and prayer.” She discussed this with her father, Nicholas Gingerich, who was aware of several closed churches in the area. She also mentioned it to Elias Zehr, a Mennonite pastor. The Conservative Mennonites were already considering the use of Summer Bible Schools for a mission effort, so they decided to visit homes in the Pine Grove-Otter Creek area to see if there was interest in offering Bible School there. Enough interest was shown that the local Methodists offered use of their vacant Otter Creek Church. The 1948 Summer Bible School in Otter Creek was well-received and interest in religious services was revived. In fact, by the next summer, the Methodists began to offer regular services at the Otter Creek Methodist Church. A new location was needed for the Mennonites 1949 Summer Bible School!
Visits were again made to local homes. The wife of a trustee of the Pine Grove Community (Union) Church, Mrs. George Wilder, offered the use of their building. As in Otter Creek, the Summer Bible School was well-received.
Subsequent home visits encouraged the Mennonites to start offering Sunday School classes at the Pine Grove Community Church in September of 1949. Although entire families were certainly invited, it was generally children and young teenagers who attended. However, the parents did come to evening programs in which their children demonstrated what they were learning.
The Mennonites who conducted the Bible School and Sunday School were devoted to spreading basic knowledge of God and the Bible to as many children as possible. They used their personal vehicles to transport children from near and far. Long before seat belt laws, as many as 12 children might be squeezed into a car with older children holding younger ones on their laps! A pickup truck was outfitted with benches. Later a used bus was put into service.
Summer Bible School classes were held in tents beside the church. Sunday School classes were held inside the church. The basement was divided with curtains into 4 classrooms. Tiny rooms under the slanted floor of the sanctuary housed the smallest classes. There were times that classes were held in a car and later the bus. The adjacent Pine Grove schoolhouse also provided classroom space. The attendance steadily increased through the years with up to 100 Bible School participants and nearly 70 Sunday School members.
Early teachers were Elias Zehr, Nicholas Gingerich, and their families. As attendance grew, they were joined by other Mennonites devoted to mission outreach. J. Leon Martin served as pastor followed by Vernon Zehr and then his son, Nathan Zehr.
The Vacation Bible School kindergarten class in 1967. Jane Lehman is the teacher.
A Vacation Bible School class held in the church basement in 1977.
Vernon and Esther Zehr
Vernon served at the Pine Grove Community Church for 30 years. He was the longest serving Mennonite pastor.
Nathan and Ruth Zehr
Nathan is the son of Vernon and Esther. He was the last Mennonite pastor at the Pine Grove Church.
In the early years, the Croghan and Lowville Mennonite churches financially supported this mission church. Then the Lewis County Conservative Mennonite Churches formed a local mission board, and a monthly offering was taken to fund the mission work. By 1970, the Pine Grove Mennonite Church was self-supporting.
At their beginning, the Mennonites heated the church with the wood burner located in the sanctuary. In the winter, the minister arrived early to start the fire, but it was not adequate to truly heat the building. Snow blown in under the door would need to be swept out after the service! Providing an oil burner in the basement brought more comfort. However, water seeping into the basement was a problem during spring snowmelt and in rainy weather. The addition of two sump pumps kept the basement dryer. Changes were also made to allow more headroom in the stairway from the basement to the first floor. The outhouse was replaced with two toilet stalls and an accompanying sink in the basement. An electric range allowed carry-in meals to be heated.
The Mennonites steadily made improvements, but as their attendance continued to grow there simply was no way to add more space! Bringing in mobile homes for classes was rejected because their placement would decrease space in the parking lot. Adding onto the building was dismissed, since the Mennonites did not own the property. Neither did they want an addition to detract from the historic quality of the church. By 1990, they reluctantly decided to relocate to a larger church building 14 miles away in the hamlet of Naumburg in the Township of Croghan. The last Mennonite service in the Pine Grove Community Church was held in October of 1990. Efforts were made to continue to transport their attendees to the new church. However, it was bittersweet to withdraw from the original location of their mission endeavor and to vacate this unique building with its creative architecture and exceptional acoustics!
The departure of the Mennonites was very unfortunate for the Pine Grove Community Church building. Its lack of use led to its physical deterioration. In addition, neighbors who had purchased the property originally belonging to the Merwin Austin family - from whom the Pine Grove Union Church leased its lot in 1893 - claimed ownership of the lot and the building on it. They began to store personal property in the church.
Please follow the fate of the church on the "History of the Preservation Society" page.
If you can offer additional information or relevant photos, please contact us at pgccps.dk@gmail.com.
We would especially like more information about our pump organ (seen below).
Sources for History of the Church
Atlas of Lewis Co New York. Pomeroy, Whitman & Co., 1875, p. 74
Bender, Arletha Zehr. A History of the Mennonites in Lewis County New York. (no publisher and no date.)
Bowen, G. Byron. History of Lewis County 1880-1965. The Board of Legislators of Lewis County, 1970, pp. 507-508
Joslyn, Paul DeForest. Mostly Memories - A Story of Three Villages: Glendale, Glenfield, Greig. (no publisher) 2015, pp. 214-216
Alunni and Friends of LACS. Lowville Academy’s One-Room Schoolhouse. Lowville, NY: Lowville Central Schol District. Pamphlet.
“Minutes of the Biweekly Meetings: 11 May 1911 to 18 Apr. 1930.” Willing Workers’ Society of the Pine Grove Union Church, Watson, NY.
“Minutes of the Board of Trustees’ Annual Meetings: 14 Feb. 1898 to18 June 1945.” Society of the Pine Grove Union Church, Watson, NY.
Smallwood, Martha. “Lewis County Mennonites Operate Church School For Children of All Faiths At Pine Grove Community Church.” The Lowville Leader, 20 July1950.
Wetmore, Addie. (Clerk of the Board of Trustees of the Pine Grove Church) – Handwritten History of the Pine Grove Church which Mrs. Wetmore read at the 40th Anniversary celebration, September 11, 1938.
Yousey, Arlene. Strangers and Pilgrims. (no publisher) 1987, pp. 221-224.
Zehr, Nathan. Mennonites at the Pine Grove Community Church: Recollections of former pastor. 31 Aug. 2023. Phone Interview.
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