First McConnelsville Christmas Tree : Marker #13-58 - Ohio Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This former Universalist Church, which held a strong conviction for education and the pursuit of knowledge, was built in 1852 at a cost of $3,500. In 1865, its members decorated the first Christmas tree to be placed in a church in McConnelsville. Two years later they installed a pipe organ at a cost of $1,000, the first such organ in the community. The first Sunday School Library was also added, allowing members to borrow books and return them a week later. A number of prominent local families attended the church, including the Manly, Whitiker, Beckett, Arrick, and Murray families from the 1850s through the early twentieth century. Richard Bilbe, a former slave who had been freed, served as an early trustee of the church and attended with his family. The church was restored and reopened as a non-denominational church in 1997.

Marker Number: 13-58 County: Morgan Significance of Location: Thing Bicentenial Mark: yes Website address: [Web Link] Additional Coordinate: Not Listed Additional Coordinate description: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/17/2013 The Darlingtons visited it