Transcription contributed by Arne H Trelvik 10 August 2003

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Methodist Episcopal Church. – The first sermon in Warren County by a regularly constituted Methodist minister was preached at Deerfield August 9, 1798, by Rev. John Kobler. Before this, however, Francis McCormick, a Methodist local preacher, had settled near the site of Milford, and he may have preached within the limits of Warren County before the visit of John Kobler. From the journal of Mr. Kobler, we learn that, on the 7th day of August, 1798, having but recently arrived in the Miami country, he set out from Mr. McCormick’s house with a guide to form a two-weeks’ circuit. Arriving at Deerfield, a little village, in which, he says, there might reside ten or fifteen families, he found some difficulty in finding a place to preach, for a Quaker in the town was opposed to his preaching and praying, and went from house to house to have the doors barred against him. He finally found a cordial reception at the house of a Mr. Sutton, who, he says, was a Baptist. He preached at Sutton’s house early in the morning of August 9, and rode on six miles to Turtle Creek, where he preached at 4 o’clock on the same day at the house of Ichabod Corwin. He then passed in an eastern direction through a very thinly settled region.

After preaching at Dayton, he rode down the Great Miami, and preached, on August 13, at the block-house near the site of Miamisburg, to the inhabitants, whom he describes as truly poverty-stricken. He then rode on several miles to a little village called Franklin, where he was kindly entertained by Capt. Ross, at whose house he preached to the inhabitants of the place, which consisted of six or eight families.

The circuit established by Rev. John Kobler, the first regularly constituted Methodist missionary in the Miami Valley extended from the Ohio to Dayton. The preaching-places were at private houses. At this time, the roads were so imperfect that twenty-five miles made a full day’s journey on horseback. One of the preaching places early established was at the house of Capt. Davis, on Clear Creek. This dwelling was a cabin, containing two rooms. Justice John McLean, then a boy, lived within less than half a mile of Capt. Davis’ cabin, and often heard John Kobler preach, and thus writes of him: “I will never forget his appearance and manner. I was always much interested with his discourse, and especially with his prayers. He was tall and well proportioned; his hair was black, and he wore it long, extending over the cape of his coat. His dress was neat, with a straight-breasted coat, and in every respect as became a Methodist preacher of that day. He had a most impressive countenance.”

In August, 1798, John Kobler appointed Philip Hill a Class-Leader. In 1800, the conference sent no regular Methodist preacher to the Miami Circuit. There were, however, by this time, four or five local preachers within the circuit. They went everywhere preaching the Word. They preached no only on Sundays, but on other days. They held two-days meetings, and kept up a system of quarterly meetings, which, by this time, were attended by large numbers. Men and women would walk twenty and sometimes thirty miles to attend them. At night, the men would be quartered in barns and outhouses; the women, in the cabins. In 1802, Elisha W. Bowman, then a beardless youth, was sent to the Miami Circuit. In 1803, John Sale and Joseph Oglesby were the preachers for this large circuit.