ARCHIVES OF DEPAUW UNIVERSITY

AND INDIANA UNITED METHODISM

Bluffton First UMC

Size: .8 linear foot

Restrictions: none

Accession: M992.086

Provenance: Bluffton First UMC

Processed by: Joan Stevens, October 1995

Historical Sketch

In November 1838, Rev. George W. Bowers, a circuit rider, preached the first sermon in Bluffton under an Oak tree on the banks of the Wabash River. A religious society was formed and was the beginning of the first Methodist congregation in Bluffton. They met in homes until the first church building was erected on the corner of Cherry and Johnson Streets. A Sunday School was organized in 1843. In 1872 a new church was erected on the corner of Washington & Williams (present site). The First Methodist Church of Bluffton celebrated it's 100th anniversary in 1938 and it's 150th in 1988.

MC 806

folder 1 Blueprints 1952, 1979

folder 2 Bond, lease, mortgage

folder 3 Clippings and other items

folder 4 Deed and abstract 1959

folder 5 Deed and abstract 1962

folder 6 Deed and deed record, 1871, 1881, 1905

folder 7 Epworth League, Vincent Chapter 1900

folder 8 Member lists

folder 9 Memorials

folder 10 Pictoral directory, 1975

folder 11 Photographs

folder 12 Photographs

folder 13 Special Events

folder 14 Specifications 1985

MC 807

Yearbooks: 1899, 1900, 1905-1908, 1910-1919, 1921-1932, 1935- 1938, 1941-1954

Directories: 1955-1967, 1972, 1975, 1979

WHMS: 1925/26

WHMS/WFMS: 1938/39

WSCS: 1947-1949/50, 1952/53, 1958/59, 1960/61-1972

UMW: 1973, 1974