THE UNITED BRETHREN AT LISBON
Our life and work at Lisbon date back to the faithful labors of Rev. Christian Troup, who began preaching in this vicinity as early as 1836. Hence the church at Lisbon had its beginning with the very beginning of our church in Iowa.
The work here grew slowly, however, for several years, Bro. Troup often advising his converts to join other churches on account of the weakness of the United Brethren in Iowa.
In 1847 Rev. Christian Hershey led quite a large colony, chiefly his own relatives, from Pennsylvania to Iowa, and settled in Yankee Grove, the section of country surrounding where Lisbon now stands.
This colony, being largely composed of United Brethren, made quite an addition to the United Brethren forces of this vicinity.
In August of the same year Rev. Luther McVay was appointed to the Yankee Grove circuit. During the summer of 1848 he held a camp-meeting on the knoll now occupied by the Washington school building of Lisbon, with good results. He then organized "the United Brethren class in the Pennsylvania Settlement of Linn county, Iowa," with a charter membership of about forty, as nearly as can be determined from the original class book. About twelve names were afterward added, the year closing with a membership of 52. The effecting of an organization was strongly opposed by many of the older persons who took an active part in the camp-meeting; not because of opposition to the church, but feeling that it was not right to formally organize and put the names on a class book.
Of these charter members, two are yet members of the church, Mr. Michael Blessing, and Mrs. Nancy Neidig.
On August 23, 1849, the Iowa annual conference was held here. Lisbon had just been platted, and homes were scarce. To meet the difficulty occasioned by the coming of so many ministers, a camp-meeting was planned; tents were built on the camp ground, and the conference was held in connection with the camp-meeting. There were a number of conversions, and at the close of the camp-meeting twenty-five persons were baptized in the Cedar river near Ivanhoe, by Rev. Josiah Lindsey.
Rev. Christian Hershey and Rev. D. Wenrich were received into the conference at this session upon their transfers. Rev. John De Moss, assistant pastor of Yankee Grove circuit, reported $26.55 received as salary and presents for the year.