Hi Dennis: We visited Mt. Etna Church in Adams Co, Iowa, this past fall. They are still an active church, but very small. We picked up their Centennial booklet 1856-1956. I'd be happy to scan it and send to you. It gives a history of the church and a list of some of the ministers and elders. Their first minister was Christian Harader from West Virginia who arrived in the fall of 1856. Some of the names of the earliest members were the Feeces, Mansfields, Davises, Petersons, Powells, Pricketts, Tourneys and Mortons. In 1857 with the help of Elder Francis Myers of Monroe County they organized as a church with between 25 and 50 members. The first meeting house was built in 1868. The history also says that the church was possibly host to its first district meeting in 1887. District meeting was held there again in 1891, in 1900, 1907. I would imagine that the archives at Elgin must have this, but if not, I would be happy to send this booklet on to them. We enjoyed visiting the church and as I say, they still meet on Sundays. I have a picture of the interior of the church with an attendance board. I think they had 6 people attend the previous Sunday when we visited last fall. The woman who allowed us in the church was extremely pleasant and a kind hostess. One of my Smith lines connects to this church and you were kind enough to send me her obituary. So, I'm happy to return the favor. Hope this helps. Janie Smith " --- ORWAHIST@aol.com wrote: > Would someone more knowable than me on the Iowa > churches please help me out. > I am looking for information on two churches that > once were active in > Southern District of Iowa. > > The first one is Adams Co. church it shows up in > the Southern Iowa District > meeting minutes by 1876 and lasted listed in 1887. > For all these year it > was not represented or was represented by letter > only at the district meetings. > I think this may have been a early name for the Mt > Etna church, but I have > not been about to find any reference to this. > > The second church was the Pleasant Ridge church > which was listed in the > Southern Iowa District meeting minutes from 1883 to > 1891 and represent by Isaac > Barto. Then in 1892 the Pleasant Ridge and Nishna > (Nishney) Valley churches > were listed together and represent by Isaac Barto. > In 1893 a request was made > to consolidate Pleasant Ridge and Nishna (Nishney) > Valley churches into one > church, which shall be called Nishna (Nishney) > Valley church. The request was > granted. > > I have church the Brethren Encyclopedia and the book > History of the Church > of the Brethren in South Iowa. > > Any help would be appreciated. > > Dennis Roth > Olympia, Wash > > > > **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. > Watch the video on AOL > Home. > (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001) > > > ------------------------ > Search the Archives at > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/BRETHREN > > ------------------------ > Support Our Sponsoring > Agency > The Fellowship Of Brethren Genealogists > (FOBG) > For further information contact Ron McAdams > mailto:McAdamsr@hotmail.com > > ------------------------ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email > to BRETHREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ