Information on Englewood Dunkard Brethren: The original church house building was a wooden structure and was donated by David Rasor, Brethren In Christ, and was built by Lewis Wenger, River Brethren. John Wenger and Samuel Herr were numbered among those "founding fathers", who formed a group called, "The Wengerites", thus naming the church, The Old Wenger Church. Research seems to think that the Old Wenger Church possibly organized around the time of the Civil War, December, 1860. In 1861, two divisions of this church occured, one called the Swankerites and the other one called the Wengerites. John Swank presided over the Swankerites Congregation with followers such as: Samuel Longenecker, David Rasor, George Shoemaker and A. G. Marsh. John Wenger presided over the Wengerite Congregation. In May of 1861, a general conference of both branches was called to be held at the Crooked Creek Church at which the men mentioned above attended. Even though there were two divisions, both religious groups used the same church for worship, but at different hours The wooden church house had a partition up the middle as high as the shoulder, when sitting down, which separated the men from the women. The men sat on the left and the women sat on the right. There was no instrumental music accompaniment in the church when the Wengerites owned the building. The wooden structure burned to the ground in 1880 and a brick structure was erected in its place. The brick structure still stands today with an added front piece onto the church. The Dunkard Brethren did not split off from the Salem Church of the Brethren! The Dunkard Brethren split off from the Church of the Brethren at large, on June 23, 1926. The Englewood Dunkard Brethren organized at Englewood, Ohio on July 20, 1927 with thirteen (13) charter members. My grandparents, Ezra Levi and Dorothy (Cassel) Beery were two of the thirteen charters. Last year, 2007, was the 80th year that the Englewood Dunkard Brethren Church occupied the building. It is believed that no musical instrument has ever entered the building to this day. Shirley L. Frick Please note.......the Dunkard Brethren are not drunkards! From: RRRhoads@aol.com Subject: [BRE] Englewood Dunkard Brethren Church It was recently announced that the Randolph Twp. (Montgomery Co., OH) Historical Society has purchased the Englewood Dunkard Brethren Church for a museum as the Dunkards are moving into a new building. The Dunkard Brethren is an offshoot of the COB that broke off in 1926. It currently has ca. 900 members throughout the US in 25 congregations. The brick church building was built in the 1880s after the wood structure burned down in 1880. An earlier church was built and used by two congregations of Swankites and Wengerites that spilt off from the Fairview Brethren in Christ that still is thriving across town in Englewood. The drunkard Brethren started holding services in the newer building in the 1920s after they split off from the Salem Church of the Brethren which is a few miles away. I personally have several genealogical roots in two of these churches. Sons of my Henry Warner (17540-1815) who brought his children?s families to Randolph Twp. in 1811 helped found Salem COB. Also Martin Heisey (1795-1884) and his wife Lizzie Engle (1801-1875) were members of the Fairview BIC Church after moving there in 1850. Being cousins, they both were related to Jacob (Yokeli) Engle (1753-1833) who founded the BIC (River Brethren) in 1778. Roger Rhoads