The Presbyterians were the third Christian denomination to establish themselves in McDonough County, the First Presbyterian Church of Macomb being organized on June 9, 1832, by REV. WILLIAM J. FRAZER, of Morgan County, services taking place in the old log court house, near the northeast corner of the Public Square on the site of the present Union National Bank. The original members were: THOMAS GRANT and wife, ALEXANDER HARRIS and wife, ALEXANDER CAMPBELL and wife, JOHN HARRIS and wife, (the latter afterward MRS. JOHN CLARK), MRS. PATSEY NAYLOR, THOMAS PICKETT, ELIZABETH M. ANDERSON, MISS RUTH WILSON, MISS JANE CAMPBELL, and MISS MAHALA CAMP, afterward MRS. QUINTUS WALKER. Mr. Frazer continued to preach for this congregation, and occasionally in other parts of the county, for a number of years. Other prominent ministers of this denomination, who officiated as pastors of supplies for a number of years, were: REVS. WILLIAM K. STEWART, JAMES CHASE, RALPH HARRIS, I. PILLSBURY, JOSEPH WARREN and J. H. NESBITT. Services were held in the old court house until 1834, when the first brick court house was erected. This was used for church purposes until 1835 or '36, when a church building of brick wad erected, which gave place to a larger frame structure first occupied in January, 1853. The present handsome church edifice erected a few years ago, at a cost (including interior fixtures) of 420,000, is located on West Carroll Street. The present pastor is the REV. A.F. ERNST. Camp Creek Presbyterian Church, in Scotland Township, was organized May 22, 1839, in JOSEPH MCCROSKY's barn on Camp Creek, with thirty original members. REV. J. M. HOGE became the first regular pastor in 1843, and was succeeded, previous to 1878, by REVS. JAMES CHASE, WILLIAM K. STEWART, WILLIAM F. FERGUSON, J. C. KING, JAMES CAMERON, JOHN STEEL, C. LEAVENWORTH, JOSEPH PLATT, J. G. BLISS, JOHN GRIFFIN, W. H. GOODESON, P. W. THOMPSON AND J. G. CONDIT. A handsome church building has been erected in the center of the township in connection with a neat parsonage. Shiloh Presbyterian Church was organized in 1839 at the residence of ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, in Walnut Grove Township, by REV. JAMES CHASE, with twenty-three members. The members being widely scattered, no church building was erected, but a school-house was finally purchased for church purposes. Prairie City presbyterian Church, organized September 19, 1841, with twelve members, held its services for several years at the residence of GEORGE KREIDER, five miles northeast of Prairie City, being known at that time as the Pleasant Prairie Church. It was reorganized October 25, 1851, and in 1855, the church was moved to Virgil, three and a half miles east of Prairie City, the final removal to Prairie City taking place in 1856, where a frame church building was erected and dedicated the latter part of that year. This building was enlarged and repaired in 1868, and now houses one of the most prosperous church organizations in McDonough County. Doddsville Presbyterian Church had its origin on July 29, 1843, when REV. WILLIAM K. STEWART, JAMES M. CHASE AND ELDER BRISCOE, acting by authority of the Schuyler Presbytery, held services at the house of ANDREW WALKER and proceeded to organize a church with seventeen members. The first church, built in 1851, was vacated in the 'seventies for a new structure. A number of prominent missionaries and other ministers officiated in connection with this church, and several notable revivals were held, adding to the church membership, though this has been reduced from time to time by deaths and removals. About 1856 a Presbyterian Church was organized at Bushnell, under the auspices of the Schuyler Presbytery, which two or three years later was dissolved, the members generally uniting with the Reformed Church. In 1868 a petition, signed by thirty persons, was presented to to Warren Presbytery - in session at Monmouth, asking the organization of a Presbyterian Church at Bushnell. As a result a committee visited Bushnell, and on April 25, 1868, an organization was effected, twenty-one one persons presenting a certificate in a body from the reformed Church, and seven from other Presbyterian churches making a total of twenty-eight members. The growth o this church is indicated by the fact that, in 1876, its membership had increased to 110, and has since kept pace with the growth of the city. A Sabbath School in connection with this church was organized in 1869. Good hope Presbyterian Church was organized January 30, 1869, a the result of a visit by a committee appointed by the Warren Presbytery in the fall of 1868. The membership at the time of organization amounted to eighteen, of whom nine were from the Shiloh Presbyterian Church, seven from the church at Macomb, and three from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at Walnut Grove. Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, in Scotland Township, was organized in 1861, from a part of the Camp Creek Church, and a frame church building erected at a cost of $2,000 the same year, a parsonage being added in 1866. The membership at the date of organization was forty-four, but in the next fifteen years had increased to about one hundred.