Introduction | Scope and Content | Order of Microfilming

 Introduction

The records from the Pleasant Ridge United Methodist Church, Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio (MS-111) were transferred for microfilming to the Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio with the cooperation of Rev. Jan Sprague and Ruth Brill in October 1992. The church was originally founded in 1824 as the Egbert Methodist Episcopal Church.

No restrictions have been placed on the research use of this collection and duplication is permitted. The collection was arranged and described by Monica Manny in November 1992.

 Scope and Content

The collection of the Pleasant Ridge United Methodist Church consists of three record groups: proceedings, printed material, and photographs which document both the membership and the history of the church for the period from 1845 to 1988.

Comprising the group of proceedings are three record series: membership records, directories, and minutes.

The membership records consist of four volumes of record books which include documentation of the church's membership and pastors, baptisms and marriages. The first of these membership records is a photocopied portion of the register of baptisms from 1879 to 1886. The complete, original volume is held by the Green Spring Methodist Church on Broadway Street in Tiffin. The other three volumes span the period from 1906 to 1988 and include baptisms as well as listings of individual members and marriages. Researchers should also note that the first minute book delineated below contains names of the original subscribers to the church for the period from 1845 to 1877.

The Directories consist of two photocopied listings of the Green Spring Charge which included both the Pleasant Ridge congregation and the Green Spring congregation. This charge was under the authority of the Sandusky District, N.O. [North or Northwest Ohio] Conference of the Methodist Church for the period from about 1883 to 1887. These directories include a list of the individual members of Pleasant Ridge. The third item within this series consists of a mimeographed list of the trustees, stewards and committees for the Green Spring Charge from 1908 to 1913.

The final series within the group of proceedings contains four volumes of minute books. The first of these volumes contain the minutes of the trustees, the names of subscribers to the church membership, and minutes of the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Association. This book documents the founding of the church. The next two volumes contain minutes of the church's Sunday School program for the period from 1859 to 1885. The fourth volume contains minutes of the committee responsible for the erection of a church building between 1888 and 1890. The remaining portion of the volume contains minutes of meetings of the Board of Trustees for the period from 1893 to 1899.

Printed material consists of two pamphlets produced as a celebration of the church's lifespan. The first of these is a sesquicentennial history from 1824 to 1974 which provides a good overview of the church's founding and evolution. The second pamphlet was produced as a centennial history celebrating the period from 1889, when the congregation began construction of their present building, to 1989. This pamphlet provides much detail in regard to the church's architectural history.

The last group within this collection consists of four photographs which depict some of the church's early members and special interest groups. Also included is a memorial portraiture of Uriah and Susannah Egbert, the church's founders.

 Order of Microfilming

Roll 1

1. PROCEEDINGS
   Membership Records
   Record Book, 1879-1886: Partial, photocopy of original containing baptisms
   Record Book, 1906-1929: Pastors, members, baptisms, marriages
   Record Book, 1931-1946: Baptisms, preparatory membership, full members, marriages
   Record Book, [1920] 1946-1988: Family register, baptisms, preparatory membership, inactive members
   
   
2. Directories
   Directory, Green Spring Charge, [1883-1886]
   Directory, Green Spring Charge, [1886-1887]
   List (trustees, stewards, committees), 1908-1913
   
   
3. Minutes
   Minute Book, 1845-1877: Contains minutes of meetings of the church's trustees and the names of its subscribing members as well as minutes of meetings of the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery Association
   Minute Book, Sunday School, 1859-1865
   Minute Book, Sunday School, 1872-1885
   Minute Book, 1888-1899: Contains minutes of meetings of both the Church Building Committee and the Board of Trustees
   
   
4. PRINTED MATERIAL
   Pamphlet (sesquicentennial church history), 1974
   Pamphlet (centennial celebration), 1989
   
5. PHOTOGRAPHS
   Teachers Training Class, ca. 1900-1910
   Men of Pleasant Ridge Church, ca. 1912
   Uriah and Susannah Egbert, 1922
   Willing Workers Sunday School Class, n.d.
   

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