Dutch Run Trinity Church celebrates 175 years
The 175th anniversary of the Dutch Run Trinity Church was celebrated on Sunday, Sept. 9 at the church. About 50 people gathered for the annual homecoming lunch. Jen Jones | Beacon
COSHOCTON – Coshocton County was only 32 years old when the Dutch Run Trinity Church was established in 1843. One hundred and seventy-five years later on Sept. 9, about 50 people gathered at the church for the annual homecoming and to celebrate being the second oldest church in the county.
Martha Young has been a member of the church for 66 years. “Ever since I got married,” she said. Her husband, Albert, will be 88 on Sept. 22 and he is the oldest lifetime member of the church. “Two of my daughters got married here. The people make the church special.”
Joyce Frazee was born and raised near the church at Honey Run. “This is the original Honey Run – they used to sell honey right down the road.” She is the only female lifetime member of the church and she got married there in 1959. “When the dam (Mohawk) was built in 1937, it just really hurt the church. Until then, houses lined County Road 20, but they were tore down when the dam was built. Now just the foundations are there.”
Frazee said the church used to have festivals and a huge service each week. “We used to have big children’s Christmas programs. The piano player would make us march all around the church and sing and do all kinds of things. And we had a big children’s program the last Sunday of June and it was always so hot. We still marched around. One year, it was so hot a woman’s blue and white polka dot dress left polka dot marks on the pew. Those marks were there for a long time.”
Larry Kent is also a lifetime member of the church. “Christmas Eve was always so special. I remember one year, it was snowing and when we came down the road, the church was all lit up and we could see the Christmas tree inside the church. There was only one set of tire tracks in the snow. It was so serene. I tell my kids if it snows on Christmas Eve, we are coming here.”
Rich Frazee is another lifetime member. “The Christmas program was always so big. There were lots of youth my age. Now they have all moved away.”
Until 1974, the church was only the small sanctuary. “There were two paths out the side door to two outhouses,” said Wayne Young. “The church added this room (fellowship hall) that year. The services used to be in German, then one service in German and another in English later in the day. After the war, with the way everyone felt about Germans, they stopped having a German service.”
Category: Faith
