This cache is part of the 2013 Guernsey County Geocaching Trail. To see the other seven caches in the 2013 trail, visit http://visitguernseycounty.com/directory/play/geocaching/guernsey-county-geocaching-trail.html.
This site is an historical church in Cambridge, known for it's beautiful red doors, and for it's unusual front gate -- a lych gate.
History:
Pioneer Episcopalians of Gurensey County Ohio
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Cambridge, had Its beginnings in the fall of 1884. There were Episcopalians here before that time. Having no church of their own, they attended the services held by congregations of other denominations.
It is not generally known that many of the first settlers of Guernsey county were members of the Church of England. The journal of the primary convention of the Diocese of Ohio, held in 1818, reports that there were parishes in Steubenville, St. Clairsville, Morristown, and Cambridge, organized by Dr. Joseph Doddridge.
Dr. Doddridge, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1764, studied medicine and theology and became an itinerant doctor and Methodist preacher. He traveled through the Ohio country, administering to those sick in either body or soul. In 1791 he became an adherent of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The remainder of his life was devoted to establishing churches of that denomination, and the writing of books. His best known work is “Notes on Pioneer Border Life”.
Dr. Doddridge reported at the convention that he had officiated several times in Cambridge, holding services in the courthouse, and that he had found twenty-five families who would join in forming a church here. Bishop Chase, founder and first president of Kenyon Collage, preached here, as did Rev. Samuel Johnson and Rev. Intrepid Morse.
How long these pioneer Episcopalians held together as a congregation is not known. It is probable that they were never completely organized and for that reason the church had only a brief existence.
St. John’s Organized in 1881
When, in 1881, a retired Episcopal rector on a visit to Guernsey County learned that there were several Episcopalians in the community without any church of their faith to attend, he arranged a meeting for them. It was held in the old Methodist church which stood at the corner of Ninth Street and Gaston Avenue, on the site of the building now occupied by the American Legion.
Church Built in 1927
The Episcopalians had no church of their own until 1889, when they erected a frame building on Steubenville Avenue between Sixth and Seventh Streets. Through the generosity of Mr. A.J. Bennett, a lot was bought on East Steubenville avenue where the cornerstone of a new church was laid in the spring of 1927. The building was completed and dedicated by Rev. Theodore I. Reese, Bishop of the Southern Diocese of Ohio on November 20, of that year.
The beautiful church, whose architecture is of Old English design, with decorations to correspond, cost $50.000.
The lych gate at entrance is typical of parish churches of the period represented, and was originally built as a shelter for marriage, baptism, and funeral parties while waiting for the clergy to meet them. It is used here as part of the architectural scheme. Over the main entrance the symbol of St. John is carved in stone. The organ was placed in the church by Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Bennett, in memory of their deceased son. The furnishings of the church were provided by Mr. Bennett in memory of his father and mother. Adjoining the church is the rectory which is also the gift of Mr. Bennett.