SRHS
Steamboat Rock Historical Society
Growing Beyond Their Dreams
EARLY CHURCHES
Steamboat Rock truly has a rich religious heritage, and even though every church that was organized early on no longer remain, the belief in God has been admirably proclaimed by the two that survive.
Church history leads us to believe that the pioneer immigrants were imbued with religious fervor, and that their first act was to organize a church. We should not, by this, be led to believe that all settlers were religious, or eager to establish churches. To a great many this was of little importance. To others, of necessity, a roof over their heads and stocking food for winter became the most important tasks at hand.
A few groups who entered Iowa came as religious sects, an example being the Palestine Lutherans of southern Story County. In our area the great majority came as individuals, or in small groups or friends or acquaintances. No matter how much they longed to for a church, little organizing of congregations took place at first with exception of the Presbyterians.
The Protestant denominations were most active. Many of them were conducting missionary campaigns to the new settlements and most new church formation was sparked by the arrival of a missionary or minister. This bears true with all of our early churches. The Methodists had the most aggressive and probably the best system with their circuit riders who undertook a ministry to a whole area. Many members of various protestant sects, eager for the advantages of a church, joined up with whatever denomination first became organized in the area.
Herbert Quick spoke of his father and mother’s Christian belief, in his book One Man’s Life, saying, “He (his father) was a Baptist and I think of that strict Calvinistic school popularity and irreverently dubbed Hard-shells
I never heard a profane oath from the lips of any of my family, I had lived for a while in Steamboat Rock, where swearing was not a neglected art.”
This paragraph was included only to make the point that while fine churches were established early on in the community, not everyone in the community joined, and not all were devout.
The religious elements in the life of the pioneer was such as to attract the attention of those living in more favored places. The pioneer was no hypocrite. If he believed in horse racing or whisky drinking or card playing, or the like, he practiced them openly and above board. If he was a religious person he was not ashamed of it.
The pioneer clung to the faith of his fathers, for a time at least. If he was a Presbyterian he was not ashamed of it, but rather prided himself on being one of the elect. If a Methodist, he was one to the fullest extent. He prayed long and loud if the spirit moved him, and cared nothing of the empty form of religion.
Even before the town was platted and a real settlement begun a minister, Rev. J. R. Lowrence conducted religious services in the winter of 1853-54.