The First Congregational Church
The First Congregational Church was organized April 12, 1866, with the following original members: Rev. J. M. Bowers, J. H. Mertz, Aaron Brown, Mrs. Aseneth C. Brown, Thomas Tracy, Mrs. Sophia Tracy, H. L. Maynard, Mrs. Sylvia Maynard, Mrs. E. R. Newcomb. The call for a council to aid in the organization of this church was made March 10, 1866, and articles of faith were adopted at that meeting. The following named ministers and delegates responded to the all and aided in the organization: Rev. T. M. Post, D. D., St.`Louis, also Mr. S. B. Kellogg and Mr. C. M. Saxton; Rev. L. Bartlett, Kansas City; Rev. E. B. Turner, Rev. M. H. Smith, Warrensburg; Rev. L. Newcomb, Syracuse, and Rev. L. Jones. Rev. J. M. Bowers was ordained the first pastor of the church on the evening of April 12, 1866. A house of worship was built and dedicated in the spring of 1867, and its whole cost, including the lot, was $8,000. When this church was built, if the entire wealth of its members had been estimated in one sum, it would have fallen far below the cost of the church. The bell, the first in the city, made by Jones, of Troy, New York, weighed 1,100 pounds, and cost $600. The First Congregational Church of today has a membership of 250 and a Sunday school attendance of 150. The Rev. Raymond C. Swisher is the present minister. The present church is a substantial and attractive edifice built of Warrensburg stone, in 1899, at a cost of about $30,000. The pipe organ in the church cost $3,000. The building is thoroughly modern. The church officers are as follows: W. H. Van Wagner, clerk; Arthur Hoffman, treasurer; W. E. Hurlbut, superintendent Sunday school.
(History of Pettis County Missouri by Mark A McGruder 1919)