Tower United Methodist Church History
Information comes from research done by
the Tower United Church published in 1978
In the early part of the 1850's, Mr. Joseph Link brought his family, his wife and two or three children from Cincinnati, Ohio to Dayton, Ky., then called Jamestown and made their home on Front and Main Streets. Mr. & Mrs. Link were anxious to have a Methodist church and held class meetings in their home. The Baptists and Presbyterians both were organized and worshipped together.
A short time later the Bishop of Cincinnati sent the Reverend Joseph Blackburn to organize the Methodist Church. This was in 1853 in Mr. Link's home. Later the organization held their meetings in a little school house on the 7th St, hill. Pigs had made their home under the building and with their loud grunts, disturbed many of the meetings. In the year 1855 a man by the name of Carr gave the Methodists 75 feet of ground on Fifth Ave., then called Jefferson Ave. to be used only for Church purposes. This is the ground where the church now stands. At that time the members were obliged to light their way to church at night with candles and lanterns. There were only about a half dozen families in the Church at that time, among whom we have the names of Peaks, Wright, Van Sants, Miss Betsy Rhegness and the Link family.
The congregation felt the need for a church and decided to build. Men brought lumber from the mill in Cincinnati on a river raft and the church was built in 1855. The church was a square one room building and soon after, the vestibule and pulpit were added. Reverend P. F. Tower was pastor in 1855 when the church was built and it named Tower Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church in honor of the Reverend Tower. The building gradually became unfit for church purposes and a new church was built in 1914 during the pastorship of Rev. H. D. Cooper and was dedicated for worship April 18, 1915.
From 1915 to 1928 the congregation struggled under the load of debt, but the celebration of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary there was also the celebration of the clearing of the property from debt.
In 1930, Rev G M Haggard was serving the Church, the present brick parsonage constructed and 1941 saw the parsonage debt cleared. The contractor of the parsonage was John Morris. He was a member of Tower Church for over 60 years. He married Mary Alice Laycock (who was also a member of the Church) in December, the 25th of 1905. They had three girls, Mr. Morris died March 7th, 1958, and Mrs. Mary Alice Morris died July 11, 1974.
In 1946 the Hammond electric organ was installed in the Church, and a short time after, Mrs. Emma Dunn was gracious enough to make the red drapes for around the organ. Then at a later date she made the drapes that are around the choir loft. During 1951 and 1952 improvements to the church included purchase of the floor covering for the sanctuary, laying of the tile floor in the Church basement, repair and redecorating of the Church windows and redecorating and laying of a new tile floor in the small chapel off the entry way.
Grade school classes have been held in the Church basement since destruction of the Lincoln School by fire in 1952, The Church building today is in good repair and serving the needs of the congregation. When Tower Methodist Church was built the cost then was $9,500,00. Our present membership is One Hundred and Twenty Three. Mrs. Earl Dulaney has been serving Tower Church as our organist since 1923. In December 1973, the church Family (family and friends) surprised her with a dinner and a money tree give to honor her 50th year as a organist. We hope to have her as our organist for a long time to come as her devotion and love for her church has been an appreciated asset to the Church and its' members. In December of 1978, Mrs. Dulaney will mark her 55th year as our organist.
Since our Centennial Celebration in 1953, three persons have gone from Tower Church to prepare and become ministers in the United Methodist Church. Rev. Earl Dulaney Jr. at present is serving Grace United Methodist Church in Burlington, N. Carolina.
Rev. Jack Brooks is presently serving Drury Chapel, in Sanders, Ky. Rev. Rufus Culp is our present Pastor. While a number of the faithful have gone to their reward since our Centennial celebration, it is interesting to note that there are still a number of people who were active then, and are still active in the work of the Church today. While there is no local United Methodist men's group, there is a number of men who attend the District meetings and give voluntary hours of labor such as cleaning, repairing and keeping up the church property.
Tower has a group of young people that meet each Monday afternoon for a Bible study Worship, arts and crafts and field trips. This work is under the leadership of Miss Cheryl Burgess, working with the inner city churches of the Covington District. Miss Burgess works in cooperation with the Northern Ky. United Methodist Metropolitan Ministry and the Board of Global Ministry of the United Methodist Church.
The United Methodist Women are a supportive group of the local church and also of the District and Conference programs of the United Methodist Church. They are primary a Home and Missionary Project.