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churches of southern Indiana. The three churches
named are all that are left to advocate the withering
doctrine in this part of the country."
LAUGHERY ASSOCIATION
(COUNTIES OF DEARBORN, OHIO, RIPLEY AND SWITZERLAND.)
The Association was constituted in 1818. It was
composed of six small churches having an aggregate
of 124 members. The minutes of 1819 give ten
churches with a total membership of 203, and the fol-
lowing ordained ministers--George Hume, John
Watts, William Thompson and David Penwell. Elder
Ezra Ferris, afterwards a prominent member of the
Association, appears as a delegate from White Water
Association. At the tenth session, 1828, there were
twenty churches, and a total membership of 584. The
ordained ministers at this date were: John Watts,
William Morgan, Thomas Curtis, Nathaniel Rich-
mond, Daniel Palmer and H. D. Banta. The largest
church was Middle Fork, with sixty members; at this
time Aurora had but twenty-one members. The Cir-
cular Letter by Elder Jesse L. Holman was a review
of the history of the past ten years; it contains many
statements worthy of attention; 385 members have
been added to the churches by experience and baptism;
since the organization of the Association thirteen min-
isters have been ordained; the first minister in the
Association--Elder George Hume--had fallen asleep;
at first the correspondence was gladly entered into with
several Associations in Kentucky, but gradually sev-
eral members, and at least one church, declined to
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hold fellowship with churches that tolerate slavery.
In 1826 three churches expressed the desire that we
no longer correspond with Associations that counte-
nance slavery. As a measure of mitigation it was re-
called that most of our churches on the Indiana side
were constituted by ministers from Kentucky who
came at their own charges. It was further said:
"In the state of the ministry among us the evil is
seen at once. Our ministers receive little or no sup-
port-many of our churches are but partially supplied,
and some of them are ready to die. We would urge
it upon those churches that are already supplied, to
enable their ministers to make full proof of their min-
istry; and to afford them such a support that their
temporal necessities may not compel them to seek
support elsewhere."
The minutes of the twenty-first session mention the
fact of twenty-four churches, and a total member-
ship of 1,037. Jesse L. Holman was now an ordained
minister, and had been for five years; Elder Ezra
Ferris was a member of the Association, belonging to
the Lawrenceburg church; Sparta church reported
117 members and Aurora seventy-six. The usual
business was transacted at each session--the statistics
from the churches gathered and tabulated, correspond-
ence with other Associations provided, a Circular let-
ter, discussing some phase of doctrine presented, ac-
cepted and printed, and religious meetings in desti-
tute parts of the Association arranged for--the dif-
ferent ministers volunteering to spend a certain num-
ber of days in such service. In the minutes of the