Reverend Richard Dilworth Contributes to Union City History
Reverend Richard Dilworth served as minister at the Presbyterian Church in Union City from 1874-1884. He was a strong temperance advocate for very personal reasons.
According to an article in the Corry Plain Dealer of Saturday, January 4, 1908, Richard Dilworth was the younger of two brothers who were very close. They were sons of a widowed mother who had brought them up to fear God and nothing else. When they were just boys they fought in the Civil War, marching side by side from Antietam to Appomattox. When the war was won, they went West to seek their fortune and to provide a home for their younger brothers and sisters and mother.
On the journey West, the older brother, who had been like a father to his other brothers and sisters, was shot without provocation by a drunken desperado who wanted to prove his marksmanship. The older brother died in his younger brother’s arms. Richard Dilworth, the younger brother, vowed to fight an eternal battle against the saloon.
In the early 1870s, Richard Dilworth came to Union City as pastor of the Presbyterian Church and things began to happen. The article in the Corry Plain Dealer was written by a person who took the pen name of Verex. Verex said in the article, “My first recollection of Reverend R.B. Dilworth, pastor of the Prohibition movement in Erie county, is that of hearing him remark in private conversation that he had preached one hundred dollars off his salary the sunday before, and by the grace of God he expected to preach another fifty dollars off the next Sunday. Reverend Dilworth remarked that when he finished there wouldn’t be much salary left, “but it’s got to be done.”
Verex noted that the clench of Reverend Dilworth’s teeth and the set of his jaw as he faced the conflict with demon rum showed that he was “no milk and water Christian, but that he was the stuff of which heroes and martyrs were made.”
Then Verex recounted Reverend Dilworth’s experience in the army when he knocked the captain of his company down for having called him a liar, and his escape from court martial and death. The captain was known to have been a ‘drunken, swaggering bully of a fellow,’ and Richard Dilworth survived his encounter with the captain.
Verex closed his article by saying, “And this was the man whom the Lord called to champion the fight against the saloons in Erie County.”
The congregation of the Union City Presbyterian Church decided that it wanted Reverend Richard B. Dilworth for its pastor. It called him in 1874 and agreed to pay him a salary of $1,200 a year. Times were hard and Union City people felt the crunch. Eventually, they discovered that they couldn’t pay Reverend Dilworth’s full salary. Being a perceptive man as well as a minister, Reverend Dilworth understood the situation. He said that $900 was as hard to raise as $1,200 would have been if times had remained hard. He renegotiated his contract with the church and said that if the congregation could pay him $900, he would be content. The congregation agreed and everyone was well satisfied with Reverend Dilworth.
On March 20, 1875, Mrs. Mary Dilworth was received into the Union City Presbyterian Church on a letter from the First Presbyterian Church of Emporia, Kansas. The entire congregation sympathized with the Dilworths when two of their children died and were buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
A look at the Session Records reveals Reverend Dilworth’s temperance activity while he served the Union City Presbyterian Church. On December 10, 1876, the Session met with R.b. Dilworth, minister, and David Wilson. James Shreve, Andrew Thompson, E.I. Hall and C.W. Dabney, elders present. Reverend Dilworth requested permission to unite with other pastors in Union City for Temperance meetings as often as it was deemed expedient.
On March 4, 1877, Reverend Dilworth called the Session to order, with all members present. The Session was informed that Horace Corwin, who was not a member of the church, but a trustee and choir leader, had signed a petition for license for Pat Coleman to sell liquor. The Session unanimously resolved to send James Shreve as a committee to visit Mr. Corwin and inform him that it was the unanimous opinion of the Session that it was inconsistent to sign such a petition and hold the position which he did int he church. The Session requested him to “erace his name from said petition before it goes to court.”
During the ten years he served the Union City Presbyterian Church, Reverend Dilworth spearheaded the Temperance Movement in Erie County.
On Thursday, January 4, 1884, the Session called the church and congregation to consider the request that Reverend Richard B. Dilworth made of the Presbytery to dissolve the pastoral relations between him and them. The church congregation agreed to acquiesce in the request and James Shreve, elder, was appointed to meet with the next Presbytery.
The kindest feelings and tenderest sympathies existed between Reverend Dilworth and the church. Many people felt sad because they realized that they would probably never again see his face and listen to his counsel. Reverend Dilworth could have indefinitely as pastor of the church, because he had the fullest confidence and heartiest good will of the church. Reverend Dilworth assured the church of his good will and affectionate interest in the church’s welfare. He said that many of his reasons for leaving concerned his desire to find a climate more congenial to the health of his family.
During the pastorate of Reverend Dilworth, the affairs of the church prospered and the membership steadily increased. The church had been strengthened spiritually and Reverend Dilworth gave the church the leadership and example of a hard working and persevering pastor.
“He has strong and comprehensive convictions and he has the courage of his convictions. As a pastor he has been faithful, earnest, sympathetic, a worthy example of unselfish devotion to others. He has been untiring and particularly successful in his efforts to instruct the young of his church and congregation and to give them broad and higher views of life,” said David Wilson.
On Sunday, January 27, 1884, Reverend Dilworth preached his farewell sermon. The church was full and all listened with special attention to his sermon, which was pronounced to be one of the best that he ever delivered. The Baptist Church was closed so that the members might go and hear him.
According to an article in the Corry Plain Dealer of Saturday, January 4, 1908, Richard Dilworth was the younger of two brothers who were very close. They were sons of a widowed mother who had brought them up to fear God and nothing else. When they were just boys they fought in the Civil War, marching side by side from Antietam to Appomattox. When the war was won, they went West to seek their fortune and to provide a home for their younger brothers and sisters and mother.
On the journey West, the older brother, who had been like a father to his other brothers and sisters, was shot without provocation by a drunken desperado who wanted to prove his marksmanship. The older brother died in his younger brother’s arms. Richard Dilworth, the younger brother, vowed to fight an eternal battle against the saloon.
In the early 1870s, Richard Dilworth came to Union City as pastor of the Presbyterian Church and things began to happen. The article in the Corry Plain Dealer was written by a person who took the pen name of Verex. Verex said in the article, “My first recollection of Reverend R.B. Dilworth, pastor of the Prohibition movement in Erie county, is that of hearing him remark in private conversation that he had preached one hundred dollars off his salary the sunday before, and by the grace of God he expected to preach another fifty dollars off the next Sunday. Reverend Dilworth remarked that when he finished there wouldn’t be much salary left, “but it’s got to be done.”
Verex noted that the clench of Reverend Dilworth’s teeth and the set of his jaw as he faced the conflict with demon rum showed that he was “no milk and water Christian, but that he was the stuff of which heroes and martyrs were made.”
Then Verex recounted Reverend Dilworth’s experience in the army when he knocked the captain of his company down for having called him a liar, and his escape from court martial and death. The captain was known to have been a ‘drunken, swaggering bully of a fellow,’ and Richard Dilworth survived his encounter with the captain.
Verex closed his article by saying, “And this was the man whom the Lord called to champion the fight against the saloons in Erie County.”
The congregation of the Union City Presbyterian Church decided that it wanted Reverend Richard B. Dilworth for its pastor. It called him in 1874 and agreed to pay him a salary of $1,200 a year. Times were hard and Union City people felt the crunch. Eventually, they discovered that they couldn’t pay Reverend Dilworth’s full salary. Being a perceptive man as well as a minister, Reverend Dilworth understood the situation. He said that $900 was as hard to raise as $1,200 would have been if times had remained hard. He renegotiated his contract with the church and said that if the congregation could pay him $900, he would be content. The congregation agreed and everyone was well satisfied with Reverend Dilworth.
On March 20, 1875, Mrs. Mary Dilworth was received into the Union City Presbyterian Church on a letter from the First Presbyterian Church of Emporia, Kansas. The entire congregation sympathized with the Dilworths when two of their children died and were buried in Evergreen Cemetery.
A look at the Session Records reveals Reverend Dilworth’s temperance activity while he served the Union City Presbyterian Church. On December 10, 1876, the Session met with R.b. Dilworth, minister, and David Wilson. James Shreve, Andrew Thompson, E.I. Hall and C.W. Dabney, elders present. Reverend Dilworth requested permission to unite with other pastors in Union City for Temperance meetings as often as it was deemed expedient.
On March 4, 1877, Reverend Dilworth called the Session to order, with all members present. The Session was informed that Horace Corwin, who was not a member of the church, but a trustee and choir leader, had signed a petition for license for Pat Coleman to sell liquor. The Session unanimously resolved to send James Shreve as a committee to visit Mr. Corwin and inform him that it was the unanimous opinion of the Session that it was inconsistent to sign such a petition and hold the position which he did int he church. The Session requested him to “erace his name from said petition before it goes to court.”
During the ten years he served the Union City Presbyterian Church, Reverend Dilworth spearheaded the Temperance Movement in Erie County.
On Thursday, January 4, 1884, the Session called the church and congregation to consider the request that Reverend Richard B. Dilworth made of the Presbytery to dissolve the pastoral relations between him and them. The church congregation agreed to acquiesce in the request and James Shreve, elder, was appointed to meet with the next Presbytery.
The kindest feelings and tenderest sympathies existed between Reverend Dilworth and the church. Many people felt sad because they realized that they would probably never again see his face and listen to his counsel. Reverend Dilworth could have indefinitely as pastor of the church, because he had the fullest confidence and heartiest good will of the church. Reverend Dilworth assured the church of his good will and affectionate interest in the church’s welfare. He said that many of his reasons for leaving concerned his desire to find a climate more congenial to the health of his family.
During the pastorate of Reverend Dilworth, the affairs of the church prospered and the membership steadily increased. The church had been strengthened spiritually and Reverend Dilworth gave the church the leadership and example of a hard working and persevering pastor.
“He has strong and comprehensive convictions and he has the courage of his convictions. As a pastor he has been faithful, earnest, sympathetic, a worthy example of unselfish devotion to others. He has been untiring and particularly successful in his efforts to instruct the young of his church and congregation and to give them broad and higher views of life,” said David Wilson.
On Sunday, January 27, 1884, Reverend Dilworth preached his farewell sermon. The church was full and all listened with special attention to his sermon, which was pronounced to be one of the best that he ever delivered. The Baptist Church was closed so that the members might go and hear him.