OUR CHURCH BELL

In April, 2001 Eddie Phillips climbed the bell tower and recorded the numbers, size and Manufacturer's name from the bell. The Manufacturer of the bell is C. S. Bell Company named for the founder Charles S. Bell, who began manufacturing chruch bells in 1875 in Hillsboro, Ohio. Although the company and product line was sold in 1995 to Mr. Peter C. Wilson, owner of the factory in Washougal, Wahsington, I was still able to obtain an original price list for repair parts, and received all the instructions which were originally packed with the bell when it was shipped. Our bell is a #34 and is identical to the drawing on the price list. Our bell has a double flapper, is bolted down as shown in the drawing, and is rung by a rope attached to the pulley. If you will look under the heading "Church Bells" and located the number "34" you will see that the total cost of the bell/parts was $82.80 plus the shipping. All bells were shipped from the Hillsboro site by rail. Our bell is very large, measuring 34 inches across the bottom and 24 inches in height.

Iam unable to document when the bell was installed, but according to newspaper accounts in The Leader the Methodist Church bell was rung in 1902 when the "Old Soldiers Reunion" was held in the grove of trees, just east of Route 142. Emma Perkins apparently was the first in charge of ringing the bell, and many have told me that upon a death, the bell was rung once fore every year of age of the deceased; therefore, if someone was gravely ill, the tolling of the bell became a means of communicating the death announcement.

In the Broughton News Times Leader, July 25, 1952 it states, "The Methodist Church is getting their chruch bell ready to ring again after several years of silence. It will be sweet music to many of the elderly people." This was confirmed by pictures taken by the Moore family that lived adjacent to the Church.

In July of 1976, America's 200th birthday, all churches had been asked to ring their bells for a five minute period at noon. Clarence "Nig" Barker asked if we were planning to ring our bell. In order to ensure it was secured safely, Eddie Phillips did some work in the bell tower and braced the bell to make sure it was secure. I recall what a kick Nig Barker got out of ringing the Church bell for five minutes or so on that Sunday morning. I had taken cupcakes for the kids that were decorated in red, white and blue, and I can still see Wilma and Nig's granddaughter, Jenny, as she took her cupcake and marched out the door, proudly singing, "God Bless America". Kate Smith would surely have been proud of Jenny!