New Castle’s Reorganized Mormon Church

In 1882, New Castle’s Opera House ran the matinee “100 Wives”, in which the Mormon religion was seen as a drama on scenes and morality, which is blended with “genuine humor”.[1] While in 1883, the Salt Lake Tribune called the Mormon church “an aristocracy of robbers”.[2] Mormons were at the peak of debate around 1886, at which time the 49th United States Congress passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act, also known as the Anti-Polygamy Act of 1887. On the topic of polygamy, the original Mormon Church was split.

Joseph Smith, Jr. began the Church of Christ in 1830 in western New York. Smith later renamed the church the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and finally moved the church’s headquarters to Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith, Jr. (as the head of the church) and his brother were murdered in Carthage, Illinois, which left a question on who will be the next successor. Brigham Young took leadership of the church, but was contested. Tensions between the Mormon populations grew and led to the Utah Mormon War and the invasion of Utah by the United States Army.

The first mention of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints in New Castle, Pa. was in 1886 by The Daily City News mentioning, “Joseph Smith [III], President of the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints; who resides at Lamont, Decatur County, Iowa, was much pleased with the workings of the Edmunds law in Utah. He says the penalties are light, but their enforcement has done a great deal of good.”[3] Smith, who took the leadership of the Church, claiming patrilineal succession, re-established the Mormons under the prefix “Reorganized” and continued to maintain this position through his male heirs.

Of the first individuals from Lawrence County to be known as a member of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ was Jonathan Hollibaugh. Hollibaugh was born in Shenango Township around 1840. Around the age of 21, Hollibaugh married Margaret Jones and had five children. She preceded him in death on 01 Jul 1898. Following the death of his first wife, Hollibaugh became a worker of the denomination. He remarried on 29 Nov 1905 to Margaret Applegate from Youngtown, Oh. and resided there until his death in 1909. Within his obituary, Hollibaugh’s workings are mentioned with his denomination and how dissimilar they were to that of the Mormons and that this denomination is a “sect whose high ideals and good works are known to many.”[4] This blatant separation of the two sects was challenging for many, due to the cursed position of polygamy from an earlier time. Joseph Smith, III opposed polygamy and insisted that it originated with Brigham Young; however, his position was challenged by presumptive widows of his father. Smith, however, opposed the practice and claimed it was father’s false practice.

Locally, positions on Mormonism and the ignorance of the separation of the two based on polygamy was still not well-known. Many believed that this practice still continued and that they were following practices of a false prophet. In 1911, a pastor of the Church of Christ, A. M. McVey, taunted F. J. Ebeling, of Willoughby, Oh., of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints, in a debate on church matters. In this taunt, McVey told Ebeling to drink carbonic acid, stating, “If you believe in miracles, and that your prophet, Joseph Smith, can save you, swallow that poison. It will also prove faith in your argument.” Both Ebeling and McVey were local rival evangelists and were conducting debates in South Sharon.[5]

Evangelism was prevalent in the late 1800s and continued throughout the 1900s. It was during this evangelism, that neighboring evangelists of Sharon and Youngstown, under the direction of Elder T. U. Thomas, as District President, assisted Brother Carl Beck (son-in-law of late-Jonathan Hollibaugh) in establishing the New Castle Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ, known among men as “The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.” Shortly thereafter, services in New Castle, Pa. began about February 20, 1919.[6] Beck, alongside evangelists from Sharon and Youngstown began to recruit many community members who shared similar provocations. Of the first selection of individuals baptized into this new congregation, they were as follows:

1. Samuel A. Mayberry
2. Mrs. Mabel Iona Mayberry
3. Paul Richard Mayberry
4. Henry L. Mayberry
5. Miss Jessie May Mayberry
6. Carl Beck
7. Mrs. Nancy M. Beck
8. Harrison Hollibaugh
9. Mrs. Lydia Hollibaugh
10. Frank Ryhal
11. Mrs. Grace Ryhal
12. Kenneth Jones Ryhal
13. Lamont Ryhal
14. Mrs. Lydia Ryhal
15. Mrs. Fidelia Young
16. David Levan Young
17. Calvin Willard Westcott
18. Roy Harold Westcott
19. Flora Ellen Nelson
20. Ethel M. Young Horrocks
21. Thomas F. Horrocks
22. Mrs. Cena M. Benefiel
23. Walter P. Benefiel
24. William G. McCune
25. Emma McCune

The first documented meeting of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was at the home of Samuel A. Mayberry at 720 Reynolds Street, New Castle, Pa. at 8:00 p.m.. It was at this meeting that Brother David H. Jones was elected President of the Branch and Brother Carl Beck was elected Presiding Priest.[7]

In 1929, the former Presiding Priest, Carl Beck, went missing and later his body was found in the Ohio River and identified at the Pittsburgh Morgue by his nephew, Carl Hollibaugh, and W. Stanley Treser.[8]

These meetings continued in the homes of members and in rented halls. The following men served as pastors of the branch up until 1960, when the dedication of the church on Scotland Lane in Union Township was made[9]:

• 1919–1921: D. H. Jones
• 1921–1947: W. G. McCune
• 1947–1948: LaMont Ryhal
• 1948–1950: Carl Ryhal
• 1950–1951: LaMont Ryhal
• 1951–1958: John L. Biddle
• 1958–: William C. McCune

The previous section highlights the beginning of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and some of the beginnings of the Mormon religion in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Following 1960, William C. McCune moved he and his family to Warren, Pa. and John L. Biddle and a team of elders led the church until 1994.  Other individuals who were active in the church were Ed Ryhal, Doren D. Simmons, and Leland White.

In 2021, the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints: New Castle Branch Meeting Book (1919-1958) was digitized by Pleasant Hill Historians and is now available online for your perusal. It highlights some of the inner workings of the church from the founding until 1958.

This publication was digitized in partnership with highlighting the temporary exhibition at the Arts + Education at the Hoyt titled, “The Nativity and other Arts of Worship”, which is on display from Nov 10, 2020–Jan 21, 2021.

Individuals:

^[1] “Opera House: Saturday, Dec. 16, 1882,” The Daily City News (New Castle, PA): 12 Dec 1882, p 4.

^[2] “Items of Interest: Notes About Persons, Events and Things.” The Daily City News (New Castle, PA): 25 Apr 1883, p 2.

^[3] “Late News Items,” The Daily City News (New Castle, PA): 18 Jun 1886, p 1.

^[4] “J. Hollibaugh Not a Mormon, Says Friends,” New Castle Herald (New Castle, PA): 22 Jun 1909, p 8.

^[5] “Dares Mormon Evangelist to Drink Poison in Faith Test,” New Castle Herald (New Castle, PA):09 Oct 1911, p 3.

^[6] Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints: New Castle Branch Meeting Book (1919-1958), Henley Family Archives (Edinburg, PA), p 1.

^[7] Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints: New Castle Branch Meeting Book (1919-1958), Henley Family Archives (Edinburg, PA), p 2; New Castle Directory, 1918 (New Castle, PA), http://digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/pncpl-cdr03/id/13654.

^[8] “Missing Man’s Body Is Found: Identify Body Taken From Ohio River As That Of Carl Beck: Will Bring Remains Here For Burial,” New Castle News (New Castle, PA): 23 Aug 1929, p 1–2.

^[9] “Dedicate Services: New Castle Branch” Pamphlet, 28 Aug 1960, Henley Family Archives (Edinburg, PA).

Revised February 1, 2024 to identify Joseph Smith, Jr. as the founder of the Church of Christ in 1830, ah.