the first; printed sermons being read aloud when there was no preacher.
A Sunday-school was organized in Wadsworth in 1820.

The most influential man in the neighborhood was Judge Brown, an uncle
of "John Brown of Ossawatomie." He was noted for the purity of his
life, the dignity of his demeanor, and the firmness with which he
defended his views. He was a bitter opponent of slavery, and, what was
strange in those days, a strong temperance man. Before leaving
Connecticut he had heard Lyman Beecher deliver his famous temperance
sermons, and he came to Wadsworth with his soul ablaze with temperance
zeal. The community was strongly influenced by him, and father said that
he was much indebted to Judge Brown for his temperance and anti-slavery
principles.

Even in those early days Wadsworth contained a public library, a lyceum
where the young men discussed the questions of the day, and an academy.
Father took part in the lyceum debates, though he was said to be slow of
speech; and attended the Wadsworth Academy from its beginning, in 1830.
One of its most successful teachers was a shrewd Scotchman named John
McGregor. Father and several young men from a distance, who boarded at
grandfather's and attended this school, spent their evenings studying
their lessons, or reading and discussing some good book. Dick's
scientific works were among the books thus read.

There were many Lutherans, Dutch Reformers, and Mennonites near
Wadsworth, and there was a perfect ferment of religious discussion.

During father's boyhood, Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott had been
preaching the union of Christians on the Bible alone, and there was
great enthusiasm.