Village of Rehoboth Once a Fostoria Neighbor
December 7, 1997, article one

PIX #1 This home, belonging to Patrick and Kathleen McCarthy, is the last remaining residential structure of the village of Rehoboth, which was laid out in 1844. Originally, this house was owned by blacksmith David Boyd, who is said to have come to this area from Pennsylvania on foot.

In the Book of Genesis, the Bible tells us the Isaac went to dwell in the valley of Gerar. He dug wells at Esek and Sitnah which brought forth clean water. But other herdsmen contested Isaac for the wells, claiming the water was theirs.

Finally, Isaac moved to a place where there were no others to contest him. There he dug another well which also yielded water. Isaac named the place Rehoboth.

He told his people, "Now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."

One hundred fifty-three years ago, a group of people settled north of Fostoria in the western part of Jackson Township. They established a town that was laid out by a Mr. Isiah Hollopeter. They, too, hoped to be fruitful and to prosper and they named their new hamlet, Rehoboth.

Today there is little left to remind us of the village that once fourished there. One still vibrant remnant is the Rehoboth United Methodist Church near the intersection of CR 25 and CR 28.

Another reminder of Rehoboth is the home of Patrick and Kathleen McCarthy. They have restored the house to its original condition, including the solid oak wainscotting on the walls.

The McCarthys' home is similar to the Dewald-Funk House Museum operated by the Hancock County. The house is built in the Country Greek Revival or Western Reserve architectural style.

Many of these homes had two front doors and an interior door connecting the two sides of the house. This feature was useful for guests, but also commonly used when a member of a family's younger generation married and moved into the parents' home.

The Rehoboth United Methodist Church was built in 1864 by a man named Freese. As of 10 years ago, there were two five generation families in the congregation. Norman Vincent Peale was a clergyman at Rehoboth one long ago summer.

Mr. Hollopeter had the land for the village surveyed in 1844 by Thomas Heming. The plat map, notarized by William Kepler in January 1845, shows 26 lots 132 by 66 ft, two major streets (Main and Cross) each 66 ft. wide, two smaller streets (West and North) 33 ft. wide and Walnut, East, West and Cherry Alleys, all 16 ½ ft. wide. The site that Mr. Heming surveyed comprised 80 acres.

According to Fostoria' bicentennial history, the Fostoria Weekly Review reported in 1867 that Rehoboth had "a blacksmith shop, shoe shop, meeting house and hay stack."

The blacksmith shop was owned by a man named David Boyd. IT is said that he was from Pennsylvania and that he covered every mile between the Keystone State and Rehoboth on foot. A half mile south of the church was a log school. All in all, Rehoboth's future seemed a rosy one

Life in pre-Civil War times was arduous. Mrs. Alvin Gore wrote in a Review-Times article in 1949 that a Dana McEwen recalled his mother telling him how she carried her children to church, walking on footlogs. Footlogs were made by chopping down trees, laying them close together, stripping the bark and flattening the top.

Martin Beightle and his family had to set out before first light on their walk to Sunday church. Mr. Beightle, carrying a lantern, led his family (10 children) on a single file trek to the church. The community's spiritual life was so strong that for some time, Rehoboth was also known as the "Village of the Mission Church."

When Isiah Hollopeter had Thomas Heming survey the land that would become Rehoboth, he envisioned that one day a railroad would come through the town and insure its prosperity. But Mr. Hollopeter's assessment of a proper rail line didn't agree with that of rail executives. No railroad ever came to Rehoboth.

According again to the bicentennial history, in 1857, in spite of the growth that had taken place, the town plat was vacated or voided and gradually Rehoboth receded into history. Very curiously, the stated reason for that decision was the Rehoboth "was too close to New York City to ever make a big town."

In the 1984 Potluck column, Paul Krupp wrote that Emily Beightle was one of the 10 children who dutifully followed her father's lantern to church in the dark. In 1932 at age 78, she wrote a poem recalling Rehoboth church from long ago. Part of it went,

We used to walk there, ice and snow.
We had no other way to go.
When we arrived at the dear old spot,
The old drum stoves were good and hot.
We sat and listened for more than an hour,
Where gospel was preached with old time power.