Bluffton Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 175th anniversary (1849-2024) this year.

By Diane Winebar Have you noticed the cornerstone to the left of the front steps of the Presbyterian church building? What happened to the name "The Brice Presbyterian Church"? In 1887, fundraising efforts to construct the present church building were falling short. The wife of one of the church’s early supply pastors, the Rev. W. K. Brice, assured the congregation that her son, soon-to-be U.S. senator Calvin S. Brice, would fund the completion as a memorial to his late father. With a large donation expected, the church ordered and laid a cornerstone engraved with the Brice name. But it turns out that all the Brice money that is in this building is the $10.00 Mrs. Brice herself contributed. ▶︎

Editor's note: Brice family portraits are to be found at the Allen County Historical Museum, both at the museum and online at https://allencountymuseum.org/brice-portraits/ The portrait of the senator was painted by renowned American portrait painter John Singer Sargent in 1898. The portrait of Brice’s wife Catherine Olivia Meily Brice and daughters Helen and Margaret was painted by Carolus-Duran, who taught many famous artists and was a celebrated portraitist in France.