1839

In 1839, the Methodist Church built its first dedicated structure at the southeast corner of Main and Jefferson.  The congregation would move to the Methodist Church building at the corner of Main and Elm in 1867, and the original church became a carpenter workshop, first used by Sickler and Zaneis and later by Daniel Birkett.  In 1893, the building was in ruins and torn down by the city, and in 1898, the current house at 131 North Main St was built.

In May 1839, an election was held to decide city leaders.  James Brown was elected president, and William G. Spencer, George W. Danforth, Peter Shelly, and Thomas Fish were trustees. Thomas Fish was appointed clerk, Jacob Kern assessor, Asa Danforth collector, Haven Pierce treasurer, and E. A. Whipple street commissioner.  It was also decided to extend to the corporation area of the town a half mile in each direction of the square, making the city of Washington one square mile in size.

In 1839, the influential Gorin and Trimble families first arrived in Washington.

In 1839, Washington businessman Edward Whipple gave his partner Horace Blair a promissory note for $810.  Blair died, and Whipple failed to pay the note.  Goodwin, the administrator of Blair's estate, sued Whipple in an action of petition and summons to recover the debt.  Whipple retained Stuart and Abraham Lincoln but failed to appear.  The court ruled for Goodwin and awarded $898.88 in damages.

Here is a story told by William McCorkle in 1903 for the local newspaper:

In 1839, McCorkle "attended an enthusiastic and patriotic celebration of the glorious fourth of July in the then village of Washington which at that time had a population of two or three hundred inhabitants.  These are some of the sights remembered: They had a company of military soldiers, in gay uniforms, of perhaps thirty members, commanded by one George Danforth.  The names of some of them are: Mr. Simmons beat the drum, Giles Greenman, Elias Wood, Lewis Whitten, William Bogardus, Edward & William Tinney.  There was a public dinner, free for everybody; an ox barbecue by one Mr. Day who loaded and shot the six-pounder cannon.  But about the most interesting part of the program (to the little boys) was a German man of perhaps fifty years, who, having imbibed too much on Tom Snell's whiskey, got together twenty or thirty boys of from eight to ten years, armed them with sticks and cornstalks, marched and drilled them and finally halted them, and made them a speech."

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