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Holdeman party which stressed total abstinence. The Holdeman movement doubtless had its influence for some of the things he advocated, experiential religion and temperate living, later became more and more a part of the tradition-bound churches of the Fulton County Amish.

The Reformed Mennonites

Another division took place in the formation of the Reformed Mennonite Church. Originating in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1812, this church was in time to gain a following in Fulton, Allen, Wayne, and Clark counties. The beginning of the Reformed Mennonites (sometimes called Herrites or New Mennonites) seemed to be due to the feeling of a few persons that the church leaders had become too lax in the discipline of those who were careless in their living. The Reformed Mennonites were a group who felt called upon to restore the "true" church. They protested especially the practice of Mennonites who took part in elections, attended fairs, and were intemperate, and they were especially critical of those members who did not practice the ordinances of footwashing and the kiss of peace. Elders in the Mennonite Church were faulted for admitting people to the church too easily and for not avoiding excommunicated members.

The earliest known Ohio congregation of the Reformed Mennonite faith was in Clark County where in 1846 a group of sixty men, women, and children settled." They built a log house for worship in Bethel Township about a mile west of the town of Medway. Later they erected a brick meetinghouse which was remodeled in 1870. Records cite John S. Harnish as bishop at this time, the membership being 145. Among the ministers are the names of Christian Herr, John Mouck, and Christian Brenner. This congregation, however, declined and by 1949 only seven members were left. Services were discontinued by 1955 with the Church of Christ purchasing the building.

The penetration of Reformed Mennonites into other parts of Ohio is not a clear picture. Other Reformed Mennonite churches appear in the records of Ohio Mennonitism. Near Archbold, Ohio, a congregation was founded in 1852, with a meetinghouse erected in 1865.'' Other congregations appeared about the same time in Wayne County, and in Allen County in 1868. As in other parts of the country, the Reformed Mennonites never became numerous.