#kingscreek | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ultraheydudemestuff · 2 years

Photo

Mechanicsburg Baptist Church

Walnut and Sandusky Sts.

Mechanicsburg, OH

The Mechanicsburg Baptist Church is a large Gothic Revival historic church in the village of Mechanicsburg, Ohio. Constructed for a Methodist Protestant congregation in the late nineteenth century, the building was taken over by Baptists after the original occupants vacated it, and it has been named a historic site. The first settlers in Goshen Township arrived circa 1805, and Mechanicsburg was platted on August 6, 1814. Organized religion was rare in the earliest years; the first churches were established by circuit-riding preachers from the Methodist Episcopal Church, who founded small religious classes that met in settlers' log cabins. Mechanicsburg's first church was a Methodist congregation organized in 1814, and by the 1880s the village boasted four additional churches: Baptist, black Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal, and Methodist Protestant.

Mechanicsburg's Methodist Protestant church was organized on February 13, 1853, following a directive by the denomination's Ohio Conference from the previous September. Under the initial leadership of S.P. Kezerta, the fledgling church had a charter membership of ninety-two individuals. The national Methodist Protestant Church had been formed by those who dissented from the church government of the Methodist Episcopal Church, objecting to the powers of the church's bishops. Matters were radically different in Mechanicsburg, which had developed a reputation as a "black abolition hole" among those pursuing the many runaway slaves who passed through the town on the Underground Railroad. Turmoil in the national church disturbed many members of the Mechanicsburg Methodist Episcopal Church, and Kazerta gathered a congregation of abolitionist families into a new congregation. The members purchased a lot on West Sandusky Street, upon which a two-story brick church was constructed in 1858. Mechanicsburg's Masonic lodge assisted in construction, and in return they were sold rights to the second story. In its early years, the congregation was weakened by members' departures to other communities or by death, and it was attached to another young congregation in Catawba until 1865.

As the years passed, the church grew stronger; membership reached 308 in 1879, at which time the building was remodeled and refurbished, and by 1890 a new building was needed. After concluding the lease with the Masons, the congregation destroyed the old building and erected a new structure on the same lot, and all debts were paid by the end of 1891. It was further strengthened by donations from two members: one gave his home for use as a parsonage, and the other endowed the church's Sunday school. By 1917, the membership had surpassed five hundred. In 1939, the Methodist Protestant Church merged back into the Methodist Episcopal Church, producing The Methodist Church, and the two local congregations subsequently rejoined as well. After the merger, the property was sold to a local Baptist congregation.

Baptists settled in Champaign County very early in its history; many of the county's leading citizens followed the faith, and Kingscreek Baptist Church in Salem Township, founded in 1805, was the third Baptist church to be established anywhere in the state. In the county's early years, all of its numerous Baptist churches were found in the countryside, so in 1840 the Ohio Baptist Convention began to make efforts to plant churches in the villages. One such society arose in Mechanicsburg in the same year; known as Goshen Baptist Church for its first seven years, the church constructed its first church building on Locust Street in 1846. Resources were scarce in the early years, and the resulting building was small, but subsequent growth saw the membership rise to 106 by 1864. From this time forward, the congregation again declined;; soon after the death of a prominent member in 1872, the building was sold with the goal of building a better one, but a better one was not built, and membership dropped to 38 by 1883. Most of the members left to form another Baptist church in that year, and the five remaining members deeded the congregation's property to the Ohio Baptist Convention when the congregation closed. The current occupants of the property are unrelated to the previous Baptist churches.

The Mechanicsburg Baptist Church is a brick building resting on a stone foundation and covered with a slate roof. Built in the Gothic Revival style, this single-story building possesses architectural features such as decorative elements on the gabled roof, corbelled brickwork, a tower with belfry on the primary corner, and stained-glass windows trimmed with stone. Inside, the church is divided into multiple Sunday school classrooms, a kitchen and dining area, a basement, and a side chapel, in addition to the sanctuary; when completed, the church was equipped with a grand pipe organ and piano and could seat approximately one thousand worshippers, even though the entire population of the village was only twice that number. A prominent component of the interior is a large white marble tablet inscribed with numerous names; many early members of the Methodist Protestant congregation gave substantial sums of money to the church, and their names were remembered by placement on this large stone.

On August 29, 1985, the Mechanicsburg Baptist Church was listed with the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying because of its historically significant architecture. Four other Mechanicsburg churches — St. Michael's Catholic Church, Second Baptist Church, the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, and the United Methodist Church — were listed on the National Register at the same time. Except for the Greek Revival Second Baptist Church, they were deemed important examples of the Gothic Revival style (they were all built around 1890, when the style was popular), and all five were significant as the village's primary architectural landmarks.

0 notes

kolbehq · 5 years

Photo

FILE // BASIC INFORMATION

Name: Dr. Hiroka Caldwell.

Age: 32 years old.

Gender: Female.

Pronouns: She/her.

Species: Human.

Home Planet: Minerva.

Job: Chief science officer.

Criminal Record: N/A.

Contract: 25 years.

Faceclaim: Sonoya Mizuno.

FILE // BACKGROUND

To call Hiroka Caldwell “gifted” would be an understatement. Born in the city of Minakumo, a relatively well-off part of Minerva, she was the middle child, with one older brother, and one younger sister. The Caldwells were an affectionate couple, loving parents, and generally friendly and caring people -- just the sort of people you’d want to have as neighbors. They’d known since Hiroka’s earliest childhood that she was clever; she learned basic reading before her fifth birthday, and had a grasp on high school-level mathematics by the time she entered third grade. By the time she was about to enter high school, Hiroka was bored out of her skull, and had started blowing off class regularly. Why bother to show up when she could get near-perfect grades while working at home? When she was offered a spot at Kingscreek Heights, an elite boarding school on Antigone for gifted students, both Hiroka and her parents were elated. Although her parents had more than enough, they weren’t exactly rich, and were relieved when her test scores and interview were more than enough to snag a full scholarship. So, at the age of fifteen, she kissed her parents and siblings goodbye, and moved planets for the sake of pursuing a better education.

But it was soon discovered that, despite her unusual intellect, Hiroka was far from a model student. While she enjoyed Kingscreek far more than the schools she’d been to before it, she still had a tendency to skip the classes she found dull, and argue with teachers she disagreed with. She had few friends, with most of her peers being put off by her general demeanor. Although she was cheerful and generally friendly, Hiroka always had an overly-enthusiastic, borderline manic air about her that many found “weird,” or “creepy.” Not helping matters was the fact that, as she grew older, Hiroka’s temper became more volatile, and her moods became erratic. She’d have days of extreme productivity and good cheer, followed by days of extreme melancholy and frustration. She also displayed an utter disregard for consequences, and a seeming lack of understanding of boundaries and ethics. None of that stopped her from getting excellent grades, but it also made her a liability -- especially in the lab, which naturally, was where she excelled.

Hiroka had decided she wanted to be a scientist at an early age, watching her father create androids in the lab since her childhood. She read every scientific journal she could get her hands on, and began running experiments out of her garage at the age of ten. (If asked if this is why the fire department suddenly saw a spike in visits to her neighborhood around that time, she will deny it.) She was in the most advanced science classes Kingscreek had to offer, but got in trouble many, many times for ignoring the rules and regulations of the lab. Her teachers gave her as many second chances as they possibly could, but after an incident involving Hiroka and an unapproved experiment in her junior year, one that led to six students receiving second degree burns, and Hiroka losing a hand, they couldn’t look the other way any longer. She got a prosthetic, accepted her expulsion with as much good humor as she could muster, and finished up high school back on Minerva. (Her parents wisely deciding to homeschool her for the remaining year.)

Hiroka double majored in biochemistry and electrochemistry, this time attending a prestigious university on Lysander. She learned enough from the incident at Kingscreek to not get thrown out, but it was a close thing (particularly when it was discovered she was writing people’s term papers for extra cash -- she just barely dodged consequences for that one). The truth was, Hiroka would’ve stayed at university forever if she could’ve afforded it. The practical applications of science are secondary to her; she’s simply interested in knowledge and scientific advancement for its own sake. About 99% of her experiments began with, “Wouldn’t it be cool if...?” Questions of morality and legality rarely even cross her mind when she’s in “the zone.” It’d be a stretch to claim she’s immoral, but amoral is a very accurate way of putting it. So while it isn’t a surprise that a lab on Lysander snatched her up almost immediately after she graduated with two PhDs, it’s probably also not a surprise that her behavior and attitude led to her dismissal.... and that the process repeated a few times. Hiroka had a mixed reputation: everyone she worked with agreed she was brilliant, and that if you can get her on your team, you’re lucky. But they also agreed that she was unpredictable, childish, arrogant, obnoxious, and possibly a little crazy, which made potential employers wary.

After being sacked from nine different labs on Lysander for her unsafe practices, disregard for ethical questions, and utter contempt for rules, Hiroka was told to just get off the planet, and stay off. Undeterred and determined to work, she returned to her home planet, which had become a battleground for the war between Hermes and Antigone. The country she’d wound up in had declared allegiance to Antigone, but, truth be told, Hiroka didn’t really care about the conflict, much less who won. All she cared about was a chance to run experiments and make new discoveries, so when she was offered a job developing chemical weapons for Antigone’s army, she took it. She was good at her job, really good, but her superiors, more than aware of her reputation, kept a close eye on her, knowing she couldn’t exactly be considered loyal to Antigone’s cause.

They were right to be concerned. After she’d been working there for a few years, a spy from a country allied with Hermes came to Hiroka’s lab, and offered her a job: create a viable substitute for Psychrine gas. The Hermes government knew there wasn’t much time before the gas ran out, and if they could find a manmade replacement, they just might be able to save their planet from economic ruin. Hiroka knew she was absolutely not allowed to collaborate with Hermes, but she found the idea fascinating, and knew it’d be an interesting challenge -- not to mention, it’d open up all kinds of new paths for her research, and the money she’d receive in exchange would be able to fund her own personal experiments that she was running on the side. And so, without a thought for the consequences that would await her if she was found out, Hiroka accepted.

FILE // CURRENTLY

Hiroka’s direct superior at the lab was the one who found out that she was playing both sides of the war. Unbeknownst to Hiroka, he’d been periodically hacking her computers and reading her notes for years, knowing better than to trust her, despite his genuine admiration of her abilities. After she’d been working for Hermes for about a year, he found her notes regarding her Psychrine gas substitute, and confronted her at her home. The obvious solution was to turn her over to the authorities, who would likely throw her into prison for the rest of her natural life, but her superior, a man of science himself, thought that would be a waste, given her talent. So, he offered to recommend her for the upcoming Kolbe mission -- that way, she’d make use of herself, while still being out of the war (and out of his hair). Hiroka rejected the offer at first, until he pointed out that the other option was that he turn her in, she get convicted of treason, and likely forced into the Kolbe mission anyway. Upon further consideration, Hiroka decided she’d take his offer after all.

Hiroka isn’t exactly thrilled to be on the ES Suicide Mission, but she’s making the best of it. After all, she has more-or-less free reign over the lab, and she’s less likely to get crap for showing up to work in pajama pants (with a lab coat and goggles on over them, of course). When she’s not doing official work for the mission, Hiroka’s often running experiments of her own, and has been known to offer privileges and favors to prisoners in exchange for helping her -- which can mean anything from helping her move heavy objects, to being her personal guinea pig. Almost in spite of herself, she’s settling into her new role very nicely, and is genuinely thrilled to be part of such an important mission. If they actually find an inhabitable planet, she might pass out from happiness.

The day Hiroka arrived on the ES Kolbe, her old superior sent a message to the Captain. It simply read, “She’s your problem now. Good luck.”

#bio

1 note · View note