This table bears information gathered from United States Census data through the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS), which is part of the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota. In 1850, the US Census began asking questions about religion, and continued to do so until the formation of the Census of Religious Bodies in 1906.¹³ NHGIS does not currently have religious data on file for the censuses taken in 1880 or 1900; accordingly, this table features statistics from the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1890 censuses.

The 12 denominations described here constitute various established and ascendent faiths in American spiritual life during the 19th century. These numbers bear out the conclusions of Finke, Stark, Hudson, Schneider, and Marsden: that in terms of sheer numbers of churches and church holdings, the dominant faith during this time period was Methodism. In addition, The Dutch Reform church–later to become the Reformed Church in America, which was an historically strong community in New York going back to the earliest period of Dutch settlement of the area–maintained and even increased its presence in the area during the period under study. Conversely, old line denominations like the Congregational and Presbyterian faiths experienced a decline in the number of churches and relative value of total church property, such that “the balance of power among denominations was being drastically altered…[so that] the hitherto numerically insignificant denominations were being exalted at the expense of those denominations which previously had enjoyed a near monopoly of prestige and influence.”¹⁴ In contrast to some of Finke and Stark’s findings, Baptist churches were on the decline in Columbia County during this period. In addition to the rise of the evangelical Christian faiths, the Roman Catholic church in America also grew between the 1850 and 1890 census, presumably owed to the influx of immigrants from Catholic countries in Europe.

Without question, Methodism experienced exceptional, unrivaled growth during this time, reflecting in Columbia County the broader national trend of this being “the Methodist age.”¹⁵ Across the four censuses, the number of Methodist churches increased from 19 in 1850, to 34 in 1860, 35 in 1870, and 39 in 1890. Aggregate accommodations (or seating capacity) of Methodist churches in Columbia County generally increased as well–6,375, 7,760, 12,000, in 1850, 1860, and 1870–before a slight decrease to 11,285 in 1890. In 1850, Methodist church property in the county was valued at $26,480; in 1860 it rose to $71,400; NHGIS did not have information for this category in 1870, but in 1890, Methodist church property rose to be valued at $201,200.

Undergirding the rise of Methodism in Columbia County during this period was its focus on the individual–who was capable of inching closer to God and salvation through conversion and thus spiritual rebirth–within “a community of spiritual equality” itself marked by “the rituals of ‘social religion’ or ‘social means of grace.’ By these terms evangelicals referred to a variety of meetings in which laity were the major performers and that were characterized by extemporaneous prayer, singing, inquiry, exhortation, and, above all, testimony. The essential element of social religion was the creation of a community of intense feeling. This atmosphere of spiritual intimacy was a powerful context that taught participants to experience the divine intimacy of God in the new birth.’”¹⁶ Such practices and beliefs were inclusive, communal, celebratory, and democratic in an age when the county populace was growing and undergoing substantial change thanks to improved communication and transportation technologies. At the same time, Methodism articulated spiritual space in ways that meshed with how many contemporary worshippers wanted to see the world that was changing around them: there was the “sacred inner space of the evangelical family” and then the encroaching world beyond, ever in need of moralizing and redemption.¹⁷ Just as the cultural and textual spaces of Columbia County residents were reorganized by advancing rail and telegraph lines, so too were spiritual lives restructured to account for a rapidly changing and modernizing landscape–one that was at once unprecedentedly open and in danger of losing its way. Methodism would offer the lens with which to view this changing world.

Census Date	Denomination	Number of Churches	Aggregate Accommodations	Property Value	Church/Sq. Mile	Population	Church/Person
1850	Baptist	10	2875	19100	1/64.8	43073	1/4307
1850	Christian	3	450	1800	1/216	43073	1/14357
1850	Congregational	3	1100	5600	1/216	43073	1/14357
1850	Dutch Reformed	14	6300	7100	1/46.29	43073	1/3076
1850	Episcopal	1	400	4000	1/648	43073	1/43073
1850	Friends	4	1300	6400	1/162	43073	1/10768
1850	Jewish	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	43073	n/a
1850	Lutheran	6	2100	15300	1/108	43073	1/7178
1850	Methodist	19	6375	26480	1/34.1	43073	1/2267
1850	Presbyterian	9	4025	39950	1/72	43073	1/4785
1850	Roman Catholic	1	700	6000	1/648	43073	1/43073
1850	Universalist	1	500	4000	1/648	43073	1/43073
1860	Baptist	9	2325	16800	1/72	47172	1/5241
1860	Christian	5	750	5800	1/129.6	47172	1/9434
1860	Congregational	1	300	3000	1/648	47172	1/47172
1860	Dutch Reformed	18	6750	108800	1/36	47172	1/2620
1860	Episcopal	6	2000	56900	1/108	47172	1/7862
1860	Friends	2	700	1400	1/324	47172	1/23586
1860	Jewish	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	47172	n/a
1860	Lutheran	9	3500	23000	1/72	47172	1/5241
1860	Methodist	34	7760	71400	1/19	47172	1/1387
1860	Presbyterian	8	3100	47600	1/81	47172	1/5896
1860	Roman Catholic	3	1150	14800	1/216	47172	1/15724
1860	Universalist	2	600	2800	1/324	47172	1/23586
1870	Baptist	7	2450	n/a	1/92.6	47044	1/6720
1870	Christian	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	47044	n/a
1870	Congregational	3	725	n/a	1/216	47044	1/15681
1870	Dutch Reformed	15	6550	n/a	1/43.2	47044	1/3136
1870	Episcopal	8	1700	n/a	1/81	47044	1/5880
1870	Friends	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	47044	n/a
1870	Jewish	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	47044	n/a
1870	Lutheran	11	3100	n/a	1/58.9	47044	1/4276
1870	Methodist	35	12000	n/a	1/18.5	47044	1/1344
1870	Presbyterian	7	3215	n/a	1/92.6	47044	1/6720
1870	Roman Catholic	6	2000	n/a	1/108	47044	1/7840
1870	Universalist	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	47044	n/a
1890	Baptist	7	1890	39200	1/92.6	46172	1/6596
1890	Christian	3	365	3800	1/216	46172	1/15390
1890	Congregational	3	675	13000	1/216	46172	1/15390
1890	Dutch Reformed	21	7660	174180	1/30.8	46172	1/2198
1890	Episcopal	11	n/a	n/a	1/58.9	46172	1/4197
1890	Friends	2	350	1500	1/324	46172	1/23086
1890	Jewish	1	n/a	n/a	1/648	46172	1/46172
1890	Lutheran	15	740	112700	1/43.2	46172	1/3078
1890	Methodist	39	11285	201200	1/16.6	46172	1/1183
1890	Presbyterian	7	2400	85500	1/92.6	46172	1/6596
1890	Roman Catholic	8	2950	66500	1/81	46172	1/5771
1890	Universalist	1	300	40000	1/648	46172	1/46172

End Notes

13. Anne Farris Rosen, 2010. “A Brief History Of Religion And The U.S. Census”. Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. http://www.pewforum.org/2010/01/26/a-brief-history-of-religion-and-the-u-s-census/.

14. Winthrop S. Hudson, 1974. “The Methodist Age In America”. Methodist History, no. April: 3-15. http://archives.gcah.org/xmlui/handle/10516/2843, p. 10.

15. Ibid.

16. A. Gregory Schneider, 1990. “Social Religion, The Christian Home, And Republican Spirituality In Antebellum Methodism”. Journal Of The Early Republic 10 (2): 163-189. doi:10.2307/3123556, p. 171.

17. Ibid., p. 180