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Who Are They?

The Republican United Brethren were a splinter group of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. They were organized sometime after 1848 in support of Rev. P. C. Parker who was expelled from the White River Conference of the denomination for public immorality. The charge in this case was that Rev. Parker participated in the Mexican War. The Conference considered the Mexican War to be an aggressive action by the U. S. government and therefore against the somewhat pacifist stand of the United Brethren denomination at that time. 

what is known about them?

Information on the Republican United Brethren is somewhat scarce. The only known documentation are two constitutions published by the organizations. The first published in 1853 is held by the United Brethren Historical Center at Huntington University. The second published in 1858 is held by the Indiana Historical Society. The case of Rev. P. C. Parker is mentioned in the History of the White River Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ : Containing an Account of the Antecedent Annual Conferences by Augustus Wilmore (Dayton, Ohio; United Brethren Publishing House, 1925). A brief description of the Republican United Brethren appears in History of the Auglaize Annual Conference of the United Brethren Church, from 1853 to 1891 by J. L. Luttrell (Dayton, Ohio; United Brethren Publishing House, 1892)

what Happened to them?

Little else is known about this organization than what is contained in their constitutions and in the works by Wilmore and Luttrell. It has been said that the Republican United Brethren spread somewhat from southern Indiana to southern Illinois. According to Luttrell they eventually merged with a splinter United Brethren group from the Auglaize Conference of the United Brethren Church calling themselves the Reformed or Evangelical United Brethren Association. This group in turn is said to have united with the Christian Union church formed in Columbus, Ohio in 1864.

Footnote: Patterson C. Parker, who was the cause of all the uproar, rejoined the United Brethren in 1855 as a member of the Oregon Annual Conference. He served the church faithfully until his death in 1892. His statement of contrition is recorded in the 1855 Minutes of the Oregon Annual Conference.

Documentation

Origin, Confession of Faith, Constitution, and General Rules of the Republican United Brethren Church, 1853
NOTE: digital version still under development

Origin, Confession of Faith, Constitution, and General Rules of the Republican United Brethren Church, 1858
This is a digital transcription of the original document in PDF format. The transcription is as close as possible to the original format of the document. All details such as graphics, misspellings and publishing mistakes were incorporated into the transcription.

Documentary References

Excerpt from ... History of the White River Conference of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ : Containing an Account of the Antecedent Annual Conferences by Augustus Wilmore (Dayton, Ohio; United Brethren Publishing House, 1925)

Excerpt from ... History of the Auglaize Annual Conference of the United Brethren Church, from 1853 to 1891 by J. L. Luttrell (Dayton, Ohio; United Brethren Publishing House, 1892)

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