Our church secretary, Pam Honeychurch, recently received a note with a postcard enclosed from a woman named Diana from Indiana. She thought our church would like to have the postcard for our history files. The postcard was originally mailed to young brothers, Robert and John McCann of Hill Street, Sewickley, in December 1918. The big question was, who is Rev. Dr. Robert Emory Beetham? I have done some research on him and his time here in Sewickley. Church records show he was here 1914 to 1919. He and his wife, Harriett, served the Sewickley Methodist Episcopal Church for five years, which back then was a long time for a pastor to stay in one place. The pastoral couple must have been well loved by the church. When Dr. Beetham went off to France as a chaplain during the Great War, the church voted to give Harriett a $25 monthly allowance to help her through the six months he was gone for the war effort.

As the war in Europe heated up, so did the village of Sewickley. At the March 25, 1918 Official (Church) Board meeting, they approved to allow the Liberty-Loan Committee to use the church’s auditorium for a public meeting. At the same meeting, Dr. Beetham advised the Board that his application for a place in the YMCA organization for duty “Overseas” had been accepted. He therefore asked that the Official Board grant him a furlough of at least six months, provided satisfactory arrangement with the Bishop and the Board, relative to pulpit supply and salary could be made. It was moved by George Mark, and duly seconded, that the Board grant Dr. Beetham’s request for at least 6 month’s leave of absence, provided arrangements be made before his departure to protect the interests of the church during his absence. Carried. It was moved and duly seconded that a committee of five be appointed to cooperate with the Pastor and District Superintendent in obtaining the Bishop’s release and in securing pulpit supply, etc. Carried. The pastor appointed Brothers Cunningham, Diehl, Chesborough, Rosensteel, and Mark as a committee.

On April 7, 1918, a call of the President of the Board met after services. The above Committee reported that the Bishop had approved the action of the Board in releasing Dr. Beetham and advised the Board that Dr. Flannigan had been engaged to assume the Pastor’s duties in his absence at a salary of $150 per month. Upon motion, duly seconded, the action of the committee was approved.

On May 20, 1918, the monthly meeting of the Board was held with the Dr. David Flannigan, interim pastor, presiding. It was moved and duly seconded that a committee be appointed to canvas the membership to raise funds to cover the cost of a bronze tablet, similar to that advertised by Jos. H. Matthews Co. of Pittsburgh, to carry the Honor Roll of our church and to purchase the tablet and place it as soon as practicable upon the walls of the church. JC Venning, historian, would furnish a roster of the men who were serving their country. Dr. Flannigan appointed Mrs. Gilmore, Mrs. Kunkle, Mrs. Moore, and Mrs. McDonald to serve on this committee.

It was moved and duly seconded that the sum of $25 per month the church saves through the procuring of the services of Dr. Flannigan at $150 per month should be turned over by the Treasurer to Mrs. Beetham. Carried. The Secretary was requested to advise Dr. Beetham of this action and get his consent to relieve the Treasurer of responsibility in paying Mrs. Beetham.

On June 17, 1918, the Tablet committee reported that an order had been placed with the Jos. H. Matthews Co. for one of their tablets and that plans were being worked out to raise the necessary funds to cover the cost.

In order to have the financing of the bronze tablet brought to the attention of the membership for the raising of the necessary money, action was taken, placing Professor Mark and Dr. Flannigan on the committee. It was also directed that the Bulletin of June 23 should carry an announcement that a special collection would be taken on June 30 for the Tablet Fund.

At the July 15, 1918, Official Board meeting, the secretary was instructed to write to Dr. Beetham a letter of fraternal greeting, conveying to him church news, best wishes, and kind regards of the Board members. The secretary read a letter from Dr. Beetham dated July 7, 1918.

It was moved by WW Cunningham, seconded by AH Diehl, that a committee be appointed to prepare a resolution endorsing the pastorate for Dr. Beetham and asking for his reappointment for the ensuing year. The resolution was to be presented to the District Superintendent at the 4th Quarterly Conference to be held on September 26, 1918. Motion carried.

A Special Meeting was held December 8, 1918, immediately after the morning service, so the Official Board might arrange to show its appreciation of Dr. Beetham’s services abroad upon his return. To accomplish this, it was decided to have a “reception” in which the other churches and the Borough itself might participate.

On December 18, 1918, the regular monthly meeting of the Official Board met with the pastor, Dr. R Emory Beetham, presiding. It was moved by JC Venning, and duly seconded, for the Board to assume the cost of the refreshments served at the reception given to Dr. Beetham upon his return from France in amount of $24.79. The bill was therefore ordered paid.

Dr. Beetham was the presiding president of the Official Board January through October. The Beethams were granted a month vacation in July to be used at such a time as best suited.

On October 5, 1919, a special meeting of the Official Board was held in the auditorium at the close of the morning services to ascertain what action it desired be taken upon learning that Dr. Beetham would not be reappointed to this pastorate. A special committee and as many of them as possible should go to Uniontown to confer with the District Superintendent and others in the interest of this congregation relative to the appointment of a new pastor for the current year. Carried.

This information about Dr. R. Emory Beetham was mainly taken from the 1918 and 1919 Official Board Meetings Minutes. There is very little written about the personal lives of our ministers, and sometimes we must read in-between the lines for insights. The Beethams were in Sewickley during the Spanish Flu outbreak and the Great War in Europe. The brass tablet was purchased and mounted on the wall of the Narthex and has the names of service members from our church who served in the Great War (World War I) in Europe. Dr. Beetham’s name is listed on the tablet.

Rev. Dr. Robert Emory Beetham was born 6-13-1874 in Bedford, Ohio. Harriet Elwell Johnson was born about 1875 in New Jersey. The two met in New Umtali, Rhodesia (modern day Mutare, Zimbabwe), where she taught kindergarten and music in a mission school, and he was a teacher and school principal. They married on November 16, 1903 in Elmer, N.J. After forty years in Ministry, they retired to Daytona Beach, Florida where he died on December 4, 1947. He is buried in Cadiz, Ohio. His wife of forty-three years passed away on January 11, 1954.

Dr. Beetham’s ministry:

• Admitted on trial Methodist Episcopal East Ohio Conference 1899

• East Central Africa Mission Conference 1901

• Methodist Episcopal East Ohio Conference 1904

• Methodist Episcopal North-East Ohio Conference 1912

• Methodist Episcopal Pittsburgh Conference 1914 (Sewickley 1914-1919; Pittsburgh: Oakland 1919-1922)

• Methodist Episcopal West Ohio Conference 1922

• Dakota Conference 1925

• New England Conference (Wesley Church, Salem, and Trinity, West Medford)