The Paris Christian church was among the earliest of the congregations established by the Disciples in Missouri and dates back to the thirties, first meeting in the old brick house known as the Addison Bodine place, and later—in 1848—building a brick structure on the present site. This building was torn down and a new one erected in 1884, and is in turn demolished and supplanted by a modern $35,000 structure in 1910. Among its ministers have been Alexander Proctor, famous throughout the brotherhood, W. J. Montjoy, .J. B. Davis, the Rev. Samuel McDaniel, T. W. Pinkerton,  W. N. Briney, ___ Wright, J. R.  Perkins and F. W Allen, all distinguished men and the two latter own outside their denominational world, Perkins as a publicist and Allen as a novelist.

    The Paris Baptist church was organized at the home of Eli Bozarth. four miles south of where the town now stands, in May, 1831, and the Rev. Edward Turner was its first pastor. He was followed by Anderson Woods in 1836, the name of the body first being Bethlehem church. It has had a succession of able ministers and has been a power for good in development of community life.

    Paris Episcopal church was organized in 1832 and was among the first to join the Southern Association following the division 1844. Its first minister was the Rev. James Jameson and among its first members Thos. Miller, Thos. Noonan, Joel Maupin, Jefferson Marr, William Stevens, names known still in the history of the county.

    Paris Presbyterian church was organized in 1842, and its first pastor was the Rev. W. P. Cochran. Among the charter members were Thos. Barrett, J. S. Caldwell. 0. P. Gentry, Welthy Applegate, Rosella Vanarsdale and John Curry.

    The organization at Paris followed that at Pleasant Hill, seven miles south by several years. Pleasant Hill was organized in 1825, before the county had a separate existence, and is probably the oldest as well as most historic congregation in the county. The Rev. Thomas Durfee, a missionary, was its founder, and the Rev. Alfred Wright its first pastor. James McGee and the McKamey family were its charter members, a slave woman by the name of Marietta also being included in the number. The church is still very much alive and is one of the few original congregations to maintain a continued existence. In its yard sleep many the famous pioneer men and women of Monroe county.

    The Methodist church at Goss, Jackson township, was organized in 1833, and was founded by Henry Marr, Samuel West, Susan Austin, John Shearman, David Ashby and others.

    Salem Baptist church was organized in 1857, by the Rev. Henson Thomas, one of the most noted of the county’s pioneer preachers, and among its charter members were a group of Kentuckians, hailing from Madison county—Lewis Philips, Thomas P. Moore, Samuel Willis, Richard Thomas and others.

    Long Branch Baptist church was organized in 1844, by John B. Rudasill, James Botts, Edward Goodnight and others, and its first pastor was Wm. Jesse. For over twenty-five years W. B. Craig of Paris. most famous of Monroe county Baptist preachers ministered to it, and his labors ceased only with his death.

    These congregations are singled out on account of their age and traditions that cluster about them. It is interesting to note that the names appearing on their charter rolls continue in their present membership, illustrating as nothing else can the degree to which the county maintained its racial solidarity.