Rev. Harry C. Hutchison (1926 – 1939)

Dr. Hutchison was born in 1893 on a farm near Warnock, Ohio, in Belmont County. He graduated from Franklin College and the Western Theological Seminary. Prior to coming to Hoge, Rev. Hutchison held five pastorates. He held a double pastorate at Youngwood and Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1914. During that period the Youngwood congregation became self-supporting and a building was erected. Then for two years he was located at Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, where he was especially successful in men’s work. From 1916 to 1922 he served the Hazelwood church in Pittsburgh. The membership was greatly increased during his last two pastorates and a $100,000 church was built during his Pittsburgh pastorate. 350 new members were added to the membership on confession. The final four and a half years before coming to Hoge, was at the first Church of Shelby, Ohio. While there the benevolences tripled and membership increased by fifty percent.

In the fall of 1926, Rev. Hutchison received the call to become the new pastor of Hoge. On December 5 he preached his first Sunday service at Hoge. Over the next 12 years the church continued to grow. During that time 497 members were received into the church and 99 children were baptized. During his pastorate 45 mission Sunday Schools were established, with practically every state represented. On Sunday, May 13 the church observed the 25 Anniversary of his ordination at the morning and evening services. Special music was provided by the 30 member chorus choir and by the Sunday School Orchestra. The goal of the church was to receive 25 new members on the anniversary. At the evening service, Dr. W. J. Hutchison, brother of the pastor, who took part in his ordination 25 years earlier, preached. He was the pastor at Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Cleveland. The third brother, Rev. Orville J. Hutchison, was killed by lightning in 1919 while in charge of his Boy Scout Troop camp.

In 1939, Rev. Hutchison resigned as pastor of Hoge due to ill health. The pulpit was supplied during the month of April by Rev. John Miller, university student pastor. He and his family retired to Delaware, Ohio. On September 16, 1944 he died in his home in Delaware after a prolonged period of illness. He was survived by his wife, Willia Hutchison; and there one son, Capt. Joseph S. Hutchison, who was in the Army serving at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Services were held on Tuesday, September 19, 1944 in the Ramsey-Mohr Funeral Home. He was buried at the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Newark, Ohio.