Dominie Dean by Ellis Parker Butler

DAVID had won. Except for the defection of the Hardcomes -- who left behind them a feeling that they were trouble-makers and were not greatly regretted -- the church continued its even tenor. It must always be a question, however, whether David would not have done better by losing. Riverbank grew in population, as shown by the census, but the growth was not one to prosper the Presbyterian Church at Riverbank. The sawmills brought nearly all the newcomers -- immigrants from Germany almost entirely -- and these had their own churches. The increase in population offered little material with which to build up David's congregation.

At that time but few farmers, grown wealthy, moved into town. The town hardly realized, until the lumber business died, how contracted was the circle of its industries. The few men of wealth were all firmly affiliated with one church or another -- as were also all the well-to-do -- and, with no available new blood, it was inevitable that the numbers in the existing churches should remain almost stationary.