About the first of October, 1853, Rev. William V. Milligan, a young man who had been licensed by the presbytery of St. Clairsville in April, 1853, went out to Uniontown, Muskingum county, Ohio, to preach for Rev. William Ferguson, while Rev. Ferguson would fill an appointment that he had made at Cambridge, Ohio. The young man suggested that Rev, Ferguson let him fill the appointment at Cambridge, the request was granted and on the first Sunday of November, 1853, Rev. Milligan preached his first sermon for the congregation that he was to serve for forty-five years. He agreed to preach as supply until the first of April, 1854. During the winter his work was very successful, and the records show that there were two meetings of the session held that winter for the purpose of receiving new members. As the pastor in charge was not an ordained minister, Rev. William Ferguson moderated one meeting and Rev. Jacob Milligan the other. The congregation was so well pleased with the ministrations of Rev. Milligan that in the spring of 1854 they gave him a call to become their pastor, and in the little brick church which occupied the site of the present commodious structure, he was ordained by the presbytery of Zanesville, May 10, 1854.

The history of the congregation is practically the history of the work of Rev. W. V. Milligan, D. D., for the next forty-five years. The work begun on the first Sabbath of November, 1853, waS continued without intermission or a single vacation, missing but two Sundays appointment till the last Sabbath of November, 1898. The last service of Doctor Milligan was Sabbath evening and a large congregation was present. At the close of the service Doctor Milligan announced that the pulpit of the Presbyterian church would be vacant that night at twelve o'clock. Doctor Milligan retired from the active work of the ministry with the good will of not only the members of his own congregation, but of the entire community. Coming to the congregation fresh from the seminary, he had given to the congregation a life of faithful service; the strong, vigorous church that he left as a monument is a fitting testimonial to the character of that service rendered, not as unto man but aS unto God. Since Doctor Milligan resigned he has seen three pastors called to the pulpit. The present pastor attributes much of his success to the helpful counsel and cheerful advice given by him, who, as a father in Israel, is loved and respected by all who know him. He has already passed the mark of fourscore years, yet is his natural force not abated, nor his interest in the congregation which he served so long lessened,

When Doctor Milligan took charge of the work in 1853 there were eighty- three names on the church roll. The village of Cambridge had a population of less than a thousand, and had at least four other congregations at work in this limited territory, viz : Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Protestant, Baptist, and Associate, afterward the United Presbyterian. The growth of the Presbyterian organization was a steady one, about twenty names being added each year, and when Doctor Milligan closed his pastorate in 1898 the church had a membership of two hundred and fifty.

Doctor Milligan was quite a builder in more senses than one. In 1857 the congregation, under his direction, erected a building costing over four thousand dollars, and in 1893 the present modern structure was erected at a cost of twenty thousand dollars.

1870 Census for Guernsey Co., OH
Wm V William 43
Maggie M William 36
James B William 14
Minnie G William 12
Charles William 10
Frederick William 8
Fletcher B William 7
Harold William 5
William William 3
Leonard William 1

Additional children in the 1880 Census
Carie Milligan 9
Ethel K. Milligan 7
Edward Milligan 5
*∼Married Margaret M. on 9/30/1854