History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa, Part 139

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1316

USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa > Part 139
USA > Iowa > Bremer County > History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa > Part 139

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

ST. ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

The first regular services of the Episco- pal church, held in Bremer county, were established in 1854, by the Rev. James Keeler, residing in Janesville.

St. Andrew's Parish, in Waverly, was formally organized in December of 1863, under the ministry of Rev. Hale Town- send. Services had been held for some time in the court house and at halls. At the time of organizing, there were eleven

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

families, representing forty souls, (adults and children) recorded in the register, as follows: J. E. Burke, Daniel Ellis, John P. Ellis, H. S. Hoover, Thompson Houser, Dr. Samuel Jones, Charles Parsons, Moses Lehman, William Tallet, Edward Tyrrell, A. J. Tanner and Joseph Wade, with their families.

The church building, a brick edifice, seating 125 persons, was erected in 1854, being the first church built in Waverly. It measures 24x40 feet, and cost $2,000.

The first vestry consisted of Dr. Samuel Jones and H. S. Hoover, (wardens) Will- iam Tallet, Charles R. Beardsley and A. J. Tanner.

The present officers are Rev. S. R. J. Hoyt, rector; H. S. Hoover, senior warden; Henry Christiern, junior warden; William R. Bowman, secretary and treasurer; Geo. Franklin, Edward Wearne and J. H. Bow- man.

There have been 107 communicants since the organization of the parish, 150 baptisms, 75 confirmed and 31 burials.

The present membership is 55 commu- nicants, 32 families and 128 individuals.

The present condition of the parish is desirable. It has no indebtedness, has a' handsome sum in hand for the erection of a new church edifice, owns a very fine rectory, and keeps its current expenses paid up promptly. It has a good Sunday School, organized in 1863, by Rev. Hale Townsend, its first superintendent. Its - present officers are Rev. S. R. J. Hoyt, (the rector) superintendent; H. S. Hoover, assistant superintendent, and E. E. Hoover, secretary and treasurer. It lias ten teach- ers, four males and six females. There · are 107 scholars enrolled, and the average

attendance is about 60. The school is self- supporting, and contributes to benevolent objects more than one hundred dollars annually.

There have been five different rectors in charge of the parish since its beginning. Rev. Hale Townsend came in 1863, and resigned in 1865. Rev. Charles Stewart succeeded him in the fall of 1865, and left in April, 1866. The next rector was Rev. William Wright, who began his work in April, 1866, and resigned in 1869. He was followed by the Rev. F. Humphrey, in 1873, who held the rectorship until Easter, of 1877. Rev. S. R. J. Hoyt, the present rector took charge of the parish July 1, 1877.

Rev. Hale Townsend is the second son of Richard and Jeannett Townsend, both natives of New York State. He was born in Detroit, Michigan. He spent his early years in some half a dozen States of the Union. He graduated at Hobart Free College, Geneva, New York, in 1856, and at the Theological Seminary, of Virginia, three years later. He worked as a deacon in Bradford and Sullivan counties, Penn- sylvania, and Columbia county, New York. He was ordained a Presbyter in Dubuque, . May, 1862, and before coming to Waverly secured the building of churches in Wortli- ington and Independence. He was after- ward an assistant minister of the Bishop's Church, at Davenport, while teaching in Griswold College there. He then resumed missionary work, and has been engaged in building churches at Decorah, Emmetts- burg, and Sheldon, in Northern Iowa. Hle is now in the East, seeking recovery from severe illness. He was married, Septem ber 1, 1870, to Miss Harriet Boardman

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Lane, daughter of the Rev. A. D. Lane, of Waterloo, New York.

Rev. Charles Stewart was born in Scot- land. He studied divinity at the Bishop Seabury Seminary, in Minnesota, and Gris- wold Seminary, Davenport, Iowa. He re- mained in Waverly but a few months.

Rev. William Wright was born in Lon- don, England. He studied divinity at the Theological Seminary near Alexandria, Virginia, and was ordained in 1853. He at once went as missionary to the then " Colony of Maryland in Liberia," in Af- rica, remaining there until the spring of 1855. He afterward had charges in the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania and at Boston. He assumed charge of St. Andrews church, Waverly, in April 1866, resigning that charge in the year 1869. Mr. Wright was a faithful, untiring work- er and won the love of the poor, and the respect of all, during the term of his min- istry in Waverly. He now has charge of the work in East DesMoines, and at Ames, Iowa.

Rev. Frederick Humphrey succeeded the last named in charge of St. Andrews Parish, in 1873. He was a man of about fifty years of age, of fine presence and of extended knowledge. He was for some years a professor in schools of learning, and entered the work of the ministry late in life. His labors in Waverly were re- warded by large additions to the church membership, and he held the esteem of the whole community at the time of his resignation in April, 1877. He at present has a parish at Fairmount, Minnesota.

The present rector of St. Andrew's Par- ish, the Rev. Samuel Roosevelt Johnson Hoyt, is the son of Rev. Velancthon Hoyt,

D. D., well known in the Episcopal Church, as the great pioneer of the church. Dr. Hoyt, a native of Connecticut, and a graduate of Yale College, completed first a course of study for the practice of law, and afterwards studicd for the ministry of the Episcopal Church. He was one of two to join the first Missionary Bishop (Bishop Kemper), and to penetrate the " great west " of that day. S. R. J. Hoyt was born in Meriden, Connecticut, on the 9th day of December, 1839. Hc came with his father into Iowa,from Wisconsin, in 1858, and settled in Sioux City. In 1861, he entered Griswold College, Daven- port, Iowa, where he completed both the collegiate and seminary courses of study. In 1866, he became assistant tutor in the preparatory department of the college, and in the following year, was made prin- cipal of that department and a member of the faculty of the college, which position he held for two years. While in this po- sition he held mission services in West Davenport, where in 1867 he built Christ Church. He was ordained to the Diacon- ate in 1868, and to the office of priest in 1869. A few weeks after his second ordi- nation, he married the daughter of Rev. Dr. W. H. Barris, one of the professors in the Theological Seminary, and in October sailed from San Francisco, California, in the steamship "China," en route for China, to which country he had accepted an ap- pointment as missionary. Landing at Shanghai, Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt went from that place six hundred miles into the inter- ior, up the Yang Tze Kiang, and entered upon their new life at a point about as far removed from their home and friends as this mundane sphere will permit-at Wu

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

Chang, the capital of the province of Hu- Pêh. Their first work was to acquire a knowledge of the language. They entered upon untried ground, and watched year after year the growth of the seed of their planting. With nothing to begin with, they finally saw two churches, two board- ing schools, a day school, and a hospital, in full working order. After a residence of nearly eight years, Mr. Hoyt was obliged to resign his work in China, on account of his wife's failing health. He entered npon his duties asrector of St. Andrew's Church, on the 1st of July, 1877; but in April, 1878, returned alone to China, to hold the work of the church in WuChang until new men could reach the field and prepare them- selves for their peculiarly difficult labor. St. Andrew's parish granted him a leave of absence for two years, and hence, after being gone a little more than two years, he resumed work in Waverly, in June, 1880. During Mr. Hoyt's travels, he crossed the Pacific Ocean five times, and once made the entire circuit of the earth. He visited the most important parts of Japan, both upon the coasts and in the interior, and while in China, went once as United States interpreter, with General Isaac F. Shepard, American Consul at Han How, a thousand miles up the river Yang Tze, through its magnificent gorges, over its terrific rapids, and among the peated mountains of Tze Chwän: At other times he visited the great tea fields, and the principal marts for China and porcelain ware, and, being some- thing of an antiquarian in his tastes, spent mnuch of his time of recreation in delving among the stores of curio shops. Some of the oldest works in bronze, copper and Chinaware in the United States were

brought here by him, and he owns prob- ably the largest and most complete collec- tion of ancient and modern coins of China and its neighboring States, to be found in this country. In his travels, Mr. Hoyt has visited many points on the coasts of South- ern China, and in India. He has seen the old cities and wonderful antiquities of Egypt, as well as the most famous cities of Italy, France and England. He has in his possession some most flattering letters of thanks and commendation from the Board of Foreign Missions, for his services dur- ing his long term of years in their field. In his present position he enjoys the con- fidence and hearty support of his people, and the parish, at this time of writing, is enthusiastically at work preparing to build a new and larger church edifice.

The first Methodist sermon preached on the ground where Waverly now stands, was by Rev. S. W. Ingham, Sr., at a spot a few rods northwest of where the court house now stands. This was in 1853. It is not now recalled by any one liere, what the name of the circuit to which it then belonged, was. The appointments were eight weeks apart. In 1854, Rev. J. Bur- leigh succeeded to the charge, and during that, or the year following, the first organi- zation was effected, being a class of which R. J. Ellsworth was the leader, the mem- bers being Mrs. Elizabeth M. Ellsworth, Alexander Buckmaster, Demas Bucking- ham, George Kerr, Rachel Kerr, Emily Buckmaster, William Sturdevant, George W. Baskins, Sr., Bettie Baskins,and a few others whose residences were remote. Meetings were then held in a log house which stood at a spot about two rods east of the east end of the bridge, and in the

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

middle of what is now the street ; subse- quently, in the original court house build- ing. In 1855, William Gough succeeded to the charge, and in 1856, Rev. E. D. Lamb became the pastor. The circuit ap- pears as Janesville and Cedar Falls. Dur- ing the year 1857, Rev. Mr. Lamb died at Janesville. In 1858, Rev. C. M. Sessions became the preacher in charge, while in 1859 A. N. Odell had charge, and in 1860 C. M. Sessions was re-appointed, and in 1861 and 1862 William Smith was the pastor. It was during this pastorate that the legal incorporation of the society took place, the date being April 23, 1862. The incorporate name chosen was "First Methodist Episcopal Church, in Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa." The first, or orig- inal board of trustees was Reuben J. Ells- worth, George W. Baskins, Sr., Andrew Dailey, John Glassford and Hiram Lam- son. These articles of incorporation were acknowledged before E. C. Moulton, jus- tice of the peace, May 3, 1862, and filed for record June 27th, of that year.

In 1863-4, H. S. Church was in charge. In 1865-6, F. X. Miller was pastor. At this time the charge came to be called . Waverly, and had attached an out appoint- ment or two. It was during this pastorate also that the erection of a church building began. . A brick building, Romanesque, two towers, a basement, and an audience chamber.

In 1867, J. S. Anderson was appointed as the pastor. Meetings were then held in the court house, now in use.

The new building was not ready for occupancy until January 12, 1868, at which time the basement was opened for use. At that date Rev. T. M. Eddy, D. D., then

editor of the Northwestern Christian Advo- cate, Chicago, Ill., preached an eloquent ser- mon, and with the dash and zeal for which he was characteristic, led in the work of raising funds for the enterprise. The total cost of the building to that date was $11,000, of which the people of Waverly had payed about $3,000, and the Church Extension Society of the Upper Iowa Con- ference $1,000, leaving over $6,000 to be raised that day. By the morning and evening effort, Dr. Eddy raised, with a subscription or two, one-half the amount believed to be adequate to liquidate all indebtedness. The outlook at that time was very hopeful.

In 1869, E. W. Jefferies became the pastor; during the year the bell was pro- cured and placed in the tower.

In 1870, R. D. Parsons was placed in charge, and remained during that year, as also 1871 and 1872, who directed affairs towards the collecting of subscription and applying on the debtedness.

1873-4, W. A. Allen was in the pastoral charge, and at the first official meeting, steps were taken to complete the audience room; with L. M. Stephenson, E. C. Dougherty, James Jewell, Ezra White, and Roswell Allen, as the building com- mittee, it was accomplished, much to the astonishment of all. In 1875-6, F. M. Robertson was in charge.

During the years 1877-8-9, B. C. Ham- mond was the pastor, and by personal effort and solicitation, he succeeded in raising bone fide subscriptions to pay the church indebtedness, which, for many rea- sons, had become a large amount-some- thing over $3000. In 1880, J. C. Magee was assigned to the work, and is, at this

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

writing, December, 1882, in the third year of his pastorate. During the time, the ob- ligations pledged on the church indebted- ness have been met, the Ladies Mite So- ciety having raised over $200, to pay on a loan from the Church Extension Society, which was the last of the old debt. Dur- ing this pastorate, the church steeple, which had become very frail and danger- ous, was taken down, and a new and strong belfry erected, at a cost of over $500. Trustee Allen Sewell directing the matter to a successful termination. Also, an at- tractive fence was crected about the church lots, and a park of beautiful trees set out. This was very largely due to the energy of S. F. Baker.

The trustees of the church at present are L. L. Lush, S. H. Curtis, B. DuBois, W. P. Harris, J. C. Garner, Allen Sewell, . L. M. Stephenson. Messrs. Curtis and Garner, while not members of the church, have consented for several years to act.

The board of stewards are H. S. Munger, J. F. Woodring, Allen Sewell, E. L. Smalley, Jay J. Morton, J. H. Cummins, I. S. C. Gorham, L. M. Stephenson, W. M. Barber, M. D.

Class leaders, Jos. Brown and I. S. C. Gorham.

The present membership of the church is about one hundred and eighty.

The Sabbath School numbers about one hundred and forty pupils, teachers and officers. S. F. Baker, superintendent; I. S. C. Gorham, assistant superintendent and chorister; Miss Libbie Sholes, secretary, Mrs. M. M. Faville, treasurer; J. F. Wood- ring, librarian; W. O. Clark, M. D., assis- tant librarian; Miss Nettie Woodring, or-

ganist; Miss Hattie Seaman, assistant organist.

A review of the history of the church, and a study of the causes of success, or the embarassing hindrances to greater success, would be interesting, but space forbids. Upon these historic pages there ought to appear many names of persons who have contributed to the results obtained, but who must be content with the conscious- ness of having performed well their part, in which it is said all the honor lies. It would be unjust, however,to omit the men- tion of the name of the now deceased, but highly honored William P. Harmon, the founder of the city of Waverly, who did so much in his life time to promote the interests of this society. His name ap- pears on the memorial window of the church building, as does also that of Gov- ernor Oran Faville, a much honored mem- ber of the church, who, being deceased, is a precious memory, he having been a life- long Methodist, and widely known in the educational circles of the church at large. His widow, Mrs. M. M. Faville, has con- tinued to reside here, and in all ways has contributed most steadily, through the last seventeen years, to promote the interests of this church.

The following is a list of the ministers who have served the charge as presiding elders : Andrew Coleman, P. E. Brown, John T. Coleman, John Gould, D. N. Holmes, Elias Skinner, S. A. Lcc, William Brush, D. D .; R. W. Keeler, D. D .; S. W. Ingham, Jr .; J. T. Crippen, and Daniel Sheffer, present incumbent.

Rev. John Calvin Magec, A. M., the present pastor of the church, was born in Centre county, Pennsylvania, October 31,

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

1845. His parents, David F. and Abigail Rankin Magee, removing subsequently to the western part of the State of Pennsyl- vania, and in the spring of 1855, they came to Iowa. Mr. Magee is of Scotish descent, from both sides of the house, though he is of the third generation, born on American soil. . Hc is the eldest of eleven children, most of whom are living. His ancestors of both the Magee and Ran- kin families were strong adherents of the Presbyterian faith, though.after removing to the west his parents became members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and at the age of fifteen he also identified him- self with that body, although at the time a member of a Presbyterian Sunday School (old school), uninfluenced in his choice by his parents, they leaving the matter wholly with himself. His father's family settled on a new farm in Scotch Grove, Jones county, in 1858, where he remained working on the farm in the sum- mer and attending the district school in winter. During these years he was rest- less to procure as liberal an education as possible, preparatory to the christian minis- try, to which he had felt himself called from earliest life. At the outbreak of the war of the rebellion, his father (true to the military instinct of the family, the great- grandfather of this sketch having died in camp as a soldier for the colonies in the Revolutionary War), was among the first to enlist to fight for the Union, and served for nearly a year and a half as a commis- sioned officer. John being the eldest of the family, though not yet sixteen years old, took charge of the farm with his younger brother. On the return of the father to the home, being free from the cares of the

farm, he entered as a student in Lenox Collegiate Institute, at Hopkinton, Iowa, a school under the care of the Presbyter- ian denomination. After an academic year there, he began teaching a country school, and at the close of the term, having arrived at a suitable age, he was seized with the " war fever," and enlisted as a private soldier in Com- pany D, Ninth Regiment, Iowa Volun- teer Infantry, doing active service in the Atlanta campaign, on the march to the sea, under Sherman, and in the campaigns of the Carolinas. And, immediately after the war, was with his company on the march from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Washington, District of Columbia, where he participated in the grand review, in May 1865. Being mustered out and dis- charged from the service that summer, he re-entered Lenox Collegiate Institute, and remained there for a time. He afterwards attended the Upper Iowa University, at Fayette, where he formally graduated, having procured his education almost wholly. by his own efforts. He subse- quently received the degree of Master of Arts from this institution. He also studied theology for a time at Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Illinois, He was first licensed to preach when about twenty-one years old, and did much work gratuitously as a local preacher, while a student in school and while teach- ing in the public schools, which he did for three years, being one year principal of a graded school. He was married in June, 1870, to Miss Jennie Cole at Fayette, Iowa, who has proven a most worthy help- meet for him. He was admitted on trial as a traveling preacher in the Upper Iowa

nosllevay

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

Annual Conference of the M. E. Church, in September, 1870, and was in due time admitted to full connection and ordained, and has since been in pastoral charge of churches in his conference at Rockford, New Hartford, LaPorte City, Grundy Centre, Maquoketa, and, at the time of procuring the data for this sketch, is in the third year of his pastorate of the Methodist Episcopal church at Waverly, Bremer county, Iowa.

The Baptist church in Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa, was organized September 9, 1855. A preliminary meeting was held at the court house, September 8th. At this meeting, Rev. David Terry was chosen moderator, and Nathan Payton, clerk. The moderator read the article of faith and the covenant, together with a resolution on temperance and one on slavery. After a full conference and consultation, it was resolved to meet the next day and com- plete the organization of the church. Ac- cordingly, the next day Elder Terry preach- ed a sermon; text, First Timothy, 3: 15. The church, the pillar and ground of truth. Brother Beckwell made an address to the church, and gave them the hand of fellow- ship. ` The original members were seven in number-Rev. David Terry, Nathan Payton, Jane Payton, Samuel Patterson, Catherine Patterson, R. Churchill and Mrs. Oscar Burbank. Brother Codding- ton and wife, Miss Mary Coddington, Mrs. Emeline Stewart, were present at this meeting, and expressed their intention of uniting as soon as they could get their let- ters. A few meetings only were held that fall, at private houses. In March, 1856, a covenant meeting was held in the new stone school house ; afterwards, they met

in the court house. Brother A. S. Law- rence was the first clerk and one of the first deacons. At the same meeting, Giles Ma- bie was elected one of the deacons. Elder . Terry was the first minister, and Rev. Austin D. Bush, first pastor, called in June, 1857, serving one year and eight months. Rev. H. H. Burrington, was called April 2, 1859, serving five years and four months. Rev. Thomas F. Thickston, called Au- gust, 1862, served two years and eight months. Rev. Alvin T. Cole, called No- vember, 1868, served three years and one month. Rev. J. Hall was next called, and served about two years. Rev. F. A. Marsh, called September, 1872, served one year and five months. Rev. Thomas T. Thickston, re-called in 1874, remained three months. Rev. Robert Leslie, called November, 1874, served four years, nine months. Rev. Thomas Keith, called Sep- tember, 1879, served one ycar, eight months. Rev. W. C. Pratt, called Jan- uary, 1882, remained three months. Rev. William M. Simons is the present pastor.

In the fall and winter of 1857 and 1858, a house was built, which answered the double purpose of place of worship and a dwelling place for the minister. Mr. Bur- rington says he can speak with authority.

The church outgrew the house, and in 1867, the present house was built, 40x70 feet, costing $7,000.

The church has had, in twenty-six years, seven different pastors; 161 persons have bcen baptized; 265 received by letter; 426 additions; 166 dismissals by letter; 41 ex- cluded, and 36 have died. Present mem- bership, 171.

The First Presbyterian church of Wa- verly, Iowa, was organized September 15,

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HISTORY OF BREMER COUNTY.

1856, by the Rev. S. F. Wells, missionary agent of the Presbytery of Dubuque. The organization consisted of six members-O. P. Houghawout, Harriet N. Houghawout, William G. Houghawout, George S. Mathews, Elizabeth Mathews, Esther Mathews.

Eighty-two in all, have since been added to the original number. The present membership of the church is about twenty.

The first ruling elder of this church was O. P. Houghawout. Those who have sub- sequently filled the office are John Elliott, George S. Dawes, Robert B. Shannon, John Findley and James P. McCord. The two last named being now the ruling elders, and also trustees by virtue of their office.

The ministers of the church have been J. D. Caldwell, 1857; John Smalley, 1858- 1866; Virgil G. Sheeley, 1867-1869; James G. Patterson, 1870-1871. Since the resig- nation of Mr. Patterson, the pulpit has been vacant.

For a time the church held its meetings in a stone school house, standing near the court house square. The next place of meeting was Union hall, a room in the second story of a building diagonally across the street from the Bremer House. In 1866, the congregation re- solved to erect a house of worship. Some money has been raised for this purpose, at a fair held in the court house. The build- ing, which is of brick, 28 feet by 42, cost about $2,000, in addition to the labor and inaterials contributed by the people.

A Sabbath School was established and kept up for two or three years, during the earlier part of Mr. Smalley's ministry. Its sessions were held in the stone school

house. J. P. McCord was the superin- tendent.

A Presbyterian Sabbath School was es- tablished again, soon after the settlement of Mr. Sheeley, and he was its first super- intendent. It grew to a membership of more than a hundred. It was discon- tinued after the resignation of Mr. Pat- terson.

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History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa, Part 139

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1316

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1316