USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 28
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During Mr. Hill's pastorate and for some time following the church register suffered greatly by removals. Mr. Sykes went to Independence, and in the multiplied migrations following the close of the war the church found itself a loser. A natural feeling of depression prevailed, and for nearly two years they were without a regular pastor. In October, 1868, Rev. J. T. Clos- son was secured at a salary of six hundred dollars, one-half of which was paid by the Home Missionary Society. March 7, 1869, H. W. Waterbury and wife, and their son, S. E. Waterbury, and wife, were added to the church list and proved of great help, especially in its financial interests. Objections were being made to using the school house as a place for religious services, and the serious question of a place to meet was confronting them. Mr. Waterbury said, "Let us build." On May 22d, articles of incorporation were adopted, with Charles Hoyt, H. W. Waterbury and F. M. Aylsworth as trus- tees, and a subscription paper started. On June 20th it was decided to pro- ceed at once with the building, a location having already been secured. The church was dedicated October 9, 1870, Rev. O. Guernsey preaching the ser- mon. Mr. Closson had closed his pastorate in July preceding. After the church was opened S. D. Helms and W. B. Williams held brief pastorates.
So far as known, all who were active in founding and firmly planting this early church have passed over, except Deacon F. M. Aylsworth, who, with shadows still lengthening, is patiently waiting his translation. Mrs. Winslow Stearns, who was a charter member of the Congregational church at Lima in 1857, and previously a member at West Union, is also a communicant here,
296
FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
and one of the few links connecting the present with the strenuous work of half a century ago.
On November 1, 1871, Rev. W. S. Potwin commenced a very successful pastorate of two years and a half. He is still living, a resident of Independ- ence, Iowa. Mr. Potwin was followed in succession by E. C. Moulton, Wil- liam Leavett, J. R. Barnes, L. W. Winslow, N. W. Scarrett, Robert Mumby, J. E. Snowden, D. O. Bean, Herbert J. Wykoff, Benjamin St. John, W. B. Klose, Frank W. Weatherwax, and A. J. Benton, the present incumbent.
The church building was remodeled in 1895 under the superintendence of Rev. J. E. Snowden, at which time the additions on both the north and south were built, also the vestibule and belfry, making it a perfect gem of a church. About ten years ago a fine parsonage was purchased from G. W. Chaffin, he donating one thousand dollars thereto on which he received an annuity during life. His recent death frees the church from all financial indebtedness.
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH IN FAYETTE COUNTY.
By Rev. G. Blessin.
In order that the reader might more readily understand the following lines a brief retrospect will be needed first of all.
The Lutheran church took its beginning with the Apostolic age and it will stand as long as it continues to remain faithful to the God it preaches and teaches. It is true that the outward form of the church, with the name "Lutheran," which, like the word "Protestant," was originally a spite name, found its existence as such in the time of the Reformation in the fourteenth century. At the head of this world movement were Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and others of equal fame, and it was Luther's work especially which not only put life into the very dry bones of a decaying Romanism, but which also com- pletely changed the map of mere intellect and put the learning of the world on a higher plane than it had ever been on before.
The northern part of Europe, with Germany, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and a part of Holland, soon became loyal to the confessions of Lutheranism. In the meantime explorations of great importance were be- ing made in America, which had just been discovered, and which was even now regarded a boon and a haven of rest for the peoples of Europe, depressed as they were politically and religiously. Here, thought they, we will at last find freedom.
In the South the Spanish banner in its greed for gold had found an in-
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glorious grave. The North, however, called a different class of men, who were brave, honest, eager for other battles than those of powder, sword and gun. These were men and women of various creeds and confessions, and among them were also Lutherans.
The pioneers in Lutheranism in America came from Holland, settling as early as 1643 in and around the city of New York. The Swedes were the next to come, and while the Holland Dutch did not come so much for the purpose of seeking religious freedom and organizing congregations, the Swedes came with that very object in view, and thus are "de facto" the founders and organizers of the first Lutheran organizations in this country.
It might be well to mention at this time that America had been discovered about two hundred years before German immigration began. Doctor Jacobs says that probably the entire number of Germans coming to this country in the eighteenth century might be placed upon an ordinary steamship of the present time. It was William Penn, that firm, unquaking Quaker and phil- anthropist of his day, who first instigated German immigration. This im- migration began in 1708, going forward in a decided crescendo until recent times, when it took a decided decrescendo attitude, due perhaps to more en- lightened conditions throughout the German empire, and it may be that the decided increase in Russian and Italian immigration has also had an influence in stemming the German flow.
The early immigrants were nourished in faith and creed and church by the mother church abroad, who not only saw her vigorous child go into a self- sustaining, glorious development, but who also did what she could for this child's spiritual welfare. That this work was well done the following figures will prove :
1638, one minister, one congregation; 1823, one hundred and seventy- five ministers, seven hundred congregations; 1850, five hundred and seventy- five ministers, fifteen hundred congregations; 1900, six thousand seven hun- dred and ten ministers, eleven thousand one hundred and twenty-three con- gregations ; 1909, eight thousand, five hundred ministers, fourteen thousand congregations.
In the city of New York the Lutheran church is the second largest in number. In point of growth the church has in the last three years been first, having a higher percentage of increase than any other, and this truly is a hopeful sign, when we can ask, not "How big is your garden," but, "How does your garden grow?" The one points to stagnation and an end of things, the other looks forward to endless growth and to a glorious immensity.
The Lutheran church is not a church of a language. Originally German,
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it now seems to thrive in the English, and especially in Scandinavian tongues, in Icelandish and Slav, a sort of return of the pentecostal condition. North, South, East and West are all telling the same story of thrift and growth. Churches and church bodies, conferences, synods are at work blasting and forging. God only knows what blessings have been wrought through the channels of this church to the individual, to the country, to the state and county in the everlasting fight for the ideal. Then, too, it seems that the Lutheran church will be a further factor in the varied development of our county. Seeing that it thrives in any language, under any form of church or political government, it will undoubtedly have a future on our home soil. Looking over the map of Fayette county, I might say that there are Luther- ans living in every township, and that there are Lutheran congregations in ten of the townships, from which centers other smaller flocks are served.
Dover, Windsor, Bethel, Illyria, Harlan, Fremont, Jefferson, Oran and Fairbanks have such church centers. Though the ideal has not been attained by any of these churches, their influence as centers of the moral and the up- lifting life should not be underestimated. They are sowing the seed faith- fully and carefully, and there is a hope that in due season, with rain and sun- shine, the good seed will bring forth fruit for the temporal and eternal welfare of all concerned.
In 1854 the German Lutheran synod of Iowa was founded at St. Sebald, Iowa, near Strawberry Point, and consisted then of four ministers and five congregations. The missionary zeal of these men did not find its whole rest in their respective charges, but it went out to hunt up the brethren of their confessions everywhere. So they visited on their journeys of missionary zeal from Dubuque to St. Sebald and the surrounding country. Rev. G. Gross- man, Rev. I. Deindoerfer, S. and G. Fritschel, all men of blessed memory, came to Fayette county before any congregations had been formed, minister- ing with word and sacrament to a flock that was shepherdless. Their work was not in vain, and today we bow our heads at their mention, knowing how indelibly their names are linked to the history of the Lutheran church in Fayette county and to that of our whole blessed country.
The Germans coming to this country in the early fifties were mostly Lutherans by birth. While the Germans of the Roman Catholic faith set- tled by themselves in Auburn and Eden townships, the Lutherans settled in various localities. The first Lutheran congregation founded in the county is the Zion's congregation in Windsor township, founded in 1859. Connected with this first organization was the church in Dover township, at Eldorado, which was, however, not self-sustaining until later.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
The first pastor lived in a log cabin which stood in the place of the present parsonage of the Windsor congregation, experiencing all the hardships of a pioneer life. About the same time a small congregation came into existence at Waucoma, which was served by the Rev. I. Deindoerfer, who shortly after removed to the larger and more promising charge in Windsor. He cared for the weak and struggling congregations at Eldorado, West Union, Waucoma and Fort Atkinson, and deserves the name of Fayette county's Nestor of Lutheranism. In 1861 he was called to serve a Lutheran congregation at Madison, Wisconsin. The various congregations unserved by his going now separated and called their own ministers. Eldorado and Fort Atkinson called the Rev. I. Meyer, while Windsor and West Union united in a call to the Rev. T. Vogel. Through the efforts of Rev. C. Ide the congregations at Richfield ( 1880), Wadena (1880), Hawkeye and Oelwein were founded. From Eldorado the congregations of Calmar and Ossian, not in this county, were founded and are thus served to this day.
In 1876 the Rev. W. Adix and a minister from Bremer county founded the Lutheran Hoffnungs Gemeinde at Westgate, which has since been divided into two parishes, which are served by the Rev. Seifkes and the Rev. Ullmann. In Oelwein and in Hawkeye, both flourishing Fayette county towns, there are prosperous Lutheran churches which possess substantial church and pa- rochial school buildings.
A list of churches in Fayette county with their ministers follows :
Membership
I910.
Oelwein, Rev. T. Zimmerman
500
Windsor, Rev. Ph. Ackermann
230
Eldorado, Rev. G. Blessin
452
Wadena, Rev. F. Rembold
28
Maynard, Rev. F. Tiede 230
Richfield, Rev. O. Staehling
325
Westgate, Rev. S. Siefkes 225
Westgate, Rev. Ullmann 426
335
Hawkeye, Rev. L. Westenberger
Fairbanks, Rev. A. Rueber . 125
Putnam and Scott townships, Rev. G. Graf. 80
Arlington, Rev. H. Faehr 68
Sumner, resp. the western townships, Rev. H. Bredow 150
Total . 3,174
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
These congregations are all self-sustaining, loyally supporting their res- pective pastorates and home fields and contributing largely to all benevolent undertakings, especially to home and foreign missions.
With all acknowledgement of weakness and shortcomings, the Lutheran church of Fayette county may pride itself that, with God's guidance and care, it has been a source of blessing and spiritual uplift to the people of the county. This religious force has come to stay. The Lutheran church is in its second, aye, third generation of native-born Americans, but the faith of the fathers is living still, and the future remains with us if we will but embrace it.
The church that looks after the religious training of its young will have the future, and because the Lutheran church has done this and hopes further to do so, it feels a surety in its principles and in its confessions. Here is the secret of her success. Languages may die, generations may come and go, amalgamation may continue, but the Lutheran church will stand, because its scopes are not limited to a nation. They are international. We are not battling against the inevitable, but for the pure doctrine in accordance with Scripture.
May the dear Lutheran church of this, our dear county, grow with all others and remain steadfast in the great evangelical war-cry and anthem of peace, "Christ for us, and we with Him."
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
By Hon. C. B. Hughes.
Coming from the University of Oxford, England, about the middle of the eighteenth century, the two Wesleys, stirred by intense religious enthusi- asm, and guided by the practical application of the principles of Christianity, launched into the unseen seas of the future a freighted ship of religious thought and organization and action that sent an ever-widening circle of waves and ripples out over the surface of the times, better known perhaps as the "Spirit of Methodism." And as those restless ripples ran on and on, lapping and breaking on distant shores, the captain of the good ship, chartered for eternity, might have seen, almost a century later, the farthest ripple, bearing upon its crest the divine message of John Wesley and the heavenly melody of Charles Wesley, beating against the rude cabin door-steps of the "Spanish Mines" where is now located the thriving city of Dubuque. For it was on November
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
6, 1833, that Barton H. Randall, a pioneer Methodist preacher from the con- ference of Illinois, paddled across the "Father of Waters" in an Indian canoe and in the evening of that day preached in the tavern of J. M. Harrington, the first Methodist sermon in what is now the state of Iowa.
On the 18th day of the following May, Randall organized what was then known as the "Methodist Society" and on June Ist following the first Meth- odist "class meeting" was held there, with Randall as the first leader.
The surrounding territory was embraced within the Illinois conference and was known as the Dubuque circuit, and on November 14th of the same year the first quarterly conference of the new circuit was held at Dubuque in a log church, with Alfred Brunson acting as presiding elder. The district over which he presided then comprised the northern parts of Illinois and Iowa without any other definite ideas as to where the boundaries were.
At the Illinois conference held in Bloomington in 1839 a new district was formed on the west of the Mississippi river, extending from the Turkey river on the north to the Missouri line on the south and as far west as any settlers had ventured to go; this was called the Iowa district and at the Illinois con- ference held in 1840 the district was subdivided into the Dubuque and Bur- lington districts, with Bartholomew Weed, presiding elder of the Dubuque district, which comprised the northern part of the state.
At the general Methodist conference held in 1844, it was ordained that the Iowa conference should be organized and to include all of Iowa territory ; this was done and the Iowa conference was organized at Iowa City on Au- gust 14, 1844, with Bishop Thomas A. Morris presiding. This conference was divided into three districts, namely : Dubuque, Burlington and Des Moines districts, with what is now Fayette county being included in the Du- buque district.
The next eleven years saw quite a rapid growth in the membership and number of organizations formed, and at the conference held in Keokuk in 1855 a resolution was passed, proposing to divide the Iowa conference, and in May, 1856, the northern part of the state was set off and the Upper Iowa conference thus formed ; this conference was then divided into seven districts, with Fayette county included in the Upper Iowa district, and Rev. H. S. Brun- son, presiding elder.
Fayette county has since remained in the Upper Iowa conference and is divided between the Dubuque and Decorah districts of the conference ; Arling- ton, Clermont, Maynard, Oelwein, Randalia and West Union being in the
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
former district, and Fayette, Hawkeye, Lima and Waucoma being in the latter. The first Methodist sermon heard in what is now Fayette county was probably preached by Simeon Clark, the pioneer Methodist preacher of Dela- ware county, who for a livelihood hunted bees in the timber growing along the wooded valleys in Fayette county as early as 1839.
According to the best information to be obtained, Elder Clark held re- ligious services and preached at the "Wilcox House" about two miles south- west of the present town of Fayette, during January and February of 1844.
The first quarterly meeting held under the auspices of the Methodist organization was in a cabin on Otter creek about three miles east of West Union, during the summer of 1850, with Rev. G. B. Bowman acting as pre- siding elder. This meeting place was styled the "Otter Creek Mission" and the members present at this first meeting were H. S. Brunson, John Hind- man, Eli Elrod, Benjamin Iliff, J. W. Foster, James Robinson and G. P. Slay- ton.
The first sermon preached in the county by a regularly ordained Meth- odist minister was delivered by Rev. John Hindman at the house of James E. Robertson near the present town of Fayette on January 9, 1850, at which time a class was organized with James E. Robertson as the class leader, a position he occupied continually for a period of over fifty years. This meeting was attended by James E. Robertson, Jane Robertson, Elizabeth Desire and Han- nah Alexander, who continued to be the life of the membership until the fall of 1854 when the enrollment had grown to nineteen members.
During the summer of 1850 Rev. H. S. Brunson held services and organ- ized a Methodist class in the old log school-house in West Union; this class consisted of Mrs. Elizabeth Cook, Mrs. Lucinda Stafford, J. W. Foster and wife, Mrs. Ellen Cruzan and G. P. Slayton. Rev. J. B. Hollingshead and Rev. Elisha Hartsough were named as the first local preachers. Rev. Hindman organized a class at Eldorado during the spring of 1850 which continued to thrive until a church was built in 1869 under the guidance of James George, Richard Dewey, James Young, George K. Eckert and Thomas Kincaid; the organization has since lapsed and the building has been abandoned.
Rev. Brunson organized a class in the school-house in Auburn during the fall of 1850 which ripened into a church organization sufficient to build a church in 1866 with Rev. Mr. Smith as pastor; this church has since been abandoned. Rev. J. R. Cameron organized a church at Elgin in 1853 with Elder Newton, Eli Elrod, C. W. Cooley and Mr. Hosmer, the first members. Samuel Connor donated a town lot and the building was completed and dedi-
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
cated in 1857 with F. C. Mather as pastor; this building was sold to the German Lutheran people in 1878.
Rev. Brooks went into Bethel township in 1857 and held a revival which resulted in the conversion of one hundred and ten persons; these converts, however, became separated and no church organization grew from it. Rev. H. W. Zimmerman held meetings in Fremont township and organized a church in 1857, the members being N. W. Spears and wife, James Chichester and wife and Mrs. Angeline Morehouse. After building a church in 1878, the organization has since become extinct.
It is impossible in the length of this article to give the names of all the men and women who have labored and sacrificed for the welfare of the Meth- odist church in Fayette county. The scope covered hereby is necessarily lim- ited to the names of the few who blazed the pathway and laid the foundations, in an early day, and its county history is so entwined with the growth and development of the various communities and the county as a whole, and the spirit of Methodism has so permeated every effort to advance the best interests of the people in their social, moral, educational and religious march through the years, that it is almost impossible to distinguish between the two, and a comprehensive history of the one might well be a thorough record of the other.
As a rule, the first classes organized and the first services were held in the cabins of the settlers and were conducted according to the primitive sur- roundings of the early days, but as the log school-houses were built, the meet- ings were usually transferred to those places, where meetings were held each Sunday. As soon as the settlers grew in numbers and were prosperous enough to warrant it, the more enthusiastic ones in the community undertook the task of erecting church buildings and practically every settled community in the county, at one time or another, built a Methodist church.
The first one of these churches was built in West Union in 1853 under the leadership of Dr. Levi Fuller, C. R. Bent, J. S. Brewer and Rev. J. R. Cameron ; a parsonage was erected in West Union in 1855, but was burned in 1859. A more elaborate church building was completed in 1868, at a cost of eight thousand dollars, which stood until 1901 when the present magnifi- cent brick building was dedicated, at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. The first church at Lima was dedicated in 1857, but has since been sold. The church at Fayette was dedicated January 7, 1877, at a cost of seven thousand eight hundred dollars. During the same year a two-thousand-dollar church was dedicated at Maynard, which still stands. Brush Creek (now Arlington)
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
dedicated a two-thousand-dollar building during the same year, which was destroyed by a cyclone in 1884. Another building was erected at once and a large addition built on it in 1902, making the cost of the present church amount to about six thousand dollars. In 1891 a church was built at Oelwein costing five thousand dollars, but the rapid growth of the city and the increase in the number and needs of the members made it necessary to seek larger quarters, and in 1908 a magnificent brick edifice costing thirty-five thousand dollars was completed and dedicated.
The following is a list of the present active churches in the county with salaries paid ministers, value of church property, membership and Sunday school enrollment, to-wit :
Church.
Salary.
Member-
Value Church
Sunday School
Arlington
$ 840
201
$10.500
I75
Clermont
700
IOI
4,000
90
Fayette
1,500
400
13,000
200
Hawkeye
650
93
4,800
82
Lima
200
35
. . .
Maynard
800
I47
6,200
150
Oelwein
1,200
334
38,000
250
Randalia
490
95
3,500
75
Waucoma
750
85
3,800
I00
West Union
I,200
319
21,000
176
The names of the ministers occupying the pulpits in the various churches during the year beginning with September, 1910, are as follows: Arlington, W. W. Soule; Clermont, J. H. Graham ; Fayette, G. H. Kennedy ; Hawkeye, E. R. Leach; Lima, O. J. Felter; Maynard, E. R. Leaman ; Randalia, A. E. Kerneham; Waucoma, R. W. Luce; West Union, L. A. Swisher.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
PRESBYTERIANISM IN FAYETTE COUNTY.
By Hon. Carl Evans.
The story of Presbyterianism in Fayette county may very appropriately be introduced with a brief history of the church in general.
The name Presbyterian is given to those churches the members of which believe that the government of the church by means of presbyters is founded on and agreeable to the word of God. They hold that presbyter (elder) and bishop are different names for the same ecclesiastical functionary ; that, con- sequently, every presbyter is a bishop, and on a footing of equality with his other brethren in the eldership. Presbyters are divided into two classes- teaching and ruling elders. The former are popularly called "ministers," the latter "elders," but, theoretically, both hold spiritual office. The government is by means of four courts of judicature, rising consecutively in dignity and authority. The lowest, called the session, rules over the congregation in all spiritual matters, while finance, being deemed more secular, is relegated to deacons. Above the session is the presbytery. Above this again is the synod for a certain district. Highest of all is the general assembly. A Presbyterian denomination stands to an Episcopal one nearly in the same relation as a republic to a monarchy.
The Waldensian church was constituted on an essentially presbyterian model. The system was partially introduced into Switzerland in 1541, and its discipline was subsequently carried out by Calvin with iron firmness at Geneva. The first French synod met at Paris in 1559 and the first Dutch synod at Dort in 1574. The Hungarian and various other continental Protestant churches are also Presbyterian. The system thoroughly rooted itself in Scotland, the first general assembly- being held there in 1560. The same year a presbytery was formed in Ireland, at Carrickfergus, and in 1572 one in England, at Wandsworth. In 1646-7 the church of England was reconstituted on a presbyterian basis, but in 1660 was again made episcopal. The clergymen who had to leave the English church because of the Act of Uniformity were mainly Presbyterians. Some of the congregations which they founded, though retaining the name Presbyterian, abandoned that form of government. The great mass of the British and American Presbyterians are strongly Trini- tarian. They hold the Bible to be the sole rule of belief, and the Confession of Faith their chief, or their only, human standard.
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