USA > Illinois > Ogle County > Mount Morris > Mount Morris: past and present, an illustrated history of the township and the village of Mount Morris, Ogle County, Illinois, in their various stages of development, together with a local biographical directory > Part 17
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A jubilee service was held June 29, 1883, when Rev. Haithcox, presi- dent of Northern Illinois Synod, preached a suitable sermon, after which Samuel Lookabaugh, the treasurer, read a report which showed that the organization had no indebtedness resting upon it, and from that time to
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the present the congregation has always promptly met its financial obli- gations. It was likewise during the term of Rev. Lentz, in 1882, that the Synod of Northern Illinois held in this town its Thirty-second Annual Convention conjointly with the Fifth Annual Convention of the Woman's Missionary Society of the Synod; also that the four hundreth anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther was celebrated, November 10 and 11, 1883, when appropriate addresses were delivered by Prof. Carl W. Belsar, Hon. R. R. Hitt and others.
The church was without a pastor a year and a half after Rev. Lentz's departure but its pulpit was supplied the greater part of the interval by Prof. E. L. Bartholomew, then teaching in the College, and Rev. W.
LUTHERAN CHURCH AND PARSONAGE.
Eichelberger, of Virginia, who served the church by special arrangement for one month, closing with Easter Communion and fifteen accessions.
Rev. Edwin S. Hoffman became pastor in June, 1885, and closed his work in October the following year. Rev. L. Ford, pastor at Oregon, for a few years supplied the pulpit here every alternate Sabbath, until Nov. 1, 1890, when he severed his relation as pastor at Oregon, and began to give his whole time to Mount Morris. Meanwhile the present parsonage was erected at a cost of about twelve hundred dollars, the lot being given, as in the case of the church, by Mr. Hitt; also the roof of the church was reshingled, the building painted and a new furnace installed in the base- ment.
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Rev. L. L. Lipe immediately followed Rev. Ford, beginning his second term as pastor her Nov. 1, 1897. A year ago the auditorium was hand- somely repaired and decorated at an expense of about eight hundred dol- lars and the last summer about two hundred dollars were expended on the lower rooms, so that the interior of the church is now in excellent condition.
During its history this church, like all similar organizations, has en- joyed at intervals its seasons of special prosperity, and likewise exper- ienced seasons of decline, but, all in all, there has been gradual growth and its present condition is both substantial and hopeful, numerically, spiritually and financially.
The present resident membership is about one hundred and twenty- five. The membership is amenable to the church council elected by the congregation and formally installed for a term of two years, the pastor be- ing chairman. The present officers are A. E. Canode and W. H. Miller, eld- ers, and S. Mumma, W. H. Jackson, C. E. Price and W. H. Swingley, dea- cons. Mr. Miller is likewise secretary of the council and treasurer.
The Sunday school is under the superintendence of Mrs. Flora S. Lipe with an enrollment of about one hundred and thirty-five. The school is well organized, has good equipment in all respects and not only supports itself but contributes liberally towards the benevolences of the church at large. Mrs. Ella Winders is president of the Christian Endeavor Society which has at present a membership of about thirty and gives twenty-five dollars each year to the support of a missionary in Africa. The president of the Ladies' Aid Society is Mrs. Nellie Baker. This organization by its varied activities raises several hundred dollars every year which it appro- priates as the needs of the church seem to require.
The Mount Morris church is in connection with the Synod of North- ern Illinois which belongs to the General Synod of the Evangelical Luth- eran church in America, one of four large bodies into which the Lutheran church in this country is divided on account of differences in languages, religious customs and interpretation of certain articles of the Augsburg Confession which all Lutherans hold in common and to which its minis- ters are required to give their adherence. Members in general, however, are only asked to pledge themselves to the observance of a faithful Chris- tian life and accept the doctrines of the Apostles' creed and give obedi- ence to the disciplinary rules of the church. That great latitude in theo- ogical views is permitted in the ministry is evinced by the fact that with- in the last thirty years there has not been perhaps a single trial for heresy in the General Synod.
The Mount Morris church has recently enjoyed the rare privilege of entertaining for the second time the Synod of Northern Illinois which held its Fiftieth Annual convention here October 17, 1900, comprising in attendance about fifty ministers and delegates.
Biographical sketches of Rev. Stroh, and Rev. L. L. Lipe, the present. pastor, will here be appropriate:
THE REV. NICHOLAS J. STROH was, at the time of his death, the oldest Evangel-
REV. N. J. STROH. Pioneer Lutheran minister: Died January 1, 1897.
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ical Lutheran minister in the Synod of Northern Illinois and probably in the United States. More than sixty of the ninety-nine odd years of his long life were spent in active ministerial duties. Forty of these years were devoted to work in Illinois. He was licensed at Lebanon, Pa., in 1823. His last charge was at West Grove, northwest of Mount Morris, and after the termination of his connection there he lived in Mount Morris, retired from the active duties of the ministry, until his death on Jan. 1, 1897.
He was familiarly known as " Father Stroh." The name of his father before him was the same as his own, and the senior Stroh was a well-to-do farmer of Pennsyl- vania. He was a successful business man and passed the greater portion of his life in Dauphin county in that state.
Mr. Stroh was born May 5, 1798, in Dauphin county, and received his education partly in the public schools of his native state, and was an attendant at the schools of his native county. He early formed a resolution to enter the ministry, and was fitted for that calling under the instruction of private tutors. He first entered upon his classical and theological studies under the preceptorship of his brother-in-law, Rev. J. N. Hemping, of Lykin's Valley, Dauphin Co., Pa., and later he continued his studies with Rev. George Lochman, D. D., of Harrisburg. After being licensed to preach in the year named, he was assigned (in connection with Rev. A. H. Lochman) to home missionay work, in the northwestern counties of his native state, in which he was for a short time engaged. After the expiration of his missionary tour, he received a pressing invitation to locate in Lewistown, Miflin Co., Pa., where he organized the first Evangelical Lutheran church, besides other organizations in different parts. He officiated in the interests of the Lewistown church for some time. Previous to his efforts there the church was chiefly Mennonites.
He next accepted a call to Newville, Cumberland Co., Pa., where he conducted the organizing of several Lutheran churches, and, after a service there of more than five years, he divided his work, and located at Shippersburg, where he remained about seven years. A part of his field of labor was in Franklin county. in the same state. Later he went to Mechanicsburg in the south of Cumberland county and preached there for a period of five years. While engaged in furthering the interests of his church in his native state, he founded at least a dozen church socities, and placed them on a firm and enduring basis.
In the fall of 1845 he came to Illinois. Oregon, in Ogle county, where he located. was then in its primary days, and consisted of but a few houses. He was occupied in the duties of his calling there for eighteen months, and during that time he found- ed a church society of his own denomination, which is still in good working order. His next field was at Mount Morris, where he located on a farm in the vicinity of the village ; he had purchased it while at Oregon, the conditions making it necessary for him to give part of his energies and attention to the pressing necessities of the growing wants of his family, the church organization not being sufficiently large to supply them in the usual way.
After removal here, he built churches and formed several socities of the Luther- an denomination. He also improved a farm on which he made his home. He con- tinued his connection with the duties of an active ministerial life until about 1880, and has since relinquished regular labor in that avenue. His life was one of useful effort and, in the hest sense, one of success.
Mr. Stroh and Miss Elizabeth Givler were joined in marriage in 1827, in Pennsyl- vania. She was a native of the same section of the county as himself, and was born Dec. 2, 1807. Her parents were natives of the Keystone state, also, where they passed the entire course of their lives. Of ten children born to them only five survive : Mrs. Maria Shultz, of Mount Morris; Mrs. Martha E. Sprecher, of Chicago; Gustavus, of Elgin ; Mrs. Augustus C. Riner, of Kansas City ; and Mrs. Josephine Clark, of Mount Morris.
LUTHER L. LIPE, the subject of this sketch, is Germanic in blood, belonging to the fourth generation born in America. The father, Daniel Lipe, and the mother, Matilda Walter, were both natives of Cabarras county, North Carolina, and joining in mar- riage at an early age, two years later they migrated to Illinois, reaching their destina- tion in Montgomery county, in the fall of 1834. Here they invested a few hundred
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dollars in government prairie land, erected thereon a log hnt in the fringe of ad- jacent woodland, and began thus the pioneer life of hard work, bitter self-denial and rigid economy, which enabled them eventually to own a large and well-improved farm. Upon this farm, seven miles north of Hillsboro, this sturdy couple lived until 1868, when they removed to Sterling, where the mother died at the age of seventy-nine and the father at the age of eighty-six. Both had from childhood been members of the Lutheran church.
Ten children were born to these parents, six daughters and four sons, all of whom are yet living except the third daughter, who died in young motherhood. Luther L. was the sixth child and the third son. Reared on the farm, he went regular- ly to the district school until seventeen years of age. when he began his collegiate and theological education at Springfield, Ill., and which was uninterruptedly con- tinued in Pennsylvania College, and completed in the Theological Seminary at Gettys- burg, in 1870. Ordained to the Gospel ministry of the Lutheran church in Septem- ber, 1871, by the Synod of Northern Illinois, in Jannary following he be- came pastor of the church at Mount Morris, remaining until the last of September, 1879. While pastor here Mr. Lipe was wedded to Miss Flora Stager, youngest child of John S. Stager, Esq., Sterling, Ill., in Novem- ber. 1872, and two children were born to them : John Stager, who died at the age of eleven months, and some years later Olive was given to them, their last born and only living child.
The congregation prospered and in 1878 the old brick church in the east part of the town was relin- guished for a more eligible site. and the beautiful house of worship com- pleted at a cost of over seven thousand dollars.
The next pastorate was in Dixon, beginning October 1, 1879, and lasting until Angust. 1885, - very happy and successful years for both pastor and people, - when he went to Lincoln, Nebr., in charge of the Women's Sec- ond Memorial, St. Mark's church, an important mission. Mr. Lipe happily avows that it was here that he met with his first and last serious disap- REV. L. L. LIPE. pointment in his ministerial career ; when a fine central location had been purchased; the plan of a new and costly church edifice adopted: the bids of con- tractors on file with the building committee and the required funds practically se- cured,-at this last hour personal ambition to change and control location engen- dered strife, causing serious division. and the whole project was defeated.
Three years were next spent in West Point, Nebraska. The church building was doubled in its capacity by large additions, the membership greatly increased in num- bers and all departments flourished: This place was likewise a mission.
September 1, 1892, he went to Sharon, Wis. The church had been rent asunder by bitter contention and personal animosities, and two full years were required to unite the forces in church fellowship again. Dissatisfied with the business manage- ment of the church which he had tried in vain to improve, at the end of five and a half years as pastor there Mr. Lipe withdrew and again assumed charge at Mount Mor- ris, November 1, 1897. In the summer of 1899 the auditorium was renovated and im ,
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proved, at a cost of about eight hundred dollars and the basement has just undergone similar changes at an expense of about one hundred and seventy-five dollars. The membership, on the whole, heartily co-operates with the pastor and the church, and all its organized departments are regarded as in good condition. The Synod has at different times entrusted to Mr. Lipe highly responsible duties as its secretary and president for several terms, trustee of Carthage college a number of years, and delegate to the General Synod on several occasions. He solemnly avers, however, that he is best satisfied when quietly and exclusively in pursuit of the welfare of his own church and people.
CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
The Christian church (Disciples of Christ) of Mount Morris was or- ganized in March, 1880, by State Evangelist J. H. Wright with about forty charter members. Prior to 1880 there were probably about a dozen mem- bers of this faith living in Mount Morris. The Christian church at Pine Creek was the nearest place where they could worship according to their faith and frequently they were in attendance at that place. During the fall of 1879, Rev. D. G. Howe, pastor of the Lanark Christian church, con ducted a series of revival meetings here, lasting over three weeks, during which time about fifteen converts were made. These with those already members of the church immediately decided to establish a church in Mount Morris, and after extended negotiations finally purchased the brick edifice in the eastern part of the town, which had been property of the Lutheran church and been used by them for many years, but was vacant on account of the building of their new edifice in the west part of town. For this property they paid $900 and during the winter of 1879-'80 several hundred dollars more were expended in repairing the church,-painting it inside and out, building the steeple, furnishing the interior with new seats and putting in the baptistry under the pulpit and the dressing rooms on either side.
After the building had been prepared for occupancy, occurred the or- ganization of the church by State Evangelist J. H. Wright, in March, 1880, as previously mentioned. Jacob Keedy, W. S. Blake and Joseph Wagner were chosen the first trustees; Dr. Mershon and C. G. Blakslee, elders; and W. S. Blake and Scott Kennedy as deacons. For about a year the organi- zation conducted its own services, until 1881, when Rev. G. W. Ross was engaged as pastor, dividing his time equally with the Pine Creek congrega- tion. Rev. J. H. Carr came next in the spring of 1885 and remained two years, and was followed by Rev. D. R. Rowe, who came over from Lanark every two weeks to preach. His pastorate was brief and the Rev. G. W. Pearl took charge, alternating every other Sunday with the Pine Creek congregation. Following him came in succession the Revs. T. B. Stanley, C. T. Spitler, J. B. Wright and H. G. Waggoner, all of whom devoted their entire time to the charge, each remaining about two years with the excep- tion of Messrs. Spitler and Waggoner, who were here only about one year. After the departure of Rev. Waggoner the church was without a pastor about a year, until Rev. D. F. Seyster, the present pastor, took charge in February, 1900. Rev. Seyster lives at Pine Creek and divides his time be- tween the Mount Morris and Pine Creek churches.
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At present the congregation is enjoying prosperity, meeting all finan- cial obligations with ease. They make frequent donations to missions and support their pastor liberally. The membership is about 100.
A Sunday School with a membership of about 75 meets each Sabbath morning at 9:30 o'clock. Prior to June, 1900, A. B. Keller, a student of Mount Morris College, had been superintendent for several years. Since
CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
that time Miss Ada Allen has filled the office with credit, and with an effi- cient corps of young teachers is doing a good work among the young people.
The Christian Endeavor Society, which meets each Sunday evening, is a band of enthusiastic young Christian workers, under the guidance of Miss Winnie Doward, president of the society. Their meetings are inter- esting and helpful to themselves and their visitors.
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The Ladies' Aid Society does much toward raising the necessary fi- nances of the church. Mrs. John Fridley is president of the society.
Following is a biography of Rev. D. F. Seyster, present pastor of the church:
REV. DAVID FRANKLIN SEYSTER is a native of the township of Pine Creek, where he was born June 14, 1858. He is a son of David and Catherine Seyster, who were born in Washington county, Md., and who were well known in the country to which they re- moved in its early days. The father was born in 1826 and the mother in 1829 and their marriage took place in their native country in 1853. The father was reared in Ogle county, and was educated in the common schools of his township. When ready to set- tle down in life he returned to Maryland for his wife. They entered 120 acres of land in section 10 in Pine Creek township, in the year of their marriage, the tract being en- tered at the land office at Dixon, and is registered as the last piece of land entered in the state of Illinois, the land office being closed the day succeeding that on which they took out the papers. The father remained on this possession until he owned 300 acres of land. He died in 1864. His widow married John M. Kennedy some twelve years later and is still a resident of Pine Creek.
David Franklin, the subject of this sketch, is the youngest of the three living members of their family of six children. He attended the coun- try school of his district and later the Polo high school several years, after which he engaged in teaching school in the district in which he had himself been a pupil and in summers he oper- ated as a farmer. He served as town- ship assessor and in the Pine Creek Sunday school filled the position of superintendent for seven or eight years. Mr. Seyster finally decided to enter the ministry, and preached his first sermou at LeClair, la .. Feb. 12. 1888. He was called to the pastorate of the Coleta church in March, 1889, sup- plying the pulpit at the Pine Creek church half of the time. In the fall of 1889 he resigned to attend Eureka Col- lege. Five years were spent in study there, during which time he preached on Sundays at Kempton, Roanoke and Woodhull. In 1894 he graduated from the Eureka College. having completed the classical course and done part of the work in a theological course.
Immediately after graduation, Rev. Seyster was called to take charge of the Central Christian church of . REV. D. F. SEYSTER. Kankakee, Ill., and spent three and one-half years of successful work there. In the fall of 1897 he came to Pine Creek to visit the scenes of his childhood and commenced a series of revival meetings in the Pine Creek church. His efforts were rewarded with wonderful success, there being forty-six accessions.
In the fall of 1897, he resigned the charge at Kankakee to accept a call to the Lynn- ville (Ill.) church, where he continued until February, 1900. Since that time he has had charge of the churches at Mount Morris and Pine Creek and is leading them both very successfully. Mr. Seyster has experienced particularly good success in evangelistic work, as evidenced by his work at the Pine Creek church in 1897, mentioned above.
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BRETHREN CHURCH.
The German Baptist Brethren or Dunkard church is the strongest de- nomination in Mount Morris and differs radically in point of faith and practice from the other three. Their most distinctive feature is their form of dress, which, like everything else about their mode of worship, is required to embody principles of plainness and simplicity.
The first church of this denomination in Ogle county was at West Branch, about seven miles northwest of Mount Morris, in Lincoln town- ship, where the few members in Mount Morris township worshipped for a number of years. Finally in the year 1867 the territory of the West Branch church was divided and a new church established in Mount Mor- ris township, about four miles northeast of Mount Morris, what is now known as the Silver Creek church, with a membership of about 100. Eld. D. E. Price was put in charge of it and continued its elder for many years. From 1867 until about 1879, the Brethren residing in the village of Mount Morris attended services at this church at Silver Creek.
In the year 1879, as previously mentioned in detail in this volume, the Old Rock River Seminary, which had been conducted by the Methodist denomination for so many years, became the property of several members of the Brethren church, and although it continued the property of indi- viduals, it became a strictly Dunkard school, conducted in strict accord- ance with the rules of the church. The members of the faculty sel cted were nearly all members of the church and together with their families and other people of the denomination who were drawn here to educate their children or for other purposes, soon formed quite a colony of the Brethren, living in the village. They began immediately to hold religious services in the old seminary chapel and soon formed a strong church, with many able members.
The entire membership of the old Silver Creek church, the Mount Morris church, and of the Salem church, later established in Pine Creek township, south of town, was known as the Silver Creek congregation and still continues under that name. Eld. David E. Price, first elected elder of the Silver Creek church in 1867, has been re-elected each year and still holds that position, after a term of faithful service of thirty-three years. The church here in Mount Morris soon outstripped the formerly strong Silver Creek church and by gradual growth each year has now attained a membership of 275 persons residing in the village alone. The entire Sil- ver Creek congregation, however, including the Silver Creek and Salem churches has a membership of over four hundred. The church is governed by an official board consisting of the presiding elder, his associate minis- ters and deacons. The present deacons of the congregation are Willough- by Felker, Wm. Gaffin, David Emmert, Wm. Price, Lewis Miller, A. M. Flory, Ernest Long, Prof. G. E. Weaver and Henry Mumma.
Financially, the church is in the best of circumstances. There is no salary paid any of the ministers but the members give over $1,500 yearly for benevolences. Of this from $1,100 to $1,300 goes to defray expenses of the church and about $300 or $400 applied to home and foreign missions.
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The money for the church expenses is raised by regular taxation, each property owner paying according to his means. The younger members who have no property make volunteer contributions. The money raised for missionary purposes is made up entirely by volunteer contributions.
The members of the Mount Morris Brethren church are far ahead of the great majority of churches in the way of religious advantages for their spiritual advancement. The presence of the college adds many individ- uals of ability to its ranks who can readily take prominent part in servic- es of all kinds. Among the professors are always a number of ordained ministers of the gospel and together with an exceptionally large number of resident preachers who have been drawn to Mount Morris by its excep- tional religious and educational advantages, give the church much pres- tige. Regular attendants at the College chapel have opportunity to hear a great variety of sermons as no one man seldom preaches there oftener than once in two or three months. Then, too, it is very fre- quent that visiting ministers, some of the best in the Brotherhood, preach in the chapel on Sundays or hold long revival services dur- ing the winter time. The attend- ance during the school year, while the students are here nearly equals that of the other three churches combined, especially on Sunday evening in the winter.
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