USA > Michigan > Montcalm County > History of Montcalm County, Michigan its people, industries and institutions...with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families Volume I > Part 32
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The society owns its own guild hall and the church edifice which is located on the corner of Cass and Clay streets, and is entirely free from debt. All the usual activities are maintained in an energetic way and there are continual additions to the membership. The church buildings, exclusive of lots on which they stand, are rated as worth $5.000.
CHURCH OF CHRIST OF PIERSON.
This society was organized by Elder E. H. Brooks, and the following names were enrolled: Alfred Driskell, Sally Driskell, Sarah Goodwell, Alvin P. Stringham, John Boyer, John F. Carr. Albert Stringham, Daniel Boyer, Catharine Boyer, Maria Miller, Emily Williams, Laura Parker, Henry Lewis, Sarah M. Lewis, Elizabeth Brown, Mary Gokey, Lucretia E. McHenry, Sarah J. Holcomb. Socrates Sheldon, Henry Pomeroy, Mary J. Webster, Erepta Gates and Electa Brackbill. Albert Stringham was elected first pastor and served the congregation for many years.
DUNKARD CHURCH OF CRYSTAL.
The Church of United Brethren or Dunkard church is located in Crystal township, at the southeast corner of the cemetery in section 20. It was organized on August 15. 1901, with the following charter members, namely : George E. Stone, Matilda Stone, Samuel Bolinger. Watson Towsley, Viola Towsley, Jacob Witter. J. Easterday. Emanuel Bolinger, Margaret Bolinger, John Bolinger. Sarah Bolinger, Valentine Babcock, Ella Babcock, Sarah Roger. Margaret Shiveley, Nancy Johnson, Wilford Roose, S. E. Marsh and Orlando Henry. Just one year after the dedication of the first church, this society suffered a great misfortune. Their new church was burned to the ground. It is thought the fire caught from the chimney, but they kept up their brave spirit and again decided to build. This was a frame building. and was completed in the spring of 1903, at a cost of $1.500. Since the organization of this church it was divided, and another church started at Vestaburg; but despite this fact it has a membership of forty-eight. George F. Stone is the present Elder; S. Bolinger and Carl Young also served this church.
DUNKARD CHURCH OF VESTABURG.
The United Brethren church of Vestaburg is situated in Richland town- ship on section 23. This society was organized in 1907 with fifteen charter
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members, and now their membership has just doubled. Samuel Bolinger, M. M. Bolinger and Joseph Robinson have been pastors of this church and have done much to keep the interest alive and to keep it going generally. The church is a neat little building of stone veneering, which was built in 1907 at a cost of $1,000.
DANISH LUTHERAN CHURCH OF GREENVILLE.
St. Paul's Danish Lutheran church was organized at Greenville with Th. N. Jersild as the first pastor. R. Bennesen, and P. H. Miller have served since that time and W. C. Nielsen is now the pastor. The church is now supported by eighty members. A Young People's Society and a Ladies' Aid Society is conducted in connection with this church. as are also two Sunday schools, Danish and English. The Danish Sunday school has been long established, but the English was started but a short time ago and now has a membership of fitty. Both are steadily increasing. The church building is a brick structure, built about 1875, and in 1911 a fine basement, which affords many additional conveniences, was added to the church.
LUTHERAN CHURCH OF LITTLE DANISH SETTLEMENT.
Bethania Danish Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in the Little Danish Settlement about 1878 and H. J. Petersen was the first pastor. This church is also in the Greenville circuit and is served by the Danish pastor at Greenville, W. C. Nielsen. In 1880, a frame structure was put up at a cost of $1,500, and this building is still used for church purposes. A Ladies' Aid Society is conducted with this church and the ladies meet once a month for this purpose. The church has a present membership of fifty. The following pastors have served this church: H. J. Petersen, N. Thomp- son, Th. Jersild, R. Bennesen and P. H. Miller.
DANISH LUTHERAN CHURCH OF TRUFANT.
St. Thomas's Danish Evangelical Lutheran church was organized in 1879. with H. J. Petersen officiating as the first pastor. The first trustees were Lars Rasmussen, Carl Christensen and H. P. Larsen, and they also were the sole charter members. The first building was a wood structure but for vari- outs reasons most of the religious meetings were held in the school house. The present church was built in 1892 at a cost of $4.000, and in 1909 it was
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enlarged considerably as it was found that their work could not be carried on as they wished in such limited quarters. The side additions built on are sixteen by twenty-six feet. and the main part of the church is twenty-six by fifty feet. In connection with this church is a Sunday school, a Women's Society. Young People's Society, and a Heathen Missionary Society. These societies are composed of earnest and untiring workers, and altogether pre- sent a very busy atmosphere. The church membership numbers two hun- dred and fifty. A list of pastors who have served the church up to the present time is as follow: H. J. Petersen, N. Thomsen. R. Nielsen, H. C. Strandskov. Th. Jersild. 1. Soe, Mr. Borggaard. L. II. Kjer. Chr. Petersen is the present pastor.
DANISH LUTHERAN CHURCH OF FAIRPLAIN.
St. Peter's Danish Evangelical Lutheran church, which is located in Fairplain township, was organized in the year 1876, with H. J. Petersen as the first pastor. A frame building was built in 1877 at a cost of $600. and in connection is a shelter for the horses. The pastors who have served this church are as follow: H. J. Petersen. N. Thomsen, H. C. Strandskov, R. Nielsen, Th. N. Jersild, R. Bennesen. P. H. Miller. W. C. Nielsen is the present pastor. This church is in a circuit composed of Greenville, Little Danish Settlement, and Fairplain, and are all served by W. C. Nielsen, of Greenville. The present membership is fifty.
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN IMMANUEL CONGREGATION OF HOWARD CITY.
This congregation was organized in Howard City on April 19, 1893, by G. Wendlandt. August Siebart, William Littman and about ten others. These few members assumed the burden and responsibility of putting up a church and school building combined. A lot was purchased on the hill in the south part of the village, the edifice erected and it was dedicated on July 2, 1893. The congregation grew rapidly and now numbers one hundred and ninety- five souls. The dedication was under the direction of Rev. F. W. Geffert. the local pastor at that time. Mr. Geffert left here on July 4, 1897, to go to Reed City, and was succeeded by Rev. H. H. Heidel. who came on August 10 of the same year.
In January, 1898, it was decided to build a parsonage. The work was undertaken at once and a very pretty parsonage was completed in November of the same year. the congregations at Turk Lake and in Cato township
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assisting in the furnishing of stone for the foundations. No aid from those outside the church was asked.
Paul C. Noffze served this congregation from 1903 to 1907 and then H. E. Norden took charge of the work. Reverend Norden now resides at Muskegon. The present incumbent is Carl Otzman, who has had charge since 1909. The secular school of this church was maintained with approxi- mately thirty pupils for quite a number of years, but owing to the fact that many of the families of this congregation moved away, it was decided to abandon the daily school but the spirit of this enterprise was kept alive by meetings at regular intervals. Every two weeks an all-day meeting of the children is held. These meetings are classes held on Saturday and under the supervision of the minister. At present these meetings are attended by forty pupils.
The Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel church of Howard City is very active ; the membership at present is one hundred and ninty-five. The church and parsonage are kept in excellent repair. This society is free from debt and is prospering.
TURK LAKE GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SOCIETY.
Turk Lake was the first congregation of this society organized in Mont- calm county. This church is located in Montcalm township and although served by the pastor of the Howard City Immanuel congregation it is the strongest society of this faith in the county. The history of this church, however, is closely connected with that of the Howard City church and has always been served as a charge from the latter congregation and can truly be classed along with the former church. As was previously mentioned, this is one of the strongest congregations of the county, having a membership at present of two hundred.
There are two other societies of the German Evangelical Lutheran congregation in the county. One of these is located in Cato township. There is no church building at present. but services are held in the school building of district No. 4. This society has a membership at present of sixty-five and in all probabilities will have a building in the course of the next few years. Greenville is the most recently organized society in the county. There are at present at the latter place thirty-five souls enrolled in this work.
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GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF MAPLE HILL.
The German Evangelical Lutheran church of Maple Hill was founded somewhere back in 1885, Rev. W. Bauer of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, being the first pastor in charge. He was succeeded in 1888 by Reverend Greuter, of the Evangelical Synod, of North America. The church was struck by lightning and burned in 1889 and was rebuilt in that same year.
In 1891 Rev. H. Greuter resigned, and the congregation called as pastor, Rev. F. W. Geffett, of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, who then took charge of the congregation in 1891. In 1894 some difficulties arose about the moving of the church building ( which was then some two and one-half miles southeast of Howard City) into Howard City. Those of the congregation living in town were in favor, together with their pastor. of moving the church to town: those living in the country were opposed. This caused separation; the church remained out in the country and the Ger- mans of Floward City remained in town.
Then 1894 Rev. H. Schaarschmidt of the German Evangelical Synod of North America, took charge of the congregation in the country. He was succeeded in August, 1895, by Rev. L. Krueger. In that year the church was incorporated. Rev. Krueger resigned in 1898 and was succeeded by Rev. E. Brenion, who stayed until August, 1900.
On the night of June 12. 1902. during an electrical storm, the church was again struck by lightning and burned to the ground. As soon as pos- sible after the destruction of this church, the congregation set about to erect another building. They were successful in this end and in August work was begun on the edifice. This was dedicated in 1902 and was materialized through the effort of Reverend Saffron. This congregation has not been as strong in the last few years as formerly owing to the fact that other church buildings have been erected in the vicinity which proved a greater accommodation and less distance to travel for the worshippers. At present this church is supported by six families.
GERMAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN ST. PETER'S CHURCH OF AMBLE.
The exact day of the organization of the Amble Evangelical Associa- tion cannot be determined. It is known that a smaller body was organized, although not with a permanent organization, many years prior to the organ-
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ization of the church. These meetings were held in the school houses and at private residences. This congregation has always been served by the pastor at Maple Hill and the history of this congregation is closely connected with the St. Peter's church. At present the membership of this church numbers twenty families.
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH OF CEDAR LAKE.
The Seventh-Day Adventist church was organized on July 3, 1879. with the following charter members: Francis Nelson, Anna E. Nelson, Whitman Hall, Samira Nickols, Charlotte Webster, Elvira Webster, Herbert Castle, Eliza Castle, Mary A. Morey. William S. Nelson, Harriet Nelson, Andrew Pierce, Mary Pierce and Myrel Pierce. Elder Francis Nelson was the first minister to serve the church, but they have no resident elder. The membership has increased to one hundred and forty-one. A Sabbath school and a Young People's Society, consisting of two hundred and thirty-four members, is conducted under the auspices of the church. The organization of this church is in harmony with the teachings of the Bible enjoining the validity of the Ten Commandments, the fourth of which teaches the observ- ance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. Besides the teaching of the observ- ance of the seventh day Sabbath, the church teaches and practices health reforms, and are strictly temperate. They believe in the coming of Christ. a resurrection of the dead, and a reward of eternal life for the faithful; a total destruction of the wicked. not by eternal fire or everlasting punishment. but by complete and total annihilation.
CATHOLIC CHURCH OF GREENVILLE.
The earliest services which led to the formation of a Roman Catholic society in Greenville occurred in 1859, when meetings were held at the house of Patrick McDonald. They were conducted by Father Rivers, of Gratton. who officiated at intervals for a period of three years, and then moved to Muskegon where he died in 1878. He was then followed by Rev. Charles Bolte, of Ionia, who organized the present Catholic church of Greenville, with the following people as charter members: Patrick McDonald, Mrs. W. Deary, John Norton and Bernard Wiegers. At first it was a mission attended mostly from Carson City. The first church building, which was located in Eureka township, was a frame structure which was torn down in 1913, and the congregation bought a lot in the city of Greenville. A beautiful new
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church has just been completed which is constructed out of stone and brick at a cost of $35,000. Several pastors have served this church as follows : Rev. Father Leitner, Seybold, Crumbly, Irmary, Brogyer, Caldwell, Govsen, Whalen and C. F. Bolte. Beginning with only five members the church has now reached a membership of two hundred fifty.
CATHOLIC CHURCH OF STANTON.
St. Appolinia's church of Stanton was organized by C. F. Bolte, then of lonia, with the following charter members: J. Blaine and family, the Crawe family, the P. Davust family and the R. Evans family. After C. F. Bolte had served his time came Rev. Fjerle, of Ionia, and then Father Sey- bold, J. M. Steffes. J. A. Engelnian, Joseph Voyle, Bernard Kethusom, then came Reverend Abel in 1906. During his regime the mission was handed over to R. Whalen, of Carson City ( September 3, 1910). The year fol- lowing the church was remodeled by Father Whalen. It is a frame build- ing which was constructed in the year 1880. The total membership is one hundred. On January 1, 1914. the Stanton mission was handed over to Rev. Charles Bolte. of Greenville, under whose charge it has remained since that time.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH OF CARSON CITY.
St. Mary's parish of Carson City. Montcalm county, Michigan, was organized in 1896 for the Catholic members living north of the Ionia county line, who had to that time worshipped in St. John's church at Hubbardston. The task of forming the new parish was entrusted to Rev. K. J. Whalen, who held his first service in the "opera rink," February 9, 1896. The member- ship was small. numbering about fifty families, mostly poor and, owing to the financial stress of the year, hard pressed even to live. Despite all the hindering; circumstances, the members of the newly formed parish and their friends in the community started with the determination to succeed in build- ing up a new church plant of which they would in time be proud.
A hall was rented and changed into a neat chapel and served as a place of worship until Christmas, 1896. The next move was to build a church. Material was secured, ground broken and the corner stone laid amidst a great concourse of people the following June. After a rest of a few months, the brick work of the church began, October 16, and was pressed so that the beautiful church was opened for first service Christmas morning, 1896.
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Later the interior was finished, the tower erected, and all put in the best of order, furnished to the last dollar's worth that might find fitting place.
The next move of the parish was to build a large, well-ordered, brick parish house in 1898. These buildings were followed by a brick barn and stables for teams. In 1905 a second block just east of the church property was secured and in 1907 St. Mary's brick academy was built and opened as a parish school under the direction of the Sisters of St. Dominic, of Grand Rapids. The school was placed in charge of Sister M. Berchmans, assisted by Sister M. Tearentia, now dead, names that shall never die in St. Mary's parish. In 1906 a tower clock was placed in St. Mary's church by the citizens with the only automatic angelus connection in the state of Michigan.
This completed the church buildings and placed in Carson City one of the grandest church plants found in a Catholic parish in Michigan. While in charge of Carson City parish, Rev. Fr. Whalen cared for all Catholics west as far as Rockford and Howard City, northeast to Alma, southeast to Elsie and south to the Tonia county line, giving him the care of all Catholics in fifteen hundred square miles. During the eighteen years in Carson City. he also builded, and builded well, in Greenville, Harvard, Maple Valley and Stanton, preparing Greenville and Maple Valley for resident pastors. Fr. Whalen was transferred to St. Joseph's, Saginaw, January, 1914, and was succeeded by Rev. J. J. Sheehan, the present pastor.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
LITTLE DENMARK DANISH LUTHERAN CONGREGATION IN MONTCALM COUNTY.
By Rev. Ole Amble.
Little Denmark Danish Lutheran congregation in Montcalm county was organized on April 21, 1873, and this came about through the efforts of Hans Christensen, Christian Anderson, Hans H. Nielson, Jens Christen- sen and Jens Jensen, Jens Jensen alone surviving of the original organiza- tion. There was no church building at that early date, and now four churches have church buildings. Big settlement, two miles north of Gowen; Little settlement, two and one-half miles east of Gowen; North Sidney, one mile west and one mile north of Sidney station, and South Sidney, two miles south and two and one-half west of Sidney station. Besides these churches one other is rented in Trufant. So there are services of this denomination in Kendallville settlement school honse in Pine township. And also in Bernen, which is two miles north and one-half mile east of Langston.
The whole congregation is divided into the above number of meeting places, and includes one thousand souls in Montcalm county.
EARLY DANISH SETTLERS.
The congregation owns a parsonage in Gowen, as the pastor lives in that place. The following is an article taken from the Greenville Indepen- dent of April 29, 1914, and the occasion was the fortieth anniversary of services of the Rev. Ole Amble, of Gowen, which was held on May 20, 1914. "Gowen, the pleasant little hamlet, located six miles north of Green- ville, has the honor of being the boyhood home of Lieutenant Worden, who is known in history as the commander of the "Monitor" in the Civil War, famous for its fight with the rebel ram, "Merrimac." In fact, rumor says that Lieutenant Worden was born in Gowen, but this cannot be confirmed. His father, Frederick Worden, came to Gowen on June 19, 1844, entering the south half of the southeast quarter of section 18, upon which the hamlet of Gowen now stands.
"On August 26. 1844. Mr. Worden sold an interest in the water privi- MONTCALM COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
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leges to Volney and Thomas Belding, members of the famous family of pioncer silk manufacturers of the city of Belding. This company erected a saw-mill but disposed of their interests a few years later.
"It is claimed that many years later Gowen had an opportunity of becoming the silk city of Michigan, as the Belding Brothers tried to nego- tiate for water power and land on which to erect their big factories, but were frustrated in their attempt by one of the principal land owners of the little hamlet. The saw-mill erected back in the forties by the Belding Broth- ers and Mr. Worden was later owned by James Gowen, also an early settler, after whom the hamlet was named.
"At the present time Gowen and vicinity is thickly populated with the Danish people, who started coming to this county in 1856, the pioneers in this immigration being Mr. and Mrs. August Rasmussen and Christian John- son, who all came from the same little village in Denmark. In fact, Mr. Johnson, who was a veteran of the Danish and Dutch War of 1849, came to Montcalm county in 1853 or 1854. Mr. Johnson was one of the six Danish residents to answer Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers at the opening of the Civil War, and he was killed in the first battle he took part in. His body lies in an unknown grave in the southland now.
"Prior to 1857 there were four Danish people at Gowen, Mr. and Mrs. Rasmussen, Mr. Johnson, and a young man by the name of John Peterson. who was working in the saw-mill. at that time called Gregory's mill, and which stood on the present site of the Gowen depot. On the roth of August. 1857. owing to the representations of Mr. Rasmussen, forty Danes arrived, including Mr. Rasmussen's aged mother and Mr. Johnson's aged father. Thirty-six of this mimber were relatives and the meeting, after over a year's separation, seemed like a family reunion."
FROM DENMARK TO MICHIGAN.
The following account of the journey from Denmark to Gowen is taken from the Greenville Independent, of the winter of 1902, and was written by Mr. Rasmussen :
"In two hours' drive we had reached Slagelse, our first railroad station. Here my brother said, 'If God will, and we live, we will see each other in America next year.' At last farewell. The train moved and we were soon at the station in Korsor. From there we went on the first steamboat to Keel, one night's voyage. May Ith we reached Altoona. Here I had served six-
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teen months as a soldier, and I was well acquainted. I visited my old beloved Captain Beemand. and many others.
"May 13 we left Hamburg (Germany). After fifty-four hours we were across the North Sea, reached Hool ( England). The black horse quickly brought us across England. May 16 we reached Liverpool.
"May 22 we embarked on a great sailship, where he had our home for nearly eight weeks. Here we learned to eat salt meat and hard biscuit, if we had not learned it before. It was a small kitchen we had for a large crowd. It was a full day's work for three hundred people to cook their own food in a kitchen room ten by sixteen feet and get only half enough to eat. We had fog, storm and headwind most of the time of our voyage. Some- times we had the sun on our left, sometimes on the right side, which meant zag work or halt. We saw a whale about forty feet long and a sea serpent of about the same length. Many were very seasick. One boy died and was buried in the ocean. And one baby was born; he was named Atlantic Storm, because he was born on a dreadful stormy day.
"The 16th of July we took on board a pilot, and July 17 we drew into New York harbor. Oh, how glad we were to set our foot on the solid and new land. In Castle Garden our satchel, with our most valuable belongings, such as hymn book, bible and other good books, was stolen. We were glad to get away from this great building where immigrants landed, and hence were distributed throughout the United States. We reached the wonderful Niagara Falls on July 19. Here we made a short stop of four hours. We continued westward the same afternoon. July 20, at two o'clock in the afternoon, we boarded an immigrant train and started for Kalamazoo. The passage required four days. This was the worst of our journey-smoke, dust and vermin. from which it was impossible to escape.
"July 24. at eight o'clock in the morning, we reached Kalamazoo, which was the railroad station nearest Greenville, in those days. We took a stage to Greenville. We reached the home of Mr. Osgood, a farmer in Oakfield. July 26, at two o'clock in the afternoon. Here our coachman took a leaf from his notebook, in which he traced the route we should take through Wolverton Plains. Then we separated from him and at six o'clock at night reached Christian Johnson's shanty, three years after I had taken his address in Denmark."
Following the years 1856 and 1857, the Danish people have come to Michigan in train loads, until there are now several thousand Danes in
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