History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time, Part 31

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company
Number of Pages: 1180

USA > Nebraska > Custer County > History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time > Part 31

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).

SAND VALLEY

About seven miles southwest of Callaway. in a beautiful community known as Sand Valley, is found a very successfully conducted ten-grade school. It is district No. 95. It came into usefulness with the rush of school organizations between the years 1882 and 1888. This school is well located and well equipped, with two pleasant rooms, so ar- ranged that they may be thrown together, thus forming a large assembly room. It is well lighted and heated. Trees have been planted and a splendid well, with a windmill, adds to the advantages. There is a barn for horses and a large yard for carriages. The course covers ten grades.

IN GENERAL

For the last five or six years the school sentiment of the county has grown to a very high order. Nearly all of the schools have good, comfortable houses which are well kept. More than 150 room-furnaces are in use and a half hundred wells give good drinking water. The teachers are earnest, progressive. and thorough ; the children are interested and happy, and the patrons are earnestly endeavor- ing to bring the Custer county schools up to the realization of what they should be - "Things of beauty and a joy forever."

CHAPTER XI

CHURCHES AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS

A COWBOY PREACHER - A STORY OF EARLY CHURCH WORK - AND NOW THE METHOD- ISTS - THIE ANSLEY CHURCH - THE BROKEN BOW METHODISTS - GATES AND WALWORTH - ARNOLD METHODIST CHURCHI - SARGENT METHODISTS - MERNA METHODISTS - WES- TERVILLE METHODIST CHURCH - METHODIST CHURCH OF CALLAWAY - BAPTIST PIONEER WORK - THE BAPTIST CHURCHES THAT LIVE - THE BROKEN BOW CHURCH - NEW BAP- TIST CHURCH AT BROKEN BOW - MASON CITY CHURCH - THE MERNA BAPTIST CHURCH - THIE ANSLEY BAPTIST CHURCH ORGANIZED - THE EUDELLS - LOMAX AND LODI - BETHEL, UNION - HIGHLAND - THE FREE METHODIST CHURCH - THE PRESBYTERIANS - BROKEN Bow PRESBYTERIANS - THE ANSLEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - EPISCOPALIAN WORK IN THE COUNTY - CALLAWAY PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH - THE BROKEN BOW EPISCO- PAL CHURCH - THE CHURCH OF GOD - CHRISTIAN CHURCH - CHRISTIAN CHURCHES OF ARNOLD, LIBERTY, BROKEN BOW, ANSELMO, WHITE PIGEON, ANSLEY, COBURG, MASON CITY, LILLIAN, SARGENT, BANNER SCHOOLHOUSE, AND MILBURN - CUSTER COUNTY CATHI- OLICS - BEGINNING OF CATHOLIC WORK IN DALE - THE BROKEN BOW CATHOLIC CHURCHI - THE OCONTO CHURCH AND MASON CITY CHURCHI - ANSLEY CATHOLIC CHURCH - UNITED BRETHREN IN CHRIST - THE UNITED BRETHREN BEGIN AT CUSTER CENTER - SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN CUSTER COUNTY - COUNTY SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSOCIATION -

THE REORGANIZATION WORKS WELL - STATE SUNDAY SCHOOL CONVENTION AT BROKEN BOW - COMPARISON OF CONVENTION ATTENDANCE

Governor Bradley once said that at the end of every buffalo's tail was a Methodist preach- er going west. That was a fine tribute to the pioneer work of the Methodist people. It is a tribute, too, that they deserve in connection with Custer county, as subsequent history of Methodism in the county will disclose.

But on the Middle Loup at least one buf- falo's tail was ornamented with a Christian preacher instead of a Methodist, and that ani- mal seems to have led the herd, for the preach- er referred to, the Rev. E. D. Eubanks, was probably the first preacher in the county and the one who preached the first sermon and performed the first marriage ceremony.

In 1875 Rev. Eubanks held services in dif- ferent homes of the Douglas Grove commit- nity, and accordingly he was the first repre- sentative of his denomination, or of any de-

nomination, to pre-empt the field for Christian work.

Also in the same year came a Methodist preacher, by the name of Lemin, and held the first Methodist services of which any record can be found. Rev. Lemin, like Rev. Eubanks, made the homes of the people the sanctuaries of worship. It was in the home of A. A. Hig- gins that the first Methodist quarterly meeting was held by the pioneer divine. Rev. Lemin is, therefore, credited with beginning Meth- odist work some time late in the fall of 1875.

As will be seen under the head of Baptist Pioneer Work, a Rev. J. P. Cook began the denominational work for the Baptists by hold- ing services and conducting Sunday schools in the settlers' homes of Lee's Park, in 1878.

In 1880 a minister from West Virginia set- tled in the New Helena district and, like the

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

other pioneer preachers, began a series of house meetings. His denomination is not re- corded by the historian who chronicles his advent in the country, but as the work he be- gan was followed up by that of a Presbyterian minister, L. L. Burbank, who came afterward, the work of the Rev. Stevens is accredited to the Presbyterians.

This puts the denominational work of the churches in Custer county in the following order: First. Christians or Disciples ; second. Methodists ; third. Baptists ; fourth, Presby- terians. Other denominations early on the field were the United Brethren, the Lutherans, the Catholics, the Church of God, the Free Meth- odists, and perhaps others were among the pioneers, but their advent did not affect the order named above.

A COWBOY PREACHER

One of the pioneer preachers who seems to have been effective and practical in his work, even if he was lacking in theological training, is described by James Whitehead as a cowboy preacher, in the following paragraph, written twenty years ago. He is not credited with any denominational affiliation :

"Although most of us had held membership in different churches in our former homes, no minister of any denomination had come among 115, and no preaching services had been held in that vicinity. With the erection of a school- house we were anxious to make amends for this apparent neglect and begin life aright in our new home. Mr. Crewdson, who was an Episcopalian, assured us he had a man in mind that could be secured, and soon thereafter ser- vices were announced with Rev. I. G. Brooker, "The Cowboy Preacher.' officiating ; owing to reports that had reached us relative to the man's past, great interest was attached to this first sermon. The Rev. Brooker, or 'Brooker,' as he was commonly called, was a character as unique, and possessed a personality as striking as in their day did Lorenzo Dow or Peter Cartwright. He owned and lived upon a farm in Platte valley, twenty-two miles to the south, had been converted some four years before. and became so strongly imbued with the con-

viction that he was 'divinely called' to preach that he could find neither rest nor peace until he had consecrated himself to the ministry. Ordained by the Evangelical Association, he had been engaged in the work about three years when, in the fall of 1885, he preached his first sermon on Buffalo Table. It was the first religious service or meeting that some who were there had attended in two years. His efforts were well received and in due time he made fortnightly appointments, which, in con- nection with other points, he continued to fill for three years. As an evangelist and organ- izer this unlettered Bonarges had but few equals, and, measured by results, he attained a success denied to many whose entire lives had been devoted to the study of theology and rhetoric."

A STORY OF EARLY CHURCH WORK

The late E. N. Bishop leaves us this story. in which early church work is graphically pic- tured :

"Early in the spring of 1880 a preacher from Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, named Stephenson, took the claim now owned by Robert Ross and commenced preaching at New Helena, but as he tired of keeping 'bach.' he returned east and left the people without a minister. Learning that a Presbyterian min- ister of the name of Burbank, living at George- town, on the South Loup, could be procured to preach once a month, the people of all de- nominations interested sent for him. He came. organized a Presbyterian church, and preached about two years, or until the Methodists made arrangements to start a class which included this appointment, on the Westerville circuit. with preaching every two weeks. Some years later, I have forgotten the date, a preacher of the name of Ross, living in Indiana, offered to come to Broken Bow if the church there would pay his fare to Grand Island. As Broken Bow was not able to support a preach- er at that time. the class at Gates united with them and helped to pay the passage of the Indiana preacher to Grand Island. He came, reorganized the class and preached in the old sod schoolhouse, near where the Gates school-

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house stands at this time. Since that time this church has always maintained an organization and Sunday school, even keeping a minister during all the years of the drouth. About 1888 the Christian church organized a society at the White Pigeon schoolhouse, and have maintained it ever since, as have also the Free Methodists at the Oxford schoolhouse and the Lutherans at Round Valley. In the fall of 1880 A. N. Peale taught a three months' school in district number 13, now generally known as the Oxford district. As this was the first and only school within fourteen miles, the children either went to it or went fishing. During the first years of our settlement the ranchmen and new settlers consumed every- thing the farmers could raise, but when farm- ing became more general and on a larger scale, and new settlers ceased to come in so fast, the farmers commenced to raise hogs to consume their produce ; consequently when the fall of 1890 came, the country was full of hogs. Having no corn to feed them, some of the farmers sold their stock hogs to eastern feed- ers, some knocked them in the head, while others let them stand around and squeal. Under these conditions church work had a hard beginning."

AND NOW THE METHODISTS

The Methodists now cover the county with ten circuits or stations, the headquarters of which are located in Ansley, Arnold, Anselmo, Berwyn, Broken Bow, Callaway, Mason City, Sargent, Merna, and Westerville.

The denomination owns fifteen church buildings, valued at $60,000. Two of them, the Sargent and Arnold buildings, are modern brick edifices, of the latest type, and would do splendid credit to much older communities. There are ten parsonages now in the county. all for the most part modern cottages, which as many Methodist preachers with their fami- lies occupy. These parsonages are valued at $20.000. The ten pastors receive good salaries and the churches have a combined member- ship of 1,856. with a family constituency of approximately 3.600 persons.

THE ANSLEY CHURCHI

Prior to the founding of Ansley, Methodist itinerants rode over the hills and valleys, preaching in schoolhouses and homes. One of these men was Rev. J. C. Dorris. In Sep- tember. 1886, Rev. William Esplin, who was homesteading seven miles southwest of Ansley, was appointed as the first regularly located pastor of the Methodist body of Ansley and vicinity, and preached alternately at Plea- sant Valley and at this point. At first; services were held in the new Burlington depot, but when the Presbyterian church was built, the services were held there. The church was organized July 12. 1887, and in 1890, under the pastorate of Rev. D. M. Ellsworth, the present church building was erected. The pastors who have served this church up to 1918 are as follows: William Esplin (1886-7), Francis Brock (1887-8), D. M. Ellsworth (1888-90), H. H. York (1890- 1891), B. F. Peck (1891-2), John P. Crane and D. W. Denny (1892-3), L. W. Chandler (1893-5). A. Gibson (1895-7), W. H. For- syth (1897-1900), M. S. Foutch (1900-1901), L. W. Chandler (1901-3), Selden Ewing (1903-5), Raymond Rush (1905-8), John Carton (1908-9), W. S. McCallester (1909- 1914). R. H. Carr (1914-15), E. O. Johnson (1915-16), W. L. Hadsell (1916-18). Under the pastorate of Rev. O. E. Johnson, the church building was greatly improved, by the addition of a basement. The church now has a membership of 200, a Sunday-school en- rollment of 180, an Epworth League member- ship of thirty. and a Woman's Foreign Mis- sionary Society of twenty members. The officers of the church are: Trustees. J. H. Hiser. T. F. Elliott, Albert Arnold. E. O. Morris, W. O. Phillips, Andrew Sherbeck, and A. J. Hockom: stewards. L. S. Newcomb, Mrs. George Nelms, O. D. Dran, Mrs. Clem Wilder, Mrs. A. J. Hockom, and R. M. Hay- slip; Sunday-school superintendent, L. S. Newcomb: president of the Epworth League, Mrs. Curtis McCallister; president of the

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, Mrs. L. S. Newcomb.

The first Methodist class was organized in the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy depot. July 12, 1887, by the Rev. William Esplin. Nine- teen charter members formed the roll of this new class. The names of these members are

as follows: Mrs. D. A. Vansant, C. J. Stevens. W. A. Cross. T. T. Daniels, James Davis. Mrs. James Davis, William Hawk. Sarah Gilbert, Anna Hawk, May Hawk, J. Harson, Mrs. J. Ilarson, Mary McCarger. J. M. Porter. Mrs. J. M. Porter, and C. D. Munson and family.

THE BROKEN BOW METIIODISTS

Broken Bow has always been the county's stronghold of Methodism. The first Methodist

church

the

E. CHURCH BROKEN BOW TEAR

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT BROKEN BOW

county-seat town is one of the strongest church- es in the county, of any denomination. It was organized in May, 1883. In the same month of the class organiza- tion, the first sermon was preached by Rev. M. R. Pierce, in a store building. The following were the charter members of the class: W. A. Gandy. A. M. Graham, Howard Graham, L. McCandless, J. S. Benjamin, John Roland. L. Trefren. Emma McCandless. Bertha Gandy, H. J. Reeder. Wesley Vannice. W. M. Her- bert, and L. H. Jewett.

Since the organization of this class, ser- vices have been maintained without any inter- ruption, and in later years, with added strength of numbers in the membership, came added influence and prominence in the community.

The pastors of this church began life in a two-room sod parsonage and in this palace of "prairie marble" many couples were united in marriage and started on their careers as pio-

neer home-makers. Many social functions held sway in the neat rooms of this sod bun- galow.

In 1883, the same year of the organization, a small, brick church was erected in the south part of town, and this did duty as Methodist sanctuary and community auditorium until 1898, when the present structure, on the block west of the court house, was erected, under the direction of the Rev. W. H. D. Hornaday. This structure is still in good repair and its auditorium is the largest in the town. It was built at a cost of seven thousand

dollars.

The second par- sonage. and the one which sup- planted the pio- neer soddy, was erected in 1886, during the pas- torate of the Rev. F. H. Calder. This dwelling was afterward out- grown, and the third parsonage was erected in 1902, during the Rev. George P.

first pastorate of the Trites, who is to-day closing the second year of his second pastorate. Two years ago (1916) the parsonage was again re- modeled, and was made thoroughly modern. The present membership of this church is be- tween three and four hundred. They maintain a live Sunday-school. ladies' society, and all missionary societies working in connection with Methodist polity.

In the roster of pastors who have served this church are many of the strongest Meth- odist preachers of the state, among whom are R. H. Thompson, A. A. Randall, and the pres- ent incumbent. the Rev. George P. Trites, who is a strong man in the pulpit. a faith- ful pastor, and who, withal, belongs to that class of genial spirits commonly called "good mixers."

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

GATES AND WALWORTH

Gates and Walworth are country churches. They were intended to be city churches, but- the respective cities of Gates and Walworth have been slow to materialize ; consequently, the churches stand in country places, cach beside a lone store and postoffice.

The first Methodist service at Gates was held in the sod house of Stillman Gates, who was one of the river pioneers. This service was conducted by Rev. M. R. Pierce, in 1884. The class was organized the same year, with nine charter mem- bers: Mr. and Mrs. Stillman Gates, Mr. and Mrs. R. Young, Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Bishop, Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Her- bert, and Will Athey.

The present church building was erected dur- ing the pastorate of the Rev. J. M. Eads. in 1905. The pastoral work at this point is supplied from An- selmo.

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT ARNOLD

John W. Cole, whether a rever- end or not, is not recorded, held the first Meth- odist service in Walworth, in 1881, in the home of John Walker. A Sunday school was organ- ized in the same year. There were but few charter members who constituted the first class. Only the names of Mr. and Mrs. John Predmore and Mr. and Mrs. John Walker are recorded. The present church building was erected in 1907.

ARNOLD METHODIST CHURCH

One of the best Methodist churches in the county is the Arnold church, concerning which no data have been obtainable. It is the strong- est church of the community and has a corps

of stalwart supporters. They have a fine, new church, built in the year 1915, during the pas- torate of Rev. Mr. Gettys. The church has been served in the past by such men as Rev. George B. Mayfield, Rev. Charles Bottom, and others.

SARGENT METHODISTS

The Methodists were among the first on the ground at Sargent, yet little data are obtain- able. They commenced with a very few mem- bers and have steadily grown until to-day they really have the best church property of any church of their clenomination in the county. Here- with is submitted a splendid picture of the church, which was built a few years ago.

MERNA METHO- DISTS

A splendid lit- tle church has been maintained by the Methodists of Merna since 1885. The first sermon of this de- nomination was preached by the Rev. John F. Haney, who is to- day a resident of Broken Bow. The first class was organized by Henry Reeder. The present church building was built in 1901, by the Rev. W. C. Swartz. It is a small, four-gabled building, with class-room attachments, and makes a very neat appearance, in its location on the principal street of Merna. The attrac- tive five-room parsonage was built in 1909.

The phenomenal success of the Methodists is largely due to their pioneer work. They never neglected the sparsely settled country. Wherever they could find a Methodist home, there they had a Methodist sanctuary. And if a "circuit-rider." a "local exhorter," or "class

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

leader" could be procured, a Methodist ser- vice was held, a Methodist Sunday school or- ganized, and Christian work commenced in that community.

WESTERVILLE METHODIST CHURCH

The date of the Westerville organization is not given in any record at hand, but it was effected some time in the early 'SOs and was one of the first churches in the county. Mrs. Floy Leech Cannon, who wrote the Wester- ville story in 1900, makes the statement that the Westerville Methodist church was the first frame church-building erected in the county. The church bell, which was placed in the belfry, was the first church bell that ever rang out upon Custer county air. It was

FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT SARGENT

freighted from Kearney, and its Sunday morn- ing performances gave the Westerville church a citified air of unusual dignity. Mrs. Cannon also makes the statement that a Rev. Mr. Brooks was the first regular minister and that Rev. Mr. Hale, of the Orleans district in wes- tern Nebraska, was one of their early pastors. The church to-day is prosperous, and main- tains regular services, with Rev. Mr. Gettys in charge.

METHODIST CHURCH OF CALLAWAY

In the early winter of 1880-81 Rev. Asbury Collins, one of the bold pioneer preachers whose labors are known throughout the whole of western Nebraska. preached the first ser- mon in or near the settlement of Delight. This service was held in the sod schoolhouse, which stood at the foot of the hill, one mile west of

the present site of Callaway. At. Mr. Collins' next appointment, which was probably in Jan- .uary, 1881, he organized a society of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, with nine members, four of whom lived in the immediate neighbor- hood, the remaining five coming as far as ten miles from their homes in Wood River val- ley. Mark H. Decms was appoited class- leader, which office in the church he held until he moved away from Callaway. Mr. Collins' work was principally organizing new churches and forming new circuits, and he came to De- light only once a month during the spring and summer following the organization. of the church. In the summer of 1881 Rev. Charles H. Savidge, a local preacher from Wisconsin, came into the community and lived with his son at the Cottonwood ranch, about three miles from Delight postoffice. Because of his own heavy work, Mr. Collins placed the church at Delight in the hands of Mr. Savidge, who preached regularly for over two years.

In the fall of 1884 the church received, for the first time, a minister regularly appointed by the annual conference - Rev. D. M. Ells- worth, who had just come from Illinois. Mr. Ellsworth had shipped his goods to Kearney, where the conference was held that year. In order to have a home for his family, he filed a homestead on a quarter-section of land and put up a little house. The preaching places in the circuit were Delight, Roten Valley, and Cliff. There had been a gradual increase in the membership, and after a protracted meet- ing, held in a sod schoolhouse, in the winter of 1884-5, the membership was thirty-five. The salary paid this year was $340, to which was added $125 from the missionary society of the church. In the summer of 1885, the people united in building a neat sod church, on the timber claim of Ira Graves, not far from the sod schoolhouse where they had here- tofore worshipped. The trustees were Ira Graves, Mark H. Deems, I. F. Miller, O. C. Murphy, and William Engels, who were elected by the quarterly conference July 18th. The lumber for the roof and floor of the new church was hauled from Cozad, a distance of forty miles, and the chairs for seating from

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HISTORY OF CUSTER COUNTY, NEBRASKA

Plum Creek, now Lexington. The church was dedicated in November following, Rev. George W. Martin, presiding elder. During this year Arnold was added to the Delight circuit.

When the town of Callaway was laid out, in the summer of 1886, the services were moved from the church, which was nearly a mile out, to the dining room of the Deems hotel, then in course of erection. After the hotel was completed and occupied, the church services were held in Smith's hall, over a hardware store owned by Smith & Needham. This hall was commonly known as the "Callaway Opera House." For its use the church paid two dol- lars each Sunday and the same amount for each prayer meeting or extra service.

Rev. Thomas H. Thurber was the next pas- tor, coming to the charge in the fall of 1886. His family made their home in a sod house belonging to Mark H. Deems and reserved by him when he sold his homestead for the town- site. Mr. Thurber himself was "holding down" a claim in Dawson county, and so moved his family back to the claim in the spring, where they remained until he made final proof. in the fall. Mr. Thurber was re- appointed for another year, and immediately after his return from conference, the people commenced the building of the first frame church in the town of Callaway. The build- ing cost $1,000 and was considered at that time quite an undertaking, but the trustees and members were determined in their efforts and the people of the community responded gener- ously. The church was dedicated December 4, 1887, by Rev. Leslie Stevens, at that time presiding elder. Only $300 yet remained 1in- paid, but to those who had already contributed all they felt able, it seemed like attempting the impossible to try to raise that amount. Un- willing to fail at the last moment. eight men agreed together to give each twenty-five dol- lars more, and when the call was made and these eight in succession subscribed so lib- erally, others also responded, and in a few minutes the whole amount was raised. After returning from their homestead, the pastor's family had occupied a single room over one of

the stores in the town, for which they had to pay twelve dollars per month, and it was not difficult to see that a parsonage was an actual necessity. Accordingly, as soon as the church was completed, the trustees took shares in the building and loan association and immediately commenced work on the parsonage. It was completed in February, 1888, and from that time a good home - small, but cozy and com- fortable - has been ready for the Methodist minister and his family. The securing of a church building and parsonage may be con- sidered as closing the pioneer history of the Methodist church of Callaway, and, having laid aside its swaddling clothes. it has had only the ordinary experience of a church - hard- ships, opposition, and varying degrees of suc- cess -important in themselves but not of sufficient interest for a pioneer history.

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History of Custer County, Nebraska; a narrative of the past, with special emphasis upon the pioneer period of the county's history, its social, commercial, educational, religous, and civic developement from the early days to the present time, Part 31

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company Number of Pages: 1180

Author: Gaston, William Levi, 1865- [from old catalog]; Humphrey, Augustin R., 1859- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Lincoln, Neb., Western publishing and engraving company
Number of Pages: 1180