USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 52
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Plymouth Congregational Church had its origin in a Sunday school that was
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organized by members of the First Church on January 4, 1884, with some assis- tance from the Young Men's Christian Association. After more than a year's work, the society was formed on March 1, 1885, with sixteen charter members. Before the organization was perfected some steps had been taken toward the erection of a house of worship on the corner of Nineteenth and Spruce streets. This building, which cost about three thousand dollars, was sold to the board of education in 1887 for $7,000. Herman Kountze then gave the congregation two lots on the northwest corner of Eighteenth and Emmet streets and a new house of worship was erected there at a cost of $18,000. A little later a parsonage was built at a cost of $3,556. On April 1, 1916, Rev. F. W. Leavitt was pastor of this congregation.
What is now known as the Central Park Congregational Church was organized on January 24, 1886, by Rev. George S. Pelton, who was the first pastor of Plymouth Church. The society was first known as the Saratoga Congregational Church, but the name was afterward changed to "Cherry Hill Congregational Church," and still later to the present name. Among the charter members were : Josiah E., Sarah F. and Clyde Lowes, F. E. and E. L. Maynard, J. H. and Eliza Thompson, Miss Luella Thompson, Mrs. A. E. Shaw, Mrs. E. Harris, Mrs. M. A. Ward, Charles B. Newton and Miss H. S. Stevens. Rev. J. A. Milligan was the first regular pastor.
The records of this society do not show when the first house of worship was erected, but the new frame building now in use was dedicated in November or December, 1887. The church now has nearly two hundred members, with Rev. Joseph R. Beard as pastor.
The Hillside Congregational Church, on the corner of Twenty-ninth and Ohio streets, was formed on the last day of November, 1886, with twenty-two charter members and Rev. H. C. Crane as pastor. In 1887 the church and parsonage were built at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. Rev. W. S. Hampton was pastor on April 1, 1916.
THE DUNKARD CHURCH
There is but one society of this faith in the city. It was organized in the fall of 1909 by Rev. M. R. Weaver, with the following charter members: Mrs. Kate Garber, Miss Alice Garber, J. W. and A. F. Rasp, Mr. and Mrs. M. R. Weaver, Mrs. Mary Baer, Henry Garst and Mrs. Julia Hunt. A little later the lot at No. 2123 Miami Street was purchased for a church site and a frame house of worship was erected, at a cost of $3,400. It was dedicated on December 12, 1915. A parsonage had been erected before that time, but it was wrecked by the great tornado of March 23, 1913. It was rebuilt and the congregation now owns property valued at $10,000. On July 1, 1916, the membership was over one hundred. Rev. M. R. Weaver has been pastor ever since the church was estab- lished. It is known as the "Church of the Brethren."
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Trinity Episcopal Church, the first society of this denomination in Omaha, was organized on July 13, 1856, by Bishop Kemper, of Wisconsin, who, in
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ALL SAINTS' EPISCOPAL CHURCH, OMAHA Rectory on the left
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company with Bishop Lee, of Iowa, and Rev. W. N. Irish, of Missouri, visited the country west of the Missouri that summer. In the organization Samuel Moffatt was elected senior warden; Charles W. Hamilton, junior warden ; Thomas B. Cuming, A. J. Hanscom, Jonas Seeley and A. F. Salisbury, vestrymen. A lot at the southwest corner of Ninth and Farnam streets was leased for a term of years and a small brick building erected thereon for a church. Rev. G. W. Watson, of Council Bluffs, served as rector until July, 1860, before the little congregation felt able to employ a rector of its own.
In 1867 a large frame church was erected on the corner of Eighteenth Street and Capitol Avenue, at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars, but it was destroyed by fire on November 10, 1869, and a temporary tabernacle was erected upon the site. It has since been replaced by a magnificent stone structure, known as Trinity Cathedral, one of the finest church edifices in the city, costing, with the furnishings, nearly one hundred thousand dollars. Rev. J. A. Tancock was the rector of Trinity Cathedral on April 1, 1916.
The next Episcopal Church is St. Barnabas, which was organized in June, 1869. The first house of worship was built on the corner of Nineteenth and California streets, about twenty thousand dollars being expended for the site, church building and parsonage. The present house of worship is located on the southeast corner of Fortieth and Davenport streets. Rev. George C. Betts was the first rector. Rev. John Williams, the personification of Christian piety and philanthropy, served the congregation as rector for thirty-seven years. The present rector is Rev. Lloyd B. Holsapple;gCy Was SET
All Saints' Episcopal Church was established asla parish in the spring of 1885, with James M. Woolworth, senior warden; A. P. Hopkins, junior warden; C. S. Montgomery, S. P. Morse, W. A., Redick, Henry A. Meday, Louis Bradford and Robert Easson, vestrymen. Rev. Louis Zahner was the first rector. In August, 1885, a frame church building was erected on the corner of Twenty- sixth and Dewey streets, at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. Doctor Zahner resigned as rector in 1891 and was succeeded by Rev. T. J. Mackay, who began his labors in Omaha on the first of July of that year. He is still in charge of the parish as rector and under his ministrations the new church and parish house --- the gift of G. W. Wattles-have been erected. A new rectory has also been built, the total outlay representing $125,000. The church, a handsome structure of brick and stone, has a seating capacity of 500 and is one of the finest church edifices in the city.
St. John's Episcopal church was organized in June, 1885, with twelve charter members, by Rev. William O. Pearson, who served as rector until 1890. In 1886 a house of worship was built on the corner of Twenty-sixth and Franklin streets, at a cost of $6,000, which included the furnishings. Rev. O. H. Cleveland was rector of St. John's on April 1, 1916.
Two Episcopal churches were organized in Omaha in the year 1887-the Church of the Good Shepherd, at the southeast corner of Twentieth and Ohio streets, and St. Paul's, at the southwest corner of Thirty-second and California streets. In the spring of 1916 Rev. T. J. Collar was rector of the former and the latter was without a regular rector at that time.
St. Andrew's, at the corner of Forty-first and Charles streets, was organized in
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1892 and on April 1, 1916, had no regular rector, though meetings were held every Sunday.
St. Matthias' Church, on the corner of Tenth and Worthington streets, was organized in 1888 by Bishop Worthington. Among the charter members were: Victor White, George Bertrand, Joseph Barker, John T. Wolf and C. G. Cunning- ham. Rev. John Doherty was the first rector. A stone house of worship was erected in 1889, at a cost of $50,000, which sum was largely given as memorials, and the furnishings and windows are all the work of artists. The membership on April 1, 1916, was 209, with Rev. Carl M. Worden as vicar.
St. Martin's, on the northeast corner of Twenty-fourth and J streets, is one of the youngest Episcopal churches in the city. The building was erected of stone taken from Dr. George L. Miller's residence at Seymour Park, after it was destroyed by fire. Rev. John W. Ohl was rector on April 1, 1916.
EVANGELICAL CHURCH
The first society of this denomination in Omaha was the First Free Evangel- ical German Church, which was organized on August 22, 1886, with eighteen members. A church building at the corner of Twelfth and Dorcas streets was completed in December following the organization and the next year a commodious parsonage was erected. Rev. Richard Hilkerbaumer was pastor in the spring of 1916.
The Swedish Evangelical Mission Church, organized about the same time, was the outgrowth of missionary work commenced some four years earlier by Rev. J. A. Hultman, who came to Omaha as a member of a concert company, but liking Omaha and concluding that it offered a field for clerical work, became a resident of the city. When the church was first established services were held for about two years in the old Tenth Street Mission. Then a brick house of worship was erected on the east side of Seventeenth Street, on the rear of the present postoffice site. When that square was purchased by the United States Government, the congregation removed to the present location on Davenport Street, where a lot was bought for $11,000 and $12,000 were expended in the erection of a building. The present pastor is Rev. F. E. Pamp.
The Swedish Evangelical Free Church was organized about 1887, with Rev. O. Running as the first pastor. A frame house of worship was built in 1900 on the corner of Twenty-seventh Avenue and Ninth Street. On April 1, 1916, the membership was about fifty. The pastor at that time was Rev. Elias Pearson.
On February 13, 1899, the First United Evangelical Church, located at No. 2420 Franklin Street, was organized with seven charter members, viz .: William Christman, Jennie E. Christian, William Deval, Rev. S. J. Shupp and wife, Mrs. Lizzie Wakefield, and Cordelia Richards. The next year a frame house of worship was erected, at a cost of a little over three thousand five hundred dollars, and Rev. S. J. Shupp was installed as the first pastor. In the spring of 1916 the membership was 102, with Rev. Ira McBride as pastor.
Salem Church of the Evangelical Association, a German society, was organized in August, 1904, and a church building was soon afterward erected on the corner of Eighteenth and Cuming streets. It is a substantial brick structure and cost, including ground and parsonage, $15,000. The first pastor was Rev. C. Jannen,
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who was succeeded in 1906 by Rev. H. Wegner. In April, 1911, Rev. F. Oster- tag, the present pastor, took charge of the congregation, which numbered on April 1, 1916, sixty-five members. There is also a German Evangelical Church called St. John's, located at No. 3117 South Twenty-fourth Street, of which Rev. W. A. Schaefer is pastor.
HEBREW SOCIETIES
The five Jewish societies in Omaha are as follows: Anshi Sholom, located at IIII North Twenty-fourth Street, Jacob Marks, president; Beth Hamrodth Hodogel, Eighteenth and Chicago streets, under the charge of Rabbi Henry Grodinsky; Congregation Israel, at No. 1821, Chicago Street, organized in 1910 and now under the charge of Rabbi M. R. Walosinsky ; the Jewish Synagogue at No. 725 Florence Boulevard, Rabbi Abraham Bramson; and the Temple Israel on the southwest corner of Park and Jackson streets, under the direction of Fred Cohn. All these societies worship according to the ancient Hebrew ritual and the members generally are interested in the Jewish charities of Omaha.
LATTER DAY SAINTS
Two societies of the Latter Day Saints, commonly called the Mormons, are in existence in Omaha. Shortly after the Mormons established themselves at Salt Lake City some of the members opposed to polygamy withdrew and founded the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints, and in 1866 a small society of the reorganized church was formed in Omaha. It now meets regularly at No. 2602 North Twenty-fourth Street under the pastoral charge of Rev. P. N. Craig. The other society was organized in 1895 and now holds services at No. 2553 Leavenworth Street. Elder Joseph H. Thompson is in charge of this congregation.
THE LUTHERANS
In 1858 Rev. Henry W. Kuhns, a Lutheran minister of the Allegheny Synod of Pennsylvania, came to Omaha as a missionary and finding a few Lutherans in the town organized them into a congregation. Services were at first held in the Methodist Church on Thirteenth Street, and later in the Congregational Church on Sixteenth Street. Two lots, where the Millard Hotel now stands, were pur- chased in 1860 and the next year a brick church and a parsonage were erected on the premises. The first church bell ever brought to Omaha was the one in the belfry of this building. Twenty years later this property was sold and the congregation erected a new church on the northeast corner of Sixteenth and Harney streets. Just prior to this change Augustus Kountze made an offer to the society that he would duplicate any sum of money raised by the people of the congregation for a new building. The offer was accepted and a fine structure, costing $50,000, was the result. The organization then adopted the name of the Kountze Memorial Church, in honor of Mr. Kountze's deceased father. In course of time Sixteenth Street became one of the principal retail streets of the city and the Lutherans decided to procure a new location. A site at the northwest
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corner of Twenty-ninth and Farnam streets was purchased and the present handsome church was ereeted thereon, at a cost of $124,000. It was paid for largely from the proceeds of the sale of the old building on the corner of Sixteenth and Harney, and was dedicated on May 27, 1906. On April 1, 1916, this church numbered over two thousand members and claimed to be the largest Lutheran congregation in the world. The elass confirmed on Easter Sunday, 1916, numbered 225, the largest in the history of any church so far as known. Rev. Oliver D. Baltzly was then the pastor. The General Synod and the General Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Church have both met in this church, the latter in May, 1915.
The next Lutheran Church to be organized in Omaha was the Swedish Immanuel, which was established in 1868. Little can be learned of its early history. It is located on Cass Street, between Eighteenth and Nineteenth, with Rev. E. S. Chinlund as pastor.
The First German Evangelical Lutheran Church, located on the corner of Twentieth and Mason streets, was organized in 1870. On April 1, 1916, the pastor of this church was Rev. E. J. Frese.
There are two societies of this denomination that are composed of Danes and Norwegians. The first is the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, located on the northwest corner of Twenty-sixth and Hamilton streets. It was organized in 1871. The other is the Trinity Norwegian-Danish Lutheran Church, on T Street near Twenty-eighth. Rev. M. W. Halverson is pastor of both these congregations.
St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized on December 12, 1886, with twenty-four members and Rev. George H. Schnur as pastor. On June 12, 1887, the first house of worship, located on the corner of Twenty-first and Burdette streets, was dedicated. It was a frame and cost $5,000. In 1907 the present church building was completed at a cost of $20,000. The congregation numbers over two hundred members, with Rev. Leonard Groh as pastor.
In 1887 St. Paul's German-English Lutheran Church was established. The first house of worship, on the corner of Twenty-eighth and Parker streets, was badly damaged by the tornado of March 23, 1913, and the present church building, at Twenty-fifth and Evans streets was erected. Rev. E. T. Otto was pastor of this church on April 1, 1916.
What is now known as the Grace English Lutheran Church was organized on April 7, 1889, as the Shull Memorial Lutheran Church and was incorporated ten days later. On October 12, 1892, the society was re-incorporated under the present name. When the church was first organized in 1887, the Shull heirs donated two lots at the corner of Twenty-sixth and Poppleton streets as a loca- tion for a church building. Rev. Luther M. Kulins, a son of the first Lutheran minister to visit Omaha, was the first pastor. The congregation now occupies a comfortable house of worship, with Rev. Clarence M. Swihart as pastor.
Other Lutheran churches in the city are as follows: The Pella Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, organized in 1886; located at No. 819 South Twenty-second Street, Rev. Peter B. Ammenthrop, pastor; the Swedish Lutheran Church, known as Salem Church, located at No. 3219 South Twenty-third Street, with Rev. F. A. Snider as pastor; the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church on the southeast corner of Twenty-third and K streets, under the pastoral care of
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KOUNTZE MEMORIAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, OMAHA
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Rev. Carl Bloomquist; the Immanuel Lutheran Deaconess Church, organized in 1890 and located at the intersection of Thirty-fourth Street and Meredith Avenue, Rev. P. M. Lindberg, pastor; St. Luke's, located at No. 3117 South Twenty- fourth Street, with Rev. W. A. Schaefer as pastor; Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, organized in 1902, at No. 2825 S Street, with Michael Adam as pastor ; another church of the same name at the northwest corner of Thirty-sixth Street and Lafayette Avenue under the pastoral charge of Rev. A. S. Lorimer; St. Matthew's, on the southwest corner of Nineteenth and Castellar streets, organized in 1911 and now under the pastorate of Rev. G. W. Synder; and an Evangelical Lutheran Church located at No. 2702 Camden Avenue.
CHAPTER XXVIII
CHURCH HISTORY, CONTINUED
THE METHODISTS-FIRST SERMON IN OMAHA-PRESBYTERIANS-HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF METHODIST AND PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATIONS-THE PEOPLE'S CHURCH-UNITARIANS-MISCELLANEOUS RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.
THE METHODISTS
According to the best authority available, the first religious services in Omaha were conducted by Rev. Peter Cooper, a Methodist minister from Council Bluffs, on Sunday, August 13, 1854. On that occasion Mr. Cooper preached to a small congregation in the St. Nicholas Hotel, then conducted by William P. Snowden and his wife. During the next year services were held occasionally in the old state house on Ninth Street by Rev. Isaac F. Collins, who organized the First Methodist Church in September, 1855. The next year a small brick chapel was erected on South Thirteenth Street, where the Omaha National Bank was after- ward located. In 1868 a new church was built on Seventeenth Street, between Dodge Street and Capitol Avenue. It was the intention of the society to erect a large church on the corner of Seventeenth Street and Capitol Avenue, but financial difficulties arose and the church lost the property, as well as the property on Thirteenth Street, except a small equity. In 1876 a frame building was erected on Davenport Street, just west of Seventeenth, which was occupied by the society as a house of worship until June 8, 1890, when services were held for the first time in the basement of the new building on the southeast corner of Twentieth and Davenport streets. The new edifice was soon afterward completed at a cost of about one hundred thousand dollars. It has a seating capacity of 1,200.
Rev. Isaac F. Collins was succeeded as pastor by Rev. John M. Chivington. During the Civil war Mr. Chivington served as colonel of a Colorado regiment and "wiped out" an Indian encampment on Sand Creek, which made him the sub- ject of a Congressional investigation and aroused a great deal of newspaper criticism, because he proceeded on the theory that "the only good Indian is a dead Indian." Other early pastors were: J. W. Taylor, W. M. Smith, H. T. Davis, David Hart, T. B. Lemon, WV. B. Slaughter, H. C. Westwood and Gilbert W. De Lamater. Mr. De Lamater afterward went to Indianapolis, Ind., where he was elected to Congress in 1876 on the greenback ticket. The present pastor is Rev. Titus Lowe.
The First German Methodist Episcopal Church of Omaha was the second society of this faith organized in the city. It was established in 1858 by Rev. Jacob Feisel, the first presiding elder of the district. Among the charter mem-
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bers were William and Elizabeth Floerge, Charlotte Floerge, Christian Pilster, Henry Bietze, William and Sarah Neighly, Jacob Wetzel, Emma and Savanna Neighly, and Peter Dissenroth. Rev. John P. Miller was the first pastor. The first house of worship was located on Fifteenth Street. It was dedicated in 1867 and cost nearly three thousand dollars. In 1877 a new church was built at the corner of Twelfth and Jackson streets, at a cost of $3,600, and was used until the completion of the present church at the corner of Eleventh and Center streets in 1886. The present pastor, Rev. G. J. Jaiser, took charge of the church in 1910. In a recent letter to the writer he mentions the number of members as sixty-eight, and adds: "Our membership is not larger because we are a German Mission Church, and all foreign churches are not permanent, but missions as long as the immigration lasts. Ultimately and naturally, we will unite with our English speaking churches." The church has a Sunday school of over one hundred members and a strong ladies' aid society.
The Methodist society known as the Dietz Memorial Church was organized in the summer of 1872 by Rev. J. M. Adair and was at first called the South Tenth Street Methodist Church. The first meetings were held in the grove at the corner of Tenth and Pierce streets. Among the early members were the following: N. J. Smith and wife, Joseph Smith and wife, Arthur N. Smith, Paul Harmon, Richard Grocox, Mrs. Etta Cole, Mrs. Frances Redfield, Mrs. S. I. Jeter, Mrs. Ancy Lohnes and Mrs. L. A. Harmon. In the fall of 1872 the little church building on the east side of Tenth Street, which had been erected by the United Presbyterians, was purchased of Thomas McCague and dedicated as a Methodist Church. It was a frame house and did not cost over one thousand dollars when it was first built. On July 10, 1881, the second church edifice was dedicated. Its cost was $1,800. The lot upon which it stood was purchased by the pastor, Rev. D. Marquette, in 1878 or 1879. The present house of worship was erected in 1905, when the society took the name of the Dietz Memorial Church, in honor of the late Gould P. Dietz. In 1910 the late John R. Hughes bequeathed to this church a residence valued at $5,000, and in 1911 Mr. Dietz's son, Gould Dietz, gave the society $5,000 to clear it from indebtedness. The cost of the present church building was $20,000. It is located at the southwest corner of Tenth and Pierce streets, has a membership of 275, with Rev. C. N. Dawson as pastor. During the conference year of 1889, this church, which was then under the charge of the present pastor, stood third among the Methodist churches of Nebraska for missionary contributions, being exceeded only by St. Paul's Church, of Lincoln, and the First Methodist Church, of Omaha.
On December 8, 1883, the First Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church of Omaha was organized by Rev. John Gabrielson. Among the charter members were: Otto Lobeck, John A. Gustus, Elias Swenson and wife, C. A. Hagerstrom and wife, O. T. Nelson, Selma and Alma Oak, August Nordin, Peter Hallen, C. J. Carlson and wife and Hannah Oberg. Rev. J. O. Alven was the first regular pastor. The first church, a small frame, was dedicated in May, 1884. It cost $2.500. The present church building was completed in 1904 at a cost of $12,000. In the spring of 1916 the society numbered 100 members, with Rev. Gustav Erick- son as pastor.
Hanscom Park Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1886. John Dale was active in the work of raising funds necessary for the work and the Vol I-26
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society started off in October with a membership of twenty-two. A lot on the corner of Georgia and Woolworth avenues was purchased and the first house of worship was dedicated on March 6, 1887. A parsonage was erected soon after- ward. The first pastor was Rev. H. H. Millard. He was succeeded by Rev. G. M. Brown, under whose ministerial labors a new church edifice was erected at a cost of $20,000. Hanscom Park Church is one of the prosperous Methodist societies of Omaha, having a strong membership and a well attended Sunday school. In the spring of 1916 the pastor was Rev. C. W. McCaskill.
Grace Methodist Church was organized in November, 1886, with Rev. T. B. Hilton as the first pastor. A small frame house of worship was dedicated in 1889. The present handsome and commodious church building was erected in 1914 at a cost of $30,000. In the spring of 1916 this congregation numbered 400 members and was under the pastoral charge of Rev. J. Walter Morris. Grace Church has no startling history. From the beginning it has grown in numbers and influence and it is today one of the most active Methodist churches in the city in missionary and regular church work.
Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, located on the southeast corner of Twen- ty-first and Binney streets, was organized in 1887 with sixteen charter members. In October of that year Rev. Alfred H. Henry was appointed pastor and immediately began the work of building a church. The site of the present church was pur- chased, funds for a building were raised, and in October, 1888, the neat and substantial brick edifice was completed at a cost of $16,000. About a month before the church was dedicated, Rev. J. W. Robinson succeeded Mr. Henry as pastor. Rev. W. K. Beans came to the pulpit in September, 1889, and remained with the congregation for four years. Trinity has had a satisfactory growth from the beginning and is now one of the firmly established Methodist churches of the city. In the spring of 1916 Rev. John F. Poucher was pastor.
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