USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 53
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The 'Seward Street Methodist Episcopal Church was organized under that name in 1884, though it had been in existence for some fourteen years under the name of the Eighteenth Street Church. At the time of the removal to Seward Street the membership was only thirty, with Rev. R. L. Marsh as pastor. In 1911 this congregation was united with that of the Walnut Hill Methodist Episcopal Church.
The Walnut Hill Church was organized in 1891 as a small class which held its meetings in the Stonecypher home at 3810 Decatur Street. Rev. T. C. Webster was the first pastor. Its handsome house of worship is located on Charles Street, between Fortieth and Forty-first streets. It has a membership of 400 and in the summer of 1916 Rev. Oliver M. Keve was the pastor. During the week beginning on August 26, 1916, the church celebrated its twenty-fifth anni- versary with appropriate observances. Connected with this church are a strong Sunday school, an Epworth League and some other auxiliary societies.
Hirst Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1888. It is located on the northwest corner of Thirty-fourth and Larimore streets, has a neat house of worship and in the summer of 1916 was under the pastoral charge of Rev. H. E. Hess. Another memorial church of this denomination is the Lefler Memorial, which is located on the corner of Fifteenth and Madison streets. Rev. J. W. Henderson is the present pastor.
The McCabe Methodist Episcopal Church is situated on Farnam Street,
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, OMAHA
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FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, OMAHA
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between Fortieth and Forty-first streets. It is one of the active West End churches and is under the pastoral charge of Rev. William H. Underwood. It was organized in 1903.
On November 12, 1905, the Pearl Memorial Methodist Church, located on the southeast corner of Twenty-fourth and Larimore streets, was organized by Rev. G. A. Luce, who was the first pastor. Among the charter members of this congregation were: Mrs. C. W. Brockway, J. J. Cannon and wife, J. W. Davis, Mrs. A. Ensign, F. E. Griffing, Gilmore King and wife, Frank Whippeman and wife and Mrs. C. P. White. The church building, a cement block structure, was erected at a cost of $9,000 and was dedicated on July 28, 1907. The church now numbers 400 members, has a Sunday school, a flourishing ladies' aid society and a woman's home missionary society. A new location at the corner of Twenty- fourth and Ogden streets has recently been purchased and the church is prepar- ing to erect a new house of worship. Rev. Earl E. Bowen is the present pastor.
In 1889 a society known as the Newman Methodist Church purchased the building formerly occupied by the St. Mary's Avenue Congregational Church. Rev. J. E. Ensign was then pastor. The church was never regularly organized and in the fall of 1891 it was disbanded.
A Norwegian-Danish Methodist Church was organized in 1882 and now holds meetings in its church building on the southeast corner of Twenty-fifth and Decatur. Rev. John Lorentz is pastor. What is known as the Free Methodist Church was organized in 1885. It is located on Maple Street, just west of Fortieth, and in the summer of 1916 Rev. H. D. Green was the pastor. The Methodist Episcopal Mission Church is located on the corner of Twenty-second and Seward streets. It was organized in 1909 and is under the pastoral charge of Rev. Griffin C. Logan. Then there are: the»Southwestern Methodist Church, at 5123 Hickory Street ; Gold Chapel, at 3828 Gold Street; North Omaha Meth- odist Church, at 5418 Sherman Avenue; and Oak Street Methodist Church, 011 the southeast corner of Twentieth and Oak streets. The last named was or- ganized in 1910 and is now under the pastoral charge of Rev. T. C. Webster.
There are two colored Methodist churches in the city. St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1869. It is located at 617 North Eighteenth Street, with Rev. W. T. Osborne as pastor. The other colored church is situated at 5235 South Twenty-fifth Street. Rev. John H. Nichols is pastor.
THE PRESBYTERIANS
In June, 1857, a few Presbyterians living in Omaha were organized into the First Presbyterian Church by Rev. George P. Bergen, who served the little flock as pastor for about two years, when he was succeeded by Rev. George Webster. In 1860 the society was reorganized by Rev. F. M. Dimmick and in 1868 the congregation took possession of its first house of worship, on the northwest corner of Dodge and Seventeenth streets. Twenty-five years after it was organized, the church had a membership of over five hundred. In 1915 the old church building at the corner of Dodge and Seventeenth streets was torn down and the society held meetings in the Young Men's Christian Association auditorium and the Billy Sunday tabernacle until the new structure on the
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corner of Thirty-fourth and Farnam streets was ready for occupancy. The first services were held in the chapel of the new church on March 26, 1916, as the main auditorium was not quite finished. In the new building the First Presby- terian Church has one of the finest and most modern church edifices in the city. The main auditorium seats 1,000 people and the chapel has a seating capacity of 500. The cost of the building was $150,000. A pipe organ was donated by Joseph H. Millard and his daughter Jessie, as a memorial to the late Mrs. Joseph H. Millard. On April 19, 1916, the first formal dinner party in the new parish house was given by the women's society of the church. Rev. E. H. Jenks is the present pastor.
The First United Presbyterian Church is the result of a missionary movement on the part of the Presbytery of Nebraska. On March 19, 1867, the Presbytery decided to send a missionary to Omaha and Rev. Thomas McCague was ap- pointed. He began his labors in July of that year, by holding services in "Beal's schoolhouse," on the corner of Fifteenth Street and Capitol Avenue. On Sep- tember 1, 1867, a Sunday school was organized and the church proper was organized on January 1I, 1868, with nine members. William H. Brown and C. S. Hendy were the first ruling elders. Mr. McCague erected the first house of worship on his own property, on South Tenth Street, between Pierce and Pacific streets, where services were held until January, 1873. The board of church extension then purchased the old Baptist Tabernacle Church, on the corner of Eighteenth and California streets, for $4,500. In 1889 the present edifice at the corner of Twenty-first and Emmet streets was completed, at a cost of $15,000 and the congregation removed into its new home. It is a substantial brick build- ing and the property is still in good condition. The society now numbers over two hundred and fifty members, with Rev. A. C. Douglas as pastor.
The first German Presbyterian Church was organized on December 20, 1880, with twelve members. Two years later a lot on the corner of Eighteenth and Cuming streets, on which was a small dwelling, was purchased for $3,300. The dwelling was remodeled for a parsonage and a small house of worship was erected at a cost of $1,700. About this time the society acquired a lot in South Omaha, with the intention of building a new church there in the future, but the plans were altered and the new church was built at No. 2400 North Twentieth Strect. In the summer of 1916 the pastor of this church was Rev. H. W. Seibert.
The Second Presbyterian Church was organized on February 27, 1881, under the name of the North Presbyterian Church. The organization was completed in the Saunders Street Mission Chapel near the intersection of Saunders and Cuming streets. There the congregation worshiped until in October, 1882, when it took possession of its own church building, near the corner of Twenty-fourth and Nicholas streets. The first pastor was Rev. F. S. Blayney, who continued to occupy the pulpit until December, 1885. It was during his ministry that the first house of worship was built at a cost of $5,000. The present Presbyterian congregation known as the "North Church" is situated on the corner of Twenty- fourth and Wirt streets, with Rev. M. V. Higbee as pastor.
The Third Presbyterian Church, located on the southwest corner of Twen- tieth and Leavenworth streets, was organized on October 4, 1882, and is the out- growth of a mission Sunday school established in July, 1881. Rev. William McCandlish was particularly active in developing the mission school into a
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church society. Among the charter members of this church were: James France and wife, Howland Dailey and wife, Joseph L. Welshans and wife, J. R. Har- denburgh and wife, J. S. Ramsyer and wife, E. J. Brenton and Mrs. David R. Loring. Rev. Frank H. Hays was the first regular pastor. The first meetings were held in a small frame building, which occupied the site of the present church and belonged to Ezra Millard, who allowed the church to use it without payment of rent. In 1884 a church building was erected. This congregation is now in a prosperous condition, with Rev. Robert Karr as pastor.
The following history of the Castellar Street Presbyterian Church was pre- pared by Rev. Charles C. Meek, pastor :
"In September, 1883, at a meeting of the Presbyterian ministers and officers of the city, in the First Church, a movement was set on foot to start a church enterprise in the southern part of the city. A committee was appointed which investigated the matter and recommended the purchase of our present lot at Sixteenth and Castellar streets. The price paid was $1,100. The building was begun in December and completed and dedicated and the Sabbath school or- ganized on the first Sabbath in June, 1884. Rev. Thomas Hall, who had been the prime mover, preached in the church Sabbath afternoons until December, 1885. Three months during the winter of 1886, Rev. W. R. Henderson, then professor in Bellevue College, supplied the pulpit.
"On Saturday evening, January 16, 1886, a committee of the Presbytery of Omaha, consisting of Rev. W. R. Henderson, Rev. Thomas Hall and Elder P. L. Perine, organized the Castellar Street Presbyterian Church with eighteen members and one elder, William Hair. Following are the names of the early members: R. E. Copson and wife, Mrs. Sarah Johnson, Miss Gertrude Johnson, Mrs. Jane Stewart, Mrs. Frances Wells, Mrs. Jennie Vander Creek, Mrs. Ever- dena A. Koopman, Mrs. Catherine Bloom, Mrs. Jennie Arnst, Walter Vander Creek, John Bell, John Stewart, Robert Vint, G. F. Gallenbrock and wife, Wil- liam Hair and wife, and Mrs. Jeanie McIntosh (now Mrs. Jeanie Patrick ).
"On February 28, 1886, James Marquis Wilson, then a student at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, preached for the congregation and was called as pastor. He entered upon his duties on May 2d. and was installed on June 6, 1886. Doctor Wilson served the church as pastor for thirteen years. Two short pastorates succeeded that of Doctor Wilson-those of Alvin R. Scott and Rev. W. A. Allison. Rev. Walter II. Reynolds served as pastor from September, 1902, to April, 1908, and Rev. Ralph H. Houseman, from June, 1908, to February, 1912. The present pastor, Rev. Charles C. Meek, began his pastorate on Sep- tember 1, 1912.
"The original church edifice, a frame building, was remodeled and enlarged. and dedicated on August 2, 1891. The present membership of the church is 200."
Clifton Hill Presbyterian Church was organized in 1886. It is located on the northwest corner of Forty-fifth and Grant streets, where it has a comfortable house of worship and is prospering under the pastorate of Rev. B. R. von der Lippe. Another church of this denomination that was organized in 1886 was the Park Avenue Church, which established its house of worship at the corner of Park Avenue and Jackson Street. It was organized on October 30, 1886, and on
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April 1, 1887, Rev. John A. Henderson was called as pastor. This church does not appear in the city directory for 1916.
The Central United Presbyterian Church was organized on May 23, 1887, by thirty-six persons, most of whom withdrew from the First United Presbyterian Church for that purpose. Among the charter members were Judge J. H. McCul- loch and wife, A. G. Charlton and wife, George G. Wallace and wife, R. B. Wallace and several members of the McCague family. Rev. John Williamson, formerly of Bellefontaine, Ohio, was the first pastor. The society purchased the old First Methodist Church property, where the present postoffice building stands, for $11,000. When the United States Government selected that block as a location for the postoffice, the congregation received $19,000 for its prop- erty. A new church was then erected on the northwest corner of Dodge and Twenty-fourth streets at a cost of $30,000. It was completed early in the 'gos and is still occupied as a place of worship. This society has furnished presidents of the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations of Omaha and the Nebraska State Sunday School Association. The present membership is 375, with Rev. Hugh B. Speer as pastor.
The year 1887 seems to have been a prosperous one with the Presbyterians of Omaha. Besides the Central United Church, four other Presbyterian congrega- tions were organized during the year. The R. L. Wheeler Memorial Presbyterian Church was organized in May, 1887, by Rev. Robert L. Wheeler, while in attend- ance upon the meeting of the General Assembly in Omaha. The meeting at which the church was organized was held in a schoolhouse not far from the Union Pacific station and thirteen members signed the roll. The first house of worship was erected in 1887-88 at the corner of Twenty-fifth and J streets. It cost $2,200 and was afterward sold to the United Presbyterians. At that time the society was known as the First Presbyterian Church of South Omaha. The United Presbyterians removed the old church building to Twenty-third and H streets, where they still hold services under the pastorate of Rev. Albert N. Porter. On the site where it was built the First Presbyterian Church of South Omaha erected a new structure, which was afterward sold to the Jews and con- verted into a Temple Israel. Its cost was $10,000. The present house of wor- ship on the corner of Twenty-third and J streets, was completed in 1910, at a cost of $45,000. In December, 1915, the name was changed to the "R. L. Wheeler Memorial Presbyterian Church of Omaha." The congregation now numbers 550 members, with Rev. R. L. Wheeler as pastor.
The Westminster Presbyterian Church, on the southwest corner of Twenty- ninth and Mason streets, was organized in 1887 with forty-seven members. Rev. John Gordon was the first pastor. Under his ministry the present church edifice was erected, at a cost of about $20,000. The present pastor is Rev. J. F. Young.
The Lowe Avenue Presbyterian Church, situated on the southeast corner of Fortieth and Nicholas streets, was also organized in 1887. Its pastor in the summer of 1916 was Rev. A. F. Ernst. This society is in a prosperous condi- tion, owns a comfortable house of worship and maintains a strong Sunday school.
Savage & Bell's History of Omaha, published in 1894, mentions a "Knox Pres- byterian Church" as having been organized in 1887 with thirteen members. Meet- ings were held at first in a vacant store room on Lake Street, just west of Nine- teenth, but about 1889 a church on the corner of Nineteenth and Ohio
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streets, having a seating capacity of 400, was completed and dedicated. Rev. Paul Martin was the first regular pastor. This church does not appear in the city directory for 1916.
The Church of the Covenant, on the corner of Pratt and Twenty-seventh streets, was organized on December 5, 1893, as the Bedford Place Presbyterian Church, with the following charter members: C. F. Gardner and wife, Charles Ross, Jr., and wife, Irvin G. Kennedy and wife, John B. Tait and wife, Miss Essie Tait, J. L. Reed and wife, Mrs. J. V. Plympton and Mrs. Margaret West- cott. Rev. Knox P. Boude was the first pastor. The first meeting place was in a small frame building that had been erected by the city as a schoolhouse, located at 3026 Evans Street, but which was sold to the new congregation for a church. About 1903 that building was sold, the site of the present church purchased, and the building that had been erected by the Hanscom Park United Presbyterian Church was bought and removed to the new location. The name was then changed to its present form. The membership in the summer of 1916 was reported as 150. Rev. Charles H. Fleming has been pastor since 1911.
Bethlehem Bohemian Presbyterian Church was started in the early part of the year 1897 by the R. L. Wheeler Memorial Church as a mission. It is located at the corner of Twenty-first and R streets and is under the pastoral charge of Rev. E. J. Kallina.
On May 6, 1901, the Dundee Presbyterian Church was organized with the following charter members: Frank Anderson, Mrs. Stella M. Anderson, Fred C. Shields, Mrs. Edith S. Shields, Miss Zora I. Shields, David Reed, Mrs. Mary Reed, Miss Kathryn H. Reed, Henry W. Lampe, Mrs. Emma A. Lampe, Wil- liam B. Lampe, Mrs. Mary Murtagh, Miss Mollie Murtagh, Mrs. Jennie McIlvaine and Mrs. J. M. Dow. For about two years the pulpit was supplied by Rev. J. J. Lampe and Rev. Daniel E. Jenkins, both professors in the Omaha Theological Seminary. In 1903 Rev. T. C. Hunter was called as the first regular pastor. The first house of worship was a frame structure, which was purchased from the Calvary Baptist Church and removed from Twenty-sixth and Hamilton streets to the corner of Fiftieth and Underwood, in Dundee, and fitted up at an expense of about four thousand dollars. It was dedicated in the fall of 1901. In 1909 the present church edifice, a handsome brick building, was completed and dedi- cated. It cost $20,000. This church maintains a strong Sunday school and ranks high among the Presbyterian churches of the state for its benevolent work. Rev. Harry B. Foster is the present pastor.
Fairview Presbyterian Church was organized in 1910 and was for some time under the charge of Rev. Charles H. Fleming, pastor of the Church of the Covenant. Early in the year 1916, owing to the growth of the two congrega- tions becoming so great that the work was too arduous for one pastor, the churches separated and Fairview became an independent congregation. This church is located at No. 4030 Pratt Street.
Parkvale Presbyterian Church was organized in 1912. The first house of wor- ship was located at Thirty-first and Gold streets, but in the spring of 1916 the Omaha Presbytery gave the society the privilege of removing to a new location "in or near Martha Street and Thirty-second Avenue." The pastor of this church is Rev. R. W. Taylor.
For several years the King's Daughters of the Wheeler Memorial Church
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supported a mission Bible school at Fifteenth and M streets. When the Wheeler Memorial Church completed its new house of worship in 1910, the mission was removed to Forty-ninth and R streets, where it developed into the West Q Street Presbyterian Church. Its church building was dedicated on Easter Sunday, April 23, 1916.
The Benson Presbyterian Church is one of the youngest of that denomination in Douglas County. It has a comfortable house of worship and is prospering under the ministry of Rev. A. J. McClung.
THE PEOPLE'S CHURC11
Early in the fall of 1889 Rev. Charles W. Savidge began a series of religious meetings in Boyd's Opera House and continued for some eight months, when a society known as the People's Church was organized. Among the attendants at this church were many of that class that seldom are seen in the regular churches. Business men of the city recognized Mr. Savidge's qualifications for this kind of work and contributed liberally to the support of his church. A choir was organized under the leadership of Frank S. Smith and for a time the meetings were well attended. In June, 1890, Mr. Savidge accepted the pastorate of the Newman Methodist Church (he had previously served for three years as pastor of the Seward Street Methodist Church) and the services of the People's Church were discontinued.
Mr. Savidge remained but a short time with the Newman Methodist Church and in October, 1891, he purchased the church building formerly occupied by the United Presbyterians, located on Eighteenth Street between California and Webster streets, and revived the People's Church. At the time Mr. Savidge pur- chased the church property he was without money or pledges of any kind, but it was not long until the house was filled with hcarers at every service and in less than six months the $2,100 necessary to pay for and repair the building were raised and the church provided with a permanent home. As the name indicates, this church is for the people and is not denominational. In connection with it Mrs. Savidge established a sewing school, which was attended by poor children, who were given the garments they made, and a rescue home for boys was inau- gurated under the management of James A. Kellar. Mr. Kellar came well pre- pared for his work, having been rescued in New York City by a similar institution Mr. Savidge is still in charge of the church as pastor and services are held regularly every Sunday.
THE UNITARIANS
In the summer of 1869 Rev. H. F. Bond, a Unitarian minister, came to Omaha and held services, with the result that the First Unitarian Church was incorporated on August 22, 1869. A lot at the southeast corner of Seventeenth and Cass streets was soon afterward purchased and a small brick chapel erected on the south end thereof, with a view of having it join the main building to be erected later. Rev. W. E. Copeland succeeded Mr. Bond and remained as pastor for a number of years. He was succeeded by Rev. Newton M. Mann in September, 1889. Under Mr. Copeland's ministry the main building of the church was
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erected and dedicated, but after a time the church went down. In the winter of 1915-16 the society was revived. The Omaha Bee of March 22, 1916, said :
"Two very happy events of the last half year in Omaha have been in the form of resurrections. The two come-backs are the Audubon Society and the Unitarian Society. Both seem to have lost nothing in vitality by their long sleep-they are stronger and farther reaching than in the days of their old activity. The Unitarian Society is going to revive the old-fashioned New England church sociable, with the added interest of dancing. The social evening is to be a regular feature of the church organization."
In the revival of the Unitarian organization, C. W. Russell was made chair- man of the board of trustees ; B. W. Capen, chairman of the finance committee ; WV. F. Baxter, chairman of the committee on meetings and ministers; Mrs. W. F. Baxter, committee on music; Grant Parsons, committee on membership; Wil- liam Newton, committee on lot and building; Mrs. G. A. Joslyn, committee on courtesies. Meetings are held in Turpin Hall, corner of Twenty-eighth and Farnam streets, but plans have been prepared for a new church edifice, which will be erected as soon as a location is selected and purchased.
MISCELLANEOUS
The First Universalist Church was organized in the latter 'Sos and for some time held services in the Goodrich Hall on Saunders Street. Then a lot was secured in Kountze Place and a house of worship was erected. It was of brick, located on the corner of Nineteenth and Lothrop streets, and cost about fifteen thousand dollars. Rev. Q. H. Shinn was pastor until the fall of 1891, when he resigned and Rev. W. F. Smith, of Galesburg, Ill., became pastor. This church does not appear in the city directory for 1916.
The one Reformed Church in Omaha was organized about the beginning of the present century and is located on the southwest corner of Mason Street and Deer Park Boulevard. Rev. John F. Hawk was pastor in the summer 1916.
The Russian Church is represented by the Congregation of Israel, which holds meetings at No. 1721 Chicago Street, and the Greek Orthodox Church has a small but neat brick house of worship at No. 2301 South Sixteenth Street.
Harford Memorial United Brethren Church, located at No. 1823 Lothrop Street, was organized in 1908 and is now under the pastoral care of Rev. W. O Jones. Another United Brethren Church is the Pentecostal Mission, located at No. 2208 Cuming Street. Rev. Richard Hewitt is the pastor.
The Salvation Army first made its appearance in Omaha about 1889 and secured the old First Methodist Church, on Davenport Street between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets. The Army now has two stations in the city-one in the old church above mentioned, where Capt. J. J. Elwood is in command, and the other at 1514 Davenport Street under the management of Capt. Hulda Berg. The Volunteers of America, an organization similar to the Salvation Army, have their headquarters at No. 114 North Fifteenth Street, with Maj. F. . 1. McCormick in charge.
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