USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Germantown > Brief history of Emmanuel's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Germantown, Ohio : for its centennial, A.D. 1809-A.D. 1909 > Part 2
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CHAPTER VII.
The Fourth Pastor.
A S the years went by, the number of congrega- tions served by the pastor of Emmanuel's Church gradually lessened. Stettler's was at- tached to a new parish that was organized; the State Road congregation died out, as practically did that of Elk Creek also, and there were left only the lately-organized St. Andrew's of Farmersville, Slifer's, and Emmanuel's to constitute the parish. But these had grown steadily in membership and many more services were needed, than in the earlier days. Rev. Henkel was also getting advanced in years, and it was recognized that he should have an assistant, as the parish was amply able financially to support two pastors.
In the year 1865 this assistant was called in the person of
Rev. Julius L. Stirewalt,
the pastor's son-in-law. He was born in Waynes- boro, Augusta County, Virginia, April 12, 1832. His dying father had dedicated him and his two brothers to the office of the Holy Ministry, and by the prayers and the diligent, faithful, and self-
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REV. JULIUS L. STIREWALT
denying labors of the widowed mother this was finally accomplished.
After studying first Medicine and then Law, Julius at last yielded to the guidance of Providence and began to study for the ministry at Capital Uni- versity, Columbus, Ohio, in 1851. His theological education, however, was completed at New Market, Virginia, under the supervision of his uncles, Revs. Ambrose Henkel and Jacob Stirewalt.
In 1854 he was ordained as a deacon by the Ten- nessee Synod with the right to baptize, catechize, and preach, but not to confirm or officiate at mar- riages. That same year he was united in marriage to Vanda L., daughter of Rev. Henkel. In 1856 he was fully ordained to the ministry. After pastor- ates at East Germantown, Indiana, and Lima, Ohio, his health failed and he retired to his mother's farm near New Market, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Val- ley, where he suffered much in mind, body, and estate from the repeated raids, made alternately by the Confederate and Federal forces during the War of the Rebellion.
In November, 1865, he followed the call to be- come his father-in-law's assistant, he taking upon himself the English work of the pastorate and Rev. Henkel retaining the German. His ministry was greatly blessed and under his labors the congrega- tions were built up and united and made increas- ingly prosperous. We cannot do better in portray- ing the man, than to quote from the biographical
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sketch that was published by authority of the Dis- trict Synod of Ohio.
"He was a man of good, natural abilities. His preaching was characterized by its great earnest- ness, sincerity, and pathos. As a pastor he had but few superiors. As a friend and companion, he was warm-hearted, genial, kind, lively, and humorous. Even during sickness he was pleasant, entertaining, and cheerful. His faith steadily ripened into assur- ance and holy love."
It can truthfully be said that of all the pastors Emmanuel's has had, he was the best beloved. And not only by his own people, but by the whole com- munity he was regarded with the greatest degree of esteem and friendship.
On the fifteenth of March, 1869, the Executive Committee on Home Missions of the General Coun- cil called him to be its "Missionary Agent for the State of Indiana." This was the first Home Mission work undertaken by that body, and therefore links Emmanuel's, as the mother congregation, with what has grown to be so mighty an instrument of blessing to the scattered and shepherdless members of the Lutheran flock.
The call was accepted and under its terms re- quired him to give one-half of his time to the organ- ization of new congregations in his special field of labor, to collect funds for Home Missions, and to carry on a general missionary work among and for the benefit of our Lutheran people. The other six months he gave to the work of his pastorate. Dur-
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ing the time of his labors as Missionary Agent, he wrote numerous letters to "The Lutheran and Mis- sionary," which vividly portrayed his labors and were most interesting to its readers.
But the death of his father-in-law and his own state of health, as tuberculosis of the lungs brought on increasing bodily weakness, made it necessary for him to resign his position as the Missionary Agent of the Home Mission Committee, which he did at the close of 1871. Before another six months passed away his earthly labors were ended.
His death occurred on the sixteenth of June, 1872, and his funeral services were held in Emman- uel's on the eighteenth. So great was the number that came to pay their last tribute of respect to his memory, that many could not find even standing room in the church. His body, like those of his predecessors, was laid to rest in the Germantown Cemetery. His work in Emmanuel's is still a cher- ished memory among its older members.
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CHAPTER VIII.
The Church Edifice Remodeled.
A T the same congregational meeting of June 4, 1866, at which the steps had been taken to give the English members the same rights and privileges as the German, the trustees were ap- pointed a committee on remodeling or rebuilding the church. Subscription lists were circulated and $3,000 was secured for this purpose, when a strong sentiment in favor of tearing down the old church entirely and rebuilding from the ground developed, so the plan of remodeling was then abandoned.
On Easter Monday, 1867, the project of re- modeling the church was again brought up, and it was finally decided to remodel instead of rebuilding the church, and the building committee was in- structed to go ahead with the work. This was pushed forward as rapidly as possible. The roof and part of the side walls and the entire front of the church were taken down. The gallery on the inside was removed, the walls built up, the church re- roofed, and the building altered into a two-story one, a Sunday-school room to be on the first floor and the auditorium above. An entire new front with massive bell tower was erected.
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THE CHURCH AT PRESENT
On Sunday, May 12, the last sermon was preached in the old church by Rev. Prof. Joel Swartz of Cincinnati. The corner-stone of the almost new building was laid July 4. The articles that had been taken from the old corner-stone were replaced, and with these a copy of the Revised Constitution, a list of the signers of the Constitution and the pres- ent communicants, about 300, a list of contributors to the remodeling, bread and wine, lists of National, State, County, and local officials, and additional coins.
During the work of remodeling, the services were held in the M. P. Church which was rented for the purpose. Saturday, November 30, 1867, found the Sunday-school room ready for occupancy and confessional services preparatory to the Lord's Supper were held. December 1 the Holy Com- munion was celebrated and the church formally reopened for divine service. Rev. Joseph Roof was present and preached four times at the reopening services.
The work thus far had cost about $5,000, the auditorium being still unfinished, and the tower lacking the spire. The snow-white pulpit and altar had been replaced in position in the Sunday-school room, and also the pews, which had been painted a dove color.
On Easter Monday, 1869, the congregation at its annual meeting, instructed the building com- mittee to go on with its work and complete the audi- torium. About $1,500 had been subscribed for this
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purpose at that time. The work was completed during the next twelve months and May 15, 1870, the building was consecrated and nearly a further $1,000 subscribed at that time, so that the work up to that date had cost some $7,500, exclusive of the work of furnishing the church, that had been done by the women of the congregation. The spire, whose tip is 140 feet from the ground, was not erected until 1880, during the pastorate of Rev. J. P. Hentz.
The church as thus completed was one of the best in the country. Though not as convenient as it might have been made had it been entirely rebuilt, beyond a doubt the $10,000 that was expended upon it was well and wisely spent. New ash pews, new pulpit and altar rail of white walnut, and the fresco- ing of the church in harmonious shades made the auditorium a most beautiful one. It is no wonder that the congregation rejoiced in the successful com- pletion of their labors.
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CHAPTER IX.
The Fifth Pastor.
FTER the death of Rev. J. L. Stirewalt, the congregation remained vacant until April 1, 1873. Before his death the division of the parish had been decided upon, and Farmersville and Shifer's called Amos Poorman to serve them as a separate pastorate. This left Germantown congre- gation alone, but it was abundantly able to support its own pastor. The attention of the congregation was directed to
Rev. J. P. Hentz,
then of Adamsville, Ohio, and he accepted the call extended. Rev. Hentz was born May 5, 1832, in the village of Beuern, near Giessen, in Hesse Darm- stadt, Germany. It will be remembered that it was at Giessen that Rev. Dill received his university education. Having received his early education in the schools of his native land, Rev. Hentz came to the United States in 1852. Four years thereafter he entered Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1861. In the fall of that year, he began his theological education in the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary in connection with Gettysburg College. Whilst still a student he received a license to preach from the
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Allegheny Synod in 1862, and in 1864 he was ordained by that body.
He served successively congregations in Indi- ana, West Newton, and Somerset, all in Pennsyl- vania, and from the last named place was called to Adamsville parish in 1871. He had proven himself a faithful and zealous pastor in these several parishes and entered upon his work in Emmanuel's with the hearty cooperation of all his people. Able as he was to minister equally well in both German and English, he was acceptable to all the members, and the growth of the congregation, though not rapid, was steady.
During his pastorate, as said above, the spire was added to the tower. The windows in the audi- torium were replaced by others of stained glass, adding much to its beauty. Through his influence and labors a pipe organ of sweetest tone was placed in the organ loft, the first one in any church in the village. In adding these improvements and others he was much aided by the Woman's Society of the congregation.
Another long-desired consummation was ef- fected during his pastorate, the obtaining on the part of the Lutheran congregation of sole ownership of the church and graveyard originally deeded to the Reformed and Lutherans in joint ownership. From the year 1856 there were no more interments in the graveyard, and many of the bodies were taken up and reburied in the Germantown Cemetery west of the village. This left the graveyard full of
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REV. J. P. HENTZ, D.D.
depressed places in which weeds ran riot and from which only with difficulty could they be removed. The Reformed had no interest in the keeping of the property in a sightly condition, and as this work fell entirely on the Lutherans, they felt that the ownership should be vested in them. The Reformed had never received a deed but for half of the prop- erty they occupied, for while Judge Philip Gunckel had never made the Lutherans a deed for their half, neither had he deeded that half to the Reformed, and he had never returned the $525 the Lutherans had paid him nor directed his executors so to do after his death.
1972088
The Lutherans therefore offered to quit-claim to the Reformed such interest in their church prop- erty as the payment of the $525 might have given them, if the Reformed would quit-claim to the Lu- therans their interest in the acre of ground in front of the latter's church edifice. Negotiations were car- ried on for this purpose even in the time of Revs. Henkel and Stirewalt, but without result, the Re- formed claiming that the payment of the $525 gave the Lutherans no title to their property, since they had received no deed.
Not until the spring of 1879 were Rev. Hentz and the Church Council able to bring the matter to a final settlement. This was effected by the Lu- therans paying the Reformed $100 and giving them a quit-claim to any right or privilege they might have in the Reformed Church property, whereupon the Reformed gave the Lutherans a quit-claim to
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their one-half of the acre of ground they had so long held in common.
Another note-worthy project during Rev. Hentz's pastorate was that of the Germantown In- stitute. At the meeting of the District Synod of Ohio, held in Emmanuel's Church in 1874, action was taken upon the founding of an academic insti- tution by that body and the offer of the citizens of Germantown, with the Lutherans in the lead, "to donate suitable grounds and an academy building, if Synod would guarantee the immediate inception and future support of the enterprise," was accepted. A board of trustees consisting of six members of Synod, three clerical and three lay, and of three cit- izens of Germantown was appointed. Of this board, Rev. Hentz was President, and at the next meeting of Synod the trustees reported through him the securing of a site "that is truly handsome, the pros- pect from it extensive, and the scenery charming. It is doubtful whether a similarly attractive site for an institution of this kind could be found anywhere in Ohio." "The building had already been begun and was to be sixty-four feet by fifty feet. On the first floor an entrance hall, with office and cloak- room on either side, and entering into a large hall. This hall to be sufficiently capacious to accommo- date 150 pupils; the second floor to be set apart for library and recitation-rooms."
Owing to a very rainy and inclement season, the building was not completed by the opening of the school year in 1875, but the Synod instructed
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the Board to secure a competent teaching force, Prof. George Dasher, of Capital University, having been placed in charge. Fireman's Hall had been secured for teaching purposes until the building would be ready for occupancy, and in it the Acad- emy was opened in September, 1875.
At the meeting of Synod in August, 1876, the board of trustees reported, "The Institute was in operation the past year under the principalship of Professor Dasher, assisted by Rev. J. P. Hentz, Mr. C. H. Eckhardt, and Miss Anna Henkel." [The arduous labors of Rev. Hentz were performed gra- tuitously.]
"The corner-stone of the new building was laid April 5, and the building (first of August) is now under roof. The hope is entertained that it will be ready for occupancy by the opening of the next session."
Synod seemed to be well pleased with what had been accomplished, and authorized the appointment of an agent or agents to secure an endowment fund at the earliest possible period. It is to be regretted that all the labors and efforts of Rev. Hentz, so ably seconded by the congregation and citizens of Germantown, came to naught.
At the next meeting of synod in August, 1877, quite a different spirit toward Rev. Hentz and the Germantown Institute was manifested. The Board of Trustees had carried on the Institute until that spring in the new building, which was not entirely completed. Then Professor Dasher had been asked
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to continue the school during the spring session, all the tuition fees to be applied to his salary. This he consented to do, but within a few days thereafter resigned, moved to Lewisburg, and there opened a school of his own. The citizens of Germantown were not willing to put any more money in the building unless assured that synod would carry on the school, and synod took advantage of this fact to declare "that said institute building had never been passed over to or been placed in possession of the Board in accordance with the agreement be- tween the citizens of Germantown and this Synod."
So Synod declined to support the Institute any longer. Its subsequent history does not belong to this work.
Rev. Hentz resigned the pastorate of Emman- uel's, April 1, 1884.
Another change that was effected during his ministry here deserves a notice of its own.
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THE SUNDAY SCHOOL ROOM
CHAPTER X. The Sunday School.
HE first attempt to organize a Sunday School was in 1828, when through the efforts mainly of Mrs. Melasina Ayers, a Lutheran, and Mrs. Elizabeth Rohrer, a member of the Reformed Church, a meeting was called, Sunday-school offi- cers elected, and the school called into existence ; but there was much opposition at that time to Sun- day Schools, and after an existence of about two years it was discontinued.
In the year 1844 the same ladies, assisted by a representative of the American Sunday-school Union, made another and this time successful effort to organize a Sunday School in Emmanuel's Church. But though located in this church, it was a union Sunday School, and its officers were often members of another denomination, and its teachers also. All sorts of doctrines were taught by all sorts of people.
The Superintendents of the school, even up to the year 1865, when Rev. Stirewalt became pastor, were occasionally men who did not belong to the congregation, though most of them were Lutherans. In 1865, Mr. Peter Dechant, a Lutheran and a very energetic and efficient man, was elected. He was succeded in office by Mr. David Eminger, also a staunch Lutheran and an able man.
Gradually the school became more and more Lutheran in its character, and on the eleventh
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of April, 1877, a constitution was unanimously adopted, making it the object of the Sunday School "to impart instruction in the doctrines and precepts of the Christian religion in the manner in which these doctrines and precepts are set forth in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and are held and taught in the Confessions of the Evangel- ical Lutheran Church." Also, "to cultivate and foster a truly Lutheran Cultus, so as to prepare the children for becoming worthy communicants in the Evangelical Lutheran Church." It provides more- over that "books of worship and instruction shall be used, that conform to the teachings and usages of that part of the Lutheran Church known as the Gen- eral Council."
Very naturally this made it necessary that the Superintendent should be an active, communicant member of the Lutheran Church, and such was henceforth the case. After David Eminger, there were chosen as Superintendents, Jacob C. Eckhardt, Leonard Dechant, Edwin Chryst, and Charles Im- mel, who is still serving. The school now uses the graded course of instruction prepared by the Gen- eral Council, and with the hearty cooperation of parents, is able to render effective service in training the children, youth and adults of the congregation in Christian knowledge. The enrollment of the school is now about 300 with an average attendance of 175. Last year a $300 Starr piano was added to the equipment of the school.
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REV. ALBERT F. SIEBERT, D.D.
CHAPTER XI.
The Sixth Pastor.
FTER the resignation of Rev. Hentz, April 1, 1884, the congregation was without a pastor for some months. Finally on October 5 of that year a call was extended
Rev. Albert F. Siebert,
at that time pastor of St. John's English Evangel- ical Lutheran Church of Dayton, and a few weeks thereafter was accepted by him. Rev. Siebert was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, October 18, 1848. He received his early school training in the public schools of that city. In the fall of 1865 he entered the Preparatory Department of the Western Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pittsburg, located in that city. In June, 1870, he graduated in the Classical Department as valedic- torian of his class. The following September he en- tered the Philadelphia Theological Seminary, now located at Mt. Airy in that city. From this he grad- uated in June, 1873, and having received a call to St. John's, Dayton, was ordained by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, June 11, 1873, in Emmanuel's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Pottstown, Penn- sylvania.
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On the first of July, 1873, he took charge of the congregation in Dayton, which he served until his acceptance of the call to Emmanuel's. He began preaching here the first Sunday in November, 1884, giving alternate Sundays to Emmanuel's and St. John's until the call of Rev. J. G. Neiffer to the lat- ter in the following March. With his family he re- moved to Germantown the latter part of January, 1885.
He is now closing the twenty-fifth year of his pastorate, and during this quarter century he has followed nearly all who were the fathers and moth- ers of the church when he first came, to the last resting-places of their bodies in God's Acre. Of the thirteen members of the Church Council who par- ticipated in extending his call, only four, H. C. Moses, John P. Shuey, Tobias Kuhule, and David Eminger, are left in the congregation, and only the first named is still a member of the Council.
But the congregation has not remained at a standstill. The 350 members have been added to in spite of many losses by death and removal until now they number 450. The fathers and mothers have passed away, but in many cases, sons and daughters are now taking their places. There have been many
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THE PARSONAGE
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Improvements to the Church Property.
Revs. Dill, Henkel, Stirewalt, and Hentz, each had been the possessor of his own home, in which respect, however, Rev. Siebert was not so fortunate. Being compelled to move three times in the first two years of his pastorate, the Church Council decided that the wisest and best thing to do was to secure a parsonage. A lot facing on Main Street and running back to the churchyard was purchased in the summer of 1886 from Mr. B. F. Kindig for $300 and plans were at once adopted for the erec- tion of a two-story brick parsonage of seven rooms. The work was carried on as rapidly as possible, and in June, 1887, the pastor and his family took possession. Counting labor and material donated as cash, the building cost about $3,000. An addi- tional room was added in 1905 at a cost of $150.
Up to the year 1889 the church was still heated with stoves. Mrs. Christian Rohrer then resolved that the unsightly and often smoky and sooty heat- ing apparatus should be replaced by something bet- ter, and authorized the Church Helpers to put in hot-air furnaces at her expense. This they were only too glad to do, and contracted with Bennett and Peck, of Cincinnati, for two large size furnaces. These were installed that same year at a cost of $300 and are still doing service.
The church yard, owing to the sunken grave- stones and depressions where bodies had been re- moved from graves, was very difficult to keep look-
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ing sightly. Therefore in 1896 the Church Council secured the passage of an act by the State Legisla- ture permitting them to remove the grave-stones and to level the yard. The stones were thereupon removed, the inscriptions being first copied into the church record for future reference, the yard was leveled and sown to grass, and is now a beautiful spot.
The year prior to this, cement walks had been laid in front of the parsonage and through its lot, and finally in front of the church yard and up to the church door. These expenses were partly met by subscriptions and partly by two bequests that be- came available.
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AUDITORIUM IN 1897
CHAPTER XII.
Bequests to the Church.
N the thirteenth of April, 1896, a bequest of $1,000 from the estate of Mrs. Eliza Kemp, who before her marriage to Mr. Joseph Kemp was the widow of Mr. Peter Dechant, was received by the trustees for the use of the church. Mrs. Kemp had been a faithful member and wished to show forth her love for her church in this way. On the ninth of June of the same year another be- quest of $150 was received by the trustees from the estate of Mrs. Rebecca Biechler of Jackson Town- ship. These bequests made it possible for the trus- tees to effect a number of needed betterments, and to pay the bills in full for the improvements that had been planned. A slate roof at a cost of $300 was placed on the church; the interior was refres- coed by O. J. Kover and Son, costing $325, and electric light fixtures replaced the old oil lamps, re- quiring $350 more. Part of the expense of these im- provements was met by extra subscriptions.
The largest bequest, $6,152.25, was received from the estate of Mrs. Mary Ann Kneisly, nee Eby, who was a resident of Dayton at the time of her death, but had been born and raised near Mudlick. This bequest gave an opportunity to build a much-
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needed addition to the church for Sunday-school purposes, as also for a pastor's study, for a room for the pipe-organ, and for an altar recess. The new ad- dition with a memorial window to Mrs. Kneisly cost $2,500; additions to and the removal of the pipe organ to its new position, $250; frescoing, $200; new carpet, $185 ; repairs and painting of church and par- sonage, $400; a new central electrolier and other smaller improvements, $200. There have been other drafts on the fund since, leaving at the present time $1,850 invested, which the Church Council desires to keep as a permanent improvement fund.
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