USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Dayton > History of Dayton, Ohio. With portraits and biographical sketches of some of its pioneer and prominent citizens Vol. 2 > Part 29
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
The First English Lutheran Church was organized July 6, 1839, upon which day the following article of agreement was adopted: " We, the subscribers, feeling the importance of forming an Evangelical Inthe- ran congregation in Dayton, Ohio, for ourselves and children, do hereby, in humble reliance on the great Head of the church, form ourselves into a Lutheran congregation. We acknowledge ourselves members of the Lutheran Church, and of course subject to the discipline and church government of the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the United States." This article was signed by the following persons: Henry Creager, Philip Beaver, John Prugh, Peter Baker, Frederick Geb- hart, Elijah Ely, Samuel Keller, John Hoppert, and J. G. Hoppert. Of these persons the following were elected officers: Elders, Henry Creager and Philip Beaver; deacons, Frederick Gebhart and Peter Baker. A. . committee was appointed to secure the temporary use of the German Reformed Church, and the vestry was authorized to procure a lot suitable for the crection of a church building. In August, 1840, the Rev. D. P. Rosenmiller was elected pastor of the new church, and in April following a lot was purchased on the corner of Fourth and Jeffe son streets. Upon this lot a brick church building was erected, 45x60 feet in size. In 1856, this house became too small for the congregation, and was sold to the United Presbyterians. A. lot was thereupon purchased on Main Street, between Fourth and Fifth. Upon this lot a large brick was erected in 1860 and dedicated January 20, 1861. It is in the Gothic style of archi- tecture, and is 121x72 feet in size. The lecture room in the basement is 61 fect 6 inches by 43 feet in size, and contains 104 pews which will accommodate 416 people. Besides the lecture room, there are the infant . class room, the young men's prayer meeting room, the Sunday-school room, and the library. There are also rooms for the use of the Ladies' Benevolent Association, three rooms for the sexton, and one for the pastor's study. The audience room above is 92 feet long by 61 feet 6 inches wide and the ceiling is 31 feet high. The pulpit is 18 feet wide
1
1
624
HISTORY OF DAYTON.
with a recess of 6 feet. The number of pews is 152 and the seating capacity of the room is 800. The cost of the church, as it was when dedicated, was $31,000, and the tower, which was to be completed, was estimated to cost $3,000. The ground upon which the building stands cost $7,000.
The Rev. Mr. Rosenmiller served the church as pastor from 1840 to 1849, when he resigned and went to Hanover, Pennsylvania. He was succeeded by the Rev. P. Rizer, who had been pastor of the German Lutheran Church, at Cumberland, Maryland, and who remained until 1855. The next pastor was the Rev. F. W. Conrad, D. D., who remained until 1862. The Rev. D. Steck was pastor from 1862 to 1864; Rev. L. A. Gottwald, D. D., from 1865 to 1868; Rev. Irving Magee, from 1865 to 1872; Rev. J. B. Helwig, from 1872 to 1874; Rev. T. T. Everett, from 1874 to 1876; the Rev. G. F. Stelling, D. D., from 1877 to 1882, when he was succeeded by Rev. Joseph H. Barclay. Mr. Barclay was followed by the Rev. Peter Born and the Rev. E. E. Baker, the present pastor. This church has now six hundred and sixty members, and the Sunday-school has four hundred and sixty scholars. :
St. John's English Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1864. 'At that time the Rev. D. Steek, D. D., was pastor of the First English Lutheran Church. His views on political questions not being in accord with those of the majority of the members, he was dismissed by the council, and on the 9th of December, 1864, the following " Church Notice" was published in the daily papers: "There will be a meeting of those members of the First Evangelical Church of Dayton who disap- prove of the recent action of the council of that church in dismissing Rev. Daniel Steck from the office of pastor thereof, on Saturday, the 10th day. of December, A. D. 1864, at 9:30 A. M., at Clegg's Hall, for the purpose of determining what action shall be taken by them in the premises." This notice was signed by Jacob Whitmore, Jacob Mumma, John Shafer, D. W. Reese, J. Il. W. Mamma, J. C. Hoefer, Martin Smith, Daniel Kurtz, John Dieter, William Walker, Henry Bunstel, and A. Geiger.
The result of the action of these gentlemen was that on Sunday, December 18th, a large congregation assembled in Huston Hall to hear the deposed pastor preach. From among those present on this occasion a new congregation was organized under the name of St. John's English Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Rev. Daniel Steck was of course elected its pastor. Huston Hall continued to be the regular place of holding religious services until April 24, 1865. On the morning of that day the church hall was discovered to be on fire, and nothing was left standing but the walls. The loss to the church was an organ, the pulpit
625
CHURCH HISTORY.
furniture and the Sunday-school library. The congregation soon after- ward scoured Clegg's Hall for a place of worship, and continued to occupy it for several years. Rev. Mr. Steck resigned the pastorate in December, 1868. Just previous to his departure the church was incorporated, and application was made for reception into the District Synod of Ohio. About this time the society purchased its present lot on the west side of St. Clair Street. There was at the time a church edifice on the lot, which had been used for some time by the First Congregational Church, of Dayton. The congregation, as soon as in possession of its own church property, extended a call to the Rev. M. C. Horine, and he became the pastor. Soon afterward the church was received into mem- bership in the District Synod of Ohio, in connection with the General Council of the Lutheran Church of North America. The Rev. Mr. Horine remained pastor of the church only about a year, and he was succeeded by the Rev. S. L. Harkey, who, after a short pastorate, resigned, and the congregation was again without a pastor. The church then remained for nine months without a regular pastor, depending on irregular supplies. These were, however, unable to assist the society to raise the mortgage of two thousand dollars on the property, and in March, 1873, the mortgage was foreclosed and the property advertised for sale. Application for assistance was then made to the Home Mission Committee of the General Council. The chairman, Dr. W. A. Passavant, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, thereupon came to Dayton, gathered together the remnants of the congregation, collected the interest still due on the mortgage, and paid off the mortgage itself by securing a new loan from parties in the East, which loan, like the previous one, was secured by mortgage on the property. This trouble being thus settled, a call was extended in May, 1873, to the Rev. A. F. Siebert, who accepted the call and became the pastor of the church in the following July. Soon after he became pastor, the mortgage was canceled by means of a bequest from H. H. Hartman, who was for several years an officer in the church, and who died in 1875. The Rev. Mr. Siebert remained pastor until 1886, when he was succeeded by the Rev. J. G. Neiffer, who is pastor at. the present time.
St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in the courthouse in 1838 or 1839, with a membership of about twenty-five families. July 18, 1840, this church body adopted a constitution, and in a year or two afterward it was incorporated as the German Evangelical Lutheran Church. At the time of the adoption of the constitution the pastor was Rev. Frederick Reiss. In 1840 a lot was purchased on Sears Street, upon which a one-story brick church was erected in 1841. In
626
HISTORY OF DAYTON.
1849 it was enlarged. In this church the congregation worshiped until the completion of a new church building, which was begun in 1869. The lower story of this building was dedicated in June, 1870. It was created on the north side of Third Street, between Madison and Sears, and was almost totally demolished by a storm on July 9, 1871. Between three hundred and four hundred Sunday-school children and their teachers had assembled in the building for shelter from the storm, and as the walls fell inward, a number were injured, and the superintendent, Christian Thomas, Mrs. Theresa Randall, a teacher, and Leonhardt Weyrangh, a child, were killed. The edifice was at once rebuilt at a cost of about forty thousand dollars. This new building was dedicated, the basement at one time and the auditorium at another, the latter in 1874. The auditorium has a seating capacity of one thousand persons. It is furnished with a. fine organ, which cost five thousand dollars. The pastors of the church have been Rev. Mr. Grosskardt, Rev. Frederick Reiss, Rev. Randolph Bartels, Rev. Andrew Hordorf, Rev. T. E. Hertsch, Rev. Mr. Borhard, Rev. C. A. Fritze, Rev. Peter Born, and Rev. Carl Mueller. The name of this church was changed to what it is at present in 1852. There is a flourishing Sunday-school in connection with the church.
St. Paul's German Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1852. A division occurred in opinion in St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran Church among the members on a question of church govern- ment, which resulted in the withdrawal of the pastor, Rev. Andrew Hordorf, and twenty-five families. For a time those who withdrew worshiped in the old Christian Church, on Main Street, but soon afterward purchased of Raper Methodist Episcopal Church, a one-story frame building, for $1,350, which they used for church purposes until the erection of a building on the corner of Wayne and Short streets. The ground upon which it was erected was purchased in 1865 for $5,250, and the foundation of the church laid in the fall of 1876. The corner-stone was laid in July, 1868, and the building dedicated August 15, 1869. Rev. Mr. Horndorf resigned the pastorate in June, 1859, and was succeeded by Rev. Frederick Zur Meuhlen, who remained until November 1, 1861. Ile was followed by Rev. Frederick Groth, who was succeeded in 1876 by Rev. Godfrey Loewenstein, who was followed by the Rev. A. II. Feldmann.
Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in August, 1881, as the result of the labors of Rev. O. S. Oglesby. There were seven members at first, and they worshiped at the corner of Commercial and Barr streets, in Union Chapel. Rev. M. L. Baum succeeded Rev. Mr. Oglesby in 1886, and is still the pastor. There are now about seventy
627
CHURCHL HISTORY.
members in the church, and the Sunday-school has nearly one hundred scholars.
The First Orthodox Congregational Church of Dayton, Ohio, was organized in 1851, by Rev. James C. White, pastor at the present time of the Poplar Street Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. Some of the names of the first members of this church were as follows: George M. Young, D. M. Curtis, S. B. Brown, William Clark, N. S. Lockwood, and William McGregor, and there were others up to about seventy- five. From thirty to forty of the first members were dismissed from the Third Street Presbyterian Church for the purpose of assisting to organize this Congregational church. Services were held at first for about a year in Phillips' Hall, on the corner of Second and Main streets, and then in Clegg's Hall, until some time in 1857, when the church purchased a lot ou St. Clair Street, and crected a small chapel thereon, which was used as long as the organization maintained its existence, and is now used by St. John's English Lutheran Church. Rev. S. P. Fay became pastor in 1854, and remained with the church four years. There was then a period of supplies, and in 1861 Rev. Fayette Shipherd became pastor, remaining but little more than a year. He was followed, in 1862, by Rev. Justin E. Twitchell, who remained until the latter part of 1866, and was succeeded by Rev. James C. White, who remained until the disbandment of the church in the latter part of 1868, and was thus the last as well as the first pastor of the congregation.
In January, 1869, a petition was presented to the court for permis- sion to sell the property, and for instructions as to how to invest the money realized from the sale. By order of the court, the property was sold, and in 1873 the money was turned over to the American Congregational Union, which is the church-extension society of the Congregational churches in the United States, the trustees of which pledged themselves to return the money to any Congregational church that might be organized in Dayton within ten years from that time. No church of that denomination was, however, organized in this city until in the early spring of 1889, so that the legal obligation to return the money is in all probability no longer binding. As to the moral obligation, that is a matter outside the province of this history.
As stated above, in the early spring of 1889, another Congregational church was organized in Dayton, in response to two independent notices which appeared in the Dayton Herald of January 26th of that year, one being inserted by J. W. Nichols and the other by Rev. Thomas Clayton, of Zanesville, who had come to the city at the invitation of W. W. Tyler, for the purpose of considering the propriety of organizing such a church.
628
HISTORY OF DAYTON.
Members of this denomination thereupon met in the lecture room of the Young Men's Christian Association building and listened to preach- ing by Rev. Mr. Clayton between January 24th and April 1st, his congregations averaging forty persons. On the 3d of April a partial organization was effected by the adoption of a creed and articles of faith, and on the 17th of that month II. S. Doxsey was chosen clerk and B. N. Davis treasurer of the new organization. On the 14th of April Rev. Irving W. Metcalf, then pastor of the Eastwood Congregational Church, at Columbus, Ohio, preached his first sermon for the new church, and on May 12th took temporary charge of the enterprise. Soon after- ward the church was organized with about forty members, and at present hold its services in Gravel Hall. This church was recognized June 25, 1889.
Emmanuel Church was the first Catholic church organized in Dayton. The first Catholic family to arrive in this city was that of Robert Conway, who came from Baltimore, Maryland, in the spring of 1831. His family consisted of himself, wife, and nine children, and was for some time the only Catholic family in Dayton. Mr. Conway was, however, extremely anxious to enjoy the privileges of religious worship, and made arrange- ments, in 1832, with the Rev. Father E. T. Collins, of Cincinnati, to become a resident of Dayton. Father Collins made the Conway residence his home, and for a portion of the time it was also used as a church. During the years 1832 and 1833, several Irish and German families settled in Dayton. Cincinnati had already become a bishopric, and although the bishop there had but few priests at his disposal, he sent out several of them to traverse the State. Some of these visited Day- ton, among them being Rev. Fathers Thienpout, Juncker, Horstman, Henni, Tochenhens, Wurz, Young, and Murphy. Other priests came at various times, and the Conway residence became too small to accom- modate the numbers that would congregate from the city and the vicinity - to hear taught what, to them, were the sacred truths of the gospel. The first church building used by these devoted Catholics was a one-story brick building, a portion of which was occupied at the same time as a bakery, and located on St. Clair Street, opposite the park. After a great deal of trouble and labor, it was at last made possible for the Rev. Father Emmanuel Thienpont to collect a permanent congregation, and to erect a church building, which was dedicated in November, 1837. This church was a one-story brick building, and it stood on Franklin Street, between Ludlow Street and Prairie Avenue. Father Thienpont was succeed in the pastorate, in 1844, by Rev. Henry D. Juncker, under whom the congregation increased to such an extent that the church building had
-
629
CHURCH HISTORY.
to be enlarged. A large organ was purchased and three pure white marble altars. Rev. Mr. Juncker served as priest of this church until 1857, when he was elected bishop of the newly erected bishopric of Alton, Illinois, in which capacity he served until 1868, when he died.
In May, 1857, Rev. Father John F. Hahne, was sent to Dayton to succeed Rev. Father Juncker. He remained until his death in 1882. During his pastorate, he was assisted by the following priests: Rev. Fathers J. Schiff Volm, Charles Hahne, and William Scholl. In 1869, it became necessary to erect a new church building, and a new one was erected on Franklin Street, just east of the old church site. The first stone of the foundation was laid September 8, 1871. The building is was of brick, and 166x84 feet in size. There are two towers in front, each 212 feet high, and one in the rear 150 feet high. The vestibule is 42×8 feet, and is entered by three doors, each 15 feet high. The audience room is 126x66 feet in size, and the ceiling is sixty feet from the floor. There are two galleries, one above the other. Opposite the main entrance is the sanctuary, and in front of the sanctuary is a low elliptical iron railing, with handsome gilt ornaments. The whole interior of the church is appropiately finished with canopy, inscriptions, altars, figures, etc., and the frescoing is both chaste and elegant in design. The pews are of black walnut and ash, and the seating capacity of the auditorium is one thousand five hundred people. The children's gallery will seat six hundred in addition, and the cost of the edifice was nearly one hundred thousand dollars. It was dedicated October 6, 1873, and the ceremonies connected with the dedication were of the most imposing character. It was estimated that there were seven thousand persons present from abroad, who took part in the ceremonies. At the church, Archbishop Pureell, with his attendant deacons and acolytes chanting the Litany of Saints, took in the circuit of the church, sprinkling the walls with holy water. Pontifical Iligh Mass was then celebrated by Bishop Borgess, of Detroit, and the dedicatory sermon was preached by Archbishop Purcell from the Revelation 20: 2, 3.
Rev. Father John F. Hahne died February 21, 1882. At his funeral there were present thousands of people who had come to participate in and witness the last sad rites of respect to the dead, whom they had known and loved so well. He was succeeded in the pastorate by his brother, the Rev. Father Charles Hahne, and the Rev. Father William Scholl became his first assistant. Rev. William Scholl remained assistant pastor until May, 1885, and was succeeded by the Rev. F. X. Lasance, who has been the assistant ever since. At the present time there are about six hundred and fifty families connected with this parish, and the
630
HISTORY OF DAYTON.
annual revenue of the church is about ten thousand dollars. The present pastor of this church, Rev. Charles Hahne, celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his entrance into the ministry in 1888, as his brother, John F. Hahne, had done before him in 1873.
St. Joseph's Catholic Church was formed in 1846 or 1847 by the English-speaking Catholics withdrawing from Emmanuel Church and organizing themselves into a separate body. In the latter year a church building was erected by them on the northeast corner of Madison and Second streets. The building cost about six thousand dollars, but the tower remained unfinished. The two lots upon which it stands cost two thousand dollars. The first pastor of this church was Rev. Father Patrick O'Maley, who was succeeded in 1850 by his brother, Rev. Father Joseph O'Maley who remained until 1853, when he was succeeded by Rev. Father O'Connor, who remained but a short time. The Rev. Father Thomas Bulger then became the pastor and remained until 1856, when he was followed by the Rev. Father David J. Kelly, who served the church until his death September 29, 1867. During the carly portion of his ministry the tower of the church was completed, and there was hung therein the largest bell in the city, and there was also put in the tower a large clock. A year or so afterward the rear portion of the church was added at an expense of six thousand dollars. The building is plain but substantial, and with the exception of a small vestibule, the entire interior is one large audience room. In the gallery, which extends across the front and about half way down each side of the church, there is a large pipe organ. The -seating capacity of the church is about one thousand.
The funeral of Rev. Father Kelly was largely attended. . Archbishop Purcell delivered an appropriate panegyric upon the life of the departed elergyman, and among those present were Bishop Rosecrans, of Colum- bus, Ohio, and other dignitaries of the Church. The assistants of Father Kelly had been Rev. Fathers R. N. Young and William F. O'Rourke, the latter succceding to the pastorate of the church upon his death. Rev. Charles Daugherty became assistant pastor to Father O'Rourke, who served until 1869 and was then succeeded by the Rev. Richard Gilmour, since then bishop of Cleveland. Ilis assistant was the Rev. Father Francis Cubero. Father Gilmore was succeeded in April, 1872, by Father William M. Carey, who remained until the summer of 1879, and was assisted by Revs. O'Reilly, Murphy, Daly, and Grace. He was succeeded by the Rev. Father James O'Donohue, who was assisted by the Rev. Fathers James M. Carey and Hugh J. MeDevitt. Father Donohue was succeeded in July, 1883, by the Rev. Patrick Henry Cusack, the present pastor. Since that time he has been assisted by Revs. Francis
-
631
CHURCH HISTORY.
Runnebaum, Roderick A. Finnerty, and Dennis M ._ Mackay, but at the present time he is without an assistant. There are now connected with the parish about four hundred and fifty families, and the annual revenue of the church is eleven thousand dollars. The congregation is composed of English-speaking Catholics who take great pains with the education of their children. The church building is centrally located, and is of easy access to all classes of those who belong to the parish, which is in a prosperous condition. In connection with this church are the following societies for men : St. Joseph's Society, St. Vincent de Paul's Society, the Hibernian Society, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, St. Alonisus Sodality, the Catholic Knights of America, and the Hibernian Rifles; and for the women: The Altar Society, the Young Ladies' Sodality, and the Children of Mary, the latter for girls under sixteen years of age.
The Church of the Sacred Heart was established July 3, 1883, by a number of members of St. Joseph's Church, the withdrawal being in part on account of the want of accommodations at that church. There were at first about one hundred families who formed this congregation, permission to form it having been granted by the Right Rev. William II. Elder, coadjutor of the archdiocese of Cincinnati, to the Rev. Father J. B. Donohue. The work of establishing the congregation was placed in the hands of Rev. Hugh J. McDevitt, at that time assistant pastor at St. Joseph's church. During his administration of the affairs of the new parish, the congregation worshiped .in Geb- hart's Hall, and ground was secured at the northwest corner of Fourth and Wilkinson streets, which cost nineteen thousand dollars, and while Father McDevitt was pastor of the church the number of families belonging thereto increased to two hundred and fifty. In the fall of 1887 the crection of the present magnificent structure on the lot already mentioned was begun, Rev. Father R. A. Finnerty taking charge of the . parish in November of that year, and the corner-stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies, June 17, 1888, by Archbishop William, II. Elder. The building is constructed of Dayton granite and trimmed with Berea brown stone. It is 115x92 feet in dimensions, is two stories high, one story being a basement, and the upper one being what is known as a clear story. The entire height of this story is seventy-five feet. The building is an imposing structure, and is of the strictly Romanesque style of architecture. The furnishing of the building is almost entirely a donation, the magnificent windows, 22x36 feet in size, being donated by generous members of the parish, and costing about six thousand dollars. The three pure white marble altars, also a donation, cost seventeen thousand dollars; the rose window of the sanctuary, also a donation, cost.
632
HISTORY OF DAYTON.
one thousand dollars; the steam-heating apparatus, the entire building being heated by steam, cost two thousand, five hundred dollars. The building is lighted with gas and electricity, and, in short, all the modern improvements applicable to such a structure have been introduced. The members of this perish, when their numbers are taken into account, have shown a mo-t remarkable spirit of generosity toward the gigantic enter- prise, and it is worthy of note that a considerable number of non-Catholic friends of the parish contributed liberally toward the construction of the building, which was ready for occupancy about the latter part of July, 1889. The parish now numbers about three hundred and fifty families, and the church building, it is already evident, will soon prove too small for the accommodation of those who will desire to join. The annual revenue of the parish is about twelve thousand dollars.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.