USA > Ohio > The Church of the Brethren in northeastern Ohio > Part 20
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Durward Hays
DURWARD HAYS began his pas- torate at the Ashland Dickey church on September 1, 1961. A native of Lawrenceville, Illinois, he was ordained in the Allison Prairie church, Southern Illinois, in 1947. He attended Bethany Training School for a part of one year. Brother Hays served as part-time pastor in the following churches: Romaine, Southern Illi- nois, 1947-1949; La Motte Prairie, Southern Illinois, 1949-1953; New
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Hope, in Southern Indiana, 1953-1958; Oak Grove, in Southern Illinois, 1958-1961. The Hayses have six children.
ELLIS R. HAYS is a native of Glendale, Arizona; he was born on July 27, 1923, to Ralph and Hazle (La Plante) Hays. He united with the church in the Ashland Dickey congregation in October 1932 and was licensed to preach in April 1943 in the Maple Grove congregation. Brother Hays married Rosemary Fackler on June 7, 1947.
ABRAHAM HEASTAND (Hiestand or Heestand), of whose life few details are known, was associated with the early history of the Mahoning church (Mill Creek). Sometime between 1810 and 1820 an election of officers was held and Brother Heastand, reportedly already advanced in years, was elected to the deaconship. He was soon called to the ministry, and, by the time of his move to the western part of Columbiana County, between 1826 and 1835, he had been advanced to the eldership. Brother Heastand was one of the founders of the Sandy church. He located on the farm surrounding the grounds of the present Reading church. He was an able and aggressive church worker; with his assistance and that of others, a populous and prosperous church community was created. The name of Brother Heastand is found in the minutes of one of the earliest ministerial meetings held in the district.
AARON I. HEESTAND, born on June 3, 1854, near Wadsworth, Ohio, died on November 4, 1932. He was the oldest son of George and Christina (Bowser) Heestand. He united with the Paradise church at Smithville by baptism in March 1876. That same year, on November 2, he married Emmaline Coffman; they were granted fifty-six years together. Three sons and five daughters were born to them. Because of his wife's health he decided to move his family to Kansas in 1884. They located on a farm near Galesburg, close to the Brethren church. This congregation called him to the ministry in 1871. Brother Heestand served the following churches in the free
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ministry: Galesburg, Kansas; Paradise and East Chippewa, Northeastern Ohio. Although he was a farmer, he never allowed the work of the farm to interfere with his ministry. In 1903 he was ordained to the eldership by the East Chippewa congregation. Many times he was heard by members of his family to say, "I'm glad I served the church during the time of the free ministry; I preached my convictions." One of his most nearly completed records is for the years 1896-1897, during which he held five revival meetings, preached one hundred sermons, and visited eighty-five families; in that time there were forty-two conversions under his ministry. For forty-four years he was very active, attending most of the district meetings and many Annual Meetings. He died in 1932; Sister Heestand in 1936.
ROBERT HEETER began his pas- torate in the Reading church, Northeastern Ohio, on July 15, 1962, following work with the Ladoga church of Southern Indiana from 1950 to 1954 and with the Dupont church of Northwestern Ohio from 1954 to 1962. Entering the ministry late in life, he has served effective- ly. The Heeters have several married children.
Robert Heeter
CHARLES ALLEN HELM, son of David and Susan (Martin) Helm, was born September 17, 1872, in Marion, Iowa. Two years after he was baptized, Brother Helm was called to the ministry in April 1897; he was advanced in August 1900. He married Mary Berdine Percival on September 7, 1902; three children were born to them. Brother Helm devoted more than thirty years to educational work in Nebraska and Ohio, many of them as a superintendent. He served the Maple Grove and Chippewa churches in the free ministry from 1897 to 1902; was part-time pastor of Ashland Dickey from 1933 to 1943; was writing clerk of two district meetings; and for a number of
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years was on the program committee of the district. He is now living in Ashland.
HOWARD HOLMES HELMAN was born December 31, 1880, in Stark County, Ohio, the son of David and Susan (Darr) Helman. He united with the Tuscarawas church on February 11, 1897. Brother Helman attended Manchester College for two years. Called to the ministry in 1901, he was advanced in 1905 and ordained to the eldership in 1914. In April 1906 he married Ora Alice Renneckar; two children were born to this union. Brother Helman was associated with the Chippewa and Wooster churches in the free ministry from 1912 to 1918; was pastor of the Maple Grove congregation from 1918 to 1924; the Peru church, Indiana, from 1927 to 1929; the Lake View church, Brethren, Michigan, from 1947 to 1950. He was the writing clerk of Northeastern Ohio for eight years. Sister Helman died on April 17, 1924. On May 30, 1926, he was married to Cora Viola Wise. Death came to him on August 29, 1954.
ALBERT D. HELSER, a native of Thornville, Ohio, was born July 10, 1897, to David and Emma (Zartman) Helser. He was baptized in August 1910, elected to the ministry in August 1917 in the Olivet church, and ordained to the eldership in October 1922. Brother Helser studied at Manchester College, Bethany Seminary, Columbia University, Livingstone College (London), and the University of London. Following his marriage to Lola Bechtel on August 15, 1922, the couple went to Nigeria to engage in mission work, only recently retiring from that work. While on furlough from Africa, Brother Helser took further studies at Columbia and Ohio State universities. He is the author of a number of books: Labar ata Kira Isa (a life of Christ, in Bura), 1925; In Sunny Nigeria, 1926; Thlipa ata Kira Lakur Hyel (a teaching on the road of God, in Bura), 1929; African Stories, 1930; Education of a Primitive People, 1934; Two Hundred Thousand Lepers in Nigeria, 1935; Cent Mille Lepreux au Congo Belge, 1936; Leper Settlements in Northern Nigeria, 1939; The Glory of the Impossible, 1940; The Hand of God in the Sudan, 1946. As co-author he has helped to write
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Kakadu Karata na Sudakur (a Bura reader), 1925. A co-translator of the Gospel of Mark into Bura in 1925 and the Acts into Bura in 1927, he was the translator of the Gospel of Matthew into that language in 1933. Since 1925 Brother Helser has been a translator for the British and Foreign Bible Society. For many years he was associated with the Sudan Interior Mission. He was the district reading clerk in Northeastern Ohio in 1919, 1920, and 1921.
ARTHUR H. HESS was born to Arthur Raymond and Katie Marie Hess at York, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 1925. He was received into church membership on February 14, 1935. Called to the ministry on June 10, 1943, he was ordained on June 9, 1945, and ordained to the eldership on September 8, 1950. A graduate of Manchester College, Brother Hess has furthered his education at Bethany Biblical Seminary and Oberlin Graduate School of Theology. He married Doris Brumbaugh
Arthur Hess
C. G. Hesse
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on August 23, 1947; a son and a daughter have been born to them. He was with the Mathias, West Virginia, church in 1946 and the Tiffin church, Northwestern Ohio, in 1947 as summer pastor, and with the East Nimishillen church, Northeastern Ohio, from 1948 to 1955 on full support. In 1955 he was engaged by the district mission board to become the pastor of the new congregation at Painesville; he continues in this work to the present. In this district he has held a number of offices, among them the assistant moderatorship in 1953 and the moderatorship in 1954; he was a Standing Committeeman in 1953 and 1955; he has held membership on a number of district boards - Christian education, 1950-1953, Brethren service, 1951-1954, and ministerial for several years.
CLARENCE GEORGE HESSE, son of Charles and Catherine (Hamstead) Hesse, was born September 6, 1887, in Grant County, West Virginia. He united with the church in January 1905 in the Greenland congregation. In September 1909 he was called to the ministry, was ordained in 1911, and was advanced to the eldership in 1922. He served the Greenland congregation in the free ministry from 1909 to 1912, during which time he taught in the public schools. After graduation from Bridgewater College in 1917 and from Crozer Seminary in 1920, he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. He married Myrtle L. Idleman on August 11, 1920. Pastoral services have been rendered to these churches: Somerset, Pennsylvania (1920-1929) ; First, Roanoke, Virginia (1929-1935) ; Bridgewater, Virginia (1935-1946); Greenville, Ohio (1946- 1952) ; Hartville, Ohio (1952-1958) ; Petersburg, West Virginia (1958 to the present). For more than fifteen years he served as secretary of the Southeastern Regional Board. He was the first secretary of the Pastors' Association of the Brotherhood, continuing in this capacity for more than twelve years; also, he was the president of this association for a number of years. He was a member of the district board of Christian education of the First District of Virginia and of the ministerial board of Second Virginia, was on Standing Committee four times, and was moderator of the Second District of Virginia twice. After retirement from the pastorate he returned to his native West Virginia. Here he does some preaching as needed.
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L. HOWARD HIGELMIRE was graduated from Otterbein College and was granted his B.D. degree from Union Biblical Seminary in 1926. He served in the Evangelical United Brethren Church as pastor for a number of years, holding charges at Navarre, Ashland, Dayton, Akron, Strasburg, East Palestine, and Alliance in Ohio. Upon retirement from the active pastorate, Brother and Sister Higelmire located near the Woodworth church, of which they became members. In 1960 he became the supply minister of the Bristolville church and in 1961 was installed as its pastor.
Howard Higelmire
Galen Hochstetler
GALEN C. HOCHSTETLER was born in Holmes County, Ohio, on March 12, 1913, the son of Melvin J. and Florence A. (Penrod) Hochstetler. In 1930 he was graduated from the Berlin high school. He was married to Ruth M. Hershberger; two daughters and two sons were born to this union. Brother Hochstetler, a mason contractor, has served the district as a member of the mission board since 1955, and was a member of the advisory committee to the executive secretary of the district from 1958 to 1961. He represented the District of Northeastern Ohio on Standing Committee in 1959.
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JOSIAH HOCHSTETLER, son of Adam and Polly (Walter) Hochstetler, was born September 19, 1835, in Mount Hope, Ohio. He united with the church about 1870 in the Mohican congregation. His first marriage was to Mary Holderbaum on November 8, 1860; two sons were born to the union. Sister Hochstetler died February 20, 1869. On May 25, 1873, he married Catherine Beeghley; three children were born to them. Called to the ministry in 1875 in Baltic, Ohio, he spent the remainder of his life in the service of the church. He was advanced to the eldership in 1906. On June 27, 1917, he died. Sister Hochstetler followed on March 28, 1929.
DAVID B. HOFF, son of Peter and Sarah (Blocher) Hoff, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, on June 17, 1819. At the age of twenty-one he married Susannah Shaffer. He selected the location for a home for himself and his bride in Canaan Township. It was virgin land, and James Monroe, President of the United States, was the signer of the deed. Here they lived for fifty-four years until her death in 1896. However, he remained here for six years longer. His service to the church was rendered in the office of deacon in the Chippewa congregation. Brother Hoff died at Orrville, Ohio, on December 25, 1910, after a long and useful life. He had one daughter.
FLORA IRVIN HOFF, daughter of George and Isabella (Garver) Irvin, was born near Golden Corners, Ohio, on March 7, 1866. She was baptized January 7, 1879, in the Beech Grove congregation. She married Hezekiah M. Hoff on January 3, 1889; three children were born to the couple. Sister Hoff served as a deaconess in the Beech Grove congregation with her husband, who was a deacon for about thirty years. Music was Sister Hoff's chief delight, and for fifty years she sang and conducted choral groups, including the first children's sing at the Owl Creek Sunday-school convention in 1908. When the first piano was placed in the Beach Grove church she played the first hymn on it. Her love for God came first in her life. Brother Hoff died October 25, 1930. Sister Hoff lived in Wooster from 1934 until her death on March 12, 1946.
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LLOYD MOSES HOFF, son of Hezekiah Mahlon and Flora (Irvin) Hoff, was born in Madisonburg, Ohio, November 25, 1897. He was baptized in the Beech Grove church, Sterling, Ohio, in May 1905. In 1915 he was graduated from the Wooster high school. His academic degrees include a B.A. (1921) and an A.M. (1923) from Manchester College and a Ph.D. (1930) from the Ohio State University. Brother Hoff was ordained to the ministry in the Beech Grove congregation in 1919. He began teaching at Manchester College in 1923, continuing until 1928 when he went to the university to do graduate work. In 1930 he returned to Manchester to resume his teaching of English. He has taught in the summer school of the college continuously since 1923 with the exception of one summer. He is the author of one published play, Under the Shadow (1936) . Brother Hoff married Mabel Elizabeth Workman on May 25, 1923; they are the parents of four children. In 1945 Brother Hoff, at the invitation of the Italian government, traveled in North Africa and Italy, spending the fall of that year teaching in Florence. During the summer and fall of 1955, he again traveled abroad, this time touring Ireland, England, Scotland, and western Europe. In 1941 he was ordained to the eldership at North Manchester, Indiana. Brother Hoff supplies pulpits frequently and except for a period of four years has been a church-school teacher or superintendent since he was thirteen years old.
ARNO M. HOLDERREAD, the son of Halley E. and Goldie (McCreary) Holderread, was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, on January 6, 1921. He was baptized in the Blissville congregation, Indiana, in 1937, a year before he was graduated from the Mishawaka high school. He attended Manchester College, being graduated in 1944, and Bethany Biblical Seminary, from which he received a B.D. degree in 1947. On August 27, 1944, he married Arlene Dickerhoff; they have two children. Brother Holderread was elected to the ministry in 1940 in Osceola, Indiana, and was ordained there in 1944. From 1947 to 1949 he was the pastor at Cedar Grove, Southern Ohio; at West Manchester, Middle Indiana, from 1949 to 1952; at Zion Hill, Northeastern Ohio, from 1952 to 1954 and from 1960 to 1961 (part-time) ; Alliance, also in Northeastern Ohio, from 1961 to
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1962 (part-time interim service). He is now teaching in the Columbiana County schools.
SAMUEL J. HOLL was born in North Canton, Ohio, on August 16, 1864, to Manassah and Sarah (Reemsnyder) Holl. His education was received at Mount Morris Academy and Ohio Northern University. He married Emma Swartz in 1887; five children came into their home. Brother Holl was called to the ministry in the West Nimishillen congregation in 1910. Sister Holl died on May 9, 1910. Alice Mishler became his wife on October 5, 1911; two children were born to them. Brother Holl served the West Nimishillen church in the free ministry from 1910 to 1947 and taught in the Sunday school throughout his long association with the church. For ten years he taught in the public schools of Stark County, Ohio. He died February 12, 1947.
KENNETH W. HOLLINGER was born August 11, 1912, in Darke County, Ohio, the son of E. S. and Sarah Elizabeth (Wandle) Hollinger. He was received into church membership in the Cedar Grove congregation on October 21, 1923. Educated at Manchester College, the University of Illinois, and Bethany Biblical Seminary, he was called to the ministry in the Beech Grove congregation November 28, 1931, advanced November 26, 1932, and ordained to the eldership June 5, 1942. Brother Hollinger married Helen L. Darley on June 1, 1938; they are the parents of four boys and one girl. After graduation from college he taught for eight years in Preble County, Ohio. For two terms he was the president of the Preble County Council of Religious Education. His pastoral service has been given to Beech Grove, Southern Ohio (in the free ministry, 1931 to 1937) ; Prices Creek, Southern Ohio (part time from 1937 to 1943); Shepherd, Michigan (summer of 1944); Champaign, Southern Illinois (summer of 1945) ; West Manchester, Middle Indiana (full time from 1946 to 1948); Olivet, Northeastern Ohio (1948 to 1957); New Paris, Northern Indiana (1957 to 1962) ; Lanark, Northern Illinois (1962 -). In 1945 and 1946 he was a member of the Southern Ohio men's work cabinet, aiding in the starting of the Kentucky missions. He was the
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moderator in Northeastern Ohio in 1952, a Standing Committeeman in 1953, and a member of the district mission board.
ELI HOLMES, son of George Holmes, was born in Ohio on October 18, 1844. His marriage to Susann Switzer was blessed by eleven children. He was baptized in June 1870 in the Wooster (now Paradise) church. Called to the ministry on November 7, 1883, he was ordained to the eldership in 1901. He served in the eldership of the Wooster church and in the free ministry of the Baltic, Beech Grove, and Wooster churches. Sister Holmes died July 7, 1933; Brother Holmes on March 18, 1934.
LEONARD REPLOGLE HOLSINGER, son of Levi and Barbara (Replogle) Holsinger, was born in Waterside, Pennsylvania, on April 2, 1882. He united with the church in the Morrellville congregation, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on August 30, 1909. Brother Holsinger attended Juniata College and Crozer Seminary. From 1904 to 1911 he worked as a bookkeeper. He was married to Elizabeth Hetrick on August 22, 1906; they were the parents of five children. Brother Holsinger was called to the ministry on January 13, 1910, and ordained to the eldership in July 1913. He has held pastoral engagements in these churches: Red Bank, Pennsylvania (February 1, 1911, to August 31, 1914) ; Coventry, Pennsylvania (September 1, 1914, to April 1, 1920); Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania (interim of fourteen months in 1922 and 1923) ; Stonerstown, Pennsylvania (April 1, 1925, to May 30, 1935) ; Springfield, Northeastern Ohio (June 1, 1935, until retirement) . Having held many district offices during previous pastorates, in Northeastern Ohio he was a member of the ministerial board for six years. He is the author of the following tracts: Beginnings of American Christianity; The Authority of the Bible; Origin of the Church Fathers; The Problem of the Youth and the Church; Preaching With Authority; Bible Teaching on Liquor as a Beverage; and The Ascension and Its Assurance. He is living in Martinsburg, Pennsylvania.
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CYRUS HOOVER was born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania, on October 16, 1821, of Swiss immigrant parentage. When Brother Hoover was nineteen years old, his family moved to Wayne County, Ohio, locating on the farm where the Annual Conference was held in 1872, near Smithville. He lived here until the time of his death, January 8, 1901. During the summer of 1853, he and his wife united with the Church of the Brethren. In 1869 he was elected to the ministry and in 1879 was ordained to the eldership, serving the Wooster (Paradise) church in that capacity. Their home near the church became a lodging place for ministering brethren and other visitors.
PERRY R. HOOVER, son of John D. and Elizabeth (Replogle) Hoover, was born in Hagerstown, Indiana, on July 30, 1890. Jessie M. Teeter became his wife on June 22, 1912; two sons and two daughters were born to them. Brother Hoover was baptized in the Hagerstown church. Manchester College granted him an A.B. degree in 1923 and Bethany Biblical Seminary a B.D. degree in 1925. Ordained to the ministry at Hagerstown in 1914, he was ordained an elder in 1915. From 1940 to 1943 he was the executive secretary of the District of Michigan. As a part-time pastor he had served a number of churches in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan before coming to the Maple Avenue church, Canton, Ohio, in 1957. He resigned the Maple Avenue pastorate to accept a call to the Upper Falls Creek church in Southern Indiana. Now retired, he lives in Florida.
ROBERT DAVID HOOVER was born to Paul Emmanuel and Pearl Eugene (Skeggs) Hoover in Richmond, Virginia, on January 28, 1918. He was baptized in the Westminster congregation, Maryland, on August 30, 1929. Following his graduation from the Westminster high school, Maryland, in 1936, he entered Bridgewater College, and was granted an A.B. degree in 1940. Four years later, he received a B.D. degree from Bethany Biblical Seminary. Brother Hoover married Opal Catherine Shinaberry on August 27, 1941; the union was blessed with one son. Brother Hoover was licensed to the ministry in the Bridgewater congregation, Virginia, in April
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1938; ordained to the ministry in the same congregation on August 27, 1940; and ordained to the eldership in the Timber- ville church, Virginia, in 1947. He was the summer pastor of the Hampton Roads church, Virginia, in 1940; of the Highland County mission, Virginia, in 1941; of the Broadway (Bucks Gap) church, Virginia, in 1942 and 1943. As a full-time pastor he has worked in these churches: Knobley, Sunnyside, and Beaver Run in West Virginia (1944-1945) ; Timberville, Unity, and Linville Creek in Virginia (1945-1950); Girard, Illinois (1950-1953); Danville in Northeastern Ohio (1953-1958) ; Donnells Creek, Southern Ohio (1958 -).
TOBIAS HOOVER was born to Martin and Elizabeth (Miller) Hoover at Smith- ville, Ohio, on October 2, 1841. On October 23, 1862, he married Mary Ritten- house; one son and three daughters were born to them. He united with the Church of the Brethren at the age of nineteen. Elected to the ministry on May 3, 1873, he was ordained an elder in 1893. He was the presiding elder of his home church, Black River, from February 4, 1904, until his death, having Tobias Hoover also the oversight for some time of the Mohican, Ash- land Dickey, and Maple Grove churches. He served once as a member of Standing Committee, was a delegate to Annual Meeting many times, acted as moderator of the district meeting of Northeastern Ohio several times, and was a member of the district mission board for a number of years. He died on January 26, 1907. He was loved and respected by the entire community in which he lived.
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ELIJAH HORN, son of Daniel and Susanna (Croy) Horn, was born September 12, 1822, on Buckeye Creek, Ohio. The date and the place of his baptism are not known. On September 29, 1842, he married Harriet Moore, who died on August 10, 1866. Brother Horn married Eliza Printz on June 2, 1867. He was the father of ten children. Brother Horn advanced at least as far as the second degree in the ministry. He frequently preached at the Jonathan Creek (now Olivet) church. For several years he was the pastor of the Goshen church. He died on June 19, 1912; Sister Horn on May 25, 1929.
DWIGHT B. HORNER, son of William Joseph and Hazel (Moore) Horner, was born September 5, 1915, in Chicago. He was baptized February 9, 1925, in Fort Worth, Texas. Brother Horner received his education at McPherson College, Oberlin Graduate School, and Yale University. Called to the ministry in September 1936, in Fort Worth, he was ordained in January 1939. As a part-time pastor he served these churches: Methodist, Windom, Kansas (November 1937 to June 1939); Eden, in Northeastern Ohio (October 1939 to June 1940) ; Maple Avenue, Canton, also in Northeastern Ohio (June 1940 to June 1942) ; Trinity Methodist, Bridgeport, Connecticut (October 1943 to October 1945). From June 1942 to June 1943 he gave all his time to the Maple Avenue church. From 1945 to 1947 Brother Horner was the assistant director of the Y.M.C.A.'s war prisoners' aid program in Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg. During the following year he was a representative of CRALOG in Württemberg and Baden, Germany. From 1948 to 1952 he was the relief supply officer of the military government of Württemberg and Baden, and later was a State Department representative in Europe for a short time. Brother Horner married Opal Ruth Hoffman on June 12, 1941; a son and a daughter were born to them. He died on September 2, 1958.
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