USA > Ohio > The Church of the Brethren in northeastern Ohio > Part 22
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DANIEL WEBSTER KURTZ, son of John and Mary (Bollinger) Kurtz, was born in Hartville, Ohio, October 9, 1879. He united with the church in the Hartville congregation on May 5, 1899. Having a great desire for education, he received a B.A. degree from Juniata College in 1905 and an M.A. and a B.D. from Yale
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University and Yale Divinity School. He also studied in Germany at the universities of Berlin, Leipzig, and Marburg. Returning from Europe, he spent a year in study at the University of Pennsylvania. He married Ethel Wheeler on September 7, 1909; three boys were born to them. Having been called to the ministry in 1904, Brother Kurtz was ordained an elder at the First church in Philadelphia on May 7, 1909. From 1910 to 1914 he held the pastorship of that church. While there he was called to administer McPherson College as its president. During his tenure of thirteen years, from 1914 to 1927, he was instrumental in building up its physical equipment, in greatly increasing the enrollment, and in achieving accreditment in the North Central Association. From 1927 to 1932 he was pastor at Long Beach, California, resigning this position to become the president of Bethany Biblical Seminary. From 1937 to 1944 he pastored the La Verne, California, church. Brother Kurtz was in the forefront of leadership in the church in the field of religious education. He was president of the Sunday School Association of Kansas, 1918-1919; he attended three World Sunday School Conven- tions held abroad: Zurich, 1913; Tokyo, 1920; and Glasgow, 1924. In great demand as a lecturer, he was a dynamic speaker; on a moment's notice he could deliver any one of a hundred outstanding addresses. His most prominent books are Fundamental Doctrines of the Faith, Nineteen Centuries of the Christian Church, The Human Problem, The Symphony of Life, The Message of the Church, and The Gospel of Jesus. He died in La Verne on November 22, 1949.
HENRY KURTZ was born in Binningham, Germany, on July 22, 1796. Coming to America at the age of twenty-one, he first taught in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On June 10, 1819, he was admitted into the Lutheran Synod. Two months later he took up his first charge at Plainfield, Pennsylvania. While there he was married to Anna Catherine Loehr. They became the parents of five children. On July 21, 1823, he became pastor of a congregation in Pittsburgh at a salary of three hundred dollars a year. Although he was highly recommended by the Plainfield parish, at Pittsburgh there were rumblings of dissatisfaction from the beginning. At this time he may have
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had some rather advanced ideas about communal movements. Frederick Ruoff says that Kurtz "sprengte die Gemeinde" (split the congregation). After considerable squabbling, he resigned and came to Columbiana County, Ohio, in about 1825 (date not certain). After several months he went on to Stark County, where he came under the influence of George Hoke's preaching. Baptized on April 6, 1828, by Elder Hoke, in 1830 he was elected to the ministry. It is possible that Henry Kurtz broke with the Lutheran Church and came to Ohio to found a community like George Rapp's Harmony Society, which he planned to call Concordia. In the Canton area he undoubtedly found in the faith and practice of the Church of the Brethren the fulfillment of his communal ideas without the organizing of Concordia. In 1937 he attended Annual Meeting with George Hoke. At this meeting he met John Kline of Virginia. Brother Kurtz was clerk of the meeting and later printed the minutes. In 1838 he visited his parents and his sister in Germany. Preaching wherever he went, he had the satisfaction of baptizing nine people by immersion on that trip. After a year he returned to America and in 1842 moved into the Mahoning church. He located on a farm near Poland. In 1844 Elder Kurtz was ordained to the eldership and given the oversight of the church, which charge he held for thirty years.
In the loft of the springhouse on this farm, Brother Kurtz began to publish the Gospel Visitor in 1851. In the spring of 1856, James Quinter came from Pennsylvania to join in the enterprise. In June 1857 the office of the Visitor was moved to Columbiana and with it went the Kurtz and Quinter families. Under the leadership of Brother Kurtz the church prospered. In 1872 the present Zion Hill house of worship was built; in 1873 a new church house was built in Springfield Township to replace the Bethel house, which had been built in 1849. When Brother Quinter moved to Covington, Ohio, in 1866, Elder Kurtz remained at Columbiana and gave most of his time to the work of the church. He preached his last sermon in the Zion Hill church on January 11, 1874, his text being taken from Jeremiah 17:9. The next morning he passed on. He was buried near the Bethel church, not far from the springhouse where he began the printing of the Gospel Visitor. By permission of the descendants of Elder Kurtz, his remains and those of Mrs. Kurtz were moved to the burial ground at
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the Zion Hill church where he had labored for the Lord for more than thirty years. A bronze plaque set in a large boulder was unveiled in June 1931 at ceremonies sponsored by the district.
JACOB H. KURTZ, son of Henry Kurtz, was born near Poland, Ohio, on January 20, 1837. His entire life was spent in the country, except during the time in which he assisted his father in the publishing business as a typesetter. He began that work in 1852, at the age of fifteen, when the office of the Gospel Visitor was located in the springhouse loft on his father's farm. He followed his father and the printing press to Columbiana, Ohio, where James Quinter identified himself with the Visitor. Brother Kurtz remained there until the spring of 1864, when, having married Harriet Stump, he returned to the old neighborhood and engaged in farming. During all this time he was active in the work of the church. Called to the ministry on August 30, 1861, and ordained an elder on September 24, 1881, he was given charge of the church in 1883 and served until his death on February 10, 1912. The editor of the 1914 history of Northeastern Ohio said of him: "From our earliest recollections we think of Brother Kurtz as being associated with the movements of the Church of the Brethren. In our first endeavors in Sunday school and church work Brother Kurtz had a prominent place. While he was not great, he was good; not brilliant, but zealous; not eloquent, but faithful; not educated, yet scholarly; not a disciplinarian, but an exampler; not aggressive, but earnest."
WILLIS E. KURTZ, the son of Ervin Jacob and Ellen (Young) Kurtz, was born at Hartville, Ohio, on September 10, 1920. He united with the church in the Hartville congregation. He was graduated from the Hartville high school in 1938; received an A.B. degree from Manchester College in 1942; has been a student at Bethany Biblical Seminary and Kent State University; has done special work in audio-visuals at the Winona School of Photography. He hopes to complete his work for an A.M. degree and move into school administration or audio-visual promotion work. Brother Kurtz was elected to
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the ministry in the Hartville con- gregation in 1939 and ordained at North Webster, Indiana, in 1943. He was the pastor of the North Webster church from 1944 to 1946. Among his activities are teaching, farming during the sum- mer, and contract painting. Broth- er Kurtz was married to Hazel L. Horst; they are the parents of four children.
Willis Kurtz
DAVID RAYMOND LANDIS was born to David B. and Amelia (Moseman) Landis in Lititz, Pennsylvania, on June 22, 1901. He was baptized in 1912 in the Mennonite Church, but united with the Brethren soon after his marriage to Mildred B. Coblentz on August 29, 1923. Five children were born to the union. Brother Landis was graduated from Manchester College and spent a year at Bethany Seminary. Called to the ministry in January 1937 at Naperville, Illinois, he was advanced in January 1938 at Batavia, Illinois, and was ordained to the eldership in November 1944 in Dupont, Ohio. He was the full-time pastor of the Dupont church (1943-1948); the Chippewa church, Ohio (1948 to 1953); the Flint church, Michigan (1953 to 1959). He had served as part-time pastor at Batavia from 1937 to 1941. A member of the Northwestern Ohio board of Christian education from 1944 to 1948, he was also the writing clerk of that district from 1945 to 1948. Twice he was a Standing Committeeman at Annual Conference. His death occurred in 1959.
OTIS LANDIS, son of Forrest C. and Ola (Kreider) Landis, was born in Darke County, Ohio, on November 17, 1917. He united with the Pleasant Hill church on November 4, 1924. Myrth Karns became his wife on August 22, 1943; three children were born to them. Brother Landis attended Ohio Western Business College, Manchester College (B.A., 1944) , and Bethany Seminary (B.D., 1947). Having been called to the ministry on
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November 4, 1940, he was advanced on August 26, 1941, in the Pleasant Hill congregation. His pastorates have been Portland, Indiana (part time, 1942-1944); Turkey Creek, Kentucky (summer, 1945); Cleveland, Ohio (1947-1951) ; Springfield, Southern Ohio (1951 -).
QUINCY LECKRONE, son of Benjamin F. and Elizabeth (Boyer) Leckrone, was born in Thornville, Ohio, on April 11, 1863. He was baptized in the Olivet congregation in November 1890. His education was secured in Ohio Central College, Mount Morris College, and the Columbus College of Oratory. On August 19, 1896, he was united in marriage with Edith Fickel; two boys were born into their home. Brother Leckrone was called to the ministry in the Olivet congregation in 1891 and there, in 1892, was ordained to the ministry. He served these pastoral charges: Jonathan Creek (including what are now the Olivet and White Cottage churches) and the Greenwood congregation, which is now included in Olivet (1891 to 1901); part time, Olivet (1901-1905); part time, Greenwood (1901-1905) ; part time, White Cottage (1901-1907) ; full time, Royer's Ford, Pennsylvania (1910-1914); full time, White Cottage, Ohio (1914-1916) ; and full time, Ashland, Ohio (1916-1919). He frequently acted as district writing clerk. Brother Leckrone was for five years the president of the Central Lyceum Bureau, Columbus, Ohio. During the life of the Inter-Church World Movement, 1921-1922, he was employed by the Homes and Hospital Department, visiting church homes and hospitals throughout the Eastern and Middlewestern states. He is the author of Baptism, Historical and Exegetical and The Great Redemption. His death occurred in February 1961.
IRA E. LONG was born in Williams County, Ohio, on June 29, 1875, to Jacob T. and Mary Elizabeth (Keiser) Long. He was baptized in the Lick Creek church, Bryan, Ohio, in 1893. In 1898 he married Della M. Landis; nine children were born to them. Brother Long was called to the ministry in 1902 in the Silver Creek, Ohio, congregation, advanced there in 1904,
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and ordained to the eldership in the Lima, Ohio, congregation in 1907. He served the Silver Creek church in the free ministry from 1902 to 1904. His full-time pastorates were Fostoria, Ohio (1904-1906); Lima, Ohio (1906-1907); Andrews, Indiana (1914-1923) ; White, Indiana (1923-1925) ; Akron, Ohio (1929-1934) ; Owl Creek, Ohio (1934-1937) ; Middlebury, Indiana (1937-1941); Buchanan, Michigan (1941-1944); and North Liberty, Indiana (1944-1950). He was part-time pastor at Richland, Ohio, from 1907 to 1914 and at Rock Run, Indiana, from 1925 to 1929. He has served the districts to which his pastoral duties have taken him as moderator, assistant moderator, and writing clerk on numerous occasions; was on the Northeastern Ohio mission board one term and the Northern Indiana ministerial board from 1938 to 1941, and was a trustee of the Mexico Home, Indiana. Six times he was a Standing Committeeman at the Annual Conference. Retiring from pastoral work in 1950, he and Mrs. Long moved to Milford, Indiana, where they lived until his death on October 23, 1956.
NOAH LONGANECKER, one of the nine children of Jacob and Susanna (Sitler) Longanecker, was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, on October 1, 1839, a sixth-generation descendant of Alexander Mack. He united with the church June 6, 1858, when he was nineteen years old, which was somewhat unusual at the time since there were no Sunday schools to prepare for church membership. He was elected to the ministry in the Mahoning church on August 30, 1861. Twenty-two years old at the time, he was known as the boy preacher, for ministerial elections during this period generally sought men of middle age. On September 30, 1866, he married Susanna Stenger; seven children were born to them. In his younger days, Brother Longanecker did some evangelistic work. He was ordained to the eldership in May of 1881 in the Tuscarawas church. In 1891 he moved into the East Nimishillen church district. While serving that congregation, Brother Longanecker, in cooperation with the local ministers, was instrumental in the building of the Hartville church and the organization of its congregation out of the territory of East Nimishillen. At district meetings he was moderator twelve times, several times assistant moderator, and often writing clerk. He was on the
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Standing Committee eight times between 1883 and 1912 and was the Conference writing clerk several times. Sister Longanecker died on September 28, 1913, and he on August 10, 1930.
Edward Loomis
Noah Longanecker
EDWARD LOOMIS was born in Knox County, Ohio, on January 24, 1839. With his parents he moved to Tuscarawas County when he was seven years of age; there he resided the remainder of his life. He began teaching when he was twenty-two and taught for twenty years. When he was twenty-two he became a member of the United Brethren Church. In 1865 he was married to Martha Jane Sechrist, a member of the Church of the Brethren. After considerable study of the Bible and the literature of the Brethren, he united with the church at the age of twenty-nine. In 1874 he was elected a minister and three years later was ordained an elder. He held evangelistic meetings in most of the congregations in Northeastern Ohio. A resident minister of the New Philadelphia church, he was a farmer by vocation. His death occurred in 1919.
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WILLIAM LOUCKS became pastor of the Danville church on September 1, 1959. Both Brother and Sister Loucks are natives of Northern Indiana. They have several children who are married. Brother Loucks served the Pleasant Valley church, in North Dakota, 1942-1947; Blissville, in Northern Indiana, 1947-1951; and Cedar Lake, also in Northern Indiana, 1951-1959.
William Loucks
C. C. Louder
CYRIL C. LOUDER, son of Samuel A. and Mary (Wilhelm) Louder, was born in Lilly, Pennsylvania, on November 13, 1894. Baptized as an infant in the Lutheran Church, he became a member of the Brethren Church (Progressive) in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1914. In June 1915 he married Elsie M. Hildebrand; four children came into their home. Brother Louder attended Johnstown College of Music, Ashland College, and Cook Engineering College. Called to the ministry in 1928 in Ruthford, Pennsylvania, he was ordained in 1937 in the Ashland Brethren church. Having transferred his membership to the Church of the Brethren, he was ordained to the eldership in 1940. He was the part-time pastor of the Eden church from 1941 to 1943. From 1935 to 1943 he was the superintendent of buildings and grounds at Ashland College. From 1943 to 1950 the Black River church received his pastoral care. Since 1950 he has ministered to the Eden congregation. From 1946 to 1948 he was a director of the district heifer project.
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JOHN A. McCORMICK was born in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, on April 14, 1916, a son of John C. and Bessie Elizabeth (Jackson) McCormick. He was baptized in the Fostoria congregation, Northwestern Ohio, in December 1934. Brother McCormick is a graduate of Manchester College and has studied in Goshen Biblical Seminary. Viola Grace Snyder be- came his wife on June 1, 1941; two children have been born to them. Brother McCormick taught in Baltic, Ohio, from 1941 to 1946 and in Danville, Ohio, from 1948 to 1951. The Oak Grove congregation called him to the ministry in December 1934 and advanced him in Decem- ber 1936; his ordination as an elder took place at Baltic in December 1946. He served the Oak Grove church in the free ministry from 1934 to 1936; the Baltic church as John McCormick part-time pastor from 1940 to 1947; the Danville church as part-time and full-time pastor from 1947 to 1953; the Elkhart Valley church of Northern Indiana from 1953 to 1961; the Freeburg church, Northeastern Ohio, since 1961. He has been the district reading clerk (1950 and 1953), a member of the resolutions committee (1947 and 1952), and a member of the board of Christian education for several years.
FRANK E. McCUNE, son of Robert F. and Mary (Rowland) McCune, was born in Lanark, Illinois, on August 15, 1882. He united with the church in the Dallas Center, Iowa, congregation January 10, 1897. Brother McCune was a graduate of Ottawa University, Kansas, and attended Bethany Seminary. Called to the ministry in the Ottawa congregation on October 15, 1906, he was ordained an elder in Muncie, Indiana, in January 1916. He married Ona May Hogan on August 27, 1913; two boys were born to the union. Brother McCune held these pastorates: Muncie, Indiana (1914-1916) ; Lawrence, Kansas (1916-1919) ; Mount Morris, Illinois (1919-1924 and 1929-1936) ; Four Mile,
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Indiana (1924-1929 and 1936-1947); and Baltic, Ohio (1947 to 1953). He was a trustee of Manchester College in 1915 and 1916, a trustee of McPherson College from 1917 to 1919, and a member of the Southern Indiana board of religious education from 1941 to 1947. He died on November 9, 1957.
DAVID R. MCFADDEN, son of William J. and Sarah (Coffman) McFadden, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, on August 27, 1877. He was baptized in the Paradise church in February 1896. Brother McFadden married Florence Klopfenstein on September 20, 1904; four children were born to them. He attended Wooster College and Bethany Seminary. Elected to the ministry May 13, 1905, in the East Chippewa congregation, he was advanced November 11, 1906, and ordained an elder November 8, 1913. All of his ministerial years were spent in the East Chippewa church. He contributed to the work of the district in many capacities: as moderator, writing clerk, and reading clerk; as a member of the ministerial board for twenty-one years; as Standing Committeeman twelve times.
David and Florence McFadden
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He preached at four Annual Conferences. Brother McFadden was active in evangelistic work, holding revival meetings almost every year since 1906. The McFaddens celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary on Sunday, September 19, 1954, at the East Chippewa church. His death occurred on December 22, 1956.
W. GLENN MCFADDEN was born to Albert H. and Ida Mae (Royer) McFadden on April 4, 1904, in Wayne County, Ohio. He united with the church in 1920 in the Chippewa congrega- tion, Northeastern Ohio. A graduate of Manchester College and Bethany Seminary, he has also attended the University of Chicago Divinity School. He married Eva Burkholder on July 12, 1928; three boys were born to them. Brother McFadden was called to the ministry October 10, 1925, in the Wooster church and was ordained to the eldership No- vember 13, 1936, in the Mansfield church. Pastoral services have been rendered to these churches: Mansfield, Ohio (part time, 1929- 1939) ; Michigan City, Indiana (part time, 1939-1942) ; Troy, Ohio (1942-1950) ; Elgin, Illinois (1950- 1961); Pasadena, California (1961 -). He taught one year in Blue Ridge Junior College, New Wind- sor, Maryland, and ten years in the Ohio public schools. While in Northeastern Ohio he was a mem- Glenn McFadden ber of the board of Christian edu- cation and of the Camp Zion committee. Various positions of responsibility have been held in the other church districts in which he has lived. On the Brotherhood level he gave several years of service as chairman of the board of electors of Bethany Biblical Seminary. In the summer of 1954 he and Mrs. McFadden attended the international work camp at Schwarzenau, Germany, and visited many countries in Europe and the Holy Land.
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RALPH BLAINE MARTIN, a native of Streby, West Virginia, was born to Hubert and Emily (Kimmel) Martin on September 27, 1921. He united with the church in 1934 in Eglon, West Virginia. Helen Hoover became his wife on May 20, 1945; three children have been born to them. Brother Martin is a graduate of Manchester College and Bethany Seminary. Called to the ministry in Eglon in August 1941, he was ordained there in August 1942 and ordained to the eldership at Rice Lake, Wisconsin, in September 1951. Brother Martin was part-time pastor of the Bethel Center church, Indiana, from 1945 to 1947 and of the Chippewa Valley church, Wisconsin, from 1948 to 1950; full-time pastor at Rice Lake from 1950 to 1953, and, since 1953, of the First church, Akron, Ohio. He visited Germany in 1946 as an attendant on a cattleboat.
Ralph Martin
John Meyers
JOHN W. MEYERS was born September 30, 1886, in Belfort, Ohio, a son of Harmon and Maggie (Knepper) Meyers. He was baptized February 7, 1915, at the Canton First church. A graduate of Canton Actual College, he spent further time in study at Phillip Bible Institute in Canton; in 1922 he received
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his C.P.A. certificate, having studied further at La Salle University. His marriage was to Plezzie E. Maust. Brother Meyers was licensed to the ministry in February 1945 at the Canton First church and was ordained October 14, 1945, at the Maple Avenue church. He was the district men's work president for three years and from 1942 to 1944 was the joint board treasurer. He served as part-time pastor at Eden during the summer of 1943 and at Maple Avenue part time and then full time from September 1944 to March 31, 1957. Since 1957 he has lived in Tampa, Florida, rendering pastoral service to the church there.
JOHN CLAUDE MIDDLEKAUFF, son of John C. and Anna Laura (Kaetzel) Middlekauff, was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on September 20, 1911. He united with the church November 25, 1923, in the Hagerstown congregation. He is a graduate of Juniata College and Princeton Theological Seminary. Hilda Guyer Ritchey became his wife on May 22, 1937; one daughter came into their home. Brother Middlekauff was ordained March 27, 1932, in Hagerstown and ordained to the eldership May 28, 1941, in Wilmington, Delaware. He has ministered to these congregations: Georges Creek, Pennsyl- vania, from 1937 to 1939; Wilmington, Delaware, from 1939 to 1944; Canton First, Ohio, from 1944 to 1947; Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, from 1947 to 1959; New Carlisle, Ohio, 1959 - . He was a member of the Northeastern Ohio board of Christian education from 1945 to 1947; intermediate director for two years; writing clerk in 1946; member of the Brethren service committee for one year; director of visual education for one year; director of the intermediate camp at Camp Zion for one year; Standing Committeeman in 1947. Many of his writings have been published, some in Brethren and some in non-Brethren publications.
ORPHA K. MILEY, the daughter of Charles M. and Sarah Louvina (Workman) Kaylor, was born on July 4, 1907. She was married to Wilbert H. Miley in June 1930; they are the parents of one daughter and one son. She was baptized in the North Bend (Danville) church, Danville, Ohio. Sister Miley
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received the A.B. degree from Otterbein College in 1929. She served as president of the district women's fellowship from 1947 to 1954. Currently she is teaching school in Ashland County. In 1961 and 1962 she was the Standing Committee delegate from Northeastern Ohio (the third woman delegate from the district). She has traveled in Europe and Egypt, and attended the church's two-hundred-fiftieth anniversary cele- bration in 1958. In 1961 she took a Mediterranean cruise.
Orpha Miley
Wilbert Miley
WILBERT H. MILEY, son of John F. and Maud (King) Miley, was born in Waldo, Ohio, on May 30, 1907. He was baptized in the North Bend church, Danville, Ohio, in November 1930. Brother Miley attended Otterbein College (A.B., 1930), the University of Michigan (M.A., 1933), Bethany Biblical Seminary (M.R.E., 1940), Western Reserve University, and Northwestern University. He was married to Orpha Kaylor in June 1930; two children came into their home. Called to the ministry in April 1938 in the First church, Chicago, he was advanced in April 1941 in the Ankenytown church, Ohio, and ordained to the eldership there in 1943. He ministered to the Owl Creek church as its part-time pastor from 1941 to 1943 and to the Ashland Dickey church on the same arrangement from 1944 to 1954, and has been the moderator of a number of churches in Northeastern Ohio. He has served the district in various capacities: writing clerk, 1944-1947; member of the board of Christian education, 1943-1945; member of the district
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