|
Shelby County |
CHAPTER XVI. - PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN SHELBY COUNTY (CONT'D)THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF HARLAN.
[The editor expresses himself under obligations to Rev. A. O. Broyles for the facts herein recorded.] The First Baptist church at Harlan was organized January 21, 1868, with nine charter members. The early records are indefinite and we can write only a brief history. The church owned property which was valued at four thousand dollars, until the new building was erected. This church has always had a hard struggle to keep up an existence. At times her very existence was threatened not only by internal difficulties but by outside interference. In 1886 the new building was started and finished in 1887. It was occupied until about January, 1887. So far as the records show, it was never dedicated. [Outside records indicate that it was dedicated. -Editor.] James M. Long in the early days did much for this church. William Wyland was clerk of the church for ten years in its early years. 
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, HARLAN.
At the April, 1914 business meeting the church voted to repair the present building. The outside was covered with stucco and a new addition on the north was built for the choir loft. The inside has been newly frescoed and it is now without doubt the most beautiful building in the city. The church now (1914) is in better condition than it has ever been in its history. Rev. A. O. Broyles is the pastor. The following are the pastors who have served the church: James Lambert, August 22, 1868-October 1, 1869; Joshua Currier, November 20, 1869-December 1, 1871; James Lambert, May 4, 1872-December 14, 1872; Joshua Currier, January 1, 1873-August 31, 1873; E. G. O. Groat, September 1, 1873-March 1, 1874; J. E. Rockwood, May 1, 1874-August, 1874; W. A. Darward, December 1, 1874-November 20, 1875; Gilman Parker, January 11, 1876-December 31, 1879; W. A. Welsher, May 1, 1880-May 1, 1881; Anthony Jacobs, December 31, 1881-January 1, 1883; A. H. Post, January 7, 1883-September 1, 1886; N. A. Reed, January 1, 1887-January 1, 1888; J. F. Bryant, November 1, 1888-September 1, 1891; E. A. Spring, January 18, 1892-August 1, 1893; William Morrison, June 1, 1894-June 1, 1895; George W. Patrick, October 20, 1895-April 29, 1896: G. R. Bisby, November 8, 1896-April 25, 1897; G. L. Allen, November 1, 1897-September 26, 1898; L. R. Thomas, October 22, 1899-October 21, 1900: J. W. Megan, March 1, 1901-December 28, 1901. At this time the church suffered by removals until it was impossible for it to advance, so for five years it had no pastor. A. O. Broyles was then pastor at Kirkman. He came from that place and organized the Sunday school and then preached for the congregation on Friday evenings until they were able to reorganize, which they did November 11, 1905, with thirty-nine charter members. There has been a steady growth from that time on. The following pastors have served the church since it was reorganised: J. W. Wilkins, March 4, 1906-March 4, 1907: Otis L. Spurgeon, May 5, 1907-September l, 1908: J. F. Porterfield, December 6, 1908-February 6, 1910: C. W. Heady, April 10, 1910-November 26, 1911; L. H. Steinhoff, December 1, 1911-June 1, 1913: A. O. Broyles, January 1, 1914. The present officers are: Trustees, C. R. Patterson, chairman; H. W. Littleton, J. P. Jensen, C. N. Stofferson and J. K. Alwill. The clerk is C R. Patterson.
One of the earliest Baptist organizations in Shelby county was that at Bowman's Grove. The church building was erected in 1878 and dedicated in 1879. Among the pioneer members of this church were the families of T. P. Duncan, X. Duncan, Elza Duncan, Alex Philson, H. W. Patterson, M. H. Patterson, James F. Smith. C. L. Drake. S. W. Dayton, Wheeler Uptegrove, D. W. Uptegrove, and also Mrs. David (Dr.) Gish, Mrs. Elijah Gish (now Mrs. J. H. Reynolds), Mrs. P. F. Philson, some members of the Blake families, and perhaps a few others. The first pastor and organizer of the church was Rev. Gilman Parker, who was then stationed at Harlan, but who preached every two weeks at the Bowman's Grove church. Other pastors serving the church at various times were Revs. Jacob Welcher and J. W. Carter. Nearly all of the early members in this church are deceased or removed from Shelby county. Services are no longer held in the old church, except on the occasion of funerals. In the cemetery adjoining this church are interred many of the very first pioneers of Shelby county.
One of the most flourishing, active and earnest churches in Shelby county is the Danish Baptist church of Harlan, with Rev. A. B. Hansen as the present pastor. One of the first Danish Baptists of Harlan was J. P. Sorensen and his brother, who came here from the Cuppy's Grove settlement and who were active in the establishment of the church at Harlan. At first the congregation worshiped with the American Baptists in their church, which was erected in the late sixties at Harlan. On or about October 30, 1886, the Danish Baptists formed an independent church society with a membership of seventeen. The first minister was Rev. F. C. Nelson. The membership of the present church includes not only many persons in Harlan, but a large number of families adjoining Harlan, chiefly to the southeast, these people in the country being an outgrowth of the Danish Baptist settlement at Cuppy's Grove.
The Danish Baptist church of Cuppy's Grove is one of the real pioneer religious institutions of Shelby county. It has stood for a practical, hardy, virile Christianity for almost a half century. It is the parent church of the Danish Baptist church of Harlan and the Danish Baptist church of Merrill's Grove in Polk township. The church congregation was organized January 1, 1870. The first members of the church organization were Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Christensen, Mr. and Mrs. Christian Nasby, Henry Johnson, P. C. Rold and Mrs. Marinus Christensen. Meetings were first held in the Rubendall school house in the south edge of Cuppy's Grove until the erection of the first church, which was in 1877. The pastors of the church from the beginning in order of service are: Revs. P. H. Dam (yet residing on a ranch in Idaho), Anthony Jacobs, Lars Jacobsen, J. P. Thomson, A. C. Nasby, J. A. Jensen, E. H. Rasmussen, P. C. Larsen and Alexander Hoiriis, the present able pastor. The present church officers are: Trustees, Andrew Jacobsen, John Nielsen, Hans Benson; deacons, Chris Knudsen, Charles Christensen and Thule Jensen. The church at present has a membership of one hundred and eighty, and a Sunday school of one hundred and twenty-five members, of which Martin Arntsen is superintendent. The first Danish Baptists to settle in Shelby county were the above named, C. B. Christensen and his wife, who came to Shelby county in June, 1865. Mrs. Christensen passed away in February, 1914, leaving her husband surviving. Rev. Alexander Hoiriis at the time wrote the following beautiful sketch commemorative of her life, which well typifies the splendid character of the church to which she belonged and in behalf of which she had labored faithfully for so many years: "Christena Christensen, wife of C. B. Christensen, was a pioneer resident of this community, as she and her husband arrived in Shelby county in June, 1865, and have resided here ever since. What toil, fortitude, perseverance and faith is represented in this brief statement, covering almost a half a century of activity in Shelby county! "And yet a human life is not judged merely by its length as some people measure a piece of calico cloth, but by the goal it has aimed at. For no man is greater than his aim, nor is he any smaller than the task which he sets himself to accomplish. Measured by this standard Christena Christensen's life looms large enough on the dim background of fifty years to entitle her to more than passing notice from her community. "They traveled from Brown county, Wisconsin, in the usual pioneer style, having in their minds to settle in Monona county. A trifling incident, such as a short conversation with a man they met while camping for the evening, led them to change their minds and settle down right here in Shelby county. And thus it came to pass that the first Danish Baptist family in Iowa became the nucleus around which a prosperous Danish Baptist church was formed, which now numbers over two hundred members. For the Christensens were the kind of folks whose religion is hardy enough to stand transplanting from Wisconsin to Iowa, and be none the less virile and energetic. Alas! that many modern folks' religion evaporates if moved across the county line! "Mr. Christensen was converted to Jesus Christ by reading a tract found in a haphazard way, in the year 1857. His wife was also converted in 1857, and both have lived a consistent Christian life, the tender memories of which will linger in their children's minds with an impelling as well as a restraining force for righteousness. Even on her death bed Mrs. Christensen, taking in her feeble hands a picture of the crucified Christ, held it up before one of her sons, urging him by this touching appeal to follow his Master in all things. What an eloquent testimony to the place her religion held in her life to the last! "Mrs. Christensen was not of the militant suffragette type, but a quiet, modest, contemplative woman, filling her long life with duties well done, her home with the sunshine of order and cheer, her eight children with noble ideals and Christlike thoughts, her husband with the joy of faithful companionship and ardent sympathy. Some of the best people in the world are just like this woman--lowly and obscure, perhaps with no shining qualities and no brilliant gifts; yet if we could really see in them what God sees, we would see the thorn bush aglow with the flames of a heavenly fire around which everybody comes with a feeling of comfort and inspiration. "Mr. Christensen will most deeply feel the loss so recently sustained, but, sharing her faith, he knows it will be but a little while and they shall meet again. Not yet, not yet! A little more rough tossings; a little longer on the billows' foam, a few more journeys through time's darkness, and then the sunshine in the Father's home. "Mr. Christensen is, however, of a very active and virile disposition, yet also a man of thought and of books and deeply interested in the trend of the times, not only as an intelligent Bible student of sound opinions and independent conclusions, with whom any earnest Christian can have a very profitable conversation--a good type of an old Danish Baptist Christian, by the way now alas, rare and rapidly passing away, for we live in times of shallow thought and much boasting, which fattens nothing but the conceit--but he is also interested in political affairs, both local and national. He ran once for county treasurer during the Cleveland democratic landslide, but, being a stanch Republican, was, unhappily for the county, not elected. "Seldom does one meet with a man of his advanced age of so active a mind, so optimistic mould, so well informed and so intelligent in judgment--a splendid type of American citizenship, doing honor to his adopted country and native land as well. May he long be spared for the comfort of his children, a useful citizen of Harlan and vicinity, and an inspiration for the rising generation, within and without the church, of which he is an honored and beloved member."
There is an active Baptist church at Correction Grove. Its pastor is the well-known and able former pastor of the Danish Baptist church at Cuppy's Grove, Rev. P. C. Larsen. Among the people interested in this church are the families of Kolb, O. H. Jacobsen, Doonan, Cephart and others. The third Danish Baptist church to be established in Shelby county is that at Merrill's Grove. The present pastor is Rev. Petersen. This church was really established by persons who formerly belonged to the Cuppy's Grove church. Among the families who maintain this church are Berger, Jeppe Nelson, Scott and others.
|
