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Stephenson County
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Stephenson County
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WADDAM'S GROVE
CHURCH Of The BRETHREN
Ministers and Deacons
When the Waddams Grove Church became an organization, separate from the Yellow Creek Church, in 1859, the ministers belonging to Waddams Grove Church were Enoch Eby and Benjamin H. Kepner. The deacons were Allen Boyer and John Wales. Daniel Fry of Yellow Creek was elder in charge and continued as such to June 10, 1864.
Enoch Eby was elected to the ministry in May, 1851, in his twenty-second year, in the Aughwick Church, Pa. Soon after his arrival in Illinois, in 1855, he was advanced to the second degree of the ministry. As a son with a father, Brother Eby labored and traveled with Elder Daniel Fry for twenty-six years.
Benjamin H. Kepner was elected to the ministry in the Yellow Creek Church, Ill., in 1850. He was at this time in the second degree of the ministry.
Allen Boyer was elected to the office of deacon in the fall of 1841, in Brother J. G. Royer’s grandfather’s barn, in the Buffalo Valley Church, Pa. Brother Harry Boganrief’s grandfather, John Boganrief, was elected deacon at the same time and place. The martyr John Kline gave the deacon’s charge.
John Wales was elected to the office of deacon in the Yellow Creek Church, Ill. The date is not known.
April 7, 1860, William J. H. Bauman was elected to the ministry, and Michael Reber and Isaac Myers were elected to the office of deacon. Brother Bauman and Brother Enoch Eby labored and traveled together much. William J. H. Bauman moved away some time before 1877, going to Iowa.
In the spring of 1861 Robert Badger, a minister who came here from the Buffalo Valley Church, Pa., in the fall of 1858, but who had moved later into the Yellow Creek District, again moved into the Waddams Grove Church. Robert Badger was elected to the office of deacon in the year 1850, in the Buffalo Valley Church, Pa. In the same church he was elected to the ministry in the spring of 1856. He was a minister in the second degree in 1859, but when or where he was advanced to the second degree is unknown.
May 10, 1862, Allen Boyer was elected to the ministry.
August 27, 1862, Isaac Rhodes was elected to the office of deacon.
November 1, 1862, Isaac Myers was elected to the ministry.
October 23, 1863, Abram H. Lutz was elected to the office of deacon.
In 1864, Michael Reber, who was elected deacon on April 7, 1860, moved out of the district, going west
June 10, 1864, Charles P. Guinther was elected to the ministry, and Isaac Kemper and Nicholas Weber were elected to the office of deacon. At this time Enoch Eby, who had been foreman since 1859, was ordained to the eldership of the church here, taking the place of Brother Daniel Fry, who lived in the Yellow Creek Church, Ill. Enoch Eby served the church here as her elder until 1887, or for twenty-two years.
About the year 1865, Paul Wetzel, a minister in the second degree from Rock River Church, Ill., moved into the district.
In 1869, William K. Moore, a deacon from Buffalo Valley Church, Pa., moved here. William K. Moore was elected to the office of deacon on October 8, 1867, in the Buffalo Valley Church, Pa.
In 1869 George Leiphart, a deacon from Jones’ Mills Church, West Moreland County, Pa., also moved into the district.
October 23, 1869, Abram H. Lutz was elected to the ministry, and Isaac Myers was advanced to the second degree of the ministry.
In the spring of 1870 Robert Badger moved to Iowa, where he was ordained to the eldership one year later.
About this time Eli Troxel, a minister, was living in the church here; when he came, and where he came from is not known. About 1872 he moved out of the district.
June 29, 1872, William Gift and John G. Eby were elected to the office of deacon.
October 12, 1872, William K. Moore and John G. Eby were elected to the ministry. John G. Eby moved west in 1873.
June 25, 1873, David B. Eby was elected to the ministry, and John Kreitzer and John Bower were elected deacons. At this time Abram H. Lutz was advanced to the second degree of the ministry.
In 1876 Isaac Myers moved to Iowa, and about this time David B. Eby moved into the Yellow Creek Church, Ill.
David Gochenour a deacon from Iowa, moved into the district and lived here for some time. When he came is not known. In 1880 he moved back to Iowa.
In 1881 Paul Wetzel and Isaac Rhodes moved out of the district, going west.
In 1882 Charles P. Guinther, John Wales, and John Bower also moved west.
May 8, 1882, Peter R. Keltner, Israel Stees, and Joseph A. Kreps were elected deacons.
September 2, 1882, Israel Stees and Levi H. Eby were elected to the ministry; Levi H. Eby, being the third son of Brother Enoch Eby, elected to the ministry in the Waddams Grove Church. Levi H. Eby moved west in 1883, a minister in the first degree.
May 5, 1883, Peter R. Keltner was elected to the ministry, and George Shick and Charles McNutt were elected deacons. Noah Rudy, a deacon, moved into the district this year.
May 22, 1884, Isaac Kemper passed from this world in death.
September 4, 1886, Noah Rudy passed from this world in death, also.
In 1887, Enoch Eby moved to Kansas. Charles McNutt also moved west, the same year.
March 1, 1887, Israel Stees and Peter R. Keltner were advanced to the second degree of the ministry.
May 25, 1887, John Wesley Starr and Joseph Howe were elected deacons.
In the fall of 1887 George Masters was elected to the office of deacon.
In 1890 Benjamin H. Kepner moved west. P. R. Keltner also moved out of the district in 1890.
May 17, 1890, Abram H. Lutz was ordained an elder, and took charge of the church, filling the vacancy made in 1887, when Enoch Eby went to Kansas. Abram H. Lutz served the church as her elder, to the spring of 1898, when he resigned because of failing health and age.
March 28, 1891, Joseph Howe passed to the beyond.
June 18, 1892, Ezra Lutz, a son of Abram H. Lutz, was elected to the ministry. June 18, 1896, he was advanced to the second degree of the ministry
In the spring of 1898 David B. Eby of Yellow Creek Church, Ill., was asked to take charge of the church. Brother Eby served in this capacity until September 3, of the same year, when he resigned the care of the church, as he was soon to move to the State of Washington.
From September 3, 1898, to April 12, 1901, John G. Royer, of Mt. Morris, Ill., served the church as her elder.
December 10, 1898, Abram H. Lutz passed beyond the cares of this life.
February 25, 1900, Nicholas Weber too closed his eyes in death.
In 1901 Enoch Eby returned from Kansas to make this his home. Rudy Richard, a deacon from Yellow Creek Church, Ill., also moved into the church here. Rudy Richard was elected deacon at Yellow Creek Church, Ill.
October 26, 1901, William G. Eisenbise was elected to the ministry, and Allen Boyer and William K. Moore were ordained to the eldership. From this date to May 25, 1906, these two last named brethren had charge of the church, with Brother John H. Moore of Elgin, Ill., as an assistant from November 6, 1902, to May 25, 1906.
In 1902 William Gift moved to Iowa.
June 6, 1903, William G. Eisenbise was advanced to the second degree of the ministry.
December 5, 1904, Joseph A. Kreps passed beyond the cares of this life.
During the winter of 1905 and 1906 P. R. Keltner lived in the church here for about three months. He came here from Sterling, Ill., and moved from here to Rockford, Ill.
November 15, 1906, Allen Boyer passed to the beyond.
May 25, 1906, P. R. Keltner of Rockford, Ill., was chosen elder of the church for one year. He has succeeded himself in that capacity to the present time, and is the present elder in charge here.
December 25, 1906, Albert P. Myers, Harry U. Boganrief, Frederick Brose, and Franklin B. Starr (a son of the above John Wesley Starr) were elected deacons.
September 7, 1907, Israel Stees was ordained to the eldership.
January 1, 1909, Israel Stees unexpectedly passed from earth’s cares.
The present ministers are Enoch Eby and William K. Moore, both elders, and Ezra Lutz and William G. Eisenbise in the second degree of the ministry.
The present deacons are George Liephart, George Shick, George Masters, John Wesley Starr, Rudy Richard, Albert P. Myers, Harry U. Boganrief, Frederick Brose, and Franklin B. Starr.
Taking into the number Brother John Lauver, who lived here before the Waddams Grove Church existed as a separate organization, the number of ministers at Waddams Grove is nineteen. The deacons number twenty-nine. The ministers elected here number thirteen. Of the deacons, twenty-two were elected here. Seven of the ministers elected here were taken from the deacon body.
Nine of the Waddams Grove ministers and their wives (except Sisters Leah Boyer and Mary Stees) are deceased. The ministers named in the order of their death are:
John Lauver (German). Died August 8, 1851, aged 68 years, 8 months. He, with his wife, was interred in the Louisa cemetery here. The remains were removed to Mt. Vernon, Iowa, by a daughter in the nineties.
Isaac Myers. Died April 13, 1889, aged 66 years, 11 months, 28 days. Interment at Panther Creek, Iowa.
Benjamin H. Kepner. Died April 16, 1893, aged 75 years, 9 months. Interment in California.
Abram H. Lutz. Died December 10, 1898, aged 70 years, 1 month, 18 days. Interment in the Chelsea Brethren Cemetery, Jo Daviess Co., Ill.
Paul Wetzel (German). Died June 27, 1898, aged 76 years, 7 months. Buried in Iowa.
Charles P. Guinther (German). Died in January, 1901, ages 81 years, 3 months, 15 days. Interment in Iowa.
Allen Boyer. Died November 15, 1906, aged 87 years, 7 months, 26 days. Interment in the Louisa Cemetery, Stephenson Co., Ill.
Robert Badger. Died February 24, 1907, aged 88 years, 1 month, 2 days. Interment at Panther Creek, Iowa.
Israel Stees. Died January 1, 1909, aged 66 years, 6 months, 25 days. Interment in the Louisa Cemetery, Stephenson Co., Ill.
Seven of the Waddams Grove deacons are deceased. The first five who passed away were laid to rest in the Louisa Cemetery, Stephenson Co., Ill. Named in the order of their death, they are:
Isaac Kemper. Died May 22, 1884, aged 77 years, 4 days.
Noah Rudy. Died September 6, 1886, aged 63 years, 2 months, 1 day.
Joseph Howe. Died March 28, 1891, aged 39 years, 11 months, 2 days.
Nicholas Weber. Died February 25, 1900, aged 77 years, 8 months, 4 days.
Joseph A. Kreps. Died December 5, 1900, aged 70 years, 9 months, 22 days.
John Wales. Died October 4, 1904, aged 88 years, 1 month, 24 days. Interment in Kansas.
Michael Reber. Died May 22, 1907, aged 89 years, 6 months, 7 days. Interment in Kansas.
At least five of the ministers and four of the deacons of the church were members of other denominations before becoming members of the Church of the Brethren. The ministers who were members of other churches were: Robert Badger, Allen Boyer, Paul Wetzel, Charles P. Guinther, and Israel Stees. The deacons who were members of other denominations were: John Wales, Nicholas Weber, John Kreitzer, and William Gift.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Its Beginning
Waddams Grove Church
Ministers and Deacons
A List of the Members of the Church
The Annual Meeting of 1856
Enoch Eby and Daniel Fry’s Mission to Denmark in 1877
District Meeting Preceedings for 1862,
1871 and 1882
Every Name List
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
The Yellow Creek Meeting house in 1910
Waddams Grove Meeting house in 1910
Chelsea Meeting house in 1910
Where the Annual Meeting of 1856 Was Held
Brother Enoch Eby’s Photograph
