OCHEYEDAN CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
The Ocheyedan Congregational church was organized in 1888 and the present church
building erected in 1893. Thomas Pell, L. R. Fitch, D. Donaldson, W. A.
Brintnall, J. L. Brown, J. B. Chase, W. B. Jackson, E. T. Briggs, R. W. Coats,
J. F. Glover, F. R. Rawlins and George E. Brown have been the pastors, serving
in the order named. The pastorates have averaged about two years in length. Mrs.
A. V. Randall, Mrs. E. O. Manville, Mr. and Mrs. John Armstrong, Mr. and Mrs. J.
M. Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. VanCleve and Mr. C. L. Buchman have been leading members
for years. Mrs. Belle Randall is the church clerk, and Mrs. Sarah Putney is the
church treasurer. The church reports fifty-three members. Of these fourteen are
males and thirty-nine females. Of the members, six are reported absent. The
present Sunday school superintendent is Mrs. Ida Allard. The members of the
Sunday school number seventy. The church property is worth about two thousand
dollars.
The church at present receives assistance from the Iowa Home Missionary Society.
It is also assisted by a highly efficient Ladies' Aid Society called the Busy
Bees. Bernice and Beatrice Manville, the twin daughters of Mr. and Mrs. E. O.
Manville, are fine musicians and are of much help in the choir.
The church has had regular, services, with little interruption, since the date
of organization. On several occasions Rev. W. A. Schwimley, while pastor in
Sibley, preached revival sermons in the Ocheyedan church. Of the newer members
of the church who were good helpers, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bremmer, both of whom
are now dead, deserve special mention. Of the older members the late Mrs. C. L.
Buchman was the church treasurer for many years. The church is without a
parsonage and it is hard to rent a suitable dwelling for one, but the church is
not at all discouraged. Having survived about a quarter of a century, it has
learned to be patient and overcome obstacles. It feels it has a mission in
Ocheyedan and that it is a help to the community. With the further development
of the fine country round about and the growth of the town the church will
undoubtedly share in the general prosperity.
From the 1914 Past and Present of O'Brien and Osceola Counties
