1888-1890 Mahlon Day Collins
Rev. Collins
moved to Clarinda in September, 1888. It
was in Clarinda that he had been admitted to trial in the ministry in
September, 1863. That conference could
not be held in the unfinished (2nd) church, so it had been held in
Father Ribble’s grove.
The Clarinda
assignment was his last work on a regular charge. An article from the January, 1930 issue of
the Iowa Journal of History and Politics says “It was fitting that he then receive the highest salary of his preaching
career, and the family was housed in a commodious parsonage next to the church
structure.
The same
journal reports that “The Salvation Army followed the Rev. Collins to Clarinda
and was there again assisted by him. Major Dale, Adjutant Simmonds, the wives, and children made the
Methodist parsonage their headquarters for several weeks. They established a post down near the
railroad station in a portion of the village dubbed ‘
Gun
Town
’.”
The article
continues “With them came another Englishman who had also come to the
United States
with Ballington Booth at the time of his first invasion. This man had tarried at
Philadelphia
and
Chicago
. He bore the title and name of Sir John
McGlasson. Sir John was of such easy
manner that the title did not seem to fit him. It was never used. . . He was left in charge
of the post when Major Dale and Adjutant Simmonds moved to other fields. This marked the genesis of Salvation Army
work in Clarinda. This record shows that
M.D. Collins had much to do with the organization of what is now considered one
of the wealthiest conferences in the Methodist Episcopal Church. And he had not a little to do with fostering
Salvation Army work in
Iowa
in the day when it needed friends.”
The dedication
of the church had been delayed until this time due to the indebtedness on the
building. The building dedication was finally held on January 6, 1889.
An article in
the Clarinda Herald of January 9, 1889 describes the events:
“Last Sunday,
January 6, was a happy day to the members and friends of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
Five years ago,
during the pastorate of Rev. B.F.W. Cozier, the Society here built the third
church they have occupied since the organization in this place. Determined not to dedicate the structure
until it was paid for, the church has remained until last Sunday without this
act of consecration. The ladies of the
Society have been laboring faithfully and steadily toward the liquidation of
the debt, and at last gave the key to unlock the tangling impediment to
progress.
During the last
year they have raised $500.00. This fine
sum of the ladies accumulation made it feasible to attempt the payment of this
debt. So about 10 days since the Pastor,
Rev. M.D. Collins, began a private canvass to secure the sum, which added to
the ladies fund would pay the debt. For
this purpose $681.00 were needed. Mr.
Collins succeeded in raising $801.00 and on last Sunday the dedication was
consummated. The other churches
adjourned their services and with their pastors came to rejoice with the
Methodist people. By 11 o’clock the
Audience room gallery and every available place was filled to its utmost
capacity. Mr. Vance had prepared a
chorus choir of over 60 voices, who rendered some of the choicest selections as
this famous choir only can do, filling the house with inspiring melody.
The Rev. J.
Ragan of the Christian Church read the opening declaration of the ritual and
the first hymn; Rev. Mr. Pringle of the United Presbyterian Church made the
opening prayer; Rev. Mr. Eddy of the
Baptist
Church
read the scripture
lesson and Mr. Collins pastor of the church preached the sermon.
The text was
Psalms 97: 1-2. “The Lord Reigneth; Let
the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of Isles be glad thereof; Clouds and
Darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgement are the habitation of
his throne.”
Following the
sermon the congregation were given another opportunity to make contributions to
the debt fund, and over $140.00 was quickly given, and making a grand total of
money given and raised by the ladies for their disenthrollment of the church of
$1,442.00 and this has been done readily and gladly.
The services
closed with the Methodist Ritual. Rev.
Mr. Smith of the Presbyterian Church read the Declaration.
Mayor Good, as
president of the Board of Trustees, standing with the Board before the altar,
presented the church for dedication.
The Doxology
has not been sung in our midst by a happier people, tha sang it out in the
Methodist
Church
last Sunday, closing the happy
services of dedication.”
In 1889 the
church membership listed at 295.
1890-95 Elmer Wolford McDade
Rev. McDade broke all records
for a pastorate in Clarinda. He served a
full term of 5 years.(1) According to
the history that was a part of the membership directory publication the
following year, “The church continued to
grow and prosper, and Br. McDade is loved by the members for his ability, his
character and his faithful work among them. His reputation in this church is all a faithful minister could
wish. He is considered a polished
preacher, a faithful pastor and a Christian gentleman. His work abides.” (4)
It is interesting to note that
while he was in Clarinda, on January 17, 1892, the Rose Hill church was
dedicated.
In 1922 Rev. McDade was in his
seventh year as pastor of the Wesley church in
Des Moines
. Two of his sons went into the ministry.
One of the ideas he used to
build the number of members was a direct invitation. In addition to the worship services the
invitation was issued for Sunday School, Epworth League, good music, and free seats.
1895-97 John Franklin St.
Clair
Rev.
St. Clair was pastor during an exciting time. A news article about the1896 Methodist Jubilee listed 400 members
attending and 250 attending Sunday school, despite bad weather. He was described as “a zealous and constant
worker.”
In the 1896 directory (4) the
money in envelopes was to go to the ministerial fund, loose money for
incidentals; and every member was expected to contribute something – the poor
according to willingness and the rich according to ability.
The activities were rather
structured. The First Tuesday was
reception evening at the parsonage. “Church Services” listed 11 and 7:30
services, 9:30 Sunday school, Epworth League, Junior League and Catechism Class,
Middle League, Choir and Orchestra rehearsal, Baptismal and reception of
probationers on the first Sunday of each month, Lord’s Supper at quarterly
meetings.
Officers listed included 2
local preachers plus superannuated and supernumerary preachers, W.A. Frazier as
director of music, Trustees include Fred
Tomlinson, E.D. Cullison, I. Van Arsdol. Sunday School superintendent was C.A. Lisle. C.S. Tomlinson was president of the Epworth
League. Brother and Sister Van Arsdol
were the only original members still in the congregation.
In his letter of report to the Quarterly Conference,
Rev. St. Clair reported that the
Sabbath
School
under the
leadership of Bro. Lisle and a faithful corps of teachers had been very
successful. Epworth League with a membership
of about 75 was a great power in the church. Prayer meetings were well attended and spiritual. He was concerned that class meetings were not
as well attended as they could be; however, they were a source of strength to
all those who did attend.
He reported the membership to be 548 full
members. He had preached 200 times,
baptized 75, conducted 20 funerals and solemnized 12 marriages. He had received $989.60 in salary.
1897-99 Peter Van Dyke Vedder
Little is known of Rev. Vedder’s two year pastorate. According to a 1922 news article, he had
recently died in his southern home.
1899-1904
Elmer Ellsworth IlgenFritz
Rev.
IlgenFritz had been admitted to the ministry at an annual conference held in
Clarinda in 1883. His pastorate here encompassed
five years. During that time there were
27 deaths, 104 baptisms and 333 persons admitted to membership. The pipe organ was placed in the church, a
new boiler for the heating plant installed, the church rewired and re-carpeted,
a cement walk added, the parsonage papered and re-roofed.
At the turn of the century a
union church watch meeting was held. A
January 4, 1901 news article describes the meeting: “The grand old nineteenth
century in which we were all born has passed from us forever. Its departure and the dawn of the greater
twentieth century of our era in which we now live and move was strikingly
marked by an interesting assembly in the Presbyterian church of this city. The spacious edifice was filled with an
appreciative audience which never grew weary of the three hour program. . .
.the entertainment commenced sharply after 9 o’clock with an anthem by the
Methodist Episcopal choir, which was very beautifully rendered. . . The Hon. V.
Graff . . . introduced the question ‘How can we advance our material
interests?’ C.A. Lisle and
O.H.
Park
spoke to this question and seemed to made several good points on the
subject. Each of these gentlemen
suggested certain ‘necessary civic reforms’ and pressed for their adoption. . .
Rev. E.E.IlginFritz took charge of the meeting and spoke on ‘What the Church
Stands For’. He said that it stood forth
for everything that was right ad true and pure and good. The visible church was becoming more and more
a factor in the world and a means of blessing and benefit to all mankind. He concluded by asking the loyalty of the
people to religious interests, for he said, the church was ‘the pillar ad the
ground of truth’. . . Many prayers were then offered and at the midnight moment
whistles and bells announced the birth of 1901, and after the singing of the
doxology the meeting was dismissed with the benediction.”
The first pipe organ was
installed in 1900. It was a fine
instrument with two manuals, thirteen stops, four couplers, and more than 800
pipes. These pipes were so well made
that most of them could be used in the new organ installed in 1937. (11)
According to a1902 news article
“Last Thursday afternoon the old people of the Methodist church were invited to
meet in the parlors of the church for a social season as the guests of the
younger members. Arrangements had been
made for the conveyance of those who were not provided, and there was a goodly
number present to enjoy the occasion. Refreshments, such as characterize all Methodist meetings of this kind
were served and the old folks who were present demonstrated the fact that they
were not afraid of their digestive organs being overloaded, for they took hold
of the good victuals and with the energy of a wood chopper. The parlors of the church were beautifully
decorated with autumn leaves, evergreens and flowers and the tables were models
of neatness and beauty.” The members
present had been born between 1812 and 1844.
In his parting letter to the
congregation, Rev. IlgenFritz states “I feel that in severing my relationship
with this charge I am leaving behind me a host of friends who have cheered me
in the midst of the battle with kind words of commendation. I bespeak for you the greatest possible
success in the future and my prayer ever shall be that God’s choicest blessings
shall attend you.”
Rev. Ilgenfritz was later the
District Superintendent of the Boone District.
J.D. Keener was Chorister in
1904. Annie Tomlinson was the Organist
in 1900.
1904-05
Fletcher Homan
Rev. Fletcher Homan remained only
one year.
Rev. Homan went from Clarinda
to
Simpson
College
. He had received his A.B. and S.T.B. degrees from Simpson in 1895. At Simpson he had been the captain of
Simpson’s legendary 1893 football time: unbeaten, untied, and un-scored-upon. He returned to Simpson as the field secretary
in 1905-06. His task was to raise
$100,000 by 1910 for the Jubilee Campaign. This was accomplished.
He served as Simpson’s
Vice-President from 1906-08 when he left to become President of Willamette
University in
Oregon
. He died in 1949.
1905-1909 Josiah Watson Abel
Rev.
Abel served Clarinda for four years. During that time, (according to the Treasurer’s book for 1909-12) the
Woman’s Home Missionary Society, Des Moines Conference, was organized. During his pastorate, two scholarship of $50
each were given by the women each year, one to the
Allen
Home
(colored) in
Ashville
N.C.
and the other to Ritter Home (white) in
Athens
TN.
In 1906 there were 40 officers
and teachers in the Sunday School and 300 “scholars” with an average attendance
of 225. Epworth League reported 150
members with an average attendance of 50.
Rev. Abel reported that in 1906
he had spent 4 weeks in revival meetings, 125 persons had been added to the
church, there were five deaths, and eleven had transferred to other
churches. He had baptized about 35, and
officiated at 21 weddings. There had
been a total gain in membership of 68. He had preached 130 times, attended most all of the class meetings,
attended and led about 40 prayer meetings, been in every home of the church and
“made it a point to hold worship in the homes where I visit”.
At the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Des Moines Conference held in Clarinda in
September, 1908, there were 460 members. A total of 870 had joined in 25 years. According to the 1909 Page County History, two hundred and fifty had
joined “in the present pastorate” bringing current membership to 700.
Rev. Able later served as
pastor of the
First
Church
in
Tulsa
,
Oklahoma
.
1909-1913 William Stevenson, DD
When he entered the Clarinda
pastorate, Dr. Stevenson had just completed six years as the district
superintendent for the Atlantic District. He was remembered (23) for a splendid, fruitful and scholarly ministry.
After completing seven years as
pastor of the Glenwood church, he and Mrs. Stevenson retired in
Jefferson
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