27 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 27 (Susan Otterbein)

For William Otterbein, one of the United Brethren founders, six years of marriage came to an end on April 27, 1768. He was a widower at age 42, and remained single the rest of his life.

Susan LeRoy was a Huguenot, descended from French Calvinists who came to America after France outlawed Protestantism in 1685. Susan’s family arrived in Pennsylvania in 1754 and settled around Tulpehocken; the next year, an uncle was tomahawked and burned in an Indian raid. But they built homes, farmed the land, and did well.

William Otterbein was the pastor at Tulpehocken 1758-1760, so that’s undoubtedly how he and Susan met. After two years, he moved on to pastor a church in Frederick, Md. But he apparently couldn’t get Susan out of his mind. They were married on April 17, 1762. He was 36, she 26. (Different sources disagree, by a few days, on the exact date of both the marriage and Susan’s death.)

Susan joined William in Frederick, and in 1765 they took a church in York, Pa., where he spent a full nine years. It was during the second year that he traveled 25 miles east to Lancaster to attend a Great Meeting, where he met Martin Boehm and an embrace launched the United Brethren movement.

We can imagine Otterbein returning to York and excitedly telling Susan all about what had happened at Long’s Barn. Or, perhaps Susan was there to hear her husband proclaim, “We are brethren!” Maybe they used the trip to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. We don’t know.

What we do know is that Susan soon became afflicted with a lengthy illness. Less than a year later, she was gone.

The year of Otterbein’s marriage, a curious letter was sent to Dutch Reformed officials in Holland saying, “Brother Otterbein has entered the state of matrimony in deference to public opinion, which in America requires a minister should be a married man.” But history writers recount the great sorrow which Otterbein suffered upon the death of Susan.

Two days before he died in 1813, Otterbein asked someone to bring him a small pocketbook that Susan had made soon after their marriage 51 years before. Paul Millhouse wrote, “Those who were with him said that he kissed it with all the fondness of a youthful lover, and tears came to his eyes.”

26 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 26 (Bishop Barnaby)

In 1889, the year of the division in our denomination, we elected four bishops. Three of them–Milton Wright, Halleck Floyd, and Horace Barnaby–served together for the next 16 years. All three left office in 1905. And all three died in 1917.

Horace Barnaby was born April 26, 1823, in New York. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about his service to the United Brethren church, but he was a solid guy who served faithfully and was respected by other ministers.

Barnaby lived an interesting life, and suffered a lot of hardships. Nothing was handed to him.

A year after Barnaby was born, his father went on a business trip and was never heard from again. His mother remarried several years later, after which he lived with an aunt for a while, and then, from age ten, with his grandparents. Once a year, he would walk 18 miles to visit his mother.

Barnaby grew up knowing hard work. He was teaching school at age 17, and two years later, he bought from his uncle some frontier land near Hillsdale, Mich. He walked from New York to Michigan, hunted for food, and cleared the land for a home (during his lifetime, he would clear land for three different farms). He continued teaching school, and married one of his students, Lydia.

In 1850, at age 27, Barnaby joined the California Gold Rush. He sold the farm, found a place for his family to stay, and headed west with a friend. It took them four months to reach California; they braved Indians and scorching heat. But they did well. A year later, they returned to Michigan with $4000 saved up. But while sleeping aboard a steamship, all of their belongings were stolen. It was a wasted trip. Back to farming.

Barnaby was converted in 1852, and became a circuit-riding preacher in the Methodist Protestant church. In 1858, he switched to the United Brethren church, and was ordained in 1863.

Lydia died in 1855, soon after an infant son died. He married Jane in 1856, but she died six years later. He then married Jane’s sister, Susan…who died a year later in childbirth, followed soon thereafter by the infant.

With the Civil War at its height, Barnaby found homes for his two daughters, now ages 15 and 18, and tried to enlist. He was rejected three times, and never understood why, except maybe that he had a frail appearance. He went back to pastoring in Michigan Conference. In 1864, he married Sophia. This one lasted. They celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1914.

Barnaby was one of the men who guided and rebuilt the United Brethren Church after the split. We don’t know much about his contributions, but since he was a bishop, we can assume he played a vital role and made a lot of decisions. He and Bishop Halleck Floyd left office in 1905 following an unfortunate controversy over the publishing house; they crossed swords with Milton Wright and lost.

Horace Jr. wrote that during the winter when his father was 83, he would go into the woods each morning with his axe, because “he felt better satisfied each day to be of some use in the world.” That winter he chopped thirty cords of wood, and when spring came, he dug and tiled 220 yards of ditch.

Barnaby died on March 1, 1917, at age 94. He left behind some impressive kids. Alvin became an ordained UB minister and taught for a while at Huntington College (then called Central College). Horace became an attorney in Grand Rapids, and served in the state legislature for several terms. Milton attended Huntington College for three years, and worked in the Michigan state auditor’s office. James managed the Barnaby farm. Daughter Addie graduated from Huntington College and taught school in Grand Rapids.

23 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 23 (Honduras)

The Sambo Creek church in Honduras.

We became involved in Honduras in 1945. For the first eight years, the work focused around several English-speaking churches comprised mostly of persons who had immigrated from Caribbean islands. Those churches separated from us in 1953 (it was very contentious), and we pretty much started over.

This time, we focused on the largely unreached Spanish-speaking population. Leading the way was missionary Archie Cameron, who had come to Honduras in 1952. He was joined by fellow missionaries Don and Leora Ackerman and Betty Brown.

Archie and a growing team of zealous young Christians took the Gospel from village to village. There were many new Christians. By June 1953, three Spanish congregations had been established, and another three were on the way. Some very capable Hondurans began leading alongside the missionaries–Eudaldo Mejia, Rufina Cruz, Manuel Flores, Andres Castillo, and others.

By 1956, the Spanish outreach had touched many places–Jutiapa, Sambo Creek, Nueva Armenia, San Francisco, Santa Ana, five parts of La Ceiba, and various mountain villages. There had been over 300 conversions. There were three ordained ministers, and several future pastors were enrolled in Bible school or seminary.

Seven churches and preaching points had been established, and in many other places, it was just a matter of time. Seven churches was enough to organize a conference. Which is what Bishop Ezra Funk did on April 23, 1956.

22 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 22 (Baker Hall)

Baker Hall

Many changes in denominational leadership occurred in 1981. Among them was the inauguration of Dr. Eugene Habecker as president of Huntington College. He had been hired in 1979 as executive vice president–sort of a president-in-waiting. Upon the retirement of DeWitt Baker in 1981, after 16 years as the president, Habecker would take his place.

As executive vice president, Habecker spent eight months developing a long-range, 17-year plan for the college. This “Quest for Quality” program, which would lead up to the college’s centennial in 1997, called for advances in curriculum, plus the addition of various buildings, including a new residence hall. That part happened even before Baker left office.

On April 22, 1981, ground was broken for what became Baker Hall, named in honor of DeWitt Baker. It was built behind the original Wright Hall, which was later torn down and replaced with Roush Hall.

Baker Hall was the first residence hall built around suites; there were 3-4 suites per floor with a shared lounge, plus kitchen and laundry facilities. Today, female students occupy the first floor and male students occupy the second and third floors.

20 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 20 (DeWitt Baker)

Lt. DeWitt Baker

DeWitt Baker graduated from Huntington College in 1940, taught school in Michigan for two years, and then volunteered for duty in the Naval Reserves Air Force, where he learned to fly. While on furlough in 1942, he married a UB preacher’s daughter, Evelyn Middaugh, whom he had met at Huntington College. The Navy then sent him to Brazil to help guard the naval shipping lanes to Africa. He spent most of the war flying patrols over the Atlantic searching for German submarines, with some stints as a test pilot.

In 1944, Evelyn read in the denominational magazine about five United Brethren missionaries who were on their way to Sierra Leone, and would be stopping in Natal, Brazil. (See the April 9 post.) She clipped the article and sent it to her husband, who received the letter just as he arrived in Natal on temporary assignment. Natal was located on the eastern point of Brazil, the closest point to Africa.

Three young women arrived on April 20–Bernadine Hoffman, Oneta Sewell, and Erma Funk. DeWitt and Bernadine had been classmates at Huntington College, and he also knew Erma Funk. Several days later, Lloyd and Eula Eby joined them.

The missionaries were stuck in Natal for six weeks. Lt. Baker was able to spend three weeks with them before being transferred. In the company of a naval officer, the missionaries could eat at the naval base and attend English church services there. One day, he took them up a river for a picnic, with American hotdogs. Another time, 19 missionaries gathered at the hotel for an indoor picnic supplied by the mess sergeant at the base.

Altogether, up to 40 Africa-bound missionaries, representing many denominations, were stranded in Natal. They met at the hotel each morning, 8-10 am, for devotions. DeWitt Baker met with them every other morning; the alternate days found him flying patrols over the Atlantic. One time they had special prayer for one of Baker’s fellow pilots who, while far out in the ocean, had an engine die. There was much rejoicing when he made it back.

Planes were constantly making the flight across the Atlantic, but military people had priority. Finally, on June 4, Pan Am had a plane for them. A few seats would be filled by the wives of Firestone workers. All the rest would go to missionaries. On June 5, after a 14-hour flight, their seaplane landed in Liberia. From there, the five United Brethren missionaries made their way by boat to Sierra Leone. They reached Sierra Leone on June 9, exactly two months after leaving Indiana.

Lloyd Eby was impressed with young Lieutenant Baker, and sent him a letter later that summer. After leaving the military, would he be interested in going to Sierra Leone to start a secondary school? DeWitt’s reply was that God hadn’t called him to become a missionary, and besides, he wasn’t a United Brethren member. But Eby followed up in 1948 after returning to the States. In August 1949, DeWitt and Evelyn Baker began their own journey to Sierra Leone, where they would spend the next 16 years, followed by 16 years in the Huntington College presidency.

19 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 19 (Ellen Rush)

On April 19, 1929, Ellen Rush (right) concluded six years as a missionary in Sierra Leone.

She traveled to Sierra Leone in August 1923 with Mable Shultz, both of them to serve in Bonthe at the Minnie Mill girls’ school. Illness forced Mable to return home after about six months, but Ellen remained. She was house mother to the 50 resident students, and sometimes taught in the school, which had an additional 40 students.

Her mother’s illness and subsequent death caused Ellen to cancel plans for a third term. Back in Alma, Mich., she became a Registered Nurse in 1937.

19 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 19

Throughout 2017, as we celebrate the United Brethren denomination’s 250th anniversary, we are looking at events from our history. You can see all posts here.

Judith Eby, the oldest daughter of Bishop Lloyd and Eula Eby, died on April 19, 1952. She was just 26 years old.

On April 9, 1944, two months before the D-Day landing, Lloyd and Eula Eby departed for Sierra Leone as missionaries. They had served one term in Sierra Leone in the early 1920s after graduating from Huntington College. Next came 18 years in the Detroit area, during which they started six churches. Now, they were again needed in Africa.

This time, they had two teenage daughters–Judith, 18, and Shirley, 15. Though the girls were still in high school, Huntington College allowed them to move into the girls’ dormitory, which would have been Livingston Hall. Livingston, which started out as a house, was enlarged that year to the size most people remember, with more rooms and a prayer chapel on the lower level.

This being war-time, the trip to Africa was dangerous and nobody knew how long the war would last. But Huntington College was able to assure the Ebys, “Don’t worry about your girls. We’ll take care of them.”

The Eby family was reunited in 1947. Lloyd served as bishop 1949-1957. In 1950, Shirley graduated from HC and Lloyd was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.

Judith attended HC 1945-1946, but never graduated. She struggled for many years with a brain tumor, to which she finally succumbed on April 19, 1952.

18 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 18 (Clarence Carlson)

On April 18, 1925, Clarence Carlson boarded a ship for Sierra Leone. He would go on to serve five terms as a missionary, pastor UB churches in three different states, and spend eight years as bishop. But at this point, he was just a 28-year-old Huntington College drop-out embarking on his first ministry assignment.

Clarence E. Carlson was born August 9, 1897, the son of Swedish immigrants who settled in Illinois. He grew up in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, spoke both English and Swedish, and could play a variety of instruments—guitar, violin, accordion. He joined the US Navy during World War I, but was never assigned to a ship.

In 1921, Carlson’s parents bought a farm in Michigan across from the Jackson Street UB church (now called Countryside) in Breckenridge. He landed a job with an insurance company in Grand Rapids, and attended the UB church on Sundays. One Sunday afternoon in 1923, alone in his room, he yielded his life to Christ. The next year, he entered Huntington College with the sense that God wanted him in the ministry.

When Carlson became aware of the need for a missionary in Sierra Leone, he offered himself. College would have to wait.

Carlson landed in Freetown on May 9 and hitched a ride to Bonthe with an American delivering a load of Texaco gas. From there, field superintendent George Fleming took him to Gbangbaia, where he was to replace Lloyd Eby. The missionary novice found himself supervising a school, a boys’ boarding home, a church, and a medical dispensary. Fortunately, he had a good national staff at the school, and a fine pastor for the church.

George Fleming said Carlson drew up for himself a daily schedule of 16-17 hour days. “A busy man, and fortunately, a very capable one. His work was well planned, and he held religiously to his schedule.”

Carlson focused a lot of attention on the boys at the school, constantly watching for “opportunities to present the claims of Christ on the life of individual students, gently pressing them towards a personal decision to receive Christ as Savior and Lord.” Some of those boys became United Brethren ministers.

Carlson returned to the States in 1928, and in 1929, while continuing his previously interrupted studies at Huntington College, became pastor of College Park UB church. But in 1931, education again got trumped by needs in Africa. We’ll continue his story in July.

17 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 17 (Olive Weaver)

On April 17, 1948, the 24-year-old Olive Weaver began the first of what would become five terms as a missionary in Sierra Leone. She serve continuously until 1968.

Olive, like several other missionaries over the years, including Eula Eby, Ruth Benner, and Shirley Fretz, came out of the Grace UB church in Sherkston, Ontario.

Olive spent her first four terms, 1948-1963, teaching at the Minnie Mull School for Girls in Bonthe. She moved to Bumpe for the fifth term to serve at the girls’ school.

As with other missionaries, Olive’s duties went well beyond her “official” assignment. She helped lead services in villages, cared for babies and children, and was involved with starting some of the UB churches in the Freetown area.

Back in Ontario, Olive taught elementary school in Fort Erie. She later married Tom Rickersey, an Australian. Tom passed away in 1996, leaving behind four children and ten grandchildren.

Olive Weaver Rickersey, 82, passed away July 6, 2007.

15 Apr On This Day in UB History: April 15 (Elen Bowman)

Left: Elen and Noel Bowman in the 1940s. Right: Elen Bowman.

Elen Bowman and her husband, Noel, were missionaries in Sierra Leone for one term during World War II, 1941-1944. Their two-year-old son remained behind in the States. They were stationed at Gbangbaia and then at Minnie Mull Girls’ School. Elen was a teacher and matron at the schools and boarding homes, while Noel managed both boarding homes.

After leaving the field, Noel pastored various churches in Oregon Conference for 17 years. When he died in 1965, Elen concluded what she called her 22-year “furlough” and returned to Sierra Leone, serving as manager and teacher at the Bumpe Girls’ School, as conference Christian Education secretary, and in other capacities. She served two more terms—1966-1969, and 1970-1973.

Altogether, Elen served 11 years in Sierra Leone. She passed away April 15, 1997, in Newberg, Oregon.