Elkhart County, Indiana - Chapter 13: Religious,. Charitable and Cultural, 1916

Methodist and Baptist Missionaries - Days of the Methodist Circuit Riders - The First M. E. Church of Goshen - First Presbyterian Church - A Remarkable Pastorate Record - The First Baptist Church - St. James Episcopal Church - The German M. E. Church - Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church - First Reformed Church - First English Evangelical Lutheran Church - Sharith Israel - First Christian Church - Mennonite Brethren Church - First Brethren Churchi - Other Churches - Associated Charities of Goshen - Lodges, Societies and Clubs - The Masonic Bodies - Independent Order of Odd Fellows Organiza'j'ions - Knights of Pythias - Howell Post No. 90, Grand Army of the Republic - Knights and Ladies of the Maccabees - Modern Woodmen of .Americ.v - Other Fraternities - The Women's Clubs.

The social, moral and religious forces at Goshen are solidly marshalled through the activities of numerous churches, societies and institutions ; the history of which constitutes a chapter which probably concerns more people in the community than any other topic. In all new American communities of the past century, so largely settled by pioneers from the Xew England and old Middle states, hardly had bare provision been made for feeding and clothing the body than the emigrant commenced to consider the available means of bringing the comforts, supports and inspirations of religion within his reach. In that connection, the schools and churches ran a neck-and-neck race.

County. About the year 1828 the Ohio conferences of that denomination sent a missionary to the St. Joseph Country, but the first to come in contact with the section of that region included within the present county was Isaac McCoy, founder of the Baptist (Carey) Mission at Niles, Michigan. As he first passed through the region, and named Christiana Creek, in 1824, he preceded any actual settlers. It was reserved for the Methodist missionaries to effect an organization of a class, or a society.

In 1831, after quite a number of settlers had become citizens of the new county, the Indiana conference sent into that region Nehemiah GriiTeth, a typical pioneer circuit rider, to have charge of a circuit which included Fort \Vayne, Mongoqunon, Elkhart Prairie, White Pigeon, Niles and South Bend. In 1832 Rev. Richard I. Robinson was sent to the circuit and organized the church at Goshen. The Goshen Circuit included as many as ten or twelve preaching places, and this organization continued until 1852, when the trhurch at Goshen was made a station with a pastor of its own.

During the circuit days the ministers shared in the hardships that were endured by most of the people. Often the salary was fixed at between $100 and $200, in addition to which an allowance was made of about $75 for fuel, table expenses and horse feed. In 1849 the amount to be raised for pastor and presiding elder was $345. At the end of the year there was an unpaid deficiency of $119.56.

The first church was erected in 1832 and located on South Sixth Street. It was a frame building forty feet square with walls twelve feet high. The contract was let to James Beck for $495 and. while an unpretentious edifice, was the largest church in Northern Indiana. It was ceiled, but not plastered, and furnished with benches made of slabs. The class leader, or local preacher, was Aza Sparklin, whose associates were William Waugh and Thomas and George McCullom, with their wives. Before the church building was completed, in 1832, a Sunday School was organized and held its sessions in a log- cabin.

In 1835 a camp meeting was held by the church on the \'ioIett lands south of the town which was attended by people for twentyfive miles around. In 1840, under the ministry of Rev. George M. Boyd a revival meeting was held which resulted in 150 members being added to the church.

In 1845 plans were made and the contract was let for a new building, which was erected on Main Street just north of the Hotel Alderman. The trustees were Joseph H. Defrees, George Rumsey, Ebenezer Brown, John Darlan, Asa H. Norton, James Anderson and Samuel Murray. For over twenty years this building served the needs of the congregation, but the growth of the town and increase of the church membership made a new church necessary. In 1873 the lot was purchased at the corner of Fifth and Jefferson streets and on October i6th the corner-stone was laid. Rev. A. Marine, who had been licensed to preach by this church delivered the address. The panic made the raising of money difficult, but on January 31, 1875, the building was completed and the basement finished and opened for worship. Doctor Thomas, of Chicago, preached the dedicatory sermon. After ^}4 years the auditorium was completed, the walls decorated by Prof. Romeo Berra, a pipe organ installed and all debts paid. On June 16, 1878, the completed building was dedicated by Bishop S. M. Merrill.

From the organization of the church at Goshen, in 1832, until it became a station with a settled pastor, in 1852, the following have served: Richard I. Robinson (1832-33), with Beswick and Phelps as assistants ; Ball, Harrison, McCoole, Skillman, Stagg, Posey, Stonex, Bruce, Wheeler, Graham, George M. Boyd, Samuel Lamb, L. W. Monson, Franklin Taylor, Enoch Holstock and D. F. Streight.

The first twenty years of Presbyterianism in Goshen comprised a period of struggles and only partial successes. Very soon after the County of Elkhart was organized and Goshen platted, a Presbyterian minister preached a sermon at the home of a Mr. Irwin in Benton. In the summer of 1832 the same clergyman, Reverend Mr. Cory, preached the first Presbyterian sermon in Goshen. As to the following six years, neither tradition nor the public prints throw any light upon the subject. In 1838 a small and insecure Presbyterian organization of the New School was efifected and survived about two years. Then came Rev. Enoch Bouton, a minister and home missionary of the Presbyterian Church. For a time he held services in the old court house and organized a small society, mainly of the families of Frederick and Leonard Harris and Charles L. Murray, the last named being the brilliant young editor of the Express.

In 1842 the Presbyterians erected a neat frame house of worship on North Fifth Street, at the north end of the old [Messick property. The old subscription paper circulated to raise means for the erection of the building is dated November 22, 1841, and shows the names of fifty-three subscribers. The value of their ofiferings reprecented $578, a large proportion of which was in work, lumber and other materials. One man, George Rowell, gave a plow.

During the second year of Mr. Bouton's ministry he was a commissioner to the General Assembly of the church, held at Philadelphia. He returned from that meeting with a fever by which he was taken away in the course of a few weeks. After his death the church was unsupplied for a period of two or three years, when the Rev. A. S. Kedsie, a minister of the Congregational faith located at Goshen, supplying the pulpit for a period of nearly three years. During his ministry the Presbyterian organization was abandoned and the Congregational form was adopted, and, mainly through the instrumentality of an itinerant evangelist - Avery by name^he membership was increased to perhaps forty. Immediately following that period, that pastor accepted a call to Kalamazoo and left the church vacant, and it remained so for three years and more.

In the spring of 185 1 Rev. James Johnson came to Goshen from Peru, where he had been pastor of the Presbyterian Church. He supplied the pulpits so far as he was able, with the great burden of constant sickness at his home, until the death of his wife in the autumn of that year, after which he removed to Iowa. During the winter succeeding the church building was unoccupied. The following summer, that of 1852, it was given up to a private school.

This completes the story of the precarious beginnings of Presbyterianism in Goshen. Succeeding the death of Reverend Bouton no stable Presbyterian organization existed, and even the Congregationalist organization fell away after the departure of Reverend Kedzie. Other church organizations in Goshen in 1852 were the Baptist, which had a small membership and a minister but no house of worship. The Methodist Church had the largest membership, about 150, and what was then considered the finest church building between Fort Wayne and Chicago. It was located at No. 211 North Main Street. And such was the situation at the time of the organization of the present church.

For the succeeding half of a century a history of the church is almost a biography of its pastor. The last Saturday of October, 1852, the Rev. H. L. Vannuys, a graduate of that year's class of the Theological Seminary of Princeton, came to Goshen from Elkhart by stage. He had made an appointment with the Hon. Thomas G. Harris to preach the next day in the Presbyterian Church. The latter was a citizen of prominence and a politician of note, who being so engrossed in the heat of the troublous campaign, then coming to a close, when Gen. \\'infield S. Scott was defeated by Franklin Pierce, and who had entirely forgotten that he was being depended upon to arrange a service in the little neglected church on Fifth Street. In the morning he met the young minister at the church, where the latter was awaiting a congregation, and after expressing his deep regret for the situation, said they would arrange a service later in the day. The church was unfit for occupancy, the door having been left open, and a flock of sheep that had the freedom of the streets had used the room as a sleeping place, and the walls and benches had been chalk-marked by sacrilegious boys.

At the hour of 3 that afternoon an audience assembled quite filling the court room. It was a room a square of perhaps 45 or 50 feet, the floor of brick -and on a level with the ground. The preacher occupied the judge's stand. The choir, self gathered after the audience assembled, was in the stall of the jurymen at the judge's left. The windows were raised as it was a warm Indian summer afternoon, and a good number of people were at and around the windows listening. Such was the humble start of the church.

The following week a meeting was held by a number of people inclined to the Presbyterian faith, the conclusion of which was a proposition that if Mr. Vannuys would remain and preach as their minister they would set about at once the putting of the church building in order for occupancy. And before the week was ended they began the work. They put a new roof upon the church, put a second coat of plaster upon the walls - they had had but one - took out two doors of the front and put in a central one covered by an outside vestibule and built the first stay of a tower. They removed the rough benches and put in pews, nicely grained, and finished it up a neat and handsome room. The same pulpit remained ; it had been built by Rev. Johnson's own hands. By the Christmas of that year the work was completed and the building consecrated to worship.

All that winter services were held in the little church. When spring came there came with it talk of an organization. On Saturday afternoon, the 12th day of March, 1853, a meeting was held in the church pursuant to a call issued the preceding Sunday, to consider the interests of religion. There were fourteen present, all but three of whom belonged to the old congregation. After devotional services beginning with the hymn of invocation, "Come Holy Spirit," and the full and free interchange of views, it was "Resolved that we now take the necessary steps for the organization of a Presbyterian church." The following persons, all of whom had been previously in connection with the church here or elsewhere, entered into covenant : Charles L. Murray and Ann M., his wife ; James R. McCord and Eliza, his wife; S. F. Abbott and Lois, his wife; Joseph D. Devor and Martha, his wife; Robert Lowry Sr. ; Lee Sanderson,

The following officers were chosen : Ruling elders : Robert Lowry, Sr., James R. McCord and Orrin Curtis ; deacons : Joseph D. Devor and Lee Sanderson ; trustees : Charles L. Murray, Orrin Curtis and Thomas G. Harris. Rev. Hervey L. Vannuys was chosen pastor.

The organization was christened as "The First Presbyterian Church of Goshen." On March 26, the second Sunday following, the organization. Rev. S. C. Logan came from Constantine, administered the Lord's Supper and ordained the deacons previously elected and Elders Lowry and McCord, Mr. Curtis declining to serve as he lived on a farm and could not give the duties the required attention. The i6th of June following the Lake Presbytery met in Goshen, organized and enrolled the church and ordained and installed the pastor. The church so organized and started on its way of public blessing and benefaction has had a continuous growth and uninterrupted prosperity, and has been a power in the community whose strength and extent can never be reckoned in its fullness until that day when the books of all of us are balanced.

David G. Lowry, a son of Elder Robert Lowry, Sr., was the first member taken into the church; this was March 26, 1853. About the same time Miss Sophia McClure and Mrs. Lucy Clark were taken in as members. A little later Mrs. ]\Iary Stevens and Dr. C. S. Ramsey and wife came from Indianapolis and presented their letters, and still later Mrs. Jane McCabe, Mrs. Eliza Lowry, Miss Elizabeth Lowry, Mrs. Amanda Shepherd, Mrs. Orrin Curtis and Anthea Abbott united with the church. All these accessions occurred before the month of March elapsed, so that the new-born church commenced its active life with a membership of twenty-seven.

About i860 the membership had outgrown the small building erected almost twenty years before and to get larger and modern quarters the trustees sold the old church to Fred Jackson for $750 and later purchased the lot on Market Street, now Lincoln Avenue, where the present church stands. Fred Jackson sold the old church to Adam Yeakel, who moved it to its present location on South Fifth Street, where it is now in use as their place of worship by the congregation of the German Lutheran Church. Turned about, a steeple added, stained glass windows replacing plain glass, it is yet the same as when put in order back in the fall of 1852.

The present structure was built in 1861 at a cost of about $12,000. John Werner laid the foundation and superintended the brick work. What difficulties must have been encountered and overcome during this time of building can scarcely be imagined by members of this day, though fully realized then. It was the beginning of the Civil war and it is marvelous to think of such a great work going on amid the alarms and chaos of that nation-rending contest. It is related that while the masons were placing stone the pastor procured copies of a newspaper and read them dispatches about the Battle of Bull Run then in progress. It is a wonder one stone could be laid straight upon another during the telling of such momentous news. However it was done and its cornerstone duly laid.

In October, 1877, the twenty-fifth anniversary of Doctor Vannuys' pastorate of the Goshen Church was gratefully and affectionately observed by the members of the society and the general public; likewise the fortieth anniversary in 1892 and the fiftieth, in 1902. In June, 1903, he was succeeded in the active pastorate by his nephew, Rev. E. A. Vannuys while the venerable founder of the church became pastor emeritus. Doctor Vannuys passed to the reward of the faithful Christian on the 17th of February, 191 1.

The church was remodeled in 1900 and a parsonage erected in 191 1. The present membership of the First Presbyterian Church, still served by Rev. E. A. Vannuys, is about 525.

The First Baptist Church was the third church to be permanently organized in Goshen, and was established by eight ladies in 1858. The edifice now occupied, on the corner of Washington and Sixth streets, was completed in 1876, and, with the parsonage and grounds, covers half a block. The church society is active both at home and in the foreign fields. As to the latter feature of its work, it may be mentioned that it has sent two of its members abroad, ]\Irs. Nora Yates Turner and Mrs. Inez Ulery McGuire. Rev. C. Agers was one of the pioneer pastors of the First Baptist Church. For the past thirty-five years the following have been in service : Rev. J. M.

The parish was organized on Easter Monday, March 26, 1859. Its first officers were: George F. R. Wadleigh, senior warden; Hedley Earde, junior warden ; William B. Martin, Charles E. Lawrence, Chance W. Stevens, Charles B. Alderman, Philip M. Henkel, John Graham, and George Howell, vestrymen. These officers were among the principal incorporators. Rev. H. M. Thompson was called to preach every other Sunday on July 11, 1859. Rev. C. A. Foster was the first resident rector and while the parish was under his charge, in 1861, the present house of worship was completed. Since that time it has been greatly improved as to interior furnishings and decorations. The rectory is the gift of Mr. and Mrs. James M. Latta, the deed of transfer being presented to the vestry in April, 1887. In May, igoo, the pipe organ was installed. Since the rectorate of Doctor Foster, the following have served the parish: Rev. S. D. Pulford, Rev. C. C. Tate, Rev. R. C. Wall, Rev. J. E. Wildman, Rev. Richard Totten, Rev. T. W. Mitchell, Rev. J. C. Boxer, Rev. S. C. Orpen. Rev. W. W. Raymond, Rev. S. Roosevelt, Rev. J. B. Mead, Rev. Charles T. Stout, Rev. E. B. Stockton, Rev. F. W. Goodman, Rev. Edgar M. Thompson, Rev. J. V. Fradenburg, Rev. Edward L. Roland and Rev. L. T. Scofield. Mr. Roland served as rector from 1906 to 1914, and Mr. Scofield has been in charge since the latter year. The membership of the parish is about 150.

ville. The society occupied rooms in the EvangeHcal Methodist Episcopal Church and rented of the Swedenborgians until 1864, when a small brick structure was erected at the corner of Fifth and Purl streets. In 1874 a larger church was built and the society sold the older structure to the English Evangelical Lutherans, but afterward reoccupied the edifice which it had originally erected and which had been remodeled by the Lutherans. Among the pastors who have served the German Methodist Episcopal Church may be named Rev. J. Weidman, Rev. John Straush, Rev. John Bodiner, Rev. F. L. Nagler, Rev. Henry W. Lentz, Rev. W. P. Rueckheim and Rev. A. C. Bauer, who is still pastor.

The parish of St. John's was founded by the missionary priests of Notre Dame, Rt. Rev. Julian Benoit, V. G., being the first priest to visit Goshen. He said mass for the early Irish and German pioneers in the old courthouse, and in private residences in the early '40s. Other priests who followed Father Benoit in missionary visits were Rev. Alexander Granger, C. S. C, Very Rev. Edward Sorin, C. S. C, and Rev. Henry Vincent Schaefer.

The work of erecting the church in i860 was under the direction of Rev. Henry Vincent Schaefer, who had charge of Avilla and its missions. The first pastor was Rev. Frederick J. Holz from i860 to 1861. Following Father Holz the church was attended by Rev. A. B. Oechtering, Rev. Fathers Duehmig and Storr and others, and Rev. H. Meissner became the resident pastor from 1868 until the spring of 187 1. Rev. J. H. Quinlan of Elkhart and Rev. M. F. Noll attended the congregation after Father Meissner's time, and Rev. H. A. Boeckelmann was resident pastor from 1878 to 1880. Rev. A. J. Kroeger, now of Logansport, was resident pastor from 1880 to 1887; Rev. Adam Buchheit from 1887 to 1889, and Rev. S. M. Yenn, from 1889 to 1900; Rev. F. A. King, and Rev. W. S. Hogan from September, 1902, to February, 1903; Rev. J. B. Fitzpatrick from 1903 to 1907; Rev. L. A. Eberle, from 1907 to 191 1, when he was appointed to Chesterton and succeeded by the present pastor. Rev. Gustave Hottenroth.

The first school building of St. John's parish was erected in 1867 and lay teachers were in charge. In 1881 Rev. A. J. Kroeger completed a substantial brick house west of the church and Sisters of the Holy Cross were engaged as teachers. Its attendance is now about eighty.

On the 27th of October, 1861, the Lutherans of Goshen who were interested in effecting an organization assembled at the old Presbyterian Church and formed the First Evangelical Lutheran Church. They called Rev. M. M. Bartholomew to the pastorate, the enterprise being assisted by the Lutheran congregations in Benton and Harrison townships. In 1862 the old Presbyterian Church was purchased and moved to a lot on South Fifth Street near Purl, where, after being considerably improved, it was dedicated as the Trinity Lutheran Church August 24, 1862. A parsonage was erected on Sixth and Purl ; the one now occupied was completed in 1904. At first the preaching was only in English, but it soon became evident that not a few of the members wished a portion of the services to be conducted in German. As Mr. Bartholomew was not a master of that language, he resigned in favor of Rev. Jonathan Weber in 1866. Since that year the church has been a bi-lingual institution, using both languages interchangeably. In 1875 the portion of the congregation which desired all the ser\-ices in English founded a separate church, and thj Benton congregation parted company with the mother body later. The congregation in Harrison Township remained with the original organization.

On September 20, 1875, the First Reformed Church of Goshen was organized by Rev. E. R. WilHard, with the following charter members : John F. Kitson, Jacob Pfeiffer, Solomon Sarbaugh, Elizabeth Sarbaugh, George N. Miller, Mrs. C. A. Cunningham, Jonas Frantz, Mrs. Bertha Fisher, Luella Christman, Sarah A. Sarbaugh and A. S. Leib. In January, 1876, the old Methodist Church on North Main Street was purchased and remodeled, its dedication occurring in March of that year. At the same time Rev. W. H. Zeigler commenced his pastorate, which continued until February, 1881. Since that time the successive pastors have been as follows: Rev. A. K. Zartman, July 1881-July, 1888; Rev. H. S. Gekeler, April, 1889-fall of 1890; Rev. I. S. Hahn, April, 1891-October, 1891; Rev. B. B. Royer, June, 1893-January, 1899; Rev. N. B. Mathes, May, 1899-January, 1909; Rev. C. K. Staudt, July, 1909- September, 1912; Rev. W. W. Foust, March, 1913, up to the present. The substantial brick church occupied by the society was erected in 1893. The present membership is about 285.

This church was organized by those members of the old Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church who desired to have its services conducted entirely in the English language. The organization was formally effected January 27, 1876, under the name of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church by the election of the following officers: Elders, John Shoup and Christian Bartholomew; deacons, A. Miller and H. E. Tiedeman ; trustees, J. C. Beck, L. E. Bartholomew and Morgan Butler; secretary, J. S. Simon; treasurer, C. D. Tiedeman. In February, 1876, the German Methodist Episcopal Church, corner of East Purl and South Fifth streets, was rented and subsequently purchased. The building was twice remodeled and in 1894 an exchange of properties with the German Methodists was effected by which the English Lutheran Church came into possession of the larger building which they have since occupied on the corner of Fifth and Madison streets. The present membership of the church is 165.

The Jewish congregation of Sharith Israel was organized September 3, 1878, at a meeting held at the residence of Jacob Mich, and N. Caminsky was elected its first president. The old Baptist Church, at the corner of Washington and Sixth streets, was at once purchased and converted into a synagogue, wherein were held the first services of Sharith Israel on the fall festivals of the year 1878 (5,638). Rev. J. H. Cohns officiated. Soon afterward the building was moved to its present location on South Third Street and improved. In 1887 the Sharith Israel Cemetery was opened by the congregation, and in 1899 a new synagogue was completed. It was dedicated on New Year's eve of that year by Rev. B. C. Ehrenreich, assisted by Rev. Harris Weinstein, the rabbi in charge. Mr. Weinstein has been pastor of the congregation since August, 1881.

The First Christian Church of Goshen was organized March 26, 1886, in the building then known as the Coliseum. The organization, consisting of twenty-five charter members, was effected after revival meetings held by Rev. Reason Davis. Among those of the original enrolment were Messrs. Solomon Ulery, V. R. Miller, Frank Burns, O. S. Compton, James Alford, Wilson Butts and John N. Perry, and Mesdames C. J. Swart, Frank Miller, Wysong, Minnie and Frank Alford, Etta Perry and Roy Miller. Rev. V. R. Miller was chairman and O. S. Crompton, secretary, at the time of organization. Of the first trustees, Frank Bums and Solomon Ulery still remain active members of the church. The building now occupied by the First Christian Church was commenced in the spring of 1886 and completed in the following fall. Serving the church as pastors after Rev. Reason Davis were: Rev. J. J. Copeland, Rev. Peter Winebrenner, Rev. David Hidy, ^ev. V. R. Miller, Rev. W. G. Parker, Rev. George E. Hicks, Rev. W. W. Stuart, Rev. G. R. Hammond, Rev. J. A. Wood and Rev. W. P. Minton. Mr. Minton has been in charge since 1910. The church which numbers nearly 250 is in what is known as the Eel River Christian Conference. A magnificent building is being planned to take the place of the one now in use.

The Goshen congregation of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ was organized in 1892 by Elder Daniel Brenneman. In 1894 the society purchased the site for a church building on North Ninth Street, where a house of worship was erected under the direction of Elder John Krupp. The local church, which has an active membership of over 100, supports a rescue mission. The pastors of the congregation have been Elders D. Brenneman, John Krupp, H. S. Cressman, D. Brenneman, Jr., H. F. Beck, W. J. Ressler, J. J. Hostetler, David Hygerna, W. H. Moore, W. J. Huffman, F. A. Holderman, Albert Taylor and S. Bartlett.

The First Brethren Church of Goshen was founded in 1897, and the organization effected under Rev. W. D. Furry and C. D. Yoder. Following Mr. Furry were Rev. J. R. Keller, who served two years; Rev. G. W. Rench, eleven years; Rev. E. D. Burnworth, one year; and Rev. J. L. Kimmel, the present incumbent, three years. The church building occupied by the society was completed in 1902 and enlarged and remodeled in 1908. The church has a membership of 500.

St. Mark's Methodist Episcopal Church was originally the Fifth Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, the last pastor of which was Rev. J. H. Pascal], who is still living in Goshen. The present pastor is Rev. J. Cook Graham.

Although the Wells Memorial Lutheran Church (with a house of worship, comer of Third and Oak Ridge), is still ahve, it does not hold regular meetings and has no settled pastor.

Closely identified with the activities of the churches, lodges and clubs of Goshen, as well as with all individuals who desire to alleviate suffering in the most practical and effective ways, is the Associated Charities, an organization of comparatively recent formation. It was formed, through a combination of such elements, in January, 1912, with Rev. Father E. L. Roland, of St. James Episcopal Church as president and Mrs. E. E. Mummert, as secretary. Since 1913, Dr. C. O. Dobson has ser%'ed as president of the association and the following as secretaries : Miss Minnie Wilden, Mrs. M. E. Hartzler and Mrs. William Willhide. The primal aims of the Associated Charities are to relieve want and suffering, to put a stop to house-to-house begging, to prevent fraudulent appeals and duplications, and to protect charitably inclined people. The city is divided into seven districts, with a chairman and an assistant chairman for each district, and they, in turn, report to the visiting nurse (now Miss Elizabeth Niswander) and cooperate with her in the work of investigating the worthy poor. Clothing and supplies are distributed from the store-room at the office of the visiting nurse. The Associated Charities cooperates with the trustees and prevents duplications, also temporary help often prevents many from becoming township charges.

As the county seat, without serious danger of dispossession, Goshen has always been a prominent center of social, benevolent and literary activities. There are no cities of her size in Indiana which are, on the whole, more cultured, and whose people are more progressive or practical in such uplifting movements.

Among the secret and benevolent orders, the Masons and the Odd Fellows have been longest in the field, their organizations covering the Biblical span of "good old age,'' three score years and ten.

Goshen Lodge No. 12, Free and Accepted Masons, was granted dispensation September 14, 1844; organized September 30, 1844, and its charter granted May 29, 1845. In the following month its first officers were elected, viz. : Ebenezer Brown, W. M. ; E. W. H. Ellis, S. W. ; A. Skinner, I. W. ; James H. Barnes, treasurer ; E. D. Chamberlain, secretary. A second lodge was organized in Goshen as Fravel Lodge No. 306, in 1862, and the two lodges were consolidated in 1886. A remarkable circumstance in connection with Lodge No. 12 was the service of E. G. Chamberlain as secretary for fiftytwo years, from the date of the charter in 1845 to the time of his death in 1897. The worshipful masters of Goshen Lodge No. 12 have been Azel Skinner, Ebenezer Brown, Erastus W. H. Ellis (1846-59), Elbridge G. Chamberlain (1848-58), L. Brooks Parmley, Robert Lowry, Robert D. Jillson, Henry G. Hale, Joseph H. Defrees, John W. Hagans, Edward J. Wood, Albert S. Blake, George W. Gibbon, Milo S. Hascall, Samuel F. Eisenhour, Ruel M. Johnson, John B. Walk (1877-92), Aaron S. Zook (1884-96), Moses M. Bartholomew, Frank D. Finney. William C. Johnson, Lincoln H. Beyerle, Will C. Peters, Edwin H. Dunning, Israel O. Wood, Ferman B. Learning, William C. Chamley, Harry V. Brown, Walter C. Ellis, Thomas A. Davis, Harris Weinstein, Dwight H. Hawks, John A. Carmien, Burt Cripe, Earl C. Cissell, Adrian D. Berry, J. Dana Cramer, S. T. Hazen and Arthur E. Dewey. Besides the worshipful master, the chief elective officers of the lodge now serving are as follows: Alpha E. Moseley, S. W. ; Wesley Reames, J. W. ; David W. Neidig, treasurer; Harris Weinstein, secretary. The present membership is about 220.

The heads of Fravel Lodge No. 306 were : Moses M. Bartholonew (1862-66, 1884-86), Henry C. Miltenberger, Henry Warren, William A. Woods, Warren H. Thomas, Joseph A. S. Mitchell, Thomas H. Daily, John A. Carmien, William H. Miller, Wells W. Ward and Henry V. Curtis.

of the state; Colley A. Foster held that office in 1851 and 1852. The following served as high priest of the chapter from one to three years : Robert Lowry. William B. Martin, Melvin B. Hascall, John Ginter, Henry Warren, Charles B. Alderman, James R. Howell, Josiah W. Kronk, Charles B. Harris, Aaron S. Zook, Frank D. Finney, William H. Chamley, Edward Conner, John A. Carmien, Harry V. Brown, Lincoln H. Beyerle, Thomas A, Davis, Dwight H. Hawks, Frank H. Wilcox, George W. Herr and Mark Coggan. The chapter as now organized, has a membership of ninety-five, with the following officers : Mark Coggan, M. E. H. P. ; A. S. Zook, E. K. ; Fred O. Thiers, E. S.; William H. Chamley, treasurer; Harris Weinstein, secretary.

Goshen Commandery No. 50, K. T., was granted a dispensation by Charles Goltra, grand commander. May 28, 1904, and chartered May II, 1905. Its eminent commanders have been Dwight H. Hawks, William H. Charnley, Leon B. Slaughter, Lincoln H. Beyerle, William O. Vallette, Henry V. Brown, Thomas A. Davis and Frank D. Finney. Mr. Davis now holds the most exalted post.

Elkhart County Lodge No. 34 was instituted April 20, 1846, in the jury room of the old court house, its charter members being E. M. Chamberlain, J. H. Barnes, C. S. Cole, Samuel Simonton, Jr., and J. S. Brown. The first officers were : E. M. Chamberlain, N. G. : L. G. Harris, V. G. : Sam Simonton, Jr., secretary ; Charles S. Dole, treasurer. The Odd Fellows' Temple was dedicated June 15, 1870. As now constituted, the lodge has a membership of 210, with the

The Odd Fellows have also an encampment (79) organized in August, 1866, and Daughters of Rebekah Lodge (356) instituted in April, 1891. Mrs. W. H. Welker was the first past grand and Mrs. C. M. Douglas the first noble grand. The present membership of the Rebekah Lodge is over 220, with Mrs. Adolph Winkle as past grand and Mrs. Frank B. Shoemaker as noble grand.

The Knights of Pythias are third in age of the local orders, Calanthe Lodge No. 41 having been organized since November 5, 1873, when it was instituted by Grand R. and C. S. Charles P. Carty. The lodge is strong and still growing, and among the chancellors largely responsible for its progress have been R. M. Johnson, W. A. Whippy, W. H. :\Iiller, E. L. Barlow, R. C. Minnich, P. Conrad, M. E. Meader, L. J. Miller, G. W. Rich, J. M. Gowing, G. E. Bowser, R. E. C. Chatten, E. E. Drake, J. A. Beane, H. C. Wilson, G. B. Slate, D. D. F. Fitch, J. A. Arthur, H. N. Wider, L. B. Slaughter, G. W. Ellis, E. J. England, J. V. Morrice, F. B. Learning, C. G. Sims, M. E. Wilson, H. H. Beers, Arthur Estes, E. A. Dausman, John Snobarger and Joel P. Hawks.

Company No. 11, Uniformed Rank, was organized June i. 1883, but is now disbanded. Goshen Temple No. 329 Rathbone Sisters, the ladies' auxiliary, was organized in July, 1900.

The great patriotic order, which grew out of the Civil war, mustered the Goshen post mentioned on August 16, 1882; named in honor of Charles W. Howell. The charter members of the post were Charles E. Thompson, William R. Ellis, L. S. Haney, C. C. Carmien, M. B. Hascall, Jerome Allen, J. Charles Maywold, Harry M. Dean, E. L. Billings, Orrin Watts, Reuben Lutz, James D. Foster, William Stover, James Hatfield, C. D. Sherwin, George W. Rich, James R. Howell, James M. Barnes, John A. Roach, William H. Newell, Eli Davis, Frank Reith, Samuel P.echtel, Elihu R. Biggs, Josiah W. Kronk, ^L L. Addler and William H. Welker. H. M. Dean was the first commander. With the passage of the years and decrees of nature the membership of the post has gradually decreased, but those of the old soldiers who are spared are knit together the closer with the thinning of their ranks. James Gamett is the present post commander.

Maccabeeism is unusually strong in Goshen. The city is the state headquarters, and both the lodges are substantial and growing. Goshen Tent No. 4. Knights of the Maccabees, was instituted in the Grand Army of the Republic Hall on the nth of March, 1886, with a charter membership of sixteen. Goshen Hive No. 37, Ladies of the Maccabees, was organized by Lady Minnie Morris, June 25, 1895, with a charter membership of fifteen.

Heatwole Camp No. 4,075 Modern Woodmen of America, was organized at Goshen July 22, 1896, with twenty-two charter members; it has now more than two hundred. The camp was named in honor of ^Lnjor J. H. Heatwole, at that time mayor of Goshen and a volunteer officer in the United States army in the Spanish-American war. The first officers were as follows: Dr. W. O. \"allette, V. C; M. J. Rhodes, W. A.; William Burridge, banker; C. H. Cripe, clerk ; Dr. J. H. Heatwole (after whom the camp was named), physician. The first death in the camp was that of its founder, who died during his service as army surgeon in the war with Spain. Present officers : O. AL Warner, \'. C. ; Lamar Edsel, W. A. ; J. F. Lamb, banker; J. F. Gary, clerk.

Goshen Council No. 1 186, Royal Arcanum, is among the old and substantial bodies of this nature, its organization dating from September, 1889. Tonawanda Tribe No. 130, Lidependent Order of Red Men, was instituted in January, 1892; Woodmen of the World (Victor Camp No. 32), in June, 1893; and at a still later period - Goshen Lodge No. 798, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks;

There are a number of well-rounded labor organizations in Goshen. One of the first to be established was the local body (No. 18) of the National Association of Stationary Engineers, which was organized in July. 1892. In January, 1901, a Federated Union (a unit of the American Federation of Labor) was also formed in Goshen.

As Indiana claims to be the American pioneer in the founding of women's clubs, so Goshen was early in the movement^ These two points are well evolved in a paper written some years ago by Mrs. E. E. Mummert, ex-president of the Indiana Federation of Clubs, a native and a teacher of Elkhart County, a thoroughly educated and cultured lady, and prominent locally in all the movements which are graced and vivified by her sex. The salient features of her article, as it relates to the points mentioned, are as follows :

"It is generally supposed that the Sorosis of New York was the first woman's club ever organized in this country, but upon careful investigation this honor is now claimed by our own Indiana, and that the first woman's club in the United States was organized by Mrs. Constance FauntLeRoy Runcie in 1859, at New Harmony, Indiana, and known as the Minerva Club, thus antedating the Sorosis by nine years. Mrs. Runcie is at present a resident of St. Joseph, Missouri, and says she also founded her second club at Madison, Indiana, in 1867; thus giving Indiana the distinction of having two women's clubs before the Boston or New York clubs.

"In the inception of the modern woman's club idea, we must not forget the influence of the Chautauqua movement, to which much of our present club work can be traced. As early as 1878 in the city of Goshen, Miss Mabel Hawks, still a resident, began reading the Chautauqua course and continued her reading for two years alone, when two others joined her. From the fall of 1881 to and including 1883, there were five in the circle. They met once and sometimes twice a week to compare notes and ascertain what information was to be found outside the subject matter of their reading. There was no organization; hence no officers. In the fall of 1884 a large C. L. S. C. (Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Course) was organized with Air. James Mayfield, of Goshen, now deceased, as its first president. With some change in membership the circle continued its work until 1890, some few continuing a year or more afterward. There are nearly a score or more of C. L. S. C. graduates in Goshen, many having completed several courses of study and thereby added one or more seals to their diplomas.

"Following this first club movement, we now have nine regularly organized women's clubs in Goshen, namely : The Philomathean, a direct outgrowth of the Chautauqua, studying literature and art chiefly ; the Bay View Circle, a Chautauqua course, as the name implies; Library Club, devoted chiefly to the study of travel and history ; Winona, a Chautauqua circle, and the Chautauqua Club ; the History Club, making a specialty of the study of American history; the Progress Club ; an art class ; and the Beacon Lights, students of history and literature, and the most progressive club in the city, as it is the only club affiliated with the State and General Federations ; one of whose members is now president of the State Federation of Women's Clubs and another a member of the Educational Committee of the General Federation. Goshen also deserves to be proud of its Woman's Musical Club, with its membership of nearly three hundred."