The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1904-07-28
Members of the German Methodist
Church Prepare for an Elaborate
Celebration OF the Event.
FORMER MINISTERS TO RETURN
Four Days to be Given Over to the Cele-
the Well Known Congregation

The membersof the German Method
ist Church in Kenosha are making
elaborate preparations for the ce1e-
bration of the Golden Jubilee of the
church which will be held during the
coming week and it is expected that
the reunion and celebration will bring
to Kenosha a large number of the
former members of the church. The
Rev. John H. Romoser, pastor of the
church, is in charge of the plans for
the celebration.
The German Methodist Church is
one of the oldest churches in the city
and it numbers among it's members
many of the best known of the Ger
man residents of the city and county.
The celebration will begin on next
Wednesday evening and will continue
until the following Sunday evening.
In honor of the event the church has
been redecorated and refurnished and
it will be formally opened for the
first time since the new work has
been done for the celebration of the
Jubilee. An effort has been made to
have all the living former members Of
the church present at the Jubilee and
many of the best known men of the
denomination in Wisconsin and I11i-
nois will come to Kenosha to take
part in the celebration. The former
pastors of the church, who have prom
ised to be present, include the Rev.H.
Lampke, presiding elder of the Chi
cago District; the Rev. C. Ivert, of
Beaver Dam; the Rev. G. L. Limpert,
of Bristol; the Rev. p. Rech, of Chi
cago; the Rev. J. Schaeffer, of Michi-
gan City; the Rev. B. Becker, of Ham
mond, Ind, and the Rev. H. D. Ramp,
of Kenosha.
Other speakers who have promised
to be present, are the Rev. A. Null
finger, of Chicago, who will probably
preach the Jubilee sermon, the Rev.
H. Ti11man, of Arentzvi11e, ILL.,, pre-
siding elder; the Rev. G. Hed1er, of
Milwaukee, and DR.. E. c. Margaret,
of Pekin, Ill.
During the days of the Jubilee many
entertainments will be given at the
church and at the homes of the mem
bers in honor of the visitors.
The German Methodist Church of
Kenosha is one of the oldest in the
state of Wisconsin and it has had an
interesting history. twas one of the
first Methodist churches to be estab-
1ished in this section of the state and
it has been in existence ever since.
In the Fall of 1858 small band of
German Methodists came to Kenosha
and for short time they attended the
| English Church, but early IN the fol-
lowing year, William Swartz, Fl.
Ve1de and Christian Reinhardt got
together and decided to organize a
Methodist church for the Germans
There were only the three families in
town at the time who cared to attend
the church, but the services were
continued at the different houses until
in 1854 the new congregation had a
dozen members. Then they decided to
build the church, and small frame
building costing less than thousand
dollars was erected.
H. Ve1de is the only one of the
original members of the church sur
viving. He is now living at Pekin,
ILL.,, but is SO feeble in health that it
is feared that he will not be able to
attend the reunion.
The little society fourished and the
Rev. W. Proffe who was then the
Methodist Missionary at Waukegan
was ordered to come and take charge
of the new congregation. In 1865 the
congregation had grown until it bad
twenty-five members and at that time
the. conference decided to send a
j minister to Kenosha. In 1875 the
members of the church had grown to
be so numerous that the little frame
church was no longer large enough
to accommodate them and more
modern structure was decided upon
This church was completed in 1882,
and after it had been used little less
than eight years it was destroyed by
FIRE. The present church was built
at once to replace it, and a few years
dSO IL was 1O1AOSlOACSl, AAlA1 lOudy II 10
one of the best arranged churches in
the city, and it is perfectly suited to
the demands of the growing congre-
cation.
Among the pioneer ministers of the
church were L. K1ucknan, George
! Timpken, H. Eberhardt, Christian
: Becker, Charles Steiner, Christian
Persch, S. Swecker1in, Charles He'd
: Ter, G. Schaeffer, John w. Brauer and
J Peter Hinners. Many of these for
! mer pastors have gained places Of
high distinction in the councils of the
n church.