Epleyanna and St. Paul's Church

Last Updated 9/1/00

From The Journal-Standard (Freeport, IL), Saturday, June 7, 1997, page 28:

Family of Faith: Rural church marks 150 years
Harriett Gustason

    Curiously, one of the greatest fears for early German settlers here was that of losing their "German-ness."
    There were 15 German families who came to Stephenson County in 1847 beset by that apprehension. They came resolved to hold onto their language and their culture. These brave souls had survived weeks on the wild Atlantic, but were braced against what was to them an equally formindable fate - that of facing the "English," as they designated almost everyone else. The small but resolute band, like others from their homeland, came with the idea of setting up a "little Germany" in this their new habitat. Having a church was one of their foremost and most urgent needs.
    We learn these things from a book put out this year by St. Paul United Church of Christ, a rural church nestled picturesquely on Epleyanna Road near Davis. The volume commemorates the church's 150th anniversary of founding. A committee of six, headed by Merl Niedermeier, put the history together in a beautiful hardback book, "St. Paul United Church of Christ, Family of Faith." Others on teh committee were Mabel Bechtold, Marie (Merl) Niedermeier, Dorothy Schlueter, Josie Schlueter and Sherry Meinert. It contains many comments from church members, both humorous and touching.
    This weekend, families of the church, many of them descendants of that first little troop, will gather to punctuate the anniversary. Bechtold tells us those 15 families had been of the Evangelical faith in Germany. Their goal here was to establish a place "to worship God; to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ; ...promote Christian fellowship and unity; ...render loving service toward mankind; and strive for righteousness, justice, and peace." But they found on their arrival that no church similar to the one they left behind existed in Rock Run township. A small settlement known as Mount Pleasant had formed in the vicinity in 1836 when Thomas Turner of Freeport built a mill along nearby Rock Run Creek. But Turner sold the mill to some Epley brothers, James, Conrad, and John.
    In 1854 the Epleys built another mill and a village grew around it. It was named Epleyanna for Anna Epley, one of the Epley daughters.
    But, we're told, "the scenic town, with its Old World flavor, its creek, cliff and curving hillside roads began to decline after the railroad bypassed it for Rock City and Davis." This, however, did not discourage the Germans who planted a church there within "buggy-riding or walking distance" of their homesteads.
    The tightly-knitted cluster had first formed their own unaffiliated group and called it the German Evangelical St. Paul Congregation at Rock Run. First worship services were held in homes and were led by Herman Vehmeier, a layman. The next year, "a home missionary," the Rev. Ernest Beine, who also assisted churches in Freeport and Eleroy, served the Epleyanna church.
    By 1849, just two years after their arrival, the congregation eagerly set about fulfilling their dreams by building a house of worship. Stone was quarried nearby and members provided the labor to build on land donated by Franz Meier. This building, added to in 1860, served as the church until 1885 when the dedicated body build a new frame church. A new school had been built near the church in 1861 and additional land purchased in 1866.
    It was in 1854 that St. Paul Church had its first full-time minister, the Rev. Herman Quinius. The congrgation has provided a parsonage for its clergy since 1854. The current one was built in 1890.
    The German Evangelical Synod of North America, had in 1877, urged churches to establish and maintain German parochial schools to teach and perpetuate the German Bible and language. Followers were warned, "if the German language were surrendered, all would be lost." But some churches were losing younger members due to exclusive use of the German language. Realizing the need, some of the German churches had by the late 1800s succumbed to the trend and were already translating the Evangelical catechism into English. For some years there was a bilingual catechism - one page in German, and the facing page in English. The mixture of languages and the dominance of English in the local culture was growing ever more troublesome to the younger generation.
    But the diehards, clinging to their original beliefs, thought it to be critical that the German churches in America edcuate their young in their native language. The Epleyanna church maintained a German school until the early 1920s. There are living members who attended the German school when it was later moved to the original stone church. One unnamed member recalls at times there were up to 50 children attending. The schoolmaster also served as custodian, church organist and choir director.
    The children were taught reading, writing, catechism and Bible history. Later mathematics and language were added. The children were also drilled in marching and required to present programs for the annual church picnic held in the timber across the road from the church.
    Later vocal music was added to the curriculum. A wrong note was often rewarded by a rap on the fingers, one member noted. The school was financed by contributions from church members.
    When the new frame church was built, the old stone structure was taken over for a school house, a purpose it served until 1923. From then until 1958 the stone building was used for Sunday School, meetings, dinners and choir practice. It was torn down in the fall of 1958.
    The cornerstone for the second church was laid June 24, 1885. A mere 7 1/2 months later, the dedication service was held. The new church was 44 by 70 feet and had a 140-foot tower. Its steeple dominated the landscape until it was taken down about 1920. A newspaper article called it "one of the handsomest frame churches in this part of the country." It had chandeliers from the C. H. Little Co. of Freeport. Seats were made at the Bamberger and Pfender mill, and the pulpit was "ample to accommodate a goodly number of clergymen and others." The cost of the church was $7,000.
    A Freeport newspaper of May 20, 1897, told of a service at Epleyanna at which 130 carriages and buggies were present.
    The frame church "served with distinction and grace along with the stone schoolhouse." In 1934 members dug and enclosed a basement under it which would serve for a dining hall and Sunday school rooms.
    In 1952 the santuary was redocrated and remodeled with new pews, hardwood floors and carpeting. The old stone church was removed to make way for a proposed Sunday School addition. But the holiday services at the end of 1958 marked the end of an era, for on Jan. 30, 1959, the 74-year-old frame church burnt to the ground leaving its devoted members in dire shock. The cause was never found.
    However, "The tragic fire," Bechtold said, "only drew people closer in their resolve to carry on. Almost immediately, the unanimous decision was to rebuild on the site, near the cemetery."
    Two days later, Feb. 1, 1959, church services were held in the two-year-old gymnasium of Dakota High School where SUnday services continued until Jan. 31, 1960, when Youth Sunday was held in a brand new church building. Hospitality around the area was "much in evidence that year" Bechtold wrote, "as homes, schools, and neighboring churches offered their facilities for meetings, rehearsals and other activities."
    Groundbreaking for the new structure of "contemporary" design took place on April 5, 1959, and the cornerstone laid June 24 of the same year. Financial support was generous, we learn, and the debt was retired in 1971.
    "There is something solemn and sweet about a church bell heard across the miles," said Bechtold. In 1869, a bell was purchased by St. Pual but that was lost sometime over the years. "But the bell that hung in the tall steeple in 1886 is still happily very much with us, as a link to the past, although diminished in tone.
    "Its inscription reads 'Ich rufe die Lebendegen zur Andacht: und die Toten zur Ruge.' Translated, it means, 'I call the living to worship, and the dead to rest.' Then, it adds teh young men of St. Paul's presented the bell in 1886 A.D. to the church."
    For the next 63 years, Bechtold says, the bell rang out regularly to begin Sunday School, church, and special services. It tolled to announce a death - once for each year they had lived - and some ministers rang the bell at 6 p.m. Saturdays to announce the coming Sabbath.
    St. Paul Cemetery, "a serene and reverent place, is held in affection and rememberance of many friends and family who rest there."
    Benjamin Epley who died in 1850 at age two months was the first marked grave in the cemetery. SInce then, there have been approximately 1280 burials there.
    Bechtold tells us that as St. Paul church entered the 20th century, "We were still very rural, very traditional; very German."
    But time changes all things, denominational mergers have taken place, English language has supplanted the German, and families of varying international origins have joined the body of worshippers.
    Neither language nor nationality are barriers and all those tenacious members of St. Paul's United Church of Christ still faithfully strive to adhere to those original goals: to worship God; to preach the gospel; promote Christian fellowship and unity; and render loving service toward mankind.
    No wonder they've lasted 150 years.

Picture Caption: The small stone structure at the right in the above photo was the first church of St. Paul United Church of Christ in rural Davis. The building later served as a parish school, and still later as a Sunday school and meeting hall. It was torn down in 1958. The frame church with the steeple was the second home of St. Paul UCC. It burned to the ground on Jan. 30, 1959. The first service in the new church which serves the congregation today and is seen in the photo at the right was held Jan. 31, 1960.