Back to Damerosehay: On Broadway

Friday, March 14, 2008

On Broadway

The former Jones Junior High and the former First English Lutheran Church.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...: JS, I have a friend who used to attend First English and I attended a few services myself. I became friendly with many of the members through a euchre club. What a shame that this congregation had to disband. My grandmother was confirmed at First English, but I'm not sure if it's the same building. She died in 1978 at the age of 72. Do you have any idea if this would be the same structure?; March 15, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Jeffrey Smith said...: I think there's a datestone. I'll look when I pass by it tomorrow.; March 15, 2008 at 7:02 PM
Jeffrey Smith said...: The cornerstone says it was built in 1921.; March 16, 2008 at 5:44 PM
ShariYS said...: Do you know what year your grandmother was confirmed? If not, it would depend on the age she was when she was confirmed. If she was confirmed in this building, it was brand-new at the time. Otherwise, it would have been their old church that was on the corner of Oliver and Harrison. Does anyone know if that old church still stands there?

First English was, and presumably still is, quite grand inside. It's larger than St. Lucas, only one long block away. I always wondered how both of them could keep going all those years, being so close like that. I hope Victory Now appreciates their new digs - they've got a real gem.

It is truly a shame. The congregation's leaders made some foolish financial decisions at a time when the congregation was on the wane. The only way they could pay off the building's debts was literally to sell it. They disbanded two years ago, on April 9, Palm Sunday. I was at that very poignant service.; March 16, 2008 at 9:50 PM
Jeffrey Smith said...: Oliver and Harrison? Frame building with an uncommonly tall front gable? If that's the one you mean, it's still there.
If "Victory Now International Church" appreciated their digs, you'd think they'd have shovelled the sidewalks at least once this year. Didn't even do the front steps to the door. Real welcoming feeling they give the neighborhood.; March 17, 2008 at 5:28 AM
irene said...: Sharys,the churches were so close for a historical reason. Lutherans in the US were not all one solid organization, but rather fragmented into many, non-competing, "synods" that differed in the populations they served and the language used in their services. Only in the mid and late 20th century was there a wave of mergers that left them with the present 2 large synods.

First English was descended from a wave of German settlers who immigrated from the palatinate in the first half of the eighteenth century. They already had transitioned from German to English in their services by 1800.

St. Lucas, on the other hand, was made up of much later immigrants from other parts of Germany who crossed the pond in the nineteenth century. Many like of these did not stop using German in their services until the first world war. Same applies to St. Johns up the street.

There are many places around the country (and Toledo) where the different synods put up churches close to one another, even in small towns. Only with the mergers recently completed have these closely-spaced churches come under the same umbrella -- and one of them become redundant.
So these closely spaced Lutheran congregations were not really in competition -- they drew from different populations.; March 17, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Jeffrey Smith said...: Much the same back in Pennsylvania. I'm descended from a Palatine family named Heilman. Peter Heilman came to America with his parents in, I believe, 1752. ( His mother died on the voyage. ) He and his wife Elizabeth Harter Heilman died in the 1830's but never learned to speak English. They donated land for a church, which is still called Heilman ( Now Hileman )Emmanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, near Kittanning. Nice little frame building with a good bargeboard and simple but good stained glass. The family cemetery is on top of a high hill across the road.; March 17, 2008 at 2:58 PM
ShariYS said...: Irene, thank you for that background information. Are you Lutheran (as I am), and/or are you just very well-versed on the subject? Actually, I'm already fairly familiar with the history and circumstances of the inner-city Lutheran churches in Toledo, although I always appreciate learning something additional about that very interesting history of the German settlers and how they established their churches.

Also interesting, Jeffrey, to hear about your family background and the church that carries their name. Any photos of the area to share with us?; March 19, 2008 at 6:31 PM
Jeffrey Smith said...: Unfortunately, all that survived of my pictures from Pennsylvania are a few of my father. I had quite a lot.; March 19, 2008 at 6:40 PM