Page County (Iowa) Mennonite Church (Mennonite Church), now extinct, was founded by three families from Allen County, Ohio, in 1864. Among them was John S. Good, who was ordained minister of the new church before these families left Ohio for their new home in the West. During the first two decades of the history of the community, Mennonite families by the names of Good, Horning, Hoffman, Ferguson, Snively, Shellenberger, Lapp, Gehman, and Eberly settled in the community, scattering through four townships in the southeast quarter of the county. By 1878 the church membership had declined to 20. When Andrew Good moved to Missouri in 1890, the Page County church was left without a preacher. That date marked the end of the congregation, although the few families remaining were visited by evangelists every few years during the nineties. The lack of aggressive leadership and the unwillingness of the congregation to organize a Sunday school have been given as reasons for the death of the church.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 105. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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