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1805:
Born August 17, in Rowan Cty., Va.
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1833:
Married Henrietta Henkel, New Market, Va.
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1837:
Licensed by the Tennessee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
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1838:
Ordained by the Tennessee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
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1869:
Died August 21; buried at Emmanuel Church, New Market, Va.
After his ordination, Jacob Stirewalt served pastorates in Shenandoah, Page, and Rockingham Counties in Virginia. He was an active member of the Tennessee Synod, often speaking at conventions held in Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. He fathered four sons, two of whom became Lutheran ministers, and six daughters.
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1850:
Born, April 11, New Market, Va.
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1873:
Ordained by the Tennessee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
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1878:
Married to Tirzah A. Coffman, Shenandoah Cty., Va
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1914:
D.D. Lenoir Rhyne College. Hickory, N.C.
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1920:
Retired to New Market, Va.
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1934:
Died; buried at New Market, Va.
Jerome Paul Stirewalt, one of Jacob Stirewalt's four sons, studied theology under pastors of the Tennessee Synod. During his career as a pastor, which spanned from 1874 to 1920, he served fourteen different churches in pastorates in Virginia. Jerome Paul Stirewalt was very active in the leadership of the Tennessee Synod, serving as secretary for six terms, and four terms each as treasurer and president. He was a frequent contributor to Lutheran and secular periodicals and contributed an article on the history of the Tennessee Synod for "The Lutherans in America," edited by E.J. Wolf.
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1882:
Born, July 24, New Market, Va.
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1902:
A.B. Lenoir Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C.
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1906:
B.D. Chicago Seminary.
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1906 -
1909
:
Instructor, Weidner Institute, Mulberry, Indiana.
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1907:
Married Caroline Dentzer, Chicago, Ill.
Ordained, Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
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1909:
Professor of Ancient Languages at lenoir Rhyne College.
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1921:
D.D. Lenoir Rhyne College.
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1922 -
1920
:
Professor of Practical Theology, Chicago Seminary.
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1928:
Graduate Study at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.
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1930 -
1938
:
Pastor of a Lutheran Church in Salsbury, N.C.
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1951:
Retired to Hickory, N.C.
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1955 -
1959
:
Associate Professor, Lenoir Rhyne College.
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1935 -
1960
:
Member of the Board of Lenoir Rhyne College.
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1960:
Died, March 10, Hickory, N.C.; Buried in New Market, Va.
Martin Luther Stirewalt, the only son of Jerome Paul Stirewalt, served as an instructor at the Weidner Institue, a Lutheran School in a suburb of Chicago, from 1906-1909. He was active in the leadership of the North Carolina Synod, serving as vice-president from 1917-1922 and from 1919-1922 was the secretary of the joint commission overseeing the merger of the Tennessee Synod with the North Carolina Synod. He also served on the board of Lenoir Rhyne College from 1921-1922 and again from 1935-1960.
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1929:
B.A., Carthage College.
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1938:
M.A., New York University.
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1939 -
1941
:
Traveled to China to study Chinese and to begin missionary work for the Lutheran Church near Tsingtao in the Shantung Province.
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1941 -
1943
:
Interned by the Japanese in the Weihsien Concentration Camp near Tsingtao, China during World War II.
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1943:
Repatriated to United States.
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1947:
Returned to China to resume missionary work for the Lutheran Church. Taught school in a Lutheran Mission near Tsingtao.
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1949:
Left China as the Communists came to power.
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1950:
Accepted as a Deaconess in the United Lutheran Church.
Catherine A. Stirewalt is the daughter of Martin Luther Stirewalt. Prior to pursuing her missionary activities, she worked as a high school teacher.
From the guide to the Stirewalt Family Papers, 1830s-1993, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)
