W – Witherspoon Celebrates 40th Anniversary

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I will be posting an event for that date involving someone in my family tree. Of course it will also involve the letter of the day. It may be a birth, a death, a christening, a journal entry, a letter or a newspaper article. If the entry is a news item, it will be transcribed immediately below. Click on photographs to enlarge in another window.

Henry, Albert, Gertrude, Ola and Pearl Cleage, 1947 photo from my family archives

We visited the Witherspoon United Presbyterian Church in 1910 on their third anniversary in U – United Presbyterian Congregation Celebrates. Today we move forward to 1947 and the 40th anniversary. My family founders have traveled from Detroit back to Indianapolis for the event. They have aged from their twenties to their sixties in the photo above. Some have died – Jacob and Edward Cleage. More have been born. My grandparents have seven children. Henry and Ola have two. Once again my grandfather is speaking.

The Indianapolis News Indianapolis, Indiana • Sat, Apr 26, 1947 Page 11

The Witherspoon United Presbyterian Church will observe its 40th founders day Sunday with all-day services. The pastor, the Rev. Clinton Marsh, will speak at 11 a. m. Dr. A.B. Cleage, Detroit, who was among the early members of the church, will be guest speaker at 7:30 p. m. Dr. J. L. Hummons, who was organizer and founder of the beginning group, will be master of ceremonies. Before the address by Dr. Cleage there will be a brief sketch of the history of the church, which was moved from North West and Walnut Streets to the present site about 15 years ago. Among former out-of-town members expected are- Mrs. A.B. Cleage and Henry Cleage. an active member of the church and leader in its activities until he transferred from a federal position here to Detroit several years ago.
The Indianapolis News Indianapolis, Indiana • Sat, Apr 26, 1947 Page 11

For Z we will go back to the founding of Witherspoon. Luckily for me, they were founded in April and continued to celebrate through the years.

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Other posts related to Witherspoon United Presbyterian Church.

Witherspoon United Presbyterian Church – 1909
John Wesley Cobb 1883 – 1958
The Rev. John Brice Officiating
H is for Henry Hummons
Presbyterian Church Connections in the Cleage Family

6 thoughts on “W – Witherspoon Celebrates 40th Anniversary

  1. That’s great that you have both the photo and the newspaper article to remember the event. I’m looking forward to your Z post. I grew up Presbyterian, so I’ve enjoyed all your posts about this church.

    1. There have been quite a few Presbyterian church based posts, now that I think about it. Mostly Witherspoon but there was also the church fight at St. Marks in Detroit.

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