Lenoir Rhyne College - Hacawa Yearbook (Hickory, NC)

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jfllT- 3- - REV. ROBERT ANDERSON YODER, D. D.

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Dedication History Robert Anderson Yoder was born eight miles west of Lincolnton, N. C, August 16, 1853. After pursuing his studies in the public schools, one year being spent in Hickory, and, having decided early in life to devote himself to the work of the ministry, he entered North Carolina College, Mt. Pleasant, N. C. , in the Fall of 1872. He studied for two years. Because of a lack of money, he went to Illinois in search of work. While there he attended the Univer- sity of Illinois during the session of ' 74- ' 75 and taught in the public school the following year. He returned to N. C, College and studied in both classical and theological courses, graduating in 1877 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then came to Hickory in search of work. Finding none he went to Conover. Two Lutheran Pastors decided to make use of him and the three men planned to establish a school which had just made a feeble start. On a warm day in July 1877, nineteen pupils met t he new and only In- structor in a private house to begin work. Prof. Yoder was married on the ninth of May, 1878, to Rosa E. Fisher, daughter of the late Captain J. A. Fisher, of Salisbury, N. C. By this alliance a true help-mate was secured, the wife spending many years as an officer in the schools which her husband sought to found and at the same time giving able attention to her duties in the home. In September, 1878, the school was opened in its own new building under the name of Concordia High School. Through the first four years, Prof. Yoder as Principal and his wife as Matron and Teacher of Mu.sic were the only Instructors. In 1881 the school was chartered with the name of Concordia College and Prof. Yoder was continued as Principal, though Dr. P. C. Henkel was President in name. During this period the school enjoyed a moderate patronage and seems to have had a healthful outlook. In the Spring of 1883, Prof. Yoder resigned in order to pursue a special course in theology and spent one year at the Lutheran theological Seminary in Philadelphia. After his return he was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of Concordia College and continued in this relation until, in 1888, he was again called to the Institution and made President of the Faculty. He served in this capacity at Conover to the end of the session of ' 90- ' 91. Under his incumbency the school enjoyed its most prosperous season, the enrollment reaching as high as 120 and increasing almost continuously in the Collegiate department. The Fall of 1890 commemorates the offer of what was known as the Lenoir school site to the Tennessee Synod of the Lutheran Church. The offer was rejected. The entire Faculty of Concordia College, with one ex- ception, resigned. Under the leadership of Prof. Yoder, Dr. J. C. Moser, Revs. W. P. Cline and A. L. Crouse, the Lenoir offer was accepted, these four men making themselves financially responsible for the erection of the