Lenoir Rhyne College - Hacawa Yearbook (Hickory, NC)

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REV. A. L. CROUSE was the son of a Lutheran minister. His father, the Rev. Thomas Crouse, was born in Davidson County, N. C. ; was baptized and con- firmed in Beck ' s Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod; and preached his last sermon there, ten days before his death. His paternal ancestors came from Germany to Pennsylvania, and from thence to North Carolina. His mother ' s parents came to this country from Ireland. Rev. Thomas Crouse was ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod to the office of deacon in 1845, and to the office of pastor in 1850. He remained a faith- ful and fearless pastor of this Synod until W.s death, which occurred in 1876. Andrew Leonhardt Crouse was born in Randolph County, N. C, June 8, 1849. His mother was Barbary Fox (Fuchs), a descendant, through her maternal line, from one of the Electors of Saxony. Andrew was a frail child, and was baptized soon after his birth by his father, for which Pastor Crouse praised God until death. He early set his heart upon the Lutheran ministry as his life work, and earnestly applied himself to the work of preparation for this holy calling. In those early days, the Synod had no college, and Mr. Crouse had to educate himself to a large extent, getting what assistance he could from the high schools and academies of that period. He was directed in his theological studies by his sainted father; and by persistent and continuous perseverance in this, to him, most interesting subject, he acquired a comprehensive knowledge of the Lutheran Confessions and of the Lutheran Doctrine. Pastor Crouse preached his first sermon in Grace Church, Catawba County, N. C, September 30, 1871, and soon after — October 18, 1871 — was solemnly ordained to the office of pastor, in Philadelphia Church, Gaston County, N. C, by the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod. He served first, as assistant pastor to the Rev. Daniel Efird, several churches in connection with the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod in Lexington County, S. C. After serving as assistant for one year, he accepted a call to become pastor of five of these congregations — Cedar Grove, St. Paul ' s, St. Peter ' s (Meetze ' s), Zion, and Emmanuel. He did faithful work in this large pastorate for four years. From 1876 to 1882, he spent much of his time in mission work in South Carolina and Alabama. From 1 882 to 1 888, he was pastor of Bethlehem congrega- tion, Augusta County, Va. For one year he served the Orkney Springs pastorate of the Virginia Conference of the Tennessee Synod. In 1 889, he accepted a call to Mount Olive and St. Stephen congregations, Hickory, N. G, and served Mount Olive for three years and St. Stephen ' s for nearly eighteen years. From 1897 to 1906 he served Friend- ship, St. Paul ' s, Salem, and Shiloh congregations, in Alexander County, N. C, in con- nection with St. Stephen ' s. In 1 906, he accepted a call to Immanuel Church, Char- lottesville, Va., where he labored faithfully until his death, which occurred October 13, 1915. Four

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TO Mbw® Anirsw m mkmwM Ow@mmm w D H D B THE CLASS OF 1916 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATES THIS VOLUME OF lliiWi IN LOVING MEMORY OF HIS DEEP INTEREST IN OUR COLLEGE; TO ONE WHO LIVING WAS A SOURCE OF NOBLE INSPIRATION, AND WHO HAVING GONE TO HIS REWARD HAS LEFT BEHIND HIM AS A SACRED HERITAGE HIS GENEROUS KINDLY DEEDS

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Few pastors do more personal missionary work than did Pastor Crouse. He organ- I ized no fewer than five congregations — St. James ' , St. Thomas ' , and St. Andrew ' s, in i South Carolina; St. Michael ' s, in Alabama; and Bethel, in Virginia. Besides this, he reorganized several, and did the preliminary work for the organization of a number of others. During his life he organized two parochial schools — one in Virginia, and one j in North Carolina. But that which stands out pre-eminent in his life, perhaps, is the part he played in the i founding of Lenoir College. When he came to Hickory, in 1889, Col. J. G. Hall, the ' administrator of Col. W. W. Lenoir, was offering this magnificent site to any church which would establish a first-class college upon it. Pastor Crouse was deeply impressed with the wonderful opportunity here offered to the Lutheran Church to build up an insti- tution in the heart of a Lutheran constituency. He succeeded in interesting three of his brother pastors — Revs. J. C. Moser, R. A. Yoder, and W. P. Cline. These four men, firmly believing that this door was opened unto them by the Lord, and strong to follow where he led, boldly gave their personal notes for twenty-five hundred dollars each, and thus secured for the Evangelical Lutheran Church this magnificent property. This was an act of Christian heroism, and places these men among those whom the church, for all time, should delight to honor. In the laying of the cornerstone of the I present administration building of the College, Pastor Crouse took the leading part in the service. Besides being the Synod ' s theological teacher , to which he was called in 1 892, Pastor Crouse held the chair of German and Assistant in English in the newly l launched institution. It is as a teacher of theology in Lenoir College that he will be remem- i bered longest as a professor, perhaps. To the time of his death he loved to speak of those who studied theology under him, and always called them his boys; and they, in turn, remember and speak of him, affectionately, as Father Crouse. Pastor Crouse will be remembered widely and long as an editor and publisher. At Summit, S. C, he founded and published The Summit Courier, a paper which had a wide circulation and influence. At Hickory, he founded The Educator, which, in its latest evolution has become The Lenoir ' an. He also was the founder and first publisher ! of Our Church Record, and was for a long time German Exchange Editor of Our ' Church Paper. He published also A Christian Catechism for Children, besides several sermons and pamphlets which have had a wide circulation. Pastor Crouse was twice married. His first wife was Miss Tirza Adeline Darr, who died less than two years after their marriage. His second wife was Miss Mary Livinia Bilbro, of Greensboro, N. C, with whom he lived happily until death called her home — February 16, 1910. His first marriage was blessed with one child — Thomas Henry, who lived but a few days. His second marriage fruited two sons — Luther Augustus and Carl Froelich ; and one daughter — Luda Amelia. Luther Augustus was called home, at Summit, S. C. As professor, pastor, editor, author, brother, and father, he will be affectionately remembered, and as such he, though dead, yet speaketh. Five