Lenoir Rhyne College - Hacawa Yearbook (Hickory, NC)

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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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; REV. ANDREW LEONHARDT CROL ' SE, D. D.

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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