Baptist Church in North Loup, Nebraska

"I was born 9 August 1895 when my family lived at Deadwood, South Dakota. Later we lived at Preston (Ragged Top) and when I was about six years old we moved to an isolated place in Little Spearfish Canyon.

We had a school of 8 pupils (7 from my father's family) -- just enough to justify the appointment of a teacher . . . my father and brothers [built] a one-room school house. Our beloved teacher, Miss Young shared a room upstairs with us three older girls. Miss Young taught us how to pray as we had never been taught to pray vocally. This has always been a mystery to me because of my family's devotion to the Seventh Day Baptist Church and their strict adherance to the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath. Many of our ancestors were ministers of that faith and date back to the organization of the church by Roger Williams in early American history. According to my memory, my mother's membership was eventually transferred from the church at Milton, Wisconsin to the church at North Loup, Nebraska. My Father's membership, to my knowledge, was never taken from the files of the Seventh Day Baptist Church at Welton, Iowa. I remember asking my mother at one time why she did not say prayers. She replied, 'Lelie, I always have a prayer in my heart.'

When I was ten years old my family moved back to North Loup, Nebraska as our parents felt that we needed a wider association of friends as well as the influence of The Church. It was difficult to keep our Sabbath in a community where there were no other people of our faith. In North Loup, there were many Seventh Day Baptists, who, by the way, were known as "Sabbieites" by people of other religious denominations.

I had never been taught church doctrine and when I asked questions I was never given any definite idea of the principles of belief of the Seventh-Day Baptist Church, but was baptized in the North Loup River by Pastor George B. Shaw and given the "Right Hand of Fellowship" in a church service which made me a member of The North Loup Church. Other members of the family became members by the same method. This membership was given to use while Mother was still with us."

--Leah Van Horn