Rev. Gustave A. Schwedes

Rev. Gustave A. Schwedes is the pastor of Christ Reformed Church of Bethlehem, and is one of the most intelligent young ministers in the denomination, having achieved success as a preacher and orator both in the English and German languages. He is popular among the members of his congregation and his fellow-citizens at large, being very liberal spirited and interested in the general welfare of his church and community.

The birth of Rev. Mr. Schwedes occurred in Covington, Ky., June 20, 1864. His father, F.R., was born in Kurhessen, Germany, and received a most excellent education in the colleges of his native land, pursuing both the classical and theological course. His father, whose Christian name was Adam, was a cantor, or school-master, and his death occurred in Germany. The family were descendants of the French Huguenots who were driven from their native land at the time of the Reformation, and the name was originally spelled "Suedes."

The father of our subject, on completing his education at the Hersfeld Gymnasium and the University of Marburg, in 1860 came to America and entered the theological seminary at Mercersburg, Pa., where he was graduated, and later ordained. He became pastor of the First Church of Covington, where he remained for six years, building up the congregation and increasing its usefulness in the community. Thence going to Ft. Wayne, he became pastor of the large Reformed congregation, and erected the handsome church edifice, remaining there until 1872, when he took his family to Germany, and traveled quite extensively on the Continent. On his return he was assigned as a missionary to Cumberland, Md., where he established a congregation, over which he remained in charge until 1886. He is now sixty-four years of age, and during the past eight years has been pastor of a large congregation at Terre Haute, Ind. His wife, who was born in Rotenfelde, Hanover, Germany, was Caroline C., daughter of Francis Eggers, a man of prominence and a Government official. One of his sons, H.B., is a flour merchant in St. Louis, Mo.

Gustave A., of this sketch, is the eldest in a family comprising five children, and was reared to man's estate mainly in Ft. Wayne and Cumberland. He attended the Allegheny County Academy until 1879, when he was enrolled as a student in Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa., being the youngest in the class. He was only six years of age when he began the study of Latin, and when he graduated in 1883 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts he had the honor of delivering the German oration. Three years later his Alma Mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. In 1883 he became a student in the theological seminary at Lancaster, graduating there-from three years later. Having been ordained at Frostburg, Md., his first pastorate was with the Reformed Church of that place, the pulpit of which he had occasionally supplied since he was nineteen years of age. There he remained until July, 1888, when he resigned to become pastor of St. Paul's Reformed Church, at Kutztown, Berks County, in which at that time Dr. Schaeffer, Superintendent of the State Schools, was a leading member. The Foreign Mission Board of the Reformed Church chose him as a missionary for Japan, but the way was not open for him to accept the commission.

In September, 1889, our subject resigned his pastorate, and in the same month was married in Newport, Ky., to Clara C., daughter of W. H. Schleutker. The lady was born and reared in Covington, Ky., where her father was a wholesale grocery merchant. By her marriage she has become the mother of a little daughter, Helen by name.

In the fall of 1889, Rev. Mr. Schwedes with his bride came to Bethlehem, where he became pastor of his present charge. In 1889 he organized Chapter No. 21 of the Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip, and in 1891 organized the Bethany Reformed Church in West Bethlehem. Christ Reformed Church was started in 1849, in connection with a Lutheran Church, and for twenty years they used the same church. At the end of that time the Lutheran Church became possessed of the old site, and the large edifice on Center Street now used by the congregation of which our subject is the pastor was built in 1870. There are over five hundred members on the church books, and every branch of its work is in a most flourishing condition. They have most excellent music, a grand organ and a well drilled choir. In 1891 the congregation built a commodious parsonage at No. 359 Broad Street, and in 1892 entertained the general convention of the Brotherhood of Andrew and Philip. Rev. Mr. Schwedes delivers a great many lectures, being a fluent speaker in both the English and German languages. He is a contributor to the "Reformed Church Messenger," the Brotherhood "Star" and various other periodicals. For three years he published the "Christ Church Companion," a monthly paper of great interest and influence in this community.