Crescent Hill Baptist Church

During the first twenty or so years of the churchs existence over a thousand people joined the original sixty members. In the 1915 and 1919 congregational photo of the church many of these are pictured (the cropped portraits below come from these [dates in brackets]). Many years ago someone numbered the individuals in the photo and made a list of names identifying about half of those in the group. Some of these were the charter members already featured in the Charter Members page.
Among those pictured were certain additional individuals whose names below appear among the lists of various committees and officers of the church listed later on this page. Blanche Goetzman mentions many of the women in her history of the WMU. Featured below are some of these individuals who join the charter members as the "Early Fathers and Mothers of the Church." I have tried to find obituaries, other historical items (including the WMU history), and individual recollections by current members of the church to flesh out their life stories. Death date and age are in parentheses. Some of the children of the Early Fathers and Mothers shown in the 1919 photo are also listed in a separate section below.

Names are listed alphabetically

Mrs. Edward (Louise Dohrman) Anderson
[not named in the 1919 photo]
Gaga Woodward thought of her as well as Mrss. Moran, Rowland, and Wieland as being pillars of the church. Louise Dohrman was the sister of Samuel J. Dohrman (charter member and first clerk); she married Edward Anderson and they had five sons: Henry, Sam, Geoge, Fred, and Edward.

Lonnie Bruce Blythe (7-14-48...70yo)
[not named in 1919 photo]
Mr. Blythe was secretary of the printing firm, Westerfield-Bonte Company, and had been with the company since 1926. He grew up in Hopkinsville and resided at 321 Hillcrest. Like many of these early fathers he was a member of the Crescent Hill Masonic Lodge. He had two sons, E. Bruce and W. Allen. Bruce took up the printing business and was the owner of the Bruce Printing Company and was father of Rep. E. Bruce Blythe and Sam Blythe.
He was an active member of the early church and served on the Missions and other committees.

Dr. Benjamin L. Bruner (12-15-32...60yo)
[1919 photo]
Dr. Ben L. Bruner, son of a State Legislator from Grayson County, graduated from the Hospital College of Medicine in Louisville and practiced for several years in Hart County before entering politics himself. He served as a State Representative under the Goebel Administration in 1899 and then came to Louisville as United States Chief Deputy Marshal from 1908 until 1912 when he became Secretary of State. During his tenure the new State Capitol was erected. He served as president of the Commercial Bank and Trust Company and president of the Transylvania Casualty Insurance Company from 1912-1926. From 1928 until 1932 he served as County Commissioner in Jefferson County.
He was a trustee and member of the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and president of the advisory board of the Salvation Army.
Dr. Bruner served as surgeon at the Ky State Penitentiary at Frankfort and belonged to the Commercial and Advertisers Club and Junior Order, United American Mechanics.
He served as moderator and Sunday School Superintendent at Crescent Hill Baptist Church as well as a member of the Finance and other committees.
He seems to have enjoyed organizational life and was a member of the Optimist Club, Odd Fellows, Elks, Knights Templar, Shrine and Scottish Rite as well as being a director of the Louisville Convention and Publicity League.
There were two sons and two daughters. Two of his brothers were also physicians, and Dr. H.C. Bruner was also a member of Crescent Hill.

Dr. Henry C. Bruner (9-24-58...79yo)
[not named in 1919 photo]
Dr. H.C. Bruner, was a 1902 graduate of U of L and also practiced in Hart County for several years before settling in Louisville where he became active in the church. During WWII he was assistant medical director at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company neoprene plant in Louisville and later served with the Veterans Administration before his retirement in 1955. He was active in the Crescent Hill Masonic lodge as well.

Mrs. Howard (Mary) Camnitz (11-11-69...84yo)
[1919 photo]
Mrs. Camnitz was a highly educated and articulate woman who was a charter member of the Crescent Hill Womans Club and a speaker on the Chautauqua Circuit. She taught Sunday School at Crescent Hill (and also at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church). Her husband was a renowned pitcher for the Pittsburg Pirates who won the World Series in 1909. Her daughter, Adeline, has several remembrances of her mother in Crescent Hill Revisited.

Dr. Benjamin D. Choate, Sr. (1-24-69...89yo)
[not named in 1919 photo]
Dr. Ben Choate, Sr. practiced general medicine in Louisville for over 50 years and lived at 2740 Frankfort Ave. (where the church-library parking lot is now located). He was father of Gaga Woodward. He graduated with Dr. H.C. Bruner in 1902 from the U of L School of Medicine and was a major in the Army medical department during WWI. "During WWII, Choate, then a colnel, was regimental surgeon for theh 138th Field Artillery of the National Guard, a position he held for 20 years. He set what he believed to be a record in being one of the oldest men to serve in World War II. He was 65 at the time and was discharged in Sept 1944 because, he said some foolish clerk happened to be looking through the books and saw when I was born.
Choate was a past president of the Army-Navy Club and the Tri-State Golf Association.
He had two daughters, Mrs. Fielden (Ellagarth) Woodward and Mrs. Tommie Althaus, and a son Benjamin D. Choate, Jr. who died in 1964 at age 50. Ben, Jr. was an employee of the State Revenue Dept. and a veteran of WWII. All the children attended CHBC.

 
Mrs. Ben (Alleen Moran) Choate, Sr. (3-2-77...89yo)
[1947 photo]
Mrs. Choate had been active at the church since the early days when her father Thomas Moran joined the church around 1911. In addition she was a member of the Crescent Hill and Louisville Womens Clubs and the American Legion Auxillary 15.   When Mrs. Moran died, her daughter, Aleen Choate assumed many of the responsibilities in caring for the church according to Mrs. Choates daughter, Gaga Woodward.

Dr. L. A. Crutcher (6-11-62)
[not named in 1919 photo]
Dr. Cutcher was the father of Alene Crutcher who worked for him at his office.
 

John Day, Sr.
father of John Day.

Gaines Stanley Dobbins (9-22-78...92yo)
[photo from seminary archives]
Gaines S. Dobbins was professor of "church efficiency and Sunday School pedagogy" at SBTS from 1920-1956. He grew up in Mississippi and was the uncle of Charlie Dobbins. He served in several pastorates and as editor of SBCs Home and Foreign Fields before being persuaded by president E.Y. Mullins to join the faculty at Southern. He joined Crescent Hill in the early 20s and was present during the construction of the new church in 1926. During the Depression he helped President Sampey refinance the Seminarys debt and likely assisted CH with the same. He authored some thirty-two books and hundreds of articles about the efficient church, evangelism, and missions. Following the sudden death of President Fuller, Dobbins served as interim president for the 1950-51 school year and in 1953 founded the school of Religious Education. When he retired in 1956, Dr. Allen Graves became dean of the RE school. Dr. Dobbins was in his 90s when he returned to lecture 1975-76 at the Boyce College. He died in Birmingham in 1978.

Mrs. Gaines (May Riley) Dobbins
joined CHBC in 1920s and taught SS classes.

Frank H. Dohrmann (8-19-78...83yoyo)
Frank Dohrmann married Marguerite Dohrman, the sister of Howard Dohrman whom Frank met in WWI. Frank, unrelated to Howard and his sister Margueritte, was from New York. He was an active member of the church and faithful member of the choir.

Robert W. Fallis (5-21-77...86yo)
[not named in 1919 photo]
Mr. Fallis is listed as serving as treasurer of the church and organist in 1918.

John W. Ford (7-20-51...88yo)
Mrs. John W. Ford (d. between 5/50 and 7/51)
[pictured in May 11, 1950 Beams]
Mr. Ford retired from the Post Office as a letter carrier in 1924. He and his wife were featured in an article in the Crescent Beams for Christian Home Week,1950. Mr. Ford was an honorary deacon of CHBC and belonged to the Parkland Lodge of Masons. His son, Norwood Ford, was an engineer for LG&E; his grandson, Norwood Ford, Jr. "Woody", now a retired orthopedic surgeon, has been active in the church as well and played an important role in finishing the wood case work in the 2007 remodel of Fellowship Hall.

 
Miss Helen Louise Goldsborough (1-28-59...60yo)
[1919 photo]
Louise spent her life as an artist. She was the daughter of Dr. Richard M. Goldsborough (d.9-2-62...72yo), a geneneral practice physician in Crescent Hill.

Mrs Nelson Goldsborough McChesney (6-22-89...86yo)
[1919 photo]
Nelson was one of three daughters of Dr. Richard Goldsborough and an active member of the church.

Mr. Charles Hoffman (12-18-33...47yo)
[not named in 1919 photo]
The Hoffmans lived at 111 North Birchwood. Mr. Hoffman was a plumber and contracted pneumonia after working on pipes in a damp crawl space. He subsequently died of the pneumonia at the young age of 47 yo leaving behind three sons (Everett, Charles, and James) and a daughter (Dorothy). His sons inherited his and his wifes gift of working with their hands: Charley became one of Louisvilles leading orthopedic surgeons and was also adept at playing the violin and fixing just about anything. Everitt became a concert violinist.

Mrs. Charles (Lillie Sinder) Hoffman (1-4-61...71yo)
[1919 photo]
Mrs. Hoffman played the organ at CHBC and also at Grace Emanuel Church. She taught piano lessons in her home and was active in the affairs of the church. Her brother, Edwin Sinder, was a musician with WHAS for many years.

Edwin Horn, Sr. (12-14-53...68yo)
[1915, 1919 photos]
Edwin Horn was the assistant vice-president of First National Bank and manager of the banks Security Office. He had been associated with the bank for 47 years. He helped establish the Louisville Mortgage Service Company, a firm headed by his son, Ed Horn, Jr. at the time of his death.
Mr. Horn was a deacon at CHBC and served as a member of the churchs board of trustees for 40 years. He had been a member of the Crescent Hill Masonic Lodge for 37 years.

R. W. Jeffries (d.1970-71)
[1919 photo]

Mrs. R. W. Jeffries
[1919 photo]

Dr. J. T. Johnson (7-10-44...82yo)
[1919 photo]
Dr. J. T. Johnson moved to Louisville from Richmond, VA about 1894 and worked as an optometrist in Louisville for forty years. The family lived at 206 S. Birchwood,and he was an active member of CHBC. J.T. Johnson was a charter member of the Rotary Club and a member of the Crescent Hill Masonic Lodge where he once served as a grand master. His son, J.T. Johnson, Jr. became a banker.

Mrs. J. T. (Margaret Young) Johnson (8-24-35...65yo)
[1919 photo]

Thomas J. "T.J." Johnson (2-8-60...95yo)
[1915, 1919]
T.J. Johnson came to Louisville from Owensboro and was active with the Masons as well as CHBC.

Judge Stephen S. Jones (7-10-60...73yo)
[1915, 1919; 1960 obit photo]
Judge Jones played key roles in the life of the Louisville community and the church. A native of Louisville, he attended Male High School, the University of Louisville School of Law and also University of Virginia. He was a lawyer from 1908 until he left the practice upon his appointment as Judge of the Fourth Common Pleas Division of Circuit Court by then Gov. Lawrence Wetherby in 1954. He served on the Board of Education from 1934 to 1946 and was president for three terms. Jones was a deacon at CHBC and taught the Mens Bible Class for 30 years. The annual Wigginton-Jones banquet honored his service. He played a legendary role in spearheading the giving campaigns to save the church during the Depression, even mortgaging his own house.
Like many of his generation he was active with the Masons holding nearly every office including head of the State Scottish Rite Masons; his official title was "deputy of the Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree, Southern Jurisdiction, Orient of Kentucky." An ardent supporter of humanitarian causes he served as vice president and board member of Kosair Crippled Children Hospital (which later merged with Norton to become Norton-Kosair Children\\\\'s Hospital.) A Democrat, he served as campaign chairman in 1951.
In WWI, Jones served with the Army Signal Corps in France (one of many CHBC youth to serve there) and on his return helped to organize the American Legion in Kentucky, serving as state adjutant general from 1919 to 1921. During WWII he was a member of the Selective Service Board in Louisville. Virginia Johnston served as a clerk in Judge Jones law office for many years.

Mrs. Stephen (Mary Larimore) Jones (5-7-81...87yo)
[1919 photo and 1950 choir photo at organ]
Mrs. Jones was CHBC organist for nearly thirty years until Mrs. Phyllis Heeren arrived. She and Judge Jones apparently had no children, but showed great interest in their Larimore nieces and nephews. Her brothers were Henry T. and J. G. Larimore.

Henry Thomas Larimore, Sr.(9-25-30...68yo)
[1919 photo and photo from obit of 1930]
Mr. Larimore resided at 200 So. Birchwood and was president and manager of the Kentucky Loose Leaf Warehouse which he founded. He was born in Greensburgh, KY and served as County Clerk of Green County for eight years before coming to Louisville in 1898. He served as chairman of the board of deacons at CHBC for many years and was a trustee. Larimore served as a member of the Board of Park Commissioners in addition to other civic positions. His daughter was married to Judge Stephen S. Jones. He had two sons, Henry T. Larimore, Jr. and J. G. Larimore who worked with him in the tobacco warehouse business.

Mrs. H. T. (Susan Wesley Skaggs) Larimore (12-25-49...83yo)
[1919 photo]
Mrs. Larimore was very active in the affairs of the church and community especially the Crescent Hill Womans Club. She was also active in the Long Run Baptist Association. In the late 30s she helped organize an evening Bible study group for working women which numbered nearly 70 participants at one time according to Rachel Bennet Warren.

Miss Dora Mantle (2-5-58...70yo)
[1919 photo; photo from obit in 1958]
Miss Mantle was a violin teacher for 35 years working out of her home at 215 Kennedy Ave. Her sister, Miss Elsie Mantle was the executive secretary of the Louisville chapter, American Red Cross, which played an important role during the 1937 flood. Miss Dora studied with Charles Letzler of Louisville, Maia Bang in New York and Max Fischel in Chicago. In 1923 she was graduated from the Chicago Musical College and returned to Louisville to give private lessons in the studio at her home. She played the violin regularly at the church and directed an orchestra at the Sunday-night services. Miss Mantles father, Rev. Gregory Mantle, was an evangelist who came to Louisville from England in 1913.

Martin L. Marshall (11-13-40...67yo)
[1919 photo]
Mr. Marshall resided at 124 S. Bayly and served as Jefferson Circuit Court deputy clerk. He was a native of Corinth, KY and served as circuit clerk in Owen County before moving to Louisville in 1908. He had attended the University of Kentucky in Lexington and then in Louisville graduated from the Jefferson School of Law in 1909. He served as a city attorney and then attorney for a realty company. In 1933 he was appointed deputy Circuit Court clerk. He, too, was a Mason and was active at CHBC where he conducted a Sunday School class for many years.

Mrs. Aline Maydwell (10-9-70...80yo)
[1919 photo]

Robert L. Mercke (5-27-39...62yo)
[not named in 1919 photo]
Mr. Mercke was vice president of the Jefferson Woodworking Company. His ancestors were early "settlers" of the Crescent Hill area and he joined CHBC shortly after its formation. He later moved to the Highlands and became active in Deer Park Baptist Church where he served as a deacon.

Thomas W. Moran (d.1927...86yo)
[1915 and later photos]
Mr. Moran was a mechanical inventor and President of the Flexible Steam Joint Company. He lived in the house known as Repton just off Brownsboro road and took great interest in the building of both the 1910 church building and the 1926 structure. He had been the treasurer of Deer Park Baptist Church before coming to Crescent Hill and would have been a charter member of CH were it not for his duties at Deer Park.

Mrs. Thomas W. Moran
[not named in the 1919 photo]
Gaga Woodward thought of her as well as Mrss. Anderson, Rowland, and Wieland as being pillars of the church.

Martin Rogers Neel (2-8-64...83yo)
[1919 photo and 1950 photo]
Mr. Neel,a Louisville native, retired in 1951 after 57 years in the treasury department of the L&N Railroad; he was assistant treasurer when he stepped down. He was a life deacon at CHBC and served for several years as Sunday School superintendent. He was a former director of the downtown YMCA and member of Big Spring Country Club and the Crescent Hill Golf Club.

Mrs. Martin R. (Ada Barnes) Neel (11-8-75...90yo)
[1919 photo]
Ada was the sister of Fannie Cotton Taylor, "Bubbles" Taylors wife. She was about twenty years older than Fannie.

Mrs. T. P. Peyton
[1919 photo and 1950 photo]
Mrs. Peyton played an active role in the WMU of CHBC.

George Renfro (8-26-57...81yo)
[1919 photo]
Mr. Renfro retired in 1955 after 25 years with the Kentucky Manufacturing Company, a dry-goods wholesaler. He was a native of Park City, KY and moved to his residence at 2835 Westminster Court sometime before 1919. He was active at CHBC and a Mason for some 50 years. Virgina Frys parents, Cora Marshall and H.T.Larimore lived in the Renfros upstairs apartment after they were married.

Eugene B. Robertson (2-10-57...90yo)
[not named in 1919 photo; this is a 1950 photo]
E. B. Robertson was a banker in Louisville for over 50 years. He was a native of Missouri (b. 1867) but spent much of his early childhood in Mississippi where his father was a minister. His father had grown up in Shelby Co, KY. E.B. Robertson began his banking career in Memphis in the 1880s and came to Louisville about ten years later. Here he worked for the National Bank of Kentucky where he served as vice-president before it went into receivership in 1930. He then went to work for Lincoln Bank & Trust Company where he worked for the next twenty years and was a vice-president when he retired.
He served as chairman of the CHBC Board of Deacons for many years and also served as chairman of the board of trustees of Kentucky Baptist Hospital. His son, Jim Tom Robertson, became an attorney in Louisville. 

The Robertsons and others employed Georgia Cox Tolliver, an African-American from Owenton and Winchester,  as a cook in their home at 331 S. Birchwood.  She attended but was not a member of CHBC and sat on the back pew.  She died Aug 25, 1947 at the age of 76.  The funeral was held at CHBC and she was buried in the Louisville Cemetery.  Her photo appears in Samuel Thomas Crescent Hill Revisited (1987), pg 140.

 

Mrs. E. B. (Clara Mae) Robertson (2-4-74...90yo)
[1919 photo]
died in Philadelphia (was staying with daughter, Mrs. William Keech).

William Henry Rowland (12-7-48...85yo)
[1919 photo]
W.H. Rowland retired in 1941 from the real estate business. He was a native of Henry County, a deacon at CHBC, and a director of the Kentucky Baptist Orphans Home. His daughter Harriet, married Carl Lorenz, and there were two sons: Henry T. Rowland, Jr., and Owen Rowland.

Mrs. W. H. (Jennie) Rowland (5-2-30...61yo)
[1919 photo]
Jennie Rowlands brief life story is recorded in the 1930 minutes of CHBC. She made her profession of faith at an early age and united with the Fox Run Baptist Church. She and W. H. Rowland were married Sept 24, 1889. They were living in Louisville at the time and joined Parkland Baptist Church in 1898 where she taught Sunday School for nearly ten years. On May 22, 1910 they joined CHBC and continued teaching a class of young ladies in the Dorcas Class. Her daughter Harriet Lorenz had four children: Elise Hoffman, Jane Crecelius, Hilda Miller, and Charlie Lorenz.   Gaga Woodward speaks of Mrs. Rowland as being one of the pillars of the early church.

Mrs. E. H. (Katherine Mayhall) Scheffer (8-4-53...74yo)
[1919 photo]
Katherine was the mother of Sue Scheffer who married Raymond Schnur, Sr.

William Ash Shields
[1919 photo]

Mrs. William Ash (Georgia Ella) Shields (10-21-54...69yo)
[1919 photo]
In addition to her activities at CHBC, Georgia Shields was a member of the Crescent Hill Womans Club.

James Spence (dc.1946)
[1919 photo]

Mrs. James (Betty) Spence
[1919 photo]

George Sutterlin (12-28-62...81yo - died in NC if this is correct)
[1919 photo]

Mrs. George Sutterlin
[1919 photo]

Calvin F. Thomas (2-3-55...88yo)
[1915, 1919 photos]
Mr. Thomas was a realtor. His wife was Pearl Eastes Thomas and son, John A. Thomas.

Mrs. Vallandingham
[1919 photo]

John Waggener
[1919 photo]

Jesse Burton "J.B." Weatherspoon (1886-1964...82yo)
[1950 photo] J.B. Weatherpoon taught Christian ethics and sociology at SBTS from 1929-1959. He attended Highland Baptist Church before moving his membership in the early 1930s. He taught the Mens Bible Class at CHBC for many years and served as a member of the Social Service Commission of the SBC.

Mrs. J.B. ("Lady") Weatherspoon
[1950 photo]
Lady Weatherspoon organized the Euzelian Class for Young Married Women in September 1933 with seventeen members. Over her many years of service hundreds of women passed through her class. In 1946 the Friendship Class was formed from the younger members of the class with Katherine Cralle as teacher. The stain glass window in the chapel depicting the 1854 William Holman Hunt "The Light of the World" painting was given by the Euzelian Class in honor of Lady Weatherspoon. Whenever a baby would be born for the women in her class she would knit baby booties them. At a Valentine Banquet in 1950, Dr. and Mrs. Weatherspoon were honored as the "King and Queen of Hearts."

Mrs. H. O. (Clara) Wieland
[1919 photo to left and later photo to right (from Marilyn Wieland Ables collection)]
mother of Raymond "Rabbit" Wieland.  Gaga Woodward spoke of Mrs. Wieland as being one of the pillars of the church (along with Mrss. Anderson, Moran, and Rowland]. According to Elizabeth Grawemeyer, Mrs. Wieland could sing nearly every song in the hymnbook from memory.

John Stoner Wigginton (9-24-94...93yo)
[1970 photo]
Stoner Wigginton was a native of Fairfield, KY and executive vice president of the old Jefferson Federal Savings and Loan before he retired. He became the teacher of a young mens Bible class at CHBC in 1935 which became called the Wigginton Bible Class. When he discontinued teaching, Judge Stephen S. Jones became the teacher and the class was called the Wigginton-Jones Class. For many years an annual banquet provided an opportunity in the spring for the members to socialize.

Mrs. Stoner (Julia Shouse) Wigginton (5-5-95...91yo)
[1970 photo]
Julia may have already been a member of the church when she married Stoner since her extended family were charter members of the church.

Alexander Woodruff (8-24-35...63yo)
[1919 photo]
Mr. Woodruff was secretary of the Kentucky & Louisville Mutual Insurance Company and resided at 333 S. Bayly. A native of Louisville, he graduated from Male High School and worked in the insurance business for forty years. He was a deacon at CHBC, and like many others, very active in the Masons, serving as a past master of the Crescent Hill Lodge and other local and state-wide position.

Ernest Woodward, Sr.
[not named in 1919 photo]
founder and senior partner of Woodward, Hobson and Fulton Law Firm, father of Fielden Woodward