My Genealogy Hound

JOHN B. HELWIG, D. D. Among the noted preachers who have made for themselves a fine reputation in Southern Ohio and occupied many positions of trust and responsibility, may be mentioned the subject of this notice, who at present is located in the city of Springfield, and gives his time and attention principally to the ministry. He is a native of this State and born March 6, 1833, near Canal Dover. On the paternal side his ancestors were of German descent, and ou the maternal side English in nativity and Wesleyan in religion. His paternal grandparents, although Lutherans in religions belief, were Puritans in the correctness of their home life and in all their relations with each other.

The subject of this notice spent his early life with his paternal grandparents, with whom temperance and a scrupulous observance of the Sabbath were customs and principles inviolable. He received a practical education in the old-fashioned log schoolhouse, and being fond of books, made ready progress, manifesting that self-reliance and independence of character which have so prominently marked his subsequent life.

Until a youth of eighteen years young Helwig occupied himself in the work of the farm, and then served an apprenticeship at blacksmithing. In the meantime the Rev. Dr. Sprechen, President of Wittenberg College, remarked to him: “Brother Aughe, your pastor, thinks you might become a useful man in our cause,” to which the modest youth replied, “I had thought that I was engaged in that to which I was best adapted.” The words, however, spoken by Dr. Sprechen, awakened a new train of thought in his mind and he began to give his serious attention to the question as to whether he might properly enter the ministry.

The result of these meditations was, that two years later, under the pastorate of the Rev. J. W. Goodlin, then of Bellefontaine, Ohio, Dr. Helwig entered upon his studies at Wittenberg College and was graduated in the class of ‘61. He proved a diligent student and by patient perseverance mastered the various branches which he had taken up, while his college life was of that exemplary Christian character which exerted a salutary influence among his associates. The Literary Society had a special charm for him. He was strong in debate and seldom lost a question. Three times upon public occasions he worthily represented the Excelsior Society, of which he was a member.

Finally, greatly to his satisfaction, Dr. Helwig was regularly ordained a minister of the Lutheran Church by the Wittenberg Synod. His first pastorate comprised three. congregations at and in the vicinity of Sulphur Springs, this State. Subsequently he was pastor of churches at Lancaster, Springfield, Cincinnati, Dayton and Akron. Under his earnest and efficient labors each church which he served rapidly gained strength and prominence, while personally, Dr. Helwig greatly endeared himself to the hearts of his people. From the pastorate of the church in Dayton he, in 1874, was called to the Presidency of Wittenberg College. He filled this position creditably for a period of eight years, and in the meantime also supplied the, pulpits of the First and Second Presbyterian and the First Baptist Church, of Springfield. The ardous labors involved finally undermined his health, and he was obliged to resign.

In order to regain his health and also to employ his time profitably, Mr. Helwig made an extended tour through the principal countries of the Old World. Upon his return, he assumed charge of the English Lutheran Church, at Akron, Ohio. Four years later he resigned to accept a call from the First Lutheran Church, of Springfield, of which he had previously been pastor, and in which his services as pastor are still continued.

Wittenberg College under the administration of Dr. Helwig progressed in usefulness and influence. As its President, he was beloved by all, and was especially the encourager and helper of those who were struggling against difficulties. As an instructor, he possessed more than ordinary capabilities, and the strong Christian influence which he exercised over all with whom he came in contact, was as noticeable in his maturer years as it was in his early life as a student. As a writer, he is clear and forcible, possessed of large information and a keen, discriminating judgment. His inaugural address as President of Wittenberg College was a production from which liberal quotations have been made and from which we select the following:

“Our colleges in relation to lower education should rise like lofty towers out of our towns and cities; they should lift themselves like hills and mountains from out of the plains. As it is said of Athens and of Alexandria of ancient times, so still should the college be a moral and intellectual metropolis whence elevating influences go down to all the provinces. I would inscribe over the entrance to the college ‘Character before culture, and culture before knowledge;’ and also that other memorable declaration, ‘It is not important that this should be a school of three hundred students or of one hundred or of fifty students, but it is important that it should be a school of Christian gentlemen and ladies who are students in spirit and application.”

Dr. Helwig has attained a considerable degree of popularity as a lecturer. His addresses are characterized by a richness of thought, beauty of expression and delivered with a peculiarly distinct enunciation and with a rich, sonorous voice. Among his themes have been: “The Bible,” “Temperance,” “Romanism and Our American Institutions,” “The Rulership of Christ as the King of Nations,” and “The King’s English.”

In July, 1889, Mr. Helwig received the nomination for Governor of Ohio on the Prohibition ticket, at the convention which met at Zanesville. He made a strong race and delivered during the campaign sixty-five speeches in thirty two counties. He has for years maintained the warmest interest in the temperance movement, and proposes to let no opportunity in the future pass by when he may maintain the standard under which he proposes to fight as long as he has breath and the power of speech.