More About the Church on Broad Street.....
Article # 9.
In 1919, a young minister named Edward Jacob Hertwig , a native of Macon, came to serve the Statesboro Presbyterian Church. He must have been a dynamic, energetic young man of God, because, at the age of 34, he had already accomplished so much in such a short time. His first appointment in 1914 after completing Union Theological Seminary was as Assistant Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Winston-Salem North Carolina. As assistant pastor, he established a new church in the Waughton district of Winston Salem and served as its pastor from 1917-1919 when he received a call to the Statesboro church.
In Statesboro, under his leadership, the Sunday School was revived, a Christian Endeavor society was formed, and later a junior Christian Endeavor society also. During this time, the local newspaper, The Bulloch Herald, printed each week the schedule of the Sunday Services of the local churches for the coming Sunday, even including the topic of the Minister’s sermon.
Rev Hertwig was busy, not only on the local level, but in Presbytery as well, and was elected Moderator of that body in 1920. It is believed that it was during his tenure as Pastor that the Outreach work at Stilson was begun. In the July 1, 1920 newspaper schedule of the Sunday Services for July 4th, it is mentioned “ On Sunday afternoon at 4:30 , the pastor of this church will preach at the public school house at Stilson on “Bulwarks of Christianity”. And on August 28, the Session minutes state that Rev. Hertwig held special services at Stilson and 5 members were received into membership. (Etta Strickland, Mr & Mrs Julian Brannen, Martha & Eureasia Brannen). The fact that these were the first names entered into the register of members at Stilson seems to indicate that this was the start of the Stilson Chapel.
The church at Statesboro seemed to be growing. Session reported in April of 1920, a total of 80 members and 90 attending the Sunday School.
Rev Hertwig seems to have been a “church builder” also, because the small church on Broad Street had reached its full potential and the need was seen for a new church plant. So in the April 4, 1920 Session Minutes, a committee was elected to investigate and purchase a lot on which to construct a Manse and new church building.
On April 8, an article appeared in the Bulloch Herald reporting the Church’s plans to purchase a lot and build the manse and new church. The lot was on the corner of Savannah and Zetterower Avenues in the new sub-division formerly known as the Johnston property. The Bulloch Loan and Trust Company had recently become owners of the undeveloped eleven acres. The article stated, “The Presbyterians are certainly to be congratulated upon having procured so valuable a site for their house of worship than which there is none more choice in the city.” The article further stated that the city would take charge of street work while the development company would clear the trees and undergrowth and fit the lots for building.
Statesboro had two newspapers at that time - the Statesboro Eagle and the Bulloch Herald. (The Bulloch Herald purchased the Statesboro Eagle in 1921) An article in the Statesboro Eagle of May 1, 1920 also congratulated the Presbyterians for securing such a fine lot and states in part, “They hope to erect structures costing in the neighborhood of $40,000, and already have about half of that amount pledged by their members and will soon put on a campaign to raise funds in the city of Statesboro.”
In the April 29, May 6 and May 13 editions of the Bulloch Herald, on the front page in very large print, taking up a full 1/3 of the page, appeared letters from the committee, headed by W. E. McDougald. The letters detailed the need for the new facilities and appealed to their friends in Statesboro for contributions to this building fund.
In the first letter, Mr McDougald stated in part: "Our Church plant is no longer adequate to meet our needs nor fit use for larger service we should render in God’s name for righteousness and religion in our community, nor keep us abreast of the splendid progress of Statesboro and Bulloch County. It does not include a manse, nor room for building one; and the renting house shortage makes this an urgent need. The church is too small, is unserviceable for Sunday School, is below the standard of architectural beauty of our splendid county seat, is neither centrally nor conveniently located, and already so fills its lot that it will not admit of enlargement without undue crowding.”
The Session Minutes of June 25 state that the “church had purchased 2 lots at a cost of $4200 to be paid 1/3 cash, 1/3 payable in one year, and 1/3 payable in two years. The subscription has amounted to $32,000.”
In retrospect, the sum of $32,000 in the year 1920, seems to be a lot of money for the times. Evidently the work on the manse began immediately, altho no mention of its construction appears in the newspaper or Session Minutes. The style of the manse was Dutch Colonial and it is believed that Rev Hertwig, of Dutch descent, designed the house.
Rev Hertwig evidently continued his busy schedule. In the July 1st edition of the Herald, an article appeared stating that Rev and Mrs Hertwig would be attending a two week summer conference at Montreat and that there would be no preaching services during their absence.
Rev Hertwig believed whole-heartedly in the value of the church school and placed great emphasis on this phase of his church work. On Sept 30, 1920, a long article appeared in the Herald outlining the Sunday service for Rally Day in the Church School. All departments of the Sunday School appeared on the program. One of the items on the program was a solo by Miss Irene Arden. Many years later, in the ‘30's, Miss Arden was still teaching and was Worth and Don McDougald’s beloved Sunday School teacher.
Then, in April of 1921, tragedy struck. A long article was printed, taking up a whole column of the front page of the newspaper, and the headline read “Statesboro Pastor is Dead in Macon.”
Rev Hertwig had evidently been ill for some time, altho no one was aware of it. It seems that he never completely recovered from a bout of pneumonia he had suffered two years before. He went to Macon Monday of the week before to consult a specialist. He came back on Saturday, intending to preach on Sunday, but was not well enough to do so. He returned to Macon on Monday and died on Tuesday. He was just 36 years old.
His death was a dreadful shock to his congregation, to Savannah Presbytery, and indeed, to the whole community. His funeral services were held at the Tattnall Square Presbyterian Church in Macon. Probably, the entire Statesboro congregation made the journey to Macon for the services.
Mr Hertwig’s death must have been such a blow to the Statesboro congregation that plans to build the new church were abandoned, and the church continued to meet for another 20 years in the “old church on Broad Street”.
Dot Odom, FPC Historian