DANVILLE — An admitted history buff, George Gehrig has a lot to share about Danville, the place where he was born and raised.
He is historian of Trinity Lutheran Church, which is near his home, and a member of the Montour County Historical Society board. He is a lifelong member of Trinity Church on East Market Street.
Eager to talk about his town’s past, he began with his church, which recently observed its 150th anniversary. It was formed from St. John’s Lutheran Church, which was near where the Danville Elementary School sits today. At that time, Danville was made up of two wards, the South and North wards, separated by the canal where the Brady Funeral Home is now.
St. John’s was a German-speaking congregation, Gehrig said, adding that the Trinity members split to form an English- speaking congregation about 1855 in the North Ward. “They first worshipped in a funeral home about 1858 and eventually bought the lot where the present Trinity Lutheran is.”
The church was completed in 1863. When it was dedicated, it had the tallest steeple in Danville. But two years later, a tornado or cyclone struck, toppling the steeple on a Sunday. “Interestingly, parishioners that week cleaned up and re-roofed the church so they were ready to hold a service there the next Sunday,” he said.
Several large timbers remain in the attic from the original steeple.
The church was rebuilt in 1928. “The church had $25,000 and grandiose plans figuring a new church would cost $80,000,” he said. But the bid came in at $160,000, so the members changed the exterior to brick and opted not to go with a large, complete basement, he said. With the redrawn plans, the quote was $85,000. “They were able to finance it with a mortgage of $50,000. That was the most Danville National would allow for one mortgage,” Gehrig said.
“They used everything they could from the old church. When you walk down the center aisle of the church, you are walking down the center aisle of the old church.”
“My father (J. Frank Gehrig) was much involved with building the church,” Gehrig said. His dad was secretary-treasurer of the Montour County Trust Co. on Mill Street and remained there until it was purchased by FNB Bank in 1956.
An oddity occurred in the church about 1960. The Rev. Elwood Huegel was pastor at the time. Gehrig described him as a “handsome and robust man who used to lead the Scout troop on bivouacking on the state hospital ballfield and would run around the field with the Scouts.” One day after hunting, Huegel went to fix the coal fire in the church basement and died. He was in his late 50s.
Gehrig also discovered an interesting history in the home he and his wife, Betty, bought 58 years ago.
The home was owned by Paul Leidy, the first district attorney in Montour County. During the inaugural ball of President James Buchanan, the only president from Pennsylvania, John G. Montgomery, who represented the district covering Danville, became ill and died. Leidy was named to fill his unexpired term. “He became much involved in Congress concerning admitting Kansas as a state,” Gehrig said.
Leidy owned a lot of property in Danville. When the former First Ward School was sold, the transaction was described as being bordered on the west by property “now or formerly owned by Paul Leidy,” he said.
Gehrig graduated from Danville High School, which is where the Danville Elementary is now.
When he attended Bloomsburg State Teachers College, he completed his degree in three years instead of four. “There were less than 600 students then. Now, it’s close to 10,000. It’s just amazing,” he said.
He also served with the Army during World War II in Germany.
Gehrig taught math for 16 years at the junior high and then served 16 years as district business manager.
He worked in the former First Ward School when it housed the district administrative offices.
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