Amos Augustus Kiehle (5)
b. March 22, 1847
Son of Elizabeth Litchard (4) and James Kiehle, Amos married three times. His first marriage was to Miss Julia Reed of Livonia, NY, on May 13, 1874. She died August 1, 1878, leaving two daughters:
- Bessie Marian, born January 19, 1876; and
- Grace Julia, born September 16, 1877.
On July 28, 1881, Amos married for a second time to Miss Frances Decker of South Livonia, NY, who died March 10, 1885. One child was born of this marriage:
- Ernest R., born December 10, 1883.
On June 24, 1890, Amos married for a third time to Miss Bessie Harrison of Milwaukee, WI.
“The following highly commendatory notice of our kinsman was obtained from a sketch of him in Men in Progress, a book published in Milwaukee in 1897:
“ ‘Rev. Amos Augustus Kiehle, D. D., pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church, Milwaukee, was born in Dansville, N. Y. His father, James Kiehle, was a tanner by trade and occupation, owning a tannery which he carried on for years, gaining thereby a moderate competency. He was one of those highly respected citizens who form the conservative element in every prosperous community. A. A. Kiehle’s mother was Elizabeth Litchard, a woman of sterling Christian character, who impressed herself indelibly upon her children to their lasting good. Both paternal and maternal grandfathers were residents of Pennsylvania, but removed to New York when their children were young, settling on farms in Livingston County, where they remained during the rest of their lives.
“ ‘A. A. Kiehle received his early education in the district school, which was followed by a course in the Dansville Seminary, an institution of higher education with more than a local reputation for the thoroughness of its instruction. He then taught for two years in Canandaigua Academy, and in the meantime prepared himself for a collegiate course, which he took at Hamilton College, Clinton, N. Y., entering that institution in September, 1867, and graduating therefrom in 1871. While in college he was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity and a most faithful and successful student, making a record for thorough scholarship and for a broad and liberal culture. As student and teacher he paid attention to the study of elocution, in which he won several prizes and acquired a faculty and power as a public speaker which has proved of great practical advantage to him. He believes that the study of language and elocution are not accorded the place in a liberal course of study which their importance demands. In the fall of 1871 he entered Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and graduated therefrom in the class of 1874. Soon after he received and accepted a call to the pastorate of the Franklin Avenue Presbyterian Church of Minneapolis, Minn., and on the 21st of October, 1874, he was ordained to the gospel ministry and installed pastor of that church. The duties of this position he discharged with much fidelity until February, 1878, when he accepted a call from the First Presbyterian Church of Stillwater, Minn., where he labored with great ability and success until the summer of 1881, when he became pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church of Milwaukee, which he is still most acceptably filling. During his pastorate the church has more than doubled its membership, a heavy debt has been paid, and the church building has been enlarged.
“ ‘Mr. Kiehle is a Republican in politics, and, while he is in no sense a “political preacher,” he takes a deep interest in all public questions, whether political, social or industrial, and never neglects his duties as a citizen. He is eminently a preacher of the gospel, but is fully alive to the fact that the gospel has a very close relationship to daily, practical life, and he does not hesitate to point out and emphasize that relation in a manner that leaves a lasting impression. As a preacher Mr. Kiehle has a popular manner, is an impressive reader of the Scriptures, has a voice that easily fills the largest audience rooms and is most pleasant to the ear. His style is clear, direct, forcible and often most eloquent, while the plain truths of Scripture seem to acquire a new power as they fall from his lips. He does not unduly advance the doctrinal phase of religion, nor does he indulge in mere theological speculation. He is a broad, liberal-minded, growing man, and one who stands in the front rank of his profession’ ” (from Heinrich Gernhardt and His Descendants, published 1904, pp. 249-250).