Elizabeth of Hungary, Worker of Mercy

1472 Johannes Basilios Bessarion, patriarch of Constantinople who sought to reconcile the eastern and western churches, died (b. 2 January 1403).

1530 The Diet of Augsburg ended.

1630 Johann Hermann Schein, Leipzig cantor and composer, died at Leipzig (b. 20 January 1586, Grünhain, Saxony).

1729 Johann Franz Buddeus, Lutheran dogmatician and isagogist, died (b. 25 June 1667).

1827 Johann Gottlieb Christaller, West African missionary and Bible translator, was born in Wuerttemberg (d. 10 December 1895).

1861 At the suggestion of her pastor, abolitionist Julia Ward Howe (1819–1910) wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

1862 William Ashley (Billy) Sunday, American Presbyterian revivalist, was born in Ames, Iowa (d. 6 November 1935).

1885 Haldor Lillenas, American hymn writer, was born in Bergen, Norway (d. 18 August 1959).

1887 Johann Michael Gottlieb Schaller, professor of church history at Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis), died (b. 12 February 1819, Kirchenlamitz, Upper Franconia, Bavaria).

1900 Samuel J. Stone, Anglican clergyman and hymnist, died (b. 25 April 1839).

1901 Felix F. Segovia was born in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. He entered the ministry of the Missouri Synod by colloquy in 1939 and served as a pastor in Austin, Texas, and Monterey, Mexico. He was president of the Conference of Mexico and editor of Noticiero de la Fe Espanol.

1908 Franz Julius Biltz, president of the Western District of the Missouri Synod and instrumental in the founding of Saint Paul’s College (Concordia, Missouri), died (b. 24 July 1825).

1929 Arthur H. Mann, organist and composer of sacred music, died in England (b. 16 May 1850, Norwich, Norfolk, England).

1950 The Saint Louis Study Club adopted a conservative confession of faith that led to the organization of the Orthodox Lutheran Conference.

1996 Milton Carpenter, treasurer of the Missouri Synod from 1962 to 1977, died at the age of 91. Carpenter, who served without compensation as the synod’s treasurer, also served on the boards of Concordia Publishing House and Valparaiso University and as treasurer of the International Lutheran Laymen’s League. For twenty-five years he was a regular participant on radio station KFUO’s “Sunday Morning Round Table” program. He received honorary doctorates from Valparaiso University, Concordia Seminary (Saint Louis) and Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne, Indiana). A graduate of Washington University in Saint Louis, Carpenter was elected comptroller of the city of Saint Louis in 1949 and reelected in 1953. In 1957 he resigned to become director of the Missouri Department of Revenue. In 1960 Carpenter was elected treasurer of the State of Missouri, a position he held until 1965.