Noteworthy among the active and talented ministers on the Pacific Coast, J. Harvey Deere, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pomona, is known throughout the state and in Arizona as an orator and public speaker and a most successful worker in his Master's vineyard. Broad and liberal in spirit, sincerely devout in his convictions, he is a practical Christian, and his kindly, sympathetic nature makes him a true minister of the gospel and a helper of men. A fluent and convincing speaker, he reaches all walks of life, and an earnest effort to save men to the highest purposes pervades all his works, his strong moral force impressing young and old, and making him a power for good in the community.
Mr. Deere first saw the light of day in Montgomery County, Ind., August 31, 1871. After finishing his preliminary schooling he attended normal school at Valparaiso, Ind., teaching one year thereafter. In 1894 he became a student at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Ind., and during his college days there was active in athletics, playing on the ball team two seasons, one of which he held the battling record of the team. In 1897 he was graduated from Franklin College, Franklin, Ind., with the degree of A.B., and three years later became an alumnus of the Rochester Theological Seminary of Rochester, N. Y. Five years thereafter he took a post-graduate course in theology at the Baptist Seminary, Louisville, Ky.
After thorough training and study for his life work, Mr. Deere took as his first charge, the First Baptist Church of Lima, Ohio; after a successful pastorate of two years the necessity of seeking health for the family drove him into Dixieland, where he took charge of the Carson-Newman College Church, and in addition to his pastoral responsibilities he supplied occasionally the chair of philosophy and logic in the college.
In 1907 Mr. Deere came to Redlands, Cal., and after three years in Southern California he responded to an unsought call to the First Baptist Church in Phoenix, Ariz., where for five years he met with wonderful success, baptizing 195 converts and receiving some 1000 people into the church. While there his Alma Mater honored him with the degree of Doctor of Divinity. As things go in a minister's life, Doctor Deere next found himself serving as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Fresno, Cal. While in that city he became the minister member of the Rotary Club, an organization of business men with one representative from each classification of business. This gave him touch with the business interests of the city and helped to increase his responsibility in the making of public addresses. While in Fresno he was also one of the Four Minute Men.
In the spring of 1918 Doctor Deere came to Pomona in charge of the First Baptist Church, and during his short time here has built up the work to no inconsiderable extent. His church has one of the largest Sunday schools of any Baptist organization of the state. It was loyal to the core to our country's call for men, sending more than eighty of the flower of its manhood, and as remarkable as it seems all of these men, save one, came back. Besides his active ministerial labors the subject of this sketch is the author of several printed sermons and pamphlets. He is a Mason, and a man of geniality and nobility of character, with his heart in his work of redemption.
The marriage of Doctor Deere, in 1897, united him with Cora A. James, a native of Montgomery County, Ind. To them three children have been born, Maurice and James passing on in tender years, while a little daughter of four, Bettie Mae, remains to challenge hope and crystallize ambition. Mrs. Deere has been a true helpmate to her husband; a woman of many talents, active in church work, a leader in the educational work of the church, musical in temperament and training, a writer of verse, excelling also in landscape and china painting.
The First Baptist Church of Pomona, situated on the corner of Holt and Garey avenues, is a modern edifice with a seating capacity of 1700, and being the largest auditorium in the city, the building is much in demand for union meetings of a religious nature. The first church of this denomination in the city was organized in 1870 by the Rev. R. C. Fryer, in the Spadra schoolhouse, with just twelve souls in attendance. In 1883 the Rev. M. Latourette, a missionary of the Los Angeles Baptist Organization, was sent here to organize a church, the Spadra people agreeing to have their place of worship changed to Pomona, which was done October, 1883. Regular services were held in an old house on Fourth Street; later a house of worship was erected on the corner of Ellen and Fourth streets, and the Rev. J. F. Moody became pastor in August, 1884, with a congregation of forty-eight, which by 1889 had been increased to 150 members. The present beautiful church edifice was erected in 1910.
History of Pomona Valley, California, with Biographical Sketches
of The Leading Men and Women of the Valley Who Have Been
Identified With Its Growth and Development from the Early Days
to the Present
Published in Los Angeles, Cal., by the Historic Record Company
1920
Transcribed by Linda Jackson 12/4/08, Pages 721-723
Los Angeles County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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