1861–1862: itinerant ministry · person
Daniel Hege
An early General Conference minister who traveled among congregations to encourage fellowship, mission, and education.
Daniel Hege (1826–1862) was born in the Palatinate and immigrated to the United States in 1851. After further study and work in schools and congregations, he became pastor at Summerfield, Illinois, in 1859. His concern extended to the scattered churches that were forming the General Conference.
At the 1861 conference at Wadsworth he took part in establishing the new organization and was elected secretary. He was also appointed as its traveling preacher, or Reiseprediger. His journeys brought preaching and pastoral visits to congregations and families while encouraging cooperation, mission, publications, and support for a training school.
Hege’s fundraising travels helped prepare the way for the Wadsworth school, but he did not live to see that work fully develop. Returning ill from Iowa, he died of typhoid fever at Summerfield on 30 November 1862. His short ministry links the conference’s formation to the practical work of visiting, teaching, and gathering support across distance.
Sources for this history: [1] [2] [3] [4]
