Rev. Levi Samuel Hoffman and Adelaide Lenora Mattox [149-177]

[149-177] REV. LEVI SAMUEL HOFFMAN, b Oct. 9, 1875; s William M. and Sarah H. (Schultz) Hoffman [149-80]; m June 29, 1910, ADELAIDE LENORA MATTOX, b June 17, 1874; dau Benjamin Franklin and Mattie Lenora (Howe) Mattox. Res., 739 W. Main St., Lansdale, Pa. (1922.)

One child:

Elinor Adelaide, b Feb. 28, 1912.

Rev. Levi Samuel Hoffman was born at Topton, Berks Co., Pa., where his father was then engaged as a wheelwright. When Mr. Hoffman was six years of age his father moved to a farm near Kraussdale, Pa., where Mr. Hoffman had the usual farmer boy training and attended the public schools of the local township. During this period there was quite a flourishing literary society in the local school and Mr. Hoffman was a faithful attendant at the meetings of this organization, becoming one of the leaders in the debates. This was his first training in public speaking. In connection with his attendance at the Kraussdale Sechwenkfelder C. E. Society, he came into touch with the students and professors of Perkiomen Seminary which gave him a thirst for more knowledge. Being encouraged by the advice of the principal, Dr. O. S. Kriebel, Mr. Hoffman entered Perkiomen Seminary and prepared himself for the teaching profession. Having obtained his teacher’s certificate, he spent three years in teaching in the public schools, while at the same time he continued his studies at night and at the summer sessions of the school. In 1903 he was graduated from Perkiomen Seminary and in the fall of the same year entered Brown University at Providence, Rhode Island.

Being in limited financial circumstances, Mr. Hoffman was obliged to work his own way through college which he did by accepting all honorable kinds of employment. At the close of his sophomore year he was asked to become acting pastor of the Hope Congregational Church in East Providence, R.I., and during the latter two years of his college career he preached regularly in this church and was one of the efficient teachers of the Sunday School. Being urged to consider very seriously the ministerial profession, Mr. Hoffman took the suggestion under advisement for a long time, as it was his desire to become a teacher. But during his senior year in college he decided that the ministry should be his chosen profession, and in 1907 he was graduated with the degree of A. B. from Brown University. In the fall of the same year Mr. Hoffman entered Hartford Theological Seminary as a student, and it was during his first year there that he became teacher of the ‘‘Friendly Class,”’ an organized class of ladies and young men in the Weatherfield Avenue Congregational Church. During the summer of that year Mr. Hoffman was employed as acting pastor of the Doxbury Congregational Church where he was so successful that he was urged to return for the next year. However, during his next year in the Seminary, he was visited by a committee of the Schwenkfelder Church of the ‘‘Middle District ” who asked him to spend the following summer in their district, as they were in need of a pastor. Mr. Hoffman could not resist the call, and instead of staying in New England, eame to the Middle District as the supply pastor for that summer.

In the spring of 1910, he was graduated from Hartford Theological Seminary, and having in the meantime been elected pastor of the Schwenkfelder Church of the Middle District, Mr. Hoffman served this congregation and was formally ordained on September 18, 1910, in the Worcester Church, where he has been faithfully performing his duties ever since. He has organized the work of the Middle District and has been successful in developing various phases of church activity to the great satisfaction of the churches in the Middle District. It was through Mr. Hoffman’s influence that the Lansdale mission was organized, as he saw a fertile field of opportunity in this section, and the growth and development of this mission under Mr. Hoffman’s direction has been most marked.

Mr. Hoffman is a profound student, and prepares his sermons with great care. In 1921 he was appointed an assistant editor of the “Corpus Schwenckfeldianorum.” Mr. Hoffman was married in June, 1910, to Miss Adelaide Lenora Mattox, who was a deaconess in the Deaconess’ Home at Fall River, Mass. Mrs. Hoffman is a graduate of the Chicago City School for Home and Foreign Missions, elass of 1902. She has proved a faithful and loyal worker in the mission field and ably supports her husband in his ministerial labors.