Children of Thomas Bridenthal

I'd very much like to post good photos of the siblings of Claude Breidenthal on this site. If you have a good photo, please contact me at nancy@nancysdeadrelatives.com.

15 Jan 1920, Springdale Township, Washington County, AR: Farmer Lee Bridenthal 38, AR AL TN; Maud 26, AR AR AR; Lena 5, AR AR AR; Daisy 3 9/12; Mattie Lee 2. They were enumerated close to [parents] T. J. and Laura Bridenthal and [brother-in-law and sister] A. B. and Maud Henson.[2]

19 May 1930 Census, , Washington County, AR (Springdale Township): Farmer Lee Bridenthal 49, AR AL IN, married at age 31; Maud S. age 37, AR MS MS, married at age 19; Lena M. 15, AR AR AR; Mattie Lee 12; Margrat 9; Thomas H. 5.[3]

Lee, who had high blood pressure, suffered a stroke. He was eventually committed to a mental asylum where he died, age 63.[4]

20 May 1940: Lee died in Pulaski County, AR. He is buried in Zion Cemetery, Springdale.

Aug 1978: Maud died and was buried in Zion. Zion Cemetery is Butterfield Coach Road, just south of the interesection with Zion Road.

Daisy Belle Bridenthal (1916 - 1 Jan 1923) Sources differ, the year might have been 1928.

7 Sep 1883: Alver (or Alva) Bridenthal was born in Washington County, AR. He was named after his great uncle, Alva Ashford.

12 Sep 1918: On his draft registration "Alver Bridenthal", born 7 Sep 1883, gave his address simply as Fayetteville, AR. He stated that his next of kin was Thomas J. Bridenthal of Springdale, his employment was as a laborer for J. A. Phipps Lumber Co. He was described as tall, of medium build, with blue eyes and brown hair. The registrar was Alva's cousin David E. Bridenthal.

Alver was 7 feet tall and very thin. "He was working on the farm with his brother Lea, moving boulders when he overexerted himself and had a blood vessel burst in his head. He walked back to the farmhouse and asked Grandma Laura to wash his feet. She asked why and he said, 'I'm going to die and I don't want to die with dirty feet.' The doctor was called out to the farm but Alver died before we could help him."[5] The date was 16 Mar 1938.

Alva Bridenthal, 54, died Tuesday night at 9 o'clock at the home of his brother, Lee, south of Springdale after a brief illness. Funeral services were held at the Methodist church at Zion at 3 o'clock Thursday afternoon conducted by the Rev. J. F. Thornberry of Elm Springs, lifetime friend of the deceased. Close friends of the family served as pallbearers. Burial was at Zion Cemetery.

Mr. Bridenthal was born September 7, 1883 three miles south of Springdale. He had been employed by the Phipps Lumber company as grader for the past 25 years. He was a member of the Christian Church.

Mr. Bridenthal is survived by his mother, Mrs. Laura Bridenthal, three brothers, Lee, at whose home he died, Rev. Claude Bridenthal of Bethany, MO., Rev. Irl Bridenthal of Gentry, and one sister, Mrs. Joe Gregg of Fayetteville.

Jan 1885: Joseph Lafayette Gregg was born in Arkansas, the son of Lafayette Gregg. Father Lafayette was a state legislator, then a Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1868 to 1889. Lafayette Gregg vacated the legislative seat later held by David Breidenthal. After retiring from the Supreme Court, he became President of the Bank of Fayetteville, and by donating 120 acres, was instrumental in the final location of the University of Arkansas. Judge Gregg was born in Moulton, Lawrence County, AL, where he must have been acquainted with the Ashfords.

15 Jan 1920 Census, Prairie Township, Washington County, AR: Fruit farmer Joe Gregg 35, AR AR AR; Beulah 33, AR TN AL; Ruby 13, AR AR AR; Florence 7; Elfie 3 4/12. They were listed next to [brother and sister-in-law] Earl and Evelyn Bridenthal.[6] Was Reby Joe's child from a first marriage?

1930 Census, Washington County, AR (Prairie Township): House carpenter Joe L. Gregg 46, AR AR AR, age 20 at first marriage; Beulah B. 44, AR AL IN, age 25 at first marriage; Florence M. 17; Elfa 15.

Beulah was described by her daughter Florence as a very lenient mother, well read and intelligent. She moved to CA to live with daughter Florence Rosoff after Joseph's death. Suffering a head injury due to a fall from bed, she spent the rest of her life in a nursing home, dying in Granada Hills, CA on Sep 1978. Her body was sent back to Fayetteville, AR for burial in Central Cemetery.

12 Oct 1889: Claude Breidenthal was born in Springdale, Washington County, AR, the son of Thomas John Breidenthal and Laura Tennessee Rader. See photo.

23 Jan 1890: Hazel Erskine Mathis, daughter of Orange Kenton and Frances Chase Mathis, was born in New Virginia, Warren County, IA. She and brother Ernest were twins. See photo.

In 1905 Claude was a member of Masonic Lodge #191, Newport, Jackson County, AR. Also members of that lodge at that time were Dr. John Miller Jones and James Leviticus Jones.

His first ministerial assignment was in Neosho, MO. At his boarding house, he met a young schoolteacher named Hazel Mathis, a graduate of Springfield Teachers College.

3 Jun 1908: Claude and Hazel were married at the Methodist Church in Neosho, Newton County, MO. Rev. H. A. Woods performed the ceremony. The groom was a resident of Granby. Hazel would later claim a marriage date of 3 Jun 1915, no doubt to conceal her age.

2 May 1910 Census, Spring Creek Township, Dent County, MO (District 31): Orange K. Mathis 59, IL OH Illegible, married for 36 years, profession listed as "none"; Francis 52, IL VA NY; Minnie 22, IA IL IL; Ernest 20, IA IL IL, a farmer; Hazel 20, IA IL IL, listed as single with no profession.[7] Was Hazel just visiting and the census taker mistaken, or had she left Claude temporarily? And where is Claude?

All the Breidenthal and Mathis relatives would probably agree that Hazel was a committed hypochondriac. She would always say that she was sick, but would have the strength of ten men when she had something to show you or was busy. When I met Hazel in the mid-1960s, she was complaining of being very sick. But when asked about her latest china paintings, she jumped from the couch, climbed unto a stool, and retrieved her latest from on top of the hutch so we could examine them closely. It was also widely known that whenever she didn't get her way with Claude, she would go upstairs, hang out the window, and threaten to jump to her death. Claude would frantically call the doctor for advice. According to niece Betty Mathis Johnson, one day the doctor told Claude to "let her jump."

When a young man, Claude damaged his eyes looking at a solar eclipse. He saw only poorly after that, and would hold the bible up to his face while preaching from the pulpit. Claude was tall, articulate, charismatic, and opinionated, with a good sense of humor.

Rev. Bridenthal preached at the funeral of John Bray held at the Methodist Church in Cedar County, MO between 1910 and 1920. This was presumably in Jericho Springs.

Jan 1917: Rev. Claude Breidenthal assisted in funeral services for William Benjamin Carrico at the Methodist Episcopal Church South.[7a]

5 Jun 1917: Claude Bridenthal, age 27, registered for the draft in Jericho Springs, MO, listing his birth date as 12 Oct 1889 in Springdale, AR. A married minister for the Methodist Episcopal Church South in Jericho Springs, he claimed to be "conscientiously opposed to war". He was described as tall, slender, with blue eyes and dark brown hair, not bald.

"Conscientiously opposed", Claude began preaching against the war. When requested by several church members to cease and desist, Claude responded with more provocative sermons. Attendance at Sunday service dropped precipitously. That November the postmaster of Jericho Springs wrote to the Department of Justice complaining about Claude's "disrespectful" and "unpatriotic" statements. The Department of Justice interviewed at least six citizens and church members, who alleged that Claude had said that Germany hadn't broken any international law; that the U.S. had no business interfering in the war; that Germany would probably give the U.S. a "good licking"; that Missouri shouldn't have to obey the dictates of a few men in Washington, DC; that the U.S. being a democracy, Missouri could vote herself out of the Union; that the history of France, England, and the U.S. was one of bloody conquest; and that he did not want the flag displayed in his sanctuary because he didn't want to introduce politics into the church. The last statement is particularly ironic in light of the first six. The agent finally interviewed Claude himself.

He [Claude] stated he was born in Springdale, Arkansas, Oct. 18, 1889; that he was of German descent but that both his father and grandfather were born in this country, while his mother's people were English; that he attended Rural High School at Springdale, Ark.; that he had taken correspondence courses in ministry from Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.; that he was married June 3, 1915, has one child; that he is a member of the M.E. Church South and has preached in the following places: Miller, Mo., Granby, Mo., Monett, Mo., and Jericho Springs, Mo.

He stated that the last sermon he preached against the war was about two weeks before Dec. 10, 1917, the time of the first quarterly conference. He stated that he only tried to teach along general principles; that he didn't believe in war. Upon being asked what principles he taught in these sermons which had caused so much complaint, he made the following statement:

"I was teaching that Jesus Christ taught non-resistance in the realm of religion as a method of reform and that war when used as a method of reform ought to stay within the political realm and ought not to claim Jesus as its author. When anything is law it is the duty of the citizen to obey it. I have urged reform only along constitutional and lawful lines by the method of the ballot."

He stated that he was opposed to the war and that he believed the doctrines above quoted, but that the people did not seem to take to it and he quit it. This interview would have occurred in May 1918.

Claude graduated from Church of Christ Theological Seminary in KY. The family story was that he decided on the Christian Church rather than the Methodist because he thought the latter moved their clergymen too often. He was still a Methodist minister, however, in 1917, so his decision must have come after the contretemps in Jericho Springs.

Jan 1920 Census, Newport, Jackson County, AR (Union Township): Teacher Claude Bridenthal 30, AR AL IL; Hazel 29, IA IL IL; Mynett 2, born MO. The family is renting a house at 415 Hazel Street.[8]

29 Mar 1927: Claude and Hazel were residing in Excelsior Springs, MO when Claude's father died.

11 Apr 1930 Census, Excelsior Springs, Clay County, MO (Fishing River Township): Claude Bradenthall age 41, AR AR AR, married at age 25, a "preacher" in the Christian Church, renting a home on Dunbar Ave for $35 per month; Hazel 37, married at 22, IA US US; Mynatt 12, MO AR IA; Kenton 4, MO AR IA.[9]

After meeting family historian Oren Breidenthal of Kansas City, Claude changed the spelling of his name to Breidenthal.

For six years, Claude had a church-sponsored radio program on WDAF, Kansas City. Prior to and during World War II Claude too often shared his pacifist and pro-German views with his audience. He was fired as a result. According to niece Florence Gregg Rostoff, he also was removed as pastor from a large Kansas City Christian Church.

20 Mar 1941, The Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune: "Dr. Claude Breidenthal Accepts Call from Church. Dr. Claude Breidenthal, former pastor of the Chillicothe Christian Church, has accepted a pastorate at Vinton, Iowa, county seat of Benton County, according to news reports today. Dr. Breidenthal, who has also served at Excelsior Springs, Bethany and Ridgeway, left Bethany last August for Washington, Iowa. Vinton is about sixty miles north of Washington and is northwest of Cedar Rapids".[10] This may have been as a result of his controversial remarks in Kansas City, or before. The chronology is confused.

20 Jun 1955: Rev. Claude Breidenthal officiated at the funeral of Edith Spaulding Perry in Humboldt, NE.[10a]

The other towns in which Claude was a minister included: Neosho, Grant City, Ridgeway, Bethany, Albany, Tarkio, Granby, Joplin, and Kansas City, MO, and Aurora, NE; Newport and Eureka Springs, AR.

22 Apr 1962: Rev. Claude Breidenthal officiated at the marriage of Ron Rinehart and Pat Gibson a marriage at the Ridgeway Christian Church.[10b]

When Claude retired from the ministry, he and Hazel moved to California to be closer to their two sons.

4 Oct 1964: Claude died of "acute myocardial infarction" at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, CA. He had long suffered from high blood pressure.

The Rev. C. Breidenthal, for many years minister of Bethany, Ridgeway and Albany First Christian churches, died Oct. 4 at Pasadena , Calif., at the age of 75 years. Memorial services were held Oct. 8 at the First Christian church in Pasadena, with interment at Live Oak Memorial Park of Monrovia, Calif. Born at Fayetteville, Ark., Mr. Breidenthal was a son of Thomas and Laura Breidenthal. His grandfather founded the academy which later became the University of Arkansas. [Not true.] Mr. Breidenthal retired last year after 50 years of ministry in the Christian church. During this period of professional leadership, he and Mrs. Breidenthal served principally in Northwest Missouri. Among the many posts of leadership Mr. Breidenthal held those of state director of youth work for all protestant denominations with responsibility of a weekly program on radio station WDAF, Kansas City, for a period of six years. Then, for five years, he assumed the duties of editor of the state magazine of the Christian church. Locally, he will be remembered for the passionate messages of his sermons, and the power of his leadership during his ministry at the First Christian churches at Bethany, Ridgeway and Albany. Mr. Breidenthal's last pastorate was at Grant City. Since his retirement in August of 1963, Mr. Breidenthal had devoted himself to the work of the First Christian church at Pasadena, where he and his wife moved to be near their sons, Mynatt Breidenthal and Kenton Breidenthal. An active member of Rotary International, Mr. Breidenthal was instrumental in organizing Rotary clubs in Bethany, Albany and Grant City. Besides the wife, Mrs. Hazel Breidenthal, and the two sons, all of Pasadena, he is survived by nine grandchildren, a sister and a brother, who is also a minister.

12 Feb 1777: Hazel died of "cardiorespiratory failure", precipitated by a fall with a blow to the head, termed a "cerebral accident" on the death certificate. She is buried beside Claude in Live Oak Memorial Park in Monrovia.[11]

Children of Claude and Hazel Mathis Breidenthal: They also had a daughter named Marilyn, who died at birth or shortly thereafter in 1915.

Francis Mynatt Breidenthal (13 Jan 1918 - 13 Dec 1968; m. 1st Helen Elizabeth Gaugh 23 Apr 1938, m. 2nd Kathryn Elizabeth Sosnowski c. 1954, m. 3rd Jan Loebenstien 15 Apr 1967)

Orange Kenton Breidenthal (2 Dec 1925 - 17 Jan 2008; m. 1st Mary Jean Countermine 1944, m. 2nd Patricia Harrelson)

12 Sep 1918: Irl G. Bridenthal, 20, born 6 Nov 1897, registered for the draft in Fayetteville, AR, giving his occupation as farmer and school teacher, employed in Springdale's District 36. Married to Evelyn Bridenthal, who resided with him, he was described as medium height and build, with blue eyes and light hair.

15 Jan 1920 Census, Washington County, AR (Prairie Township): General farmer Earl Bridenthal 22, AR AL TN; Evelyn 22, AR AR AR. They were listed next to Joseph and Beulah [Breidenthal] Gregg.[12]

1 May 1930 Census, Benton County, AR (Gentry Township): Automobile salesman Irl G. Bridenthal 32, AR AL TN, married at age 20; F. Evelyn 33, AR AR IL, married at age 21; daughters Dorothy L. 7 and; E. Delores 7.[13]

Two of the most relaxed Methodists attending the meeting of the Little Rock conference of the United Methodist Church at Host Springs this week were Rev. and Mrs. Irl Bridenthal of North Little Rock.

Bridenthal has just retired a third time, at the age of 77, and on Sunday will bow out as pastor of Galloway Memorial United Methodist Church at Little Rock after 2 1/2 years there.

He officially retired five years ago while he was pastor of Hunter United Methodist Church at Little Rock. But almost immediately he took the pastorate of McArthur Drive United Methodist Church at Jacksonville. He served there 2 1/2 years and then retired a second time, only to take the Galloway assignment.

"I'm still in good condition", he said this week. "If some pastor wanted me as his assistant, I'd like that."

A native of Washington County, Bridenthal felt a leaning toward the ministry when he joined the Methodist Church at age 13. But he was a public school teacher and principal many years before entering the ministry.

He was married to Evelyn Hughes of near Winslow in Aug 1918. They became the parents of twin daughters, Dorothy and Deloris, who developed into a talented piano team through high school and college.

The twins attended Arkansas Polytechnic College at Russellville and earned master's degrees in music from North Texas State University at Denton.

Deloris died in a car accident in 1949. Dorothy has been supervisor of public school music for the North Little Rock Public School for many years.

In 1932, Bridenthal began what became a 25-year tenure as a minister of the North Arkansas Conference of the Methodist Church. Since 1957 he has been a member of the Little Rock Conference.

His first assignment was the Centerton Circuit in the Bentonville area. Besides the Centerton church, the circuit included Oakley's Chapel, Council, Grove, New Home, and Mount Hebron.

"But we had a good cow and chickens and hogs. Mrs. Bridenthal sold butter and cream and eggs", he recalled.

Bridenthal's paternal grandfather, Rev. David Bridenthal, a Baptist minister, lawyer, and educator, founded Clear Creek Academy between Fayetteville and Springdale in 1866 and operated it for five years before the founding of the University of Arkansas.

Bridenthal attended the University of Arkansas and John Brown University at Siloam Springs. He took his theological training from the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University at Dallas by correspondence.

"I was doing about 100,000 words a year in longhand over a period of several years as I studied by mail", he said . . ."

Jan 1987: Evelyn Hughes Bridenthal died in Little Rock, AR. She is buried in Roselawn Memorial Park.

When he preached from the same pulpit that John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, used, the Rev. Irl Bridenthal reached a pinnacle in his life.

"It was the proudest moment and the highest moment of his life", said Bridenthal's daughter, Dorothy Bean, of North Little Rock.

It occurred during a trip to London in 1966, when Bridenthal was among an American delegation of Methodist ministers participating in the Methodist Church's world conference. Bridenthal, 98, pastor of several churches throughout Arkansas, died Wednesday in his North Little Rock home. He suffered from arteriosclerosis.

Bean said her father attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, John Brown University at Siloam Springs, and Southern Methodist University at Dallas. Ordained as a minister in 1939, he pastored churches in the Bentonville circuit and in Pottsville, Clarendon, Lepanto, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Helena, Stuttgart, Texarkana, and Dermott.

Bridenthal retired from the full ministry in 1970 and devoted a lot of his time to raising Tennessee walking horses, Bean said.

"He would train them, breed them and take care of these horses", she said. He discovered the horses while working in Clarendon. He had a way with them that was gentle, and they responded to that. Everywhere he went, he had to find a place for his horses."

Bridenthal served as a chaplain for the Arkansas Walking Horses and filled the same role for the Clarendon Fire Department, Bean said. During World War II, when he was living in Clarendon, Bridenthal made a habit of rising early to meet the men from the area being sent off to fight in the war.

"He'd meet them at the Cotton Belt train depot and pray for them as they were heading off", Bean said.

Born Nov. 6, 1897, in Springdale, Bridenthal married Evelyn Hughes in 1917. She died in 1987.

"They were a special couple", their daughter said. "They endowed the Bridenthal Preaching Mission at the Lakewood United Methodist Church in North Little Rock.

"People will remember my father as someone who loved people so much he believes they loved him too. People approach me today saying how they appreciate the way my father served them when he was at their church."[14]

For all those achievements, however, it may have been his genuine and comfortable way with people that was one of his great legacies . . .

Born in the Springdale area - his father's 500 acres homestead is now covered by Fayetteville Lake - the Rev. Bridenthal pursued careers in education and business before turning full-time to the ministry in the late 1930s. However, he was always involved in church work, including work as a lay leader in his church and as a singer for revival meetings.

For a time in the 1920s he was a high school principal in Gentry, and then went into business with an auto agency in Siloam Springs, before his ordination around 1937 . . .

While at Gardner, his long time interest in Tennessee Walking Horses gave him the opportunity to reward the Sunday School classes with an unlikely treat. He told the congregation that when they had 500 people in Sunday school, he would ride his horse to church, which he did . . .

Funeral services were held September 13, 1996 at Lakewood UMC, with burial in Roselawn Memorial Park. Rev. Bridenthal was preceded in death by his wife Evelyn. He is survived by a daughter, Dorothy Bean, and a son-in-law, Roy Bean of North Little Rock.

Children of Irl and Evelyn Hughes Bridenthal: In addition, they had a son, David Ernest Bridenthal, who was stillborn in 1925.

If you have material about or photos of any individuals included in Nancy's Dead Relatives, can add well-documented family lines, have corrections and/or comments, or wish to establish a link to or from this site, please contact me at nancy@nancysdeadrelatives.com. However, the decision whether or not to include any submitted material is the webmaster's (mine) alone.

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Any information is only as reliable as its source. Evaluate the following sources accordingly.

[1] Deed Index, original located in Book 123, p. 174

[2] Washington County 1920 Census, ED 153, Sheet 5B-6A

[3] Washington County 1930 Census, ED 72-35, Sheet 8A

[4] Florence Gregg Rostoff

[5] Dorothy Bridenthal

[6] Washington County 1920 Census, ED 145, Sheet 7A

[7] Dent County 1910 Census, ED 31, Sheet 7B

[7a] Steward/Parks Families, in familyorigins.com

[8] Jackson County 1920 Census, ED 71, Sheet 2A

[9] Clay County 1930 Census, ED 24-1, Sheet 13B

[10] Ancestry.com

[10a] Charlene Spaulding, on genforum.genealogy.com

[10b] Eagleville.com/celebrations

[11] Death Certificate

[12] Washington County 1920 Census, ED 145, Sheet 7A

[13] Benton County 1930 Census, ED 4-28, Sheet 5B

[14] Shareese Harold, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette