Stained glass windows in the sanctuary at Lebanon First UMC

We feel we have a treasure in the stained glass windows in our United Methodist Church. There are six such windows in the sanctuary and narthex of this building, which was erected in 1898. These art glass windows were crafted by Jacoby Spiess of St. Louis; they are dated December 4, 1898. The two largest are on the south and east walls, at the time cost $375.00 each.

The south window, facing St. Louis Street, was given by Benjamin Murray Hypes, a St. Louis physician who was born in Lebanon in 1846. It is dedicated to his parents, Benjamin and Carolyn, and a sister Cornelia. The father had opened a store in Lebanon in 1842, served as a postmaster during the administration of Abraham Lincoln, and was for 60 years a trustee of McKendree College.

The window on the east was given by Charles S. Deneen, in memory of his father and grandfather. His father, Samuel H. Deneen, had been a pioneer Methodist preacher and professor of Latin at McKendree College; his grandfather, William L. Deneen, was a trustee of McKendree for 8 years. All three generations had been McKendree graduates.

Two smaller windows in the sanctuary are now hidden by organ pipes, and one of them was the only window dedicated to a person living at the time of the dedication. The Ladies Aid donated one in honor of Mrs. Virginia B. Thatcher, who was the grandmother of Mrs. D. M. Church, at that time the oldest member of the congregation. Dovey (Mrs. D.M.) was the mother-in-law of Helen Church, now deceased and the grandmother of Harrison Church, editor of The Lebanon Advertiser.

The other window was given by Mrs. Robert Morriss in memory of her father, O.V. Jones, a McKendree professor from 1858-1879. In 1881 he put out the first issue of The Lebanon Journal, which he continued for several years.

Two more art glass windows can been seen in the narthex. Both were given by Mrs. Joseph Keeney, M.D., one in memory of her father, James C. Finley. Mr. Finley had abandoned a career in medicine to enter the ministry before 1841, when he became president of McKendree for 4 years. After another period as a minister, he returned to McKendree as professor of Greek. The second window is in memory of her husband, Dr. Joseph Keeney.