View source for Herr, Amos (1816-1897)

Amos Herr (13 February 1816-19 June 1897), a Mennonite preacher in [[Lancaster County (Pennsylvania, USA)|Lancaster County]], [[Pennsylvania (USA)|Pennsylvania]], wrote the beloved hymn, "I Owe the Lord a Morning Song," one Sunday morning when the snowdrifts would not permit even horseback riding to church. He was a son of [[Herr, Christian (1780-1853)|Christian Herr]] of Pequea, a Mennonite bishop, who, as did Amos, always lived on part of the original Herr acres (of 1710), along the Beaver Valley Pike, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Ordained a preacher in 1850, he was an ardent advocate of English preaching and of Sunday school. He was the first always to preach in English in the [[LMC: a Fellowship of Anabaptist Churches|Lancaster Conference]], and with his aid the conference in 1871 adopted the Sunday school movement. Thereupon his school in the [[Willow Street Mennonite Church (Willow Street, Pennsylvania, USA)|Brick congregation]] was the first to be started with Conference approval. In 1880-1881 his home and his pen aided the committee very materially in the production of the first Mennonite ([[Mennonite Church (MC)|Mennonite Church]]) Sunday school materials, <em>The Question and Answer Books. </em>Married 17 November 1840 to Betsey Rohrer, his family consisted of three daughters and a son. His work was a blessing to the church of his district and beyond.
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