Addie H. Wilfong, GW #67

Addie was born on 19 October 1886 in Canada to Daniel and Martha (Holm) Wilfong (sometimes spelled Wildfong), their fifth child.  Her father was born and died in Hespaler, Ontario, Canada, so it is supposed that Addie was born there.  There was a Mennonite Brethren in Christ Church in that community.  Sadly, Addie’s mother died when Addie was only two years old.  Her father married again and more children were added to the family.  For reasons undiscovered, Addie’s older sister Rosie went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the 1900s.  In 1903 Rosie married Howard Hess in Philadelphia.  Howard was from the Trappe, Pa area (near Graterford) but went to Philadelphia for a few years before returning to the Trappe area where he and Rosie raised their family and lived the rest of their lives.  Early in Howard’s and Rose’s marriage while still in Philadelphia, Addie also came to Philadelphia, perhaps to visit her sister who lived not far from the Philadelphia Salem congregation which was a mission under the Gospel Heralds at the time.  While in Philadelphia, Addie became acquainted with the Gospel Worker Society and joined them.  Addie’s areas of service are undiscovered.  She died not long after, on 10 February 1909, probably in Cleveland (a Pennsylvania death certificate does not appear on ancestry.com) and is buried in the Brooklyn Heights Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.  The article below is from the Gospel Banner.