Amory Cass

Hazel Peery cried out to God for help as the tired old 1912 Baby Overland sped into the night. She knew her labor pains were coming closer together, and there were still many miles to go before help would be available.

Hazel and her little family had set out from Myrtle Creek, Oregon on a warm July day in 1935. Believing they had plenty of time to arrive safely in Portland, Oregon, their plan was to have Amory Cass (Hazel’s mother) deliver the new baby. Sister Cass was a midwife who had been delivering babies for many years. She and her husband owned a grocery store, located on 56th Avenue, next to the Apostolic Faith campground. They were looking forward to the arrival of the new grandbaby.

Hazel’s labor pains became more urgent. Her husband, Sam, drove as fast as he safely could, desperately hoping there would be enough time to reach help. Thankfully their three little girls, Phyllis, Stecil, and Lorraine, were soundly asleep on the back seat.

Finally it could be put off no longer. Hazel asked her husband to pull the car over and deliver the baby himself. At the roadside near Albany, Oregon, on a dark July night, Samuel Peery bravely delivered little Baby Zoe, who immediately began wailing in earnest.

Little six-year old Phyllis woke up in the back seat. “Momma, I thought I heard a baby cry!” she said, straining to see in the dim glow of the dashboard light.

“Be quiet and go back to sleep.” Sam requested.

Later, as the family reached Portland, Brother and Sister Cass welcomed them and the story was retold with laughter and thanksgiving.

Many years earlier, young Amory Lonnigan (Sister Cass) lived near Selma, Oregon. She taught her neighbor Clarence how to dance, so they could attend the local country dances held in Selma. The two were friends, so Clarence kindly escorted Amory to the dances.

Clarence left home as a young man and lived a very rough life. Later he operated a bowling alley in Southern Oregon, and through the prayers of faithful people Clarence Frost was saved in 1911. We knew him as Brother Frost, an Apostolic Faith minister and evangelist who was instrumental in bringing many to the Lord.

During a visit to Portland, Brother Frost proved himself to be a very good friend to Amory. She was married to Jack Springer and living in Portland. Brother Frost visited, and while the three of them sat around the kitchen table, he told them about the Lord. Both Amory and Jack were saved on the same day in 1913.

Thus began a long life of service to the Lord and Amory’s legacy of faith to future generations. The Peery family is very thankful for Brother Frost’s faithfulness in witnessing for the Lord.

Jack Springer died several years later, and as a single mother, Amory began working outside the home and raised her young daughter to serve the Lord. Later, Amory married Orson Cass and the two of them operated “Cass Grocery” near the campground.

Hazel Springer was the only surviving child of Amory and Jack Springer. In 1928 Hazel married Samuel Peery, who had been studying to become a Methodist minister. The two of them began the Fir Grove Sunday School in the little schoolhouse on North Myrtle Route, near Myrtle Creek, Oregon.

Later Sam and Hazel moved to Portland, Oregon and began attending the Apostolic Faith Church. In 1944 the Peery family moved to Grants Pass, Oregon and raised a family of six children: Phyllis Taylor, Stecil Witham (deceased in 1991), Lorraine Ion, Zoe Crowe, Sheryl Proske (deceased in 1986), and Cliff Peery.

Sam Peery organized and held Sunday school in Golden, Oregon and assisted with Sunday services there. He also organized Bible studies in Wolf Creek, Oregon, which resulted in several converts, including Dorothy Frymire, Christy McKay, Jean Easton, and Sharon Friesen. He spent many weekends delivering church papers to local motels.

Sam and Hazel Peery took people into their home to live, and hosted “Sunday family dinners” for years. After Sunday morning meeting, the Peery family would serve Sunday dinner and hold Bible studies for visitors from out of town.

In the ninety-three years since young Amory was saved, her faithfulness has been handed down from generation to generation. Many of her descendants are serving the Lord in the Apostolic Faith work as well as other Christian outreaches in Oregon (Grants Pass, Portland, and Roseburg), Washington (Seattle), Arizona, and British Columbia.

One of Amory’s granddaughters, Phyllis Amory Taylor, made missionary trips to the West Indies for forty years with her husband, Dick Taylor. The granddaughters and great granddaughters of Amory Cass have also participated in missionary or evangelistic journeys to the West Indies, the Philippines, Romania, Africa, Canada, and Mexico. Many of Amory’s great-great grandchildren (including a great-great granddaughter also named Amory) are serving the Lord in church-related activities such as rest home meetings, vacation Bible school, Bible club, mission meetings, youth camp, Sunday school, and church orchestra and choir.

As you can see, all it takes is one faithful witness, Clarence Frost, and one faithful hearer, Amory Cass, to lead generations to faith in the Lord!