USA > Maryland > Washington County > Hagerstown > A history of Washington County, Maryland from the earliest settlements to the present time, including a history of Hagerstown > Part 83
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Peter Eshelman, ordained minister in 1832, bishop in 1838; died in 1876. Christian Strite, ordained minister in 1850, died in 1862. Jaeob Oberholtzer, ordained minister in 1863, died Oet. 2, 1882. Henry Baer, ordained minister in 1883, is still serving. Peter R. Eshelman, ordained deacon in 1876. Adam Baer, ordained minister in 1876, died April 20, 1904. John Cleggett Mil- ler, ordained minister November 25, 1893, is now serving in York County, Pa. Daniel Strite, or- dained minister in 1901, assists Henry Baer.
THE REIFF MENNONITE CHURCH .- A deed for one aere of land was given by Jolin , and Susanna Witmer for $25, to Daniel Witmer, John Horst and David Reiff, trustees of the eon- gregation. This was about the year 1840, when a stone building was ereeted, in which the eongre- gation worshipped until its walls gave way, in 1862 or 1863. A briek edifiee was at once built, and in 1867 an addition was made to it; the house then measured 50 by 30 feet. This served the purpose until an inereased membership requir- ed a more commodious structure. The present house of worship was erected in 1891, at a eost of about $2700. It is built of brick, measures 72 by 45 feet, and is situated on the original ground.
The congregation is composed of 238 mem- bers. The early ministers of the Reiff Church were Jolin Summers and Michael Horst, who was ordained a minister in 1859, a bishop in 1868, and died in 1900. Other ministers, bishops and dea- eons of this church are: Abraham Ebersole, or- dained minister in 1859, died February 17, 1901; Christian W. Eby, ordained deacon in 1869, died in 1894; Jaeob Risser, ordained minister June 11, 1875, died January 24, 1892; George S. Keener,
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ordained minister Mareh 24, 1892, bishop Oeto- ber 12. 1899 ; Christian R. Strite, ordained minis- ter June 7, 1897, and is still serving; Daniel E. Horst, ordained deaeon June 7, 1897; Martin E. Risser, ordained minister October 13, 1902, died February 5. 1905, aged 44 years, 10 months and 29 days. The following have served the church officially :
Michael Horst, ordained minister in 1859, bishop in 1868; died in 1900. Abraham Eber- sole, ordained minister in 1859, died February 17, 1901. Christian W. Eby, ordained deaeon in 1869. died in 1894. Jacob Risser, ordained minis- ter June 11, 1875, died January 24, 1892. George S. Keener, ordained minister March 24, 1892, bishop, October 12. 1899. Christian R. Strite, ordained minister June 7, 1897, is still serving. Daniel E. Horst, ordained deaeon, June 7, 1897. Martin E. Risser, ordained minister October 13, 1902 ; died February 1, 1905, aged 44 years, 10 months and 29 days.
THE PARADISE MENNONITE CHURCH. *The Paradise Mennonite Chureli was built in 1897. It is a briek structure, 60 by 40 feet in dimensions, with a stone foundation ; it cost about $1800. The building is heated by a furnaec. The church and its adjoining grave-yard eover about two acres; the land was given to the congregation by Christian H. Eshleman as his contribution to the worthy eause.
From 1892 to 1897. Mennonite brethren in this vicinity held meetings in what is known as Pleasant Grove school-house. The congregation, which is composed of members of the Reiff and Miller churches, does not hold communion services at Paradise Church, but partake of the communion in the mother churches.
Paradise Church was dedicated December 5, 1897, the Rev. Samuel Shank, of Virginia, preach- ing the sermon, and taking as his text the ninth chapter of Hebrews. The Rev. Adam Baer also made an address at the dedication service. In 1898 a Sunday-school was established. The first burial in the Paradise church-yard was that of a child, Emory, son of Michael and Amanda Eshle- man. The first adult laid to rest in this beautiful cemetery was the Rev. Adam Baer.
STOUFFER'S MENNONITE CHURCH IS LOCATED IN RINGGOLD DISTRICT. It has been one of the influential churches of the denom- ination in Washington County. Bishop Stouffer, born in 1:16, bishop of the Eastern Distriet, died in Washington County in 1836. He may have been the first bishop of the Mennonite Church in Washington County. The first church was in Beaver Creek Distriet, and the building, afterward used by the Dunkards, was for many years a storehouse for grain. Stouffer's Church was un- doubtedly named for him. The following served the church in office: John Martin, ordained min- ister in 1859, is deceased. John Hoover, or- dained a minister in 1877, died February 23, 1881. Martin Justus, ordained a deaeon, Novem- ber 14. 1895. Denton Martin, ordained minister in 1898. David Shank, ordained minister; died June 28. 1900.
These persons whose names follow also offie- iated, in all probability at the Stouffer Church: Abraham Stouffer, son of John Stouffer, was for many years a deaeon, was ordained a minister in 1839, and died in 1857. David Hoover was or- dained a deaeon in the place of Abraham Stouf- fer in 1839. Christian Neweomer was ordained a minister, and died in 1849. Welty was a minister. Bachtel was ordained a minister.
THE CLEARSPRING MENNONITE CHURCH, located about one mile east of Clear- spring. was built about 1860. It is a brick struc- ture 60x40 feet, with a seating capacity of 400. It is one-story and very substantial. The ground on which it stands and which constitutes the eem- etery, comprises one acre. It was donated to the congregation by Joseph Smith. Among the early members are Samuel Strite, Joseph Smith, Abra- ham Shupp, Daniel Roth, Henry Shank, Peter S. Brewer, Josiah Brewer, Abraham Ebersole. The membership at present is about thirty-five. Chris- tian R. Strite is the minister in charge. The trustees are J. B. Martin, John B. Shank, Abraham Horst. Deacon, Isaae W. Eby.
Daniel Roth, ordained minister in 1866, died May 20, 1890.
Isaae W. Eby, ordained deacon October 13, 1829.
*Contributed by Rev. Henry Baer.
Reiffs Mennonite Church, Conococheague District.
St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Funkstown.
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OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.
David Gsell, ordained minister June 5, 1890, died December 20, 1900.
Daniel Smith, ordained bishop and died about 1835 or 1836.
Joseph Brewer, ordained minister in 1878, died April 29, 1890; had previously been a deaeon. John Summers, ordained minister and died in 1858.
John Martin, ordained deaeon about 1840, died April 2, 1872.
John Rowland, ordained minister.
Summers, ordained minister.
THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF HAGERSTOWN .-* The Christian Church, in Hagerstown began on the second Sunday in April 1845. The first meeting was held at the eall of John H. Wagoner in the Y. M. C. A. Hall on the Public Square. At this meeting the following persons, all Disciples of Christ, holding their mem- bership at Beaver Creek, Boonsboro, and Downs- ville, but living in town, were present: John H. Wagoner and wife; John D. Newcomer and wife; John Leggett and wife; Alfred Stouffer and wife; Ann Cushwa; May E. Sleigh; Levi Middlekauff and Celia Middlekauff. From this time meetings were held regularly for "the breaking of bread and prayers," the reading of the word and ex- hortation, &c.
In the fall of 1875 Isaac Everett, Editor of the Christian Standard, one of the great religious papers of the country, having, at this date, a eir- culation of 50,000, who was holding a meeting at Beaver Creek, visited Hagerstown and preached one sermon to this little band in the old Presby- terian Church building on South Potomae Street, where the present Christian Church stands. In March 1876 T. A. Crenshaw preached for one week in the same building.
This meeting resulted in some additions who took membership at Beaver Creek until a perma- nent organization should be effected in Hagers- town. In August of this same year 1876, A. N. Gilbert preached for several evenings in the same building and from that time regular meetings were held there, the use of the building having been tendered by the Presbyterian congregation who moved into their new church on West Washı-
ington Street. December 2-16, 1876, Campbell Jobes and S. F. Fowler conducted a series of meetings which resulted in several additions and the organization of the Christian Church with 67 charter members.
Of this infant church John D. Newcomer and John H. Wagoner were ehosen elders; Henry S. Eavey and Alfred Stauffer deaeons ; and Levi Middlekauff clerk and treasurer.
Immediately plans were begun to purchase from the Presbyterians the church building on South Potomae Street, which purchase was made at a eost of $3,000. The building was remodeled and L. H. Stine was called to be their first pastor and entered upon his duties February 4th, 1877. Thus began the monument in Hagerstown for the restoration of New Testament Christianity.
This eongregation beginning in April 1875 with 12 members has continued to grow and pros- per in every good word and work, and is now enjoying a place in the front rank of the churches of the city in influence and importance. The en- rolled membership in 30 years is 633, the present membership is 550. The following brethren liave served the church as pastors in the order named : L. II. Stine; S. B. Moore; J. L. Richardson ; W. II. Williams, C. K. Marshall; R. E. Swartz; C. W. Harvey, P. A. Cave and H. C. Kendrick, who began his ministry in Hagerstown, July 14th, 1901.
The following named persons are the offieers of the church at the present time, June 26, 1906: Pastor, H. C. Kendrick; Elders, John D. New- comer, A. M. Wolfinger, Wm. H. Rohrer, Aaron D. Sager, Jacob L. Neweomer. Deacons, Charles D. Wagaman. Samuel Einmert, Henry B. Mat- thews. W. H. H. Wolfinger, Nervin J. Brandt, John W. Newcomer, Abram Corbett, M. G. Saum, E. K. Saum, John E. Wagaman, John W. Rohrer, B. F. Snavely. Church Clerk, J. Irvin Bitner. Treasurer, John E. Wagaman. Superintendent of Sunday-Sehool, Charles D. Wagaman.
A HISTORY OF THE GERMAN BAPTIST BRETIIREN OR DUNKERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF GENERAL CHURCH HISTORY .-* The history of the General Christian Church, from the days
*Contributed by Rev. H. C. Kendrick.
*Contributed by Elder W. S. Reichard.
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of its small beginnings in Palestine and Syria, through the days of Grecian, Roman, and German- ic evangelization and organization, to these more modern days of reformation, reorganization and extensive conquest of heathen lands for Christ, is full of great men and great decds, great successes and great failures, great movements and great. counter-movements ; so that it may truthfully be said there is no field of historic investigation in which one discovers such intricacy of cause and effect, involving such care in statements and con- clusions. In this sketch we shall endeavor to de- termine the setting in church history of that body of Christians who are popularly known as Dunk- ers or Dunker Brethren, but who have for some years been officially known as German Baptist Brethren.
In the first six centuries of Christian history, we find that the old eastern ideas of mythology give place to the new Christian ideas of the im- mortality of the soul and the divinity of Jesus Christ. The philosophies of Greece are set aside by the theologies of the Christian teachers. The organization of all civilized and semi-civilized peo- ples in the great Roman Empire gives place to the organization of all peoples into the great Catholic Christian Church. Even in these first six centur- ies, however, there were occasional men and move- ments within the general Christian body that dis- sented from the orthodox theology and church polity of the times. They were either persuaded or persecuted into submission to the rulings of the general councils, or failing in this, were driven out of fellowship and into open sectarianism. Such were the Montanists of the second century, the Paulicians of the seventh century, the Nestorians, and the like,-men and movements that were too full of independency of thought to give way to the monster movement within the Church which was tending more and more to legalize and formalize and catechise and canonize all religious activity. So the Romanizing influences within the church, and the prevailing dearth of general intelligence, together with the entrance of the cruder if indeed more virtuous Germanic nations into the Church, all tended to overcome the opposition of inde- pendents and dissenters, and to cast the whole polity of the church into the rigid mould of the Middle Ages.
From the seventh until the fourteenth cen- tury, little that was outside of the regular round of mass and confessional, penance and pilgrim-
age, adoration of saints and scholastic formularies, was dreamed of by the majority of the Christian world, much less tolerated. Toward the close of the period, two unusual independent movements, both born of that innate longing in human breasts for personal religious expression, arose within the Church; on the one hand the Waldensian move- ment, and on the other hand the monastic move- inent of the Dominicans and Franciscans. The former could not be assimilated by the Church, and so was persecuted ; the latter, especially when discovered to be useful to the papacy, became a mighty factor in the religious world, and, espe- cially in the first hundred years of their history, afforded some outlet for the long-pent-up religious emotions of Christian men and women along evangelistic and philanthropic lines.
Thus it was in the centuries when the great world Church idca under the headship of the papacy simply compelled the surrender of all Christian activity to itself. But in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the mighty power of the Christian Church, in so far as it centered in the papacy, began to weaken. First, the claims to civil power which the popes had so vigorously asserted over kings and emperors were successfully denied in the actions of French and English kings, and by the activities of such fearless preachers as Savonorola and Wycliff. Then the popes' ex- cessive claims to absolute power in church govern- ment were assailed by such men as Dante, Mar- silius of Padua, and William of Occam; and the great Church councils of Pisa, Constance, Basle, and Florence resulted, in which the papacy is made to understand that final authority in Church matters rests with the Church herself. Finally, the moral and spiritual authority of the papacy is assailed, at first indirectly by such men as Reuch- lin of Germany, and Erasmus of Holland ; and at last, the Great Reformation enkindled by Martin Luther is under full headway. Universal confi- dence in the great world-church theory centering in the papacy having thus been shaken, what more should be expected than the religious wars, de- bates and confusions of nations, sects, schools and factions which followed for the next two hundred years? At last the independents and the separ- atists were to have their day, and all sorts of creeds were written and adopted, condemned, modified and re-adopted, until one's brain fairly whirls in the effort to keep like and like together. Very early in the midst of this sixteenth century up-
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OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND.
heaval in the religious world, the papal party got together in the famous Councils of Trent and de- vised a somewhat modified Church polity; and so the Roman Catholic Church was preserved amidst the confusions of the Protestants.
Finally, toward the close of the seventeenth century, the energies of men seemed to become ex- hausted in religious dissensions ; and little groups here and there began to emphasize the inner life of the Christian above creed and dogma, ritual and form, ceremony and church polity. Such were the Quakers in England and the Pietists in Ger- many. A study of the teachings of these peoples reveals many points of similarity between them on the one hand and those independents and dissen- ters whom we have mentioned as arising from time to time during the days of Church council and papal domination. So it comes about that de- scendants of the Quakers and Pietists sometimes claim kindred with the Montanists, the Albigenses or the Waldenses. Besides, the feeling, that God has always had a peculiar people who were inti- mately related to Him because of their strong desire to adhere to the life and customs of the primitive Christians, and that they themselves are the present "peculiar people" of God, has caused many modern representatives of the Pielists espe- cially to identify themselves with the ancient dis- senters above mentioned. Of course, there are points of similarity, but there is no evidence at all that there was ever any real historic relation- slup between the Pietists and the Waldenses, the Moravians, or the Anabaptists.
The Pietists, from whom the Dunkers later sprang, were pious, intelligent, conservative, con- scientious, and industrious members of the state churches of Germany, and so were mixed Calvin- ists and Lutherans. They did not arise as Prot- estants against Catholicism, but rather as P'rot- estants against the barrenness and formalities of Protestantism itself. They did not organize a sect as such, but insisted upon a purification of the Church from within. They were very numer- ous throughout Germany; and their movement, aside from a few boisterous outbreaks such as that at Leipsic, created, not a violent upheaval in the religious world, but a healthy wave of spiritual reaction within the state churches already organized. True it is that the Anabaptists of the sixteenth century were very violent at times and places, and their disturbances in the religious world are well known; but the Anabaptist move-
ment had spent its force before the close of the sixteenth century, and the much more quiet Pietist- ic Movement, as such, did not begin until after the middle of the seventeenth century. Philip Jacob Spener was a Pietist of the highest type; truth is, he became the centre of the movement, if indeed he did not start it; and he was perhaps the most noted preacher in the Germany of his day, filling at times the office of court preacher. Indeed, without any disparagement of reforming movements and reforming bodies which are more generally known, it may truthfully be said that the Pietists were most free of all from political, ecclesiastical, and ritualistic contentions, and were exceptionally intelligent. Their interests lay along entirely new lines. Theirs was the best essence of the Great Reformation, having for their object the cultivation of a personal religion which should neither attempt to write itself into fixed creed, nor to exercise itself in infallible forms of wor- ship, nor to organize itself into a prescribed form of government. They had seen two hundred, yes, four hundred, years of endless differences and vain attempt on the part of reformers to conie to a unity of method and belief, and so as Pietists they neither aimed at unity nor attained to unity, except in their universal emphasis of a personal and practical religion for the individual, true piety. Pietism called for a revival of the heart; for a return to the simplicity of Biblical language; for a better knowledge of the Bible, especially on the part of the clergy for the restoration of "good works" to their proper place in the scheme of religion ; for the Scriptures as the only source of faith and practice; for the perpetual worship of God in the entire life; for the abandonment of such amusements as dancing, card-playing, theatre going and jesting; in fact, for everything that opposed the speculative and barren character of the prevalent religions of that day. As definite results, the Pietistic movement may claim directly or indirectly ; first, to have given great impulse to the scientific study of the Bible; second, to have struck a plane of moderation in theology; third, to have revived interest in church history; and fourth, to have left a lasting testimony of itself in at least one organization which is still extant, the German Baptists or Dunker Brethren.
Now one can easily see how such a move- ment would produce strong characters full of piety and good works. Mention has been made of Phil- ip Jacob Spener (1635-1705). He was closely
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associated with Hermann Francke (1663-1727) in the organization and supervision of the famous mission, industrial, and orphan school of IIalle, known as "Das .Hallische Weisenhaus." Among the students who attended the school at Halle was one Ernest Christoph Hochmann (1607-1721). He was essentially a Pietist after the teachings of Francke and Spener. But his ardent zeal for the cause of pure religion caused him to chiafe unusually under the forms and ceremonies of the State Church, the Lutheran, of which he and most other Pietists were still members. This attitude of the too open disavowal of the creed and prac- tices of the State Church led to his arrest and ex- pulsion from Halle, and so he took the next logical step for Pietism and became a Pietistic Separatist. In subsequent association at Giessen with Gott- fried Arnold, whose works were afterwards quoted by Dunker Brethren and were also printed on their presses, and in association with other like- minded Pietists, he rapidly developed a life of great piety and Christian endeavor. Hc made efforts to convert the Jews of Germany to Jesus Christ ; then he became active in his opposition to the "Babel of the sects;" then, driven from Frankfort by persecution in 1698 he became for a time an ascetic in Wittgenstein. From here he was driven by persecution, then became a wan- derer, and in 1702, a prisoner at Castle Detmold where he wrote his "confession;" and this con- fession certainly influenced the first Dunker Breth- ren in the shaping of their belief .. In the inidst of Hochmann's trials, "his life-long friend, Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel, the famous separatist," defended Hochmann in a bitter satire. This de- fense only made Hochmann's career more unhap- py ; and at last he retired to Schwarzenau, whither, because of protection afforded them, many other independent Pictists had already fled. At Schwar- zenau, in closer and more intimate association with Alexander Mack than with the representatives of other non-state religions. Hochmann becomes the distinctive and definite link connecting the Dunker Brethren with the best of the well-known Pietistic Movement; for, as we shall see, previous to Hoch- mann's coming to Schwarzenau the beginning of the organization of the Dunker Brethren had oc- curred, with Mack as the central figure thereof.
The name of Hochmann cannot be found in the lists of those who were received into the mnem- bership of the little church of the Brethren in Schwarzenau, but in the records he is spoken of as
"Brother Hochmann von Hockenau;" and that he and Alexander Mack often went together on preaching tours is authentic history. A close study of his life must convince one that he was recognized as a member of the Church. And so we have shown the direct connection of the Dunk- er Brethren with the Pietists; we have shown that the .Pietists were undoubtedly the most free of all reformers from mysticism on the one hand and from civil or ecclesiastical or ritualistic bias on the other hand ; and we have shown, that although there is no historic connection between the Pietists and those highly pious and independent move- ments which have dissented from the rule of the general church in all ages previous to the Great Reformation, there still is a strong spiritual like- ness, thus establishing the fact that in all ages of Christian history there have been those whose sense of personal piety was greater than their sense of submission to the dominance of civil, ec- clesiastical, and ritualistic forms. We reiterate the claim of direct connection between the Dunker Brethren and the wide-spread Pietistic Movement in the state churches of Germany in the seven- teenth and eighteenth centuries, and make the fur- ther statement, that the Dunker Brethren are the nearest and perhaps the only direct descendants of the Pietists in America, if indeed not in the world. This statement may be questioned by those who think that the Moravians are directly descended from the Pietists ; but it needs only to be remarked that the Moravians have a history dating back to Comenius of the sixteenth century, or back to John Huss of the fifteenth century, or perhaps still farther back, and that their relationship to the Pietists lies only in the fact that their removal from Moravia to Germany proper and their re-es- tablishment by Count Zinzendorf at Herrnhut in the early eighteenth century is simply contempor- aneous with the latter part of the Pietistie Move- ment. While there were points of similarity be- tween the Pietists and the Moravians, their re- spective histories have no essential connection; the Moravians themselves do not claim origin in the Pietistic Movement.
The Dunker Brethren Church began to be in 1708 at Schwarzenau, Germany. Quoting from "The History of the Brethren" by Dr. Mar- tin G. Brumbaugh .- "In that year at Sehwar- zenau, Province of Wittgenstein, in Hesse-Cassel, was enacted a remarkable scene. Eight pious souls, after careful prayer and prolonged study,
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