USA > Maryland > Washington County > Leitersburg > History of Leitersburg District, Washington County, Md.: Including Its Original Land Tenure. > Part 10
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BUSINESS INTERESTS.
Among the early hotel-keepers at Leitersburg were Andrew Bachman and Christopher Burkhart, at the present residence of David Barnhart; William Kreps, at the present residence of Jose- phus Ground; Michael Brunett, and John Lahm, at Mrs. Charles A. Armour's residence. At a later date Samuel Lyday conducted a hotel at the brick building on the Smithsburg road adjacent to the public school grounds. Hotel-keeping was a flourishing busi- ness in the days when the Nicholson's Gap road was one of the most important routes of travel in Washington County.
Among the merchants of the village prior to 1840 were Fletcher & Grimes, Fletcher & Stonebraker, Byer & Lantz, and Fletcher & Lantz, who successively conducted business at the southeast cor- ner of the square; Jacob Good and Etnyer & Besore, whose store room occupied the present residence of Charles B. Wolfinger; Jacob Funk, Henry Snider, Joseph Besore, and Kissell & Metz. Besore's store was at the present location of Andrew Hartman's. Between 1840 and 1860 the leading merchants were Fletcher & Good, Etnyer & Martin, Samuel F. Ziegler, George W. Pole, George W. Lahm, and Josephus Ground, who has been engaged in business continuously since 1853. Charles A. Fletcher, Joshua Grimes, Dr. Frederick Byer, Samuel Lantz, Samuel Etnyer, and Charles H. Besore were individual members of the firms men- tioned.
The various avocations usually pursued in a country village were early represented. The tailor's craft was pursued by Jonathan Humphreys, Thomas Atkinson, Stephen G. Staley, Alfred Hen- dricks, and Daniel Lowman; Samuel Light was one of the first shoemakers. Augustus Copeigh (Koppisch) and Andrew Bell were employed as weavers in the vicinity of the village before it was founded and for many years thereafter, and here Frey and Siekman pursued the same occupation at a later date. John
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LEITERSBURG.
Ziegler was a tinsmith and at the northwest corner of the public square he manufactured copper kettles which enjoyed a high repu- tation and found purchasers in the adjoining States.
The first village blacksmiths were Andrew Leiter and George Poe, who formed a partnership on the 3d of April, 1816. Their shop was situated on the Greencastle road at the upper end of a triangular field belonging to the Strite's mill property. Poe was subsequently engaged in business individually for some years at the stone blacksmith shop adjacent to the village on the turnpike, and John Beckman was similarly employed at Flory's shop in Leitersburg.
Wagon-making was once an industry of considerable local im- portance. Samuel Price's shop was located on Water street and Henry Gagle's at Poe's smith shop. In 1844 Upton Bell engaged in this business, which he continued for some years. The wagons he manufactured were especially adapted for heavy hauling and were readily sold.
Samuel Leiter and Joseph Leiter were the carpenters of the village for many years, and either built or rebuilt a majority of the houses. John Shutt was the first undertaker.
The first resident physician was probably Dr. James Johnson, who practiced here from 1827 to 1834. Dr. Frederick Byer lo- cated at Leitersburg early in the '30's and continued in practice here until his death. Dr. Thomas B. Duckett was a resident of Leitersburg from 1839 to 1856. Among other local representa- tives of the medical profession were Doctors Crooks, White, Beard, Good, and Harper.
A business directory at the present time would include the fol- lowing names: Josephus Ground, Andrew Hartman, dealers in general merchandise; Isaac G. Leiter, David Barnhart, William L. Shiess, carpenters and contractors; Wilfred L. Flory, blacksmith; Charles C. Ziegler, cable-wire fence contractor; J. H. Wishard, M. D .; Charles E. Poe, V. S .; D. J. D. Hicks, secretary of the Planters' Mutual Insurance Company; Jacob M. Stouffer, post- master; Frank D. Bell, justice of the peace; Virgil H. Miller, Wil- liam Anderson, confectioners; A. H. Bowers, dealer in country produce; John C. Strite, miller; Michael Niuffer, shoemaker; Samuel Minor, Hilary Unclesby, masons; John Shatzer, hotel- keeper.
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
INSURANCE COMPANY.
The Planters' Mutual Insurance Company of Washington County was incorporated by the Maryland Legislature in March, 1846. The charter of the company designated Joseph Gabby, Jacob E. Bell, Christian Strite, David M. Good, Joseph Leiter, and George L. Ziegler as its first directors, and on the 19th of March, 1846, they organized by electing David M. Good as presi- dent. At this meeting the president appointed Joseph Leiter, Abraham Strite, Christian Strite, Jacob E. Bell, and George L. Ziegler as assistant surveyors, and the work of soliciting insurance seems to have been at once begun. The first policy was issued on the 22d of September, 1847, in favor of Lewis Ziegler.
The following is a list of presidents of the Company with dates of their election to office: David M. Good, March 19, 1846; Joseph Leiter, March 20, 1847; William B. McAtee, August 2, 1862; Jacob E. Bell, September 9, 1865; David M. Deitrich, September 20, 1873; David Strite, September 20, 1884; David Hoover, Feb- ruary 15, 1896.
Christian Strite was elected secretary, March 20, 1847; Samuel Etnyer, September, 1847; Josephus Ground, November 3, 1855; James A. Hays, July 24, 1886; Lewis J. Ground, September 21, 1889; D. J. D. Hicks, the present incumbent, April 30, 1891.
Jacob E. Bell was elected treasurer, March 20, 1847; David M. Good, June 16, 1849; Samuel F. Ziegler, September 20, 1851; Jacob A. Metz, September 18, 1852; Josephus Ground, September 9, 1854; George W. Pole, November 3, 1855; Josephus Ground, May, 1886; J. Freeland Leiter, July, 1886; Samuel Strite, August, 1891.
The property insured by this company is located principally in the counties of Washington, Frederick, Montgomery, Carroll, Caroline, Dorchester, and Somerset, in Maryland; Franklin, in Pennsylvania, and Loudoun, in Virginia. The assets of the com- pany consist almost entirely of premium notes, representing from ten to fifty per cent. of the amount insured, the rates varying with the nature of the risk. The cost of insurance is from two to five per cent. of the premium note, depending on the length of time the policy is in force. During the fifty years the company has been engaged in business it has levied fifteen assessments, aggre- gating forty-five per cent. of its premium notes. The last annual
LUTHERAN CHURCH. LEITERSBURG.
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LEITERSBURG.
statement of the company (December 31, 1897) shows aggregate risks in force, $934,139.90; aggregate assets, $153,637.08, of which $152,109.69 consisted of premium notes; aggregate disbursements for the year 1897, $9,999.87, of which $8,257.70 represented the amount of losses paid.
SECRET SOCIETIES.
Howard Lodge, Independent Order of Good Templars, was or- ganized on the 28th of June, 1846, with the following officers: Edward Smith, W. C. T .; James A. Hays, W. S .; Maggie P. Wag- goner, W. I. G .; Alice M. Staley, W. V. T .; Daniel Wolfinger, W. T .; James H. Ziegler, W. O. G. The organization disbanded about the year 1873.
A lodge of the Independent Order of American Mechanics was instituted in 1871 with the following officers: James A. Hays, W. S. M .; Henry Schriver, W. M .; John W. Nigh, J. M .; David Summer, R. S .; H. T. Creps, S .; Upton Clopper, T .; Edward Smith, C.
Golden Rod Council, No. 42, Junior Order United American Mechanics, was chartered December 22, 1891, with the following officers: Charles C. Ziegler, P. C .; D. J. D. Hicks, C .; Jacob D. Wolfinger, R. S .; David Barnhart, F. S .; Samuel Middlekauff, T. In 1897 the Council erected a hall at a cost of $2,000. It is a two-story frame building, of which the first floor constitutes an auditorium in which public meetings of a general character are held; the council rooms occupy the second floor. Samuel Middle- kauff, Charles C. Ziegler, and Jacob M. Stouffer composed the building committee. It was dedicated with appropriate cere- monies on the 12th of September, 1897.
Minneola Tribe, No. 114, Independent Order of Red Men, was instituted April 10, 1895, with the following officers; Joseph S. Barkdoll, P .; D. J. D. Hicks, S .; Samuel Middlekauff, S. S .; B. F. Baker, J. S .; Daniel T. Johnson, C. of R .; Virgil II. Miller, C. of W .; Harvey J. Hartle, K. of W .; Daniel T. Hartle, G. of W .; Claggett A. Hartle, G. of F.
MUNICIPAL INCORPORATION.
Leitersburg was incorporated by act of the Legislature, Febru- ary 25, 1853, with the following boundaries:
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT. .
Commencing at a poplar tree on the road leading from Leitersburg to Smithsburg near a stable belonging to Jeremiah Slick, thence running with a straight line to a stable near the house now occupied by Daniel Lowman, thence with a straight line to a spring on or near a lot belonging to Nathan McDowell on the road leading from Leitersburg to Greencastle, thence with a straight line to a black- smith shop now occupied by G. W. Lantz belonging to George Poe, thence with a straight line to the beginning.
The act of incorporation provided for the annual election of a burgess, assistant burgess, and three commissioners, whose func- tions were minutely defined. The first election occurred on the first Monday in April, 1853. The local government was duly or- ganized, and under its administration the streets were improved, the sidewalks were curbed and paved, and other measures of bene- fit to the community inaugurated. But after several annual elec- tions had been held the town government dissolved and no effort has since been made to reestablish it.
POPULATION.
The late George W. Ziegler of Greencastle informed the writer that in 1829 he made an enumeration of the inhabitants of Lei- tersburg and found a population of 219. In 1850 it was 298; in 1870, 335; in 1880, 308. No statistics are given in the census of 1890.
CHAPTER IV.
CHURCHES.
ANTIETAM LUTHERAN CHURCH-JACOBS LUTHERAN CHURCH-ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, LEITERSBURG-ST. JAMES' RE- FORMED CHURCH, LEITERSBURG - MILLER'S MENNONITE CHURCH - LONGMEADOWS GERMAN BAPTIST CHURCH-RE- FORMED MENNONITE-RIVER BRETHREN-UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH, LEITERSBURG - METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, LEITERSBURG.
ONE of the oldest churches in Washington County was situated within the original limits of Leitersburg District. There is con- clusive evidence of its existence at an earlier date than that of any other place of worship in the county, with the possible excep- tion of St. Paul's near Clearspring and the Protestant Episcopal chapel near Chapel Woods school in Funkstown District, not far from the College of St. James. This evidence occurs in the will of Robert Downing, executed on the 1st of November, 1754. The clause referring to this church reads as follows:
I give and bequeath to my beloved daughter, Esther Downing, all that tract or parcel of land, part of the second resurvey on Downing's Lot, beginning at the most easternmost corner of the first resurvey on Downing's Lot and running thence south forty- five degrees west six perches across the second resurvey and all the land on the most southernmost side of the before mentioned line, containing by estimation 113 acres of land, excepting ten acres to be laid out for and convenient to the meeting house, provided the people that resort to the said meeting house pay for it.
In 1786 the Rev. John George Young, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church, Hagerstown, wrote the following account of this church:
1756 .- About thirteen families of our church united, purchased ten acres of land, and built a sort of church, as their circumstances allowed, about four miles from Hagerstown on the Antietam creek. They were served first for several years by Pastor Haushihl from Frederick and then for a short time by Pastor Schwerdtfeger; finally, after I received a call from Hagerstown Iwas also called there and served them every four weeks until, on account of other pressing duties, I was compelled last year to relinquish this part of the field. They consist now of from fifty-five to sixty families, many of whom with respect to their spiritual welfare were thoroughly ruined by
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
the late war, so that little improvement is to be expected. From this congregation four others have originated, viz., Hagerstown, Funkstown, Manorland, and Conococheague.
On the 9th of June, 1787, Martin Ridenour and John Beard "by and with the consent of the Lutheran congregation belonging to Antietam church, for and in consideration of the sum of £42," executed a deed to William Shanafield for nine and one-half acres of land, part of a tract of ten acres called God Save the Church, subject to the following reservations:
One-half acre thereof, whereon there stands a church and church yard, two perches added on the west side and two perches on the south side of said church yard, together with the church yard, will contain one-half acre of land, the same to be exempted forever; the wagon road from Rohrer's mill to said Shanafield's house through said ten acres of land is to be kept open, free, and clear, that there may be a clear passage to said church and the yard forever.
Rohrer's mill was built before the Revolution; it is situated on Antietam creek four miles from Hagerstown and half a mile from the turnpike leading from that city to Smithsburg. The present owner is Joseph Trovinger. In the immediate vicinity Shana- field acquired a tract of three hundred acres, to which he gave the name of Rock Hall. It is now embraced principally in the farm of Daniel Doub, and the house referred to in the deed of 1787 was probably the present farm house. The present public road fol- lows the north bank of the creek; in 1787 the road from the mill to the farm house must have pursued a different course. The church site and burial ground are embraced in Mr. Doub's farm, about midway between the farm house and the mill and at a distance of about two hundred yards from the creek, to which there is a gradual slope. The opposite bank is steep, rugged, and picturesque.
The tract of ten acres referred to in Robert Downing's will is readily identified with that of Beard and Ridenour's deed, al- though no deed for the church land has been discovered. Esther Downing died without issue, and in compliance with the terms of her father's will her part of his estate reverted to her brothers and sisters. Her oldest sister, Elizabeth, married Robert Blackburn, of Frederick County, Va., and in 1767 they executed a deed to John Rohrer for twenty-eight acres of land in the immediate vicinity of the church, part of the 113 acres bequeathed to Esther
.
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Downing. In 1786 Joseph Downing executed a deed to William Shanafield for twenty-six acres adjacent to the church land, also part of Esther Downing's bequest. And since this 113 acres ad- joined on two sides the tract of ten acres referred to in Beard and Ridenour's deed of 1787, the conclusion is irresistible that it was identical with the reservation of ten acres for which Robert Down- ing provided in his will in 1754.
It may be observed that the will refers to the meeting house as already built, while the Rev. John George Young says it was built in 1756. But the will was a contemporary document while Mr. Young obtained his information from hearsay thirty years later; therefore the evidence of the former must be accepted. Downing secured the warrant for his second resurvey, March 24, 1753; it was renewed in 1754, and the patent was issued in 1755 under date of April 4th. No reference to the meeting house occurs in this document.
From Mr. Young's account it is evident that this was the mother Lutheran church of Washington County. The informa- tion that he gives regarding its numerical strength is also valuable while the references to Haushihl and Schwerdtfeger show that it was originally under the same pastoral jurisdiction as the church at Frederick, Md. Rev. Bernard Michael Haushihl was born in Wurtemberg in 1727, obtained his education at the University of Strassburg, and was ordained at Rotterdam. He arrived at An- napolis, Md., in 1752, and resided at Frederick until 1758. From 1770 to 1783 he was pastor of the Dutch Lutheran Church in New York City. He was an ardent Royalist and after the Revo- lution moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died in 1797. He was an eloquent and learned man. If, as Mr. Young states, he was the first pastor of Antietam church, it could not have been or- ganized prior to 1753.
Rev. John William Samuel Schwerdtfeger was pastor at Fred- erick from 1763 to 1768, when he returned temporarily to Eu- rope, leaving Rev. J. G. Hartwick in charge of his congregations. The following entry occurs in the journal of the Rev. Henry Mel- choir Muhlenburg concerning the meeting of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in 1769:
The congregations which up to the present have entered a written petition for the reception of Mr. Wildbahn into the Ministerium are:
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
I. In Pennsylvania: Jacobs Church, Codorus township, St. John's Church, Germany township, York County.
II. In Maryland: On Silver run, on the Great Pipe creek, on Thomas creek, on Oliver's creek, Frederick County; in Conoco- cheague: on Antietam creek; in Sharpsburg on the Potomac.
III. In Virginia: Shepherdstown; Winchestertown.
Rev. Charles Frederick Wildbahn resided at the time near Lit- tlestown, Pa .; the wide extent of territory embraced in his pastoral jurisdiction is shown by the preceding list of congregations. In 1770 he moved to MacAllistertown (now Hanover, Pa.), and his continuance as pastor of congregations so far from his home was opposed at the next meeting of the Ministerium, when one of the questions considered was: "The separation of the Conococheague congregations from MacAllistertown." The following entry oc- curs in the minutes for 1772: "A delegate from vacant congrega- tions in a region situated between the boundaries of Pennsylvania and Virginia in Maryland and called by the Indian name Cono- cocheague, which Senior Kurtz visited now and then and adminis- tered therein the means of grace, and which is also said to be very populous and surrounded by all sorts of sectarian religious parties, laid before the Ministerium a petition for an able teacher and pastor and said to me privately that they desired the older Mr. Kurtz." The younger Kurtz was accordingly sent thither as shown by the following entry in the minutes for 1773: "A pe- tition from four congregations in the Conococheague district in Maryland connected with the Ministerium, in which they petition for Frederick Muhlenburg as their pastor and preacher, because Mr. Kurtz, Jr., who had been appointed for the place at the pre- ceding synodical meeting, could not get along well." Three of these congregations were undoubtedly Antietam, Sharpsburg, and Hagerstown; the fourth was probably Jerusalem (Funkstown). Rev. Frederick Augustus Muhlenburg accordingly acted as sup- ply for a short time. He was subsequently a member of the Con- tinental Congress, chairman of the first constitutional convention of Pennsylvania, and Speaker of the first House of Representa- tives of the United States.
In the same year (1773) Rev. John George Young located at Hagerstown, where he was pastor of St. John's and other churches in the county until his death, April 26, 1793. His pas- torate at Antietam ceased in 1785. In 1787 the congregation
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CHURCHES.
erected a new church at the present site of Beard's, or St. Peter's, now in Chewsville District, but formerly in Leitersburg. *
The original reservation of half an acre at the old church site was gradually encroached upon. Some years ago many of the grave-stones were pulled out and utilized in the construction of a culvert. A few were spared for a time, however, and in 1887, a hundred years after the sale to Shanafield, the burial ground was still thirty-five feet long and twelve feet wide, with several tomb- stones in a horizontal position, one inscribed with the year 1763 as the date of death. Within the next ten years, however, all this was removed, and on the occasion of the author's visit in the autumn of 1897 only the stump of a wild cherry tree remained to mark the place. It is disgraceful to a civilized community that a spot hallowed by Christian worship and Christian burial, the oldest church site in the valley of the Antietam, the last resting- place of many of the pioneers and doubtless of some who rendered loyal service in the French and Indian War and in the Revolution, should be thus desecrated.
JACOBS LUTHERAN CHURCH.
Of all the institutions of Leitersburg District, the oldest is Ja- cobs Church. It was founded more than a score of years before the village of Leitersburg and nearly a decade before the more pretentious borough of Waynesboro. In the consideration of its history we revert to the period when many of the first permanent settlers were still living-the men and women who had success- fully contested with wild nature and the wilder savage for their farms and homes in the valley of the upper Antietam.
The Lutheran congregation that worshiped on the banks of the Antietam in 1754 doubtless numbered among its membership some of the families afterward embraced in the constituency of Jacobs Church. Others were members of St. John's at Hagers- town, organized prior to 1769; of the church at Grindstone Hill in Franklin County, Pa., which was in existence as early as 1765; or of Zion Lutheran Church at Greencastle, also one of the old- est in Franklin County. The date at which Jacobs Church was organized can not be satisfactorily determined, but there is reason
* For the citations from the protocol of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania contained in this sketch the author is indebted to Rev. Henry E. Jacobs, D. D.
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
to believe that this occurred in 1791. The grounds for this con- clusion are as follows:
The records of St. John's Lutheran Church at Hagerstown show that several Lutheran families from this locality were mem- bers there from 1770 to 1780. Peter and Anthony Bell were among those whose names occur in this connection; and as they lived within a mile of Jacobs church it is not probable that they would have journeyed so far if an organization had existed in the immediate vicinity at the time. In 1786 Rev. John George Young of Hagerstown prepared a brief historical sketch of the churches of his chargein which, referring to Beard's, he says: "From this congregation four others have originated, viz., Hagerstown, Funkstown, Manorland, and Conococheague." Mr. Young's pas- torate embraced the churches referred to, as well as others in Frederick County. If Jacobs Church had been organized at this time it is more than probable that it would have been part of his charge, or that he would in any case have mentioned it; hence its omission affords strong presumptive evidence that it had no existence in 1786. Furthermore, the present church grounds were not acquired from the State until 1787, and it is extremely im- probable that a church building would have been erected here before that date.
Affirmatively, it may be positively stated that the church was organized in the year 1791 or prior thereto, as the protocol of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania shows that the Rev. Guenther Win- gardt was pastor from 1791 to 1795. While this evidence is con- clusive, it leaves to doubt and conjecture much that would be most interesting regarding the circumstances under which the or- ganization was effected. Wingardt was succeeded by Rev. John Ruthrauff in 1795, and with this date adequate local records begin. The earliest document of this description is a list of sub- scriptions for his support. It reads as follows:
Ein Verzeichniss von denjenigen Gemeinde Glieder und anderen guten Freunden der Gemeinde an der so genannten Freidens Kirche welche bewilligt sind zum Unterhalt des Predigers und zur fernern Fortsetzung des Gottes Dienstes an den Herrn Johannes Ruthrauff als unser Prediger das ihrige mit beizutragen, die werden deswegen ersucht das sie sich in den Pfrunde Zettel ihre Namen sich unter- schreiben zu lassen. Der Anfang dieses Jahres wird wohl sein als den šte Julius, 1795.
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CHURCHES.
Die Namen der Gemeinde Glieder.
Was ein Jeder Geben will.
Pf. Sch.
Alt Christian Lantz, Altester,
1
2
6
Anthony Bell, Altester, 2
0
0
Johannes Hafner, Vorsteher.
0
15 0
Heinrich Jacob, Vorsteher, .
0
10 0
This may be translated as follows:
A list of those church members and other friends of the congrega- tion known as Friedens Church who are willing to contribute to the support of the pastor and the further continuance of divine wor- ship with Rev. John Ruthrauff as our pastor, and who may be so- licited to enter their names for this purpose in the subscription list of the church. The current year will begin with the 5th of July, 1795.
Names of Church Members.
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