USA > Maryland > Washington County > Leitersburg > History of Leitersburg District, Washington County, Md.: Including Its Original Land Tenure. > Part 12
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The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was or- ganized on the 22d of December, 1892, with the following officers: President, Mayberry G. Freed; vice-president, D. J. D. Hicks; corresponding secretary, Emma S. Newcomer; recording secre- tary, Mary E. Miller; treasurer, Frank D. Bell.
ST. JAMES' REFORMED CHURCH.
Among the early settlers of Leitersburg District there were several families that adhered to the Reformed faith, the most numerous and prominent of which were the Lamberts, Hartles, Schrivers, and Lecrons, all of whom, as evidenced by the records of Zion Reformed Church at Hagerstown, worshiped there and re- ceived the ministrations of its pastor in the ordinances of baptism, confirmation, etc. Other Reformed families located in the Dis- trict at a later date, among which were those of Felix Beck, George Ziegler, Stephen Martin, Christian Russell, and John Harbaugh. After the erection of Beard's church at its present location this was the place of worship for adherents of the Reformed faith in Leitersburg District until 1826, when the first church at Leitersburg was built.
About the year 1826 two Reformed churches were organized
134
HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
from the former constituency of Beard's, viz., Christ's at Cave- town and St. James' at Leitersburg. This was effected chiefly through the efforts of the Rev. Henry Kroh, who was the first pastor of both churches. Unfortunately, Mr. Kroh has left no local record of his work; but from the archives of the Maryland Classis it has been learned that he became pastor on the 15th of September, 1826; and on the 11th of June, 1827, the following action was taken by Classis:
Resolved, That the congregations of Cavetown and Leitersburg, Md., of which the Rev. Mr. Kroh is pastor, be received into connec- tion with the Maryland Classis.
From September 15, 1826, to June 10, 1827, Mr. Kroh bap- tized 71, confirmed 55, buried 24; he reported 158 communicants and two schools. From June, 1827, to June, 1828, 132 were baptized, 65 confirmed, 44 buried; the number of communicants was 226. These statistics include both churches, and probably cover the period of Mr. Kroh's ministry.
In 1829 Rev. J. C. Bucher became pastor and Jacobs con- gregation in Harbaugh's valley was a third congregation in the charge. He resigned in 1830 and a vacancy followed, probably due to the inability of the charge to support a pastor. In 1831 Leitersburg and Cavetown were attached to the Waynesboro charge, then under the ministry of Rev. G. W. Glessner, D. D., who was succeeded in 1840 by Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger, D. D. Rev. Theodore Appel, D. D., became pastor in 1845. Two years later the extensive Waynesboro charge was divided and the Cave- town charge was established, its constituent congregations being those of Leitersburg, Cavetown, Harbaugh's in Franklin County, Pa., and Wolfsville in Frederick County, Md. Dr. Appel was the first pastor of the new charge, and continued in this relation until 1850. He was succeeded by Rev. J. W. Santee, D. D., who preached his first sermon at Leitersburg on the 4th of May, 1851, and continued as pastor forty-one years and six months. His son and successor, Rev. Charles A. Santce, was pastor from 1892 until May, 1896, when the present incumbent, Rev. S. H. Dietzel, was called. His pastorate began on the 1st of January, 1897. The congregations at Cavetown, Leitersburg, and Wolfs- ville constitute the charge, Harbaugh's Church having been de- tached some years ago. The pastoral residence is at Cavetown.
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CHURCHES.
In the summer of 1826 the Rev. Henry Kroh preached to his congregation in a grove near the village school house where the buildings are now located on the farm of George H. Wolfinger, formerly owned by Solomon Hartle.
For a period of nearly forty years, closing with 1866, the Re- formed congregation worshiped in the Lutheran church, to the original erection of which its membership had made substan- tial contributions. From the 1st of January to the 18th of August, 1867, there was no Reformed service in Leitersburg. The use of the United Brethren church was then secured, and here services were regularly held until 1879. The erection of a church edifice was agitated in 1868, but the project never passed the initial stage. In the spring of 1878 another effort was made, resulting in the present edifice. Formal action in this direction was first taken at a congregational meeting on the 5th of August, when articles of incorporation and a constitution for the government of the congregation were adopted, and a building committee was selected composed of Peter Middlekauff, Jacob Hartle, Solomon Hartle, John H. Miller, J. Freeland Leiter, John Middlekauff, and Rev. J. W. Santee, D. D. An acre of ground for church site and burial purposes was purchased from Joseph Barkdoll. On the 20th of August the committee decided to erect a brick building sixty feet long and thirty-five feet wide, with tower ten feet square; the general supervision of the work was entrusted to J. Freeland Leiter and Peter Middlekauff. The corner-stone was laid on the 19th of September, 1878, and the consecration occurred on the 16th of March, 1879. On the latter occasion the sermon was delivered by Rev. J. O. Miller, D. D., of York, Pa .; Dr. Santee and Rev. S. S. Miller were also present. Services were also held on three successive evenings of the fol- lowing week, when the officiating clergymen were Revs. J. Spang- ler Kieffer, D. D., I. N. Motter, and F. F. Bahner. On the 30th of March, 1879, the churchyard was consecrated to the purposes of Christian burial. At that time the consistory was composed of Peter Middlekauff and Jacob Hartle, elders; John H. Miller and Jacob A. Ziegler, deacons.
The Sunday school was organized on the 20th of April, 1884, with the following officers: Superintendent, J. D. Lambert; as- sistant superintendent, B. F. Spessard; secretary, Emma Barn-
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
hart; treasurer, J. P. Middlekauff. The first teachers were Emma Barnhart, J. A. Strite, J. D. Lambert, Alice Ziegler, Abi- gail Ziegler, Mrs. Catharine Miller, and Mrs. Rebecca Bowers. The number of scholars at the organization was thirty-five. The succession of superintendents has been as follows: J. D. Lam- bert, Clinton Hartle, John Summer, Iva Spessard, Harry Wol- finger, and Thomas Summer.
MILLER'S MENNONITE CHURCH.
There was a considerable number of Mennonites among the early settlers of Washington County. In 1776-77 they were a subject of consideration by the County Committee of Observa- tion, as they declined to take up arms or participate in military exercises. Although excused from actual service they were re- quired to furnish transportation and supplies for the county troops, to make contributions in money, and to assist the families of those who were in the army.
Among the early settlers of Leitersburg District who adhered to the Mennonite faith was Jacob Good, a resident near the Little Antietam as early as 1765. It is supposed that his immediate neighbors, Michael Miller and Andrew Reiff, were also Mennon- ites, but this can not be positively stated. John Barr, Jacob Mil- ler, and John Strite, all of whom were Mennonites, located in the District prior to 1800, and Christian Shank in 1812. Among the most prominent and numerous Mennonite families in the adja- cent Districts were the Shanks, Newcomers, Hoovers, Bachtels, Hoffmans, Weltys, and Eshlemans.
For many years the Mennonites in this part of Washington County met for public worship at private houses. It is an es- tablished fact that the stone house on the farm of Abraham H. Martin in Cavetown District, built in 1820 by Henry Shank, was a regular place of meeting for some years. On the Loose farm near Fiddlersburg stands a building erected many years ago by Martin Bachtel, who owned the farm at that time and was an influential member of the Mennonite connection, in which he held the office of minister. This building was used as a place of worship until the year 1835, when Miller's church in Leitersburg District was built. The original list of subscriptions for this purpose is still preserved and reads as follows:
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CHURCHES.
December den 25ten, 1834.
Wir, die unterschriebenen zu dieser subscription, versprechen zu bezahlen an Christian Shank, Jacob Miller, und Johannes Strite oder an einer von den oben benahmten oder au ihre Verordnete die Sum oder Sumen zu unsere Namen gezeiget wie unden folget, zur Abstat- tung der unkosten vom Bau einem Mennonischen Gemeinhaus welches gebaut werden soll in Washington County nahe bei Leiters- burg auf ein Stuck Land vorhin zu Jacob Miller und hetz dass Eigen- thum von der oben gemeldete Gemeinde.
Martin Bachtel,
Jacob Barr,
John Strite,
Henry Funk,
Christian Shank,
Abraham Strite,
Jacob Miller,
John Byer,
John Eshleman,
John Snively,
Abraham Stouffer,
George Poe,
Peter Newcomer,
Jacob Funk,
Andrew Shank,
Samuel Bachtel,
Jacob Shank,
Joseph Strite,.
Andrew and Jacob Newcomer,
Christian Strite,
Daniel Shank,
Daniel Scheetz,
Christian Stouffer,
Joseph Gabby,
Abraham Stouffer, Jr.,
William Gabby,
John Newcomer,
John Hoover,
Christian Newcomer,
Andrew Shank,
Benjamin Garver,
Christopher Burkhart,
Lewis Ziegler,
Samuel Lantz,
Jonas Shank,
Jacob Bell,
Samuel Strite,
Garrett Wolff,
Henry Snively,
Frederick Bell,
Andrew Snively,
Frederick Byer,
John Welty,
Henry Schriver,
George H. Lambert,
Peter Hoover,
John Lesher,
Jacob Hoffman,
John Horst,
David Hoover,
Joseph Reift, Sr.,
Jacob Lesher,
Christian Barr,
George Shiess.
The German may be translated as follows:
We, the undersigned to this subscription, promise to pay to Chris- tian Shank, Jacob Miller, and John Strite or any one of them or to their order the sum or sums marked opposite our names as follows below, to pay the cost of building a Mennonite meeting house which . shall be built in Washington County near to Leitersburg upon a piece of ground at Jacob Miller's and to be the exclusive property of the above mentioned congregation.
138
HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
On the 25th of March, 1835, Christian Shank, Jacob Miller, and John Strite entered into a contract with Joseph Cookston for the erection of "a stone meeting house on Jacob Miller's farm." It was specified that the building should be forty feet long and thirty feet wide, "laid off in three different apartments," with two chimneys, "a sufficient number of doors, windows, tables, benches," etc .; that Cookston should "procure at his own proper expense all the necessary materials and of a good quality" and finish the building by the 1st of July; and that he should receive the sum of $510. The contract was duly executed and the build- ing thus erected constitutes the main part of the present place of worship. In 1888 an addition of twenty feet was built under the supervision of a committee composed of John Strite, Joseph Eshleman, and David Strite. The present building is therefore sixty feet in length.
The church grounds originally comprised half an acre, the deed for which was executed on the 4th of April, 1835. An ad- ditional purchase of 125 perches was made in 1869 and one of seventeen perches in 1889.
The first trustees were Christian Shank, John Strite, and Jacob Miller. The following is a list of their successors: Christian Strite, elected August 9, 1845, vice John Strite, deceased; Chris- tian Horst, elected May 1, 1856, vice Christian Shank, deceased; Joseph Eshleman and Frederick Shank, elected December 6, 1862, vice Christian Strite, deceased, and Christian Horst, who had removed out of the bounds of the congregation; Joseph Strite, elected January 30, 1864, vice Frederick Shank, deceased; John Miller, elected December 26, 1868, vice John Miller, de- ceased; John S. Strite, elected November 27, 1890, vice Joseph Eshleman, deceased: Jacob Eshleman, elected October 25, 1891, vice Joseph Strite, deceased; Christian Eshleman, elected June 9, 1893, vice John Miller, deceased. The present trustees are Jacob Eshleman, John S. Strite, and Christian Eshleman.
Among the first ministers who preached at this church were Peter Eshleman, Christian Newcomer, John Welty, Christian Strite, John Martin, and Jacob Oberholtzer. The present min- isters are Adam Baer, Henry Baer, and John C. Miller.
The first bishop who officiated at Miller's church was Abra- ham Roth, of Mummasburg, Adams County, Pa., whose suc-
139
CHURCHES.
cessors have been Peter Eshleman and Michael Horst. Bishop Horst's jurisdiction embraces all the Mennonite Churches in Washington County.
The Sunday school was organized in 1893 with Adam Baer as the first superintendent. John C. Miller held this office in 1894-96, and Adam Baer in 1897.
LONGMEADOWS GERMAN BAPTIST CHURCH.
The Longmeadows or Rowland's German Baptist Church is not an individual organization, but an integral part of the Beaver Creek congregation. The membership of this com- munion residing north of Hagerstown, having a long distance to travel to attend the services of their church at Beaver Creek, met occasionally for worship at Paradise school house and also at pri- vate houses. Jonas Rowland was among those who realized the importance of having a permanent place of worship, and in 1853 he erected at his own expense a brick church building. He burned the brick on his own farm, from which the church site was also donated. After the completion of the building he was par- tially reimbursed by his fellow-members. This building was forty feet long and thirty-five feet wide, and occupied the site of the present structure. In 1881 it was removed, when the present place of worship was erected. This also is a brick building, of which the respective dimensions are forty and seventy feet. It was erected under the supervision of a building committee com- posed of George W. Petre, Andrew J. Boward, and Daniel N. Scheller. In 1896 a frame dwelling house was built adjacent to the church for the occupancy of the sexton.
The membership of the German Baptist Church in this locality in 1853 included George Petre, Jonas Rowland and wife, David Rowland, Daniel Rowland, George W. Petre, Amy Petre, Mar- garet Petre, Henry Shank and wife, Mrs. Crumb, Jo- seph Wolf and wife, Mrs. Philip Warfield, David An- thony and wife, George Poe, Samuel Trovinger, Andrew Bow- ard, Sr., and wife, and others. The first ministers were Joseph Wolf, Henry Koons, Jacob Hilbarger, and Joseph Emmert, who were succeeded by Leonard Emmert, Andrew Cost, Daniel F. Stouffer, Barton Shoup, Frederick D. Anthony, Abram Rowland, and John Rowland, of whom Elders Shoup, Abram Rowland, and
140
HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
John Rowland are the present ministers. The bishop in 1853 was Henry Koons, who was succeeded by Andrew Cost and Daniel F. Stouffer. In the board of trustees for the Beaver Creek congre- gation Longmeadows is represented by Daniel N. Scheller and George W. Petre.
By the will of Henry Shank of Antrim Township, who died in 1875, the sum of $500 was bequeathed to this congregation.
The Sunday school at Rowland's was organized in 1893. A union Sunday school had previously been conducted at Paradise school house, of which the school at Rowland's may be regarded as a continuation, as it is also a union school. Elder John Row- land was superintendent in 1893 and 1894. In 1895 the school was not organized. The superintendent in 1896 and 1897 was John Rowe.
REFORMED MENNONITE.
For more than half a century Reformed Mennonite services have been regularly held at intervals of two months at Paradise school house. The ministers of the Waynesboro congregation usually preach here, with others from Chambersburg and else- where.
RIVER BRETHREN.
Daniel Jacobs, who located near the terminus of the Marsh turnpike, was a member of the River Brethren Church, and pub- lic worship was regularly held for many years at his house and that of his son-in-law, Jacob Hykes. Among the ministers who conducted these services were Henry Myers, Martin Stoner, John Hawbecker, Christopher Hoover, John Hoover, and Christopher Breckbill.
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH, LEITERSBURG.
This organization had its origin in religious services at the house of Peter Stotler, on the Little Antietam near Leitersburg and now the property of Joseph and John B. Barkdoll. Here prayer and class meetings were regularly held, with preaching at intervals by the itinerant ministers of the denomination. Among the first members were Peter Stotler, Henry Yesler, John Miller, Jacob Dayhoff, Adam Bovey, and their families, who were suc-
141
CHURCHES.
ceeded at a later date by Henry Boertner, John D. Eakle, John and Peter Yesler, and John Dayhoff. About the year 1835 a church edifice was built at Leitersburg; a parsonage was also se- cured and for some years the church prospered. Its member- ship was gradually reduced by death and removal, however, and finally the church building was sold and the congregation dis- banded.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, LEITERSBURG.
Among the leading members of this church were Edward Smith, who afterwards entered the ministry, John Johnson, the local class-leader, Jonathan Humphreys, and John Brown. The village school house was their first place of worship, and about the year 1841 a brick church was built by Alexander Hamilton and Henry Smith of Waynesboro, Pa. It is now the residence of Mrs. Ida Leather. The pastors of the Waynesboro circuit preached here until 1857, after which services were occasionally conducted by Rev. Henry Stonehouse of that place until the so- ciety disbanded.
CEMETERIES.
One of the earliest places of interment in Washington County was the burial ground adjacent to Antietam church. Interments were made here as early as 1763.
There are a number of private burial grounds in Leitersburg District, and here many of the pioneers sleep their last sleep. The earliest mortuary inscription that the writer has discovered ap- pears on a stone in a private burial ground on the farm of Joseph Martin. It reads as follows: "1781. Hier liegt Eva Lambert und ihre Tochter. War alt 59 Jahr." A short distance from the Greencastle road on a slope toward the Antietam there is a burial ground inclosed by a substantial brick wall erected by J. F. Leiter and L. Z. Leiter in 1896. Andrew Leiter, the founder of Leitersburg, Jacob Leiter, his father, who died in 1814, and other early members of the Leiter family are interred here. It is not improbable that this is also the burial place of the first Jacob Leiter, who died in 1764. Southwest of Leitersburg on the farm of George F. Ziegler is the Ziegler burial ground, where some of the early representatives of the Lantz, Ziegler, and other families
142
HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
are interred. This was a place of burial as early as 1783. It is surrounded by a brick wall, erected in 1889 by George W., David, and Sophia Ziegler. The Hartle burial ground, on the farm of Alveh L. Stockslager, is inclosed by a substantial stone wall. The burial ground of the Lecron family is situated on the farm of John D. Spessard; that of the Good and Barr families, on the farm of C. L. G. Anderson; of the Gilberts and Rowlands, on that of Daniel N. Scheller; of the Garvers, on that of William H. Hoffman; of the Dayhoffs, on that of William H. Stevenson. There are also private burial grounds on the farms of Upton Clopper, Samuel Cook, etc.
A burial ground is connected with each of the five churches of the District. That at Jacobs is the oldest, and here there are many graves marked by rough headstones bearing no inscriptions whatever. It may be positively stated, however, that interments were made here as early as 1790.
CHAPTER V.
SCHOOLS.
"THE HOLLOW HOUSE" - MARTIN'S SCHOOL - LEITERSBURG SCHOOLS-THE JACOBS CHURCH SCHOOL-"JACOB MILLER'S SCHOOL HOUSE"-PARADISE-ROCK HILL-PLEASANT HILL- NEW HARMONY-MT. UNION-GENERAL STATISTICS.
IT is difficult to trace the history of early educational effort in Leitersburg District. It may be positively stated that George Adam Mueller was a teacher in the Jacobs church neighborhood in 1774 and Michael Boor in 1786, but where they taught is a matter of conjecture. The population of the District was cer- tainly ample to sustain one or more schools as early as the Revo- lution, but while it is highly probable that the more enterprising and intelligent among the pioneers secured for their children Bome local educational advantages, no record of such efforts has been preserved.
"THE HOLLOW HOUSE."
One of the earliest school houses of the District stood on the north side of the Greencastle road about a mile from Leitersburg and a short distance from the residence of Andrew Strite. From its location in a deep depression between two hills this was long known and is still remembered as "the hollow house." The build- ing has been removed, and but little now remains to mark its lo- cation except a well of water. It was a long, low structure, built of logs, and served both as school room and as residence for the teacher. Here Thomas Hauks taught in 1804. The follow- ing correspondence, the original of which is preserved by Mark Z. Poe of Leitersburg, is probably the earliest document extant relating to the educational history of the District:
SIR: As the first quarter was to have been in advance there could be no doubt of its being due now, but as I did not stand in any great need of the money till now I did not think it material to write you for any; but my family as well as myself being at this time in a bad state of health make it indispensably necessary that I should write you this note, the purport of which is for the sum of $4.00, which you will please to send by one of your sons in the morning when
144
HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
they come to school, for which I will send you a receipt in the even- ing of the same day.
July 24, 1804. THOMAS HAUKS.
Mr. George Ziegler.
Charles Cavender taught here in 1813 and a Mr. Crawford about 1820. The latter appears to have been one of the last teachers. There can be little doubt that this school was estab- lished prior to 1800, and that a large part of the District was embraced in its territory.
MARTIN'S SCHOOL.
One mile east of Leitersburg on the main road to Smithsburg is the school house locally known as Longmeadows or Martin's. On the opposite side of the road from the present modern build- ing stands a long, one-story, wooden structure, weather-beaten and dilapidated though still comparatively substantial. This building may well be regarded as a landmark in the educational history of the District. From the original subscription paper for its erection it is learned that "a number of the inhabitants of Upper Antietam Hundred in Washington County, Md., met according to notice given for that pur- pose at the dwelling house of Christian Good on the 2d of March last [1811] in order to choose suitable persons and a proper place for building a school house and the persons then and there met did unanimously elect Christian Good, John Moyer, and Jacob Lambert trustees for carrying into effect the said purpose," who accordingly selected "a lot of ground on a corner of Christian Good's plantation, on which they provided material and commenced the building." This they agreed to finish "with good and sufficient materials and in a neat and workmanlike manner, the whole to be made with two good floors and well illuminated with glass windows, the room for a school to be furnished with a desk, two writing tables, with proper seats and a good stove. The part intended for the accommodation of a teacher and family is also to be well furnished with a good stone chimney, door, windows," etc. It was further specified "that the said house shall be and remain for the sole use of a school and accommodation of a teacher and for no other pur- pose, except that it be open on Sundays and other convenient
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MILLER'S CHURCH.
147
SCHOOLS.
days, and it is agreed that is shall be freely open to any society of Christians who meet for public worship."
The cost of the building was $322.96, and a second subscrip- tion was necessary before the entire amount was provided for. The lease for the ground was executed by Good to Lambert and Moyer on the 4th of January, 1817. In this instrument the site is described as located "on the main road leading from Green- castle to Harman's Gap." The dimensions of the plat were seventy and forty-four feet, respectively, from which it is evident that very meager provision was made for a play-ground. The lease was to terminate April 1, 1896 eighty years "from the first day of April now last past." The annual rental was twenty- five cents, which was paid for some years-probably until the death of Stephen Martin, who purchased the Good farm in 1817. The lease describes the school house as "substantial and well fur- nished." It was to be used "for the exclusive purpose of educa- tion, and occasionally on Sabbath or holidays or other suitable days for divino worship." The sale of "beer, ale, or other liquors" and the holding of "any offensive entertainment" were forbidden.
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