USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Waldoboro > History of old Broad Bay and Waldoboro, Volume 2 > Part 4
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"I tink der Debbel ist in you all, Das vas no hymn to sing at all."
Even with this last couplet the congregation followed through, but beyond this point tradition is silent. This incident
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HISTORY OF OLD BROAD BAY AND WALDOBORO
probably took place at a time when English was beginning to take its place beside German in the church service. The first mention of such a change in the singing is indicated in the records under date of April 20, 1826, in the following comment: "To have a com- mittee to regulate the singing in both the German and English languages."
A study of the records certainly leaves one with the convic- tion that the Germans in these later years did not serve their God for naught. Every service performed was charged to the Society, and there was clearly a good reason for so doing. These were a poor people and they lived widely distributed over the present area of the town. Each service meant time taken from their own labor, perhaps to a remote neighborhood on foot or on horseback. Hence the insistence on compensation is in part at least understandable. It did, however, make the parish expenses heavy, and the Society was almost always dogged by the specter of debt.
From 1800 on, the church was continually being improved and brought within and without to its present state. In 1802, eight years after the removal of the church structure from the east side of the river, the costs of rebuilding had not been paid. There was still owed at this time the following accounts to the rebuilders: Jacob Winchenbach, $17.00; Jacob Ludwig, $24.00; Capt. Weaver, $17.50; Peter Crammer, $19.50; Capt. Ludwig, $20.00; Peter Gross, $15.00. On November 29th of this year J. C. Wallizer was paid for his services as chairman of the committee in charge of moving and rebuilding the church. In 1803 it was voted "to choose a com- mittee to agree with some painter to paint the meetinghouse." It was painted for the first time in 1804, and Christopher Wallizer was paid $60.00 for doing the job.
There were also many other improvements of a varied char- acter. The warrant for the meeting of April 15, 1809, contained the following article: "To see if said Society will give leaf to Joshua Head, Esq., to build a Doom on said Society's Buring Place." At the meeting in question it was voted "that Mr. Head has leaf to built a Doom on this Society's Burying Place." In 1811 a commit- tee was authorized "to git a Paul Cloth4 and charge said Society with said cloth." On July 14, 1813, it was voted to fence the bury- ing ground "as Mr. Georg Clouse will not allow to join our fence to his line fence." Up to the spring of 1814 the church had been used without any kind of heat. In April of this year Capt. Stahl, Capt. Isaac Winchenbach, and Capt. Ludwig were appointed as a committee to procure a stove. They were authorized "to draw $150.00 when wanded for said stove out of the Treasury and be accountable for said money." The funnel of the stove was for many
4Pall - a heavy cloth of black or purple velvet, thrown over a coffin, hearse, or tomb.
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The German Protestant Society
years led out through a window, until on Oct. 17, 1825, it was voted "to alter the stove and lead the pipe through the roof." In 1818 the Trustees were authorized "to superintend the Burying Ground and stake four lots onto the same for strangers." On May 31, 1820, it was voted "to clothe the pulpit with a cushion and cloth and also with an English Bible."5 In 1821 it was voted "to assist the people on the Dutch Neck so called with the fencing their burying ground with the sum of twenty-five dollars." On May 22, 1822, it was decided "to put the old fence up around the bury- ing ground and the making a decent gate with Iron hinges and a lach and key at auction to the lowest bidder. George Kaler bitt itt of for 6 dollars 75c." The warrant of Oct. 6, 1785,6 contained an article "to see what the Society will do about providing a hearse for the Society." In 1834 it was voted that "if any person die not belonging to the Society they shall not be buried in the burying ground unless they buy a spot."
The church reached the peak of its strength in the decade following 1800. In these years it was practically the sole church in the town, and in a measure the English-speaking element at- tended its services and joined to a degree in its support, more espe- cially those Puritans who had married German wives. Its member- ship included the first, second, and third generations of the Ger- mans, and some of the more religiously minded of the English for whom there was no other church home.
The Sabbath from earliest days down to this period had its so- cial features. The good folk would gather from the remote parts the town and from neighboring towns such as Nobleboro, Warren and Thomaston. The Starretts would come from Warren with their small children in their saddlebags;7 the Ulmers from Thomas- ton and branches of the Sidelinger, Waltz, and other families from Nobleboro. There were morning and afternoon services, but the people generally gathered for the whole day. "Old Miss Clouse's Tavern" was a rallying point for the more distant worshippers. This stood on the present site of the house of Mr. John Burgess. In fact, the ell of his house was a part of the old Tavern.8 Here the news and the gossip was swapped over Aunt Polly's molasses and New England rum, which was generously served for three cents a glass.
The records of the church furnish us with some evidence of its far-flung membership. On April 9, 1804, it was voted that "J. Ludwig, Peter Crammer and Mr. Ritz be a committee to sign receipt to those belonging to other towns, who belong to this
"Italics mine.
"An obvious error in the record.
"Oral tradition: Mr. Lewis Kaler from his grandmother who was a Shibles from the Georges River.
&Ibid.
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HISTORY OF OLD BROAD BAY AND WALDOBORO
Society."9 A warrant for a meeting of Dec. 27, 1808, contained a clause on the admission to membership of John Ulmer of Thom- aston. On April 9, 1804, it was voted "to except Peter Sidelinger of Nobleboro as a member of said Society by request of George Clouse, Wallizer and Jacob Ludwig; also to except Andrew Woltz, Jr., of Nobleboro requested by J. Wallizer, P. Sidelinger, T. F. McGuer [McGuyer]."
All was not peace in these days in the German Protestant Society. These Germans seem to have become well-developed in- dividualists, somewhat prone to trample on one anothers' toes and to carry on aggressive warfare in the courts for their rights, and even for their whims and advantages. In this respect the rec- ords are rather sorry reading. Land seems to have been the source of most of their trouble. It was the commonest form of wealth, was eagerly sought, and its possession stoutly disputed. The Society was perhaps the largest single owner of land in the town. It pos- sessed the school lot on which the church now stands and only a small part of which was used at this time. There was also the church and ministerial lots at Meetinghouse Cove, and a second school lot on Dutch Neck. With the exception of the latter these lots were of one hundred acres each. Their wealth of wood and virgin tim- ber certainly offered an inviting prospect to those whose lands were immediately adjacent.
It was the rights vested in these properties that the Society was called on frequently to defend. In the meeting of May 20, 1800, $20.00 was appropriated "to carry on law suits in behalf of said Society to protect said Society's land." On April 9, 1804, it was voted that "C. Storer, Paul Kuhn and F. Kinsell be a Com- mittee to inspect the Ministerial Land and to have the power to prevent and defend Trespass committed on said land." On August 18, 1806, it was voted "to carry on the action between the Society and George Sidelinger, and that the Society Treasurer be directed to collect all the money that is due to said Society, and provide money to carry on said action on said Sidelinger by our agent."
The records of the Society represent a tale of poverty. The church was always poor, always in debt, and always faced with difficulty in paying its bills. It is difficult to understand this, for all towns were required by law to levy a ministerial tax for the support of a "settled minister." In 1779 "on complaint of the Grand Jury" the town had complied with the terms of the law, and funds were raised intermittently for this purpose on to the end of the century, although when the church had no minister the Germans were always willing to vote that "no money be raised for the se- port of the Gospel," thus frustrating any plans the English-speak-
9Necessary to exempt the out-of-town member from his local ministerial tax.
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The German Protestant Society
ing minority might have for securing preaching in that tongue. For a few years following 1800 the pulpit received no consistent support from the taxpayers. In 1800, 1801, and 1803 there was no money raised, and Mr. Ritz had to be supported by his own par- ish. The town apparently felt poor in these years due to the defal- cation of a tax collector, and to the possible loss of their farms by the citizens under the pressure of the Knox claims. The English citizenry was also beginning to exercise some veto power through its vote and to demand its proportionate share of the tax for the support of a minister of its own. On such an issue the Germans were always reluctant to give ground, but the alternative was to pay the salary of Mr. Ritz out of their own pockets; they yielded only when they had to, and were always ready to raise the issue anew in the hope they would have the votes at hand to carry it.
In 1806 a tax levied on all polls raised $500.00 for the support of the gospel. Each group was allowed $200.00, and any excess was to be divided equally between the two societies. On May 7, 1807, it was voted that there should be two ministers "in the interests of harmony."10 Mr. Ritz was to receive $220 a year "for the remainder of his life whether he is able to preach or not," and an English minister to receive $430 a year, "for such time as he is here, and not in the usual mode of other towns for life." This arrangement apparently continued up to the death of Mr. Ritz in 1811, and then the issue of the ministerial tax was raised again. A committee appointed by the town to confer with the German Society re- ported on May 12, 1812, that the German committee proposed to raise $750.00 for preaching, "they to have two thirds" - Mr. Starman's entire salary - "one of the gentlemen did say if the town would raise $800, it might have $300 for its part," viz., for the support of an English minister. "Your committee is of the opinion that it is not expedient to raise any money." That the report of the committee was accepted by the town would indicate the declining power of the German vote and influence.
The next year the Germans were glad to accept the half of a $600 appropriation. Thereafter they raised no further difficulties except in committee negotiations with the English. When the Rev- erend Mr. Mitchell assumed the Congregational pastorate in 1816, the tax was raised to $1000 and for this one year was divided equally. Thereafter Mr. Mitchell received five parts of the tax and Mr. Starman three, until 1823 when all church support ceased and each parish was compelled to support its own pastor by funds raised by the societies.
That the German Society was always in financial difficulties was in a considerable measure due to bungling and inept manage-
10Italics mine.
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HISTORY OF OLD BROAD BAY AND WALDOBORO
ment, for apart from the revenue drawn from the ministerial tax it was one of the larger property holders in the town. Section III of the Act of Incorporation had conveyed to the Society all lands originally set aside by the proprietors for the use of the parish on the following terms:
Be it further enacted that said society should have and hold11 the several trusts and parcels of land given, granted, conveyed and sett off to the Dutch Settlement on the Western side of the Muscongus River by the Committee of the Proprietors of Lands at or near Pemaquid in the County of Lincoln by a Deed or Grant dated the second day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four in trust to and for the special purposes mentioned and specified in the Grant or Deed aforesaid.
Of these four lots only one was in a small part pre-empted by the church and cemetery. Here then was a source of wealth that could be used to clear the Society from its ever present debts and to provide a liberal endowment for the continued "support of the Gospel." The thrifty "Dutch" were not long in seeing the point and on April 5, 1803, it was voted "to sell the Society land" and to choose a committee to consider the selling of said land - the Committee: C. Miller, J. Ludwig, Capt. Light, C. Kaler and J. Winchenbach. The committee apparently made little progress. There was doubt about the legality of the action proposed. In the meantime, on May 20, 1807, the committee of the Trustees was empowered "to sell all the wood below the Bristol Road to the best advantage to the said Society and to turn said land into grass." This was the portion of the lot east of the road on which the church now stands. Six days later it was voted "to chose a committee to receive the deed of a lot of land of John Eugley and to convey the same to George Eugley." John Eugley to whom the sale of one of the church lots had been agreed upon had his doubts as to the legality of his title and in the end refused to accept the deed.
There was in reality a real legal snag involved in this trans- action. The Act of Incorporation had simply conveyed to the Society the right to have, to hold and to use the land "for the spe- cial purposes mentioned and specified in the Grant or Deed," of the heirs of the original proprietors. In other words, the right of sale was not implicit in the Act of Incorporation. Accordingly it became necessary to proceed on a new tack. On April 27, 1809, it was voted "to petition the Legislature to sell part or whole of the Real Estate to pay the debts and finish the meetinghouse." From this time on the sale of the land was continuously agitated, but in no case were sales made that were fully to the advantage of the
11Italics mine.
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The German Protestant Society
Society. The Germans were land crazy and were prone to ac- quire land on a shoestring.
On April 2, 1811, the warrant for a meeting contained a clause "to see what measures said Society will take about the school lot where the meetinghouse is on." May 6, 1811, "Voted to run out12 the school lot as soon as may be. Voted: The committee ... to have power to run a fence a gross this school lot above the meetinghouse." In May 1812 a semblance of rationality and real- ism entered the picture when Jacob Ludwig and ten others peti- tioned the Society "to secure leave of the General Court to sell all the Society's land in order to erect a fund for the maintenance of a minister for the Society." By January 1813, even before such sanction had been secured, land had clearly been sold, for on Jan- uary 19th the following entry appears in the records:
We the undersigned committee chosen by the German Protestant Society to settle with the committee for the sale of their land beg leave to report.
We find by settling their accounts of Repairing and painting the meetinghouse their remain due to the German Protestant Society in notes of hand13 to the amount of $943.33.
Christopher Crammer John Stahl Isaac Winchenbach
Committee
Frank Miller
In February 1814 the Society received legal sanction from the General Court to dispose of its holdings, and it lost no time in so doing. On March 21, 1814, it was voted that "the Publick Land of the Society to be sold at Poplick sail or private sales to the best advantage of said Society, viz., the ministerial land and the School land on the Neck so called. C. Miller, Jos. Ludwig, Isaac Winchenbach, C. Kaler, Jacob Ludwig, Capt. Stahl, Jos. H. Lud- wig to be the committee of the before going vote." On April 18, 1814, it was voted "to give the Committee of the 21 March last for selling part of said Society land fool Power to sell and convey said land to the best advantage for the Society accorting to the act of the General Court, Feb. 12, 1814."
"John Uckley Bought the Ministerial Lot of Land for nine hundred and ninety-five dollars, Paid earnest money Ten Dollars: Give his note for $89.50 for the Remianders of the earnest money; to be paid in twenty days .... " and it may be added that the Society took a mortgage deed for the balance.14
"Doctor Brown Bought the School Lot on the Neck so called, for $260.00, gave his note for the earnest money to be paid in
12Survey.
13Italics mine.
14Lincoln County Registry of Deeds (Wiscasset, Me.), Bk. 88, p. 110.
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HISTORY OF OLD BROAD BAY AND WALDOBORO
twenty days for 26 or 27 dollars. Said Doctor Brown gave up his bargain to Christopher Walch." May 6, 1814, "Received of Chris- topher Walch for said land twenty dollars in cash and a joint note15 for $240.00."
To Daniel Uckley for $1200.00 went the old church lot at the Cove on which stood the log meetinghouse. To mark its loca- tion in the minds of those living and of those still to live in the old town, its bounds are here briefly sketched. The lot began
near the head of the northern-most creek of meetinghouse Cove, so called, at a hemlock tree marked, thence northwest 640 poles to a hem- lock tree standing on the southeast branch of Pemaquid Upper Pond, then northeast 25 poles to a stake and stones, then southeast to 640 poles to a stake standing on the bank of said northern most creek, thence south- west to bounds first mentioned, said lot being 25 poles in width, con- taining 100 acres, being lot No. 29 in Elijah Packard's Plan, bounding Northeast on Benjamin Uckley's lot, and southwesterly on the ministe- rial lot, reserving only the burying place and the road that leads to the creek, so called.16
Since this was not a mortgage deed it may be assumed that Daniel Eugley paid cash for what he received.
The last of the church properties - the school lot on which the present church stands - was sold June 20, 1814, to Charles Kaler, the church and cemetery land excepted. This land went for $640.00, Mr. Kaler giving his note for this sum. Thus it was that the church properties were disposed of, sold by the Society to its own members. With the exception of the lot sold to Daniel Eugley, the church held on these sales very little more than the paper of some of its own members.
Throughout its history the German Society was both a bor- rower and a lender. When it had no money it borrowed from individuals and paid interest, and when it had surplus funds it loaned to individuals and received interest. Its financial embar- rassment in these years was not infrequently due to the fact that it could neither collect principal nor interest on the notes which it held. Following the sale of its land in 1814, it squared itself of debt, and paid its arrears on Mr. Starman's salary and Mrs. Ritz's claim of $70.95. In addition it paid off its indebtedness to about a dozen individuals, the largest amount of which was $110.10 paid to John Stahl in October 1816.
In June 1815 it held notes of its member as follows: "One note of hand against John Uckley for the sum of $895.00. . . . One note of hand against Charles Kaler for the sum of $600.00. . . . One note of hand against Christopher Walch for the sum of $240.00. .. . " Notes for lesser amounts were held against Frank
15 Endorsed by Capt. John Stahl.
16Lincoln Co. Deeds, Bk. 80, p. 222.
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The German Protestant Society
Miller, Jacob Kaler, Anton Hoffses, George Acorn, Henry Over- lock, Michael Hoch, and Paul Kuhn. On May 20, 1817, Jacob Winchenbach, Society treasurer, reported as follows: "To the Honorable Committee of Trustees. This is to inform you how your property stands. Your Principle and Interests stants thus: $3220.60. Paid out per order and receipt $381.44. True statement of my Book, errors excepted." This principal sum naturally was not in cash, but included the notes held by the Society.
On May 25, 1826, the Society had in its treasury including notes held, a total of $3408.26. After ten years, however, the notes were still dragging along unpaid and were causing difficulty. John Eugley either could not or would not meet the terms of his in- debtedness. The next year it was voted that "if Mr. John Eugley owes $91.00 interest due, the Society will give up his notes by his giving up the lot of land which he received of the Society." Later in the same year a committee was chosen to receive the deed of John Eugley and to convey the same to James and Daniel Eugley. John Eugley managed, however, to hold on to the prop- erty and the affair dragged along. In 1831 he sought some form of abatement which was rejected by the Society, which gave him "five years to pay his debt in five different installments yearly." Since the records contain no further entries in this case it is pos- sible that a solution was effected on this basis.
On May 1, 1841, the Society had $829.66 due it in notes and interest alone. On May 1, 1842, the following were in debt to the Society: Charles Miller owed $206.40; Godfrey Ludwig owed $43.50; Jacob Ludwig $75.30, on which sums interest had not been paid nor principal reduced. Michael Hoch had discharged his obligation in full. Joseph Kaler, Isaac Winchenbach, George Wal- lis, John Bornemann, John Shuman, and Henry Wincapaw had met the interest charges on their obligations. Such fiscal incidents as these are typical, and a reflection of the life, practices, attitudes, and problems faced by the parish and some of its members in these days.
The Reverend John Wilhelm Starman was the last of the Lutheran preachers in Waldoboro. By act of destiny his min- istry was extensive with the transition period in which a German colony was becoming an English town. This shift from one racial and linguistic tradition to another was as marked in business, edu- cation, and social life as it was in the religious sphere; hence it should be treated in some detail. No more suitable mirror of this cultural change can be found than Mr. Starman's ministry, for the changes reflected in it may be taken as typical of the basic shift which was slowly taking place in every phase of social and community life.
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HISTORY OF OLD BROAD BAY AND WALDOBORO
The death of Mr. Ritz in 1811 simply served to bring into the open parish and community differences which had been slowly and quietly developing over a number of years. At this time there was in the parish a group of old Germans, among whom were a few of the original immigrants. For the most part, however, the group was made up of those of the second generation who had been children in the early colony, and who now were old and possessed of some means and influence. Those from the outlying districts especially spoke English imperfectly, understood only its simpler colloquial phrases, and could not follow the more literary form of a pulpit discourse. With unflinching devotion they clung to the old ways, the old forms, and the old service in their mother tongue.
Opposed to this group were some of the third-generation Germans who had adopted the ways and language of the now dominant English culture. These felt that if Lutheranism was to live it should, as the only church in the community, be a church of all the people. Their number was augmented by some of the English who at this time had no other church and who wanted a service where the word of God would be preached in a language which they could understand. Besides, since the church was sup- ported by a community tax on all polls, it seemed reasonable that there should be a minister who could and would preach in both English and German. The struggle between these two groups was in real essence a culture conflict - on the one hand, an ad- vancing culture seeking the realization of inevitable objectives; on the other hand, a receding culture clinging tenaciously to a lost cause. So long as Mr. Ritz lived this struggle was quiescent. With his death the opportunity came for it to define its position.
Mr. Ritz died in February. In the meeting the following March the opposition won its first point and it was voted to choose a committee "to receive Propositions from the town committee or Selectmen concerning filling the pulpit of Mr. Ritz for the fu- ture." This afforded the English element a chance to make its viewpoint felt, and this was done in no uncertain way. In the preceding March the Germans had asked the Gentlemen Assessors of the Society to insert in the warrant an article "to see what the Society will do about getting a nother German Minister."17 The petitioners to this article in the warrant were Jacob Ludwig, Jacob Ludwig, Jr., William Kaler, Jacob Kaler, Joseph Kaler, Jacob Crammer, John Shuman, Peter Crammer, George Weaver, Frank Miller, Jacob Miller, Henry Miller, Charles Overlock, Frank Miller, Jr., Christian Stahl, Jacob Winchenbach, and Peter Gross.
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