USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Germantown > Brief history of Emmanuel's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Germantown, Ohio : for its centennial, A.D. 1809-A.D. 1909 > Part 1
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bnet History of
Emmanuel's Levangelical Lutheran Church
sermantown, O.
Gc 977.102 G31s 1972088
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
INN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02279 7432
EN
Brief History OF Emmanuel's Evangelical Lutheran Church
Germantown, Ohio
For Its Centennial A.D. 1809 - A.D. 1909
By the Pastor ALBERT F. SIEBERT
GERMANTOWN PRESS, GERMANTOWN, OHIO
LLL-06 sole mio ud centro ML 99.68
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
FIRST BEGINNINGS.
7
CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST CHURCH
10
CHAPTER III.
THE FIRST PASTORS.
13
REV. ANDREW SIMON.
13
REV. JOHN CASPAR DILL.
15
CHAPTER IV.
1972088
THE THIRD PASTOR-REV. ADREW HENKEL.
18
CHAPTER V.
THE SECOND CHURCH.
21
CHAPTER VI.
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION .
24
CHAPTER VII.
THE FOURTH PASTOR-REV. JULIUS STIREWALT
26
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CHURCH EDIFICE REMODELED.
30
CHAPTER IX.
THE FIFTH PASTOR-REV. J. P. HENTZ, D.D.
33
SOLE OWNERSHIP OF CHURCHYARD OBTAINED
34
GERMANTOWN INSTITUTE .. 36
CHAPTER X.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
39
CHAPTER XI.
THE SIXTH PASTOR-REV. ALBERT F. SIEBERT, D.D
41
CHAPTER XII.
BEQUESTS TO THE CHURCH.
41
IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CHURCH PROPERTY
43
CHAPTER XIII.
CHURCH SOCIETIES
47
FIRM IN THE FAITH
CHAPTER XIV.
50
CHAPTER XV.
SYNODICAL CONNECTION
53
CHAPTER
XVI.
OUR BOYS IN THE MINISTRY
56
Foreword
This little book has been prepared as a memorial of the Centennial of Emmanuel's Church, held August 1 and 2, 1909.
It is not sent forth to supplant the fuller history pre- pared by the former pastor, Rev. J. P. Hentz, D.D., and published in 1882. It simply condenses what is there given, adds a few items that have come to the present pastor's knowledge, and brings the history down to date. Those who desire a fuller history of the congregation are therefore referred to the larger and fuller work.
May He who has so signally blessed this congregation in the hundred years of its past history, make it still more increasingly a power for good in the years to come!
A. F. S.
Germantown, Ohio, July 15, 1909.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
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CHAPTER I.
First Beginnings.
HE planting of the Lutheran Church in Ger- mantown goes back to the opening years of the nineteenth century, before the town itself was laid out. As early as 1803 and 1804 the advance guard of Pennsylvania Germans began to arrive at the junction of Big and Little Twin Creeks, where Germantown now stands. The larger stream, with its flow and fall, afforded excellent mill sites, and the land was most fertile.
Frontiersmen from Kentucky had first noticed the natural advantages of the place and some had settled here, but with the coming of the Pennsyl- vania Germans they moved farther into the wilder- ness, and the later arrivals became the permanent settlers. In 1804 and 1805 the stream of immigra- tion was very large, mainly from Berks and adja- cent counties in Pennsylvania, and by the close of the first decade of the last century, the country was comparatively thickly settled.
Nearly all of these were either of the Lutheran or the Reformed Churches. Among those of the Lutheran faith were John Caspar Stoever, Jr., the oldest son of Rev. John Caspar Stoever the pioneer
Lutheran pastor of Pennsylvania and contemporary of Henry Melchoir Mühlenberg. This oldest son came to the neighborhood of Germantown, accom- panied by three sons already married, Frederick, Caspar, and John, and all heads of families. An- other prominent family that came in these earlier years was that of the Emericks, represented by Michael, William, John, and Christopher, all mar- ried and heads of families but John, who outlived his brothers and died a bachelor. The Stumps, the Lindenmuths, and the Kerns were also among the early arrivals on the Lutheran side, and there was also a George Emrick, not very closely related, if at all, to the family mentioned above.
Almost as soon as these Lutherans and their companions in the Reformed Church arrived in this then new country, the respective Churches to which they belonged began to follow them up, and to look after their spiritual interests. On the Reformed side, as early as 1803, a Rev. Mr. Christman came among them from North Carolina, and in 1804 Rev. Mr. La Rose followed from the same State. The latter settled near Miamisburg, and the former in Clear Creek Township in Warren County. It is to be expected that during these years Lutheran mis- sionaries would also be looking after and caring for those of their faith. Rev. Paul Henkel, who was also from North Carolina, and was among the ear- liest Lutheran ministers to penetrate the Ohio wil- derness, would certainly find his way to the settle- ments where the Reformed pastors from that State
8
had found work to do. It is not likely, however that he visited this neighborhood much before 1808 or 1809.
Rev. Messrs. Forster, Markert, and Mau also vis- ited this neighborhood, the first-named being likely the earliest minister to bring the means of grace to the Lutherans here. Rev. S. Mau settled in this vicinity, but he was not acceptable to the people as a preacher, and settled down to the vocation of a school-teacher. He did not, however, lay down the office of the ministry, and participated in the organization of the Joint Synod of Ohio in 1818.
The year 1809 found both the Lutherans and the Reformed strong enough for each to have ef- fected some kind of an organization, and to discuss and plan concerning the building of a church edifice. In a joint meeting that was held, a "Kirchen- Ordnung," or Joint Constitution, was drawn up and signed July 30, 1809, making this date, therefore, the virtual starting point of each congregation's existence.
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CHAPTER II.
The First Church.
HE Reformed and Lutherans who came to this neighborhood in these early years were, as we have said, mainly from Pennsylvania, with a few also from Maryland. In their old homes it had been a frequent custom for the two denomi- nations to unite in building a union church to be occupied by each on alternate Sundays. Influenced by this custom, the Lutherans and Reformed of Ger- mantown and vicinity decided to build such a union church, to be held in common under such rules and regulations as would avoid any friction. The first constitution adopted, therefore, was in truth but a joint agreement for the building of the union church, with rules for its maintenance and government.
The trustees of the two congregations, Caspar Stoever, Sr., and Peter Recher, had already pur- chased of Philip Gunckel one acre of ground to be used as a site for the church, and as a burying- ground. The Constitution appointed a Building Committee, consisting of Philip Gunckel and Jacob Weber, Reformed, and William Emrick and Leon- ard Stump, Lutherans, and provided for the pay- ment to them of sums by each member of the two congregations, in proportion to the valuation of the
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3 1833 02279 7432
property of such member, until the building would be completed and paid for, after which further ex- penses for repairs and improvements were to be diveded equally between the two congregations.
The church edifice, thus provided for, was built as agreed upon. It was a log structure and the cost of it was about $500, much of the work of cut- ting down and hauling logs evidently being done by the members. It stood about fifty feet to the southwest of the present church building, and was beyond a doubt the equal or more likely the superior of the other buildings, then erected in the village.
Unfortunately no accurate description of the interior of this first church is in existence. As to its exterior, it was a plain log structure with the usual clay filling. On the inside the walls were the counterpart of those on the outside. The benches were made of slabs hewn with the axe, and like slabs constituted the flooring. There were two rows of windows, the upper row lighting a gallery that ran around the church, and it is certain the pulpit and altar were somewhat more elaborate than the benches, and stood almost in the center of the church. The pulpit was on a pedestal and had a sounding-board over it.
In later years, after the Lutherans had built their first church on the present site, the old log church was taken down and rebuilt on Warren Street, opposite the church-yard, was weather- boarded and changed into a dwelling-house. It is now owned by Mr. Peter Heller, an elder of the
11
congregation, and a cut of it appears on the oppo- site page. The windows on the first floor were cut down through the solid walnut logs some years ago; but otherwise, were the weather-boarding re- moved, the old church would be seen as it was in the days of the forefathers.
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THE FIRST CHURCH
CHAPTER III.
The First Pastors.
ITH the then new church in course of erection, it is natural that each denomi- nation desired to secure its pastor, who should minister to them regularly the Word and Sacraments. The Lutherans applied to the Mother Synod, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, for a pas- tor. As we learn from Jacob's "The Lutherans" in the American Church History Series, "Rev. Simon had been appointed missionary for western and northern Pennsylvania and for Ohio in 1808," by the Ministerium. That body, on the appeal of the Germantown congregation, must have directed Rev. Simon to this as a new field of labor, and by the close of 1810 he was evidently here.
Rev. Andrew Simon.
His successor, Rev. Dill, writes concerning him in 1824, as follows, referring to the lamentable lack of faithful and godly pastors, he goes on to say, speaking for the congregation : "This ill fortune we too in this neighborhood were called upon to endure for a long time, inasmuch as at the time when most of us moved into this State an orderly
13
and well-regulated church service was rarely to be seen, and outside of the different sects, only now and then an Evangelical minister upon his travels visited us. At last it seemed as if the Lord had had pity upon us and again had visited his Zion. Rev. Andrew Simon came to us. Inasmuch as he had studied in Philadelphia under those worthy teachers, Hellmuth and Schmidt, therefore we were filled with joyful hope that in Rev. Simon we had received a competent and worthy teacher."
But these hopes were, from all accounts, not realized. Not only was the delivery of the new pastor very poor, but what was still more deplor- able, he was not sound in the faith. Rev. Dill goes on to say :
"The pure, simple, apostolic mode of teaching was too simple for him, and the arrangement of the Evangelical Church service from the time of the blessed Reformation, as also some of the more im- portant doctrines of the Augsburg Confession, he was opposed to. He declared that he now had come to a better view on those things. These remarkable declarations of Rev. Simon in his official capacity met with a general and determined opposition on the part of his congregation."
The outcome of it was that the Church Council appealed to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in 1813 to withdraw Rev. Simon and to send them another pastor. That body, upon investigation, severed the tie between them and Rev. Simon, and authorized them to secure another pastor.
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REV. JOHN CASPAR DILL
The Second Pastor-Rev. John Caspar Dill,
was a man of an entirely different stamp. He was born in Wertheim in the province of Franconia, now located on the northern edge of the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, February 2, 1758. After the usual course of instruction in the schools of his native town, he took a three years course in academic branches in its high school. Deciding to study for the ministry, he enrolled himself as a student in the Lutheran University of Giessen in Hessen Darmstadt. Here he received an excellent theological education and made good use of the advantages for culture this famous institution afforded him.
After the completion of his theological course, for some reason, he decided to emigrate to America. He arrived in Baltimore in the fall of 1790, and after a short stay left for Pennsylvania. As a candidate of theology he was licensed to perform the duties of the ministry by the Ministerium of Pennsylva- nia at its meeting in June, 1791. He at once en- tered upon his work, taking charge of congregations in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, of which Easton is the county-seat, and which, at that time, included what is now Lehigh County.
On the sixteenth day of June, 1802, he was or- dained to the Gospel Ministry by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, in the city of Reading, as pastor of the congregations on the Jordan, Union, Egypt, and Trexler's in Northampton, now Lehigh County.
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The ordination certificate is signed by Rev. Fred- rick Schmidt, President, and Rev. Frederick D. Schaefer, Secretary.
Rev. Dill continued to labor in Northampton, or Lehigh County, and sometime during these years was united in marriage to Miss Anna Maria Sieber- ling of Weissenburg Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Their home seems then to have been made at Macungie in the same County.
In 1814 the Reformed congregation of German- town was visited by a traveling missionary from Pennsylvania, a Rev. Wm. Dechant. He accepted a call to the pastorate from the congregation here, and returned to Pennsylvania for his family. Be- fore leaving, the Lutherans, worshiping as they did in the same building, asked him if he could not rec- ommend them a good man to be their pastor. He at once gave them the name of Rev. Dill, and an informal call was sent through him to Rev. Dill to become the pastor. He visited them in the summer of 1815, arriving July 1, and it resulted in the formal call being extended him by the three congregations acting as one parish, Germantown, Stettlers, and Gebharts, the latter two being in Miami township. The call was accepted and Rev. Dill went back to Pennsylvania for his family, returning with them that same fall, reaching here in November. He now entered on his labors in earnest, conducting services not only for these three congregations, but also at Bear Creek now Ellerton, at Elk Creek in Butler County, and organizing in 1818 the congregation
16
in Miamisburg. Becoming acquainted with Henry Heincke, who had been a soldier in Napoleon Bonaparte's army, coming to this country after its disbanding, Rev. Dill educated him for the minis- try. The congregations at Gebharts, Miamisburg, and Bear Creek soon passed into the younger man's care.
Rev. Dill was almost sixty years of age when he became pastor of Germantown and the neighbor- ing congregations, and the hardships of the work in those early days, when roads were bad and preaching-points widely scattered began to tell on his health and strength. After a ministry here of but nine years, he died in August, 1824, at the age or sixty-six years and five months. His mortal re- mains are laid to rest in our Germantown Cemetery.
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CHAPTER IV.
The Third Pastor-Rev. Andrew Henkel.
FTER the death of Rev. Dill, Germantown congregation remained vacant for over a year. In 1826 a call was extended to Rev. Andrew Henkel, who for twelve years had been in charge of congregations in Perry. and Muskingum Counties. This call was accepted and the new pastor at once removed to Germantown.
Andrew Henkel was the fourth son of that Rev. Paul Henkel of whom mention has been made, as one of the first traveling missionaries to visit this neighborhood after its settlement. Andrew was born in New Market, Virginia, October 21, 1790. His theological training was mostly received at the hands of his father and of his brother, Philip. He received his first license to preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments from the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in 1811. He remained a licentiate for a number of years, not being ordained until a few years before coming to Germantown. The fourteen years spent in his first parish gave proof of his emi- nent abilities as a preacher and pastor, so that there was every reason to look forward to a successful ministry in his new field of labor. And thus it proved. Although the congregations in Miami
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REV. ANDREW HENKEL
Township and that on Bear Creek had chosen Rev. Heincke as pastor, yet other congregations to the west and northwest more than made up for their loss. Elk Creek, the church on the State road, Stoever's and Slifer's, near Farmersville, and others were served by Rev. Henkel, as also Stettler's.
In these congregations he spent the remainder of his life, with the exception of a short intermission spent in Goshen, Indiana, and another in Lewis- burg, Ohio. He was very active in all branches of his work, in catechization, in preaching, in standing up in defence of the pure faith of the Gospel against the sectarians by whom he was surrounded. It is sufficient evidence of his work to state that in this charge wherein he labored forty-four years, he bap- tized 1,003, confirmed after catechization 877, mar- ried 495 couples, and officiated at 683 funerals.
Rev. Dr. Hentz writes of him: "Not only in the church, but also in the community at large, Rev. Henkel's talents and influence made themselves felt. By means of his sagacity and practical tact he be- came at once one of the leading citizens of German- town. He was consulted and called to office and public position when weighty interests were pend- ing, and was always zealous in the promotion of any useful public improvement."
It would exceed the limits allowed in this little work to go into a detailed statement of all the labors of this third pastor of the congregation. His busi- ness career, his connection with secret societies and the difficulties in which it involved him with his
19
synod and many of his brethren; his interest in political matters and in religious controversy are fully and ably treated in Dr. Hentz's larger history.
Rev. Henkel was also the author of several small books and pamphlets. Three of the latter were in defence of secret societies, but they have long since been forgotten. Probably the book which ought to have had a wider circulation was his trea- tise in defence of Infant Baptism, in the form of a dialogue. It is written in an easy and popular style, meeting clearly and scripturally the common objections raised against the baptism of children. He also published a small book of poems in German and Pennsylvania German, some of them his fath- er's, but the larger number his own. He called it "Zeit Vertreib," and most of the poems are very readable.
He passed away April 23, 1870, aged 79 years, 6 months, and 2 days, and his remains also rest in the Germantown Cemetery.
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CHAPTER V.
The Second Church.
ITH the coming of Rev. Henkel, as well as owing to the natural growth of both the Lutheran and Reformed congrega- tions, the log church became too small for the mem- bers who gathered in it. To meet the need of a larger church edifice, Philip Gunckel, the proprietor of the town, and from whom the lot had been pur- chased, proposed to erect a larger and more com- modious brick church on the ground where the present Reformed Church stands. This new edifice was to belong jointly, together with the lot, to the two congregations under the same rules and regula- tions under which they owned and occupied the log church.
It was not until 1828 that this building was completed, when the two congregations took pos- session of the new church. Each was to pay Philip Gunckel the sum of $600 and then receive a quit claim deed for one-half the property. Both started to raise the amount and to pay over the money when raised to Mr. Gunckel. By February 16, 1830, the Reformed had raised and paid over to him their $600 and received a deed for one-half the property. The Lutherans had only raised $525, and some dis-
21
pute having arisen between them and Mr. Gunckel, they refused to raise any more. He then agreed to let them have the property for the amount raised, and donate the $75 still due. The $525 was then paid to him, but for some reason he failed to abide by his promise to donate the balance and refused to hand over the deed.
Both sides were stubborn; the Lutherans de- clined to pay over any more money, and Mr. Gunckel refused to either hand back the $525 or to execute a deed unless the $75 was paid. Both were angry and the Lutherans refused to worship in the new church any longer and went back to the log church in 1830. Mr. Gunckel never handed back either the $525 or the deed. Thus came about the separation of the Lutherans and Reformed, but through no strife between them.
Though now occupying alone the old church, the Lutherans had only a half-interest in it, and could use it only every other Sunday. They there- fore resolved to purchase a piece of ground for themselves on which their new church should be erected. A quarter-acre of ground, adjoining the old property on the north, was purchased from Mr. Nathaniel Lyons and steps were at once taken for the erection of a brick church. On the eighteenth of June, 1831, the corner-stone was laid by the pastor, in which were placed the constitution adopt- ed that day, a list of the male members numbering seventy-one, minutes of Woodstock Conference, 1805, to which is appended the Augsburg Confes-
22
THE SECOND CHURCH
sion, Holy Bible, Luther's Catechism, and a number of coins.
The church was finally completed and the con- gregation at once took possession. As can be seen from the cut on the opposite page, it was a building along the best architectural lines, an ornament to the town, and a credit to the congregation. At the time of its erection it was regarded as one of the best churches in this part of the State.
The interior was almost perfectly square, the pulpit was against the north wall, painted white, very high, and with an altar, also painted white, in front of it. Galleries ran around the other three sides, entrance to which was from doors on the east and west sides. The pews were plain, of pop- lar, and an aisle ran through the center, and another from the doors on the sides. The cost of the church was about $4,000.
It was surmounted by a white spire that was at first placed on the church, but afterwards a brick tower was erected on which a new spire was built. In this was placed a sweet-toned bell that for many years called the members to worship. These came in steadily-increasing numbers as the years rolled by. Confirmation classes exceeding fifty in num- ber were not unusual, and many of the older mem- bers still living were confirmed at its altar.
We have searched through the records in our possession for the date of its consecration, but in vain. This may reach the eye of some one able to furnish it.
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CHAPTER VI.
The Language Question.
P to the time of the coming of Rev. Henkel, the services were all held in German, the then prevailing language of the community. But as the years went by and public schools teach- ing English took the place of the private or congre- gational schools, teaching German, there was in- creasing need of the use of English in catechization and the church services.
Rev. Henkel being proficient in both languages and a ready speaker in either, with his advent the English began to be used more and more frequently until at last the services were conducted alternately in German and English. But this was purely by sufferance on the part of the German members. The official name of the congregation as given in the constitution was "The High German Evangel- ical Lutheran Emmanuel's Church," and Article V. says, "The privilege to preach English can only be granted by the Church Council when regarded bene- ficial and only so long as they represent the unan- imous wishes of the contributing members of the congregation."
However the German members seemed to be perfectly willing to have the services in English each alternate Lord's Day, as we can find no ob-
24
jection on record. Troubles about the language question did not arise until the matter of the pay- ment of a debt of $700 came up in a congregational meeting held January 22, 1866. The matter of re- building the church was then being talked of, and the English members did not wish. to help pay any debts or to subscribe for the proposed rebuilding unless constitutional rights in the property were given them.
So amendments were submitted at this meeting to Articles II. and V., "to give the English equal right in the ownership of the church property with the German." But to the surprise of all, the motion to adopt the proposed change was lost. Much dis- satisfaction, however, resulted, and it was decided to hold another congregational meeting, which was called for June 4 of the same year.
The meeting was held in spite of the protest of some of the prominent German members, and re- sulted by a unanimous vote in appointing a com- mittee to revise the constitution. This committee reported on the eighteenth of June the Revised Constitution, which was first adopted in sections and then as a whole. The Third Article gave "to the German and to the English portions of the congregation . . . equal rights, claims, and privi- leges." Since then, the language question has given but little trouble, and now it looks as if the congregation would become purely English, simply because there are not now a sufficient number of Germans to hold services.
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