USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > Germantown > History of the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Germantown, Ohio : and biographies of its pastors and founders > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
Gc 977.102 G31H
2250313
HISTORY
OF THE
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CONGREGATION
·1
·)
1
1
IN GERMANTOWN, OHIO, 1
AND
:- 1
1
BIOGRAPHIES )
OF ITS
.
PASTORS AND FOUNDERS,
BY THE REV. J. P. HENTZ, A. M.
DAYTON, O .: CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING HOUSE PRINT, 1882.
Allen County Public Library Ft. Wayne, Indiana
PREFACE.
2250313
This little volume has been prepared for the special use and benefit of the members of the congregation whose history it records. To preserve and perpetuate among them and their descendants and successors the knowledge of the first planting and early history of their congregation, has been the main aim and end of the writer.
But he has also had another object in view. He has long cherished the hope that the time might speedily come when some one, competent for the task, would undertake the work of writing the history of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in this western world. Fully aware that this can not be done unless the material for the history be first collected, and be furnished ready to the hand of the historian, he has written this account as a small contribution toward a general history.
The Lutheran Church in the United States has attained to dimensions, is exerting an influence, and gives promise of a future, that seem to the writer to demand that her history be speedily written, both for the information of her own children, and the Christian public at large. In point of numbers she holds the fourth place, probably the third, among the Protestant churches of our land, embracing
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PREFACE. ..
within her fold nearly one million of communicants. Her growth is more rapid than that of any other denomination. Her accessions, which she receives mainly by immigration from European countries, are truly colossal and are without a precedent or parallel in the history of any other church. It is estimated that in the year 1881, two hundred thousand souls, holding her faith, landed on the shores of our country ; and the year 1882, it is supposed, will bring over of the same people three hundred thousand more. From these figures it is easy to foresee that, ere many more years shall have passed by, the Lutheran Church will be the largest Protestant body in this country, as she now is in the world ; and that as such she is destined to become an important factor in the ecclesiastical and civil affairs of our country and nation.
In view of these facts it is unquestionably a matter of the utmost importance, and of most urgent necessity, that steps be taken, and means and meas- ures be devised, for the recording and preserving of her past and present history. The work of gathering the material for it ought to be entered on at once. Facts and data can be obtained yet, which will not much longer be available. They are stored away in the memory of the aged people of the church, in con- gregational records, and in other equally perishable receptacles. With the decease of the former and the decay and the destruction of the latter, these sources of information will be closed up, and much that may be of great value will be lost beyond
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PREFACE.
recovery. A great deal, indeed, of most precious material has already perished in consequence of not earlier steps having been taken for its preservation.
If every Lutheran pastor in the land were to take this matter in hand, collect all material to be found in his charge, and write out the history of his parish- which he would find to be neither a painful nor a very laborious task-and furnish the same to some person or party, previously appointed as custodian, within a few years at the longest all needed material would be gathered in, and a history could be written full, complete, and satisfactory, such as would prove an honor and a blessing, not only to Lutherans but to all Christian people in our land. Synods should take steps looking toward the accomplishment of this end.
In the preparation of this account the writer has labored under some disadvantages. But few written or printed documents have been at his disposal for information. For the most of his material he has had to depend on the recollections of the aged members of his congregation as they were drawn out piecemeal in mutual conversation around their family firesides. This is a method slow in progress, and often unsatisfactory in result. On his own memory the writer could not draw for much, his pastorate among these people extending over too short a space of time, the period of nine years. With his predecessors in office, whose biographies he has attempted to give, he had no personal acquaintance. Much of the
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PREFACE.
material embodied in this account he has had to . glean from the inscriptions on tombstones, from old and faded baptismal certificates, from obituary notices culled from newspapers, from records of family Bibles, and the like sources-here a little, and there a little, an item one day and another the next. That under such circumstances the work produced be but fragmentary and imperfect, is to be expected.
Accompanied by the earnest hope that it may accomplish the object in view for which its prepara- tion was undertaken, this little volume is hereby given to the public by its writer. J. P. H. Germantown, Ohio, August, 1882.
CONTENTS.
-
PAGE.
Preface .
3
Germantown
Relation Between the Lutheran and Reformed Congregations. . 10
9
Constitution of the United Congregations of German Township . 12
Disposition Made of Joint Property.
25
18
The Lutheran Congregation.
29
Rev. Andrew Henkel.
39
Rev. Julius L. Stirewalt
67
Rev. John P. Hentz . 80
The Sunday School.
80
A Few Noteworthy Facts
83
The Pioneer Fathers and Congregation
Founders of the
86
The Emericks .. . 87
John George Kern .
90
George Peter Kiester.
91
Jacob Bauer.
91
Conrad Eisele . 91
John George Boyer
92
Henry Christ
92
The Stumps.
92
The Stoevers
93
The Lindamuths
94
George Coleman 95
The Kimmerlings
95
Mrs. Catharine Schaeffer
96
Rev. John Caspar Dill .
HISTORY
OF THE
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CONGREGATION
OF
Germantown, Ohio.
Germantown
Is a pleasant and attractive village, beautifully sit- uated on Twin Creek, a branch of the Miami River, in the south-western part of Montgomery County, Ohio, and has a population of about eighteen hun- dred. The first settlement in its vicinity was effected about the year 1798, by a people who came here from the State of Kentucky. But they were squat- ters, and did but little toward the improvement of the country. In the year 1804 arrived here the first immigrants from Pennsylvania-about a dozen fami- lies-all from the counties of Berks and Center. These bought out the Kentuckians, and in a few years' time the Pennsylvanians alone were left as the owners and occupants of the soil. After this emi- gration set in at such a rapid rate that by the year 1810 the country was already thickly settled, and
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THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
land sold at from twenty-five to fifty dollars per acre. There were a few arrivals from Maryland and Vir- ginia, but the larger portion of the incoming popula - tion were from the eastern counties of Pennsylvania. In the year 1805 one of their number erected a mill on Twin Creek. Near this mill, soon after it had been built, a few dwelling-houses, a store, and some shops were erected. To these, as time advanced, others were added, and thus originated and grew up the town. Its site, however, was not regularly laid out for a town until in the year 1814. In the latter year Philip Gunckel, the proprietor of the mill and of the tract of land adjoining it, had a survey made, streets set apart, and building-lots apportioned. From this time the place began to grow rapidly in population, and has continued doing so up to this time. It received the name of Germantown from the fact that the people in and around it spoke the German as their vernacular tongue.
Relation Between the Lutheran and Reformed Congregations.
The people who settled here from 1804 to 1810 were, with few exceptions, either Lutherans or German Reformeds, the Lutherans having the pre- ponderance of numbers. A friendly and fraternal feeling existed between them. It was then the almost universal custom of these two denominations, wherever they lived in the same community, to build
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IN GERMANTOWN.
union churches, and to worship in the same sanctu- ary. And this they often did when they possessed sufficient wealth and numbers to erect separate churches and maintain themselves as separate con- gregations. Influenced by this custom the Luther- ans and Reformeds of Germanton early formed a union, held property in common, and worshiped side by side in the same church for many years. As early as the year 1805 they were numerous enough to organize themselves into congregations, build a church, and call and support pastors. But this they did not do at that time. Most likely they were too much occupied in making homes for themselves, to give church and school much thought. Or perhaps they were unable to secure teachers and pastors, as they were then but few in number. Previous to the year 1809 there was no regularly organized congre- gation in Germantown, nor did any regularly called minister labor here. There was occasional preach- ing performed by traveling or visiting ministers, and held in private houses. Pastoral work, such as the baptizing of the children and the burying of the dead, was also performed, but only by the same class of men.
In the year 1809 the two denominations, for the first time, decided to purchase ground for a grave- yard and church-lot and erect on it a house of wor- ship, to be the joint property of both denominations. To this end they framed articles of agreement, and bound themselves mutually by them. These articles
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THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
١
they call " Kirchenordnung," or "Constitution of the United Congregations of German Township, Montgomery Coup y, Ohio." It is a document de- serving of preservation, and therefore there is here subjoined a translation of it into the English lan- guage.
Constitution of the United Congrega- tions of German Township.
In the name of the Author of our being, whom we pray to guide us so that that which we are about to do may be done in harmony and peace and for the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.
We, the undersigned, members of the Evangelical Lutheran and of the Evangelical Reformed congre- gations of the township of German, the county of Montgomery, and the State of Ohio, together with others of the same faith residing in adjoining town- ships and counties who accept the articles of this constitution, hereby enter into an association for the purpose of erecting a common house of worship on a tract of land containing one acre of ground, situ- ated in the aforesaid township and county, and hav- ing been purchased of Philip Gunckel; and we hereby establish the following articles of agreement, to-wit :
1. Both congregations - viz. : the Evangelical Lutheran and the Evangelical Reformed - agree to contribute toward the erection of a house of worship,
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IN GERMANTOWN.
on the above-named one acre of ground, in the pro- portion of the valuation of the property of each individual member of either congregation, and to pay their contributions to the Building Committee, who have been chosen by a majority of the members of each congregation, viz. : Philip Gunckel, William Emerick, Leonard Stump, and Jacob Weber, and to continue paying at the same rate until the building is complete and paid for.
2. Trustworthy men have been appointed as trustees of the said property, viz. : Casper Stover, Lutheran, and Peter Recher, Reformed, to whom the said one acre of ground has been deeded, with this provision, viz. : In case either of them be re- moved by death or otherwise, or in case they prove themselves unworthy of their trust by any dishonest or immoral act, the congregation which has lost its trustee shall, by a majority of the votes of its mem- bers, elect another person in his place, who shall possess and exercise the same power as his prede- cessor.
3. After the house of worship is finished the expenses of its repairs and improvements shall be equally apportioned between, and be equally borne by, each congregation; but in case one congregation becomes much stronger than the other, the stronger shall not employ compulsory measures against the weaker in the discharge of this requirement.
4. An altar or table shall be provided, and shall be so constructed that the communion and baptismal
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THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
vessels can be kept in it under lock, the key to which shall be put in the keeping of one of the dea- cons, and shall by him be delivered up to the pastor of each congregation whenever said vessels are re- quired for the use to which they are designed.
5. All articles needed for the performance of divine worship, and the administration of the sacra- ments, shall be purchased by equal contributions from both congregations, and, after purchase, shall be the equal property of both.
6. The said house of worship is never to be used except to preach the divine word in it, or to hold in it meetings which have for their object the extension of the gospel.
7. The said house of worship shall be locked up, and the key shall be delivered for safe keeping to a person appointed for that purpose by the officers of the congregations, and shall, on demand, be always at the service of each congregation.
8. No man shall have permission to preach or perform any other ministerial act in said house of worship unless he be a member of either the Re- formed or Lutheran synod, or come recommended by the same, except in case of funerals. In that case the relatives of the deceased person may make choice of any minister of good character, who shall be permitted to officiate on the occasion.
9. Both congregations, as soon as they have se- cured regular pastors, shall be entitled to the same portion of time in said house of worship. One shall
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IN GERMANTOWN.
hold its service on one Sunday and the other on the Sunday following.
10. The union between both congregations shall be one of equal rights; and unless it be by the consent of the majority of the members of both congregations no strange minister shall be allowed to officiate in said church, with this exception : When one of the congregations invites a minister with the view of calling him as its pastor, in that case the other congregation shall not interfere.
11. All persons, without distinction of religious creed, residing in this section of country, are per- mitted to bury their dead in the grave-yard to which a portion of the above-named one acre of ground has been devoted, provided they previously obtain the consent of one of the trustees from both congre- gations. Suicides and like criminals shall not be buried in this grave-yard.
12. The said grave-yard shall be kept in good order by both congregations, and all expenses in- curred in doing so shall be equally borne by both.
13. Both congregations obligate themselves to pay their collections to the Building Committee which has been chosen to attend to repairs and im- provements. Said Building Committee shall render an account of its doings.whenever called upon to do so by the officers of the congregation.
14. The above articles of agreement having been carefully considered and approved, we hereby pledge
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THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
ourselves to their faithful observance. In testimony whereof we attach hereunto our names.
Done this the 30th day of July, A. D. 1809.
Casper Stover, Sen., Peter Recher, Leonard Stump, William Emerick, Michael Emerich, George Boyer, Frederick Stover, Christopher Emerick, John Emerick, Martyn Shuey, Casper Stover, Jr., Philip Gunckel, Conrad Eisele, Jacob Baur, Jacob Schwank, John Stover, George Gener, Jonathan Lindamuth, William Emerick, Jr., John Gunckel, Henry Holler, Michael Gunckel.
In reference to the above articles of agreement, it remains to be added that they were carefully ob- served as long as the congregations worshiped in the same place. The church was built in the manner agreed upon. It was a log structure, and cost the sum of five hundred dollars. It stood a few yards to the south-west of the present Lutheran church, and was completed in the year 1810. In the con- duct of the public worship and in the keeping up of the repairs all was done as the above agreement specifies.
The one acre of ground was deeded by Philip Gunckel to Casper Stover, Sen., and Peter Recher, trustees, to be held by them and their successors in office in trust for the Lutheran and Reformed con- gregations. Nothing is said in the deed as to the use to be made of the ground. It is a deed in fee simple, acknowledges the receipt of full value agreed
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IN GERMANTOWN.
upon, and hence the piece of land may be sold or be used for any purpose whatever. This statement is here made because it has been said that the said one acre of ground was donated by Philip Gunckel for a special purpose, and if ever perverted from that purpose would revert back to the Gunckel heirs. A transcript of said deed can be found in the re- corder's office in Dayton, year 1809, Book B, pages 268 and 269.
During the first few years after the church was built the congregations were supplied with word and sacrament by various men, who were mere supplies and not regular pastors. In the year 1815 the. Lu- therans called to their pastorate the Rev. John Cas- per Dill ; and the Reformeds, about the same time,
called the Rev. Thomas Winters. From that time to the present both congregations have been regu- larly served by pastors of their own creed and choice. Although worshiping in the same church and holding property in common they lived together in peace. No trouble ever rose up between them to disturb their harmony. This was owing to several causes-chiefly to their carefully drawn-up constitu- tion. Both people and pastors were then too busy to give very close attention to. distinctive denomina- tional doctrines. They had no time for doctrinal controversy, and hence there were no mistrusts and alienations arising from this source. That bone of contention, proselyting from one another, had not yet come into practice. Of that the fathers of these
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THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
two churches knew nothing until the Methodistic, sects made their appearance among them. The; children generally connected with the church of their parents. In case both parents did not belong! to one and the same church, the sons usually attached themselves to the church of the father, and the daugh- ters to the church of the mother. This rule, if it had no other good in it, prevented, at least, a good deal of strife and bad feeling. This union between the two congregations continued uninterruptedly for the space of about twenty years. On one Lord's- ; day the Lutherans held service and on the next the Reformeds ; but the audiences were always the same, the Lutherans attending the Reformed services and the Reformeds the Lutheran.
Disposition of Joint Property.
In the course of time, as the population increased and with that the membership of the churches, the house of worship erected in 1810 became too small. It was found necessary either to enlarge it or else to build a new one in its place. To meet the demand for increased room Judge Philip Gunckel, the pro- prietor of the town and a member of the Reformed congregation, undertook, in the year 1818, to erect, at his own expense, a large and commodious brick structure, at the west end of Market Street, of which he sold one half to the Reformed congregation and the other half to the Lutheran congregation, to be
:
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IN GERMANTOWN.
used and occupied by them as a church. This building, however, was not completed until the year 1828. In this year the two congregations abandoned the old log structure and moved into the new house. It stood on nearly the same site occupied by the present Reformed church. Here the congregations worshiped under the same roof for two years longer. But at the end of this time, in the year 1830, owing to some difficulty between Philip Gunckel and the Lutheran congregation, the latter abandoned this church and went back to their old place of worship, and soon thereafter erected a new church. By this act the two congregations were finally and forever separated so far as worship was concerned ; but they still held in common the one acre of ground pur- chased of Philip Gunckel for grave-yard and church purposes. And this joint ownership continued up to the year 1879. In this year the Lutherans pro- posed to the Reformeds to buy them out. They desired to have sole control of the property for ob-
vious reasons. For more than twenty-five years the old grave-yard had been abandoned as a place of sepulture, a public cemetery having been laid out outside of the town. The property wore a neglected appearance. The fences were decaying and out of shape, the grave-stones were leaning over and falling down, and the graves were overgrown with weeds and briars. The L'utheran congregation were the only party interested in the place. It adjoined their
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THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
church-lot, and they had to pass over it to reach their own place of worship. Its dilapidated and neglected appearance made their church-property look bad. Negotiations were entered on, and, after giving the matter a thorough investigation, an under standing was arrived at and the Reformeds trans ferred their property-rights to the Lutherans.
. The negotiations and investigation resulting in the disposition of the one acre of ground, as just men tioned, revealed facts and led to conclusions which are thought of sufficient importance to embody them in this record.
The Lutheran congregation maintained that they had a just claim to one half of the church property of the Reformed congregation, having purchased the same of Philip Gunckel and paid him for it. They owned that they had no deed or other writing by which to prove their claim legally valid - Mr. Gunckel, in consequence of a dispute about the terms of payment, having refused to make them a deed, notwithstanding their having paid him the sum; agreed upon - but that their claim nevertheless was right and should be acknowledged. They said to the Reformeds, " If you will give us a quit-claim for. your part of the grave-yard we will give you a quit- claim for our part of your church property." To
this the Reformeds replied that they owed the Lu therans nothing; that the purchase and payment of one half of their church property was a transaction
.-.
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IN GERMANTOWN.
in which they were not concerned; that that was a matter resting between Philip Gunckel and the Lu- theran congregation, and that they insisted on being paid the full value of their share in the grave-yard. Inquiry being made, the following information was obtained :
Under date of February 16, 1830, Philip Gunckel conveyed by deed one half of the church property at the west end of Market Street to the German Re- formed congregation. In that deed there is the fol- lowing provision : "Subject also to the following re- strictions and reservations, to-wit : To suffer, allow, and permit the Lutheran congregation of German- town aforesaid, who are the owners of the undivided one half of the land above described, to use the same as a place of public worship, according to the true intent and meaning of certain articles of associ- ation entered into and ratified and concluded by and between the said German Reformed Church and the said Lutheran Church, at Germantown, on the 30th day of October, 1818, and recorded in the church- book of each of said churches."
From this extract it appears that their own deed requires the Reformed congregation to " suffer, allow, and permit the Lutheran congregation to use the Reformed church as a place of worship." That provision remains to-day unaltered, and always will remain so. It was inserted because Judge Philip Gunckel had sold the other half of the same prop-
-
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THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
erty to the Lutheran congregation. The latter, however, never received a deed for their one half. The deed was written, and properly signed and at tested, but was never delivered, the reason of which was this: The Lutherans were to pay six hundred dollars, but found that they were unable to collect that much. They raised five hundred and twenty
five dollars. They stated their case to Mr. Gunckel and he agreed to throw off seventy five dollars, and give the deed on the payment of five hundred and twenty-five dollars. This sum was paid over to him. At this point he pretended to take offense at some thing the Lutherans had said or done, refused to. abide by his last agreement, and fell back upon the. first, and demanded the payment of six hundred dol- lars in full. Both parties now grew angry, and charged one another with unfair dealing, dropped the matter, and left it in this unfinished and unsatis- factory condition. As the Lutherans did not pay the lacking seventy-five dollars, Mr. Gunckel gave them no deed, and retained the five hundred and twenty-five dollars paid him -a transaction the like of which never seems to have troubled his easy con science.
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