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UC-NRLF B 3 497 524
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. RECEIVED BY EXCHANGE Class
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CHRISTIAN NEPR 590
4 MARTIN KINDIG
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EX-ALO MILLER GRAVOTARO
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8 CHR'STA FRANCISCO9 590
I INDICATES WEST WILLOW
13 JOHN PUNK
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O WILLOW STREET
1060
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11 MARTIN KIN DIG ADD 6% FOR ROADS
W STRASBURS BORD
---- MARKS BLD COMESTOGA RD
ERECTED BY
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BOULDER AND TABLET WHICH MARK THE FIRST PERMANENT WHITE SETTLEMENT WITHIN THE BORDERS OF LANCASTER COUNTY, UNVEILED SEPTEMBER 8th, 1910.
2 MARTIN MEYLIN 264
TRACT-5 MILES LONG-8400 A LINES RUN 12 - PROM CARDINALS
9 JACOB MILLER 1008
PAPERS READ
BEFORE THE
LANCASTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
FRIDAY, OCTOBER Z, 1910.
" mistory herself, as seen in het own workshop." A. Buennic
REPORT OF COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO CONDUCT CELEBRATION OF 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST PERMANENT WHITE SETTLEMENT IN LANCAS- TER COUNTY.
MINUTES OF OCTOBER MEETING.
BI-CENTENARY NUMBER.
VOL. XIV. NO. 8.
PRICE TWENTY-FIVE CENTS PER COPY.
LANCASTER, PA. 1910.
صــ
PAPERS READ
BEFORE THE
LANCASTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1910.
"mistory herself, as seen in her own workshop."
REPORT OF COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO CONDUCT CELEBRATION OF 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST PERMANENT WHITE SETTLEMENT IN LANCAS- TER COUNTY.
MINUTES OF OCTOBER MEETING.
BI-CENTENARY NUMBER.
VOL. XIV. NO. 8.
PRICE TWENTY-FIVE CENTS PER COPY.
LANCASTER, PA. 1910.
Report of Bi-Centenary Committee - -
- 197 - Minutes of October Meeting - - - - - - 244
REPORT OF COMMITTEE
APPOINTED TO CONDUCT CELE- BRATION OF 200TH ANNIVER- SARY OF FIRST PERMANENT WHITE SETTLEMENT WITHIN BORDERS OF LANCASTER COUNTY:
Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 7, 1910. To the President and Members of the Lancaster County Historical So- ciety :
Your committee, appointed to con- duct a celebration of the 200th anni- versary of the first white settlement within the borders of Lancaster coun- ty, report as follows:
After meeting several times during the summer, this committee succeed- ed in securing a commemorative tab- let, which they mounted on a nine-ton limestone boulder, secured from Mr. Cyrus Zittle's quarry, on the original tract settled, and planted the same in the front of the Mennonite Church- yard near Willow Street, and carried out a literary and historical pro- gramme during the morning,afternoon and evening of Thursday, September 8, 1910. The proceedings and fea- tures of the day follow:
He who, in the years that are to come, traces the pages of Lancaster county's historical lore will note with more than passing interest the record for the day September 8, 1910, ani he will be apprised of the fact that its
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then Historical Society conducted a celebration, notable and memorable, commemorative of the 200th anniver- sary of its first white settlement. The record will be one of the most illus- trious to adorn any of its pages, un- usually rich though they be. The reader will also be apprised of the
fact that the success of the under- taking was unqualified, and that in the effort put forth and attained to
mark the event with distinguishing exercises, the people of this day were eager to fitly manifest their venera- tion for and appreciation of a notable ancestry. For the celebration morn- ing and afternoon at the Brick Meet- ing House in West Lampeter, attend- ant upon the dedication of the boulder and its historic tablet, and con- tinued at the Court House in the evening, was worthy of enduring preservation, beyond the period of time that may be allotted on earth to those who were privileged to partici- pate in it. Men distinguished in the world of letters and affairs, sons of the native soil who have risen to fame both at home and abroad, re- turned to the hallowed spot to testify their devotion and obligation to those forefathers who bestowed upon them many precious heritages, most of which were of more priceless value than their rich acres.
The Committee of Arrangements, after weeks of constant preparation, realized at the dawn of the genial dav that the only doubtful element re- maining to insure a complete success of the anniversary, the weather, was to be in their favor. Nothing els? was lacking, and at an early hour the meeting-house became the centre of a lively scene. The wheel of every vehicle in the neighborhood turned in its direction that morning. From up
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and down the Big Spring and Beaver Valley turnpike, from roads leading to Lampeter, Strasburg, Quarryville, Willow Street, Martic, Pequea, Con- estoga and this city, the human tide poured in, while far the greatest num- bers were conveyed to the scene by trolley. To the early arrival, pos- sessed of a contemplative turn of mind, the place and the occasion fur- nished food for pleasing reflection. Standing on the elevation to the rear of the meeting-house, and turning his gaze to whatever direction he chose, even "to where the amplest reach of prospect lay," there was un- folded before him a panorama of un- dulating landscape as rich in beauty as its soil is in wealth. It is a coun- try thickly dotted with homes where- in no modern comforts and conveni- ences are lacking, and with commo- dious barns, at this season fairly bursting with their wealth of crops- a placid scene of peace and prosper- ity, nursed and developed by the gen- tle art of husbandry. Close his eyes to the vision, he required the exer- cise of but a quick fancy of the im- agination, and he was transported to another period in the history of the same locality and there came to his memory a vivid picture of the wilder- ness, in its primeval state, into which two hundred years ago the ministe- rial leader, Herr, piloted his little col- ony. They consisted of Martin Kun- dig (now Kendig), Martin Meili (now Mylin), Christian Herr, Wendell Bow- man, Jacob Mieller (now Miller), John
Funk, John Rudolph Bundely and Christopher Franciscus. He saw them "bow the woods beneath their sturdy stroke," and there, far from the re- ligious persecution from which they fled, he felt their pious presence as they knelt in peacefuï worship, unmo- lested by tyrannous oppressors. How
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well they overcame the grim hard- ships that they faced, how they laid the foundation on the 6,400 acre grant they received from Penn for the development of the richest garden spot in all the land and sowed the seed of a religious faith that has radi- ated from that centre in a ceaseless stream of strength and purity through all the succeeding generations to the present, constitutes a page of local history that makes it rich with "the spoils of time."
Again reverting to objects near at hand, the observer, if imbued in the least with the spirit of the antiquary, was held in fascinated interest by the ancient Herr house. Its sturdy stone walls, still defying the elements, seem characteristic of the spirit of its own- er and the unique staircase, hewn from the solid log, and the fireplace, around which the romancer loves to linger, claimed both "the smile and tear," Adjoining the meeting-house ground is God's acre.
"Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell forever laid, The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
It was certainly a spot for solemn contemplation, and he who yielded to such train of thought turned with almost a reverential interest to the stirring events about to transpire.
Excellent provision had been made for the crowds that gathered, in the seating accommodation and that for teams. The residents of the commu- nity, most of whom are direct, lineal descendants of the original settlers, and have clung, with remarkable tenacity, to the ancestral acres, took a deep pride in the event, and con- tributed in every way possible to the entertainment and comfort of the vis- itors. The day's exercises, which were continued the same evening at the
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Court House, in this city, included addresses by distinguished speakers, to whom the Pennsylvania German and the Mennonites were subjects of intimate acquaintance, to which they gave a full share of praise.
The Opening Exercises.
Mr. Frank R. Diffenderffer, chair- man of the committee of arrange- ments, started the programme by an- nouncing Ex-Auditor General Amos H. Mylin, a representative of a straight line of descent from the pio- neer progenitor of his family, as the presiding officer.
Chairman Diffenderffer's address was as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen: I am ex- tremely gratified by the sight of the splendid audience before me. It shows our people realize the signifi- cance of the occasion that has brought us together. We have fore- gathered this day to do honor to a most worthy and deserving ancestry, whose influence for good has made this region what it is to-day and which, I trust, will continue for centuries still to come.
We are standing on historic ground. The tale is told in part on yonder stone, which, while mute as the Sphinx, is nevertheless eloquent in its very silence, and you will hear the fuller story from those who shall address you during the day.
Three minutes have been allotted to me to make these introductory remarks -I shall not exceed my time time- limit-hoping that my example may not be lost on those that come after me.
As a member of the Lancaster County Historical Society, and as the Chairman of the Committee in charge of this memorable bi-centennial cele- bration of the first settlement made in our county, it becomes my duty, as
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weil as my pleasure, to introduce to you as the chairman of this morn- ing's session, a gentleman known to most of you, one to the manner born, and one who in the sixth generation has plowed and planted, hoed and harrowed, and who still resides on the lands purchased by his ancestor from William Penn; who has served this county, the State Senate and the people-at-large as the Auditor Gen- eral of the Commonwealth of Penn- sylvania, the Honorable Amos H. My- lin-Mr. Mylin:
Ex-Senator Mylin's Address.
Hon. Amos H. Mylin, a descendant of the original Martin Mylin, upon taking the chair, made a brief ad- dress, as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen: In behalf of the Historical Society of Lancaster county I greet you, bid you welcome, and invite you to participate in the ceremonies of the day.
At last the day and the hour have arrived to erect a suitable marker to commemorate the advent of the pion- eer settlers of Lancaster county. To look back two hundred years is a long vista, suggestive of many changes in the conditions, habits and thoughts of these people and their de- scendants.
A parallel between 1710 and 1910 could be drawn and made both inter- esting and instructive, and I have no doubt will be elaborated by the dis- tinguished speakers who will take part in these exercises.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries large parties of immi- grants were led by Court favorites and other adventurers, who, having dissipated their means at home, de- scended upon these shores to exploit the country, to establish colonies and thereby recoup their vanishing for-
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tunes; in time, other expeditions fol- lowed, bent on conquest, rapine and murder; but there was still another and more desirable class, who came seeking a home of religious freedom and peace of mind, such as the early Puritans, Huguenots, Quakers, and last, but not least, the Mennonites.
These last named did not come to found a State; but their labors add- ed to the wealth of the State; and, though they were not lacking in cour- age, they did not seek the honors of war, but devoted their lives to the arts of peace and to found a home where they could worship God ac- cording to the dictates of their own consciences.
They were not driven from their oïd homes by reason of poverty, for the most of them were well-to-do; they sold their lands, goods and chat- tels at a sacrifice to make the jour- ney here. They deserted friends, rel- atives, old attachments and scenes to encounter strange realities, new dangers and hardships little dreamed of at the start.
After reaching Philadelphia, they trudged along, some on foot, some on horseback, with a few household goods and implements, through a trackless forest, until they reached the territory now to be marked in a public way, where they set up their sanctuary of the Lord under the wide spreading branches of an oak, and worshipped in the open air, not unlike the early Christians in the remote past, believing in the promise that "where two or more are gathered to- gether in My name there also am I present."
It may not be out of piace by way of comparison to recall another Men- nonite immigration which took place within the memory of most of us, when the Russian Brethren were
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forced to leave that inhospitable country to find an asylum either in the United States or Canada.
They made the voyage across the briny deep in steamships, and, after their arrival in New York, traveled in the cars without exposure and in safety at the rate of forty miles per hour until they reached their West- ern destinations, where they found the fertile prairie ready for the plow, with household goods and farming implements at hand to start business at once. This picture helps to inten- sify the hardships and sufferings of our early settiers.
I must not neglect to add that great praise is due to the Historical Society of Lancaster county for the public spirit, liberality and zeal dis- played in having this marker erected upon the very identical tract of land taken up by the early settlers and underneath the shadow of the church which they brought to this country like the ark of old, preserved and handed down to their descendants.
There may be some people who have misgivings or objections to the location of the marker on the score of pride or worldliness, without hav- ing given due consideration to its dual purpose. It represents not only a worldly, but a spiritual history.
The inscription on its face is the history in a nutshell of what took place when these early settlers ar- rived in this county-a simple tran- script of the record on file in the Land Office of the State and in the offices of the Recorders of the sev- eral counties concerned-an account which makes available to us this val- uabie information without the loss of time and money to make a search for the same, which few, I dare say, would undertake to do.
This, it is to be hoped, will excite
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a renewed interest in the study of our local history, and keep alive the memory of the principal actors in the movement.
But this is the worldly side of the marker, as charged by our critics. There is still another side of greater importance, namely, the motive or impelling cause of this migration.
But the answer is found in the his- tory of the heroic men who braved the chances of the prison or the stake for maintaining their principles, and who forsook comfort to encounter privations, in order to establish liberty of conscience and the freedom of worship and religious belief in the wilderness.
Instead of criticising this modest recognition of their work, you should feel proud of inheriting this grand legacy.
Don't forget that the man who does not respect himself is not re- spected by any one; and the man who does not respect his forefathers is a pariah, to be shunned by the good. The Chinese, the oldest nation in the world, are noted for the rev- erence and devotion shown their an- cestors and the sacred regard for their tombs, a feeling or inspiration founded no doubt, in the same source or fountain-head that has given us that beautiful mandate from Mt. Sinai, viz .: "Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land," etc. I would broaden the application of the same principle and say: Honor your an- cestors, that you may be enthused to higher ideals and nobler ends.
Devotional Exercises.
Bishop N. B. Grubb, of the First Mennonite Church, of Germantown,of- fered prayer.
This was followed by the old fa- miliar hymn, "How Firm a Founda-
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tion," joined in by all and led by D. H. Gochenour, of East Petersburg, who generally leads the music at the Lancaster county Union Sunday- school conventions. It was very in- spiring and full of nobie fervor.
The Historical Address.
H. Frank Eshleman then delivered an address on "The Meaning of Our County's Two Hundred Years," dis- cussing, in their order, (1) The Re- ligious Meaning; (2) the Agricultu- ral Meaning; (3) the Patriotic Mean- ing; (4) the Political Meaning; (5) the Industrial Meaning, and (6) the Educational meaning, in the course of the address interpreting what our county has stood for during these two centuries, and showing its force in our State and National history and what lines of influence and develop- ment our own local pioneers started and handed down to succeedeing gen- erations, who, in turn, strengthened, beautified and preserved many of them as sterling virtues unto our day.
The address appears in full in the appendix to this report. (See Ap- pendix.)
DEDICATION OF MONUMENT.
The dedication of the monument and the historic tablet then followed, proving an interesting ceremony.
Address of Mr. Coyle.
The presentation of the marker was made by John A. Coyle, Esq., of this city, who said:
Two centuries ago-twice a hun- dred years-there came from Swit- zerland and lived and prospered here nine men, Menists, or Mennonites. One hundred and ninety-five years ago, impressed by the glowing accounts of their new home, given by Martin Kendig, who had returned to carry these tidings to their families and
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friends, a dozen more men arrived. With pride I recall in passing that. amongst them was John Rudolph Kagy, of whom I am a direct and lin- eal descendant through my maternal grandmother, Catherine Shenk Rock- afield. Vigorous, intrepid, courage- ous, self-reliant and confident they must have been. Other white men joined with them, notably the Pat- terson family, who had come from Ireland, and had become the owners of large tracts of land in nearby townships, and not only on this, but on the far side of the Susquehanna river.
Into this family some of these set- tlers married, and the mingling of blood and nationality sent out through these United States almost a new race to usefulness, honor and distinction in private, as well as civil, military and political life. Marry- ing, however, more largely amongst themselves, they formed here a com- munity of God-fearing, law-abiding, conscientious, simple men and wom- en, who have been and with their descendants, carrying along their convictions and rules of life, to this day are the most important, the most exemplary element in our rural citi- zenship.
What brought them to this locality, where looking out upon it in all its beauty it would seem as if God had here lingered in His work? We all of us, in the persons of our ancestors, have had our heritage more or less distant of religious persecution. A
great wonder has been excited in our minds in this lat- ter day that the hand of a
Christian
should
ever have been
raised against another because of his religious belief or practices. This universal heritage and this wonder have urged us on to a serious consid- eration of the question and a most
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scrupulous examination of the facts. The result has been with the calm, the exhaustive, the careful, the Caris- tian historian, a finding that, deplor- able as these persecutions are, they were the work of the civil govern- ments, and seldom, if ever, incited, encouraged or approved by the solely ecclesiastical authorities. History, fortunately for the Mennonite Church, needs no searchlight to find an ab- sence of responsibility upon it for re- ligious persecution. It was ever the victim; and the causes of its offend- ing were the teaching that State and Church must be independent of each other, their refusal to bear arms, to take the oath, and hold office. It was the desire for fuller religious free- dom and for exemption from heavy burdens of taxation and civil obliga- tions which they could not conscien- tiously accept that caused them to leave their native land. William Penn molested no man on account of his faith; men of all faiths trusted William Penn. The land of Penn was one of the two colonies where liberty of religious faith and worship was practically guaranteed. This brought them to Pennsylvania.
Their plea and practice of toler- ance, not only for themselves, but for all men, elevated them high above most of the others fleeing from religious persecution.
With greater merit can be said of our Mennonite settlers what Dr. Eliot, former President of Harvard College, declared at the recent dedi- cation of the National Pilgrim Monu- ment at Provincetown, Mass .: "They were genuine pioneers of both civil and religious liberty;" and the tablet upon the monument we dedicate to- day would more fittingly bear the inscription placed upon that other monument, to wit: "For the first time in history they illustrated, with long-
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suffering devotion, and sober reso- lutions, the principles of civic and religious liberty in practice of a gen- uine democracy. Therefore the re- membrance of them shall be perpet- ual in the great Republic that has in- herited their ideals." The descend- ants of the Puritans boast that "their ancestors fled from the face of their persecutors, willing to encounter per- ils in the wilderness and perils by the heathen," rather than be depriv- ed by the ruthless persecutor of the free exercise of their religion. The descendants of the Swiss Mennonites who, amid hardships and trials, made the first settlements among the In- dians in the southeastern part of Lancaster county can lay claim to more. Their ancestors did not seek for themselves and others only the unmolested exercise of faith and the practice of worship; but they in turn did not persecute others who differed from them in religious opin- ion. They plead for universal tolera- tion and their practice confirmed it. "They left unstained what there they found, Freedom to worship God!"
Who can limit the effect of this toleration ? May it, with the like characteristic of the Quaker,not have reached to the easier adoption of what was then a political expedient, the complete toleration guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, and the rejection of an estab- lished Church supported by taxation; for there was then a hideous record in all or nearly all the colonies, ex- cepting Pennsylvania and Maryland, of discriminating, invidious and intol- erant legislation.
The Mennonites were a sober,quiet and unassuming people, taking little interest in Government and the affairs of the outside world. Al- though they insisted upon the
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greatest simplicity in every detail of daily living, yet everything they used was of the very best material. The term"Menist fine" finally came to be used among the tradesmen of the Netherlands as a synonym for the best that could be secured. It has its local equivalent with us. Closeness of the resemblance in almost every de- tail between them and the Quaker is certainly the result of a close connec- tion between the two denominations. They were and are almost invariably a rural people-a life considered from time immemorial the only real and normal life. The Homeric Kings "re- joice in their hearts, counting sheaves with the sceptre." It is still the re- liant life of the State, for Socialism will be wrecked upon agriculture and the soil. It considers them only as a value,while they are also an affection. It puts a price upon them,but they are also loved.
By their non-participation in civil government, they have been criticised and misunderstood. In a single para- graph their obedience to proper con- stituted authority is made clear. Menno Simon in his complete work says:
"We now publicly confess that the office of a Magistrate is ordained of God, as we ever have confessed since we serve, according to our small talent, the Word of the Lord, and in the meantime we have ever obeyed them when not contrary to the Word of God, and we intend to do so all our lives, for we are not so stupid as not to know what the Lord's Word com- mands in this respect. We render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's as Christ teaches (Matt. 22:21); we pray for the Imperial Majesty, Kings, Lords, Princes and
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all in authority, honor and obey them."
Their truthfulness in the civil gov- ernment is remarkably shown by their acquiring and paying for the lands which they took up upon their arrivai. The children of unnaturalized citizens could not inherit land from their par- ents, nor could the parents them- selves convey land to others. From 1705 to 1742, naturalizations were by private Act, and it took years of peti- tioning and waiting before the Assem- bly would grant the rights of citi- zenship. It was not until 1729, nine- teen years after the arrival of the first party of settlers, and fourteen years after the arrival of the next contingent, that any of the Lancaster Mennonites were naturalized. It took two years to pass this bill, and only after Governor Gordon, in his mes- sage to the Assembly, recommending the passage of the bill, stated that they had "hitherto behaved them- selves well, and have generally so good a character for honesty and in- dustry as to deserve the esteem of the Government, and a mark of its regard for them." They had taken and paid for the lands with full knowledge, because it was distinctly called to their attention of their inability until they could become naturalized to transmit these lands to their children, or convey them dur- ing their lives to anybody else.
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