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TWO CENTURIES of the CHURCH of the BRETHREN in WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 1751-1950
From the library of
AdelleFrank.com
Baptismal Pool on Wissahickon Creek, Germantown, Pennsylvania. Here the first Brethren baptism in America was performed, Christmas Day, 1723.
TWO CENTURIES of the Church of the Brethren in WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 1751 - 1950
Authorized by the District Conference of Western Pennsylvania
Published by the HISTORICAL COMMITTEE MRS. RUTH B. STATLER, CHAIRMAN M. J. BROUGHER, VICE-CHAIRMAN WILLIAM K. KULP, SECRETARY-TREASURER W. J. HAMILTON, HISTORY EDITOR ALVIN G. FAUST, ASSISTANT EDITOR
BRETHREN PUBLISHING HOUSE Elgin, Illinois 1953
Copyright 1953 by the 1953 Historical Committee District of Western Pennsylvania Church of the Brethren (Walter J. Hamilton, Alvin G. Faust, H. Austin Cooper, Ruth B. Statler, William K. Kulp)
Permission is granted for book reviews or short quotations in local church bulletins.
All contributors are granted the right to use their own material without restriction.
Any other reproduction from this volume is limited to written per- mission from one of the Historical Committee. (See names in the current issue of the Yearbook, Church of the Brethren.)
This restriction is required because of the use of much already- copyrighted material in this history.
Printed in the United States of America
Dedication
Dedicated to the many whose names and his- tory will not appear adequately in this volume, but whose lives, sacrifices, and services remain a lasting monument to the Church of the Brethren in Western Pennsylvania.
They unstintingly laid the foundation, and then quietly stood sentinel while others labored in the limelight. Their names may not be here, but their lives remain enshrined in "the Pillar and Ground of the Truth," which they helped to sup- port. Without them this work would not be possible.
To their sacred memory, we dedicate this history.
-Submitted by Alvin G. Faust, Assistant Editor
In Memoriam
MAHLON J. BROUGHER, D. D.
Died June 22, 1952 while in attendance at Annual Meeting Richmond, Virginia
His deep faith and sincere devotion to Christ and his church, his beautiful Christlike per- sonality and noble character, his constant spirit of love and reconciliation inspires us, the fellow members on the Historical Com- mittee to dedicate this page to his memory.
Ruth B. Statler W. K Kulp WW.47 Jamilton alvin & Faust
Introduction
It appears to the writer, relative to the Historical Committee, consisting of the editor-in-chief, W. J. Hamilton, the assistant editor, Alvin G. Faust, and the assistants, Mrs. Ruth B. Statler, M. J. Brougher, and William K. Kulp, that they have followed very closely in the footsteps of Saint Luke. Luke states, "For- asmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things wherein thou hast been instructed . . . it seemed good to me also." This is briefly the introduction to the Gospel of Luke.
Only those who have engaged in labo- rious research, studied many pages (some musty), written num- berless letters, contacted various individuals, compared, rejected, substituted, and eliminated, can fully appreciate the monumental work engaged in over the years by this Historical Committee.
Many of the historical books of our common heritage have long been out of print and are now collectors' items. Others are fast joining them. This committee possessed the ability to enlist the aid of others and secure from them invaluable materials for this masterful work. Not only have they given us select sections from books no longer available to the public, but they have also gathered for the reader choice materials never here- tofore published.
Figuratively, this committee takes us by the hand and points out to us "the footprints of our forefathers," in the very beginning of the work, and leads us gently until we finally find ourselves located far from Germantown, upon the dangerous frontiers of Western Pennsylvania. In this leading, contact has not been broken with older settlements and locations of the Brethren. There have been painted for us pictures of intellectual and spir- itual giants of those days. The church was not built by weak- lings, but by men and women of stamina. A challenge was presented; they accepted. Being human, some of them fell by the wayside, but enough succeeded to lay the foundation upon which the church stands today.
8
Introduction
While there are a number of churches which have the name Brethren, we have a common heritage. The writer, a seventh lineal descendant of Alexander Mack, Sr., through his mother, who was Lucinda Mack Ankrum, has long deplored the infini- tesimal barriers which have prevented a union of forces. Time has removed many of the differences of yesterday. Why not a vision of the future, to aid Time in the removing of those of the present? Surely the text, used in part by the committee, from John 17:11, taken from the High Priestly prayer of Jesus, ". . . that they may be one, as we are," would certainly strengthen our forces in a world hostile to so many things for which Breth- ren stand.
The committee is to be commended for the full and complete development of the various facets of the work of the church over the past two hundred years in Western Pennsylvania. Only they know of the countless hours of detailed work involved in following the various leads necessary to secure this valuable material, which they have presented in this compact form for the reader. This book should be a part of every Brethren library. Our history is rich. The church has the unique distinction of standing separate in spiritual matters, and yet making its many worth-while contributions to the community and the state. The book is well balanced.
It is not out of place to assume that readers of this volume who have grown old and gray in the service of their Lord will become "homesick" when they read of the churches of their boyhood or girlhood, now so far removed from them by time and distance.
May each one who is fortunate enough to add one of these books to his library realize that the work of the committee as a whole was a "labor of love," and that one way for us to aid in their remuneration would be to profit by the examples which have so diligently and vividly been portrayed for us upon its pages.
Freeman Ankrum St. James, Maryland
Preface
"IT TAKES TIME TO GROW AN OAK TREE"
To our many readers, who have been waiting these "seven years" while this history has been in preparation, we have a message: "You can grow a toadstool overnight, but it takes time to grow an oak tree." And we have tried to produce an enduring volume, but considerable data, including a few corrective dates, has been discovered since the type was set for Parts One and Two.
Several years ago the District Conference, in connection with the Board of Christian Education, appointed the writer to prepare a new history of Western Pennsylvania covering the period from 1916 to the present. After he had worked on it for two years, the District Conference changed the plan, requesting that the volume be made complete, as there were very few of Elder J. E. Blough's History of the Church of the Breth- ren of Western Pennsylvania now available, and none for sale.
This involved a complete change of plans, and sent us back over a period of two hundred years to collect data. Later, the Historical Com- mittee was appointed and the District Board of Christian Education was relieved of its responsibility. This committee was empowered to edit and publish the book when sufficient advance orders had been received to justify publication.
Your committee has been working faithfully at the task, which has been tedious and voluminous. But much original, interesting, and hith- erto-unpublished material and many pictures have been discovered, mak- ing the book of such value that it should find a place in every home in the district and reach the library of every person who has had an interest in Western Pennsylvania.
The sad feature of these years of almost endless effort and research has been the home-going of a number of brethren and sisters, some of whom had been interviewed or had sent in material with the hope of seeing it in printed form. Many others of the departed ones were just as anxiously waiting for their copies of the book.
Most of those in positions of responsibility, to whom we made ap- peals or sent letters, gave prompt co-operation and valuable assistance. A few pastors, local historians, and authors either devoted much time to research and the checking of records or released their data, some of which was copyrighted, for our use. We have made the bibliography as complete as possible.
It would be impossible to name all who have assisted the District Historical Committee in our arduous task, but we owe special thanks to the family of Jerome E. Blough for permitting quotations and the use of pictures from his book. Some data and dates have been discovered, and used, which were not available to Brother Blough.
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Preface
To Freeman Ankrum, author of Alexander Mack the Tunker and Descendants, for the use of his material, the loaning of cuts, helpful cor- respondence with different members of the committee, and interviews with the editor.
To H. Austin Cooper, pastor of the Brothersvalley congregation, for the months spent in research to make possible the story of Stony Creek and Brueders Thal. And to his church for its splendid co-operation in releasing his time and providing many pictures.
To Miss Amy Manges, English teacher in the Windber high school, for the reading of much manuscript and for literary corrections. Her willing service has been appreciated by the committee.
To Ora W. Garber, book editor of the Brethren Publishing House, for his assistance and suggestions. His co-operation, and that of the various departments of the Publishing House, has added much to this book.
Also, I want to express appreciation to all who have helped in any way-and they are scattered from Philadelphia and Virginia to California and from New York State to Florida.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to the other members of the Historical Committee for their willing and helpful co-operation, for without their assistance this book would not yet be completed.
Assistant Editor Alvin G. Faust, Ph. D., has made exhaustive and tireless research into the fragmentary pages of the past to secure or verify data-dates, persons, and influences-in addition to the special chapters written by him.
Secretary-Treasurer William K. Kulp has faithfully devoted much time to correspondence and records through these years, in addition to the manuscripts he has furnished.
Vice-Chairman M. J. Brougher, D. D., out of more than forty years of continuous service in the district gave valuable council in determining the tone of the history. He also read much of the manuscript, even after becoming afflicted.
Chairman Ruth B. Statler, qualified by ancestral heritage, previous authorship, and wide contacts, has spent many months in searching through old church papers, loaned by the Juniata College library, and found much material, checked many church-deed recordings, and located valued pictures. She has also contributed largely to the bio- graphical section, in addition to her regular committee duties.
By request of the committee, the editor has used a considerable amount of material from his unpublished manuscript, Youth Movements and Sunday School Developments in the Church of the Brethren, which had been accumulated over many years of research incurring wide travel and reading. Always a student of history and having been for fifty years in the ministry, with continuous residence in the District of West- ern Pennsylvania, he had accumulated much material which was useful.
It is our hope and prayer that Two Centuries of the Church of the Brethren in Western Pennsylvania will be both interesting and helpful to the present and future generations.
-W. J. Hamilton, History Editor
Table of Contents
PART ONE: DISTRICT DEVELOPMENTS
13
Chapter
1.
Footprints of Our Forefathers
13
Chapter
2.
Eighteenth Century Settlements
16
Chapter
3.
A Half Century of Church Planting
22
Chapter
4.
District Organization
25
Chapter
5.
Sunday-school Work Since 1825
34
Chapter 6. The Sunday School Association, 1897-1933 41
Chapter 7. Leadership Training 47
Chapter 8. Young People's Activities 49
Chapter 9. Camp Harmony Training School
53
Chapter 10. Fraternal Relations 67
86
Chapter 12. The Old Folks' Home 103
Chapter 13.
The Aid Society and Women's Work
107
Chapter 14.
The Men's Work Movement
112
Chapter 15. The Ministry of Music 115
Chapter 16. Higher Education in Western Pennsylvania 124
Chapter 17.
Brethren Books and Publications
137
Chapter 18.
Brethren Service and the C. O. Camps
143
Chapter 19.
Trends in the Church of the Brethren
150
Chapter 20.
Facing the Third Century
153
PART TWO: CONGREGATIONAL HISTORIES 157
Chapter
1.
The Arbutus Mission
157
Chapter 2. The Bear Run Church 158
Chapter 3. The Beachdale Church 161
Chapter 4. The Bethel Church 164
Chapter 5. The Brothersvalley Church 166
Chapter 6. The Center Hill Church 192
Chapter 7. The Conemaugh Congregations 196
Chapter 8. The Connellsville Church
206
Chapter
9.
The County Line Church-
Indian Creek Congregation 210
Chapter 10. The Cumberland Living Stone Church 218
Chapter 11. The East Mckeesport Church 225
Chapter 12. The Elbethel Church
Chapter 13.
The Fairchance Church
229
Chapter 14. The Fairview-Sculton Congregation 231
Chapter 15. The Farmington-Bethel Congregation 233
Chapter 16. The Garrett Church 238
Chapter 17. The Geiger Church 240
Chapter 18. The Georges Creek Congregation 243
Chapter 19. The Greensburg Church 250
Chapter 20. The Hooversville Church 259
Chapter 21. The Hostetler Church 262
Chapter 22. The Hyndman Church 263
227
Chapter 11.
The Spirit of Missions
12
Contents
Chapter 23. The Ligonier Congregation 267
Chapter 24. The Locust Grove Church 270
Chapter 25. The Manor Congregation 272
Chapter 26. The Maple Glen Church 277
Chapter 27. The Maple Grove Church 280
Chapter 28. The Maple Spring Church 282
291
Chapter 30. The Meyersdale Church
297
Chapter 31. The Middle Creek Congregation
303
Chapter 32. The Montgomery Church 309
Chapter 33. The Morrellville Church 314
317
Chapter 35. The Mount Joy Church
324
Chapter 36.
The Mount Pleasant Church 329
Chapter 37.
The Nanty Glo Church
331
Chapter 38. The Natrona Heights Church 334
Chapter 39. The Oakdale Church
335
Chapter 40. The Penn Run Church 339
Chapter 41.
The Pittsburgh Church 341
Chapter 42. The Pleasant Hill Church 347
350
Chapter 44. The Robinson Church
352
Chapter 45. The Rockton Congregation 354
Chapter 46.
The Rockwood Church 356
Chapter 47. The Roxbury Church 359
Chapter 48. The Rummel Church 363
Chapter 49.
The Salisbury (Elk Lick) Church 369
Chapter 50.
The Scalp Level Congregation 372
Chapter 51.
The Shade Creek Congregation 382
Chapter 52. The Sipesville Church 398
Chapter 53. The Somerset Church
400
Chapter 54.
The Summit Mills Congregation 408
Chapter 55. The Ten Mile Congregation 411
Chapter 56. The Tire Hill Church 416
Chapter 57. The Uniontown Church 419
Chapter 58. The Walnut Grove Church 424
Chapter 59. The Westmont Church 434
Chapter 60. The Windber Church 436
Chapter 61. The Wooddale Church 445
Chapter 62. Lost Congregations
447
PART THREE: BIOGRAPHIES 451
APPENDIX
645
BIBLIOGRAPHY 653
Chapter 29. The Markleysburg Congregation
Chapter 34. The Moxham Church
Chapter 43. The Plum Creek Church
PART ONE District Developments
CHAPTER 1. FOOTPRINTS OF OUR FOREFATHERS
The Brethren Church organized in Germany, 1708 Alexander Mack's first book published, 1713 The Germantown church organized, Christmas Day, 1723
The story of the Church of the Brethren in Western Penn- sylvania during the years 1751 to 1950 is a tale of two centuries so filled with heroism, heartaches, and high lights of religious development that we record it with honor, read it with interest, and remember it with reverence.
To help the young people of today, and the coming gen- erations, to understand and appreciate their rich heritage, this new history has been written. It could not have happened had it not been for the spiritual experiences of a group of eight young adults, who, after much study and prayer, decided to unite in a Christian fellowship, which we know today as the Church of the Brethren.
The Brethren movement originated at Schwarzenau, Ger- many, in study classes ("private meetings") not unlike our present-day Sunday-school or midweek Bible-study classes. The books used in these meetings included the New Testament, "authentic histories," and the writings of the Church Fathers.
Alexander Mack, their teacher and first minister, in his book, A Brief and Simple Exposition of the Outward but Still Sacred Rites and Ordinances of the House of God, published in 1713, five years after the organization of the church, quotes from Godfrey Arnold's Portraiture of Primitive Christians and the bloody Tonel of the Doopsgesind; also from the writings of Cypri- anus, Gregory, Justinus, Beda, Wallfried Strabo, Tertullianus, and others. Evidently they believed in Christian education. His son, Alexander Mack, Jr., wrote a historical introduction to the first American edition of the book (1774), from which the fol-
14
Part One: District Developments
lowing excerpts are taken. (The foregoing paragraphs are largely from the editor's manuscript, Youth Movements and Sunday School Developments in the Church of the Brethren.)
It pleased the good God in his mercy, early in the beginning of this [the eighteenth] century, to support this "grace, that bring- eth salvation, and which hath appeared to all men," by many a voice calling them to awake and repent, so that thereby many were aroused from the sleep and death of sin. These began to look around them for the truth and righteousness, as they are in Jesus, but had soon to see with sorrowful eyes the great decay (of true Christianity) almost in every place. From this lamentable state of things they were pressed to deliver many a faithful testimony of truth, and here and there private meetings were established besides the public church-organization, in which newly-awakened souls sought their edification.
Finally, in the year 1708, . . . eight persons covenanted and united together as brethren and sisters into the covenant of the cross of Jesus Christ to form a church of Christian believers.
And when they had found, in authentic histories, that the primi- tive Christians, in the first and second centuries, uniformly, ac- cording to the command of Christ, were planted into the death of Jesus Christ by threefold immersion into the water-bath of holy baptism, they examined diligently the New Testament, and finding all perfectly harmonizing therewith, they were anxiously desirous to use the means appointed and practiced by Christ himself, and thus, according to his own salutary council, go forward to the ful- fillment of all righteousness.
Being thus prepared, the Eight went out together one morning, in solitude, to a stream called Eder, and the brother, upon whom the lot had fallen, baptized first that brother who desired to be baptized by the church of Christ, and when he was baptized, he baptized him by whom he had been baptized, and the remaining three brethren and three sisters. Thus these Eight were all baptized at an early hour of the morning.
This incident occurred some time in the year 1708, and the names of these eight persons are given as follows: "Alexander Mack and wife, Anna Margaretta Mack, John Kipping and wife, Joanna Kipping, Andrew Bony and wife, Joanna Noethiger Bony, George Grebe and Luke Vetter."
To give the reader a glimpse of what happened during the next few years after the organization of the Church of the Brethren in Germany, we quote:
After this the said eight persons were more and more power- fully strengthened in their obedience to the faith they had adopted, and were enabled to testify publicly in their meetings to the truth: and the Lord granted them his special grace, so that still more became obedient to the faith, and thus, within seven years' time, namely to the year 1715, there was not only in Schwarzenau a large church, but, here and there in the Palatinate, there were lovers of the truth, and especially was this the case in Marien- born, where a church was gathered: for the church in the Palati- nate was persecuted, and its members then came to Marienborn.
And, when the church here be- came large, it was also perse- cuted. Then those that were persecuted collected in Cre- feldt, where they found liberty under the king of Prussia.
Moreover the Lord called, during those seven years, sev- eral laborers, and sent them into harvest, among whom were, John Henry Kalklesser, Christian Libe, Abraham Du- boy, John Naas, and Peter Becker (or Baker). And to these were added also John Henry Trout and his brothers, Henry Holsopple and Stephen Koch; also George Balzer Gansz1 and Michael Eckerlin.2
Courtesy Freeman Ankrum
The Mock (Mack) Church, Dunnings Creek Congregation, Built About 1844
We are told that "the first permanent German settlement in America had been made in 1683, by 13 families, or 33 per- sons, from this same Crefeldt community," at Germantown on the Wissahickon Creek.
During the four years that the Brethren were at Crefeldt, they doubtless heard about Germantown, in Penn's province of religious liberty, and as baptisms multiplied and persecutions became more bitter, it was only natural for the Brethren to turn toward this Quaker colony, where Crefeldt settlers had gone thirty-six years before.
Accordingly, in the year 1719, Peter Becker and about twenty families of the Brethren (one hundred twenty souls) emigrated to America, settling at Germantown and other near- by places. A little over four years later, a group of Brethren families assembled at Germantown (then about six miles north of Philadelphia) on Christmas Day, 1723, and performed their first baptismal service in America in the Wissahickon Creek,3 held their first love feast, and organized a church with Peter Becker as their minister. Alexander Mack came to Germantown in 1729.
Several of these families of Brethren in Europe and in the mother church at Germantown still have lineal descendants in various churches of our district. Among them are Macks (or Mocks), Ankrums, Bakers (Beckers), Ganszes, Holsingers,
1 It was his son, Jacob Gans, and three grandsons, Jacob, George, and Joseph, who came to Fayette County in 1784.
2 It was his three sons, known as the "Eckerlin Brothers," who made the "first Dunker footprints" in Western Pennsylvania, Greene County, in the spring of 1751 3 See the picture of the original baptismal pool (frontispiece).
16
Part One: District Developments
Holsopples, Horsts, Leckrones, Lehmans, Longaneckers, Mosers, Replogles, and Rowsers.
The statement that "every institution is the lengthened shadow of some man" was perhaps never truer than in the instance of Alexander Mack and his progeny in the Western District of Pennsylvania. Most of these families named, and many others, are direct descendants of our first minister, and several others have intermarried with the Mack family.
CHAPTER 2. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SETTLEMENTS 1751 TO 1797
Eckerlin brothers in Greene County, 1751 Stony Creek (Brueders Thal) organized, 1762 Rhoads (Stony Creek) meetinghouse built, 1771
CAMBRIA COUNTY - 1797
Many historians date the beginning of the Church of the Brethren in what is now Johnstown and southern Cambria County with the coming of Elder Peter Morgan (Maugen or Makin) in 1797. But there were members of the church living in this area of the Conemaugh Valley before that date. Philip Hoffman had settled near what is now Scalp Level in 1795. The Thomas family were in Conemaugh Township, Somerset County, before the Revolutionary War. Other Dunker fami- lies, doubtless, were early pioneers in this community. Jacob Stutzman is credited as coming to what is now Johnstown in 1794.1
FAYETTE COUNTY -1752 and 1784
John L. Gans, long-time editor of the Connellsville Courier, was under the impression that his ancestors, who came into Fayette County in 1784, were the first families of the Brethren to settle here. Their record is told in the history of the Georges Creek congregation.
1 H. W. Storey, History of Cambria County.
17
Part One: District Developments
Brother Blough thought that "Henry Strickler, Sr., settled on Jacobs Creek in 1752.2 This could have been a "tomahawk improvement," as he took legal title to his land four years after Fayette County was erected, or in 1787. Other Brethren took title to lands in 1788 and later, both along Jacobs Creek and near Dawson.
GREENE COUNTY - 1751
That the first footprints of the Brethren in Western Penn- sylvania were made in what is now Greene County there is little question. However, to understand many of the records of that early day, we must remember that until the Mason and Dixon Line was completed much of what is now southwestern Pennsylvania was thought to be in the colony of Virginia (West Virginia not being formed until 1861).
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