USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > Womelsdorf > A history of Bethany Orphans' Home of the Reformed Church in the United States : located at Womelsdorf, Pa. > Part 2
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History of Bethany Orphans' Home.
inger relied, as far as he depended upon human aid and advice, and their example he followed.
Pastor Bæhringer did not wait until a large sum of money had been collected, and a beautiful and com- fortable building erected, before he began his labor of love practically. Into his own private family, while he still lived at No. 702 Morris street, Southwark, Philadelphia, he received a number of orphans. The first one to enter the Home thus opened was a little girl, Caroline Engel, six years of age; this was on the 21st of September,1863. Thus was begun one of the first Prot- estant Orphans' Homes in Pennsylvania, and here sol- diers' orphans were cared for at least a year before the state succeeded in founding Soldiers' Orphans' Homes. . In the "Plan for the Founding of an Orphans' Home," reference was made to the spiritual training of the children. It appears that a number of persons advised the founder to make the Home entirely inde- pendent of denominational influences, but, true to his ordination, and membership in the Reformed Church, and heeding the advice of other warm friends of the undertaking, he at once brought his work to the atten- tion of and sought to place it under the care of this denomination. Because it did not take its origin from an act of Synod or Classis, many regarded it as an individual undertaking. It was necessary to dis- abuse the minds of the people of this idea, in order to get their support.
The founder regarded it as the solemn duty of every ordained minister to preach the Gospel to the poor, and to visit the widows and orphans in their
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affliction. From this position the right naturally followed to take active practical steps for the relief of those in need of assistance, hence also the propriety of founding an Orphans' Home.
The Synod of the Reformed Church which met at Carlisle, in October, 1863, by a special resolution, commended the "Orphans' Home of the Shepherd of the Lambs" to the prayers and the benevolence of the people. Thus we see that the ministers and other delegates of the Church felt the importance of this work, for it was only one month after the opening of the Home that the Church officially recognized and encouraged it.
When the first child entered the Home, September 21, 1863, there was actually only $21.50 in the treasury, with some more assistance promised. In the previous April the first contribution, $1.50, had been received, so that in five months, during which time the founding of the Home had been more or less prominently before the church, only $20 had been paid into the treasury. This, no doubt, proved conclusively to Pastor Bœhr- inger that the only way to start his home and make it a success was to start in fact, not only on paper, and to trust in God and his people for the necessary sup- port. He was at this time a chaplain of "The Chris- tian Commission," and the salary which he received from that position was put into the treasury of the Home. From this we learn how completely he gave up his all, in order that the Home might be started and provision made not only for his own family, but for the strangers whom he received within his gates,
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and whom he considered as members of his own fam- ly. He constantly expressed his confidence in God and his fellow Christians that this work, which he had begun singly and in a small way, would be blessed of God, that it would become a means of shelter unto a large number of God's deserving children.
CHAPTER III. THE HOME AT NO. 702 MORRIS STREET, SOUTHWARK, PHILADELPHIA.
E ARLY in 1864 there were already twelve children in the Home. Of these, eleven were born in America, and one, the youngest, in Germany. Seven were soldiers' orphans. The number increased rapidly, for in May of the same year the family numbered thirty-one children. At this time Rev. Bohringer writes: "We might become alarmed for daily subsist- ence, were it not that we have already experienced in our Home the word of the Lord: 'I will never leave nor forsake thee.'"'
At the time when the superintendent wrote his annual report, he looked back with longing to the family life as it existed at Southwark, when the num- ber of orphans in the Home was only twelve, and they all, with his own children, constituted one family. Of that time he writes: "I look back with pleasure and satisfaction to the Christmas season of 1863, when the twelve orphans, with my own five children, to- gether with their father and mother, formed one fam- ily, whose number was not so large as to blot out the true family picture. All lived congenially together, and even the more precious experiences of the true family life were not wanting; as, for instance, the youngest child in the Home, one of my own, a sprightly
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little girl, beloved by all, would not be denied the privilege of accompanying the Superintendent to the bed chamber of the orphans, and calling to the adopted brothers and sisters, 'Good night! good night!' whereupon the echo from twelve orphans would come back, 'Good night! good night!'"'
The number of inmates soon increased so much that the true family system could not be naturally followed. Supt. Bæh- ringer himself had several chil- dren, and it is marvelous how, in an ordinary tenement house, besides his own family, he could find accommodations for
SO many orphans. It is true, they lived together as one family, ate at the same table and had family prayers together, but 702 MORRIS STREET, PHILADELPHIA. they did not all sleep in the same building. In a house on McIlvain street, where the school was kept at the time, a sleeping room had been prepared for the larger boys. But this fact is not the only remarkable cir- cumstance in connection with the early history of this Home. This institution was, as so many others of its kind have been, a work of faith. It was started and rapidly carried forward with very little material means at hand for its support. The sainted founder had such faith and confidence in the word of the Lord
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that, as the Heidelberg Catechism expresses it, he was sure "God would provide him with all things neces- sary for soul and body." The family of thirty chil- dren lived from "hand to mouth, depending upon the charitable gifts which were extended to the cause in faith and love, according to the command of the Chief Shepherd, the beloved Saviour." The doors of the Home were open to the needy ones, and they were admitted even at the sacrifice of the comfort of those already in the institution. But Pastor Bæhringer always looked forward in hope to the time when this large number, and even more, could be properly taken care of, by being divided into families of about twelve persons, each family to have a separate building and a separate house-father, overseer or matron, and yet all to be under one general Superintendent.
This was the system in vogue at the large orphanage -the Rauhe Haus-of which the noted Doctor Wichern was the head, near Hamburg, in Germany. as well as other similar institutions in Europe. Pastor Bæhringer also hoped that after this system was once regularly adopted in his Home, certain individuals would take special interest in one or the other of the particular families, become their patrons, and so largely help to support the Home. These ideas were derived from German examples to which he, being a German, naturally looked. There is no doubt that, were the German plan now more generally adopted and consistently carried out, the orphans' homes of our land would be even more successful than they are.
English and German were taught in the school.
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The Superintendent laid much stress upon instilling into the hearts and minds of the children the spirit of a proper respect for authority. Obedience to teach- ers and others in authority was required. Corporal punishment was used and was, no doubt, necessary at times, considering the class of children gathered then, as now, in public institutions of this kind. It is true, some of the best behaved, most obedient and exemp- lary children are placed into orphans' homes, but it is just as frequently the case that, for such, places can readily be found and are found with relatives and other private families, while those who are disobedient and troublesome are put into orphans' homes, even at times when relatives would be amply able to support them.
The discipline was grounded in the love of Christ. There is, however, such a thing as sentimental love, and practical or real love. The former would pity and bemoan the conduct of an incorrigible boy or girl, but would not so much as touch such an one, for cor- rection, with the weight of a finger, because of the sentimental objection to corporal punishment, even though it were evident that a boy or girl would be entirely spoiled by that kind of treatment.
In the public schools the "hands-off" system of discipline can be successfully carried out. If there a pupil does not obey, send him home. But where send a boy or girl who has no home? You cannot turn them out into the street, simply for the sake of a senti- ment. The true parent will study and know the indi-
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vidual traits and dispositions of every member of his family, and, if wise, will govern them accordingly. The faithful superintendent of an orphans' home will do likewise. He will study his family and in doing so will find that he has some children whom he would utterly spoil by subjecting them to corporal punish- ment ; he will know that there are other ways of main- taining discipline, just as effective in most cases, and less likely to injure the child, but there are instances in which, beyond a doubt, putting sentiment aside, a reasonable application of the remedy of our forefathers is the best that can be applied. A due regard for the authority of those placed over children should in a kind, but firm manner, be instilled into the hearts of the young, for by so doing a good service is rendered both to church and state, and above all, to the chil- dren themselves.
The Bible was the book holding the highest place of honor in the Home, and next to this was the Heidel- berg Catechism. Family worship was regularly held.
Many trials, as may well be supposed, were experi- enced by Rev. Bæhringer and his wife during the first year of the history of the Home, trials of which we can now know nothing. But encouragement and assist- ance also came from many sources. From the City of Brotherly Love, from various parts of Pennsylvania, and even from the missionary fields of Iowa and Wis- consin, contributions came. "The rich merchant and manufacturer, and the well-to-do farmer, opened their treasures and gave of their substance. The widow contributed her mite. The soldier in the camp and on
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the battlefield remembered the orphan of his fallen comrade. The doctors of theology and of philosophy, and the ministers of the Gospel, in private and in public, bore on their hearts the Orphans' Home. The boys, after the regular duties of the day were done, worked at making brooms and shoes, in order that they might earn a dollar to send to this institution."
In accordance with the original plan of the Home, soldiers' orphans were admitted. At the end of the first year, these constituted about two-thirds of the whole number of children in the institution. How- ever, it was not formally recognized and supported by the State until January 9, 1865. Its first admission at the expense of the State occurred January 11th. The whole number of soldiers' orphans cared for by this Home was 127.
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CHAPTER IV.
REMOVAL TO BRIDESBURG-DEATH OF MRS. REV. BEHRINGER-FIRST ANNIVERSARY-DEATH OF REV. EMANUEL BOEHRINGER.
T HE Home did not long remain at Southwark.
Early in the summer of 1864 steps were taken and money solicited for the purchase of a property suitable for an institution, such as it was proposed to make this Orphans' Home. In May, of the same year, the following appeared in the Læmmerhirte: "A prop- erty has now been purchased for the Orphans' Home, in Bridesburg, a suburb of Philadelphia, which will shortly be occupied by the Home family. It consists of a building lot 200 feet wide by 300 feet deep, on which is an old house and a small frame building." The purchase price was $5,500. One thousand dol- lars of this amount was to be paid cash, and five hun- dred dollars was subscribed by the real estate company from which the property was purchased. How to raise the money needed to pay off this debt, besides making necessary improvements and alterations (for the buildings on the ground were not adapted or suf- ficient for all purposes), and at the same time to pro- vide for the constantly increasing family, became a serious problem.
To raise the amount of $5,000, a friend of the cause
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proposed that one hundred persons subscribe $50 each, and he started the subscription with that amount. The congregation of which he was a member likewise subscribed this amount. Whether this plan was suc- cessfully carried out to the end, we are not told; how- ever, in different numbers of the Læmmerhirte the fol- lowing names appear, each having subscribed the above sum towards this object, and principally through the solicitations of the Rev. John Gantenbein: Eman- uel's congregation, Philadelphia; H. Gabriel, Joseph Young, Aaron Renninger, Mrs. Sarah Kern, Mosser & Keck, and Samuel McHose, all of Allentown; L. K. Derr, of Tamaqua; Chas. Schnell, Isaac McHose, Rev. B. Bausman, Mrs. M. M. Hunter and D. S. Hunter, of Reading; George Snyder and Stichter & Hoffman, of Pottsville; a lady friend from Schuylkill county; Judge Joseph Laubach, of Northampton county, and David Thomas, of Catasauqua.
There were, no doubt, still others who contributed like sums, but we have at present no means of ascer -- taining the names of such. This money, as already stated, was subscribed to pay for the property. Now Pastor Bæhringer proposed a plan to raise money for the erection of a new building. He would put into operation his previously formed plan for his Orphans' Home, viz., instead of having one building in which from fifty to one hundred or more children could be accommodated, to have a number of smaller houses, each containing about a dozen children, in charge of an overseer, and each house or family to be known by a particular name. The old house already on the
BRIDESBURG HOME.
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ground was to be used for one such family, to be known as the "Family of the Shepherd of the Lambs." A new house was to be built for the "Family of the Sunday Schools," provided Pastor Bohringer's plan would be successful. He proposed that the Sunday- schools should make a general effort to raise the necessary funds for this purpose, and thus to make this house a memorial to the Sunday-schools of the Reformed Church. The Sunday-school of Zion's Reformed church, of Philadelphia, Pastor Gehr, was the first to contribute toward this object, the original amount being $20.66. This amount was afterward increased.
On July 13, 1864, the Orphans' Home family was removed from Southwark to Bridesburg. The build- ings at Bridesburg, which had been purchased for the Home, were at this time occupied by three families, and as their leases had not expired, Pastor Boehringer was obliged to make certain financial sacrifices in order to gain possession of the property. This was consid- ered necessary in view of the overcrowded condition of the quarters at Southwark. Shortly after the removal to Bridesburg, the family numbered thirty- six children, and in September, one year after the opening of the Home, this number had increased to nearly fifty.
The first improvement made at Bridesburg was the building of a large kitchen, and shortly after that a new building, thirty by forty feet, and three stories high, was begun. For this there was great need, in order that the family might be properly housed.
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In September, notice was given in the papers that the first anniversary of the Home would be celebrated on the 13th of October following, and that at the same time the house at Bridesburg would be dedicated with appropriate services. To this dedication the Superin- tendent earnestly invited all the friends of the Home.
Before this event took place, however, Pastor Bæhr- inger and his family, as well as the large family of orphan children, were destined to suffer a heavy afflic- tion in the death of Mrs. Bæhringer, who had been a faithful and earnest helpmate to him, upon whom the burden of this responsible work rested.
The following obituary appeared in the Læmmer- hirte, October 15, 1864:
"Christina Bohringer, wife of Rev. Emanuel Bæhr- inger, died of jaundice, on the 21st of September, 1864, in the Orphans' Home at Bridesburg, Philadelphia, aged 32 years, 9 months and 3 days. Six small chil- dren, of which the smallest is scarcely six weeks old, as well as forty-seven orphans, to whom she was a mother, wept at her grave. Great is the loss to the immediate family, as well as to that of the entire Home. The Lord has laid upon us a burden, but He will no doubt help to bear it according to His Word.
"The death of Mrs. Bæringer occurred just one year after the opening of the Home. On September 21, 1863, Carolina Engel, a little girl six years of age, was admitted into the private home over which Mrs. Bæhringer presided, and September 21, 1864, she died, leaving her own family and a family of forty-seven orphans to mourn her departure.
"Rev. J. G. Neuber preached the funeral sermon, full of comfort for the stricken family, based on Isaiah 55: 8,9: 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
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neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
The orphan children sang at the grave and the choir of Bethlehem congregation, of Philadelphia, comforted the afflicted, at the burial service, with sacred music. The remains were laid to rest in the cemetery of the Evangelical Reformed Emanuel's congregation, in Bridesburg.
The Home at Bridesburg was dedicated with appro- priate religious services on the 13th of October, 1864, and at the same time the first anniversary was cele- brated, at which time a highly interesting report, pre- pared by Superintendent Bæhringer, was read by one of the visiting clergymen. Pastor Boehringer on this occasion already felt so sick that he could not read his report himself; he retired from the festival, in the midst of the exercises, took to his bed and died twelve days afterward.
At the celebration the opening sermon was preached by the Rev. John Gantenbein, in the German language, based upon Matthew vi. 33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
The sermon was preached at half past ten in the morning, in the Emanuel's church, Bridesburg. After the sermon, the congregation assembled in front of the Orphans' Home building, where Rev. J. S. Kessler, D.D., conducted the dedicatory services in the follow- ing order, all in the German language:
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An address by Dr. Kessler, taking for his text Rev. 21st chapter, 3d verse, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."
"Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth."
Hymn No. 24, 1-4.
Prayer.
Reading of the following passages of Sripture: Ex. 22: 22-24; Deut. 24: 17; Deut. 10: 18; Ps. 68: 6; Ps. 82: 3; John 1: 17; Ps. 146: 9; Matt. 10: 42; Matt. 25: 40-45; James 1: 17.
"Beloved in the Lord: In these and similar passages God declares himself to be the protector of the poor in general, and of the widows and orphans in particular. Whatever of good, therefore, is done in this and other similar orphans' institutions in faith and in love, ac- cording to His will, will surely enjoy His blessing sooner or later."
Apostles' Creed.
"This institution is founded upon this fundamental doctrine of faith; upon this foundation shall it be con- tinued, and may God add His help thereto. Amen."
Hymn No. 24, 5-7.
Act of dedication :
"Christian friends of the orphans! This Orphans' Home is founded for the glory of God, and for the upbuilding of the temporal and eternal welfare of those who have already been received, and who shall here- after be received into it. It shall bear the name, 'The Orphans' Home of the Shepherd of the Lambs,' and by this name do we dedicate it to the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We add the humble and sincere petition that Almighty God may spread His protecting wing over this institution, as He did over Noah's Ark and over the Ark of the Cove-
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nant of His people Israel; and that the Superintendent of the Orphans' Home may always be a man after God's own heart, who will bring up those entrusted to his care to become Sheep of His pasture. May the blessing of God rest upon this our act, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen."
Prayer.
Hymn No. 317, 1-2.
After these regular services of the dedication were concluded, the congregation partook of a dinner, and then returned to the church, where the annual report of the Superintendent was read by Rev. John Ganten- bein. In this report the following statement concern- ing the finances of the Home during this year appeared : $5,080.91 were received. $810 were received as a loan without being solicited. Expended, $5,445.81, leav- ng a balance of $445.10. Of the amount expended, $1,428.43 were used to repair the old building, to build a kitchen, and towards erecting the new brick house.
The early anniversaries were attended by very few people, mostly from Bridesburg and Philadelphia, the latter coming on one-horse street cars.
DEATH OF REV. EMANUEL BOEHRINGER.
The founder of the oldest orphans' home of the Re- formed Church in the United States died October 25, 1864, of nervous fever. In regard to this event, his successor, as Superintendent of the Home, writes sub- stantially as follows, in the Læmmerhirte:
Job's News, or Sad Information.
"We name this death notice, which we are called upon in grief to bring to the friends of the Orphans'
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Home, Job's news, because it follows so suddenly that which was given in the last number of the Læmmer- hirte, and because we firmly believe that it is not for the destruction of the Orphans' Home, but that it is brought upon us to prove our faith and to glorify God.
"The hand that wrote the obituary notice in the last number is now cold in death, and the eye that looked into the early grave of his faithful wife is broken. 'None of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to him- self. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.'
"At four o'clock on the morning of October 25th, 1864, scarcely five weeks after the death of his wife, Rev. Emanuel Bohringer died. He was a minister of the Reformed Church, Superintendent and founder of our Orphans' Home, editor of the Læmmerhirte, father of six children and the foster-father of forty-seven orphans.
"The departed was born on the 29th of May, 1823, in Burgach, near Stuttgart, in the kingdom of Wur- temberg. He came to America in 1858, was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Philadelphia Classis, in the spring of 1859, and in the same year was ordained to the holy ministry by Maryland Classis, in Norfolk, Va. Whereupon he labored as a missionary in Norfolk and Richmond, Va., until the autumn of 1862, at which time, on account of the war, he left his field of labor and returned to Philadelphia. * * * In starting an orphans' home, the beloved brother ventured much and took upon himself great responsibilities. All this rested heavily upon him, and much heavier still, upon the deeply sensitive man, fell the death of his wife. Already on the eve of the first anniversary, which was held on the 13th of October, he complained of not feeling well. On the day of the anniversary, he at- tended the opening services, but before the Home was
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dedicated, he retired to his bed, which also proved his death bed. In the start, his complaint was bilious fever, which afterwards developed into nervous fever. As he lay upon his sick-bed, he was often heard to pray, thinking that he was alone. In answer to the question, what was to become of his children in case he should die, he replied, 'let them remain in the Orphans' Home', and then 'commit them to the Lord.' At last his sister, who had been with him since the death of his wife, asked whether he now wanted to go to his Saviour, which he answered with an emphatic 'Yes.' His aged mother then placed her hand upon his fore- head, whereupon he lifted his eyes towards heaven and expired.
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