USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > A history of the Goshenhoppen Reformed charge, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (1727-1819) > Part 17
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LETTER OF ALSENTZ TO FABER, SEPTEMBER 19, 1766.
GERMANTOWN, the 19th of September 1766.
Very Reverend
and much esteemed Sir!
My heart is full of thanks to the faithful Father for His gracious guidance of your Reverence and your happy arrival in our vineyard. My heart rejoices and I congratulate myself because of the help that has reached us, which we so much need. I have
195 This letter is now in the library of the Reformed Theological Semi- nary at Lancaster. It was placed at the disposal of the writer, together with a number of other letters from the correspondence of Mr. Faber, through the courtesy of Prof. Geo. W. Richards, D.D.
217
John Theobald Faber, Sr.
understood that you preached yesterday in Philadelphia and that you will come up to me next Sunday. I have accordingly informed the Rev. Weyberg that I had announced a communion service and that you might choose a sermon fitting for the occasion. If that letter should have been delayed, I ask you herewith to make note of this. In addition I wish to ask you to notify me whether you prefer to preach in the forenoon or afternoon, so that I may be governed by your choice. This I may tell you in advance that in the morning the church will be best filled, because many people live far away. Hence it is the best service for a strange minister to be heard. Besides I ask you to inform me whether you are a Mr. Faber from Zozenheim and what the names of the other gen- tlemen are,
I remain very respectfully Your Reverence's Faithful Brother Jo. GEO. ALSENTZ. P.S. More orally. Please attribute my brevity to my ill health.
Faber reached his charge in October, 1766. On Octo- ber 21, 1766, he performed his first ministerial act, by officiating at a funeral at New Goshenhoppen. He made his home at first with Daniel Hiester. On February 29, 1769, £1.12.10, was paid by the Great Swamp congrega- tion as " house rent for the minister to Daniel Hiester."196 This remained the place of his residence probably till he married on August 7, 1770, Barbara Rose, daughter of Erhardt Rose of Reading. After his marriage he moved into the parsonage, built on the glebe land near the New Goshenhoppen church.197
At the Coetus of 1768, held September 8 to 9, 1768, at Easton, Faber reported for the first time the statistics of his congregations. Old Goshenhoppen had then 30 fami-
196 According to an entry in the account book of the congregation.
197 See letter of Mr. Schultz, printed above, pp. 184-9; esp. p. 187.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
lies, New Goshenhoppen 90, and Great Swamp also 30 families. He had baptized during the preceding year 60 and confirmed 22. These figures increased only slightly during the next four years. Thus in 1771 he reported 40 families at Old Goshenhoppen, 90 at New Goshenhoppen and 40 at Great Swamp, 63 baptized and 25 confirmed. It is, however, remarkable that in his report of 1773 the sum total of his membership jumps from 170 families in 1772 to 260 in 1773, together with 87 baptized and 36 confirmed. In the last year of his pastorate, 1779, the figures were 270 members in the three congregations, 69 baptisms and 48 confirmed. Complete statistics cannot be given from the Coetus Minutes, as the reports for two years (1774 and 1778) are missing.
It may, however, serve a useful purpose to give a sum- mary of his pastoral activity on the basis of the various church records. Into them he entered 764 baptisms, 262 funerals and 127 weddings. The record for the separate congregations stands as follows :
At New Goshenhoppen he entered from January, 1767, till October 6, 1779, 312 baptisms; he officiated from Oc- tober 21, 1766, till August 5, 1779, at 126 funerals, and married from March 3, 1767, till September 30, 1779, 56 couples. His first class of catechumens was confirmed on April 17, 1767, his last on April 2, 1779.
At Old Goshenhoppen he recorded from November, 1766, till September 24, 1779, 282 baptisms; from De- cember 26, 1766, till October 18, 1778, he held 82 funerals; and from January 20, 1767, till October 5, 1779, he officiated at 52 weddings.
At Great Swamp he baptized from November 19, 1766, till October 27, 1779, 170 children ; he entered 54 funerals from April 21, 1767, till June 11, 1779, and united in
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Faber at Goshenhoppen
marriage 29 couples from March 5, 1767, till August, I779.
These entries make it plain that Faber's pastorate ex- tended from October, 1766, till October, 1779.
Faber was honored by the Coetus in being elected its secretary in 1771 and its president in 1772.
The ability of Faber as a preacher was recognized by other congregations than his own. When the congrega- tion of Lancaster became vacant in 1769 through the re- moval of Mr. Hendel to Tulpehocken, they called Faber. The minutes of 1770 state: "The congregation made an urgent request for an ordained minister and gave a special call to Do. Faber of Goshenhoppen." But since he had many scruples with regard to leaving his congregations he asked for four weeks' time to consider, which was granted him by the Reverend Coetus, and it was at once resolved that he might accept the call without waiting for a further decision of the Coetus. The Coetal letter of that year, written on December 7, 1770, reports that "Faber has concluded to remain at Goshenhoppen."
In 1775 Lancaster became again vacant through the re- moval of its pastor, Charles L. Boehm, to Hanover, hence the Lancaster congregation renewed its call to Mr. Faber. At the Coetus held May 10 to II, 1775, at Lebanon, "two delegates from Lancaster appeared with a written call for Do. J. Th. Faber, who, however, could not decide to leave his congregations."
In 1779 the call of the Lancaster congregation was re- newed for the third time and was at last accepted by Faber.
Before, however, recounting these final events in the ministry of Faber at Goshenhoppen a few other facts ought to be mentioned.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
In 1773 the Minutes of Coetus state :
Trumbauer Congregation, in Bucks County, which was at first served by Do. Gobrecht, and afterwards, from time to time by Do. Faber, asked the Reverend Coetus for Do. Gebhard.
Gobrecht was in Bucks County as pastor of the To- hickon charge from 1766 to 1770, hence Faber must have supplied that congregation from 1770 to 1772, when Mr. Wack became the pastor at Tohickon.
A remarkable entry in the Coetus Minutes, connecting Gobrecht with Great Swamp ought to be mentioned. The statistics of 1769 and of 1770 report Gobrecht as serving Tohickon, Indian Field and Great Swamp, while at the same time Faber is reported as the pastor of Great Swamp and, moreover, the Great Swamp church record shows that the baptismal entries of Faber at Great Swamp run without break through 1769 and 1770 as through all the other years from 1766 to 1779. Perhaps the easiest way to get rid of this difficulty is to regard it as a simple mistake of the clerks of Coetus. Such an explanation would seem to be demanded for 1769, where the statistics of Gobrecht and Faber follow each other immediately and where Gobrecht is said to have reported for Great Swamp 30 families, 16 baptisms and I catechumen. Incidentally the same figures are reported by Faber for Great Swamp. Surely there must be a confusion in this case. But what caused the confusion in 1770, if there be one, remains unexplained.
The progress of the charge under the care of Mr. Faber is seen in the fact that during his ministry two of the con- gregations built new churches.
In 1769 the cornerstone was laid and in 1770 a large new stone church was completed at New Goshenhoppen.
THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
4
NEW GOSHENHOPPEN CHURCH, 1770-1857.
22I
Faber called to Lancaster
At Old Goshenhoppen a similar stone church was built in 1772. In the same year a new parsonage seems to have been built at New Goshenhoppen. For in the Old Gosh- enhoppen account book we find the following entry in I772 :
Two and Twenty Pounds and eleven shillings were paid by Christian Hollebusch for the parsonage at New Goshenhoppen to Adam Hillegas and in addition 3 pounds to Abraham Seckler, as per receipt, dated June 7, 1772. Thirteen shillings 6 pence were paid to me by Ulrich Hertzel on account of the building expenses of the parsonage.
WEYGAND PANNEBECKER.
The organist and schoolmaster at Old Goshenhoppen from 1772 to 1778 was Henrich Hemsing, who at first (in 1772) received five, later six pounds as salary for playing the organ.
The organist at New Goshenhoppen during this period is unfortunately not known, but the organ has been pre- served and what is more remarkable it is still in use. It is probably the oldest organ in use in the Reformed church. It was put into the second church in 1770 when it was finished. It was built by the well-known organ-builder Tannenhäuser of Lititz, Lancaster Co., Pa.
In August, 1779, the congregation at Lancaster sent the following call to Mr. Faber :198
CALL OF LANCASTER CHURCH TO FABER.
LANCASTER, August 30, 1779.
Reverend Sir :- It is without doubt already known to your Rev- erence, that the Rev. Mr. Helffenstein has left our congregation for some time past. In order, therefore, to obtain another pastor, the congregation assembled yesterday in the schoolhouse; on which
198 Weiser, Monograph, p. 67.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
occasion your Reverence was unanimously elected. If you will, then, have the goodness to visit us and preach for us we will be very thankful. The Consistory, accordingly resolved, with the consent of the congregation, to send the bearer, William Jacob Schaeffer, to wait upon you, and urge upon you our call. Should you consent to preach a trial sermon, on some day of your own choosing, we will then be fully prepared to extend you the proper call. To this end, Mr. William Jacob Schaeffer is authorized to confer with you in detail.
Meanwhile we remain your Friends. Done in the name of the Consistory of the German Reformed Church, Lancaster,
NICHOLAS JOB WILLIAM BUSH LUDWIG SCHELL.
But the people at Goshenhoppen were not willing to give up their pastor. Hence they framed and forwarded a protest to the Coetus. In it they stated that his charge " unanimously desires to retain him as their pastor ; that he is greatly beloved by all, and that he is very useful." They furthermore promised "to give him £225 lawful money, sixty bushels of wheat and rye, the use of the par- sonage, fuel and the hay of a meadow." They expressed the hope that the Reverend Coetus " would grant their de- sire and allow Mr. Faber to remain with them."
In spite of this protest, however, Faber left Goshen- hoppen in October, 1779. The Coetus Minutes of 1781 report : "Mr. Faber has accepted Lancaster. He left Goshenhoppen because they did not give him the neces- sary support which they were sufficiently able to do." This plain statement stands in glaring contrast to the promises of the congregations. Indeed the salary of Fa- ber as reported for 1770 and 1771 was only £65. In 1785 he reported it at £100, while the highest salary any
THE PENNSYLVANIA-GERMAN SOCIETY.
TTTTTTTTTT
TTT
ORGAN OF NEW GOSPENHOPPEN CHURCH. (BUILT BY DAVID TANNENHAUSER, 1770.)
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Faber leaves Goshenhoppen
minister of the Coetus received in 1785 was £150. We are, therefore, justified in questioning the accuracy of the above translation. If a supposition may be ventured, the writer would suggest it to be a misprint for £75 or perhaps £85. That would be in harmony with general conditions.
CHAPTER IX.
MINISTRY OF REV. JOHN WILLIAM INGOLD, 1780-1781.
OME time in September, 1780, the following heading was put over a series of baptisms in the Old Goshenhoppen Record :
" The following children were baptized by me, Johann Wilhelm Ingold, pastor loci."
This heading is followed by fifteen baptismal entries, in the handwriting of Ingold, extending from Sep- tember, 1780, to July 30, 1781. These entries introduce us to a minister of an entirely different type than his predecessors.
On August 4, 1754, "Joh. Wilhelmus Ingoldius " ma- triculated in the University of Heidelberg, as a student of theology, from Simmern, in the Palatinate, at present in the Rhine province, in the " Regierungsbezirk " Koblenz. He was ordained at Heidelberg May 10, 1762. He ap- peared before the Deputies June 1, 1774. He produced as his testimonials a letter of recommendation from Hos- pital, consistorial councillor at Heidelberg, dated May 23, 1773. He also had a letter from the German Reformed Church of London, where he had been pastor for four months, dated February 20, 1774. His credentials were found to be sufficient, and he was appointed by the Synod- ical Deputies. On June 9, 1774, a letter of introduction to the Coetus of Pennsylvania was given to him and 150 fl.
224
225
John William Ingold
as traveling expenses. Shortly afterwards he left for Pennsylvania, where he arrived in the fall of that year. He had a very checkered career. From 1775 to 1790 he is mentioned in the Minutes of Coetus, serving in these fifteen years no less than seven different charges. His whole ministry was filled with quarrels. He paid no re- gard either to the resolutions of the Coetus or the wishes of his congregations. Hence he was constantly in diffi- culty. The verdict of Coetus on his ministry is expressed in these words: "Rev. Ingold during his stay with us has not conducted himself to the satisfaction of his brethren."199
Shortly after his arrival he took Witpen and Worcester in Montgomery County. At Witpen (now Boehm's Church at Blue Bell) his baptismal entries begin Novem- ber 7, 1774, and end May 25, 1775. At Worcester (now Wentz's Church) a receipt for salary shows that his min- istry there began on November 10, 1774. It lasted for one year. At the end of that time the people were unwill- ing to continue paying him £75 as salary.
At the close of the year the congregations offered a smaller sum, and said if he should not be satisfied with this they would close the church against him. Thereupon Mr. Ingold preached no longer for them, but continued to live in the parsonage until he no longer dared to remain there. He then moved to another house in the neighborhood, where he wholly consumed the gathered crumbs. His brethren were sorry for him, gave him oral and written advice, and helped him to Saucon. But here again he left immediately and went to Easton, hoping to draw the united congregation to him.199a
In Easton his baptismal entries begin on July 7, 1776, 199 Minutes of Coetus, p. 373.
199a Minutes of Coetus, p. 373.
16
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
and continue from that date uninterruptedly till March 17, 1786. It was thus while pastor at Easton that the Goshenhoppen charge became vacant and was entered by him. The Minutes of 178 I continue the story :
Easton being a small congregation and unable to support him, and he in addition losing the love of the people, and finally even being persecuted, tried to gain the favor of Goshenhoppen. He offered to take only as much salary as their kindness and free-will would give. The result was that two small congregations [Old Goshenhoppen and Great Swamp] allowed him to preach in their churches ; but the strongest congregation, New Goshenhoppen, pro- tested against this, and many persons also in the two smaller con- gregations did not want to have anything to do with him, until he should be accepted by the three united congregations as their min- ister. Nevertheless, Ingold settled among these congregations on his own account. Hence there arose the greatest confusion among them which a committee of Coetus tried to settle. But Ingold opposed and frustrated the attempt of his brethren. When all these actions of this man were placed before Coetus, the following resolution was adopted :
a. That the three united congregations shall meet for the elec- tion of a minister. Mr. Ingold may be a candidate in this election, if the congregations so agree.
b. That this action be recommended, in writing, to the congre- gations and Mr. Ingold likewise be advised to help in bringing about this election ; otherwise the Coetus will be compelled to take extreme steps in his case.
When Coetus met again on May 1, 1782, at Reading, they report :
Mr. Ingold, who was not present at the Reverend Coetus, having left the congregations in Goshenhoppen half a year ago, informed the Reverend Coetus by a letter presented by an elder, that he had begun to serve the congregations Easton, Dryland and Greenwich. The Reverend Coetus was obliged to approve of this action, because
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Ingold at Goshenhoppen
for several years it has been thought advisable to allow all vacant congregations to call a minister of the Coetus according to their pleasure; even as a minister is also at liberty to accept such con- gregations at pleasure.
This entry shows that Ingold left Goshenhoppen about November, 1781, probably because the election was unfa- vorable to him.
The activity of Ingold in the Goshenhoppen charge can only be traced at Old Goshenhoppen. Besides the bap- tisms, to which reference has already been made, he en- tered a class of catechumens (22 boys and 19 girls) into the record on April 21, 1781. Besides, he signed the ac- count of the treasurer on May 18, 178 1, with A. M. Ache, the schoolmaster.
At Great Swamp different hands entered eleven baptisms from September 18, 1780, till July 22, 1781. According to the minutes of the Coetus of May, 1781, Caspar Wack,200 pastor of Tohickon and Indianfield, was supply- ing the Swamp church. In the minutes of the Coetus of 1782, held May 1, 1782, at Reading, we read :
The congregations Tohickon, Indianfield and Great Swamp, which, by the departure of Mr. Wack, had become vacant, asked, through delegates for another minister. The Reverend Coetus could do nothing but give these congregations liberty to call a minister.
200 Caspar Wack was the son of John George Wack, who arrived at Philadelphia on September 16, 1748. Caspar Wack was born at Phila- delphia August 15, 1752. He was educated by Rev. Caspar Weyberg; licensed by Coetus in 1770; catchist at Lancaster, 1770-71; ordained June, 1772. His first pastorate was at Tohickon and Indianfield. 1772-1782, to which Nacomixon was added in 1773. He was pastor of German Valley, Foxhill and Rockaway, N. J., 1782-1809; of Germantown and White- marsh, 1809-1821; of Whitemarsh alone 1821-23. He died at Trappe, Montgomery County, July 19, 1839. See Harbaugh, Fathers, Vol. II, pp. 173-192; Good, History, pp. 570-72.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
During this period we find at New Goshenhoppen 17 baptisms recorded from June 18, 1780, till March 12, 1781. Most of these entries are in the handwriting of the Rev. John Henry Helffrich, 201 then pastor of Maxa- tawny, Heidelberg, Lowhill, Upper Milford, and Salz- burg, all of which, except the first, are located in Lehigh County. He was one of the strong men of Coetus, who did much to uphold order and religion in his own as well as in neighboring congregations.
After Ingold left Easton in 1786, he went to Reading. His call to that congregation is dated September 14, 1786. After serving that congregation for a year and a half, which was rich in quarrels, he left it in April, 1788. Coetus does not want to put all the blame on him, but re- marks that "a repulsive conduct is likely to bring about such consequences." From there he went to Indianfield, Tohickon and Trumbauers. At Indianfield his baptismal entries run from June 19, 1788, till November 1, 1789. While pastor there, he lost his wife. He himself made the following entry in the Indianfield record :
" March 29 [1789], Mrs. Catharine Barbara Ingold, wife of the pastor died, aged 40 years, 6 months, 3 weeks and 4 days." At the meeting of Coetus held in June, 1790, he is reported as having been " rejected by his con- gregations." After that his name appears only once more in the official records of the church. It was to make his . 201 John Henry Helfrich was born at Mosbach in the Palatinate, October 22, 1739. He matriculated at Heidelberg University, February 2, 1758. He was ordained in September, 1761; became assistant pastor to his father at Sinsheim and Rohrbach; was then vicar at Reyen, Kirchhard and Stein- furth; was commissioned for Pennsylvania July, 1771; arrived at New York January 14, 1772. He was pastor of the Maxatawny charge all his life, 1772-1810, which consisted among others of Lowhill, Heidelberg, Kutztown, etc. He died December 5, 1810. See Helffrich, Geschichte, pp. 73-86; Harbaugh, Fathers, Vol. II, pp. 240-251.
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Ingold leaves Church
separation from the church complete and final. In 1801 Synod notified him that by his continued absence he had excluded himself from the church. His name was there- fore dropped.202
202 For sketches of Ingold's life see Harbaugh, Fathers, Vol. II, p. 399 f .; Good, History, pp. 561-563; Miller, History of the Reformed Church in Reading, pp. 86-90.
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CHAPTER X.
MINISTRY OF REV. FREDERICK DELLIKER, 1782-1784.
T the same meeting of Coetus, at which the departure of Ingold from Goshenhoppen was announced, we also find the announce- ment of the arrival of a new pastor.
Mr. Daelliker informed Coetus why he had left his former field in New Jersey, including the congrega- tions Rockaway, Valley, Foxhill, and a few months ago, accepted a call from the congregations of Goshenhoppen.
Frederick Delliker (or Dälliker) was descended from an old Zurich family. They became citizens in Zurich, 1376. During the seventeenth century there were at least three ministers in the family. The coat of arms of the family showed a man with two burning candles in his hands. This design was based on the name of the family which was originally "Talliker," meaning the " candle maker " (cf. the German Talg and the English tallow) . These facts, taken from the "Lexicon Geographicum- Stemmatographicum "203 in Zurich, dispose entirely of the old tradition that the name of the family was originally
203 In the city library at Zürich, Msc. E. 54; Vol. II, pp. 5-8; cf. also above, p. 97, note 107.
230
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Frederick Delliker
De la Cour and that he was, therefore, of Huguenot de- scent. The family was rather an old Swiss family and could not possibly have been Huguenot. What actually happened was that Frederick Delliker adopted for a time, while in French services, a French name.
Hans Rudolph Dälliker, the father of Frederick Dalli- ker, was a painter and in 1750 became "Oberster Salz- hausdiener," which position was probably equivalent to the manager of the saltworks. His mother was Maria von Brunn of Basel, who married his father on March 23, 1732. She died March 23, 1754, while the father died April 23, 1769, at Schaffhausen.
Frederick Delliker was born in 1738, according to the Zurich records. Dr. Harbaugh204 gives February 2, 1738, as the date of his birth, but that cannot be correct. His tombstone at Falkner Swamp states that he died Jan- uary 15, 1799, aged 60 years, 10 months and 17 days, 205 hence the date of birth must have been February 27, 1738. According to the genealogical records in Zurich, Fred- erick Dälliker was ordained in 1757. In the year follow- ing (1758), he became German "Diakon," or assistant minister in Geneva. In 1760 he became chaplain of the French regiment "Lochmann." It was while he was a French chaplain that he assumed temporarily the name De la Cour. The French name never appears in his later life. In 1766 he left French services.
In December, 1766, he arrived at Amsterdam, and on April 17, 1767, he appeared before the Classical Commis- sioners. In May his presence and application for service in Pennsylvania was announced to the Synodical Deputies. He was examined at the Hague, June 25, 1767, signed
204 Harbaugh, Fathers, Vol. II, p. 382.
205 Roth, History of the Falkner Swamp Reformed Church, 1904, P. 37.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
the formula of unity and was given his commission. When he arrived in Pennsylvania in the fall of 1767 (probably October), he was sent to Amwell, New Jersey, now at Ringoes, Hunterdon County, N. J. In 1768 Ger- mantown gave him a call but he declined it and announced that he had determined to serve, in addition to Amwell, Alexandria (Mt. Pleasant), Rockaway (Lebanon), Fox- hill (Fairmount) and German Valley, four new congrega- tions, which asked "to be taken into the fellowship of Coetus." At Rockaway his entries begin in the church record on November 6, 1768.206 In 1769 charges were brought against him at Amwell, as a result of which he left Amwell, but continued to serve the other congrega- tions. The statistics of 1769 report him as unmarried, residing at Rockaway, and serving the four congregations mentioned above.
Delliker continued as pastor in New Jersey until the spring of 1782, when, through the departure of Ingold from Goshenhoppen, these congregations had become va- cant. In May, 1782, he informed Coetus that he had gone to Goshenhoppen "a few months ago." In entire harmony with this statement we find that his baptismal entries begin at New Goshenhoppen on March 3, 1782, at Great Swamp on March 10, and at Old Goshenhoppen on March 17, 1782. On June 6, 1783, he signed a re- ceipt for salary at Old Goshenhoppen from February I, 1782, to February 1, 1783. This fixes the beginning of his ministry definitely as February 1, 1782. On May I, 1782, Delliker made the following report of his congre- gations : " 170 families, 33 baptisms, 35 confirmed and 3 schools." This is the first definite evidence in the Coetus Minutes that each of the three congregations had a paro- chial school.
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