USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > A history of the Goshenhoppen Reformed charge, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (1727-1819) > Part 18
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206 Chambers, Early Germans in New Jersey, p. 105 f.
233
Delliker at Goshenhoppen
At the meeting of Coetus on May 14, 1783, in Phila- delphia, Delliker is reported as supplying six congrega- tions in New Jersey, part of them his former charge, Rockaway, Valley and Foxhill, also in part Nolton, Hart- wick and Newton. At the same time he made detailed report about the three congregations of which he was the regular pastor. Of New Goshenhoppen he reported 95 families, 37 baptized, 17 confirmed, 2 schools with 48 scholars; of Old Goshenhoppen 45 families, 18 baptized, 8 confirmed, I school with 32 scholars; of Great Swamp 37 families, 12 baptized, 26 confirmed, I school with 31 scholars. Unfortunately we know nothing more of the two schools at New Goshenhoppen.
The pastoral activity of Delliker in the Goshenhoppen charge can be summed up as follows: 141 baptisms, 21 funerals and 16 weddings. The record for each of the churches is as follows :
At New Goshenhoppen he entered 77 baptisms, begin- ning on March 3, 1782, and ending March 21, 1784. There were 12 funerals from June 5, 1783, to March II, 1784, and 7 weddings from March 24, 1782, to March 16, 1784.
At Old Goshenhoppen he officiated at 30 baptisms from March 17, 1782, to January 18, 1784, at 4 funerals from February 12, 1783, to January 15, 1784, and at 5 wed- dings from August 6, 1782, to May 20, 1783.
At Great Swamp he had 34 baptisms from March 10, 1782, till March 18, 1784, 5 funerals from April 17, 1783, and 4 weddings from April 23, 1782, to April I, 1783.
From these summaries it is apparent that the pastoral activity of Delliker at Goshenhoppen extended from March, 1782, till March, 1784. During this time he was
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
not, as has been commonly reported, the pastor at Falkner Swamp. The ministry of Rev. Nicholas Pomp came to an end at Falkner Swamp after the meeting of Coetus on May 14, 1783, when he is still reported as pastor of Falk- ner Swamp and Vincent. He did not leave these congre- gations till the fall of 1783 for Baltimore. Pomp's first baptismal entry made in the Baltimore records was on Sep- tember 15, 1783, and he himself states in that record that he preached his installation sermon [Eintrittspredigt] on the first Sunday of September, 1783.
In the spring of 1784, Delliker was called to Falkner Swamp to become Pomp's successor. Delliker's first en- try in the Swamp records was made on April 9, 1784. At the Coetus meeting held on May 12, 1784, Delliker is reported as having gone from Goshenhoppen to Falkner Swamp.
He remained pastor of Falkner Swamp and Vincent to the end of his life. He died at Falkner Swamp June 15, 1799, and was buried in the Falkner Swamp graveyard.206a
He was a prominent member of Coetus, as is seen from the fact that he was the secretary of Coetus in 1774, 1783, 1786, 1788, 1789, and its president in 1775, 1787 and 1790. In 1789 he had the honor, as secretary of Coetus, to send a congratulatory address to Washington, on having been elected first president of the United States.207
An old man who personally remembered him described him to Dr. Jos. H. Dubbs as " a little, good-humored, red- faced man, with a shock of white hair."208
206a While pastor at Falkner Swamp Frederick Delliker married Maria Juvenal, October 12, 1786. The marriage is recorded in the church record of the First Reformed Church at Philadelphia (see Pennsylvania Archives, 2d Series, Vol. VIII, p. 663) and also in the Falkner Swamp Record, see Pennsylvania Archives, I. c., p. 603.
207 Minutes of Coetus, p. 434.
208 Dubbs, Reformed Church in Pennsylvania, p. 195.
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CHAPTER XI.
MINISTRY OF REV. FREDERICK WILLIAM VAN DER SLOOT, 1784-1786.
١ T the meeting of Coetus, held May 12, 1784, in Lancaster, "the congregations of Old and New Goshenhoppen and Great Swamp re- quest Do. Frederick William Van der Sloot for their pastor. This Van der Sloot was born in Anhalt-Zerbst, and, according to his testimonials, has preached frequently, as candidate of the- ology, in the Cathedral of Berlin. For two and a half years he acted as inspector of the Joachimsthal Gymna- sium. As his other circumstances are the same as those of Do. Wynckhaus, mentioned in the previous article (they were not sent by the Fathers in Holland), the same action was taken regarding him; that he shall minister to the said congregations until we have ascertained the opinion of the Reverend Fathers."
The new minister at Goshenhoppen seemed by descent and training well fitted for his position and work.
He was descended from a ministerial family. Both his grandfather as well as his father had been ministers before him. His grandfather, Friederich von der Schloth, was pastor at Barby on the Elbe River, southeast of Magde-
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
burg.208a His father, Friedrich Heinrich von der Schlott, was pastor of the Reformed church of Aken, 1725 to 1743, and of St. Nikolai at Zerbst, in the principality of Anhalt-Zerbst, from 1743 to 1751. While pastor of this church he married Sophia Wilhelmine von Boller, August 20, 1743. Their only son was Philip Wilhelm Frederick von der Sloot, born in Zerbst, September 27, 1744. Ap- parently later in life he changed his Christian name to Frederick William. He studied for the ministry and be- came pastor of Zornitz, Poetnitz, Scholitz and Nauendorf in the province of Brandenburg. Later he was conrector of the Latin school at Dessau and then for two and a half years Inspector of the Joachimsthal Gymnasium in Berlin. There he married, May 5, 1772, Louisa Henrietta, daughter of the Rev. Prof. Schultz, professor in the same school.
According to his great-grandson,209 he came to Pennsyl- vania in 1779 or 1780, leaving his wife and family (one son at least) in Germany. His first charge was in Allen township, Northampton County.
In April, 1784, he came into the Goshenhoppen charge. At Great Swamp he entered the first baptism on April 18, 1784, at New Goshenhoppen on April 25, 1784, and at Old Goshenhoppen on May 2, 1784. At New Goshen- hoppen he entered 21 baptisms between April 25, 1784, and November 21, 1784 ; at Old Goshenhoppen 6 baptisms between May 2, 1784, and October 14, 1784, and at Great Swamp 16 baptisms between April 18, 1784, and May 14, 1786.
The reason for the sudden termination of his work at 208a The antecedents and history of Mr. Van der Sloot have been cleared up by one of his descendants, Lewis Vandersloot, who in 1901 published the Ilistory and Genealogy of the l'on der Sloot Family, Harrisburg, 1901, pp. 68; see especially pp. 9-17.
209 L. c., p. 16.
237
Frederick William Van Der Sloot, Sr.
New and Old Goshenhoppen is furnished by the Coetus Minutes of 1785, which read :
As was stated in Art. VI of last year's minutes, Fred. Wm. Van der Sloot preached at Old and New Goshenhoppen and Great Swamp. The former two congregations have now locked the churches against him on account of a very disgraceful and unlawful act ; but the latter congregation, namely Great Swamp, still allows him to preach. This was the deed. He had left a wife and child in Germany, but married here a single woman. A short time after his marriage it became known through his own statements that he had another wife, whereupon his father-in-law took his daughter back to his home. Then Van der Sloot was locked out by the two Goshenhoppen churches.
In corroboration of this statement we find the following entry in the New Goshenhoppen record, made by Van der Sloot himself :
June 29, [1784], Rev. Däliker married me, Friedrich Wilhelm Von der Sloot, only son of Friedrich Heinrich Von der Sloot, late minister in Anhalt-Zerbst, Germany to Anna Margaretha Riedt, oldest daughter of Jacob Ried of Hatfield township, Philadelphia County.
Judging by the church records, the ministry of Van der Sloot at Great Swamp ended in May, 1786. There was a baptism as late as May 14, and a funeral on April 3, 1786, by Van der Sloot. But it is possible that he was then merely a visitor, for even at the Coetus meeting of April 27 to 28, 1785, Faber reported Tohickon, Indian- field and Great Swamp as the congregations which he was then serving. The actual removal of Faber, however, to the Goshenhoppen field did not take place till the spring of the following year.
Van der Sloot meanwhile returned to Northampton County, where he ministered to congregations in Allen, Moore and Lehigh townships. He died there in 1803.
CHAPTER XII.
SECOND MINISTRY OF JOHN THEOBALD FABER, SR., 1786-1788.
E left Faber in 1779 as pastor of the Re- formed Church in Lancaster. He began his work there in November, 1779, but he stayed hardly three years. The city life evidently contrasted unfavorably to his mind with the quiet country life in the Goshenhoppen valley. He became restless and homesick. One evidence of this is that the consistorial minutes were almost entirely neglected during his ministry. He, there- fore, determined to return to the lower counties as soon as possible.
In September, 1781, the Indianfield and Tohickon con- gregations in Bucks County became vacant through the removal of Rev. Caspar Wack. Hence Faber accepted a call to that field, only fifteen miles from his former charge. His ministry at Indianfield began on July 14, 1782; at least on that day he entered his first baptism into the In- dianfield record. From that time till April 27, 1786, he recorded 57 baptisms in the Indianfield record. The latter date must have marked approximately the end of his ministry in that field, for in May, 1786, his entries begin in the New Goshenhoppen record.
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239
John Theobald Faber, Sr.
On May 17 to 18, 1786, the minutes of Coetus report :
J. Theobald Faber left Indianfield, Tohickon and Trumbauer's Church and accepted his former congregations of Old Goshenhop- pen, New Goshenhoppen and Great Swamp.
Apparently he was very happy to get back to his first friends. Dr. Weiser has preserved a tradition210 that on the day of his return his parishioners had gathered in the parsonage to welcome him.
When nearing the premises, he stood up in a large wagon, and with uncovered head cried out: "Ihr Goschenhoppener! Ich ver- lass euch in meinem Leben nicht mehr. Hier will ich leben und sterben."
The reunion was a happy one and resulted well for pas- tor and people. In 1787 Faber reported of his three con- gregations 230 families, 76 baptized, 93 confirmed and 78 scholars in the schools. The whole record for his second pastorate at Goshenhoppen is as follows: 179 baptisms, 67 burials and 28 weddings. Unfortunately his ministry was not of long duration. His death was sudden and unexpected. The Coetal letter of 1789 gives us a con- temporaneous record of it :211
We have to report that the Lord has taken from us a brother, namely Do. Theobald Faber, late minister in New Goshenhoppen and Great Swamp. His departure was unexpected. On Novem- ber 2, 1788, a deathly weakness attacked him while in the pulpit. Having finished half of the sermon, he, with difficulty, repeated the Lord's Prayer, He was then carried from the pulpit and an hour and a half later died in the school-house. It was remarkable that his sermon was on death, for he was just preaching on Jairus'
210 Weiser, Monograph, p. 74.
211 The traditional account given by Dr. Weiser, Monograph, p. 74 f., varies from this statement in several interesting particulars; cf. Minutes of Coetus, p. 431.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
daughter, Matt. IX being the gospel lesson of that day. How dear he was to his people is proved by the fact that, altogether contrary to the custom of this country, they gave him a burial-place under the altar, also that they desired his oldest son for his suc- cessor, if this is at all possible.
The elder Weiser placed a memorial tablet over his remains with this inscription :
TRITT LEISE ! HIER RUHET DER EHRW. JOH. THEOB. FABER, EHEMALS GEWESENER PREDIGER DIESER GEMEINDE. GEBOREN DEN 13TEN FEBR. 1739, STARB DEN 2TEN NOV. 1788. ALTER 49JAHR 8 MO. UND 18 T.
His funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Blumer, then pastor at Allentown. His text was He- brews 13: 17.
Mr. Faber left behind him a wife and seven children, whom the congregation permitted to remain in the par- sonage for several years. They also aided his oldest son in his studies to become his father's successor.
To Dr. C. Z. Weiser, Mr. Faber was described as "a man of small, portly figure, full of vivacity and jovial."
His widow married again, a Mr. Christian Sheidt of Sumneytown. She outlived even her second husband and died, 82 years old, in the home of her son-in-law, Dr. Tobias Sellers. 212
212 Weiser, Monograph, p. 75 f.
CHAPTER XIII.
MINISTRY OF REV. NICHOLAS POMP, 1789-1792.
A FTER the death of Mr. Faber the congrega- gations of the Goshenhoppen charge were for more than a year without a regular pas- tor. An entry in the Old Goshenhoppen records throws some light on this period :
After the death of the sainted Mr. Faber, when the congrega- tion was without a minister, the following children were baptized, some by Mr. Roller, some by the ministers who visited this congre- gation, and, at the request of the parents, their names were entered by Johann Daniel Jung, schoolmaster.
Rev. Conrad Roeller was from 1772 to 1799 the pastor of the Old Goshenhoppen Lutheran congregation. Four baptisms were entered by Mr. Jung from February to No- vember, 1789.
In the New Goshenhoppen record the history is con- tinued by the next pastor :
After the Rev. J. Theobald Faber had died unexpectedly on November 2, 1788, and the congregation had been without a pastor for more than a year, I, N. [Nicholas] Pomp, was called to serve in his place and commenced my ministry here, in the name of God,
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
in these congregations, in the beginning of the month of December 1789.
Dr. Weiser in his "History "213 has preserved an inter- esting letter of Mr. Pomp, which reveals his spirit and the conditions under which he entered upon his work in the new field. It reads as follows :
LETTER OF REV. N. POMP TO THE GOSHENHOPPEN CHURCHES. BALTIMORE, MD., October 2nd, 1789.
To the three united Consistories at Old and New Goshenhoppen and Great Swamp:
Since it has seemed good to the Rev. Ministers, Hendel, Del- licker and Helffrich, that I should supply the three congregations of your charge, now without a pastor, I have concluded to lay before [you] certain conditions, without compliance therewith, I could not under any considerations acquiesce in your wish.
First : The Widow and Family of the late Pastor Faber, still abiding among you, must not be made to suffer any sacrifice by my coming. The sainted Faber and I were bosom friends, and I can, therefore, rejoice the more over the warm and true regard which the charge has manifested toward his bereaved household, from love to his memory.
Secondly : The membership must prove of one mind in the choice of myself as their temporary pastor. I cannot tolerate any dispute to arise, and will not consent to serve, unless the people are a unit.
Thirdly : No definite period of time must be fixed. I shall labor solely for the welfare of the flock, and in the same spirit in which I served at Falconer Swamp. As soon as you determine upon the services of the young Faber, or of any other devoted Pastor, I wish it in my power freely to relinquish the field in his favor.
Fourthly : In regard to Parsonage and Salary I shall say nothing. I will leave all that over to yourselves, and agree to be satisfied with what you consider right and just. My family is small-
213 L. c., pp. 77-79.
243
Nicholas Pomp
myself and wife. We need no roomy house then. It will not prove a hard task, I think, to find a spot for me to occupy.
Fifthly: My removal will not be attended with much trouble and expense, as my goods can be conveyed by water from Balti- more to Philadelphia, and thence by wagons.
The Consistories ought to assemble and deliberate over these several points. The matter is very important, and concerns the welfare of many souls, whose interests suffer in consequence of your want of a regular Minister. Consider well and prayerfully. May you be guided in determining on the wisest course. You can forward the result of your deliberations to Pastor Weyberg, who will report to me.
I am affectionately yours, N. POMP.
According to Dr. Weiser, the joint consistory met at the parsonage on October 24th, concluded to comply with Mr. Pomp's conditions and extended to him a unanimous call, which he promptly accepted. In the beginning of the month of December, 1789, he moved into his new field.
Nicholas Pomp was one of the strong and influential men of the Reformed Church and deserves a more ex- tended notice. About his life in Europe Mr. Pomp him- self has left a short, but fragmentary autobiographical sketch, which we reproduce in full in an English trans- lation :214
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE REV. NICHOLAS POMP.
I, Nicolaus Pomp, have deemed it well to write up an account of my life so that my late descendants may be able to read and see how their ancestor has fared in this world.
I saw the light of day in Manbüchel, then in the Duchy of
214 It was formerly in possession of Dr. Jos. H. Dubbs, who published it in part in his Reformed Church in Pennsylvania, pp. 190-192. It is now in possession of the writer.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
Zweibrücken, January 20, 1734. My honored father was Peter Pomp. My dear mother Elisa, his lawful wife. These parents brought me on the fourth day after my birth to holy Baptism. After which only this is to be noted that for three years I lay sick, as my parents told me. Nevertheless I got well again, so that I could go to school and was able to work. In my 14th year I had read the Bible several times and was also able to recite the Heidel- berg Catechism. Catechetical instruction, which I received from ministers, was so effective that I became a new man and loved the triune God heartily. With worldly people I did not want to have anything to do. Hence I sought solitude, where I could pour out my soul to God and in which my soul took much delight. My only desire for the world was this, that I might become a min- ister, whereby I could call sinners to repentance. But my father did not want to consent to it, because it would cost him too much to let me study, without which I could not become a minister. He, therefore, urged me against my will to take to tailoring, which trade means constant sitting and which, after a few years, under- mined my health completely. Hence my father did not insist that I should continue this trade, but gave me the permission to study, so that in time I might become a minister, if my health and his resources would permit it.
I was now 20 years of age when my studying began with all seriousness. I spent a period of four years in school, where I learnt Latin and Greek as well as Hebrew pretty thoroughly. Then (in the 24th year of my age) I went to Marburg, in Hesse, to study theology in the university.
Here there is a break in the manuscript, the lower part of the page being torn off. The story is continued on the next page :
Although they had before been inclined to disparage me, being unwilling to make me a candidate [of theology], now so were so well disposed towards to me, that without my request they were ready to assist in my ordination and introduction into the ministry. When information came from Holland that the Synod there wished
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Autobiography of Pomp
to promote me to the ministry in America, I was ordained in the city of Cassel and sent with an excellent testimonial to Holland. The Synods examined me and, because they found me well quali- fied, they gave me 535 guilders for traveling expenses and a good recommendation to the congregations in America, which I was expected to serve. I was 15 weeks on the ocean from Holland to Philadelphia, where I arrived December 8, 1765.
At the same time my ministry in Falkner Swamp and Vincent began. After I had spent seven years with these congregations, I married Elisabeth Dotterer,215 a widow with six children and no property, but we lived happily together. I was not rich either, but we had as much as we needed day by day. One son was born to us in wedlock, who remained our only child and whom I called Thomas.216 After we had raised him, I myself educated him for the ministry as well as I could. He became indeed a minister and has been a great comfort to myself and his mother.
About my life I would have to say much at this place if I wished to relate everything that happened to me at Falkner Swamp. I
215 On the same paper on which his autobiography is written, Nicholas Pomp gives also a brief sketch of the life of his wife. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Antes, born January 29 (or February 9, new style), 1734, at Falkner Swamp. Rev. John Philip Boehm baptized her (see Perkiomen Region, I, 51). Her father was Henry Antes and her mother Christina, née Dewees. When eight years old she was taken to Bethlehem, where she stayed till her twelfth year. In May, 1754, she married George Philip Dotterer, with whom she had six children, two sons and four daughters. Her husband died August 23, 1771. She married again, April 23, 1772, Rev. Nicholas Pomp, with whom she had one son, Thomas Pomp. She died at Easton, May 20, 1812. See also The Dotterer Family, by H. S. Dotterer, p. 65 f.
216 Thomas Pomp was born February 4, 1773 in Skippack township, Montgomery County. He studied under his father, was examined and ordained in 1795. In the following year he became pastor of the Easton charge, then consisting of Easton, Plainfield, Dryland and Mt. Bethel. In place of the last Lower Saucon was substituted after some years. He remained pastor of this charge for fifty-six years, much beloved and highly respected by his people. He died at Easton April 22, 1852. See Heisler, Fathers of the Reformed Church, Vol. IV, pp. 15-30.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
only want to say this, that I remained 18 years in the service of this congregation and then I accepted a call to Baltimore in 1783. My departure from Falkner Swamp caused much bitterness and sadness among the people, for the welfare of whose souls I had cared so long and so earnestly. Hardly a single person wanted to be satisfied with my removal, although they could soon get another and perhaps a better preacher. Yet they were not satisfied with it. I also went away with a sad heart, but with the thought that I had done more good among these people than I had believed before.
In Baltimore I could only stand it for six years [1783-1789] and, although I did my best to build up this congregation, I was unable to stay any longer with a quarreling church. For the new church which they had to build, caused a division into two parties and I could side with only one party. . . . . [The rest of the manu- script is torn off.]
At the meeting of the Coetus, held June 7-8, 1790, at Falkner Swamp,
the three united congregations in Goshenhoppen sent their dele- gates with a call for Do. Pomp, thus far minister in Baltimore. They desired to have him as their regular pastor in place of Do. Faber, deceased. But, as the parsonage of the congregation is still occopied by the widow of Do. Faber, whom one would not like to drive out, the congregations are advised to provide a house for Do. Pomp, and to continue the kindness towards the widow, as far as possible.
At the same meeting Pomp reported about his new con- gregations. There were 200 families, 40 baptized, 52 confirmed, 3 schools with 120 scholars.
But the ministry of Pomp at Goshenhoppen was of short duration. At New Goshenhoppen his baptisms extend from November 26, 1789, to July 25, 1790, and his wed- dings from December, 1789, to August 10, 1790. At Great Swamp ten baptisms were entered by him from Jan-
247
Pastorates of Pomp
uary 3, 1790, to June 18, 1790. Only at Old Goshen- hoppen his ministry seems to have been longer. His bap- tismal entries there extend from January 3, 1790, to May 28, 1792. The annual financial settlement at Old Gosh- enhoppen, made on July 19, 1791, was written by Mr. Pomp. But one of the items of the account was "£2. 5s. for fire wood for Rev. Mr. Faber." At the meeting of Coetus on June 27 to 28, 1791, at Lancaster, Pomp is marked absent "on account of indisposition," but he is already called "minister in Indianfield."
In August, 1790, Mr. Pomp began his ministry at In- dianfield (now called Indian Creek) and Tohickon. His entries in the Indian Creek record are headed with this statement :
After I, Nic. Pomp had been called to the service of this con- gregation in Indian Creek and Tohickon and in the beginning of the month of August entered upon this service, there follow now the names of the baptized children of said congregation.
The first baptism following this beginning is dated Au- gust 26, 1790. Mr. Pomp remained pastor at Indian Creek till August, 1797. From April, 1794, till August, 1796, Whitpain, now Boehm's church at Blue Bell, was part of his charge. In 1797 he retired to Easton to live with his son, Thomas Pomp, who had become pastor there. He died at Easton, September 1, 1819.
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