USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > A history of the Goshenhoppen Reformed charge, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (1727-1819) > Part 4
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CERTIFICATE OF PALATINATE CONSISTORY, APRIL 26, 1728.
Whereas Mr. George Michael Weiss, born in Eppingen, in the Electoral Palatinate and at present stationed as a High German Reformed minister at Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, under date of December 3rd, of the last year, made his report to the Consistory
42 This letter of Weiss is translated and printed in Journal of P. II. S., Vol. VII, p. 54 f .; Life and Letters of Boehm, p. 211 f.
43 First published by Dr. Weiser in his Monograph, p. 28 f., but with a number of minor inaccuracies, as my own transcript made directly from the record shows. My translation differs accordingly from his in a few places.
37
Palatinate Consistory
of the Electoral Palatinate concerning the present condition of religion and of the church affairs there-
And whereas, on this occasion he gave us to understand, that (although he received from this Consistory a Latin certificate of his life and doctrine at the time of his journey thither) he needs also a certificate in German, because of certain circumstances in which he is placed and especially on account of those who do not understand any other language [but German] :-
Therefore, we testify, as we did before, that he is not only ortho- dox in his doctrine and unblamable in his life, peaceable and socia- ble in his conduct, but he has also been found edifying in the sermons which he has preached on several occasions, and we have no doubt that, if the Lord grant him life and health, he will be of great usefulness under divine blessing and be a means of edifying many souls.
The infinitely good and merciful God and Father extend to him light and strength in full measure, from the fulness of his grace which is in Christ Jesus, that the work of the Lord now begun may, through his ministry, make great progress, that the wealth of the nations be brought to the Lord and their kings be led unto him.43a
Heidelberg, the 26th of April 1728.
L. C. MIEG. (L.S.) A. VON LULS.
When Mr. Weiss shortly afterwards came in contact with the Presbyterian minister, at Philadelphia, Mr. Jedi- diah Andrews, the latter formed an equally good opinion of him, for on October 14, 1730, he wrote a letter to his friend, the Rev. Thomas Prince of Boston, in which he paid Mr. Weiss a fine tribute. He wrote :44
There is, besides, in this Province, a vast number of Palatines, and they come in still, every year. Those yt. have come of late years are, mostly, Presbyt'n, or, as they call themselves, Reformed,
43a Cf. Isaiah 60: 11.
44 First printed in Hazard's Register, Vol. XV, p. 200.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
the Palatinate being about three fifths of that sort of people; they did use to come to me, for baptism of their children, and many joined with us, in the other sacram't. They never had a minister, 'till about 9 [read 3]45 years ago, who is a bright young man and a fine scholar. He is at present absent, being gone to Holland, to get money to build a ch'ch, in this city; but they are scattered all over the country; those yt. live in Town, are mostly a kind of Gibeonites, hewers of wood etc. They are diligent, sober, frugal people, rarely charged with any misdemeanors. Many of 'em, yt live in the country and have farms, by their industry and frugal ways of living, grow rich, for they can underlive the Britons, etc. The first comers of 'em, tho' called Palatines, because they come lastly from that country, are mostly Switzers, being drove from the Canton of Bern, for they are Baptists,46 and won't fight or swear. They don't shave their heads and are many of them wealthy men, having got the best land in the Province. They live 60 or 70 miles off, but come frequently to Town with their waggons, laden with skins, (which belong to the Indian traders), butter, flour etc. There are many Lutherans, and some Reformed, mixed among 'em. In other parts of the country they are, chiefly, Re- formed, so that I suppose the Presbyt'n party are as numerous as the Quakers or near it.
The opposition of Weiss to Boehm's ministry instead of driving Boehm out of his office, induced the elders of his three congregations at Skippack, Whitemarsh and Falkner Swamp to appeal to the Classis of Amsterdam through the Dutch Reformed ministers of New York. The petition
45 This statement has caused a good deal of discussion, see Weiser, Monograph, p. 17 f., and Good, History, p. 117, note. The easiest solu- tion of the difficulty is to suppose a misprint of 9 for 3, because the letter as originally printed in Hazard's Register, Vol. XV, p. 200 f., uses the figure 9, not the word " nine," as the later reprints of the letter do.
46 This statement refers to a colony of German Mennonites, who settled in 1709 and following years along the Pequea Creek in Lancaster County, see Rupp, History of Lancaster County, pp. 72-114; C. H. Smith, The Mennonites in America, Scottdale, 1909, pp. 134-181.
39
Ordination of Boehm
of the consistories of Boehm's churches was drawn up in July, 1728. A preliminary answer was given by the Classis on December 1, 1728, and a final decision on June 20, 1729, in which the call, extended to Boehm by the peo- ple, was declared valid and the Dutch ministers of New York were asked to ordain Mr. Boehm. This ordination of Mr. Boehm took place in the Dutch Reformed Church in New York on November 23, 1729.47 On the follow- ing day a public reconciliation between Mr. Boehm and Mr. Weiss (who had also been summoned to New York) took place, in which each promised to recognize the min- istry of the other and confine himself to his own congre- gations, Mr. Weiss to Philadelphia and Germantown, Mr. Boehm to Falkner Swamp, Skippack and Whitemarsh. These promises were unfortunately not kept by Mr. Weiss, but he allowed himself to be persuaded by his followers to disregard them.
Of the ministry of Weiss at Goshenhoppen little is known, and all that we know comes from the pen of Mr. Boehm. The first communion service, on October 12, 1727, has already been referred to. In the same letter of Boehm, quoted above, he writes :48
At the above mentioned Goschenhoppen on the same 12th of October and later on the 19th at Schipbach, that is in the very place in which I had been regularly called, and also on the 26th in Philadelphia, in these public assemblies he spoke of me by name and declared me to be an incompetent preacher, whom he did not regard as fit to administer the holy sacraments.
47 The papers relating to the ordination of Mr. Boehm have been printed repeatedly. See Mercersburg Review, Vol. XXIII (1876), pp. 528-557; Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York, Vol. IV, pp. 2425-2437, 2468-75, 2478-88; Journal of P. H. S., Vol. VI, pp. 303-324; also Life and Letters of Boehm, pp. 155-183.
48 Journal of P. H. S., Vol. VII, p. 56; Life and Letters of Boehm, p. 216.
40
History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
In his report of 1739, Mr. Boehm writes of Goshen- hoppen as follows :49
Of this congregation I know little, for it never wanted to be under our Church Order, but desired to be its own master. When Do. Weiss, as stated above, came into the country and created great confusion, they faithfully adhered to him.
It was during his ministry at Goshenhoppen that Mr. Weiss made numerous missionary tours throughout the province. Thus he preached repeatedly to the Reformed settlers in the Conestoga valley. He was also the first Reformed minister who preached at Oley, unless Rev. Samuel Guldin was there before him, of which, however,
reformy
we have no contemporaneous evidence. As to his activity at Oley, Mr. Boehm wrote as follows to Holland in No- vember, 1730:50
Mr. Weiss celebrated the Lord's Supper, without previous prep- aration, at a place named Oley, where the sect calling itself the "New Born" (originated) and baptized at the same time several children, among (as is reported) were also Indian children, who as unbelievers, go about like wild animals, without knowledge of God or of his Word. Of which he boasted with his own mouth before Peter Zenger, sexton of the Reformed Church in New York, as the latter himself declared.
49 Minutes of Coetus, p. 9.
50 Journal of P. II. S., Vol. VII, p. 58; Life and Letters of Boehm, p. 217 f.
S
41
Book of Weiss on Newborn
The contact of Mr. Weiss with the New Born at Oley called forth the first book written by a German Reformed minister in Pennsylvania and printed there in 1729.51 Its title may be rendered as follows in English :
The Preacher, / traveling about in the American Wilderness / among different nationalities and religions / and frequently at- tacked, / portrayed and presented / in a conversation with a / Citi- zen and a New Born. / Treating of different subjects but especially of / the New Birth. / Prepared and / brought to light out of his own experience and / for the advancement of the glory of / Jesus, / by George Michael Weiss, V.D.M. /
Printed at Philadelphia / by Andrew Bradford, 1729.
The purpose of the book was to show that the doctrines taught by the New Born were neither rational nor scrip- tural. Their rejection of prayer and of the holy scrip- tures, their repudiation of the ministry and of religious worship, including the sacraments, together with their claims of perfect sinlessness could not be accepted because they were against reason and Holy Scripture.
The reference to the baptism of Indian children at Oley, sometime between 1727-1730, is decidedly interesting. It is by far the earliest Indian baptism in Pennsylvania known to the writer. That Weiss was much interested in the Indians is shown by a book which he wrote later in life at Burnetsfield, New York. The minutes of the Classis of Amsterdam, under date September 3, 1742,
51 The only known copy of this exceedingly rare book was found by the writer in 1899 in the Congressional Library at Washington, D. C. For an account of it see Reformed Church Messenger of March 9 and 16, 1899; also Dr. Sachse's German Sectarians of Pennsylvania, Vol. I, pp. 155-159. It was reprinted and translated in Penn Germania, Vol. I, pp. 336-361.
42
History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
DER IN DER AMERICANI-
SCHEN WILDNUSZ Inter Menfchen von verfchicdenen Natiopen und Religionen Hin und wieder herum Wandelte Und yerichiedentlich Angefochtene
PREDIGER, Abgemahlet und vorgettellet In cinen Gefpraech mit Einem Politico und Neugeborenen, Verfchiedene Stuck infonderheit Die Neugeburr betreffende, Verfertiget, und zu Beforderung der Ehr JESU Selblé aus eigener-Erfahrung an das Licht gebracht
Von Georg , Michael Weil. V. D. M.
Zu PHILADELPHIA. Gedruckt bey Andrew: Bradfordt; 1729.
43
Book of Weiss on Indians
refer to the receipt of a letter of Weiss, dated May 10, 1741:52
THE BOOK OF WEISS ON THE INDIANS, 1741.
This letter was accompanied by a package, in which the Rev. Weiss sends over: (1) A small painting of the wild men of North America, mentioned above in the letter. (2) "A faithful descrip- tion of the savages in North America, as to their persons, charac- teristics, tribes, languages, names, houses, dress, ornaments, mar- riages, food, drink, domestic implements, housekeeping, hunting, fishing, war, superstitions, political government, besides other re- markable matters, composed from personal experience, by George Michael Weiss, V. D. M." Thus reads the title. This descrip- tion covers ninety-six and a half pages, in 8 vo., besides the preface [dedication], which is brief, to the Classis. In this he states the reasons which induced him thereto [viz. to prepare this book] and to communicate the same to the Classis. He doubted not that it would be agreeable to the Classis, and would be looked upon favorably, since he is cognizant of the paternal love which the Rev. Classis bears towards him. It ends with a wish for our prosperity and blessing. The introduction is signed at Albany, N. Y., by Rev. Weiss of Burnetsfield, October 4, 1741. Then follows the description itself.
Unfortunately no copy of this book has been preserved, which is much to be regretted, as his description of Indian manners and customs would no doubt have proved to be very interesting.
When Weiss came to Pennsylvania he found most of
52 Ecclesiastical Records of New York, Vol. IV, p. 2778. In a letter to the Classis on July 14, 1741, Weiss informs the Classis "that, inasmuch as he has had excellent opportunities to observe the ways of the wild men (Indians), and inasmuch as these people are very interesting, he has on several occasion spoken to them by means of an interpreter, about Chris- tian doctrines, and has baptized many of them, at their request," l. c., p. 2760.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
the Reformed people there in great poverty, unable to pay their minister a decent salary. A letter of Rev. John B. Rieger and Dr. John Jacob Diemer sets forth the situation very clearly. They write to the Deputies of the Synods, under date March 4, 1733:53
For most of the people, who come hither and have no means, are compelled to sell themselves and also their children who generally must serve until their 20th year, as here in Philadelphia some hun- dreds are in the service of the English people, but have the privi- lege to attend our services. ... At Philadelphia, which is the capital, and where most of the grain is shipped, in order to convey it to other lands, there are but ten [Reformed] families, which are well-to-do, all the others are in service. Among the townships Schippach is the most thickly settled, where about forty families may be counted, but they are for the most part poor, and it is nearly thirty miles from the city. The other localities are at a still greater distance.
When Mr. Weiss faced these conditions for the first time he felt much inclined to give up his work in Pennsyl- vania and return to Germany. This appears clearly in a statement of Jacob Reiff, which will be presented later in connection with his trip to Holland.54
Meanwhile, in order to increase his income, Weiss offered to give instruction in some of the subjects which he had studied in the University of Heidelberg.
Beginning with February 10, 1730, and continuing through eight successive weekly issues of the American Weekly Mercury, printed by Andrew Bradford in Phila-
53 This letter is preserved in the Synodical archives at the Hague, 74, I, 15. The numbers of the documents at the Hague are quoted according to the number given to them in the printed catalogue, entitled Catalogus van het Oud Synodaal Archief, bewerkt door H. Q. Janssen, 's Graven- hage, 1878.
51 See below, p. 46.
45
Advertisement of Weiss
delphia, Weiss had the following notice inserted in that paper :
This is to give notice, that the subscriber hereof, being desirous to be as generally useful as he can in this country (wherein he is a stranger) do declare his willingness to teach Logick, Natural Philosophy, Metaphysicks etc. to all such as are willing to learn. The Place of Teaching will be at the widow Sprogel's in the Sec- ond Street, Philadelphia, where he will attend, if he has encour- agement, Three times a week for that Exercise.
N. B. All persons that come, either as Learners, or Hearers, will be civilly Treated. By G. M. Minister of the Reformed Palatine Church.
Gerry Chichael Weig. p.l. Dedikkat made gere: formene genejate op
In the first insertion he signs himself "G.M.," then twice "G. Michael," then six times, from March 3-April 6, 1730, in full "G. Michael Weiss."
It is very doubtful whether the people of Philadelphia at that time, struggling for the very necessaries of life, cared much about being instructed in the mysteries of phi- losophy or the abstractions of metaphysics. At any rate, a month after the last advertisement we find Weiss prepar- ing to return to Holland for the purpose of raising there some money for his needy churches.
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
THE COLLECTING TOUR OF WEISS AND REIFF TO HOLLAND, 1730-31.
It is interesting to trace this new undertaking of Weiss to its origin. When three years later [in 1733], Jacob Reiff was cited into court, to give an account of the moneys collected in Holland, he stated :55
He [the defendant] further answereth and saith that the said congregations of Philadelphia and Skippack in conjunction with their minister George Michael Weitzius (alias Weiss) did prefer a petition to the excellent Classis of Divinity in the United Prov- inces, which petition this defendant saith was signed and subscribed by the church wardens or elders of both the said congregations of Philadelphia and Skippack and (as this defendant remembers) it set forth the unhappy and necessitous condition of the said congre- gations and prayed the charitable donations of the said Classis, and this defendant delivered the said petition to Dr. Wilhelmus in the Bill named. This defendant believes a report was spread in Pen- silvania that collections of money had thereupon been made, and that before such news arrived the said George Michael Weitzius (alias Weiss) had prepared to return to Holland or Germany, and that upon receiving the said news the said congregations or one of them might entreat him to stay, to which the said George Michael Weitzius (alias Weiss) might make such answer as in the com- plainants said bill of complaint is set forth, and might promise to serve them to the utmost of his power; and this defendant doth acknowledge himself to have been a member of the German Re- formed Church of Skippack from its first establishment, but not of the German Reformed Church of Philadelphia, as in the bill charged. And this defendant doth deny that he usually traded into Holland or Germany, as in the complainants said bill of com- plaint is falsely suggested, other than and except that this defendant went over there in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twenty seven to fetch his relations and laid out his money (as
55 See papers in Reiff Case, printed in Reformed Quarterly Review, Vol. XL (1893), p. 61.
47
Collecting Tour of Weiss
passengers generally do) in goods fit for sale in this country. And this defendant saith that before or since that time he never carried on any trade to or from Holland or Germany (except as herein- after mentioned). And this defendant doth admit that he was acquainted with Doctor Wilhelmus in the bill named, and was informed by him that a collection had been made in favor of said congregations of the German Reformed Church of Philadelphia and Skippack to the amount of about two hundred guilders, but knows not of his own knowledge what sum was collected. And this defendant saith that the said Doctor Wilhelmus requested him this defendant to receive the monies so collected for use of the sd. congregations of Philadelphia and Skippack. But this defendant absolutely refused so to do, having been informed by letter from some of his friends in Pensilvania that some of the members of the sd. congregations were jealous or entertained some suspicions of this defendants' honesty, or to that purpose. And this defendant saith that he this defendant returned to [from] Holland from [to] Pennsylvania in August in the year of our Lord 1729.
From this statement a number of important facts can be gathered :
I. The Reformed congregations of Philadelphia and Skippack had drawn up a petition, addressed to the Re- formed Classis of Holland, asking for a collection to be taken up in their behalf.
2. This petition was personally delivered by Jacob Reiff to Dr. Wilhelmius, then pastor in Rotterdam. And, as Reiff, according to his own statement, went to Holland only once before his journey in 1730, namely in 1727, when he intended "to fetch his relations," this petition must have been written and was delivered in 1727.
3. Weiss had become so disheartened in Pennsylvania, that even before an answer to this petition was received, he had made up his mind to return to Europe, and it was only when it became apparent that the people of Holland
48
History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
had acted favorably upon the petition that he promised his congregations in Pennsylvania to serve them to the utmost of his power.
4. That when Reiff returned from Germany to Hol- land, Dr. Wilhelmius offered to turn the money collected for the Reformed congregations of Philadelphia and Skip- pack over to him, but Reiff refused to accept it, as he had learnt from letters that his honesty had been questioned in Pennsylvania.
5. Reiff returned to Philadelphia in August, 1729. The lawyer, who wrote Reiff's answer to the bill of com- plaint, evidently exchanged the prepositions "to" and "from." In 1729 Reiff returned " from " Holland "to" Pennsylvania and not vice versa.56 This is shown by the immigrant lists, for on August 19, 1729, Reiff landed in Philadelphia on the ship Mortonhouse, from Rotterdam. With him were Johannes Reif, evidently a relative, Wen- del Wiant, Jacob Sellser [Selzer], Johann Peter Moll, who settled in Goshenhoppen; Richard Fetter and Hans Michael Fröhlich, who became members of the Reformed congregation at Philadelphia; David Montandon, who is found in Skippack in 1730 and Johan Philip Ranck and Conrad Wörntz, also Reformed people, who settled in the Conestoga valley. It is not impossible that Reiff was really the leader of this whole company.
The petition of 1727, which Weiss and his consistories addressed to the Classes of Holland and which was deliv- ered to Dr. Wilhelmius, found its way to the Synod of
56 This conclusion is made absolutely certain by a sentence which occurs a little later in the same document: "On the contrary this defendant saith that on his return from Holland to Pensilvania in the year of our Lord as aforesaid ... he had no thought or design of going abroad any more "; I. c., p. 62.
49
Synods of Holland
North Holland. In the minutes of the North Holland Synod, dated July 27-August 5, 1728, we read:57
The corresponding delegates of the South Holland Synod rec- ommended Philadelphia, from which this Christian Synod also received a letter, containing a request to take up a collection for them, for the building of a new church by our fellow believers who have fled thither from the Palatinate.
This is the very first reference in the minutes of the North Holland Synod to the Reformed congregations in Pennsylvania. Weiss's petition of 1727 has, therefore, the distinction of being the first link in the chain which brought the Reformed churches of Holland and Pennsyl- vania together and was the beginning of a union which lasted 65 years (1727-1792).
But Weiss had written not only to Holland, he had also addressed himself to the consistory of the Palatinate. In the German certificate, which the Upper Consistory of the Palatinate signed for him on April 26, 1728, it is distinctly stated that in asking for this certificate in a letter dated December 3, 1727, he had "made a report to the Con- sistory of the Electoral Palatinate concerning the present religious and ecclesiastical affairs there."
The effect of this letter can also be traced in the Hol- land records, for at the meeting of the South Holland Synod at Woerden, from July 6-16, 1728 :
The president read a letter addressed to this Christian Synod by the Great Consistory of Heidelberg, containing a request to receive something for the building of a Church in Pennsylvania by our fellow-believers, who have gone thither from the Palatinate, be- cause they are compelled to conduct divine service under the blue sky. It has been thought, that under the blessing of the Almighty, this affair [undertaking] might result in a large blessing for the
57 Ecclesiastical Records of New York, Vol. IV, p. 2424.
5
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History of the Goshenhoppen Charge
Church and, therefore, it was resolved to recommend it earnestly to the Classes.
This letter is also the first one on record, by which the South Holland Synod was made acquainted with the con- dition of the Reformed people in Pennsylvania. Thus we are brought to the important conclusion that in July, 1728, the attention both of the North and the South Holland Synods was drawn to the Reformed churches of Pennsyl- vania through the influence of the letters of Weiss, written in 1727. The appeal of Mr. Boehm's congregations, written to the Classis of Amsterdam in July 1728, did not reach Holland till November, 1728. On November 14, 1728, it is first mentioned in the Classical Minutes.58 Hence it is evident that the letters of Weiss must be given the credit of having first directed the attention of the "Fathers" in Holland to the struggling Reformed churches in Pennsylvania.
When Mr. Weiss heard that, in answer to his letters to Holland and the Palatinate, collections had been taken in Holland for the poor Reformed settlers in Pennsylvania, he determined to return to Holland, in order to take charge of this money personally. Before he left he arranged several farewell services with his adherents at Skippack. On May 17, 1730, John Philip Boehm wrote about them as follows to the Dutch Reformed ministers in New York :59
Then he [Weiss] stayed away [from Skippack] for some time until now, on the 30th of April, he returned at the request of the seceders, and held the preparatory service and on May Ist cele- brated the Lord's Supper. He likewise preached on the 7th, being Ascension day, and again to-day. They are all called farewell
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