USA > Pennsylvania > A history of the Juniata Valley and its people, Volume I > Part 36
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St. John's, at Elliottsburg, had its beginning in 1872, when a lot was purchased from William Sheibley, and the corner-stone of the church edifice was laid on May 19, 1872. The church was dedicated on October 13, 1872, and Rev. E. V. Gerhardt was the first pastor. The church building cost $2,950.
Trinity Reformed church, at Sandy Hill, Perry county, was organ- ized on September 14, 1873, and worshiped in the school house until the church could be built. The building was dedicated on January 3, 1875.
Trinity Reformed church, at Lewistown, was organized in 1901. and a handsome house of worship has been built on Oak street, between Valley and Logan streets.
BAPTISTS
Probably the first Baptist society in the Juniata valley was the one organized in what is now Cass township, Huntingdon county. It was established in the latter part of the eighteenth century, but the exact date is not certain, and was called the Huntingdon Baptist church, indi- cating that it was the first in the county. The Baptists at Mill Creek were holding meetings as early as 1790 and an organization was effected before 1800. In that year a small log meeting house was erected, which was replaced by a new one in 1835 and the old house was sold to the Lutherans. A third house of worship was built in 1857.
On June 9, 1794, a lot of one acre was conveyed by William Patton to the trustees of "the Baptist congregation of Milford township (Jun- iata county), to erect a house of worship." This was known as the Spruce Hill church. A small log house was built, but was abandoned in
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a few years, the members going to strengthen another congregation on Licking creek, near the old forge.
An Old School Baptist congregation was organized in Springfield township, Huntingdon county, in 1800, but little can be learned of its history. A number of Welsh Baptists organized a church at an early date near the present borough of Dudley, but it has long been extinct.
The church at Birmingham was organized in 1822 by Rev. Richard Proudfoot, who had been holding meetings in that section for some time before that date. About 1826 a church was erected and it prospered for a number of years. After the completion of the railroad the business that formerly came to Birmingham was diverted to other places, and as the town declined the church went down until it was finally abandoned in 1862.
Rev. Samuel Lane, a Baptist minister "of more than ordinary energy and public spirit," established a church at Saltillo early in the nineteenth century, but it appears that no record of the congregation has been pre- served, either as to the date of its organization or its abandonment.
The Shaver's Creek Baptist church was organized in 1833, with fourteen members, as a result of the labors of Rev. Richard Proudfoot, who was the first pastor. A church was built near Fairfield in 1838.
The First Baptist Church of Lewistown was organized on Septem- ber 21, 1840, with eleven members. Rev. Alexander Gamble was the first pastor, but he remained only a short time, when he was succeeded by Rev. David Williams, who gave the new church one-fourth of his time. The church was incorporated on January 1, 1849. Some time before that the property of the Associate Reformed congregation, Third street, had been purchased, but the society was not able to pay for it and it was returned to the original owners. It was rented by the Bap- tists until the spring of 1854, after which services were held in the Lutheran church. During the Civil war the society almost lost its or- ganization, but in 1871 Rev. W. Z. Coulter became pastor and the church was revived. Ten years later a lot was purchased on the north side of Third street, between Brown and Dorcas, and the present church edifice was dedicated, free of debt, on December 16, 1883. The building was rebuilt and enlarged in 1902.
A Baptist society was organized at Lockport, or Three Locks, in 1840, and was served by the preacher from Lewistown. Meetings were
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held in the Methodist church and John Ickes' store until 1842, when a lot was bought from Robert Hope and a church edifice was erected.
During the decade from 1830 to 1840 several Baptist ministers visited the scattered members of that faith living in the valleys of Hunt- ingdon county, and in 1842 the Stone Creek Baptist church was organ- ized, with Rev. W. M. Jones as pastor. On August 30, 1842, the First Baptist Church of Huntingdon was regularly organized, though services had been held prior to that time by Revs. W. M. Jones, Richard Proud- foot and others. The next year the congregation was taken into fellow- ship with the Centre Baptist Association. Meetings were held in the old court-house and the old United Presbyterian church on Mifflin street. In January, 1850, Rev. David Williams became pastor and soon after a small church was erected on Washington street, between Eighth and Ninth. The church was incorporated on November 20, 1865. In 1874 the lot where the present church stands, on the corner of Sixth and Mifflin streets, was purchased and the building was erected in 1876. It has since been remodeled and enlarged to meet the requirements of the congregation.
GERMAN BAPTISTS, OR BRETHREN
This denomination, also called Dunkers or Dunkards, marks its be- ginning in the Juniata valley with the organization of the Aughwick Church of the Brethren, which was organized in 1802, with six mem- bers-Christian Long, Daniel and Peter Secrist and their wives. No further record of organizations of this faith can be found until 1841, when a church known as the "Good-will German Baptist Meeting-house" was built in Fayette township, Juniata county. Prior to that date meet- ings had been held at David Shellenberger's house and at other houses in the neighborhood. Mr. Shellenberger, who was something of a local preacher, was active in the establishment of the church. Solomon Kauff- man, Andrew Bashore and Solomon Sieber were among the early preachers at the Good-will church.
Rev. John Shinefelt began holding meetings about James Creek. Huntingdon county, some time between 1840 and 1850. In 1858 the James Creek church of the Brethren was organized, and two years later a new house of worship was built near Marklesburg and not far from the line of the Huntingdon & Broad Top railroad.
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In 1860 the Brethren of Marklesburg organized a congregation and soon afterward erected a house of worship. Among the early ministers here were Revs. John Shinefelt, Christian Hoover, John Martin, John Hoover and George Brumbaugh. Elder Isaac Brumbaugh, who died on November 4, 1871, is still remembered as an earnest and faithful worker.
The Free Spring German Baptist church, located near Van Wert, Juniata county, was organized about 1860, and a brick edifice was erected in 1861. Twenty years later the congregation numbered about three hundred members, and the church is still in a prosperous condi- tion. Rev. Solomon Sieber was pastor here for many years.
In 1874 a congregation was organized in the southwestern part of Huntingdon county, and it is known as the Raystown Branch Church of the Brethren. The following year the few German Baptists living in the vicinity of Richfield, Juniata county, bought the old brick school house and fitted it up for a church. It was for some time under the same pastoral charge as the Good-will church mentioned above. In 1876 a new house was built on Coffee run for the use of the James Creek congregation. Two years later, in 1878, some of the members withdrew from this church for the purpose of organizing one in Hunt- ingdon. Among them were some of the Brumbaughs and others promi- nent in the work of Juniata College, which was then in its infancy. Services were at first held in the college chapel. In 1909 a beautiful and commodious edifice was erected near the college. Here the students of the college attend services.
A congregation of German Baptists was organized in Lewistown in 1897, and a year or two later a neat church edifice was erected on Shaw avenue, between Spruce and Pine streets.
MENNONITES
This peculiar sect was founded in the year 1536 by Menno Simonis, who had formerly been a Catholic priest. For many years the new de- nomination was persecuted by practically every nation of Europe, and when William Penn became the proprietor of Pennsylvania he offered them an asylum. The first Mennonites came to America in 1683 and settled at Germantown, from which point they gradually moved west- ward. Some years later a branch called the Reformed Mennonite So- ciety left the original organization, claiming that it had departed from
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the teachings of the founder, and in the seventeenth century another branch was formed, calling themselves the Amish, after Jacob Amen, the founder, a Mennonite preacher in Switzerland. The first Mennonite society in the Juniata valley was formed in Monroe township, Juniata county, before the close of the eighteenth century. In 1800 a log meet- ing-house was built, which was used both as a church and a school house until about 1815, when the school was discontinued. The house was then used for religious meetings until 1868, when a brick house was erected near Richfield. Shortly after the Civil war a Mennonite society was organized near East Salem, and what is known as the Delaware meeting-house was built there in 1870. Rev. Jacob Graybill was one of the first preachers. Lytle writes of a Mennonite congregation that worshiped at the Union church in Penn township, Huntingdon county, which he says embraced "a small but highly respectable membership," but he does not give the date of its organization. Early in the nineteenth century a number of Amish settled in the Kishacoquillas valley. They do not build many churches, their principal meeting-houses being the Locust Grove church and the one at Mattawana.
UNITED BRETHREN
The first church of this denomination in the Juniata valley of which any definite knowledge can be gained was established in Perry county, on the road leading from New Bloomfield to Duncannon, in 1814, with Rev. John Snyder as pastor. The house built in that year was a Union church, which was used by the Methodists as well as the United Brethren. In 1840 a congregation was organized at Richfield and united with the Evangelical and Methodist churches in the erection of a church near Auker's mill on the Mahantango creek. This house was used until 1874. when the United Brethren built a brick structure at Richfield. In 1842 Rev. John Snyder held services in a church which had just been erected near Shermansdale. Meetings had been held in private houses in this vicinity as early as 1835. The year 1840 witnessed a great revival among the United Brethren and the Shermansdale congregation was or- ganized in that year. In 1878 a new house of worship and parsonage were built in Shermansdale.
On January 1, 1845. a church of this denomination was dedicated in Wayne township. Mifflin county, about three miles southwest of Mc-
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Veytown, where a small congregation had been organized the year before. This church has never been very strong and has undergone many struggles to maintain its organization.
The church at Warriors Mark was organized in 1850 by Rev. R. G. Rankin. Services were held in the school house for several years, but in 1860 Bethesda chapel was dedicated. At Duncannon a United Brethren church was built in 1851, with Rev. William Raber as pastor. In 1858 the Orbisonia church was built and George W. Scott installed as the first pastor. Before that time meetings had been held here by Rev. R. G. Rankin, J. W. Bonebrake, William Shepherd and others. The same year a congregation was organized in the northern part of Cass township, Huntingdon county, and a church building was erected in 1868 near the village of Calvin.
The first meetings of this denomination in Marysville were held in 1866. Before the close of that year a congregation was organized and a few years later a house of worship was erected. In 1882 the house was struck by lightning, which led to thorough repairs being made, and the building as thus improved is still in use.
In 1869 a few members of this faith began holding meetings in the basement of the Presbyterian church at Mount Union, with Rev. J. R. Shearer as their preacher. Within a few months a congregation was organized, and on January 7, 1872. the church building was dedicated. At Birmingham the United Brethren church was erected in 1871. the congregation having been organized the year before.
Fourteen persons belonging to the United Brethren denomination began holding meetings at private residences in the borough of Hunt- ingdon in 1871. Later in the year a small house of worship was erected at the northwest corner of Twelfth and Mifflin streets, where the services are still held. Rev. Martin P. Doyle was one of the early pastors of this church and did much to start it on the highway to pros- perity and a useful career.
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH
This denomination has never been very strong in the Juniata val- ley, and from the meager data at hand regarding its early history it is difficult to determine where the first congregation was organized. In 1820 Rev. Charles Snowden preached in the old court-house at Lewis-
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town, and about the same time the initiative steps were taken toward the organization of a church in Huntingdon. In the spring of 1823 Rev. Norman Nash was sent out from Philadelphia to organize the parish at Lewistown, which was done, and the same year application was made to the legislature for a charter of incorporation, which was granted on January 2, 1824. Soon after the incorporation a lot was secured on South Main street and a chapel erected. The parsonage adjoining the church was the gift of Elias W. Hale's daughters. This church is known as St. Mark's and the property is now valued at $10,000.
In the meantime the Episcopalians of Huntingdon united with the Presbyterians and Lutherans in the erection of a house of worship at the corner of Fourth and Church streets, which must have been built about 1820, as in 1826 the interest of the Episcopal church was sold by the sheriff upon failure of the different denominations to agree as to the adjustment of the church debt. A little later the Episcopal con- gregation secured a lot opposite the present court-house on Penn street, where they erected St. John's Protestant Episcopal church, in or about 1845.
About 1824 the few Episcopalians living in the vicinity of Thomp- sontown invited a minister named Baker to hold meetings there. His work bore fruit in the organization of a congregation and in 1828 the stone church edifice at Thompsontown was erected. Rev. Charles Snow- den was one of the early pastors of this church. After several years of struggle the church was discontinued, and in 1840 the building be- came the property of the United Presbyterians.
Trinity Episcopal church, at the old village of Locke's Mills, Mif- flin county, was dedicated on October 28, 1848. Three years before that time services began in the Beatty school house. The church con- tinued until about 1863, when it was abandoned as a place of worship and the members transferred their affiliations to St. Mark's at Lewis- town.
In Newport the first Episcopal services were held at the residence of Mrs. Bechtel on March 28, 1875. A Sunday school was organized that spring, with ten pupils. A year later it numbered about 125, and in that year a congregation was regularly organized. About a year later an Episcopal mission was organized at Orbisonia by Bishop Howe. Services were at first held in the United Brethren church and later in
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the Presbyterian, until the congregation became strong enough to build one for themselves.
CHURCH OF GOD
This denomination is also known as the Winebrennarians, from its founder, Rev. John Winebrenner, who preached at Landisburg on April 10, 1821, the first sermon of this faith in the Juniata valley. In 1828 Rev. Henry Wingert, of Landisburg, began preaching and in 1832 a regular church was organized. Services were held in the school house until 1836, when Mr. Wingert erected a small chapel at his own ex- pense. In 1842 a brick house was built and it gave way to the present one in 1873.
In 1833 a congregation was organized by Rev. Archibald Young at the house of John Soule, near Lebo, Perry county. Services were held in dwellings and school houses until about 1850, when a small church was built on land donated by Mr. Soule. This church was named Bethel, but is also known as the Oak Grove church. In 1878 a new house was erected upon the site of the old one.
The first meetings of this denomination were held at Marysville in 1850, but no church was organized until 1866. In 1869 a neat frame house was built at a cost of $2,500.
Thomas Ashton built a small chapel in Springfield township, Hunt- ingdon county, in 1855, in which services were held by such ministers as could be secured. A regular congregation was organized some years later, though little can be learned of its history. The year following the erection of Ashton's chapel, Bethel church, with a small graveyard adjoining, was built on the road leading from Newport to Millerstown, about a mile from the former town.
Seventeen persons of this faith began holding meetings at a little hamlet called Beavertown, Huntingdon county, in 1867. For a short time they met in the school house, but in 1868 a small church was built. Beavertown does not appear on modern maps, and the exact location of this church is largely a matter of conjecture, none being able to iden- tify its exact site.
In May, 1871, a few believers in the creed of this church secured the use of the Lower Duncannon school house and had Rev. J. M. Speece, of Shippensburg, preach to them. The following year a con-
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gregation was organized, a lot was purchased on Lincoln street and Bethel church was erected.
The church at Coalmont was organized in August, 1879, with Daniel Abbot as elder and John A. Hicks as deacon. The membership was only ten at the beginning, but this number increased, and in a few years a neat house of worship was built.
At Hartman's Mills, or Glenvale, Perry county, a Church of God was built in 1882 at a cost of $1,800, though meetings had for some time previous been held in dwellings or the school house. Rev. David Maxwell was one of the first ministers in this church.
EVANGELICAL CHURCH
The first congregation of this denomination in the Juniata valley, so far as can be ascertained, was organized at Newport in 1843. In 1849 they bought the old Methodist church, which was used until 1878, when the present brick house of worship was erected, at a cost of $2,500. Rev. D. W. Miller was the first regular pastor.
In 1846 the Bethel church of the Evangelical Association was built in Rye township, Perry county, at a cost of $800. Salem church, in the same township, was built in 1856. Meetings were held in a log house about a mile up the valley from Marysville as early as 1838, but this building was torn down in 1867, after Bethel and Salem churches had been established and the Emanuel Evangelical church had been built in Marysville in 1866. The last named building was erected on a lot donated by Theodore and Margaretta Fenn and was dedicated on December 23, 1866.
The church at Locust run, Juniata county, was built in 1861, though services had been held there for some time before the church was erected. The Stony Point church, in Madison township, Perry county, was built in 1863. Several young men of this congregation afterward became ministers.
About 1861 a small church, known as the Bethlehem Evangelical, was built in Greenwood township, Juniata county, on the road leading from Salem to the Seven Star tavern. It was at first under the charge of Rev. Mr. King, of the Thompsontown district, and at the time of its erection was the only church in the township.
In Lewistown a society of this faith was organized in 1876 by Rev.
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Samuel Seibert, though meetings had been regularly held for about two years before that time. In 1882 a brick chapel was built on Logan street, opposite the Presbyterian cemetery, at a cost of $2,000. Some years later it was removed to make way for the present Grace United Evangelical church, which was erected at a cost of about $20,000.
Evangelical churches were built in the New Lancaster valley, in Mifflin county, in 1872, and at Patterson (now Mifflin), Juniata county, in 1874, though little can be learned concerning them.
REFORMED CHURCH OF AMERICA
In Huntingdon county there are a few congregations bearing this name. The first was organized at Orbisonia in 1858 by Rev. S. H. Reed; one was organized at Saltillo in 1880, in the old Union Hall, which was free to all denominations. A church was built at Orbisonia in 1876. There are perhaps others, but, as stated in the beginning of this chapter, it is almost impossible to obtain accurate information con- cerning many of the minor denominations or their small congregations. No doubt some church organizations have been unintentionally omitted from this chapter, merely because they have left no record of their transactions.
HEBREW CONGREGATION
The first Jewish congregation in the Juniata valley was organized at Lewistown and received a charter in January, 1913. Meetings are held regularly on the top floor of the Woolner building, at the south- west corner of the Diamond. On June 15, 1913, an association was formed for the purpose of building a synagogue. Of this association Henry Schurman was chosen chairman and Charles Gershmnan secretary.
CHAPTER XIX
CHARITIES AND FRATERNITIES
Loysville Orphans' Home-Huntingdon Home for Orphans and Friendless Children- Lewistown Hospital-Blair Memorial Hospital-Masonic Bodies-Independent Order of Odd Fellows-Grand Army of the Republic-Veterans' Reunion Asso- ciation-Knights of Pythias-Patriotic Order Sons of America-American Mechanics-Miscellaneous Benevolent Societies.
I F few eleemosynary institutions have been established within the district embraced in this work, it is not because the people of the Juniata valley are not charitably inclined, but rather for the reason that the necessity for the establishment of such institutions has never assumed an urgent character. In the chapters relating to county history will be found accounts of the county poor-farms and almis-houses. Next to these official institutions perhaps the oldest charity that comes within the scope of this history is the "Loysville Orphans' Home," which had its beginning as an academy in the basement of the Lebanon church at Loysville in 1853, with J. R. Titzell as principal. Two years later Col- onel John Tressler erected a three-story brick building for the use of the school, which continued with marked success until the beginning of the Civil war. At the close of the war the property passed to David Tressler, who turned it into a school for soldiers' orphans. In 1867 the building and twenty-seven acres of ground were purchased by the Luth- eran church and the name of the "Tressler Orphans' Home" was adopted. The buildings were soon afterward enlarged, the grounds beautified, and other improvements made to give the home the character of a permanent institution.
The Huntingdon "Home for Orphans and Friendless Children" started with a humble movement to relieve the distress of a few families living in West Huntingdon. A small house at the corner of Sixteenth and Mifflin streets was rented and the first inmate, a little sick girl, was carried into the home on the evening of March 1, 1881. Miss Carrie
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Miller was placed in charge, other children came in, and in April larger quarters were secured at the corner of Eighteenth and Moore streets. On January 8, 1883, the home was chartered and, after occupying rented buildings for several years, was located permanently at Eighteenth and Oneida streets. About that time, or a little later, a movement was started to raise an endowment fund of $25,000 and a large part of the amount had been subscribed in 1913. The home is undenominational, each church in the city electing one member of the board of trustees. Since the establishment of the institution a large number of orphans or friend- less children have been placed with private families, where they can be properly reared and educated, and the "Huntingdon Idea," as this plan has been called, has commanded the attention of philanthropists in all parts of the country.
On the evening of February 20, 1905, a public meeting was held in Lewistown to consider the question of establishing a public hospital. The need of such an institution had been recognized and discussed for several years prior to that time, but at this meeting the first definite steps were taken for the formation of a hospital association. Permanent offi- cers of the association were elected a little later and a charter was granted by the Mifflin county court on May 15, 1905. Subscriptions were then solicited and before the close of the year enough had been pledged to warrant the adoption of plans for a building. A desirable site was se- cured on Highland avenue, just north of the borough line and the corner- stone was laid on November 17, 1906. The hospital was opened to the public on February 18, 1908, with Miss Anna Lenz as superintendent and some of the best physicians in Lewistown as members of the staff.
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