USA > Pennsylvania > Ancient and historic landmarks in the Lebanon Valley > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16
The question of employing a regularly ordained Lu-
46
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
theran minister as pastor became the most puzzling problem to these early worshipers. There were then but very few German Lutheran pastors in the entire country, and probably not a single one within the limits of the State, as J. Casper Stoever is said to have been the first German Lutheran pastor in Pennsylvania. A few Swedish and Dutch pastors had preceded him. So these people had to be content with lay preaching, and were thus liable to be often imposed upon. Now the
Moravians, in the name and garb of Lutheran pastors, supplied their spiritual wants; now a parochial teacher, falsely claiming to have been ordained, assumed thie office of the minister, until the congregation was thus thrown into alinost hopeless confusion and into different factions. The troubles continued for a period of 10 or 12 years, in which it was necessary to call in the officers of the law and the advice of church authorities in the Fatherland, and the German court preacher at London, Dr. Ziegenhagen. This dispute is described minutely in the "Halle Reports" (Hallischen Nachrichten)- being the preserved correspondence of these early Luth- erans with the mission school at Halle, Germany.
The nearest justice of the peace was Win. Webb, of Kennett, Chester county, who was lawful attorney for John Page, of London, the proprietor of these Tulpe- hocken lands under the title of the Manor of Plumpton. A document drawn up by this Mr. Webb, giving ex- clusive rights to church property to the Leibbecker party-one of the factions of this early dispute-and
47
THE FIRST CHURCH IN THE VALLEY.
bearing date of January 22, 1735, is still kept as a relic by Mr. Franklin B. Reed, the seventh lineal descendant of the Leonhardt Reith who donated the church grounds, and whose old homestead, a quarter of a mile east of the church, we have described. Upon the death of Leibbecker, teacher and pastor, the Moravians inade their appearance and offered to supply the pulpit with- out remuneration. Thus through Count Zinzendorf's supervision pastors of his appointment preached to one party of Lutherans for about eight years. But though these claimed to be Lutherans, it only widened the breach within the congregation, and led in 1742 to the founding of a new church, purely Lutheran, which erected its building about a mile west of the former edifice, and named itself Christ Lutheran church. This church, now generally known as the Tulpehocken Lu- theran church, has prospered very much more than the first from its very beginning, and will form the subject of our next sketch.
Reed's church was brought back to the Lutheran fold through the influence of Conrad Weiser and his son-in- law, Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, in September, 1747, and has remained loyal to its first foundation ever since. The pastors who have served it since that time are Rev. J. Nicholas Kurtz, 1748-1770; Rev. Christopher E. Schultze, 1770-1809; Rev. Daniel Ulrich, 1811-1851; Rev. L. G. Eggers, 1852-1853; Rev. Thomas T. Jaeger, 1853-1865; Rev. Aaron Finfrock, 1865-1886; Rev. E. S. Brownmiller, 1886-date.
48
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALI,EY.
In the graveyard adjoining this ancient church are many old graves and quaintly engraved tombstones. It is well worth a visit to see the first Macpelah of these devout pioneers. The lessons one can learn of primi- tive art, orthography and genealogy, as he passes from one crumbling and moss-covered sandstone to another, will repay him for his trouble. Though they be but humble monuments, almost every old stone marks the resting-place of a hero, who has faced persecution, exile, poverty, and the cruel barbarisms of the red-man. We will give the inscriptions-minus the quaint art embellishments-of but two in closing this chapter. The one is that of the donor of the land-the other that one of Conrad Weiser's sons. They read as follows:
1747
HR LIGD BE-
GRABEN OHAN
LOENHARD RITH
ER IST GEBOHREN
1691 VND GESTORBEN
1747 ER HAT MIT SEINER HAVS FRAV ANA
LISA CATHARINA
GEZEVGT 8 KINDER 65 OENKELEIN
49
THE FIRST CHURCH IN THE VALLEY.
Engraved on both sides:
UND IN
SOLCHER ZEIT
ERZEVGTE ER KIN-
DER ALS 3 SOEHNE UND I TOCHTERLEIN OVON DAS
TOECHTERLEIN WIE-
DER GESTORBEN UND 3 SOEHNĘ SIND NOCH AM LEBEN
DIESES IST DIE RUHE STATTE DES WEYLAND EHRSAMEN PHILIP WEISERS. DERSELBE WARE GEBOHREN IM IAHR 1722 DEN 7 SEPTEMBER UND GESTORBEN ANNO 1761 dEN 27 MERTZ SEI- NES ALTERS 38 IAHR 5 MONAT VND 4 TAG VND HATTE IN DER EHE GELEBET 12 IAHR 4 MONAT
U
CHAPTER V.
THE SECOND TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH.
WE noticed in the last chapter that in consequence of the division and confusion of the original Tulpe- hocken congregation in its early history, a very large portion of the same withdrew in 1743, and erected a church of their own. We will to-day follow these seceders to the spot they then chose upon which to build their new church, and, while walking over these historic and sacred grounds, take a peep into the history of 150 years of local church-life.
The faction withdrawing from Reed's church was by far the stronger of the two in numbers and influence. Though deprived of the use of the church edifice by the legal document alluded to in our last, they were the pure Lutherans in doctrine and practice, and were con- tending at that early period of American Lutheranism for the Reine Lehre of their ecclesiastical faith.
Accordingly they were willing to make sacrifices and begin anew the building of a church and the develop- ment of true religion as confessed by their Church. There was, therefore, drawn up a document setting forth the principles upon which this new church should be founded-which carefully guards against their ad- mixture with any sects and errorists, by whom they had
(50)
51
THE SECOND TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH.
formerly been deceived. The same was signed by 166 adherents, and the original copy placed in the corner- stone of the church, which was laid in May, 1743.
TULPEHOCKEN (CHRIST) LUTHERAN CHURCH AND CEMETERY.
Another copy of the same paper has ever since been carefully kept with the church archives, and was trans- lated into English and embodied, together with the names of the signers, in an historical address by the
52
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
Rev. F. J. F. Schantz, of Myerstown, which address was delivered at the sesqui-centennial services held last Sep- tember. We trust this very important address mnay some day be given the public in pamphlet form .*
This second Tulpehocken church received the name of Christ Lutheran church, but has for years been known as the Tulpehocken Lutheran church. It stands about a mile west of the Reed church, just outside the western limits of Stouchsburg, and a few hundred yards south of the Berks and Dauphin turn- pike. The original building, which was probably of logs, and the foundation stones of which can still be seen, was replaced by a second one in 1786. This structure was of stone, and is still standing, a vener- able pile of solid masonry. Parts of the building have been renewed and remodeled, but the walls re- main intact, and bid fair to defy the ravages of time and the elements for another hundred years and more. The building was dreadfully shaken up by a dynamite explosion which occurred in the vicinity November 6, 1884, and had all its woodwork destroyed by fire, caused by lightning, August 1, 1887, yet the origi- nal walls are as solid, and stand as plumb, as when they were first finished. At its last remodeling, in 1887, a marble slab was placed in its western side, showing to all visitors the following engraved record of pastorates:
* It has since been so published.
53
THE SECOND TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH.
PASTORS OF CHRIST'S TULPEHOCKEN LUTHERAN CHURCH.
Rev. Tobias Wagner, 1743-1746.
Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz, 1748-1770.
Rev. Christopher Emanuel Schultze, 1770-1809.
Rev. Daniel Ulrich, 1811-1851.
Rev. Louis E. Eggers, 1852-1867.
Rev. Frederick P. Mayser, 1868-1873.
Rev. A. Johnson Long, 1874-
The time and place of the decease of such pastors, as have died, are appended to the above record.
The interior of the church is modern in style and convenient in arrangement. With a basement for Sunday-school purposes, and an audience room on tlie second floor surrounded by a half-moon gallery, the church within is a thing of beauty as a rural edifice. Here worship regularly several hundred of the sturdy descendants of an even sturdier ancestry.
Here have preached some of the most scholarly and eloquent ministers of the Lutheran church. Pastor Kurtz was a godly man, and a power in his day. From lıim have descended the family of Kurtzes, who in the ministry and the laity have been famous for a century in this branch of the American church. And seldom has a congregation the privilege of enjoying such intel- lectually strong and spiritual pastoral services as were rendered during the two long-continued pastorates of Revs. Schultze and Ulrich, the former the father of ex- Governor John Andreas Schultze, (now Shulze) of Pennsylvania, and the latter the fatlier of a highly respected progeny still largely represented in this com-
54
. LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
TULPEHOCKEN LUTHERAN GRAVEYARD.
munity and throughout this valley. The bodies of both these godly men sleep within the old graveyard adjoin- The epitaph of the former reads as follows:
Hier Ruhet
Christoph Immanuel Schultze, Prediger. war geboren den 25 December 1740 Saatfeld in Sachsen. Er kam in das Abend land 1765
Im Ehestand lebte Er mit seiner Ehefrau Eva Elizabeth 43 Jahr Als Prediger stand er 5 Jahr in Philadelphia und 38 Jahr in Tulpehocken. Hinterlies 9 Kinder und starb den II Martz 1809 Alt 68 Jahr, 2 Monat 2 Wochen
55
THE SECOND TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH.
By the side of Pastor Schultze sleeps his wife, who was a daughter of Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, the Lutheran Patriarch, and a grand-daughter of Conrad Weiser, and the mother of Gov. Schultze.
The epitaph of Rev. Ulrich is in English, and reads as follows:
In Memory of REV. DANIEL ULRICH, Born near Annville, Lebanon Co., Pa., Aug. 10, 1789.
He early dedicated his life to his God, and entered the ministry in 1809.' He became the pastor of the United congregations of Tulpehocken, Rehr- ersburg, Heidelberg and others, whom he faithfully served from the year 18II, to the year 1851.
Died June 2nd, 1855, while on a visit to Pittsburg, Pa.
Aged 65 y, 9 m, and 22 days.
The ancient cemetery contains many other old graves, which must have a meaning to the descendants, in inany instances famous to-day in Church or State. We will mention but a few. For instance, the writer was astonished to find here the graves of Philip Breitenbach and his wife Elizabeth, evidently the ancestors of the family by that name at Gettysburg, who in a pastoral or
56
LANDMARKS OF THE LEBANON VALLEY.
professional capacity have served the Church for years. Here also lived and are buried the first and second generations of the ancestry (on the mother's side) of our U. S. Senator, Hon. J. Donald Cameron. The Senator's mother-wife of the late Hon. Simon Cameron-was a Brua, a Lutheran in faith, and a daughter of Peter Brua, who as a lay delegate from Tulpehocken helped to organize the General Synod of the Lutheran Church in 1820, and whose father, Peter Brua, was one of the early German settlers at! Tulpehocken. His grave and that of his wife are side by side in this graveyard, and the inscriptions on their tomb-stones read as follows:
Hier Ruhet
Hier Ruhet Maria Brua
Peter Brua
Ehefrau von
war gebohren
den 2 Feber 1729
Peter Brua Gebohren
und starb
den I October 18OS
I73I Gestorben 1804
war alt
79 Jahre 8 Monat
73 Jahre 6 Monat
But the spot in this city of last century's dead that holds the most charm for the visitor, if indeed a grave- yard can have charmns, is that which, though unmarked by memorial stones, is pointed out as the resting place of the famed Hartman family, so cruelly murdered by the Indians, and whose captive daughter, Regina, and
57
THE SECOND TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH.
her surviving mother, form the principal characters in Rev. Dr. Reuben Weiser's interesting book, entitled "Regina, the German Captive." It is said that Regina herself sleeps here her last long sleep, and the spot of earth covering her dust is pointed out by the sexton, though not a marker is there to help the visitor, unat- tended by one who knows, to find the place. Let us now turn away from these sacred surroundings, with their hallowed and historic associations, deferring, until the next chapter, a sketch of our visit to the more than interesting parsonage that stands within the shadow of this church.
5
CHAPTER VI.
AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE.
WE shall to-day visit the Tulpehocken Lutheran par- sonage. And standing upon the threshold of this anti- quated ministerial abode, I shall ask my fellow-explorers to step lightly and reverently on entering a door that has
THE TULPEHOCKEN LUTHERAN PARSONAGE.
swung on its hinges for one hundred and fifty years to give entrance and exit, not only to the long line of its
(58)
59
AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE.
pious and honored inmates, but to hundreds, yea thou- sands, besides. In addition to the usual social and parish visits made here in its long history, this is the door that has opened to many a hundred couple of young lovers who came hither to have nuptial knots tied by the dominie in charge. Here many another hundred calls were made to announce the death of some parishioner and engage the pastor's services for the funeral. Hitler many an infant was borne by loving parents-though probably more to the church itself-to have the rite of holy baptism administered. While not all these official acts may have been performed in the parsonage, it ap- pears from an historical address delivered by Rev. Schantz at the sesqui-centennial celebration of the church, that there are records preserved showing that for a part of this period, covering a very large parish, the various pastors residing here officiated at 6,934 bap- tisins, 3,829 marriages, and 2,518 funerals. Of course the record is incomplete in every one item, as for pe- riods of years together one or the other class of entries was discontinued.
Beyond a doubt, the most interesting wedding that ever occurred here was that of the Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, the eminent patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America, then resident in Philadelphia, to Miss Annie Marie Weiser, a daughter of the celebrated Conrad Weiser. It was solemnized by the first pastor, Rev. Tobias Wagner, in 1745, and forms a most con- spicuous entry in the intensely interesting Church Re-
60
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
cord begun by him, and still preserved and continued. If, indeed, this illustrious pair were not married in this identical house, which seems to have been built a year or two later, it was yet solemnized on this spot, in a house adjoining, which as a part of a mill property, was then used as the pastor's residence, and which is still standing and in possession of the congregation.
A book of accounts is kept at the parsonage to this day, as one of the congregation's most valuable historic relics, showing, in Pastor Kurtz's handwriting, an ac- count of receipts and expenditures in pounds, shillings and pence, contributed and disbursed during the building of this house. The erection of this building occurred during the first years of this pastor's official service here. He was called in 1746, and served as catechist until 1748, when at the first meeting of the oldest Synod of the Lutheran Church in America (the Minis- terium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States), convened in St. Michael's Church of Philadelphia, he was or- dained as the first American Lutheran minister so set apart by order and act of an organized ecclesiastical body. It was, therefore, in the newly completed and occupied parsonage that he prepared himself for this Synodic examination. Whatever stress may have been laid by this young candidate for the ministry in his previous study upon purely theological points, the fol- lowing practical questions were some that were laid before him for answer, by the Committee, viz .: What are the evidences of conversion ? What is meant by the
61
AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE.
influence and blessings of the Holy Spirit ? How do you prove that Christ was not only a teacher, but that He made an atonement for the sins of man? etc. At his ordination, Rev. Hartwig preached from the words, "His blood will I require at thy hand." It may have been somne impression made upon his mind by this ser- mon, that made this pastor of Tulpehocken such a faithful and earnest preacher and worker for souls. In all these perilous years (when in his home or on his journeys he was constantly exposing his life to danger from the attacks of the Indians, who frequently invaded the territory of his parish and tomahawked or scalped entire families, many of whom he was called upon to bury *) he kept faithfully at his post, never neglecting his work as pastor and preacher.
It was while residing in this parsonage that his large family of children were born, consisting of nine sons and three daughters. The baptism of at least eight of them is recorded in the Church Record kept here. One of these is that of John Daniel, who himself became an eminent minister, and spent a few years of his life as assistant to his father, then residing at York, and later as assistant pastor to, and soon as successor of Rev. Goe- rock, of Baltimore. He was pastor of the first Lutheran church of that city for 46 years, when he retired, living
* In a letter to Dr. Muhlenberg, in 1757, he says, that "on one day not less than seven members of the congregation were brought to the church for burial, having been murdered by the Indians the day before."
62
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
to the extraordinary age of 93. He at one time refused a call from Salem Lutheran church of Lebanon.
Another son of pastor John Nicholas Kurtz, of Tul- pehocken, was long the parochial teacher of the York Lutherans. He was the father of the Rev. Dr. Benj. Kurtz-one of the most eminent men the Lutheran Church of America ever produced, who as preacher, author, editor of the Lutheran Observer, and one of the chief founders of the institutions of classical and theo- logical learning at Gettysburg and Selinsgrove, and of the Evangelical Alliance, and as traveller abroad, has acquired a reputation as wide as the Church.
A daughter of this Tulpehocken Pastor Kurtz, and born in this manse, afterwards became the wife of Rev. Jacob Goering, of York, concerning whom a church liistorian said, at the time of his death, "many genera- tions must pass away before the world will look upon his equal." Through the marriage of a grand-daugh- ter (the daughter of Rev. John Daniel Kurtz) this family also became connected with that of the gifted Lutheran divines, the Schaeffers, and their two children became famous, the one being Rev. Dr. Charles F. Schaeffer, long a professor at the Theological Seminary at Gettys- burg, and the other the wife of the Rev. Dr. Demme, of Philadelphia, one of the most learned men of this cen- tury.
We see, therefore, what a celebrated progeny came from the family which occupied this parsonage for the first twenty years after its erection.
63
AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE.
That Pastor Kurtz, the senior, was himself a man of eminent literary attainments, is inferred by the respect accorded him by so renowned a literary institution as the College of New Jersey, whose Faculty regularly sent him special invitations to attend their annual Com- mencements, though Tulpehocken was considerably distant from Princeton.
But other prominent families succeeded that of Pastor Kurtz as occupants of this manse. His immediate suc- cessor was Rev. Christoph Emanuel Schultze, for several years previous the assistant pastor to Dr. H. M. Muhlen- berg, of Philadelphia. He was a native of Saxony, Germany, and a graduate of the institutions at Halle. He arrived in this country in 1765 newly ordained to the ministry, and as associate of Dr. Mulilenberg served both the St. Michael's and Zion's churches of Philadel- phia. The latter was founded during his ministry there, and was, at the time, regarded as the handsomest church edifice in this country. It was to this church that Congress repaired in a body to express thanksgiving to God for the victory of the Revolutionary army and the restoration of peace on the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. The same edifice had also been used as a hospital by the British during their occupancy of Phila- delphia. But Pastor Schultze had left Philadelphia long before this occurred, although he was strongly urged by this flock to return. He took up liis abode at Tulpehocken in 1770, having previously married Eva Elizabeth, daughter of Patriarch Muhlenberg. Here he
64
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
labored, occupying this manse, for thirty-eight years, with the house again, as in the case of Pastor Kurtz, filling up with children. There were nine children in all, of whom the most conspicuous was John Andrew, born here, who, after a short ministerial career, entered secular life and served this State for two terms as Gov- ernor. His administration is still conspicuously re- membered for its justice and intelligence; and Lebanon enjoys the proud distinction of having numbered him as one of her residents when his fellow citizens of the State elevated him to this high office.
The many arduous and fatiguing labors of Pastor Schultze so enfeebled his body, that during the last year of his life he had often to be assisted to the pulpit. The Sunday preceding his death he was too weak to leave the house, so he summoned the congregation to the parsonage, wliere he preached his last sermon. The following Saturday, March II, 1809, he fell asleep in Christ, following his lamented wife, who had a few months previously preceded him to the bosom of a lov- ing Saviour. Rev. Dr. Lochman, of Lebanon, preached his funeral sermon the following Wednesday, from the words : "If any man serve mne, let him follow me ; and where I am, there shall also my servant be." A por- tion of Pastor Schultze's valuable library was after- wards presented to Pennsylvania College.
All the successors in this historic parsonage have helped to make the abode famous by long residence and noble deeds. Here the well-remembered Rev. Daniel
65
AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE.
Ulrich, a native of Lebanon county, resided for forty years. He was followed by the families of Parsons Eggers, Mayser and Long, the last of whom is now the genial occupant, who, with his accomplished wife, has in training a small family of children, whose noble deeds, we trust, will keep up the good repute this abode has gained by the high character of those who have dwelt here or gone out from hence.
CHAPTER VII.
A WELL-PRESERVED INDIAN FORT.
TO-DAY we shall turn away from the pious and peace- ful scenes of churches, graveyards and parsonages, and visit a relic that speaks to us of the perils and trials of Indian warfare. It is well worth our study to know what our forefathers endured in those early days in con- sequence of their treacherous and oft barbaric neighbors -the red-skinned savages. For this purpose let the mute monuments of heroic defense and protection, still found here and there throughout our valley in the shape of strongly-built Indian forts, be our teachers. We turn away, therefore, from the long-honored and historic abode of five generations of preachers to one of the best preserved houses of refuge and defense against these savage hordes. As this is still keeping its vigil in this valley, and is close at hand, let me lead the way to it.
Striking right across the country from Stouchsburg to the south, past Sheridan station on the Lebanon Valley railroad, we keep on the Mill Creek road, due south, for another half mile, when we come to the Zeller home- stead, and here we find, on the banks of the Mill Creek, this interesting relic of those ancient and trying times. It is commonly known as the Zeller Indian fort, because
(66)
67
A WELL-PRESERVED INDIAN FORT.
originally built by a Zeller, and since the land, upon which it was erected, is claimed never to have gone out of Zeller hands to the present time.
The fort is a well-sized and well-proportioned stone structure, a story and a half high, built with a capacious cellar, half under ground, from which flows a strong and beautiful stream of clear water, having its rise here
ZELLER INDIAN FORT, BUILT IN 1745.
in a perennial spring. It was erected by Heinrich Zel- ler, in 1745, as is shown from an engraved headstone within the wall. It is kept in good repair, used mostly for a farmer's storage house at present, but until the present generation had long been occupied as a weaver's shop. About fifty feet away, the place is pointed out where Heinrich Zeller, in 1723, built the first house of logs, which it is claimed was the first meeting place of those early Schoharie settlers for worship and defence
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.