USA > Pennsylvania > Ancient and historic landmarks in the Lebanon Valley > Part 5
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And this peak is itself an historic landmark. Hither climbed, on March 22, 1751, "to view the landscape o'er," the venerable patriarch of the American Luth- eran Church, Rev. Dr. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, in company with Rev. P. Brunnholtz, honored pastor of the Lutheran congregations at Philadelphia and German- town ; Rev. J. C. Hartwig, on and out of whose large real estate in Otsego Co., N. Y., was later established the first Lutheran Theological Seminary in this coun- try; Conrad Weiser, whose guests these were, and others. The occasion was the pastoral conference, called by Muhlenberg, and held at Weiser's house, to consider the pastoral call which Muhlenberg had shortly before received from the Dutch Lutheran congregation of New
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AN OLD INDIAN TRAIL.
York City, and to investigate the trouble between Pas- tor Handschuh and his flock at Lancaster. These men inet at Reading a few days before, and proceeded to- gether to Weiser's home at Tulpehocken. Dr. Mann in his "Life and Times of Muhlenberg," based upon suclı authoritative data as the patriarch's own diary, alludes to this event, on page 264 of his book, as follows:
"The following day the travellers arrived at Tulpe- hocken, and on March 22d, for bodily exercise, they, with some of the friends, ascended the highest point of the South Mountain, three miles distant from Weiser's residence, where a splendid panorama for a distance of thirty miles extended before them, limited to the west and the southwest by the Blue Mountain chain. The sun was shining, the sky was clear. Large rocks formed a protection against the March winds. Three eagles, probably having their nests in the lonely neighborhood, wheeled in circles above the heads of the strange visitors, rising higher and higher in the air until in the golden hues of the sunbeamns they finally disappeared. This beautiful picture brought strange feelings to the hearts of the brethren, for it recalled to them the symbolic pic- ture of the eagle couching in front of the wide-spreading golden rays of the sun on the Orphan-House at Halle. Many a Bible quotation having more or less bearing upon the occasion and the surroundings was then given, and some old German church-hymns were intoned on this lofty height, and carried the praises of God to His throne. They all felt it was good to be there. Un-
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LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
willingly they left their grand elevation to climb down again into the valley over rock and precipice, and to resume the cares and troubles of a world of labor." What a grand spot this to hold, some summer day, the biggest reunion of Lutherans ever held in this country ! Who knows but the Luther Leagues of Pennsylvania and New York, the two states then rivaling each other for Muhlenberg's services, may some day effect this !
Having now reached the top of our mountain road, through its environment of rocky, glen-cut mountain slopes, we reach a large table-land, or plateau, on the very top of the South Mountain. It extends for several iniles in each direction. On this elevation is found the celebrated Texter farm, where its late proprietor and owner died recently, and concerning whose will and bequests there is now pending in the Lebanon County courts a somewhat interesting litigation suit. This farını at one time contained 1,900 acres, and though somewhat reduced, is still an immense plantation. On these heights, until recently, the last owner, Mr. Joel Texter, rivaled Mr. S. S. Long, at the base of the hill, in the raising of fine blooded stock. Each gained all extensive reputation and considerable wealth. But now both have departed to "the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns." With a better use made of their time and possessions, we trust, than their former savage owners, whose ancient highway led through both their tracts, they have gone to answer the summons of that Great Spirit, who gives to all of us, for a little while, power and opportunity.
CHAPTER X.
A CRADLE OF RELIGIOUS SECTS.
COMING down the "Delectable Mountains," from which we took our last enchanting view of the valley, by the same "Kluft" roadway we took in ascent, we will to-day wind our way westward along the meander- ings of the Mill Creek-the stream that waters this sec- tion of the country and gives a name to the township. We will have a stretch of about five miles to go till we come to the fountain-head of this stream and the border line of Heidelberg township, the next adjoining. This little vale is a poem for natural beauty and improved cultivation. It deserves to be immortalized in song and history. To the writer's eye it has the appearance of a huge cradle, fashioned thus by nature and employed by providence in which to rock the infant life (on this con- tinent) of no less than half a dozen of our Protestant religious denominations.
Let us first take our walk through this lovely vale, and then give the history of the foundings of these sects. The valley stretches in a westerly or south- westerly course from Newmanstown in the direction towards Schaefferstown. On our left, the towering South Mountain hems us in, which being so close at
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LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
hand clearly shows its every rocky rib, in the afternoon sun, like some ill-fed, petrified mastodon. It also gives a sense of warmth and protection to the dwellers that cosily nestle in the rich vale at its feet, which helps the imagination in seeing the cradle-likeness of this terri- tory. On our west, a small ridge rises that, though broken more or less, continues on to Schaefferstown, and is parallel with the southern border hills. By a slight pressure upon either barrier, methinks, and a little stretch of the imagination, one can see this cradle rock. It is covered during most of the year with one of Dame Nature's homespun spreads of emerald hue, and reminds one of the famous Tyrol valleys. Here many first set-
tlers of the Lebanon valley planted their homes. They came from different parts of Germany, and by different routes, but arrived here about simultaneously, whether by way of Schoharie, N. Y., or of Philadelphia, Ger- mantown, and Conestoga. The rich quality of the land, the abundance of water in springs and stream, and the beauty of scenery, justify their sharpened wit in dis- criminating choice.
Following the little mountain brooklet, that is born of a hundred springs in the mountain sides of the Indian Pass last described, until this empties into the Mill Creek, we pass two old grist inills that serve as land- marks in this part of the vale in question. The first is what is now generally known as the Cherrington Mill, built in 1800, by Philip Kalbach, and for many years in the proprietorship of the Cherringtons, Ezekiel, John
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A CRADLE OF RELIGIOUS SECTS.
F., and James E., respectively, father, son, and grand- son. The other mill is the Zimmerman mill, situated on the same mountain stream, but is not as old as the former. A short distance to the right is the Zeller fort, already described, where the German Lutherans had their beginning in American church life. Likewise the Reformed, a little beyond at Tulpehocken. On reaching the Mill Creek proper, we have but a miile to the hamlet known as Mill Creek Center, but by older citizens still spoken of as Muehlbach, the German for Mill Creek. Here also is located a mill, the oldest of all in the township, and this spot claims to have wit- nessed the very first settlement in these parts. Let us stop long enough in our ramble to visit the few points of interest.
First we will visit the church and graveyard. Here as early as 1747 the records show a joint Lutheran and Reformed church to have been erected. Before this time these settlers worshipped at Tulpehocken. This was the first church in all this Mill Creek Valley. It was a rude log meeting house, followed by a frame church, which in 1790 gave place to the present stone structure, situated on a slight elevation of ground. This latter building was remodeled a few years ago, during the centennial year of its erection, when by the expenditure of several thousand dollars it was changed into a beautiful modern church building in its exterior appearance and interior style and arrangements. A marble slab over the entrance door gives the above-named facts epito-
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LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
mized. Until recently a very old German Bible was here used in services. The church has generally been served by the Tulpehocken pastors on the Lutheran side, and by the Schaefferstown pastors on the Re- formned side. The graveyard surrounding the church shows in its tombstone records the names of the sur- rounding citizens and the story of their constant gather- ing into this silent "city of the dead." One of tlie oldest graves it contains that is marked by a legible stone is that of Anderes Saltzgeber, of which the fol- lowing is a fac-simile :
HIER RUHET
ANDERES SALTZ-
GEBER IST GEBOHREN
DEN 26 DEC 1708 GESTORBEN 1769 SEINES ALTERS 61 IAHR SEINE EHFR-
AV WAR ANN MA- RIA EINE GEBOH- RNE ZELERN. IN DE- R EH GELEBT 41 JAHR
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A CRADLE OF RELIGIOUS SECTS.
But while this is the only church in this hamlet, it was not the first religious worship which its erection witnessed here. It is claimed that fully two decades or more before this time, Conrad Beissel and a few associ- ate German Baptists, or Dunkards, arrived from Ger- many and settled here, doubtless conducting worship in the house this leader is said to have erected. It is evident that they here found water enough to accommo- date them in their immersion practices. As no history of the erection of a Dunkard meeting-house or of a sep- arate local congregation is extant, it is probable that this nucleus formed a part of the Conestoga First Day Dunkards. It was not long, however, before Mr. Beis- sel "fell out" with his brethren on a number of points of doctrine, principally that concerning the Sabbath observation, he claiming the Seventh day as the proper one to be kept. He published a tract as early as 1725, fully setting forth his views, and withdrew from fellow- ship with his brethren. He had quite a following, and thus was born the Seventh Day Baptist Sect or Society, which, led by their zealous leader, removed to Ephrata, Lancaster county, where they promulgated their mystic views, erected a convent, and made for themselves a quaint but somewhat conspicuous history among the denominations of our land. In education and publica- tion this new center was leading the German population of this section of the state for a quarter of a century.
This hamlet contains another interesting landmark that we must visit ere we pass on. It is the old mill,
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whose grist has fed mnan and fattened beast for almost a century and a quarter.
A carved stone in the face of the wall, evidently pro- vided with a receptacle for deposits of a documentary character, like the corner-stones of churches, gives date and name of builder as follows :
JERE MÜLER
52
1 Z
MARIA CATH. M.
The house is a very fine and substantially built struc- ture with wall of native red-sandstone and limestone, dressed and trimmed, with broken or hipped Dutch roof, and finished in massive style and in hard wood. The stairway and hand-rail are of solid oak and still a thing of beauty. The quaint and massive Queen Anne man- telpiece is likewise of solid oak, as pretty as any quar- tered oak now in use. The doors and patent locks of long ago still add charm to a landmark which is as well kept and as cheerful a home as that of Mt. Vernon on the banks of the Potomac. It is now the property of Mr. E. R. Illig, whose family have occupied it for a number of years. Tradition connects the romance of an illicit love affair and escapade with the builder and first proprietor. Rumor says that he fell in love with
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A CRADLE OF RELIGIOUS SECTS.
his servant girl, and after some remonstrances against this intimacy by his wife-the Maria Catharine of the above engraved stone-Mr. Müler eloped with his para- inour to Virginia, leaving the property to his upbraid- ing wife and her family.
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THE ILLIG HOME AND MILL IN MILL CREEK CENTRE.
It was presumably a son of this first couple, and his wife, who erected in 1784 the mill property that is at- tached to this old stone mansion. It is also of stone, in the same style of architecture as the house, and has a date-stone in the face of the wall exposed to the road- side, which reads as follows:
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LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
17
84
GOTT ALEIN DEEN
MICHAEL MILLER
MELISABET MILLER
There is some poetry and piety in the thought that a mill should serve God alone. Dedicated thus to God, it has served Him and man, we suppose, for a century and a decade of time. As far as we know, it has always ground its grist in peace and blessing, and we trust it may never grind out the wrath of Jehovah, or be made to prove that
"The mills of the gods grind slowly, But they grind exceeding fine."
It was on the large farm in connection with this ancient mill property, that the enterprising and intelli- gent Illig family was reared, two of whoin are the cele- brated proprietors of a large dry goods store in Reading, while the farin has been divided among three others, whose lovely homesteads front on this Mill Creek road just outside of the village. The one is that of Mr. E. R. Illig, already described ; next comes the house and farın of Capt. Batdorf, whose wife was an Illig ; and the third, the original homestead, is that of Mr. Hiram L. Illig, who is renowned as being, without doubt, the possessor of the largest collection of Indian relics, (spear- heads, lance-heads, scalping knives, scrapers, mortars, pestles and rude utensils and ornaments) in the county.
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A CRADLE OF RELIGIOUS SECTS.
The arrangement of these relics is orderly and system- atic according to the various strata of rock formation from which they were constructed. Concerning this branch of archæology their possessor is a master, and altogether this family is far above the average in rural intelligence. They would be leaders in, and a credit to any community.
A SECTION OF HIRAM L. ILLIG'S INDIAN RELICS.
But we must close this chapter and defer to the next one an account of the founding and earliest beginnings of the Evangelical Association, which took place in this valley, and the interesting landmarks concerning which are still found here.
CHAPTER XI.
A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD.
I AM now ready to lead iny readers to a two-fold fountain-head, the spot being the source both of the somewhat historic Mill Creek, along which we have been rambling in our last jaunt, and also of the Evangelical Association, which as a religious denomination has al- inost completed its first century of rather remarkable and checkered life. The same spring that gives birth to the above-named stream marks the spot also that brought into organic being this branch of the Protestant Church; for over this spring was built a house in which the organization was effected. It is a remarkable coincidence that another spring, feeding this same creek, farther down its current, marks the place where Elder Peter Becker, of the Dunkard persuasion, in- inersed Conrad Beissel, the rather illustrious founder of the Seventh Day Baptist sect, which spring is known in the denominational history of this church as the "Dunkard Spring;" while still further down this same stream is the Zeller house or fort, also built over a spring and emptying into the Mill Creek, where the German Lutherans of this country had their organic beginning.
Having left my readers at Mr. H. L. Illig's Bazar of
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A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD.
Aboriginal Archæology, or Indian Relics, we are but two miles from the fountain head we want now to visit. But these are two miles fraught with intensely. interesting history. And although the current of his- tory, like that of water, should be followed from its source downward and onward, it suits us best to go up
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THE BECKER HOMESTEAD, MILL CREEK.
the streams of both, because along this way lies the chosen course of our historical excursion. Hence we come first to the Becker house, where the first annual conference of the Evangelical Association was held in 1807. This house is still standing on the next estate to Illig's, on the right-hand side of the road going to
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LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
Kleinfeltersville, and is more than a mile northeast of the other Becker homestead, where, in 1803, Bishop Albright called his followers together for mutual con- ference about separation from former church affiliations and organization into a new sect, by the adoption of rules and regulations, which led to the present discipline of this church and its entire mode of denominational life and polity. We will pick up the scraps of historic interest that lie along the way to this historic spot. The Becker estate originally consisted of 1,500 acres of land, the property of a Miss or Mrs. Jane Fenn, of Ches- ter County, who leased it to parties resident liere, and whose relatives would visit it in summer and fish along the creek that flowed through the plantation. There are still legal papers in the hands of the Becker family, showing the transfer of the property to a Mr. Becker, when the Fenns found it did not pay them. Then the plantation was cut into smaller farmns, and the different farm houses were built thereon. The one alluded to as the house in which the first annual conference of Al- bright's church was held, is a large, commodious, farm dwelling-house, built of regularly dressed sandstone of reddish tint that is quarried near by, and was erected, according to a date-stone in its wall, in 1770. Some alterations have been made since that first conference, but the large room, or rooms, in which the sessions of this historic gathering were held are intact and are still pointed out to the visitor. It was attended by five itinerant and three local preachers and twenty official
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A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD.
lay members, and was continued for two days, Novem- ber 15 and 16, 1807. At this meeting Albright was elected superintendent or first bishop of the society and instructed to formulate rules of discipline, which latter duty he was prevented from accomplishing by decline of health and an early, untimely death. In this house met also the third and fourth annual conferences of this association, and here were licensed a number of the first preachers of the body, who afterwards figured prominently in this church. The large yard and gar- den of this homestead has the noteworthy distinction of being so well fenced in that 127 years of frost and tempest have not shaken this original construction of shelter and protection. The posts are solid sandstone, of the same quality used in the walls of the house, are about one foot square, and stand four feet above ground. Into these are drilled holes, in which rest the rails. The one on which the gate swings has the following figure engraved on it, which is still quite legible:
G
17
67
B
The initials stand for George Becker, the builder.
Had the church here founded been as securely envi- roned by a fence, strong enough to keep out pride and sin and foreign ideas, there would not be the sad litiga-
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LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
tions that now divide this once influential portion of Christ's body.
Leaving this place and still going on towards Klein- feltersville, we pass the private burial place of several generations of this family, a Dunkard meeting-house, the fine home and farm of Rev. George Bucher, the Dunkard preacher of this district; and, crossing the line of Heidelberg township, we soon come to the fountain head of this creek, and the place where Albright's re- ligious society was formed and where by a singular providence he died, May 18, 1808. This was the home of Jolin George Becker, a son of the George Becker al- ready alluded to, I think. The house in which he lived was also a sandstone dwelling, reared over the spring in question, and was originally provided with mere port-holes for windows, and used as a house of refuge from the Indians. It has recently been torn down and replaced by a double-story frame dwelling, where now lives Mr. Wm. Hoffman, who is married to a granddaughter of this friend of Albright's, a daughter of Rev. John Kleinfelter, who was married to John G. Becker's daughter.
Mr. Becker, being an early disciple of Albrighit's, opened his house for services and for the exercise of Christian hospitality towards these itinerants. Thus it came that in this house were witnessed on November 3, 1803, the birth of this society and the licensure of Rev. Albright, later the marriage of one of its daughters to Rev. Kleinfelter, one of these itinerant preachers and
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A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD.
afterwards a presiding elder, and on May 18, 1808, the death of the first bishop, Rev. Albrighit.
Mr. Albright was a native of Montgomery, and dur- his ministry and at the time of his death was a resident of Lancaster County. He was returning from a quar- terly conference held on Easter, 1808, in Albany, Berks county, suffering from a pulmonary affection, when, completely prostrated, he was compelled to stop on his way home at the house of Brother Becker, where he took his bed, and died a few weeks after. A few days after, May 20th, he was buried in the private burial plot of this Becker family, which plot was afterward erected into a church burial ground. His grave here is marked by a simple stone, of which the following is the epitaph :
Zum Gedächtnis des Ev. Pr. Jacob Albrecht wurde geboren den I ten May 1759 starb den 18 ten May IS07 alt 49 Jahre u. 17 Tage. Unter diesen Stein ruhen sein Gebein. Der Todt seiner Heiligen ist Werth gehalten fur dem Herrn. Psalm 116, v. 15.
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LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
After Rev. Kleinfelter married Mr. Becker's daughter and came into possession of much of his property, he laid out the village of Kleinfeltersville, donated ground for an Evangelical churchi and graveyard, and was largely instrumental in having the East Pennsylvania Conference build a memorial church at this place in
ALBRIGHT MEMORIAL CHURCH.
honor of the energetic bishop, who died and lay buried here. Accordingly, in 1850, kept by the Evangelical Association as a year of jubilee, this church was erected. The conference appointed Revs. J. P. Leib, J. M. Saylor and F. Sanner to supervise the work. It is a very inodest structure of red sandstone, of rather small
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A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD.
dimensions, after the simple style. adopted by this denomination in that day of extreme simplicity. It is surmounted by a small cupola, in which swings a little bell. On its front a marble slab tells the following story :
ALBRECHT'S KIRCHE
Errichtet Zum Andenken des verewigten JACOB ALBRECHT Stifter der Evangelischen Gemeinschaft in Nord America Im 5oten Jahre der Gemeinschaft ANNO 1850. Ganz neu aufgebaut im Jahr 1860
Few people worship here at present and fewer still are the visits to the adjoining graveyard, though there would be for a Gray another Elegy here.
After devoting about twelve years to the itinerancy and the office of presiding elder, with a district stretch- ing from Philadelphia to the Ohio River, Rev. Klein- felter retired and carried on a mercantile business at this place and in the neighboring village of Flickinger, Lancaster county, the remainder of his life. He lies buried in the same rustic graveyard, not far from Albright's grave; and his wife, who as a child must have ministered to the dying bishop, sleeps by his side. Their tombstones are more pretentious, and the epitaphs read as follows :
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LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
REV. JOHN KLEINFELTER Born May 5, 179[. Died April 16, 1863. Aged 71 years II Mo. II da.
He became an active and influential member of the Evangelical denom- ination at the early age of 20 years, when that Church was yet struggling in its Infancy, and by his Christian life he became a Power, felt through- out the entire Brotherhood. Filling the various positions of circuit Preach- er, Elder, &c. Thus improving every opportunity to do good, and become good.
J. E. D.
OUR MOTHER CATHARINE
WIFE OF
REV. JOHN R. KLEINFELTER Daughter of GEORGE AND MARIA BECKER. Born April 1, 1796. DIED June 13, 1883. AGED 87 Years 2 Mo. 12 Days. Text 2 Timothy 4: 7-8. H. I. D.
Her father also lies buried here. His grave stone is :
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A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD.
In memory of JOHN GEORGE BECKER, Born Sept. 29, 1767, Died Nov. 16, 1855, etc., etc.
And here at this humble graveyard, where sleep these early and pious workers of a denomination that has wielded an extensive influence in the first century of its existence, we must part company for a short time.
CHAPTER XII.
THE COUNTY'S OLDEST TOWN.
TO-DAY I want to take my readers, whither a kind friend has recently taken me, to the oldest town within the limits of Lebanon county, if not of this valley. About the same time (perhaps a year or two before) the Schoharie Germans settled in this valley, the wave of German immigrants, which flowed by way of Philadel- phia and the lower counties of Montgomery, Chester and Lancaster, began to break over the border hills that separate thie Lebanon and East Penn valleys from the Lancaster valley, and poured down this barrier's northern slope into the narrow vales that lie betwixt the foot-hills of this South Mountain range. Thus as early as 1720 the log cabins of these first settlers began to rise in the wild forests of these foot-hills. Soon one wave of immigration followed another and before two decades had passed, quite a flood of German colonists had poured over the Suabian hills into our south-eastern county borders and spread itself out in the present south- ernmost townships of Mill Creek, Heidelberg, South Lebanon, Cornwall and Londonderry. Heidelberg, the settlement, assumed the first town-nucleus, and accord- ingly Heidelberg-town, or what for the past century has
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