USA > Pennsylvania > Ancient and historic landmarks in the Lebanon Valley > Part 6
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
(108)
109
THE COUNTY'S OLDEST TOWN.
been known, by the name of its founder, as Schaeffers- town, justly claims the distinction of being the first town "laid out" and built up within the county. It is located but two miles west or southwest from where I took leave of my readers in the last chapter.
Whatever clusters of houses and settlements may have been formed before, the town was regularly laid out by Alexander Schaeffer in 1744. He had first taken up his abode in the foot-hills already alluded to, where at a recent date his log cabin, built about 1738, was still standing. From thence he removed to the site of the present town, where he had bought a large tract of land, which he immediately proceeded to lay out into a town plot after the present plan of a central market square and four principal streets leading out thence.
Here he raised his family, the descendants of which are still found hereabouts. One great-grand-daughter is married to William Dissinger of town, and another, the daughter of Abraham Rex, long a successful local merchant, is the widowed wife of the late Wm. M. Weigley, Esq., whose magnificent brown-stone man- sion graces the streets of this ancient burg, conspicuously towering over its lines of humble dwellings.
The body of Schaeffer lies buried in the portion of the cemetery where the Reformed buried their dead, and about him are buried his family. The hands of considerate descendants have since marked these graves with becoming tombstones. That of the founder him- self contains the following epitaph :
IIO
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
Hier ruth Im Herrn der Leib des ALEXANDER SCHEFFER Ift gebohren den Sten Janvarivs 1712 Ift geftorben den Ioten April 1786 Alt worden 74 Jahr 5 Monath & Zwey tage Amen.
Schaefferstown is a rich field for the antiquarian. It is built on more hills than the Eternal City, and, but for the lack of that city's charming Tiber, might have rivaled Rome itself. In scenic beauty of mountain and farm-land, and in the fascinating romance of its inter- esting history, it lacks nothing to rival any town of more pretentious boast.
Let me take my readers to the crest of the highest hill and point out objects of historic interest. As we desire in these trips to dwell among the ancient and the past, it is fitting that we take this position, for here is located the resting place of these worthy de- parted ones, hundreds upon hundreds of whom have been gathered on this northern hill-side to sleep side by side, like so many children, who, wearied of play, have fallen asleep in a mother's arms, and by her been gently tucked into their little beds for the night.
III
THE COUNTY'S OLDEST TOWN.
What a melancholy spot is an ancient graveyard! What food for sober and solemn meditation here! If it afford at the same time, as does this one, an outlook over the farmis and work shops, where the sleepers beneath the sod once toiled, what an observatory for the spirit of man to take bearings of life-its past, present, and future ! One need not read the solemn exhortations engraved upon the tombstones to feel serious ; all the atmosphere is solemnly hortatory, and a host of earnest spirits arise to admonish a reflecting mind to think of life soberly and to live it wisely and well.
Before we walk among the dead, however, and read their epitomized biographies, preserved in engraven epitaphs, let us look out upon the scenes of activity, where this brave and gallant peasantry-fugitives from tyranny, persecution and bigotry-laid the foundations of this valley's present day prosperity. To the east stretches the beautiful valley of the Mühlbach with its rich farms-to the south the rolling hills covered with tilled fields break like waves of the sea against the South Mountain ridge. To the west, bordered on the south by the Cornwall hills, roll the farms, one against the other, till they are lost in the hazy distance; and from the northwest, in the direction of Lebanon, to the northeast, in the direction of Richland, there is afforded an extensive sweep of the very paradise of agricultural richness and beauty. At our feet lies the ancient vil- lage, where are still preserved a very large proportion of the primitive habitations in which dwelt the humble-
112
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
minded forefathers that now sleep beneath our feet. Altogether the scenery is intensely beautiful, sufficiently wild and varied to give it a charm not possessed by a tame, monotonous stretch of landscape, yet sufficiently tamed and enriched by the hands of thrifty German husbandmen-the peaceful monarchs of our valley-to make most of it as pretty as a finished picture, or as lovely as a garden.
From the south leads the Lancaster road, passing through such old towns as Lititz and Brickerville and by the celebrated Elizabeth furnaces, about three miles away, which were erected about 1755 by one John Huber, but later purchased by Baron Henry W. von Stiegel, of Manheim, Pa., a wealthy native of Manheim, Germany, who here made shot and shell, and cast guns for the Provincial army during Revolutionary times. Stiegel conducted this industrial plant for about eighteen years, manufacturing the old-fashioned jamb stoves, said to have borne the following legendary in- scription :
" Baron Stiegel ist der Mann Der die Ofen giesen Kann."
While engaged in this business he built a residence and tower in Schaefferstown, and laid out the southern portion, now known as "Canada." The first hill one- fourth of a mile south of the town center marks the spot where this castle tower or Thurm stood, and from it received the name of Thurm-berg or "Tower-hill."
113
THE COUNTY'S OLDEST TOWN.
The tower has gone into decay, but old citizens remnem- ber it, and relate that in it the Baron himself taught school in later days, when his fortune had taken wings. One of his sons removed to the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, and there married, had issue and became wealthy. There are still descendants living in those parts who have in recent years visited these scenes made famous by their illustrious sire. It is doubtless through this southern connection that many of the blooded Virginia and Maryland horses came to be tried in the once celebrated race-tracks located about two miles south of the town, giving this settlement noto- riety a century before this sport did the same for New Jersey politicians.
The "Tower-hill" marks also two other spots of his- toric interest. The one is the Jewish cemetery on its southern slope, where were buried the first colonists of this community, who were Jews, and who were at one time strong enough to have a synagogue and maintain worship. While the spot of the "Jewish church" and graveyard can still be identified, it is a shame that there should here be found such inconsiderate vandalism as to lay its unholy hands upon the walled enclosure of this sacred spot, and reduce to the common level of a field or orchard what should have been kept as holy ground and been most jealously guarded as an historic relic. The other spot of interest on Tower-hill is the spring which has for nearly 150 years supplied this town with water. It is located on the northern slope of this hill
114
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
just on the edge of town, is walled over into a reservoir and shaded by giant oaks and inaples, through whose out-spreading branches the spring winds still whistle songs of "the forest primeval." An artificial park is slowly forming about the same, with seats and band- stand to entice, on summer nights, the villagers to its cooling retreat. This best of water supplies has
A SCHAEFFERSTOWN WATERING TROUGH.
been utilized since 1753 as a public water works, so deeded by the founder of the town and his wife to ap- pointed trustees for the use of inhabitants of Market Square and street. It claims to be the first public water works established in the United States. Two public fountains have poured their clear, sparkling and never-
II5
THE COUNTY'S OLDEST TOWN.
failing contents into immense watering troughs for 141 years to gladden man and beast.
Down by this Lancaster roadway, past the furnace, race track, Jewish cemetery, baronial castle and "lead- ing spring" of Schaeffer's, the Lancaster and Womels- dorf postman, for many a year before the close of the last century, drove into town with his tally-ho and freight of passengers, parcels and post, announcing his arrival into town by the sounding of his bugle-horn. We will let an imaginary blast of this trumpet interrupt our observations and call us from our heights into the town below, where we shall gather additional facts of history. But for this we must wait, inasmuch as the limit of this chapter has already been reached.
CHAPTER XIII.
AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS.
THE bugle-blast of the old-time postman interrupted our historic search in the last chapter. It summoned us while on the sacred hillside of Schaefferstown, where the community has buried half a dozen generations of sturdy peasantry and noble yeomanry together. Before we take leave of this spot let us take a look at the stones that mark their sepulture. What a field of moldering bones and bleaching marble is this "God's acre!" The stately shaft of granite or inarble is found side by side with the low and crumbling limestone inarker or the lichen-covered sandstone, as the bones of those interred underneath commingle into a common dust. Here are found the graves of nearly all who have lived in this vicinity for a sesqui-centennium. Here, indeed, meet together the rich and poor of the Lord, who is the Maker of them all!
After passing the graves of the Moyers and Rexes, and the fine Weigley monument of granite, surmounted by a womanly figure in marble showering flowers from her hand, we come into the older portion of the burial ground, where the Schaeffers and Wolfersbergers and Erpffs are buried. We take especial interest in the
(116)
II7
AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS.
tombs of the last-named family, consisting of parents and one daughter, deceased in childhood, because of the elaborate tombstone erected over this child's grave, and because of the story of the life and good will of the parents. According to the account of an aged in- formant, Mrs. Jere. Steinmetz (nee Mock), whose uncle was a beneficiary of this benevolent pair, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Erpff (Erb?) emigrated to this country as redemp- tioners, and served their years of bondage ("bound out") along the Mühlbach. By industry and perse- verance they gained a competency and became the pos- sessors of a profitable farm near town. After the death of their only child they made a will, bequeathing, after death, the sum of fifty pounds sterling to all of their god-children, and the residue of their estate to the Luth- eran church of the town, of which they were members. It is said, however, that after the wife's death, which occurred first, outsiders interfered with the husband, and, either by an alteration in the will or crookedness in the estate's settlement, the church was deprived of this intended legacy. It is a pity that to prevent this specious form of embezzlement, all benevolently dis- posed men and women have not yet learned how to be- come their own executors! The following are fac- similes of the tombstones of Mr. Erpff and his daughter, the wife's being similar to his. We ask the readers to notice the artistic elaboration expended upon this pet child's memorial stone, and consider the age in which it was erected:
118
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
Hier Ruhen die gebeine von PHILIP JACOB ERPFF Gebohren zu Geyfzengen im Hertzogthum Wurtemberg den 20ten October A. D. 1724
Gestorben den 30ten Ianuarius A. D. 1803 Sein Alter 78 Iahr 3 Monaten und 10 tage
The child's grave is marked by a sandstone fully seven inches thick and about three and a half feet high. The sculptor of that day must have here done his best to please the living and properly honor the dead. Here is a sample of his art. It seems to represent life and death, as the head of the tomb-stone is to represent a living face, and at the bottom of it death is pictured in the skull and cross-bones. We desire also to call the attention of the reader at the ancient sign of the dupli- cation of a letter as found in the words "Erpf," "Susana " and "Ano." Many similar specimens of this common usage of duplication abound in the old grave-yards visited. But the roof-like shape of the top of stone is something rare. It is seldom found. We present in the following cut a fair representation of this elaborate and unique ancient memorial stone :
119
AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS.
C
@
HIER RUHET
UNSER LIEBE TOCHTER
MARIA ELISABETHA ERPFIN DES
PHILIP ERPF & SUSANA MAG-
DALEHNA EHELICHE TOCHTR
IST GEBOHREN ANO 1756
FEBRU. 2 TAG GESTORBEN
ANO 1769 JANU. 13 TAG ALT WORDEN 12 JAHR II MONHTA VND 8 TAG
O
1
o
17
69
Now passing the graves of Peter Sheetz and Philip Wolfersberger, who with others in this community used to be the owners of negro slaves before their freedom was legally granted in our state, let us descend into the ancient town lying at our feet.
I20
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
With the exception of a few additions in the form of handsome and costly homes, in modern styles of archi- tecture, such as the Weigley mansion, the residence of Dr. Zerbe and others, and a new Reformed church edi- fice and a remodeled Lutheran church building, we will find the town very much as it was fifty years ago. The language, customs and habits of the people have not changed. To one who comes from the current of our busy, whirring life of steam and electricity and steam-harnessed machinery, everything here seems new and strange because it is so tamne and antiquated. But this does not necessarily make against the place. It only furnishes us with a specimen of life in the genera- tions when honesty was a virtue and common brother- hood an established and realized fact, and a man's word as good as a bond or seal. Hence about the best way for our Pennsylvania German folk to go back in history a few generations and pay a visit to their honest and in- dustrious forefathers, and look in upon their quiet and peaceful mode of life, is to spend a while in the Schaef- ferstown of to-day. Here they will find a simplicity of living undisturbed by such modern concomitants of civilization as labor strikes and commonweal armies and all that ferment of discontent among the laboring classes now sending its scummy ebullitions to the sur- face elsewhere. The master and the servant have here not yet exchanged places. The capitalist carries on whatever humble industry he has planned and set on foot, without fear of having a band of jealous ruffians
I2I
AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS.
and insolent vagrants shut up its doors. Wagons are built here as strong and reliable as when they were used to carry the surplus grain from the surrounding acres to Philadelphia.
The shoemaker has not yet learned to make his pro- duct out of shavings, but still makes shoes out of leather intended to be worn and not to increase the sale. And the school teacher-blessed paradise for this much- abused and law-circumscribed benefactor-can here wield his birch, if occasion demand it, without that mark of his patrons' appreciation which gives the peda- gogue elsewhere an unsolicited course in law for giving his pupils an inevitable "course in sprouts." So lives Schaefferstown to-day, and so lived our fathers every- where many years ago.
Coming down from our cemetery heights to see it, we take the street or lane that brings us to the Lutheran church and parochial school house of long ago-two of the oldest structures in the town. Both are built of limestone, and were erected in 1765, as is shown by an arched stone that was the head-stone of the main en- trance to the church before its recent remodeling, where it was left to tell its story of antiquity when these en- trance doors beneath it were walled out. The school- house has for many years past been used for Sunday- school and mid-week devotional purposes.
This church has quite a history. As early as 1720, there are evidences of official burial services having been conducted here by missionary pastors. Frag-
9
122
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
mentary records prove that Rev. F. A. C. Muhlenberg at one time (1770-73) exercised pastoral functions liere. Doubtless a log or frame church edifice must have ex-
-
SCHAEFFERSTOWN LUTHERAN CHURCH.
isted before the present stone structure. While the present building was erected, the congregation formed a part of the Tulpehocken pastorate, and Rev. John
123
AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS.
Nicholas Kurtz was pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. C. Emanuel Shultze, from 1770 to 1809, who was as- sisted by his brother-in-law from 1770 to 1773 as stated. Shultze was succeeded by the Rev. Wm. Baetes, from 1810 to 1836; by Rev. Jonathan Ruthrauff, from 1837- to 1849; by Rev. J. M. Dietzler, from 1850 to 1865; by Rev. U. Graves, from 1865 to 1866; by Rev. G. J. Martz, from 1867 to 1878; and by Rev. M. Fernsler, from 1879 to the present time. The congregation has been part of four or five separate pastoral charges. In 1865 it celebrated the centennial of the church erection, when addresses were delivered by such well-known di- vines as Drs. E. Huber, Daniel Schindler, Revs. J. M. Dietzler, E. S. Henry, and U. Graves. In 1884, the church was completely remodeled at considerable ex- pense, the old steeple taken down from its west end and built up at the east end, while sixteen feet were added to its length on the west. While the same solid masonry stands and constitutes the wall, the building has lost its antique appearance, and has assumed a mod- ern style of architecture within and without. A very old pipe organ is still in use here. The old communion service bears this inscription: "Michael Weber und seine Ehefrau Anna Barbara haben die Communion Kanthen, in die Evangelish-Lutherische Kirche in Heidelberg, Linkester Amt gestisset, 1764."
The bell which used to swing in the old steeple, and whose silvery tone for many years called this comn- munity to worship, is said to have had the following in-
124
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
scription: "Pack and Chapman, of London, Fecit 1773. For the Lutheran church, Heidelbergtown, Lancaster county." Similar ones were made by the same firm and at the same time for the Trinity Lutheran church of Lancaster city, and Salem Lutheran church, Leb- a11011. They were doubtless ordered by Rev. F. A. C. Muhlenberg, who was then the pastor in charge.
Contemporaneously with the Lutheran church, the Reformed congregation of town grew up. Their first church was a frame structure. Another of stone super- seded this in 1796, which has in turn been displaced, in 1858, by a beautiful and imposing brick edifice, fronting on the Main street.
We are indebted to Dr. Egle's history of Dauphin and Lebanon county for the specimen lottery ticket, giv- ing us an idea of how the second edifice and that of the old Reformed church, Lebanon, were paid for; a com- inon resort for revenue in public enterprises of that day:
LOTTERY.
No. 1547.
Authorized by Law of the State of Pennsyl- vania, for defraying the expenses of erecting the Churches lately built by the German Re- formed Congregations respectively, in the Borough of Lebanon and in the Town of Heidelberg, in the County of Dauphin.
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS.
This Ticket will entitle the Bearer to such Prize, as may be drawn to its Number, if de- manded within twelve Months after drawing. Subject to a deduction of twenty per cent. Feb. 19, 1800.
HENRY SCHAEFFER.
I25
AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS.
The known pastors of the Reformed church have been Revs. J. B. Rieger, Thomas Leinbach, Sr., Samuel S. and Thomas C. Leinbach, Jr., S. S. Sweitzer, J. A. Shultz, A. H. Leisse, and A. J. Bachman, the present incumbent.
In walking along these ancient streets one still sees a large number of the first peasant abodes, mere huts, whose low roofs can be touched with one's hand from the sidewalk. Most of these abodes are still occupied, but some are going into decay. Many are covered with tiles, and in view of these tokens of age, the town re- minds one of Newmanstown1.
The town center contains a spacious square or market place, along which are old buildings. One especially claims our attention. It is the old stone hostelry, erected in 1752 by the founder of the town. In ante- Revolutionary times it had a royal name, "King George," and sheltered many an aristocratic guest. After the Revolution, the sign portrait was changed from King George to that of George Washington. The most remarkable feature about this old landmark prob- bably is its elaborately and well-built cellar. Its ceil- ing consists of a series of well-walled and cemented arches, receding from a common center. It is known to have on several occasions sheltered the inhabitants of the community from the depredations of the savages in the first and second decades after its erection.
Bidding adieu to this ancient town, we will take our way across the country towards Myerstown. Leading
I26
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
through the very paradise of Lebanon county farms, we will pass the palatial country residence and improved farms of Mr. Isaac Long, a brother and partner in the New York wholesale commission business of the late
-
KING GEORGE HOTEL, SCHAEFFERSTOWN.
S. S. Long, of Newmanstown. This summer residence is located at the corner where Mill Creek, Heidelberg and Jackson townships meet. A little nearer Myers- town we pass an ancient house, now occupied by Mr. Ezra Spangler, which has not gone out of the family hands since its erection. Though having signs of age upon it, it is in a good state of repair, and its fine lime-
I27
AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS.
stone walls are as substantial as when it was first built. It bears in its front elevation a sandstone with the fol- lowing quaint inscription, the quotation of which som- ber, semi-religious, orthographically-faulty sentiment will close this chapter :
GOTT - GESEGNE - DIESEE - HAVS - VND WER - DA - GETT - EIN - VND AVS-ICH GE AVS - ODER - EIN - SO - STET - DER - DOTT VND - WARTET - MEIN .. 17 -82. JACOB - SPENLER & E - S - B - S - P - R - N
CHAPTER XIV.
THE TULPEHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH.
HAVING worked our way back to the Berks and Dauphin turnpike-fortunately for our jaunts, when such snows visit this region in the middle of April as the one that blocked up travel by steam, electricity, bicycle or foot last week-let us go down this ever pass- able highway to where we left it almost two months ago for our "round-about " excursion, and let us from this point work our way westward toward Lebanon, picking up along the way the scattered leaves of unwritten his- tory. So we will go about three miles east of Myers- town to the oldest and one of the most important churches of the Reformed denomination in all this valley. It is known as the Tulpehocken Reformed church, and has a long and intensely interesting history. Because of its having been served by the two Leinbach brethren, Thomas H. and Charles, for over half a cen- tury, it is commonly spoken of as the "Leinbaclı Kirche."
It is located just west of the Tulpehocken Lutheran church, about a mile and a half west of Stouchsburg, along the turnpike, near a little village that has grown up recently under the name of Cocena. It is situated
(128)
129
THE TULPEHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH.
on rising ground, like that of the Lutheran church near by, along a bend of the Tulpehocken creek, while the two historic and venerable sites, with their sacred temples and burial grounds and ancient parsonages, frown at or greet one another (as the heart of the ob-
-
TULPEHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH.
server is filled with bigotry or fraternity) from their opposing hill-sides, like the ancient mountains of Ebal and Gerizim. We trust they have both been "mounts of blessing " during all the hundred and fifty years of gospel light that crown them. It would seem at least
I30
LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY.
as if the earliest settlers that worshiped here desired that these sacred spots might prove Gerizims and not Ebals, where many of them built their houses even with a version of the promised Mosaic blessing (Deut. xxviii. 6) engraved upon them, "Gott gesegne dieses Haus, und wer da gehet ein und aus."
With no fear of having curses heaped upon us, let us repair to the spacious, stone manse that stands a little off the roadway, to the south. Although the present genial dominie, Rev. H. J. Welker, has a little farını of thirty acres to superintend, beside his parish work, we will find him none too busy to give us a little time and lead us into the very interesting past and present of all this sacred and historic landmark. The pastors liere have been busy men from time immemorial, some of them having served as many as sixteen widely scattered congregations at one time, besides managing a mill property and the farm, which were then parts of the pas- toral estate. The "church mill" has in recent years been disposed of and now turns its grist for another than the pastor. But a famous stone quarry on the premises still yields a handsome royalty as a revenue for the church.
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.