USA > Pennsylvania > Historical register : notes and queries historical and genealogical, chiefly relating to interior Pennsylvania. Volume I > Part 3
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In the development of the county through internal improve- ments, the turnpikes, canals, and railways, they are likewise conspicuous. They began early-if not ahead of time. not be- hind it. Their correspondence in reference to the improvement of the Schuylkill for navigation began before 1770, and their enterprise brought coal to light during the period of the Rev- olution. Transportation and its facilitation were always en- couraged by them. Some opposition was developed in the general endeavors to establish new motive power, as there is in
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most enterprises everywhere; but they were successful. In laying them down, they actually walked in the footsteps of their fathers ; for the early settlers. in following the streams to locate their settlements, marked out, as it were, the tracks for turn- pikes, canals, and railways, which were to come after them to facilitate the business intercourse of their children. In some respects these improvements were slow ; but a consideration of all things leads us to the conviction that they came to us just when they were needed.
In the matter of education, they were unquestionably very early. They had schools .established in the four districts be- fore the erection of the county. They constantly encouraged the private education of their children. Schools were numer- ous in all parts before 1800. But they were slow in grasping the general usefulness of legislation on the subject. A score of years was necessary to uproot their convictions against it ; some compulsory proceedings were even found necessary to cause the adoption of the common school system in all the townships. They never discouraged education, but they op- posed legislation. This opposition proceeded mostly from re- ligious influences. The farmers especially anticipated trouble in the management of their agricultural pursuits. Many have realized their anticipations of fifty years ago. The great ma- jority of our population have always been engaged in agricul- ture. But the tendency of the children is to trade, manufac- ture, and metropolitan life. Many are fitted for these pur- suits, but the majority are not. The change of life, manners. and vocation is too sudden for them. Unprepared for it, they generally fail in their undertakings. After the lapse of fifty years more, the survivors of these families will see whether or not general education through legislation will have resulted in the greatest good to the largest number. Education is most certainly an instrumentality worthy our highest consideration for our general welfare. But its misdirection will be fruitful of evil. And has there not been misdirection? If so, the farmers cannot be held responsible for its evils when legislation forced them to the adoption of the system, whether it were then adapted to their situation in life or not. Good sense and suc-
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First Families of Berks County.
cess in our daily affairs do not always, not even generally, fol- low education-the education of to-day as resulting from the general law. They cannot be forced into us. They are plants of slow growth, and proceed from continued industrious and economic habits. This natural peculiarity of mankind, our fathers understood. They had experienced it. Therefore, they could not perceive the efficacy of the law in elevating the gen- eral average of their children, physical and moral, as well as mental. Who can say that this average in all respects is now, after the lapse of fifty-certainly thirty-years beyond that which prevailed a hundred years ago? Education does not simply constitute a general ability to read, write, and speak cor- rectly. It has a wider signification. These seem to be now its primary objects. But are not our physical, moral, and social development equally important -? Then these latter were high in average: likewise good sense and success. But, by com- parison, what are they now ? Our public agents, in the matter of education, have a great task before them. Its proper direc- tion will undoubtedly lead to good results, as steam properly manipulated and directed carries a train of cars successfully to its destination ; but its improper direction will eventually term- inate in revolution, of some kind or another, in an utter ina- bility on the part of the Government to properly regulate the public actions of those for whom its great efforts, through this instrumentality, were, and are now, intended. Did our fathers see this? By retrospection were they able to exercise clear prospection ? Was their opposition to general education through the power of statutory enactment its natural consequence ? They, then, were bold enough to express and show opposition. Who is now bold enough to do so, or even to advocate the modification of the law so as to lead our children into planes of action for which they are best fitted? We are as yet compara- tively young. We have many years before us. Statistics of various kinds-census, education, industry, finance, health, longevity, crime, etc .- are rapidly accumulating. The State and nation are gathering them for us. We will soon be able to make calculations and comparisons, and draw conclusions for future direction. After our county shall have reached the
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year 1900. these statistics, properly collated, will enable our successors in social and political life to determine whether or not the prospection of our fathers was wise and just.
The great majority of the names of our first families, it will be perceived, are German. Many are English. A few only are Swede and Welsh. The predominating element is appar- ent. They brought with them their religion. Their children have it still. It has been a fixed principle amongst them. The entire county is permeated with it. It caused the erection of Lutheran and Reformed churches in every township. Their
· determination in this respect is characteristic of them. They hold fast. They exhibit permanence in many respects. They hold their ministers in high regard. These are powerful agents amongst them. But powerful as they are in social and religi- ous influences, they presume not to trespass upon their rights. Fortunately they very generally are men of discrimination and pure religious life. These qualities preserve uniform good feel- ing in religious devotion over the entire county. Through them, generally peaceful, industrious, and law-abiding behavior is maintained to a remarkable degree. This is the crowning ex- cellence of these families. It keeps them constantly successful. And their success does not turn their heads. It does not beget extravagance on the one hand and vice on the other, and it does not substitute social for true personal pride. They are gener- ally the same at all times to all men. Through these charac- teristics they constitute a most beneficial regulator of our social and political organizations. In population, in taxation, in property, in production, in finance, in politics, in education, in religion-in all these they are most powerful.
In a political sense they have exhibited a persistent attach- ment to one leading principle. At first they were anti-federal by a large majority. They opposed the great political move- ment, whose object was the establishment of a Federal govern- ment and constitution. They preferred the right of States,-as States united by a confederation, and of local self-government. Of these rights they were firm advocates. And, though their political sentiments have been transmitted through three gen- erations of government of, by, and for the people, and though
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First Families of Berks County.
party names have to a great extent been transposed, they have preserved this principle. Through this period, and through all the excitement of party strife for power and policy, they have been thoroughly patriotic. Now the great majority are "Dem- ocrats," a political name created by party leaders. By it they are known. But, in reality, with them it is not name; it is principle-it is self-government. This has their devotion, their love their admiration. If, in a hundred years to come, party names should be retransposed to what they were a hundred years ago, the succeeding generations will nevertheless be found on the side of this principle which was advocated and sustained by their ancestors. This idea of local self-government won the first families, and induced them to locate here. It was simple. They soon understood it, and they carried it on successfully in their various local affairs. Their children took it naturally, and naturally retained it. After the lapse of a century it is now a fixed idea with them. Education has not changed it. The education, as dictated by the State, has not even changed it. But this educational policy is, however, making apparent one consequence-a general tendency in many men for political preferment. It is producing many professional men of various kinds. All of them manifest a desire at some period or other to serve the State in one capacity or another. Of course this is commendable; the State expects it-she encourages it. Of course they all feel qualified for the service. This is, indeed, kind and honorable of them. But are they seeking preferment for emolument or destruction through earnest labor for the pub- lic weal? They obtain the one with ease, because it is common, -because the State is generous. But they seldom obtain the other, because it is not common-because it is not the gift of the State; it is rather the gift of nature, improved by time and well-directed efforts. As yet this principle of government in them has not been affected. Its virtue still prevails. In poli- tics, therefore, as in agriculture and religion, the great majority of these first families have preserved their strength and great- ness. This idea is not the notion of "State Rights," which the late civil war settled. That fallacious doctrine had not, in fact, their advocacy, though they had been identified with the party
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that was led on by certain leaders who had claimed it as a most material part of their political creed." They promptly de- nounced secession, and admirably sustained the National Gov- ernment in her gigantic efforts to preserve the union of all the States. Their patriotism was then conspicuous, as it had there- tofore been in all the military periods.
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Frederick Marsteller.
FREDERICK MARSTELLER.
BY HENRY S. DOTTERER.
If we would fully understand the social structure of our State, we must study the characters of the individuals who formed the foundation upon which the fabric rests. We must go back to the years of childhood of the future emigrant, note the influences which surrounded him as he grew to manhood, seek to learn the causes which induced him to leave friends and kindred, accompany him to our western world, and observe his manner of life, his patient industry, and strict regard for right in his new home. If we do this we shall find. unerringly, the causes of the greatness and prosperity of our Commonwealth.
The subject of this sketch was one of the large body which came, during the first half century of the Province of Pennsyl- . vania, from the land of the Rhine. He brought with him the Bible and an unswerving faith in the doctrines of the church of Luther. His religious convictions were firmly established. He could neither be moved from them by opposition, nor swayed by the distracting clamors of the almost numberless sects which ran riot in the early days of the Province dedicated to religious toleration. In the place of his birth he became a member of the church, and in his adopted land he became its steady sup- porter. The seeds planted in his heart, under the spiritual in- fluences of the fatherland, bore a ripe fruitage on our western shores.
Friedrich Ludwig Marsteller was born in the duchy of Hesse Darmstadt, on the 11th day of January, 1702. Under the care of Christian parents, he received instructions in school and church. He joined the Christian church at Pfungstadt, a mar- ket town of the district of Starkenberg, five miles south of the city of Darmstadt. He married in 1728, and came with his family, in 1729, to this country, arriving at Philadelphia in the ship Mortonhouse, from Rotterdam, via Cowes, England-the
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vessel having sailed from the latter place on the 21st of June. On the 19th day of August he signed the declaration of alle- giance to the king of Great Britain, fidelity to the Proprietary of Pennsylvania, and obedience to the laws. He journeyed in- land, halting on the banks of Skippack creek, an affluent of Perkiomen creek, in New Providence township, twenty-one miles from Philadelphia.
This neighborhood was occupied by the pioneers a few years after the founding of Pennsylvania. As soon as Germantown was moderately populated, the incoming Germans pushed the frontier further inland, and the valleys of the Skippack and Perkiomen were among the first to feel the effects of the rising . tide of immigration. When Marsteller came he found the clearings of a few German settlers along these creeks, while a number of English had located upon choice sites on the shores of the Schuylkill river near by.
He bought, on the 19th of May, 1730, of David Williams, " of Methacton," sixty-two acres ; soon after, of Richard Jones, forty-nine acres eight perches ; and, on the 7th of December, 1737, sixty-two acres seventy perches. These three tracts ad- joined, and formed the plantation which was his home during the remainder of his life. Here he engaged in the occupations of farming and blacksmithing. He pursued these practical callings with diligence. His sons and daughters grew up under the care of himself and his faithful wife. Prosperity attended his efforts for wordly success.
There was one thing nearer his heart than these: the ad- vancement of the Church of Christ. He saw about him divi- sions and disorders, lack of piety, and need of faithful leaders. The little flock of Lutherans in his vicinity was without a trusty shepherd for many years. So far as lay in his power he supplied the ministrations of the Word to those of his com- munion. His spirit was torn with grief at the contemplation of the desolations of Zion.
Late in the year 1742, he was gladdened by the arrival of help sent by the Fathers in Germany. He was the first to wel- come, in God's name, the Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg to
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Frederick Marsteller.
the great work of organizing the Lutheran church in America. Concerning this greeting. Muhlenberg wrote :
Er war der erste, den ich fand Bey meiner Ankunft in dis Land, Der mich vor Gott willkommen hiess, Und Heilsbegierde spuren liess.
Marsteller was an officer of the congregation, which, though without a church, gathered for worship at Providence-coni- monly known then as now by the name Trappe-twenty-four miles from Philadelphia. As such officer, he was one who signed, on the 25th of December, 1742, a declaration of accept- ance of Rev. Mr. Muhlenberg as pastor of the Providence con- gregation, in connection with those at New Hanover and Phila- delphia. On the 26th of December, the new pastor notes in his diary that he preached at Providence to a large meeting, and adds : " Afterwards rode with Mr. Marsteller over the two creeks and remained with him during the night." Between Muhlen- berg and Marsteller grew up a bond of Christian love sundered only by the hand of death.
Immediately after the accession of Muhlenberg, steps were taken for the building of a church at Providence, and the fol- lowing year (1753) the structure was completed. It was named the Augustus church. Marsteller took an active and heartfelt interest in this important undertaking. On the 10th of March, 1743, the congregation bought two adjoining tracts, one from Thomas How, containing one acre or thereabout, for £1 15s Pennsylvania money ; the other from Harman Indehaven, con- taining one acre eight perches, for the consideration of 5s, " as also other good causes." The title was made in the names of "Nicholas Chrisman and Frederick Marsteller, Church War- dians of the High Dutch Lutherine Congregation, and to their Society and their Successors to and for the sd Congregation to Erect and Build a Church thereon and Burial Place, as the said Wardens and Congregation shall see meet and convenient." On the 27th of April, 1751, another purchase was made of one acre and one perch, by Frederick Marsteller and Jacob Schrack, "In Trust nevertheless, and for Use, Intents, and Purposes of the Church called the Augustus Church, in Providence afore-
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said, belonging to the Lutherian Congregation according to the unaltered Augustan Confession."
The venerable edifice, built of stone, stands to-day (thanks to the reverent and conservative spirit of the succeeding war- dens,) a monument to its projectors and builders. In the Latin inscription on the stone over the main entrance, occurs the name of Frederick Marsteller as one of its founders.
It was the Divine decree, however, that Marsteller should not many years be a co-worker with Muhlenberg in this field. In 1753, at less than fifty-two years of age, he was called to his reward. Muhlenberg felt a profound sorrow at the loss of his friend. In the account of the sad event transmitted in his re- ports to Halle, he gives free expression to his grief, and he eulogizes the character of the departed in these words :
"He came, in the year 1729, with his family to this country, settled in the township of New Providence, and sought by the sweat of his brow to support himself and his. He was blessed by God with children and prosperity, and gradually became a useful instrument for the best interests of those of his faith. During the first years of residence here, owing to a lack of reg- ular German Evangelical teachers, he maintained, according to his understanding, the teachings of God's word and the edify- ing books based thereon, (which he had brought with him, sev- eral of which he had distributed to the scattered believers in the same confession of faith,) in his neighborhood. He had frequent encounters with the sects who were anxious to make converts, but refused to yield. . . . When the congregation was at last supplied with teachers, he cared for the interests of the church as faithfully as for his own. The church and school buildings in New Providence were forwarded not a little by the gifts of his love, together with his care and labor. To him no heat was too great, no cold too severe, no flood too high, no road too rough, when he would do something for the glory of God or the advancement of the church. Regular ministers in his house were treated like brothers. . . . When the minister was obliged to be absent, he supplied religious exercises by read- ing, singing, and prayer, and visited the sick, consoling them from God's word. In keeping the accounts of the church, he
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Frederick Marsteller.
was exceedingly accurate. When quarrels between members of the congregation came under his notice, he counselled peace. He had, on several occasions, opportunities to better his worldly condition in other localities, but he declared he would not ex- change the privilege he had here of partaking of the means of grace, for all the things of time. . . . During the night of 14th and 15th of October, he calmly departed. The loss of a lov- ing father, or of the nearest friend, could not be more affecting to me than the passing away of this worthy man. The oldest and dearest friends one after the other depart, and I must re- main alone in this wilderness of misery."
On the 17th of October he received Christian burial." There
* Frederick Marsteller left a personal estate appraised at £704.4.3, and 172 acres of real estate, valued at £600. His will is a model of prudent provision for his family, and (omitting surplus verbiage) is in these words:
"In the Name of God, Amen. The 5th of October, 1753, Whereas I Frederick Ludwick Marsteller, am now visited by the Almighty by sickness and am weak in Body but of sound and perfect mind and Memory and not knowing whether the Almighty and Gracious God will favor me with a Recovery or take me out of this World I do therefor hereby make this my Present last Will and Testament . . . I recommend my Soul in the faithful hands of my Redeemer and my Body to the Earth to be buried in the burying Yard of Augustus Church which I help'd to Build & Erect . . . 1. I will that my Per- sonal Estate shall after my Decease be appraised by impartial Chris- tian Persons for the purpose to be chosen by my Dear wife Barbara and my two Eldest Sons Henry and Daniel.
2. My Real and personal Estate shall remain together and undivided until my Youngest Son arrives at his full age . . . my two Oldest sons Henry and Daniel shall Carry on the Trade together between them and faithfully improve my Real and personal Estate and also give unto their Mother Barbara out of the same what she requires and necessarily wants for her Sufficient Maintenance and for the fur- ther Education of my Children under age. 3. My Son Frederick shall be at Liberty before he is of age to Learn either the Saddlers Trade or any other honest Trade with this proviso that he shall after- wards without any Consideration & gratis Teach such Trade unto one of his younger Brethren which may chuse it . . . My beloved Wife Barbara shall . . . have . . . free dwelling Room and Lodging in my new built House, and when my youngest Son is arrived at his full age . . . her Thirds according to the Laws of this Province . My said two Eldest Sons . . shall then render an account how they
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were present five ministers of the gospel, several elders of the Lutheran charge, and a multitude of friends and neighbors, both English and German. Rev. Mr. Brunnholtz preached in Ger- man from the words : "The ransomed of the Lord shall return." Isaiah 35: 10; and Rev. Mr. Muhlenberg in English from
have managed the whole estate . . . and whatever the same shall in Value Exceed the first appraisement thereof . . my said two Eldest Sons shall divide between themselves and have the same for their work & Labour they shall be at in improving the sd whole Estate . .. my Eldest Son Henry . . . shall have . . . all my Plantation to- gether with all the Buildings and appces situate in the Township of Providence and give his Mother Barbara afsd free Lodging . . . upon the following Conditions to wit : 1. Shall my beloved Widow have and possess her place and Lodging in my new House and one-Third of the Income of the plantation for her maintenance according to Law and she shall also besides have her own Bed and one Horse and Sadle kept for her use to ride to Church or where it may be necessary . . . 2. The Heir and possessor of my said plantation . . . shall pay to each of his remaining Brethren . . . the Sum of one Hundred pounds Pennsylvania Currency apiece . . . in manner following : 1. As soon as my youngest Son Philip is of age then my Eldest Son is to take my Plantation in possession in fee Simple . . . and in the same year pay in Cash unto his Eldest Brother in Succession namely unto Daniel One Hundred Pounds . . . and so year after year every year success- ively until every one has received his one hundred pounds . . . 2. my personal Estate shall according to the apraisem' made thereof after my Decease be Divided as follows : 1. My Beloved Widow Barbara shall have her third part ; 2. My eldest and first born Son Henry shall have Twenty pounds besides his share ; 3. my youngest Son . . . shall have Ten pounds our Currency . . . besides his Share, because he is of a weakly Constitution ; 4. The sum of Ten pounds shall then be paid . . . to Augustus Church or the lawful Church Wardens of the same for the use of the said Church and School to be expended for the use aforesaid by the Direction of the Wardens aforesaid ; I say for the Augustus Church in Providence afsd of the building whereof I was also a beginer. And . . . the Residue of my personal Estate and also my lots and improvements in Reading town shall be divided in Six equal parts amongst my Six Children. . . . I do hereby Nomi- nate & appoint my two Eldest Sons Henry & Daniel Marsteller to be my only Executors. . . .
.
" FREDRICK L. MARSTELLER.
" Witnesses
STEPHEN BAYWER RUDOLPH BUNNE"
٠٠١٫
Frederick Marsteller. 33
Isaiah xxvi: 20, 21. His remains rest beside the church of his love. The stone which marks his grave bears these words :
Hier ruben die Gebeine des Frederick Ludwig Marstellers, war gebohren Aº 1702 d. 11teu Jan. und ist im Herrn entschlafen Aº 1753 d. 15ten Octor Seines Alters 51 Yahr, 9 Monath, 4 Tage. Psalm 119, v. 105. Dein Wort ist meines fuses Leuchte Und ein Licht auf meinem Wege.
The baptism of the children of Frederick Marsteller is re- corded in the Providence church register, as follows:
· Johann Heinrich, born July 31, 1730; baptized August 31, 1730. Sponsor-Joh. Heinrich Berghofer.
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