USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Historical sketches : a collection of papers prepared for the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1921-1925, Volume VII > Part 11
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In 1733, John Casper Stoever, Jr., took over the pas- torate of the Trappe and Falckner's Swamp congregations. He served the latter, at least, until he was relieved by
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Rev. Henry M. Mühlenberg, in 1742. At the time of Stoever's installation, there had been developed much opposition to him, because of what some of the congregation called his self-constituted preaching. It seems, however, that the force of his personality and activity in building up a strong con- stituency among his religious compatriots in the locality, and his growing reputation as a dominant character in secular as well as in sacred matters, made him master of the situation. (See Bean, 134, 993.)
It is not definitely known what young Stoever did between the time of his arrival in this country, with his father, in 1728, and the event of his ordination and mar- riage, in 1733, but it may be assumed that he was not idle, perhaps assisting in some of the lesser offices of the church, but still continuing his theological studies under his father's guidance, until the latter was called to a church in the Blue Mountain settlements of Virginia. In the intervening years, their installation to their respective charges, it is very evi- dent from the "Record" that it was a busy period for both; settlements in Philadelphia, Chester and Lancaster counties were fast filling up with German and Swiss colonists, among whom they worked, and freely, in the functions of their office. At the time of their arrival there was much unrest in the settlements, due to British and French influences among the Indians.
In the spring of 1728 the Manatawney region was seri- ously disturbed by a band of Indians belonging to the Miami tribe, who, being instigated by the French, endeav- ored to stir up strife between the English and the Five- Nations, and precipitate a war. Forays had been made along the Perkiomen, and the Manatawney country, where groups of Palatines from the province of New York had settled. Several persons are said to have been attacked and injured in New Hanover township, and some at Colebrook- dale. The raids were serious enough to prompt Gov. Patrick Gordon to complain to the Council for severe measures. These troubles lasted until the fall, at which time they had been settled by treaty. It was probably due to this situation in the vicinity of Swamp Creek that the Stoevers went
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down to the Susquehanna borders, where conditions were more peaceful.
About 1732, and for a few years immediately there- after, there was a great migration of settlers from this section of Philadelphia county, when the virgin Northern Neck of Virginia was opened to settlement, which was made possible by the grants bestowed by the Governor and Council of Virginia, first to the Van Meter brothers, and by them assigned to Jost Hite, a former settler from the province of New York, and later of the Perkiomen region, but who was now to become the leader of this remarkable exodus. He was one of the petitioners to the Governor for protection when the inhabitants of Colebrookdale were forced to flee their homes in 1728. After taking over the Virginia land of about 40,000 acres, he succeeded in ob- taining other grants from the government of the colony, until his patents reached over 100,000 acres, all of which was opened to colonization by Hite, under certain condi- tions. So, from 1732 until 1740, the then western part of Philadelphia county was literally drained of its inhabitants, lured South by the most attractive opportunities ever offered to "ground-floor" prospects in a modern real estate "boom."
It may be stated, parenthetically, that Jost Hite owned a large quantity of land along the Perkiomen, and that he operated a mill, and was engaged in other industries, in fact, was an early predecessor in title to the late home of ex-Governor Pennypacker, of Pennypacker Mills, now Schwenksville.
We are told (See Va. Mag. of Biog. XIII. 1906, pp. 1, 113, 281, 351, 374) that there was a colony of Germans at Massanutton, in Spottsylvania county, Virginia, brought there about 1714 to work the mines of Governor Spotts- woode. They were men gathered together in the old coun- try, and sent over by Baron Graffenreid. There has long been an interesting controversy over the origin and date of this remote village among the mountains of the Blue Ridge, but, at any rate, the records of Spottsylvania county, from 1714 to 1730, are very much enlivened by the original
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activities of its early inhabitants. Furthermore, another writer, (See Schuricht's "German Element in Virginia," I. pp. 70, 74, 75, 76) says that the German colony on Robin- son's river, which is a tributary of the Rapidan, and was then in Orange county, Virginia, west of the town of Mad- ison, prospered under the kind government of Governor Spottswoode. The colonists were laborious and pious; in 1735 they founded a congregation, with Rev. John Casper Stoever as parson, who also took charge of the church at Germanna, or, as it was called, Massanutton, which had been supplied by Rev. Gerhard Henckle until his accept- ance of a call to the congregation near Yadkin river, North Carolina. The Rev. Stoever, Sr., himself says in a statement, that the Rev. Henckle spent his first year, 1716, in the church which Stoever was then serving, but that Henckle had later gone northward and settled in the New Hanover section of Pennsylvania. This shows that the Germanna church had existed as far back as claimed for it. (See New Hanover Records, p. 55.)
Before his call to Virginia, in 1735, John Casper Stoever, Sr., had been very active in what is now Berks, Lebanon and Montgomery counties; for many years he was pastor of the church at Lebanon. (See Rupp's "Relig. Denom. in U. S.") And in the "Pennsylvania German" (I. p. 33) we are informed that it was he who established the church at Warwick, in Chester county, in 1730, while at the time pastor at Conestoga; that he preached at the Hill church in Pike township, Lebanon county, in 1731; that the church on the Cocalico, in Lancaster county, was founded by him in 1733, and he was also connected in some such way with the Reid church which was founded near Stouchville, Lebanon county, by a group of settlers from Scoharie, N. Y., an edifice half logs, half castle, for protection against the Indians. (See also Kuhn, p. 163.)
In the course of his ministry he officiated in, if he did not actually found, the Lutheran churches at Oley, Cole- brookdale, Hosensack, Melacthon, Manatawney, Coventry, Chestnut Hill, Moselem, Elizabeth Furnace (the scene of Baron Stiegel's operations), French creek and other places
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where iron industries flourished. Often we find, his records state when he had been at Codorus, South Mountain, Northkill, Monocacy, Quittapahilla, Swatara, Tulpehocken and Conestoga, crossing over the Potomac to Shepherds- town, Opequon, and so on. While the elder Stoever was preaching in Virginia, the son frequently visited him, organ- izing and preaching on the way, back and forth, and thus became a familiar figure along the trails between this pro- vince and the southern colony. While in Virginia, the elder Stoever is credited with having organized congregations through the valley, those of Fredericksburg, Strasburg, Woodstock, little German Lutheran communities which had sprung up in the wake of the early overland trek from Pennsylvania, and which churches, about this period, were considered as "belonging to the Lutheran Synod of Penn- sylvania." (See Schrucht, II, 7.) Stover, Sr., has been highly praised by the inhabitants of the valley as the originator and master of the "first authenticated school for white chil- dren in the old Dominion."
A portion of the Rev. Stoever, Sr.'s, career in Virginia was devoted to the protection of his constituents from the proselyting efforts of Count Zinzendorff, who attempted to convert the former's parishioners to the founding of a Moravian establishment, but the alertness and zeal of Stoever dispelled the attack.
In 1738-9, Rev. John Casper Stoever, Sr., traveled to Germany in order to raise money for building a church, a parsonage with a school room, and a library. In the school, he proposed to teach religious reading, writing and arith- metic. His trip was successful, for he raised funds enough to build a church, and a considerable surplus remained, which was later invested in the purchase of 700 acres of land and a number of slaves. While Stoever was abroad, he met the clergyman who was, eventually, to succeed him, the Rev. Samuel Klug, said (by Wayland, p. 111.) to have been a Moravian minister. They met at Dantzig. After Klug had been called, in 1738, to labor in Virginia as a missionary. Stoever and Klug returned from Europe together, but on the voyage, and near the American shores, Stoever died. His
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will, which is on file in the Register's office in Philadelphia, is an elaborate religious document, and very quaint.
On one of my trips to the Orange county court house in Virginia, some years ago, I came upon an entry in the court journal concerning the elder Stoever. Remembering that there had been a minister of that name in our county in the early days of its settlement, I made a copy of the instru- ment; viz., Rev. Casper Stoever, a son and heir-at-law of John Casper Stoever, deceased, presents Pennsyl- vania a certified copy of his father's will, and prays to be admitted as administrator in Orange county. He is ad- mitted, and Henry Willis and Thomas Wood entered as securities, his mother, the widow Maria Magdalena, re- nouncing all rights under the will in his favor. Signed- James Pollard, Gent. Justice.
A contributor to the New Hanover publication writes that John Casper Stoever, Jr., was twice married, and had issue by both marriages. Rev. John C. Stoever, Jr., the son, says his mother's name was Gertrude, and the above men- tioned contributor says the second wife's name was Maria Magdalena, which I also verify from my record. Stoever's estate was divided among five children-John C., Jr., Eliza- beth, Mary Magdalena and
Bishop Spangenberg, writing in 1748, states that he and Matthew Rentz crossed the Blue Ridge to go to the great forks of the Rappanhannocks; "beyond the mountains there is a prosperous settlement of Germans and English. Here there is a regular organized Lutheran congregation. Its pastor is Rev. Klug, and his predecessor was the father of our well known Stoever." (See History of New Hanover Lutheran Church, p. 840.)
After leaving the Swamp church, about 1742, it appears that the Rev. John Casper Stoever, Jr., became pastor of the Lutheran church at Stouchburg, Lebanon county, or Reith's Church, as it was then called. For the first few years while there, he became the storm centre of a controversy known in Lutheran annals as "the Tulpehocken Confusion," in which he shows his belligerent spirit by attacking the Moravians, who, posing as Lutherans, had become estab-
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lished there, and forcibly assaulted their meeting-houses, and ejected their pastors. These militaristic methods in- curred the displeasure of Mühlenberg, now a superinten- dent of the general Lutheran body, and resulted in keeping Stoever out of "The Ministerium of Pennsylvania." (See Croll's Address.)
Stoever was also charged with being world-wise, specu- lative, sordid and shrewd in secular matters, and it was related of him that he was selfishly interested in the laying out of town lots in Lebanon, and profiting by it; that when he died at Lebanon, May 13, 1779, (See Rupp, Relig. Den. in U. S.) he left three farms and a mill in the vicinity of Lebanon, but that, while living, he had been generous with churches, giving them free lots for their buildings, exacting, however, the payment of a red rose, annually, and as often thereafter as may be required. It is not for us to judge of these matters at this late day. Again, it is said of him that he vigorously opposed Conrad Beissel, the Ephrata leader of the Seventh-Day Baptists, who was proselyting among his communion, and had succeeded in alienating Conrad Weiser and other influential settlers of the neighborhood, before Stoever was able to counteract him.
Stoever's "Records of Baptisms and Marriages" show with what frequency he went back and forth, between his father's charge in Virginia and his own flock at "the Swamp," in Pennsylvania. Often digressing by the way, to call at the numerous settlements where Lutherans lived, so likewise did the father in coming to see the son and his family. Both administered spiritual refreshment to the little flocks which one or the other had much to do in organizing, so, at least, while the father lived, they trav- eled from place to place preaching, marrying and baptiz- ing, and giving religious admonition and comfort to all. At each place the ordinances of the church were per- formed, mostly of baptism, when from one to a dozen per- sons were christened at a family gathering, or at some meeting-place for worship. Among the private families vis- ited, where the rites of the church were performed, were Thomas Cresap's, at Oldtown, Md., Baron Fairfax's, in
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Virginia; and at Opequon, on the South Branch of the Potomac, he baptized nearly all of the children of Jost Hite, and some of his grandchildren, on one occasion.
The "Records" are very confusing in their chronology, as to which of the two Stoevers performed the various functions mentioned. There is no indication otherwise than by the handwriting, which is so similar in character as to be indistinguishable, one from the other. This, of course, applies only to the period before 1739, when the father passed away. I have tried to analyze these records and form some idea of what each actually did in making them up, but was obliged to give it up.
Both the Stoevers, like other men of those days, per- formed an arduous and hazardous duty to civilization when they penetrated the wilderness to where the pioneers had made their clearings in the primeval forest, where they had impounded the waters for their mills, and trapped the furry denizen of the timber and stream. But all were adventurers in an unknown land; they were the forerun- ners of the civilization which was to follow and expand into that wonderful nation which we are proud to call ours. Our subjects were heroes of a faith, and sharers in the common dangers of the times, and perseveringly aroused the dormant religious instincts which had lain in fallow until the coming of these spiritual fathers. Such were the people and their condition when our two missionaries met, taught, encouraged and guided them, and among them founded the temples of peace and light; and of the sturdi- ness of their faith they also fought for that freedom which was founded for them by the genius and liberality of William Penn, who in his wisdom builded better than he knew.
Report of Annalist For 1923*
By CLARA A. BECK
POLITICAL
We have just helped to elect a new Governor for Penn- sylvania, Hon. Gifford Pinchot, at a cost to Montgomery county of $13,265.24 for the primaries. We are told that there are 100,160 registered voters in the county, of which there are 56,173 Republicans; 14,985 Democrats; 447 Socialists, and 136 Prohibitionists.
One of the oldest women voters in the county is Mrs. Elizabeth Lewis, of North Wales, aged 95 years, who cast her first vote for President Harding, and expects to vote for Pinchot. Another elderly voter is Mrs. Elizabeth Rorer, aged 90 years, and a Democrat. It is said that nearly 50 per cent of the women voters of Norristown are independ- ent, politically, and the assessors' lists appear to support the claim.
REAL ESTATE
The Sabloskys have purchased the Sullivan Marble Yard for $65,000; it also includes the Weber paint shop, and the Colonial Auto Supply store at 121 and 123 West Main street. The whole frontage on Main street is 140 feet, with a depth of 250 feet. The purchasers intend build- ing a new theatre with stores on the first floor.
The property of The Norristown Ice Company has been sold to a syndicate in the same business, who intend doubling the output of ice.
*Read before the Society, February 22, 1923.
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The electric light plant of the United Gas Improvement Co. is being established on Barbadoes Island, which it pur- chased from the Reading Railway Co.
Fenton Cloud is building twenty-four dwelling houses at Pine and Freedly streets; other building operations are under way, in both the West end and the East end of Nor- ristown.
Officials of Montgomery Hospital have bought the Rush B. Smith property on Powell street.
It is a notable fact that the Montgomery Fire Company, on its organization in 1847, bought the lot on which its fire- house stands, from Mahlon Bolton, for $800.00 !
The School Board of Norristown is considering the pur- chase of a tract of ground belonging to Major Joseph Knox Fornance, in the West end of town, upon which to erect the proposed High School. The value of Major Fornance's hold- ings is estimated at $313,482.65, reckoned as if sold in building lots. The School Board wants 812 acres of this farm land, and a jury-of-view has set a value of $31,500 on the tract.
The William West property, located near the King-of- Prussia, has been sold to Mrs. Graves, of Strafford, who contemplates remodelling the dwelling, and establishing a school for blind children.
On June 5th the "Norristown Herald" moved into its new quarters on Markley street, a property valued at $150,000.
EDUCATIONAL
Prof. Deitrich has recently been elected Superintendent of the Norristown Schools. He has organized a citizenship class for aliens, to be held at Norristown and at Swedes- burg. Three hundred aliens attended the first meeting, held in the Marshall street school. Prof. Deitrich has also inaug- urated a "measurement class" for teachers, who will study the latest systems for intelligently gauging the mentality of children, and for advancing and grading them according
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to modern standards. The students of the High School were recently subjected to an "observation test"; these tests were made under the auspices of the Erb Chemical Society, and are not new; they were used in some colleges more than a generation ago, but were recently brought into Montgomery County by Prof. Hottenstein, of Conshohocken.
West Norriton township is planning to erect a school building for the first- and second-year High School classes.
The new school buildings at Oaks, Pa., cost $34,000. The bronze tablet containing the names of the members of the School Board, the contractor, etc., was furnished by the Oaks Improvement Company.
The Directors Association of this county has appointed the historian, Howard W. Kriebel, of Pennsburg, to write a History of Montgomery County to be used as a text-book in the schools. Mr. Kriebel is well qualified for the work, as for a number of years he was editor of the Pennsylvania German Magazine, and as a member of the Schwenkfelder Church he was sent abroad, a few years ago, to make his- torical research for the Board of Publication of that Society. He is at present connected with the Schwenkfelder His- torical Library at Pennsburg. He will be assisted in the preparation of the proposed book by Prof. Landis, the County Superintendent; Richard Hamilton, of Lower Merion; Howard Erving, of Cheltenham; Samuel Yeakle, of Whitemarsh; Isaiah Stover, of Harleysville; Rev. T. R. Brendle, of Green Lane; Rev. William U. Kistler, of Penns- burg; Rev. George W. Lutz, of Pennsburg; Charles Mann, of Horsham; Rev. Nelson Schmidt, of Schwenksville, and Miss Clara A. Beck, of Norristown.
Montgomery County in the Campaign of 1777-78*
By W. H. RICHARDSON
The story of the campaign of 1777, with the board set and the game on, could properly start with Howe's disem- barked army marching through Elkton, Maryland, on August 27th. His 17,000 men had landed the day before at Oldfield's Point; almost immediately a proclamation was issued by the British commander-in-chief, offering pardon and protection to all who would surrender to his authority, and assuring the inhabitants that order and discipline would be preserved. Near the edge of Elkton is a building, then a hotel, that must have done a brisk business, that stormy, sticky August day, refreshing the ship-weary invaders. This house has a further interest in that, on November 8, 1798, President Washington stopped there for dinner, while on his way to the capital, Philadelphia; and again, on Decem- ber 15th of the same year, he dined and lodged there. Mon- tresor notes in his diary that the soldiers were not in the best of shape, and that the heavy storm of the night had damaged a lot of their ammunition.
A fine old doorway to a brick building, just beyond, gives a rather suggestive hint as to the opulence of some of the citizens, as well as to the skill of colonial builders. A Mr. Galloway, who had acted as guide for the British through the country, paid a fine tribute to their patriotism before the House of Commons, in 1779, when he was trying to explain "how it happened" to the Commander of His Majesty's forces in the fateful and fruitless campaign of 1777. "To begin with, General Howe happened to land his
*Read before the Society, April 7, 1923.
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troops in a part of the country more disaffected than any part I know. I mean Cecil county, Maryland. At and about the head of the Elk, a number of persons did desert their houses, and carry off their effects, but not all"-those who didn't, doubtless had their oversight properly corrected by General Howe's foragers.
An old house a little farther up in the town is the Com- missary Hollingsworth place, a beautifully preserved speci- men of colonial architecture, with pent-eaves, hand-cut mouldings and cornices, keystoned lintels, and all that. Past this the British drifted, and then proceeded on into Dela- ware by two roads, with the object of later reuniting the divisions, and spreading out into camp on the high ground from Aitkins Tavern (now Glasgow) to Newark, about five miles east of Elkton. It is said that Washington and Gen- erals Greene, Weedon and LaFayette were in or near Elkton on the 26th, reconnoitering, and that they spent that night in a farm house two miles from Elkton, altho' the British scouts were active, and the risk of capture was very great.
A division of the British under Lord Cornwallis had ad- vanced as far as Iron Hill, in Delaware, and encamped on the high ground which lies back of the Cooch residence, and which slopes gently down to the Christiana creek, and it was from this point that the red-coats swept forward into the first real collision of the campaign, on Septem- ber 3d. Their cannon, planted on this hill, did really serious damage to the party of Americans opposing them, who, having no such arm, were compelled to retire under pres- sure of a largely outnumbering foe. Washington wrote to the President of Congress on September 7th, that since Howe had disembarked, on the 25th of August, he had moved about 7 miles, and that then the main body was encamped at Iron Hill, and that the two armies were from 8 to 10 miles apart.
An intended movement of Howe having been discov- ered, it was decided on the part of the Americans to organize a "light advance corps." It was placed under com- mand of General Maxwell, with instructions to be "con- stantly near the enemy and give them every possible an-
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noyance," and on this historic morning of September 3d, they opened the ball at what has been described as "an advantageous part of the road." (Stedman, the English historian of the "Origin, Progress and Termination of the American War," the champion of Cornwallis and the par- ticular knocker of Howe, disposes of this first engagement in seven words, telling of "dispersing the advanced guards of the enemy.") Captain John Montresor, Howe's chief of engineers, counted only three dead and twenty wounded among the British at that time, notwithstanding the fact that some expert riflemen drew the beads on conspicuous targets.
Of course, one of the chief qualifications of the military news reporter in those times was a fine capacity for satir- izing the work done by the other side. An ancient citizen of Delaware posed for me some years ago, holding what he called his father's "splantoon" that was carried in the war at that time. It is not a neat weapon, being a sort of spear- knife affixed to a stout pole, and if the user of it got in the first cut with it, in a personal encounter, the victim would not make a very handsome corpse. But the "splantoon" and the farmer who used it were easy marks for the military diarists from across the pond.
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