USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Historical sketches : a collection of papers prepared for the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 20
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Nicholas Scull, an early Englishman, was Surveyor Gen- eral of the colony for thirteen years, from 1748 till his death in 1761. He had his residence in this county, and he and his wife were interred in the family burial ground, scarcely more than a stone's cast from the Camp Hill railroad station. He was followed in office by John Lukens, of Horsham town- ship, who appears to have continued in office for twenty-eight years.
David Rittenhouse was State Treasurer for eighteen years, from 1777 to 1795.
Of Speakers of the State Senate, Charles H. Stinson oc- cupied the position from 1870 to 1876.
Peter F. Rothermel, the painter, who produced the great picture of the battle of Gettysburg, purchased by the State of Pennsylvania, has long resided in Limerick.
In this county were spent many of the laborious years of that distinguished divine, Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. D. D., who is called the " Patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America." He died and was buried at the Trappe in 1787.
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His three sons were all born in this county, partly educated in Germany, and entered the ministry. Peter served as gen- eral in the army of the Revolution, was subsequently vice president of Pennsylvania, and made a member of the first, third and sixth congress, as also a senator of the United States. Frederick Augustus, having ministered in various parishes, was four sessions in congress, and was made the first Speaker of the House. Henry E., D. D., became well known in the pulpit in Philadelphia and Lancaster, and as a botanist and scientific author. All were eminent in the trying times for their patriotism. Both father and the youngest son were ready as authors.
But a halt must be made here. It becomes evident that to proceed much farther in this line would extend these pages far too greatly for the occasion. Scores of deserving names could be added, a pleasure that must be foregone.
It will suffice to state that among eminent persons who once had their homes, for years or for life, in Montgomery, are David Rittenhouse, the remarkable, self-taught astrono- mer, whose fame is world-wide; John James Audubon, the distinguished ornithologist and naturalist; Michael Hillegas, a German, who served as treasurer of the government in the colonial and Revolutionary period. The medical and legal professions have been favored with numerous prominent names.
In the history of the county, by Col. Bean, the depart- ment of bibliography presents considerably upwards of one hundred names of writers. On examination it will be seen that the publications of the county's writers pertain to a great circle of subjects-theological and religious, medical, legal, historical, biographical, political, educational, scientific, liter- ary, poetical, etc., etc.
It will yet be in place, as a suitable closing, to mention the volumes its authors have published with reference to the county itself.
William J. Buck issued "A History of Montgomery County " in 1859.
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Moses Auge prepared a volume of " Men of Montgomery County" in 1879 and 1887.
Prof. J. K. Harley issued a small book with the title of "A History and Geography of Montgomery County," 1883 and 1891.
Col. Theodore W. Bean, Esq., prepared a large volume of "History of Montgomery County." It was published in 1884, the county's centennial year, which event was celebrated with great interest.
CHRIST (SWEDES') CHURCH, UPPER MERION.
By Rev. A. A. Marple, Rector.
As I undertake the work of writing a historical sketch of this old Swedes' church, I am reminded by an article lying before me of the remark attributed to Horace Walpole, "As for history I know that's a lie." The article appeared in a widely circulated journal, and I will reproduce some of its statements as a lively introduction to a series of facts which I am asked to present.
" When the Crown Prince of Sweden was in Philadelphia, in 1876, during the Centennial Exhibition, he expressed a strong wish to visit an old Swedish church in a neighboring village. This church, with others in Pennsylvania, was built two centuries ago by the eccentric Queen Christina." * "It was arranged that the Prince and his suite should visit them on a certain Wednesday in July"; that "a state banquet was to be laid in the Town Hall." And then it is stated that the Prince mistook the date and came on the Wednesday "previous to the one on which he was bidden "; that the " old pastor," when he received a telegram announcing that the Prince was on his way to the place, " called the villagers to- gether and said, open the church and gather there the old and young, grandsire and children"; and that the Prince, after he had listened to the pastor's words of greeting, all the more heartfelt because unstudied, "saw the people in their every- day clothes," "visited their houses," and "each woman brought out some simple fare and begged him to taste it."
There is scarcely one correct statement in this whole account. The visit here referred to was made on Sunday, July 2, 1876, not by the Crown Prince, but by Prince Oscar, the second son of the king. He did not see the people in their every day clothes, for he came on a Sunday. The statements that the "old pastor" (the Rev. Octavius Perinchief) "called the villagers together and bade them open the church," as if
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OLD SWEDES' CHURCH, UPPER MERION.
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that were the only resource, and that afterwards, "as the Prince passed from house to house, each woman brought out some simple food, which she begged him to taste," are not only incorrect, but are ludicrously untrue. The services of the church would have been held by the faithful and distin- guished rector of the parish with or without visitors. Fur- thermore, Prince Oscar and his suite, consisting of about a hundred persons, were generously entertained at the hospit- able mansion of Mr. William B. Rambo, a vestryman of the parish.
The assertion that "this church (with others in Pennsyl- vania) was built two centuries ago by the eccentric Queen Christina," is exceedingly wild. Christina abdicated her throne in 1654 (more than a hundred years before this church was built), and thenceforth she was as faithless to her country as to the religion in which she had been trained. Christina was "eccentric," and something more than that, but her eccen- tricities did not take the form of building churches generations after her death, and for a people and a religious faith scorn- fully renounced by her.
The Swedes first came to the country bordering on the Delaware, or, as it was then called, the South river, when Christina was a child of twelve years. The date of the arrival of the first Swedish colonists is variously given. Acrelius adopts the year 1638 as marking their arrival under Peter Menewe (or Minuit), a Hollander in the Swedish service. In 1643 and in 1655 other ships of war and other adventurous Scandinavians came and laid the foundations for a state or commonwealth known as New Sweden. The era was propi- tious; the spirit of colonization animated the nations; and the region selected was one of the most favorable in North Amer- ica. But there were great hindrances. In 1658 the fiery Governor Stuyvesant, of New Amsterdam, made angry by warlike demonstrations on the part of the Swedes, attacked their forts with a superior force and compelled them to sur- render. But the victory was profitless to the conqueror, for, in 1674, a stronger than he came in the person of the Duke of
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York at the head of a British fleet, and then the disputed ter- ritory on the North or Hudson river, as well as that on the South or Delaware river, acknowledged the sovereignty of Great Britain. Thus was the way prepared for William Penn, who came in 1682 and founded the great commonwealth that bears his name. The Swedes were pioneers. They preceded Penn by nearly half a century. They opened the forest, tilled the land, conciliated the Indians, and maintained the form and spirit of an organized Christian community. Shortly after the coming of Penn, the Swedes formed a community of one hun- dred and thirty-nine families, embracing nine hundred and thirty-nine individuals-peaceful, hardy and industrious. Nine hundred of the nine hundred and thirty-nine were Americans by birth. William Penn found them in possession of the best lands on the Delaware, and even of the site upon which he proposed to found the city of Philadelphia. His title was su- perior to theirs. They held their lands by purchase from the Indians and by long years of occupation. He held the great region known as Pennsylvania by grant from the king of England, whose sovereignty was not disputed by any ade - quate military force.
It was due in part to troubles about land titles that the Swedes, using the Schuylkill as a highway, ascended the river and purchased, under favorable terms, unoccupied land in our own fertile and attractive region. As I write, there lies before me a carefully executed deed bearing the date of 1708, cover- ing property in this immediate neighborhood. There is his- torical authority for the statement that the Rev. Andrew San- del, the second rector of the Wicaco church, officiated some- time during his sojourn in America (1702-1719), at " Matt- zong," a name which is comprehensive enough to include the section known amongst us as "Swedeland." Furthermore, we learn from Acrelius (p. 284) that the Rev. Samuel Hes- selius, who came to America in 1719 (not 1729 as erroneously printed in Clay's Annals), and remained until 1731, "was con- tent to serve the Swedes in Manathanim upon a small salary,
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and to add somewhat to it, also performed service for those in Mattzong."
It was during the time of the Rev. Mr. Hesselius that, at a religious service held by him at the house of Gunnar Rambo, the people present were urged to build a school house to pro- mote the instruction of their children. The appeal of the clergyman was effectual, and a stone school house was built upon a part of our church lot, and stood there for about a century. Within that primitive structure, which doubtless served also as a place of religious worship, was heard not only the voice of the Rev. Charles Magnus Wrangel (who came from Sweden in 1759), but also of his predecessors in Gloria Dei Church at Wicaco, viz .: Olof Parlin, Gabriel Nesmin, John Dylander, and possibly others of the clergy of the widely ex- tended parish.
Whilst it is certain that the ground not far from the old
. stone school house which we think of in connection with the name of the Rev. Samuel Hesselius was used as a place of burial as early as 1744, it does not appear that a title to the land was actually given until May 7, 1758. At that time a deed was executed by Ezekiel Rambo and wife to Mounce Rambo, Andrew Holstein, Peter Rambo and George Rambo, trustees. It is not improbable that the land thus deeded was an addition to a plot previously secured, and also hallowed by the burial of the remains of dear ones who had departed this life in Christian trust and hope.
The legal steps thus taken in 1758 indicate preparation on the part of the Swedish settlers for an advance in church work. In 1759, Dr. Wrangel, the most eminent of the Swedish ministers sent to America, arrived, and in 1760, under his guidance, this building, known as Christ Church, Upper Mer- ion, was erected, not from contributions received from beyond the Atlantic, but by the gifts and toil of the local congregation. In Dr. Clay's Annals of the Swedes, the year 1763 is given as the date of the erection of our church, but a stone tablet on the outside wall of the north transept gives 1760 as the true date. This authority is accepted throughout the parish. Six-
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teen years before the "Declaration of Independence" this church was built upon the banks of the Schuylkill, less than a mile below Swedes' Ford, where the patriot army, after the disastrous battle of Germantown, crossed the river on the way to .Valley Forge.
The name of Dr. Wrangel is justly cherished in the Swedish churches of Pennsylvania. His distinguished con- temporary, Dr. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, speaks of him in glowing terms. The Swedish Provost was not less zealous than devout, and not less efficient than learned and accom- plished. After he had served nine years in America, he re- turned to his native land, and was honored with an appoint- ment as "First Court Preacher." He was not made a bishop, as has sometimes been stated, but died as the pastor of Sala, in Sweden.
We have spoken of the erection of our venerable church. It cannot be amiss to trace the changes it has undergone and to mention the additions made to the property of the parish. That which is now the nave or body of the church, up to the line of the transepts or wings, is the portion that was built in 1760. For nearly eighty years it was unchanged. In 1837 the form of the church was changed and its capacity enlarged by the construction of the tower and transepts. The entrance door was not, at the first, at the eastern end as now, but on the side towards the Schuylkill. And another feature was a capacious gallery, which extended far out into the body of the church. But the additions made harmonized with the quaint and ancient character of the church of 1760. The enlarged structure was consecrated by Bishop Henry U. Onderdonk, February 1, 1848, the Rev. William N. Diehl being the assist- ant minister in special charge. In 1847 and 1848, during the incumbency of the Rev. Edwin Lightner, the first rector of this church, as an independent organization, the spacious and comfortable rectory on Church lane was erected. In 1857, during the rectorate of the Rev. Dr. Reese, the far-reaching gallery at the east end of the church was removed, and an organ gallery was built in the south transept. A change was
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also made in the chancel. In 1861, the Rev. Dr. Yocom, rector, stained glass windows were put in, a gallery for the Sunday-school children was erected in the north transept, a new vestry-room built, and the chancel enlarged. And in ,1863, under the same rector, the Sunday-school rooms were built on the spacious lot near the church. But it must not be supposed that the Sunday school was then first organized. That took place, as I have been informed by Miss Rebecca Lane, in June, 1833, and the old stone school-house, in the lower part of the church lot, was made use of by teachers and scholars to give and to receive religious instruction.
For various reasons no marked improvements were made upon the church or upon the Sunday-school building from 1863 to 1883, a period of twenty years. At the expiration of that time the vestry took the matter in hand. Liberal sub- scriptions were made in the parish, generous donations came in from friends around us, and the result was an enlargement of the Sunday-school building, the reconstruction of the upper part of the tower, the purchase of a pipe organ, and the gen- eral improvement of the church, within and without. The building had been so much changed that we could not under- take the work of restoring it to its ancient form or style.
At several times in the history of our church the money spent upon improvements and enlargements has exceeded, by a considerable amount, the cost of the original structure.
In giving a sketch of Christ (Swedes') Church we must not look merely at the material structure. Our church or congregation did not, at the beginning of its career, stand alone as an independent organization. It was one of three distinct churches which were incorporated in 1765 "by the name of the Rector, Church-wardens and Vestrymen of the United Swedish-Lutheran churches of Wicaco, Kingsessing and Upper Merion, in the county of Philadelphia, in the pro- vince of Pennsylvania." This charter of incorporation pro- ceeded from "Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, true and abso- lute proprietaries of the province of Pennsylvania," and was signed by "John Penn, Esq., Lieutenant Governor." "After
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the great political change that resulted from the war for inde- pendence, it was thought wise to secure from the Legislature of our State an "Act to confirm and amend the charter of in- corporation of the United Swedish-Lutheran churches of Wicaco, Kingsessing and Upper Merion, called Gloria Dei, St. James and Christ Church." This act to "amend and con- firm" the charter of 1765 was adopted by the General As- sembly September 10, 1787. Among other things it provided that, as "the Swedish language was almost extinct, and in consequence thereof the mission from Sweden may probably cease to be continued," in that emergency or crisis the three congregations, together with the church wardens and vestry- men, should establish rules for the choice of a rector and other ministers; "provided always, that such rector and other min- isters shall be in the ministry of the Lutheran or Episcopal churches, and hold their faith in the doctrine of the same." Forty-four years after the passage of that act through the Legislature, Dr. Nicholas Collin died, having been the rector of the "three united churches" for the period of forty-five years. "The congregations convened at Wicaco on Monday the fourteenth day of November, 1831, agreeably to public notice," and adopted rules according to which the "vacancy" in the rectorship should be "supplied." On the fifth of De- cember, 1831, the congregations met in their respective churches, and by a vote nearly unanimous chose as their rector the Rev. Dr. Jehu Curtis Clay, an honored clergyman of the Episcopal church. Of the votes cast, sixteen at Wicaco, thirty-seven at Kingsessing, and twenty-nine at Upper Merion, . he received all, with a single exception at Kingsessing. The transition from the rectorate of a Swedish clergyman to the rectorate of a clergyman of the American Episcopal Church was made under legal forms which were not suddenly devised to meet a crisis but which had been publicly and prudently provided nearly half a century before.
Another step forward, taken by the corporation which was made up of three churches, is now to be noted. Not a little inconvenience was found in administering the affairs of a
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corporation composed of three congregations so widely re- moved and so differently constituted as were those of Wicaco, Kingsessing and Upper Merion. The advice of that sound and great lawyer, Horace Binney, having been sought, application was made to the Legislature of Pennsylvania for an "act" per- mitting the dissolution of the corporate bonds by which the three churches had been held together. Such an act was adopted May 4, 1841, in accordance with which each church became, in due time, a separate and independent parish, with its own rector and vestry, and an equitable division of church property was made.
It was on February 25, 1842, that our congregation obtained a charter of incorporation from the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, under which their name or title is as follows: "The Church Wardens and Vestrymen of the Swedish Lutheran Congregation of Christ Church, Upper Merion.". The persons named as vestrymen in this charter (presented to the court in 1841, and granted early in the fol- lowing year) are as follows : Andrew Shainline, J. C. Rambo, Benjamin B. Hughes, William H. Holstein, Robert T. Potts, Nathan Rambo, Davis Henderson, Roberts Rambo, Joseph Crawford.
The first election of vestrymen under the charter of 1842 was held in Christ Church, Upper Merion, May 6, 1843, and the last election of vestrymen at Gloria Dei Church, partici- pated in by the voters of the" three united churches," was held at Wicaco, May 9, 1842. Our proportionate representa- tion in that vestry of twenty persons was four, and our share in the distribution of the church property was five-eighteenths. The property remains, but the four then elected at Wicaco in 1842 have all departed this life. Two of them, Benjamin B. Hughes and William H. Holstein, lived to venerable age, and only recently died, after continued service on the part of each one for more than half a century. It is worthy of note that three persons, contemporaries for nearly the whole of the period, have served in our vestry for fifty years and over. Dr. George W. Holstein, who was elected in 1844, two years later than his
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brother William, his senior in age, still lives and discharges the duties of his two offices, warden and secretary, with marked interest and intelligence. Benjamin B. Hughes became a ves- tryman in 1834.
The fact is too important not to be emphasized that Christ Church, Upper Merion, has enjoyed for more than a century the continued services and ministrations of Protestant Epis- copal clergymen. This was in accordance with the deliberate plan of Dr. Collin, early formed and never abandoned by him. In the appendix to Dr. Clay's Annals of the Swedes, the names of eight clergymen of the Episcopal church are given, who were appointed from 1787 to 1831, to serve as assistants to Dr. Collin in his broad field of labor. The first of these was the Rev. Joseph Clarkson, who officiated until 1792. The sec- ond was the Rev. Slator Clay, who, having allied himself with prominent families in the parish, received his appointment as assistant in 1792, and continued to exercise his ministry in Christ Church for nearly thirty years.
The Rev. Slator Clay is worthy of special notice, because of his intimate relations with some of our oldest families, and chiefly for the fact that for thirty-four years he labored man- fully in our church and in neighboring parishes as the devoted representative of the Episcopal church. He was born in New- castle, Delaware, October 1, 1754. He made choice of the law as his profession, and was admitted to the bar about 1779. In his 25th year, seeking adventure, or gain, or health, he set sail with a friend for the West Indies. A British cruiser cap- tured their vessel and put him ashore at Antigua. At a favor- able opportunity he took passage for New York. But new difficulties were encountered. The sailors mutinied, the vessel itself was seized by an American privateer, and after a severe storm was wrecked on the island of Bermuda. Here the young voyager found occupation as a teacher for six years. His thoughts having been turned towards the sacred ministry he determined to return to America and continue the study of theology. In December, 1786, he was married by the Rev. Dr. Collin to Mrs. Hannah Holstein Hughes, the widow of
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Col. Isaac Hughes. Mrs. Hughes was then living at the "Poplar Lane" farm, near Gulf Mills. One year afterwards Mr. Clay was ordained deacon by Bishop White, and on Feb- ruary 17, 1788, he was advanced by the same bishop to the priesthood. He soon became the rector of three churches, viz .: St. James, Perkiomen ; St. Peter's, Great Valley ; and St. David's, Radnor; and in 1792 was appointed an assistant min- ister of the three united Swedish churches, with special duties at Christ Church, Upper Merion. He lived near the " Gulf" until 1790, when he moved to Perkiomen (Lower Providence), where there was a rectory with a glebe of twenty or thirty acres. He exercised his ministry over a wide region, and accustomed as he had been to the services of the church as conducted in an essentially English community, he was the better qualified to interpret the mind of the church to his parishoners. After a laborious ministry of thirty-four years he died, lamented and honored. His brother, the Rev. Rob- ert Clay, was his contemporary in the sacred ministry, having charge of the church in Newcastle, Delaware.
Soon after the death of the Rev. Slator Clay, his son, the Rev. Jehu Curtis Clay, who had served as an assistant to Dr. Collin from 1813 to 1814, was again appointed to the same position with special duties in the Upper Merion church. From 1822 to 1831 Dr. J. C. Clay was rector of St. John's Church, Norristown, and of St. James', Kingsessing, and as- sistant minister in the Swedish churches. . In the year last mentioned, on the death of Dr. Collin, he was, in accordance with the pronounced and universal sentiment of the churches, promptly elected to fill the vacant rectorate. In the earlier part of his administration of the parish these five clergymen, the Rev. Raymond A. Henderson, the Rev. John Reynolds, the Rev. Samuel Brinckle, the Rev. Wm. N. Diehl, and the Rev. Nathan Stem, all maintained a connection more or less intimate with at least one of the Swedish churches. Mr. Diehl officiated in Christ Church from 1836 to 1840, and Mr. Stem (whilst rector of St. John's, Norristown), conducted services in the same church from 1840 to 1844, officiating not less than
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