USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Historical sketches : a collection of papers prepared for the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 21
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three Sundays every month. Dr. Stem's services were valu- able to our parish in its transition period, when about to as- sume an independent parochial existence.
The list of the six clergymen called by the vestry of Christ Church to the rectorate is as follows :*
I. The Rev. Edwin N. Lightner, 1844 to 1855.
2. The Rev. William Henry Rees, D. D., 1855 to 1861.
3. The Rev. Thomas S. Yocom, D. D., 1861 to 1870.
4. The Rev. Octavius Perinchief, 1870 to 1873.
5. The Rev. Edward A. Warriner, 1873 to 1875.
6. The Rev. Octavius Perinchief, 1876 to 1877.
7. The Rev. A. Augustus Marple, 1877, and is now in charge at the close of the year 1894.
Thus it is plain that for a period of more than a hundred years (1792 to 1894) Christ Church, Upper Merion, has en- joyed the continued services of the clergy of the Episcopal church. The two Clays, father and son, bridged over the long period of fifty years, from 1792 to the year 1842, when our church became a separate and distinct parish, enjoying the power of self government.
We do not forget Dr. Collin. He died sixty-three years ago, in 1831, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. For some time before his death his ministrations could not have been frequent in a part of his parish not less than eighteen miles from his place of residence. Of necessity the chief work at Upper Merion for fifteen or twenty years before his death must have been done by others; 1. e., by clergymen of the Episcopal church. There can be no doubt as to the feeling and purpose of this venerable man. Dr. Clay says of him (Annals, page 141, second edition): "He constantly, during his ministry, used the prayer book of the Episcopal church." "The church at Christina (Wilmington) became connected
*Three of the number, Messrs. Lightner, Rees and Perinchief, have gone to the rest of Paradise. Dr. Yocom is rector of St. Andrew's Church, Richmond, Staten Island, and Mr. Warriner of St. Paul's, Montrose, Pennsylvania. The names of all these ministers are cherished in the parish as those of " godly and well-learned men," who honored Christ and labored for the flock committed to their charge. Mr. Perinchief died at the end of one year's service, when holding the rectorship of the parish for the second time. His body was interred in the church yard not far from the east door of the church, and a granite monument erected by the congregation attests the honor in which he is held.
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with the same church as early as 1790," and there cannot be a doubt that Dr. Collin used his influence to secure the same result in respect to other Swedish churches on the Delaware and Schuylkill. The charter of 1765 could not have been amended as it was in 1787 but with his approval, and that amendment was made for the very purpose of putting the "three united churches" under the charge and direction of clergymen of the Episcopal church. That was the intention and that also was the result. Dr. Collin recognized the fact that at the time of the Reformation Sweden did not break with the past as Germany did, but as the Church of England had not done. There was reformation in doctrine, but there was not a revolution involving a complete change in matters of organization, dress, ritual, and such matters as do not subvert the "faith." The church of Sweden is Lutheran in respect to doctrine, but it is Episcopal as to its form of church govern- ment. In the year 1528 Bishop Peter Magnus, an eminent church official in Sweden, who had himself received consecra- tion as a bishop in the city of Rome, repaired to Sweden and there ordained or consecrated other bishops without, indeed, the sanction of the Pope, but in accordance with the wishes and plans of the civil authority. The ministerial organization of the past, or, according to a phrase much used in our day, the Historic Episcopate was thus maintained and perpetuated. The Swedish Lutheran church has never been without the Episcopate,* whilst the German Lutheran church never had it, and in the person of Luther rejected or declined it, when it was in his power to get it. The Church of Sweden and the Church of England are not without sympathetic bonds. An · archbishop of York became, in the tenth or eleventh century, an apostle of the Christian faith in Sweden. And expression of kindly sentiment was for many years publicly given by the most venerable of English missionary societies, viz., that for the propagation of the gospel, as it bestowed upon every Swedish clergyman, on his final return from America to Sweden, a
* Rer. Dr. Nicholson, an Anglican chaplain in Sweden, has written in de- fense. of Swedish orders. See also Church Review October, ISSI, and July, ISS2.
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gratuity of £30 sterling, in recognition of the Christian service rendered by him. (Acrelius, pages 363 and 282.)
That worship is conducted in Christ Church, Upper Mer- ion, according to the Book of Common Prayer, is nothing new in its history. We are simply keeping in the path upon which our predecessors walked a century ago. The only strange thing in our history-strange as compared with the action of other Swedish churches around Philadelphia-is that we have not entered into union with the Diocesan Convention or Council. That, however, admits of explanation. More than forty years ago the peace of the parish was disturbed by a contention before the courts that our church should not be permitted to enjoy the ministrations of Episcopal clergymen, as it had done since the latter part of the eighteenth century. Dr. Clay says that the contestants were "a few disaffected persons who had little more than a nominal connection with the congregation." At all events a decision made by Judge Smyser in 1853 gave to the vestry of the parish undisputed exercise of their rights and privileges as indicated in their charter, and in the "act" of the Legislature of 1787. This is the only attempt, so far as the writer knows, to disturb any of the early Swedish churches in the exercise of their powers or the enjoyment of their possessions.
We began this historical sketch by a reference to the visit made in July, 1876, by Prince Oscar and attendants. We shall make an ending by a brief account of a pleasant incident which was one of the results of that visit. On Sun- day, June 28, 1885, the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniver- sary of the church, there was presented to Christ (Swedes') Church, through the Swedish Consul for Philadelphia, by per- sons participating in the visit made nine years before, a beauti- ful baptismal font made of Swedish polished granite. The presentation took place after the usual religious exercises. Morning prayer was said by the rector, assisted by the Rev. Wm. L. Bull, who also made an address. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Charles A. Maison, rector of St. James', Kingsessing. Dr. George W. Holstein, secretary of
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the vestry, then read an explanatory letter from Mr. Julian Daanfeldt, who had been a Swedish commissioner at the Cen- tennial Exhibition, and was, at the time of writing, Consul General of Sweden at Helsingfors, in Finland. And then the presentation of the baptismal font on behalf of the donors (of whom Mr. Daanfeldt had been one of the most deeply inter- ested) was happily made by Mr. Lars Westergaard, Swedish Consul at Philadelphia. On behalf of the vestry and congre- gation the rector, the Rev. A. A. Marple, gratefully and heart- ily accepted the gift, beautiful in itself, and appropriate as a stone of remembrance. In speaking of the Scandinavian peo- ple represented by the generous donors, the rector referred to the great service rendered by Gustavus Vasa, under whom the conservative work of a religious reformation in Sweden was carried on at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and to the military genius of Gustavus Adolphus, who carried the victorious standards, not just of Sweden, but of religious liberty far down into the heart of Europe. Referring to the period of Swedish church history in Pennsylvania, Mr. M. spoke of the Swedish traveler and botanist, Peter Kalm, who, through his own name, has allied Sweden with America; for that name is associated with one of the noblest of our flowering plants, the laurel, which every student of botany knows as the Kal- mia. And speaking of the Scandinavian nations of our own day the speaker concluded as follows: "These nations have achieved world-wide fame through the delightful writings of Frederica Bremer, the charming stories of Hans Christian Andersen, the thrilling notes of Jenny Lind, the marvel- ous songstress of the north, and the profound treatises of theologians, whose names are less familiar to the people than to the scholar. Whilst with honorable pride we touch upon fascinating points of Scandinavian history, this font calls us to the reflection that in and through the sacrament of baptism. they in Sweden and we in America are 'knit together in one
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communion and fellowship in the mystical body of Christ the Lord.'"
NOTE .- Since this historical sketch was printed, the writer has had the opportunity of reading the "opinion" of Judge Smyser in refusing to grant the injunction, prayed for by cer- tain contestants against "church members and vestrymen" of Christ Church. The "opinion," which is learned and exhaust- ive, enters into quite a full discussion of various historical, theological and legal questions. Judge Krause had refused to grant an injunction at the petition of the same contestants a few years before, to wit, October, 1847. After the decision rendered by Judge Smyser in August, 1853, litigation ceased, and peace prevailed throughout the parish. Whilst two of the "three united churches," viz., Gloria Dei, Wicaco, and St. James', Kingsessing, have entered into union with the Diocese of Pennsylvania, and are represented in its annual council, our own church maintains an independent existence. The names of our vestry who were elected in May, 1894, are as follows: William H Holstein, First Warden; Dr. George W. Holstein, Second Warden; Benjamin Thomas, Treasurer; William B. Rambo, R. S. T. Hallowell, George W. Gehret, John J. Hughes, Reese P. Davis, Thomas J. Rambo.
ERRATA .- On page 244, instead of February 1, 1848, read February 1, 1838. On page 249, instead of St. James', Kingsessing, read St. James', Perkiomen.
NORRITON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 255
AND COLLATERAL GLEANINGS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.
By Rev. Charles Collins,
Formerly minister of the Second Presbyterian Church, Norristown, Pa., 1861-'63, and later pastor of the Centennial Church, Jeffersonville, Pa., for nearly twenty years-1866-'85.
" Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. That the generations to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children."-Psalm Ixxviii, 3-6.
Situated on the old Manatawny road; since A. D. ISoo, known as the Germantown and Perkiomen turnpike ; five miles north of Norristown, one-third of a mile south of Fairview village, between the nineteenth and twentieth mile- stones, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.
History in any of its phases, to the ordinary mind, is al- ways entertaining; and history pertaining to one's country or ancestry is always deeply interesting; while history of a gen- eral character, whether compiled from actual facts or tradi- tional, yet being the result of patient research, when carefully studied, is always exceedingly valuable, thought-stimulating and educational.
· A natural desire rules largely among intelligent persons to discover if possible something of their antecedents; hence, of late years, the effort is noticeable and commendable, care- fully to collect all genealogical facts, and to encourage also, annual family gatherings.
The writer, while a school boy, became interested in the history of the old Norriton Presbyterian Church. In the providence of God, when scarcely twelve years of age, he be- gan to spend the summer months, residing adjacent to this old building, and being naturally fond of the antiquated, took hold with interest to inquire into the history of the past. Although born in Philadelphia, yet a great portion of his life has been spent in close proximity to the church and grave yard of the church in question. Herewith he humbly presents the result
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of his patient investigation, to which, for nearly sixty years, at intervals, he has cheerfully devoted time and attention.
With reference to the written records of the Norriton church, they seem to have been irrecoverably lost. Even if such records were kept, they were probably meagre and writ- ten at irregular intervals.
Kindly, yet earnestly, may I just here call the attention of all church officials to see the importance of carefully keep- ing the records of their respective congregations, including the names of all ministers, the membership, baptisms, etc., and also provide a secure place for preserving the same.
About fifty years ago I made diligent effort to inquire concerning the Norriton Church records, conferring with the late Elder John Shearer and Trustees Jacob Custer and Fran- cis Burnside. The reply was that no records, either of the Session or Board of Trustees, could be found.
Mr. Burnside informed me, and I have since heard the same report, that many years ago, about 1760-'75, some re- cords pertaining to the said congregation were found, written in a small blank book, among a lot of old papers in an upper room of the old Fairview Inn. These records were partly written in German, presumably in low Dutch, helping to es- tablish the traditional statement (to which we shall refer later) that the primitive gathering, if not organization of this con- gregation, was made up of Hollanders.
The discovery of the Hudson river was made in 1609, and the founding of New Amsterdam, now New York city, in 1612. Therefore, it is not a matter of conjecture but a histor- ical fact, that many years before William Penn's landing in the United States, the eastern part of Pennsylvania as well as a portion of New Jersey were preoccupied by both Hollanders and Swedes.
The Hollanders, however, being a more commercial peo- ple, were earlier in the field of exploration, and reached Amer- ica years before either the Swedes or their more inland kins- men, the Germans. It is recorded that some Hollanders visited the Delaware or South river in 1598. Settlements
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OLD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NORRITON
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were made upon it in 1623 by Cornelius May. Only ten years later, 1633, and some of them had settled along the valley of the Schuylkill.
It is worthy of note that the existing name of the river "Schuylkill" was originally bestowed by the Dutch, from the circumstance of its mouth having been concealed by several wooded islands, which prevented a ready recognition of the place where it flowed into the Delaware. Hence, from the terms "schuil" or " schuilen," signifying concealed or hidden, and " kill," a channel stream or river, came "Schuilkil," a hidden or concealed river. Schuylkill may therefore be con- sidered a corruption of orthography. Governor Stuyvesant, in 1644, spoke of it as the " Narsche Rivierte," the little fresh river.
The Schuylkill was discovered in the summer of 1616 by Captain Hendrickson, a Dutchman, who entered its mouth in the yacht Restless. Twenty years later the Hollanders had established themselves along the river as traders, and dealt largely with the Indians for beaver skins and tobacco. At the same time they obtained liberal acquisitions of land on the river and adjacent thereto, for which cargoes of merchandise were exchanged. As an incident, it is related that an individ- ual known by the name of Old Shrunk, in 1683, caught three thousand shad in one night, and a Captain Smith six hundred cat fish at one draught.
As to the Swedes, it is recorded that they first entered the Delaware river in 1637-'38, under the lead of Peter Min- uit, who had previously been in the service of the Holland Company. They purchased land upon the west side of the Delaware, from Cape Henlopen to the falls at Trenton, and westward of the river for forty miles. Later, Christina, after- wards called Wilmington, was founded. Emigrants continued to arrive. Mocopanaca, now Chester; Coaquennack, the site of the city of Philadelphia; Wicaco and Kingsessing, now the southern part of said city, became settlements. The Dutch were not idle, however, but planted themselves at New Castle and other points, scattering as far as parts of Montgom-
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ery and Bucks counties, tilling the land to the best advantage. At Bensalem, and near Churchville, Bucks county, two churches or worshiping places were established by Hollanders as early as 1670-'75, and the latter place was designated New Holland.
Numbers of English and Welsh settlers also came to these parts previous to the arrival of William Penn ; for some English families quartered at Burlington and Salem N. J., in 1675; and some immigrants at the same time entered the Schuylkill to seek homes, but were peremptorily expelled by the Dutch and Swedes, who were jealous of any other com- petitors for the existing trade along that river.
The records of the Holland church allude to churches, viz .: Passaic, N. J., 1693, Revs. Berthoff, Coens, Du Bois, Van Driessen; Holmdel, N. J., in Monmouth county, 1695- '99, Revs. Wm. Lupardus, Antonides, Freeman, Morgan; at Smithfield, Pike county, Pa., 1737, Rev. Fayenmoet.
Of the Germans, while a few scattered names were re- ported as early as 1640-'50, as emigrants coming from New Amsterdam to Pennsylvania, yet about the first of their arrival as a body is the record of some twenty families that settled at Germantown in 1683. They continued steadily to increase, extending their settlements in the early part of the eighteenth century, principally to Hanover and Frederick townships, Montgomery county. They took up lands in the valley of Perkiomen in 1700, extending later, about 1720, to Norriton and Worcester townships, and between 1730 and 1740 to Towamencin and Salford townships, and in 1740 going into Berks and Lehigh counties.
To classify and condense the emigration alluded to we would name the Dutch or Hollanders as the pioneers, about 1620; then the arrival of the Swedes, 1637-'40; the incoming of the English Friends or Quakers, 16So-'85: the same years the arrival of the Germans, including the Mennonites, Dunk- ers, and the Swiss or Reformed denomination; also the Luther- ans. Of these original settlers the Welsh came in large num- bers, having purchased of William Penn, before leaving Eng- land, forty thousand acres in Merioneth or Merion, said land
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extending into Chester county, now Tredyffrin township, Pa.
Later, in 1734, came the Schwenkfelders, arriving at Philadelphia and settling in Worcester, Towamencin and Sal- ford, Montgomery county; and in 1742 the arrival of those who were founders of the Moravian church in Pennsylvania.
The late Moses Auge, in his book, "Lives of Eminent Men," alludes to Rev. John Philip Boehm as arriving in Montgomery county in 1720. Also, to Rev. George Michael Weiss, from the Palatinate on the Rhine, arriving about the same time and settling at Skippack, bringing with him four hundred emigrants. Four years after Mr. Weiss' arrival, from a report made to the Synod of Holland, we learn that there were fifteen thousand Reformed members holding to the old Reformed Confession in America, chiefly in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Boehm's work points to Blue Bell Church in this county, and Weiss' labors to Wentz's church, Worcester township.
From another source we find that the meeting houses of the English and Welsh Friends are nearly all marked by their antiquity. As early as 1680-'85, Philadelphia, Burlington, Pemberton, and Mount Holly, N. J .; Gwynedd, 1698; a little later, Plymouth, Horsham, Oxford, Abington, Attleboro, Haverford, Lower Merion, in Montgomery county, and Uwch- lan, Chester county; Welsh Quakers, 1690; also, in Tredy- ffrin township, an old meeting house.
Thus far the writer has recited these historical gleanings as preliminary, and with the view of establishing the fact that some Hollanders, about 1660-'70, and probably holding the lands as squatters, or without legal title, first established this place of worship, subsequently known, and in later years organized as the "Norrington Presbyterian Meeting House."
Notice the fact, that it was not until October 2, 1704, that William Penn, proprietor of the province of Pennsylvania, sold to his son, William Penn, Jr., all the lands comprising the township of Norriton, Montgomery county.
We must naturally conclude that these pioneer Holland- ers, and who for forty or fifty years before, perhaps, were
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dwellers upon these lands, must have acquired their rights as tenants from some of the Indian tribes, for their main thor- oughfare was the Indian road called " Manatawny."
Be this as it may, later on, and probably about 1700-'15, there was a noticeable change. The taxable owners of land now, although comparatively few as yet, were found to be of Scotch-Irish blood, Hollanders and Germans, they having combined together to purchase the lands contiguous to the old log meeting house, located in the then manor of William- stadt, in Philadelphia county.
In 1707 another great influx of Holland emigrants began ; also from Ireland and Scotland.
We proceed then to say that more than two hundred and fifty years ago numbers of men and women, representing fam- ily ties, abandoned their homes and ventured across the sea, seeking a peaceful dwelling place upon these friendly shores.
Almost without exception, Protestant in faith, though of different nationalities, yet one motive chiefly impelled them, viz., that they might worship God according to the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, and the dictates of an enlightened conscience.
They loved the truth as comprised in the Gospel of Christ; they gloried in the cross, and the unspeakable privi- lege of acknowledging and honoring God by an humble life service of faith and devotion, far more than the possession of wealth, fame, or any earthly gifts. Inured to hardships and persecutions, tested by severe trials, and having suffered more or less from fiery discipline, they fled, not as miscreants or criminals, but as peace makers; and so, being constrained by conscientious principles, were led to these friendly shores, that they might enjoy liberty to worship God, and by their lives bless humanity.
Mysteriously providential, yet controlled by infinite wis- dom, were the early Protestant Christians directed to this land. Distinctly may we trace the hand of Jehovah in all their move- ments, and especially discover His grace, in delivering them from the yoke of oppression, and providing them an earthly home where none should molest or make afraid.
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Thus they came, suffering deprivations and tossed about roughly over stormy, wintry seas. They committed them- selves to God, asking for divine protection and guidance, and after weary weeks they looked anxiously for the sight of land, until at last they were cheered with the realization of another earthly home, though in a strange country.
So, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, did the Hollanders come to New York; a little later the Pilgrim Fathers to the rock-bound coast of Massachusetts; then fol- lowed by the Swedes, the English and Welsh; other colonies of settlers from Scotland and the north of Ireland and Switzer- land; they were scattered among the hills and along the rivers of eastern Pennsylvania and states of New Jersey and Dela- ware.
But particularly of the early Hollanders, who were essen- tially Presbyterian in doctrine, together with the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, we are to speak. From these nationalities just named, we as Presbyterians feel honored in träcing our fore- fathers.
Our admiration for the well-established principles of Protestantism and the doctrines of Calvinism, leads us to point to these noble, self-sacrificing men and women, as the faithful missionaries and hardy pioneers to the untried western world.
" Amidst the storm they sang, And the stars heard and the sea, And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang To the anthem of the free.
The ocean eagle soared From his nest by the white waves' foam,
And the rocking pines of the forest roared- This was their welcome home.
What sought they thus afar ? Bright jewels of the mine ? The wealth of seas, the spoils of war ? They sought at faith's pure shrine.
Aye ! call it holy ground, The soil where first they trod,
They have left unstained what there they found- Freedom to worship God."
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