History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 130

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418

USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > History of Berks county in Pennsylvania > Part 130

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Rev. Mr. Kuendig was called to officiate as as- sistant pastor in October, 1859. He was then a student at the Gettysburg Seminary. He preached his first sermon shortly afterward in Trinity Church, and was regularly employed with the consent of the Synod. In June fol- lowing he was regularly ordained. His services as assistant were continned from November 27, 1859, to November 13, 1860, which were very successful, having been attended by large au- diences. When the separation was agreed upon, Trinity Church vestry consented that the Ger- man congregation should be permitted to hold its services for one year in the old church, until it could have its own church erected, and that it should have the large lot of ground (nsed then as a burying-ground) on the northwest corner of Sixth and Walnut Streets (two hundred and forty by two hundred and thirty feet) for three thousand dollars.

The congregation was formed under the name of "St. John's German Lutheran Congrega-

tion," on December 3, 1860, and a vestry was chosen, which consisted of the following mem- bers :

Trustees, Francis B. Shalters, Sr., Michael K. Boy- er and E. Jonathan Deininger; Elders, Jacob B. Mast, George Ziegler and J. George Geissler, Sr .; Deacons, Christopher Fricd, Herman Dersch, Valen - tine Wilk, Christian Eben, Jeremiah T. Frey and Christian Bentz.

And Rev. J. J. Knendig was regularly elect- cd its pastor. The congregation was incorpor- ated under the name adopted, April 8, 1861.

Proceedings were instituted with earnestness looking to the erection of a church on the lot of ground mentioned, and for that purpose a building committee was appointed which con- sisted of the following prominent members : Francis B. Shalters, Sr., E. Jonathan Deininger, Jacob B. Mast, Christian Eben and Christian Stolz. The corner-stone was laid on June 18, 1861, in the presence of a multitude of people, and the church was dedicated on November 30 and December 1, 1861. The building is a fine, large, two-story brick structure, with a capacity for seating twelve hundred persons. J. Constantine Deininger was the first organist, he having served in that capacity in Trinity Church for many years. In 1868 the steeple was finished, its height being one hundred and eighty-five feet.

The most liberal member of this church was E. Jonathan Deininger. Upon his death, several years ago, he beqneathed five thousand dollars to the congregation in addition to what he had generously given before.

Rev. Mr. Kuendig is still pastor of the con- gregation. He has been very successful in his ministrations, which have now continued through a period of nearly twenty-seven years. The present membership of the church is one thou- sand four hundred, and of the Sunday-school eight hundred.

The vestry for 1886 consists of :

Elders : George Kaufmann, Andreas Muntz, John Mueller ; Trustees : A. Bendel, H. Lettermann, Adam Heilman ; Deacons : George Nicklas, John Mueller, Adam Reppin, Christian Bauknecht, Fred. Huber, Arnold Hamel, George Mast, John Otto and Jacob Hiller.

This congregation, believing heartily in the

774

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

religious education of children as well as in the secular, instituted a parochial school on August 14, 1865, with two hundred scholars. The committee for this purpose was Rev. J. J. Kuen- dig, E. Jonathan Deininger, Frederick Lauer, John Endlich and Michael K. Boyer. A large and substantial school building was then erected. The first teachers were Prof. Carl Wounberger, James N. Ermentrout, Esq. (now additional law judge of Berks County) and Wilhelm Leesch. This school has been conducted very successfully since by the congregation. It was instituted for the benefit of the children of its own mem- bers ; but other children are admitted upon the payment of nominal tuition fees. Prof. Carl Wonnberger is still principal of the school. He is also the organist. In both positions he is very efficient.

The congregation erected a fine stone chapel in East Reading (Thirteenthi and Cotton Streets). The corner-stone was laid June 7, 1874, and the building dedicated November 29, 1874. Its seating capacity is four hundred.

A number of societies are carried on by the members and children of the congregation : Be- nevolent (since 1861), Dorcas (since 1862), Youth's, Reading, Brotherhood and Maenner- chor.

ST. LUKE'S LUTHERAN CHURCH. - This church is situated on North Ninth. Street, be- tween Buttonwood and Green. The nucleus of the congregation was from a Sunday-school which met in a public school-house on Tenth Street near Green. In 1865 the Trinity Lu- theran congregation, under whose anspices the school was conducted, seeing the necessity of providing more ample accommodations for it, purchased the lot on which it stands, and, in 1868, built a frame chapel, thirty by fifty feet, at a cost (without the ground) of thirty-six hundred dollars. The school was transferred to this building immediately after its completion.

In 1869 Rev. F. K. Huntzinger, the present pastor, was called as missionary with the view of organizing a congregation at some future time, and held his first service in the church in October of that year. The attendance at the public services for the greater part of the first year was small, often not more than ten to fif-

teen persons being present. That section of the city had just been laid out, and only a few houses were near the church ; but as the section was rapidly improving, the attendance at the services increased accordingly, and an organiza-

ST. LUKE'S CHURCH (FIRST BUILDING).

tion was effected by Rev. Mr. Huntzinger on Thursday, January 12, 1871, when the follow- ing-named persons were enrolled as members :

Solomon L. Moser and wife, Jacob Bissikummer and wife, Franklin B. Himmelreich and wife, John Ziegler and wife, John Samsel and wife, William Rapp and wife, Jacob D. Maurer and wife, Jacob Dearolf and wife, James K. Texter, Franklin Gable, Josiah Thompson, Daniel P. Dietrich, J. W. D. Whit- man and wife, Isaac Masser and wife, Jobn Hassin- ger and wife, Ephraim Fink and wife, John N. Hoel- lein and wife, Joel Angstadt and wife, John P. Ball and wife, Jacob Geiger, Abraham Guildin, Joseph Gable, Mrs. Henrietta Kretz and Mrs. Christiana Weaver

The following officers were chosen to serve in the first vestry :

Elders-John Samsel and Jacob Bissikummer;

775

READING.

Deacons-Jacob D. Maurer, Franklin B. Himmel- reich, Solomon L. Moser and J. W. D. Whitman.

The following constitute the present vestry :

Trustees-Ephraim Fink and Charles Dietrich ; Elders-Jacob F. Keil and Charles Erb ; Deacons- John E. Biehl, William T. Ermold, Jacob D. Yerger, Daniel B. Potteiger, Franklin B. Himmelreich and Thomas Rapp.

The congregation was incorporated in 1877. The services have been conducted from the be- ginning both in the English and German lau- guages ; in the morning the German is used and at all other services the English.

The first class of catechumens numbered twenty-five persons and was confirmed ou Good Friday, April 21, 1871. Since then there have been confirmed in the church about seven hun- dred and fifty persons, and the congregation now numbers over eight hundred members. The Sunday-school has a membership of seven hundred and about forty teachers. Benneville K. Gruber is the present superintendent ; Solo- mon L. Moser was the first and Levi H. Liess the second. The library has nearly one thou- sand volumes. William T. Ermold has been librarian since the organization of the school.

The church choir has been under the direction of Nathan Rohrbach since its organization, in 1871. The church was enlarged in 1874. Ou Jan- uary 10, 1879, the trustees of the Trinity Lu- theran congregation, for a nominal consideration, executed a deed for the church building, together with the lot of ground (sixty by one hundred and ten feet) on which it stands, to St. Luke's Lutheran congregation in fee-simple.

The accompanying illustration represents the first church, which, in 1886, was replaced by the present two-story brick structure. The dimen- sions of the new building are ninety-four by fifty feet. The first floor is arranged in three departments to accommodate the Sunday-school; and the auditorium occupies the entire second floor, including three galleries on the sides and rear end, affording a total seating capacity of about twelve hundred. The building commit- tee were Elias A. Bitner, Charles Dietrich and David Clouser, Sr.

Rev. F. K. Huntzinger is also pastor of the Alsace Lutheran congregation, which holds its

services in the Alsace Church, adjoining the northern line of the city of Reading, and of St. Peter's Lutheran Church, in Richmond township.

GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH had its begin- ning in a Sunday-school which was organized July 5, 1868. The first place of meeting was in a public-school house at the corner of Ninth and Spruce Streets, and the original committee on its organization comprised Henry J. Rhoads, Daniel S. Zacharias, John Wise, Amos W. Pot- teiger, Samuel Ruckstool, Louis Dauth and William Rapp. Its affairs were under the con- trol of the Trinity Lutheran Sunday-school Association. Mr. Daniel S. Zacharias was the first superintendent. He served two years, and was succeeded by Henry J. Rhoads, who has officiated since, a period of sixteen years. A fine brick chapel, with a view to the forming of a congregation, was erected on Eleventh near Franklin, at au expense of seventeen thousand dollars, and on the 7th of April, 1878, the new building was dedicated. In the fall of 1877 the Sunday-school was re- moved to its new home, where it was reor- ganized with about one hundred scholars on the roll. Rev. W. H. Myers had been called as the assistant to the pastor of Trinity congrega- tion, with a view eventually to form a congrega- tion in Grace Chapel. Regular services were opened on the 28th of April, 1878. In the evening of the 7th of October following an or- ganization was effected, when fifty-four signed their names to join church ; and on October 29th a congregational meeting was held, a con- stitution was adopted and the officers and a pastor were regularly elected. The congrega- tion from the start had a rapid growth, and to- day numbers four hundred and fifty active members and an equal number of Sunday-school scholars. The school has a library of over six hundred select books.

REFORMED CHURCHES.

FIRST REFORMED CHURCH (known common- ly as German Reformed) .- At the same time that the Lutherans took steps to establish a place of worship for themselves at Reading, the German Reformed (or, as they were then mostly

776

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

called, "German Calvinists") did likewise. Their first place of worship is not definitely known.

FIRST REFORMED CHURCH.

In 1754 they obtained title to two lots of ground on the northeast corner of Prince and Thomas Streets (now Washington and Sixth Streets), and it is supposed that about that time they caused a small log church to be erect- ed thereon, near Thomas Street.

On one of the lots mentioned, toward the eastern end, adjoining the street, they erected a substantial stone church building in 1761, and worshipped in it till it was torn down, in 1832. In the old corner-stone the following articles were found : a Bible (much decayed and entirely illegible), a silver coin and a copper coin, and a leaden plate, eight inches square. The centre of the plate was marked off to represent the two lots of ground, and lines were drawn from the ex- ternal angles to the four corners, dividing it into four parts, and inscriptions were made in these parts, as follows :

NORTH .- "To the High German Reformed Congre- gation of Reading, in Berks County, and privileged to build a church thereon, and for the interment of the dead for us and our descendants."

SOUTH .- " The corner-stone was laid 27th July, in presence of the congregation. A Bible, and the coin in silver and copper of our King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, were deposited, A.D. 1761."

EAST .- " The Patent was recorded in Land-Office, Phila., Book A, folio 17, p. 504, 16 Aug. 1754."

WEST .- "These two lots of ground were sold by Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, veritable proprie- tors of the province of Pennsylvania, 20 May, 1754."

The reverse side of the plate was also in- scribed,-

"Conrad Weiser and Isaac Levan, trustees of the congregation in the Patent; and Architects are M. W. Resser, Abr. Kerper and W. Miller, who are also Wardens of the Congregation."

The congregation was incorporated, under the name of the " German Reformed Congregation' in Reading," on August 25, 1785.

The corner-stone of the second church was laid on June 17, 1832, and the following articles were deposited in it : a Bible and hymn-book, the leaden plate, with record of events of the first church, a new plate, with record of events, a medal, struck in commemoration of the cen- tennial anniversary of the birth of George Washington, and silver and copper coins of the United States.

The building committee was composed of the following persons : Nicholas Lot, Baltzer Smith, Daniel Fasig, John Miller, John Y. Cunnins, Abraham Kerper.

This building was extensively remodeled in 1875, at an expense of forty-one thousand dollars, including a steeple one hundred and eighty-nine feet high and a fine three-story brick parsonage.

For a period of ten years after the foundation of the first church the congregation had no regularly ordained pastor. In this time, how- ever, there was preaching by ministers supplied for the purpose, among them the Revs. Michael Schlatter, John Conrad Steyner, G. M. Weis, Leydick and Waldsmith. In 1771 the congre- gation secured their first pastor in the Rev. William Boos, who continued till 1782. The subsequent pastors were,-

J.W. G. Nebling,1 1782-84; Bernhart Willy, 1784-86;

| Rev. J. W. G. Nebling (Nevelling), formerly chaplain in the Continental army, became pastor in 1782. He was possessed of a valuable estate, amounting to twenty-five thousand dollars, which he tendered Congress for the re- lief of the country's financial embarrassment. A certificate of Congress was his only security. IIe was devoted to the cause, faithful as chaplain and was held in high esteem by General Washington. As an evidence of the influence he exerted, it is proper to mention that the British govern- ment offered a large reward for his apprehension, and that General Washington on one occasion placed a troop of horse at his disposal to secure his protection against those

777

READING.

John William Ingold, 1786-89; William Boos, 1789-90; Philip Rhinehold Pauli, 1793-1814; Wil- liam Pauli, 1814-44; John Conrad Bucher, 1842-48; Aaron S. Leinbach, 1849-63; Benjamin Bausman, 1863-73; Henry Mosser, 1873-86.

Five congregations have proceeded from this congregation and erected churches,-Second, in 1848 ; St. John's, in 1870 ; St. Paul's Memorial, in 1873; Zion's (German), in 1881; and St. Stephen's, in 1884. All of them have been conducted very successfully.

A Sunday-school was organized on the 10th of January, 1841, with one hundred and eighty scholars ; and it was decided that the exercises should be conducted in the English language. From this it would seem that the "English " spirit had also taken hold upon this congrega- tion. A year afterward (5th of February, 1842) the subject of English and German preaching was submitted to the congregation, and the proposition was supported almost nnanimonsly, one hundred and forty-five having voted for it and only three against it.

Communicant members of this church num- ber eight hundred and forty-five. Estimated membership of all Reformed Churches in Read- ing is about three thousand.

The Sunday-school has eight hundred and forty-five scholars and teachers; and St. Mark's Mission Sunday-school has one hundred and thirty-five. Total scholars and teachers of Reformed Sunday-schools in Reading are about two thousand nine hundred.

The consistory of the congregation is com- posed of the following persons : Samuel Holl, Amos Dick, Levi R. Snyder, John Jacobs, Harrison Althouse, elders ; Samuel Herbien, Samuel Leymaster, Aaron S. Leas, trustees ;

who sought his life. By some means unknown the certifi- cate was ruined, the money was lost and he was ever after- wards poor. At the close of his first year he rode out of town, when the horse stumbled and fell, and the stem of a pipe inflicted a severe wound in his throat. This perma- nently injured his speech He was a man of commanding personal appearance and a popular preacher. After leaving Reading he was stricken with apoplexy and remained an invalid for sixty years. He died, nearly one hundred years old, at Philadelphia, in very destitute circumstances, and was buried in the grave-yard attached to the Reformed Church, near Fourth and Race Streets.

Albert S. Hartman, Wellington D. Dundore, Franklin Himmelberger, Theodore Maurey, Jesse M. Sprecher, Jared B. Faust, deacons.

THE SECOND REFORMED CHURCH .- In the spring of 1848 the Rev. John Casper Bucher, pastor of the First Reformed Church, which was then the only one in the city of Reading, felt that the time had come when the old congregation should send a colony to establish a purely English interest. His consistory, ac- cordingly, resolved to organize a Second Re- formed Church, to have its worship and exer- cises altogether in the English language. They authorized their pastor to organize a congrega- tion, and to install the officers so soon as they could be elected by persons who desired to unite themselves with the same.

At a special congregational meeting of the First Church, held on July 9, 1848, the following twenty-five members, viz .: Ivens Benson, John Ermentrout, A. F. Boas, Andrew S. Rhoads, John Hartmau, Benneville Dissler, William Ermentrout, Jr., Edmund H. Zieber, George B. Snyder, Philip Derringer, Franklin Beidler, Henry A. Lantz, Charles Fisher, Mrs. Susan Benson, Mrs. J. L. Derringer, Mrs. Emma Boas, Mrs. Rebecca Andrews, Mrs. M. Smith, Miss Anna I .. Zieber, Miss Elenora Leize, Miss Leonora Derringer, Miss Seraphina Derringer, Miss Catharine Helfenstein, Miss Rebecca Lantz and Miss Susan B. Goodhart, were dismissed, who, with five others not mem- bers of the First Church, were organized and constituted the Second Church. Rev. Bucher at the same time and place installed John Er- mentrout and Ivens Benson as elders, and Benneville Dissler, A. F. Boas, John Hart- man and Andrew S. Rhoads as deacons. After the congregation had been fully organized, the Rev. Bucher extended an invitation to the Rev. Thomas C. Porter to take charge of this con- gregation. Rev. Porter accepted the invitation. A temporary place of worship was secured in the " Old Academy," the present ladies' High School building, where he preached twice every Sunday. In the following spring, however, a call to the professorship of natural sciences in Marshall College, at Mercersburg, Pa., was placed in Rev. Porter's hands, the acceptance

778

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

of which compelled him to resign as pastor. He left Reading about the 1st of May, 1849.

During the vacancy of the pastorate the congregation returned to the mother-church, retaining, however, their organization, with a view toward an independent existence. On the 21st day of April, 1851, they became an incorporated body, under the name of the " Second German Reformed Church of Read- ing." Although the name may appear at this day rather anomalous for an English congrega- tion to assume, yet the word "German " was used to designate the denomination to which the congregation belonged, to distinguish it from the "Dutch Reformed."

At a congregational meeting held May 11, 1851, the Rev. Moses Kieffer was chosen pastor. He brought new zeal into the congregation. On June 3d, following, a committee composed of Rev. Kieffer, John Ermentrout and Philip Zieber was appointed to ascertain the expense to erect a church edifice, and to devise means of securing the money needed to meet such ex- pense. They made a report, which was favor- ably considered, and recommended the purchase of a lot on the east side of Sixth Street, between Cherry and Franklin. Work on the new church building was immediately commenced, and on September 14, 1851, the corner-stone was laid. They, however, soon met with em- barrassments from want of funds, having been disappointed in receiving that assistance from the mother-church which had been promised to them. But under the circumstances the work was carried on to the best advantage possible until February 6, 1853, when the church was so far finished as to be in a condition to be used, and was consecrated for divine service amid many anxious hopes and fears.

On the 7th day of August, 1855, Rev. Kieffer resigned the pastorate in order to accept a call to a professorship in the Theological Seminary at Tiffin, Ohio. The resignation took effect October 1, 1855. The pastorate of the church remained vacant for two and a half months, at the end of which Rev. Charles F. McCauley, D.D., entered on the discharge of the duties of that position, and has continued in the exercise of the same until the present day.

He found the condition of the congregation most discouraging. The membership was small and the indebtedness heavy. The burden of the indebtedness almost crushed the congre- gation. It was only by the personal efforts of Dr. McCauley that the property was saved from being seized under an execution. On the 16th of February, 1860, he went forth on a mission of charity, and during a protracted series of journeys, extending over four thous- and five hundred miles, was enabled to pay $3192.75 into the church treasury. Within two years thereafter he wiped out the whole indebtedness, having collected $7256.27.

Not only has the congregation prospered finan- cially under the pastorate of Dr. McCauley, but also spiritually and in membership. On January 1, 1886, the membership had increased to five hundred and seventy confirmed mem- bers and three hundred and twenty-five uncon- firmed members. The congregation has under its care two Sunday-schools, having five hundred and seventy-seven Sunday-school scholars. The revenue of the congregation amounts to yearly about three thousand dollars for congregational purposes and about eighteen hundred dollars for benevolent purposes.

ST. PAUL'S MEMORIAL REFORMED CHURCH. -This church was founded by a colony of the First Reformed Church of Reading. Rev. B. Bausman, D.D., had been the pastor of the .

mother-church for nine years. As its member- ship had become very large, the consistory and many of the members deemed it necessary to form a new congregation. The enterprise was started under the auspices of the First Church. By it the lot was selected, the building committee appointed, the erection and style of the building decided upon and subscriptions to secure the necessary means were solicited. Un- der its direction this committee continued until December 26, 1872, when St. Paul's congrega- tion was organized. On August 27, 1871, the corner-stone of the contemplated building was laid.

On August 18, 1872, the chapel or Sunday- school building was dedicated. On the after- noon of the same day a Sunday-school was or- ganized under the supervision of the school of

779

READING.

the First Church. In this relation it continued until June 28, 1873, when it became an organ- ization by itself, as the Sunday-school of St. Paul's Church. On December 29, 1872, St. Paul's Memorial Reformed congregation was organized, with a colony of one hundred and ninety-eight members of the First Reformed Church, and six members were received from other evangelical churches. Others were added, so that by the end of the first year the congre- gation had four hundred and twenty-one mem- hers. At an election for pastor held January 6, 1873, Rev. B. Bausman, D.D., was chosen to this office and has continued to serve the congregation to this time (1886). The comple- tion of the main building was thereafter prose- cuted independent of the parent congregation. This was dedicated on February 15, 1874.

The church is situated on North Sixth Street, on a plot of gronnd one hundred feet front and two hundred and thirty feet deep, and is a cruci- form Gothic structure. The front, with a central tower, is of brown sandstone. The rest of the edifice is built of brick. The pulpit is a lofty Gothic recess, with a large organ at the side of it. The cost of the building amounted to eighty-two thousand six hundred dollars, without the ground, valued at twenty thousand dollars. The total estimated value of the property at the time of dedication, including the organ and furni- ture, was one hundred and ten thousand dol- lars.

Since its organization two other Reformed churches were founded in Reading, to which St. Panl's contributed its proportion of material. The congregation has now six hundred con- firmed members. Its Sunday-school has four hundred scholars and sixty-four officers and teachers. From its early history various char- itable, benevolent and religious societies have been organized for the improvement of the members as well as for vigorous aggressive church work. Its poor are cared for by a per- manent committee of ladies appointed by the consistory and furnished with the necessary means by the congregation. Its systematic Benevolent Society is as old as the flock itself. Its ward committees canvass the congregation, whose members bring their offerings at the

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 130

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards Number of Pages: 1418

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418