History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 131

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

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monthly meetings. Two beneficial societies- the Brotherhood and the Sisterhood-have done excellent work for a period of thirteen years. Their object is to cultivate kindly social inter- course among the members, to encourage one another in temporal and spiritual things, support the members in time of sickness and bereave- ment, help them to bury their dead and care for their orphans. After doing all this each society has accumulated considerable invested funds. A large society of ladies is actively engaged in the interest of such objects, inside and outside the congregation, as may claim their attention. St. Paul's Young Men's Association, although scarcely a year old, has already become an active and important factor in congregational work.

ST. JOHN'S REFORMED CHURCH is situated on the corner of Ninth and Chestnut Streets. The congregation that worships in it is the out- growth of a mission Sunday-school organized under the auspices of the First and Second Re- formed congregations of the city, at the instance of their respective pastors, Rev. B. Bausman, D.D., and C. F. McCauley, D.D. Both took the warmest interest in the mission school and tenderly fostered it with their pastoral care. The Sunday-school was organized in the second story of the old public school-house on Frank -. lin Street, above Eighth, on March 6, 1864. On the second Sunday seventy-five pupils were in attendance. Rev. W. A. Good was identi- fied with the interest from the beginning, labor- ing with great zeal and self-denial as its super- intendent until Angust 12, 1871, when the school had already developed into a congrega- tion.

On November 23, 1864, Rev. Dr. Bausman purchased two of the three lots now in posses- sion of the congregation, on his own respon- sibility, for the sum of nine hundred and fifty dollars. A chapel, forty-eight by thirty- two feet, was completed then and dedicated April 2, 1865. The superintendent, Rev. W. A. Good, conducted German services for several years. On June 25, 1871, the following-named persons resolved to be organ- ized into a congregation: Henry R. Eshelman, Samuel Savage, John G. Herbine, Conrad Geh- rung, John Harner, Henry Wittich, Adam

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Dies, John Kessler, John Goodhart, Daniel Zimmerman, Philip Wittich, Jacob Detthoff, Isaac Medary and John Miller. On May 24, 1872, Rev. Christian Kessler was ordained and installed as pastor of the congregation. Chronic bronchitis compelled him to resign on January 3, 1873. During his brief pastorate he gath- ered about two hundred members and the chapel was twice enlarged.

The second pastor, Rev. James A. Schultz, began his labors in March, 1873. Ill health constrained him to resign on the 19th of the following October. He confirmed a class of twenty-four, and sixty were received by certifi- cates. An additional lot was purchased for eighteen hundred dollars during his pastorate. On March 15, 1874, Rev. J. G. Shoemaker was installed. He resigned in less than a year. On October 12, 1875, Rev. J. W. Steinmetz, for- merly of Danville, Pa., was installed as the pastor.

Owing to frequent changes of pastor and protracted vacancies, the mission had deterior- ated. Many of the members had scattered, only one hundred and sixty remained, and but eighty-seven communed at the first communion on October 24, 1875. But hope revived in the hearts of the people and they rallied around the new pastor. A larger house of worship was needed. One aged member, William Lotz, obligated himself to furnish four hundred thon- sand bricks for a new church and parsonage, whereupon the consistory and the congregation resolved to build the present church, which is eighty-thrce by fifty-three feet, with a square tower sixty-four feet in height, containing a bell of thirteen hundred pounds, donated by Manasses Delong, Michael Delong, John Delong and Jacob Straub. The parsonage was erected with the church and connected with it. The whole church property is of brick with sandstone base. The audience chamber, with an end gal- lery, will comfortably seat eight hundred people. The basement was dedicated on May 13, 1877. The audience chamber was dedicated on Octo- ber 14, 1877. Church and parsonage were erected at a cost of sixteen thousand five hun- dred and fifty-four dollars. The property cost about eighteen thousand dollars. The present

value of the property is about twenty-two thousand dollars.

Nearly five hundred members constitute the present strength of the congregation and four hundred and twenty-five pupils are enrolled upon the register of the Sunday-school.

ZION'S REFORMED CHURCH .- Rev. L. K. Derr, under whose ministration and supervision this church was organized, was commissioned by the Board of Missions of the German Synod of the East, to come to Reading and look after the German interests of the Reformed people of the city. He preached his first sermon on the last Sabbath in the month of May, 1881, in the Young Men's Christian Association Hall, corner of Eighth and Penn Streets, to an audience of eighteen persons. Here services were held twice every Sunday for two months, after which the place of worship was changed to Fisher's Hall, corner of Eighth and Washington Streets. On August 14, 1881, the congregation was organized with thirty members, by electing the following consistory : Elders, Louis Grebe, John D. Taenzer and Jacob Hoffman ; Deacons, William Keller, Jacob K. Stuber and William T. Lamm.

The pastor was assisted on this occasion by Rev. Dr. N. Gehr, president of the Board of Missions; a suitable site was selected at the south- west corner of Washington and Cedar Streets, and in the fall of 1882, the following building committee was appointed : L. K. Derr, James T. Reber and Jacob B. Fricker, who at once made arrangements to build a church. On the 12th day of November, 1882, the corner-stone was laid; on April 1, 1883, the basement was dedi- cated, and on August 26th, of the same year, the church proper was dedicated. The congrega- tion at this time (1886) has two hundred and fifty members. The Sunday-school was organ- ized in the spring of 1883, with twenty-five members, and now numbers one hundred and sixty. C. W. Rickenbach is the present super- intendent. In the summer of 1885, the congre- gation built a fine parsonage, which is now occupied by the pastor and his family.

. ST. STEPHEN'S REFORMED CHURCH is situ- ated on the corner of Ninth and Greenwich Streets. The church building was erected in

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the fall of 1883, the corner-stone being laid on Sunday, September the 2d, 1883, and the church dedicated on December 30 following. The building originally cost thirty-seven hundred dollars. An addition was made during the fall of 1885, at a cost of six hundred dollars. The dimensions of the church building are thirty-six by seventy feet ; addition, twenty-five by twenty- two feet. Size of lot, sixty-one by one hundred and ten feet. Services in the English language have been. held regularly twice a Sunday since the dedication. The congregation was organized March 16, 1884, with fifty-seven communicant members. The present communicant member- ship is one hundred and thirty.

St. Paul's Memorial (Tenth Street Mission) Sunday-school, numbering sixty members, was transferred to this church on the Sunday before dedication. Of these, about twenty remain. The present number in Sunday-school is three hun- dred and forty. The members of the church building committee were : James T. Reber, Aaron Leas, Solomon Hartman and Jacob B. Fricker. Rev. Calvin S. Gerhard is pastor of the congregation. The elders are Daniel Bucher and Daniel Kline; the deacons are Samuel Palm and Milton J. Coller.

SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.

FIRST MEETING-HOUSE IN READING .- The Friends residing in Reading effected an organi- zation and erected a small building for a tempo- rary meeting-house in 1751. Where it was located is now unknown. On the 30th of De- cember, 1756, meetings were ordered to be held at Reading every Third Day, the year round, beginning at the eleventh hour. November 29, 1759, a committee reported that they had selected lots 402 and 403 as a suitable site for a new meeting-house. The committee were authorized to purchase the lots, and they subsequently reported a deed thereof. On these lots (west side of North Sixtlı Street, between Washington and Walnut, where tbe present stone meeting-house is located) for- est-trees were cut down and they were used in erecting a small building, in which the meetings were then held. At the Exeter Meeting, held October 30, 1760, " Reading reported that ineet-

ings are kept up, though the attendance is some- times small ; they are not so well behaved as they ought to be ; love and unity subsist in a good degree, but the members are not all clear of sleeping in meeting."

On the 27th of August, 1761, the Reading Friends asked for a First Day meeting to begin at ten A.M. and at three P.M., and in the fol- lowing month a committee reported favorably.

On the 30th of December, 1762, a report was presented that " the Friends of Reading are in much need of a better house to meet in, and have thought of beginning to build one next summer,

LOG MEETING-HOUSE-1765.

but their ground (on North Sixth Street) is no more than sufficient for a burying-place, and that it is advisable to build a house large enough to accommodate the meeting when Friends visit the place, for which another lot should be bought." A special committee reported favora- bly January 27, 1763, but desired the advice of the Quarterly Meeting which was held in Phila- delphia in November, 1764, when the matter was referred to a committee of thirteen, who re- ported at the Exeter Meeting December 27, 1764, recommending a Monthly Meeting and a new house. The Philadelphia Meeting held May 6, 1765, recommended the erection of "a meet- ing-house of round logs only at present," and the Exeter Meeting, on the 30th of the same month, concurred in this action. The same year, 1765, the building of " round logs " was erected, on a lot of ground on the corner of Queen and Thomas Streets. After the lower logs had partly decayed, the building was repaired by the erection of a brick wall extending from the ground upward a few feet.

The last wedding which took place in the little meeting-house on North Sixth Street,

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

shortly before its demolition, was that of Solo- mon Coles, son of Daniel Coles, and Esther Pearson, daughter of Thomas Pearson, of Mai- den-creek, May 2, 1765, and the following Friends, including the parents of the bride, were the witnesses : Thomas Pearson, Elizabeth Pear- son, William Boone, Benjamin Pearson, Jere- miah Boone, Elijah Pearson, Hannah Pearson, George Hughes, Judah Boone, David Pearson, Jonathan Jones, Hannah Jones, Jonathan Pear- son, Sarah Pearson, Barbara Parks, Thomas Hutton, Samuel Imbree, Jeremiah Paul, William Jennings, Thomas Wickersham, Edward George, James Imbree, Richard Penrose, Samuel Parks, Moses Embree, Elijah Wickersham, Samuel Jackson, Mary Jackson, Abraham Williams,

THE NEW FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE.

Joseph Shiff, Eleazer Jackson, Jane Wiley, Mary Chandler, Mary Hutton, Mary Wright, Debo- rah Lee and Susanna Parks.

MEETING-HOUSE USED AS A HOSPITAL .- While the Hessians, captured at Trenton in 1776, were prisoners in Reading, the meeting-house was used as a hospital, in which many sick soldiers were treated. Those who died were interred in the lot adjoining the Friends' burial-ground on North Sixth Street. Among the prisoners of war were James Forster, master of a transport ship, and John Wilkinson, mate of the same, Samuel Elphinstone and James Hornes, mates of a British ship of war ; and there were other seamen. One of these, while in the hospital,

drew* with a sharp instrument upon the wain- scotting of the meeting-house the picture of a British ship of war. When the old log house was torn down eighteen years ago, after having stood one hundred and three years, Rachel D. Griscom, who bought the house (without the lot) for twenty-five dollars, sent to the Pennsyl- vania Historical Society of Philadelphia that portion of the wainscot containing the drawing of the finest ship. There was found under the old building several pieces of American and a French coin,2 and the bayonet of a British musket, which Miss Griscom keeps as relics. A number of citizens have canes made from logs and wainscot of the meeting-house. Some of the material was hanled to the present meet- ing-house property on North Sixth Street, and some of the old benches are in the stone build- ing. Small locust-trees were in the yard and old poplar-trees with immense roots stood along the sidewalk at the log meeting-house on Washing- ton Street.

At the Monthly Meeting held in Maiden-creek April 24, 1867, Henry Tyson, Samuel E. Gris- com and John H. Reid were appointed a com- mittee to devise a plan and means to build a meeting and school-house on either the Wash- ington or the Sixth Street lot. They recom- mended that a new building be erected on Sixth Street. August 21, 1867, the Washington Street lot, sixty by two hundred and thirty feet, ex- tending fron Fourth to Ash, was disposed of at public sale to Daniel Miller and Giles J. Wil- son for nine thousand and fifteen dollars, and there are now nine brick houses on that lot The deed conveying the title of the property to Miller and Wilson is dated March 30, 1868, and is signed by Thomas Lightfoot, Maiden- creek ; Samuel E. Griscom, Schuylkill County ; Dr. Henry Tyson, Exeter ; William P. Reid, Reading; and Thomas Pearson, Pughtown, Chester County, as " trustees for the sole use of the members of the religious society of Friends of Reading in unity and religious fellowship with Exeter Monthly Meeting held at Maiden-

1 Drew a fleet of seven British ships of war in a line on a. smooth horizontal poplar board of the wainscot. They were very well executed with the English flag at the stern. 2 There was only one French coin.

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creek." Since the demolition of the old log building, in 1868, the Friends have held their meetings in the neat stone building they erected on North Sixth Street.

EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.1-The first no- tice of Episcopalians in Berks County is iu a letter by Rev. Thomas Barton to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, dated December 21, 1759, in which he said: " In the county of Berks there are a number of people of the Communion of the Church of England, who have never had an Episcopal minister among them." He may have alluded particularly to the persons in Caer- narvon, where there was a new church of this denomination erected, a former church having existed there, it is said, about twenty years; and also to those in Amity, at a place called Mo- latton (now Douglassville), who had established themselves there for thirty years. Besides these two churches, there was no other in the entire county till the lapse of sixty-five years, when a third church was erected at Reading.

In 1760, William Bird and others addressed a petition to the society mentioned, in which they stated : "That the said county is a very large and growing one, situated on the frontiers of the said province and hath never yet had any English minister of any denomination settled in it," etc. That in this distress (of leaving their families entirely destitute of religious instruc- tion) they invited Rev. Dr. Wm. Smith to preach among them, &c .; and "we have pre- sumed to apply for your assistance in sending over a missionary to reside in Reading, the chief town of the county of Berks, and to offici- ate also at Morlattin, a place fifteen miles dis- tant, where a church has for many years been built by a society of English and Swedes, who are desirous of having a missionary of the Church of England, and join with us in this ap- plication ; that to induce request they have, with

Morlattin congregation, obligated themselves to pay such missionary annually £60 Penna. money ; that for want of ministers their mem- bers are drawn after various sorts of sectaries, and which is still worse, the Roman Catholic priests are making couverts, to great grief of petitioners ; and that if they have no particular missionary they would ask for Mr. Jos. Mather," etc.

In 1763 Rev. Alexander Murray wrote to the society and stated that his mission (English Church) at Reading comprised seven families, or forty-eight souls, of which twelve were under seven years of age; besides whom there were twenty nnbaptized Anabaptists who resided in the town and occasionally made up part of his congregation. Then they had no churchi at Reading, but they held their meetings in a " Dwelling-House that is hired for holding the Civil Courts in." At this time he estimated the town to contain two hundred and ten fami- lies, or about thirteen hundred persons, young and old ; of the number of families, one hundred and ten were German Lutherans, about half as many German Calviuists and the rest chiefly Quakers, and a few Papists. The Germans were computed twelve to one of all other nation- alities together, and they seemed " abundantly well provided in teachers of one denomination or another, and as long as they are so blindly attached to their native tongue as they are at present, an English minister can be of no service to them. For though they might be at no loss for English schoolmasters, yet they choose to send their children rather to German schools, which they have everywhere in great plenty."

In 1764 his congregation increased from seven to eighteen families, consisting of one hundred and twenty-one souls. He despaired then of seeing a church erected for some time to come. But in his despair, without church, par- sonage or voluntary subscriptions, he hardly thought that the " some time " would be so long as sixty years. In 1765 they had the use of the court-house to assemble in for divine ser- vice, which place was common to all sectaries.

The parish in Reading was called "St. Mary's," having been named after the principal parish of Reading, England. It was so known

1 See " Pennsylvania Magazine of History," vol. iv. p. 66-78, for an interesting article on " The Episcopal Church in Reading, Pa.," which embraces mostly letters pertain- ing to the condition and strength of the Church of England at Reading before 1775.

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

till about 1815, when it was changed to "Christ's." It has since retained the latter name. In 1765 the officers were,-Wardens : Edward Biddle and James Diemer ; Vestrymen : James Read, John Patton, Jonas Seely, James Whitehead, John Price, Mark Bird, Peter Witherington and George Hinton. And in this year they made an effort to obtain a lot (No. 396, North Fifth Street, near Walnut) for building an Episcopal Church upon it, " as the Honora- ble Proprietors have given orders for that pur- pose." It would seem that they had first intended to build on lot No. 394 (southwest corner of Sixth and Walnut) npon which they deposited building material ; but the lot was rather distant from the centre of town, so it was afterward removed to lot No. 71 (North Fifth, above Court). They then endeavored to raise money by a lottery for a church building. The Assembly granted the prayer of their petition by giving them three hundred and fifteen pounds, and the petitioners bound themselves to add two hundred pounds. But they failed to accomplish the object of their earnest endeavors. After the lapse of seven years the rector hoped that they would be in a condition to build a church; but his congregation was too weak and his hopes were not realized. In a letter of March 26, 1772, he alluded to the order and quiet of his congregation "amidst the clamor and noise, contention and evil-speaking of the Ger- man colonists, who are the body of the people in this Frontier County ;" and he added certain remarks which are decidedly interesting to the Lutherans and Calvinists (Reformed) of to-day, over a century afterward, these, briefly stated, being that the Lutherans and Calvinists used organs, violins, etc., in worship; that the Lutherans of the town were execrating one another ou an occasion of electing a minister, which satisfaction they frequently indulged themselves in, "being fonder of new clergy than new clothes, which they are parsimonious enough to wear threadbare, and when they are ripe for a change of pastors they make them do so too and so starve them out of place with cold and hunger."

The spirit of independence and revolution which soon afterward was developed among the

town-people, and especially in his own little patriotic flock, antagonized with the loyalty of the Rev. Murray to the English government, and so the relation of pastor and people was seriously disturbed. He was given special per- mission by the Executive Council of the State to dispose of his real property (which he had come to own here), after which he departed. He left about 1778.

From 1772 for over forty years there is no record of the Episcopal congregation nor men- tion of a church. In 1815 lot No. 71 (west side of Fifth, second lot north of Court) was granted by James Diemer to James May, Marks John Biddle and George Douglass, " in trust for the erection of an Episcopal Church whenever it should be found convenient, and as a burial- place for the Episcopalians within the Town of Reading and vicinity, and for such other per- sons, not Episcopalians, as the trustees shall permit to be buried therein, and for no other purpose whatever." But nine years elapsed after the granting of this lot before any active, successful steps were taken toward the erec- tion of a church thereon. In October, 1824, the wardens and vestry advertised for pro- posals to be presented on November 8th. In the following spring they began the erection of a church. The corner-stone was laid on June 8, 1825, in the presence of a great concourse of people, with all the clergy of Reading in attend- ance, and also Reverends Bull and Allen. After the customary services in the laying of the stone the clergy and people proceeded to Trinity Lutheran Church, where sermons were delivered appropriate to this great event. The building was completed within a year afterward, the consecration thereof having taken place on May 10, 1826, and sermons delivered by Bishop White. The style of the building was of the early English Gothic. Its dimensions were thirty-five feet front and fifty feet deep, with a seating capacity for three hundred persons. In 1863 the old building was enlarged and im- proved by the addition of a recess chancel, transepts and spire. The church was enlarged again in 1873 by the addition of sixteen feet to the depth of the chancel and of rooms for the vestry, the rector and the choir. In 1884 a

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handsome and commodious parish building was erected with a legacy left to the church by the late Lucretia D. Wood. This building con- tains rooms for classes and parish societies and a chapel and Sunday-school room.

The rectors of Christ Church, with their terms of service since 1823 have been,- ,

1823 to 1824-Rev. Rober. Davis.

1826-Rev. W. C. Mead.

1827 to 1828-Rev. H. J. Whitehouse.

1829-Rev. M. Leonard.

1830 to 1831-Rev. J. H. Cummings.

1832 to 1833-Rev. S. A. McCoskry.

1834-Rev. G. W. Cole.

1834 to 1850-Rev. R. U. Morgan, D.D.

1850 to 1861-Rev. M. C. Lightner.

1861 to 1867-Rev. A. G. Cummins.

1867 to 1869-Rev. J. P. Lundy, D.D. 1869 to 1872-Rev. J. P. Hammond. 1872, Oct. 7th-Rt. Rev. M. A. De W. Howe, D.D. 1873, Oct. Ist-Rev. W. P. Orrick, D.D.

RT. REV. MARK ANTONY DE WOLFE HOWE, D D., LL.D., first bishop of the dio- cese of Central Pennsylvania, was born in Bris- tol, Rhode Island, on the 5th of April, 1809. His parents were John and Louisa Smith Howe, the former being descended on the maternal side from the De Wolfe family. John Howe was graduated from Brown University in 1805 ; he studied law with Judge Bourne and became a successful practitioner in Bristol, Rhode Island. Mrs. Howe was the daughter of Stephen Smith, Esq., and sister to Bishop B. B. Smith, of Ken- tucky, late presiding bishop of the church in America. John Howe was a member of the congregation of St. Michael's Church, Bristol, in which his son was baptized by Bishop Gris- wold, then rector of the church, as well as bishop of the " Eastern Diocese." Mark An- tony De Wolfe Howe entered the celebrated Phil- lips Academy at Andover, Mass., when about eleven years of age and became in 1824 a pupil of the college at Middlebury, Vt., where he completed his freshman and sophomore years, and was transferred to Brown University, mat- riculating at that institution under Dr. Way- land, and two years later was graduated with high distinction. He became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and was subsequently a successful candidate for a classical tutorship in Brown University.

He entered his father's office as a student of the law ; soon thereafter accepted the position of usher in the Adams Grammar School, Bos- ton, and was the following year appointed mas- ter of the Hawes Grammar School. With great responsibilities resting upon him, and with but little assistance, he was eminently suc- cessful in maintaining discipline, and winning for the school an enviable reputation. He was at this time a regular attendant on St. Matthew's Church, South Boston, and was then confirmed by Bishop Griswold. Turning his attention to the ministry, he began his preparation for its duties, and was admitted as a candidate for holy orders in 1830. Through the influence of Dr. Wayland he was elected classical tutor. in Brown University, and accepted the position at pecuniary sacrifice but with increased oppor- tunities for study. In January, 1832, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Griswold, in St. Michael's Church, Bristol, continuing his duties as tutor at Brown University. In September following he was invited to officiate in the va- cant parish of St. Matthew's Church, Boston, and soon after became rector of St. James' Church, Roxbury. This congregation was then worshipping in a hall, but active measures were in progress for the erection of a new church . edifice, which was built under his successful ministry and consecrated in 1834. He was or- dained to the priesthood in February, 1833, in St. Paul's Church, Boston, by Bishop Griswold. Resigning his rectorship in 1834, he accepted the position of associate editor of the Christian Witness, his colleague being the Rev. Dr. Stone, of St. Paul's Church, Boston, and continued his residence in Roxbury, meanwhile minister- ing in vacant parishes. In 1835 he was called to the rectorship of Christ Church, Cambridge, and, while accepting the position, still retained his connection with the Christian Witness. Recalled to St. James' Church, Roxbury, in 1836, under peculiar and interesting circum- stances, he felt constrained to accept the charge. The debt of the church was speedily reduced from twenty-four thousand to three thousand dollars; and in 1839 a missionary. enterprise was begun at Jamaica Plains, which resulted in the formation of the present St. John's Church.

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 131

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