USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > History of Berks county in Pennsylvania > Part 66
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"' And did not even Dr. Ezra Styles Ely, the grand representative, as he calls himself, of the Presbyterian church, propose a new union, a Christian party in politics ? Therefore,
" '1. Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting, it is highly important that public disapprobation should be freely expressed as to the numerous socie- ties now existing or about being originated under the pleasing pretext of Christian benevolence; but in reality [possessing no views other than private gain, personal ambition and the political ascendancy of the priesthood.
" ' 2. Resolved, That we view education as the first
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
principle of our liberty, and therefore approve of Sunday-schools disconnected with the union, as con- ducive to the best interests of mankind; but that we view in the Sunday-School Union an alarming evil about to desolate our land, by instilling into the youthful mind bigotry, superstition and fanaticism, and thus controlling the infant, they secure the man, to crouch and cower beneath the mitre and crosier of ecclesiastical tyranny.
"'3. Resolved, That we consider the distribution of the Bible as laudable and beneficial, but that we view the extensive establishment of the Bible Society, controlled as it is by priestcraft, as a dangerous and horrible machine, capable of being perverted to the accomplishment of the vilest purpose, the destruction of civil and religious liberty.
"' 4. Resolved, That we admit that those romances called tracts may benefit when they contain gospel precepts and doctrines compatible with reason and common sense. But that the millions disseminated by the American Tract Society are so much fanati- cism and bigotry to lead the thoughtless into the snares of priestcraft.
"'5. Resolved, That we view missionary societies as totally useless, connected as they are by auxiliaries and branches throughout the country, and that, what- ever may be their avowed object, their real purpose is to collect funds to make sectarians and not Christians. Our Saviour and his disciples, when on earth, taught us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteous- ness, and that all other things will be added, but these missionaries bow first to mammon, to the obvious neglect of all other more important objects.
" '6. Resolved, That we disapprove of Theological Seminaries as not within the spirit of Republican In- stitutions, inasmuch as they generate a progeny of idle metaphysicians, trained to the absurdities of their teachers, and ever prepared, by unity of action, to further the most extravagant designs.
"'7. Resolved, That we are determined not to coun- tenance the above-named institutions, but rather aid in their decline; and that we will support no minister in connection with them. That we respect and have due deference for Christian teachers, and that we feel rejoiced to acknowledge that many of this class among us disapprove of the measures we have at- tempted to expose.
"'8. Resolved, That we condemn the measures of the German Reformed Synod, convened last year at Mifflinburg, Union county, as recorded in the publi- cation of their proceedings, and particularly as to their supererogation in indicating what Almanac should be used, and their views as to enforcing a more strict observance of the Sabbath.
· "'9. Resolved, That we approve of the proceedings of the meeting held May 21, 1829, at Gernaut's, in Heidelberg; that we join with them in supporting our religious rights and guarding our Civil Liberty.
"'10. Resolved, That we instruct our representatives
in the National as well as in the State Legislature, to suppress, with their most earnest exertion, every measure calculated in the least to curtail the rights of conscience.
" '11. Resolved, That the following-named persons be a committee of correspondence, with power to call meetings whenever, in their opinion, the exigency of the case may require : Oley township, Peter Knabb, Jr., Jacob H. Reiff; Exeter, Isaac Ritter, John Esterly, Col. W. Reiter, Daniel Guldin ; Robeson, George Focht, John Westly; Brecknock, Nicholas Lesher, John Ziemer, Esq.
"' Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the officers of the day, and published in such papers as have at heart the rights of conscience and, of course, the liberty of the people.
"' JOHN GULDIN, President.
"' ABRAHAM BRUMBACH, Vice-Presidents.
"' WILLIAM REITER,
" ' DANIEL ESTERLY,
"'JACOB BRUMBACH,
Secretaries.'
" Among the members present, the following sub- scribed their names to be published with the proceed- ings :
" Henry Huet, John Meyer, Jacob K. Hill, John Fiess, Jacob Kanp, John Kuehn, John Kaup, Henry Yorgy, Abraham Guldin, Jacob Maurer, Thomas Lincoln, Henry Davidsheiser, William Hoefer, Daniel Ritter, Adam Hutter, John Wien, Samuel Geiger, Joseph Klein, Jacob Marschall, Charles Kuehn, Adam Whitman, C. F. Egelman, Henry Liebig, Nicholas Lescher, Daniel Rhoads, William Rieser, Samuel Hechler, Henry Romer, Jacob Spies, Leonard Lebo, Godlieb Moyer, Samnel Heflicher, George Hnetter, Abraham Dieter, George Weiler, John Trevis, David Guldin, Isaac Huett, Samuel Bechtel, Ludwig Meyer, George Hnett, Daniel Kaup, George Boyer, Christian Hoffmaster, George Hoefer, John Guldin, Jr., Jacob Levan, Jr., Daniel Guldin, John Guthart, Daniel Knauer, Samuel Yorgy, John Hiester, Samuel Levan, John Babb, Thomas Smith, Philip Brown, William Morris, Daniel Focht, James Emes, Henry Emes, John W. Tyson, George Till, Abel Levering, Daniel Schaeffer, Martin Steiner, G. A. Sage, Peter Knabb, Jr., Peter Phillippi, William Green."
SUNDAY MAILS .- During the winter of 1829-30 similar excitement prevailed through- out the county respecting the transportation of mail on Sunday. Attempts had been made, by petitions of certain religious societies to the Congress of the previous year, to induce legisla- tion on the subject, but the general remon- strance was so earnest that the committee of ref- erence reported adversely to the prayer of the petitioners, intimating in their report that Con-
372
HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
gress ought not, and could not legally, exercise the power of legislation on questions which in- volved religious observance and the rights of conscience ; and these attempts were being re- newed before the Congress then sitting. These caused the development of great feeling every- where on the subject. A large meeting of the citizens of the county was held in the court- house, at Reading, on the 23d of January, 1830, for the purpose of uttering a protest against interference on the one hand or legislation on the other. John Klopp, of Heidelberg, was president of the meeting ; General William High, of Alsace, vice-president, and Dr. Wil- liam Palm, of Cumru, and Samuel S. Jackson, of Reading, were secretaries. In pursuance of the object of the meeting, a committee, distin- guished for men of great ability and influence, was appointed to draft appropriate resolutions. It was composed of David .F. Gordon, George M. Keim, George Fox, Isaac Ritter and Dr. William J. C. Baum. In the resolutions re- ported, the attempts to induce legislation pro- hibiting the transportation of mail on Sunday were disapproved, because it was believed that such attempts were incipient steps towards the attainment of an object fatal to religious free- dom-the uniou of civil and ecclesiastical au- thority in the same individuals. The institu- tion of Sunday as a day of civil repose and religious worship was recognized for its im- portance and utility too obvious to be questioned ; but "while we acknowledge the obligation of the Christian world to employ it in worship and works of benevolence and charity, we regard all endeavors to fetter the couscience of men and to force them to worship God in a pre- scribed mode as impious, tyrannous and illegal." The laws restricting worldly employment on Sunday are the limit of human authority. And it was considered "the imperative duty of citizens, as often as attempts shall be made by ill-advised individuals to procure legislative enactments in restraint of the rights of con- science, to assemble together and publicly ex- press their sentiments in reference thereto, so that their representatives may be instructed as to the views of their constituents and not mis- take the outcry of zealots for the voice of the
people." A committee of three was appointed from eachı district to procure " remonstrances to Congress against legislation relating to the car- rying of mail on Sunday." Appropriate peti- tions were circulated and subscribed by many persons. These were forwarded to Congress. And this expression of public sentiment caused the religious movement to cease its agitation and finally pass away. The transportation of mail on Sunday was not prohibited, but con- tinued as a work of necessity.
COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY .-- A "Bible Society" having been in successful operation at Phila- delphia, a similar society was deemed useful for the county of Berks. Accordingly, after having agitated the subject here, certain prominent citizens held a meeting in the " Public Building" on Wednesday, November 24, 1819, and or- ganized a society for the county. Every person was allowed to become a member upon the pay- ment of one dollar ; a life member, ten dollars. The following officers were elected for the first year : President, Rev. H. A. Muhlenberg; Vice-Presidents, Rev. John F. Grier and Rev. William Pauli ; Treasurer, John McKnight ; Secretary, Samuel Baird, Jr .; Managers, Fran- cis Swaine, George De B. Keim, William Bell, George Getz, John Birkinbine, Peter Stichter and Benjamin Davies.
It would seem that this organization was allowed to "slumber," for nothing was heard' of it or from it for nearly ten years after- ward.
In 1827 the Bible Society of New Jersey re- solved to supply every destitute family with a copy of the Bible before January 1, 1828. This resolve was actually accomplished.
This example encouraged the Bible Society of Philadelphia to make a similar effort, and nearly all the counties in the State resolved to co-operate with the Philadelphia Society. The " Berks County Bible Society " was not back- ward. Committees were appointed in the different boroughs and townships, and through them it was learned that upward of two thou- sand families in the county were without the Bible.
Twenty-four years elapsed before the society began its operations again. On September 22,
373
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
1851, it organized with Dr. H. H. Muhlenberg as president ; and on October 27, 1852, the first annual report was submitted. The labor of the society was mostly in the eastern and southern portions of the county.
Families visited in the county, 5474, esti- mated one-third of all. Of these, 1166 families were without a complete copy of the Bible, though most of them had a copy of the New Testament.
The society sold 1738 Bibles and 2581 Testa- ments, and donated to destitute families 65 Bibles and 75 Testaments ; sold at depository, 40 Bibles and 82 Testameuts; whole number distributed during first year of society's opera- tion, 4582.
A " Female Bible Society of Reading " was also organized in the same year (1851). During the first year of its existence it sold and donated one hundred and seventy Bibles and Testa- ments. The population of Reading was then about sixteen thousand, and comprised about three thousand families. The supply was there- fore very small. And this is an indication that the religious work in the city had been done quite effectively by the several religious de- nominations. The district of Reading does not appear in the following table, owing evidently to this society.
In December, 1853, the Berks County Society presented its second report. It showed the en- tire result of its labors from beginning to end, in the matter of exploring the whole county of Berks and supplying the people with Bibles. In the aggregate, one family in every five and a quarter families was found not to possess an en- tire copy of the Bible. Eight thousand nine hundred and one Bibles were added to the num- ber previously in the county.
Families visited 10,969
Families destitute of whole Bible. 2,087
English Bibles sold. 1,036
German Bibles sold. 2,529
English Testaments sold 2,543
German Testaments sold. 1,360
English and German Testaments sold. 948
No. of Bibles given to poor people .. 102
No. of Testaments given to poor children .. 133 Cash for Bibles and Testaments sold. $3,758
Donations. 319 Bibles and Testaments sold at depository ... 154
The following table will show the labor of the society in the several districts of the county :
Families visited.
Families
destituto.
Caernarvon,
Robeson,
Union,
880
89
Brecknock,
Cumru (east part),
Alsace
301
60
Oley
331
40
Exeter
312
59
Amity
268
43
Earl
201
46
Douglass
223
40
Colebrookdale
247
44
Ruscomb-manor
229
71
Perry 256
58
Washington
278
108
Muhlenberg.
260
58
Ontelaunee.
181
37
Maiden-creek 212
272
76
Pike.
154
35
District
176
72
Richmond
388
88
Greenwich
352
84
Albany
240
50
Hereford
245
66
Longswamp
214
76
Maxatawny.
300
49
Kutztown
115
18
Windsor
184
54
Hamburg
216
34
Bernville
61
5
Womelsdorf.
181
17
Cumru (part). 115
17
Bethel 442
54
Heidelberg.
171
23
Lower Heidelberg
407
63
North Heidelberg. 167
11
Marion. 299
32
Penn 173
27
Tulpehocken and Jefferson 447
99
Upper Tulpehocken. 264
39
Spring. 368
74
Bern.
330
64
Centre 177
25
Upper Bern
334
63
(Washington and District appear to have been specially destitute. This was supposed by the society to have been owing to the Papist population.)
54
Rockland
374
HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
CHAPTER XV.
GENERAL EDUCATION.
Early Encouragement-Charity Schools-Common-School Education-County Institute -Pay Schools- Compara- tive Table of Schools and Scholars.
EARLY ENCOURAGEMENT .- Our first settlers appreciated the great importance of education, and encouraged it as a means of promoting the general welfare. They were not slow in erec- ting churches wherever they had effected a con- siderable settlement, and in them they caused their children to be taught the common branches of knowledge, such as spelling, reading, writing and arithmetic, so as to enable them to conduct their daily affairs with success. This teaching was influenced to a great degree by the religious spirit that prevailed amongst them ; indeed, re- ligious principles were considered a vital part of their education. By this, it is apparent that the school was regarded as of equal importance with the church. The two were therefore con- ducted together, the one for the younger folks, the other for the older,-the one for secular knowledge, the other for spiritual.
In the first settlements, and, indeed, till the passage of the common-school law of 1834, the education that prevailed throughout the length and breadth of the county was almost entirely German, the Friends having had several schools in different parts of the county, in which they encouraged and carried on English education. The prevalence of German education was a natural consequence from the great predomin- ance of German settlers over all other nation- alities. In Exeter, Maiden-creek and Robeson districts the Friends were rather numerous, and they established English schools at an early period, and continued them for many years. Both the Germans and Friends had the spirit of education ; they knew its advantage; they felt its necessity ; they, therefore, encouraged it from the beginning. And they had the energy and good sense to give it proper direction.
The first German settlers brought along their teachers and ministers. These were so recog- nized before emigration. If there were no minister, the teacher officiated in both capacities. Some teachers even practiced their trades, such
as tailoring or shoemaking, whilst teaching. A notion has obtained that education was not carried on to any considerable extent in the county at an early day, and till the adoption of the common-school system. This is a mistaken notion. A good idea can be obtained from the following extract of a letter, dated Reading, April 9, 1763, addressed by Rev. Alexander Murray to the secretary of the venerable Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, stationed in England :
"The county for miles around this town is thick peopled, but what few else than Germans and Quakers, the former being computed twelve to one of all other nations together, and seem to be abundantly well pro- vided 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 great service to them. For this they might be at no loss for English school-masters, yet they choose to send their children rather to German schools, which they have everywhere in great plenty."
This was the condition in 1763, eleven years after the county had been erected. But it will not be presumed that this condition did not prevail-in proportion to the number of the inhabitants-for many years before. Schools and school-teachers were not only in the lower and central sections of the county before its erection in 1752, but they were also in the upper, miles to the northwest, near the Blue Mountain.
CHARITY SCHOOLS .- A charitable society was established early for the relief and instruction of poor Germans and their descendants in Penn- sylvania. Previous to 1751 certain Reformed ministers who had settled among the German emigrants in Peunsylvania found them in dis- tress. They entreated the churches of Holland to com miserate their unhappy fellow-Christians, and contributions were, therefore, sent to these remote parts. In 1751 Holland and West Friesland granted two thousand guilders per an- num for five years towards instructing the Ger- mans and their children in Pennsylvania. Great encouragement was given to this scheme by persons of the first rank in Great Britain. King George III. contributed one thousand pounds towards this object, and the Princess Dowager of Wales one hundred pounds ; and
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GENERAL EDUCATION.
the proprietaries engaged to give a considerable sum every year to promote the undertaking. The society then adopted certain resolutions for the management of the scheme, and proposed a plan for establishing schools. The Governor of the province recognized the utility of the seheme' aud appointed a board of trustees for its proper direction. Conrad Weiser was one of the members of this board, and Rev. Mi- chael Schlatter was appointed general supervisor. Petitions from Reading and Tulpehocken were addressed to the board in the early part of 1755 for the purpose of obtaining the benefit of these contributions in establishing some of these schools here, and Schlatter accordingly organized a school at each of the places named.
The charity schools proved an utter failure. Sehlatter was personally the chief sufferer. His official position as superintendent of these schools rendered him the main object of popn- lar hatred. For a time the Lutheran and Re- formed ministers sustained him. But the peo- ple (especially Germans) lost confidence in this enterprise through the denunciation of Christo- pher Saur, who, in his German newspaper, represented that these schools were intended to prepare the way for the establishment of the Church of England. And in this way Schlat- ter's infinenee was entirely destroyed.2
The force of German energy and devotion manifested itself thoroughly wherever it found a resting-place. Samuel Wharton, in 1755, imputed the wrong bias of the German settlers against the proprietary government to their stubborn genius and ignorance, which, he pro- posed, should be softened by education, so as to give them right views of public interests. He suggested that faithful Protestant ministers and schoolmasters should be supported amongst them ; that their children should be taught the English tongne ; and in order to incline them to become English in education and feeling quieker, the English language was to be used in all bonds and legal instruments ; and no news-
paper or almanac was to be eirculated amongst them unless accompanied by an English trans- lation. Even sueh rigid measures could not hinder the exercise of this peculiar force. It grew, nevertheless. It caused schools to be ereeted and German education to be carried on successfully. And legislation could not direct it into a different channel.
COMMON-SCHOOL EDUCATION .- Varions and repeated legislative attempts were made, in pur- suanee of the constitutional provision, towards general education throughont the State. The reformers apparently labored hard to develop a satisfactory system, and, fortunately for the people, their earnest purpose prevailed against arguments, obstacles and prejudices of all kinds. We must admire their persistence, for they con- tinued their exertions through a period of sixty years. A generous, noble spirit accompanied them. This aided them in their progressive course. It gave them true, moral courage, when courage was necessary ; it developed a public sentiment gradually in their behalf; and, finally, it established the compulsory system provided by the act of 1849, improved by the act of 1854.
A great weakness in the early history of this good cause was the incompetency of teachers. Educated, experienced men and women could not be obtained ; duty to their families and themselves obliged them to labor in vocations which afforded a fair remuneration for their services. Pronounced opposition discouraged those who may have felt inclined to teacb. A general tax for the purpose was considered burdensome and unjust. The less paid then the better. The levy of an appreciable amount would certainly have caused a lond, perhaps a costly, demonstration. The seed had to be sown, and the plant therefrom had to grow, however slowly the growth. A little was bet- ter than nothing. We cannot, at this day, un- derstand the feeling that prevailed previous to 1834. The change in fifty years has been truly wonderful.
But a greater weakness than incompetent teachers existed. This was the distinctive feat- ure of the schools and the children attend- ing them. They were called " pauper schools"
1 See Rupp's "Ilistory of Berks County," pp. 99-109, for a long statement of the scheme prepared by Wm. Smith, secretary of the society at Philadelphia in 1755.
2 Dubbs' "Historic Manual of Reformed Church," pp. 203, 204.
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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.
and " pauper scholars." This was odious to the poor ; therefore the poor shunned them. The system, as a creature of legislation, was erro- neous. It developed a separation of the people, and thereby the very object of a generous Leg- islature was naturally frustrated. Hence, it was a failure. In 1833, when the State contained about eight hundred thousand children, less than twenty-five thousand attended the common schools,-just one in thirty-one, or about three percent.,-notwithstanding the offer of education at the public expense. In 1883 the State con- tained about two million children ; the number attending common schools was 957,680-nearly one-half or forty-eight per cent. This shows an increase of sixteen-fold in fifty years.
The general system of education "free to all," provided by the act of 1834, is attribu- table to a society which was organized at Phila- delphia in 1827. The express object of this society was general education throughout the State, and its efforts, after laboring in this behalf for seven years, culminated in the passage of the act mentioned.
In 1835 a great effort was made to repeal this act, but it failed. The credit of preserv- ing the system at that time is generally given to Governor George Wolf and Hon. Thaddeus Stevens.
The subject of education was discussed as a public question of importance immediately after the "Declaration of Independence," and for nearly eighty years afterward, till the adoption of a compulsory scheme which came to be re- garded as generally satisfactory and worthy of enforcement. It was, in fact, discussed from the beginning of the provincial government. William Penn recognized its importance and encouraged it. He declared that " that which makes a good constitution must keep it, viz .: men of wisdom and virtue, qualities that, because they descend not with worldly inheritance, must be carefully propagated by a virtuous educa- tion of youth." In his "Frame of Govern- ment " he provided that the Governor aud Pro- vincial Council should erect and order all public schools.
In 1682 the Assembly made the following provision :
" And to the end that Poor as well as Rich may be instructed in good and commendable learning, which is to be preferred before wealth, Be it enacted that all persons in this Province and the territories there- of, having children, and all the Guardians or Trustees of Orphans, shall cause snch to be instructed in read- ing and writing, so that they may be able to read the Scriptures, and to write by that time they attain to twelve years of age; and that then they be tanght some nseful trade or skill, that the poor may work to live, and the rich, if they become poor, may not want; of which every County Court shall take care."
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