History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 31

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1320

USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 31

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For a considerable length of time the people, not having any houses specially dedicated to Divine wor- ship, those of them of the Mennonite faith held their meetings in private dwellings. As has already been remarked, the plain, one-story stone dwelling-house, which stood near Good's mill, on land originally taken up by Christian Good, near Bowmansville, while occupied by the Good family, was used for this purpose.

About the beginning of the present century, or a few years earlier (1794), a meeting-house was built on ground now occupied by the village of Bowmans- ville. It was a plain, one-story structure, built of stone, similar in plan and arrangement to other

Mennonite mecting-houses so common in Lancaster County. About four or five feet above the ground there was an offset of about three or four inches on the outside of the wall, that is, from that height the wall was three or four inches thinner than below that point. Tradition says that, while the walls were thus in course of construction, some zealous brother ob- jected that this was a violation of the law of plain- ness and simplicity of style of building. Whereupon Henry Good, the chief carpenter, remarked that after all the building was not by any means as ornate or im- posing as the temple built by Solomon.

The burying-ground, the sacred "Gottes Acker," was and is still located half-way between Good's mill and the Cross- Roads, where a grove of lofty pine-trees has, probably for a century, been sighing a solemn requiem over the graves of the dead. The oldest monuments here date back to 1767. These are mere rude sandstones, with initials and date. Imagination may busy itself in guessing who were first interred here. It is probable that it was some member of the Good family, who came into this neighborhood in 1737, -a conjecture that seems warranted by the initials that are still legible on the moss-grown stones.

Of the earlier ministers, who served these primi- tive congregations, nothing, not even their names, is known. Those of them whose names have come down to our time, probably flourished during the latter part of the last and the beginning of the present cen- tury. Their names were Daniel Gehman1 and Ulric Burkholder, both natives of Switzerland. The former had a wonderful reputation for a species of clairvoy- ance, by means of which the courses of subterranean streains of water were as familiar to him as those flowing on the surface are to ordinary persons. His services were solicited by well-diggers from far and near to direct them where to find water. Tradition says his predictions were always reliable, and his ut- terances infallible. Moreover, it was also currently reported, and generally believed, that his knowledge of the mysterious was not confined to the hidden streams of water flowing underground, but that he also knew of rich deposits of ore of the precious metals; of gold mines vast and boundless, like those read of in fairy tales. Unfortunately for the lovers of mammon, he was a serupulously plain man, whose conscience would not permit him to divulge the se- cret, for fear that the discovery of such fabulous wealth might stimulate a taste for luxury and pride, and thus the secret was buried with him.

Tradition has also handed down to our times the following saying of his: " In that part of Switzerland in which he resided, prior to his emigration, there occurred a summer during which no rain fell at all, and yet such heavy dews descended on the earth that

1 The old house in which he resided, close to the Berks County line, near Adamslown, is still standing. It was built originally by a man named Frey, but when is not now known.

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the water thereof filled the wagon ruts in such abund- ance that sheep could drink out of them." He was the father of Christian Gehman, who served these congregations as a preacher more than a quarter of a century afterwards.

Of Ulric, or contracted Uli Burkholder, hardly any- thing is known at this time, except that he was a blunt, plain-spoken man, and was the father of a number of sons, who like the sons of Eli the old Jewish priest, and the sons of many modern preach- ers, were not particularly shining lights, or models of moral perfection. One story of his son, Peter, has been handed down to posterity, which may serve as a sample of the customs and manners of the time : The old man and his family resided near the present village of Bowmansville, immediately north of it. A stream of water, one of the branches of Muddy Creek, flowed a short distance west of their dwelling. Here some of the neighbors, owners of the soil through which the stream flowed, set fish-nets in the spring of the year, and in those early times fish being abundant, secured heavy draughts. Peter Burkholder knew all about this, and probably believing that fish were com- mou property, which belong equally to all, early one morning before breakfast, raised some of these nets and appropriated their contents. When he came home his father had just got out of bed, and when he saw his son with such a fine mess of fish, he congrat- ulated him on his good luck, kindly invited him to come into the house and partake of a treat of whiskey, which at that time seems to have been constantly kept on hand in every farm-house.

Peter kept quiet until breakfast, when the family was seated around the rude hoard, with a smoking dish of nice fish in their midst. The patriarch of the household was doing full justice to the dainty bill of fare. This was too much for Peter, who broke out in a fit of immoderate laughter, and exclaimed in his vernacular : " Gelt, Vater, die g'stohlene Fish sin' doch gut?" (Well, father! don't the stolen fish taste nicely ?") Whether or not Peter had to suffer the penalty justly due him for his crime, tradition does not inform us.

The bishop, or " Volle Diener," contemporaneous with the two ministers just mentioned, was Henry Martin, who resided in the Conestoga Valley at Wea- verland. After these came another trio of minis- ters, who served the congregations that used to wor- ship in that plain meeting-house from about the year 1825, and afterwards, who are much better remem- bered, though all dead for more than a quarter of a century.

The first was Christian Good, a grandson of the original Christian, who resided a short distance south- east of Good's mill. He was a man of considerable natural parts, and, for his time and opportunities, of respectable information. He had read some books, and had an intelligent comprehension of their con- tents. He was the author of a German hymn, in

the forin of an acrostic, which he composed during his last illness, while confined to his room by a lin- gering consumption. Its execution shows that he had some knowledge of metrical composition. He was for all that, however, a strict constructionist of the striet conditions of his faith. When by reason of careless and unskillful cultivation the farms of the whole neighborhood had become exhausted, and many of his neighbors began to use lime as a fertil- izer, he opposed the innovation on principles of morality, contending that it was the spirit of discon- tent and an inordinate desire after worldly riches that prompted them in their endeavors to improve the productiveness of their farms. In his delivery lie was slow, calm, and deliberate, wholly unimpassioned. In person he was rather tall and slim. In dress, of course, scrupulously plain.

The second was Christian Gehman, a man of quite a different stamp. His manner was ardent and his address earnest and impassioned. His style of preach- ing was hortatory, in point of intelligence and general information vastly inferior to his colleague, but cal- culated to impress an audience much more pro- foundly than his more thoughtful and methodical brother. He resided near Adamstown, just across the line in Berks County.

Then there was Jacob Zimmerman, who was the bishop or " Volle Diener" of the district, whose resi- dence was in the Conestoga Valley some four miles from Bowmansville. Ile came around twice each year, in the spring and fall, to administer the sacra- ment of the Lord's Supper, and to perform the rite of baptism. In person he was a short, thick set man, who wore his hair long, parted in the middle. His face was round and fat. His coat was of the plainest style. He was easily overcome by his emotion, and shed many tears during almost every sermon he preached.

These preachers, who had been selected from among their brethren by lot, had never received any other than the merest rudiments of an education. The only training they received for their calling was their ex- perience in the exercise of their sacred office. And yet in their discourses they generally manifested a wonderful acquaintance with the Scripture, often quoting passage after passage, and generally correctly. In their exegesis they were mystical ; every passage of Scripture almost had for them a secondary, spir- itual, or allegorical meaning.

The Mennonite meeting-house spoken of consti- tuted the only building in the township dedicated to the public worship of God. Those of other denomi- nations residing within its borders assisted to erect and maintain United Lutheran and Reformed Churches in locations outside of its limits. Of these there were originally two, -- Allegheny Church in Brecknock township, Berks Co., and Muddy Creek Church in Cocalico township, Laneaster Co. The land on which the latter wns built was, by the Proprietaries of Penn- sylvania, by warrant issued May 8, 1744, to Henry

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Haller and Peter Fry, given to the use of the Lutheran selection of seeds, gradually hut surely exhausted the virgin strength of the soil. and Reformed congregations worshiping at that place. Afterwards Centre Church, in Earl township, Was During the decade preceding the commencement of the present century and a few years later the pros- perity of these colonists must have been consider- able. This is evident from the style of the dwell- ings that were built about that period. These houses, in point of architectural pretensions, as well as size and character, have not been surpassed, if equaled, anywhere in the township since. The native strength erected near the tract (if not part of it) which was originally granted to the hereinbefore-mentioned William Morris. Of the ministers who served these several charges prior to the last half-century nothing definite is known; but within the last half-century there were two ministers who served these churches whose memory has come down to the present genera- tion. They were both native Americans, though they , of the virgin soil had not as yet been exhausted, and preached exclusively in the German language. One ( these farms, or large portions of them, having been of them was Rev. Daniel Hertz, who was pastor of but recently cleared, were probably highly produc- tive. But the suicidal policy of these primitive farmers ruined the fertility of their soil, and having run through the disastrous rotation of crops from wheat to rye, and from rye to buckwheat, left their fields barren and their exchequers impoverished. the German Reformed wing of these congregations. He resided near Ephrata, and for a great many years served the churches at Muddy Creek and Centre, as well as some others at the same time. In person he was tall and commanding, and had a strong and rather agreeable voice. In the management of church matters he generally displayed shrewdness and tact, and an intimate acquaintance with human nature.

. The other was Rev. Samuel Trumbauer, who was a Lutheran iu faith, and also for a long series of years served his brethren of like faith who worshiped at the two churches above named, but for a longer period at Centre than at Muddy Creek. In person he was but slightly built and rather below the medium height. He was an earnest man, zealous in the discharge of his pastoral duties, and was by many of his flock much beloved and highly esteemed. He resided in Mechanicsburg, on the Lancaster and New Holland turnpike, at a distance of more than a dozen mites from his congregations. Both these clergymen have been dead for many years.

A certain kind of astrology was assiduously studied by some of these primitive agriculturists. The as- cending and descending nodes of the moon were sup- posed to exert a general influence on the products of the field, and more especially the garden. The signs of the zodiac, as set out in Billmeyer's Almanac (the predecessor of Baer's) had to be consulted before sow- ing, planting, or reaping the several crops. Neglect or mistake in the observance of these rules was be- lieved to work great harm to the crops that were about to be committed to the earth. One can scarcely con- template this belief in signs and times so prevalent among our ancestors without coming to the conclu- sion that they are remnants of the old mythology that prevailed among the light-haired and blue-eyed Teutons while they still worshiped Odin and Thor in the dense forests bordering on the Rhine and Elbe.

In regard to the methods of tilling the soil, it ap- pears evident that the first settlers of Breeknock pur- sued the sante careless and unthrifty course that is now so prevalent in new settlements in the Western States, Shallow and often unseasonable plowing, improvidence in the preparation and application of manures, and general unskillful farming, without any attention to a regular rotation of crops or the proper

About the years from 1830 to 1540 the farmers of Brecknock township reached an important crisis in their history. Their sandy soil, naturally requiring careful farming, was giving out. Their wheat har- vests for successive years had been failures. About 1835 the failure of the wheat crop was so general throughout the country that breadstuffs had to be imported from Europe to supply the actual wants of the people. Resort was had to cornmeal, mashed potatoes, and other ingredients, which were mixed with wheat flour, of which bread was baked.

But their impoverished fields would no longer pro- duce the bare necessaries of life. Some emigrated West, which then meant the State of Ohio. After these had settled in their far Western homes, corre- spondence was opened between them and their rela- tives and friends who remained behind. Visits were also interchanged between them, although the dis- tance seemed long and the road wound around pre- cipitous mountains and through dense forests.

These visitors when they returned, as well as the letters of correspondents, brought strange stories from these Western settlements into the old homesteads. They told of houses that were built in one day, of which the foundations had been laid in the morning, the logs cut in the forest, the walls of the cabin raised, the clapboards split, the roof and chimney all built in the same day, so that the weary emigrant, with his wife and little ones, slept the first night securely shel- tered under its rude roof. But perhaps the strangest thing of all were the "Yankeys," who had farms without barns, and with whom the men did all the work, even milked the cows and attended to the dairy, while the women had nothing to do but to attend to dress and make and receive social calls, even during the busy season of haymaking and harvest, when all hands on the farm, men, women, and children, ought to be busy from early morn till dewy eve.

But not all of these emigrants moved West. Some went north and settled in the British province of C'anada. There seems to have existed a special mo-

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HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY.

tive for the Mennonites to go to Canada. The British government, they thought, was more friendly towards them than the new democracy just established in the United States. William Penn, a Quaker, professing religious principles almost identical with theirs, had inspired them with love and confidence towards the British Crown. During the Revolutionary struggle they had generally remained loyal to their old govern- ment. This was from motives radically different from those which inspired the ordinary Tory. With the one they sprang from religious and conscientious convictions of duty, while with the latter they were merely political questions to be settled by the dictates of self-interest.

But whatever the motives were, a number of these excellent people emigrated and sought their fortunes in better and rieher soil. As early as the year 1816, Rev. Joseph Bauman, a Mennonite preacher, who re- sided on a farm in the Allegheny Valley, in Berks County, Pa., about four miles northeast from Bow- mansville, had moved to Waterloo, then part of Hal- ton County, Upper Canada, and settled there. This year is memorable on account of its unprecedentedly cold summer, not one month of which was exempt from frost, even in Lancaster County. Upper Canada, surrounded by lakes and in a higher latitude, was, of course, proportionally colder. These new settlers thought their home almost a Siberia, and were conse- quently much alarmed on account of the coldness of the climate, till their fears were allayed by milder seasons in subsequent years.

But, of course, all could not leave their old neigh- borhood, and those that remained behind on their worn-out farms had no alternative left but to attempt the improvement of the impoverished soil these emi- grants had left behind. To effect this object the ap- plication of lime as a fertilizer was generally resorted to. Numerous limekilns were constructed through- out the country, in which limestone, brought from the adjoining townships of Earl and Cocalico, dis- tances from three to five miles, were burned into lime. Wood, being plenty and cheap, was at that time exclusively used for this purpose. The happy effects of the application of lime as a fertilizer soon manifested themselves in the more luxuriant crops of the farmer.

When the 'agrienlturist once had his attention di- rected to the improvement of the soil, he was not satisfied with using only one means to accomplish his objeet. Other means and methods were tried and adopted. Improved varieties of grain and grass- seeds were procured, the proper times for planting and the most advantageous rotations of crops were studied. The introduction of improved breeds of horses, cattle, and other animals on the farm natur- ally followed in the march of the other improve- ments, These changes, however, were, of course, introduced only gradually, and were not effected withont much opposition. The agricultural commu-

nity became divided into two classes of parties, such as every revolution produces, the progressive and conservative. The former included the younger and more enterprising portion of the community, while the latter was composed of those everywhere styled "old fogies."

Politics, in its ordinary sense, did not much dis- turb this secluded community in the even tenor of their way. When the Anti-Masonic party was organ- ized, and the story of the abduction and murder of William Morgan was assiduously circulated, most of them became Anti-Masons and supported the election of Joseph Ritner for Governor. It is not known that any citizen of Brecknock township ever held a county or State office prior to about 1838, when Philip Von Nieda was elected to the Legislature of the State, to which office he was re-elected for a second term. About 1855, Daniel Bowman was elected a director of the poor, and in 1857 Anthony Good was elected recorder of deeds of the county of Lancaster.

Nearly all the newspapers that were read were printed in the German language. Der Readinger Adler, sometimes called "Berks County Bible," was the organ of those who professed the Democratic faith, while Der Volksfreund, edited by John Baer, of Lancaster, was read by the members of the Whig party. There was more party feeling then than there is now, and editors presumed more on the ignorance of the masses than they dare to do at this day. Then it was quite common to appeal to farmers, laborers, ete., as a class against capitalists and office-holders as a class.

In relation to matters of education, these people were too much engrossed in procuring their material subsistence to pay attention to the cultivation of their minds. They were isolated from the great world, both by locality and their language. As yet there was no system of education by public schools, and these farmers, who had a hand-to-hand struggle to obtain their daily bread, had neither time, means, nor taste for the establishment of private schools.

The Mennonite meeting-house near Good's Mill was each winter, up to about the year 1832, used as school-house. At Stover's, near Adamstown, at the Dry Tavern, about two miles southwest from Bow- mansville, at Boehm's, a short distance southeast of Good's mill, and at Schlebach's, quite at the southern end of the township, were log huts which were used as school-houses for a few weeks or months during the inclement season of the winter, when the cold weather prevented work on the farm. That no teacher of competent qualifications came to these se- eluded parts to engage in his occupation must be at onee apparent. Men engaged in teaching because they could not get anything better to do, or because they were physically disabled for the performance of ordinary manual labor.

Of the teachers who first taught the children of the schools in Brecknock township, the names of

BRECKNOCK TOWNSHIP.

681

only two or three have descended to our times. One of them, named Altsdorf, was a German, who wrote a very beautiful hand, and who understood drawing and vocal music. As far as known, he never taught within the limits of the township, but some of the children attended his school, kept in the adjoining township of Earl. Then there was another German teacher named Grimm, but who was not by any means as eminent a grammarian or lexicographer as his modern namesake. He was either from Hesse or Brunswick, and came over during the Revolutionary war, along with the other mercenaries of the British king. There are no traditions of his literary profi- cieney, but the reminiscences of the severe flagella- tions he administered to his scholars have been faith- fully handed down to posterity.

There was another German pedagogue named John Peter Hoefer, of whose memory nothing survives, ex- cept that he had a famous controversial correspond- enee with Samuel Bowman, Esq., when the latter was still quite young and just entering on his career as a teacher. In this new teacher, who about 1821 taught at the Mennonite meeting-house, and some years later at the Dry Tavern, the rising generation enjoyed a superior grade of instruction.

Later, about 1830, James Stilwell taught several winters at the Dry Tavern, and about 1833 a man named Henry Bowers kept the school at Schlebach's for several winters.

At this time most of the boys attempted to learn to read and write both the English and German lan- guages. This state of things made it necessary for the teacher to be proficient in both tongues. Few of them were able to teach both correctly. The pupils labored under great disadvantages in more than one respect. As a rule, they understood only the Penn- sylvania German dialect. The school-books were either in English or High German, either of which they understood but imperfectly. Add to this draw- back the short term the school usually continued, the irregular attendance of the scholars, and the very imperfect methods of instruction ordinarily employed, and it is not difficult to form a correct estimate of the mental culture and literary capacity of the population of Brecknock township of those days. Their imper- fect acquaintance with the language of their text- books was especially trying in the study of arithmetic. The pupil was very much embarrassed in attempting to solve a problem, the enunciation of which was set forth in an unknown tongue.

As a rule, the girls were not tanght further than to read, and that mostly only in German. Very few were so fortunate as to be taught to write. The boys, in view of their prospective lines of business, were generally taught to read and write both languages, and some of them were taught arithmetic so far as the rule of the three; but there were many men whose education in the science of numbers was al- most totally neglected.

The common school system was first introduced into Pennsylvania under the provisions of the act of Assembly passed April 1, A.D. 1834, in which the preamble declares that the education of the people was enjoined by the Constitution as a solemn- duty which could not be neglected without disregard of the moral and political safety of the people. The supplementary act of April 15, A.D. 1835, provided that " where any township or distriet in any school division votes in the negative on the question of ac- cepting the law to which this is a supplement, said township or district shall not be compelled to accept the same."

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History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 31

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1320

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Evans, Samuel, 1823-1908, joint author
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1320