USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > History of Lancaster County : to which is prefixed a brief sketch of the early history of Pennsylvania > Part 16
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"The consciences of the before mentioned could, how- ever, find no satisfaction in these; they, therefore, desired him, who was their minister, to baptize them by immersion; according to the example and practice of the first christians and primitive believers; he felt a diffidence to comply with their request on account of his not being baptized himself, he desired, therefore, first to be baptized before he could conscientiously baptize any of them; and they betook themselves to fasting and prayer, in order to obtain help and direction in this case, from Him who is the restorer of paths to dwell in, for they were all desirous to be baptized. In this dilemma, a testimony of scripture revived in their minds, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst."
"Wherefore, with an unbroken confidence in the precious promise of God, they cast lots, who of the four brethren should baptize him, that was anxiously desirous of being baptized; they pledged their word, at the same time, that it should remain a secret upon whom the lot fell, that no one might take occasion to call the society by the name of any man, as was the case with the Corinthian church, which was sharply reproved by the Apostle."
"The crisis for the camp to move forward, had now arrived; they were now made willing in the day of the Lord's power; accordingly, they went out in the morn- ing, to a stream called Ader, and then, he, upon whom the lot had fallen, baptized the brother, who was so anxious to submit to the ordinance. This being done, he was acknowledged as duly qualified; he baptized him first by whom he had been baptized, and the three remaining brethren, and the sisters; thus were these eight, at an early hour in the morning, baptized in the
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water by trine immersion; and after they came up out of the water, and had changed their clothes, they were filled with joy, and by the grace of God, these expres- sions were revived in their minds with peculiar energy, "be ye fruitful and multiply."
They met with no small share of opposition and per- secution, notwithstanding these, they soon increased, wherever the hand of persecution had driven them; some fled to Holland, some to Creyfels, in the Dutchy of Cleves; and the mother church voluntarily removed to. Serustervin, in Friesland. In a very short time, there were efficient laborers in this branch of God's moral vineyard; especially at Creyfels. Among the brethren there were John H. Kalklosor, from Frankenthal, Christian Leib, and Abraham Dubois, from Ebstein, John Naas, and others, from the north, Peter Becker, from Dilsheim, John H. Traut, and his brethren, and Stephen Koch, George B. Gantz, from Umstadt, and Michael Ecker- ling, from Strasburg. Among these, as their leader, was Alexander Mack, who devoted his property to the com- mon use of the society, and emigrated to Pennsylvania, in 1729,* where persecuted virtue found an asylum under the benign Government of Penn. They first settled at Germantown, some at Skippack, Oley, others at Conestoga, and elsewhere. A congregation of them was organized, and they chose Peter Becker, as official baptizer.
The society increased rapidly, and soon a church was formed in Lancaster county, at Muelbach, ( Mill creek ). One of the prominent members of this last mentioned
*Im Jahr, 1729, ist Alexander Mack, der Urstaender der Taeufer, samt den uebrigen gedachter Gemeinde, von Fries- land abgesetzt und in Pennsylvanien angekommen .- Peter Miller.
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church, was Conrad Beissel, a native of Germany. He was converted in 1715. He had fled from the persecu- tions of that period. He arrived in America in 1720, and in 1721, settled at Mill creek, where he, and one Stuntz, built a house; and they were soon joined by Isaac Von Babern, George Stiefel, and others. It appears from an extract of the Ephrata Chronicle, that Conrad Beissel was baptized by Peter Becker, in Pequea creek, in 1724. Soon a new organization arose from the Dunkers .* Beissel, "wholly intent upon seeking out the true obligation of the word of God, and the proper observances of the rites and ceremonies it im- poses, stripped of human authority, he conceived that there was an error among the Dunkers, in the ob- servance of the day for the Sabbath; that the seventh
* About the same time, another religious sect was formed in Oley, now Berks county. This association was headed by one Mathias Baumann. His followers or disciples were styled " The New-born."
They professed to be impeccable, or of having attained a state of sinlessness : they were perfectionists. They boasted they were sent of God to confound others. Their disputations were frequently heard in the market places of Philadelphia .- On one occasion, Baumann, to show that his doctrine was from God, proposed to wade across the Delaware river.
They were, as it is the custom of enthusiasts and fanatics, contentious, wandering through the country, displaying zeal for their doctrines, by controverting with all who differed from them in matters of faith. Conrad Beissel, the founder of the Sieben Taeger, was occasionally annoyed in his recluse situa- tion, by them.
Baumann, their leader, was a native of Lamshelm, Palati- nate; born in 1701 ; came to America between the years, 1719, and 1722; he died, 1727. It is reported, he was an honest and sincere man ; not solicitous to accumulate property ; but, that Kuehlenwein, Jotter, and others of his followers, loved the good things of the world inordinately.
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day was the command of the Lord God, and that day being established and sanctified, by the Great Jehovah, forever! And no change, nor authority for change, ever having been announced to man, by any power sufficient to set aside the solemn decree of the Almighty; a decree which he declared that he had sanctified forever! He felt it to be his duty to contend for the observance of that day. About the year 1725, he published a tract entering into a discussion of this point, which created some excitement and disturbance in the society, at Mill creek ; upon which he retired from the settlement, and went secretly, to a cell on the banks of the Cocalico,* that had previously been occupied by one Elimelich, a hermit. His place of retirement was unknown for sometime to the people he had left, and when discovered, many of the society at Mill creek, who had become convinced of the truth of his proposition for the observ- ance of the Sabbath, settled around him, in solitary cottages. They adopted the original Sabbath-the seventh day-for public worship, in the year 1728; which has ever since been observed by their descendants, even unto the present day.
In the year 1732, the solitary life was changed into a conventicle one, and a monastic society was established as soon as the first buildings erected for that purpose were finished, May, 1733. The habit of the Capuchins, or White Friars,t was adopted by both the brethren and
*Cocalico, called by the Delaware Indians, Koch-Halekung, Germanicè, Schlangenhoehle, Serpents den; from the abun- dance of serpents along the stream .- Chron. Eph. 52.
+Capuziner, eine Abart des Franciscaner Ordens, welche gegen das Jahr 1525, ihren Anfang nahm. Sie tragen eine lange spitz zulaufende capuze und einen langen Bart; die Verfassung des ordens ist streng und zeichnet sich durch Enthaltsamkeit aus.
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sisters; which consisted of a shirt, trowsers, and vest, with a long white gown or cowl, of woolen web in winter, and linen in summer. That of the sisters differed only in the substitution of petticoats for trowsers, and some little peculiarity in the shape of the cowl .- Monastic names were given to all who entered the cloister. Onesimus (Israel Eckerlin) was constituted Prior, who was succeeded by Jaebez (Peter Miller) and the title of Father-spiritual father-was bestowed by the society, upon Beissel, whose monastic name was Friedsam; to which the brethren afterwards added Gottrecht; implying, together, Peaceable, Godright. In the year 1740, there were thirty-six single brethren in the cloister, and thirty-five sisters; and at one time, the society, including the members living in the neighbor- hood, numbered nearly three hundred.
.
The first buildings of the society of any consequence, were Kedar and Zion; a meeting house and convent, which were erected on the hill called Mount Zion .- They afterwards built larger accommodations, in the meadow below, comprising a sister's house, called Saron, to which is attached a large chapel and "Saal" for the purpose of holding Agapas, or Love Feasts. A brother's house, called Bethania, with which is con- nected the large meeting room, with galleries, in which the whole society assembled, for public worship, in the days of their prosperity, and which are still standing, surrounded by smaller buildings, that were occupied as printing-office, bake-house, school-house, almonry, and others, for different purposes; on one of which, a one story house, the town clock is erected .*
"One of the buildings having been erected thirty-eight years, was converted into a Hospital in the American Revolution, and afterwards occupied as a school house. The house stands
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"The buildings are singular, and of very ancient architecture; all the outwalls being covered with shin- gles, or clapboards. The two houses, for the brethren and sisters, are very large, being three and four stories high : each has a chapel for their night meetings, and the main buildings are divided into small apartments, each containing between fifty and sixty, so that six dormitories, which are barely large enough to contain a cot (in early days a bench, and billet of wood for the head) a closet and an hour glass surrounded a common room, in which each subdivision pursued their respec- no more; the spot it occupied is still pointed out to the casual visitor, by the courteous inhabitants of Ephrata.
A few days after the battle of Brandywine had been fought, September 11, 1777, four or five hundred of the wounded soldiers were taken to Ephrata, and placed in the Hospital .- Doctors Yerkel, Scott and Harrison, were the attending surgeons and physicians. The wounds and camp fever, baffled their skill: one hundred and fifty of the soldiers died here ; they were ;principally from the Eastern States, and Pennsylvania, and a few British, who had deserted and joined the American Army. "The first of them that died here, was buried by the honors of war; a funeral sermon, preached by one of their own number, appointed for that purpose. This practice was continued for some time, till they began to drop off too rapidly to allow time for the performance of the cere- mony, when every thing of the kind was dispensed with."
The place where they rest, is enclosed ; and for many years, a board, with this inscription :
"Mier Liuhen die Gribeine bicler Soldaten," was placed over the gate of the enclosure. The board, with the inscription, is no more. Measures are now, upon sugges- tion of Joseph Konigmacher, Esq., and many of his fellow citizens, taken to raise a plain and durable monument, to rescue from oblivion, and perpetuate the memories of the entombed soldiers, who were wounded at Brandywine, and died at Ephrata.
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tive avocations. On entering these silent cells, and traversing the long narrow passages, visiters can scarcely divest themselves of the feeling of walking the tortuous windings of some old castle, and breathing in the hidden recesses of romance. The ceilings have an elevation of but seven feet; the passages leading to the cells, or kammers, as they are styled, and through the different parts of both convents, are barely wide enough to admit one person, for when meeting a second, he has always to retreat. The dens of the kammers are but five feet high, and twenty inches wide, and the window, for each has but one, is only eighteen by twenty-four inches; the largest windows affording light to the meeting rooms; the chapels, the, saals, and even the kammers, or dormitories, are hung and nearly covered with large sheets of elegant penmanship, or ink paint- ings; many of which are texts from the scriptures, exe- cuted in a very handsome manner, in ornamented Gothic letters, called in German, Fractur-Schrifter. They are done on large sheets of paper, manufactured for the purpose at their own mill, some of which are put into frames, and which admonish the resident, as well as the casual visiter, which ever way they may turn the head. There are some very curious ones: two of which still remain in the chapel attached to Saron .- One represents the narrow and crooked way, done on a sheet of about three feet square, which it would be difficult to describe; it is very curious and ingenious : the whole of the road is filled up with texts of scripture, adverting the disciples of their duties, and the obliga- tions their profession imposes upon them. Another represents the three Heavens. In the first, CHRIST, the Shepherd, is represented gathering his flock together; in the second, which occupies one foot in height, and is
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three feet wide, three hundred figures in Capuchin dress, can be counted, with harps in their hands, and heads of an innumerable host; and in the third is seen the Throne surrounded by two hundred Arch-Angels. Many of these Fractur-Schriften express their own enthusiastic sentiments on the subject of Celibacy, and the virtue of a recluse life, whilst others are devotional pieces. The following are from two found in the chapel of the sisters' convent. We can copy the sentiment, but cannot convey an idea of their style.
Die Lieb ist unsre kron und heller tugend spiegel. Die Weisheit unsre Lust, und reines Gottes Siegel; Das Lamm ist unser schatz wir uns an vertrauen,
Und folgen seinem Gang als reinste Jungfrauen.
Unsre Kronen die wir tragen in dieser sterblichkeit,
Werden uns in Truebsals-tagen durch viel Leid zubereit, Da muss unsre Hoffnung bluehen und der Glaube wachsen auf Wan sich Welt und Fleisch bemuechen uns zu schwaechem im Lauf,
O, wol dan ! weil wir gezaehlet zu der reinen Laemmer Heerd, Die dem keuschen Lamm vermaehlet, und erkauft von der Erd, Bleibet schon alhier verborgen, unser Ehren Schmuck und Kron,
Wird us doch an jenem Morgen Kroenen, Iesus Gottes Sohn.
Above the door, as you enter from the sister house in the saal, is one which we copied while on a visit to the place.
Die Thuer zum eingang in das haus Wo die vereinte Seelen wohnen
Laesst keines mehr, von da hinaus Weil Gott thut selber unter ihnen thronen
Ihr Glueck blueht in vereinten Liebes Flammen,
Weil sie aus Gott und seiner Lieb herstammen.
Immediately to the right of this is another which,
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by the aid of Schwester Barbara, we were able to сору.
So lebet dann die reine Schaar Im innern Tempel hier beisamen, Entrissen aller Welt-Gefahr In heiss verliebten Liebes-Flammen ;
Und lebet dann in Hoffnung hin,
Nach der beglueckten Freiheit die dort oben ; Da sie nach dem verliebten Sinn Ihn ohne zeit und end wird loben.
Another on the same wall, which, as we have been informed, was a favorite Reim in their more prosperous days.
So steht der Tempel da erfuellt mit reinen Seelen, Die sich das keusche Lamm zu eigen thut vermaehlen : Es gehet vor uns her, wir folgen treulich nach, Und nehmen mit auf uns sein Kreuz und Ungemach. Bleiben wir so in ihm so ist das Ziel getroffen ; Und haben dorten einst das wahre Gut zu hoffen : Bleiben ihm gespart, bis es sich wird vermaehlen, Und wir in jener Welt, ewig sein Lob erzaehlen. Die Lieb ist unsere kron und heiliger Tugendspiegel ; Die Weisheit unsere Lust und reines Gottes Siegel : Das Lamm ist unser Schatz dem wir uns anvertrauen, Und folgen seinem Gang als reinste Jungfranen.
In the rooms which any sister has occupied, and is departed, a piece, which is framed in imitation of a tablet, is put up expressive of the character and virtues of the deceased, or some feeling memorial of love is inscribed. The following was found in the kammer which had been occupied by Zenobia, a very beautiful, lovely and devout sister :
ZENOBIA,
" Wird gruenen und Gedeyen, ihre Arbeit wird nicht vergel- lich, noch auch ihre Hoffnung, verlohren seyn, ihr Erbe bluehet mitten unter den Heiligen."
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"A room was set' apart for such purposes, called " Das Schreib Zimmer," the writing room, and several · sisters devoted their whole attention to this labor, as well as to transcribing the writings of the founder of the society; thus multiplying copies for the wants of the community, before they had a printing press. Two sisters, named Annastasia and Iphigenia, were the principal ornamental writers. They left a large folio volume of sample alphabets, of various sizes and style; which are both elegant and curious, exhibiting the most patient application. The letters of the first alphabet are twelve inches long, surrounded by a deep border, in imitation of copper-plate engraving; each one of which is different in the filling up. It was finished in the year . 1750, and is still preserved in the hands of the trustees. There was another transcribing room appropriated exclusively to copying music. Hundreds of volumes, each containing five or six hundred pieces, were trans- ferred from book to book, with as much accuracy, and almost as much neatness, as if done with a graver.
"It wa's in contemplation, at one time, by the Ecker- lins, three brothers, one of whom was a prior, and had the superintendence of the secular concerns, to make it a place of more importance than a mere religious refuge. They were from Germany, and had been brought up Catholics. They conceived a project of erecting exten- sive buildings, and connecting trades with it; and had some preparations under way; the timber all hewn, as all the buildings are of wood, even the chimneys, which remain in use at this day; and in readiness to erect a tower, and had sent to Europe, where they had exten- sive connexions, and got a chime of bells cast, unknown to the society, until they arrived at Philadelphia, and the
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bill for payment was forwarded to them. The society resolved not to receive them, but had them sold and paid the loss. . One of these bells having upon it, "Ephrata- Israel Eckerlin, Prior,"* was purchased, and is now on one of the churches in Lancaster.
" This transaction led to the discovery of a conspiracy of the Eckerlins to possess themselves of the titles of the property, which was much more extensive and valuable then now, and which terminated in the expul- sion of Israel from the office of Prior. The Eckerlins 1
*Israel Eckerlin, Prior; this is given on the authority of W. A. Fahnestock, M. D., to whom we are indebted for much of this article. We believe the bell alluded to, is the one on the Lutheran church. If it is, it has this inscription : Sub auspicio viri venerandi Onesimi Societ. Ephrat. Praepositi, A. O. MDCCXLV. Which we translated : "Under the auspices of the venerable man, Onesimus, placed over the society at Ephrata, A. D. 1745.
NOTE .- At a church council held in Ephrata, Beissel, and his associates, had determined to break the bell and inter the fragments ; however, on a night's reflection, it was resolved to dispose of it differently : the bell was pardoned from its de- creed fate, and sold to the Lutherans, at Lancaster. We quote the Chomican Ephratense : " Um diesselbe zeit, 1745, kam die ansehnliche Glocke in Philadelphia an von England, welche die Eckerlin sollen bestellt haben, folgendes motto war um dieselbe gegossen : Sub auspicio viri venerandi Onesimi Socie- tasis Ephratensis Praepositi .: Auf diese empfangene Nachricht ward Rath gehalten in des Vorstehers Gegenwart, welcher fúr die Glocke sehr unguenstig ausfiel: dasz sie solte in stuecken zerschlagen, und unter die erde vergraben werden; aber wie sie solte bezahlt werden, wusste niemand, dann sie kostete 80 pfund. Des andern Morgens erschien der Vorsteher abermal im Rath, und sagte : Er haette nachgedacht, weil die Brueder arm waeren, solte die Glocke pardonirt werden, und also ist sie an die Lutherische Kirche, in Lancasterkommen .- Chron. Eph. p. 164.
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afterwards moved to Virginia, where they obtained some notoriety in connection with the Indian affairs .- The society was wedded to apostolic simplicity; they desired no tower-no bells. They refused to have a bell to call them to meeting, even the midnight meeting, which was regularly held at twelve o'clock: Friedsam contending that the spirit of devotion ought to be suffi- cient to make them punctual to the hour, which generally proved to be adequate.
"The community was a republic, in which all stood upon perfect equality and freedom. No. monastic vows were taken, neither had they any written covenants, as is common in the Baptist churches. The New Testa- ment was their confession of faith, their code of laws, and church discipline. The property which belonged to the society, by donation, and the labor of the single - brethren and sisters, was common stock; but none was obliged to throw in his own property, or to give up any possessions. The society was supported by the income of the farm and grist mill, paper mill, oil mill, fulling mill, and the labor of the brethren and sisters, in the cloister.
Many of the male members were men of education, and the school which they had established, attracted attention abroad; young men from Baltimore and of Philadelphia, were sent to this place to be educated .- Ludwig Hacker, the teacher of the common school, projected the plan of holding a school in the afternoons of the Sabbath, or Saturday, and who, in connexion with some of the brethren, commenced it, to give instruc- tion to the indigent children who were kept from regular school by employments which their necessities. obliged them to be engaged at during the week, as well as to give religious instruction to those of better circum-
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stances. The precise time when this school was estab- lished, is not known; it was after 1739.
The society, after an existence of fifty years, began to decline, from some cause, which we have not been able to learn. Some say that Beissel's successor, Peter Miller, wanted vigor of mind. This, says Doctor Fahnestock, is not, he believes, the cause; for he assured us, in a conversation with him on this subject, in 1836, so far as he could learn, Peter Miller was a man of much greater powers of mind than Beissel, and that he had the management of the establishment during Beissel's time ;* and to whose energy and perseverance is mainly attributable the great prosperity of the institution in its early days.
That Miller was a man of more than ordinary powers of mind, is evident from the testimony of the Rev. Jedediah Andrews, an alumnus of Havard College, of the class of 1695, Andrews speaking of Miller, in a letter, dated Philadelphia, 8th, 14th, 1730.
"There is lately come over a Palatine candidate of the ministry, who having applied to us at the Synod (Scotch Synod) for ordination, 'tis left to three ministers, (these were Tenant, Andrews and Boyd), to do it. He is an extraordinary person for sense and learning. We gave him a question to discuss about Justification, and he answered it, in a whole sheet of paper, in a very notable manner. His name is John Peter Miller, and speaks Latin as readily as we do our vernacular tongue, and so does the other, Mr. Weiss,"f
*Beissel died July 6th, 1768, aged 77 years and 4 months .- He was a native of Oberbach, in the Palatinate.
+George Michael Weiss, was born at Stebback, in Neckar- thal, Germany. Mr. Miller and he were fellow students at Heildelberg. Weiss came to America, some years before
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At an early period, they established a German printing office, which enabled them to distribute tracts and hymns, and afterwards to print several large works, in which the views of the founder are fully explained .- Many of these books have been lost and destroyed. In the Revolutionary war, just before the battle of Ger- mantown, three wagon loads of books, in sheets, were seized and taken away for cartriges. They came to the paper mill to get paper, and not finding any there, they pressed the books in sheets. The printing press, used then, is now in possession of R. R. Heitler, Esq., at Ephrata. ·
" Music was much cultivated. Beissel was a first rate musician and composer. In composing sacred music he took his style from the music of Nature, and the whole comprising several large volumes are founded on the tones of the Aeolian harp ; the singing is the Aeolian harp, harmonized; it is very peculiar in its style and concords, and in its execution. The tones issuing from the choir imitate very soft instrumental music; convey- ing a softness and devotion almost super-human to the
Miller finished his studies. Before Miller's ordination, Weiss had been Pastor of the German Reformed congregation, in Philadelphia, and about that time, in company with an Elder, named Reif, visited Holland, and other parts of Europe, for the purpose of making collections in aid of the feeble congre- gations, in Pennsylvania.
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