History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 132

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992

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nected with that street. A church building was erected upon it, which stood back from Garden Street. It was of plain brick, sixty feet front by seventy feet deep. On the 3d of May, 1818, the church was opened for services. Sermons were preached by Rev. Mr. Broadhead in the morning, by Rev. Mr. Parker in the afternoon, and by Rev. Mr. Valentine in the evening. Rev. Mr. Hoff was pastor of this church in 1821. Trouble shortly afterward ensued, and the congregation was nearly broken up for two or three years. On the 3d of July, 1824, John Douglass, sheriff, sold to Frederick Gaul the entire lot, with the brick building and au adjacent wooden school-house. An effort was made to reorganize the church, and the pews were disposed of in August of that year. Mr. Gaul bought the property in hope that the congrega-

The First Reformed Dutch Church, at the northwest corner of Seventh and Spring Garden Streets, is a very handsome building seventy-one by one hundred and fifteen feet. The corner-stone was laid Dec. 15, 1853, and the building was dedicated April 29, 1855.

At present the Reformed Dutch Church has the following organizations in this city :

First, corner Seventh and Spring Garden Streets.

Second, Seventh Street, above Brown. Rev. Nathaniel I. Rubinkam. Third, chapel, 909 North Broad Street.

Fourth, Cotton Street, above Cresson, Manayunk. Rev. Cornelius Schneck.

Fifth, Otis Street, between Memphis and Cedar. Rev. C. F. C. Suckow.

THE LUTHERAN CHURCH.

The first emigration of Lutherans to America was from Holland, and settled at New York in 1626; the second was the Swedish colony of 1636; the third, and most important and influential, was that of Ger- man Lutherans during the first half of the eighteenth century, which to a large extent was the result of the persecution of the Palatinate Protestants. Germany, Switzerland, and Alsace sent thousands of earnest Lutherans to America, though at first they had very few regularly-appointed pastors, and often had to be satisfied with the services of men of doubtful stand- ing. It is a well-known fact that in the time of Queen Anne, when thousands of German Protestants from the Alsace, the Palatinate, and adjacent parts had arrived in England, and encamped near London, many of them Lutherans, about three thousand were in 1710 transported to New York. Within the fol- lowing years there was a strong influx of Germans in Pennsylvania. In 1717 the Colonial Records of Penn- sylvania state that the Governor called the attention of the Council to the unwouted influx, and it was ordered that each emigrant should within a month of his arrival report himself at Philadelphia, and take the oath of allegiance. Between 1727 and 1742 thou- sands of German settlers arrived, and, still having almost no ministers, were forced to depend on the

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kindly offices of the few Swedish Lutheran clergymen then in the colony. Meanwhile, in 1733, Revs. Bolzius and Gronan began faithful work among the Saltzburg colonists, who that year settled in Georgia, at Eben- ezer, where the churches they established still flourish. About this time Lutheran settlements were made at Purrysburg, then in Beaufort County, S. C., in Spott- sylvania or Virginia (1735), and in Waldsborough, Me. (1739). It was in the Middle States and Mary- land, and chiefly in Pennsylvania, that German Lu- theranism took a firm hold. There is a profound in- terest attached to even the slightest local records of the church, whose attendants number more than thirty millions of souls, whose doctrines prevail at such universities as Leipsic, Halle, Göttingen, Jena, Rostock, Greifswalde, and others, and whose writers, theologians, and evangelists will compare favorably with those of any other evangelical denomination.

It was in 1726 that we first hear of a German Lutheran clergyman in Pennsylvania ministering to the poor and toiling colonists. Most of the church histories say there were no clergymen of this de- nomination in Pennsylvania prior to abont 1740, but this is an error. In 1726, Rev. Anthony John Hinckle was complained of before the General As- sembly, as having " married persons not according to the laws of the province." He was arrested, ex- amined, and ordered "to be discharged on payment of costs." This he refused to do, and was sent to jail, but for how long is not known. We also learn that Johann Caspar Stoever, "missionary and stu- dent," came in 1728; John Philip Streiter, in 1737. Rev. Valentine Kraft and Rev. Mr. Falkner (Swedish Lutheran) were also in the province. Lutheran churches were built by 1730 at New Hanover, and near Lebanon, where Rev. Mr. Stoever labored in 1733. The following year there was a congregation at York. The Lutherans and Reformed had wor- shiped in a barn on Mulberry Street, near Fifth, abont 1734. But none of these had settled pastors, nor seemed to contain the elements of permanency. An attempt was soon made under somewhat more favor- able auspices. The Wicaco Swedish Church was too distant to accommodate the Germantown people, and in 1737 the First German Lutheran congregation in Pennsylvania was organized at Germantown, the cor- ner-stone of a church being soon laid, and the fra- ternal services of Rev. John Dylander, of the Swedish Church, being called into requisition. The new church did not thrive; there were only seven members in 1740. In 1742, Valentine Kraft, who had been dis- missed from the Lutheran congregation at Philadel- phia, went to Germantown, where he was in charge of the church for one year, but he was dismissed by that congregation also. Rev. Henry Melchior Muh- lenberg, who was then pastor of the church in Phila- delphia, also took charge of one in Germantown.

Dr. H. M. Muhlenberg is undoubtedly the brightest and most heroic figure in the early history of the

Lutheran Church in America, and his arrival consti- tuted a new era, coming, as he did, with zeal and scholarship, to become the patriarch of Lutheranism here. His education was of the highest order ; besides easily reading Greek and Hebrew, he was able to speak Latin, German, French, Dutch, English, and Swedish, all with ease and fluency. The history of his labors would be nearly a complete history of the church from the time of his arrival till his career closed, half a century later. Inspired with religions fervor in the school of Francke, the noted German theologian, director of the Halle University, he was enabled to carry on in some degree the same sort of work among the Pennsylvania German Lutherans that Edwards did in New England and the Wesleys and Whitefield in England and America. All these were his earlier contemporaries, and no one of them labored with greater self-devotion.

Muhlenberg's call to this new field was in Septem- ber, 1741, in consequence of three deputies having been sent to England and Germany from three con- gregations in Pennsylvania.

After a visit to the Georgia and Carolina colonies, he reached Philadelphia Nov. 25, 1742. Upon his arrival Rev. M. Kraft was "occupying a disputed jurisdiction, and Muhlenberg was soon involved in a difficulty with the Moravian leader, Connt Zinzen- dorf, but this was amicably settled. His first sermon, December 5th, was in "the old log barn" on Mnl- berry Street, and on that afternoon he preached in the Swedes' Church, Gloria Dei, where he often officiated after Dr. Dylander's death.

The Philadelphia congregation in 1743 consisted of one hundred persons. The trustees and elders were J. V. Unstadt, L. Bast, J. H. Keppele, J. G. Burg- hardt, J. D. Seckel, H. Miller, and L. Herman. It was arranged that Mr. Muhlenberg was to serve each congregation-Philadelphia, New Providence, and Hanover-four months in the year. Nesman, the Swedish minister, in this year reported that "there were twenty Lutheran congregations in America."

The Philadelphia Lutherans decided to build as soon as possible. In 1743 they bought for two hundred pounds the lot of ground ou Fifth Street, above Mulberry, extending northward from the street called Appletree Alley to Cherry Lane. On the 5th of April, 1743, the corner-stone was laid, and on the 20th of October divine service was held. At that time the windows had no sashes, and light was ad- mitted through the cracks in the boards, which were placed in the window-frames. The congregation was seated on boards placed upon blocks. This building was seventy feet long, forty-five feet wide, and thirty- six feet high. It had a steeple fifty feet high, but this being put up before the walls were dry, the latter began to spread, and the steeple was taken down in 1750. The plan was adopted of building the porches on the north and south sides of the church, and that is why it appeared in the form of a cross. The church

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

cost thirteen hundred and ten pounds, but the con- gregation could only raise six hundred and sixty-one pounds, so they remained six hundred and forty-nine pounds in debt. This burden was heavy upon them , damento exstruxit Henricus Melchior Mulenberg for some years. Not until the 14th of August, 1748, una cum censoribus I. N. Crossmano, F. Marstellero, was this or St. Michael's Church completed and dedi- | H. A. Heilmano, I. Mullero, H. Hasio et G. Keb- nero. A.D. MDCCXLIII."

cated. The whole cost by that time, exclusive of the ground, was about eight thousand dollars. Peter Kalm, the Swedish traveler, says that abont 1750 St. Michael's received a very fine organ from Germany.

LUTHERAN CHURCH IN 17433.

In Jannary, 1745, Pastor Peter Brunnholtz arrived at Philadelphia, bringing with him Messrs. Schaum and Kurtz, students of divinity. Mr. Brunnholtz offi- ciated alternately at Philadelphia and Germantown, and Mr. Schaum, who was appointed master of the German school, officiated at Germantown upon occa- sions. Three years later came Messrs. Handschuch, Hartnick (founder of the Hartnick Seminary), and Weygand; in 1751, Schultz and Heinzelman; in 1753, Geroek, Haneil, Wortman, Wagner, Schartlin, Shrenk, and Ranss; in 1758, Bager; in 1764, Voigt and Krug; in 1769, Helmuth and Schmidt; in 1770, Kunze. All of them were men of energy and educa- tion, clergymen and teachers. When the first Synod was held at Philadelphia, in 1748, there were six regularly called Lutheran ministers present. The Synod of 1751 reported forty congregations, and sixty thousand as the Lutheran population. Most of this gain was from Central Pennsylvania.

We have referred to " the three Lutheran congre- gations" in Philadelphia County, and have described one. Providence township contained fifty families in 1742, and was so thrown under the ministra- tions of Dr. Muhlenberg that the next year they built a costly and commodions stone church in the village now called Trappe or "The Trappe."1 Over

the door of the porch was a tablet with the following inscription : "Sub Remigio Christi, has edes Socie- tate angustanæ confess. deditæ dedicates ex ipso fun-

The pews formerly, and each seat in the pews, were branded with a hot iron. When Dr. Muhlen- berg first came to Pennsylvania the congregation worshiped in a barn. Buck's "History of Mont- gomery County" says in relation to this church,-

" It is built of stone, two stories high, fifty-four feet in length, and thirty-nine feet wide. At the ends of the roof sre two iron vanes each bearing the date 1743. . . . From the floor to the ceiling of the roof is about thirty feet. The original pulpit is still here, with its sounding- board, all of black walaut. The four pillars, as well as the joists which support the galleries, are of hewn oak twelve by fifteen inches in thick- ness The pews have never been painted. All the woodwork of the church is done in a very rude and rough manner, denoting simplicity, solidity, and strength."

The corner-stone was laid May 2d, and on the 12th of September the church was roofed in. A log school-house was built before the church was com- menced. The Lutheran congregation at New Han- over, Philadelphia Co., or the Swamp, was the largest in Pennsylvania. When Dr. Muhlenberg took charge it had one hundred and twenty members, who were worshiping in a log building. He kept school all the week, and preached the gospel every Lord's day. In the schools he taught young people of from eighteen to twenty years of age and upwards, and sometimes the parents. On Whitsunday, 1743, he administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, having then previously confirmed twenty-six catechu- mens. A school-house was soon erected by the con- gregation. The Germantown Church, under Pastor Brunnholtz, who took charge in 1745, with Mr. Vigero, a Philadelphia schoolmaster, and Mr. Schaum, as occasional readers, began to grow materially. On the 15th of April, 1746, the corner-stone of an addi- tional building was laid, being six feet wider than the old church, thirty feet being added to the length. The cost was estimated at one hundred and sixty pounds currency, but the pews and sacristy cost fifty-six pounds in addition. The members sub- scribed sixty pounds, and the remainder was bor- rowed on interest. In 1748 the congregation owed two hundred and thirty-six pounds currency, which burden was very much eased in the following year by a contribution of three hundred florins from the consistory of Würtemberg.

1 In regard to the name of this village, Trap, or the Trappe, there has been much speculation. Many persons have been disposed to assign its origin to the German word treppe "steps"); and the late Governor Francis R. Shunk, who was born ut the Truppe, had as his private seal the effigy of three steps, with the motto, " Eich ersteige" (" raise yourself"). Dr. Muhlenberg, in huis journal, after speaking of Jacob Schrack, one nf the first settlers in that neighborhood, who arrived from Germany in 1717, and purchased two hundred and fifty acres of land, which is embraced in the present village, says, " They built a cabin and ing a cave in which they cooked. They kept a tavern in a small way, with a shop, and . lish word trap, signifying s snare, or rather a pitfall.

heer, and such things. As once an English inhabitant, who had been drinking in the cave, fell asleep, and came home lute, and was in conse- quence scolded by his wife, he excused himself by saying he had been at the trap. From that time this neighborhood was called the Trappe, and known as such in All America." In Reading Howell's " Map of Pennsylvania," published in 1792, and in Scott's "United States Ga- zetteer" of 1795, it is called " Trap," thus proving that this name did not originate from the German name of treppe for steps, but from the Eng-

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Between 1750 and the outbreak of the Revolution the small churches we have been describing went on developing, and began to require separate pastors. Rev. Peter Brunnholtz at Germantown preached also at St. Michael's, in Philadelphia, as Dr. Muhlenberg's duties were also of a missionary and evangelist nature. He died in 1757. John Dietrich Heinzelman offi- ciated at St. Michael's and Germantown as occasion required. He was called as assistant minister of St. Michael's on July 26, 1753, and died on Feb. 9, 1756. After the death of Pastor Brunnholtz, John Frederick Handschuch was called as minister of St. Michael's. He had left the Lancaster Church be- canse of an uproar over his marriage to a deacon's daughter, had then preached at New Hanover and at Providence, and then, as the first really resident clergyman, at Germantown. From 1756 to the time of his death, Oct. 9, 1764, he remained at St. Michael's. Rev. John Louis Voigt, an inspector at the Halle Orphan House, began preaching at Germantown, and at St. Peter's, at Barren Hill (1764). In 1765 Chris- topher Emanuel Schulte arrived in America from Ha'le, and he was chosen vice-rector of St. Michael's Church. Dr. Muhlenberg having been called to that charge after the death of Mr. Handschuch, and hav- ing officiated in fact after his return to Philadelphia in 1761, from the Trappe (Church of Augustus), John Frederick Schmidt, in 1769, was sent to German- town, where he remained sixteen years.

Rev. Mr. Hartnick took charge at the Trappe, but only remained six months. In April. 1762, the Rev. Jacob Van Buskirk took charge of this old church, and served for two years. In 1764 he gave up the Trappe congregation, which remained for more than a year without a settled minister. Meanwhile Mr. Van Buskirk served the congregation at New Hanover. In December, 1765, the Rev. John Lud- wick Voigt became the pastor, and remained in that position for more than thirty-three years.

New Hanover, or the Swamp, enjoyed the labor of John Nicholas Kurtz even before 1750, under Dr. Muhlenberg's supervision. In 1759 Mr. Schaum was preaching at New Hanover. Mr. Handschuch also gave his services to this charge. Mr. Schulte, also, was among those who attended to the spiritual wants of the people in that section of Philadelphia County. In 1764 Mr. Voigt officiated at New Hanover. After he left Germantown and Barren Hill he returned again to New Hanover.

The Philadelphia congregation grew greatly, beyond all possible accommodation even when the school- house also was used; they even rented the academy on Fourth Street, and held service there for some time. The only remedy was evidently to colonize and found a new and large church, and the history of the enter- prise shows how much in earnest its projectors were and how wonderfully their efforts were crowned with success. A lot at the southeast corner of Cherry and Fourth Streets, having a width of ninety-eight feet

on Fourth Street, was bought of Daniel Wistar for £1083 12s .; another of thirty-six feet on Fourth Street was bought of Paul Weitzel and Andrew Graff, of Lancaster, for £456 178. May 16, 1766, the corner- stone of Zion Church was laid. The length of the building was one hundred and eight feet, the breadth was seventy feet. The building was put under roof at an expense of £3756. The number of bricks used in it was five hundred and twenty-five thousand five hundred and sixty-seven. In 1767 the church was plastered and the floor was laid, but further work was postponed in consequence of the want of money. On the 25th of June, 1769, the building yet unfinished was consecrated. The whole cost amounted to £8000 currency, exclusive of the cost of the ground ( £1540), and the debt was £5200 currency. The church was the largest and handsomest then in North America. The roof and ceiling were supported by eight large col- umns of the Doric order, which served for bases for the arches of the ceiling, which was ornamented and finished in the most ornate manner, and the inside was handsomely furnished. The most careful prepa- rations were made to fittingly celebrate the consecra- tion.

The Lutheran Synod was in session, and a proces- sion was formed at St. Michael's to walk to Zion Church. It was composed of the corporation of St. Michael's, representatives of the German Reformed Church in Lancaster, and deputies from York, Old Germantown, New Germantown, Reading, Schuylkill, Hanover, Providence, Pikestown, and Barren Hill. The one hundredth Psalm was sung, and the sermon was preached by Pastor Kurtz from Mark, 16th chap- ter, 15th, 16th, and 20th verses. The evening was dedicated to the service of the children, in which Pastor Schmidt, Pastor Helmuth, and Muhlenberg took part. On the next day, Monday, June 26th, the Rev. Richard Peters, rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's, preached a sermon in the new Lutheran Church of Zion, at the instance of the wardens and vestrymen of the incorporated congregation of St. Michael's, from St. Luke, chapter 2d, verses 13th and 14th. In commencing, Mr. Peters said,-

"Your invitation to the ministers and members of the Episcopal Church to mix their devotions with yours, and to partake of the joy you must needs feel on bringing this large building to such an admired and astonishing perfection, fills us with a high sense of your brotherly love to us in Christ Jesus. It reminds us of the love and tender affec- tion which existed among the first Christian churches, and which makes so large and so delightful a part of the Apostolic epistles re- corded in Scripture."

Zion Church was in charge at various times of Pas- tor Muhlenberg, Pastor Schulte, and Pastor Schmidt. Pastor John C. Kunze, of Artern, arrived in 1770, being the eleventh ordained minister who had been sent from Halle, and was appointed junior member in Philadelphia in 1771. Pastor Schulte resigned, and went to Tulpehocken. In 1773, Rev. Henry Muhlenberg, son of Dr. Muhlenberg, who had been ordained in 1770, was appointed assistant minister at

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HISTORY OF PHILADELPHIA.

Philadelphia. In 1774, Dr. Muhlenberg resigned, and went to reside at the Trappe, where he remained until his death, in 1787. In 1775, Rev. Henry Muh- lenberg and Rev. John C. Kunze, his brother-in-law, were in charge of the Philadelphia congregations.

In 1759 two hundred pounds were appropriated | for the purchase of additional ground for burial pur- poses. The first lot had cost nine hundred and fifteen pounds, and the next year four hundred and forty- seven pounds were appropriated for the purchase of a house adjoining the church for a parsonage, and for a lot upon which to erect a school-house. The school- honse was completed July 27, 1761. Pastor Brunn- holtz had begun some time before, and the number had increased from a dozen to eighty, and still the school grew, till they were transferred to the church, and finally, that winter, back to his own house, when partitions were removed and a large room formed. Now, at the new school-house, there were one hundred and twenty pupils. The tuition was modeled on the plans of the German orphan schools, and the children were divided into six classes. There were quarterly examinations in the church before the whole congre- gation ; afterward cakes were distributed among them, and printed verses from Scripture were also given out. Said Mr. Brunnholtz, writing to Halle, " In pleasant weather we go out into the country with the children, walking two by two. At one time they repeat their verses as if with one mouth, and at another time they sing, which animates me even in the greatest despond- ency. Sundays they assemble in front of my house, whence they go by twos to the church, where they are examined by Mr. Heinzelman." Dr. Muhlenberg, Provost Wrangel, and other ministers assisted in the dedication of this school-house.

Difficulties of a curious nature meanwhile arose in Germantown, beginning in 1753, in opposition to Pastor Handschuch. The malcontents got possession of the parsonage house and church, and elected for their minister Conrad Andrae, who was a disowned ! afterward became security for the debt, then amount- minister of Deuxponts. He died shortly after, and they elected Rev. Mr. Rapp.

Pastor Handschuch and his friends numbered about twenty families, and, being deprived of their church, they rented a house for twelve pounds per annum in March, 1753, where they held divine service, and where Mr. Handschuch kept school for four days in the week. He, however, withdrew from Germantown in a short time and went to Philadelphia.

The old members of the congregation met in the Reformed Church, and had only occasional services, but they kept together and purchased a lot for one hundred pounds on which to build a school-house. In 1762 one hundred heads of families belonging to the Germantown congregation petitioned the Synod for the appointment of a minister. The Synod re- plied that "this could not well be done, as the church was then in the hands of those who had contributed nothing to its erection." To this the petitioners

answered that they would have the church restored to them either amicably or they would obtain possession of it by a judicial decision, and that in the mean time they had made arrangements for a place of meet- ing, and Peter Kurtz, of Tulpehocken, was therefore appointed.

Suit was then brought against the Rapp party, and in April, 1763, the judgment was that the party op- posed to Rapp should one Sunday hold religious ser- vice in the morning and on the next Sunday in the afternoon. The Rappites had the church at all other times. Pastor Kurtz preached in 1763 and 1764, and was succeeded by John Ludwick Voigt, who preached his first sermon in 1764. The troubles with Rapp still continued, but it was finally agreed to unite on a cer- tain day and determine who should be minister, Pas- tor Voigt or Rapp, and the decision was unanimously in favor of Voigt, therefore the old congregation ob- tained possession of the church and parsonage. Pas- tor Voigt, in March, 1765, accepted a call to New Hanover and Providence, and Pastor James Van Bus- kirk was appointed minister. He served four years, when he was appointed minister of the congregations of Macungie, Saccum, and Upper Dublin. John Frederick Schmidt succeeded him in June, 1769, and completed the restoration of peace and harmony to Germantown.

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History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Part 132

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 992

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898. cn; Westcott, Thompson, 1820-1888, joint author
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : L. H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 992