USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > Lower Heidelberg > History of St. John's (Hain's) Reformed church in Lower Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Penna > Part 2
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become a delegate to the Synods of the Church. The acting Con- sistory may call together all former elders as a Great Consistory for consultation on important matters. Such a meeting was held at the Cacoosing Church, August 29, 1743. The same is found in Dr. Good's "History of the Reformed Church in the United States," page 240.
In order to avoid neglecting any part of divine truth, minis- ters are required to explain the system of doctrine contained in the Heidelberg Catechism to the youth. The system presents the fact and the cause of man's misery, the method of redemption and the gratitude which is due to God therefor, constructed on sush a basis and emphasizing the comforts to be derived from all the great facts of Christianity, the Heidelberg Catechism is one to which evangelical Christians of all creeds could subscribe.
The difficulties that encompassed the work of establishing this organization had appeared well nigh insurmountable when Boehm and Weiss began their labor among them. The Germans were poor, and had brought with them from their fatherland their doc- trines. Unfamiliar with the language of their adopted country, they were slow to adopt the methods of their neighbors, and in later days a change in language, accompanied by dissension and conflict, is not surprising. These difficulties, however, were eventually overcome, as the remarkable growth of the Church shows.
Tulpehocken.
The territory called Tulpehocken was not confined to the present limits of Tulpehocken and Upper Tulpehocken, but it embraced all the land along the Tulpehocken creek and up to the Blue Mountains, except Bera and a few other townships west of the Schuylkill. The place in which most of the historical events transpired are now comprehended in Heidelberg, Marion, Tulpe- hocken and Bethel. The most important meetings and conference took place at Conrad Weiser's farm.
The settlers spread rapidly over the county and, since part of the now Lebanon valley was looked upon as a promised land and was one of the most noted places in the county at this time for the fertility of the soil and its desirableness for a habitation, it was natural for the Palatines to have a strong inclination to settle there.
The Indians never brought charges of fraud and dishonesty against the Palatines, and the Germans always treated the In- dians with strict adherence to honesty and never took advantage of them, and for this reason there is no record of au Indian mas- sacre in this section, which speaks remarkably well for the early settlers and their peaceable disposition.
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The secretary produced a number of deeds, in one of which Sassoonan signed a release of "all the land situated between the two rivers, Delaware and the Susquehanna, from Duck creek (in Delaware) to the mountains on this side of the Lechay (Lehigh). This territory was again covered by a deed given in 1732.
"Sassoonan (Allumapees) said that the land beyond these bounds had never been paid for, that they reached no further than a few miles beyond Oley, but that their lands on the Tulpehocken were seated by the Christians."
"Mr. Logan (the secretary) answered that he understood at the time the deed was drawn and since that Lechay hills or mountains stretched away from a little below Lechay or fork of the Delaware to those hills on the Susquehanna that lie about ten miles above Paxton. Mr. Farmer said those hills passed from Lechay a few miles above Oley, and reached no further, and that Tulpehocken lands lie beyond them."
It was at length conceded that the land in Tulpehocken still belonged to the Indians and it was at once conceded that the Palatines would not have settled without the consent or invitation of some man who held a position in the Provincial Council. After a number of animated speeches to discover on whom lay the responsibility of inviting the Palatines to settle on land still in the possession of the Delaware, James Logan, a member of Council, said that he was aware that Palatines had settled there and how they came there he was about to disclose. He then presented a petition directed to His Excellency William Keith, Baronet- Governor of Pennsylvania, and signed by thirty three families. The petition is as follows :
"That your petitioners are natives of Germany. About fifteen years ago they were by the great goodness and royal bounty of her late Majesty Queen Anne, relieved from the hardships which they then suffered in Europe and were transported into the colony of New York, where they settled But their families increasing and being in that government confined to the scanty allowance of ten acres of land to each family, whereon they could not well sub. sist. Your petitioners being informed of the kind reception which their countrymen usually met with in the province of Pennsylva- nia, and hoping with what substance they had, acquire larger set- tlements in the province, did last year leave their settlements in New York government and came with their families into this province, where upon their arrival they applied themselves to His Excellency, the Governor, who of his great goodness permitted them to inhabit upon Tulpehocken creek, on condition that they should make full satisfaction to the proprietor or his agents for such lands as should be allotted to them when they were ready to re-
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ceive the same. And now your petitioners, understanding that some gentlemen, agents of the proprietor, have ample powers to dispose of lands in this province. And we, your petitioners, being willing and ready to purchase, do humbly beseech your Excellency and Council to recommend us to the favorable usage of the proprietor's agents, that upon paying the usual prices for lands at such dis- tance from Philadelphia we may have sufficient rights and titles made to us for such land as we have occasion to buy. And we humbly beg leave to inform your Excellency and Council that there are fifty families more who, if they be admitted upon the same conditions, are desirous to come and settle with us. We hope for your favorable answer to this, our humble request, and as in duty bound shall ever pray."
In 1723 thirty-three families of the Germans, having been sorely pressed and wronged, firstly by the Dutch and then by the English, and then finally deprived of their lands and other posses- sions in Schoharie county, New York, came to Pennsylvania by the Susquehanna and Swatara. They settled near Tulpehocken, about 50 miles west of the Schuylkill.
William Fisher was one of this company and settled in Hei- delberg township. He married Gertrude Elizabeth Hain, daugh- ter of George Hain. Peter, son of William Fisher, married Abi- gail Heckert (afterwards Eckert), and the son Henry married Susannah Ruth on January 4, 1781, and died in Huntingdon, Pa., in 1821.
Peter Fisher and his son Peter were privates in the Revolu- tionary war, in the company of Capt. John Ludwig (1780), while Henry Fisher served as a private in 1776, in the company of Captain Henry Christ.
Henry Fisher emigrated from Heidelberg to Oley (Berks) in 1791; married to Sarah, daughter of Jacob V. R. Hunter.
The War of the Palatinate (1688-1697).
Louis resolved to attack the Confederates, with no other pur- pose but to destroy them, hence he hurried a large army into their country and laid waste the entire country. Among the places reduced to ruins were the historic town of Heidelberg and a num- ber of smaller towns. Even fruit trees, vines aud crops were de stroyed, and a hundred thousand peasants were rendered homeless. This gives us an idea of the terrible suffering and poverty of the people that came to the New World to seek shelter and a place where they might enjoy freedom without persecution from relig- ious fanatics.
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The Theory of the Divine Right of Kings.
From the day of King Saul, when the people cried out, "Let us have a king !" kings were regarded as being the appointed rulers from God to govern the people. This theory was held as regards kings and the Papacy. According to this theory, they were to take care of the people as a father takes care of his family and provides for them ; and under no circumstances is it right for them to rebel against his authority, any more than for children to rise against their father. The king is responsible to God alone, and to God the people, quietly submissive, must leave the aveng- ing of all their wrongs.
Kings are the ministers of God. "The throne of a king is not the throne of man, but the throne of God himself." "The person of a king is sacred, and it is sacrilege to harm them." The same applies to the Papacy. By the misdeeds of kings and Popes the people gradually learned by their deeds that they were not ap- pointed of God, but simply the machination of unscrupulous men. And thus we have the great struggle between the rulers and the people ; out of it came the Reformation and all wars pertaining thereto, which pauperized the people, devastated the land and turned the world into a field of carnage.
Religious Revival, Sects and All Sorts of Fanatics.
The great Protestant communions finally broke up into a larger number of denominations, or Churches, each holding to some minor point of doctrine, or adhering to some form of worship disregarded by the other. The contentions between the different sects were sharp and bitter, like that in the days of the Apostle Paul. One said, "I am of Luther ;" another said, "I am of Cal- vin," and another said, "I am of Zwingli," and so of all the sects that had adherents among the people.
From the foregoing historical facts explains the divergence and especially different trend of the people that came in the Tulpe . hocken region and those coming in the Cacoosing region, the former being allied to the Germans while the latter came from the Palatines and Dutch, and that for a century this part of the Church did not receive any recognition by the Coetus.
The forming of the congregations and the erecting of houses of worship at this early period was indeed a hardship, and services were held generally at private houses until a nucleus was obtained leading to a congregation.
The Reformed Church then had only a few ministers, and those adhering to the Reformed faith were scattered over a great extent of territory, with no roads communicating or making places accessible other than trails or only partly opened roads
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through dense forests. It thus is very plain that those isolated settlements could not have regular services, but only at some stated time, once or twice a year at the most, be visited by one of the few ministers located in eastern Pennsylvania ; such was, without any doubt, the situation of this congregation.
From 1730 to 1757, during which time it had no regular pas- tor for any length of time, services were likely conducted by some layman. The following names do appear in those early times :
John Conrad Tempelman.
John Conrad Tempelman was born at Weinheim, in the Palatinate, and baptized March 22, 1692. (In those early times, as a rule, no record is kept of the birth, but only of the time of baptism.) He was the son of Henry Tempelman, a miller by trade. He was married September 22, 1717, to Anna Maria Barth. He came to America between the years 1721 and 1725; the exact time is not known. He was a parochial school teacher and started many a Church and parochial school.
He lived near Lebanon, and began preaching about the same time that Boehm did, namely, in 1725. Tempelman thus de- scribes the first beginnings of his work in a letter sent to the Hol- land deputies, February 13, 1733: "This Church took its origin in the year 1725, at Chanestoka, with a small gathering here and there in houses, with the reading of a sermon and with singing and prayer, according to the German Reformed Church order, upon all Sundays and holidays." He also says that on account of the lack of ministers they were without the administration of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Tempelman was very watchful against sects, and his congregations were very much united.
As the two founders of the German Reformed Church, Boehm and Tempelman, were laymen, it brings into prominence the thought that the Reformed Church owes a debt to the laity. She should, therefore, give prominence to them in their work, and not try to suppress them. (This idea of the laity ruling is character- istic of the people of this section of Berks county and Lehigh county.) This origin of the Reformed Church through the laity gives a special emphasis to the idea that the ministry is not a sep- arate class appointed to do some other work than the laity. All of God's people are priests. "Ye are a holy priesthood," says the Apostle Peter, and the watchword of the Reformation was the priesthood of all believers. Our Church in Pennsylvania owes its origin to the pious laymen.
Tempelman's eyesight became defective in the later years of his life, on account of which he was no longer able to serve his con ยท gregations. In 1760 he is reported as blind. He died about 1761.
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He was buried about four miles southeast of Lebanon at a place called Tempelman's Hill, near which he used to live.
Rev. Samuel Guldin.
He was born at Berne, Switzerland, a son of Hans Joachin Guldin and Anna Maria Koch ; he was baptized April 8, 1664. He was educated at Berne, entering the University there in 1679, and became a Swiss Pietist. In 1710 he came to America, having with him his wife and four children. He was the first Reformed minister in Pennsylvania. He died December 31, 1745.
Francis Layenberger.
There is no record of his birth or parentage. All that we know is that he served the Church as a pious layman. (They had services regularly by a school teacher named Francis Layenberger, whose faithfulness Boehm praises.)
John Philip Boehm.
John Philip Boehm was the son of Rev. Philip Lewis Boehm; he was born at Hochstadt, and was baptized there November 25, 1683. He was a school teacher at Worms from 1708 to 1715. He came to America about 1725, and the records show that he or- ganized a number of congregations.
He was ordained to the holy ministry on Sunday afternoon, November 23, 1739. He died April 29, 1749.
John Henry Goetschi.
Maurice Goetschi (Rev.) was born in 1686 and became a min- ister in 1710. He and his son came to America May 29, 1735, landing at Philadelphia. On the day of their arrival the father died, and on June 2 he was buried in the churchyard of the prin- cipal Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. His son John Henry was born in 1718. Goetschi, even before his ordination, left Penn- sylvania and went, October, 1740, to Long Island, where the con- gregations had given him a call.
Jacob Lischy.
He was born at Muhlhausen, in southwestern Germany. The date of his birth is uncertain, either September 20, 1716, or May 28, 1719. He came to Philadelphia in the latter part of May, 1742. He took the oath of allegiance on May 28, 1742. The last years of his life he spent on a farm near Wolf's Church, York county, where he died in 1781 and was buried there.
He was one of the most interesting persons at that time. He was the most important because of the work he did. He soon be-
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came a leading spirit among the Moravians. As far as ability and leadership were concerned he would have made a far better super- intendent of the Reformed than Bechtel did. Indeed, he vir- tually did that work, for Bechtel was a comparatively quiet and non-aggressive man, while Lischy was bright, aggressive and self- asserting. What progress was made among the Reformed by the Moravians was made mainly through Lischy's efforts. Lischy, by traveling around the country, gave Boehm no end of trouble. Indeed, his very qualities for leadership ultimately made the Mora- vians suspicious of him that he was not entirely sincere in his ad- herence to chem. From the very first he threw himself heartily into the movement. He had hardly landed in America when he accom- panied Zinzendorf on a journey (July 24-August 2, 1742) to the Delaware Indians in the Minnisink Mountains, They returned by way of Lehigh Gap, through Allemaengel in Lehigh county, to Tulpehocken. When Zinzendorf was at Tulpehocken the Lu - therans protested against the Moravians taking their Church, August 11, 1742, in a pamphlet called "The Tulpehocken Con- fusion." (There were also some Reformed in the confusion there protesting against the Moravians.) , In December Zinzendorf, while passing through Warwick township, Lancaster county (now Lititz) was asked by persons there to send them a minister. He sent Lischy to Muddy Creek and Kissel's Farm, where Lischy's preaching produced a great awakening. He was ordained at Philadelphia, January, 1743, by David Nitschman. On March 1, 1743, he published his Declaration of his Intention. Its ob- ject was to reveal his theological views and also his aim in preaching the gospel. It shows his adherence to the articles of the Berne Synod, and is also Moravian in its gross idea of Christ's wounds. It is followed by a testimonial signed by too many to have their names published. It closes with a hymn of Lischy's. He at once begins his missionary trips among the Reformed to gain them from Boehm to the Congregation of the Spirit. On Thursday before Easter he organized the Muddy Creek congrega- tion on the basis of Bechtel's Catechism and the articles of the Berne Synod, and he baptized there, 1743-4. On April 10 he was in the Coventry district of Chester county, west of the Schuylkill, where the Reformed congregation called him, and a constitution was drawn up on May 19, 1743. On August 29 of that year we find him in Heidelberg to . nship, Berks county, at the Cacusi Church. There a great meeting was held of the Re- formed elders from twelve congregations. They were Cacusi, Berne, Heidelberg (probably in Lebanon county), Cocalico, Don- egal, Upper Swatara, Blue Mountain, Muddy Creek, Vincent and Schuylkill, and White Oaks. Here it was charged that he was a
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follower of Zinzendorf, and not a Reformed, and also that he had not been properly ordained. In reply he told the story of his life, and showed the certificate of his ordination. The Reformed were thoroughly satisfied with him and unanimously called him as their pastor. Indeed, they were so well satisfied with him that they published a leaflet signed by themselves, in which they declare that they will brand anyone who attacked Lischy as a liar and a fraud, and a disturber of the peace.
From a letter and report of the Rev. John Philip Boehm to the Classis of Amsterdam, May 19, 1743: "I was also informed by a certain trustworthy man that this man Lischy is said to have sworn by the throne of God, in the presence of certain people at Gaguschi (Cacusi), in Bern township, that he had nothing to do with the doctrine of the Herrnhuters. As a result he was ad- mitted into the Reformed Church there, whereby much mischief has been caused among the members of that congregation. Again, Lischy preached in a private house in Bern township and said in his sermon: 'People should not worry. All men would be saved; none should be lost.' Whereupon George Heen (Hain) there at the above-mentioned Church called him to account soon afterwards, demanding that he should prove this from the Scrip- tures. 'Only rogues and thieves talked in this manner.' On ac- count of this (the word thief) he was cited (before a Justice) by a warrant of Conrad "Weiser and bound over to the court at Lan- caster."
Lischy hardly preached in the Cacusi Church after this inci- dent.
In a letter of Boehm, written on March 30, 1740, he makes the following report about "Gaguschi"' to the Classis of Amster- sterdam:
"Concerning the congregation at Gaguschi (Cacusi). I was there on the 8th of February (1740) and spoke with Jacob Rieser, who showed me the way to N. Riehm, a deacon, with whom I stayed over night. Next morning he went with me to John Kershner. I explained to them the affair as well as I could. *But I noticed more distrust than zeal for this good and beneficial cause. When I finally desired to know their will and opinion they answered that they would consider the case among themselves and come to me to Dolpehacken on the 10th or 11th (of February) and sign a paper. But, although I waited beyond the appointed time, yet they did not come."-Pres. Historical Journal, vol. 7, page 319.
Frederick Casimir Miller.
He was from Steichein, near Mayence, where he had been & school teacher. He came to America before 1744. He belonged
*He was trying to induce tbem to subscribe a definite sum toward the support of a minister.
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to the independent class of so called ministers. He was unor- dained; he therefore never became a member of the Coetus. The last we hear of him is that he was in Oley in 1764.
John Henry Decker.
John Henry Decker became pastor of the Cacusi Church in Berks county in 1751. He was pastor a second time, 1753-1755. As to the history of his life there is no record. He was inde- pendent.
Thirty Years' War.
The long and calamitous Thirty Years' War was the last great combat between Protestantism and Catholicism in Europe. It is impossible to picture the wretched condition in which the Thirty Years' War left Germany. When the struggle began the population of the country was thirty millions; when it ended, twelve millions. Two thirds of the personal property had been destroyed. Many of the most flourishing cities were reduced to "'mere shells." Vast districts lay waste without an inhabitant. The very soil in many regions had reverted to its primitive wil- derness.
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The Controversy Between Boehm and Lischey in Heidelberg, August 29, 1743.
The people that came into this section firmly believed in the Heidelberg Catechism and were guided by its doctrine, and when any one came in their midst of doubtful faith or doctrine they did not allow their teaching, and yet, in spite of it all, they were ever on the alert as to their liberty, so that no king or Pope should rule over them, or any form of government that did not come from the people. This was the cause of the controversy between Boehm and Lischy. The former strictly adhered to the Church authority or the Coetus of Holland, while the latter did not hold himself subject to their teaching and authority, but stood aloof and belonged to the so-called independent preachers. Boehm complained that Lischy made him a great deal of trouble, in that he interfered with his work. It is reported that Lischy organized the Muddy Creek congregation on the basis of Bechtel's Catechism and the articles of the Berne Synod. It is true that Lischy was sustained at this meeting, but the members of St. John's (Hain's) Church, or Cacusi, never fell in with his views, nor did he serve them for any length of time. It must ever be said to the credit of this congregation that they ever remained true to the teaching of the Heidelberg Catechism. This goes to prove how firmly they were grounded in the faith of the Reformed Church and her doctrine. Where is there another class of people that could hold on to the faith of their fathers for a generation without any Church organization, having only laymen as their teachers to
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guide them? This in itself is one of the most remarkable things in the history of this congregation.
Copy of the Original Document Given Under the Seal of His Excellency, the Count, Secretary of the Chancery, Bierstein, 1733.
We, the Chancellor of the Right Hon. Count and Lord Sir Wolfgang Ernstin, Count of Isenberg and Biedingen, our gracious Count and Lord, hereby acknowledge and make known that William Fisher, heretofore inhabitant, neighbor and subject of Langenselbolamts Bonnenburg, obediently informed us that he has decided to depart and to emigrate to Pennsylvania, where he intends to settle, and at the same time humbly requests us to no- tify not only his honesty and integrity, but faithfully to attest that henceforth he owes no allegiance to his Excellency, the Count, as we should find by investigation, and as we would con- sider it our duty to bear witness to the truth and further the wel- fare of each and every one.
To this seemly request to William Fisher we had to accede the more readily the better we have assured ourselves by authenti- cated reports that William Fisher has heretofore conducted him- self to his Excellency, the Count, his counsellors, officials, and toward each and every one, that we can give to all good testimony in his behalf.
His Excellency and we his chancellor decree that William Fisher owes us no allegiance, and permit to him to leave the county of Isenberg and to settle wherever he may desire.
We therefore request all high and low, according to their sta- tions and dignity, obediently, submissively and subserviently and kindly, not only to give implicit belief to our testimony, that the above named William Fisher, who comes from a place free from all infectious disease, be permitted to go free and unmolested by whomsoever met, and his long journey to give him all assistance and preferment, which we shall ever be ready to reciprocate when- ever the opportunity shall offer.
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