History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 25

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372

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"Of those who made choice of Come Down

Conrad Pennsylvania, Conrad Weiser was

Weiser. easily the leader. During the Susquehanna. Schoharie struggle his father, John Conrad, had gone to England to make a fruitless appeal to the crown. He re- turned after five years, broken in health and spirit, and the son, Conrad, succeeded to the leadership. Young Conrad was twelve years old when the Palatines left their native land, was educated by his father, who had been a magistrate in the Palatinate, and early showed the possession of qualities of a high order, quick intelligence, a deep re- ligious sense, a logical mind, a strong will, sound judgment and great executive ability. In his youth at Schoharie he spent much time with the Indians, learned their lan- guage and secured their friendship. This familiarity proved afterwards of immense benefit in Pennsylvania, where he became intimately associated with provincial affairs, and in all dealings with the Indians was the counselor and agent of the Governor. He was also associated with Franklin in educa- tional and other colonial interests, and took a leading part in the founding and extension of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania. There are indeed few names in the colonial

They came down the North Branch to Fort Augusta, the near the site of Sunbury; where this stream enters the Susquehanna. At this point tradition says, bands of peaceful Indians welcomed them. Tribes of Shawanese oc- cupied the alluvial lands on both sides of the stream, at Paxtang on the east side, and at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches on the west side. Here floating down the stream in their flatboats and canoes, the Germans observed the Susquehanna spread out more than a mile in width like an open bay. When they arrived at the site of Middle- town, on the east bank of the river, they turned their canoes up the placid waters of the Swatara, along whose banks could then be seen small settlements of Conoy and Conewago Indians. The signs and symbols of these worthy Germans, in all 33 families, were recognized and received with favor by the red men of the forest. So these pious Germans passed onward to their place of destination. They moved on up the Swatara to its upper waters and then crossed over to the fertile region of the Tul- pehocken, now embraced in Berks and Lebanon counties. This land had been se- cured from the Indian chief, Sassouan. A

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THE GERMANS

few years after the arrival of these Germans at Tulpehocken a number of them migrated to York County. migrants sign their names before landing. These original documents are now in the record department among the archives at The liberal system of govern- Penn's ment in the province of Wil- Harrisburg. In 1856, I. D. Rupp published in book form the names of 30,000 Germans Invitation. liam Penn was the cause of en- who landed at Philadelphia between the couraging Germans from the years 1727 and 1776, when Penn's province Palatinate, most of whom belonged to the became a state. Lutheran and Reformed Churches, as well The charter granted to as the Mennonites from Germany and West of the Lord Baltimore permitted Switzerland and the German Baptists from the upper Rhine, to cross the Atlantic and seek refuge in Pennsylvania. They first settled in Philadelphia in 1683, and the stream of immigration from Germany con- tinued from that date until 1760. Between 1705 and 1727, a large number of Germans settled in New Jersey. The interest which William Penn had in West Jersey led him to purchase the territory now embraced in Pennsylvania. Having three times visited the Palatines and other Germans in the Fatherland, Penn invited them to come to America, and this invitation helped to cause the immigration which continued for more than half a century. The Mennonites, who settled at Germantown in 1683, were the first to arrive. A colony of the German Baptists, or Dunkers, settled at the same place in 1719. Meantime, the Mennonites pressed forward and took up the rich lands of the Pequea Valley of Lancaster County, as early as 1709.

After 1716 there was a rapid immigration of Palatines, representing the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, landed at Philadelphia. Most of them were of the peasant class and moved within the present limits of Mont- gomery, Berks, Northampton and Lancas- ter Counties. A Reformed Church was founded at Goshenhoppen, in Berks County, in 1717, and Lutheran Churches were founded at Trappe and other parts of Mont- gomery County about the same time. At this period in our colonial history, the In- dians were living on peaceful terms with the whites, and these German settlers moved forward toward the Susquehanna. The largest immigration took place between 1730 and 1750. In 1747 Governor Thomas estimated that there were 120,000 of these people within the Province of Pennsyl- vania. After the year 1727 the masters of vessels arriving at the port of Philadelphia were required to have all the German im-

Susquehanna. settlements in the valley of Monocacy, where Freder- ick now stands, as early as 1712, and a num- ber of Palatines located there during that year, while still others crossed the Potomac into the Shenandoah Valley as early as 1731. Germans were among the earliest to cross the Susquehanna, beginning their settle- ments in the valley of the Kreutz Creek and Conojohela, in 1730. They could secure no rights for settlements until 1733, when Samuel Blunston, an English Quaker and an agent for the Penns, issued licenses for white settlers to cross the Susquehanna and take up lands within the present arca of York County. During the succeeding three years, at least one thousand Palatines settled in They the Codorus Valley. founded the first Lutheran Church on the site of York in 1733. About the same time a Reformed congregation was organized at Kreutz Creek. The Germans began to set- tle on what is known as Digges' Choice, around the site of Hanover, as early as 1731, taking up lands under Maryland titles.

The land west of the Susquehanna, ex- tending to the eastern slopes of the Alle- ghany Mountains, was purchased by the Penns from the Indians in 1736. From that time until 1749, when York County was organized, there was a continuous stream of migration into York County. Many of these people came directly from the Father- land, while others migrated from the eastern counties of Pennsylvania. A few of them were Mennonites and others Dunkers, but a large majority were Lutherans and Re- formed. They brought with them the cus- toms of their native land, as well as the church and parochial schools.

Hon. John W. Bittenger, in an address delivered at the time of the Sesqui-Centen- nial of York County, in 1899, paid the fol- lowing tribute to the worthy Germans who settled this region :

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

"As William Penn, the great apostle of western section of the county as early as peace and toleration, sought a home in the 1738. They took up the rich farming lands to the east and southeast of Hanover, first securing land titles from the authorities of Maryland. A few of them settled between York and the Susquehanna River. new world and founded Pennsylvania, where he might worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, so the Germans of the Palatinate and other parts of Germany, at the invitation of Penn, came The religions body known as Men- to seek a new home in his province, many Their nonites has Origin. They took their name from Menno Simon, who had been a Roman Catholic priest and first organized them in Germany during the year 1540. Some au- thorities state that they were descendants of the Waldenses, a class of people who suffered persecution in France and parts of Germany. Another authority reports them as Anabaptists. a disputed origin. of them in York County, for the same land- able purposes and in hopes and expectations of finding a retreat, a peaceable settlement therein. How they grew in numbers; how by acts of charity and good will, they lived in peace with their Indian neighbors; how they established and maintained their plain but comfortable homes ; built churches and school houses; defended their possessions against Maryland intruders and compelled recognition of their rights; defended their country's flag, its honor and liberties on every battlefield; improved their lands and developed their resources ; how they were largely instrumental in the establishment and maintenance of good government, are all matters of history.

"As early as December 16, 1774, at a meeting called at the Court House, a Com- mittee of Safety for the county was elected, having among its members men of familiar German names : Henry Slagle, George Eich- elberger, George Koontz, Simon Copen- hafer, Michael Hahn, Baltzer Spangler,. David Messerly, Nicholas Bittinger, Jacob Doudel, Frederick Fischel, Michael Dondel, Casper Reinecke and Henry Liebhart. These and other Germans of York County stood by the great cause until our indepen- dence was obtained and then devoted them- selves to the civil achievements that fol- lowed.

"It is our duty to recount their virtues, land their distinguished services to their country, their great achievements in peace or war, to honor their names and cherish their memories, for an honored ancestry is .

In 1683 Jacob Telner, of Crefeld, a town to worthy descendants their richest in- on the Rhine just outside of Holland, or- heritance."

THE MENNONITES.

The Mennonites were among the early settlers in the territory of York County. for his people on the banks of the Delaware, Under the leadership of Michael Tanner, a short distance north of Philadelphia.

who, in 1749, was appointed one of the com- missioners to lay off York County, this class Founded of religionists began to settle in the south- Germantown.

In their religious beliefs the Mennonites opposed war, would take no oaths, no part in government, were opposed to a paid min- istry, premeditated sermons, high education and infant baptism, the doctrines and be- liefs to which they still adhere. These peo- ple, who were similar in their religious faith to the Quakers, had been invited to come to America by Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, and settle with his own subjects on the banks of the Delaware. A few of them came as early as 1662.

William Penn, whose mother was of Hol- land-Dutch ancestry, paid a visit to Holland and the lower parts of Germany in the year 1761, preaching the doctrine of the "inner light," or the motives and influences that guide the hearts and consciences of men, a faith in harmony with that of the followers of Menno Simon. In 1677 Penn made a second visit to Holland and Germany, where he encouraged the forming of colonization societies. The Mennonites had been driven up and down the Rhine by persecution for a century and a half, and they were now willing to brave the dangers of the sea to find a haven of rest beyond it.

ganized a company of Mennonites for the purpose of transporting them to America. He had come to Pennsylvania a few years before and selected a site as a future home

Francis Daniel Pastorius, a noted scholar, arrived in Philadelphia August 20,

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THE GERMANS

1683, and soon afterward founded Ger- cution in their native country, crossed the mantown with thirteen families of Cre- ocean and at last found a safe harbor in the felders, in all thirty-three persons. Wil- land of Penn. liam Penn was present when the frame By the year 1732 there were sev- work of the first two-story house was built In York eral hundred of these people in Germantown, and partook of a Mennon- ite dinner at the "raising." Other immi- grants began to arrive and the village of Germantown, then six miles from Philadel- phia and now part of the city, became a prosperous settlement.

In 1719 another class of religionists whom Penn had invited to his province first landed in America and took up their abode with the Mennonites around German- town. These people were the German Bap- tists, or Dunkers, who, in the main, held the same religious beliefs as the Mennonites and Quakers. They came to Germantown under the leadership of Christopher Sauer, a man of fine education, and who became the original publisher of German books in America.

A colony of eight families of Swiss

Valley.

In the Mennonites arrived at Holland, Pequea set sail for America, and in 1709 took up lands in the beautiful Pequea Valley, in Lancaster County, being the first white settlers to THE GERMAN BAPTISTS. clear the lands and cultivate the soil of that The followers of Alexander Mack, founder of the German Baptist Church, be- gan to settle in York County as early as 1738. One colony of these people took up the fertile lands in the southwestern portion of this county, settling there about the same time that the people of the Mennonite faith began to locate in that region. The Bermu- dian settlement, in the extreme western part of York County and the eastern part region. They were the pioneers of a large immigration of these worthy people, who soon afterward occupied the fertile valleys immediately east of the Susquehanna. Having come to this province at the invita- tion of William Penn, these Swiss Mennon- ites lived peaceably with the Indians, who still had their villages along the Susque- hanna and its tributary streams. They came under the leadership of John Herr, of Adams County, was composed almost who has numerous descendants in the entirely of German Baptists. counties of Lancaster and York.

These people being pleased with their new surroundings in the primeval forests of Pennsylvania, decided to send the good tidings to their unfortunate friends in their native land. Martin Kendig was chosen to return to Europe, and the next year he came back to Pequea, the leader of a new band of Mennonites. In 1717 another band of Swiss Mennonites came to the Pequea Val- ley and settled themselves on lands sur- rounding those owned by their brethren who came before them. In 1726 a much larger immigration, to avoid religious perse-

County. living in the fertile valleys of Lan- caster County. In 1733. when the Blunston grants were given, permitting settlers to cross the Susquehanna, some of these Swiss Mennonites were among the earliest to locate in the limestone region cast of York, and the fertile country of Heidelberg, Penn and the adjoining town- ships east and southeast of Hanover. They brought with them the Bible and other re- ligious works from the Fatherland, and soon after their arrival founded a church in the vicinity of Menges' Mills, and one along the York Road, known as Bear's Meeting House, three miles southeast of Hanover. These settlements were made before the red men of the forests had given up these hunting grounds and moved westward ahead of the white emigration. The de- scendants of these early Mennonites still occupy the fertile lands taken up by their ancestors nearly two centuries ago.

Christopher

In colonial times there seems to have been three leaders

Sauer. among the German people in Pennsylvania. These per- sons were Christopher Sauer (Sower), the leader of the German Baptists, Michael Schlatter, a remarkable missionary among the German Reformed settlers, and Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, one of the founders of the Lutheran Church in America. In many respects Christopher Sauer was the most progressive German in America in his day. He first settled on a farm in Lancaster County in 1724. He went to Germantown

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

in 1731, and in 1738 began to publish an among themselves as to church discipline almanac, which was widely circulated and and ecclesiastical polity. This province was exerted a powerful influence over the Ger- man people of Pennsylvania for more than half a century. It appeared every year from 1738 to 1798, the last numbers being pub- lished by his descendants. Sauer also began the publication of a religious and secular journal in 1739 and in 1743 he printed the first Bible which appeared from the press in America, except a portion of the Scriptures printed by Eliot at an earlier date, made for the Indians of Massachusetts. This edition of the Sauer Bible was limited to 1,200 copies. Two other editions were issued at a later date. Copies of the first edition are very rare. During his life time, Sauer published many books, and his print- ing house was continued by his descendants.

The Ephrata community, in Lancaster County, a body of Seventh Day Baptists, also followers of Alexander Mack, estab- lished a printing press in 1745 and pub- lished a large number of books in the Ger- man language. One of these, known as the "Martyr's Mirror," was the largest book printed in America before the Revolution.

It may be interesting here to give wife, Anna Margaretta; Andrew Bonny,

Origin the origin and early history of the

of the German Baptist Church, their

Church. emigration to Pennsylvania and their settlement west of the Susquehanna.

soon known as "the rendezvous of the Lord's people." Those who collected there were first called Pietists, and all worshipped together. They then commenced to call themselves Brethren. One of the guiding points of their discipline was found in the book of Matthew, which says: "If thy brother trespass against thee, go and. tell him his faults between thee and him alone." But to fulfill this injunction they needed some church order and they began to seek for the footsteps of the primitive Christians. The mystery of water baptism appeared to them a door of entrance into the true church, which they so earnestly sought, but they could not at once agree as to form. Finally, in 1708, eight of the most truth- loving of them agreed to enter into "a cove- nant of good conscience with God by taking up all the commandments of Jesus Christ as an easy yoke, and thus follow him as their faithful shepherd."

Those eight persons were George Graby and Lucas Vetter, from Hesse-Cassel; Alexander Mack, from Schriesheim, and his from Basle, Switzerland, and his wife, Jo- hanna, and John Kipping, from Wurtem- burg, and his wife, Johanna. These eight persons "covenanted and united as brethren and sisters of Jesus Christ," and thus formed the nucleus of a church of Christian believers. They claimed, after careful in- vestigation, that according to the commands of Christ the primitive Christians "were planted into his death by a three-fold im- mersion in the water bath of holy baptism, being in exact harmony with the New Testament." Trine immersion was con- sidered by them the only correct form of baptism. Being prepared for the ceremony of baptism, they went along the little stream called Aeder, in Germany, and he upon whom the labor had fallen baptized the leading brother and he in turn baptized the rest. In a few years there were large con- gregations gathered in Swartznau, in the Palatinate and in Marienborn. Persecution

The German Baptists, as a church. body, originated in Germany in the year 1708. They usually call themselves "Brethren" and their church the "Brethren Church." They are sometimes called "Dunkers," from the German word "tunken," meaning to baptize or dip. This name originated in Pennsylvania during their early history here. They do not recognize the name Dunker, or Dunkard, as appropriate to designate their church body. The origi- nators of this denomination in Germany met and held meetings among themselves for social worship, but the regular Protestant clergy soon caused the secular authorities to interfere. At this time, in 1695, a mild and lenient Count ruled over the province of Wigenstein, in North Prussia, where soon followed them. These unfortunate liberty of conscience was granted. To this ones found refuge under the king of Prus- sia. . Among the prominent workers in the church in Germany about 1715, some of whose descendants now live in York place, although a poor, rough country, went many, who were aroused by a religious awakening and who desired to consult

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THE GERMANS

County, were John Henry Kalclesser, of of the site of the present town of Hanover. Frankenthal; Christian Liebe (Leib), of It will thus be seen that the German Bap- tists were among the earliest people to form church organizations in York County. Ebstein ; Johanna Nass (Noss), of Norten ; Peter Becker, of Dillsheim; John Henry Trout and several brothers; Heinrich Hol- sapple and Stephen Koch, of the Palatinate. This religious body suffered Come to great persecutions in parts of the

America. Fatherland. Some fled to Cre-

feld, Prussia, from thence to Holland, thence to the province of Fries- land, in the hope of finding an asylum of peace and safety, but were everywhere dis- appointed until they "turned their faces to- ward the land of Penn," where this entire religious body soon emigrated. Twenty families first emigrated, with Elder Peter Becker at their head, in 1719, and settled in the vicinity of Germantown, Pennsylvania. In 1729 thirty more families came over under the leadership of the celebrated Alex- ander Mack, who himself was a noted evangelist and a descendant of the Wal- denses so well known to history. Settle- ments of them were soon formed at Skip- pack, Montgomery County, Oley, in Berk ;. and Conestoga, in Lancaster; all under the care of preachers Mack and Becker. In 1723 the church held a first election in America and chose Conrad Beissel, a minis- ter, and John Hildebrand, a deacon, bothi to serve in Lancaster County. In the lan- guage of an old record, "Conrad Beissel got wise in his own conceit, had an idea that Saturday was the Lord's day, secured a number of followers, and in 1729 organized, at Ephrata, the German Seventh-day Bap- tists," who were afterward known as a dis- tinct church body. In 1732 Beissel or- ganized a monastic society at Ephrata. The churches at Ephrata, at Conestoga, and one in Chester County attracted so many set- tlers that land became high. So numerous members of the Brethren Church, as early as 1736, began to migrate to what is now York County. Some went down into Maryland.

The first church in York Conewago Church. County by the Brethren was organized in 1738, "twenty miles west from the town of York, on the Little Conewago." This was in the vicinity of Hanover. The district embraced by the church included a large ex- tent of territory east, north and northwest

Among the early members who organized this church, in 1738, were Eldrick, Dier- dorff, Bigler, Gripe, Studsman and others. Among the prominent members of this con- gregation in 1770 were Jacob Moyer and James Henrick, preachers; Hans Adam Snyder, George Wine, Daniel Woods, Henry Geing, Joseph Moyer, Nicholas Hostetter, Christian Hostetter, Rudy

Brown, Dobis Brother, Jacob Miller, Michael Koutz, Stephen Peter, Henry Tan- ner, Michael Tanner, John Moyer, Jacob Souder, Henry Hoff, John Swartz. The wives of all these persons named were also members of this church. The unmarried members were Barbara Snyder, John Geing, Maud Bowser, George Peter, Hester Wise, Christian Etter, John Peter Weaver, Bar- bara Bear, Elizabeth Boering, Grace Hymen.

Their first preacher was Daniel Leather- man, Senior. He was followed by Nicholas Martin, Jacob Moyer (Meyers), James Hendrich (Henry), etc.

In 1741 there was another church or- ganized in the limits of what was then York County, "on the Great Conewago, about fourteen miles west from the new town of York." This was the same year York was founded. Many of the members of the church lived in the present territory of Adams County, in the vicinity of the vil- lages of Abbottstown and East Berlin. Among the first members of this organiza- tion were John Neagley, Adam Sower, Jacob Sweigard, Peter Neiper and Joseph Latshaw. Their first elder was George Adam Martin, who was followed by Daniel Leatherman, Jr., and Nicholas Martin. The following were the members in 1770: George Brown, preacher; John Heiner, Peter Fox, Anthony Dierdorff, Nicholas Moyer, Manasseh Brough, Michael Bosser- man, David Ehrhard, Daniel Baker, Abra- ham Stauffer, Henry Dierdorff, John Burk- holder. Andrew Trimmer, Eustace Rensel. Peter Dierdorff. Barnett Augenbaugh, John Neagley, Michael Brissel, Welty Bris- sel, Matthias Bouser, Laurence Baker, Philip Snell, Nicholas Baker, Jr., Adam Sower, Adam Dick, Henry Brissel, David Brissel. Henry Radibush, George Wagner.

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

George Reeson, and their wives. The un- numbered in its membership about forty married members were Peter Wertz, Ann families.

The first elder of this church Mummert, Christian Fray, Samuel Arnold, was Jacob Danner, a son of Michael Mary Latshaw, Catherine Studabaker, Nicholas Baker, Marillas Baker, Sarah Bris- sel, Jacob Miller, Rudolph Brown. The two organizations already described were known as the Conewago Churches.

There was another congrega-

Bermudian tion organized within the

Church. present area of Washington Township, "fifteen miles from the town of York," called the Bermudian

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 25

Author: Prowell, George R. Publication date: 1907 Publisher: J. H. Beers Number of Pages: 1372

Author: Prowell, George R.
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: J. H. Beers
Number of Pages: 1372