History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 84

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

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HENRY H. HOUSTON, financier, prominently identified with the public in- ternal improvements of Pennsylvania, was born near Wrightsville, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, in 1826. Early in life he showed unusual capacity for business and removed to the city of Philadelphia, where he resided for half a century. As early as 1850 he became interested in the completion of a continuous line of railroad from Philadel- phia to Pittsburg and was identified with the construction of part of this line west of Harrisburg. Later in life he was president and director of more than half a dozen cor- porations and railroad companies allied with the interests of the Pennsylvania Rail-

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. HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

road Company, in which he was a director May 28, 1742, in company with twenty- for thirty years. Mr. Houston was a director in various financial institutions of Philadelphia and was a leading stockholder and director in the International Naviga- tion Company, which owned a line of the largest steamers that plied between New York City and Liverpool, England. He resided at Chestnut Hill, a suburb of Phila- delphia, where he died in 1897. His great uncle, Dr. John Houston, who lived near the site of Wrightsville, was a surgeon in the Flying Camp during the American Revolution.

JOSEPH JEFFRIES, colonel of the Fifth Battalion, York County Associators, in the Revolution, was born in Chester County, in 1736, and about 1770 removed west of the Susquehanna. On December 16, 1774, he was appointed a member of the Committee of Observation for York to newly formed congregations at Mode Creek and Kissel's farm in Lancaster County. An early record says, "he was a warm-hearted, gifted and approved preacher, and made a great impression wherever he went." In his own words he "was preaching for the congregation of God in the Spirit," and consequently used dif- ferent types and modes of worship, which he claimed was a union of the Moravian, Reformed and Lutheran faith. For this reason he got into frequent controversy. About this time he received at least a dozen calls to preach. Some of them came from his native country.

County. He became major of the Fifth Battalion, July 28, 1775, and was promoted colonel, April 5, 1778. During the latter part of 1778, he was appointed wagon master for York County, and in December of that year, he performed the responsible duty of procuring wagons to transport the effects of Burgoyne's army from the Sus- quehanna to Charlottesville, Virginia, where they remained prisoners of war for nearly three years. He died at Columbia, Pennsylvania, November 26, 1814. His son, Captain John Jeffries, served as a private in the early part of the war, was a second lieutenant in the Seventh Battalion in 1779, and promoted to captain in 1780. He died in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in 1832. James, son of Captain John Jeffries, was a second lieutenant in the Second Brigade of Pennsylvania, during the war of 1812.

REV. JACOB LISCHY was prominently identified with the early religious history of York County among the first German set- tlers. His record book of his first labors in this county, when the settlement was yet sparse, is still in existence. As a man he had a vigorous intellect, of considerable force of character. Most of his life was spent in the ministry of the German Re- formed Church, and yet he neither began nor ended his career within that church. who also belonged to the "Union Church" Jacob Lischy was a Swiss German, and im- were the prominent clergymen. Nyberg took charge of the Lutheran church of Han- migrated to America, landing at New York

seven other German immigrants, in the sail- ing vessel, called "Snow Catherine" com- manded by Captain Gladman. He was not a minister when he came to this country. Soon after arriving in Pennsylvania he was brought under the influence of Count Zin- zendorf, apostle of the Moravian church in America who came to this country in 1741. At the instance of Zinzendorf, he was or- dained a missionary when yet a young man. According to his own words he adopted the Christian religion under the preaching of the Moravians at Basle, in Switzerland, when fourteen years old. Making a success of his missionary work as a layman he was ordained as a minister at Bethlehem, in January, 1743, and set out to preach the gospel under the direction of Count Zinzen- dorf. Soon after his ordination he preached

On the 12th of August, 1744, a written in- vitation was sent him to take charge of the German Reformed congregation in York, which had not yet had a settled pastor. An early record says: "In 1744 the well- known Jacob Lischy, who had been sent out by the congregation at Bethlehem, Pa., came into the neighborhood of York to preach the gospel to all who were willing to hear him. He professed to be a Reformed minister, and was invited to preach to the German Reformed congregation at York; on the 29th of May, 1745, he accepted the pastorate of this church." In 1746 a "brethren synod" was held in Kreutz Creek, at which Rev. Lischy and Rev. Nyberg, a Lutheran preacher, lately from Sweden,

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over that year. It was about this time that and he was allowed to officiate regularly. the elders of the congregation of the After separating from the brethren ( Mora- church at York and Kreutz Creek became vians) he became violent against them, both in writing and speaking. When he left the York charge in 1754, a series of resolutions were passed and signed by eighty-seven members and the name and work of Dominie Lischy was long remem- bered among them. There were, however, many inconsistencies in Dominie Lischy's character, which sometimes overruled his great pretensions to piety. On account of his vagaries he was suspended from the ministry of the German Reformed Church aware that their pastor, Rev. Lischy, had some Moravian proclivities, and when he wished again to preach in York, many per- sons had collected in front of the church with great noise, and for a time forbade him to conduct religious services in their church. In connection with Rev. Christian Henry Rausch, an open air meeting was held along the Codorus, and a large audi- ence attended. For a time public services were held at Immel's house on the Codorus. There was a great religious awakening June 8, 1757. Final action was taken in his among the German settlers during the case by the synod of Holland, during the years 1745-6. It was brought about by the year 1760. Shortly after this event he united efforts of the clergymen of the Ger- moved to a farm, which he had before pur- chased, in what is now North Codorus Township, this county, on the right of the road leading from Spring Grove to Jeffer- son, and nearly midway between the two places. He opened a school and organized an independent church and did not disap- pear from the ecclesiastical arena. For a time his son taught a successful school on his farm. Rev. Lischy organized, in 1765, what is now known as "Lischy's church," in that vicinity. In this quiet community he spent the remainder of his life, and was respected by the people among whom he labored. Among the taxable lists for 1780, we find the following assessment : "Rev. man Reformed, Lutheran and Moravian de- nominations. This gave rise to the contro- versy as to which denomination should eventually gain the ascendency. Lischy's sphere seemed to be that of a controver- sionalist. His preaching was, however, ef- fective, and he continued the regular pastor until 1754, of York, Kreutz Creek and other congregations in York County formed by him. But his career in York was not all harmonious. On May 2, 1747, the Rev. Michael Schlatter visited York and accord- ing to his journal "found a large German Reformed congregation. But on account of Lischy's semi-Reformed and semi-Mora- vian tenets, the brethren (Moravians) in connection with Rev. Lischy, has brought much confusion among them."

Lischy through the instrumentality of Schlatter, was regularly ordained a minis- ter of the German Reformed Church, on September 29, 1747. He then invited Lischy, V. D. M., born in Switzerland, in Schlatter to come from the synod at Phila- delphia, to York, to assist in restoring har- mony. By May 17, 1748, when Schlatter again returned to York, he found that "con- fidence in Lischy had been restored and their affection for him was kindled anew." On the 18th of May he was asked to preach before Rev. Schlatter and the congregation, at York, without having much time for preparation, in order to test his orthodoxy. The following was the text selected: "For

Jacob Lischy owned 100 acres of land, 40 of which were cleared, had three horses, two cows and five sheep. Entire valuation 1600 pounds." In the family graveyard, on what was his farm, we copied the following in- scription: "In memory of Rev. Jacob Europe. Departed this life A. D. 1781." A few other persons are interred in this same "neglected spot" among them his wife, who died in 1754. A large pear tree has grown up on her grave. The burying ground is on an elevated plane, with a commanding view of the surrounding country.

WILLIAM LENHART, a noted mathe- matician, was born at York in 1787. He was the son of Godfrey Lenhart one of the early clockmakers who resided at the north- many are called, but few are chosen." This west corner of George Street and Centre was the first time he had preached in the Square. In his youth he attended the York church since the disturbance more than a County Academy and received instruction year before. His sermon was a success in mathematics from Robert Adrian who

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

afterward filled the chair of mathematics in marked degree. In 1824 he was appointed the University of Pennsylvania. Before deputy attorney general. for Lycoming William Lenhart had reached the age of County and filled that position for a period nineteen, he had advanced so far in his fa- of three years. In politics he was a Demo- crat, and in 1832 was elected a member of

vorite study of higher mathematics that he contributed articles of merit to the Mathe- the State Legislature. In this body he soon matical Correspondent and Analyst, the won distinction as a public speaker. At two leading journals of their kind then printed in America. He spent several years as an accountant in Baltimore and also resided in Philadelphia. Most of his life was devoted to diligent and careful study of higher mathematics. He frequently competed with noted European scholars such as Euler, Lagrange, and Gauss, known throughout the world as the most eminent mathematicians of their time. He con- tinued to be a contributor to the leading mathematical journals during the re- mainder of his life and is said to have been the best informed scholar in America on the subject of diophantine analysis. The last years of his career were spent in Frederick, Maryland, where he died in 1840 at the age of fifty-three. Mathematicians report that the mind of William Lenhart was peculiarly adapted to solve the most intricate ques- tions relating to mathematical science.

ELLIS LEWIS, Chief Justice of the Su- preme Court of Pennsylvania, was born of Welsh ancestry, at Lewisberry, York County, May 16, 1798. He was a son of Eli Lewis, grandson of Ellis Lewis and great-grandson of Ellis Lewis, one of the earliest members of the Society of Friends, who settled in York County in the year 1735.

this early period in his life his speeches were noted for clearness of expression and profound thought. His ability as a lawyer attracted the attention of Governor George Wolf, who, in 1833, appointed him attorney general for the State of Pennsylvania. He filled this high position for a period of one year, when in response to a petition from almost the entire bar Governor Wolf ap- pointed him president judge of the Eighth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, composed of Lycoming and several other counties. He filled this position for ten years. In 1843 he was appointed president judge of the Second Judicial District, composed of Lancaster County. He then removed to the city of Lancaster. In 1851 he was elected one of the justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and resigned the position of president judge of the Second Judicial District after the election held in October of that year. In December, 1854, he became chief justice. In 1857 he de- clined the unanimous nomination of the Democratic State Convention for re-election to the Supreme Court, and retired to private life, residing in the city of Philadelphia.

In 1858 Judge Lewis was appointed one of the commissioners to revise the criminal code of Pennsylvania. His acquaintance with medical jurisprudence gained for him the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine, from the Philadelphia College of Medicine. He also received the degree of Doctor of Laws, from Transylvania University and from Jefferson College. Judge Lewis' legal opinions on important and difficult cases are frequently cited with approval by the most eminent writers of his profession.

Major Eli Lewis, his father, published the first newspaper at Harrisburg, and in 1798 laid out the borough of Lewisberry. Judge Lewis obtained his preliminary education at a school in his native town, taught by Isaac Kirk. In this school he displayed superior mental endowments and by the time he reached the age of sixteen had ac- quired a good English education. He studied the ancient classics under a private He was the author of "An Abridgment of the Criminal Law of the United States." He was a man of great force of character, fine intellectual attainments and with the legal profession of Pennsylvania is recog- nized as a profound jurist. Judge Lewis devoted much of his time to the study of teacher at Harrisburg, where he learned the printers trade. At the age of eighteen he moved to Williamsport, where he assisted in editing one of the local papers for two years. He then studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar of Lycoming County in the year 1822, and at once entered upon the literature, and was a frequent correspond- practice of law, in which he succeeded in a

ent to the leading periodicals of the country.

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REV. LEWIS MAYER, D. D.

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In early life he frequently came to York Baden, November, 1702, came to America to visit his brother, James Lewis, one of the by way of the Hague, where the right of leaders of the York County Bar. On sev- eral occasions he appeared in the trial of cases before the York County courts. He spent the last years of his life in the city of Philadelphia, where he died March 9, 1871, at the age of seventy-three years. A fine portrait of Judge Lewis was presented to the Historical Society of York County in the year 1906, by his only surviving daugh- ter, Miss Josephine Lewis, of Philadelphia.

JOHN LUTHER LONG, lawyer, author and dramatist, was born at Hanover, York County, in 1856. After leaving school he studied law and was admitted to the bar at York. He then removed to Philadelphia, and became a member of the bar of that city. Soon after he entered his profession he turned his attention to literature, and be- came a contributor to the "Century Maga- zine" and other leading periodicals in this country. His stories on Japanese life and customs attracted wide attention. This caused an increased demand for his con- tributions. Mr. Long has written a series of stories, portraying the characteristics of the Pennsylvania Germans. His stories are attractive in style and are original in con- ception. He has written and published several volumes, including "Madam Butter- fly." "Miss Cherry-Blossom of Tokyo," "The Fox Woman," "The Prince of Illu- sion," "Naughty Nan," "Heimweh," and other stories. Within recent years a num- ber of his stories have been dramatized and put on the stage both in America and Eu- rope. His play entitled "The Garden of the Gods," has been produced in all the leading cities of the United States as well as in Paris and London.

REV. LEWIS MAYER, D. D. On his father's side the roots of the family tree are traceable in Germany to the Fifteenth Cen- tury. In 1570 Maximilian II. granted a coat of arms to the Mayers, "on account of important military services rendered in his life time, as well as in the days of Charles V." Two of his forbears in the Seventeenth Century were ministers of the gospel: the Rev. John Melchoir Mayer, born at Ulm, September II, 1636, and the Rev. George Bartholomew Mayer, born at Ulm, March 9. 1681. His grandfather, Christopher

citizenship was conferred on him, and set- tled with his family in the Pennsylvania colony, probably in the town of Lancaster. His son, George Lewis Mayer, was then a youth, and later engaged in business in Lancaster. The latter was twice married, and Dr. Lewis Mayer, born March 26th, 1783, was the second son of the second mar- riage. His mother was a a daughter of Jacob Haller, of Maryland, who was a sol- dier in Braddock's army in the French and Indian war.

Dr. Mayer was twice married, the first time in November, 1809, at Shepherdstown, Virginia, to Catharine Line, a daughter of John Line, of that place: and the second time in August, 1827, during his residence at Carlisle, to Mary Smith, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who survived him. He had six children by his first marriage and none by his second. Two of his children died in infancy, leaving one son and three daughters to survive him. He died on Au- gust 25, 1849, aged sixty-six years, four months and twenty-nine days.

Dr. Mayer received his early education in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, partly under his father's direction, who is described as "a gentleman of liberal education." The son was a diligent pupil and showed a fondness for the German language and literature. After a comparatively limited yet thorough training he left the parental roof and lo- cated in Frederick, Maryland, where he en- gaged in business. His tastes, however, turned his mind to books rather than to af- fairs. He passed through a crisis under the preaching of his pastor, the Reverend Daniel Wagner, of the German Reformed Church.

His mind being by nature vigorous and from childhood trained to read and to think, he made rapid progress in his classical and theological studies. The former he pur- sued under the tutelage of the principal of Frederick College, and the latter under his preceptor. the Rev. Mr. Wagner. Having finished his studies he was examined and licensed to preach the gospel by the Ger- man Reformed Synod at New Holland, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1807.

In 1808 he accepted a call from the Shep- Bartholomew Mayer, born at Carlsruhe, herdstown charge, composed of the Shep-

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HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

herdstown, Martinsburg and Smithfield instruction in a room of Dickinson College,

Congregations. For more than twelve at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

years he labored acceptably in this field. He The number of students the first session was only five, but there was an increase not only won the esteem and affection of his parishioners but he came to be recognized, from year to year. In 1827, he wrote to B.

far beyond the bounds of his charge, as a man of promise. He was invited in Janu- ary, 18II, to preach the funeral sermon of pastor Wagner, his preceptor, in Frederick. His sermon made a profound impression, and at the urgent request of his auditors he prepared it for print, so far as known the first publication from his pen. The Fred- erick congregation desired to secure his services as pastor, but he refused to allow his name to be put in nomination. On an- other occasion he was requested to preach in the First Reformed Church in Baltimore. He then preached the first English sermon ever delivered in that church. Before the services the people were worked up into a high state of excitement because of the pro- posed English discourse. Some threatened the preacher with violence if he insisted on carrying out his proposal. But Dr. Mayer stood firm, preached an appropriate ser- mon, and in a short time had an unanimous call from the congregation in his hands. He declined the call.

In 1821 he was chosen pastor of the Re- formed Church in York, Pennsylvania, to which place he moved with his family. He remained in the pastorate for four years longer, when he was elected as the first theological professor in the German Re- formed Church by the Synod which met at Bedford, in 1824.

. The outlook in his new field was by no means encouraging. The church at large was partly hostile and partly indifferent to the long discussed and oft defeated project of opening a theological seminary. The matter was finally decided at the Synod of Bedford, when the president, Dr. Hendel, declared himself in favor of the seminary after a tie vote had been cast. The newly elected professor had no buildings, no li- braries, no endowments, no students, no colleagues. There were, however, some ministers and laymen who were cordial sup- porters of the new movement. Upon them Dr. Mayer could reply in season and out of season, and with their aid he turned the resolution of the synod into a visible reality when in May, 1825, he began his work of

C. Wolff, Esq., as follows: "I labor here with a slow, painful progress. The number of our students is only eight, and none of them is distinguished for talents or acquire- ments. The seminary is neglected by its professed friends. The situation resembles that of a little barque on a rough sea, with a pilot, indeed, and a compass on board, but without sails or seamen to manage them, tossed by the wind and waves, in constant danger of being dashed upon quicksands or rocks, ever and anon addressed by a passing vessel under easy sail. that hails her, asks her how she does, wishes her a pleasant voyage and bears away. I shall not abandon this suffering ship until I discover that she is sinking, which I hope and pray may not be." Words like these not only throw light on the difficulties which beset the seminary in its beginnings, but also on the heroic character of its first professor. So many adverse circumstances arose while the institution was located at Carlisle, that the synod determined to remove it to York, Pennsylvania, where it was brought in 1829. Dr. Mayer continued his work under more congenial surroundings. The Rev. Mr. Young was elected as second professor, and a classical school was established in connec- tion with the seminary under the direction of Dr. Rauch. In 1835 the institution was removed to Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Not choosing to follow the seminary to its new location chiefly on account of his feeble health, Dr. Mayer resigned his professor- ship and remained at York. The synod, however, urged him to withdraw his resig- nation and to continue his instructions at Mercersburg. He consented to the synod's request with the understanding, however, that his continuance should only be tem- porary. He tendered his resignation finally in 1838, and lived in retirement at York, performing such literary work as his declin- ing health permitted, until the day of his death.

As to his personal appearance he is de- scribed as of medium size, his frame slender and erect. His forehead was high, and in- dicated great intellectual strength. His

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eye was keen and penetrating, and his whole hopeless gloom. All my reasonings and all appearance commanded reverence and re- the arguments of others have failed me, and spect. have left me to be tossed by the winds and waves of uncertainty and anxious care. But when I turned to the character of Jesus and there read His constant and posi- tive assurance that His doctrine was not His own, but that of the Father, I have always felt that it was impossible that He should have been mistaken or that He in- tended to deceive. Here my doubts have uniformly ceased."

He was a diligent pastor,-none who better knew how to direct the penitent, edify the believer, reclaim the wanderer, comfort the distressed, and cheer the dy- ing. He carefully prepared his sermons. His preaching was plain and practical, his style chaste and popular. He was consid- ered a master in the art of scriptural expo- sition. He stands out most prominently as a teacher, a scholar and an author. He had The following works have been pre- a thorough knowledge of the Hebrew, served from his pen: printed, Sin against Greek and Latin languages. His writings prove that he constantly referred to origi- nal sources in biblical and classical litera-

the Holy Ghost, Lectures on Scriptural Subjects, History of the German Reformed Church, Vol. I., numerous editorials and ture in the study of texts and subjects. He articles in the Magazine of the German Re- was a master of the German, and is said to formed Church, of which he was editor, and manuscripts, Lectures on Systematic The- ology, Lectures on Hermeneutice, and the Mayer Manuscripts. These works are preserved and are accessible in the library of the Historical Society of the Reformed Church in the United States at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. have been one of the best readers of the contributions to contemporary periodicals ; Dutch language in this country in his day. He was deeply interested in scientific studies. He began the work of gathering the material for a history of the Reformed Church. He collected and transcribed old documents from Latin, German, Dutch and English sources. This collection is known as the "Mayer Manuscripts" and is pre- served in the archives of the Historical So- ciety of the Reformed Church at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was the first one in this country to write a history of the Reformed Church. The first volume of his history was published. Unfortunately the manu- script of the second volume has been lost and probably destroyed.

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History of York County Pennsylvania, Volume I, Part 84

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