USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Hempfield > History of old Zion Evangelical Lutheran church in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Near Harrold's > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
Granted that the schoolmaster could arrange two such terms in a year, we find his total money income to be about $36.00 per year. Schoolmaster Zundel supported his wife and four children upon his salary and by working for the farmers in harvest time. This work was paid for largely in produce.
We must remember that during these times there were no state public schools. The schools were under church influence or were conducted by individuals and societies.
Mrs. Miller remembered the old school house at Herold's. It was first built as a one-room log house. There was one door facing the east and one window opposite the door. The floor was of puncheon, the seats of hewn logs made into benches. At first the window lights were of greased paper ; later we read in the Annual settlement of the Church, of an item of expendi- ture "for glass in schoolhouse, 8 shillings." This was in 1792. As glass was then an imported novelty this item shows how highly these settlers rated their school and how progressive they were to improve the equipment of their school. It is probable that this was the only school house west of the Alleghenies that had a glass window.
About the time Michael Zundel became schoolmaster, probably in order to furnish him a house, a second story was added to the school house. This second story extended beyond the main building in order to afford protection to the doorway to the schoolroom and also to give room for an entrance to the second story. This entrance to the second story was not very elaborate. It consisted of a trap door in the floor of the
173
LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENSBURG, PA.
extended story and a ladder which could be drawn up at night. There was no provision for a stove or fireplace in the second story ; the only heat obtainable was from the fireplace in the schoolroom below. The cooking for the family was done out- side the house in an open fireplace. Thus in winter and sum- mer it was necessary for the schoolmaster and his good help- meet, upon arising in the morning, to open the trap door, let down the ladder, then descend to the ground outside the school house, clear away the snow, if it be winter, then build a fire from the glowing embers secured in the school house fireplace, or start the fire anew with flint and steel and punk, and finally prepare the morning meal.
In this second story of the school house, schoolmaster Zundel lived many years. Here his children were born and reared until the eldest was probably fourteen years of age. Notwithstanding such hardships, Michael Zundel lived to see his eighty-seventh year and he became the progenitor of a long line of schoolteacher, some of whom have succeeded him in the Herold's school.
After moving from the school house in 1827, he lived for a time on the "Yar" Adam Schneider farm and later lived with his daughter near Mt. Pleasant, Pa., and was buried in the private cemetery on the Schneider farm.
In the year 1828 George Eisenmann moved into the school house and in 1829 he built a tenant house on the Church farm and removed thither. This log house stood until the present generation. George Eisenmann taught the school and led the congregational singing for many years.
Herold's school has had a continuous history since 1772, a period of one hundred and fifty years. When the state schools were authorized Herold's school became a district school and continues as such to the present in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County.
174
HISTORY OF OLD ZION EVANGELICAL
List of Teachers
Balthasar Meyer 1772-1792
Art A. Keener 1891-1892
Karl Scheibeler 1793-
Art A. Keener 1892-1893
John Michael Zundel. . 1810 ?- 1827
(Dr.) A. N. Pershing 1893-1894
George Eisenmann 1828-
Art A. Keener 1894-1895
Mr. Lemke
Art A. Keener 1895-1896
Mr. Thompson
Albert M. Zundel, Jr .. . 1896-1897
Mr. Kemp
Albert M. Zundel, Jr .. . 1897-1898
Michael Keener
W. W. Henry 1898-1899
William Sullenberger
Albert M. Zundel, Jr ... 1899-1900
Abram Altman
J. E. Ferguson
1900-1901
David Altman
Robert M. Zundel
1901-1902
H. C. Harrold
Robert M. Zundel 1902-1903
Andrew Guffey
Jennie E. Bailey 1903-1904
Irving Tarr
Mack Reed 1904-1905
W. F. Scheibler
H. J. Holtzer 1905-1906
H. J. Holtzer 1906-1907
Robert M. Zundel
1907-1908
James Sweeney 1876-1877
Mattie Shields 1877-1878
Carrie Kennedy
1909-1910
Robert M. Zundel 1910-1911
Robert M. Zundel 1911-1912
David Bush 1880-1881
F. Wayland Bailey 1912-1913
Edna Tyler
1913-1914
Lyda Ruhe
1914-1915
Lulu Felters
1915-1916
Ethel Fink 1916-1917
Ethel Fink
1917-1918
(Dr.) Elmer E. Wible .. 1886-1887
Miss Whitehill 1918-1919
(Dr.) Elmer E. Wible .. 1887-1888
Rev. G. L. Courtney
1919-1920
John F. Wright
1888-1889
Prof. R. M. Zundel 1920-1921
(Rev.) John A. Zundel .. 1889-1890
Prof. H. J. Holtzer 1921-1922
John F. Goodlin 1890-1891
Miss Devit
1921-1922
In 1824 when the state first tried to assert its authority over the education of the children of the state, the German settlers protested. Many have criticised the German settlers unjustly because they protested against the state taking away from them the right to oversee the education of their own
H. A. King (Esq.) 1881-1882
H. A. King (Esq.) 1882-1883
G. M. Allshouse 1883-1884
(Rev.) John A. Zundel. . 1884-1885
(Rev.) John A. Zundel. . 1885-1886
Malinda Algire
John Sweeney
1875-1876
Carrie Kennedy
1908-1909
Abe Musick
1878-1879
(Dr.) George Miller .1879-1880
175
LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENSBURG, PA.
children. Such an eminent authority as Wickersham does not do them justice.
We must understand that the province and state for nearly one hundred fifty years was indifferent to education; and the German settlers, realizing the need, established schools in con- nection with their churches and maintained them effectually during all these years. The state laws of 1824 and 1834 almost amounted to confiscation of property and rights.
Another basis of protest was on account of the banish- ment of religion from the schools. These intelligent settlers clearly saw that religion could not be continued in schools suported by the state. The religions of the German settlers required education as the basis of communicant membership in their churches. They always insisted that the candidate have an intelligent grasp of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion and the Confessions of their church before he was admitted to communicant membership.
The two leading denominations among the German ele- ment were the Lutheran and German Reformed. These two churches have always maintained an educated ministry, re- quiring the regular college course and three years of special training in a theological seminary before the candidate was ordained to the ministry: for example, Rev. Henry Melchior Muehlenberg sent his three sons to Halle University for their education. Exceptions were made to this rule during the early colonial period, but the standard was always maintained.
The laity of these churches have always ranked high in intelligent grasp of the principles of their religion. The reason their early contemporaries spoke of them as the "dumb Dutch" was because the education of the German settlers was in German and not in English, and many of their contemporaries were too ignorant to appreciate and too bigoted to admit that the German settlers were educated. Illiteracy, then common among the pioneers, was almost unknown among the early
176
HISTORY OF OLD ZION EVANGELICAL
German settlers. We have read their documents and have seen their signatures and know whereof we speak. So far as we know it has never been necessary for the early German settler to make his mark in signing a document.
Thus we see that the new school laws deprived them of the control of their schools and of their German culture and language, and also of the religious educational basis for their church development.
The opposition of the German to the laws of 1824 and 1834 was not against education, as some have wrongly inter- preted it, but it was against the assumption of a new power by . the state. This question is not yet settled satisfactorily and is the greatest problem before our state and national school systems. The church needs education as well as the state. The church founded the schools, the state has assumed supreme authority. That the church and the home have rights in the education of the children but few will deny, but the problem remains to be solved as to how these rights are to be recognized and granted by the state. This problem could have been solved, probably more easily a century ago than now. It is a mark of the intelligent foresight of the German settlers that they real- ized the problems before them and protested against this un- warranted action of the state.
In order to have a religious educational basis for their church work and to preserve the German culture and language, a number of the German congregations maintain parochial schools today. These schools fulfill the requirements of the school laws and teach religion and the German language in addition. They are supported entirely by the local congrega- tion. Almost every German congregation, when financially able, maintains a parochial school. There are probably twenty- five such schools among the Protestants and a greater number among the Roman Catholics in Western Pennsylvania.
C t d d
P
L
177
LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENSBURG, PA.
Our histories of the present give scant attention to things other than politics and legislation. In the future when histories properly evaluate the social, religious, educational and economi- cal as well as the political elements that function in society and the state, then will the quiet, peace-loving, genial, honest, in- dustrious German receive proper recognition for what he has done to build up our Commonwealth west of the Alleghenies.
Brush Creek School
The settlement at Brush Creek, Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, was made about 1770. This commu- nity was closely connected with Zion settlement at Herold's, and probably teachers were interchanged and when a vacancy existed in one settlement it was temporarily filled by the school- master from the other settlement. Here in Brush Creek the schoolmaster was both teacher and pastor until the arrival of Rev. Luetge in 1782 and Rev. Weber in 1783.
There were several persons who filled this office in the Brush Creek church at different times, among whom were Michael Zundel and George Bushyager. Provision was made for the education of the children and youth, as well as for the worship of Almighty God, as soon as circumstances permitted. A house was erected to be used as a schoolhouse and also a place of divine worship. This house was built of rough logs, split logs for floor and hewn logs for seats, and was very primitive in all its appointments. It stood a few rods north of the present church. It served a good purpose for the time being till a more commodious building could be erected; but during one of those dreadful Indian raids which were then a frequent occurrence, it was burned, leaving the poor colony without a school or a church."2
After the schoolhouse was destroyed by the Indians, the school was conducted in private houses and at Fort Walthour,
2Ullery, Southern Conference History.
178
HISTORY OF OLD ZION EVANGELICAL
until a new church and schoolhouse could be built. The in- struction was in German, the Bible and Catechism were the main textbooks. The curriculum consisted of the four R's: Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic, and Religion. During the transi- tion from the German to the English language, English was introduced and upon the formation of the State school system, the school became a township school and continues to this day.
Fayette County School
In German Township, Fayette County, Mr. Johannes Stauch was schoolmaster from 1791 to 1793, when he was ordained a minister of the Lutheran Church. This settlement was made about 1775 and a school was established at an early date.
Greensburg Schools
After the burning of Hannastown (1782) a state road was laid out from Fort Ligonier to Pittsburgh by way of New- town, now called Greensburg. In December, 1785, Newtown was made the county seat of Westmoreland County, and in the spring of 1786 a court house was built by Anthony Altman, a German. In fact there was a sharp competition at first as to whether the courts of the county should be held at Pitts- burgh, at Hannastown, or at Newtown. Pittsburgh was eliminated by legislative enactment; then the contest was be- tween Hannastown and Newtown. Now the Germans had settled mainly south of or near to the new state road, hence they favored Newtown. Among those most influential in bringing the courts to Greensburg, were Michael Ruch, com- missioner, Christopher Truby, Ludwig Otterman, citizens of Newtown and land owners, and John Miller, Justice of the Peace. All these were Germans. The name of the town was changed from Newtown to Greensburg in 1786.
In 1784 a schoolhouse was built by general subscription in St. Clair cemetery near a spring. Here Schoolmaster Karl
V C
S G S
L
179
LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENSBURG, PA.
Sheibeler, a Revolutionary War veteran, taught school. This German school, later changed to English, is continued in the splendid school system of Greensburg today.
We see the influence of the German element in Greensburg when we note that a large part of the site of Greensburg was owned by Germans. The first court house was built by a German. The first school was conducted by Germans, and the first church was built by the Germans. The first bank was conducted by Sheibeler, a German.
As we have seen from the foregoing illustrations, it was a settled policy of the German settlers to erect school houses and support schools. These schools were for the children of the entire settlement and were free schools to all the children, although supported by the subscriptions of those able to pay. We note also, in many cases, the use of the gentle art of per- suasion instead of the rod, as the incentive to study. We nowhere note the brutality in the early German schools that existed in the English schools of later date. The German "Schulmeister" was a father to his pupils, their protector in danger, their counsellor and friend.
Academies, Colleges
In higher education we know of no schools established and supported upon this territory by the strictly German settlers. The earlier settlers, as soon as organized into churches, sup- ported colleges in Eastern Pennsylvania, such as Franklin College, founded 1787, which was largely governed by the German element in Eastern Pennsylvania. They also sup- ported Gettysburg Seminary, 1826, and College, 1832, when founded. Also Capital University, Columbus, Ohio.
The first attempt to establish an institution of higher learn- ing in Western Pennsylvania by the German element, now rapidly becoming anglicised, was by the Pittsburgh Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Zelienople, Pa. Rev. Gott-
180
HISTORY OF OLD ZION EVANGELICAL
lieb Bassler was at the head of the school. In 1848 the school was moved to Greensburg and called "The Muehlenberg Col- legiate Institute." Prof. W. P. Ruthrauff was principal and Mr. Asa H. Waters and Miss Mary A. Haft, assistant teachers. This school continued but two years and was then closed.3
The Westmoreland classes of the Reformed Church estab- lished a college at Mt. Pleasant, Pa., in 1861, under the presi- dency of Rev. F. K. Levan. This school was closed in 1868.4
Other schools were conducted for brief periods by Prof. J. R. Titzel at Zelienople, and by Prof. D. McKee at Leechburg.
In 1866 Thiel Hall was opened at Phillipsburg, now Monaca. In 1869 through the benefaction of Mr. Louis Thiel, the property of Thiel Hall was conveyed to the Pittsburgh Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church with the condition that the Academy be erected into a college. The gift was ac- cepted; a Charter was secured from the State Legislature April 14, 1870, and Thiel Hall became Thiel College.
In 1870 the college was moved to Greenville, Pa., where it has since prospered. The college is co-educational and is equipped for high class work in the courses that are offered. The library contains 9,540 bound volumes and is being con- stantly enlarged. A new Administration building was opened for use in September, 1913, and a gymnasium in 1922. The campus consists of 34 acres of land, beautifully situated at the forks of the Big and Little Shenango rivers.
In 1874 Prof. Lucian Cort organized a school on Bunker Hill, Greensburg, Pa., known as a "Female Seminary." Later both sexes were admitted and the school was known as "Greensburg Seminary." Prof. Cort conducted this school under the control of the Pittsburgh Synod of the Reformed Church, for fourteen years, when the control passed into the
3Ullery, History Southern Conference.
4'History of the Reformed Church within the bounds of the West- moreland Classis.
4
in tl S t
ha In W to
Lu
181
LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENSBURG, PA.
hands of the Lutheran Pastors of Greensburg and vicinity. In 1889, "The Educational Society of Westmoreland County" was chartered and the property and control of the school passed to the society. This school had College Preparatory, Normal Training and Musical (instrumental and vocal) courses, and in its Business College filled a great need in its locality. In the days before the full development of the High School the Seminary flourished. Many professional men and school teachers received their early training here. Gradually the High Schools of the county became more efficient and the townships paid the tuition of the common school graduate in the nearest High School; thus free tuition in the High School began to attract students to these institutions. The Seminary had little endowment, hence could not meet the competition: so in the year 1908 the school closed, the property having been previ- ously sold.
The Pennsylvania German Language
The language spoken by the German element in Western Pennsylvania erroneously called "Pennsylvania Dutch" is not Dutch, neither is it a mixture of High German and English, as many believe, but a German dialect derived from Southern Germany and Switzerland, where the people still speak a dia- lect closely resembling the Pennsylvania German. The word "Dutch" as applied to this German dialect probobly has its origin in the similarity between "Dutch" and "Deutsch," the former meaning Holandish and the latter German. The English colonists often made this mistake; sometimes because they knew no better and sometimes they used the word "Dutch" as a term of reproach and a mark of inferiority. The Dutch are a good people, but there is no more reason why the German should be called Dutch than the Englishman should be called French.
Dr. Henry W. Gehman, in an article in the Pennsylvania School Journal for September, 1915, shows that this German
4
i-
d s. 1.3
ol
AL
182
HISTORY OF OLD ZION EVANGELICAL
dialect consists of 5,500 words, exclusive of English words, and that it is very expressive in matters pertaining to everyday life. The Germans do not all speak the same dialect, neither do the English. The Englishman from Yorkshire has difficulty in being understood by other Englishmen. Many Englishmen coming to this country cannot be understood by Americans because of their peculiar dialect. The New Englander and the' Southerner have each their peculiar dialect.
Dialects are no corruption of the literary language. The literary language is simply a certain dialect that happened to be chosen as a standard. Notwithstanding the literary form, dialects continue to exist in all languages, and Pennsylvania German is a good South German dialect.
The German language has two main divisions, the High German and the Low German. To the High German group belong such dialects as the Bavarian, Saxon, Swabian, Ale- manic, and Pennslyvania German. The Low German group embraces the English and Dutch dialects. There never has been a universal German dialect or language. The modern High German, perhaps approaches nearest to it, yet, as we have seen, many dialects still flourish.
Therefore, to say, as some have said, that the Pennsylvania German is not a language, is aside from the facts. The func- tion of a language is to express thought and the Pennsylvania German performs that function very well. We may say that in domestic affairs the Pennsylvania German performs this function better than the English, High German, or the classical languages, Greek and Latin. The only language familiar to us, that equals its expressiveness is the Hebrew language. A few illustrations will make this plain. Compare the following words ; in Pennsylvania German, High German and English : Gaul, Pferd, Horse; Hutch, Fuellen, Colt; Hammei, Kalb, Calf; Biebi, Henne, Hen; Wutz, Schwein, Pig. The Penn-
-
183
LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENSBURG, PA.
sylvania German approaches more nearly to a nature language than the other languages.
With the early settlers, because of their German education and the reading of German books and newspapers, the dialect was preserved in relative purity. However, in later years when the schools became Anglicised, and English newspapers became the newscarriers, there was a decline in the purity of the language : many English words being introduced and some- times the German grammatical construction was used with English words, which often produced an amusing result. This practice contributed largely to the ridicule that other national- ities heaped upon them.
The literature of the early German settler was of the High German dialect. Nearly every settler possessed Luther's Ger- man Bible, a catechism, a praper book, and a hymn book. Many had books of sermons and historical works. In fact the library of the early German settler, in quality and quantity, was vastly superior to that of his English contemporaries, and superior to the libraries in the homes of the farming and mer- chant class today, with a possible exception of cheap fiction, among the merchant class.
Their appreciation of art is shown in the prints of great paintings in the homes, by the pictorial editions of the Bible, and by the attempt to make their churches beautiful. Even in their first rude attempts to build churches, we find a laudable attempt to beautify them, and the churches of the Lutheran and German Reformed demominations were the most beautiful in the country, and in striking contrast, in their day, with the severely plain and homely church buildings of their contempo- raries. We have already referred to the artistic penwork on the Baptismal Certificates.
How little is known concerning education among the Ger- mans in Western Pennsylvania, is shown by the following extract from "The History of Westmoreland County, Penn-
184
HISTORY OF OLD ZION EVANGELICAL
sylvania," published in three volumes, 1906, by John W. Boucher. We read in Chapter 26, subject Common Schools, "Scarcely any record was kept of our early schools in West- moreland County until about 1820, and even for thirty years after that they were very meager. Our early settlers, as we have said, were almost invariably either English, Scotch-Irish, or German. Of these the Germans, or Dutch, as they were called, were behind either of the others in their general educa- tion and in the establishment of schools. Many of the pioneer preachers tried to introduce schools in connection with their churches, but their efforts in this direction were crowned with a very meager measure of success. The Scotch Presbyterian clergy, always more bold and zealous in any cause than the Germans, had the better success in the founding of schools."
The Harold school in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1772, and has been instructing children ever since. It was founded by Germans.
The Greensburg schools were founded by Karl Scheibeler. a German, in 1784, and today Greensburg is among the fore- most towns in education ; supporting a High School, second to none in Western Pennsylvania.
We know of no English or Scotch-Irish schools in Western Pennsylvania before 1772. The country was only opened to settlers in 1769. Hence if they had brought portable school- houses with them, they could have preceeded the Germans by only three years at the most.
The work of the early Germans in education is notable. The reason they have not founded German higher schools and colleges is that by the time they became prosperous enough for such an enterprise their children were beginning to speak English-the official language of the country. The establish- ment of public schools by the state met their needs in elemen- tary education and the eastern and western colleges received their bright boys and taught them in the two languages. As
1
I
185
LUTHERAN CHURCH, GREENSBURG, PA.
we have seen, secondary schools were founded to meet their needs until the High Schools, State Normal Schools and the various colleges developed and offered advantages with free tuition.
APPENDIX A.
Baptisms
Register of all the children in Zion Church Settlement baptized by Balthasar Meyer, School- master from the 2nd day of August, 1772 until
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.