USA > Pennsylvania > History of the Church of the brethren of the Eastern district of Pennsylvania > Part 20
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There was a good deal of missionary activity in those early days. The Methachton region was in close touch with Green Tree; and before Green Tree's beginning, with Cov- entry. William Casselberry, formerly of Worcester town- ship, and his family were drawn to Green Tree. The first love feast in Worcester was held at his home. His wife was a member but he was not. She suggested to him how pleas- ant it would be, if he were a member, to hold a love-feast in
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their home. Notwithstanding this seeming obstacle, he offered her the home for the purpose, and the first, and per .. haps only, love-feast in that section was celebrated. This was about 1820 or a little later. Wm. Casselberry was one of the first deacons at Green Tree; and his two maiden daughters, Mary and Sophia, counted for much in their day in the life of the church here. As to the extent of the terri- tory of the Green Tree Church, when the Sunday School was started in 1869, Sister Maggie Kindy was appointed to solicit east of the Perkiomen Creek. She solicited as far as Worcester.
The Brethren also used to hold meetings at what was once called Krupp's meeting-house at Jeffersonville. The Breth- ren's effort at Norristown was started by John Umstad.
An effort of some magnitude was made east of the Per- kiomen Creek, near Shannonville, at that time largely a min- ing village, the copper mines being in operation. Members of different persuasions were laboring here with some suc- cess. The older Wetherills gave land for a union house of worship. For the erection of the church, money was raised in the neighborhood by subscription. The Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians and "Dunkers" preached in the building.
The Brethren started their work in this neighborhood about 1840, in the shape of prayer-meetings held in the homes of the members. Bros. William Cloward and Chris- tian Dettra, and Sister John U. Francis gave their homes for this purpose. Later the prayer-meetings were carried into the public house of worship. Whether this was Jack school- house or the union church we cannot now say. The meet- ings led to a series of meetings, which led to the notable re- vival in this section in 1840 or 1841. A number of miners were converted, and among others was the husband of Lydia Francis.
It has been stated, by old members, as noteworthy that John Umstad held aloof from these meetings near Shannon- ville. He and John U. Francis were cousins-the latter being the older. Elder John Price, Sr., of Coventry, had
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the oversight of this whole field. Isaac, his son, preached frequently at this new mission at Shannonville.
The Methodists in their services in the new union church were rather noisy, and by being so gave offense to the younger Wetherills, who were Episcopalians. Isaac Price, being of a somewhat excitable nature, was influenced in his preaching to some extent by the "amens " of the Methodists though the "Dunkers " did not approve much of this excite- ment. It is said that the Episcopalian services were not so well attended by the neighbors, as were some of the others. It was thought that this fact was not taken in good part by the Wetherills. It was also thought that they did not relish the idea of having the common people on a par in worship, though they did not object to the poor or common attending services under Episcopal control. It seems that they thought the proper thing to do was to have the property transferred to themselves, which transfer was soon brought about. A representative of the Wetherills, we are informed on good authority, arose in the meeting in the church on one occasion and publicly forbade the use of the church for wor- ship to all except Episcopalians. The Brethren and perhaps others then secured Jack school-house, across the road, for services. John Francis especially was strongly exercised against the Episcopalians, but finally forgave his beloved daughter for attending services there against his will.
John Francis was then used for a time as a speaker, but was never formally elected to the ministry. We find him exercising at Methachton and Upper Dublin, where his speaking gave unusual satisfaction. Abraham Cassel tells of hearing him once at Methachton. No minister came and a John Francis, he related, was asked to conduct the service, which he did. Bro. Cassel states that no one was sorry that no preacher was present. Lack of recognition discouraged him from service. He was a grandson of Capt. Arnold Francis of the Providence Militia, who was used by Gen. Washington at Valley Forge to perform difficult missions, and who later was a prominent citizen. Many of the de- scendants of John Francis are to-day members of the Church of the Brethren, his grandson being the writer of these lines.
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We have seen how active was the Coventry Church in home mission work. Besides missions at Nantmeal and Lawrenceville, in Chester county, she had missions in Mont- gomery county at Lumberville and Shannonville and a joint interest in the work at Methachton. The work in Mont- gomery was rapidly developing into a separate congregation. The Lumberville mission before it was a separate congrega- tion began already to shoot out branches of her own. We find John Umstad very busy before he was the overseer. He had a hand in starting up the work at Upper Dublin. He was instrumental in baptizing the first ten members taken in at Mingo. He held aloof, however, from the work at Shannonville. He was making extended missionary trips out into the Brotherhood, as when he took James Quinter to western Pennsylvania. All these things took place be- fore there was a Green Tree Church. But conditions had ripened for a new congregation. John Umstad had the situation well in hand. He gave the ground for the erec- tion of the new church,-the union house at Lumberville not being satisfactory. The church received its name from an enormous evergreen tree, which stood on the corner of Umstad's lane and the public highway. A tree of the same kind now stands close to the church on the west side. The church, a stone one, with two doors on the east side, was erected in 1845. The house was dedicated June 6, 1845, and this may be regarded as the birthday of the congre- gation.
Some entries at this time in the diary of Albert Fitzwater, son of Deacon Abel Fitzwater, will be in place and of no small interest.
"April 7 attended a church meeting at George D. Price's in afternoon.
"April 17 went to mill, stopped at new meeting house, helped raise.
"April 27, Sabbath. I heard G. D. Price preach at Lumber- ville. Afternoon was at prayer-meeting at J. H. Umstad's. Took tea there.
"May II, G. D. Price and John Francis preached at Upper Dublin.
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" June 6, Clear, flying clouds, and not quite so as yesterday. Had meeting morning and afternoon at the Green Tree. The house was dedicated. D. Rittenhouse, G. D. P., W. P., & J. H. U. spoke.
"June 7, Clear, warm. Afternoon meeting at 3 o'clock. J. H. U., J. Price & J. Righter spoke. Evening we had love-feast. J. Reiner and W. P. spoke. We got home from meeting at I2 P. M.
"June 8, Sabbath. Flying clouds, very warm sunshine. Meeting at Green Tree. W. P., J. H. U. & Isaac Price spoke."
G. D. P. stands for George D. Price; W. P., for William Price; and J. H. U., for John H. Umstad.
It will be noticed that the writer of this diary attended a church meeting at George Price's. His was the first farm west of John Umstad's along the south side of the public road. It will also be remembered that at a council held at George Price's in 1838, James Quinter was elected to the ministry. These facts led us to think that Geo. Price's was a common place, if not the regular place for holding church councils. May he have been the original church clerk?
After the church was built at Green Tree and the Breth- ren began worshipping there, the adopted place for bap- tizing was the Schuylkill River below Umstad's dam. Down the lane, across the wooden bridge spanning the canal, a hymn and a prayer in the open, through the crowds cover- ing the slope to the riverside, out into the liquid stream, kneeling in the water. "Dost thou believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?". .. A threefold immersion, the laying on of hands, prayer for the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, the salutation of Christian fellowship-the holy kiss-both in the water and on the shore, then back into the world but not of it, a new creature in Christ Jesus! The banks of the Schuylkill below the dam is a place too sacred in the hearts of many for words to express-a scene for the brush of a master for the preservation of primitive Christianity.
If not the first yet one of the first baptisms at this place was performed Nov. 1I, 1846. Jacob Gottwals, afterward bishop of the congregation for more than a quarter of a cen- tury, and Ann, his newly wedded wife, were at this time
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and place, buried with Christ in baptism. There were only three on this occasion; and strange to relate the other was B. F. Price, the only son of Elder Isaac Price, and after- ward the son-in-law of the other two.
Ingatherings .- The Green Tree Church continued to grow. Just who and how many were baptized in the dec- ade that followed we have not been able to tell with abso- lute accuracy. From 1856 to 1858 was a time of great ingathering. Bro. Umstad writes in THE GOSPEL VISITOR of May, 1858, p. 159: "We have had quite a revival in some of the churches east where the Brethren believe in pro- tracted effort. . . . At Coventry they have an unprecedented revival. Last Sunday they baptized thirty, and on the 15th of May, there will be forty-one more added to the church. We at the Green Tree get along more slowly, yet we ought not to complain, since there have been about twenty added to the church here this spring, and there seems to be a spirit of religious inquiry among the people much more than usual."
The revival at Green Tree seems to have started with the series of meetings of two weeks held here by James Quinter in December, 1856. Among other things Bro. Quinter says of the meetings : " A more solemn meeting throughout, we never witnessed. The meeting continued about two weeks; during which time, thirty-two were added to the church by baptism. And at the close of the meetings, there were others who offered themselves as candidates for bap- tism." "The recollection that several of the converts had in former years been our pupils, and that they had often bowed with us in our school-room, while we endeavored to implore heaven's blessing upon them, gave us increased pleasure at witnessing their 'good confession.'" John Umstad then accompanied Bro. Quinter to New Jersey; and after their return to Green Tree, there was another baptism. Another revival in 1858, according to an aged sister, was almost a duplicate of this one. Some of the staunchest members of the church entered at this time.
Preaching in 1876 by J. T. Myers, then the youthful pas- tor at Germantown, caused quite an awakening, and was the cause of his coming to Green Tree. Again from about
1
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1887 to 1890, under the preaching for four consecutive years of Bro. W. J. Swigart of Huntingdon, Pa., specially large harvests were gathered. In 1887, there were at least fifty-six; in 1889, there were thirty-four.
THE MINISTRY.
We have seen that Elder George Price of Coventry with his son John were the first ministers of the Brethren to preach in this neighborhood; but there was no organized work yet in the days of Elder Price. During the oversight of John Price, the Lumberville, now Port Providence, Church was built. About 1834, an election for a minister was held at Lumberville. Both John Umstad and Isaac Price were elected. Bro. Price objected; he thought that God had not called him. John Umstad had no objections, but entered, as was his wont, into the work with a vim. In those days of the oversight of John Price, Sr., William Price of Indian Creek came frequently to Port Providence to preach. But he was very German. This intermingling of labors of the Green Tree Church with the "church of the Plains," now Indian Creek, Hatfield and Springfield, continued throughout the days of John Umstad and Jacob Gottwals.
An interesting incident in the lives of these two Prices- Elder John, Sr., and Elder William-is told by Bro. Jacob Connor. John and William had been assigned to the same bed; but there was another bed in the same room occupied by other Brethren. John and William were talking about their church troubles. All else was quiet. As to the occu- pants of the other bed, it seemed that "slumber's chain had bound them "; but they hadn't. John complained to William that in his church (Coventry) he had so much trouble with "pride," i. e. with fashionable attire: "How is it in your church, William?" William's church was Indian Creek. "Well," answered William, " I have no trouble with pride," perhaps feeling that he was a pretty good house-keeper. Whereupon John answered in an undertone, even in the quiet stillness, as though the walls might have ears, "Then, my brother, the Devil must be English."
SACRED
GRAVES OF JOHN U. FRANCIS AND WIFE, GREEN TREE.
GRAVES OF ELDER JOHN H. UMSTAD AND WIFE, GREEN TREE.
GRAVES OF ELDER ISAAC PRICE AND WIFE, GREEN TREE.
GRAVES OF ELDER JACOB Z. GOTTWALS AND WIFE, GREEN TREE.
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George Price, the brother of Isaac, was elected to the ministry a few years later. He never became prominent as a preacher. He was the last of the Coventry line of Prices to be elected to the ministry. The first was Elder George, then his son John, Sr., followed in turn by his son John, Jr., at Coventry, brother of Isaac and George at Green Tree.
James Quinter was elected in 1838 and in his four years of ministry at Green Tree left a lasting impression for good not only in the neighborhood but also in adjoining con- gregations. As we have seen, there are grounds, consider- ing the loose methods of the day, for regarding John Francis as a preacher. He was converted about 1840. His abilities are spoken of as of a high order, but in a few years he became discouraged in his labors. By 1845 David Ritten- house was in the ministry. He was not regarded as able, but was very strict for the so-called order of the church. In the early fifties, he accompanied Jacob Gottwals in a horse and carriage trip to the Publishing House of Henry Kurtz in Poland, Ohio. This seemed to give to him the spirit of migration, for in 1854 he organized a company of Brethren in Eastern Pennsylvania, which migrated to Northern Illinois. There he became the founder of the Hickory Grove congregation. Members of his family founded other churches farther west.
About August 1, 1855, Jacob Z. Gottwals was elected to the ministry. About three or four years later, at the time that Emmanuel Heyser was elected to the ministry, he was advanced. At the Harvest Meeting of 1873, following the death of John Umstad, he, with Isaac Price, was ordained to the eldership. He continued to oversee the Green Tree Church till 1897, when he handed the following letter of res- ignation to the congregation :
" GREEN TREE, Sept. 26, 1897.
"I hereby kindly request the dear members of the above- named church to release me of the oversight as house-keeper of said church.
" JACOB Z. GOTTWALS."
His request was granted. He also had the oversight of a 17
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number of adjoining churches, and was appointed on several committees by District Meeting to visit churches. His unique distinction is that of being moderator of the first District Meeting in Eastern Pennsylvania.
About 1858, Emmanuel Heyser was called to the ministry. He was the choice of the young men of the congregation. Young people's meetings, rather in the undesirable spirit of opposition to the old members, were held at the time at Green Tree. He was zealous in the work and found favor. After the war he went to Georgia and taught school among the negroes, at the same time preaching the Gospel to them. His work awakened the interest of the entire Brotherhood and offerings for his work were lifted throughout the churches. On the death of his second wife, he remarried outside of the church, and his work seemed to lose its pur- pose. The last brother to be elected to the ministry from the membership of Green Tree was J. G. Francis. He was born January 13, 1870. After completing the common school work, he entered Ursinus College, from which insti- tution he was graduated in 1891 with the degree of A.B. After a few years in business in Philadelphia, he spent fif- teen months in the Mt. Morris Bible School. While work- ing in the slums of Philadelphia, in 1893, the Green Tree Church had empowered him to exhort. Before going to Mt. Morris, he was formally elected to the ministry. After returning, in the spring of 1895, the Green Tree Church installed him into the ministry. He then spent a year in preparation for the ministry in Union Theological Seminary, New York City. The following year he com- pleted his theological studies in the Ursinus School of The- ology, receiving the degree of B.D. He also won the Peter's Prize in New Testament Greek. He was advanced in the ministry in 1899, before going to Reading.
January II, 1900, he married Mary Zug of Lebanon, Pa. He now moved to Reading, but the Mission Board, then in charge, thought it would not be for the good of the cause to employ him, because he thought they should do something toward his support. He later moved to Lebanon, where he engaged in painting and school-teaching.
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The new church life, marked by the keeping of church records, laid hold of the Green Tree Church in 1862. The first minute on record tells of the resignation of Elijah Bil- lew (Boileau) as treasurer. The minute is dated April 7, 1862. J. Z. Gottwals was moderator. The Green Tree Church has taken advance steps in the matter of church records.
The following query was sent to District Meeting in 1881. "Would it not be well at our next District Meeting to have a report from each church of the number of accessions, either by letter or baptism, during the past year; and also to have a portion of time set apart to discuss the best means of advancing not only the growth but the spirituality of the Church?"
It was also from the Green Tree Church that the query went asking recognition for the Brethren Historical Society.
In 1899 through the instigation of J. G. Francis, the con- gregation decided to keep a more complete record of church history. Bro. Francis was appointed the first registrar, and was likely the first member of the Church of the Brethren to hold such a position. He was authorized to secure a spec- ially prepared book in which to keep the records. The names of all members from the beginning of the congrega- tion were with great labor hunted up. Space was allotted in the book for the following information concerning each member : (1) Name; (2) time and place of birth; (3) time, place and performer of baptism; (4) marriage, time, to whom and by whom; (5) death, time of and burial place; (6) names of parents; (7) number of children; and (8) re- marks. The record of each individual is kept on one con- tinuous line, extending almost across two long pages. The book is a magnificent one, bound in full morocco.
When J. G. Francis moved from Green Tree in 1900, Isaac G. Price was appointed registrar; two years later when Isaac Price also moved away, Arnold Francis was made registrar. He still retains the position, though the records are looked after largely by the present pastor, C. F. McKee.
It was decided September 3, 1862, that all wearing gold,
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etc., should be expelled. The council broke up in confusion. For a decade the church was practically lifeless. The stern- ness of Jacob Gottwals made him a terror to his children. But in after years he confessed with tears in his eyes: "I am afraid that we have been too severe on our young people." No records were kept of councils for several years.
In the latter part of 1876, Bro. J. T. Myers, then the young pastor of the Germantown Church, was invited to hold a series of meetings. Children of old substantial lead- ers were converted. January 1, 1877, twelve applicants for baptism were accepted. The church had tasted a new spir- itual life. A desire arose to have Bro. Myers as pastor ; an invitation was extended to him; and we find him accepted at Green Tree in July, 1877. The pastorate of Bro. Myers here continued till July, 1905, or for a period of twenty- eight years. He continues still to be its elder. After a stay of a few years in Philadelphia, as pastor of Geiger Memorial Church, he again for a short time resided within the limits of old Green Tree. The writer is one of many who would rise and call him blessed because of the work he did as pastor of the Green Tree Church.
In 1880 the Green Tree Church entertained the District Meeting. The Committee of Arrangements was Samuel Griffin, Joseph Griffin, John Harley, Matthias Harley, and John B. Dettra.
Green Tree has ever been in the van in adopting substan- tial new methods of church work. James Quinter credited her with the first protracted meeting and first modern prayer-meetings. On March 20, 1899, there was presented a query in regard to Young People's Meetings to be sent to Annual Meeting but it failed to pass District Meeting.
October 3, 1881, the Sisters were authorized to organize an Aid Society for the relief of the Huntingdon Orphan Home. Sister Fannie Fitzwater, wife of Joseph Fitzwater, was for a long time at the head of this work.
The matter of omitting the salutation before the commun- ion has been agitating the Brotherhood for years, and the privilege has finally been granted; but Green Tree decided to
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omit the salutation before communion, October 1, 1883. The first steps toward a new state district were taken here. April 3, 1882, a petition was sent to District Meeting asking for a delegate from the English churches to Annual Meet- ing; or, in other words, a representative on Standing Com- mittee. March 28, 1904, Green Tree requested plainly, sending a petition to District Meeting, asking that the Eng- lish speaking churches be organized into a separate district.
While Elder John Umstad was a very strong opponent to Sunday Schools, yet from early Sunday School times, Green Tree has been a staunch and aggressive champion of the cause. The Sunday School here was started in 1869 by Joseph Fitz- water, a nephew of John Umstad. Bro. Fitzwater had great influence with Bro. Umstad and finally secured his permission "to go ahead and do all the good he could." The saving of the young for the Church was Bro. Fitz- water's great argument for Sunday Schools. He was super- intendent at the beginning and has been continuously super- intendent ever since-a record of forty-five years-a record unique for Sunday School work in our Brotherhood. For orderliness this school attained a reputation far and wide, and outside of the Brotherhood. In April, 1883, this church asked for a reversal of the decision of Annual Meet- ing against Sunday School conventions.
While on this subject, more should be said about Joseph Fitzwater. His mother was in a very important sense the mother of the Green Tree Church; and her son since has been largely its life. He was always the writer's ideal deacon. He was church clerk. He was at all meetings and ready unto every good work. His liberality was boundless, and his home was ever the home of his Brethren. He was second to none in loyalty to his own church, but not so nar- row that he could not see good and would not co-operate with good in others. His soul beaming out through his radiant face was ever an inspiration. He was not a man to be driven, but one whose soul would almost leap out of him in following love. His spirit is revealed by a resolution he offered in a church council: "Inasmuch as there has been some misunderstanding between members of the Church in
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regard to various matters, we now pledge ourselves to for- give and try to forget the past, and henceforth will com- mune with and love each other as brethren and sisters." He was a great friend to the young. His cheery, breezy greet- ings on hot summer days as he entered the church just before Sunday School drew the boys and girls after him like a magnet draws iron filings. His after-teaching talks, always watered with tears, are never forgotten.
At a council in 1898, J. G. Francis inquired if something could not be done in the congregation to further missionary enterprise. A committee of five-J. G. Francis, J. T. Myers, Jos. Fitzwater, John Bechtel and Howard Yocum- was appointed.
In the cause of temperance Green Tree also has an envi- able record of loyalty to the order of the Brotherhood. Isaac Price was a bright and shining light. In 1888 J. T. Myers presented a query which was sent to District Meeting, requesting the churches of the District to use unfermented wine. The sisters' organization of the church was imbued with temperance zeal. They frequently had members of the W. C. T. U. to speak in the church.
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