Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 62

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930

USA > Pennsylvania > Indiana County > Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I > Part 62

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The officers of the church in 1913 are as follows: Elders, F. J. Fleming, G. T. Learn, T. J. Boucher, George Bagley. Arthur Stephens is the superintendent of the Sab- bath school, which has an enrollment of 139.

MOUNT ZION CHURCH, PINE TOWNSHIP

This is one of the congregations of the Cook- port charge. The first Lutheran services were held in this community by Rev. Simon P. Snyder, while pastor of the Brushvalley charge. His successor, Rev. I. B. Crist, con- tinued these services, preaching every four weeks. The congregation was organized Jan- uary 22, 1877, by Rev. A. W. McCullough, with twenty members. The services were held in an old schoolhouse, situated in the midst of a dense thicket. It was entirely too small to accommodate' the people who desired to attend, and the preacher was always assured in advance of a packed house. The pulpit was a store box and the ceiling was so low that the preacher's head brushed it constantly. William Schultz bought this schoolhouse and presented it to the congregation. It served as a house of worship for ten years, when a neat frame church with steeple was erected. This church was dedicated October 10, 1877, by Reuben Smith and Rev. A. C. Ehrenfeld. It cost about $800.

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HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Althouse, of the old Round Top Church, and been pastor since 1912, preaching every Sab- Rev. John Charles Henneman, of Jefferson bath. county, Pa. Both of these men were pastors In 1911 a new brick veneered church was built, and dedicated February 25, 1912. It is a handsome structure with a high tower in front. The cost was $4,000. of the German Reformed Church. They held their services in the Bookermyer schoolhouse and preached only in German. Rev. Mr. Alt- house may have preached for the congrega- The church officers in 1913 are as follows: Elders, James Bence and David Feitshans; deacons, W. L. Haer, Charles F. Glasser, J. Luther Bence, S. B. Bence. There are 47 active members, 80 communicant members, and 103 baptized members. J. Luther Bence is superintendent of the Sabbath school, which has an enrollment of 70 and is kept open the entire year. It is a front line school with two adult organized Bible classes. A teachers' training class of four have com- pleted the advanced Lutheran course and re- ceived international diplomas. This was the first class to complete its own denominational course in the county, and the first to complete the advanced Lutheran course in Pennsylva- nia. tion as early as 1840, but Rev. Mr. Henneman did not graduate from Mercersburg Seminary until 1848, and did not likely preach for them until that year. In the year 1844 a log church was built. It was 22 by 30 feet in size, with a high ceiling and an old-fashioned wineglass pulpit. The building committee consisted of Samuel Bence, Conrad Pfeifer, Andrew Fischer. Rev. Mr. Henneman preached for the congregation more as a supply than as a reg- ular pastor from 1848 to 1851, when he re- moved to Ohio. After his departure the con- gregation was neglected and the organization lapsed. In 1853 they were visited by Rev. Peter Sahm, D. D., the Lutheran pastor at Indiana, Pa., who reorganized them on March 30, 1853, into "St. Peter's Evangelical Luth- ANTIOCH CHURCH, GRANT TOWNSHIP eran Church." A constitution was adopted and signed by the following members: Fred- Services were conducted in this community erick Pfeifer, Peter Stahl, Andrew Fischer, by Rev. Samuel Krider, pastor of the Cook- Peter Clawson, Jacob Everwine, George port charge, who organized a congregation Bence, Washington Stahl, Samuel Bence.

and built a good substantial church about the same time. The church was dedicated to God of Smieksburg, preached the dedicatory ser- mon. Rev. J. W. Hutchinson preached in 50 feet, and cost about $1,200.

The old log church served the congregation as a place of worship until 1875, when the November 16, 1890. Rev. Charles L. Streamer, frame church now in use was erected. The church was dedicated on the second Sunday of February, 1876, during the pastorate of the evening. The building is frame, 40 by Rev. Leonard Wisehaupt. At this time the name of the church was changed from St. The pastors of this church have been the pastors of the Cookport charge since its or- ganization. There were but fourteen char- ter members, and the congregation now num- bers 26. Peter's to Bethel. The church is a plain but substantial building, valued at $1,000. The lot on which it stands was not legally trans- ferred to the congregation until May 4, 1898. About the time of the dedication of this church a new constitution was adopted, but it was not signed until October, 1881.

The officers at present (1913) are as fol- lows: Elders, Peter Reithmiller and Henry Abel; deacons, Peter Sheasley, Charles Abel, Henry Fisher.

The following pastors have served the con- gregation from the time of its inception : Rev. The congregation does not have a Sabbath school at present, attending the Sabbath school in the Pine Vale Christian Church. John Althouse (supply), Rev. John Charles Henneman (supply), Rev. Henry Bishop (supply), Rev. Peter Sahm (supply), Rev. P. S. Nellis, Rev. Henry Gathers, Rev. Wil- ZION CHURCH, GERMANY, WEST WHEATFIELD TOWNSHIP liam S. Emery (supply), Rev. J. P. Hentz (supply), Rev. John Forthman, Rev. Michael This section of Indiana county was settled by Scotch-Irish and Germans at a very early period, with the first named in the majority. Some of these Germans attended the services Colver, Rev. Leonard Wisehaupt, Rev. A. W. McCullough, Rev. Amos Sell, Rev. Reuben Smith, Rev. John Jay Hill, Rev. J. W. Hutch- ison, Rev. John Tomlinson, Rev. John M. Axe, conducted by Rev. John M. Steck and John Rev. J. K. Hilty, Rev. S. A. Shaulis, Rev. J. G. Lampbrecht in the home of Conrad Reis, M. Stover, and Rev. Paul J. Tau, who has near Indiana, Pa. They were not organized

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as a church until 1822, during the missionary M. Pile (supply), Rev. W. A. Kopp (sup- tour of Rev. Gabriel Adam Reichart. We re- ply ), Rev. John J. Suman, Rev. William gret that so little is known of the early his- Bradshaw Batchtell, Rev. John Beaver, Rev. tory of this venerable congregation. The old J. Lewis Bell (supply), Rev. George M. Set- tlemyer, Rev. George Frederick Ehrenfeld (supply), Rev. Simon P. Snyder. Rev. Isaiah B. Crist, Rev. B. W. Tomlinson, Rev. Augus- tus Clemens Ehrenfeld (supply), Rev. Solo- mon MeHenry, Rev. F. H. Crissman, Rev. J. K. Hilty, Rev. Franz S. Shultz, Rey. Peter G. Bell (supply), Rev. Samuel A. Shaulis, Rev. Henry Voeghtly and Rev. W. M. Spangler, the present minister, who gives one half of his time to this congregation. records have long since been carelessly laid aside or destroyed, and the voice of tradition is exceedingly feeble. It is known that Rev. Mr. Reichart conducted services in an old schoolhouse, and that the organization was ef- fected with ten families. The old Indiana charge served by Rev. Mr. Reichart consisted of three churches, Indiana, Brushvalley and Germany. He resigned in the summer of 1827, owing to his inability to preach accepta- bly in the English language, and was suc- ceeded by Rev. Nicholas G. Sharretts, who served faithfully until his death, December 31, 1836.

The elders are A. C. Penrose and W. R. Lichtenfels; the deacons, Joseph A. Walbeck and T. S. Lynn ; the trustees, John W. Wag- ner and John II. Cline. Mr. T. S. Lynn is the superintendent of the Sabbath school, which has an enrollment of seventy-two mem- bers.

For the next twelve years the congregation subsisted on "supply services," with the re- sult that a number of young people united with the Presbyterians, and the old church became so weak there were not men enough kinson, who were reared in this congregation,

Franklin P. Davidson and Winfield S. Hos- became ministers.

left in it to fill the offices. They were rescued from this deplorable state largely by the ef- forts of that missionary-spirited pastor, Rev. CHRIST'S CHURCH, GARFIELD Peter Sahm, D. D., who aroused the droop- ing courage of the people, secured the dona- The town of Garfield is located on the north bank of the Conemaugh river opposite Bol- ivar. The first Lutheran services in this town were held by Rev. Samuel A. Shaulis, Feb- ruary 11, 1900, in the Dunker Church. After preaching four sermons the use of the church was denied him and services were discontin- ued. On March 22, 1901, Rev. Mr. Shaulis, assisted by Rev. Samuel J. McDowell, mission- ary president of the Synod, made a canvass of the town. Considerable interest was man- tion of a lot from Mr. Peter Mikesell for them, laid the corner-stone of a new brick church in the spring of 1849, and dedicated it to the service of God March 10, 1850. This church was built at a cost of $1,800, and was the first house of worship owned by the congregation. In the year 1855 a new charge was formed, consisting of Germany, New Derry and Cen- terville (New Florence), and an appropriation of $50 was granted by the Allegheny Synod towards the support of a pastor. In 1861 the ifested, and the use of the schoolhouse was congregation was united with the Brushval- secured, in which services were conducted by Rev. Mr. Shaulis every two weeks. On July 28, 1901, the church was regularly organized with eighteen members. Seven of these per- sons were members of the Evangelical Luth- eran Church of Germany. The first church council consisted of Samuel Fisher, Mosheim Lichtenfelts, Leoport Beaufort, Simeon Lynn, James Cunningham, R. P. Wilson. ley, Centerville and Strongstown Churches to form a charge. The arrangement, however, was only continued for a short time. From 1892 to 1897 Morrellville, New Florence and Germany constituted a charge, the pastor re- siding in Morrellville, Pa. From 1897 to 1901 New Florence and Germany formed a charge and then the Garfield Church was added. The membership of this congrega- tion has never been very large. It now num- bers forty-five.

After using the schoolhouse for about a year plans were made by the congregation for the erection of a new church. The con- The pastors of the church from the begin- ning have been the following: Rev. Gabriel Reichart, Rev. Nicholas Goughler Sharretts, Rev. John Brown (supply), Rev. Jacob Med- tract was let to Mr. E. M. Lockard. The cor- nerstone was laid July 12, 1901, and the church was dedicated November 2, 1902. Rev. C. B. King, of Allegheny, Pa., preached the tart (supply), Rev. Augustus Babb, D. D. dedicatory sermon. The edifice is a beauti- (supply), Rev. A. B. Bosserman (supply), ful buff brick apartment church and is an Rev. Peter Sahm, D. D. (supply), Rev. G. ornament as well as a blessing to the town.

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HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

It cost $4,000, and is paid for. The lots were donated by the Robinson heirs through their real estate agent, Mr. T. B. Robinson.

GROVE CHAPEL CHURCH, RAYNE TOWNSHIP

A number of the earliest settlers of Rayne township were Pennsylvania Germans, the majority of whom were members of the Evan- gelical Lutheran Church. As a rule they at- tend preaching services, with their families, in the town of Indiana, being regular com- munieant members of the organization there. About the year 1840 a German Reformed pas- tor from Jefferson county conducted services in Bookermyer's schoolhouse, in the neighbor- hood of "Dutch Hill," and a number of these Germans attended these services and later became associated with the congregation that was organized there; but the Lutherans in the southern part of the township continued their adherence to the Indiana congregation. As early as 1853 it was the custom of the In- diana pastors to hold services for these people in Wolf's schoolhouse. Rev. John Tomlinson is authority for the statement that a regular organization was effected here in the year 1863, and that the first church council con- sisted of William Wolf, Jacob Garman, Rob- ert Little, Jacob Faith, George Ray, C. J. Speedy. This is probably correct, but Rev. Mr. Ehrenfeld did not report it to the Alle- gheny Synod as a separate congregation un- til the year 1875, and then as a strong church of 106 communicant members.

On June 12, 1872, Mrs. Cooper, of Rayne township, donated to the congregation a large lot for a church, parsonage and cemetery. For this reason it was sometimes called "Coop- er's church." It is so called in the minutes of the Allegheny Synod. A building commit- tee was appointed at once to arrange for the building of a church. This committee con- sisted of William Wolf, Robert Little, Jacob Creps, George Lotz, Erasmus Cooper. The cornerstone was laid by Rev. A. C. Ehren- feld July 17, 1873. The church was dedicated December 28, 1873, Rev. George Scholl, D. D., of Altoona, Pa., preaching the sermon. The building was frame, two stories high, with arched ceiling and corner tower, and cost $4,000. The congregation was regularly in- corporated December 12, 1879, during the pastorate of Rev. Peter G. Bell. Through the earnest efforts of this same pastor the indebt- edness of the congregation, which amounted to $1,400, was removed. He wrought a splen- did work among these people. Rev. Mr. Bell

resigned October 1, 1882. A new pastorate was formed March 31, 1883, consisting of Grove Chapel, St. John's and Bethel Churches, and Rev. Amos Sell was the first pastor of this new charge, serving from October 15, 1884, to October 15, 1885. During his pas- torate a good parsonage was built, at a cost of $1,099.

Rev. Reuben Smith served the church from March 16, 1886, to May 25, 1890, and left the congregation, upon his resignation, in splen- did condition. Mr. John Hill, a theological student, supplied the church for three months in 1890. Rev. J. W. Hutchison was the pas- tor from October 1, 1890, to December 25, 1892. About this time, a division of the pas- torate took place, and Grove Chapel and Bethel Churches were constituted a charge. Rev. John Tomlinson served these two churches from July 1, 1893, to December 1, 1899. Rev. John M. Axe was pastor from September 28, 1900, to September, 1903. He was followed by Revs. J. K. Hilty, S. A. Shau- lis, J. M. Stover and Paul J. Tau, who is the present pastor.

Grove Chapel has had some very unfortu- nate church trials. The advice of Bishop Hurst is appropriate: "If you must have a church trial, make all the preparation pos- sible for it, and then-don't have it."

The church was repaired in 1887, and in 1912 remodeled and repaired at a cost of $1,100, and rededicated September 29, 1912.

The church council consists of J. A. Con- dron, secretary, and W. S. Little, treasurer. The deacons are Jolin W. Snyder, Fred Hu- ben, Jesse S. Way, John E. Lewis. Mr. George M. Ray is the superintendent of the Sabbath school, which is kept open nine months in the year and has an enrollment of seventy-five.

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN

Reformed Presbyterian

The United Presbyterian Church is the principal American representative of the dissenting churches of Scotland. The oldest of these was the Covenanting, or, as its adherents subsequently styled themselves, the Reformed Presbyterian. Its existence may be said to date from the Second Reformation in Scotland, 1638-1646, because it has always adhered tenaciously to the attainments made in the National Church at that time. But in its definite and more independent form it may be regarded as a result of the badly

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HISTORY OF INDIANA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

managed battle of Bothwell Bridge, which till the 23d of November, at Darmede. He took place on the Sabbath, the 22d of June, was repeatedly outlawed by proclamation, and 1679. The remnant which escaped from that every subject was forbidden "to harbor him disgraceful rout, and other sympathizers, and his followers, or supply them with meat or drink. but to hunt and pursue them out of all their dens, caves, and most retired banded themselves together, under the guid- ance of Richard Cameron and Donald Car- gill, and utterly refused to have any religious deserts, and to raise the hue and cry after them"; and such proclamations were always vigorously and inhumanely executed. Mr. Renwick was taken and executed on the 11th of February, 1688, and his was the last life sacrificed to religious liberty in Scotland. Providence now brought the Covenanters re- lief by exchanging their circumstances and surroundings. James was banished and Wil- liam of Orange was brought to the throne. Persecution ceased and the "Mountain Men" were permitted to worship God publicly ac- cording to the teachings of their own con- sciences.

communion with any minister who had taken the "black indulgence." And, being out- lawed, they held secret meetings for counsel and for worship, amidst the hills, and with arms in their hands, and were popularly known as "Hill Men" and "Mountain Men." On the 22d of June, 1680, the first anniver- sary of the Bothwell Bridge disaster, they affixed a declaration to the market cross San- quhar, in which they formally disowned Charles Stuart as their lawful sovereign, for his perjury, his breach of the Covenant, and his tyranny; and also denied the right of James, the Duke of York, to the succession. A month after this Cameron was surprised and slain at Airdsmoss, and the youthful Cargill was finally hunted down and executed on the 27th of July, 1681.

This left the Covenanters without a min- ister, and they organized a system of societies. Those in the same neighborhood met as best they could, and as often as they could, for mutual prayer and edification. A plan of correspondence was established, according to which commissioners from all these societies met secretly about every three months, in a general meeting which determined the action and policy of the whole body, and solved questions of conscience, but never undertook the administration of discipline or any official work. The first of these meetings convened at Logan House, in Clydesdale, on the 15th of December, 1681. This method of unity or system of government was kept up until a Presbytery was organized. It was also adopted in Ireland, and practiced in America until 1774.

The Covenanters would hear no minister preach, nor receive ordination from anyone, who had taken the "indulgence." This com- pelled them either to do without the sealing ordinance or procure a minister from abroad. Mr. James Renwick, a young man of good education, and one of their number, was sent in the autumn of 1682 to the Netherlands, where Mr. Cameron had received his ordi- nation. After spending the winter at the University of Groningen he was ordained to the gospel ministry May 10, 1683. So hostile was the government and so vigilant were its spies that his first sermon was not delivered

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland met again in 1690, and re-established Presbyterianism. Messrs. Lining, Shields and Boyd, with a majority of their followers, united with the "Kirk," but there was a minority which refused to do so because of William's assumption of royal supremacy over the church. These "Old Dissenters" were again without a minister, and so re- mained for sixteen years, but free from per- secution of any kind.

During the twenty-seven years of persecu- tion in Scotland a good many families of Covenanter sympathies fled for peace and safety to the North of Ireland, where they settled in little clusters, and were served oc- casionally by refugee ministers. As early as 1720, and possibly earlier, some of these families left Ireland and made their homes in America; and from time to time others followed, and thus the Covenanting Church was planted in this country. A few mingled with this migration who came directly from the west of Scotland but generally they were from Ireland, although of Scottish parentage. These immigrants located principally in Orange county, N. Y., and in the present counties of Lancaster, Dauphin, York, Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and Fulton, in Pennsylvania. They brought with them their system of praying societies and general correspondence, and soon confederated and kept themselves distinct from the Presbyte- rian Churches in the neighborhood.

In 1751 the Reformed Presbytery of Scot- land sent over Rev. John Cuthbertson to minister in this missionary field. He preached almost every day for a time, at

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day. It brought them to a mount of ordi-

Oetoraro, Pequea, Paxtang, and across the Susquehanna at Walter Buchanan's, Big hances, and spread for them a table in the. Spring, Rocky Spring near Chambersburg; wilderness, giving them thus a tangible evi- dence of the thoughtfulness and tender care of the Great Shepherd. It also waked the memory of other days and other seenes and called up the forms and caresses of loved ones parted beyond the sea. Their tears were doubtless mingled ones of gladness and of sorrow, half of earth and half of heaven. Such a scene of gratitude and of praise, of memory and of tears, must have strengthened every heart and quickened every grace, and made them sing as they never sang before that triumphant song which so often sus- tained and cheered their persecuted ancestors when "Mountain Men" in Scotland : at Joseph Coehran's in the cove near Me- Connellsburg; returning by way of Gettys- burg and York eounties to his headquarters on the Octoraro. At his preaching stations there were no meeting houses for years. When the weather permitted the people met in their "tents," and when it was not pro- pitious they did the best they could in their eabins. This "tent" was pitched in a shady grove, and consisted simply of an elevated platform for the minister, where he could be seen and heard by all; a board nailed against a tree to support the Bible; a few rude benches for seats; and some boards overhead to protect the minister from sun and rain. Thus accommodated, the congregation wor- shipped a good part of the day.

God is our refuge and our strength, In straits a present aid; Therefore although the earth remove, We will not be afraid.

On the 23d of Angust, 1752, Mr. Cuthbert- son held his first communion in America. It Mr. Cuthbertson had now finished the first he preached on 120 days, baptized 110 chil- dren, married ten eouples and rode on horse- baek twenty-five hundred miles. The toil and labor, the difficulties and dangers of such a year's work, cannot now be estimated or ap- preeiated. He was more than one hundred days in the saddle; he had to eross, without the aid of bridge or boat, streams of consider- able volume and often greatly swollen; he had to pass from one settlement to another through miles of unbroken forests, where were the lair of the wild beast and the wig- wam of the wilder red man, guided often by was at the Walter Buchanan "tent," now year of his missionary labors, during which New Kingston, Cumberland Co., Pa. A pre- paratory feast day was observed, tokens of admission were dispensed, and the services on the Sabbath commeneed early and lasted nine hours. He paraphrased the 15th Psalm and preached from John iii. 35, "The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands." After the sermon he prayed and the congregation sang. He then expounded the ordinance which debarred from and in- vited to the tables. The communicants came to the table singing the 24th Psalm. After four table services were eoneluded he gave a parting exhortation to the communicants and the blazed trees which alone marked the trail. prayed. After an interval of half an hour he The summer's sun and the winter's frost, the drenching rain and the drifting snow, had to be patiently endured. His studying had to be largely done on horseback, without the aid of helps, during the tedious hours of his lonely rides. His food by day and his lodg- ings at night were guiltless of any especial comforts and barely met the demands of necessity. And yet this apostolie man toiled on for thirty-nine years, during which time he preached on 2,452 days, baptized 1,806 chil- dren, married 240 couples and rode on horse- back about seventy thousand miles, or nearly equal to three times the distance around the earth. His dust now sleeps on the Octoraro's bank, awaiting the resurrection of the just. preached again from John xvi. 31, "Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?" On Monday he preached from Ephesians v. 15, "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." About two hundred and fifty communed, and this must have cem- prised very nearly the entire number of adult Covenanters in the country, for the place was central, the season was pleasant, and they gathered from their different settlements in what is now the counties of Lancaster, York, Dauphin, Cumberland, Adams, Franklin and Fulton, and nearly every adult was a com- munieant. This was the first time that the followers of Cameron, Cargill and Renwick had ever outside the British Isles gathered to- In the spring of 1773 two additional inin- isters were sent over, Rev. Matthew Lind and Rev. Alexander Dobbin. These with Rev. Mr. Cuthbertson and several ruling elders met at Paxtang and constituted themselves as the gether around the communion table of the Lord to eat bread and to drink wine in com- memoration of a Savior's love and atoning death. To them it must have been a high

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Indiana County, Pennsylvania, her people, past and present, Volume I, Part 62

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 930

Author: Stewart, Joshua Thompson, 1862- comp
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, J. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 930