USA > Pennsylvania > Lebanon County > Lebanon > Old Salem in Lebanon : a history of the congregation and town > Part 8
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Among the officers of the Second Battalion, Lancaster County, 1780-1783, were Lieutenant- Colonel, John Gloninger; Major, Baltzer Orth; First Company-Captain, David Krause; Lieu- tenant, Jacob Embich; Third Company-Captain,
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Jacob Meily, Lieutenant, Jacob Risser; Ensign, Henry Snevely. The ensign of the Fourth Com- pany was Martin Meily and the Lieutenant of the Eighth Company was Peter Ensminger.
Lebanon was rarely at very great distance from Washington and his army. During the dark days at Valley Forge (winter of 1777-78) the gloom must have reflected itself back to the little town in the valley. In fact at this time Lebanon was surround- ed with signs of the war. General Wayne's com- mand was wintering at Mt. Joy. Congress was in session at York* and the State Assembly and Ex- ecutive Council were meeting at York. Philadel- phia had been occupied by the British in 1777. The Patriarch Muhlenberg and his son were obliged to flee because of their patriotic utterances; the great Lutheran church there was taken possession of by the British, the pews were at once torn out, and the building transformed into an army hospital .**
However, the Revolutionary War did not pre- vent the town from making great progress, and from attending to its own internal affairs during that period. Just before the war, on July 17, 1773,
*When Washington was defeated on the Brandywine in September, 1777, Congress fled from Philadelphia, and came first to Lancaster and then to York.
** After the evacuation of Philadelphia by the British in June, 1778, the Church continued to be used as a hospital by the American au- thorities, until 1782, when it again came into possession of the Church corporation with nothing but the four walls standing.
On December 13, 1781, in the presence of the American Congress, a thanksgiving service was held in it in celebration of the surrender ot Lord Cornwallis.
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the first fire company* in the place was organized, with George Hoke as president, and toward the close of the war, on February 22, 1780, another company, the Union, was organized with Judge Philip Gloninger as president. The tax list of Leb- anon Township for 1780 shows that there were about 350 taxable persons in the township and about 100 untaxable inmates. There were 17 flour mills, 25 liquor stills, one brewery, two tanyards, a forge, two pleasure carriages and over twenty negro slaves in the township. In the list the number of acres ** owned by each taxable is given, and its min- ute examination would be quite interesting. The winter of 1779-80 was a bitter cold one. It was known as "The Hard Winter."*
Frost penetrated the ground from four to five feet, ears of horned cattle and the feet of hogs were frostbitten. Squirrels perished in their holes. The evils of the Continental Currency were beginning to manifest themselves and hard times were coming on in many places.
One event which should not be forgotten was the abolition of slavery by Pennsylvania in 1780. It was passed by a vote of 34 ayes to 21 nays. Its passage was not due to, as is commonly stated, the Quakers of Pennsylvania. Many of the Pennsyl- vania Quakers, like the Puritans of New England, **
*The Cedar Fire Company.
** As well as of houses, lots, horses, cows, and the total valuation.
*Washington was in winter quarters at Norristown.
** Dr. Egle's History.
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were pecuniarily interested in the slave traffic them- selves, and it was only when the war legislature got into power, and the Quakers were in large minority, that the measure passed. Of the slaves in Lebanon county John Bassler owned two, Thomas Bassler one, Robert Patten three, Curtis Grubb about twenty-three, Adam Orth one, and Christopher Kucher one.
CHAPTER XVIII.
REV. WM. KURTZ.
A FTER Frederick Muhlenberg left Salem in the summer of 1774, the Revolution- ary agitations were close at hand. Pas- tor John Caspar Stoever, now 70 years of age, was still ministering at Lebanon, though he made no entries in the Muhlenberg record book .*
From 1775 to 1779 Rev. William Kurtz still was serving the congregations at New Holland and Strasburg, in Lancaster county, and he probably came to Lebanon at least three or four times a year, if not oftener and ministered to the congregation here. Even if he resided at New Holland, as is said to have been the case, yet his old home was with his brother at Stouchsburg, and he may have spent
.This first record book is, in the judgment of the writer, the finest of all Old Salem's records. It is large, made of pure linen rag paper, well but not clumsily bound, and the mode of keeping it gives information in a better manner than is often the case in more modern records. The book must have been expensive when purchased, but the constant use of over a century has justified the outlay. It is poor policy for a congre- gation to consider economy as a leading factor in purchases of this kind. The best is always cheapest. Dr. Lochmann's neat handwriting for 21 years adds to the beauty of the book.
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part of the time there .* There has been a differ- ence of view as to exactly when Kurtz's pastorate began at Lebanon. Some have supposed that it could not have been before 1779, but the records show that he administered baptisms from Febru- ary, 1775, and communion on 18th Trinity Sunday, 1774; Sunday Rogate and the Fall of 1775, 18th Trinity, 1776; Jubilate, 1777; three times in 1778, and twice in 1779. But he has recorded no funer- als until 1779, an evidence, perhaps, that he did not reside in the neighborhood until that time.
In 1779, on the 13th of May, the town of Leb- anon was filled with very extraordinary tidings. Rev. J. Caspar Stoever had an appointment to con- firm his catechumens at Hill Church. Not being well, he asked them to come to his home at Sun- nyside. While he was administering the rite of con- firmation to the class he suddenly dropped down dead. Thus ended the career of this hardy pioneer at the age of 75 years. His death brought about a great change in church affairs at Lebanon. Two weeks after it occurred there "came ** a gentleman and said that he was one of the captured [Hessian] officers, that he served as field preacher in the Brunswick Regiment, that he intended to take the charge of Rev. Stoever, deceased, and that he had given the people three weeks to consider. His name is Melsheimer."*
*When Caspar Stoever first preached in the Lebanon Valley he also lived at New Holland.
** Hebron Diary.
*Hebron Chronicler.
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REV. WM. KURTZ
But the people did not settle the matter in three weeks. Both ministers were at the meeting of the Ministerium in October at Tulpehocken. Mr. Melsheimer desired to be received into the body. The Ministerium resolved, that "our friendship was not to be denied, but offered to him; but as to receiving him, we would wait awhile, partly in order to learn to know him better, partly to give him time to obtain his dismissal, as this was a necessary con- dition for his reception nem contrad."*
The matter of a pastor dragged along through the summer of 1779 ** and the following winter of 1780 without settlement, Rev. Kurtz meantime officiating, however, probably with greater fre- quency .*
The Reformed congregation appears to have been more enterprising just at this period, and in the Spring of 1780 they bought an additional lot of ground, said to be the one on which the present church stands, from Philip Greenwalt for thirty pounds. But on the 15th of August the congre- gation experienced a sudden loss in the death of its pastor, the Rev. John Conrad Bucher. He expired at Annville while in the act of performing a mar-
*Mr. Melsheimer was received subsequently and became a faithful member of the Ministerium. He was, we believe, one of its secretaries.
** There was considerable dissatisfaction this Fall at the taxation ren- dered necessary by the war. The "Chronicler" says: "Sept. 16. Adam Orth, Kucher and Uhler go about writing up people's property to tax them."
*This Spring the town was again put into suspense in regard to war matters. The Hebron "Chronicler" reports on May 15: "Again great alarm. Tomorrow a battalion shall meet in the village. A fine of £20 for each who do not attend."
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riage ceremony there. The affection of the people for their deceased pastor was so great that they car- ried his dead body on a bier all the way from Ann- ville to Lebanon.
It came to be the Fall of 1780 and the Halle Reports still say that Rev. Kurtz "is without of- fice and support but intends to move to Lebanon where John Caspar Stoever died the year before." It is probable that Pastor Kurtz did take up his residence in Lebanon shortly after this time.
A martial air was pervading the whole town this year. On the 12th of February news came that 600 soldiers were to be quartered in the town and with- in a radius of five miles, and some actually arrived. By the 23d, the village was very full of the military. On July 2d the third-class militia from Lebanon were notified to report at Lancaster. On August 20th the fourth-class militia were ordered to Lan- caster to guard prisoners. On September 23d or- ders came for the fifth, sixth and seventh-class mili- tia to leave. But fortunately the decisive event of the Revolutionary War was at hand. On the 19th of October Lord Cornwallis surrendered at York- town* and a few days afterward the honest old Ger- man watchman, pacing the streets of Philadelphia before dawn, startled the sleepers of the city by shouting, "Basht dree o'glock, und Gornvallis ish dakendt." A courier from General Washington arrived in Philadelphia that morning and after din-
*7247 soldiers and 840 seamen marched out with colors furled while the band played "The World Turned Upside Down."
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ner Congress held a service of prayer and thanks- giving in the Lutheran church .* It took several days longer for the news to reach Lebanon. But when the news did come, the town celebrated the event in "glorious" style, to the distaste of the non- combatant Hebron chronicler. He says, October 25th : "The bells at the Lutheran and Reformed churches commenced ringing, and frightful firing which continued into the day, also at several times during the day." The reason given was that an ex- press had arrived at midnight with the news at Christ. Kucher's, that the English Gen. Cornwallis with all his men were taken prisoners in Virginia." This great battle accomplished far more for the country and for his own community than the chron- icler, chiefly solicitous about being allowed to re- main undisturbed in his worship for the present moment, supposed. There are times when only war brings abiding peace, and those who like Wash- ington cheerfully offer up life and property for the cause because they understand its righteousness and greatness, are often not appreciated by those who are more intent upon present comfort and freedom from annoyance in personal and local affairs .**
The summer of 1782 was remarkable in Leba- non because of a great drought. By the beginning of October the distress on account of the scarcity of water was indescribable. Far and near all was
*John Fiske. The American Revolution. Vol. II.
** These remarks are applicable because several of the most patriotic of Lebanon's citizens during the Revolution suffered greatly from mis- construction put upon their motives.
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dried up. The Hebron chronicler writes: "The like we have not experienced in Pennsylvania. Most wells are without water and most of the (flour) mills are stopped."
By 1781 Rev. Kurtz was settled, though not al- together established in Lebanon .* In 1782 H. M. Muhlenberg writes to Dr. Freylinghausen in Ger- many that "the younger Mr. Kurtz is still with sev- eral congregations in and about Lebanon. But very likely a change may soon take place with him." For some reason he does not seem to have been able to command the full co-operation of the whole congregation here. From 1784 on "Rev. William Kurtz from Lebanon" is in regular attend- ance at Synod. In 1785 a synodical table of sta- tistics shows that Wilhelm Kurtz in Lebanon had baptized 170, and confirmed 80 persons, and had had 660 communicants during the past year.
These figures are startling. They represent the work of an immense congregation, and if they were to be taken without explanation, Old Salem after over a century's opportunity for growth and ex- pansion, would have to blush for having accom- plished so very little during a century. But we must remember that Rev. Kurtz had a number of congregations and that the highest number of com- municants he ever had in Lebanon at one time was 120 in 1779, and 104 .** The strength Old Salem
*The roll of Synod shows that Rev. William Kurtz from Lebanon was present in 1781.
** In 1782.
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REV. WM. KURTZ
parted with in the establishment of other congrega- tions during the century is also to be taken into con- sideration.
Muhlenberg praises Pastor Kurtz as being "al- ways diligent and active in his calling and office, and at the same time a good manager." Mr. Kurtz had a splendid education. He was an orphan. For 15 years he had been trained in the Halle Orphan House in Germany. He studied theology under Dr. Knapp from 1750 to 1753 and arrived in Amer- ica in 1754. Muhlenberg took him into his own house at New Providence and gave him opportu- nity to become familiar with the duties of the pas- toral office. He also served Muhlenberg as his amanuensis. In the year 1756 we find him as a teacher of the free school established in York, but already in the following year he is a catechist in the Tohicon under Muhlenberg's supervision. He comes to Philadelphia in July, 1757, and takes part in the burial of Pastor Brunnholtz. In 1760 he is examined before the Ministerium because several congregations in Heidelberg, etc., had earnestly pled that he should be made their preacher. After prayer he had to turn to the third chapter of First Corinthians and explain the same in the Latin lan- guage, which was done very satisfactorily. Then two Hebrew Psalms were placed before him and he was desired to translate them at once into Latin according to the true meaning of the words. This was also done very fluently. The Lutheran Swe- dish provost was pleased and said that he did not
$
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OLD SALEM CHURCH
expect this in the American wilderness, and then began to examine the candidate in Latin on some of the articles of faith. Thus the examinations con- tinued until all testified that he had showed his com- petency. Some written questions were given him, the answers of which he was to hand in at the fu- ture Minister's Conference .*
He was licensed to preach and in 1761 was or- dained at Lancaster. He became his brother's as- sistant at Stouchsburg, and took charge of Stouchs- burg and Bernville in 1763-64, while his brother was away at St. Michael's, in Germantown. He became pastor at New Holland and served it in connection with Strasburg, from 1775-1779. The Synod desired him to take congregations in Berks county, Mosellim and others. In the Fall of 1780 he is without office and support but intends to move to Lebanon, where John Caspar Stoever died the year before. He becomes pastor there and remains so a number of years. He served as secretary of Synod. Unfortunately in his older years he held unorthodox views, for instance, that the apostles did not teach aright in certain par- ticulars. Muhlenberg rebuked him and he was humbled. Helmuth writes of him in his diary un- der December 22, 1792, that his time in Lebanon is over but that he is unable to get any other charge.
*Halle Reports, Vol. II.
Gebouwen
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Fac-simile of Baptisms of the Heylmann Family in Hill Church Record of 1733. See p. 17 and foot note p. 21.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE PARSONAGE OF 1783 AND SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THAT DAY.
T HE Lutheran congregation built a parson- age in 1783. This is a new discovery, but it is unquestionable. The Rev. Wm. Kurtz had a growing family of children and it is quite possible that one of the reasons, if not the chief one, why he did not remove to Leb- anon for so long a period was that there was no house for him. This new parsonage was a stone building and it was begun probably in the Fall of 1782. It is interesting to note that the Reformed congregation also bought a parsonage for their pastor in 1783. There seems to have been a sort of friendly rivalry in property matters between these two and only congregations in the place for many
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years. What the one had, the other thought it must have also. On January 20th, 1783, George Reinoehl paid fifteen pounds to Frantz Behler in the name of the Lutheran congregation for break- ing stone for the parsonage. About the same time Christopher Uhler bought 42 pounds of nails for £3. 3s. for the parsonage from George Heister. The nails did not suffice and on April 15th Mr. Uhler bought 50 more pounds and 2000 sprigs from Abra- ham Diehl. On May 7th and later Mr. Uhler paid off George Bleistein, George Hess and several other masons for "masonry which they put on the par- sonage." On October 29th he paid off Jacob Foll- mer for hauling for the parsonage. Early in No- vember he paid off B. Boyer and Bartel Wenger for masonry work. By February 5th he had paid Christopher Embich over £13, in full for his share of carpenter work and £3 for hauling for the par- sonage. Jacob Embich also received £7. Ios. on the same day. Frantz Beler was paid for breaking stone, and finally in November, 1784, Michael Stroh received "six Pound in full for Burds and Shantling I Sawet for the Lutheran Congregation in Lebanon."
Where this parsonage was located is difficult to settle. It may have been the first story (the stone part) of the old parsonage at Eighth and Spring alley. It scarcely could have been located on the corner of Eighth and Willow streets, where the present church stands.
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PARSONAGE AND MEMBERS OF 1783
Persons have often been puzzled as to the signi- ficance of the date 1788 on one of the upper panels of the Willow Street Front. It is possible that this is the year when the lot on the corner of Eighth and Willow streets actually passed into the possession (not ownership) of the congregation.
Among the communicants whose names are re- corded during the pastorate of Rev. Kurtz for the first time are John Gottlieb Graeff, Messrs. Wey- rich and Menges, Jacob Vogt, John George, Michael Beier and John Sauer, in 1775. In 1776 we find that Peter Ritcher and Col. Philip Marstel- lar communed. In 1778 John Gerberich and Chris- topher Waltz, and in 1779 Conrad Reinoehl and Jacob Braun, and in 1780 George Hess were added to the communion list. In 1781 Henrich Rade, Henrich Reinoel, Peter Schindel, Christopher Uh- ler, H. Klein and Bernard Sauer, and in 1781, Pe- ter Miller, Regina McKondle, Martin Uhler, Peter Schmidt, Conrad Schmidt, Adam Reis, and George Reinoel came to the Lord's Table. In 1783 Mrs. A. M. Schnee was confirmed and A. C. Wagner, Jacob Mill, John Schnee, Michael Uhler, Christian Albrecht and Ulrich Boeckle communed. Mean- time John Nicholas Entzminger had died in 1781 at the age of 49 years, and Rev. Kurtz preached the funeral sermon on Phil. 1:21-24; Martin Franck had been thrown from a horse and met his death through the fall, though still a young man of 30. Maria Gebhard and Henry Klein had passed away, each reaching the age of 71 years.
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OLD SALEM CHURCH
In 1782 the wife of Jacob Stieb died and though she was Reformed, was buried on the Lutheran cemetery. Peter Gerhart, a young man aged 25 years, also died. After 1783 Rev. Kurtz, for some reason, recorded no more funerals.
We give here in full the first recorded list of cat- echumens of the Lebanon church. The class num- bered 13, and they were confirmed on Whitsunday, May 19, 1782, by Rev William Kurtz, when he ad- ministered the Holy Communion :
Abraham Doebler, 17 years old.
Abraham Land, in his 16th year.
William Kurtz, in his 16th year.
Adam Menges, in his 15th year.
Jacob Schnee, in his 15th year.
Philip Bibel, in his 15th year.
Peter Schindel, age 16 years.
Friedrich Trump. Maria Dorstin, in her 14th year.
Elis Fetzberger, in her 16th year.
Catharine Fetzberger, in her 14th year.
Elis Schmithin, in her 16th year. Regina Pohlmann, in her 16th year.
In 1784 Rev. Kurtz had a class of 14 catechu- mens among whom were Philip Fisher, John Gueseman, David Huber, J. George Boeckle, Lea Ritter and Elizabeth Rohland. Two years later he had a class of 25, among whom were George Trump, George Schantz, John Huber and Peter Miller.
In the beginning of 1784 Rev. Kurtz baptized a child of Peter Schindel, in summer a child of Adam Reis and Jacob, son of John Schnee, and at the close of the year he baptized a child of Philip Green- walt, and nearly two years later a child of Mr.
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PARSONAGE AND MEMBERS OF 1783
Greenwalt's son. In 1785-87 he baptized children of Jacob Buecher, Adam Weiss, George Reinoel, and Adam Reis.
In 1786 Rev. Wilhelm Kurtz, from Lebanon, was the senior pastor in attendance at the meeting of Synod in Philadelphia .* In June, 1789, the Synod of Pennsylvania, for the first time recorded, met at Lebanon .** "As most members of the Evangel- ical Lutheran Ministerium arrived on the day pre- ceding, they went to church on the 7th of June, the Festival of the Trinity. Dr. Muhlenberg preached in the morning on the Festival Gospel, Pastor Goering in the afternoon on I. Tim. 4:16, and Dr. Helmuth in the evening on I. Sam. 3:11-15, be- fore a numerous audience and with much blessing. On the 8th, when the body opened for business, 14 ministers were present. Dr. Muhlenberg was president and the Rev. Mr. Melsheimer secretary.
A letter from the Manheim and Mt. Joy congre- gations was read, in which they petitioned the Min- isterium for a pastor. Similar letters were read from other congregations. A sad case of disci- pline occupied the most of the time of the mem- bers of the body. At the close of Synod the min- isters heard a sermon on John 10:14, 15. After the sermon, the Lebanon pastor thanked the min- isters for the love they had shown the Lebanon congregation.
On Whitsunday, May 27, 1787, a large class of
*"Documentary History," p. 207
** "Documentary History," p. 225.
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25 catechumens had been confirmed, among whom were Martin and Leonard Zimmerman, aged 21 and 20 years; Philip Kucher, David Fisher, Philip Meilie, Jacob Braun, J. Ritscher, Christina Ferns- ler, E. Shindel, Regina Uhler, Sabina Meilie, Marg. Schnee, each ranging from 14 to 17 years in age. At this communion Christopher Kucher and Philip Fernsler participated, and the following year, 1798, the roll records the name of A. Margut.
In April, 1790, Pastor Kurtz baptized a child of David Kraus, John Gloninger being sponsor; on July 4th a son of Hugh Black; on September 20th, John Christian, son of George George, Christopher Uhler and wife being sponsors; and on September 25, John Philip, child of Philip Fernsler and wife, the sponsor being Philip Fernsler, Sr .*
On Good Friday, April 22, 1791, a very large class of 37 catechumens was examined in the pres- ence of the congregation, and confirmed on the fol- lowing Easter. Among them were Gust. Kurtz, Geo. Reinoel, aged 15, and Conrad Reinoel, aged 14, Jacob Roland, aged 17, Jacob and John Frie- dle, Jacob Rieger and Mrs. Mary Doebler.
In May, 1792, there was a class of 26 catechu- mens, among whom were Emanuel Meile, John Uhler and Frederick Stoever. In April, 1793, a small class of nine catechumens was confirmed, in- cluding Henry Imboden, Tobias and Nicolas Ul-
*It should be noticed that we have here three generations of the Ferns- ler family, the old grandfather, Philip married by Stoever, the son, Philip, and the grandson, John Philip.
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rich, John Stoever and Michael Reinoehl. This was the last year of Rev. Kurtz's pastorate, and there were only thirty-five communicants, includ- ing the catechumens. Among them were Peter Ritscher and wife, Geo. Reinöl, wife and Geo. Jr., M. Fernsler, Geo. Nagel, Fr. Jenser and Jacob Em- bich and wife.
The last baptism administered by Pastor Kurtz was on March 12, 1794, and the child was Jacob Embich .*
*It would be both tedious and impossible to mention more than a brief selection of the names found in the Church Record under any pastorate.
CHAPTER XX.
CHRISTOPHER UHLER.
Christen ahlers.
C HRISTOPHER UHLER was the master- builder of Lebanon. It was he who super- vised the erection of the parsonage referred to in the last chapter and it was he who built both the Reformed and the Lutheran churches that have endured so well after a century's use.
Throughout his life he was more or less of a pub- lic character. As a young man, in the 6os, when the Stoever Land Company was selling lots, he, with Christopher Embich, who also was a carpen- ter, invested in these lots, buying and selling again as opportunity offered. During the Revolutionary War, though a civilian, he was an ardent patriot, and was one of that band of patriots, Col. Philip Marstellar, Col. Philip Greenwalt,* Christopher Kucher, Quartermaster Peter Miller, Captain Cas- par Stoever, Gen. J. Ph. de Haas, ** Captain and En- sign Meily, Lieutenant Ensminger, Ensign Em- bich, and many others who were more or less di- rectly connected with the Old Lutheran church.
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