USA > Pennsylvania > The Reformed Church in Pennsylvania : part IX of A narrative and critical history, prepared at the request of the Pennsylvania-German Society > Part 21
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"Responds Z .: 'Die Examination ist vollendet und die Studenten sind ent- lassen!' Not a single question was asked. They were duly licensed. Of course, they kept mum about telling this to Dr. Buettner. He felt elated be- cause his students had passed so well !"
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Signs of Progress.
be no doubt; but he found it impossible to accommodate himself permanently to the conditions of American life and returned to Europe. He was the author of several small volumes, and after his return to the fatherland published an account of his American experiences. In this country he was well known for his controversy with the rational- ists of St. Louis.
Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, Ohio, was founded in 1850 in close connection with the Western Theological Semi- nary. Here labored such men as Drs. E. V. Gerhart, Moses Kieffer, Jeremiah H. Good, George W. Williard, George W. Aughinbaugh and other early graduates of Marshall College.
Signs of progress now began to appear in other direc- tions. . In the South some territory was regained, and in 1851 Catawba College, at Newton, N. C., was founded. The German immigration to the West was largely increas- ing, and through the efforts of a number of self-sacrificing men a large number of members were gathered into the Reformed Church. Though the missionaries were gen- erally of foreign birth, those who were most prominent had been closely connected with the Eastern Church. Max Stern, who has been called " the missionary par ex- cellence," and H. A. Mühlmeier, the founder of the " Mis- sionshaus," an important institution in Wisconsin, had studied theology in Mercersburg ; and H. J. Ruetenick, the founder of Calvin College, at Cleveland, Ohio, had en- tered the ministry as a member of the Classis of East Penn- sylvania. Especially interesting, in this connection, would be the history of the settlement in Wisconsin of a colony of devoted people from Lippe Detmold, who proved them- selves active and energetic in every good work ; but it does not properly fall within the scope of our present study.
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Ursinus College,253 in Collegeville, Pa., was founded in 1869; but it may be well to recall the fact that its founder, the Rev. Dr. J. H. A. Bomberger, and several of his most eminent coadjutors had been educated at Marshall College. The importance of Mercersburg as an educa- tional center must therefore be recognized.
MISSIONS.
The Board of Domestic Missions was organized in 1826. Before that time there had been a Committee on Missions, and it was usual to require young ministers to undertake a missionary journey before accepting a regular charge. As congregations and individuals had been accustomed to take their own way in such matters, years passed before they could generally be persuaded to entrust their contri- butions to the Board, though its importance is now gen- erally recognized. It is to the efficient labors of this Board that the extension of the Church was mainly due. Missions are now conducted in the English, German, Hun- garian and Bohemian languages. The Harbor Mission in New York extends necessary aid to recently arrived immi- grants. In recent years the establishment of church- building funds, which furnish loans to indigent congre- gations, has led to gratifying results.
The Board of Foreign Missions was organized in 1838. At first the work was done in conjunction with the Ameri- can Board of Foreign Missions, and the Rev. Benjamin Schneider, D.D., who was at first a missionary at Broosa, in Asia Minor, and afterwards at Aintab, in Syria, was mainly supported by the contributions of the Reformed
253 Rev. Henry T. Spangler, D.D., is President of Ursinus College. Rev. James I. Good, D.D., is Dean of the Ursinus School of Theology which is now located in Philadelphia.
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The Widows' Fund.
Church. His wife published a volume entitled " Letters from Broosa," which did a great deal to awaken an interest in the cause. In 1865 the Reformed Church withdrew its contributions from the American Board, and for some years little was done, except that some of the churches contributed to the support of the missionaries of the German Evangelical Missionary Society at Bisrampore, India. In 1878 the Board selected Japan as a suitable place for mis- sionary labor, and since that time a flourishing mission has been maintained in that country. A mission has also recently been undertaken in China. In this country the Board has aided a mission among the Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin. It must, however, be confessed that in this department of Christian activity the Reformed . Church has not accomplished as much as might reasonably have been expected.
THE WIDOWS' FUND.
This is the most ancient charitable organization in the Reformed Church. Its establishment was first suggested by Michael Schlatter in 1755, in a letter to the Classis of Amsterdam, but in consequence of his withdrawal from Coetus the matter remained in abeyance for a number of years. The necessity of such a fund was, however, ap- parent, for as a rule the ministers were poor, and at their death their families were frequently left in destitute circum- stances. When Schlatter, in 1751, brought six young ministers to America, the Holland deputies assured them that they should have a salary of four hundred and fifty Belgian florins (about $180), besides perquisites, " which is considered sufficient in Pennsylvania." Alsentz com- plained, in the minutes for 1765, that the salaries were " not enough to live on and too much to die on." In 1785
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Helffrich reported that the salaries of ministers ranged from £75 to £150, Pennsylvania currency-that is, from $80 to $160, but only the pastors in Philadelphia, German- town and Baltimore received the latter sum. Under such circumstances it was, of course, literally impossible to make provision for the future, and the death of a minister was sure to be followed by actual suffering on the part of those whom he held most dear. In 1773 the Dutch Re- formed Church in this country undertook to establish a fund for the relief of disabled ministers and the widows of ministers, and it was probably this movement that induced the ministers in Pennsylvania to carry out the plan which Schlatter had proposed. According to Professor Hinke the organization was effected in 1775 ; and gifts from Hol- land, amounting to $360, constituted the nucleus of the fund. In this connection the original constitution of the Widows' Fund may be found interesting. It is embodied in the following report sent to Holland in 1787 by the Rev. John H. Helffrich :
"STATEMENT OF THE WIDOWS' FUND.
" We the undersigned ministers of the Evangelical Re- formed Church and members of the Rev. Coetus, of Penn- sylvania, having taken into consideration at a former meet- ing our outward circumstances, have noticed with some concern that our annual income, even with careful economy, is barely sufficient to support us and our families, much less to save some money. And since at the death of the father even this ceases, the surviving widow and chil- dren must necessarily be thrown into straitened cir- cumstances, the former being deprived of the necessary support in her old age, and the latter of a thorough edu- cation. We have therefore unitedly resolved to contribute
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Regulations.
something of our own means for the establishment of a widows' fund under the following regulations :
" Art. 1. Every member shall contribute annually as long as he lives the sum of two pounds 'in specie,' and who- ever does not remit his payment on the day set for this purpose, shall pay a fine of I penny per day.
"Art. 2. The time of payment shall be the annual meet- ing of the coetus.
" Art. 3. Whoever marries more than once shall pay each time the double amount for that year, namely four pounds.
" Art. 4. In case a member is excluded from the coetus, he shall be at liberty to continue his payments, and after his death his widow and children shall receive their share, as if no such exclusion had taken place.
" Art. 5. Whoever fails to pay three times in succession, loses his right and excludes his family from the benefit of the fund.
" Art. 6. The annual interest, accruing from the money thus deposited, shall be equally distributed among the widows of such ministers who have made the proper pay- ments. Each one shall receive her share as long as she is a widow.
" Art. 7. If a minister leaves no widow, but children, the share falling to the widow shall be paid to the child or children being under fourteen years of age. Each child is to receive an equal share till the age specified above shall have been reached.
" Art. 8. If the coetus in case of absolute necessity need some money for the support of ministers, the money may be borrowed from the widows' fund with the consent of all the ministers present. But in order to secure the refunding of this money to the widows' fund together with the interest from the day it was paid, either from the do-
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nations from Holland, or, if they be wanting, from the personal property of the ministers, the president and sec- retary of coetus must obligate themselves and their suc- cessors by a bond to the treasurer of this fund and his successors.
" Art. 9. The members shall obligate themselves by their own signatures to observe these regulations."
The fund in 1787, amounted to £338, 6s.2d. The ear- liest document now in possession of the society is dated May 1, 1790.
Though the funds were faithfully invested and applied, the society was never as popular as might have been ex- pected, and many ministers failed to become members. It was, however, incorporated by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in 1810. This charter appears to have been cumbrous and defective, and in 1832, when the synod appointed Dr. B. C. Wolff and others a committee to inquire into the condition of the society, it was found that there were but four surviving members, and that but two widows were receiving its benefits. The surviving min- isters were Caspar Wack, William Hendel, D.D., Samuel Helffenstein, D.D., and Thomas Pomp. The synod hav- ing expressed a desire that the society should be perpet- uated, the surviving members cheerfully transferred the funds to the reorganized society, under the sole condition that the widows who were receiving annuities should not be deprived of them. By a change in the charter the benefits were made applicable to destitute ministers and widows throughout the entire Church, instead of confining them to residents of the State of Pennsylvania, as had hitherto been the case. Since that time the society has been more prosperous, and, though the annuities remain small, much good has been accomplished. The Daniel
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Publications.
Stine Memorial Hall, at Myerstown, Pa., was in 1896 pre- sented to the society by Mrs. Linda S. Kaub, of Philadel- phia. It is intended to provide a comfortable home for - disabled ministers and their wives, and for the widows of ministers during their declining years.
PUBLICATIONS.
That the early ministers of the Reformed Church en- gaged somewhat extensively in literary work has already appeared ; but it was not until 1805 that the Synod, by issuing its Synodal-Ordnung, first engaged directly in the work of publication. This pamphlet was printed at Lan- caster by Henry and Benjamin Grimler. Subsequently for some years the printing of the Church appears to have been divided between Conrad Zentler, of Philadelphia, and Gruber and May, of Hagerstown. The Minutes of Synod were for the first time printed in 1817. The earli- est periodical was the Magazine of the Reformed Church, which appeared in Carlisle, Pa., in 1828, under the auspices of the Board of Missions. It was continued in this form until 1832, when the title was changed to The Messenger of the Reformed Church; and with slight changes in title it is still published.
In 1829 Dr. Samuel Helffenstein began the publication of a German magazine, entitled Evangelisches Magazin, which was subsequently edited by the Rev. John H. Dreyer. Dr. D. Zacharias, in 1834, published Der Herold, which was soon discontinued. Then, in 1835, Dr. B. S. Schneck began to publish Der Christliche Herold, and in 1837 Dr. John C. Guldin started Die Evangelische Zeitschrift. The two papers last mentioned were in 1837 united and for many years published as Die Christliche Zeitschrift. Finally the title was changed to
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Reformirte Kirchenzeitung, and as such it is now pub- lished in Cleveland, Ohio.
Many periodicals have been published in the interests of the Reformed Church at various times and places, and it is of course impossible here even to enumerate their titles. According to the " Almanac of the Reformed Church " for 1901, the whole number of periodicals at present issued under the authority of the Church is twenty, but this does not include the publications of literary institutions under the care of the Church.
The "Printing Establishment" at Chambersburg was founded in 1840 and was, after 1844, under the care of
SAMUEL REED FISHER.
the Board of Publication. It was not at first successful, but in 1848, at a time of great depression, three ministers came forward and offered to conduct the publications of the Church on their own responsibility, paying the Synod an annual bonus for the privilege. The ministers thus
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Burning of Chambersburg.
associated were the Rev. Drs. Moses Kieffer, B. S. Schneck and Samuel R. Fisher, subsequently known as the firm of M. Kieffer & Co. For fifteen years this firm successfully conducted the publications of the Church and then transferred the entire interest to the Synod at a price much lower than its real value. This generous action was so highly appreciated that the Synod spontaneously added to the purchase money the sum of one thousand dollars as a testimonial of gratitude for many years of faithful service.
The country was at that time engaged in a dreadful war, but no one anticipated that the "Printing Establishment" could possibly be in danger. Many expensive improve- ments had been made and it was proposed to publish a series of important works in denominational literature. Then a calamity occurred which in a few hours swept away the accumulation of years. On the 30th of July, 1864, a detachment of the Southern army entered Cham- bersburg and laid the greater part of the town in ashes. The "Printing Establishment" was entirely destroyed, nothing being saved from the wreck but some stereotype plates and account books which were preserved in a fire- proof vault. The loss to the Church, at a moderate esti- mate, was $43,000. It was a trying time, but Dr. S. R. Fisher, who had general charge of the publication inter- ests, manifested great courage and energy. He immedi- ately removed to Philadelphia and in three weeks The Messenger was once more in the hands of its subscribers. Since that time the Board of Publication has, under vary- ing conditions, conducted its operations in Philadelphia. The chief centers of publication throughout the Church have been Philadelphia and Reading, in Pennsylvania, and Dayton and Cleveland, in Ohio.
From all this it may be seen that the second quarter of
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the nineteenth century was in a peculiar sense a formative period in the history of the Reformed Church. There were many discouragements, but there were strong men who believed that the Church had a mission to perform in this country and were stretching every nerve for its accomplishment.
C
CHAPTER XXI.
THE TERCENTENARY YEAR.
The Festival of the Catechism-Henry Harbaugh-Orphan Homes-The General Synod.
HE celebration of the three-hundredth anni- versary of the publication of the Heidelberg Catechism, in the year 1863, gave a new im- petus to the work of the Re- formed Church and contributed greatly to its consolidation. It was felt that the time had come when the Reformed Church of this country might be expected to manifest some of the fruits of its studies and struggles, and no more suitable occasion could be suggested than the tercentenary of its cherished confession of faith.
It is believed that the earliest suggestion for such a festival appeared in the Reformirte Kirchenzeitung, which was then edited by the Rev. Samuel Miller, but it was also proposed by the Rev. Dr. Henry Harbaugh in the first volume of his " Lives of the Fathers," and the latter
(325)
326 The Reformed Church in the United States.
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527
EREG
TAKEN DOWN 1853.
REFORMED CHURCH BUILT IN LANCASTER BY OTTERBEIN.
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Early Life of Henry Harbaugh.
became the acknowledged leader of the movement in its further development. He was, of course, aided by all the prominent men in the Church, but without his energy and enthusiasm it could hardly have proved so brilliantly suc- cessful. As he exerted an influence so extensive and beneficent, we may, perhaps, venture to make room for a sketch of his somewhat remarkable career.
Henry Harbaugh was born October 28, 1817, in Frank- lin County, Penn., very near the boundary line of Mary-
HHarbaugh
land. The visitor to Pen-Mar-a pleasant summer resort on the South Mountain-may see the old homestead, ap- parently lying almost at his feet. The Harbaugh (Herbach) family was remotely of Swiss origin, and had always been earnestly attached to the Reformed Church. 254 They were plain people, speaking the German dialect of Pennsylva- nia almost exclusively ; but their descendant was proud of them, and in later life wrote reminiscences of his childhood with peculiar pleasure.
At an old schoolhouse near at hand Henry Harbaugh received his early education. It has been immortalized as " Das alt Schulhaus an der Krick." That the instruc- tion there imparted was rudimentary in the extreme need hardly be intimated. Under such conditions it was not easy to become an educated man. As a young man Har- baugh went to Ohio and labored as a carpenter and mill- wright, but several times lost his wages by the financial
254 " Annals of the Harbaugh Family from 1736 to 1856," by Henry Har- baugh, Chambersburg, Pa., 1861.
For a complete biography see "The Life of Rev. Henry Harbaugh, D.D.," by Linn Harbaugh, Esq., Philadelphia,[1900.
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failure of his employer. In the meantime, however, he was privately studying with all his might. After a brief term in an academy he went to Mercersburg where he re- mained about three years, taking an irregular course in the college and academy. In those days his talents cer- tainly failed to be fully appreciated ; but his associates had no idea of the toil which he expended on what they may have regarded as rudimentary studies. Even at that time he devoted every moment of possible leisure to literary composition, and his verses soon began to appear anony- mously in print. It was his purpose to prepare himself to communicate to others some of the culture which he had so laboriously acquired. Many years afterward he said to the present writer: "Do not write for fame, for that is vain, if not sinful ; and do not write for money, for you are likely to be disappointed ; but write for the advancement of your own people, for that is acceptable to God."
In 1850, while he was pastor at Lewisburg, Pa., he be- gan the publication of The Guardian, a small monthly magazine devoted to the literary and religious interests of young men and women. It was entirely undenominational, and so it remained during the seventeen years in which Dr. Harbaugh continued its editor. The publication was unpretentious, but it accomplished a great deal of good. Sometimes the editor was compelled by the lack of accept- able contributions to write almost everything that was pub- lished in the magazine ; and it was here that his best liter- ary productions first appeared. It was in this way that he acquired fluency of style, and it has been well said that " it was The Guardian that made Dr. Harbaugh."
It was while he was pastor at Lancaster, between 1850 and 1860, that Dr. Harbaugh's pen was most prolific. He published three volumes on the Future Life, " The Birds
THE REFORMED CHURCH IN PENNSYLVANIA.
HENRY HARBAUGH.
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Henry Harbaugh.
of the Bible," " The True Glory of Woman," " Poems," " Life of the Rev. Michael Schlatter," " Fathers of the Re- formed Church," two volumes, and several minor publica- tions. Others of his books were more extensively circu- lated ; but the " Fathers " involved more labor, and may be said to have left the deepest impression. Harbaugh was the pioneer of local historians in the Reformed Church,
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OLD HOUSES IN LANCASTER.
and though he made mistakes, as was to be expected, his successors have fully recognized the excellence of his work.
In 1860 Dr. Harbaugh became pastor of St. John's Church, Lebanon, and in 1863 was chosen professor of theology at Mercersburg. During the latter years of his life his literary work was mainly theological and devo- tional. In 1867 he was editor of The Mercersburg Review.
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In the Theological Seminary he seemed to be in his ele- ment, and he was regarded as an instructor of the highest order. He died after a brief illness, December 28, 1867.
That Dr. Harbaugh was a man of extraordinary natural ability will not be denied. He overcame the defects of his early education to such a degree that Dr. Schaff could say of him, in a memorial article, " he found no difficulty in comprehending the most abstruse philosophy." In the expression of his convictions he was courageous and de- termined, so that some of his contemporaries regarded him as a radical. He became a powerful controversialist, but was at the same time genial and full of humor. He hated cant in all its forms, and his heart was full of sympathy for every kind of suffering. It was this fact above all others that brought him into touch with the people, so that whatever he wrote was read with eagerness. Several of his religious compositions-such as "Jesus I live to Thee" and "Jesus, my Shepherd"-have found their way into many hymn-books. His Pennsylvania-German poems were written in hours of leisure. Many of them are highly poetical and full of tenderness, and that they are still pop- ularly remembered is not surprising. They were collected after his death and published as " Harbaugh's Harfe." 255
255 One piece, at least, was omitted from this collection, probably because it did not properly represent the Pennsylvania-German dialect. It is a macaronic composition, composed of Pennsylvania-German and English, but as such it is unique and worthy of preservation. It first appeared in a Church Almanac, edited by Dr. Harbaugh, directly following a conventional picture of a girl holding a sickle and a sheaf of wheat. Many of our readers will be pleased to read these curious verses :
"EN STICK ÜWERS AERNDFELD. VOM CALENNERMAN UFG'SETZT.
"Die goldne Aern is wider do, Die Hoyet is verbei ; Die geele Felder gucka froh, Sie wäva schö im Wind, you know, Un' Marga ge'en m'r nei.
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Dialect Verses.
It was while he was pastor in Lebanon that Dr. Har- baugh took the lead in making arrangements for the Ter- centenary celebration. It was to be, first of all, " a sub- lime festival service to God," but it also demanded that the Church should throw its devout, joyous and zealous ener- gies into all it proposed to do during the festival year. It involved the holding of a convention on the 19th of Janu- ary, 1863, the enrollment of the names of all the mem- bers of the Church, and the reception of memorial free-
"M'r hot als mit der Sichel g'rupt- Wo's g'stanna hot, gerefft ; Des war en Elend many a day, Von Schwitza un' von Buckelweh, Un' soreness right un' left.
"Der Picture, wo do o'wa steht, Is weit behind the age ; M'r lacht wann m'r en Sichel seht, Un' even's Reff is ausgeplay'd- Reapers sin now die Rage.
"En Sichel un' en Wätzaschäb Hot's Mädel in der Hand ! Was macht der Drucker do for G'fräss ? Sell basst yo gar net now a days, Die Mäd hen meh Verstand.
"En Mädel now im Aerndefeld Wär gut for Aageweh ! Uf so en Scene sin des my Strictures, Sell loss da Poets un' da Pictures, 'Sis nix in our day.
"Wer now en Aernde-Picture macht, Losst Mäd un' Sichel weg, Spannt Geil in Reaper, wie en Stage, Dann geht's ahead in perfect rage, Un' kracht in alle Eck.
" Wer des geplan'd hot der verdient Die thanks von every soul; Und doch en mancher dummer Trop Verlacht des Studya mit dem Kop- Sei e'gnes kann er wohl."
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will offerings, and the publication of several important volumes.
The principal convention was held on the 17th of Janu- ary, 1863, in the old church on Race street, Philadelphia, of which the Rev. Dr. Bomberger was then pastor. The attendance was large and included pastors and representa- tives from many congregations. The convention continued in session six days, and original essays were read on sub- jects connected with the history and doctrines of the Hei- delberg Catechism. The European contributions-mainly
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