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 7
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83 Saur stated in his paper that the collection had been made in behalf of the Reformed Churches of Philadelphia, Skippack and Germantown. So far as Germantown was concerned this statement was, of course, erroneous.
84 Among the papers in the case is a curious letter in English, dated April 2, 1739, from the celebrated Prof. John Frederick Gronovius to the Hon. James Logan, enclosing, with a translation, a letter from the Rev. Ernest Engelbert Probsting, urging the speedy settlement of the Reiff affair by legal process.
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The Reformed Church in America.
succeeded in effecting a settlement, at the same time sign- ing a paper in which he professed his confidence in Reiff's integrity.
In 1746 Weiss returned to Pennsylvania and assumed the pastorate of the Goshenhoppen charge, consisting of the congregations at Old Goshenhoppen, New Goshenhop- pen and Great Swamp. His removal from New York is said to have been induced by a threatening Indian inva- sion. In Pennsylvania he labored faithfully and was highly respected. That he took a profound interest in the general affairs of the church will be seen hereafter. He died in August, 1761, and was buried at New Goshen- hoppen, where a suitable memorial marks his grave.
Boehm was fortunately not implicated in the Reiff affair, though he was naturally interested in its developments and frequently referred to it in his correspondence with Hol- land. In missionary work he was untiring ; and he founded many congregations, which were kept alive by his occa- sional visits, waiting for better days. More than to any other individual the founding and preservation of the Re- formed Churches in Pennsylvania in this gloomy time is due to the self-sacrificing devotion of John Philip Boehm.
JEHOVA
NIDUM
ALTARL
INVENIT HIRUNDO
TUA
Box offraus
84
DELICIA EPHRATENSES
CHAPTER VIII.
A PERIOD OF CONFUSION.
Dorsius-Peter Miller-Rieger-The Goetschius Family.
HE founding of the Re- formed Church in Penn- uitb sylvania, as we have seen, was attended by peculiar difficul- hoffe ties. Natives of many coun- tries, there seemed to be hardly Arbeite a tie to unite the early settlers. Pennsylvania was in those days known as "the land of sects," and the isolated Ger- man was drawn hither and thither by contending religious factions. That a remnant re- mained faithful to the teachings of this youth is certainly marvelous. Not only where Boehm and Weiss had preached, but here and there, in out of the way places, con- gregations were founded. Sometimes a devout layman was chosen to conduct religious services, or a local schoolmas- ter was induced to read sermons on the Lord's day. The conditions were even more depressing when there was no one
(91)
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The Reformed Church in America.
at hand to assume this responsibility, and the young churches became the prey of worthless vagabonds, "whose only claim to the ministry," says Dr. Harbaugh, "was the possession of a black coat." Many of these preten- ders had in the fatherland been schoolmasters or minor officials who had lost their positions for some delinquency, and had at last found their way to America, where they wandered about suffering from a thirst that was un- quenchable.
It was only too easy for such fellows to commit to memory a sermon or two, and to preach wherever they were permitted to take up a collection. They rarely re- mained long in a single place, and the people called them Herumläufer or Landläufer. In the Holland corre- spondence they are called in Dutch landlopers or simply lopers. For half a century at least, these loafers were the scourge of the American churches, and there are instances of their appearance at a much more recent day.
In the third decade of the eighteenth century regular ministers, however, began to become more numerous, bringing with them the promise of better things. A few of these men-who were either ordained in Europe or received the rite after their arrival in this country-may at least be mentioned in this connection.
PETER HENRY DORSIUS & was pastor of the Dutch church at Neshaminy, but could preach German and oc- casionally visited the German churches. As early as 1730 the people of Neshaminy had written to Holland for a pastor, and at this time Dorsius was named for the position ; but as he had not finished his studies he was suffered to remain for some years at the universities of Groningen and Leyden, receiving in the meantime some aid from the
35 The name is often written Dorstius.
93
Dorsius.
Church in America.86 He arrived in Philadelphia, October 5, 1737, and remained pastor of the Neshaminy charge from that date until 1748.87 In 1738 he was requested to reply to a number of questions concerning the religious condition of Pennsylvania, and to these, with the assist- ance of Boehm, he prepared replies. At this time he as- sumed the title of " Inspector," which was peculiarly offensive to Boehm.88
That Dorsius was a man of learning is not doubted. He instructed a number of young men, and irregularly ordained several of them. In 1743 he was made the bearer of a letter from the Church in Holland to the Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia, inquiring whether it would not be pos- sible to consolidate the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch, and German Reformed Churches in America into a single body. In their reply, the Presbyterians tacitly declined to enter into such a union, but declared their willingness to join with the Reformed " to assist each other as far as possible, in promoting the common interests of religion." When Schlatter arrived in America, Dorsius received him kindly, but did not attend the first meeting of Coetus, though he sent a letter of sympathy. The fact is that he was becom- ing intemperate, and the affairs of his congregation were in a bad condition. Finally, he left his wife-a daughter
86 According to the records at Leyden he was a native of Meurs (Mörs) in Rhenish Prussia. He was matriculated at Groningen in 1734 and at Leyden in 1736 ; licensed and ordained in Holland in 1737. Vide Dr. Good's "History," pp. 190-199.
87 He was accompanied to America by a student for the ministry, named Van Basten, who preached in Pennsylvania. Corwin says, on the authority of Riker's "Annals of Newtown," that Van Basten preached at Newtown and other places in 1739-'40. He adds : "It is doubtful if he was ever settled."
88 On the 23d of September, 1740, he preached at Lower Sanson, and there baptized three children belonging to the Egypt Church. On the record of the latter church he is styled "Herr Inspector Peter Heinrich Torschius." Har- baugh misread the name and rendered it Torsihius, which form erroneously appears in several necrologies.
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The Reformed Church in America.
of Derrick Hogeland, of Bucks County-and in 1748, re- turned to Holland. There are traces of him in that country as late as 1750, but then he disappears. For many years the Coetus made contributions for the relief of his wife or widow. The light of Dorsius appears to have been quenched in utter darkness.
VIEW OF SAAL
AND
SARON.
JOHN PETER MILLER arrived in Philadelphia in the ship Thistle of Glasgow and took the oath of allegiance, August 29, 1730.89 The remarkable history of this eminent man has been so frequently related that it is hardly necessary to consider it with minuteness.90. He was born at Alsenborn, in the Palatinate, in 1710, but the exact date appears to be unknown. His father was a Reformed minister in the dis- trict of Kaiserslautern. The son was educated at Heidel- berg, and undoubtedly became a man of learning. What
89 In the list published in the Pennsylvania Archives, 2d series, vol. 17, the name appears as "Peter Moller." This, however, may have been a blunder by the same clerk who wrote the name of George Michael Weiss as "Hans Jerrick Swaess."
90 See "Chronicon Ephratense," 1786. English translation by Rev. J. Max Hark, Lancaster, 1889. Also particularly Sachse's "German Sectarians of Pennsylvania," Philadelphia, 1900.
95
John Peter Miller.
induced him to come to America is not definitely known, but the " Chronicon Ephratense " tells us that he followed Weiss. Before his departure from Germany he had been licensed to preach, but had not been ordained.91 He was ordained soon after his arrival by the Presbyterian presby-
Your Excellency's
most humble Friend Peter Miller
FROM LETTER TO BENJ. FRANKLIN.
tery of Philadelphia. For several months he supplied the Reformed Church of Philadelphia, and also preached at Skippack. Then in 1731, he became pastor of the Tulpe- hocken charge, for which Boehm had previously preached at long intervals. 92
91 Dr. Good suggests that he can hardly have been sent by the Palatine Consistory, as they would certainly have ordained him before sending him.
92 Professor Hinke says, Reformed Church Record, January 11, 1900 : "He also took the Conestoga congregation away from Boehm, who says in his re- port of 1739 : 'After this Miller went there to continue the work of Weiss, and at the same time he also won Tulpehocken.' It was during the ministry of John Peter Miller that Tempelman sent his letter to the Synods of North and South Holland, dated Feb. 13, 1733. In it he describes the condition of the Reformed at that time as follows : 'The congregation in the Chanastoka, by reason of its growth and the great distances between the members, has been divided into six preaching places. Three of these places are served by a Re- formed minister, John Peter Miller, by whom also another strong congregation is served about 7 hours (20 miles) distant, called Tulpehocken. But now on account of the division of the congregation they can no longer be served by Do. Boehm nor by the above named Miller, because of the great distance of the different places one from the other, as also of his increased activity and the heavy labor resting upon him.' Tempelman further says that 'the three meeting places of the Reformed are scattered over a district of 7 hours (20
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The Reformed Church in America.
For about four years Miller served his congregation, 93 and during this time built a church at Tulpehocken.94 Then came the visit of "the magician of the Conestoga,"
Conrad Beissel,95 which resulted in the conversion to the Seventh Day Baptists of Miller and ten Reformed and Lutheran families. Among these converts was Conrad
miles) long and 7 hours wide.' Of the three places served by Miller he can give no report."
Professor Hinke provisionally identifies the above three congregations, besides "Conestoga," served by Miller, as Zeltenreich, near New Holland, Reyers (Brickerville) and perhaps Muddy Creek. He suggests that the latter, at least, may have been a mere preaching-place, and that the regular organiza- tion must be ascribed to a later date.
93 This at least is the time generally given, though there are indications that he had become partially alienated from the Reformed Church a little earlier. Boehm says in his report to the Synods, dated October 18, 1734 : "At present there is only one other (Reformed) minister in this Province, Peter Miller. When he could not convince people of his views, he gave up his ser- vice altogether and is now an Olypersser. How he tried to mislead the people can be clearly seen from this, not to mention other things, that about two years ago he went with one of his elders, whom he had installed at Goshenhoppen, into a house of a Seventh Day Baptist, where he allowed himself to be called brother, and permitted the man to wash his feet." The word Olypersser, as used by Boehm, is somewhat obscure ; but from my Dutch dictionary I make it out to mean "oil-miller." If this interpretation is correct it would seem to indicate that after Miller had practically retired from the ministry he made his living for some time by conducting an oil-mill.
94 "Chronicon Ephratense," English version, p. 72.
95 Conrad Beissel, called "Friedsam," was born at Eberbach in the Pal- atinate in 1690 and died at Ephrata, Pa., July 6, 1768. As founder and leader of the "Order of the Solitary," the history of this remarkable mystic has proved fascinating to many writers, so that it is not necessary to relate its details. See, especially, "German Sectarians of Pennsylvania," by Mr. Sachse.
97
Conrad Weiser.
Weiser, the most prominent man in all that region, who became a member of the brotherhood at Ephrata, but afterwards withdrew.6 Boehm informs us that Miller " was baptized in Dunker fashion at Conestoga, April, 1735."
For more than sixty years Miller observed the rule of the Order of the Solitary. He was dressed in a gown of rough material, and at night slept on a bench, with no pillow but a wooden billet. Though he was vastly more learned than Conrad Beissel he remained to the last his obedient disci-
AN ORNATE EPHRATA INITIAL.
ple. Assuming the monastic name of " Brother Jaebez,""" he became in time the leading spirit in the community, and after the death of the founder was its recognized leader.
96 In a previous publication the author has referred to Conrad Weiser as a Lutheran elder .- "American Church History " series, vol. 8, p. 262. Mr. Sachse has, however, made it plain that he was at this time "the chief elder of the Tulpehocken Reformed congregation."-"German Sectarians of Pennsyl- vania," vol. 2, p. 277. He was also at a later date an officer of the Reformed Church of Reading. Nevertheless as Weiser was born in the Lutheran Church and finally returned to it, he is properly regarded as a Lutheran.
97 Like others of the brotherhood, he occasionally used an alias. Sometimes he called himself "Peter the Hermit," and he was undoubtedly "Agrippa," who appears as one of the authors of the "Chronicon Ephratense."
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The Reformed Church in America.
Many hymns in the Ephrata collections were written by him, and he translated from Dutch into German a large part of the Martyr-book, published at Ephrata, which was by far the largest publication issued in America during the colonial period.
Soon after his baptism Beissel urged Miller " to again take service in the mother church, because he had now by baptism received the power lacking for the office." 98 Miller was, however, so fully enamored of the celibate life that he refused to leave the cloister, and declared that he would never be a teacher (i. e., preacher) again.
After Beissel's death the brotherhood began to decline, and before Miller's death it was evident that the end could not be far distant.99 He was, however, comforted by the assurance, once given him by "Father Friedsam," that, in one form or another, the work at Ephrata would abide until the second coming of the Lord.
On a book-label in possession of the author appears a stanza, evidently composed in his later years, which fully expresses his sentiments concerning life and death.
The above stanza the present writer has ventured to translate :
98 Letter of Miller to Peter Lehman, Aug. 28, 1788.
99 In the Berliner Monatsschrift, 1784, appears a letter from Ephrata, signed K., giving a somewhat discouraging account of the status of the brotherhood. The following paragraph may be interesting, especially as its correctness is attested by the prior himself : "Peter Miller, the only educated man (in the society) studied in Heidelberg and was authorized to preach but not to baptize. With thirty guldens in his pocket he left his father. Afterwards he preached in this country, and at the request of a German country congregation was or- dained by the Presbyterian clergy of Philadelphia. After four years he re- signed his congregation, was converted, baptized others and was himself baptized ; and six months after the organization of this society he joined it. Previously he had lived as a hermit." At the end of the letter appears the following certificate : "I, Brother Jaebez, otherwise called Peter Miller, prior of the convent at Ephrata, Lancaster County, hereby certify that this article, written by Mr. K., is in accordance with the truth and written with Christian modesty." Vid. "Der Deutsche Pionier," vol. 13, p. 13.
99
Miller's Book Plate.
PETRUS HEREMIT,
Boll Rre und Stubfat ift der 2Beg, Darauf ich hier mus gehen, Und leiden viel geheime Schlag Das macht off bittre BBében; Doch mann ju end Der lange fampf u. fireit, Go geb ich ein sur ftilen Emigfelt.
791
"The path I journey here below Is full of grief and sorrow ; I suffer many a secret blow, And grievous pains I borrow ; But when the war and conflict's o'er, I'll rest in peace for evermore."
Another book-label in possession of the writer bears the simple inscription :
Bruder Jaebez Ephrata, 178-
Peter Miller lived the life of a medieval saint, and was highly esteemed even by those who entertained different religious opinions. He died at Ephrata, September 25, 1796.
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The Reformed Church in America.
JOHN BARTHOLOMEW RIEGER,100 an ordained minister, arrived in Philadelphia one year later than Miller, and took the oath of allegiance on the 21st of September, 1731. He had been educated at Heidelberg and Basel, and was no doubt a well-educated man. That he was commissioned for the American work by the authorities of the church of the Palatinate appears to be R UG H certain, and he has even been called " the leader of a col- T ony." He does not, however, appear to have been fully alive to the importance of his mission and his efforts were not as successful as might have been expected. For BENE 1 several years he was pastor in Philadelphia, then he was for some time at Amwell and in 1739 accepted the pastor- ate of the Reformed Church HAMILTON ARMS OF LANCASTER. of Lancaster, Pa., where his brother, Jacob Frederick, had in the meantime settled as a physician.
The Reformed Church of Lancaster was evidently or- ganized not long after 1730, when the town was founded. In 1733 it is mentioned by Tempelman as already exist- ing, and situated within what he calls Boehm's district. Its earliest members had been members of the Conestoga or "Hill " Church to which we have referred. Boehm, however, did not highly regard the Lancaster congrega-
100 According to the inscription on his tombstone Rieger was born at Ober- ingelheim in the Palatinate, January 10, 1707. The church record in his native town gives the date of his birth as January 23, of the same year. He died, March 11, 1769, and lies buried in the rear of the First Reformed Church of Lancaster, Pa.
IOI
Lancaster,
tion on account of its independent manner of proceeding, and there is no evidence that he ever preached there. The extant records of the church begin with an entry con- cerning the building, which is there translated : "Now as regards the building of our church the beginning was made in the year 1736, and by the help of God it was so far completed that on the 20th of June, Whitsunday, divine worship was held in it for the first time. The reverend and pious John Jacob Hock was called as the regular pastor." Hock had previously been a ruling elder in the congregation, who was chosen to the ministry by the people, somewhat as Boehm had been called at the begin-
THE OLD BROTHER HOUSE.
ning of his work. There is no important information con- cerning Hock's pastorate-except that he also preached at Bethany, near Ephrata-and in less than two years his name disappears from the records. It is possible that, as soon as a regular minister could be secured, he retired to private life.
After serving the Lancaster church and several neigh-
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The Reformed Church in America.
boring congregations for four years Rieger took it into his head to go to Europe to study medicine. He does not seem to have contemplated retiring from the ministry, for on the 5th of November, 1743, he appeared before the classis of Amsterdam and gave them an account of Pennsylvania.101 In March, 1744, he was matriculated at Leyden as a stu- dent of medicine, and seems to have remained there about a year.
It is known that before his departure for Europe he had become unpopular in Lancaster, and it has been assumed that this was due to his intimate relations with the Moravians. That there were other reasons for his unpopularity is, how- ever, sufficiently evident. He was full of strange notions, refusing to baptize children, and publicly teaching that men could be saved in any religion.102 It will be remembered that at one time Conrad Beissel expected to gain him for his sect ; and that when he heard of his marriage he ex- claimed, " O, Lord, Thou sufferest them to spoil in one's very hands !" 103
It is doubtful, however, whether under the most favor- able circumstances Rieger could have been transformed into a monk. He could take up any new religious move- ment with great enthusiasm ; but it was not long before he grew weary. In later years he devoted most of his time to the practice of medicine; and a letter to Europe even intimates that on ordinary occasions he was skeptical, but became thoroughly orthodox as soon as he learned that a donation from Holland was on the way. In addition to all this, it is easy to conclude from his occasional contri- butions to Saur's paper, that he was pompous and preten- tious-fond of using Greek and Latin phrases-and that
101 Good's "History," p. 169.
102 Wilhelmi's Report to the Deputies, 1745.
103 "Chronicon Ephratense," p. 71.
.
103
Rieger.
he sought to impress the laity by assuming all the dignity and state of the traditional Herr Pfarrer.
When Rieger returned to America in 1745 104 he began to practice medicine in Lancaster, but was also desirous of resuming his pastorate of the Reformed Church of that place. The position had, however, in the same year been occupied by Caspar Ludwig Schnorr, who had been a pastor in Zweibrücken, but had rested under a cloud before he left his fatherland. He had appealed for aid to the Church of Holland, but his petition was not granted. In Lancaster he did not do well, and if Saur's statements con- cerning him are true he was utterly unworthy of his office. He remained but two years in Lancaster, and then went to Esopus, in Ulster County, New York, where we lose sight of him.
That the Lancaster congregation did not immediately discharge Schnorr and call Rieger, must have been deeply humiliating to the latter who had just returned from his European excursion. There was a violent conflict between the two men; but even after Schnorr had been removed the congregation did not call Rieger. Then he devoted himself chiefly to medical practice, but at the same time preached at Zeltenreich (" Erlentown ") and at Schaeffers- town, in Lebanon County. He made frequent efforts to regain the pastorate of the church in Lancaster, but the people would not have him as a pastor, though they rec- ognized his ability as a medical practitioner. An extant letter conveys the impression that he did not devote much attention to his theological studies.
When Schlatter arrived in America, Rieger was for a time
104 In the same year he visited Zubly in South Carolina. This appears from a votum in the album of the latter, dated "Charlestown, Feb. 6, 1745." On the same page he styles himself "V. D. M. in Lancaster in Pennsylvania." Possibly he returned to America by the southern route.
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The Reformed Church in America.
roused to new activity. The deputies had actually written to him, requesting him to assist in the work of organization, and for a time he did his best. In consequence of a scan- dal connected with his medical practice,105 he was in 1762 suspended from the ministry, but he appealed to Holland and the case seems never to have been finally decided.106
In 1735 occurred an episode which may serve to illus- trate the prevailing confusion. It has long been regarded
ORNATE EPHRATA INITIAL.
as peculiarly obscure; but thanks to recent investigations in Holland the outlines of the story may now be read. To relate it so as to make clear the causes of earlier mis- conceptions is, even now, by no means an easy matter.
On the title page of the earliest records of at least four of the oldest Reformed churches-New Goshenhoppen, Great Swamp, Bern and Egypt-under the name of the
105 He was accused of giving a certificate to the effect that a certain man had died of fever, when it was generally believed that death had resulted from violence at the hands of a person whom the physician desired to screen from the consequences of his act.
106 Socially the Rieger family were prominent in the early history of Lan- caster, and their names frequently appear in contemporary records. They are best remembered in connection with the unfortunate duel in which Stephen Chambers was killed, in 1789, by Dr. Jacob Rieger, a nephew of the minister.
105
An Obscure Episode.
congregation appears the signature of JOH. HENRICUS GOETSCHIUS, VDM, Helvetico-Tigurinus. In each in- stance there is a brief preface in his autograph, relating the purpose of the volume, and several brief sentences in more or less doubtful Greek and Latin are in two of these records attached to the signature. The title page of the New Goshenhoppen record has no date, but the very next leaf bears an entry of the baptism, in August, 1731, of Elizabeth, a daughter of Philip Lapaar. The inscription in the record of the Egypt Church-there called "the church on the Lehigh "-bears a date, but its last figure is badly blurred. It looks like 1733, and as the baptism on the next page bears this date the accuracy of the read- ing was until recently never questioned. The Great . Swamp record is dated April 24, 1736.
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