USA > Pennsylvania > Lancaster County > New Holland > The Three Earls : an historical sketch, and proceedings of the centennial jubilee, held at New Holland, Pa., July 4, 1876 > Part 3
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*There was no fixed price for the services of Redemptioners : the age, health and strength were considered. Boys and girls served from five to ten years or until they became of age. All children less than five years of age could not be sold: they were assigned gratuitously to such persons as were willing to raise them. Parents were often compelled to do with their offspring, what they bad at home done with their cattle, sell them. Children were obliged to assume the payment of their own and their parents' passage money, in order that the latter might be released from the ship. In many cases the well-to-do emigrants were held liable for the passage money of the poorer ones. This wrong was practiced for upwards of fifty years, and through it innocent per- sons were frequently empoverished .- See note to Rush's Manners of the Penna. Germans p. 8; Col. Rec. IV. 586; Penna. Arch. IV. 472; Gordon's Hist. of Penna. 300.
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ROADS AND HIGHWAYS.
early settlers were those on the Brandywine, whither they often went for meal. It was not an uncommon thing for a settler, in these townships, to load several bushels of wheat on his horse, take it to Downingtown and exchange it for salt.
In November 1733, the "Kings High Road," from Phila- delphia to Lancaster, was ordered to be laid out : the persons in charge were directed to mark out a space thirty feet wide and grub the underwood from a space of fifteen feet. This, although not a township road, was nevertheless of vast importance to those citizens of Earl whose business took them to Philadelphia; it further proves at how early a period great highways were made from the chief city of the province into the remote interior .*
An artificial road from the Blue Ball tavern to the borough of Lancaster, was approved by Governor Simon Snyder, in 1810: the Commissioners named in the act, having certified that thirty and more persons had sub- scribed for 122 shares of the stock, the Governor by letters patent, bearing date of March 3, 1812, created the sub- scribers into a corporation, called "The President, Mana- gers and Co. of the New Holland Turnpike Road," which title was, in 1856, changed to "The New Holland Turnpike Road Co." Four miles of the road having been completed in 1816, examiners were appointed by the Governor, and upon making a favorable report, the Company was author- ized to erect gates and collect toll: a second section of five miles was completed during Gov. Hiester's administration in 1823, and accepted by him. The road was not com-
*As a matter of interest it may also be stated here, that the Lancaster and Philadelphia turnpike was commenced in 1792 and finished in 1794, at a cost or $7,500 per mile or a total cost of $465,000: it was the first macadamized road built in the United States, and at one time much used by the people of these town- ships,
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
pleted until 1825. The first toll-money was received in July 1816, and the first dividend declared in 1839. By an act passed May 1821, the Governor was authorized to subscribe for $5000 of the stock in behalf of the Com- monwealth.
LAWS AND PUNISHMENTS.
Being a colony of Great Britain, the system of English laws prevailed; these were, in many instances, barbarous enough. It may not be uninteresting to recall the kinds ·of punishments that were visited upon our ancestors, when they unfortunately got into the clutches of the law. Burn- ing in the hand, placing in the pillory, cutting off the ears, lashes on the bare back, and nailing to the whipping post by the ears, were some of the inflictions visited upon offenders, for what we would now call trivial offenses. Lashes on the back was most in favor, and there was hardly a session of court held, without at least one example of this kind; women as well as men, were paid in the same coin. For certain offenses, the criminal for- feited all his property and goods to the Commonwealth. In cases where the offender was unable to comply with the pecuniary part of his sentence, the sheriff was directed to sell his services to the highest and best bidder, until the judgment was satisfied. Incredible as it may seem, these laws remained on the statute books until 1786 .*
*We append two cases as examples, copied from the docket of the Court of Quarter Sessions.
Dominus Rex -
John Wilson VS. At the November term 1738, for passing seven counterfeit ten shilling bills, was sen- . tenced by the Court "to be sot upon the pillory, and then have both his ears cut off, and be publickly whipped on his bare back with thirty one lashes, well laid on, and forfeit the sum of £100, to the Government, one half to go to the discoveror, together with costs of prosecution, and stand committed to the common goal of the county till the same be performed."
At the February term, 1766, Ann Fen was tried and convicted
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EDUCATION AND EARLY SCHOOLS.
A large majority of the settlers of these townships were men of little education and culture. They were sons of toil, and in the absence of proper advantages, seldom rose into wordly distinction. Their daily struggle for existence, left them little time for mental training. Our wonder is, · that with so many drawbacks, they accomplished so much. Their views were often narrow and contracted, and innova- tions of most kinds were steadily opposed, or else but tar- dily adopted. Even the English language, which, from the beginning, was that in which all the business of the Colony and Courts was transacted, found no favor with them, or even with their descendants, until a period within the memory of men still living. The Lutheran and Ger- man Reformed churches, for many years, successfully, but unwisely, resisted the introduction of English in their church services. In the parish schools that were so fre- quently connected with the churches, only German was taught: still, the leaven was at work, and produced good results in after years .*
Fortunately, the colonists were still filled with the same deeply, religious views and feelings, that caused them so many troubles in Europe; and when they could indulge these views unquestioned here, they gave outward expres.
of the felony of altering a bill of credit, knowing the same to have been fraudulently altered in its denomination with intent to in- crease the value thereof: she was sentenced to stand in the pillory one turn, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the forenoon; that she have both her ears cut off and nailed to the said pillory; and that she be whipped at the public whipping post with thirty-one lashes; that she pay a fine of £100, to his Honor the Governor, discharge the costs of prosecution and stand committed until the sentence be carried into prosecution.
*"There is scarcely an instance of a German, of either sex, in Pennsylvania, that cannot read; but many of the wives and daughters of the German farmers cannot write."-Dr. Rush's Manners of the Penna. Germans.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
sion to them, in the organization of congregations, and in the building of churches and school-houses .* Not all were ignorant and unlettered. Their pastors were men educated in the universities of Germany and Holland, and wisely turned the minds of their parishoners in the direction of a more generous culture. The result was the erection, at ·an early period, of numerous school-houses, where public instruction was afforded at certain seasons of the year. Of some of these schools, all traces have been lost; but others more fortunate, have sent their light down to us through all the vanished years. A large log school-house is kuown to have stood at Laurel Hill as early as 1765,-how much earlier is uncertain: it served as the school-master's resi- dence also. This building was replaced by a stone one about the year 1810, which in turn, was torn down in 1867: the ground is still held for school purposes. The first log church, at Zeltenreich's, is also known to have been used as a school-house; the date is uncertain, but it was prob- ably even of an earlier day than the one at Laurel Hill. A school-house was built in Weaverland in 1772. There was also one built in Hinkletown, near the former resi- dence of Dr. Isaac Winters, shortly after the close of the war of independence; it was a stone structure, and stood until about fifteen years ago.
Jacob Carpenter taught the first known school in West Earl; it was kept in his own house for some years, stand-
*"All the different sects among them are particularly attentive to the religious education of their children, and to the establish- ment and support of the Christian religion. For this purpose they settle as much as possible, together, and make the erection of a school-house and a place of worship, the first object of their care. * * * Such has been the influence of a pious education among the Germans, in Pennsylvania, that in the course of nineteen years, (this was written in 1789), only one of them, has ever been brought to a place of public shame or punishment."-Rush's Penna. Ger- mans, pp. 34-35.
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THE NEW HOLLAND SCHOOL-HOUSE.
ing near the present site of Bolmartown: this was soon after the Revolutionary war. Shortly afterwards, a log school-house was built in Bolmartown, another at David Martin's, and a third at Kemper's, on the Conestoga. These were the earliest West Earl schools, and like all the rest, were built by the voluntary contributions of the citizens. Not so bad, that, for Pennsylvania Dutchmen! THE NEW HOLLAND SCHOOL-HOUSE.
In the whole school history of these townships, we find nothing more laudable, than the enlightened and praise- worthy movement organized in New Holland in 1786, to permanently establish an English and German free school. Fortunately, the record-book is still in existence, and is circumstantially minute concerning the early beginnings of the enterprise; it is in itself a history, and as all the other schools were doubtless built by the same means, and in the same way, a brief account will not be uninteresting. The movement originated with the Rev. Mr. Melzheimer, and a few more public-spirited citizens. Two subscrip- tion papers were prepared, one in German and the other in English, and circulated. The names on those papers show that there were about 133 original subscribers, besides others, who afterwards contributed. There is hardly a name known among us here this day, that is not found on that roll of honor. The money raised by direct subscrip- tions amounted to £109. 10. 9. But this is not all; there are other lists, where such as were unable to contribute money, gave either building materials or else their personal services: Lime, logs, sand, stones, laths, boards and rafters were among the articles given. The names of men who at sundry times worked at digging out the cellar, are grate- fully recorded, and we are told, that as the citizens gave these volunteer workmen their board, "the cellar was com- pleted without little or no charge." Would we be ready
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
to do as much to-day? Perhaps not. After the building was erected, certain carpenters gave one or more days' work gratis, to make desks and benches. "Mess. Steeman, Albright and Laun, of the borough of Lancaster, were so kind and obliging as to print, free of charge, about eighty hymns, to be distributed among the people, and to be sung by the school youth in vocal, musical order." Sixteen enlightened rules were prepared for its government. This school-house was formally dedicated on the 26th of Decem- ber, 1787. On the morning of that day, "the scholars, singers, ministers, trustees, elders, and church-wardens of the Lutheran and German Reformed churches, and the members of those churches, and a number of persons- English and German-of other religious societies, as- sembled at the Parsonage," and from thence marched in an orderly procession to the school building. There was vocal music, an appropriate prayer, a suitable oration, and then "an elegant, argumentative and eloquent discourse was preached." Upwards of 700 persons were present. A debt remained when the building was done, and again did these true men put their shoulders to the wheel, to make it up. Thus was this log school-house, 35x40 feet, and two stories high, built. Around that country college with its single professor, how many pleasant memories cluster ? Many of us got our early training within its oaken walls, and while it seems humble beside its stately successor, let us, while life lasts, cherish the memory of it and its revered founders .*
*The introduction of the free school system in 1838, in a measure superseded the necessity for this school, which, with a few inter- ruptions, had been kept up until then. For a time thereafter, the School Directors of the district used the building as a public school house. By an Act of the Legislature, passed in 1857, the building and ground on which it stood, were directed to be sold, and one half of the proceeds of said sale were to go to the Lu-
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EARLY CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.
Another public-spirited movement, and one of a more recent date, may be noticed in this connection. It is the large clock which the enlightened liberality of the people has placed in the tower of the recently built school-house in New Holland. Few country towns anywhere, boast of such an enterprise, or one of more general, public convenience.
EARLY CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.
At this distant day, and in the absence of authentic historical records, it is difficult to determine where and when the earliest church congregation was organized, or the first house for public worship built within these town- ships. It is unlikely that the colony planted in West Earl by Hans Graaf, should have been long without some regu- lar church organization. The same may be said of the settlement in Weaverland, in East Earl. The well known character of these people, and all their traditions, forbid such a supposition. Still, we have no record to bear out this opinion, and in the absence of such, we can only say
theran church, and the other half, together with three fourths of the funds in the hands of the Trustees, was to be placed on in- terest, until the sum should reach one thousand dollars, after which time the income thereof, or as much of it as the majority of the Trustees might think proper, should from time to time be applied to the support of one or more public schools in the village of New Holland, to be open and in operation during such periods of every year as the common schools shall not be in operation, and under such rules as a majority of the Trustees might order and direct.
Under this act the property was sold on August 1, 1857, for $1060. The half of this sum added to the three fourths in the hands of the Trustees, amounted to $777.39, which was placed at interest up to the present time. At the beginning of the present year, the principal and interest having amounted to the sum of $2100, it was decided by the Trustees to use the income thereof, in opening a school, and employing two teachers for a period of two months, when the common free schools were closed: to this school only children between the ages of six and twelve years were to be admitted. This has accordingly been done, and the results of the good work wrought nearly one hundred years ago by our forefathers, are thus still making themselves manifest among their grateful posterity.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
if not the first, then among the first was the Lutheran congregation in New Holland. The register of this church goes back as far as May 1, 1730, which, it will be remem- bered, was only two years after this town was founded. John Balthasar Wundrich, son of Matthias Wundrich and his wife, is the first baptismal entry in this record, and bears date of 1730. Various concurring circumstances go to prove, that the entry was made by the Rev. John Casper Stover,* who served this congregation, and one at Muddy -Creek, until the close of the year 1746. The number of communicants at the first recorded communion service, held in 1748, was seventy. At times the church had a stationed pastor, and at others, was supplied from abroad. Among the earlier pastors were the Rev. Tobias Wagner, from 1749 until 1755; Rev. Mr. Stover, from 1755 to 1758; Rev. Samuel Schwerdfeger, from 1758 to 1763; Rev. W. Kurtz, from 1763 until 1781: during the pastorate of this clergyman, at the Easter Communion, in 1770, the number of communicants was 178, the highest number the church has ever had, at any one communion, down to the pres- ent time. Among the names on that list, are the well known ones of Miller, Lightner, Brimmer, Rhoads, Kinzer and Duchman, all of which are still represented on the · church books through their descendants, who have held to the faith of their fathers.
On May 18, 1744, John, Thomas and Richard Penn, the then proprietors of Pennsylvania, conveyed to Geo. Swope, Wendle Swecker, John Borger, Nathaniel Lightner and Michael Rein, by letters patent, four acres of land for the
*Rev. Johann Casper Stæver was born in Strasburg, Germany: he arrived in Philadelphia in the ship James Goodvill, in Septem- ber, 1728, along with ninety other Palatines. He was a pious and learned man, and was for many years pastor of the Lutheran church in Lebanon, near which place he died May 13, 1779, aged 71 years, 3 months and 2 days .- Rupp's 30,000 names p. 13.
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EARLY CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.
use of the congregation, and upon which the old parsonage was afterwards built, and which, with various additions, still stands on the northern side of the town. The earliest church building was of logs, and no date of its erection has been preserved. The corner stone of the old stone church was laid in April, 1763. After this church was built, a considerable debt remained unpaid: to extinguish this and also to build a school-house, the congregation was authorized by an act of the General Assembly, passed on May 20, 1767, to raise the sum of £499. 19. by means of a lottery. This fact is one of much interest, inasmuch as it proves the importance attached by the early German settlers to the cause of education .* The corner stone of the present edifice was laid in 1850.
The next oldest church organization in these townships of which the records have been preserved, is the German Reformed Congregation of New Holland, but which at the period of its formation, in 1746, was known as "Zelten- reich's Kirche," a name still borne by the church that now stands on the spot where this congregation first worshipped. That the people of this denomination at Earltown, were occasionally visited by itinerant preachers, prior to this date, is more than probable; but the written record dates from 1746. The first baptisms recorded are those of chil- dren named Stone, Besore, Becher, Diffenderffer, Selten- reich, Miller, Davis and others. The first settled pastor was the Rev. J. B. Reigart, in 1748; the Rev John Wald-
*See Appendix A. My attention was called to this fact by Samuel Evans, esq., of Columbia, Pa., to whom I would here make acknowledgment for this and other favors: filled with the acuteness, zeal and industry of the true antiquarian, no man in the State is better qualified to write what is still a desideratum, a good history of Lancaster county, and it is to be hoped he may yet find time to give to the public the abundant materials he has accumulated in the course of a life-long study of our local history.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
schmidt-great grandfather of the Rev. J. W. Hassler, the present worthy pastor of the Lutheran church of New Holland-became pastor in 1753 :* he remained only two . years, and for a time thereafter, the congregation was served by supplies from Lancaster and elsewhere. There was also lay-preaching and other religious services, con- ducted by Leonard Stone, who introduced the practice of calling the people together when there was no preacher. In 1760, George Seltenreich sold for a nominal sum, a lot of ground to the officers of the church, giving them a deed for the same, in which it was conveyed to them and their successors, in trust, forever. Rev. Mr. Berger was pastor from 1761 until 1766, Mr. John Wittner from 1766 to 1769; the Revds. Weimer and Walsmith followed him. In 1771 the Rev. John Gobrecht entered upon the pastor- ate, and held it thirteen years. The old meeting-house in which the congregation had so long worshipped, was in a very dilapidated condition in 1799, and it was therefore resolved to build a new church in a more central locality ; this was finally done on a lot donated by Matthias Shirk, in the village of New Holland. This Church was also authorized to raise funds by means of a lottery, as we find that on December 1st, 1800, it was "enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, that Frederick Segar, Adam Miller, jr., George Ecard, jr., Jacob Colfrode, Jacob Rengwalt, Philip Diffenderffer and Henry Ream be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, to raise by way of lottery, a sum not exceeding four thousand dollars,
*Rev. Johannes Waldschmidt was one of the six young German Reformed ministers brought to this country by Rev. Michael Schlatter, on his return from Europe, July 24, 1752. One of his first charges was this one at Zeltenreich's. He died September 14, 1786, aged a little more than 62 years, and was buried at what was then called Cocalico, now the "Swamp," Lancaster county.
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EARLY CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.
with a discount of twenty per cent., to be applied by them to defray the expense of completing a church, lately built by the German Calvinist congregation, in the village of New Holland." The building then erected has been used by the congregation ever since .* By this transfer of place, no change in the identity of the congregation was made.
Center Church dates back to May 20, 1819, when the corner stone of the first church edifice was laid. It took its name from the fact that it was centrally located in respect to the four other congregations from whom its members were chiefly drawn, namely New Holland and Muddy Creek in Lancaster county, and Allegheny and Forest in Berks county. The old church building was torn down and the present one erected in its stead in 1872, when the name was changed to St. John's: this change I cannot but regard as unwise and made without due con- sideration: the old name was in itself a partial history of the church, and its meaning broadly suggestive, whereas its more modern title while appropriate in itself, is, in a certain sense general, and quite as applicable to any other church. Through changes as inconsiderate as this, are old historical landmarks swept away, and all traces of their former existence lost.
Among the other early churches, were Carpenter's church, in West Earl; the graveyard connected with the church is much older than the building itself; the ground was given for that purpose by a person named Carson, and was free to all denominations. Henry Landis, one of the sons-in-law of Hans Graaf, ou January 17, 1755, deeded one acre of land for the purposes of a burying ground, to
*Michael Diffenderffer, the father of the writer, was, at the time this church was built, a lad of sixteen years: he was present from day to day as the walls went up, "dipping" the bricks, as was then the custom, to make a better and stronger wall.
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
certain persons, in trust, for their use and that of the neighborhood, forever. This is the graveyard in Groff's Dale, and was so used many years prior to its conveyance by the deed of trust. There is an ancient burying place in East Earl, near the residence of Alexander Galt, known as the Welsh graveyard; the date of its establishment is unknown, but its name indicates its origin. In 1766, the Mennonites established a church in the same township, but erected no building until 1772; their burying ground was, of course, in existence long before. The Presbyterians had public worship as early as 1775, near the Blue Ball; a platform for the preacher and seats for the people were their first temple; these were removed to Cedar Grove and used awhile longer: in 1787, $13.33 were paid for a piece of ground, and a church was built on it; this church was remodeled in 1853, and is still occupied by the congrega- tion. Other denominations began to hold services and organize congregations within the township limits, early in the present century : in the absence of churches, preaching was held in private houses. Isaac Davis, of Earl, who died in 1838, aged 83, is said to have been the first mem- uber of the Methodist Church in these townships; he was ordained a preacher in 1803, which calling he pursued until his death.
Preachers' salaries in those days hardly allowed of much riotous living, or an indulgence in the thousand- and-one little luxuries all feel like having now. On a paper lying before me, a New Holland clergyman (J.T.F.) receipts for $120-a year's salary! Even that sum was not always made up: on another paper I read :
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