USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > Kutztown > The centennial history of Kutztown, Pennsylvania : celebrating the centennial of the incorporation of the borough, 1815-1915 > Part 13
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Sell, Morris W.
Retired Farmer
Stump, Jacob F. Undertaker
Trexler, Uriah L. Yeoman
Silsdorf, Aaron M. Coremaker
Wanner, Solon Yeoman
Smith, Chas. H. Laborer
Wartzenluft, Daniel L.
Shoe Store
Wartzenluft, Joel M.
Laborer
Weidenhammer, Reuben F.
Werley, Morris N.
Williamson, Fred. T.
Foreman
Wolf, Edwin B.
Machinist
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF KUTZTOWN
keeping horses and cows, many Kutztown folks today have invested in automobiles and these the assessor notes instead of cat- tle. Then there are the banks, two of them. some twenty stores, ten hotels and restaur-
ants, a large foundry and machine shop, two shoe factories, a hosiery mill, silk mill, shirt manufactory, carriage works, marble yard and last, but far from least, a splendid public school and four thriving churches."
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JOHN G. WINK, THE FIRST NATIVE OF THE BOROUGH
MRS. ELIZABETH WYNN, AGED 90 YEARS. KUTZTOWN'S OLDEST RESIDENT
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF KUTZTOWN
CHURCH HISTORY
THE MAXATAWNY REFORMED CONGRE GATION
The history of every community, town or city is preeminently bound up with its venerable churches and well-filled grave yards. These were not only the first sacred and venerated places in the early settlements, but have always been, and still are, the centers to which the most earnest thought of men have tended and from which have gone out those molding influences which have made individuals, families and communities as worthy, peaceful and happy as they are. The radiating center of such influences for Kutztown and vicinity is found in old St. John's and its sister churches.
St. John's was originally known as the Maxa- tawny Congregation, taking its name from the district in which it is located.
In the absence of the congregational records it is impossible to write with certainty concern- ing its organization and development. But from occasional contemporary references, a few state- ments may perhaps be made, with a reasonable degree of certitude.
First, that the congregation was organized cir. 1736, and the first house of worship erected cir. 1755.
Second, that the congregation was originally Reformed, but that in the course of time Luth- eran services were also conducted and that finally it became officially a Union congregation.
The first reference to Maxatawny is found in a letter by Rev. John Philip Boehm, the founder of the Reformed Church in Pennsylvania, to the Reformed Synods in Holland, dated October 18. 1731. In this letter he suggests that the Reformed settlers could be "with much difficulty suitably served by four ministers." After designating the sections to be cared for by the first three min- isters, he continues :
"A fourth minister would be greatly needed at Goshenhoppen, about thirty-six miles from Philadelphia. He might conduct services there every three weeks, and use the rest of the time to feed the poor sheep at the end of the wilderness in the above mentioned Saucon, Macungie, Maxatawny and Great Swamp who thirst for the hearing of God's word as dry earth for water. Many people from these regions have already been to see me in great sadness, and complained of the pitiable state of their souls. There were also some who being able to make the jour- ney have come at various times to commu- nion in the congregations entrusted to me at Falkner Swamp, a distance of certainly twenty-five to thirty English miles, and brought children for baptism, which journey, however, is impossible for old persons, weak or pregnant women, so that it is not to be wondered at (especially when one remembers that there are children who, for lack of minister cannot be brought to baptism until they are several years of age) that my heart breaks ard my eyes are full of tears about this condition."
The pathetic appeals of Boehm to the Fathers
in Holland brought men and money, but it was not until forty years later that the people of Maxatawny were privileged to enjoy the minis- trations of a trained and regularly ordained pastor.
In May of the following year there arrived at Philadelphia at the head of a Swiss Reformed Colony, Rev. Moritz Goetschius, accompanied by his wife and eight children. Rev. Goetschius was ill when the colony arrived at Philadelphia and expired immediately after being brought ashore. His son, John Henry, then seventeen years of age, having excellent testimonies from the schools of Zurich, was prevailed upon by
OLD ST. JOHN'S UNION CHURCH
the people to preach. Many of the destitute eon- gregations accepted him as their pastor. On the title page of the church record at New Gosh- enhoppen written probably in 1736 and surely not later than 1739, he states that he preaches the Truth at Skippack, Old Goshenhoppen, New Gosh- enhoppen, (Great) Swamp, Saucon, Egypt, Maxa- tawny, Moselm, Oley, Berne and TulDehocken. At this time few houses of worship had been erected and he preached chiefly in houses, barns and groves. In 1740 he left the province and went to Long Island, where he continued his ministry.
In a letter dated January 14, 1739, Boehm com- plains of Goetschy's intrusion into his works, es- pecially at Oley. He suggests that a minister be stationed at Oley, who could also serve Cacusi (Hains Church) eight miles from the eenter of
---
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF KUTZTOWN
the Oley distriet and Maxatawny ten miles dis- tant. During the months of January and Feb- ruary in 1740 Rev. Boehm visited the Reformed Congregations in the province, at the request of the Synods of Holland, and inquired of them how much they were able and willing to eontri- bute unfailingly to the annual salary of a min-
"Four pounds of this country's eurreney, which we, the elders now in office in this congregation, attest" :
"DANIEL LEVAN, "PETER LEIBI."
"February 7, 1740."
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Joh Henricus Gatsching MA Helvetia Figurina et Pronuncias Veritalem in Scheppach, At Coschenkopen, Neu Geschenkosen, Shewan Jaren, Megisten, Macedonia, Misillem, Oli, Bern. Dolpenhacen
TITLE PAGE OF GOSHENHOPPEN CHURCH RECORD (Showing signature of Rev. John Henry Goetsehius)
ister. His reports to the Synods dated April 4, 1740, contains the following item eoneerning the congregation in Maxatawny :-
"The congregation of Maxadani (Maxa- tawny will contribute, without fail, to annual salary of a Reformed minister :
On May 220, 1746, Rev. Michael Schlatter, a native of St. Gall, Switzerland, was commissioned by the Synods of Holland to go to Pennsylvania and investigate the condition of the destitute Reformed congregations and to organize them into a coetus (Synod). He arrived at Philadel- phia on the 6th of September and immediately began to visit the Reformed centers in Pennsyl-
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF KUTZTOWN
vania and the neighboring provinces. In June, 1747, he visited the Maxatawny region and on Sunday, June 28th, preached to a large con- course of people at Jacob Levan's, at what is now Eaglepoint. Local tradition has assigned this sermon to Count Zinzendorf, but recent historical investigations have proven this to be an error. Rev. Schlatter records his visit to the Maxatawny region in his diary, as edited by H. H. Harbaugh, pages 160, 161, 162, as follows. By an error the name of Manatawny appears for Maxatawny :
"On the 23d [June 1747 I went from Rev. John Templeman at Swatora] fifteen miles further to Tulpehocken, where in passing I preached. From thence I went to Manataw- ny [ Maxatawny] thirty-five miles distant and made an engagement to preach there (at Jacob Levan's) the following Sabbath [June 28th].
"From Wednesday to Saturday, the 24th, 25th and 26th, I visited the congregations in Manatawny [Maxatawny], Magunchy [Zie- gel and Western Salisbury], Egypt and on the Lehigh [ river], a circuit of forty-five miles and came near to Bethlehem, a location of the Moravians ; and here in the providence of God, I met Jacob Liscly, who was at that time attached to that sect. This man, although he had never seen me, resolved to accompany me a distance of ten miles to Nazareth."
"From Nazareth I returned again to Beth- lehem, and five miles farther. On the 27th (of June 1747) according to promise, I ar- rived at Manatawny [ Maxatawny at Jacob Levan's], a distance of twenty miles, where on the following day [June 28th 1747] I preached to a great multitude of people. Still, as these people had suffered themselves to be drawn by a certain hireling [Frederick Casimir Muller], who had also instigated and maintained divisions in Goshenhoppen, I could not here proceed, as I desired to in- stitute good order. On this account I left soon after the sermon, and went twenty-five miles farther to Saccony."
This preaching by Rev. Schlatter at Jacob Le- van's is referred to in a letter by the Moravian Bishop Cammerhoff to Count Zinzendorf dated November 17, 1747.
"[Came in the] evening to Jacob Levan's in Maxatawny [Rev. Michael] Schlatter com- manded by the Reformed Classis of Ams- terdam has crept in here. He tried to preach and to raise sixty pounds per annum for a Reformed clergyman solely. But the people declared they do not want a quit-rent preach- er.
Frederick Casimir Muller, whom Schlatter de- signates as a hireling, had been a teacher at Stetichein near Mayence before coming to Penn- sylvania. He first appears as a minister though unordained at New Goshenhoffen where he bap- tized a child July 7, 1745. By the close of the following year he served, according to Schlatter, "ten or twelve small congregations in and about Olev." He opposed the work of Schlatter and urged the people not to give up their freedom by submitting to the authorities of Holland. He declared that by recognizing the authority of the Coetus they would come "into intolerable bondage." He dedicated the Reformed Church
in Longswamp in September 1748. He seems to have ceased his ministrations in Maxatawny and vicinity in 1752 or 1753. He seems to have min- istered to the early settlers at a time when no ordained minister was obtainable and though of an independent spirit to have done a good work. In July 1762 he laid the cornerstone for the Tabor Reformed Church in Lebanon. The Mor- avian diary at the latter place refers to him as a "pious man."
Rev. Philip Jacob Michael was born in the fatherland in 1716, and came to Pennsylvania October 14, 1731. He was a weaver by trade and, having had some educational advantages he was prevailed upon by the settlers to teach their children and to instruct them in the Catechism. At the request of the people he began to read sermons. He is said to have had a pleasing personality and considerable ability as a preach- er. In order that children might be baptized, the young confirmed, the holy communion ob-
Viele Tis dag abril iTro
Philip focos Michal
staré finais.
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A PAGE FROM THE RECORD BOOK OF THE REFORMED CHURCH AT BOWERS (Showing signature of Rev. Philip Jacob Michael)
served and marriages solemnized, he assumed the prerogatives of a regularly ordained minister of the Gospel. Which was done no doubt at the desire and earnest request of the settlers. We find activity in the capacity of a minister of the Gospel, at the dedication of Heidelberg Church in Lehigh County, where he and Rev. J. F. Schert- lein (Lutheran) conducted the dedicatory services March 28th, 1745. In 1752 he succeeded Rev. F. C. Miller at Longswamp and probably at the same time or soon thereafter also at Maxatawny. It was during Rev. Michael's pastorate, if the traditional date of 1755 is correct, that the first church was erected on a tract of five acres which Daniel Levan had set apart for church and school purposes.
In 1759 there occurred a sad division in the congregation. The pastor and many of the con- gregation seceeded and together with some of
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF KUTZTOWN
the Reformed settlers, who had been worshipping with the Lutheran congregation on the Beaver Creek ( Mertz Church), went about two miles farther south along the Saucony Creek and not only erected a new church but on the title page of their congregation record styled themselves The Maxatarony Reformed Congregations. The cause for this division is not definitely known, perhaps it is hinted at in the positive statement made by Peter DeLong in presenting the ground for the new church.
Maxatawny Township, Oct. 8, 1759.
"We the undersigned, Peter DeLong and my lawful wife Eva Elisabeth DeLong, ac- knowledge hereby, by virtue of our signa- tures that we present and relinquished two acres of ground (to the Maxatawny Re- formed congregation) upon which is to be erected an Evangelical Reformed church and school house. This tract of lands adjoins our plantation, where we now reside in Maxatawny Township in Berks County, and is bounded on one side by the lands of And- reas Hack and on the other side by our own land. And this ground shall not only be relinquished and given for a short period, but as long as the sun and moon shine in the heavens and the rivers flow in their courses ; that neither we nor our heirs, or any other member of the congregation shall have the right to make or seek to make any claim to it.
"To confirm and make this irrevocable we have signed in the presence of witnesses and with our own hands."
PIYETER DELANGH, EVA ELISABETH DELONGH Her X Mark
Heinrig Luchenbill Jacob Giradin
Rev. Michael was the first pastor and in some cases the organizer of a number of Reformed congregations in northern Berks and Lehigh county. Among them are Dunkel's (1744), Heid- elberg (1745), Ziegel (1750), St. Jacob's (1750), Reading (1752), DeLong's (1759), Ebenezer (1760), Weisenberg (1761), Lowhill (1769) Mich- ael's (1769), Zion's, in Perry Township (1771) ; besides these he served as pastor at Oley, Long- swamp, Maxatawny and neighboring congrega- tions. He also frequently at the request of the Coetus supplied vacant congregations ; the church at Jost Dreichbach's Mill in Lehigh Township, Northampton county, (1760), New Goshenhoppen (1764), and Great Swamp (1766).
Rev. Michael was not a member of the Coetus, though he labored in harmony with it. In 1764 he applied for ordination to the Coetus, who in turn had to receive permission from the Synods of Holland to ordain him. They sent over the following request and testimonial :
A. M. May 3rd [1764]
"Philip Jacob Michael appeared with an earnest petition that he might be admitted as a member of Coetus. His credentials, from far and near, show, that according to the rules of our Reformed Church, he has been faithful in doctrine, life and conduct for fourteen years, and constantly served the same congregations in Maxatawny, and therefore he does not deserve the name of an adven- turer, or Moravian. He showed that twelve years ago Mr. Schlatter would not recognize or admit him because of unfounded reasons.
Wherefore he would not apply again, al- though he labored continually in harmony with us. We can state this all the more readily, because all his congregations are well known to us and we know how he has un- weariedly aimed for this end, and even now in the 48th year of his age he supplies with the greatest zeal twelve congregations. This earnest request and petition we could not re- fuse. But since he has not been ordained, according to the order of our church, we herewith request permission, and proper au- thority from the Rev. Synods to ordain him. And as several of our number have heard him preach, and in his ministerations all is clearly in accordance with the Reformed Church-Order' in doctrine and life, we ex- pect that our request will not be in vain, so that we may thus be strengthened, by bringing under our control the congregations which he is serving, and comply with his reasonable request. We would not put our pen to this were we not convinced that it would be of advantage to us and of greater profit to his congregations. We expect at the earliest opportunity a favorable reply from the Rev. Synods."-Minutes of Coetus, pages 225, 226.
To this earnest plea the authorities replied by requesting that Rev. Michael come to Holland for ordination. This being impracticable he con- tinued his labors without ordination. He not only organized congregations and built churches, but drew up constitutions, regulations, agree- ments, where the churches were union, and en- deavored to establish schools. His efforts were herculean and his results far reaching. During the Indian uprisings he had many narrow es- capes as he rode through the forests from one congregation to another. He was an ardent patriot and frequently from the pulpit presented the cause of Independence. On May 17, 1777, he was appointed Chaplain of the First Battalion of Berks County Militia. At the close of his period of service he returned again to some of his former congregations. He died on his farm at Michael's Hill near Bowers Station and was buried by Rev. Henry Hertzel at the Longswamp Church. His death occurred between May 6th, 1786, the date of the making of his will which contains his signature and June 17th of the same year the time when it was probated. No head- stone marks his grave, nor do any of the many congregations which he founded or served con- tain any memorial to this faithful servant of the Lord, who deserves to be numbered among the founders of the Reformed Church in the United States.
The consequences of the division were that the few remaining families were unable to main- tain the regular services of a pastor. The con- gregation anxious to obtain a pastor frequently accepted one of the many unordained irrespon- sible ecclesiastical vagrants who frequently came along and pretended to be ministers of the Gos- pel. One of these was a certain Mr. Fritz who pretended to be a Reformed minister. He is said to have ascended into the pulpit in DeLong's church in a state of beastly intoxication and in re- Deating his text, "If any man will come after me. let him deny himself take up his cross, and fol- lowing me," lost his balance and fell down the steps of the pulpit with the words "follow me" in his mouth. One of the elders at whose feet he fell arose and turning to the congregation
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF KUTZTOWN
exclaimed "No brethren we will not follow him." This state of affairs became finally intolerable to the more spiritually minded and in 1771 they appealed to the Coetus which met at Reading October 9th for help.
READING, OCTOBER 9TH, 1771.
FIRST SESSION, 2 P. M.
Article IV
"The congregation at Maxatawny, which was formerly served by Dr. Michael, but has been for quite a time without any minister, requested the Reverend Coetus to help it as much as possible. This congregation has suf- fered very much, partly through bad minis- ters, partly because for a long time they have had no minister at all. They are only a few who really profess the true doctrine of our religion ; the majority of this congregation profess no religion at all. Yet it seems that many souls could yet be saved and led to the true way of life if a good minister could be placed over this congregation, as is its desire. Some of our brethren have served the con- gregation by request, and have noticed that most of the people are very desirous and at-
tentive to hear the Word of God. They also asked for a continuation of these services, which were held until the present time. To this end they appeared this year before the Reverend Coetus and asked us not to abandon them, but rather to seek the lost among them. It was, therefore, resolved by the Reverend Coetus, in regard to this congregation, that in future it shall be served, from time to time by the neighboring ministers, until we may be better able later on to supply it with a minister of its own. The following were chosen to serve this congregation, namely : Dominees Pomp, Blumer, Boos, and the Sec- retary [John Theobold Faber]."-Minutes of Coetus, page 310.
During the month of March 1772 Rev. John Henry Helfrich became pastor of the Maxa- tawny Reformed congregation, and with him the confusion period ended and the congregation en- tered upon a new era of development and growth. In his report to the Coetus in 1785 he reports for the Maxatawny congregation 30 families, 21 bap- tisms, I school and 31 pupils, and in 1792 for Kutztown he reports (the first report after re- organization) 22 families, 12 baptisnis, I school and 40 pupils.
MAXATAWNY LUTHERAN CONGREGATION
Thus far no reference has been made to the Lutherans in Maxatawny. They were no doubt of the same numerical strength as the Refornied. However for many years no regular services were held in the vicinity of Kutztown because the district was surrounded by well organized Lutheran congregations: Moselem (1742), Mertz (1747), Lehigh (1748) and Ziegel, a union con- gregation (1750). Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlen- berg, the organizer of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania, frequently passed through Maxa- tawny in his visits to the congregations along the Blue Mountains. Tradition has it that on sev- eral occasions he stayed over night with Jacob Hottenstein and that he instructed the children in the Catechism.
Rev. Daniel Schumacher, who for a period of twenty years, 1754-1774, supplied at various times many of the congregations in Berks, Lehigh and Northampton Counties, appears to have preached for a short time in Maxatawny. He was not a member of the Lutheran Synod. However like his reformed contemporary Michael, he was up- right, honest, and churchly, and is not to be compared with many of the independent ministers which infested the churches in the colonial period. He is said to have supplied sixteen congrega- tions at one time. In 1756 he added Maxatawny to his list of preaching places, but fails to ever · mention it again. No doubt the trouble, which a few years later rent the Reformed congrega- tion, was already brewing and caused him to drop this new preaching point. Or perhaps the introduction of Lutheran services, as one may almost infer from the emphatic language of the document in which Peter DeLong donates the ground for the Maxatawny Reformed church at Bower's Station, was the cause of the divis- ion.
Rev. Schumacher supplied at various times the following congregations : Trinity (Reading),
Weisenberg, Ziegel, Heidelberg, Egypt, Lynn, New Jerusalem, Western Salisbury, Eastern Salis- bury, Indianland, Lehigh, Saucon, Easton, Oley Hills, Maxatawny, Alsace, Windsor and beyond the Schuylkill River.
It is quite probable that neighboring Lutheran pastors held an occasional service in the Maxa- tawny Church. But no regular services were held in it until the coming of Rev. Daniel Lehman cir. 1776. He continued to conduct services about every six or eight weeks until the relocation of the church at which time both congregations were regularly organized and le- gally united.
On November 9th, 1789, the congregations met and decided to erect jointly a house of worship on the lots set aside at the founding of the town for church and school purposes.
THE CHURCH REGULATIONS
IN THE NAME OF THE TRIUNE GOD, THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY GHOST. AMEN.
By this shall not only those now living but future generations, know that both the Evan- gelical congregations, namely the Lutheran and Reformed, of Kutztown and vicinity, in Mara- tarony Township, Berks County in the State of Pennsylvania, have, on the 9th of November of the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty- nine, associated themselves to build a union church for the services of the above named two denominations ; and that both congregations have agreed on the following articles :
Articulus I
That the church, about to be built by the members of both the Evangelical denominations, shall be jointly erected on one of the lots, which the late George Kutz, at the laying out of the
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CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF KUTZTOWN
town, called Kutztown, gave to the two Evan- gelical congregations for church and school pur- poses.
Art. II
The Deed or Bill of sale, which has been given to the two congregations, shall be held in cus- tody by one of the Trustees, Elders or Deacons, but not for a longer period than three years, when it shall be turned over to an elder or a deacon of the other congregation, but for no longer period than three years; and thus it shall change hands every three years in order that no congregation may boast of an advantage over . the other. It shall be decided by lot from which of the two congregations the trustee, elder or deacon shall be chosen to whom the deed is to be entrusted for the first three years. The trus- tee, deacon or elder to whom the deed shall be entrusted for safe keeping every three years shall be chosen by the majority of the members of both congregations.
Art. III
This union church shall be built at the ex- pense of both congregations. If one congrega- tion shall be stronger than the other, or be able to contribute more than the other one for the building of the church, the stronger shall not claim for itself any advantage or prerogative, nor reproach the weaker congregation ; but the church shall be built jointly and in perfect unity, and there shall be, and ever remain, true equality in all the rights and privileges.
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