USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Pittsburgh > The history of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh, 1837-1909 > Part 2
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" Some weeks after this beginning had been made Bro. J. Martin went to Pittsburgh and preached very acceptably in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. When I came to Pittsburgh the second time, the Unitarian Church, on Smith- field Street, had been rented for our use for six months. At the first meeting in this building a Constitution was proposed, adopted and signed by eleven or twelve heads of families. Soon after this I received instructions from the Missionary Society to remain in Pittsburgh, to carry on the work which had been begun." 2
The first entry in the congregation's book of record is as follows :
" PITTSBURGH, January 15, 1837.
" Inasmuch as circumstances seem to require the imme- diate formation of an English Evangelical Lutheran Con- gregation in the city of Pittsburgh under the care of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of West Pennsylvania, the
2 Autobiography, Edited by the Rev. W. A. Lambert and pub- lished in his " Life of Rev. J. F. C. Heyer, M.D.," in the Lutheran Church Review, 1903-1906. For this passage see Appendix to April, 1906.
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UNITARIAN CHURCH In Which the First English Lutheran Church was Organized
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pastorate of the Reb. Carl Friedrich Deper
following named persons made application to have their names recorded and to be considered as members of the Church to be organized." 3
The formula annexed to the Hymn Book published by the General Synod was adopted for the govern- ment of the congregation. Messrs. George Weyman and F. A. Heisely were elected elders, and Messrs. Jeremiah Ritz and W. J. Anschutz, deacons.
At eight o'clock that same evening, after religious exercises and a sermon, the officers elected were in- stalled as the Church Council of the congregation by the Rev. Mr. Heyer. The Church was then declared duly organized by the name of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh. The services were closed with singing and the benediction, and the record of the day ends with the quaint ex- pression, "The meetings were interesting, and the Divine Presence was manifested to some good degree in our midst." This organization was effected in the Unitarian Church, on the corner of Smithfield Street and Virgin Alley, the use of the building being granted by Mr. Benjamin Bakewell, at that time the owner.
The first meeting of the recently elected Church Council was held January 18 at the residence of Mr. Weyman. Mr. Heisely was elected secretary and
8 It is not possible to give the names of the members who organ- ized the congregation, for other names were added to the original list from time to time without indicating the date of their recep- tion. The list given on pages 33-4 probably contains all who were in active connection with the congregation three years after its organization.
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Mr. Weyman treasurer. The first Monday of the month was chosen for regular meetings.
February 6, the Council recommended the election of two additional deacons; also that the meetings of the Council be opened with singing and prayer, and that the members kneel in prayer. It was resolved to administer the Communion on Easter Sunday, March 26, "in the evening, at candlelight."
By the end of June the Unitarian congregation se- cured a pastor and occupied their church on Sunday morning, but the Lutheran congregation was permit- ted to hold its services there on Sunday afternoons. The use of a schoolhouse on the river bank where the Monongahela House now stands, was secured. Here the Lord's Supper was administered, and in the absence of an altar, Father Heyer is reported to have taken blackboards from the walls and improvised a table. In November, 1837, the old Court House was secured for regular services and this was used by the congregation until April, 1839. This building, a two-story structure with one-story wings, built of brick about the year 1789, stood on the west side of Market Street. Opposite was the semicircular market house. The appearance of the Court House was con- siderably changed in later years by the removal of the wings and the erection of sheds in their place to afford additional accommodations to meat-dealers in the market. December 25, 1837, the German con- gregation was given the use of the Court House on the forenoon of every fourth Sunday, the English congregation holding its service in the afternoons of these days.
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Pastorate of the Reb. Carl Friedrich Deper
In the meantime a committee had been appointed to select a suitable lot for the erection of a "meeting- house" and to ascertain upon what conditions such a lot could be purchased or leased.
The Council appointed Mr. F. A. Heisely a delegate to the meeting of the West Pennsylvania Synod to be held at Blairsville, Pa., September 28, and invited that body to hold its next annual meeting in Pittsburgh. In 1842 the territory of this Synod was reduced by the formation by some of its members of the Alleghany Synod, and again the organization of the Pittsburgh Synod in 1845 and of the Synod of Central Pennsylvania in 1856 still further decreased it. It is now confined to Adams, York, Cumberland, and Franklin Counties.
The Sunday School began with the congregation. The third Sunday in January, 1837, twelve persons met in the Unitarian church and organized. These were Michael Egolf, Jeremiah Ritz, F. A. Heisely, Catharine S. Heisely, and Anna B. Collishaw, teachers, and Catharine Lauman, John Lauman, Wm. F. Heisely, Margaret C. Heisely, Elizabeth Richard, Joseph Richard, and Rebecca H. Heisely, scholars. The next Sunday the Rev. Mr. Heyer acted as superintendent and began the session of the School.
The enterprise was looked upon as "doubtful," as the early minutes frankly say, and for several years growth was slow. The School followed the congrega- tion in its wanderings, in June to the school-house and after a few weeks to the Court House (spoken of as "a dark and dreary place"), and Nov. 25 back to the Unitarian church. At first the School was both English and German. The Germans soon built
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their own church and two-thirds of the School now went to the German church. When the English por- tion reorganized there were five teachers and thirteen scholars. In March, 1838, the School was again in "its uncomfortable old quarters" in the Court House, where it remained for two years.
Father Heyer's connection with the congregation continued but a year or less, though he remained in Pittsburgh for several years. January 23, 1837, he also organized the "First German Evangelical Lu- theran Church of Pittsburgh," now in connection with the Missouri Synod (the Rev. Wm. Broecker, pastor), and probably less than a year later he or- ganized the German Lutherans living in Allegheny, who had been worshipping with the English congre- gation, into a separate congregation. This congre- gation, St. John's, Allegheny (the Rev. H. J. Schuh, pastor), has for many years been one of the influen- tial ones of the Joint Synod of Ohio.
Because of the compelling interest of the remark- able career of Father Heyer, as well as the especial importance and influence of his later labors in the Church, it has been thought well to give here a brief sketch of his life.
His was a strange personality-not great, not learned, and yet extraordinary; too restless to spend many years in the same place; too zealous for the progress of the Kingdom of Christ to be idle any- where; a builder of foundations; a forerunner; a veritable herald of the Lutheran faith in new portions of the homeland and on the foreign field.
He lived in an interesting period of our national life, and in a critical period of our Church's history.
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THE REV. CARL FRIEDRICH HEYER
first English Lutheran Church
thing own church and ino durch uf que Sebool zow wint in the Tertomo elmorele When the English por Tiha rosta mized there were Eve bedrees dud thirteen indolore. Ig March, 1835, the Softel www.again in Vils anruck futable old quartiers"! in the Court House, Where il Termined for two Youra.
Rather Hey ts connection with the congregation continued but a year or less, though he remained in Pittsburgh for wireral years. January 29, 1837, he also organiand the "First Germain Evangelical Lu- tirerau Ebiloch of Tittaluret,"" pow in connection Hey. Wm. Broecker, pastor ), and probable dess Use a year later be or- ganized the Gernme Linderune bring in Allegheny, who lust been worshippine with |English congre- gation, into a spirale boom. Tali vongre- galion, St. John's, &ldghar fo Hler. L. J. Sabuh, pastor), bas for piany yy Ylo Influen- tial ones of the Jaws Byrde
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He lived in un interesting period of our national lite, and in a critical perion of our Church's tostory.
Pastorate of the Reb. Carl Friedrich Deper
Three of the great wars in America, the Napoleonic Revolution in Europe, and the sad fraternal feud in the American Lutheran Church came under his observation.
He was born in Helmstedt, Duchy of Brunswick, Germany, July 10, 1793. He began to learn his father's trade, that of a furrier. When fourteen years of age, he was confirmed in St. Stephen's Church in his native town. Very soon thereafter he embarked for America, by a strange coincidence taking the American sailing vessel "Pittsburgh." Arriving in Philadelphia, he was cared for by an uncle, who gave him employment and encouraged him in his studies. The learned Rev. Dr. Helmuth and the Rev. F. D. Schaeffer were among his in- structors. At the age of twenty-two he returned to Germany, to study at the University of Göttingen. After two years, that is in 1817, he came again to America and was licensed to preach by the Minister- ium of Pennsylvania in session at York. His name is given variously in subsequent records as F. Heyer, J. C. F. Heyer and C. F. Heyer.
Soon thereafter we find him serving as travelling missionary in Crawford and Erie Counties. Thence he removed to Cumberland, Md., and after being ordained by the Maryland Synod, was received as a member of that body in 1821. He served con- gregations in Somerset and Carlisle, Pennsylva- nia, and in 1830 became the representative of the Sunday-School Union of the General Synod. Resign- ing this office, he again took charge of a congregation in Somerset, Pa., and in 1835 again became a travel- ling missionary and visited the scattered German
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First English Lutheran Church
Lutheran settlements in the Middle West. Late in the year 1836 he came to Pittsburgh, where he par- ticipated in the organization of the First English Lutheran Church and became its first pastor. He also organized the German Lutherans into two con- gregations, one in Pittsburgh and the other in Alle- gheny. In 1839 he accepted a call from the Society for Foreign Missions to labor as missionary in India.
It had been proposed to place his work under the care of the American Board of Missions; demurring, he appealed to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania to undertake a distinctively Lutheran Foreign Mission, and offered himself for this work. Accordingly, on Oct. 15, 1841, he was sent to begin mission work in India, under the auspices of the Lutheran Church in America. He touched at the island of Ceylon, and later visited the Danish-Halle Mission in Tamil, and then began a tour of exploration to the Telegu Province of India.
He arrived at Guntur, South India, in July, 1842, where he was cordially received by an English official who willingly transferred to Mr. Heyer an English Telegu School which this official, with the assistance of other English citizens in India, had founded and maintained. It was this Providential opportunity which prompted Heyer to establish the Mission in Guntur. After three years of successful labor, he withdrew from the field, leaving it in charge of Rev. Walter Gunn, also a Lutheran missionary from America. Upon his return to America, he organized a congregation at Baltimore, Maryland.
In the spring of 1848, Father Heyer was again in India, and at once resumed work at Guntur, associa-
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Pastorate of the Reb. Carl Friedrich Deper
ting himself with the Rev. Mr. Gunn. In March of 1849 he removed to the Palnaud District, west of Guntur. Here he labored for four years, and is re- ported to have made two hundred and thirty converts, to have established eight congregations, and to have organized the first boarding-school of the Mission. Early in 1853 he again took charge of the Guntur Mission, and early in 1855 removed to Rajahmundry, where he remained until 1857, when he returned to America and began Home Missionary work in the State of Minnesota.
He was now in the sixty-fourth year of his age, but his natural strength, judging from his labors, was not at all abated, nor was his missionary zeal in the least lessened. In what was known as the Great Northwest of our country, with the city of St. Paul as his headquarters, and the Apostle Paul as his ex- ample, he labored incessantly among the Lutherans scattered over vast areas. Through his instrumen- tality the Minnesota Synod, of which he was Presi- dent for eight years, was organized in 1860. Two years later, with Red Wing as his headquarters, we find him still travelling over the prairies, preaching the gospel and administering the sacraments. Here he was exposed to the severe cold of the winters and to the hostility of the roving bands of Sioux Indians. It was during the time of his missionary service in the region of Red Wing that Mr. Thomas H. Lane visited him and heard from his own lips the story of hardship and privation incident to the life of a Lutheran missionary in that region in that early day.
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The two succeeding winters he spent in Somerset, Pa., returning in the interim to organize a Lutheran congregation at New Ulm, Minnesota. In the sum- mer of 1868, with a granddaughter as his protegé, he sailed from Baltimore for Germany, where he ex- pected to spend the remaining years of his life in restful quiet and in watchful care of this favorite grandchild, who is remembered especially in the terms of his will. He had been in Germany less than a year when he learned that the Foreign Mission Society contemplated transferring the Lutheran Mis- sion stations in India to the Church Mission Society
of England. He hastened to America in 1869 and appeared before the Pennsylvania Ministerium in annual convention at Reading. At the very moment of his arrival, the Ministerium was about deciding to make the transfer. Father Heyer, patriarchal in appearance, apostolic in zeal and devotion, heroic in his loyalty to the Lutheran Church, suddenly ap- peared before the body, pleaded earnestly for the retention of the field, and met the objection that no missionary was available by offering, though seventy- six years of age, to go again himself to India. So profound was the impression he made that it was at once decided to send him and henceforth to sup- port the work more loyally and generously.
He reached Rajahmundry in December, 1869, where he labored two years, after which he left the field, thoroughly re-organized, in charge of Revs. Schmidt and Paulsen. In the spring of 1871 he bade a final farewell to India and returned to America. He was made Chaplain of the Theological Seminary, then
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Pastorate of the Reb. Carl Friedrich Deper
located on Franklin Street, Philadelphia, where he served faithfully until his death, Nov. 7, 1873. In a modest, rural cemetery in Friedensburg, Somerset County, Pa., is his grave, marked by a simple stone.
It is perhaps not too much to say that no other minister of the American Lutheran Church has been so abundant in missionary labors, on the home field and abroad, as "Father Heyer." The secret of his strength was his implicit faith in the Word of God, and in the efficacy of the means of grace. Full of faith and zeal and Christ-like devotion, God richly crowned his labors.
In former biographical notices no reference is to be found to his domestic life, but the following data have been secured and are well authenticated. In 1830 he married Mary Webb Gash, the widow of Captain Gash of Revolutionary fame. This union was blessed with five children, two sons, Charles and Theophilus, and three daughters, Sophie, Julia and Henrietta, whose descendants are to be found in Baltimore and in Ohio, West Virginia, and Massa- chusetts. A granddaughter, Miss Etta Brubaker, is at present a teacher in the public schools of Pittsburgh.
A suggestion to his friends that in case of death by drowning, while en route to his foreign field, his monument should bear the inscription, "To Heyer, Cosmopolite ! Born in Europe, Minister in America, Missionary in Asia, Died at Sea," discloses his own estimate of his life and disposition. The following inscription on his tombstone he himself suggested : "Justified by Faith-Saved Through Grace-Resur- gam."
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First English Lutheran Church
Following are extracts from his will :
6th. Pay to the Evangelical Lutheran Somerset Congrega- tion, One Thousand ($1000.00) Dollars.
7th. Pay to the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Sem- inary in Philadelphia, One Thousand ($1000.00) Dollars.
8th. Pay to the Executive Committee of the German Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States, One Thousand ($1000.00) Dollars for the use of Foreign Missions, especially for the benefit of the Rajahmundry Station, and, if practicable, to be expended among the upper Godavery tribes.
9th. Pay to Rev. Dr. Passavant, Five Hundred ($500.00) Dollars, one-half of which is intended for the Orphans under his care, and the other half is to go to the Orphans' Home at Germantown.
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CHAPTER III pastorate of the Reb. Emanuel Frey 1838
OR nearly a year the little con- gregation struggled bravely amid great discouragements and without a pastor. At a meeting of the Council, January 24, 1838 at the residence of Mr. Wey- man, at which the Rev. Mr. Heyer was present, Messrs. Weyman, Ritz, and Heisely were appointed to look for a lot, or building, to be leased or purchased. Mr. Heyer and Mr. Egolf were appointed to ascertain whether a suitable minis- ter could be obtained. It was decided to offer the sum of three hundred dollars salary in addition to the two hundred dollars which the Missionary Society gave. Michael Egolf and H. W. Caufman were elected deacons.
February 5, at the house of Michael Egolf, the first committee reported that they had examined two lots; one on Irwin Street, between Penn Street and the Allegheny River, valued at six thousand five hun- dred dollars, and one on Grant Street, between Sixth and Seventh Streets, which the owner would not at present sell. This, in all probability, is the very lot on which the present church stands.
The committee on correspondence reported having received a letter from the Rev. S. S. Schmucker stat-
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First English Lutheran Church
ing that the Executive Committee had appointed the Rev. H. Haverstick, of Somerset, Pa., to officiate for the English congregation. A month later Mr. Haver- stick wrote that it would be impossible for him to visit the congregation before the end of April. Mr. Heyer was requested to confer with him on the state of the congregation on his visit to his family. But evidently the appointment was never fulfilled, for it was subsequently resolved to write to the Rev. Mr. Schmucker informing him of the failure to secure Mr. Haverstick.
Mr. Weyman reported about this time that a lot could be obtained on the corner of Fourth Street and Cherry Alley for the sum of seventy-five hundred dollars by paying interest as ground rent with the privilege of buying it out at any time. A building on Marbury Street and a property on Coal Lane were also considered.
October 2, the Council met at the residence of Mr. Weyman. The Rev. John N. Hoffman, of Chambers- burg, Pa., was present and conducted the devotional service. The following resolution was passed :
" That relying on Divine aid, we forthwith commence operations in view of the erection of an English Evangelical Lutheran Church, and that every member of the Council, and such other members (of Congregation) as are so dis- posed, furnish themselves with subscription books and with- out further delay call upon friends and citizens for their contributions; and that a united and general and vigorous effort be made to collect a sufficient sum to authorize the purchase of a lot at the first opportunity.
" Resolved, That the Rev. John N. Hoffman is hereby
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Pastorate of the Reb. Emanuel Frey
requested to call upon the Church generally, through the Lutheran Observer and otherwise, in aid of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pittsburgh."
Late in the fall the hopes of the little congregation were revived by the appearance of a regular pastor in the person of the Rev. Emanuel Frey, who, at a special meeting of the Council, November 14, was introduced as the officiating minister for the coming year. His commission and instructions from the Missionary Society were submitted five days later at a meeting in the house of Mr. Weyman, and by a unanimous resolution he was accepted and cordially welcomed as the pastor for the term of twelve months mentioned in his commission.
Father Heyer refers to the appointment of Mr. Frey in his autobiography. After stating that he (Heyer) ministered to both the English and the German congregations, and that they worshipped in the same building, he says, "Finally, we felt that if each congregation was to continue and grow, it must have services every Sunday, and in the forenoon. To make this possible the Missionary Society appointed one of our most able young preachers, Candidate E. Frey, to take charge of the English congregation."
But a sore disappointment was ahead, for in less than five weeks we find, under date of December 24, the following resolutions of Council :
" That we regret that the Rev. Emanuel Frey, our pastor, was compelled on account of his health to leave Pittsburgh, and that a committee be appointed to address a letter to the Executive Committee of the Missionary Society at Gettys- burg to ascertain whether we can be supplied again shortly."
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first english Lutheran Church
Mr. Frey left Pittsburgh for his home in Somerset, Pa. Instead of an improvement in his health, he became a confirmed invalid, and was disabled from active labors in the ministry during the remainder of his life.
Before Mr. Frey had arrived in Pittsburgh the teachers of the struggling Sunday School had met, Oct. 24, 1838, at the house of Mr. Egolf to form a "Sabbath School Society." A constitution and by- laws were adopted and Mr. Egolf was elected presi- dent, Mr. John R. Hersh, secretary, and Mr. Geo. Hubley, treasurer. Teachers were required "fre- quently to hold close and searching conversation with their scholars on the principles of our most holy re- ligion." A few months later Mr. Hubley reported that his class had committed 491 verses of Scripture and hymns in two months. Two sessions of the School were held for many years, at nine o'clock in the morning and one o'clock in the afternoon. In the absence of a sexton the superintendent and teachers performed his duties.
March 13, 1839, Mr. Weyman reported that he had bought three lots of ground, 22 x 75 feet each, on the corner of Seventh Street and Miltenberger Alley (now Seventh Avenue and Montour Way) ; also that there was another lot, 25 x 66 feet, running crosswise in the rear of the others, which it would be advisable to purchase, thus making the entire lot 66 x 100 feet, and at a total cost of eighty-four hundred dollars ($8400.00). Mr. Weyman was requested to purchase the fourth lot upon as favorable terms as possible.
It was announced that Mr. Ewing offered a loan of four hundred dollars to the congregation. It was
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Pastorate of the Reb. emanuel Frey
resolved to accept the loan and to appropriate the borrowed money and also all that was in the treasury to the first payment on the lot. An attorney was employed to prepare the deeds. Mr. Weyman re- signed as treasurer of the Church and Mr. Ritz was elected to fill the vacancy.
So this handful of people, without a pastor, sub- scribed three hundred dollars a year to supplement the missionary appropriation and obligated them- selves for $8400 for a lot. Here was earnestness and courage indeed !
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