USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > The old Trappe Church, 1743-1893 : a memorial of the sesqui-centennial services of Augustus Evangelical Lutheran Church, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 6
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The Old Trappe Church.
(New Jerusalem) uniting to constitute a separate charge. Rev. Nelson F. Schmidt, residing in Schwenksville, became pastor of the latter charge, and the present pastor of the Trappe congregation was called April 4, 1889, and installed as pastor on June 23d by Rev. J. P. Deck of Ger- mantown, deceased, Dr. C. W. Schaeffer preaching the installation ser- mon from Acts 20: 27. English services are now regularly held every Sunday morning, and every two weeks in the evening, and a German service every four weeks in the afternoon. The Lord's Supper is admin- istered four times a year instead of semi-annually as heretofore.
At the time the charge was divided a large number of the substan- tial members of the congregation united with other Lutherans at Royers- ford, to form Grace Lutheran church, Rev. J. Neiman, pastor, but in spite of this loss and the increased expenses now incurred, the congre- gation has always promptly and fully met all its financial obligations. The congregation is widely scattered, and the pastor in going his rounds. must cover a circle of about eight miles diameter.
It will be sufficient to indicate the present status and work of the congregation by appending a summary of the last synodical report : Num- ber of members four hundred and fifty,60 communed within the year, four hundred and eleven. Officers and teachers of the Sunday-school, twenty ; scholars, one hundred and forty-nine ; value of church property, $10,000 ; current expenses, $1300.50 ; Foreign Missions, $25.00; Home Missions, $66.66 ; General Beneficence, $100; Theological Seminary, $15.00 ; Orphans' Home, $125 ; other charitable purposes, $139.25.
the two denominations. A log school-house was built in 1762, in which religious services were oc- casionally conducted. After the battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777, it was used for a short time as a hospital for the sick and wounded soldiers. After the war the building was enlarged and divided into two apartments, one being used for the school and the other exclusively for worship. It was torn down in 1834. The church (from the beginning known as Keely's), a two-story stone building, with an interior gallery on three of its sides, was erected in 1835, and consecrated in the Fall of 1836. It was organized by Rev. J. W. Richards, D. D., just before his departure for German- town, and served regularly by the pastors of the Trappe congregation until the final division of the charge. In 1887, during Rev. O. P. Smith's pastorate, the Lutherans withdrew from the old union church and erected a fine brick edifice in Schwenksville, the corner-stone of which was laid on Sun- day, October 9, 1887, by Rev. Smith, and the church (New Jerusalem) consecrated by him on Easter Sunday, April 21, 1889. Rev. Prof. William Wackernagle, D. D., preached the consecration sermon, Rev. Jas. L. Becker and the present pastor of the Trappe congregation participating in the services. On the following Sunday Rev. Nelson Schmidt was unanimously elected as pastor and entered up- on his duties in the charge on May 1, 1889. The debt remaining upon the church, which cost about $15,000, when Rev. Schmidt became pastor was $2700, of which $1655 was paid the first year by the apportionment system which Rev. O. P. Smith had inaugurated, and the remainder of the debt liqui- dated in 1892. On May 8, 1892, the pastor conducted a very interesting service of praise in recog- nition of this fact. Rev. Schmidt has firmly entrenched himself in the hearts of his people, and is approved a faithful laborer by the fruits with which his labors are being crowned.
(60) This includes all whose names appear in the records as members, but is somewhat in ex- cess of the actual active membership, representing a number who have removed from the neighbor- hood, regularly attend and contribute to other churches, but who, because of ownership of burial lots in the cemetery of the church, and for other reasons, retain a nominal membership and attend communion. The reasons for a regular connection with other Lutheran churches in such cases are cogent and obvious and have been repeatedly urged.
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The Old Trappe Church.
Sunday=School and Societies.
The Sunday-school was organized during the pastorate of Rev. J. W. Richards, D. D., in 1836. There was at first strong feeling manifested against its introduction, but it never broke out, as in so many other places, in open, violent opposition. The vestry would not permit the Sunday-school to be held in the church, but owing to Dr. Richard's urgent efforts, heartily supported by Matthias Haldeman, Esq., and Major Daniel Fry, permission was obtained to use the school-house for Sunday-school purposes. Here the Sunday-school continued to be held for a number of years, when it was transferred to the old church. In 1859, as the old church was leaking in many places and scarcely serviceable, the Sunday-school moved into the new church. But after the old church was re-roofed and thoroughly repaired in the Spring of 1860, it was re-opened for the use of the school in September. For sev- eral years the Spring and Summer sessions were held in the old church, and in Winter the Sunday-school again used the new building. The first superintendent was David Y. Custer, one of the oldest members still living, assisted by Margaret Young. After the church was remodeled the Sun- day-school permanently occupied its present comfortable quarters in the basement.
The fiftieth anniversary of the Sunday-school was commemorated with special services on the last Saturday of August, 1886. Dr. Fry de- livered the main address in the new church in the morning, the pastor, Rev. O. P. Smith and several other clergymen also participating. In the afternoon the Ringold Band of Reading, then enjoying a national repu- tation, gave a concert on the grounds. The mercury had reached the highest point of the season, but despite the heat the largest crowd that ever assembled during the pastorate of Rev. Smith was attracted to the cele- bration. The Sunday-school, which before the present pastor assumed charge, closed with the Christmas festival and re-opened in the Spring, is now held continuously throughout the year. In addition to the regular congregational contribution, the Sunday-school sends an annual Christmas gift to the Orphans' Home at Germantown, and this year donated $25.00 to the orphans. The present officers are Mr. Ed- win G. Brownback, superintendent ; Mr. Milton H. Keeler, treasurer ; Miss Hallie R. Vanderslice, secretary, and Mr. John I. Bradford, librarian.
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The Old Trappe Church.
THE MUHLENBERG MISSIONARY SOCIETY
was organized by Rev. Jacob Wampole in 1837. This society was in ac- tive operation for some years after Dr. Wenzel's pastorate in 1854, and was then discontinued.
THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S LYCEUM.
This Society was organized and introduced by Rev. O. P. Smith on November 22, 1879. The object of its establishment was the advance- ment of the social and religious interests of the young people and the cultivation of a literary taste. A very choice library, containing select works of the various standard authors, was also established by the society under the direction of the pastor and Prof. Abel Rambo then president of the vestry. In 1889, when regular evening services were introduced by the present pastor, the society presented a new chandelier and lamps to the congregation, and has since in many ways contributed to the church and Sunday-school and other benevolent objects. It still con- tinues to prosper. At the last annual meeting, held October 26, 1893, Prof. M. H. Richards, D. D., of Allentown, delivered a very excellent and well received lecture on "My Den of Eden."
THE PASTOR'S AID SOCIETY
was organized by the present pastor on Saturday, October 10, 1891, with thirty-five members. It is but two years old, but it has long since justi- fied its establishment. The membership now numbers eighty-two. At an expense of $60, it provided the church with a large iron safe for the custody of the historic relics and records of the church. It has been in- strumental in accomplishing much good in the visitation of the sick, re- lief of the poor, work for the orphans, and general beneficence, and has always proved true to its name.
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The Old Trappe Church.
The Parochial School.
The honor of building the first school-house in the township belongs to the Augustus congregation. It was built of logs in December, 1742, as on January 5th, Muhlenberg speaks of it as being already erected.61 Some of the Reformed members and a number of " unbaptized Pennsyl- vanians " in the neighborhood contributed somewhat to the work and cost of building. On Monday, January to, 1743, the school opened with Muhlenberg himself as the first school-master. "Since ignorance among the youth is so great in this country," he says, " and good school-masters very rarely found, I had to take this matter also in my hands."62 Children (?) from seventeen to twenty years of age, with A, B, C books under their arms, came as his first pupils. He spent a week alternately at Philadel- phia, Trappe and New Hanover, teaching both German and English. But this, of course, could not long continue. In 1745 he secured as paro- chial school-master, John Jacob Loeser, who by his excellent Christian character and fidelity had won Muhlenberg's confidence. He taught the school during the Winter, and in Summer, when the school was closed, supported himself by manual labor. The following year, as Loeser was called to New Hanover, Muhlenberg engaged the ser- vices of John Frederick Vigera, who, however, went to Lancaster in 1748, and in 1750 moved to Philadelphia where he taught for two years. After Vigera's departure, Adam Meier, who hailed from Germany, took charge. About thirty or forty scholars at this time attended the
(61) When the members armed with broad-axes, hand-mauls and wedges, assembled to build the school-house, some felled the trees, others notched the logs and put them in place, and still others split clap-boards or shingles for the roof. Some sought out and hauled shapely stones for the fire-place, and some prepared the sticks and mud for the chimney. The building was about 18 x 22 feet, one story seven feet high, built of round logs with the cracks daubed with mortar called " kat and clay." The floor was made of split logs, roughly hewn, called "puncheons ;" the hearth was of stone, about four feet wide and as long as the width of the fire-place, the back wall and sides of the fire-place being also of stone. At the hearth a piece of ground was left without a floor, to afford the scholars a place to stick their goose-quills to make them of uniform pliability. There was one ledge-door in the side of the building with wooden hinges and latch. The windows ran the whole length of the side or end of the building, three to twelve inches high with little posts set in a foot apart on which oiled paper was pasted in lieu of glass. The second log school-house, however, built in 1750, was provided with regular window frames, sash and glass panes. Slanting writing boards were fastened along the wall even with the under edge of the windows. The scholars mounted slab seats without backs, and a short slanting board in one corner near the end of the hearth consti- tuted the school-master's desk. Wood stoves were set up in the Winter, and during the noon re- cess the boys split up the logs for kindling. (cf. Hist. of Mont. Co., p. 364.)
(62) Dr. Mann's Life and Times of H. M. M., p. 130.
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The Old Trappe Church.
school. As the school-master had a family, and the school-house con- tained but one room, it became necessary to erect another building. A new log school-house was accordingly built in 1750. The expense in- curred did not exceed £30. At this time Muhlenberg drafted a consti- tution and a series of rules63 for the parochial school which, on December
(63) The following Rules for the parochial school, recorded in Muhlenberg's minute book, were adopted on December 29, 1750 :
" 1 .- We (the vestry) unanimously pledge ourselves to see that our school-house is at all times provided with a competent and faithful Evangelical Lutheran school-master.
2 .- The school-master, before being engaged, shall he examined by the pastor, or in his absence by his substitute, to ascertain whether he is well grounded in our evangelical doctrines and lives in accordance with them ; whether he is efficient in reading, writing, arithmetic, singing, organ play- ing, also in the English language, if there is demand, or has good gifts to make up readily whatever deficiency may still remain.
3 .- After being duly declared competent by the pastor, he shall be regularly presented and introduced to the congregation.
4 .- The school-master shall regularly instruct the children according to the instruction and method appended to these articles. (This is unfortunately missing, as the pages immediately fol- lowing these rules are torn out.)
5 .- He shall manifest the same fidelity in teaching children of neighbors and of other denomi- nations as those of our own church according to the prescribed method of instruction.
6 .- He shall, whenever possible, teach six hours every day, and in short days at least five hours, at noon give the children not more than one hour recess, during which time, as well as during school hours, see that the children do not misbehave, and especially that they do not fight, quarrel, swear, or use improper language, and if found guilty of these things, earnestly reprove them or use other disciplinary measures if necessary.
7 .- Not the slightest oath or any idle talk shall be heard in or out of the school, on the part of the school-master, his wife, or children, so that the little ones be not offended and made partakers of like grievous sins as well as God's righteous judgment.
(8) The school-master shall exercise proper discipline over the children, give them directions how they should enter and leave the school-house, admonish them to behave in a Christian-like and becoming way on the street if they would live as Christian children and not as Indians.
9 .- The school-master shall not entertain any complaints from parents or employers, but shall direct them to the pastor and vestry, when their complaints shall be properly heard and investi- gated. Neither school-master, wife, nor children shall accost any one rudely in the school-house, much less begin a quarrel, or resort to angry words or blows.
10 .- On Saturday the school-master shall instruct only in the morning, and in the afternoon shall clean the church; and when divine service is to be held shall open and close the shutters at the proper time, cover the altar, lead the singing, play the organ, and be ready to assist the pastor whenever it may be necessary.
11 .- The school-master shall not open the school-house for any but the regular preacher of our united congregations and their representatives, and by no means give the keys to disorderly " vagabonds."
12 .- If the school-master has any complaints to make he shall modestly submit them to the pastor and vestry, and look for their help and advice, but never act as his own judge, much less side with others to the injury and detriment of the church and congregation."
The school-master is then required to bind himself to the observance of the rules " with hand and seal," in a formula which follows. As remuneration for his services as school-master and organist the following is stipulated :
"1 .- He shall charge for every pupil semi-annually seven shillings and six pence in money and one-half bushel of grain.
2 -He shall occupy the school-house in quiet possession and have free fire-wood.
3 .- He shall have the right to cultivate and use as much of the three acres of the church and school land as may be indicated and permitted by the vestry.
4 .- He shall receive the collections taken up on the two high festivals of the year, viz., Easter and Whitsunday, for organ playing.
5 .- At church weddings he shall take up the collection with the " klingelsack " and have the same for playing the organ.
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The Old Trappe Church.
29, 1750, was signed by the Eldeste and Vorsteher. In the following year trouble arose with the school-master, especially on account of his ungodly wife, who was frequently guilty of using profane and unbecoming language in the presence of the pupils. The school-master himself, more- over, was associating with people who were in open hostility to the church, and was gradually losing all control over the children. He was in consequence discharged, but as he could not secure another posi- tion during the Winter, was permitted to occupy the school-house dwell- ing until the following Spring. In the meantime the noted Gottlieb Mittleberger, whom Muhlenberg found "moderate, steady and willing to serve,'64 was engaged as school-master and organist. But owing to the meager support he received, and the opposition he encountered from parties at variance with the church authorities, he resigned his work in 1753, and in the following year returned to Germany. For his services the last year he received £10 18s. 7d. During this period a definite method of instruction was pursued which, though referred to but not incorporated in the rules, was substantially the same in all three congregations. The orphan school at Halle served as a model. As soon as it became possible various grades according to aptness and progress were differentiated, and formed into classes. The text books forming the staple articles of the educational diet were " Das A, B, C Buch," " Der Psalter," " Das Neue Testament," also the English New Testament, "Das Glaubens Lied,"65 and after 1749 "Luther's Kleiner Catechismus." Public examinations were held in the presence of the congregation several times
6 .- He shall enter the names of baptized children in the church record regularly and neatly, for which he shall receive a " gratial " from those who are not poor and are willing and able to pay.
7 .- He may also receive a small portion of the interest accruing to the congregation, but only if the greatest necessity demands, and if the church shall have capital invested at the time."
These terms are made on condition of absolute conformity to the rules and prescribed method ofinstruction. If he should prove unfaithful he was to receive two or three month's notice to vacate the school-house, and was cautioned that if compelled to do so by the Christian authority of the land, any trouble that he might occasion would be at his own peril.
(64) Hall. Nach. I., p. 551.
(65) Furnished by Dr. F. M. Ziegenhagen, containing the main doctrines of the catechism in verses. It was added to the edition of Luther's Small Catechism, by Christ. Saur of Germantown in 1752. (Dr. Mann's Life and Times of H. M. M., p. 201). But the Glaubens Lied, or Order of sal- vation was not an adequate substitute for the catechism, since it lacked the holy sacraments, (Hall. Nach. I, p. 113) so that Luther's small catechism was printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1749 and also introduced. The honor of printing the first Luther's Small Catechism in German does not, however, belong to Franklin, but to Christ. Saur, the enterprising [printer and publisher of Ger- mantown, who made his own type, did his own binding, manufactured his own paper and ink; edited the first German newspaper and printed the first German Bible in America in 1743. The title page of this earlier edition, printed in 1744, reads :
Der | kleine | Catechismus | D. Martin Luthers. | Mit Erlauterungen | herausgegeben | zum Gebrauch | der | Lutherische Gemeinen | in | Pensylvanien | Germanton | Gedruckt bey Christoph Saur | 1744.
(Hildeburn's Issues of the Pennsyl. Press, Vol. I, p. 194). A copy of this catechism is in the library of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
SESQUI-CENTENNIAL MEMORIAL OF THE OLD TRAPPE CHURCH.
THE OLD TRAPPE CHURCH AS IT APPEARED FROM 1743 TO 1814.
REPRODUCTION OF A RARE OLD PRINT.
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The Old Trappe Church.
during the school term, or at least when the school closed in the Spring. After the examination, printed Bible verses and " cakes " were sometimes distributed to the scholars.66 That gratifying progress was made in the various schools is evident from the report which Brunnholtz sent to Ger- many, in which he says, that if the fathers in Europe could hear the American children sing, pray and read, they would shed tears of joy and consider themselves amply repaid for all their trouble.67 Muh- lenberg felt the loss of Mittleberger's services keenly, and in the same year, 1753, he writes :68 "The schools in the country congre- gations are still in a bad way because competent and upright teachers are rare and the salary is insufficient, the members are widely scat- tered, most of them poor and the children needed for work in the Summer." As early as 1746 Muhlenberg expressed the hope that free schools might be speedily introduced, and in 1754 felt that the per- petuation of the congregation depended upon their establishment. 69 This year, owing to the efforts of Dr. Richard Peters, Benjamin Frank- lin and especially Dr. William Smith, first provost of the College and Academy of Philadelphia, later the University of Pennsylvania, the need of free schools was brought to the attention of the Society for the Propogation of the Gospel, in London, and through its agency £12,000 were soon collected in Holland, £20,000 in Scotland, and a still greater sum in England, the interest of which was to be devoted to the charity schools. The Society for the Propogation of Christian knowledge among the Germans in Pennsylvania was organized out of the other society (S. P. G.) and on March 15, 1754, six trustees were appointed by it to carry on the work of the charity schools, viz., Gov. James Hamilton, Supreme Judge William Allen, Secretary of Pennsylvania Richard Peters, Post- master Benjamin Franklin, Interpreter Conrad Weiser, Esq., and Dr. Wm. Smith, Provost of the Philadelphia Academy. Charity schools were immediately opened in many different places and among the rest at Trappe. Rev. Michael Schlatter, Reformed clergyman, was appointed
(66) On the occasion of a visit to Kingcess, on the Schuylkill, March 7, 1763, Muhlenberg, after the schoolmaster had examined the children of the school in the five parts of the catechism, "the order of salvation," appended to the catechism, and also copious proof texts, conducted a brief examination on the Ten Commandments, creation of man, the fall and redemption. " I can well say," he writes (Hall. Nach. Old Ed. p. 1093), " that such a school for the youth as this, is the most vigorous onslaught upon the deeply-rooted kingdom of darkness, and is the genuine mustard- seed out of which the kingdom of Christ must grow. At the close we sang the 146th Psalm in beautiful harmony and concluded with prayer. I told the children that I was pleased with their diligence and was willing to send them something, either a cake or a booklet for each one; they should tell me which they preferred. One answered that a book lasted longer and was more useful, to which the rest agreed ; I am consequently a debtor."
(67) Hall. Nach. II., p. 171.
(68) Ibid. p. 177.
(69) Ibid. pp. 177, 178.
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The Old Trappe Church.
superintendent of the system by the London Society at a salary of £100. The Trappe school-house was offered to the trustees of the Society with- out charge,70 and after the ready concurrence of the Reformed members of the community had been obtained, the offer was accepted. The school was opened by Michael Schlatter on February 16, 1755, with Charles Cornelius Raboteau,71 whom Muhlenberg had strongly recom- mended to the trustees, as school-master at a salary of £25, with an ad- ditional allowance of fro for his wife. John Schrack and Nicolaus Kuster of the congregation were two of the seven trustees appointed for New Providence and Skippack. Muhlenberg was engaged as catechist of the Charity schools of New Providence (Trappe), New Hanover, Vincent Chester County and Reading and drew a regular salary.72 Children of all denominations were received without discrimination. Reading, writing, and arithmetic were taught in English and German, and the girls in addition were taught sewing. The children were in- structed in the general truths of Christianity and the different parties in- doctrinated in their respective catechisms.
Muhlenberg, deeply concerned for the education of the steadily in- creasing number of Germans in the province, hailed the new scheme with joy, and supported it heartily. In a letter73 to Benjamin Franklin, which was read to the trustees, after stating that he had even attempted to buy a printing press to serve his countrymen, but was obliged to drop his design by reason of his increasing family and narrow circumstances, he strongly recommended the trustees to purchase a press, offering to undertake its management and use his whole influence to support it. The trustees approved his suggestion, and bought a press of Benjamin Franklin at an actual cost of £186 3s., and immediately started a Ger-
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