USA > Pennsylvania > Two centuries of the Church of the Brethren in western Pennsylvania, 1751-1950 > Part 17
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C. P. L. Roberts, Supt. J. J. Good, Secretary, Conemaugh, Pa.
That this Sunday school was authorized by the congregation is evidenced by the District Meeting minutes of the same year (1868) :
Art. 2. A desire of the Conemaugh Church to the District Meet- ing of Western Penna., to request the Annual Meeting to adopt some good general system of Sabbath school something like this: the brethren being permitted and requested to compose and select suitable pieces. A committee to be appointed by Annual Meeting to examine all, and if approved of have the same printed as a Sabbath school library, and used as such by the Church generally wherever the brethren have a desire to have them.
Answer. Yes, request it. This goes to Annual Meeting.
This was eleven years before the first International Sunday School Lesson helps were published by S. Z. Sharp, for use in our Sunday schools.
In the Christian Family Companion, January 16, 1872, Stephen Hildebrand reported for the "Conemaugh Congregation." From his report we take the following excerpt:
During the year just passed [1871] there were about twenty added to the church by baptism. We had from one to four places of meeting every Sunday, with four Sunday schools, all superintended by the Brethren. We built one new meeting house during the year, and concluded to build a communion meeting house next summer in place of the old one. If we succeed in this we will then have one large and three smaller meeting houses. During the year seventy- one cases of sickness and death were within the bounds of the
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church. Some of the brethren's children had to pass from time to eternity.
In the Pilgrim of October 26, 1875, Stephen Hildebrand again reported: "Our lovefeast is now in the past, and all I have to say ... is, we had a good meeting. Since the lovefeast brother John Wise is preaching for us at the village of Conemaugh."
The report of 1871 (referred to above), in which "four Sun- day schools, all superintended by the Brethren," are spoken about by Brother Hildebrand, does not give their locations. But at the District Sunday School Convention, September 23 and 24, 1879, three of these schools are mentioned:
Benshoff Hill [Pleasant Hill] S. S. delegates were Abel Findley and H. J. Berkey. .. ; Horner meetinghouse S. S. delegate was F. H. Grove. .. . East Conemaugh S. S. delegates were S. J. Giffin, William Horner and Patrick O'Neill. .. . S. J. Giffin gave a written report, from which we quote: "From April 20th to September 14th, 1879. Officers, 6; average attendance, 4. Teachers, 12; average attend- ance, 8. Average attendance, 138. Verses recited, 4689. Receipts: donations, $46.01; penny collection, $61.11. Papers received; Children at Work, 50 copies. Young Disciple, 50 copies; distributed weekly, 100 copies .- D. F. Ramsey, Supt." Friend Horner added that they expect to keep the East Conemaugh S. S. an ever-green school, which remark was well received.
Where Brother Wise preached in "the village of Conemaugh" (1875), or where the "East Conemaugh Sunday school" was held in 1879, is unknown today. The fourth Sunday school of 1871 was doubtless at "Hedrick's school house, organized in 1868."
In the Primitive Christian and Pilgrim of September 9, 1879, Brother Hildebrand gave a report of their quarterly council of August 7, 1879, from which we quote:
The business of the meeting was of such a nature that our elder called to his assistance elders Graybil Myers and Joseph Berkey .... One very important matter was the dividing line, mak- ing two districts out of Conemaugh church, which was agreed upon without much trouble. The church territory was large and the members numerous, hence the division. The new district is called Johnstown District, and includes all south of the dividing line with six or seven regular appointments, six preachers, eight deacons and between three and four hundred members, leaving Conemaugh with two regular appointments, but room for many more, four preachers, eight deacons and nearly two hundred members. It seems hard to separate the family, but we think it is for the best. On the 29th of August the members of the Johnstown district met in council for the first time. Part of their business was in regard to their new meeting house to be built in Johnstown. It is to be of brick 50 by 75 feet and two stories high.
Following the completion of this new sanctuary in down- town Johnstown, Brother M. W. Keim, under date of November 5, 1880, gave a report in the Brethren at Work;
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Johnstown, Pa. Our Love-feast was held last night, and it was a grand success; one hundred and forty communed. The number present is variously estimated from 1,000 to 1,500. One of our deacons, who was up and down stairs a good deal, gives it as the opinion that 3,000 persons were in and around the house. We enjoyed the feast, and all seemed happy indeed. Brethren Quinter, Replogle, S. Miller, and Shaffer were with us, and a good impression was made on our fellow townsmen. We shall be pleased to have ministering brethren stop off and preach for us.
In 1883 this new church on Somerset Street, Johnstown, was turned over to the Brethren Church, with "the proviso that they assume the debt on it." The church was supposed to cost $6,000, but when it was finished it had cost a little more than twice that amount.
Somerset Street Church, Johnstown, Built in 1880
The members in this first council in Johnstown (1879) were not only interested in building a church house for the present and the future, but they were concerned about the records of the past.
At the same meeting a committee was appointed to write a history of the Brethren Church in Cambria County. For some reason not known to the present writer [E. H. Detweiler], this committee has not yet [1903] done anything along that line.6
If this committee had functioned, as appointed, and written
" The Conemaughers, E. H. Detweiler. Page 15.
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and published the rich experiences of the Brethren in Cambria County from Peter Maugen (1797) and Jacob Stutzman (1794) 7 through the years until the establishing of the Johnstown con- gregation that year (1879), what a treasured volume it would be today! Space will permit only a brief quotation from the Conemaughers:
Jacob Good, a deacon was an exemplary member of the church and performed his official duties to the best of his ability. For a number of years he was treasurer of the church funds. During his life time the Conemaugh Church was in a flourishing condition, embracing a large territory, and having about 400 members. On lovefeast occasions, members came here from Bedford, Somerset and Indiana Counties; many of them on foot or horse back from a distance the day before the feast and remained until the day after the feast. Sometimes there were a hundred or two hundred and fifty who came from a distance and were given meals and lodging in the meetinghouse. On such occasions two bullocks and two barrels of flour were consumed.
MISSIONARY WORK
Although there were no records of missionary work done by the Brethren in the Conemaugh church, we can say confidently that the Brethren who came here were filled with the missionary spirit. . .. The first official record of missionary funds being raised by the church, is found in the minutes of a council meeting held December 30, 1886, when a collection was taken up to the amount of $5.25. Solomon Dorer, local Treasurer, forwarded this sum to C. H. Griffith, District Treasurer for Western Pennsylvania.8
During the twenty years, 1879 to 1899, the Johnstown con- gregation made rapid progress both in the increase of members and in the erecting of church houses. The story of these local developments is told in the various chapters of congregational histories, as listed today. The (old) Conemaugh congregation had been weakened during the division of 1882, and was finally consolidated with Johnstown, October 16, 1890. Then, because of the enlarged membership, on January 1, 1899, two separate congregations were again formed, known as Johnstown and West Johnstown. The brief references in the chapters on Rox- bury and Walnut Grove give a glimpse of the way the Lord blessed the efforts of the Dunker churches.
-Edited by W. J. H.
7 History of Cambria Co., H. W. Storey, credits Jacob Stutzman as coming to what is now Johnstown in 1794.
8 The Conemaughers. Pages 15 and 16,
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B. THE (NEW) CONEMAUGH CHURCH
Present church erected, 1900 Separate congregation organized, 1926 Present church membership, 186 -
In the territory of the old Horner house is the present con- gregation known as the Conemaugh Church of the Brethren. This little church has grown out of a remnant of the larger congregation that divided in 1879, and survived through the troubled years until 1890, when a union was made with the Walnut Grove church.
As a mission point, the East Conemaugh building on Second Street was erected and dedicated on December 23, 1900. Pre- vious to this time the members would get together in various homes and have their meetings. After the old Horner church had been discontinued, some meetings were held in the old Custer hall, others were held in a church building on Broad Alley in Franklin Borough, and some were held in a hall on the Conemaugh side of the river.
A Sunday school was organized on March 24, 1901. There were about fifty-eight members in the Conemaugh vicinity when the new church was built. Elder David Hildebrand labored faith- fully until his death, March 9, 1914. To this man of God and his descendants belongs much credit for the growth of this congre- gation.
S. W. Pearce was elected pastor on a part-time basis in 1921. He was followed, 1923 to 1925, by P. C. Strayer, who organized the young people's department. This new organization contrib- uted definitely to the growth of the church. In January 1926 Brother Pearce began a pastorate that lasted for eighteen years,
Present Conemaugh Church and Sunday-school Building
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or until April 1, 1944, when he retired at the age of seventy- seven.
With the calling of a pastor, the church began a slow but healthy growth, and from this time there was manifest a desire to study the Scriptures. To meet this need, the church house was remodeled in 1925 to provide a vestibule and five separate classrooms. Yet this was found to be inadequate for the need of the educational work. So, under the direction of the pastor and the trustees, R. B. Litzinger, Richard H. Claar, and Fred Cobaugh, in November 1931 the men of the church undertook a project in the basement that netted four more classrooms. In 1938 the church purchased the two-story building adjoining, admirably suited to the need, netting an additional ten class- rooms, giving a total of twenty separate rooms for educational purposes.
At the time this church became a separate organization in 1926, they had two deacons: Logan C. Gossard, elected at Walnut Grove on July 23, 1914, who had give his services entirely to Conemaugh; and John W. Brumbaugh, who was elected at Riddlesburg on February 18, 1917, and who had united by letter with the Conemaugh group in 1920.
Deacons in the Conemaugh Church (Three of Whom Are Now Ministers)
Seated, left to right: Logan Gossard, John Brumbaugh, Fred Co- baugh, and Ralph Litzinger
Standing, left to right: Fred Agey, Arthur Croyle, Walter Richter, Richard Grumbling, and William Ochenrider
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Other deacons elected since the church received her charter include Ralph B. Litzinger, Fred Cobaugh, Richard H. Claar, Fred A. Agey, Thomas Hildebrand, Richard Grumbling, William H. Ochenrider, Walter C. Richter, and Arthur L. Croyle. Richard Claar died on April 6, 1941.
Brethren who have been called to the ministry by this church are John Willard Brumbaugh, Harry James Pearson, Richard Grumbling, James Constable, and Arthur L. Croyle.
Women's work was organized February 2, 1932, and Christian Endeavor meetings on Sunday evening began on April 6, 1933. Vacation Bible schools, teacher- training and training-for-service classes have been held several years. The congregation sent three heifers to Europe; and tons of clothing and about $1,000.00 worth of food were sent overseas in addition to the regular mission aid. The church sanctions no fund-raising projects. All funds are secured in the freewill offer- ings.
Helping on Communion Sunday
First row, left to right: Mrs. Fred Cobaugh, Mrs. Arthur Croyle, Mrs. Richard Grumbling, and Mrs. Wil- liam Ochenrider
Back row, left to right: Ellen Pearson, Sara Pearson, Mrs. Fred Agey, and Mrs. Berkley
A few of those who have rendered faithful service over the years are: Sister Sarah Pearson as an officer or Sunday-school teacher for over forty-five years; Sister Stella Claar in secre- tarial work for over thirty years; Sister Ada Litzinger, over eighteen years, or until her death (see her biography). Others not already mentioned who served for longer or shorter periods include Jane Wilson, Elsie Stormer, Rena Reighard, Ellen and Lizzie Pearson, Bertha Miller, Minnie Agey, and Elaine Ochen- rider.
Perhaps the most outstanding feature of this church has been its Wednesday night Bible study and prayer service. This graded midweek service started under the leadership of S. W. Pearce in the adult department, of Ada Litzinger in the young people's department, and of Minnie Agey in the children's department. Over the years the attendance has ranged from twenty-eight to one hundred fifty-nine. From the small beginning it has grown to include the adult group, young married people, the young people, and five children's groups.
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The service lasts for one hour every Wednesday evening. The program consists of meaningful devotions and specific study or instruction aimed at creating appreciation for God's Word and encouraging personal experience in worship and prayer.
Following the retirement of Brother Pearce, Arthur L. Rum- mel served as pastor until 1947, after which our present pastor, Charles H. Heltzel, took up the work.
-John W. Brumbaugh
CHAPTER 8. THE CONNELLSVILLE CHURCH
First land warrants issued, 1787 Mission organized, April 1916 Present church membership, 176
While the present church at Connellsville dates its beginning with the opening of the mission in 1916, historically speaking, there have been members living near what is now Connellsville for almost two centuries. We are told that "H. W. Strickler was born near Connellsville, Fayette County, on the old Strickler home, April 24, 1836. He was the son of Jacob D., and the grand- son of Henry Strickler, Sr., who settled there in 1752."1 This family remained in the same community throughout the various generations, through the organization of the Jacobs Creek con- gregation in 1811 and the building of the "old stone church," near Dawson, which had its rise and decline.
Whether Henry Strickler, Sr., actually came into the Con- nellsville vicinity so long before "land titles" could be secured or not, we do know that a Jacob and a Henry Strickler took out land warrants in 1787 (two hundred thirty-four and one-half acres) bordering on the Youghiogheny River, and Abraham Strickler in 1788 warranted two hundred four and three-fourths acres.2 Both of these plots are north of the river, just east of the Connellsville Township line, about five farms south of Jacobs Creek.
These and several other authentic land holdings by families who came from Brethren communities in Bucks and Lancaster counties assure us that there were sufficient members near Con-
1 Blough's history (published 1916). Page 593.
2 The Horn Papers, Volume III. Maps 22 and 23.
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nellsville to justify the "organization of the Jacobs Creek church in 1811 with 30 members."3
While officially the Jacobs Creek congregation was moved to near Mount Pleasant, at the Mt. Joy church, a number of these members remained in or near Dawson and became charter members of the present Connellsville church, including descend- ants of the Strickler and Snyder families.4
Brother Blough thought that "from the beginning until about 1845 the preaching was done in private homes."5
Prior to 1916 the Connellsville territory belonged to the Indian Creek congregation, now known as County Line. The original boundary line of that congregation "extended southeast to the top of Laurel Hill mountain, northwest to the top of the Chestnut Ridge, south beyond Connellsville, and northeast beyond Ligonier."
That these members in the Dawson-Connellsville vicinity were not forgotten, over the years, is evidenced by a report signed "H. S.," indicating that there were twenty-four members at or near Connellsville in 1879. In the October 7, 1879, issue of the Primitive Christian and Pilgrim appeared the following:
Dear Editors-
From Connellsville, Pa. April 10, 1879
I am glad to tell the readers of your paper that brethren [Dr.] J. M. Bennett and Amos Christner [these brethren were ministers in the Indian Creek congregation] preached a few sermons in our neighborhood, and on the 28th of March [1879] six persons were added to the Church by baptism, thereby increasing our band one-fourth. Surely this is God's work. Do we realize it as such? Perhaps those we expected did not join, while others joined whom we did not expect. ... To the ministering brethren who travel by here, we heartily invite them to stop off and preach a few sermons for us here.
Signed, "H. S."6
Thirty-seven years later, or on March 14, 1916, W. M. Howe, a member of the District Mission Board, came to Connellsville in answer to a request of W. H. Friend. He said that twenty- five people were desirous of uniting with a church here. On April 7, 1916, Elder Howe returned, bringing J. J. Shaffer, chair- man of the Mission Board, with him. Fourteen people met in Sister Elizabeth Carroll's home. A committee of three was ap- pointed to organize the work. They were W. H. Friend, Jacob Beeghly, and Elizabeth Carroll. The motto chosen was "Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God."
3 Howard Miller's Record of the Faithful. Page 14.
4 Information by Mrs. Ann Strickler Cogan (widow of Dr. Cogan, of Dawson). Sister Cogan's mother's maiden name was Snyder; she was a lineal descendant of Lewis Snyder, who built the Stone Church at Jacobs Creek.
5 Blough's history. Page 109.
6 Doubtless this "H. S." was Henry Strickler, Jr.
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On April 15 an option was secured on a lot on the south side, where the present church stands. The amount subscribed toward it was three hundred dollars. A store room at 413 West Craw- ford Avenue was rented for ten dollars per month. After clean- ing the room and renting some seats, the members held, on April 25, 1916, the first prayer meeting. Up to this time prayer meetings had been held in various homes.
On April 27, 1916, Brother Howe baptized the following six persons: John Ridgway, Ivenore Friend, Rowena Friend, Robert Friend, Virginia Mack, and Mildred Boyer. Seventeen were received into membership: Elizabeth Carroll, W. H. Friend, J. H. Beeghly, Elizabeth Beeghly, Ewing Nabors, Sadie Nabors, Nora Nabors, John Sleighter, Mabel Sleighter, Raphael Bluebaugh, Lydia Bluebaugh, Rebecca Lee, Cora Lee, Etta Hostetler, E. R. Beeghly, Leah Stoner, and Catherine Ridgway. The Mission Board promised to send a preacher every two weeks.
The Sunday school was organized on April 30, with J. H. Beeghly as superintendent. For the first three months the average attendance was thirty-four and the total offerings, twenty dollars and eleven cents. Brother Howe, on July 20, formed the first church organization. On August 1 a sisters' aid society was formed, and on September 1 the home department of the Sunday school was begun.
Various ministers did the preaching the first year; then, on March 1, 1917, the Mission Board sent D. K. Clapper to take charge of the work and become the first full-time pastor. Later pastors were Ralph Reiman, I. R. Pletcher, J. A. Buffenmyer, Ralph Shober, F. A. Myers, W. C. Sell, and at present, Kermit P. Flora.
In the fall of 1917 the meet- ing place was moved from 413 West Crawford Avenue to the Episcopal church near by on the same avenue. By August 1922 a special council was held to elect a building committee for the new church. It was composed of J. A. Buffenmyer, chairman, H. H. Yost, H. M. Hostetler, and Paul V. Lepley. Building plans were submitted by C. H. Dilling of Nanty Glo. The contract was awarded to
Connellsville Church
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J. F. Trimpey. On May 9, 1923, the ground was cleared and broken for the new church. The cornerstone was laid on June 24, with one hundred and fifty members present. F. D. Anthony of Belle Vernon delivered the address. J. A. Buffenmyer, pastor, read the Scripture and pro- nounced the benediction. A copper box containing a Bible, a songbook, a manual of church history, a photograph of Elder and Mrs. Buffenmyer and family and Brother and Sister H. H. Yost, and copies of city newspapers were placed in the cornerstone, which was cut from sandstone twenty-four by fourteen inches and faced with the figure 1923.
The first Sunday school and the first church service were held November 25, 1923, in the new church. All Sunday-school classes were united in the church auditorium with Brother Buffenmyer as teacher. Seventy-six were present. The church was dedicated on January 6, 1924, at which time Dr. C. C. Ellis delivered the dedicatory message. The sum of eight hundred thirty-seven dollars and seventy-six cents was raised in the morn- ing and four hundred forty-eight dollars and sixteen cents in the afternoon services. The total cost of the church was $18,- 500.00; the District Mission Board donated $1,000.00.
The building was damaged by storm and lightning on July 27, 1936, to the extent of $2,200.00. While the church was being reconditioned the members worshiped in the Trinity Reformed church for ten Sundays, with services beginning at 8:00 A.M.
On August 14, 1939, the District Mission Board presented a plan to share our pastor with the Mt. Pleasant church. The General Mission Board on September 30, 1940, consented to pay the interest on the remaining church mortgage for three years.
Twenty-one of our young people were called to the service of our country during World War II. Each was presented with a waterproof pocket-size New Testament.
The church debt was paid off in June 1943, and on Sunday, November 21, 1943, the twenty-year-old church mortgage was burned at a special service. Then in 1945 we purchased a prop- erty in 1118 Vine Street to be used as a parsonage.
In the spring of 1946 the congregation unanimously voted to discontinue the joint pastorate with Mt. Pleasant, and a year later a call was made to Kermit P. Flora, who came to take over the work on September 1, 1947. From 1947 to 1949, inclu- sive, very great improvements were made under the leadership of our pastor. Stained glass windows were put in all over the church, including two large windows with the scenes, The Good Shepherd and Gethsemane. The auditorium was redecorated with a painting, The River Jordan, in the baptistry; the dining room, the kitchen, and the heating system were remodeled.
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Data for this history since 1916 was furnished by the com- mittee:
John G. Sleighter
Paul V. Lepley
Mrs. Irene Miles
Mrs. Mary Friend
Mrs. Elizabeth Carroll
CHAPTER 9 THE COUNTY LINE CHURCH-INDIAN CREEK CONGREGATION
First minister lived here, 1824 Congregation organized, 1849 Present church membership, 157
The Indian Creek congregation originally included territory now organized into various churches, such as Bear Run, Con- nellsville, Elbethel, and County Line. Also the "lost" Nicely church, and the now-disorganized Trout Run church.
When the first Brethren families pushed across the Laurel Hill Mountains, to make homes in the Indian Creek Valley, is a matter of uncertainty. But Franklin Ellis's History of Fayette County, published in 1882, says;
Jacob Murray moved from the eastern country in 1816, and settled on the old Elder farm, but later made a home on Mill Run, where he died many years ago. He had a number of sons, viz .: John M. (deceased), Samuel (also deceased), and Jacob yet living on Mill Run (1882). Three of his daughters married the following: Peter Ullery, Henry Pletcher, and Reuben Eicher.
According to Howard Miller's Record of the Faithful, the Ryerson Station church was organized in 1842, with Henry Pletcher as "the first resident minister." His brother-in-law, Jacob Murray, was one of the ministers of the Indian Creek congregation for many years.
Jacob Murray, Sr., had a brother, John Murray, who had married Miss Catherine Sauer, Jr., of Philadelphia. The date of the removal across the mountains is not known, but they settled on a stream called Champion, a tributary of Indian Creek, Fayette County.1 John never became a member of the Church of the Brethren, but Sister Murray, being a member of one of the prominent early families of the church, was
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