USA > Pennsylvania > Franklin County > Waynesboro > Waynesboro : the history of a settlement in the county formerly called Cumberland, but later Franklin, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in its beginnings, to its centennial period, and to the close of the present century > Part 20
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Since its organization the following ministers have served the congregation: Rev. James Buchanan; Rev. Charles P. Cummins ; Rev. David Clark, D. D. ; Rev. Ed- ward Emerson: Rev. Wm. T. Beatty, D. D .; Rev. J. W. Wightman, D. D .; Rev. William N. Geddes ; Rev. Robert F. McLean; Rev. Samuel McLanahan; Rev. Thomas C. McCarrell; Rev. W. C. Hogg.
When Waynesboro was laid out by John Wallace no organized church existed therein. At that time the nearest Lutheran churches were, Friedmen's, now Jacobs church, four miles southwest, Beard's church, six miles south, Greencastle church, nine miles west, and Grind- stone Hill, ten miles north.
Rev. John F. Ruthrauff, then in his thirty-first year, located at Greencastle. Jacobs Lutheran church became a 1795. part of his widely-extended field, and there, doubtless, the
The first church buildings.
1807 or 1808.
1818.
1830.
1867.
1893.
Names of clergy- men.
Note 64.
LUTHERAN CHURCH.
Narrative of Rev. Herman S. Cook.
Jacobs church.
276
WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER XII.
1798 to 1800.
1807 or 1808.
first Lutheran residents of Waynesboro worshiped. When Rev. Ruthrauff began preaching in Waynesboro, and when he organized the church there, are facts not known. That he did preach there from time to time, is certain. The place of worship was the log schoolhouse, still stand- ing at the east end of town, near the toll gate, which was used in common by the Lutherans, Reformed and Pres- byterians. At one time the members of these three churches undertook the erection of a union church on what is now Church street on a plot of ground donated by the founder, John Wallace, for that purpose. The walls of this church were of frame, encased with brick and roughcast, but after it was under roof, for some un- explained reason, it was allowed to stand in an unfinished condition, without doors, windows, seats or floor, for nine or ten years. Later, a movement was made to complete the church. A committee of six persons, two Lutherans, two Reformed and two Presbyterians, was appointed, which canvassed so successfully that the money was se- cured to finish the church in a workmanlike manner. It was completed and dedicated.
1817.
1818.
Communicants. Oct. 31, 1818.
The first record of communicants in the old church book, made by the pastor, Rev. Ruthrauff, gives the date of that service. The names of sixty-six persons are re- corded as having partaken of the Holy Communion. Records of infant baptism of about the same date are also found.
The first pastor.
The fact that the records begin at this time, at the com- pletion of the first church erected in Waynesboro, would seem to indicate that about this time the church was or- ganized with Rev. Ruthrauff as first pastor. He was a typical pioneer pastor, tall and muscular, capable of great endurance, a fluent, animated and instructive preacher, a man who labored earnestly for the conversion of souls, and had many seals to his ministry. His parish extended
277
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
from mountain to mountain, across the valley, and even CHAPTER XII. beyond.
The Reformed congregation withdrew from the union church, and erected a church building of their own else- where.
Reformed church withdraws. 1826.
The Waynesboro Lutheran church was separated from the Greencastle charge, and a new charge was formed, consisting of Smithsburg, Beard's, Leitersburg and Waynesboro churches. The pastor, Rev. Samuel K. Hoshour, resided at Smithsburg, Maryland, and then, doubtless, began that connection of the church of Waynesboro with the Maryland Synod, which has con- tinued ever since. Rev. Hoshour was an able preacher and theologian. He introduced the English language into the services of the church, the German having hither- to been used exclusively. The German continued to be used, however, with less and less frequency, until of late years, when it was totally discontinued.
During the ministry of Rev. Hoshour, the walls of the first union church, having been built of an inferior quality of brick, were found to be unsafe. It was accord- ingly taken down, and another, but smaller building erected on the same site, and of similar materials, by the Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations. This building is still standing in substantial condition, and is now owned and occupied by the Dunkards. In this building the Lu- theran and Presbyterian congregations held services on alternate Sundays.
Rev. Hoshour served the charge acceptably until he resigned and removed to the West. The same year he was succeeded by the Rev. John Reck, whose ministry continued about three years, and whose records are meagre. He was succeeded by Rev. John P. Kline, the last of our ministers to reside in Smithsburg. During his ministry, the Zion (union) Sunday-school was organ- ized in the Union church. This Sunday-school was very
1828.
Secession and ex- tension.
1830.
1831.
Succession of min- isters.
1834.
278
WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER XII.
successful and flourishing, and continued uninterruptedly until merged into the Lutheran and Presbyterian Sunday- schools later. Rev. Kline continued as pastor for six years.
1841. A new era.
A new era now dawned upon the Lutheran Church of Waynesboro. The Waynesboro church was detached from the Smithsburg charge; Jacobs Lutheran church was detached from the Greencastle charge, and a new charge formed, known as the Waynesboro charge, con- sisting of the Waynesboro, Jacobs and Quincy, and for a short time Funkstown churches.
1841.
Rev. Frederick W. Conrad, subsequently for many years editor of the "Lutheran Observer," became he pastor of the new charge. He was the first pastor of the church to reside in Waynesboro. Rev. Conrad brought his young wife here as a bride. It was his first regular charge in the ministry. He entered upon the work with immense zeal and enthusiasm. His ministry in Waynes- boro charge was characterized by extensive revivals of religion in all the churches, and very decided growth in numbers and in spiritual life and activity. Rev. Conrad resigned to accept a call to Hagerstown.
1844. 1845 to 1856.
1852.
The following year Rev. John Heck became pastor, and served the charge for eleven years. Under his effi- cient labors the prosperity of the church continued. He has left complete and beautiful records of his ministerial acts. During his pastorate the present commodious and valuable parsonage property on West Main street was purchased. Having been enlarged and remodeled at various times it has continued to be the residence of the pastors of the church ever since.
1857 to 1862.
Rev. J. F. Campbell was the next pastor of the church. He was an able and earnest preacher. His ministry was very successful and closed during the exciting times of the war.
1863.
He was succeeded by Rev. Edwin Dorsey. D. D., who
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
was quite advanced in years. He died after only a few CHAPTER XII. months' incumbency.
Rev. Alfred Buhrman became pastor the following 1864. spring, and continued to serve the charge acceptably and with success for seven years. During his min- istry the Presbyterians withdrew from the Union church 1868. to occupy the new church they had erected on East Main street. The same year the Lutheran congregation bought of Jacob Adams the double lot on the southeast corner of Second and South Church streets, where the church now stands. Here a substantial brick church, ca- pable of seating nearly five hundred persons, was erected. and, after completion, was dedicated. The old Union 1869. church was sold to the Antietam congregation of Ger- man Baptists, or Dunkards, who still occupy the building.
Rev. C. L. Keedy. M. D., next became pastor and 1871. served the church in that capacity for four years. He labored with success, but, unfortunately, his record of ministerial acts is very incomplete. He resigned to take charge of a young ladies' seminary at Hagerstown, Mary- land, now known as Kee-Mar College, with which he has been identified ever since.
Rev. Peter Bergstresser. D. D., was pastor of the church nearly eleven years. During his ministry the town made great strides in population, and, consequently, large accessions were made to the church. He was an able theologian and controversialist, and conducted a success- ful discussion with Elder S. H. Bashore, of the Dunkard Church, on baptism, the Lord's Supper and feet washing. The debate was held in the Lutheran church, and the at- tendance taxed the capacity of the church to the utmost. The addresses were afterwards published. Some years later the church was remodeled and extensively repaired, and Rev. F. W. Conrad, D. D., preached the re-dedica- tion sermon.
Rev. Herman S. Cook became the twelfth pastor of the
1876 to 1887.
A theological dis- cussion.
Nov. 21-27, 1879.
1885.
280
WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER XII. 1888.
Note 65.
This is the parent congregation of the Reformed REFORMED CHURCH. Church in Waynesboro. It is designated in the earliest Narrative of Rev. Franklin F. Bahner. records as the "Evangelical Reformed Church of Irish- Salem, the mother town, Washington township, Franklin county, Pennsyl- vania." It was the only congregation of the Reformed denomination then existing within the territory embraced by that township. Afterwards it was known as Zion's, and later as Boshaar's Reformed Church. Its present name is Salem.
Origin of Irishtown.
Irishtown seems to have been the name given in co- lonial times to the general region of country lying im- mediately around the present village of Shady Grove, pre- sumably from the fact that many of its earliest settlers were Scotch-Irish people.
The oldest Salem records retain the name of Boshaar in its purely German form. As written its orthography and pronunciation are strictly high German. Later it as- sumed the Pennsylvania German form of Beshor, and finally was changed into the present anglicised Besore. If it ever was a French Huguenot name, as there is reason to believe it was, all trace of its identity was lost before it reached the Salem Church records, more than a hun- dred years ago. During the residence in Germany of the religious refugees from France, their names frequently were naturally subjected to a process of Germanization, so that almost all trace of their French origin had dis- appeared when afterwards those who bore them emi- grated to this country, and became identified with the German Reformed churches here. Similar metamor- phosis is met with in the case of what seems to be, at
Origin of certain names.
1
church, continuing as such to the present time. During his pastorate large additions have been made to the mem- bership, a large indebtedness has been liquidated. and the church has been more thoroughly organized. The pres- ent membership of the church is five hundred and ten, and the Sunday-school enrollment four hundred and fifty.
church. 1773.
HISTORY OF WAYNESBORO.
WAYNESBORO CHURCHES.
ST. PAUL'S REFORMED. TRINITY REFORMED.
PRESBYTERIAN. LUTHERAN.
THE NEW YORK WYLIC LILY ART
AUTO5 ENOX A .D TIL EN FOUNDATIONS.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
283
first sight, the German name of Lechrone, on the Salem records, but which was evidently originally in its French form, LaCron. As another interesting specimen of the workings of this law of change, the fact is mentioned here that the present English name of Potter is borne by those whose ancestors of a century ago were known as Heffners on the Salem Church register.
Among the papers which the present pastor at Salem, in his fondness for historical research. has brought to light are : a call in German to the Rev. Cyriacus Spangenberg, von Reidemeister, of an early date: a written devotional manual prepared by him for the use of the Salem people ; baptismal, confirmation and communion records, made in his own hand-writing ; a copy of a confirmation hymn writ- ten by him for his catechumens, and vouchers given by him for salary received ; an account of a movement set on foot to hold a lottery towards paying for the church build- ing. whose erection was begun three years earlier ; and numerous data concerning ministers coming and going and services held from time to time. A communion cup. whose inner golden lining, after being used for over a cen- tury, is almost intact, and bearing on its base an inscrip- tion, is a most sacred and precious Salem historical relic.
It may not be known to the younger members of the congregation that the church building erected in the early history of the church was constructed of pine logs, cut and hauled by the members from Lesher's hill, northeast of Waynesboro. Before that time the congregation held its services in a log schoolhouse, located near the site of the present building. About fifty-five years later the stone edifice still occupied was erected, and it was en- larged and otherwise greatly improved just one hundred years after the first church had been built. The congre- gation received the name of Salem at the dedication of the stone church.
The deed conveying an acre of land from Henry Miller
CHAPTER XII.
Old records.
July 9, 1786.
April 17, 1790.
"May 14th, 1794."
Building the first churches. 1787.
1842.
1887-1888.
The name.
1842.
284
WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER XII.
1792. The conveyance of the lot. 1781.
1788.
to Daniel Leedy and David Boshaar, in trust for the con- gregation, was executed and recorded. The price paid for the ground was five shillings. That tract of land had been taken up by Mr. Miller by warrant of survey, but the proper papers were not made out to him by the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania until seven years later. The deed is in possession of the officers of the congregation, and is in a good state of preservation. It is a document of historical interest, as well as of legal value. It was evidently drawn up by some one not familiar with the ecclesiastical nomenclature in vogue among the German Reformed people, for in it the congregation is called the "German Presbyterian church of Irishtown."
The interior of the first church build- ing.
The interior of the first church built of logs was con- structed after the style of church architecture common in those days. The chief characteristics of it were a very high pulpit against the wall at one end of the church, in shape very much like a wine-glass, with a sounding board above it. It was reached by a winding flight of stairs leading to it from the chancel, with a door at each end of it, and afforded standing or sitting room for only a single officiating minister at a time.
1818.
Four pastors served this historic congregation from its origin, about the time of the American revolution until the Waynesboro church was organized, since which time the same ministers have served Salem, the mother church, and the daughter congregation in Waynesboro. Their history, for the past eighty years, has, therefore, been closely interwoven and practically the same. The names of the ministers are the following: Rev. Jacob Weymer. Rev. Cyriacus Spangenberg, von Reidemeister, Rev. Jonathan Rahauser, Rev. Frederick A. Scholl.
Names of clergy- men. Note 66.
German period, 1818-1831.
The first house of worship erected in what was then known as Waynesburg was constructed of a very poor quality of brick by the Reformed, Lutheran and Presby-
285
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
terian people living in and around this place. It was CHAPTER XII. located where the present German Baptist church stands, on Church street, on one of two lots of ground donated to the representatives of the three above named denomi- nations by Mr. John Wallace, Jr., who formally laid out 1797. the village and gave it the name of Waynesburg. Jolin Wallace, Sr., the father of John Wallace, Jr., had taken 1750. up the land on which the town now stands about the mid- dle of the eighteenth century, and the settlement which afterwards gradually sprang up here was named after him, Wallacetown, a designation which it bore until near the 1797. close of the century, when it was superseded by that of Waynesburg.
The predicament in which the people here found them- 1808. selves was that they had begun to build a house of wor- ship, but were not able to complete it, for it remained in an unfinished condition during the following ten years. It had in it neither floor, seats, nor pulpit. Previous to 1818. the year of its completion it was but once attempted to hold services in it, on which occasion the bare ground, after having been cleanly swept, served as the floor, and rough boards laid on logs answered the purpose of seats. The reason for the long delay in finishing that meeting house must, however, not be attributed altogether to the numerical weakness and financial inability of the people who originally undertook the erection of it, but to the fact that no very urgent need for it at once presented it- self to them. The Reformed people here held their mem- bership in what was then called the Evangelical Reformed church at Irishtown, four miles southwest of town, the present Salem church, whilst the Lutherans belonged to Jacobs church, four miles south of town, and the Presby- terians to the congregation at East Conocoleague, now Greencastle.
After an interval of ten years from the time of the lay- 1818. ing of the corner stone the Waynesburg union meeting
The first place of worship.
Uncompleted work.
Reasons for the de- lay.
286
WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER XI1.
Completion of the union meeting- house.
1818.
Temporary services.
The old school- house.
The first pastor.
1826.
An independent building erected.
house was completed. In a record made at the time by the Rev. F. A. Scholl, the Reformed pastor, it was called Christ church. That name had, doubtless, been given to it at its consecration, which marks the formal organiza- tion of the Reformed, Lutheran and Presbyterian con- gregations in Waynesboro.
It is known, however, that long before that time, Rev. Jonathan Rahauser, pastor at Salem, who resided at Elizabethtown (Hagerstown), as well as the Presbyterian and Lutheran pastors, both of whom lived at East Cono- cocheague (Greencastle), occasionally held services for the accommodation of their members living at Waynes- burg in the first schoolhouse ever erected. It was built of logs and still stands at the east end of town on the north side of the turnpike, near the tollgate. The first religious services ever held in Wallacetown were conduct- ed in this log schoolhouse.
The Reformed congregation of Waynesburg, as or- ganized in Christ Union church, had for its first regular pastor Rev. Frederick A. Scholl, of Greencastle. Each of the three congregations that had united in the erection of the church building occupied it for holding services every three weeks. It was understood that each had a third equal and undisputed right in the entire grounds and building.
The walls of Christ Union church, at length, began to give way, and it was no longer deemed altogether safe to worship in it. Because of some misunderstanding, particularly between the Reformed and Lutheran congre- gations, as to the time to which each was entitled for hold- ing services in that church, and with a view of avoiding all strife and unpleasantness in the future, the Reformed people did not consider it best to unite with the Presby- terians and Lutherans in building a new church on that site. Accordingly, they withdrew, and erected for them- selves a little log church where Trinity edifice now stands,
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RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
on ground donated to the congregation by Conrad Det- CHAPTER XII. terow, one of its members.
Although the above was their first reason, it was not their only or chief reason, for leaving the union church. The Presbyterian services had, of course, always been conducted exclusively in the English language; the Lutheran pastor, also, at every alternate service, preach- ed in English. Pastor Scholl, and many of his people, wished to keep the Reformed congregation altogether German, and thought that could best be done in a build- ing entirely their own, and in which no English preach- ing would ever be heard. A third reason which may have operated in leading them to take this step was the fact that they had become the strongest congregation of the three that worshiped in Christ Union church, and they may have felt able to build and own a church of their own.
At any rate, a log church was erected by them, on the northern side of the village, which was duly consecrated as the "Salem's German Evangelical Reformed church in Waynesburg." The constitution then adopted for the government of the congregation provided that only the German language should be used in its services, and that the Rev. Mr. Scholl should continue to be its pastor as long as he would be able to serve it.
Christ Union church was then torn down because it was 1830. no longer considered safe to hold services in it, and a new, but smaller, house of worship was built on the same ground by the Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations, which has ever since been known as the union church. The Presbyterians remained in it until they took possses- sion of their present church building on East Main street, whilst the Lutherans occupied it a year longer, when they also erected for themselves a new house of worship farther 1869. down on the same side of Church street.
Rev. F. A. Scholl held his last communion service in the little log building, which, four years earlier, had been
Reasons for leaving the union church.
Dedication of the new church.
Demolition of Christ church. 1868.
April 3, 1831.
288
WAYNESBORO.
CHAPTER XII. Close of the Ger- man period.
1818 to 1831. German-English period. 1831-1836.
1832.
1833.
June 21, 1834. 1839.
English period. 1840 to 1845.
1847.
llarbaugh's congre- gation. Note 67.
April, 1847.
dedicated as Salem's German Evangelical Reformed church in Waynesburg, at which time the exclusively German period in the history of the Reformed congrega- tion of Waynesboro came to a close.
With the expiration of the German period of the Re- formed church history, the exclusively German character of the Reformed congregation at Waynesboro terminat- ed. Rev. Scholl's immediate successor was Rev. George WV. Glessner, who now assumed charge, and at once be- gan holding services in the log church in the English as well as German language. The need of a new building soon made itself felt, and a larger brick edifice was erect- ed, the cornerstone of which was laid the following spring, and the consecration of which, under the name of the German Reformed church of Waynesburg, took place about a year after the laying of the cornerstone. An ad- dition of eighteen feet was built to the rear of it about five years later. With the close of Rev. Glessner's pastor- ate, the second, or German-English, period in the con- gregation's history was brought to an end.
The present exclusively English period in the history of the Reformed church dates from the year when Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger became the pastor, whose ministry continued for five years. He was followed immediately by Rev. Theodore Appel, who served this congregation until it was severed from its former relation to the Cove- town charge, and became the center of, and gave the name to, the Waynesboro charge, consisting, besides it. of the Salem and Quincy congregations. During Rev. Appel's ministry the Harbaugh's congregation, at the foot of the South Mountain, near Pen Mar, was called into existence, about thirty-five members of the Waynesboro church entering into its organization from the start. Rev. Appel, having become pastor of the new Covetown charge, the people recalled their former pastor, Rev.
289
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
George W. Glessner, and finally withdrew from the CHAPTER XII. charge. In the autumn of that year an election was held. 1851. which resulted in the choice of Rev. J. S. Ermentrout. A call was formally extended to him, which, however, he did not see his way clear to accept. A second election took place, when Rev. H. W. Super was chosen to the pastorate. He served the congregation for more than two years, when he resigned on account of failing health. Rev. Charles F. McCauley was at once elected pastor, but declined the call. At the expiration of a year, during which the congregation was occasionally supplied with services by a committee of Mercersburg Classis, Rev. Mr. Super was re-elected and at once resumed his labors. which continued for seven years. Rev. Walter E. Krebs 1855 to 1862. was the next pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. H. H. W. Hibshman, during whose pastorate the present house of worship was erected. and dedicated as Trinity Reform- 1871. ed church of Waynesboro. The immediate successor in Trinity church of Rev. Mr. Hibshman was Rev. F. F. Bahner. the present incumbent, whose ministry has al- ready continued for a period of more than twenty-one years.
The following is a list of the clergymen of the Re- formed Church who served as pastors of Salem and Trinity churches and Salem congregation in Washington township: Rev. Cyriacus Spangenberg. Rev. Jacob Wey- mer. Rev. George Adam Cueting. Rev. William Otter- bein. Rev. Schneider, Rev. Anthony Hautz. Rev. Jona- than Rahauser, Rev. F. A. Scholl. Rev. George W. Gless- ner, Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger, Rev. Theodore Appel, Rev. George W. Glessner, Rev. Henry W. Super. Rev. W. E. Krebs. Rev. H. H. W. Hibshman, Rev. Franklin F. Bahner. The ministers from Rev. Jonathan Rahauser down served both congregations, those prior to him served Salem alone.
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