USA > South Carolina > History of the German settlements and of the Lutheran church in North and South Carolina : from the earliest period of the colonization of the Dutch, German, and Swiss settlers to the close of the first half of the present century > Part 15
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In this manner did the greater number of these
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German settlers suffer, inasmuch as a special ha- tred was manifested towards them by their enemies during the war, since they were residents of that patriotic county, whose citizens had first declared their sentiments of independence in the Mecklen- burg Declaration, May 20th, 1775. Some one or two German names from this section of that county may be distinguished as signers of that Declara- tion.
Governor Tryon, who came to this part of North Carolina on a visit, with the view of again con- ciliating matters in favor of the existing govern- ment, some few years before the Revolution, when the Regulators had enlivened the minds of the people against the tyrannical authorities of the Province, arrived in the settlement on Dutch Buf- falo Creek, and lodged with Captain Barringer, who was well known for his influence and hospi- tality.
"The story is," continues his grandson, "that the Governor appeared in full uniform, with a cocked hat and sword, drank freely of the Cap- tain's rich wine, which was always kept on hand, condescended to try his skill in mowing the green meadows of Dutch Buffalo, and left fully per- suaded, so kind and generous was the entertain- ment, that he had not a stancher friend in all the country as ' the gallant Dutchman.' But in this he was, of course, sadly disappointed."
In the old church record-book, and in the old minutes of the North Carolina Synod, the congre- gation of St. John's is known as "Dutch Buffalo
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Creek Church," because its members were princi- pally located along that stream of water, and be- cause their first place of worship and their first graveyard had its location near the same creek, three miles distant from its present situation. The first church edifice was, of course, exceedingly plain, made of unhewn logs, and served the people the double purpose of a schoolhouse and place of worship. Both the German Reformed and Lu- therans worshiped in the same building for a certain period of time, after which a more com- modious building was erected for the united wor- ship of the two denominations, about half a mile removed from the location of the present church edifice. This second building, in point of archi- tectural style, was but little better than the former, except that it was somewhat larger, and fitted for the exclusive use of Divine worship.
About the year 1771, the members of the Lu- theran Church, at the suggestion of Captain John Paul Barringer, separated themselves from their German Reformed brethren, and built their own church on the site of the upper portion of the present graveyard. The work was undertaken by Daniel Jarrett, whilst Captain Barringer acted as the building committee. This church was built chiefly at his own expense, and out of gratitude to him the congregation had a pew constructed for the special benefit of himself and family, which was somewhat raised above the others, located in a prominent place in the church, and inclosed. He was a true-hearted and thorough Lutheran, devot-
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edly attached to his church, and seemed to have been a defender of the rights of the German set- tlers there, and a leading man among them.
It was not until the year 1774, that the congre- gation obtained their first pastor, who had been laboring about a year and some months at Organ Church and in Salisbury, and who had been brought to America by a deputation sent from Organ and St. John's Churches to Germany, in 1773. He located himself about one and a half miles east of St. John's Church, on a tract of land of his own entry or purchase, and labored faith- fully all the remaining days of his life among this people. The congregation also secured about the same time the services of a Mr. Friesland as their schoolteacher.
On the 22d of October, 1782, three benevolent members of the church council, Jacob Fegert, Marx Haus, and Jacob Thieme, paid the sum of fifty shillings, the accustomed rate, for one hun- dred acres of government land, on a portion of which the church had already been built, and en- tered it "in trust for the congregation of Dutch Buffalo Meeting-House." This wise procedure manifested considerable forethought in those first members of the church, for the land is now valu- able, and has been of much service to the congre- gation.
A short time before the close of the war, which had already so sadly affected all the peaceful pur- suits of life, and disarranged much of the affairs of the church, when the prospect of peace and pros-
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perity reanimated all hearts, a constitution was adopted for the government of this congregation. It is written in the German language, and in Pas- tor Nussmann's handwriting, inscribed in the an- tiquated church-book, still carefully preserved.
This constitution was compiled, as stated by Rev. Nussmann, from the "Kirchenordnung of our Evangelical brethren in Smyrna, and the one used in England and Holland, but made suitable to the circumstances of our country." From this constitution, which is exceedingly strict, both in doctrine and discipline, the following facts are gathered:
1. That the church was placed under the super- vision of the Consistory of Hanover and the Uni- versity of Göttingen, and that, whenever the congregation should be in want of a pastor, ap- plication was to be made to that Consistory or University. However, in case of war or other untoward circumstances, when correspondence would necessarily be interrupted, the congrega- tion was then to apply to the ministry in connec- tion with the Pennsylvania Synod.
2. That the pastor was bound to confess himself with heart and mouth to the symbolical books of our Evangelical Church.
3. That the pastor was to be in regular corres- pondence with the brethren of the same faith in Europe; that he was to send them minute reports of church matters every six weeks, asking aid and counsel whenever the circumstances required it, as soon as the long-wished-for peace would once
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more open conveniences for correspondence be- tween Europe and America.
4. A regular support for the pastor and school- teacher was expected from the members, and be- fore they could engage the services of either, it was made binding upon them to state the positive annual amount of salary for their support in the written call. A portion of the schoolteacher's salary consisted in the use of a certain amount of good land, which the members were to cultivate for him, and also to gather the grain, hay, &c., into his barn, when the proper season arrived.
5. Provision was also made for orphan children and such other persons, as were in needy circum- stances.
6. All marriages had to be proclaimed, accord- ing to the custom of the country, three Sundays in succession before the marriage could take place, and none except the minister was allowed to per- form the ceremony.
7. The church council were usually designated, according to the recommendation of this constitu- tion, as adjunct executors in all wills and testa- ments, for the purpose of taking special care of the children of the deceased in their religious education.
8. The following order of service for public worship in the sanctuary was established :
a. A hymn of praise.
b. A collect, or the epistle for the day.
c. The principal hymn.
d. Reading of the Scriptures.
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e. The creed, or a short Sunday hymn.
f. The sermon.
g. The singing of a few verses.
h. A short catechetical exercise.
¿. A long prayer, suitable either to the catechi- zation, sermon, or other circumstances.
k. The benediction.
l. The concluding verse of the principal hymn.
9. The liturgy adopted by this congregation was the one used in the German Lutheran Court Chapel of St. James, in London ; and the Marburg hymn-book, which was reprinted for the use of the churches in Germantown and Philadelphia, was also introduced in the worship of this congregation.
Section 13. The Delegation sent from North Caro- lina to Europe for Pastors and Teachers, and the subsequent organization of the Helmstaedt Mission Society.
The German settlements in the interior of North Carolina, although commenced in the year 1750, were of very gradual growth, owing to the pecu- liar manner in which they were made. They were not favored with shiploads of emigrants direct from Germany; their increase of colonists depended on the overland route, made in wagons and on foot, from the Province of Pennsylvania. It took all of fifteen or twenty years before these settlers were sufficiently numerous to form them- selves into congregations, but after these congre-
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gations were organized, the urgent want of the regular administration of the word and sacraments was also felt. The slow but gradual increase of these German settlements will account for the ap- parent tardiness which these settlers manifested in sending for ministers of the Gospel, and the manner in which they journeyed to North Caro- lina made it almost impossible for them to take their pastors with them. But after the harvest was ripe for the sickle, where to obtain pastors for their newly organized congregations, that was a question not easily answered. The Synod of Pennsylvania had no ministers to spare, for even in that favored Province the want of ministers was greatly felt, having to apply constantly to the Church in Germany to supply the wants of their ever-increasing German population and churches, and to go farther South for ministerial help was utterly useless, for there the want and scarcity was still greater.
In view of this great want, felt everywhere among the Germans in America at this time, Dr. Muhlenberg expresses himself as follows (Evang. Review, vol. i, p. 414): " True, enough teachers and false apostles may be found, who pervert the word of God, and manufacture the most baneful sects with it! O how necessary, useful, and con- solatory would it not be, if we were able to erect a long-wished-for institution, in which Catechets could be trained who would be capable and willing to teach school during the week, and to deliver a discourse (Vortrag) on the Lord's day. It would
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not be necessary to torment such subjects many years with foreign languages; it would be suffi- cient if they possessed mother wit, a compendious knowledge and experience of the marrow and sap of theology, could write a tolerable hand, under- stood their vernacular (German) and the English tongues, and the elements of Latin. They should also possess a robust bodily constitution, able to endure every kind of food and weather, and espe- cially have a heart that sincerely loves Jesus and his lambs.
"In America there are schools, gymnasiums, academies, and universities enough (and their number is multiplying with the increased taste) for lawyers, notaries, physicians, philosophers, candidates for benefices, critics, orators, sea cap- tains, merchants, artists, &c., &c., but who helps the half-dead man that has fallen among thieves, and lies bleeding ? Priests and Levites pass by on the other side, for their law forbids them to touch anything unclean. And if occasionally some be found who profess themselves Samaritans, they have, notwithstanding, ofttimes unrighteous ob- jects ; bind up, it is true, the wounds of the help- less sufferer, and set him on their own beast, but, at the same time, expect as a recompense to own him entirely and to lead him to their sectarian inn, when the proverb is verified, 'The remedy is worse than the disease,' as can be shown by many ex- amples. This matter belongs to the pia desideria (pious desires), which are more easily accomplished in theory than in practice."
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The newly organized Lutheran congregations in North Carolina had only one other resource remaining, and that was-to send to Europe for pastors and teachers for this new and promising field of labor among the Germans in this Prov- ince; and these congregations were not slow in making this resource available, as may be seen by examining the records of the old church-book be- longing to Organ Church. They well knew that to send letters or petitions to Europe for pastors and teachers would accomplish but little, hence they resolved to send a delegation, who could make personal appeals to the hearts of their brethren of the same faith, describe the wants of the churches in North Carolina, and answer any question relative to the country in which they re- sided, support of the pastor, &c. Accordingly, in the year 1772, Christopher Rintelmann, from Organ Church, in Rowan County, and Christopher Layrle, from St. John's Church, in Mecklenburg County, were sent as a delegation to Europe, for the purpose of applying to the Consistory Council (Consistorialrath) of Hanover, in Germany, for a supply of ministers of the gospel and school- teachers, for the various Lutheran congregations then organized in North Carolina. The reason is also stated, why the delegation were instructed to apply to the proper authorities in Hanover in preference to any other place or kingdom: "Be- cause at that time North Carolina, as well as all the other free American States, was under the
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jurisdiction of the king of England, who was at the same time elector of Hanover."
These commissioners traveled first to London, and from thence they journeyed to Hanover, and there, in accordance with their instructions, to bring at least one pastor and a schoolteacher with them, and through the kind efforts of "the late Consistory counsellor, Götten," they obtained the Rev. Adolph Nussmann as their pastor, and Mr. Gottfried Arndt as schoolteacher; both of whom arrived safely in North Carolina in 1773.
But this was not all the good which these com- missioners effected, for by their faithful represen- tations of the condition and want of the churches, the Lutheran congregations in North Carolina, as already seen from the constitution of St. John's Church, were placed under the supervision of the Consistory of Hanover and the University of Göttingen, from which they were promised and expected both pecuniary assistance and a further supply of ministers and teachers; and had it not been that the Revolutionary War broke out shortly afterwards, which stopped all communication with Europe for a period of nearly eight years, there is no calculating how much the Lutheran Church in the Carolinas would have been benefited by the arrangement made with the parent Church in Hanover. Even after the war ended, as will be seen in the next chapter, the money that had been collected in Hanover for St. John's Church, which was feared to have been lost or forfeited on ac- count of the action which the Germans in North
22
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Carolina took in the war, was nevertheless paid over to that congregation, according to the origi- nal intent of the donors.
One effect, however, the Revolutionary War did have upon the Consistory of Hanover and the University of Göttingen, although the cause or reason is not stated; the supervision of the Lutheran Church in North Carolina was placed in the hands of the professors of the Julius Charles University of Helmstaedt, in the Duchy of Bruns- wick. Doubtless the parent Church in Hanover became indifferent to the wants of the Lutheran congregations in North Carolina, because the re- volt of the American Colonies was against the reigning house of Hanover, who was, as already seen, at the same time king of Great Britain, which may have occasioned the transfer of the care of the North Carolina mission field to the Duchy of Brunswick.
Rev. John Caspar Velthusen, D.D., theological professor of the Julius Charles University, in Helmstaedt, and abbot of the cloister of Marien- thal, became the leading spirit of this newly- formed mission society, organized for the super- vision and care of the Lutheran churches in North Carolina; with him were associated the Rev. Prof. Henke, and the Professors Crell, Klügel, and Bruns. The labors of this society, if formed be- fore the close of the Revolutionary War, were in- terrupted during that stormy period, when all communication between Europe and America ceased, but became exceedingly efficient for the
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welfare of the North Carolina mission field soon after peace was again established, and to this Helmstaedt mission society is all the honor due, for having saved the Lutheran Church in North Carolina from sinking into decay, if not from total annihilation. It commenced, or recom- menced, its labors for the North Carolina mission field on the 14th of October, 1786.
Section 14. The Labors of Revs. Nussman and Arndt in North Carolina.
The Lutheran Church in North Carolina was peculiarly fortunate in obtaining the services of so learned, devoted and self-sacrificing a Chris- tian minister as was its first pastor, the Rev. Adolph Nussmann. His praise was in all the churches; men did him honor who had never known him, but heard of his influence and suc- cessful labors among the German settlers. Rev. Dr. Caruthers, a Presbyterian minister, speaks of him in the highest terms of praise. Rev. Dr. Velthusen in Germany does the same. Nussmann was indeed a man who might have filled with honor the highest position in any Church or liter- ary institution, but was content to labor for the cause of Christ, and to sacrifice himself among the unambitious but honest German agriculturists of North Carolina.
He located himself at first in Rowan County, near Second Creek, and served Organ and Salis- bury Churches, whilst the newly arrived teacher,
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J. G. Arndt, occupied himself in giving instruc- tion to the children and youth.
After having taken a survey of the field of min- isterial labor in the interior of the Province, Rev. Nussmann perceived that it was already ripe for the harvest, and that he could effect but little by himself; the demands upon his time and energy would be far too great, were he to endeavor to supply all the Lutheran churches, then existing in that Province, with the appointed means of grace, and to labor simply as a missionary, organizing congregations, preaching and administering the sacraments among and in all of them, would effect but little good, unless these churches could be soon supplied with pastors: a number of congre- gations were already organized, and were hunger- ing after the bread of life.
His only alternative was to have the teacher Arndt ordained, who indeed had received an ex- cellent education in Germany, where much is re- quired of a teacher, and make him a co-laborer in this hopeful field; so, after having properly arranged all Church affairs in Rowan County, he resigned the charge into the hands of Rev. Arndt, and removed to St. John's Church, in Mecklen- burg County, where he labored industriously and faithfully all the remaining years of his life. He also made a number of missionating tours to Davidson, Guilford, Orange, Stokes and For- sythe Counties, "strengthening the things that remained," organizing Lutheran congregations,
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and serving them occasionally, particularly in the two last-mentioned counties.
Rev. Arndt's labors were chiefly confined to Rowan County until after the close of the Revo- lutionary War, when, in 1786, he removed to Lincoln County, and became the acknowledged founder of the Lutheran Church west of the Catawba River.
It must not be supposed that Nussmann's labors, confined to the wants of St. John's Church, would be comparatively light, except when he made mis- sionary visits to other counties-nothing is farther from the truth. It was the custom in those co- lonial times, when the population was sparse, to have but one church centrally located in a county or district, and the people would come from a great distance to attend divine service, and attach themselves to the congregation, the bounds of which often embraced a territory within the radius of fifty miles, except where it came near to another church of the same faith in an adjoining county. This was the case with St. John's Church, out of which sprang a number of other congregations, located now in the same and different counties, all of which were faithfully and regularly supplied with the word and sacraments by Pastor Nuss- mann, until after his death the necessity arose for organizing new and separate churches. The same may likewise be said of the labors of Rev. Arndt, inasmuch as Rowan County embraced at that time all the territory of Davie, Iredell, and Davidson Counties.
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Fifteen years did these two faithful servants of God labor alone, under many difficulties and pri- vations, and through all the stormy period of the Revolution, before any additional laborers were sent to their assistance; however, they succeeded, by the blessing of God, in preserving life among those congregations that were remotely located from them, and in building up those of which they were the regular pastors.
Dr. Caruthers states, that in connection with the occasional labors of Rev. Nussmann among the German settlers of Guilford and Orange, the Rev. Mr. Beuthahn, a German Reformed minister, organized congregations in that territory, and preached for them, but supported himself princi- pally by teaching a German school in the south- east corner of Guilford County. Many of these congregations held the church property jointly with the Lutherans, and each denomination had alternate use of these churches.
Section 15. Character of the Lutheran ministry in the Carolinas previous to the Revolutionary War ; their piety, learning, firm adherence to the Con- fessions of their Church, faithfulness in the dis- charge of their ministerial duties ; liturgical worship, &c.
The testimony of all the ancient records of the ante-revolutionary period, concerning the charac- ter of the early Lutheran ministry in the Carolinas,
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is so excellent and so impartially written, even by those who were in no way connected with the Lutheran Church, that it is refreshing to read them; God be praised, that, in the period of the founding of our Church in these two provinces, so excellent a beginning was made, the best and the most competent men were sent by the parent Church in Europe to labor in this field; and whilst the great want of ministers at that time did bring into the field some, who were not so distinguished for their learning, and others, like Revs. Wartman and Daser, who were possessed of characteristics calculated to interfere with their usefulness, never- theless, the majority of the Lutheran ministers of that period, and who may be regarded as the early fathers of their Church, and certainly the best entitled to that distinction, were men of the noblest traits of character, and efficient in accomplishing a vast amount of good. Their faith and piety were made manifest without seeking public noto- riety, and the noblest monument reared to their memory are the works which followed them, which still speak to their praise, though many of theni now slumber in unknown graves.
They were men of learning, and might have filled positions of honor and usefulness in their native country ; but, possessed of the true mission- ary spirit, they sacrificed all temporal advantages, in order that they might labor for the welfare of the souls of their neglected brethren in America, and build up the Church in that section of the country to which they had been sent. And when
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they arrived, great were the privations and hard- ships which they had to endure, and which can never be fully estimated without contemplating all the circumstances of colonial times; they not only felt the absence of relatives, friends of their youth, college and university associates, but also the want of frequent intercourse with ministerial brethren, of men of learning and refinement, of the literature of the day, of the comforts of ad- vanced civilization, and even of good roads and conveniences for travelling. They were isolated and, so to speak, walled-in by the primeval forests, and were subjected to the constant intercourse with persons who, whilst they respected, esteemed and loved their ministers, never could enter into their feelings of refinement, nor appreciate any intellectual conversation.
The early records also indicate, that the Lutheran ministers of that period were firm believers in the doctrines of their Church, and unconditional ad- herents to the manner in which these doctrines were set forth in the Symbolical books. For proof of this we are directed first to the Urlsperger Reports. Rev. Bolzius makes the following record in his journal, under date, May 15, 1734: " This morning we returned to Habercorn, where we administered the Lord's Supper to two sick per- sons, who rejoiced that their souls were refreshed with the eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ. We held a short preparatory discourse on the words : ' Whosoever will come unto me, I will in no wise cast out,' to which they attentively
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