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 32
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sented to our venerable and esteemed friend and benefactor, Henry Muller, Sr., for his many labors and sacrifices in behalf of our Theological Semin- ary, and the various interests of the Church, for his generous contributions from year to year, and for his liberal donation to the Seminary, at our present session, of $4000."
Mr. Muller's benefactions toward this object did not cease with that donation; at his own expense he had a dwelling erected, costing about $2000, for the use of the second Professor, and donated it to the Synod, so that this new enterprise for the welfare of the Church could go into operation forthwith.
No one can speak too highly of Mr. Henry Muller's humble and devoted christianity, and of his never-failing and munificent acts of benevo- lence. Not only did the Theological Seminary receive a very large share of his benefactions, but churches, Sunday-schools, ministers of the Gospel, indigent students of theology, and many other persons were assisted by him with amounts in proportion to their necessities. Never in travel- ing over seventeen States of our Union has the author seen Mr. Muller's equal in every respect ; such members are a blessing to any Church.
The amount of his wealth was not enormous ; many there are in almost any Synod, who possess as much property, and even more than he did. Besides, Mr. Muller had a large family of children, to whom he gave all the advantages of a most liberal . education; but he had also a large heart, beaming
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with the love of Christ, and regarding himself merely as a steward, he was ready to aid any and every worthy object that was presented to him.
As a just tribute to his memory, the following account of his life will not be uninteresting:
Ernest Henry David Muller was born in the Kingdom of Saxony, November 20th, 1774, and was left an orphan at the early age of five or six years. He was brought up in the city of Bremen as a merchant, and came with his brother to America, December 16th, 1805, being then in his thirty-first year. He located himself at Granby, in Lexing- ton District, and engaged in merchandising, but afterwards moved his place of business to Sandy Run. He was married to a Miss Geiger, a de- scendant of the early German settlers of Saxe- Gotha Township, Lexington District, and resided near Platt Springs. He was the father of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, nine of whom survived him. He departed this life in great peace on the 12th of October, 1850, aged 75 years, 10 months and 22 days.
"In him," says the President of Synod, "the Church has lost one of its most ardent lovers, the institution at Lexington one of its warmest friends, and the Board of Directors one of its most active and useful members."
The following preamble and resolutions were adopted by Synod in memory of this mournful event :
" WHEREAS, It has pleased the kind Disposer of all human events to remove from the endearments
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of his family and friends-from the sphere of active duty in society, and his labors of love in the Church-the late Henry Muller, the Treasurer of our Seminary; and whereas it is a pious duty to cherish the memory and record for the imitation of posterity the virtues of the benevolent and pious, be it therefore-
"1. Resolved, That this Synod will cherish the memory of our deceased brother, whose whole life was an exhibition of those virtues which emphatically characterize the just man. That they feel grateful for the untiring zeal, industry and accuracy with which he performed the duties of Treasurer of the Seminary, from the time when the institution was first organized until the day of his death-and that we will ever bear in remem- brance his acts of munificence, by which we were enabled to establish a second professorship in the Seminary, and those deeds of charity which char- acterized his whole life, which rendered him an ornament to the Christian Church while living, and which will embalm his memory in the hearts of pious men of all denominations after his re- moval from the earth.
"2. Resolved, That this Synod will use their ut- most efforts to promote the best interests of those institutions in our Church which our deceased brother so strenuously labored to cherish and ad- vance; and that we feel thankful to the great Head of the Church that we have enjoyed the benefit of being stimulated by so noble an example,
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who, although dead, still speaketh to us of the high and holy duty of Christian beneficence.
"3. Resolved, That this Synod secure to the family of the deceased Henry Muller, and their descendants, one scholarship for the Seminary, as long as the institution continues to exist.
"4. Resolved, That this Synod express their sym- pathy and condolence with the bereaved family of the deceased ; that the Secretary transmit a copy of these resolutions to the bereaved widow and mourning family of the deceased, and that they be published in our minutes and in the Lutheran Observer."
Section 7. Colony of German Settlers at Walhalla, S. C .- Additional New Congregations organized -The Mississippi and Texas Missions.
The number of German settlers in Charleston, S. C., having increased rapidly within the past few years, it was deemed advisable to locate a German colony somewhere in the interior of the State. Accordingly, about the year 1850, a land company was formed among the Germans resid- ing in Charleston, through the energetic labors of Col. John A. Wagener, a public-spirited and en- terprising German, and a large body of land was purchased in Pickens District, S. C., of Col. Gresham and others.
The land was admirably located, being in the mountain regions of Carolina, exceedingly fertile and well adapted for the cultivation of all the nec-
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essary cereals, fruits and vegetables, with an abun- dant supply of excellent water, free from the heat of less elevated latitudes, and possessing a most salubrious climate, making this settlement a most desirable summer retreat for strangers from the low country. A town was soon laid out, and re- ceived the ancient German name, Walhalla, and the remaining land was divided into farms and sold to German settlers. So rapidly did the popu- lation in the new settlement increase, that Wal- halla has become a place of importance, even to native American citizens. It has, of course, a Lutheran church, for nearly all the original set- tlers are of that faith. This church was erected in 1855, under the pastoral care of Rev. C. F. Ban- semer; it was built with a spire 112 feet in height; but there are three churches of other denomina- tions likewise located in the town. Newberry College, the literary institution of the Lutheran Synod of South Carolina, has been recently re- moved to Walhalla, all of which, with its Female Seminary, its trade and its abundant railroad fa- cilities, will make Walhalla eventually one of the largest inland towns in the mountain districts of Carolina. It numbers now about 1500 inhabitants, and has recently become the county seat of Oconee County, a newly-formed judicial section of the State.
In North Carolina, under the ministry of Rev. W. G. Harter, a new Lutheran church was erected in the town of Concord, and the Lutheran portion of the old Coldwater Creek congregation trans-
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planted thither, receiving the name St. James at the day of its dedication, which event occurred on the 6th of April, 1843. The dedication sermon was preached by Rev. Henry Graeber from the text Luke 14 : 23: " Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."
In the year 1850, a new congregation was or- ganized in Rowan County, N. C., "seven miles from Salisbury, on the Beattie's Ford Road, with twenty-two members," under the ministry of Rev. B. N. Hopkins. It afterwards received the name of Salem Church. In the town of Newton, Ca- tawba County, a new mission church was estab- lished during the same year.
The Church in North Carolina under the care of the Tennessee Synod became also greatly en- larged, but it is impossible to particularize the organization of new congregations, inasmuch as these items are not reported in the minutes of that time.
" On the fourth Sabbath in May," 1842, "a new Lutheran church by the name of Corinth, in the District of Edgefield, S. C., was dedicated to the service of the triune God. The dedicatory ser- mon was preached by Rev. G. Haltiwanger, Sr., and a sermon by Rev. Wm. Berly on the doctrines, government and usages of the Lutheran Church in this country. Rev. Messrs. Aull and Leppard were present on the occasion, and rendered their appropriate share of service."
In 1843, under the ministry of Rev. G. H. Brown, a new Lutheran congregation was organ-
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ized and a church erected in Newberry District, S. C., receiving the name of Beth-Eden. It was dedicated on the second Sunday in September; the ministers present on that occasion were Revs. J. C. Hope, H. Aull and the pastor in charge.
"Another church building was erected by the St. Matthew's congregation, to be a branch of the old church, which was dedicated to the service of the triune God on Sunday, the 26th of March, 1843. Brethren in attendance-pastor in charge and Brother Sheppard. This constitutes one of the three churches connected with St. Matthews," in Orangeburg District, S. C.
St. David's Church, in Lexington District, S. C., was organized and received in connection with the South Carolina Synod in 1845.
In 1849 three new churches were dedicated for newly-organized Lutheran congregations in South Carolina, namely, one located on the Monk's Corner Road, St. Matthew's Parish, Orangeburg District, on the first Sunday in June. It is pre- sumed that this is the church called "Trinity Church."
Macedonia Church, in Lexington District, was dedicated on the fourth Sunday in September by Rev. Mr. Berly.
Another church, near Leesville, S. C., was con- secrated on the fourth Sunday in October by Revs. S. Bouknight, S. R. Sheppard and J. B. Lowman.
The Mississippi mission was commenced by the Synod of South Carolina in the year 1846, when the Rev. G. H. Brown resigned his pleasant Beth-
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Eden charge, and from conscientious convictions of duty felt himself called to labor for the Church in that promising field, where Lutheran colonists from North and South Carolina had located them- selves. The new missionary enterprise was not a mere experiment, for, " after many discourage- ments and severe trials," it became eminently suc- cessful ; the Lord blessed the labors of his faithful servant, the Rev. Mr. Brown, who had not been long in Mississippi when he called for more laborers, and in 1847, the Rev. James D. Stingley came to his assistance, who was soon followed by the Revs. S. R. Sheppard, C. D. Austin and J. T. Warner. A Synod was formed in that State in 1855, and the Lutheran Church in Mississippi, after having overcome many difficulties, appears at present to be in a prosperous condition. The Revs. Brown, Stingley and Sheppard have all been called to their final rest and reward, but their works still follow them.
In the year 1850, the South Carolina Synod sent the Rev. George F. Guebner as a missionary to the State of Texas, who, at first, traveled over a considerable portion of its territory, organizing congregations, but finally located himself in the city of Galveston. Rev. Guebner remained there but a few years, when his health failed him, and he removed to one of the Northwestern States, residing, a few years ago, in the State of Indiana, and being in connection with the Evangelical Union of the West. The Texas mission, however, is not a failure; ministers from Germany located
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themselves there soon afterwards, and in consider- able numbers, who now have a flourishing Synod in that State.
Section 8. State of the Lutheran Church in the Caro- linas, in the year 1850.
During the twenty-five or thirty years preceding the year 1850, the Lutheran Church in North and South Carolina made rapid progress in almost every respect, and without any material addition to her strength by foreign immigration, yea, even with a constant drain upon her strength by the removal of many of her members to the West. Nor has she ever made any effort to propagate her doctrines legitimately among those of no ecclesiastical connection, but rather shrank from all public notoriety, modestly laboring for the good of those, whom God had specially committed to her care; she has, notwithstanding, accom- plished an amount of good fully equal to the talent intrusted to her keeping. God has upheld her by His own right hand, and preserved her for a work and purpose that will glorify His name; and, judg- ing from the past, will make her future still more prosperous.
In 1820, when the Tennessee Synod was organ- ized, only five ministers became connected with it; and in 1850 the number had increased to twenty-eight ministers, and, had not other Synods been formed, with which some of its ministers be-
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came connected, the increase on its clerical roll would have been much larger.
The principal additions to its number of minis- ters since 1840, were Revs. John Roth and Joel W. Hull, who were ordained as deacons, Decem- ber 13th, 1841; Rev. Dennis D. Swaney, ordained as deacon in 1842; Revs. Jesse R. Peterson, Poly- carp C. Henkel, Jacob M. Schaeffer, who were ordained to the office of deacon, October 5th, 1843; Revs. J. M. Wagner, Timothy Moser, ordained to the same office, October 10th, 1844; Revs. James K. Hancher, Thomas Crouse, ordained as deacons in 1845; Rev. Adam Efird, ordained as above in 1847; Rev. D. M. Henkel, ordained October 5th, 1848; Revs. Socrates Henkel, D. Efird, J. B. Em- mert, and James Fleenor, ordained to the deacon's office in 1850. Of these, Revs. Hull, Peterson, P. C. Henkel, T. Moser, T. Crouse, A. Efird, and D. Efird, were laboring in North Carolina in 1850. The Efird brothers soon afterwards removed to South Carolina, and Rev. J. M. Wagner subse- quently labored several years in North Carolina. Rev. Adam Efird has since departed this life, Sep- tember 13th, 1870.
The North Carolina Synod was likewise largely increased by an addition of ministerial strength, but the number of its ministers became greatly reduced in 1842, by the organization of the West- ern Virginia Synod, at which time the North Carolina Synod became restricted within the limits of its own proper State boundary, whilst at the same time, nearly one-half of the strength of
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the Lutheran Church in North Carolina is em- braced in the Tennessee Synod.
The ministers who connected themselves with the North Carolina Synod since 1840, were the following:
Rev. John D. Scheck, of the South Carolina Synod, who became the pastor successively of the Salisbury, St. John's, Cabarrus County, and the Alamance pastorates. During his ministry, and in 1845, the large brick St. John's Church, in Ca -. barrus County, was erected, and was dedicated August 22d, 1846. Its dimensions are eighty by fifty-five feet, and is at present the fifth house of worship, which has been built for this congrega- tion, since the first settlement of Germans on Buf- falo Creek, and was considered at the time the largest and most commodious house of worship in Western North Carolina.
Rev. William G. Harter, also from the South Carolina Synod, became the pastor of the Concord Church, whose history has already been men- tioned.
Rev. Joseph A. Linn, a student both at Lexing- ton, South Carolina, and Gettysburg, Pennsylva- nia, and licensed in 1844, became the pastor of the Gold Hill charge, in Rowan County, where he was much beloved, and generally useful to the Lutheran Church in North Carolina. His death was a sad one : returning home on Sunday from one of his churches, he was thrown from his horse, which fractured his head, and he expired the fol- lowing Wednesday, March 16th, 1864.
Rev. J. B. Anthony was received by the North
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Carolina Synod May 6th, 1844, and labored some twenty years in the bounds of the North and South Carolina Synods, but is at present residing in the State of Pennsylvania, as pastor of the York Sul- phur Springs charge.
Revs. Fink, Coffman, and Hopkins were added to the list of ministers successively in 1847, 1848, and 1849, but their names had soon to be stricken from the roll.
Rev. Levi C. Groseclose, a student from Lexing- ton, S. C., and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was li- censed in 1849 by the West Virginia Synod, and has been doing good service in the North Carolina Synod since 1850, being at present the pastor of the St. John's charge in Cabarrus County, N. C.
The Synod of South Carolina manifested at this time a more rapid growth and a greater degree of prosperity than either the North Carolina or Ten- nessee Synods; this was owing to its Theological Seminary and extensive missionary operations outside of the limits of the State. In 1824 this Synod was organized with seven ministers, and in 1849 it had forty-six ordained and licensed minis- ters on its clerical roll; however, this number has since been reduced by the formation of the Mis- sissippi and Georgia Synods.
During the ten years preceding the year 1850, the following ministers were added to the clerical strength of the South Carolina Synod :
Rev. John F. W. Leppard, who was licensed No- vember 30th, 1841, was the pastor of St. Stephen's Church, Lexington Court-House, and Sandy Run
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Church. He was adjunct Professor of Theology at the Lexington Seminary during the years 1848 and 1849; he was an eloquent preacher, and a man greatly beloved, but departed this life, Feb- ruary 13th, 1852.
Rev. P. Kistler was licensed at the same time, and labored successively in South and North Caro- lina. He has connected himself with another de- nomination.
Rev. C. F. Bansemer entered the ministry, Feb- ruary 20th, 1842; was for several years pastor of the Lutheran Church in Walhalla, S. C., and Pres- ident of North Carolina College, at Mt. Pleasant, N. C., in 1867 and 1868.
Rev. F. W. Heemsoth was received as a member of Synod in 1842; was pastor of the German Lu- theran Church in Charleston, S. C., but returned to Germany in 1848.
Rev. Elias B. Hort was licensed in 1842; became the pastor of the Lutheran Church in Columbia, S. C., where he remained in office to the close of his life. He died January 15th, 1863.
Rev. George H. Brown's history has been given; he was licensed in 1842.
Revs. George R. Haigler and James H. Bailey were licensed November 11th, 1845. The former labored for a time in St. Matthew's Parish, Orange- burg District, after which he removed to Alabama. The latter is still doing good service in Lexington County, S. C.
Rev. L. Müller, admitted as a member of Synod in 1848. He is still the pastor of St. Matthew's
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German Lutheran Church in Charleston, S. C. His congregation has recently built a large and magnificent church edifice, which was dedicated March 28th, 1872.
Revs. E. Elmore, Eph. Kieffer, J. B. Lowman, B. N. Hopkins and Ephraim Dufford, were licensed November 24th, 1848. Revs. Elmore and Kieffer labored in Georgia; Revs. Lowman and Dufford are still laboring in South Carolina.
Rev. A. J. Karn became the pastor of the Lu- theran Church at Savannah, Georgia, in 1848, and connected himself with the South Carolina Synod the next year. "He died December 19th, 1860, in Chicago, Illinois, aged forty years."
Revs. George F. Guebner, G. D. Bernheim, Mark Posey, C. D. Austin, E. Caughman, A. W. Lindler, D. Sheely and S. W. Bedenbaugh, were admitted to the ministry November 14th, 1849, all of whom are still living except Rev. Posey, who died at Franconia, Alabama, August 26th, 1852. Revs. Caughman, Lindler and Sheely are still laboring in South Carolina; Rev. Bedenbaugh in Georgia. The history of the others has already been furnished, all of whom are still actively en- gaged in the work of the ministry.
Section 9. Concluding Remarks.
In order to understand the age in which we live, it is important and necessary that we should care- fully study the history of the past. The various
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and succeeding epochs of the world are not a num- ber of disjointed parts rudely thrown together, which might as well have happened at some other time, but a successive course of events all occur- ring "when the fulness of time was come."
The present is a development of the past; it is the child of a parent that has stamped upon it many of the characteristics and manifestations of the past. And as individuals are possessed of vir- tues and faults, so is every age in which man lives an intermixture of excellencies and errors, which the study of history enables us to discover, so that we may walk in the light of the one, and studi- ously avoid the other.
In ecclesiastical affairs it is equally important and even more necessary diligently to study the history of the past, inasmuch as an error com- mitted in the Church invariably leads to eternally fatal consequences. And that departures and errors have occurred in the Church is well known; these should be ever kept in view, like so many pillars of salt, with "Remember Lot's wife" in- scribed upon them, so as to apprise us of our dan- gers, and point out to us the path of safety.
We can become wiser than our forefathers, only when we have mastered their knowledge and ex- perience, and add our own thereto; but never by obliterating the past, and starting upon a career in the world, unprepared to meet and avoid its dangers, and unfitted to take advantage of the op- portunities it offers us.
As the Lutheran Church professes to be, and is,
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in intimate connection with the past, let her not unwisely assume the character and put on the garb of infancy, casting away her priceless history and experience, and starting upon a voyage on the ocean of life without compass, rudder, anchor, or chart.
These thoughts apply equally as well to the local history of the Lutheran Church. Here in America, yes in every Province or State, events have occurred which have had their influence upon her character, and which it is our duty to know and to study. Had there been no depar- tures either in faith or practice, there would never have been any divisions; this is a truth which ec- clesiastical history teaches us on almost every page. It was once thought wise and praiseworthy to cast aside the shackles of the past, by which the Lutheran Church was believed to have been en- slaved, and start her upon a new career with im- proved doctrines; altered forms of worship and a new cultus; but events have proved, that nothing has been gained by this departure, but rather-that thereby she "was wounded in the house of her friends."
It is needless now to conceal the divisions that are apparent in the Lutheran Church in the Caro- linas, as well as in America-they do exist; and all our lamentations, &c., cannot heal them ; they are the legitimate developments of the past; let us rather study them in the light of past experi- ence, in order that we may discover the mistakes then made, which prepared the way for such di-
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visions, and endeavor to heal them at their very root. Let us no longer make the attempt "to agree to disagree," but honestly ask for the old paths, diligently study " the faith once delivered to the saints," so that we may intelligently and " earnestly contend for it;" let us in this way seek to become united in faith and practice, not from motives of policy, but as an honest conviction of duty.
May then also this history of the Lutheran Church in the Carolinas inspire our people and their ministers with a greater respect for their time-honored Church, and build upon the founda- tion which their forefathers in the days of the Re- formers have laid, and do this with such a zeal and energy, as proceeds only from a conscientious conviction of duty ; then indeed will their labor be productive both of the dissemination of the pure doctrines of God's word, and of the glory of God in the advancement of our Savior's kingdom on earth. The fact, that inquiry has been awakened in regard to these things in the Lutheran Church both in Europe and in every section in America, is a hopeful indication of her future healthy devel- opment, and of her increased activity and pros- perity.
" Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion : for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof." Psalm 102 : 13 and 14.
THE END.
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