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A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN IN THE FIRST DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
FOSTER MELVIN BITTINGER
A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN IN THE FIRST DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
by
FOSTER MELVIN BITTINGER
for the District Committee on History
BRETHREN PUBLISHING HOUSE Elgin, Illinois
Copyright, 1945 by Foster Melvin Bittinger
From the library of
Adelle Frank.com
Printed in the United States of America by the Brethren Publishing House Elgin, Illinois
1740
1760
1780
1800
1820
1840 1860
1880 1900 1920
1940
ECKERLIN
1874 WHITE PINE
1940 BETHEL
EARLY SOUTH BRANCH
1914 OLD FURNACE
1785 BEAVER RUN
1940 WILEY FORD
1908 CAPON CHAPEL
1860 TEAR COAT
1856 HARMAN
BEGINNINGS IN THE FIRST DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
1890 SENECA 1879 RED CREEK
1924 KEYSER
1889 SUNNYSIDE
1930 PETERSBURG
OBERHOLTZERS
1849
GREENLAND
1898 NORTH FORK
1887
KNOBLEY
1868 ALLEGHENY
1901 MORGANTOWN
TRANSFERRED FROM WESTERN PA. 1940
1835
SANDY
CREEK
1855 TERRA ALTA
· 1855 EGLON
1887 FAIRVIEW, MD.
TRANSFERRED TO WESTERN MD.
C. I. Heckert
1876 BEAN
SETTLEMENT
BEGINNINGS OF CONGREGATIONS IN THE FIRST DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
1750
1760
1770
1780
1790
1800
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1940 Member ship
Name of Congregation Bethel
40
(Transferred from Western Pa., in 1940)
119
88
Petersburg Keyser
(Preaching in 1896)
134
118
Capon Chapel
North Fork
29
Seneca
Sunnyside
206
White Pine
129
Bean Settlement
63
Harman
182
Allegheny
198
Tear Coat
59
Terra Alta
410
Eglon
Eckerlin
1
1
1
1
I
889
Sandy Creek
Arnolds from Frederick, Md., to Manor Land, Va now Beaver Run. W. Va., 1785
158
Greenland
1
-
1
140
Beaver Run
Early South Branch
Markleysburg congregation to Western Pennsylvania 1
Pine Grove Fairview 1
Transferred to Western Maryland 1887
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1 1 1
C I. Heckert
Wiley Ford Morgantown
360
Old Furnace
61
(Transferred from Virginia)
149
(Asa Harman baptized 1854) (Preaching by Thomas Clark 1848),
(Preaching prior to 1831 by Elder Sam Arnold) 1 1 1 1 1 ! Elizabeth Oberholtzer from Germany first member in district
189
Knobley
-
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION, by Desmond W. Bittinger 7
PREFACE, Story of Writing 9
CHAPTER I
Our People in West Virginia 11
a. Location 11
b. Streams of Entry 12
c. Nature of Settlers and Builders
13
CHAPTER II
Beginnings Beyond the Sea
17
CHAPTER III
Beginnings in West Virginia 21
a. Oberholtzers 21
b. Eckerlins
21
c. The South Branch Church
30
CHAPTER IV
The Congregations
33
CHAPTER V
Unifying the Work in West Virginia 107
a. Recognition as a State District, and Representation at Annual Conference 107
b. The Institutions and Organizations
108
108
Religious Education
110
Camp Galilee
Council of Boards 111
Women's Work 111
Mission Board 112
Ministerial Board 113
The Orphanage 113
Men's Work 114
CHAPTER VI
Biographies
116
BIBLIOGRAPHY 175
Western Pennsylvania District
MONONGA
+20
Western Maryland District
9
PREST
MIN
JAMES
Second District of West Virginia
HARD
Northern Virginia District
RANDOL
PENDLETON
Second Virginia District
First District of West Virginia Key
(Unbroken lines indicate county boundaries. Shad- ing lines indicate congregational boundaries.)
1. Morgantown
2. Sandy Creek
3. Terra Alta
4. Eglon
5. Harman
6. Red Creek
7. Seneca
8. Allegheny
9. North Fork
10. Greenland
11. Petersburg
12. Tear Coat
13. Sunnyside
14. Knobley
15. Bethel
16. White Pine
17. Keyser
18. Beaver Run
19. Old Furnace
20. Wiley Ford
21. Bean Settle- ment
22. Capon Chapel
Map by C. I. Heckert
TÜCHER
Middle Pennsylvania District
MORGAN
INTRODUCTION
History is continuous; it flows from the past into the future. The stream is ever changing and yet it is always the same. Each of us in our turn becomes a part of this stream of history, for it can flow into the future only through us. It has flowed to where we are through the lives of our progenitors; we are where we are because of them. Others who come after us will be in better conditions or worse conditions than we because of what we do in the stream of history. Hence we are a part of the past and a part of the future; what we do is important for we must not fail either one.
To understand where we are and what we are it is helpful to know from whence we came and how we got here. The di- rections in which we are tending also become clearer when we are able to see the line of unfolding history for more than one generation.
Church history therefore is both interesting and helpful; the church historian lights up the past and focuses a beam of this light into the future. But his task is not easy. He works usually with very incomplete records, and the records he has are often inaccurately kept. Hence his findings are characterized by gaps which he cannot fill and by conflicting information con- cerning the parts he can fill. Patiently and painstakingly he must search, and carefully he must sift every finding.
It is well that Brethren church history is now being written. Already it is almost too late. Most of the stalwart Brethren of antiquity who preached churches into existence were doers rather than recorders. Their records are written only in the memories of those whose lives they influenced. And some of those are already old and many are gone. The historians must lay hold of that material now or it will soon be gone forever.
Bro. Foster M. Bittinger is qualified by birth, experience and training to write the history of the Church of the Brethren in West Virginia. There flows in his veins the mingled blood of most of those about whom he has written. He, like his ancestors, has traveled far to serve the churches of the West Virginia hills and valleys in a manner not vastly dissimilar to that herein de- scribed. Wherever he went he collected historical data until this book grew into existence.
8
FIRST DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
This history will stand as a monument to worthy work done by earnest and consecrated men. We believe that by doing that and by casting a ray of light in the direction of an-even brighter future it will have fulfilled the purpose of its author.
Elgin, Illinois, October 20, 1944.
Desmond W. Bittinger.
PREFACE
For many years there has been an interest in a history of the Church of the Brethren in the First District of West Virginia. For many years a district committee on history had been in exist- ence. They had often appealed to each of the various congrega- tions to write its own individual history, but little came of it. This committee, composed of Brethren E. T. Fike, B. W. Smith, and A. S. Arnold, had collected some material and kept the in- terest alive.
In 1938 the writer moved into the district. When a vacancy occurred on the committee by the death of Bro. Arnold, he was placed on the committee to fill the place left vacant. He was also placed on the field as district fieldman, which gave him an opportunity to visit all the congregations of the district. Thus within a short time much valuable material could be collected. There was ready and eager co-operation in every congregation. Many individuals did a great amount of work in trying to find information and answering correspondence. There is not space to mention all here, but to them all go the thanks of the com- mittee and of the church. And to the others on the committee who have ever been ready to help, who have placed all available material in their possession at my disposal, who have offered very helpful advice, I wish to give my personal thanks.
The material in chapter one on the nature of early settlers is compiled from many sources, but most valuable were the writings of John Kline, and my own observations, for I have lived among these people of the mountains and I love them. Chapter two is included for those who do not have access to a general history of the church. Chapter three contains, I be- lieve, much original material never before published in this degree of completeness. In West Virginia histories Eckerlins are erroneously referred to as Eckarlys, etc. This is a more nearly complete story than has ever before been published. The Powers of the South Branch Valley have been an interesting study. The problem of their early church has not been fully solved, but light has been found on it. The material on the congregations, institutions and biographies has been the result of hundreds of interviews, hundreds of written letters or cards requesting information, and the helpful replies of hundreds of
10
FIRST DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
people. Much of this would be unobtainable even now, for the ones who gave the information have already passed on.
We have attempted to attain completeness and accuracy in- stead of a polished treatment. Certainly we know that time will show omissions. The length of treatment of a biography, for example, is not always an indication of the importance attached to the subject. Limitation is sometimes the result of a lack of information. By decision of the committee, pictures of living ministers have been used only when they themselves supplied them. Where possible and worth while, quotations and sources have been given proper recognition and documentation. We have no claim to complete documentation, but still we ex- press appreciation to all whose sources we have used. Where necessary permission to use material has been obtainable, it has been secured. We thank the authors and the publishers for this kind permission to use copyrighted sources.
It has been a pleasure and an inspiration to be a co-worker with the many in compiling this history. A new appreciation has been born in me for the great number of sacrificing, God- loving, faithful servants of the church in West Virginia. An increased love for the church and her people and a fuller dedi- cation to the Christ and his way have come to me through this work. If something of that spirit can come from these pages to you, dear reader, then we are grateful and well paid.
Yours for a greater church,
Foster M. Bittinger, Oak View, Westernport, Maryland.
August 21, 1944
CHAPTER I
OUR PEOPLE IN WEST VIRGINIA
The First District of West Virginia is located in the eastern part of the state. It comprises most of the Eastern Panhandle and parts of the counties of Monongalia, Preston, Tucker, and Randolph in addition. It is bounded on the north by the West- ern District of Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and Middle Maryland; on the east by the districts of Northern Virginia and Second Virginia; on the south by the districts of Northern Vir- ginia, Second Virginia, and Second West Virginia; and on the west by Second West Virginia.
The boundary line as revised in 1928 by the committee from West Virginia and Northern Virginia runs as follows:
Beginning at the corner of West Virginia and Maryland at the Mason and Dixon line, running west with said line to Cheat River [since then revised to include the Morgantown congrega- tion, the line continues westward with said Mason and Dixon line to the Monongahela River, thence it runs upward with said river to Uffington, thence eastward by air-line to where the Monongahela-Preston county line crosses West Virginia Route No. 7, thence by air-line to the point on the Cheat River where Big Sandy empties into said Cheat]; then up said river and Shav- ers Fork, a branch thereof, to Meadows, east of Elkins; thence with railroad to Oxley; thence with the Pocahontas and Ran- dolph line in an easterly direction to the Pendleton line; thence in a northeasterly direction south and east of Riverton, on to Petersburg; thence with the river to Moorefield and to the bridge above Old Fields; thence with the Cunningham road across the mountain with the Wardensville road by Needmore, Bakers Mountains in a northeasterly direction to the Potomac River, just east of the Great Cacapon; thence up the Potomac River to the Fairfax Stone, thence north with the state line to the top of Backbone Mt. and with the top of the mountain to the North- west Turnpike, thence air-line to where the Yough crosses the state line; thence north with the state line to the place of beginning.
Committee: E. T. Fike, A. S. Arnold.
Motion was made that the line be established as given by the committee, with the exception of Glady and Oxley Breth- ren, that they be cared for by the Second District of Virginia as formerly.1
It is only through labor and painful effort, by energy grim
1 Minutes, District Conference, First West Virginia, 1928.
#
12
FIRST DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
and resolute, that we move on to better things. This is the les- son of history. Since we are determined to preserve the good of the heritage that is ours, the future holds great promise and grave responsibility for the wise and constructive builder of the future. These who have gone before were the trail blazers. You are the builders of the highway. You are the builders of a civilization. Will you, as they were, be creative adventurers?
Before the westward invasion of settlers, the ancient ridges between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghenies formed a great wil- derness rampart which forced the medley tidewater population into a useful and neighborly community life, but shut out a westward progress. But, roughly, the second quarter of the eighteenth century (1725-50) marks the beginning of the over- flow to the westward and southward. There were three routes of entrance into this region which is now the First District of West Virginia.
The earliest permanent settlers in the Eastern Panhandle entered from Pennsylvania by the Old Pack Horse Ford at Shepherdstown. By 1727 Morgan Morgan settled on Mill Creek in Berkeley County. In 1730 and within a few years thereafter other daring pioneers settled upon Opequen, Back Creek, Tus- carora Creek, Cacapon, and farther west on the South Branch. Down this route of migration from Germantown, Pennsylvania, via York, Frederick and Shepherdstown to the fertile South Branch Valley, came the first German settlers, likely even by 1740, who were the beginning of the Church of the Brethren in West Virginia.
This stream pushed on up the South Branch and in 1753 was met by a sudden wave of immigration coming directly westward through the mountain gaps from the Shenandoah Valley. These immigrants settled in the Upper Tract and Dyer settlements. This stream continued westward through Seneca on to Horse Camp Run, the present site of Harman. This second stream brought most of the Brethren who settled in Pendleton, Ran- dolph, and Tucker counties, who make up the churches of Sen- eca, Harman, and Red Creek, as well as the churches of the Sec- ond District.
The third stream of immigration, which brought the Breth- ren to Preston, came over the newly built Braddock Road. A branch of that stream turned off to the southward to settle the
13
OUR PEOPLE IN WEST VIRGINIA
Sandy Creek Glades of northern Preston County in 1769. This was after the fateful ending of the Eckerlin attempt on Dunkard Bottom in Preston, and after the ending of the French and Indian Wars, which established peace on the frontier in West Virginia.
Of course the very earliest route of migration to Preston County was the Great War Path of the Indians from "Ohio via Fish creek and Indian creek and White Day creek through Pres- ton County (near the site of Masontown and Reedsville and crossing Cheat at Dunkard Bottom) to the South Branch of the Potomac-a route much used by the Indians in their attacks on the white settlements"2 in the South Branch Valley. This was the pathway of the Eckerlins and the Pringles, and after the Revolution of many of the German settlers and Brethren to the southern part of Preston County.
The close of the French and Indian War and of the Revolu- tionary War established peace on the frontier, and the barrier of the Allegheny was finally broken. Settlement came rapidly. But the Brethren were late. Not until about 1820 did they begin to penetrate into Preston County and westward from the Alle- gheny. Thus after the first attempt by the Eckerlins in 1750 nearly three quarters of a century passed before Brethren feet trod the wilderness paths west of the Alleghenies.
The people of the mountains of West Virginia may be care- less in clothes and personal appearance but they have redeeming qualities and produce a good class of American citizens. They are a kind, sympathetic, hospitable group, American to the core, and about as free from class feeling as you can find anywhere. A hired man or girl is one of the family. These pioneers had to stand together for convenience and protection, and the habit has been handed down. Whenever one needs help he is likely to get it. There is an inbred courtesy if sometimes an awkwardness in expressing it. Gross crimes are not common here. In many places people go away and leave their homes unlocked. This is especially true in Brethren communities.
John Kline of sainted memory through these parts was the very first minister to bring and carry on what may be called an aggressive effort to spread a knowledge of gospel truth through the present counties of Pendleton, Hardy, Grant, Hampshire, Mineral, Randolph, Pocahontas, and others. He knew the dis-
2 Callahan, J. M., Semi-Centennial History of West Virginia, 1913. Page 10.
14
FIRST DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
trict well in the middle part of the nineteenth century. He was one of the overseers of part of the territory. I should like to convey to you his impression of the people and the country, sometimes quoting directly and sometimes condensing some- what. The following is from his diary for the year 1859:
Those living in the highly cultivated States of our Union can hardly bring their minds to realize the conditions in which those people lived at the time that Brother Kline and Brother Thomas were laboring so faithfully among them. Let me sketch a pic- ture of the average house, its surroundings, and its occupants: It is a log house, built up by notching the ends of the logs so as to fit together at the corners, and rises high enough in the middle to make one story below and a half story above. A high chim- ney of stones is built up on the outside, with the wide fireplace on the inside. The chinks between the logs are filled up with a mortar composed of clay and straw. The chimney is supplied with one extra small flue at the side of the large flue, and at the bottom of the small flue, about four feet above the hearth, is a small opening for light. This light is produced from the burn- ing of small pieces of rich pine knots placed in the small open- ing, and as one piece burns out another is inserted, the smoke from the pine, the meanwhile, being carried off through the small flue. Above the door of entrance antlers in pairs may be seen carefully fastened to the side of the house, as evidences of success in deer hunting. And more than once did two brethren ministers feast on venison in the present journey, for it was the chosen season for deer hunting. When the house is approached by a stranger, the father, if present, stands near the door with a doubtful look, as much as to ask within himself: "Who can that be, and what is fetching him here?" He has, however, a kind heart under a rough exterior. His wife is diffident at the first introduction, but gain her confidence by true Christian behavior, and you find the heart of a true woman in her. The children retire upon the stranger's first entering the house, but let him show a love for them, and they will soon play with his watch chain and ask him what it is for.3
I love to go to the mountains. The people seem to pay bet- ter attention to what is said, and manifest better behavior at our meetings than they do in the more thickly settled portions of our state. It is true that ignorance abounds in some places; but are the souls of the poor less dear to our Lord than the souls of the rich? On one occasion the Lord referred to the fact that the Gospel was preached to the poor as a proof of its heavenly origin. But there are intelligent people living among these mountains. And in the way of hospitality and genuine kindness, meeting you with a smile and hearty welcome, they are probably un- surpassed as a people, rich and poor alike.4
3 Funk, Benjamin, Life of John Kline, Pages 422ff.
+ Įbid. Page 260,
15
OUR PEOPLE IN WEST VIRGINIA
The indoctrination of these people into the beliefs and prac- tices of Revealed Truth as held by the Brethren was so profound, so clear, so convincing, that they today stand abreast of others in defense of these doctrines as at first received, in the face of all isms and religious innovations of the time.5
It is true even to 1943.
The people living among the mountains are generally hos- pitable, and much attached to the scenes of their childhood and that wild freedom of nature found in the mountains that sur- round them. The motto engraved upon the State Seal of West Virginia is very expressive-translated it reads thus: "Moun- taineers are ever free." The people are noted for the attention with which they listen to the preaching of the Gospel. Bro. Kline often spoke of the pleasure it gave him to preach in these sections, because the word was received with so much readiness. His success among them proved this. They were devotedly at- tached to him, and it is questionable if in any part of the brother- hood deeper grief was felt over his martydom than that which filled the hearts of the brethren and sisters and friends in West Virginia.6.
Among the Brethren of West Virginia we find such names as Abraham, John, Jesse, Samuel, Rachael, Rebecca, Peter, Thomas, and Sarah from the Old Testament, and from the New Testa- ment and its influence such as James, John, Nathaniel, Peter, Phoebe, Christian, Michael, Magdalena, Christinia, Charity, and many others showing something of the place the Bible held in their lives.
Some of these colonists grew cold and were finally lost to the . church, but most came to their new homes bringing with them both their religion and their Bibles. They set up Christian homes faithful to the vows they had made beyond the mountains. These few increased in numbers and in soul-winning influence, and grew into prosperous churches. In this way the Brethren churches on the West Virginia frontier were extended. Each family became a root and from these roots in time came the fruitage in a Brethren community.
During the last quarter century, however, many young people have been going away for training and education. Many remain away. This district needs more of those youth who will come back with broader and more progressive views. There is much room for mission work right here, as there was in the days of the beloved John Kline, the Arnolds, the Fikes, the Thomases,
5 Ibid. Page 261.
6 Ibid. Page 434.
16
FIRST DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
and others. Folks take well to new ideas and are eager to learn. Modern conveniences, good roads, and electricity have come to almost every section of the district. It is taking well to the best of the modern world. A more adequate leadership is needed among many of the smaller churches. Who will answer the call?
CHAPTER II
BEGINNINGS BEYOND THE SEA
The Church of the Brethren was born out of the religious chaos following the Reformation in Germany. The Roman Cath- olic Church had become corrupt and lost its grip. The Lutheran and Reformed churches had made an attempt at religious free- dom, but soon came under the protection of the state, and these three churches became the official churches, meting out persecu- tion to all who dared to profess any other faith. The Pietists pleaded for greater personal purity and more humility, and taught that religion was essentially a matter of heart.
Thought was, however, terribly confused; almost everybody was interested in religion and took a hand in discussing it, yet comparatively few would have been able to give a clear, con- cise statement of what they believed, or why they believed as they did.1
A Way was needed. To the founders of the Church of the Brethren, no creed, but the New Testament, was to be the Way. They believed that it furnished a complete guide, and by prayer and fasting, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, sought to find the Way. That Way led them out of chaos to a course of action, a new life.
Added to the religious terror were the many years of almost constant warfare. The fateful Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) in- volved all of continental Europe. In 1688 there began "a chap- ter in the history of the Palatinate which has no parallel in the history of the world, for savage brutality, and atrocities perpe- trated by French soldiers. ... The whole country was pillaged and made desolate; towns and cities were laid in ashes, and more than one hundred thousand of the inhabitants murdered. . . . There was no letting up of these outrages by the French until the year 1697 when peace came with the treaty of Ryswick."2 This experience made a war-weary and a war-hating people.
Into that world Ernst Hochmann was born in 1670 and in it
1 Flory, J. S., Literary Activity of the Brethren in the Eighteenth Century. Page 2.
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