KEEPING THE FAITH

 

Stained Glass Window in Frieden's Church 
  Memorial to Gottfried Fidler Jr. 

On this glorious Easter Day of celebration and thanksgiving for our Lord and Savior’s sacrifice and gift of eternal life to all of us, I pause to remember my ancestors who placed God at the center of their lives. Many of them were founders of churches that played a vital role in their family life, community, and the history of our nation. These men and their families left behind a legacy of faith and remnants of their material wealth to extend their Christian service beyond their years on earth. I remember and honor them.

Frieden's Church and Graveyard 

GOTTFRIED JR. AND ELIZABETH SCHAUER FIDLER 

FRIEDEN’S CHURCH – BERNVILLE, PA

The Lutheran Faith was a central part of my 6Xs great-grandparents, Gottfried Jr. and Elizabeth Schauer Fidler’s life, just as it had been for their ancestors. Both were born in colonial New York, in 1715 and 1720, after their parents crossed the Atlantic as indentured servants to Great Britain. They were released from servitude and moved to the new Province of Pennsylvania in the early 1730s. Four of the Fidler children were baptized in the Little Tulpehocken Church (see below) by Rev. John Casper Stoever between 1740 and 1747.[1] The church, also known as Christ’s Church, was located one and a half miles south of Bernville. Another son was baptized in 1750 by Rev. Stoever at Old Northkill Church, now known as Evangelical Lutheran Friedens Church. The German word “Frieden” translates to “Peace” in English.  

On Christmas Day 1745, Gottfried Jr. and his neighbor Samuel Filbert each donated an acre of land to the old Northkill congregation’s trustees for the site of the original log church. The Friedens Church built on that land in Bernville in 1897 contains two splendid stained-glass windows as memorials to Gottfried and Samuel for their generosity.[2]

 

Christ Little Tulpehocken Church

JOHANN MICHAEL AND ELIZABETHA CATHARINA LAUCK SCHAUER

CHRIST LITTLE TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH – BERNVILLE, PA 

Like most Palatine immigrants, Elizabeth Schauer Fidler’s father, Michael, was a devout member of his faith community. He was part of a group of charter members that formed Christ Lutheran Church in 1743. Michael, age 44, and his son Adam, age 25, were listed on a document placed in the cornerstone of the church when it was built.[3] He was also on the membership roll of the “Tulpehocken Church” from 1743 to 1746, made by the Rev. Tobias Wagner, the first pastor of the Lutheran Congregation in the township.[4] Michael made yearly donations of fifteen shillings to support the church. On May, 17, 1744, the Lutheran Society of Tulpehocken Township granted 35 acres of land along Tulpehocken Creek to Michael Schauer and Jacob Miller as trustees for the church.[5] Michael was replaced on a patent to the land on November 20, 1747, by five new trustees because he “Left the said township...to reside in another and distant part of the said province and is no longer a member of the said Society of Lutherans.”[6]

Bell From the Original St. Daniel's Church

Farmland Adjoining St. Daniel's Church 

Current St. Daniel's Church 

ST. DANIEL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH – ROBESONIA, PA

The Schauers were involved in the establishment of a new congregation, when they relocated. They contributed one-half acre of their property near Robesonia to the Dutch Lutheran Church and Congregation for St. Daniel’s Church when it was formed on May 30, 1751. Michael, his brother-in-law Abraham Lauck, and neighbor Johannes Artz each donated adjoining tracts of land for “a place to erect a House of Religious Worship for the Use and Service of said Congregation and if occasion shall require, for a place to bury their Dead.” Each man received five shillings (worth about 75 cents today) in the transaction. The early name of the church was “Eck Kirche,” meaning “Corner Church,” because it was located at the intersection of the boundaries of the three farms. The first house of worship was constructed of stone, rather than the typical rough-hewn logs that were commonly used in the area in midcentury. The 40 feet long, 36 feet wide and 20 feet high structure was completed in 1754. The masonry and carpentry work on the doors, pews, etc. was done by local craftsmen.[7]

 

 

St. John's Hain's Church and Old Graveyard

HENRY AND MAGDALENA MEYER WERNER

ST. JOHN’S HAIN’S CHURCH – WERNERSVILLE, PA

Henry Werner and his wife, Magdalena Meyer were probably both born circa 1746, but their exact ages, their parents’ names, place of birth, and details about their early lives remain a mystery. They almost certainly spoke German and embraced the traditions their families brought from “the old country.” The couple was first documented as residents of Heidelberg Township in 1779 when Henry was listed as a taxpayer in the first Pennsylvania Septennial Census.[8]

Attendance at St. John’s Hain’s Reformed Church played an integral role in the lives of the Werner family. After Henry and Magdalena arrived in Heidelberg, their newborn children were baptized in the stone house of worship built in 1766.[9] The book of church history documented the lives of the congregation and had an extraordinarily beautiful phrase preceding the infant baptism records. “May God strike their names from the Records of sin and inscribe them in the Book of life—Amen.”[10]

One church deacon was appointed each year and Henry served as the St. John’s Hain’s Deacon in 1787. His son William served in the same capacity in 1810 and grandsons Henry and Thomas served in 1839 and 1847.[11] After William’s death, three of Henry’s grandsons donated one acre of land adjacent to the church as their subscription to repair, renovate and modernize the church in 1845. In addition, two other church members purchased ten acres from the public sale of Henry’s grandson’s (also named Henry) estate which they sold to the church in 1890 at a discount of $100.00, less than the market value of the land.[12]

Original Stone with German Inscription from 1766 

“Hain’s” was established in 1735 as a Reformed house of worship and parts of the present structure were built in 1766. Many of my ancestors from the Kerschner, Lerch, Fidler, Werner, Lieb, and Lash families were members of the church or were baptized, married, and buried in Hain’s. Johannes Kirschner, my 7Xs great-grandfather, was recognized as an important member of Hain’s in 1740. Johannes’ grandson, Conrad Kerschner Jr. purchased a home and farm from the Hain family and lived near Hain’s from 1772 until about 1803. My 4Xs great-grandparents, Johannes and Anna Catharina Lasch Lerch also lived on property adjoining the Werner and church land and are buried in the church graveyard. Johannes’ parents, Niclaus and Elizabeth Lerch and grandparents, Caspar and Anna Margaretha Fuchs Lerch are also buried in the old graveyard.

My Sister and Me in St. John's Hain's Sanctuary

My 4Xs great-grandfather Henry Fidler was baptized in the sanctuary in 1780, and my 2Xs and 3Xs great-grandmothers, Kate Lieb McWilliams and Malinda Werner Lieb and were baptized in 1858 and 1836, respectively.

 

Christ Yocum's Church 

Graveyard on Land Donated by the Werner Family 

CHRIST YOCUM’S CHURCH - GRILL, PA

In 1822, Henry and Magdalena Werner’s heirs donated a small plot of land from their parents’ estate to be used to establish a school, church, and burial ground in Cumru Township. It was originally the site of Angelica Schoolhouse Church, a unique octagonal stone building a few feet east of the present building. Christ Yocum’s Church and Cemetery now occupy the property.[13]

Current Zion's Church

 

Conrad Kerschner's Stone in the Graveyard Wall

Conrad Kerschner Memorial Stone

JOHANN CONRAD AND ANNA CATHERINA BECK KERSCHNER

ZION’S CHURCH – HAMBURG, PA

My 6Xs great-grandfather, Conrad Kerschner, traveled to Philadelphia in 1759 and petitioned the Penn family for forty acres to build a Reformed Church in the vicinity of the village of Windsor Castle. He was successful in receiving a land grant and the first log church was built in 1761 at the foot of the hill where the present imposing red brick structure stands. Services were held in Conrad’s barn until the church was completed and again during the Revolutionary War, when the church was used to store military supplies. Conrad and his wife Anna Catherina Beck lived a short distance down the road to the west and are buried in the oldest section of the cemetery near the site of the first church. His original headstone, a memorial boulder, and an engraved stone in the old rock wall around the cemetery pay homage to Conrad’s contribution to the founding of Zion’s.

 

Stephen and Ruhama Groom Smith's Headstone

STEPHEN AND RUHAMA GROOM SMITH

FRIENDS CHURCH – ALBA, M0

My great-great grandparents, Stephen and Ruhama Groom Smith, came to Jasper County, Missouri, in the late 1860s. Stephen helped plat the village of Alba and was a founding father of the community where he operated a general mercantile store and post office, built furniture and homes and speculated in mining.

Stephen’s forefathers were Quakers, dating back into the early 1700s in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, soon after the Friends came to the New World. His family was a perfect example of Quaker migration from Pennsylvania to Virginia to Georgia to Ohio to Iowa, before he came to Missouri. He and Ruhama were Methodists (her family’s denomination) but became devout members of the Friends Church in Alba after a substantial number of settlers formed the Quaker church in Alba. Stephen helped build the second Friend’s Church in Alba.

 Nearly all my father’s family and my parents are buried in the nearby Friends Cemetery.  

 

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[1] Wright, F. Edward, Berks County, Pennsylvania Church Records of the 18^th Century Volume 3, Westminster, Maryland, Family Line Publications, 1993, p. 187; accessed Topeka Genealogical Society Library, Topeka, KS and Stoever, Rev. John Casper, Records of Rev. John Casper Stoever Baptismal and Marriage 1730-1779, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Harrisburg Publishing Co., 1896, p. 38; digital copy accessed at https://babel.hathitrust.org

[2] History, The Northkill Church/Evangelical Lutheran Friedens Church, Bernville, PA, digital copy accessed at friedensbernvillepa.com, web.archive.org

[3] Carey, P. 22

[4] Rupp, I. Daniel, A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French, and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776…, Baltimore, Maryland, Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., 1980, p. 467

[5] Warrant No. 392, May 17, 1744, Michael Shower & Jacob Miller, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA; accessed www.ancestry.com, Warrant Year 1744: image 316-317

[6] Carey, p. 22 

[7] Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and the Adjacent States Conferences, Lutherans in Berks County; Two Centuries of Continuous Organized Church Life, 1723-1923, Reading, Pennsylvania, Reading Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and the Adjacent States, 1923, p. 333-334 

[8] 1790 U.S. census, Berks County, Pennsylvania, Heidelberg Township, p.140, Henry Werner; First Census of the United States, 1790, NARA microfilm publication M637, Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29, National Archives, Washington, D.C; accessed www.ancestry.com, image 1

[9] History & Heritage, St. John’s (Hain’s) United Church of Christ; accessed www.stjhains.org 

[10] Kershner, Rev. W. J. and Lerch, Adam G., History of St. John’s (Hain’s) Reformed Church in Lower Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Penna., Reading, PA, I.M. Beaver Publisher, 1916, p.27; accessed https://babel.hathitrust.org

[11] Kershner and Lerch, p. 482 

[12] Kershner and Lerch, pp. 457-458

[13] Berks County, Recorder of Deeds, Courthouse, Reading, Pennsylvania, Deeds, 1734-1866, volume 32, page 189-191, Henry Werner Heirs, 1822, Cumru Township; accessed www.familysearch.org, filmstrip 20777, DGS 8066893, images 476-477