Mechanic's Grove. Millersville. Millway. Mount Hope. New Holland. Paradise. Penn. Pequea. Peters' Creek. Pleasant Grove. Salisbury. Salunga. Smyrna. Soudersburg. South Hermitage. Sporting Hill. Strasburg. Terre Hill. Wheatland Mills. White Oak. Enterprise. FIRE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF LANCASTER. Union Steam Fire Engine and Forcing Hose Company, No. 1-organized August 13, 1760. Sun Steam Fire Engine Company, No. 1—organized December 10, 1763. There are also Fire Companies at the following places: Columbia-(Columbia and Vigilant;) Marietta-(Pioneer;) Litiz, Manheim, and Mountjoy. 30 a. Old. "In 1709, several families from the Palatinate, descendants of the distressed Swiss Mennonites settled on Pequea creek. With this colony came Hans Herr, a Mennonite minister, who dispensed to them the word of life. The Mennonites were of course the first regularly organized denomination in the county. Among their first ministers in this county, before 1725, were Hans Herr, Ulrich Breckbill, Hans Tschantz, Hans Burkholter, Christian Herr, Benedict Hirschi, Martin Bear, Johannes Bauman. They had been very numerous till about the year 1791, or '92, when a certain Martin Boehm and others made inroads upon them, and a considerable number seceded and united themselves with the United Brethren or Vereinigte Brueder. They have about fortyfive ministers in the county. These are divided into bishops and ordinary ministers.". Rupp. The Mennonites had in 1830 thirty-five meeting houses in the county. b. Reformed. A branch of the former which seceded under the leadership of John Herr on the ground of alleged departure from the purity of former times. The secession or reformation began in 1811 (John Herr, in Rupp's He Pasa Ekklesia, p. 503 sq.) They have bishops and ordinary ministers, 3 meeting houses and 8 or 10 other stated places in the county. c. Omish or Amish. They are sometimes called Hooker Mennonites, because they use hooks on their clothes instead of buttons, and are thus distinguished from another class called Button Mennonites. They settled in this county at an early date, and though quite numerous in 1735, are now only feebly represented. They have 5 or 6 ministers. In doctrine they accept the Mennonite faith, but are more exclusive, and maintain greater simplicity of dress than other branches of the Mennonites. The name Amish or Omish is derived from Jacob Amen, of Amenthal, Switzerland, a rigid Mennonite preacher of the seventeenth century, (Shem Zook, in Rupp's He Pasa Ekklesia, p. 561.) They meet in private houses. II. SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS. The history of this denomination has already been given in Division II. s. v. Ephrata, p. 354 sq. III. TUNKERS OR DUNKERS. They are German Baptists and call themselves "Brethren." Prior to 1721 they settled in this county, formed a congregation ministered by Peter Becker. They have 7 places for meeting in the county. IV. WINEBRENNARIANS. "This denomination is of comparatively recent origin. The name of "Church of God," was assumed by it about the year 1827 or '28. The church in the city was first gathered about the year 1820, under the ministry of the late Rev. John Elliott, who preached the gospel many years faithfully and with success, to an independent congregation in the city. After he left, the church declined, till about the year 1841, when the Rev. John Winebrenner, V. D. M., of Harrisburg, Rev'ds. Jacob Flake and Joseph Ross and others of the Eldership of the Church of God, held protracted meetings, when a number were revived and others awakened, and a deep interest manifested, and soon a congregation of one or two hundred was organized."-Rupp. This denomination has Church edifices at the following places: Lancaster City, Washington Borough, Mount Joy, Maytown, Bainbridge, Landisville, Smithville and Elizabethtown, and an aggregate membership of 900. It publishes an organ, called the Church Advocate and a Sunday School paper called the Sunday School Gem, published by the Rev. E. H. Thomas, at Lancaster. EPISCOPALIANS. Missionaries of the Church of England visited this county as early as 1717 or 1719. Rev. Mr. Backhouse, of Chester, Pennsylvania, in a letter to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in London, reports a visit in 1729 to the people of Conestoga, 70 miles back in the country (from Philadelphia.) The Rev. Mr. Lindsay visited Lancaster County about 1735. St. James's Church, Lancaster, was organized Oct. 3, 1744. Thomas Cookson and John Postlethwaite, Church Wardens, and Edward Smout, Daniel Syng, William Bristow, John Folke, Morgan Morgan and John Connelly, Vestrymen. At a meeting of the Vestry on April 15th, 1745, steps were taken for the erection of a stone church. James Hamilton, Esq'r, granted a lot of ground; subscriptions amounting to £166 9s. enabled the people to erect and roof the church, 44 feet in length and 34 feet in breadth, about 1750. From 1744 to 1750 the Rev. Mr. Locke officiated at Lancaster. He was succeeded in 1751 by the Rev. George Craig, during whose rectorship the church was finished in 1753, at an additional cost of £102 5s. At this time congregations existed at Pequea, Carnarvon, Huntingdon and Carlisle. In 1755 the sum of £28 2s. 6d. wes expended on furniture of the church at Lancaster. The Rev. Thomas Barton began his ministry in 1759. He reports in that year 50 communicants at Lancaster. In 1761 the people, by way of lottery, raised a considerable sum of money, with which they afterwards built a steeple, erected galleries, bought bells, and finished a stone wall round the church yard. The improvements were completed in 1764. In 1765 the Vestry resolved that the minister should be entitled to a surplice fee of five shillings for every grave dug in the church yard. For particulars concerning Mr. Barton, who left Lancaster in 1778, see page 387 sq. The ministry of Rev. Joseph Hutchins at St. James', Lancaster, covers the period of 1783-1790. In 1791 the Rev. Elisha Rigg became minister, and continued his labors until 1799, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph Clarkson, whose connection with the Parish continued until January 25, 1830, when he departed this life. In 1820 an arrangement was entered into by the congregations of St. James's, Lancaster, St. John's, Pequea, and Christ Church, Leacock, for the joint service of two clergymen in said three churches. On October 15, 1820, the present edifice of St. James's Church, Lancaster, was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. William White, D. D., Bishop of Pennsylvania. He preached the consecration sermon from Ps. 96, 9: "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." On Dec. 1, 1820, the Rev. William Muhlenberg entered upon his office of Co-Rector of St. James' Church, agreeing to officiate three Sundays in every month at Lancaster, and on one Sunday at St. John's, Pequea. This connection continued until June 1826, when he resigned. The Rev. L. S. Ives was Co-Rector of St. James's Church from October 1826 to Sept. 25, 1827. In his place was elected, on Sept. 27, 1827, the Rev. Samuel Bowman, for particulars of whose ministry, which terminated after his elevation to the Episcopate and with his death, on Aug. 3, 1860, see page 389, sq. The present Rector, Rev. J. I. Mombert, D. D., was elected Associate Rector, May 23, 1859, and Rector Aug. 20, 1861. During Bishop Bowman's pastorate, St. John's Free Church, the Orphan Asylum, Sunday School House and Parsonage were erected; and under that of the present, the Parsonage and Orphans' Asylum were enlarged, the present edifice for the Church Home secured, and St. James Chapel built, the latter at an expenditure of upwards of $6,000, all paid for. EPISCOPAL CHURCHES IN LANCASTER COUNTY. Lancaster City, St. James' Church, St. John's Church, St. James' Chapel; Churchtown, Bangor Church; Leacock, Christ Church; Paradise, All Saints'; Columbia, St. Paul's Church; Marietta, St. John's Church; Mount Hope, Hope Church; Gap Mines, Grace Church. A new Church enterprise has been started at Manheim. Aggregate number of communicants reported in 1868, 517. Estimated number of worshippers, 2,500. EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. This sect, sometimes called "Albrechtsleute," originated in this county about 1800, and was founded by Jacob Albrecht, a native of Berks County, who settled in Earl township prior to 1800. They have several places of worship in the county. FRIENDS OR QUAKERS. They were numerous in the county as early as 1725-1730. In 1729 they numbered not less than 1000 families; at present they have only 11 meeting houses, with an aggregate accommodation for 2650 persons. GERMAN REFORMED.1 The German Reformed congregation in Lancaster, organized in 1736, had already attained considerable strength at the time when Schlatter arrived; for here, in 1747, he administered the Holy Supper to 225 persons, the majority of whom, it is fair to suppose, were members of the Reformed Church. There was a small congregation also at Seltenreich's, two miles south of New Holland; another at Modencreek, (1743), another at Cocalico, (1730); and still another at Donegal. Besides these, it is probable that there existed in other parts the nuclei of congregations not yet organized. Such was the condition of the German Reformed Church in Lancaster County, in 1746, when Schlatter arrived in America. The Rev. Michael Schlatter, of St. Gall, Switzerland, was sent to Pennsylvania, charged to visit the destitute Germans, of the Reformed faith, preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments, organize the people at suitable points into congregations, settle ministers and consummate the work by the organization of the Coetus. Reaching Philadelphia September 6, 1746, he immediately entered upon his work. Already, on the 23d of the same month, we find him in Lancaster; and from that time he made frequent and often laborious journeys through this county. Wherever he went, he preached with great acceptance to the people, baptized their children and administered the Holy Communion. He formed neighboring congregations into pastoral charges, and united them more closely with one another and with the mother Church in the Fatherland, so that by mutual co-operation, the infant Church might be more firmly established and more readily supplied with such aid as it needed in its weak, scattered and destitute condition. It is to Schlatter, that the German Reformed Church in Lancaster county owes, not indeed its existence, but its regular organization. The mother congregation in the city was organized in 1736, and its first stated pastor was the Rev. John Jacob Hock. Prior to that time there was no church edifice, but on Whitsuntide of this year a new log-church was consecrated, amid the rejoicings of the people. Mr. Hock served the congregation sixteen months; but whether his ministry terminated by death or removal, is unknown. The second pastor was the Rev. Casper Lewis Schnarr, whose ministry extends from November, 1744 to March, 1746. He appears to have been unworthy of his calling; for, having been charged with several misdemeanors while at Lancaster, he was tried, found guilty and punished. His later history is unknown. During the vacancy thus created, the Rev. John Reiger, preached as a supply. He was a native of the Palatinate; but, emigrating to America in 1731, he settled in Lancaster. His field of labor lay rather in the country than in the town; but, at the time of Schlatter's first visit, he was preaching for the congregation in Lancaster. Certain difficulties having sprung up between him and the Church, Schlatter used his best endeavors to heal them. The people were unanimous in securing a stated minister; and Mr. Reiger, himself deeming this best, withdrew. He continued to reside in Lancaster, where he died March 11, 1769, and was buried near the south-west corner of the First German Reformed Church. The vacant congregation urged Schlatter to obtain a minister for them from Holland. In answer to this call, the Synod of Holland sent two ministers in 1748, one of whom, the Rev. John Jacob Hochreutner, a native of St. Gall, Switzerland, preached at Lancaster with great acceptance and was immediately called by the congregation to become its pastor. He accepted the call, and it was approved and confirmed by the Synod; but, by a mysterious Providence, he never entered upon his field of labor. When all the arrangements for his journey from Philadelphia to Lancaster were made, and his horse stood in readiness for him at the door, he was suddenly prostrated in death by the explosion of a gun from which he was endeavoring to extract the load. The whole Church, as well as the congregation at Lancaster, was deeply affected by this sad event. 1 Contributed by Rev. F. A. Gast. |